THE INVENTIONS EXAIBITION 
le the presence of a crowded and distinguished 
assembly the Inventions Exhibition was opened by 
the Prince of Wales on Monday. The Exhibition is, as 
usual on first days, still in a somewhat chaotic condition, 
and we can do no more this week than refer to 
the leading incidents of the opening ceremony. Sir 
Frederick Bramwell, Chairman of the Executive Council, 
in his address to the Prince of Wales, gave a sketch of 
the progress and objects of the Exhibition, which, he 
pointed out, is intended to illustrate the progress of in- 
ventions since the year 1862, and that of musical instru- 
ments and appliances since the commencement of the 
present century. The labours of the different committees 
were, he stated, rendered extremely onerous by the vast 
number of applications received—a number far greater 
then we had space to accommodate. Influential Com- 
missions have been nominated by Austria-Hungary, 
France, China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Russia, Siam, and 
Switzerland, from which countries interesting and valu- 
able exhibits have been received or are promised. 
Arrangements have been made with the Council of the 
Royal Albert Hall by which that building forms an in- 
tegral portion of the Exhibition, with the National Fish 
Culture Association for the maintenance of the Aquarium, 
and with the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society 
for the holding of the usual periodical flower and fruit 
shows. The Old London Street, which was so popular a 
feature in last year’s Exhibition, has been maintained. 
Many small annexes have been swept away, and in their 
places spacious galleries have been erected. Not only 
has greater exhibiting space been thus obtained, but the 
gardens, which are so great a source of attraction to 
visitors, have actually been enlarged. Notwithstanding 
the fact that the gallery used last year for machinery has 
been greatly extended to meet the requirements of ex- 
hibitors, it proved to be inadequate for the many im- 
NATURE 
portant inventions for which motive power was desired ; | 
indeed, it has been found necessary to furnish such power | 
in no less than three other galleries. 
“ The employment | 
of electricity for the purposes of lighting,” Sir Frederick | 
said, “is undoubtedly one of the most striking instances 
of the application of science to the purposes of daily life ; | 
we have, therefore, not hesitated to give this subject | 
special prominence. 
it is believed, render any sudden failure of the lights im- 
possible, and will favourably display the most recent and 
improved apparatus, and the advances that up to this 
date have been made in electric lighting. After most 
careful experiments we have ventured to employ, for the 
garden illumination, the incandescent electric lamp, and 
The method we have adopted will, | 
we have done so in a manner and on a scale which, we | 
believe, has never before been attempted. As a division | 
of the Exhibition is devoted to music, we have set apart 
an important portion of the buildings to the illustration of | 
instruments and appliances appertaining to that art ; and 
we have invited the formation of a historical loan collec- 
tion of musical instruments, which we believe is of a 
deeply interesting character. 
Highness to declare this Exhibition open we desire to 
express the hope that it may, on the one hand, be the 
means of bringing valuable and meritorious inventions 
prominently before the general public, to the benefit and 
credit of the exhibitors, and that it may, on the other 
hand, be the means by which that public may, within the 
area of one exhibition, be enabled to appreciate the 
marvellous progress which during the past quarter of a 
century every industry has achieved.” 
The Prince of Wales, in reply said: It is with much 
pleasure that I have listened to the report of the Execu- 
tive Council, and I fully appreciate the labours which you 
have bestowed upon this great undertaking. At the 
closing of the International Fisheries Exhibition I took 
In requesting your Royal | 
| May 7, 1885 
the opportunity of expressing a hope that an Inter- 
national Inventions Exhibition might be held in these 
buildings during the present year; and I am sincerely grati- 
fied to find that this hope has been realised. The scope of 
this Exhibition is, indeed, vast, and I can readily compre- 
hend the difficulties which must have beset you and the 
Committee of Advice in your endeavours to secure 
adequate representation for each branch of industry. I 
have observed with much pleasure that the classification 
originally adopted has been made the practical basis of 
the allotment of space in the Exhibition, and that the 
exhibits in each group have, as far as possible, been 
placed together. I am convinced that by following this plan 
you have materially increased the educational value of the 
Exhibition. I readily echo the sentiments of gratitude 
which you have expressed for the invaluable aid rendered 
by the guarantors ; and I join with you in welcoming the 
representatives of those foreign countries who are present 
here to-day. 
The Prince of Wales, after declaring the Exhibition 
open, made a tour of the galleries in company with the 
Princess of Wales and many others of the distinguished 
visitors who were present. 
THE FLORA OF BANK-NOTES 
“7 A Flore des Billets de Banque” is the title of an 
article in Scéence et Nature, an article which, 
in spite of an amusing tendency inseparable from all 
things savouring of sensational science, may suggest 
thoughts more or less alarming in view of recent dis- 
coveries in bacteriology. It is no new fact that books, 
coins, and other articles of a durable nature which pass 
much from hand to hand may be the means of transmitting 
Fic. 
infectious diseases, and if these infectious diseases are 
caused by visible and tangible agents, it is not going far 
to expect that the agents should be discoverable on the 
transmitting media by means of the microscope, and by 
other methods employed by the specialists who devote 
themselves to tracing the awful bacterium to its home. 
Of course it is now matter of fact that “ bacteria” (using 
the term in its widest sense) can be and are causal agents 
in disease, and the writer of the article referred to shows 
that bacteria and other minute organisms always occur 
on bank-notes; there is, perhaps, no more in this obser- 
vation than that it demonstrates a fact in a particular case 
