5o6 



NATURE 



[December 15, 1921 



H.M.S, Sealark in 1905 always wore a pendant 

 of black coral under his blouse, and all the black 

 "boys " on board begged pieces from us "to keep 

 them from drowning." Inquiries show, too, that 

 black ornaments, bracelets, rings, and pieces 

 strung into necklets are common on all coasts 

 from Zanzibar to Singapore. They are usually 

 described as wood, but, as it is stated that the. 

 ends overlap or that the bracelets or rings are 

 spiral, they are probably of coral. A Japanese 

 professor says that black coral is much valued 

 in China and Japan, and largely used by coastal 

 people for jewelry. Branched growths are not in- 

 frequently brought up on the hook when fishing 



outside coral reefs, but, while there are frequent 

 indications of local use, there is no regular fishery 

 for such as an article of commerce. 



Rheumatism would seem to be particularly a 

 *' charm " disease. All over England a potato 

 is carried in the pocket as a remedy, and several 

 ladies residing in Cambridge derive great benefit 

 from the permanent presence of horse chestnuts 

 below their couches. Rings of metal — tin in many 

 parts of the West — are a regular specific. One of 

 the black bracelets in question has a decorative 

 value of its own. We wonder, however, whether 

 the ladies might not find Chinese jade a still better 

 specific. 



Obituary. 



J. M. DODDS. 



BY the death of John Macalister Dodds on 

 November 13 last Cambridge has lost a great 

 gentleman, while many people, both inside his col- 

 lege and outside, have lost a most kindly, helpful, 

 and amusing friend. He took his degree as fifth 

 wrangler in 1881, and returned from Glasgow to 

 Peterhouse as bursar and mathematical lecturer in 

 1884, since when he had resided in college continu- 

 ously. He lectured, as usual, on November 12, and 

 was found dead in his chair the following morning. 

 Apparently the only published paper he was con- 

 nected with was one on the value of the B.A. unit 

 of resistance (R. T. Glazebrook and J. M. Dodds, 

 Phil. Trans., 1883). 



On returning to Cambridge Mr. Dodds gave ad- 

 vanced lectures on the theory of sound for some 

 years, in addition to his routine work, but hence- 

 forth his main interest lay in the theory of numbers, 

 the theory of groups, and kindred topics. Particu- 

 larly was he interested in the theory of numbers, 

 and he worked at it incessantly. I have heard him 

 say that he tended to lose interest when the continu- 

 ous variable was introduced into that beautiful sub- 

 ject. Indications are not lacking that such feelings 

 were shared by Gauss himself, but in reality the 

 leaning of Mr. Dodds was towards ancient, simply 

 stated, and difficult problems of a pre-Gaussian 

 kind. He was extraordinarily astute, for example, 

 in the application of Fermat's famous principle of 

 infinite descent. Formal algebra, too, had a great 

 fascination for him. 



A word must be said of his generosity in working 

 at a problem with a colleague; the algebraical 

 avenue being left to him, Mr. Dodds was untiring 



in his efforts until the mquiry became hopeless or 

 the question was determined. One habit of his is 

 probably now obsolete ; each long vacation he made 

 a complete set of solutions of the Tripos papers that 

 had just appeared. Younger generations do not, I 

 think, regard that as being any longer a task that 

 provides mental exhilaration, even supposing the 

 problems come out. 



This is not the place to dilate on the wide know- 

 ledge of books and human beings that vast reading 

 and irresistible social powers had given Mr. Dodds, 

 yet no account of him can be complete without an 

 allusion to what was, it may be, the most marked 

 feature in his attitude on general questions. He was 

 an intense and innate conservative ; the smallest sug- 

 gestion of change always seemed to arouse his in- 

 stant opposition. As he was an acute dialectician, 

 this might easily have become exasperating, but he 

 was so big, so strong, and so laughingly good- 

 natured that the almost inevitable did not happen. 

 If he sometimes laughed at others, he often laughed 

 at himself. J. H. G. 



We regret to announce the deaths, on December 9, 

 of Lord Lindley at the age of ninety-three years, 

 and, on December 11, of Lord Halsbury at the age 

 of ninety-eight years. Both were elected fellows of 

 the Royal Society under the special clause which 

 permits the admission of members of the Privy 

 Council — Lord Lindley on January 20, 1898, and 

 Lord Halsbury on January 13, 1887. It may be 

 recalled that Lord Lindley was the son of the late 

 Dr. John Lindley, professor of botany in University 

 College, London. 



Notes. 



On Saturday, December 10, the Official Referee 

 under Part I. of the Safeguarding of Industries Act 

 gave his decision on the complaint that santonin has 

 been improperly included in the list of goods upon 

 which import duty riiust be paid. The drug is derived 

 from flowers grown almost exclusively in Southern 

 Russia and Turkestan, and is extracted by a simple 

 process which does not appear to demand professional 



NO. 2720, VOL. 108] 



skill ; its application is medicinal as distinguished from 

 chemical, but the evidence on the question whether it 

 should be regarded as a " fine chemical " was most 

 conflicting, and emphasised the difiiculty which may be 

 experienced In defining a "synthetic organic chemical " 

 within the meaning of the Act. After two hearings 

 Mr. Cyril Atkinson, K.C., expressed the view that the 

 word "chemical " is not a scientific term, but Implies a 



