March 21, 1895] 



NATURE 



489 



The Bologna Academy of Sciences offers a gold medal 

 having the value of one thousand Italian lire (Cv^^ ^^ ^ prize 

 to the author of a memoir which describes the best system 

 or new apparatus for preventing or extinguishing fires, by 

 chemical, physical or mechanical means. The competition is 

 open to persons of all nationalities, and the memoirs must 

 reach the Secretary of the Academy before the end of May, 

 1S96. The descriptions should be written in Italian, Latin, or 

 French, but memoirs will be permitted to compete if written 

 in any other language, provided a translation in Italian accom- 

 panies them. 



The Times correspondent at Cairo reports that the Council 

 of Ministers has approved Mr. Garstin's proposal for clearing 

 Phila; of debris, in order to make a thorough examination of the 

 bases of the temple;, and explore the subterranean passages 

 which intersect the island. This work, which is of high im- 

 portance to the scientific world, will be done by the Public 

 Works Department, an oft'icial from the Antiquities Depart- 

 ment attending to insure that all objects of interest are pre- 

 served. The Ministry of War will be asked to lend Captain 

 Lyons, R.E., to superintend the work. 



The United States Government is (we learn from the British 

 Medical yournal) about to undertake an investigation of the 

 climates of the country in connection with the indigenous 

 diseases. The investigation will be conducted by the Weather 

 Bureau of the Department of Agriculture, the Chief of which, 

 Mr, Mark W. Harrington, has on many previous occasions 

 given proof of an active interest in sanitary climatology. The 

 precise manner in which the results of the investigation will be 

 made public has not yet been decided upon, but it is hoped 

 soon to publish a periodical devoted to climatology, and its 

 relations to health and disease. 



By the consent of her Majesty the Queen, a piece of ground 

 — the Palace Meadow — about four and a half acres in extent, 

 has been ceded to the Royal Gardens at Kew, for the use of the 

 public. The concession is a great convenience, for the removal 

 of the fences will allow visitors to make a direct, instead of a 

 circuitous, access to the finest part of the Arboretum. The 

 <Jardensare 251 acres in extent. It is not generally understood 

 (says the A'ew Bulletin) that they were originally the private 

 property of the Crown, and not acquired out of public funds. 

 The building used for the Herbarium and Library was sold to 

 the nation by George IV. Access to the remainder has been 

 step by step conceded to the public by the liberality of her 

 Majesty the Queen, 



The annual general meeting of the Italian liotanical Society 

 will be held this year in Palermo, from April 16 to 23. The 

 opportunity will be taken of celebrating the hundredth anni- 

 versary of the foundation of the Botanic Garden at Palermo. 



On Thursday next, March 28, Dr. E. B. Tylor, F,R.S., will 

 deliver the first of a course of two lectures at the Royal Institu- 

 tion, on " Animism as shown in the Religions of the Lower 

 Races." The Friday evening discourse, on March 29, will be 

 delivered by Dr. H. E. Armstrong, F.R. S. His subject will 

 be "The Structure of the Sugars and their Artificial Produc- 

 tion." 



The Zoological Society of France held its second annual 

 reunion on February 2S, under the presidency of Prof. 

 Leon Vaillant. The meeting was a marked success, a number 

 of zoologists from all parts of France favouring the Society 

 with original communications. It has been decided to make 

 these annual conferences, to which all naturalists are cordially 

 ■welcomed, a permanent feature, and to arrange in future for 

 ■microscopical and other demonstrations, as well as numerous 

 :SOcial gatherings. 



NO. 1325, VOL. 51] 



When the Council of the Zoological Society of France voted 

 to support the movement for the establishment of an inter- 

 national bibliographical bureau, it charged one of its members. 

 Prof. E. L. Bouvier, to present a report at the annual reunion of 

 the Society. Basing its decisions upon this report, the Society 

 has nominated a central Committee of Management, composed 

 of the following titular members: — Dr. Raph. fslanchard. Prince 

 Roland Bonaparte, Prof. Ives Delage, Prof. Henri Filhol, Prof. 

 Albert Gaudry, Baron Jules de Guerne, Prof. A. Milne-Edwards, 

 and Prof. A. Raillet. Twenty zoologists, residing ia various parts 

 of France, have been nominated as associate members. To 

 complete the organisation, eleven special correspondents have 

 been appointed, whose duty will consist in reporting to the 

 Bureau such works as are inaccessible to it, A preliminary 

 inquiry among the various scientific societies and the 

 leading publishers has shown, however, that nearly all 

 the zoological publications of France will be sent gratuitously 

 to the Central Bureau. Not a single failure to accept this in- 

 vitation to co-operate has thus far been reported. 



The annual meeting of the German Zoological Society will 

 be held this year at Strassburg, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and 

 Thursday, June 4 to 6, A preliminary general programme of 

 the meeting has already been issued, and in the list of papers 

 promised for, the occasion we notice one by Prof. Goette, " On 

 the Ancestry of the Vertebrata," and another by Dr, Biirger, 

 " On Nemertines." The mornings will be devoted to general 

 business and the reading of scientific communications and re- 

 ports, and the afternoons will be reserved for demonstrations and 

 the inspection of the laboratories. The meeting should possess 

 considerable interest, and many will probably be glad to avail 

 themselves of the cordial invitation which the Society extends 

 to zoologists of other nationalities to attend the meeting as 

 guests, and to take part in the proceedings of the Society, 



The Paris Geographical Society has awarded its prizes for 

 189s, as follows : — Gold medals, to Lieut. L. Mizon, for his ex- 

 plorations in West Africa ; E Gautier, for his explorations in 

 Madagascar ; F. Foureau, for his explorations in the Sahara : 

 E, Ponel, for his explorations in the region of the French 

 Congo ; Th. Moureaux, for his magnetic map of France ; 

 Father Colin, for his observations and triangulations in Mada- 

 gascar ; .\. Courtry, for the production of a map of the Congo ; 

 V. de la Blache, for his general atlas ; and Dr, Thoroddsen, 

 for his explorations in' Iceland. Silver medals have been 

 conferred upon E, D. Ponclns, for his journey from Turkestan to 

 Kashmir by the Pamirs ; J. Gaultier, for his works on the pro- 

 duction of plans by photography; B. d'Attanoux, for his ex- 

 ploration in the Sahara ; and J, Forest, for his studies on the 

 breeding and habits of the ostrich in the Sahara. The Jomard 

 prize has been awarded to L. A, Rainaud, for his memoir 

 entitled " Le Continent austral : hypothese et decouverte. " 



Since the decision in the case of the Leeds Sunday Lecture 

 Society, when it was held that the delivery of a lecture on a 

 Sunday came within the meaning of the " Act for Preventing 

 certain Abuses and Profanations on the Lord's Day, called 

 Sunday," if the public were not admitted free, the Sunday 

 Society h.-is been exerting itself to procure an amendment of 

 the vexatious Law as it now stands. Lord Ilobhouse, who 

 presided at a conference of Sunday Societies held last month, 

 has introduced a Bill into the House of Lords for amending 

 the Act in accordance with a resolution passed on that occasion. 

 The Bill aims at securing that in future — "No action for the 

 recovery of any penalty shall be commenced against any person 

 in respect of the opening of any Museum, Art Gallery, Science 

 or Art Exhibition, Garden or Library, as such, or the delivery 

 of [any lecture on science, literature, art, or kindred subject, 

 or any recitation, or the giving of any performance of music, 



