May 17, 1901.] 
has died at Brighton at the age of about sixty 
years. He was the author of numerous con- 
tributions to the medical journals. 
Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE, who recently gave 
£6,500 to the British Institute of Mining 
Engineers for the encouragement of research, 
has now doubled this sum. 
A TELEGRAM was received at the Harvard 
College Observatory on May 7th from Professor 
Kreutz at Kiel Observatory, stating that the 
south comet will appear in the Northern Hemis- 
phere. It was observed at the Cape of Good 
Hope May 3%.2115 Greenwich Mean Time in 
R.A. 32 40™32'.4 and Dec. — 0° 31/49’ and was 
also observed May 4°.2187 Greenwich Mean 
Time in R.A. 3°54™ 29°.2 and Dec. — 0° 187 27”. 
The physical appearance is as follows: circular, 
less than 1’ diameter, brighter than 3d magni- 
tude, well-defined nucleus, tail longer than 2°. 
THE Society for the Promotion of Hngineer- 
ing Education will hold its ninth annual meet- 
ing at Buffalo, beginning on June 29th. 
A CABLEGRAM to the New York Times states 
that ata meeting of the Royal Society last 
week a plan was considered to enlarge the 
scope of the Society, so that it should embrace 
literature, and the other subjects included in 
the five academies of the Institute of France. 
It is said, however, that no action was taken. 
WE learn from the Northwestern Daily Mail 
of April 22d (Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, 
England) that an urn of ancient workmanship 
has been discovered below the upper Boulder 
Clay, in the Isle of Walney, near Barrow. The 
urn lay ten feet below the surface and some 
forty feet above sea-level in coarse sand on a 
pan of, sandstone beneath the clay. The ex- 
cavation was for brickworks, the manager of 
which is confident that the rock had not 
previously been disturbed. The urn is eight 
inches in diameter, with a wall average one- 
fourth inch in thickness composed of at least 
four layers of a very fine paste of a brown tint 
and exceedingly hard; its outer surface is 
smooth and unornamented. This important 
find is being further investigated by Mr. 
Harper Gaythorpe of Barrow-in- Furness. 
Ir is stated in the Times that experiments 
were carried out in London on May 1st by a 
SCIENCE. 797 
party of balloonists under the direction of Mr. 
Percival Spencer, with the object of testing the 
general direction of the atmospheric currents 
across London and of investigating the phe- 
nomena of sound in the higher reaches of the 
atmosphere. Four balloons ascended from the 
Crystal Palace, St. Anne’s-grounds, Barnes, the 
Welsh Harp, at Hendon, and the West Ham 
Gas Works. The balloon from the Crystal 
Palace, which ascended at 4:04 p. m., reached 
Dorking at 5:55. The balloon which left West 
Ham at 4 p. m. descended at Headley, near 
Epsom. The greatest altitude attained was 5,- 
500 ft. Snow was encountered above the height 
of a mile. 
THE annual meeting of the members of 
the Royal Institution was held in London 
on May ist, Sir James Crichton-Browne, the 
treasurer, being in the chair. The annual re- 
port of the committee of visitors, testifying to 
the continued prosperity and efficient manage- 
ment of the Institution, was read and adopted, 
as was also the report of the Davy-Fara- 
day Research Laboratory. Forty-seven new 
members were elected last year, and 63 lectures 
with 19 evening discourses were delivered. 
The following were elected as officers for 1901— 
1902: President, the Duke of Northumber- 
land; Treasurer Sir James Crichton-Browne ; 
Secretary, Sir William Crookes ; Managers, Sir 
Frederick Abel, Sir William de W. Abney, Sir 
James Blyth, Sir Frederick Bramwell, Dr. 
Thomas Buzzard, Viscount Gort, Dr. Donald 
Hood, Lord Kelvin, Sir Francis Laking, Mr. 
Hugh Leonard, Dr. Frank McClean, Mr. James 
Mansergh, Mr. George Matthey, Mr. W. H. 
Spottiswoode, and Lord Justice Stirling; visi- 
tors, Sir Andrew Noel Agnew, Dr. C. E. Beevor, 
Mr. W. H. Bennett, Dr. Francis Elgar, Mr. 
Joseph G. Gordon, Dr. J. Dundas Grant, Lord 
Greenock, Mr. Maures Horner, Mr. H. F. 
Makins, Sir Thomas Sanderson, Mr. W. S. 
Squire, Mr. Harold Swithinbank, Mr. J. J. 
Vezey, Mr. Roger W. Wallace and Mr. James 
Wimshurst. 
AT the meeting of the Council of the Royal 
Geographical Society, on April 28th, the Royal 
medals and other awards were made as fol- 
lows: The founders’ medal to the Duke of 
