NATURE 



[November 19, 19 14 



determining the presence of any vital activity in them. 

 Other communications by Prof. Moore dealt with 

 the action of ultra-violet light upon solutions of 

 •organic substances, and with the presence of iron 

 salts in the colourless portion of the chloroplast, and 

 the mechanism of photo-synthesis by iron salts. Mr. 

 Halcro Wardlaw, a science research scholar of Sydney 

 University, described the results of a series of analyses 

 of the deposit obtained from milk by spinning' it in a 

 centrifuge, and Dr. Burton Bradley contributed some 

 notes on the symbiotic activities of coliform and other 

 organisms on media containing carbohydrates. 



The last day's proceedings of the section in 

 Sydney embraced a lengthy programme, but most of 

 the papers were taken as read, and the section there- 

 after joined those of chemistry and agriculture in a 

 discussion upon metabolism. Among the subjects 

 brought before the section, and of which abstracts 

 were printed, were capers by Prof. T. H. Milroy on 

 changes in the reaction of milk under different con- 

 ditions as determined by the estimation of hj'drogen- 

 ion concentration bv the electrometric method, and 

 measurements of the variations of the hvdrogen-ion 

 concentration of the blood. Prof. P. T. Herring 

 contributed papers upon the relative activity of the 

 pars intermedia and pars nervosa of the ox pituitary, 

 and upon the influence of the thyroid upon the activity 

 of the suprarenals and pituitary body. In the latter 

 communication the chief point of interest was the loss 

 of chromaffine-substance, and corresponding diminu- 

 tion of activity, of the medulla of the suprarenals 

 which rapidly follow th3Toidectomy ; thyroid-feeding, 

 on the other hand, though pushed to an extreme, has 

 no such effect. Dr. H. G. Chapman presented a 

 paper on the freezing point of the laked red blood 

 corpuscles of man and some domesticated animals, 

 and Dr. C. Shellshear a paper on precipitin reactions 

 111 pathological human urines. 



Several papers on psychological subjects appeared 

 on the programme, but it was found impossible to 

 take them. A feature of the sectional business in 

 both Melbourne and Sydney was the large and varied 

 contributions by local members, evincing evidence of 

 the activity of the physiological departments in these 

 universities. 



AGRICULTURE AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



T^HE paramount importance of agriculture in Aus- 

 *■ tralia rendered the proceedings of Section M of 

 special local interest, and the addresses and papers 

 Avere arranged to deal with subjects of real. significance 

 in that country. The two addresses delivered by the 

 president, Mr. A. D. Hall, attracted large audiences 

 both at Adelaide and Brisbane. They were read at 

 sessions of the whole association, and formed as valu- 

 able a contribution to Australia's needs as agricultural 

 science and research could well have provided. 



The meetings of the section at Melbourne were 

 devoted to the subjects of irrigation, dry farming, 

 iinimal breeding, and milk supply, all of which were 

 selected in view of their importance to the Australian 

 agriculturist. The papers on irrigation were read at 

 a joint meeting with Section G (Engineering), and an 

 account of the discussion has been given in the report 

 of the proceedings of that section (November 5, p. 266). 



An excellent paper by Dr. Lyman J. Briggs 

 on dry farming investigations in the United 

 States gave a risumi of the systematic work 

 which has been carried on for many years in America 

 on this subject. Dr. Briggs illustrated his paper with 

 maps and diagrams, and pointed out the differences 



NO. 2351, VOL. 94] 



which exist between the problems in America and 

 those in Australia. Differences in the distribution and 

 .amount of the rainfall and in the nature of the soil 

 indicate the necessity for much investigation into the 

 .special problems of each district. A more restricted 

 problem of special Australian interest, "The Ten-inch 

 Line of Rainfall," was discussed by Dr. T. Cherry, 

 who pointed out that the rainfall throughout the 

 southern third of the continent is almost exclusively of 

 the winter type, and that the wintet temperatures are 

 high enough to keep the ordinary cereals growing 

 during these months. The chief problem which in 

 this instance has now to be solved is to devise method-, 

 by which sheep and cattle can also be profitably kept 

 on the wheat farms in the lo-in. line of rainfall, the 

 area already having been proved very suitable for 

 wheat. 



The verv high evaporation factor, which in Western 

 Australia is four to six times greater than the rainfall, 

 adds to the difficulty of maintaining the soil moisture. 

 Prof. J. W. Paterson contrasted this evaporation with 

 that in England, which is only about one-half of the 

 annual rainfall. He also stated that the sandy soils 

 in these dry districts are an advantage, as they are 

 able to absorb all the rain which falls and can yield up 

 the retained moisture more completely to the plant 

 than more absorbent clay soils. The movement of air 

 and water within the soil is dependent on the sizes 

 and distribution of the free spaces between the par- 

 ticles, a subject dealt with by Dr. Heber Green, 

 who spoke of the capillary power of soils and of the 

 experiments and calculations which he had made on 

 this subject. 



Perhaps no branch of scientific research is likely 10 

 be of more direct practical value than the investiga- 

 tions into the laws of inheritance. In the field of 

 animal breeding Mr. P. G. Bailey represented the 

 Cambridge school, and reported the progress of experi- 

 ments conducted on the inheritance of wool characters 

 in a cross made between two Merino rams from 

 Western Australia and twenty .Shropshire ewes at 

 Cambridge. He also contributed a paper on size in- 

 heritance in poultry, a subject which bids fair to yield 

 results of practical importance to an industry which 

 is assuming large proportions in Australia. 



The improvement of the quantity and quality of 

 milk vield has received a great impetus in late years 

 by the keeping of milk records and the gradual 

 elimination of the less productive cows from herds. 

 The development of this work in England, Scotland, 

 and Ireland was reviewed by Dr. A. Lauder. Dr. 

 S. S. Cameron and Mr. O'Cal'laghan spoke of develop- 

 ments in this direction in Australia. 



The high cost and scarcity of labour in Australia 

 has forced the development of milking machines. Mr. 

 .Vrcher estimated that in Victoria alone 2coo farmers 

 had been supplied with milking machines, and that 

 about fourteen different makes were in use. The prin- 

 cipal local feature is the conduit system, in which the 

 milk is conveyed through metal pipes, to a tank in the 

 dairv, thus saving the labour of carrying the milk. 



The scientific comparison of the bacteriological 

 purity and keeping qualities of milk obtained from 

 eleven different types of machine at trials arranged by 

 the Royal Agricultural Society of England formed the 

 subject of a paper by Dr. R. Stenhouse \\'illiams, Mr. 

 J. Golding, and Mr. J. Mackintosh. The clifficulties 

 in cleaning many of the machines, especially those 

 fitted with long rubber tubes, is one of the chief draw- 

 backs to their employment under existing conditions 

 on many farms. 



A visit to the State experimental farms in Australia 

 is sufficient to show the very great importance attached 

 to the subject of cereal breeding. Not only is a large 



