May 1 6, 1907] 



NA TURE 



61 



(Exhibited by the Keeper of Geolofjv.) — Pro/. H. G. Scclcy, 

 t'.R.S. : Sliull of a South African saurischian (Erythro- 

 suchus africanus). The remains were collected bv Dr. R. 

 Kanncmeyer in i8q7. They were displaced, and in un- 

 usual confusion. The matrix has been entirely removed 

 by Mr. Richard Hall, of the British Museum, but portions 

 are missing, so that the skull has not been reconstructed 

 as yet. The whole skeleton indicates a new division of 

 this order of animals. 



Mr. ir. Dale : A cordoned bucket or cist of bronze, 

 " Halstatt " type, early Iron age of Europe, late Bronze 

 age of Britain, circa 700 B.C., found at Weybridge, Surrev, 

 April, 1007, at a depth of 10 feet, in sinking a shaft for 

 the pier of a bridge close to the river at the new motor 

 track. The bucket is of north Italian manufacture, and 

 is similar to specimens found at Halstatt and in other 

 parts of Europe as far as Hanover, but never before in 

 Britain. It has quite recently been proved that some 

 brooches, in museums and private hands, found in 

 England, must have come from north Italy in the early 

 Iron age of Europe. On the strength of this, it has been 

 asserted that there was commerce between Europe and 

 Britain as early as 700 B.C., and the theory is confirmed 

 in a remarkable way by the discovery of this bucket. The 

 British Museum Catalogue figures a Halstatt bucket 

 (Fig. 30, " Guide to Early Iron Age ") e.xactly similar. 

 The workmanship of the handles is the same as that of 

 the ancient torques. — Mr. Rowland G. Hazard: Arrow 

 heads and spear points from North America, Egypt, and 

 Japan. — Sir Benjamin Stone, M.P. : History pictures of 

 Egypt. These views are a selection from the series of 

 photographs taken bv Sir Benjamin .Stone during the 

 recent winter season. The series of about 800 views shows 

 the aspect of Egypt and the Soudan at the present time. 



NOTES. 



We regret to learn that Dr. Alexander Buchan, F.R.S., 

 the distinguished meteorologist, died on Monday, May 13, 

 at sevent^'-eight years of age. 



At the Chemical Society on Thursday, June 13, Prof. 

 J. B. Farmer, F.R.S., will deliver a discourse entitled 

 " Some Borderline Problems in Botany." 



M. Lf. Ciiatelier has been elected a member of the Paris 

 Academv of Scences in succession to the late Prof. 

 Moissan. 



There will be a reception at the I.innean Society on 

 June 7 in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth 

 of I.innxus. The principal exhibits will be of objects 

 associated with or belonging to Linna;us, such as letters, 

 manuscripts, and objects of natural history. 



Prof. E. R.4Y Lankestfr has left for the Continent with 

 the view of studying the specimens of the okapi in the 

 museum of the Congo Free State at Tervueren, near 

 Brussels, and in other collections. 



Dr. J. Halm, assistant at the Royal Observatory, 

 Edinburgh, has been appointed first assistant at the Cape 

 Observatory, in succession to Mr. S. S. Hough, F.R.S., 

 who was recently promoted to succeed Sir David Gill as 

 H.M. -Astronomer at the Cape. 



The fifteenth " James Forrest " lecture of the Institution 

 of Civil Engineers will be delivered by Dr. Francis Elgar, 

 F.R.S., on the evening of Tuesday, June 18, his subject 

 being " Unsolved Problems in the Design and Propulsion 

 of Ships." The fourth engineering conference will be held 

 on June 19-21, commencing each day at 10 a.m., and the 

 annual conversazione on the evening of June 20 at the 

 Royal Albert Hall. 



We are informed that Prof. H. F. Osborn has returned 

 to New York from Egypt, where he accompanied and 

 superintended an expedition to search for remains of the 

 NO. 1959. VOL. 76] 



fossil vertebrates of the Fayum for the museum he repre- 

 sents. He took with him a staff of trained collectors, who 

 have been left in Egypt for soine time longer to continue 

 the work of collecting. As the result of such expert collect- 

 ing, a number of remains of the smaller mammals have, 

 we believe, been obtained, whiih should prove of great 

 interest. 



.\\ interesting undertaking 

 Seattle^n the way to study 



that of a party now at 

 ■ismic and volcanic con- 

 ditionsln the Aleutian Islands. One of the fifty-nine 

 volcanoes in these islands was reported active last March. 

 The expedition is headed by Prof. T. A. Jaggar, of the 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and includes Prof. 

 H. V. Gommere, of the University of California, and Dr. 

 Van Dyke, of San Francisco. 



On May it the Lowell .Astronomical Expedition to the 

 Andes sailed from New York. Its main object will 

 be the observation of Mars in July. The site for the 

 observations will be selected next month, probably either 

 in the high .Andes of Peru or in the desert regions of 

 northern Chili. The work is in charge of Prof. David 

 Todd, director of the .Amherst College Observatory, Mass.. 

 who will be accompanied by Mrs. Todd. Mr. E. C. 

 Slipher, also of Amherst, will be responsible for the photo- 

 graphic side of the expedition, and Mr. .Albert G. Use, of 

 the firm of Alvan Clark and Sons, of Cambridge, Mass., 

 will be chief mechanician and instrument maker. The 

 appointments of the personnel of the expedition have been 

 made by Prof. Percival Lowell, who is himself working 

 at present at Flagstaff, .Arizona. 



a IIE Cardiff public telescope and observatory are proving 

 a decided success. During the last few weeks, in response 

 to an appeal from Mr. Albert Taylor, a large number of 

 teachers in the locality have applied for permission to 

 use the instrument. The attendance of the general public 

 also has been such as quite to warrant the corporation 

 in the expense to which it went in connection with the 

 observatory. 



On- Thursday ne.xt. May 23, Sir James Dewar will com- 

 mence a course of three lectures at the Royal Institution 

 on " Chemical Progress— Work of Berthelot, Mendel^eff, 

 and Moissan." The Friday evening discourse on May 24 

 will be delivered by Prof. J. A. Fleming, on " Recent 

 Contributions to Electric Wave Telegraphy," and on 

 May 31 by Mr. A. H. Savage Landor, on " Recent Journey 

 Across Africa." 



The Gypsy Lore Society, which was first formed in 

 1888, and has lain dormant since 1892, is to be revived 

 under the presidency of Mr. David MacRitchie. On 

 July I next it is propo.sed to issue the first number of a 

 new series of the society's quarterly journal, the publi- 

 cation of which ceased with the termination of the 

 activities of the association in 1892. The society aims at 

 enrolling every amateur of gypsy philology, folk-lore, and 

 ethnology, and every student of Sanskrit and Indian 

 languages. The sftciety will be conducted on a purely 

 honorary basis— neither writers nor officers being paid. 

 Interested persons should communicate with the hon. sec, 

 Mr. R. A. Scott Macfie, 6 Hope Place, Liverpool. 



The annual report of the Ray Society, read at the 

 annual general meeting on May 9, stated {.inter alia) that 

 part iii. of the " British Annelids," by Prof. W. C. 

 Mcintosh, F.R.S., is now in the press, and will be issued 

 for the present year, and that there is a sufficient number 

 of monographs waiting their turn for two volumes per 



