352 



NATURE 



[September i6, 1C09 



other writings include the third volume of Stevenson's 

 ■" Birds of Norfolli," a revised second edition (1890) of 

 Lubbock'^ " Fauna of Norfolk," Sir Thomas Browne's 

 " Notes and Letters on the Natural History of Norfolk," 

 a " Guide to Norwich Castle Museum," and a paper on 

 the former breeding of the crane in East Anglia. At the 

 time of his death Mr. Southwell was in his seventy-ninth 

 year. 



M. S.antos-Di:mont has accomplished several successful 

 flights with an aeroplane having a supporting surface of 

 only nine square metres. On September 13 he travelled 

 a cross-country distance of about five miles in five minutes 

 upon this machine. 



Science announces that the President of the United States 

 has issued a proclamation setting aside the Oregon caves 

 in the Siskiyou National Forest, in the State of Oregon, as 

 a national monument. The area of the reservation is 

 about 480 acres. 



The Paris correspondent of the Times announces that 

 the fourth International .Aeronautical Congress will be held 

 at Nancy on September 18-23. Major Renard (France) 

 will read a paper on the units of aeronautics and their 

 nomenclature, and will submit a report on the results and 

 lessons of the recent aviation week at Rbeims. 



Mr. F. C. Constable, Wick Court, near Bristol, sends 

 notes of observations of a remarkable pink glow observed 

 in the direction of the sun between 6.40 p.m. and 6.58 p.m. 

 on September 12. The pink colour seemed to be the same 

 as that observed by him on a steamer journeying from 

 Bombay to Karachi in 1883, a few days after the Krakatoa 

 eiuption. 



Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson. F.R.S., has consented 

 to become the first president of the Illuminating Engineer- 

 ing Society, and influential support has been received from 

 many distinguished authorities on matters of illumination 

 in this country, on the Continent, and in America. The 

 society will enter upon its opening session in November, 

 and has every reason to hope for a long and prosperous 

 existence. Anyone interested in the objects of the society 

 and desiring to become a member should apply to Mr. L. 

 Gaster, hon. secretary, 32 Victoria Street, London, S.W. 



At the autumn meeting of the Institute of Metals, which 

 will be held at Manchester on October 14 and 15, it is 

 expected that the following papers will be presented : — 

 the constitution and properties of the ternary alloys 

 aluminium-copper-tin, J. H. Andrew and C. A. Edwaids; 

 the surface appearance of solders, C. O. Bannister and 

 H. J. Tabor ; the technical assay of zinc, H. W. Green- 

 wood ; notes on the production of pure spelter, J. S. Glen 

 Primrose ; some causes of the corrosion of copper and 

 brass, E. L. Rhead ; the elastic breakdown of ductile 

 materials. Prof. C. A. Smith ; the copper-zinc alloys — a 

 study of volume changes during solidification, Prof. T. 

 Turner and M. T. Murray. 



The Reale Accademia dei Lincei makes the following 

 announcements : — The royal prize for mathematics is 

 divided equally between Profs. Enriques and Levi-Civita, 

 and that for social and economic sciences is similarly 

 divided between Prof. Rodolfo Benini and Dr. G. 

 Mazzarella. From the Santoro foundation the academy 

 has awarded a prize of 10,000 lire to Prof. Quirino 

 Majorana, for his researches on wireless telephony, which 

 have resulted in communication being established up to 

 <5istances of 300-400 kilometres or more ; in addition, 

 minor awards to Prof. Gabbi, for researches on Malta 

 NO. 2081, VOL. 81] 



fever, and Dr. Canovetti, to enable him to continue his 

 experiments on air resistance. From the same benefac- 

 tion grants have also been made to Profs. Vinassy de 

 Regny and Gortani, for Alpine studies; Prof. Gorini, for 

 investigating diseases of cheese ; Prof. Silvestri, noxious 

 insects ; Prof. Almagii, study of precipices ; the Lombardy 

 commission for seiches on Laghi di Garda and Maggiore ; 

 Dr. .\betti, solar physics, in Prof. Hale's observatory. 

 The Carpi prize for experimental physiology is divided 

 between Drs. Baglioni and Lombroso. The late Prof. 

 Sella has bequeathed to the academy a prize of 1000 lire, 

 to be awarded annually to some assistant in an Italian 

 physical laboratory, this being the second gift that the 

 academy has received during the year. 



The seventh annual meeting of the South African . 

 .Association for the .Advancement of Science will be held < 

 in Bloemfontein on September 27 to October 2 inclusive, 

 under the presidency of Sir Hamilton Goold-.Adams, 

 G.C.M.G. The business of the meeting will be held in 

 three sections as follows : — Section I., astronomy, mathe- 

 matics, physics, meteorology, geodesy, surveying, engineer- 

 ing, architecture, and geography : president. Prof. W. A. 

 Douglas Rudge, Bloemfontein; Section II., chemistry, 

 bacteriology, geology, botany, mineralogy, zoology, agri- 

 culture, forestry, sanitary science : president. Dr. C. F. 

 Juritz, Cape Town ; Section III., anthropology, ethnology, 

 education, history, mental science, philology, political 

 economy, sociology, and statistics : president, Mr. Hugh 

 Gunn, Bloemfontein. The second award of the South 

 .Africa medal and grant will be made to Dr. Harry Bolus 

 at this meeting. The_ South African Ornithologists' Union, 

 will meet in Bloemfontein at the same time and in the 

 same buildings as the association. A series of lectures, 

 under the' auspices of the association, on Darwinism and 

 human hfe, by Prof. J. .Arthur Thomson, is being 

 delivered in South .Africa by way of celebrating the Darwin 

 centenary. The honorary general secretaries of the meeting 

 are Dr. J. D'. F. Gilchrist, South African College, Cape 

 Town, and Mr. R. T. .A. Innes, Government Observatory, 

 Johannesburg. 



A LARGE portion of the August number of the Museums 

 Journal is taken up by the report of the meeting of the 

 .Museui:is Association held at Maidstone in July. The pro- 

 gramme of the meeting included a visit to Ightham to 

 inspect the collection of Hint implements brought together 

 by Mr. B. Harrison. 



In the September number of Witherby's British Birds 

 Mr. P. H. Barr appears to have disposed effectually of the 

 remarkable idea that the black-headed gull acquires the 

 feature to which it owes its name by means of a mysterious 

 colour-change in the feathers of the head. He has proved 

 that a moult takes place early in the year, usually in 

 February, which embraces, not only the head, but the 

 breast and back, and that at the conclusion of the process, 

 which takes about a week, the black skull-cap is acquired. 

 Occasionally young birds assume the black cap of the 

 breeding plumage while they are still in the immature dress 

 elsewhere. 



According to Bulletin No. 33 of the Biological Survey 

 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is devoted 

 to the brown rat in the States, serious efforts are being 

 made in North America and Japan to reduce the numbers 

 of this rodent, which is regarded as the worst mammalian 

 pest in the world. So far, however, the campaign has not 

 been crowned with success, the annual destruction of from 

 several hundred tliousand to a million head in Japan 

 making no appreciable diminution in its numbers. In the 



