NA TURE 



[June 7, 1906 



animation in matlirmalics and nautical astronomy for 

 lieutenant in his year. This Sir William Wharton won in 

 the year 1865. By the proposed arrangement two awards 

 for the same object would be giv€n under the names of 

 " The Beaufort Testimonial " and " The Wharton Testi- 

 monial," thus associating the names of the two eminent 

 hydrographers who have served for the longest periods in 

 that capacity. It is proposed in addition, if the funds 

 admit, to present a medal, having on the obverse a bust 

 of the late Sir William Wharton, and on the reverse a 

 suitable inscrijition. The committee includes Vice-Admiral 

 Sir Charles Drury, K.C.B., K.C.S.I. ; Captain A. Mostyn 

 Field, F.R.S. ; Vice-Admiral Swinton C. Holland ; Admiral 

 of the Fleet Sir F. Richards, G.C.B. ; and Captain T. H. 

 Tizzard, C.B., F.R.S. Messrs. Coutts and Company, 

 Bankers, 440 Strand, London, have arranged to receive 

 contributions to the fund. 



On May 25 Lord Avobury presided at the annual con- 

 versazione of the Selborne Society and delivered his presi- 

 dential address. He spoke of the coming of age of the 

 society, of the interest which many members were taking 

 in the forthcoming " Country in Town " Exhibition, and 

 of the bird sanctuary maintained by the Ealing branch. 

 He also alluded to the destruction of roadside beauty, to 

 the way in which ladies prefer the authority of shop- 

 keepers to that of ornithologists with regard to " artificial 

 ospreys " so called, and to the injury to birds, which game- 

 keepers still continue to do. In the latter part of his 

 remarks Lord .^vebury dwelt upon the manner in which 

 the study of nature adds to the happiness of life. Nearly 

 700 guests were present, and there w\as a large number of 

 mteresting exhibits, including some fifty microscopes ex- 

 hibited by members of the Royal Microscopical Society, the 

 Quekett Club, and other institutions. 



Messrs. R. B. Woosnam, D. Carruthers, and K. F. R. 

 Wollaston, three members of the zoological expedition sent 

 to Africa under the auspices of the Natural History 

 Museum, South Kensington, have made the following 

 ascents in the Ruwenzori range. On April 1 they ascended 

 Duwoni, the peak rising to the north-east of the Mubuku 

 Glacier. This peak has two tops of apparently equal alti- 

 tude ; the southern top, which was reached, was found to 

 be 15,893 feet. On April 3 they ascended Kiyanja, the 

 peak at the western end of the Mubuku group of peaks. 

 The altitude was found to be 16,379 feet. (The altitudes 

 were taken by aneroid and by the boiling-point thermo- 

 meter.) Both these peaks have been thought by different 

 explorers to be the highest points in Ruwenzori, but from 

 the summit of Kiyanja a still higher peak with two tops 

 was seen in a north-westerly direction. The weather at this 

 season of the year is very unfavourable, the mountains 

 being almost constantly buried in clouds with frequent 

 snowstorms, which prevented the party from making 

 further explorations. 



Ox Friday last, June i, the Secretary for Scotland re- 

 ceived a deputation of the Royal Scottish Geographical 

 Society, laying before him the claims of the society in con- 

 nection with the proposed National Galleries Bill, (see 

 P- 137)- The deputation was introduced by Mr. C. E. 

 Price, M.P., and the society's position and claims were 

 explained by Prof. Geikie (president), Mr. W. B. Blaikie, 

 Dr. George Smith, Mr. W. C. Smith, K.C., and Mr. 

 Ralph Richardson. The national character of the society 

 was touched upon, as also the important work it did in 

 fostering the study of geography, in providing lectures by 

 eminent travellers in the four great centres of population, 

 and in giving facilities for the inspection of maps and 

 NO. IQIO, VOL. 74] 



valuable geographical works. It was claimed that the 

 society should be recognised officially as one of the scien- 

 tific societies of Scotland, to be provided with premises 

 free of rent (at present 120/. is paid in rent), to have a 

 grant from State funds, and to be represented on the new- 

 Board of Trustees. Reference was also made to the present 

 endeavour to found a chair of geography in the University 

 of Edinburgh. The Secretary for Scotland in reply thanked 

 the members of the deputation for their presence, and 

 pointed out that their memorial went further than the 

 recommendation of the departmental committee which re- 

 commended the remission of the rent of 120/. which th^ 

 society pays for its accommodation in the National Portrait 

 Gallery. He was not sure that this was a convenient time 

 to urge the Government to further expenditure, but he 

 would not fail to take into serious consideration all that 

 had been urged in the interests of the society. 



We regret to announce the death on May 29 of Dr. 

 William Fream, who since 1894 acted as the agriculturat 

 correspondent of the Times, and was formerly a frequent 

 contributor to our columns. Born in 1854, Dr. Fream was 

 educated at the Royal College of Science, Dublin, and be- 

 came professor of natural history at the Royal .Agricultural 

 College at Cirencester. .After lecturing for a time on botany 

 at the Guy's Hospital Medical School he became professor 

 at the Downton College of .Agriculture. Later he was 

 chiefly engaged in writing, and for ten years acted as 

 editor of the Journal of the Royal .Agricultural Society. 

 His best-known books were one on the Rothamsted experi- 

 ments and his " Elements of -Agriculture," written for the- 

 Royal .Agricultural Society, which reached its seventh 

 edition last year. Dr. Fream will be remembered for the 

 part he took in a controversy as to the merits of perenniaf 

 rye grass in pastures, a controversy which cannot yet be re- 

 garded as settled. Mr. Faunce de Laune, and with him 

 Mr. Carruthers, maintained that rye grass was neglected 

 by stock, and should be excluded from any mixture used 

 for sowing down land to grass. Dr. Fream, however, by 

 growing pieces of turf selected from the most famous 

 pastures in the country, demonstrated that rye grass was a 

 large constituent of such good grass land, and in con- 

 sequence argued strongly in favour of the high opinion in 

 which this grass has always been held by practical farmers. 



Prelimix.\rv arrangements have been made for the 

 establishment of a great marine museum in New York 

 with an astronomical museum as an adjunct to it. The 

 New York Observatory and Nautical Museum will, accord- 

 ing to Science, have an endowment of not less than 

 ioo,oooZ., and, in addition to this, it is expected that the 

 city of New York will provide a site in Bronx Park 

 adjacent to the botanical garden and zoological park, and 

 will also erect the museum building and the domes and 

 smaller buildings for the ob,servatory. In the nauticat 

 museum will be collected and exhibited models of all types 

 of vessels, safety and signal devices, nautical instruments 

 and methods of determining position, charts, marine 

 engines and motors, and historic instruments and relics. 

 The museum and collections will be arranged so that 

 properly qualified persons can avail themselves of the facili- 

 ties there offered for investigation and research. The 

 observatory will be provided with a great telescope, for 

 photographic and visual work, astrophysical instruments 

 for the investigation of .solar problems, magnetometers, 

 seismographs, and other necessary instruments. A time 

 service will be instituted so that chronometers may be rated, 

 marine instruments will be tested, and tidal investigations 

 will be inaugurated. 



