5i8 



NATURE 



[January 6, 191 6 



Hale, director of Mount Wilson Observatory. Among 

 Dr. Holder's numerous popular books may be men- 

 tioned : — "Living Lights" (1887), a picturesque and 

 concrete account of phosphorescent animals and plants, 

 his interesting lives of Louis Agassiz and of Charles 

 Darwin, besides "Along the Florida Reef" (1892), 

 "Stories of Animal Life" (1900), "Half-Hours with 

 Nature" (1901), "The Log of a Sea Angler," and 

 " Life in the Open in Southern California." He was 

 tireless in his endeavours to infuse into others his own 

 enthusiasm for natural history, to broaden, the interests 

 of the sportsman, and to strengthen the hands of 

 Audubon societies and similar leagues which have for 

 their object the conservation of the wild life of both 

 land and sea. 



The Times of December 30 publishes the following 

 note from its Huddersfield correspondent : — Good pro- 

 gress is being made in carrying the British Dyes 

 (Limited) scheme into effect. With more than 3000 

 workmen, the contractors, Messrs. McAlpine, are push- 

 ing forward the erection of the works, which will form 

 the main portion of the scheme. The chief hindrances 

 are the scarcity of labour and of raw materials for the 

 manufacture of colours. Exceptionally high rates of 

 wages are being offered for men, from ordinary nav- 

 vies to skilled artisans and chemical workers. Many 

 hundreds of men drawn from other occupations have 

 become chemical workers and are making more money 

 than ever they earned before. As for raw materials, 

 British Dyes (Limited) are obtaining a preference 

 in regard to supplies, and the output is steadily in- 

 creasing. While the demand cannot yet be fully met, 

 it is officially stated that within another month the 

 supply will be much more adequate. 



The report of the council of the Scottish Meteoi-o- 

 logical Society, read at the general meeting of the 

 society on December 21, shows that during the past 

 year the more purely routine work of the society has 

 proceeded much on the usual lines, though difficulties 

 inseparable from war conditions have arisen, and at 

 one or two stations it has been found impossible to 

 ^continue a full set of observations. At most of the 

 stations in Scotland the work is in the hands of 

 voluntary observers, and the closer connection that 

 now exists between Edinburgh and the Meteorological 

 Office in London has in no way weakened the almost 

 family loyalty that linked the observers to the society. 

 Indeed, the extended publicity now available for trust- 

 worthy observations through the medium of the 

 Monthly Weather Report has been greatly appreciated 

 by the observers. During recent years the society has 

 devoted much attention to the encouragement of the 

 observation of rainfall in Scotland, and there are now 

 available in the Journal monthly and annual figures 

 for more than 700 stations. An improvement has 

 taken place in the representation of the upper part 

 of the Spey valley; but there are still large areas in 

 the Highlands and north of Scotland for which no 

 information is available. Prof. R. A. Sampson, Astro- 

 nomer Royal for Scotland, has been elected president 

 of the society for the ensuing twelve months, and Mr. 

 C. T. R. Wilson, University lecturer in physics, Cam- 

 bridge, and Dr. A. Crichton Mitchell, Edinburgh, vice- 

 presidents. 



NO. 2410, VOL. 96] 



We have received the annual report of Livingstone 

 College for the year 1914-15. We have on several occa- 

 sions directed attention to the work of this college, 

 which is to give an elementary training in medicine 

 to missionaries. The college as such is closed for the 

 present, as it is being used as a hospital for con- 

 valescent wounded soldiers. 



A FIRST report of the Special Investigation Com- 

 mittee of the Medical Research Committee upon the 

 incidence of phthisis in relation to occupations has 

 recently been issued, and deals with the boot and shoe 

 industry'. The conclusions arrived at are : (i) that 

 phthisis is specially prevalent among workers in the 

 boot and shoe industry, as compared with the general 

 population ; (2) the individual worker is predisposed 

 to infection by the sedentary nature of his employment, 

 and possibly by the attitude he adopts at his work; 

 (3) the infection is probably (a) increased by the num- 

 ber of infective workers, and (&) favoured by want 

 of light, the presence of infected dust, and inadequate 

 ventilation in the workrooms. The measures sug- 

 gested to diminish the incidence of phthisis among this 

 class of operatives are improvement of lighting, floor 

 cleaning, and ventilation in the factories, and the 

 introduction of periods of rest and exercise for the 

 workers. A modified scheme of sanatorium treatment 

 for the affected is also outlined. 



We commend to our readers the admirable article 

 by Prof. Eraser Harris in the Scientific Monthly, 

 October, 1915, on "Edward Jenner and Vaccination." 

 Prof. Eraser Harris gives us a short historical sketch 

 of the earlier ages of smallpox in Europe ; the old 

 story, how disease, like trade, "follows the flag"— 

 follows, pede aequo, the crescent and the cross. Then 

 an account of the discovery of inoculation : a method 

 of great antiquity, used far and wide among " savages," 

 let alone the Turks, who taught it to Lady Mary 

 Wortley Montagu. Then a careful description of the 

 rise and development of Jenner's work, and a sufficient 

 notice of the objections raised against it. Especially, 

 he answers well the stock objection, that not Jenner 

 but "sanitation" saved us from the scourge of small- 

 pox. Perhaps, in years to come, men of science will 

 discover some method of personal immunity even 

 better than vaccination; some "vaccine" made with- 

 out the intermediary calf. If or when they do make 

 that discovery, they will make it on the direct lines 

 of the work which Jenner began and Pasteur ad- 

 vanced. In that day, let us hope, the nation will put 

 Jenner's statue back in Trafalgar Square. If there 

 is no room for it, they can move King George IV. to 

 the vacant pedestal in Kensington Gardens. 



The small South American deer known as 

 " Brockets " will furnish some useful data to those 

 who are interested in the study of incipient and 

 variable characters, and the bearing which these have 

 on the evolution of species. This much will be 

 apparent to all who read Mr. J. A. Allen's valuable 

 " Notes on American Deer of the Genus Mazama," in 

 the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural 

 History, vol. xxxiv. Broadly separable, on the 

 basis of coloration, into two groups, in the matter 

 of their antlers, which are but simple spikes, no 



