September i6, 1920] 



NATURE 



87 



Notes. 



The earthquake felt on September 7 in the north 

 "f Tuscany proves to have been much more serious 

 . ban the early accounts indicated. Many towns and 

 \illages are completely destroyed. The epicentre 

 -i-^ms to have been near Fivizzano, a small town, now 



i heap of ruins, on the slope of the Apennines, and 



ibout twelve miles north of Carrara. The area within 

 which buildings were damaged is evidently extensive, 

 as it includes both Viareggio and Pistoia, the latter 

 town being about forty-fiN'e miles south-east of Y\\\z- 

 zano. The number of deaths so far reported is 327, 

 but the real number is probably much higher. The 

 • irthquake appears to be the most violent known in 



liis part of Italy, which is fortunate in possessing a 

 meagre seismic history. On .Xpril 11, 1837, an earth- 

 quake, with its centre about five miles south-east of 

 Fivizzano, caused some damage in that town. On 

 "September 10, 1878, a strong shock, with its centre 



lose to Fivizzano, again injured a few houses there. 

 In(le<-d, the recent wholesale destruction of villages is 

 ividence of their long immunity from violent earth- 

 qu.ikes, for the buildings were not of that resisting 

 type the construction of which is now enforced in the 

 nhuilt towns of Italy. 



In the detailed exploration of the coasts of Green- 

 md Danish explorers have taken a leading part. 



I Mans of a new expedition under the leadership of 

 Mr. Lauge Koch have Ix'i-n sent to us by Or. M. P. 

 I'.irsild, of the Danish .\rctic Station in Disko, Green- 



iid. In order to commemorate the voyage of Hans 

 r.Liede to Greenland in 1721, which began the sys- 

 tematic settlement of the west coast by Denmark, 

 Mr. Koch's expedition is known as the Bicentenary 

 I'xpedition to the North of Greenland. The Danish 

 .')vernment has provided a vessel and part of the 

 unds, the remainder of the cost b<'ing met by sub- 

 scription in Denmark. The expedition left Copen- 

 i.igen on July 15 for Robertson Bav in Inglefield 

 ■ iilf, where a wintering station is to be established. 

 I- rom there a depot is to be laid in Warming's Land. 



I I is hoj)ed that this will be done in the late summer 

 with the help of motor-tractors. The journev to the 

 ili'pnt will be repealled next year with dog-sledges, and 

 the main work of the expedition will then begin. 

 This includes journeys to the interior of Peary I-'md 

 iiid to the north of .\dam Biering's Land, where an 

 'Ivanced base will be established. Independence 



! jord, Bciggild's Fjord, and tlie unknown parts of 

 W'ulfl's I^Tn<l and Warming's I.;)nd will l>e mapped. 

 In the following spring the expe<lilion will travel 

 long lh«.' coast from its winter quarters through 

 Kennedy and Robson Channels, round the north of 

 IVary Land into Independence Fjord. The r<'lurn 

 journey will be made by the main depAt to Robertson 

 Bay. Mr. Koch is accompanied by Mr. C. F. Slott 

 ;ind >ieveral Kskimo. 



The British Medical Journal for September 1 1 

 .innounces that the Interniitional Society of .Surgerv, 

 rit its recent ineeting in Paris, <lected .Sir William 

 Macrwen, of Glasgow, as its president for the next 

 congress, to be held in Great Britain- prnbablv in 

 l.ondon-^during the summer of 1923. 

 NO. 2655, VOL. 106] 



The British Launderers' Research Association has 

 been approved by the Department of Scientific and 

 Industrial Research as complying with the conditions 

 laid down in the Government scheme for the en- 

 couragement of industrial research. The secretary 

 of this association is Mr. J. J. Stark, 162-65 Bank 

 Chambers, 329 High Holborn, W.C.i. 



The Royal .Academy of Science of Turin has sent 

 us a leaflet announcing the offer of two Bressa prizes 

 of 9000 lire for the greatest work in almost any 

 branch of science during the past four years. Candi- 

 dates may submit printed (not written or tyf)ed) works 

 to the Secretary before December 31, 1922. Members 

 of the Turin .Academy are not eligible to compete for 

 the prizes. 



The eighth annual Indian Science Congress will 

 be held in Calcutta from January 31 to February 5, 

 192 1. His Excellency the Right Hon. the Earl of 

 Ronaldshay has consented to be patron of the meet- 

 ing, and Sir R. N. Mukerjee will be president. 

 Members intending to read papers should send them, 

 together with a short abstract, to Mr. P. S. 

 MacMahon, Canning College, Lucknow, before 

 November 30. 



The Secretary for Scotland has appointed an 

 .Advisory Committee to advise him on matters con- 

 nected with the administration of the Wild Birds 

 Protection .Acts. The Committee consists of Mr. 

 Hugh S. Gladstone (chairman), Dr. W. Eagle Clarke, 

 Dr. Walter E. Collinge. Mr. H. M. Conacher (repre- 

 senting the Board of .Agriculture for Scotland), Mr. 

 H. J. Crowe (representing the Fishery Board for 

 Scotland), and Prof. J. .Arthur Thomson. 



The widespread, popular belief in the use and value 

 of the divining rod gives considerable interest to a 

 recent publication of the I'nited States Geological 

 Survey on the subject. "The Divining Rod," by 

 Mr. .\. J. Ellis (Water-supply Paper 416), is a con- 

 densed history of water-witching, to which is added 

 a bibliography with many hundred entries. The 

 origin of the divining rod is lost in antiquity, but a 

 belief in its value for a variety of purposes besides 

 water-finding has persisted until the present day. The 

 U.S. Geological Survey considers that for all practical 

 purposes the matter is thoroughly discredited and of 

 no value whatever in locating either water or mineral 

 ores. .Mr. Ellis adds a note on various mechanical 

 " water-finders," most of which are magnetic or elec- 

 trical instruments. He dismisses the claims of all these 

 contrivances as being purely speculative and quite 

 unsound in principle. 



The Geographical Journal for July (vol. xvi., No. 1) 

 gives a summary by Dr. Hamilton Rice of his recent 

 expedition to the headwaters of the Orinoco. Dr. Rice's 

 route was from the .Amazon up the Rio Negro to the 

 Orinoco. Esmeralda was reached at the end of last 

 year. The Orinoco was then ascended to the rapids of 

 Guaharibos, wlv;re Dr. Rice's party of ten was 

 attacked by a big band of Guaharibos and compelled 

 to fight. Material has been obtained for a map travers«- 

 on a scale of 1 : 125,000 of the route from Manios to 



