July 27, 191 1] 



NATURE 



1 2 



of a plaquette in gold to be presented to Sir Patrick, and 

 bronze plaquettes to subscribers, to bear an impression of 

 Sir Patrick by a well-known artist. The British testi- 

 monial is in the first place to be the presentation of a 

 portrait in oils, of which each subscriber of one guinea and 

 over will receive a black-and-white reproduction ; but it is 

 hoped that, in addition, a Manson prize will be founded 

 for bestowal as a reward for good work accomplished in 

 the sphere of tropical medicine and hygiene. Of the 

 success of these testimonials there should be no doubt, for 

 the benefits conferred upon mankind by Sir Patrick 

 Manson as the " father " of modern tropical medicine is 

 incalculable. A new field of scientific investigation has 

 been opened by him; the formulation of the mosquito- 

 malaria theory has had consequences which have extended 

 far beyond even the widely flung malaria, and opened up 

 new channels of thought in every direction. Knowledge 

 of the part played by vermin in the spread of disease is 

 being extended daily as the result of Manson 's work, and 

 a new school of thought, giving a fresh direction and 

 impetus to inquiry, has advanced science generally, and 

 will go on bearing fruit so long as time extends. 



The organising committee of the Fourth International 

 Conference of Genetics, to be held in Paris on September 

 18-23, met recently under the presidency of Dr. Viger. 

 M. Philippe de Vilmorin, secretary of the committee, re- 

 ported what had been done up to that day in preparation 

 for the conference. Not counting the names of the prin- 

 cipal French biologists who are members of the com- 

 mittee, the secretary was able to give the names of the 

 following foreigners who have subscribed : — Baur, Giesen- 

 hagen, Goldschmidt, Pfitzer, Poll, &c. (for Germany) ; 

 Agar, Bateson, Darbishire, Gregory, Miss Durham, Hartog, 

 Laxton, Lynch, Nettleship, Paton, Punnett, Miss Saunders, 

 Staples-Browne, Sutton, Miss Wheldale, &c. (for Great 

 Britain) ; Bradley (for Australia) ; Fruwirth, Strakosh, 

 Tchermak, &c. (for Austria) ; W. and Chs. Saunders (for 

 Canada) ; Johannsen (Denmark) ; Balls (Egypt) ; Daven- 

 port, Hays, Howard, Swingle, Tower, &c. (United States) ; 

 Hagedoorn, Houwink, Lotsy, Noordnijn (for Holland) ; 

 Leake (for India); Strampeli (for Italy); Nilsson-Ehle, 

 Rosenberg (for Sweden) ; Chodat (Switzerland) ; Boris de 

 Fedtschenko (Russia) ; and Arechavaleta (Uruguay). 

 Many universities and scientific societies will be officially 

 represented. Numerous communications have been 

 promised ; short descriptions of them will be published 

 before the meeting of the conference, and they will be 

 published in full in the proceedings, a copy of which will 

 be sent to each subscriber. The meetings of the confer- 

 ence will depend upon the number of the communications, 

 but it seems probable that five sittings will be sufficient. 

 The remaining time will be devoted to visits to the Museum 

 of Natural History, the Pasteur Institute at Garches, to 

 Verrieres, the laboratories of the Sorbonne, &c. Probably 

 there will be a reception by the French National Society 

 of Horticulture on September 18, and one at the H6tel 

 de Ville on September 23. 



It has been decided to publish from the Sleeping Sickness 

 Bureau a quarterly bulletin dealing with the Leishmania 

 group of diseases. Dr. C. M. Wenyon, protozoologist to 

 the London School of Tropical Medicine, will undertake 

 this part of the work. A list of references is now in pre- 

 paration and will form the first number. 



Reuter's correspondent at Washington announces that 

 on July 24 the Senate ratified the agreement between the 

 United States, Great Britain, and Russia for the suspen- 

 sion of pelagic sealing for fifteen years. An article upon 

 the fur-seal and the convention, which has now been 

 NO. 2178, VOL. 87] 



accepted by the L'nited States Senate, appeared in Nature 

 of July 13. 



We learn from Science that the earthquake of July 1 is 

 reported to have done considerable damage at Lick 

 Observatory, on Mount Hamilton. The 36-inch telescope 

 is said to have been moved three-quarters of an inch out 

 of place on its concrete pier, but was restored without 

 trouble. The case of the Riefler clock was wrecked, and 

 minor damage was done to the working parts. The 

 chimneys of the observatory buildings were injured, and a 

 brick structure which houses a number of astronomers was 

 cracked so as to be unsafe for occupancy. 



In the obituary notice of the late Dr. H. Bolus in 

 Nature of June S, reference was made to " his generous 

 support of the Cape University, which owes to him the 

 foundation of its chair of botany." Prof. H. H. W. 

 Pearson writes to point out that though the establishment 

 of the " Harry Bolus chair of botany in the South African 

 College in 1903 was due in a large measure to the 

 munificent support which Dr. Bolus gave it, there is no 

 botanical chair in the Cape University, which is not a 

 teaching institution." 



Referring to the inauguration of a fund to honour the 

 memory of the late M. J. Joubert, to which attention was 

 directed in our last issue (p. 101). we are able to state 

 that an influential committee has been formed, including 

 representatives of the Pasteur Institute, the French Physical 

 Society, and the International Society of Electricians. 

 Joubert's collaboration with Pasteur, his work for the 

 French Physical Society, of which he was once president 

 and for ten years general secretary, and his researches and 

 writings, have all made his name widely known and re- 

 spected. The idea of founding a Joubert scholarship should 

 appeal to all old colleagues, pupils, and friends of Joubert. 

 Subscriptions may be sent, as has been stated, to M. 

 Gauthier-Villars, 55 quai des Grands-Augustins, Paris. 



The present month is establishing a record both for the 

 long and persistent drought and also for its high tem- 

 perature. In London, July 25 was the twelfth day during 

 the month with the thermometer above 80°, and on two 

 days, July 21 and 22, the temperature exceeded 90°. There 

 has been no temperature in London so high as 90 in July 

 since 1900, and none at any period of the summer since 

 1906. At some places in the east and south-east of 

 England the thermometer rose higher than in London. In 

 France and Germany the temperature has also been exces- 

 sive, shade readings of 100° being reported in places. 7 he 

 month was absolutely rainless in London and over the 

 southern portion of England until July 24, when slight 

 rain was experienced, which was followed by a thunder- 

 storm on July 26 ; so long a period of drought has not 

 occurred in July since 1887. 



The recorder of Section C (Geology) of the British 

 Association sends the following statement of the provisional 

 programme for the Portsmouth meeting : — Joint meetings 

 have been arranged with Sections E (Geography) and 

 K (Botany). The subject for discussion with Section E is 

 " The Former Connection of the Isle of Wight with the 

 Mainland," and with Section K, "The Relation of the 

 Present Plant Population of the British Isles to the Glacial 

 Period." Presidential address by Mr. Alfred Harker, 

 F.R.S. The address on the local geology will be delivered 

 by Mr. Clement Reid, F.R.S. The following papers have 

 already been promised : — " On the Discovery of Remains 

 of Ignanodon bcrnissartcnsis in the Wealden Beds of 

 Brightstone Bay, I. of W., and the adaptation of the 

 pelvic girdle to an erect position and bipedal progression," 



