86 



NA rURE 



[November 28, 1907 



extinction. The gnu, gemsbok, mountain zebra, eland, 

 and giraffe were all nearly extinct. He said he remem- 

 bered, when a barrister on circuit, seeing great herds 

 where there are now railway stations. 



At a meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, held 

 on November 4, the following w'ere elected honorary 

 follows : — (i) as British Honorary Fellows, Sir A. B. W. 

 Kennedy, F.R.S., Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S., 

 Dr. J. A. H. Murray, Prof.' C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S. ; 

 '(2) as Foreign Honorary Fellows, Prof. Emil Fischer, 

 Berlin ; Dr. G. W. Hill, New York ; Prof. F. W. G. 

 Kohlrausch, Charlottenburg ; Prof. H. F. Osborn, New 

 York; Prof. I. P. Pavlov, St. Petersburg; Prof. G. 

 Retzius, Stockholm; Prof. A. Righi, Bologna; Prof. L. J. 

 Troost, Paris. 



The meeting of the second International Conference on 

 the Sleeping Sickness, which was to have assembled at 

 the Foreign Office on November i, has been postponed 

 in order that the delegates may have before them the 

 results obtained by Prof. Koch, who has lately been 

 carrying out an exhaustive inquiry into the subject on the 

 spot, and is now engaged in the preparation of his report. 

 The conference will probably not meet before the middle 

 of February. The British delegation will consist of Lord 

 Fitzmauricp, Sir Walter Foster, M.P., Mr. A. Walrond 

 Clarke. Mr. H. J. Read, Sir Patrick Manson, K.C.M.G., 

 Colonel David Bruce, C.B., F.R.S. , Dr. J. Rose Brad- 

 ford, F.R.S. , and Sir Rubert Boyce, F.R.S. 



A COMMITTEE having for its object the collection of 

 information dealing with sleeping sickness, the stimula- 

 tion of research into the cause, method of transference, and 

 cure of the disease, and the publication from time to time 

 of communications with reference to it, has been formed 

 at Liverpool. The committee comprises Sir Alfred Jones 

 (chairman), the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Prof. Moore, 

 Prof. Salvin-Moore, Prof. Annett, Prof. Sherrington, 

 F.R.S., Dr. Stephens, Dr. Anton Breinl, Dr. Prout, 

 C.M.G., Dr. A. Evans, Dr. M. Nierenstein, Mr. J. \V. 

 Garrett, and Dr. J. L. Todd. Sir Rubert Boyce, F.R.S., 

 and Mr. A. H. Milne are the corresponding secretaries. 



A DESPATCH recently received at Washington from Lieut. 

 B. H. Camden, commanding a revenue cutter in .\laska, 

 reports the entire disappearance of McCuUoch Peak, 

 Bogoslof Island (which rose from the sea in 1796), as the 

 result of volcanic disturbances. The explosion which 

 destroyed this peak has been followed by remarkable 

 changes in the profiles of Mount Makush and neighbour- 

 ing mountains, which are now softened to a general sym- 

 metry by a padding of lava dust that has almost disguised 

 them beyond recognition. .^ vast quantity of this material, 

 hundreds of feet in depth, has been deposited over the 

 entire island. 



It is announced in Science that the Field Museum of 

 Natural History, Chicago, has profited by a decision of 

 the Chicago Probate Court to the extent of 86,oooi. The 

 money was paid by the late Mr. Marshall Field to the 

 trustees of the museum prior to the date of his will, which 

 contained a bequest of 1,600,000!. to the institution. A 

 suit was brought by the trustees against the executors of 

 the will to determine whether the bequest was intended 

 to be exclusive of the amount previously donated. The 

 judge decided the suit in favour of the museum. From 

 the same source we learn that about four acres of ground 

 have been set apart in the block adjoining Washington 

 Park and the Midway Plaisance to serve as a botanic 

 garden for the University of Chicago. The garden will 

 NO. 1987, VOL. 77] 



be easily accessible from the Hull Botanical Laboratory, 

 and is to be strictly a laboratory garden, which will add 

 greatly to the facilities for experimental work. The area, 

 it is hoped, will be largely increased later. 



The Home Secretary has appointed a departmental com- 

 mittee to inquire into the subject of artificial humidity in 

 cotton-weaving factories. The members of the committee 

 are Sir Hamilton Freer-Smith (chairman), Mr. J. Cross, 

 Mr. H. Higson, Mr. T. Roberts, Mr. D. J. Shackleton, 

 M.P., and Prof. J. L. Smith. The terms of reference to 

 the committee are to inquire and report : — (i) what 

 temperature and humidity are necessary in each case for 

 the manufacture of different classes of cotton fabrics; 

 (2) at what degrees of temperature and humidity com- 

 bined definite bodily discomfort arises under the conditions 

 of the work carried on by the operatives, and what, if any, 

 danger to health is involved by continuous work at those 

 degrees ; (3) what means of cooling humid sheds (where 

 necessary) exist, whether combined with the means of 

 humidifying or otherwise, which are both efiicient and 

 practicable, having regard to the conditions required for 

 the manufacture of the several classes of goods ; (4) what 

 special arrangements, if any, are fiecessary in order to 

 admit of the proper ventilation of dry weaving sheds with- 

 out prejudice to the process of manufacture. The secre- 

 tary to the committee is Mr. D. R. Wilson, to whom 

 correspondence may be addressed at the Factory Depart- 

 ment, Home Office. 



One of the most famous establishments for the dis- 

 tribution of new and rare plants in this country is that 

 of James Veitch and Sons, Ltd., Chelsea, the late 

 managing director of which company died on November 13 

 at Exeter at the age of thirty-nine years. Mr. James 

 Herbert Veitch was a son of John Gould Veitch, who died 

 in 1870. The son was admitted to the firm whilst still 

 young, and when he was twenty-three years of age w-as 

 sent on a botanical tour to Australia, New Zealand, India, 

 Corea, and Japan, a tour which occupied a period of two 

 years. After his return, Mr. Veitch published in " A 

 Traveller's Notes " some impressions he had obtained in 

 regard to the public and private gardening and botanical 

 establishments he had visited for the purpose of studying the 

 cultivated plants in those countries, and obtaining inform- 

 ation as to the possibility of introducing new species to 

 English gardens. -After the lapse of several years he was 

 appointed managing director of the Chelsea business, and 

 continued to discharge the responsibilities of that position 

 until last year, when failing health compelled him to 

 retire from business. During the time he w-as managing 

 director, a special representative was dispatched to the 

 western portion of China, approaching to Tibet, for the 

 purpose of collecting new species of plants suitable for 

 cultivation in English gardens. The collector, Mr. E. H. 

 Wilson, visited China twice; the two visits occupving a 

 period of four years, -and, as a result, a large number of 

 new species of decorative trees and shrubs, conifers, 

 perennial herbaceous flowering plants, and some biennials 

 were secured. One species that has already become 

 common in gardens is the Tibetan poppy (Meconopsis 

 integrifolia), and others that have been distributed include 

 species of Senecio, Vitis, Davidia, Berberis, Buddleia. 

 iClematis, Corydalis, Cypripedium, Deutzia, Jasminum, 

 Primula, Rubus, and many other genera. Mr. A'eitch 

 rendered a good service to botanical and horticultural 

 literature by publishing last year the " Hortus Veitchii," 

 which contains short descriptions and references to publi- 

 cation of most of the e.xotic plants introduced to British 



