August 7, 1919] 



NATURE 



449 



as well as an anatomist; as a young man of 

 twenty-two he collected, edited, and published 

 his father's anthropological researches, and from 

 1864 until his death devoted much of his time to 

 unravelling the history of the inhabitants of 

 Scandinavia. In 1900 he publishea a magnificent 

 atlas, giving exact reproductions of ancient 

 Swedish skulls; in 1902 he and his colleague. 

 Prof. Karl Fiirst, brought out an exhaustive 

 work on the anthropology of Sweden. He pub- 

 lished several papers on the Lapps and on the 

 Finns. In 1909 he was invited by the Royal 

 Anthropological Institute of this country to give 

 the I^xley lecture, which he devoted to "The 

 So-ca*d North European Race of Mankind." 

 He recognised the merits of the race, but took, 

 as we think, an unnecessarily gloomy view of 

 Its future. 



Great as were Retzius's contributions to 

 anthropology, his extensive researches in ana- 

 tomy are even more important. His father's 

 first publication, in 1822, was devoted to the 

 anatomy of the Myxine ; the son continued that 

 work. In conjunction with his colleague. Prof. 

 Axel Key, who held the chair of pathology, 

 Retzius published in 1875-76 a monograph in 

 two great and splendidly illustrated volumes, 

 which is still the standard work in all that relates 

 to the cerebro-spinal coverings and spaces. Per- 

 haps the main interest of his life was his investi- 

 gations of the intricate internal ear or labyrinth 

 of vertebrate animals, an account of which he 

 published in 1881-84. His monographs on the 

 structure of the cortex of the brain, on the end- 

 organs of nerves, and on the brains of human 

 races and of anthropoid apes, and his more 

 minute researches on the morphology of .sper- 

 matozoa and of nuclear structure, will provide 

 biologists for all time with a sure groundwork 

 on which to base their speculations. He was 

 content to gather the facts and leave to others 

 the more pleasant task of interpreting their 

 meaning. He had the fortune to marry a lady 

 who not only was in the deepest sympathy with 

 his life's work, but also made it financially pos- 

 sible for him to place his researches at the dis- 

 posal of all the world in a form which has earned 

 the envy as well as the gratitude of every 

 anatomist. A. Keith. 



NOTES. 



The meeting of the International Research Council, 

 which was opened at Brussels on July i8 in the pre- 

 sence of the King of the Belgians, concluded its labours 

 on July 28. Much successful work was accomplished. 

 The statutes of the International Council were finally 

 agreed to, and unions embracing the whole subject 

 of astronomy and the various sections of geophysics 

 were formed. In other branches of pure and applied 

 science proposals for the formation of international 

 associations were discussed and formulated. These 

 will have to be submitted to the authorities concerned 

 in the different countries before they can be formally 

 adopted. A resolution inviting the co-operation of 

 nations that had remained neutral during the war was 

 adopted unanimously. Brussels was selected as the 

 NO. 2597, VOL. 103] 



legal domicile of the International Research Council. 

 Its triennial meetings will be held in that city, and 

 gifts or legacies will be administered according to 

 Belgian law. But the associations dealing with 

 special subjects will probably follow the established 

 custom of holding their conferences successively in 

 different countries. The secretariat of the councilwill 

 be at Burlington House, where the Royal Society has 

 placed a room at the disposal of the general secretary. 



Sir Arthur Boscawen, Parliamentary Secre- 

 tary to the Board of Agriculture, moved the second 

 reading of the Forestry Bill on August 5 in the House 

 of Commons. In the discussion reference was made 

 to the large expenditure of between 40,000/. and 50,000/. 

 which is to be spent in the setting up of the new 

 staff and other outlay ; the divorce of agriculture 

 from forestry, with the consequent impossibility of 

 dealing adequately with the small holdings policy; 

 and the friction which may arise between the agri- 

 cultural and forestry authorities. Sir Philip Magnus 

 pointed out that the chief defect of the Bill lay in its 

 silence on the necessity of having on the central 

 authority a preponderance of fully qualified scientific 

 experts. He warned the supporters of the Bill and 

 the Government of the grave danger of proceeding 

 with this new afforestation scheme without the guid- 

 ance of scientific advice, the neglect of which in the 

 past had so often resulted in Government schemes 

 ending in disaster. This aspect of the Bill he pro- 

 posed to insist upon in the Committee stage of the 

 Bill. Mr. Barnes, in replying as a Minister to the 

 criticisms made, said he thoroughly agreed with Sir 

 Philip Magnus as to the need for scientific men among 

 the Commissioners, and that the point would be sym- 

 pathetically considered 



A committee has been formed, under the chairman- 

 ship of Lord Rothschild, to establish a memorial to 

 the late Frederick Du Cane Godman, in acknowledg- 

 ment of his lifelong devotion to the interests of 

 natural history and in grateful testimony of the 

 many valuable benefits conferred by him in promoting 

 the study of natural science in this country. At a 

 meeting of the committee held at the Natural History 

 Museum in April last it was resolved that the 

 memorial should take, primarily, the form of a bronze 

 tablet with medallion portraits of Mr. Godman and 

 of the late Mr. Osbert Salvin, Mr. Godman 's life- 

 long friend and collaborator in all his scientific enter- 

 prises, and that this tablet, with a suitable inscrip- 

 tion, should be offered to the Trustees of the British 

 Museum, to be placed in the Natural History Museum 

 at South Kensington. The committee hopes to be in 

 a position to do something additional to perpetuate the 

 memory of Mr. Godman by helping to establish a less 

 local form of memorial. Dame Alice Godman and 

 her two daughters have offered to found an explora- 

 tion fund with the sum of 5000Z., the proceeds of which 

 are to be devoted to making collections for the ad- 

 vancement of science and for the benefit of the 

 Natural History Museum. The committee, therefore, 

 proposes that any amount received by it over and 

 above that required for the bronze tablet shall be 

 added to the exploration fund. It is hoped that this 

 may form a permanent basis for future donations and 

 bequests for the same purpose. The committee con- 

 fidentlv asks for funds to carry out this scheme. Con- 

 tributibns should be sent to Mr. C. E. Fagan,_ hon. 

 treasurer, Godman Memorial Fund, Natural History 

 Museum, Cromwell Road, London, S.W.7. 



The autumn meeting of the Institute of Metals, 

 under the presidency of Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter, 

 will be held in Sheffield on Wednesday and Thursday, 



