December 21, 1911] 



NATURE 



267 



I he council urgentlv appeals for this balance of 1715'- on 

 he further ground that if it is obtained before January i, 

 I0I2, Sir Francis Trippel has undertaken to raise the 

 remaining 30,000!., which will complete the building and 

 endowment scheme. 



We learn from the annual report and statement of 

 accounts for the year 1910-11 of the Livingstone College 

 that it has been decided to inaugurate a Livingstone 

 Centenary Fund in connection with the centenary of the 

 birth of Dr. Livingstone, to take place in 1913. It is pro- 

 posed to devote the fund to the paying off of the mortgage 

 on the property, the carrying out of certain important 

 improvements in the college premises, and the raising of 

 an endowment. Livingstone College, it will be remem- 

 bered, was instituted with the object of preparing 

 missionaries and providing them with an elementary medical 

 training. 



The fourth annual dinner of old students was held on 

 December 13 in the new Imperial College Union in Prince 

 Consort Road, this being the first occasion on which the 

 new club has been used for such a purpose. Sir Alexander 

 Pedler, president of the Old Students Association, pre- 

 sided, and Mr. J. A. Pease, the President of the Board of 

 Hducation, was the guest of the evening. In proposing 

 the toast of " The College," Mr. Pease referred to the 

 large number of students who have passed through the 

 college, many of whom are occupying positions as chemists, 

 geologists, engineers, and Government officials, and are 

 doing excellent work. Prof. \V. W. Watts, in responding, 

 referred to the relationship between the Royal College of 

 Science, the Royal School of Mines, and the City and 

 Guilds College under the new organisation, and expressed 

 the hope that each will retain its individuality. Prof. 

 Dalby, Dean of the City and Guilds College, proposed the 

 toast of " The Old Students Association," to which the 

 chairman replied. The guests included the Rt. Hon. 

 A. H. D. Acland, Sir Alfred Keogh, Sir Arthur Church, 

 and Prof. Cox. 



In his annual report for the year ending on June 30 

 last. President Butler, of Columbia University, in New 

 York, summarises the benefactions received during the 

 year by the University over which he presides. The gifts, 

 legacies, and other receipts for designated purposes re- 

 ceived during the year amounted to 507,000/. Of this 

 great sum, 195,000/. was in partial payment of the legacy 

 of the late Mr. J. S. Kennedy, and 138,700/. in partial 

 payment of the legacy of the late Mr. G. Crocker. Toward 

 the erection of the philosophy building 33,000/. was re- 

 ceived from an anonymous donor. Other anonymous gifts 

 of 20,000/. and 11,000/. were received. Including the gifts 

 to Barnard College and to Teachers College, both of 

 which are associated with the University, the sum total 

 of benefactions for the year very nearly reached 600,000/. 

 'Ihe grand total of gifts in money alone made to the 

 several corporations included in the University during the 

 last ten years reaches 3,310,000/. As indicative of the 

 growth of the University during these ten years, it is 

 interesting to note that while in 1901 the number of pro- 

 fessors was 81, in 191 1 it has reached 177. In 1901 there 

 were 396 feathers of all grades, but during the present 

 year the number has been 721. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Geological Societv, December 6. — Prof. W. W. Watts, 



I.R.S., presid''nt, in the chair. — Dr. T. F. Sibly : The 



lulled inlier of Carboniferous Limestone at Upper Vobster 



Somerset). The Upper Vobster inlier lies rather less than 



mile to the ncrth of the main outcrop of the Carbon- 



f'^rous Limestone of the Mendips. This inlier has been dis- 



cted by quarrying operations. The northern and eastern 



irtions are concealed by a covering of Lias, but its width 



cm north to south is little, if at all, greater than 400 



vnrds, while the east-and-west extent of the Carboniferous 



Limestone is about iioo yards. The author has arrived at 



Ihe following conclusions : — The inlier is a lenticular mass 



f Carboniferous Limestone, grits, and shales, superimposed 



pon the overfolded strata of the Coal Measures by thrust- 



\0. 2199, VOL. 88] 



movements. It comprises a northern limestone mass and 

 a southern limestone mass, separated by a grit-and-shale 

 mass. The beds of the grit-and-shale mass are in faulted 

 relation to the Carboniferous Limestone. On the northern 

 side, the adjacent beds of limestone represent part of the 

 Seminula zone ; on the southern side, the adjacent beds 

 belong to the lower Dibunophyllum zone. In the northern 

 limestone mass, Vobster Quarry exposes more than 500 

 feet of Seminula beds, overfolded towards the north-west. 

 In the southern limestone mass the strata are locally over- 

 folded northwards. The beds of the grit-and-shale mass 

 comprise quartzites assigned to the Millstone Grit. They 

 also include shales, with intercalated fine-grained sand- 

 stones. Possibly this mass includes the lowest beds of the 

 Coal Measures, in addition to a portion of the Millstone 

 Grit. In sections of Carboniferous Limestone, signs of the 

 stresses to which the strata have been subjected are evident. 

 The beds are often distorted, while slickensides and calcite- 

 veins are developed. The occurrence of a lamellibranch 

 fauna at the top of the Seminula zone is recorded. — 

 J. Romanes : Geology of a part of Costa Rica. The part 

 of Costa Rica to the west of San Jos6 as far as the Pacific 

 coast is dealt with. San Jos6 is situated in a valley 

 sloping westwards, and drained by the Rio Grande and its 

 tributaries. The northern boundary of this valley is the 

 chain of recent volcanoes which rise from its floor, while 

 on the south the ground rises abruptly to form the Cerro 

 Candelaria. In this range of mountains are exposures of 

 limestone, marl, &c., together with igneous rocks. An 

 examination of exposures has failed to produce any Creta- 

 ceous fossils, while the occurrence of numbers of Balani 

 points to a Tertiary age for the beds. As this limestone 

 stretches across the Atlantic-Pacific watershed, it yields 

 evidence of an interoceanic connection in this area in 

 Tertiary times. Of the igneous rocks, the most interesting 

 feature is the presence of many boulders of monzonite, 

 indicating a plutonic mass in these mountains. The 

 surface of the valley is composed of a thick series of ande- 

 sitic lavas. On the Pacific coast at Barranca and Man- 

 zanilla fossiliferous Tertiary beds are described. These are 

 all marine ashes, and in the Manzanilla district appear to 

 rest unconformably on an older limestone formation. The 

 boulder-clays of Costa Rica are normal river deposits, 

 though, locally, landslides and spheroidal weathering have 

 played an important part. 



Linnean Society, December 7.— Dr. D. H. Scott, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair.— H. N. Dixon : Some 

 mosses of New Zealand. Several collectors had con- 

 tributed to this account, and specially referred to the mosses 

 sent by Mr. W. Gray from Mauriceville, Wairapa, North 

 Island, which were of the highest interest. A new genus 

 was named Tetraphidopsis, Broth, and Dixon. 



Roval AsiioiiO''ic-l *«ociet»', December 8. — Dr. 

 F. W. Dyson, F.R.S., president, in ihf c h.iir. Miss 

 Winifred Gibson : The errors of ni< asunm. m- mi |)hoto- 

 graphic plates. Measures were madr with various cii. ma- 

 tions of the plate, and the results lump.u. >l. It \\a> in- 

 cluded that unless a preliminary series of measurements 

 were made, measures with four different orientations would 

 be required, as maintained by M. Loewy, in order to obtain 

 trustworthy results.— F. Hope Jones : The synchronome 

 astronomical regulator. The arrangement was exhibited 

 and described. it consists of a free pendulum with 

 detached gravity escapement, the impulse being given by a 

 lever falling upon a wheel pivoted at the bottom of the 

 pendulum, and reset by the " synchronome " remontoire 

 action. The ^rc is maintained constant by an inertia 

 device of Mr. Shortt.— H. H. Turner: The determination 

 of differential .'^tar places by photographic methods. The 

 selection was suggested of many consecutive regions of the 

 same declination and hour-angle on the same plate, with 

 considerable overlap. The present paper was restricted to 

 the consideration of systematic errors, the mam discussion 

 of final places being reserved for a future communication. 

 —Prof. Fowler showed photographs of the spectrum of 

 comet Brooks, taken by Mr. Slipher at the Lowell 

 Observatory, and of the spectrum of Mon hou^. \ comet. — 

 A fine series of photographs were also shewn of comets 

 Brooks and Beljawsky. taken at the Khxlivial Observa- 

 tory, Egypt, bv Mr. Knox Shaw.— G. D. C Stokes: A 



