October i8, 191 7] 



NATURE 



39 



the whole of the fifth year are also spent in a 

 works. Some twentv-one important engineering firms 

 in different parts of,' the country have already agreed 

 to take part in the experiment, and a satisfactory trial 

 of the plan is assured. Full details are given in the 

 calendar as to the courses of study dernanded of 

 students desiring to graduate in engineering in the 

 University of Bristol. 



The annual report for 19 16 of the chief medical 

 officer of the Board of Education is now available 

 (td. S746, price 15. net). The report furnishes a 

 record of the school medical service of the local educa- 

 tion authorities in England and Wales carried out 

 under the general direction of the Board of Education. 

 Sir George Newman contributes an introduction to the 

 report, in which he says the fact must be faced that 

 in 19 1 6, as in former years, the records show a large 

 amount of ill-health, of bodily impairment, and of 

 physical and mental defect. Of the six millions of 

 children in attendance at school, medical inspection 

 shows that many, though not specifically " feeble- 

 minded," are so dull and backward mentally as to be 

 unable to derive full benefit from schooling, that up- 

 wards of 10 per cent, of the whole are at a like dis- 

 abilitv on account of uncleanliness, and that 10 per 

 cent, also are mal-nourished. A year ago a moderate 

 computation yielded not fewer than a million children 

 of school age (not children in school attendance) as 

 being so physically or mentally defective or diseased as 

 to be unable to derive reasonable benefit from the 

 education which the State provides. Local education 

 authorities do not yet understand the nature of the 

 problem which presents itself in their areas. Each 

 authority should have continually a clear view of the 

 steps necessary from a medical point of view to secure 

 the full value of the school medical service to every 

 child of school age in its area. The irreducible mini- 

 mum. Sir George states, which will yield the results the 

 nation requires is as follows: — (i) That'every child 

 shall periodically come under direct medical and dental 

 supervision, and if found defective shall be " followed 

 up." (2) That every child found mal-nourished shall, 

 somehow or other, be nourished ; and every child found 

 verminous shall, somehow or other, be cleansed. (3) 

 That for every sick, diseased, or defective child skilled 

 medical treatment shall be made available, either by 

 the local education authority or otherwise. (4) That 

 every child shall be educated in a well-ventilated school- 

 room or classroom, or in some form of open-air school- 

 room or classroom. (5) That every child shall have 

 daily organised physical exercise of an appropriate 

 character. (6) That no child of school age shall be em- 

 ployed for profit except under approved conditions. 

 (7) That the school environment and the means of 

 education shall be such as can in no case exert un- 

 favourable or injurious influence on the health, growth, 

 and development of the child. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



P.-^RIS. 



Academy of Sciences, October i.— M. Camille Jordan 

 in the chair.— M. Angelesco : A method of summation 

 of trigonometrical series. — \V. Sierpinski and \. Lusin : 

 A decomposition of an interval. — O. Majorana : Experi- 

 mental demonstration of the constancy of the velocity 

 of light reflected by a mirror in motion. — C. Benediks': 

 The thermo-electric effect by contraction in the case 

 of mercury. The thermo-electric effect described by 

 the author in an earlier paper may be regarded as 

 the reversal of the Thomson effect. It is, however, 

 ojjen to the possible objection that the effect observed 



NO. 2503, VOL. too] 



may be due to the non-homogeneity of the metal wire 

 employed ; a similar effect is now demonstrated with 

 pure mercury, in which case this objection cannot 

 apply.— M. hiegbahn and W. Stenstrom : The X-ray 

 spectra of the isotopic elements. A comparison of the 

 X-ray spectra of RaG and ordinary lead has proved 

 their' absolute identity. — P. Dejean : Martensite, troos- 

 tite, sorbite. A discussion of the definition of these 

 micrographic constituents of steels. — L. C. Soula : A 

 new method of graphically recording in physiology. 

 The method is based on the principle that if a battery, 

 microphone, and solenoid are placed in circuit, and a 

 magnet is put in the axis of the solenoid, any varia- 

 tion of resistance produced in the microphone by ex- 

 ternal pressures produces corresponding modifications 

 of the magnetic field, and a piece of soft iron carrying 

 a writing point placed before the magnet gives a 

 record of the pressures. — V. Galippe : Parasitism in 

 toxic seeds or seeds rich in essential oils. The pre- 

 sence of micro-organisms was found to be general in 

 both classes of seeds. — Edm. Sergent and Et. 

 Sergent : A new method for the destruction of mos- 

 quitoes by alternation of their breeding-grounds. The 

 life of the larva of the mosquito in the Mediterranean 

 climate is from sixteen to twenty-five days before the 

 metamorphosis into the winged insect. In the case of 

 a spring, around which a breeding-bed of mosquitoes is 

 liable to form, it is sufficient to dig out two channels 

 and everv eight days to change the water from one to 

 the other. During the week the soil dries and the 

 larvae die for want of water. This method has given 

 excellent results in Algeria, requires slight supervision, 

 and costs little. — G. Bertrand : The digestibility of bread 

 and the best utilisation of wheat. A comparison of 

 existing data for white bread (72 per cent, extraction), 

 wholemeal bread (100 per cent, extraction), and the 

 intermediate (85 per cent.), taking into consideration the 

 cnlorific value of the digested portion and the feeding 

 of farm animals on the wheat offal, leads to no definite 

 conclusion from a theoretical point of view. — H. 

 Vincent : Results of antitvphoid vaccination in the 

 armies during the war.— C. Levaditi and L. Delrer : 

 The cutaneous origin of the streptococci found in war 

 wounds. 



New South Wales, 

 Royal Society, August i.— H. G. Smith: The resin of 

 the outer bark of Melaleuca uncinata. The author 

 describes the resin which is the chief constituent in 

 the outer bark of this Melaleuca. A piece of this outer 

 bark, if ignited at one end, will continue to burn like 

 a candle until entirely consumed, giving at the same 

 time a considerable amount of black smoke. The in- 

 flammable material consists almost entirely of a resin, 

 as only a very small amount of a vegetable wax, melt- 

 ing at 67'^-68° C, was detected. It is a rare occur- 

 rence for a true resin to be obtained in quantity from 

 any member of the natural order Myrtaceae, and in 

 oniy one previous instance does it appear that a 

 Myrtaceous resin has been recorded. The resin, which 

 is present in the outer bark of M. uncinata to the 

 extent of 23 per cent., is of an orange-brown colour, 

 semi-transparent, and very brittle. It is almost 

 entirely soluble in alcohol, quite soluble in ether- 

 alcohol, and very soluble in acetone. It is only slightly 

 soluble in chloroform and benzene, and turpentine has 

 little action upon it even on boiling. The acetone 

 solution makes a splendid lacquer for brass, and is 

 perhaps one of the best uses to which the resin could be 

 economically put. The chief constituent of the resin is 

 a resin acid, the formula of which is C,,Hjs04. It 

 melts at about .i48°-i5o" C, and in alcoholic solution 

 gives a deep-green colour and green precipitate with 

 ferric chloride. The neutral bodies of the resin melt 



