440 
NATURE 
[SEPTEMBER 7, 1899 
THE death is announced of M. Henri Lévéque de Vilmorin, 
first vice-president of the Paris Societé d’Horticulture. and 
officer of the Legion of Honour. 
Tue tenth annual general meeting of the Institution of 
Mining Engineers will be held at Sheffield on September 19-21, 
under the presidency of Mr. J. A. Longden. Among the sub- 
jects of papers to be read or taken as read are :—Instantaneous 
outbursts of fire-damp and coal at Broad Oak Colliery, by Mr. 
John Gerrard; Castleton: history, geology, minerals and 
mining, by Mr. A. H. Stokes; the Peak Cavern, by the Rev. 
J. M. Mello; the mining districts near Kamloops Lake, 
British Columbia, by Mr. G. F. Monckton; the Devonian iron- 
ores of Asturias, Spain, by Mr. J. A. Jones; alternating cur- 
rents and their possible applications to mining (Part i.), by Mr. 
Sydney F. Walker. 
A TEACHER of science with a successful career before him 
has been lost by the death of Mr. O. G. Jones, who was killed 
in an accident on the Dent Blanche on August 30. Mr. Jones 
was appointed to the post of physics master in the City of 
London School in 1892, when a science side was being organ- 
ised. He received his training at the Finsbury Technical Col- 
lege and at the Central Technical College, South Kensington, 
at both of which institutions he held scholarships. He was a 
B.Sc. of the University of London, where he took first class 
honours in physics. He possessed high qualities as a teacher, 
and his sad death will be much regretted. 
Tue New York Nation publishes a few particulars referring to 
the Danish northern-lights expedition which has just left Cupen- 
hagen for Iceland. The headquarters will be at Akureyri, a 
prettily situated little town on Iceland’s northern coast. The 
expedition has been for several months under preparation, and 
its members have been carefully practised in the use of the 
instruments, all of the latest construction, which it carries with 
it. While the headquarters will remain at Akureyri, an 
auxiliary station will be established on a high hill not far away, 
and the two stations will be connected both by telephone and 
by an optical telegraph. The Director of the Danish Meteor- 
ological Office, Dr. Adam Paulsen, is at the head of the ex- 
pedition. He will test his own published theories on the 
aurora, as well as others advanced by various investigators. 
Among the instruments to be used are photographic ones, and 
others of a novel character for the measurement of aerial elec- 
tricity. Dr. La Cour and Dr. Jantzen are the two chief assis- 
tants to Dr. Paulsen, while Count Harold Moltke is attached to 
the party as its artist. The expedition will return in May 1900. 
FRoM Schwaz in Tirol to Gloggnitz in Lower Austria the 
southern boundary of the northern Dolomites and the central 
zone of the Eastern Alps is marked by a distinct depression, 
corresponding to a band of paliozoic schists, and evidently 
produced by denudation. This depression may have been a 
longitudinal valley, perhaps even in Tertiary times, but it is now 
drained by five channels which have been eroded across the 
whole of the northern Dolomites, the valleys of the Inn, the 
Lake Chiem Ache, the Saalach, the Salzach, and the Enns. In 
a short but valuable paper, contributed to the current number of 
the Mztthez/ungen of the Vienna Geographical Society, Prof. C. 
Diener discusses the relation of each of these valleys to the 
structure of the rocks through which it has been cut. He finds 
that in their present form all five are simply results of the erosive 
action of running water, and their position is practically in- | 
dependent of the complex tectonic structure of the region. 
THE scientific aspects of the question of musical pitch were 
described in last week’s NATURE by Mr. A. J. Hipkins, A 
book has now been published containing letters, articles, and 
comments which have appeared in the press with reference to 
NO. 1558, VOL. 60] 
the proposal to adopt the low pitch throughout the pianoforte 
trade, The following agreement has been signed by the leaders 
of the pitch movement in the pianoforte trade :—‘‘ The vexed 
question of a suitable pitch for pianofortes should be settled, and 
believing that the time has arrived when it can be done effec- 
tually, we, the undersigned, after due deliberation, have de- 
cided to adopt the Paris diapason normal, but with the allow- 
ance for a higher temperature in orchestral performance, 
accepted since 1896 by the Philharmonic Society—namely, 
A 439 (C 522) at 68° Fahrenheit. From September 1, 1899, 
we intend to adopt this pitch as a standard for pianofortes both 
for retail and wholesale purposes, and will regard the’late Phil- 
harmonic pitch A 454 (C 540) when required, as an exception, 
and not, as has been for many years in this country, the rule.” 
IN commemoration of the centenary of the discovery of the 
galvanic pile, and in connection with the International Ex- 
position at Como, a statue of Volta has been erected on the 
Piazza Volta, by public subscription. 
The accompanying view 
, of this monument to the pioneer of electrical science is given 
in Za Nature. Upon the pedestal! of the statue the following 
words appear :— 
| OMAGIO 
| DEI TELEGRAFISTI 
D’OGNI NAZIONE 
| NEL 
DELL’ INVENZIONE 
| DELLA PILA 
| MDCCCXCIX. 
PRIMO CENTENARIO 
| As already announced, a National Electrical Congress will be 
| held at Como, in connection with the Volta centenary celebra- 
—_- woo 
