o/^ 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



The death of Dr. St. George Mivart, which took 

 place on March 30th, at the age of seventy-three 

 years, was not unexpected. He was born in London 

 and was educated at Harrow, King's College, London, 

 and the Roman Catholic College of St. Mary at 

 Oscott, near Birmingham. He joined the Roman 

 Church in 1844, and it will be remembered that 

 quite recently he was denied its sacraments in con- 

 sequence of the advanced thought expressed in his 

 laterl writings. ' Dr. Mivart was for a time Pro- 

 fessor of Biolog)' at University College, Kensington, 

 was'M.D., Ph.D., F.R.S., and of several other 

 learned societies. Among his best-known books 

 was the important comparative anatomical treatise 

 on " The Cat." 



Mr. H. Sowerbv Wallis, the eminent meteoro- 

 logist, will continue, as already announced, the rain- 

 fall organisation founded by the late G. J. Symons, 

 F. R. S. Mr. Wallis writes asking those who have 

 contributed records in future to address them to 

 himself at 62 Camden Square, London, N.W. In 

 . writing he adds : "The burthen without his (Mr. 

 Symbns's) aid and counsel will be a heavy one, but 



1 anr, hoping that it will be lightened by the feeling 

 that bis correspondents will heartily co-operate with 

 me m carrying out his wishes." Doubtless, new 

 contributors would be welcomed. 



The "Victoria History of the Counties of Eng- 

 land]" which is being prepared under the supervision 

 of ah important Advisory Committee, with offices at 



2 Whitehall Gardens, Westminster, with Messrs. 

 H. Arthur Doubleday, F. R.G. S., and G. Laurence 

 Gomme, F.S.A., as joint general editors, will in- 

 clude chapters on the fauna and flora of the respective 

 counties. Mr. Doubleday is appealing to recognised 

 workers in various branches of Natural Science for 

 assistance in completing the lists of species, occurring 

 in various counties. '^ _ , ' 



With regard to the fruiting of EiwiiyiMtsJaponica 

 at Southend (ante, p. 343), we note a communication 

 from Mr. J. C. Tonkin, of St. Mary's, Scilly Isles, 

 who says : — " Seeing an article in a recent issue 

 relative to the fruiting of the euonymus, I should like 

 to add my testimony as regards that shrub. I have 

 grown it f(jr more than thirty years. During that 

 time I have raised from cuttings many thousands. I 

 have in my grounds fences from ten to twelve feet 

 .high. It is grown chiefly through the islands for 

 shelter for the narcissus fields. During the whole 

 time that I have grown it I never have seen the least 

 sign of a fruit until the past winter, when the fruit 

 was very abundant, resembling holly berries — indeed, 

 it was freely used for decorations in lieu of the holly. 

 As a protection from the wind I know of nothing so 

 effective. It will stand any amount of pruning. I 

 have fences in my grounds that would resist a charge 

 of heavy cavalr\'." 



T.IIE following are among the lecture arrangements 

 at the Royal Institution after Easter : — Dr. Hugh 

 Robert Mill, Three Lectures on Studies in British 



Geography ; Dr. Alexander Hill, Two Lectures on 

 Brain Tissue considered as the Apparatus of Thought ; 

 Professor Dewar, Four Lectures on A Century of 

 Chemistry in the Royal Institution. The Friday 

 Evening Meetings will be resumed on April 27th, 

 when a Discourse will be given by the Right Hon. 

 Lord Kelvin on Nineteenth-Century Clouds over the 

 Dynamical Theory of Heat and Light. 



The death is announced of the eminent French 

 biologist, M. Milne-Edwards, Chief Officer of the 

 Paris Museum of Natural History. He was 84 years 

 old. 



Leaflet No. 63, on the destruction of charlock, 

 is issued by the Board of Agriculture. Charlock is a 

 wide term covering a series of corn-weeds, including 

 Brassica sinapis, B. sinapistnim, and B. arvensis. 

 These leaflets are issued free on application to the 

 Secretary, 4 Whitehall Place, London, S.W. 



Specimens of a process of printing pictures of 

 lepidoptera in their natural colours have been sub- 

 mitted to us by Mr. Bernard Piffard. They are 

 interesting, as they form a kind of " nature printing'' 

 of butterflies and moths. 



In connection with the annual Congress of the 

 South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies, to be 

 held at Brighton on June 7th, 8th, and gth, there is 

 to be a photograph exhibition illustrating the asso- 

 ciation of photography with scientific work. The 

 ' exhibits will not be confined to the members of the 

 Union, and the Committee will welcome outside 

 assistance. The Secretary's address is Mr. H, E. 

 Turner, B.Sc. , Lindfield Lodge, Folkestone. 



We note the record of death of a celebrated Con- 

 tinental lepidopterologist. Dr. O. Hofman, which 

 occurred on February 22nd. His careful and pains- 

 taking investigations among the microlepidoptera are 

 renowned, and after half a century's work in that 

 section of the Order his books have become authori- 

 tative.- Among other obituary occurrences for the 

 past month is the death of Sir William Overend 

 Priestley, the well-known surgeon and naturalist. He 

 cgoiie'of the same family as the celebrated discoverer 

 • of oxygen, and was born at Morley Hall, near Leeds, 

 in 1829. The Liverpool Geological Society has lost 

 its founder by the death of George Highfield Morton, 

 an authority on the formations in the neighbourhood 

 of that city. Those botanists who have often read 

 the notes appended to the descriptions of plants in 

 .. " Sowerby's British Botany" will be sorry to hear 

 ' of the . death of Mrs. Lankester, their author. She 

 was widow of Dr. Edwin Lankester, the popular 

 scientific writer of a generation ago. 



The National Photographic and Allied Trades' 

 Exhibition for 1900 will be held at Portman Rooms, 

 Baker Street, London, W., from April 27th to May 

 5th. We have received from the secretary, Mr. 

 Arthur C. Brookes, 15 Harp Alley, Farringdon Street, 

 E.G., an advance prospectus of a number of scientific 

 and practical addresses that are to be given at intervals, 

 several times daily, during the exhibition. 



The Saturday afternoon excursions of the London 

 Geological Field Class, under the direction of Pro- 

 fessor H. G. Seeley, F.R.S., will commence on 

 April 28th. Further particulars can be obtained 

 from the Hon. Sec, R. Herbert Bentley, 43 Glou- 

 cester Road, Brownswood Park, London, N. These 

 classes have been successfully conducted for some 

 years past, and afford an excellent opportunity-_for 

 geological study. 



