Sei'temiser 27, 1894] 



NA TURE 



529 



of that Stale. The laboratory will be established at Havana, 

 and, together with the Slate Fish Commission, will be under 

 the direction of Prof. S. A. Forbes. Among the problems to 

 he investigated are the effect of the periodical overflow .and re- 

 cession of the river on the abundance, variety, and interaction 

 generally of the various groups of plants and animals repre- 

 sented in those waters. 



The following are the subjects for competition for the two 

 Walker Prizes in Natural History, given annually by the Boston 

 (Mass.) .Society of Natural History for the next two years : — 

 1895: A study of the "Fall Line" in New Jersey; (2) a 

 study of the Devonian formation of the Ohio Basin ; (3) rela- 

 tions of the order Plantoginaceas ; (4) experimental investiga- 

 tionsin Morphology or Embryology. 1S96 : (i) K study of the 

 area of schistose or foliated rocks in the Eastern United States ; 

 (2) a study of the development of Kiver Valleys in some con- 

 siderable area of folded or faulted Appalachian structure in 

 Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Tennessee ; (3) an experimental 

 study of the effects of close-fertilisation in the case of some 

 plant of short cycle ; (4) contributions to our knowledge of the 

 general morphology or the general physiology of any animal, 

 except man. The memoirs must be written in the English lan- 

 guage, and the prizes of the value of 60 and 50 dollars respec- 

 tively — the competition for which is open to all — will not be 

 awarded unless the memoirs presented are of adequate merit. 

 Each memoir must be accompanied by a sealed envelope enclos- 

 ing the author's name and superscribed with a motto correspond- 

 ing to one borne by the manuscript, and must be in the hands 

 of the Secretary on or before the first of April of the year for 

 which the prize is offered. 



The French Society for the Encouragement of National 

 Industry has issued a list o.' prizes to be offered for competition 

 next year in connection with chemical research. The following 

 are among the principal subjects proposed : ( I ) Recent progress in 

 the manufacture of chlorine ; prize, 2000 francs. (2) The utilisa- 

 tion of the residues of manufactories ; prize, 1000 francs. (3) A 

 prize of 2000 francs for an experimental study of the physical or 

 mechanical properties of one or several metals or alloys, chosen 

 from those th.at are in current use. (4) 2000 francs for manu- 

 facturing in France, for trade purposes, anhydrous sulphuric 

 acid and " smoking " sulphuric acid. A special note is given 

 with each subject explaining the reasons for which the prize is 

 offered, but it is understood that the money will be withheld 

 in the event of the papers sent in not proving sufficiently 

 interesting. 



The Entomological Society will meet on Wednesday, October 

 3, at S p.m., when the following papers will be read : — 

 "Catalogue of the PleropJioridii, Tortriddic, and Tiiieula of 

 the Madeira Islands, with notes and descriptions of New 

 Species," by Lord Walsingham, F". K.S. ; " Paloearctic 

 Nemouric," by Kenneth J.?Morton. 



The majority of the Medical Schools of the metropolis will 

 open on Monday next, and in several instajices an introductory 

 address will be dispensed with, and in its place some form of 

 festive gatheiing will be held. Addresses will, however, be 

 delivered as follows :— .\t St. George's Hospital, by Dr. 

 Isamb.ard Owen, the dean of the school ; at Guy's Hospital, by 

 Mr. Lockhart Stephens ; at St. Mary's Hospital, by Dr. Scanes 

 Spicer ; at the Middlesex Hospital, by Dr. Boxall ; at Univer- 

 sity College Hospital, by Dr. H. R. Spencer ; at Westminster 

 Hospital, by Mr. G. Ilarlridge ; and at the School of Medicine 

 for Women, by Miss M. Slurge. There will be dinners in con- 

 nection with the following hospitals :— St. Bartholomew's, 

 St. Thomas's, the London, St. George's, King's College, St. 

 Mary's, the Middlesex, and the Westminster. At the Charing 

 NO. 1300, VOL. 50] I 



Cross Hospital there will be an evening reception, at which the 

 prizes for the year will be distributed by Prof. Alexander 

 Macalister, F.R.S. The Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, 

 will distribute the prizes at the St. Thomas's Hospital. 



Prof. H. Ai.ley.ne Nichoi.so.v will deliver the Swiney 

 Lectures on Geology on the Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 

 of October, taking as his subject " The Making of the Earth's 

 Crust." The lectures, for which no charge for admittance i 

 made, will be delivered at 3 p.m. in the Lecture Theatre of the 

 South Kensington Museum. The Swiney Lecturer for next 

 year is Dr. J. G. Garson. 



The eighteenth course of lectures of the Sanitary Institute will 

 be delivered at the Parkes Museum, Margaret Street, W.,at 

 8 p.m. on each Monday, HVednesday, and F'riday of this 

 autumn, from Wednesday, October 17, when the opening 

 lecture, which is specially intended for those desirous of 

 becoming sanitary officers, will be delivered. The secretary 

 of the institute will be happy to supply full- information 

 respecting the lectures. 



The following popular science lectures will be delivered at 

 the Royal Victoria Hall, Waterloo Bridge-road, S.E., during 

 the coming month : — October 2, on " Hearing," by Prof. W.D. 

 Halliburton ; October 9, on " Wonders in Nature," by Mr. R. 

 Kerr ; October 16, on " The Work of the Air on the Earth," 

 by Mr. F. W. Rudler ; October 30, on " Light, what it is and 

 how it is measured," by Prof Carlton Lambert. There will 

 also be a lecture on October 23, but the subject has yet to be 

 decided upon. Each lecture will be illustrated by means of 

 the lantern. 



The prospectus has been issued of a very e'aborate 

 "ISystematic Botany of North .America," to be published in 

 seventeen vols., by a Board of editors under the presidency of 

 Prof. N. L. Britton. The account of each natural order will be 

 a monograph by a separate author. The area comprised in the 

 " Flora" will be the American continent north of Mexico. 



The Lancet states that the Queen has been graciously 

 pleased to intimate to Dr. Thome Thorne, C.B., the principal 

 medical officer of the Local Government Board, her apprecia- 

 tion of the services which have been rendered by the Medical 

 Department of the Board in taking the measures which it has 

 adopted for preventing the entrance of cholera into this 

 country. 



A NEW chemical laboratory, in connection with the Imperial 

 University of St. Petersburg, will be opened next month. The 

 building will contain, in addition to laboratories and a lecture 

 theatre, dwelling accommodation for the professors and their 

 assistants. The cost of erection has been over ^'25,000, four- 

 fifths of which have been defrayed by the Minister of Education, 

 and the remainder by the University, 



A ciRCULAK has been sent to us announcing the conditional 

 re-starting of our American contemporary Scii/ny, the publica- 

 tion of which was on .March 23 suspended, owing to lack of 

 support. The journal is to be subsidised by the American 

 Association for the .Vdvancement of Science, and by Prof. A. 

 Graham Bell and the Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard ; and pro- 

 vided there be a liberal response to the circular from intending 

 subscribers, the journal will be resuscitated before long. 



Prof. Brunchorst has published an account of the labora- 

 tory and scientific appliances of the Marine Zoological Station 

 at Bergen. Established in 1892, the station has always been 

 kept open throughout the entire year, the fjords on the west 

 coast of Norway rem.aining open throughout the winter, and the 

 air temperature seldom falling much below the freezing-point. 



