April 9, 1908J 



A^A TURE 



541 



AoRicuLTURAL science in America has lost a promising 

 writer and teacher by the death, in his forty-second year, 

 of IVuf. Willis G. Johnson. He was formerly an instructor 

 in the University of Illinois, and was engaged in special 

 investigations for the natural history laboratory of that 

 State. Later he became State entomologist of Maryland, 

 and organised the Maryland Stale Horticulture Depart- 

 ment. Of late years he had written largely on fruit-tree 

 pests and kindred subjects, and had edited the American 

 A i^ficitlttirist. 



With reference to his article in N".\tl'RE of March 26 

 on the proposed alterations in the calendar, the author 

 writes : — " In p. 489, col. 2, line 13, for ' each 132nd 

 year ' read ' each i2Sth year.' Dropping a leap year at 

 theiend of each latter period would be equivalent to having 

 in that time 97 common years and 31 leap years, or 46,751 

 days in all, differing from 128 tropical years by only 

 000160 of a day. This is much more accurate than the 

 Gregorian rule; and, if the latter is a little more easy to 

 remember, that is of little ad\-antage for what can come 

 at most once in a lifetime." 



I\ a letter to the Paris .\cademy of Sciences, Prince 

 Roland Bonaparte announces his resolution to place the 

 sum of 100,000 francs (3960!.) at the disposal of the 

 academy for the encouragement of scientific research. 

 This sum is not to be treated as capital, but is to be used 

 freely in the form of annuities, not as rewards for work 

 done, but to enable competent workers, who have already 

 proved their capability, to carry out new researches which 

 otherwise they would be unable to prosecute. In his letter 

 to the academy — which appears in No. 9 of the Comptes 

 rriidus (March 2) — the Prince expresses the hope that his 

 example may be followed to such an extent that a per- 

 manent fund, devoted to this end, may be established. 



The following are among the lecture' arrangements at 

 the Royal Institution after Easter : — Mr. Gerald Stoney, 

 two lectures on the development of the modern turbine 

 and its application ; Prof. F. T. Trouton, two lectures on 

 (i) why light is believed to be a vibration, (2) what it is 

 which vibrates ; Prof. W. Stirling, two lectures on animal 

 heat and allied phenomena ; Mr. \V. Bateson, three lectures 

 on Mendelian heredity ; Dr. A. Scott, three lectures on the 

 chemistry of photography ; and Mr. G. F. Scott Elliot, 

 two lectures on Chile and the Chilians. The Friday even- 

 ing meetings will be resumed on May i, when Prof. J. 

 Larmor will deliver a discourse on the scientific work of 

 Lord Kelvin. Succeeding discourses will probably be given 

 by Dr. J. Y. Buchanan, Dr. H. T. Bulstrode, Prof. J. C. 

 Kapteyn, of the University of Groningen, and Sir James 

 Dewar. 



A Reuter telegram states that Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen, 

 who jointly commanded the .■\nglo-.'\merican Polar Ex- 

 pedition, returned from Alaska on April 2. Captain 

 Mikkelsen started from Flaxman Island on October 16 and 

 journeyed along the northern shore of Alaska, proceeding 

 thence along the Yukon River towards Fort Gibson. The 

 e\pedition traced the continental shelf in Beaufort Sea. 

 Information was obtained concerning ocean currents which 

 will be useful when Captain Mikkelsen makes another 

 attempt to reach the unknown continent. Beyond the 

 continental shelf there is water of great depth, demon- 

 strating that Beaufort Sea is not a shallow basin, as has 

 been supposed. The journey north was made along the 

 149th meridian, and soundings were taken occasionally. 

 .\t a distance of sixty-four miles from the land it was 

 iiiipossible to touch bottom with a 320-fathom line. Mr. 



NO. 2oo5, VOL. yyl 



Ernest de Koven LefTingwell, the expedition's geologist, 

 has remained at Flaxman Island to carry on scientific 

 work. 



In N.ATURE of February 13 (p. 345) Dr. T. J. J. See 

 gave a quotation from Strabo suggesting that Mochus of 

 Sidon was the originator of the theory of atoms. Dr. 

 Dreyer pointed out, however, in the following issue 

 (p. 368) that the so-called book of Mochus is a literary 

 forgery. Dr. See now writes to state that, though this is the 

 case, it does not justify the inference that Mochus himself 

 was not a real authority of weight. In reply. Dr. Dreyer 

 asks why should it be necessary to accept the existence of 

 Mochus as a historical fact, simply because Posidonius was 

 taken in by the forgery? It is known from other evidence 

 that his mind was not very critically inclined. The book 

 of Mochus is only one of a number of apocryphal writings 

 about Demokritus, most of which pretend to have been 

 written by himself, and describe his skill as a sorcerer 

 and magician. See Zeller, " Philosophic der Griechen," 

 i., p. S42 (5th ed.), and Susemihl, " Geschichte der 

 griechischen Litteratur in der Alexandrinerzeit," i., p. 483. 

 Zeller points out that .the roots of the philosophical 

 doctrines of Leukippus and Demokritus are so clearly dis- 

 tinguishable in the earlier Greek philosophy that it is out 

 of the question to deduce them from Eastern sources. 



The report of the Royal Scottish Museum for 1907 

 records a marked increase in the number of visitors, the 

 total exceeding that for the previous year by 92,000. 

 .Although this increase may be partially accounted for by 

 an extension of the hours during which the museum is 

 open, it apparently indicates an increased interest in the 

 institution on the part of the public. An unsatisfactory 

 feature is the presence of a bonded whiskey store within 

 less than a dozen feet from part of the west wing of the 

 museum. 



.'According to the recently issued report, the Royal Zoo- 

 logical Society of Ireland enjoyed an unusually good season 

 during 1907 in the matter of receipts, the gate-money show- 

 ing an increase of nearly 1500L over that of the preceding 

 year. This satisfactory state of affairs is attributed in 

 great part to the recent Dublin exhibition, aided, no doubt, 

 by the improved attractions of the gardens themselves. 

 On the other hand, the list of paying members shows a 

 serious diminution. The report is illustrated by photo- 

 graphs of the new seal-pond and of several interesting 

 animals. Lion-breeding continues to be carried on success- 

 fully and profitably. As the collection includes lions from 

 both West and East Africa, as well as one from Persia, 

 it would be interesting if the authorities would afford 

 information as to the characteristics of these local forms. 



A SHORT editorial note in the January number of the 

 Indian Forester refers to the very important subject of 

 forests and water supply, but no data from Indian terri- 

 tories are quoted. The extent to which camphor has been 

 planted in eastern Asia, India, Africa, and the United States 

 is summarised in an article on the subject, and the methods 

 of producing camphor synthetically are indicated. A re- 

 printed article by Mr. A. M. Smith discussing the correla- 

 tion between the moon's phase and the period of felling 

 bamboos bears out the view that the phenomena which 

 have led to the belief are connected with the amount of 

 water in the culms ; the amount varies greatly with 

 transpiration and with the conditions of light. 



Miss E. M. Farr has compiled a catalogue of the flora 



of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the Selkirk Range 



j that is published as vol. iii., No. i, of the Contributions 



