July 21, 1921] 



NATURE 



661 



mittee at Helsingfors guarantees that all packages 

 entrusted to its care, which should be addressed to 

 Prof. Mikkola, University of Helsingfors, will be 

 delivered to the men for whom they are intended. 



A DISPATCH from Col. Howard-Bury, leader of the 

 Mount Everest Expedition, published in the Times, 

 describes the course of the party from Kampa Dzong 

 to Tingri Dzong, where they arrived on June 23. 

 The illness of Mr. H. Raeburn, following on the 

 death of Dr. A. M, Kellas, is a blow to the expedi- 

 tion. Mr. Raeburn was sent back to Lachen, in 

 Sikkim, where his speedy recovery is anticipated. 

 The march westward from Kampa Dzong does not 

 appear to have been difficult except at times for trans- 

 port troubles. The inhabitants were generally help- 

 ful. Col. Bury describes the ascent of the easy Tinki 

 Pass leading to the wide valley of the Yaru, a tribu- 

 tary of the Arun. After fording the Yaru some difTi- 

 culty was exf>erienced in crossing an area of quick- 

 sands during a violent sandstorm, but no accident 

 occurred. At Tingri Dzong the expedition was within 

 50 miles of Mount Everest and on the verge of the 

 real work of exploration. 



At the annual autumn meeting of the Institute of 

 Metals to be held in Birmingham on September 21-23, 

 a number of papers dealing with the constitution and 

 properties of metals and their alloys will be presented. 

 The morning sessions will be devoted to the reading 

 and discussion of papers, and the afternoon sessions 

 will be spent in visits to works and factories of interest 

 in the neighbourhood. The coming meeting will be 

 the first visit paid by the institute to its old home, 

 and the present membership of more than 1300 is 

 significant of the great progress made by the institute 

 since its foundation thirteen years ago, when its 

 membership was 200. A ballot for the election of 

 members desirous of attending the Birmingham meet- 

 ing is being arranged, and full particulars can be 

 obtained from the Secretary, 36 Victoria Street, 

 London, S.W.i, 



We have received from the 'National Council of 

 Public Morals (Rhondda House, 60 Gower Street, 

 W.C.i) a pamphlet entitled "To Save the British 

 Race," in which an outline of the activities of the 

 council is given. The Birth-Rate Commission, a 

 Special Committee on Venereal Diseases, an Adolescent 

 Inquiry, and an Education Committee in relation to 

 the kinematograph are some of the inquiries under- 

 taken by the council, and valuable reports have 

 already been published respecting some of these. 



An advisorv body, the Scientific Research Com- 

 mittee, has recently been instituted by the Sudan 

 Government for the collection and distribution of 

 scientific information of local interest, which will be 

 published in Sudan Notes and Records. In vol. iv.. 

 No. ly of this publication Mr. R. E. Massey has a 

 note on the maintenance of quality of cotton grown 

 in the Sudan, showing that there has been no 

 deterioration over a period of years; while Mr. H. H. 

 King discusses means for the control of the Spanish 

 sparrow, which has become a pest in Dongola 

 Province. 



NO. 2699, VOL. 107] 



M. V. Galippe, who is well known for his papers 

 on micro-organisms, recently claimed (Comptes rendus, 

 vol. clxxi., p. 754, October 18, 1920) that " micro- 

 zymas €t bacilles ovoides," endowed with movement, 

 could be found in powdered fossils, even after treat- 

 ment of the fragment used with a Bunsen flame and 

 sterilised liquid reagents. No movement, however, 

 was observed in ferruginous fossils. In co-operation 

 with Mme. G. Souflland, M. Galippe now finds 

 {Comptes rendus, vol. clxxii., p. 1252, May 17, 1921) 

 that the same results may be obtained from meteorites 

 and from a variety ot igneous rocks, including those 

 erupted by Mont Pel6. The authors are, of course, 

 aware of the difiiculties imported into their observa- 

 tions by the phenomenon of Brownian movement ; but 

 they state that their ovoid organisms move, while 

 mineral particles of finer grain remain at rest. They 

 believe that organic tissue and water are lost during 

 fossilisation of the organisms, but that these are 

 recovered during the experiments. The processes 

 adopted will seem to most workers distinctly 

 adverse to resurrection. The authors conclude 

 that, if all living things were swept away from 

 the surface of the earth, life would revive, thanks 

 to the existence of the organisms entombed in every 

 kind of rock. It is to be feared that few workers 

 with the microscope will trouble to repeat these ex- 

 periments, remembering Dr. Hann's observations on 

 the structure of meteorites, and Mr. R. Kirkpatrick's 

 more recent essay on "The Nummulosphere " 

 (Nature, vol. xci., p. 92, 1913); yet it is possible that 

 the work of M. Galippe may lead to further study 

 of Brownian movement among mineral particles. 



The results of investigations on the froghopper- 

 blight of sugar-cane in Trinidad are given in a 

 memoir of the Department of Agriculture of Trinidad 

 and Tobago by Mr. C. B. Williams. The causative 

 insect, Tomaspis saccharina, its life-history, and 

 the nature of the damage done are described, and a 

 section is devoted to the relation of the froghopper 

 to its natural enemies. The sugar-cane is the second 

 important agricultural crop in the island, and during 

 19 17-18 it suffered a loss owing to blight of 300,000!. 

 The causes accounting for the heavy outbreak of blight 

 are due to a complicated interworking of many 

 factors. The introduction oT the mongoose to the 

 island would not appear to be an important contribu 

 tory cause. The preliminary conclusions arrived at 

 open up a wide field of fundamental research on the 

 relation between the outbreak of blight and rainfall, 

 the geological contour of certain districts, soil condi- 

 tions, temperature, rainfall, drainage, manurial treat- 

 ment, tillage methods, and the relative resistance of 

 varieties of sugar-canes. Direct control is also dis- 

 cussed. The author is to be congratulated on the way 

 in which the results of his investigations are presented. 

 It is highly desirable that sections of the report should 

 be extended by further experimental research. 



Memoir 122 of the Canadian Geological Survey has 

 recently reached us, and it contains a comprehensive 

 account of the Sheep River gas- and oil-field of 

 Alberta, situated about 50 miles south of Calgary. 

 Prior to 19 15 a great deal of development work had 



