236 



NATURE 



[October 29, 19 14 



best means of securing definite areas for the preserva- 

 tion of types of British vegetation — Prof. F. E. Weiss. 



The investigation of the vegetation of Ditcham 

 Park, Hampshire — Mr. A. G. Tansley. 



To take notice of, and report upon changes in, 

 regulations — whether legislative, administrative, or 

 made by local authorities — affecting secondary and 

 higher education — Prof. H. E. Armstrong. 



The aims and limits of examinations — Prof. M. E. 

 Sadler. 



NOTES. 

 Dr. a. Smith Woodward will exhibit the new 

 model of the Piltdown skull at the conversazione of 

 the Geologists' Association, to be held on November 6 

 at University College. 



A DESTRUCTIVE earthquake occurred in Asia Minor 

 on October 3, of which brief reports were published 

 shortly afterwards. Fuller accounts have now arrived 

 by letter. The epicentre was in the neighbourhood of 

 Burdur and Isbarta, the chief manufacturing towns of 

 the district. It is stated that both these towns, which 

 lie about 165 and 185 miles east-south-east of Smyrna, 

 are completely ruined. The line of the Ottoman rail- 

 way from Smyrna to Aidin was damaged, but less 

 seriously than was at first supposed, for through run- 

 ning was resumed in less than twenty-four hours. 



The Paris correspondent of the Morning Post says 

 that a committee of representatives of leading learned 

 societies has been formed in Paris to consider the posi- 

 tion of German and Austrian men of science and 

 letters who have been admitted fellows of these 

 societies in France. Since the beginning of the war 

 there has been a movement in favour of the removal 

 of all such fellows from the ranks of the societies to 

 which they have been admitted in recognition of the 

 value of the original work done by them, and on 

 October 19 the Academic des Sciences held a meeting 

 in camera to consider its position in the matter. 



Among the results of the war will be noticed the 

 obliteration of a large part of the usual weather in- 

 formation over land and sea. In the meteorological 

 charts of the North Atlantic Ocean for November, 

 issued by the Meteorological Office, this is particularly 

 noticeable, and the U.S. Weather Bureau has pointed 

 out that its useful charts of the northern hemisphere 

 have had to be discontinued temporarily. The chart 

 for November above referred to states that under 

 normal conditions the North Atlantic is free from fog 

 in that month, with the exception of a narrow zone 

 between Cape Cod (Providence, U.S.), and Ushant, 

 but that even in the fog zone the frequency is not 

 more than 5, as compared with 40 per cent, in July. 



At the annual meeting of the Royal Society of 

 Edinburgh, held on October 26, the following officers 

 were elected: — President, Prof. J. Geikie; Vice-Presi- 

 dents, Prof. T. Hudson Beare, Prof. F, O. Bower, 

 Sir Thomas R. Eraser, Dr. B. N. Peach, Prof. Sir E. A. 

 Schafer. and Right Hon. Sir J. H. A. Macdonald; 

 General Secretary, Dr. C. G. Knott; Secretaries to 

 Ordinary Meetings, Dr. R. Kidston, Prof. Arthur Robin, 

 son; Treasurer, Mr. J. Currie ; Curator of Library 

 NO. 2348, VOL. 94] 



and Museum, Dr. J. S. Black; Ordinary Members of 

 Council, Dr. J. (i. Gray, Prof. R. A. Sampson, Prof. 

 D'Arcy W. Thompson, Prof. E. T. Whittaker, Prin- 

 cipal A. P. Laurie, Prof. J. Graham Kerr, Dr. L. 

 Dobbin, Dr. E. M. Wedderburn, Dr. W. B. Blaikie, 

 Dr. J. Home, Dr. R. S. MacDougall, and Dr. W. A. 

 Tait. 



The exhibition at the Royal Photographic Society's 

 house (35 Russell Square) of Mr. Lewis Balfour's 

 photographs of " Bird Life on the Bass Rock," is well 

 worthy of a visit by all those who are interested in 

 either the birds or the photography of birds. We 

 believe that Mr. Balfour's special aim in the work was 

 to illustrate the life-history of the gannet. After 

 general views of the rookeries on the rock there follow 

 on a large scale some pairs of gannets on nests, and 

 a series of the young bird chipping its way out of the 

 shell until it is fully hatched out. The growth and 

 progress of the bird is shown almost day by day up 

 to the fourteenth day, and then at frequent intervals 

 up to the twelfth week, when it is ready for flight. 

 Immature birds of their second, third, fourth, and 

 fifth year's growth are shown with adults, and in 

 various attitudes, such as enraged, fighting, carrying 

 sea-weed, flying, arriving at the nest, and so on. 

 These constitute about three-quarters of the whole 

 number of the photographs, the remainder being 

 similar but smaller series, showing black-backed, her- 

 ring, and kittiwake gulls, guillemots, and puffins. The 

 photography is almost uniformly excellent, the details 

 of the birds showing crisp and clear. The exhibition 

 closes on November 28. 



In addition to the awards announced in April for 

 papers read at meetings of the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers, the council has made the following awards 

 for papers published in the Proceedings without dis- 

 cussion during the session 19 13-14 : — A Telford gold 

 medal to Mr. J. V. Davies (New York); Telford pre- 

 miums to Messrs. W. C. Popplewell (Manchester), 

 A. J. Knowles (Cairo), H. Gaskell, jun. (Widnes), P. 

 Rothera (Trichinopoly) ; the Crampton prize to Mr. 

 H. F. Carew-Gibson (London); and the Manby pre- 

 mium to Mr. W. M. Griffith (Bareilly, India). The 

 Webb prize for the best paper on railway machinery 

 published during the past three years has been 

 awarded to Mr. Henry Fowler (Derby), and the Indian 

 premium for 1914 to Mr. P. Rothera (Trichinopoly). 

 The council has made the following awards in respect 

 of students' papers read during the session 1913-14 : — 

 The "James Forrest" medal and a Miller prize to Mr. 

 J. E. Swindlehurst (Birmingham); and Miller prizes 

 to Messrs. T. C. Grisenthwaite (Glasgow), H. J. C. 

 Harper (Bristol), W. P. Nevett (Birmingham), J. M. L. 

 Bogle (Manchester), E. A. Cross (Birmingham), S. 

 Brassey-Edwards (Manchester), G. T. Cotterell (Bris- 

 tol), D. D. Stanier (Newcastle), W. E. Gurry (Lon- 

 don), H. Taylor (Birmingham), and R. C. Rattray 

 (Manchester). 



In Man for October, 1914, Mr. A. L. Lewis dis- 

 cusses the standing stones and stone circles of York- 

 shire. No dolmens or large non-sepulchral circles 

 seem to be found in the county, but there are numerous 



