476 
NATURE 
[FEBRUARY 15, 1917 
In 1909 he developed a suggestion of Prof. Hicks into 
a “pulsation theory” of gravitation. Problems con- 
nected with gravitation and with the relations between 
matter and ether occupied his attention during the 
succeeding years, his papers appearing in the Philo- 
sophical Magazine. With the analytical powers neces- 
sary for the prosecution of these researches Dr. Bur- 
ton combined an insight into the construction and 
capabilities of instruments which made his position 
almost unique. His micro-azimometer may be taken 
as an example of his powers as a designer of instru- 
ments. The necessity for an instrument-of great sen- 
sitiveness arose out of his search for a possible effect 
of the motion of the earth on the azimuth of a thin 
metal sheet suspended in vacuo, a search on which 
he was still engaged when the war broke out. An 
echelon grating, built up of reflecting elements and 
having a resolving power in the neighbourhood of 
the D-line of more than two millions, was also under 
construction by Dr. Burton, and shows his great 
skill. From the time when he was a demonstrator 
in physics at University College, London, Dr. Burton 
was an active member of the Physical Society of 
London, and his quiet manner and clear method of 
exposition made him a valuable asset at any meeting 
he attended. 
CuHartes Owen WateruousE, whose death, at the 
age of seventy-three, was announced in Nature of 
last week, was an entomologist of a type which, in 
these days of specialisation, is gradually becoming 
rarer. Few entomologists of his time had a wider 
or more varied knowledge of insects, although, as a 
specialist on the Coleoptera, he probably published less 
work than did many of his contemporaries. His 
papers were very numerous, and the mere titles 
of them would fill some pages, but the majority 
of them were very short, and related chiefly to species 
which, possessing some exceptional or striking char- 
acter, attracted his attention. These species were 
drawn from almost every family of ‘Coleoptera, and 
not a few belonged to other orders of insects. He 
was not fond of descriptive writing, and, in fact, wrote 
comparatively little, his most sustained effort in this 
direction being his contribution on the Buprestidz to 
the ‘‘ Biologia Centrali-Americana,’”’ in which he: had 
to deal with 434 species, 300 of which were new. 
The morphological side of his subject seemed to have 
the greatest interest for him, and he often turned to 
it as a relief from the monotony of arranging long 
rows of specimens in cabinet drawers, or writing out 
pages of descriptions. His hands were at all times 
rather shaky, and it was wonderful to watch with 
what great success he could carry out the most deli- 
cate piece of manipulation. In his later years he co- 
operated with the late Fred Enock in collecting and 
studying the Mymaridaz—parasitic Hymenoptera of the 
smallest dimensions, some of which could pass readily 
through the eye of a needle. The exhibited series of 
insects in the insect gallery of the Natural History 
Museum, the guide-book to this series, and the many 
drawings, diagrams, models, and explanatory labels 
were nearly. all prepared by him or under his direction, 
and afford some of the best evidence of the 
value of his work. He must have commenced 
his study of entomology at a very early age 
and under the most favourable auspices. His father, 
G. R. Waterhouse, the friend of Darwin and Owen, 
although officially connected with the British Museum 
as keeper of the Department of Geology, was himself 
almost more distinguished as an entomologist than he 
Was as a geologist. Mr. Waterhouse entered the 
British Museum as an assistant in 1866, and from 
1905 until his retirement in 1910 was assistant-keeper 
of the Zoological Department, and head of the Ento- 
NO. 2468, VOL. 98] 
mological Section. Just before his retirement the 
Companionship of the Imperial Service Order was 
conferred upon him. “ 
Tue death is announced at the age of sixty-seven of 
Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra Das, C.I.E., the Bengali 
explorer of Tibet. In his younger days he was a 
schoolmaster at Darjeeling, and at the age of thirty 
paid his first visit to Tibet. In the following year 
he explored the Yarlung valley and Lake Palti and 
visited Lhassa. In 1882 he accompanied the late Mr. 
Macaulay on his mission to Sikhim and the Tibetan 
frontier, and in 1885 he again accompanied Mr. 
Macaulay when he went to Peking to ask permission 
of the Chinese Government for a mission to enter 
Tibet. For his services on this occasion Chandra 
Das was awarded the C.I.E. In 1888 the Royal 
Geographical Society awarded him the Back bequest 
for his geographical researches. For political reasons 
his researches in Tibet were not published until 1902. 
He was a great student of Buddhist writings and the 
founder of the Buddhist Text Society of India. 
Chandra Das was a man of great ability and conspicu- 
ous daring. To his initiative and courage is due 
much of our knowledge of the Indian frontier lands. 
WE regret to note from the Engineer the death 
of Mr. James Gilchrist, chairman of Messrs. 
Barclay, Curle and Co., Ltd., of Glasgow. 
Mr. Gilchrist was born in Glasgow in 1847, and was 
associated with his firm for about fifty-five years. 
The ocean-going motor-ship—the Jutlandia—was built — 
and engined by his firm in 1912, and was the first 
vessel of this class built in the United Kingdom. 
Mr. Gilchrist was a member of the Clyde Navigation 
Trust. 
Tue death of Mr. Isaac John Mann is also an- 
nounced in the Engineer. Mr. Mann was educated 
at Trinity College, Dublin, and was for several 
years assistant engineer to the Dublin Port 
and Docks Board. He was associated with Sir John 
Fowler in the construction of Rossclare Harbour, and 
was afterwards resident engineer at the harbour con- 
struction works at Fishguard. He was a member of 
the Institution of Civil Engineers, and was awarded 
a Telford premium for his book on the formation of 
river bars. : 
Tne death is announced in Science, at the age 
of 105, of Mr. John Finlayson, after whom Finlayson 
River and Finlayson Lake in Yukon Territory were 
named. Finlayson was a gold miner in California and 
Oregon until he was eighty-six years old, and then 
did much pioneer exploration work in British Colum- 
bia and Yukon Territory. 
Tue death is announced of Mrs. P. Amaury Talbot, 
wife of the District Commissioner of the Nigerian 
Political Service, and author of ‘‘ Woman’s Mysteries 
of a Primitive People: the Ibirios of Southern 
Nigeria.’’ Mrs. Talbot travelled extensively, accom- 
panying her husband for many syears on all his 
journeys. y 
Tue lecture given before the Aeronautical Society 
on February 7 by Mr. F. Handley Page on ‘‘The 
Case for the Large Aeroplane ’”? reminds us that after 
the war the problem of the large aeroplane will assume 
even greater importance than at present. The demand 
in war time is for a machine having high speed and 
good climbing powers, but after the war the problem of 
using large aircraft for the transport of passengers 
and mails will certainly receive much attention. 
The success of the large aeroplane depends more upon 
constructional questions than upon aerodynamics. A 
