September lo, 1908J 



NA TURE 



449 



recently mado at Lord Rosse'^ request to provide 

 further instrumental power for liis lunar work. 



Lord Rosse had been Chancellor of the LIniversity 

 of Dublin since 18S5, and he served as president of 

 the Royal Dublin Society (1887-1892) and president 

 •of the Roval Irish Academy (i8q5-iqoo). He was also 

 une of the visitors of Greenwich Observatory. 



Lord Rosse married in 1S70 the Hon. Frances 

 Cassandra Hawke, only child of the fourth Lord 

 Hawke. He is succeeded by his eldest son, Lord 

 O.\mantown, who was born in 1873. His second son 

 is the Hon. Geoffrey Laurence Parsons, and his 

 dauffhter. Ladv Muriel Pai'sons, was married in 1906 

 lo Colonel H. M. Grenfell, C.B. 



THE DUBLIN MEETING OF THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



ONE of the largest and most successful amontf 

 recent meeting's of the British .\ssociation has 

 just been concluded in Dublin. The following- return 

 shows th^ number of tickets issued in the various 

 classes of members : — 



Old life members ... ... ... ... 2S8 



New life members... ... ... ... 24 



Old annual members ... ... ... 45(1 



New annual members ... ... ... 11 1 



Associates ... ... ... ... ... 1,152 



Ladies ... ... ... ... ... 222 



Foreign members ... .. ... 14 



Total ... ... ... 2,270 



The various sections began work on Thursday, Sep- 

 tember 3. Most of them were located within the 

 ample walls of Trinity College, and outlying centres 

 were easily reached by means of the free motor 

 service organised by an indulgent local committee. 

 That service, creditable as it was, was greatly sur- 

 passed in value by the indicator boards announcing 

 what papers were " up " in the various sections. These 

 boards were mounted in places visible to everybody 

 present. The letters .'\ to L were written in large 

 type in a horizontal row, and underneath each letter 

 was hung a card hearing a number indicating the 

 ])aper just being read in the section denoted by the 

 letter. The service was maintained by four special 

 operators per section, and it enabled members to bide 

 their time comfortably in any section until their 

 favourite paper took its turn in another. This useful 

 innovation must be put to the credit of Prof. W. H. 

 Thompson, one of the local hon. secretaries. 



Thursday's sections began in a downpour of rain 

 which contrasted unfavourably with the sunshine of 

 the day before. The intersectional motor service was 

 little in request, as nobody cared to leave the shelter- 

 ing roof once it was reached. The various sectional 

 meetings were, however, well attended, notablv those 

 of geology, educational science, and agriculture, the 

 .-iverage attendance being about 150 per section. 



.\bout fifty members visited Guinness's Brewery at 

 St. James's Gate at noon, and were shown over the 

 vast works by the principal members of the scientific 

 staff. 



The Provost's garden party in the afternoon was 

 largely attended in spite of the prevailing drizzle, 

 though many members were absent. The Provost of 

 Trinity College, Dr. Anthony Traill, braved the 

 wintry blast manfully, and stood at the gate of the 

 Fellows' Garden to receive his unexpectedly numerous 

 guests. The latter kept to the marquees and the 

 gravel walks, and enjoyed themselves prodigiously. 



The conversazione given in the evening' by the 

 Royal Dublin Society at Leinster House proved one 

 of the largest receptions on record. The 3000 mem- 



NO. 2028, VOL. 78] 



bers of the I^oyal Dublin Society were, of course, all 

 invited, and as practically all the members of the 

 British Association present in Dublin attended, the 

 number of guests was more than 4000. The queue of 

 carriages e.xtended along several streets, and took 

 two hours to discharge the occupants. On arrival the 

 guests were received by Lord .'\rdilaun (president of 

 the Society), the Right Hon. Frederick Trench, and 

 Sir Howard Grubb. There were numerous scientific 

 exhibits by local men. 



In the lecture theatre Mr. W. H. Vipond Barry 

 gave an organ recital, while subsequently lantern 

 demonstrations were given by Rev. W. S. Greene and 

 Dr. E. MacDowel Cosgrave, the subjects being 

 " Scenes and Incidents in the West of Ireland " and 

 " Old Dublin " respectively. 



The Lord Lieutenant, accompanied by several mem- 

 bers of his staff, arrived at 9.30, and spent some time 

 inspecting the exhibits. 



The sections started in full force on Friday, the 

 weather having cleared up completely. The encoimter 

 between Sir William Ramsay and Prof. Rutherford 

 in .Section .A drew a large attendance of distinguished 

 phvsicists, but the keenest local interest was evoked 

 bv Mr. T. W. Russell's appearance at the section for 

 Economic Science and Statistics, and the discussion 

 on land purchase and the nationalisation of railways 

 in which he took part. 



\ special meeting of the Senate of Dublin L'niversity 

 was held at 2 p.m. for the purpose of conferring 

 honorary degrees. The L'niversity Caput consisted of 

 Mr. Justice Madden, Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Anthony 

 Traill, Provost, and Mr. Frederick Purser, Senior 

 Master. As each candidate was summoned to the 

 dais, the Public Orator, Dr. L. C. Purser, proclaimed 

 his titles and qualifications in Latin. The names of 

 those who received degrees are to be found on p. 471 

 of the present issue under the head of University and 

 Educational Intelligence. 



Meeting of the General Committee. 



.\t a quarter-past three o'clock a meeting" of the 

 general committee was held at Trinity College, Mr. 

 Francis Darwin occupying the cliair, when it was 

 decided to hold the meeting' of iqio at Sheffield, and 

 that of 191 1 at Portsmoutli. 



On the motion of Sir .\rthur Riicker, Prof. J. J. 

 Thomson, F.R.S., was elected President for the Win- 

 nipeg meeting in 1909, the date of which was fixed for 

 .August 25 to .September i. 



The afternoon engagements of Friday were divided 

 between the general committee, a garden party at 

 Dunsink Observatory, another at Saint Patrick's 

 Cathedral, a visit to Messrs. Jacob and Co.'s biscuit 

 and cake factory, and a special matinee of Irish plays 

 at the Abbey Theatre, where Mr. W. B. Yeats gave 

 an address on the recent development of native Irish 

 drama. 



The drive to Dunsink in special brakes was enjoyed 

 bv 200 members, who accepted the invitation of the 

 Astronomer Royal and Mrs. Whittaker. The Observ- 

 atory is situated to the north of Phceni.x Park, and is 

 best known to the Dublin public as the centre from 

 which " Irish time " is furnished to the public time- 

 pieces of Ireland. The transit circle was, naturally, 

 inspected with special interest. 



Dean Bernard's garden party at .St. Patrick's was 

 also well attended, and was distinguished by the 

 presence of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 



The Lord Mayor of Dublin took sixty members of the 

 .\ssociation in his "flagship," the Shamrock (he is 

 admiral of the Port of Dublin), down the Lififey to see 

 the main drainage and electric light works at the 

 Pigeon House, and gav'e a luncheon on board after 

 the works had been inspected. 



