August 4. 1904] 



NA TURE 



329 



veterinary surgeon to the Royal Agricultural Society. Prof. 

 Siinonds made many researches into the diseases of animals, 

 and became professional adviser to the Privy Council in all 

 matters relating to the regulations and supervision of the 

 cattle trade. 



According to the Scientific American, the patents of the 

 Dp Forest and Maskelyne wireless telegraphy systems have 

 been amalgamated. The object of the combination is the 

 (•mployment of wireless telegraphy as a feeder fcr cable 

 telegraphic systems. In cooperation with the cable 

 companies, it is proposed to link isolated islands with the 

 nearest cable stations, and to develop wireless communication 

 between ships and shore, and between vessels at sea. This 

 combination will, it is thought, strengthen both systems. 

 The I)e Forest apparatus is a sound recorder, the messages 

 being received on the principle of a telephone, while the 

 Maskelyne system is a tape recorder. By this amalgamation, 

 therefore, either system will be available according to 

 requirements. 



I'algui^re's monument to the memory of Pasteur was, as 

 iinnounced in N.^ture of Julv 21, unveiled in Paris by Presi- 

 dent Loubet on July id. The inonunient is the result of an 



international subscription, and may be regarded as a world- 

 wide tribute to the memory of a great man of science. The 

 illustration, reproduced from La Nature, serves to convey 

 an excellent idea of the memorial. The whole monument 

 is about seven metres in height, of which a little more than 

 four metres form the pedestal. Pasteur is shown seated and 

 in deep thought. Beneath the statue round the pedestal are 

 grouped allegorical figures which recall very naturally the 

 successive discoveries made by Pasteur. On the front face 

 of the pedestal occur the words " Pasteur 1S22-1S95," and 

 underneath the inscription " Ce monument est du si une 

 souscription Internationale. " 



A ST,iTUE to Jan Pieter Minckelers, the reputed discoverer 

 of coal gas, was unveiled last month in Maastricht, Holland. 

 Minckelers was born in 174S. and became in 1772 professor 



NO. 1814 , VOL. yo] 



of physics in the University of Kouvain, where in 17S4, in 

 endeavouring to discover a substitute for hydrogen, he 

 succeeded in obtaining from the distillation of powdered coal 

 a gas which he called " inflammable air." It was in 

 1785 that he first utilised the gas for lighting purposes, 

 when a class-room in the Louvain L'niversity was illumin- 

 ated by his method. He died in 1S24 at the age of seventy- 

 six years. 



The first annual convention of the British Foundrymen's 

 Association was begun on Tuesday last at Manchester, when 

 the president, Mr. Buchanan, delivered his inaugural 

 address. Papers on the structure of metal and alloys, illus- 

 trated bv photomicrographs of types of cast iron, steel, 

 brass, and bronze, used in foundry practice, by Mr. Percy 

 Longmuir (Carnegie medallist), and strength tests of cast 

 metals, by Mr. W. T. MacCall, were read and discussed, 

 and on Wednesday visits were paid to some industrial 

 centres. 



Several parts of Paris being so infested with mosquitoes, 

 the matter of their suppression has been considered by the 

 Conseil d 'Hygiene et de Salubrity de la Seine, which, accord- 

 ing to the Paris correspondent of the Lancet, recently 

 adopted certain conclusions of which 

 the following is a summary : — In the 

 first place stagnant water where their 

 eggs are hatched and localities where 

 the insects collect, such as cellars, 

 sewers, and dark places, ought to be 

 kept under observation. Drains and 

 sewers of all kinds, and the open- 

 ings of the pipes which supply water 

 in the streets, should be regularly 

 inspected to avoid collections of 

 stagnant water, and insects assem- 

 bling in numbers should be destroyed 

 either by a burning torch or by lime- 

 washing. Roofs and rain-water 

 gutters ought to be examined, and 

 water ought not to be allowed to 

 lodge in the gutters. Nothing cap- 

 able of holding water should be 

 placed in front of windows, and 

 l-'laces which are the haunts of 

 mosquitoes should be well ventilated. 

 Stagnant water should not be allowed 

 10 remain in gardens and courtyards. 

 Fountains and basins in public places 

 should be emptied and cleansed at 

 least once a week, and plenty of fish 

 should be kept in large sheets of 

 water. In basins and casks standing 

 on private ground there should be a layer of petroleum oil on 

 the surface of the water (about a gram per square metre), 

 or if the water contains fish a layer of salad oil. The public 

 should be advised to use mosquito curtains. Mosquito bites 

 should be treated with a drop of tincture of iodine or with 

 a drop of n solution of guaiacol of i per cent, strength. 



According to the Lancet. Dr. W. H. Symons, medical 

 officer of health, Bath, has completed a geological model 

 of the City of Bath and the surrounding district covering 

 an area of 36 square miles. The horizontal scale is six 

 inches to the mile, and the vertical scale is six inches to 

 1000 feet. The model has been placed in the museum of 

 the Royal Literary and Philosophical Institution of the city. 



Prof. Schafer, F.R.S., describes a simple and efficient 

 method of performing artificial respiration in the human 



