September 28, 1893] 



NATURE 



521 



I 



was entertained in the beautiful grounds of Clifton Hall, 

 by Mr. and Mrs. H. K. Clifton ; another party was simi- 

 larly entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Leavers, and inspected 

 the carefully protected rock-dwellings in the grounds. 

 Members met once more in the evening in the Albert 

 Hall, to listen to Prof. Smithell's description of his recent 

 researches on " Flame," and to witness the beautiful ex- 

 perimental demonstration of his views. The audience, 

 at the invitation of Dr. Emerson Reynolds and of Prof. 

 H. B. Dixon, heartily expressed their appreciation of the 

 eloquent discourse, and of the uniformly successful and 

 admirably contrived experiments. 



Saturday was in most Sections a dies non, as far as 

 .ientific work was concerned. Full advantage, however, 

 was taken of the excursions which had been organised 

 for the recreation of the visitors. Sherwood Forest, Had- 

 don Hall, Buxton, Burleigh, Southwell, Minster, Lincoln, 

 Belvoir Castle, and Donington Park were visited in 

 gloriously fine weather ; and the list of the places of 

 interest visited was only reduced by one — Wollaton Col- 

 liery — this omission being rendered necessary by the 

 strike of the colliers. It may be mentioned that some 

 slight inconvenience had been caused by this lament- 

 able occurrence. Visitors to the town found the military 

 quartered in the neighbourhood of the Guildhall, and 

 learned to their dismay that country houses in which they 

 were to be entertained as guests were filled with billets 

 of police. The railway companies had also been com- 

 pelled to take oft" some of their trains ; but the incon- 

 venience was scarcely felt — town houses were thrown 

 open to the would-be country guests ; trains which would 

 not afiect the travelling of members were those selected 

 for removal ; and the military parading the streets added 

 a picturesque and entirely peaceful element to the 

 ordinary population of the town. No trouble arose from 

 the miners themselves, although they occasionally 

 solicited alms and food ; and it may be stated with 

 truth that visitors to the meeting suffered no 

 more serious loss and inconvenience than that 

 arising from the withdrawal of the permission to 

 descend the colliery. In the evening Prof Vivian 

 Lewes lectured upon "Spontaneous Combustion," 

 in " The Tabernacle," to an audience of over a thousand 

 \vorking men, who took it into their own hands to accord 

 him a hearty and well-deserved vote of thanks ; a similar 

 forhpliment to the chairman, Dr. Burdon-Sanderson, 

 brought the meeting to a close. Meanwhile a brilliant 

 and crowded audience was listening in the Albert Hall to 

 the concert given by the Sacred Harmonic Society. 



" Association Sunday " was marked by the pulpits in 

 many places of worship in the town being occupied by 

 distinguished preachers ; amongst these may be 

 mentioned the Bishop of Southwell, Dr. Bonney, Dr. 

 Cliftbrd, Rev. C. Gore, and the Rev. R. F. Horton. By 

 ■".any members the day was, however, spent in the 



antry, or devoted to small social gatherings. 



Monday saw the recommencement of serious work in 

 all the sections, relieved later in the day by a garden 

 party at Wollaton Hall,the seat of Lord Middleton,and by 



1 entertainment provided at their Basford Gas Works 

 V the Gas Committee of the Corporation of Nottingham. 

 In the afternoon the General Committee of the Associa- 

 tion decided on meeting at Ipswich in 1895. Bourne- 

 mouth had also applied for the honour of receiving the 

 Association, and announced their intention of renewing 

 their application year by year until they met with 

 success. Application from Toronto was favourably 

 viewed, and it was considered probable that it would be 

 accepted for a future year. The Marquis of Salisbury 

 was elected as President for the meeting at Oxford next 

 year, commencing on August 8, and the other officers 

 of the Association were re-elected. In .the evening the 

 Mayor entertained the President, Sectional Presidents, 

 Secretaries, and Treasurer of the Association, together i 



NO. 1248, VOL. 48I 



with a few friends, at the Exchange, to dinner ; the 

 evening concluded by the lecture given by Prof. Victor 

 Horsley, on " The Discovery of the Physiology of the 

 Nervous System." The lecture was illustrated by a series 

 of original lantern-slides, and was well received by a 

 large and somewhat professional audience, who expressed 

 their thanks, at the suggestion of Prof. Schiifer and Sir 

 Robert Ball. 



Tuesday was the only day of the meeting which 

 opened with doubtful weather, inclined to being cold and 

 showery. The unfortunate change culminated in the 

 afternoon at the time of the large garden party in the 

 Arboretum, and had the effect of thinning the attendance 

 to some extent. Those who were present, however, 

 found shelter from slight passing showers in the large 

 tent which covered in the show of the Horticultural 

 Society, and in the capacious refreshment-room ; from 

 both of these places the admirable music of the Royal 

 Artillery band could be distinctly heard. The Com- 

 mittee of Recommendations, at their meeting in the 

 afternoon, found it necessary to be economical in the 

 grants made for research ; the enrolment of 1661 mem- 

 bers had produced only ^1653, and this sum was less 

 than that usually received. The list of money grants, 

 however, which were recommended and were finally 

 approved by the General Committee on the following day 

 represent a total of ;iC705. A reception at the Castle 

 Museum brought the day to a close. Mr. Alderman 

 Goldschmidt and Mr. Joseph Bright, as chairman and 

 vice-chairman, respectively, ofthe Executive Local Com- 

 mittee, received the company. Entertainment was 

 afforded by the string band ofthe Royal Artillery, and a 

 series of interesting scientific objects were on exhibition. 

 A special feature was the- glass-blowing by Herr 

 Zitzmann, of Wiesbaden, who had throughout the week 

 displayed his skill in imitating old Venetian glass-work 

 and in making glass scientific apparatus to large 

 audiences in the chemical theatre of the University 

 College. 



The comfort of those attending the conversazioni and 

 other general gatherings was secured in great measure 

 by the membership being only an average one, and not 

 unduly large. A larger membership would not only have 

 added to the difficulties ofthe stewards, but also to the 

 discomfort of those who attended the meetings. It may 

 be safely asserted that the success of the work of the 

 Association in no way suffered by the numbers not being 

 large ; whilst those who were playing the part of hosts 

 in the town could the more readily cope with the demand 

 on their kindly services. The number of official and 

 other important members of the Association privately 

 entertained reached nearly 400 ; and there remained 

 some room both in private houses and in lodgings and 

 hotels, so that the overcrowdingfrequently complained of 

 in these gatherings was absent. 



Of distinguished scientific men from different parts of 

 our own country there was a good attendance ; and 

 amongst eminent foreigners who accepted the invitation 

 to attend were the following : — Baron von Reinach ; Dr. 

 Meslans, Paris ; Prof. Iddings, Chicago ; Mons. A. 

 Gobert, Brussels ; Prof. Heger, Brussels ; Mons. Gilson, 

 Belgium ; Dr. Brogger, Norway ; Dr. Bock and Dr. 

 Bohr, Copenhagen ; Dr. Hertwig, Munich ; Dr. Hilde- 

 brand, Stockholm ; Dr. W. Einthoven, Leyden ; Dr. 

 Rothpletz, Munich ; Dr. Mandello, Budapest ; Dr. Renard, 

 Gand ; Mr. Cope Whitehouse, New York ; M. de Lie- 

 geard, Paris. 



On Wednesday little sectional business was transacted, 

 except by the energetic geologists of Section C. In the 

 afternoon the General Committee passed the awards of 

 money towards scientific research, a list of which was 

 given last week. 



The business of the meeting was then brought to an 

 end at the concluding meeting by the usual votes of thanks. 



