January 4, 19 12] 



NATURE 



317 



<;uch fishes as the mackerel and herring^ with the 

 himmering produced by light transmitted through a 

 water surface broken by waves. 



Many of the photographs of the eggs and young 

 stages of fishes are very well done; we may direct 

 particular attention to the series representing the 

 hatching of the salmon egg, on p. 50; those illustrat- 

 ing the early stages of the roach on pp. 104-5, ^"^ the 

 series taken at Port Erin Hatchery, which represents 

 the larval metamorphosis of the plaice. All these are 

 probably better than any hitherto published. 



The defects of the book are in the text, v^hich is 

 sketchy and slight, and is not free from errors. The 

 author evidently confuses the eel and lamprey on 

 p. 126, for he speaks of the former fish as possessing 

 ■several gill openings behind the pectoral fins. Had- 

 docks (p. 129) are said generally to feed on herring 

 eggs — certainlv an exceptional habit. Skates, rays, 



Fig. 3.— Hatching of the Salmon. From " Marvels of Fish Life 



,ind dogfishes are said to eat oysters (p. 150)— one 

 would like to know where these observations were 

 made. The starfish is also described as protruding 

 its stomach and engulfing an oyster (p. 150) — surely 

 this is impossible \ Floating fish eggs are said to 

 occur throughout the year (p. 109). The photograph 

 opposite p. 190 is described as that of a shrimp. 

 Evidcnth it represents a shank (Pandalus). 



J. J. 



FRANCE AND THE ENDOWMENT OF 

 RESEARCH. 



''I^HE French intellect is proverbially clear. The 

 A quality implies foresight, no less than insight, 

 and it is revealed in practical politics, no less than 

 in scientific theory. It is also the characteristic of 

 French statesmanship as well as of French thought. 

 Nowhere is this clairvoyantc volants of a nation more 

 practically demonstrated than in the attitude of the 



NO. 2201, VOL, 88] 



State to science, and in the relations between the 

 spheres of government and of knowledge. 



France recognises clearly the fact that a nation 

 depends on its science; that its commerce, its indus- 

 tries, its education, all its sources of wealth and of 

 character, are to be found alone in a living and grow- 

 ing material of experimental knowledge. And the 

 nation translates this recognition into will. 



In the Revue Scieutifique of September 23 there is 

 an article by M. A. de Foville, permanent secretary 

 of the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, 

 which may well stir envy in an English mind, and 

 prove once more that they manage these things so 

 much better in France. M, de Foville gives a sketch 

 of the Government department known as the " Caisse 

 des recherches scientifiques," which was instituted in 

 1901, and now celebrates its decennial anniversary 

 merely by modestly directing the attention of capitalists 



to its existence. The 

 Caisse owes its insti- 

 tution to M. Audiffred, 

 now a member of the 

 Senate ; its object, to 

 quote his words, is 

 ■' to endow all the 

 sciences with adequate 

 means ; to ensure that 

 no serious investigator 

 shall be hindered in 

 his work by lack of 

 the funds necessary 

 for research." It is 

 attached to the Minis- 

 try of Public Instruc- 

 tion^ but is actually 

 autonomous. It is not, 

 as M. de Foville 

 observes, a charitable 

 institution, but a State 

 Treasury for scientific 

 research. It has a 

 very strong technical 

 committee, which de- 

 cides upon the applica- 

 tions sent in, and 

 sends its recommenda- 

 tions to the adminis- 

 trative committee. The 

 latest volume of speci- 

 fications and results of 

 researches financed by 

 the Caisse contains 

 800 pages. The re- 

 searches financed or 

 assisted hitherto are 

 distinguished by their eminently social and racial 

 importance, being chiefly concerned with the purifica- 

 tion of water supplies, and the methods of combating 

 tuberculosis, syphilis, and other scourges. 



The following grants were made in 1910 : — 1200I. 

 to Dr. Calmette ; 600L to M. Riolle, for researches 

 into the purification of water supplies; 420/. to the 

 late Prof. Arloing:, for researches mto the prophylaxis 

 of tuberculosis; 400L to Dr. Calmette, for ♦>" same 

 purpose; 120L to Prof. Courmont, for studying the 

 prevention of cancer; 120Z. to M. Gaston, the prophy- 

 laxis of syphilis; 120/. to Prof. Glcy, immunity against 

 toxic serums. Besides these sums, nearly 5000/. was 

 allotted to various researches, the total being nearly 

 8000/., distributed thus :— Biological research, 4692/.; 

 water supplies, 2460Z. ; other research, 480I. 



This Government bureau is not managed by "per- 

 manent officials"; its council, consisting of well- 

 known men of science, heads of industrial and com- 

 mercial firms, and some politicians, is honorary. The 



