i8o 



NATURE 



[June 19, 1890 



plausible and simple would it certainly be were the sun 

 a variable star that at different periods emits different 

 quantities of heat ; but for this or any other assumption 

 there is no proof forthcoming. This enigma, like so 

 many others, will some day be solved by man's searching 

 intelligence, but, like all other acquisitions of science, this 

 goal can be won only by assiduous and patient labour. 

 Haply the triumph may not be for our generation ; but 

 what we may certainly accomplish is to prepare the way 

 to it, by an accurate and critical collection of the facts. 



H. F. B. 



NOTES. 

 It is expected that about fifty foreign men of science will be 

 present at the Leeds meeting of the British Association. A 

 good many manufacturing firms have promised to open their 

 works during the time at which the meeting is being held ; and 

 a Guide to Leeds and the surrounding district, with accounts of 

 the various industries, is being prepared. There will, of course, 

 be excursions to the more interesting places within easy reach of 

 Leeds. The first soiree will be given by the Mayor, the second 

 by the Executive Committee. The Yorkshire College will give 

 an afternoon reception. 



The London Mathematical Society has awarded the De 

 Morgan Memorial Medal (given triennially) to Lord Rayleigh, 

 Sec.R.S., for his researches in mathematical physics. The 

 previous awards have been to Profs. Cayley and Sylvester. 

 The medal will be presented at the annual meeting in November 

 next. 



The conversazione of the Society of Arts, as we have already 

 announced, will take place at the Natural History Museum, 

 Cromwell Road, on Friday, June 27. The galleries will be 

 lighted with electricity, so that the authorities of the Museum 

 will have a good opportunity of judging how far the electric 

 light is suitable for the building. If the experiment is success- 

 ful, the system will no doubt soon be permanently established. 

 It may be hoped that in that case the public will not be ex- 

 -cluded during an interval between twilight and the lighting of 

 the electric lamps. That plan has been tried at the British 

 Museum, and the results are not encouraging. If the national 

 collections are to have a fair chance of attracting visitors, they 

 must be open continuously from morning until the hour when 

 they are closed for the night. 



The anniversary meeting of the Royal Geographical Society 

 was held on Monday, Sir E. M. Grant Duff, the President, 

 occupying the chair. Mr. Douglas W. Freshfield announced 

 that the Patron's Medal had been awarded to Emin Pasha, and 

 the Founders' Medal to Lieutenant F. E. Younghusband. The 

 Murchison Grant was awarded to Signor Vittorio Sella, for his 

 journey in the Caucasus ; the Cuthbert Peek Grant to Mr. E. 

 C. Hore, for observations on the physical geography of Tan- 

 ganyika ; and the Gill Memorial to Mr. C. M. Woodford, for 

 three expeditions to the Solomon Islands. Scholarships and 

 prizes were awarded to students in training colleges. Dr. R. 

 W, Felkin attended, upon instructions by telegram from Zanzi- 

 bar, to receive the medal for Emin Pasha. The President, in 

 handing the medal to Dr. Felkin, congratulated him upon 

 having done much to make the work of Emin known in Eng- 

 land. The Society was not based upon politics, and they simply 

 saw in Emin Pasha one who had from early life given a great 

 deal of attention to botany, natural history, and other subjects. 

 Dr. Felkin, in acknowledgment of the medal, referred to the 

 great services rendered by Emin Pasha to science. Afterwards 

 the Report of the Council was read, and Sir E. M. Grant Duff 

 delivered his presidential address. 

 NO. 1077, VOL. 42] 



At the meeting of the Scientific Committee of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society on June 10, Mr. Morris called attention to 

 the fact that the Royal Society had assigned ;^ioo "on the 

 recommendation of the Government Grant Committee, for an 

 inquiry into the composition of London fog, with special regard 

 to the constituents of fog injurious to plant life. " An informal 

 conversation followed with reference to chemical investigations 

 to be undertaken at the laboratory of University College, under 

 the superintendence of Dr. Oliver. 



A DEPUTATION from the Sanitary Institute lately visited 

 Brighton, and met the Mayor and other members of the Com- 

 mittee for the purpose of further considering the Congress and 

 Exhibition to be held in the Pavilion buildings at the end of 

 August, The large dome of the Pavilion, the Com Exchange, 

 and the Picture Gallery, are all devoted to the Exhibition, but 

 the applications for space are considerably in excess of previous 

 years, and probably some difficulty will be found in accommo- 

 dating exhibitors. Sir Thomas Crawford is the President; At 

 one of the meetings of the Congress a lecture will be delivered 

 by Mr. W. H. Preece, F.R.S. Dr. B. Ward Richardson, 

 F.R.S., will address a meeting of the working classes. 



The thirty-seventh Report of the Department of Science and 

 Art has been issued. 



A LECTURE on the use of alloys in art metal-work, delivered 

 by Prof Roberts- Austen at the Society of Arts on May 13, is 

 printed in this week's number of the Society's Journal. It is a 

 lecture of great value and interest, and all who read it will 

 cordially agree with the author that "an effort should be made 

 to induce British artificers to employ the materials and methods 

 which their Japanese brethren have used for centuries with such 

 remarkable effect." 



In France much interest is being taken in the question whether 

 a University shall be established in Paris. At a meeting of the 

 General Council of the Paris Faculties, held last Saturday 

 at the Sorbonne, it was agreed that a University with five 

 faculties (Protestant theology, law, medicine, science, and 

 literature), and an upper school of pharmacy, should be 

 formed. "The principal effects of the constitution of the 

 University," says the Paris correspondent of the Titnes, "will 

 be to permit the faculties to make arrangements for the organiza- 

 tion of instruction (under the form of schools or institutes) of 

 which the elements are at present scattered in several faculties, 

 and to facilitate a sort of general instruction of a philosophical 

 character, to which the professors of all the faculties will contri- 

 bute, and which will be addressed to the students. The Uni- 

 versity will grant, besides professional degrees, diplomas of 

 purely scientific studies to native and foreign students." 



M. Deflers has just returned to France from his extremely 

 arduous exploration of Southern Arabia at the instance of the 

 Minister of Public Instruction in France. He has brought back 

 large collections of both living and dried plants for the Museum 

 of Natural History. 



The Museum of Natural History in Paris has also received a 

 considerable collection of dried plants gathered in Madagascar 

 by M. Catat. 



M. Balansa is about to return to Tonkin for the purpose of 

 continuing his botanical explorations there ; and M. Thollon to 

 the Congo, from which he has already sent interesting 

 collections. 



A Laboratory of Vegetable Biology was opened at Fon- 

 tainebleau on May 15. It is under the control of M. G. Bonnier, 

 Professor of Botany at the Sorbonne, Paris, to whom applica- 

 tions for leave to pursue researches in the Laboratory should be 

 addressed. 



