October 26, 191 1] 



NATURE 



559 



author of the following papers, among others : — " Die 

 Gattung Credneria und einige seltnere Pflanzenreste "' 

 ('9°S). " Die Gattung Hausmannia Dunker " (1906), " Die 

 Gattung Nathorstiana P. Richter und Cylindrites spongi- 

 oides Goeppert " (1909), all of which are richly illustrated. 



The death is announced, at seventy-eight years of age, 

 of M. Louis Grandeau, the distinguished French agri- 

 cultural chemist, and author of the " Traits d'analyse des 

 matures agricoles," perhaps the best known book of its 

 time on agricultural analysis. M. Grandeau was one of 

 the last surviving disciples of Boussingault, and maintained 

 throughout the breadth of view and the lucid style of ex- 

 position that had characterised the master. He played a 

 great part in the development of scientific agriculture in 

 France, and held various high offices, such as the director- 

 ship of the Station agronomique de l'Est, a professorship 

 at the Conservatoire nationale des Arts et Metiers, and was 

 Inspecteur general des Stations agronomiques. He carried 

 out numerous field experiments at L'Ecole Mathieu de 

 Dombasles, Nancy, and later at the Parc-aux-Princes, near 

 Paris, and elsewhere, dealing with the effect of fertilisers 

 on soils and on crops. He also made numerous investiga- 

 tions on the feeding of horses, especially of draft horses, 

 his attention being attracted to this subject by his con- 

 nection with the laboratory of the Compagnie generale des 

 Voitures, Paris. There was no academic aloofness about 

 M. Grandeau, and he recognised that the final test of his 

 results must be their actual value to the practical man. 

 Accordingly, he used the Press freely to disseminate his 

 ideas; he was chief editor of the Journal d'agriculture 

 pratique, and agricultural editor of the Temps. His main 

 work was with technical problems. Of his more purely 

 scientific work, perhaps the best known dealt with the 

 black humic material that he extracted from soil, and re- 

 garded as an important agent in the nutrition of plants, a 

 view, however, that has since undergone considerable 

 modification. 



The first part of the plant protection scheme of the 

 Selborne Society was to enlist the sympathy of the educa- 

 tion authorities throughout the country, and the society 

 has met with a hearty response to its suggestion that the 

 authorities should distribute special leaflets to school- 

 masters and schoolmistresses, and put up a card of advice 

 to children in their schools. Many thousands of leaflets and 

 cards have been asked for, and as the Selborne Society- 

 has authorised its plant protection section to applv any 

 funds which it may receive to the furtherance of its own 

 work, the society is now making an appeal to all those 

 who desire to preserve the British flora to send subscrip- 

 tions to the secretary at 42 Bloomsbury Square, London, 

 W.C. 



In view of the reorganisation of the Aeronautical 

 Society, a circular has been issued to members stating that 

 persons desirous of joining the society as members under 

 the old regulations (entrance fee il. is., annual subscrip- 

 tion ll. is.) are still eligible if the application form is re- 

 turned before November 1, 191 1. A number of physicists, 

 engineers, and others have already availed themselves of 

 this privilege, including the Marquis of Tullibardine, the 

 Hon. Maurice Egerton, Mr. Lionel de Rothschild, Profs. 

 Archibald Barr, C. V. Boys, and H. F. Lunn, Captains 

 A. H. Grubb and E. L. Gerrard, Lieuts. R. Gregory and 

 C. R. Samson, Sir Charles D. Rose, Dr. W. Watson, 

 and Messrs. Dugald Clerk, G. Holt Thomas, E. T. 

 Willows, and Horace Short. In view of the uncertaintj 

 which probably exists as to the lines on which aeronautical 

 problems may be developed in the future, it seems desirable 

 NO. 2191, VOL. 87] 



that persons interested in aerial navigation, either on 

 general or other grounds, who may wish to be associated 

 with the future developments of the society should lose no 

 time in putting themselves in communication with the 

 secretaries, 53 Victoria Street, Westminster. 



Taking as his text the fact that the British Museum 

 has recently established a series of free daily demonstra- 

 tions in the exhibition galleries to parties of visitors, Lord 

 Sudely, in a letter to The Times of October 21, headed 

 " The Utility of Museums," strongly advocates the 

 immediate extension of this system to other museums and 

 kindred institutions throughout the country. The demon- 

 strations, or peripatetic lectures, at the British Museum 

 are declared to be admirable, although the attendance on 

 the part of the public is still comparatively small. This, 

 however, it is urged, might be increased by judicious 

 advertising. Weekly demonstrations at the Imperial 

 Institute, and lectures in some of the American museums 

 (for which, except in the case of schools, small fees are 

 charged), are declared to have attained a success far ahead 

 of what was originally expected. Among London institu- 

 tions, Lord Sudely specially selects the Victoria and Albert 

 Museum and the Natural History Museum as being 

 admirably suited for demonstrations of this nature, which 

 should also be adopted at Kew. Should the officials at these 

 establishments find it impossible to undertake these demon- 

 strations in addition to their present duties, it is recom- 

 mended that the respective staffs should be strengthened 

 for this purpose. If lectures of this type were once estab- 

 lished at all museums, the writer of the letter is of opinion 

 that the attendance of the public would be largely 

 augmented, while the knowledge and culture of the nation 

 generally would be stimulated. As regards the Natural 

 History Museum, it may be pointed out that popular ex- 

 planatory labels are conspicuously displayed in most of 

 the exhibition ; but it may at once be acknowledged that 

 a much larger amount of information could be conveyed 

 (and, if the right persons were found, in a more interest- 

 ing manner) by means of popular demonstrations. 



It would be interesting to know the condition of large 

 dew-ponds, such, for instance, as that at Chanctonbury 

 Ring, on the South Downs, at the end of the unusually 

 dry summer of this year. Colonel W. Pitt states in the 

 Journal of the Royal Society of Arts for October 20 that, 

 curious to learn how dew-ponds in general have fared, he 

 wrote to inquire of the Royal Engineers, under whose 

 charge is that part of Salisbury Plain which is War 

 Department property. The report received states that " all 

 dew-ponds in the Plain have gone absolutely dry this 

 summer without exception." The officer who supplied this 

 information adds that the ponds are generally, but not 

 always, placed where they will take surface drainage, and 

 consequently they received, no doubt, a certain amount of 

 what little rainfall there has been. 



Mr. J. R. Henderson, the successor of Mr. E. Thurston 

 as superintendent of the Government Museum, Madras, 

 reports considerable additions to the collections during the 

 year 1910-11. On the archa?ological side the most 

 important are eight gold-plated sheets of copper with 

 figures of Siva and other Hindu gods, dating from the 

 early sixteenth century. A collection of Pandyan gold 

 coins from the south Canara district is one of the most 

 interesting numismatic finds made in recent years in 

 southern India. A large collection of birds, insects, and 

 Mollusca made in the Shevaroy Hills by the superintendent 

 forms a valuable accession. The marine aquarium, 

 stocked with local sea animals and fishes, continues to 



