June 25, 1914] 
NATURE 
ma) 
any craft less suited for descending rapids could 
scarcely be imagined. Mr. Roosevelt recom- 
mended future explorers to use Canadian birch- 
bark canoes in their place. When the last catar- 
act had been left behind, about latitude 10° 50’ S., 
the first rubber worker was soon encountered, and 
others were met with at intervals down the river 
to its junction with the Madeira about latitude 
B20: 
Mr. Roosevelt remarked on the fact that, 
though this was by far the most important 
tributary of the Madeira below the junction 
of the Beni and Mamoré, it did not appear 
on any map, except as a short and unimportant 
creek. It remains to be seen whether the whole 
of the water of the river takes this course. 
It seems quite possible that, when the river is 
high, some may pass into the Madeira by other 
routes, or may find an outlet into the Amazon by 
way of the Canuma channel, a lateral branch of 
the Madeira. 
There is no doubt that the expedition has accom- 
plished a valuable piece of work, and has, in Mr. 
Roosevelt’s own words, placed a river comparable 
in size to the Elbe for the first time on the map. 
It is probably the most important achievement in 
river exploration in tropical South America since 
1880, when Heath descended the Beni from 
Rurenabaque and showed that it united with the 
Manutata (Madre de Dios) and Mamoré to form 
the Madeira. 
The collections made by the expedition should 
prove of interest, especially the rocks of the 
cataracts, which are on the line of strike of the 
crystalline rocks of the Madeira cataracts de- 
scribed by the writer. It was in descending the 
rapids that Mr. Roosevelt contracted fever, so that 
they appear to have the same malarial character 
as many other cataracts in South America, pre- 
sumably because they offer facilities for the 
breeding of Anopheles in rock pools. 
Joun W. Evans. 
NOTES. 
THE list of honours conferred on the occasion of 
the celebration of the King’s birthday on Monday, 
June 22, includes the names of a few men of distin- 
guished eminence in the scientific world, and of others 
who, while belonging to various departments of the 
public service, have done notable work for science. 
Among the new peers is Sir Leonard Lyell, Bart., a 
nephew of Sir Charies Lyell, and formerly a professor 
of natural science in the University College of Wales. 
Colonel S. G. Burrard, F.R.S., Surveyor-General in 
India, has been appointed a K.C.S.I., and Mr. 
R. A. S. Redmayne, C.B., Chief Inspector of Mines, 
Home Office, has been promoted to the rank of 
K.C.B. The new knights include :—Dr. J. G. Frazer, 
author of ‘‘ The Golden Bough’’; Dr. W. P. Herring- 
ham, Vice-Chancellor of London University and 
physician to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital; Dr. W. H. 
St. John Hope, archeologist; Dr. W. Milligan, 
known by his investigation into the connection of 
human and animal anthrax; Lieut.-Colonel Leonard 
NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 
Rogers, Indian Medical Service, professor of 
pathology, Medical College, and _ bacteriologist to 
Government, Calcutta; Dr. T. Kirke Rose, chemist 
and assayer to the Royal Mint; Dr. S.. J. 
Sharkey, lecturer on medicine at St. Thomas’s Hos- 
pital; and Mr. J. F. C. Snell, president-elect of the 
Institute of Electrical Engineers. The honour of 
Knight Bachelor has been conferred upon Dr. Douglas 
Mawson, the Antarctic explorer, and Prof. T. P. 
Anderson Stuart, dean of the faculty of medicine at 
Sydney University. Mr. R. Meredith, Director of 
Telegraphs, India; Mr. A. Howard, imperial economic 
botanist at Pusa, Bengal; Major E. D. W. Greig, 
assistant director, Central Research Institute, Kasauli; 
Dr. T. Summers, late Bombay Public Works Depart- 
ment; and Mr. R. H. Tickell, chief engineer, Central 
Provinces, have received the honour of C.1.E. Dr. 
H. R. D. Spitta, bacteriologist to his Majesty’s House- 
hold, has been appointed M.V.O. (Fourth Class). 
At the meeting of the London Mathematical Society 
on June 11 it was announced that the de Morgan 
medal had been awarded to Sir Joseph Larmor. 
By the will of Sir David Gill, the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society is bequeathed the sum of 25o0l. to be 
employed by the council of the society in aid of 
astronomical research in remembrance of the like sum 
paid out of the funds of the society in aid of his 
expedition to Ascension in 1876. 
WE learn from the Lancet that the Emile Chr. 
Hansen prize for 1914, which consists of a gold medal 
and 2000 kroner (approximately 100 guineas), has been 
awarded to Prof. Jules Bordet, director of the Institut 
Pasteur of Brabant, in recognition of his original 
medical work in microbiology. 
THE president of the British Science Guild (the 
Right Hon. Sir William Mather), and Lady Mather, 
have arranged to give a garden party to the members 
of the British Science Guild on Wednesday, July 8, 
at the Garden Club of the Anglo-American Peace 
Centenary Exposition, Shepherd’s Bush. 
THE work done on behalf of tropical medicine by 
Mr. Joseph Chamberlain and Mr. Austen Chamberlain 
has been commemorated by placing their portraits in 
bronze relief in the Albert Dock Hospital of the Sea- 
man’s Hospital Society. The tablets were unveiled 
on Tuesday by Mr. Harcourt, Secretary of State for 
the Colonies. 
Mr. G. A. Hicur writes from Samer, Pas de Calais, 
giving particulars of the storm experienced on June 14. 
The rainfall measured at Samer during the storm 
between 12.50 and 2.45 p.m., was 3-86 inches, and 
nearly all fell before 2.15 p.m. The most remarkable 
feature of the storm was its local character, for in 
villages only two or three miles to the south of Samer 
there was no rain. During the storm the tempera- 
ture fell from 70° to 61° F. 
ACCORDING to a Reuter telegram from Copenhagen, 
Mr. Ole Olsen, the Danish millionaire, has offered to 
place sufficient funds for the fitting out of a north pole 
expedition at the disposal of M. Knud Rasmussen, 
the Danish explorer who has travelled much in Green- 
