148 



NATURE 



[March 31, 192 1 



that the psychological explanation of this pheno- 

 menon lies in the possession by these ruling 

 classes of practically unrestrained power, which 

 has caused them to adopt methods of cruelty. 



This system of military domination, being in- 

 herently unstable, ultimately began to break down, 



and the peoples of Western Europe, released to 

 some extent from the restraints imposed on man- 

 kind for so long by their ruling classes, were en- 

 abled to begin once more that progressive con- 

 quest of Nature which has so often and so rudely 

 been interrupted in the past. 



Obituary. 



\X T^E record with much regret the death of Dr. 

 *^* W. Ironside Bruce on March 21 at the 

 early age of forty-four. Dr. Bruce was educated at 

 the University of Aberdeen, obtaining the degrees 

 of M.B. andCh.B. in 1900, and then served as civil 

 surgeon in the South African Field Force. Here 

 he took much interest in the application of X-rays 

 for the diagnosis of war injuries, and afterwards 

 became assistant to the late Sir J. Mackenzie 

 Davidson at Charing Cross Hospital, and on the 

 death of the latter succeeded as medical officer in 

 charge of the X-ray department. Dr. Bruce was 

 intensely interested in the scientific developments 

 of his subject, of which he acquired a very com- 

 plete knowledge. He published "A System of 

 Radiography with Atlas of the Normal," and in 

 process of time became president of the section 

 of radiology, Royal Society of Medicine, and took 

 a considerable share in the establishment of the 

 diploma in radiology, now given by the University 

 of Cambridge. Some months ago the condition of 

 his health gave rise to anxiety, and it was later 

 found that he was suffering from a severe type of 

 aplastic anaemia, from which he died. Evidence 

 has accumulated that this condition may be caused 

 by the more penetrating radiations both from 

 X-ray tubes and from radium, and there is little 

 doubt that he succumbed as a result of his con- 

 tinuous work in radiology — another X-ray worker 

 who may be described as a martyr to his science. 

 Lord Lonsdale has received the following letter 

 from Buckingham Palace: "The King has learnt 

 with much regret of the tragic death of Dr. Iron- 

 side Bruce, radiologist to the Charing Cross Hos- 

 pital, and I am commanded to convey to you and 

 the hospital staff his Majesty's sincere sympathy 



in the loss of so brilliant a physician, who sacri- 

 ficed his life in the cause of science and humanity." 



Science and industry alike have suffered a loss 

 by the recent death, at Southall, of Mr. S. H. 

 Blichfeldt, a director of the Maypole Margarine 

 Co. Mr. Blichfeldt was only forty-four years of 

 age. He was of Danish birth, and took up a 

 position as chemist at the Maypole works at 

 Southall in 1906 after having worked for some 

 years at Jorgensen's laboratory in Copenhagen. 

 He was a strong advocate of the application of 

 science to industry, and throughout his work 

 demonstrated the importance of scientific methods 

 in the factory, and the manufacture of margarine 

 in the Maypole Co. 's works was gradually 

 placed upon a really scientific basis as the result 

 of his labours. Mr. Blichfeldt's abilities as 

 a chemist and bacteriologist were widely known 

 to the scientific world, and it is pleasing to note 

 that the Maypole Co. recognised the value of 

 research in industry, and appointed him a 

 director of the company in 1916. 



Science for March 11 announces the death on 

 February 2 of Prof. T. Miyake, of the Agri- 

 cultural College of the Imperial University of 

 Tokyo, who was the author of an important work 

 on the entomology of Japan ; and on February 24 

 of Dr. F. J. V. Skiff, director of the Field 

 Museum, at the age of sixty-nine years. 



The death is announced, at eighty-three years 

 of age, of Mr. John Burroughs, the inspiring 

 American writer on natural history subjects. 



Notes. 



Lecturing before the Royal Society of Medicine on 

 March 22, Lt.-Col. Nathan Raw gave an account of 

 his work and views on immunity in human tuber- 

 culosis. Col. Raw agrees with other investigators 

 that man is attacked by two fundamentally different 

 tuberculous viruses, the human and the bovine. The 

 former is conveyed from person to person by direct 

 infection and mainly attacks the lungs ; the other is 

 conveyed by milk from tuberculous cows and de- 

 velops in the first few years of life. These two types 

 of tubercle bacilli will not live in the body at the 

 same time, and, further, an attack by one virus pro- 

 duces an immunity to the other. The bacilli may be 

 attenuated by cultivating for years outside the body, 

 so that they no longer convey the disease on inocula- 

 tion into susceptible animals. Vaccines can be pre- 

 NO. 2683, VOL. 107] 



! pared from these attenuated cultures, and may be eni- 

 } ploved for the treatment of tuberculosis in man. Cases 

 I of infection with the human bacillus treated with the 

 vaccine of the bovine virus have shown considerable 

 improvement. Animals may be completely immunised 

 against tuberculosis by the use of these attenuated 

 cultures, and Col. Raw expressed the opinion that if 

 all children with a tuberculous family history were 

 vaccinated with the attenuated cultures, an entirely 

 safe procedure, they would be in a much better posi- 

 tion to resist infection in after years. 



No section of scientific medicine has developed 

 more rapidly in technique than those dealing 

 with vaccines, sera, toxins, antitoxins, and related 

 substances. The real science of these "biologic pro- 

 ducts " is scarcely a generation old. The use of 



