SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



The proprietors of <; Knowledge" are about to 

 issue an annual for students and workers specially 

 devoted to astronomy. It is to be entitled " Know- 

 ledge Diary and Scientific Handbook, 1901," and 

 will contain, amongst other things, useful tables, 

 original articles, calendar of scientific events, etc. 



It is satisfactory to hear that sufficient funds 

 have been collected to assure a memorial to the 

 late G. J. SymoDS, F.K.S., the founder of the 

 British Eainfall Organisation. The memorial will 

 take the form of a gold medal to be awarded from 

 time to time for distinguished work in connection 

 with meteorological science. 



Dr. Leighton asks us to insert the following- 

 paragraph : — Would readers of Science-Gossip be 

 good enough to seDd particulars of the relative 

 frequency, average size, etc., of the adder and the 

 ring-snake in the respective districts under observa- 

 tion 1 His address is — Gerald Leighton, M.B., 

 Grosmont, Pontrilas, near Hereford. The informa- 

 tion is required to aid in the preparation of a new 

 work on British snakes. 



The annual course of Christmas lectures> 

 specially adapted to young people, at the Koyal 

 Institution, will be delivered by Sir Eobert S. 

 Ball, F.K.S., Lowndean Professor of Astronomy 4n 

 the University of Cambridge, whose subject is 

 " Great Chapters in the Book of Nature." The 

 first lecture will take place on Thursday, Decem- 

 ber 27th, at three o'clock, and the remaining 

 lectures will be delivered on December 29th, 1900, 

 and on January 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 8th, 1901. 



It is a satisfaction to find from careful statistical 

 figures, prepared by Mr. W. H. Dines, that the 

 English climate must, from the health point of 

 view, in future be considered one of the best in the 

 world. A pleasanter climate may be easily found, 

 but the majority of health resorts to which English 

 people migrate in the winter have a higher death- 

 rate than London at the same season, and a far 

 higher death-rate than that of the country districts 

 of the British Isles. Mr. Dines read a paper on 

 this subject on November 21st before the Koyal 

 Meteorological Society. 



The second part of the " List of Private 

 Libraries," compiled by Mr. G. Hedeler, of Leipzig, 

 will soon be ready. It will contain more than six 

 hundred important private collections of the United 

 Kingdom, including supplement to Part I. (United 

 States of America and Canada). Those happy 

 possessors of libraries with whom Mr. Hedeler has 

 been unable to communicate are requested to 

 furnish him with a few details as to the extent of 

 their treasures, and the special direction to which 

 they devote themselves. By doing so they will, of 

 course, not incur any expense or obligation. It is 

 obviously to the interest of bibliographical science 

 that a work of this kind should be as complete as 

 possible. His address is 18 Niirnberger Strasse, 

 Leipzig. 



The death took place, on November 22nd. of 

 Somerset Henry Maxwell, J.P., D.L., Lord Farn- 

 ham. He was a student of natural history and 

 astronomy, and a Representative Peer of Ireland. 



The members of the London branch of the 

 Conchological Society are holding monthly meet- 

 ings this winter at 11 Queen Victoria Street, E.C. 

 The next is on November 30th at 7 p.m. All 

 conchologists are cordially invited. Further par- 

 ticulars may be had from the hon secretary, 

 J. E. Cooper, 68 North Hill, Highgate, N. 



The Camera Club has lost one of its most useful 

 members by the death of Mr. W. Law Bros, whose 

 illustrations on the ancient monuments of India 

 were given before the club so late as November 5th. 

 In addition to his knowledge and skill as a scientific 

 photographer, Mr. Bros was an eminent anti- 

 quary, and an English member of the Association 

 Francaise. His death took place on November 11th. 



The international meteorological committee has 

 invited the Royal Meteorological Society to co- 

 operate in a series of observations during 1901 of 

 the form, amount, and direction of the clouds, on 

 the first Thursday in each month, as well as the 

 preceding and following days. These observations 

 are to be made in connection with balloon ascents,- 

 which will be carried out under the direction of 

 the aerostation committee. 



Messes. Sanders & Crowhurst, who have 

 for some time been associated in the employ of 

 Messrs. W. Watson & Sons, of High Holborn, 

 London, desire to say that they have entered into 

 partnership as opticians at 71 Shaftesbury 

 Avenue, London, where, in addition to their 

 general stock of optical and scientific apparatus, 

 they will represent as sole West End agents Messrs. 

 Watson's special instruments. 



Our readers will remember that the Anthropo- 

 logical Institute has established annual lectures in 

 memory of the late Rt. Hon. Thos. Huxley. The 

 first of these was given on November 13th in the 

 theatre of the Museum of Practical Geology in 

 London. Lord Avebury, the first lecturer chosen, 

 gave an admirable review of Huxley's work and his 

 influence, not only upon science in this country, but 

 also on intelligent thought throughout the world. 



The New Mexico Normal University has com- 

 menced to issue some leaflets, entitled " Nature 

 Study Bulletins." No. 1 refers to house flies, and 

 is by Wilmatte D. Cockerell. It is illustrated by a 

 magnified example of Mvsca domestica, and a dozen 

 anatomical drawings of that species in the course 

 of development. No. 2 is entitled ■" Pigments," 

 and is by Professor T. D. A. Cockerell. Both these 

 Bulletins give in simple language most useful 

 information for popular use. 



" Equatorial Adjustments, popularly ex- 

 plained," is the title of a pamphlet by Mr. William 

 Banks, F.R.A.S., issuedby Messrs. Banks &Co., opti- 

 cians, of Bolton. It is a handy and useful little work 

 of twenty -four pages, illustrated by five diagrams. 

 We would suggest that in another edition signs 

 should be added to the tables on pp. 4, 10, and 11, 

 and initials substituted for signs on pp. 8 and 17. 

 It is a handbook that will be of great use to 

 amateurs desiring to set an equatorial mounted 

 telescope in accurate adjustment. » Without such 

 accuracy careful observation is afterwards diffi- 

 cult ; and it is a certain means of saving time at 

 critical moments. 



