April 2 1, 1881] 



NA TURE 



589 



establishments, fish vans, and fishermen's clothing; 4. Pictures, 

 utilisation of condemned fish and fish refuse as a manure, and 

 the cleansing of sewage-polluted streams ; 5. Dried, salted, 

 smoked, and tinned fish, shell fish, fish oils, manure, and disin- 

 fectants, aquatic flora and fauna, and birds which prey upon 

 fish ; 6. Loans. There is in the la^t cla-s a fine collection 

 • if casts made by the late Frank Buckland, which has been 

 lent by the authorities of South Kensington Museum. The 

 exhibits of preserved specimens of aquatic, or rather fish-eating, 

 birds is also liighly interesting and instractive. In the class 

 devoted to the culture of fish there are a large number of tanks, 

 troughs, and the various appliances for hatching tlie ova of fish, 

 for rearing the young fry, &c. There are also shown live fish in 

 a series of aquaria, amongst which are specimens of nearly every 

 variety of fresh-water fish indigenous to this country, the local 

 fauna being especially complete. Ne.\t week we hope to give the 

 address which Prof. Huxley, who is now one of the Inspectors of 

 Fisheries, delivered in connection with the Exhibition. 



Fkoji the Sydney Morning Herald we are glad to learn that a 

 zoological station is at last to be established at Watson's Bay, 

 under the direction of Baron N. de Miklouho-Maclay, on a 

 small grant of land obtained from the Government. After a 

 lengthy absence at the Melanesian Islands and in Queensland he 

 has returned with the intention of remaining in Sydney until he 

 can complete what he began in 187S, and see the zoological 

 station firmly established. The land granted by the Government 

 at Watson's Bay is situated near Camp Cove, and is about half 

 an acre in extent. Upon this a cottage of five work-rooms 

 will be erected, and this building will be for the use of naturalists 

 who visit New South Wales for the purpo-e of studying the 

 zoology and botany of Australia. The Government, understand- 

 ing its scientific value, have given %\'hat assistance they can, and 

 have promised that if 300/. be collected by private subscription 

 a similar sum will be contributed towards the expense of erecting 

 the building from the public revenue, ^he subscriptions up to 

 the pre-ent amount to about 200/., and it is hoped there will be 

 no difficulty in obtaining the balance which will \it necessary 

 for forming the zoological station on the .'mail scale contem- 

 plated for a beginning. This station will be the first of the 

 kind in the southern hemisphere, and will supply a serious 

 want. 



The death is announced, at the end of February last, of Mr. 

 Gerard Krefft, the Australian naturalist. Mr. Krefft was born 

 in Brunswick, Germany, in 1830, and early conceived a taste for 

 natural history. After spending some time in the United States 

 he went to Melbourne in November, 1852. Mr. Krefft was 

 selected to accompany the collecting expedition fitted out by the 

 Victorian Government, 1858. Having succeeded the leader in 

 command of the party he returned to Melbourne with a large 

 collection of specimens and a well-filled portfolio, and was 

 engaged by Prof. M'Coy as assistant in the Museum. He gave 

 a report in full about the animals obtained and an account of the 

 manners and habits of the aboriginals, illustrated by numerous 

 sketches. He then resigned his position and returned to Ger- 

 many. In 1859 he again left home for foreign lands, having 

 obtained from the Hamburg firm, Messrs. Godeffroy and Son, 

 a free passage for a triji round the world, and after a two 

 months' sojiurn in South Africa he look up his quarters in 

 Sydney, being appointed secretary to the Australian Museum 

 and assistant to the late Dr. Pittard, its curator. On the death 

 of that gentleman Mr. Krefft succeeded to the vacant curatorship 

 in 1861. During the latter years of his appointment he had a 

 series of disagreements with the trustees of the Mu>eum, which 

 resulted in his leaving that institution, September, 1874. Mr. 

 Krefft was probably the first man who thoroughly studied the 

 reptiles of Australia. Mr. Krefft was a F.L.S., C.M.Z.S., and 

 Member of varions other learned societies. 



Among Mr. Murray's forthcoming works are the following : — 

 "The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of 

 Wonus, with Observations on their Habits," by Charles Darwin, 

 F.R.S. ; " The Life and Letters of the late Sir Charles Lyell, 

 Bart.," edited by his sister-in-law, Mrs. Lyell; "The Land of 

 the Midnight Sun," being a naiTative of summer and winter 

 journeys through Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Northern 

 Finland, by Paul B. du Chaillu, of gorilla fame ; also a second 

 and revised edition of Mr. W. H. White's "Manual of Naval 

 Architecture." 



At the meeting of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain on 

 April 13, Dr. Richardson read a paper of suggestions for the 

 management of cases of small-pox and of other infectious 

 diseases in the metropolis and large towns. Dr. Richardson 

 maintains the thesis that there should be no aggregation of in- 

 fectious cases in large central institutions, and describes the 

 objections to such aggregation. He suggests further that the 

 sanitary committee or authority in every parish should have al 

 the special centres of infection in each of its districts thoroughly 

 mapped out, and that it should know, on a calculation of cases 

 occurring in quinquennial periods, what is the permanent accom- 

 modation required for its infectious sick. He urges that the 

 required accommodation being known, the local authorities 

 should keep ready at all times within the parish such necessary 

 accommodation in small hospitals situated in different parts of 

 the parish or locality. Dr. Richardson described what he thought 

 should be the size, mode of construction, and position of such 

 hospitals :—('!) That each hospital should not be larger than is 

 sufficient to receive twenty-four persons at one time, (li) That 

 each should be constructed on the i^separate system for the 

 patients. (<) That each should be constructed of iron, so that 

 it may at any time be absolutely purified by fire throughout all 

 its structure, (d) That each should be placed on the upper 

 storey of a building, forming in fact the top storey of one or 

 more houses, so that it may be lighted and ventilated directly 

 from its roof, [e] That all the air that passes out of the hos- 

 pital when it is occupied by infectious persons should pass 

 through fire. (/) That each patient should be carried into 

 the hospital by a valved lift, which lift should pass through a 

 shaft, so as to draw up air during its ascent, and which should, 

 when required, be effective for flushing the hospital with air. 

 Dr. Richardson entered into the subject of the organisation of 

 these hospitals in respect to general supervision and nursing- 

 Under this head he recommends— (n) That the general super- 

 vision should be in the hands of the Medical Officer of Health. 

 (b) That the nursing, also under the supervision of the Medical 

 Officer of Health, should be carried out by trained nurses, who 

 might be educated to their work in the Union infirmaries. Lastly 

 he suggested that the medical attendance should be conducted by 

 a special staff of duly qualified medical men acting under the 

 Medical Officer of Health and responsible to the local authority, 

 by ^^hom they should be approved and remunerated. An inte- 

 resting discussion followed, which was adjourned to the 27th inst. 



Under the auspices of the National Health Society the fol- 

 lowing Drawing-Room Lectures will be delivered at 23, Hertford 

 Street, Mayfair (by kind permission of Mr. Charles Matthews), 

 to commence at 4 o'clock p.m. :— Friday, April 22 : Prof. 

 Fleeming Jenkin, F.R.S., "Sanitary House Inspection"; 

 Friday, April 29 : Dr. Robert Farquharson, M.P. (formerly 

 Medical Officer of Rugby School), "Health in Public Schools " ; 

 Friday, May 6 : Mr. C. N. Cresswell, " Sanitary Relations of 

 Local Self-Government " ; Friday, May 13 : Mr. Henry Power, 

 M.B., F.R.C.S., "Care and Education of the Eye" ; Friday, 

 May 20: Dr. Siemens, F.R.S. , LL.D., "Stoves and Grates" ; 

 Friday, May 27 : Mr. Ernest Hart, M.R.C.S., " Recent Progress 

 in Health Knowledge." Tickets may be obtained from the 



