214 



NATURE 



[April 14, 192 1 



these drugs, such as morphine, without previously 

 securing a licence for himself and the premises he 

 works in, might be regarded as "manufacturing " the 

 alkaloid, and thereby infringing the regulations. 

 Similarly, he would require a licence before he could 

 acquire and keep any of these drugs in his laboratory, 

 and he would have to produce his stock for the inspec- 

 tion of any constable who desired to see it, and, if 

 any of it had been used or otherwise disposed of, 

 satisfy the constable that a record of the transaction 

 had been kept in the proper form in the appropriate 

 book. The regulations appear to have been prepared 

 without consideration of the fact that drugs of this 

 kind are in common use for purely scientific purposes, 

 and it behoves chemists and others concerned to bring 

 pressure to bear on the Home Office to ensure the 

 exemption of scientific workers from the operation of 

 the regulations when they come into force. 



The half-yearly meeting of the council of the 

 National Union of Scientific Workers v^-as held at 

 the University of London Club on Saturday, April 9, 

 the president. Prof. L. Bairstow, in the chair. It was 

 resolved unanimously that the council views with mis- 

 giving the subordination of scientific workers con- 

 trolling scientific staffs to non-scientific officials in 

 Government Departments ; deplores the growing ten- 

 dency of public bodies to reduce expenditure on educa- 

 tion, particularly in neglecting to provide for further 

 institutions for the study of science and technology, 

 and by threatening existing institutions with closure, 

 irrespective of their national utility ; and will take 

 steps to oppose the tendency to discriminate, solely on 

 account of sex, between the salaries of scientific 

 workers of the same grade and professional standing. 

 The following two resolutions on secret research in 

 universities were also adopted: — "That this council 

 is of the opinion that it is neither practicable nor 

 desirable that research for Government Departments 

 or other bodies, demanding the maximum privacy in 

 its pursuit and the greatest strictures on publication, 

 should be undertaken under the auspices of a univer- 

 sity or of one of its departments " ; and " That the 

 executive committee of the union be instructed to 

 direct the attention of university authorities through- 

 out the kingdom to the danger of undertaking (except 

 in a national emergency) research under the Official 

 Secrets Act or similar conditions in university build- 

 ings, as the pursuit of such research is hostile to the 

 university tradition of freedom of teaching, research, 

 and intercourse, the freedom of the university scien- 

 tific worker, and the best interests of education." 



It is announced that the biological expedition to 

 Spitsbergen organised in Oxford University is to set 

 out in June. Financial difficulties have been partly 

 overcome, but, according to the Times, funds are 

 still inadequate to allow the whole programme to be 

 followed. The expedition, comprising ten or eleven 

 members, will be under the leadership of the Rev. 

 F. C. R. Jourdain, and will devote its attention 

 principally to ornithological work on the west coast, 

 although it is hoped that ice conditions will allow a 

 visit to New Friesland. The promoters have been 

 well advised, in view of their inexperience in Arctic 

 NO. 2685, VOL. 107] 



conditions, to make use of Norwegian hunting sloops, 

 and so have the assistance of expert seamen. If the 

 ice conditions are normal this year, as they promise 

 to be, the expedition should have an interesting time 

 and do some useful biological work, especially om 

 Prince Charles Foreland. 



In commemoration of the quatercentenary of the 

 death of Ferdinand Magellan on April 27, Mr. E. 

 Heawood read a paper to the Royal Geographical* 

 Society on April 1 1 on the world-map before and after 

 Magellan's voyage. Mr. Heawood showed the influence 

 on cartography before Magellan's voyages of the mis- 

 representations, largely dating from Ptolemy, which 

 reduced the circumference of the globe and extended 

 land areas longitudinally. Thus the voyage across the 

 Pacific did not promise to be so long as it was in realily. 

 One result of Magellan's voyage was to give greater 

 appreciation of the width of the Pacific Ocean, and 

 another, curiously enough, was to bring into renewed 

 prominence the conception of a great southern con- 

 tinent — an idea which dated from high antiquity and 

 was revived by the discovery of Fuegia. Mr. 

 Heawood is not inclined to believe that Magellan 

 Strait was known previous to the Magellan voyages, 

 and thinks that earlier indications of it on maps were 

 prompted by the hope, rather than the knowledge, of 

 its existence. 



The second Herbertson memorial lecture of the 

 Geographical Association was delivered by Dr. H. R. 

 Mill in the map-room of the Royal Geographical 

 Society on April 6. After references to the growth of 

 geographical research in this country and to the 

 career of the late Prof. Herbertson, the lecturer 

 developed the theme of regional geographical study, 

 and illustrated it by a detailed discussion of the 

 problem of mapping the average rainfall of a region 

 on a large scale. The steps by which the relation of 

 average rainfall to the configuration of the land had 

 been. established were described, and stress was laid 

 on the practical importance of such maps in planning 

 waterworks and in developing water-power. The im- 

 portance of amplifying such researches as had been 

 made by establishing a hydrometric survey was in- 

 sisted on, and the plan of a geography of inland waters 

 laid down. For such work the river-basin was the 

 natural unit, and the Ordnance Survey maps should 

 be adapted to it by the insertion of watershed lines 

 separating the valleys and by a series of levels along 

 the stream-beds. The full description of the river 

 system and regime would require the consideration of 

 geological, botanical, and economic conditions as well 

 as of meteorology. 



An account of the twenty-fifth annual Congress of 

 the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies 

 was printed in Nature of June 24, 1920. The 

 South-Eastern Naturalist, which has just been re- 

 ceived, contains the proceedings and transactions of 

 the union during 1920 under the presidency of Sir 

 Edward Brabrook; the papers read at the congress 

 are printed in full, and the reports made by the 

 various committees and sections are given. The 

 annual congress for 192 1 will be held at Reading 

 on June 8-1 1, and the president for 1921-22 is Prof. 

 E. B. Poulton. 



