February 22, 1894] 



NA TURE 



393 



mineral substances, and in particular to see how far the acids of 

 sea-salt and of vitriol contribute to mineralise metallic and other 

 substances." 



It is now arranged that the Croonian Lecture of the Royal 

 Society will be delivered by Prof. Ramon y Cajal, on Thursday, 

 March 8 ; not March i, as announced in our issue of December 



21. 



We understand that the U.S. Bureau of Weights and 

 Measures has recently decided to use the metre and kilogram as 

 fundamental standards, and, from the fifth day of next April, 

 to consider the yard and pound as derivatives from the metrical 

 standards. This decision practically means the adoption of the 

 metrical system by the United States. 



It has been decided to hold the autumn meeting of the Iron 

 and Steel Institute at Brussels, from September 2 to 7. 



M. L. GuiGNARD has been elected president of the Botanical 

 Society of France for the present year. 



M. AiM^ GiRARD has been elected a member of the Rural 

 Economy section of the Paris Academy of Sciences, in succession 

 to the late M. Chambrelent. 



M. Alboff, who has been collecting for the past six months 

 in the Caucasian Alps, for the Boissier Herbarium, has returned 

 with large collections. 



A BOTANICAL garden has been established in the mountains 

 near Grenoble, at an altitude of 1875 m., under the direction of 

 Prof. P. Lachmann. 



Dr. E. Baroni, of Florence, is preparing a monograph of 

 the genus Atrip/ex, and would be obliged by specimens or 

 memoirs from any botanists who have worked at the genus. 



The yournal of St. Petersburg states that the Russian Tech- 

 nical Society has decided on the organisation at St. Petersburg 

 of an exhibition of gold ores and of precious metals and 

 stones. 



The Council of the Sanitary Institute have accepted an invi- 

 tation, received from the Lord Mayor and citizens of Liverpool, 

 to hold their next congress and exhibition in that city in the 

 autumn of this year. 



Mr. William Garton, of Woolston, Southampton, has 

 presented a sum of five hundred pounds to the Council of the 

 Hartley Institution towards the cost of the new engineering 

 laboratory, which is about to be added to that institution. 



The fine engineering laboratory belonging to the Purdue 

 University, Lafayette, Indiana, and which has cost some 

 ;^35,ooo to build and equip, has been completely destroyed by 

 fire. The building was only completed on January 19 last, and 

 was burnt four days afterwards. 



We learn from the North British Agriculturist that the 

 Lancashire County Council have decided to take over a farm at 

 Penwortham, at an annual rental of /"400, on a lease terminable 

 at five, ten, or fifteen years, for the purposes of agricultural 

 experiment and instruction. 



Sir H. Trueman Wood has been elected president of the 

 Photographic Society of Great Britain. 



The 1894 Camera Club Photographic Conference will be 

 held in the theatre of the Society of Arts, on Monday and 

 Tuesday, April 23 and 24, under the presidency of Capt. W. 

 de W. Abney. The members' annual exhibition of photo- 

 graphs will be commenced at the club on the first day of the 

 conference. 



NO. 1269, VOL. 49] 



According to the British Medical Journal, the Hungarian 

 Government has established a bacteriological institute at Buda- 

 Pesth for the purpose of giving facilities for the study of infec- 

 tious diseases from the scientific point of view ; for the employ- 

 ment of bacteriological methods for the combating of such 

 diseases ; for general bacteriological researches ; and for sup- 

 plying information on bacteriological questions to public 

 authorities and private inquirers. 



An interesting experiment, that of the cultivation of tea, is 

 shortly to be tried in Russia (says the Board of Trade yournal). 

 The Czar, under the guidance of experts, has given his consent 

 to a proposal for the cultivation of this plant in the western 

 limits of the Caucasus, where the temperature is much the same 

 as that under which the plant grows in China. 



The death is announced of Prof. E. Weyr, at the age of forty- 

 six. He was known especially for his contributions to modern 

 geometry. 



The AthencBum announces the death of Prof. J. von Diimichen, 

 the Egyptologist, at Sirasburg, on February 7. He was born 

 in 1833 at Weissholz, in Silesia, and pursued his Egyptological 

 studies under Lepsius and Brugsch. In 1862 he made his first 

 journey into Egypt, Nubia, and the Soudan, returning in 1865. 

 At the foundation of the German University in Alsace, 

 Diimichen was nominated to the chair of Egvptology. In 

 1875-76 he spent a great time in Egypt in order to complete the 

 researches begun during his earlier journeys. He was the 

 author of numerous works on the geography, inscriptions, 

 architecture, and history of ancient Egypt. 



The anniversary meeting of the Geological Society was held 

 at Burlington House, < n Friday, February 16, when the medals 

 and funds were awarded as follows : — The Wollaston Medal to 

 Geheimrath Professor K. A. von Zittel ; the Murchison Medal to 

 Mr. W. T. Aveline ; the Lyell Medal to Prof. J. Milne, F.R.S. ; 

 the balance of the proceeds of the Wollaston Fund to Mr. A. 

 Strahan ; that of the Murchison Fund to Mr. G. Barrow ; that 

 of the Lyell Fund to Mr. W. Hill ; and a portion of the pro- 

 ceeds of the Barlow-Jameson Fund to Mr. C. Davison. The 

 following is a list of the officers and council elected at the meet- 

 ing for the ensuing year: — President: H. Woodward, F.R.S. 

 Vice- Presidents : Prof. A. H. Green, F.R.S., Dr. G. J. Hinde, 

 Prof. J. W. Judd, F.R.S., R. Lydekker. Secretaries: J. E. 

 Marr, F.R.S., J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S. Foreign Secretary: J. 

 W. Hulke, F.R.S. Treasurer: Prof. T. Wiltshire. Council: 

 H. Bauerman, Dr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., Sir John Evans, 

 F.R.S., Prof. A. H. Green, F.R.S., Dr. J. W. Gregory, 

 Alfred Harker, Dr. G. J. Hinde, T. V. Holmes, W. H. Hudle- 

 ston, F.R.S., J. W. Hulke, F.R.S., Prof. J. W. Judd, F.R.S., 

 Prof. C. Lapworth, F.R.S., R. Lydekker, Lieut. -General C. 

 A. McMahon, J. E. Marr, F.R.S., H. W. Monckton, Clement 

 Reid, F. Rutley, J.J. H. Teall, F.R.S., Prof. T. Wiltshire, 

 Rev. H. H. Win wood. Dr. H. Woodward, F.R.S., H. B. 

 Woodward. 



On Saturday, February 24, at four o'clock, a meeting will 

 be held in Queen Elizabeth's Lodge, Chingford, Epping 

 Forest, in support of a proposed Epping Forest free local 

 museum. For many years the idea of a museum to illustrate 

 the natural history, history, archaeology, &c. of the forest has 

 been in the minds of residents of the district, and the Queen 

 Elizabeth's Lodge seems to be admirably suited to contain a 

 collection of the kind indicated. The Council of the Essex 

 Field Club have expressed their willingness to undertake the 

 gathering together of specimens, and the curatorship and scien- 

 tific superintendence of the collections, as a branch of their 

 central museum at Chelmsford. The specimens and exhibits 

 which it is proposed to place in the museum would include 



