June 15, 1905, 



NA TURE 



155 



the West Indies, and the hope is expressed by the 

 editor that the facts recorded in the work before us 

 " may be instrumental, if only in a small degree, in 

 causing the Bahama Islands to share " in this pros- 

 perity. Commentary on this statement is superfluous. 



The picture presented by the islands is well de- 

 scribed in the following passage by the editor ; — 



" No words can describe the beauty of Nassau as 

 one approaches the harbour from the sea. The ocean 

 of deep sapphire suddenly changes to a lagoon of 

 emerald green surrounded by shores of snow-white 

 coral sand. Beyond, the white limestone houses of 

 the town, intermingled with groves of graceful palms, 

 and half-concealed by gorgeous poincianas, rise in a 

 gentle slope against a sky of purest blue. The green 

 transparent water ; the intense blue of the sky ; the 

 blotches of blood-red poincianas ; the snow-white 

 drifts of coral-sand ; the vivid green of the foliage — 

 all these unexpected and yet harmonious contrasts 

 strike the eye together, and stamp on the memory a 

 picture of rugged beauty which nothing can efface. 

 The impression thus received does not suffer when 

 later the tourist wanders about the quaint old town 

 to examine at leisure the details of the picture." 



Our limits of space allow of only a brief reference 

 to the details of the work of the expedition. An 

 interesting and important feature connected with the 

 geology of the Bahamas is that they are composed 

 almost entirely of debris derived from corals and other 

 calcareous organisms, and rest on a shallow, sub- 

 merged platform, separated by deep ocean-troughs 

 from the adjacent land-masses of North America and 

 the West Indies. Few of the Bahama animals appear 

 to be distinct from those of the mainland, although 

 some of the mammals have been described (in earlier 

 publications) as separate local races. Of some of 

 these latter the skulls are now for the first time 

 figured. \x\ attractive feature of the volume is 

 formed by the numerous coloured plates of marine 

 Bahama fishes, which convey an excellent idea of 

 the brilliant hues characteristic of all fishes which 

 hnunt coral-banks. Of especial interest is the plate 

 of the " mouse-fish " or Sargasso-fish, the remarkable 

 shape and coloration of which are doubtless developed 

 to harmonise with its surroundings of floating sea- 

 weed. 



This notice may be fitly brought to a close by the 

 expression of our opinion as to the high value and 

 importance of the work initiated by the Baltimore, 

 Geographical Society, and by the tendering of our 

 congratulations to all those by whom it has been so 

 successfully and faultlessly executed. R. L. 



NOTES. 



The council of the Society of Arts has awarded the 

 Albert medal of the society for the present year to Lord 

 Rayleigh, " In recognition of the influence which his re- 

 searches, directed to the increase of scientific knowledge, 

 have had upon industrial progress, by facilitating, amongst 

 other scientific applications, the provision of accurate 

 electrical standards, the production of improved lenses, and 

 the development of apparatus for sound signalling at sea." 



The De Morgan medal of the London Mathematical 

 Society has this year been awarded to Dr. H. F. Baker, 

 F.R.S., for his researches in pure mathematics. 



The annual conversazione of the Institution of Electrical 

 Engineers will be held at the Natural History Museum, 

 South Kensington, on Thursday, June 29. 



The annual general meeting of the Society of Chemical 

 Industry will be opened on Monday morning, July 10, at 

 University College, Gower Street, when the president. 

 Dr. Wm. H. Nichols, will deliver an address. 

 NO. 1859, VOL. 72] 



The fourth International Ornithological Congress was 

 opened by Prof. Oustalet at the Imperial Institute on 

 Tuesday. Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, the new president of the 

 congress, delivered an address. 



The death is announced of M. Edouard Simon, the 

 eminent French engineer. He took an active part in the 

 management of the Society d 'Encouragement pour 

 rindustrie nationale, and contributed twenty-four papers 

 to its proceedings. 



At the National Museum at Washington a series of 

 specimens has been arranged to illustrate the associ- 

 ations and mode of occurrence of gold in nature, and Mr. 

 George P. Merrill, the curator, has published in the 

 Engineering and Mining Journal a useful list of associ- 

 ations represented in the collection. In the forty-eight 

 cases enumerated, the gold occurs native, and in particles 

 of sufficient size to be recognised by the unaided eye. 



With the view of lessening the danger of lead-poisoning 

 now encountered by diamond-cutters, the Dutch Govern- 

 ment has offered a prize of 6000 florins for the most 

 satisfactory substitute for the tin-lead alloy now used 

 for holding the diamonds during the process of cutting. 

 .Applications, which may be written in English, should be 

 sent before January 1, 1906, to Dr. L. Aronstein, Poly- 

 technic School, Delft, Holland. 



In the Free Library at Hampstead there is displayed 

 at present a selection from the collection of flint imple- 

 ments made by the late Mr. Henry Slopes. The exhibit 

 gives a sample, not only of the whole collection, but of 

 that part which deals with the ancient inhabitants of the 

 Thames Valley, and it has been selected to interest the 

 passer-by and educate his eye what to look for in his 

 walks abroad. 



Science announces that Dr. Franz Boas has resigned 

 ihe curatorship of the anthropological department of 

 the American Museum of Natural History. He will con- 

 tinue his connection with the museum, conducting the re- 

 searches and publications of the Jesup North Pacific Ex- 

 pedition and of the East Asiatic Committee. 



A Reuter message from Fort de France (Martinique) 

 dated June 12 reports that Mont Pel^e In the past few 

 days has been displaying some renewal of activity. It is 

 reported that on Saturday night, June 10, " the dome 

 suddenly became illuminated. The dome collapsed on 

 Sunday morning, and a mass of mud overflowed into the 

 valley below, while a cloud of smoke rose to a height of 

 1000 yards." 



The departmental committee appointed by the Board of 

 .Agriculture and Fisheries to inquire into the nature and 

 causes of grouse disease has made the following appoint- 

 ments : — Dr. C. G. Seligmann as bacteriologist to the 

 commission, Mr. A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., as expert on the 

 subject of Internal parasites. Dr. H. Hammond Smith as 

 assistant bacteriologist and additional field observer, and 

 Mr. G. C. Muirhead as field observer. 



The Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and 

 Ireland has arranged with Mr. J. J. Harrison to publish 

 a full scientific report upon the physical and psycho- 

 physical characteristics of the pygmies whom the latter 

 has brought to this country. For this purpose the council 

 of the Institute has appomted a select committee consist- 

 ing of the following anthropologists and medical men, who, 

 with the assistance of Mr. Harrison, will carry on the 

 necessary investigations : — Sir Harry Johnston (chairman), 



