May I, 1919] 



NATURE 



Sir J. G. Frazer contributes to the March issue of 

 Man a note by Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar on 

 the customs of the Todas in connection with the 

 milk of their sacred dairies. In relation to the Hebrew- 

 prohibition against seething a kid in its mother's 

 milk, Sir J. G. Frazer has discussed milk taboos in 

 his recent work, "Folk-lore in the Old Testament" 

 (vol. iii., pp. Ill ff.). But all the taboos on the 

 dairy and the milk are meant only for the well-being 

 of the Todas primarily and of the buffaloes 

 secondarily. There is not the slightest trace among 

 them of the belief that the restrictions are in the 

 interests of the buffaloes or for their benefit, or that 

 there is a magical sympathy between the cows and 

 their milk. The parallel between the Toda and 

 Hebrew customs is thus not clearly established, but 

 the facts now fully reported for the first time are of 

 considerable interest. 



In Science for March 7 and 14, under the title of 

 "The Measurement and Utilisation of Brain-power 

 in the Army," there is a very interesting and valu- 

 able synopsis of the work of' the American Psycho- 

 logical Section of the Army, which has been under 

 the direction of Major R. M. Yerkes. Within the 

 Army three principal groups of psychologists are 

 recognised : one attached to the office of the Adjutant- 

 General, another to the office of the Surgeon-General, 

 and the third to the division of Military Aeronautics. 

 At first the psychologist was looked upon sceptically, 

 and his role was supposed to be to assist in the 

 elimination of incompetent neurotics ; later, the 

 psychological service was undertaking the assignment 

 of an intelligence rating to every soldier, the selection 

 of men of superior intelligence for special suitable 

 tasks, and the discovery of the intellectually unfit. 

 Very careful tests were chosen, and it became possible 

 ultimately for four psychologists and their attendant 

 clerks to examine one thousand men a day. To supply 

 the necessary personnel a school for training in mili- 

 tary psychology had to be formed. Although at first 

 even the psychologists were critical about accepting 

 the intelligence rating as a standard of military 

 efficiency, yet as the work progressed it was found 

 that it was the best single factor by which to deter- 

 mine a man's military value. Students of similar 

 intelligence were grouped together for training, thus 

 facilitating the speed and success of the work. It is 

 interesting to note that of all the occupations in the 

 Army the engineering sections contained fewer men 

 of low or mediocre intelligence. It is suggested in 

 the paper that, with suitable modifications, this 

 psychological testing might prove advantageous to 

 problems of civil life. 



Sir Edward Sharpey Schafer devoted his presi- 

 dential address to the Edinburgh University Physio- 

 logical Society last January to the consideration of 

 "The Position of Physiology in Medicine." He 

 showed that it is " the pivotal subject around which 

 all medical sciences are centred, and furnishes 

 the basis upon which the whole of medicine 

 and surgery is founded." While there can be 

 no doubt that the practice of learning physio- 

 logy before commencing the study of what is 

 founded upon it is correct, yet it is difficult to con- 

 vince the student of the importance of what he is 

 taught. He is apt to look upon it merely as an 

 examination subject to be forgotten as soon as the 

 test is passed. For this reason it would seem that 

 there might be some advantage in allowing the 

 student to see something of hospital work at the 

 commencement of his physiological studies. A verv 

 short, properly planned, special course would suffice 

 if the interest of the hospital staff could be enlisted. 

 This should be less difficult since the importance of 

 NO. 2583, VOL. 103] 



physiology has become so manifest in the war. It 

 is pointed out by Sir Edward Schafer that clinical 

 teaching should be in the hands of those who have 

 a thorough knowledge of physiology, whereas it is 

 comparatively rare to find a medical man who realises 

 how dependent he is on physiological work. It is 

 also strongly insisted upon in this address that prac- 

 tical work is of the greatest importance in the proper 

 understanding of the subject, notwithstanding its cost 

 in apparatus, buildings, and staff. This leads 

 naturally to the emphasising of the vital necessity of 

 generous aid to universities on the part of the State. 

 Some details of British survey work on the Western 

 front are given by Lt.-Col. H. S. L. Winter- 

 botham in the Geographical Journal for .April 

 (vol. liii., No. 4). The field survey department grew 

 with the growth of the armies and the new methods 

 of warfare, a^d managed to meet all the require- 

 ments of infantry, artiller}', and air force. The 

 existing maps at the beginning of the war were the 

 French 1/80,000, and the plans around fortresses of 

 1/20,000. In addition, there was a survey on a scale 

 of 1/2500, which was originally made for revenue 

 purposes, and kept in manuscript in the capital 

 of each province : some of these were captured by 

 the Gkirmans early in the war. When trench warfare 

 set in the necessity for a new and accurate lar;*e- 

 scale map became apparent. Col. Winterbotham 

 describes some of the difficulties which had to be 

 faced in compiling this map. There was no lack of 

 trigonometrical matter, but it was not easy to recon- 

 cile the five systems in existence. The old French 

 triangulation was found to have many defects, not 

 the least being that many of the original fixed points 

 had been destroyed. The Belgian triangulation was 

 p>erhaps more accurate, but it suffered from the same 

 drawback as regards fixed points. In addition, there 

 were the French Admiralty Survey for the coast, the 

 cross-Channel chain of triangulation made more than 

 fifty years ago, and the new French chain on the Paris 

 meridian and the Amiens parallel. This last survey 

 was connected with the Belgian system with useful 

 results. Difficulty was also experienced in reco-i- 

 c'lUnsr different data of levels. Col. Winterbotham s 

 paper concludes with some description of how the 

 map was made, and certain other activities of the 

 field survey battalions. 



The Decimal Association has issued a reprint of 

 Mr. Harry Allcock's article on " Industrial Recon- 

 struction and the Metric System " which appeared in 

 the Electrical Review of January 17. This is a verv 

 able exposition of the case for the compulsory adop- 

 tion of the metric system of weights and measures. 

 The author urges that, in order to prepare public 

 opinion for the new system, the Government should 

 extend the practice adopted in 1913, when the metric 

 carat was prescribed as the standard weight for 

 precious stones, and abolish forthwith all apothecaries' 

 weights in favour of metric weights throughout the 

 trade in fine chemicals and drugs. Many of the 

 multiples of existing British units should, he main- 

 tains, be at once discarded, and all quantities be 

 expressed in terms of single units instead of in cwts.. 

 qrs., lbs., etc. As regards the argument that until 

 they became expert in the use of the metric system 

 British manufacturers and merchants would be at a 

 disadvantage as compared with similar classes in 

 Gerrnany, Mr. Allcock points out that this temporary 

 handicap must be faced sooner or later, and that it 

 would be peculiarly opportune to face it now, while 

 the sentiment of the world is decidedly anti-German. 



.\ NEW ferrous allov with remarkable properties is 

 mentioned in the Scientific American for March i. 



