December 13, 1917] 



NATURE 



287 



be made from ground nuts shelled in the country 

 of production and exported in the form of kernels, 

 the arg-ument being that the oil in such kernels 

 must always contain too much free fatty acid. It 

 is clear from the French bulletin, however, that 

 lack of tonnage, if nothing else, is now forcing 

 French oil-seed crushers to reconsider this ques- 

 tion and to find means of importing ground-nut 

 kernels in good condition. 



In a recent number (No. 86 of 1917) of 

 L' Expansion Coloniale M. Emile Baillaud, to 

 whose activity the Marseilles Colonial Institute 

 owes much of its prestige in France, discusses the 

 problems which these French committees on 

 cereals and oil-seeds will take into consideration. 

 I- rom this it appears that the committees are faced 

 with much the same problems as those mentioned 

 in the first paragraph of this article, viz. that 

 French, like British, manufacturers have not been 

 able to take up new oil-seeds, but have largely left 

 the initiative in such matters to Germany, and that 

 they have not utilised and developed sources of 

 supply in their ow-n colonies. It will be the chief 

 object of the committees to ascertain how this state 

 of things can be remedied. It is interesting in this 

 connection to note that M. Baillaud has a proper 

 appreciation of the necessity for technical investi- 

 gations, and suggests that the Committee on Oil- 

 seeds will require to initiate investigations similar 

 to those carried on for some years past on the 

 oil-palm by the Imperial Institute in this country 

 in co-operation with the Departments of Agri- 

 culture in British West Africa. 



NOTES. 



As an outcome of the Departmental Committee on 

 the Welfare of the Blind, which recently issued an 

 excellent report, the President of the Local Govern- 

 ment Board (Mr. W. Hayes Fisher) has appointed a 

 Committee to advise the department on matters relat- 

 ing to the care and supervision of the blind. The 

 selection of members appears to have been made with 

 discretion, except that, as pointed out by " Ophthalmic 

 Surgeon " in a letter to the Times of December 8, 

 there is no medical man or ophthalmic surgeon upon 

 the Committee. The original Committee had an oph- 

 thalmic surgeon among its number, and applied to 

 the Royal Society of Medicine for assistance in its 

 deliberations. A Sub-Committee of the Ophthalmo- 

 logical Section was appointed, and devoted much time 

 and trouble to the subject. The report shows that it 

 afforded verv material help. Mr. Hayes Fisher, writ- 

 ing to the Times of December ii, excuses himself for 

 the absence of any medical representation on the 

 Advisory Committee by saying that " nine-tenths of the 

 Committee's time will be taken up with the considera- 

 tion of administrative problems," and that " under 

 existing circumstances it would nn be right to make 

 a further demand upon the time of any of our eminent 

 ophthalmic specialists, who are already so fully occu- 

 pied." The courteous terms in which this letter is 

 couched will doubtless be appreciated by the Royal 

 Society of Medicine and the medical profession gener- 

 ally, but they do not succeed in masking the char- 

 acteristic official attitude. Ophthalmic surgeons 

 themselves are the best judges of the time which they 

 have at their disposal, and the ordinary amenities of 

 NO. 251 1, VOL. 100] 



' social life should have suggested that they at least 

 should be consulted and offered the opportunity of 

 j giving their assistance when it is proposed to put their 

 i recommendations into action. 

 I 



I The project, which has been in abeyance for some 

 considerable time, for a ship canal across the Scottish 

 isthmus lying between the Firth of Forth and the 

 Firth of Clyde has lately been revived, partly in con- 

 sequence of the direction of military opinion towards 

 the strategical value of such a waterway in time of 

 war, and partly also on account of the substantial 

 commercial advantages which would accrue generally. 

 A question on the subject was recently put in the 

 House of Commons, and Dr. Addison, in reply, stated 

 that the matter was under the consideration of the 

 Department of Reconstruction in view of the opening 

 afforded for the utilisation of the labour of demobilised 

 men for the execution of the undertaking. We ob- 

 , serve, in the issue of The Engineer of November 30, 

 an interesting account of the inception and develop- 

 ment of the underlying idea, which was promulgated, 

 in the first instance, so far back as the year 1724 by 

 i Daniel Defoe. At present there are two schemes 

 which have been elaborated. The first consists in 

 ! linking up the rivers Forth and Clyde by the most 

 direct route through the Kelvin valley. The second 

 route, avoiding the congested district of the Upper 

 Clyde, lies along the Forth valley, leaving the river 

 I channel near Alloa and ultimately reaching Loch 

 ; Lomond by means of Endrick Water. A short auxili- 

 ; ary connection between Loch Lomond and Loch Long 

 j at'Arrochar would then complete the passage to the 

 ! sea. The broad difference between the two routes is 

 that the Loch Lomond route would be at the loch level, 

 j while the direct route would be at the level of high 

 I water of spring tides. Exigencies of space forbid us 

 I to attempt even a summary of the relative advantages 

 I and difficulties of the rival schemes, each of which 

 I has its convinced supporters. 



I We regret to learn that Dr. A. M. W. Downing, 

 i formerlv superintendent of the "Nautical Almanac," 

 i died suddently on Saturday, December 8, at sixty-seven 

 ! years of age. 



Lady Roberts's Field Glass Fund, which has now 



issued 30,000 instruments to the Army, has no funds 



beyond the sum necessary for returning the glasses 



to their owners when this is desired. The main 



I expense is that of repairing the glasses which come 



j back for re-issue. An appeal is made for the sum of 



I loooL to meet the repairing bills, and the need justifies 



i the request. The address for sending contributions 



! (also any field-glasses and telescopes that can still be 



' spared) is the Manager, Lady Roberts's Field Glass 



j Fund, 64 Victoria Street, S.W.i. 



I The Executive Committee of the Automobile Asso- 

 I elation has decided to offer a prize of loooZ. for the 

 j best invention which will enable coal-gas to be used 

 with advantage as a propellant of motor-cars and 

 motor-cycles. Communications relating to this subject 

 should be addressed to the Secretary, Automobile .Asso- 

 ciation and Motor Union, Fanum House, Whitcomb 

 Street, W.C.2, and marked "Coal Gas." 



It was announced at the Linnean Society of London 

 on November 29 that a new Linnean Society has been 

 i established recently in Sweden as " Svenska Linn6- 

 Siillskapet," intended as a means for spreading in- 

 formation about Sweden's greatest naturalist, Carl von 

 I-inne (1707-78). The society purposes to do this by 

 publication of works by Linn^ and his pupils ; to throw 



