July 5, 1906] 



NA rURE 



225 



TUK SOUTH AFRICAN MEDAL OF THE 

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



WHKN the members of the British Association 

 were in South Africa last August and 

 Stplember, it occurred to someone of tlie party that 

 il would be well to commemorate our visit by found- 

 ini4 a medal for South African students. I ;un sorry 

 that 1 cannot remember to whom the credit of this 

 admirable suggestion is due, but the olVicers at once 

 adopted it with enthusiasm. Papers explaining the 

 proposal were first circulated through the special 

 trains on our way from Durban to Johannesburg, and 

 a substantial siim was promised in a very short 

 time. The proposal was subsequently laid before 

 lho.se who did not happen to be travelling in the 

 special trains, and ultimately before all the members 

 of the British Association. 



On our return to England, a meeting of the sub- 

 scribers was summoned, and a committee was 

 appointed to consider the manner in which the fund 

 should be applied. It was resolved that the South 

 .\frican .Association for the .Advancement of Science 

 ■-hould be a,ked to accept the trusteeship and adminis- 



balance will come to about 500L It is clear that this 

 balance ought to be returned to South -Xfrica in some 

 way, and a resolulit)n has bein passed by the council 

 of the association that the une.xpended balance shall 

 be devoted to the augmentation of the medal fund. 

 The expenses attendant on the design of the medal 

 have amounted to about looL, and it is hoped that 

 more than 1200/. will remain for transmission to South 

 .\frica. .\s a higher rate of interest on safe invest- 

 ments is obtainable there than here, a substantial 

 annual sum will be provided in aid of research. 



The cordiality of our reception in South .Africa 

 surpassed all that could possibly have been foreseen, 

 and we in England are glad to be able to establish 

 this small foundation as a memorial of the most re- 

 markable of the m.-uiy annual meetings of the British 

 Association. ' G. H. Darwin. 



THE. EARTHQUAKE IN SOUTH WALES. 



THE earthquake which occurred in South Wales on 

 June 27 at about q.45 a.m. ranks among the 

 strongest shocks of which we have had any experience 

 in this country. It was felt over the whole of Wales^ 



or '; Hr; iir:i-'r(i "^t 



tl i r,'yiTli' t V\'^( -I- 



''}■■ /v A:.wOCf/-;) (o 

 vVl: . FOP •■-Ti^r 









^2m 



for the Soulh African Medal of the British Associal: 



OF- :C[F:l'rT- 



iration of the fund, and to undertake the annual 

 award of the medal which was to be struck. 



The income of the fund was to be in aid of scientific 

 research among South .African students, and it was 

 thought that the medal would commemorate appro- 

 priately the fact that the recipient of the award was 

 of such promise as to have been deemed worthy of 

 the confidence placed in him. 



The South African .Association has cordially 

 accepted the duties in question, and a medal, shown 

 in the illustration, and to be struck in bronze, has 

 been designed bv Mr. Frank Bowcher. 



The total sum subscribed by the members of the 

 British .Association amounts t:o S^gi., but the fund 

 will receive a further substantial augmentation, as I 

 shall now explain. 



Before the meeting of last year, the several South 

 .\frican colonies subscribed a large sum in aid of 

 the expenses of the members intending to come out 

 to South Africa, and this sum was supplemented, 

 .although on a less liberal scale, by a subscription in 

 England. The total of this special South .African 

 fund was a little more than 9000Z. It is expected 

 tliat, when all the accounts are settled, the unexpended 



NO 1914. VOL. 74] 



and throughout the greater part of the west and south- 

 west of England, judging from the accounts which 

 I have already received, the disturbed area must ex- 

 tend some distance to the north of Liverpool ; towards 

 the east it includes Northampton and Maidenhead, 

 and approaches to within about twenty miles of 

 London, while the southern boundary lies in the 

 English Channel to the south of Dorset, Devon, and 

 Cornwall. I have not yet obtained any observations 

 from Ireland, but there can be little doubt that the 

 shock was sensible over most of the counties of Wick- 

 low and Wexford. A first rough estimate makes the 

 disturbed area nearly circular in form, about 280 miles 

 in diameter, and about 60,000 square miles in area. 



The shock, which affected a region greater than 

 the combined areas of England and Wales, was 

 naturally of considerable strength within the central 

 district. It is too early to make any estimate of the 

 total damage to buildings, but the first reports show 

 that a very large number of chimneys were thrown 

 down, especially in Swansea, where the number is 

 said to amount to several hundred. From Kidwelly- 

 on the west to beyond Neath on the east, and from 

 Glanamman on the north to beyond Swansea on the 



