45° 



NATURE 



[February b, 1919 



during the last four and a half years he has 



1 number of very successful courses of 



on the history of science at several universi- 



We are glad to hear that he is about to visit 



again in connection with the restarting of his 



hi, nal; of which the materials for vols. ii. and iii. 



I. .iliimsi reach. We understand that M. Sarton 



ina\ be joined l>\ Dr. Charles Singer, wlni has worked 



iii England on somewhat similar lines, in subsequent 



[Periodical publications in connection with the history 



of scieni e. 



THE death is announced, in his seventy-ninth year, 

 of Dr. Rossiter \Y. Raymond, one- of the leading 

 (American authorities on mining. Dr. Raymond 

 graduated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 

 1.S5S, and, after pursuing further studies at Munich, 

 Heidelberg, and Freiberg, served with distinction in 

 the American Civil War. In 1866 he became editor 

 of the American Journal oj Mining, afterwards the 

 Engineering and Wining Journal, to which he re- 

 mained a contributor up to the time of his death. 

 From iShS ii, [876 he was U.S. Commissioner of 

 Mining Statistics, and in that capacity acquired a 

 great reputation for his investigations and reports. 

 Dr. Raymond was one of the founders of the Ameri- 

 can Institute of Mining Engineers, of which he was 

 president from 1S72 to 1.S74 and secretary from 1884 

 to 1911. He was the author of "Mineral Resources 

 of the U.S. in and West of the Rocky Mountains," 

 a glossary of mining and metallurgical terms, and 

 various other technical works and papers. 



News has been received, by telegram from Cape- 

 Town, that Dr. G. S. Corstorphine, principal of the 

 South African School of Mines and Technology, 

 Johannesburg, died on January 25. Dr. Corstorphine 

 was appointed to the principalship of the college in 

 1913, and was recognised as one of the leading South 

 African geologists and mineralogists, and a very 

 eminent authority on questions connected with the 

 geology of the Rand goldfield. Born in Edinburgh 

 in 1868, Dr. Corstorphine was first trained for the 

 teaching profession, and passed through the Moray 

 House Training College course. He soon, however, 

 developed a marked interest in science, and studied 

 at Edinburgh University, principally in biology and 

 geology, obtaining the Baxter science scholarship in 1892 

 for the most distinguished graduate for the year in those 

 subjects. Thereafter he was appointed university assis- 

 tant to Prof. James Geikie, and was, fortunately, able 

 to devote a considerable part of each year to study- 

 abroad. Munich was in those days a favourite resort 

 of Scottish students for post-graduate work, and under 

 I'rof. Groth and Prof. Weinschenk Dr. Corstorphine's 

 interest in mineralogy, petrography, and geology was 

 greatly stimulated. He took the degree of Ph.D. in 

 r8g 5 ' ith a thesis on some igneous rocks from the 

 sou of Arran, which was his only contribution to 

 Briti-i geology. In 1896 he went to Cape Town as 

 professor of geology in the South African College. He 

 was also keeper of geology in the museum, and 

 received appointment as director of the newly insti- 

 tuted Geological Survey of Cape Colony. In 1902, 

 however, the ions of the Rand drew him away 



from Cape Town, and he went to Johannesburg as 

 consulting geologi; the Consolidated Goldfields Co. 



Later he set up in practice as a consulting geologist 

 in Johannesburg, and vice was much in request 



by mining companies. '.''■ best known work is "The 

 Geology of South Africa," which he wrote jointly with 

 Dr. F. H. Hatch. First published in 1905, the volume 

 is now in its second edition. Dr. Corstorphine wrote 

 several papers on problems of Transvaal geology, in 

 of which he had Dr. Hatch collaborator. He 

 NO. 2571, VOL. I02] 



was president of fhe South African Geological Soci.lv 

 in 1906 and honorary secretary from n,io 10 1 < j 1 5 . 



At .1 nice ling of tin- Society of Antiquaries held on 



J. j 30, Capt. R. Campbell Thompson read .1 



paper on the excavations which hi- had con- 

 duel' d by War Office orders on behalf of the British 

 Mus. urn at Abu Shahrain, in Mesopotamia. This 

 place, the Eridu of the cuneiform records, lies in the 

 'lis. ii about twenty miles south-west from Nasiriyah. 

 ll \\,is parti. dh excavated by J. E. Taylor in ihe 

 middle of the lasl century, but the value of his dis- 

 COVeries was not at the time appreciated. The results 

 of the recent excavations an- of high scientific im- 

 portance. Numerous chipped and ground celts and 

 Hakes show that the early inhabitants lived in the 

 Stone age-. More important even is the potter} of 

 bull, wheel-turned clay, painted with geometric 

 designs in black, exactly similar to that found in the 



lowesi stratum at Susa by M. De Morgan. Though 

 the people of Eridu were ignorant of writing, their 

 culture was decidedly advanced. They lived on cereals 

 and on fresh-water mussels from the Euphrates, 

 which must then have flowed near the city. The- relies 

 represent the pre-Sumerian population which occupied 

 southern Mesopotamia before the arrival of the 

 Sumerian race. 



Dr. W. E. Collinge, 



( Hic'-n's Terrace, St. 



Andrews, has issued a circular announcing the pro- 

 posed foundation of an organisation and publication 

 that will bring together students of wild birds. The 

 objects of the Wild Bird Investigation Society are : — 

 (1) The more intensive study of the ways and habits 

 of British birds; (2) the protection of all beneficial 

 and non-injurious wild birds and the repression of 

 really injurious species; (3) the influencing and 

 educating of public opinion as to the destructiveness 

 or usefulness of wild birds to agriculture, horti- 

 culture, forestry, etc., by means of publications, 

 meetings, lectures, etc. ; {4) the discouragement of 

 egg- and bird-collecting, except under guidance or for 

 scientific purposes; (5) the improvement and modifica- 

 tion of the existing laws relating to wild birds; 

 (6) the establishment of bird sanctuaries under efficient 

 control ; (7) the discussion and consideration of these 

 matters from all points of view; and (8) the estab- 

 lishment of local branches throughout the United 

 Kingdom. At a later date it is proposed to call a 

 general meeting for the purpose of approving the 

 draft rules and to elect officers. Further particulars 

 may be obtained from Dr. Collinge at the above 

 address. 



There seems reason to hope that prosperity is 

 returning to the Zoological Society of London, which 

 has come singularly well through a very anxious time. 

 At any rate, at the monthly meeting of the society 

 held on January 15 it was announced that there had 

 been an increase in the gate-money received during 

 iqiX of 544J., as compared with the total amount 

 received during 11)17. The most important additions 

 to the menagerie during the month were a chim- 

 panzee from Sierra Leone and thirty-two lizards, 

 including eight starred lizards from Salonica, sent by 

 Capt. W. 1). Motion and Mr. G. H. Colt. 



The hawks of the Canadian prairie provinces in 

 their relation to agriculture forms the subject of a 

 valuable Bulletin (No. 28) by Mr. P. A. Taverner, 

 issued bv the Canadian Department of Mines. The 

 author briefly, but lucidly, summarises the distinguish- 

 ing features of the various species of hawks and 

 falcons of these provinces, so that they may readily 

 be identified by the farmer and sportsman, and, 



