May 22, 1903. J 



SCIENCE. 



839 



passed over a ntunber of suburban towns. 

 At Mantes the airship made a circle around 

 the cathedral spire and on leaving that town 

 went diagonally against the wind. Over 

 Limay, Mantes and Eosny the airship was 

 put through a series of evolutions and an- 

 swered her helm and manoeuvred to the per- 

 fect satisfaction of all interested in her. She 

 then returned to her point of departure, where 

 she descended without accident. The distance 

 covered was 37 kilometers in one hour and 

 thirty-six minutes, against Santos-Dumont's 

 record for the Deutsch prize of 11^ kilometers 

 in thirty minutes. 



At the twenty-iifth annual general meet- 

 ing of the Institute of Chemistry, Professor 

 J. M. Thomson, F.E.S., the retiring presi- 

 dent, delivered an address in which he 

 sketched the history and work of the institute 

 since its foundation. He said that the real 

 origin of the institute was in a suggestion put 

 forward in 18T2 by the late Sir Edward 

 Frankland, at a' dinner given to Professor 

 Cannizzaro on his appointment as Faraday 

 lecturer. Later, in 1876, he proposed to the 

 council of the Chemical Society that a class 

 of fellows, to be styled licentiates (or some 

 analogous title), should be created for the 

 purpose of distinguishing between competent 

 professional chemists and those who professed 

 an interest in chemistry as a science, and not 

 as a means to earning a livelihood. The idea 

 was not adopted, but it was decided to found 

 a new society, and the Institute of Chemistry 

 was formally incorporated tmder the Com- 

 panies Act on October 2, 1877. Among those 

 active in founding the institute were Mr. 

 Carteighe, Professor Hartley, the late Mr. 

 Frederick Manning, Mr. Charles Tookey and 

 the late Dr. Alder Wright. Professor Thom- 

 son himself was also a keen worker for the 

 institute in its earliest history. He proceeded 

 to relate its progress under the successive presi- 

 dents: Sir Edward Prankland, Sir Frederick 

 Abel, Dr. William Odling, Dr. James Bell, 

 Professor W. A. Tilden, Dr. W. J. Eussell 

 and Dr. Thomas Stevenson. He dealt with 

 the regulations as to training and examina- 

 tion of candidates for the associateship of the 



institute, showing how the standard of the 

 requirements for membership had been stead- 

 ily raised, and he commented on the conse- 

 quent increasing recognition of the qualifica- 

 tions ' A.I.C and ' F.I.C by government and 

 municipal authorities and by the leaders of 

 industry throughout the kingdom. The an- 

 nual report of the institute drew attention to 

 the increase in the number of members, in 

 spite of the fact that there had been heavy 

 losses through death. Attention was also 

 called to the increase in the number of candi- 

 dates for examination, notwithstanding that 

 within the last few years the standard of ad- 

 mission had been considerably raised. The 

 adoption of the report was seconded by Dr, 

 Thomas Stevenson, and carried. The newly- 

 elected president, Mr. Thomas Howard, then 

 took the chair. 



We learn from the London Times that a 

 recent cablegram from Captain Colbeck brings 

 the information that, when he discovered the 

 position of the winter quarters of the expedi- 

 tion in McMurdo Bay, the ice prevented him 

 from bringing the Morning nearer than eight 

 miles to the Discovery. The transshipment 

 of coals and provisions had, therefore, to be 

 done by means of sledges dragged over that 

 distance. Nor was this the only difficulty. 

 On completion of the transshipment the dis- 

 tance had been reduced to five miles, showing 

 that, in addition to the hard work of trans- 

 shipment, there must have been much trouble 

 with the ship in moving her about at the 

 edge of the ice as it broke away. The failure 

 of the provisions on board the Discovery, the 

 particulars of which have not yet been re- 

 ceived, made it necessary for the Morning to 

 transfer a much larger quantity of provisions 

 than was intended, and this will entail large 

 additional expense. It is now clear that it 

 would have been quite impossible for the Dis- 

 covery to return this year. But she is only 

 provisioned until next January, so that the 

 despatch of the Morning for her relief a sec- 

 ond time is an absolute necessity in order to 

 avoid a catastrophe. For the additional ex- 

 pense a sum of £12,000 is urgently needed, 

 £6,000 this year, and the rest next year. 



