March 15, 1906] 



NA TURE 



falls of ground per million tons of coal raised in the period 

 1890 to 1899 in Great Britain was 216, whilst al 1 ourrieres 

 it was 59. The colliery was certainly admirably managed, 

 and this fact makes it difficult to account for the terrible 

 explosion, the immediate cause of which appears to have 

 been an underground fire. 



Weather of a very wintry type has been experienced 

 this week over the British Islands, and in pi, ices the cold 

 has been unusually severe for the time of year. On Sunday 

 a large and important storm area arrived from the Atlantic, 

 and in the course of the day its centre traversed Scotland. 

 As the storm was approaching, strong westerly winds and 

 gales, with heavy rains, were experienced generally. The 

 storm developed considerable energy after reaching the 

 North Sea, the barometer falling as low as 2S4 inches, 

 and in the rear of the disturbance the wind greatlj in- 

 creased from the northward. Strong northerly gales 

 accompanied by heavy squalls of snow or hail were ex- 

 perienced on Monday over nearly the entire country, and 

 1 lie storm occurring at the time of spring tides caused 

 severe floods, especially along our east coast. The German 

 ami Dutch coasts have also suffered greatly. Sharp frost 

 was experienced In Scotland and over the northern parts 

 el England. 



Caxon Tristram, F.R.S., win— death, at tie' age of 

 eighty-three, took place on March 8, is believed to have 

 been the first zoologist to make special application of the 

 theorj "I natural selection. This he did in an article on 

 ile- "Ornithology oi Northern Africa." published in the 

 ilen newlj established journal the Ibis for October, 1859 

 (vol. i., pp. 429-433), and before the appearance oi the 

 "Origin of Species," grounding his belief solely on the 

 papers communicated to the Linnean Societj on July 1, 

 1858, by Messrs. Darwin and Wallace (Journ. Proc. I. inn. 

 Sue, iii., Zoology, pp. 45-62). " Writing." he said, " with 

 a series of about too Larks of various species before me, I 

 cannot help feeling convinced of the truth of the views 

 set forth " in those communications. " It is hardly 

 bli 1 should think, to illustrate this theory better than 

 by the Larks and Chats of North Africa." There is no 

 room here to reproduce the next three pages, but they 

 are worth reading now if only as recording an early and 

 full acceptance of the Darwinian doctrine, and whether so 

 ii.in ii courage was shown by anyone elsewhere seems ver) 



doubtful. 



Mr. HaLDANE, Secretary of State for War, in making 

 the customary annual statement as to the policy of the 

 Army in the current year, delivered a speech which has 

 been received with much satisfaction in the scientific world. 

 The need for clear thinking and for the application of the 

 methods of science to the affairs of State was recognised 

 frankly and emphasised repeatedly. Mr. flaldane's 

 encouraging words to the military experts of to-day, his 

 definition of the science of military organisation, and his 

 di iipiion of a new school of young officers — as much 

 men of science as engineers or chemists — should serve to 

 inspire Army men with the spirit that must actuate 

 successful practice. The Secretary for War assured the 

 nation that our officers are becoming men with scien- 

 tific training and reflective minds, and there is every hope 

 they will soon work in connection with a thinking depart- 

 ment such as that which took so prominent a part in 

 securing the recent Japanese success. It is fortunate for 

 litis country that the Secretary for War believes in the 

 application of scientific knowledge to military affairs, and 

 we look forward to the time when this need for scientific 

 thought will be recognised in every branch of the public 

 service. 



NO. 1898, VOL. 73] 



The correspondence on the cause of the loss of the coal- 

 tar colour industry, which is represented in Germain by a 

 capital of 5,000,000/., with an annual value of about 

 50,000/., and the prospect of other industries passing out 

 ol our hands in the same way, continues in the columns 

 oi the Times. The writer whose article upon the jubilee 

 of Dr. Perkin's discovery gave rise to the correspondence 

 states in the issue of March 10 that in the early days of 

 the coal-tar industry there were not a few accomplished 

 chemists in England, but they could not find employment 

 in the colour factories ; and this being the case, the schools 

 naturally felt discouraged in their efforts to produce men 

 specially qualified for such work. " Our methods of 

 policy," he remarks, "must be very different from those 

 adopted in the past if we are to succeed ; complete sympathy 

 must be established between science and industry." The 

 meaning and value of research have yet to be understood 

 by the commercial community and the manufacturers of 

 this country ; and it is still necessary to impress upon the 

 nation that scientific method is an essential factor of the 

 development of industries. When there is a scientific 

 laboratory in every works, the National Physical Labor- 

 atory will be able to take its proper place in a national 

 scheme for the promotion of progress of applied science. 



The death of Mr. J. G. Goodchild removes a geologist 

 and naturalist whose knowledge covered an unusually wide 

 range, including ornithology, glacial geology, physical 

 geology, and mineralogy, in all of which he did useful 

 work, thanks to his thoroughness in testing generally 

 accepted explanations, his independent originality, his keen 

 insight, and his artistic skill. Mr. Goodchild served for 

 more than thirty years on the staff of the Geological Survey, 

 being especially engaged in Westmorland and Cumberland, 

 of which counties he made a comprehensive study. While 

 in London, in the winters, he was for some years a valued 

 worker at Toynbee Hall, living beside it in a Whitechapel 

 tenement, and devoting most of his evenings to the organ- 

 isation of its science classes. For the past fifteen years he 

 was in charge of the geological and mineralogical collections 

 belonging to the Geological Survey in the Edinburgh Museum, 

 and, in connection with his work there, he edited Heddle's 

 " Mineralogy of Scotland," and prepared a careful mono- 

 graph on the Scotch zeolites. He was also lecturer in 

 mineralogy and geology at the Heriot Watt College. His 

 most important scientific contribution was his paper on 

 the glacial deposits of the Eden Valley, published by the 

 Geological Society in 1875 ; it will doubtless rank as one 

 of the classics of British glacial geology, though its in- 

 fluence suffered by its publication fifteen years before the 

 original views there expressed could be correctly appre- 

 ciated. 



The annual meeting of the Royal Society for the Protec- 

 tion of Birds will be held on March jo. The chair will be 

 taken by the Marquess of Granby, G.C.B, 



A Reuter message from Lahore, dated March 10, re- 

 ports that a severe earthquake has occurred in Bashahr, 

 one of the hill States. 



The Berlin correspondent ol the Times states that Prof. 

 Koch delivered an address on March 7 at the Kaiser 

 Wilhelms Akademie, in the presence of the German 

 Emperor, on the subject of his investigations into the 

 causes and nature of the sleeping sickness in Uganda 

 and East Africa. His studies, he stated, have entirely 

 confirmed the results of the investigations of Dr. Castellani 

 and Col. Bruce, and he has devoted his efforts in particular 

 to investigating the habits of Glossina palpalis, tin fly by 

 which the infection is conveyed. 



