NOVEMBEE 15, 1895.] 



SGIENGE. 



663 



The death is announced in Usambara of 

 Dr. Stapff, the geologist who, at the request 

 of the German East Africa Company, pro- 

 ceeded a few months ago to East Africa in 

 order to prospect for gold. 



Father Htjkst, known for his contribu- 

 tions to archaeology, died recently in his 53d 

 year. 



The death is announced of Prof. Herman 

 Hellriegel, the well-known agriculturist, at 

 the age of 63. Most of his researches were 

 concerned with chemical and physiological 

 questions relating to the nutrition of plants. 

 His chief discoverj'', which was communi- 

 cated to the agricultural chemistry section 

 of the NatwforscherVersammlung in 1886, was 

 the fixation of gaseous nitrogen by legumin- 

 ous plants through the medium of their root 

 nodules. Dr. Hellriegel was an honorary 

 member of the Royal Agricultural Society 

 of England, and a foreign associate of the 

 Societe Rationale d' Agriculture of Paris. 



The fifth centenary of the birth of Guten- 

 berg will be celebrated in 1897 by the city 

 of Mayence. 



The new session of the Eoyal Geographi- 

 cal Society will be opened on November 

 11th, when, after a short opening address by 

 the President, Mr. A. Montefiore, will give 

 an account of the progress of the Jackson- 

 Harmsworth Expedition. At the second 

 meeting Dr. K. Grossmann will give an ac- 

 count of the results of his recent visit to 

 the Faeroe Islands, and at the December 

 meeting the Eev. Walter Weston will de- 

 scribe his explorations in the Central Alps 

 of Japan. AU the papers will be fully il- 

 lustrated by means of the lantern. After 

 Christmas among other papers that may be 

 expected are the following : ' Various 

 Movements of the Earth's Crust,' by Pro- 

 fessor John Milne, F. E. S.; ' British Central 

 Africa, Its Geography and Resources,' by 

 Mr. Alfred Sharpe ; ' Exploration in the 

 Alps of New Zealand,' by Mr. E. A. Fitz- 



gerald; ' Our Knowledge of the Oceans,' by 

 Dr. John Murray ; ' The Geography of the 

 English Lake District,' by Mr. J. E. Marr, 

 F.R.S. It is hoped that Mr. and Mrs. 

 Littledale will have returned from their 

 adventurous journey across Central Asia 

 before the end of the session and will give 

 to the Society an account of their travels. 

 The afternoon meetings in the map room, 

 begun last session, will be resumed during 

 the present session. Among the subjects to 

 be brought forward for discussion will be: 

 ' The Construction and Uses of Globes,' by 

 Mr. J. Y. Buchanan, F.R.S. ; ' The Struggle 

 for Life in the North Polar Region,' by 

 Mr. A. Trevor-Battye ; 'An attempt to Re- 

 construct the Maps of Herodotus,' by J. L. 

 Miers. 



M. B. C, Perth Amboy, N. J., writes to 

 the New York Evening Post, as follows: 



" My mother — a sister of Gen. Meade — 

 was born in Spain, and lived there until she 

 was four years old, at which time her parents 

 returned to this country and settled in 

 Philadelphia. For some years Spanish was 

 the only language spoken in the family; 

 but when old enough my mother and her 

 sisters were placed at Madame Segoing's 

 boarding school, whicli in the earlj' part of 

 the century was one of the most famous 

 schools in the country. There she finished 

 her education, and throughout her life had 

 perfect control of the French language. 

 The Spanish, however, she entirely forgot. 

 My mother's last illness was tedious, her 

 mind becoming gradually weakened ; but 

 long after she had ceased to speak English 

 she would talk fluently in French. Then 

 there came an interval towards the close of 

 her life when she did not speak at all; but 

 the last few words of all were — Spanish !" 

 Cases have been previously reported in 

 which a person in his last illness has used 

 the long forgotten language of childhood, 

 but the above case is of interest owing to 

 the use of an intermediate language." 



