October 20, 192 1] 



NATURE 



251 



official duties, yet in continuous toucii with the 

 whole meteorological world, wasting no time over 

 controversy, keen to appreciate the scientific laws 

 and scrupulous impartially to place everything 

 that complied therewith at the service of the whole 

 scientific world. 



Fully occupied in the enjoyment of his work, he 

 was too busy for journeys that would separate 

 him from it. Since 1898 he has not often been 

 seen outside Vienna or his summer resort. He 

 leaves a widow, a son, and two daughters to 

 mourn his loss, which calls forth the assured sym- 

 pathy of colleagues and friends in all parts of the 

 world. 



Hann received many distinctions. He was 

 " Hofrat " in 1891, and subsequently was en- 

 nobled with the prefix "von"; but he made little 

 display of the distinction. He had also the Ehren- 

 zeichen fiir Kunst und Wissenschaft, and was a 

 Knight of the Prussian Order "Pour le Merite," 

 a member of the Academy of Vienna, and 

 honorary or foreign member of foreign academies 

 and societies in all parts of the world. He was 

 the recipient of the Buys Ballot medal, the Symons 

 medal, and many other recognitions of his pre- 

 eminent services. Napier Sh.wv. 



Benjamin Harrison. 

 The late Benjamin Harrison was born on 

 December 14, 1837, at Ightham, Kent, where his 

 family had resided for several generations. Edu- 

 cated locally, he had the good fortune to be trained 

 by two schoolmasters interested in science and 

 archaeology, and thus the natural trend of his 

 mind was greatly stimulated. On leaving school 

 at the age of fifteen he entered his father's shop, 

 and after his father's death carried on the busi- 

 ness of grocer until a few years ago. He passed 

 peacefully away on October i after a few days' 

 illness in the house in which he was born. He 

 was married twice, his first wife dying in 1877, 

 and his second wife (for many years an invalid) 

 surviving him only a week. He leaves one son 

 and two daugfhters. 



In early life Harrison was a keen botanist and 

 an enthusiastic collector of fossils and flint imple- 

 ments, and he soon got in touch with such well- 

 known workers as the late Lord Avebury, F. C. J. 

 Spurrell, and Roach Smith. In 1870 he met the 

 late Sir Joseph Prestwich, who, perceiving the 

 importance of his discoveries, encouraged him in 

 many ways. As a result of Harrison's field work, 

 Prestwich, in 1889, published his well-known 

 paper on the Palaeoliths of Ightham (Quart. Journ. 

 Geol. Soc, vol. 45, pp. 270-294), followed in 1891 

 by the Darenth paper {op. cit., vol. 47, 

 pp. 120-160), and in 1892 by the paper on the 

 plateau implements (Journ. Anthrop. Inst., 

 vol. 21, pp. 246-262), Prestwich claiming for 

 these rudely chipped flints a much greater anti- 

 quity than the Palaeoliths. This was the begin- 

 ning of the great " Eolithic " controversy which 

 has not yet received its final solution, and it 

 would appear as though there will always be two 

 opinions respecting "Eoliths." Henceforward 

 Harrison's spare time was spent in accumulating 

 evidence in support of the " Eoliths " and in 

 elucidating other prehistoric problems, whilst his 

 house became a Mecca for all students. 



Harrison's name will always be associated with 

 "Eoliths," but it was his evidence that enabled 

 Prestwich to establish the " hill group " of Palaeo- 

 liths whilst the excavations carried on by Harrison 

 at the rock shelters at Oldbury yielded many late 

 Palaeoliths which are now regarded as St. 

 Acheul II. Harrison published but little, yet no 

 one was more willing to assist others with his 

 knowledge. An extremely well-read man, his 

 ready wit, kindness of heart, and cheerful dis- 

 position endeared him to a large circle of friends, 

 who now mourn the loss of "old Ben." In 1895 

 he was awarded the Lyell fund by the Geological 

 Society, and in later life he was the recipient of 

 a Civil List pension. Harrison was one of those 

 humble workers for science who, in the face of 

 great difficulties, rise superior to their surround- 

 ings by strength of character and industry, and 

 leave an imperishable name behind. 



Notes. 



At a meeting of the Optical Society held on Thurs- 

 day, October 13, the resolution passed early in 1915 

 susi>ending certain members, subjects of countries 

 then at war with Great Britain, was revoked. 



The Thomas Hawksley lecture of the Institution of 

 Mechanical Engineers for the present year is to be 

 delivered at the institution on Friday, November 4, at 

 6 o'clock, by Dr. H. S. Hele-Sha'w, who will take 

 as his subject "'Power Transmission by Oil." 



At the opening of the annual meeting of the Soci^te 

 de Chimie industrielle on October 10 the Dumas 

 medal of the society and an illuminated address were 

 presented by M. Dior, Minister of Commerce, to Sir 

 William J. Pope. 



NO. 2712, VOL. 108] 



" Early Relations of Egypt, Babylonia, and Syria " 

 is the subject of a lecture to be delivered by Mr. 

 Percy E. Newberry on Thursday, October 27, at 

 8.30 p.m., at the rooms of the Royal Society, Burling- 

 ton House. This lecture is the first of a series on 

 Egypt to be arranged by the Egypt Exploration 

 Society. Tickets and further details can be obtained 

 \ from the Secretary, 13 Tavistock Square, W.C.i. 



i 



The programme for the session 1921-22 of the In- 

 stitute of Metals contains, in addition to announce- 

 ments of general meetings of the institute, the first 

 I list of meetings of the newly-formed London Local 

 ( Section. There are now in existence local sections 

 I in Birmingham, Shefiield, Glasgow, and London, and 



