OcTOBER 2, 1902] 
NATURE 
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and Prof. Mittag-Leffler. The eloquent speech of Prof. 
‘Forsyth met with the special approval of the audience 
and of the Christiania Press. The addresses from the 
various universities and learned societies were then 
delivered by the delegates ; these were so numerous that 
with a few exceptions the delegates handed them in with 
a simple statement of the name of the society or univer- 
sity from which they came. 
The last stage of the proceedings consisted of the 
conferring of honorary degrees upon twenty-nine dis- 
tinguished men of science, of whom ten were present as 
delegates. It was explained that the University of 
Christiania had hitherto not possessed the power of grant- 
ing honorary degrees, but that by a special Act of the 
Storthing the power had been granted to the University 
with a view to the present occasion. Among the twenty- 
nine mathematicians who were created Doctores Mathe- 
maticae, there were six British subjects—Lord Kelvin, 
Lord Rayleigh, Dr. Salmon (provost of Trinity College, 
Dublin), Sir George Gabriel Stokes, Prof. G. H. Darwin 
and Prof. A. R. Forsyth. In the evening, the delegates 
and a large number of other guests were entertained at 
dinner by the Municipality of Christiania; after the 
dinner there was a torch-light procession of many hun- 
dreds of students, which produced a most imposing effect. 
The students were addressed from an open window by 
Dr. Nansen in an enthusiastic speech. The festival con- 
cluded with a special representation of Ibsen’s Peer 
Gynt at the National Theatre on the evening of 
September 7, the King and a distinguished company 
being present. The University of Oxford was repre- 
sented by Prof. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S., the University of 
Cambridge by Prof. A. R. Forsyth, F.R.S., the University 
of Dublin by Prof Joly, the University of Durham by 
Prof. Sampson, the University of London by Prof. A. G. 
Greenhill, F.R.S., the University of Glasgow by Prof. 
Jack, the London Mathematical Society and the Cam- 
bridge Philosophical Society by Dr. Hobson, F.R.S. 
MR. F. W. RUDLER AND THE MUSEUM OF 
PRACTICAL GEOLOGY. 
1 es F. W. RUDLER retired under the age regu- 
lations at the end of last month from the post of 
curator and librarian of the Museum of Practical 
Geology. He entered the public service in 1860 as 
assistant to Trenham Reeks, who was then curator of 
the Museum and registrar of the School of Mines. For 
fifteen years Mr. Rudler was actively engaged in the 
Museum, acquiring an intimate knowledge of mineralogy 
and applied geology, and an expert knowledge of British 
pottery. He practically re-wrote the third and fourth 
editions of the “ Descriptive Guide to the Museum,” 
which was originally drawn up by Robert Hunt ; and he 
almost wholly prepared the second and third editions of 
the ‘‘ Catalogue of Specimens of British Pottery and 
Porcelain.” 
In 1876, Mr. Rudler was chosen professor of natural 
science in the newly-established University College of 
Wales at Aberystwyth. Here he was _ successfully 
occupied for three years, until on the death of Mr. Reeks 
he was besought by the late Sir Andrew Ramsay to apply 
for the post rendered vacant in the Museum of Practical 
Geology. Mr. Rudler’s appointment was cordially as- 
sented to, and from 1879 onwards he has held office 
with increasing advantage to the Institution and to the 
many individuals who have constantly sought his advice. 
It is not too much to say that one might search the world 
over and fail to find anyone with a fuller knowledge of 
the subjects that have been connected with the Library 
and Museum of Practical Geology, or one who was more 
ready at all times to give to others the benefit of varied 
and accurate information. 
NO. 1718, VoL. 66] 
NOTES. 
A COMMITTEE has been formed, under the chairmanship of 
Prof. Waldeyer, for the erection in Berlin of a public memorial 
of the late Prof. Virchow. 
Dr. Davip FERRIER, F.R.S., will deliver the Harveian 
oration before the Royal College of Physicians, London, on 
October 18. 
WE are sorry to have to record the death, at the age of sixty- 
eight, of Mr. J. W. Powell, director, since 1879, of the United 
States Bureau of Ethnology, and from 1880 to 1894 director of the 
United States Geological Survey. Mr. Powell’s death occurred 
on September 23. 
THE death, at the age of eighty-six, is reported of M. Vincent 
Leche Chesnevieux, the French traveller and geologist ; also of 
Signor Adolfo Targioni-Tozzetti, emeritus professor of com- 
parative anatomy and the zoology of the invertebrates in the 
Medical School at Florence. Prof. Targioni-Tozzetti was in 
his eightieth year. 
Tue Pioneer (Allahabad) learns from its correspondent at 
Kashgar that a severe earthquake occurred at that place at 8a.m, 
on August 22, resulting in the loss of 1000 lives and great 
damage to property. A pronounced rise in the temperature 
immediately followed the shock. This rise continued for a 
week, during which period there were repeated slight shocks 
A Reuter telegram from Simla, dated September 26, gives 
the number of people killed as 667, and states that more 
than 1000 persons were injured. 
REUTER’S agent at Mobile, telegraphing on September 30, 
states that information has been received by steamer that an 
earthquake of a serious character occurred in Guatemala and 
British Honduras on September 23. The shocks occurred 
simultaneously along the coast and lasted three minutes. It is 
belie ved that Guatemala City was the centre of the disturbances. 
The telegraph wires are down between Guatemala City and the 
coast. 
A REUTER telegram from New York, dated September 24, 
states that the Wew Yor Heraid has published the following 
telegram from Lima :—‘‘ Mount Chullapata, which is situated 
18 miles from Celendin, has been throwing up dust and smoke 
for a fortnight. Loud noises have been audible at a distance of 
30 miles from the mountain. There is no record that Mount 
Chullapata was ever believed to be a volcano.” 
A SEVERE cyclone visited the eastern Sicilian coast on Friday 
last from Taormina to Catania, and resulted in a heavy loss of 
life and very great damage to property. At Modica, two moun- 
tain torrents burst their banks and submerged the lower portion 
of the town as high as the second floor of the houses. The 
disaster was at first attributed to a waterspout, but subsequent 
accounts declared that it was due to torrential rains following on 
the prolonged drought. Throughout the day, Mount Etna sent 
up a thick column of steam from the vicinity of the scene of the 
eruption of 1892. 
A SEVERE typhoon occurred at Yokohama on September 29, 
and a great wave broke over the adjacent district of Odawara, 
causing, it is feared, the loss of 200 lives; much shipping was 
also damaged. 
An Institute of Colonial Medicine has, says the Srztish 
Medical Journal, recently been established in Paris. The 
scheme of instruction comprises courses on bacteriological and 
hzematological technique, parasitology, tropical surgery, tropical 
ophthalmology, tropical pathology and hygiene, and tropical 
skin diseases. The Institute is open to foreign as well as to 
French medical practitioners. 
