252 



NA rURE 



[July II, 1889 



been attached a staff of eminent Professors of Oriental 

 languages. Ttie Indian School of University College, and 

 the Oriental Section of King's College, have both done 

 useful work ; but, mainly from want of proper organization, 

 the classes of many of the Professors have been but poorly 

 attended, and several important modern languages a know- 

 ledge of which is now needed have not been included in 

 the prospectus of either school. The Institute has effected 

 an arrangement with the Colleges whereby the Indian 

 and some allied tongues will continue to be taught in 

 Gower Street, whilst the other languages will be taught at 

 King's College, Strand. This is perhaps the first instance 

 of such an arrangement between the two Colleges having 

 been brought about, and suggests the practical advantage 

 of an extension of the system to other branches of 

 learning. It is only by a proper organization of the 

 higher instruction that London can secure the full advan- 

 tages of University education, and it may be hoped that 

 as soon as a teaching University can be established in 

 London, the two Colleges and the Medical and Science 

 Schools will be found to co-operate with one another, so 

 as to supplement, without unduly interfering with, each 

 other's field of work. 



We should add that the new School of Oriental Studies, 

 which will be opened in October next, is under the 

 general management of a special Committee, which com- 

 prises among its members Sir Francis Bell, Sir Charles 

 Wilson, Sir Thomas Wade, Sir Frederic Goldsmid, and 

 representatives of the governing bodies and teaching 

 staffs of the two Colleges. 



NOTES. 

 This year the French Association for the Advancement of 

 Science will hold its annual meeting in Paris. The session will 

 last from August 8 to 14. A great number of members are 

 expected to attend the meeting, and it is hoped that many 

 foreign men of science may also be present. 



The International Congress which met in Paris in 1887 to 

 make arrangements for the preparation of a photographic chart 

 of the heavens expressed a wish that a similar Congress might 

 meet for the discussion of questions relating to celestial photo- 

 graphy in general. M. Janssen and Mr. Common were asked to 

 take such steps as might be necessary for the attainment of this 

 object ; and afterwards, by a Ministerial decision at Paris, an 

 organizing Committee, with M. Janssen as President, was ap- 

 pointed. The arrangements have now been completed, and the 

 Congress will be held in Paris from August 22 to September 3. 

 The aim of the Congress will be to determine the methods which 

 are most suitable for each branch of celestial photography, and 

 the means by which the results obtained by these methods can 

 be most effectually published and preserved. 



The Botanical Society of France announces the following 

 programme of the forthcoming Botanical Congress to be held in 

 Paris : — Tuesday, August 20 : opening sitting of the Congress at 

 2 p.m., at the hotel of the Horticultural Society, 84 Rue de 

 Crenelle ; reception of foreign members at 8.30 p.m. Wednes- 

 day, August 21 : sitting at 9 a.m., devoted to the consideration 

 of the first question, on the utility of an agreement between the 

 different Botanical Societies and Museums, for the purpose of 

 drawing up charts of the distribution of species and genera of 

 plants on the globe ; and other communications, if time allows. 

 Thursday, August 22 : excursion in the neighbourhood of Paris. 

 Friday, August 23 : sitting at 9 a.m., devoted to the consideration 

 of the second question, on the characters furnished by anatomy 

 for classification ; and other comnumications, if time allows. In 

 the afternoon a visit to the botanical collections and laboratories 

 of the Museum of Natural History, and of the other large 

 scientific establishments in Paris. Saturday, August 24 : sitting 

 at 9 a.m., miscellaneous contributions. In the afternoon a visit 



to the Exhibition. Sunday, August 25 : banquet to the foreign 

 botanists. During the following week several botanical ex- 

 cursions will also be arranged. Special arrangements with 

 regard to railway fares will be made in favour of botanists 

 announcing their intention to be present to M. P. Maury, the 

 Secretary to the Committee of Organization, 84 Rue de Crenelle, 

 before July 25. 



The following are subjects proposed for discussion at the 

 International Zoological Congress, to be held in Paris (August 

 5-10) :■ — Adoption of rules on the nomenclature of organisms, 

 and of an international scientific language ; determination of 

 regions the fauna of which calls for investigation ; methods of 

 investigation and procedure in preparation and preservation of 

 animals ; the use of embryology in classification ; relations 

 between living and fossil fauna. The Secretary's address is 

 32 Rue de Luxembourg. 



At the International Congress on Hygiene and Demography, 

 also to be held during the Paris Exhibition, there will be dis- 

 cussed : — The administrative and medical regulations framed 

 in different countries in the interests of health and of infantile 

 life ; removal and utilization of solid detritus in cities and the 

 country ; regulation and distribution of temperature in the 

 dwelling ; action of the soil on germs of disease ; protec- 

 tion of watercourses and of ground water from pollution by 

 factory refuse ; sanitation of ports ; accidents through food-stuffs 

 of animal origin containing poisonous alkaloids ; statistics of the 

 causes of death in cities. 



Some valuable reports were distributed among the members 

 of the International Agricultural Congress, which finished its 

 labours at Paris the other day. One of them relates to agri- 

 cultural education, This report is signed by a dozen authors, 

 among whom are MM. Tisserand, Prilleux, and Jamieson, the 

 latter an Englishman. 



The sixty-second meeting of German Naturalists and Physi- 

 cians will be held at Heidelberg from September 17 to 23. One 

 whole day will be devoted to excursions in the neighbourhood, 

 and on the evening of September 23 the Castle of Heidelberg 

 will be brilliantly illuminated. 



At a meeting of the Council of Dundee University College, 

 held on the 3rd instant, Mr. J. Martin White announced that he 

 had been authorized by Mr. John Bett, merchant, Rohallion, to 

 offer a third of the amount required to found and establish a 

 Chair of Physiology in connection with the Medical School 

 of the College, provided the remaining two-thirds of the 

 amount required be raised. It was mentioned that, to provide 

 a fund adequate for the endowment of the Chair and the furnish- 

 ing of saitable buildings and equipment, a sum of about ;i^i5>ooo 

 would be necessary. The foundation of this Chair would enable 

 the College to complete the first two years of a medical 

 curriculum. 



A CIRCULAR from Harvard College Observatory, dated June 26, 

 states that the sum of fifty thousand dollars has been received by 

 that Observatory from Miss C. W. Bruce, of New York, to be 

 applied "to the construction of a photographic telescope having 

 an objective of about 24 inches aperture with a focal length of 

 about 1 1 feet ; . . . also to secure its use under favourable cli- 

 matic conditions in such a way as will best advance astronomical 

 science." 



A STATUE of Paul Bert was unveiled at Auxerre on Sunday 

 last. The ceremony was attended by the Annamite Envoys, 

 and M. Spuller represented the French Government. 



Dr. E. Heinricher has been appointed Professor of Botany 

 and Director of the Botanical Garden at Innsbruck ; and Dr. H. 

 Ambronn, Professor of Botany at Leipzig. 



