August i6, 191 7] 



NATURE 



489 



in Paris, but to his extraordinary writing- of books, 

 in which we see an heroic effort to win a way to 

 clearness for himself and others. Thus we have 

 "La matiere vivante," "La Theorie nouvelle de 

 la vie," "Evolution individuelle et Heredite, " 

 "Traite de Biologie," " Le Determinisme bio- 

 Ic^ique," " Les Influences ancestrales," "La Lutte 

 universelle, ■' and at least ten more ! 



Dr. Le Dantec was a biologist of the mechanistic 

 school ; he held to a hard-and-fast determinism ; 

 he was a devoted disciple of Lamarck ; he made 

 passionate endeavours after scientific clarity as 

 opposed to what he regarded as suf>erstitious 

 sentimentalism, metaphysical verbiage, and intel- 

 lectual hypocrisy. While many of his radical 

 ideas have been criticised as too abstract and sim- 

 plicist, not gripping the actual facts of life, many 

 others were certainly luminous and useful, such as 

 that of the organism continuallv trafficking with 

 its environment, sustaining itself by functioning, 

 "Tedification de la vie par la vie." Of the man 

 himself there is no doubt : his whole life spoke 

 of courage, sincerity, a passion for veracity, a 

 willingness to follow what he thought was truth 

 wheresoever it led him. 



NOTES. 



Ox August 9-10 a large magnetic storm was' re- 

 corded at Kew Observatory. It began with a 

 "sudden commencement" at about 4.14 a.m. on 

 August 9. The "sudden commencement" was un- 

 usually large, especially in D (declination). In H 

 (horizontal force) it was not visibh* oscillator^', con- 

 sisting of a rise of about no 7 (17=1x10-* C.G.S. 

 unit). In D it was distinctly oscillatory', an easterly 

 movement of about 4' being followed by a westerly 

 movement of about 17'. The extreme westerly posi- 

 tion of the needle was reached about 4.50 a.m. on 

 August 9, when the needle pointed 34' more to the 

 west than it did when the storm began. The D trace 

 was highly oscillatory at times, especially between 

 9.30 and 10.30 a.m. on August 9. Conditions became 

 much quieter after 11 a.m., and continued so until 

 9.20 p.m. on August 9, when there was a recrudescence 

 of the storm. The extreme easterly position was 

 reached about 0.24 a.m. on August 10. The storm 

 had pretty well subsided by 4 a.m. The total range of 

 P during it was approximately 55'. The disturbance 

 in H, generally speaking, waxed and waned in in- 

 tensity with that in D,"but»did not show so much 

 abatement between 11 a.m. and 9.20 p.m. on August 9. 

 The recrudescence after 9.20 p.m. on August 9 was, 

 however, conspicuous. The lowest and highest values 

 of H were both recorded on August 9, the former 

 about 9.30 a.m., the latter about 9.30 p.m.; the total 

 range was about 370 7. During the greater part of 

 the time the vertical force trace v/as not much dis- 

 turbed. The value of the element was slightly de- 

 pressed during the morning hours of August' 9^ and 

 there was a considerably larger depression between 

 9.30 p.m. on August 9 and 2 a.m. on August 10. The 

 range of the element during the course of the disturb- 

 ance was about 250 7. The disturbance was of the 

 kind usually accompanied by aurora. 



It was announced in X.ature of August 2 that the 

 Museums .Association proposed to hold a conference in 

 October next. The announcement was based upon a 

 circular, dated July 24, asking persons who intended 

 to be present to communicate with Mr. E. E. Lowe 



NO. 2494, VOL. 99] 



(Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester), who is hon. 

 secretary of the association. A circular dated 

 August 2, signed by the members of the Executive 

 Committee, has now reached us, and we learn from 

 it that the proposed conference will not be held, as a 

 sufficient number of promises to attend has not been 

 received. 



The High Commissioner for New Zealand has been 

 informed by cable that reports of the damage done by 

 the recent earthquake in the southern part of North 

 Island were much exaggerated, and that the earth- 

 quake was in no way destructive. 



Mr. Ch.\rles T. Druery, who died on August 8, 

 was a naturalist as well as a horticulturist of emmence. 

 At a time when not many horticulturists were inclined 

 to see beyond the horizon of their gardens, Mr. Druer>' 

 did much to encourage the wider outlook which has 

 ' now become more general. His passion for the study 

 j of ferns, and in particular for the abnormal and mon- 

 ! strous forms, led him to see that the science of gene- 

 tics must be called in to help to explain the ways of 

 I cultivated as well as of wild plants. Of alert mind, 

 he recognised at an early date the importance of 

 Mendel's work, and it was his pen that wrote the 

 first English translation of Mendel's famous memoir. 

 In recognition of his services to horticulture his name 

 was enrolled among those of the sixty original reci- 

 pients of the Victoria Medal of Horticulture. A 

 gifted linguist, Mr. I>ruery wrote on subjects other 

 than horticulture. Quite recently he published a 

 j volume of verse — of a humour- akin in tN^Je to that 

 j practised by early Victcrians — and his many friends 

 i were compelled to admire, not only the versatility, but 

 also the youthfulness of mind of a man who, though 

 I of advanced age, proved himself younger than most 

 I of those of a later generation. 



I Dr. a. C.almette, director of the Institut Pasteur, 

 \ Lille, and Dr. L. Martin, director of the H6pital Pas- 

 I teur, have been appointed to subdirectorships at the 

 i Institut Pasteur, Paris. 



I The G. C. Greenwell silver medal of the NortK of 

 j England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engin- 

 ' eers has been awarded to Prof. W. G. Fearnsides for 

 I his paper on " Some Effects of Earth-movement on the 

 i Coal-Measures of the Sheffield District (Soutb York- 

 i shire), and the neighbouring parts of West Yorkshire, 

 ! Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire." 



i According to the Journal of Industrial and Engineer- 

 [ ing Chemistry, the Seaman gold medal, which is each 

 ' year awarded by the American Museum of Safety for 

 I the promotion of hygiene and the mitigation of occu- 

 ! pational disease, has been conferred upon the Julius 

 I King Optical Company of New York, for their appli- 

 ances against the dangers of ultra-violet and infra-red 

 light. 



M.AjOR J. C. Woods has been awarded the Gaskell 

 prize of the Medico-Psychological Association of Great 

 Britain and Ireland, consisting of fifty guineas and a 

 gold medal, and Dr. M. Krohn a replica of the medal 

 in silver and the sum of fifteen guineas. 



The National Academy of Sciences of the United 

 States has received from Miss M. H. Elliot the sum of 

 8000 dollars to establish a fund in memor}- of her 

 late father, Daniel Giraud Elliot, and has accepted the 

 trust. A medal, to be known as the Daniel Giraud 

 Elliot gold medal, and an honorarium will be awarded 

 annually for a paper, essay, or other work in some 

 branch of zoology or palaeontology published during 

 the year. The award is not restricted to naturalists 

 resident in the United States. Drs. H. F. Osborn, 



