January 29, 1920] 



NATURE 



573 



The death is announced, in his seventy-second year, 

 of Mr. R. L. Garner, the American author who pub- 

 lished a book on "The Speech of Monkeys" in 1892, 

 and afterwards visited the Gaboon, the country of the 

 gorilla, where he stated he lived for some months in 

 a steel cage to study the language of the great apes. 

 On his return to London, early jn 1894, Mr. Garner 

 delivered a lecture on his experiences, which attracted 

 a large audience, but clearly showed that science had 

 nothing to expect from his enterprise. 



We regret to record the death on January 24 of 

 Mr. R. F. Wallace, who retired from the Meteoro- 

 logical Office at the close of last year. Mr. Wallace 

 was in his sixty-eighth year, and should have retired 

 some two years ago, but remained in the service during 

 the closing period of the war. He entered the 

 Meteorological Office in "1883, and first served in the 

 marine division. About twenty years ago he took 

 general charge of the meteorological instruments. 



Infiienza seems to threaten to t)e prevalent in this 

 countrv before long, judging by the outbreaks in 

 -America and elsewhere. Since the commencement of 

 October influenza has been present to a limited 

 extent in the British Isles. The deaths in the ninety- 

 six great towns of England and Wales have risen 

 from 14 and 20 in the two closing weeks of Septem- 

 ber last to 70 or 80 deaths per week at frequent 

 intervals during the autumn and winter. In London 

 the deaths rose to 22 in the weeks ending November 15 

 and 22, but they have not touched 20 in any week 

 since, according to the returns of the Registrar-General 

 to January 17. The highest death-rate is between 

 twenty and sixty-five years of age, the deaths for those 

 ages in the last thirteen weeks being 59 per cent, of 

 the total number. 



In the current number of Ihe Annales de la SocUti 

 Royale Zoologique et Malacologiqtie de Belgique 

 appear the names of ten honorary members who have 

 recently been elected to that societv. .'Xmong the 

 names are those of Prof. L. Cuenot, Facult6 des 

 Sciences, Nancy ; Prof. M. Caullerv, the Sorbonne, 

 Paris; Dr. A.' E. Shipley, Christ's College, Cam- 

 bridge; Senator B. Grassi, Italy; Prof. E. G. 

 Conklin, Princeton Universitv; and Prof. Th. H. 

 Morgan, Columbia University. 



The annual meetings of the Institution of Naval 

 Architects will be held on Wednesday, March 24, and 

 the two following days, in the hall of the Royal 

 Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi, W.C.2. The 

 Right Hon. the Earl of Durham, president, will 

 occupy the chair. A gold medal will be awarded bv 

 the council to any person not being a member or 

 associate member of council who shall at the forth- 

 coming meetings read a paper which, in the judgment 

 of the council, is deemed to be of exceptional merit. 



Owing to the prevalence of diseases in prepared 

 timber, and in view of the impending increase in the 

 use of timber — much, possibly, of immature growth— 

 in building construction, the Science Standing Com- 

 mittee of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 

 under the chairmanship of Mr. Alan E. Munby, has 

 NO. 2622, VOL. 104] 



had the question of such defects under review, and Dr. 

 C. J. Gahan, of the Natural History Museum, has been 

 asked, and has consented, to associate himself in an 

 advisory capacity with this inquiry. The committee 

 will welcome any information which seems likely to 

 further such investigations. Correspondence should 

 be addressed to the Secretary, Royal Institute of 

 British Architects, g Conduit Street, W.i, and marked 

 "Science Committee." 



The following awards have been made by the coun- 

 cil of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy : — 

 (i) Gold medal of the institution (premier award, and 

 the highest distinction within the pxDwer of the insti- 

 tution to confer) to Mr. H. Livingstone Sulman, in 

 recognition of his contributions to metallurgical science, 

 with special reference to his work in the develop- 

 ment of flotation and its application to the recovery of 

 minerals. (2) " The Consolidated Gold Fields of South 

 Africa, Ltd." gold medal to Mr. William Henry Good- 

 child, for his pajjers on "The Economic Geology of the 

 Insizwa Range "• and " The Genesis of Igneous Ore 

 Deposits." (3) "The Consolidated Gold Fields of 

 South Africa, Ltd." premium of forty guineas to Dr. 

 Edward Thomas Mellor, for his paper on " The Con- 

 glomerates of the Witwatersrand." 



.At the annual general meeting of the Royal 

 Meteorological Society, held on January 21, the 

 following officers and council were elected : — President: 

 R. H. Hooker. Vice-Presidents : J. Baxendell, 

 F. Druce, Sir Napier Shaw, and F. J. W. Whipple. 

 Treasurer : W. V. Graham. Secretaries: W. W. 

 Bryant and J. S. Dines. Foreign Secretary: R. G. K. 

 Lempfert. ■ Council: C. E. P. Brooks, Dr. J. 

 Brownlee, Capt. C. J. P. Cave, J. E. Clark, 

 R. Corless, Capt. G. M. B. Dobson, J. Fairgrieve, 

 Lieut. H. D. Grant, H. Mellish, Dr. J. E. Petavel, 

 NLde Carle Sowerby Salter, and G. I. Taylor. The 

 .Svriions gold medal awarded to Prof. H. H. Hilde- 

 brandsson, of the University, Upsala, was presented 

 on his behalf to the Swedish Minister. 



Mr. Ikbai, .\li .Shah gives in Folk-lore for December 

 last (vol. XXX., No. 4) a comprehensive account of the 

 folk-life of .'Afghanistan, a subject about which little 

 information has hitherto been available. He traces 

 the life of an -Afghan from the cradle to the grave, 

 his accoiuit of the marriage and death ceremonies 

 being particularly interesting. On the whole, though 

 Mr. Shah is perhaps influenced by his natural pre- 

 possessions, he gives a pleasing impression of the 

 family life of the people, and the general result is 

 that, as Afghanistan borders on both Persia and 

 India, the domestic rites of the .Afghans have been 

 influenced both by Persians and by the Hindu or 

 Mussulman culture of the Punjab. 



In Sudan Notes and Records (vol. ii.. No. 3, July, 

 igi9)Dr. C. Crossland treats the question "Com- 

 fort and Health in the Tropics." " Remove the 

 mosquitoes and the fevers they carry, and most 

 tropical countries can be made fairly healthy." He 

 gives good advice on clothing. "Air which is already 

 moist can have little drying or consequent cooling 

 effect unless it is in fairly rapid motion. Consequently 



