OcroBER 12, 1916] 
NATURE 
113 
regions of Asia, where they form the main part of | 
some mountains. ik aes 
Wuen the Gilbert Club was inaugurated in 1889, it 
had nearly one hundred members. ‘The president was 
Lord Kelvin, and the secretaries were Mr. Conrad W. 
Cooke, Prof. R. Meldola, and Prof. S,.P. Thompson, 
all of whom, except Mr. Cooke, have since died. The 
first object of the club was to produce and issue an 
English translation of Gilbert’s ‘De Magnete"’ in the 
manner of the folio of 1600. This was done, but no 
general meeting has been held since the club was 
inaugurated, and as the principal founder, Prof. 
Thompson, has passed away, it is proposed to wind up 
the affairs of the club. A general meeting will be held, 
therefore, in the rooms of the Royal Society of Arts 
on Wednesday, October 18, at 3.30 o’clock p.m., the 
Right Hon. Lord Moulton in the chair, for this’ pur- 
pose. Proposals will be made as to the disposal of the 
property of the club, consisting of the remaining 
copies of the book, as well as of such funds as. are 
in the hands of the hon. treasurer, and matters will 
be brought forward of considerable interest to all who 
wish to perpetuate the memory of William Gilbert of 
Colchester. 
Tue death of Dr. Joseph Anderson, of Edinburgh, 
at the ripe age of eighty-four, removes a notable per- 
sonality from the ranks of scientific workers. Born 
in 1832, he originally intended to devote himself to a 
scholastic “career. After several years of teaching, 
three of which (1856-59) were spent in Constantinople, 
he turned to journalism instead, becoming editor of 
an important provincial newspaper in the extreme 
north of Scotland. It was during his nine years of 
residence at Wick that he found his true vocation. 
Caithness is singularly rich in prehistoric monuments, 
and Anderson’s acute intelligence was at once attracted 
by the difficult problems which these present. He 
realised from the outset that the only hope of a solu- 
tion lay in the rigid application of the. methods of 
science. He therefore set himself to ascertain the 
precise ‘facts, resolutely refusing to theorise unless 
and until a sufficient basis for induction had been 
securely established. His earliest results were so full 
of promise and were set forth in so lucid and incisive 
a style that, on a vacancy occurring in 1869, he 
received a unanimous invitation to accept the keeper- 
ship of the National Museum of Antiquities in Edin- 
burgh, and with it ‘the assistant-secretaryship of the 
Society. of Antiquaries of Scotland. These posts he 
held until 1913, when he retired with a Civil List 
pension. It is not too much to say that in the interval 
he _ revolutionised the whole study of Scottish 
archzology, his chief publications being his five series 
of Rhind lectures, which stamp him indubitably as a 
master of the science of research and of the art of 
clear exposition. 
Sir Rosert Hupson, chairman of the Joint Finance 
Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the 
Order of St. John (83 Pall Mall), publishes in the 
Times of October 10 the following letter received by 
him from ‘‘A Past President of the Chemical Society ”’ 
and ‘‘A Past President of the Society of Chemical 
Industry " :—‘‘ An industrial body jin: the United States 
of America recently requested our scientific advice. 
We felt bound to reply that all extraneous work not 
desired by the State could only be undertaken on 
behalf of the British Red Cross Society, to-which any 
honorarium .must. be directly transmitted. The cor- 
poration having responded most, handsomely to our 
terms, we gladly hand. over cheques each for 1000 
guineas, forwarded under the condition above specified. 
The bounds of the scientific profession are very exten- 
NO. 2450, VOL. 98] 
sive, and many individuals are receiving large pecu- 
niary benefits accruing, directly or indirectly, out of 
applied science. We earnestly hope that many col- 
leagues will come forward and help on the beneficent 
work of the British Red Cross Society.’’ Sir Robert 
Hudson expresses the hope that the fine example thus 
set by his two correspondents will commend itself to 
others; and we are sure that no objects make a 
stronger appeal to the scientific world than those with 
which he is associated. Very few men of science, 
however, are receiving such handsome fees as those 
which have just been forwarded to him, and most 
of them are engaged in national work of one kind or 
another without receiving any payment for their ser- 
vices. The appeal should be, therefore, not so much 
to scientific workers as to manufacturers and others 
who are benefiting by expert knowledge, often given 
gratuitously. 
In the June issue of the Journal of the Royal Society 
of Antiquaries of Ireland the address delivered by the 
president, Mr. T. J. Westropp, on ‘The | Progress 
of Irish Archeology "’ is published. The society was 
founded in Kilkenny in. 1849, and since then has held 
a high record for a long series of valuable papers 
published in its Proceedings. lt was said when 
the society migrated from Kilkenny to Dublin that 
archeology in Ireland sprang from the novels of 
Sir Walter Scott or from Macpherson’s “‘ Ossian.” 
There is some truth in this statement. The presi- 
dent’s account of the early Irish antiquaries, among 
whom portraits of W. Mollineaux, C. O’Connor, C. 
Vallancey, and G.. Petrie accompany his address, ‘is 
lively and interesting. He speaks ‘hopefully of the 
study of Irish antiquities, which, among its ablest 
students, exhibits a dislike for sweeping theories. But 
he remarks :—‘‘In. our country a bad theory—no 
matter how often refuted—never dies. Scientific anti- 
quaries have too much todo to refute for the tenth 
or twelfth time these absurdities. We shall never be 
in a satisfactory position till in archeology, as in 
natural science, the man» who attempts to. revive. an 
exploded error only slays his reputation and deceives 
no one but himself.” 
Tue problem of the origin of what the called the 
Indo-Aryan type of Indian temples was never com- 
pletely solved by James. Fergusson, and later inquirers 
have done little to produce a solution. In the June 
issue of the Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research 
Society Dr. D. B. Spooner, well known for his, ex- 
cavations at the site of Pataliputra, has in a great 
measure solved the difficulty. Beginning with the 
most primitive form of shrine, little more than a 
square box, he shows that the desire of the Indian 
architect was: to produce a play of light and: shade 
by advancing the central portion a little way, and 
then to repeat the process, so as to produce: a lower 
structure decorated with three miniatures. At some 
stage of the local architectural history this threefold 
division seems to have come prominently into notice, 
and the architect conceived the idea of balancing: this 
triplicity rhythmically by a corresponding threefold 
division of: his tower in horizontal stories. This idea 
of the architectural rhythm is very ingeniously de- 
veloped by Dr. Spooner, and his paper deserves the 
attention of architects. He closes by saying :—‘The 
people of Tirhut are to be warmly congratulated on 
the possession of so complete a-series of temples as 
they now) possess, a series sufficient to illustrate. the 
whole development of this important style, and a series 
including many shrines of special interest and beauty. 
Let us hope’ that they will do their best to safeguard 
their inheritance, and: to maintain the temples we 
have seen in good condition:” 
