Sept. 29, 1887] 



NATURE 



525 



remains free from it. Why do the English, in spite of their 

 enormous traffic with India, where the cholera is never extinct, 

 not transfer the disease to their own country ? On looking more 

 closely into the matter it must be admitted that England's im- 

 munity from cholera since 1866 is not caused by quarantines and 

 other expensive obstructions to international traffic, and it is to 

 be hoped that Italy, France, and Spain, as well as Russia, 

 Germany, and Austria- Hungary, will follow England's example." 

 The business of the Sections began on Tuesday. In the 

 l''irst Section, Mr, E. Frankland, who spoke in German, re- 

 ported on the present state in England of the purification of 

 sewage, with special reference to the prevention of river pollu- 

 tion, and on the legislation connected therewith. In the Second 

 Section the necessity of placing schools under medical super- 

 vision was discussed, especially with reference to the prevention 

 of the spread of infectious diseases and shortsightedness. The 

 influence of drinking-water in the production and spread of epi- 

 demic disease was fully discussed in the Third Section. In the 

 Fourth Section, Dr. Strulens, of Belgium, read a paper on 

 phosphor necrosis of the jaws, and M. Violi, of Constantinople, 

 a paper on vaccination and anti-vaccination. In the Demo- 

 graphical Section, M. Bertillon, of Paris, discussed the papers 

 sent in by Dr. Grimshaw, of Dublin, and Prof Koeroesi, of 

 IJuda Pesth, on the methods of drawing up census returns. 

 There was an animated discussion, which was brought to a close 

 by a resolution accepting the regulations of the International 

 Statistical Institute. On Tuesday it was decided that the next 

 meeting of the Congress should be held in London in 1889. 



At the meeting, in Toulouse, of the French Association for 

 the Advancement of Science an address of welcome was de- 

 livered by the Mayor of the town. President of the Local Com- 

 mittee. M. Rochard, President of the Association, delivered an 

 address on the future of hygiene. The annual report and the 

 annual financial statement were read — the former by M. Schlum- 

 berger. Secretary, the latter by M. Galante, Treasurer. The 

 most important subject dealt with in the annual report was the 

 recent fusion of the French Association for the Advancement of 

 Science with the Scientific Association of France. 



We learn from the Montreal Gazette that letters to date of 

 July 29 have been received from Dr. G. M. Dawson, who is in 

 charge of the geological party exploring the Yukon district. 

 'I he party constructed two boats on Dease Lake, and left on 

 June 3 to descend the Dease River to its junction with the 

 I.iard. From that place Mr. McConnell left with two men to 

 descend the Liard. The remainder of the party, with five 

 Indians, ascended the north fork of the Liard to Lake Francis 

 and leaving their boats crossed a long portage, of sixty miles to 

 Felly River near the abandoned Hudson's Bay post of Pelly 

 banks, where they arrived on July 29, all well. From this place 

 the Indians were sent back, and Dr, Dawson, with Mr. McEvoy 

 and two white men, remained to construct a boat and descend 

 the Pelly to its junction with the Yukon. The country north of 

 Dease Lake proved somewhat varied in structure, having a 

 granitic nucleus with Palaeozoic rocks on its flanks ranging from 

 Cambrian to Carboniferous, and overlying Tertiary beds. The 

 old portage was found to be entirely disused, and the party had 

 to struggle through tangled woods, often knee-deep in moss. 

 They got over, however, with a month's supply of provisions for 

 the advancing party, and leaving stores for the returning 

 Indians. Being north of the latitude of 60°, they enjoyed almost 

 perpetual daylight, and the weather was good. The country is 

 described as possessing well-grown trees, and a great number of 

 the ordinary eastern plants were seen in flower, with some 

 northern and western strangers. Only the great growth of 

 sphagnous mosses and the abundance of reindeer moss give the 

 country a different aspect from that of British Columbia. No 



Indians had been seen, except those the party brought with 

 them from the coast. Though somewhat later in the season 

 than he had expected to be. Dr. Dawson had hopes of reach- 

 ing the coast before the freezing of the rivers, and the lines 

 of section made by Mr. McConnell and himself will give a good 

 general idea of the structure and resources of the country. 



A PAPER on "Chemical Teaching" was read before the 

 Chemical Section of the British Association at the recent meeting 

 at Manchester. The paper was followed by a discussion wherein 

 it was made apparent that teachers of chemistry are very 

 dissatisfied with the methods now in use, and are anxious for 

 great and wide-reaching changes. A Committee was appointed 

 by the Association to inquire into and report on the methods 

 adopted for teaching chemistry. The Committee consists of 

 representatives of the universities and colleges, and also of the 

 schools and technical institutions where chemistry is taught. 

 The Committee is to begin its work by gathering facts regarding 

 the courses of chemical teaching given in the various institutions 

 where chemistry forms a part of the curriculum. 



Dr. Clemens Winkler publishes in No. 15 of the Journal 

 fiir praktische Chemie an account of his latest work upon the 

 new element germanium, recently discovered by him in the 

 Freiberg mineral argyrodite. In his first announcement last 

 year. Dr. Winkler stated that the metal was obtained by reduc- 

 tion of the oxide in a stream of hydrogen gas, but since that 

 time large quantities of the mineral have been found and dealt 

 with on a much larger scale. The powdered oxide, after under- 

 going an elaborate process of purification, is intimately mixed 

 with 15 to 20 per cent, of starch-meal, made into a paste with 

 boiling water, and rolled into balls. These balls are then placed 

 in a crucible in contact with powdered wood charcoal and heated 

 to redness ; on cooling, each ball is found to be converted into 

 a regulus of metallic germanium. After removal of the adher- 

 ing charcoal they are placed in a second crucible, covered with 

 a layer of powdered borax-glass and melted in a gas furnace, 

 when they fuse together to a single brittle regulus, fine octa- 

 hedral crystals being formed at the outer surface. Among the 

 numerous compounds of germanium prepared by Dr. Winkler, 

 two are of great importance, as conclusively indicating the posi- 

 tion of this new element in the periodic system. The first is 

 germanium chloroform, GeHCls, analogous to the similar well- 

 known compounds of carbon and silicon, which is obtained by 

 gently heating germanium in a stream of dry hydrochloric acid 

 gas ; the metal glows and continues to do so after removal of the 

 lamp, the chloroform passing along with the excess of hydro- 

 chloric acid, and being condensed to a liquid by means of a 

 freezing mixture of ice and salt. The second is germanium 

 ethide, Ge(C2H5)4, analogous to the ethides of silicon and tin, 

 which is obtained by the action of two volumes of zinc ethide 

 upon one volume of germanium tetrachloride. The operation is 

 performed in an apparatus filled with carbonic acid gas, and the 

 reaction is very violent ; if, however, the temperature be kept 

 down by immersion in cold water, the action is more regular, 

 and after 2 or 3 hours the whole solidifies. On the addition of 

 water, gas is evolved and a layer of the oily ethide separates 

 out ; when pure, it is colourless and of weak garlic odour, slightly 

 lighter than water, and boils at 160°. It burns with an orange- 

 coloured light, giving off white clouds of the oxide. There can 

 no longer be the slightest doubt that the gap in the periodic 

 table between silicon and tin must be occupied by germanium, 

 for Dr. Mendelejeff predicted that the metal thus filling up this 

 particular gap would be found to form, if discovered, a tetrethide 

 of specific gravity about 0*96 and boiling at 160°. 



We notice, from the prospectus *of the University College 

 (London) Engineering Department, that the work of this Col- 

 lege begins for the session on October 5. The instruction ia 



