560 



NATURE 



[February 22, 191 2 



Society the loss of its eminent member. — Dr. H. Mohn, 

 President ; Dr. A. Johannessen, General Secretary. 



Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm. — Swedish 

 Minister, Count Wrangel, instructed to represent Swedish 

 Academy of Sciences at Lord Lister's funeral. — Dahlgren, 

 President. 



Prof. Treub comes to funeral ceremony Lord Lister 

 representing the University of Amsterdam. — Rector Mag- 

 nificus. Prof. Winkler. 



Dutch Medical Society, .Amsterdam. — Dutch Medical 

 Society delegates Prof. Hector Treub. of Amsterdam, to 

 Lord Lister's funeral. — Dr. Schreve, Secretary. 



.Academy of Science, Amsterdam. — .Academy Science, 

 Amsterdam, regrets deeply cannot send delegate Lord 

 Lister's funeral. — Lorentz. 



The Swiss Society of Natural Sciences associates w^th 

 the Royal Society in its great sorrow. — Sarasin, President. 



iVOTES. 



For the meeting of the British Association for the 

 .Advancement of .Science, which is to be held this year at 

 Dundee on September 4 and following days, under the 

 presidency of Prof. E. .A. Schafer, F.R.S., the following 

 presidents have been appointed to the various sections : — 

 Mathematical and Physical Science, Prof. H. L. Callendar, 

 F.R.S. : Chemistry, Prof. A. Scnier ; Geology, Dr. B. N. 

 Peach. F.R.S. ; Zoology, Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, 

 F.R.S. : Geography, Sir Chi-rles M. Watson, K.C.M.G.. 

 "(".B., R.E. ; Economic Science and Statistics, Sir Henry 

 H. Cunynghame, K.C.B. ; Engineering, Prof. A. Barr ; 

 Anthropology, ProL G. Elliot Smith, F.R.S.; Physiology, 

 Mr. Leonard Hill, F.R.S.; Botany. Prof. F. Keeble ; 

 Educational Science, Prof. J. .Adams ; .Agriculture, Mr. 

 T. H. Middleton. .Agriculture will form the subject of a 

 lull soction for the first time. Prof. W. H. Bragg, F.R.S., 

 and Prof. A. Keith have been appointed to deliver the 

 evening discourses. 



The executive committee of the British Science Guild 

 has completed arrangements for the reading of the follow- 

 ing papers dealing with subjects in which the Guild is 

 taking action : — Monday, Februar}' 26, coordination of 

 philanthropic effort. Sir Edward Brabrook, C.B. ; Monday, 

 March 11, scientific aspects of technical education. Prof. 

 John Perry, F.R.S. ; Friday, March 29, synchronisation 

 of clocks, ^L^jor O'Meara, C.M.G. With the kind per- 

 mission of the president and council of the Chemical 

 Society, the meetings will be held in the rooms of the 

 Chemical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, at 

 S.;,o p.m. 



In reply to a question relating to agricultural research, 

 asked in the House of Commons on Tuesday, February 20, 

 Mr. Runciman said : — A grant of 30,000!. per annum will 

 be made from the Development Fund for work at re- 

 sonrch institutes in the following subjects, viz. : — plant 

 physiology, plant pathology (mycological side), plant breed- 

 iTig, fruit growing, plant nutrition, and soil problems, 

 animal nutrition, animal breeding, animal pathology, dairy 

 investigation, agricultural zoology, and the economics of 

 agriculture. Negotiations are proceeding as to the places 

 at which the work will be carried on. It is proposed to 

 allocate an additional sum of 5000Z. for investigations of a 

 special character during the ensuing financial year, and I 

 hope shortly to be in a position to announce the purposes 

 for which this sum will be expended. 



The governing body of the Lister Institute has appointed 

 Mr. G. Udny Yule honorary consulting statistician to the 

 institute. 



NO. 2208, VOL. 88] 



Mr. Chapman Jomcs has been elected president of the 

 Royal Photographic .Society, in succession to Lord RHes- 

 dale, and has been awarded the progress med.' 

 society. 



On Tuesday next, February 27, Prof. E, G. Coker will 

 begin a course of two lectures at the Royal Institution on 

 " Optical Determination of Stress, and some Applications 

 to Engineering Problems." 



Referring to the recent correspondence on glazed frost, 

 Mr. C. Carus-Wilson directs attention to two communica- 

 tions by him in Nature some years ago, viz. : — " Is Hail 

 so Formed " (January 26, 1888) and " Super-cooled Rain 

 Drops " (February 2, 1905). 



.At Messrs. Sotheby's sale on February 19, the sum of 

 105Z. was realised for the Palaeolithic hornstone hammer- 

 heads found in the bottom of an old ditch at .Airdens, near 

 Bonar Bridge, Sutherland, and described and illustrated 

 in a paper by Dr. J. Anderson, keeper of the Scottish 

 National Museum of .Antiquities. 



Prof. W, Baldwin Spencer, C.M.G., F.R.S., has been 

 appointed Protector of the Aborigines in the Northern 

 Territory of .Australia. .A Reuter message from Melbourne 

 on February 15 announces that Prof. J. A. Gilruth, since 

 1008 professor of veterinary pathology and director of the 

 Research Institute in Melbourne University, has been 

 appointed Administrator of the Northern Territory by the 

 Commonwealth Government. 



The New A'ork correspondent of The Times announces 

 that an .Arctic expedition, organised by the American 

 Museum of Natural History and the American Geographical 

 Society, with the cooperation of Yale University and other 

 institutions, will start in the coming summer to explore 

 and map out the new land which Rear-Admiral Peary saw 

 from Cape Thomas Hubbard in 1906 and named Crocker 

 Landing. The sum of 10,000/. is being raised for the 

 expedition. The expedition is to be headed by Mr. G. 

 Borup, assistant curator of geology in the American 

 Museum of Natural History, and Mr. D. B. MacMillan, 

 who were both members of .Admiral Peary's last Polar 

 expedition. 



.A few months ago (September 14, 191 1) we announced 

 that an influential committee had been formed with the 

 view of erecting a monument to Dr. J. Janssen, whose 

 work in astrophysics is known wherever spectroscopic 

 studies of celestial bodies are carried on. It is felt that 

 there should be an outward and visible sign, in the form 

 of a work of art, of the esteem in which the world of 

 science holds Janssen 's services to astronomy and civilisa- 

 tion. Subscriptions are solicited for this purpose, and it 

 is hoped that the resf>onse will be both ready and generous. 

 The officers of the organising committee are : — President, 

 H. Poincar^ ; vice-presidents, B. Baillaud and G. Bigour- 

 dan ; secretary, P. Puiseux ; treasurer, H. Deh^rain, 

 Biblioth^caire ^ I'lnstitut, Paris, to whom contributions 

 should be sent. 



The anniversary meeting of the Geological Society of 

 London was held on Friday last, February 16. The 

 officers were appointed as follows -.-^President, Dr. .A. 

 Strahan, F.R.S. ; vice-presidents, Prof. E. J. Garwood, Dr. 

 J. E. Marr, F.R.S., Mr. R. D. Oldham, F.R.S., and 

 Prof. W. W. Watts, F.R.S.; secretaries. Dr. .A. Smith 

 Woodward, F.R.S., and Mr. H. H. Thomas; foreign 

 secretary. Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., President R.S. ; 

 treasurer, Mr. Bedford McNeill. The following awards 

 of medals and funds were made : — Wollaston medal, Mr. 



