May io, 1894] 



NATURE 



Zl 



0° and 140", whilst between longitudes 140° and 360^ the 

 rate of rotation was rather quicker, the average period of 

 rotation here being well represented by . . . . loh. 12m. 

 4S-8S." 



I The importance of such results as those stated above 

 v/ill help considerably to unravel the mystery surround- 

 ing the circulation of the envelope of this great planet, 

 but, for the observations to be comparable, they must be 

 accurate, systematically made, and extend continuously 

 over moderately long periods. For the years 1S91-93, Mr. 

 Stanley Williams points out that the acceleration in the 

 motion of the bright equatorial spots can be clearly 

 deduced from the ditferent periods of rotation. 

 ' They are for — 



h. m. s. 



1891 10 14 21'8 



1892 ... 10 13 384 



1893 'o '2 59"4 



For the determination of the latitudes of Saturn's belts, 

 ihe Rev. W. Freeman has recently published a method' 

 which should prove useful for observers wishing to 

 measure kronocentric latitudes. 



Recent work on Saturn has, however, been do.ie in 

 mother direction, Miss Klumpke having undertaken a 

 further investigation of the problem of the figure of a 

 fluid ring or a solid ring covered with liquid, in equili- 

 brium about Saturn. This has been previously treated 

 of by Laplace, and in recent times by M. Tisserand and 

 [Mdme. Kowalewski. Miss Klumpke has carried on 

 IMdme. Kowalewski's work, but includes terms of a 

 bigher order, showing that the main result is very little 

 iltcred. The second part of her thesis deals with the 

 ,iypothetical case in which Saturn's mass is taken as zero : 

 ;he rings thus will be subject only to the centrifugal 

 'orce of its motion and mutual attraction of its particles. 

 A first approximation gives the cross section of the ring 

 us a circle, the second becomes an ellipse, and the third 

 ;:ross section is inclined to be egg-shaped, one end 

 peing oval. W. J. L. 



NOTES. 

 The New York Mathematical Society proposes to organise 

 H general session, extending over several days, to be held 

 unnually during ihe summer vacation, at some appropriate 

 ilace and time. This year the session is to be held in Brooklyn, 

 )n August 20, 21, 22, the days immediately preceding the 

 session of the American Association for the Advancement of 

 science. The Council of the same Society has been considering 

 iVith great care its present organisation. One of the recom- 

 nendations made by it is that the name should be changed to 

 he American Mathematical Society. 



We regret to have to announce the death of Mr. Adolph 

 ...eipner. Professor of Botany in University College, Bristol. 

 Prof. I.eipner occupied the office of honorary secretary of the 

 Bristol Naturalists' Society from its inception in 1862, and was 

 elected President of the Society last year. The loss caused by 

 jiis death, not only to the Society, and the College he served, 

 but also to all those who are interested in the natural history of 

 he Bristol neigldjourhood, is a serious one, for he was a 

 Mturalist of wide experience, ever ready to place his stores 

 I'f knowledge at the disposal of his fellow students. 



The death is announced, at an advanced age, at Marseilles, of 

 H. A. Derbcs, one of the pioneers in the study of the life- 

 listory of Alga.. His " Recherches sur les zoospores dcs Algues 

 ■t les anthcridies des Cryptogames," published in 1S47, in 

 :onj\mction with M. Sober, was a perfect mine of new facts 

 vith regard to the reproduction of Cryptogams, and formed the 



J Monthly Notices, liv. No. i, Nov. 1S93. 



NO. 1280, VOL. 50] 



basis of all later observations on the same subject. For many 

 years M. Derbes had been prevented, by the results of an 

 accident, from the pursuits of botany, with the exception of the 

 duties of his professorial chair. 



At the Annual Congress of German Naturalists and Physi- 

 cians, which will be held at Vienna towards the end of 

 September, there will be an exhibition of objects of interest in 

 natural history and medicine. 



The Government of India are making systematic inquiry 

 into the efficacy of hypodermic injections of strychnine in the 

 treatment of snake-bite. The Punjab Government have at 

 their request forwarded a list of cases so treated in the province 

 during the past year. 



At the congress of the Sanitary Institute, to be held in Liver- 

 pool next September, Dr. Klein, F.R. S., will act as President 

 of Section I. — Sanitary Science and Preventive Medicine; Dr. 

 T. Stevenson has accepted the presidency of Section III. 

 — Chemistry, Meteorology, and Geology. 



An earthquake was felt in several districts of South Wales on 

 Wednesday, May 2. At Caerphilly, dwelling-houses were so 

 shaken that light articles of furniture were upset, and crockery- 

 ware fell to the ground. The tremor was also felt at Cardiff, a 

 decided vibration being experienced at about half-past twelve 

 in the day. 



The .sum of five thousand rupees has been given by the 

 Maharajah of Bhownagger towards a Pasteur Institute for India. 

 Though the scheme has met with some opposition, the strong 

 committees that have been formed in various parts of India in 

 order to support it, leaves little doubt that the Institute will 

 eventually be established. 



This year's conversazione of the Society of Arts will take 

 place on Friday evening, June 22, at the Imperial Institute. 



The Institution of Electrical Engineers will hold a conver- 

 sazione in the galleries of the Royal Institute of Painters in 

 Water Colours, Piccadilly, on the evening of Thursday, May 31. 



The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union will hold a meeting at 

 Sedbergh, for the investigation of the neighbourhood of Dow- 

 biggin, Lune Valley, and Uldale, on Whit-Monday, May 14. 



On Thursday last a public meeting was held in I'rince's Hall, 

 Piccadilly, in support of the proposal to erect a memori.al to 

 the late Sir Andrew Clark. The Duke of Cambridge took the 

 chair as President of the London Hospital, and the audience 

 contained a large number of persons eminent in all branches of 

 knowledge. Mr. Gladstone testified to his late physician's high 

 character, referring to him as a representative of all that is best 

 and noblest in the medical profession. lie concluded by 

 moving : — " That in recognition of the great services rendered to 

 the community by Sir Andrew Clark, Bart., M.D., a memorial 

 be established which shall perpetuate his name and his work." 

 This resolution was carried, and also the following, moved by 

 Canon Wilberforce : — " That steps be taken to raise a sum 

 suflicient for the erection of a block of buildings at the London 

 Hospital, to bear the name of Sir Andrew Clark, which will 

 afford increased facilities for the relief of suffering and the ad- 

 vancement of medical science. " Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson, 

 who was one of Sir Andrew Clark's colleagues, made some 

 very appropriate remarks in supporting the first resolution. 

 Medical men did not claim for the deceased physician the dis- 

 coveries of a Harvey, a Jenner, or a Hunter, he said, but they 

 nevertheless held that he was in the highest and best sense of 

 the word a representative man, to whom it was the duty and 

 the privilege and the interest of the whole community to do 

 honour. Shakespeare had said "one good deed, dying 



