February 23, 1899] 



NA TURE 



595 



The Prince of Wales has accepted the office of President of 

 the National Association for the prevention of consumption and 

 other forms of tuberculosis. 



The annual meeting of the Society for the Protection of 

 Birds will be held next Tuesday, February 28. The chair will 

 be taken by Sir Edward Grey, Bart., M.P. 



Mr. J. Hookey has been appointed to succeed Mr. W. H. 

 Preece, C.B., F.R.S., as engineer-in-chief of the Post Office, 

 and Mr. J. Gavey has been appointed assistant engineer-in- 

 chief and electrician. 



Proi-\ Karl MOller, one of the founders of /)/(• Naliir, 

 the well-known German scientific weekly, and the editor of it 

 until about three years ago, died on February 9, at the ace of 

 eighty-one. His botanical researches and many scientific 

 writings have contributed much to the advancement of science. 



Thk Governor of Yeniseisk states that the native report 

 regarding the Andree e.\pedition has been in no way confirmed 

 either in Yeniseisk or in the region under the supervision of the 

 inspector of mines for the northern Yeniseisk district. Though 

 an exhaustive search has been made on the Upper Pit River, no 

 traces of the expedition have been found. 



VVe learn from the British Medical Journal that the Paris 

 .\cademie de Medecine is about to build itself a new house on a 

 palatial scale. The plans have been drawn by M. Rochet, and 

 all the architects who have seen them are said to have been 

 unanimous in declaring that the building will be one of the 

 finest in Paris. It is expected to be completed in two years. 



The International Congress of Mathematicians at Paris in 

 I goo, of which a brief announcement appears in the Revue 

 Ct'm'rale lies Sciences for February 15, promises to be one of 

 the most important of coming events in the mathematical world. 

 The Congress, which will be in conjunction with the Paris Exhi- 

 bition from the 6th to the 12th August, will probably hold most 

 of its meetings at the Sorbonne. Already upwards of 910 

 members and others have announced their intention to be 

 present. The price of the tickets of membership has been fixed 

 at thirty francs. 



Mr. Stanley Flower seems to be making good progress 

 with the reorganisation of the Zoological Garden at Gizeh, 

 near Cairo, of which he has lately been appointed director. 

 An Indian elephant has been received from Calcutta, and a 

 fine siwcimen of the Gangetic crocodile has been presented by 

 Captain Henderson, of the s. s. Manora. Large series of 

 aquatic birds have also been lately obtained from Damietta, 

 and have added much to the lively appearance of the garden, 

 which is now much frequented by visitors from Cairo. 



TflE last letters received from Mr. John S. Budgett, who 

 has been sent out on a scientific mission to the Gambia by the 

 Zoological Society of London, are dated from Nianimaru, on 

 the Gambia, about thirty miles below McCarthy Island, 

 January 23. They announce that Mr. Budgett, who was in 

 excellent health, was busily engaged in collecting fishes and 

 birds. Of Polypterus, one of the objects of his special in- 

 quiries, he had obtained some large specimens, one of which 

 was found to contain large ova. The Manatee {Manatus 

 sencgalensis) had been ascertained to ascend the river thus far. 



The anniversary meeting of the Geological Society was held 

 at Burlington House on Friday last, February 17. The officers 

 were appointed as follows : — President, Mr. William Whitaker, 

 F.R.S. ; vice-presidents. Dr. Henry Hicks, F.R.S., Prof. J. 

 W. Judd, C.B., F.R.S , Prof. W. J. Sollas, F.R.S., and Rev. 

 H. H. Winwood : secretaries, Mr. R. S. Herries and Prof. W. 

 NO. 1530, VOL. 59] 



W. Watts; foreign secretary, Sir John Evans, K.C. U., F.R..S.;; 

 treasurer. Dr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S. The medals and funds 

 were awarded as announced on January 19 (p. 275). The 

 President delivered his anniversary address, which dealt with 

 various subjects in which geology has practical application. 



At the meeting of the Chemical Society on Thursday last, 

 the President announced that Mr. C. E. Groves, F.R.S., had 

 resigned the editorship of the Society's foiirnal, and that Dr. 

 W. P. Wynne, F.R.S.. had been selected to succeed him. The 

 Council had recorded their sense of Mr. Groves' services to the 

 Society in a vote of thanks, a copy of which would be en- 

 grossed on vellum and presented to him. It was announced 

 that the following changes in the officers and Council were pro- 

 posed by the Council : As president — Prof. T. E. Thorpe, 

 F.R.S., vice Prof. James Dewar, F.R.S. As vice-presidents — 

 Mr. C. E. Groves, F.R.S., and Prof. Thomas Purdie, F.R.S., 

 vice Prof. F. R. Japp, F.R.S., and Prof. \V. A. Tilden, F.R.S. 

 As hon. secretary — Dr. Alexander .Scott, F.R.S., vice Ur. 

 W. P. Wynne, F.R.S. As hon. treasurer— Prof. W. A. Tilden, 

 F.R.S., vice Prof. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S. As ordinary ir^embers 

 of Council — Mr. II. Brereton Baker, Prof. F. Clowes, l>r. 

 G. T, Moody, and Prof. James Walker, vice Prof. Bedsoii, Mr- 

 Hehner, Prof. McLeod, F.R.S., and Dr. Scott, F.R.S. 



Referring to the recent landslip at Airolo, a Reuter telegram 

 from Berne says : " With the weather becoming warmer fresh falls 

 of rock have occurred at Sasso Rosso, near Airolo, one of them 

 being of considerable magnitude. These falls confirm the view 

 taken by geologists that the further slides will not take place all 

 at once, but in sections varying in bulk from 5000 to 10,000 

 cubic metres. The fresh masses fell on the present accumulation 

 of debris without causing any damage. The St. Gothard Rail- 

 way is not endangered, and there is no question of the traffic 

 being interrupted." 



We learn from Science that the Physical Society of Berlin, 

 established in 1845, has decided to be known as the German 

 Physical Society. The object of the Society is to advance 

 physical science by the following means : (l) the publication of 

 Proceedings, especially, for the prompt issue of short com- 

 munications. (2) The publication of a year-book on the pro- 

 gress of physics. (3) Co-operation in the publication of the 

 Annalen dcr Pliysili und Clietiiie. (4) Participation in the 

 meetings of the Section of Physics, of the German Society of 

 Men of Science and Physicians. (5) Regul.ir meetings in 

 Berlin, and (6) a journal club. 



In 1894 the Goldsmiths' Company made a grant of 1000/. to 

 the conjoint Board of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and 

 Surgeons for the purpose of further experiments in connection 

 with the anti-toxin treatment of diphtheria, with the stipulation 

 that a supply of the best possible serum should \k supplied for 

 the gratuitous treatment of poor patients, especially children, . 

 sulTering from diphtheria. In a report to the Company, Sir 

 Walter S. Prideaux has expressed the opinion that the Company 

 would take a wise and beneficent step if they were to make a 

 further grant to the conjoint Board, adding, "There can be no 

 question that the grant made in 1894 has proved not only of 

 much importance to science, but h.as also been of great value to 

 suffering humanity amongst the poorer classes." Upon con- 

 sideration of the report the Goldsmiths' Company have made 

 a further grant of 500/. to the conjoint Board, making the same 

 stipulation as before, that a supply of the best possible seruno 

 shall be supplied for the gratuitous treatment of poor [X^tients. 



The Rev. M. Dechevrens, S.J., director of the St. Louis 

 Observatory, Jersey, has sent us a letter with reference to Mr. 

 W. II. Dines's recent paper on the connection between the 



