June 19, 1919] 



NATURE 



309 



source of danger and damage to the surrounding 

 farms. By breaking down fences and destroying 

 waterworks, and generally bringing about a state ol 

 terror and insecurity, they are the cause of actual 

 damage to a serious extent. They hamper farming 

 operations and agricultural development. Neverthe- 

 less, the drastic step that has now been decided upon 

 cannot fail to arouse considerable dissatisfaction in 

 the sporting and scientific world. 



We have received a copy of a proposal endorsed 

 by many well-known scientific men for the establish- 

 ment of an institute of commercial and industrial 

 psychology and physiology. The proposal is accom- 

 panied bv a summary of thirty investigations in which 

 the scientific analysis of industrial movements resulted 

 in a notable improvement of output, and reference is 

 also made to the effects of shorter hours and the 

 introduction of rest pauses. Amongst the scientific 

 supporters of the proposals are Sir Walter Fletcher, 

 Mr. W. B. Hardy, Lt.-Col. Myers, Prof. C. S. 

 Sherrington, and Prof. E. H. Starling. The secretary 

 is Mr. G. Spiller, i Great Tower Street, E.C.3. 



Mr. F. Flippanxe, at one time a temporary assis- 

 tant in the herbarium at Kew, has been appointed 

 assistant curator of the Botanic Gardens, Singapore. 



The Guy medal of the Royal Statistical Society for 

 1918-19 has been awarded to Dr. J. C. Stamp, who 

 recentlv contributed papers to the society on "The 

 Effect "of Trade Fluctuations on Profits" and "The 

 Wealth and Income of the Chief Powers." 



A DIRECTOR of research is about to be appointed, at 

 a salary of not less than 1250Z. per annum, by the 

 British' Cotton Industry Research Association, 

 108 Deansgate, Manchester. Forms of application 

 and further information are obtainable from the secre- 

 tary of the association. The latest time for receiving 

 applications for the post is July 21. 



The council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh has 

 awarded the Makdougall-Brisbane prize for the period 

 1916-18 to Prof. A. Anstruther Lawson, of Sydney, 

 for his memoirs on the prothalli of Tmesipteris tan- 

 nensis and of psilotum, published in the Transactions 

 of the societv, together with previous papers on 

 cytology and on the gametophytes of various gymno- 

 sperms. 



At the meeting of the Franklin Institute, Phila- 

 delphia, held on May 21, the Franklin medal awarded 

 to Sir James Dewar was received by Major-Gen. 

 T. D. McLachlan, representing the British Govern- 

 ment and the presentation of the Franklin medal to 

 Major-Gen. George Owen Squier, U.S. Army, was 

 also made. An address was given by Major-Gen. 

 Squier on " Some Aspects of the Signal Corps in the 

 World-War." 



The sixth lecture of the series arranged by the 

 Industrial Reconstruction Council will be held in the 

 Saddlers' Hall, Cheapside, E.C.2, on Wednesday, 

 June 25. The chair will be taken at 4.30 p.m. by the 

 Right Hon. J. H. Whitlev, and a lecture will be 

 delivered bv the Right Hon. C. W. Bowerman on 

 "Some Industrial Problems." Applications for 

 tickets should be made . to the Secretary, I.R.C., 

 2 and 4 Tudor Street, E.C.4. 



The annual general meeting of the Society of 

 Chemical Industry will be held in London on 

 )uly 15-18, under the presidency of Prof. Henry 

 Louis. On Tuesday, July 15, there will be a con- 

 ference at the Mansion House, when addresses will 

 be given by representatives of the Inter-Allied Con- 

 NO. 2590, VOL. 103] 



ference. Sir William J. Pope, chairman of the 

 Federal Council for Pure and Applied Chemistry, will 

 open the conference. The subjects of other confer- 

 ences will be :— Power Plant in Chemical Works ; 

 Empire Sugar Production; Dyestuffs, Synthetic 

 Drugs, and Associated Products; The Chrome 

 Tanning Industry; and Recent Developments in the 

 Fermentation Industries. A reception will be held at 

 the British Scientific Products Exhibition, Central 

 Hall, Westminster, on July 17. 



The New Zealand Department of Lands issued in 

 1918 a report on the "Waipoua Kauri Forest: Its 

 Demarcation and Management." This forest, which 

 has recently been demarcated by Mr. D. E. Hutchins, 

 was made a national reserve under the State Forests 

 Act of 1908. It covers 29,830 acres, and contains a 

 large number of old and giant trees of Kauri, Agathis 

 australis, an endemic conifer yielding a verv valuable 

 timber. The forest is in a wild state, bringing in no 

 revenue at present. Mr. Hutchins recommends a 

 system of management by which the old trees would 

 be speedily felled and a voung, regular growth estab- 

 lished, which in course of time would yield an 

 enormous revenue. The Government owns five other 

 Kauri forests, each averaging 12,000 to 15,000 acres. 

 As there are estimated to be about 500,000 acres of 

 restorable ^ Kauri forest altogether, ^it is desirable, 

 perhaps, in the interests of science and of scenic 

 beauty, that one of the five Government forests, or a 

 portion of one, should be left in its natural state, 

 with a fair number of the oldest trees untouched, in 

 spite of the temptation to realise the monev worth 

 of all the finest timber. 



The North-East Coast Institution of Engineers and 

 Shipbuilders will hold a summer meeting, which is 

 being called the Victory Meeting, on July 9-11 in New- 

 castle. The meeting is the first of the kind it has held 

 since July, 19 14, when, on the eve of the war, the 

 institution received the Institution of Naval Architects 

 and the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in 

 Scotland at a joint meeting. Among the distinguished 

 guests^ invited are Marshal Foch, Sir David Beatty, 

 and Sir Douglas Haig, upon whom honorarv fellow- 

 ship of the institution will be conferred at the in- 

 augural meeting. Papers recording the industrial 

 work of the North-East Coast during the war will be 

 read by Mr. A. H. J. Cochrane, Mr. M. C. James, 

 and Mr. Launcelot E. Smith. Lady Parsons, who 

 will receive the diploma of honorary fellowship during 

 the proceedings, will address the meeting on 

 "Women's Work in Engineering and Shipbuilding 

 during the War." This will be the first occasion upon 

 which a woman has delivered a paper before this 

 institution. Other important papers will be read bv 

 Lord Weir of Eastwood, Lt.-Comdr. Wilkinson, Mr. 

 Georges Constantinesco, and Prof. Macl^nnan. The 

 two first-named autnors deal with the subjects in 

 which they are eminent experts : the development of 

 aircraft during the war and thermal efficiency in 

 Diesel and other internal-combustion engines. Comdr. 

 Wilkinson will describe his work in the "dazzle- 

 painting " of ships. Mr. Constantinesco will explain 

 his new svstem of power transmission, and illustrate 

 it by practical experiments. Prof. MacLennan has not 

 yet named the subject of his lecture. 



It is well known that radiographers, if unpro- 

 tected, are liable to injury by X-rays, such as 

 "burns," intractable dermatitis "which is liable to 

 j become cancerous, and sterility. Dr. Hernaman- 

 Johnson in the Journal of the Rontgen Society 

 (vol. XV., No. 59, p. 45) discusses the protective 

 measures that should be taken in diagnostic work by 



