February 13, 1908] 



NA rURE 



357 



:nlded :— " All this is llic roughest possible, but I think 

 if worked out in detail the result would not be widely 

 different. The greatest care would, of course, be neces- 

 sary to guard against submarine explosives." To this 

 litter Sir John Burgoyne replied that he doubted whether 

 5 inches of iron would answer its intended purpose and 

 riiake a vessel practically impregnable. In this connec- 

 tion he remarked : — " Iron is very treacherous, and breaks, 

 n-nds, and tears under very irregular effort. The Navy 

 have a thorough dislike' to it for the sides of ships, but 

 then they have never contemplated, I believe, such thick- 

 n."ss. " 



These remarks from so high an authority on ordnance 

 as Sir John Burgoyne throw an interesting light upon 

 opinions prevailing little more than fifty years ago in 

 n'gard to naval construction. Lord Rosse was not dis- 

 couraged, but proceeded to pre.ss his scheme upon the 

 .Ltlention of the Duke of Newcastle and on Sir Baldwin 

 Walker, who was then Controller of the Navy. In his 

 letter to the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Rosse stated that 

 hf " had been considering, no doubt in common inith 

 many others, in what way the great mechanical resources 

 of England could be brought to bear against the 

 mechanical resources of .St. Petersburg." In thus writing. 

 Lord Rosse no doubt had in view the fact that iron- 

 clad floating batteries had been decided upon. Five such 

 vessels were commenced in France in September, 1854, 

 ,ind later on similar vessels were built here, but not from 

 Lord Rosse's outline design. 



In the publication of these letters a filial duty has been 

 fulfilled. The late Lord Rosse is shown to have been 

 one of the first to make a definite propos;d for the con- 

 struction of ironclad floating batteries, and his treatment 

 of the subject is worthy of his scientific reputation. On 

 the other hand, it cannot be doubted that the action 

 taken in France was independent of the suggestions of the 

 l.ite Lord Rosse. The correspondence with Sir John 

 Burgoyne, the Duki' of Newcastle and others could not 

 have been known to the Emperor Napoleon when he took 

 .iction ; the construction of the French floating batteries 

 was commenced about the same time as these letters were 

 written, but was preceded by experimental trials made to 

 determine the thickness of the armour to be adopted. It 

 may be added that General Paixhans, to whom the in- 

 troduction of horizontal shell-fire was due, had proposed 

 the use of armour protection for ships about 1S20, and 

 Mr. Stevens began the construction of a floatinsr batterv 

 near New York many years before the Crimean War took 

 place. Lord Rosse obviously had no knowledge of these 

 facts wOien he made the proposals above described, and 

 acted quite independently. 



THE .S,U/77/.sOA7.LY LXSTITUTION. 

 T^IIE report of the secretary of the .Smithsonian Institu- 

 lion for the year ending June 30, 1007, has been 

 received. It serves admirably to show the great part 

 taken by the institution in .\nierlcan scientific life. Full 

 particulars are provided, not only of the explorations and 

 researches inaugurated by the institution, but also of the 

 work of the U.S. National Museum, the Bureau of 

 .\merican Ethnology, the International Exchanges, the 

 National Zoological Park, the .Astrophysical Observatory, 

 the Regional Bureau of the International Catalogue of 

 Scientific Literature, and the excavations on the Casa 

 Grande Reservation — all placed by Congress under the 

 direction of the institution. 



Reference has already been made from time to time in 

 these pages to the researches prosecuted in connection with 

 the institution, but it will be of interest to refer to a few 

 which are summarised in the report. In connection with 

 the study of the older sedimentary rocks of North .-Xmerica, 

 on which Dr. Charles D. Walcott, the secretary of the 

 institution, has been engaged during the past twenty years, 

 upwards of 20,000 feet of strata have been carefully 

 I'xamined and measured. The Cambrian section has been 

 found to include more than 12,000 feet of sandstones, 

 shales, and limestones, and the Lower, Middle, and Upper 

 Cambrian have been found represented in the section of 

 How River series and the Castle Mountain group. 

 Characteristic fossils have been found in each division. 



NO. TQg8, VOL. 77I 



An expedition in .4pril, 1907, to Alaska to collect the 

 remains of large e.xtinct vertebrates, particularly mammals, 

 has already done good work. Dr. G. P. Merrill has 

 examined the crater-form depression near Canyon Diablo, 

 .Arizona, to determine whether it was caused by explosive 

 volcanic action or is due to the impact of a mass of 

 meteoric iron ; his observations are being collated and 

 arranged. 



In connection with the seismological investigations 

 undertaken to compare the disturbance in Chile with that 

 in California, it seems to have been determined that there 

 has been some elevation of the coast of Chile, but no traces 

 of a rift such as caused the earthquake at San Francisco. 

 Numerous other researches were assisted during the year : 

 these included the absolute measure of sound, the proper- 

 ties of matter at very low temperatures, the study of the 

 upper air, the organs of flight, and others. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



C.\MBRU>GE. — The council of the Senate recommends that 

 the necessary steps be taken for altering Statute B, 

 chapter vi., by the insertion of a paragraph giving the 

 University power, upon the retirement of a professor, either 

 at the date of his retirement or subsequently, to appoint 

 him as a professor emeritus in the subject of the professor- 

 ship previously held by him. A professor emeritus shall 

 not as such receive any stipend, and shall be subject to 

 no conditions as to duties or residence. 



Dr. W. N. Shaw, of Emmanuel College, has been 

 appointed to represent the University at the meeting of 

 Imperial and colonial meteorologists, convened by the 

 Royal Society of Canada, to be held at Ottawa in May. 



.Mr. J. S. Gardiner has been re-appointed demonstrator 

 in animal morphology for five years as from October i, 

 1907, and the appointment has been approved by the special 

 board for biology and geology. 



The special board for biology and geology reports that 

 the Gordon Wigan income for biology and geology has 

 been applied during 1907 as follows : — (a) a grant of 50/. 

 a year to Dr. D. Sharp for a period of three years (1907-9), 

 or such part of it during which he holds the curatorship 

 in zoology; (fc) a grant of sol. a year for one year (1907I 

 to Prof. Seward to enable the Botanic Gardens Syndicate 

 to offer greater facilities for plant-breeding experiments ; 

 (c) a grant of 50!. out of the income for 1907 to Prof. 

 Hughes, to enable Mr. E. A. N. .\rber, of Trinity College, 

 to continue his researches into the stratigraphical and 

 geographical distribution of fossil plants. 



Lord St.axley of Alderley will distribute the prizes and 

 certificates to evening students of the Battersea Polvtechnic 

 on Wednesday evening, February 19, and will deliver an 

 address. 



We learn from the Pioneer Mail that the Maharaja of 

 Darbhanga has made a gift of nearly 17,000?. to the 

 Lieutenant-Governor for the purpose of constructing^ a 

 library building in connection with the Calcutta University. 



The annual general meeting of the Association of 

 Technical Institutions will be held on February ?i and 22 

 at the Drapers' Hall, Throgmorton Street, London. On 

 the first day the association will be entertained at luncheon 

 bv the Drapers' Company, after which the new president. 

 Sir Norman Lockycr, K.C.B., F.R.S., will deliver his 

 presidential address. On the second day papers will be 

 read on the best early training for a boy about to enter 

 a technical institution or to take up a trade. 



In a recent report, the Director of Education for the 

 United Provinces has, in accordance with the orders of the 

 Government of India, described the progress of education 

 in his district during the last five years. An abridgment 

 of the report in the Pioneer Mail states that the attendance 

 at the Thomason Civil Engineering College at Roorkee 

 has increased from 336 to 495, and various improvements 

 in and extensions of the curriculum have been effected. 

 An agricultural college has been opened at Cawnpore. 

 It is hoped that the medical college at Lucknow will be 

 in working order soon. The Thomason College will, it is 



