July i 9) 1883] 



NATURE 



279 



Brit and second are so important that the less time that is 

 lost in starting such an institution the better; and we are 

 glad to learn that towards its foundation the Duke of 

 Westminster has promised 500/., Mr. C. Waring 100/., 

 and Mr. Cubitt 100/. 



The most important speech, perhaps, was that made by 

 the Duke of Westminster, in moving the adoption of the 

 Report. He pointed out that we are face to face with a 

 very gigantic evil — an evil not only gigantic in itself, but, 

 considering the enormous yearly increase of 40,000 in the 

 population, one of a very alarming character. Therefore 

 it was necessary that some steps should be taken to abate, 

 if not to entirely do away with, that monstrous evil, 

 which affected the health and vitality of the inhabitants 

 of the metropolis. They were all aware of the evil effects 

 of smoke, and how far worse it became when mixed with 

 fog, but they believed that it was an evil which might be 

 considerably modified if not entirely prevented. They 

 had indisputable authority for saying that smoke was very 

 wasteful and destructive. The waste in London alone 

 amounted to one million yearly, and the waste in the 

 country must be taken in proportion to that in the metro- 

 polis. They had also the highest authority for informing 

 the public that the evil affected the health of those who 

 lived under the canopy of smoke. Its effect on public 

 buildings was also most destructive, and Mr. Shaw-Lefevre 

 had said that to repair the damage done by its agency to 

 the Houses of Parliament alone involved an expenditure 

 of 2500/. per annum, and there could be no greater curse 

 and bane to the metropolis than that smoke nuisance. The 

 object of the meeting was to impress upon the public the 

 importance of the subject. The Smoke Nuisance Act had 

 been useful in the past, and could be made more efficacious 

 in the future if its provisions were more strenuously en- 

 forced. Quoting from the correspondence which had taken 

 place between the Home Office and the Association upon 

 the subject, the speaker said that the Home Secretary 

 had stated that in the majority of cases the fines inflicted 

 were far less in amount than had been contemplated 

 by the Act. That was not a right state of things, and 

 efforts should be made to remedy it as soon as possible ; 

 and it was not unreasonable to suppose that with a 

 proper enforcement of the law a check to a certain extent 

 might be put upon the nuisance. After some other obser- 

 vations, his Grace concluded by moving the adoption of 

 the Report. 



Sir Spencer Wells and Sir Frederick Abel spoke in 

 favour of the Duke of Westminster's proposal, which was 

 carried unanimously. 



The next resolution was moved by the Duke of North- 

 umberland, and was to the following effect : — " That the 

 period has now arrived at which systematic inquiry is 

 desirable into the application of the resources of technical 

 science for the abatement of smoke now largely produced 

 in industrial processes and in the heating of houses, as 

 well as into the operation of the existing laws for smoke 

 abatement ; and that the Council of the National Smoke 

 Abatement Institution be requested to urge upon the 

 Government the desirability of appointing a Royal Com- 

 mission for the purpose." 



This was seconded by Sir Wm. Siemens and carried. 



We are glad to see that it was acknowledged that the 

 stated objects of the Smoke Abatement Institution, and 

 the success which has attended its past efforts, had 

 established a claim not only to the support of the meeting, 

 but to that of the City of London and other great cities 

 and towns. 



We must congratulate the Council of the new institution 

 upon the energy which they are displaying, and we belie/e 

 that in a few years the success they will then have met 

 with will lead one to hope that in process of time the 

 smoke nuisance which kills its tens of thousands annually, 

 and makes life in a great city like London almost unbear- 

 able, will to a certain extent be done away with. 



NOTES 



Great efforts are being made by the Council of the Society 

 of Arts and its chairman, Sir William Siemens, who has again 

 been elected to this office, to make their conversazione, to be held 

 on the 25th inst. at the Fisheries Exhibition, a great success. 

 The fountains are to be illuminated by coloured fires, and the 

 gardens, as well as the Exhibition Buildings, will be lighted by 

 the electric light. The band of the 6th Thuringian Regiment 

 of German Infantry will perform in the building. 



A meeting which may have an important result upon science 

 and art instruction in this country has been inaugurated at 

 Manchester. An association has been established to effect the 

 general advancement of the profession of science and art teach- 

 ing by securing improvements in tbe schemes of study and the 

 establishment of satisfactory relations between teachers and the 

 Science and Art Department-, the City and Guilds of London 

 Institute, and other public authorities. It proposes also to col- 

 lect such information as may be of service to teachers profession- 

 ally, and it will endeavour by constant watchfulness to advance 

 the status and material interests of science and art teachers in all 

 directions. The president of the new Association is Prof. Huxley, 

 and the vice-presidents are Dr. H. E. Roscoe, Mr. Norman 

 Lockyer, Prof. Boyd Dawkins, Prof. Gamgee, Prof. Ayrton, 

 Prof. Silvaaus Thompson, Dr. John Watts, Mr. S. Leigh- 

 Gregson, Mr. John Angell, Mr. W. Lockett Agnew, Mr. C. M. 

 Foden, and Mr. J. H. Reynolds. Mr. W. E. Crowther, of the 

 Technical School and Mechanics Institution, Manchester, is the 

 Honorary Secretary, and all communications should be ad- 

 dressed to him, especially by those who are desirous of forming 

 affiliated unions in other districts. We believe that branches 

 are already being established at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 

 Liver pool. 



Dr. J. H. Gilbert, F.R.S., has been elected a Correspond- 

 ing Member of the Institute of France (Academy of Sciences). 



The treasurer of the Darwin Memorial Fund has received 

 through Dr. Elforing of Helsingfors a cheque for 94/. \s., that 

 being the amount collected in Finland as a contribution to the 

 memorial. That so large an amount should have been collected 

 in so small a country is only an additional proof of the ready 

 recognition which the great works of Darwin have received in 

 other countries as « ell as our own. The fund now amounts to 

 3300/. 



The Lick Observatory, we learn from Science, has made much 

 progress during the past year. The dome for the small equa- 

 torial has now been finished, and is certainly the most complete 

 and convenient one of its size in America. The building of the 

 observatory in which the great thirty-six- inch equatorial is to be 

 placed is also progressing. The walls of the main building are 

 half completed, and the cellar for the dome has been excavated. 

 The four inch transit-house and the buildings for the photo- 

 heliographs have been in working order now for some time, as 

 they were used in a successful observation of the transit of Venus 

 last December. In a few « eeks the building for the meridian 

 circle w ill be commenced, as well as a house for the astronomers 

 and buildings to contain the appliances for moving the dome, 

 and for the general heating and lighting of the observatory. Two 

 brick reservoirs for spring water, the one containing 83,000 

 gallons, the other 20,000 gallons, have been cons'ructed, and 

 another reservoir to contain 83,000 gallons of rain-water will 

 shortly be commenced. The roads have been extended. Some 

 of the original arrangements of the observatory buildings, which 

 were only provisional, have now been replaced by more sub- 

 stantial and permanent structures, and by the end of the season 

 great progress will have been made. 



