October 21, 1920] 



NATURE 



249 



Astronomy in Italy has suffered three heavy 

 losses within a few months in the deaths of Ricc6, 

 Millosevich, and Celoria. Giovanni Celoria, who 

 died in Milan on August i8, was born in Piedmont 

 in 1842, graduated at the University of Turin in 

 1863, and then studied astronomy at Bonn and 

 Berlin. On returning to Italy he was appointed 

 by Schiaparelli an assistant at the Brera Observa- 

 tory, Milan, where he remained almost all his life, 

 becoming director in 1900, on Schiaparelli 's re- 

 tirement, and himself retiring in 191 7. Celoria's 

 astronomical studies were devoted mainly to the 

 structure of the star system ; he repeated some of 

 Sir W. Herschel's work on star-gauging, though 

 with a much smaller telescope, and inferred the 

 comparative thinness of the star-stratum in the 

 direction of the north galactic pole from the fact 

 that in this region he could see as many stars as 

 Herschel had seen. He did useful work in another 

 direction by collecting and discussing the records 

 of several total solar eclipses the tracks of which 

 crossed liurope in the Middle Ages, and he was 

 able to fix the boundaries of totality with con- 

 siderable precision ; his work has been utilised by 

 Dr. Cowell and others in the discussion of the 

 secular acceleration of the moon. Celoria was also 

 interested in geodesy, and held for a long time the 

 chair of that subject in the Technical College of 

 Milan. He was elected an associate of the Royal 

 Astronomical Society in 191 7. 



We regret to note that the death of Mr. George 

 Tangve is announced in the Engineer for 

 October 15. Mr. Tangye started business in 

 Birmingham, with four other brothers, in 1858. 

 The firm was a very modest undertaking at the 



start, but came rapidly into prominence on 

 account of the successful launching of the Great 

 Eastern steamship, which was accomplished by 

 use of the Tangye hydraulic jack. The firm was 

 one of the first to introduce steam-engines with 

 interchangeable parts ; its products in many fields 

 of engineering have now a world-wide reputation, 

 Mr. Tangye lived for- many years at Heathfield 

 Hall, formerly the home of James Watt. He 

 carefully preserved Watt's garret workshop, and 

 brought together a fine collection of relics of 

 Boulton and Watt, which he finally gave to the 

 city of Birmingham. 



The death is announced in Engineering for 

 October 15 of Sir John McLaren, who was well 

 known in Leeds engineering circles. Sir John was 

 born in 1850, and finished his education at Durham 

 University. He started in business in 187(1 with 

 his brother, and his firm carried. out many im- 

 portant contracts. When the war broke out he 

 was made chairman of the board of mnnage- 

 ment of the National Factories for Munitions in 

 Leeds. He was a member of the Institution of 

 Civil Engineers and of the Institution of Me- 

 chanical Engineers. 



By the death of Mr. Henry Steel on October 7, 

 chairman of the United Steel Companies, many 

 organisations with which he was prominently con- 

 nected have suffered a severe loss. Mr. Steel 

 was educated in Brussels and at the LTniversity 

 )f London. The combine of which he was chair- 

 man included many large firms, and had a capital 

 of more than 9,000,000/. He became a member of 

 the Iron and Steel Institute in 1886. 



Notes. 



Prof. T. \V. Kix.kwokth David, C.M.G., F.R.S., 

 professor of geology in the University of Sydney, has 

 been appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of 

 the British Empire (K.B. E.) for services in connection 

 with the war. 



The gold medal of the Royal College of Physicians, 

 which is awarded by the college every three years for 

 distinction in public health, was presented to Dr. 

 W. H. Hnmer, Medical OflRcer of the County of 

 I^ndon, on Monday, October 18. 



TiiK Emil Fischer memorial lecture will be delivered 



by Dr. .M. O. Forsfer at the ordinary scientific meet- 



ing of the Chemical Society on Thurstlay, October 28, 



^at 8 p.m. By the courtesy of the Institution of 



jMechanical Engineers, the meeting will be held in 



|the lecture theatre of that institution. 



Thb expedition sent by the Norwegian Government, 

 |ln command of Capt. G. Hansen, to lay depAts for 

 Capt. RoaUi .Amundsen has returned safely, having 

 accomplished its task. The Times announces that 

 Capt. Hansen, after wintering in the Eskimo settle- 

 ment at Thule, started northward in March this year, 

 NO. 2660, VOL. 106] 



accompanied by several Eskimo who had previously 

 served with Peary. The march w.is along the coast 

 of Greenland by .Smith Sound and Kane Basin. North 

 of Franklin Island fast sea-ice several years old en- 

 abled the expe<lition to cross Kennedy Channel to 

 Grinnell Land. With some difticulty, due to extremely 

 rough pack, Cape Sheridan was rounded and the goal 

 of the march reached at Cape Columbia, the most 

 northerly point of Grant Land. There the last of a 

 series of depots was laid which will enable .Amundsen, 

 if his Polar drift brings him to the neighbourhood, to 

 abandon his ship and travel southward by easy 

 marches to the Danish settlements in Greenland. 



The first Pan-Pacific Scientific Conference met nt 

 Honolulu on .August 2-20, when some note- 

 worthy resolutions were carried (Science, Septem- 

 ber 24). Dealing with the promotion of scientific 

 education, the conference recommended that the com- 

 pensation for instruction and for research in Stience 

 should be increased in order that young men may enter 

 u|X)n scientific careers without sacrificing all hopes of 

 reasonable monetary returns; and, further, that men 

 of exceptional attainments should be given rewards 



