398. 



NA TURE 



[February 23, 1905 



Godman and Salvia's " Biologia, " and this work, supple- 

 mented by the determination of specimens in the British 

 Museum and of the collections made by himself on the 

 Amazons, gave him a quite special knowledge of the 

 Neotropical species. He unfortunately left unfinished 

 his revision of the generic nomenclature of spiders, and 

 also the county records of Arachnida he was compiling for 

 the " Victoria History." Mr. Cambridge was an admir- 

 able draughtsman, as is testified by the plates illustrating 

 the many papers he contributed to scientific societies and 

 periodicals. 



Mathematicians will have heard with regret that Mr. 

 Robert Tucker died on January 29. He received his uni- 

 versity education at St. John's College, Cambridge, of 

 which he was a scholar, and was placed among the 

 wranglers in 1855. He became a schoolmaster, and was 

 for many years head mathematical master at University 

 College School. His original contributions to mathematics 

 deal chiefly with configurations of points, lines and circles 

 related in special ways to a fixed triangle, and one system 

 of circles, which he discovered, is called after his name. 

 He was also the editor of Clifford's " Mathematical 

 Papers." In 1867 he became one of the secretaries of the 

 London Mathematical Society, founded in 1865. From that 

 time forward he made the society his peculiar care, and 

 the success wl^ich it has attained is almost entirely due to 

 him. He retained the office of secretary for thirty-five 

 years, editing the Proceedings, and conducting the corre- 

 spondence with authors and referees — a delicate duty in 

 respect of which he established an admirable tradition. 

 He also wrote an account of the early history of the 

 society. In all his work he was business-like and 

 thorough, and at the same time modest and unselfish. 



The new wing which is to complete the .Armstrong 

 College of Science in Newcastle-on-Tyne will be opened by 

 the King next year. 



The Soci^t4 nationale d'..\griculture de France has 

 awarded to Prof. Wm. B. Alwood, of Charlottesville, Va., 

 a diploma and silver medal for his recent work in pomology, 

 especially as relates to the fermentation of by-products 

 from apples. 



The anniversary meeting of the Geological Society was 

 held at Burlington House on Friday, February 17. Dr. 

 J. E. Marr, F.R.S., was elected president. After the pre- 

 sentation of the medals and prizes already announced 

 (P- 253) the president delivered his anniversary address, 

 which dealt with the classification of the sedimentary rocks. 



Arrangements have been made whereby messages may 

 be sent to Cunard mail steamers at any stage in their 

 voyage across the Atlantic. During the first three or four 

 days after the vessels leave Liverpool the messages will be 

 sent from Poldhu, Cornwall, direct to the steamer. During 

 the next three or four days the messages will be forwarded- 

 by cable to the North American Continent, and repeated 

 thence to the approaching ship. 



We learn from the limes that the Treasury has agreed 

 to place at the disposal of the Board of Trade 500?. per 

 annum for four years for the purpose of taking practical 

 steps to encourage and investigate the development of the 

 cotton-growing area of the Empire. This sum will be 

 used (i) for the payment of scientific assistants, who 

 would themselves do part of the proposed work and would 

 also set free members of the existing staff of the Imperial 

 NO. 1843, VOL. 71] 



Institute for the purpose; and (2) for defraying the cost of 

 equipment. It has also been notified, in connection with 

 the mineral survey which the Government of Northern 

 Nigeria has in contemplation, that a sum of 300!. per 

 annum will be paid to the Imperial Institute in order to 

 defray the expenses of examining specimens of minerals, 

 &c., sent to the scientific and technical department so long 

 as the survey is in progress, probably a period of three 

 years. 



On Saturday next, February 25, Mr. D. G. Hogarth 

 will begin a course of two lectures at the Royal Institution 

 on " .^rchffology." On Tuesday, February 28, Prof. Karl 

 Pearson will deliver the first of three lectures on " Some 

 Recent Biometric Studies." On Thursday, March 2, Prof. 

 H. H. Turner will commence a course of three lectures on 

 " Recent Astronomical Progress," and on Saturday. 

 March 11, Prof. J. J. Thomson will begin a course of 

 three lectures on " Electrical Properties of Radio-active 

 Substances." The Friday evening discourse on March 3 

 will be delivered by Chevalier G. Marconi, on " Recent 

 .'Vdvances In Wireless Telegraphy," and on March 10 by 

 Prof. J. J. Thomson, on the " Structure of the Atom." 

 Mr. Perceval Landon will give two lectures, on April 4 

 and II, on "Tibet," Mr. A. Henry Savage Landor's lec- 

 tures on " Exploration in the Philippines " having been 

 deferred until after Easter. 



The annual report of the council of the Institution of 

 Mechanical Engineers was read at the annual general meet- 

 ing of the institution on February 17. The first report, by 

 Prof. David S. Capper, to the steam-engine research com- 

 mittee, has now been completed, and, together with a pre- 

 liminary report on progressive speed and pressure trials 

 carried out previous to March, 1896, will be presented at 

 the March meeting. Since the presentation, in January, 

 1904, of the late Sir William Roberts-.Austen's last report, 

 the alloys research committee has continued its work at the 

 National Physical Laboratory. Dr. Glazebrook, director of 

 the laboratory, has arranged a series of investigations on 

 specimens of nickel steel presented by Mr. R. A. Hadfield. 

 It is anticipated that a further report will be presented this 

 year by the committee, communicating the results of these 

 researches. Further investigations having great practical 

 importance are now being considered. Prof. F. W. Burstall 

 reports that the two specially constructed large gas-engines 

 and a gas-holder erected in the new power house of the 

 Birmingham University are now available for the gas- 

 engine research committee's experiments. A scheme of 

 experiments, indicating the methods of working, is under 

 consideration, and it is hoped that the next report will be 

 ready for presentation at the opening of next session. -A 

 gift of 100!. towards the expenses of carrying on the re- 

 search has been received from Dr. Ludwig Mond, F.R.S. 

 The series of experiments on initial condensation in steam 

 cylinders, which Prof. T. Hudson Beare is carrying out 

 with special apparatus for the purpose, are in active pro- 

 gress, but are still incomplete. The results obtained so 

 far, however, justify the hope that the committee will be 

 able to present, during the year 1905, an interim report 

 dealing with the results obtained in the experiments on 

 non-jacketed cylinders. It is intended to hold the next 

 summer meeting in Belgium, in view of the International 

 Exhibition to be held at Liege this year. 



We have received from Messrs. John Wheldon and Co., 

 of Great Queen Street, a copy of a catalogue of zoological 

 and sporting books and papers arranged geographically. 

 To those who are working on faunas and distribution the 

 list will be distinctly useful. 



