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NATURE 



[April 19, 1900 



''•The first of four zoological lectures arranged by the Zoological 

 Society will be delivered to-day by Mr. A. Smith Woodward, 

 who takes for his subject " The Animals of Australia." The 

 remaining lectures are: — "The Freshwater Fishes of Africa," by 

 Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S. ; "The Gigantic Sloths of Pata- 

 gonia," by Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. ; and "Whales," 

 by Mr. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. 



On Tuesday next, April 24, Dr. H. R. Mill will deliver the 

 first of a course of three lectures at the Royal Institution on 

 "Studies in British Geography." On Thursday, April 26, 

 Prof. Dewar will commence a course of four lectures on "A 

 Century of Chemistry in the Royal Institution." On Saturday, 

 April 28, Prof. Stanley Lane- Poole will deliver the first of a 

 course of two lectures on "Egypt in the Middle Ages." The 

 Friday Evening Discourse on April 27 will be delivered by 

 Lord Kelvin, on the subject of " Nineteenth Century Clouds 

 over the Dynamical Theory of Heat and Light." The discourse 

 on May 4 is to be on " Pottery and Plumbism," and the lecturer 

 will be Prof. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S. 



The annual general meeting of the Society of Chemical 

 Industry will be held in London in July next. As the president. 

 Prof. C. F. Chandler, and with him a considerable number of 

 the members of the New York section of the society, will 

 attend, it is hoped that the members of the London section will 

 exhibit their appreciation of the hospitality extended in 1895-6 

 to the then president and the hon. foreign secretary of the 

 society when visiting the United States. London members of 

 the society have been invited to contribute to an expense 

 guarantee fund. 



The Jacksonian prize of the Royal College of Surgeons of 

 England for the year 1899 has been awarded to Dr. Harry Lambert 

 Lack, for a dissertation on the pathology, diagnosis and treat- 

 ment of inflammatory affections of the nasal fossae and associ- 

 ated sinuses and air cells. The subject for the prize for the 

 ensuing year 1901 is "The Diagnosis and Treatment of Bullet 

 Wounds of the Chest and Abdomen." The John Tomes prize, 

 founded by the dental profession in honour of the late Sir John 

 Tomes, F.R.S., has been awarded to Mr. John Howard Mum- 

 mory, for his original and other scientific work on the subjects 

 of dental anatomy, histology and pathology. 



The fifth annual congress of the South-Eastern Union of 

 Scientific Societies will be opened at Brighton on Thursday, 

 June 7, when the Mayor of Brighton (Alderman Stafford, J. P.) 

 will receive the members of the congress, and the president- 

 elect. Prof. G. B. Howes, F.R.S., will deliver the annual 

 address. On the following day, papers will be read on the skin 

 of liquids, by Dr. C. H. Draper ; the structure of the Lower 

 Greensand near Folkestone, by Dr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S. ; 

 dust, by Dr. H. Gabbett ; science at the end of the eighteenth 

 century, by Mr. Arthur W. Brackett ; and the colouring of 

 pupae in relation to their surroundings, by Mr. F. Merrifield. 

 A reception by the Mayor of Hove will be held on Friday 

 evening, June 8, and Mr. Fred Enoch will lecture on " Wonders 

 and Romance of Insect Life." On Saturday, June 9, Mr. F. 

 Chapman will describe the Brighton Raised Beaches and their 

 microscopical contents. In connection with the congress, a photo- 

 graphic exhibition is being organised in order to illustrate the 

 various applications of photography to scientific work. The ex- 

 hibition will not be limited to work done by members of the 

 affiliated societies, and the committee will welcome any offers of 

 loans that would -be likely to prove interesting and suggestive. 

 Intending exhibitors should communicate with Mr. H. E.Turner, 

 Lindfield Lodge, Folkestone, not later than May 7. 



An article in the current number of the Fortnightly Review, 

 by Mr. Rollo Appleyard, states the case for engineers of the 

 VO. 1590, VOL. 61] 



Royal Navy, and draws attention to their inadequacy, owing to 

 defects on the Admiralty Board, to meet the demands which 

 the conditions of naval war entail. It also gives an outline of 

 the scheme of studies and examinations at Keyham College 

 and at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, through which 

 the Engineer R.N. has to pass, and an account of his com- 

 plex duties afloat. Notwithstanding these defects, it appears 

 that engineers have not a single representative on the 

 Admiralty Board. The question is scarcely one which can 

 be discussed in our columns. On the other hand, it is too 

 technical for the daily Press. It could best be dealt with by 

 a great civil body of experts, such as the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers, and it is sincerely to be hoped that they will give 

 it consideration at an early date. 



During a heavy thunderstorm at Herbertsdale, Cape Colony, 

 on February 25, a remarkable fall of hail occurred. Mr. O. D. 

 Deacon sends us a description of the storm received from his 

 brother, who witnessed it. From this we learn that the hail- 

 stones ranged in size from marbles to small hen's eggs, and 

 very many were of the size of turkey's eggs. Some of these 

 had a very peculiar shape, being round and surrounded with 

 spikes so as to present an appearance not unlike a hedgehog 

 when rolled up in a ball, or like a bristly sea anemone. The 

 hailstones were the largest Mr. Deacon had seen during a thirty- 

 seven years' residence in South Afirica, and their spiky character 

 is of peculiar interest. 



We have received from the Danish Meteorological Institute 

 its Nautical Meteorological Annual for 1899, prepared under 

 the superintendence of Captain V. Garde, R.D.N. With the 

 exception of a slight change in the title, and the use of English 

 instead of French alongside the Danish explanatory text, the 

 form is the same as in the two previous years. The contents 

 form a most valuable contribution to the meteorology of the 

 northern parts of the North Atlantic, consisting (i) of the state 

 of the ice on the east and west of Greenland, with charts, (2) of 

 wind and sea-surface temperature charts, and (3) of meteorolo- 

 gical observations taken every four hours at light and coast 

 stations. We have already referred to the ice charts (Nature, 

 March i , p. 422) from an advance sheet. The wind charts com- 

 prise the area between Scotland, Iceland, and the west coast of 

 Greenland, and very clearly represent, by means of roses, the 

 relative percentage of frequency of the eight principal directions, 

 and the average force in each of the months April to October, 

 from ships' observations, from 1876 to 1895 ; each chart is ac- 

 companied by a short discussion of the chief results, and a 

 statement of the average number of stormy days experienced 

 in various districts. The charts of the sea-surface temperature 

 show the mean values for each one-degree square, for the first 

 and last halves of the month. 



A GOOD general view of the position of the mineral industries 

 of the world can be obtained from Prof. Le Neve Foster's latest 

 report (Mines and Quarries : General Report and Statistics. 

 Part IV.— Colonial and Foreign Statistics.) From this rich 

 source of information we learn that about 1,800,000 persons are 

 employed in mining and quarrying in the British Empire, of 

 whom nearly one-half are working in the United Kingdom. 

 Foreign countries employ altogether at least two and a half 

 million persons. Although the proportion of silver furnished 

 by the British Empire is only one-ninth of the general total, it 

 is pleasing to note that New South Wales, with its wonderful 

 mines at Broken Hill, is now approaching Bolivia and the 

 German Empire in productiveness. The British Empire pro- 

 duces seven-elevenths of the total tin supply of the world ; in 

 fact, the Federated Malay States alone yield more than one-half. 



