DISCOVERY 



223 



as a militaristic nation and an extremely efficient 

 people quick to take advantage of the intellectual and 

 material characteristics of \\'estem civilisation. But 

 age-long traditions do not pass away in a few decades, 

 and unofficial Japan remains much the same to-day 

 as it has been for the last thousand vears. Its people 

 are not imbued with so Prussian a militan*- ardour 

 as might be imagined from joumaUstic descriptions 

 that have appeared in this country, despite the fact 

 that in war they have shown the world a superb 

 fighting spirit and efficiency. Individually they arc a 

 kindly, courteous, and hospitable race, and these virtues 

 are most prominently displayed bv the peasants of the 

 countryside, of whom the Rev. Walter Weston gives 

 a description in the present number. This writer has 

 lived the greater part of his life in Japan, and, as the 

 result of many expeditions into the interior, possesses 

 a knowledge, hardly rivalled by any other European, 

 of the subject with which he deals. We hope that 

 his article will clear away some of the journalistic 

 cobwebs about the Japanese that may have gathered 

 in our readers' minds, as they most certainly have in 

 ours. 



Another contributor to the present number is Sir 

 William Bragg, well known both as a delightful lecturer 

 to popular audiences, and as one of the foremost 

 of living investigators in experimental physics. His 

 reputation was established when he was professor of 

 mathematics and phj'sics at the University of Adelaide 

 by his work on a-particles and on y-rays. He returned 

 to England in 1910 to become professor of physics at 

 Leeds, where his work both on y-rays and X-rays and 

 the structure of crystals led to extraordinarily fruitful 

 and important results. Later he became professor 

 in London. In 1915 he and Prof. W. L. Bragg, of 

 Manchester, his son, were awarded the Nobel Prize in 

 physics for their work on crystal-structure. 



interest. Vocational Training and Tests, and the 

 Relation of Genetics to Agriculture, are questions 

 which are coming more and more into the public notice, 

 and are of great importance to our intellectual and 

 physical welfare. The age of the earth is an ideal 

 subject for a joint sectional meeting, because there 

 are so many points of view to be tersely expressed and 

 trenchantly criticised. And there is always The Man- 

 With-Some-New-Facts who may come along and 

 induce his audience to add a couple of nothings to the 

 somewhat extended period of time during which this 

 dear old earth of ours has kept going. Chemists 

 and physicists will discuss Langmuir's theory. Dr. 

 Langmuir is an American, well known for his researches 

 in advanced electricity. His theory of the atom is 

 at present regarded as highly ingenious, but somewhat 

 ingenuous and of the bring-it-down-to-the-level-of-the 

 humblest-student type. It will be interesting to see 

 how the theory is received at Edinburgh, and what 

 comes of the discussion. Apropos of this, it was stated 

 recently by a " well-known authority " that the 

 structure of the atom was so large a subject of research 

 that, in spite of the great progress made in the past 

 decade, it would engross the attention of the best 

 workers for twenty-five years more at least. 

 * * * « ' * 



Our readers may have noticed the correspondence 

 columns in the August number of our journal. We 

 are not referring to those letters in particular when 

 we say that Discovery, aiming as it does at giving 

 information on all branches of knowledge, is always 

 ready and, indeed, grateful to receive and to publish 

 reasonable criticism and suggestion with regard to 

 any articles that appear in its pages. An actor who 

 does not feel the. pulse of his audience risks certain 

 failure ; and a paper that will not admit to its columns 

 the views of its readers merits a hke fate. Discovery 

 exists for its readers, and it desires their co-operation 

 in its aim of getting at the truth. 



The British Association is meeting this \-ear at 

 Edinburgh from September 7 to September 14. The 

 following are some of the subjects to be discussed at 

 joint meetings of sections : The Age of the Earth, 

 Langmuir's Atomic Theon,', Vocationeil Training and 

 Tests, the Relation of Genetics to Agriculture, and 

 the Origin of the Scottish People. The popular 

 evening lectures will be given by Prof. C. E. IngUs, 

 of Cambridge, on the Evolution of Cantilever Bridge 

 Construction, and by Prof. W. A. Hcrdman, of Liver- 

 pool, on Oceanography. 



***** 



These subjects are all of importance. To Scots the 

 Origin of the Scottish People is a matter of great 



In the October number of Discovery, Professor 

 T. E. Peet, of Liverpool University, will give an account 

 of his recent work on the site of the city of the sun- 

 cult at Tell-el-Amarna (Assiut Province, Upper Egypt), 

 where the Germans did a vast amount of excavating 

 before the war. This immense city was built by 

 Amenhotep IV {1375-1358 B.C.)— a monarch with 

 ideals, who attempted to implant sun-worship as a 

 monotheistic religion in Egypt. Since the war, Pro- 

 fessor Peet has carried out considerable researches at 

 TcU-el-Amarna. The editor found him there last 

 March, Hving in a dwelling reconstructed by the Ger- 

 mans from one of the city's several thousand ruined 

 houses. 



