DECEMBER 27, 1906| 
NA W(QHEIE 20 
anti-malarial campaign, there were 1550! ‘The report 
is illustrated with interesting plans and diagrams. 
At Port Swettenham, Federated Malay States, anti- 
malarial measures were commenced in 1go1 and 1902, 
and the latest report,! by Drs. Travers and Watson, 
shows how great a measure of success has been 
attained. Among the Government employees, for ex- 
ample, in 1901 236 sick certificates were issued and 
1026 days of leave were granted on account of 
malaria. In r190s the figures were respectively four 
and thirty. Comment is needless. 
NOTES. 
At a special general meeting of the Royal Society of 
Edinburgh, held on December 21, the council presented 
a report on the new accommodation to be provided for the 
society in consequence of its proposed removal from the 
Royal Institution, under the provisions of the National 
Galleries (Scotland) Bill. We learn from this report that 
in March last a memorial was presented to the Secretary 
for Scotland directing attention to the needs of the society, 
and asking for a free grant of 6ool. a year. In a semi- 
official reply to this memorial the general secretary of the 
society was informed that a proposal was being entertained 
by the Government to devote the whole of the Royal Insti- 
tution to the purposes of art, and that the Royal Society 
must contemplate the necessity for finding accommodation 
elsewhere. As it appeared from correspondence and an 
interview with the Secretary for Scotland that the Govern- 
ment had definitely decided to allot the whole of the Royal 
Institution for the purposes of art, the council resolved, 
with great reluctance, to accept the necessity for removal, 
and to do its best to secure adequate reinstatement. An 
accommodation committee was therefore appointed by the 
society to advise the Secretary for Scotland regarding sites 
and buildings suitable for new premises for the society, 
with the result that the committee unanimously recom- 
mended the building at present occupied by the Edinburgh 
Life Insurance Office, Nos. 22 and 24 George Street. At 
an interview on November 22 Mr. Sinclair offered, subject | 
to the consent of Parliament, to purchase and adapt the 
George Street building on certain conditions, and in addi- 
tion to give a free grant for the scientific purposes of the 
society. The conditions proposed were approved by the 
representatives of the society present as being, in the 
circumstances, an equitable settlement of the claims of 
the society. In a letter received by the general secretary, 
indicating the nature of the proposals which Mr. Sinclair 
intended to make in committee on the Bill in question, it 
was made clear that the society was to occupy the building 
on identical terms with those of the occupancy of the 
Royal Society at Burlington House. In the speech of the 
Secretary for Scotland on December 13, during the debate 
in Committee of the House of Commons on the Galleries 
Bill, the final proposals regarding the accommodation and 
grant to the society, recorded in last week’s NATURE (p. 
179) were described. Briefly, the arrangements are that a 
sum of 25,0001. will be used for the purchase of a building, 
and 30001. to cover the expenses of fitting up, redecorating 
the new premises, and transferring the library and other 
effects of the society from the Royal Institution. The 
Treasury will also give the society a grant of not more 
than 6001. a year. The council expresses the opinion that 
these proposals meet the claims of the Royal Society both 
in respect of an additional grant and of reinstatement in 
suitable new premises. In conclusion, the council remarks 
1 Journ. of Trop. Med., July 2. 
NO. 1939, VOL. 75 | 
in the report that the society owes a debt of gratitude to 
‘he Scottish Members of Parliament, members 
of the Royal Society of London, and to the British Science 
to various 
Guild for their loyal support in a time of difficulty. 
The report of the council was, on the motion of Sir 
William Turner, seconded by Prof. Bower, received and 
unanimously approved by the society at the special meeting 
on December 2t. 
Tue death is announced of Dr. A. W. Panton, tutor 
and lecturer on mathematics at Trinity College, Dublin. 
Dr. Panton useful to mathe- 
matical science, and was the author, in conjunction with 
made several contributions 
his colleague, Prof. W. S. Burnside, of a standard work 
on “ The Theory of Equations.” 
Tue Petit Parisien recently invited its readers to vote on 
the question of the relative preeminence of great French- 
men of the nineteenth century. The result is recorded in 
Monday’s Times. Fifteen million answers were received ; 
and Pasteur’s name headed the list with 1,338,425 votes, 
Victor Hugo, in the second place, being more than one 
hundred thousand votes behind him. In addition to 
Pasteur, the following is the order of the names of men 
of science who appear among the first twenty in the list -— 
Prof. Curie; Dr. Roux; Parmentier, who introduced the 
potato into France; Ampére; Arago; and Chevreul, the 
chemist. It is clear from the results of this plébiscite 
that the French people cherish the memories of the scien- 
tific investigators whose work has contributed, not only to 
national renown, but also to the advancement of know- 
ledge throughout the world. 
Reuter reports the following severe earthquake shocks 
during the past few days :—December 22, Kopal, 
Semirechensk.—An extremely violent earthquake shock, 
lasting one and a half minutes, was felt in this district at 
11.20 p.m. Rome.—The seismographic instruments at the 
observatories of Bologna and Florence recorded in the 
evening a violent earthquake estimated to have originated 
at a distance of 7ooo kilometres. December 26, Santiago 
de Chile—A strong shock of earthquake is reported from 
Arica. Shocks were felt at Iquique and Pisagua. 
A ReEuTER message from Naples states that a portion of 
the crater of Vesuvius fell in on December 20, with the 
result that a shower of ash fell over Naples for twenty 
minutes so thickly as to obscure all view of the volcano. 
Later in the day the ash ceased to fall at Naples, but 
continued in the direction of Portici and Pompeii. 
Tur St. Petersburg correspondent of the Globe reports 
that an expedition for the exploration of the Arctic regions 
is being equipped under the leadership of Lieut.-Colonel 
Sergeyeff. The expedition will last for several years, and 
will start from Yeniseisk, and try to reach Bering Strait. 
In the September number of Terrestrial Magnetism 
Prof. G. B. Rizzo states that on September 7, 1905, some 
hours before the Calabrian earthquake of last year, a 
land surveyor at Monteleone found the needle of his com- 
pass so much disturbed that he was compelled:to dis- 
continue work. In Japan great earthquakes have been 
known for some time to be preceded by magnetic disturb- 
ances, but we are not aware that any of these have been 
so large as that recorded by Prof. Rizzo. 
Tue annual conversazione of the Royal College of 
Science and Royal School of Mines Students’ Union was 
held on December 19 at the College in Exhibition Road, 
South Kensington. There were exhibits and demonstrations 
