150 



NATURE 



[August 3, 191 1 



I di ' "I telegraphs during thi siegi ol Paris, 



when he likewise organised the military telegraph service. 



thi 1 '..11 hi became professor of physic- at the Ecole 

 in de [*61egraphie, and in issi he was appointed 



1 studies al the Ecole Polytechnique, when he 



ined until the end of the year 3. 1 h « a an 



II member "I the Institution oi Electrical Engineers 

 and of the International Society of Electrician 



\\ 1 regrel to learn thai Mrs. Helena B. Walcott, wife 

 oi Mi 1 li.nl. , I). Walcott, formerlj directoi of the United 

 States Geological Survey, now secretarj of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, was instantly killed in a railway accident at 

 ■ eport, Connecticut, on July 11. .Mr-. Walcott had 

 In. a ardently and actively interested in the scientific work 

 of her husband. In 1888 she accompanied him to New- 

 foundland, where the} worked out together tic 

 succession of the Cambrian formations of the North 

 American continent. They then crossed to Wales and 

 studied the classical Cambrian sections. For eighteen 

 seasons she accompanied .Mr. Walcott on his expeditions 

 in connection with geological researches in various regions 

 of eastern and western United States and Canada. Since 

 his appointmenl as secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion she had been greatly interested in the development of 

 the I nited States National Museum and in the general 

 stud) oi museum systems. Possessed of unusual charm 

 ol person and manner, Mrs. Walcott 's death is a heavj 

 blow to a large circle of friends and acquaintances. 



The fifth annual meeting of the Italian Society for the 



Advance nl ol Science will be held in Rome on 



Octobei 1-' is, under the presidency of Prof. G. 

 of the association, with their 

 presidents, are as follows: — mathematics, astronomy, and 

 geodesy, Prof. G. Castelnuovo and Prof. A. Di Legge ; 

 -. Prof. I'. Blaserna ; applied mechanics and electro- 

 technics, Prof. C. Ceradini ; pure and applied chemistry, 

 Prof. E. Patern6 ; mineralogj and geology, Prol. R. Meli ; 

 pin. Prof. E. Millosevich ; zoology, anatomy, and 

 anthropology, Profs. G. B. Grassi, F. Todaro, ami <,. 

 Sergi ; pure and applied botany, Prof. R. Pirotta ; physio- 

 logy, Prof. I-. I. in iani ; pathology, Profs. A. Bignami and 

 E. Marchiafava ; history and archaeology, Profs. G. Beloch 

 and L. Pigorini ; philology, Prof. I. Guidi ; social science, 

 Prof. M. Pantaleoni ; philosophy, Prof. P. Ragnisco. 

 Several lectures on subjects of wide scientific interest will 

 l,e delivered to general meetings of the association as a 

 whole, ami others to joint meetings of sections concerned 

 with related subjects. Full particulars may be obtained 

 from the secretary, to whom contributions for thesections 

 should In addressed, Prof. V. Reina, Via del (nil.:.. 

 1 21), Roma. 



Is the- first part of the second volume of the Museum 



Journal ol the University of Philadelphia we find an 



interesting account ol an exploration of the remarkable 



ruined city of Chichen Itza, in Vukatan. The place is 



familiar to students ol Central American archaeology from 



tie- enthusiastii accounts oi Stephens with Calderwood's 



drawings, the photographs and measurements el Maudslay, 



and tin- sketches ol Holmes. These, however onlj 



ii. represent the decoration scheme, and for the 



frescoes and wall sculptures the onlj cord is 



the fine series ol water-colour drawings by Miss Adela 



Breton, who with rare devotion has succeeded in repro 



the beautiful work of the ancient artists. 1 1» ..■ 



1 unpublished, and all students ol .11 t 



will join in tin hope tfiat arrangements may soon be made 



1 



NO. 2179, VOL. 87] 



It is a good omen for the scientific value ol the 1 



of the 1 1 , in census ol India, which are new in process 

 of compilation, thai Mr. I-'.. A. Gait, the census com- 

 missioner, has prepared lor tin- use of the provincial 

 intendents an abstracl "I several important reviews by 

 eminent Continental anthropologists ol the report b 



II. Risley on the census ,,1 lie u 



much importance, .md direel special attention to , 

 problems fin the solution of which the reports ol the lasl 

 census maj 1" expected to supply valuable material. Of 

 special interesl are the suggestions of Herr Baelz on the 

 peculiar skin patches which seem to he a race characteri 

 of the Mongolians ; Walcher's review of thi results of 

 artificial changes in the skull form; and Surgeon Captain 

 I r Maynard's remarkable discovery among some coolies 

 at the l,.;i gardens ol Assam of a curious form of mel 

 glossia which seenis t be peculiar to certain ol the Mam 

 tribes ol Chota Nagpore, ami maj he ol great importance 

 in identifying tie modifications ol this ethnical type. 



In vol. iv., part iii., of the Transactions ol the Hull 

 Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club Mr. T. Pick 

 describ able collection ol Roman coins made at 



South Ferriby by the well-known Thomas Smith, locally 

 known as "Coin Tommy," which has recently 

 acquired by the Hull Municipal Museum "south Ferriby, 

 U ing on the direel 1 oute bel « een I .ini oln and \ 01 1< 



obviously a place ol siderable importance in Roman 



times, and the interest of this collection lies in thi 

 that its .-coo specimens practically cover the whole period" 

 ol the Roman occupation of north Lincolnshire. It I 

 with a coin of the Emperor Trajan i\.t.. 98), and extends 

 to the time ol Honorius (a.d. 395-423), in whose reign 

 the Romans finally withdrew from Britain. The collec- 

 tion includes the coins of thirty-nine emperors and 

 members ol their families, several of the wives of the 

 emperors being represented. Mr. Pickersgill gives a full 

 catalogue of these coins, with details of their mintage, and 



supplies tWO shell- of |l fi O I llg C .'1 ] ill i C 1 | ■) I I H 1 I I , I I I i 11 s ' 



most typical specimens, a valuable monograph which will 

 be of interest to all numismatists. 



In The Eugenia Review For July ix., No. 2) 

 Thomas Oliver directs attention to the disasti 

 ,.1 lead-po 1 in 1 ai e, pai ticulai l\ among po 



1 .-I 1 ■ : tg, insuffii ii in definitelj to cripple 1 hi 



workers, 1ms ,, disastrous effect on the ' prod 

 organs; females who work in lead before marriage mis- 

 carry twice, and females working in lead alter marriagi 

 miscarrj three times, more Frequently than those engaged 

 in ordinary housework. A high percentage ol children 

 born alive to lead workers die shorth, aftei birth and 

 during the first lew months of lifi Somi ol the worsl 

 effects oi lead-poisoning are to be seen among the small 

 [null', manufacl irers ol Hungary, of which Sir Thomas 

 Oliver gives a graphic account. 



UNDER the title ol " The Hunted Otter." tie- Animals' 

 Friend Society, Kingsway, W.C., has published a pamph- 

 let urging tin total prohibition of otter-hunting. While 

 all, we hope, will supporl the proposal to establish a close 

 time during the breeding season, it la no means Follows 

 that public opinion will demand lie entin abolition 

 ■ iH.i 1 ..1 ottei hunting. 



Ih I,,. 1', ..me \ , : tu , ,1 lis i for June com i. bituary 



notii e ol 1 hi la 1 Mr. A. O. Sayce, who was appo 

 demonstratoi and 1 istanl let turer in bai ti 1 iology in 

 Melboui n. University In addition to 



bai tei iologj . Mr. Saj . e di voted spi 1 ial attention to 

 crustaceans, on which he wrote numerous papers, thi 



