NATURE 



[September 26, 1895 



Lighter Constituent. 



The third International Congress of Zoologists (an account 

 of the proceedings at which will apjiear in a subsequent issue of 

 Nature) has just been held at Leyden, and ai)]x'ars to have 

 l>een a great success. No fewer than twenty nationalities were 

 represented, and the arrangements for the comfort of the 

 members were all that could he wished. It was decided to hold 

 the next meeting (in 1898) in England, and .Sir William II. 

 Flower was elected President. During the nieeting it was 

 announced that the Senate of the University of Utrecht had 

 conferred degrees uixjn Sir William II. Flower, M. Milne- 

 Edwards, of Paris, and Prof. Weismann, of Freiburg. 



Tei.ei.RAMS from St. John's, dated Seplemlwr 22, announced 

 the return, in the steamer Kile, of the I'eary l\xpedition. The 

 result of the ex|>edition was a most disapiKiinting one, as Lieut. 

 Peary and his companions were unable to extend their journeyings 

 l>eyond Inde|)cndence Bay, which point was the furthest north 

 reached by Lieut. Peary in his expedition of 1892. The main 

 cause of failure was the loss of all the stores of provisions, save 

 one, which had l>een got together and (lc|K>.site<t along the in- 

 tended line of march Ixst year, all having Iwen buried by perhaps 

 the heaviest snowfall known, which obliterated all traces of 

 ihcm. The sufferings endured by the explorers, on the verge of 

 <<tarva(ion a.s they were for the greater |xirt of the time, can 

 hardly lie estimated, and when, on July 31, the Kile arrived, 

 ihcy were utterly broken down and ill, but they .subsequently 

 recovereil under careful treatment. The ex|>e<lition, according 

 10 a later telegram, will not Ik; entirely Irarren of .scientific 

 re<tiilt.<(, as Lieut. Peary is reported to have mapped Whale 

 Sound, and completed his studies of the Eskimo llighlanders. 

 He has alKip brouglu lr.ick another year's meteorological record. 

 The relief expedition, too, is credited with obtaining the largest 

 collection of Arctic fauna and flora ever acquired, anil Prof. 

 Salisbury, of Chicigo University, did gfMxl geological work. 

 NO. 1352, VOL. 52] 



.•\ CO.MMUNIC.^TION" was made to the press on Friday last by 

 Reuter's Agency with reference to the movements of the Jackson- 

 Harmsworth Polar Expedition. It was admitted that the intelli- 

 gence received had been made in a somewhat meagre and dis- 

 jointed form ; but from it could be gleaned that on SejJtember 7 

 of last year the expedition arrived safely on the coast of Franz 

 Josef Land and in the locality of Cajje Flora. On September lO' 

 the ice closed round the ll'iiitiward, and she was frozen in for the 

 winter. On February 23 the sun returned, and on March 10 

 Mr. Jackson started on his northern journey, with a quantity of 

 stores, and made his first depot. Various journeys to and fro 

 with provisions, &c., were made, and depots formed, the most 

 northern of which was about 100 miles from the camp. The 

 ll'imizcard has, it is expected, now set sail for home, liearing 

 letters and journals of the early part of the exjiedition. 



The expedition to .\laska of the United States Geological 

 Survey, for the purpose of examining into the coal and gold 

 mines of the territor)-, has returned safely to San Franci.sco after a 

 successful and very interesting season, during which, incidentally, 

 many of the glaciers and volcanos were studied. Messrs. Becker 

 and Dall will return to Washington by October I, to submit their 

 report upon the mineral resources to the Director of the Survey, 

 which will be printed as soon as the necessary analyses, &c. , car» 

 be made. 



We have to record the death, at Berlin, at the age of seventy- 

 six, of Prof. Bardeleben, the eminent surgeon and author ol 

 " Lehrbuch der Chirurgie und Opcrationslehre."' 



The death is announced, from Hendigo, Victoria, of Dr. Paul 

 Howard MacOillivray, well known as a meilical man and for 

 his researches on Polyioa. 



At the meeting of the Entomological .Society of London, lo 

 l)e held on Wednesday, October 2, the following papers will be 

 read : — " Contributions towards the History of Maniina, a New 

 Genus of Diptera" {Psy(hodid<r), by Dr. Fritz .Miiller : "Re- 

 marks on the Homologies and Differences between the First 

 Stages of Pericoma and those of Maruina,' by Baron Ostci» 

 Sacken. 



TliK annual meeting of the Federated Institution of Mining 

 Engineers has just taken place at Hanley, and pa|jers were re.ad ; 

 on " The Use of Steel Girders in Mines," " Economic Minerals 

 of the Province of Ontario," and " Gold Mining in Nova 

 Scotia." The Institution seems to \k in a flourishing condition, 

 the membership having risen from 1 189 in 1889-90,10219981 

 the present time. The prizes for papers on " The Prevention 

 of .\ccidents in Mines " have been awarded as follows : (l) Mr. 

 .\. Kirkup (2) Mr. W. N. Drew ; Messrs. E. .\. Allport and 

 A. Noble were bracketed for the third place. 



The Royal Society of New South Wales offers its medal and 

 the sum of ^'25 for the best communications (provideil such be 

 deemed of suOicient merit) on original research in the following 

 .subjects ; — " The Origin of Multiple Hydatids in Man " ; " The 

 Occurrence of Precious Stones in New South Wales, with a 

 description of the De|Misits in which they are found " : "The 

 Effect of the Au.stralian Climate on the Physical Development of 

 the AuslralianlM)rn Population " : " The Physiological Action of 

 the Poison of any -Australian .Snake, Spider, or Tick" ; "The 

 Chemistry of the Australian Gums and Resins " ; "The Embry- 

 ology .ind Development of the Echidna or Platypus"; "The 

 Chemical Com|>f>sition of the Products from the so-called 

 Kerosene Shale of New South Wales"; "The MimIc of Oc- 

 currence, Chemical Composition and Origin of Artesian Water 

 in New .South Wales." The competition is ojien to all, and is 

 not .subject to any restriction, save that the ciimmunic-alion to l)e 

 succe.ssful must be either wholly or in part the result of the 

 competitor's own original observation or raseatch. Ttie sue- 



