October 7, 1897] 



NA TURE 



549 



fully worked for more than twenty years by Mr. A. C. Savin, 

 of Cromer, who during that period had accumulated about 

 1900 specimens of Vertebrata. many of which had been de- 

 scribed and figured by Mr. E. T. Newton, F.R.S., Prof. Leith 

 Adams, Prof Lankester, F.R.S.,, and others. Mr. Savin's 

 collection has just been acquired by the British Museum 

 {Natural History), where it will be preserved for all time, and 

 form a most unique and valuable addition to our National 

 "Museum, as well as add greatly to our knowledge of the fauna 

 1 this old Pliocene land-surface. 



The Forres, Elgin, and Nairn Gazette contains a paragraph 

 to the effect that within the last few weeks, by the kindness of 

 Lady Prestwich and the Trustees of the British Museum, an 

 interesting and instructive series of fossils, ranging through the 

 whole scale of the fossiliferous rocks and consisting of 833 

 specimens, has been presented to the Falconer Museum at 

 Forres. This valuable collection has been systematically 

 arranged by Mr. Bullen Newton, of the British Museum, 

 and it forms an addition of great educational value to the con- 

 tents of the Falconer Museum. The thanks of the Trustees and 

 Managers of the Falconer Museum are due to the authorities of 

 the British Museum for their generosity, but especially to Lady 

 Prestwich, to whose interest in the Museum, which was erected 

 by funds bequeathed for the purpose by her uncles, they are 

 mainly indebted for this valuable gift. 



The death is announced of the Rev. Andrew Matthews, 

 distinguished for his work on micro-coleoptera. We learn 

 from the Entomologist that in 1872 Mr. Matthews published 

 the first volume of " Trichopterygia illustrata et descripta," 

 with thirty-one plates drawn by himself ; and in his eightieth 

 year he completed a second volum2, also illustrated by his own 

 hand : this is now with the publisher. Among his other works 

 are papers on the genera Hydroscapha, Ainblyopinus, My liana ; 

 and synopses of the Trichopterygidc^ of Europe and North 

 America. He also described the species of his particular group 

 of Coleoptera in *' Biologia Centrali Americana." 



The North German Lloyd Steamer, Kaiser Wilhelm der 

 Grosse, which has recently made the record passage for speed on 

 her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 5 days 

 22 hours, or an average of 21 39 knots, is the largest passenger 

 steamer afloat. Her dimensions, however, will be exceeded by 

 the Oceanic, now building for the White Star Company by 

 Messrs. Harland and Wolff at Belfast, and which is expected to 

 be ready for launching at the beginning of next year. The 

 length of this vessel will be 704 feet, or 25 feet longer than the 

 ill-fated Great Eastern, and 55 feet longer than the Kaiser 

 Wilhelm. Her gross tonnage will be 17,000 and she is to be 

 adapted for use as an armed cruiser, her coal-carrying capacity 

 when so used being, at a speed of 12 knots, sufficient for 23,400 

 miles, or practically for a voyage round the world. The speed, 

 when in use for passenger traffic to and from New York, is, as at 

 present designed, to give an average of 21 knots. 



An international conference of leather trades chemists, held 

 on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 28 and 29, at Herold's 

 Institute, Berraondsey (Leathersellers* Company's Tanning 

 School), and at which Great Britain, the United .States of 

 America, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and 

 Sweden were the countries represented, concluded its proceed- 

 ings on the 30th ult., by a joint meeting of the leather trade 

 and its allies at Leathersellers' Hall, kindly lent by the 

 Worshipful Company of Leathersellers. The object of the 

 conference was chiefly to arrive at uniformity in the matter of tan- 

 ning analyses, and to formally establish an International Associa- 

 tion of Leather Trades Chemists. The conference was opened 

 by Mr. C. T. Millis, Principal of Herold's Institute, and repre- 

 NO. 1458, VOL. 56] 



seating the Governors of the Borough Polytechnic, of which the 

 Institute is a branch ; the chair being afterwards taken by Dr. 

 Perkin, F.R.S. The Right Hon. W. L. Jackson presided at 

 the Leathersellers' Hall meeting. As the first president of the 

 International Association, the conference elected Mr. Alfred 

 Seymour-Jones; as honorary secretaries. Prof. II. R. Procter 

 (Yorkshire College, Leeds) and Dr. J. Gordon Parker (Herold's 

 Institute, London). 



The Times prints the following dispatches, received from its 

 correspondent at Melbourne : October 3 : " The scientific ex- 

 pedition which was despatched to the Ellice Islands by the 

 Sydney Geographical Society, under Prof David, has confirmed 

 Darwin's theory of the formation of coral islands. Prof. David 

 \ reports from Samoa that the expedition has been a decided 

 , success. The diamond drill went down 557 feet in the coral 

 without reaching the bottom." October 4: "With reference 

 to the borings on the Ellice Islands to obtain information as to 

 the formation of coral islands. Prof David states that the results 

 I to 487 feet were inconclusive. Beyond that, they strongly 

 \ favour Darwin's theory, though a final judgment depends upon 

 j microscopic examination of the drill cores. The borings are 

 I being continued." Miss E. Walker contributed 500/. towards 

 the expenses of this expedition, and the Royal Society 100/. 

 I directly, and probably another lOO/. through its coral-boring 

 committee. The expedition was under the auspices of the 

 j Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, and was directed by 

 I Prof. T. W. E. David, of Sydney. In view of the difficulties 

 previously met with at Funafuti, a special boring plant was pro- 

 [ vided weighing over 25 tons, and capable of boring to a depth 

 i of 1000 feet. It is understood that the core obtained will 

 be forwarded first to the Royal Society of London, which 

 will return one-half to the Royal Geographical Society of 

 Australasia. 



The Beavers exhibited in the Zoological Gardens are mostly 

 of the American species {Castor canadensis), though specimens 

 of the European form {C. fiber) have been occasionally obtained 

 from the Lower Rhone, and Beavers are still to be met with in 

 some districts on the Elbe and on the Danube. An excellent 

 memoir lately issued by Prof. Collett, of Christiania (" Baveren 

 i Norge"), gives us an account of the Beavers still remaining in 

 Norway, where it had formerly a very extended distribution. 

 Prof Collett thinks that in all probability the Beaver will last in 

 Norway in a state of nature " well into the next century," pro- 

 vided a small amount of care is taken to protect it. The 

 number of individuals existing in Norway at present he esti- 

 mates as about lOO. In 1880 Mr. Cocks considered that there 

 were only about 60, so that there may have been a slight increase 

 in recent years. 



Under the name Hylobates henrici, M. E. de Pousargues 

 describes a new species of Gibbon from the interior of Tonquin. 

 It is based on a skin presented to the Museum d'Histoire 

 naturelle of Paris by Prince Henry of Orleans, which was 

 obtained by the Prince in 1892 at Lai-Chan, a little to the 

 north of the Black River of Tonquin, and not far from the 

 frontier o. the Chinese province of Yunan. 



Mr. H. Savac.e Landor, who left England in March last, 

 commissioned by Mr. Harmsworth, the proprietor of the Daily 

 Mail, to endeavour to enter the sacred city of Lhassa, in Tibet, 

 has not been successful in his undertaking. News has just been 

 received that a few days after crossing the frontier of Tibet, 

 disguised as a Chinese pilgrim, all except two of Mr. Landor's 

 men abandoned him. In spite of this, Mr. Landor continued on 

 his journey, but eventually he lost all his provisions, and by an 

 act of treachery was made a prisoner by the Tibetans. He was 

 sentenced to be beheaded, but at the last moment the Grand 



