i6 



NATURE 



[November 3, 19 10 



In India the rat flea, Loemopsylla cheopis, which 

 closely resembles the human flea, Pulex irritans, in 

 appearance, is by far the most commonly found 

 species. In England the common rat flea is Cerato- 

 phyllus fasciatus ; a single specimen only of L. cheopis 

 has been found up to the present time. 



L. cheopis, especially if hungry, will bite man ; C. 

 fasciatus does not take to man with any readiness, 

 but will undoubtedly bite on occasion. This diff^erence 

 in the appetite of the two species for human blood 

 may be of significance in determining the likelihood 

 of the spread of rat plague to human beings. 



G. F. Petrie. 



PROF. D. P. PENHALLOW. 



WE regret to announce that Prof. D. P. Penhallow, 

 D.Sc, F.R.S. (Canada), president of the American 

 Society of Naturalists, and professor of botany in 

 McGill University, Canada, died on October 20, in 

 consequence of an apoplectic seizure, whilst on board 

 the ss. Lake Manitoba, on voyage to Liverpool. His 

 remains were brought to Liverpool, and were, in 

 accordance with his wishes, cremated at Anfield 

 Cemetery on Friday, October 28. Prof, and Mrs. 

 Penhallow were about to begin a year's vacation, and 

 had intended spending the winter in the south of 

 England. In consequence of the severe strain of 

 work which Prof. Penhallow had undergone during 

 the last few years, his previously excellent health "lad^ 

 shown signs of giving w'ay, and under medical advice 

 he was about to take a prolonged rest, when the 

 lamentable event of his decease occurred.. 



Prof. D. P. Penhallow was born in 1854 at Kittery 

 Point, in Maine, where his parents had a summer 

 cottage, but their home was in New Hampshire, and 

 Prof. Penhallow always regarded himself as a New 

 Hampshire man. His family were in the direct line 

 of descent from Governor Wentworth, of pre-Revolu- 

 tionary days, and Prof. Penhallow was a splendid 

 embodiment of the best tj^pe of New Englander. He 

 received his scientific education in Boston University, 

 and after graduation he was offered the post of 

 professor of botany in the Imperial College of Agri- 

 culture in Japan. In the same year (1876) he married 

 Miss Sarah Dunlap, who, like himself, could boast 

 of a distinguished New England ancestry, and the 

 first four years of his married life were spent in Japan. 

 He thus enjoyed the distinction of being one of the 

 group of Western students who were chosen by the 

 Reformed Japanese Government to inaugurate the 

 epoch of Meiji (intellectual enlightenment) in Japan. 



Returning to America in 1880, he undertook work 

 in connection . with the summer school of botany in 

 Harvard University, and in 1883 he was offered the 

 newly-created chair of botany in McGill University, 

 Montreal, where the rest of his professional life was 

 spent. He had a very uphill fight in Montreal, which 

 he manfully fought. There was no botanical labora- 

 tory and there were no funds to provide one ; but as 

 Prof. Penhallow gained the respect and esteem of the 

 community help was forthcoming, and before he died 

 the botanical laboratory was exceedingly well equipped. 

 When he was appointed obscurantist views prevailed in 

 Montreal, both in the city and in the University, and 

 Prof. Penhallow was one of the very first to teach 

 evolution, and may thus be said to have helped to 

 inaugurate the epoch of "meiji" in Montreal. In his 

 own science he devoted special attention to the 

 anatomy of woods, both recent and fossil ; on this 

 subject he publis'hed many valuabTe~~papers, and in 

 his great work on " Gymnosperms," which appeared 

 in 1908, he summed up the results of twenty years' 

 labour. His eminence in his special department was 



NO. 2140, VOL. 85] 



cordially recognised by the American scientific world, 

 and when he died he was not only president of the 

 American Society of Naturalists, but vicerpresident of 

 the American Society of Botanists. 



But Prof. Penhallow's activities were by no means 

 limited to teaching in his special subject. He threw 

 himself into every movement calculated to bring a 

 wider intellectual outlook into Montreal and Canada 

 generally. He instituted courses of lectures to 

 teachers, which had for many years a beneficial effect 

 on those engaged in instruction in the public schools 

 of the city. He was a leading member of the Canadian 

 Royal Society, and in 1897, when the British Asso- 

 ciation met in Toronto, he was appointed a member 

 of a committee to impress on the Canadian Govern- 

 ment the desirability of founding a marine biological 

 station. The Government acted in accordance with 

 the advice of this committee, and in 1899 ^ small 

 floating station was started, which was moved from 

 placed to place in eastern Canadian waters. 



When in 1907 the Government was persuaded to 

 give a grant towards the foundation of a permanent 

 station at St. Andrews, Prof. Penhallow was deputed 

 by the Biological Board to supervise its erection. 

 When he arrived at St. Andrews it was found to be 

 necessary not only to build the station, but to cut a 

 road through a mile of forest and to build a wharf. 

 No one was ready to undertake the contract for this 

 work, and those who were ready to undertake part of 

 it, when they discovered that it was to be paid for by 

 "Government money," would only do so at exorbitant 

 prices. With characteristic American energy and ver- 

 satility. Prof. Penhallow threw himself into the 

 breach, became contractor himself, and constructed 

 the road, the station, and the wharf in one-third the 

 time he was told it would require, and at a great] 

 saving in cost. Next year he superintended the activi- 

 ties of the station, but a political crisis at Ottawa! 

 temporarily stopped supplies, and the anxiety andl 

 financial strain which he underwent undermined his] 

 health, and, in the opinion of his friends, constituted' 

 the first link in the chain of causes which led to his 

 death. 



Prof. Penhallow is survived by his wife and 

 by his son. Dr. P. Penhallow, who is engaged in 

 medical practice in Boston. By his death McGill 

 University loses one of its most distinguished pro- 

 fessors, the city of Montreal one of its most public- 

 spirited citizens, and the science, not only of botany, 

 but of marine biology generally, a devoted supporter 

 who could ill be spared. E. W. M. 



NOTES. 



We learn with great regret that it has been found 

 necessary to postpone the festivities arranged to take place 

 at Leyden to-day (November 3). On this date Prof, van 

 Bemmelen completes his eightieth year, and he was to 

 have received the personal congratulations of friends and 

 disciples from all parts of the world. Owing to his illness, 

 the ceremony is to be confined to the formal presentation 

 of the jubilee volume by Prof. Lorentz, if, as is hoped, 

 Prof, van Bemmelen is sufficiently recovered to receive 

 him. The jubilee volume is a remarkable testimony to 

 the regard which is felt throughout the world for the dis- 

 tinguished second founder of colloidal chemistry. It con- 

 tains a portrait, together with a biography and a biblio- 

 graphy of the professor's published works. Sixty papers 

 on subjects connected with the colloidal state have been 

 contributed by workers from all parts of the world. 

 Amongst the authors are le Chatelier, Duhem, Zsigmondy, 

 Liesegang, von Wiemarn, Hissink, Freundlich, Biltz, 

 Spring, Hardy, Svedborg, Jordis, Wolf. Ostwald, Lotter- 



