170 
NATURE 
[ApriL 18, 1912 
has already received the patronage of the univer- 
sities and leading scientific societies both at home 
and abroad, which will be represented by delegates. 
The programme of papers already contains con- 
tributions from the best known authorities on the 
history and ethnology of the vast region over 
which its operations extend. It may be hoped 
that the many persons interested in prehistoric 
America will assist in the work of the Congress, 
and that collectors will contribute specimens of 
antiquities to the exhibition which will be or- 
ganised in connection with it. 
In view of the approaching Congress, Mr. 
Harlan J. Smith, superintendent of the Archzeo- 
logical and Ethnological branch of the Geological 
Survey of Canada, appeals for the aid of trained 
field-workers in the exploration of the vast number 
of prehistoric sites in various parts of the 
Dominion. In one township in Ontario a casual 
investigation disclosed no fewer than thirty ancient 
sites, and on the seacoast the kitchen middens 
are of great extent and interest. Canada at 
present cannot supply a surficient staff of trained 
workers to carry on this survey, and the scheme 
suggests a promise of interesting scientific work 
in which some of the younger anthropologists 
trained in our university schools may be inclined 
to cooperate. 
PROF. EDWARD DIVERS, F.R.S. 
ive regret having to record the death of Prof. 
April 8. Born in London on November 27, 1837, he 
was educated at the City of London School, at the | 
Royal College of Chemistry, and at Queen’s 
College, Galway. In 1870 he was appointed 
lecturer on medical jurisprudence at the Middle- 
sex Hospital Medical School, and in 1873 he went 
to Japan as professor of chemistry in the College 
of Engineering of the Imperial University at 
Tokyo, of which he became principal in 1882. 
He remained in Japan until 1899, when he was 
made emeritus professor and received the Order 
of the Sacred Treasure, in addition to that of the 
Rising Sun, which had been previously conferred 
upon him. 
During the whole period of his active professor- 
ship, Dr. Divers alone and in collaboration with a 
succession of his Japanese students, Shimosé, 
Shimidzu, Haga, Kawakita, Nakamura, Ogawa, 
and Hada, was a prolific contributor to chemical 
science—hyponitrites, the constitution of fulmin- 
ates, the quantitative separation of tellurium and 
selenium, the production of hydrosulphides, the 
Edward Divers, F.R.S., which occurred on | 
Chemistry, President of the Chemical section of 
the British Association, President of the Society 
of Chemical Industry, and at the time of his 
death was still serving as the representative of 
the last-named society on the governing body of 
the Imperial College of Science and Technology, 
whilst as late as last year he contributed to the 
Society of Chemical Industry a lengthy paper on 
“A modification of Raschig’s theory of the Lead- 
Chamber process.” 
Prof. Divers married in 1865 Margaret Theresa 
Vitzgerald, daughter of D. G. Fitzgerald, of 
Mayfield, Co. Cork, by whom he had one son 
and two daughters. His son died in early life, 
and he lost his wife in 1897, shortly before his 
return from Japan, but his two daughters survive 
him. A man of fine physique, and, until within 
the last few months, of splendid health, he 
appeared to suffer only from defective sight, 
largely the result of a laboratory explosion, which 
practically destroyed the sight of his right eye. 
This accident happened in 1885, but he did not 
allow it seriously to interfere with his work, though 
it was painful to others to watch him read or 
write with the book or paper held within a few 
inches of his eyes. In public he always felt the 
disability of being unable to recognise acquaint- 
ances that were more than a few feet distant, and 
this naturally gave him an appearance of reserve. 
| But in small gatherings and among intimate 
| friends he was a delightful companion, genial and 
humorous, especially pleased to talk about Japan 
and the Japanese, for everything connected with 
which he was always most enthusiastically appre- 
ciative, ever ready to discuss a chemical problem, 
and, to the last, keenly interested in chemical 
progress. ; 
Prof. Divers leaves behind him in England and 
Japan a host of friends who will long mourn the 
loss of a very sterling character. He was buried 
at Brookwood on Thursday last, April 11, and 
though, in consequence of the Easter holidays, 
many of his friends were away from home, the 
Royal Society, the Chemical Society, the Society 
of Chemical Industry, the Institute of Chemical 
Industry, and the Institute of Brewing were all 
| represented at his funeral and the memorial ser- 
| vice. 
the following 
| Prof. 
constitution of sulphazotised salts, the red sulphur 
of Japan, hydrocarbon from Japanese petroleum, 
the composition of Japanese birdlime, the eco- 
nomical preparation of hydroxylamine sulphate, 
and many other subjects were dealt with in papers 
published in the Journal of the Chemical Society 
and the Philosophical Transactions. In 1893 he 
was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. 
On his return to England, Professor Divers did 
not cease his activity. He was a Vice-President 
of the Chemical Society and of the Institute of 
NO. 2216, VoL. 89] 
In addition to the members of his family, 
were present, viz.:—Sir Wm. 
Tilden, Prof. Emerson Reynolds, Prof. Gowland, 
Mondy, Prof. Hodgkinson, Dr. Rudolph 
Messel, Messrs. Tyrer, Reid, Hemingway, Grant 
Hooper, Coste, Baker, Cresswell, Pilcher, Carr, 
and others. 
NOTES. 
Tue appalling disaster to the Titanic on Monday 
morning, by which more than 1300 of the passengers 
and crew have lost their lives, has brought several 
scientific subjects into prominence. Such subjects 
are: the dynamic effects of a mass of 50,000 tons 
moving at a speed of about 15 knots, the conditions 
of stability of a vessel built upon the watertight bulk- 
head system when an extensive injury has been 
