1 84 



NA TURE 



[December 21, 1899 



NOTES. 

 At a recent meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences, M. 

 Berthelot reported that the total amount subscribed for the 

 erection of a statue to Lavoisier was 98,000 francs. M. Barrias 

 has been commissioned to construct the statue and the bas- 

 reliefs for the pedestal. The Municipal Council of Paris has 

 granted a site for the statue in an open space behind the 

 Madeleine Church. The monument will be unveiled when the 

 Paris Exhibition is open, probably some time in July. 



The Brussels Academy of Sciences has awarded the prize of 

 six hundred francs, for an important contribution to geometry, 

 to M. Leon Autonne, of the University of Lyon. The prize of 

 six hundred francs for anatomical and systematic investigations of 

 insects of the group Apterygota (Thysanura and CoUembola) 

 has been awarded to M. Victor Willem, of the University of 

 Ghent. M. F. Keelhoff, of the same University, has been 

 awarded the Prix Charles Lemaire (interest on twenty-five 

 thousand francs) for a work entitled " Note sur le travail des 

 forces elastiques." The decennial prize of five thousand francs 

 for botanical science has been awarded to Prof. Alfred 

 Cogniaux ; and a prize of the same value for chemistry and 

 physics has been given to Prof. Louis Henry. To fill vacancies 

 caused by death, the Academy has elected as foreign associates 

 in the section of mathematics and physics. Sir G. G. Stokes, 

 Prof. Moissan and Prof. Jordan. In the section of natural 

 sciences M. C. Vanlair has been elected a metnbre titulaire. 

 Profs. Pelseneer and Gravis have been elected correspondents, 

 and Sir John Murray and M. Maupas have been elected 

 associates. 



The Berlin Academy of Sciences will celebrate the second 

 centenary of its foundation on March 19 and 20, 1900. 



The annual meeting of the Australasian Association for the 

 Advancement of Science will be opened at Melbourne on 

 January 9, under the presidency of Mr. R. L. J. Ellery. 



In the December number of Natural Science, the announce- 

 ment is made that the magazine is to be discontinued, the reason 

 being insufficient support. The journal has always been of 

 interest and value to students of the biological sciences, and it is 

 to be regretted that financial considerations necessitate its 

 withdrawal. 



The Council of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical 

 Society have awarded the Wilde Medal for 1900 to Lord Ray- 

 leigh, for his contributions to mathematical and experimental 

 physics and to chemistry ; a Dalton Medal (struck in 1864) to 

 Sir H. E. Roscoe, for his remarkable original researches in 

 chemistry and for his distinguished services to scientific educa- 

 tion ; and the Wilde Premium for 1900 to Prof. A. W. Flux 

 for his papers on economic questions read before the Society. 

 The presentation of the medals and the premium will take place 

 at a special meeting in February next, when Lord Rayleigh 

 will deliver the Wilde Lecture for 1900. 



A Reuter telegram from St. Petersburg states that the 

 expedition of Baron Toll, organised for the exploration of the 

 New Siberia Islands and Sannikoff Land, will set out in June 

 next from a Norwegian port, whence it will proceed to the 

 mouth of the Lena, on the banks of which river, at a point 

 above the town of Yakutsk, it will pass the winter. During the 

 summer of 1901 the expedition will begin its explorations 

 towards the north, picking up en route a detachment which will 

 be sent forward from the main body during March, with a suffi- 

 cient supply of dogs. 



The death of Dr. John Frederick Hodges, professor of agri- 

 culture and lecturer on medical jurisprudence in Queen's College, 

 NO. 1573. VOL. 61] 



Belfast, is announced in the Times. Dr. Hodges was an 

 honorary member of the Academy of Agriculture of Sweden, 

 and of many other scientific societies. He was one of the oldest 

 members of the Chemical Society of London, having been 

 elected a Fellow in 1844 — three years after the formation of the 

 Society. Dr. Hodges was the author of the following works : — 

 " First Book of Lessons in Chemistry for Farmers and 

 Teachers " (a work which reached a twelfth edition in 1862), 

 "First Steps in Chemistry," "The Structure and Physiology 

 of the Animals of the Farm," and of several papers published 

 in the proceedings of scientific societies. He was for some 

 years editor oi \.\\q Journal oi the Chemico- Agricultural Society 

 of Ulster. 



At the international congress on tuberculosis recently held 

 at Berlin (see vol. Ix. pp. 108, 154) it was decided to hold a 

 similar congress in England in 1901. A meeting was held in 

 Gray's Inn Hall, on Monday, under the presidency of the Earl 

 of Derby, to make preliminary arrangements for the forthcoming 

 congress. The following resolutions were unanimously 

 adopted : — (i) In view of the fact that tuberculosis, although 

 a preventible disease, still devastates health and destroys lives 

 in all parts of the world, this meeting, consisting of representa- 

 tives of medical, veterinary, and sanitary science, and also 

 principal officials of municipal and county authorities, is 

 unanimously of opinion that it is desirable to hold a national 

 congress on tuberculosis in the spring of 1901, to which repre- 

 sentatives from India and all dependencies of the Empire should 

 be invited, and, in addition, honoured guests from other 

 countries. (2) That this meeting has learned with very great 

 pleasure that H.R.H. the Prince of Wales has graciously con- 

 sented to preside over the proposed congress, and to open it in 

 person, and desires to convey to his Royal Highness the appre- 

 ciation of all present of this expression of his sympathy and 

 support. (3) That this meeting heartily approves of the steps 

 already taken by the National Association for the Prevention of 

 Consumption to initiate the undertaking, and earnestly invites 

 the co-operation of representative bodies interested in the public 

 health in carrying out the necessary organisation. (4) That 

 this meeting is of opinion that steps should be at once taken to 

 obtain subscriptions and to open a Congress Fund. 



The death is announced of Mr. E. C. C. Stanford, Fellow 

 of the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Society, and manag- 

 ing director of the British Chemical Company. Mr. Stanford 

 introduced several original methods of chemical manufacture, 

 and prepared a number of new bodies. From the Chemist and 

 Druggist we learn that while he was an assistant to the late 

 Prof. Redwood, he began a research on kelp and iodine manu- 

 facture ; and afterwards delivered lectures on the subject 

 before the Society of Arts. These brought him into notice, 

 and the improved processes of manufacture which he had in- 

 vented were adopted on a practical scale by Mr. Patterson, of 

 Glasgow, with whom Mr. Stanford became associated, and 

 under his direction the production of iodine at Clydebank be- 

 came a very profitable industry until the advent of Chilian nitrate 

 crippled it. Mr. Stanford's original idea for the manufacture of 

 iodine was to extract the salts from seaweed by diff'usion and 

 without burning it. This was found to be impracticable on a 

 large scale, and therefore he turned his attention to less wasteful 

 production of kelp. Through his efforts the kelp-makers of Ire- 

 land and the Hebrides gradually improved the quality of their 

 product, while the Norwegian kelp-makers under Mr. Stanford's 

 instructions have produced a kelp richer in iodides and more 

 suitable for treatment than either Irish or Scotch kelp. The 

 monograph upon the iodine industry in Thorpe's " Dictionary 

 of Applied Chemistry " was written by Mr. Stanford. Arising 

 from his researches on the isolation of iodides from seaweeds by 



