6o 



NA TURE 



[May 1 8, 1905 



work of the different centres to be visited by the asso- 

 ciation, and by means of correspondence, circulars, &c. , 

 to keep them in touch with each other and with the 

 executive in England. 



The centres, which are seven in number, are as fol- 

 lows : — Cape Town, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Johan- 

 nesburg, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, and Bulawayo. 

 Influential local committees have been formed at all 

 these places, the municipal authorities of which have 

 taken a prominent part both in making general 

 arrangements and in affording financial support. Sub- 

 committees for finance, publications, excursions, and 

 hospitality have been formed at the two chief centres 

 (Cape Town and Johannesburg), and are now engaged 

 in the respective parts of the work allotted to them. 

 At the other centres where a stay of only a day or two 

 is contemplated, special committees have also been 

 formed. Details are as yet uncertain, but the follow- 

 ing may be mentioned, though some of them are sub- 

 ject to slight revision. 



The officers of the association and invited guests to 

 the number of 200, along with ordinary members, will 

 arrive by the Saxon at Cape Town on August 15, 

 though a number have already booked their passage 

 by steamers arriving at an earlier date. The presi- 

 dential address will be delivered on the evening of the 

 same day in the large new Town Hall, which has been 

 placed at the disposal of the British Association by the 

 municipal authorities of Cape Town, not only for this 

 purpose, but also for the accommodation of the various 

 sections should it prove suitable. 



The sections will meet for the purpose of reading 

 papers and for discussion on Wednesday, Thursday, 

 and Friday, August 16, 17, and 18. The afternoons of 

 these days will be partly devoted to excursions to places 

 of interest, such as Table Mountain, Hout Bay, Simons 

 Town, and Royal Observatory. The whole of Satur- 

 day, August ig, will be devoted to excursions. 



The evenings will probably be devoted to a reception 

 by the Mayor, and two lectures, one by Prof. Poulton 

 on Burchell's work in South Africa, and another by Mr. 

 C. V. Boys on physics. 



On Saturday night, .August 19, visitors will leave by 

 a special steamer for Durban. In Natal an influential 

 general committee has been formed by the Govern- 

 ment, with local committees at Durban, Pietermaritz- 

 burg, and Ladysmith. On the evening of August 20 

 a lecture will be delivered at Durban and another on 

 August 24 at Pietermaritzburg. As the reading of 

 papers, discussions, receptions, &c., in Cape Colony 

 will fully occupy all the time of the visitors, it is in- 

 tended to afford as much facility as possible for inde- 

 pendent action on the part of visitors in Natal, and 

 special arrangements will be made by the Natal com- 

 mittee for visiting the battlefields and other places of 

 interest. 



The sectional work will be again resumed on arrival 

 of the party at Johannesburg on Monday, .August 28. 

 There, as at Cape Town, a large and influential local 

 committee has been formed, with subcommittees for 

 finance, hospitalitv, publication, and excursions. The 

 first-named subcommittee has already met with a 

 ready response, both from the municipal authorities 

 and from private sources, and the other committees 

 are in capable hands. While the natural facilities for 

 e.xcursions to be found near the Cape peninsula are 

 not to be met with here, the interest of the mining 

 operations and gold extracting processes will be an 

 adequate compensation, and a Friday's visit to Pre- 

 toria will be of special interest. 



The proceedings will be begun at Johannesburg on 

 Monday evening, .August 28, and the presidential 

 address there will be delivered on the Wednesday even- 

 ing. In addition to sectional papers and discussions, 

 there will be two lectures delivered at Johannesburg, 

 NO. 1855, VOL. 72] 



one on distribution of power by Prof. Ayrton, another 

 on steel as an igneous rock by Prof. Arnold, and one at 

 Pretoria by Prof. Porter on mining. 



Bloemfontein will be visited on Saturday, September 

 2. There also an influential local committee has been 

 formed, and preparations are being made for the re- 

 ception of visitors. A lecture will be delivered there 

 on the Saturday night by Mr. A. R. Hinks on an astro- 

 nomical subject. 



At Kimberley, which will be reached on Tuesday, 

 September 5, a large local committee has been formed, 

 with subcommittees for special objects. Two lectures 

 will probably be delivered here, one on a zoological sub- 

 ject by Mr. A. E. Shipley, and one on diamonds by Sir 

 William Crookes. The De Beers Company has natur- 

 ally taken a prominent part in the preparations, and 

 will probablv make this visit one of the most interest- 

 ing. 



Through the kindness of the Chartered Company a 

 limited number of members of the British Association 

 will be enabled to proceed from there to the Zambezi, 

 where the Victoria Falls will be visited, and facilities 

 will be afforded for the visit of a select party of special- 

 ists to the ancient ruins of Zimbabwe, k special com- 

 mittee at Bulawavo has been formed to make pre- 

 parations there for the visit. 



Special attention will be directed to certain interest- 

 ing problems connected with the geological formation 

 at the Victoria Falls, and Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, who 

 will go out in advance to study this subject, will 

 probably be able to give the results of his observations 

 in an afternoon address to Section C. 



Though this meeting of the association will be 

 characterised bv the number and variety of the places 

 visited, a special feature will be the studjj' of local scien- 

 tific problems and discussions of a general nature such 

 as fossil reptiles, Antarctica, &c. With this in view 

 the South African Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, with the support of the various Governments, 

 is preparing a handbook, which will be a general re- 

 view of the various branches of scientific activity in 

 South .Africa, the articles being contributed by actual 

 workers in these subjects in the country. The book 

 is now in an advanced stage of preparation, and .-i copy 

 will be presented to each member of the association 

 before leaving England. 



SIR BERNHARD SAMUELSON, P.C. BART., 



F.R.S. 

 CIR BERNHARD SAMUELSON, F.R.S., who 

 •-5 died on May 10 in his eighty-fifth year, will be 

 remembered as one of the pioneers of the Cleveland 

 iron trade, and a strenuous advocate of technical edu- 

 cation. He exerted a great and formative influence 

 upon an industry which owes its progress largely to 

 the application of scientific methods, and the extension 

 of facilities for technical education is largely due to his 

 efforts. 



Sir Bernhard Samuelson was born on November 22, 

 1820, and began in 1853 the business which speedily 

 made the Cleveland district the greatest iron-producing 

 centre in the world. Blast furnaces were erected near 

 Middlesbrough, and in 1872-1880 collieries and iron- 

 stone mines were added. Not content with making 

 pig-iron, the manufacture of finished iron was under- 

 taken on an extensive scale, and no less than 25,000^. 

 were spent in preliminary experiments in steel-making. 

 The Britannia Ironworks at Middlesbrough, covering 

 an area of twenty acres, have grown out of this enter- 

 prise. 



He was the author of several reports on technical 

 subjects to the House of Commons, including one on 

 technical education of artisans at home and abroad. 



