214 



NATURE 



[August i i, 1923 



years and seem to be no nearer a solution of the 

 problem. . . . The preservation of our old historic 

 buildings is a matter of as much concern now as it 

 has ever been. Suggestions however slight may 

 help. That is why this pamphlet has been written." 

 Sections are given on Parliamentary commissions on 

 the subject, theories of stone decay, and the treat- 

 ment of stone, and the author describes experiments 

 which he has carried out. The final sentences of the 

 booklet are worth quoting : " The simple remedy is 

 to keep the stone sterile. . . . This means, in simple 

 language, keeping the stone clean. Alkalies have 

 been used as cleansers from time immemorial. The 

 walls of Oxford are sick ; they have been drugged, 

 but they have not been cleaned. What they need 

 more than drugs is a good wash ; for dirt rather than 

 time is the destroyer of things." 



Bergens Museums Aarsberetning for 1921-22 records 

 the gift by the heirs of Herman Friele of that dis- 

 tinguished naturalist's cabinet of mollusca, mainly 

 collected by him in the neighbourhood of Bergen, but 

 also, in company with G. O. Sars, from northern 

 Norway. It comprises in addition authentic specimens 

 from the Atlantic and adjacent seas received in 

 exchange from the leading specialists of his day. 

 The number of specimens is 1650. This report also 

 announces the commencement of work at the new 

 biological station erected on the island of Herdla, 

 27 kilometres north-west of Bergen, where Herlo-fjord 

 branches oA from Hjelte-fjord, in a region already 

 classic through the researches of Michael Sars. The 

 station is provided with a small research sailing 

 vessel, the Herman Friele, of 23 tons gross tonnage, 

 with auxiliarj^ oil-motor power. 



The University of Frankfort-on-Main has estab- 

 lished an Institute with a professorship which is to 

 deal with the applications of physics in medicine, 

 e.g. radioactivity. X-rays, light rays, and the like. 

 It is stated to be the first institute of the kind to 

 be established in Germany. 



The Research Department of the Calico Printers' 

 Association, Ltd., St. James's Buildings, Manchester, 

 invites application for the post of a physicist whose 

 duties will be to conduct research on physical 

 problems arising in the calico - printing industry. 

 The person appointed will work in association with 

 the chemical research staff. 



The following are among the Civil List pensions 

 granted during the year ended March 31 : Miss A. H. 

 Bacot, in recognition of the services rendered by her 

 brother, the late Mr. A. W. Bacot, to science and to 

 the nation, 75/. ; Mrs. M. Barnwell, in recognition of 

 the services rendered by her father, the late Dr. H. 

 Woodward, to the cause of geological science, 25/. ; 

 Lieut. -Col. H. H. Godwin-Austen, in recognition of 

 his services to science and to the nation, 100/. ; INIrs. 

 M. Lyster Jameson, in recognition of the services 

 rendered by her husband, the late Dr. H. Lyster 

 Jameson, to science, 50/. 



By the will of the late Mrs. Bacon, of New York, 

 the Smithsonian Institution of Washington has 

 received a sum of 10,000/. for the establishment of 



NO. 2806, VOL. I 12] 



a travelling scholarship for the^ study of the fauna 

 of countries other than the United States, in memory 

 of her husband, Walter Rathbone Bacon. The 

 scholarship will be tenable for at least two years, 

 and the annual value about 500/. Applications for 

 the award must include details of the proposed 

 research, the benefits to be expected from it, the 

 estimated cost, and full particulars of the scientific 

 and physical qualifications of the candidate ; they 

 should reach the secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution not later than October i. 



Mr. J. S, Huxley informs us that, by an over- 

 sight, his name was omitted from the list of 

 signatories to the letter on the forthcoming British 

 Journal of Experimental Biology which appeared in 

 Nature of July 28, p. 133. 



The July issue of The Fight against Disease, the 

 organ of the Research Defence Society, contains the 

 report of the Committee for the year, and an abstract 

 of Dr. Saleeby's lecture on sunlight and disea.se, with 

 photographs of patients at Rollier's " sunlight school " 

 at Leysin. Notes on smallpox and vaccination also 

 occupy considerable space. 



We have received the twelfth report of the Micro- 

 biological Laboratory, N.S. Wales, for the year 

 192 1. It contains a useful list of the species of 

 fleas that occur on native rats. In some instances 

 species of fleas appear to occur on marsupials and 

 rodents indiscriminately. Some observations are also 

 recorded on the Sydney milk supply, which on the 

 bacteriological results seems to be of very poor 

 quality. It is to be hoped that the publication of 

 this annual report may be expedited in the future. 



Bulletin No. 25 of the Institute of Science and 

 Industry, Australia, deals with " The Manufacture of 

 Pulp and Paper from Australian Woods." The book 

 itself is printed on paper made by the Institute in 

 the course of the experiments described ; a few 

 sample sheets of paper of varying composition are 

 also bound in at the end. The Bulletin is divided 

 into five parts : General information ; investigations 

 (prior to 1920) ; laboratory investigations ; .semi- 

 commercial experiments ; economics. 



We have received a copy of the Nobel Lecture, 

 " The Origins of the Conception of Isotopes," 

 delivered by Prof. F. Soddy at Stockholm last 

 December. This is a clear account of the develop- 

 ment of radioactivity from its discovery by Becquerel 

 in 1896 down to modern times. The conception of 

 isotopes dates from 1905, though their complete 

 chemical identity was not recognised until two years 

 later. This identity was afterwards extended to 

 include their electrochemistry and their spectra, but 

 more recently infinitesimal differences have been 

 found in the latter. 



Bulletin 53 S, issued by Messrs. Watson and Sons, 

 Sunic House, Parker Street, Kingsway, London, 

 illustrates the various medical uses to which high- 

 frequency currents may be put. Use is made of the 

 term violet-ray treatment ; no doubt violet rays 

 issue from the glass electrodes holding the gas under 

 discharge, but it is open to question whether it would 



