June 4, 1891] 



NATURE 



III 



becoming too cold for them on deck, and then the more 

 electric light they have the better." 



Out of the whole consignment to the various islands 

 only ten plants succumbed ; but this was due to an over- 

 sight in carrying the case on to Trinidad and La 

 Guayra, and having to bring it back again to St. Vincent, 

 thereby causing a delay in landing often days, 



Mr. Morris visited successively Antigua, Dominica, 

 Montserrat, St. Kitts, Anguilla, Tortola, Santa Lucia, 

 St. Vincent, Grenada, Barbados, and Jamaica, being 

 present at the opening of the Exhibition at the last- 

 named island. Everywhere the Governors and other 

 officials seem to have done their utmost, both personally 

 and indirectly, to assist Mr. Morris in fulfilling the object 

 of his mission. Established gardens were inspected, 

 sites for new gardens selected, means discussed, and 

 addresses delivered, from which it is confidently hoped 

 that substantial advantages to the cultural industries may 

 accrue. 



Mr. Morris's Report, which may be obtained for the 

 sum of fourpence, is a valuable and interesting account of 

 the present condition and future prospects of planting in 

 the various islands, and should be in the hands of all 

 ■concerned. We conclude this notice with an extract 

 from a description of the lime plantations in Montserrat, 

 " where the immense golden heaps of ripe fruit were 

 alone worth a journey to the West Indies." 



" The West Indian lime {Citrus medica, var. acida) 

 appears to be a thin-skinned local variety, little known 

 outside the West India Islands. It yields juice of a 

 singularly pure acid flavour, and it deserves to be much 

 better known in this country in the fresh state for making 

 ' lemon ' beverages, as well as for general use in cookery. 

 The enterprise of the Montserrat Companyextends to other 

 things besides limes. Nevertheless, from limes alone it is 

 possible to produce a variety of articles more or less valu- 

 able. The limes themselves are exported as gathered, or 

 they are preserved in salt water, and shipped in a pickled 

 state for consumption in certain parts of the United 

 States. Lime-juice, obtained by compression, is exported 

 either raw or in a concentrated state. This latter is 

 obtained by evaporating the raw juice in boilers until it is 

 reduced to about one-twelfih of the original bulk, when it 

 is ready for export as a dark, viscid substance like 

 molasses. This is used for the preparation of commercial 

 citric acid. From the rind of the fruit, by a process 

 known as * ecuelling,' which consists of gently rubbing the 

 fruit on rounded projections arranged inside a brass 

 basin, a very fine essence of limes is obtained. Again, 

 by distilling the raw lime-juice a spirit is obtained known 

 as oil of limes." 



NOTES. 



The deputation which is to submit to Sir Michael Hicks 

 Beach to-morrow a statement of the facts relating to the pro- 

 posed British Institute of Preventive Medicine, will be large, 

 influential, and thoroughly representative of the various depart- 

 ments of science. It is expected that the following gentlemen 

 will speak : Sir Joseph Lister, the Duke of Westminster, Sir 

 Henry Roscoe, Prof. Dewar, Mr. Haldane, M.P., Q.C., and 

 Prof. Ray Lankester. A letter from Prof. Huxley will be read. 



The list of those selected for Birthday Honours includes Dr. 

 Archibald Geikie, on whom the honour of knighthood has been 

 <:onferred, and Mr. Robert Giffen, who has been madeC.B. 



In the course of an investigation, part of which has already 

 been communicated to the Royal Society, Prof. Roberts- Austen 

 has discovered the most bri'liantly coloured alloy as yet known. 

 It has a rich purple colour, and bright ruby tints are obtained 

 when light is reflected from one surface of the alloy to another. 

 It contains about 78 per cent, of gold, the rest of the alloy being 

 aluminium. The constants of the aluminium-gold series of 

 alloys are now being examined, and will shortly be published. 

 NO. I 127, VOL. 44] 



On Tuesday last, at Oxford, Convocation sanctioned the 

 expenditure of very considerable sums of money in order to pro- 

 vide increased accommodation for the medical and science 

 schools. The Lecturer in Human Anatomy, Mr. Arthur 

 Thomson, estimated that the immediate wants of his depart- 

 ment necessitated the expenditure of ;,^7ooo. With this sum 

 might be provided a laboratory, which would include dissecting- 

 rooms, a museum, working rooms, and a lecture theatre. 

 Hitherto the accommodation provided for the lecturer has been 

 of a temporary character, and has now proved itself utterly 

 inadequate for the requirements of his class. The number ot 

 students now studying in Oxford with the intention of passing 

 the M. B. examination is 67. As illustrating the growth of the 

 class, and the interest taken in this school, it may be mentioned 

 that in 1885 the lecturer's class consisted of only three members. 

 The Deputy Professor of Physiology (Dr. Ray Lankester) 

 required the more modest sum of ;[^2O0O in order to supply the 

 deficiencies in the department of Morphology. With this sum 

 two laboratories could be provided, one 40 x 20 feet, and the 

 other 30 X 20 feet. Meanwhile the departments of Ethnology 

 and Geology find themselves cramped for space at the 

 University Museum, and Convocation has granted the sum 

 of ;i^i300 to provide rooms for the use of the Curator 

 and the servants of the Museum, and increased accom- 

 modation for teaching. The Hope Professor of Zoology (Prof. 

 Westwood) needed only the expenditure of ^350 upon additions 

 and improvements in his department at the University Museam. 

 The expenditure of these various sums, amounting in the aggre- 

 gate to nearly ;,^n,ooo, will place the School of Medicine and 

 the related sciences in a satisfactory position, and the University 

 of Oxford is to be congratulated on its appreciation of the im- 

 portance of these departments, and the liberality with which it 

 maintains them. 



The Gold Medal of the Linnean Society has this year been 

 awarded to Dr. Edouard Bornet, of Paris, for distinguished 

 researches in botany. His earliest publications related to the 

 structure and life-history of Fungi and Lichens, but his name is 

 best known for the important researches in which, with his 

 friend M. Thuret, he has been for some years engaged, on the 

 life-histofies of Algae, and for his valuable contributions on this 

 subject in the "Etudes Phycologiques," and the "Notes 

 Algologiques," with their beautiful illustrations. 



At a meeting of the Ashmolean Society, Oxford, on June i, 

 there was an interesting discussion on a paper, by Mr. Romanes, 

 on Weismann's theories of heredity, in which Prof, Lankester and 

 Mr. Poulton took prominent parts. 



M. DouLiOT, Demonstrator in Botany at the Museum of 

 Natural History, Paris, has undertaken a scientific expedition 

 to Madagascar. 



Mr, Norman Lockyer, F.R.S,, has undertaken to give a 

 lecture at Bedford College (for Ladies), Baker Street, on Wed- 

 nesday next, at 4 o'clock, "On Natural Philosophy for Artists," 



We regret to have to record the death of Sir John Hawkshaw, 

 F.R.S. He died on Tuesday last at his town residence, Bel- 

 grave Mansions, in his 8ist year. The greatest of his many 

 engineering feats was the construction of the Severn Tunnel. 

 He was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1862- 

 63, and of the British Association at its Bristol meeting in 1875. 

 He received the honour of knighthood in 1873. 



Seven years have elapsed since the first International Ornitho- 

 logical Congress took place in Vienna, under the presidency of 

 the late Crown Prince Rudolph. England was on that occasion, 

 as a correspondent wrote at the time, "conspicuous by her 

 absence," and at the second Congress, which has just been held 



