;o2 



NA TURE 



[January 25, 1900 



see in what way they have fallen short, and determine to recon- 

 sider and revise them." 



Prof. H. G. Zeuthe.n, professor of mathematics in the 

 University of Copenhagen, and M. Peron, of Auxerre, have 

 been elected correspondants of the Paris Academy of Sciences. 



We notice with much regret the announcement that Prof. 

 D. E. Hughes, F.R.S., died suddenly on Monday, January 22, 

 at the age of sixty-eight. 



Sir John Lubbock, on his elevation to the peerage, has 

 decided to take the name of Lord Avebury, after a property of 

 his in Wiltshire. Letters Patent have been passed granting the 

 adoption of this title. 



Dr. G. K. Gilbert, of the U.S. Geological Survey, has 

 been elected president of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. 



Dr. George M. Dawson, director of the Geological 

 Survey of Canada, was elected president of the Geological 

 Society of America at the annual meeting held on December 

 27, 1899. 



The death is announced, at the age of fifty-three, of M. 

 Marion, Curator of the Natural History Museum at Versailles. 



On the i6th inst. two violent explosions occurred at the 

 Avigliana dynamite factory near Turin, ten persons being killed 

 and thirty injured. Both explosions were distinctly heard in 

 Turin, although the distance is fully 25 km. 



Mr. C. a. Schott, chief of the computing division of the 

 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, has retired from that post in 

 order to devote his whole time to special scientific work. He 

 has been succeeded by Mr. J. F. Hayford. 



Mr. J. B. Carruthers has been appointed mycologist to 

 the Government of Ceylon and assistant-director of the Botanical 

 Gardens at Peradeniya. He will leave England early in March 

 to take up his duties, which will chiefly be the investigation of 

 the diseases of economic plants in the island. 



Dr Karl Goebel, professor of botany and director of the 

 Botanical Institute at Munich, is now associated with Prof. E. 

 Selenka and Prof. J. Rosenthal as editor of the Biologisches 

 Centralblatt. All botanical communications intended for that 

 periodical should be sent to Prof. Goebel. 



M. DE FoNViELLE informs us that the solar halos and mock 

 suns observed on January 11, and referred to in our notes last 

 week (p. 279), were seen over a large part of Western France. 

 A detailed description of the phenomenon, with illustrations, 

 will appear in Cosmos of January 27. 



The distinguished diatomist. Dr. Grunow, has presented his 

 very large collection of diatom-slides to the Imperial Natural 

 History Museum at Vienna. A very carefully prepared selec- 

 tion of microscopic slides made by the late Mr, W. T. Suffolk 

 has been presented by his representatives to the Royal Micro- 

 scopical Society. 



Mr. William Henry Power, F.R.S., the Assistant 

 Medical Officer and Medical Inspector for General Sanitary 

 Purposes of the Local Government Board, has been appointed 

 to the office of Medical Officer of the Board, in succession to 

 the late Sir Richard Thome Thome, K.C.B. Dr. H. Franklin 

 Parsons has been appointed successor to Mr. Power, and Dr. 

 R. Bruce Low has been appointed an assistant medical officer 

 of the Board. 



A Reuter telegram from Madrid, dated January 20, states 

 that, in view of the declarations of the Minister of Public Works 

 in the Chamber, the Spanish Government proposes to make the 

 NO. 1578, VOL, 61] ' 



best possible arrangements at the Madrid Observatory for the 

 reception of foreign astronomers, who will observe the eclipse of 

 the sun on May 28. Nevertheless, other places are better 

 adapted for the purpose, as, for example, Naval-Moral, 200 

 kilometres from Madrid on the Caceres line, because at that 

 place the eclipse will be total for two minutes. 



The Electrician states that the Admiralty have determined 

 to fit several vessels of the Channel Squadron, viz. the MajestiCy 

 Magnificent, Hannibal 2Si^ Jupiter, with wireless telegraphic 

 apparatus on the Marconi system ; and the signal boatswains 

 of the two flag-ships and two petty signal officers on each of 

 the ships in question are now being instructed in wireless tele- 

 graphy on board \}[\e.Hector2X Portsmouth. It may be regarded 

 as extremely probable that all the vessels of the navy will 

 eventually be equipped with wireless telegraphic apparatus. 



Science has suffered a considerable loss by the death 

 of Mr. James R. Gregory, whose services to mineralogy are 

 widely known. Mr. Gregory was born on December 29, 

 1832, and while a boy at school he showed great interest in 

 minerals and fossils. He started his active career as an expert 

 in gems, but afterwards took up mineralogy and geology, and 

 got together some valuable coUeciions. In 1867 he went to 

 South Africa prospecting for minerals, and introduced from there 

 the crocidolite. He exhibited a collection of minerals at the 

 Paris Exhibition in 1867, and was awarded a medal. He also 

 exhibited at the Fisheries and Health Exhibition, and wrote the 

 report on minerals and gems for the Indian and Colonial Exhi- 

 bition. In addition to many rare mineralogical and geological 

 specimens, Mr. Gregory possessed a fine collection of meteor- 

 ites, which he had been getting together for about forty years. 

 He was a member of several scientific societies, and had sincere 

 regard for the progress of natural knowledge. 



Incorrect maps and neglect of compass bearings are two of 

 the causes to which the Times correspondent attributes General 

 Gatacre's repulse at Stormberg. As science is concerned with 

 both these matters, we reproduce the correspondent's remarks 

 upon them : — (i) The map of the ground was utterly misleading 

 and worse than useless. Not only was the contouring so in- 

 correct as to give a totally false picture of the configuration of 

 the hills, but the actual distances and the roads were inaccurately 

 represented. (2) So far as I am aware, no one amongst the 

 responsible authorities had taken any compass bearings, and 

 consequently no one knew where he was being taken in the 

 dark. — The special correspondent of the Times at Cape Town 

 thinks that the latter point is exaggerated, and remarks : — 

 "Owing to the abundance of magnetic ironstone all over South 

 Africa (and the name ' Rooi-kop,' ' red-head,' probably indicates 

 its presence near Stormberg) compass bearings are liable to be 

 all over the place, especially at night, when it is impossible to 

 know how near one may be to magnetic rocks. At Chieveley 

 one day I was taking some bearings which made Colenso lie due 

 east instead of north, north for the nonce happening to be a 

 large stone a yard or two away." 



An earthquake, resulting in great loss of life, occurred on 

 September 20, in the neighbourhood of Smyrna. More than 

 1600 persons, it is estimated, were killed, and more than 2000 

 wounded, while 11,000 houses were destroyed. The epicentre 

 appears to have been situated in the Meander valley between 

 Aidin and Sarakeui, and a large number of the damaged towns 

 and villages are situated in this valley within an area more than 

 sixty miles long. The railway line between Aidin and Omourlou 

 was raised by fully one yard, while in other parts of the valley 

 the ground has sunk. Some additional details are given in a letter 

 that we have received through a correspondent. " Practically 

 every building within an area of 1200 square miles," he says 



