JULY 4, 1912] 
NATURE 
455 
original form may ultimately prove to be inade- 
quate, but so far it stands alone as affording any 
reasonably satisfactory explanation of the varied 
phenomena of steel. Its importance was recog- 
nised by the award to Osmond in 1897 of the 
Lavoisier medal of the Société d’Encouragement, 
and of the Bessemer medal of the Iron and Steel 
Institute in 1906. 
More recently Osmond devoted himself to the 
study of the crystallography of iron in its various 
allotropic modifications, and to a study of the 
modes of plastic deformation of iron and steel. It 
was in this connection that the writer first came 
into personal contact with Osmond; divergent 
views led to a prolonged correspondence, at first 
of a controversial kind, but the controversy led not 
only to new experimental work on both sides, but 
resulted in producing substantial agreement and 
in building up a personal friendship. Osmond’s 
unfailing courtesy and charm of manner and ex- 
pression were typical of the man, while his fruitful 
mind filled ail his utterances with thoughtful 
suggestions. 
Osmond was one of the pioneer workers—per- 
haps the pioneer worker—of steel metallography ; 
his work is naturally bounded by the limitations 
which hedge all the earliest workers in any new 
field of research, but however much the widening 
scope of the science may lead us away from some 
of Osmond’s views, yet his fundamental work will 
always remain as a splendid monument—one of 
the foundation stones upon which the systematic 
scientific control of the great steel industry is being 
surely, if slowly, erected. It may be hoped that 
his French colleagues will give that monument a 
fitting shape by republishing in convenient form 
those numerous memoirs—more than eighty in 
number—which he contributed to the subjects with 
which his name will always be identified. 
WALTER ROSENHAIN. 
NOTES. 
Ar a meeting of the Lawes Agricultural Trust Com- 
mittee held on June 25, Dr. E. J. Russell, at present 
Goldsmiths’ Company’s assistant for soil investiga- 
tions, was appointed director of the Rothamsted 
Experimental Station in succession to Mr. A. D. Hall, 
F.R.S. 
Ar the extra meeting of the Chemical Society held 
on June 26, the president announced that the session 
for 1912-13 would open with a memorial lecture in 
honour of Antoine Henri Becquerel, late honorary and 
foreign member of the society, to be delivered by Sir 
Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., on October 17, and that further 
particulars would be given later. 
An extra meeting of the Chemical Society was 
held at Burlington House on June 26, Prof. Percy F. 
Frankland, F.R.S., president, in the chair, when Sir 
William Tilden, F.R.S., delivered a memorial lecture 
in honour of Prof. Stanislao Cannizzaro, late honorary 
and foreign member of the society. A brief account 
of the early life and education of Cannizzaro was 
given, and reference made to the part played by him 
NO. 2227, voL. 89] 
in the political agitations of 1847 and 1860. In 1861 
he was appointed to the chair of chemistry at Palermo 
University, and ten years later he was made professor 
of chemistry at the University in Rome, a position 
he held up to the time of his death on May 10, IgI0. 
Sir William Tilden gave a sketch of the position in 
which science and education were held in Italy up to 
1860, and dwelt at some length on Cannizzaro’s 
valuable contributions to chemical knowledge; to the 
great part played by him as a teacher, and to the 
important public office held by him in the advance- 
ment of science and education. Sir William Ramsay, 
who proposed a vote of thanks, and Sir Edward 
Thorpe, in seconding it, gave personal reminiscences 
of Cannizzaro, as well as referring to his high scientific 
attainments. 
Ar the annual general meeting of the British 
Academy, held in the rooms of the Royal Society on 
July 1, Dr. A. W. Ward (master of Peterhouse, 
Cambridge) was re-elected president, and Sir W. R. 
Anson, M.P., Mr. A. C. Bradley, Mr. D. G. Hogarth, 
Lord Justice Kennedy, and Prof. C. W. C. Oman 
were appointed members of council. 
Ar the general meeting of the Faraday Society held 
on July 2, the following officers were elected :—Presi- 
dent, Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, F.R.S.; Vice-Presidents, 
Dr. G. T. Beilby, F.R.S., Prof. K. Birkeland, Sir 
Robert Hadfield, F.R.S., Mr. F. W. Harbord, Prof. 
Bertram Hopkinson, F.R.S., Mr. Alexander Siemens, 
and Prof. James Walker, F.R.S.; Treasurer, Dr. F. 
Mollwo Perkin. 
Tue following have been elected as officers of the 
Royal Society of Medicine for the session 1912-13 :— 
President, Sir Francis HH. Champneys, Bart. ; 
Honorary Treasurers, Sir William S. Church, Bart., 
K.C.B., and Sir Henry Morris, Bart.; Honorary 
Librarians, Sir Rickman J. Godlee, Bart., and Dr. 
Norman Moore; Honorary Secretaries, Mr. H. S. 
Pendlebury and Dr. E. F. Buzzard. 
THE autumn meeting of the Iron and Steel Insti- 
tute is to be held at Leeds on September 30—October 
4. On October 1 the members will be welcomed by 
the Lord Mayor of Leeds, and a selection of papers 
read and discussed. Similarly, the mornings of the 
two following days will be devoted to the reading 
and discussion of papers. Several receptions and 
numerous excursions have been arranged. 
Tue Geologists’ Association has arranged for the 
beginning of August next an excursion to West Mayo 
and the Sligo district. The excursion, which will be 
conducted by Prof. G. A. J. Cole and Mr. W. B. 
Wright, is planned to give a general view of the 
structure of central Ireland, and, in addition, to pro- 
vide the opportunity for observations round Sligo. 
Those taking part in the excursion meet at Broad- 
stone Station, Dublin, on July 31, and an itinerary has 
been arranged lasting until August 9. 
Tue Linnean Society has issued an appeal to its 
fellows and their friends for contributions towards 
the cost of production of a ‘‘ Nomenclator animalium 
1 generum et subgenerum,’’ in course of preparation 
