August 29, 1901] 



NA TURE 



433 



Prof. Otto Nordenskjold is at Malmd, Sweden, making 

 arrangements for his South Polar Expedition. A Reuter 

 message says he has made the following statement to a Press 

 representative as to the plan and object of his expedition : — " As 

 soon as the Antantic returns from the expedition which she has 

 made to Spitsbergen for meridian measurements, we start from 

 Gtiteborg, certainly not later than October I. From Goteborg 

 we shall proceed to England, and thence to Buenos Ayres and 

 Tierra del Fuego, whence we shall make our way to the Ant- 

 arctic regions. We shall endeavour to push as far south as 

 possible with the Antarctic ; and, when winter comes on, we 

 shall send a party on shore to winter. That party will probably 

 consist of six persons, of whom I shall be one. We shall build 

 a small hut for ourselves, and engage in meteorological, mag- 

 netic, hydrographic, and other scientific observations. As soon 

 as we have landed, the Antarctic will return to Tierra del 

 Fuego ; and a scientific observer, who will sail with her, will 

 conduct the researches in that hitherto little explored country. 

 In this way we shall be able to work in two detachments, and 

 make as much use of our time as possible. Prof. Ohiin, of 

 Lund, and M. K. A. Andersson will accompany me as zoologists. 

 Dr. Bodman will come as hydrographer and magnetician, M. 

 Skottoberg as botanist, and Dr. E. Ekolof as medical officer. 

 Captain Larsin, who has already made several voyages to South 

 Polar regions, will be in charge of the Antarctic." 



From a note in the Times we see that the British Consul- 

 General at Marseilles reports that artificial indigo is killing the 

 natural product on the French market. The artificial dye 

 already regulates prices. The Badische Company have for two 

 years been making indigo near Lyons for local consumption, 

 while the Hochst Farbwerke are manufacturing synthetic 

 indigo by another process in the same city. Artificial indigo is 

 classed for Customs duty with natural indigo, and, since goods 

 dyed with it are not required to be declared as such, they are 

 sold at similar prices to goods dyed with natural indigo. Lyons 

 dyers of cotton and woollen goods and Lyons dealers in indigo 

 say that natural indigo has been ousted from many dye works, 

 especially since artificial indigo has been prepared by crushing. 

 Small dyers favour synthetic indigo, because they can buy 

 small quantities as required and prices do not violently 

 fluctuate. But, as the vegetable dye gives more solidity to the 

 cloth, it is still likely to be used for military uniforms. Dr. 

 Calmette, of Lille, is s.iid to have patented a process lor 

 extracting indigotin from vegetable indigo up to thrice the 

 quantity produced by the more primitive methods. It is curious 

 that the Bengal Chamber of Commerce have recently had to 

 ask the Havre Chamber to abolish a rule under which indigo 

 tendered in that important terminal market must be guaranteed 

 to be manufactured by the "old" process — a serious restriction 

 in view of the many new processes recently introduced. The 

 request has been complied with, and certificates will not be 

 needed after April i next. From the Consular report on 

 Fr.ankfurt-on-Main for 1900 it appears that the Badische 

 Company has borrow-ed 12,000,000 marks for the purpose of 

 enlarging the production of artificial indigo and reducing its 

 cost price. The company now claims to be able to supply one- 

 sixth of the world's requirements. The Hochster Farbwerke are 

 also extending their indigo business. Natural and artificial 

 indigo are both 10 per cent, cheaper than last year, the policy 

 of manufacturers being to keep the price of the synthetic rather 

 below that of natural indigo. 



A BUST of Dr. G. Armauer Hansen, the discoverer of the 

 leprosy bacillus, was unveiled a few days ago by Prof. Visdal 

 in the garden of the Museum at Bergen, in the presence of 

 many Norwegian and foreign medical men. We learn from the 

 British Medical Journal that an address was delivered by Prof. 

 NO. 1 66 I, VOL. 64] 



O. Lassar, of Berlin ; and Drs. Sandberg and Lie, of Bergen, 

 also spoke. Congratulatory messages were sent from all parts 

 of the world, and a letter from Prof. Virchow was read, in 

 which the veteran pathologist, after expressing his regret at his 

 inability to be present, went on to say that Dr. Hansen's work 

 had definitively cleared up a large and difiicult field of pathology, 

 and that his name was known and celebrated throughout the 

 whole world as a benefactor of mankind. Dr. Hansen was born 

 in Bergen in 1S41, and received his early education in the 

 cathedral college of that town. His first investigation was to 

 work out the significance of the so-called globi, or leprous cells 

 of Virchow, and the results of his observations were published 

 in 1869. He then obtained evidence of the contagious and 

 specific nature of the malady, and the Medical Society of 

 Christiania voted a sum of money for him to continue his re- 

 search. Further investigations of the peculiar bodies (globi- 

 brown corpuscles) previously referred to were rewarded by the 

 discovery, in unstained preparations, of bacilli which were 

 ultimately stained and proved to be the bacilli of leprosy. 

 This discovery was made in 1873 — that is, about ten years 

 before the bacillus tuberculosis was made known to the world 

 by Koch. For years Hansen has repeatedly tried to cultivate 

 and inoculate the Bacillus leprae, which is known as Hansen's 

 bacillus, but up to the present fruitlessly. One great point, 

 however, has been gained — namely, that it is now practically 

 admitted by all those engaged in the study and observation of 

 leprosy, that the disease is contagious. In Norway, practical 

 legislation on this basis has given the best results, and leprosy 

 there is gradually and surely diminishing. Dr. Hansen cele- 

 brated his sixtieth birthday on July 29, and the tribute to his 

 lifelong work and devotion above recorded will be gratifying to 

 all lovers of science. The King of Norway has conferred upon 

 him the distinction of Commander of the Order of Ola. 



A LIST of nearly fifty papers accepted by the committee of 

 Section A of the British Association, for reading at the forth- 

 coming meeting at Glasgow, has been received since the publi- 

 cation of the forecast of the work of the other sections in last 

 week's N.\TURE. Arrangements have been made for discussions 

 on optical glass, to be opened by a paper by Dr. R. T. Glaze- 

 brook, F.R.S. ; energetics, to be opened by Dr. J. Larmor, 

 F.R.S., with a paper on the relation of energetics to molecular 

 theory ; and on the proposed new unit of pressure, to be opened 

 by Dr. C. E. Guillaume. A report will be received from the 

 committees on tables of certain mathematical functions, under- 

 ground temperature, and the determination of magnetic forces. 

 Lord Kelvin will read papers on the absolute amount of 

 gravitational matter in any large volume of interstellar space, 

 and on " Aepinus atomised." Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S. , will read 

 several papers, among the subjects being the influence of a 

 magnetic field on the viscosity of magnetisable solids and liquids, 

 elastic fatigue, and induced currents produced by starting a 

 convection current. The following are among other physical 

 papers : — On a new instrument for magnetic work on board 

 ship, by Captain E. W. Creak, F.R.S. ; on the effect of sea 

 temperature on the seasonal variation of air temperature of the 

 British Isles, by Mr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S. ; the law of radiation, 

 by Dr. J. Larmor, F.R.S. ; the Michelson-Morley effect, by 

 Prof. W. M. Hicks, F.R.S. ; sur les effets magnetiquede la con- 

 vection electrique, by Dr. V. Cremieu ; on the magnetic field 

 due to the motion of a charged condenser, by Dr. F. T. Trouton, 

 F.R.S. ; on resolving power in the microscope and telescope, 

 by Prof. T. D. Everett, F.R.S. ; on the interference of light from 

 different sources, by Dr. G. J. Stoney, F.R.S. ; on a simple 

 method of accurate surveying with a hand camera, by Prof 

 H. H. Turner, F.R.S. ; on the conduction of electricity through 

 mercury vapour, by Prof. A. Schuster, F.R.S. ; hydrostatic 



