JuNnE 6, 1912] 
NATURE 349 
ro) 
effect. The rays themselves are in reality practically 
parallel, but seem to converge to east and west just 
as the parallel track of a straight railway seems to 
converge in both directions to anyone standing 
between the rails. The effect in the east soon after 
sunset is sometimes so striking that anyone might 
well believe that the sun had set there, were there no 
other circumstances to judge by. 
T. C. Porter. 
Upton, Slough, May 31. 
Red Water. 
IN connection with the letters on ‘‘red water’’ in 
Nature of April 4 and 11, it may be of interest to 
state that a rusty-red coloration of brine and salt in 
evaporating pools of sea water is common on this 
coast. 
1 remember particularly such pools at Suez and 
near the Rawaya Salt Lake, in lat. 21° N. In the 
latter case the salt beds themselves, though also 
formed by the evaporation of sea water, remain quite 
pure white. 
I have had no opportunity of examining the growth 
microscopically. 
Another cause of red water is the occurrence of 
shoals of a large protozoan (? radiolarian) in the 
open sea. These are of sufficient size and density to 
colour large areas. Cyrit CrossLanD. 
Sudan Government, Red Sea Province, Office 
of the Marine Biologist, Dongonab, 
May 5. 
Zoological Nomenclature. 
Tue Zoology Organisation Committee has decided | 
to obtain the opinion of the zoologists of this country 
on the question of the strict application of the rule of 
priority as regards zoological nomenclature. 
As it is not possible to draw up a complete list of 
those who are competent to form an opinion on this 
subject, I should be obliged if you would allow me 
to say that I shall be glad to send a copy of the 
voting papers to any British zoologist who will for- 
ward to me his name and address before June 30. 
Sypney J. Hickson. 
(Hon. Sec. of the Z.O.C.) 
The University, Manchester, June 3. 
THE DUNDEE MEETING OF THE 
BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
hey a lapse of little short of fifty years, the 
4 British Association is to meet again this 
autumn in Dundee, on September 4—11, under the 
presidency of Prof. E. A. Schafer. The former 
meeting in 1867 was a distinguished and memor- 
able one, and many of the most eminent men of 
the time took part in it, among others Sir R. 
Murchison, Sir Charles Lyell, Sir David Brewster, 
and Sir William Thomson; Prof. Sharpey was 
president of anatomy, Sir Samuel Baker of geo- 
graphy, and Mr. Archibald Geikie of geology. 
The memory of the 1867 meeting still survives 
in the town and district, and the citizens of Dundee 
are anxious, if it be at all possible, to make the 
forthcoming meeting no less successful. The 
necessary funds have been subscribed on a scale 
even more liberal than usual, and the offers of 
private hospitality from persons in and round the 
city are very numerous. 
NO. 2223, VOL. 89| 
While Dundee is a commercial city, and by 
no means picturesque in itself, its situation is 
remarkably fine, and the views from the town 
over the estuary of the Tay, the Fife coast, and 
to the northward over the Sidlaw Hills, are ex- 
ceedingly beautiful. In every direction the country 
affords easy and interesting excursions. Within 
short walking distance one has moorland and 
hill country, and not less attractive are the sandy 
wastes and dunes at the mouth of the river. A 
little farther one finds, for instance, the bold cliff 
scenery of the Forfarshire and Kincardine coasts, 
and all the Perthshire Highlands are within easy 
reach. Excursions are already arranged to such 
places as these, and the university town of St. 
Andrews and the ancient royal burghs of 
Arbroath and Dunfermline will each receive and 
entertain a party of visitors. Numerous other 
excursions are being planned for particular 
sections, and these will be more particularly de- 
scribed in forthcoming articles. The geologists, 
for instance, will find reopened for them the 
famous fossil fish-beds at Dura Den; they wiil 
also visit the neighbourhood of Stonehaven, the 
fossiliferous beds of the Lower Carboniferous in 
Fife, and will make, after the close of the meet- 
ing, a longer excursion to the western High- 
lands. The botanists will find work of unusual 
interest among the alpine flora of Clova and Glen 
Esk, celebrated by the discoveries of George Don. 
The agriculturists will have an opportunity of 
visiting some of the best farms in Scotland, and 
some of the best herds of polled Angus and other 
Scotch cattle. 
The usual handbook of the meeting, now in the 
| press, gives a complete account of the history of 
the town, its trade and local industries, and the 
topography and natural history of its neighbour- 
hood. It is accompanied by a geological map con- 
taining much new material, and prepared, by the 
kind permission of the director, under the care 
of the staff of the Geological Survey in Edinburgh. 
Another and larger map depicts the flora, or 
“plant associations,” of the adjacent parts of 
Forfar, Perth, and Fifeshire; it is reproduced 
| from the work of the late Robert Smith, who was 
| the first to introduce into this country this aspect 
of botanical study. The handbook is further en- 
riched by several articles on distinguished men of 
science born in the district: for example, on Sir 
Charles Lyell, by Sir Archibald Geikie; on 
Robert Brown, by Colonel Prain; on George Don, 
| the botanist, by. Dr. Claridge Druce; and on 
Patrick Matthews, one of Darwin’s most im- 
portant precursors, by Dr. W. T. Calman. 
| The accommodation provided in the town for 
the meetings of the Association appears to be 
excellent. The reception room will be found in 
the Albert Institute, the principal building in the 
centre of the town. There, in addition to the 
main hall, is a suite of large galleries which will 
be used for conversation and writing rooms. The 
walls of these will be hung with a loan collection 
of pictures, which promises to be a very notable 
| feature of the meeting. The great houses of the 
t 
| 
| 
| 
