May i\, 1 883 J 



NATURE 



i'5 



shall be tenable for three years, but it may be continued over a 

 second term of three years (but no longer) to the same person 

 if the managers and Board decide that it would be clearly in the 

 interests of biological research. The balance of the income 

 of the fund, after providing for the Studentship and for any 

 necessary expenses connected with the election, shall be devoted 

 to the furtherance of original research in biology, especially 

 animal morphology. Grants may be made for this purpose 

 either to the holder of the Balfour Studentship or to any other 

 person engaged in research. 



The subscription list for the memorial bust of Prof. Henry 

 Smith, to be placed in the University Museum, will be closed at 

 the end of the present term. It would be convenient if sub- 

 scribers would, as soon as possible, pay their subscriptions into 

 the Old Bank, or send cheques to any of the following gentle- 

 men : — Mr. W. Little, Queen Anne's Mansions, S.W. ; Mr. R. 

 L. Nettleship, Balliol College, Oxford; or Mr. E. Chapman, 

 Frewen Hall, Oxford. 



Dr. Julius von Haast has been created a Companion of the 

 Order of St. Michael and St. George. 



Two statues which have been erected in front of the Berlin 

 University to the Brothers Alexander and Wilhelm von Hum- 

 bcldt were unveiled on Monday with great ceremony. The 

 Emperor and some of the members of the Imperial family wit- 

 nessed the proceedings from the Royal Palace, which imme- 

 diately faces the University, and the Emperor afterwards went 

 on foot to inspect the statues. 



Dr. Gabriel Gustav Valentin, one of the most eminent 

 professors of the University of Berne, and a distinguished physi- 

 cian, died at that city on May 24. Dr. Valentin was born at 

 Breslau in 1810, graduated in 1S32, and began practice in his 

 native town in the following year. In 1835 he publUhed 

 a handbook of the history of evolution ("Entwicklungs- 

 geschichte "), and in 1836 was appointed Professor of Physio- 

 logy in the University of Berne, a position which he held until 

 1881, when ill health compelled him to resign. He stood very 

 high in his profession, and was the author of many scientific 

 works, two of which were written in Latin, " De phoenomeno 

 generali et fundamental! motus vibratorii continui " and " De 

 functionibus nervorum cerebralium et nervi sympathici libri qua- 

 tuor." He wrote also a "Text-Book of Physiology," a book 

 entitled " Groundwork of Human Physiology," a "Repertory 

 of Anatomy and Physiology," an " Examination of the Effects 

 of Polarised Light on the Life of Plants," an elaborate work on 

 the "Adaptation of the Spectroscope to Physiological and 

 Medicinal Purposes," and several others which attest his vast 

 knowledge and untiring industry. 



The following remarks by our American contemporary, 

 Science, on the subject of the Canadian meeting of the British 

 Association in 18S4, are deserving of attention : — " It is to be ob- 

 served that in the present year the meeting of the American 

 Association, at Minneapolis, is early (August 17); while that of 

 the British Association, at Southport, which is, besides, in the 

 immediate vicinity of Liverpool, is unusually late (September 

 19). This will allow members of the American Association to 

 attend both meetings, and it is stated that the retiring President 

 of the American Association, and possibly others of its members, 

 may avail themselves of tliis privilege. This may possibly per- 

 mit arrangements to be made which might substantially unite the 

 meetings of the two Associations in 1884, and so prepare for an 

 international meeting in the future. If the meeting of the 

 American Association for 1884 can be fixed for some north- 

 eastern city, sufficiently near to Montreal, and can be timed so as 

 to occur a week before or after that of the British Association, 

 there can be no doubt that a great number of the members of the 



latter body would take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy 

 the companionship of their American confreres, while, on the 

 other hand, many of these would gladly spend a few days at the 

 meeting of the British Association. In this way it would seem 

 that a greater benefit to science might result than even from an 

 international meeting. There would be time for the complete 

 transaction of the business of both Associations. Neither would 

 suffer, either pecuniarily or in the value of iis proceedings ; and 

 there would be the best possible opportunity for interchange of 

 ideas between the scientific men of the United States, Great 

 Britain, and Canada. Nor is it unlikely that some scientific 

 workers from the continent of Europe and elsewhere may be 

 attracted by a combination so unusual. It may thus be hoped 

 that the proposed meeting of the British Association in Canada 

 may not only be one of the most successful that this mother 01 

 Associations has held, but may inaugurate an epoch of renewed 

 activity and progress in the widely-spread scientific work of the 

 two great Associations of the English-speaking race." 



The New Parkes Museum of Hygiene at 741;, Margaret 

 Street, Regent Street, was opened on Saturday under favourable 

 and distinguished auspices. The Duke of Aloany presided and 

 formally opened the Museum, and gave besides a sensible and 

 thoughtful speech. " Hygiene," His Royal Highness said, "as 

 we now understand it, is a branch of knowledge of modern 

 growth. It is one of the natural results of the great advance of 

 science which this century has witnessed, and might, I fancy, 

 not inaptly be defined as the application of scientific principles 

 to the varying conditions under which we are called upon to live. 

 Thanks to the labours of many eminent men, we have now 

 advanced some way towards an accurate knowledge of the con- 

 ditions which are necessary fir health ; and most of these con- 

 ditions have long been familiar to the few. One object of the 

 Parkes Museum will be to make them familiar to the many. 

 We have learned, and are daily learning, that many of the 

 luxuries and conveniences of modern life may become sources of 

 danger to us if they be ignorantly used. London would be 

 almost uninhabitable were it not for its wonderful system of 

 sewers; but while enjoying the blessing of effective sewerage, 

 we have had to encounter the difficulty of keeping the air of the 

 sewers out of our dwellings. We all appreciate the brilliant 

 light which is given by a gas lamp ; but its wholesome use, we 

 are now beginning to find, involves que-tions of ventilation 

 which scarcely troubled those who were content with the com- 

 parative dimness of a candle. Again, the open coal fire has 

 long been regarded as one of the chief luxuries of the Briton, 

 but the collected smoke of the fires of 4,000,000 of people has 

 become a nuisance too grievous to be borne, and one for which 

 a remedy mu-t be sought. It is notorious that many of our 

 public and private buildings in this country have been constructed 

 w itli jut due attention, or, indeed, any attention, to th >se details 

 which alone make a dwelling wholesome. The experiences of 

 my own family in this matter have indeed been singularly hard. 

 We hope that this museum will tend to hasten the end of this 

 state of things, and that henceforward 'healthiness ' will be con- 

 sidered as an essential condition of true architectural beauty. 

 For the healthiness of our dwellings we have to depend, not only 

 upon the master mind which furnishes the plan, but even to a 

 greater extent upon the intelligent hands of those who are called 

 upon to carry out the details. Unless the work of these latter 

 be done with intelligence and faithful honesty, the schemes of 

 the wisest architect avail us 1 ttle. The instruction which has 

 been and will be given here to the artisans who carry out the 

 sanitary details of our houses mtist be productive of good results. 

 At least, let us hope that some of the specimens of defective 

 workmanship to be found upon our shelves will impress upon 

 them that death, disease, and sorrow may be the results of ignor- 

 ance or cireles-ness on their part." Among the other speakers 



