February i i, 1892 



NA TURE 



349 



dynamo- room, and all else that is required for an efficient school 

 of modern engineering. This extension will enable the base- 

 ment and ground-floor of the central wing of the main building, 

 together with a new building to be erected in the inner court, to 

 be devoted to the department of physics, which has hitherto 

 been very imperfectly provided for in rooms that were originally 

 intended for quite other purposes than those to which they have 

 been applied. The position of the new physical laboratory is 

 such that it will be as far removed as is easily possible, in the 

 heart of London, from heavy street traffic. 



The death of the well-known botanical collector, B. Balansa, 

 is recorded in the French journals. He died in the military 

 hospital of Hanoi, Tongking, to which country he went on a 

 second botanical expedition. Balansa was not merely a col- 

 lector of plants ; he was also a botanist, though he never 

 published much, his principal contributions to botanical litera- 

 ture being on the grasses of New Caledonia and of Cochin 

 China. He also published a botanical account of his ascent of 

 Mount Humboldt in New Caledonia. But as a botanical col- 

 lector, Mr. Balansa contributed to nearly all of the principal 

 herbaria of Europe, having spent many years of his life collect- 

 ing in Algeria, Morocco, Asia Minor, New Caledonia, Paraguay, 

 Tongking, and other parts of the world. On Sir Joseph Hooker's 

 recommendation he was attached as botanist to the Commission 

 appointed in 1873 by the Paraguayan Government for the 

 scientific exploration of its territory ; and he spent three years 

 and a half traversing the country in various directions for this 

 purpose. He made very large botanical collections, but these, 

 as well as his New Caledonian plants, have only been partially 

 worked out. Kew purchased a set of about 2000 species. 



On Saturday last the members of a mountaineering and 

 scientific expedition, under the leadership of Mr. W. M. 

 Conway, sailed by the steamship' Ofrtw/i? for Karachi, whence 

 they will proceed, by way of Abbotabad and Kashmir, to the 

 mountains of BaUistan, on the frontier of Eastern Turkistan. 

 Their object is to explore thoroughly the high glacial area of the 

 Karakoram range. One of their chief aims will be to make a 

 special survey of the great Baltoro glacier, which descends from 

 the peak " K 2 " (28,265 feet), the second highest measured peak 

 in the world. They will make scientific collections, and record 

 observations of glacial phenomena. The Baltoro, Punmar, and 

 Biafo glaciers, which unite their streams in the neighbourhood 

 of Askoley, are believed to be the largest glaciers in the world 

 outside of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and their upper 

 levels have never yet been explored. Mr. Conway is accom- 

 panied by the Hon. C. G. Bruce and Mr. J. H. Roundebush ; 

 and they are taking with them Mr. A. D. McCormick, the 

 artist of the expedition ; Mr. Oscar Eckenstein, a well-known 

 Alpine climber ; and Mathias Lurbriggen, of Macugnaga, one 

 of the famous family of Alpine guides. It is understood that 

 they intend to make a determined assault upon " K 2," or one 

 of the loftiest of the neighbouring peaks, with a view to dis- 

 covering whether the limit to which qualified mountaineers can 

 climb has yet been attained. The expedition, it may be men- 

 tioned, has been subsidized both by the Royal Society and by 

 the Royal Geographical Society. 



A Crimean Alpine Club has been formed at Odessa. The 

 objects of the members are to explore the mountains of the 

 Crimea, to publish scientific papers on phenomena connected 

 with them, to protect rare species of plants and animals, to 

 favour the development of agriculture, horticulture, and small 

 local industries among the mountaineers, and to provide faci- 

 lities for tourists, artists, and men of science who may desire to 

 visit the region. 



The 1892 Photographic Conference will be held at the 

 Society of Arts on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 22 and 23, 

 under the presidency of Captain W. de W, Abney, F.R.S. 

 NO. I I 63, VOL. 45] 



Last week we mentioned the case of the miner Johann Latus, 

 of Myslovitz, in Silesia, who had been asleep for over four 

 months. The latest news about him is that he has partly 

 recovered, and the cataleptic rigidity of the limbs, which 

 was characteristic of his somnolent condition, has disap- 

 peared. It is curious to note that, although he has conversed 

 with his wife, he seems quite unaware of the long stay he has 

 made in the hospital. No feeling of pain of any sort has been 

 experienced by him, and in fact he cannot recall any sensation 

 during this long period. Dr. Albers, who is attending to him, 

 hopes that he will soon completely recover. Unfortunately 

 Latus has been threatened with inflammation of the lungs, which, 

 view of his present weak state, might be fatal to him. He still 

 continues to take only milk diet, having refused both meat and 

 wine. 



Dr. G. Schweinfurth has taken up his abode in the 

 Italian colony on the Red Sea for the purpose of completing 

 his investigation of the flora of Yemen and of Northern Abys- 

 sinia. He is accompanied by Dr. D. Riva, of Bologna. 



Prof, L. H. Bailey has been appointed special agent of the 

 United States Weather Bureau for the purpose of making a 

 report on phenology, and the relation of climate to the times of 

 blooming, fruiting, and leafing of plants. 



Mr. Worthington G. Smith reports that he has now 

 made water-colour drawings of 492 species of British Basidio- 

 niycetes, including the whole of the white-spored species of 

 Agaricus, for the public gallery in the Botanical Department 

 of the British Museum. The total number of British Basidio- 

 inycetes is over 2000, and these are intended to be completed on 

 96 sheets. Closely-allied species are placed side by side, so 

 that the salient points of differentiation can be seen at a glance. 



The fourth number of the Journal of the Leprosy Investiga- 

 tion Committee, just issued, presents much information on 

 leprosy in Russia, Brazil, and Madeira. It contains also papers 

 on the communicability of leprosy by vaccination, and various 

 notes and abstracts. We learn from the Journal that the Report 

 of the Leprosy Commission, together with an appendix contain- 

 ing the results of their laboratory work, is being printed in 

 India, and will probably be ready for issue from the office of the 

 National Leprosy Fund, in London, in a very few weeks. 



The people of Vienna have been greatly alarmed by the out- 

 break of a new epidemic, which is believed by some to be con- 

 nected with the influenza. It aflects the intestines, its symp- 

 toms being fever and acute colic, with the ejection of blood. 

 Its appearance seems to indicate the absorption of some 

 poisonous matter. At first it was attributed to the drinking- 

 water, but this view has been generally abandoned. A repre- 

 sentative of a Vienna newspaper has taken the opinion of some 

 of the leading Vienna physicians on the subject. Prof. Noth- 

 nagel hesitated to pronounce any judgment on the nature of the 

 illness.the facts not having been sufficiently studied. Prof.Drasche 

 thought it might be "nothing else than a distinct form of 

 influenza," and was confident that it was not due to the drink- 

 ing-water. Prof Oser was also sure that the drinking-water had 

 nothing to do with the disease, and "did not consider that 

 there was any indisputable evidence of its connection with 

 influenza." Dr. Bettelheim seemed to think that there was 

 something in common between influenza and the new malady 

 called " catarrh of the intestines." He based his opinion on 

 the fact that from the day when the latter made its appear- 

 ance in an epidemic form cases of ordinary influenza had begun 

 to decrease. He looked upon them both as being of an in- 

 fectious nature. A chemical analyst, Dr. Jolles, said it would 

 require three weeks to make a bacteriological inquiry into the 

 character of the illness. A chemical analysis of the drinking- 

 water showed it to be of normal purity. 



