322 



NATURE 



[November 20, 19 19 



Later. — The Finlay ephemeris needs corrections of 

 ~24m. R.A., —3° decl. 



M. Ebell gives the following orbit of Kopff's comet 

 1919a, from observations 1919 July 31, August 20, 

 September 16 {Ast. Nach., 5016): — 



7=1919 June 28-210 G.M.T. 

 o) = 19" 43' 5io"1 

 ^1 = 263° 48' sr4'7i9i9-o 

 i = 8° 41' 3oi"J 



The mean observed period between 1906 and 1919 

 is 6-5766 years. 



(f> =30^ 56' 40'6" 

 fi = 538-904" 

 log « = 0-545664 

 Period = 6-584i years 



UNVEILING 



OF LISTER 

 TABLETS. 



MEMORIAL 



BRIEF mention was made last week of the unveiling 

 at University College, I^ondon, of two bas-relief 

 tablets in memory of Lord Lister, one of the most 

 distinguished alumni of the college. There were 

 present the Duke of Bedford (president of the Lister 

 Memorial Committee), the president of the Royal 

 Society, the president of the Royal College of 

 Surgeons, Sir William Lister, the Misses Lister, and 

 Miss Godlee (relatives of the late Lord Lister), the 



Lister Memorial 'tablet at University College, London. A similar tablet 

 has been secured for University College Hospital, where Lister was 

 student and house surgeon in 1843-52. 



Vice-Chancellor of the University, the Provost of 

 University College and Lady Foster, Sir John Brad- 

 ford, Sir George Thane, Sir Thomas Barlow, Sir John 

 Tweedy, Sir Ernest Hatch, and many others. The 

 proceedings were opened by the Dulie of Bedford, 

 who referred to Lister's connection with Uni- 

 versity College, and commented upon the great 

 value of Lister's presence in the House of Lords. 

 Before unveiling the tablet destined to be erected at 

 University College Hospital, where Lister was once 

 house surgeon. Sir George Malcins outlined the 

 main events of Lister's life, the success of which 

 was due to his thorough training as a student. Sir 

 NO. 2612, VOL. 104] 



Joseph Thomson unveiled the tablet for Universitv 

 College. He said that Lister, one of the glories of 

 British science, began his connection with the Roval 

 Society at the early age of thirty-three, when he was 

 elected a fellow. During Lister's five vears' tenure 

 of the presidency of the society much excellent ad- 

 ministrative work was carried out, and this epoch 

 saw the inception of several famous biological inves- 

 tigations organised by the society. The Provost (Sir 

 Gregory Foster) then invited Sir Edwin Cooper Perrv 

 (the Vice-Chancellor), Sir George Thane, Sir Ernest 

 Hatch, and Mr. Raymond Johnson to accept the tablets 

 on behalf of the bodies they represented. Sir George 

 Thane, in reply, mentioned that University College had 

 that day been presented with one of Lister's prizes re- 

 ceived whilst a student, and he expressed the hope th^t 

 owner.*; of Lister mementoes might present them to 

 the college. On behalf of the memorial committee 

 Sir John Tweedy conveyed the thanks of the sub- 

 scribers to the sculptor, Prof. Havard Thomas. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT 



BOURNEMOUTH. 



SECTION I. 



PHYSIOLOGY. 



Opening Address (Abstracted) by Prof. D. NoiiL 

 Paton, M.D., F.R.S., President of the Section. 



In the advance of every science certain difficulties 

 and dangers which must be encountered tend to make 

 the progress of knowledge somewhat devious, some- 

 what zigzag in character. 



(i) The study of the metabolism of proteins in the 

 animal body, especially when they are considered as 

 a source of energy, illustrates this in a striking 

 manner. Liebig's teaching insisted on their prime 

 importance. The investigations of Voit and of Fick 

 and Wislicenus — unsatisfactory as the latter were — 

 caused a swing to the other extreme, to the view tlvit 

 carbohydrates, not proteins, are the main source cjf 

 energy. The work of Pfliiger and of his school 

 brought about a temporary swing back to Liebig's 

 teaching. Only when it became pwssible to study the 

 respiratory exchanges along with the excretion of 

 nitrogen was a true knowledge gained of the relative 

 importance of proteins and of the other two pro.ximate 

 principles. 



(2) .\s regards the use of proteins in the building and 

 repair of the tissues, progress has been more direct, 

 and has ultimately led to the recognition of the im- 

 portance of the constituent amino-acids as the "building 

 stones " of the proteins. In this connection the im- 

 portance of the diamino-acids lysin, histidin, and 

 arginin must be recognised. Their presence has been 

 shown to be necessary for growth. The presence of 

 guanidin in the arginin molecule requires more atten- 

 tion than it has yet received. 



(3) An aspect of protein metabolism which has been 

 more recently elucidated is the physiological activity of 

 the constituent amino-acids in explaining the stimulat- 

 ing action — the specific dynamic action- — of proteins 

 upon the general metabolism and upon heat pr^uction. 



The evidence of whether guanidin may be a product 

 manifesting a physiological action in the body is worthy 

 of study. The investigations of Kossel and Dakin and 

 the earlier work of Thompson do not negative the 

 probability of the liberation of guanidin from arginin 

 in muscle, while the more recent work of Inouye and 

 of Thompson indicate that guanidin may be split oft 

 from arginin. The formation of guanidin, eith<>r 

 free or combined, from non-protein sources was de- 

 monstrated by Burns to occur in the hen's egg during 



