76 



NA TURE 



[November 19, 1908 



course, which will be fully illusti'ated, will commence on 

 Tuesday, December 29, and will be continued on December 

 31, 1908, January 2, 5, 7, and 9, 1909. 



The fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the British 

 Ornithologists' Union will be celebrated by a special meet- 

 ing in the rooms of the Zoological Society on Wednesday, 

 December 9, at 3 p.m. Only four of the original members 

 still survive— Dr. F. Ducane Godman, F.R.S., Mr. Percy 

 S. Godman, Mr. W. H. Hudleston, F.R.S., and Dr. P. L. 

 Sclater, F.R.S. — and at the close of the meeting com- 

 memorative gold medals will be presented to them. 



At the annual general meeting of the London Mathe- 

 matical Society, held on November 12, the following were 

 elected to be the council and officers of the society for 

 the session 1908-9 ■.—Prcsiivnl. Sir William Niven ; '^he- 

 presidcnls. Mr. A. Berry, Prof. W. Burnside, Prof. H. M. 

 Macdonald ; treasurer. Prof. J. Larmor ; secretaries, Prof. 

 A. E. H. Love, Mr. J. II. Grace; other member^ of the 

 council, Dr. H. F. Baker, Mr. G. T. Bennett, Mr. A. L. 

 Di.xon, Prof. E. B. Elliott, Dr. L. N. G. Filon, Dr. E. W. 

 Hobson, Major P. A. MacMahon, Mr. H. W. Richmond, 

 Mr. .'\. E. Western. 



A FEW weeks ago Sir J. H. Carruthers directed atten- 

 tion to the fart that there is no monument in London to 

 commemorate the life-work of Captaii; Cook. Admiral 

 Lord Charles Scott and other representatives of the Royal 

 Navy have e.\pressed cordial approval of the proposal to 

 erect such a monument to the great navigator. " A large 

 number of us have had reason," they add, " when follow- 

 ing our vocation, to feel personally grateful to him for 

 the care with which he carried out his explorations and 

 the accuracy of his hydrographica! surveys." It is hoped 

 that the proposal to establish some public memorial of 

 Captain Cook will receive generous support from the 

 British public. 



The death of M. Alfred Ditte, professor oi inorganic 

 chemistry .at the Sorbonne, adds yet another to the long 

 list of losses sustained by the Academy of Sciences during 

 the past year. This distinguished chemist, although not 

 prominently identified with any epoch-making discovery, 

 made numerous important contributions to inorganic 

 chemistry. The pupil of Deville, Ditte's earlier papers 

 furnished experimental material confirming the theory of 

 dissociation. In this connection may be mentioned his 

 work on the formation and decomposition of the hydrogen 

 compounds of selenium and tellurium, and the same idea 

 of the equilibrium of chemical reactions led to his re- 

 searches on the action of water on antimony chloride, 

 mercuric sulphate, and bismuth nitrate. The conditions 

 governing the artificial production of crystallised minerals 

 were also thoroughly worked out by him, and gave rise 

 to a long series of inemoirs. Ditte published no joint 

 papers, his work being entirely personal, and the same 

 individuality was exercised in his professorial work, 

 especially in his laboratory instruction. He was elected 

 a member of the Academy of Sciences in 1897, in succession 

 to Schutzonberger. 



The Government of Madras has approved, we learn from 

 the Pioneer Mail, the recommendation of the recent in- 

 dustrial conference that there should be a special depart- 

 ment under a special oflicer to deal with industrial ques- 

 tions. This officer will be styled Director of Industries. 

 In carrying out industrial development the Government 

 considers immediate action is possible as regards the 

 •establishment of an industrial museum, the preparation of 



NO. 2038, VOL. 79] 



a list of manufactures in the Presidency of sufficient 

 importance to justify the establishment of special industrial 

 schools in relation to them, and in other directions. The 

 director is to submit proposals for giving effect to the 

 recommendations of the conference in regard to Ihp estab- 

 lishment of six weaving institutions on the lines of the 

 Manchester or Bradford textile schools at six centres in the 

 Presidency, each under an Indian expert ; the employment 

 of a dyeing expert to report on the state of that industry 

 in the Presidency ; the establishment of a leather-trade 

 school with a small tannery attached ; the offer of a reward 

 for the design of a suitable oil-extracting plant and the 

 introduction of iiriproved oil presses, &c. ; and the extension 

 of well-boring operat'ons. 



From the Times of November 14 we gather the follow- 

 ing remarks, contributed by a correspondent, upon the 

 work of Dr. James Fletcher, the Dominion entomologist, 

 whose death was announced last week ; — So long ago as 

 1879 Dr. Fletcher was vice-president of the Entomological 

 Society of Ontario and part editor of their annual reports, 

 to which he had contributed a paper on Canadian beetles 

 in the previous year; and from this time until his death 

 he worked hard at Canadian entomology and botany, and 

 published numerous papers and reports, chiefly on economic 

 entomology and on the habits and transformations of 

 insects, in various Canadian journals, especially in the 

 Canadian Entomologist, of which he became assistant 

 editor in 18S7, about the time that he was appointed 

 Dominion entomologist and botanist to the exeprimental 

 farms at Ottawa. Here he set himself energetically to 

 combat insect pests, which are far more destructive in tin 

 .American continent than in Europe, and his exertions wen 

 so much appreciated that he was called " the farmers' 

 friend " throughout Canada. Nor did he neglect botany, 

 for he published a " Flora Ottawaensis " in the Trans- 

 actions of the Ottawa Field Club, vols. i.-v. (1880-4), 3"'' 

 again in the Ottawa Naturalist, vols, ii.-vii. (from 188S 

 onwards). 



The first general meeting of the Institute of Metals, 

 formed in June last, was held in Birmingham on November 

 II and 12 under the presidency of Sir William White, 

 K.C.H. The institute already has a membership of about 

 350, and a considerable number of members from all parts 

 of the country attended, and were cordially welcomed by 

 the Lord Mayor of Birmingham (Mr. G. II. Kcnrick"). 

 The president's address, which dealt with the aims of tin 

 institute and the part which manufacturers, users, and 

 scientific investigators may be expected to play in its 

 development, aroused the keenest interest. An excelleni 

 list of papers for reading and discussion was forthcoming, 

 the most notable being those by Mr. J. T. Milton and 

 Mr. A. Phillip on the practical side, and by Mr. C. Desch 

 and Mr. W. Rosenhain on the scientific study of non- 

 ferrous alloys. In the majority of cases the papers wen- 

 adjourned for further discussion at the London meeting 

 on January 19 and 20. It is a matter of congratulation 

 that the Birmingham metal works have interested them- 

 selves so keenly in the formation of the institute, and that 

 a strong local committee was formed the invitation of 

 which to hold the first meeting in this important cenlr. 

 of the tnetal industry was gladly accepted by the council 

 of the institute. Excellent arrangements were made for 

 the reception of members and visitors. Visits to some of 

 the chief metal works were carried through, a reception 

 was held by Sir Oliver Lodge at the new university build- 

 ings, followed by an inspection of various departments, 

 and special mention must be made of an exhibit at the 



