570 



NA TURE 



[October 14, 1897 



commenced l^vvith the presentation of medals to the successful 

 ■competitors in the Society's exhibition, the principal award being 

 secured by Prof. Gabriel Lippmann (Paris) for specimens of 

 colour photography by the interference method. The president 

 afterwards delivered his annual address, the subject of which was 

 "Weights and measures as they are used in photography." 

 After suggesting what modification of present customs would 

 best conduce to accuracy in result, facility of manipulation and 

 computation, and increased volume of trade, he spoke of the 

 origin and details of the metric system as applied to the science 

 •of photography, and contended that much might be done by the 

 ■makers of photographic goods by giving metric dimensions to 

 ■their cameras or plate-holders. 



The construction of the half-tide weir and lock across the 

 river at Richmond has been so satisfactory in the results, and 

 has added so much to the appearance of the river, that the 

 inhabitants residing along he banks below this, and those in- 

 terested in the boating, have for some time past been agitating 

 for a similar weir and locks to be put across the river below 

 Putney. The joint committee appointed by the several parishes 

 in which this part of the river is situated have now obtained a 

 report from an engineer advising that the site of the proposed 

 weir should be situated about half a mile below Putney Bridge, 

 .and that the water should be held up to half-tide level. The 

 Avidth of the river at this point is nearly double that at Rich- 

 mond, and consequently the cost of construction will be greater, 

 the estimate being put at 250,000/. In a separate report made 

 by another firm of engineers for the Wandsworth Vestry, the 

 cost is put at 180,000/. It is stated that the proposed weir will 

 not in any way interfere with th'e outfall of the drains and 

 ■sewers which discharge into this part of the river, or clog the 

 •sub-soil drainage of the district. 



The annual "Fungus Foray " of the Essex Field Club will be 

 held in Epping Forest on Saturday, October 16, under the 

 ibotanical guidance of Dr. M. C. Cooke, Prof. Boulger, Mr. E. 

 M. Holmes, Mr. G. Massee, and others. At the evening 

 meeting at Warren Hill House, Loughton, Dr. Cooke will read 

 -a paper on " British Mycology during sixty years." Botanists 

 wishing to attend should communicate with the hon. secre- 

 taries, Buckhurst Hill, Essex. 



The first meeting of the British Mycological Society was 

 •recently held at Worksop. On Tuesday, September 14, the 

 ■woods on the W^elbeck estate were explored, but little of note 

 was found. In the evening Mr. George Massee delivered his 

 presidential address on " Mycological progress during the past 

 sixty years," after which he was unanimously re-elected presi- 

 •dent, and Mr. Carleton Rea hon. secretary and treasurer. 

 During a visit to the demesne of Thoresby, an Entoloma, new 

 to the British fungus flora, was discovered in Budby Wood, 

 ciamely E. hirtophylluin. Other places in the district were 

 •explored, and some interesting specimens were obtained. 



The annual meeting of the Hull Scientific and Field 

 ^Naturalists' Club was held on Wednesday evening, September 

 J29 ; Dr. !• Hollingworth, the president, occupied the chair. 

 The secretaries' report showed that great progress had been 

 made during the year, and that the Club was in a very satisfactory 

 condition. The reports for geology, botany, conchology, 

 ■entomology, and ornithology testified that good work had been 

 done during the year by the various sections. The botanists 

 ■have been working out the flora of the East Riding, and have 

 added a number of species to the Club's list of East Riding 

 .plants. The programme for the winter session 1897-98 includes 

 •lectures upon several very interesting scientific subjects. 



A COMMITTEE, consisting of Sir F. Marindin (chairman). 

 Earl Russell, Sir Douglas Galton, Sir C. Scotter, and Dr. J. S. 

 NO. 1459, VOL. 56] 



Haldane, was appointed last February "to inquire into the 

 existing system of ventilation of tunnels on the Metropolitan 

 Railway, and report whether any, and, if so, what steps can be 

 taken to add to its efficiency in the interest of the public." The 

 report of the committee has just been issued in a Blue-book, 

 That many portions of the Metropolitan Railway suffer from 

 want of ventilation is well known. The committee draw at- 

 tention to the amount of carbonic acid gas in the tunnel air, 

 and to other impurities which arise from the emission of steam, 

 and from the fuel consumed by the engines. After considering 

 the suggested remedies of removing the impure air by fans 

 placed midway between the stations, and the provision of addi- 

 tional openings, the creation of which were objected to by the 

 local authorities on the grounds of public health and deprecia- 

 tion of property, the committee conclude by stating their con- 

 viction that pure air can be best obtained with certainty in these 

 tunnels by means of electric working. In the words of the first 

 of the conclusions of the committee, " By far the most satis- 

 factory mode of ventilation of the Metropolitan tunnels would 

 be by the adoption of electric traction." 



Particulars of the scientific work of the late Mr. William 

 Archer, F. R. S., whose death we have already announced, are 

 contributed to the October number of the Irish Naturalist by 

 Dr. W. Frazer. Mr. Archer's special talent for patient in- 

 vestigations in connection with minute forms of vegetable and 

 animal life was brought out by the Dublin Microscopical 

 Club, which originated in 1849. In 1855 Mr. Archer pre- 

 pared a list of Desmids obtained in Co. Dublin, illustrated 

 with drawings, for the Zoological and Botanical Association 

 of Trinity College, to which he afterwards added a supple- 

 mental list containing additional species. He edited for the 

 second edition of Pritchard's work on Infusoria, the article 

 " Desmidiacese," was the discoverer and describer of several 

 new genera and families belonging to the Rhizopods, and pub- 

 lished a special communication on Ballia callitriche in the 

 Transactions of the Linnean Society. He was elected a 

 member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1870, and subse- 

 quently served on its Council, and as Secretary for Foreign 

 Correspondence from 1875 to 1880. In 1879 he was awarded 

 the Cunningham Gold Medal. To the Proceedings of the 

 Academy he contributed, in 1874, a paper on " Apothecia 

 occurring in some Scytonematous and Sirosyphonaceous 

 AlgDS," and, in 1875, another on ^^ Chlainydoniyxa labarynth- 

 uloides, a. new species and genus of Freshwater Sarcodic Organ- 

 ism." In June 1875, he was elected Fellow of the Royal 

 Society, and in the following year he was appointed librarian 

 to the Royal Dublin Society. When a large portion of the 

 library of this Society was afterwards transferred to form the 

 present National Library of Ireland, he took charge of the 

 new building, and only retired from his office in 1895. 



The piers which have been constructed by the Tyne Com- 

 missioners at the mouth of the river, entirely out of dues paid 

 by vessels entering the Tyne, have provided a convenient and 

 much-needed harbour of refuge for this exposed and dangerous 

 part of the North Sea. These piers, which have only been com- 

 pleted about a year ago, after occupying forty years in construc- 

 tion, are causing very serious anxiety to the Commissioners, the 

 North Pier having for some time past shown signs of giving way, 

 and all attempts to stop the undermining of the wall by the 

 waves having failed. In January last, during a very heavy north- 

 east gale, the sea made a clean breach through the wall at about 

 two-thirds from the shore. Acting on the advice of the eminent 

 engineers called in to report on the matter, it has been decided 

 that it will be necessary to take down about 750 feet of the 

 outer end of the North Pier, and reconstruct it on foundations 

 carried to a greater depth below low water to the hard rock ; 

 the estimated cost of this work being over 300,000/. 



