October 30, 1890] 



NATURE 



647 



profession in the Royal Navy. He accompanied Sir E. Parry 

 in H. M.S. Hcda'xn his attempt to reach the North Pole, and 

 in 1839 joined the Erebus, which, in company with the Terror, 

 was employed in the expedition for magnetic observation and 

 discovery in the South Polar regions. During this voyage, which 

 lasted four years, he discharged, in addition to his medical work, 

 the duties of geologist and zoologist. In 1847 he called the 

 attention of the Admiralty to the fate of Sir John Franklin, and 

 laid before the Board plans of search for the missing vessels. 

 His plans were accepted in 1852, and in the course of his subse- 

 quent exploration he settled various geographical questions. 

 In 1857 he received the Arctic medal. Among his writings 

 are: "Geology of Tasmania, New Zealand, Antarctic Con- 

 tinent, and Isles of the South," "Voyages of Discovery in the 

 Arctic and Antarctic Seas," and " Round the World, with 

 an Open Boat Expedition, in the Forlorn Hope, in Search of 

 Franklin." 



We have to record the death of Mr. E. C. Nicholson, F.C. S., 

 who was well known as a manufacturing chemist. He died on 

 the 23rd inst., at the age of sixty-three. 



A SCIENTIFIC and commercial expedition to the West Coast 

 of Africa, under the auspices of the British Government, is 

 about to leave London. Commander V. Lovett Cameron has 

 been appointed chief of the staff, the whole expedition being 

 under the superintendence of Mr. James Bennett, of the firm of 

 E. C. Bennett and Co. 



Students of Egyptian archaeology will be glad to learn that 

 ihe Catalogue of the Gizeh Museum will be published in January. 



There have been some unpleasant rumours lately about the 

 destruction of the Pyramids for building material. The Cairo 

 correspondent of the Times says there is no truth in these re- 

 ports. The real facts are that the loose stones accumulated at 

 the base are being removed, which will lay bare the lowest 

 courses and display the Pyramids to greater advantage. The 

 work is being conducted under the superintendence of the 

 Museum authorities. * 



The botanical explorer, Mr. C. C. Pringle, was engaged, 

 during the early part of this year, in investigating the high land 

 between Mexico and Tarupico ; he has made large collections, 

 including, as he believes, many new species. 



Dr. R. von Wettstein returned in July from his botanical 

 expedition to Tuzla, Zwornik, Vlasenica, and Srebrenica in 

 Eastern Bosnia. He has obtained interesting results, which 

 will be published in the Oesterreichische botanische Zeitschrift. 



On October 16, Prof. Wallace delivered the inaugural address 

 to the class of agriculture and rural economy at the Heriot-Watt 

 College, Edinburgh. He chose as his subject dairy practice. 

 The address has now been published. 



The October number of the Auk, which completes the 

 seventh volume of that publication, is a somewhat bulky part, 

 and besides the usual excellent papers on North American 

 ornithology, it contains some essays by European naturalists. Dr. 

 A. B. Meyer describes a new species of Humming Bird {Erio- 

 cnemis aurea) from Colombia. Mr. Eagle Clark gives an 

 account of a collection of birds made by Dr. Gillespie at Fort 

 Churchill, Hudson's Bay, and presented to the Edinburgh 

 Museum in 1845. Mr. J. A. Allen describes a new Icterus 

 from Andros Island in the Bahamas, as Icterus northropi. Mr. 

 D. G. Elliot also publishes the first portion of his description of 

 a collection of birds obtained by Mr. C. F. Adams at Sandakan 

 in North-Eastem Borneo. This paper contains many errors, 

 and the author is evidently not acquainted with the recent 

 literature on the subject. Copsyckus adamsi, sp. n., is cer- 

 NO. 1096, VOL. 42] 



tainly C. ni^er of Wardlaw Ramsay (P.Z.S., 1886, p. 123). 

 Mr. Seebohm, not Mr. Sharpe, is the author of the fifth 

 volume of the "Catalogue of Birds," and he will probably be 

 interested in the occurrence of Gcocichla interpres in Borneo, 

 which is here recorded for the first time. Pitta venusta of Mr. 

 Elliot's paper will assuredly prove to be Pitta nos/ieri, already 

 recorded from Sandakan, by Mr, Bowdler Sharpe, in the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Zoological Society for 1881, a paper which 

 seems to have escaped Mr. Elliot's notice. He will also find 

 Mr. Alfred Everett's "List of the Birds of Borneo" of great 

 use to him in his future studies. 



The authorities of the Government Central Museum, Madras, 

 are having an index collection made on the same principle as 

 that adopted in the British Museum (Natural History). This 

 is noted in the Administration Report of the Museum for the year 

 1889-90. The index collection, in its complete state, should 

 teach the most important points in the structure of the principal 

 types of animal and plant life, and the terms used in describing 

 them. The series exhibited during the past year illustrated, by 

 means of specimens with descriptive labels, arranged in wall 

 and table cases, the outer covering or integument of mammals 

 and its modification into hair, nails, claws, hoofs, horns, antlers, 

 &c. Other series are in'course of preparation, illustrating the 

 dentition and osteology of mammals,.the external characters and 

 osteology of birds, the structure and forms of shells, mimicry, 

 &c. The exhibition of these series, the Superintendent hopes, 

 will be of use both to those who are engaged in teaching, and 

 to students in Madras, and bring the Museum more into touch 

 with the Educational Department than it has been hitherto. 



Soundings have lately been carried on in the Straits of 

 Dover, in connection with the proposal for the construction of 

 a bridge across the English Channel. According to a telegram 

 sent through Reuter's Agency from Paris, the result of the sur- 

 veys made shows that the route which has been investigated is a 

 little shorter than was expected, that it presents every guarantee 

 as regards solidity and stability, and that the depths are not 

 quite so great as was anticipated. M. Renaud, a hydrographic 

 engineer, who was designated for the work by the French 

 Minister of Marine, is of opinion that if the Bridge Company 

 went a little further north a perfectly straight route could be 

 obtained with a better foundation and less depth of water. This 

 route would be four kilometres shorter, and would therefore 

 considerably decrease the cost of construction. It also appears 

 to be less exposed to the wind, which "would prove a great 

 advantage, especially during the progress of the works. 



The U.S. National Museum has issued its Thirty-eighth 

 Bulletin. The work consists of a valuable contribution, by 

 Prof. J. B. Smith, towards a monograph of the insects of the 

 Lepidopterous family Noctuidse, of Temperate North America. 



Some time ago a memorial on the decimal system was pre- 

 sented to the London School Board by the Decimal Association. 

 The Board have now informed the Association that, on the re- 

 commendation of the School Management Committee, they have 

 asked the Education Department to modify Schedule i of the 

 new Code, so that decimal fractions shall be taught in the 

 fourth standard at latest, and the metric system of measurement 

 and weight be included in the teaching of the fourth and upper 

 standards. The School Management Committee of the Board 

 have also decided that models illustrating the metric system 

 shall be added to the Board's requisition list in the event of the 

 Education Department accepting the proposal of the Board. 



Messrs. J. B. B.\ii.Li£Rii et Fils are issuing, in weekly 

 parts, a work on the various races of mankind (" Les Races 

 Humaines"), by Dr. R. Verneau. It will complete the work 

 entitled " Merveilles de la Nature," for which Brehm wrote the 



