!5o 



NA TURE 



[July 12, 1906 



are mute so far as real language is concerned. The skull 

 capacity has been known to fall as low as 270 cm., but the 

 present immature specimens are said to have brains only 

 one-sevenlh the normal size. 



In connection with the third Inlernation;il Colliery 

 Exhibition recently held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, a 

 representative gathering of delegates from mining and 

 allied institutions in different parts of the world was 

 entertained at luncheon by Mr, H. Greville Montgomery, 

 M.P. It was unanimously resolved by the assembly to 

 hold an International Mining Conference in connection 

 with the fourth International Colliery Exhibition in 1908. 

 \n organising committee was elected, and among its 

 members are : — Mr. J. C. Cadman, Prof. S. Herbert Cox, 

 Mr. VV. CuIIen, Prof. Dunstan, F.R.S., Mr. W. B. Esson, 

 Prof. W. Gowland, Mr. E. M. Hann, Mr. T. H. 

 Holland, F.R.S., Mr. J. H. Marr, Mr. T. W. Mitchell, 

 Mr. W. H. Patchell, Mr. H. M. Ridge, Mr. W. Rowley, 

 and Mr. W. Russell, C.B., with Mr. H. Greville Mont- 

 gomery, M.P., as chairman, and Mr. Allan Greenwell as 

 secretary. All communications should be addressed to the 

 secretary at the ofifices (provisional) of the conference, 

 30-31 Furnival Street, Holborn, London, E.C. 



The committee of bibliography and of astronomical 

 sciences of the Royal Observatory of Belgium has under- 

 taken to publish a list of the observatories and astronomers 

 of the whole world .A request for Information, in the 

 form of a list of qutstions, with a model repiv relating to 

 the astronomical service at the Uccle Observatory, 

 Belgium, has been addressed to directors of observatories. 

 In addition, the list will include such astronomers (uni- 

 versity professors, amateurs, &c.) who are not attached to 

 any observatory, but are nevertheless actively engaged in 

 astronomical research. The information already sent will 

 enable the committee to draw up, not only a list of observ- 

 atories, with their geographical coordinates and the 

 members of the staff, but also a table showing the astro- 

 nomical activity of the whole world, based upon the in- 

 formation given as to the instruments at the disposal of 

 each institution, the researches undertaken, and the papers 

 published. Directors of observatories who have not re- 

 ceived the question-form, or have not yet forwarded a 

 reply, as well as unattached astronomers, are requested 

 to send the information desired, or to repair any omissions, 

 as soon as possible to the chairman of the committee. 

 Prof. P. Stroobant, astronomer at the Royal Observatory 

 of Belgium, Uccle, Belgium. 



Through the death of Prof. H. A. Ward, who was 

 struck down by a motor car on July 5 in Buffalo, U.S.A., 

 a figure well known to every museum and mineral dealer 

 in Europe and .America has passed away. Prof. Ward 

 was born at Rochester, N.Y., in 1834. For a short period 

 he assisted Prof. Agassiz at Harvard Scientific School ; 

 in 1855 he went to Paris for a course of study, and travelled 

 ihpnce widely over Europe; from i860 to 1865 he was 

 professor of natural science in Rochester University. From 

 that period until his death, most of his time was spent in 

 travelling for the purpose of forming collections of minera- 

 logical and geological specimens, which are well known as 

 " Ward's Cabinets." To geological literature Prof. Ward 

 contributed little of importance, but as a collector h' 

 did valuable service. He had built up the inost complete 

 private collection of meteorites in existence ; in extending 

 it he spared neither lime n.or money ; though more than 

 seventy years of age, he passed through London last year 

 on his v\-ay to cross Europe, searching for new specimens 

 with the ardour of a bov. 



NO. 191 5, VOL. 74] 



With the Earl of Grey, G.C.M.ti., Governor-General of 

 Canada, as pation, and Sir L. \. Jetti, Lieutenant- 

 Governor of Quebec, as honorary president, the fifteenth 

 International Congress of Americanists will meet at 

 Quebec from Monday, September 10, to Saturday, Sep- 

 tember 15. The work of the congress will have reference 

 to : — (i) The native races of America, their origin, geo- 

 graphical distribution, history, physical characters, lan- 

 guages, civilisation, mythology, religions, morals and habits. 

 (2) The indigenous monuments and the archaeology ol 

 .■\merica. (3) The history of the discovery and European 

 occupancy of the New World. The committee of organisa- 

 tion is as follows : — President ; Dr. Robert Bell, F.R.S., 

 director of the Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa. 

 Vice-Presidents : Mgr. J. C. K. Laflamme, Dean of the 

 Facultv of Arts, Laval University, Quebec; Hon. R. .\. 

 Pyne, Minister of Education of the Province of Ontario, 

 Toronto ; Dr. D. Boyle, Department of Education, Toronto. 

 General Secretary : Dr. N. E. Dionne, librarian, Legisla- 

 tive .Assembly. Treasurer : Mr. .\lp. Gagnon, Department 

 of Public Works, Quebec. 



In a long and interesting article in the Times of July y 

 on the commercial application of wireless telegraphy, the 

 writer deals very fully with the history of wireless tele- 

 graphy and with the various systems now being worked on 

 a commercial basis. The claims of the various systems 

 are clearly put forward, and should prove of interest to 

 the non-technical readers who are mostly inclined to the 

 opinion that the words " wirejess telegraphy " and " Mar- 

 coni " are synonymous. Among the many systems which 

 have been developed since Mr. Marconi achieved success, 

 may there not be one or more which is entitled to an 

 equal consideration by the authorities? This is one of the 

 chief points raised by the Times correspondent, and it is 

 one which in the interests of the nation should be fully 

 recognised. So long as one company is granted a mono- 

 poly, the cost for commercial use is likely to remain high, 

 and any improvements which might be made through fair 

 competition are unlikely to be developed in the same pro- 

 portion. In Germany a combination of the various systems 

 has been made, and any new improvement brought out 

 IS thus welcomed and given the fullest consideration. In 

 this manner the highest efficiency is obtained, and if 

 some similar arrangement could be arrived at in this 

 country it would surely be to the benefit of the country 

 at large. As to whether it would be more to the interests 

 of the nation for the Government to own and work the 

 wireless telegraph stations, when, by a fair trial, the best 

 system or combinations of systems has been established, 

 is a matter which wants the fullest consideration, and 

 before any further licences are granted to any company 

 or companies, this aspect of the situation should be one 

 of the first points to be decided by the authorities in 

 whose charge the welfare of the country is placed. 



Prof. Honnann, professor of mining in the Berlin Tech- 

 nical High School, died on June 30 in his seventy-first 

 year. 



The twenty-third annual congress of the Royal Sanitary 

 Institute was opened at Bristol on Monday under the 

 presidency of Sir Edward Fry, F.R.S. 



Prof. Walther von Lingelsheim, director cf the 

 hygiene station in Bcuthen, Upper .Silesia, has been ap- 

 pointed director of the newly founded hygiene institute 

 in the saine town. 



Dr. WiLHELM Bode, departmental director of the Em- 

 peror Frederick Museum in Berlin, has been appointed 



