no 



NATURE 



[April ii, 191 8 



memoir on this subject, published by the Geological 

 Survey of Spain in 1898. Prof. Rothpletz was well 

 known to the geologists of this country, and was elected 

 foreign correspondent of the Geological Society of Lon- 

 don in 1894, and foreign member in 1905. 



After thirty-eight years' service, Mr. Richard Hall 

 has retired from the staff of the geological department 

 of the British Museum. Entering the museum as an 

 ordinary mason, he soon acquired remarkable skill in 

 preparing fossil skeletons, and so did much to facili- 

 tate the progress of vertebrate palaeontology. His ex- 

 trication of the bones of Pariasaurus and Cynognathus 

 from an almost intractable matrix began a new era in 

 the study of South African fossil reptiles, which had 

 previously been only imperfectly prepared ; and Dicy- 

 nodon halli is named to commemorate his success in 

 this work. He also prepared the fine skeleton of 

 Hyperodapedon from Elgin, described by Prof. Huxley 

 in 1887, besides many other fossils now exhibited in 

 the public galleries of the museum. 



The seventy-first annual meeting of the Palaeonto- 

 graphical Society was held at Burlington House on 

 April 5, Dr. Henry Woodward, president, in the chair. 

 Besides instalments of the monographs of Pliocene 

 Mollusca, Cambrian Trilobites, Palaeozoic Asterozoa, 

 and Wealden and Purbeck Fishes, the first part of a 

 new monograph of British Bellerophontacea, by Dr. 

 F. R. C. Reed, was announced for publication. Mr. 

 C. H. Cunnington, Mr. E. Gibson,. Mr. A. W. Oke, 

 and Dr. A. Strahan were elected new members of coun- 

 cil ; Dr. Strahan was elected new vice-president ; and 

 Dr. Henry Woodward, Mr. Robert S. Herries, and Dr. 

 ,A. Smith Woodward were re-elected president, 

 treasurer, and secretary respectively. In a brief ad- 

 dress the president paid a tribute to the memory of 

 Dr. G. J. Hinde, who for many years took an active 

 part in the work of the society. 



The council of Girton College recently decided to 

 endeavour to raise a sum of money with which to 

 found a fellowship for the encouragement of research 

 in natural science, and especially in botany, as a 

 memorial of Miss Ethef Sargant, whose original con- 

 tributions to botany gained for her a prominent and 

 honourable position in the scientific world. Miss Sar- 

 gant was not only an original investigator of great 

 ability, but she also consistently advocated the import- 

 ance of providing opportunities of research for others. 

 She was the first woman to preside over a section of 

 the British Association and to serve on the council of 

 the Linnean Society. Subscriptions may be sent to 

 Miss E. Lawder (hon. treasurer of the Executive Com- 

 mittee of the Ethel Sargant Memorial Fund, Girton 

 College), 25 Halifax Road, Cambridge. 



The death is announced of Prof. Christian Horn- 

 ung, at the age. of seventy-three. For fifty years Prof. 

 Hornung held the chair of mathematics and astro- 

 nomy in Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio. 



Prof. J. H. Jeans and Sir William S. McCormick 

 have been elected members of the Athenaeum Club 

 under the provisions of the rule of the club which 

 empowers the annual election by the committee of a 

 certain number of persons " of distinguished eminence 

 in science, literature, the arts, or for public service." 



The Times of April 9 announces the sudden death, 

 in his sixty-first year, of Pandit Sir Sundar Lai, Vice- 

 Chancellor of the University of Allahabad, and repre- 

 sentative of the University on the Provincial Legisla- 

 ture. The successful organisation of the Benares 

 Hindu University was larg-ely due to his efforts, and 

 he was its first Vice-Chancellor. 



NO. 



2528, VOL. lOl] 



At the ordinary scientific meeting of the Chemical 

 Society, to be held at Burlington House on April 18, 

 at 8 p.m., the first of the Hugo Miiller lectures will be 

 delivered by Sir Henry Miers, who has chosen as his 

 subject "The Old and the New Mineralogy." 



The Bulletin des U sines de Guerre for March iS 

 (quoted in Le Genie Civil) gives particulars of a motor- 

 car propelled by hydrogen which is probably the first 

 of its kind. Experiments made with the vehicle show : 

 (i) that a car motor can be made to work perfectly 

 well with a mixture of pure hydrogen and air ; (2) that 

 it is not necessary to modify the construction of the 

 motor; and (3) that the motor can be worked with a 

 simple type of carburettor. 



It is announced in Science that Prof. J. M. Coulter, 

 professor of botany in the University of Chicago, has 

 been elected president of the Chicago Academy of 

 Science. Prof. Coulter is this year president of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science 

 and of the American Association of University Pro- 

 fessors. Our contemporary also states that Dr, G. T. 

 Moore, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, has 

 been elected president of the" Academy of Science of 

 St. Louis, to succeed Dr. E. A. Engler, whose death 

 w"e announced recently. 



The Minister of Munitions, in agreement with the 

 Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Petroleum 

 Executive, has appointed a Committee to inquire into 

 certain matters relating to the production of fuel oil 

 from home sources. The terms of reference are : — 

 "To consider the report which has been rendered by 

 the Petroleum Research Department on the production 

 of fuel oil from home sources, and to advise to what 

 extent, and within what time, it should be possible 

 under present conditions to carry out the proposals 

 made in this report ; and to consider the steps which 

 have been taken by the Ministry of Munitions in this 

 connection." The members of the Committee are: — 

 Marquess of Crewe (chairman), Col. A. Stirling, Maj. 

 G. Collins, Engineer Vice-Admiral G. G. Goodwin 

 (Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy), Sir Richard Red- 

 mayne (representing the Controller of Coal Mines), 

 Sir Lionel Phillips (representing the Ministry of Muni- 

 tions) ; secretary, Mr. G. C. Smallwood (Ministry of 

 Munitions). 



With the view of endeavouring to meet the coal 

 shortage which has arisen, due to the tonnage ques- 

 tion, the Danes have commenced the exploitation of 

 the lignite deposits of Iceland and the Faroe 

 Islands, while recent announcements indicate 

 that an attempt will be made to work the 

 coal-beds of the island of Bornholm. These latter 

 deposits have been worked before, but had to be aban- 

 doned owing to difficulties of exploitation and the low 

 calorific value of the fuel. The geological conditions, 

 etc., have been given in a description of the island 

 by Gronwall and Milthers published by the Danish 

 Geological Department. Nevertheless, it is stated (La 

 Nature, March 30) that geologists and a capitalist 

 have resolved to take in hand the further exploitation 

 of these deposits. The newspapers announce that it is 

 hoped to obtain a yield of 500,000 tons per annum 

 before long. 



In an article in the Morning Post of April 4 entitled 

 " The Long-range Gun : Some Future "Possibilities," 

 it is stated that military opinion in Germany and Aus- 

 tria seems to be that the bombardment of Paris is an 

 experiment to obtain data for a similar attack on Lon- 

 don. It is pointed out that once the problem of pro- 

 jecting shells to a range of seventy or eighty miles has 

 been solved, speedy developments are certain to follow, 



