JNOVEMBER 13, I9I9J 



NATURE 



i97 



between the epidemics is thirty-three weeks, there 

 being a missed epidemic when an epidemic is due in 

 the autumn {Lancet, November 8, p. 856). With 

 regard to the recent epidemics, from July 13, 1918, to 

 March i, ,11)19, the maximum points are separated 

 by thirty-three weel<s ; from March i to October i, 

 1919, is also thirty-three vveel<s. An epidemic is there- 

 fore due, but falls at an unsuitable season, and should 

 therefore be small, and so far this is the case. On 

 the same sequence the next epidemic should occur m 

 January or February of the new year. 



Lord Milnf.r, Secretary of State for the Colonies, 

 has appointed a Committee to consider the position of 

 the medical services of the various Colonies and 

 Dependencies, with the view of maintaining and in- 

 creasing the supply of candidates and of securing con- 

 tentment within the service; and to consider whether 

 the principle of assimilating the medical service of 

 neighbouring Colonies may usefully be extended, and, 

 if so, how far and by what means'. The members of 

 the Committee are :— Sir Walter Egerton, K.C.M.G 

 (chairman), Lt.-Col. Sir Harry Vernev, Bart. Sir 

 Humphry D. Rolleston, K.C.B.,' Sir W. B. Leishman, 

 K.C.M.G., Lt.-Col. Sir lames Kingston Fowler 

 K.C.V.O., Mr. T. Hood, Mr. A. Fiddian, and Mr. 

 J. E. W. Flood (secretary). 



.\mong the old mathematical worthies who ap^ 

 buried m the churches of the Citv of London is 

 Nathaniel Torporley, who was interred in the church 

 of St. Alphage, London Wall, now being demolished 

 Torporley, of whom there is a .sketch in the Dic- 

 tionary of National Biography, was born in IC64, 

 the same year as Shakespeare. From the Shrewsbury 

 Grammar S-hool he passed to Oxford, grnduating in 

 1.S84 from Christ Church and taking Holy Orders. 

 It is said that for some years he resided in France 

 rind was am.nnucnsis to Francois Vietfi. After his 

 return to England he became one of the pensioners 

 iif Henry Percy, the ninth E.irl of Northumb'-rlnnd, 

 and, like his contemporaries Harriott, Dee, Warner, 

 and Allen, spent a part of his life at Sion Collej^e.' 

 .Among his writings was one containinsf a rule for 

 solving spherical trianples. Tornorlev died at Siin 

 Col!p£»e, and was buried on Aoril 17, 1632. The 

 Church of St. Alphage was, we understand, destroyed 

 in the Fire of London, 1666, but was afterwards 

 rebuilt. 



The activities of the Royal Photographic Societv 

 naturally divide themselves into two sections, namely, 

 the pictorial and generally illustrative and the scientific 

 and technical. We are very pleased to see that a few' 

 of the more energetic members are taking the latter 

 division in hand in order to develop it by extending 

 its scope and encouraging scientific work. The 

 "Scientific and Technical Group" consists already of 

 137 members of the society, and it is honed that 'this 

 number will soon be largely augmented, the members 

 of the group pay a small' additional subscription, the 

 dispo-sal of this fund being exclusively under the control 

 of the administrative committee of' the group. It is 

 hoped to be able to distribute among the members 

 .ibstracts or translations of scientific communications 

 made to other societies or publications, as well as to 

 arrange for scientific and technical lectures and papers. 

 The Royal Photographic Society has .-.Kvavs been the 

 iT)ost_ important photographic centre in this country, 

 and it is to be hoped that this new arrangement will 

 be energetically pursued, and that it will lead to a 

 greativ increased interest being taken in the science 

 of photography. 



Thr annual council meeting of the National Union 

 of Scientific Workers was held on Saturday, Novem- 

 NO. 261 1, VOL. 104] 



ber 8, at the Imperial College Union, South Kensing- 

 ton, and was attended by delegates from nine branches. 

 The chair was taken by the retiring president, Dr. 

 O. L. Brady, and the chief business was the adoption 

 of the annual report and of the rules, and the election 

 of officers and e.xecutive committee for the ensuing 

 year. Dr. J. W. Evans was elected president, Dr. 

 Norman Campbell treasurer, and Mr. Eric Sinkinson 

 secretary. At the dinner which followed, Dr. Evans, 

 who presided, expressed the hope that the union, m 

 company with such other bodies as the British Asso- 

 ciation and the British Science Guild, would do great 

 things for science. Sir Ronald Ross, replying to the 

 toast of "The Guests," thought there 'were three 

 points for which the union might press :— (i) Better 

 payrnent for newly qualified men, including the modi- 

 fication of the present system of research assistant- 

 ships ; (2) pensions on a transferable basis for staffs 

 of universities and other institutions; and (3) pav- 

 ment for advice given to Government and municipal 

 bodies, which frequently did not even give travelling 

 allowances. The union should also press for public 

 recognition and awards for inventions. 



In tan able and very valuable summary of the 

 mammals in the .Melbourne Zoological Park, Dr. 

 W. H. D. Le Souef, the director, contrives to give a 

 lively description of all the more important indigenous 

 mammals of .Australia. As might have been expected, 

 he adds some very interesting facts to what is known 

 of the life-histories of these animals. Throughout he 

 is constantly insisting on the need for legislation to 

 stay the work of tho exterminator. Over vast tracts 

 of country some species have become absolutely wiped 

 out. It is not a little disconcerting indeed to learn 

 that the skins of wallabies and kangaroos are ex- 

 ported by the hundred thousand, for this means that 

 vested interests are sure to beget strenuous opposition 

 to the proposal which has been made to frame pro- 

 tective measures to secure the survival of at least a 

 remnant of this remarkable fauna. But we trust this 

 legislation will be soeedilv effected, or it will come too 

 late. .An additional toll upon this fauna is leyied by 

 the dogs, foxes, and cats which have been introduced 

 by settlers, and in many cases have become feral. 

 This memoir, which is illustrated by a number of very 

 beautiful photographs, is issued by the New York 

 Zoological Society. 



The Journal of Indian Botany, the first number of 

 which appeared in September, has been started under 

 the editorship of Mr. P. F. Fyson, of the Presidency 

 College, Madras, to provide a means of publishing 

 botanical work done in India which would not 

 naturally find a home in the existing botanical 

 journals of that country. In addition to original 

 papers it is proposed to publish abstracts and reviews 

 of papers which appear in other journals. The editor 

 appeals for help to Indian botanists to make the 

 journal, which will appear monthly, a success. The 

 present issue contains a short paper by L. .\. Kenoyer 

 on the dimorphic female flower of Acalypha indica, 

 a common tropical weed belonging to the family 

 Euphorbiaceae, which grows over most of India as 

 a weed on w'aste ground. The lateral female flowers 

 resemble those of Ricinus (Castor Oil) and the 

 Euphorbiaceaj generally, but the terminal flower of 

 the spike has one in place of three carpels, and 

 develops one seed, which also differs slightly in size 

 and structure from the normal seed. S. L. Ghose 

 gives a systematic account of the Myxophyceae, or 

 blue-green algae of Lahore, which occur throughout 

 the year in drains and watercourses, artificial tanks, 

 ditches, and on moist ground and tree-trunks. The 

 study of this group has hitherto been neglected in 



