August 24, 1905] 



NA TURE 



403 



site technique — of tlie maturation stages in the ovum 

 of the bat were placed before the congress by Prof, 

 van der Stricht. Equally fine specimens, showing- 

 the manner in which the zona radiata is formed 

 round the ripening e.^^ of the rabbit, were shown by 

 Regaud and Petitjean, of Lyons University. Their 

 specimens showed that the zona radiata of the ovum 

 is fibrillar in structure, and that the fibrils are ar- 

 ranged in an inner and outer zone. The fibrils are 

 formed in the intercellular protoplasm in which 

 the cells of the Graafian follicle are embedded. It 

 will be thus seen that the zona radiata is not formed 

 from, but deposited on, the ovum. Prof. Eternod, 

 of Geneva, dealt with the manner in which the 

 human ovum becomes implanted in the uterus, and 

 the subdivision of the archenteron into tlie cavity of 

 the amnion, the neurenteric canal and alimentary 

 tract. 



If one may judge from the nature of several contri- 

 butions to this congress, there is a decided tendency 

 to break down the barriers that separate the methods 

 of the anatomist from those of the physiologist. 

 Three communications dealt with results obtained by 

 experiment on living animals. Prof. Sano, of Ant- 

 werp, by removing groups of muscles from the 

 limbs and studying the subsequent changes in the 

 motor cells of the spinal cord, .sought to determine- 

 the position of the various motor centres in the cord. 

 Prof. Tricomi, of Messina, used a somewhat similar 

 method in investigating the paths of auditory im- 

 pulses. 



The members of the congress took part in the dedi- 

 cation of a monument to the memory of Prof. Her- 

 mann Fol, who set sail from Havre in his yacht, 

 V Aster, in the spring of 1892 to investigate the fauna 

 of the Mediterranean. From the dav he sailed until 

 now not a single trace has been discovered of ship 

 or crew. The members of the congress were lavishly 

 entertained by Madame Fol. The congress placed a 

 wreath on the bust of the Swiss physiologist 

 Servetus, who discovered the pulmonary circulation 

 in the sixteenth century, and was burned at the 

 stake by Calvin because, so it is said, he denied 

 the existence of the Trinity. A wreath was placed 

 by the British section of the congress on tlie spot 

 where he was burned, this gracious act being 

 prompted by Prof. Dixon, of Trinity College, Dublin. 



The congress was a social as well as a scientific 

 success, .^n invitation from .American anatomists to 

 meet at Boston in 1907 was declined, as it was felt 

 that at least a space of five years should intervene be- 

 tween each congress. A permanent committee for 

 the organisation of the next congress was formed bv 

 the nomination of five men, one from each of the five 

 affiliated societies. It is intended to bring out a bul- 

 letin containing the proceedings and transactions of 

 the congress, to which purpose part of the sum 

 (11,000 francs) raised by subscription in Geneva to 

 meet the expenses of the congress will be devoted. 

 When it becomes the turn of London to entertain this 

 congress, it will not be found an easy matter to attain 

 the standard of hospitality which has been set by 

 Geneva. 



VROF. T. R. THALEN. 

 rjY the death on July 27 at Upsala of Prof. Tobias 

 -'-' Robert Thalen, Sweden has lost one of her most 

 eminent physicists rnd teachers. He conducted in- 

 vestigations of great delicacy and value in the field 

 of spectrum analysis, and was the assistant of A. J. 

 Angstrom in much of his work. He also furnished 

 valuable contributions to the knowledge of terrestrial 

 magnetism, and devised ingenious methods of search- 



NO T869, ^OL. 72] 



ing for iron-ore deposits. Born at Koping on 

 December 28, 1827, he matriculated at the University 

 of Upsala in 1849, where he graduated as Doctor of 

 Philosophy in 1854. In 1856 he became lecturer on 

 astronomy, and from 1856 to 1859 travelling scholar- 

 ships enabled him to study in England, France, and 

 Germany. In 1861 he was appointed assistant pro- 

 fessor of physics at Upsala, and from 1869 to 1870 

 he was professor of physics at the Stockholm Tech- 

 nical School. In 1873 he was appointed professor of 

 mechanics at Upsala, and in the following year was 

 transferred to the chair of physics. This professor- 

 ship he held until 1896. 



The principal memoirs written by him dealt with 

 the determination of lines in the solar spectrum 

 (i860), researches on the magnetic properties of iron 

 (1861), on the Fraunhofer lines (1866), spectrum 

 analysis (1866), determination of the wave-lengths of 

 metallic lines (186S), terrestrial magnetic observations 

 in Sweden in 1869-71 and 1872-1882, researches on 

 the spectra of metalloids (1875), the search for mag- 

 netic iron ore deposits (1877), and on the arc spectrum 

 of iron (1885). 



Prof. Thalen 's researches on the spectra of metals 

 and metalloids won lor him wide renown, and are 

 recognised as classical contributions to spectrum 

 analysis. Partly in conjunction with Angstrom and 

 partly by himself he produced accurate and elaborate 

 maps showing the wave-lengths of the lines in the 

 spectra of many elements. He also made a careful 

 examination of the absorption bands of iodine vapour, 

 and engaged himself on the difficult problem of de- 

 termining and properly assigning the lines in the 

 spectra of bodies of the yttrium and cerium groups. 

 At the period when these papers appeared, precise 

 measurements were needed to settle _ several funda- 

 mental questions in spectrum analvsis, and the re- 

 searches in which Prof. Thalen took part yvere of 

 great assistance in this connection. The revised list 

 of the lines in the arc spectrum of iron, published in 

 a memoir presented to the Royal Society of L'psala 

 in 1885, is still a standard work of reference wherever 

 investigations in spectrum analysis are carried on. 



The magnetometer invented by Prof. Thalen for 

 searching for magnetic iron ore deposits greatly 

 facilitated the work of prospecting, and there is not 

 a single iron mine of any consequence in Sweden 

 where this instrument has not been used. It was 

 described in a paper read by Mr. B. H. Brough 

 before the Iron and Steel Institute in i887._ In appre- 

 ciation of the value of this instrument, in 1874 the 

 Swedish .'\ssociation of Ironmasters awarded Thalen 

 a gold medal; and in 1884 he received the Rumford 

 medal of the Roval Society for his spectroscopic re- 

 searches. He was a member of the Swedish .Academy 

 of Sciences, and an honorary member of numerous 

 scientific societies, both in Sweden and other 

 countries. 



THE SOUTH AFRICAN MEETING OF THE 

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



THE various sections of the British Association 

 met at Cape Town for three days last week, 

 when presidential addresses were delivered and re- 

 ports and papers w-ere read and discussed. We print 

 two more of the presidential addresses this week, and, 

 following our usual custom, shall give in subsequent 

 numbers other addresses, as well as reports of the 

 proceedings of the sections w-ritten by members 

 attending the meeting in South .'Vfrica. It is only 

 necessary now, therefore, to refer to matters of 

 general interest connected with the meeting. 



On -August 17 a special graduation ceremony in 



