66 J 



NATURE 



[July 21, 192 1 



chair for him in Upsala University, on the ground 

 that a subsidy granted to an individual gave no assur- 

 ance for the continued study of the subject in the 

 future. The Riksdag, therefore, although unable to 

 adopt the full recommendation as to the appropriation 

 in view of the present financial situation, decided, as 

 already stated, to establish a State institute, of which 

 Dr. Lundborg will be the director. 



In a letter referring to the leading article on " Inter- 

 nationalism " in Nature for July 7, p. 577, a corre- 

 spondent writes to urge the necessity for a deeper and 

 wider investigation of this complex question. In this 

 connection attention may be directed to a little book 

 recently published by Prof. H. J. Fleure, entitled 

 *'The Treaty Settlement of Europe" (Oxford Univer- 

 sity Press, 25. 6d.), in which the author examines the 

 provisions of the settlement from the ethnographic and 

 geographical aspects. In his introductory chapter, 

 after an admirable survey of the historical develop- 

 ment of the conditions of life in Europe, Prof. Fleure 

 points out that the treaties, using a framework" which 

 is largely linguistic, have attempted to apply to 

 Europe the idea of the sovereign nation-State as it 

 has arisen in the West; whereas, he holds, the coinci- 

 dence of nation and State has been by no means close 

 east of the Rhine. His chief and most weighty criti- 

 cism of the treaties is that they tend to perpetuate 

 conditions, and in particular the linear frontier, which 

 have too often led to hostilities and disputes. He 

 maintains that frontiers are really broad zones, and, 

 further, that our politicians have failed to realise fully 

 and to work out the implications of the fact that " in 

 Europe we can only have unity in diversity." Prof. 

 Fleure is perhaps inclined to attach too little weight 

 to racial and nationalist feelings in the peoples of 

 eastern Europe. The racial spirit of the Serb and 

 the nationalism of the Greek are intense and deep- 

 rooted, while in the more stolid Bulgar both senti- 

 ments are strong, if less demonstrative. Further east, 

 in the Caucasus, which is beyond Prof. Fleure's pro- 

 vince, in the case of the three republics which resulted 

 from the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, two, . namely, 

 Georgia and Erivan (Armenia), were the expression of 

 a popular desire for a national existence which lent 

 support to the political ambitions of their leaders. 



In a letter to the Times of July 12 Mr. Robert 

 Donald suggests that a corporation organised on com- 

 mercial lines should be formed to conduct a general 

 inter-Empire scheme for radio communication, the 

 shareholders being the Governments of the States of the 

 Empire, each represented in proportion to the capital 

 it subscribes. The corporation should be directed by 

 a small executive committee consisting of business 

 rnen and engineers. The chain of radio stations could 

 be built under contract, the corporation retaining 

 ownership. The working of the system, however, 

 should be leased to a company on attractive terms. 

 In addition to directors appointed by the Govern- 

 ments, the British Radio Corporation should have on 

 its board representatives of the Admiralty, War Office, 

 Air Ministry, and Post Office. The advantages of 

 this scheme are State ownership of an indispensable 

 public service and private enterprise without mono- 



NO. 2699, VOL. 107] 



j polistic control. A company can also enter into inter- 

 national trade inuch more readily than can a union of 

 States. The capital required for a few high-power 

 stations with a working range of 6000 miles and low- 

 power stations with a continuous working range of 

 2000 miles would not be great. The Compagnie Radio 

 France has been constituted on somewhat similar 

 lines. As the scheme is commercially feasible we 

 hope that the Government will seriously consider it. 



An interesting ceremony took place a few days ago 

 at Lacock Abbey, near Bath, when, on behalf of Miss 

 M. Talbot, a granddaughter of the late W. H. Fox Talbot 

 and the present owner of Lacock Abbey, a large and 

 historical collection of photographic apparatus was 

 formally handed to Dr. G. H. Rodman, president of 

 the Royal Photographic Society, for preservation in 

 the society's museum at 35 Russell Square, W.C. It 

 was Miss Talbot's desir* that the collection should 

 be placed in the care of the Royal Photographic 

 Society, where it will be fittingly conserved with the 

 important Hurter and Driffield collection and other 

 photographic apparatus of national interest. The 

 debt which modern photography owes to Fox Talbot, 

 the brilliant scientific investigator, is not acknow- 

 ledged so universally as it deserves, and although the 

 credit for the discovery of photography may justly be 

 attributed to the French pioneers, Niepce arid 

 Daguerre, Fox Talbot's discovery a short time after- 

 wards revolutionised their process and made photo- 

 graphy as it is practised to-day possible. The French 

 process was completely different, and practically died 

 out when wet plates were introduced. Fox Talbot 

 was the first to produce positives from negatives, and 

 as the inventor of the "Calotype " process he earned 

 a title to undying fame. The col'ection of historical 

 photographic apparatus which has now been entrusted 

 to the care of the Royal Photographic Society includes 

 a camera lucida, a sketching camera, and other 

 scientific instruments which Fox Talbot used in his 

 experiments, and will be specially shown during the 

 approaching annual exhibition of the society, which 

 will be opened to the public on September 19 next. 



Some urgent appeals on behalf of Russian men of 

 science have been received recently in Finland, and 

 the University of Helsingfors has appointed a com- 

 mittee, which is endeavouring to give, much-needed 

 assistance. The frontier between Finland and Russia 

 having been partially reopened, some Finns have been 

 able to visit Petrograd and verify the accounts re- 

 ceived. Already several wagon -loads of foodstuffs 

 have been dispatched for distribution in Petrograd 

 among men of science and their families, but it is 

 feared that the present grave food shortage in Russian 

 towns will become more acute in the immediate 

 future. Supplies will therefore be required for some 

 months, and the committee fears that the resources 

 of Finland may not be equal to the task. In con- 

 sequence, an appeal for help in this work is made to 

 men of science throughout the world, and the com- 

 mittee has offered to act as an intermediary in con- 

 veying supplies to their destination. Gifts of food, 

 clothing, and books are urgentlv needed, and the com- 



