744 



SCIENGE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 178. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



THE EUMFOED MEDAL. 



At the annual meeting of the American Acad- 

 emy of Arts and Sciences held in Boston on 

 May 11th the report of the Eumford Committee 

 which was there presented contained the fol- 

 lowing important statement and recommenda- 

 tion : 



" The committee has also considered at length 

 the question of an award of the Eumford medal. 

 The claims of various investigators and inven- 

 tors have been considered with great care, and 

 more than one among them appeared to be de- 

 serving of such recognition. After prolonged 

 consideration the Eumford Committee has 

 voted at two separate sessions (in accordance 

 with long-established custom) to recommend to 

 the Academy an award of the medal to Profes- 

 sor James E. Keeler, now Director of the Lick 

 Observatory, for his application of the spectro- 

 scope to astronomical problems, and especially 

 for his investigations of the proper motions of 

 the nebulse, and the physical constitution of the 

 rings of the planet Saturn, by the use of that 

 instrument." 



The report of the Committee was presented 

 by the Chairman, Professor Cross, who ex- 

 plained at some length the particular nature 

 and merit of the investigations of Professor 

 Keeler for which the award of the Eumford 

 premium was proposed, after which the Acad- 

 emy voted unanimously to adopt the recom- 

 mendation of the Committee. 



The last previous award of the medal was to 

 Mr. T. A. Edison, in 1895. Among others who 

 have recently received it are Professors Picker- 

 ing, Michelson, Langley and Eowland. 



THE COMING MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSO- 

 CIATION IN BRISTOL. 



We take from the British Medical Journal the 

 following particulars in regard to the prepara- 

 tions for the meeting of the British Association 

 in Bristol from September 7th to 14th. The 

 latest published list of subscriptions shows that 

 over £3,400 has been promised, that the execu- 

 tive need not fear being short of the prime 

 necessity that makes such a visit a success. The 

 Victoria Eooms are to be fitted up for the re- 

 ception room, the large hall being used for that 



purpose and the small hall as a smoking room. 

 The sectional meetings will be held in the 

 school room of the Victoria Chapel, the Fine 

 Arts Academy, the museum lecture room. Uni- 

 versity College, the Blind Asylum Hall, the 

 Hannah More Hall, the Merchant Venturers' 

 Technical College, and the Park Place Schools. 

 The Drill Hall will be fitted up as a lounging 

 room, a band (the Eoyal Horse Artillery) pro- 

 vided, and various objects of interest shown ; 

 this will be open to all members and associates 

 of the Association free during the afternoon, 

 but in the evening the hall will be open to the 

 public at a charge. The President's address 

 and the lectures will be given in the Colston 

 Hall, as will also be the soiree given by the 

 General Committee. The other soiree will be 

 given in the buildings and grounds of Clifton 

 College on the invitation of the Bishop of Here- 

 ford, the Headmaster, and Mrs. Glazebrook. 



In the Zoological Gardens will be a biological 

 exhibition at which many objects of great scien- 

 tific interest will be shown. Arrangements have 

 been made with the authorities of the Marine 

 Biological Station at Plymouth to show some of 

 their most interesting tanks. A large number of 

 excursions have been arranged to various places 

 of interest — namely. Wells, Glastonbury and 

 the lake villages, Cheddar Cliffs and Caves ; 

 Bath, where the corporation will show the mag- 

 nificent baths recently opened ; Bradford-on- 

 Avon,with its Saxon church and Norman bridge; 

 Tortworth, on the invitation of Lord Ducie ; 

 possibly Salisbury and Stonehenge ; the works 

 at Swindon ; the docks at Avonmouth, with a 

 trip down the river to visit the Channel Fleet, 

 if the Admiralty will allow it to come ; and 

 many others of interest to geologists, engineers 

 and botanists. A new feature will be introduced 

 in short bicycle rides personally conducted to 

 many of the Eoman or British camps around 

 Bristol. 



The literature usually distributed is in a for- 

 ward state, and the handbook will, it is hoped, 

 be the most complete ever given out at a meet- 

 ing of the Association. The articles are now all 

 in the printer's hands. Eight gentlemen have 

 kindly consented to give garden parties, and 

 Clifton College masters will entertain a large 

 party on September 12th. The invitations, 



