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��THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY

��chemical society, his uncle was director to the British Geological Survey. Mel- dola was descended' from a distinguished line of Spanish rabbis. If his grand- father had not moved to England, Mel- dola would have been more likely to have been a Jewish theologian than a chemi&t. Both Ramsay and Meldola are members of the  notable families recorded by Galton as contributing fel- lows to the Eoyal Society. We have thus inherited ability in both cases, in the former displayed in a constant direction, in the latter diverted by the environment to a different track. In this connection it is worth noting th&t Meldola 's performance was unusually versatile, as is indicated by the fact that he was president, on the one hand, of the British Chemical Society and the Society of Chemical Industry and, on the other hand, of the British Ento- mological Society and the Essex Field Club. His first papers were on mimicry and protective coloration in insects and he translated Weismann's ** Theory of Descent" into English. He was for thirty years professor of chemistry in the Finsbury Technical College and con- ducted important researches there on the chemistry of coloring matters.

The writer of this note did not have the privilege of personal acquaintance with Meldola, but he is said to have been, like Bamsay, a man of sympa- thetic personality, exerting great in- fluence on his students, active in all measures for the improvement of educa- tion and for the promotion of science.

SCIENTIFIC ITEMS

We record with regret the death of Josiah Royce, the distinguished student of philosophy, professor at Harvard rniversity; of Seth Low, formerly! president of Columbia Tniversity; of! Thomas Gregor Brodie, professor of physiology in the University of Toronto ; of Sir William Henry Power, F.B.S.,

��known for his contributions to sanita- tion and public health; and of Johannes Banke, professor of anthropology at Munich.

Sir T. Cufpobd Allsutt has been elected president of the British Medical Association. A message of congratula- tion was at the time sent to him on the attainment of his eightieth birthday which occurred on July 20. — ^Professor C. F. Marvin, chief of the Weather Bureau, and Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of the Bureau of Entomology, have been appointed by the secretary of agricul- ture to represent the U. S. Department of Agriculture on the Council of Re- search which is being organized by the National Academy of Sciences.

On the initiative of the Royal So- ciety a Board of Scientific Societies has been established in Great Britain to promote the cooperation of those inter- ested in pure or applied sdence ; to sup- ply a means by which the scientific opinion of the country may, on matters relating to science, industry and educa^ tion, find effective expression; to take such action as may be necessary to promote the application of science to industries and to the service of the nation; and to discuss scientific ques- tions in which international coopera- tion seems advisable. The board at present consists of representatives of twenty-seven scientific and technical so- cieties. An executive committee has been appointed, consisting of Sir Joseph Thomson, president of the Royal So- ciety, chairman; Dr. Dugald Clerk, F.R.S., Sir Robert Hadfield, F.R.S., Mr. A. D. Hall, F.R.S., Professor Herbert Jackson, honorary secretary. Sir Alfred Keogh, K.C.B., Sir Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S., Professor A. Schuster, secretary of the Royal Society, Sir John Snell, Professor E. H. Starling, F.R.S., Lord Sydenham, F.R.S. and Mr. R. Threlfall, F.R.S.

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