Septembeb 23, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



415 



The International Conference for Wireless 

 Telegraphy, summoned at the initiative of 

 Germany, which was to have met October 4, 

 has been postponed at the request of France 

 and Great Britain, these countries desiring 

 more time to study the questions involved. 



A Reuter telegram from Basel, dated 

 August 30, states : " The second International 

 Congress on the History of Eeligions was 

 opened at 11 o'clock this morning. Professor 

 von Orelli, of Basel, president of the organ- 

 izing committee, in opening the first plenary 

 sitting, welcomed the delegates, and speeches 

 were also made by Professor Raville, repre- 

 senting the Swiss Federal Council, and Pro- 

 fessor Burckhardt, representing the Cantonal 

 government, and by members of various 

 learned societies. The speakers included Dr. 

 Hauptmann, of Baltimore, on behalf of the 

 United States government, and Mr. H. M. A. 

 Balfour, on behalf of Oxford University. 

 Professor von Orelli then read an address in 

 the course of which he pointed out that the 

 objects of the conference were purely scien- 

 tific, and that a propaganda in favor of a par- 

 ticular sect and controversies on the lines of ' 

 religious discussions during the middle ages 

 would not be allowed. Over 300 savants from 

 all parts of the world have already arrived. 

 The conference will be divided into eight sec- 

 tions, seven of which will deal with the re- 

 ligions of the following peoples and countries 

 respectively: (1) Primitive Races, including 

 the Peruvians and Mexicans ; (2) the Chinese 

 and Japanese ; (3) the Egyptians ; (4) the Jews ; 

 (5) India and Persia; (6) the Greeks and 

 Romans; and (7) the Germanic, Celtic, Slav- 

 onic and Hungarian Races. The eighth sec- 

 tion will devote itself to the discussion of the 

 Christian Religion." 



We learn from Nature that it is proposed to 

 fix a standard time for use upon all Indian 

 railways and telegraphs, which shall be ex- 

 actly five and one half hours in advance of 

 Greenwich time, and to 6x for Burma a stand- 

 ard six and one half hours in advance of 

 Greenwich. The government of India has 

 intimated that it is in favor of the adoption 

 of the new standard for general as well as for 

 railway and telegraphic purposes, and is pre- 



pared to cooperate in any movement with this 

 end in view; but as the matter is one upon 

 which the local communities should be con- 

 sulted, the opinions of the chambers of com- 

 merce upon the proposals are being sought by 

 the government. 



We learn through the London Times that 

 the annual report for 1903 of the Swiss Na- 

 tional Museum at Ziirich, recently published, 

 contains an account of a donation to that in- 

 stitution by Dr. H. Angst, C.M.G., the found- 

 er, for all practical purposes, of the museum, 

 and its first director. At the end of last year. 

 Dr. Angst resigned the directorship, but ac- 

 cepted a position as representative of the 

 Canton of Zurich on the museum commission. 

 Before his retirement, however, had actually 

 taken place, but when it had been already 

 decided on. Dr. Angst crowned his life's work 

 for the museum by presenting to the institu- 

 tioh at once, substantially the whole of his 

 great and almost unique collection of Swiss 

 antiquities, including glass and pottery. Even 

 before the museum was opened. Dr. Angst had 

 made over to it a very valuable collection, 

 representing some £4,000 sterling; and soon 

 after, fearing that in a private house they 

 might be exposed to danger, he entrusted to 

 the institution as a loan the rest of his collec- 

 tion, embracing antiquities of all sorts, in the 

 purchase of which not less than £20,000 had 

 been actually expended, while with the rise in 

 market prices, the present value is much 

 greater. This property Dr. Angst has now 

 conveyed, in immediate and complete posses- 

 sion, to the museum without waiting for his 

 death, one half of it — that is £10,000 value — 

 as an unconditional gift, and the other half in 

 consideration of a payment in cash of £2,000 

 and of a moderate life-rent to cover the bal- 

 ance. This act was gratefully recognized by 

 the Swiss government in an official letter 

 signed by the president and the chancellor of 

 the Confederation, and by the rising of the 

 members of the National Council in their 

 seats when the donation was publicly an- 

 nounced. 



The new metallurgical smelting-house at 

 Bournbrook in connection with Birming- 

 ham University was formally opened on Sep- 



