November 6, 1896.] 



SGIENGE. 



687 



volumes, in which should be formed a model 

 collection of works of reference in every de- 

 partment of science ; a meeting-room to ac- 

 commodate say 250 persons, in which the or- 

 dinary sessions of the several societies would be 

 held ; a smaller room for each of the constituent 

 organizations, in which its private records and 

 papers might be kept and where its committee 

 meetings could be held and other detail work 

 performed ; and finally a few small laboratories 

 and a photographic room for the common use of 

 all members. 



SPECIALISM AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



The forthcoming number of Natural Science 

 will contain a timely protest against the pres- 

 entation of trivial papers, or of technical 

 papers that should be printed rather than read, 

 at meetings of the British Association. The 

 editorial article continues: "Of course, the 

 wise man does not go to hear these papers ; he 

 knows that many of them are read for the sake 

 of self-advertisement, and that any which are 

 of value will soon be accessible through the 

 ordinary channels of publication. For all that, 

 it seems well to protest, if only in the hope 

 that our words may reach the Canadian cousins 

 who are preparing so splendid a welcome for 

 the Association next year.' These papers not 

 merely clog the work of the sections, but have 

 an effect directly contrary to the main object 

 of the Association. Some, perhaps, read by 

 local naturalists, or descriptive of local phe- 

 nomena, to which the attention of visitors 

 should be directed, are not to be discouraged, 

 but the rest both frighten away the people 

 whom the Association wishes to attract, and, 

 what we feel to be of more importance, tend to 

 split the scientific visitors themselves still 

 further among sections. The Association 

 should rise above the specialism of most of our 

 learned societies ; it should offer a field where 

 the zoologist might confer with the botanist, 

 where both might exchange experiences with 

 the geologist, and where all three might pick 

 up something of use to them from the physicist 

 and chemist, who in their turn need not go the 

 poorer away. Let there be more discussions 

 on matters of general interest, and let them be 

 thrown open to even more sections. Why, for 



instance, should the discussion of Neo- 

 Lamarckism have been confined to zoologists ? 

 Surely some of the physical problems that were 

 hinted at in the discussion on the cell might 

 have been laid before the physicists." 



general. 



Following on the death of Ferdinand 

 Baron von Miiller the death is announced of 

 Dr. Henry Trimen, who occupied a position in 

 Ceylon somewhat similar to that held by 

 Miiller in Australia. Trimen died on October 

 16th, at Peradeniya, at the age of fifty -two. 

 Before leaving England he had been curator of 

 the anatomical museum of King's College and 

 senior assistant of the botanical department of 

 the British Museum. He edited the Journal of 

 Botany from 1872 to 1879. In 1880 he was ap- 

 pointed director of the Royal Botanic Garden 

 at Ceylon. He made numerous contributions to 

 our knowledge of the flora of the island, and 

 introduced into cultivation many useful pro- 

 ducts from foreign countries. 



Dr. George Harley, a distinguished Eng- 

 lish physician and versatile writer, died in 

 London on October 27th. 



Prof. L, L. Dyche, of the University of 

 Kansas, has returned from Alaska, where he 

 has explored Cook's Inlet and the Knik river, 

 and has obtained many valuable zoological 

 specimens. 



A SERIOUS explosion occurred in Paris on 

 October 17th. A tube containing acetylene ex- 

 ploded and the building used by M. Raoul 

 Pictet, the well known chemist, for the manu- 

 facture of acetylene was entirely destroyed. 



It is announced in Nature that the following 

 have been nominated by the Council of the 

 London Mathematical Society for election as 

 the Council and ofl&cers for the ensuing session: 

 President, Prof. Elliott, F. R. S.; Vice-Presi- 

 dents, Major Macmahon, R. A., F. R. S., M. 

 Jenkins and Dr. Hobson, F. R. S. ; Treasurer, 

 Dr. J. Larmor, F. R, S. ; Secretaries, R. Tucker 

 and A. E. H. Love, F. R. S. ; other members, 

 Lieut. -Col. Cunningham, R. E., H. T. Gerrans, 

 Dr. Glaisher, F. R. S., Prof. Greenhill, F. R. S., 

 Prof. Hill, F. R. S., Prof. Hudson, A. B. Kempe, 

 F. R. S., F. S. Macaulay and D. B. Mair. At 



