November 9. 1899] 



NATURE 



37 



accordance with such modifications as may be introduced later 

 with the consent of the States represented. 



[b) To control the apparatus and to insure uniformity of 

 methods. 



{c) To undertake such particular work as may be entrusted to 

 it by the participating Governments. 



{d) To publish periodical reports and papers which may 

 prove useful in carrying out the co-operative work. 



{e) To decide the graphic representations, scales, signs and 

 colours to be used in the charts for the purpose of obtaining 

 uniformity in the publications. 



(y) To make, in connection with the investigations, applica- 

 tion to the telegraph administrations for the purpose of obtaining 

 determinations from time to time of the changes in the resistance 

 of the cables which cross the areas in any direction. 



II. (a) The permanent international Council should consist 

 of commissioners elected by the Governments interested. Each 

 Government may appoint two commissioners who may be 

 represented at meetings by substitutes. 



{b) The Council elects its president and vice-president, and 

 appoints all officials connected with the central bureau. Should 

 the general secretary represent hydrographical sciences, his 

 principal assistant should represent the biological sciences, or 

 ■vice versA. 



{c) The Council shall draw up its own order of proceedings. 



{d) The expenses of the central office are approximately 

 estimated at 4800/. (96,000 marks) yearly. 



(«) The place of the central bureau, to be decided by the 

 Governments concerned, shall at the same time be the residence 

 of the general secretary, and should be conveniently situated for 

 hydrographical and biological researches. 



(/) It will be for the Governments concerned to decide 

 among themselves the share to be borne by each. 



Scheme for the Expenditure of the Central Bureau. 



£ 



(i) General Secretary 750 



(2) Principal Assistant 500 



<3) President, for incidental expenses other than 



travelling expenses 200 



(4) Vice-President, for incidental expenses other 



than travelling expenses loo 



<5) Office, laboratory, scientific and technical 



assistants, draughtsmen, clerks, servants, 



postage, telegrams and similar expenses 2250 

 <6) Travelling expenses .. 300 



Note : Travelling expenses of commissioners at- 

 tending meetings of the Council sball be borne 

 by their respective Governments. 



<7) Printing 500 



(8) Incidental expenses 200 



;^48oo 



D.— It is desirable that these investigations should begin 

 May I, 1901. 



E. — The Conference declares that it is of the greatest import- 

 ance, both for high sea fisheries and for the weather forecasts for 

 long periods, that the Faroe Islands and Iceland should be 

 included in the European telegraph system as soon as possible. 



F. — The relation between the quantity of halogen contained 

 in the water and the density of the water shall be carefully in- 

 vestigated by an experimental revision of the tables compiled 

 by Knudsen (Ingolf Exp. ii. 37). The tables compiled by 

 MakarofF, Krummel and others for the relation of specific 

 gravity to density and salinity are likewise in urgent need of 

 experimental revision. 



It is proposed to undertake these investigations in the 

 technical institute at Copenhagen under the direction of a com- 

 mittee consisting of Sir John Murray, Messrs. Knudsen, 

 Pettersson, Nansen, Krummel, II. N. Dickson, and Makaroff. 

 The means for carrying out these works are to be requested 

 from such learned societies as have funds for such purposes. 



G. — The Conference recommends that these resolutions be 

 brought by the nations concerned to the knowledge of the 

 Governments of France and Belgium. 



H.— In case the resolutions of the Conference should be 

 accepted by the States, it is anticipated that some length of time 

 will elapse before the organisation of the central bureau is com- 

 pleted. In the meantime the Governments may wish to 



NO. 1567, VOL. 61] 



possess an organisation in connection with this Conference 

 which may be useful in constituting the Council and the central 

 bureau. 



The members of the third committee— Akerman, Drechsel, 

 Von Grimm, Herwig, Hoek, J. Murray, Nansen, Pettersson— 

 hereby offer their services for this purpose. 



Appendix I. is on the quantitative estimation of pelagic 

 fish-eggs and larva;, by Prof. Hensen ; Appendix II., on 

 the Central Laboratory, by Prof. Nansen ; Appendix III., 

 on plankton investigations, by Profs. Cleve and Pettersson ; 

 and Appendix IV., on the marking of fishes in the waters 

 of the region of the Baltic and the North Sea, by Dr. 

 Trybom. 



NOTES. 

 One of the most transcendent sights that it is given to man to 

 witness is due next week. Those who saw '.he *' falling stars" 

 of 1866 readily acknowledge that there is no other phenomenon 

 which is equal to it in majesty and enthralling beauty ; and al- 

 though comparisons are always odious, and generally misleading, 

 some have held that the 1866 display was far more striking than 

 a total eclipse of the sun. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the 

 sky will be clear during the early mornings of next week. It 

 appears from a communication of Messrs. Johnstone Stoney and 

 Downing, which appears in another column, that it is not yet 

 known whether the densest part of the meteors will be encoun- 

 tered on the morning of the 15th or during the next night. 

 It is to be regretted that bright moonlight will certainly prevent 

 the shower from being seen with the same effect as in 1866, ii 

 it should happen before the morning hours. 



Certainly not for many years has there been so much 

 anxiety, either expressed or silently borne, as since some days 

 ago, when the wire joining Ladysmith and civilisation was 

 broken. Not only have the relatives of the 10,000 Britons 

 beleaguered there been anxious, but all who take interest in the 

 severe struggle which is now going on. It has been a matter o. 

 general surprise that in a campaign in which the cutting 

 of telegraph wires was the first thing to be expected, and the 

 investment of several isolated garrisons for a time was to be 

 taken for granted, Marconi apparatus was not installed as a 

 matter of course. We do not share this surprise ; science, and 

 especially the latest developments of science, are the last things 

 to interest our Government and the Government Departments ; 

 they do not believe in science, they care to know very little 

 about it, and the scientific spirit is absent from too many ot 

 their plans and doings. Hence we have now to be thankful that 

 they have reached the level of the pigeon post, which has been 

 the only official means, and that on the part of one or two birds, 

 to keep us in touch with our beleaguered forces. It is stated that 

 even the Commander in Chief, Lord Wolseley, has expressed 

 some surprise that the so-called "Intelligence Department" ot 

 the Army allowed the Ladysmith force to go to the front with 

 mountain guns against a Boer force which they should have 

 known might be armed with Schneider-Canet cannons of large 

 calibre ; and it would seem that probably a terrible disaster has 

 been prevented, not by our Intelligence Department, not by the 

 outfit of our Army, but by the apparently accidental arrival of 

 naval guns and personnel at the last moment. Why is there not 

 a Scientific Committee to do what it can in advising the military 

 authorities? If they could do nothing, nobody would be the 

 worse, but they might be able to do much to the nation's 

 advantage. 



At the anniversary meeting of the Royal Society on 

 November 30, the following Fellows will be recommended by 

 the President and Council of the Royal Society for election 

 into the Council for the year 1900. The names of new members 



