572 



NATURE 



[January 20, 19 16 



An exhibition of photographs demonstrating the 

 appUcation of photography to marine biology, by Mr. 

 F. Martin-Duncan, is open free to the public on pre- 

 sentation of visiting card at the Royal Photographic 

 Society of Great Britain, 35 Russell Square, W.C., 

 and will remain open until Saturday, February 12, 



Owing to the generosity of Mr. J. S. Corder, a 

 member of the committee of the Ipswich Museum, the 

 whole of the remainder of the collection of flint imple- 

 ments of the late Lieut.-Col. Underwood has now 

 passed into the possession of this institution. The 

 Ipswich Museum had already purchased all the Dover- 

 court and local specimens belonging to Col. Under- 

 wood, and this new acquisition will add greatly to the 

 extent and value of the prehistoric stone implements 

 displayed in the building. The arrangement of the 

 specimens has been placed in the hands of the curator, 

 Mr. J. Reid Moir. 



The railways of Asia Minor and Syria attract much 

 attention now in view of their relation to the war In 

 the Near East. A useful paper on the subject accom- 

 panied by a large folding map appears in the Bulletin 

 of the American Geographical Society for December, 

 1915 (vol. xlvii.. No. 12). The nationality of the 

 dominant control in each line is shown by distinctive 

 colouring on the map. The German railway through 

 Asia Minor from Scutari to Aleppo is complete except 

 for the Taurus tunnel. It has coastal links by a 

 French railway to Smyrna and Soke, and by Germar* 

 lines to Mersina and Alexandretta. From Aleppo it 

 runs to Harran, but later reports announce its com- 

 pletion to Ras-el-ain. The only part of the Bagdad 

 railway in working order is between Samarra and 

 Bagdad. When the Taurus tunnel is coinpleted there 

 will be through railway communication from Scutari 

 vid, Aleppo to Damascus, and thence by Turkish lines 

 to Medina, or to Gaza, near the frontier of Egypt. 

 Details are wanting of the reported line, now being 

 built, from the Syrian lines into Egyptian territory. 

 The Medina line is to be extended to Mecca and 

 Jedda. The whole cost of this line from Damascus 

 southward is said to have been met by offerings of 

 faithful Mohammedans. 



An earthquake of some importance for this country 

 was felt in the Midlands on January 14, at 7.29 p.m., 

 chiefly in Staffordshire, though the disturbed area also 

 included the greater part of the adjoining counties 

 of Cheshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, and Derby- 

 shire. From the reports so far collected, it appears 

 that the shock was felt from the neighbourhood of 

 Manchester on the north to Hartlebury and Henley-in- 

 Arden on the south, and from Leicester on the east 

 to Malpas on the west. The disturbed area must 

 therefore be at least 85 miles long from north-west to 

 south-east, and 65 miles wide, and containing about 

 4340 square miles. The centre of the area is in the 

 neighbourhood of Stafford, a district which has not 

 been the seat of a strong earthquake for many years. 

 The earthquake was probably a twin earthquake, for 

 the shock consisted of two series of vibrations through- 

 out a large part of the disturbed area. Mr, J. J. 

 Shaw states that the earthquake was recorded by his 

 NO. 2412, VOL. 96] 



seismograph at West Bromwich. The movement 

 began at 7,29 p.m. For the first two minutes the 

 vibrations were very rapid and ceased to be perceptible 

 about 7.40. 



A GREAT earthquake was recorded at Sydney on 

 January 14, the seismograph at the River View Col- 

 lege being disturbed so violently that the needle left 

 the recording sheet. It is estimated that the epicentre 

 lay about 500 miles to the north-west of Port Darwin. 

 On the same day a disastrous earthquake is reported 

 from New Guinea, especially at Raboul, the seat of the 

 Government when that portion of the island was under 

 German control. No times are as yet known for 

 either earthquake, but it is evident that the reports 

 can scarcely refer to the same shock unless there is 

 some error (say, north-west for north-east) in the esti- 

 mated position of the epicentre. It is worthy of notice 

 that a large part of New Guinea is almost aseismic, 

 though earthquakes are not infrequent at Dorei, and 

 near the eastern extremity of the island. 



Mr. George Tucker, chairman of the Electrician 

 Printing and Publishing Co., Ltd., died last Saturday 

 after a long illness. He was sixty-four years of age, 

 and had been connected with the Electrician since 

 1878. Starting as a compositor, he won his way to 

 the supreme control of the Electrician Co, by sheer 

 hard work and business ability. In 1883 he was 

 appointed overseer of the printing department, and in 

 1887 was made publisher and business manager. It 

 was, we believe, largely due to his representations 

 that the proprietors of the Electrician decided on the 

 policy of publishing technical books and advanced 

 text-books on electrical subjects, the earlier volumes 

 of which particularly did much to advance the accurate 

 study of applied electricity. 



We notice with regret the announcement in the 

 Times of the death, on January 16, of Dr. H. Wil- 

 liams, medical officer of the Port of London. Dr. 

 Williams was born in Weymouth In 1862, and received 

 his medical education at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. 

 His appointment as medical officer of health for the 

 Port of London was made In 1901. He took a deep 

 Interest In all that concerned the welfare of the Port, 

 and It Is due to his scientific enthusiasm that the work 

 there has been of so progressive a character. He was 

 a vigilant detective of disease, and he spared no pains 

 to shut the door In the face of epidemic conditions. 



We see In the Chemist and Druggist the announce- 

 ment that Dr. Georg Griibler died last November in 

 Jena, ' In his early days he was a pharmacist, but he 

 soon became an earnest student of physiological chem- 

 istry, and In 1880 he founded a laboratory at Leipzig, 

 where he devoted himself to physiological and bac- 

 teriological research. He became well known for his 

 work In connection with the proteins, and after he 

 retired to Dresden In 1897 became Interested In the 

 subject of enzymes, and especially In their preparation 

 In as pure a form as possible. His so-called "pure" 

 pepsin, trypsin, and steapsin are well-known prepara- 

 tions. He is, however, most widely known for his 

 bacteriological stains, which have a world-wide repu- 

 tation. 



