NATURE 



{May 26, 1887 



Science and Art Department, and laid on the table of the House 

 of Commons in the same way as the minutes that regulate the 

 grants of the Education Department. 



On Tuesday afternoon the new Science and Art Schools which 

 have been erected (at a cost of £1^,000) in connexion with Sir 

 Andrew Judde's School, Tunbridge, were formally opened by 

 the Lord Mayor of London. Among those who addressed the 

 company present at the ceremony was Prof. Judd, who referred 

 to Mr. John Morley's idea that science is likely to retaliate on 

 literature for the subservient position it has been so long com- 

 pelled to occupy. All who had any authority to speak on 

 behalf of science, said Prof. Judd, fully recognized the value of 

 a true literary training, which taught men how best to express 

 the thoughts arising from the trained mind, and the store of 

 facts which science supplied. People must recognize, however, 

 that the time had come when science must take her proper 

 place in the education of the country ; for if they did not, other 

 nations would, to the destruction of all our pre-eminence. 



Another serious loss has been inflicted on the cause of 

 geology in this country by the death of Mr. Champernowne, of 

 Dartington Hall, Tolnes. Representative of an old Devonshire 

 family, and living in the ancestral home, he was a country 

 gentleman of the best type. At the same time, he devoted him- 

 self with singular ardour to geology and especially to the study 

 of the complicated structure of the Devonian rocks of his own 

 district. He had with his own hand mapped the subdivisions of 

 these rocks in far ampler detail than had ever before been 

 attempted, and with a skill and success worthy of the best- 

 trained professional geologist. He lately generously presented 

 his maps to the Geological Survey, with a view to the projected 

 publication of a new edition of the Survey maps of the district. 

 It was while engaged in revising some of his lines for this pur- 

 pose that he aggravated a previous cold, and brought on conges- 

 tion of the lungs, which carried him off after an illness of only a 

 few days. His geological ardour was fully equalled by his 

 courtesy and kindness, which endeared him to a wide circle of 

 friends who mourn his early death. 



Prof. Vulpian, the eminent French physiologist, died of 

 pneumonia on the i8th inst. He was sixty-one years of age. 

 For some time he was Assistant Professor in the Museum of 

 Natural History in Paris, but afterwards he was made Professor 

 of Pathological Anatomy in the Paris Medical School. He was 

 appointed Member of the Academy of Sciences in 1876, and 

 Perpetual Secretary in 1886. His principal works relate to the 

 vasomotor system, the diseases of the nervous system, the diges- 

 tive process, and the physiological action of curare, strychnine, 

 and some other drugs. Before the short illness of which he 

 died, he was giving lectures on the respiratory function ; and he 

 was about to publish an important book on the cerebral functions. 

 He was a most conscientious investigator, and his death is 

 greatly regretted by French men of science. The funeral took 

 place on Saturday last, and was attended by a large crowd of 

 friends and students. 



The anniversary meeting of the Royal Geographical Society 

 was held on Monday, when General R. Strachey, who has been 

 elected President, delivered the annual address. After paying 

 a high tribute to his predecessor. Lord Aberdare, and noticing 

 the losses of the Society by death during the past year. General 

 Strachey went on to speak on the subject of geographical educa- 

 tion. He then reviewed the chief geographical events of the 

 year, and traced the progress that has been made in geographi- 

 cal knowledge since the beginning of the Queen's reign. 



At the last meeting of the Council of University College, 

 Liverpool, Mr. R. J. Harvey Gibson was appointed to the 

 Lectureship of Botany, vacant by the resignation of Dr. Shearer. 



Mr. Edgar M. Crookshank, M.B. (Lond.), has been 

 appointed Lecturer on Bacteriology by the Council of King's 

 College, London. 



Rather more than a year ago (vol. xxxiii. p. 361) we re- 

 viewed a " Manual of Bacteriology," by Mr. Edgar M. Crook- 

 shank. A new edition has now been issued, and the author 

 has increased the value of the work not only by revising 

 it throughout and bringing it up to date, but by recasting 

 the systematic part. He has written new chapters on the 

 general morphology and physiology of Bacteria, on antiseptics 

 and disinfectants, and on immunity ; and seventy-three illustra- 

 tions have been added. He also gives a useful list of references 

 to works on bacteriology. 



In the Annual Report of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club 

 for the year ended March 31, 1870, it was stated that the Com- 

 mittee considered it advisable that the Club should prepare 

 complete lists of the fauna, flora, geology, and archaeology of 

 Ulster. This purpose has been kept steadily in view, and twenty- 

 one separate papers have been issued, illustrated by twenty-seven 

 plates. These papers have now been brought together in what 

 is intended to be the first of a series of volumes. The volume is 

 entitled " Systematic Lists illustrative of the Flora, Fauna, 

 Palaeontology, and Archaeology of the North of Ireland," and 

 contains the results of much careful and conscientious work. 

 Among the papers is a very useful one by Mr. William Gray on 

 the cromlechs of Antrim and Down. The list is complete, and 

 each of the monuments has been examined by the author, and, 

 as far as possible, measured and sketched. Mr. Charles Elcock 

 contributes notes on the prehistoric monuments at Carrowmore, 

 near Sligo. Both of these papers are accompanied by good 

 illustrations. 



A Geography of the Malay Peninsula, Indo-China, the 

 Eastern Archipelago, the Philippines, and New Guinea, by 

 Prof. A. H. Keane, has just been published by Mr. Edward 

 Stanford. The author's primary aim has been to produce a work 

 which may meet the requirements of teacher and pupil in the 

 Straits Settlements, and in the other colonies directly interested 

 in the regions dealt with. The book ought, however, to be of 

 considerable service to students at home. Prof. Keane knows 

 his subject thoroughly, and his treatment of it is in accordance 

 with the methods of the highest authorities on geographical 

 science. 



The Deutsche Seewarte and the Danish Meteorological Insti- 

 tute have just issued the first quarter of a fresh series of daily 

 synoptic charts, commencing with December 1883. The charts 

 show the conditions of weather over the North Atlantic and a 

 part of the adjacent continents, on each morning, from the data 

 collected by both institutions. The period now embraced by 

 the charts is from September 1873 to September 1876, and from 

 December 1880 to February 1884 — excepting from September 

 1882 to August 1883 — being part of the thirteen months selected 

 by the Meteorological Council for their synchronous charts ; and 

 the whole work forms a valuable contribution to our knowledge 

 of the causes of the weather changes which generally affect this 

 country. A work of a similar nature is being carried out for 

 the Indian Ocean by Dr. Meldrum, of the Mauritius, for the 

 year 1861, but only the charts for the first three months have yet 

 appeared. 



The Annalen der Hydi-ographie und maritimen MUeorologie 

 of Berlin for April last contains the results of observations taken 

 on board the German warshiiJ Habicht during her stay at 

 Cameroon from April 1885 to September 1886. The maximum 

 temperature in the harbour was 88° 'o in May 1885, and the 

 minimum 7i°'2 in June 1885. The amount of rainfall is not 

 stated, but the number of wet days was most frequent between 



