] 2 



NATURE 



[November 6, 1902 



In September Prof. White airanged for a fisheries exhibit in 

 the arts and science section of the Eisteddfod, and partly 

 owing to this as well as to the good work which the College has 

 been doing in connection with the Welsh fisheries, the Com- 

 mittee decided to make the grant. The sum will be utilised in 

 developing the fisheries collection at the College, which is in 

 course of formation. 



A rich collection of Babylonian antiquities has been pre- 

 sented by the Sultan to Prof. Hilprecht, head of the archae- 

 ological department of the University of Pennsylvania, in 

 recognition of the services rendered by him to the Imperial 

 Museum at Constantinople. Prof. Hilprecht has placed the 

 collection in the University Museum. 



A telegram from Kingstown, St. Vincent, published in the 

 Times, says : — "The British botanists, Messrs. Powell, Quinton 

 and Foster, spent an hour and a half on the summit of the 

 Soufriere on October 28. The crater was then active, emitting 

 steam and ashes. The new crater showed no signs of recent 

 eruption. There was a slight eruption that night, and the dis- 

 turbances continue, causing much excitement at Georgetown, 

 where the tremors are continually felt." 



Mr. Joseph Clark writes from Street, Somerset, to confirm 

 Mr. Clayden's observations of recent remarkable sunsets (p. 659). 

 On Friday, October 24, very brilliant colours were seen and par- 

 ticular notice was taken of the long time during which the clouds 

 to the south-east retained a rosy tint. On Tuesday, October 

 28, there was a fine display of bright rose-colour on the eastward 

 rolling clouds, an effect also noticed at Paris on the same 

 evening. 



We regret to record the death, on October 23, of Mr. William 

 Gunn, F.G.S. Mr. Gunn joined the staff of the Geological 

 Survey in 1867 as assistant geologist, and attained the rank of 

 district geologist in 1901. He was engaged during his long 

 service in Durham and Northumberland, in the Scottish High- 

 lands and latterly in Arran ; and the results of his work appear 

 for the most part in the maps and memoirs of the Geological 

 Survey. His discovery of remnants of Secondary fossiliferqus 

 strata in a volcanic vent in Arran was brought before the 

 Geological Society last year. Mr. Gunn had quite recently 

 retired from the public service, having attained the age of sixty- 

 five. 



The Thomson foundation gold medal of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society of Australasia, Queensland, will be awarded 

 to the author of the best original paper (provided it be of suf- 

 ficient merit) on each of the following subjects, the papers to be 

 sent in by the dates named : — (1) The commercial development, 

 expansion and potentialities of Australia — or, briefly put, the 

 commerce of Australia (July I, 1903) ; (2) the pastoral industry 

 of Australia, past, present and probable future (July 1, 1904) ; 

 (3) the geographical distribution of Australian minerals (July 1, 

 '9°5) ! (4) the agricultural industry of Australia (July I, 1906). 

 The competition is open to members and non-members of the 

 Society alike, whether residing in Australasia or elsewhere. 



Some of the services which medical science has rendered to 

 the State were referred to last week by Lord Roberts in an 

 address delivered at the annual meeting for the distribution of the 

 prizes gained during the past year by the students of the 

 St. George's Hospital Medical School. Lord Roberts remarked 

 that no section of the public was more deeply interested 

 in the work and in the scientific researches of the medical 

 profession than soldiers were, and that a deep debt of 

 gratitude was due to those who, by their constant study, earnest 

 inquiry and careful experiments, learned and taught how to 

 heal the sick, to tend the wounded, to alleviate pain and 



NO. 1723, VOL. 6/] 



suffering, to fight sickness and disease and to maintain health in 

 camp and in quarters. A comparison of statistics as to the loss 

 by sickness and disease in the Crimea and during the war in 

 South Africa showed what a changed and improved condition of 

 things prevailed now, changes and improvements which were 

 largely due to the march of medical science. If great results 

 were to be achieved, if success was to be won, there must be no 

 slacking off in any pursuit or profession nowadays, least of all in 

 the professions of medicine and surgery. Fresh fields in many 

 directions remained to be explored, fresh developments to be 

 observed and followed up, fresh results to be recorded. 



It was announced on the reopening of the House of Commons 

 Committee dealing with the London electric railways that the 

 Bill promoted by the London United Railways for a " tube " 

 from Hammersmith to Piccadilly would be withdrawn (see 

 Nature, vol. lxvi. p. 296). This railway was intended to 

 provide, wilh the Piccadilly and City and North-East London 

 Railways, a through route from west to north-east, linking the 

 tramway system of the London United Tramways with the City. 



The last link of the Pacific cable was completed at the end of 

 last week, and it is hoped that it will very soon be opened for 

 public traffic. The Pacific Cable Board does not, however, assume 

 responsibility until thirty days after completion. The com- 

 pletion of this cable marks another step forward in cable enter- 

 prise. It is more than Sooo miles long, and is built up in five 

 sections as follows : — Vancouver to Fanning Island (3653 miles), 

 thence to Fiji (2181 miles), to Norfolk Island (1019 miles), and 

 then to Moreton Bay, Queensland (906 miles) and New Zealand 

 (513 miles). The cable has been laid by the Telegraph Con- 

 struction and Maintenance Company at a contract price of 

 rather under 2,000,000/., and in less than two years ; it is com- 

 forting to reflect that England still stands preeminent in this 

 branch of electrical engineering. The completion of the line 

 was made the occasion of the exchange of congratulatory 

 messages between Mr. Chamberlain and the different governors 

 of interested colonies. Among the most interesting of these are 

 two sent by Sir Sandford Fleming to Lord; Minto ; these com- 

 pletely circled the world, one, in an easterly direction, in 

 ioh. 25m., and the other, going westerly, in thirteen hours and 

 a half. We have still some progress to make before we are able 

 with Puck to " put a girdle round about the earth in forty 

 minutes." 



The presidential address delivered by Mr. J. C. Hawkshaw 

 before the Institution of Civil Engineers on Tuesday covered 

 a wide range of subjects, among them being docks, timber and 

 forestry, canals, means of traffic and transport, the world's 

 supply of fuel, water-power available for industrial uses, and the 

 value of purely scientific studies to the engineer. Upon the 

 latter point, Mr. Hawkshaw made the following remarks at the 

 end of his address : — " Wherever our work may take us we have 

 always something at hand to observe if we give some thought to 

 geology or some branch of biology. Geology calls to its aid all 

 sciences ; biology, even botany, is not one, but many sciences. 

 Every science and every question of science is first a matter of 

 fact. Facts observed which seem trivial in themselves may lead 

 to much. Reaumur it was who first suggested that wood-fibre 

 should be used for making paper. He was led to do so from 

 observing the structure of wasps' nests. Out of that observed 

 fact a great industry has grown which threatens to tax the forest 

 supplies of the world. If we accept the view of M. Maurice 

 Levy that from the study of celestial mechanics was derived later 

 general mechanics, then all our progress has come from the 

 study of what was useless at the time it was studied. We might 

 well, I think, increase the number of optional subjects for our 

 examinations. There is no branch of natural knowledge which 

 may not be studied with advantage by an engineer as a change 



