178 



NATURE 



[April 7, 192 1 



Everything that Burroughs wrote was a work 

 of art; he had a picturesque, melodious style 

 without preciosity, and he kept close to his own 

 experiences of wild Nature and country life. 

 Burroughs had a strongly developed scientific 

 mood, but his essays are not so much informa- 

 tive as appreciative, expressing a sympathetic in- 

 terest in common things and the endless novelty 

 of the seasons. While he had an almost fiery 

 dislike: of those who read the man into the beast 

 in a facile way, making an often tawdry homun- 

 culus of many a common creature, he had himself 

 a great gift in getting near the character of the 

 birds and animals he studied. It was the true 

 inwardness of Nature-study that Burroughs ex- 

 pressed — a well-informed love of the country. 

 The manner in which he expressed this is prob- 

 ably unsurpassable, and we do not know why his 

 writings should ever grow old. 



We regret to announce the death of Prof. 

 Rutherford J. Pve-Smith on Wednesday, 

 March 23, at the age of seventy-three years. Prof. 

 Pye-Smith was educated at Guy's Hospital, and 

 became F.R.C.S. in 1875. In the following year 

 he went to Sheffield as a general practitioner, and 

 rapidly made a name for himself as a surgeon. 

 At that time the epoch-making work of Lister on 

 antiseptics was revolutionising surgery, and Prof. 

 ! Pye-Smith was one of the pioneers of the new 

 j methods in England. On the constitution of 

 Sheffield University he was elected professor of 

 surgery, a post which he held until his retirement 

 a few years ago, when he received the title of 

 emeritus professor and the honorary degree of 

 Ch.M. He also represented Sheffield University 

 on the General Medical Council, where his prac- 

 tical experience of the problems of medical educa- 

 I tion was greatly appreciated. 



Notes. 



The King has been pleased to approve the award 

 of the Royal medals of the Royal Geoj:*raphical Society 

 as follows : — Founder's medal to Mr. Vilhjalmur 

 Stefansson, for his distinguished services to the 

 Dominion of Canada in the exploration of the Arctic 

 Ocean; and Patron's medal to Gen. Bourgeois, 

 Senator for Alsace, Membre de I'Institut, for his long 

 and eminent services to geography and geodesy as 

 Director of the Service gdographique de I'Arm^e, 

 and president of the Conference Internationale de la 

 Carte du Monde au Millionieme. The council has 

 made the other awards of the society as follows : — 

 The Murchison grant to Comdt. Maury, for his sur- 

 veys in the Belgian Congo ; the Back grant to Miss 

 Marion Newbigin, for her contribution to geography, 

 particularly of the Balkans ; the Cuthbert Peek grant 

 to Capt. J. B. L. Noel, for his reconnaissance of the 

 eastern approaches to Mount Everest and other geo- 

 graphical work; and the Gill memorial to Lt.-Col. 

 M. N. MacLeod, R.E., for his contribution to the 

 theory of survey from air photographs. 



A SELECTED Series of specimens in illustration of 

 the Neolithic industry from the stone-axe factory of 

 Graig-lwyd, Penmaenmawr, will be exhibited at the 

 rooms of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 50 Great 

 Russell Street, W.C.i, on April 20-23. During the 

 recent investigation of this important site, which was 

 carried out by a committee of the institute, the actual 

 work of excavation being under the direction of Mr. 

 S. Hazzledine Warren, a mass of valuable material 

 was obtained. This included what is probably the 

 finest series of specimens illustrating the manufacture 

 of a stone axe that has ever been found. It is hoped 

 that a more extended exhibition may be arranged 

 where more space is available ; but as this is at 

 present uncertain, those who are interested in pre- 

 historic man should not miss the opportunity of 

 examining the selected series. At the close of the 

 exhibition typical series of the implements will be 

 distributed to various museums throughout the 

 country. 



NO. 2684, VOL. 107] 



The terms of the resolutions which it is proposed 

 to submit to the Committee of Ways and Means of 

 the House of Commons to fulfil the Government's 

 promise to safeguard British industries have been 

 issued as a White Paper (Cmd. 12 19) under the 

 heading "Safeguarding of Industries." In the first 

 resolution it is proposed that an import tax of 335 per 

 cent, be levied for five years on articles which come 

 under the categories of optical instruments, chemical 

 glassware, scientific and technical instruments of pre- 

 cision such as galvanometers, pyrometers, etc., igni- 

 tion magnetos, tungsten and its products, and syn- 

 thetic organic chemicals with the exception of dye- 

 stuffs, irrespective of the country from which they 

 may be imported. The second resolution aims at pro. 

 tection from "dumping," and no time-limit for its 

 operation is given. If such articles are ex- 

 ported to the British Isles at prices below the cost of 

 production, or if depreciation of currency enables 

 foreign manufacturers to sell such goods here at prices 

 below those at which they can be profitably manu- 

 factured in this country, an additional import tax 

 of 33g per cent, of the value of the article is suggested. 

 Such articles imported from Germany would thus be 

 subject to a tax of 50 per cent, of their value by the 

 operation of the reparation measures, a further 

 333 per cent, under the first resolution and another 

 335 pc*" cent, under the second, making in all an 

 import tax of ii6f per cent, of the value as deter- 

 mined by the wholesale price obtaining in the country 

 of origin. 



A pathetic document reaches us by way of Canada 

 referring to the distressed condition of a number of 

 retired university professors in Vienna. Among those 

 in greatest need are some annuitants whose names are 

 world-famed. Not everyone whose pension fails can 

 easily start life again as an agricultural labourer. By 

 analogy with the desolated French towns taken over 

 by corresponding English cities, the Continental uni- 

 versities might ije allotted to English universities for 

 support; for example, Cambridge might offer to 



