SEPTEMBER 4, 1902] 
NATURE 
447 
by a pressure of 50,000 volts obtained by transforming up from 
the street mains. It is said that a speed of 25 to 30 words a 
minute is easily maintained. An instance is quoted of two 
messages having been read at the same time from the same 
receiver, one coming from an ‘“‘outside”’ source, probably a 
Marconi station. This seemsa doubtful recommendation for 
the system, and shows that the time can not be so very far dis- 
tant when some consolidation of all the competing systems will 
be essential. It is to be hoped that this may result, not 
merely in the survival of the fittest, but in the evolution of a 
system possessing all the special advantages of the various 
competitors. 
A NEWFOUNDLAND correspondent centributes a lucid and 
interesting article on ‘* This Year’s Arctic Work” to a recent 
issue of the Zzmes. The preparations made for Baldwin's 
expedition northward from Franz Josef land, which has ended 
unaccountably in failure, are described with considerable detail, 
and the unusual completeness of Baldwin’s equipment makes 
the return without substantial achievement all the more remark- 
able, especially in comparison with the results of the Duke of the 
Abruzzi’s expedition. A short account of Peary’s twelve years 
of Arctic work brings the extraordinary sufferings of that 
indefatigable explorer into strong relief, and the prospects of 
his success and safe return this year from what is to be his last 
Arctic journey are discussed. The safety of the expedition led 
by Sverdrup, captain of Nansen’s “ram, which started from 
Jones Sound in 1899 to explore the vast unknown area beyond 
the Parry Islands and has not been heard of since, is already 
doubtful, and unless it returns this summer its position must be 
one of extreme peril, as it was only provisioned for three years. 
Should Peary and Sverdrup return safely this season, the Arctic 
regions will next spring be without a single investigator, a 
circumstance that has not occurred for more than fifteen years. 
WE learn from the /owrnad of the Society of Arts that the 
Association of German Machinery Engineers of Berlin has 
offered prizes of 5000, 3000 and 2000 marks (250/., 150/. and 
100/.) for a constructive tracing of a locomotive able to pull a 
train of 180 tons in weight, on a level roadway, at a speed of 
120 kilometres per hour (74°5 miles) for a continuous run of at 
least three miles, the highest rate of speed not to exceed 
150 kilometres (93°2 miles) per hour. The close of the com- 
petition is fixed for December I, 1902. Any further particulars 
may be obtained by applying to the secretary of the above 
association, Herr Geheimer Kommissionrath, F. C. Glaser, 
Lindenstrasse SoI., Berlin. 
Our American contemporary Sczence protests strongly against 
the appointment of Captain Colby M. Chester, a naval officer 
without special knowledge of astronomy, as superintendent of 
the U.S. Naval Observatory, The institution is regarded as the 
national observatory of the United States, and the opinion is 
expressed that an astronomer should be at its head instead of a 
naval officer. Our contemporary adds: ‘The institution has 
no rational purpose of existence except a desire on the part of 
the American people that our nation shall, in its public capacity, 
do its full share in the promotion of those branches of astronomy 
which have to be pursued under public auspices. The leading 
position which our country has taken in the extraordinary 
development of astronomic science during our generation can 
alone justify the unparalleled expenditure of our Government 
upon its observatory. The results of this expenditure through 
the ten years since the completion of the new observatory should 
have been its general recognition as the leading observatory of 
the world in at least some important field of the sciences. With 
its great advantages over old-fashioned Greenwich and Paris, it 
should have left both these institutions in the rear.” 
NO. 1714, VOL. 66 | 
M. DE FONVIELLE informs us that M. Camille Pelletan, 
Minister of the French Marine and of the Colonies, has placed 
the Zfce, a torpedo destroyer, 306 tons, 62 men, at the dis- 
posal of Comte de la Vaulx for purposes of aéronautical 
manceuvres on the Mediterranean, with a new balloon. It may 
be remembered that last year Comte de la Vaulx tried to cross 
the Mediterranean from Toulon with a large balloon made 
captive by floating pieces of wood. The experiment, although 
interesting, proved a failure, owing to the wind blowing east- 
ward. This year the experiments are likely to begin from 
Palavas, a point near the place where, in 1901, the trip ended. 
The £/ée is to join the balloon there on September 10. The 
new balloon will carry in its car a propelling petroleum engine, 
which, however, will be used only in the second series of 
manceuvres. On Sunday, August 24, M. Heureux, a young and 
promising aéronaut, tried on a smaller scale similar performances 
in the Channel. He proved by an ascent at Dunkerque that a 
tug-boat can conduct a balloon against a strong wind. The 
balloon A/cor was sent up in the direction of the sea and for 
same time was lost to view in the clouds ; but, after having run 
some miles, the valve was opened and the balloon descended 
close to the waves. M. Heureux dropped his cone-anchor and 
waited until a tug-boat, sent out especially from Dunkerque, 
threw a rope to the car, by which the balloon was tugged 
easily and reached Dunkerque fully inflated. 
Av the annual meeting of the Société d’Encouragement 
pour l’Industrie nationale, the president announced the 
mode of distribution of the grants at the disposal of the 
Society for research work bearing upon industry. The 
gold medal of the Society for work which has exercised the 
greatest influence on French industry is awarded to M. V. 
Steinlen for his researches on the invention and construction 
of machine tools, M. Rabate receiving the Parmentier prize 
for his original studies on the resin industry. Money grants 
were also given to M. Fremont (3500 fr.) for his work on the 
testing of metals, to M. Gutton (3000 fr.) for his work on 
the fragility of materials, to M. C. Brioux (2000 fr.) for his 
geological and agricultural study of Basse-Bourgogne, to M. C. 
Urwin (500 fr.) for his work on the acetylacetonates, to M. 
Guyot (500 fr.) for his researches on colouring matters, and to 
M. Canovetti (1000 fr.) for his work on air resistance. The 
total amount of the grants for research made by the Society 
for the years 1902-1903 is twenty thousand francs. The president 
expressed the hope that the industries which benefit by this 
sacrifice will lend assistance in their turn in providing for the 
commencement of new studies which the Society has not as 
yet been able to attempt for want of sufficient funds. 
On the occasion of the recent meeting of the members of the 
British Pharmaceutical Conference at Dundee, the president, Mr. 
J. C. Druce, summarised in his address the progress of Scottish 
botany. The review begins with an account of the work of Robert 
Sibbald, who lived in the latter half of the seventeenth century 
and compiled the work known as ‘Scotia Illustrata.” After 
him, the more important systematic botanists referred to are Dr. 
Lightfoot, the author of ‘‘ Flora Scotica” (1777), Sir James E. 
Smith, whose ‘‘ English Botany” is a standard work, George 
Don, famous on account of his botanical explorations (1800), 
Sir W. J. Hooker, who also published a “‘ Flora Scotica” (1821), 
and Mr. H. C. Watson, to whom we are indebted for the 
“* Cybele Britannica” (1847-1860). The most impressive part 
of the address is the vivid sketch of George Don, who, humbly 
born and poorly educated, devoted himself with untiring energy 
to scientific, more especially botanical, observations, and 
was the first to explore many Highland districts now famous, 
but at that time quite unknown. Owing to unfortunate circum- 
stances, many of Don’s discoveries have been called into question, 
