Dec. 9, iSSoJ 



NATURE 



13 



therefore a matter for congratulation when we see a paper like 

 tlie Times taking an^interest in the organisation^and work of the 

 Royal Society, and giving its opinion on these, even when 

 the justice of that opinion is questioned by many. From 

 a leading article in the Times of Tliursday last, on Mr. 

 Spottiswoode's address, we take the following passage : — 

 " The election to the vacancies in its ranks has of late years been 

 too manifestly governed by a tendency to set up as an idol some- 

 thing which it is technically fashionable to call 'research,' and 

 to ignore the far higher mental effort which is required for suc- 

 cessful ratiocination. A man sets to work with a microscope 

 and a test-tube, performs a number of curious experiments, and 

 announces an interesting discovery which can neither be con- 

 firmed nor refuted by any one who does not follow precisely in 

 his tracks. Such an experimenter, before now, has been rewarded 

 by the privilege of placing the letters F.R.S. after his name; 

 although, when the privilege had been conferred beyond recall, 

 it may have been shown that his 'research' was undermined by 

 the neglect of some essential precaution, and that his conclusion 

 was erroneous. On the other hand, the man who gathers up the 

 scattered facts ascertained by others, and founds upon them a 

 weighty and important generalisation, is not on that account 

 thought worthy of the Fellowship ; and if he desires to obtain it 

 is almost compelled to engage in some colourable ' research ' as 

 a means of gratifying his wishes. The principle thus acted upon 

 is as much a mistake as it wotdd be to glorify a carpenter or a 

 mason and to ignore an architect ; and it points to a narrowness 

 of view H hich might profitably give place to a more accurate 

 sense of relative proportion. The award of a medal to Prof, 

 Lister, notwithstanding the great and direct utility of his work, 

 is possibly an indication that better counsels may in time be 

 expected to prevail." 



We understand that the Rev. Osmond Fisher has in the press, 

 and will shortly publish, a new work entitled " Physics of the 

 Earth's Crust." The volume w ill contain selected and revised 

 portions of papers which have appeared at various times in the 

 Transactions of the Cambridge Pliilosophical .Society and other 

 scientific publications, together with new matter. Mr. Fr her 

 w ill in some chapters apply mathematical methods, but there 

 will be found much matter calculated to interest those readers 

 who do not care for that mode of reasoning. 



The meeting of the British Medical Association for the year 

 iSSl will be held at Ryde, in the Isle of Wight, to which locality 

 the Association has received a cordial invitation from nearly the 

 whole of the medical profession in the island. .Mr. Lenjamin 

 Barrow, an old and much-respected practitioner in Ryde, has 

 been appointed president-elect. The Council of the Town of 

 Ryde have passed a unanimous resolution that the whole of the 

 Corporation Buildings, which are numerous and spacious, shall 

 be placed at the disposal of the Reception Committee. There 

 is every reason to believe , that the many beautiful private 

 grounds in the Isle of Wight will be thrown open to the Associa- 

 tion. The president will give a garden party to the members 

 and residents in the island. A jwvt- will be held in the Town 

 Hall and adjoining buildings. The address in medicine will be 

 given by Dr. John Syer Bristowe, London, of St. Thomas's 

 Hospital ; the address in surgery will be given by Mr. William 

 Dalla Husband of Bournemouth, Consulting Surgeon to the 

 York County Hospital ; and an address in obstetric medicine by 

 Dr. John G. Sinclair Co hill of Ventnor. Such has been the 

 spirit with which the movement has been taken up by the 

 Members of the Association and profession in the Isle of Wight 

 and Ryde that the meeting bids fair to rival any previous meeting 

 both in science and pleasure. — The following grants in aid 01 

 scientific investigation for the year were made, viz. : — Dr. 

 McKtndrick and Committee, Glasgow, for a continued investi- 



gation on ana;sthelics, 25/. ; Dr. Gerald Yeo, London, on the 

 efficacy of the antiseptic method in injuries of the brain, 50/. ; 

 Dr. Shin, London, for a continued investigation on parasitic 

 skin diseases, 25/. ; Mr. W. North, London, for a continued in- 

 vestigation on the relations which exist between nitrogenous 

 egesta and muscular work, 50/. ; Dr. D. J. Hamilton, Edin- 

 burgh, an investigation on the pathology of the brain, 30/. ; Mr. 

 Watson Cheyne, London, an investigation on the relation of 

 organisms of septic disease, 25/. ; Dr. Augustus Waller, London, 

 an investigation on the time and relations of muscular contrac- 

 tions in the human body in health and disease, 20/. ; Dr. 

 Alexander Ogston, Aberdeen, a continued investigation on the 

 relation between bacteria and surgical disease, 10/. ; Dr. New- 

 man, Glasgow, a renewed grant in aid of an investigation on the 

 functions of the kidney, 10/. ; Drs. Braidwood and Vacher, 

 Birkenhead, to illustrate the third and final report on the life 

 history of conlagium, 20/. 



In the Vienna Gewerbeverein, Herr F. Siemens has been 

 lecturing on his " regenerative gas-burner," in which the depart- 

 ing heat of the fiame serves for pre-lieating the air and the gas 

 to be consumed. The products of combustion of the flame, 

 collected in a short chimney, flow away cold, either into ths 

 room or to the open air. The light, according to measure- 

 ments, has twice to three times the illuminating power of the 

 best-known gas-burners, and is remarkably white and steady. 



The death is announced of Dr. Lauder Lindsay, F.R.S. E. 

 F.L.S., at Edinburgh, on November 24, at the age of fifty. 

 Dr. Lindsay's name must be known to our readers as an occasional 

 contributor to our columns. Dr. Lindsay did some good work 

 in botany and geology, and took special interest in the subject 

 of intelligence in the lower animals. In 1S70 he published a 

 "History of British Lichens," and quite recently we reviewed 

 his work on " Mind in the Lower Animals," published last year. 



On Monday a deputation, consisting of Mr. Ernest Hart, 

 Prof. Ch.andler Roberts, F.R.S., Col. Ftsting, the Rev. H. V. 

 Le Bas, the Rev. S. A. Barnett, .Mr. S. Hadley, Mr. W. R. E. 

 Coles, and others, had an interview with the Lord Mayor at the 

 Mansion House, to interest him in the efforts now being made 

 by the joint committees of the National Health and Kyrle 

 Societies to reduce the mischief arising from the present 

 excessive production of smoke in the metropolis. Mr. Ernest Hart 

 said the Societies thought that a very great deal might be practi- 

 cally done to make the atmosphere in London as pure as that in 

 Paris. It was proposed to conduct trials of the various kinds of 

 fuel and to promote competitive testing of the appliances avail- 

 able at present, or which might become available, for the purpose 

 of lessening the production of smoke. The smoke proceeding 

 from the fires of private houses might be materially lessened by 

 the use of improved apparatus, and that from factories might be 

 abated with little interference with the manufacturing interests if 

 the employers would only co-oper.ate with the Societies towards 

 that end. There was about to iie an exhibition at South Ken- 

 sington of the different kinds of apparatus and fuel, which would 

 be practically tested. They now asked the Lord Mayor to let 

 them bring the matter before the notice and attention of the 

 citizens by means of a meeting at the Mansion House on the 

 subject. The Lord Mayor thought it a matter well deserving 

 the public attention, and he would gladly allow a conference in 

 the Long Parlour of the Mansion House on Friday, January 7. 



In connection with the subject of Incandescent Electric lighting 

 It is of interest to notice in the New York Times an account of 

 an experiment in this direction. At a reception given on the 

 evening of November 17 by Prof. Henry Draper to the members 

 of the National Academy of Sciences, a part of his house was 



