522 



NATURE 



> [September 19, 1907 



afforded by the published data. In fact, the report 

 generally bears evidence of having been drawn up 

 on the supposition that the data are practically coni- 

 plete, whereas such perfection, or anything like it, 

 is an absolute impossibility. The committee, and 

 others interested in bird migration, would do well to 

 remember that not one bird in a thousand that ar- 

 rives on our shores, or which proceeds inland or 

 coastwise, comes under the notice of competent ob- 

 servers, numerous though they be. This important 

 consideration makes it imperative that some years 

 must be devoted to the amassing and testing of 

 materials ere the foundations of a trustworthy report 

 can be laid. 



The records collected by the committee are 

 numerous, and, as interim reports seem to be desired, 

 may be considered of sufficient interest and value to 

 render them worthy of publication. There are a 

 number of unfortunate slips in the report, some of 

 which are so palpable that it seems strange that Mr. 

 Bonhote's— the preparer's — colleagues on the com- 

 mittee did not detect them. W. E. C. 



PRESERVATION OF MEMORIALS IN 

 AMERICA. 



AS an outcome of an article which appeared in 

 these columns on June 6 (p. 130), entitled 

 " Landscape Protection in Germany," the .American 

 Scenic and Historic Preservation Society has sent us 

 some of its literature. This society was incorporated 

 in 1S95 by a special act of the Legislature of the 

 Stale of New York, and holds, therefore, a semi- 

 official position in that State. It has to report an- 

 nually to the Legislature, and has a right to make 

 recommendations regarding improvements to any of 

 the municipalities. 



The society's aims are summed up to a large extent 

 in its name. It endeavours " to protect beautiful 

 features of the natural landscape from disfigurement, 

 either by physical alterations or by the erection of 

 unsightly signs and structures, and to preserve from 

 destruction remarkable geological formations or 

 organic growths possessing an artistic or scientific 

 value"; and it also endeavours "to save from ob- 

 literation names, places, and objects identified with 

 local, State and national history; to erect suitable 

 historical memorials where none exist." 



In towns and villages it aims at procuring parks and 

 open spaces, where necessary for the health and com- 

 fort of the inhabitants; it makes every effort to pre- 

 vent the destruction of trees, and stimulates as much 

 as possible a desire for local beautification in the 

 minds of the public. 



The funds depend on the members' subscriptions 

 and voluntary contributions. The Government gives 

 no financial support, but public money is occasionally 

 placed at its disposal for acquiring or keeping in order 

 properties for the public benefit. It is also em- 

 powered, according to its charter, " to receive real 

 or personal property, in fee, or trust . . . and to ad- 

 minister it as a public trustee." 



By means of meetings, free lectures, circulating 

 historical pamphlets, and various educational means, 

 the society endeavours to engrain in the people an 

 appreciation of the beauties of nature, and also a 

 patriotic interest in historical localities. Its efforts 

 are becoming fully appreciated all over -America, for 

 its services are requisitioned in many different parts 

 and in many different ways, the verifying of historical 

 sites and putting up of tablets to commemorate note- 

 worthy events being the most usual. .America is 

 much to be congratulated on having such a society, 

 and especially one that is so active. 

 NO 1977, VOL. 76] 



NOTES. 

 Prof. J. B. Far.mer, F.R.S., has accepted the editor- 

 ship of the Gardt^ners' Chronicle in succession to the late 

 Dr. M. T. Masters, F.R.S- 



The inaugural address of the coming session of the 

 Royal Scottish Geographical Society will be delivered by 

 Lord Milner in the Synod Hall, Edinburgh, on Wednes- 

 day, November 13. 



We regret to see the announcement that Prof. L. F. 

 Vernon Harcourt, emeritus professor of civil engineering 

 at University College, London, died on Saturday, 

 September 14, at sixty-eight years of age. 



The managers of the Metropolitan Asylums Board have 

 approved of the erection at Belmont, Surrey, of new 

 laboratories for the preparation of diphtheria anti-toxin 

 and for bacteriological work. The total expenditure on the 

 laboratories is not to exceed 6500Z. 



Symons's Monthly Magazine, the present issue of which 

 is the five hundredth number of that interesting organ of 

 meteorological opinion, announces that Dr. G. Hellmann 

 has been appointed professor of meteorology in the Uni- 

 versity of Berlin and director of the Prussian Meteor- 

 ological Service, in succession to the late Prof, von Bezold. 



A TELEGR.-iM froni Seattle states that a volcano in the 

 .Aleutian Islands became active on September i and 2, 

 and that ash ejected from it fell upon twenty villages. .A 

 disturbance recorded by a seismograph at Washington on 

 September 2 appears to have been due to this eruption. 



The Royal Geographical Society has received the 

 following telegram referring to the .Anglo-American Polar 

 Expedition, signed by Captain Mikkelsen and Mr. LefEng- 

 well : — " Sledge trip covering 500 miles crossed edge 

 continental shelf twice soundings 50 miles off coast and 

 beyond 630 metres no bottom ship lost next year con- 

 tinuation geology ethnography surveying and exploration 

 Beaufort Sea." 



The Royal Commission on Mines has appointed Dr. 

 .A. E. Boycott to make an investigation with a view to 

 determine whether there are any indications of the disease 

 known as ankylostomiasis (miner's worm) in coal mines 

 in Great Britain. Mr. John Cadman has also been 

 appointed to make a series of observations and tests of 

 mine air in connection with the question referred to the 

 commission whether any steps should be taken to lay down 

 a standard of ventilation in mines. 



Prof. E. Heckel, director of the Colonial Institute at 

 Marseilles, has been awarded the gold medal founded by 

 Dr. F. A. FlUckiger, of Strassburg, in 1S93, and awarded 

 every five years, in recognition of steps taken to promote 

 the advancement of scientific pharmacy, irrespective of 

 nationality. Mr. E. M. Holmes, the curator of the 

 museums of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, 

 received the first medal, and the second was presented to 

 Dr. C. Schmidt, of Marburg. 



The discovery of an interesting dene-hole on the south 

 side of Windmill Hill, Gravesend, was described in the 

 Times of September 14. It appears that a workman 

 engaged in making excavations for building purposes dis- 

 covered a shaft, rather less than 3 feet wide, which 

 descended vertically to a depth of 55 feet from the surface, 

 when it entered the chalk, and after piercing 3 feet of 

 this rock opened out into a large artificial cavern. This 

 cave was divided into two chambers by a roughly hewn 



