July 30, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



143 



Some particulars have already appeared in 

 The Times of June 7 about the local arrange- 

 ments for the forthcoming meeting. There is 

 every prospect that a considerable body of 

 members of the association will cross the 

 Atlantic, though the inducements which are 

 ofiFered to undertake the journey are nothing 

 like so tempting as in the case in the earlier 

 Canadian meetings. The transatlantic steam- 

 ship companies have decided that it is impos- 

 sible to depart from the agreement which 

 exists between them not to make any reduc- 

 tion of fares during August, though so far as 

 possible they are prepared to allot special 

 accommodation to members and associates 

 traveling as first-class passengers. The Cana- 

 dian railways have arranged to carry mem- 

 bers of the British Association party at special 

 rates, generally amounting to a single fare for 

 the double journey. It is impossible, of 

 course, to estimate with exactness the cost of 

 the trip, everything depending on the indi- 

 vidual tastes of the visitor and on the length 

 of time he is prepared to spend in Canada. 



In no case, however, can the trip be under- 

 taken without a considerable expenditure of 

 time and money. The local committee, with- 

 out making any allowance for the reduction of 

 railway rates, has estimated that the cost of 

 the return journey, occupying about six weeks 

 from Liverpool, will range from $384 to $500, 

 or say in round figures from £75 to £100, 

 according to the nature of the accommodation 

 required. To meet the expenses of the visit 

 the dominion government has made an appro- 

 priation of $25,000, while the city of Winni- 

 peg has voted $5,000. A portion of these 

 grants will be available to lighten the cost of 

 the visit in the case of those taking an active 

 part in the meeting, but the relief thus af- 

 forded will only be very small, and necessarily 

 considerations of both time and cost will pre- 

 vent many of the leaders of scientific thought 

 in this country from undertaking the journey 

 to Winnipeg. Those, however, who do go will, 

 it may be hoped, form a fair representation of 

 British men of science; and the particulars 

 which are now available about the sectional 

 programs afford abundant evidence that on the 



scientific side the meeting will not fall below 

 the high standard of former gatherings, either 

 in this country or in the colonies. 



The president of the association at Winni- 

 peg will be Sir Joseph J. Thomson, F.R.S., 

 Cavendish professor of experimental physics 

 at Cambridge. In his opening address the 

 president will refer to the importance of orig- 

 inal research as a means of education, the 

 advantages and disadvantages as a training 

 for work in science of the systems of educa- 

 tion now in force in our schools and universi- 

 ties. He will deal with the light thrown by 

 recent investigation on the nature of elec- 

 tricity; on the relation between matter and 

 ether and the part played by the ether in 

 modern physics; and a discussion of some 

 problems raised by the discovery of radium. 



THE SMITHSOXIAy AFRICAN EXPEDITION 

 Through the Smithsonian African Expedi- 

 tion under the direction of Mr. Theodore 

 Roosevelt, the National Zoological Park at 

 Washington has been presented by Mr. W. W. 

 McMillan, of Juju Farm, near Nairobi, Brit- 

 ish East Africa, with an exceptional collection 

 of live African animals. 



In a letter recently received at the institu- 

 tion from Lieut. Col. Edgar A. Mearns, of the 

 expedition, it is stated that the collection in- 

 cludes eleven large ma m mals and three large 

 birds, all in fine condition and for the most 

 part well broken to captivity, as follows: a 

 male and female lion, two years old; a male 

 and two female lions, seventeen months old; 

 a female leopard, a pet of Mrs. McMillan ; two 

 cheetahs; a wart hog, two years old; one 

 Thompson's and one Grant's gazelle, well 

 grown; a large eagle of imusual species; a 

 small vulture, and a large Buteo. Specimens 

 of none of these, except the lions and leopard, 

 are at present contained in the park. 



The collection is now at the farm near Nai- 

 robi. Mr. A. B. Baker, assistant superin- 

 tendent of the National Zoological Park, has 

 been designated to take charge of its transpor- 

 tation to this country, and for this purpose 

 has sailed from New York on the White Star 

 Line steamer Arabic. On his way to Nairobi, 



