May 13, 1920] 



NATURE 



137 



(3) the desirability of a diploma for museum curators 

 and the necessary course of training. In addition, the 

 following papers have been promised: (i) "The 

 Lighting of Picture Galleries and Museums," by Mr. 

 Hurst Seager, vice-president of the New Zealand 

 Institute of Architects; {2) "The Selection of Pic- 

 tures for Municipal Art Galleries," by Mr. E. 

 Howarth, curator of Sheffield Public Museums ; and 

 (3) "A Central Government Department for Museums 

 and Art Galleries," by Dr. F. A. Bather. Mr. R. W. 

 Hooley, Earlescroft, St. Giles's Hill, Winchester, has 

 undertaken the duties of local secretary, and a small 

 committee under the chairmanship of the Rev. S. A. 

 McDowall, Winchester College, has been formed to 

 arrange the programme of local visits. 



The next informal meeting of the Chemical Society 

 will be held at Burlington House on Thursday, 

 May 20, after the conclusion of the formal business 

 of the ordinary scientific meeting. An exhibit demon- 

 strating the methods of controlling soil organisms now 

 being investigated, at the Rothamsted Experimental 

 Station will be shown by Mr. and Mrs. D. J. 

 Matthews. This exhibit will include specimens of the 

 soil organisms and the cultivation of these on artificial 

 media. The effect of toxic substances on organisms 

 and of the relationship of chemical composition to 

 toxicity, with specimens illustrating effective doses of 

 certain typical substances with a given quantity of soil, 

 will also be shown. Dr. Marie Stof>es will exhibit 

 specimens and microscopic slides of fusain, durain, 

 clarain, and vitrain, the four main constituents of 

 banded bituminous coal. Mr. E. R. Thomas will show 

 some experiments illustrating the influence of tem- 

 perature, concentration, solvent, constitution, and 

 catalyst on the rate of chemical change. 



A SHORT article in our issue of March 11, p. 56, 

 describing a magnetic disturbance which occurred on 

 March 4-5, mentioned that aurora had been observed 

 at Aberdeen on March 4, but considerably earlier than 

 the commencement of the disturbance, and so pre- 

 sumably not directly connected with it. This seems 

 to have been the only observation of aurora in this 

 country on either March 4 or 5. A letter, however, 

 which we have received from Prof. A. S. Eve, of 

 Montreal, mentions a brilliant aurora as having been 

 observed there between i a.m. and 2 a.m. G.M.T. on 

 March 5, and so synchronous with the magnetic 

 storm. Commencing with isolated patches, the aurora 

 appeared for a short time in the form of an arc, and 

 ended in a curtain display. This incident leads Prof. 

 Eve to inquire whether there is in existence " an 

 organisation for recording, with accurate timing, 

 aurorse in both northern and southern hemispheres, 

 and, if so, where can the records be obtained?" So 

 far as we are aware, no such records exist. The 

 question seems to merit the consideration of the 

 recently instituted Section of Terrestrial Magnetism 

 and Electricity of the International Geodetic and Geo- 

 physical Union. 



The Marlborough College Natural History Society, 

 ■which has been in existence for fifty-six years, is a 

 notable example of the good work which an associa- 

 tion of schoolboys can perform under competent guid- 

 NO. 2637, VOL. 105] 



ance. The report of the society for 1919 announcea 

 the retirement from the post of president of Mr. 

 J. C. Alsop, who carried on the work with success 

 during the period of the war. In botany 205 species, 

 In ornithology 85, and in entomology 223 have been 

 recorded. LIchenology shows a good record, though 

 the subject has been little worked in this country,, 

 but the monograph on British species recently pub- 

 lished by the British Museum and edited by Miss 

 A. L. Smith may stimulate interest. A good course 

 of lectures delivered by eminent specialists and 

 numerous papers rtad by members during the year 

 form an interesting feature of the report, which is 

 carefully prepared, and furnishes a good example for 

 the authorities of other schools in Great Britain. 



Dr. Charles Singer has reprinted an address 

 delivered before the British Academy (Proceedings, 

 vol. ix.) on "Early English Magic and Medicine." 

 The history of medicine is sharply divided into the 

 Dark Age period and that which followed the arrival 

 of the Arabian learning, the remnant of Greek science 

 which survived In the Moslem world. Dr. Singer 

 deals only with the pre-Arabian material. In England 

 the latter has survived from two channels, manu- 

 scripts and folk-lore. Greek medicine reached the 

 barbarian peoples of the West at a time when the 

 scientific system of Greece was in complete decay, 

 and It came through Latin channels. In dealing with 

 magic Dr. Singer remarks that ecclesiastical elements 

 are found throughout the whole corpus of Anglo-Saxon 

 medicine and magic. Native Teutonic magic and 

 medicine may be distinguished from imported elements 

 of classical, ecclesiastical, or Salernitan origin by the 

 presence of four characteristic elements : the doctrine 

 of specific venoms, the doctrine of the Nines, the doc- 

 trine of the worm as a cause of disease, and, lastly, 

 the doctrine of the elf-shot — all of which are fully 

 described. "The Celtic Influence In the Anglo-Saxon 

 material Is elusive and yet pervasive, but the difficulty 

 of tracing it may be a result of the common heritage 

 of the two cultures and the common external 

 Influences to which they were both subjected." 



Messrs. Sutton and Sons, Reading, have pub- 

 lished, an Interesting contribution to the literature on 

 seed electrification. This bulletin (No. 11) presents 

 the results of a number of germination and field tests 

 carried out In 19 19 with seeds of carrot, swede, cab- 

 bage, and mangold. The best-known process of seed 

 electrification, viz. the Wolfryn process, consists in 

 Immersing the seeds In a solution either of common 

 salt and water or of calcium chloride and water, 

 through which an electric current is then passed. 

 After this treatment the seeds are dried at a tem- 

 perature of 100° P., and they are then ready for 

 sowing. Obviously two processes are here involved, 

 seed immersion and seed electrification, and the 

 Reading experiments were designed primarily to test 

 the value of the Wolfryn process, and secondarily, if 

 there are advantages, to decide whether they are due 

 to the immersion, to the electrification, or to both 

 agents combined. Tests were made with untreated 

 seeds, with seeds electrified by the Wolfryn process, 

 with seeds soaked in a solution of sulphate of am- 



