I 12 



NATURE 



and took a prominent part in all public health 

 and educational movements ; he was health officer 

 to Port Jackson, president of the Board of 

 Health, chairman of the board of the Royal Prince 

 Alfred Hospital, trustee of the Australian Museum, 

 and held many other public posts too numerous 

 to mention. His activities in so many directions 

 were recog-nised by the conferment of honorary 

 degrees (M.D., Universities of Melbourne and 

 Sydney; LL.D., University of Edinburgh; D.Sc, 

 University of Durham), and finally by the honour 

 of knighthood in 1914. 



Anderson Stuart was held in high affection by 

 his students, colleagues, and numerous friends 

 in both hemispheres. He leaves a widow and 

 several sons (who saw service in the recent war) 

 to mourn his loss, and to them our heartfelt 

 sympathy is offered. 



March 25, 1920 



By the death of Mr. J. S. MacAkthur on 

 March 16 industrial chemistry has lost a notable 

 exponent. Mr. MacArthur's name will always be 

 remembered in connection with the Forrest- 

 MacArthur patent for the extraction of gold 

 from its ores by means of cyanide. It is given 

 to few men to discover a process which has 

 had such a far-reaching effect in almost every 

 branch of civilised life. The influence of an enor- 

 mously increased quantity of gold available for 

 mankind has been — as, indeed, it must be — pro- 

 found, no matter whether it is for good or for 

 evil. Compared with the huge sums of money 

 involved, the amount accruing to Mr. MacArthur 

 out of this patent was infinitesimal. His type was 

 essentially a pioneering one. The initial work in 

 connection with the extraction of gold was carried 

 out with small funds in a laboratory which was 

 in reality a cellar at the back of a Glasgow tene- 

 ment house. After this work was completed, 

 Mr. MacArthur engaged in many commercial 

 ventures in connection with chemistry and 

 mining, but, with the possible exception of his 

 last, none of them seemed to possess the elements 

 of permanent success. This was the extraction 

 of radium from its ores, which he carried on first 

 of all in Cheshire, and then practically on the 

 shores of Loch Lomond, in order to avail himself 

 of the purest possible water. He was proud of 

 his works there, and delighted to feel that he was 

 able to carry on his work in the midst of such 

 beautiful surroundings. Mr. MacArthur's person- 

 ality was delightful and genial. His travels had 

 been world-wide, and to anyone interested 

 in mineralogy and travel he was indeed 

 entertaining. 



Mr. James Procter, whose death occurred on 

 March 6, was born in 1841. He took a prominent 

 part in the design and manufacture of the engines 

 required for blast-furnace work and iron and steel 

 works, and is said to have been the first British 

 engineer to construct blowing engines with 

 mechanically controlled valves. Mr. Procter was 

 a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engin- 

 eers and of the Iron and Steel Institute. 

 NO. 2630, VOL. 105] 



Notes. 



As 



president of the British Association at its 

 meeting in Cardiff on August 24-28 next, Prof. W. A. 

 Herdman, of Liverpool University, will deal in his 

 inaugural address with oceanography, of which he wilf 

 give a general survey, and discuss in detail certain 

 special problems and recent investigations, with par- 

 ticular reference to the sea-fisheries. The following 

 presidents of sections have been appointed :-^ 

 A (Mathematics and Physics), Prof. A. S. Eddington ; 

 B (Chemistry), Mr. C. T. Heycock ; C (Geology).' 

 Dr. F. A. Bather; D (Zoology), Prof. J. Stanley 

 Gardiner; E (Geography), Mr. J. McFarlane; 

 F (Economics), Dr. J. H. Clapham ; G (Engineer- 

 ing), Prof. C. F. Jenkin; H (Anthropologv), Prof. 

 Karl Pearson; I (Physiology), Mr. J. Barcroft ; 

 K (Botany), Miss E. R. Saunders; L (Education)' 

 Sir Robert Blair; and M (.Agriculture) Prof F W 

 Keeble. 



In the interests of physiological and medical re- 

 search, we may congratulate ourselves that the debate 

 on the mischievous and unnecessary Dogs Protection 

 Bill of Sir F. Banbury was "adjourned" on Friday 

 last. Owing to the length of the discussion on the 

 really important Early Closing Bill, that on the former 

 Bill was prolonged until the rising of the House. It 

 may be pointed out once again that no other animal 

 of the size of the dog can be kept under laboratory 

 conditions in a healthy state, and that the general 

 chemical changes in this animal are closely similar to 

 those of man, mainly owing to its omnivorous nature. 

 The letter by Dr. Thos. Lewis in the Times of 

 March 19 shows how obstructive the exclusion of the 

 dog would be to one branch of investigation of great 

 practical utility; and an equally strong case could 

 easily be made out for many others. The report of 

 the last Royal Commission on Vivisection shows that 

 adequate provision against any possible cruelty has 

 already been made, even if it were necessary to do so. 



His Majesty the King has approved the award of 

 the Royal medals of the Royal Geographical Society 

 as follows : — Founder's medal to Mr. H. St. John B. 

 Philby, for his two journeys in south-central Arabia, 

 1917 and 19 18; and Patron's medal to Prof. Jovan 

 Cvijic, Rector of the University of Belgrade, for dis- 

 tinguished studies of the geography of the Balkan 

 Peninsula. The council of the society has awarded 

 the Victoria medal to Lt.-Col. H. S. L. Winterbotham, 

 for his exceptional services to the country in the initia- 

 tion and development of scientific methods of'artillery 

 survey and the production of high-class maps of in- 

 accessible areas. Other awards are : — Murcfiisori 

 grant to Miss Czaplicka, for her ethnographical and 

 geographical work in northern Siberia ; Cuthbert Peek 

 grant to Mr. A. W. Pearson Chinnery, to assist him 

 in continuing his w^ork in the unexplored parts of New 

 Guinea; Back grant to Mr. J. M. Wordie, for his 

 scientific work on the Antarctic Expedition of 1914-17; 

 and Gill memorial to Mr. Reginald Farrer, for his 

 journeys on the Chinese borders of Tibet. 



