2 82 



NATURE 



[August 31, 1911 



quently end in a truce, both sides agreeing thai there 

 «;i> much in Nature that we could never understand. 

 Bui Burbury was rarely the first to give in. It is 

 these passages of arms which very often enable nun 

 to appreciate each other's good qualities, and to realise 

 the useful pari which nun like Burbury may play in 

 evolving order out of chaos. G. H. Bryan. 



PROF. A. LADENBURG. 



THE death occurred at Breslau, on August 15, of 

 Dr. Albert Ladenburg, professor of chemistry 

 in the University of Breslau. Dr. Ladenburg was 

 bom at .Mannheim in 1S42, and graduated as doctor 

 of philosophy in 1863. In 1S73 he accepted an invita- 

 tion to take up a position as professor of chemistry 

 and director of the laboratory at Kiel. In 1886 the 

 honorary degree of doctor of medicine of Berne Uni- 

 versity was conferred on Dr. Ladenburg in recognition 

 of his scientific investigations, and British and other 

 societies, including the Pharmaceutical Society ol 

 Great Britain, also honoured him with honorary 

 membership. He was also awarded the Hanbury gold 

 medal for his services in the promotion of research on 

 the chemistry of drugs. It was in 1889 that Dr. 

 Ladenburg took up the post of professor of chemistry 

 at Breslau, and he occupied the office with very great 

 success. 



Ladenburg's name is best known by his synthetic 

 work on the production of homatropine. On splitting 

 up atropine, tropic acid and tropine can be formed as 

 derivatives; the latter Ladenburg combined with 

 amygdalic acid to form a compound which is con- 

 verted into oxy-toluyl-tropeine, or homatropine, an 

 artificial alkaloid which, with its salts, has proved of 

 the greatest service in ophthalmic surgery. His 

 mathematical method of treating synthetic formula?, 

 and his prismatic benzene ring, place him in the first 

 rank of chemists as a theorist ; while as to his practical 

 work, his list of communications to scientific societies 

 and literature in this country and elsewhere includes 

 articles on "The Valency of Nitrogen." on "Syn- 

 thetic Alkaloids," on "The Relationship between 

 Hyoscyamihe and Atropine and the Conversion of the 

 one Alkaloid into the other," on " Hyoscine," on " The 

 Mydriatic Alkaloids occurring in Nature," on "The 

 Svnthesis of Coniine," and on "The History and Con- 

 stitution of Atropine," in addition to the compilation 

 with other collaborators of a dictionary (" Hand- 

 worterbuch der Chemie "), consisting of thirteen 

 volumes dealing with inorganic and organic chemistry. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION A1 PORTS- 

 MOUTH. 



BY thv- time this issue reaches the readers of Nature 

 the eighty-first meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion will have been inaugurated at Portsmouth and, 

 given fair weather conditions, we trust il will In- a 

 useful and enjoyable gathering. Judging from the 

 number of distinguished men of science who have 

 expressed their intention of being present, the- meet- 

 ing should be of importance as regards its scientific 

 work, as well as successful from a social point of 



flu- reception-room is the large Connaughl Drill 



Hall, which appears lo be ideal for thai purpose. Il 



^i\es under on. rooi .1 large reception hall with post 

 office, telephone, &c, and a comfortably furnished 

 reading and writing room for the members. In addi- 

 tion to this there is also a small room set apart for 

 the use of ladies. 



In point of view of numbers, the Portsmouth meet- 

 ing may not reach that of Sheffield last year, but this 

 no. 2183, VOL. 8;] 



is accounted for partly by the absent' o) an\ special 

 industry attached to the town, and also may, to some 

 extent, be due to the absence of any university or 

 university college. Most of the accommodation avail- 

 able is, however, booked, and those who arrive late 

 mav have difficulty in finding quarters. 



The meeting rooms are a little scattered, but this 

 was unavoidable, and notices will be. displayed making 

 the routes to be taken to the various section-rooms- 

 easy to find. 



In passing, mention may be made of a convenient 

 plan for communication between members of the asso- 

 ciation. It is a box which will be placed in the re- 

 ception-room, into which notes may be dropped 

 addressed to other members. This box will be fre- 

 quently cleared, and the notes delivered on request 

 to those to whom they are written. 



The pleasures of the meeting commence to-day 

 (Thursday), when at 2.30 a party will be taken over 

 the dockyard and battleships. A garden-party is to be 

 given this afternoon by Sir John and Lady Brickwood 

 at their beautiful residence in the town. In the even- 

 ing the Mayor will give a reception at the South 

 Parade Pier, which is the property of the Corpora- 

 tion. 



On Friday afternoon there will be a special visit 

 to the new filtration works of the Borough of Ports- 

 mouth Water Company, and Saturday will be entirely 

 devoted to all-day excursions, including two to the 

 Isle of Wight, and three drives in the South Downs, 

 starting from Chichester, to which city there will be 

 a special train. The drives are to (1) Kingly Yale. 

 West Dean, and Goodwood; (2) Boxgrove Priory and 

 Arundel Castle; (3) Bignor (with the Roman remains) 

 and Parham Park. 



On Sundav the Bishop of Winchester is to preach 

 at the Portsea parish church, and on Tuesday the 

 Mayor will entertain the members at a garden-party. 

 In 'addition, the naval authorities have organise, 1 a 

 naval displav in Stokes' Bay, consisting of an attack 

 by torpedo-boat destroyers and submarines. Vision 

 should not neglect a visit to the old Victory, one of 

 the most interesting "links with the past" in exist- 

 ence, and a full description of which, written by 

 Mr. W. L. Wyllie, R.A., will be found in an interest- 

 ing little handbook to Portsmouth which will be pre- 

 sented to members. 



Inaugural Address by Prof. Sir. William Ramsay, 

 K.C.B., Ph.D., LL.D., D.Sc, M.D., F.R.S., Presi- 

 dent. 



It is now eighty vears since this Association th- 

 at York, under the 'presidency of Earl Fitzwilliam. 

 object of the Association was then explicitly stated :—" To 

 give a stronger impulse and a more systematic direction 

 to scientific inquiry, to promote the intercourse of thos 

 who cultivate science in different parts of the British 

 Empire with om another and with foreign philosophers, 

 to obtain a more general attention to the objects of si 

 and a removal ol anj disadvantages of a public kind which 

 impi di as progress. " 



In 1S31 the workers in the domain of science 

 relatively few. Hie Royal Society, which was founded by 

 Dr. Willis. Dr. Wilkin's, and others, under the name of 

 the " Invisible, or Philosophical College," about the year 

 1645, and which was incorporated in December, 1660, with 

 thi approval of King Charles II., was almost the only 

 meeting-place for those interested in thi progress of 



s, i ; and its Philosophical Transactions, begun in 



March, 1664-5, almost the only medium ol publication, 

 lis character was described in the following words of a 

 contempoi ;ir\ poem : — 



•• This noble learned Corporation 



Not for themselves are thus combined 

 To prove all things by demons! e. 

 Bui foi the public good of the nation, 

 And general benefit of mankind." 



