APRIL II, 1912] 
NATURE 
143 
January this year, decided to award the Sir James 
Hector memorial medal and prize to Dr. L. Cock- 
ayne as the investigator, working in New Zealand, 
who has done most to advance botanical science. 
A sEISMOLoGIcAL Observatory has been added to the 
Geological Department of the Georgetown University, 
Washington, D.C., U.S.A. The equipment consists 
of two Bosch-Omori tromometers of 25 kilos. mass, a 
Wiechert horizontal pendulum of 200 kilos. mass, two 
Mainka conical pendulums of 130 kilos. mass each, 
and a vertical pendulum of 80 kilos. mass, after 
Wiechert. A separate cave, fitted with a Bosch photo- 
graphic recording horizontal pendulum, is under con- 
struction. 
Tue sixty-fourth annual meeting of the Cotteswold 
Naturalists’ Field Club was held at Gloucester on 
April 2. Dr. C. Callaway and the Rev. Canon Raze- 
ley were elected honorary members. 
president, Mr. William Crooke, after reviewing the 
work of the club during the past year, dealt with the 
evidence for the antiquity of man that had been 
obtained of recent years. The Rev. Walter Butt, 
J.P., was elected president for the coming year, and 
Mr. L. Richardson hon. secretary. 
On Thursday next, April 18, Prof. A. W. Crossley 
will deliver the first of two lectures at the Royal 
Institution on ‘‘Synthetic Ammonia and Nitric Acid 
from the Atmosphere.” The Friday evening discourse 
on April 19 will be delivered by Mr. Alan A. Campbell 
- Swinton on “Electricity Supply: Past, Present, and 
Future,’ and on April 26 by Sir George H. Darwin 
on “Sir William Herschel.’’ In addition to the Friday 
evening arrangements already announced, the dis- 
course on May 24 will be delivered by Mr. A. D. Hall 
on ‘‘Recent Advances in Scientific Agriculture: the 
Fertility of the Soil,’ and on June 14 by Mr. A. H. 
Savage Landor on his recent journey through un- 
known parts of South America. 
By the will of Lord Lister, the sum of 20,000]. is 
bequeathed to the Lister Institute of Preventive 
Medicine, and 10,o00l. each to the Royal Society, 
King Edward’s Hospital Fund, King’s College Hos- 
pital, and the North London and University College 
Hospital. In the will Lord Lister requests his 
nephews, Mr. Rickman John Godlee and Mr. Arthur 
Hugh Lister, to arrange his scientific MSS. 
and sketches, destroying or disposing of such 
as are of no permanent scientific interest, and 
to present the remainder to the Royal College 
of Surgeons, England. Lord Lister’s orders and 
medals are bequeathed to the Edinburgh University, 
and the will states:—‘‘I expressly declare that it is 
my intention that the University authorities for the 
time being shall be perfectly at liberty to dispose of 
all or any part of the gift—for example, by having 
the medals melted down or the diplomas or other 
writings destroyed—at any time and in any manner 
that may seem to them desirable.” 
Tue Essex Field Club has recently appointed a 
committee for the purpose of raising a small fund 
to put in order the tombs of John Ray and Benjamin 
Allen (which stand adjacent to one another in the 
NO. 2215, VOL. 89] 
The retiring | 
churchyard at Black Notley, but have been allowed to 
fall into disrepair), and to erect at Braintree a memo- 
rial to Samuel Dale, of that town, to whom no 
memorial exists. These three naturalists were friends 
| and contemporaries, living at Braintree or in its imme- 
diate vicinity in the closing years of the seventeenth 
century and the opening years of the eighteenth. 
John Ray (1627-1705) was by far the most eminent 
British naturalist of his day, and has been rightly 
described as “‘the Father of Modern Natural Science.’’ 
Samuel Dale (1659-1738), though a younger man and 
of less eminence, was widely known in his day as a 
naturalist, especially as a botanist. Dr. Benjamin 
Allen (1663-1738), the youngest and least eminent of 
the trio, was an excellent naturalist and a skilled 
physician. For carrying out the work of restoring 
the two tombs, and erecting a memorial to Dale, the 
sum of about sol. is required, and subscriptions are 
invited to make up this amount. Such subscriptions 
may be sent to Mr. Miller Christy (115 Farringdon 
Road, E.C.), or the Rev. J. W. Kenworthy (26 Inglis 
Road, Colchester). 
Tue one hundredth anniversary of the foundation 
of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 
was celebrated on March 19-21. The actual date of 
the anniversary was March 21, but the celebration 
began on the evening of March 19, when delegates 
to the number of 133, who had been appointed by 
corresponding societies to represent them, were wel- 
comed by the Hon. Rudolph Blankenburg, mayor of 
Philadelphia. After the delegates had presented 
their letters of credential and congratulation, the 
president delivered an historical address setting forth 
the early struggles of the society for existence, allud- 
ing briefly to the distinguished men whose work had 
prepared the way for the celebration, directing atten- 
tion to the special features of the museum, and in- 
sisting on the importance of natural history studies 
in their utilitarian aspect, more especially in connec- 
tion with the parasitic origin of disease. In conclu- 
sion, he handed over to the society on behalf of the 
building committee the enlarged hall of the Academy, 
which, through the liberality of the Legislature of 
the State, had received important additions and had 
been made thoroughly fireproof during the past year. 
The works to be issued in connection with the cen- 
tenary celebration consist of a quarto volume of 
illustrated scientific memoirs, the commemorative 
volume, an index to the entire series of Proceedings 
and Journal, and a detailed history of the Academy 
by the recording secretary, Dr. E. J. Nolan. At the 
sessions on March 20 and 21, summaries were given 
of communications presented for publication in the 
commemorative volume, and of other papers on scien- 
tific subjects. The scientific sessions concluded with 
a lecture by Mr. Witmer Stone, one of the curators 
of the Academy. On the evening of March 21, 163 
members and guests sat down to a banquet in the 
new geological hall, formerly occupied by the library. 
The banquet, in common with all the other details 
of the programme, was a brilliant success, and the 
entire celebration will be long remembered as one of 
the most interesting events in the history of American 
science. 
