io6 



NA TURE 



[June 3, 1897 



Such institutes are too few; for they are not only " Hght- 

 bringing, but fruit-bearing." They not only form the founda- 

 tion of scientific and efficient treatment of disease, but are the 

 source whence spring such discoveries as bless the whole world, 

 and crown with the gratitude of nations the names of Jenner, of 

 Simpson, of Pasteur, and of Lister. 



One of our kings, sir, zealously helped forward Harvey's 

 immortal work on the movements of the heart and of the blood ; 

 another founded the Royal Society, " to search out the secrets 

 of nature by way of experiment." 



To you, therefore, as a patron of all that tends to the increase 

 of knowledge and the relief of suftering, we turn and ask your 

 Royal Highness to open this laboratory. 



In Harvey's words : Ad vilioruin anitnalium inspectionem 

 aim Herat- li to apiid Aristotelem introire si vultis, ace edit e, nam 

 neqiie hie Dii desunt iiitmortales. 



The Prince of Wales then declared the building open, and, 

 in the course of a short address, he is reported by the Times 

 to have said : — I understand that the building which I have 

 just declared open is to be used in great part for the study of 

 those sciences which have for their object the observation of 

 the natural laws of life. It was in such observations that your 

 distinguished physician. Sir William Gull, first won renown. 

 Nor is it possible to over-estimate the value of such work in 

 the investigation and treatment of disease. One thing I would 

 venture to impress upon our students — namely, that, in en- 

 deavouring to follow in the footsteps of the great and good men 

 whom Guy's delights to honour, they should cultivate that 

 gentle and humane spirit which, not confined to any one school, 

 is the best possession of the medical faculty. I have made 

 careful inquiries, and have every reason to believe that when- 

 ever experiments upon animals are performed in this school 

 they are undertaken with the object of promoting advances in 

 medicine and surgery which are likely to be of benefit to suffer- 

 ing humanity, and I have satisfied myself that such experiments 

 are conducted under strict supervision, by highly qualified 

 investigators, and that in practice the only operations performed 

 upon animals which are not in a condition of complete anaes- 

 thesia are inoculations and hypodermic injections. Looking 

 back upon the history of this school, one cannot but admire the 

 wonderful povversof observation which enabled such men asAstley 

 Cooper, Bright, Addison, Hodgkin, and Gull, with but slender aid 

 from scientific apparatus, to add so largely to the sum of human 

 knowledge. I need hardly remind you that more than one of these 

 great workers in your profession has had his name perpetuated in 

 connection with the discoveries he made in the wards of Guy's 

 Hospital — discoveries which paved the way for the more en- 

 lightened treatment of some of the most frequent, and yet most 

 fatal diseases to which man is subject. That harvest has been 

 gathered, and for the present and future generations it remains, 

 with more exact appliances and more delicate apparatus pro- 

 vided by the sister sciences, to seek on other fields to emulate 

 their illustrious predecessors' example. To this end are needed 

 ampler buildings, specially designed rooms, and complicated 

 mechanical contrivances, all of them involving additional ex- 

 penditure. Your senior physician has made it clear to all how, 

 relying upon themselves, the staff of the medical school have 

 erected this building. I may be permitted to emphasise the 

 fact, to which Dr. Pye-Smith has alluded, that the present 

 building is but an instalment of a more extensive design which 

 is to be completed as soon as funds are forthcoming. I would 

 venture to express a hope that this day may not be long delayed, 

 and that when the building is completed, room will be provided 

 to adequately display the unique collection of wax models which 

 so much interested me when first I visited your museum. The 

 medical staff have expended as much as they safely can, and it 

 is to men of wealth and philanthropic aspirations that we con- 

 fidently look for further assistance. Let such men once realise 

 that money given for the purposes of medical education directly 

 benefits humanity, and I cannot doubt that that spirit, which 

 has prompted the British people to provide by voluntary effort 

 what in other countries is provided by the State, will prove 

 effective in the present need. On you students of medicine — 

 and a medical man, as Dr. Wilks has said, should be a student 

 till he dies — it devolves so to order your life's work that you 

 make the best use of the improved opportunities thus provided, 

 and to take care that the great profession to which you have 

 aspired to belong shall, when you leave it, stand as high in the 

 service and in the affection of the public as it does at the 

 present time. 



NO. 1440, VOL. 56] 



NOTES. 

 The Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed 

 to inquire into the administration of the museums of the Science 

 and Art Department has presented an interim report calling 

 attention to the peril of destruction by fire to which the collec- 

 tions at the South Kensington Museum are exposed. After 

 describing the general character of the buildings and their in- 

 flammable structure, the Committee conclude their report with 

 the following observation : — " This necessity of providing 

 buildings suitable for the exhibition of the objects of art and 

 science collected at South Kensington has been long under the 

 consideration of successive Governments. Your Committee 

 regard it as their immediate duty to lay before the House of 

 Commons by means of an interim report their very strong 

 opinion that permanent buildings for the adequate accommoda- 

 tion of the collections at the South Kensington Museum should 

 be proceeded with without delay. They are of opinion that it 

 will be a source of grave discredit to the country if the settle- 

 ment of this matter, which has been the subject of consideration 

 by Government for many years, and of endless correspondence 

 between the departments concerned, is any longer delayed." 



The Paris correspondent of the Times reports that at 

 Monday's sitting of the Academy of Sciences, M. Moissan 

 communicated the results of his experiments with Prof. Dewar 

 on the liquefaction of fluorine gas. M. Moissan announced that 

 the gas had been liquefied at about 185° C. below zero. When 

 a current of fluorine gas is passed into an apparatus main- 

 tained in the midst of liquid oxygen in tranquil ebullition at a 

 temperature of - 180° C, liquefaction does not occur. But as 

 soon as that temperature is diminished by exhausting the gas 

 above the liquid oxygen, the liquefaction of the fluorine begins, 

 and a clear yellow and extremely mobile liquid is obtained, 

 which resumes the gaseous state as soon as the temperature 

 ris6s. This liquid has lost the chemical activity characteristic 

 of fluorine in a state of gas. It no longer attacks glass, silicon, 

 sulphur, or phosphorus. Fluorine at a very low temperature, 

 however, still attacks carburetted hydrogen, and its affinity for 

 hydrogen seems still to exist. 



Just too late for insertion in last week's Nature we received 

 a cablegram from Prof. A. B. Macallum, Local Secretary for the 

 forthcoming meeting of the British Association at Toronto, 

 asking us to urge members of the Association to apply for 

 Canadian Steamship berths as soon as possible, as the berths 

 still remaining will soon be filled. 



Sir Archibald Geikie had a hearty reception from geologists 

 in America during his recent visit. The number of Science 

 which has just reached us contains a long article, by Prof. J. F. 

 Kemp, upon the visit of the distinguished director of our 

 geological survey, and it is evident from the account that 

 geologists in America regarded the occasion as one of ex- 

 ceptional interest. Sir Archibald Geikie crossed the Atlantic 

 to open a new course of lectures on geology, founded in 

 connection with the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 

 by Mrs. G. H. Williams. The purpose of the foundation is to 

 support an annual course of lectures in geology, to be given 

 alternately by European and American geologists of distinction ; 

 and the fact that Sir Archibald Geikie was chosen to deUver the 

 first course is a high compliment to his learning, as well as a 

 testimony to the breadth of his sympathies. Before he arrived 

 in America, invitations were sent by the Johns Hopkins 

 University to geologists throughout the country, asking them 

 to be present, and to take part in the excursions which had 

 been arranged. In response, fifty or more leading geologists 

 in America accepted. While the lectures were being delivered, 

 short excursions were conducted almost daily to places of 



