August 19. 1897] 



NA rURE 



383 



were Sir William MacCormac, Sir William Stokes, from Ireland, 

 Prof. Stevenson, from Scotland, and Prof. Stevenson, of Netley, 

 on behalf of the medical department of the British Army. On 

 arriving at Peterhof by boat the party were met by Dr. Hirsch, 

 the Tsar's medical attendant, and conducted in Court carriages 

 to the Palace, where luncheon was served to them in the Hall 

 of Mirrors. Each group was subsequently introduced to the 

 presence of the Emperor, who gave them a cordial welcome. 

 The Tsaritsa was also present. 



We regret to record the death of Mr. S. E. Peal, of Assam, 

 .1 frequent correspondent to these columns, and the author of a 

 number of papers on astronomical subjects. We also notice the 

 announcement of the death of Mr. Samuel Laing, author of 

 " Modern Science and Modern Thought," and many other 

 popular works of a similar character ; Hofrath Dr. Alfred 

 Ritter von Arneth, president of the Vienna Academy of 

 Sciences ; Prof, de Volson Wood, professor of mechanical 

 engineering in the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, 

 and formerly professor of mathematics and mechanics in the 

 same institute ; and Dr. Tholozan, Correspondant in the Section 

 of Medicine and Surgery of the Paris Academy of Sciences. 



The death is announced of Mr. Albert Marth, for many 

 years a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, to the 

 publications of which he contributed a large number of valuable 

 papers, particularly ephemerides for the satellites of the planets, 

 and for physical observations of Mars and Jupiter. Mr. Marth 

 (says the Athencetim) was born at Colberg, in Pomerania, on 

 May 5, 1828, but came to England after he had completed his 

 studies at Berlin and Konigsberg, and was connected with the 

 observatories at Regent's Park and Durham, afterwards assist- 

 ing Lassell with his nebular and other observations at Malta. 

 He discovered the small planet Amphitrite, No. 29, at Mr. 

 Bishop's observatory in 1854. During the last nine years of 

 his life he had been in charge of Colonel Cooper's observatory 

 at Markree Castle, Co. Sligo ; but his health had been failing, 

 and he died somewhat suddenly whilst on a visit to his native 

 country. 



A LARGE party of Prof. W. K. Brooks' biological students 

 from the Johns Hopkins University, under the charge of Prof, 

 J. E. Humphrey, are at present at Jamaica studying the tropical 

 fauna and flora, and carrying on research work at the north-east 

 side of the island. 



We learn from Science that the following grants have been 

 made to the United States Geological Survey for the present 

 fiscal year: The topographical surveys, 175,000 dols. ; for 

 geological surveys and researches, 100,000 dols. ; for investiga- 

 tion of coal and gold in Alaska, 5000 dols. ; palaeontology, 

 10,000 dols. ; chemistry, 7000 dols. ; gauging streams and 

 water-supply, 50,000 dols. ; mineral resources, 20,000 dols. 

 There are also allowances for illustrations, printing, &c. 



The September issue of the American Naturalist will ap- 

 pear under entirely new management. The magazine has been 

 purchased from the estate of the late Prof. Edward D. Cope 

 by a number of gentlemen who are interested in the advance- 

 ment of the natural sciences, and Dr. Robert P. Bigelow, of 

 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, has accepted 

 the post of editor-in-chief. He will be assisted by an editorial 

 ■committee and by a board of associate editors. 



At the beginning of next year, the Boyden Premium of the 

 Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, will be awarded. The pre- 

 mium '\i the sum of one thousand dollars, and it will be to 

 "any resident of North America who shall determine by ex- 

 periment whether all rays of light, and other physical rays, are 

 or are not transmitted with the same velocity." The memoirs 

 NO. 145 1, VOL. 56] 



describing in detail the apparatus employed in investigating 

 this question, the mode of experimenting, and the results ob- 

 tained, must be sent in before January i, 1898. 



We learn from the Times that it has been decided to appoint, 

 in place of Mr. Rigby, late Superintendent of the Government 

 Factory at Enfield, who has retired on a pension, a new officer 

 with the title of Deputy-Director-General of the Ordnance 

 Factories, He will receive a salary of 1500/. a year, with a 

 suitable residence and with title to a pension. He will have 

 primary charge of the Enfield Factory, but he will also assist 

 the Director-General, Sir William Anderson, F.R.S,, in his 

 duties at Woolwich. 



The ninth International Congress of Hygiene and Demo- 

 graphy will be held in Madrid from April 10 to 17, 1898. 



We have received from the Hon. Stephen Coleridge, Hon. 

 Secretary of the Anti-vivisection Society, a copy of some corre- 

 spondence which recently took place in the St. James s Gazette 

 with reference to the use of curare in the practice of vivisection. 

 Under the influence of curare it is believed that animals are still 

 conscious of pain, and allegations have been made against some 

 physiologists that they had used curare as an anaesthetic. We 

 do not, as a rule, devote any attention to the reckless assertions 

 so often made by anti-vivisectionists, our reason being that they 

 are usually the result of ignorance which moves us more to pity 

 than to anger. But as the correspondence referred to has 

 apparently been sent to us for comment, we do not hesitate 

 to say that we are astounded at the audacious impudence 

 of persons who venture to criticise matters about which they 

 know nothing. Not content with the Home Secretary's reply 

 to Mr. Weir, in the House of Commons, that the charges made 

 as to the mis-use of curare morphia were "absolutely baseless," 

 Mr. Coleridge extracts from certain papers by Messrs. Bayliss, 

 Hill, and GuUand the words: "Throughout the experiment?., 

 morphia was the anaesthetic used," and triumphantly points to^' 

 the "atrocious suffering" involved in experiments so performed. 

 In the course of a reply to this attack, Mr. Leonard Hill said : 

 "It is my invariable rule to perform all cutting operations on 

 animals under complete chloroform anaesthesia. ... It would 

 be idle to repeat the full details of anaesthesia in every paper 

 published in a journal of pure science — details which are, as 

 a matter of course, recognised by all scientific readers. From 

 such papers the officials of the Anti-vivisection Society piece 

 together defamatory statements. The experiments decried by 

 Edward Berdoe and Mr. Coleridge were carried out without 

 the infliction of pain, and at the end of these experiments the 

 animals were killed. It is my habit to inject from half to one 

 grain of acetate of morphia into small dogs — a dose so large 

 that it cannot be given with safety to an adult man. Such 

 doses produce absolute coma in the animals. The use of 

 morphia to prolong anesthesia after the initial use of chloroform 

 is a practice common among surgeons." We accept entirely 

 Mr. Hill's explanation, and are amazed at the perverse inter- 

 pretations which Mr. Coleridge and his fellow-agitators are good 

 enough to put upon the writings of physiologists. The chief 

 source of regret to us is that organisations like the Anti- 

 vivisection Society, existing as they do upon the gullibility of 

 an ill-informed public, should be permitted to publish their irre- 

 sponsible accusations without fear of punishment. It would be 

 better for humanity as well as science if such societies were 

 not allowed to exist. 



A MOTOR-CAR race from Paris to Trouville, which excited 

 as much interest as that from Paris to Dieppe, took place on 

 Sunday last. A correspondent of the Times reports that 

 iwenty-two motor cars, of various designs, and twenty- six motor 

 cycles started from St. Germain between 10 and 10.30 in the 



