on Wednesday, September 24, the concluding General Meeting 
will be held at 2.30 P.M. We omitted to mention in last week’s 
_ number that the President of Section D, Biology, is Prof. 
| Allmann, M.D., F.R.S. 
_ Str Henry Rawrinson has received a letter dated Khar- 
toom, July 2, from Sir Samuel Baker. Sir Samuel expresses a 
_ hope that he will be in Englandin September. In reference to 
the oneness of Lakes Tanganyika and Albert Nyanza, he says: 
_ —‘* The envoys sent by M’tése all assured me that the Tangany- 
_ the eastern border ; that you can travel by boat from Ujiji to the 
north end of the Albert Lake; but you must have a guide, as 
Some portions are very narrow and intricate, From my experi- 
~ ence of the high-water grass, I should expect islands and floating 
‘vegetation in the narrow passes described. Iam by no means 
fond of geographical theories, but the natives’ descriptions were 
so clear that I accepted as a fact that the Tanganyika and Albert 
Lakes are one sheet of water, with marshy narrow straits over- 
| grown with water grass, through which you require a guide.” 
Tue Session of the British Medical Association in London 
| during the last week seems in all respects to have been most suc- 
_ cessful: a great many papers were read, and a great quantity 
of pleasuring hurried through. Many of the papers were valu- 
_ able from a medical point of view, and some of importance 
_ even from a general scientific standpoint. This week we give 
_ a short abstract of Dr. Sanderson’s address. 
AT the annual general meeting of the Royal Botanical Society, 
on Monday, the Council congratulated the Fellows on the fact 
that since the last anniversary meeting the progress which had 
' characterised the operations of the society during the last few 
years had been maintained. The number of new Fellows elected 
| during the year was 114, being an increase of ten above that of 
last year; few resignations had occurred. The total number 
_ of Fellows and members at the present time was 2,502, the 
largest on the books of the society since its commencement. 
The total amount received in subscriptions was 25 0/. in excess 
of that of last year, and considerably above the average of the 
last few seasons. From the auditor’s report it appeared that the 
total receipts for the year, including the balance of 529/. from 
the previous year, amounted to 13,434/. 6s. 11d., and the pay- 
ments, exclusive of the balance in hand, 2,170/. 9s. 4¢., to 
11,2637. 17s. 7¢. The report of the secretary was also read, 
and was equally satisfactory with the other reports. The Council 
for the next year was elected by ballot. 
Pror, G. SCHWEIZER, Director of the Moscow Observatory, 
died on July 5, after a long illness. 
Tue death of Sir Francis Ronalds in his 86th year, at Battle, 
in Sussex, has just been announced. Sir Francis was well 
kriown, many years ago, for his experiments in electricity. In 
1823 he published a pamphlet containing an account of some of 
his experiments, and explaining, with the help of illustrations, 
his plan of an electric telegraph. He had erected in his own 
garden, first at Highbury and then at Hammersmith, a number 
of poles supporting eight miles of wire, and through this wire 
_ he sent his messages. Each message was read at the further end 
by means of two needles moving on a dial plate, a plan much 
the same as that which afterwards came into general use. The 
spark in his telegraph system was however created by an elec- 
trical machine, and not, as in existing systems, by a galvanic 
battery. In recognition of the value of his discovery, the Go- 
yvernment bestowed on him the honour of knighthood in 1870, 
when the same mark of appreciation had been conferred on Sir 
Charles Wheatstone for his improvement of the telegraph. Sir 
_ F. Ronalds superintended for a short time the Meteorological 
Observatory at Kew on behalf of the British Association, and 
_ the Government conferred upon him a small pension for his ser- 
vices to Science, For some years he lived in the north of Italy, 
NATURE 
ten: ari 
313 
studying the works of Italian writers on electricity. Lately he 
was engaged in his home at Battle in preparing a catalogue of 
the published books and papers on electrical science, which we 
believe is quite ready for print, and will be of great value to 
students, 
To the notice which appeared some few weeks back stating 
that the large female Octopus had deposited a quantity of sp2wn 
on the rock-work of her tank, we have now to add the still 
more interesting intelligence of the successful development ard 
escape of the perfected embryos. It will be remembered that 
the first of these eggs were deposited on June 19, and as the 
earliest arrivals of the young Octopods into the outer waters of 
their tanks took place on Friday the 8th inst., we have just 
eight weeks as the period of incubation. Mr. Saville Kent, 
having personally witnessed the congress of the two sexes in 
April last, we are also in a position to record an almost 
similar period occupied during the process of gestation, and 
which together constitute an important addition to our previous 
knowledge of the habits of the Cephalopoda. Since Mr. Saville 
Kent’s resignation of the Curatorship, the Brighton Aquarium 
has unfortunately lost the older and tamer example of the two 
porpoises, commented upon by that gentleman in NATURE for 
July 17, as also the unique specimens of the Sturgeon and 
John Dorée, which have likewise received a share of attention 
from the same pen in the pages of this journal. 
THE Lords of the Committee of Council on Education are | 
about to appoint a keeper of the Natural History Depart- 
ment of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art. The 
salary will be 350/., rising to 450/. per annum. Candidates 
should apply to the Secretary, Science and Art Department, 
South Kensington. 
THe German African Exploration Society has received a 
despatch, dated July 1, announcing the arrival of Professors 
Bastian and Goeschen at Cabinna Clougd, for which place 
Dr. Guesfeldt had started on June 28 from Sierra Leone. 
Dr. Falkenstein, Dr. Anatoin, physician, and Herr Linder, 
engineer, are hourly awaiting, at Berlin, further intelligence, cn 
receipt of which they leave to join the expedition. 
Xanthorrea australis, one of the grass gum trees of Australia, 
is coming into flower for the first time in Europe, in the succu- 
lent-house at Kew. There is also a fine plant of Agave jacgui- 
niana, removed to the palm-house for the sake of space, which 
is now in full flower. 
Dr. PETERMANN has sent us advanced sheets of some of the 
articles to appear in the forthcoming number of his AZi/theilungen. 
One of these gives an account of the Po/aris Arctic Expedition 
under the unfortunate Capt. Hall, and points out the main scien- 
tific results, which Dr. Petermann rightly regards as of the 
highest importance. He animadverts with considerable severity 
on the conduct of the English for the last nine years with regard 
to Arctic exploration; we, he says, having during that time 
endeavoured to depreciate the efforts of others, while we our- 
selves have done nothing. Even the expedition of the daring 
Hall, he declares, we sneered at when it set out, and since 
its fate was known, have spoken slightingly of the results. We 
must acknowledge that Dr. Petermann’s taunt as to our inaction 
during the last nine years in the direction of Arctic exploration 
is to some extent justified by facts; that inaction, however, is 
not due to the apathy of English men of Science but to the par- 
simony of the British Government. We have done much in the 
way of private effort for discovery, but no amount of private effort 
is equal to the fitting out of an adequate Polar Expedi- 
tion. It is, we believe, the earnest desire of all classes 
that Government should provide the means of enabling this 
country to take that foremost part in Arctic exploration which 
was formerly hers without dispute, by fitting out a thoroughly 
equipped expedition, an expedition which should have for one ofits 
