September 17, 1903] 



NATURE 



467 



Incidentally the commercial aspects of the purin syn- 

 theses are referred to. The sale of caffein and theo- 

 bromine for medicinal purposes amounts to a million 

 marks annually; at present this is all extracted from 

 tea and cacao, but theophyllin prepared from uric acid 

 is already on the market, and before long it may be 

 possible to manufacture theobromine and caffein at a 

 price that will render it possible to compete with the 

 natural products. T M. L. 



Report on Field Experiments in Victoria, 1887-1900. 



By A. N. Pearson. Pp. 124; with illustrations and 



tables. (Melbourne, 190 1.) 

 A RECORD of experiments on the manuring of the staple 

 farm crops (chiefly wheat) and of fruit conducted with 

 the cooperation of farmers at many different localities 

 in Victoria during the ten years previous to publi- 

 cation. The discussion is popular in nature, and in- 

 tended for the farmers of the colony. One point is 

 very noticeable, the comparative inutility of nitro- 

 genous manures on the soils tested and the great 

 returns given by phosphatic dressings. A large 

 number of results are reported, and care has 

 been taken to analyse them and reject those vitiated 

 by some of the many irregular factors to which field 

 experiments are liable. The report sadly needs a 

 digest and an index to make it useful to students of 

 agricultural science. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 

 nPHE attendance at the Southport meeting of the 

 ■'■ British Association, while passing the numbers 

 at Belfast last year, has fallen short of the Southport 

 meeting of 1883 by about 1000. The weather, no 

 doubt, is accountable for a certain diminution of 

 numbers, for given fine weather in the middle part 

 of last week, it is certain the figures would have 

 Reached 2000. As it is, they number 175 1. Com- 

 paring this figure with those of recent meetings, 

 however, it will be seen that a good average 

 has been maintained, the numbers at Southport this 

 year exceeding those at the meetings at Belfast, 

 Dover, Toronto, Ipswich, Nottingham, and Cardiff, 

 and falling only a little way behind the Leeds meet- 

 ing of 1890. It is only when the meeting is com- 

 pared with the former one at Southport that the 

 falling off of numbers is noticeable. 



On all hands the local arrangements have met with 

 praise, the suite of rooms in the municipal buildings 

 having proved admirably fitting for the purposes for 

 which they were allotted. 



Unfortunately, the climatic conditions during the 

 earlier part of the meeting prevented the local ar- 

 rangements being carried out to their full extent, 

 the Mayor's reception on Thursday night taking place 

 under most depressing conditions of rain and storm, 

 rendering the outdoor portion of the programme an 

 impossibility. The weather, fortunately, cleared for 

 1I1C excursions on Saturday, but the downpour of the 

 previous days prevented many people from taking 

 tickets, and many of the parties had not their full 

 number. 



The experiments in kite-flying had to be abandoned 

 owing to various causes, and Mr. Dines has had to 

 be content to exhibit his apparatus without taking it 

 out to sea. 



Prof. Pernter's experiments in the firing of vortex 

 rings took place on Monday afternoon before a 

 large number of spectators, the firing taking place 

 from the roof of the boathouse over the North Marine 

 Park. 



The International Meteorological Committee has 

 been sitting in the Town Hall during the meeting of 



NO. 1768, VOL. 68] 



the British Association, and the members were form- 

 ally received by the Mayor of Southport in the Mayor's 

 Parlour prior to the beginning of their deliberations. 

 Opportunities have been afforded the many distin- 

 guished foreign men of science present in Southport 

 for visiting some of the laboratories, schools, factories, 

 and dockyards of Manchester and Liverpool. 



The lecture to working men on Saturday proved 

 very popular, the Cambridge Hall being crowded. 

 A dinner was given by the Mayor at his residence 

 at Greaves Hall to meet Sir Norman Lockyer and 

 Prof. Mascart (President of the International Meteor- 

 ological Committee). The guests numbered nearly 

 100, and included Prof. J. Dewar, A. Hopkin- 

 son (Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University), Sir 

 George Pilkington, E. Marshall Hall, K.C., M.P., 

 Charles Scarisbrick (Vice-Presidents), Prof. Carey 

 Foster, Major MacMahon, Dr. Adam Paulsen, M. 

 Teisserenc de Bort, Dr. H. Hildebrandsson, Prof. 

 Pernter, General Rykatcheff, Dr. Hellemann, Dr. 

 Hergesell, Dr. H. Mohn, Prof. Willis Moore, A. L. 

 Rotch, Dr. W. N. Shaw, Dr. Ludwig Boltzmann, 

 Dr. T. P. Lotzy, Prof. O. Lignier, Dr. M. Snellen, 

 Dr. G. G. MacCurdy, Dr. H. C. White, T. H. Yoxall, 

 M.P., Hon. T. E. Fuller, Monsignor Molloy, Mon- 

 signor Nugent, Canon Denton Thompson, Dr. J. 

 G. Garson, most of the presidents, vice-presidents, 

 and recorders of Sections, and the local secretaries 

 and treasurer. 



At the meeting of the general committee held on 

 Friday last, the names of Profs. Mascart, Simon 

 Newcomb, and Boltzmann were added to the list of 

 vice-presidents of Section A. 



The Hon. T. E. Fuller, Agent-General for the Cape 

 Colony, Sir Walter Peace, Agent-General for Natal, 

 and Mr. Fiddes, of the Colonial Office (representing 

 the Transvaal), attended on behalf of their respective 

 Governments for the purpose of formally inviting the 

 Association to South Africa in 1905. 



On the proposition of Prof. Dewar, seconded by 

 Prof. H. Marshall Ward, it was decided to hold the 

 1905 meeting in South Africa. 



On the motion of Sir Henry Roscoe, seconded by 

 Prof. Forsyth, the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour was elected 

 President of the meeting to be held next year in Cam- 

 bridge, the meeting to begin on August 17. 



The Lord Lieutenant of Cambridijeshire, the Vice- 

 Chancellor of the University, and the Mayor of Cam- 

 bridge were elected vice-presidents of the Association. 



The following elections for the Cambridge meeting 

 were made : — Local secretaries, Messrs. Ginn, A. C. 

 Seward, G. Skinner, and Mr. A. E. L. Whitehead; 

 local treasurers, Mr. A. E. Shipley and Mr. Parker. 



Prof. Carey Foster was re-elected treasurer; Major 

 MacMahon and Prof. Herdman general secretaries; 

 and Dr. Garson assistant general secretary. 



At the meeting of the committee of recommend- 

 ations on Tuesday, the following resolutions were 

 adopted : — 



(i). That as urged by the President in his address 

 it is desirable that scientific workers and persons 

 interested in science be so organised that they may 

 exert a permanent influence on public opinion in 

 order more effectively to carry out the third object 

 of this Association originally laid down by the 

 founders, viz. : — " to obtain a more general attention 

 to the objects of science and a removal of any dis- 

 advantages of a public kind which impede its pro- 

 gress," and that the council be recommended to take 

 steps to promote such organisation. 



(2) That the council be requested to consider 

 the desirability of urging upon the Government by a 

 deputation to the First Lord of the Treasury or other- 



