100 YEARS AGO

At the request of the U.S. Senate, the Secretary of Agriculture has reported upon the condition of the American bison. In his summary he states that this species is on the verge of extermination. Scarcely a handful now remain of the millions which formerly roamed over the plains of the west. Only two small herds of wild buffalo are in existence in the United States—one in the Yellowstone Park, the other in Lost Park, Colo. There are no wild buffalo in Canada, except in the Peace river country, where a few woodland buffalo, believed to be a different species from the American plains buffalo, still exist. A number of buffalo have been domesticated and half-domesticated, there being three important herds in addition to the small herds in zoological parks and in the hands of private individuals. It is suggested that if the Government would acquire possession of a considerable number of full-blooded animals the absolute extermination of the species might be long delayed.

From Nature 3 April 1902.

50 YEARS AGO

The Indian Science Congress has been holding its annual sessions since the year 1914 at different towns and cities of India with the view of enabling eminent men of science of India as well as from abroad to meet on a common platform of intellectual kinship and to keep abreast of the times in discussions of scientific problems. The 1952 session was held early in January in Calcutta... In a spectacular pandal bedecked with floral and artistic designs and packed to its capacity of more than six thousand people, the session was opened by the chanting of Vedic hymns and the recitation of Vande Mataram... Then the Honourable Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, delivered an address, in the course of which he called upon scientific workers of every rank and level to lend him their active cooperation in the solution of the gigantic problems that are facing the teeming millions of India. Mentioning that the setting up of national laboratories was a matter of pride for the people of India, he observed that the masses ought to realize the importance of the role that scientific men have to take in the building up of a truly modern India.

From Nature 5 April 1952.