December 7, 1893] 



NATURE 



129 



was well shown in 1872, when he placed the balance of 

 13,000 dollars, that remained after his lecturing tour in 

 the United States, in the hands ofa committee who were 

 authorised "to expend the interest in aid of students who 

 devote themselves to original research." 



It would be superfluous for us to enumerate Tyndall's 

 explorations in the domain of science, or to expatiate 

 upon his remarkable power of presenting a subject both 

 in speech and in writing, for among men of science these 

 facts are common knowledge. To such men as he — not 

 only original discoverers, but also popular and powerful 

 interpreters of scientific fact — we owe much of the ad- 

 vancement that has been made during the last forty 

 years. 



NOTES. 

 Mr. H. H, Turner, of Greenwich Observatory, has been 

 elected to the Savilian Professorship of Astronomy at Oxford, 

 in succession to the late Prof. Pritchard. 



The Russian traveller Potanin, who has spent more than a 

 twelvemonth in a botanical exploration of Thibet, is expected 

 in St. Petersburg in January next. M. Dobrotworsky has 

 arrived at Jenisseisk on the Jenissei, on a botanical expedition. 

 Prof. Ben. K. Emerson, of Amherst College, and of the 

 U.S. Geological Survey, who met with a serious railroad acci- 

 dent last summer, and was reported killed, has so far recovered 

 that he started in November on a trip round the world, for rest 

 and recuperation. He visits Italy, Egypt, India, Java, and Japan. 

 Prof. Emerson has been engaged for a long time in mapping 

 the crystalline rocks of Central Massachusetts and Connecticut- 

 Dr. Nicole has been appointed Director of the Bacterio- 

 logical Institute of Constantinople. 



Dr. Seubert has been appointed Professor of Analytical 

 and Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the University of Tubingen. 



Mr. W. F. C. Gurley has been appointed Director of the 

 Geological Survey of Illinois. 



We learn that Prof. D. A. Gilchrist has accepted the Pro- 

 fessorship of Agriculture at the University Extension College, 

 Reading. 



Dr. K. von Dalla Torre has been appointed Professor of 

 Botany in the Universityof Innsbriick, and Dr. H. Moller 

 Professor of Botany in the University of Greifswald. 



Mr. W. T. McGee, known for his contributions to geology, 

 has been appointed Director of the Bureau of Ethnology at 

 Washington, U.S. 



The Chair of Comparative Anatomy and Zoology in the 

 Biological School of the University of Pennsylvania has been 

 accepted by Prof. E. D, Cope, and that of Geology and 

 Mineralogy by Prof. A. P. Brown. 



The death of Dr. Webb, the well-known Principal of the 

 Aspatria Agriculture College, is a severe loss to agricultural 

 education. After a very brief illness, he passed away on Nov- 

 ember 28, in the prime of life. Through his exertions the Col- 

 lege at Aspatria has been raised from a very low condition to its 

 present high standing. He was greatly respected by his 

 students, and his place as a teacher of agriculture will not be 

 easily filled. 



The first step towards the introduction of the decimal system 

 into Russia will be taken on January 13, 1894, when, by order 

 of the Czar, the chemists of the Russian empire will begin to 

 use decimal weights and measures. 



A PRIZE of 1800 liras is offered by the Italian Geological 

 Society for the best account of the state of knowledge of 

 Palaeozoic and Mesozoic formation in Italy, the work to be in 

 continuation of D'Archiac's " Histoire des progres de la 

 Geologie," and to be presented before the end of March, 1896. 



NO. 1258, VOL. 49] 



Die Natur announces that the Berlin Academy of Sciences 

 has granted Drs. Richarz and Krygar-Menzel two thousand 

 marks for the carrying on of their investigations of the constant 

 of gravitation. A like sum has been granted to Dr. Franz 

 Reinecke for the furtherance of his ethnological and anthropo- 

 logical studies. 



The ninth congress of Russian Naturalists will be opened 

 at Moscow on January 15, 1894. The Mathematical and 

 Physical Faculty of the Moscow University has undertaken 

 its organisation. Reductions of railway fares are offered to per- 

 sons who will apply for that purpose to the Dean of the Faculty 

 before December 13. The first general meeting of the con- 

 gress will take place on January 16, 'and the conference will 

 close on the 23rd of that month. 



Mr. C. M. Irvine informs us that at four o'clock on the 

 afternoon of December 4 a brilliant meteor passed over 

 Lesmahagow, N.B., travelling true south. The altitude was 

 about 45°. The arc through which it was visible was about 10°, 

 and the duration of visibility nearly 3 sees. Colour, pale 

 greenish blue. The sky was overcast with detached clouds. 

 The passage of the meteor was slightly zigzag, deviating from a 

 straight line by about l° on either side. 



The second series of lectures given by the Sunday Lecture 

 Society begins on December 10, in St. George's Hall, when 

 Sir Benjamin W. Richardson, F.R.S., will lecture on "The 

 Mastery of Pain." Lectures will subsequently be given by 

 Prof A. K. Rambaut, Royal Astronomer of Ireland ; Dr. R. 

 D. Roberts, Prof. Percy Frankland, F.R.S., Mr. C. T. Dent, 

 Mr, Arthur W. Clayden, and Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S. 



The following are among the lecture arrangements at the 

 Royal Institution before Easter : — Prof. Dewar, six lectures 

 (adapted to a juvenile auditory) on air ; gaseous and liquid ; 

 Prof. Charles Stewart, nine lectures on locomotion and fixa- 

 tion in plants and animals ; Mr. W. Martin Conway, three 

 lectures on the past and future of mountain exploration ; Prof 

 Max Midler, three lectures on the Vedanta philosophy ; the 

 Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, six lectures on light with special 

 reference to the optical discoveries of Newton. The Friday 

 evening meetings will begin on January 19, when a discourse will 

 be given by Prof. Dewar, on scientific uses of liquid nitrogen and 

 air. Succeeding discourses will probably be given by Mr. A. P. 

 Graves, Mr. T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, Prof. W. F. R. Weldon, 

 Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, Prof. John G. McKendrick, Dr. 

 W. H. White, the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, and others. 



According to the Times correspondent at Cairo, Messrs. 

 Garstin and Willcocks have inspected the four sites proposed 

 for reservoirs in which to store water for irrigation purposes 

 during the summer when the Nile is low, and their reports will 

 shortly be presented. The Government will then invite three 

 European hydraulic engineers of the highest reputation to come 

 to Egypt and make a technical examination of the proposed 

 schemes. This will probably be in February next. Three of 

 these schemes are for the construction of dams across the river 

 at either Kalabsheh, Assouan, or Silsileh ; the fourth proposes 

 to utilise the natural depression of the Wady Raian, in the 

 province of Fayoum, by conducting into it the flood-water of 

 the Nile. 



The London County Council some time ago decided to estab- 

 lish a pathological laboratory and museum in connection with 

 the London lunatic asylums. Last week the Council accepted 

 the plans prepared by Mr. G. T. Hine, and we understand'jthat 

 they will shortly be put into execution at Claybury, A com- 

 petent pathologist is now to be appointed, who will be supplied 

 with material from the Claybury and other asylums under the 

 supervision of the London County Councd. The necessity for 



