September i, 1923] 



NATURE 



ZZ1 



Section D (Zoology). 



Prof. J. H." Ashworth, president of this Section, 

 ^^ will take as the subject of his address " Modem 

 ^^fcZoology : its Boundaries and Some of its Bearings 

 ^^Kon Human Welfare." 



^^B In drawing up the programme of the Section, Liver- 



^H^pool work in zoology, oceanography, and tropical 



^^f medicine has been borne in mind. The whole of 



^y Friday, for example, will be devoted to marine zoology, 



^^ comprising contributions from Dr. Johs. Schmidt, of 



I Copenhagen, who will give a popular lecture on the 



I scientific work of the Danish exploration steamer, 



I the Dana, illustrated by cinematograph ; from Dr. 



' Mortensen and Mr. Kramp, both of Copenhagen ; 



from Prof. Johnstone, on Rhythmic Change in the 



Plankton ; from Prof. Dakin, who will discuss the 



theory of Piitter regarding animal nutrition ; and 



from Mr. Storrow, Dr. Marie Lebour, Mr. Hardy, Mr. 



Carruthers, Mr. Clark and Mr. Chadwick. 



On Tuesday morning there will be a series of papers 

 bearing on the problem of the determination of sex, 

 the contributors being Dr. Crew, Prof. Dakin and 

 , Mr. Burfield, Mr. Huxley and Prof. Carr-Saunders, 

 Dr. Heslop Harrison, Mr. J. R. Baker, and Dr.Parkes. 

 During one of the sessions, Prof. Hickson will open a 

 discussion on the systematic position of the Nema- 

 toda, and Profs. MacBride and Goodrich, and Dr. 

 Baylis, will take part in the discussion. Mr Huxley 

 will give a semi-popular lecture on the physiology 

 of development in the frog ; Prof. Ashworth will 

 make a contribution on the life-cycle of Rhino- 

 sporidium ; Prof. Cole will explain some new points 

 which he has brought to light in regard to the anatomy 

 of Myxine. 

 \ Other contributors to the sectional proceedings will 



be Mr. J. T. Cunningham on the origin of adapta- 

 1 tions ; Prof. Poulton on a new case of mimicry ; Dr. 

 Heslop Harrison on polyhedral disease in the 

 vapourer moths ; Miss Dorothy Jackson on the 

 Biology of a Braconid parasite of the pea-weevil ; 

 Mr. Peacock on parthenogenesis in saw-flies ; Mr. 

 Speyer on complex Aphid life-histories ; Mr. Hewer 

 on colour changes - in the common frog ; Dr. 

 Baylis on the host - range of parasitic nematodes ; 

 Prof. Blacklock on two tropical disease - carrying 

 flies ; Prof. Mcintosh on some points relating to 

 polychaetes ; Mr. Graham Cannon on the post- 

 naupliar development of an Estherid crustacean ; 

 Dr. Grove on sexual congress in earthworms ; Miss 

 Breeze on invasion of the tissues of the higher plants 

 by protozoan parasites. 



A whole-day trip on the Lancashire and Western 

 Sea Fisheries Committee's steamer, the James Fletcher, 

 should be of interest to marine biologists, and a half- 

 day in Delamere Forest should prove attractive to 

 entomologists. 



Section E (Geography). 



The programme of Section E will open on 

 September 13 with the address of the president. 

 Dr. Vaughan Cornish, who will speak on the 

 geographical position of the British Empire. The 

 remainder of the morning will be occupied by papers 

 explaining the local geography of the Liverpool 

 district. Papers of this nature have been a feature 

 of Section E for some years, and have been appreciated 

 by visitors from a distance. In view of the location 

 of this year's meeting, endeavours have been made to 

 secure contributions dealing with Imperial geography, 

 a question affecting the world-wide interests of Liver- 

 pool. Mr. O. H. T. Rishbeth will speak on Australian 

 railway development. Miss B. S. Hosgood will discuss 



NO. 2809, VOL. I 12] 



post- War emigration from the British Isles, and Mr. 

 W. H. H. Arden-Wood will contribute a paper on the 

 alluvial lands in India in relation to man and his 

 activities. Other papers include the historical geo- 

 graphy of Belgium, by Prof. L. W. Lyde, the Alps of 

 Chinese Tibet, in which Prof. J. W. Gregory will deal 

 with the important results of his recent journey, and 

 the high plateau of Brazil by Mr. R. R. Walls. Rev. 

 W. Weston will give a lantern lecture on the influence 

 of geographical environment on the characteristics of 

 the Japanese, and Prof. J. L. Myres will lecture on 

 the Marmora region. Two joint discussions have 

 been arranged with Section H, on the place of man 

 and his environment in the study of the social sciences, 

 which will be opened by Prof. J. L. Myres ; and with 

 Section L, on geography as a basis for a general 

 science course, which will be opened by Sir Richard 

 Gregory. Several excursions of geographical interest 

 have been arranged, and there will be an exhibition 

 of maps of the district prepared by members of the 

 Liverpool Regional Survey Association. 



Section G (Engineering). 



The subject of the presidential address in this 

 Section is " Transport and its Indebtedness to 

 Science " ; a new departure is being made by devot- 

 ing the remainder of the morning (Friday, September 

 14) to papers on various branches of the same subject 

 by experts in these several branches ; Mr. Berriman, 

 of the Daimler Co., will deal with road transport ; 

 Mr. Wall, of Liverpool, with sea transport ; Mr. 

 O'Brien, of the L.M. and S. Rly., with rail transport ; 

 and Gen. Sir Sefton Brancker with air transport. 



On the morning of Thursday, September 13, 

 Section G joins with Sections A and B in a discussion 

 on " Cohesion and Molecular Forces." In the after- 

 noon a joint discussion is being held with the Psy- 

 chology Section on the subject of " Vocational Tests 

 in the Engineering Trades," to be opened by a paper 

 by iNIessrs. Fleming and Brocklehurst, of the Metro- 

 politan- Vickers Electric Co. 



Monday, September 17, is being devoted mainly 

 to papers on mechanical and general engineering, 

 while most of the papers on electrical engineering 

 will be read on Wednesday, September 19. Tuesday 

 morning begins with a joint discussion with the 

 Education Section, on " The Teaching of Dynamics," 

 opened by Sir J. B. Henderson ; the remainder of the 

 morning is to be devoted to the report of the com- 

 mittee on complex stresses, which includes a number 

 of important papers by various members of the 

 committee. 



Among the papers to be read on Monday and 

 Wednesday are the following : The conservation and 

 control of our national water resources, by Mr. J. 

 Parry; the recent developments in excavating 

 machinery, by Mr. Barnes, of the Ruston Hornsby 

 Co. ; smoke abatement, by Mr. Kershaw ; the 

 electric propulsion of ships, by Mr. Clough, of the 

 British Thomson-Houston Co. ; and high-power 

 mercury rectifiers, by Mr. Morrison. All these papers 

 deal either with subjects of great importance at the 

 moment or with those on which great advances have 

 recently been made. 



Capt. Slee, of the Marconi International Marine 

 Communication Co., will describe the recent develop- 

 ments in the application of wireless telegraphy to 

 shipping ; and Mr. Scott-Taggart will read a paper 

 on receiving apparatus for broadcast reception. 

 Prof. W. M. Thornton will read a paper on the 

 mechanism of gas ignition, and will describe a new 

 method of lighting coal mines which greatly reduces 

 the danger of explosion. 



