November io, 1910] 



NATURE 



47 



sequently in his researches and lectures ; also two pieces of 

 rocksalt, the remains of a large block given to Dr. Tyndall 

 by the King of Wurttemberg in 1867. 



The eighty-fifth Christmas course of juvenile lectures, 

 founded at the Royal Institution in 1826 by Michael 

 Faraday, will be delivered this year by Prof. Silvanus P. 

 Thompson, F.R.S., his subject being " Sound, Musical and 

 Non-musical : a Course of Experimental Acoustics." 



The General Purposes Committee of the Birmingham 

 City Council has recommended to the council that an 

 invitation be given to the British Association to meet in 

 that cit>: in 1913. The council will cooperate with the 

 I niversity and other public institutions in making the 

 • cessarj- arrangements. 



The death is announced of Dr. Carl S. N. Hallberg, 

 professor of pharmacy in the Chicago College of Pharmacy 

 in connection with the University of Illinois. He was 

 born in Sweden in 1856, and emigrated to America when 

 a lad. He organised in 1885, and subsequently directed, 

 the National Institute of Pharmacy. Since 1906 he had 

 edited the Bulletin of the American Pharmaceutical 

 Association. 



The Simon Newcomb library, which has been presented 

 to the New York Cit\- College by Mr. John Claflin, has 

 just been classified and catalogued. It is a collection of 

 4000 volumes and 6000 pamphlets, and includes many 

 mathematical and astronomical publications of unusual 

 interest. Among them may be mentioned sn early edition 

 of Euclid's Elements, a Pacioli of 1494, the 15 15 edition of 

 the Almagest of Ptolemy, and the first book ever published 

 on sun-spots. 



Mr. G. M. Meyer sends us an extract from the Madrid 

 weekly periodical Suevo Mundo of October 6 in which a 

 Spanish case of eugenic policy is described. It appears 

 that an illustrious Salamancan, Don Federico Gomez- 

 Arias, founded an annual prize of 1000 pesetas, which is 

 awarded every year to a young woman of Salamanca from 

 fifteen to twenty-three years of age, of good physical con- 

 stitution, attractive, and well conducted, who must have 

 received at least an elementary education and be on the 

 point of being married to a man of similar physical and 

 moral condition and of suitable age. 



By the generosity of Sir Julius Wernher, who recently 

 placed a sum of lo.oooZ. at the disposal of the committee 

 for the purpose, a much needed extension of the department 

 of metallurgy of the National Physical Laboratory has now 

 been commenced. The department has been accommodated 

 in scattered rooms in Bushy House, which, in consequence 

 of the increase and importance of the work, have become 

 quite inadequate. Plans have been prepared in consultation 

 with Dr. Rosenhain, the superintendent of the department, 

 and the contract has been let to Messrs. Dick, Kerr and 

 Co., who have already made good progress with the 

 foundations. 



The programme for the isyth session of the Royal 

 Society of Arts is being issued to the members. There 

 will be five ordinary meetings before Christmas, at the 

 first of which the usual address will be given by the 

 chairman of the council. Sir John Cameron Lamb. The 

 papers announced for the other four meetings are by Sir 

 Henry H. Cunynghame, K.C.B., " Detecting Fire- 

 damp " ; Mr. C. P. Ogilvie, "Argentina"; Dr. Vaughan 

 Cornish, "The Panama Canal"; and Mr. Reginald 

 Smith, " Roman London." There will also be a meet- 

 ing of the Colonial Section, at which Mr. A. Montgomery 

 will read a paper on " Mining in Western Australia," 

 NO. 2 141, VOL. 85] 



and one of the Indian Section to be occupied by a paper 

 by Mr. R. F. Chisholm, on " The Taj Mahal." On the 

 four Mondays before Christmas Mr. C. R. Darling is tOj. 

 give a course of Cantor lectures on " Industrial Pyro- 

 metry," There is also a ver\- full list of papers and 

 lectures for the part of the session after Christmas. 



A QfARTERLV periodical entitled the Botanical Journal 

 is issued as the official organ of the Royal Botanic Society 

 of London. The first number contains an account of the 

 history of the society since 1839, the date of the Royal 

 Charter, in which are set forth the objects which have 

 been served in that period. In recent years progress has 

 been impeded by a lack of sufficient financial support, and 

 consequent increase of debt, but the latest report shows 

 that in some measure, at least, this condition is iheing 

 remedied. The number of Fellows now is 1834. as com- 

 pared with 1570 last year. The debenture debt is 14,714/., 

 as compared with 24,248/., and the current liabilities 572/. 

 instead of 3050/. Prof. A. J. Ewart, of Melbourne 

 University, has an article on "The Flora of Victoria," 

 and other subjects treated upon include " Our Native 

 Lawns," " The Melbourne Botanic Gardens," " Fruit- 

 growing in Queensland," and " Art in the Garden." There 

 are notes upon botanical questions of interest and recently 

 issued books. Two plates in colour from paintings by Miss 

 Bertha Maguire prettily illustrate chr}santhemums, but 

 their value is purely decorative, for they shed no light on 

 the evolution of the flower, as would appear to be the case 

 from the title. Mr. Butler's colour photographs are 

 welcome, because thej- illustrate interesting plants in 

 the society's collection. The number is not entirely free 

 from the blemishes common to first issues : especially is 

 this the case in the awkwardness of some of the titles to 

 the subject-matter. The journal is issued by Messrs. .Page 

 and Pratt, and the price is one shilling. 



The Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital for October 

 (xxi.. No. 235) contains an appreciation of the life and 

 work of Lord Lister, by Mr. Charles Judd. with biblio- 

 graphv ; an historical inquiry on the decussation of the 

 pyramids (nerve tracts in the brain), by Dr. Thomas ; and 

 an historical sketch of the practice of blood-letting, by 

 Dr. Joseph Smith. Dr. Thomas ascribes the first definite 

 observation of the crossing in the medulla of the great 

 motor tracts passing from the brain to the spinal cord to 

 Francois Pourfour du Petit (1664-1741). The practice of 

 blood-letting or " bleeding " is at least two thousand years 

 old, and is mentioned by the earliest medical writers. 



Under the provisions of the Indian Museum .\ct of 

 1910, the ethnological and art collections have been 

 separated from those of economic products, and in his last 

 report of the museum as originally constituted, the 

 curator, Mr. I. H. Burkill, has given a useful account of 

 its past history and present condition. The museum was 

 first started by the Asiatic Society- in 1814, the first donor 

 being the Countess of Loudoun. The collections have 

 passed through many vicissitudes, due to the absence of 

 suitable accommodation. L'nder the present scheme of 

 reorganisation they have at last been placed upon a satis- 

 factory footing. The ethnological gallery now contains 

 about 11,000 exhibits, but it still lacks a proper descrip- 

 tive catalogue, which can be prepared only by a com- 

 petent ethnologist. The progress of the art series has 

 been stimulated by the patronage of Lord Curzon, who 

 provided an annual State grant of about 400/. for the 

 purchase of specimens. Most of the older economical 

 exhibits have perished, but these are being gradually re- 

 placed. It is satisfactory to learn that these important 



