June ig, 1913 



NATURE 



403 



on the influence of anaesthetics on nervous phenomena. 

 In 191 1 he was appointed to the chair of physiology 

 at McGill University, Montreal. By his early death 

 British science has lost a valuable worker. His ex- 

 perimental work was always most scrupulously veri- 

 fied by every possible control, and he took extra- 

 ordinary care to reduce experimental error to a mini- 

 mum. Among his numerous scientific publications 

 were papers concerning "Irish Bats," "The E.M.F. 

 of the Negative Variation of Various Nerves, especi- 

 ally the Vagus," "The Velocity of the Nervous Im- 

 pulse in Tall and Short Individuals," "The Relations 

 between the Physical, Chemical, and Electrical Pro- 

 perties of the Nerves," "A Text-book of Experimental 

 Physiology " (conjointly with Dr. F. O'B. Ellison), 

 "Accurate Dosage of Chloroform by Means of a Regu- 

 lating Inhaler," and many others. Prof. Alcock mar- 

 ried, in 1905, Norah Lilian Lepard, daughter of Sir 

 John Scott, K.C.M.G., and leaves his widow, one son, 

 and three daughters to mourn his loss. 



Mr. A. R. Hinks, F.R.S., chief assistant at the 

 Cambridge Observatory, and University lecturer in 

 surveying and cartography, has been appointed 

 . 1 distant secretary of the Royal Geographical Society. 



The new wing of the laboratories of the Rotham- 

 sted Experiment Station, Harpenden, will be opened 

 by the Right Hon. W. Runciman, President of the 

 Board of Agriculture, on Friday, June 27, at 3.30 

 p.m. 



The death is announced, in his sixty-fifth year, of 

 Mr. F. A. Ober, one of the best known of American 

 ornithologists. In the interests of his favourite pur- 

 suit he had travelled extensively in South America, 

 Mexico, and the West Indies. In the Lesser Antilles, 

 in particular, he discovered twenty-two new species 

 of birds, and added many types to the collections of 

 the Smithsonian Institution. Mr. Ober wrote largely 

 for the newspaper press, and was the author of forty 

 books. 



On June 5 the faculty of science of the University 

 of Geneva erected a bust to the memory of Pierre 

 Prevost (1751-1839), the Geneva man of science whose 

 name is remembered by Prevost 's theorv of ex- 

 changes. Prof. C. E. Guye presided at the ceremony, 

 and most of the learned societies with which Prevost 

 was associated sent delegates, or addresses of con- 

 gratulation. M. G. Lippmann represented the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, and delivered an oration. The 

 Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh 

 were represented by Dr. W. H. Young, F.R.S., and 

 Mr. Mitchell respectively, who presented addresses 

 in English. The Berlin Royal Academy of Sciences 

 sent a letter of congratulation signed by Prof. Planck. 



A TIDAL observatory has recently been constructed 

 by the Ordnance Survey at the foot of the Castle Rock 

 at Dunbar, and is now fitted with a self-recording 

 gauge and other instruments. The main object is to 

 obtain an accurate value for a mean sea-level datum 

 on the open North Sea coast to which the network 

 of geodetic levelling in Great Britain can be very 

 precisely connected. Such an accurate determination 

 is required for the measurement of relative movements 

 NO. 2277, VOL. 91] 



of land and sea along our coasts, an object recom- 

 mended some years ago by the Tidal Commission on 

 Coast Erosion. Incidentally light may be thrown 

 upon slow vertical movements of the earth's crust, 

 periodic coastal movements due to tidal load, and upon 

 the tidal phenomena of the North Sea generally, with 

 their relations to hydrological and meteorological 

 changes taking place in and over the neighbouring 

 oceans. In this country the existing tide-gauges fulfil 

 comparatively rough requirements in harbours not truly 

 representative of open ocean conditions, and there can 

 be no doubt of the importance for scientific purposes 

 of having well-placed observatories on open coasts 

 and capable of being rigorously connected with the 

 network of geodetic levelling. 



The Cape Times of May 7 contains an interesting 

 article strongly advocating the founding of a national 

 botanic garden at the Cape. Matters have already 

 gone some distance in this direction, and the Kirsten- 

 bosch estate, which is Government property, has been 

 mentioned as an appropriate site. In the interest of 

 South Africa, no less than of scientific botany, it is 

 sincerely to be hoped that this project may be success- 

 fully carried through. A view which has been put 

 forward by certain influential people in South Africa 

 is that the garden should be placed under the control 

 of the Agricultural Department rather than that it 

 should be more directly attached to the South African 

 College, and through it to the scientific botanical 

 staff. This view, however, is one which demands, and 

 doubtless will receive, very careful consideration. A 

 botanic garden which is not under scientific direction 

 can have very little value, and it is to be hoped that, 

 in the interests of South Africa generally, this prin- 

 ciple will not be lost sight of in determining the nature 

 of the body which is to be responsible for its proper 

 administration. The problems to be solved are mainly 

 scientific, but from their successful solution there may 

 be expected to accrue results of value not only to 

 science but also of great economic importance to the 

 community at large. 



A large number of distinguished physiologists, bio- 

 logists, and medical men have signed a letter ad- 

 dressed to the Home Secretary directing attention to 

 the scientific aspects of the administration of the 

 Mental Deficiency Bill. The signatories desire to 

 secure the continuous prosecution of research into the 

 conditions on which mental deficiency depends, and 

 into the means by which it might be remedied or 

 prevented. They point out that it may be said, in a 

 general way, that the conditions in question must be 

 due either to defective formation and development of 

 the active structures of some portion or portions of 

 the brain, or to defective formation or supply of the 

 fluids by which these structures are surrounded, and 

 by which they are stimulated to activity. For 

 example, one common form of idiocy is consequent 

 upon the abs.ence from the blood of the secretion which 

 should be furnished by the thyroid gland, and may be 

 remedied by the administration of thyroid extract de- 

 rived from lower animals. The Mental Deficiency Bill 

 will probably bring together many of its subjects into 

 institutions controlled by the State, and supported by 



