September 30, 1909] 



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the advancement of anatomical and anthropological science 

 in the case of Prof. Cleland, and of mathematical science 

 in the case of Prof. Jack, and the presentation to the 

 University of portraits or busts by an eminent artist. 

 Representative committees have been formed to administer 

 each fund, and the preliminary lists of subscriptipns show 

 that the movement has already met with a hearty response. 

 Men of science and others desiring to take part in the 

 recognition and to contribute to either fund are invited 

 to communicate with the honorary secretary and treasurer, 

 Mr. Archibald Craig, clerk of the University general 

 council, 149 West George Street, Glasgow. 



The Antarctic vessel Nimrod, now moored in the 

 Thames off the Temple Pier, was opened yesterday for the 

 inspection of the public by the Lord Mayor of London. 



Shocks of earthquake on the morning of September 22 

 are reported from the Bouches-du-Rhone, Rognes, Reggio 

 di Calabria, Messina, and Athens, but in no case does 

 much damage appear to have been done. 



It is stated by the British Antarctic Expedition, iqio, 

 that arrangements have been made for the purchase of the 

 Terra Nova for the projected expedition of next year. The 

 vessel, which is a whaler, was built in 18S4. In 1903 

 she was purchased by the Admiralty as relief ship for the 

 Discovery expedition. The year 1905 saw her in the 

 service of the North Polar expedition, on a visit to Franz 

 Josef Land. The size and strength of the ship make her 

 a fitting receptacle for the extensive equipment which it 

 is necessary she should carry for the full success of the 

 plans of the expedition. After being duly inspected on 

 behalf of the expedition in Newfoundland she will sail for 

 England and, it is hoped, reach the Thames about the 

 end of October or early in November. The officers and 

 crew for the e.xpedition have now been selected. 



The presidential address of Mr. W. Noble Twelvetrees 

 will be delivered to the Civil and Mechanical Engineers' 

 Society at Caxton Hall, Westminster, on Thursday. 

 October 7. 



According to a Times correspondent a group of French, 

 German, and Belgian patrons of aviation are offering a 

 prize of 10,000?. to be awarded to the aviator who rises, 

 with a fixed point as centre, to a height of 250 metres, 

 flies a thousand metres from this altitude in a horizontal 

 direction, and finally, returning, soars for a quarter of an 

 hour at a height of 20 metres over the point of departure. 

 An alternative feat is to make a flight from Brussels to 

 Paris or from Brussels to Cologne, without a stop, at a 

 speed of 60 kilometres an hour. 



It is stated in Tropical Life that an International Cotton 

 and Fibre Exhibition will be held in London in 1912, and 

 that in conjunction with it there will be an important con- 

 ference for the purpose of considering the cotton and fibre 

 questions in their various aspects. A section of the exhibi- 

 tion will be devoted to other fibres, animal, vegetable, and 

 mineral. 



According to a Reuter message from Rome, the Juba, in 

 Benadir, has formed a new mouth. Some months ago a 

 violent typhoon broke through the spit of land separating 

 the sea from that part of the river which runs parallel 

 with the coast, and the action of the sea and the current 

 combined have since made a new mouth- 450 yards in 

 breadth and formed a long lagoon which, with little ex- 

 pense, can be converted into a serviceable harbour. 

 The same message states that the Italian Resident, 

 Captain Ferrari, has found that the Webbi Shebeli does 

 NO. 2083, VOL. 81] 



not, as was supposed, lose itself in marshes in tlie Ballis 

 country, but is an afHuent of the Juba, into which it runs 

 some 120 miles from the latter's mouths. 



The Electrician states that a gift has been made to the 

 American Institute of Electrical Engineers by the Western 

 Electric Company of a valuable collection of patent 

 specifications. The specifications range from May 30, 1871, 

 to December, 1908. and number approximately 100,000. 



.Among the popular lectures shortly to be delivered at 

 the Royal Victoria Hall, Waterloo Bridge Road, are the 

 following: — on October 5, " Marconi's Transatlantic Wire- 

 less Telegraphy," by Prof. W. Lynd ; on October 19, " The 

 Great Earthquake in Jamaica," by Dr. Vaughan Cornish; 

 on October 26, " New Guinea," by Mr. J. E. Liddiard. 



The annual exhibition of the Royal Photographic 

 Society, at the New Gallery, Regent Street, will remain 

 open until the end of October. It is divided into four 

 principal sections — pictorial, scientific and technical, pro- 

 fessional work, and trade exhibits of apparatus and 

 materials. The scientific student will find matters of 

 interest in every section, including even the pictorial, for, 

 as the society has reverted to its old custom of stating 

 the method of production, the pictorial photographs may 

 be looked upon, if so desired, as specimens of the various 

 processes. The section specially devoted to scientific and 

 technical subjects is this year, of a wider interest than 

 usual. The greater number of exhibits represent the 

 character and habits of various living creatures, from the 

 largest to the smallest, and in this department is included 

 special collections of work by the Zoological Photographic 

 Club and by a number of German naturalists, the latter 

 having been collected by R. Voightlander, of Leipzig. The 

 astronomical photographs include recent plates from 

 Greenwich, Stonyhurst College, and the Heidelberg 

 Observatory. Among those who show spectrum photo- 

 graphs we notice the names of Prof. Zeeman, Prof. H. 

 Kayser, A. Fowler, and C. H. Fabry and H. Buisson. 

 Dr. C. L. Leonard contributes Rontgen-ray photographs 

 that show peristaltic waves in the stomach and intestines. 

 Experiments on the resolving power and other properties of 

 photographic plates are shown by C. E. K. Mees and E. K. 

 Hunter. Photomicrography, telephotography, and balloon 

 photography are Well represented, and there are a few 

 interesting exhibits that refer to the methods of process 

 work. Of colour photography, although there are many 

 specimens, the only progress indicated is in the direction 

 of the perfecting of the newer plates, more particularly 

 the Thames plate. The regular disposition of the three 

 colours in this plate renders it specially adaptable to re- 

 production by different methods. We would point out that 

 many photographs of great interest are mounted as lantern- 

 slides, and that these are shown on a stand by themselves, 

 away from the general collection of scientific and technical 

 exhibits. 



Rainv, cool, and unsettled weather has prevailed through- 

 out September, and although the rainfall in the aggregate 

 has not generally been excessive, there have been few days 

 without rain, except during the third week of the month. 

 The total measurement of rain is in excess of the average 

 in London by about 03 inch, and rain fell on nineteen 

 days. The day temperatures have continued remarkably 

 low for the time of year, and at the London reporting 

 station of the Meteorological Office, in St. James's Park, 

 the sheltered thermometer has not once touched 70°. At 

 Greenwich there was only one day with 70° or above, the 

 highest reading being 71°, on September 6. There has 

 not been so cold a September since 1897, and as recently 

 as 1907 there were fifteen days during the month with a 



