July i6, 1896] 



NA TURE 



249 



sittinj; the work will be well considered, and we may 

 confidently expect as a result the outlines of a system 

 which will have international confidence and support. 



From the following list of delegates to the Conference 

 it will be seen that nearly all the Governments of civilised 

 countries are represented, and most of the leading 

 scientific societies of the world. 



The delegates in attendance are : — Au.STRI.X — Prof. 

 Ernest Mach (Member of the Kaiserliche Akadcmie der 

 Wissenschaften, Vienna; ; Prof. Edmund Weiss (Member 

 of the Kaiserliche .Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna). 

 Hei.ciu.m — M. H. La F'ontaine (Membre, Institut Interna- 

 tional de Bibliographie, Brussels); i\L Paul Otlet (Membre 

 de rinstitut International de Bibliographie) ; ^L de Wulf 

 (Membre de I'lnstitut International de Bibliographie). 

 Den.m.\RK — Prof. Christiansen (Universitet, Copen- 

 hagen). Fr.^NCE — Prof. G. Darboux (Membre de I'ln- 

 stitut de France) ; Dr. J. Deniker (Librarian, Museum 

 d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris). Ger.m.vnv — Prof. Schwalbe 

 (Berlin) ; Prof. Dziatzko (Giittingen) ; Prof. Walther 

 Dyck (Mitglied der K. Bay. .•\kad. der Wiss. zu Miin- 

 chen) ; Prof. \'an't Hoff (Mitglied der K. P. Akademie 

 der Wissenschaften zu Berlin) ; Prof. Mobius (Mitglied 

 der K. P. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin). 

 Greece — M. Avierinos M. .\verofif (Greek Consul at 

 Edinburgh). Hun(;.\rv— Prof .August Heller (Librarian, 

 L'ngarische Akademie, Buda-Pesth) ; Dr. Theodore 

 Duka (Membre, .\cademie Hongroise des Sciences, 

 Buda-Pesth). IT.\LV — General ."Xnnibale Ferrero (Italian 

 .Ambassador in London). J.\p.\N — Assistant Professor 

 Hantaro Xagaoka (University, Tokio) ; Assistant Pro- 

 fessor Gakutaro Osawa (Aledical College, Tokio). 

 Mexico— Sefior Don Francisco del Paso y Troncoso. 

 Netherl.\Nds — Prof. D. J. Korteweg (Universiteit, 

 Amsterdam). NoRW.w — Dr. Jorgen Brunchorst (.Secre- 

 tary, Bergen Museum). Swehen- Dr. E. W. Dahlgren 

 (Librarian, Kongl. Svenska Vetenskaps Akademie, Stock- 

 holm i. S\vitzerl.\ND — M. C. D. Bourcart (Swiss Minister 

 in London) ; Prof. Dr. F. A. Forel (President du Comite 

 Central de la Socidtd Helvetiquedes Sciences Naturelles). 

 United Kixcdo.M — Representing the Government : 

 Right Hon. Sir John E. Gorst, Q.C., M.P. (Vice President 

 of the Committee of Council on Education). Represent- 

 ing the Royal Society of London : Prof. Michael Foster 

 (Sec. R.S.) ; Prof H. E. Armstrong, F.R.S. ; Prof. Liver- 

 sidge, F.R.S ; Mr. J. Norman Lockyer, C.B., F.R.S. ; Dr. 

 Ludwig Mond, F.R.S.: Prof. A. W. Rucker, F.R S. 

 United St.^tes— Dr. John S. Billings (U.S. Army) ; 

 Prof. .Simon Newcomb, For. Mem. R.S. (U.S. Nautical 

 Almanac Office). C.\n.\d.\— The Hon. Sir Donald A. 

 Smith, G.C.M.G. (High Commissioner for Canada) ; 

 C.\PE Colony — Mr. Roland Trimen, F.R.S. ; Dr. David 

 Gill, F.R.S. Index — Lieut. -Cleneral Richard Strachey, 

 R.E., F.R.S. Nat.xl— Walter Peace, Esq., C.M.G. (the 

 Agent-General for Natal). New South Wales— 

 (.\waits confirmation). New Zealand— The Hon. 

 \V. P. Reeves (Agent-General for New Zealand). 

 Queensland — The Acting Agent- General for Queens- 

 land. 



Subjoined is the official report of the preliminary 

 proceedings on Tuesday. 



Prof. Foster (Sec. R.S.) moved that Sir J. Gorst act 

 as provisional President for the purpose of organising the 

 Conference. 



The resolution, having been unanimously accepted, Sir 

 John Gorst welcomed the delegates. 



Prof .\rmstrong gave a brief account of the work done 

 by the Royal Society in arranging for the conference, 

 as well as of the work to be accomplished. 



The following resolutions were then agreed to. 



'.a) That each delegate shall have a vote in deciding 

 all questions brought before the Conference. 



Que chaque delegue aura un vote pour decider toutes 

 les questions soumises a la Conference. 



NO. 1394. VOL. 54] 



Dass jeder Delegirte eine Stimme haben soil bei Ent- 

 scheidung aller Fragen die vor die Conferenz gebracht 

 werden. 



{b) That English, French and German be the official 

 languages of the Conference, but that it shall be open for 

 any delegate to address the Conference in any other 

 language, provided that he supplies for the proces verba! 

 of the Conference a written translation of his remarks 

 into one or other of the official languages. 



Que I'Anglais, le Frangais, et I'Allemand seront les 

 langues ofificielles de la Conference, mais que chaque 

 delegue pourra s'adresser ?i la Conference dans n'importe 

 quelle autre langue, pourxu qu'il remettra pour le proces 

 verbal de la Conference une traduction ecrite de ses 

 observations dans I'une des langues officielles. 



Dass Englisch, Franzosisch und Deutsch die offiziellen 

 Sprachen der Conferenz sein sollen, dass es aber jedem 

 Delegirten freistehen soil, bei die Conferenz in einer 

 andern Sprache zu sprechen, vorausgesetzt, dass er fur 

 das Protocol! der Conferenz eine schriftliche Ueberset- 

 zung seiner Rede in einer der offiziellen Sprachen liefert. 



General Ferrero moved that Sir John E. Gorst be the 

 President of the Conference. The motion having been 

 unanimously accepted. 



Sir John Gorst nominated as Vice-Presidents : General 

 Ferrero, Prof. Darboux, Prof. Mach, Prof. Mobius, and 

 Prof. Newcomb. 



It was further resolved — 



(c) That Prof. Armstrong be the Secretary for the 

 English language ; that Prof. P'orel be the Secretary for 

 the French language; and that Prof. Dyck be the Secretary 

 for the German language. 



id) That the Secretaries, with the help of shorthand 

 reporters, be responsible for the piocis verbaux of the 

 proceedings of the Conference in their respective 

 languages. 



The President and Council of the Royal Society gave 

 a reception to the delegates on Monday ; and on Tuesday 

 evening the delegates were entertained at a banquet at 

 the Hotel Metropole. The chair was taken by the Pre- 

 sident, Sir Joseph Lister, and there were also present 

 Sir F. Abel, Agent General for British Columbia, .Agent- 

 General for Cape of Good Hope, Agent-General for Natal, 

 Agent-General for New South Wales, Agent-General for 

 New Zealand, Agent-General (acting) for Queensland, 

 Agent-General for Western Australia, Prof. Armstrong, 

 M. Averofif, Prof. Ayrton, Prof. Barker, Belgian Minister, 

 Mr. Bidder, Dr. J. Billings, Sir F. Bramwell, Mr. H. 

 Brown, Dr. Brunchorst, Dr. Brunton, Mr. Burbury, Dr. 

 Champneys, Prof. Christiansen, Mr. Clough, Dr. Dahlgren, 

 Prof Darboux, Dr. Deniker, M. De Wulf, Dr. T. Duka, 

 Prof. Dyck, Prof. Dziatzko, Dr. Elgar, Mr. C. E. 

 Fagan, Dr. Firk, Mr. Fletcher, Sir W. H. Flower, 

 Prof. Forel, Prof. Forsyth, Prof. M. Foster, Dr. Frank- 

 land, Sir D. Galton, Sir Robert Giffen, Dr. Gill, 

 Dr. Gladstone, Sir John Gorst, Greek Charge d'.Affaires, 

 Prof. Greenhill, .Mr. Harrison, Prof Heller, High Com- 

 missioner for Canada, Italian Ambassador, Japanese 

 Minister, Prof. J. V. Jones, Mr. Keltie, Lord Kelvin, 

 Mr. Kempe, Prof. Kennedy, Prof. Korteweg, M. La 

 Fontaine, Prof. Lapworth, Prof. Liversidge, Mr. 

 Lockyer, Mr. Mac.Alister, Mr. McClean, Prof. Mach, 

 Mr. Mackey, Prof. McLeod, Major MacMahon, Mexican 

 Minister, Dr. Mill, Prof. Mobius, Dr. Mond, Mr. R. L. 

 Mond, Dr. Mott, Mr. Moulton, Prof. Nagaoka, Dr. 

 Neale, Prof. S. Newcomb, Prof. Osawa, M. Otlet, 

 Senor Don Paso y Troncoso, Prof. Perry, Portuguese 

 Minister, Prof. Poulton, Mr. Preece, Pres. Soc. Chem. 

 Industry, Lord Rayleigh, Prof. Roberts-Austen, jProf. 

 Riicker, Mr. H. Saunders, Herr Schwalbe, Dr. Sclater, 

 Prof. Sherrington, Prof. Sprengel, Sir Gabriel Stokes, 

 Swedish and Norwegian Minister, Swiss Minister, 

 Capt. Swithinbank, Rev. S. Thompson-Yates, Mr. Spencer 



