598 



NATURE 



[October 20, 1923 



by Mr. Reginald Smith as identical with a late 

 Acheulean form. The discovery is one of consider- 

 able interest, as the pits are in all respects comparable 

 with those at Cissbury, while if the type of the imple- 

 ments is accepted as evidence of date, they support 

 the view that both mines are of palaeolithic age. The 

 quern stone, unless it can be shown to be later than 

 the implements, would then suggest a much earlier 

 date for corn growing than is usually accepted. The 

 excavations were carried out with the permission of 

 the Duke of Richmond, by whom the implements, 

 mollusca, and animal remains have been presented to 

 the Brighton Museum. 



The Publishers' Circular for September i contains 

 some suggestive remarks by Mr. T. W. MacAlpine 

 on " Scientific Literature : the Need for Co-ordina- 

 tion." Their gist is that publishers, who cannot be 

 expected to know the requirements of every branch 

 of science, might welcome advice from a committee 

 or committees of scientific workers such as might be 

 appointed by the British Association. Among the 

 pomts to be specially considered are form and style 

 of treatment, degree and nature of illustrations, 

 uniformity of nomenclature and symbols, size of 

 page and of prmted area, selection of type, division 

 into chapters, paragraphs, etc., and the numbering 

 of them, list of contents, and index. Though we 

 hold the view that too much standardisation often 

 checks improvement by hindering natural selection, 

 still we think some steps could well be taken along 

 the path sketched by Mr. MacAlpine. He is perhaps 

 not aware that there already exists a committee of 

 the Bntish Association appointed to advise on 

 similar matters in special reference to zoology and 

 the allied sciences. The last report of this committee , 

 presented at the Liverpool meeting, deals with some 

 questions that directh' concern publishers. One of 

 these is the precise and correct dating of volumes 

 and parts. The other, discussed at length, is " What 

 constitutes Publication ? " The answer is sum- 

 marised thus : " Publication of a new systematic 

 name is effective only when the volume, paper, or 

 leaflet in which it appears is obtainable at a price 

 in the way of trade by any applicant, or is distributed 

 widely and freely to circles interested, it being 

 always of a character suitable to the publication of 

 such matter." 



At last Lyme Regis has a museum and the 

 beginnings of a type collection of the fossils for 

 which it is famed. The desirability of such a 

 collection has been felt by some of the residents for 

 many years, but the question of cost has blocked 

 the way. In 1901 the late Mr. T. E. D. Philpot, a 

 landowner at Lyme, erected a suitable building, but 

 the Town Council did not see its way to find the 

 necessary funds to maintain it, and the fabric stood 

 empty and forlorn. Attempts to revise the situation 

 were made early in 1914 and Mr. Philpot was ap- 

 proached in the matter, but the movement was 

 abruptly ended by the outbreak of War. On Mr. 

 Philpot's decease, two years ago, his representatives 

 renewed his offer to the Town, and this time the 



NO. 2816, VOL. I 12] 



Council was persuaded to accept the handsome gift. 

 Fortunately, an enthusiastic palaeontologist, I>r 

 Wyatt Wingrave, was ready to act as honorar\ 

 curator and to lend his own private collection of 

 local fossils. These, with a few from other sourcc 

 form quite a respectable nucleus around which aM 

 geologists will be glad to see the growth in Lym 

 itself of a collection worthy of the world-wide i 

 tion of the place. The annual report shows 

 good beginning has been made and includes the usual 

 appeal for funds, for cases, and for gifts of specimens, 

 all of which should be forthcoming now there is .1 

 place to put them and a curator to watch over them 



In the September issue of State Technology — thj 

 journal of the In.stitution of ProfessionaJ Civil 

 Servants — the Act of the United States Congress of 

 March last classifying civil servants is published in 

 full. Its principal interest for us is the prominent 

 position it gives to the professional and scientific 

 civil servant. In Great Britain, the administrative 

 heads of government departments, even when thfir 

 concern is mainly with scientific or technical matters, 

 are men with a classical or literary education and no 

 scientific or technical knowledge, and the Institution 

 of Professional Civil Servants has been urging for 

 some time that members of the scientific staff of a 

 department are as likely to make as good adminis- 

 trators as the men with no knowledge of the affairs 

 of the department at present chosen. From the 

 above Act, it appears that this is recognised in the 

 United States, and in their civil service, professional 

 and scientific work is administered by men with 

 professional and scientific experience. The salary 

 attached to the highest posts, whether professional 

 or administrative, is 7500 dollars per annum. 



A SMALL but instructive pamphlet on the co- 

 operative development of Australia's natural resources 

 has been published by the Commonwealth Institute 

 of Science and Industry-. The whole field of Australia's 

 resources is briefly surveyed and attention is directed 

 to certain urgent problems that await solution. 

 Particularly important is the section dealing with 

 agricultural and pastoral problems. The ravages of 

 vegetable and animal pests are shown to be enormous. 

 In New South Wales and Queensland alone, the total 

 area covered by the prickly pear is not far from double 

 the entire cultivated area of the Commonwealth. 

 From plant diseases alone the annual loss to Australia 

 is estimated at more than 5,000,000/. ; animal pests 

 are even more costly. In a bad year the sheep-fly 

 may cause a loss of 4,000,000/. A long list is given 

 of investigations needed in the interests of agricultural, 

 pastoral, and forest industries. The pamphlet makes 

 a strong plea for the application of scientific method 

 and research in the development of AustraUas 

 resources. Copies may be had free of charge on 

 application to the Director of the Institute at 

 Melbourne. 



Among the many new periodicals of varying aims 

 and quality relating to wireless telegraphy and 

 telephony, we are glad to welcome a new-comer in 

 Experimental Wireless, of which the first monthly 



