February i6, 191 i] 



NATURE 



519 



Six Hunterian lectures on " The Fossil Remains of 

 Man and their bearing on the Origin of Modern British 

 Tvpes " are to be delivered in the theatre of the Royal 

 College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields, by Prof. Arthur 

 Keith, at 5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 

 n the fortnight beginning on February 20. The lectures 

 ire designed to serve as an introduction to the study of 

 the anthropolt^ical collection in the museum of the college. 



The Lannelongue prize, founded last year by Prof. Lanne- 

 longue, of Paris, has been presented to Sir Victor Horsley, 

 F.R.S. The prize is a gold medal and the sum of 200/., 

 and it is awarded to the person who had contributed most 

 to the progress of surgery in the ten years before the date 

 of the award. It is open to surgeons of all nations, and is 

 to be awarded every five years during the annual meeting 

 of the Society de Chirurgie. 



.'\t the anniversary^ meeting of the Malacological Society 

 of London on Friday, February 10, held (by permission) 

 at the Linnean Society's rooms, the following officers and 

 council were elected for the ensuing Vear : — President, Mr. 

 R. Bullen Newton ; vice-presidents. Rev. R. Ashington 

 Bullen, Mr. G. C. Crick, Prof. H. M. Gwatkin, Mr. B. B. 

 W'oodwarJ; treasurer, Mr. J. H. Ponsonby ; secretary, Mr. 

 G. K. Gude ; editor, Mr. E. A. Smith ; other members of 

 the council, Mr. S. Pace, Mr. H. B. Preston, Dr. W. G. 

 Ridewood, Mr. H. O. N. Shaw, Mr. E. R. Sykes, and 

 Mr. J. R. le B. Tomlin. The president delivered an 

 address entitled " A Sketch of the Chief Geological Zones 

 and their Mollusca." 



The current number of the Revue scientifique announces 

 the election of the officers for the present year of several 

 French scientific societies. In the case of the Physical 

 Society, Prof. L. Poincar6 is the president, M. B. Baillaud 

 vice-president, M. H. Abraham general secretary, and 

 Prof. Jean Becquerel secretary'. Prof. B^hal has been 

 elected president of the Chemical Societ^•. M. L4on 

 Teisserenc de Bort becomes president of the Meteorological 

 Society, MM. Lemoine and Maillet vice-presidents, M. 

 Goutereau general secretary, and M. Besson secretary. 



The Kainan Maru, with the members of the Japanese 

 Antarctic E.xpedition on board, left Wellington, New 

 Zealand, on February 11 for the Antarctic. It is stated 

 that the only chart of the far south possessed by the 

 expedition is a reduced copy of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 

 map, and that the only means of transport on land consist 

 of ver\ light sledges and twelve dc^s. A Press message 

 from Hamburg states that the German South Polar Ex- 

 pedition will start from there on May 2. The expenses of 

 the expedition, estimated at 68,oooZ., have been partially 

 guaranteed by Hamburg charterers. 



At the anniversary meeting of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society on February 10, the following officers and council 

 were elected: — President, Prof. F. W. Dyson, F.R.S. ; 

 vice-presidents. Sir W. de W. Abney, K.C.B., F.R.S., 

 Mr. E. B. Knobel, Dr. W. H. Maw, Prof. H. H. Turner, 

 F.R.S. ; treasurer. Major E. H. Hills, C.M.G. ; secretaries, 

 Mr. A. R. Hinks, Mr. S. A. Saunder ; foreign secretary. 

 Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S.; council. Sir W. H. M. 

 Christie, K.C.B., F.R.S., Dr. P. H. Cowell, F.R.S., Dr. 

 A. C. D. Crommelin, Mr. A. S. Eddington, Prof. A. 

 Fowler, F.R.S., Dr. J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S., Prof. 

 E. W. Hobson, F.R.S., Mr. H. P. Hollis, Mr. Thomas 

 Lewis, Prof. H. F. Newall, F.R.S., Rev. T. E. R. 

 Phillips, and Mr. F. J. M. Stratton. 



At a meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 

 January 24, the influence of ocean currents along a coast- 

 line on the movement of sand was discussed by Mr. G. H. 

 NO. 2155, VOL. 85] 



Halligar in describing the conditions on the coast of New 

 South Wales. A permanent southerly ocean current 

 having a vekx:ity of about i to ij knots per hour inshore 

 causes a sand movement in the direction of its flow which- 

 the heaviest seas or gales only temporarily disturb. 

 Observations showed that even the most violent gales from- 

 the south only reverse the current during their continu- 

 ance, while the more frequent northerly winds increase 

 its velocity. The run-oflf of the rivers is not sufficient to- 

 scour out the river-mouths except in heavy flood, and' 

 stress is laid on the necessity for so designing harbour 

 entrances that the velocity of the flood-tide entering it 

 may be less than that of the littoral current, in order that 

 the sand in suspension may be carried past the entrance 

 instead of entering the estuary at each tide. 



On February 8 a portrait of Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, 

 F.R.S., by Mr. W. Llewellyn, was presented to the Whit- 

 worth Hall of the University of Manchester by a large 

 number of friends and admirers who wished to show their 

 appreciation of his long and distinguished services to the 

 University, the Manchester Museum, and the City of 

 Manchester generally. The portrait was unveiled by Prof. 

 S. J. Hickson, F.R.S., dean of the faculty of science in 

 the University, and was received on behalf of the Uni- 

 versity council by Sir Frank Forbes Adam, CLE., and" 

 the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alfred Hopkinson. In unveiling 

 the portrait. Prof. Hickson directed attention to the fact 

 that largely through Prof. Dawkins's energy anJ. 

 enthusiasm the present museum has been transformed" 

 from the condition of an unclassified local collection of 

 curiosities to be an important reference museum, meeting 

 the wants of students and teachers, the general intellectuaH 

 public, as well as those workers in science who have to 

 rely on trustworthy material for reference. He also re- 

 viewed Prof. Dawkins's contribution to the early history 

 of man, and the vertebrate palaeontology of the Tertiary 

 and post-Tertiary ages, as well as his activity in the ' 

 problems of applied geolc^y. Although Prof. Dawkins 

 has now retired from the chair of geolc^y, he still shares 

 the work of the University as an honorary' professor and 

 as a museum lecturer and member of the committee, and 

 thus his retirement from university work is more format 

 than real. 



" The Academic Aspect of the Science of Nationaf 

 Eugenics " (Eugenics Laboratory, Lecture Series, vii. 

 London : Dulau and Co., Ltd., 191 1) is the title of a- 

 lecture delivered to undergraduates by Prof. Karl Pearson- 

 Its main purport is to emphasise the need for the study 

 of social questions in the same manner that scientific 

 questions are studied. To quote the words of the 

 lecturer : — " You cannot settle such essential problems of 

 society as alcoholism, tuberculosis, mental defectiveness, . 

 or the changing status of women, by oratory in the market- 

 place. I claim that these things must be studied in uni- 

 versity laborat<M-ies, where Oxford shall check the results 

 of Cambridge, and London correct both of them, if need' 

 be." 



A LIST of publications of the Bureau of .'\merican- 

 Ethnology, with index to authors and titles, has been 

 published by the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. 

 These publications consist of contributions to North' 

 American ethnology, annual reports, bulletins, introduc- 

 tions, and miscellaneous publications. The issue of 

 annual reports began in 1880, and the present maximunv 

 edition of an annual report is 9850 copies. With the 

 exception of a few copies of the publications of the Bureau 

 disposed of by the U.S. Superintendent of Documents, the 

 editions are distributed free of charge. 



