sSo 



NA TURE 



[October i i, 1894 



Since that time he contributed papers to various 

 societies, other than those already mentioned, and to 

 various journals These are chiefly on questions relating 

 to economic geology, such as water-supply, petroleum, 

 and coal in southeastern England ; and are too many to 

 be noticed here. His name also appears, of course, as 

 author, or part author, on many sheets of the maps and 

 sections of the Geological Survey. 



It is not only, however, by his published works that 

 Mr. Topley is known— in science his was a public life. 

 He took a marked part in the work of the British 

 Association, and was secretary of its Geological Section 

 for no less than fifteen years— one of the longest of such 

 secretarial lives. He also served on some committees, 

 and was secretary of that on coast erosion, the reports of 

 which owe much to him. He served on the councils of 

 the Geological Society and of the Geologists' Associa- 

 tion for many years, and was president of the latter body 

 for two years (1S85-7). He took part in most of the 

 international geological congresses, and worked hard 

 for the great one in London, of which he was a secretary, 

 in 18SS. He was also for some time a sub-editor, and 

 afterwards editor, of the Geological Record. 



In his latter years, his presence at the Geological Sur- 

 vey Office, for a period of about fourteen years, brought i 

 him into contact with many people, who benefited by his 

 knowledge and by his readiness in imparting it. .Amongst 

 engineers and others he was widely known as an expert 

 of the most trustworthy kind on questions of water- 

 supply, and of other subjects in which geologic knowledge 

 comes in. 



Happy in his domestic relations, of a kindly, cheerful 

 disposition, good-natured and hospitable, he was always 

 ready to help his brethren of the hammer, as well as all 

 those who went to the Survey Office for information ; 

 indeed, a former colleague has said of him, to the writer, 

 that his one prominent fault was excessive amiability. 



He will be greatly missed by his colleagues, and his 

 loss will be felt over a much wider circle— in fact, by 

 all who knew him. W. W. 



NOTES. 

 Two letters of Charles Darwin are published for the first 

 lime in the Bulletin of ihe Royal Botanic Gardens, Trinidad, 

 No. 22, .\pril 1894. These letters were addressed, before the 

 c:>inpletioo of Darwin's book on the fertilisation of orchids, to 

 the late Dr. Herman Cruger, who was Government Botanist 

 at Trinidad for some years, asking him to observe if possible 

 the fertilisation of certain speciesof the Melastomads. In the 

 first letter he expresses a suspicion that the flowers which have 

 the singular projections, or horns from their anthers, may be 

 visited by small insects which penetrate on? of the horns of the 

 anther with their proboscis, to obtain the fluid contained in 

 Ihem. In the second letter he admits that this suspicion is quite 

 groundless, and asks for inform.ition with regard to any in- 

 stances of " bud variation" in plants from the warmer regions 

 cultivated in the West Indies. 



The Botanical Society of America is about to try the ex- 

 periment of admitting working naturalists only to its full 

 fellowship. Uya unanimous vote the Society has adopted a 

 new constitution providing that none but American botanists 

 cngag-d in research, who have published work of recognised 

 merit, shall be eligible to active membership. Candidates for 

 active membership must be recommended by three active 

 members of Ihe Society, but any nominee mny be objected to 

 by any member, and if ten members object, tlic name will not 

 be considered by the Council. Nominees may be rejected by 

 two negative votes in the Council, which numbers seven 

 members, or by one-fifth of the voles cast aficr the name has 

 been approved. The President of the Society for the present 

 NO. 1302, VOL. 50] 



year is Prof. W. Trelease ; the Vice-president, Prof. N. L. 

 Britton ; the Secretary, Mr. C. R. B.irnes ; the Treasurer, Mr. 

 j. Donnell Smith. 



Dr. T. Lauder Brun-tox, F.R.S., will deliver the annual 

 llarveian oration at the Royal College of Physicians, on Thurs- 

 day, October l8, at 4 p.m. 



Two new wings of the Durham College of Science were 

 inaugurated on Tuesday. The wings include apartments to be 

 devoted to the study of engineering and the fine arts. 



On Friday last, the Duke and Duchess of York opened the 

 new medical school, erected at a cost of ^40,000, in connection 

 with the Yorkshire College, Leeds, and also a new central hall 

 and library, which have been added to the College at a cost of 

 ;^20,000. 



Th e Essex Field Club will hold its annual cryptogamic and 

 botanical meeting on Saturday, October 13. The head- 

 quarters for the meeting is the "King's Oak" Hotel, High 

 i;e.ich, Epping Forest. 



The opening meeting of the Royal Microscopical Society 

 will lake place on Wednesday, October 17, at 8 p.m., when 

 Mr. F. Chapman will read a paper "On the Foraminifera of 

 the Gault of Folkestone"; and Dr. II. Stolterfoth will give 

 some notes on the genus Corethroti. 



A MEETING of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers will 

 be held on Wednesday evening, October 24, and Thursday 

 evening, October 25. The following papers will be read and 

 discussed, as tar as lime permits : — "The Manufacture of Stan- 

 dard Screws for Machine-made Watches," by Mr. Charles J. 

 Hewitt (WednesJay) ; " Drilling Machines for Cylindrical 

 Boiler Shells," by Mr. Samuel Dixon (Thursday). 



It is reported that a violent storm passed over the town of 

 Little Rock, Arkansas, at the beginning of last week. Though 

 the storm or tornado only lasted three minutes, eight persons 

 were killed during that time, and several were seriously injured, 

 while properly was damaged to an amount estimated at 

 ;f200,ooo. The direction of motion of the disturbance was 

 from south-weit to nirth-east, and the width of the path 

 traversed was only about two hundred yards. The storm w.as 

 accompanied by heavy rain, and w.as followed by brilliant 

 lightning. 



One of the most valuable and extensive botanical libraries 

 in the country, that collected by Prof. Lindley, has been 

 for many years deposited in the rooms of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society, under the care of trustees. It is now pro- 

 posed to increase ihe value of Ihe Lindley Library by forming, 

 in conneclion wiih it, a library fund, to be .administered by the 

 tiuslccs in connection with the Council of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society. The money would be expended in cataloguing 

 the libraiy, and in the purchase of new books, for which the 

 income at present at the comm\nd of the trustees does not 

 sulT\ce. Donations of horticultural and botanical works are 

 also desired. 



The Berlin correspondent of the 'Juius reports :—" The 

 death is announced of Prof. Pringshcim, the well-known 

 German botanist, at the age of seventy-one. As early as his 

 thirtylhird year he was elected member of the Berlin Academy 

 of Sciences in appreciation of his researches and writings, 

 which dealt especially with the processes of fructification and 

 germination in the family of the Alga;. From 1864 to iS68he 

 filled the post of Professor of Botany at Jena, where he 

 founded ihc first Institute for Vegetable Physiology, and this 

 example was soon followed in other parts of (Jermany. Prof. 

 Pringsheim returned lo Berlin in 1S68 and established a private 

 laboratory, in which he carried out valuable investigations on 

 the sexual life of the lowest vegetable organism?." 



