January 28, 1909] 



NA TURE 



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nionibors of the Anlhropologicul and Geographical Societies. 

 The Wahlburg medal of the latter society has been con- 

 ferred on Dr. Sven Hedin, and the society has raised a 

 fund of 10,000 kroner (about 555i.)i to be known by the 

 explorer's name, which will be devoted to purposes of 

 U'ographical research. 



The following arc the names of officers and council 

 elected at the annual meeting of the Royal Meteorological 

 Society on January 20 : — President, Dr. H. Mellish ; T'lcc- 

 Preshients. .Mr. \V. \V. Bryant, Mr. W. H. Dines, F.R.S., 

 Commander M. \V. C. Hepworth, C.B., Dr. H. R. Mill; 

 Treasurer, Dr. C. T. Williains ; Secretaries, Mr. F. C. 

 Hayard, Commander \V. !•". Caborne, C.B. ; Foreign Secre- 

 tary, Dr. R. H. Scott, F.R.S. ; Council, Messrs. R. 

 Bentley, F. J. Brodie, C. J. P. Cayc, Dr. H. N. Dickson, 

 F. Drucc, E. Gold, R. Inwards, B. L.itham, R. G. K. 

 Lempfert, Colonel H. E. Rawson, C.B., Captain R. C. 

 Warden, Captain D. Wilson-Barker. 



.\x Imperial International Exhibition is to be held this 

 year on the site occupied by the Franco-British Exhibition 

 of 1908. The exhibition will be opened early in May, and 

 close in October. We notice that the general committee 

 includes a generous proportion of well-known men of 

 science, and that prominence is to be given in the exhibi- 

 tion to science and technology. Among the groups of 

 exhibits to be arranged will be collections representing 

 education, mechanical and civil engineering, agriculture, 

 mines and metallurgy, and chemical and electrical indus- 

 tries. Judging from the detailed subheadings under which 

 the exhibits are to be arranged, the exhibition, as a whole, 

 will serve to illustrate recent progress of applied science in 

 various countries. 



The International Waterways Treaty, which was under 

 discussion in the United States Senate last week, is the 

 outcome of the International Waterways Commission, con- 

 sisting of three representatives from the United States and 

 three from Canada, which was appointed four years ago. 

 ,\mong the objects which the treaty has in view is the 

 preservation of the levels of all the international waters 

 in the North American continent — a matter of vast import- 

 ance to the peoples of both countries, and, in the case of 

 the river Niagara, to the whole world. According to the 

 Ottawa correspondent of the limes, the two countries are 

 entitled to the water in equal proportion, but if the United 

 Stales were to take a quantity similar to that taken by 

 Canada, unquestionably the beauty of the .\merican falls 

 would be spoiled and, perhaps, entirely destroyed. One 

 mile above the Niagara Falls the water flows evenly 

 between the two countries, but as it approaches the crest 

 of the falls the current swings over towards the Canadian 

 side. The Waterways Commission recommended that the 

 limit of Canada's rights should not exceed 36,000 feet per 

 second, and, in order to preserve the American falls, a liinit 

 was suggested of 18,500 cubic feet per second for the 

 United States. The latter provision has been increased by 

 the new treaty to 20,000 feet, as experiments made last 

 summer demonstrated that the effect of the diversion of 

 water on the American falls was less than had been antici- 

 pated. Canada receives 16,000 feet more than her neigh- 

 bour, and this will enable the three companies on the 

 Ontario side to develop 425,000 horse-power, as against 

 236,000 on the New York side. By the new treaty neither 

 country can take any action which will lower the levels 

 of the waters of the Great Lakes without the consent of 

 the commission. In the opinion of competent authorities, 

 the diversion of 20,000 feet per second for the Chicago 

 Drainage Canal, which has been proposed, will affect the 

 NO. 2048, VOL. 79] 



levels of Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, l.aU.- 

 Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River seriously. It is nul 

 likely that the commission will authorise the diversion of 

 so large a quantity of water. 



A MOVEMENT has been set on foot by the English Ceramic 

 Society for a conference of representatives of the various 

 technical institutes and societies to consider ways and 

 means of arranging for the " grading " and standardising, 

 so far as possible, of the refractory materials, such as fire- 

 clay, magnesite, &c., used in the construction of furnaces, 

 kilns, ovens, &c. Representatives of various institutes of 

 societies met at Stoke-on-Trent on January 4 and formed 

 themselves into a committee for the standardisation of 

 refractory materials. The general opinion of the repre- 

 sentatives present was that there is need for such a coin- 

 mittee, and that the following preliminary scheme should 

 be adopted : — (a) to arrange and classify the various re- 

 fractory materials — clay ; siliceous, as silica and gan- 

 nister ; special, as magnesite, chromite, &c. ; (fc) to arrange 

 standard specifications for the raw materials and for the 

 manufactured products; (c) to consider the possibility of 

 arranging for uniformity in certain " stock " or 

 "standard" sizes; (d) standard methods of testing, 

 analysis, &c. To carry out this scheme, it was agreed that 

 the representatives of the institutes should consult with 

 their respective fellow members, and wherever possible pro- 

 cure information bearing on their specific requirements, 

 together with data as to furnace temperatures and con- 

 ditions of operation. There is no doubt that the work 

 undertaken by the committee is important. The methods 

 in vogue for the investigation of clays have so advanced 

 in recent years that this subject can now be treated in a 

 manner which would have been impossible five or six 

 years ago. It is to be hoped that all consumers of refrac- 

 tory materials will communicate their views on the matter 

 either to the secretaries of the different institutes and 

 societies or direct to the general secretary. Dr. J. W. 

 Mellor, English Ceramic Society, Stoke-on-Trent. 



The life and works of Thomas Pennant (1726-98) form 

 the subject of this month's contribution to the biographies 

 of early British ornithologists in W'itherby's British Birds. 

 Few persons other than professed naturalists are probably 

 aware of the number of works which flowed from the pen 

 of this voluminous writer, not many of which are, how- 

 ever, now consulted. The memoir is illustrated by a re- 

 production of the portrait by Gainsborough. 



The retirement of Mr. Montagu Browne from the post 

 of curator has furnished the authorities of the Leicester 

 Museum and Art Gallery with a favourable opportunity 

 of reviewing, and when necessary modifying, the arrange- 

 ment and scope of the natural history exhibits. Accord- 

 ing to the sixteenth report, dealing with the period from 

 April I, 1905, to March 31, 1908, it has been decided to 

 display collections forming a complete record of the 

 natural history, geology, and antiquarian ethnography of 

 the district. In addition to this, as may be justifiable in 

 a city so large as and so distant from the metropolis as 

 Leicester, general collections in certain groups are to be 

 exhibited. In future the reports will be issued and pub- 

 lished annually. 



Two papers on the mammalian brain appear in the 

 January number of the Journal of Anatomy and 

 Physiology. In the first of these Prof. Peter Thompson 

 gives a description of a model of the brain of a foetal cat 

 20 millimetres in length, while in the second Dr. E. H. J. 

 Schuster continues his elaborate and richly illustrated 



