•July 27, 1905] 



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the stomach ; treatment of articular tuberculosis ; the treat- 

 ment of peritonitis ; and the diagnosis of surgical diseases 

 of the kidney. The official languages of the congress are 

 English, French, German, and Italian. The English 

 delegate is -Mr. R. Harrison, 6 Lower Berkeley Street, W. 



Science gives particulars of the sixth International 

 Congress of Applied Chemistry, which is to take place in 

 Rome in the spring of next year. The congress will be 

 divided into eleven sections as follows : — Analytical 

 chemistry, apparatus and instruments ; inorganic chemistry 

 and industries related thereto ; metallurgy and mining, 

 explosives ; organic chemistry and industries related there- 

 to ; technology and chemistry of sugar ; fermentation and 

 starch ; agricultural chemistry ; hygiene ; photochemistry, 

 photography ; electrochemistry, physicochemistry ; laws, 

 political economy and legislation in relation to industrial 

 chemistry. The languages to be used in the discussion 

 are Italian, French, German, and English. The minutes 

 of the proceedings of the session will be in Italian. The 

 secretary of the congress is Prof. V. Villavccchia, Central 

 Customs Laboratory, Rome. 



It is stated in ha Nature that the seventh International 

 Congress of Zoology is to be held at Boston, U.S.A., in 

 August, 1907, under the presidency of Prof. Agassiz. The 

 Emperor Nicolas II. prize will be awarded on this occasion 

 for monographs on the subject " Nouvelles recherches 

 exp^rimentales sur la question des hybrides." The essays, 

 either in manuscript or printed, should be addressed before 

 June I, 1907, to Prof. R. Blanchard, boulevard Saint- 

 Germain, 226, Paris. The essays should be in French, 

 though those written in German, Italian, or English will 

 be admitted to the competition if accompanied by a 

 summary in French. 



It has been decided by the Government of New Zealand 

 to hold during the summer of 1906-7 {i.e. from November, 

 1906, to .April, 1907) at Christchurch an international ex- 

 hibition in which all nations are invited to participate. 

 The object of the exhibition is educational, and to demon- 

 strate the resources of the colony in food production, yield 

 of minerals, the supply of raw materials, &c. Intending 

 exhibitors may obtain full particulars from the secretary 

 of the exhibition at Christchurch, New Zealand. 



The report of the special committee appointed by the 

 Government of Bombay to consider the question of a 

 public museum and library for Bombay has been issued. 

 The estimated initial cost of the buildings alone is appro.xi- 

 mately ten lakhs, four of which are for the building de- 

 voted to art and archaeology, and three for the science 

 museum and public library respectivelv. 



The Paris correspondent of the Lancet states that a 

 permanent committee to deal with the watering places and 

 climatic stations in France has just been established by 

 the Minister of the Interior. The committee, the honorary 

 president of which is the Minister of the Interior, is to 

 examine into the general needs of the places referred to, 

 and to protect and develop them. The mayors and the 

 medical men of the various watering places, the directors 

 and the committees of sociefes thcrmalcs, are liable each 

 in his turn to be summoned to serve on the committee 

 for a period not exceeding three years. 



The sum of 150,000 kroner has been given by Dr. F. G. 

 Cade, of the University of Christiania, to the city of 

 Bergen for the establishment of a laboratory of patho- 

 logical anatomy. 



NO. 1865, VOL. 72] 



It is intended to celebrate the jubilee of Prof. D. I. 

 Mendeleeff on August 30, this eminent man of science 

 having completed his fiftieth year of public professional 

 service on June 13 last. 



M. J. Dybovvski, inspector-general of agriculture in the 

 French colonies, has been elected an officer of the Legion 

 d'honneur, and Dr. Giraud, head of the scientific mission 

 to Martinique, has been raised to the dignity of chevalier. 



A PORTRAIT medallion, in marble, of Sir William Geddes, 

 the late principal of the University of Aberdeen, has been 

 completed, and will be placed in the Geddes transept of 

 the library at King's College. Its unveiling will probably 

 take place at the beginning of the winter session. A 

 meeting in furtherance of the proposed memorial to the 

 late Prof. James Nicol was held recently in Marischal 

 College, when a number of letters from geologists and old 

 pupils of Prof. Nicol were read, the general tenor of which 

 favoured the placing of a portrait tablet in bronze in the 

 geological museum. There will be, it is hoped, a formal 

 inauguration of the memorial during the centenary celebra- 

 tions of next year. 



The council of the Royal Meteorological Society, being 

 desirous of advancing the general knowledge of meteor- 

 ology and of promoting an intelligent public interest in 

 the science, has appointed a lecturer who is prepared to 

 deliver lectures to scientific societies, institutions, and 

 schools on payment of a moderate fee and the cost of 

 travelling expenses, the subjects being ;— how to observe 

 the weather; weather forecasting; climate; rainfall; 

 thunderstorms; meteorology in relation- to agriculture, 

 health, &c. The society is also prepared to lend and fit 

 up a complete climatological station for exhibition, show- 

 ing the necessary instruments in position and ready for 

 use, and to lend in return for a nominal amount sets of 

 lantern slides, illustrating meteorological phenomena. 

 Further particulars as to the scheme can be obtained from 

 the assistant- secretary of the society. 



In the report for 1904 of the hydrographer of the 

 Admiralty which has just been issued as a Parliamentary 

 paper reference is made to the retirement, after twenty 

 years' service, of Rear-Admiral Sir W. J. L. Wharton, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S. During the year under review, 482 rocks 

 and shoals dangerous to navigation were reported. Of these 

 6s were notified by surveying vessels, 31 by other ships 

 in the British Navy, 8 by vessels not in the navy, 26 were 

 struck, and 352 were reported by colonial and foreign 

 Governments; 1139 miles of coast line were charted, and 

 an area of 3993 square miles sounded. During the year 

 the number of charts printed for use in the Royal Navy, 

 the Government departments, and by the public reached 

 the total of 661,590 copies, and 1245 notices to mariners 

 were issued. 



The vast deposits of magnetic iron sands in the province 

 of Taranaki, in New Zealand, containing 60 per cent, of 

 iron and 8-14 per cent, of titanic acid, have long attracted 

 the attention of metallurgists, and numerous attempts have 

 been made to smelt the ores by making them into bricks 

 by the admixture of various substances. In 1873 works 

 on which 17,350;. were spent proved a failure. A new 

 departure has now been made by the Galbraith Iron and 

 Steel Company, Ltd., of Auckland, by adopting the electric 

 furnace for the direct production of steel from these sands, 

 and by invitation of that company we were afforded an 

 opportunity of witnessing the furnace in operation at the 

 Brush Electrical Engineering Company's works at Lough- 

 borough, Leicestershire, on July 19. In the furnace in- 



