488 



NATURE 



[Febkuak^ 8, 1912 



a promimTil part until failinR- health com|>flled him 

 to retiro. In the conduct of the business, as well as 

 in the discussion of professional subjects, his rijH' 

 experience, sound jud^iment, and charming,' personal 

 qualities had much to do with the successful develop- 

 ment of the institution, the membership of which in- 

 cludes not merely naval architects and marine 

 en{iineers, but naval officers, shipowners, yachtsmen, 

 officers of the mercantile marine, and many other 

 classes interested in or connected with shipping. 



At the Royal United Service Institution also Sir 

 John Hay did jjood service, and pave proof of his 

 love for and acquaintance with many branches of 

 science, as well as his desire to utilise all departments 

 of knowledge for the improvement of the Royal Navy. 

 In short, for a man born early in the nineteenth 

 century, and employed at sea from a tender ajje until 

 he had reached the prime of life. Sir John Hay was 

 remarkable ; and he may be fairly described as a 

 pioneer in the class of scientific naval officers which 

 has now become both numerous and influential. 



Of his political career this is not the place to speak, 

 but allusion may be made to his services as a Sea 

 Lord of the Admiralty in 1866-8. Although the 

 appointment of Sea Lords was then made largely on 

 political as well as professional grounds, and his 

 political future might have been seriously prejudiced 

 by the independent action which he took in November, 

 1866, he refused to sign the Navy Estimates, and 

 tendered his resignation because he considered the 

 new prot^ramme of shipbuilding to be inadequate. This 

 action showed the temper of the man, who, under a 

 most pleasant and conciliatory manner, concealed 

 great strength of character and readiness to act up to 

 his convictions. His business capacity was consider- 

 able, he was a capable speaker, and an agreeable 

 writer, as his books dealing with the naval service 

 showed. He died full of years and honours, mourned 

 by many friends; but some years of retirement, 

 accompanied bv blindness towards the end, had pre- 

 vented him from being so much before the public as 

 formerly. His work was done and well done, and 

 manv of its results will abide. 



DR. A. H. KEANE. 



WE regret to announce the death of Dr. A. H. 

 Keane on February 3, after a long illness. He 

 was born in Cork in 1831^, was educated in Dublin 

 and elsewhere, and completed his student career in 

 Rome, finally taking his degree with honours in the 

 Roman Catholic College in Dublin. Later he studied 

 in Germany, and thereafter devoted himself to literary 

 work, his first important book being a " History of 

 the English Language" (1878). Shortly afterwards 

 he taught English, German, French, and Hindustani 

 at the Hartley Institute, Southampton, and subse- 

 quently a professorship of Hindustani was created for 

 him at University College, London, which he resigned 

 in 1885. After a short visit to the United States, he 

 settled down in Hampstead, where he resided until 

 his death. 



Anthropology loses in Dr. Keane one of its most 

 prolific and erudite students. His literary training 

 and great command of languages predisposed him to 

 collation and synthesis, as is proved by several excel- 

 lent studies in the Journal of the Anthropological In- 

 stitute; for example, "On the Relations of the Indo- 

 -Chinese and Inter-Oceanic Races and Languages " 

 (1880), "The Botocudos" (1883), "The Eth- 

 nology of the Egyptian Sud^n " (18S4), "The 

 Lapps " (1885), and others. He also contri- 

 buted very numerous articles on ethnolog}* to 

 Nafure, The Geographical Journal, The Acadcviy, 



NO. 2206, VOL. 88] 



The Encyclopaedia liritattnica (ninth edition), ' 

 bers's Encyclopaedia (1890-1), and Cassell's Star 

 of General Information (189*^-94). Of more j)en 

 value are his admirable monographs on Asi.t, 

 Central America and West Indies, an(i 

 in "Stanford's Compendium of <- 

 Travel." Amongst other publications arc " Iht ii' 

 .States, Land, and People" (1900), "The Gold 

 Ophir " (i<K^i), and numerous translations, . 

 example, "The Earth and its Inhabitants" 

 Reclus), " Peruvian .Antiquities " (W. Reiss aim 

 Stiibel), "The Science of Language" (Abel Ho- 

 lacque), " Philosophy, Historical and Critical " ( 

 Lefevre). "Travels in .Africa" (VV. Junker), and "Ti 

 Second Deluge " (J. Rodenberg). 



But Dr. Keane's reputation will rest mainly r>n 1 

 "EthnologA- " (1896), "Man Past and Present " (i8<t 

 and "The World's Peoples" (1908). The first d.- 

 with the physical and mental evolution of man, t' 

 antiquity of man, criteria of race, and the prim.; 

 ethnical g'roups. The second is a masterly summ.r 

 of the ethnology of all races and peoples, and is 

 indispensable book to. all interested in such subjec • 

 The third, as its subtitle explains, is a popular accoi: 

 of the bodily and mental characters, beliefs, traditioi 

 and political and social institutions of the worK 

 peoples; the numerous photographs add greatly 

 its value. 



Dr. Keane was a typical library student, and beii 

 of retiring disposition, was rarely to be seen at scii 

 tific meetings. He had strong views and could - 

 press them with vigour, but he did not seek Cf 

 troversy. Although lack of opportunity prevented hii 

 from making any original investigations, the v.i- 

 extent of his reading enabled him to marshal in 

 orderly manner the observations of other people, .-u 

 often to throw a fresh ligr^t upon them. 



A. C. HAnnON. 



JVOT£S. 



\Vi-; rogrot to announce the death, on February 2, in 

 sixtieth year, of Dr. H. T. Bovey, F.R.S., formerly Reci 

 of the Imperial College of Science and Technology. 



lA. BiGOURDA'N has been elected president of th 

 Bureau des Longitudes for the present year. M. Bail!.: 

 becomes vice-president, and M. Andoyer secretary. 



The gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society i 

 been awarded by the council to Mr. A. R. Hinks, for 1 

 determination of the solar parallax from observations 

 Eros. 



The Canadian correspondent of The Times announ< 

 the death, at eighty-seven years of age, of Sir Jan 

 Le Moine, who for many years was an industrious writ 

 on historical and ornithological subjects, and in 1894 w, 

 elected president of the Royal Society of Canada. 



Rbutbr's Agency reports that two British offic 

 belonging to the Survey of India, have been detaciiea 

 locate the falls of the Brahmaputra, which are reput 

 to exist in the hitherto unexplored reach of the ri\ 

 which lies between Assam and the great bend of the ri\ 

 to the northward. Attempts have been made by nati 

 surveyors and others to locate these falls and to travei 

 this part of the river where its valley cuts across tt 

 great Himalayan chain, but so far without any success. 



Further evidence shows that, of the four reported eart 

 quakes referred to in our last issue (p. 459), that felt 

 Glenfruin on January 26 was probably not of seisn^ 

 origin. The shocks at Lennoxtown on January 20 ar 



