February 4, 19 15] 



NATURE 



633 



but this is somewhat premature. Although this dis- 

 tance is far less than 5000 miles, yet the problem is a 

 much harder one owing to the enormously greater 

 electrostatic capacity of a cable as compared with a 

 land-line. There is much in Prof. Fleming's predic- 

 tion that telephony between England and America, 

 when it comes, will first be by " wireless." 



Some anxiety has been felt as to the fate of M. le 

 Chanoine Henri de Dorlodot, Professor of Geology at 

 the University of Louvain, concerning whom his col- 

 leagues in this country had been unable to obtain 

 information. They will be glad to learn that he is at 

 Louvain, in excellent health, and that his house and 

 museums are absolutely untouched. 



A PUBLIC lecture on the present position of the 

 atomic theory was delivered by Prof. J. W. Nicholson 

 at King's College on January 21. The lecturer re- 

 viewed the work of Faraday on electrolytic conduction, 

 the origin of our first perception of the ultimate 

 charge e, and proceeded to a historical sketch of the 

 evolution of modern ideas of the atom as a purely 

 electrical structure. An account was then given of 

 very modern work in connection with radio-activity, 

 X-rays, and emission spectra, concluding with the 

 probable structure and number of electrons present in 

 atoms of the simpler elements, and the possibilities 

 of a celestial evolution of the elements which are now 

 disintegrating. 



SiN'CE January 14 several earthquakes have been felt 

 in Italy and elsewhere. Two after-shocks of the 

 Avezzano earthquake were felt in Rome on January 18. 

 During the night of January 18-19, three earthquakes 

 occurred in the province of Cosenza (Calabria), some 

 buildings in the village of Luzzi being slightly 

 damaged. According to the Times, various observa- 

 tories in Italy recorded an earthquake at 2.15 a.m. 

 (1.15 a.m., G.M.T.) on January 27, which lasted ten 

 minutes, and was more violent than that which 

 destroyed Avezzano. As no further account has been 

 published, this earthquake would appear to be the 

 same as that registered in British observatories at 

 about the same time. The West Bromwich seismo- 

 gram suggests an origin distant about 1500 miles, 

 probably in Turkey or Greece. 



In the issue of Nature for July 10, 1913, (vol. xci., 

 p. 483) particulars were given of the allocation by the 

 Mansion House Committee of the Captain Scott Fund. 

 It will be remembered that the allocation fell under 

 three main headings : the provision for relatives, for 

 the publication of the scientific results, and for memo- 

 rials. In connection with the last-mentioned object it 

 is now announced that the committee has entrusted 

 the execution of a monument to Mr. Albert H. Hodge. 

 The monument and the pedestal are to cost 7500L 

 The architectural portion is to be of grey granite. 

 A site has been selected by the committee facing the 

 Thames in the grounds of Greenwich Hospital. A 

 bronze memorial tablet to be placed in St. Paul's 

 Cathedral is being executed by Mr. S. Nicholson Babb. 



The director of the Commercial Intelligence Branch 

 of the Board of Trade, 73 Basinghall Street, London, 

 NO. 2362, VOL. 94] 



E.C., has kindly sent us further information upon 

 the subject of the trade in birds' feathers between 

 India and Germany, referred to in a note in Nature 

 of January 28 (p. 596). He reminds us that the *' Re- 

 port from the Select Committee of the House of Lords 

 on the Importation of Plumage Prohibition Bill (H.L.) 

 1908," contains much information of interest upon 

 the subject. The Select Committee reported that "it 

 appears clearly from the evidence that the enactments 

 of British Colonies and certain foreign countries, 

 ! which provide a close season for wild birds, and of 

 ! India, which prohibits their export, are to a consider- 

 i able extent ineffective, partly on account of the open 

 market in this and other countries. Mr. Todhunter, 

 I who attended on behalf of the India Office, showed 

 I the difficulties of preventing illicit exportation." The 

 Report may be purchased, either directly or through 

 ; any bookseller, from Messrs. Wyman and Sons, Ltd., 

 j Fetter Lane, London, E.C., the reference number 

 i being H.L. 137, and the price 6d. (ex-postage), or it 

 I may be consulted at the office of the Commercial In- 

 telligence Branch of the Board of Trade. 



In the Cairo Scientific Journal for Aug^t, 1914, 

 Mr. W. H. Harding King has collected a good budget 

 of folk beliefs and songs from the western oases. 

 The magical element is prominent in the beliefs of 

 these people. When a child is born grain and salt are 

 trundled about in a sieve to ensure the child against 

 want; the pestle and mortar are beaten to make sure 

 that he may not be frightened by any noise when he 

 grows up ; seeds are thrown about in the village as a 

 charm to enable him to travel to any part of the world 

 that he pleases, and the sieve is rolled about so that 

 when he grows up he may run about quickly. When 

 his finger nails grow long they are cut, and the ends 

 of his fingers are dipped into newly ground flour to 

 prevent them from growing again, and as the natives 

 consider it unlucky to open a pair of scissors before 

 the child's face, his nails are either cut behind his 

 back, or bitten off by his parents. To protect trees 

 from the Evil Eye and to ensure a good crop, a bone 

 or the skull of an animal, or a piece of manure or a 

 small doll-like figure are hung on the branches. 

 Natives refresh themselves by stuffing the small 

 pungent onions of the oases into their nostrils ; onions 

 which over night have been kept under the pillow 

 are hung with the barley to bring refreshment to the 

 family until the next season. 



The Herbert Spencer Lecture at Oxford last year 

 was delivered on November 18, 1914, by the Hon. 

 Bertrand Russell, on " Scientific Method in Philo- 

 sophy," and has just been issued in pamphlet form 

 by the Clarendon Press (15. 6d. net). Mr. Russell's 

 thesis is that it is from science rather than from 

 ethics or religion that philosophy should draw its 

 inspiration. In fact, scientific philosophy aims only 

 at understanding the world and not directly at any 

 other improvement of human life; and thus it cannot 

 take account of ethical notions without being turned 

 aside from that submission to fact which is the 

 essence of the scientific temper. It is piecemeal and 

 tentative like other sciences, and not like philosophy 

 has been hitherto, where each philosopher had to 



