666 



NA TURE 



[November 3, 1923 



a recording drum, a balance in which the fine adjtwt- 

 mcnt IH n)a<te by a chnin hanging from the pan, and 

 a recording katathcrrnoinctcr, foUowe<l by two pages 

 of notoH and reviews, complete the part. The char- 

 acter of the articles and illustrations promises well 

 for the fiih.ir r.f ilu* Journal. 



TiiK twenty-seventh annual meeting and autumn 

 foray of the British Mycological Society was held at 

 Windsor on September 28-October 3. The president, 

 Prof. O. V. Darbishire, dealt generally with the 

 subject of lichens in his address. 1-ichenologists of 

 the last century, typified in the person of William 

 Nylander (1822-1899), were almost entirely opposed 

 to Schwendener (1829-1919). They felt that his 

 theory of the dual nature of lichens was not true and 

 that the autonomy of the group of lichens was 

 threatened. This old contrast between systematist 

 and physiologist is now almost gone. Systematic 

 lichenology is now in such a state that an appeal is 

 made to lichenologists to work through lichen groups, 

 genera or even species monographically. The diffi- 

 culty of defining a lichen-species is often very great. 

 This is in part due to the fact that the Hchen fungus, 

 anatomically as a rule the predominant partner, in 

 the .simple system of symbiotic co-operation existing 

 in the lichen, has thrown overboard the structural 

 traditions of its free-living saprophytic or parasitic 

 ancestors. The result is that the rock-forms of two 

 allied species will in structure often be more like one 

 another than they will be like their respective normal 

 1 'ark -inhabiting parent forms. The evolution of the 

 lichen is proceeding along very definite lines, from 

 the fiat crustaceous but areolate, to foliaceous, up- 

 right foliaceous, and finally true fruticulose forms. 

 The highest physiological differentiation is reached 

 in such forms as Cladonia, where we get stem and 

 dorsiventral leaf clearly separated. Other papers 

 uerc contributed on " Epidemic Plant Diseases," by 

 -Mr. 1'. T. Brooks ; " The Fungi found growing in a 

 Blackbird's Nest," by Sir H. C. Hawley ; and an 

 account by Mr. J. Ramsbottom of " An unpublished 

 Monograph on Discomycetes by M. C. Cooke." Mr. 

 J. Ramsbottom was elected president for 1924, Miss 

 G. Lister vice-president, and Messrs. W. J. Dowson 

 and C. J. Sharpe to the council. 



The autumn meeting of the Society of German 

 Chemists was held at Jena on September 26-29, and 

 about six hundred members were present in spite 

 of the present difficulties. No festivities of any kind 

 took place, except the performance of Goethe's play, 

 " Stella." The following were among the subjects 

 of scientific lectures in a very full programme : — Prof. 

 Dr. Neuberg : Review of recent research in fermenta- 

 tion chemistr)^ and demonstration of methods of 

 determining the direction of fermentation and fixing 

 intermediate products. Prof. Lemmermann : The 

 position of Germany as regards supply of artificial 

 fertilisers; the prospects of enlarging the yield to 

 such an extent that Germany can grow her food 

 supply at home. Experiments were described for 

 partially replacing phosphoric acid by colloidal 

 silicic acid. Dr. EdeleanG : Description of the process 

 NO. 2818, VOL. II2I 



of refining certain kinds of petroleum (such as 

 Rumanian and Califori I i Mint 



of unsaturated and b< .lij 



sulphurou.s acid, and of i. ted 



for this purpose by the Bim ; . f»s 



permits the manufacture of a good burning oil and 

 the production of the other componf»"»'- "^ the 

 petroleum in their original condition Dr. 



Stock deplored the poor financial condmuii f>t ex- 

 perimental chemi.stry at the German high schools, 

 and remonstrated against the reduci lis most 



imjiortant branch of chemical - Prof. 



Dr. K. Hess : Review of recent reseat c 



The simple cellulose molecule i.s : [)y 



G.HjoC),, as stated by Prof. Green thirty years ago. 

 Detailed investigation of the cuprammonia solution 

 of cellulose has proved this to be correct. Prof. 

 Linck : A new proposal for the working-up of the 

 magnesium chloride waste liquors in potash works. 

 In ten sections more than eighty lectures were given 

 on various problems of pure and applies! chemi«trv. 

 indu.strial law, education, etc. 



The annual report of the Meteorological v oiumittte 

 to the Air Council for the year ended March 1923 

 has just been issued ; this is the sixty-eighth year of 

 the Meteorological Office. Of recent years much 

 development and extension has occurred consequent 

 on the neces.sary investigation of the upper air for 

 the requirement of aircraft and for naval and raiU- 

 tary purposes. Most public meteorological work is 

 now absorbed under Government management, and 

 without doubt this tends greatly to the advancement 

 of meteorology. The system of wireless weather 

 reports from ships in the Atlantic is said to be 

 extremely efficient, the whole of the work on the 

 ships is voluntary, and no " ships' charges " are made 

 by the Marconi Company. Some return is made for 

 this voluntary help by broadcasting two messages 

 a day specially prepared by the Office for the shipping 

 approaching our western coasts. About 500 ships 

 regularly and voluntarily send returns in connexion 

 with the work undertaken by the Marine Division, 

 and discussions of use to seamen are actively main- 

 tained. The Forecast Division is on the alert to 

 take advantage of every opportunity to ensure 

 improvement in the accuracy of the forecasts. In 

 addition to the European observations, data are 

 received daily from 29 stations in the United States, 

 from Iceland and Greenland, and occasionally from 

 the steamship Maud of the Norwegian Polar Ex|>edi- 

 tion. Forecasts are prepared three times each da\- 

 for issue to the Press and special week-end forecasts 

 are prepared on Thursday and Friday. The Climato- 

 logical Division deals with all information bearing 

 on climate. Upper air observations entail much 

 work, and the British Rainfall Organisation is entirely 

 under the control of the Meteorological Office. 



Sir Humphry Rolleston has been appointed a 

 physician - in - ordinary, and Mr. E. F. Buzzard 

 physician extraordinary, to the King. 



Mr. T. Sheppard, of the Hull Municipal Museums, 

 and Dr. T. W. Woodhead have been elected honorary 



