i;o 



SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



At the general meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion, recently held at Bradford, a report of a com- 

 mittee was presented urging the Indian Government 

 to give more importance to the study of botany in 

 the training of Indian Forestry 7 Department officers. 

 This seems probable, as the Secretary of State for 

 India is in accord on this question. 



We have received a reprint from the " Scottish 

 Geoeraphical Magazine" of a paper bv Mr. William 

 S. Bruce, F.R.S.G.S., M.B.O.U., on the proposed 

 Scottish Xational Antarctic Expedition. It is ac- 

 companied by a coloured map of what is known 

 within the South Polar regions. We hope that 

 this expedition will attain the success deserved by 

 its enterprising and energetic projectors. 



Mr. Abraham Flatters asks us to call atten- 

 tion to his " circulating library" of lantern slides, 

 with regard to a convenient extension of the sub- 

 scription. Hitherto he has supplied three hundred 

 slides for a guinea, providing they were used in a 

 current year. On the suggestion of several artisan 

 societies of Lancashire, the subscription will still 

 remain a guinea, but the time-limit during which 

 the slides must be taken is waived. 



Students of Biology, Chemistry, Geology, and 

 Physics have an excellent opportunity, with almost 

 nominal fees, of attending evening classes in these 

 subjects at the City of London College, White 

 Street, Moorfields. E.C. The laboratory space has 

 been enlarged, enabling one to be devoted solely 

 to biology, as is the case with other subjects. The 

 fifty-third session opens on October 1, 1900. All 

 classes are open to both sexes, with the use of 

 library, reading, and coffee rooms. 



We wonder if " Rectangle " is a Boer ; he cer- 

 tainly follows the late President Kruger in trying 

 to flatten out the earth. This is what we gather 

 from "Zetetic Cosmogony," a copy of the second 

 edition having reached us from Durban, Xatal, 

 where it is published for half a crown by the 

 author, Mr. Thomas Winship, at 12 Castle Build- 

 ings. It will be found amusing reading, even at 

 the price. We learn not only that the earth is not 

 a globe, but that " according to current science the 

 moon was once a piece of molten rock fractured 

 off the earth," also many other interesting " facts." 

 There may well have been war in Xatal. 



The following firms connected with the manu- 

 facture of scientific and photographic apparatus 

 have received awards for their exhibits in the 

 Paris Exhibition : — James J. Hicks, London, 2 gold 

 and 6 silver ; Cambridge Scientific Instrument Com- 

 pany, Limited. Cambridge, Grand Prix. 1 gold and 

 2 silver : Boss, Limited, London, Grand Prix ; 

 James White, Glasgow, Grand Prix ; Kodak, 

 Limited, London, Grand Prix ; Xegretti &Zambra, 

 London, 2 gold : W. Watson & Sons, London, 2 

 gold ; Xewman & Guardia. Limited, London, gold ; 

 J. H. Dallmeyer, Limited. London, gold ; Crompton 

 & Co., Limited, London, gold. 



AMONG the important international congresses 

 in connection with the Paris Exhibition, one of the 

 most interesting should be that of the botanists, 

 which will commence on October 1st. 



Women workers in science won a well-earned 

 victory at the general meeting of the British Asso- 

 ciation at Bradford. On the motion of Professor 

 Hartog, seconded by Professor Silvanus Thompson, 

 and ably supported by Sir Henry Roscoe. it was 

 decided that they should be eligible as members 

 of the Sectional Committees. 



Arctic exploration has been active during this 

 and the last two years. At the front is the success- 

 ful return of the Duke of Abruzzi's expedition in 

 the Stella Polare. He appears to have advanced 

 slightly further than other explorers. We hear 

 that important scientific results will be published 

 later. The return of other expeditions is anxiously 

 awaited, especially that of Lieutenant Peary. 



A Series of Popular Science Lectures for young 

 people has been organised bv the Rev. J. 0. Bevan. 

 M.A.. F.S.A., F.G.S.. Examiner to the College of 

 Preceptors, and Mr. Cecil Carus-Wilson. F.R.S. 

 Edin., F.R.G.S.. F.G.S. A course of six, entitled 

 '• The World We Live On," will be delivered at the 

 Kensington Town-hall at 4.45 P.M. on Thursdays, 

 commencing October 18. The" season tickets for 

 these lectures cost only 5*. for children and 7s. Qd. 

 for adults. 



A new edition — the tenth— of Skertchly's 

 " Geology," revised by Dr. Monckman, has been 

 issued by Mr. Thomas Murby. A fourth section is 

 added, embracing the more recent requirements of 

 the South Kensington syllabus. This includes 

 many topics which were formerly confined to 

 mineralogy and crystallography. There are also 

 new chapters, some illustrated bv material supplied 

 by Mr. W. West, F.L.S., of Bradford, on rock- 

 forming minerals, on crystallography, volcanic 

 and plutonic rocks, and microscopic examination 

 of rocks. 



The Science and Art Museums of the Orange 

 Free State and the Transvaal have both figured 

 unfortunately in the progress of the South African 

 war. It may not be generally known that the 

 unfortunate man who was shot for plotting against 

 the life of Lord Roberts was an assistant in the 

 Pretoria Museum. In an article in the new 

 " Monthly Review " upon " Surgical Experiences 

 in South Africa."' Mr. A. A. Bowlby states that so 

 sure were the Boers that the English army was 

 utterly destroyed at Magersfontein that he saw a 

 letter from the Curators of the Bloemfontein 

 Museum asking burghers for relics of the British 

 army for exhibition. 



The University of Cambrid.ee has sustained a 

 severe loss by the death of Professor Henry 

 Sidgwick. M.A., Litt.D.. Professor of Moral Philo- 

 sophy. He was born at Skipton, in Yorkshire, 

 May 31st, 1838. His publications are almost 

 entirely of an ethical character ; but his influence 

 on the University of Cambridge was, as a whole, 

 most marked, especially with regard to his sup- 

 port of the higher education of women. He was 

 practically the founder of Xewnham College, and 

 on Mrs. Sidgwick becoming Principal, in 1892. it 

 became their regular home. Professor Sidgwick 

 was also President of the Society for Psychical 

 Research. 



