3 i2 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



I am now directed by the Guild to inquire whether you, Sir, are of opinion 

 that any of the suggestions may be met by simple administrative amendments in 

 the working of the Act. The Guild is of opinion that at the present moment, 

 when very large numbers of soldiers are being treated in military hospitals, 

 everything possible should be done to enable the physicians and pathologists 

 in connection with such hospitals to ascertain by experiments on animals (if 

 necessary) the nature of the complaints from which the patients are suffering, and 

 the best methods of treatment to be adopted. The Guild therefore trusts that 

 the working of the Act will be made as smooth and easy as possible within its 

 provision. 



I have, etc., Alex. Pedler, Hon. Secretary. 



The Rt. Hon. The Secretary of State, Home Office. 



Home Office, \yth April, 1917. 



Sir, — I am directed by the Secretary of State to inform you that he has 

 carefully considered your letter of the 28th February last making certain sug- 

 gestions for amendments in the procedure under the Act 39 & 40 Vic. cap. yy. 

 The Home Office administration is carried out in accordance with the provisions 

 of the Act, and the more important of the changes in procedure now suggested 

 could not be put into practice without legislation. The Secretary of State regrets 

 that he does not see his way to introduce legislation for this purpose. 



With regard to paragraph (c) of your letter, I am to say that any delay which 

 may have taken place at the Home Office in granting licences and allowing 

 certificates has been due generally to pressure of work and shortness of staff owing 

 to the war ; but in cases where there is any special urgency, every effort is made 

 to expedite matters. Delay is often caused by the applications and certificates 

 not complying with the requirements of the Act, or not giving adequate in- 

 formation as to the proposed experiments. 



In all that concerns Military Hospitals and the requirements of the Army 

 Medical Service, everything possible has always been done to meet demands 

 expeditiously, to remove obstacles, and to facilitate work. 



I am to observe with reference to paragraph {/) that the simple abstraction 

 of a small quantity of blood for examination — otherwise than in the course of an 

 experiment — is not regarded by the Secretary of State as an experiment within 

 the meaning of the Act ; and with reference to paragraph (g) that the special 

 powers referred to are frequently allowed under certificate A, there being no other 

 way of giving them consistently with the requirements of the Act. 



I am, etc., Edward Troup. 

 The Hon. Secretary, British Science Guild. 



Geological Notes of Queensland (North Queensland Register) 



From the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Darling Downs, north to south, the fossil 

 remains of extinct mammalia have been found in indurated muds, the beds of old 

 watercourses. The fossils are Diprotodon australis, Macropus titan, Thylacoles, 

 Phascolomys, Nototherium, crocodile teeth, etc. The Diprotodon inhabited the 

 Queensland valleys freely, and the Crocodilus australis had a great range inland. 

 The Diprotodon remains are found chiefly in the most permanent waterholes. No 

 human bones, flint flakes, or any kind of native weapons have yet been discovered 

 with the extinct mammalia of Queensland. 



Desert sandstone is the most recent widely spread stratified deposit developed 

 in Queensland. Since it became dry land the denudation of this formation has 

 been excessive, but there is still a large tract in situ. Probably this desert sand- 

 stone covered the whole of Australia at one time. (It is possible that desert 

 sandstone in Queensland has value for free gold.) On the vast plains west of the 

 dividing range cretaceous strata are found ; hot alkaline springs occur in these 

 plains, and the discovery of these suggested the possibility of the existence of 





