476 



'NATURE 



[December 8, 192 1 



tures upon the mountains of Europe and North 

 America gained for him a great reputation both 

 as an intrepid climber and as a shooter of big 

 game. But his claim to be remembered by 

 naturalists rests upon a far more secure founda- 

 tion, for many who achieve distinction in the fields 

 indicated are, perhaps, best forgotten. 



Most fortunately, Baillie-Grohman soon began 

 to write about his favourite pursuits, and from 

 1875 onwards many books and innumerable articles 

 in periodicals flowed from his pen. In these writ- 

 ings there is much of interest and importance to 

 the naturalist, for the author was keen-sighted as 

 well as judicious. His love of the chase led him 

 to examine everything connected with its history, 

 and with the utmost patience and industry he ex- 

 plored ancient books, pictures, tapestries, and 

 mouldering heaps of medieval records in search of 

 facts. The results of these researches are well 

 seen in what is probably Baillie-Grohman's 

 greatest book, "Sport in Art" (1913), which is, 

 in effect, an admirable history of the chase as prac- 

 tised in the four centuries between 1400 and 1800. 

 Of even greater interest are his two editions of 

 *'The Master of Game," written by Edward, 

 second Duke of York (Shakespeare's "false 

 Aumerle "), between 1406 and 1413. This work. 



comprising a translation of Gaston de Foix's 

 "Livre de Chasse " { czVcai39o), and five original 

 chapters on English hunting, is the oldest book of 

 hunting in our language, and as such must always 

 make a special appeal to the student of British 

 mammals. 



By the death of Mr. R. W. Frazer, at sixty- 

 seven years of age, India has lost a learned philo- 

 logist and student of its literature and philosophy-. 

 Joining the Madras Civil Service in 1877, he was 

 invalided in 1881 as the result of exposure on 

 famine duties and service during a local disturb- 

 ance in the Godavari Hills. On his retirement he 

 became librarian of the London Institution, and 

 it was by his initiative that it was absorbed by 

 the School of Oriental Studies. Frazer lectured 

 extensively on subjects connected with Southern 

 India, and acquired a seldom-rivalled knowledge 

 of Tamil and Telugu. He will be best remem- 

 bered by his " British India " in the " Story of the 

 Nations" series, his "Literary History of India," 

 and "Indian Thought, Past and Present." He 

 was for a short time secretary of the Royal Asiatic 

 Society, succeeding Miss Hughes, who became 

 his wife, and survives him. 



Notes. 



The anniversary meeting of the Royal Society was 

 held on St. Andrew's Day, November 30, and the 

 following officers were elected : — President : Prof. 

 C. S. Sherrington. Treasurer: Sir David Prain. 

 Secretaries : Mr. W. B. Hardy and Mr. J. H. Jeans. 

 Foreign Secretary : Sir Arthur Schuster. Other 

 Members of Council : Sir Frederick Andrewes, Prof. 

 V. H. Blackman, Sir William Bragg, Prof. A. W. 

 Crossley, Dr. H. H. Dale, Prof. A. S. Eddington, 

 Prof. A. Fowler, Prof. A. Harden, Prof. J. Graham 

 Kerr, Prof. H. Lamb, Sir William Leishman, Sir 

 Gerald Lenox Conyngham, Lord Rayleigh, Prof. 

 O. W. Richardson, Sir Aubrey Strahan, and Prof. 

 J. T. Wilson. Prof. Sherrington delivered the anni- 

 versary address, which is abridged on p. 470 of this 

 issue, and presented the medals as follows : — The 

 Copley Medal to Sir Joseph Larmor, who has long 

 held a leading position in the British school of mathe- 

 matical physics. It may fairly be said that his pre- 

 liminary work was of the utmost value in paving the 

 wav to the modern developments of the theory of 

 relativity. A Royal medal to Dr. Frederick Frost 

 Blackman, distinguished for his contributions to plant 

 physiology, and especially to knowledge pf the process 

 of photo-synthetic assimilation of carbon dioxide. A 

 Royal medal to Sir Frank Dyson, who has devoted 

 special attention to investigations of the movements 

 and distances of the stars and of the bearing of these 

 upon the structure of the stellar universe. It was 

 mainly to his foresight and organising ability that we 

 owe the successful observations of the deflection of 

 light by the sun's gravitational field during the eclipse 

 of 19 19. The Davy medal to Prof. Phlllipe Auguste 

 NO. 2719, VOL. 108] 



Guye, In recognition of his work on optically active 

 organic substances, on molecular association, and on 

 atomic weights. The Hughes medal to Prof. Niels 

 Bohr, the author of the conception to which the name 

 "Bohr-atom" has been attached. This conception 

 gave a solution of the long-standing puzzle of the 

 Balmer series of hydrogen, and appears likely to pro- 

 vide a complete explanation of the spectra of the 

 various elements. 



At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society 

 held on Monday, December 5, the president announced 

 that it is hoped the members of the Mount Everest 

 Expedition will have returned by the end of this week. 

 Messrs. Raeburn and Mallory are already home, and 

 Col. Howard Bury and Messrs. Wollaston and Bullock 

 are on their way. The natural history collection and 

 the photographic plates have also arrived, and the 

 maps will be here within the next fortnight. It is 

 satisfactory to find that the collections have reached 

 home In excellent order. There is a plant belonging 

 to the pink family from a height of 20,400 ft. above 

 sea-level, and there are several kinds of primula — 

 pale yellow, blue, and dark purple — and one with big 

 hanging bells, and many gentians, a remarkable yel- 

 low Pedicularis delphinium, and some beautiful dwar7 

 rhododendrons. One hundred and sixteen packets of 

 seed In excellent condition are among the treasures 

 which have reached the Royal Geographical Society, 

 of which eighteen packets are of rhododendrons, 

 twelve of primulas, eighteen of meconopsis, and four 

 of gentians. From a height of ig,ooo ft., the highest 

 point from which seeds were obtained. Is a packet of 

 edelweiss. Then there is a sparrow from 18,500 ft., 



