July 8, 1920] 



NATURE 



601 



The Present Condition of the . Aborigines 

 of central Australia. 



IN FORMATION lattK reteivod in this country dis- 

 closes an appalling condition of aHairs among the 

 aborigines of the inltrior of Australia. The whole 

 population is thoroughly polluted with disease, 

 00th tubercular and venereal, and the north- 

 eastern tribes are doomed. It is anticioated that 

 another ten years will see the last of such mteresting 

 tnbes as the Dieri, Yanntowanta, Ngameni, and 

 Nauroworka. This is largel\ due to contact with the 

 lower elements of European and immigrant Asiatic 

 civilisation. Misdirected kindness, however, is also, 

 to some extent, responsible. .\ liberal supply of Govern- 

 ment blankets has been distributed among the tribes; 

 they wear the blankets when working in the sun, and 

 then, when thoroughly overheated, sleep on the ground ; 

 pneumonia follows as a natural consequence. Another 

 cause of their disappearance is due to the difficulties 

 attendant on food-supplv. The game on which they 

 subsist is killed off or driven away bv the encroach- 

 ment of civilisation. Distress from "this cause has 

 recently been aggravated by severe drought. The 

 extent of the ravages arising from these various 

 causes may be gauged by the fact that half a century 

 ago It was estimated that there were 12,000 aborigines 

 within 180 miles north and 200 miles east of Adelaide, 

 and now there are not more than about 120 in that area, 

 ki the early eighties of last centurv Gason stated that 

 if steps were not taken, multiplication of the aborigines 

 would result in* the disappearance of the European 

 population, yet in this same area of w^hich he wrote it 

 is now estimated that at the outside there are not 

 more than 2000. 



The deplorable condition of the aboriginal popula- 

 tion was discovered owing to the fact that during the 

 war a number of. expeditions were sent out to Central 

 and Northern Australia in connection with the search 

 for minerals for use in munition work. Dr. Herbert 

 Basedow, a Protector of Aborigines in the service of 

 the South .Australian Government, who was a member 

 of several of these expeditions, was then brought into 

 close contact with the tribes. On his return to Ade- 

 laide at the end of the war he endeavoured to arouse 

 the public conscience by a meeting in the Town Hall, 

 at which he gave an undisguised account of what he 

 had seen. :\s a result ^i^v>l. has been subscribed, and an 

 equal amount promised by the Government, for the 

 provision of medical relief.' This sum has enabled Dr. 

 Basedow to get together a small relief partv. His first 

 expedition on this work followed the course of the 

 Strzelecki to Innaminclca. thence along the Cooper, 

 across the boundary into Queensland. Recrossin^ the 

 border, the partv visited Cordillo, Cadelga, Ringa- 

 murra, and Birdsville. thence following the Diaman- 

 tina to Hergott .Springs. One of the severest droughts 

 on record was raging at the time; the heat was 



terrific — the avera£?e temperature was ii6°-ii8° F. 



and sand-storms blew for forty-eight hours at a time. 

 No fewer than seven horses were abandoned ex- 

 hausted along the route from Diamantina to Hergott 

 Springs. The condition of the aborigines alonf^ tb*^ 

 route is described bv Dr. Basedow as "shocking." 

 Dr. Basedow has recently started on another exoedi- 

 tion. on which he oronoses to proceed along the head 

 of the .\t";traHan Bit'ht as far as F.ucla. alonjj the 

 Nullnrboi Plains to Port .Augusta, thence northwards 

 to Oodnndatta. and across the boundary to the 

 MrDonnel Ranges. 



Valuable as is such provision of medical relief as is 



possible by tf>^<:^ expeditions, it is obviously on'v a 



temporarv nallintlv^ One of the most effective of the 



measures adopted for the assistance of the aborigines, 



NO. 2645, VOL. 105] 



whether directly under State protection or not, in the 

 neighbouring State of Western Australia has bt>en the 

 establishment by the Government of a regular medical 

 service. Further, while undesirable Europeans and 

 Asiatics are permitted to mingle without control with 

 the natives, it is inevitable that diseases will continue 

 their ravages unchecked. .\ movement, which is 

 receiving influential support, has been set on fcuit to 

 induce the Government of South Australia to proclaim 

 the north-west corner of the State, including the Mus- 

 grave, Mann, and Tomkinson Ranges, as an absolute 

 reservation. It is hoped that it may also be possible 

 to secure from the Commonwealth and the Western 

 Australian Governments the proclamation of the ad- 

 joining ranges of the Northern Territory and Western 

 .\ustralia as strict reservations. This will probably be 

 the last chance of preserving the Central .\ustralian 

 tribes from complete extinction. 



E. N. F.\i.i..\T/K. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Camukiogk.— Dr. Shillington Scales has been ap- 

 pointed University lecturer in medical radiology 

 and electrology, and Mr. F. Lavington, Emmanuel 

 College, Girdlers' lecturer in economics. Mr. J. 

 Chadwick, Gonville and Caius College, has l)een 

 elected to the Clerk Maxwell scholarship in 

 experimental physics; Mr. H. F. Holden, St. John's 

 College, to the Benn W. Levy research studentship 

 in biochemistry; and Mr. A. j. Beamish, of Corpus 

 Chfisti College, to the Wrenbury scholarship in 

 economics. 



The Marshall herbarium, comprising 23,00*0 shi-ets 

 of British plants contained in dustproof oak cases, has 

 been bequeathed to the University by the late Rev. E. S. 

 Marshall, a keen and able field botanist, "unsurpassed 

 as a collection of the critical flowering plants both in 

 point of the number of interesting things he found 

 and the care and industry he showed in selecting and 

 pressing specimens of them." 



Edinburgh. — The foundation-stone of the new 

 University buildings was laid by the King on Tuesday 

 last, and the Queen accepted the honorary degree of 

 LL.D. 



Liverpool. — The King, on the recommendation of 

 the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lan- 

 caster, has contributed 100 guineas to the appeal 

 fund. 



Sheffield. — Dr. W. E. S. Turner has been ap- 

 pointed professor of glass technology, Mr. J. Husband 

 professor of civil engineering. Dr. Mellanby professor 

 of pharmacology, and Mr. R. E. Pleasance demon- 

 strator in pathology. 



By an inadvertence the.se appointments were given 

 in Nature of June 24 under the heading "Leeds." 



Prof. F. Francis has been appointed Pro-A ice- 

 C'hancellor of the University of Bristol in succession 

 to Prof. Lloyd Morgan, who is about to resign the 

 office. 



Dr. O. C. Bradley, principal of the Roval (Dick) 

 Veterinary College, Edinburgh, has been elected pre- 

 sident of the Royal College of Veterinary .Surgeons 

 in succession to Mr. J. McKinna. 



A SCHOOL of medicine, surgery, and dentistry in 

 connection with the l^niversity of Rochester, New 

 York, has received an endowment of i,Soo,(xx)?. from 

 the l'..S. General Education Bojird and Mr. G. East- 

 man, of the Eastman Kodak Co. The contribution 

 of the Board is 1,000, (kx)/., and that of Mr. Eastman 

 8oo,ot)o/. 



