September 29, 192 1] 



NATURE 



167 



at 



Calendar of Scientific Pioneers. 



September 29, 1839. Friedrich Mohs died.— Trained 



„. Halle and the Mining Academy, Freiburg, in 1817 

 Mohs succeeded Werner in the chair of mineralogy at 

 the latter institution. He was afterwards attached to 

 the Imperial Academy of Vienna. His most impor- 

 tant work was his -Grundriss der Mineralogie." 



September 30, 1870. William Allen Miller died.— 

 Appointed in 1845 to follow Daniell as professor of 

 chemistry at King's College, London, Miller the same 

 year made some of the earliest researches on the 

 spectra of glowing gases — researches which in 1862 

 led to his pioneering work with Huggins in the 

 spectra of the heavenly bodies. 



October 1, 1768. Robert Simson died.— A devoted 

 student of the Greek geometers, Simson for fifty years 

 held the chair of mathematics at Glasgow. His edi- 

 tion of "The Elements of Euclid," published in 1756, 

 was the basis of nearly all editions for more than a 

 centurv. 



October 1, 1895. Ernst von Rebeur-Paschwitz died. 

 — As a privat docent at Halle and an assistant at 

 Karlsruhe Observatory, Rebeur-Paschwitz, in spite of 

 ill-health, made important observations in seismology 

 and improved ZoUner's instruments. He died at the 

 age of thirty-four. 



October 2, 1848. Georg August Goldfuss died. — 

 Called to Bonn from Erlangen as professor of zoology 

 and mineralogy, Goldfuss held a high place among 

 German mineralogists. With Munster he published 

 the " Petrefacta Germaniae," an uncompleted monu- 

 mental work designed to illustrate the invertebrate 

 fossils of Germany. 



October 2, 1853. Frangois Jean Dominique Arago 

 died. — Rendered famous at an early age by his adven- 

 tures when engaged on geodetical operations in Spain, 

 Arago became one of the best-known men of science 

 of his day. He made important discoveries in optics 

 and electro-magnetism, zealously advocated the undu- 

 latory theory of light, and studied the physical pro- 

 perties of steam and other gases. W^ith Gay Lussac 

 he started the AnnaJes de Chirhie et de Physique, in 

 1830 became director of the Paris Observatorv, and 

 as permanent secretary to the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences wrote many notable eloges. He was also one 

 of the first successful popularisers of science and a 

 politician. 



October 2, 1901. Karl Rudolf Konig died.— A native 

 of Germany, Konig settled in Paris as an instrument- 

 maker, and afterwards gained a reputation for his 

 excellent workmanship and for his numerous inquiries 

 and experiments in acoustics. 



October 2, 1905. Dewitt Bristol Brace died.— After 

 studying at the Johns Hopkins and Berlin Universi- 

 ties, Brace about 1886 became professor of physics at 

 Nebraska. He especially studied the action of the 

 magnetic field upon light, and was also known for 

 his refined experiments on the aether drift. 



October 5, 1880. William Lassell died.— Lassell, 

 while engaged in business as a brewer, constructed a 

 Newtonian reflector, with which in 1847 he discovered 

 a satellite to Neptune. In 1848 he discovered 

 Hyperion, a satellite of Saturn, and in 1851 Ariel and 

 Umbriel, satellites of Uranus. 



October 5, 1912. Lewis Boss died. — .^fter serving 

 as astronomer to the United States Northern Boun- 

 dary Commission, Boss became director of the Dudley 

 Observatory, Albany, N.Y. Especially known for his 

 work on proper motions and star catalogues and on 

 the orbits of comets, in IQ05 he was awarded the 

 gold medal of the Roval Astronomical Society. 



e: c. s. 



NO. 2709, VOL. I08I 



Societies and Academies. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 12. — M. L^on 

 Guignard in the chair. — R. Serville : The conical pen- 

 dulum as affected by a screen. — L. Dunoyer : The 

 induction spectrum of rubidium. The metal was dis- 

 tilled in a vacuum into a quartz tube and ihi latter 

 placed in the field of a high-frequency alternating 

 current. The tube is luminous even at the ordinary 

 temperature, and is a bright violet-blue at 100° C. 

 At 200° C. the colour changes to lilac. With an ex- 

 posure of twenty minutes as many as 332 lines were 

 photographed ; the arc spectrum of rubidium contains 

 about 30 lines, and the spark spectrum about 60. A 

 list of the wave-lengths is given, of which only two 

 appear in the arc or flame spectra. — R. de Mallemann : 

 The inversion of the rotatory power of derivatives of 

 tartaric acid.— O. Majorana : The absorption of gravi- 

 tation. — M. Stuart-Mentiath : Granitised outcrops of 

 the border of the Pyrenees.— E. F. Terroine and R. 

 Wurmser : The influence of temperature on the utilisa- 

 tion of glucose in the development of Aspergillus 

 niger. 



Books Received. 



Aluminium and its Alloys : Their Properties, 

 Thermal Treatment, and Industrial Application. By 

 Lt.-Col. C. Grard. Translated bv C. M. Phillips and 

 H. W. L. Phillips. Pp. xxiii4- 184+ 17 plates. 

 (London : Constable and Co., Ltd.) lys. 6d. net 



Life of Elie Metchnikoff, 1845-1916. By Olga 

 Metchnikoff. (.Authorised translation from the 

 French.) Pp. xxiii+297. (London : Constable and 

 Co., Ltd.) 215. net. 



Survey of India. Professional Paper, No. 18 : A 

 Criticism of Mr. R. D. Oldham's Memoir, "The 

 Structure of the Himalayas and of the Gangetic Plain, 

 as Elucidated by Geodetic Observations in India." 

 By Lt.-Col. H. 'McC. Cowie. Pp. ii+33. (Dehra 

 Dun : Trigonometrical Survey.) 3s. 



Memoirs of the Geological Survey : Scotland. 

 Description of Arthur's Seat Volcano. i3y Dr. B. N. 

 Peach. Pp. 26. (London : E. Stanford, Ltd. ; 

 Southampton : Ordnance Survey Office.) 25. 6d. net. 



A Text-book of Aeronautical Engineering : The 

 Problem of Flight. By Prof. H. Chatley. 3rd edi- 

 tion, revised. Pp. xii+150. (London : C. Griffin and 

 Co., Ltd.) 155. net. 



Handbuch der biologischen Arbeitsmethoden. 

 Edited by Prof. Dr. Emil Abderhalden. Abt. 10, 

 Methoden der Geologic, Mineralogie, Palaobiologie, 

 Geographie. Heft i, Lieferung 28. Pp. 128. 

 21 marks. Heft 2, Lieferung 35. Pp. 129-312. 

 30 marks. Abt. 9, Methoden zur Erforschung der 

 Leistungen des tierischen Organismus. Teil i. Heft i, 

 Lieferung 34 : Allgemeine Methoden.^ Pp. 96. 30 

 marks. Abt. 5, Methoden zum Studium der Funk- 

 tionen der einzelnen Organe des tierischen Organis- 

 mus. Teil 7, Heft i, Lieferung 12 : Sinnesorgane. Pp. 

 195. (Berlin und Wien : Urban und Schwarzenberg.) 



Fisheries — England and Wales. Ministry of Agri- 

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 I : Freshwater Fisheries and Miscellaneous. Vol. 2, 

 No. I : The Methods of Fish Canning in England. 

 Pp. 25. (London : H.M. Stationery Office.) 25. 6d. 

 net. 



Annals of the South African Museum. Vol. 18, 

 P^i"t 3» 5 • The Odonata or Dragonflies of South 

 .Africa. Bv F. Ris. Pp. 24.^-452 + plates 5-12. 

 (London : Adlard and Son and West Newman, Ltd.) 

 30s. 



