l82 



NA TURE 



[June 2 i, 1906 



We learn from Science that Mr. George Eastman, of 

 Rochester, N.Y., has subscribed 200/. annually for the next 

 three vears to enable the continuance of research work in 

 photography at the Yerkes Observatory of the University 

 of Chicago. The investigations will be carried on by Mr. 

 R. James Wallace, photophysicist at the observatory. 



The death is announced, in his eightieth year, of M. 

 Edouard Piette, the distinguished archaeologist. M. Piette 

 was well known for his discoveries of prehistoric remains, 

 among which may be mentioned those in the caverns of 

 Mas d'Azil (Ari&ge) and of Brassempouy (Landes). Before 

 his death M. Piette presented his invaluable collections to 

 the Museum of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. 



H.M. THE Queen has extended her patronage to the 

 " Country in Town " Exhibition which will be opened by 

 H.R.H. Princess Christian in the Whitechapel .Art Gallery 

 on July 5. The exhibition will be open until July 19, and 

 as admission will be free, contributions are invited towards 

 the necessary expenses. All communications should be 

 made to the honorary secretary, Mr. Wilfred Mark \^'ebb, 

 at Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel, E. 



The Times correspondent reports that Dr. Calmette and 

 M. Gu^rin, of the Pasteur Institute, Lille, have com- 

 municated to the Paris Academy of Sciences the results 

 of experiments on protective inoculation against tubercu- 

 losis. Having found that dead tubercle bacilli are carried 

 from the digestive tract to distant parts of the body, they 

 made experiments in order to ascertain the immunising 

 effect of dead tubercle bacilli administered in this manner. 

 Young animals, heifers and kids were given by the mouth 

 two doses, with a forty-five days' interval between, of 

 5 and 25 centigrams of dead tubercle bacilli (or even 

 living bacilli of feeble virulence). A subsequent lethal 

 dose of virulent tubercle bacilli proved innocuous to the 

 animals treated in this way, showing that the dead bacilli 

 had produced an immunity against the living virulent 

 bacilli. Dr. Calmette and M. Gu^rin conclude that young 

 cattle can be vaccinated by intestinal absorption of bacilli 

 modified by heat, and that this method of vaccination is 

 entirely without danger. 



The council of the .Society of Arts has aw-arded the 

 society's silver medal to the following readers of papers 

 during the session just completed : — Mr. W. F. Mitchell, 

 The commerce and industries of Japan ; Dr. William 

 Arthur Aikin, Aspects of voice development ; Mr. Leon 

 Gaster, Progress in electric lighting ; Mr. Walter Garstang, 

 The fisheries of the North Sea ; Captain G. S. C. Swinton, 

 London traffic ; Mr. Bernard B. Redwood, Motor boats ; 

 Mr. J. B. Millett, Submarine signalling; Prof. Thomas 

 Oliver, Bridge building by means of caissons ; Mr. Clayton 

 Beadle, Watermarking; Sir James A. Bourdillon, K.C.S.L, 

 The partition of Bengal ; Dr. George A. Grierson, The 

 languages of India ; Colonel Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, 

 K.C.I.E., Seistan ; the Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, K.C., 

 French Canada ; the Hon. J. G. Jenkins, Social conditions 

 in Australia ; Mr. Louis N. Parker, Historical pageants ; 

 Mr. H. Yates Thompson, Illuminated manuscripts; and 

 Mr. Harry Powell, Cut glass. 



The death of Herr Eduard von Hartmann is announced 

 from Berlin. Born in 1842, he was intended for a military 

 career, but retired from service in 1865 owing to a malady 

 of the knee which made him a cripple for life. He re- 

 ceived the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Rostock 

 University in 1867, and two years later published " The 

 NO. 191 2, VOL. 74] 



Philosophy of the Unconscious," the worlc on which his 

 reputation chiefly rests. A very voluminous writer — his 

 works contain upwards of 12,000 pages — he published, 

 among other writings, " Phenomenology of Ethical Con- 

 sciousness " in 1879, " The Religious Consciousness of 

 Mankind in the Stages of its Development " in 1881, and 

 " The Religion of the Spirit " in 1882. About three or 

 four years ago there appeared " Die Weltanschuung der 

 modernen Physik," one of the most important of his later 

 works. His system was an amalgamation of Schopen- 

 hauer's doctrine of will with the metaphysic of Hegel, and 

 the " Unconscious " which formed his first principle was 

 but another name of the absolute of the German meta- 

 physicians. "According to von Hartmann," writes one 

 authority, " the Unconscious is the absolute principle active 

 in all things, the force which is operative in the inorganic, 

 organic and mental alike, yet not revealed in conscious- 

 ness. It is the unity of unconscious presentation and will, 

 of the logical (idea) and the alogical (will). The Un- 

 conscious exists independently of space, time and individual 

 existence, timeless before the being of the world. For us 

 it is unconscious, in itself it is super-conscious." The 

 Schopenhauerian side of von Hartmann appealed to the 

 prevailing pessimism of the time, but he himself was no 

 pessimist ; full of vigorous ethical feeling, and a strong 

 opponent of the prophets of the WeUschmcrz, he con- 

 tributed not a little to the discussion of political and social 

 subjects. 



The Society of German Engineers, which with its 

 20,000 members is now the largest technical society in the 

 world, celebrated on June 11-14 the completion of the 

 fiftieth year of its existence. The opening ceremony was 

 held in the Reichstag building in Berlin, under the presi- 

 dency of Dr. A. Slaby. Congratulatory addresses were 

 delivered by the Prussian Home Secretary, the Prussian 

 Minister of Education, the Oberbiirgermeister of Berlin, 

 and the rector of the Berlin Technical School, as well as 

 by numerous representatives of kindred societies in 

 Germany and other countries, Mr. Bennett Brough (Iron 

 and Steel Institute) speaking for the British societies and 

 Prof. K. E. Hilgard (American Society of Civil Engineers) 

 for the American. The proceedings terminated with a 

 lecture by Dr. W. von Oechelhaeuser on technical work 

 past and present, in which he compared the engineering 

 works of the ancients with those of modern times, and 

 endeavoured to forecast what the future of engineering 

 would be. On June 12 a lecture was given by Dr. A. 

 Riedler, on the development and present importance of the 

 steam turbine ; and on June 13 papers were read by Prof. 

 Muthmann, on methods of dealing with atmospheric 

 nitrogen ; and by Dr. Hoffmann, on the utilisation of 

 power in mines and metallurgical works. Throughout the 

 week an elaborate programme of visits, excursions, and 

 social functions was arranged for the 123 1 members and 

 464 ladies who took part in the meeting. The German 

 Emperor honoured the society by accepting the Grashof 

 gold medal, and by conferring decorations on the president 

 and other prominent members. An interesting history of 

 the society is given in Engineering of June 8. The growth 

 of the society has certainly been remarkable. It was 

 founded in 1856 at Alexisbad, in the Hartz, by twenty- 

 three young engineers. Friedrich Euler was elected the 

 first president, and Franz Grashof the first secretary and 

 editor, the work of the society being carried on in the 

 secretary's private study. The society now has a stately 

 house of its own and a staff of forty-seven officials. Its 

 weekly journal last year cost 26, 162Z. for publishing- and 

 6425Z. for postage. 



