December 23, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



905 



Eontgen radiations is by no means an easy 

 matter. The present state of knowledge and 

 practice is certainly represented by the Rontgen 

 Society, and the exhibits represented the utmost 

 limits to which the process has been brought ; 

 yet, setting aside improvements in practical 

 technique, the matter has not been pushed a step 

 further than when Eontgen gave his remark- 

 able discovery to the ;world. Mr. Mackenzie 

 Davidson showed his beautiful method of local- 

 ization of foreign bodies and some really prac- 

 tical applications of his stereoscopic radiographs. 

 The same worker has also solved the difficulty 

 of photographing stone in the kidney. This 

 be does by the ingenious method of eliminating 

 movements due to respiration by only exposing 

 when a recording lever shows absolute rest of 

 the abdominal parietes, the patient holding his 

 breath the while. Professor Silvanus P. Thomp- 

 son, F.E.S., demonstrated experiments with 

 the Tesla oscillator, and Mr. Campbell Swinton 

 showed a collection of tubes which he has used 

 in his researches. There were many other ex- 

 hibits too numerous to mention. The results 

 ■which Mr. Wimshurst has obtained with his in- 

 fluence machine are extremely good ; the steadi- 

 uess of the shadows given on a screen by twelve 

 20-inch plates is remarkable. 



At a meeting of the Royal Geographical So- 

 ciety, London, on November 28th, Mr. Charles 

 W. Andrews read a jjaper entitled ' A Descrip- 

 tion of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean).' Mr. 

 Andrews said according to the report in the 

 London Times that, as it seemed desirable that 

 a more complete examination of the island 

 should be undertaken than had up to that time 

 been made, Sir John Murray, in 1896, generously 

 offered to pay the expenses of an expedition. 

 The lecturer left England to carry out the un- 

 dertaking in May, 1897. He gave a detailed 

 account of the physical features of the island, 

 and said that its climate was delightful. Dur- 

 ing the greater part of the year it resembled a 

 very hot English summer tempered with sea 

 breezes. The island was perfectly healthj"-, 

 there being no marshes or stagnant pools, while 

 there was a fair supply of good water. The 

 whole island was covered with forest, except the 

 spray-swept edges of the sea cliff and the ver- 

 tical faces of the inland cliffs. Many creepers 



and ferns added to the beauty and variety of 

 the forest scenery. The fauna was not a rich 

 one. There were only five species of mammals, 

 consisting of two kinds of rats, a shrew mouse 

 and two bats. Eats swarmed everywhere and 

 were very destructive. The reptiles were few 

 and small. Insect life was fairly abundant. 

 There were several species of land crabs, the 

 most common being a little red crab living, in 

 burrows all over the island. The robber-crab 

 was also very numerous, and if one sat down 

 for a short time anywhere in the forest numbers 

 could be seen approaching from all sides. They 

 were good climbers and ascended trees in search 

 of food. For some years Mr. Andrew Eoss, 

 brother of Mr. George Ross, the owner of Keel- 

 ing Cocos Island, had been settled in Flying 

 Fish Cove with his family and a few men from 

 Cocos. During his stay some substantial 

 houses had been built, well sunk, and fruit 

 trees and cocoanut palms planted, and a small 

 experimental plantation of coffee had also been 

 made, the results showing that the island was 

 well suited for coffee growing. In May last the 

 total population was about 40. 



VNIVEBSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



At a meeting of the Board of Governors of 

 McGill University, on December 1st, Lord 

 Strathcona announced his intention of endow- 

 ing the new Victoria College for Women, which 

 he built at a cost of $250,000, to the amount of 

 $1,000,000. Mr. W. C. McDonald also an- 

 nounced that he intended to endow the chair of 

 history in the arts faculty. At the dedication, 

 ou December 20th, of the new chemistry and 

 surgery building of the University, given by 

 Mr. McDonald, knighthood was conferred 

 upon him. 



It is expected that the New University of 

 London will have its ofBces in the Imperial In- 

 stitute, South Kensington, though it is possible 

 that arrangements will be made to occupy the 

 premises on Gower Street occupied by Univer- 

 sity College. 



Me. and Mrs. L. Lansing Zabeiskie have 

 given $500 to Wells College for the purchase of 

 physical apparatus. 



Me. E. F. HoLDENhas given $6,000 to Syra- 



