July 2, 1903] 



NA TURE 



205 



to economic science have to be studied. The scientific treat- 

 ment of law has been neglected in England, and it will be 

 our privilege to give encouragement to those who are 

 striving to place the scientific study of law on a footing 

 worthy of the great traditions of English jurisprudence. 

 U'e shall approach the problems connected with education 

 in a philosophical and historical spirit. Our charter imposes 

 on us the duty of dealing with questions which embrace the 

 whole range of the moral sciences. We have to deal with 

 the problems of the mind. The complex agencies which 

 constitute the motives of our actions are subjects of our 

 investigation. The forces which influence individual 

 energy are open to our analysis. To discover the principles 

 which regulate the progress of human society, which 

 eliminate the causes of friction, which facilitate the attain- 

 ment of high ideals, all these inquiries come legitimately 

 within the sphere of our operations. The unbiased attitude 

 of the mind towards ethical and metaphysical problems is 

 one of the conditions of our existence as a scientific body. 

 The tendency of all scientific study is to become international 

 and cosmopolitan. We may compare our Academy with a 

 national clearing-house, and the International Association 

 of Academies to an international clearing-house of ideas on 

 these subjects. 



NOTES. 

 The names of a few men distinguished by their con- 

 tributions to scientific knowledge are included in the list 

 of birthday honours. Dr. W. D. Niven, F.R.S., has been 

 promoted to the rank of Knight Commander of the Order 

 of the Bath (K.C.B.). Dr. David Morris, F.R.S., and Dr. 

 Patrick Manson, F.R.S., have been promoted to the rank 

 of Knight Commanders of the Order of Saint Michael and 

 Saint George (K.C.M.G.). The honour of knighthood has 

 been conferred upon Dr. P. H. Watson. Mr. F. W. Rudler 

 has been appointed a Companion of the Imperial Service 

 Order. 



TdE Colombo correspondent of the Times reports that 

 on a motion introduced in the Legislative Council on June 

 24, the Government of Ceylon agreed to invite the British 

 Association to Colombo in 1907 or 1908. 



Dr. C. J. Martin, F.R.S., professor of physiology in 

 the University of Melbourne, has been appointed director 

 of the Jenner Institute of Preventive Medicine. 



In reply to a question asked in the House of Commons 

 on Tuesday, it was announced that, in the first instance, 

 the following six lightships are to be connected with shore 

 stations by wireless telegraphy : — the East Goodwin, the 

 South Goodwin, the Gull, the Tongue, the Sunk, and the 

 Cross-Sand. 



Many friends of the late Sir William Roberts-Austen will 

 be glad to know that it is proposed to erect a memorial 

 in his honour in the Church of St. Martins, Blackheath, 

 Wonersh, where he resided for many years. The erection 

 of the church was mainly due to his generous and devoted 

 efforts, and he often said that the first things done to 

 complete the building should be to line the east wall and 

 the chancel arch with marble or alabaster. It is proposed 

 that the memorial should include the carrying out of this 

 work, and the erection of a memorial tablet or inscrip- 

 tion in the church. Contributions for this purpose should 

 be sent to Mr. H. W. Prescott, Brantyngeshay, Chilworth, 

 Guildford. 



M. Zybikoff, a Buddhistic Buriat of the Baikal region 

 and a graduate of the University of St. Petersburg, has 

 recently returned to Russia after a year's residence in the 

 city of Lhassa. M. Zybikoff was able to travel in Tibet as a 



NO. 1757, VOL. 68] 



Lama, and approached Central Tibet by way of the Boumza 

 Mountain, where Przewalsky was turned back in 1879. He 

 describes the city as one of not more than ten thousand 

 inhabitants ; the Uitchu River passes to the south, canals 

 and dykes protecting the city itself from floods. The resi- 

 dence of the Dalai Lama is on Mount Buddha La, a mile 

 from Lhassa. Near it is the ancient castle of Hodson 

 Buddha La, a structure 1400 feet long and nine storeys 

 high, containing the treasury, the mint, quarters for officials 

 and monks, and a prison. The native traders are all 

 women. 



Mrs. Garrett Anderson, M.D., in a letter to the Times, 

 directs attention to the work of the Imperial Vaccination 

 League, which has now been in existence a year. The 

 League, which has on several occasions been referred to in 

 these columns, was formed to study the administration and 

 working of the " Vaccination Act," 1898, and to promote 

 vaccination, and especially revaccination, among the public. 

 It is now desired to extend its sphere of work by assisting 

 candidates at Parliamentary elections to meet the pressure 

 brought to bear upon them by the opponents of vaccination. 

 For this purpose Mrs. Anderson appeals for subscriptions, 

 and desires to find 100 friends who will each contribute five 

 guineas a year for three years. The League has done good 

 work in the past, and it is to be hoped that this useful ex- 

 tension will receive support. 



Attention was directed in the House of Commons last 

 week to the administration of the " Cruelty to Animals 

 ('Vivisection ') Act," 1876. The debate was more moderate 

 in tone than some previous ones on the same subject, and 

 had for its main object the imposition of more stringent 

 inspection by the appointment of additional inspectors. Sir 

 M. Foster and Dr. Hutchinson strongly deprecated the 

 attacks on, and abuse of, the medical profession with regard 

 to this question, and obtained a retractation from Mr. 

 MacNeill. The Home Secretary, in his reply, defended the 

 inspections as carried out by Dr. Thane, and pointed out 

 that successive Home Secretaries had been among the 

 severest critics of vivisection, and that his own control was 

 exercised with the greatest care and full appreciation of 

 his responsibility. It would be almost impossible to im- 

 prove upon the administration of the Act, and he doubted 

 whether the ability of the inspectors was sufficiently recog- 

 nised or remunerated. 



Reuter reports that a violent earthquake occurred at 

 Erlau, Hungary, on the morning of June 26. Four shocks 

 were felt. Several houses in the suburb of the town col- 

 lapsed, and nearly all the buildings in the town were 

 damaged. 



The arrangements for the International Fire Prevention 

 Congress, convened by the British Fire Prevention Com- 

 mittee, have now been completed. The congress will be 

 conducted in general and sectional meetings ; there will be 

 six sections, each of which will have its own honorary 

 chairman and acting vice-president. The sections with 

 their honorary chairmen will be as follows : — (i) Building 

 construction and equipment. Privy Councillor J. Stubben ; 



(2) electrical safeguards and fire alarms. Chevalier Goldoni ; 



(3) storage of oils and spontaneous combustion, M. Louis 

 Bonnier ; (4) fire survey and fire patrols. Prince Alexander 

 Lyoff ; (5) fire losses and fire insurance, Mr. C. A. Hexamer ; 

 (6) fire tests and standardisation, M. Alcide Chaussc. All 

 meetings, except the opening meeting, will be held at 

 the Caxton Hall, Westminster, and the whole of the execu- 

 tive arrangements will be in the hands of Mr. Edwin O. 



