July 6, 191 1] 



NATURE 



17 



NOTES. 



The arrangements for the meeting of the International 

 Association of Seismology are now nearly complete. The 

 following foreign States will be represented : — United 

 States, France, Russia, Austria, Germany, Hungary, 

 Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Italy, Holland, 

 Rumania, Servia, Bulgaria, and probably also Japan and 

 Norway. At the opening meeting on July iS the Lord 

 Mayor of Manchester and the Vice-Chancellor of the Uni- 

 versity will welcome the delegates, and Prof. Schuster, as 

 president, will deliver a short address. On the same day 

 the Lord Mayor will hold a reception in the Town Hall. 

 The council of the University will give a dinner, and Dr. 

 Shaw, the director of the Meteorological Office, will invite 

 the guests to an excursion to view the observatory at 

 Eskdalemuir. Among British men of science, the follow- 

 ing have signified their intention of being present : — Sir 

 George Darwin, Dr. Milne, Prof. Perry, Prof. Lamb, Prof. 

 Knott, Prof. Love, Mr. Oldham, Dr. Shaw, and Dr. 

 G. W. Walker. 



Early on the morning of Saturday, July I, a school of 

 cetaceans, numbering apparently between fifty and sixty 

 head, was stranded on the beach at Mount's Bay, near 

 Penzance. Judging from an illustration in The Daily 

 Mirror of July 3, these cetaceans may be identified with 

 the black-fish or pilot-whale (Globicephalus melas), 

 which derives its name of ca'ing whale from the 

 habit of entering bays or inlets in schools, and thus be- 

 coming stranded, as in the present instance. Although 

 such events are not uncommon in the Faroes and Shet- 

 lands, they are rare further south, and the Mount's Bay 

 case appears to be unique. When the tide rose several of 

 the stranded creatures succeeded in making their escape, 

 but those unable to get away, if not already dead, were 

 shot. Such stranded cetaceans are, we believe, Crown 

 property, and application was accordingly made to the 

 Board of Trade for permission to obtain specimens for the 

 Natural History Museum. This being granted, a taxi- 

 dermist was dispatched by the night mail on Monday with 

 instructions to prepare skeletons and make preparations of 

 some of the viscera. The largest specimen is stated to be 

 about 25 feet long. 



The fact that on July 3 eleven aeroplanes crossed the 

 Channel from Calais to Dover between 4 and 5.15 a.m. 

 without a mishap is a striking proof — if proof be now 

 needed — of the growing trustworthiness of men, motors, 

 and machines. Accidents rarely occur now to experienced 

 pilots, though their experience is small compared with 

 what is considered necessary to make a first-class motorist. 

 The oldest European pilot now flying has barely three and 

 a half years to his credit, while it is well known that 

 double that time scarcely suffices to produce a racing 

 motorist of the highest rank. The eleven aeroplanes 

 included eight monoplanes : Morane (Vedrines), two 

 Deperdussins (Vidart and Valentine), Sommer (Kimmer- 

 ling), two Bleriots (Lieut. Conneau and Garros), R.E.P. 

 (Gibert), and Train (Train) ; and three biplanes : two 

 Maurice Farmans (Renaux, with a passenger, and Barra), 

 and Bristol (Tabuteau). It is worthy of remark that all 

 the machines had Gnome motors except those of Gibert, 

 who used a 60 horse-power R.E.P., Barra, who had a 

 70 horse-power Panhard, and Renaux, who had a 

 60 horse-power Renault. The occasion was the seventh 

 stage of the circuit of Europe — from Paris via Li^ge, Spa, 

 Liege, Utrecht, Brussels, Roubaix, Calais, Hendon, Calais, 

 back to Paris again, a total distance of about 1025 miles. 

 At the time of writing, omitting Valentine, Train, Barra, 

 and Tabuteau, all the above mentioned have completed all 

 NO. 2175, VOL. 87] 



the stages up to Hendon. The total times of the first four 

 from Paris stand at present as follows : — Conneau, 

 51I1. 43m. 5s. ; Garros, 55I1. 37m. 7s. ; Vidart, 67b. 47m. 

 57s. ; and Vedrines, 70I1. 20m. 20s. 



An archaeological discovery of some interest has been 

 made at Corfu. Excavations carried on by M. Versakis, 

 the local Ephor of Antiquities, on the site of the ancient 

 city (Palaeopolis) of Korkyra, at the expense of the Greek 

 Archaeological Society, have resulted in the discovery of 

 fragmentary sculptures belonging to an early temple. The 

 most important fragments are those of a Perseus and 

 Medusa group, which reminds one very forcibly of the 

 metope sculptures of Selinus. The remains of colour on 

 them are reminiscent of the brilliant painting of the early 

 sculptures from the Athenian Akropolis now in the 

 Parthenon Museum. There are other fragments of sculp- 

 ture, all of interest. The discovery having been made 

 during the stay of the Emperor William at the Achilleion 

 this year, naturally attracted the eager attention of his 

 Majesty, who at once consulted Prof. DSrpfeld, the director 

 of the German Archaeological School at Athens, with re- 

 gard to carrying on the excavations himself. This has 

 now been arranged, and Prof. Dorpfeld will carry on 

 M. Versakis' work at the expense of H.I.M. Prof. 

 Dorpfeld is of opinion that the remains belong to a temple 

 of Apollo, dating to the seventh century B.C., probably. 

 The resemblance of the style of its sculptures to that of 

 the Selinuntine metopes is interesting in view of the fact 

 that both Selinus and Korkyra were colonies of Corinth. 



The International Congress of Naval Architects and 

 Marine Engineers, which is being held in celebration of the 

 jubilee of the Institution of Naval Architects, was opened 

 by the Duke of Connaught on Tuesday, July 4, many dele- 

 gates of foreign Ministries of Marine and foreign societies 

 being present in the assembly. The congress was to have 

 been held last year, but was postponed in consequence of 

 the death of King Edward. The council of the institution, 

 to do honour to their guests from abroad, has made the 

 following additions to the list of honorary members : — The 

 King of Norway, the King of Spain, the King of Sweden, 

 Prince Henry of Prussia, the Archduke Ferdinand, the 

 Duke of Connaught, the Duke of Genoa, Prince Roland 

 Bonaparte, Lord Rayleigh, Admiral Dewey, Admiral Togo, 

 and Admiral Ijuin. An account of the proceedings of the 

 congress will appear in a subsequent issue of Nature. 



The fortieth meeting of the French Association for the 

 Advancement of Science will be held this year at Dijon 

 from July 31 to August 5, when M. Charles Lallemand 

 will be the president. The sections of the association and 

 their presidents are as follows : — M. E. Belot, mathe- 

 matics, astronomy, geodesy, mechanics ; M. Galliot, 

 navigation (civil and military), engineering ; Prof. Hurion, 

 physics ; Prof. Georges Lemoine, chemistry ; Prof. Violle, 

 meteorology and physics of the globe ; Prof. Collot, geology 

 and mineralogy ; Prof. Queva, botany ; Prof. Bataillon, 

 zoology, anatomy, physiology ; Dr. Henri Martin, anthro- 

 pology ; Dr. Paul Courmont, medical science ; Dr. Del- 

 herm, medical electricity ; Prof. Grimaud, odontology ; 

 M. Lucien Magnien, agriculture ; M. Auguste Chevalier, 

 geography ; M. Paul Razous, political economy and 

 statistics ; Prof. Beauvisage, pedagogy and teaching ; Prof. 

 Jules Courmont, hygiene and State medicine; Dr. Simon, 

 archaeology. Inquiries may be addressed to the secretary 

 of the association, Dr. Desgrez, 28 rue Serpente, Paris. 



The third International Congress for Sanitary Dwellings 

 is to be held this year, on the occasion of the International 

 Hygiene Exhibition at Dresden, on October 2-7. The 



