May 1 7, 1900] 



NA TURE 



59 



W. Baldwin Spencer, 



B.A. (Oxon.), M.A. (Melbourne). Professor of Biology in the 

 Melbourne University ; formerly Fellow of Lincoln College, 

 Oxford ; Hon. Sec of the Royal Society of Victoria ; Corr. 

 Member Zool. Soc, Lond. Distinguished as an original 

 investigator in Zoology and Comparative Anatomy ; and as a 

 teacher and organiser. Graduated at Oxford twelve years ago. 

 Has published more than thirty memoirs, among which are :— 

 "On a New Family of Hydroidea Ceratellidis " {Trans. Roy. 

 Soc. Vict., 1890); "The Anatomy of Megascolides Australis" 

 and other papers on Australian Earthworms and Pianarians 

 (ibid.); " On New Crustacea and New Mammals," in Report 

 of the Horn Expedition to Central Australia (which he 

 organised) ; "On the Pineal Eye in Lacertilia " (Quart. Jotirn. 

 Micro. Sci., 1887) ; "On the Habits, Blood-vessels and Lungs 

 of Ceralodus FosterV ; " On a New Genus of Marsupials from 

 Central Australia" (/V<7f. Roy. .Soc. Vict., vol. ix.) ; "On the 

 Cranial Nerves of Scyllium " ( Quart. Jonrn. Micros. Sci. , 1881 ) ; 

 " On the Early Development of Rana temporaria {ibid., 1885) ; 

 "The Fauna and Zoological Relationships of Tasmania" 

 (Presidential Address to Sect. D., Austr. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 

 1892). 



J.AMES Walker, 



D.Sc. (Edin.), Ph.D., Leipzig. Professor of Chemistry, Uni- 

 versity College, Dundee. An active and successful worker in 

 chemistry, especially physical and organic. Author of numerous 

 papers, of which the following areamonjr the most important : — 

 " Zur Affinilatsbestimmung Organischer Basen " {Zeit. Phydkal. 

 Chem., iv.. p. 319, 1889) ; " Ueber Liisliskkeit und .Schmelz- 

 WAxmt.'''' {ibid., v., 193, 189c); "The Dissociation Constants 

 of Organic Acids" {Jotirn. Chem. Soc, Ixi., p. 696, 1892); 

 "The Methyl Salts of Camphoric Acid" {ibid., Ixi., p. 1088, 

 1892) ; " The Electrolysis of Sodium Ethyl Camphorate {ibid., 

 Ixiii., p. 495, 1893); "The Boiling Points of Homologous 

 Compounds" (ibid., part i., Ixv., p. 193, 1894; part ii., Ixv., 

 p. 725, 1894) ; " Hydrolysis in some Aqueous Solutions " (/"r^jf. 

 Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xx., p. 255, 1894). Along with Prof. 

 Crum Brown, "Electrolytic Synthesis of Dibasic Acids" 

 (parts i. and ii. Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xxxvi., p. 21 1, 

 1 89 1, and vol. xxxvii., p. 361, 1893). Along with J. Hender- 

 son, " Electrolysis of Potassium Alio- Camphorate " (parts i. and 

 ii. Jotirn. Chem. Soc, vol. Ixviii.. p. 337, 1895 ; vol. Ixix., 

 p. 748, 1896). Along with F. L Hambly, "Transformation 

 of Cyanate into Urea" {Jotirn. Chem. Soc, vol. Ixvii., p. 746, 

 1895). Along with J. R. Appleyard, "Transformation of 

 Methylammonium Cyanates into the Corresponding Ureas" 

 [Journ. Chem. Soc, vol. Ixix., p. 193, 1896). 



Philip Watts, 



Naval Architect and Director of the War-Shipbuilding Depart- 

 ment of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Co. Distinguished 

 for his knowledge of the science and practice of Naval Archi- 

 tecture. Responsible designer of a considerable number of the 

 swiftest and most powerful war-ships. Has done much original 

 scientific and experimental work in connection with investigations 

 of the stability of ships and floating bodies ; the oscillations of 

 ships in still water and amongst waves ; the propulsion and 

 mancEUvring powers of ships. Was appointed by the Admiralty 

 and acted for some years as assistant to the late Mr. W. Froude, 

 F.R.S. , on the analytical and experimental work carried on by 

 ihat investigator. In that capacity he took part in the device 

 and application of the process of " graphic integration " by 

 which the oscillations of ships can be approximately determined 

 under assumed conditions of wave motion, including the effect 

 of fluid resistance. Has independently proposed a method of 

 reducing the rolling of ships at sea, by the introduction of free 

 water into a suitably formed chamber. This plan was adopted 

 by the Admiralty for several important ships, after mathematical 

 and experimental demonstration of its efiiciency . Was entrusted 

 with the experimental investigation of the turning powers of 

 H.M.S. Thunderer maAe in connection with the work of the 

 Inflexible Committee. Devised and applied methods for de- 

 termining exactly the path traversed by the C.G. of the ship, 

 the rate of acquisition of angular velocity, the angle of heel and 

 other phenomena incidental to turning under the action of the 

 rudder. This investigation led to subsequent modifications in 

 the under-water form of ships, tending to increase their handi- 

 ness. Is author of the following papers printed in the Trans- 



NO. 



594. VOL, 62] 



actions of the Institution of Naval Architects :■ — " On a Method 

 of Reducing the Rolling of Ships at Sea " (1883) ; "The Use 

 of Water Chambers for Reducing the Rolling of Ships at Sea" 

 (1885) ; "The Italian Cruiser /'/Vw^w/^" (1889); "The Steering 

 Qualities of the Yashima'"' (1898); " Elswick Cruisers Built 

 during the last Ten Years" (1899). 



Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, 

 M.A. (Cantab.), B.Sc. (Vict.). At present engaged in Investi- 

 gations on Atmospheric Electricity on behalf of the Meteoro- 

 logical Council. Author of the following papers: — "On the 

 Formation of Cloud in the absence of Dust" {Cain. Phil. Soc. 

 Froc, vol. viii., p. 306) ; "The effect of Rontgen's Rays od 

 Cloudy Condensation" {Roy. Soc. Proc, vol. lix., p. 338); 

 " Condensation of Water Vapours in the Presence of Dust- 

 free Air and other Gases" {Phil. Trans.., A., (1897), pp. 

 265-307) ; " On the Action 0/ Uranium Rays on the Conden.sa- 

 tion of Water Vapour " (Cainb. Phil. Soc. Proc, vo\. ix., pp, 

 333-338); "On the Production of a Cloud by the Action of 

 Ultra-\'iolet Light on Moist Air" {ibid., vol. ix., p. 392);; 

 "Condensation Nuclei produced in Gases by the Action of 

 Rontgen Rays, Uranium Rays, Ultra- Violet Light and other 

 Agents" (Phil. Trans., A., 192, pp. 403-453); "Compara- 

 tive Efficiency as Condensation Nuclei of positively and nega- 

 tively charged Ions " {ibid., A., 193, pp. 289-308): 



LIEUT.-GENERAL PITT-RIVERS, F.R.S. 

 "DY the death of Lieut.-General Augustus Henry Lane- 

 -'-' Fox Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., on May 4, anthropology 

 has lost one of her most prominent and enthusiastic 

 students, and one whose place it will be impossible 

 to fill. ♦ 



Augustus Henry Lane-Fox was born in 1,897. He 

 served with distinction in the Crimea, at AliTia and 

 Sevastopol, being during that campaign an officer in the 

 Grenadier Guards, and on the staff. <AsLieu{.-ColoneI 

 Lane-Fox he was the earliest and principal associate of 

 Colonel, afterwards Lieut.-General, Hay, the first Com- 

 mandant and Inspector-General of Musketry, and about 

 1855 he wrote and delivered the series of lectures which 

 then, and since, formed a principal part of the Hy the cur- 

 riculum. He had thus the honour and distinction of 

 being prominently associated \»ith the^ inauguration of 

 one of the most important reforms in our military system. 

 He had the unusual reputation in those ^dkys of mili- 

 tary dandies of being an able, studious and scientific 

 officer ; but his career at Hythe was not a long one. 

 While he was there he had the practical training and 

 instruction of those who came to qualifjJin^as musketry 

 instructors ; and he added to, if he did not- originate, the 

 interesting collection of ancient arms and wfeapons and 

 projectiles in that establishment. General Pitt-Rivers- 

 never lost his interest in military matters, and as late as- 

 1893 he was appointed Colonel of the South Lancashire 

 Regiment. 



Few men have had the collecting instinct so strongly 

 developed as had General Pitt- Rivers, but in his case 

 not only were his interests extremely wide, but he had 

 always some method in his collecting ; there was mvari- 

 ably some principle or theory thalt the objects were de- 

 signed to illustrate. Consequently he bought with judg- 

 ment, and what in most collections are "curios" or 

 trophies, under his arrangement became links in a chair> 

 of scientific argument, or clever suggestions of stages- 

 in the evolution of human thought or handicraft. 



The spoils of over twenty years of intelligent collect- 

 ing were exhibited, in 1874, in the Bethnal Green 

 Museum, and the catalogue of this collection was pub- 

 lished by the Science and Art Department. It is no 

 exaggeration to say that this collection was a revelation 

 to many people, and it and the catalogue initiated a new 

 departure in the study of handicrafts. It was, in fact,, 

 the first practical application of the theory of evolution to 

 objects made by man. As Colonel Lane-Fox he was, fo 



