’ 
NATURE 
[ DECEMBER 24, 1896 
NOTES. 
THOsE who take a great interest in the welfare of our Colonies 
will be glad to hear that the Queen has been pleased to appoint 
General Sir Henry Wylie Norman (Chairman), Sir Edward 
Grey, Bart., and Sir David Barbour, to be Commissioners to 
inquire into the conditions and prospects of the West India 
Sugar-Growing Colonies; and Mr. Sydney Olivier to be their 
Secretary. Mr. Daniel Morris, Assistant Director of the Royal 
Gardens, Kew, will accompany the Commission as_ expert 
adviser in botanical and agricultural questions. The appoint- 
ment of Mr. Daniel Morris as scientific adviser is a proof that 
Kew has been working for the last quarter of a century on the 
right lines, and that its policy is a sound one. Of all the Colonies 
in the West Indies, Jamaica is the only one in a fairly pros- 
perous condition. This has been brought about mainly by the 
work of the Botanical Department, and the encouragement 
given by it to improve agricultural methods and introduce new 
industries. The Commission starts early in January, and will 
be away altogether about four months. It is regarded as one 
of the strongest that has ever been sent from this country. 
Ar the annual meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences, on 
Monday, an Arago medal was awarded to Lord Kelvin in 
honour of the jubilee of his professorship in Glasgow University. 
M. Cornu (the President) is reported by the Zzzes corre- 
spondent to have referred in glowing terms to the celebration 
at Glasgow. ‘‘ Nothing,” he said, ‘‘ was more touching than 
the number and unanimity of the testimonies offered from all 
parts of the world to this descendant of a family of Irish farmers, 
who by his intellectual power has gained universal renown, 
and has earned from the suffrages of his admirers the highest 
scientific dignities, and from the Government of his country the 
highest social rank. Nothing is more consoling for the future 
than the spectacle of these honours rendered by delegates of 
all nations to great men of science like Lord Kelvin and Pasteur, 
who so worthily represent science in its loftiest and, at the same 
time, most beneficent aspect. Modern nations, though crushed 
by the yoke of material interest and by the barbarous law of 
blood and iron, know how on great occasions to raise their 
eyes towards the serene regions above animosities and covetous- 
ness, and to honour in unison the great men whose labours in- 
crease the common patrimony of intelligence and their country’s 
prestige, as well as the welfare of mankind.” 
Pror. ARTHUR SCHUSTER announces to us the discovery of 
a somewhat important new law, connecting the wave-lengths of 
different lines of the same element. If the lines of an element 
be divided into series according to Kayser and Runge, the law 
may be enunciated as follows: ‘‘ The difference between the 
frequency of the fundamental vibration and the frequency 
towards which the lines of the principal series converge, gives 
the convergence frequency of the two subordinate series.” Prof. 
Schuster finds that the law holds in all the cases for which 
Kayser and Runge have established the existence of a principal 
and subordinate series, z.c. for the alkalis and the two con- 
stituents of cleveite gas. 
SEVERAL communications on the recent earthquake will be 
found in other columns of this issue of NATURE. As observations 
of the times at which the disturbances were felt are of im- 
portance, we add that Mr, Alderman Andrews, of Coventry, 
informs us that he was awakened by a loud rumbling noise at 
5h. 354m. Mr. George J. Burch, of Oxford, did not note the 
exact time, but he carefully observed the phenomena. He 
says: ‘I was awakened by the hooter at 5.30, and had not 
gone to sleep again. About ten minutes later I was aroused by 
amovement of the door, as if some one was about to come in, 
but became instantly aware that the sounds proceeded from the 
NO. 1417, VOL. 55] 
whole of that side of the room. Immediately after, there was 
a heaving motion of the bed, as if powerful hands had gently 
raised the mattress slightly on that side, and let it drop. By 
this time I was sitting up, and distinctly felt the room rock two 
or three times like a small boat when a steam-launch has passed 
at some little distance. This was followed by a sudden strong 
lateral vibration lasting several seconds. There wasa good deal 
of rumbling noise at this time, undoubtedly due, to a great 
extent, to the creaking of the house and rattling of the furniture, 
but whether entirely so or not, I am not able to say. Taking 
all things into consideration, I conclude that the line of the 
shock was north-east and south-west, and, judging from the 
sensation, it appeared to come from the north-east.” 
THE tercentenary of the birth of Descartes was celebrated at 
Tours, on Monday last, by the local Archeological Society. 
M. Liarp, the Chief of the University Department of the 
French Ministry of Education, has been elected a member of 
the Academy of Moral Sciences, in succession to the late M. 
Jules Simon. 
WE learn from the British Medical Journal that the Czar of 
Russia has conferred on M. Gérard, Director of the Paris Muni- 
cipal Laboratory, the’Cross of the Commander cf the Order of 
St. Anne. The Cross of St. Stanislas has been conferred upon 
Dr. Bordas, sub-Director of the Laboratory, and Dr. Bertillon, 
Director of the Anthropometric service. 
REFERRING to the decoration which Dr. Roux has just 
received from the Emperor of Germany, the Paris correspondent 
of the Zvmey recalls the fact that ‘‘two years ago Pasteur was 
offered the highest German decoration which the Emperor could 
confer, but the great investigator refused the honour. The 
Emperor was apparently touched and certainly was not offended, 
for he has now decorated the famous Dr. Roux, the discoverer 
with Dr. Behring (who, moreover, be it said to the honour of 
the French Government, received at its hands a decoration 
which was approved on both sides the Rhine) of the vaccine 
against. diphtheria, and the intimate friend and successor of 
Pasteur. Dr. Roux has accepted the honour, although hasty 
scruples of loyalty to his master might for a moment have 
caused him to hesitate. Toa reporter of the J/atix Dr. Roux 
has explained—as if explanation were necessary—his decision to 
accept this decoration. ‘Pasteur,’ he said, ‘was Pasteur. 
His decoration had an importance and significance quite other 
than that which mine has or possibly can have. And then, no 
doubt, Pasteur, had his reasons, which I have not—special 
memories, for instance, of 1870. In a word, he could permit 
himself to assume towards the German Emperor an attitude 
that for me is out of the question, for I repeat he had that 
reason which excuses him—he was Pasteur. What was extremely 
fine on his part, and was everywhere approved, would be 
incomprehensible on the part of another, and would be blamed 
as coming from'me.’ Nothing could be more proper, and the 
whole incident does as much honour to the modest but dis- 
tinguished investigator as to the Emperor who recognises his 
pre-eminence.” 
Tue Zaxcet publishes the following interesting information 
received from its correspondent at Rome :—‘‘The week has 
witnessed one of those pleasant demonstrations of the truly 
fraternal spirit which scientific investigation evokes and en- 
courages among its accredited votaries. Prof. Grassi, on whom 
the Royal Society of London conferred the Darwin medal for 
original work in illustration of the theory of evolution, was 
entertained at dinner by his colleagues of the Faculty of 
Sciences of the School of San Pietro in Vincoli and of the 
Faculty of Medicine. Representatives of all the fields of 
