450 
most intimate friends would believe it, and to 
many the matter isstill an enigma. He seemed 
too great a philosopher to countenance such an 
act. Itisnot improbable that temporary insanity 
shattered his mind. No expert opinion has 
been published. Although the fact was seldom 
noticeable, the great chemist was a very nervous 
man and had for an extended period been under 
medical treatment, but without great avail. 
During the previous winter he was forced to 
reduce the number of his lectures, but he per- 
sisted to the last in assuming all the responsi- 
bilities that fall upon a director of so large an 
‘jnstitution. The strain was too great. For 
the last four days he was unable to sleep at all, 
and the man whose face was still as quiet and 
pleasant as ever was probably distracted by 
the fear that the physical forces which had 
served him so well were threatened with de- 
struction. Only those who have suffered as he 
did can rightly judge the man. Certain it is that 
the annoying rumors, circulated by irresponsi- 
ble reporters, are without any foundation. Of 
the two letters found on his desk, one expressed 
his love for his family in most endearing terms. 
The other was a farewell to his close friend, 
Kuehne, the famous physiologist. 
On account of his expressed wish and because 
the semester had closed, elaborate ceremonies 
were avoided. As the quiet assemblage, includ- 
ing many famous scholars, stood around the 
grave, wreath after wreath was laid at its head. 
The venerable Bunsen, to whom Victor Meyer 
went at the age of sixteen to learn chemistry, 
sent a laurel from his home near by. Adolph 
von Baeyer came from Munich with a wreath 
‘to his best friend.’ The German Chemical 
Society paid a tribute to its lost President, and 
the grand-ducal family of Baden sent a token. 
Among the many other wreaths was one bear- 
ing the words, ‘Dem grossen Lehrer in Dank- 
barkeit, Seine Amerikanischen Schiller.’ Hei- 
delberg suffers a great loss, not only as a 
university, but as a city, for Victor Meyer was 
a citizen, as well as a scientist, and, while he 
was profoundly versed in every department of 
chemistry, he found time to encourage the de- 
velopment of the fine arts. 
It is fortunate that there remain such splendid 
representatives of his school as those who haye 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Von. VI. No. 142. 
been his assistant professors. The vacant chair 
may not be filled for some months. Tempo- 
rarily the direction of the laboratory is in the 
hands of Professor Gattermann, who is pushing 
so rapidly to the front of his science. The other 
professors, Jannasch, Auwers, Goldschmidt and 
Knoevenagel are all well-known investigators, 
and have their own large circles of admiring 
students. 
H. C. CooPrr. 
HEIDELBERG, August 15, 1897. 
THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SESSION AT TORONTO. 
Ir may be worth a few lines in SCIENCE to 
say a word in correction of the many erroneous 
and even ludicrous newspaper reports of the 
above meeting which suggest to the memory 
the famous definition of the crab by the French 
Academy before it was criticised by Cuvier. 
The paleolithic or neolithic age of the New 
London stone axe was not a subject of discus- 
sion, as reported, simply because there was no 
room for two opinions on the matter. It is be- 
yond all question neolithic, as every archolo- 
gist would be ready to assert at a glance. 
Nor was any attempt made to prove that 
American man was older than European man, 
because again the evidence is so far absolutely 
conclusive on the other side. The paleoliths 
of Europe antedate all relics yet known from 
this continent. 
Nor, thirdly, was any attempt made to prove 
the existence of preglacial man in America. 
The speakers who claimed the greatest an- 
tiquity advocated nothing more than a late gla- 
cial date for the oldest traces of human handi- 
work in this country. 
As these three points formed the chief part 
of many of the reports of the meeting, it is easy 
to see how far short they fell of correctly repre- 
senting the speakers. 
E. W. CLAYPOLE. 
SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 
THE GENESIS OF THE DIAMOND. 
THERE has recently been published a volume 
of small size, but of especial interest and im- 
portance, in regard to the origin of diamonds. 
This is none other than the posthumous issue 
of the full papers of the late Professor H. Car- 
