November i8, 1909] 



NATURE 



n 



We would reiterate our conviction tliat a sound and 

 thorough literary training can be given through English, 

 German, and French without a knowledge of Latin. If, 

 In the words of the memorandum, English can serve as 

 " the backbone of a humanistic education," surely a com- 

 bination of English, German, and French would constitute 

 a valuable type of humanistic education. 



We greatly regret that the Board has not, as yet, seen 

 its way to lead public opinion on so vital a matter as the 

 study of modern languages, and we express a hope that 

 the memorandum is not its last word. 



NOTES. 



The following is a list of those to whom the Royal 

 Society has this year awarded medals. The awards of 

 the Royal medals have received the King's gracious 

 approval : — the Copley medal to Dr. G. W. Hill, 

 For.Mem.R.S., for his researches in mathematical astro- 

 nomy; a Royal medal to Prof. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S., 

 for his researches in the theory of elasticity and cognate 

 subjects; a Royal medal to Major Ronald Ross, F.R.S., 

 for his researched in connection with malaria ; the Davy 

 medal to Sir James Dewar, F.R.S., for his researches at 

 low temperatures ; and the Hughes medal to Dr. R. T. 

 Glazebrook, F.R.S., for his researches on electrical 

 standards. 



We regret to see the announcement of the death, on 

 November 12, of Dr. W. J. Russell, F.R.S., in his 

 eightieth year. 



The death is announced, at sixty-si.x years of age, of 

 Sir William Thomson, C.B., honorary surgeon to the King 

 in Ireland, and the author of several publications on 

 surgical subjects. 



Sir T. H. Holland, K.C.LE., F.R.S., professor of 

 geology and mineralogy in the iManchester University, will 

 deliver the Wilde lecture of the Manchester Literary and 

 Philosophical Society for 1910. 



The death is announced, on November 13, of Dr. C. 

 <"iraham, formerly professor of chemical technology at 

 University College, London, at seventy-four years of age. 

 Dr. Graham was a vice-president of the Institute of 

 Chemistry in the years 1882-4, ^"^ served on the council 

 for several years. 



The specimens illustrating the manufacture of high- 

 class lenses, shown by Messrs. J. H. Dallmeyer, Ltd., 

 at the Franco-British E.xhibition last year and the Imperial 

 International Exhibition this year, have been presented to 

 the Board of Education. This collection, which was 

 awarded a Grand Prix, is now housed in the western 

 galleries of the Science Museum, South Kensington. 



At the annual general meeting of the Cambridge Philo- 

 sophical Society on October 25, the following were elected 

 officers of the society for the ensuing session, 1909—10 : — 

 President, Prof. Bateson ; vice-presidents. Dr. Hobson, 

 Dr. Fenton, Prof. Seward ; treasurer. Prof. Newall ; 

 secretaries, Mr. A. E. Shipley, Dr. Barnes, Mr. A. Wood; 

 new members of the council. Sir J. Larmor, Prof. Biffen, 

 Prof. Pope, Mr. R. H. Rastall, and Mr. K. Lucas. 



At the annual general meeting of the London Mathe- 

 matical Society on November 11 the following were 

 elected as the council and officers for the session 

 1909-10 : — President, Sir William Niven, K.C.B., F.R.S. ; 

 vice-presidents, Mr. A. Berry, Dr. W. Burnside, F.R.S. , 

 Major P. A. MacMahon, F.R.S. ; treasurer. Sir Joseph 

 Larmor, F.R.S. ; secretaries. Dr. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S., Mr. 

 J. H. Grace, F.R.S. ; other members of the council (names 

 NO. 2090, VOL. 82] 



of members not on the retiring council are in italics), Dr. 

 H. F. Baker, F.R.S., Mr. G. T. Bennett, Dr. T. ]. I'A. 

 Bromwich, F.R.S., Mr. E. Cunningham, Mr. A. L. 

 Dixon, Dr. L. N. G. Filon, Dr. E. W. Hobson, F.R.S., 

 Mr. H. W. Richmond, and Mr. A. E. Western. 



Sir Ernest Shackleton was ofticially received by the 

 Paris Geographical Society on Monday, November 15, in 

 the Grand .'\mphitheatre of the Sorbonne, and gave an 

 account of his -Antarctic expedition. From the Times we 

 learn that after the address Prince Roland Bonaparte, 

 the president of the society, rose and said : — " Since its 

 foundation in 1827 our Geographical Society, which is the 

 doyenne of all similar societies, has always desired to 

 recognise the labours of the most illustrious travellers by 

 bestowing upon them its grand gold medal. Among those 

 to whom it has been given were the Polar explorers Sir 

 John FrankHn, Sir James Clark, Ross, Dumont d'Urville, 

 and Nansen. To the list of these great names the Geo- 

 graphical Society is happ> to add yours by offering you 

 its grand gold medal, which is the highest recompense that 

 is in its power to bestow." 



The first session of the seventeenth International Con- 

 gress of Americanists will be held in Buenos Ayres, Argen- 

 tine Republic, on May 16-21, 1910. The general and 

 sectional meetings will be held in the hall of the National 

 University in Buenos Ayres. A second session will take 

 place in Mexico in September of the same year. A com- 

 mission of organisation has been formed, the president of 

 which is Dr. Jose Nicolas Matienzo, dean of the facuhy 

 of philosophy and letters in the National University. Com- 

 munications, which may be either oral or written, may 

 be made in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, 

 or Spanish. The conference will deal with questions 

 relating to the ethnology, archeology, and history of the 

 New World, and a detailed programme will be published 

 towards the end of the present year. For further informa- 

 tion application should be made to the general secretary 

 of the committee of organisation. Dr. Lehmann-Nitsche, 

 Calle Viamonte 430, Buenos .'\yres. 



The annual report of the Liverpool Marine Biology 

 Committee and the Port Erin Biological Station was sub- 

 mitted by Prof. Herdinan at a meeting of the Liverpool 

 Biological Society on November 12. In the course of his 

 address Prof. Hcrdman gave an account of the work, both 

 scientific and economic, carried out during the past year, 

 such as the curator's report upon the hatching and setting 

 free of more than seven millions of young plaice, making 

 a total of 2SJ millions during the six years the hatching 

 has been in operation ; the experiments in lobster rearing ; 

 Dr. Ward's investigations on the eggs and young larvse 

 of the plaice (illustrated by many very beautiful enlarged 

 photographs) ; Mr. Gravely 's work on the development of 

 the brittle-starfish; Dr. Herbert Roaf's researches on 

 digestion in marine animals; Mr. Dakin's physico-chemical 

 observations on the condition of the sea-water at different 

 times in connection with the migrations of the food of 

 fishes; Mr. Edwin Thompson's photomicrographs of various 

 types of minute organisms in the sea; and Prof. Herdman's 

 own investigations into the detailed distribution of life in 

 the sea. Some of the biological stations and establish- 

 ments for fish culture in Canada and the United States 

 were also described, and attention was directed to the 

 -American system of providing dormitories and dining halls 

 for the students and researchers, and to the manner in 

 which men of wealth in the States advance science by 

 making large donations to such laboratories in order to 

 defray the expenses of special investigations or marine 

 and other explorations. 



