52 



NATURE 



[March 20, 1919 



investigator. He had, partly in co-operation with 

 Prof. Dendy, published several memoirs on sponges, 

 on which he had become a recognised authority. Since 

 1914 Mr. Row had been responsible for the section of 

 the Zoological Record and International Catalogue of 

 Scientific Literature dealing with this group of 

 animals. After the outbreak of the war he devoted 

 himself largely to protozoology from the pathological 

 point of view, working under Sir Ronald Ross, and 

 at the time of his death, in addition to his ordinary 

 duties, he was in charge of the malaria laboratory at 

 the 4th London General Hospital. Besides the routine 

 work of blood examination, etc., Mr. Row managed 

 to do a good deal of original work in this branch of 

 zoology. He left much unfinished work behind hirn, 

 and the loss to zoological science occasioned by his 

 death is great. 



The Royal Geographical Society announces that the 

 King has been pleased to approve the award of the 

 Royal medals as follows :— The Founder's medal to 

 Col. E. M. Jack for his geographical work on the 

 Western Front, and the Patron's Medal to Prof. 

 VV. M. Davis, of Harvard University, for his eminence 

 in the development of physical geography. The Vic- 

 toria medal is awarded by the council to Prof. J. W. 

 Gregorv for his many and important contributions to 

 geographical science; the Murchison grant to Dr. 

 W. M. Strong, of the North-Eastern District, Papua, 

 for his journeys and surveys in New Guinea ; the 

 Cuthbert Peek grant to Prof. Rudmose Brown for his 

 geographical woik in the Antarctic and in Spits- 

 bergen; the Back grant to the Ven. Archdeacon 

 Stuck, of Fort Yukon, for his travels in Alaska and 

 ascent of Mount McKinley ; and the Gill memorial 

 to Mr. W. J. Harding King for his investigations of 

 desert conditions in northern Africa. 



The Times of March 13, under the heading of 

 "Influenza Worse than Many Plagues," gives a 

 startling statement from its Delhi correspondent based 

 on a Government report of the influenza epidemic by 

 Major Norman White, who has just vacated the posi- 

 tion of Sanitary Commissioner, which he had filled 

 with distinction. " Major White declares that from 

 the incomplete information available it would appear 

 that no country has suffered as severely from the 

 disease as India during the last quarter of 1918. 

 Without fear of exaggeration, it can be stated that 

 influenza was responsible for six million deaths, 

 equivalent to more than half the mortality attri- 

 butable to plague in the twenty-two years during 

 which plague has been epidemic in this country. 

 Five million deaths occurred in British India, and 

 one million in the native States." Major White states 

 that the incidence of the epidemic "was very high 

 among the well-fed British troops, higher, indeed, than 

 among the Indian troops." In his report he says : " It 

 can be stated without exaggeration that from 50 to 

 80 per cent, of the total population have recently 

 suffered from influenza." 



The Registrar-General's return for the week ending 

 March 8 gives the following highly satisfactory state- 

 ment : — "The influenza epidemic appears now to have 

 passed its most severe stage, the number of deaths 

 registered in the ninety-six great towns having de- 

 clined from a maximum of 3889 in the week ended 

 March i to 3218 last week, and in London from 808 to 

 597." The general health of London has also im- 

 proved, the annual death-rate per thousand of the 

 aggregate population having further decreased from 

 32-4 in the preceding week to 266 in the week ending 



NO. 2577, VOL. 103] 



March 8. The deaths from influenza are, however, 

 still very high, being more than double those in any 

 week during the summer epidemic of 1918, and more 

 than one-half of the total deaths in the eight weeks 

 of that epidemic, also larger than in any week of any 

 previous epidemic since 1890, 560 deaths in a single 

 week during the attack in 1892 being until the present 

 epidemic the highest on record. The epidemic which 

 started in London during the week ending October 12, 

 1918, has now continued for twenty-two weeks, caus- 

 ing 14,344 deaths out of 45,262 total deaths from all 

 causes ; the deaths, however, fell below 100 during 

 each of the six weeks from the end of December last 

 year to the commencement of February this year. 



On March 5 the Natural History Museum Staff 

 Association held in the board room of the museum, 

 by permission of the Trustees, its inaugural scientific 

 reunion. The object of these meetings, which it is 

 intended at first to hold about four times a year, is two- 

 fold : in the first place, members of the staff will be 

 afforded an opportunity of meeting one another and of 

 seeing something of the v/ork done in departments 

 other than their own, and, in the second, scientific 

 workers outside the museum, who are invited to 

 attend, will have an opportunity of seeing some of 

 the more interesting of the specimens which have 

 been recently added to the collections, and also of 

 becoming acquainted with some of the research work 

 carried on at the museum. The number of visitors 

 is necessarily limited, because the capacity of the 

 board room — the only room available — is not great. 

 Major E. E. Austen, of the Entomological 

 Department, gave an interesting lecture on the anti- 

 mosquito work carried out in Palestine during the 

 campaigns of 1917 and 1918. The exhibits included 

 the following : — A series of skulls of whales found 

 round the British Isles, a case illustrating the de- 

 predations of marine boring animals, the Church 

 collection of precious stones, a slice of the Skookum 

 meteorite, specimens illustrating curvature in cr3^stals, 

 Carragheen moss and invalid dishes made with it, 

 specimens showing mechanical adaptation in labroid 

 fishes, some of the suite of butterflies in the Dollman 

 collection, German substitute tobacco, etc. 



The British Association Fuel Economy Committee, 

 which was originally appointed in 1915, and issued 

 its first report in 1916, has, owing to the urgency and 

 importance of the coal situation and fuel economy in 

 connection with reconstruction problems, been re- 

 appointed to continue its investigations upon the 

 various economic, scientific, and technical issues con- 

 nected with the production and utilisation of coal and 

 other fuels. Prof. W. A. Bone has been reappointed 

 chairman, with Mr. H. James Yates as vice-chairman, 

 and Mr. Robert L. Mond as secretary. The general 

 committee of thirty-three members includes representa- 

 tives of the Association of British Chemical Manu- 

 facturers, Coke-Oven Managers' Association, Federa- 

 tion of British Industries, Institution of Electrical 

 Engineers, Institution of Gas Engineers, Institution of 

 Mechanical Engineers, Institution of Mining and 

 Metallurgy, Institution of Mining Engineers, Iron and 

 Steel Institute. Society of British Gas Industries, and 

 Society of Chemical Industry. The executive com- 

 mittee, which consists of Sir Robert Hadfield, Sir 

 Joseph Walton, M.P., Profs. W. A. Bone, Henrv 

 Louis, and W. W. Watts, Dr. H. S. Hele-Shaw, 

 Messrs. A. Hutchinson, Robert Mond, W. H. Patchell, 

 H. Woodall, C. H. Wordingham, and H. James 

 Yates, meets in London on the second Wednesday in 

 each month. The Committee is now compiling data 



