April 8, 1909] 



NA TURE 



165 



scientific journals on subjects relating to volcanic action, 

 and in 1883 he discovered the corona caused by the 

 Krakatau eruption, since known in Europe as " Bishop's 

 Ring." 



A GENERAL meeting of the American Philosophical Society 

 will be held in Philadelphia on April 22-24 inclusive. 

 The preliminary programme includes particulars of forty- 

 three papers, on a great variety of subjects, by dis- 

 tinguished American men of science. On the evening of 

 .\pril 23 a commemoration of the centenary of Charles 

 Darwin's birth and the fiftieth anniversary of the " Origin 

 of Species " will be held. Dr. James Bryce, British 

 -Ambassador at Washington, will speak on personal 

 reminiscences of Darwin and the reception of the " Origin 

 of Species." Prof. G. L. Goodale will give an address 

 on the influence of Darwin on the physical sciences, and 

 Prof. J. M. Baldwin will speak on Darwin's influence 

 on the mental and moral sciences. 



The council of the Royal Geographical Society has re- 

 solved to award Lieut. Shackleton a special gold medal 

 for his Antarctic work, and silver replicas to his fourteen 

 companions who were with him throughout his expedition. 

 With the approval of the King, the two Royal medals 

 have been awarded to Dr. M. A. Stein, for his extensive 

 archaiological and geographical explorations in Central 

 .Asia, and Colonel M. G. Talbot, for his extensive surveys 

 on the North-West Frontier of India and in the Anglo- 

 Egyptian Sudan. The Victoria research medal has been 

 awarded to Prof. Alexander Agassiz. Other awards are : — 

 the Murchison bequest, to Captain C. G. Rawling ; the 

 Gill memorial, to Coinmander B. Whitehouse ; the Cuth- 

 bert Peek fund, to Captain R. Ommanney, R.E. ; and the 

 Back bequest to Rai Sahib Lai Singh. 



Reuter's Agency is informed that Dr. W. Bruce, of 

 the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory, has made more 

 detailed plans of another Antarctic e.xpedition to leave 

 this country in 1911, the cost of which is estimated at 

 50,oooL It is proposed to carry on e-xtensive oceano- 

 graphical work in the South -Atlantic Ocean between and 

 south of Buenos Ayres and Cape Town, as well as in the 

 Weddell and Biscoe Seas ; to map the coast-line of 

 Antarctica to the east and west of Coats Land, and to 

 investigate the interior of Antarctica in that longitude. 

 Part of the project includes a journey across the Antarctic 

 continent, starting at some suitable base in the vicinity 

 of Coats Land and emerging at McMurdo Bay, Victoria 

 Land, or King Edward Land. The programme includes 

 a circumpolar bathymetrical survey, especially in relation 

 to the study of former Continental connections. Reuter's 

 correspondent at Berlin announces that Mr. C. E. Borch- 

 grevink will conduct a new expedition to South Polar 

 regions some time during the summer. The expedition, 

 the financial and other details of which have already been 

 settled, has been arranged under the auspices of the 

 International Polar Exploration Commission at Brussels. 



Continuous efforts have been made by the Hampstead 

 Scientific Society during the past year to find a suitable 

 site for the establishment of a small astronomical observa- 

 tory and meteorological station near the summit of Hamp- 

 stead Heath. It is now proposed to rent, at a nominal 

 charge, a portion of the top of the reservoir near the 

 Whitestone Pond, to build there an observatory house, and 

 to erect the 8-inch reflecting equatorial telescope presented 

 to the society by Dr. F. Womack ; also to establish on the 

 same area a meteorological station. A sum of about 250J. 

 will be required for the purpose of preparing the site, 

 building the observatory house, and procuring the meteor- 



NO. 2058, VOL. 80] 



ological instruments. An appeal has been made for dona- 

 tions to the fund being raised for this purpose. The- 

 report of the society for 1908, which has just been issued, 

 shows that the society is doing good work to promote 

 interest in science by means of lectures, classes, and field 

 meetings. One of the honorary secretaries of the society 

 is Mr. C. O. Bartrum, 12 Heath Mansions, Hampstead, 

 N.W. 



The Lord Mayor presided at a large meeting held oiv 

 Monday at the Mansion House in support of the objects 

 of the Aerial League of the British Empire, " a non- 

 political organisation to secure and maintain for the 

 Empire the same supremacy in the air as it now enjoys 

 on the sea." In a letter read to the meeting Lord Curzon 

 said : — " While other countries have been perfecting their 

 scientific and mechanical inventions we have accomplished 

 little, and the popular inclination has been to regard the 

 navigation of the air as a harmless but unpractical whim. 

 This can no longer be said to be the case. Aviation has 

 taken its place among the sciences, and whether it be 

 regarded as a means of communication or as an instru- 

 ment of warfare, it will undoubtedly admit of development 

 in which nations as well as individuals will compete, and 

 in which the superiority will rest with those who possess 

 the greatest enterprise, resting upon a foundation of 

 technical proficiency and scientific research." The 

 speakers included Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Dr. Hele- 

 Shaw, Major B. F. S. Baden-Powell, and Sir Hiram 

 Maxim, and the following resolution was carried unani- 

 mously : — " That this meeting of the citizens of London, 

 held at the Mansion House, regards with considerable 

 anxiety the rapid development of the science and practice 

 of aerial navigation by other nations, and deplores the 

 backwardness and apathy shown by this country regarding 

 this new means of communication, which is of vital 

 importance from a commercial as well as from a national 

 defence point of view, and pledges itself hereby heartily to 

 support the objects of the Aerial League of the British 

 Empire." 



On .April i Count Zeppelin's airship, carrying the Count, 

 eight other passengers, and a crew from the Army Balloon 

 Corps, accomplished a voyage of about 100 miles, from 

 Friedrichshafen to Munich. According to the Times corre- 

 spondent, the airship travelled along a considerable curve, 

 and completed the voyage in five hours. As the airship 

 approached Munich, a strong south-west wind prevented 

 a landing upon the Oberwiesenfeld, as had been arranged. 

 The airship failed to make headway against the wind, 

 and drifted with the wind to a place near Dingolfing, 

 about forty miles from Munich, where a landing was 

 effected. On April 2 Count Zeppelin sailed from 

 Dingolfing about 11.30 a.m., and arrived at Munich 

 shortly before 2 p.m., where a successful landing was 

 effected. At 9 a.m. on April 5 the airship started upon 

 another voyage ; it returned to the balloon shed at Fried- 

 richshafen at 7.30 p.m., after about 105 hours' sailing, 

 coming gently down in front of the shelter with perfect 

 precision. From the Berlin correspondent of the West- 

 minster Gazette we learn that, while Count Zeppelin has 

 been practising with his reconstructed old airship, his 

 newest, Zeppelin II., has been nearly finished. Only 

 some of the rudders and stability planes are lacking. 

 The new ship is 136 metres long, 13 metres in diameter, 

 and holds 15,000 cubic metres of gas. The aluminium 

 frame is divided into cells, holding altogether seventeen 

 separate balloonets, all except one being of rubbered cotton. 

 The exception is made of English gold-beater's skin. 



