December 4, 1919] 



NATURE 



357 



N07KS. 



The desirability of fostering scientific research as a 

 result of experience gained during the war was 

 recently urged upon various Government Departments 

 by the British Association. There is reason to believe 

 that measures are being' taken to this end in various 

 directions ; in particular, the association has received 

 from the Admiralty a communication in the course of 

 which it is stated that the authorities there "are 

 keenlv alive to the supreme importance of research in 

 its bearing on naval requirements, and that the 

 organisation of suitable arrangements for this purpose 

 is now engaging, and will continue to engage, their 

 earnest attention. Rapid progress is now being made 

 in the elaboration of a complete scheme which will 

 provide, on one hand, for systematic and continuous 

 development in research and experimental establish- 

 ments controlled by the Department, and, on the 

 other, for an effective relation between these estab- 

 lishments and scientific institutions throughout the 

 country." 



The collection of precious stones which was formed 

 by the late Sir Arthur H. Church, and presented by 

 his widow to the Trustees of the British Museum, has 

 recently been placed in a special case under the arch- 

 way leading from the main gallery of minerals to the 

 meteorites pavilion at the Natural History Museum. 

 Sir Arthur Church was for thirty-two years professor 

 of chemistry at the Royal Academy of Arts, and his 

 leaning towards art led him from his early days to 

 take an interest in rare gem-stones. In consequence, 

 the collection was at his death exceptionally rich in 

 specimens of mineral species seldom seen in ordinary 

 jewelry, as well as in unusual specimens of familiar 

 species. The pride of the collection is the brilliant 

 orange-coloured spessartite, which is all but unique, 

 since only one other such stone (cut, in fact, from the 

 same original crystal) is known to exist. The collec- 

 tion is very rich in zircons. Together with the four 

 stones which Sir Arthur Church presented in his life- 

 time, the collection numbers 207 specimens, without 

 counting the eight diamond points and the twenty-one 

 •diamond brilliants used in the setting of a zircon and 

 a peridot ring respectively ; of them, 170 are set in 

 162 gold rings and 37 are unset. 



Dr. O. HoLTED.MtL is organising a Norwegian ex- 

 ploring expedition to Novaya Zemlya, and hopes to 

 sail in June next year. Dr. Holtedahl, who has 

 had previous polar experience in geological explora- 

 tion in Spitsbergen, has laid his plans before the 

 Norwegian Academy of Sciences, where they obtained 

 the support of Dr. F. Nansen, who advocated a State 

 grant. According to the Morning Post, Dr. Holtedahl 

 will make the base of his expedition on Matochkin 

 Shar, the strait between the two large islands, where 

 there is a small Samoyede settlement. A botanist, 

 a zoologist, and a meteorologist will accompany the 

 expedition, while the leader will devote his time to 

 geology and geophysical problems. Novaya Zemlya 

 is by no means a terra incognita ; Russian explorers 

 have frequently visited it, particularly in search of 

 minerals. But the results of their work have only 

 partly been published, and the collections and obser- 

 vations have probably been destroyed. In 1916 the 

 Russian Government proposed to erect two perma- 

 nent meteorological stations in Novaya Zemlya, one 

 at the north end and the other at Matochkin Shar; 

 but nothing has yet been done. Dr. Holtedahl 

 rightly insists on the usefulness of a permanent 

 station. He would also like to see one on the island 

 of Jan Mayen, between Iceland and Spitsbergen. 



NO. 2614, VOL. 104] 



A LETTER has been received by us from Dr. Th. 

 Mortensen, the distinguished curator of the zoological 

 collections in the Royal Museum, Copenhagen, pro- 

 testing against the use of the German word " Anlage " 

 in zoological papers written in English. It is rather 

 curious that it should have been left to a friendly 

 neutral to protest against this disfigurement of the 

 English language. Dr. Mortensen suggests that the 

 English word " rudiment " conveys exactly the mean- 

 ing of "Anlage," and he hazards the supposition that 

 the reason why " rudiment " is not more largely used 

 in this sense is that it has been customary in the 

 past to employ the phrase " rudimentary organ " to 

 signify the disappearing remnant of a once functional 

 structure. In both his views we heartily concur with 

 Dr. Mortensen. Unfortunately, the phrase " rudi- 

 mentary organ " is found embedded in our great 

 classic of biology, the " Origin of Species," and it 

 is probably for this reason that some 3'ears ago 

 leading .American zoologists, who disliked the word 

 "Anlage," attempted to replace it by the English 

 word "fundament," an attempt which e.xcited only 

 amusement in the zoological world in general. To us 

 it seems that only a little perseverance is required in 

 order to establish the word " rudiment " as the 

 English equivalent of ".Anlage," whilst the equally 

 good English word " vestige " can be used to signify 

 the remnant of a disanpearing organ. This usage has 

 already been adopted by some of our most recent 

 writers on embryology, and it is to be hoped that it 

 will spread until it becomes universally recognised. 



The appeal which is being made by the Research 

 Institute in Dairying, attached to University College, 

 Reading, for funds to purchase a suitable farm and 

 to provide research laboratories and a dairy is 

 deserving of support, not only by those connocted 

 with the dairying industry, but also by the public at 

 large. A good supply of pure milk at a moderate 

 price is most important for the nation, and it is only 

 by a systematic inquiry conducted with proper equip- 

 ment by skilled workers that the problem will be 

 solved. The formation of a research institute on 

 dairying dates only from 1912, and, naturally, the 

 work which has been undertaken up to the present 

 has been seriously handicapped by war conditions. 

 Now, howevier, the staff of the institute is in a posi- 

 tion to press forward the various inquiries which have 

 in many cases already been commenced. .\n excellent 

 start was made with an investigation of the causes 

 which lead annually to heavy losses when milk sours 

 prematurely. As would be expected, cleanliness and 

 a low temperature have been proved to be the chief 

 agents in the prevention o£ these avoidable losses. The 

 reports already issued from the institute five some 

 very striking illustrations of the high "keeping" pro- 

 perties of clean milk. In cheese-makinsj the Research 

 Institute has also a most promising field of investiga- 

 tion, for although many of the best varieties of cheese 

 in the world have had their origin in this country, 

 very little is known of the details of the processes. 

 The higher price of milk mal<ies it imperative that 

 there should be no avoidable losses either in the milk 

 supply or in the articles made from milk, the high 

 food value (to say nothing of the physiological value) 

 of which is now so generally recognised. 



The death has occurred, at the age of sixty-nine, 

 of Dr. lohn Vose Hazen, who had recently resigned 

 the chair of civil engineering and graphics at Dart- 

 mouth College, New Hampshire, after a long tenure. 



Dr. W. G. Bissell, whose death is reported in his 

 fiftieth year, had been chief of the Bureau of Bac- 

 teriology in the city of Buffalo since 1894. He was 



