OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

THE PROPER MOTION OF CASTOR.-Taking into account both the true proper motion and the orbital motion of the system of Castor, Mr. Crommelin has determined a new value for the proper motion of the centre of gravity of the system. This new value is -0.0135s., +0.120, and it represents the facts much more closely than those previously determined by Auwers and Newcomb respectively. In fact, the latter would have become entirely erroneous, in N.P.D., within a few years, for they were based on the assumption that the proper motion was uniformly rectilinear, whereas the orbital motion in N.P.D. will, in a few years, be entirely reversed. It is interesting to note that the new value was obtained by taking into account the spectroscopic as well as the meridian-observation results, and that the inass ratio obtained by Dr. H. Curtis, which shows that the mass of a is six times greater than that of a2, is hereby confirmed (Monthly Notices R.A.S., December, 1906).

LINE INTENSITY AND SPECTRAL TYPE.-The results of an interesting investigation of compound lines shown on the stellar spectrograms obtained at the Mills Observatory, Chile, are published in No. 5, vol. xxiv., of the Astrophysical Journal by Dr. Sebastian Albrecht. From the spectrograms of stars of different types it was found that certain compound lines give progressive differences in the determined radial velocities as one passes from the type F to the type Mb in the Harvard classification. The investigation showed that these differences are probably due to the variation of intensity, rather than the presence or absence, of the same components of the blended line in passing from one stellar type to another. It also showed that, considering the origins of the variable lines, the physical conditions in the stars as we pass from the F (Procyonian) to the Mb (Antarian) type vary roughly in the same direction as from the sun to the sun-spots, a conclusion confirming that arrived at by Sir Norman Lockyer (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. lxxiv., p. 53) in a paper which does not appear to have been noted by the American observers who have since dealt with this subject.

The awkwardness of having an arbitrarily chosen code, instead of self-explanatory generical names, to represent stellar types, is strikingly illustrated in the present paper, where the reader's mind is constantly taxed in trying to remember the significance of such signs as Ma, K,M, F,G,

and so on.

Both

SILICON IN THE CHROMOSPHERE. At the last meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, Mr. Fowler read a paper in which he demonstrated the probable presence of silicon in the chromosphere. This element was identified by the presence of two of its strong lines, a 6347-3 and a 6371-6, as well-marked lines in the chromospheric spectrum. lines occur in the Fraunhofer spectrum, with intensities and characters 2N and 1Nd? respectively, and the latter was ascribed to iron by Rowland, who failed to find an origin for the other. Both are probably enhanced lines, and are almost obliterated in the sun-spot spectrum (Monthly Notices, No. 2, vol. xvii.).

MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION AND ITS AFFILIATED SOCIETIES.

THE fifty-seventh meeting of the American Association

for the Advancement of Science and of the societies affiliated with it was held at New York, N.Y., during the recent convocation week (December 26, 1906, to January 2), under the presidency of the distinguished pathologist Dr. William H. Welch, of Johns Hopkins University. The meetings brought together a larger number of scientific men than ever before, and it is estimated that about 1800 scientific men and women were in attendance. The meetings for the most part were held in the compact group of buildings forming the Morningside Heights property of the Columbia University, but the medical meetings of Section K (Physiology and Experimental Medicine) of the association, of the American Physiological Society, the American Bacteriological Society, and the American Society of Anatomists were held at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and at the Rockefeller Institute. The Geological Society of America and Section E (Geology and Geography) met at the American Museum of Natural History, and the Botanical Society of America and Section G (Botany) met at the Botanical Gardens. The opening meeting was held in Earl Hall, Columbia University, when the retiring president, Prof. C. M. Woodward, of St. Louis, introduced his successor, Dr. William H. Welch. An address of welcome was given by Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, to which Dr. Welch responded.

VARIATION OF WAVE-LENGTHS IN THE SOLAR SPECTRUM. -Whilst discussing his 1901-6 observations of the sun's rotation period, Dr. Halm discovered a previously unknown "shift in two of the spectrum lines employed. The method used at Edinburgh is that in which the difference of the interval between certain solar and atmospheric lines at the sun's centre and at the limb is measured, this difference giving the "Doppler" displacement at the limb due to the sun's rotational motion. Dr. Halm found that this interval was not the same in 1906 as in 1901, and on analysing his results further he also found some indication of a three-year period in the variation, thus giving additional confirmation to the existence of a short period in solar phenomena such as found by Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer when discussing the relations between solar and terrestrial meteorological phenomena. Dr. Halm suggests that the 44 shift discovered by him may be due to difference of pressure (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4146).

The address of the retiring president, Prof. Woodward, was delivered at the Teachers' College on Thursday night, December 27, 1906, and was entitled "The Science of Education, a peculiarly apt topic for this meeting, since a new section, "L-Education," was founded at this time.

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The addresses of vice-presidents, that is, the chairmen of sections, were extremely interesting. On Thursday afternoon Vice-president Ward, in his address before the Section of Zoology, used as his subject The Influence of Parasitism on the Host "; Vice-president McNair, before the Section of Mechanical Science and Engineering, spoke on "Some Problems Connected with Deep Mining in the Lake Superior Copper District"; Vice-president Fisher, before the Section of Social and Economic Science, spoke on the topic, Why the Laisser-faire Doctrine Failed "; Vice-president Rice, before the Section of Geology and Geography, spoke on "The Contributions of America to Geology"; Vice-president Sedgwick, before the Section of Physiology and Experimental Medicine, spoke on "The Expansion of Physiology"; Vicc-president Eichelberger, before the Section of Mathematics and Astronomy, had as his title "Clocks-Ancient and Modern"; Vice-president Mabery, before the Section of Chemistry, spoke of the "Education of a Professional Chemist"; Vice-president MacCurdy addressed the Section of Anthropology on the subject of "Some Phases of Prehistoric Archæology; Vice-president Crew, before the Section of Physics, spoke on "Fact and Theory in Spectroscopy "; and Vice-presi dent Smith, before the Section of Botany, under the title "Problems in Plant Pathology."

One of the most interesting and important features of the meeting was the holding of a number of joint sessions between different societies and sections. For example, the afternoon of December 27 was devoted to a symposium under the auspices of Section K (Physiology and Experimental Medicine) at the College of Physicians and Surgeons on the subject of protozoa as factors in disease, a discussion in which both the pathologists and the botanists joined. On the following day a joint meeting of the Society of Zoologists and the Sections of Zoology and Botany was held for the reading of papers on heredity in plant and animal breeding, and on that day Section K held a joint meeting with the Society of American Bacteriologists. There was also a general discussion under the auspices of the American Society of Naturalists on the general topic "The Biological Significance and Control of On the same day a new Entomological Society of America was founded, with nearly 200 members, and a public lecture was delivered under its auspices by Dr.

Sex."

Wm. M. Wheeler, on "The Polymorphism of Social Insects."

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On Saturday, December 29, a general meeting and luncheon was given at the College of the City of New York, where lectures were given on The Effort to Save Niagara," by Dr. John M. Clarke, and "On the Industries of Niagara," by Prof. C. F. Chandler. In the afternoon a general meeting was held at the American Museum of Natural History to attend the ceremonies connected with the unveiling of the busts of American men of science presented to the museum by Mr. Morris K. Jesup. Fiveminute speeches of presentation were made by Dr. H. C. Bumpus, Hon. Joseph H. Choate, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, the representative of the German Ambassador, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Dr. N. L. Britton, Dr. R. S. Woodward, Dr. Arthur T. Hadley, Dr. Hugh M. Smith, Dr. W. K. Brooks, and Dr. H. F. Osborn. A reception was given at the museum in the evening by the trustees of the museum and the New York Academy of Sciences, with an exhibition of scientific progress by the academy, including a demonstration and short addresses.

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on

The most important actions taken by council and by the association at the New York meeting were follows: (1) The addition of a new section to the association, viz. L-Education; (2) the change of the title of Section H from Anthropology to Anthropology and Psychology"; (3) a standing committee of fifteen seismology was appointed; (4) a Darwin memorial committee of ten was appointed to consider the manner in which the association may suitably commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the first edition of "The Origin of Species, and this committee was authorised to make overtures to the British Association in order to ascertain whether joint action in this matter cannot be taken; (5) the permanent secretary was authorised to publish hereafter in the official programme of the association all the programmes of all the affiliated societies, whether holding joint sessions with the sections of the association or not; (6) Section E and other sections desiring to do so were authorised to hold a summer meeting during the summer of 1907; (7) a memorial was presented to Congress urging the passage at the present session of the Bill creating forest reserves in the White Mountain region and in the Lower Appalachian region.

In accordance with the policy adopted of recent years, the general committee chose as the place of next meeting the city recommended by the last general committee, namely, Chicago, and recommended to the next general committee that the meeting of 1908-9 should be held in Baltimore. A cordial invitation was received from the president of the University of Chicago, from the Field Columbian Museum and from the Mayor of the city, and also from the president of Johns Hopkins University, of Baltimore. The alternation of eastern and mid-western meetings appears to be, on the whole, satisfactory, although the eastern meetings have been much more largely attended. Chicago, however, is a great scientific centre, and is so easily accessible by rail that the next meeting bids fair to be a large one.

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The officers elected for the Chicago meeting were follows:-President, Prof. E. L. Nichols, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; vice-president and chairman of Section A (Mathematics and Astronomy), Prof. E. O. Lovett, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.; vice-president and chairman of Section B (Physics), Prof. Dayton C. Miller, Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, Ohio; vicepresident and chairman of Section C (Chemistry), Prof. H. P. Talbot, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.; vice-president and chairman of Section D (Mechanical Science and Engineering), Prof. Olin H. Landreth, Union College, Schenectady, N.Y.; vice-president and chairman of Section E (Geology and Geography), Prof. J. P. Iddings, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.; vice-president and chairman of Section F (Zoology), Prof. E. B. Wilson, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.; vice-president and chairman of Section G (Botany), Prof. C. E. Bessey, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.; vice-president and chairman of Section H (Anthropology), Dr. Franz Boas, American. Museum of Natural History, Central Park, New York, N.Y.; vice-president and chair

man of Section I (Social and Economic Science), Dr. John Franklin Crowell, c/o The Wall Street Gazette, New York, N.Y.; vice-president and chairman of Section K (Physiology and Experimental Medicine), Dr. Ludwig Hektoen, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.; vice-president and chairman of Section L (Education), Hon. Elmer Brown, U.S. Commissioner of Education, Washington, D.C.

SOME RECENT WORK OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS.

THE Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom for 1905 (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1906, price is.) contains new information regarding the granites of Cornwall and the results of subterranean vapour-action on their flanks. The associated elvan-dykes are now recognised as cutting the granite, and not as offshoots from the more coarsely crystalline mass. The Ordovician beds of South Wales are being divided into zones, under the care of Mr. Strahan. We may note that the spelling "Llandilo " is officially accepted. At the same time, the Coal-measures of South Wales continue to receive close attention; and Messrs. Gibson and Cantrill describe the progress of the search for coal beneath the Permian and Trias of the English Midlands. Mr. Flett's account of the Lewisian rocks that have been recognised within the area of the Moine gneisses in northern Scotland shows that the ancient intrusive gneisses are accompanied by still older rocks of sedimentary origin, which have been metamorphosed by them. Following Dr. Peach, the occurrence of an unconformity between this older complex series and the Moine gneisses is regarded as extremely probable (pp. 103, 166, &c.). Mr. Howe furnishes a summary of the work done in the museum at Jermyn Street on the samples of road-metal tested in Mr. Lovegrove's machines at Hornsey. The full results are now available in a separate work (see NATURE, vol. lxxv., p. 220).

The Geological Survey also issued in 1906 a colourprinted edition of Sheet 110 of the English map, with the superficial deposits represented, and an accompanying memoir of 138 pages on "The Geology of the Country around Macclesfield, Congleton, Crewe, and Middlewich (price 2s. 6d.). The only things that we miss in this memoir are photographic illustrations to show the contrast between the drift-covered plain of Cheshire and the scarped and broken country leading northwards from Mow Cop. Even a vignette of Moreton Hall, and another of the spoil-heaps of a coal-mine, might express the social and industrial contrast, which is so well known to roadtravellers between Chester and the Pennine Chain. The general description," however, makes good amends from the point of view of structural geology. The details of the superficial deposits are the newest feature in the memoir, and the glacial beds are regarded as the product of an ice-sheet about 1100 feet in thickness (p. 79). The marine shells found in the high-level gravels

may well have been caught up by the ice in its passage over the Irish Sea. Examples of these occur east of Macclesfield at a height of 1200 feet above the sea. But Mr. T. I. Pocock, who treats of this area in the memoir, believes that the shelly sands formerly to be seen under Macclesfield itself (p. 84), at a height of about 450 feet, may have been deposited in a shallow sea. The perfect state of preservation of large numbers of the molluscan remains, and the absence of glacial indications in the beds, influence him in this opinion, which is quite in accordance with what is admitted in countries outside the British Isles.

At home, however, it is certain to be questioned, as is also the dim suggestion of an inter-Glacial epoch in the succession of events tabulated upon p. 88. The economic geology of the area is dealt with in chapter ix.

Earlier in the year, Mr. G. Barrow's memoir on The Geology of the Isles of Scilly" (price is.) was issued, to accompany a convenient map which includes the whole group in a single sheet. Here photography has freely been called in, and the relations of the isles to human interests are well touched on. Mr. Flett's petrographic notes appear,

happily, in connection with the description of the rockmasses in the field: An outlier of gravel (p. 15), "largely composed of Chalk-flints and Greensand-chert, forms a cap on the eastern promontory of St. Martin's, and may be a relic of a river-gravel, spread from Dartmoor over a continuous land-surface in Eocene times. The old preGlacial beach, now near sea-level, has been raised at least 40 feet, and again lowered by that amount, since its formation (p. 33); the evidence of this comes from the mainland, but is sufficiently conclusive. The warping in the beach itself may be brought to the attention of those who are captivated by the theory of fluctuations in the volume of the sea rather than by that of recent movements of the land.

Part iv. of the Administration Reports of Ceylon for 1905 includes one on the Mineralogical Survey, by the director, Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy. This raises a number of points of great interest to the petrographer as well as the mineralogist. The graphite of Ceylon is regarded as a product of vein-filling processes, following the reasoning of Weinschenk-here styled, as SO often happens, Weinschenck. If, however (p. E3), the crystalline limestones of the district are organic, the graphite may possibly have had "an indirect organic origin." The similarity of the deposits in Ceylon to those of Quebec, which are directly associated with limestone, is not so great as Osann has recently suggested. The discovery of thorianite by the director has led to investigations in a number of valleys (p. E6); but, knowing the country intimately, Dr. Coomaraswamy does not believe that it would be practicable to divert the courses of the streams to facilitate the raising of the material. An illustrated account is given of the native method of dredging for gems, and there is a fine plate showing the weathered surface of limestone associated with bands and lumps of granulite. parallel to this interstreaking the two rocks can surely be found in the west of our own islands, where the "" granulite" is clearly

A

of

an invader in the limestone. This report, so closely and simply written, provides more agreeable reading than many ambitious volumes with wide margins and encyclopædic information.

From the New Zealand Geological Survey we have received Bulletin No. 1, describing the geology of the Hokitika sheet, by J. M. Bell and Colin Fraser (pp. xii+ 102, 1906). Some of the topographical work has

The authors have no doubt as to the excavating power of the glaciers in the past, and quote the forms of the lake-bottoms in support of their conclusions. The petrology is illustrated by a striking series of enlargements from rock-slices, reminding one, on a still bolder scale, of the pioneer work of the late Sir R. Daintree. Nephrite (p. 69) is found occurring as segregations in talc-rock or talc-serpentine-rock, the lumps being from about 1 inch to 2 feet across; these are pointed out (p. 99) as of 2 economic value. On p. 93 we have the interesting suggestion that boulders of " grauwacke in Butcher's Creek' supply sufficient ferrous carbonate to act, when they de- : compose, as precipitants of gold in the solutions per- 12 meating the surrounding gravels. These boulders were examined chemically, owing to the greater richness of the gravel round them as compared with that round boulders of other rocks. Another remarkable record is the discovery of platinum in quartz-veins (p. 96). The whole bulletin, with its introduction on the botany, soil, climate, and communications of the area, shows that the survey has a high conception of its duties in carrying on the scientific investigation of New Zealand.

The Annual Report of the State Geologist of New Jersey for 1905 shows the local survey in cooperation with that of the United States, and even competing with it in the

to be carried out by the Geological Survey, and maps are usefully added in an envelope at the end of the bulletin. The area described lies in North Westland, and contains both alluvial gold and coal. The relics of formerly extensive glaciers, with snowy gathering-grounds at a height of about 5500 feet above the sea, afford especially interesting features in a latitude of 43° S. One of these narrow shrunken glaciers is shown in the illustration here selected (Fig. 1), and the memoir abounds in photographic views which will appeal equally to the geographer and the geologist. It should have been noted, perhaps, by the authors that some of these views represent more than the perpetual snow. On P. 21 it is suggested that the glaciation began to spread from the new mountain-range during or perhaps just following Lower Cretaceous times." On the next page this is, we think, corrected by the statement that " glaciation started in Miocene time." The great advance of the ice, reducing the island to the condition of Greenland, probably took place in the early Pleistocene. Whether this was due entirely to the upheaval of a mountain-chain across the direction of the prevalent winds is left an open question. We gather that the great mountain-building movements were of early Eocene age.

production of geological maps on a large scale (p. 4). As is now the case with most surveys, economic observations Occupy an important place, and it is doubtless found that the necessity for close scrutiny and all-round questioning which such inquiries involve reacts favourably on the character of the more purely scientific work. In New Jersey, however, the Geological Survey goes outside ordinary lines, and deals, for instance, with water-supply and coast-protection from an engineering point of view. Mr. Berry describes (p. 135) the Cenomanian flora of the Magothy beds at Cliffwood. Messrs. Parmelee and McCourt contribute ninety pages on the nature and uses of peat, and on the peat-deposits of the State, with a general bibliography.

The recent work of the United States Geological Survey has been dealt with lately in a special article (NATURE, December 20, 1906, p. 182). Mr. Calhoun has now issued a professional paper on "The Montana Lobe of the Keewatin Ice-sheet, which contains interesting details (p. 40, &c.) as to the influence of the main ice-sheet on the course of the Missouri River. Students of dry rivercourses in glaciated areas will find the Shonkin Sag of interest, a channel with characteristically fresh surface

f the

The laboratory occupies a low one-storied building on the north side of the Surgeons' Hall. There are four rooms, the largest of which is filled with cases stored with specimens from the Arctic, while another contains specimens from the Antarctic. Each case is devoted to a particular group of animals, crustacea, fishes, molluscs, seaurchins, &c., systematically arranged, with the memoirs and papers describing them placed on the lower shelf. One interesting case is arranged bathymetrically, the typical animals of different depths being placed on corresponding shelves. In the Antarctic room special cases are devoted to special regions, such as the Weddell Sea, Scotia Bay, &c., or to different islands, the South Orkneys, Gough Island, the Falklands, and so on. One interesting specimen in the collection is a large granite boulder, icemarked, weighing 3 or 4 cwt., which had been dredged up from a depth of 1775 fathoms in lat. 62° 10' S. and long. 41° 20' W. The whole collection, Arctic and Antarctic, represented the gatherings of the scientific work of five vessels, the Balaena, the Windward, the Blencathra, Princess Alice II., and the Scotia. Photographs of these and of interesting scenes during the Scotia's voyage decorated the walls. At the present time many of the specimens are in the hands of the naturalists who are working up the various groups, while the larger animals are for the most part distributed throughout Scotland in various museums. There are many duplicates which should prove useful in effecting exchanges with other similar institutions, and so gradually increase the value of the Edinburgh collection.

The inauguration of the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory was the first of a series of public and semi-public functions at which the Prince of Monaco was the leading figure. On the evening of January 16 he was the principal guest at the dinner of the Royal Society Club. Lord Kelvin presided, and Prof. Geikie acted as vice-chairman. On Thursday, January 17, the Prince received the degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Edinburgh. On the evening of the same day he delivered an address on the exploration of the high atmosphere before the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Prof. Geikie, president of the society, occupied the chair, and introduced the Prince as one well known as an enthusiastic, devoted, and successful student of natural science. His investigations had been conducted on a scale which had only been rivalled by Government expeditions sent out by great nations. For at least twenty-five years he had traversed the ocean in search of knowledge. He had established a great oceanographical institute Monaco, a weather bureau, and a museum, and last year he endowed at Paris an oceanographical institute at a cost of not less than 160,000l. The president then handed to the Prince the gold medal which the society had awarded him in recognition of his scientific work.

at

In the course of his address, the Prince said that in the last few years the improvements in the manufacture of steel had made it possible to fly kites at great heights, carrying self-registering apparatus. Also the india-rubber industry had enabled balloons, carrying self-registering apparatus, to be sent to altitudes hitherto inaccessible. Through the liberality of the German Emperor a great establishment had been set up at Lindenberg for the systematic investigation of the upper-air meteorology. This was over the land. In 1904 the lecturer had become interested in the subject, and he began to make plans for investigating the problem over the sea. To reach great heights it was necessary to attach to the line or wire a series of kites at intervals, and if no layers of calm air were encountered a very great height could be reached, and the kite kept there by the vessel moving with a speed of not less than 7 metres per second. There were many difficulties on board ship due to complications of wind distributions in the different layers. After a season's work with kites in the Atlantic the Prince resolved to try the ballons-sondes. The method first adopted was to use two light india-rubber balloons filled with hydrogen. The one carried the self-registering apparatus, while the other and more inflated balloon was attached to it, and aided the ascent to the required height. At this height the upper balloon burst, and the lower balloon with its instruments descended as a parachute, and hovered over the sea

2

so long as the float at the end of the stray line touched the surface of the water. This could be seen at a distance of eight or ten miles. The bursting of the balloon was somewhat indefinite, and an improvement was subsequently effected by means of which the one balloon was released altogether at the desired height. This was done by means of a current from a small dry cell set in action when the pen of the barograph on the lower balloon touched a conductor set at the pressure corresponding to the desired height. Also by use of a formula taken in connection with the observed ascent of the system, the line of descent of the "ballon parachute" could be approximately calculated, and the ship steered for the place. By means of apparatus of this kind pressure and temperature curves had been brought back from a height of 7500 metres in latitude 78°.55. In the high latitudes the experiments had been greatly interfered with by fog. The drift of air in still higher regions had been studied by means of pilot balloons, which had been followed through the telescope of a theodolite to heights of nearly 30,000 metres. These indicated that in latitude 80° north, at a height of about 13,600 metres, there were at times winds blowing with a velocity of 60 metres per second, or 130 miles per hour. The results of several cruises had shown that "if the principal States of the world were willing to diminish a little the expense of international quarrels by submitting in them to the judgment of a tribunal less costly than that of war, and if they preserved more resources for the veritable interests of humanity, it would be possible with powerful means very soon to know the laws of meteorology, the key to which seemed to be found in the higher atmospheric regions."

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CAMBRIDGE.-The voting on the proposed reform of the mathematical tripos will take place on Friday and Saturday, February 1 and 2.

The placet executive committee has issued a letter to non-resident members of the Senate pointing out that "the proposed scheme is supported by a large majority of the resident members of the Senate, a majority which includes m eight heads of houses, more than thirty professors, all the official university teachers of mathematics, and the whole mathematical staff of several of the larger colleges. Moreover, the principles of the reform have already been approved by the Senate. It is, however, impossible for the reform to be carried into effect unless it is supported by the votes of a large number of non-residents. rejection of the proposed reform would be a great calamity for the future of the Cambridge School of Mathematics. Further, the precedent established by the reversal of a decision already made would be a serious menace to the practical working of the government of the University."

The

THE citizens of Montreal resolved at a meeting on January 16 to raise 200,000l. for an endowment fund for the McGill University. Mr. Robert Reford promised to contribute 10,000l. Lord Grey presided, and Lord Strathcona was also present at the meeting.

A COURSE of eight lectures on "Certain Fundamental Problems in Physiology Common to Animals and Plants," to be given at University College, London, by Dr. W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S., commenced on Wednesday, January 23. The lectures are open to all students of the University of London.

MR. G. P. DARNELL SMITH has been appointed assistant director of technical education and manual training to the Board of Education, Auckland, New Zealand. Mr. Darnell Smith has been on the staff of the Merchant Venturers' Technical College, Bristol, since September, 1892, and some time ago he was promoted to the post of assistant professor of chemistry in the college.

THE Duke of Northumberland on January 17 opened the new Royal Grammar School at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which has been built by the governors at a cost of 60,000l. to take the place of an older building. In his inaugural address the Duke of Northumberland said, with regard to recent elementary education, we have probably over