January 27, 192 1] 



NATURE 



703 



Rif^ht Hon. G. H. Roberts, made a few remarks at 

 the meeting. Eye-troubles have been attributed to 

 the glare of the intense visible light from certain 

 illuminants, and it has also been suggested that the 

 presence of a high proportion of ultra-violet rays may 

 be an influential factor. It seems evident that the 

 region of the spectrum best suited to film production 

 nfeds further investigation. Possibly ultra-violet rays 

 • A very short wave-length, such as may be liable to 

 iiffect the eyes, might be excluded without prejudice 

 to photographic effect. The view was expressed by 

 several speakers that the use of very powerful un- 

 screened arcs in studios is rarely necessary, and that 

 ^he best results are obtained by adopting screening 

 ind diffusing devices yielding conditions resembling 

 natural lighting. The Illuminating Engineering 

 Society has prepared a list of queries for circularisa- 

 tion which should yield useful information on these 

 points. 



We have received the following communication 

 from the U.S. National Research Council : — Dr. 

 Henry .\. Bumstcad, professor of physics and director 

 "\ the .Sloane Physical Laboratory at Yale University, 

 ind for the past half-year on leave from the Univer- 

 -itv as chairman of the National Research Council 

 of Washington, D.C., died suddenly on the train on 

 the night of December 31 while returning to Wash- 

 ington from Chicago, where he had been in attend- 

 ance at the meetings of the American Association for 

 I he .Advancement of Science and affiliated societies. 

 I he following resolution was unanimously adopted at 

 :i special meeting of the Interim Committee of the 

 National Research Council held on January 3 : 

 '• That the National Research Council learns of the 



I' 'death of Dr. Henry A. Bum.stead, chairman of the 

 Council, with great sorrow and a profound sense of 

 Ifiss. Dr. Bumstead in his association with the 

 Council had revealed to its officers and members not 

 only a high capacity for administration and a most 

 Imal fidelity to the aims and work of the Council, 

 but also a sweetness of disposition and personal 

 iittracliveness which had won for him the devoted 

 and affectionate regard of all his colleagues in 

 the Council. In his death the Council and the scien- 

 tific world lose a man of most eminent attainments, 

 highest character, and lovable personality. The 

 National Research <"ouncil extends to the bereaved 

 wife and family its deepest sympathy and condolence, 

 and wishes to express to them its full appreciation 

 of the great value of the services which Dr. Bumstead 

 rendered it in the period of his association with it 

 ami the great loss which it suffers by his untimely 

 death. But may we all remember that ' that life is 

 long that answers life's great ends.'" 



Prof. E. Wkstbrmarck publishes in AcXa \ca. 

 demiae .Ihocnsis. part i., an iinportant pap«>r on 

 ■"The Belief in Spirits in Morocco," the result of 

 several expeditions into that country. It is mainly 

 concerned with an elaborate account of the Jinn or 

 underground spirits which interfere in every phase 

 of human life. Men have been taken to their 

 kingdom or have cohabited with the Jinniya or female 

 spirjls. Prof. Westermarck describes in detail the 



NO. 2674, VOL. 106] 



nature and doings of these spirits, prophylactic 

 measures adopted against them, remedies for troubles 

 caused by them, and measures for bringing them under 

 control. He disputes the views of Robertson Smith, 

 who regarded the belief in them to be a survival of 

 tolemism ; nor can they be regarded originally as 

 the spirits of the dead. Prof. Westermarck regards 

 the conception of the Jinn to be "a generalisation on a 

 much larger scale. These spirits seem to have been 

 invented to explain strange and mysterious phenomena 

 which suggest, a volitional cause, especially such as in- 

 spire men with fear; but Robertson Smith's theory that 

 their special haunts are places most frequented by 

 wild beasts cannot be accepted. In their present form 

 their original home was .Arabia, whence they migrated 

 to Morocco, where the general scheme of belief was 

 mixed up with the local animistic beliefs of the Berber 

 tribes." 



The .American Museum of Natural History has 

 arranged for a third .Asiatic Expedition in co-opera- 

 tion with the .American .Asiatic Association and A.s'\a. 

 The Chinese Government has been invited to delegate 

 to the expedition men who have had preliminary in- 

 struction in various branches of science, so that they 

 may assist and, at the same time, be trained in 

 modern methods of scientific exploration. In return 

 for such help and facilities a duplicate set of the col- 

 lections will be deposited in Peking to form the basis 

 of a Chinese national museum. To aid this, the 

 .American Museum undertakes to train selected 

 Chinese in museum work. It is proposed that the 

 field work shall last for five years. From head- 

 quarters in Peking parties will work in the interior 

 of China, Central Asia, Manchuria, and Kamchatka. 

 The zoological collections will help to furnish a hall 

 of .Asiatic life in the .American Museum of Natural 

 History, where are alre.idy the specimens obtained by 

 Mr. R^ C. .Andrews, the leader of the first and second 

 Asiatic Expeditions. In liaturaX Hisiory, the journal 

 of the museum, Mr. .Andrews dwells on the frag- 

 mentary nature of our knowledge of this region. 

 Some exaggeration is allowed for in propaganda, but 

 when Mr. Andrews says, in italics, " Knowledge of 

 the fossils of Eastern .Asia rests almost entirely upon 

 the report on a small collection of teeth and frag- 

 mentary bones purchased in the medicine-shops of 

 Tientsin and described by a German named Schlosser," 

 then we recognise that several fragments of know- 

 ledge have failed to catch the eye of the writer. 



Rei>ort No. 10 ol the Industrial Fatigue Research 

 Board forms a preliminary account of some of the 

 investigations now being undertaken by Messrs. J. 

 I-oveday and S. H. Munro into the boot and shoe 

 industry. A historical sketch of the industry is given, 

 and a detailed description of modern processes follows. 

 The daily variations of output of various groups of 

 workers in five factories are then recorded. .As in 

 almost all other industries, the Saturday output was 

 found to be low (sometimes only 77 per cent, of the 

 average), but the chief interest of the observations lies 

 in the comparison between the skilled workers with a 

 large output and the relatively unskilled, who showed 

 an output 10 to 50 per rent, smaller. It was found 



