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NA TURE 



[April 29, 1909 



was rescued by friendly natives. Ttie investigating party 

 has recovered the valuable ethnological collection made by 

 Dr. Jones during his two years' stay in the hills, and it 

 ■will be sent to the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago. 



The Berlin correspondent of the W esiminsier Gazette 

 gives in the issue of April 22 a resume of an article pub- 

 lished by Prof. O. Lehmann in the Berliner Tagehlatt, in 

 which is described the principal conclusions arrived at as 

 the result of his long series of investigations of the proper- 

 ties of liquid crystals and the observations upon which they 

 are based. The subject has already been discussed in 

 Nature for January 7, and attention was directed to the 

 part that liquid crystals appear to play in the growth of 

 living organisms. Prof. Lehmann is so fully alive to the 

 far-reaching importance of his discoveries that he 

 endeavours to arouse popular as well as scientific interest 

 in them. To the general public without knowledge of the 

 phenomenon of double refraction and of the crystalline 

 symmetry which it portends, the fact that a substance 

 possessing the mobility of a liquid should at the same time 

 display polarisation effects which were supposed to be 

 peculiar to rigid structures would seem of little import- 

 ance, but, when it appears that these curious liquids may 

 in some way be connected with the origin of life, the 

 question ceases to be merely academic. 



Capt.iin Henry Toynbee, whose death was recorded in 

 the Times of April 22, was born on October 22, 1S19. He 

 entered the mercantile marine at the age of fourteen, and 

 followed the sea until 1S66. In the following year he 

 accepted the appointment of superintendent of the marine 

 branch of the Meteorological Office. It was in this 

 capacity that most of his scientific work was done, though 

 he had published a number of papers on meteorological, 

 astronomical, or geographical subjects before his retirement 

 from active service. The office had been founded in 1854 

 for the express purpose of dealing with marine meteorology, 

 and at the time when Toynbee joined it, suflficient data had 

 accumulated to enable a commencement to be made with 

 the publication of average values for the various elements. 

 Among the kest-known publications with which his name 

 is associated is a very detailed discussion of the meteor- 

 ological data for " Square 3 " (lat. 0° to 10° N., long. 

 20° to 30° W.), issued in 1S74. This area, lying in the 

 region where the two trade winds meet, is one of special 

 meteorological interest, and the discussion is probably the 

 most detailed that has been attempted hitherto for any 

 oceanic area of equal size. Two years later a somewhat 

 similar, but less detailed, survey of the area between lat. 

 20° N. and 10° S., and long. 10° W. and 40° W., was 

 issued. This work marked an epoch in the application of 

 meteorology to practical life, for it gives in concise form 

 much information necessary for determining the routes to be 

 followed by sailing ships crossing the equator if they wish 

 to take full advantage of the most favourable winds and 

 to avoid, so far as possible, the equatorial belt of calms. 

 Toynbee retired from the Meteorological Office in iSSS, on 

 attaining his seventieth year. 



The death of Dr. Simeon Snell, president of the British 

 Medical Association, during his tenure of this important 

 office, and at the early age of fifty-seven, has created a 

 painful impression. Widely known for many years as an 

 assiduous contributor to societies and journals of 

 ophthalmology, his observations have been recognised as 

 (.'f quite exceptional value and importance. A man of 

 wide sympathies, he wielded a great influence in the in- 

 tellfctual life of the city of Sheffield, wherein his 

 ophthalmic practice was conducted, and established many 



NO. 2061, VOL. 80] 



friendships with men of science who visited Sheffield 

 to deliver lectures under the auspices of its Literary and 

 Philosophical Society. His endeavours, both as quondam 

 president and long as secretary of this society, served 

 to maintain the usefulness and reputation of one of those 

 active local associations such as formed the origin of the 

 British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 

 Sheffield he was also recognised as one of the most in- 

 defatigable workers in the development of the city uni- 

 versity. Outside his own locality, thoroughly practical 

 man as he was, he was well known for contributions to 

 practice and to knowledge arising from work con- 

 ducted within it. This great centre for the manufacture 

 and manipulation of steel afforded unlimited opportunities 

 for the treatment of eye injuries produced by splinters of 

 metal, and Dr. Snell was the first to elaborate the use 

 of the electromagnet for their removal. Placed in the 

 centre of a large colliery district, his attention was early 

 directed to those peculiarly embarrassing rotations of the 

 eyeball which characterise the disease known as " miners' 

 nystagmus." Whatever may be the cause of this disease. 

 Dr. Snell 's monograph on the subject, and the carefully 

 observed conditions described by him as modifying the 

 frequency of its occurrence, will remain as the basis of 

 suggestions and as testimony to the true scientific spirit 

 of medical practice. 



An excerpt from the Harvard Graduates' Magazine, 

 December, 1908, gives particulars of the expedition which 

 the Harvard Observatory is sending to the elevated plateau 

 of South -Africa in charge of Prof. S. I. Bailey. The 

 primary object is the determination of the character of the 

 climate, with the view of finding an ideal site for an 

 astronomical observatory. The first requisite for an astro- 

 nomical station is a clear sky, free from cloud, haze, 

 smoke, and dust. Since no locality is entirely free from 

 clouds, it is very desirable that those clouds which do 

 occur should be distributed fairly evenly throughout the 

 year, rather than condensed into one decidedly " cloudy 

 season," a condition which prevails in many countries. 

 An ideal station would have freedom from strong winds, 

 a small annual, and especially a small diurnal, range of 

 temperature, low humidity, a reasonable altitude, accessi- 

 bility, together with the necessaries and some of the com- 

 forts of modern life. For the present purpose, also, a 

 station not much less than 30° south of the equator is 

 desired, in order that the entire southern sky may be 

 studied to the best advantage. Such meteorological re- 

 ports as have been published, together with the accounts 

 of various observers, indicate that excellent conditions for 

 astronomical work exist on the tableland of South Africa. 

 The altitude, which varies from 4000 feet to 6000 feet, is 

 sufficient for the purpose. The records which have been 

 published, however, give only a portion of the data which 

 are needed. The problem can be settled only by a careful 

 study, lasting through one year at least. The present ex- 

 pedition will endeavour to carry out this investigation. 

 In addition to the study of climate, various astronomical 

 investigations will be undertaken. A lo-inch visual tele- 

 scope, provided with a Rumford photometer, will be used 

 for the measurement of the magnitudes of a large number 

 of stars, among which are sequences of standard stars in 

 selected areas, sequences of comparison stars for southern 

 variables, and so on. A pair of small photographic lenses 

 w^ill also be provided, carried on a single mounting. These 

 are of different focal lengths, and of wide angle. They 

 will be used in certain pieces of routine work, but especially 

 to photograph the faint extensions of the Milky Way and 

 other nebulous regions of the southern sky. 



