February 3, 1921] 



NATURE 



740 



and it is hoped that every past student of the college 

 will make an attempt to be present. Invitations have 

 been accepted by Sir A. Keogh, Prof. H. E. Arm- 

 strong, Sir Richard Gregory, the professors of the 

 City and Guilds (Engineering) College, and others. 

 Tickets (price 15s. each) may be obtained from Mr. 

 (i. W. Tripp, Lyndhurst, H.iycs Road, Bromley, 

 Kent. 



The .Military Education Committee of the Univer- 

 sity of London has arranged a course of six lectures 

 on the scientific aspects of warfare, to be delivered 

 on Mondays, commencing February 14, at 5.30 p.m., 

 in the Theatre of King's College, Strand. The sub- 

 jects of the lectures will be :— Chemical Warfare, 

 i'rof. \. J. .MImand ; Transportation Services, Lt.-Col. 

 K. R. M. de Paula: Wireless Telegraphy and Tele- 

 phony, Mr. Philip R. Coursey ; Military Railways, 

 Lt.-Col. V. M. Barrington-Ward ; Sound Ranging, 

 Prof. E. N. da C. .-Xndrade; and Intercommunication 

 during the War, Major R. E. Priestley. Admission 

 to the lectures is free, without ticket. 



A COPY of the first annual report of the library 

 committee of the British Red Cross Society and Order 

 of St. Jojin Hospital I-ibrary has been received. The 

 library is the outcome of a petition for the re- 

 orf;anisation of the War Library of the British Red 

 Cross Society, and it has now a record of more than 

 a year's splendid work behind it. The men of the 

 Army and Navy who are still suffering from the 

 • iTects of the war have the first claim on the library, 

 after which civilian hospitals are supolied so far as 

 i>ossibIe. During the pa.st year 33 British military 

 hospitals oversea have received consignments of 

 hooks from the librarv, while as many as 4S8 civilian 

 institutions have been supplied. .\n interesting 

 feature is the growinp demand for special books bv 

 in<lividual natients, and it is in this direction that 

 readers of NATfRP, may be of assistance. No request 

 is made, for funds, for if is estimated that the grant 

 m.ide by the British Red Cross Society will pav the 

 working exnenses of the library, but an urgent appeal 

 is addressed to all who have books and maefazines to 

 snare. Gifts of books and twpers should be sent to 

 the British Red Cross Societv and Order of St. Tohn 

 Hospital Library, 48 Queen's Gardens, London, W.2. 



Thp. Vice-Chancellor of thi- I'niversitv of Ix>ndon, 

 Dr. Russell Wells, visited the Horticultural College, 

 Swanley, on January 27 and addressed the students. 

 The occasion was a memornble one, for the colleire 

 is now recognised by the I'niversity for preparation 

 for the new degree of B.Sc. in horticulture. The 

 Vice-Chancvllor was greeted by Sir John Cockburn, 

 acting chairman for the board of governors, and the 

 principal. Miss F. M. G. Micklethwait, members of 

 the board of governors, and other distinguished 

 guests, including' Dr. Goodchild (of the Uniyersitv 

 of London), Mr. Dallinger (representing the Ministry 

 of Agriculture), Dame Meriel Talbot, Mr. Salter 

 Davies (Director of Education, Kent Education Com- 

 mittee), and Mr. Dykes (secretary of the Roval Horti- 

 cultural Society), were also present. The Vice-Chan- 

 ' <llor in his a<ldress said that he was one of those 

 vho had had a great deal to do behind the scenes 

 V ith the founding of the new B..Sr. in horticulture, 

 ' hirh had been propose*! by Sir Albert Rollit. One 

 ■ f the difBcullies had been to convince some of the 

 "embers of the .Senate that gardening was worthv 

 f ac.idemic distinction. Practical experience proved. 

 oWever, that the "rule of thumb" gardener could 

 ■nt progress far without expert advice, and he hoped 

 in the future such advice would h* provided by 

 Swanley College. 



NO. 2675, VOL. 106] 



I 



Calendar of Scientific Pioneers. 



February 3, 1862. Jean Baptiste Blot died. — Biot 



worked assiiluuusly all his life at physics and made 

 valuable contributions on the polarisation of light. 

 His famous balloon ascent with Gay-Lussac, his geo- 

 detical work with Arago, his biographical writings, 

 and his activity as a member of the French Institute 

 all made his name widely known. 



February 3, 1890. Christoforus Henrlcus Diedericus 

 Buys-Ballot died.^Direclor of the -Meteorological In- 

 stitute and professor of experimental physics at 

 I'trecht, Buys-Ballot was an initiator of weather 

 reports and international meteorology. 



February 3, 18M. Edmond Frimy died. — The author 

 with Pelouze of a large treatise on chemistry, Fr^my 

 was an investigator ^nd teacher of industrial chemis- 

 try, and in his later years succeeded in making 

 artificial rubies. 



February 4, 16IS. Giovanni Battista della Porta 

 died. 1 hi- compiler of " .Magia Naturalis," a volume 

 of physical expt-riments, and the inventor of the 

 camera obscura. Porta rendered many services to the 

 science of his day. 



February 6, 1907. Nikola Alexandrovitch Menschut- 

 kin diedj — .\ contemporary and fellow professor of 

 .Mend<'l<''<tT at Petersburg, Menschutkin added to the 

 knowledge of chemical structure and was a pioneer 

 in the study of chemical dynamics. 



February 6, 1804. Joseph Priestley died.— Five 

 years younjjer than Black and two ve.-irs vounger than 

 Cavendish, Priestley — the father of pneumatic chemis- 

 try — was born near Leeds in 1733, and was trained 

 for the Nonconformist ministry. .\ttracte<l to the 

 study of chemistry and electricity, he discovered 

 several gases. His discovery of oxygen or "de- 

 phlogisticafed air " was made in 1774, when he was 

 librarian to Lord Shelburne. In spite of his own dis- 

 coveries, Priestley clung to the phlogistic theory, 

 leading Cuvier to describe him as " le p^re de la 

 chimie moderne qui ne voulait pas reconnaitre sa 

 fille." From 17H0 to i7<)i he was a I'nitarian 

 minister at Birmingham. .\ lover of freedom and 

 known for his svmpathv with the French Revolution, 

 on the second anniversary of the fall of the Bastille. 

 July 14, i7qt, a mob set fire to his house. His library, 

 apparatus, note-books, and register of experiments 

 were all destroyed. Priestley himself fled to Heath 

 Forge, near Dudlev. and thence bv Kidderminster and 

 Worcester to London. Three years later he sailed 

 for .\nierica. passing the last ten years of his life at 

 N'orlhuml)erlan<l, Pennsylvania. 



February 7, 1903. James Claisher died.— He.td of 

 the magnetical and meteorological department at 

 Greenwich Observatory, Glaisher m.ule many balloon 

 ascents for scientific purposes. 



February 9| 1811. Nevil Maskelyne died. -Like 

 Lalande and Messier, Maskelyne w.-is attracted to 

 astronomy bv the solar eclipse of lulv 2^. 1748. He 

 became Astronomer-Royal in 176.';. founded the 

 Nautical .Almanac, and made improvements in 

 methods of observing. 



PabrtNiry 9, 186f>. James Melville Cilliss di*d.— 

 Trained for the I'nitetl States N'avv, Gilliss published 

 the first .American volume of astronomical observa- 

 tions and pretiarc-d the first .American star catalogue. 

 In 1861 he succei'ded Maury as director of the Naval 

 Ohsrrvatnrv at Washington. 



February 9. 1883. Henry John Stephen Smith died. 

 — .Savilian professor of gronielrv at OxfortI, Smith did 

 important work in ellit)lic functions, theory of 

 numbers, and modern geometry. He has been called 

 the fjrcatest disciple of Gnuss. 



E. C. S. 



