6oS 



I^A JUKE 



[OCTOBEK 20, 1923 



Societies and Academies. 



MaNCHESTIvR. 



Literary and Philosophical Society, October 9. — 

 H. H Dixon : On coal-dust explosions at the Mines 

 ' tfncnt Experimental Station at ICskmcals. The 

 iiist theory of explosions in mines, started fifty 

 vcuih ago, led to many small-scale experiments, both 

 In England and abroad, which did not defmitely solve 

 the problem. The large-scale experiments instituted 

 by the Mining Association in ic>o8 first showed the 

 violence of pure coal-dust explosions and indicated 

 methods to study and counteract them. In the 

 mo<lcl mine at Eskmeals, Cuml>crland, it has been 

 possible to give complete demonstrations of the 

 violent character of pure coal-dust explosions, and 

 to obtain records of the speed and pressure of the 

 flame. It has also made possible many experiments 

 oil tlio effect of damping the dust and of diluting it 

 Willi inert shale or other incombustible powders. 

 The Eskmeals Committee in 191 4 advised a 1 : i 

 mixture of coal and inert dust throughout the road- 

 ways of " dry and dusty " mines — as a minimum 

 amount of inert dust. The experiments made this 

 year with the finely ground dust from various coal 

 seams in England and Scotland — especially that with 

 the Arley Main dust — have shown tliat it is possible 

 to explode a i : i mixture. But the precautions 

 taken to meet the coal-dust danger have resulted 

 in a great saving of human life. The yearly fatal 

 accidents from explosions in mines during the decade 

 1873-1882 reached 661 per million workers, in the 

 decade 1911-1920 the yearly average fell to 11 1 ; 

 for the last three years the average has been still 

 lower. 



Melbourne. 



Royal Society of Victoria, August 2. — Mr. Wise- 

 would, president, in the chair. — C. MacKenzie and 

 W. J. Owen: Studies on the comparative anatomy of 

 the alimentary canal of Australian reptiles. The ali- 

 mentary canals of hzards, skinks, monitors, and of 

 poisonous and non-f>oisonous snakes, were described. 

 Without a knowledge of the reptihan gastro-intestine 

 there could not be a correct understanding of tlie 

 apparent complex human intestinal arrangement and 

 its method of fixation adapted to the erect posture. 

 In the bearded and the frilled lizards, a well-defined 

 caecum appears together with development of mesen- 

 teric colon (human ascending colon). Associated 

 with this is the presence of the mesial fold approxi- 

 mating the colon to the pyloric region, which is best 

 demonstrated in Koala. Thus in these lizards is 

 found early evidences of the method of accommoda- 

 tion of the large intestine to the erect posture. — G. G. 

 Heslop : Further studies in contagious bovine pleuro- 

 pneumonia. — E. W. Skeats : The evidence of Post- 

 Lower Carboniferous plutonic and hypabyssal in- 

 trusions into the Grampian Sandstones of Western 

 Victoria. — A. Jefferis Turner : New AustraUan Micro- 

 Lepidoptera. — F. Chapman and C. J. Gabriel: A 

 revision of the Austrahan Tertiary Patellidae, Patel- 

 loidiidae, Cocuclinidae, and Fissurellidae. The fissure, 

 keyhole, and common limpets are discussed. Of the 

 23 species described, 14 are new. Three of the fossil 

 species are still found Uving, and have an ancestry 

 dating back three miUion years, the fossils being 

 indistinguishable from those dredged up in Western 

 Port Bay. The persistence of these species supports 

 the idea of the general stability of the Australian 

 continent since ancient geological time, so far as 

 the absence of sudden changes of coast-line is con- 

 cerned. 



NO. 2816, VOL. I 12] 



Diary of Societies. 



RnrAL Com 



MuSOAY, OcTnam iTI. 



loRoKt or Xholavo, at a. -Prof. ShatUx . 



< "^trical BngUiMniX Bt s.»j 

 UtoladartHM. 



CraduiilFs' Baetion), at 7. 

 ' an. 

 • ».-U. Oal--. 



.1 II 



ItoVAl 



Prr>. 



iuii^OA y, > 



/ooLooiOAL Hncirry or hant>ttm, at .'• - lt*nr<rt m> v,.- 



Afl'l) ' •-- • " -' - • ... 



Jiih ,' 



Ml i. 



it* li 



Dev 

 Bel 

 Gers . 



ItclaiMl A(»l)iitraU» Mii>cl<l« wlili '- t« 



— A. IxjVHri'lt.'" ? (1) NotMi rm M, . ili« 



Territory. ' trie l,i/»r'U ■ f lirit:.). K.-i.t Africa 



(U^aiKia. I k« Terrltiiry, and Zauilbar), wiUi 



Kfyii for I M .». 



IwsTiTUTB OK .>lAKi.sr kn.ji .N rr.iis, I.H<;., at 6.80.-W. 8. PattMion : Uoilar 



Corrosion. 

 RoTAi. Pbotoorapric Socimr or Great BaiTAiit, at 7.— Dr. O, H. 



Koclmaii : A Talk about the Houaeflr and liow It euimngm Ute 



Iloalth of Man. 

 RuVAL Anthroi-oi.ooical ISBTiTfTK (at Royal StxitXy), at S.1& — F. A. 



ititclipll-HedKM : The bincovery of an Unknown Race : The Caltun* of 



the Calrhaqui of Central America. 



WEDSRSDAY, October 24. 



Federation or Medical and Allied SERVicEfi (at 12 Stratfortl Plar-e). at 

 4.— Conference to consider what prmctiral means, If any, arepouibleto 

 extend the system of providing for the periodical medical eiainination 

 of the Ijiiger AsKurano- Policy lioldeis. 



Hoyal Microscopical Society (Industiial Applications Secllon), at 7.— 

 J. E. Hamard : I^octiire Demonstration dealing with the Bfflci«nt Use 

 and Manipulation of the MiCroscoix*.— Dr. Marie C. ^Utpet : The Micro- 

 scopy of Recent Coal Research. 



THURSDAY , October 26. 

 RoTAL Hociety or Medicine, at 5.— Sir E. Sluirpejr Scbafer 



lations between Surgery and Physiology (Victor Hor>l«y il-m.-ruii 



Lecture). 

 Society ok Dyers and Colourists (I»ndon Section) (at Dyers' Ball, 



Dowgate Hill), at 7.— I. E. Weber : Uydrogon Peroxide BleacbiDg. 



FRIDAY. OtTOBER 28. 

 Physical Society or London (at Imi>pr--' '' " ' " — and 



Technology), at 5.— S. H. Piper and E. N. < lure 



of some Sixlium Salts of the Fatty Aci'i .;. A. 



Owen and O. D. Preston: X-ray Anai.vsi^ oi r^mn .^■.'■.tiui*.— Dr. 



II. Chiitley : ttohesion. 

 Royal Collece of Sithgeons or Enoland, at 5. — ^ir Arthiir K^ith ; The 



Distinction between Congenital and Acf|r.' ' '" ' "^ " i. 



Xewcomen Socikty (in Prince Henry's R<.. JX— 



L. St. L. Pendred : The Value of t'ue I. Pre- 



siilcntial Address). 

 Royal Photo<iraphic Society or Great Britaih, at T. — J. E. Saunders : 



Adventures willi a Camera at the Zoo. 

 Junior Institltion of Enoineers, at 7.30.— A. V. Ballhatchet : Oyatals 



for Wireless Reception. 



PUBLIC I.ECTURES. 



SATiRDAY, October iO. 

 Horniman Mdsbcm (Forest Hill), at 3.S0.— Miss M. A. Miim«v ■ TiiTj!,kh- 



amen and his Times. 



MONDAY, October ..'. 

 University C!olleoe, at .j.— Miss H. M. Hoklsworth : ihe PrMbl'-m •■: 



tpiching Spoken English to Foreigners. 

 Imperial College of Science and Techsoloot, at 5.80.— H. G. 



Cannon : Some Biochemical Aspects of Animal DerelopmenL 



(Succeeding Lectures on October 29, November 5, 13, 19, i6, and 



December 3.) 



TVESDAY, October 28. 

 Univer-sity College, at 5.30.— P. Fleming: The (3ar« of School Childr>'n> 



Eyesight. 

 Gresham (College, Basinghall Street, at 6. — W. H. Wagstaff: 



Geometry. (Succeeding Lectures on October 24, 25, and 36.) 



WBDSESDAY, October 24. 

 Royal Instititte or I*i'blic Health, at 4. — Prof. J. C Dnunmoad : 



Vitamins in relation to Public Health. 

 University Collbok, at 5.30.— T. G. Hill : lUustiation of Books. 



THURSDA Y, October 25. 

 Finsbcrv Technical College (Leonard Street), at 4.— E. M. Hawkins : 

 .\nalytical Chemistry (Streatfeild Memorial Lecture). 



FRIDAY, October 26. 

 UNivERsrrr Oollboe, at 5.15.— B. Seebohm Rowntree : Factory Life a« 

 it is and as it might be. 



SATURDAY, October 27. 

 Horniman MrsEUM (Forest Hill), at S.SO — E. Lorett : The Legendary 



Folklore of the Sea. 



