November 17, 1923J 



NATURE 



741 



Palaeontologists at Vienna. 



^PHE Palaeoritologische Gesellschaft is an inter- 

 -*■ national society of palaeontologists, with 

 members belonging to several European nations, 

 to Great Britain, and to the United States. An 

 annual meeting was to have been held in London 

 and Oxford during August 1914, but on account of 

 the War and its effects it was impossible until the 

 present year to hold a meeting outside Germany. 

 Even now the difficulties were only overcome by the 

 aid of the Austrian Government and the generosity 

 of many notable Viennese, who made a meeting in 

 their capital possible for their impoverished colleagues. 

 Thus it was that on September 24 - September 29 

 a most successful gathering of 53 members and 

 go interested persons took place in the University 

 of Vienna under the presidency of Prof. Othenio 

 Abel. 



The non-Austrian members included Prof. Wiman 

 of Uppsala, Professors Van Bemmelen and Versluys 

 from Holland, Baron Fejervary of Buda-Pest, Prof. 

 Pompeckj of Berlin, with 36 German colleagues. 

 Dr. F. A. Bather of the British Museum, and re- 

 presentatives of Czechoslovakia and Jugoslavia. 



The congress was honoured in having its session 

 opened in the Festival Hall of the University by the 

 President of the Austrian Republic, Dr. Hainisch, 

 supported by his Vice-chancellor, Dr. F. Frank, Dr. 

 Maurus representing the Minister of Education, and 

 the Rector of the University, Prof. C. Diener. The 

 large gathering listened to an address by Prof. 

 Pompeckj on " The Beginnings of Life," which, in 

 his opinion, took place on the land and not in the 

 sea. Here may be mentioned the dinner in the 

 Kathaus, also attended by the President of the Re- 

 public, when speeches of welcome were made by the 

 j^resident of the society and the Deputy-Mayor. 

 'Ihe honour of returning thanks on behalf of the 

 foreigners was allotted to Dr. Bather, who dwelt on 

 the power of scientific intercourse to unite the nations, 

 and showed how the advance of science, and notably 

 of palaeontology, was retarded by' the vexatious 

 barriers still erected by politicians. 



The purely scientific programme included the 

 following papers. Baron Fejervdry : The origin of 

 the pra2-hallux and the Cheiropterygium theory in 

 the light of palaeobiological research ; C. Wiman : 

 on some flying Saurians ; F. A. Bather : Cothurno- 

 cystis, a study in habits and evolution, also Stephano- 

 crinus, a study of convergence ; R. Richter : 

 Convergence among Trilobites ; H. Schmidt : The 

 development of the Ammonoidea in the Carboni- 

 ferous ; P. Kessler : Nautilids with incomplete 

 septa, which led to a discussion on their mode of 

 life ; R. Kubarth : Researches on recent and fossil 



conifer woods ; O. Abel : The first find of a Tetrapod 

 track in the Alpine Trias. The chief interest of the 

 meeting, however, centred in the so-called Drachen- 

 hohle at Mixnitz on the Mur in Steiermark. In tliis 

 cavern, 1000 metres above the sea, there has been 

 found a remarkable series of cave-bears in all stages 

 of skeletal growth, as well as the remains of smaller 

 mammals associated with them. These have been 

 studied by Prof. Abel and his assistants K. Ehrenberg, 

 O. Antonius, A. Bachofen-Echt, and others. These 

 all described their particular researches, and Prof. 

 Abel in a public lecture drew a vivid picture of the 

 animal life of the " Dragon's Cave." 



Opportunity was given to the members to visit 

 Schonbrunn, where the menagerie still contains a 

 fine representation of wild Bovidae, and the Geological 

 and Mineralogical galleries of the Natural History 

 Museum. An afternoon was devoted to an excursion 

 to the Pallerstein in the Wiener Wald, where the 

 Eocene flysch preserves most curious markings, for 

 the most part of annelid origin. At the close of the 

 meeting 70 members visited the Mixnitz cave, and 

 after spending four hours in the study of its mysteries, 

 were refreshed by a delightful supper and entranced 

 by St^Tian folk-songs sung by a choir of local ladies. 

 Fifteen managed on the following day to ascend the 

 Sonnwendstein near Semmering under the guidance 

 of Prof. Kober. 



The following have been elected officers for the 

 ensuing year. President : O. Abel (Vienna) ; Vice- 

 Presidents : O. Jaekel (Greifswald) and E. Stromer 

 (Munich) ; Secretaries : O. Antonius (Vienna), R. 

 Richter (Frankfort) ; Treasurer : P. G. Krause 

 (Berlin). New members of Council are F. A. Bather 

 (London) and W. Janensch (Berlin). 



The warmest thanks of all who enjoyed this 

 inspiriting gathering are due to Prof. Abel, who, 

 with his colleagues Dr. K. Ehrenberg and Dr. O. 

 Antonius, saw to all the arrangements. Nor should 

 there be forgotten the fine reconstruction of the 

 mammoth made under their direction by the artist 

 Franz Roubal, or the members' badge based thereon 

 by Prof. R. Marschall. The " enkel Bier-abend," 

 where some found a more intimate hospitality in 

 Dr. and Mrs. Abel's home, was a characteristic and 

 delightful feature. But it is more fitting to end 

 with mention of Prof. Abel's " Palseobiologischer 

 Lehrapparat," where he has accumulated a most 

 interesting series of fossils illustrating what one may 

 term their natural history. Nowhere else have we 

 seen this idea so consistently carried out. This 

 room, like the meeting as a whole, was a constant 

 reminder that neither fossils nor those who study 

 them need be dull and lifeless creatures. 



Deterioration of Structures in the Sea.^ 



I'' HE investigations on the deterioration of struc- 

 tures of metal, concrete, and timber exposed 

 to the action of sea-water which are being carried 

 out under the direction of a committee of the In- 

 stitution of Civil Engineers liave already formed 

 the subject of two interim reports (see Nature, 

 October 21, 1920, p. 235, and December 30, 1922, 

 p. 878). The third report, which has just been 

 issued, records progress along several very different 

 lines of research, although, since the phenomena 

 with which they are concerned are slow in developing, 



• "'I' '■ ' ires in Sra- Water." 'Diinl (Interim) Report 



of th' 'Win of Civil JinRineers. Kdited by P. M. 



Crostli.< ><•. Pp. 79. Dep.irtinent of Scientific and 



Industri.il K' '.irMi (li.M. Mationcry Office). Price 3J. 



conclusive results arc not to be looked for in a short 

 space of time. 



That part of the work of the committee which 

 deals with the corrosion of metals is the subject of 

 several sections of the report. A full account is 

 given of the arrangements devised for exposing test 

 bars of various types of iron and steel to the action 

 of the sea. The bars, prepared under the super- 

 vision of Sir Robert Hadfield and Dr. J. N. Friend, 

 have been despatched to Plymouth, Halifax, Colomlx), 

 and Auckland, and reports are given from the 

 engineers in charge at these places describing the 

 methods used for fixing them in position. Groups 

 of bars arc to be exposed for five, ten, and fifteen 



NO. 2820. VOL. I 12] 



