485 



NATURE 



{Sept. 2 2, 1 88 1 



" Fungi of the Neighbourhood of Greenwich," which was 

 printed in the fifth volume of the Phytologist. In 1S57 a 

 committee of that Club was appointed to draw up a 

 report on the flora of the district ; Mr. Currey was chosen 

 its chairman, and drafted the report, which enumerated 

 395 fungi. In that year he contributed a paper to the 

 Royal Society, which was printed in the Proceedings, 

 On the Occurrence of Amorphous Starch in a Tuber- 

 aceous Fungus, a point of much interest, as starch is 

 rarely found in fungi. He was elected Fellow of the 

 Linnean Society in 1856, and in 1858 Fellow of the Ro)al 

 Society also; in 1S60 he was appointed secretary of 

 the former society in succession to Mr. J. J. Bennett, 

 a post which he held until iSSo, when he relinquished 

 that office and acceded to the less arduous duties 

 of treasurer, retaining that appointment until his death. 

 In 1S62 the Ray Society issued a translation, with con- 

 siderable additions, from Hofaieister, entitled " On the 

 Germination, Development, and Fructification of the 

 Higher Cryptogamia," a task which Mr. Currey under- 

 took in 1859 ; the following year he edited a second 

 edition of Ur. Badham's " Esculent Funguses of Eng- 

 land," in which he made as few alterations as possible. 

 Several papers on mycological subjects appear in the 

 Transactions of the Linnean Society, which will be founl 

 in the " Catalogue of Scientific Papers," under his name, 

 his last contribution being, "On a Collection of Fungi 

 made by Mr. Sulpiz Kurz," in 1876. 



By his death the Linnean Society has lost an e-^peri- 

 en:ed officer, and its members a valued friend whose place 

 it will be hard to fill. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



THE thirtieth meeting of the American Association 

 for the- Advancement of Science commenced at 

 Cincinnati on .'August 16. Always a hot place in summer, 

 the temperature at Cincinnati during the past tvvo months 

 haj been at intervals unusually high, running above 100^ 

 for several days together. This and the fear of its recur- 

 rence no doubt induced many to stay avvay who would 

 otherwise have been present. However, a goodly number 

 — over 400 —of new members were enrolled, and many 

 papers of interest were read. Some of the visitors from 

 the Eastern States were amazed to find that Cincinnati 

 was not a little backwoods town, but a city deserving in 

 many ways the title she claims, " The Queen City of the 

 West." The ignorance of many of the inhabitants of 

 the Eastern States in regard to the West is only equalled 

 by the ignorance of Europeans in regard to America 

 generally. 



The citizens of Cincinnati e.xerted themselves to wel- 

 come their guests, and did it welL Their bodily wants 

 were amply supplied, and this, to those coming fro.ai a 

 distance and being strangers, was a matter cf no small 

 moment. Visitors known or bearing introductions were 

 in very many cases entertained privately, and a free 

 lunch was provided by subscription for all members 

 daily from 1 to 2.30 p.m. The Western Union Tele- 

 graph Company, whose wires extend over almost the 

 whole Union, gave the members the use of their lines 

 for communication with their families, free of charge, 

 at whatever distance they might be situated. Con- 

 nection was made by telephone between the hall of 

 meeting and the Central Telegraph Office, and between 

 the various rooms in the buildmg, so that it was possible 

 to send a message without leaving the building — to ask, 

 for example, what paper was being read in any other 

 section. The City and Suburban Telegraph and Tele- 

 phone Companies also extended the same privileges to 

 members of the Association. The various Express Com- 

 panies offered to convey light parcels containing speci- 

 mens for them, free of charge, between their homes and 

 the place of meeting, and heavy ones at low rates. Of 



course there was a post-office and a parcels office in the 

 hall, with convenience and materials for writing. There 

 was however a little deficiency in finger placards to direct 

 strangers over the great building in which the meetings 

 were held — the new music hall. 



Besides the above, an e.xcursion was arranged for 

 Saturday afternoon to the Zoological Garden, one of the 

 best in the country, and capable, if well supported, of be- 

 coming tlic best. Free transportation through the streets 

 by the horse cars was provided, and a sumptuous repast 

 prepared for the visitors before leaving. In the same 

 way the Anthropological Section and others were taken 

 out to Madisonville, about ten miles from the city, on 

 Monday to see a prehistoric cemetery recently discovered, 

 from which several hundred skeletons, uncounted arrow- 

 points, animal bones, horns, and teeth, and pieces of 

 pottery have been exhumed during the past two years. 

 The train stopped at the place to set them down, and 

 again on its return to take them up. After the adjourn- 

 ment of the meeting an excursion was arranged to the 

 Mammoth Cave, about 150 miles distant, and another to 

 Chattanooga, about 300 miles over the new Southern 

 Railway, both free so far as the travelling was concerned. 

 It will be evident that Cincinnati did her best to enter- 

 tain her scientific visitors, and the latter carried away 

 pleasant and lasting impressions of the city where the 

 fifth and the thirtieth meetings of the Association were 

 held, the latter having been one of the most successful in 

 its history. E. W. Claypole 



Another correspondent writes : — 



The Cincinnati meeting proved to be one of the best 

 ever held by the Association. In attendance of members 

 it was much surpassed by the Boston meeting last year, 

 which reached the phenomenal number of 997 ; the num- 

 ber at Cincinnati was about 550, being more than double 

 that at any previous meeting in the West. Over 400 

 persons joined the Association. Nearly 200 papers were 

 presented ; it is not derogatory to any author to say that 

 these papers were of average interest only, and comprised 

 no startling announcements. The general management 

 was very successful. The chief feature of the meeting 

 was the adoption of the important changes in the consti- 

 tution which are expected to simplify business in the 

 future. If any complaint can be made, it is of the 

 rather generous disposition on the part of the Sec- 

 tional Committees towards authors whose productions 

 are of doubtful novelty and uncertain value. There 

 is a tendency also to overrun the allotted time ; papers 

 for which twenty-five minutes are asked consume 

 seventy minutes, and those of ten minutes extend to 

 thirty minutes. The remedy of this evil lies with the 

 chairmen of the sections, and it is hoped that they will 

 hereafter exert their powers more frequently. The social 

 features of the meeting were very enjoyable ; the recep- 

 tion at Highland House, and the daily lunches served 

 in the Exhibition building brought together citizens and 

 members in pleasant intercourse. 



Prof. Wm. B. Rogers of Boston, the first presiding 

 officer of the Association, was elected an Honorary Fel- 

 low, on the unanimous recommendation of both Sections 

 A and B. Prof. Rogers is the first Honorary Fellow 

 chosen by the Association. 



The amendments to the constitution proposed at the 

 Boston meeting were adopted almost unanimously. 

 They provide for the formation of nine sections, as 

 follows :— A, Mathematics and Astronomy ; B, Physics ; 

 C, Chemistry ; D, Mechanical Science ; E, Geology and 

 Geography; F, Biology; G, Histology and Microscopy; 

 H, Anthropology ; I, Economic Science and Statistics. 



Each of the above Sections is to have its own chair- 

 man, who is also Vice-President of the Society, and its 

 own Secretary. The amended constitution also creates 

 the offi:e of Assistant-General Secretary, makes certain 

 changes in the composition of the Standing Committee, 



