562 



NATURE 



[June 30, 192 1 



use of more and more penetrating- X-ravs in medical 

 work has been a gradual growth, and. quite apart 

 from any marked differential action which the short 

 wave-leng-th radiation may have on cancer cells as 

 compared with the longer wave-lengths, the employ- 

 ment of the more penetrating rays has technical ad- 

 vantages when dealing with deep-seated tumours. 

 One sees in their use a natural development which 

 depends very largely upon the electro-technician. It 

 is greatly to be deplored that statements as to how 

 this development may improve the results of cancer 

 treatment are based, not upon facts, but upon the 

 hopes of those engaged in this work. The use of 

 X-rays and of radium in the treatment of cancer has 

 been justified by results, and these results continue 

 to improve, but we think that the public may be 

 expecting more than is warranted when it is told 

 that "a conservative estimate of the possibilities of 

 the new treatment is to put the number of cures in 

 the future at double that ever known in the past," 



On June 27 the president of the Royal Society of 

 Arts, the Duke of Connaught, presented the Albert 

 medal of the society to Dr. J. A. Fleming "in recogni- 

 tion of his many valuable contributions to electrical 

 science and its applications, and specially of his 

 original invention of the thermionic valve, now so 

 largely employed in wireless telegraphy and for other 

 purposes." It may be of interest to recall the im- 

 portant part that Dr. Fleming played in the develop- 

 ment of the thermionic valve and its applications to 

 wireless telegraphy and telephony. The first form of 

 valve was made in 1904, and led to revolutionary 

 developments in that and other branches of electro- 

 technics. It is perhaps less generally realised that 

 he gave scientific assistance in the early developments 

 of "wireless " so far back as 1899, and directed some 

 of the constructional work in connection with the first 

 long-distance station at Poldhu. Dr. Fleming was 

 also actively connected with the early progress ot 

 electric lighting in this country. In 1882, and for 

 twelve years after, he held an advisory position with 

 the Edison Electric Light Co., of London, and later 

 with the Edison and Swan Co. He carried out the 

 installation on board one of the first ships of the 

 Royal Navy to adopt the new illuminant when 

 it was introduced in 1882, and during succeeding 

 years assisted several of the London companies and 

 provincial corporations in electric lighting matters. 

 Still older is his connection with telephony, for 

 so far back as 1879 he was scientific adviser to the 

 Edison Telephone Co., formed to begin telephone- 

 exchange working in London. Other scientific work 

 which Dr. Fleming has accomplished includes an im- 

 portant research into the electric and magnetic pro- 

 perties of matter at very low temperatures carried out 

 in conjunction with Sir James Dewar. 



On June 22 a portrait of Sir Napier Shaw, painted 

 by W. W. Russell, was presented to him by the staff 

 of the Meteorological Office, South Kensington, for 

 preservation in the office. A copy of the portrait was 

 presented to Lady Shaw. 



An International Hydrographic Bureau has been 

 established at Monaco, with the following directors : 



NO. 2696, VOL. 107] 



Vice-Admiral Sir John Parry (Great Britain), Capt. 

 PhafT (Netherlands), and Capt. Muller (Norway). The 

 secretary is Capt. Spicer-Simson (Great Britain), 



It is announced in the British Medical Journal for 

 June 25 that the International Labour Oflfice has de- 

 cided to appoint a committee of experts to deal with 

 the question of industrial hygiene. Accordingly letters 

 have been dispatched to the Governments of Great 

 Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Italy, 

 Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Japan, inviting each 

 of them to nominate one of its health inspectors or 

 factory inspectors as a member of the advisory com- 

 mittee. The committee will meet from time to time, 

 preferably on the occasion of the International Labour 

 Conference, and its members will keep in touch with 

 the International Labour Office and its industrial 

 hygiene section by correspondence. 



The twelfth annual meeting of the Oxford 

 Ophthalmological Congress will be held on July 7-9, 

 when the following communications will be made : — 

 Discussion on "The Causes of Infection after Extrac- 

 tion of Senile Cataract," Dr. V. Morax and others; 

 "Stereoskopometry," R. J. E. Hanson; Petrosal 

 sinus sepsis, A. Greene; The Doyne memorial lecture 

 on "Heterophoria," E. E. Maddox; An instrument 

 which is set in motion by the eye, i.e. by vision, or 

 by proximity of the human body, e.g. the hands. Dr. 

 C. Russ ; Experiences of 606 and its substitutes in 

 eye diseases, J. Hern ; The trench operation for 

 chronic glaucoma, with account of cases, N. C. 

 Ridley; A plea for early diagnosis and operation in 

 chronic glaucoma, with some remarks upon the 

 treatment of acute glaucoma, Dr. T. H. Butler; A 

 modified operation for chronic glaucoma, P. H. 

 Adams ; Some points in the performance of the 

 Lagrange operation for chronic glaucoma, B. Crid- 

 land; Loss of vitreous during cataract extraction, 

 Dr. T. H. Butler; Sight-testing with coloured test 

 types, P. J. Hay; Some points of interest in the 

 work of a school oculist, Dr. H, Mcllroy. 



An exhibition, free of charge, of Egyptian antiqui- 

 ties from Tell-el-Amarna will be held in the rooms 

 of the Society of Antiquaries on July 5-13, from 

 10 a,m, to 5 p.m. A lecture on "The Season's Work 

 at Tell-el-Amarna " will be delivered by Prof. T. E. 

 Peet on July 7, at 8.30, in the Royal Society's rooms. 



The seventy-third annual meeting of the Somerset- 

 shire Archaeological and Natural History Society will 

 be held at Crewkerne on July 19-21, under the 

 presidency of Sir C. Hercules Read, who will deliver 

 his presidential address, "Somerset Archaeology — a 

 Suggestion," at 11.20 a.m. on the opening day. 



The first exhibition of prehistoric art, organised by 

 the Society of Friends of Art under the superintend- 

 ence of the well-known archaeologist, Don Elias 

 Tormo, is now being held at Madrid. The object of 

 the exhibition is to display reproductions of the re- 

 markable series of rock paintings from the Spanish 

 caves, the, first discovery being that of the Altamira 

 cave-paintings by the small daughter of the archaeo- 

 logist Sautuola in 1879. Since that date discoveries, 



