December 23, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



893 



events of the year had been the second general 

 assembly of the International Association of 

 Academies, which was held at Whitsuntide in 

 the rooms of the Eoyal Society, directing 

 academy of the association for the past three 

 years. The general assembly was attended by 

 seventy delegates, representative of all the 

 constituent academies of the association. The 

 proceedings were reported at the time in these 

 columns, and it will be remembered that 

 Vienna was chosen by a unanimous vote as 

 the place of meeting of the next general as- 

 sembly. The next subject was the geodetic 

 survey now in progress in South Africa under 

 the control of Sir David Gill. The subject of 

 the extension of the arc beyond the Zambesi 

 was brought up, at the instance of the Royal 

 Society, at the recent meeting of the associa- 

 tion in London, and it was hoped to secure the 

 cooperation of the Egyptian government and 

 that the Imperial German government might 

 consent to become responsible for the portion 

 of the arc which would traverse German East 

 Africa. The Russian representative at the 

 International Association expressed the hope 

 that the arc would be ultimately connected 

 through Syria with the Russian network, and 

 thus extend continuously to Lapland; and, in 

 consequence, it was resolved that diplomatic 

 action be taken with a view to the extension 

 of Struve's arc to Egypt. Dr. "W. N. Shaw, 

 F.R.S., attended the congress of the Interna- 

 tional Scientific Commission of Aerostation. 

 The president and council had accepted the 

 permanent duty of nomination to two posts 

 in the supplementary laboratory and hostel 

 which had been established at Col d'Olen, 

 through the agency of Professor Mosso, as an 

 adjunct to the existing International Labora- 

 tory of Physiology near the summit of Monte 

 Rosa, and Dr. Ludwig Mond, E.R.S., had 

 given £400 towards the expense of establishing 

 the laboratory. The Royal Society Catalogue 

 of Scientific Papers was in progress, and the 

 last instalment extended from 1884 to 1900. 

 The whole of the second annual issue of the 

 International Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 

 ture had been published, with the exception of 

 the volumes of Botany and Zoology, which 

 were now being printed. The financial sup- 



port given by the different countries was 

 shown in detail, the total amounting to £6,755. 

 With respect to the government grant for 

 scientific investigations, the treasury had ap- 

 proved the addition of the following clause to 

 the regulations for administering the govern- 

 ment grant : " The president and council of 

 the Royal Society may in each year set aside 

 out of the reserve fund such sum as they may 

 consider desirable to provide for any expendi- 

 ture which may be incurred by the Royal So- 

 ciety (including expenditure on printing, 

 clerks' salaries and office expenses) in under- 

 taking, controlling, supervising or advising 

 upon matters which the president and council 

 may, at the request of the government, under- 

 take, control, supervise or advise upon." 

 Under the regulations the council had, on the 

 recommendation of the Government Grant 

 Committee, made grants this year amounting 

 to £3,194 10s. This amount includes a pre- 

 liminary grant of £500 to the joint permanent 

 eclipse committee to cover the expense of in- 

 struments and preparations for observations 

 of the total solar eclipse of 1905. A sum of 

 £500 had been placed at the disposal of the 

 president and council to meet any pressing 

 demands upon the funds which might be made 

 before the next annual meeting of the govern- 

 ment grant committee. The investigation of 

 sleeping sickness in Uganda was continued, 

 after Colonel Bruce's return to England, by 

 Dr. Nabarro and Captain Greig, of the Indian 

 Medical Service. The efforts of the observers 

 were now being directed to the attempt to 

 discover a means of eliminating the trypano- 

 somes from the blood and tissues of the in- 

 fected in the early stages. In the meantime 

 the Royal Society committee had advised the 

 government to adopt such preventive measures 

 as were found practicable for protecting a 

 non-infected area where the carrier fly was 

 found from the incursion of emigrants from 

 the infected areas. There was next given in 

 the report an account of the Discovery Ant- 

 arctic Expedition, of which the scientific re- 

 sults were now being dealt with in accordance 

 with the scheme agreed upon between the 

 Royal and the Eoyal Geographical Societies. 

 The two special expert committees were work- 



