178 



NA TURE 



[June 20, 1907 



(jovernment to consider whether, in view of the num- 

 ber of favourable stations existing in the neighbour- 

 hood of Vienna, they could encourage and assist solar 

 observations. 



An important resolution concerning the organis- 

 ation of meteorological stations was moved b}' Dr. 

 W. N. Shaw (London), and unanimously carried, as 

 follows : — 



Consideration of the distribution of meteorological 

 stations over the globe shows that stations in the far 

 north and on islands in the various oceans are of 

 special importance; the International .Association of 

 .'\cademies desires therefore to express the hope that 

 the Governments concerned will take any necessary 

 steps for securing the continuance of observations 

 where thev already exist ; for the modification of their 

 form, if necessarv, to bring them into conformity with 

 meteorological usage; for establishing stations where 

 they do not yet exist ; and for placing the observations 

 at the service of science by suitable publication. .As 

 regards the far north, observations are desired from 

 two or three stations, at least, in the north of Siberia 

 and of the Continent of .America respectively, and as 

 regards the islands, the following list is suggested : — 

 Greenland, Fsroe Islands, .Azores, Madeira, Canaries, 

 Cape A'erde, .Ascension, .St. Helena, FalUlands, Fer- 

 nando Naronha, .Staten Island, Fernando Po, West 

 Indies, Bermudas, .Sandwich Islands, Carolines, 

 Guam, Bismarck .Archipelago, Samoa, F"iji, New 

 Caledonia, Tahiti, Java, Borneo, Seychelles, Maurice, 

 Reunion, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Socotra, Chagos 

 .Archipelago, Christmas Island, Karmaluki. 



The Association reassembled in the afternoon, for a 

 sitting which it was ultimately found necessarv to 

 adjourn until Sunday morning, June 2. The report on 

 the publication of the works of Leibniz was received; 

 already a catalogue of the Leibniz MSS. had been 

 prepared and printed. The .Association expressed the 

 hope that the three academies which had prepared 

 this catalogue (the Paris .Academies of .Science and of 

 Moral and Political Science, and the Berlin .Academy) 

 would proceed to undertake and carry through a 

 scientifically complete edition of the works of Leibniz, 

 and that the necessary Government aid would be forth- 

 coming. 



The proceedings of the two sections were then ap- 

 proved in detail bv the general assemblv, including 

 reports from the letters section on the international 

 loan of MS.S., on the Greek Thesaurus, and on the 

 Corpus Medicorum .Antiquorum. 



It was decided to accept the invitation to hold the 

 next meeting in Rome (igio), probably at Easter. 



There were, of course, many hospitable entertain- 

 ments. The Vienna .Academy invited the delegates to 

 the annual meeting on Mav 28 ; the president enter- 

 tained them at dinner on May 2q ; there were de- 

 lightful expeditions to the Semmering on June i, and 

 to the Schloss Kreuzenstein on June 2, which the Graf 

 von Wilczek (the organiser of the Polar expedition 

 which discovered Franz Josef land) has rebuilt on 

 the old model, and filled with all the beautiful old 

 pictures and pieces of furniture which can be col- 

 lected. Finally, the delegates had the honour of being 

 received by the Emperor in person on the evening of 

 June 2, and of being present at the Opera on his 

 invitation. 



The success of the whole meeting was attested bv 

 the cordial words spoken at its conclusion by MM. 

 Darboux (Paris), Schuster (London), and Kikuchi 

 (Tokio), who joined in congratulatintr Prof. Suess and 

 the Vienna .Academy on the able manner in which the 

 duties of the " leading academy " had been discharged 

 during the last three years. 



H. H. TVRNER. 



NO. 1964, VOL. 76] 



THE LEICESTER MEETIXG OF THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



T EICESTER people evidently intend doing their 

 J-' utmost to make the first visit of the British 

 .Association to their town as successful as it will be 

 welcome, and the meeting itself promises to be both 

 largely and influentially attended. Many foreign 

 visitors will be entertained as guests by the local com- 

 mittee, the list already including representatives of 

 science from the Cape, Canada, the United States, 

 France, Germany, .\ustria, Russia, .Switzerland, Hol- 

 lajid, Prussi.i, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and 

 Greece. 



The opening meeting is to be held in the Royal 

 Opera house on Wednesday, July 31, at 8.30 p.m.. 

 when Prof. Ray Lajikcster, the retiring president, 

 will vacate the chair, and .Sir David (iill, K.C.B.. 

 F. R.S., assume the presidency and deliver his in- 

 augural address. On T'riday. .August 2, a discourse 

 on " The .Arc and .Spark in Radio-telegraphy " is to 

 be delivered by Mr. W. Duddell in the same buildini,', 

 and on Monday, .August 5, Dr. F. .A. Dixey will dis- 

 course on " Recent Developments in the Theory of 

 Mimicry " in the Temperance Hall. .\ lecture to the 

 operative classes will be given on Saturday, August 3, 

 also in the Temperance Hall, by Prof. H. A. Miers. 

 F.R.S., on " The Growth of a Crystal." 



Excursions are being arranged to Belvoir Castle, 

 the scat of the Duke of Rutland; Ch:its"orth, the 

 Duke of Devonshire's Midland home; Hr'.ddcn Hall, 

 and to Peterborough Cathedral, with an invitation to 

 tea in the Palace grounds from the Bishop. In addi- 

 tion to a general excursion to the Charnwood Forest, 

 there will be a special one both there and to the dis- 

 trict of Belvoir for geologists, whilst the botanical 

 section is also planning walks in the same district. 



.\n interesting trin will be that over the Leicester 

 and Swannington railway now forming part of the 

 Midland Railway system. This is one of the earliest 

 railways in the kingdom, and the honoured names of 

 George and Robert Stephenson are closely associated 

 with it. Opened for traffic in 2832, the first object of 

 this railway was the provision of a cheap supply of 

 coal from the district it tapped to Leicester, and there- 

 is no doubt its form.ition greatly influenced the pros- 

 perity of the town. From the West Bridge .Station, 

 Leicester, the line enters the Glenfield Tunnel, which 

 is 1796 yards long, cut straight and level, 14ft. high, 

 12ft. 6in. wide, and built of tSin. brickwork. On the 

 opening day a special train conveying the directors 

 left Leicester for Bagworth. In entering the tunnel 

 referred to the chimney of the engine. The Comcl, 

 was knocked down, with the result that the passengers 

 travelled to the Glenfield end through thick smoke 

 and dust. The train was stopped at the Glenfield 

 Brook to permit of a general washing of faces and 

 hands. .At Bagworth an incline of i in 2q was origin- 

 ally worked by a rope 1000 yards long, 5 inches 

 circumference, the full wagons of coal pulling uii 

 the empties. The .Swannington incline, i in 17, ha^ 

 since 183^ been worked by a fixed winding engine and 

 rope. The original engine, one of the first to be 

 fitted with a piston-valve, is still in use. From the 

 commencement, three passenger trains ran daily 

 from the West Bridge Station, Leicester, and these 

 still continue to be run, to almost the original times. 

 It was owing to a collision at this station between aril 

 engine and a country cart, and the consequent 

 smashing of a lot of eggs, that the engine whistla 

 was invented for the purpose of sounding warningsj 

 The chief boot and shoe and hosiery works in the 

 town are to be visited, as well as the works 01 

 the water and g^as and electric lighting undertaking 



