420 



NATURE 



[January 



inatitutM. which h«» been made by the Bowd of Educa- 

 tion, will therefore be withdrawn by them. A fre«h 

 application for an advance in aid of farm institutes will 

 in due cour»e be put forward by the Board of Agriculture. 



A MRRTiNG of the London Section of the Association of 

 Chemical Technologists will be held at St. Bride's Insti- 

 tute, Bride Lane, Fleet Street, E.C., on Friday, 

 January a6, when a paper will be read by Mr. J. W. 

 Hinchley on the technologist and the factorj'. The associa- 

 tion was inaugurated about a year ago, and its con- 

 stitution was decided at a general meeting held on 

 December ii last. Among the objects of the associa- 

 tion are the following : — (i) to extend the study 

 and practice of applied chemistry so as to enable this 

 country to compete industrially on equal terms with the 

 most commercially progressive countries abroad ; (a) to 

 promote a wider appreciation of the value to the country 

 of applied chemistry, and to obtain for it the active sup- 

 port and encouragement which, from its great economic 

 importance, it deserves; (3) to promote the growth of a 

 distinct profession of applied chemistry, and thus to place 

 this profession upon such a basis that the applied chemist 

 may be at no disadvantage in comparison with his fellows 

 in allied professions ; (4) to effect the cooperation of applied 

 chemists for all matters which may promote their interests ; 

 (5) to raise a fund to furnish grants for assisting persons 

 approved by the council to obtain training in applied 

 chemistry at approved institutions or chemical works, 

 either in this country or abroad, and to furnish grants for 

 the prosecution of technical research ; (6) to assist members 

 of the association to obtain advice in patent matters, 

 .^ny further information may be obtained from the secre- 

 tary*, 30 Victoria Street, Westminster, London, S.W. 



The Decimal Association has recently made special 

 efforts to bring the advantages of the metric system more 

 fully before the public. The association is now prepared 

 to find a lecturer and to pay his expenses wherever a good 

 audience can be assured, and it suggests that chambers 

 of commerce, education committees, and trade protection 

 societies will do well to take advantage of this offer. A 

 meeting is to be held on January 26, when Mr. Alexander 

 Siemens will address the London Teachers' Association. 

 A pamphlet circulated by the association shows that in 

 Malta the compulsory adoption of the metric system began 

 on January i last. The Central .American Republics of 

 Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, San Salvador, and 

 Guatemala have passed the necessary measures to enforce 

 the metric system as from January i, 1912. China has 

 decided to adopt the metric system. An Act rendering 

 the metric system compulsory in Bosnia-Herzegovina has 

 been passed by the Government of that country, and will 

 come into force on September i, 1912. The Danish 

 Weights and Measures Act was passed in 1907, and will 

 come into force in April, 1912. The pamphlet points out 

 that the metre and the kilogram are gaining ground in 

 every direction, and that the number of non-metric 

 countries is being reduced steadily ; it continues, " the 

 metric system is gradually closing in upon these islands, 

 and it only requires the adoption of the system by one of 

 our great colonies to cause very much more serious atten- 

 tion being given to the subject by the Government of this 

 country." 



The Smithsonian Biological Survey of the Panama 

 Canal zone, begun in December, 19 10, and continued 

 through the major part of 191 1, is being pushed to com- 

 pletion before the opening of the canal in 1913. The 

 NO. 2204, VOL. 88] 



Kccond expedition sailed on January 9 to take up Ui 

 for another season, the botanist, Prof. Pittier, b«:ing m- j 

 only naturalist who remained in the field since the 

 beginning of the survey. Although much interesting in- 

 formation has b<'en collected, and a great many specimen* 

 secured, nothing like a complete report is ready. The 

 party includes Dr. Seth E. Meek, formerly of the Bureau 

 of Fisheries, but now representing the Field Museum of 

 Natural History; Mr. S. F. Hildebrand, of the Burenu of 1 

 Fisheries, who will collect fishes, reptiles, and ampi 

 Mr. E. A. Goldman, of the Biological Survey, Dej).> 

 of Agriculture, who will collect birds and mammals ; ^< 

 Prof. Charles D. Marsh, of the Bureau of Plant Industi 

 Department of .Agriculture, who will collect and study tlr 

 microscopic plant and animal life of the fresh waters ' ' 

 the zone. As can readily be imagined, the life-areas 

 the zone will become confused as soon as the canal 

 opened and the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic wat 

 sheds are intermingled. It is particularly important 

 that account that the present geographical distribution 

 animals and plants be recorded prior to that time, and t! 

 is especially true as regards the life of the fresh wat' 

 and the sea-coasts. The work of the survey is b*i 

 carried on through the united efforts of the Smithsoni 

 Institution, several of the U.S. Government departmer. 

 and the Field Museum of Natural History of Chicago, a: 

 the hearty cooperation of the Panama Canal Commis^: 

 has been an important factor in the success of the und 

 laKing. 



The U.S. Bureaj ot American Ethnology is preparing 1 

 new work which will fo-m a handbook of aboriginal rema 

 in the United States, and will have to do with the anci' 

 abodes, camps, mounds, workshops, quarries, burial plai 

 and so on of the Indian tribes. Letters of inquiry .; 

 being sent to all persons, institutions, and societies thoui, 

 to have any knowledge of .American archaeology a 

 ethnology. • In 1891 a catalogue of prehistoric works ea-: 

 of the Rocky Mountains was published, but that work '- 

 both out of date and out of print. The parts of the Unit 

 States most densely populated by the aborigines must ha', 

 been the basins of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and th' 

 southern shores of the Great Lakes, although there at- 

 indications of many settlements on the .Atlantic coast, 

 especially in Florida. The history of the American Indians 

 forms an attractive subject of inquiry, but the data avail- 

 able are rapidly decreasing. The fact that the custom^, 

 folk-lore, and traditions of these people are being lo>t 

 through advancing civilisation, and that the older Indian 

 authorities and characters are rapidly passing away, makes 

 it more and more difficult to preserve the history of the 

 Indians for future generations. Through the thorough 

 methods of the Bureau of .American Ethnology, devoted to 

 the recording of the habits, customs, and history of the 

 American Indians, many valuable data are, however, con- 

 stantly being compiled. 



•Anti-typhoid vaccination by means of a vaccine pre- 

 pared with killed cultures of the typhoid bacillus, as a 

 preventive of typhoid fever, has of late been extensively 

 practised. Last year a French commission reviewed the 

 results obtained, and recommended its adoption in certain 

 circumstances. In the " Report on the Health of the 

 Army for 1910," recently issued, it is stated that on 

 December 31, 1910, out of 71,623 European troops in India, 

 no fewer than 58,481, or 817 per cent., had been 

 vaccinated, some once, some twice, some more than twice. 

 Of 335 cases of typhoid occurring in the Indian Army in 

 1910, 187 were inoculated men and 148 were not inoculated 



