448 



NA TURE 



[March 7, 1901 



of Negrito stock who inhabit the centre of the peninsula. A 

 thorough investigation will also be made of the fauna— both 

 living and extinct — of certain very large limestone caves which 

 are foimd in the district, and are said to extend for great dis- 

 tances underground. The birds of the district will also be 

 studied, and observations made on mimicry and allied 

 phenomena. The ethnographical work ought to be interesting, 

 since Jalor is on the borderland in which the Siamese and Malay 

 races meet. Mr. Robinson is supplied with dredges and tow- 

 nets for the investigation of the marihe fauna, and he pro- 

 poses, by the method of pumping sea-water through fine silk 

 nets, to make a collection of the surface plankton of the Red 

 Sea and Indian Ocean on the voyage out. 



Commander R. F. Scott, R.N., in naval charge of the 

 British Antarctic Expedition, has stated to a representative of 

 Reuter's Agency that the preparations for the British Antarctic 

 Expedition are now practically complete. The Discovery, the 

 expedition's ship, will be launched on March 23, and, after she 

 has been handed over by the contractors, will come round to 

 London, where her equipment and provisions will be put 

 aboard. The Discovery has been built on whaler lines, only 

 with greatly increased strength to withstand ice pressure. She 

 is 171 feet long, and 34J feet beam, and has 1500 tons displace- 

 ment. She will have auxiliary steam, and is fitted with engines 

 of the latest type. In her construction the lines of the Fram, 

 though carefully studied, have not been adopted, as Nansen's 

 ship would have been ill-adapted for the heavy seas the Dis- 

 covery will have to encounter. The expedition will leave 

 London in July or August, and will proceed to Melbourne, 

 reaching there in November. The actual work of the expedi- 

 tion will then begin. The naval staff, in addition to Com- 

 mander Scott, consists of Lieut. A. R. Armitage, Lieut. Charles 

 Royds, and two other officers yet to be appointed. The scientific 

 direction will be under Prof. Gregory, of Melbourne University, 

 assisted by Mr. Hodgson (biologist), and Mr. Shackleton 

 {physicist). The medical staff will consist of Dr. Koettlitz and 

 Mr. Wilson. 



His Majesty the King has signified to the president and 

 council of the Marine Biological Association his pleasure in 

 becoming the patron of the Association. 



A MEETING of the International Association of Academies 

 will be opened at Paris on April 16. Several delegates of the 

 Royal Society will be present. 



The Bessemer gold medal of the Iron and Steel Institute for 

 1 901 has been awarded to Mr. J. E. Stead, of Middlesbrough, 

 in recognition of the value of his researches on iron and steel. 

 The presentation will take place at the annual general meeting 

 on May 8. Owing to the death of the Queen, the annual dinner 

 will not be held. The autumn meeting will be held in Glasgow, 

 simultaneously with the International Engineering Congress on 

 September 3 to 6. 



The Naples Academy of Mathematical and Physical Sciences 

 has awarded the mathematical prize of 1000 lire for 1899 to Dr. 

 G. Torelli, professor at Palermo. The subject fixed was the 

 totality of prime numbers. The theme for the next award is 

 the theory of invariants of the ternary biquadratic considered 

 preferably in relation to the conditions for splitting into lower 

 forms. The essays may be written in Italian, French or Latin, 

 and must be sent in, designated by a motto, before March 31, 

 1902. 



The success of the banquet recently given to Prof. Marey by 

 the Scientia Club of Paris, has induced a number of his col- 

 leagues, friends and students to form themselves into a committee 

 having for its object the presentation to him of a medal in token 

 NO. 1636, VOL. 63] 



of their esteem. There are probably others wlio would like to 

 show their appreciation of Prof. Marey's work by subscribing 

 to the fund being raised for the preparation of the medal to be 

 struck in his honour. Subscriptions should be sent to M. P. 

 Masson, 120, Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. 



The Easter cruise to the Isles of Greece, organised by Dr. 

 Lunn and Mr. Perowne for schoolmasters only, is, we under- 

 stand, already full. As the idea is evidently an attractive one, 

 another cruise to the principal cities of Spain has been arranged 

 for the Easter vacation, under the direction of Mr. E. H. 

 Blakeney, of the Sandwich Grammar School. The party will 

 leave London on the Wednesday morning before Easter, spend- 

 ing Good Friday at Burgos, Easter Day at Madrid, and visiting 

 Cordova and Seville. Those who then wish to return to 

 England can do so, and will get into the direct 

 express at Seville. A party, however, will be formed to visit 

 Granada, returning from Granada to Seville; and a further 

 section will visit Toledo, those who have not time to take in 

 both cities going straight back, after the visit to Granada, from 

 Seville to London. During the cruise Mr. Blakeney will 

 deliver a couple of lectures on (i) " The Moorish Domination 

 in Spain, (2) " Some Cities and Cathedrals of Spain." We 

 should like to see similar cruises organised for men of science, 

 as has already been done in connection with the Revue ginirale 

 des Sciences (see p. 381). 



The fifth triennial International Congress of Physiologists 

 will be held at Turin, September 17 to 23 of this year. The 

 Institute of Physiology of the University, under direction 

 of Prof. Angelo Mosso, will be placed at the disposal of the 

 Congress. The membership of the Congress is open to (i) 

 representatives of physiological and similar purely scientific 

 societies, for example, the Physiological Society, England ; the 

 American Physiological Society ; Societe de Biologic, Paris ; 

 Physiologische Gesellschaft, Berlin. (2) Persons proposed by 

 the National Committee of their own country. In connection 

 with the Congress an exhibition of apparatus will be open 

 from September 14 to 23. To it the Marine Biology station 

 at Naples will contribute a collection of marine forms of 

 animal life useful for comparative physiology. In addition to 

 the (ieneral Secretaries, for the work of preparation toward the 

 the fifth Congress, Dr. F. S. Lee, secretary of the American 

 Physiological Society, will discharge secretarial duties in the 

 United States. Tho^e desirous of attending the Congress or 

 contributing to the exhibition should communicate with Prof. 

 Sherrington, General Secretary for the English-speaking 

 countries, Thompson Yates Laboratories, the University 

 College, Liverpool. 



Tnu. British Medical Journal announces that Dr. Gerhard 

 Armauer Hansen, the discoverer of the lepra bacillus, will cele- 

 brate his sixtieth birthday on July 29. His friends and admirers, 

 both in and out of the medical profession of Norway, have 

 decided on that occasion to erect a marble bust of him in the 

 Lungegaard Hospital, Bergen, where he discovered the bacilluf, 

 A committee of Norwegians has been appointed to solicit sub- 

 scriptions from Dr. Hansen's friends in the Scandinavian couit* 

 tries, and Prdf. Lassar, of Berlin, has undertaken to collect 

 subscriptions for the purpose on the continent. 



A CONFERENCE was held at Liverpool on Monday between 

 representatives of the Liverpool and Manchester Chambers of 

 Commerce and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, with 

 reference to the unhealthy conditions of the towns on the West 

 African coast. Mr. A. L. Jones, who presided, said that the 

 West African merchants and shipowners would do well in their 

 own interest,' as well as in the interests of humanity, to take 

 advantage of anything that would tend to improve the condi- 



