greater part of his works, always seeking in physiology pathological deductions for the use of practitioners.

As regards pure physiology, he studied the acid of the gastric juice, trying to show that it never existed uncombined (1874-77), the rhythmical function of the heart and its development in the embryo (1876), and more especially the function of the central nervous system, and of the bulb in particular (1877-1880). In this way he showed the existence of two bulbar centres, one acting upon breathing (it was the centre of Le Gallois and Flourens), the other upon the cardiac muscle, which clearly explained the two possible causes of death, either a stop of the respiratory movements with persistence of the beating of the heart or vice versa. He showed also the functional association of the eyes in the binocular vision, owing to the narrow connections between their motor nerves. As regards the physiology of the nerves, again, he revealed the existence of the tractus of crossed hemianæsthesy, published a few notes on the excitability of the nervous centres, the reflex movements, the func tions of the semicircular canals (1881), and, lastly, a refutation of the theory which made the cerebellum the seat of muscular strength.

Not less numerous are the works that he published upon experimental and comparative pathology.

But his special study was experimental physiology applied to therapeutics and toxicology; he published works on the properties of many substances, such as the narceine (1866), which he considered as the best sedative of the nervous system; the bromides, the soothing influence of which he investigated (18671869); the eserine or alkaloid of the Calabar bean (1869); propylamine (1873); aconitine, the advantages of which he showed as a sedative of sensibility (1875); colchicine, sparteine, boldo, salts of strontium, &c.; lastly, in 1877, he published a study on the alkaloids of cinchona, which he named in the following order, according to their poisonous qualities: Cinchonine, cinchonidine, quinidine. In fact, he made a special study of poisons in general, animal as well as mineral, natural as well as artificial.

In concluding this cursory view of Laborde's works, we cannot do better than mention his ingenious method of the rhythmical tractions of the tongue, which was sufficient to make the name of its inventor known throughout all the world. There is no need to expatiate on this most simple and efficient process of setting the respiratory reflex to work. It is known and used everywhere, and it has called back to life numbers of apparently drowned or suffocated people.

In fact, Laborde was not only a savant, but a great philanthropist, and this quality, together with his profound knowledge of toxicology, brought him to the front as one of the best qualified in the controversy raised recently on the question of alcoholism.

For this reason, Laborde, who had been a member of the Académie de Médecine since 1887, was trusted by this learned body with the report on the essences to be forbidden as noxious, which the Government had required from them. In this work he exhausted what strength was left to him. He strenuously defended every one of his arguments against the objections of his colleagues, and at last succeeded in making them adopt every item of his report. But the work proved too much for him, and he died on April 5. was vice-president of the Society of Biology, director of the Laboratory of Anthropology at the École des Hautes Études since 1893, and professor at the School of Anthropology. He was besides one of the oldest and ablest scientific journalists. He started La Tribune Médicale, a periodical open to all young medical men, which he edited to the last.

He

He was one of the few French savants who did not

belong to the Legion of Honour. Of course, the decoration was several times offered to him, but he thought it a distinction which should be exclusively military, and he never allowed his actions to contradict his opinions. J. DENIKER.

NOTES.

A MEETING of the council of the International Association of Academies is being held this week at the rooms of the Royal Society, that society being the directing academy of the association for the three years' period ending with 1904The meeting will be attended by delegates from nearly all the principal learned academies of Europe, and will discuss several matters of importance to international science and philosophy, preparatory to the meeting of the general assembly which is to be held in London next year. Representatives of both sections of the association, the natural science section, and the history and philosophy section, will attend the council. In connection with the meeting of the council there will be on Friday a meeting of a special committee appointed to deal with a proposal for the establishment of an international organisation for the investigation of the anatomy of the brain. The foreign delegates were to be received by the president and fellows of the Royal Society at Burlington House on Wednesday evening as we

went to press.

THE reply given by Mr. Balfour in the House of Commons on May 26, in answer to a question as to what the Government proposed to do to ensure the safety of the National Antarctic Expedition, was a rebuke which should not be received in silence by the joint Antarctic Committee. Mr. Balfour said: " The Government are prepared to contribute to the relief of the officers and men on board the

Discovery, which is now ice-bound in the Antarctic seas. The course taken by the two learned societies responsible for the expedition in respect to the contribution of money and men made by the Government is greatly to be regretted. I have always leaned towards the principle of extending the very limited aid which the British Government have been accustomed to give towards the furtherance of purely scientific research; but such action can only be justified so long as the Government are able to feel absolute confidence that the scientific bodies approaching them have placed before them all the information in their possession as to the estimated cost of their proposed action, and the limits within which they intend to confine it. That confidence has been rudely shaken by the present case." This statement has naturally received much attention, and the Antarctic Committee cannot permit the charges it contains to pass without reply. The two learned societies referred to are the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society, and the management of the expedition is in the hands of a joint committee of these bodies. From the beginning, however. the Royal Geographical Society has exerted a preponderant influence in the organisation of the expedition, and the Royal Society has yielded to it against the advice of its own representatives. When vital matters connected with the conduct of the expedition were in dispute in 1901, we on several occasions criticised the methods adopted, and regretted that the Royal Society had not taken a firmer position. Because the council of the Royal Geographical Society would not accept the recommendations of the joint committee, the Royal Society allowed itself to be overruled, though Sir Archibald Geikie, Prof. E. B. Poulton and Mr. J. Y. Buchanan objected to the surrender. The whole story was told in a letter sent by Prof. Poulton to fellows of the Royal Society, and published in NATURE of May 23,

Tas condition of the German Antarctic Expedition which, under the command of Dr. von Drygalski, left Germany in August, 100t, is causing great anxiety, and hurried preparatons are being made for the dispatch of a relief expedition this summer. It will be remembered, a correspondent of the Pali Mall remarks, that a station was erected on Kerguelen Island in January, 1902, which was intended to serve as a place of observation and as a base for the expedition ship Gauss, which was to penetrate much farther south. Those who were at the station, however, suffered terribly from the climate, and then were attacked by beriber, which appears to be endemic in that part of the world. This malads carried off the greater number of those whc were afflicted with it, among them being Dr. Enzensperger, the metes rologist. The Gauss sailed south, but as nothing has been heard of her for a long time it is feared that she is lost, and doubts have been expressed that any of her present officers and crew will ever be heard of again. An attempt is, however, to be made to find them. The matter was discussed in the Reichstag a few days ago, and about 25,00%, was unanimously voted for a relief expedition. Preparations for departure will not be begun until the middle of next month-the latest time, according to scientific oplin, that the Gauss could by any chance make her way out of the sast fields of ice over which the terrible severity of an Antarctic winter is now spreading.

Tur fifth International Congress for Applied Chemistry is being held in the Imperial Diet Building at Berlin, under the presidency of Prof. Dr. Otto N. Witt. About 2200 members, accompanied by more than 300 ladies, are attending the Congress, at which the European States and several other States are represented by official delegates.

The

Chart British societies, that is, in addition to the Chemical Society, the Institute of Chemistry, the Society of Chemical Industry the Society of Public Analysts, the Federated Institute of Brewing, the Royal Societies of London and Eamburgh, the Iron and Steel Institute, the Royal Institubon, the British Association and other bodies, nominated

celegates for the organising committee. The Congress will

debberate in eleven sections and three subsections. The

German Electrochemical Society, which last year adopted the name of German Bunsen Society for Applied Physical Chemistry, will also hold its annual meeting at Berlin during this week, and will take charge of the tenth electrochemical section. This section, however, will meet in the Physical Institute of the University of Berlin. The congress offices, so far at 31 March Str., Charlottenburg, will be removed to the Imperial Diet Building (ReichstagsGebaude) on June 2, and a post office has been opened in this building for the convenience of members. There are 350 papers and reports to be read. The great electrical works of Bertin and some other works will be thrown open to members, but no chemical works apparently. The city of Berlin will entertain the Congress, and an excursion to the Havel Lakes has been arranged for Sunday, June 7.

this month. The proceedings are private. Mr. J. C. Lamb, the principal delegate of Great Britain, has been elected president of the conference, and Messrs. J. Ardron and This is the ninth conference P. Benton vice-presidents. which has been held; at the last the cable companies have been represented as well as the various States. In addition to the business of the conference, dinners and other entertainments have been arranged in connection with it; a dinner was given last week by the Submarine Telegraph Companies at the Hotel Cecil, Sir J. Wolfe-Barry presiding, and nearly 500 guests being present. The president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers entertains the delegates and the Institution at a concert at the Albert Hall on June 11, and the conversazione of the Institution will also be held during the sitting of the conference.

The

MR. MARCONI is reported to have said on his return to England last week that it will be another six weeks before Transatlantic communication will be resumed. The precise nature of the breakdown has not been published. American company proposes to extend greatly the system in America by establishing new stations in New York and on the great lakes. It is also stated that the report that Mr. Marconi was suffering from nervous breakdown and would have to take a prolonged rest is unfounded.

THE council of the Institution of Electrical Engineers has received and accepted an invitation from the American Institute of Electrical Engineers to visit the United States in 1904. The McGill University, of Montreal, has invited the two Institutions to hold a joint meeting in their building at this time. The invitations, both from the American Institute and the McGill University, are couched in the most cordial terms, and the council hopes that it may be possible to arrange not only for a visit to the eastern States of America and to the St. Louis Exhibition, but also for the proposed joint meeting in Canada.

THE report of the council of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, adopted at the annual general meeting held on May 28, is a record of real scientific activity and progress. The Institution is exerting the best of influences upon electrical science, and its work and scope are rapidly extending. Mr. Robert Kaye Gray has been elected president

in succession to Mr. Swinburne. A new local section has been formed with its centre at Leeds, embracing the whole of Yorkshire with the exception of Middlesbrough and the Cleveland district, which were already included in the area of the Newcastle local section. The council has awarded

the following premiums for papers and communications :

for

on

an

the Institution premium, value 25l., to Dr. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., for Photometry of Electric Lamps"; the Paris Electrical Exhibition premium, value 10l., to Mr. M. B. Field, for "A Study of the Phenomenon of Resonance in Electric Circuits by the Aid of Oscillograms"; two extra premiums, value 10l. each, one to Messrs. A. D. Constable and E. Fawssett jointly, for " Distribution Losses in Electric Supply Systems"; and the other to Dr. W. M. Thornton, "Experiments Synchronous Converters"; original communication premium, value 10l., to Messrs. A. Russell and C. C. Paterson, for Sparking in Switches." Students' premiums have been awarded to Messrs. J. Griffin, F. J. Hiss, E. Fisher, A. G. Ellis, and T. H. Vigor. Salomons scholarships, value 50l. each, have been awarded to Mr. G. B. Dyke, of University College, London, and to Mr. H. W. Kefford, of the Central Technical College. The award of the David Hughes scholarship, value 50l., has been made to Mr. W. H. Wilson, of King's College, It has been decided to christen the new society of electrochemists " The Faraday Society," the object of the Society, as stated in a subtitle, being to promote the study of electro- | chemistry, electrometallurgy, chemical physics, metallography, and kindred subjects. It is proposed to start work at once by beginning a half-session on July 1, the first ordinary meeting being fixed for June 30; the papers to be read will be announced in due course. Arrangements have been made to publish the proceedings in the Electrochemist and Metallurgist, which will be issued free to members; the papers will be circulated before being read, a plan which it is hoped will improve the discussion upon them. It is also hoped that it will be possible to supply members with the Transactions of the American Electrochemical Society, either free or at a very small cost. first president is Mr. J. W. Swan, F.R.S., and the vicepresidents are Prof. Crum Brown, Lord Kelvin, Sir O. Lodge, Dr. Ludwig Mond, Lord Rayleigh, Mr. A. Siemens and Mr. J. Swinburne. A set of rules has been drawn up by the council; these and any other particulars can obtained from the secretary, Mr. F. S. Spiers, 82 Victoria Street, S.W. We wish the Society all success.

The

be

We regret to have to announce that Dr. A. A. Common, of Ealing, died very suddenly on Wednesday morning last.

SIR WILLIAM RAMSAY, K.C.B., F.R.S., has been elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Vienna.

THE presentation of the Hofmann medals to M. Henri Moissan and Sir William Ramsay is to take place at the Hofmann-Haus, Berlin, to-day, June 4.

THE annual conversazione of the Society of Arts will take place at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park, on Tuesday, June 30.

It is expected, says Science, that the International Electrical Congress will be held at St. Louis, during the week beginning September 12, 1004. It will immediately precede the International Congress of Arts and Sciences.

At the anniversary meeting of the Linnean Society on

EXTRAORDINARY rains in parts of the United States have caused great damage and loss of life by floods in the Indian Territory, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa. At North Topeka, Kansas, seven thousand out of the ten thousand inhabitants left the city on May 30 to escape the deluge. One hundred and fifty persons are known to have been drowned. The rescued say that the whole of North Topeka was flooded on Friday faster than the people could get away. On May 30 the level of the Kansas River rose at the rate of three inches an hour. On June 1 Missouri River was thirty feet above low-water mark at Kansas City, and was rising rapidly.

the

On Saturday afternoon, May 30, and following night London was visited by two violent thunderstorms. Storms of a destructive character, resulting in loss of life, also occurred over a great part of England, especially in the Thames Valley, and were apparently due to the passage of small cyclonic depressions moving slowly from south-east to north-west. Heavy downpours of rain accompanied or followed both storms, but its intensity varied considerably; about an inch and a half fell during the first sterm in one of the southern suburbs of London, while at a distance of a very few miles, where the thunder and lightning appeared to be equally violent, the fall only amounted to a few tenths of an inch. The heat was oppressive; near London on Whit Monday the thermometer in the screen rose to 83°, and the weather was exceptionally brilliant in the south and east of England generally, but dull and cool in the north and

A REUTER message from Constantinople on May 20 states that belated reports have been received of the earthquake at Van on April 29, by which the town of Melazgerd mas

for the ensuing year. The Linnean medal was presented to Dr. M. C. Cooke.

According to a Reuter message from Paris on May 30, a telegram from Fort de France, dated May 28, states that the volcano of Mont Pelée is again showing activity, and that the Council-General of Martinique is urging the evacuation of the whole of the north side of the island.

ACCORDING to a Press despatch from Washington, dated May 13, the executive committee of the Carnegie Institution reports that the entire sum of 40,000l, allotted to grants for original research has been distributed, and that of the Soool, set aside for publications to be made this year, 4000l. has been assigned to special publications. No more grants for researches will be made until after the next meeting of the board of trustees, which will be held in December.

A TERRIFIC tornado passed over the southern portion of Gainsville, Georgia, at noon on Monday, June 1, destroying several large buildings and killing sixty-four persons. The track of the tornado was about one hundred yards wide, and the damage done was confined to it. The storm came with great suddenness, and within a couple of minutes the two upper stories of a four-story brick-built factory were carried away to distances of hundreds of feet. During the tornado deep darkness prevailed, and the air was hot and oppressive. Five minutes later the sun was shining.

Van

about 2000 persons. More than 400 houses in neighbouring villages collapsed. A somewhat severe shock of earthquake was felt in Constantinople on the morning of May 20, but no damage was done. Further particulars of the earthquake at are contained in a despatch front His Majesty's Consul at Erzerum. The villages of Patnetz, Hadjili, Mollah Ibrahim, Zoussicko and Molla Mustapha were completely destroyed with the exception of the mosque, school and two houses. Seventeen other villages have been partially destroyed. In Sipoki the villages of Mollah Hassan, Berdav, Mirzeh, Kara Khelil Mia have been completely destroyed, and eight ther villages partially destroyed. It would appear that the centre of the seismic disturbance was in the neighbourhood of Mount Sipan, and the area of its greatest violence extended along the valley cf the Eastern Euphrates, covering the Kazas of Boulanyk and Melazgerd, and the Paátnotz district.

As already announced, the autumn meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute will be held at Barrow-in-Furness on September 1-4, under the presidency of Mr. Andrew Carnegie. The programme will embrace visits to works, docks, and iron ore mines, and excursions will be arranged to the Lake District and to Blackpool. A detailed programme will be issued when the local arrangements are further advanced. This programme will contain a list of the papers that are expected to be read.

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