November 27, 1919] 



NATURE 



345 



Skvkkal repifsentatives of British universities are 

 now in Belgium as guests of the Belgian Government, 

 in order to examine, among other matters, an arrange- 

 ment for the exchange of teachers and students 

 between British and Belgian universities. 



The under-mentioned staff appointments have been 

 made ;it the Bradford Technical College : — Head of 

 Department of Chemistry: Prof. R. B. Abell. Ler- 

 turer in Chemistry: Mr. H. P. Starck. Head of 

 Department of Biology: Mr. .\. Malins Smith. Head 

 of Department of Dyeing: Dr. L. L. Llovd. 



On November 22 President Poincare inaugurated 

 the French Iniversity of Strasbourg, Everv en- 

 deavour is to be made to attract to the Universitv 

 English and Scottish students who before the war 

 found their way to Bonn, Heidelberg, and GiJttingen. 

 The Paris correspondent of the Times savs that the 

 Germans have left behind them credits amounting to 

 nearly 30,000,000 francs (1,200,000;.), which are avail- 

 able for the improvement of the scientific equipment 

 of the Universitv. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London'. 

 Royal Society, November 13.— Sir J. J. Thomson, 

 president, in the chair.— Lt.-Col. R. McCarrison : The 

 genesis of a.'dema in beri-beri. Conclusions previouslv 

 reached by physiological methods of adrenalin eftima"- 

 tion are confirmed by chemical methods. Deficiencv' 

 of certain accessory food factors gives rise to a greatlv 

 increased production of adrenalin. Whatever the 

 function of adrenal medulla mav be, excessive pro- 

 duction of adrenalin, under conditions of " vitaminic " 

 deficiency, is concerned with causation of cedema. — 

 \V. Hobinson : The microscopical features of mechanical 

 strains in timber and the bearing of these on the 

 •structure of the cell-wall in plants. The gross and 

 microscopic characteristics of failure in compression 

 nre described for spruce, ash, and pitch pine. It is 

 shown that failure is initiated bv the development of 

 microscopic planes of slipping in the cell-walls of the 

 wood. The appearance oif the slip planes in the cell- 

 xvalls is accompanied by profound changes in the 

 behaviour^of the latter towards many stains and re- 

 agents. These changes are discussed in relation to 

 ♦heir possible bearing on the process of lignification of 

 rrell-walls. In addition to compression, the failures in 

 longitudinal tension and longitudinal shearing are 

 described.— W. B. Bottomley : The effect of nitrogen- 

 fixing organisms and nucleic acid derivatives on plant- 

 growth. The products of the nitrogen-fixing organism, 

 Azotohacter chroococcum, are shown to have a marked 

 effect in increasing the rate of growth of plants of 

 Lemna minor in water culture; and the derivatives 

 of nucleic acid, which the author has found can be 

 *^xtracted from raw peat, are also able to act as acces- 

 «!ory food substances. The addition of these two 

 separate materials to the culture solution increased 

 the number of plants from i8r7 in mineral solutions 

 only to g6.f)2i and 80,179 respectivelv in the liquids 

 containing these substances. Not onlv was the rate 

 of multiplication increased bv these organic materials, 

 but the plants supplied with them also maintained 

 their normal sire and health. The nitrogen-fixing 

 organism. Bacillus radicicola, is found to have a 

 similar effect to that of Azotohacler chroococcinn. \ 

 similar series of experiments was carried out with the 

 nsh of the crude nucleic acid derivatives and of the 

 Azotobacter growth, and neither of these materials 

 had the slightest effect on the rate of multiolicalion or 

 the health of the Lemna nlants. It is therefore the 

 NO. 2613, VOL. I04I 



organic material which is so essential for the complete 

 metabolism of these plants, and thcv cannot main- 

 tain their normal growth and vigour for any length 

 of time without the presence of small quantities of 

 organic substances. — .Vgnes Arber : The vegetative 

 morphology of Pistia and the Lemnaceae. .'\natomicaI 

 examination of the "limb" of the leaf of Pistia 

 stratiotes, L. , the river lettuce, shows that, in addition 

 to normally orientated vascular bundles, there is a 

 series of inverted bundles towards the upper surface. 

 This fact is regarded as indicating that the leaf is of 

 the nature of a petiolar phyllode. This interpretation 

 is extended to the distal part of the frond of the 

 Lemnaceae (duckweeds)-. — W. J. Young, .\. ItreinI, 

 J. J. Harris, and W. A. Osborne: Effects of exercise 

 and humid heat upon the pulse rate, blood pressure, 

 bodv temperature, and blood concentration. The 

 results point to the fact that both exercise and humid 

 heat play a part in producing a rise in blood pressure, 

 pulse rate, and rectal temperature. The degree of 

 rise, however, is controlled bv atmospheric conditions, 

 which influence the rate of cooling of the body. 



Zoological Society, November 4. — Dr. A. Smith 

 Woodward, vice-president, in the chair. — F. Martin 

 Duncan : Photographs showing the actinic quality of 

 the light from a living Pyrophorus beetle. In describ- 

 ing the method employed to obtain the records, the 

 author stated that photospectroscopically the greatest 

 intensity of light action appeared to be in the vellow- 

 green region. — E. Heron-Allen : Skiagraphs of the 

 foraminiferan genus Verneuilina from examples grown 

 in a hypertonic tank. — Miss Joan B. Proctor : The 

 variation in (he number of dorsal scale-rows in our 

 British snakes.— Dr. G. A. Boulenger : Some new 

 fishes from near the west coast of Lake Tanganyika. 

 — Dr. G. Marshall : The species of the Balaninus 

 occurring in Borneo (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). — The 

 Hon. P. Melhuen : Description of a new snake from 

 the Transvaal, together with a new diagnosis and key 

 of the genus Xenocalamus, and of some Batrachia 

 from Madagascar.- -Prof. J. P. Hill : The placenta- 

 tion of 'iarsius.— R. I. Pocock : The external 

 characters of Tarsius. 



Geological Society, November 5. — Mr. G. W. 

 Lamplugh, president, in the chair. — H. H. Thomas : 

 Some features in the topography and geological his- 

 torv of Palestine. A perfectly new method of illus- 

 trating and investigating some branches of physical 

 geology is afforded by aeroplane photography. It 

 seems, first, to illustrate in a very striking and con- 

 vincing form many geological phenomena, siich as the 

 structure of a volcano or the land-forms resulting from 

 erosion, and may be of value in the teaching of the 

 science. In the second place it may, in certain cir- 

 cumstances, become a valuable means of research, 

 especially in connection with river development or 

 denudation in a region which is somewhat inaccessible, 

 or where the surface of the ground is very complicated 

 and the main features are obscured by a mass of less 

 important detail. The lecture dealt principally with 

 the illustration of the physical features of Palestine, 

 and owes its origin to the systematic photo survey 

 made over Central Palestine during the war. The 

 lacustrine deposits of the Jordan Valley and their 

 weathering were showni and also the form o^ the 

 drainage channels running down into the main valley. 

 The deo-'ession of the Dead .Sea with reference to 

 the surrounding country has resulted in cailon forma- 

 tion in many olaces. Some evidences of faullTng at 

 different neriods can be distinguished. The Jordan .it 

 present forms an interesting study in river develop- 

 ment, and inanv of its main features were demon- 

 strated. The relation of the Jordan to the Orontes 



