344 



NA TURE 



[August 13, 1891 



and then creep underneath, when, afier running about and ex- 

 hausting the supply, they fly off to another leaf, exactly as if 

 thpy were visiting flowers. The leaves of the oaks are clean, 

 and have no " honey-dew " on them. F. M. Burton. 



Highfield, Gainsborough, August 5. 



Dredging Products. 



Amongst the products of the dredgings which my friend the 

 Rev, J. H. Crav\ford and I are procuring from the Voe here, I 

 am glad to be able to record the presence of Actinotrocha. We 

 only got two or three specimens at first, but to-day a large 

 number was procured from the surface net. One or two have 

 attained to the Phoronis condition since being brought in. They 

 answer in all respects to Actinotrocha branchiata, but seem to 

 be as a rule less pigmented than the specimen found in St. 

 Andrews Bay. 



Actinotrocha branchiata has now been found on both sides of 

 Scotland and England, and also at Heligoland ; but, besides 

 being got in the North Sea and on the west coast of Britain 

 (vide Nature, vol. xxxiv.), it seems also to be found on 

 the western side of the Atlantic, for Wilson records it from 

 Chesapeake Bay. It is thus distinctly a northern form, but has 

 a wider distribution than has hitherto been supposed. 



Alexr. Meek. 



Sullom, Northmavine, Shetland, August 4. 



THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF 

 HYGIENE AND DEMOGRAPHY. 



"NJ EVER before, perhaps, in the history of science has 

 ■'•^ there been assembled together such a numerous 

 gathering of eminent men of science of different nation- 

 alities, or representing so many countries, for the purpose 

 of discussing scientific problems. 



Although it is little to the national credit that the 

 importance of international Conferences on Health was 

 suggested by the Belgians and not by ourselves, the con- 

 ditions we are under here must not be forgotten. All 

 other civilized countries have strongly represented among 

 their Ministers, and among administrators, men of know- 

 ledge and competence ; and elsewhere such Congresses 

 are treated as of national concern. 



Here, even in the matter of health, such powerful and 

 economical methods of obtaining and distributing know- 

 ledge, such as Congresses like the present afford, are 

 absulutely ignored by the party politicians to whom we 

 commit our national welfare. 



There can be little doubt that most of the good which 

 is certain to arise Irom the deliberations now going on 

 must be ascribed to the Queen and Prince of Wales, who 

 came forward as Patron and President of a Congress 

 ignored, as we have said, by our party rulers. This has 

 been pointed out by the St. Jajnes's Gazette : — " The 

 Prince of Wales has rendered a not inconsiderable 

 service to his country by good-naturedly pulling the Con- 

 gress out of the fire, and rendering a partial success of 

 what came near to being a sad fiasco. But for his com- 

 plaisance in sacrificing his holiday in coming up to 

 London to take the chair, no public personage would 

 have been present to welcome the two or three thousand 

 guests bidden to the metropolis, or to give attraction and 

 dignity to the opening meeting. . . . There are three 

 Ministers whose depaitments have relation to the sub- 

 jects treated by the Congress : Mr. Ritchie, who is our 

 ^«aj-z Minister of public health and relief; Mr. Chaplin, 

 whose department deals with the hygiene and prevention 

 of disease of animals ; and Lord Cranbrook, who con- 

 trols medical education. Not one of these Ministers was 

 present yesteiday. Not even the Registrar-General, the 

 head of the department of vital statistics, or a representa- 

 tive of the Home Secretary, took part in yesterday's 

 meeting. The Prince, however, saved the position." 



The devoted and unpaid labours of many eminent men 

 ha\e, however, with tins slight touch of i.ational feeling 



NO. 1137, VOL. 44] 



in high quarters, already rendered the success of the 

 Congress unparalleled, and it is really wonderful to see 

 what they have done, in spite of the enormous difficulty 

 of arranging for a large number of people in such a 

 city as London. Even the facilities afforded by Burling- 

 ton House and the University of London buildings do 

 not include a hall large enough for an adequate reception 

 room ; at first, therefore, there were difficulties, largely 

 owing to its absence. This will hardly be wondered at, 

 when we state that the numbers enrolled already are about 

 3000, and that there are 40 delegates from the German 

 Empire and 70 from India, only to give two instances. 



In anticipation of the meeting, among other official docu- 

 mentstoonumeroustomention,was prepared a Hand-book 

 to London, with special reference to the needs of the mem- 

 bers This is a volume of 250 pages, in French and 

 Englishjwith eight plates showing the position of hospitals, 

 cemeteries, markets, and the like. T his has been published 

 by Messrs. Cassell. There is another volume of 233 

 pages, containing abstracts of the more important papers 

 to be read. Nor have the English Committee been the 

 only workers. We have " Denmark : its Medical Or- 

 ganization, Hygiene, and Demography," with numerous 

 illustrations and maps, published in English by authority 

 of the Danish Government in time for the International 

 Congress. This has been published by Messrs. Churchill. 



In spite of the abstentation of any notice on behalf 

 of the Government, it is pleasant to note the way in 

 which the Lord Mayor and the Corporation, the Royal 

 Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and numerous other 

 public bodies and private individuals have kept up the 

 credit of the nation for hospitality. Among the conver- 

 sazioni must be specially mentioned that at the Guildhall 

 on Tuesday evening, when the Lord Mayor received the 

 members of the Congress. It was a brilliant and impres- 

 sive sight, enhanced by the uniforms of foreign officers, 

 and the unfamiliar garbs of members of our own distant 

 dependencies. The various social arrangements made by 

 the organizing committee are recorded in a special 

 pamphlet of fourteen pages. 



The proceedings began on Monday by a meeting in St. 

 James's Hall, presided over by the Prince of Wales. Sir 

 Douglas Galton first presented the Report of the Per- 

 manent International Committee, and inter alia gave the 

 following account of the general organization : — 



" The work of the Congress has been arranged in two 

 divisions, viz. hygiene and demography, and it has been 

 found necessary to divide the former into nine sections, 

 each under a separate president, and with separate orga- 

 nization. Committees have been organized in foreign 

 countries to further the interests of the Congress in a 

 more direct manner than could be done from England. 

 Delegates have been appointed by all the Governments 

 of Europe, and also by the United States, Mexico, Vene- 

 zuela, Japan, Persia, Egypt, by the provinces and native 

 states of the Empire of India, by the most important 

 colonies, and also by numerous municipal authorities, 

 universities, scientific and medical societies, and other 

 institutions throughout the world, and large numbers of 

 the most important authorities on the subjects to be 

 treated of have sent communications to be laid before the 

 Congress." 



After the reading of this Report, the Prince of Wales 

 opened the proceedings by a careful and sympathetic 

 address. One part of it referred to the dangers to health 

 inevitable to the conditions under which we live. He 

 remarked in relation to these dangers : — 



" It will be no trivial work if their sources and probable 

 remedies can be clearly pointed out, and especially if 

 this can be done, as in a Congress such as this it should 

 be, in a strictly scientific manner, calmly and dispassion- 

 ately, without any reference to either general or municipal 

 politics, or for any other purpose than the promotion of 

 health. It is onlv on conviction such as ina) thus be pro- 



