56 



NATURE 



[September 9. 1920 



control. The funds are provided from the Rockefeller 

 Foundation and other private sources, and arrange- 

 ments with the universities for the training of research 

 workers, for the organisation of research, and for the 

 supply of information regarding current research have 

 already been made. 



The Nile Projects Commission, appointed to con- 

 sider the proposals of the Egyptian Ministry of Public 

 Works for improving the regulation of the Nile dis- 

 charge with the view of extending the cultivable 

 area of Egypt, has issued an interim report, in which, 

 dealing first with the ethical charges brought by Sir 

 William Willcocks and Col. Kennedy against Sir 

 Murdoch Macdonald, the .'\dviser to the Egyptian 

 Ministry of Public Works, the Commission states that 

 on a careful consideration of all the evidence the 

 members are unanimously of opinion that there has 

 been no falsification or intentional suppression of 

 records or any fraudulent manipulation of data. A 

 study of the projects as described in " Nile Control," 

 the official statement by Sir Murdoch Macdonald, has 

 further led the Commission to the conclusion that, 

 considered strictly from an engineering point of view, 

 the White Nile dam, the Gezireh irrigation scheme 

 and Blue Nile (Sennar) dam, and the Nag Hammadi 

 barrage should be carried out at once. A final report 

 is promised, in which will be considered at length the 

 Commission's observations made in Egypt, the 

 character of the data, the criticisms received and an 

 examination of the evidence given on oath, and other 

 matters. The members of the Commission are Mr. 

 F. St. John Gebbie (president). Prof. H. T. Cory, 

 and Dr. G. C. Simpson. 



Mr. J. J. JoicEY has acquired for the Hill Museum, 

 Witley, the collection of Lepidoptera formed by Mr. 

 H. J. Elwes, as well as the large collection of Heli- 

 conius formed by the late H. Riffarth. The museum 

 has lately also received large collections of Lepidoptera 

 from Central Africa, obtained, by Mr. and Mrs. 

 T. A. Barns, who have recently returned from a 

 twelve months' trip undertaken on behalf of Mr. 

 Joicey. Mr. Barns has recorded manv interesting 

 observations on the bionomics of the Lepidoptera 

 collected. Some remarkable kinematograph films 

 were taken en route of both geographical and ento- 

 mological interest. A report on the results of this 

 expedition is in progress. The museum has also in 

 preparation papers on the lepidoptera of Hainan, of 

 the Schouten Islands, of Dutch New Guinea, Misol, 

 Aru, Key, Tenimber, Obi, and Sula Islands, and a 

 report on the Lepidoptera collected by Messrs. Pratt 

 in the mountains of Central Ceram. Mr. Joicey has 

 now sent the three brothers Pratt to Dutch New 

 Guinea. They have reached the mountains in an area 

 south of Geelvinck Bay, entomologically unexplored, 

 and a consignment of specimens has already been 

 dispatched. It is expected that important zoological 

 results will be obtained by this expedition. 



In the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Insti- 

 tute (vol. xlix., July-December, 1919) Mr. S. Hazel- 

 dine Warren records the discovery at Graig-lwid, 

 Penmaenmawr, of an important prehistoric site where 

 NO. 2654, VOL. 106] 



the manufacture of axes of the Neolithic type was 

 extensively carried on. Penmaenmawr Mountain and 

 Graig-lwid form an oval intrusion of igneous rock, 

 which is extensively quarried for road-metal and 

 building stone. Neolithic remains are generally scarce 

 in North Wales, but Sir John Evans records the dis- 

 covery of some axes at Dwygyfylchi, in Carnarvon- 

 shire, the adjoining village to Penmaenmawr. The 

 axes were made of scree material — that is to say, 

 angular blocks of rock broken up by frost along its 

 natural joint-planes. It is certain that there was a 

 very large output of axes from this factory, and some 

 of them must have passed to long distances in the 

 course of barter and along trade routes during hunt- 

 ing expeditions or hostile raids, tribal migrations, and 

 the like. It is possible that some examples in collec- 

 tions made of felsite or felstone may ultimately be 

 traced to this factor/. 



In the Journal of the Torquay Natural History 

 Society (vol. ii.. No. 6, 1920) Mr. H. J. Lowe dis- 

 cusses "The Needles of Kent's Cavern with refer- 

 ence to Needle Origin." He thinks that the modern 

 implement originated in prehistoric times in the 

 course of attempts made to sew skins together for use 

 as clothing. The simplest method is to attempt to push 

 the thread through when piercing the hole for it, and 

 the advance made was by getting the idea of a hole 

 in the awl through which the ihread could go and 

 be thrust through the skin with the awl or bodkin. 

 In support of this theory a bone needle has recently 

 been found in Kent's Cavern, which Mr. Lowe 

 regards as " an unique specimen of Palaeolithic man's 

 bone implement, made for use as a needle." In this 

 specimen " its blunt end will j>ermit strong pressure 

 and twisting by the end of the thumb without abrad- 

 ing the skin or causing a sore, and with one thread 

 passing before the thumb, to be held taut with the 

 other by the closed three fingers, the implement could 

 be held firmlv to the thumb and vertically to the 

 skin by one hand, while the other would be free for 

 holding and adjusting the skin while the needle was 

 being pushed through it." It will be interesting to 

 ascertain whether other examples of such an imple- 

 ment are available in collections, and if Mr. Lowe's 

 view is correct. 



We have recently received the first volume (124 pp.) 

 and Nos. 1-2 (32 pp.) of the second volume of Bollet- 

 tino della Socieli Italiana per lo Sttidio deUa Ali- 

 meniazione, published from the Museum of Natural 

 Historv in Florence. The bulletin contains original 

 articles on problems connected with food and nutrition 

 — e.g. the milk-food of infants, the present soldier's 

 ration in Italy, the culture of carp, and the preserva- 

 tion of hen's eggs. .About half of each issue is devoted 

 to abstracts of memoirs on the chemistry and physio- 

 logy cf nutrition, the analysis of food, adulteration, 

 dietetics, the production and preparation of food, the 

 nutrition of animals, and diseases of man and 

 animals arising from food, e.g. deficiency diseases. 



In the Lancashire and Cheshire Naturalist, 

 vol. xiii.. No. 2, August, 1920, Miss .Annie Dixon 

 reports on the gatherings of protozoa made from a 



