September 12, 1901] 



NA TURE 



489 



sent papers of questions to the secretaries of local branches 

 abroad, and it is hoped that members resident in districts 

 outside Great Britain will cooperate in the work. 



The gold medal of the Italian Science Society has been pre- 

 sented to Mr. Marconi in London for his services in the inven- 

 tion of wireless telegraphy. The medal was entrusted by the 

 Minister for Foreign Affairs in Rome to the Marquis Luigi 

 Solari di Loreto, an officer in the Italian navy. Count Vinci, 

 Charge d' Affaires of Italy in London, and Cav. P. T. Righetti, 

 Vice-Consul, were also present. The Marquis Solari, in hand- 

 ing the medal to Mr. Marconi, expressed the admiration of Italy 

 for her distinguished son, whom the whole country remembered 

 with pride and delight. Mr. Marconi, in reply, stated that 

 among the many marks of distinction conferred on him he prized 

 none so much as those which came from his beloved native land. 



M. Santos Dumont made an ascent with his new steerable 

 balloon on Friday last, and though he was successful in navigat- 

 ing the balloon, an accident occurred owing to one of the guide- 

 ropes getting caught among some trees. He hopes to make 

 another ascent in a week or so. The Paris correspondent of the 

 Times says that the scientific commi'tee of the Aero Club has 

 resolved that the competitors for the Deutsch Prize must not 

 only return to the starting-point within twenty minutes after 

 rounding the Eiffel Tower, but must actually touch ground in 

 the Aero Club enclosure. Mr. William Beedle, whose balloon 

 is now being rapidly got ready at the Spencer Works, intends to 

 be in Paris towards the end of October to try for the prize. He 

 has a more powerful motor than that of M. Santos Dumont, 

 28-horse power, and a tougher envelope protected, and, it is 

 believed, so arranged under an aluminium framework as to 

 secure perfect rigidity for all practical purposes. 



The fifth International Congress of Criminal Anthropology 

 was opened at Amsterdam on Monday last. Among the papers 

 contributed was one by Prof. Lombroso, on the latest anatomical 

 researches into degeneration and on tattooing. 



We regret to notice the announcement of the death, on the 

 7th inst., of Dr. John Louis William Thudichum, well known 

 for his researches in organic and physiological chemistry. 



The late Mr. H. M. Courage, of Snowdenham Hall, 

 Bramley, has left the whole of his valuable collection of birds, 

 numbering between 6000 and 7000 specimens, to the governors 

 of Cheltenham College. A few years before his death, which 

 occurred last month, Mr. Courage presented a representative 

 collection of British birds to the Hobart Museum, Tasmania. 



The Baumgartner prize of the value of 2000 crowns will be 

 awarded at the end of 1903 by the Vienna Academy of Sciences 

 for a research enlarging our knowledge of the invisible 

 radiations. 



Science announces that the Veitch silver medal for distin- 

 guished services in botany and horticulture has been awarded to 

 Mr. Thomas Meehan, of Philadelphia. 



The Surrey County Council have taken a practical step in 

 the direction of the prevention of tuberculosis by the issue of a 

 leaflet dealing with the character of the disease, its great 

 mortality, the manner in which it is spread, and the precautions 

 which should be taken to prevent infection. This leaflet has 

 been drawn up by the county medical officer. Dr. Seaton, 

 acting on the instructions of the sanitary committee of the 

 County Council, and local authorities throughout the county 

 have been asked to cooperate in the dissemination of this 

 information to every household in Surrey. The committee 

 recommend all sanitary authorities to inform medical practitioners 

 in their districts that, after tlie death or removal of a patient 

 suffering from the disease, they will undertake disinfection of 

 the premises at their own cost 



NO. 1663 VOL. 64] 



An analysis of dust which lell at Fiume, Hungary, on March 

 lo-ll, and was described as showers of " red or blood rain " 

 over a large part of Southern and Central Europe, was made by 

 M. M. Barac, and the results are given in the number of the 

 /oumal of the Royal Meteorological Society just issued (vol. 

 .\xvii. No. 119). It will be remembered that some of the dust 

 was collected by Prof. RUcker at Taormina, and described by 

 Prof. Judd in these columns on March 28 {p. 514). M. Barac's 

 chemical analysis gave the following percentage composition for 

 the material : — Silica, 49 '49 ; iron sesquioxide, 9 '96 ; alumina, 

 I2'I0 ; manganese peroxide, I '99 ; lime, II'46; magnesia, 

 0'40 ; carbonic acid, 8'96 ; organic matter, 5 '48; traces of 

 soda, sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, &c., 0'l6. Under the 

 microscope, with a power of 640, M. Barac found the main 

 mass to consist principally of colourless and, in less degree, of 

 coloured particles, of irregular shape, partly angular fragments 

 of crystals, and also mineral particles. In addition there were 

 siliceous skeletons of micro-organisms, and, finally, particles of 

 soot. There were a few well-formed rhombohedra of calciteand 

 cubes of common salt ; and both the calcite and the quartz 

 crystals e.xhibited chromatic polarisation. As regards magni- 

 tude, the minimum was O'OOI mm., the average o'oi7 mm., 

 and the maximum among the crystalline particles 0'05i mm. ; 

 while the yellow structureless mineral particles attained the size 

 of 0113 mm. 



Major Ronald Ross, F.R.S., has sent a letter to Mr. A. L. 

 Jones giving some particulars as to the results of his visit to the 

 Gold Coast and the work of the fifth expedition of the Liverpool 

 School of Tropical Medicine in Sierra Leone. He says that at 

 Sierra Leone he found Dr. Logan Taylor pushing on the opera- 

 tions against mosquitoes with great vigour. A report received a 

 few days ago from Dr. Logan Taylor states that 5000 houses in 

 Freetown have been cleared of vessels of every description 

 which previously served as breeding places for mosquitoes. 

 What a serious blow this will be to the prevalence of the 

 Culex mosquito in Freetown will be readily understood. The 

 result is already well marked, and there is undoubtedly a 

 great reduction in the number of these insects in the centre 

 of the town generally. Of course, the insects will still 

 occur for some time here and there, but their breeding 

 places can be easily detected and abolished. To judge of the 

 value of these operations it must be remembered that besides 

 causing constant annoyance to everyone, the insects carry the 

 germs of yellow fever, elephantiasis, and perhaps other diseases. 

 Operations against the Anopheles mosquito (which breed in;. 

 puddles on the ground) are also being well pushed by Drs- 

 Taylor and Berkeley. Hollows in the ground are everywhere 

 being drained away or filled up with rubble and earth. Others 

 are being filled with the empty bottles and tins found in the 

 houses. Many of the worst streets, which formerly were practi- 

 cally marshes in the rains, have been reclaimed. Major Ross 

 says it is now a matter of some difficulty to catch Anopheles for 

 scientific examination, and it seems that a little perseverance 

 will ultimately abolish these malaria-bearing insects as a disease 

 factor in Freetown. Major Ross remarks in conclusion that the 

 unhealthiness of the Coast has been much exaggerated. True, 

 there is a considerable amount of malaria among Europeans ; 

 but then there is little or no typhoid. He says that in nine 

 cases out of ten if a man contracts malarial infection it is his own 

 fault. 



The Fioneer Mail, Allahabad, states that Mr. Rea, superin- 

 tendent of the Archaeological Survey of Madras and Coorg, has 

 discovered a field for exploration in the Tinnevelly district which 

 promises to be of much interest and importance. The site, 

 which is near Adichanallar, has been, Mr. Rea thinks, at one 

 time a very large town. " The deposits, if fully excavated, 

 would, I have not the slightest doubt," says Mr. Rea, " stoclf 



