360 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1319 



uralist of Catania, Sicily, Dolomieu gave in 

 the following brief paragraphs the main re- 

 sults of his explorations (pp. 10, 11) : 



1. I found no trace of Yolcanoes anywhere in 

 the Val Demona. The neighborhood of Ali 

 does not offer any volcanic material; the 

 waters which supply the hot baths established 

 on the coast are the only indications I have 

 found of subterranean fires. 



2. The Liparian Islands are exceedingly 

 curious, and they well merit the attention of 

 naturalists. An interesting collection could 

 be made here of lavas and other volcanic prod- 

 ucts, but I did not have time to accomplish 

 this. 



3. The mines of Val Demona are grouped in 

 a triangle of mountains which occupy the pro- 

 montory of Sicily ; all the veins traverse schist. 

 They contain silver, copper, lead, antimony, 

 zinc and mercury. But none of these mines 

 have been exploited and it is almost impos- 

 sible to get specimens. In my whole journey 

 through these mountains I was only able to 

 pick up a few pieces which I took from the 

 outcrops of the veins. 



4. The granites are present in great quantity 

 in the mountains of Messina, and I believe 

 that a part of the columns made of this rock 

 which one sees in Sicily were quarried in these 

 mountains. 



5. I do not know whether there are real coal 

 mines at Messina. I have only found a bitumi- 

 nous earth very common throughout Sicily. 



We may note that Dolomieu was enough in- 

 terested in the report that there was a deposit 

 of beryls near the village of Gratteri, to visit 

 the place. The locality was in a ravine which 

 traversed a hill. Here a number of geodes had 

 been found, resembling those of Grenoble in 

 France. They had a triple envelop of black 

 iron-ore, brown iron-ore and gray clay, and 

 some of them displayed within polyhedral, 

 transparent crystals. Dolomieu could only 

 find a few unsatisfactory specimens, and was 

 forced to buy some at Gratteri, where he 

 had to pay as much for them as for genuine 

 beryls. In reality they were either hyalin 

 quartz, or the lightnblue strontium sulphate 

 called celestine (pp. 90, 91). 



Deodat Dolomieu was born at Dolomieu, 

 near Tour-du-Pin, in Dauphine, France, on 

 June 23, 1Y50. He died at Ohateauneuf, near 

 La Clayette, department Saone-et-Loire, !N"o- 

 vember 16, 1801. Regarding the disposition of 

 his remains, the following information is 

 given by Professor Alfred Lacroix in his bio- 

 graphical sketch of Dolomieu.^ 



Dalomieu was interred at Chateauneuf, near La 

 Clayette (Saone-et-Loire). His body probably 

 rests in the vault of the Dr6e fajnily, but his heart 

 was placed in an urn (39.2 em. X 23.6 cm.) of black 

 porphyrite with largo crystals of white feldspar, 

 which surmounts a fine prism (1 m. 29.8 X 21.6 

 em.) of basalt from Auvergne, itself supported by 

 a pedestal of Albanese peperino and marble (vio- 

 let breccia). This little monument, which formed 

 part of the ooHection of his brother-in-law (Cata- 

 logue of the eight colleotions composing the Min- 

 eralogical Museum of the Marquis Etienne de 

 Dr6e, Pards, 1811, p. 249), finds itself to-day placed 

 at the entrance of Ijhe mineralogical gallery of the 

 Museum d'Histoire Naturel in Paris. 



At the request of the Miarquise de Dr6e, her 

 brother's heart was, ait the time of her demise, 

 transported to her own tomb at Dolomieu. In the 

 park of the chateau of Chateauneuf, she had 

 caused to be erected a small monument formed by 

 a block of the red granite of the country. 



George F. Kunz 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



THE MACKENZIE DAVIDSON MEMORIAL 



An influential English committee has 

 issued an appeal which in part says: 



The death of Sir James Mackenzie Davidson in 

 the prime of life has deprived radiology of one of 

 its most distinguished exponents, whose name is 

 specially associated with the development of radio- 

 graphic technique, and particularly that of stereo- 

 scopic radiography, and with the introduction in 

 this country of the method of the localization of 

 foreign bodies to which so many thousands of 

 wounded men owe a deep debt of gratitude. 



Mackenzie Davidson's reputation was interna- 

 tional. In this country he was rightly regarded as 

 the head of his profession, and throughout his ca- 

 reer he was unsparing in his efforts to raise the 



2 ' ' Notire historique sur Dfiodat Dolomieu, ' ' 

 Paris, 1918, p. 83, note 85; Institut de Prance, 

 Acad§mie des Sciences. 



