November i8, 1920] 



NATURE 



385 



suggests that the Government should now increase the 

 token value of the penny by 20 per cent., thus making 

 it represent one-tenth instead of one-twelfth of the 

 shilling and increasing its purchasing power pro- 

 portionately. The present value of the pound sterling 

 and of all existing notes and silver coins relative to 

 the pound would be unchanged, but the shilling would 

 b«' divided into ten pence. The consequent loss to the 

 Mint when the copper coins already in circulation 

 became so worn as to need withdrawal would be 

 insignificant, and the risk of the public hoarding 

 copper coins in anticipation of the change could be 

 ijvoided bv imposing this without notice ; while 

 holders of large stocks of copper coins for business 

 purposes might be called upon to surrender to the 

 State the amount by which their holdings were in- 

 creased in value. 



There can be no doubt that scientific progress in 

 relation to agriculture has been seriously hampered 

 in the past by the poor material prospects offered to 

 the scientific worker, and the Ministry of .Agriculture, 

 in recognising the fact and in attempting to remove 

 the defect, has shown a spirit of enlightened good- 

 will which is of hopeful augury. The provision of a 

 grant earmarked to cover the salaries of workers in 

 universities and in institutions such as the Rotham- 

 sted Experimental Station, in addition to, and separate 

 from, a grant for laboratory and general research 

 expenses, is a real effort to ensure that the workers 

 shall have some security of tenure and some prospect 

 of a settled career in the prosecution of research. 

 The principle is sound, but the practical application 

 is as yet not entirely successful. \ system of grading 

 the workers is perhaps inevitable, and the salaries 

 allot^ to the different grades are in some respects 

 not unreasonable. But the annual increments are too 

 small, especially during the years when the average 

 worker is marrying and his expenses are increasing, 

 and there is not sufficient range between the extremes 

 of the scale, e.g. a worker recently graduated and 

 Ix'glnning his career receives 450/. ; the same m.in ten 

 voars later, with a wife, two or more children, and 

 I position to maintain, receives only twice that amount, 

 and is actually worse off than before. The total 

 number of graded posts is much too small even to 

 cover only those already working in agricultural re- 

 s<'arch. That will, no doubt, be improved as time 

 goes on, but meanwhile it leads to stagn.'mt promo- 

 tion and invidious selection. There must be some- 

 thing seriously at fault when (to take only one par- 

 ticular instance) a worker of more than thirteen 

 ■ears' experience in rp»«-arch, of acknowledge*! emin- 

 • nee and authority in an important subject, .should be 

 <>lTerc<l, and have in the meantime to accept, a post 

 In the third grade (railed "junior as.sistanls "), and 

 '!<• classe<l along with those at the start of their career 

 A ith no record of solid achievement behind them. 



The authorities of the New York Zoological So<-irty 



re justly proud of the fact that a chimfKinzee was 



')rn in the Gardens of the .society on July 14. A verv 



■ elcome account of this event is given in the 



/oologiral Bulletin of the society for .September 



(vol. xxiii.. No. 5) by Mr. W. Reid Blair. The 



NO. 2664, VOL. 106] 



mother of this infant is about ten years old, and was 

 taken in West .Africa ; the father is about eight years 

 old, and was taken in what was German East Africa. 

 The offspring of these two animals at birth weighed 

 about 3 lb., and measured 16 in. in length. The 

 bodv was but sparsely clothed with hair, save on the 

 head, back, and arms. In its less prognathous jaws 

 and in the great relative size and form of the ears 

 it differs conspicuously from the adult chimpanzee. 

 I'nfortunatelv, the mother was unable to nurse it 

 properly, so that it lived but a few days. During 

 this time, however, some interesting observations were 

 made upon the behaviour of the itiother in regard to 

 her treatment of her infant. Only once before has 

 the chimpanzee bred in confinement. This was in 

 Cuba in 1915. 



In Report No. 9 of the Industrial Fatigue Research 

 Board Mr. P. M. Elton describes his investigations 

 on output in the weaving-sheds of two silk mills. 

 The observations lasted for a continuous period of 

 fifteen weeks, and represent the output of forty-seven 

 experienced weavers. .\t each mill it was found that 

 the output steadily improved during the course of the 

 experimental period. This was due mainly to the 

 diminishing need of artificial light. In the latter half 

 of February and the first week of March, when no 

 artificial lighting whatever was necessary, the output 

 during the first and last hours of the working day 

 was 1 1 per cent, greater than at the same hours in 

 January, when lighting was required, though the out- 

 put in the middle hours of the day (when no artificial 

 light was required in either instance) was practically 

 the same.. It might be thought that such a result 

 argued inadequacy of the artificial lighting, but photo- 

 metric measurements showed that the light was quite 

 good, .\nother factor which influenced output was 

 the temperature of the weaving-sheds. It was found 

 that a rise of temperature from 59° F. to 65° F. 

 caused a 10 per cent, improvement in output, hut no 

 definite relationship between output and humidity 

 could be traced. The practical importance of Mr. 

 Elton's investigations needs no comment. It is only 

 by careful an<l accurate observations such as he has 

 described that the conditions necessary for maximum 

 efficiency can be ascertained. 



In Memoir No. fi of the Entomological Series of 

 the Agricultural Department of India, Ramachandra 

 Rao gives a lengthy report of an inquiry into the 

 efficiency of indigenous insect pests as a check on the 

 spread of Lantana in India. This plant is a noxious 

 wee<l in most parts of India and Burma ; various 

 other plants which have been introduced for orna- 

 mental purposes have al.so got, or are getting, out of 

 hand, and are likely to prove sources of future trouble. 

 A native of South and Central .America, it has been 

 introduced by man into many tropical countries, and 

 in all suitable localities it is a scourge, displnrinf; the 

 native vegetation and often seriously interfering with 

 the natural regeneration in forests. In the Hawaian 

 islands an Agromyzid fly introduced from Mexico, 

 the larvte of which live in the fruits of I.anlana, 

 has proved a valuable check, though it has not by 

 «ny means exterminated the plant. In work of this 



