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long procession into the scientific ark, we hear the quaint comments made when conspicuously new creatures arrived, we can realise from the abundant plates how the "houses " increased in number, size, and efficiency, and we are reminded how men like Owen, Yarrell, Waterhouse, Gould, Huxley, Flower, Sclater, Murie, and Wolf helped the Society forwards in varied ways. From time to time there were new departures, such as the publication of Proceedings and Transactions, the institution of aquarium and insect-house, the formation of a library, the experiment of the Davis lectures. As in many a development there were periods of rapid growth and of temporary arrest, of crisis and metamorphosis, and there was quite recently a general reorganisation. The author gives expression to the view forced upon him by the history "that before the Zoological Society was half a century old its bionomical work practically ceased owing to the increasing influence of morpho

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THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES

INVESTIGATIONS.

THE latest publications of the International Fisheries Organisation consist of the part of the Bulletin des Resultats containing the results of the quarterly cruises carried out in May, 1905, the fourth volume of Rapports et Procès-Verbaux, and Nos. 28 to 32 of the Publications de Circonstance. The bulletin contains the usual data-hydrographical and plankton observations obtained in the course of the obligatory voyages made by the exploring vessels. At first the west coast of England and the coasts of Ireland were not included in the area to be investigated, but for the last year the Irish Board of Agriculture and Technical Instruction have allowed their steamer to make the necessary quarterly cruises, and a report on these is now made to the International Council by Mr. E. Holt.

The Publications de Circonstance include an account of an investigation of the fisheries for salmon and sea-trout in the rivers and neighbouring waters of

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the Baltic, with special reference to measures of artificial culture, being the report of an international commission appointed by the International Council for Fishery Investigations, and two papers by Dr. R. J. Witting, of a very technical nature, dealing with the measurement of ocean currents, one of them describing a new electrically registering current meter. The two remaining reports are by Dr. C. Kofoid and Dr. L. Gough, the former dealing with a means of studying plankton from deep water layers, and the latter describing the migrations of an oceanic species of Siphonophore.

In the former paper Dr. Kofoid describes the construction of a bucket for obtaining samples of water from considerable depths. Plankton from deep water has hitherto been obtained chiefly 'by means of self-closing nets, or by bringing up water from the requisite depth by a pump and hosepipe, both methods of some uncertainty in their results. The apparatus described consists of a bucket of considerable dimensions which is lowered down to the depth required, where it fills with water, and is then closed by means of a specially constructed catch and "messenger." The samples of sea-water obtained by making a number of hauls with this apparatus are then filtered in the ordinary way, and the organisms present are so obtained. It is claimed that the apparatus is simple and certain in its results, and that it can also be used for obtaining temperatures from the depths to which it is lowered.

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FIG. 1.-Rocky Mountain Goat. From "The Zoological Society of London." graphers and systematists in its councils. The election of the Duke of Bedford as president, the recommendations of the Reorganisation Committee, and subsequent changes, mark a return to lines laid down by the charter. We fervently hope that this policy will be adhered to, and that the "Zoo" will gradually become a recognised centre of bionomical research and evolutionist experiment.

No naturalist can read this well-told history without having his gratitude to the Zoological Society revived, not only for what it has directly accomplished through the gardens and the workers there, through the scientific meetings and the publication of what has been submitted there, but also for the way in which the society has given aid and encouragement to bibliography (notably through the Zoological Record), to institutions such as the biological stations of Naples and Plymouth, as also to travellers, collectors, and, indeed, zoologists at large. The excellence of the plates which adorn Mr. Scherren's volume reminds us also of the important part the society has played in sustaining and raising the standard of zoological illus

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Dr. Gough describes the distribution of the Monophyidan genus Muggiaea atlantica, Cunn., in the waters of the English Channel, the Irish Sea, and off the south and west coasts of Ireland during the year 1904. It is shown that a shoal of Muggiæa entered the Channel in May, and that the shoal was introduced into this area by the current of Atlantic water which, just before this time, had set into the Channel as a stream flowing north past Ushant from the Bay of Biscay. The shoal entered the English Channel and reached as far as Plymouth, from which region it disappeared at the end of the year. After entering the Channel the shoal divided, and, rounding Land's

End, one portion entered the Irish Sea, and by September had reached as far north as the Cardigan Bay and south Arklow light-ships. The other part of the shoal passed along the south coast of Ireland, and was observed in November as far along the west coast of Ireland as Galway Bay. The disappearance of the shoal from the Irish Sea in September is attributed to the southerly flow of water from that area into the Channel blocking its further northerly migration. It is shown that the shoal must have entered the Irish Sea from the south, for plankton collections taken from the Bahama light-ship in the north of that area did not contain the organism, which could not, therefore, have passed through the north channel. The paper is illustrated by charts which show the distribution of Muggiæa from month to month during the year 1904.

The volume of Rapports is noteworthy only because of a statement made by Mr. Archer, the English Chief Inspector of Fisheries, at one of the "reunions," that it is the wish of the British Government "that no

tasks should be undertaken or interests created the conclusion of which could not be reasonably looked for by July, 1907," since it is not the intention of the Government to continue the large expenditure involved beyond the five years originally contemplated. It is very probable, then, that the British share of the work will cease in the course of another year, and that with the withdrawal of this country the international investigations will come to a close.

It has, indeed, been apparent for some time past that the International Organisation, as at present constituted, could not continue on a permanent basis. For the last five years it has been necessary to maintain, at a very great expense, the Bureau at Copenhagen, the Central Laboratory at Christiania; and a complex system of "reunions" of the council, the "commissions," the "special commissions," and "sections." All this organisation was no doubt necessary, in the first instance, to bring together those engaged in the work, and to secure the necessary coordination in the hydrographical investigations. But since this preliminary organisation must now have been completed, it is desirable in any case that some simpler and less expensive means of coordination should have been evolved. It should be remembered that the international scheme of investigations originally included fishery research proper, hydrographical investigations, and, though this has never been stated in so many words, the promotion of international agreement with respect to the observance of "closed areas," such as the Moray Firth, and the regulation of fishing on the high seas. With regard to the latter point one cannot speak at present, but it may be pointed out that fishery legislation on an international scale has been notoriously difficult to obtain in the past, and that the chances of securing this at the present time ought not to be jeopardised by the unconditional withdrawal of Great Britain from the scheme of international work. Purely fishery investigations need not be imperilled by any such action. There does not appear to be any real advantage in the prosecution of these on an international scale. No amount of research carried out in another area than our own will relieve us of the necessity of investigating fishery questions locally with respect to the special economic and legislative problems involved. Fishery research with regard to such issues as the protection of immature fishes, closed areas and closed seasons, the regulation of fishing methods, and the like, must be carried on if fishery restrictions are ever to be more than an expensive and vexatious interference with the legitimate operations of our fishermen. If a fair proportion of the annual grant at

present made to the International Organisation is in the future made to supplement the efforts of existing fishery research institutions, with, of course, proper Government inspection, then the withdrawal of our Government from the international scheme need cause no apprehensions.

It is different with regard to the hydrographical investigations. If these are to be carried on at all it must be on an international scale, and with proper coordination as regards methods and publication of results. Quite apart from the assistance which such research is likely to afford meteorological science, it seems now to be certain that it is sure to throw light on the ultimate causes which affect the shoaling movements and migrations of food fishes. There is really no good reason why, even if the fishery investigations of the International Organisation be dropped, the hydrographical work should not go on. The present hydrographical cruises could be continued by the national staffs; and methods having already been worked out, the coordination of the work and the publication, in a uniform style, of the results need entail no great expense. The international con

ferences which have become so marked a feature of fishery affairs, both on the administrative and scientific sides, might be dispensed with, and no really useful object would be sacrificed.

NOTES.

THE Council of the Society of Arts has awarded the Albert medal for the present year to Sir Joseph W. Swan, F.R.S., "for the important part he took in the invention of the incandescent electric lamp, and for his invention of the carbon process of photographic printing."

A LARGE physical laboratory is, the Pioneer Mail states, to be built by the Punjab Education Department in Lahore on the present camping-ground of the Public Works Department, as soon as the new Public Works offices are con-. structed.

THE British Medical Journal states that a general institute of psychology specially intended for the study of the phenomena of subconsciousness, the investigation of the causes of criminality, and the discovery of means of curing social evils will shortly be formally constituted in Paris. Among those to whom the initiation of the scheme is mainly due are Profs. Brouardel, d'Arsonval, and Gariel, and MM. Boutroux, Giard, and A. Picard.

M.

WE notice with regret the announcement of the death, at eighty-three years of age, of M. Raphael Bischoffsheim, honorary member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. Bischoffsheim was a generous benefactor to science. He contributed largely to the Pic du Midi Observatory, bore the expense of the great equatorial at Paris Observatory, gave largely to the Montsouris Observatory, and founded the fine observatory at Nice. He was elected a member of the Institut de France in 1890 in succession to M. Cosson.

A COMMITTEE has been formed with the object of establishing a memorial of the late Sir William Wharton, K.C.B., F.R.S., whose death at Cape Town in September last was a sad incident of the British Association meeting in South Africa. For a long period Sir William Wharton filled with distinguished ability the important post of hydrographer to the Navy, and the committee has decided that the most appropriate testimonial would be such as would follow the same lines and exist for the same purpose as the Beaufort testimonial, which is awarded as a prize to the officer who has distinguished himself as having passed the best ex

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amination in mathematics and nautical astronomy for lieutenant in his year. This Sir William Wharton won in the year 1865. By the proposed arrangement two awards for the same object would be given under the names of The Beaufort Testimonial" and "The Wharton Testimonial," thus associating the names of the two eminent hydrographers who have served for the longest periods in that capacity. It is proposed in addition, if the funds admit, to present a medal, having on the obverse a bust of the late Sir William Wharton, and on the reverse a suitable inscription. The committee includes Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Drury, K.C.B., K.C.S.I.; Captain A. Mostyn Field, F.R.S.; Vice-Admiral Swinton C. Holland; Admiral of the Fleet Sir F. Richards, G.C.B.; and Captain T. H. Tizzard, C.B., F.R.S. Messrs. Coutts and Company, Bankers, 440 Strand, London, have arranged to receive contributions to the fund.

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valuable geographical works. It was claimed that the society should be recognised officially as one of the scientific societies of Scotland, to be provided with premises free of rent (at present 120l. is paid in rent), to have a grant from State funds, and to be represented on the new Board of Trustees. Reference was also made to the present endeavour to found a chair of geography in the University of Edinburgh. The Secretary for Scotland in reply thanked the members of the deputation for their presence, and pointed out that their memorial went further than the recommendation of the departmental committee which recommended the remission of the rent of 120l. which the society pays for its accommodation in the National Portrai Gallery. He was not sure that this was a convenient time to urge the Government to further expenditure, but he would not fail to take into serious consideration all that had been urged in the interests of the society.

WE regret to announce the death on May 29 of Dr William Fream, who since 1894 acted as the agricultural correspondent of the Times, and was formerly a frequent contributor to our columns. Born in 1854. Dr. Fream was educated at the Royal College of Science, Dublin, and became professor of natural history at the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester. After lecturing for a time on botany at the Guy's Hospital Medical School he became professor at the Downton College of Agriculture. Later he was

ON May 25 Lord Avebury presided at the annual conversazione of the Selborne Society and delivered his presidential address. He spoke of the coming of age of the society, of the interest which many members were taking in the forthcoming Country in Town" Exhibition, and of the bird sanctuary maintained by the Ealing branch. He also alluded to the destruction of roadside beauty, to the way in which ladies prefer the authority of shopkeepers to that of ornithologists with regard to 66 artificial ospreys so called, and to the injury to birds, which game-chiefly engaged in writing, and for ten years acted as keepers still continue to do. In the latter part of his remarks Lord Avebury dwelt upon the manner in which the study of nature adds to the happiness of life. Nearly 700 guests were present, and there was a large number of interesting exhibits, including some fifty microscopes exhibited by members of the Royal Microscopical Society, the Quekett Club, and other institutions.

MESSRS. R. B. Woosnam, D. Carruthers, and A. F. R. Wollaston, three members of the zoological expedition sent to Africa under the auspices of the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, have made the following ascents in the Ruwenzori range. On April 1 they ascended Duwoni, the peak rising to the north-east of the Mubuku Glacier. This peak has two tops of apparently equal altitude; the southern top, which was reached, was found to be 15,893 feet. On April 3 they ascended Kiyanja, the peak at the western end of the Mubuku group of peaks. The altitude was found to be 16,379 feet. (The altitudes were taken by aneroid and by the boiling-point thermometer.) Both these peaks have been thought by different explorers to be the highest points in Ruwenzori, but from the summit of Kiyanja a still higher peak with two tops was seen in a north-westerly direction. The weather at this season of the year is very unfavourable, the mountains being almost constantly buried in clouds with frequent snowstorms, which prevented the party from making further explorations.

ON Friday last, June 1, the Secretary for Scotland received a deputation of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, laying before him the claims of the society in connection with the proposed National Galleries Bill (see p. 137). The deputation was introduced by Mr. C. E. Price, M.P., and the society's position and claims were explained by Prof. Geikie (president), Mr. W. B. Blaikie, Dr. George Smith, Mr. W. C. Smith, K.C., and Mr. Ralph Richardson. The national character of the society was touched upon, as also the important work it did in fostering the study of geography, in providing lectures by eminent travellers in the four great centres of population, and in giving facilities for the inspection of maps and

editor of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, His best-known books were one on the Rothamsted experiments and his "Elements of Agriculture," written for the Royal Agricultural Society, which reached its seventh edition last year. Dr. Fream will be remembered for the part he took in a controversy as to the merits of perennial rye grass in pastures, a controversy which cannot yet be regarded as settled. Mr. Faunce de Laune, and with him Mr. Carruthers, maintained that rye grass was neglected by stock, and should be excluded from any mixture used for sowing down land to grass. Dr. Fream, however, by growing pieces of turf selected from the most famous pastures in the country, demonstrated that rye grass was a large constituent of such good grass land, and in consequence argued strongly in favour of the high opinion in which this grass has always been held by practical farmers.

PRELIMINARY arrangements have been made for the establishment of a great marine museum in New York with an astronomical museum as an adjunct to it. The New York Observatory and Nautical Museum will, according to Science, have an endowment of not less than 100,000l., and, in addition to this, it is expected that the city of New York will provide a site in Bronx Park adjacent to the botanical garden and zoological park, and will also erect the museum building and the domes and smaller buildings for the observatory. In the nautical

museum will be collected and exhibited models of all types of vessels, safety and signal devices, nautical instruments and methods of determining position, charts, marine engines and motors, and historic instruments and relics. The museum and collections will be arranged so that properly qualified persons can avail themselves of the facilities there offered for investigation and research. The observatory will be provided with a great telescope, for photographic and visual work, astrophysical instruments for the investigation of solar problems, magnetometers. seismographs, and other necessary instruments. A time service will be instituted so that chronometers may be rated, marine instruments will be tested, and tidal investigations will be inaugurated.

COMDIENTING upon Mr. Southerden's letter on "Carbon Dioxide in the Breath," published in NATURE for May 24 (p. 21), Mr. E. A. Parkyn writes to direct attention to the well-recognised fact that the presence of 0-06 per cent. of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere need not be injurious, but that the gas is generally found in bad company, for an increase of carbon dioxide is almost invariably accompamed by a corresponding increase of organic impurity. In other words, the importance attaching to the rise of carbon dioxide to 0.06 per cent. is a true indication of the vitiation of the air by organic matter given out during trspiration.

The

A COMMUNICATION from the Zi-ka-wei Observatory, near Shanghai, informs us that the great San Francisco earthquake was registered by the seismographs there. shocks were fairly strong, and they lasted a little more than th. 34m. The first preliminary tremors, transmitted through the mass of the globe, began at 9h. 35m. os. p.m. Chinese coast time. The first large waves, travelling along the crust, on an are of a great circle, were felt at oh. 55m. 54s. The last waves of decreasing amplitude 1 it their trace at 10h. 31m. 358. p.m., and the last slight movements of the ground died away at 11h. 9m. 44s. p.m. April 18. These records should be of service in determining the velocity of propagation of the seismic undulations by connecting them with observations of the exact minute and second of the occurrence at San Francisco.

MR. CHARLES VAN NORDEN, writing from East Auburn, California, U.S.A., says that he was on the fourth floor of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, on April 18, when the disastrous earthquake occurred. The movement seemed from south to north, and the rocking of the massive walls of the hotel was so violent that its continuance even for a few seconds seemed impossible. To Mr. Norden, who was in bed, the motion seemed like that of a small rowing boat on a choppy sea. The shock occurred at 5.13 a.m., and at 6 a.m. Mr. Norden had left San Francisco by the ferry boat for Oakland. While sitting on the deck of the ferry boat, looking at the many fires gathering together in a great conflagration, he noticed a thunder-cloud-a white, cumulous mass, dark at the bottom-hanging over the city. The morning was clear and mild for San Francisco, and no other cloud was in sight. None of the descriptions of the catastrophe mentions this feature, and Mr. Norden is curious to know if other observations were made of it.

As excellent little résumé, by Mr. D. J. Scourfield, of the leading features and possible developments of Mendel's law of heredity appears in the Proceedings of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society for 1905-6. Other articles are devoted to the British plumemoths, the lengthened pupa-stage of certain Lepidoptera, and notes on Hawaiian entomology.

THE contents of the Sitzungsberichte und Abhandlungen of the Dresden Isis for the second half of 1905 include an article by Prof. O. Drude on the meaning and scope of the term acology (ökologie), or the manifestations of plant and animal life in regard to the struggle for space (or existence) in connection with climate and other external influences. Mr. H. Engelhardt contributes an illustrated article on the Tertiary flora of Chili.

A STRIKING instance of increased patronage due to the adoption of popular prices" is recorded by Captain Stanley Flower in his report of the Giza Zoological Gardens for the past year. By the reduction of the gate-money the number of visitors to the garden leaped up from 64,711 in

the previous year to 177,587, an excess of 112,876 over any other year. The receipts showed, however, but a comparatively small increase LE.1402 against LE.1388 in 1904. The stock of animals has been largely increased, and a notable new feature in the gardens is the formation of an extensive enclosure, where a number of the larger birds of the Nile Valley are allowed to roam at comparative liberty.

OLD churchwardens' accounts of various Bedfordshire parishes have been utilised by Mr. J. Steele-Elliott, for an article which appears in the May number of the Zoologist. to afford information with regard to the fauna of the county during the last two and a half centuries. The entries cited refer to sums paid for the destruction of "vermin." The absence of mention of birds of prey is noticeable, as is the infrequent occurrence of rats, but special interest attaches to certain entries referring to martens. Polecats were evidently once abundant, and it is curious to note the persistent war waged against the hedgehog-probably on account of its supposed milk-sucking propensities. Mr.

Heneage Cocks refers, in the same issue, to an artificial abode of a number of bats, some belonging to rare species, cave at Park Place, Remenham, Berks, which forms the including Myotis bechsteini.

WE have received seven parts (Nos. 1448, 1449, and 1452 to 1456) of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, which include descriptions of Japanese Hymenoptera and of South American geometrid moths and grasshoppers, as well as of two American river-mussels; fully illustrated notes on molluscs of the family Pyramidellidæ from Japan, America, and the intermediate areas; a synopsis of Japanese sturgeons; and an account of the osteology of the creodont carnivorous mammals of the genus Sinopa. The latter genus, which occurs in the Lower and Middle Eocene of North America, according to Mr. W. D. Matthew, may be regarded as an extremely primitive form, with cheek-teeth of the opossum-type, from which have been evolved the more specialised Cynohyænodon, Pterodon, and Hyænodon of the Oligocene. Japanese sturgeons are, it appears, represented only by two species. Of the Pyramidellidæ, Messrs. Dall and Bartsch name a number of new species, and also figure others.

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THE application of De Vries's mutation-theory molluscs forms the subject of an article by Mr. F. C. Baker in the May number of the American Naturalist. The shells selected for observation are fresh-water snails, more especially Limnæa and Valvata, the former of which is well known to be an exceedingly variable or "unstable" type. Series of specimens of Limnæa from particular localities are figured to exhibit the range of variation, which is so great that the extreme forms, if isolated, would be allowed specific rank. Special attention is directed to the sudden development of an apparently new species in a newly-formed pond in the United States. While the mutation-theory seems to account more satisfactorily than any other for these variations, the author deprecates haste in applying a hypothesis founded upon plant-variation to animal life. In the same issue Dr. E. A. Andrews discusses the mode in which American

crayfish of the genus Cambarus lay their eggs. The first process is the careful cleansing of the lower surface of the body preparatory to the extrusion of a glairy substance from the “cement-glands" in which the eggs are afterwards laid. During oviposition the female lies supine and externally inert, but after this occurs a long, rhythmic alternation of poses connected with the fastening of the eggs to the abdominal appendages.

THE Haslemere Museum Gazette is the title of a new serial published by the institution the name of which it bears, and to be issued in monthly parts at the price of sixpence. The Haslemere Museum specially devotes itself to education at first-hand, that is to say, by inculcating familiarity with actual specimens rather than the cultivation of mere book-knowledge. One of the objects of the new journal is to assist and amplify this excellent conception. It is proposed to refer in turn to the chief museums in London (including those devoted to art), the Zoological Society's Gardens, &c., and to direct the attention of readers to some of the most noteworthy objects in each. By this means-without in any way usurping the function of a guide "it is urged that the educational value of such establishments will be largely increased. Nor will nature itself be neglected, as is demonstrated by the frontispiece, representing two oaks growing under similar conditions, but one with and the other without leaves. Excellent lecturettes " on prehistoric times and the severance of Britain form part of the contents of the first number. Giraffes in the British Museum, with a (not absolutely accurate) transcript of the accompanying label, form the subject of another section.

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IN connection with the study of the occurrence of glycogen and paraglycogen in fungi, the late Prof. Errera compiled a bibliography of the subject. The list of papers with his abstracts on their contents is published in Recueil de l'Institut botanique, Brussels, vol. i., 1905.

IN the Bulletin du Jardin impérial botanique, vol. vi., part ii., Madame O. Fedtschenko writes a note on species of Eremurus in which she refers the species Eremurus Aucherianus and Eremurus Korolkowi from Turkestan to

Eremurus anisopterus and other species. Mr. V. Arcichovskij discusses the size of plants as a specific character.

To replace the list of ferns and fern-allies cultivated in the Royal Gardens, Kew, issued in 1895 and now out of print, a second edition compiled by Mr. C. H. Wright has been published. The plants are enumerated under the three groups of ferns, fern-allies, and cultivated forms of British ferns. The table of fern-distribution throughout the world, drawn up by Mr. J. G. Baker for the previous edition, has been revised, showing a considerably increased percentage for temperate Asia.

A DETAILED account of the distribution of the forest flora of the Bombay Presidency and Sind has been contributed by Mr. W. A. Talbot to the Indian Forester (January to March). Mr. Talbot distinguishes an evergreen forest flora of Malabar showing a decided Malayan affinity, a Deccan dry deciduous flora in which African elements predominate, and the flora of the Western Ghats and Konkan, in which there is a mixture of high deciduous and evergreen forests. The dry Deccan flora includes such typical species as Zizyphus jujuba, Acacia catechu, Sterculia ureus, and Bombax malabaricum. Myristicas, Dipterocarpere, laurels, and palms are characteristic of the tropical evergreens.

THE Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital for May (xvii., No. 182) is mainly devoted to medical subjects. Dr. Cushing contributes an interesting article on a course of instruction in operative medicine, and Dr. Pratt one on the home sanatorium treatment of consumption, in which the problem of applying the open-air treatment of tuberculosis in the homes of the poor is dealt with. The proceedings of the Johns Hopkins Historical Club are devoted to a symposium" of the " gold-headed" cane, a stick

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or cane, now in the possession of the Royal College of Physicians of London, which made its appearance in medical circles about the year 1689, and for one hundred and thirty-six years was carried by a leading London prac titioner, including John Radcliffe, Richard Mead, Anthony Askew, William Pitcairn, and Matthew Baillie, all wellknown names in medical history.

We have received from Mr. Herbert Kynaston, director of the Transvaal Geological Survey, a copy of his memoir on the geology of the Komati Poort coalfield (Pretoria, 1906, price 7s. 6d.). It covers 55 pages, and constitutes the second of the series of descriptive memoirs which it is the intention of the Geological Survey to issue from time to time. It is an admirable piece of work, giving a connected account of the character, behaviour, and distribution of the coal-bearing strata of the Komati Poort district. A description is also given of the associated sedimentary and igneous rocks. Apart from the prevalence of intrusive sheets and dykes of igneous rock throughout the coalbearing strata, the conditions are favourable, and no evidence was observed of the beds having been disturbed by faulting in a manner that would be discouraging to mining operations. The actual Coal-measure series occupy 150 square miles, and the great thickness of the coalbearing strata, and the favourable situation of the better portion of the field, render the prospects eminently satisfactory. The memoir is accompanied by two coloured geological maps and six sections, and six photographic views giving an excellent idea of the character of the scenery on the Crocodile and Komati rivers.

SOME valuable results of an experimental investigation on the effect of fire on building stones were described by Mr. W. R. Baldwin-Wiseman at a meeting of the Surveyors' Institution on May 14. The purpose of the research was not so much to determine the design of a building for fire resistance as to estimate the ultimate stability of an edifice after subjection to a severe conflagration, and to afford some small assistance to those who may be called upon to decide whether demolition or reconstruction shall succeed the wrecking influences of a big conflagration. The points of primary importance in determining the most efficient design for fire resistance are summarised as follows:-(1) That the edifice should in no wise be flimsy; (2) that it should be constructed of stone possessing a uniform or fairly uniform coefficient of expansion, and retaining a considerable strength after subjection to high temperatures; (3) that all combinations of different stones should be avoided as much as possible; (4) that combinations of stone and metal should be avoided, especially when the former rests directly upon the latter, even when the metal is entirely enshrouded in stone, for stone acts as a fairly good conductor of heat; (5) that stair wells and lift wells should open as little as possible on to the main building, and should preferably be enclosed and glazed with wired glass from basement to roof; (6) that floor areas should not be unduly large or corridors unduly long.

THE first parts of two serial publications, issued by Messrs. Cassell and Co., Ltd., have been received. A new edition of Prof. G. S. Boulger's "Familiar Trees" is to be completed in twenty-nine fortnightly parts, and will contain 114 coloured plates and 114 illustrations from photographs. Mr. W. F. Kirby's "Butterflies and Moths of Europe will be published in thirty-two instalments at fortnightly intervals; and the completed volume, with its large pages and fifty-four coloured plates, will form an attractive addition to the naturalist's reference library.

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