2G2 



KNOWLEDGE 



[NOVEMBEK 2, 1896. 



advance which surgery has ever made. Without dwelling 

 unduly upon the iuvestij,'ations which led him to introdui-e 

 antiseptic surgery, Sir Joseph Lister traced, in his presi- 

 dential address, the hacteriological researches of Pasteur and 

 others bearing upon it. Pasteur found that putrefaction was 

 a fermentation caused by the growth of microbes, and the 

 inference was that if a wound were treated with acme sub- 

 stance which, without doing too serious mischief to the 

 human tissues, would kill the microbes already contained in 

 it, and prevent the access of others in the living state, putre- 

 faction might be prevented. Acting upon this suggestion, 

 Sir Joseph Lister Ijegan to apply carbolic acid to wouuds,and 

 was overjoyed to find that by so doing compound fractures 

 healed as easily as simple fractures, in which the skin 

 remains unbroken. More recent work has shown that it 

 is not necessary to use carbolic acid, or any other irritating 

 antiseptic, in the treatment of wounds. All that is required 

 is scrupulous cleanliness. The surgeon washes his hands 

 in disinfecting solution, and boils his instruments in water, 

 or a weak solution of sodium carbonate, in order to free 

 them from microbes. With the same end in view, his 

 outer garments and the bandages are sterilized by being 

 heated in a steam chamber. Everything likely to come 

 into contact with a wound is carefully freed from germs, 

 and nature is thus given the conditions to carry out un- 

 disturbed her best methods of repair. This change of 

 operational technique does not, however, belittle the 

 antiseptic method. Lister opened up the new era of 

 surgery by showing that wounds would heal " by first 

 intention " if kept entirely free from infection, and that is 

 the principle now borne in mind by surgeons. The result 

 is that, whereas in pre-antiseptic days a frightful proportion 

 of patients succumbed to the inflammation of wounds, wound 

 fevers, and hospital gangrene, at the present time scarcely 

 a death is due to these sequela', however complicated the 

 wound or difHcult the operation. 



The Physics Section of the Association was honoured by 

 the presence of Prof. Lenard, whose name, though not so 

 widely known as that of Prof. Eiiatgen, is held in just as 

 high esteem in the scientific world. It was Prof. Lenard who 

 showed that the kathode rays produced in high-vacuum 

 tubes, and first studied by Dr. Crookes, could be brought 

 out into the air by making a tube with an aluminium end 

 opposite the disc from which the rays emanated. As Prof. 

 Fitzgerald eloquently remarked in the discussion upon the 

 paper in which Prof. Lenard described his researches, 

 " he was the first to cross the Rubicon which separated us 

 from the domain of what is now known as X-ray photo- 

 graphy." Two years before the publication of Prof. 

 Rijntgen's startling results, Lenard had shown that 

 kathode rays passed through opaque substances, and were 

 capable afterwards of excitmg a phosphorescent screen and 

 of acting upon a photographic plate. A number of other 

 papers on kathode rays, and Eiiatgen or X rays, were 

 communicated to the section, and Prof. J. J. Thomson's 

 address to the section was largely devoted to these subjects ; 

 but there was no consensus of opinion as to the nature of 

 the rays, whether they were matter projected with high 

 velocities or whether they were waves in the ether. 



Prof. J. J. Thomson referred in his presidential address 

 to the great improvement which has taken place in the 

 teaching of physics in our public and secondary schools 

 during the past ten years. At the same time he cautioned 

 teachers and students against the temptation to take up 

 too many subjects. lie thought that physics was best 

 begun with a course of mechanics, the students to do 

 innumerable experiments of a simple kind leading to 

 numerical results, and their work not to be shaped accord- 

 ing to the dictates of the examinational fiend, The subject 



of scientific education came up also in the chemistry 

 section, and the general opinion was that science should 

 bo more widely followed as a means of mental culture, in 

 which aspect it can be made a subject of the greatest 

 educational value. A long discussion took place on a paper 

 by Sir Henry Roscoc on " Chemical Education in Isngland 

 and dermany," and the opinion was expressed that much 

 more attention should be paid to scientific research both 

 in the higher technical schools and in manufactories. 



In his presidential address to the Section of Geology, 

 Mr. J. E. Marr dealt at great length with the present state 

 of knowledge of stratigraphical geology. Eew papers of 

 general interest were presented, and limits of space will 

 only permit us to mention two of these— an account by the 

 Coral Boring Committee of the unsuccessful attempt to 

 bore through Funafuti, in the South Pacific, and a paper 

 by Mr. Vaughan Cornish on the ripple-marks produced by 

 the sea, streams, and wind. The address of Prof. E. B. 

 Poulton to the Section of Zoology was of a somewhat 

 disjointed character ; but the chief point with which it 

 dealt was the age of the earth, as estimated by geologists 

 and physicists respectively. The Geographical Section 

 was very largely attended, perhaps because most of the 

 papers were descriptive of travels and explorations, and 

 were illustrated by lantern slides. Africa and the Arctic 

 were the chief themes brought before the section. To the 

 Section of Mechanical Science very little of importance was 

 communicated. Mr. C. Worby Beaumont gave an ex- 

 planation of the apparently anomalous fractures of railway 

 rails, and a valuable report was presented on the effect of 

 wind and atmospheric pressure on the tides. A paper by 

 Mr. W. H. Prcec3, giving the results of tests of a large 

 number of glow lamps, must also be mentioned. 



Mr. Arthur Evans dealt with " The Eastern Question 

 in Anthropology " in his address to the Anthropological 

 Section, and showed that " Eurafrica," in its widest sense, 

 is the birthplace of the highest civilizations that the world 

 has yet produced, and the mother country of its dominant 

 peoples. Several very interesting discussions took place 

 in the meetings of this section upon such subjects as the 

 formation of an Ethnological Bureau, the origin of the 

 knowledge of copper and iron in Europe, and the early 

 civilization of the Mediterranean. 



In the Section of Botany, Dr. D. II. Scott delivered an 

 erudite presidential address on " The Present Position of 

 Morphological Botany." The chief paper communicated 

 to this section was on the ascent of water in trees, by 

 Mr. Francis Darwin. Within the last few years this 

 problem has entered upon a new stage of existence, and 

 Mr. Darwin brought together the results of the researches 

 which have led to this new development ; the two questions 

 considered b?ing — (I) What is the path of the ascending 

 water '? (2) What are the forces which produce the rise ? 



Dr. W. H. Gaskell's address ou " The Origin of the 

 Vertebrates," delivered before the combined Sections of 

 Physiology, Zoology, and Anthropology, provoked a large 

 amount of discussion. The central pivot on which the 

 theory put forward turns is the central nervous system, 

 especially the brain region. The striking factor of the 

 ascent of vertebrated animals, from the lowest fish to man, 

 is the steady increase of the size of the central nervous 

 system. However much other parts may suffer change or 

 degradation, the brain remains intact, steadily increasing 

 in power and complexity. The same law holds gooj 

 in the invertebrate kingdom. These and many other 

 considerations have led Dr. Gaskell to conclude that 

 the central nervous system of the vertebrates must be 

 considered as derived from the conjoined central nervous 

 system and alimentary canal of an arthropod. The brain 



