114 



NATURE 



[December 2, 1897 



some degree upon the subjects to which I have referred. Among 

 these I may mention such subjects as that of the creation of a 

 teaching University for the City of London. I should not say 

 for the city, but for London itself ; and for the whole country 

 some reorganisation of its secondary education, which is the 

 indispensable foundation of any progress towards higher 

 scientific study. I myself entertain a strong conviction that these 

 are subjects of far greater importance than a great many which 

 excite much more general and widespread interest. But strong 

 as my own conviction, or the convictions of my colleagues, 

 upon these subjects may be, I am not here to hold out to you 

 any sanguine hope that we shall be able to induce Parliament 

 to devote to them the attention which these subjects, in my 

 opinion, richly deserve. Certainly we shall not be able to induce 

 Parliament to give them the attention which they demand and 

 require unless we can create in the country a widespread public 

 opinion of their importance and their necessity. I think that 

 many of those I have the honour of addressing, who stand at 

 the head of the scientific professions, may be able in these 

 matters to render great assistance to the Government by guidance, 

 counsel, or advice, and, by helping us, thus assist to create 

 throughout the country a public opinion of the importance of 

 these matters. I think you can assist us in bringing home to 

 the minds of many who have hitherto given, perhaps, an in- 

 complete consideration to these questions the fact that that 

 country cannot prosper which neglects the prosecution of either 

 the higher or the subordinate branches of scientific research, or 

 which is indifferent to the scientific training of those who are 

 destined in the near or even the more distant future to conduct 

 the industrial and commercial enterprises of this Empire. I will 

 not trespass further upon your time except to thank you in the 

 name of my colleagues for the very cordial manner in which this 

 toast has been proposed for your acceptance by Sir John Evans 

 and for the manner in which you have received it. 



The American Ambassador in rising to propose the health of the 

 Royal Society, said : — I can only follow at a great distance the 

 example set by his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, and apologise 

 at the beginning for my lack of qualification to address such an 

 assembly as this. I regret that I have not even that smattering 

 of scientific knowledge which would enable me to put on an 

 appearance even of saying anything instructive or amusing. The 

 only reason why I do not stand entirely mute is that I am 

 unwilling by silence to seem indifferent to the great compliment 

 which has been paid me in assigning to me this honourable duty. 

 It is in associations of men like this, in institutions like the Royal 

 Society, and similar bodies in America, of course of more recent 

 date and of narrower resources, that there exists one of the 

 strongest bonds of union that unite the two great branches of our 

 race. They are held together by a common love and pursuit 

 of universal truth, by devotion to the highest interest of 

 mankind, by a kindred passion for light and progress. 

 In your pursuits there is everything that unites and nothing that 

 divides. The results of science are all gain and no loss. The 

 triumphs of war are bought by the tears and anguish of both sides. 

 The success of diplomacy and trade are often attended by the 

 discomfiture of one party. But the whole world is brightened and 

 made more livable by the achievements of a Faraday, a Morse, 

 or a Fulton. The genius of a Lister or a Morton lessens in- 

 calculably the whole vast sum of human suffering, and every 

 invention or discovery on either side of the sea — the product of 

 the patient, self-denying labour of any of the scholars of our 

 race, w hether it be Lord Kelvin or Edison, Bessemer or Graham 

 Bell, Huxley, Tyndall, or Marsh — is at once thrown into the 

 common stock of the world's intellectual riches, profiting every 

 one and injuring none. It is for this reason that I — 

 although I have no claim to sit among scholars or men 

 of science — am glad to be allowed to come here and pay 

 my humble tribute of profound respect to those eminent men 

 who, under the auspices of this venerable institution, are doing 

 so much to hasten the glad day when all misconceptions and 

 misunderstandings, born of ignorance and prejudice, shall fade 

 away in the light of dawning truth and widening knowledge ; 

 when, to use the language of your great poet, who was himself 

 through life a patient and devoted student of science, " Universal 

 Peace " shall 



Lie like a shaft of light across the land, 

 And like a lane of beams athwart the sea. 



I have the honour to propose the health of the Royal 

 Society, and to couple with the toast the name, honoured and 

 revered in every country upon earth where high genius, devoted 



NO. 1466, VOL. 57] 



to the loftiest purposes, is valued and appreciated — the name of 

 Lord Lister. 



The President responded, and afterwards proposed the toast 

 of "The medallists," to which Prof Forsyth replied. The 

 dinner terminated with the toast of " The guests," proposed by- 

 Lord Kelvin, and responded to by Prof. Lewis Campbell. 



USEFUL INSECT PRODUCTS. 



'T^HE commercial value of the insects from which cochineal, lac, 

 and Japanese white wax are obtained were briefly referred 

 to, by Dr. L. O. Howard, in the course of a short paper on a 

 useful American scale insect, read at the last meeting of the 

 Association of Economic Entomologists. It was pointed out 

 that for many years the cochineal or cactus scale insect, now 

 called Coccus cacti, was used as the basis of an important red 

 dye, until practically superseded by the introduction of aniline 

 dyes. In the same way the European Porphyrophora was used 

 in the production of a purple dye. Aside from the dye insects, 

 we have the lac insects, of which a single species, Tachardia 

 lacca, produces practically all of the shell-lac, stick lac, andi 

 button lac of commerce. This species is Asiatic in its distri- 

 bution ; but in the south-west States, upon the very abundant 

 creosote bush, a lac insect occurs in an enormous quantity, the 

 commercial possibilities of which have not been developed. 

 This is the congeneric species, Tachardia larrece (Comstock). 

 This insect has been known to science only since 1881, but 

 was long prior to that time known to the Indians, who for 

 many years have been in the habit of collecting the scale in- 

 sects and forming them into more or less elastic balls, which 

 their runners were in the habit of kicking before them as they 

 journeyed from one point to another. There are other species^ 

 of the same genus inhabiting North America. The third sub- 

 stance of commercial importance derived from scale insects is 

 a pure white wax, which is secreted by the Chinese and Japanese 

 Ericertis pi-la and by the Indian Ceroplastes ceriferus. Oxv 

 account of its expense, and on account of more or less available 

 substitutes, this wax has not become of great commercial im- 

 portance in Europe, but is much used in the Eastern countries, 

 both in the making of wax-candles and in medicine. The 

 Chinese wax is said to have ten times the illuminating power 

 of other waxes. It is a beautiful wax, resembling beeswax in 

 its chemical composition more nearly than the vegetable waxes, 

 and is clear white in colour. Dr. Howard calls attention to 

 the fact that in the far south-west of the United States there 

 is a wax insect [Cerococcus qtiercus) which apparently needs 

 careful investigation from the commercial point of view» 

 Three species of oak are recorded by Prof Comstock as offer- 

 ing food for this insect, viz. Querctis ohloiigifolia, Q. undulata 

 variety wrightii, and Q. agrifolia. Dr. Howard recently re- 

 ceived specimens of the insect from Mesa Grande, California. 

 They were not sent in position on the twigs, but had been 

 removed from the twigs, and compressed together by hand 

 into a more or less pliable lump, somewhat resembling a lump 

 of india-rubber, but not possessing the same elasticity. The 

 substance, it is remarked, makes an admirable chewing gum, 

 as it takes and retains flavours better than other gums. Part 

 of it has been proved by chemical analysis to be a true wax, 

 and part resembles rubber in its physical properties. The 

 product is not only interesting from a chemical standpoint, 

 but it may prove to be also of economic value, as the supply 

 is well-nigh inexhaustible. By directing attention to these 

 products of potential importance, Dr. Howard demonstrates 

 the commercial uses of entomology. 



THE RAINFALL OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



A SHORT time ago the Meteorological Commission of Cape 

 -^*- Town placed in the hands of Dr. Alexander Buchan the 

 rainfall statistics obtained at 278' stations in Cape Colony during 

 the ten years 1885- 1894, in order that he might analyse and 

 discuss them. Dr. Buchan has now completed his task, and the 

 results are given in a publication just received from the Meteoro- 

 logical Commission. The report contains sixteen maps printed 

 in different shades of blue to exhibit the rainfall in South Africa 

 (from lat. 25° to 35° S.) for every month of the year, the maxi- 

 mum annual rainfall, the minimum rainfall, the mean annual 

 rainfall, and the range of mean annual rainfall. All the infor- 



