August 23, 1917J 



NATURE 



509 



'ranee. The Carnegie Corporation of New York has 

 oted an appropriation of io,oooL, or so much of 

 hat sum as may be necessary, to the Carnegie In- 

 titution of Washington to meet expenses incurred 

 \- the National Research Council during the war. 



The following committee to deal with problems 

 ither psychological, or having a psychological aspect, 

 1 connection with the war has been organised by 

 he U.S. National Research Council : Messrs. J. 

 JcKeen Cattell, G. S. Hall, E. L. Ihorndike, R. 

 )odge, S. I. Franz, G. M. Whipple, C. E. Seashore, 

 . B. Watson, and R. M. Yerkes. 



According to Engineering a Chemical Industries 

 Jureau is in course of foimation in Sweden, the object 

 if which will be to brin^ together the Swedish chemical 

 ndustrial interests, to keep in touch with changes 

 nd developments within its domain, and to further- 

 he special requirements of the chemical industry in its 

 arious branches. 



The fifth annual meeting of the Indian Science Con- 

 [less will be held in Lahore on January 9 to 12 next, 

 mder the presidency of Dr. G. T. Walker, F.R.S., 

 )irector-General of Observatories. The sectional 

 iresidents will be : — Dr. L. Coleman (Agriculture), Dr. 

 Vali Mahomed (Physics and Mathematics), Dr. G. J. 

 "owler (Chemistrv), Dr. Choudhuri (2ioolog\- and 

 Ethnology), Mr. R'. S. Hole (Botany), Mr. E. S. Pin- 

 old (Geology). Dr J. L. Simonsen, of the Presidency 

 !^ollege, Madras is the honorar}" secretary for the 

 oeeting. 



Sir John Stirling-Maxwell has undertaken the 

 iuties of Assistant Controller of Timber Supplies for 

 Jcotland. 



We regret to have to record the death, on August 

 8, of Prof. S. B. Kelleher, Erasmus Smith professor 

 >f mathematics in the University of Dublin. 



The death is announced, on July 27, of Dr. W. B. 

 [Clarke, professor of geology in the Johns Hopkins 

 University, director of the Maryland State Weather 

 Jervice, and State geologist for Maryland. 



The Charles P. Daly medal for geographical re- 

 search has been awarded by the American Geographical 

 society to Mr. G. G. Chisholm, lecturer in geography 

 n the University of Edinburgh. The inscription on 

 he medal reads: — "To George Goudie Chisholm, 

 icbolar, teacher, author. Through sustained research 

 md broad generalisation he has created a world-wide 

 nterest in the geographical basis of commerce." 



The David Livingstone centenary- medal of the 

 \merican Geographical Society has been awarded to 

 senor M. V. Ballivian, president of the Geographical 

 Society of La Paz, Bolivia. The previous recipients of 

 :he medal are Sir Douglas Mawson and Co). Roosevelt. 



A CATALOGUE of Current journals dealing with 

 :hemistry and chemical industry, and the libraries in 

 ft^hich they can be consulted in the United Kingdom, 

 s being prepared by the Society of Chemical Industn.-. 

 rhe journal list comprises about 5000 titles, and con- 

 ains journals from well-nigh every- country, almost all 

 )f \yhich periodicals were, it is believed, current at the 

 )eginningof the war. Chemistrv and chemical industry 

 ire treated in a very broad spirit, the list including 

 journals dealing with all industries in which chemistry 

 •nt^'-''*. Some 800 libraiies will be listed, so that from 

 impleted catalogue it is hoped that any chemist 

 i>e able to find the most convenient library in 

 I'.'hich he can consult any particular journal. The 

 ompletion of the catalogue during the ensuing winter 

 3 aimed at. 



NO. 2495, VOL. 99] 



The Petroleum (Production) Bill introduced by Mr. 

 Long in the House of Commons on August 15 may 

 have proved a surprise to many, who probably had not 

 realised that the discovery of petroleum in this country 

 is possible ; indeed, various favourable indications have 

 long been evident. In no industry has there been such 

 prodigious waste ; there has been the rush of pioneers 

 boring throughout a district where oil has been proved ; 

 there has been the frequent gush of oil which could 

 not be dealt with, leading to losses of millions of 

 gallons. With the possibilitv- of the mdustn.- being 

 established in this country we should profit by past 

 experience gained in the rich oil-producing countries, 

 and this Bill is to be heartily welcomed as an impor- 

 tant step, providing as it does for investing in the 

 Government all rights to get jjetroleum, and arrang- 

 ing for leases and defining petroliferous areas, payment 

 of fixed royalties, and the general control through 

 the Board of Trade. The Government thought it 

 right, in view of possible adventurous schemes, to put 

 the matter forward at once in order that unfortunate 

 enterprises might be checked. Whilst private enter- 

 prise might undertake the exploratory- borings, this is 

 surely such a speculative business, and yet of such vast 

 importance if expectations are realised, that it would 

 afpear desirable that the preliminar}- work at least 

 should be liberally assisted, or entirely borne, by the 

 National Exchequer. 



During excavations at Horncastle a short time ago 

 a human skeleton was discovered. The bones were in 

 a ver>- good state of preservation, and indicated that 

 the body had been buried on its back, at full length. 

 By its side were a long sword, a large spear, and a 

 smaller one, all of iron. These have just been pur- 

 chased for the Municipal Museum at Hull. The re- 

 mains are of Anglo-Saxon date, and were probably 

 brought to this country by the Angles, and as these 

 people came largely from Angle-land, in the district now 

 known as Sleswick, the relics may be said to relate to 

 an early Teutonic invasion of Lincolnshire. The sword 

 is remarkable for its length, is double-edged, and, 

 though naturally slightly corroded, is in a very fair 

 state of preservation. Its total length is 33 in., it is 

 ij in. in width, and it tapers at the top in order to ac- 

 commodate the handle. Quite apart from the archaeo- 

 logical value of this collection, the sword is of par- 

 ticular value, as these weapons are ver\- rarely found 

 in Anglo-.Saxon burials, though spears and other 

 weapons are not uncommon. In his work on "The 

 Industrial Arts of the Anglo-Saxons " Baron De Baye 

 points out that the scarcity of swords is due to the 

 fact that only individuals belonging to the upper 

 classes were buried with this weapon, and that no 

 doubt the swords were preserved as family treasures 

 and left to heirs or friends. 



In the Museum Journal of the University of Penn- 

 sylvania (vol. vii.. No. 4, December, 1916) is a reprint 

 of an ancient Babylonian map showing part of the 

 agricultural area of the city of Nippur, prepared about 

 1500 B.C. It throws a welcome light on an obscure 

 provision in the celebrated law code of King Ham- 

 murabi. The map describes the custom of blowing a 

 horn at the village gates to notify to the shepherds of the 

 plains that the grazing season was over. Thus rural 

 villages in which the people congregated for mutual 

 defence appear to have been so arranged that the 

 village buglers were able to make the shepherds and 

 farmers hear the sound of the horn throughout the 

 whole land of Babylonia. 



In the Scientifc Monthly for July (vol. v.. No. i) 

 Prof. Leo Rettger discusses some of the newer concep- 

 tions of milk in its relation to health. He emphasises 

 the nutritional value of milk as milk, irrespective of 



