April 28, 192 1] 



NATURE 



277 



annual volumes published. He paid attention to 

 several widely different groups of plants, while 

 he was keenly interested in the problems con- 

 cerning hybridisation. 



Mr. Rolfe was elected an associate of the 

 Linnean Society in 1885. He received many dis- 

 tinctions. In February last he was awarded the 

 Victoria medal of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 and the gold medal of the Veitch Memorial Trust 

 Fund. Mr. Rolfe 's work was well done. He was 

 esteemed by all who knew him, and his many 

 amiable qualities won for him the affectionate 

 regard of his numerous colleagues and friends. 



Prof. Isao Ijima, who died of apoplexy in Tokyo 

 on March 14, was born in 1861, and received his 

 training as a zoologist in Tokyo from Prof. C. O. 

 Whitman ; and his first papers, on the leech 

 Nephelis, were contributed to the Quarterly Journal 

 of Microscopical Science and Zoologischer An- 

 zeiger (1882). Continuing the study of various 

 worms, he was attracted to the laboratory of 

 Leuckart; but after his return to Japan, about 

 1890, he began a long series of researches on the 



beautiful Hexactinellid sponges of the neighbour- 

 ing seas. In a series of papers published in the 

 Journal of the College of Science of Tokyo Uni- 

 versity, Ijima threw light on the structure and 

 development of many of these siliceous sponges. 

 On the death of Mitsukuri, Ijima became senior 

 professor of zoology at Tokyo University. 

 Though administrative duties checked the flow of 

 papers, he had prepared the manuscript of a large 

 monograph on the Hexactinellidae, which, it is to 

 be hoped, will soon see the light. Ijima was a 

 good shot, a keen fisherman, an all-round natu- 

 ralist, and a charming companion. He leaves 

 many friends and a succession of distinguished 

 pupils. 



The death is announced, in Science of -\pril 8, 

 of Dr. John Iridelle Dillard Hinds, at the age 

 of seventy-three years. Dr. Hinds was one of the 

 founders of the American Chemical Society, and 

 for forty years acted as professor of chemistry, 

 first in Cumberland University and later in the 

 University of Nashville and Peabody College. At 

 the time of his death he was chemist to the Geo- 

 logical Survey of Tennessee. 



Notes. 



The first of the two annual soirees of the Royal 

 Society will be held at Burlington House on Wednes- 

 day, May II. 



In consequence of industrial disturbances, the Con- 

 gress of Radiology, fixed for April 14 and following 

 days, has been postponed until the spring of 1922. 



It is announced that the King has approved the 

 conferment of the honour of knighthood on Dr. James 

 Craig, King's professor of medicine at Trinity Col- 

 lege, Dublin, and president of the Royal College of 

 Physicians of Ireland. 



The British Medical Journal for April 16 states that 

 the Government of Panama has assigned the sum of 

 10,000,000 dollars for the erection in Panama of the 

 proposed Institute for Tropical Diseases in memory of 

 the late Surg. -Gen. Gorgas. 



Notice is given by the Ministry of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries that applications for grants in aid of 

 scientific investigations bearing on agriculture will 

 be received until May 15 next. Copies of form 

 A.230/I., giving particulars of the conditions under 

 which the grants will be made, are obtainable from 

 the Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries, Whitehall Place, S.W.i. 



It is announced in Science for March 25 that the 

 American Engineering Council has joined with the 

 National Association of Manufacturers, the American 

 Patent Law Association, the American Chemical 

 Society, and the National Research Council in a 

 movement to bring about reforms in the United 

 States Patent Office. A committee on patents has 

 been appointed which is representative of mechanical, 

 electrical, civil, mining, and metallurgical engineers 

 in the United States in order to deal with this subject. 

 NO. 2687, VOL. 107] 



The subjects for discussion at the seventh Inter- 

 national Fisheries Congress, which will be held at 

 Santander, in Spain, on July 31-August 8, are: — 

 (i) Oceanography, physical, biological, and meteoro- 

 logical ; (2) technique of sea- and river-fishing ; 

 (3) fish, oyster, and mussel culture ; (4) the indus- 

 trial exploitation of the produce of the fisheries ; 

 (5) social problems ; and (6) statistics and legislation. 

 Papers for consideration ought to be sent to the 

 Secretary-General of the Congress {via the Ministry 

 of Agriculture and Fisheries) before June i. The 

 British Fisheries Society (which expects to be in being 

 very shortly) is opening a subscription for the pur- 

 chase of medals (six at 455. each and six at 21s. each), 

 and it is proposed that these should be awarded by 

 the society for the two best papers in each of the 

 above sections of the congress. The society invites 

 British writers to submit papers. 



The Faraday Society is organising a general dis- 

 cussion on physico-chemical problems relating to the 

 soil to be held during the afternoon and evening 

 of May 31 in the rooms of the Chemical Society, 

 London, and presided over by Sir Daniel Hall, Chief 

 Scientific Adviser to the Board of Agriculture. The 

 discussion will be opened by Dr. E. J. Russell, direc- 

 tor of the Rothamsted Experimental Station, who 

 will give a general survey of the subject. A series of 

 papers dealing with soil moisture, organic con- 

 stituents, adsorption, and colloidal phenomena will 

 then be put forward as a basis for discussion. It is 

 expected that among those present will be Prof, Sven 

 Oden, of the University of Upsala. Further par- 

 ticulars of the meeting may" be obtained from the 

 Secretary of the Faraday Society, 10 Essex Street, 

 London, W.C.2. 



