August 9, 1906] 



NA TURE 



355 



Early in the year Sir Waller Bullcr was taken 

 seriously ill, and only a few months ago the writer 

 was permitted, during what was hoped by the sufferer 

 himself and his friends was a true convalescence, to 

 see him, alas ! for the last time. He was dictating 

 from his couch the concluding pages of the final 

 volump of his supplement " to get them off his mind." 

 Unfortunately, a relapse supervening he was removed 

 into the country to the home of Mrs. Madocks, the 

 daughter to wliom the supplement is " affectionately 

 dedicated," " his constant companion during its pre- 

 paration, and the contributor of some beautiful photo- 

 graphs of New Zealand scenery to its pages." It 

 was hoped that the change would restore the patient 

 sulliciently to enable him to take a long, curative 

 sea voyage. These hopes have been disappointed, and 

 this distinguished ornithologist's life closed at the 

 comparatively early age of si.\ty-eight years, with 

 tlie last page of the work on which he laboured so 

 entlnisiasticallv for half a century. 



Sir Walter BuUcr published many natural history 

 papers, especially in the Transactions of the New 

 Zealand Institute, on other subjects besides his 

 favourite birds. He was elected to the Fellowship of 

 the Royal Society in 1879, and the honorary degree 

 of D.Sc. was conferred by Cambridge in Kjoji in 

 recognition of his scientific work. 



Besides being a busy City man, Sir Walter h'ld 

 many public offices. He acted as rommissioner for 

 New Zealand at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition 

 of 1866, on the executive council of the Paris Exhibi- 

 tion in 1880, and for five years on the gov,'rning body 

 of the Imperial Institute. He was created K.C.M.G. 

 in 1SS6. A large donor to many museums at home 

 and abroad, he received decorations from many 

 foreign States in recognition of his generosity. 



THE YORK MEETING OF THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



THE seventy-sixth meeting of the British Associ- 

 ation may be described as a very successful one. 

 The Association was founded in York in 1831. It 

 visited York again in 1846, and also in 1880. On 

 the present occasion the citizens, who are proud of 

 the connection of their ancient city with the associ- 

 ation, welcomed the members with the greatest 

 cordiality and hospitality. The meeting was favoured 

 with exceptionally good weather, and as the pro- 

 gramme left little to be desired, those who visited 

 York on this occasion carried away with them very 

 pleasant memories. 



The old city looked its best. .Socially, the meet- 

 ing was everything that guests and hosts alike could 

 have wished. The attendance at the meeting was 

 1950; that at the meeting in 1831 was 359. 



We gave in our last number Prof. E. Ray 

 Lankester's presidential address, as well as the 

 names of the distinguished foreign men of science 

 who attended the meeting, a number of whom re- 

 ceived honorary degrees at Leeds University on 

 Saturday, .August 4. 



The exhibition building proved very satisfactory ; 

 it would, in fact, be difficult to find a building 

 better adapted for such a rendezvous. The re- 

 ception room was adequate in all respects, and 

 the great hall, handsomely decorated, had the 

 appearance of a new building. Shrubs and bamboos | 

 with a well-judged sprinkling of Liliiim speciosum 

 relieved the eye, and hanging baskets at intervals 

 depended from the galleries. The best thanks of 



NO. 191 9, VOL. 74] 



citizens and visitors alike are due to the local secre- 

 laries, Mr. Charles E. Elmhirst and Mr. Henry 

 Craven (Town Clerk of York), as well as to the 

 acting secretary, Mr. Fred. Arey, whose experience 

 in such matters proved invaluable 



The two evening discourses in the great hall of 

 the exhibition buildings were delivered by Dr. 

 Tempest Anderson and Dr. A. D. Waller, F.R.S., 

 the subject of the former being "Volcanoes," while 

 that of the latter was "The Electrical Signs of Life, 

 and their Abolition by Chloroform." Large and 

 attentive audiences packed the building, and showed 

 every sign of interest in the subjects laid before them. 

 The photographs of the late eruption of Vesuvius and 

 its results were specially attractive. 



The various sections were attended by large 

 audiences, and offered so many subjects of interest 

 that it is difficult to say which proved the 

 most generally attractive. In many of the sections 

 the presidents, in their opening addresses, dealt with 

 the advance of science during the period of tvtenty- 

 five years which has elapsed since the last meeting 

 of the society in York. 



.\t a meeting of the General Committee on 

 .\ugust I, the report of the Council was read. 

 .\ction has been taken by the Council in accordance 

 with the recommendations made in the following 

 resolutions from Sections .\ and H : — 



From Section .4. — (i) The Committee, being of opinion 

 that the completion of the Geodetic Arc from the South 

 to the North of Africa is of the utmost scientific import- 

 ance, and that the establishment of a Topographical 

 Survey is of an importance that is at once scientific and 

 economic, respectfully request the Council to make repre- 

 sentations in such form as they think fit to urge upon the 

 British South Africa Company the desirability of taking 

 advantage of the present favourable opportunity for join- 

 ing up the triangulation north and south of the Zambesi, 

 and also to urge upon the Governments of the South 

 African Colonies the immense practical and economic 

 importance of commencing the topographical survey. 



(2) The Committee desire to draw attention to the 

 importance of a Magnetic Survey of South Africa, and 

 respectfully request the Council of the Association to 

 approach the Cape Government with a view to urging on 

 them the great advantages which would accrue to Science 

 and to South Africa if the Government would further 

 support and assist the Survey which has already been 

 partly made by Prof. Beattie and Prof. Morrison, and for 

 the continuation of which a Special Committee of the 

 Association is being appointed to cooperate with these 

 gentlemen. 



A grant of 300?. from the Special South Africa 

 Fund has been made by the Council to Sir David 

 Gill, for the purpose of completing the connection 

 between the Rhodesian and Transvaal triangulations 

 along the thirtieth meridian of East longitude. 



From Section H.—{i) That it is desirable that the 

 Governments of the South African Colonies be urged to 

 take all necessary steps to collect, record, and preserve 

 the knowledge and observations of men, such as mission- 

 aries, administrators, and others, who were living in 

 intimate relations with the native tribes before the advance 

 of civilisation began to obscure and even obliterate all 

 true traditions, customs, and habits of the South African 

 peoples ; such steps to be taken without delay, especially 

 in view of the old age and growing infirmities of most of 

 the men referred to, and of the danger that with their 

 deaths the knowledge which, if carefully recorded and pre- 

 served, would form a most valuable contribution towards 

 the historv of the aboriginal population, would be 

 irrecoverably lost; and that the Council be recommended 

 to communicate with the South African Association and 

 suggest the appointment of a committee to deal with the 

 matter. 



