May i6, 1918] 



NATURE 



209 



until his death was chairman. It was during his 

 long rdginte that the building of large ships became 

 possible. He was an honorary D.C.L. of Durham 

 University, and the honour of knighthood was con- 

 ferred upon him in 1900. 



The General Congress of Civil Engineering, which 

 was held in Paris on April 18-23, proved an entire suc- 

 cess. A total of 151 reports were printed and circulated 

 to the members and discussed at the sessions of the 

 congress. The sections of the congress were : — (i) 

 Public Works and Civil Engineering, (2) Transport, 

 (3) Mechanical Engineering, (4) Mining and Metallurgy, 

 (5) Industrial Physics and Chemistry, (6) Industrial 

 Electricity, (7) Rural Engineering and Agriculture, 

 (8) Industrial Organisation, (9) Social Hygiene and 

 Welfare, 'and (10) Industrial Legislation. In the 

 economics section much attention was given to educa- 

 tional reform and to the future training of the worker 

 and the engineer. 



We have received a pamphlet entitled " Building 

 Jerusalem " (from a line of the poet, William Blake), 

 being the annual report of the National Council of 

 Public Morals. It is noted that action has been taken 

 on the recommendation of the council's national birth- 

 rate commission in scheduling as a poison certain 

 forms of lead which have been extensively used as 

 abortifacients. During the past year a commission 

 of inquiry on the physical, educational, and moral 

 influence of the kinematograph has completed its 

 labours and published a useful report. Valuable pro- 

 paganda work has also been done for furthering the 

 establishment of a Ministry of Health, and pamphlets 

 for the troops and for the civil population on venereal 

 disease have been issued together with other publica- 

 tions. 



A NUMBER of further cases of the disease resembling 

 botulism (see Nature, May 2, p. 170) have been re- 

 ported in London and Birmingham. The epidemic has 

 assumed sufficient proportions for the medical officer of 

 the Local Government Board to issue a memorandum 

 to health authorities describing the symptoms, etc., and 

 the London County Council has decided to place at the 

 disposal of medical practitioners in London the ser- 

 vices of its medical staff for consultation. Consider- 

 able doubt exists as to the disease being botulism. So 

 far we believe the Bacillus botulinus (the causative 

 microbe of botulism) has not been isolated in connec- 

 tion with the present epidemic, which has also not 

 been associated with any particular article of food. 

 It is suggested that the disease may be a cerebral 

 form of poliomyelitis, which in its spinal form occurs 

 in epidemics and principally attacks children, causing 

 infantile paralysis. 



Sir Robert Hadfield has been for some years a 

 strong advocate of the scheme for erecting a joint 

 home for technical associations connected with the 

 metal industry, including the Institute of Mining and 

 Metallurgy, the Iron and Steel Institute, the Institute 

 of Metals, and the Institution of Mining Engineers, 

 none of which has at present adequate accommoda- 

 tion. It is estimated that the cost of a suitable build- 

 ing would amount to 400,000?. Besides providing a 

 common meeting-place for the bodies concerned with 

 the metal industry, the scheme would render possible 

 a joint library, an advantage which has been strongly 

 emphasised in the experience of the United Engineer- 

 ing Societies Building in New York. The council of 

 the Iron and Steel Institute has approved the scheme, 

 and it is probable that the Sheffield City Council, and 

 possibly the Cutlers' Company and the Chamber of 

 Commerce, will be invited to consider it. 



NO. 2533, VOL. lOl] 



A REPORT has been issued summarising the work of 

 the Industrial Reconstruction Council during the three 

 months ending March 31. It will be recalled that the. 

 first public meeting of the council was held at the 

 Guildhall on February 15, when representatives of a 

 large number of trade unions and trade associations 

 were present. Meetings have since been held in 

 Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Nottingham, 

 addresses being delivered by Lord Balfour of Burleigh, 

 Mr. E. J. P. Benn, the Rt. Hon. Christopher Addi- 

 son, the Rt. Hon. G. H. Roberts, Sir William McCor- 

 mick, and others. Conferences have also been ar- 

 ranged with the officers of the Federation of British 

 Industries, the Manufacturers' Section of the London 

 Chamber of Commerce, and the Engineering Em- 

 ployers' Federation. The council emphasises the 

 need for educational work amongst both employers 

 and employees, and of increasing the number of lec- 

 turers and speakers who are willing to explain the 

 principles of the Whitley report. It is hoped that 

 branch organisations will shortly be established. 



"Fisheries Notice No. 9," just issued by the Board 

 of Agriculture and Fisheries, is a practical description 

 of methods of eel-capture. The pamphlet is well illus- 

 trated, showing the details of construction of traps 

 and weirs, and it includes a list of makers of the 

 fishing gear mentioned. Copies may be obtained, free 

 of charge and postage, on application to the Secretary, 

 Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 43 Parliament 

 Street, London, S.W.i. The Fresh-water Fish Com- 

 mittee (54A Parliament Street) also issues a notice 

 relative to the distribution of elvers for stocking lakes, 

 reservoirs, farm-ponds, marsh drains and pools, and 

 the upper parts of suitable river systems. It is esti- 

 mated that 1000 elvers per acre is an adequate supply 

 where eels are scarce. About three to four years 

 are required before the elvers grow to marketable-sized 

 eels. Full directions are given in the notice to which 

 reference is made. The cost of the elvers is from 

 35. 6d. per 1000 to 2I. 5s. per 20,000. These notices 

 are deserving of wide publicity, and should be obtained 

 by all persons who have control of suitable waters 

 for rearing purposes. 



A GANG of riveters at the works of Messrs. Eraser 

 and Eraser, Ltd., Bromley-by-Bow, celebrated Lusi- 

 tania Day by creating a world''s record in rivet-driving. 

 The squad consisted of the riveter, Mr. R. Farrant, 

 who used an Ingersoll-Rand "Little David" pneu- 

 matic riveter, weighing 28I lb., a holder-up using a 

 hand-tool weighing 16 lb., and five other men or boys. 

 The rivets were ^ in. in diameter by i| in. long. The 

 following particulars— extracted from the Engineer for 

 May 10— are of interest in showing the rates for 

 different periods of the day : — 



Time * Rivets Hriven R.ite per hour 



One-hour interval. 



2.30 p.m. 3100 360 



3-30 3550 450 



4-30 4007 457 



5.0 4276 538 



The average for the, day of nine hours is one rivet 



per 7-58 second. The American record of 2720 rivets 



in nine hours, held by Charles Schock, has been beaten 



