October 27, 1898] 



NATURE 



625 



local Committees therein referred to should report to the Inter- 

 national Committee. 



(35) The Royal Society was requested to undertake the 

 editing, publication, and distribution of a verbatim report of the 

 Proceedings of the Conference. 



(36) It was resolved that \)\q prods verbal of the Conference 

 be signed by the President and Secretaries. 



(37) On the motion of Prof. Armstrong, the thanks of the 

 Conference were accorded to the Society of Antiquaries for the 

 use of their rooms. 



(38) On the motion of Prof. Klein, a vote of thanks to Sir 

 John Gorst for presiding over the Conference, and his conduct 

 in the chair, was passed by acclamation. 



(39) On the motion of M. Darboux, a vote of thanks was 

 passed to the Royal Society for their work in preparation for the 

 Conference and their cordial reception of the Delegates. 



rjoHN' E. Gorst, President. 

 ,Q. ,> I Henry E. Armstrong \ 

 \3ignea; < jj ^a Fontaine \ Secretaries. 



IE. Weiss J 



NOTES. 



The British Institute of Preventive Medicine, which was 

 founded with the view of establishing in this country a national 

 home for bacteriological work in all its branches, has made 

 considerable progress towards the achievement of this aim 

 during the past few years. The bacteriological laboratories 

 are now fully organised, the serum therapeutics laboratory is 

 on a firm footing, whilst the applications of bacteriology to 

 hygiene are finding full recognition. A further addition has 

 just been made to the departments of the Institute in response 

 to the growing demands of the times. A large laboratory 

 at Chelsea has been assigned to investigation and instruction 

 in technical bacteriology. In this laboratory the agriculturist, 

 the chemist, the brewer, and others will find the instruction 

 provided that they individually require for successfully em- 

 ploying the living agents of fermentation. Investigations will 

 also be undertaken, and it is hoped that the laboratory will be- 

 ime a centre of useful work, and promote the advancement of 

 line of research of the greatest importance to the industries of 

 i.he country. We have had hitherto to rely upon the research 

 work of foreign laboratories in this direction. The laboratory 

 has been named the Hansen laboratory, in recognition of the 

 pioneer work of the distinguished investigator, and will be under 

 the superintendence of Dr. G. Harris Morris. The formal 

 opening of the British Institute will take place early in the new 

 year, when the public will have an opportunity of inspecting the 

 provisions made for furthering the objects of the Institute. The 

 occasion will also be marked by the issue of a fresh volume of 

 TratisactioHs of the Institute, the first number of which was 

 recently reviewed in these columns. 



A LETTER signed "D.Sc. (Lond.)," referring to a Science 

 and Art Department's examination, appeared in Nature of 

 September 8 (p. 435), and in it the writer gave the following as 

 an instance of anomalies which occur in examinations: — "A 

 student sat for the examination in May last in the advanced 

 stage of practical organic chemistry. He was required to 

 answer two questions, and to analyse two substances (unknown), 

 as well as to find the halogen element present in an organic solid, 

 and to determine the melting point of this solid. The written 

 questions were correctly answered, the analyses were correctly 

 done, the halogen was correctly determined, and the meltmg 

 point of the substance was less than i per cent, too low. The 

 description of the practical work was also fairly well done ; but 

 this student is returned as having failed, notwithstanding that 

 there are two classes of success, first and second class. It would 

 be interesting to know, in the face of this, the standard the 

 examiners require for a first class success." Particulars which 

 NO. 15 13, VOL. 58] 



enabled the examiner to again look at the paper worked by the 

 candidate referred to were afterwards furnished us by " D.Sc," 

 and the examiner now reports upon it as follows: — "The 

 written questions were partly answered, and on this part of the 

 examination the candidate would have been allowed to pass ; 

 but the analyses were both very badly done, and the answers 

 quite wrong. For the detection of the halogen and for the 

 melting point he received the full marks awarded to this part of 

 the work." It will be seen from this that the suggestion of un- 

 fair marking made by our correspondent is entirely without 

 foundation. With regard to the other point referred to in the 

 letter, we are sorry to say that " D.Sc." would not furnish us 

 with the name of the class in which he said that by the new 

 rules the earnings this session will be reduced 75 per cent. We 

 regret having unconsciously done an injustice to the Department 

 of Science and Art by the publication of his letter. 



The following interesting announcement appears on a page 

 in the catalogue of Messrs. Johnson, Matthey, and Co., Hatton 

 Garden, London : — " In furtherance of scientific research. Pro- 

 fessors and recognised scientific investigators will with pleasure 

 be supplied with metals of the platinum group, in moderate 

 quantities, and for periods to be arranged, free of charge, on 

 condition that the precious metals are ultimately returned (in 

 any form), and that the results of the investigations are fur- 

 nished." 



A PLEA for a national Antarctic expedition is made by Sir 

 Clements Markham in a pamphlet published by the Royal 

 Geographical Society. As was pointed out last week, in 

 referring to the special Antarctic number of the Scottish Geo- 

 graphical Magazine, the only hope of maintaining the credit of 

 our country in the work of exploration lies in an appeal to the 

 patriotic feelings of those who possess the power which wealth 

 supplies of providing the funds. The Council of the Royal 

 Geographical Society generously offers to head the list with a 

 subscription of 5000/. This example should be the means of 

 showing that geographers are willing to help geographical dis- 

 covery so far as their funds permit ; and it also expresses their 

 views upon the necessity of Antarctic exploration in an unmis- 

 takable form. It is earnestly to be hoped that the desire to 

 enable the nation to retain its position as the first in exploration 

 and discovery will inspire our wealthy countrymen to provide an 

 amount equal to at least ten such subscriptions as that of the 

 Royal Geographical Society. If this sum is not forthcoming, the 

 prestige and credit won by former explorations will have to be 

 resigned, and other nations will take our place as leaders in the 

 work of geographical discovery. 



An attendant at the Pathological Institute attached to the 

 Vienna General Hospital, died on October 18 from bubonic 

 plague. It is believed that the man became infected by handling 

 cultures of the plague bacillus. His duties were to look after 

 the animals kept for the bacteriological study of the plague, but 

 how he became infected has not yet been discovered. There is 

 no doubt that the case was one of plague, an examination of the 

 sputum having revealed the presence of the plague bacillus. 

 Since the assistant's death, Dr. Miiller, who attended him, has 

 also died from the plague, and a nurse infected by it is described 

 as in a condition which leaves little hope of recovery. 



The Times correspondent at Copenhagen announces that an 

 international monument in honour of the famous Danish 

 physician, Dr. Hans Wilhelm Meyer, who died three years ago, 

 was unveiled in that city on Tuesday. Dr. Meyer was the dis- 

 coverer of what are called adenoid growths. He found that the 

 space between the nose and the throat, which ordinarily is an 

 open cavity, is in certain persons suffering from deafness more or 

 less closed by a large, soft mass. He found that this mass in 



