June 26, 1879] 



NATURE 



209 



A Japan paper mentions a curious instance of Japanese thrift 

 at Osaka. The paper made at the mill there is mostly manufac- 

 tured from blue rags, and the water in which they are boiled 

 has hitherto only poisoned the watei courses ; henceforth it is to 

 be saved and the indigo extracted from it. 



The Manchester people have entered a fresh protest against 

 centralisation by the publication of the Manchester Magazine, 

 No. 2 of wliich lies before us, and devotes a fair proportion of 

 its space to articles in science. Mr. L. H. Grindon writes on 

 the art of distinguishing trees, and Mr. Angell on the Manchester 

 Science Lectures. Prof. Osborne Reynolds writes on the Man- 

 chester Philosophical Society, and there are articles on Star- 

 gazing, the Phonograph, the Weather, &c. Indeed the bulk of 

 the magazine is scientific. 



The University Library at Strassburg has, according to the 

 latest news, now reached the total of 470,000 volumes. 



We have received a very favourable Report of the Auckland 

 (N.Z.) Institute for 187S-9. A considerable number of papers 

 bearing on the natural history of New Zealand have been read 

 during the session. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week inclutle two Macaque Monkeys (Ulacacus cynomolgus) 

 from India, presented respectively by Mr. G. T. Close and Miss 

 E. Cattlin ; a Garnett's Galago {Galago garnetti) from East 

 Africa, presented by Mr. F. W. Barff ; two African Civet Cats 

 (Vivcrra civetta) from Africa, a Kinkajou {CercoleJ>tes caudivol. 

 vulus) from Demerara, presented by Lieut. M. B. Salmon, 

 Indian Staff Corps ; two Egyptian Gazelles ( Gazelta dorcas) from 

 Egypt, presented by Commander J. Pratt, s.s. Java ; a Persian 

 Gazelle (Gazella subgutlurosa) from Persia, presented by Mr. C. 

 H. Watts ; three Hyacinthe Porphyrios (Porphyria hyacinthinus) 

 from West Africa, two Egyptian Kites {Milvus agyptius) from 

 Egypt, presented by Mr. A. Bells ; a greater Sulphur-Crested 

 Cockatoo (Cacalua galeriici) from Australia, presented by Mr. 

 J. W. Taylor; a Slender-billed Cockatoo (Licmetis' tenuirosiris) 

 from South Australia, presented by Mr. Geo. Wood ; a Ring- 

 necked Parrakeet {Palaornis iorqnaius) from India, presented 

 ■ ly Mr. E. F. Carey ; four Australian Wild Ducks (Anas super- 

 iliosa) from Australia, presented by Messrs. A. H. Jamrach and 

 Charles Rice ; two Pied Wagtails (Motacilla yarrelli), British 

 Isles, presented by Mr. A. F. Wiemer; a Common Badger 

 (Meles taxus), British Isles ; a Ceram Lory (Lorius garmlus) 

 from Moluccas, an American Robin ( Turdus mi^ralorius) from 

 North America, a West African Python (Python seicc) from 

 West Africa, a Reticulated |Python (Python reticulatus) from 

 Molucca, eleven Spotted Salamanders (Salamandra maculosa), 

 European, deposited ; a Beech Marten (Maries foind] from 

 Russia, a Brazilian Tanager (Ramphocahis brasilius) from Brazil, 

 twenty Spotted Salamanders (Salamandra maculosa), European, 

 purchased ; a Collared Fruit Bat ( Cynonycteris collaris), two 

 Jameson's Gulls (Larus jamisani), bred in the Gardens. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM 



"T^HE following memorial has been recently presented to the 

 ■'■ Earl of Beacoasfield ; — 



To the Right Hon. the First Lord of the Treasury 

 My Lord, — In accordance' with a resolution adopted by the 

 General Committee of the British Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science at their Ust meeting, the Council of the 

 Association beg leave to call your attention to the following 

 circumstances. 



I. In their fourth Report, presented to Parliament in 1874, 

 the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction and the Advance- 

 nent of Science, having fully considered the present state of the 

 Natural History Departments in the British Museum, and taken 

 evidence thereon from the principal scientific authorities of the 

 country, state that they have come to the conclusion "that the 

 objections to the present system of government of the British 



Museum by a Board of Trustees as at present constituted, so far 

 as relates to the Natural History Collections, are well founded, and 

 that they have been unable to discover that the system is attended 

 by any compensating advantages." They, Uxerefore, reconmiend : — 

 " (i) That the occasion of the removal of these collections to the 

 new buildings now being erected at South Kensington for theii" 

 reception, be taken advantage of to effect a change in the govern- 

 ing authority and official administration of that division of the 

 Museum. (2) That a director of the National Collections should 

 be appointed by the Crown, and should have the entire adminis- 

 tration of the establishment, under the control of a Minister of 

 State, to whom he should be immediately responsible, and that 

 the keepers of collections should be responsible to the director. 

 That the appointments of keepers and other scientific officers 

 should be made by the Minister, after communication with the 

 Director and with the Board of Visitors (hereinafter refen'ed to). 

 And that the Director should prepare the estimates, to be 

 submitted, after consultation with the Board of Visitors, for the 

 approval of the Minister. (3) That the present superintendent 

 be the first director. (4) That a Board of Visitors be constituted. 

 That the Board be nominated in part by the Cron-n, in part by 

 the Royal and certain other scientific Societies of the metropolis, 

 and, in the first instance, in part also by the Board of Trustees ; 

 the members to be appointed for a limited period, but to be 

 re-eligible ; and that the Board of Visitors should make annual 

 reports to the Minister, to be laid before Parliament, on the 

 condition, management, and requirements^of the Museum, and 

 should be empowered to give him advice on any points affecting 

 its administration." 



2. Exactly the same view as to the desirability of effecting a 

 change in the government of the Natural History Collections 

 was taken in a memorial presented to the then Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer in 1866, and signed by the Presidents and other well- 

 known members of the Royal, Linnean, and Zoological Societies, 

 a copy of which is appended hereto. 



3. Notwithstanding these expressions of opinion, in which 

 nearly all the leading naturalists of the day fully concur, an Act 

 was passed at the close of the last session of Parliament by which 

 the Trustees of the British Museum have been authorised to 

 transfer the Natural History Collections into the new buildit^ at 

 South Kensington, without making any change whatever in the 

 present mode of their administration. 



4. The Council of the British Association feel thit it is not 

 necessary for them to press upon the Government the arguments 

 for the changes in the administration of the Natural History 

 Collections which have been so amply stated by the Commis- 

 sioners in the Report above-mentioned. The Council think it 

 sufficient to call the attention of the Government to the fact that 

 the provisions of the act are directly at variance with the 

 recommendations of the Royal Commissioners. 



5. As, however, a fresh application to Parliament will^ be 

 necessary in order to defray the expense of the removal of the 

 Natural History Collections from their present situation to South 

 Kensington, the Council of the British Association beg leave to 

 point out to H.M. Government that the question of the adminis- 

 tration of the Natural History Collections is one of the utmost 

 importance as regards the future progress of Natural History in 

 this country, and to urge upon them to take the opportunity 

 which will thus present itself of effecting the alterations in the 

 mode of administration of the Collections recommended by the 

 Royal Commission. We have the honour to be, your Lordship's 

 most obedient servants. 



The Council of the British Association 

 for the Advancement of Science 



Signed, for the Council, W. Spottiswoode, President 

 Copy OF A Memorial Presented to the Right Hon. 



THE CHANCEIXOR of THE EXCHEQUER 

 To the Right Hon. the Chancellor of tlu Exchequer 



London, May 14, 1866 

 Sir, — It having been stated that the scientific men of the Me- 

 tropolis are, as a body, entirely opposed to the removal of the 

 Natural History Collections from their present situation in the 

 British Museum, we, the undersigned Fellows of the Roya], 

 Linnean, Geological, and Zoological Societies of London, beg 

 leave to offer to you the following expression of our opinion upon 

 the subject :— 



