126 



NA TURE 



[February 2, 1899 



The Hritisli I'ire rreveiuion Commiuee has just opened its 

 testing station at Regent's I'ark. The arrangement of the 

 establishment are in the hands of the executive of the Com- 

 mittee, Mr. Edwin O. Sachs (the chairman) jicrsonally super- 

 vising the work, with the assistance of a sub-Committec, com- 

 prising Mr. R. Mond, Mr. Karrow, and Mr. Max Clarke. The 

 purpose of the tests, as defined by Mr. Sachs at Tuesday's press 

 view, is to obtain trustworthy data as to the exact fire-resistance 

 of the various materials, systems of construction, or appliances 

 used in building practice. Such data have not as yet been 

 available, owing to the fact that nearly all investigations of this 

 description have been carried out by individual makers or in- 

 ventors with specific commercial objects in view. The tests 

 will be of an entirely independent character, arranged on scien- 

 tific lines, but with full consideration for the practical purpose in 

 view. All reports on tests will solely state the bare facts and 

 occurrences, with tables, diagrams and illustrations, and on no 

 account will reports include expressions of opinion or any ex- 

 pressions that might be read as comparisons or criticisms. The 

 general direction of the tests will be in the hands of the 

 executive, the actual tests being attended by the members of 

 the Council and the members of the Committee in rotation. 

 The principal building of the testing station will be used for 

 laboratory purposes, whilst the gardens are utilised for the prin- 

 cipal so-called "full-size " tests. These are generally carried 

 on in brick chambers specially erected for the purpose. The 

 fuel primarily takes the form of gas, and the principal recording 

 instruments are the Roberts-Austen electrical pyrometers with 

 photographic records. 



Referring to the death of Prof. Gurit, at Berlin, the Lancet 

 remarks that as permanent secretary of the German Surgical 

 Association he had to make the arrangements for the annual 

 meetings of this important society and to publish its proceed- 

 ings. During the last few years he had the management of the 

 collective investigation on ana;slhetics. His name will always 

 be famous as one of the historians of surgery. Scarcely a year 

 before his death he published his great work on the "History 

 of Surgery during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance," the 

 result of more than ten years' study. Prof. Gurlt was the editor 

 of the Ai-ihiv fur Klinische Chirugie, and co-editor of the 

 Virchow-Hirsch /ahresbcitriige. 



As already announced, the seventh International Geographic.il 

 Congress will be held at Berlin from September 28 to October 4 

 of this year. The proceedings of the congress, which will 

 include all branches of geographical science, will probably fall 

 under three heads. In the first place, there will be lectures 

 on geographical work and travels during recent years. In this 

 section may be expected, among others, reports upon the results 

 of the German Dccp-Sea Expedition still at work, and also upon 

 the geographical and geological investigations of Dr. Kutterer 

 in Central Asia. Secondly, there will be discussions concern- 

 ing the international introduction of a common geographical 

 terminology and of international methods, such, for example, 

 as the general adojition of the metric system, of the centigrade 

 thermometer, and of unity in geographical orthography. Lastly, 

 international eftbrts will be considered, including the greatest 

 geographical problem of the day, namely, the investigation of 

 the Antarctic regions. The German Government has, at the 

 suggestion of the Geographical Society of Berlin, included a 

 sum of 50,000 marks, as a contribution towards the costs of the 

 congress, in the budget estimates already laid before the " Reich- 

 stag.'' It is expected that the congress, which will this year 

 meet for the first lime in the fatherland of Ilumlioldl and Carl 

 Ritter, will have an importance corresponding to the high 

 standard of geographical science in (jermany. 

 NO. 1527. VOL. 59] 



The well-known firm of Merck, in Darmstadt, has sent us 

 the first number of a new periodical called Merck's Digest, in 

 which they propose to publish a selection of reports on the physio- 

 logical action and therapeutic uses of remedies, old and new, pre- 

 pared^iby the firm. The firm will forward this regularly, and free 

 of charge, to all medical men or chemists applying to Mr. E. 

 Merck, 16, Jewry Street, London, E.C. So many new remedies 

 are being introduced at present, that it is difiicult to become 

 acquainted with even those amongst them which are really useful, 

 and this publication is likely to help medical men and others 

 who desire to keep themselves an coiiraul with the progress of 

 pharmacology and therapeutics. We learn with deep regret of 

 the death of Mr. William Merck, the senior partner in the firm, 

 who has done such admirable service to pharmacology by pro- 

 viding pure alkaloids for the use of those who have been 

 engaged in experiments on their physiological action. 



The following particulars with regard to the career of the 

 late Mr. Merck are given in the Chemist and Druggist .—After 

 his school training, Merck went to Wiesbaden and studied under 

 Remigius Fresenius. Then in 1S54 he went to Breslau to con- 

 tinue his chemical training under Loewig at the University of 

 Breslau, but had to return to Darmstadt owing to the death of 

 his father. Affairs having been settled, he next came to London, 

 entering the Royal College of ChemLstry as a student of Prof. 

 A. W. Hofmann, with whom his elder brother George had 

 previously been a pupil. It is interesting to recall the fact that 

 Dr. George Merck was one of the first students of the Royal 

 College who undertook original research, his subject (in which 

 he was associated with Robert Gallow.iy) being an " Analysis of 

 the Water of the Thermal Spring of Bath, " which was read be- 

 fore the Chemical Society in December 1846, and was the fir.st 

 of the researches published by the Royal College. Wilhelni 

 Merck remained two seasons in London, then went on to Paris 

 to complete his studies under Wurtz. This m.agnificent training 

 stood him in good ste.ad in after years Returning to Darmstadt 

 he took his share of the management of the business along with 

 his brothers Karl and George. Mr. Wilhelm Merck took an 

 active interest in the prosperity of his native town, of which he 

 was a councillor for twenty-five years, and to which, as president 

 for a considerable time of the Chamber of Commerce, he ren- 

 dered important services. Although Mr. Merck was a retiring 

 man, and what he did for Darmstadt was done unostentatiously, 

 the Grand Duke, in 1889, recognised his ability and influence- 

 by appointing him Privy Councillor of Commerce, and a life- 

 member of the Upper Chamber of the Grand Uuchy. Some 

 time previously he had been decorated with the Grand-Duke 

 Philipp order of the first class. 



The vexed question .is the exact meaning of the phrase "one 

 hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise" in the Local 

 Government .^ct, 1888, referring to the lighting of bicycle 

 lamps, was settled from a legal point of view in a Divisional 

 Court on Thursday Last. It had been held that sunset at 

 Greenwich was meant, and the Bristol justices convicted a 

 cyclist for riding a bicycle without a light an hour after sunset 

 thus defined. The alleged offence was committed on August 19, 

 1898, at 8.15 p.m., which was less than an hour after sunset at 

 Bristol, but niore than an hour after sunset at Greenwich. An 

 appeal was made against the decision of the Bristol magistrates ; 

 and at Thursday's Court the appeal was allowed, and the con- 

 viction quashed, their Lordships holding that the phrase in the 

 Act referred to must not be understood to mean Greenwich 

 time, but local time. 



Mr. W.m.ter Win.l.MAN descrilws in the Century Magazine 

 the journey in the Frithjof from Tromso, Norway, to Cape 

 Tegetthofl", Franz-Josef Land — from which place he writes, 

 under dale August 2, 1898. As to his plans he remarks: 



