?4S 



NATURE 



[May 24, 1917 



officials will ever possess true standards of value in 

 matters pertaining to science. The subject is dealt 

 with in an article on another page ; and all we wish 

 to say here is that we are glad to accord the hospitality 

 of our columns to a contribution intended for the Keiso 

 Bulletin, and that we earnestly hope action will be 

 taken to secure the continuance of a publication which 

 is more essential now than ever it was. So many 

 misleading statements have recently been made about 

 rhubarb that such an accurate account of the plant as 

 is given in the present article, if made widely known 

 to the public, should save much suffering and needless 

 loss of life. 



We notice with much regret the announcement of 

 the death on May 18, at seventy-eight years of age, 

 of Sir Alexander R. Binnie, past president of the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, and from 1890 to 1902 

 chief engineer to the London County Council. 



The late Lord Justice Stirling's herbarium, consist, 

 ing chieflv of about 6000 varieties of mosses and liver- 

 worts from many parts of the world, has been pre- 

 sented by Lady Stirling to the Tunbridge Wells 

 Natural History Society. 



The Canadian Government has recently appointed 

 Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt to be consulting zoologist, in 

 addition to his duties as Dominion entomologist and 

 chief of the entomological branch of the Department 

 of Agriculture. The duties of the office will be to 

 advise in matters relating to the protection of birds 

 and mammals and the treatment of noxious species. 



The death is announced, in his eighty-fifth year, 

 of Dr. Ephraim Cutter, a distinguished American 

 microscopist and inventor of many surgical and 

 gynaecological instruments. He was a pioneer in 

 American laryngology, and had studied the morphology 

 of raw beef since 1854. In 1894 he discovered the 

 tuberculosis cattle test. He was an expert in food 

 values, and was the author of more than 800 contribu- 

 tions to the literature of medical science. 



An association having the title. Society of Indus- 

 trial Chemistry, has recently been formed in France. 

 The honorary president of the new society is Prof. 

 Haller, of the Institute, and its object is the develop- 

 ment of the chemical industry in France in order that 

 it may be given that prominence which will be neces- 

 sary in the after-war struggle. The society comprises 

 manufacturers, engineers, and chemists. The head- 

 quarters of the society are at 49 rue des Mathurins, 

 Paris. 



The Franklin medal of 1 the Franklin Insti- 

 tute, Philadelphia, has been awarded to Dr. 

 H. A. Lorentz, For.Mem.R.S., president, Royal 

 -Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, and pro- 

 fessor of mathematical physics. University of 

 Levden. The Franklin medal has also been awarded 

 to Admiral D. W. Taylor, Chief Constructor, Chief of 

 Bureau of Construction and Repair, United States 

 Navy. The medals were presented on May 16, when 

 an address was given on "The Science of Naval Archi- 

 tecture " by Admiral Taylor. 



At the annual meeting of the Royal Geographical 

 Society on Monday the medal awarded to Mr. G. G. 

 Chisholm by the American Geographical Society was 

 presented to him by Mr. Page, the United States 

 Ambassador. The Royal medals and other awards 

 announced in Nature of March 22 were presented by 

 the president, Mr. Douglas W. Freshfield. The presi- 

 dent referred to work being done by geographers in 

 different parts of the war area, and he remarked : — 



NO. 2482, VOL. 99] 



'• In a hero of the recent sea-fight against odds oflf 

 Dover — a fight that recalls the glorious traditions of 

 the days of Queen Elizabeth — 'We are proud to recog- 

 nise an Antarctic explorer, the second in command 

 of Capt. Scott's last expedition, Capt. Evans. It is 

 the same energy and spirit that lead men to face the 

 Antarctic blizzard or the foe that walks in darkness off 

 our own coasts." Sir Thomas H. Holdich has been 

 elected president of the society in succession to Mr. 

 Freshfield. 



We learn with deep regret that 2nd Lieut. 

 H. E. O. M. Dixon, Seaforth Highlanders, has died 

 of wounds in France. The son of the Rev. J. Murray 

 Dixon, of Smithland Rectory, Loughborough, he was 

 born in 1885. His ambition, which showed itself 

 when he was quite young, was to excel as an artist,, 

 and birds formed the favourite theme for his pencil. 

 Though he modelled his work largely on that of 

 Archibald Thorburn. for whom he entertained an 

 immense admiration, he showed promise of developing 

 a style of his own. He was especially keen on game- 

 birds, but wildfowl of all kinds fascina'ted him, and 

 he was never so happy as when tramping the hills of 

 Scotland after grouse and deer. His many friends 

 will read with pride the comments of his Colonel : "He 

 was a brave and cool leader of men." He fell on 

 .\pril 9, . when rallying his men for the attack on the 

 German second line of trenches, shot down by 

 machine-gun fire, to die of his wouhds on the follow- 

 ing day. By his death ornithology has lost a devoted 

 disciple, but his work and his memory will ever be 

 cherished among us. 



The appointment is announced of a Civil Aerial 

 Transport Committee, to inquire into civil aerial com- 

 munications after the war • the committee is constituted 

 as follows : — Lord NorthcflifTe (chairman). Major Baird 

 (deputy-chairman), the Duke of Atholl, Lord Montagu, 

 Lord Sydenham, Mr. Balfour Browne, Mr. A. E. 

 Berriman, Mr. G. B. Cockburn, Mr. G. Holt-Thomas,. 

 Mr. Claude Johnson, Mr. Joynson-Hicks, Mr. F. W. 

 Lanchester, Lieut. -Col. M. O 'Gorman, Major-Gen. 

 Ruck, Mr. J. S. Siddelev, Mr. T. Sopwith, Mr. H. G. 

 Wells, Mr. H. White-Smith. Mr. W. Tyson Wilson, 

 Sir Laurence Guillemard, Col. J. W. Pringle, the Earl 

 of Drogheda, Mr. G. E. A. Grindle, Mr. G. E. P. 

 Murray, Sir Thomas Mackenzie, the Rt. Hon. W. P. 

 Schreiner, and Capt. Vyvyan. Brig. -Gen. Brancker 

 will represent the R.F.C. The Meteorological Office 

 has also been asked to name a representative, and one 

 or two additional names will be announced later. Mr. 

 D. O. Malcolm will be the secretary of the committee, 

 and the offices will be at Winchester House, St. James's 

 Square. 



As already announced, the annual cong-ess of the 

 South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies is to be 

 held this year in London, in the lecture hall and 

 rooms of the Linnean Society, on June 6-9. Dr. 

 William Martin, formerlv general secretary of the 

 union, is the president for the 3'ear, and will take for 

 the subject of his address on June 6 "The Application 

 of Scientific Method." Among the many interesting 

 items in the programme of the congress, the following 

 papers and addresses may be mentioned. On June 7 

 Dr. A. Smith Woodward, "Vertebrate Remains from 

 London Excavations." and Mr. E. A. Martin, "Some 

 Skulls and Jaws of Ancient Man, and his Imple- 

 ments." On June 7, too, members of the congress 

 are invited to the Hooker lecture of the Linnean 

 Society by Prof. F. O. Bower. On June 8 Prof. E. W. 

 MacBride, ".Are Acquired Characters Inherited?"; 

 Dr. G. A. Boulenger, "Reptiles in Captivity"; and 

 Dr. B. Daydon Jackson. "Notable Trees and Old 

 Gardens of London." On June 9 Dr. J. S. Haldane, 



