32 



NATURE 



[April 17, 19 19 



to Duala, Cameroons ; he sailed from Liverpool on 

 April 9. Mr. Brown, in addition to magnetic survey 

 work in West Africa, will make special magnetic 

 observations during the eclipse at a station as near as 

 possible to He Principe or Libreville. 



The death of Dr. Bruno Hofer on July 7, 1916, at 

 the age of fifty-four years, is announced in German 

 fisheries papers that have just been received in this 

 country. Dr. Hofer had attained a great reputation 

 as a fisheries biologist ; he was director of the Royal 

 Bavarian Biological Experimental Station for fresh- 

 water fisheries at Munich, and was for many years 

 editor of the Allgetneine Fischerei-Zeitung. The ex- 

 ploitation of carp and other lake and river edible fishes 

 was of great value to Germany, and was the subject 

 of much sound economic and scientific research. Dr. 

 Hofer's book, " Handbuch der Fischkrankheiten," 

 was well known here ; it broke entirely new ground 

 in its treatment of the pathology of fresh-water fishes, 

 and. in spite of its rather limited scope, still remains 

 the only compendium on the subject. 



The following are among the subjects of lecture 

 arrangements at the Royal Institution after Easter :■ — 

 Prof. Arthur Keith, British Ethnology : The People 

 of Wales and Ireland; Prof. W. H. Bragg, Listening 

 under Water; Dr. H. S. Hele-Shaw on clutches; 

 Prof. F. Keeble on intensive cultivation ; Sir Valen- 

 tine Chirol, The Balkans; Prof. H. S. Foxwell, 

 Chapters in the Psychology of Industry : (i) Fourier 

 and other Pioneers in the Movement for the Humanis- 

 ing of Industry; (2) Modern Industrial Organisation: 

 Where it Fails to Observe the Humanities of In- 

 dustry, and the Results. The Friday evening meet- 

 ings, at 5.30 o'clock, will recommence on May 2, when 

 Prof. J. W. Nicholson will deliver a discourse on 

 energv distribution in spectra. Succeeding discourses 

 will be given by Sir George Macartnev, Dr. S. F. 

 Harmer, Sir Alexander C. Mackenzie, Sir John Rose 

 Bradford, and Sir Ernest Rutherford. 



A NOTE on German and English war-time diets is 

 contributed to the Journal of the Royal Statistical 

 Society (vol. Ixxxii., part i, January) by Dr. Major 

 Greenwood and Cicely M . Thompson . From the records 

 of German towns, according to Government statistics, 

 the average food-value in' that country was 2352 

 Calories per head per day in April, 1916, and 2007 in 

 April, 1917. In June, 1917, the corresponding 

 averages of six canteens and hostels in Great Britain 

 were 3168 and 3073 Calories, while in April, 19 18, 

 the averages for three women's munition hostels were 

 2782 and 2699 Calories per head per day. It should, 

 however, be noted that the German statistics referred 

 to the consumption of food in ordinary families, and 

 this and other circumstances preclude any attempt at 

 a very exact comparison of the conditions of living. 



The Italian Society for the Progress of the Sciences 

 is holding its tenth meeting at Pisa on April 14-19 

 under the presidency of Prof. Fernando Lori. Unlike 

 our British Association, the proceedings very largely 

 centre round developments of economic importance, 

 and the majority of the papers are divided into three 

 classes : Class A, dealing with mining, mineralogy, 

 and geology; Class B, with agriculture, medicine, 

 fisheries, and biology ; and Class C, with economics 

 and political science. A few sectional papers on other 

 branches of science are included in the programme, 

 which opened on Monday, April 14, in the aula magna 

 of the University of Pisa with a discourse by Prof. 

 Raffaello Nasini on Italy's mineral wealth. Friday 

 and Saturday, April 18 and 19, are to be devoted to 

 excursions. The ordinary subscription is ten francs, 

 and the oflRces of the society are at 26 Via del Collegio 

 romano, in Rome. 



NO, 2581, VOL. 103] 



The conference representing Allied Red Cross 

 Societies now meeting at Cannes has held important 

 meetings on venereal disease, on tuberculosis, and on 

 malaria. As regards venereal disease, there was a 

 general agreement that some uniform action is needed 

 — as, for example, on such subjects as the control of 

 prostitution and on notification of the disease. Simi- 

 larly with tuberculosis, there was unanimity of opinion 

 that a common scheme of action is necessary through- 

 out the world on the lines which have been adopted 

 in this country, and also to a large extent in the 

 United States. As regards malaria, Prof. Castellani 

 gave some interesting figures on the control of malaria 

 in four camps in the Adriatic zone. In one camp no 

 anti-malarial measures were taken ; in the second, 

 preventive doses of quinine were given ; in the third, 

 anti-mosquito measures were employed ; and in the 

 fourth both quinine and anti-mosquito measures' were 

 used. The results were that the following percentages 

 of the occupants were affected with malaria : — In the 

 first camp, 100 per cent.; in the second, 45 per cent.; 

 in the third, 2,:; per cent. ; and in the fourth, onlv 6 per 

 cent. 



The British Photographic Research Association, 

 which was incorporated nearly a year ago under the 

 presidency of Sir J. J. Thomson,' has just issued a 

 " Programme of Research," in which it is announced 

 that Dr. R. E. Slade has been appointed the director 

 of research, and that he and his staff will work for 

 the time being in laboratories at University College, 

 London. The laboratories assigned to them are dis- 

 tinct from ^ the teaching laboratories. The funda- 

 mental subjects that it is intended to investigate in- 

 clude the properties of silver haloids, the properties of 

 gelatin and similar colloids, colloidal chemistry in 

 general, photo-chemical reactions, and the theory of 

 colour-photography processes. Among the subjects of 

 applied research will be desensitising and reducing 

 agents, gelatin (seeking for the causes of the effects 

 of various samples and to obtain standardisation and 

 improvement of the material), photographic apparatus 

 (the treating of wood, canvas, and leather, and the 

 production of special alloys), enamels, paper, card- 

 board, and colour photography. The association wel- 

 comes inquiries from its members on technical points, 

 and will endeavour to replv helpfully. But it is not 

 the intention of the association to attempt to stan- 

 dardise throughout the manufacturing methods of the 

 photographic industry, as manufacturers will continue 

 to determine for themselves the lines on which their 

 businesses shall be developed. It is very truly added 

 that the programme covers a vast field for research, 

 but it is hoped to explore first the most productive 

 portions of this field. It is encouraging to everyone 

 concerned to be assured that results have already been 

 obtained which it is expected will have a wide applica- 

 tion in the industry. 



The bark of the locust tree (Rohinia pseudacacia) is 

 poisonous when eaten by horses and cattle. A toxic 

 albumose is present in it, and a toxic glucoside, named 

 "robitin," has now been isolated by B. Tasaki and 

 U. Tanaka (Journal of the College of Agriculture, 

 University of Tokyo, vol. iii.. No. i„ p. 337). In the 

 fresh bark i per cent, of the glucoside is present, and 

 toxic reaction is caused by a dose of 00015 grm. in 

 the horse and 0-02 grm. in cattle. The reaction caused 

 by the injection of "robitin" into the horse is exactly 

 that produced by the fresh bark, and consists in 

 dyspnoea, increase of secretions and excretions, and 

 paralysis of the hindquarters. 



The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries has issued 

 as a Supplement (No. 18) to the Journal of the Board 

 of Agriculture a series of articles dealing with ihe 



