March io, 192 i] 



NATURE 



53 



to be gained by making use of the southern approach 

 to Mount Everest by the Arun Valley, even if the 

 Nepal Government gave consent. Col. Bury considers 

 that aeroplanes would be useless in Tibet on account 

 of the low density of the atmosphere, which would 

 make it impossible for the present type of machine 

 to rise off the ground. For general transport pur- 

 poses he advocates yaks, which are very sure-footed 

 and can be used up to altitudes of 20,000 ft. The 

 Geographical Journal announces that official news of 

 the expedition will be given solely through the Royal 

 Geographical Society and the Alpine Club. 



In the report of the Corresponding Societies Com- 

 mittee of the British Association for this year, a 

 welcome change of policy is inaugurated in regard to 

 the list of papers which the committee publishes 

 annually. Hitherto this bibliography has been limited 

 to papers appearing in the publications of societies 

 affiliated to this committee. In that form it was in- 

 complete, contained much that was of no value what- 

 ever, and was of little or no use to serious workers. 

 By a judicious weeding-out of all subjects which are 

 adequately dealt with in other bibliographies or by 

 other societies, the list of papers this year has been 

 confined to those dealing with the zoology, botany, 

 and prehistoric archaeology of the British Isles. By 

 extending its scope to include every British publica- 

 tion, whether of an affiliated society or not, the biblio- 

 graphy aims at a complete record of the work done 

 in these subjects in this country. In its revised form 

 the bibliography will be of immense service to those 

 engaged in faunistic work and regional surveys. It 

 covers the period from June to December, 1919, and 

 appears to be remarkably complete. Only two omis- 

 sions were detected in a list of more than a hundred 

 references to the fauna of a particular district. The 

 Field and Coimtry Life are not included in the 

 journals catalogued ; perhaps they are regarded as 

 newspapers, and therefore not within the scope of 

 scientific journals. They, however, frequently con- 

 tain records of great value, and every worker on 

 British natural history has of necessity to search 

 their pages for past records. The bibliography could 

 be made more useful by a more detailed indication 

 of the scope of each paper. For instance, all papers 

 dealing with birds could be prefixed by the letter O 

 instead of Z, and a similar distinctive letter could be 

 arranged for all groups of animals and plants. Mr. 

 T. Sheppard, the compiler, is to be congratulated on 

 a useful piece of work, and thanked for the care and 

 completeness with which it has been done. 



Dr. James Ritchie in the January-February issue 

 of the Scottish Naturalist begins a survey of the 

 occurrence of the walrus in northern Scotland. He 

 shows that the modern walrus (Trichechus rosmarus) 

 is a post-Glacial species which in prehistoric times 

 ranged in British seas far south of its present haunts, 

 while up to the middle of the sixteenth century it 

 was evidently abundant in the Orkneys, where it was 

 extensively hunted for the sake of its ivory, oil, and 

 skin. Its extinction as a resident species was no 

 doubt due, as in other parts of the world, to indis- 

 criminate slaughter for economic purposes. 

 NO. 2680, VOL. 107] 



The common fox introduced into Australia some- 

 where about i860 has for many years been a pest, 

 but, according to an article by Mr. G. A. Keartland 

 in the Victorian Naturalist for December last, the 

 thousands annually slain and thrown away are to 

 become a source of revenue j no fewer than 150,000 

 skins have already been disposed of in the fur market. 

 The author is, however, mistaken in believing that in 

 Europe this animal produces no more than two at a 

 birth, and he is also mistaken in supposing that the 

 hare in Great Britain produces no more than one 

 young in a year. Thus his contention that these 

 two animals have become more prolific in Australia 

 is not justified. 



Dr. a. E. Barclay in the Archives of Radiology 

 and Electrotherapy (No. 246, January, 192 1, p. 225) 

 indicates a danger arising from the Coolidge tube 

 when used for X-ray screen work. Secondary radia- 

 tion emanates from the anticathode, and the secondary 

 image may pass through the screening diaphragm 

 used ; it is widely dispersed and produces undesirable 

 effects. The recognition of this secondary radiation 

 is of very great importance to the safety of the 

 worker. The danger can be rectified by inverting the 

 tube or by providing a hood for the anticathode. 



An interesting article on bacteriology in relation to 

 commercial meat products appears in the New Zea- 

 land Journal of Science and Technology for November 

 (vol. iii.. No. 4), in which Mr. A. M. Wright describes 

 the process of meat canning and the causes of failure. 

 Frozen meat is also discussed, and an interesting ex- 

 periment on the preservative action of cold described. 

 A tub of water was inoculated with many millions of 

 putrefactive bacteria, pieces of meat were immersed 

 in it, and the tub was then placed in a freezing 

 chamber and kept for five months at - i5°-2o° C. 

 At the end of this time the meat was examined; it 

 was perfectly sweet and fresh, and sections showed no 

 invasion of the meat by the putrefactive organisms. 



Medical Science : Abstracts and Reviews for February 

 (vol. iii.. No. 5) contains, among other articles, sum- 

 maries of recent work upon the radiological treatment 

 of malignant disease, botulism, and epidemic hiccough. 

 Botulism is a condition due to the ingestion of food 

 containing poisons elaborated by an anaerobic bacillus, 

 B. botulinus. Several outbreaks of botulism have 

 occurred of late in the United States in connection 

 with canned vegetable products, e.g. olives, asparagus, 

 and beetroot. At Kiel an epidemic occurred from the 

 consumption of pickled herrings. No outbreaks have 

 been recorded in this country, but it is of interest to 

 recall that the first cases of encephalitis lethargica 

 occurring in 19 18 were mistaken for it. Epidemic 

 hiccough has been prevalent in France during this 

 winter, and several French physicians believe that it 

 is a manifestation of encephalitis lethargica. 



We have received part 12 (pp. 351-496) of the second 

 volume of a recently established South American 

 journal, Physis. which is the organ of the Argentine 

 Society of Natural Sciences. It is well printed and 

 illustrated, and is evidently a journal which cannot 

 be overlooked by European students. The three most 

 important articles in the part before us are by 



