July 14, 1904] 



NA TURE 



251 



but few tourists. Nevertheless, to the ornithologist 

 and the egg-collector it is Itttle short of a paradise, 

 birds of many kinds resorting to its inhospitable shores 

 for the breeding season in vast numbers. The variety 

 and abundance of bird-life are, indeed, testified by the 

 statement of the author of the handsome and ex- 

 quisitely illustrated volume before us, that during his 

 first trip he encountered no less than seventy-six 

 species, of forty-four of which he succeeded in obtain- 

 ing the eggs. 'This exuberance of bird life the natives 

 do their best to keep in check, and it must be confessed 

 that a bird protection society would find plenty of 

 scope in the country, as all birds large enough to be 

 eaten are shot during the breeding season, while the 

 eggs of many species are taken by the thousand. An 

 excuse for these practices is to be found, as the author 

 states, in the circumstance that birds only visit this 

 part of Lapland in order to breed, and if they did not 

 do so then, the natives would never have a chance of 

 killing them at all. Loons, or divers, it appears, are 

 often taken accidentally in fishing nets, but puffins, 

 which swarm in the country and have been described 

 in an official publication as "ducks," are taken for 

 food bv stretching old nets across their holes. 



Previous to the first of the three trips recorded in 

 this volume, Mr. Pearson had already visited Lapland, 

 and has described his experiences in " Beyond Petsora 

 Eastward." Of the three trips described in the present 

 work, the first was undertaken in 1899, and was de- 

 voted to the exploration of the northern districts of the 

 countrv; in igoi the author visited the Kanin Penin- 

 sula, while in 1903 he penetrated the interior of the 

 countrv south of Kola. The year 1899 was remark- 

 able for the late melting of the snow, which still 

 covered the country on June 2, when the herring-gull 

 was found nesting on little patches of clear ground in 

 the snow. During this year the starling seems to have 

 first extended its range into the country, the species 

 being at that time quite unknown to the natives. 

 Among the larger birds, white-tailed eagles were found 

 to be not uncommon, although, owing to the rewards 

 offered by Government for their eggs and young, they 

 can only build in safety on inaccessible crags. Ospreys 

 were, however, sought in vain, these birds being 

 persecuted by the Finns on account of the fish they 

 destroy. An immense eagle's nest in one of the few 

 trees remaining on the Murman coast was one of the 

 " finds " of this trip. Very notable, also, was the dis- 

 covery of a nest of the rough-legged buzzard on the 

 ground. Among the prizes in the way of eggs may 

 be mentioned those of the little stint and the dotterel, 

 while those of the turnstone, although by no means 

 uncommon, were exceedingly difficult to discover. A 

 breeding colony of glaucous gulls yielded quite a 

 harvest of eggs. .Apparently the earliest breeder is 

 the Siberian jay, which nests in April, when the country 

 is inaccessible, except on ski. During his trip the 

 author was fortunate enough to come across an old 

 Finn who collected with John Wolley forty years ago 

 on the Gulf of Bothnia. 



The accompanying picture is an example of the 

 illustrations which render this interesting and well 

 written volume so attractive. R. L. 



PROF. CHARLES SORET. 



CHARLES SORET, honorary professor of physics 

 at the University of Geneva, whose recent death 

 we regret to announce, was born at Geneva on Sep- 

 tember 23, 1854. .'Vfter a general course of study at 

 the college and at the university of his native town, he 

 devoted himself especially to the study of physics. 



NO. I 8 I I , VOL. 70] 



In this he followed a family tradition, his father being 

 the Genevese physicist Jacques-Louis Soret. Like 

 his father, from whom he inherited his deep love and 

 respect for scientific truth and his scrupulously exact 

 method of working, he will be remembered as one of 

 the most distinguished representatives of the science 

 of Geneva. During many years, until the death of 

 Louis Soret in 1890, he was his father's colleague and 

 collaborator. 



Charles Soret took successively at Paris the degrees 

 of licentiate in physical science in 1876 and of licen- 

 tiate in mathematical science in 1878. After a visit 

 to Germany he returned in 1879 to the University of 

 Geneva to fill the chair of mineralogy, a subject which, 

 by the enthusiasm of his teaching, he rendered widely 

 popular. His earliest works date from this period; 

 they are published in the Archives des Sciences 

 physiques et naturelles of Geneva, a journal with 

 which he was associated during more than twenty 

 years, and to the publication committee of which he 

 rendered many signal services. Little noticed at first, 

 the works of Soret opened out the way for other in- 

 vestigators; at the present day every mineralogist is 

 acquainted with " Soret's Law " and " Soret's re- 

 fractometer." Crystallography was the science es- 

 pecially cultivated by Soret; the subject-matter of his 

 course was published by him in 1893, under the title 

 of " Elements de Cristallographie physique," a work 

 well known and appreciated by specialists. 



On Wartmann's death in 1886, Soret was called to 

 the chair of experimental physics in the University 

 of Geneva, and during two years he was burdened 

 with a double duty. By transferring the mineralogy 

 course to one of his students, he v^-as enabled to con- 

 tinue his own peculiar studies, especially in the domain 

 of crystallographic optics, for which he showed a 

 marked preference. He was an excellent professor of 

 physics and gave a new impulse to the study of that 

 science at Geneva; the laboratory was largely ex- 

 tended, and many serious students came_ to group 

 themselves around a master so conscientious as _ to 

 devote himself almost exclusively to their scientific 

 training. Soret would certainly have* published more 

 had he not given himself with so single a mind to 

 the exacting and fatiguing duties of directing his 

 laboratory. 



A valued member of the faculty of science, he was 

 at the same time appreciated by the whole university. 

 After serving during a long period as secretary of the 

 university senate, he was, in 1S98, appointed to_ the 

 honourable but exacting office of rector of the univer- 

 sity. Owing to his serious qualities, to his firm but 

 conciliatory character, he wielded great authority, and 

 his duties as rector were filled with rare distinction. 

 .'\pplying scientific method in all things, he was a 

 remarkable administrator, and many are the services 

 he rendered to the university. But he overtaxed his 

 powers, and when his rectorate expired, in 1900, he 

 was forced to resign his professorship, a step which 

 caused profound regret among his colleagues and 

 friends. 



After a rest of two years his health seemed re- 

 established. He resumed his scientific activity and 

 his researches in the laboratory that he had created. 

 He had just published in the Archives for March, 

 1904,' a new investigation of the refraction of tourma- 

 line when, on April 4, he was removed from his 

 family and friends by a sudden illness. 



The death of Soret is a great loss to his country 

 and to science in general. Much might still have 

 been anticipated from a mind so lucid, so methodical, 



.rk is publisheJ in the May number of the 



