154 



NA TURE 



[December 19, 1907 



tics in this country is too pressing a need to be depen- 

 dent upon party politics. Unless our statesmen can be 

 made to realise the supreme importance of this matter 

 and be persuaded to deal with it in a patriotic manner, 

 generously and expeditiously, as if there were no 

 votes to retain or secure, we must reconcile ourselves 

 to the idea that as a manufacturing and distributing 

 people we shall in due course have to occupy a third 

 or fourth place among the nations of the world. In 

 Germany, the United States, and now in Japan rulers 

 have learnt the lesson that efficient education and in- 

 dustrial success are related to each other as cause and 

 effect ; and, moreover, they appear to be supported by 

 an enlightened public opinion. 



If our statesmen refuse to lead, we must make 

 every effort to educate the voters of the country to 

 realise the certain results of a policy of drift from which 

 the most important of our national questions — so far 

 as the future welfare of the British Empire is con- 

 cerned — is suffering. If, meanwhile, our present 

 supremacy is lost, it will not be because men of science 

 have failed to warn their countrymen of the scientific 

 spirit and energy which are yearly increasing the in- 

 dustrial efficiency of our great competitors. 



VOTES. 



On the day of going to press we learn of the death of 

 Lord Kelvin, an announcement which will be received with 

 deep sorrow throughout the civilised world. To men of 

 science, Lord Kelvin's achievements in the realm of scientific 

 thought and discovery have long been familiar ; and thirty- 

 one years ago, in Nature of September 7, 1876 (vol. xiv.), 

 his remarkable contributions to natural knowledge were 

 described in our Scientific Worthies series, of which he was 

 then the subject. His death is a loss to science which 

 Only scientific workers can adequately realise. The world 

 has to deplore the departure of a brilliant and inspiring 

 figure ; while science mourns that a leader whose influence 

 has stimulated progress in many directions during a re- 

 markable period has passed into stillness. For the body 

 of one who has brought such honour to the British nation, 

 the only appropriate place of burial is Westminster Abbey. 

 We trust that steps will be taken at once to secure this 

 mark of national recognition of the greatness of one who 

 has long been regarded as the most distinguished man 

 of science of modern times. 



K LIFE of Lord Kelvin has been in preparation for some 

 months by Prof. Silvanus Thompson, who was entrusted 

 with this work, and to whom Lord Kelvin himself 

 furnished numerous biographical details and other matter 

 for the purpose. It will be published in the course of 

 next year by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Ltd. 



The Prince of Wales was elected an honorary member 

 of the Royal Irish Academy at the last meeting of the 

 academy. In the case of the election of a member of the 

 Royal Family the election is by resolution, which was 

 moved by the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Lieutenant, who is 

 the visitor of the academy, and seconded by Mr. D. H. 

 Madden, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dublin. 



Sir Norman Lockver, K.C.B., F.R.S., has been 

 unanimously elected president and an honorary member of 

 the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society in 

 recognition of his services to the study of the circles and 

 other prehistoric remains in west Cornwall. 



M. Edouard Cuver has been elected president of the 

 French -Xnthropological Society for 1908. 

 NO. T990, VOL. 77I 



Two lectures suitable for a juvenile audience will be 

 delivered for the Society of Arts on January i and 8, 1908, 

 at 5 p.m., by Mr. F. Martin Duncan, on " The Scientific 

 .Applications of the Kinematograph." 



A COURSE of si.x lectures on the geographical distribu- 

 tion of rainfall In the British Isles will be given by Dr. 

 H. R. Mill In the map room of the Royal Geographical 

 Society on Thursday evenings in January and February, 

 1908, beginning January 23 at 5.30 p.m. 



Prof. R. W. Wood, professor of experimental physics 

 in the Johns Hopkins University, has been awarded, 

 Science states, the John Scott legacy premium and medal 

 of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia for his discoveries 

 in colour photography. 



The Russian Physico-chemical Society has arranged to 

 hold a conference of general and applied chemistry In 

 honour of Mendel^eff at the beginning of January, 1908, 

 at the University of St. Petersburg. Several discourses 

 will be delivered on the great chemist's life and works. 

 We learn also from the Revue scientifique that the journal 

 Russj has inaugurated a subscription for the purchase of 

 a Mendel^eff House, which, like the Hofmann House in 

 Berlin, would be used for the meetings of learned societies. 



The eleventh International Congress of Navigation will 

 be held at St. Petersburg from May 31 to June 7, 1908, 

 under the patronage of the Emperor of Russia. The 

 previous meetings were held at Brussels, in 1885 ; Vienna, 

 1886; Frankfort-on-the-MaIn, 1888; Paris, 1889; Man- 

 chester, 1890; London, 1891; Paris, 1892; the Hague, 

 1894 ; Brussels, 1898 ; Paris, 1900 ; Dusseldorf, 1902 ; 

 Milan, 1905. Arrangements have been made for com- 

 munications and discussions on several questions relating 

 to Inland and maritime waterways, including the industrial 

 and agricultural utilisation of rivers, and for scientific 

 excursions and inspections of some of the rivers, canals, 

 and sea ports In Russia. The address of the general 

 secretary of the congress is 7 Ismailovsky Prospect, St. 

 Petersburg. 



The current number of the Revue Scientifique contains 

 an account of "La Caissc des Recherches scientlfiques." 

 The fund was founded by law on July 14, 1901, on the 

 proposition of M. Audlffred, with the double object of 

 assisting medical science in its researches and of providing 

 financial assistance to original workers in pure science. 

 The fund receives from the French Government an annuity 

 of 5000/., and at Its inauguration M. .Audlffred gave 

 2400/. The idea of the fund has not proved altogether 

 popular, for In 1906 the Calsse des Recherches received 

 general donations to the extent only of just under 200/. 

 But there has been considerable improvement this year, 

 and it Is anticipated that the amount will be much larger ; 

 the Paris Municipal Council itself gave 200/., and several 

 general councils have given small sums. Since its creation 

 the Caisse has distributed more than 24,100/., of which 

 about lOOoZ. only was available for work in other than 

 medical and biological science. M. Rigaut may well say 

 that these sums are wholly inadequate so far as the needs 

 of science are concerned. 



Prof. Asaph Hall, whose death we announced last 

 week, will always be remembered as the discoverer of 

 the satellites of Mars, since the sensational character of 

 the discovery appealed powerfully to the public mind; but 

 In many ways he accomplished much useful work In every 

 department of astronomy, and exhibited an Industry which 

 placed him In the forefront of American astronomers. 



