ns, held on October 31, Mr. John Birkett, F. R:C:S., 
eon to Guy’s Hospital, was elected a member of the Court 
xaminers, in room of Mr. George Busk, F.R.S,, who lately 
ed the presidency of the college. Mr. Birkett, who isa 
uber of several scientific societies at home and abroad, is 
Examiner in Surgery at the University of London. 
R. JOSIAH Mason, of Birmingham, the founder of the Erd- 
on Orphanage and the Birmingham Science College, now in 
i ss of formation, has received, through Mr, Gladstone, an offer 
of knighthood from Her Majesty, in recognition of his munifi 
cence in the causes of charity and education. 
oc 
A CORRESPONDENT of the Zimes describes an interesting /v/e 
piven on Sunday, Oct. 27, by the Municipality of Florence on 
the occasion of the inauguration of the new Florentine Observa- 
tory, placed on a very striking eminence from which in former 
times Galileo made most of his discoveries. Donati, the great 
‘of the stars of Florence, and who was to have been the 
Pp Eisident and great attraction of the /é#e, was prevented from 
ending, as he had the day previously so hurt his leg by a fall 
that he was confined to his bed. The Municipio of Florence, 
Peruzzi at their head, had provided a splendid buffet, or dejeviner 
d Ja fourchette, for the whole of the guests invited, the music was 
excellent, and the view from the Observatory superb. 
WE hear from Ceylon that there has been a deluge, which has 
_ done considerable damage ; but the coffee districts are believed 
not to have sufferedmuch. At Colomboa bank near the Pettah, 
_ of native suburb, had to be cut through in order to allow the 
‘water accumulated in the Jake and its neighbourhood to escape 
into the sea. Mr. S. Green, of Colombo (a gentleman who takes 
great interest in science, and has sent home to England a great 
number of very interesting minute insects new to science, and 
"who has a splendid telescope by Cooke, the best in Ceylon), says 
in a private letter :—‘‘ We have had heavy rains here, which 
have inundated a great portion of the Western Province. A 
‘great many native houses have been destroyed, and one or two 
lives lost. Many natives took refuge in the cocoa-nut trees around 
their dwellings ; but some were found already occupied by snakes 
that had climbed the trees to escape the flood. They were very 
fierce, and maintained their position. A friend of mine going 
over the paddy-fields in a boat, saw several dead snakes floating 
_on the water, and others swimming about.” 
_ THE British Medical Fournal informs us that among other 
_ improvements about to be carried out at the Medical School of 
the Charing Cross Hospital, a Demonstrator of Anatomy is 
shortly to be appointed, with the annual salary of 150/. Pre- 
: erence will be given to gentlemen possessing a knowledge of 
Comparative Anatomy, as it is desired to associate a lectureship 
on this subject with the office of demonstrator. 
_ Tue following lecture arrangements are announced at the 
Royal Institution for the coming season :—Six Lectureson Air 
and Gas, by Prof. Odling, F.R.S.; Twelve Lectures on the 
‘Three Lectures on Oxidation, by Dr. Debus, F.R.S. ; Four 
ectures on the Artificial Formation of Organic Substances, by 
Dr. H. E. Armstrong ; Four Lectures on the Chemistry of Coal 
and its Products, by Prof. A. Vernon Harcourt, F.R.S. ; Six 
Lectures on the Comparative Political Institutions, of Different 
7 ations, by Edward A. Freeman, D.C.L. ; Three Lectures on 
the Philosophy of the Pure Sciences, by Prof. W. K. Clifford ; 
Three Lectues on Darwin’s Philosophy of Language, by Prof. 
Max Miiller, LL.D. The Friday Evening Meetings will com- 
‘mence on January 17. Friday Evening Discourses will prohably 
> given by Wm. Spottiswoode, F.R.S., the Rev. Prof. T. R. 
irks, Edward Dannreuther, Esq., Rafert Sabine, Sir H. 
Rawlinson, F.R.S., Prof. Clerk Maxwell, F.R.S., James Dewar, 
UE. J. Reed, C.B., . Emerson-Reynolds, Prof. W. K. Clifford 
' - Prof. Tyndall, F, R S., Lord Lindsay, Prof, Odling, F,R.S. 
eal  waTURE 
15 
and others. After Easter:—Three Lectures on the Limits of 
the Historic Method, by John Morley; Four Lectures on the 
Evidence for the History of Rome from Existing Architectural 
Remains, by J. H. Parker, C.B. ; Six Lectures by Prof. Tyndall, 
F.R.S. ; Four Lectures by Prof. Odling, F.R.S. ; Three Lec- 
tures on the Development of Music in connection with the 
Drama, by Edward Dannreuther. In January the New Labo- 
ratories for research will be open for the inspection of the 
Members of the Institution. 
THE following lectures are arranged to be delivered during the 
ensuing season at the London Institution, Finsbury Circus :— 
Educational Lectures, first course commencing Tuesday, Nov. 12; 
a lecture on the Nutrition of the Body, by Prof. Rutherford ; 
second course commencing Jan, 27, 1873, eight lectures on Phy- 
sical Geography, by Prof. Duncan, F.R.S. ; third course com- 
mencing Monday, April 7, six lectures on Elementary Botany, 
by Prof. Bentley ; two lectures on Fungoid Organisms in their 
relation to Mankind, by Prof, Thiselton’Dyer, Mondays, March 
24 and 31. Evening Lectures: Cavern Researches, by W. 
Pengelly, F.R.S.; Kent’s Cavern, Torquay, Nov. 6; and The 
Cave Men of Mentone, Nov. 13 ; on Spontaneous Movements in 
Plants, by Alfred W. Bennett, Nov. 27; on the Paraffin In- 
dustry, by F. Field, F.R.S., Dec. 14; on Ancient Science, 
by G. J. Rodwell, Jan. 15, 1873 ; on Fresco and Siliceous Paint- 
ings, by Prof. Barff, Feb. 5 and 12; on the Result of recent 
Meteorological Inquiry, by Robt. H. Scott, F.R.S., Feb. 26. On 
Dec, 11, 1872, Mr. Austen will read a paper, to be followed by 
discussion, on Peat as a Substitute for Coal. Prof. H. E. Arm- 
strong will deliver a holiday course of four lectures, adapted to 
a juvenile auditory, on Air, Earth, Fire, and Water, commencing 
Dec. 30th. 
Mr, J. JENNER WEIR, F.L.S., delivered a lecture last even- 
ing at the Crystal Palace, on the Aquarium and its Contents. 
The West Kent Microscopical Society exhibited their instruments 
on the occasion. 
THE following lectures will be delivered before the Bolton 
Literary and Scientific Society (Subject not fixed):—J. Glaisher, 
F.R.S., Nov. 19. On Coal and Coal Plants, by Prof. W. 
C. Williamson, F.R.S., Dec. to, Where are the ‘Bones of 
the Men who made the Flint Implements? by Wm. Pengelly, 
F.R.S. The Gulf Stream ; what it does, and what it does not, 
by Dr.'Wm. B. Carpenter, F.R.S., Feb. (day not fixed), An ele- 
mentary course of six lectures on astronomy has been delivered 
by the Rev. J. Freeston ; to be followed by one of eight lectures 
on geology and physical geography, by J. Collins, 
Tue birth of a hippopotamus is again announced to have taken 
place at the Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park, on Tuesday 
last. 
A MDLLE, JAcozs is mentioned in the Dutch papers as having 
successfully passed her examination in physics and mathematics 
at the University of Groningen. This lady will be the first 
female medical student in the Netherlands. 
Dr. Druitt, well known as an author of standard surgical 
works, as a leading Jabourer in the cause of sanitary progress, 
and as the Editor of the Medical Times and Gazette, is compelled 
by ill health to retire for two years to a more genial climate. 
At a meeting attended by many of the leading members of the 
profession-on October 31, it was resolved to initiate a subscrip- 
tion with a view to the public recognition of his eminent services. 
THE Persian Government, the School Board Chronicle tells us, 
has engaged, through its representative at Paris, forty tutors fo 
a Lyceum to be established in Persia on the ‘‘ model system” of 
France. 
a 
