August 25, 192 1] 



NATURE 



821 



undue optimism about the use of radiotherapy in the 

 treatment of cancer. The new technique, which has 

 heen developed at Erlangen, Bavaria, has not yet 

 T)een thoroughly tested, and, in any case, evidence of 

 success cannot be assumed until after the lapse of 

 -some years. The council is of the opinion that of 

 any single method .surgery still offers the best pros- 

 pects of cure in most cases of cancer. Combined 

 treatment by operation and radiation therapy has been 

 ■employed with good results, and so far the co-opera- 

 tion of the radiologist with the surgeon affords the 

 greatest hope of success. The association has 

 organised a scheme for the investigation of the 

 •claims made for the new intensive X-ray treat- 

 ment, for which purpose a sum of 4000I. has 

 been allocated by an anonymous donor {_Arch. 

 Radiology and Electrotherapy, No. 252, July, 1921, 

 p. 38). it is suggested that a research scholar be 

 appointed for two years at a salary of 350Z., with 

 travelling allowance, and that he proceed to Erlangen, 

 where the treatment has been in progress for several 

 years. If it is found that the results obtained there 

 approach the claims made, a complete outfit of ap- 

 paratus such as that used at Erlangen would be 

 ordered and installed at the Manchester Royal 

 Infirmary and the work continued there. 



The President of the French Republic has con- 

 ferred the Cross of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour 

 on Col. Sir Arthur Mayo-Robson for services ren- 

 dered by him to the French Red Cross during the 

 war. 



It is announced that the Advisory Committee pro- 

 vided for by the Importation of Plumage (Prohibition) 

 Act will be constituted as follows : — Lord Crewe 

 (chairman), Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker and Dr. VV. 

 Eagle Clarke (representing ornithology), Mr. C. F. 

 Downham, Mr. W. G. Dunstall, and Mr. L. Joseph 

 i(representing the feather trade). Lord Buxton, Capt. 

 E. G. Fairholme, Mrs. Reginald McKenna, and Mr. 

 H. J. Massingham. 



At a meeting of the Privy Council, held at Bucking- 

 ham Palace on August 10, the petition of the Insti- 

 tution of Electrical Engineers for a Royal Charter 

 of Incorporation was approved, and a Royal Charter 

 has now been granted. His Majesty the King has 

 also been graciously pleased to intimate his willing- 

 ness to become patron of the institution. 



It is announced in Science of August 5 that the 

 Municipal Observatory at Des Moines, Iowa, said to 

 be the only municipal observatory in the world, was 

 opened on August i. The observatory building is to 

 be equipped by Drake University with an 8-in. 

 equatorial telescope. It is to be under the control 

 of the university, and open to the public at least 

 three times a week, and at any other time when 

 occasion may warrant. 



Capt. Roald Amundsen has arrived at Vancouver 

 from Nome, Alaska. The Times announces that he 

 intends to sail for the Arctic next spring to resume 

 his attempt to drift across the Arctic Ocean. Two 

 aeroplanes furnished with sleds will be carried by 

 the expedition. Meanwhile the Maud is on her way 

 NO. 2704, VOL. 107] 



to Seattle for repairs and the installation of more 

 powerful wireless equipment. It will be recalled that 

 the Maud's first attempt to drift with the pack was 

 unsuccessful, and that she was forced to winter in 

 the ice off the coast of north-eastern Siberia, where 

 she lost a propeller. 



Announcement was made of the coming Paris 

 meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute, under the 

 presidency of Dr. J. E. Stead, in Nature of June 2, 

 p. 434. A programme of the meeting, which will be 

 held at the headquarters of the Comity des Forges de 

 France on September 5 and 6, has now been issued. 

 It is expected that ten papers will be submitted, most 

 of them dealing with the constitution and properties 

 of various types of steel, though two will be of 

 economic interest. Advance copies of the papers can 

 be obtained by members of the institute from the 

 Secretary, 28 Victoria Street, S.W.i. At the con- 

 clusion of the meeting, alternative visits have been 

 arranged to works in Lorraine, Burgundy, and 

 Normandy. 



It is reported in the Pioneer Mail of July 15 that 

 the Bose Research Institute, established some four 

 vears ago at Darjeeling, is actively at work and 

 engaged in investigations of wide interest. The 

 Government of India has obtained the consent of 

 the Secretary of State for a permanent Imperial 

 grant which will be double the income derived from 

 public donations, of which Sir J. C. Bose's contribu- 

 tions alone will amount to 10 lakhs of rupees 

 (66,666/.). Problems dealing with agriculture will be 

 investigated on an experimental station at Sijberia, 

 while at Darjeeling an attempt is to be made to 

 conserve an entire hill-side with the view of inves- 

 tigating the flora of the district and of preserving 

 wild plants from Sikkim and Tibet which are in 

 danger of extermination. 



At a small business meeting held on August 16 at 

 the Hotel Cecil, the Society for Constructive Birth 

 Control and Racial Progress was formally constituted, 

 with Dr. Marie Stopes as president. The objects of 

 the society are : (a) To bring home to all the funda- 

 mental nature of the reforms involved in conscious 

 and constructive control of conception, and the 

 illumination of sex life as a basis of racial progress; 

 (b) to- consider the individual, national, international, 

 racial, political, economic, scientific, spiritual, and 

 other aspects of the theme, for which purpose meet- 

 ings will be held, publications issued, and research 

 committees, commissions of inquiry, and other activi- 

 ties organised from time to time as circumstances 

 require and facilities offer; (c) to offer to all who 

 still need it the full knowledge of the methods of 

 control. 



A Congress of Applied Chemistry, to be held in 

 Paris on October 9-12, is being organised by La 

 Soci^t^ de Chimie Industrielle de France. The con- 

 gress, whfch will also be the first annual meeting 

 of the society, will be split up into thirty-four sections, 

 corresponding to various branches of industrial 

 chemistry. All meetings will be held in the Con- 



