SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



505 



The annual general meeting of the Physical 

 Society was held on February 14th, the Vice- 

 President, Dr. Blakesley, being in the chair. 

 Professor Silvanus P. Thompson was re-elected 

 President for the coming year. The annual ad- 

 dress, owing to the indisposition of the President, 

 was read by Mr. W. Watson. 



We hear with great regret of the death of Major 

 A. Ficklin, late of Kingston-upon-Thames, after a 

 short illness, on February 4th. Mr. Ficklin was an 

 ardent entomologist, an enthusiastic fly-fisher, and 

 a clever artist. He was one of the oldest Volunteer 

 officers, and long connected with the Inland 

 Kevenue Department at Somerset House. 



We learn, in connection with the recent ex- 

 plorations at Stonehenge, that Mr. G. H. Read, 

 the head of the Mediaeval Department of the 

 British Museum, made an exploration last year 

 at Winklebury Camp, near Basingstoke, and con- 

 sidered that what was discovered pointed, as at 

 Stonehenge, to the later centuries of the Neolithic 

 period. 



The expedition, under Dr. Hertz, sent out by 

 the St. Petersburg Academy of Science for the 

 investigation of the mammoth discovered in the 

 district of Kolymsk has reached Sredne Kolymsk, 

 bringing with it the mammoth. It was found, on 

 examination, that the animal was a middle-aged 

 male. Its skeleton and skin, with few exceptions, 

 were complete. The tail was short, and covered 

 with long hair. In the stomach, between the 

 teeth, and on the tongue the remains of undigested 

 food were observed. 



A NEW departure is about to be made by the 

 London County Council in connection with the 

 Horniman Museum at Forest Hill. This museum, 

 which contains a fine collection of anthropological, 

 art, and natural history objects, was presented by 

 its founder, Mr. F. J. Horniman, M.P., to the Council 

 last year. With a view to making the museum of 

 value as an educational institution, the Council 

 has secured the services of Dr. A. C. Haddon, 

 F.R.S., of Cambridge, as advisory curator. As 

 University Lecturer in Ethnology at Cambridge, 

 and past Professor of Zoology at the Royal College 

 of Science, Dublin, Dr. Haddon is eminently 

 qualified for the task of reorganising the miiseum. 



On February 12th several gentlemen interested 

 in liquid fuel paid a visit to the steamship " Murex," 

 which has just completed the longest voyage 

 on record with petroleum. Taking the journey 

 throughout, there was a total consumption 

 for all purposes of from 17 to 18^ tons per 

 day. If coal had been burnt, the correspond- 

 ing consumption of " Welsh " would have been 

 from 24 to 25 tons ; with " Japanese " or other 

 varieties, from 30 to 32 tons per day. Therefore, 

 making allowances for difference in price, it is 

 claimed that, in the first place, there is an actual 

 saving as regards cost of fuel. Still more signifi- 

 cant, it would appear, are the economies effected 

 in relation to available cargo-carrying capacity 

 and to labour. The crude petroleum burned in the 

 furnaces is stored in the forepeak, in the double- 

 bottoin of the steamer, and in other spaces which 

 in a ship consuming coal are rarely, if ever, 

 utilised. Thus, the whole of the central cubical 

 area, enclosed fore and aft by protecting copper 

 dams, is made available for oil in bulk or for 

 mixed cargo. 



A RUMOUR has reached us of the discovery of a 

 white, or nearly white, lion in North Africa. It has 

 long been known that the colour of a lion varies 

 from a deep chestnut to a silvery grey. Indeed, 

 the belief was for some time held that a race of 

 white lions existed in South Africa. 



The National Museum at Washington, 

 US. A., has acquired from Borneo two specimens of 

 the flying lizard. It is an ordinary reptile in size 

 and shape, with the exception that it possesses 

 wings. These are bat-like in formation, and, 

 having no proper muscles of their own, are sup- 

 ported on the ribs of the animal. 



The " American Naturalist " contains an in- 

 teresting account of the kangaroo rat. This new 

 American rodent has pouches in its cheeks which 

 it can turn inside out to clean. It burrows very 

 qiiickly, getting out of sight in less than a minute. 

 The strong, kangaroo-like hind legs throw out the 

 soil that its fore paws dislodge. 



Arrangements are being made to acquire the 

 ancient remains at Stonehenge as a national 

 monument. The' County Council of Wiltshire has 

 been asked to take charge of this, one of the most 

 perfect of remaining temples dedicated to sun- 

 worship. We imagine, however, that it would be 

 better in the hands of a more generally representa- 

 tive body, and one less subject to the influences of 

 change of membership. 



The work of preparing Bushey House for the 

 National Physical Laboratory is now approaching 

 completion, and at the request of the President 

 and Council of the Royal Society the Prince of 

 Wales has fixed March 19th for the opening cere- 

 mony. The object of the laboratory is to en- 

 courage the applications of physical science to 

 manufactures and commercial industries. This it 

 will do by undertaking researches into questions 

 of importance to either, and by testing apparatus 

 and materials used in trade. 



On February 13th Dr. C. F. Harford Battersby, 

 Principal of Livingstone College, delivered a lec- 

 ture at the Imperial Institiite on " The Native 

 Races of Nigeria." The lecturer described the 

 more imj3ortant of the tribes inhabiting this region 

 in South Nigeria. The people were generally 

 pagan, their customs and superstitions being bar- 

 barous, and they were without any central govern- 

 ment. In the north the tribes, notably the Hausas, 

 had powerful rulers controlling large territories, a 

 fair measure of civilisation, and were in the main 

 Mohammedans. Of the southern peoples the Ibos 

 were the most important and characteristic, and, 

 like many other neighbouring tribes, had a very 

 elaborate system of fetish or ju-ju worship. The 

 people of the kingdom of Jupe represented in their 

 general character the Mohammedan races of the 

 Central Soudan. The people of Bida, the capital 

 of the district, and the central slave-market, were 

 very intelligent, and many of them could read 

 anct write. The most important races of West 

 Africa were the Hausas and Yorubas. The latter 

 had benefited more than any other West African 

 race from their contact with Europeans, but in the 

 lecturer's opinion the Hausas were distinctly the 

 superior race. They had a remarkable civilisation 

 of their own, a well-formed language with a con- 

 siderable amount of literature, a good system of 

 education, great powers as travellers, and made 

 excellent soldiers. 



