June 4. 1896] 



NA TURE 



ro: 



and held by every device known to architects and engineers 

 were wrenched off and hurled into the streets. The destruction 

 of telegraph material was phenomenal. The poles were blown 

 down in long rows, not singly, but in grmips of a dozen or more 

 at a time. 



The western end of the Eads Bridge — admittedly one of the 

 finest in the world — was destroyed. The same fate overtook 

 other splendid bridges spanning the Mississippi. 



The scene on the river at the moment the cyclone passed over 

 it was awe-inspiring. The river tossed and boiled as though it 

 was a whirlpool. Great waves struck the vessels and swamped 

 them. Some steamers were blown bodily high up upon the 

 banks, and others were twisted right round. Others, again, 

 after being torn from their moorings disappeared in the torrent 

 and were never more seen. As a rule the smaller craft did not 

 live in the terrible sea for a minute, but just capsized and sank. 



In the smaller places through which the tornado passed the 

 terrible funnels rose and fell as they swiftly moved, and thus the 

 line ot destruction was not continuous. But whatever stood in 

 their path was either destroyed or badly damaged, and all this 

 destruction was done within the space of one hour. 



.About five hundred persons are reported to have been 

 killed during the passage of the tornado, and more than 

 sei en hundred injured. The path followed is now shown 

 to be a well-defined track about half a mile wide and four 

 miles long. 



NOTES. 

 The second of the two annual conversaziones of the Royal 

 Society, to which ladies as well as gentlemen are invited, will 

 lake place on Wednesday, June 10. 



The University of Paris will be represented at the forth- 

 coming jubilee of Lord Kelvin, by MM. Moissan, Lippmann and 

 I'icard. The Royal Astronomical Society has appointed the 

 President, Dr. A. A. Common, F.R.S., as its representative 

 upon that occasion ; and the Senate of the University of Sydney 

 have appointed the Chancellor, Sir William Windeyer, and Prof. 

 Liversidge, F. R.S., the Dean of the Faculty of Science, to 

 represent them. 



We have referred from time to time to the approaching eclipse 

 of the sun. During the last week some members of the expe- 

 dition to Japan have sailed. From information received from 

 the Japanese Minister, the reports of the bad weather chances 

 at the station chosen are more than confirmed. The mean of the 

 last five years gives for August — 



Days 



Clear ... ... ... ... o 



Cloudy 22 



Rain or snow ... .. ... ... ... 22 



With regard to the Norwegian jparties, Dr. Common will 

 occupy a station at Vadsci, and in his neighbourhood will be 

 Dr. Copeland. .Mr. Xornian Lockyer intends, if possible, to 

 observe on the south side of Varanger fjonl, if a suitable anchor- 

 age and observing station can be fcjund sufficiently near the 

 totality line. This point will be inquired into by Captain King 

 Hall, of H.M.S. Volage, which will be detached from the 

 Training Squadron for this purpose. 



IvIEI'TENAnt Peary is making arrangements for another trip 

 to Greenland, one of the objects being to bring back for the 

 Philadelphia Academy of Sciences the forty-ton meteorite dis- 

 covered by him last year, being the largest in the world. He 

 will shortly give an account of his important explorations in 

 Northern Greenland to the Royal Geograiihical Society. 



The Council of the British Medical .\ssociation desire to 



remind members of the profession engai;ed in researches for 



the advancement of medicine and the allied sciences, that they 



are prepared to receive applications for grants in aid of such 



NO. 1388, VOL. 54] 



research. Applications for sums to be granted at the next 

 annual meeting must be made on or before June 1 5, in writing, 

 addressed to the General Secretary, at the office of the .Associa- 

 tion, 429 Strand, W.C. 



The Commissioners of the pro]iosed zoological park of New 

 York City have selected as the site that portion of Bronx Park 

 lying south of Pelham Avenue, comprising two hundred and 

 sixty-one acres. It is expected that their selection will be ap- 

 proved. The site is near the new botanical garden, and New 

 York City will thus acquire in this year ample zoological and 

 botanical gardens and an aquarium. 



Prof. N. L. Brixton has been appointed superintendent of; 

 the new botanical garden of New \'ork City. 



The death is announced of M. Raulin, Professor of Industrial 

 and Agricultural Chemistry in the University of Lyons. 



The Paris correspondent of the Times announces the death, 

 at the age of eighty-two, of JI. Daubree, the eminent geologist. 

 Born at Metz, and educated at the Polytechnic School, Paris, 

 he was sent on a geological mission to Algeria, and from 1839 

 to 1S55 was a Professor at Strasburg University. He was then- 

 promoted to a chair at the School of Mines and the Natural 

 History Museum, Paris. His experimental researches, on the 

 action of rapidly moving and high-pressure gases on rock masses, 

 and the application of the results to peculiar rock formations, 

 are still fresh in the minds of every one interested in geological 

 problems. 



We regret to notice the death of Sir J. Russell Reynolds, 

 F.R.S., on Friday last, at the age of sixty-eight. He was- 

 educated at University College, London, where he became 

 Professor of the Principles and Practice of Medicine in 1865. 

 Four years later he was e lected a Fellow of the Royal Society. 

 He was President of the British Medical Association in 1S95, 

 in which year he also received the honorary LL.D. degree at 

 -Xberdeen, and recently a similar honour was conferred upori 

 him by the Edinburgh University. On the death of Sir 

 Andrew Clark, in 1893, he was elected President of the Royat 

 College of Physicians, which post feeble health compelled 

 him reluctantly to relinquish at the recent annual election. Sir 

 Russell Reynolds' works on diseases of the brain and spinal 

 cord are valuable contributions to medical literature, and the 

 " System of Medicine," of which he was the editor, stands as a 

 proof of his sound sense and good judgment. 



The forty-first annual exhibition of the Royal Photographic 

 Society will beheld from -September 28 to November 12, in the 

 gallery of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours- 

 Negatives, transparencies, photo-mechanical prints, stereoscopic 

 work, photographs of purely scientific interest, photographs 

 coloured by scientific or mechanical means, and phi>tographic 

 apparatus will be admitted. Foreign exhibitors are invited to 

 contribute photographs or apparatus. Exhibits must be received 

 by the Secretary of the Royal Photographic Society, on or before 

 September 9. 



The President of the Board of Trade has appointed a Com- 

 mittee, consisting of the following gentlemen, viz. : — Lord 

 BIythswood (chairman), Sir Benjamin Baker, K.C.M.G , F. R.S., 

 Sir J. Lowthian Ball, B.irt., F.K.S., Prof. Wyndham Dunstan, 

 F.R.S., Prof. A. B. W. Kennedy, F.R.S., Major F. A. Marin- 

 din, R.E.,C.M.G., Mr. E. P. Martin, Prof. W. C. Roberts- 

 Austen, C B., F.R..S., Dr. T. E, Thorpe, F.R.S., Prof. W. C- 

 Unwin, F.R.S., and Mr. E. Windsor Richards — to inquire as to- 

 the extent of loss of strength in steel rails produced by their pro- 

 longed user on railways under varying conditions, and what steps 

 can be taken to prevent the risk of accidents arising through such 

 loss of strength. Mr. W. F. Marwood, of the Board of Trade, 

 has been appointed to act as Secretary to the Committee. 



