November 17, 1904] 



NA TURE 



59 



In discussing the relation of special type stars to 

 the Galaxy, one of the chief facts that made itself at 

 once apparent was that " Helium " stars were not 

 indiscriminately scattered over the heavens like the 

 solar or other type stars, but were more thickly con- 

 centrated in the two zones north and south of the 

 galactic equator. In addition, among many other out- 

 comes of this survey was the discovery of oxygen in 

 the spectrum of /3 Crucis, and in the helium stars 

 generally. 



The energy and stamina displayed by McClean in 

 all his work will be best understood when it is men- 

 tioned that he employed no assistants. In his labora- 

 tory he was the sole operator, and in the observatory 

 at night every manipulation was accomplished by his 

 own hands. To quote the words of the president of 

 the Royal Astronomical Society when presenting him 

 with the gold medal, " .... it was his eye that 

 measured the lines, and his was the pen that worked 

 out the calculations. Need I add more to prove that 

 what Mr. McClean 's hand had found to do he did with 

 all his might? " 



Turning now from this very brief and incomplete 

 summary of McClean 's scientific work, reference must 

 be made to his generosity in presenting munificent 

 gifts for the advancement of astronomy. Being a 

 worker himself, he was in a position to know in what 

 direction monetary aid could be best employed. As 

 the founder of the Isaac Newton studentships at 

 Cambridge University, requiring an endowment of 

 15,000?., he rendered a service to astronomical science 

 which it would be hard to overestimate, and the 

 results that will accrue from it will, we hope, be a 

 fitting memorial to his name. 



Not content with providing in this way the means 

 by which the study of astronomy will be encouraged, 

 he presented the Cape Observatory, ten years ago, 

 with a large telescope, fittings, and dome, with all the 

 latest improvements, to accomplish work which other- 

 wise would have been delayed possibly for many years. 

 He saw at once the field that was open and the ad- 

 vance that was possible if the southern heavens were 

 surveyed by a prismatic camera of large dimensions, 

 and he took this opportunity to supply the necessary 

 means. 



The fact that Sir David Gill in his recent report for 

 the year 1903 writes, " The Zeiss prism is a very 

 perfect and transparent piece of glass, and I have no 

 doubt that its performance will do credit to the fame 

 of its makers. The observatory is indebted to Mr. 

 McClean for this splendid gift, as also for the costly 

 alterations to the spectroscope," shows that McClean 's 

 original gift has been greatly increased. As the in- 

 auguration of the " Victoria " telescope forms an 

 epoch in the history of the Cape Observatory, may the 

 results obtained with it play a like r6\e in the advance- 

 ment of stellar spectroscopy for the southern hemi- 

 sphere. 



McClean was elected a fellow of the Royal Society 

 in 1895 ; the university of Glasgow conferred on him 

 the honorary degree of LL.D., while, as previously 

 mentioned, he obtained the gold medal of the Royal 

 Astronomical Society. 



In 1865 he married Ellen, the daughter of Mr. John 

 Greg, of Escowbeck, Lancaster, who now mourns 

 with her three sons and two daughters his loss. They 

 are not, however, alone in their grief, for his death is 

 deeply felt by a large circle of friends, among whom 

 are many astronomical colleagues who will miss his 

 familiar face. 



The funeral, which took place on Friday last, was 

 attended by representatives from many societies and 

 institutions, among which may be mentioned the 

 Cambridge University, the Royal Society, the Royal 



NO. 1829. VOL. 71] 



Astronomical Society, the British Association, the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, Greenwich Observa- 

 tory, Solar Physics Observatory, and the Cambridge 

 University Observatory. 



W. J. S. L. 



NOTES. 



The seventieth birthday of Prof. G. H. Quincke, the 

 doyen of German physicists, will be celebrated at Heidel- 

 berg on Saturday next, November 19. Prof. Quincke's 

 laboratory formed the subject of a contribution to our series 

 of scientific centres in Nature of April 24, 1902, and his 

 portrait was reproduced in the article. Reference was then 

 made to the admirable manner in which the laboratories 

 at Heidelberg are arranged, and the many ingenious devices 

 to be found in them, as well as to some of the investigations 

 carried on. It is therefore unnecessary to attempt to 

 describe again the results of Prof. Quincke's un- 

 interrupted work in physical research for nearly half a 

 century. Among Prof. Quincke's many pupils have been 

 Prof. Lenard (Kiel), Prof. Braun (Strassburg), Prof. W. 

 Kdnig (Greifswald), Profs. Elster and Geitel (VVolfenbUttel), 

 the late Prof. Willard Gibbs, Prof. Michelson, Dr. J. T. 

 Bottomley, F.R.S., Dr. J. McCrae (Glasgow), &c. ; a com- 

 plete list would include many other English and American 

 students. To celebrate the occasion of Prof. Quincke's 

 seventieth birthday, a committee, with Prof. Kohlrausch 

 (Berlin) as president and Dr. R. H. Weber (Heidelberg) 

 as secretary, has arranged for the presentation of a large 

 and handsome album containing the autograph photographs 

 of many of the leading physicists of all nationalities and of 

 Prof. Quincke's former pupils. A convincing testimony of 

 the high value set on Prof. Quincke's work in this country 

 is supplied not only by the lists of universities and learned 

 societies which have conferred their honours on him, but also 

 by the fact that among the English physicists and personal 

 friends who have contributed photographs are Lord Kelvin, 

 Lord Rayleigh, Sir W. Huggins, Sir VV. Ramsay, Sir 

 H. E. Roscoe, Sir N. Lockyer, Sir W. H. Preece, Prof. 

 J. J. Thomson, Sir A. Rucker, Prof. J. Larmor, Prof. J. A. 

 Ewing, Mr. C. V. Boys, Sir O. Lodge, Prof. J. H. Poyn- 

 ting. Prof. G. Carey Foster, Prof. A. Schuster, Dr. W. N. 

 Shaw, Prof. J. Perry, Prof. R. B. Clifton, Prof. J. G. 

 MacGregor, Prof. J. T. Joly, Prof. G. H. Darwin, Prof. 

 \V. G. Adams, Prof. W. M. Hicks, Prof. H. Stroud, Prof. 

 A. P. Chattock, Prof. A. S. Herschel, and many others. 



The American Consul at Bermuda describes in a United 

 States Consular Report the steps which have been taken to 

 establish there a biological station which will be to North 

 America what the Naples station is to Europe. For several 

 years American naturalists have carried on investigations 

 of the natural history of the Bermudas and the surrounding 

 sea, and have made efforts to establish a biological station 

 in these islands. Upon the advice of the Royal Society, our 

 Government has given its assent to the project. The 

 Colonial Government has expressed its willingness to pur- 

 chase the land and erect the building, and grants toward 

 equipment and support of tables have been made by the 

 Royal Society and the Carnegie Institution. Harvard Uni- 

 versity and New York University, in connection with the 

 Bermuda Natural History Society, have already commenced 

 work in a temporary laboratory close to what will be the 

 permanent quarters of the station, and the United States 

 Government has been asked to give generous support to the 

 station. America has already founded a tropical botanical 

 laboratory in buildings of the Government of Jamaica at 



