September 2, 1897] 



NATURE 



421 



SAMUEL EDWARD PEAL. 

 CAMUEL EDWARD PEAL, who died at Moran, 

 »~-^ Sibsagur, Assam, on July 29, was born December 

 31, 1834. Originally an artist, he went to India in 1862 

 as a tea planter, and it was while so engaged in 1873 

 that he discovered that the tea blight was due to the 

 ravages of a kind of Aphis, " the tea bug of Assam,' since 

 named the Hclopelta theovonx., the life- history of which 

 he worked out with suggestions for its extermination. 



He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society 

 and of other Societies, and did good service in exploration 

 among the Naga Hills, mainly with a view of showing the 

 practicability of a direct route from India to China (the 

 old Burmese route) over the Patkoi range, a work much 

 appreciated by the Indian Government. 



.As a philologist his acquaintance with the various 

 dialects of the hill men, and his great tact in dealing 

 with them, made his presence acceptable where others 

 had failed. 



He devoted many years to the study of the grasses and 

 trees of .Assam and their life-histories, and had completed 

 and profusely illustrated his work upon them, when the 

 bungalow (during his absence) was destroyed by fire with 

 all its contents, and his many years of labour wasted. 



Astronomy of late years occupied his attention, and 

 his theory of lunar surfacing as due to glaciation is 

 gradually becoming accepted. He also wrote a paper 

 " On a Possible Cause of Lunar Libration, &c." He was 

 a frequent contributor to the Indian press, and also to 

 the columns of Nature, on various natural history sub- 

 jects, and had recently traced the connection between 

 the Dyaks of Borneo and some aboriginals of Assam. 

 Having resided thirty-five years in Assam, he was con- 

 sidered the doyen of the Europeans of the province, and 

 being held in high esteem, his loss will be severely felt. 



NOTES. 



The concluding general meeting of the British Association at 

 Toronto was held on Wednesday, August 25. Special thanks 

 were accorded to Prof. Macallum, the leading local secretary, 

 for the active share he had taken in making the meeting such a 

 very successful one. The total attendance at the meeting was 

 announced as 1362. The Times correspondent reports the 

 following facts of interest : — Among the important new grants 

 are 50/. towards the Meteorological Observatory in Montreal, 

 75/. for the biology of the lakes of Ontario, 125/. for the anthro- 

 pology and natural history of Torres Straits, lOO/. for the 

 investigation of changes associated with the activity of nerve 

 cells— total grants, 1350/. A new committee of great import- 

 ance has been appointed. The Council was requested to consider 

 the desirability of approaching the Government with a view to 

 the establishment in Great Britain of experimental agricultural 

 stations similar in character to those which are producing such 

 satisfactory results in Canada. The committee is to report on 

 the means by which in various countries agriculture is advanced 

 by research, by special educational institutions, and by the 

 dissemination of information and advice among agriculturists. 

 The Association is to meet in Bristol next year, and in Dover in 

 1899. 



The Chancellor of the Exchequer has informed the executors 

 of the late Sir Wollaston Franks that he will remit the estate 

 duty on the bequest to the British Museum of the valuable 

 collections and books which he left to it on that condition (see 

 p. 275). The collection has therefore now been handed over. 



It is reported that the Duke of the Abruzzi (Prince Luigi of 

 Savoy) and his party reached the summit of Mount St. Elias, at 

 an altitude of 19,000 feet, on July 31. The expedition, which 

 was the most successful that has ever undertaken the ascent of 



NO. 1453. ^'^L. 56] 



Mount St. Elias, passed fifty-one days on the ice and snow. It 

 is stated that the explorers declare that they did not see the 

 slightest indication that Mount St. Elias had been volcanic. 



The Committee on Indexing Chemical Literature presented 

 its fifteenth annual report to the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science at the recent meeting. From the 

 report we learn that a bibliography of the metals of the platinum 

 group, 1 748- 1 896, by Prof. James Lewis Howe, and a review 

 and bibliography of metallic carbides, by Mr. J. A. Mathews, 

 have been completed, and have been recommended to the 

 Smithsonian Institution for publication. A bibliography of basic 

 slags, technical, analytical and agricultural, has been completed 

 by Karl T. McElroy. The channel of publication has not Ijeen 

 determined. The second edition of the catalogue of scientific 

 and technical periodicals, 1665-1895, by Dr. H. Carrington 

 Bolton, is entirely printed, but has not yet been published. 

 The new edition contains 8603 titles. A supplement to the 

 select bibliography of chemistry, 1492- 1896, has also been 

 completed by Dr. Bolton, who has presented the MS. to the 

 Smithsonian Institution. This supplement contains about 9000 

 titles, including many chemical dissertations, and is brought 

 down to the end of the year 1896. Progress is also being made 

 with an index to the literature of thorium ; an index to the 

 literature of tantalum ; a bibliography of oxygen ; and a biblio- 

 graphy of the constitution of morphine and related alkaloids. 

 Letters for the Committee should be addressed to the Chairman, 

 Dr. 11. Carrington Bolton, at Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C. 



More than seven thousand members attended the twelfth 

 International Medical Congress held at Moscow on August 

 19-26. From a report in the Lancet, we learn that the Grand 

 Duke Serge Alexandre vitch officially opened the Congress on 

 August 19, in the presence of a brilliant assembly ; Count 

 Delianof then delivered a short address of welcome in the Latin 

 tongue. Prof. Sklifosovski, president of the organising com- 

 mittee, also delivered an address. Prof. Roth, the general 

 secretary, then gave an account of the preliminary labours of 

 the organising and executive committees. The recent Congress 

 was larger than any of its predecessors, the number of members 

 exceeding 7300, more than half of whom came from abroad. 

 Prince Galitzin, the Mayor of Moscow, welcomed the members 

 of the Congress in the name of the city of Moscow, and 

 added that to commemorate the event the municipality had 

 decided to offer a triennial prize for the best work on some 

 selected medical subject. After brief addresses by the delegates 

 of the different countries represented at the Congress, Prof. 

 Virchow gave an address upon " The Continuity of Life as the 

 Basis of Biological Science." The second address was by Prof. 

 Lannelongue, who had for his subject " The Surgical Treatment 

 of Tuberculosis." Dr. Lauder Bruntcn then read an address on 

 "The Relations between Physiology, Pharmacology, Pathology, 

 and Practical Medicine." This address is printed in the current 

 number of the Lancet (August 28). 



The sixty-fifth annual meeting of the British Medical Asso- 

 ciation was opened at Montreal on Tuesday. This is the first 

 occasion on which the Association has met outside the British 

 Isles. About two thousand delegates from all parts of the 

 British Empire are attending the meeting. The French 

 Government sent Dr. Charles Richet as its official representa- 

 tive, and about four hundred leading American physicians are 

 present. The opening meeting took place on Tuesday afternoon. 

 The Mayor of Montreal welcomed the Association on behalf of 

 the city ; while Sir A. Chapleau, French Canadian Lieutenant- 

 Governor, and Lord Aberdeen, expressed the welcome of the 

 province and the Dominion respectively. Dr. T. G. Roddick, 

 Professor of Surgery in the McGill University, and president of 

 the Association, then delivered an address on the objects of the 



