July II, 1872] 



NATURE 



209 



Assistant, on whose great zeal a well-deserved eulogium is 

 expressed. 



Although but very little has been expended in the pur- 

 chase of osteological specimens, the additions are of con- 

 siderable importance. Amongst thosr specially mentioned 

 is the skeleton of an extremely rare whale, the JJrrardiiis 

 Ariatxii, purchased for the Museum by Prof. Wilson, 

 F.R.S. The series illustrating the structural peculiarities 

 of the human race has received two very valuable addi- 

 tions in skeletons of both sexes ^f the extinct abori.jinals 

 ofTasmania, presented by Mr. M. AUport, of Hobart Town. 

 Both have been articulated. The male is in exceedingly 

 good preservation ; that of the female is unfortunately 

 less complete, but still presents many interesting features. 



The liberality with which the Smithsonian Institution 

 of Washington is conducted has been shown by various 

 important additions to the museum in former years, but 

 especially during the present, in a series of skulls and 

 skeletons of North .Vmerican mammals, several of which 

 were new to the collection. The College has reciprocated 

 this liberality by presenting a set of casts of the interior 

 of crania of various races of men and animals, and some 

 duplicates. 



Another important addition is the skeleton of an adult 

 male Porbeagle shark, about eight feet long. Tliis is 

 valuable, from the great difficulties which have usually at- 

 tended the attemp's made to preserve the osseous system 

 of cartilaginous fish. These difficulties have been over- 

 come by the great skill of Mr. James Flower, the ex- 

 perienced articulator to the College. This will be found 

 a very instructive specimen to students. 



In the dermatological collection Mr. Erasmus Wilson 

 still shows the deep interest he takes in it by presenting 

 twenty-five beautifully executed models ; and M. Voille- 

 mier, .Surgeon to the Hotel-Dieu, Paris, has presented 

 two, representing elephantiasis of the scrotum, with its 

 cure resulting from operation. 



Amongst the contributors are Pro's. Gervais, of Paris, 

 and Peters, of Berlin ; .Sir William Fergusson, who gives 

 a great number of preparations ; Sir James Paget, Messrs. 

 Hilton, Holden, Busk, Cl.ark, Gay, Curling, Wilson, Jack- 

 son, the Zoological Society, and the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. Mr. Kiernan, a late member of the Council, has 

 presented the whole of his collection. 



During the day of election the theatre, where these 

 additions are displayed, was visited by a large number of 

 the Fellows. It remains open for the inspection of the 

 members and their friends for a ftw days. 



NOTES 



We reprint in another column a document which will be read 

 with the greatest indignation by scientific men in every part of 

 the world, and widi sliame by all Englishmen. We refer to the 

 remonstrance presented to the Treasury by eleven of our most 

 di.stinguished scientific men against the treatment which the 

 eminent Superintendent of the Royal Gardens at Kew has re- 

 ceived at the hands of his official superior, the Chief Com- 

 missioner of the lioard of Works. Though we might take ex- 

 ception to some of the arguments brought forward by the 

 memorialists, yet there can be but one opinion that the syste- 

 mati<? discourtesy and want of consideration with which Dr. 

 I louker has Ijcen treated is entirely incompatible with the efficient 

 conduct of the department of the public service with which he 

 has been entrusted, and deserves the most searching inquiry on 

 the part of the Government. 



Prof. Agassiz's Second Report to tlie United States Coast 

 Survey of the scientific results of the //itj-j/.v expedition, a por- 

 tion of which we reprint this week, is one of the most important 

 contributions to scientific knowledge which has appeared for 



some time. His remarks on the glaciation of South America, 

 and the origin of the so-called "raised beaches" of Patagonia, 

 are especially valuable. 



The short communication from Dr. AntonDohrnon the present 

 position of the Zoological .Station at Naples will be read with 

 great interest. The mode in which the Italian Government is 

 assisting this important undertaking forms an instructive contrast 

 to the action, or rather want of action, of our own Government 

 in the matter of the Tides Committee to which we recently 

 alluded. When will Englishmen be able to compare with any 

 other feeling than that of shame the policy of their own Govern, 

 ment with that of any other civilised nation of the world in all 

 matters relating to Science ? 



AccoRniNG to the constitution of the Institution of Civil En- 

 gineers, it consists of three classes, viz.. Members, Associates, 

 and Honorary Members, with a class of Students altached. Of 

 these several grades there were on the books on the ist inst. 756, 

 1,127, 16, and 243, respectively, making in the aggregate 2,142. 

 The increase in the last three months in the different classes has 

 been 11, 36, 2, and g, representing an effective addition of 58. 



We understand that Prof. Palmieri's account of the late 

 eruption of Vesuvius is being printed at Berlin by Link and 

 P.einke, and will be published in several languages. It will be 

 illustrated by five lithographs taken from photographs. 



M. Delaunay, director of the National Observatory at Paris, 

 has taken possession of the Observatory at Montsouris. 



The Society of Sciences of Haarlem has named the following 

 subjects for competition for essays, to be sent in before January i, 

 1874 : — I. A study in detail and exhaustively of the influence 

 which chemical and physical modifications of the solvent exer- 

 cise on the form of carbonate of lime when deposited from 

 aqueous solutions. 2. A critical examination of the various hy- 

 potheses on the origin of polar aurorre, and the relations 

 between the polar aurora; and other natural phenomena. 3. On the 

 changes which stone-fruits undergo during their development. 4. 

 On a satisfactory means of determining the temperature, the 

 degree of humidity, and the density of the atmospheric air at a 

 consideral pie height above the surface of the earth. .\lso before 

 Jan. I, 1S7S : — An exhaustive study of some Linnean species, 

 chosen from those which present more or less divergent forms. 

 The prize for each of these Essays consists, at the choice of the 

 author, of the ordinary gold medal of the Society, or a sum of 

 150 florins, with an additional 150 florins if thought worthy. The 

 memoirs may be written in Dutch, French, Latin, English, 

 Italian, or German. 



Mk. L. H. Courtney, M.A., Fellow of St. John's College, 

 Cambridge, has been appointed Professor of Political Economy 

 at University College, London, in the room of Prof. Cairns. Two 

 Slade .Scholarships in Fine Arts, tenable for three years, have 

 been conferred at the same Institution on Miss E. M. Wild and 

 Miss P). A. Spencer. 



At a meeting of the Council held on July 6, the Associ.ateship 

 of the Royal School of Mines was conferred on the following 

 gentlemen : — Mining and Metallurgical Divisions — W. Charlton, 

 O. Tegler. Mining and Geological Division — G. M. Dawson. 

 Mining Division — E. Dillon. Metallurgical Division — F. \V. 

 Harrold, J. H. Huxley, O. F. Mondy, A. G. PhiUips. The 

 following awards were made : — First year students — The two 

 Royal Scholarships of 15/. each to Mr. S. A. Hill .and Mr. J. 

 Taylor. Second year students — H.K.II. "The Duke of Corn- 

 wall's" Scholarship, 30/. for two years, to Mr. Edgar Jackson, 

 and the Royal Scholarship of 25/. to Mr. C. Law, and the 

 Murchison Medal and Prize of Books to Mr. S. W. Davies. 

 Third year students — Tlie Edward Forbes Medal and Prize of 

 Books in Natural History and Palaeontology to Mr. G. M. 



