March 24, 1892] 



NA TURE 



495 



an intelligent opinion on the subject. It cannot be expected 

 that a very large number of copies of the Bulletin will be sold, 

 as it is really more useful to our colonial Governments than to 

 individuals either here or in the colonies. 



The Council of the Royal Society of New South Wales has 

 awarded to Mr. W. T. Thiselton-Dyer the Clarke Memorial 

 Medal, in recognition of his distinguished services in the cause 

 of botanical science, and especially on account of his labours in 

 connection with the development and organization of the Bota- 

 nical Departments for the Colonies and India, at the Royal 

 Gardens, Kew. The medal has been forwarded with a letter, 

 dated December 23, 1891, in which Mr. W. H. Warren, the 

 Honorary Secretary, says: — "The Council fully appreciates 

 the beneficial effects which this colony (in common with the 

 other British possessions) has already derived and will continue 

 to derive from the foresight and scientific zeal you have displayed 

 in the building up of the Colonial Departments of your institu- 

 tion ; the Council is also aware of the assistance which the 

 Department under your direction has given to institutions in 

 Sydney, and is not unmindful of the fact that the first collections 

 obtained by the Sydney Technological Museum were received 

 from the Museum of the Royal Gardens, Kew. The Council 

 trusts that you will therefore accept the medal, as a token on 

 the part of this Society of the appreciation in which your work 

 i s held in Australia." Mr. Warren's letter, with Mr. Thiselton- 

 Dyer's answer, is published in the new number of the Kew 

 Bulletin. In a prefatory note the Director of the Royal 

 Gardens explains that in publishing the correspondence he feels 

 "he is only putting on record a mark of appreciation as hand- 

 some as it is spontaneous, on the part of one of the most dis- 

 tinguished of the colonies of the Crown, of the usefulness of 

 the official work which the Kew establishment could alone 

 accomplish with the continuous and loyal assistance of every 

 member of its slaff." 



Students of archaeology will be glad to hear that Mr. F. C. 

 Penrose has gone to Greece to carry on his investigation of the 

 dates of Greek temples as derived from their orientation. He 

 hopes to determine the oiientation of many foundations not 

 included in the list given in his recent paper on the subject. 

 He will also verify, as far as possible, the approximate results at 

 which he has already arrived. 



On March 28 many educational institutions in Austria and 

 Germany will celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the 

 birth of Johann Amos Comenius, one of the most illustrious of 

 pedagogues. The Austrian Government, however, has for- 

 bidden the proposed celebration in Bohemia. Comenius was 

 by birth a Moravian. He anticipated many of the best ideas 

 of our own time on education, and by his numerous writings 

 and his great personal influence produced a profound impression 

 on his contemporaries. Charles I. invited him to England to 

 improve the organization of English schools ; but the outbreak 

 of the Civil War made it impossible for him to give effect to his | 

 ideas in this country. 



Prof. Griesbach lately forwarded to Vienna various fossils 

 which he had collected during his geological explorations in the 

 Central Himalayas on behalf of the Government of India. They 

 resemble so closely fossils found in corresponding Alpine strata, 

 that they have excited much interest; and the Royal Imperial 

 Academy of Science, Vienna, has determined, with the co- 

 operation of the Indian Government, to send an exploring 

 party to the Central Himalayas to compare their geological 

 features with those of the Eastern Alps. The leader of the 

 party will be Dr. Carl Diener, lecturer on geology at the Uni- 

 versity of Vienna. Dr. Diener is President of the Vienna Alpine 

 Club, and is well known as the author of a work on the geo- 

 ■ XO. I 169, VOL. 45] 



logical structure of the Western Alps, He will start for Brin- 

 disi on April 10, taking with him two Tyrol guides. The 

 expedition will last six months. 



The anniversary meeting of the Chemical Society will be 

 held on March 30 at 4 p.m. 



Dr. George Buchanan, F.R. S., who has long been known 

 as one of the highest authorities on sanitary science, is about to 

 resign the post of medical officer to the Local Government Board. 



The following are some of those who have consented to serve 

 on the jury for the Crystal Palace Electrical Exhibition : — Prof. 

 W. Grylls Adams, Prof. W. E. Ayrton, Mr. Shelford Bidwell, 

 Prof. W. Crookes, Major-General Festing, Prof. George Forbes, 

 Captain Sir Douglas Gal ton, Dr. J. H. Gladstone, Prof. D. E. 

 Hughes, Mr. W. H. Preece, Prof. Silvanus Thompson. 



On Monday evening Mr. Kimber asked the Chancellor ot 

 the Exchequer why the British Government had not concurred 

 with the other European Governments in joining the Inter- 

 national Geodetic Bureau of Vienna. In reply, Mr. Goschen 

 said the question of joining the reconstituted International 

 Geodetic Bureau was raised just five years ago, the condition 

 being an annual contribution of 225of. a year for ten years, 

 besides the expense of sending delegates to attend the meetings 

 of the Bureau. " Our experience of the International Metric 

 Bureau at that time," Mr. Goschen continued, "showed that 

 the expenditure upon such undertakings tends to increase out of 

 proportion to their actual utility, and it was considered that the 

 practical advantages of joining the Geodetic Bureau were not 

 I sufficient to justify the guaranteeing of the sum named. So far 

 as I am aware, the question has not been mooted since." 



I The first annual meeting of the North- West of England 

 I Boulder Committee was held at the Technical School, Stock- 

 port, on the 19th inst. The year's work has been eminenilv 

 practical and useful. The Committee, in addition to contributing 

 a very large portion of the Report of the Erratic Block Commit- 

 tee of the British Association presented at Cardiff, have read 

 and discussed more than forty papers and reports at their 

 monthly meetings; these they now propose to print inde- 

 pendently. Maps on the one-inch and six-inch scale have been 

 acquired, partly by purchase and partly by presentation, includ- 

 ! ing a valuable set from Sir A. Geikie, F.R.S., Director-General 

 } of the Geological Survey. On these good progress has been 

 j made, by a distinctive system of symbols, in showing the position 

 ! and origin of the boulders over a large area. A thoroughly 

 practical "Drift Primer" has been drawn up by the Secre- 

 tary and approved by the Council of the Committee for 

 the instruction of observers, and has circulated beyond 

 the limits of the Committee. Boulder-forming rocks have 

 been collected in England and Scotland, for reference pur- 

 poses, and the nucleus of a Glacial Drift library formed. The 

 Annual Report shows a large increase of members outside the 

 original district of observation, and it was therefore decided 

 that henceforth the title should be altered to "The Glacialists' 

 Association," and that the rules be altered so as to include the 

 whole of " the British Isles." The President, Mr. De Ranee, 

 and the Secretary, Mr. Percy Kendall, were re-elected, and 

 the following Vice-Presidents were elected: Vice-Chancellor 

 Sir Henry Bristowe, Mr. Brockbank, Mr. Gray, Alderman 

 Kay, and Dr. Ricketts, and a Council of fifteen. 



Among the contents of the new number of the Kezv Bulletin 

 is an interesting account of the Spanish Broom as a fibre plant. 

 Some time ago a French scientific journal printed a notice respect- 

 ing the use of the fibre of the Spanish Broom among the peasants 

 in the neighbourhood of Lodeve, and in the remote hamlets in the 

 mountains of Languedoc. An effort was made to secure speci- 



