April 26, 1906] 



NA TURE 



613 



of the nature of the new element comprise the dis- 

 covery, in conjunction with Mme. Curie, of the so- 

 called induced activity conferred by radium on sur- 

 rounding objects, and the proof that the penetrating 

 radiations transport negative electricitv even after they 

 have been made to pass through a sheet of metal 

 connected to earth. In conjunction with M. Laborde 

 he discovered and measured the spontaneous evolution 

 of heat from radium compounds. 



In 1903 the Davy medal was conferred by the Royal 

 Society on M. and Mme. Curie, and they shared with 

 M. Branly the Osiris prize, and with M. Becquerel the 

 Nobel prize for physics. M. Curie was made a member 

 of the Institute of France in 1905. He will be re- 

 membered in this country for the lecture on radium, 

 delivered with characteristic modesty and simplicity 

 of manner, at the Royal Institution in 1903. He 

 refused the Cross of the Legion of Honour offered by 

 the French Government, on the ground that he pre- 

 ferred to remain a simple citizen, holding no doubt 

 the view that scientific discovery is its own sufficient 

 reward. 



It has been said by a recent writer that there will 

 come a time when men will date the coming in of 

 their kingdom to the day when Curie and Laborde 

 discovered the spontaneous evolution of heat from 

 radium. Certainly no limit can be set to the conse- 

 quences in the near or distant future which may be 

 expected to flow from the discoveries with which the 

 name of Curie is associated. 



Like Rontgen shortly before, Curie emerged at one 

 step from comparative obscurity to universal fame, 

 and what they achieved is still within the horizon of 

 the humblest investigator. Like the soldiers of 

 Napoleon, each of the rank and file of the army of 

 patient investigators carries in his knapsack a 

 marshal's baton. The career of M. Curie illustrates 

 this, and continues as an inspiration and encourage- 

 ment to others. None have set in motion more 

 pregnant influences. No one stands in less need of 

 the historian to perpetuate his memory. F. S. 



NOTES. 

 In the disastrous earthquake at San Francisco, a de- 

 tailed description of which is given in another part of the 

 present issue, it is reported that upwards of 1000 persons 

 lost their lives, and that material damage was done to the 

 value of more than sixty million pounds sterling. There 

 seems little reason to doubt that most of these lives and 

 the greater part of the property were lost in the fire which 

 followed the earthquake, and that a little forethought would 

 have prevented, or at least greatly lessened, the awful 

 calamity. Electric mains were broken by the earthquake 

 shock at a time when the current was being supplied, and 

 gas and water mains were shattered. The electric current 

 does not appear to have been stopped at the power stations, 

 and the consequent numerous short circuits which occurred 

 soon inflamed escaping gas and set fire to buildings in 

 many parts of the city. The broken water mains obliterated 

 the water supply, and the only means of checking the fire 

 seems to have been the demolition by dynamite of property 

 in its path. The steel buildings in the city appear to be 

 almost intact. The earthquake did not damage them, and 

 the fire only consumed the woodwork. Despite the rumours 

 vvhich have been in circulation as to damage to universi- 

 ties and observatories in the disturbed /area, it is gratifying 

 to know that there is as yet no confirmation of such 

 calamities. Upon inquiry at the Royal Astronomical 

 Society, we learn that no news has been received about 

 NO 1904, VOL. 73] 



any of the Californian observatories. Astronomers are 

 particularly anxious as to the fate of the Lick Observatory, 

 situated as it is very near to the centre of disturbance, 

 and in view of a rumour that has reached a London fire 

 insurance company of serious injury to the observatory. 

 The Solar Observatory at Mount Wilson — near Pasadena, 

 which is ten miles N.N.E. of Los Angeles — is probably too 

 far to the south to have been damaged. 



Some changes in the organisation of the Geological 

 Survey of Canada have recently been made by the Premier, 

 Sir Wilfrid Laurier. For more than five years Dr. Robert 

 Bell, F.R.S., has been the acting-director of the Survey, 

 and has managed the business as well as the scientific 

 affairs to the satisfaction of the scientific, mining, and 

 the general public. In this period he has accomplished 

 much valuable work, initiated many useful new features, 

 and raised the standing of the Survey in general estimation. 

 Since the Survev began, sixty-three years ago, about 470 

 maps have been prepared and issued, and nearly one-third 

 of this number have been published during the past five 

 years, while others are nearly ready. By the change of 

 organisation which has just been instituted, a business 

 administrator has been appointed, while Dr. Bell is given 

 the title of Chief Geologist of the Dominion. Dr. Bell 

 will continue to prepare his reports, maps, and other works, 

 and will have a free hand in geological matters, so that 

 he ought apparently to be congratulated on being relieved 

 of a troublesome and difficult part of his work. 



The bi-centenary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin was 

 celebrated bv the American Philosophical Society at Phila- 

 delphia on April 17-20, in accordance with the programme 

 announced in Nature of March 29 (p. 515). Addresses 

 were read from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, 

 Glasgow, and Edinburgh, the Paris Academy of Sciences, 

 and many other institutions. A statue of Franklin, pre- 

 sented to the City of Paris by Mr. J. H. Harjes, was to 

 have been dedicated on April 20 at an international festival, 

 in which the French Government had arranged to take 

 part, but the celebrations were postponed in consequence of 

 the catastrophe at San Francisco. 



Prof. W. Ostwald has been elected a foreign member 

 of the Danish Academy of Sciences. 



Prof. Gabriel Oltramare, who for fifty years held the 

 chair of mathematics at Geneva University, died on 

 April 10, in his ninetieth year. 



The death is announced, at sixty-five years of age, of 

 Dr. N. S. Shaler, professor of geology at Harvard Uni- 

 versity and dean of the Lawrence Scientific School. 



The annual meeting of the South African Association 

 for the Advancement of Science will be held at Kimberley 

 on July 9-14, under the presidency of Mr. G. F. Williams. 



Dr. Dudley Buxton has been elected chairman of the 

 council of the Selborne Society for the ensuing year, during 

 which the society will attain its majority, having been 

 founded in 1885. The annual soiree will be held on 

 May 25, when the president, Lord Avebury, will deliver an 

 address. 



A telegram from Sarajevo, Bosnia, states that at 11 a.m. 

 on April 19 a short, sharp earthquake shock was felt there. 

 The shock was undulatory in character, and travelled from 

 west to east. An earthquake shock was felt at Grants 

 Pass, Oregon, at 1.11 a.m. on April 23. The Wellington 

 correspondent of the Times reports that both the Eastern 



