288 



NATURE 



[December 28, 19 



1 1 



the opiicnl trade. An obituary notice In The Times points 

 out that it wan largely through hi* exertions that trchniral 

 rlaK»fs for optician* were (ormr^ at tl»c Northampton Instt- 

 tuf, Clrrk»'nw«»ll. Mr. Aitchi*on was one of the prime 

 movers in calling the Optical Convention in 1905, and he 

 was treasurer of the guarantee fund for the Optical Con- 

 v.ntion to be hold next year. 



Thk death of Sir J. C. Inglis, the general manager of 

 th«» Great Western Railway, occurred on December 19. 

 From an obituary notice in The Times we learn that, as 

 ♦•ngimfer to the Cattcwater Harbour Commissioners, he 

 constructed the Mount Batten breakwater at Plymouth, 

 and subsequently was responsible for the Princetown Rail- 

 way, Newlyn Harbour, and the Bodmin Railway. He 

 became a member of the council of the Institution of Civil 

 Kngineers in 1807, and was elected president of the institu- 

 tion in 1908, and again for a second term in the following 

 year, one of his last official acts in that capacity being the 

 laying of the foundation-stone of the new building in 

 October of last year. He was a member of the Royal 

 Commission on Canals and Inland Navigations. 



The Paris correspondent of The Times announces the 

 death of three distinguished scientific men, namely. Prof. 

 I>annelongue, M. Radau, and Prof. P. Topinard. Prof. 

 Lannelonguc, who died on December 21, in his seventy- 

 second year, was appointed in 1884 to the chair of path- 

 ology in the University of Paris, and later he exchanged 

 this appointment for the professorship of clinical surgery. 

 At the time of his death he was president of the Academy 

 of Medicine, and was elected to the .\cademy of Sciences in 

 1895. — ^- Radau, who was seventy-seven years of age, 

 was a member of the Bureau des Longitudes and of the 

 .\cademy of Sciences. For many years he contributed 

 articles on astronomy to the Revue dcs Deux Mondes, and 

 he was the author of " M^moires d '.Astronomic," among 

 other works. — Prof. Paul Topinard, the distinguished 

 French anthropologist, was born in 1830. From 1872 to 

 1880 he was in charge of the collections of the .Anthropo- 

 logical Society, and in 1876 was appointed professor at the 

 School of Anthropology. 



The following lectures will be delivered at the Royal 

 Sanitary Institute during January, 1912 : — " FVesh Air," 

 Prof. H. R. Kenwood ; " Problem of After-care of Sana- 

 toria Patients," Dr. T. D. Lister; "Employment of 

 Patients in Sanatoria," Mr. M. S. Paterson ; " .Anti- 

 tuberculosis Dispensaries," Dr. D. J. Williamson; "Open- 

 air Schools," Prof. R. P. Williams. These lectures are 

 arranged in connection with an exhibition illustrating the 

 materials and methods of construction of economical forms 

 of sanatoria schools, hospitals, and other temporary build- 

 ings, to be held in the museum during January. 



The jubilee annual meeting of the Yorkshire Naturalists' 

 I'nion was held at Heckmondwike, on December 16, at 

 the place where fifty years ago the union had its birth. 

 I here were more than three hundred members present, 

 including delegates from thirty-eight affiliated societies of 

 the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union. The presidential 

 address of Mr. Alfred Harker, F.R.S., on " Petrology in 

 Yorkshire," was delivered. Mr. T. Sheppard resigned his 

 position as honorary secretary, and in view of his nine 

 years' work in that position was elected an honorary life 

 member of the union. Mr. W. Cash was similarly 

 honoured. Mr. J. W. Taylor, of Leeds, was elected presi- 

 dent for iqi2. The new secretaries are Dr. T. W. Wood- 

 head, and Mr. W. E. L. Wattam, Technical College. 

 Huddersfield. The annual meeting for 1912 will be held 

 at Hull on December 14. 



NO. 2200, VOL. 88] 



A VALUABLE contribution to our knowledge of the n- 

 of iron in early Eg>'ptian times has been made by a di 

 covery during the excavation of the pre-dyna«tlc cr—'- ■ 

 of El Gerzeh, about forty miles south of Cairo, f 

 in the December issue of Man. Here, in an undibi... 

 tomb, a set of iron beads, associated with others of go: 

 carneiian, and agate, was found on a corpse. Prof. \V 

 Gowland reports that they consist of hydrated ferric oxiti 

 none of the original iron having escaped oxidation. 



The part played by the Jews in the preservation ai 

 revival of learning during the Middle Ages is the subj< 

 of a scholarly pamphlet by Dr. M. 1. Schleiden. Agr 

 culture, the greater industries, such as silk-growing, d>' 

 ing, and weaving, were all encouraged by them. '11 

 writer claims that they left no branch of science ai 

 learning untouched, and at the close of the Middle Ag' 

 handed on the results of their labours to the races whi< 

 were now rising to a sense of their responsibilities. Th' 

 value of the pamphlet is enhanced by full references to the 

 literature of the question. 



In the seventh Bulletin of the Archaeological Sur. 

 Nubia, the exploration gradually extends southward 

 While the early pre-dynastic and middle periods are ui 

 represented, the numh)er of early dynastic graves shows 

 little signs of diminution, and their contents are actually 

 richer, indicating the centre of an early dynastic culture 

 of a Nubian type, characterised by remarkable local types 

 of pottery, copper implements, gold work, and stone work 

 typical of Egypt in the latest pre-dynastic period or in 

 the first dynasty. The crania collected have been sent to 

 this country for examination by Prof. Elliot Smith, but, so 

 far as the material has been examined, it indicates earl 

 negro immigration with a possible admixture of oth- : 

 racial elements. 



In the first part of vol. v. of the Journal of the Gypsy 

 Lore Society several correspondents contribute accounts of 

 the funeral rites of a well-known member of the tril> 

 Isaac Heron, who died last year at Sutton-on-Trei.f 

 Gypsy rites of interment have perhaps never been moi 

 carefully examined than in this valuable contribution. Tli' 

 corpse was buried in an oak coffin large enough to admit 

 the body, which was dressed in stockings, pants, and a 

 white linen shirt, and covered with a white shroud. 

 Under the corpse his overcoat, lounge coat, waistcoat, and 

 trousers, all of which were turned inside out, were laid. 

 Some money and jewellery, the amount of which was not 

 disclosed, were placed in the pockets of the dead man. 

 •After the funeral, which was performed in a Christian 

 cemetery, his van was dismantled. The wheels, shaft- 

 harness, and horse nosebag were pfaced inside, the content- 

 were soaked in paraffin, and the conveyance was burnt. 

 .Among other peculiar features of the rite, the hands of 

 the dead man were laid close to his sides, and a cand! 

 was kept burning from the time of death until rh,^ ho.!, 

 was removed. 



Three papers in the second part of Sitber. .\aturnis:. 

 Verein d. preus. Rheinlande u. Wesifalens are devoted t. 

 the fauna of Lake Laacher (Laacher See), near Ander- 

 nach, Messrs. R. Schauss, C. Rottgen, and O. le Roi 

 dealing respectively with the crustaceans, the beetles, and 

 the molluscs. 



In the report for 191 1, the committee of the Bristol 

 Museum and Art Gallery records the debt of gratitude owed 

 by the city to the late Lord Winterstokc, by whom the 

 .Art Gallery and a considerable proportion of its contents 

 were presented. When this gallery was opened in 1905 it 

 contained very few pictures, whereas the value of those 



