October 6, 192 1] 



NATURE 



IQI 



Suez Canal. The ship will be 550 ft. long, with an 

 extreme breadth of 74 ft. 95 in., and a moulded depth 

 of 44 ft. 6 in. to the shelter deck. She will be built 

 after the style of a first-class liner so far as accom- 

 modation for trade representatives, etc., is concerned, 

 but her special feature will be four exhibition decks, 

 long clear spaces the full width and the full effective 

 length of the vessel, and 10 ft. in height between 

 decks. Compressed air, electricity, running shafting, 

 and probably steam and hydraulic power will be pro- 

 vided for exhibitors who may desire to give working 

 demonstrations of their machinery. Other interesting 

 particulars regarding this vessel are given in Engineer- 

 ing for September 23. There is no doubt that the 

 scheme will be valuable in carrying out much-needed 

 propagandist work. 



"Speech in the Silent World" is the title of an 

 address delivered by Sir Leslie Mackenzie at the 

 annual meeting of the Edinburgh Royal Institution for 

 the Deaf and Dumb, in which teaching the deaf mute 

 to articulate is discussed. The author believes that 

 the impulse to speak is almost universal. The normal 

 child at a certain stage acquires language with 

 extraordinary rapidity, and the same obtains with deaf 

 children if they be of normal brain. For the latter the 

 problem of training in articulate speech is like the 

 problem of training in the speech of gesture, namely, 

 how to use a series of motions to express a meaning. 

 Through the series of motions visible to the eye the 

 teacher of lip-speech trains the vocal organs in the 

 formation of sounds with meaning, and the teacher of 

 lip-speech, working on the irresistible impulse towards 

 expression, develops with amazing rapidity the powers 

 of articulation. The training should preferably com- 

 mence at the age of two or three years ; progress is 

 then much more rapid, for as time elapses the impulse 

 becomes less and less marked, and the training in 

 articulate speech correspondingly more difficult. The 

 directors of the Edinburgh Royal Institution last year 

 opened a nursery school so that the training in lip- 

 speech might be commenced at an early stage of life. 



The presidential address delivered by Sir Baldwin 

 Spencer at the meeting of the Australian Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, Mel- 

 bourne, in January last, is devoted to the tangled 

 problems of Australian ethnology. After a succinct 

 review of the work of various explorers he gives the 

 well-needed caution that "investigations carried on 

 amongst the remains of tribes that have been long in 

 contact with white men are liable to be very mis- 

 leading." As regards land tenure, statements of in- 

 dividual ownership should be accepted with caution, 

 as natives perceive that the private possession of land 

 among white men is evidently a sign of superiority. 

 The existence of a number of local tribes, each with 

 Its own distinct dialect, is a difficult problem. The 

 desiccation of the central area probablv led to the 

 isolation of its inhabitants from the coastal people, 

 and the progressive deterioration of the climate led 

 to the occupation of districts less exposed to drought, 

 where the absence of a written language encouraged 

 the growth of dialects. The original migrants prob- 

 NO. 2710, VOL. 108] 



ably entered Australia at the north-east in Pliocene 

 or very early Pleistocene times. The theory of Dr. 

 Rivers that " the histor\' of Australian culture and its 

 present nature become far easier to understand if 

 there has been a gradual infiltration of seafaring 

 peoples, starting from many points on the coast," is 

 dismissed with the remark: "To anyone who has 

 had experience of the wild native tribes on the 

 northern, north-western, and north-eastern coasts 

 there is very considerable difficulty in accepting the 

 suggestion of Dr. Rivers that small seafaring parties 

 landing at various points would be able, even if they 

 could find sufficient food to live upon, to influence the 

 aboriginals. Personally, at that early date, I should 

 have been very sorry to have formed a member of any 

 such small party." This address is very interesting 

 and instructive, and may be commended to all 

 students of Australian ethnology. 



With the rapid development of water-power utilisa- 

 tion in Italy, increasing attention is being directed 

 to better methods of inland waterway transport and the 

 improvement of existing ports and the planning of 

 new ones. With a view of facilitating a thorough 

 discussion of questions bearing on this subject, the 

 Associazione Nazionale per i Congressi di Navigazione 

 (National Association for Congresses on Navigation) 

 is holding a Congress on " Inland Navigation and 

 Ports " at Ravenna on October 22-26. The Congress, 

 on this occasion, will be confined to questions relating 

 to inland navigation in Northern Italy and the ports 

 of Ravenna, Ferrara, and Venice. A number of 

 papers will be read, visits paid to port works, and, if 

 time permits, an exhibition relative to inland naviga- 

 tion and port works will be arranged. Among the 

 subjects for discussion are: "A Systematic Plan 

 for the Control of. the Waterways of Northern Italy "; 

 "Types and Standard Dimensions of Art-works on 

 Inland Waterways"; "Utilisation of Existing Sub- 

 sidiary Waterways in Northern Italy"; "Suggested 

 Regulations for Inland Navigation on Existing Water- 

 ways "; "The Administrative Control of Maritime 

 Ports"; "Distribution and Co-ordination of the 

 Functions of the large Adriatic Ports"; "Works 

 carried out or schemes approved for the Construction 

 and Improvement of Maritime Ports in Itdly " ; 

 " Present State of Inland Navigation Works recently 

 completed or in course of Construction in Italy " ; 

 " Methods of facilitating the Entry of Ships into Ports 

 in Foggy Weather," etc. Those interested may enrol 

 as temporary members of the Congress on payment of 

 25 lire (100 lire for a company or association). The 

 papers will be printed and circulated to members of 

 the Congress. The general secretary of the Congress 

 is Signor Mario Beretta, Via della Signora 12, Milan. 



In an article on "The Whaling Industry" in the 

 Statist for September 3 Mr. A. F. Bearpark advo- 

 cates a complete scientific investigation of the industry 

 with the view of preventing its extinction, and not, 

 as the writer frankly admits, in order that whales 

 may be preserved from extermination. He does not 

 believe that the latter eventuality is to be feared from 

 the operations of whalers, because economic con- 



