562 



NA TURE 



[April i6, 1896 



Bernburg, where the remains of the distinguished investigator 

 are interred. An^ppeal for contributions has been issued, and a 

 small Committee, consisting of the President and Secretary of 

 the Bernburg Agricultural Society and Dr. Wilfarth, Hellriegel's 

 colleague in his researches, has been formed to carry out 

 the details. Contributions from this country may be sent to Sir 

 Henry Gilbert, F.R.S., Harpenden, St. Albans. 



At a quarterly meeting of the Council of the Royal College 

 of Surgeons of England on Thursday, April 9, the Jacksonian 

 prize for the year 1895 (open only to Fellows or members) was 

 awarded to Dr. A. A. Kanthack, of St. Bartholomew's Hos- 

 pital, the subject of the essay being " Tetanus." The Walker 

 prize, for the best work in advancing the knowledge of the 

 pathology and therapeutics of cancer, done either partially or 

 wholly within the five years preceding the year in which the 

 prize is granted, has been awarded to Mr. Harold J. Stiles, 

 of Edinburgh University. The prize consists of a gift of 

 ;^ioo — except on this, the first occasion, when it is only ^60 — 

 and a document declaratory of the award. It is open to 

 foreigners as well as to British subjects, and the Committee are 

 not restricted in any way as to the selection of persons qualified 

 to receive the prize, with the exception that members of the 

 Council are not eligible. 



The following aids to scientific research are announced in the 

 British Medical Journal: — M. Renier has bequeathed to the 

 Belgian Treasury the sum of two million francs (^{"80,000), to be 

 applied to the foundation of a medical institute to be called the 

 "Institut Rommelaere."— A sum of 5,006 roubles (;^5oo) has 

 been granted to the St. Petersburg Medical Academy for the 

 purposes of experiments with the X-rays. A Committee, con- 

 sisting of Profs. Jegoroff" (Rector of the Academy), Tavnezki, 

 Bechtereff, and Ratimorn, has also been appointed to consider 

 the question of the application of Rontgen's discovery to prac- 

 tical medicine. — A new prize has just been added to the long 

 list of those awarded by the Paris Academy of Medicine. The 

 prize is of the value of 24,000 francs (^^960), the proceeds of a 

 capital sum of 800,000 francs (^^32,000) bequeathed by Mdme. 

 Audififred for the purpose. It is to be called the " Fran9ois- 

 Joseph Audiffred Prize," and is to be awarded to any person, 

 of whatever nationality and of whatever profession, who shall 

 within twenty-five years from January 28, 1896, discover a 

 remedy, curative or preventive, recognised by the Academy as 

 efficacious and specific for tuberculosis. In the meantime, the 

 interest accruing from the bequest is to belong to the Academy, 

 and can be applied in any way which that body may thinlc 

 proper. 



We regret to notice the deaths of Prof. F. R. Fava, Professor 

 of Civil Engineering at the Columbian University ; Mr. John 

 Gundlach, known for his works on the fauna of Cuba ; Admiral 

 Carlo Alberto Racchia, Vice-President of the Societa Geografica 

 Italiana ; and Baron Negri, first President of the same Society. 



The yoiirnal of Botany for April contains a short biographical 

 sketch of the late Mr. T. H. Buffham, who died on February 9, 

 at the age of fifty-six. He was one of the new English botanists 

 who have devoted themselves to the study of Algre (especially 

 seaweeds), and had made many interesting observations on their 

 mode of reproduction, which have been published in the 

 botanical journals. 



The death is announced in the Times of Dr. William Sharp, 

 F.R.S., at the advanced age of ninety-one. He began the 

 study of medicine in 1821, and in 1827 he obtained the diploma 

 of the Royal College of Surgeons. Going over to Paris he 

 attended the University lectures at the Sorbonne, listening to 

 Gay Lussac on physics and Thenard on chemistry. He also 

 attended Orfila's lectures at the School of Medicine. In 1828 

 NO. I 38 I, VOL. 53] 



Dr. Sharp returned to England, and settled in Bradford ; in the 

 ensuing year he was elected surgeon to the infirmary, and in 

 1837 senior surgeon. In 1843 he resigned his practice 

 in Bradford, and after four years spent in Hull, where 

 he gave winter courses of lectures on chemistry, he 

 went to Rugby in 1847. As early as 1839 Dr. Sharp 

 spoke in favour of local museums. A Philosophical Society 

 was established in Bradford, of which he was elected first 

 President; and his paper on "Local Museums," read before 

 the British Association, led to the establishment of such museums 

 in most provincial towns. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal 

 Society in 1840. It was in consequence of his urgent recom- 

 mendation that the teaching of physical science was introduced 

 by Dr. Tait into Rugby School, and Dr. Sharp himself became 

 the first "Reader in Natural Philosophy" in 1849 and 1850. 

 From the latter year onwards he gave all his thought and atten- 

 tion to the improvement of the medical treatment of the sick. 

 He made searching investigations into all the systems and 

 schools of medicine, and embodied the results of his studies in a 

 series of " Essays on- Medicine," which appeared at irregular 

 intervals, and reached a total of upwards of sixty treatises before 

 his death. 



The Council of the Society of Arts offer the Fothergill Prize 

 of ^'25 and a silver medal for a paper on " The Best Means of 

 Effectually Preventing the Leakage of Current .to Earth in 

 Electrical Installations from Generating Heat and Setting 

 Buildings on Fire." The paper should consist of about eight 

 thousand words, and be written with a view to being read and 

 discussed at an ordinary meeting of the Society. Papers sub- 

 mitted for the prize must be sent to the Secretary on or before 

 October I, 1896. Each paper must be type- written, and bear a 

 motto, the name of the writer being enclosed in a sealed 

 envelope with a similar motto. 



Our American correspondent writes, under date April 3 :— 

 " Prof. Ogden N. Rood, of Columbia College, has reflected the 

 X-rays from platinum, the amount of reflection being estimated 

 at i/i 260th part of the incident rays. 



" The schooner-yacht Corw/;?/', which left Brooklyn on Decem- 

 ber 5, with an equipment for observing the total eclipse of August 

 9, at Japan, arrived at San Francisco after a successful voyage of 

 117 days around Cape Horn. Captain James, the owner, and 

 Prof. Todd and his assistants of the Amherst College obser- 

 vation party, will immediately cross the continent by rail, and 

 the yacht will proceed on her voyage in a few days. 



"The Local Committee of the fourth Buffalo meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science has been 

 organised, and all the Sub-committees appointed. Mayor 

 Jewett is President, and E. P. Dorr is Local Secretary. The 

 Association will meet on August 24. The city of Buffalo will 

 also entertain this year the National Educational Association, 

 the League of Press Clubs, and the American Public Health 

 Association. 



" The intense cold weather and numerous severe storms 

 of the past few weeks call for special mention. As late as March 

 24, a man was frozen to death in central New York. On the 

 28th the most severe snow-storm of the season, and one of the 

 worst ever known, was reported from Quebec. Even after the 

 month of April began, one of the most severe blizzards on record 

 swept over the north-west, with temperature near zero at some 

 places, accompanied by a remarkable snow-fall, sufficient to 

 blockade roads generally, and to cause snow-drifts from ten to 

 twent)' feet deep. 



" Ground will be broken this month for the Polhemus 

 Clinic, an adjunct to the Long Island College Hospital. It is 

 the eift of Mrs. Caroline H. Polhemus, as a memorial of her 



