November i8, 1920] 



NATURE 



383 



Notes. 



The King has been pleased to approve of the fol- 

 lowinfl awards this year by the president and council 

 of the Royal Society : — A Royal medal to Mr. W. 

 Bateson, for his contributions to biological science, 

 especially his studies in genetics ; and a Royal 

 medal to Prof. G. H. Hardy, for his researches in 

 pure mathematics, particularly in the analytic theory 

 of numbers and allied subjects. The following awards 

 have also been made bv the president and council : — 

 The Copley medal to .Mr. H. T. Brown, for his work 

 on the chemistry of carbohydrates, on the assimilation 

 of atmospheric carbon dioxide by leaves, and on 

 tjaseous diffusion through small apertures; the Rum- 

 ford medal to Lord Rayleigh, for researches into the 

 properties of gases at high vacua ; the Davy medal 

 to .Mr. C. T. Hcycock, for his work in physical 

 chemistry, especially on the composition and con- 

 stitution of alloys; the Darwin medal to Prof. 

 R. H. Biffen, for his work on scientific principles 

 applied to the breeding of plants; and the Hughes 

 medal to Prof. O. W. Richardson, for his work in 

 experimental physics, especially thermionics. 



Dr. H. DBSI.ANDRES, president of the Paris Academy 

 of Sciences, gave, at the meeting on October 4, an 

 eloquent iXoge on Sir Norman Lockyer, who was a 

 correspondant of the .Academy in the section of 

 astronomy. He referred to Sir Norman as one of 

 the founders of physical astronomy who approached 

 science along untrodden paths and with whose name 

 great discoveries are associated. .Among the re- 

 searches and conclusions to which Dr. Deslandres 

 directed particular attention were those of the ob- 

 servation of solar prominences in broad daylight, the 

 discovery of helium, the effect of variation of pressure 

 on the width of hydrogen lines in prominences, the 

 application of the Doppler-Fizcau principle to the 

 spectroscopic determination of velocities in promin- 

 ences, dissociation of chemical elements, the tem- 

 perature relations of long, short, and enhanced lines 

 in spectra, the correlation between solar and terrestrial 

 meteorology, and stellar classification on an ascend- 

 ing as well as on a descending temperature scale as 

 described in "The Meteoritic Hypothesis" and "In- 

 organic Evolution." Reference was also made to the 

 [fill Observatory, Sidmouth, as "already one of the 

 Ixxt provided in England," and Dr. Deslandres con- 

 eluded his appreciative address with the words : 

 •Dans son ensemble, I'ceuvre est considerable ct 

 touche aux plus hautes questions de la Science. Sir 

 Norman Lockyer e.it assurdment un des plus grands 

 savants dc I'.Angleterrc, et un des plus grands 

 astronomes de tous les temps. L'.Acad^mie s'honore 

 <le I'avoir comptd parmi .ses membrcs; elle adresse 

 .1 sa veuve et d ses enfants ses plus vives con- 

 dol^anres." 



A MEETING of till- International Commission for 

 Weather Telegraphy, which was appointed by the 

 International Meteorological Conference at Paris in 

 October, 1919, will be held at the .Air Ministry during 

 the week November zt-t',. The following delegates 

 are expected to attend the meeting :— Lt.-Col. E. 

 NO. 2664, VOL. 106] 



Gold (president), Meteorological Office, .Air Ministry; 

 M. .A. .Angot, Bureau Central M6t6orologique, Paris; 

 Col. L. F. Blandy; Controller of Communications, 

 .Air Ministry; Dr. van Bemmelen, Meteorological 

 Observatory, Batavia ; Col. Delcambre, Service M^t^oro— 

 logique Militaire, Paris; Prof. F. Eredia, Ufficio 

 Central di Meteorologia, Rome; Prof. E. van Ever- 

 dingen, Meteorologisch Instituut, De Bill, Holland; 

 Gen. Ferris, Ministere de la Guerre, Paris; Capt. 

 Franck, Service de la Navigation .A^rienne, Paris; 

 Seizor Jos^ Galbis, Servicio Meteorologico Espanol, 

 Madrid; Lieut. H. D. Grant, Meteorological Office, 

 .Air .Ministry; Dr. Hesselberg, Meteorologiske Institut, 

 Christiania; Col. Matteuzzi, Servizio .Aerologico, 

 Rome; Prof. .A. de Quervain, Central Meteorological 

 Office, Zurich; M. Rey, Ministere de I'Agriculture, 

 Paris; Capt. C. Ryder, Meteorologische Institut, 

 Copenhagen; Mr. T. Thorkelsson, Meteorological 

 Service, Reykjavik; and Dr. .A. WaI16n, Meteoro- 

 logiske Hydrografiske .Anstalt, Stockholm. Since the 

 war much progress has been made in different coun- 

 tries in the development of codes for telegraphic 

 reports of the meteorological information which 

 experience in the war and the needs of aerial naviga- 

 tion indicated as necessary. The main object of 

 the Commission is to co-ordinate these developments 

 in the revision and extension of the codes prepared 

 at the last meeting of the Commission, which was 

 held in London in September, 1912. 



The Nobel prize for physics for 1920 has been 

 awarded to Dr. C. E. Guillaume, director of the Inter- 

 national Bureau of Weights and Measures at Sivres. 

 The prize for 1919 has been reserved. 



The Chadwick Trustees announce that a public 

 lecture will be given by Prof. J. B. Farmer, entitled 

 "Some Biological .Aspects of Disease," on Thursday, 

 November 25, at 5.15 p.m. The lecture will be 

 delivered in the lecture hall of the Medical Society of 

 London, 11 Chandos Street, W.i. 



The Woburn Fruit Farm, which was carried on 

 from 1894 to 1918 by the Duke of Bedford, and since 

 then by means of a grant from the Development Fund 

 administered by the Committee of the Rothamsted 

 Experimental Station, is to be closed at Christmas 

 owing to the continued ill-health of Mr. Spencer U. 

 Pickering, which renders him unable to continue his 

 experimental work there. 



The gold medal of the Institution of .Mining and 

 Metallurgy, the highest distinction in the power of 

 the council to bestow, has been awarded to Sir 

 Thomas Kirke Rose "in recognition of his eminent 

 services in the .ndvancement of metallurgical science, 

 with special reference to the m.tallurgy of gold." 

 The Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa, Ltd.. 

 gold medal and premium of forty guineas have been 

 awarded to Mr. H. Livingstone Sulmnn for his paper 

 entitled "A Contribution to the Studv of Flotation" 

 (Transactions, vol. xxix., 1919-30). 



.At the anniversary meeting of the Minernlngical 

 Society held on Novemlx-r 9 the following officers and 



