November 6, 1919] 



NATURE 



265 



occasion to point out that "Dr. Mond's foundation 

 was a most important accession to the resources 

 which had been placed at the command of the institu- 

 tion for the advancement of chemical and physical 

 science. The Royal Institution has long enjoyed a 

 world-wide reputation, thanks to the marvellous work 

 of the succession of illustrious men whose researches 

 carried on within its walls have very largely con- 

 tributed to secure and maintain for this country a 

 foremost position as a source of great discoveries and 

 important advances in science and its applications." 



Mr. Robert Mond was nominated in the deed of 

 trust honorary secretary for life. 



The managers appointed the late Lord Rayleigh 

 and Sir James Dewar the directors without remunera- 

 tion. 



The following is a selection of inquiries executed 

 in the Davy-Faradav Research Laboratory com- 

 municated to scientific societies by fellows of the 

 Royal Society : — Dr. H. Debus, " Contributions to 

 the History of Glyoxalic Acid"; Hugo Muller, 

 "Quercitol, Cocositol, Inositol, Flavon " ; Horace T. 

 Brown, " Starch : Its Transformations and Deriva- 

 tives " ; J. Y. Buchanan, "The Specific Gravity of 

 Soluble Salts " ; J. Emerson Reynolds. " Silicon 

 Researches"; J. E. Petavel, "Standards of Light" 

 and "Gaseous Explosive Mixtures"; k. Scott, 

 "Atomic Weight of Carbon, etc."; W. J. Russell, 

 ".Action of Wood on Photographic Plates in the Dark, 

 etc." 



The following papers have been published : — k. 

 Croft Hill, "Reversibility of Enzyme or Ferment 

 Action, etc."; W. Wahl, "Optical Investigations of 

 Solidified Gases, etc."; W. Gluud, "Derivatives of 

 -Mlvlamine, Phenylglycine, etc."; Sir J. C. Bose, 

 " The Response of Inorganic Matter to Stimulus, 

 etc."; Miss Ida Smedley, "Colour Derivatives of 

 Fluorene " ; and Miss k. Everett, " Colour Photo- 

 metrv." 



THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF 

 SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



'T'HE International Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 

 ^ tare was constituted in 1900 at an International 

 Conference held in London under the auspices of the 

 Royal Society. It is a unique attempt to secure an 

 accurate and exhaustive bibliography of pure science 

 by international co-operation, each country being 

 responsible for the indexing of its own literature. 

 Each volume contains an author index and a subject 

 index. An annual issue is composed of seventeen 

 volumes indexing the seventeen branches into which 

 science is divided for convenience of reference. The 

 books and papers catalogued are those published since 

 January i, 1901, papers published before that date 

 being indexed in the Royal Society's Catalogue of 

 Scientific Papers. 



The control of the catalogue is in the hands of an 

 international council composed of one representative 

 from each country taking part in the work. This 

 council appoints an executive committee, which meets 

 in London, but each of the countries co-operating has 

 its own regional bureau to prepare index cards and 

 send them to a central bureau in London for publi- 

 cation. Since the foundation of the catalogue about 

 three million such cards have been received from the 

 bureaux. More than two hundred volumes have been 

 published. 



Until the outbreak of the war in 1914 more than 

 thirty countries were taking part in preparing the 

 catalogue, and the harmony with which they worked 

 together is one of the most remarkable features of the 

 enterprise. Even the Russo-Japanese War did not 



NO. 2610, VOL. 104] 



hinder the delegates of Russia and Japan from meet- 

 ing at the conferences. 



Although the recent war and the present condition 

 of Europe create a difficult position for all international 

 undertakings, it is much to be hoped that means may 

 be found for continuing the work of the catalogue on 

 an international basis, and without sacrificing those 

 distinctive features which have met with such wide- 

 spread appreciation. 



THE TROPICAL DISEASES BUREAU. 

 'T^HE Tropical Diseases Bureau came into existence 

 . in July. 1912, as a development of the Sleeping 

 Sickness Bureau founded in 1908. The main function 

 of the bureau has been to review current papers on 

 tropical diseases, i.e. exotic diseases occurring in the 

 tropics and sub-tropics. The medium of publication 

 is the Tropical Diseases Bulletin, now in its four- 

 teentii volume. The Bulletin, which appears monthly, 

 contains classified summaries of all papers within its 

 scope which come under notice. Each subject is in 

 charge of a "sectional editor," whose initials are 

 appended to his summaries. Thus the results of the 

 most recent researches on tropical disease in every 

 country, new methods of treatment, and improved 

 means of prevention quickly become available for the 

 remote worker in the tropics. Critical reviews of 

 books are also published. 



The bureau issues also the Tropical Veterinary Bui. 

 letin quarterly, the object of which is to deal with the 

 diseases of domestic animals in the tropics in the 

 same way as the Tropical Diseases Bulletin does with 

 the diseases of man. 



The bureau maintains a library under the charge 

 of Capt. R. L. Sheppard, which contains complete or 

 nearly complete files of all the tropical medical jour- 

 nals, in addition to others, some two hundred series in 

 all, and a large number of reports and reprints. 

 Though the library is mainly intended for the use of 

 the sectional editors, it is open to any inquirer without 

 formality. 



The bureau is under the management of a com- 

 mittee appointed by the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies, the expert members of which are Sir John 

 Rose Bradford, Sir David Bruce, Sir Havelock 

 Charles, Sir Wm. Leishman, Sir Patrick Manson, 

 and, representing veterinary medicine, Sir John 

 M'Fadyean and Sir Stewart Stockman. Dr. A. G. 

 Bagshawe is the director. It is maintained bv a grant 

 in aid from the Imperial Treasurv and bv contributions 

 from the Governments of India, the Sudan, the Union 

 of South Africa, and certain colonies and protectorates, 

 to which copies of its publications are supplied gratis. 

 By the general public the Tropical Diseases Bulletin 

 can be obtained at an annual subscription of a guinea, 

 and the Tropical Veterinary Bulletin at to^. 



The offices of the bureau are at present situated at 

 the Imperial Institute, South Kensington. 



WOMEN AT CAMBRIDGE. 



TN February, i8q6, the council of the Senate reported 

 *■ the receipt of four memorials relating to the ad- 

 mission of women to degrees. A syndicate was ap- 

 pointed to consider the question, and in February, 

 1897, the majority reported recommending that degrees 

 should be conferred on women by diploma, but not 

 that they should become members of the University 

 on the same terms as men. The liveliest interest in 

 and opposition to these proposals were occasioned, and 

 a discussion lasting three days took place in the 

 Senate House. Finally, in May, 1897, the report 



