JuNeE 22, 1899] 
NATURE 
181 
years ago in what remains of the Dover Priory, estab- 
lished about 1130. The magnificent Norman refectory 
will serve as the reception room and ticket office. The 
College is only about three minutes’ walk from the 
Priory Station (L.C.D. Railway), and about as far from 
the Town Hall. Two of the Sections (anthropology and 
geography) will meet in a part of the town somewhat 
more remote from the reception room. 
There will be no lack of entertainment of a public 
character. The General Commanding the South Eastern 
District (Sir Leslie Rundle) will give a garden party at 
the Castle ; the Council, head-master and assistant- 
masters of Dover College will give another in the College 
grounds. The Mayor (Sir William Crundall) will give a 
conversazione, and will also give a reception one after- 
noon at the Dover Athletic Grounds, when there will be 
an exhibition and contest of motor cars from all parts of 
Europe and America. 
The smoking concert, which was so successful a feature 
of the Bristol meeting last year, will be repeated. There 
will also be a military tattoo by torchlight on the sea 
front one evening, with music by the massed bands of 
the garrison. 
The visit of the French Association is to take place 
on Saturday, September 16. The members will arrive 
early, and, after a light repast at the Lord Warden Hotel, 
will assemble at the Town Hall, when addresses of wel- 
come will be given. An adjournment will then be made 
to the various Sections, which will meet on Saturday this 
year, though that day is generally an “off-day.” In 
many Sections the presidents will reserve their presi- 
dential addresses for this occasion, so as to give the 
French guests a chance of being present. There will 
be a luncheon afterwards in a marquee in the College 
grounds. In the afternoon, parties will visit the Castle 
and other objects of interest in Dover. There may be 
opportunity for a visit to Canterbury. 
On Sunday there will be special services in most of 
the churches and chapels of Dover, whilst those who 
care to go further afield can take advantage of the 
arrangements made by Dean Farrar, of Canterbury, one 
of the vice-presidents of the Association this year, for 
there will be special services in the Cathedral, with 
well-known preachers, and an organ recital in the after- 
noon. The Canterbury Museum, which owes much to 
the munificence of its Hon. Curator, Mr. Bennett 
Goldney, a most useful member of the Dover Local 
Committee, will be open to members of the Association 
on Sunday afternoon. 
The return visit of the British Association to the 
French will take place on Thursday, September 21. 
The details are not finally settled, but there will be a 
réunion with addresses, a luncheon, the unveiling of a 
plaque to the poet Campbell, who lived at Boulogne for 
some time. A statue to the French man of science, 
Duchesne, will also be unveiled. It is intended to start 
from Boulogne on the five days’ excursion through the 
most interesting towns of Northern Franceand Belgium. 
The civic authorities in each town have very cordially 
responded to the efforts of the French and the Belgian 
consuls in Dover, and have promised to do all in their 
power to make the five days’ excursion a great success. 
Amongst the scientific men from the Continent, the 
United States and Canada, who have already accepted 
the invitation of the Local Committee, may be mentioned 
Profs. Dwelshauvers-Dery, Fittig, Gobert, Julin, Kron- 
ecker, Calmette, Chappuis, Barker, Carl Barus, Surgeon- 
General Billings,: Profs. Bovey, Campbell, Scott, 
Thurston, and Van Rijckevorsel. 
From what has been stated, it will be evident that 
those members of the Association who visit Dover will 
have no cause to be dissatisfied with the programme 
before them. W. H. PENDLEBURY. 
NO. 1547, VOL. 60] 
THE VOLTA CENTENARY EXHIBITION AT 
COMO, 
[X this age of electricity it is difficult to realise that 
only a hundred years have elapsed since the first 
electric current was produced by chemical means. The 
birthplace of Alessandro Volta has paid a fitting tribute 
to the pioneer of electrical science by holding an ex- 
hibition in commemoration of the discovery of the pile 
which bears the name of its inventor. 
The Como Exhibition, which was opened on May 20, 
occupies a,tract of land bordering on the Lake of Como, 
its natural surroundings harmonising well with the 
artistic arrangement of the buildings and exhibits. One 
section is’ devoted to electricity, another to the silk in- 
dustries of Lombardy, while a small collection of pictures, 
church vestments, &c., forms a minor feature. 
International Congresses of electricians and of tele- 
graphists have been organised at Como. At the latter 
Congress, which was held on May 31, an inaugural ad- 
dress was given by Di San Giuliano, and a competition 
between professional telegraphists took place. 
In the electric exhibits, applied electricity occupies, as 
might be expected, the most prominent place. All the 
machines in the exhibition, including the silk-spinning 
and weaving machinery, a lift to the top of one of the 
towers, and a high-pressure pump for supplying the 
fountains, are worked by electricity, each machine having 
a separate motor. 
The principal , source of power is a compound 
“ Brinner” horizontal engine worked by steam supplied 
from two “Babcock and Wilson” boilers. The 150 
horse-power thus supplied is transmitted to a steel shaft, 
where it can be increased up to 300 horse-power by a 
motor driven by a three-phase alternating current of 
3600 volts, the generating plant for which consists of an 
engine of 100-150 horse-power by Wolf, of Magdeburg, 
and an alternator by Gadda and Co., of Milan. The 
main shaft can be connected with ten dynamos by different 
makers, varying from 24 to 300 horse-power, and as these 
cannot all be used simultaneously, a comparison of their 
efficiency is possible. Subsidiary electric power is sup- 
plied by three steam and two gas engines operating on 
dynamos, by Brioschi and other makers, and a fine series 
of accumulators is available for reinforcing the supply of 
power which, even without this help, is available up to 
500 horse-power. 
A large search-light exhibited by the Italian navy has 
been placed at Brunate, a station 1500 feet above sea- 
level, whence its rays can be flashed over Como and the 
surrounding district to a distance of many miles. 
Technical instruction in electricity is well represented, 
while the purely physical side comprises exhibits of 
R6éntgen ray apparatus, wireless telegraphy, electrostatic 
apparatus by A. Dall Eco and other makers, and so 
forth. 
One room in the exhibition buildings is set apart for 
the “ Cimelii di Volta,” under which head are comprised 
Volta’s physical apparatus, original manuscripts of his 
papers, his letters, diplomas, and many of his personal 
effects. The greater part of these relics are exhibited 
by the Reale Istituto Lombardo, under whose auspices 
the collection was formed by public subscription in the 
years 1861 to 1864; for this collection, one of the rooms 
belonging to the Society at Milan has been specially set 
apart. Other relics, chiefly personal, are exhibited by 
Prof. Alessandro Volta and Prof. Zanino Volta. The 
University of Pavia exhibits several electroscopes, con- 
densers, and similar electrostatic apparatus ; and other 
exhibits are lent by the Como Museum. 
The manuscripts include the following :— 
(1) A letter to Volta from the French physicist Nollet, 
dated September 18, 1767. 
