August 14, 19 19] 



NATURE 



47' 



logy in the University of Birmingham since 1909. 

 Prof. West's work in algology has a world-wide 

 reputation, and under him the botanical department 

 of the University had reached the first rank for the 

 study of this branch of botany. His death while still 

 a young man not yet at the' zenith of his power is 

 in irreparable loss to the University of Birmingham, 

 ind deprives the world of a botanist of first-rate 

 ibility, whose recent work on the algae of the soil 

 opens up a new field of investigation the economic 

 importance of which is likely to be far-reaching:. Prof. 

 West was an indefatigable worker and an admirable 

 director of research, admired and warmly appreciated 

 by his students and colleagues. Though robust in ap- 

 pearance, he had recenth been in indifferent health, and 

 an attack of pneumonia ended fatally on August 7. 

 He leaves a widow and two children. 



The death is announced, on August 8, at the age 

 (if eighty-five years, of Prof. Ernst Haeckel, of the 

 Universfty of jena. 



By the death of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, on August 11, 

 in his eighty-fourth year, a romantic career was brought 

 to a close, and the world lost probabl}; its most gener- 

 ous contributor towards the promotion of science, 

 education, art, and other objects, for Mr. Carnegie 

 held strongly that the possession of wealth carried 

 responsibilitj^es, and that " surplus wealth was a sacred 

 trust which its possessor was bound to administer in 

 his lifetime for the good of the community." He held 

 that "it is a crime to die rich." Acting on these prin- 

 ciples, he set himself to disburse his immense fortune 

 to further enterprises which appealed to him. How 

 much he distributed is not known, but in 1908 it was 

 estimated that he had given more than 57,000,000/. in 

 America, more than 7,000,000/. in Great Britain, and 

 i,ooo,oooL in Europe. Among his gifts may be men- 

 tioned 5,ooo,oooZ. to the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 

 ington, 2,ooo,oooZ. to inaugurate the Carnegie Insti- 

 tute at Pittsburgh, 2,000,000/. towards university educa- 

 tion in Scotland, 50,000/. to the University of Birming- 

 ham, and, it is estimated, 10,000.000/. towards libraries 

 alone. He also purchased the famous library of the 

 late Lord Acton, which, through Viscount Morley, is 

 now the property of the University of Cambridge. Mr. 

 Carnegie was IvOrd Rector of St. Andrews University 

 in 1903-; and of the University of Aberdeen in 1912-14, 

 and was the recipient of the honorary' degree of LL.D. 

 from the University of Cambridge. 



The death is announced of Mr. Herbert Ward, a 

 traveller in many lands and a member of the rear- 

 guard of Stanley's Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. 



Mr. Carle Salter, of the British Rainfall Organisa- 

 tion, has been awarded the premium of the president 

 of the Institution of Water Engineers for his paper 

 on "The Relation of Rainfall to Configuration," which 

 was read before the institution in December last. 



Dr. Shatffer, of the University of Toronto, has 



been appointed expert in animal husbandry to the 



Government of Mysore. He will work under Dr. 

 Coleman, the director of agriculture. 



A Departmental Committee has been appointed by 

 the President of the Board of Trade to investigate 

 and report upon the present position and economic 

 possibilities of non-ferrous mining in the United 

 Kingdom, and to make recommendations as to such 

 Government action as may be expedient in regard 

 thereto. The members of the Committee are Mr. 

 H. B. Betterton. M.P. (chairman), Mr. H. F. Collins, 

 Mr. J. Harris, Dr. F. H. Hatch. Sir Lionel Phillips, 

 Bt., Mr. R. A. Thomas, and Mr. James Wignall, 



NO. 2598, VOL. 103] 



M.P. All communications should be addressed to the 

 secretary, Mr. W. Palmer, Gwydyr House, Whitehall, 

 S.W.I. 



We are asked to announce that the time for accept- 

 ing entries for the Cammell Laird scholarship in naval 

 architecture and the Parsons scholarship in marine 

 engineering of the Institution of Naval Architects has 

 been extended to August 31, Application forms may 

 be obtained from the secretary, Institution of Naval 

 Architects, 5 Adelphi Terrace, Strand, W.C.2. 



As already announced (Nature, July 10, p. 370), the 

 Royal Society will in the coming autumn elect to two 

 John Foulerton studentships for original research in 

 medicine, the improvement of the treatment of dis- 

 ease, and the relief of human suffering. The latest 

 time for the receipt of applications (which should be 

 addressed to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal 

 Society, Burlington House, W.i) is October 31. 



A war section of the Royal Society of Medicine has 

 recently been formed having for its object the dealing 

 with questions affecting medicine and surgery in the 

 Navy, the Army, and the Air Force. The first meet- 

 ing of the section will be held on Monday, Novem- 

 ber 10, when the president. Sir Robert Hill, Medical 

 Director-General, R.N., will give an address. 



Lord Weir has consented to open an Exhibition 

 of Shipping, Engineering, and Machinery which 

 is to be held at Olympia for three weeks, beginning 

 on Sqjtember 25 next. It was to have been held \n 

 1914, but was postponed in consequence of the war. 



A memorial tablet to Sir Walter Ralegh— the gift 

 of the Societd Jersaise — has been placed on the wall 

 of the States Chamber of Jersey, Sir Walter having 

 been Governor of the island from 1600 to 1603. In 

 unveiling the tablet the BailifiF of Jersey said that of 

 all the distinguished men who had been connected 

 with the Channel Islands none had been more remark- 

 able than Ralegh, who was one of the group of Devon 

 men who had conceived the magnificent idea of the 

 British Empire. 



The Department of Mines and Industries of the 

 Union of South Africa is requiring the services of a 

 scientific officer for the Fisheries and Marine Bio- 

 logical Survey of the South African coast. The duties 

 of the officer will be to superintend operations, chiefly 

 on board surveving vessels, connected with sounding, 

 dredging, trawling, physical observations, the pressing 

 of specimens, etc. Applications should be sent, in 

 duplicate, not later than September 15, to the High 

 Commissioner for the Union of South Africa, 52 Vic- 

 toria Street, S.W.i. 



The Government has issued as a White Paper 

 (Cd. 280, 1919) a report on the food conditions in 

 Germany by Prof. E. H. Starling, supplemented 

 by memoranda on agricultural conditions and 

 statistics by Messrs. McDougall and Guillebaud. Prof. 

 Starling shows very clearly that the chief cause of 

 the collapse was a food policy erroneous in principle 

 and unworkable in practice. So late as 1917-18 the 

 total available food, after meeting the needs of the 

 Army, would, if equally divided, have sufficed to pro- 

 vide 3000 Calories per average man ; but, owing to 

 failure to control producers, the distribution was alto- 

 gether inequitable. The producers continued to con- 

 sume their pre-war ration, nearly 25 per cent, of their 

 disposable surplus was estimated to be distributed by 

 illicit trade — to the advantage, of course, of the 

 wealthy — and not more than 1500 Calories were left 

 to be distributed as the average ration per man per 



