April 24, 1902 J 



NA TURE 



591 



ber of our Academy in 187S, at thirty-seven years of age. 

 Esteemed as a professor at the #.cole Polytechnique, and con- 

 tributing to the Bureau des Longitudes every year notices 

 written in perfect language, he died while in active scientific 

 work, leaving saddened parents and friends behind him, and 

 universal regret in the scientific world." 



Lord Kelvin has met with an enthusiastic reception in New 

 York, and the signs of profound regard which have been shown 

 to him are e.\pressions of a feeling shared by the whole civilised 

 world. On Saturday he attended the ceremony of the instal- 

 lation of Prof. N. B. Butler, the new president of Columbia 

 University, and when he appeared in the procession a student 

 cried, "Hals off to Kelvin," and all the students, men and 

 women, lifted their college caps. In an article upon Lord 

 Kelvin's career, the New York Sun says : — " There are few 

 instruments used on land or sea that do not owe something or 

 everything to Lord Kelvin's active brain. His presence does 

 honour to the United States of America. We welcome him 

 heartily." The Tribune says: — "It is natural that many 

 Americans, especially those engaged in scientific pursuits, should 

 covet an opportunity of paying their respects to our distinguished 

 visitor." Similar sentiments appear in other journals, all testi- 

 fying to Lord Kelvin's greatness of mind and character. A 

 booklet by Mr. John Munro, just pubHshed by Mr. H. J. 

 Drane in a series of " Bijou Biographies" (No. ix.), contains 

 many interesting anecdotes and incidents connected with Lord 

 Kelvin's remarkable career, and is well worth reading by those 

 unfamiliar with his life and work. 



On Monday a brilliant reception in honour of Lord Kelvin 

 was given at the Columbia University by the American Institute 

 of Electrical Engineers, the National Academy of Sciences, and 

 other leading scientific associations. Mr. Elihu Thomson, 

 ■president of the Houston-Thomson Electrical Company, Prof. 

 •F< B. Crocker, Prof. Butler, president of the Columbia 

 University, and Prof. R. S. Woodward all delivered addresses 

 in honour of the achievements of Lord Kelvin. The New York 

 correspondent of the Times reports that when Lord Kelvin rose 

 to reply the whole audience rose and cheered him enthusiasti- 

 cally for several minutes. He thanked the speakers for their 

 kindly reference to himself in connection with the laying of the 

 Atlantic cable, "but," he added, "Americans must never 

 forget, as the world will never forget, the name of that great 

 American, Cyrus Field. Science has advanced greatly during 

 the years along all lines. One of its greatest achieve- 

 ments has been made by Signor Marconi with wireless 

 telegraphy. It is a great achievement to have sent a 

 message inland from several hundred miles out at sea 

 in this way, and it indicates that the time will come 

 when messages will be sped right over the ocean without the 

 use of any intervening wire. But still, submarine telegraphy 

 will continue to serve us well, even with wireless telegraphy 

 established as a commercial success." Lord Kelvin then pro- 

 ceeded to review modern scientific events, and paid a high 

 tribute to the work done by Mr. Edison in the field of electric 

 lighting. Mr. Edison, who was amongst those present, rose 

 and bowed his acknowledgments to Lord Kelvin, the audience 

 cheering him heartily. Lord Kelvin concluded his speech with 

 a reference to the invention which made possible the trans- 

 mission of power at a high voltage, and the "harnessing of 

 Niagara Falls." He predicted that a power plant would be 

 established at Niagara that would transmit 40,000 volts a 

 distance of 300 miles. When Lord Kelvin resumed his seat 

 the applause was prolonged for several minutes. After that 

 hundreds of the distinguished audience filed past and shook 

 hands with Lord and Lady Kelvin. 

 NO. 1695, VOL. 65] 



At the Royal Institution on Thursday, May I, Dr. A. Smith 

 Woodward will deliver the first of three lectures on " Recent 

 Geological Discoveries." The Friday evening discourse on. 

 May 2 will be delivered by Mr. A. E. Tutton, on "Experi- 

 mental Researches on the Constitution of Crystals " ; and on 

 May 9 by Prof. J. Norman Collie, his subject being " Explora- 

 tion and Climbing in the Canadian Rocky Mountains." 



The Easter vacation party at the Port Erin Biological' 

 Station has suffered by the absence abroad of Prof. Herdman 

 and Mr. I. C. Thompson, so that it was not possible to arrange 

 any steam dredging expeditions. Nevertheless, much good 

 work has been done on the shore and with the tow-net, and 

 several workers have spent a profitable vacation at the station. 

 These include Dr. Darbishire, Miss Pratt and Miss Drey from 

 Owens College, Messrs. Pearson and Tattersall from University 

 College, Liverpool, and Mr. Laurie from Oxford. Mr. Cole 

 was to have conducted a vacation class, but was unable to cross 

 owing to a family bereavement. The new and greatly improved 

 station is progressing rapidly and will be opened in the summer. 



The Decimal Association has just published a pamphlet 

 containing strong expressions of opinion received from many 

 Members of Parliament in favour of the compulsory adoption of 

 the metric system of weights and measures in Great Britain. 

 The chief reasons why a change from our present cumbrous 

 system to a decimal system is desirable is that it would facilitate 

 commerce, simplify calculation, save time in school and business, 

 and bring us into closer touch with other civilised nations. 

 Unless the system is made compulsory, there is little hope that 

 it will be taught and used by the British people. The spirit 

 which tolerates the present system of reckoning, and is in- 

 different to the advantages of the decimal system, is the same as 

 that which regards scientific developments of industries abroad 

 with unconcern. 



The text of the draft scheme of organised research on cancer, 

 adopted by the Royal College of Physicians on March 24 and 

 approved by the Royal College of Surgeons on April 10, 

 has now been published. The scheme states that in order 

 to promote investigations into all matters connected with, or 

 bearing on, the causes, prevention and treatment of cancer 

 and malignant disease, steps are to be taken, (l) to pro- 

 vide, extend, equip and maintain laboratories to be devoted 

 exclusively to cancer research ; (2) to encourage researches oi> 

 the subject of cancer within the United Kingdom or in the 

 British dominions beyond the seas ; (3) to assist in the develop- 

 ment of cancer-research departments in various hospitals and 

 institutions approved by the executive committee ; (4) and 

 generally to provide means for systematic investigation in 

 various other directions into the causes, prevention and treat- 

 ment of cancer. Should the object of the fund be attained by 

 the discovery of the cause and nat.ure of cancer, and of an effec- 

 tive method of treatment, the Royal Colleges, with the consent 

 of the trustees, are to be empowered to utilise the fund either 

 (a) for equipping with the necessities for such treatment such 

 hospitals as they may select, or (/') for forwarding research into 

 other diseases. The fund is to be administered by a presi- 

 dent, vice-presidents, trustees, honorary treasurer, general com- 

 mittee, and executive committee consisting of twelve members, 

 one to be nominated by the Royal Society. 



We have received a reprint of the important paper by Col. 

 G. E. Church, published in the March number of the Geograph- 

 ical Journal, on " Interoceanic Communication on the Western 

 Continent." The paper first discusses possibilities of trans- 

 continental railways in South America, but the main subject 

 dealt with is the geographical conditions affecting the different 



