jVA ture 



[November 9, 189; 



Prof. Guido Cora, of Turin, in iS86 a gold medallist of 

 the R.G.S., has received this year a special gold medal from the 

 Imperial Russian Geographical Society of St. Petersburg. 



Mr. Charles Stewart has been elected Fa ilerian Professor 

 of Physiology to the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the ap- 

 pointment to date from January 13, 1S94. 



Dk. von jHERiNGhas been appointed Director of the Natural 

 History Museum, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 



Dr. Woldrich, Vienna, has been nominated Professor of 

 Geology in the Bohemian University of Prague. 



Dn. T. Plesice hai been elected to the Directorship of the 

 Zoological Museum of the St. Petersburg Acadeuiy of Sciences, 

 in the place of the late Prof. A. Strauch. 



Dr. Carl Berg has been reappointed Professor of Zoology 

 at the University of Buenos Ayre.=, a chair he occupied between 

 1875 and 1890, and which remained vacant after he went to 

 Monte Video. 



Prof. G. E. Hale is expected to be present at the meeiing 

 of the Royal Astronomical Society to-morrow, and to give an 

 address on the suljject of his solar researches. 



In Nature of July 20 (vol. xlviii. p. 268) we published a 

 communication fro.ai Prof. P. F. Frankland, calling attention to 

 certain oVijections which had been raised by some membtrs of 

 the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge against the pub- 

 lication of his little book, " Our Secret Friends and Foes," in 

 the Romance of Science Seiies. The objections were stated 

 formally by the Secretary of the Victoria-street Anti- Vivisection 

 Society, and endorsed in most forcible terms by Lord Coleridge, 

 as set forth in the correspondence published in our issue referred 

 to. The protest calling upon the S.P.C.K. to withdraw the 

 book from circulation, on the ground that it favoured "experi- 

 ments upon living animals," was handed in last July with some 

 fifty signatures attached, and in accordance with a rule of the 

 Society was submitted to the Standing Committee, whose judg- 

 ment in matters of this kind is considered final. This Com- 

 mittee has just passed the following resolution : — " The Standing 

 Committee having taken into consideration the statement of ob- 

 jections, made under Rule xxxvi., against the book entitled 

 " Our Secret Friends and Foes," by Prof. P. F. Frankland, 

 and the remarks thereon submitted respectively by the author 

 and the General Literature Committee, are unable to see suffi- 

 cient reason for withdrawing the book from the Society's list." 

 The decision arrived at will give general satisfaction to English 

 men of science, and forms a fitting sequel to the correspondence 

 forwarded to us by the author of the book. 



At last there is a possibility that a scientific method of 

 identification will become part of our prison system. The 

 Home Secretary has appointed a committee to consider the 

 means at present available in this country for the identificalion 

 of habitual criminals, and to report to him whether they could 

 be improved by the adoption either of the Bertillon method of 

 identification in use in France, or of Mr. Galton's finger-print 

 method, or in any other way. The report will be awaited with 

 interest. 



The Exhibition of the Photographic Society of Great Britain 

 will close on Wednesday, November 15. 



An International Congress of Applied Chemistry will be held 

 at Brussels on August 4, 1S94. 



The Russian Chemical Society will celebrate its twenty-fifth 

 year of existence by a special meeting at St. Petersburg on 

 November 18. 



NO. 1254, VOL. 40] 



The Newcastle-on-Tyne and Northern Counties Photo- 

 graphic Association propose to hold an international photo- 

 graphic exhibition next April. 



An "Exposition Universellc" will be opened at Lyon on 

 April 26, 1894, ^I'l will remain open until the following 

 November. Sections will \>z devoted to electricity, hygiene, 

 and agriculture. 



At the meeting of the Museunis" Association, held in July 

 last, under the presidency of Sir W. II. Flower, K.C.B., 

 F.R.S., the following officers were elected by the Council : — 

 Dr. V. Ball, C.B., F.R.S., to be president. Prof. D. J. 

 Cunningham, F. R. S., and Mr. Walter Armstrong vice-pre- 

 sidents. The Association will meet in Dublin next year, about 

 the end of June or the beginning of July. 



The new session of the Royal Geographical Society will 

 conmence on November 13, when the president, Mr. Clements 

 R. Markham, C. B., F.R.S., will discourse on "Geographical 

 Desiderata, or Exploring Work to be done and Geographical 

 Problems to be solved." On November 27, Dr. John Murray 

 will read a paper on " The Antarctic Region and the Scientific 

 and Commercial Results of its Exploration." 



The seventy-fifth session of the Institution of Civil Engineers 

 will be commenced on November 14, and the meetings before 

 Christmas are likely to be occupied, in addition to an address 

 from Mr. Giles, president, with the design and construction of 

 impounding reservoirs for water-works at Tansa (Bombay), 

 Baroda, and Jeypore, with machinery for the manufacture of 

 casks, and with the development of hydraulic power-supply in 

 London. 



The first meeting of the 140th session of the Society of Arts 

 will be held on Wednesday, November 15, when the opening 

 address will be delivered by Sir Richard E. Webster, M.P. A 

 course of Cantor lectures will be given by Prof. Frank Clowes 

 in January and February next, his subject being "The Detec- 

 tion and Measurement of Inflammable Gas and Vapour in the 

 Air." Captain Abney will deliver three Cantor lectures on 

 " Photometry " in April. The following are among the papers 

 down for reading after Christmas : — " London Coal Gas and its 

 Enrichment," by Prof. Vivian Lewes ; "Experiments in Aero- 

 nautics," by Mr. Hiram S. Maxim ; "Pewter," by Mr. J. 

 S:arkie Gardner ; " Electric Signalling without Wires," by Mr. 

 W. H. Preece, F.R. S. Two juvenile lectures on " Plants : their 

 Foes and Defences," will be delivered by Mr. W. Gardiner, 

 F. R.S., in January. 



It is reported that Vesuvius is in a state of activity, and 

 streams of lava are distinctly visible at night. 



An earthquake was distinctly felt in various parts of Wales 

 and the West of England' on Thursday, November 2, about 

 5.45 p.m. From reports of the occurrence we gather that at 

 Milford Haven the tremor lasted about twelve seconds, and ap- 

 peared to travel from north to south. In the St. Helens district 

 of Swansea the shock lasted about five seconds. A distinct 

 upheaval of the earth is reported from Carmarthen, where the 

 shock is said to have listed thirty seconds. Two successive 

 shocks were felt at Cardigan, accompanied by a rumbling noise 

 travelling from the sea in a south-easterly direction. In Pem- 

 broke there was a heavy rumbling sound, and the earth was felt 

 to tremble for about seven seconds. The wave appeared to be 

 travelling from south-east to north-west. Very faint shocks 

 were felt at Cardiff and along the Rhondda Valley. In North 

 Wales, however, the tremor was of a very pronounced character. 

 Both shores of the Mersey seem to have been affected. From 

 correspondents of the Times it appears that at Aigburth, just 

 south of Liverpool, the vibration was felt at 5.44. At Wood- 

 side, on the Cheshire side of the Mersey, the time was 



