226 



NATURE 



[April 21, 1910 



Among the pottery are some beautiful examples of 

 '■ Samian " ware, some fine drawings of typical pieces 

 by Mr. Phelps being reproduced. 



An illuminating chapter on Mithras-worship in 

 Roman Manchester, written by the Rev. E. L. Hicks, 

 advances the theory that Mithras-worship was encour- 

 aged by the Emperors among the Roman soldiers, as 

 an antidote to Christianity. 



At the end of the volume is an elaborate catalogue 

 of the coins of Roman Manchester, prepared by Dr. 

 R. S. Conway, assisted by Mr. Mclnnes and Mr. 

 Brooke. 



The supplemental volume describes some excava- 

 tions made by the association on an earthwork at 

 Toothill, in Macclesfield Forest. This earthwork has 

 long puzzled antiquaries, and was generally believed 

 before these excavations were made to be a Roman 

 camp or fort. But not a single trace of Roman 

 occupation was found, nor of pre-Roman ; the work 

 may have been mediaeval, but no positive evidence of 



Photo, by J. J. Phelps. 



Samian B ,wl found in Manchester in 1907. 



From " The Roman Fort at Maachi5tsr." 



its age has yet been found. The rest of the volume 

 •describes the continuation of the work at the Roman 

 Fort Melandra. 



These volumes are well and clearly written, and 

 very fully illustrated, and will be of the greatest value 

 to students of Roman Britain. 



ADMINISTRATION AND DISEASE. 



THE report of the advisory committee for the 

 Tropical Diseases Research Fund for 1909' 

 contains so much original work that it should rank as 

 a scientific publication. In it are to be found reports 



way ultimately into recognised scientific or medical 

 journals with fuller exposition and better illus- 

 trations. 



The actual report of the committee occupies three 

 pages out of a total of 134, the remainder being taken 

 up by appendices. In the report the committee gives 

 an account of its revenue, amounting to 3470^, and 

 the expenditure, totalling 3333/. 6s. Sd. The revenue 

 is made up of contributions from the Imperial 

 Government (1000/.), the Government of India (500/.), 

 the Rhodes' Trustees (200/.), and Colonial Govern- 

 ments (1770Z.); and, with regard to the last item, it 

 is very satisfactory to learn that the Colonial Govern- 

 ments have one and all agreed to renew their grants 

 for a further period of five years from 1909. The 

 expenditure consisted of grants to the London School 

 of Tropical Medicine (1383L 6s. Sd.), the Liverpool 

 School of Tropical Medicine (loooL), the University 

 of London (750I!.), and the University of Cambridge 

 (2ooi.). No grant was made to the Royal Society 

 during the year, because the 

 funds required for the con- 

 tinuation of the researches 

 into sleeping sickness, car- 

 ried on under the super- 

 vision of the society, were 

 provided by the Uganda 

 Protectorate. 



The first appendix con- 

 tains reports on measures 

 taken for the prevention of 

 malarial fever. A circular 

 letter was dispatched by the 

 Colonial Secretary to the 

 Colonial Governors, enclos- 

 ing (i) a letter from Sir 

 William Osier, published in 

 the Times of March 15, 

 1909, entitled " Malaria in 

 Italy; a Lesson in Practical 

 Hygiene," and (2) a report 

 of the Bombay Medical Con- 

 gress, published on March 

 16, 1909 ; and inquiring " to 

 what extent the policy which 

 Dr. Osier represents as 

 having been so successful in 

 Italy could be adopted in 

 the territory under your ad- 

 ministration." Replies are 

 printed from Ceylon, Mauritius, East Africa, 

 Nyasaland, Somaliland, Uganda, Gambia, Gold 

 Coast, Sierra Leone, Northern and Southern Nigeria, 

 South Africa, Bahamas, British Guiana, British Hon- 

 duras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad, Wind- 

 ward Islands, Australia, and Cyprus. These various 

 replies furnish much interesting reading.^ In 

 general the defence of dwellings and individuals 

 against mosquitoes, the destruction, 

 possible, of the breeding-grounds of 

 toes, and the free distribution of 

 the measures most commonly adopted. 



so far as 

 the mosqui- 

 quinine, are 



The Acting 



^ ^ __ __ ^ Governor of the Leeward Islands reports favourably 



from all parts of the world in which the results of '' on the efficacy of the small fish known as " millions " 

 scientific investigations are communicated by those (Girardinus poeciloides) in keeping down mosquitoes, 

 engaged in studies bearing directly or indirectly upon i The Governor of Nyasaland reports favourably on the 



tropical diseases of all kinds. Some of these reports 

 are even illustrated by figures, plain or coloured, 

 which, however, for the most part, give the impres- 

 sion of either having been very badly drawn in the 

 first place or very inadequately reproduced in this 

 report. It is to be hoped that many of the important 

 and interesting researches described here will find their 



f Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1910. Cd. 4999 Price 2s. Zd. 

 NO. 21 12, VOL. 83] 



success of anti-malarial measures in the townships 

 and other European settlements, but is less hopeful 

 with regard to the scattered native villages. 



The remaining appendices consist of a report from 

 Dr. H. G. Plimmer on his work on the experimental 

 treatment of trypanosomiasis ; reports from the pro- 

 fessor of protozoology in the University of London, the 

 Quick Laboratory, Cambridge, the London School of 



