PROF. EMIL CHRISTIAN HANSEN.

IT is with profound regret that we have to announce the death of Prof. Emil C. Hansen, director of the Carlsberg Laboratory, Copenhagen, which occurred after a brief illness on August 27. Born in 1842, he attended in his youth the art school at Copenhagen, but subsequently, between 1871 and 1876, devoted himself to the study of science at Copenhagen University. He entered the Carlsberg Institute in 1877, where he commenced his memorable researches on microbiology.

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Hansen's life-work was practically confined to the study of the Saccharomycetes, but his researches in this domain of biological science stand out as a model of thoroughness. Prior to his time little was known concerning the different species of yeasts, although so early as 1857 Bail had observed that types of yeast existed giving rise to what he termed "wild fermentations." This did not, however, attract much notice among either scientific men technologists, and even Pasteur-who must ever be regarded as the pioneer of biology as applied to the fermentation industries-regarded bacteria alone as the cause of diseases of beer. Rees, however, in 1870, had arrived at the conclusion from his experiments that brewery yeasts represent species which are quite distinct from wine yeasts, and that still other species are concerned in the secondary fermentation of beers and in so-called "wild fermentations." None of these observations were, however, convincing, and the truth only became apparent after the publication of the exact experimental data on the subject by

Hansen.

In 1880, when Hansen first commenced his remarkable studies on the Saccharomycetes, biological methods of isolating micro-organisms were but little developed. The dilution method devised by Lister and employed by that observer, as well as by Naegeli and by Fitz, was the only one available, yet it was by an improved modification of this extremely tedious, not to say uncertain, method that Hansen succeeded for the first time in cultivating yeasts from a single cell. In his paper published in 1883 he described accurately six species of Saccharomycetes. The subsequent adoption by Hansen of the method of culture on a solid substratum-which had been developed by Koch-added much to the precision of his work, but he always insisted that in order to obtain absolutely pure cultures it was necessary in all cases to start from a single cell. Some might, indeed, think that he carried this injunction a little too far, in view of the results which have been obtained in the isolation of other micro-organisms by cultures from colonies; but it must be remembered that Hansen's researches were directed, not merely to the isolation of species, but of varieties.

Hansen's work consisted, however, not only in isolating distinct species of the Saccharomycetes, but he elaborated methods for their characterisation, and for this purpose he made use of film-formation, and more especially ascospore-formation, under definite conditions of temperature. By the sporulation test it is possible to detect 1/900th to 1/200th part of a wild yeast-such as a S. Pastorianus species-in admixture with S. cerevisiae. Thus the microbiologist was put in possession of a method for the quantitative as well as the qualitative analysis of yeast mixtures. Previously for the qualitative analysis of such mixtures morphological considerations alone were available, the results being rough and inconclusive, for one and the same species may under different conditions assume a different form.

Practical brewers have long known that yeasts in practice vary according to the system of fermentation

adopted; it has even been suggested that a given type of yeast consists of more than one variety or race, and in this country, at all events, such a type is always associated with a certain number of cells of wild species. Whether these varieties, which seem to be the result of environment, are immutable is a moot point, and it may be pointed out that Hansen at first believed that the top-fermentation races of S. cerevisiae employed in this country were under no conditions convertible into bottom-fermentation races, but recently he found that the conversion was possible.

The employment of yeast grown from a single cell has met with great success in Continental bottomfermentation breweries. Not so, however, in British breweries. One of the first to give the system a trial in this country was Dr. Horace T. Brown, who ultimately abandoned it since he was not able to obtain a satisfactory secondary fermentation; and in confirmation of Dr. Brown's results it has since been shown and fully admitted by Hansen that for the secondary fermentation of British beers, organisms other than the normal S. cerevisiae are needful. In this connection it should be mentioned that Schionning recently confirmed Clausen's observations that certain torulæ play an important role in bringing about the secondary fermentation and conditioning of British beers.

MISS DOROTHEA BATE, already well known for her researches in the caverns of Cyprus and elsewhere, has had the good fortune to make a very remarkable and interesting discovery in a cave in Majorca. On her return home Miss Bate remarked that the cave contained only a few bones of goats, but on further examination these despised relics proved to indicate an entirely new type of an extranor less ordinary nature-in other words, neither more than a "rodent-goat." For the skull, which with certain other remains is described by its discoverer in the September number of the Geological Magazine, under the name of Myotragus balearicus, is characterised by its extreme shortness, and the presence in the front of the lower jaw of a single pair of incisor teeth, in place of the four pairs of incisors plus canines characteristic of ruminants generally. In all respects these incisors are rodent-like, growing from persistent pulps, having the enamel restricted to the front and outer surface, and presenting a terminal worn surface. To explain this worn facet almost seems to require the presence of a pair of upper incisors (the front of the skull is unfortunately imperfect), and if such were really the case a revision of the diagnosis of the Pecora would be rendered necessary. The cannon-bones in both limbs are remarkably short and wide, exceeding, apparently, in these respects those of the takin and white goat.

forcibly in favour of the collectivist principle as against unrestricted individual competition. Opinions will differ as to the practicability and desirability of the respective ideals of the two writers, but whatever may be the value of Mr. Low's political criticisms, they appear to miss what is the gist of his opponent's contention, viz. that the measures of statesmen should be constructed on the basis of scientific principle, and not, as is too often the case, with a haphazard disregard of natural laws and conditions. Mr. Low enlarges on the well-known fact that in some circumstances it is not the highest type that proves to be the best fitted to survive; but he appears to forget that, in spite of all counteracting influences, the net result of competition has been the evolution of forms possessing the most excellent qualities known in nature. Moreover, the struggle for life is not abolished by the association of individuals in altruistic communities. All Darwinians know this, and they also know that, as common sense teaches, there must be a limit to altruism. It is the business of scientific thinkers to determine the limit, and of politicians to shape their measures accordingly.

THE death is announced of M. L. Bouveault, assistant professor of organic chemistry at the Sorbonne, Paris, at forty-five years of age.

We regret to see the announcement of the death of Mr. Thomas Southwell, for many years secretary, and twice president, of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, at the age of seventy-nine.

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NEWS has reached us of the regretted death, expectedly, of Dr. Fritz Erk, honorary professor of meteorology in the University of Munich, and the first president of the Munich Meteorological Society.

THE Geneva correspondent of the Times reports that the Janssen Observatory on the summit of Mont Blanc is about to be demolished. It will be replaced by the Cabane on the Rochers Rouges. All the scientific instruments in the observatory, which was completed in 1894 under great difficulties, have been removed to the Vallot Observatory, which is at a lower altitude.

THE Scottish expedition to Spitsbergen under Dr. W. S. Bruce has arrived at Tromsö on board the steam yacht Conqueror, with all well on board. The expedition, which left Leith in July, is reported to have completed the survey of Prince Charles Foreland and made important geological and other investigations. An account of the constitution and proposed work of the expedition appeared in NATURE of July 15.

DR. A. DU PRÉ DENNING, for several years lecturer in experimental physics in the University of Birmingham, and principal of the Municipal Technical School, Smethwick, has been appointed by the Secretary of State for India to the newly created post of superintendent of industries and inspector of technical and industrial institutions in Bengal.

THE Times correspondent at Paris announces that the following members of the Bureau of Longitudes will represent France at the meeting of the International Geodetic Association to be held in London on September 21:— General Bassot, president; M. Henri Poincaré; M. Hanusse, director of hydrography in the French Ministry of Marine; M. Charles Lallemand, director-general of the French Ordnance Survey Department; and Colonel Bourgeois, chief of the surveying section of the Geographical Department of the War Office.

THE tenth meeting of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America was held at the Yerkes Observatory,

Williams Bay, Wisconsin, on August 18-21, Prof. E. C. Pickering, president, presiding. About sixty members, with a few guests, were in attendance, and forty papers, many of them illustrated with lantern-slides, were presented upon various topics. Reports were also inade by the committee on comets and the committee on luminous meteors. The official account of the meeting, with abstracts of the papers, will be published, as usual, in Science a few weeks hence. The meeting was favoured with a cloudless sky, and the visitors had an opportunity for observing with the 40-inch telescope and inspecting all departments of the work of the Yerkes Observatory. The next meeting of the society will be held at the Harvard College Observatory in the latter part of August, 1910.

THE eighth International Congress of Zoology is to be held next year at Graz (Austria). As entomology plays only a subordinate part at such a congress, a movement has been started to unite entomologists in a congress entirely devoted to entomology in its various aspects, and to establish a permanent committee which may act as a central organisation in the interest of this subject. It is proposed that a congress of entomology be held every three years, about a fortnight before each triennial zoological congress, so that resolutions and conclusions of general importance could, if deemed necessary, be brought up for discussion at the ensuing zoological congress. The first International Congress of Entomology will be held on August 1-6, 1910, at Brussels, during the International Exposition which will be taking place there at that time. The subjects to be brought before the general or sectional meetings will comprise systematics, nomenclature, anatomy, physiology, psychology, ontogeny, phylogeny, œcology, mimicry, etiology, bionomy, palæontology, zoogeography, museology, medical and economic entomology. The chairman of the local committee for Great Britain is Dr. G. B. Longstaff, Highlands, Putney Heath, London, S.W.

NOTES on Cornish Crustacea, by Mr. J. Clark, form the subject of the chief article in the August number of the Zoologist, the author directing attention to the great richness of the coasts of Cornwall in animals of this class, even such far-off species as the gulf-weed crab being occasionally drifted into these waters.

THE July number of the Emu is illustrated by a very interesting plate, reproduced from a photograph, showing and noisy pitta in the feeding-grounds of the laughing kingfisher, cat-bird, the Coolabunia pine-scrubs near Kingaroy, to the south-west of Maryborough, Queensland. Near the centre of the photograph is shown a large flat stone, around which is strewn an enormous mass of shells of Helix cunninghami, a large species in which the shell measures more than a couple of inches in diameter. The shells of these snails are broken by the birds on boulder, and their luscious contents eaten.

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WE have received a copy of the report of the directors of the various museums in Cape Colony, namely, the South African, the Port Elizabeth, the Kimberley, the Albany, and the King William's Town Museum, for 1908. In the case of the South African Museum, Dr. Peringuey complains of the want of sufficient space in the exhibition galleries, more especially in the anthropological and ethnological department, where it has been found impossible to find room for a series of life-like models of native races recently prepared under his direction. It is interesting to note that a number of skulls and skeletons of the Hottentot races have been recently acquired by this museum.

To the Revue scientifique for August 21 Dr. E. Trouessart communicates an article on African big game

and big-game shooting, with special reference to the effects of the latter on the numbers of the animals in the country. Several paragraphs are devoted to the facilities for hunting expeditions from Nairobi, and to the fact that by obtaining licences for his wife and servant a sportsman is able to obtain more than the permitted number of specimens of the rarer species. Despite the effects of game reserves and shooting restrictions, Dr. Trouessart is inclined to take a pessimistic view of the prospects of the big game in East Africa, and hazards the prophecy that in less than half a century it will have vanished. To quote his words:" Avant un demi-siècle, peut-être, de tout ce gros gibier si abondant à l'heure actuelle, il ne restera plus que souvenir.” Special attention is devoted to the 'appalling destruction of elephants which still goes on in

the heart of the continent, a statement of Mr. Schillings being quoted to the effect that the number of tusks annually imported into Antwerp alone represents the slaughter of no fewer than 18,500 elephants. The inaction of France in the matter of game-protection is strongly commented

upon.

THE metamorphoses of the midges and gnats of the family Chironomidæ form the subject of an article, by Dr. A. Thienemann, in the second half of vol. xv. of Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins der preussischen Rheinlande und Westfalens. The developmental history of the Trichoptera has, according to the author, been well worked out, but that of the Chironomidæ is still imperfectly known. Although the greater number of chironomid larvæ, of which the so-called blood-worms are familiar examples, inhabit fresh water, it is pointed out that many are found in various situations on land, while a few dwell in

brackish, and even in salt, water. Of the land-living forms, the larvae of some species of Camptocladius are found in the droppings of animals, those of three kinds. of Ceratopogon take up their quarters in ants' nests, while others of the same genus are nourished in the resin or beneath the bark of dead branches of pines, while another is found in decaying funguses. Larvæ of another genus select damp moss as their home. Larvæ and pupæ of several genera are figured.

PART iii. of the "Treasury of Human Inheritance," which forms No. 9 of the Memoirs published by the Francis Galton Laboratory for National Eugenics, furnishes a good example of the excellent work which is being done by that institution. The subjects here dealt with from the point of view of heredity are certain pathological conditions, such as angioneurotic oedema, insanity, and deaf-mutism. There

are also sections devoted to the malformations of certain organs, and to the inheritance of special kinds of mental and physical ability. Cases available for the purpose in view have been collected and tabulated with great care, the respective pedigrees being clearly shown in diagrams, and the result is a mass of material which forms a valuable addition to the data now being rapidly accumulated under the guidance of Prof. Karl Pearson. The application of the principles deduced from such investigations will present special difficulties of its own, but whatever may be the practical outcome of the movement set on foot by Sir F. Galton, there can be no question as to the importance of the study of these and similar conditions in their bearing upon the racial qualities of future generations.

A NOTE by Dr. A. C. Hof on the action of iodo-eosin as a test for free alkalis in dried plant tissues is published in the Bio-chemical Journal, Liverpool. The substance required is a solution in ether of the dye-acid prepared by

treating an alkaline solution of iodo-eosin with excess of acid. The presence of free alkali in a vegetable tissue is indicated by the red colour due to the formation of alkaline salts. Microscopic preparations can be permanently mounted in neutral Canada balsam.

OF the articles which appear in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society (vol. xxxv., part i.), the most chiefly on the cultivation of lettuces, contributed by Mr. generally interesting are the hints on French gardening, C. D. Mackay, and the note on Solanum etuberosum provided by the editor. It is observed that plants passing under the name of Solanum etuberosum do produce tubers about the size of walnuts, and also show a remarkable power of resistance to the potato disease induced by Phyto

phthora infestans. The latter property has suggested the possibility of raising disease-resistant hybrids with etuberosum as one parent; some experiments in crossing this species, the Chilian wild potato, Solanum Maglia, and cultivated forms of the ordinary potato are communicated by the Rev. J. A. Paton.

As a result of some months' botanical exploration in Sardinia, Dr. Th. Herzog presents in Engler's Botanische Jahrbücher (vol. xlii., part iv.) an attractive sketch of the vegetation on the island, accompanied by an illustrative map. The once extensive oak forests have been much reduced by ruthless cutting; Quercus ilex still flourishes in less accessible situations, notably round Mt. Gennargentu, where it is accompanied by Paeonia officinalis; Quercus robur also grows in the central districts, while the cork oak, Quercus suber, clothes the mountains in the north. A very wide area is covered by the formation known as mâquis," where Pistacia lentiscus, Rhamnus Alaternus, Myrtus communis, and Arbutus unedo, with species of Cistus, form the dominant species. The solitary European palm, Chamaerops humilis, grows in the northwest, occasionally in pure stands.

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AN important article dealing with the classification of the Scitamineæ, the monocotyledonous series comprising the Zingiberaceæ, Marantaceæ, Cannaceæ, and Musaceæ, as represented in the Philippine Islands, is contributed by Mr. H. N. Ridley to the botanical series of the Philippine Journal of Science (vol. iv., No. 2). The area of the Philippines is much poorer in species than the Malayan region, but four genera and five-sixths of the species are endemic. Alpinia, Globba, and Amomum furnish the majority of the Zingiberacea; Alpinia is typically eastern Asiatic, but ranges so far as Japan and Polynesia. A feature of the genus Globba is the preponderance of white over yellow flowers, this being the reverse of what occurs in India and Malaya. The Marantaceæ are represented by three genera, but no indigenous species of Cannaceæ or Musacea are noted, so that there is at present no record of any species of the curious tribe Lowioideæ.

PROF. BRÜCKNER returns to the vexed question of the development of the Rhine-Rhone divide in the Zeitschrift of the Berlin Gesellschaft für Erdkunde (1909, p. 387). His paper is a reply to that of Herr L. von Sawicki, published in the same journal early this year (p. 7), and deals in detail with the points on which the two authors differ.

PROF. J. CVIJIĆ contributes a further important contribution to our knowledge of the geology of the Dinaric coastal region in a memoir published in the June and July numbers of Petermann's Mitteilungen entitled " Bildung und Dislozierung der dinarischen Rumpffläche.” Few parts of the earth's surface show a more complex and

in a most flourishing condition. It has 650 members and an annual income of more than 100,000 francs, part of which is derived froin the Department of Agriculture of the country. The society further possesses about thirty endowments, amounting together to more than a million francs, the income from which it utilises in various ways, as, for example, in prizes to inventors who benefit industry, ir assisting inventors or artisans who have come down in the world, &c., all calculated to forward the object of the society. In addition, in its monthly bulletin, which is a quarto volume of two hundred pages, it gives its members well written and illustrated articles on industrial questions of the day. In the July number, leaving out of account the shorter articles, there are reports on the breweries and distilleries of the north of France, on recent girder bridge-work, on the position of the electrical industry in France, and, lastly, forty pages of a serial article on the economic situation in Great Britain.

THE Engineer for August 27 comments on the reasons for the success of the French in following up new lines of research, and says that it is probably to be found in the fact that they often allow themselves to be influenced by imagination rather than by the practical aspect of the problems they are trying to solve. The remark is called forth by the interest which is being taken on the other side of the Channel in the evolution of the aeroplane, as evidenced by the meeting at Rheims. We agree with our contemporary that, not only the possession of a healthy imagination, but also unbounded enthusiasm, are qualities which go to make a good inventor. Can the fact that this country is taking so small a part in the development of aërial machines be accounted for by the absence of inventive faculties? We prefer to believe that it is rather the lack of financial support which is causing the stagnation, a lack which may be explained by the well-known desire of British manufacturers to see commercial success and profit within reach before taking up any industrial development. Given funds, there is no doubt that we have men of ability sufficient to bring this country into line with our neighbours.

THE leading article in Engineering for August 27 is devoted to the address of the president of the British Association. Many of the statements in the address are of particular interest to engineers, and one appeals very forcibly. Sir Joseph Thomson quotes Helmholtz as saying that often in the course of a research more thought and energy are spent in reducing a refractory piece of brass to order than in devising the method or in planning the scheme of campaign. This is exactly in accord with engineering practice. For example, in developing a certain steam turbine, the thermodynamic and kinematic questions involved occupied not a tithe of the time and thought which had to be expended on such questions as the mere form of the casing. Should it, for instance, open at a transverse joint ог a longitudinal one? Would the governor fit in better at one end or at the other? These and other apparently trivial, but really very important, details absorbed the greater part of the time at the designer's disposal. The mathematician seems often to have a difficulty in appreciating this matter, but the experimental physicist is nearer akin to the engineer, and has to face many of the same problems. Both suffer from a certain apparent perversity in the materials they use, to which, however, the engineer has commonly the added burden of often wayward and intractable human nature.

MESSRS. H. F. ANGUS AND Co., 83 Wigmore Street, London, W., have submitted to us a specimen of a very

useful supplementary lens which they have placed on the market for attachment to a naturalist's telescope. The telescope sent with the lens is of the usual short-focus pattern made for observing birds or other objects, and by placing the supplementary lens over the objective the instrument can be used to watch insects or similar small forms of animal life at any convenient distance down to about 20 inches, at which distance the magnification is about five diameters. The combination thus provides the naturalist with a very handy means of studying the characteristics and movements of insects, spiders, and so on at a convenient distance, and without disturbing the creatures. Similar caps can be adapted to the ordinary tourist telescope and the monocular prismatic field-glass. The attachment is inexpensive-the price being 35. 6d. for any size or power lens required-and it certainly increases the optical capacity of any instrument with which it is used. For the observation of minute forms of animal life in the open air, and for the examination of details of objects placed beyond the distance of distinct vision in museums, the additional lens will be found a great advantage. As, however, accessory parts of instruments are often misplaced or not at hand when desired, we suggest that the attachment should be fixed upon the telescope by a band or other means which would permit the lens to be brought in front of the objective or turned away from it as desired. A simple swivel arrangement would probably enable this to be done, and the naturalist could then immediately convert his glass into an instrument for the observation of objects near or far.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. CHANGES ON MARS.-Further changes in the south polar regions of Mars are recorded by M. Jarry Desloges in No. 4350 of the Astronomische Nachrichten (p. 95, August 25). Observations, made at the observatory installed on the Revard plateau, on August 20, 11h., showed that the Mare Cimmerium was divided obliquely by a bright band between Eridania and Electris, whilst a large gulf was distinguished on Zephyria, and numerous changes were seen to have taken place on the northern plains. Since its separation, observed on August 11-12, the bright oval region in longitude 320° has become more and more separated, and the dark regions of the planet, so pale in June and July, are changing, and becoming darker, almost daily. A greyish region seen at the eastern side of the polar cap on August 13, 2h., is diminishing rapidly, and apparently disaggregating in all directions.

THE ABSORPTION OF LIGHT IN SPACE.-A suggestion recently made by Prof. Turner, in regard to M. Tikhoff's researches on the absorption of light in interstellar space, is discussed by Mr. J. A. Parkhurst in the July number of the Astrophysical Journal (vol. xxx., No. 1, p. 33). Prof. Turner's suggestion was that photographs of stars should be taken using only the visual rays, and then other photographs should be taken in the same way to determine the increase of exposure necessary to get stars of a definite number of magnitudes fainter. If these photographs were more in accordance with the theoretical law connecting exposure and intensity than are those where the violet rays are not excluded, they would afford evidence that the discordance between visual and ordinary photographic magnitudes is due rather to cosmical than to photographic causes. Evidence of this nature has already been adduced by M. Tikhoff.

Mr. Parkhurst shows, however, from a number of experiments carried out at the Yerkes Observatory, that his results are contradictory to those of M. Tikhoff, and suggests that the cause of the difference lies in the instruments and plates employed; probably, in the main, in the plates and light-filters, for the same effect has been obtained by him both with a reflecting telescope and a doublet camera. Thus it would appear that the proposed