August 19, 1922] 



NA TURE 



259 



and other social functions. Those wishing to take 

 part in the meetings may do so on payment of a fee of 

 thirty francs, payable to the " Postcheckkonto No. 

 III. 1546 " of the " Naturforschende Gesellschaft," 

 Berne. 



Among the Civil List Pensions granted during the 

 year ended March 31, 1922, and announced in 

 Parliamentary Paper, No. 137, just published, we 

 notice the following : — Lady Fletcher, in recognition 

 of the services rendered by her late husband (Sir 

 Lazarus Fletcher) to science, and in consideration of 

 her circumstances, 60/. ; Dr. Francis Warner, in 

 recognition of the services rendered by him in his 

 investigations into the mental and physical condition 

 of defective children, and in consideration of his 

 circumstances, 100/. ; Sir George Greenhill, F.R.S., 

 in recognition of his services to science and his 

 ballistic work, and in consideration of his circum- 

 stances, 125/. ; Mrs. J. M. Miller, in recognition of 

 the services rendered by her late husband (Dr. 

 N. H. J. Miller) to agricultural science, and in con- 

 sideration of her circumstances, 50/. ; Mrs. Alice Mabel 

 Ussher, in recognition of the services rendered by 

 her late husband (Mr. W. A. E. Ussher) to geological 

 science, and in consideration of her circumstances, 

 50/. ; Mrs. Agnes E. Walker, in recognition of the 

 services rendered by her late husband (Mr. George W. 

 Walker, F.R.S.) to science, and in consideration of 

 her circumstances, 75/. ; The Misses Ellen C, 

 Gertrude M., Alice B., Katherine E. and Mary L. 

 Woodward, in recognition of the services rendered by 

 their late father (Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S.) to 

 geological science, and in consideration of their 

 circumstances, 125/. 



On August 19, 1822, a hundred years ago, died 

 Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, the illustrious 

 astronomer and permanent secretary to the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences. Born in Amiens, September 

 19, 1749, Delambre became a student in Paris and 

 first gained a livelihood as a translator and a tutor. 

 A friendship with Lalande led him to astronomy, 

 and among his earlier work was the formation of 

 tables of Herschel's newly-discovered planet Uranus. 

 With the revolution came the proposal for a rational 

 system of weights and measures, and on the formation 

 of a commission to carry the scheme through, 

 Delambre and Mechain were instructed to measure 

 an arc of meridian from Dunkirk to Barcelona. Often 

 interrupted, this great work occupied the years 

 1792 to 1799, while the results were given fully in 

 Delambre's "Base du Systeme metrique decimal," 

 published in 1806—10. Various appointments fell 

 to Delambre; in 1807 he succeeded Lalande at the 

 College de France, and as secretary to the Academy 

 of Sciences he wrote many eloges and reports. His 

 later years were largely devoted to the writing of 

 his great history of astronomy, five volumes of 

 which appeared during 1817-1821, while the final 

 volume was published five years after Delambre's 

 death. Delambre is buried in the Pere la Chaise 

 Cemetery. 



NO. 2755, VOL. I to] 



Mr. H. G. Smith, formerly assistant curator and 

 economic chemist at the Sydney Technological Mu- 

 seum, has been awarded the David Syme Research 

 prize of the University of Melbourne. The prize, 

 which consists of a medal and a sum of 100/., is awarded 

 for the best thesis based upon original scientific re- 

 search connected with the material and industrial 

 development of Australia. Mr. Smith is the leading 

 authority upon the chemistry of the essential oils of 

 the eucalypts. Working largely in collaboration with 

 his botanical colleague, Mr. R. T. Baker, and as a 

 result of nearly thirty years' assiduous research, he 

 has been able to establish a remarkable correlation 

 between chemical and botanical characteristics in 

 this complex genus, and an evolutionary theory 

 accounting for the formation of the various species of 

 Eucalyptus has been advanced by him and Mr. Baker. 

 Since his retirement from the Sydney Technological 

 Museum, Mr. Smith, although in his seventieth year, 

 has been actively engaged in further work in the 

 Organic Chemistry Department of the University of 

 Sydney, in association with Prof. Read. 



In accordance with its policy of promoting scientific 

 investigation in Australia, the Australian National 

 Research Council has decided to publish a quarterly 

 catalogue, comprising a list of titles, authors, and 

 journals of publication of scientific research papers of 

 Australian origin, whether appearing in Australian 

 or other journals. The catalogue, which will also 

 contain a brief abstract supplied by the author of 

 each paper concerned, will be entitled Australian 

 Science Abstracts, and will be under the control of an 

 editorial committee representing the various branches 

 of science corresponding with the sectional arrange- 

 ment. The personnel of the editorial committee is as 

 follows : Prof. H. G. Chapman, Dr. L. A. Cotton, 

 Mr. J. J. Fletcher, Mr. A. Gibson, Prof. J. Read, 

 Prof. O. U. Vonwiller, Mr. G. A. Waterhouse, and 

 Prof. R. D. Watt, with Dr. A. B. Walkom as editor- 

 in-chief. The catalogue will be published in Sydney ; 

 it will be issued free of charge to members and 

 associates of the Australian National Research Council, 

 and a number of copies will be used for exchange 

 purposes. It is hoped to issue the first number this 

 month. 



Exceptionally heavy rains fell in many parts of 

 England during the August Bank-holiday week-end 

 and the following days, causing not only discomfort 

 but doing also a large amount of damage in several 

 districts. The primary cause of the rainfall was the 

 arrival of a cyclonic disturbance from the Atlantic, 

 the core or centre of the storm being situated near the 

 Land's End at 8 a.m. on Sunday, August 6, reaching 

 Portland by 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and passing 

 over the Isle of Wight at 7 o'clock in the evening. 

 It was a few miles to the north-west of London at 

 8 a.m. on August 7, and passed over Cambridge at 

 2 o'clock in the afternoon, reaching Spurn Head by 

 7 o'clock in the evening. The disturbance had arrived 

 near Flamborough Head at 2 a.m. on August 8 and 

 afterwards passed away over the North Sea, but the 

 arrival of another disturbance occasioned a renewal 



