September 20, 191 7] 



NATURE 



49 



carbon oils. A further quotation refers to the produc- 

 tion of liquid hydrocarbons from naphthalene by heat- 

 ing under pressure with aluminium chloride. There is 

 little novelty in this, for aluminium chloride has been 

 very largely resorted to in the chemistry of hydrocarbon 

 oils. It is stated also that a pro';ess has been dis- 

 covered by which nearly twice the usual amount of 

 ozokerite can be obtained from lignite distillation, but 

 no indication of the method is given. 



The Deputy-Controller for Auxiliary Shipbuilding, 

 Admiralty, has appointed Lt.-Col. J. Mitchell Mon- 

 crieff to be Director of Engineering Work, to deal 

 generally with all civil engineering matters which may 

 arise in connection with his department. 



The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries directs the 

 attention of English nurserymen and other persons to- 

 the regulations issued by the Government of the 

 Dominion of Canada which prohibit the importation 

 of all five-leaved species of the genus Pinus, and also 

 all species and varieties of currants and gooseberries 

 into Canada. The importation of all pines and ribes 

 (currants and gooseberries) into the United States of 

 America has already been prohibited. 



The American Museum of Natural History has 

 received a telegram from Mr. Donald B. MacMillan, 

 leader of the Crocker Land Expedition, in which he 

 gives an account of the latest discoveries made by his 

 party. He defines the position of two new islands, 

 and reports important surveys of the coast of Ellesmere 

 Land. Two islands described by earlier expeditions 

 cannot now be found in the positions marked on the 

 charts. There has been discovered an enormous 

 glacier, second only in size to the Humboldt. Mr. 

 MacMillan has named it the American Museum 

 Glacier. 



The seventieth birthday of Prof. S. Hoogewerff, 

 formerly rector of the Technical High School of Delft, 

 was recently celebrated by his friends and pupils. 

 Prof. Holleman briefly reviewed Hoogewerff 's work, 

 carried out conjointly with the late Dr. Van Dorp, on 

 the cinchona alkaloids, on isoquinoline, and on the 

 production of anthranilic acid from phthalimide. The 

 latter reaction became a step in the manufacture of 

 synthetic indigo. Oh behalf of a number of Dutch 

 chemical firms. Dr. Van Linge, manager of the 

 Maarssen quinine works, announced that more than 

 8000Z. had been subscribed for the foundation of a 

 prize for chemistry at the Technical High School at 

 Delft, in order to commemorate Prof. Hooge.verff's 

 services to this institution and to Dutch chemical 

 industry. 



Mr. Hodge, Minister of Pensions, stated to a depu- 

 tation received by him on Mondav that he proposed to 

 take immediate steps to seek the necessary funds for 

 the establishment of a National Experimental Labora- 

 tory which might ultimately become a national factory 

 for manufacturing limbs. " For the present, however, 

 he was opposed to the establishment of a national 

 factory. It was, in his view, essential that the Com- 

 mittee of Management of the National Laboratory 

 should be small, representative of surgeons and 

 mechanical experts, and distinct from any committee 

 managing hospitals for limbless men. The Laboratory 

 Committee would be directly responsible to the MinTs- 

 try of Pensions, and would be empowered to ensure 

 that the improvements which they recommended should 

 at once be introduced into the manufacture of artificial 

 limbs. 



The Indian Government is often called on to do 

 curious pieces of work in connection with its policy of 

 toleration towards the myriad religions of the Empire. 

 NO. 2499, VOL. 100] 



The route to the sacred temple at Badarinath, in the 

 Lower Himalaya, has from time immemorial attracted 

 large bodies of pilgrims. It starts from Hardwar, 

 where the Ganges emerges from the hills into the 

 plains, and is 338 miles in length. The route is also 

 valuable, as it attracts a considerable trade from Gar- 

 tok over the Niti Pass. The road was so dangerous, 

 partly owing- to damage suffered in the great flood 

 caused by the rupture of the dam of the Gohna lake 

 in 1894, that serious loss of life was annually reported. 

 The Indian Government has now intervened, and by a 

 grant from public funds, aided by a subscription from 

 a Hindu merchant of Calcutta, this famous route has 

 been realigned, improved, and provided with iron 

 bridges to replace the former dangerous structures of 

 bamboo ropes. The road is now open for pony traffic, 

 and the new regulations secure the- comfort of the 

 pilgrims and proper sanitation. 



In the Fortnightly Review for September Viscount 

 Bryce discusses a list of fourteen persons on whom the 

 epithet " great " is usually conferred. He points out 

 that there has been an element of chance in the 

 bestov^al of this title; some were second-rate men, and 

 a good many of first rank have not received it. It has 

 been bestowed on men of action rather than on men of 

 thought, and no Shakesp)eare, Dante, Socrates, Bacon, 

 Kant, Newton, or Leibniz appears in the list. All, 

 except two Popes, have been rulers or conquerors ; and 

 moral excellence, nobility of soul, or devotion to duty 

 has had little to do with the conferment of the honour 

 of greatness. "To have founded a nation, as did Wash- 

 ington, to have saved a nation from disruption, as did 

 Lincoln — these are achievements which make renown 

 immortal. The epithet has ceased to be attached to 

 famous names since the death of the last who received 

 it — Frederick William of Prussia. But had it been 

 given to any since his day, none would have deserved 

 it better than these two, George Washington and 

 .A.braham Lincoln." 



The Psychological Bulletin (vol. xiv., No. 7) gives an 

 account of the problems incident to the war which are 

 of a psychological nature, and outlines the steps taken 

 by a special committee in the United States to assist 

 the military authorities with these problems. Problems 

 suggested by military officers are referred by the com- 

 mittee to appropriate individuals or institutions for 

 immediate attention, and the chief psychological labora- 

 tories of the country have been offered for such use 

 as the military situation dictates. It is proposed to 

 appoint a committee on psychology for the National 

 Research Council, while special committees are to be 

 organised to deal with various important aspects of the 

 relations of psychology to the war, e.g. the psycho- 

 logical examining of recruits, the selection of men for 

 tasks requiring special skill, psychological problems of 

 aviation, problems of shock, re-education and 

 vocational training, problems of recreation in the Army 

 and Navy, problems of emotional stability, fear and 

 self-control, acoustic and visual problems of military" 

 importance. It will be seen that the list is comprehen- 

 sive, and it is asserted that already a new method of 

 selecting officers devised by a psychologist is in use in 

 many of the officers training camps. It is no longer 

 a problem of inducing the .\merican military authori- 

 ties to accept methods of psychological measurement, 

 but primarily one of meeting their expressed needs and 

 requests for assistance. 



One of the remaining unknown regions in tropical 

 Africa was explored in 19 15, when Major Cuthbert 

 Christy made a journey along the Nile-Congo water- 

 shed on behalf of the Sudan Sleeping Sickness Com- 

 mission. .Major Christy contributes a paper on the 

 subject, accompanied by n new map, to the Gcograph- 



