Jan. 6, 1876] 



NATURE 



195 



distribution of oceanic life that has no parallel on land ; and 

 facts in the migration of marine animals and plants that were 

 formerly accounted for by assuming that they possessed greater 

 powers of withstanding changes of temperature, are now ac- 

 counted for by conditions more closely resembling those that 

 obtain on the land." 



Dr. Hooker then referred to the lamented death of Dr. von 

 Willemoes-Suhm, and to the arrangement whereby Prof. Huxley 

 has been able to act as Prof. Thomson's substitute at Edin- 

 burgh. 



Speaking of the Meteorological Committeee, Dr. Hooker 

 stated that "the anomalous connection between the Royal Society 

 and the Meteorological Office on the one hand, and berween that 

 office and the Government on the other, is likely soon to be 

 terminated, the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury having 

 appointed a Committee to inquire into the working of the 

 present office, and the value of the results hitherto obtained. 

 According to the instructions of the Treasury, the inquiry is to 

 be directed to two principal points of scientific interest, viz. (i) 

 How far the statistics hitherto collected have led to the discovery 

 or confirmation of meteorological laws. (2) How far the prin- 

 ciples upon which storm-wamings are given have been justified 

 by results." 



While pointing out that America was in some respects more 

 advantageously situated than England for meteorological investi- 

 gation. Dr. Hooker showed that, on the other hand, England 

 has advantages for promoting the study of terrestrial meteorology 

 that no other country has — namely, her foreign possessions and 

 colonies, and the command of the telegraphs with which the 

 ocean is in process of being crossed in every direction. "^Ye 

 have known," he says, "what it is to read at our breakfast- 

 tables telegrams from all parts of the world of the prices of stocks 

 and of political incidents of the pre\'ious day ; why should we 

 not, then, obtain daily statistics of the chmatic conditions of 

 these and other remote regions, and inaugurate in England a 

 system of meteorological registration which, if its elements were 

 obtained from but a lew well-selected spots, would instruct and 

 interest every intelligent person in the climate of the globe, 

 and in the end lead to scientific results of great value." 



Dr. Hooker cannot but think that the Committee of the 

 Treasury will have the opportunity of recommending to Her 

 Majesty's Government the adoption of measures that would 

 greatly increase the scientific efficiency and public interest of the 

 Meteorological Office. 



Dr. Hooker referred in terms of disappointment to the un- 

 expected interpretation which has been put by the Law Lords 

 on the terms of the Gilchrist bequest, whereby no part of it 

 i can be allotted to " the advancement of learning " i.e. of research, 

 I but all to the propagation of knowledge. Dr. Hooker hopes 

 ' thr.t a future and more enlightened generation "will introduce 

 the theory and practice of the law an interpretation of the 

 vancement of learning' more in harmony with scientific 

 iceas and the requirements of the age." 



The president concluded his address by alluding to the 

 J. Government Loan Collection of Scientific Instruments, which is 

 i! being formed at South Kensington. 



j "In the proposed exhibition not only are modem scientific 

 I methods and instruments, and the various methods of practical 

 instruction in science to be fully dealt with, but it is also pro- 

 posed that the history of science shall be illustrated by the actual 

 instruments which have been employed from the time of Galileo 

 downwards, in those critical experiments and discov eries which 

 ' mark the principal stages along the road of progress. " 



THE FRENCH ACADEMY AWARD OF PRIZES 



AT the anniversary meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences 

 on Dec. 23 the following prizes were awarded as the result 

 of the competition for 1875 : — 



I. Grand prize in the Mathematical Sciences, not awarded, 

 and the subject re-set for competition in 1878 — "Investigation 

 I of the elasticity of crystalline bodies from the double point of 

 view of experiment and theory." 



-. Grand prize in the Physical Sciences. The subject was, 



o investigate the changes which take place in the internal 



'-■i^ans of insects during complete metamorphoses." The prize 



was awarded to M. Kiinckel, Assistant-Naturalist at the Paris 



i Museum. 



I 3- The Poncelet prize, to M. Darboux, for his analytical and 

 ' geometrical works. 



4. The Montyon prize in Mechanics, not awarded. 



5. The Plumey prize of 2,500 francs was awarded to M. 

 Madamet, French naval engineer, for an apparatus invented by 

 him to indicate at any moment the number of turns made by a 

 marine steam-engine by the simple inspection of a dial, and 

 without the need of employing a watch. 



6. Foumeyron prize of 1,000 francs, to Af. Sagebien. 



7. The Lalande prize in Astronomy, to M. Perrotin, of the 

 Toulouse Observatory, for his astronomical work generally, but 

 specially for his discoveries of small planets. 



8. The Lacaze prize in Physics, 10,000 francs, to Prof. Mas- 

 cart, for his researches on the solar spectrum, on the measure of 

 the dispersion of gases, on the influence which the motion of the 

 earth has on optical phenomena, and for his investigation of the 

 rate of light. 



9. Montyon prize in Statistics, to M. Borius. 



10. The Jecker prize of 5,000 francs awarded to M. Edouard 

 Grimaux for numerous researches in Chemistry, more especially 

 in chemical synthesis. 



1 1. The Lacaze prize in Chemistry, 10,000 francs, to M. Favre, 

 Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of Marseilles, for his great work 

 on the transformation and equivalence of chemical, physical, and 

 mechanical forces. It was while pursuing his researches in 

 thermo-chemistry, commenced thirty years ago in conjunction 

 with Silbermann, that M. Favre was led to investigate the great 

 question of the equivalence of work effected by forces of different 

 origin. M. Favre, giving an experimental demonstration of the 

 most ingenious of Joule's views, made use of his mercury calori- 

 meter, in the form of a thermometer in whose reservoir may be 

 placed one or more elements. He thus established that the heat 

 developed by resistance to the passage of electricity in the con- 

 ductors of a simple voltaic couple, is simply borrowed from the 

 total heat due to the chemical action which engenders the cur- 

 rent ; if this resistance to the passage of electricity be annulled 

 we obtain, as the work of the pile with closed circuit, the quantity 

 of heat which will be due to chemical action alone without the 

 transmitted electricity. 



12. The Barbier prize in Medicine, to Prof. Rigaud. 



13. The Desmazieres prize divided between M. Eugene 

 Foumier, author of two memoirs on the Ferns of Mexico and 

 of New Caledonia, and M. Emile Bescherelle, author of two 

 memoirs on the Mosses of the same countries. 



Prizes 14, 15, and 16 not awarded. 



17. Grand prize in Medicine and Surgery, to M. Onimus. 



18. Montyon prize in Medicine and Surgery. These prizes, 

 of 2,500 francs each, were awarded to M. Alph Guerin, M. 

 Legouest, and M. Magitot respectively. " Encouragements " of 

 1,500 francs each were awarded to M. Berrier-Fontaine, to M. 

 Pauly, and to M. Raphael Veyssiere. 



19. The Breant prize not awarded. 



20. The Godard prize in Medicine, awarded to M. Alph. 

 Hergott. 



21. The Serres prize not awarded ; but a reward of 3,000 

 francs was given (i) to M. Campana for his researches on the 

 anatomy and physiology of the respiratory and digestive appa- 

 ratus, and of the serous membranes of birds ; and (2) to M. 

 Georges Pouchet for a MS. work on the development of the 

 skeleton, and especially the cephalic skeleton of osseous fishes 

 compared with that of some other vertebrates. 



22. The Chaussier prize in Medicine, of 10,000 francs, divided 

 between M. Gubler, M. Le Grand du Saulle, MM. Bergem and 

 I'Hote, and M. Manuel 



23. The Montyon prize in Experimental Physiology, 764 

 francs, to M. Fai\Te, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of Lyon, 

 for his researches on the functions of various parts of the nervous 

 system of insects. M. Faivre has established that among insects 

 the localisation of function and the division of physiological 

 work, are carried further than is generally supposed. 



24. The Lacaze prize in Physiology, 10,000 francs, awarded 

 to RI. Chauveau, Director of the Veterinary School of Lyon, for 

 his researches on virulent and contagious diseases. M. Chauveau 

 has proved that the virulent activity of the vaccinal, variolar, and 

 glanderous \-irus is not due to the liquid, as a whole, but often- 

 est to corpuscles which are held in suspension. M. Chauveau has, 

 moreover, discovered that the agents of contagion have not only as 

 a vehicle the liquids which come from the bodies of the sick, but 

 that they may be transmitted to healthy animals by means ot air 

 and water. He shows that the human variola is a distinct malady 

 by itself, of which the primary source is the organism of the 

 horse. 



