specialisation carried so far as to preclude a thorough training in all the fundamental branches of the subject. The courses in applied chemistry, metallurgy, electro-chemistry, and sanitary and industrial biology serve to prepare students as scientific experts and for professional positions in manufacturing establishments and Government laboratories. Thorough courses in pure science, namely, in chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and general science, are also arranged.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

LONDON.

Linnean Society, December 17, 1914.-Prof. E. B. Poulton, president, in the chair.-M. Christy: A remarkable gall believed to be new in this country. The gall is in the nature of a "witches'-broom," but appears on Salix fragilis; whereas no 'broom" of the kind has hitherto been recorded on any species of willow in this country. It appears in great abundance on all trees of the species named growing in proximity. According to Prof. Nalepa, it is due to a gall-mite Eriophyes triradiatus, but not improbably a parasitic fungus may assist. So far, the gall is confined, apparently, to a limited area within a radius of, say, twelve or fifteen miles around London. The gall is remarkable in that it appears on the female flower, which develops during summer, until it resembles a bunch of moss, of an olivaceous green colour, from 2 to 8 in. in length, hanging from a small twig. The bunch consists of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of abnormal flowerets. -W. M. Webb: The Brent Valley Bird Sanctuary. Twelve years ago the Brent Valley Branch of the Selborne Society took steps to protect a wood of nineteen acres in its district, not far from Ealing, which had long been known as an abiding place for birds. The immediate object was to preserve the nightingales; and a small committee was formed to approach the tenant of the farm on which the wood was situated with a view to the appointment of a watcher. Ultimately, the committee appointed its own keeper, took over the wood from the farmer, and now rents it direct from the owners. No very rare birds occur in the wood, but it is important in the neighbourhood of large towns to give an opportunity to the commoner kinds of nesting undisturbed. Forty-one species have been recorded as breeding in the wood, thirty-nine of them during recent years. Among these may be mentioned the nightingale, lesser whitethroat, the blackcap, garden-warbler, chiffchaff, willow-warbler, long-tailed tit, marsh-tit, tree-creeper, hawfinch, goldfinch, redpoll, nuthatch, wryneck, cuckoo, red-backed shrike, turtle-dove, and wild duck. Including the winter migrants and occasional visitors, eighty-eight species have been observed in or close to the wood. Of these, the golden-crested wren, all the three British woodpeckers, the nightjar, the brown owl, the barn owl, the snipe, and the kingfisher are seen commonly or from time to time. Owing to the introduction of nesting-boxes, several species have increased in numbers or have been induced to nest.

DUBLIN.

Royal Dublin Society, December 15, 1914.-Prof. W. Brown in the chair.-J. Doyle: The change of the petiole into a stem by means of grafting. A sprout was grafted on a petiole of Pelargonium zonale, v. meteor, all the other buds and leaves being removed. After a short time the petioles carried large plants, completely functioning as stems, while the qualities of a stem, viz., indefinitely active cambium, the appearance of interfascicular cambium, considerable secondary thickening, periderm formation, were all taken on by the petiole. The possible causes of this secondary thickening are to be sought (1) in the removal of

correlational influences; (2) in increased mechanical strain; (3) in some influence exerted as a result of foliar development. This influence is probably bound up with the water economy of the plant-particularly transpiration-but its precise nature has still to be determined.-Prof. J. B. Butler and J. M. Sheridan : A preliminary account of a new œdanometer for measuring the expansive force of single seeds or similar bodies when wetted. The apparatus described consists of two strong iron castings bolted together, and holding between them a diaphragm of sheet rubber. The seed to be tested is dropped through a cylindrical passage in the lower casting on to the rubber diaphragm. It is then packed round with fine sand, and covered by a disc of wire gauze. A strong plunger is screwed firmly home on the seed and sand, packing it tightly. Water can be admitted through holes drilled in the plunger. A hemispherical space directly over the rubber diaphragm in the upper casting contains mercury, which is in communication with a fine bore thermometer tube containing air. The upper end of this tube is closed. When water is admitted to the seed it swells; the swelling force is transmitted through the rubber diaphragm to the mercury, and thence to the air in the thermometer tube, compressing it. In this way the pressure, developed by one or more large seeds, can measured. From single broad-bean seeds pressures of from 28 to 30 atmospheres were obtained. Six peas placed in the apparatus registered from 45 to 50 atmospheres.-Prof. J. Wilson: An example of the multiple coupling of Mendelian factors. The English varieties of the campine breed of fowl are described from the Belgian varieties, but are now slightly different in type as regards plumage. The matings by which the Rev. E. Lewis Jones and others produced the English type show that four factors are coupled. If M=the male factor, F=female; E = English type, b= Belgian; Bl.=black colour, g=gold; and Bd. barred plumage, ar o=plain, the factorial representation of a Belgian type "silver" campine hen

is

M F

b E

Bl g Bd P

be

The four factors placed in the closed bracket are coupled.-Prof. H. H. Dixon and Miss E. S. Marshall: A quantitative examination of the elements of the wood of trees in relation to the supposed function of the cells in the ascent of sap. Measurements of the cross-sections of the various elements of the wood of various trees were made by weighing the parts of cut-out photomicrographs of the wood. In this way the percentage of the total cross-section occupied by vessels, tracheids, cells, and walls was determined. The assumption that the transpiration current is raised by the protoplasmic streaming in the cells is shown to be untenable owing to the velocity of streaming it would require.-Prof. H. H. Dixon and W. R. G. Atkins: Osmotic pressures in plants. Part iv. The constituents and concentration of sap in the conducting tracts, and on the circulation of carbohydrates in plants. Throughout the year appreciable quantities of carbohydrates are present in the transpiration stream of trees. Their concentration is always greater than that of the electrolytes. deciduous trees the concentration of the carbohydrates attains a maximum in spring, and is at its minimum in summer. In evergreens there are two cusps in the concentration curve. The distribution of carbohydrates is a function of transpiration no less important than the conveyance of nutritive salts. The coating of

In

Academy of Sciences, December 28, 1914.-M. P. Appell in the chair.—Paul Appell : The principle of the minimum of the energy of accelerations and the substitution of force linkages.-Ph. A. Guye and F. E. E. Germann: The influence of the gaseous impurities of silver on the values of the atomic weights determined by the classical methods; the atomic weights of chlorine and of phosphorus. Referring to their recent determinations of the amounts of carbon monoxide and water in highly purified silver found after fusion in hydrogen, it is shown that the use of such silver in atomic weight determinations would lead to a value about 0.005 too high, a negligible quantity. The effect of such an error on other atomic weights based on silver is discussed. The resulting corrections are of the order of 1 to 2 units in the second decimal place, exceptionally 3 to 4 units. Phosphorus, for example, would be lowered from 31-028 to 31.007.-F. Gonnessiat : The eclipse of the sun: results.-A. Buhl: The intervention of the formulæ of Riemann, Stokes, and Green in the extensions of Abel's theorem.-Lucien Godeaux : Triple surfaces endowed with a finite number of points of diramation.-R. Marcille: Determination of the Hübl iodine number in alcoholic liquids. The iodine numbers of essential oils. The determinations must be made in liquids containing a definite alcohol concentration, and the reaction must be carried out in the dark.—Henry Hubert: The diabase veins of western French Africa.-D. Eginitis: The recent earthquakes at Thebes. The village of Thebes was ruined by an earthquake on November 17, 1914, this being the fourth time this has happened within the last sixtytwo years. The seismographs at Athens due to this earthquake are discussed. The three violent shocks of the first day have been followed by a series of smaller ones. Up to the middle of December more than 500 shocks coming from the same epicentre have been recorded at the Athens Observatory. This long duration is one of the characteristics of earthquakes in this part of Greece.-E. M. Martel: The Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Diagrams of four transversal sections are shown, showing the arrangement of the three principal stages.-L. G. Seurat: The morphology of the female genital apparatus of the Spiruridæ,

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Home University Library. Nerves. By Dr. D. F. Harris. Pp. 256. (London: Williams and Norgate.)

IS.

102-7.

Atlas of Japanese Vegetation, with Explanatory Text. Edited by Prof. M. Miyoshi. Set xv. (Tokyo: Maruzen Co., Ltd.; London: W. Wesley and Son.)

Scientific Method in Philosophy. By Hon. B. Russell. (Herbert Spencer Lecture.) Pp. 30. (Oxford: Clarendon Press.) IS. 6d. net.

Flora of Jamaica. Vol. iii. Dicotyledons. Families Peperaccæ to Connaraceæ. By Drs. W. Fawcett and A. B. Rendle. Pp. xxiv +280+5 plates. (London British Museum (Natural History); Longmans and Co.) 155.

All about Leaves. By the late F. G. Heath. Pp. ix +228. (London: Williams and Norgate.) 4s. 6d.

net.

A Course of Pure Mathematics. By G. H. Hardy. Second edition. Pp. xii+443. (Cambridge University Press.) 125. net.

Commission Electrotechnique Internationale. Fasc.

27.

Symboles Internationaux. Pp. 15. (London: Waterlow and Sons, Ltd.) 25.

Animal Experimentation and Medical Progress. By Prof. W. W. Keen. Pp. xxvi+312. (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co.) 7s. 6d. net.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8.

ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.-Total Eclipse of the Sun, 1914. August 21 Preliminary Account of Observations at Minsk, Russia. H. S. Jones and C. R. Davidson.-Preliminary Report on the Total Eclipse of 1914, August 21, Observed at Hernösand, Sweden. Rev. A. L Cortie.-Total Solar Eclipse, 1914, August 21: Report on an Expedition from the Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge, to Theodosia, Russia: H. F. Newall.--Total Solar Eclipse of 1914, August 21: Report on the Kiev Expedition: A. Fowler, E. H. Hills, and W. E. Curtis.-Reply to Prof. Sampson's Objections to the Hypothesis of a Sun-spot Swarm: H. H. Turner. - A New Method of Discovering Periodicities: J. J. Craig. The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction: Sir J. Larmor.

GEOLOGISTS' ASSOCIATION, at 8.-The Value of Graptolites to the Stratigraphical Geologist: Gertrude L. Elles. MONDAY, JANUARY 11.

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.-The Adai Group of the Caucasus: H. Raeburn.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1915.

THE

THE WAR.

HE war drags on; and we are learning to understand the mentality of the German race more completely. It is being revealed in various. forms. The policy always adopted by the bully, of attempting to terrorise by attack on defenceless persons, is shown by the shelling of the wateringplaces of Yorkshire, resulting in the murder (for that is the only word which fits the case) of 103 harmless people. "Murder" should certainly have been the verdict, although it was disallowed by the coroner; for although the commanders of the German vessels may not yet be known by name, a verdict of murder would have rendered them subject, when captured, to trial by a British jury. The cowardly and murderous onslaught has led, we are told, to rejoicings in Berlin. It is as we feared; the German nation has lost its moral perspective. They may rest assured, however, that there will be no similar reprisals on the side of the Allies. We do not revenge, ourselves on innocent women and children.

It was scarcely worth while, perhaps, for the French universities and British men of letters and science to have replied to the self-named "intellectuals" of Germany. Neutral countries have already made up their minds from the perusal of official documents, not the least important being those from German sources, that the war is one of pure aggression on the part of the Germans. We hear from Switzerland, from America, and from Scandinavia that the public in these countries now pay no attention to German polemic literature. If they had conceivably had any case, they have given it away by their inhuman acts, which have raised a sentiment of disgust in every civilised mind.

We look with contemptuous amusement at the childish renunciation of foreign honours by our Teutonic colleagues in science. That is even the attitude of some of their own countrymen; Prof. Verworn, of Bonn, writing in the Berliner Tageblatt, describes it as unworthy of German men of science, and Profs. Waldeyer, Martin, and Orth have protested against the foolish conduct of their countrymen. We can only shrug our shoulders and say that the loss is theirs, not ours. We have also been disillusioned by the words of the well-known Celtic scholar, Prof. Kuno Meyer, late of Liverpool University, now of Berlin, who has acted, and is acting, as an agent of the Prussian Government in attempting to excite the

feelings of Nationalist Ireland and of American Irish in favour of Germany. Here is a man, eminent in his own subject, speaking English without an accent, who has spent thirty years of his life in an English university, a man who has (or had) many intimate friends in this country and has been received in many English households as a friend, turning out to be a dastardly enemy. Savages have a code that, after breaking bread in a man's house, it is treacherous to war against him; not so Prof. Kuno Meyer. This is evidently another instance of "Kultur." It behoves us to treat with suspicion all naturalised aliens of Teutonic extraction; and yet we know, alas! that in doing this, we are acting unjustly in some cases. But the individual, in these days, must suffer for the crimes of his countrymen. It is such instances as these which make the Allies determined that such a race must be deprived of power to do further mischief, whatever be the cost in life and money.

The

Some correspondence has appeared in the Press as to the relative merits of German contributions to science, as compared with the achievements of members of other races. The discussion is perhaps a useful one; for there is little doubt that the German estimate of the scientific ability of their own people is a much exaggerated one. statement made in a previous issue of NATURE (October 8) that German science has not been remarkable for originality appears to meet with general assent. We in England have been always. more intent on welcoming a discovery than in inquiring into the nationality of the discoverer; indeed, it is a common saying that science is international. But we are beginning to revise our verdict. Prof. Karl Pearson, Prof. Sayce, and Sir E. Ray Lankester have shown that Germany has played only a small part in inception of scientific truths, although by organisation she has greatly extended their application. Huxley and Bywater held this view, each as regards his own subject; and it appears to be shared by geologists, physicists, and chemists. "Ausarbeiten" is the goal of the Germans; the inventive faculty has not been their strong point. Perhaps a mixed race gains in original ability; both flint and steel are necessary to produce a spark. But one thing the German man of science knows how to do well -to exalt the achievements of his nation, often by ignoring that of others. This has probably been done in many cases without intention; it appears to be one way in which German patriotism manifests itself.

Dr. Hugo Schweizer, an Americanised German,

writing in the Popular Science Monthly (December issue), maintains the thesis that the development of science owes much, if not all, to the stimulus of the demands of Prussian military requirements. Naturally, his examples refer entirely to technical applications of science. And here, again, if they are analysed, it can be shown that the development of which he boasts is due to concentrated

and organised effort; of the starting-points of the manufactures which he cites, few are of

German origin. They have been appropriated and worked out, no doubt, in order to place the materials of war at the disposal of the German Army; but it is not proved that the necessities of peace are not more effective as a stimulus to progress than those of war. To take only one instance, it is probable that sooner or later all our railways will be electrified; but that would not suit military exigencies; each train must have an independent motive power; and so long as German militarism persists, we may reckon that German railways, at least, will not be run by the electric current.

The aims of science are the antitheses of those of war. It is the object of pure science to attempt to know and correlate natural phenomena, and its devotees are inspired by an insatiable curiosity; it is the object of applied science to make use of that knowledge for the benefit of mankind. To degrade its applications to the destruction of life and property is the most unscientific act of which a people can be guilty.

SIR

John Lubbock was a notable figure in the period of our scientific history which saw the birth and development of evolutionary theory. If the part he played was not as weighty as that of Lyell, of Huxley, and of Hooker, it was even more effective. For he spoke as a man of affairs and with convinced sincerity; and if he was "a great banker amongst scientists so much the better. Like Spottiswoode, he could show that a scientific mind was capable of business success; both, in fact, were members of the X Club, that mysterious body, impossible of successor, which was said "to govern scientific affairs," and "not to do it badly"; Lubbock was, indeed, its last surviving

member.

Biography is an art in which any great measure

of success is rare. For it demands that the subject should reveal itself while we remain almost unconscious of the hand of the artist. Mr. Hutchinson is more artless, and rivals Boswell in the feat of giving us himself as well. He could not draw on letters, the biographer's best resource; to Lubbock, he explains, "exposure of the holy sanctities of his being would have been impossible." Apology seems unnecessary, then, for Lubbock's "attending the services at the village church" and reading his Bible, though Huxley did the latter and to some purpose. The explanation is found in the belief "that there was some room, after all, among the atoms for the spirits." After this it is pleasant to know that 40,000 people attended the last race meeting in his father's park at High Elms; amongst them were the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chancellor, evidently spirits. Picking holes is rather futile. But two statements, at any rate, catch the eye as perplexing. Sir Gabriel Stokes (i., 85) is made to say that the chance of laying the first Atlantic cable was "only (18)20=3585, or about 2 to 1 against it"; obviously this should be (8)20, and one wonders who and what was the Consul D'État" (ii., 23) whom Lubbock went to see in Paris.

Mr. Hutchinson says reasonably enough that to anyone who did not know Lubbock's "serene, unruffled calm" one might easily conceive him as "an animated hurricane." Even to read the life is like travelling in an express train with but a blurred impression of successive landmarks. Only one of his many personalities needs treatinent here, and that requires a little more justice than it has always received.

Lubbock's father was a mathematician of some repute, and treasurer of the Royal Society when the Duke of Sussex was little more than nominal president. His mother notes that at the age of four "His great delight is in insects." He was some four years at Eton, where he was thought "exceedingly inaccurate," but that must be taken in an Etonian sense. Against the advice of his tutor he read some natural history and geology." At the age of fourteen his father was obliged to make use of him in the bank. "He and I with a worthy old clerk carried on the business." Lubbock thought that "beginning so early gave him an instinct for business," and well it might. At the age of nineteen he made a minute time-table for his day from half-past six to midnight. Science and literature fill the compartments; 9.30 to 10 was devoted to "sermons (if I read them any later they invariably send me to sleep)." Such a discipline would have sterilised most men. his neighbour Darwin gave him a wider training.

But

He did much sound and valuable work in entomology, and at the age of twenty-four was elected into the Royal Society. He had already made the acquaintance of many well-known scientific men.

And then in 1860 came the "Origin." Lubbock warmly grasped the principle of evolution. The same year he saw Boucher de Perthes at Abbeville; he satisfied himself as to the human manufacture of its stone implements, and that they were contemporary with the mammoth. In 1865 he published "Prehistoric Times." Darwin wrote, "Though you have necessarily only compiled the materials, your general result is most original." He was then contesting Maidstone and was advised to keep the book back, but thought it "would be scarcely honourable "; it is believed to have increased the majority against him. It is rather remarkable that Mr. Hutchinson thinks his writing wanting in "style." Darwin in this respect, and he was no mean judge, thought the book "perfection." A little later he showed that our bronze implements were not, as supposed, of Roman date, and he established against Ferguson the prehistoric age of Stonehenge and Avebury. He secured what was left of the latter from destruction by the builder.

The "Origin of Civilisation" followed in 1870. Frazer admits that it contributed to his Own opinions as to the evolution of religion and society, and that Lubbock had anticipated him as to the relation between magic and religion, and the priority of the former.

In his later life he occupied himself with geology and botany, but always from an evolutionary point of view. The former won him the Prestwich medal. He was a keen observer; when exploring with Huxley and Tyndall the lake-dwellings in the Lake of Geneva, he dived more than once after a supposed stone axe, and he produced consternation amongst Swiss geologists by finding nummulites in a rock mapped as Triassic. His botanical work has been thought to deal too much with the trite and obvious, and perhaps it was so to the instructed. But our scientific knowledge is too much a thing apart from ordinary life, and Lubbock wanted to extend its field; no one could be more competent for the task. His "British Wild Flowers considered in Relation to Insects" would be a revelation to most people. The later "Notes on the Life History of British Flowering Plants" show that mere "collecting" leaves the problem of every species untouched. In his great work on "Seedlings" he availed himself of the help of others; it breaks new ground which still awaits a generalisation.

In literature he has been subject to the same criticism. The answer is the wide-world popu

larity of his writings; the "Pleasures of Life" "was the first book ever published in the Soudan." "Best Books are on every bookstall.

Lubbock was an optimist. He enjoyed life and laboured that his fellow-creatures might enjoy it more. To that end, as Lord Buxton tells us, he could suppress "interest and desire" if they conflicted with his purpose. His life has been described by one who knew him well as "one of the most useful that was ever lived." It is a worthy epitaph.

ARBORICULTURE AND FORESTRY. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles. By W. J. Bean. 2 volumes. Vol. i. Pp. xvi + 688. Vol. ii. Pp. vi+736. (London: John Murray, 1914.). Price 42s. net, two vols.

THE

appearance

of this book, the work of the Assistant Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, will be welcomed by all who are interested in hardy trees and shrubs, for it is the best and most comprehensive work upon the subject that has appeared since the advent of "Loudon's Encyclopædia of Trees and Shrubs," more than seventy years ago. The need for such a work has long been evident, for Loudon's book is hopelessly out of date, not only by reason of the large number of plants which have been introduced in the intervening years, but also on account of the many changes which modern research have necessitated in nomenclature.

Since Loudon wrote his famous book the rich regions of western North America, Chile, China, Japan, and other countries have been ransacked for horticultural treasures, and the scope. of the present work places good descriptions of these and other woody plants in an easily available form.

The book is divided into two parts, the first being devoted to chapters on cultural requirements and various special subjects, whilst the latter is given up to descriptive matter. The opening chapter gives an interesting epitome of the history of the introduction of hardy exotic trees and shrubs to the British Isles between the middle of the sixteenth century and the present date, due credit being given to the many nurserymen, collectors, and private individuals who encouraged and made such work possible. Following this are chapters upon propagation, hybridising and selection, nursery work, transplanting, arrangement of shrubberies, staking and other means of support, pruning, care of old trees, evergreen trees and shrubs, climbing shrubs, pendulous trees, fastigiate or erect-branched