59^ 



NATURE 



[January 30, 19 13 



to any astronomer who discovers a comet. The medal 

 will bear the name of "Carolina Herschel Medal." 



The Archduke Rainer, the oldest member of the 

 Imperial .'\ustro-Hungarian family, who died on 

 January 27, at eighty-five years of age, owed much 

 of his popularity to his keen interest in all forms of 

 scientific and artistic activity. From an obituary 

 notice in T/ie Times, we learn that at the Vienna 

 .\cademy of Sciences, of which he was curator, he 

 never missed an important sitting, while the Austrian 

 museums owed their development largely to his sup- 

 port. 



The interest in birds which has been aroused in 

 this country to a very considerable extent of recent 

 years continues to spread, and more and more use 

 is being made of nesting-boxes. At an exhibition 

 arranged by the Brent Valley Bird Sanctuary Com- 

 mittee, to be held in the offices of the Selborne Society 

 at 42 Bloomsbury Square, W.C, on February 1-15, 

 the tried forms and new designs of nesting-boxes may 

 be seen, as well as other apparatus connected with 

 the attracting of birds. 



The death is reported of Dr. G. .'\. Koenig, pro- 

 fessor of chemistry since 1892 at the Michigan Col- 

 lege of Mines. He was born in 1844 in the Grand 

 Duchy of Baden, and was educated at schools in 

 Lausanne and Karlsruhe, and at the Universities of 

 Heidelberg and Berlin. He went to America in 1868, 

 and held appointments at the Tacony Chemical 

 U'orks, Philadclpliia, and at the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania, before joining the Michigan faculty. He dis- 

 covered a number of new minerals, and took out 

 patents for an assay furnace, and for the chlorination 

 of low--grade silver and gold ores. One of his latest 

 works was the preparation of artificial crystals of 

 arsenides. 



The death of Prof. Augustus Witkowski, on January 

 21, at fiftv-eight years of age, deprives the University 

 of Cracow of a highly honoured member. Trained 

 under Lord Kelvin (whose admirer he ever remained), 

 Prof. Witkowski, after the tragic death of Wroblevv- 

 .-:ki in 1888, was appointed to the chair of experi- 

 mental physics in the Jagellonian University. In this 

 position he did genuine service to the cause of science 

 in Poland. In a series of papers he dealt with the 

 thermodynamic properties of air and other gases at 

 very low temperatures. The work, which appeared 

 in the Bulletin of the Cracow Academy (and was 

 partly reprinted in The Philosophical Magazine), is a 

 model of patient and accurate research. He wrote 

 a comprehensive treatise (in Polish), "Principles of 

 Physics " (three volumes), which is highly praised 

 for its lucidity and precision of statement. To Prof. 

 Witkowski's efforts the University of Cracow owes 

 its fine physical laboratory building, opened in March, 

 1912. 



The Year Book for 1912 of the Indian Guild of 

 Science and Technology has now been published. It 

 contains much interesting information of the progress 

 made by the guild, the object of which, it will be 

 remembered, is to cooperate in promoting the know- 

 NO. 2257, VOL. 90] 



ledge and application of pure and technological science 

 in India, with a view to the improvement of th.- 

 methods of economic production and the amelioration 

 of the sanitary condition of the people. The presi- 

 dent, Prof. A. Smithells, F.R.S., and committee of 

 the guild are making a public appeal on behalf of 

 the society, to enable them to extend and develop its 

 work. Prof. Smithells will be pleased to receive 

 donations. In addition to the annual report, the 

 Year Book contains a varied selection of original 

 papers on pure and applied science. 



In accordance with the recommendation of the 

 Select Committee of the House of Commons on the 

 Marconi Contract, the Postmaster-General has ap- 

 pointed a committee " to report on the merits of the 

 existing systems of long-distance wireless telegraphy, 

 and in particular as to their capacity for continuous 

 communication over the distances required by the 

 Imperial chain." The committee will consist of : — 

 Mr. Justice Parker, chairman ; Mr. W. Duddell, 

 F.R.S., president of the Institution of Electrical 

 Engineers; Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, C.B., F.R.S.. 

 director of the National Physical Laboratory ; Sir 

 .A.lexander Kennedy, F.R.S. ; and Mr. James Swin- 

 burne, F.R.S. The committee has been requested, 

 as desired bv the Select Committee, in view of the 

 urgency of the question, to report as soon as pos- 

 sible, and in any case within three months from the 

 present date. 



The Zoological Society of Scotland, w'hich, for the 

 past three or four years, has been devoting itself to 

 the establishment of a Scottish Zoological Garden of 

 a tvpe in which modern ideals may find expression, is 

 now making rapid headway with its scheme. The 

 council of the society gave its attention, in the first 

 place, to the selection of a thoroughly suitable site, a 

 matter in which, in addition to the expert knowledge 

 of the eminent zoologists who form its vice-presi- 

 dents, it had the guidance of Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, 

 of London, Dr. R. F. Scharff, of Dublin, and Herr 

 Carl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg. .-Vfter a very careful 

 consideration of all the available sites in the vicinity 

 of Edinburgh, the council, a few months ago, decided 

 on the estate of Corstorphine Hill House, lying close 

 to the city on its western side. This estate, which 

 extends to seventy- four acres in all, lies on the south- 

 western slope of the hill, and, with its parks and 

 gardens, its fine growing timber and outcropping 

 rock, forms one of the most beautiful situations that 

 could be chosen for the display of a zoological collec- 

 tion. The society holds an option to purchase it at 

 the price of 17,000/., of which about 7000L has been 

 subscribed in little more than a month. The society 

 wishes to raise 25,000/. before May next. The 

 honorary treasurer is Mr. T. B. Whitson, C.'X., 21 

 Rutland .Street, Edinburgh. 



K1NEM.ITOGRAPHY in "natural colours" followed as 

 a matter of course as soon as possible after the mono- 

 chrome projection of moving pictures. We recorded 

 a few years ago the first successful method by which 

 this was accomplished as the result of the work of 

 Mr. G. .'\. Smith in conjunction with Mr. Charles 



