154 



NATURE 



[May II, 191 1 



courts, a feeling: which has possibly extended to art 

 work in the precious metals and has had the effect 

 of chcckinjj its dispersal. 



The problems of the origin and affinities of this 

 school of art work have not been fully dealt with by 

 the author, and the material available is scarcely 

 sufficient to form the basis of a comprehensive 

 . xamination. The Peninsula is inhabited by a very 

 mixed population, and it has been the meeting-ground 

 iif more than one ancient civilisation. Of these the 

 most powerful is clearly China, which now supplies 

 numerous emigrants who form an important ethnical 

 . It'inrnt. To the west lies India, to the east Java and 

 sjam. Probably all these have contributed something 

 o the generaf stock of form and design. But in 

 addition there is undoubtedly much that is indigenous. 



As regards decoration, we find nothing which can 

 be traced to architectural forms, and little which 

 is speciallv religious. The introduction of Islam, 

 which places a rigid taboo on delineation of the 

 human form, has had far-reaching effects, and the 

 motifs have necessarily been largely drawn from local 

 vegetable life. These, again, have undergone con- 

 siderable modification, partly resulting from the 

 the natural tendency in all such art to become con- 

 ventional, and partly under direct Chinese pressure. 

 The lotus design which frequently appears in the 

 patterns, may have come from either China or India, 

 and further study of the ornamentation will probably 

 show that more has come from India than Mr. Ling 

 Roth is at present prepared to admit. 



The examples which he illustrates are chiefly small 

 objects — boxes for holding tobacco, betel, lime, salves, 

 or unguents, bowls and saucers, and the curious end- 

 pieces attached to pillows, which, like many of the 

 other object*;, are ostentatiously paraded at wedding 

 processions (Fig. i). 



The methods of manufacture, which are fully de- 

 scribed bv Mr. L. Wray, represent what is known in 

 European art as repouss^, a thin plate of silver being 

 placed on a lump of softened gum-resin and worked 

 from the back by a series of punches. Graving is 

 little used, and the results attained show considerable 

 .Trtistic skill. As is usual in Oriental art, the crafts- 

 man uses no fixed design and much is due to his taste 

 and invention. 



This book mav be safely recommended to students 

 of Oriental metal work, and to art classes, particularly 

 at centres where the study of silver and gold plate 

 is specialised, and designers in other branches of art 

 productions may find useful suggestions in the excel- 

 lent photographs with which it is illustrated. 



In The Daily Mail of Monday last. Sir Ernest Shackle- 

 ton made an urgent appeal to the British nation on behalf 

 of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, which, it is 

 hoped, will start in June under the command of Dr. 

 Douglas Mawson. In his letter Sir Ernest Shackleton 

 points out that Australasia has done much for south polar 

 expeditions which have started from this country, and he 

 asks for help, " from this side of the line and from 

 .Australians and New Zealanders who are gathering in 

 London for the Coronation," towards the sum of 12,000/. 

 needed to purchase a suitable ship, which has been selected 

 by Dr. Mawson, and to enable the expedition to start in 

 June. The Royal Geographical Society has already sub- 

 scribed 500I., as in the case of Captain Scott's expedition, 

 and a committee has been formed in Australia to assist 

 the explorers. As the result of the appeal, and the steps 

 taken by The Daily Mail to bring it under the notice of 



NO. 2167, VOL, 86] 



people interested in expk>ration, the sum of nearly 90002. 

 had been subscribed by Wednesday morning, and there is 

 little doubt that the whole amount required will be 

 provided. Dr. Mawson proposes to take a monoplane 

 with him for use during the expedition. 



A COMMITTEE of the Geok>gicaI Society has been form' <i 

 to secure the means of providing a memorial to the late 

 Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S., in aid of his widow and 

 daughters. The late Prof. Jones was never in receipt of 

 more than a very moderate income, and receiving only a 

 small pension upon his retirement thirty years ago from 

 the post of professor of geology in the Royal Military 

 College, Sandhurst, he was unable to make any suitable 

 provision for his family at his death, when his pension 

 ceased. During his long life Prof. Jones was an ardent 

 geologist and palaeontologist, and , t^^e author of nearly 

 200 separate papers or other work^, 'kwne of which were 

 mentioned in our obituary notice published in Nature 

 for April 27 (p. 287). Subscriptions towards the proposed 

 memorial may be sent to Prof. W. \V. Watts, F.R.S., 

 president of the Geological Society, Hillside, Langley 

 Park, Sutton, Surrey, who has consented to act as 

 treasurer to the fund. It is to be hoped that the com- 

 mittee's appeal will meet with a ready and gen»^rous 

 response. 



The council of the Pharmaceutical Society has elected 

 the following honorary members in recognition of their 

 distinguished scientific work : — Prof. W. E. Dixon, 

 F.R.S., professor of pharmacology, King's College, 

 London : Dr. .'\dolph Engler, director, Botanical Museum, 

 Berlin ; Prof. Percy F. Frankland, F.R.S., president of 

 the Chemical Society ; M. Eugene L6ger, late president 

 Soci^t^ de Pharmacie de Paris ; pharmacien en Chef de 

 rH6pital St. Louis, Paris; Lieut. -Colonel D. Prain, 

 CLE., F.R.S., director of Royal Gardens, Kew ; and 

 Dr. Ludwig Radlkofer, professor of botany, University of 

 Munich. 



On Tuesday next, May 16, Prof. F. W. Mott will begin 

 a course of two lectures at the Royal Institution on " The 

 Brain and the Hand " ; on May 18 Dr. W. N. Shaw will 

 deliver the first of two lectures on " Air and the Flying 

 Machine " : (i) " The Structure of the Atmosphere and 

 the Texture of .Air Currents," (2) "Conditions of Safety 

 for Floaters and Fliers " ; and on Saturday, May 20, Mr. 

 W. P. Pycraft will commence a course of two lectures on 

 "Phases of Bird Life": (i) "Flight," (2) "Migration." 

 The Friday evening discourse on May 19 will be delivered 

 by Prof. R. W. Wood on " Recent Experiments with 

 Invisible Light," and on May 26 by Prof. Gilbert Murray 

 on " The Greek Chorus as an .Art Form." 



The provisional programme of the International Con- 

 gress in Naval .Architecture and Marine Engineering, to 

 be held in connection with the jubilee of the Institution of 

 Naval .Architects in July, has been issued. On Monday, 

 July 3, there will be a reception at the Royal United 

 Service Institution. On Tuesday, July 4, the International 

 Congress will be oj>ened by H.R.H. the Duke of Con- 

 naught, K.G. The three following days, July 5. 6, 

 and 7, will be devoted to the reading and discussion of 

 papers contributed by .Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, G.C.B., 

 Sir Andrew Noble, Bart., K.C.B., Sir William H. White, 

 K.C.B., Sir Philip Watts, K.C.B., the Hon. C. .A. 

 Parsons. C.B., .Mr. S. W. Barnaby, Dr. S. J. P. Thearle, 

 Mr. C. E. Ellis, Colonel G. Russo (Italy), .Admiral Kondo, 

 (Japan), Mr. Uchida (Japan), Count Shiba (Japan), 

 Prof. Terano (Japan), Konsul Dr. O. Schlick (Germany), 



