January 28, 1892] 



NATURE 



303 



Physiological science has sustained a severe loss by the 

 death of Dr. Ernst von Briicke, the well-known Professor of 

 Physiology at the University of Vienna. He died at Vienna on 

 January 8, in his seventy-third year. He was a pupil of 

 Johannes Miiller, and made many contributions of first-rate 

 importance to the study of physiology. 



We regret to have to record the death of Mr. Thomas 

 Roberts, F.G.S., of St. John's College, assistant to the Wood- 

 wardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge. He died on Satur- 

 day last at the age of thirty-five. Mr. Roberts obtained a first 

 class in the Natural Sciences Tripos, Part I., in June 1882, and 

 in the second part of the same Tripos for geology in June 1883. 

 He also won the Sedgwick Prize for a geological essay in 1886. 

 Prof. Hughes, in his annual reports to the Senate, often alluded 

 to the value of the services rendered by Mr. Roberts to the 

 students of his classes. 



The Sydney papers announce the death of Sir William 

 Macleay, who did much to promote an interest in science in 

 New South Wales. It was mainly through his efforts that the 

 Linnean Society of New South Wales was founded ; and on 

 many occasions he acted towards it with splendid liberality. 

 The building in which it meets was erected at Sir William's 

 expense. This building he transferred to the Society with the 

 lease of the land on which it stands, giving at the same time, by 

 way of endowment, a mortgage of ;^i4,ooo bearing interest at 

 the rate of 5 per cent, per annum. He provided an excellent 

 reference library, and equipped the rooms with fittings, furniture, 

 and apparatus for scientific research. According to a speech 

 delivered by one of the presidents, and quoted by the Sydney 

 Morning Herald, he also bore the greater part of the expenses 

 of the Society's publications, supplied the salaries of its officers, 

 and " furnished its specialists with abundant funds for their in- 

 vestigations and their maintenance." Besides, he was the chief 

 instrument in obtaining the Society's Charter, and he arranged 

 to bequeath the sum of ;^3S,ooo for the establishment of four 

 "Linnean Fellowships" of the annual value of ;i^400 each. 

 In 1874, Sir William Macleay bought and fitted out the barque 

 Chevert for a scientific expedition to New Guinea ; and he was 

 thus enabled to get together a very valuable collection of natural 

 history specimens, which now form an important part of what is 

 known as the Macleay Museum of Natural History, presented 

 by him to the University of Sydney. In addition to his collec- 

 tion, which was estimated at ^23,000, he gave to the University 

 ^6000 to provide for the salary of a curator. 



The facts relating to the electrical transmission of power 

 from Lauffen, on the Neckar, to Frankfort, a distance of about 

 no English miles, have now been made known. They have 

 been established by means of elaborate tests applied by a jury 

 of experts under Prof. Weber, of Ziirich. Vv'hen 113 horse- 

 power was taken from the river, the amount received at Frank- 

 fort through the wires was about 81 horse-power, showing an 

 efficiency, in spite of all possible sources of loss, of 72^ per 

 cent. Prof. Silvanus Thompson, who has called attention to 

 these striking facts, points out that it is now only a question of 

 means whether, at the Chicago Exposition, there will be a 

 transmission through wires of 1000 horse-power taken from the 

 Falls of Niagara. 



An Electrical Exhibition was opened at St. Petersburg on 

 January 23 by M. Vishnegradski, Minister of Finance, who 

 was accompanied on the occasion by M. Durnovo, Minister of 

 the Interior, and a number of distinguished persons. The 

 Finance Minister, in addressing those present, traced the pro- 

 gress that had been made in electro-technical knowledge during 

 the last twenty years, and dwelt upon the value of the present 

 Exhibition for students of electricity. The Ministers and the 



NO. ri6i, VOL. 45] 



other personages then proceeded to visit the different sections. 

 The Exhibition is said to be of a varied and interesting 

 character, displaying many different kinds of machines at work. 



According to the American journal Electricity^ the plans 

 and specifications for the construction of the conduit system 

 and subways in which the electric conductors, at the Chicago 

 Exposition, are to be carried through the grounds to the dif- 

 ferent buildings have been issued by the construction depart- 

 ment of the World's Fair. The specifications call for the com- 

 pletion of the work by April 15, 1892. The total length of the 

 subway is about 4500 feet. The larger portion of the conduit 

 will be 8 feet and 4 inches square, and will be built of the 

 best seasoned pine. The conduit is to have two linings, the 

 outer one consisting of 2 inch tarred plank. Between the 

 linings will be a concrete mixture of cement, plaster, and sand* 



The Kew Bulletin for January opens with some most inter- 

 esting notes, by Mr. J. G, Baker, F.R.S., on Agaves and Arbor- 

 escent Liliacese on the Riviera. Mr. Baker went in November 

 last to the Riviera, chiefly for the purpose of studying these two 

 groups of plants, which grow there in quantities in the open air. 

 The number also contains accounts of the Cape Town Botanic 

 Garden and the Gold Coast Botanical Station. 



The first appendix of the Kew Bulletin of the present year 

 consists of a list of such hardy herbaceous annual and perennial 

 plants, as well as of such trees and shrubs as matured seeds 

 under cultivation in the Royal Gardens, Kew, during the year 

 1 89 1. These seeds are available for exchange with colonial, 

 Indian, and foreign Botanic Gardens, as well as with regular 

 correspondents of Kew. The seeds can be obtained only in 

 moderate quantity, and are not sold to the general public. No 

 application, except from remote colonial possessions, can be 

 received for seeds after the end of March. 



The Woolhope Club has voted ;^io towards defraying the ex- 

 penses connected with the course of Oxford University Extension 

 lectures, now being delivered in Hereford by Mr. C. Carus- 

 Wilson, on the "Outlines of Geology." It is satisfactory to 

 note this instance of a local Club making use of the facilities 

 offered by University Extension for giving to its younger 

 members the opportunity of obtaining systematic training in 

 geological knowledge. The liberal-minded action of the Wool- 

 hope Club might well be followed by other Societies throughout 

 the country if they are satisfied of the lecturer's capacity. 



With reference to Prof. Ray Lankester's communication on 

 "Science in Japan" (p. 256), and especially to his remark 

 that "English, indeed, appears to be the official language of 

 the Imperial University, Tokyo," the following extract may be 

 found interesting. It is taken from the preface to an English 

 translation of a Japanese text-book of elementary geometry, 

 based on that of the Association for the Improvement of Geo- 

 metrical Teaching, and compiled by Prof. Kikuchi, of the 

 Imperial University, for use in the ordinary normal and middle 

 schools. " In some schools, text-books in English are in use in 

 all the classes, in others only in the higher classes. My object 

 in making this translation is to supply a text-book in English 

 for use in such schools uniform with the Japanese text-book, so 

 that the scholars may pass from one to the other without any 

 trouble." 



Judging by the contents of a short paper read recently 

 before the Linnean Society, and the discussion which followed, 

 there is an interesting field for scientific investigation amongst 

 the ticks {Ixodidic) which are to be found in some parts of 

 Jamaica and other portions of tropical America. These un- 

 desirable Acarina appear to have been introduced to Jamaica with 

 cattle from the mainland. They are most prevalent, therefore. 



