836 
THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 
Dr. J. W. GREGORY, who was appointed 
scientific leader of the British Antarctic Expe- 
dition and as such recently contributed to 
Nature a plan of the scientific work, has now 
stated that he cannot accept service under the 
regulations laid down. This resignation, for 
so it has been regarded by the committee, is a 
very severe blow to the prospects of the expe- 
dition, or at least to the scientific results that 
might have been expected. Some, perhaps, 
prophesied failure when they saw the attempt 
that was made from the first to place the expe- 
dition under admiralty control and naval disci- 
pline. Friction and consequent heat became 
inevitable when the committee proceeded to 
appoint two leaders—a naval and a scientific— 
without defining their powers from the outset. 
It is well known that the meetings of this com- 
mittee have been a series of fights between the 
geographers and naval men as opposed to the 
purely scientific men; and Dr. Gregory has 
over and over again been on the point of re- 
We understand that the ultimate dis- 
pute was over the question of landing, which 
signing. 
Dr, Gregory wished to have fixed as a main 
object of the expedition, and not left entirely 
to the discretion of an unscientific commander. 
But the actual cause of rupture is immaterial. 
The position, thanks to the naval manoeuvres, 
has always been an: impossible one for the 
scientific men While Dr. Gregory’s absence in 
Australia has placed him at a disadvantage. 
Sir Clements Markham may be congratulated ; 
but the committee will have a difficulty in 
finding a head for the scientific staff with half 
the competence of Dr. Gregory. The only 
satisfactory feature of the affair is that there 
has been no unpleasantness between members 
of the scientific staff, though doubtless some 
of them would be glad to follow Dr. Gregory’s 
example. 
SCLENCE. 
[N.S. Vou, XIII. No. 334. 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
Dr. FREDERICK PETERSON, of Columbia Uni- 
versity, has been appointed by Governor Odell 
the medical member of the State Lunacy Com- 
mission. Dr. Peterson’s appointment at the 
present time is especially fortunate, owing to 
the complications in connection with the State 
Pathological Institute, which will doubtless be 
settled with regard to the best interests of 
science and the care of the insane in the State 
hospitals. 
AT a meeting of convocation on April 20th, 
McGill University conferred on Dr. Robert Bell, 
of the Geological Survey of Canada, the degree 
of Doctor of Science. 
Dr. JACOB ERIKSSON, professor of plant 
physiology at the Agricultural Station, Stock- 
holm, has been elected a member of the Stock- 
holm Academy of Sciences. 
Dr. Ernst KoKeEn, professor of mineralogy 
and geology in the University at Tubingen, has 
been elected a corresponding member of the 
Geological Society of London. 
THE Geographical Society of Paris has 
awarded the Henri Duveyrier gold medal to 
Dr. Cureau and the Alexandre Boutroue silver 
medal to Dr. F. Weisgerber. 
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY has conferred the 
degree of D.Sc. upon Professor A. H. Church, 
F.R.S., in recognition of his contributions to 
chemical and mineralogical science. 
A.S. Hircucocr, of the Kansas Agricultural 
Station, has been appointed assistant agrostolo- 
gist in the United States Department of Agri- 
culture. 
Dr. CLAYTON H. SHARP, instructor in physics 
at Cornell University, has resigned this posi- 
tion to become testing officer of the Lamp 
Testing Bureau. This bureau is a corporation 
organized under the laws of the State of New 
York, which has hitherto been engaged solely 
in testing incandescent lamps, but which is in 
the near future to establish a laboratory in New 
York City for testing and standardizing not 
only electric lamps, but also all kinds of electri- 
cal apparatus and instruments. 
