June i8, 1896] 



NATURE 



155 



membered that for the more distinctively thermo-electric 

 metals c is much larger, and that it enters by its square. 

 In any case it seems desirable that this complication 

 should be borne in mind. The consequences which 

 follow from recognised laws for laminated structures, 

 however fine, must surely have some bearing upon the 

 properties of alloys, although in this case the fineness is 

 molecular. Rayleigh. 



NOTES. 



The De Moi'gan Memorial Medal has been awarded this year 

 by the Council of the London Mathematical Society to Mr. 

 Samuel Roberts, F.R.S. The medal is awarded every three 

 years. Mr. Roberts was one of the earliest members of the 

 Mathematical Society, and his first mathematical papers were 

 contributed to the Society over fifty years ago. Since then he 

 has continued, in the intervals of a busy professional career, to 

 interest himself in the study of higher mathematics, and has 

 published numerous papers, many of them of great value. The 

 presentation of the medal will be made at the annual meeting of 

 the Society in November next. 



The Council of the Society of Arts are prepared to award, 

 under the terms of the Benjamin Shaw Trust, a gold medal, 

 or a prize of £,20. The medal, under the conditions laid down 

 by the testator, is to be given " for any discovery, invention, 

 or newly-devised method for obviating or materially diminishing 

 any risk to life, limb, or health, incidental to any industrial 

 occupation, and not previously capable of being so ob\4ated or 

 diminished by any known and practically available means." 

 Intending competitors should send in descriptions of their 

 inventions not later than December 31, 1896, to the Secretary 

 of the Society of Arts, Adelphi, London, W.C. 



On Thursday last, a preliminary meeting was held in the 

 Board Room of the Museums, William Brown Street, Liverpool, 

 for the purpose of taking steps for the establishment in that 

 city of a Zoological Garden on a scientific basis, and on the 

 model of that in Regent's Park, London. On the motion of 

 Prof. Herdman, seconded by Dr. Forbes, the following resolu- 

 tion was unanimously adopted : — "That in the opinion of this 

 meeting it is desirable, in the interests of science and education 

 in this city, to establish Zoological Hardens, containing a col- 

 lection of living animals, and that those present form a Com- 

 mittee, with power to add to their number, for the purpose of 

 advancing this object." The question of a site was considered, 

 and it appeared that there was just now a favourable opportunity 

 of securing land in a central position very suitable for the pur- 

 pose. It was resolved that the follo'.\ing gentlemen be asked 

 to fornii a sub-Committee to inquire fully into the matter, and 

 prepare a report : — Prof. Herdman, Dr. Forbes, Messrs A. L. 

 Jones, A. A. Paton, A. S. Hannay, \V. H. Picton, W. E 

 Willink, F. J. Leslie, and F. Radclifle. 



President Cleveland has appointed a scientific commission 

 to investigate the condition of the fur seals in the North Pacific 

 and Behring Sea. The members of the Commission are Mr. 

 Jordan, of Stamford University (President), Lieutenant-Com- 

 mander Moser, commanding the Fish Commission steamer 

 Albatross, Dr. Stejneger and Mr. Lucas, both of the U.S. 

 National Museum, and Mr. Townsend, Fish Commissioner. 



The recent electrical exposition in New York City proved so 

 successful, pecuniarily as well as otherwise, that the managers 

 have deciiled to establish a permanent exhibition. A revised 

 estimate of the distances covered by the long-distance telegraph- 

 ing at the exhibition on May :6, is 42,000 miles for the message 

 to Tokio and back, covered in 47.^ minutes, and over 15,000 

 NO. 1390, VOL. 54] 



miles for the double crossing of the North American continent 

 and the Atlantic ocean, covered in four minutes. 



The Division of Forestry of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture calculates the annual loss by fire to the forests Id 

 the States to amount to twenty-five million dollars. 



Among the subjects of prizes for essays offered by the Royall 

 Academy of Sciences of Denmark are : — Morphological and 

 physiological researches on the asci of the Ascomycetes ; the 

 Danish species of Nematoids and Anguillulina; ; and the life- 

 history of those Spha;riace.e which are destructive to cereal 

 crops. 



In the Bcrichic of the German Botanical Society, Herr A. 

 Schober gives the result of some experiments on the effect of 

 the Rontgen rays on the germination of the oat. He concludes 

 that they differ from ordinary light rays in having no power of 

 producing heliotropic curvatures, even in organs so sensitive to- 

 light as the axis of a growing seedling. , 



Dr. Q. Majorana and Dr. A. Sella continue their researches 

 on the effect of Rontgen rays and ultra-violet light on the dis- 

 charge of electric sparks in air. In their latest communication 

 to the Reale Accademia dei Lincei, they consider the manner in 

 which the nature of the discharge is affected both by the action 

 of these rays and by varying the sparking distance. Their 

 present contribution includes a figure and description of the 

 apparatus illustrated in their recent letter to Nature, as well 

 as of another arrangement by which the phenomena are well 

 shown. 



The July number of the Leisure Hour is to contain a series 

 of portraits of the Presidents of the Royal Society from its 

 foundation, in 1662, to the present day. The portraits, thirty- 

 four in number, occupy six pages of royal octavo, and form, so 

 far as we know, an unique series. Of the thirty-six Presidents, 

 two only — James West and Sir Cyril Wyche, neither of them 

 very eminent men from a scientific point of view — are vvanting. 

 The accompanying article, on the Presidents of the Royal Society,, 

 has been been written by Mr. Herbert Kix, late Assistant Secre- 

 tary to the Society. 



The earth-tremors and sounds produced by the Niagara Falls 

 have been often referred to, in most cases probably with some 

 exaggeration as regards their intensity. In a paper published 

 in the Yale Scientifii Monthly for last May, Mr. W. H. 

 Brewer describes some careful observations made at various 

 times during the last forty-five years. During one year spent at 

 Lancaster, a village twenty-seven miles from the Falls, sounds, 

 possibly due to the Falls, were heard on three occasions, but it 

 was uncertain whether they might not have come from Buffalo^ 

 which is hardly ten miles distant. The tremor observations 

 were made within a few miles of the Falls, and show that the 

 vibrations are extremely irregular, varj'ing both in amplitude 

 and period. Sometimes they stop for an instant, then steadily 

 increase in intensity, reaching one or several maxima, afterwards 

 steadily declining. The momentary pauses do not, however, 

 recur at regular intervals. 



The Board of Trade Jourital reports that the Pharmaceutical 

 Society of Prague will celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary this 

 year by an international exhibition of pharmacy, to be held 

 from August 15 to September 15, at Prague, and to in- 

 clude the following groups : — Scientific apparatus and articles 

 used in pharmaceutical work, and the literature having reference 

 to same : machinery and various apparatus serving for the 

 manufacture of pharmaceutical articles, pharmacy fittings, &c. j 

 products and drugs used in pharmacy ; manuscript books, 

 statistics, and tables concerning the historical development ot 

 pharmacy ; hygiene, and the care of invalids. There has been 



