October 20, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



511 



was a man of letters who wrote a life of 

 Thoreau, books on Darwin and some works 

 on natural history. 



M, Alexis Pache, with three natives, was 

 killed in Angxist, by an avalanche, while 

 making- explorations in the Himalayas. 



The generosity of a friend of the American 

 MusemxL of Natural History enables the de- 

 partment of ornithology to plan to assemble a 

 special collection of Birds of Paradise. Many 

 species of this family are now becoming so 

 ra,re that specimens can be secured only with 

 difficulty. Mr. Chapman, associate curator of 

 ornithology, while attending the fourth Inter- 

 national Congress of Ornithologists in Lon- 

 don recently, took advantage of the occasion 

 to examine the stocks of London dealers in 

 natural history supplies and was fortunate in 

 procuring some desirable material for use in 

 the proposed group. 



Peabody Museum of Yale University has 

 received a large cabinet of shells from the 

 estate of the late O. P. Hubbard. 



The Liternational Congress of Radiology, 

 which met recently at Liege, has decided to 

 hold another congress in five years, which was 

 placed under the charge of an international 

 committee. 



We learn from the Bulletin of the American 

 Mathematical Society that the Academy of 

 Sciences of .Berlin held its Leibnitz session on 

 June 29. The Steiner prize was not awarded, 

 but the sum of six thousand Marks was set 

 apart in recognition of the investigations of 

 the late Professor Guido Hauck. 



The following resolution was passed by the 

 Congress of Tuberculosis recently held at 

 Paris : " The congress, after hearing the ex- 

 pose of the most recent investigations, de- 

 clares that it is not only indispensable to 

 avoid contagion from man to man, but also 

 to pursue the prophylaxis of bovine tubercu- 

 losis and to continue to take administrative 

 and hygienic measures to avert its possible 

 transmission to our species, and finally that it 

 is desirable to be on our guard against all 

 forms of animal tuberculosis." 



Professor W. C. Unwin delivered the 

 inaugural address of the opening session at 

 the City and Guilds Central Technical Col- 

 lege, taking as his subject ' The Niagara 

 Power Stations.' Professor W. E. Ayrton, 

 the dean, presided. According to the London 

 Times Professor Unwin, in the course of his 

 address, which was freely illustrated by 

 lantern views, pointed out that if the total 

 energy due to the fall from Lake Erie to Lake 

 Ontario could be utilized it would amount to 

 7,000,000 horsepower. At the fall itself the 

 horsepower of the descending water was about 

 4,000,000. The first great scheme for utilizing 

 the water power resulted in the formation of 

 the Niagara Falls Power Comi^any, who ob- 

 tained, in 1886, the right to develop 200,000 

 horsepower on the American side, and later 

 250,000 horsepower on the Canadian side. 

 Work on a canal and tunnel for 100,000 horse- 

 power was commenced, and in 1890 Mr. Adams 

 went to London to consult the engineers on 

 that side of the Atlantic. A competition for 

 hydraulic and electric plans was started. A 

 commission with Lord Kelvin as chairman 

 was formed to consider the plans. The com- 

 petition practically settled the hydraulic ar- 

 rangements to be adopted, but two or three 

 years of conferences and discussion elapsed 

 before a really practicable scheme of electrical 

 distribution for all purposes was threshed out. 

 Professor Unwin gave a detailed description 

 of the plant of the Niagara Falls Power Com- 

 pany, and referred to the chief points of in- 

 terest in the undertakings of the Ontario 

 Power Company, the Canadian Power Com- 

 pany, and the Electrical Development Com- 

 pany. Dealing with the question of the de- 

 struction of the falls, he stated that in 1885 

 Mr. Evershed thought he was taking a very 

 safe line in saying that for power purposes 

 no more than 4 per cent, would be required. 

 If 150,000 horsepower were produced the daily 

 demand would be 11,000 cubic feet per second, 

 which was 5 per cent, of the mean flow, or 

 not quite 7 per cent, of the minimum flow. 

 The development of 650,000 horsepower de- 

 manded 48,000 cubic feet per second, or 21-| 

 per cent, of the mean flow and 30 per cent. 



