April 13, 1905] 



NA TURE 



565 



nOTES. 



We are glad to see the report that Lord Kelvin's con- 

 dition conlinues to improve. It was stated on Monday 

 that he now takes nourishment fairly well, and that his 

 nipdical advisers are well satisfied with the progress he 

 is making. It is e.xpected that he will be able to leave 

 his bed in about a fortnight's time. 



Tme Irish branch of the Geological Survey has been 

 transferred from the Board of Education to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland. 

 The work will be carried on under the immediate direction 

 of Prof. G. A. J. Cole. 



We regret to learn that Mr. H. B. Medlicott, F.R.S., 

 formerly director of the Geological Survey of India, 1876- 

 1887, died on April 6, at seventy-six years of age. 



Among the portraits recently added to the National 

 Portrait Gallery are those of Sir Charles Lyell, painted by 

 Lowes Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and Prof. W. Whewell. 



Reuter's Agency is informed that the Due d'Orl^ans 

 has organised a North Polar expedition, which will leave 

 for the Arctic under the Due's personal leadership next 

 month. For the purposes of the expedition the Belgica, 

 the vessel of the recent Belgian Antarctic Expedition, has 

 been secured, together with the services of Lieut. Gerlache, 

 who will again command the ship on the present occasion. 

 The object of the expedition is not to reach the North 

 Pole, and, according to present arrangements, the Due 

 will not winter in the .Arctic, although the Belgica will 

 be provisioned for the event of her being closed in by the 

 icp. The expedition will leave Norway probably on May i 

 and proceed direct to Franz Josef Land, where it is believed 

 that an attempt will be made to push northwards by way 

 of a new channel. The Due's staff will include some 

 French men of science and a number of Norwegian 

 sailors. 



At the annual meeting of the Australasian Ornitho- 

 logists' Lnion, held at the end of last year, Captain F. W. 

 Hutton, F.R.S., submitted a presidential address dealing 

 with some mteresting problems in connection with New 

 Zealand's avifauna. The evidence he has obtained during 

 his years of research leads him to think that the ancestors 

 of many New Zealand birds went south along a land 

 ridge which connected New Zealand with New Caledonia 

 and New Guinea, probably in the early Eocene period. 

 New Zealand ornithologists, Captain Hutton pointed out, 

 have special advantages for studying ihe effects of the 

 absence of enemies on development, and New Zealand 

 itself offers more examples of degeneration in the wings 

 of birds than does any other country in the world. 



Prof. J. Macmill.an Brown, of Christchurch, New 

 Zealand, recently paid a visit to the Maoris who live in the 

 fastnesses of the great King country and Urewera country, 

 in the heart of the North Island of New Zealand. He 

 went specially to visit the "Uru-kehu," or red-headed 

 Maoris, who are often seen in those districts. He had 

 previously come to the conclusion that the Maoris' 

 ancestors, in their migrations, crossed with a white race, 

 and he informed a representative of the Lyttelton Times 

 that his visit has strengthened his opinion. He states 

 that in one assembly at which he was present at least 

 25 per cent, of the children had brown, or even flaxen, hair, 

 a complexion which resembled that of the Italians, and 

 fine European features. 



Dr. W. J. Holland, director of the Carnegie Museum, 

 Pittsburg, has arrived in London for the purpose of super- 

 intending the setting-up of the plaster model of the 

 NO. 1850, VOL. 7 ll 



skeleton of the gigantic herbivorous dinosaur Diplodocus 

 carnegii, presented by Mr. Andrew Carnegie to the British 

 (Natural History) Museum. The restoration, which is 

 described by the late Mr. J. B. Hatcher in No. i of the 

 Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum, is mainly based upon 

 two incomplete skeletons discovered respectively in 1899 

 and iqoo in the Upper Jurassic beds of Sheep Creek, 

 Albany County, Wyoming. .As restored, the skeleton is 

 nearly 80 feet in length. Whether this dinosaur is really 

 specifically distinct from the typical Diplodocus loiigiis may 

 be a question. 



During a violent thunderstorm on March 31 the second 

 pyramid of Ghizeh was struck by lightning slightly below 

 the apex of the monument. Several of the immense stones 

 of which the pyramid is built were dislodged and rolled 

 down the sides to the sands below. The storm was the 

 most violent experienced in Egypt for the past fifteen years. 

 This is the first recorded instance of any of the pyramids 

 having been struck by lightning. 



It is announced in Science that the first John Fritz gold 

 medal will be conferred upon Lord Kelvin. This medal is 

 awarded bv a joint committee of the American Institute of 

 Electrical Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical 

 Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and 

 the American Institute of Mining Engineers to the man 

 most representative of, and eminent in, scientific advance 

 in the engineering field. 



The following are the lecture arrangements at the Royal 

 Institution after Easter t-Prof. L. C. Miall, three lec- 

 tures on the study of extinct animals; Sir James Dewar. 

 three lectures on flame; Prof. J. A. Fleming, three lec- 

 tures on electromagnetic waves (the Tyndall lectures) : 

 Prof. H. Marshall Ward, two lectures on moulds and 

 mouldiness; Dr. J. G. Frazer, two lectures on the evolu- 

 tion of the kingship in early society ; and Mr. A. H. 

 Savage Landor, two lectures on exploration in the Philip- 

 pines. The Friday evening meetings will be resumed on 

 May 5, when a discourse will be delivered by Prof. H- E. 

 Armstrong on problems underlying nutrition. 



A nRANCii of L'Alliance Fran<;aise, an association for tbe 

 spread of the French language, is to be established in 

 London and Paris under the title of " Alliance littiraire, 

 scientifique et artistique Franco-.Xnglaise. " Information 

 as to membership of the new association can be obtamed 

 from 186 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The first soiree 

 will take place in London in the course of the present 

 month. The presidents of the as.sociation are M. Paul 

 Delombre, previously Minister for Commerce, and M. 

 Pierre Foucin, Inspecteur-G(5n(5ral de I'lnstruction pub- 

 lique. Among those who have promised their support to 

 the new society are Lord Avebury, Sir William Crookes, 

 Sir Archibald Geikie, Sir Oliver Lodge, Prof. Meldola, 

 Sir William Ramsay, Sir Henry Roscoe, and Sir William 

 White. 



The 'Idmcs correspondent at Athens reports that the 

 proceedings in connection with the ArchjEological Congress 

 began on April 7 with a reception at the university, at 

 which the King and the Crown Prince were present. The 

 opening ceremony took place at the Parthenon under the 

 presidency of the Crown Prince, the King and Queen 

 being also present. On April 8 Prof. Lainbros delivered 

 an address of welcome, recapitulating the achievements of 

 foreign and Greek research in recent years. The cere- 

 mony of inauguration of the Penrose Memorial Library 

 took place on April 8 in the British School. The King 

 and Queen and all the members of the Royal family were 



