38: 



NA TURE 



[August i6, 1906 



PRO¥. GEORGE RAYET. 

 'pO the long list of astronomers recently deceased, 

 •^ with the greatest regret we have to add the 

 name of Prof. George Rayet, who for five-and-twenty 

 years directed the Observatory of Bordeaux with 

 equal vigour and success. Born in 1839, and enter- 

 ing the Paris Observatory in the early 'sixties, the 

 name of Rayet not only recalls to us the ancient 

 history of that establishment, when its fortunes were 

 guided by Le Verrier and Delaunay, but the forty 

 vears that separate us from that period embrace the 

 new departures that have been made, in more than 

 one of which Rayet may be said to have assisted. 

 For example, at that time Le Verrier was engaged 

 in the creation of an international bureau for the 

 furtherance of meteorological study. The subject of 

 weather forecasting was then in its infancy, and 

 Le Verrier was endeavouring to give scientific 

 accuracv and precision to the method. Into this de- 

 Ijartmeiit and the allied subject of storm warnings 

 Rayet was early initiated. Similarly his astro- 

 nomical career coincides very approximately with the 

 time in which spectroscopic studies have been 

 vigorouslv prosecuted, and in this department he 

 laboured strenuously. It may be recalled that he was 

 «ne of the observers of the famous solar eclipse of 

 i868, when the characteristic light of hydrogen was 

 first perceived in the solar prominences, and we were 

 further led to the study of the helium ray. In another 

 direction Prof. Rayet was again a pioneer, when, in 

 conjunction with M. Wolf, he detected that peculiar 

 varietv of gaseous star with which his name has been 

 particularly associated. The three typical represent- 

 atives found in the constellation Cygnus are now 

 members of a tolerably large class, the spectroscopic 

 examination of which has done much to widen our 

 conceptions of stellar chemistry. 



.\s professor of astronomy Rayet was much 

 engaged in teaching, and as occupant of the chair of 

 physical astronomy at Bordeaux he was naturally 

 l^ointed out as the most appropriate director of the 

 new observatory it was proposed to construct in 

 that town. Since 1881 this observatory has been 

 in full activity, and a valuable series of volumes has 

 been issued containing the work of the director and 

 staff. These volumes can generally be divided into 

 two sections, one giving the results of observations, 

 the other the details of mathematical researches. 

 .\mong' the observations are given the coordinates of 

 stars, the position of comets, and nebulae and 

 measures of double stars. In the memoirs there are 

 -.igns that Prof. Rayet still retained his old fervour for 

 meteorological study, but we have, in addition, in- 

 quiries connected with problems arising out of the 

 construction of the International Star Chart. 



In his conduct of the observatory Prof. Rayet was 

 indefatigable; its interests he defended with energy, 

 and his administration was able and judicious. 

 While French science will regret his removal, his 

 immediate associates will mourn his loss as that of 

 a friend whose sympathy, knowledge, and experience 

 were ever at their command. W. E. P. 



NOTES. 



The annual meeting of the British Medical Association 

 will next year be held at Exeter ; the president-elect is Dr. 

 H. Dayy.' 



The appointment of Prof. Hermann Thorns as director 

 of the Pharmaceutical Institute of the University of Berlin 

 at Dahlem is announced. 



The death is announced of Dr. Adolf \'oss, director of 

 the prehistoric section of the Royal Berlin Museum. 



NO 1920, VOL. 74] 



Wk regret to have to record the death, on July 27, of 

 Mr. Richard Glascott Symes, who retired from service on 

 the Geological Survey in 1900. Mr. Symes was born at 

 Kingston, Dublin, in 1840 ; he joined the survey as 

 assistant-geologist in 1863, and in i86g was made geologist. 

 After a long period of useful work in Ireland, he was 

 transferred to .Scotland in 1890. Most of his work will be 

 found recorded in the Memoirs of the Geological Survey. 



With reference to the recent correspondence in our 

 columns concerning the Geological Survey of Canada (see 

 Nature, June 21, p. 175, and July 12, p. 245), Mr. A. P. 

 Low has sent us a certified copy of a report of a com- 

 mittee of the Privy Council, approved by the Governor- 

 General in Council on January 5, 1S92, which reads as 

 follows : — 

 " Geological Survey. 



" That in accordance with the provisions of 53 \"ictoria, 

 chap. II. an act respecting the Geological Survey. . . . 

 2. Bell, Robert, LL.D., M.D., F.R.S.C, Assistant Director 

 :md Chief Geologist — $2,250.00 .... 



" (Signed) John J. McGee, 



" Clerk of the Privy Council." 



A PARTY of French medical men is about to visit Germany 

 for the purpose of inspecting the medical institutions of 

 the country. Three days will be spent in Berlin, and 

 other cities and towns visited will include Cologne, Frank- 

 fort, Leipzig, Munich, Bonn, Heidelberg, and Marburg. A 

 committee of entertainment has been formed under the 

 presidency of Prof, von Bergmann. 



Steps are being taken by the German Government to 

 encourage sea fisheries in view of the national importance 

 of this industry in furnishing a recruiting ground for the 

 navy and the mercantile marine. A fishing cutter having 

 an auxiliary engine of twenty horse-power and every 

 modern equipment has, says the Cologne Gazette, been 

 constructed at the Government expense, and after being 

 tested in practice, and if necessary improved, will be 

 adopted as a model for further fishing craft which are 

 to be built, with the assistance of grants from the Imperial 

 Treasury. 



Captain I^enfant, the French explorer, is, according to 

 the Steele, about to leave on another expedition to West 

 Africa in order to discover, if possible, a navigable water- 

 way connecting Lake Chad with the coast of the Atlantic. 

 It will be remeinbered that in his expedition of 1903-4 

 Captain Lenfant ascertained that a through waterway 

 existed along the Niger, the Benue, the JIayo-Kebbi, the 

 Logone, and the Shari, but he was unable to follow it 

 from beginning to end by boat, as the Mayo-Kebbi was 

 found to be obstructed by rapids, round which it was 

 necessary to travel by land. 



According to a Reuter telegram from St. Petersburg, 

 violent earthquake shocks were felt on August 13 in the 

 districts of Jarkent and Kopal, in the government of 

 Semirechensk, Central Asia. 



The Pioneer Mail for July 27 states that earthquake 

 shocks were felt at Mussoorie, Lahore, Delhi, and Naggar 

 (Kangra) on the morning of July 21. 



Dr. H. W". Wiley, chemist to the U.S. Department of 

 Agriculture, has been elected president of the commission 

 appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary 

 of Commerce and Labour, and the Secretary of -Agriculture 

 to formulate rules and regulations for the enforcement in 

 America of the pure food law. The public hearings by 

 the commission are to begin in New York on September 17. 



