November 26, 1914] 



NATURE 



34. 



his kindly appreciation. Apart from scientific 

 work Weismann found his chief recreation in 

 music, and with Huxley he could quote Landor's 

 line- — 



I warmed both hands before the fire of life. 

 Throughout a long and energetic life Weismann 

 worked wfth enthusiasm and success at the sub- 

 jects nearest to his heart. Many have done the 

 same, but there are few whose chosen labours 

 have done so much to stimulate the work and the 

 thought of others. E. B. P. 



NOTES. 



The collections made by the well-known naturalist 

 and sportsman, Mr. C. V. A. Peel, during the travels 

 and hunting expeditions of twenty-four years, have 

 for long formed a centre of attraction in the city of 

 Oxford. They are housed in a specially-built museum 

 in the Woodstock Road, and include many objects of 

 considerable scientific interest. Among the mammals 

 preserved in the collection are well-mounted examples 

 of the African and Indian elephants, a fine head of 

 the so-called "white" rhinoceros, and a good speci- 

 men of the Somaliland eland. Many other species of 

 African antelopes are well represented. The collec- 

 tions are also rich in birds, reptiles, and fishes, the 

 latter including some fine and well-preserved examples 

 of the Salmonidae. The insects and arachnida, several 

 of which were new to science, collected by Mr. Peel in 

 the " horn " of Africa during the year*? 1895 and 1897, 

 formed the subject of a paper in the Zoological 

 Society's Proceedings for 1900. His adventurous 

 journeys in that region were fully described by him 

 in his book, " Somaliland," published in 1899. The 

 more important invertebrate captures have been 

 lodged in the Hope Collection at Oxford, and in the 

 British Museum (Natural History), but the remainder, 

 together with the extensive series of vertebrates above 

 referred to, and the building in which they are dis- 

 played, have now been generously presented by Mr. 

 Peel to the city of Oxford, 



In reply to a question as to British manufacture 

 of synthetic dyes asked in the House of Commons on 

 Monday, November 23, Mr. Runciman said : — " Since 

 the beginning of the war the earnest attention of his 

 Majesty's Government has been given to the best 

 means of averting the grave danger of stoppage of 

 iemployment in the textile and other industries which 

 depend upon a supply of colours owing to the inter- 

 ruption of imports from Germany. Emergency 

 measures are already being taken to secure for the 

 time being the continuity of supply of dyestuffs by 

 encouraging the immediate development of existing 

 sources in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In 

 addition, however, the inquiries of the Government 

 have led them to the conclusion that the excessive 

 iependence of this country on a single foreign countr}- 

 ^for materials of such vital importance to industries 

 |in which millions of our workpeople are emploved con- 

 '^titutes a permanent danger which can only be 

 remedied by a combined national effort on a scale 

 which requires and justifies an exceptional measure 

 NO. 2352, VOL. 94] 



of State encouragement. Accordingly the Board of 

 Trade has entered into consultations with the principal 

 interests concerned with a view to the elaboration of a 

 scheme for the establishment of an undertaking for the 

 production of synthetic dyes and colours. In the main 

 it is hoped that the capital required will be forth- 

 coming from the industries by which dyes and colours 

 are mainly used, but the Treasury is prepared within 

 certain limits, and subject to certain conditions, to 

 afford financial support to a well-considered scheme 

 which will be permanently under British control. I 

 am not prepared at the moment to enter into fuller 

 details, because several matters are still the subject of 

 confidential negotiations, but further information will 

 be made public as soon as practicable." 



The death is announced, at sixty-six years of age, 

 of Dr. G. F. W. Thibaut, registrar of the University 

 of Calcutta since 1906, and formerly assistant to Prof. 

 Max Miiller, in the preparation of the later volumes 

 of the great edition of the "• Rig Veda," as well as the 

 smaller text edition, and principal of the Muir Central 

 College, Allahabad. 



We regret to see the announcement of the death on 

 November 20 of Dr. J. Burney Yeo, Emeritus Pro- 

 fessor of Medicine, King's College, London, and 

 author of "A Manual of Medical Treatment," "Food 

 in Health and Disease," "The Therapeutics of 

 Mineral Springs and Climates," and numerous 

 articles and papers published in medical and other 

 journals. 



The death is announced from Bulawayo of Mr. 

 R. N. Hall, author of " Prehistoric Rhodesia " and 

 a number of papers on South African races and 

 traditions. Mr. Hall arrived at the conclusion that 

 the old mines and ruined temples of Rhodesia, includ- 

 ing the Zimbabwe temple, date from ancient times, 

 and were due to Semitic immigrants — a view opposed 

 to that reached by Dr. R. Maciver in " Mediaeval 

 Rhodesia," in which it is held that the buildings at 

 Zimbabwe are the work of a native race of com- 

 paratively modern times. 



The most important contribution to the August issue 

 of the National Geographic Magazine is an account 

 by Messrs. Ellsworth and Emer>- Kolb of their ex- 

 periences in the Grand Canon of Arizona. The 

 writers have lived for twelve years at the head of 

 the Bright Angel trail, and from this point have made 

 repeated excursions into this stupendous gorge. The 

 first part of the article describes a trip to what is 

 considered the most beautiful of the tributary- canons, 

 that of Cataract Creek; the second an exploration 

 of the canon of the Little Colorado; the third a 

 repetition of Major Powell's famous journey down the 

 Green and Colorado rivers. The article is illustrated 

 by a splendid collection of photographs procured at 

 imminent risk to life and limb. The monograph fully 

 describes the geography, scenerv^ and geological 

 features of this remarkable gorge. 



In the issues of the National Geographic Magazine 

 for September and October, the immense stock of 

 photographs at the disposal of the National Geo- 



