October 30, 1919] 



NATURE 



177 



Physunio, and on the anatomy of a Chironomid 

 larva of the genus Polypedilum. 



The most peculiar elements of the fauna are 

 the fishes and mollusca. Of fishes there have 

 been found thirty-one species, representing 

 seventeen genera and seven families ; among the 

 many new forms is an extraordinary eel-like 

 creature which Dr. Annandale regards as a tyj>e 

 of a distinct family of Apodes. Common features 

 of the fishes are a large eye and small develop- 

 ment of tactile appendages — features thought per- 

 haps to be directly correlated with the remarkable 

 transparency of the water. Of aquatic mollusca 

 thirty-seven species are mentioned — a large pro- 

 portion being new — representing twelve genera 

 and eight families ; they are said to display extra- 

 ordinary variability, and their evolutional plas- 

 ticity is discussed with much learning and an 

 equal wealth of illustration. 



Altogether, this investigation of the fauna of 

 the Inle Lake is a refined piece of work, reflecting 

 high credit on the new zoological survey of India 

 and its versatile director. Moreover, although the 

 report shows an intelligent appreciation of the 

 economic p>erspective, as is seen in the full and 

 critical description of the fisheries of the lake and 

 all their apparatus, it is free from any taint of 

 that meretricious stuff which so commonly in 

 ponderous administrative circles of the British 

 Empire lives and spreads aloft under the pseudo- 

 nym of science. 



NOTES. 



The first number of Nature appeared on Novem- 

 ber 4, 1869, so that the jubilee of the journal will 

 be attained next week. In celebration of this event 

 the issue of November 6 will be devoted to articles 

 upon scientific progress and developments of the past 

 fifty years, contributed by eminent workers in different 

 fields. Through the active co-operation of these 

 authorities it has been possible to secure a compre- 

 hensive collection of articles of great interest, which 

 we believe will be accepted as a worthy epitome of 

 outstanding advances in the half-century during which 

 Nature has been published. 



A MEETING of the International Electrotechnical 

 Commission was held in London on October 20 and 

 the three following days, under the presidency of M. 

 Maurice Leblanc. Representatives of twenty nations 

 were present, and the reports of the various com- 

 mittees were considered. Signer Semenza stated that 

 national agreement had been obtained in Italy on 

 the subject of symbols, both in those used in text- 

 books and in those used in engineering drawings. 

 He pointed out the many advantages that would ensue 

 if international agreement could be obtained. The 

 British list of symbols, which is finished and will 

 shortly be published, is very similar to the Italian 

 list, and complete agreement could be easily obtained. 

 Nearly all the committees on nomenclature have pub- 

 lished lists of definitions, etc., and the next step to 

 take is to compare them all closely and then to issue a 

 standard list. The committee on the rating of elec- 

 Itrical machinery has been very busy, and has held 

 lany meetings. This subject, however, proves to be 

 verv difficult, as trade considerations have to be taken 

 into account. The commission has definitely 

 taken up the question of preparing a specification for 

 aluminium on the same lines that it adopted for 

 NO. 2609, VOL. 104] 



specifying pure copper. The copper specification was 

 most useful, and has been adopted by every country 

 in the world. A special committee was appointed to 

 consider the question of screw-lamp caps and holders. 

 This country is almost the only one which retains 

 bayonet-holders for electric lamps, although many 

 electrical engineers think that the screw-lamp caps 

 are the best. Sir Richard Glazebrook presided at the 

 banquet, and the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour made a 

 thoughtful speech on standardisation which was much 

 appreciated by all the engineers present. He pointed 

 out that if it did not entirely prevent waste, it at least 

 diminished it. 



At the annual statutory meeting of the Royal 

 Society of Edinburgh, held on October 27, the fol- 

 lowing office-bearers and members of council were 

 elected : — President : Prof. F. O. Bower. Vice-Presi- 

 dents : Prof. G. A. Gibson, Dr. R. Kidston, Prof. 

 D. Noel Paton, Prof. A. Robinson, Sir George A. 

 Berry, and Prof. W. Peddie. General Secretary ; 

 Dr. C. G. Knott. Secretaries to Ordinary Meetings : 

 Prof. E. T. Whittaker and Dr. J. H. Ashworth. 

 Treasurer: Dr. J. Currie. Curator of Library and 

 Museum : Dr. A. Crichton Mitchell. Councillors : 

 Prof. P. T. Herring, Prof. T. J. Jehu, Dr. A. Lauder, 

 the Hon. Lord Guthrie, Prof. R. A. Sampson, Prof. 

 J. Lorrain Smith, Dr. W. A. Tait, Surg.-Gen. W. B. 

 Bannerman, Mr. H. M. Cadell, Prof. A. R. Cushny, 

 Sir J. A. Ewing, and Mr. G. J. Lidstone. 



Mr. Bruce Frederic Cummings, who died on 

 October 22, will probably be known to a wider public 

 as "W. N. P. Barbellion," author of "The Journal 

 of a Disappointed Man," noticed by us on July 10 

 last, but his few scientific papers will ensure for him 

 a no less enduring, if a more limited, reputation. 

 Born at Barnstaple in August, 1889, 'in spite of meagre 

 circumstances and increasing ill-health he taught him- 

 self zoology to such good purpose as to gain an 

 assistantship in the entomological department of the 

 British Museum, which he entered in January, 1912. 

 He had previously contributed notes on local natural 

 history to the Zoologist, and had been offered in the 

 Marine Biological Laboratory at Plymouth a post 

 which the illness of his father prevented him from 

 taking up. In his "Journal" he affected scorn for 

 the entomological work to which he was set, but his 

 studies of lice soon gave rise to important papers 

 published by the Zoological Society and in the Annals 

 of Natural History. Another paper of much interest 

 was on a scent-organ in the caddis-fly, Sericostoma 

 personatutn. Failing health caused him to resign his 

 appointment in July, 1917. Mr. Cummings might 

 never "have revolutionised systematic zoology," but 

 he tfave something more than the promise of distin- 

 guished work. 



In a Memorandum by the Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer on the future Exchequer balance-sheet 

 (Cd. 376) an attempt is made to arrive at very 

 tentative revised estimates of the national revenue and 

 expenditure in a "normal" year. The estimated 

 normal yearlv expenditure is 8o8,ooo,oooi., and in- 

 cludes the following items : — Education, 45,900,000!. ; 

 upkeep of museums and galleries, 600,000!. ; and 

 scientific investigation and research, 400,000!. The 

 year 1919-20 will not be a normal year, but as regards 

 the above items of expenditure the only difference in 

 the estimate is that the education is down for 

 41,000,000!. instead of 45,900,000!. 



Dr. K. E. Laman, leader of the Congo mission of 

 the Swedish Missionary Union,- has lately returned 

 to Stockholm with a large collection of ethnographical 

 material drawn from the Bakongo, Bateke, and 

 Bakuta people, as well as from five races of Ngunu. 



