ANTHROPOLOGY 221 



Brooks' Maritime phase with Geikie's Lower Turbarian, because 

 the former is described as warm, whereas the latter was certainly 

 cold. These climatic phases have great iidportance in the 

 dating of the early archaeological periods. 



Other notable papers in the above number of the Journal 

 of the Royal Anthropological Institute are as follows : 



By J. H. Hutton, " Leopard-Men in the Naga Hills " ; by A. C. Haddon, 

 " The Outriggers of Indonesian Canoes " ; by C. G. Seligman, " Bird-Chariots 

 and Socketed Celts in Europe and China " ; by L. H. D. Buxton, " The 

 Anthropology of Cyprus." Also, in the American Journal of Physical 

 Anthropology (vol. iv, No. i), " Age Changes in the Pubic Bones," by T. W. 

 Todd. 



MEDICINE. By R. M. Wilson, M.B.. Ch.B. 



Comment was made six months ago on the attention now being 

 devoted to the soil in which disease flourishes — as opposed to 

 the seeds of disease, the bacterial flora. An important 

 announcement bearing on this subject was made in June by 

 Professor Collis who, when addressing an audience of medical 

 men interested in industrial hygiene, described some experi- 

 ments on stone-mason's phthisis. He said that it had been 

 found that silica dust acted as a chemical on the tissues rather 

 than as an irritant on the mucous membrane of the air- 

 passages. 



It had further been shown that stone-masons were more 

 liable than other people to Bright's disease. This latter fact 

 lent strong support to the conception of a chemical action by 

 silica, and thus forced on professional attention the possibility 

 of altering the soil to make it more susceptible to bacterial 

 growth. 



Evidently if it is possible, by chemical means, e.g. silica dust, 

 to make the human soil more fertile as regards the growth of 

 disease it may also be possible to render it less fertile by the use 

 of other chemical agents. Thus, a new meaning is given to the 

 use of drugs and a new line of thought opened up. We may 

 perhaps have erred in seeking so long and earnestly for substances 

 which have a specifically destructive power on bacteria. It 

 may be that, had we searched as well for chemicals or other 

 bodies possessing the power of rendering the body a sterile soil, 

 we should have achieved more than we have done. 



The Annual Report for 1920 of the Chief Medical Officer to 

 the Ministry of Health, Sir George Newman, reveals a steady 

 decline in most disease returns. The birth-rate is rising. The 

 death-rate has again fallen and stands now at i2'2i per 1,000 

 living. In the decade 1 901-19 10 it was 15-4. The principal 

 causes of death were organic heart disease, diseases of the ner- 



15 



