September 23, 1920J 



NATURE 



121 



land VV., the least 6-25 in. for England E. July was 

 generally the wettest summer month. The duration of 

 bright sunshine was less than the normal except in 

 Scotland N. and E. 



The annual exhibition of the Royal Photographic 

 society is being held at the society's house, 35 Russell 

 Square, VV.C.i, and will remain open until the end of 

 October. It is divided into three sections, namely, pic- 

 torial photographs, colour transparencies, and scientific 

 and technical exhibits. The last is exceptionally rich 

 in radiographic and astronomical photographs. Mr. 

 Luboshez has a room to himself in which he shows 

 several series of X-ray negatives on " Eastman dupli- 

 tizcd film," made to find the methods of getting the 

 best results in normal and adverse circumstances. 

 The Sunic Research Laboratory shows radiographs of 

 iron and steel welds, a carbon block, and a Palmer 

 aero tyre, besides a " radiometallograph of thumb," 

 which shows the lines and dots of the skin with great 

 clearness. The other radiographs include a fine series 

 by Dr. Robert Knox. The. .Astronomer Royal sends 

 series of photographs of the total eclipse of the sun 

 in 1919, the great sun-spot of March, 1920, and the 

 new star in Cygnus. \ number of fine photographs 

 of the moon and two of the sun is contributed by 

 the Mount Wilson Observatory. The research labora- 

 tory of the Eastman Kodak Co. sends some very 

 interesting experimental results. There is a large 

 number of natural history subjects. Some of the 

 most notable are the president's coal-plant fossils ; a 

 tree in California which is supposed to be the oldest 

 living thing, as it was a sturdy tree when Moses was 

 a boy, contributed by the National Geographic Society 

 of Washington; and Mr. Hugh Main's studies of the 

 im'tamorphoses of beetles and other insects which 

 take place underground, obtained by means of his 

 "Subterrarium." Mr. Alfred E. Tonge sends sixty 

 photomicrographs of the ova of British butterflies, 

 including every genus as enumerated in "The Butter- 

 flics of the British Isles," and there are other photo- 

 graphs of entomological, botanical, geographical, 

 zoological, and mathematical interest, besides some 



'111 lit .leroplane photographs by Capt. I . U. 



sail. 



I'he annual meeting of the British Mycological 

 Society will be held at Minehcad from September 27 

 to October 2. On Wednesday, September 29, Mr. 

 I . Petch will deliver his presidential address on 

 ■ I'ungi Parasitic on Scale Insects." There will be 

 ursions each day, and in the evenings of Septem- 

 \KX 30 and October i the following papers will be 

 read : — The Action of Gravity on the Fungi, Dr. 

 Harold Wager; The Genus Ganoderma (Karst), Pat, 

 Carleton Rea ; Tl>c Mycorhiza of Orchids, J. Rams- 

 bottom; The .Audibility of the "Puffing" in the 

 Larger Discomycetis, Prof. A. H. R. Buller; and 

 The Sporulating Gonidia of Evernia prunastri, 

 Ach., R. Paulson. 



I'la.i . A. D. Waller, who went by a Handley Page 

 open aeroplane to Brussels on Friday, Septcmljer 10, 

 hns sent home the following notes, which are of 



f-rest as giving details of times, etc.: — "Started 

 NO. 2656, VOL. 106] 



2.45 p.m., arrived Brussels 4.40. Misty over London. 

 England very puzzling. Thames distinct. 2.55. — Sea 

 in sight. 3.15. — Left England. 3.20. — Lovely white 

 coast; sun and steamers. Bar. 3000 ft., 95 m.p.h. 

 3.23. — Marvellous view of both coasts. 3.33. — .Arrive 

 France (Calais). 3.47. — Dunkerque. 3.55. — Nieuport 

 and scarred battlefield zone. 4.2. — Dixmude. 4.16. — 

 Ghent. 4.24. — .Approaching Brussels. 4.32. — Brussels 

 on horizon (3000 ft.). 4.34. — -Are we visible? 4.40. — 

 Gently land." 



Mr. J. HoRNELL produces in the September issue of 

 Man new evidence to prove the common origin of the 

 outrigger canoes of Madagascar and East .Africa. 

 From these we have evidence of a remarkable 

 case of culture transmission. It is now clear that the 

 dominant Madagascar form is so closely related to 

 that of North Java that we may regard them as 

 identical. It follows, then, that the East .African 

 forpis are all varieties of the Madagascar model, that 

 the vertical stanchion design of .African outriggers is 

 more primitive than the oblique, and that the re- 

 semblance of this oblique form of stanchion to certain 

 widely distributed Indonesian types of oblique con- 

 necting-joints (modified stanchions) in Bali, the 

 Celebes, and the Moluccas is an instance of con- 

 vergence and of independent origin. 



The recently established Archaeological Department 

 in the dominions of his Exalted Highness the Nizam 

 of Hyderabad is doing excellent service to the study 

 of Indian antiquities. The report of the survey for 

 1917-18, recently issued, describes the progress made 

 in the inspection of monuments. Every cave of the 

 important .Ajanta series is now in good order, and only 

 some minor improvements remain to be made. In 

 co-operation with Sir John Marshall, director of the 

 Imperial Indian Survey, arrangements have been 

 made to bring out an expert from Italy to examine 

 the frescoes and to suggest measures to save them 

 from further decay, while it is contemplated, under 

 a scheme worked out by Sir John Marshall, in con- 

 sultation with Sir Aurel Stein and M. Foucher, to 

 have them reproduced by the three-colour process. 

 Large collections of inscriptions have been made, and ' 

 Mr. T. Srinivas, curator of the Hyderabad Museum, 

 was deputed to inspect various other museums in 

 India and to arrange for the exhibition of the Hydera- 

 bad collections. It is much to be desired that the 

 other Native States in India, particularly those of 

 Central India and Rajputana, should follow the 

 example thus set by H.H. the Nizam of Hyderabad. 



Ak address in memory of Pasteur's residence there 

 was delivered at Strasbourg on July 26 by M. Calmette 

 at the Congress of the French Association for the 

 .Advancement of Science. The subject was "Ultra- 

 microscopic Micro-organisms." .After a description of 

 the salient features connected with many of these 

 organisms, M. Calmette referred to the difficulty of 

 obtaining filter-candles and membranes having a con- 

 stant and homogeneous texture. Besides their invisi- 

 bility and filterability, these ultramicroscopic organisms 

 present certain common features. They nrc all 

 destroyed at a comparatively low tempcratur' ' 



