November 17, 19 10] 



NATURE 



8. 



■ logical formations in the "canal zone," with special 

 reference to the excavations at the Culebra cutting. Upon 

 the results of his investigations will depend the decision 

 whether a geologist will be permanently assigned to assist 

 the canal commission. 



A Reuter message from Munich announces the election 



the following corresponding members of the Munich 



.\cademy of Sciences : — Dr. F. G. Kenyon, director and 



principal librarian of the British Museum ; Dr. L. Fletcher, 



F.R..S., director of the Natural History Museum, South 



Kensington ; Principal Miers, F.R.S., the University of 



adon; Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S. ; Profs. Wilson and 



lx)rn, Columbia University, New York. 



Prior to the anniversary meeting of the Mineralogical 



.society in the Geological Society's rooms at Burlington 



House on Tuesday, November 15, Dr. Lazarus Fletcher^ 



'•' R.S., was presented with his portrait, painted by Mr. 



raid Festus Kelly, in recognition of the invaluable 



-^ivices he had rendered to the society during the past 



quarter of a century, the presentation being made by 



Prof. W. J. Lewis, F.R.S., on behalf of the members 



and other subscribers. For three j-ears, 1885-8, Dr. 



''I/tcher was president, and for twenty-one years, 1888- 



09, general secretary, of the society-, and it is to his 



lial and stimulating influence that its present prosperous 



idition is largely due. Dr. Fletcher resigned the 



retaryship upon his appointment as director of the 



itural History Museum. 



A CAREFLLLY planned effort is being made by the authori- 

 < of the -American Museum of Natural History in New 

 rk to popularise the resources of that institution. On a 

 ?nt afternoon they gave a reception to from 1500 to 

 1800 of the school teachers of the city, having invited the 

 principal of each school and two delegates whom he should 

 appoint. The programme of this " Teachers' Day " in- 

 cluded a personally conducted tour of the building, an 

 introductory address by the president of the museum. Dr. 

 H. F. Osborn, and six ten-minutes' talks by experts, 

 interspersed by orchestral music, and followed by tea in 

 the ornithological hall. The object of the reception was 

 to show the teachers of New York what the museum had 

 to offer both for themselves and for the children in their 

 classes. 



Dr. \V. H. Brewer, professor emeritus of agriculture 

 at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, has 

 died at New Haven from the infirmities of old age. He 

 was born in 1828. Before his appointment to the Yale 

 chair in 1864 he had been professor of chemistry and 

 geology at Washington College, Pennsylvania, and pro- 

 fessor of chemistry in the University of California. He 

 became professor emeritus in 1903. He had served on 

 several important Government commissions, and had been 

 president of the Connecticut Board of Health, of the 

 Connecticut Academy of Sciences, and of the Arctic Club 

 of America. In an editorial note on his career, the New 

 York Evening Post describes him as one of the fast dis- 

 appearing representatives of a stirring type. It quotes 

 from a friend who once spoke of him as an " eminent 

 geologist, an expert mining engineer, an .Arctic explorer, 

 an art critic, an author, and a charming companion," 

 and adds that, like Shaler and Holmes, he " was the 

 product of no system other than that prescribed by his 

 owh capacity of learning, and perhaps for that very reason 

 possessed a vitality and range which are seen but seldom 

 in the younger generation." 



At the annual general meeting of the London Mathe- 

 matical Society, held on November 11, the following were 

 elected to be the council and officers for the session 

 NO. 2142, VOL. 85] 



1910-11 (the names of members not on the retiring council 

 are printed in italic type) : — President, Dr. H. F. Baker, 

 F.R.S. , vice-presidents, Mr. J. E. Campbell. F.R.S. . Major 

 P. A. MacMahon, F.R.S., Sir William Niven, K.C.B., 

 F.R.S. ; treasurer. Sir Joseph Larmor, F.R.S. ; secretaries. 

 Prof. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S., Mr. J. H. Grace, F.R.S. ; 

 other members of the council, Mr. G. T. Bennett, Dr. 

 T. J. I'A. Bromwich, F.R.S., Dr. W. Burnside, F.R.S., 

 Mr. E. Cunningham, Mr. A. L. Di.xon, Dr. L. N. G. 

 Filon, Dr. E. W. Hobson, F.R.S., Prof. H. M. Mac- 

 donald. F.R.S., and Dr. A. E. Western. 



A'ery great vigour has characterised the conduct of the 

 Tacubaya Observatory of late, and therefore the severe 

 loss the institution has suffered by the death of the director. 

 Dr. F. Valle, will be keenly felt, for he made the observa- 

 tory a centre for scientific activity throughout all Latin 

 America. Dr. Valle plaj-ed a foremost part in promoting 

 scientific usefulness and maintaining an efficient standard 

 throughout the Republic of Mexico. The " Annuaire," for 

 which he was mainly responsible, appeared with great 

 regularity,', and supplied a mass of information connected 

 with geodesy, meteorology, and physics that would be par- 

 ticularly useful in the society in which it circulated, while 

 the articles on astronomy quickened local and popular scien- 

 tific effort. But of greater importance in general, and on 

 what the reputation of the late director will rest, was his 

 ardent prosecution of the work of stellar photography in 

 connection with the Carte du del, the observatory being 

 responsible for the zone io°-i6° south declination. When 

 the last report was issued, only 22 fields remained to com- 

 plete the 1200 for the catalogue, and these must have long 

 since been supplied. No fewer than 800 plates had been 

 measured, and the catalogue plates were being actively 

 pushed forward. Such activity contrasts very favourably 

 with the results obtained at some observatories engaged 

 on the southern zones, and the zeal displayed is the more 

 commendable, as it is known Dr. Valle had to contend 

 with very great difficulties in regard to the figure of the 

 object-glass of his photographic refractor. Dr. Valle did 

 not only measure his plates, but he used his meridian circle 

 vigorously for determining the position of standard stars 

 used in the reduction of the photographic plates. .Add to 

 this record the work of the observatory in sj>ectroscopv, 

 magnetism, seismology, and meteorology, and it will be 

 admitted that Dr. Valle 's energy went far to remove the 

 stigma of indifference and lassitude which at one time was 

 inclined to rest on the observatories of Spanish America. 



The account of the work of the Port Erin Biological 

 Station given by Prof. W. A. Herdman to the Liverpool 

 Biological Society on November 1 1 shows that the station 

 continues to develop. It is expected that the much needed 

 extensions now in progress will be completed and equipped 

 by Easter of next year. During last summer vacation 

 Prof. Herdman, Dr. Dakin, and Dr. Roaf conducted, for 

 the first time, a valuable course of work in the science of 

 oceanography (including hydrography and planktology). 

 The work consisted partly of lectures and demonstrations 

 in the biological station, partly of collecting and observing 

 work on the seashore, and partly of expeditions at sea in 

 the steam yacht Ladybird and in the Lancashire Sea 

 Fisheries steamer. The operations of the fish hatchery at 

 the station have rtsulted in the hatching and setting free 

 at sea of upwards of 8,000,000 plaice fry and more than 

 5000 lobster larvae — a substantial advance upon the work 

 of any previous year. Plankton observations were carried 

 out on the same lines as in the previous three years, three 

 collections being made twice a week in the sea off Port 

 Erin the whole year round. During July Prof. Herdman 



