720. 
that he does not intend to proceed with the proposal 
to levy the contemplated tax. 
Pror. P. Eurticu, director of the Royal Institute 
for Experimental Therapeutics, Frankfort-on-Main, has 
been awarded the Cameron prize of the University of 
Edinburgh, in recognition of his discovery of salvar- 
san, of his researches on numerous synthetic organic 
compounds of arsenic, and of his important work on 
immunity. 
Tue twenty-third annual meeting of the Royal 
Society for the Protection of Birds will be held at the 
Westminster Palace Hotel, Victoria Street, London, 
S.W., on Thursday next, March 5. The chair will be 
taken at 3 p.m. by the Right Hon. Lord Newton. A 
resolution will be submitted in favour of the Govern- 
ment Plumage Bill. 
Pror. W. P. Braptey, who has occupied the chair 
of chemistry at Wesleyan University, Middletown, 
Connecticut, since 1893, has resigned that post on 
accepting a position as chemist with a large rubber 
company. He is especially known for his work on 
problems connected with the liquefaction of permanent 
gases, and he conducted the first liquid air plant that 
was set up in America for research purposes. 
Sir James Wirson, K.C.S.1., has been appointed 
to act as delegate for Great Britain and Ireland, the 
Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the 
Union of South Africa, and the Government of Mauri- 
tius on the permanent committee of the International 
Institute of Agriculture at Rome. Lieut.-Colonel Sir 
David Prain, director of Kew Gardens, Sir James Wil- 
son, and Mr. A, G. L. Rogers, head of the Horticul- 
ture Branch of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 
are the representatives of the Board at the Inter- 
national Phytopathological Conference. opened at 
Rome on Tuesday, February 24. 
A COMMITTEE has been appointed in Berlin to make 
arrangements to celebrate the seventieth birthday of 
Prof. A. Engler on March 25 next, by the presentation 
to him of his life-size marble bust and in other ways, as 
a sign of the appreciation of botanists of his varied 
and valued contributions by publication and otherwise 
to the advancement of systematic, geographical, and 
economic botany. Readers of NarurE who may wish 
to join the botanists of Germany and other countries 
in this celebration are invited to send their subscrip- 
tion to Prof. T. Johnson, Royal College of Science, 
Dublin, for transmission to, and acknowledgment by, 
Prof. L. Wittmack, of Berlin. 
Ar the anniversary meeting of the Geological 
Society of London, held on Friday last, February 20, 
the officers were appointed for the ensuing year as 
follows :—President, Dr. A. Smith Woodward, 
F.R.S.; Vice-Presidents, Dr. H. H. Bemrose, Mr. W. 
Hill, Mr. Clement Reid, F.R.S., and Dr. A. Strahan, 
F.R.S.; Secretaries, Dr. H. H. Thomas and Dr. H. 
Lapworth; Foreign Secretary, Sir Archibald Geilie, 
O.M., K.C.B., F.R.S.; Treasurer, Mr. Bedford 
McNeill. The awards of medals and funds, announced 
in Narure of January 15 (p. 561) were made. The 
president delivered his anniversary address, which 
dealt with problems of post-glacial denudation. 
NO. 2313, VOL. Oa) 
NATURE 
[FEBRUARY 26, I914 
Ar the annual general meeting of the Physical 
Society of London on February 13, the following 
officers were elected for the ensuing year :—President : 
Sir J. J. Thomson, O.M., F.R.S. Vice-Presidents (not 
including those who have filled the office of president) : 
Prof. T. Mather, F.R.S., Dr. A. Russell, Mr. F. E. 
Smith, and Mr. R. S. Whipple. Secretaries: Mr. 
W. R. Cooper and Dr. S. W. J. Smith. Foreign 
Secretary: Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, F.R.S. Treasurer =: 
Mr. W. Duddell, F.R.S.. Librarian: Dr. S. W. J. 
Smith. Other Members of Council: Dr. W. H. Eccles, 
Sir R. A. Hadfield, F.R.S., Prof. G. W. O. Howe, 
Prof. J. W. Nicholson, Major W. A. J. O’Meara, 
C.M.G., Mr. C. C. Paterson, Prof. O. W. Richardson, 
F.R.S., Prof. the Hon. R. J. Strutt) BiRissor 
W. E. Sumpner, and Dr. R. S. Willows. Assistant 
Secretary and Reporter: Mr. J. Guild. 
WE learn from The Pioneer Mail that the founda- 
tion-stone of the School:of Tropical Medicine at Cal- — 
cutta was to have been laid on February 24. The Govern- — 
ment of India has provided six lakhs of rupees for the 
site and laboratory, and has agreed to contribute to- 
wards the upkeep of the school, thus emphasising the 
Imperial character of the work. An appeal is made 
for liberal endowments. The building will accom- 
modate several whole-time research workers, in addi- 
tion to the teaching staff. Four la'shs, or annual sub- 
scriptions of 20,000 rupees, guaranteed for at least five 
years, will be required for the endowment of each 
additional research investigator. The possibilities of 
carrying out important investigations of tropical 
diseases, which cause more than one-third of the 
deaths in Calcutta, and at least as large a proportion 
over India as a whole, are limited only by the amount 
of financial support which may be afforded to the new 
institution. 
Mr. Vicror Anestin, of Bucharest, referring to Mr. 
W. F. Denning’s note in our issue of February 12 
(vol. xcii., p. 670) on the detonating fireball of January ~ 
1g, sends us fuller particulars of the old Rumanian 
superstition that bolides may be abundantly observed 
from January 14-20, and especially on January 19. 
The superstition has been held for hundreds of years” 
by peasants and townsfolk alike. The belief is that: 
on January 19 ‘les cieux s’entr’ouvrent,”’ and young 
people look out for this celestial phenomenon, believing 
that if they offer up a wish at the moment of its occur- 
rence it will be granted during the same year. The 
same belief is held concerning the appearance of fire 
balls on November 17. In both these months the sk 
is always covered with cloud at Bucharest, so that a 
bright fireball produces an effect of the heavens open- 
ing as expressed in the superstition. The date Janua 
19 is, however, not fixed; sometimes the meteors are 
seen several days before, and at other times after that 
date. Thus in 1906 “‘le ciel s’est entr’ouvert”’ om 
January 14, and this year the luminous effects of the 
meteors were seen on January 21. 
Dr. Louis BELL writes from Boston, U.S.A., to 
describe an unusual meteorological phenomenon ob. 
served there last month. On January 13, which was 
1 the coldest day known in Boston for many years, the 
