438 



NATURE 



[September 8, 1898 



mann, on the origin of the vertebrate notochord and 

 pharyngeal clefts. Miss Layard has promised papers on 

 the development of the frog, and Dr. Mann on the struc- 

 ture of nerve-cells. Prof. Lloyd Morgan will probably 

 speak on animal intelligence as an experimental study. 

 There will be reports on the Canadian Biological Station, 

 on bird migration, on the life-conditions of the oyster, 

 and on the occupation of a table at the Naples Zoological 

 Station. 



In Section E (Geography) an unusual number of papers 

 have been offered, and practically all of them will be 

 illustrated by lantern slides, the more strictly scientific 

 papers as well as those descriptive of little-known 

 countries. Of the former class the presidential address, 

 by Colonel G. E. Church, will deal with the origin of the 

 surface features of southern South America ; Mr. Raven- 

 stein will present the report of a Committee on the climate 

 of tropical Africa ; Prof. Elisee Reclus will discuss some 

 controverted features of his scheme for a great terrestrial 

 globe ; Mr. R. D. Oldham will give an account of the 

 great earthquake in Assam ; and Prof. Milne will describe 

 recent seismological work in Italy. Oceanography will 

 be represented by Dr. Natterer, who will summarise the 

 results of the Austro-Hungarian deep-sea expeditions in 

 the Eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Sea of 

 Marmora ; and by Mr. H. N. Dickson, who will describe 

 his recent researches on the salinity and temperature of 

 the North Atlantic ; while Dr. H. R. Mill will discuss 

 the prospects of Antarctic exploration. Dr. J. W. 

 Gregory will contribute a paper on the arrangement of 

 continents and oceans on the earth's surface : and Mr. 

 Vaughan- Cornish will deal with the geographical signi- 

 ficance of waves in water, air and sand. Reports of 

 recent expeditions will be given by Sir T. H. Holdich on 

 Tirah, Mr. C. W. Andrews on Christmas Island, Mrs. 

 Bishop on the Yang-tze-kiang, Mrs. Theodore Bent on 

 the island of Sokotra, Mr. Barrett-Hamilton on Kam- 

 chatka, and Mr. Howarth on Mexico. It is uncertain if 

 there will be any paper on African or Arctic exploration. 

 Sir Benjamin Stone, M.P., will describe his work for the 

 National Photographic Record ; and Mr. G. G. Chisholm 

 will discuss the timely subject of the economic resources 

 of China. 



In Section F (Economic Science and Statistics) the 

 President, Dr. J. Bonar, will deal with " Old lights and 

 new in economic study." There will be papers on " The 

 sugar industry in Bristol" (Mr. G. E. Davies) ; on 

 "Electrical enterprise and municipalities" (Mr. G. 

 Pearson) ; on " Expenditure of middle class working 

 women" (Miss C. Collet); on " Labour copartnership " 

 (Mr. H. H. Vivian) ; on the "Bimetallic ratio" (Mr. L. L. 

 Price) ; and on " Poor Law" (Mr. C. S. Loch). 



In Section G (Mechanical Science) Sir John Wolfe- 

 Barry will, in his presidential address, deal with the 

 growth of British shipping and the recent and prospective 

 demands for dock accommodation in Britain and in 

 Bristol. He will also urge the necessity of experimental 

 research. Among other papers we may note the follow- 

 ing :— On the "Electric lighting system at Bristol" (H. F. 

 Proctor) ; on the " Improvement of the waterway between 

 the Bristol Channel and the Birmingham district" (Mr. 

 E. D. Martin) ; on " Electric power and its application 

 on the three-phase system to the Bristol Wagon Works " 

 (Mr. W. Geipil) ; on the "Welsh methods of shipping 

 coal" (Prof. J. Ryan); on "Some of the mechanical 

 and economic features of the Coal question" (Mr. T. 

 Forster Brown) ; on the " Conditions necessary for the 

 successful treatment of sewage by bacteria" (Mr. T. 

 Dibdin) ; and on " A new instrument for drawing en- 

 velopes, and its application to the teeth of wheels and 

 for other purposes" (Prof. H. S. Hele-Shaw). 



In Section H, the President, Mr. E. W. Brabrook, will 

 take as his subject the unity of the anthropological 

 sciences, and will suggest an ethnographical survey of 

 NO. 1506, VOL. 58] 



the Empire. The papers promised are of varied interest, 

 though, save for a paper by Prof. Lloyd Morgan on 

 selection and segregation in the physical evolution of 

 man, there is little on physical anthropology. Mrs. 

 Bishop has promised an account of the Mantzu of 

 Western-Sze-chuan, and Mr. Warington Smyth, notes on 

 Siamese boats and music. For papers on folk-lore a 

 larger proportion of time than usual has been reserved. 

 Several communications will be made on American 

 ethnology, including the final report of the Committee on 

 the Western tribes of Canada, and Dr. Krauss's account 

 of the Tarahumare people of Mexico. Sir Thomas 

 Holdich will give a full account of the Afridis and Swatis 

 of the frontier of India, which will naturally attract 

 attention ; while Mr. Crooke, the late director of the 

 Ethnographical Survey of the North-west Provinces and 

 Oudh, will speak on the characters and affinities of the 

 Dravidian races of India. Miss Kingsley, M. le Comte 

 Charles de Cardi, Mr. Fitzgerald Marriott, and Mr. 

 C. H. Read, will contribute papers on various subjects 

 relating to the native civilisations of West Africa. Prof. 

 Flinders Petrie will give an account of recent discoveries 

 in Egypt of the period of the first three dynasties, and 

 M. Louis de Rougemont has promised a paper, which 

 will probably be taken on Friday afternoon, on the tribes 

 of North Australia, among whom he lived for many years. 

 There will also be local papers. Mr. Arthur Bulleid will 

 read one on the marsh village of Glastonbury, and Prof. 

 Lloyd Morgan will illustrate by means of lantern slides 

 the camps and megalithic remains near Bristol. The 

 remarkable dry-walling of the Stoke Leigh camp, within 

 a short walk, has been freed from debris and exposed 

 to view. 



In Section K, Prof. Bower's presidential address will 

 deal with homology in plants and with the alternation of 

 generations in green plants. Dr. Lang, of Glasgow, will 

 open a discussion on alternation of generations, and 

 will be followed by Prof. Klebs, of Basel. Mr. F. F. 

 Blackman will lecture on the breathing mechanism of 

 plants experimentally considered. Other papers promised 

 include contributions on fungi, by Prof. Marshall Ward, 

 Mr. Wager, and Mr. Biffen ; on algae, by Prof. Phillips 

 and Mr. Lloyd Williams ; on vascular cryptogams and 

 gymnosperms (recent and fossil), by Dr. Scott and 

 Messrs. Seward, Jones, and Pearson. A botanical 

 excursion (probably to Cheddar Cliffs) also forms part of 

 the programme. 



As in previous years, we print in full the addresses of 

 the president of the Association, and the presidents of 

 Sections A and B. Other presidential addresses, and 

 reports of the work of the Sections, will be published in 

 subsequent numbers of Nature. 



Inaugural Address by Sir William Crookes, F.R.S., 

 V.P.C.S., President of the Association. 



For the third time in its history the British Association meets 

 in your City of Bristol. The first meeting was held under the 

 presidency of the Marquis of Lansdowne in 1836, the second 

 under the presidency of Sir John Hawkshaw in 1875. Formerly 

 the President unrolled to the meeting a panorama of the year's 

 progress in physical and biological sciences. To-day the 

 President usually restricts himself to specialities connected with 

 his own work, or deals with questions which for the time are 

 uppermost. To be President of the British Association is 

 undoubtedly a great honour. It is also a great opportunity and 

 a great responsibility ; for I know that, on the wings of the 

 press, my words, be they worthy or not, will be carried to all 

 points of the compass. I propose first to deal with the im- 

 portant question of the supply of bread to the inhabitants of 

 these Islands, then to touch on subjects to which my life work 

 has been more or less devoted. I shall not attempt any general 

 survey of the sciences ; these, so far as the progress in them 

 demands attention, will be more fitly brought before you in the 

 different Sections, either in the Addresses of the Presidents or 

 in communications from Members. 



