merely extending its scope. He added a deep interest in the aborigines to his earlier pursuits, and wrote, among other works, valuable memoirs on the dingo and on the sculpturing of sacred trees.
Etheridge was always absorbed in his science, and shunned ordinary social life, so that his real good nature could be appreciated only by a very small circle of intimate friends. His scientific worth, however, was widely acknowledged, and he received the Wollaston Fund from the Geological Society of London in 1877, the Clarke medal from the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1895, and the Mueller medal from the Australasian Association in 1911. His name is also associated with the Etheridge goldfield in North Queensland, a high peak on the Kosciusko tableland, and a glacier in Antarctica. A. S. W.
NOTES.
The report of observations of a gigantic dinosaurian reptile in the Congo region of Africa, which was made the subject of sensational articles in December last, proves, as we surmised (Nature, December 18, p. 396), to be without foundation. Mr. Wentworth D. Gray, Acting Representative of the Smithsonian African Expedition in the Katanga, writing from Elisabethville on January 21 to the Times of February 23, says:—"I am authorised to contradict the statement that the members of the Smithsonian African Expedition who proceeded to this territory came here to hunt the Brontosaurus. There is no foundation for this statement. I may also state that the report of the Brontosaurus arose from a piece of practical joking in the first instance, and, as regards the prospector 'Gapelle,' this gentleman does not exist except in the imagination of a second practical joker, who ingeniously coined the name from that of Mr. L. Le Page."
The first meeting since 1914 of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea will be held in London on March 2. Delegates will be present from Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Holland, Norway, and Sweden. Russia and Germany are not represented, and France sends delegates for the first time. The German investigations, it is now known, have been resumed, and the steamer Poseidon has been working at sea since last September. The council, it is expected, will consider arrangements for the resumption of the pre-war investigations, and will devote special attention to tracing the effects of the restrictions on fishing during the war period on the abundance of fish in the North Sea. Proposals for the closing of certain North Sea areas against steam-trawling are, it is understood, to be considered. Arrangements are being made by the British Fishery Departments for an early beginning of an extended programme of research. The question of the inclusion of Germany has not yet been considered, but it is believed that there is a growing feeling in this country that she should be invited to participate.
The Home Secretary, Mr. Shortt, announced in the House of Commons on February 24 that it is proposed that summer lime shall begin on March 28 and end on September 27.
We regret to announce the death, at seventy-five years of age, of Prof. J. Emerson Reynolds, F.R.S., professor of chemistry and chemical philosophy in Dublin University from 1875 to 1903.
Mr. J. S. Dunkerley, of the University of Glasgow, and Mrs. E. W. Sexton, of Plymouth, have been appointed Ray Lankester investigators at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Plymouth.
The lecture entitled "Some War-time Efforts in Chemical Industry at Gretna," arranged to be given by Mr. J. C. Burnham before the fellows of the Chemical Society on March 4, has been unavoidably postponed. The usual ordinary scientific meeting for the reading and discussion of papers will be held on that day.
At the meeting of the Chemical Society held on Thursday, February 19, it was stated that the following changes in officers and council had been proposed by the council:—As secretary. Dr. H. R. Le Sueur vice Prof. S. Smiles. As vice-presidents, Prof. J. B. Cohen and Prof. S. Smiles vice Prof. A. Smithells and Prof. S. Young. As new ordinary members of council, Prof. A. J. Allmand, Dr. E. F. Armstrong, Mr. F. H. Carr, and Dr. J. T. Hewitt.
A Departmental Committee has been appointed by Dr. Addison to consider the present state of the law with regard to the pollution of the air by smoke and other noxious vapours, and to advise what steps are desirable and practicable to diminish the evils still arising from such pollution. The members of the Committee are:—Lord Newton (chairman), Capt. Hamilton Benn, Prof. J. B. Cohen, Mr. S. Curphey, Sir John Lithiby, Mr. J. F. MacCabe, Mrs. Gilbert Samuel, Mr. E. D. Simon, Bailie W. B. Smith, and Mr. F. J. Willis. Mr. E. C. H. Salmon, of the Ministry of Health, will be secretary, and any communication should be addressed to him at the Ministry, Whitehall, S.W.1.
The officers and council of the Physical Society elected at the annual meeting on February 13 are as follows:—President: Prof. W. H. Bragg. Vice-Presidents: Dr. H. S. Allen, Prof. W. Eccles, Prof. A. S. Eddington, and Dr. R. .S. Willows. Secretaries: Dr. D. Owen (Birkbeck College, Bream's Buildings, London, E.C.4). and Mr. F. E. Smith (National Physical Laboratory, Teddington). Foreign Secretary: Sir Arthur Schuster. Treasurer: Mr. W. R. Cooper (82 Victoria Street, S.W.1). Librarian: Dr. A. O. Rankine (Imperial College of Science and Technology). Other Members of Council: Mr. C. R. Darling, Prof. C. L. Fortescue, Dr. E. Griffiths, Dr. E. H. Ravner, Dr. A. Russell, Sir Ernest Rutherford, Dr. G. F. C. Searle, Mr. T. Smith, Dr. J. H. Vincent, and Mr. F. J. W. Whipple.
