jS 



NA TURE 



[December 3, 1908 



is required. In recent years these applications have had 

 more special reference to the nature and origin of various 

 diseases in our colonies and stations abroad, and the best 

 means to be adopted for coping with them. As an illus- 

 tration of this side of the society's activity, I may refer 

 to our late inquiry into Malta fever — a disease which for 

 manv years so seriously disabled our naval and military 

 establishments in the Mediterranean basin. This investi- 

 gation was undertaken at the joint request of the 

 Admiralty, War Office, and Colonial Office. Within a few 

 months we were fortunate in discovering the source of the 

 malady, and were able to point out the precautions to be 

 taken in dealing with the fever. The satisfactory result 

 has been attained of almost entirely banishing the disease 

 from the hospitals of Malta. A more difficult and pro- 

 longed inquiry has been in progress for some years into 

 the terrible evil of sleeping sickness. The commission 

 sent out to Central Africa by the Royal Society soon 

 ascertained the immediate cause of the malady, but 

 although the investigation has been prosecuted in various 

 directions, no certain cure or preventive has yet been 

 found. A few weeks ago our eminent and intrepid 

 colleague Sir David Bruce, taking with him two officers 

 of the Army Medical Department, returned to Uganda to 

 renew his inquiries on the spot. We have also a com- 

 mittee at work in London endeavouring to discover a 

 drug that may be effectual in the treatment of trypanosomc 

 diseases. We sincerely hope that the various efforts now 

 in vigorous operation may be ultimately successful, and 

 thus that in wide tracts of Central Africa which have been 

 so grievously depopulated, this fatal scourge, if not 

 wholly exterminated, may at least be reduced alike in its 

 area of distribution and in the seriousness of its effects. 

 1 may add that the Colonial Office recently established 

 a national bureau for the purpose of collecting and dis- 

 seminating information from all quarters regarding sleep- 

 ing sickness, and that the Royal Society, at the request 

 of that public department, has been glad to provide for 

 the bureau such office accommodation as the limited space 

 at Burlington House will permit. 



Ever since the year 1662 the Royal Society has met on 

 St. .'Andrew's Day for the purpose of electing its council 

 and officers. This important annual function has been dis- 

 charged this afternoon, with the result which is before 

 you. The whole body of fellows must sincerely regret that 

 our recent president, Lord Rayleigh, felt himsi'lf unable 

 to serve the full period of his tenure of the office. We 

 are all grateful to him for the care and attention which 

 he constantly gave to the business, alike at the meetings 

 of council and at those of the society, over which he pre- 

 sided with unfailing tact and dignity. We trust that he 

 will return from South Africa re-invigorated for the re- 

 sumption of those studies which, while placing him in 

 the first rank of leaders in science, have reflected so much 

 lustre on the Royal Society. The vacancy in the secretary- 

 ship has been filled by the election of Prof. Rose Brad- 

 ford. Having already served for one year as foreign seci-e- 

 tary, he has gained experience in the details of the busi- 

 ness of the society, and he assumes his new duties with 

 the heartiest good wishes of his brother-officers and, I am 

 confident, also of the general body of the fellows. In our 

 new foreign secretary, Sir William Crookes, we have a 

 inan of world-wide fame, whose election will be hailed 

 abroad with not less approbation than it has received 

 at home. 



There was once a time when the Royal Society, so long 

 accustomed to reign alone among the scientific institutions 

 of the country, was disposed to look askance upon the rise 

 of other learned societies the main object of which was 

 the cultivation of some single department of science 

 Happily that time has long since passed. The most cordia' 

 relations now bind the younger offspring to their vener 

 able mother. These special societies, which have so multi 

 plied in our own time, have been of enormous service in 

 advancing the progress of their several departments ol 

 inquiry. Science has grown far beyond limits thai 

 can be adequately supervised by any single organisation 

 Almost all the Fellows of the Royal Socictv belong also 

 to one or more of these societies; but no practical in 

 convenience arises from any divided allegiance. While 

 chemists, geologists, zoologists, or botanists are loyal 



NO. 2040, VOL. 79] 



members of their several special societies, they are happy 

 to be included also in the ranks of the Royal Society. 

 They are proud of its prestige, of its traditions, of the 

 large part it has played in the history of British science, 

 and of the high position which it holds among the 

 academies of the world. They recognise its catholicity 

 alike in the selection of its fellows and in the papers which 

 it prints in its publications. They see that while other 

 learned bodies properly concern themselves with their own 

 special fields in the scientific domain, the Royal Society, 

 true to the spirit of its earliest leaders, continues to 

 welcome any worthy addition to any department of natural 

 knowledge, not from its own fellows only, but from outside 

 workers who are found to have something new and of 

 real value to communicate. 



In four years hence the Royal Society will complete its 

 fifth half-century. Nevertheless, though old in years, it 

 remains still young in energy and aspiration. With the 

 cooperation of the other societies we look forward to a 

 future not less distinguished and useful than our past has 

 been. 



Speeches were also made by Prof. Tilden, Dr. Head, 

 Lord Avebury, the Italian Ambassador, and the 

 Bishop of London. 



Tut! account which we print elsewhere of the anniversary 

 meeting and dinner of the Royal Society contains many 

 interesting statements of work accomplished and under- 

 taken. Of particular interest is the election of Sir .Archi- 

 bald Geikie as president of the society in succession to 

 Lord Rayleigh, who. is leaving England for a long visit 

 to South .Africa, and has resigned the office held by him 

 with such distinction for the past three years. In nomin- 

 ating Sir Archibald Geikie to the presidency, the council 

 complied with a desire widely expressed in the society, 

 and his election on Monday has given satisfaction, not 

 only to fellows of the society, but also to the wider circle 

 of workers in many departments of intellectual activity 

 who admire his genius both on the scientific and literary 

 sides. As Prof, de Lapparent pointed out in an article 

 upon Sir .Archibald Geikie's work contributed to our 

 " Scientific Worthies " series in January, 1893 : — " Since 

 nothing in the world is less common than the union of 

 scientific insight and acuteness with a vivid appreciation 

 of nature and a delicate feeling for style, it is not strange 

 that Sir -Archibald's fame has passed far beyond the circle 

 of professional men." The article showed that the claims 

 of Sir Archibald Geikie to the highest form of recogni- 

 tion in the scientific world are of outstanding importance. 

 Of all British geologists he has long been acknowledged 

 as the most distinguished, and his election to the presi- 

 dential chair of the Royal Society has given universal 

 satisfaction. 



We regret to learn that M. .Albert Gaudry, foreign 

 member of the Royal Society, died on Sunday, 

 November 29. 



We notice with regret the announcement that Dr. E. T. 

 Hamy, professor of anthropology at the Paris Museum of 

 Natural History and member of the Academv of Medicine, 

 died on November 18, in his sixty-sixth year. 



The death is announced of Dr. O. T. Mason, head 

 curator of the department of anthropology of the U.S. 

 National Museum. 



It is announced that the Nobel prize for physics has 

 been awarded to Prof. M. Planck, professor of mathe- 

 matical physics in the University of Berlin ; and the prize 

 for chemistry to Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S., Langworthy 

 professor of physics in the University of Manchester. 



