I lO 



NA TURE 



[May 30. 1 89 5 



" They rose early at the ' Hotel des Neufchatelois ' ; on 

 the stroke of four they had to be up. The time of 

 dressing was rather trying, as the water was so cold 

 and made them shiver ; but that over, nothing more 

 was thought of than continuing their research. Agassiz 

 volunteers to bore holes ; the ice can only be cut with 

 great difficulty, (or it resists the instruments. While 

 this operation is being done, Carl X'ogt examines the 

 red snow, the strange hue of which is due to the presence 

 of myri-ids of microscopic beings ; he discovers many 

 kinds of infusoria, and a pretty rotifer sowing the snow 

 with its purple-coloured eggs. 



" Carl \'ogt was never inactive ; in the last years he 

 published, together with M. Jung, a treatise on zoology'. 

 E\erA- one will acknowledge that a life so well spent is 

 an honour to humanitv." W. 



NOTES. 

 Science is but poorly represented in the list of the Queen's 

 birthday honours. Lord Playfair, previously a K.C.B., has 

 accepted the honour of G.C.B. Kear-Admiral W. J. L. Wharton, 

 Hydrographer to the Nav)-, has been made a Companion of the 

 Order of the Bath. Mr. \V. M. Conway, whose climbs in the 

 Himalayas led to the publication of some interesting scientific 

 results, has been knighted. 



Dr. E. Franklam>, F.R.S., Correspondent of the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, has been elected Foreign Associate, in the 

 place of the late Prof, van Beneden. 



Dr. Esmarch, of Kiel, has Iwcn elected a Correspondent of 

 the Paris Academy of Medicine. 



PROK. Thommsf.N, who has been a Corresponding .Member of 

 the French Acidemy of Inscriptions since i860, has l>een elected 

 a F'oreign Associate, in the place of the late -Sir H. Kawlinson. 



The Times correspondent at Melbourne .says that a meteoro- 

 Ingical oliservator)- has been established on the summit of Mount 

 Wellington, Tasmania. 



.\ MILLION acres of forest land has been reserved by the 

 Province of Ontario as a great natural park for the preservation 

 of native animals and plants. 



The di.scourse at the Royal Institution to-morrow evening 

 will be delivered by the Earl of Rosse, the subject being, " The 

 Radiant Heal from the Moon during the progress of an;Eclipse." 

 That on June 7 will Iw by Prof. A. Cornu, F.R.S. This lecture 

 will he delivered in F'rench,and the title will Ix;, " Phenomenes 

 Physiques des Hautes Regions de I'Atmosphere." 



THROt'c-.H a gift of Mr. W. C. McDonald [■^y& Science), McCiill 

 Unlvcrsityhas secured thirty-five acres of land for botanical gardens 

 and an oliservator)'. From the same source we learn that the 

 ri-i'1'ie of the estate of Mary D. Pcabody has been left to the 

 • '.itlii.lic University of Washington, for the foundation of scholar- 

 shi|)s (probably three or four of the value of 5000 dollars each) in 

 the chemical and |)hysical sciences. 



AMDSfi the appointments abroad, we notice that Or. N. V. 



I irr; ha.<t accepted the Profevsorship of Minenilngy in the 



I rr.ity of Co|H;nhagen, Dr. F. Karsch has become Extra- 



r of ZfKjjogy in ISjrIin University, Prof. Emil 



I lie Ordinary Profe.->wr of Hygiene at .Marburg, 



1 (privat-docent in mathematics at Krakau) has 



■ an Exlra(jrclinary Profciwrship. 



The electrical |»wer develo|>ed at the NLigara Falls will 

 soon take the place of steam for several hundred miles distance 

 from the Falls, including New York City. An important pro- 

 posed application i-i to the Erie Canal, which has just o|>ened for 

 NO. 1335. YOL. 52] 



the season. Experiments will be made for applying the power 

 by a trolley system, and the reduction of expense will probably 

 drive out all other means of transportation for grain, &c., from 

 Buffalo to tide water, during the season of navigation. 



At the International Horticultural Congress, opened at Paris 

 on Saturday, resolutions were unanimously adopted to the eftect : 

 "(I) That the French Government should associate itself with 

 the request adilressed by the Italian Ciovernment to the Swiss 

 Confederation, with a view of obtaining llie revision of the Berne 

 International Convention, and the free circulation between all 

 countries signatory to the convention, of all vegetables and vines, 

 accompanied by a certificate of origin ; and (2) thai the postal 

 administration should return to the old reduced tariff, of which 

 periodical publications on horticulture have hitherto had the 

 advantage." 



Efforts arc being made (says the AnifiiiMi XaliiralisI) to 

 raise a fund of 12,000 dollars for the purpose of bringing Mr. Peary 

 and his two assistants home from North-west Cireenland early 

 next autumn, and, in connection with this, to prosecute scientific 

 investigations during the available sunnner season. It is hoped, 

 by this means, to charter and fit out a staunch steamer, built for 

 Arctic service and commanded by experienced Arctic navigators, 

 which shall start from St. John's, Newfoundland, on or about 

 July 5, 1895, fof Inglefield Gulf, North-west Greenland, lat. 

 78^ N., Mr. Pear)'"s headquarters. 



We have received a notice concerning three "Priestley" 

 Scholarships in Chcmistr)-, two " Bowen " Scholarships in 

 Engineering, and one in Metallurg)', which have been foHnded 

 by the late Mr. T. .\ubrey Bowen, of Melbourne. They are 

 intended to encourage and afford facilities for the higher study 

 of these subjects in Mason College, where they are tenable for 

 one year, with the possibility of renewal at the discretion of the 

 Council of the College. The annual value of each is j^^ioo. 

 Although, naturally, good work done at Mason College will be 

 regarded as a specially favourable qualification, the Coimcil have 

 generously thrown all the Scholarships open to general competi- 

 tion. The first award will be m.ade in September next, and all 

 particulars may be learned on application to the Secretary of the 

 College. 



The gold medal of the Linnean Society has this year been 

 awarded to Prof. Ferdinand Cohn, of Breslau, whose name is 

 well known in connection with the Botanic /oiinial, which he 

 has conducted, largely adorned with his own contributions, from 

 1870 to the present time. The work of Dr. Cohn extends over 

 half a century. He w,-is one of the earliest to investigate the 

 life-history of the lower Algx', and to demonstrate that they are 

 not asexual. His important |xxper on Protococetis plui-ialis, 

 published so long ago as 1850, was translated by Busk for the 

 Ray Society. Subsequent papers by him, <m the mode of re- 

 prwluction of SphiCtoplea aiinii/iiia, and on the development of 

 I'oh'ox, mark a distinct advancement in botanical science. The 

 medal referred to was awarded to him at the anniversary 

 meeting of the 24th inst., and has been forwarded to Breslau, 

 for his acceptance, through the German Embassy. 



At the anniversary meeting of the Royal Geographical 

 Society, held on Monday, the Founder's Med.al was presented to 

 Dr. John Murray for his services to physical geography, and 

 especially to oceanography during the last twenty-three years, 

 als<j for his mips of the floor of the ocean, his calculations re- 

 garding the volume of continents and oceans, his study of tlu- 

 origin and form.ation of coral deposits, ami for the stimulus he 

 has given to researches in physical geography. The other 

 awards were the Patrons' Medal, to the Hon. George N. 

 Curzon, M.P., (l) for his work on the history, geography, 

 archxology, and politics of Persia ; (2) for his journeys in 



