84 



NATURE 



\_Nov. 28, 1878 



netic also. We shall discover also that the magnetism 

 of the little iron bar is not distributed exactly in the 

 same way as if it had been a permanent steel magnet, 

 for the lines of force follow curves that fill surrounding 

 space slightly differently. Still, on the whole, we should 

 argue that the iron core possessed magnetic poles where 

 the force was greatest, and that the two poles were of 

 opposite kinds of polarity, one being a north-seeking, the 

 other a south-seeking, pole. 



SiLVANUs P. Thompson 



THE LATE MR. G. DAWSON ROWLEY 



IT is with sincere regret that we have to announce the 

 death, on the 21st inst., at his house in Brighton, of 

 Mr. George Dawson Rowley, the projector of, and princi- 

 pal contributor to, the Ornithological Miscellany, which 

 he published at his own very considerable cost, and 

 author of several papers on ornithological and archaeo- 

 logical subjects. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, 

 Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1846, he was the 

 companion, both at school and at the University, of the 

 late John Wolley, whose early passion for natural history 

 he shared. In Mr. Rowley, however, the taste for a time 

 gave way to antiquarian studies, and did not return, at 

 any rate very strongly, until some years afterwards, when 

 lie had married and was settled at Brighton, where, not- 

 withstanding the dictum of Mr. Ruskin that "no English 

 gentleman has ever thought of birds except as flying 

 targets or flavorous dishes," he became, so far as the 

 opportunities of the place allowed, a very watchful ob- 

 server of all that was passing in the feathered world, 

 while in the spring he yearly repaired to his father's 

 estate at St. Neot's in Huntingdonshire, the better to 

 study the habits of birds in the breeding-season. He 

 also began to form a collection of ornithological speci- 

 mens of singular value, sparing no cost or trouble in the 

 acquisition of objects of rarity or peculiar interest, and 

 the treasures thus amassed finally became very numerous. 

 The design of his Ornithological Miscellany seems to 

 have chiefly been to illustrate this " Rarity Chamber" — 

 for so, after the example set by old Rumphius, it 

 might well be called — a considerable number if not 

 most of the specimens therein figured or described 

 being his own possessions. Yet he willingly accorded 

 room in its pages to worthy contributors, among whom 

 may be mentioned Mr. Dresser, Dr. Finsch, Messrs. 

 Salrin, Sclater, Seebohm and Sharpe, and Lord Tweed- 

 dale, and his printing a translation of Prjevalsky's 

 important work on the birds of Turkestan, published 

 in Russian, with copies of the plates, was a real 

 boon to those ignorant of that language. Besides this 

 he often wandered into the by-ways of ornithology, 

 which frequently possess a curious kind of interest, and 

 he gave views of many places remarkable for the birds 

 which frequent them. Never did the contents of a work 

 better justify its title, for anything more miscellaneous 

 than they are cannot well be imagined. Failing health, 

 as he himself only a few months ago stated in his con- 

 cluding remarks, brought it to an end far sooner than he 

 had intended. Setting aside the scientific value of some 

 of the papers, the beautiful plates by which nearly all are 

 illustrated make its cessation a loss to ornithologists; and 

 those who knew that Mr. Rowley had for a long time 

 been gathering information bearing on the history of the 

 extinct Gare-fowl {A lea impennis) had hoped that some 

 result of his labours in this respect would one day make 

 its appearance. But this was not to be. More than a 

 year ago a violent haemorrhage of the lungs gave warning 

 of serious danger, and the attack was only too quickly 

 followed by others of a like nature, under which he sank, 

 in his fifty-seventh year, dying, by a singular coincidence, 

 on the very same day as his father, who had long been 

 an invalid. 



NOTES 



We notice with regret the death, at the age of sixty-eight, of 

 Mr. James M'Nab, the well-known curator of the Edinburgh 

 Royal Botanic Garden. Mr. M'Nab's father was also curator 

 of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, where the son was trained. 

 In 1834 Mr. M'Nab paid a visit to the United States and 

 Canada, the fruits of which appeared in a variety of contribu* 

 tions, descriptive of the more interesting plants found during the 

 journey, in the Edinlmrgh Philosophical Journal for 1835, and 

 in the Transactions of that period of the Edinburgh Botanical 

 Society. On the death of his father, in December, 1848, after 

 thirty-eight years' superintendence of the Botanic Garden, Mr. 

 M'Nab was promoted by the Regius Professor (Dr. Balfour) to 

 the responsible post thus vacated. The extent of the Garden at 

 that time was not more than fourteen imperial acres. Ten years 

 later, however, two acres were added on the west side, which 

 were laid out and planted by Mr. M'Nab, under the superin- 

 tendence of Prof. Balfour. After the lapse of five more years 

 the Experimental Garden, extending to ten acres, was thrown 

 into the Botanic Garden, and planted with conifers and other 

 kinds of evergreens. On a portion of the ground so acquired a 

 Rock Garden was, on the suggestion of Mr. M'Nab, begun 

 towards the end of i860. The Rockery has now upwards of 

 5,442 "compartments" for the cultivation of Alpine and dwarf 

 herbaceous plants, and is yearly being added to ; while of late 

 years portions of the southern slopes have been set apart for the 

 rearing of bulbous and other plants, whose roots require to be 

 well ripened before flowering. Mr. M'Nab was a frequent con- 

 tributor to horticultural and other magazines, his writings 

 including papers, not only on botanical subjects, but on 

 vegetable climatology, landscape gardening, and arboricul- 

 tiu-e. One of the original members of the Edinburgh Bo- 

 tanical Society, founded in 1836, he was a voluminous writer 

 in its Transactions ; and in 1 872 he was elected to the 

 presidency of the society — a position rarely held by a practical 

 gardener. In November of the following year Mr. M'Nab 

 delivered his presidential address on "The Effects of Climate 

 during the last Half-Century with Reference to the Cultivation 

 of Plants in the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh and else- 

 where in Scotland," a paper which excited a good deal of dis- 

 cussion at the time, the writer having adduced facts with the 

 view of showing that a change in our climate had taken place 

 during the period in question. Mr. M'Nab also contributed to 

 the Society a monthly report on thermometrical readings and 

 progress of open-air vegetation in the Botanic Garden, which 

 was highly valued, alike by horticulturists and meteorologists, 

 for the practical information it conveyed. Prof. M'Nab, of the 

 Royal College of Science, Dublin, is a son of the late Mr. 

 M'Nab. 



On Friday a meeting of the local executive of the British 

 Association was held at Sheffield to appoint committees to make 

 the necessary preparations for the visit which commences on 

 August 20 next year. The Master Cutler (Mr. W. H. Brittain) 

 presided. It was stated that the guarantee fund now amounted 

 to 3,338/., and would eventually reach 5,000/. The Associa- 

 tion, however, do not wish the expenses to exceed 1,500/., or 

 they fear that the expense of entertaining the Association will 

 deter other towns from sending invitations. It is expected that 

 at least 1,500 members and associates will attend the sittings. 

 The necessary committees were appointed, and Mr. J. E. H. 

 Gordon, who was present representing the Association, thanked 

 the people of Sheffield for the splendid preparations they were 

 making for the reception of the Association and for the hospi- 

 tality which was already offered. 



M. Bardoux has appointed a great commission for the re- 

 organisation of the Museum of Natural History of Paris. This 



