March 2, 19 16] 



NATURE 



13 



We regret to learn, from an obituary notice in the 

 Victorian Naturalist for January, of the death of Dr. 

 T. S. Hall, for more than twenty years lecturer in 

 biologv in the University of Melbourne, and before 

 that director of the School of Mines at Castlemaine. 

 Dr. Hall's original investigations dealt chiefly with 

 the palaeontological aspect of his subject, and he was 

 recognised as a leading authority on the graptolites of 

 Victoria. In 1901 the Geological Society of London 

 awarded him the balance of the proceeds of the 

 Murchison fund in recognition of his researches. He 

 took a ver>' active part in the organisation of scien- 

 tific work in Australia, and had been president both 

 of the Royal Society of Victoria, and of the Field 

 Naturalists' Club; he also did a great deal of useful 

 work in connection with the Australasian Association 

 for the Advancement of Science. He became person- 

 ally known to many British men of science on the 

 occasion of the recent visit of the British Association 

 to Australia, when he not only acted as local secre- 

 tar}' of the Zoological Secticwi in Melbourne, but ren- 

 dered valuable services in other directions also. Dr. 

 Hall's charming personality, his sound common sense, 

 and his extraordinarily keen sense of humour endeared 

 him to a large circle of friends, by whom his loss will 

 be very deeply felt. He was fifty-eight years of age 

 at the time of his death. 



At the meeting of the Buteshire Natural History 

 Society, held on Februarj- 8, in the society's library at 

 the - Bute Museum and Laboratory-, the curator, Mr. 

 L. P. W. Renouf, explained at some length the aims 

 and objects of the laboratory and museum under its 

 new regime. Briefly, these are to get together a com- 

 plete collection of the fauna and flora of Bute and its 

 more or less immediate waters, to supplement the 

 actual collection with a card index of occurrences over 

 an extended period so as to have a complete local 

 history- of the species, and to provide accommodation 

 for anyone desirous of working at any of the problems 

 of natural histor}-. Emphasis was laid on the excep- 

 tional advantages offered by Bute for such an under- 

 taking, its size, position, and industries combining to 

 make it an ideal site for the work. The laboratory 

 offers all the necessary facilities for research work, 

 and possesses equipment for the carrying on of both 

 marine and fresh-water investigations, and the museum 

 already contains the nucleus of a ver\' fine collection. 

 Intending workers should apply to Mr. Renouf, who 

 will be glad to supply any particulars. 



The subordination of science forms the subject of 

 the leading article in Engineering for February 25. 

 Our national neglect of science has long been manifest, 

 but there are also some reasons for believing that the 

 fault lies in part with the scientific man himself. 

 British scientific men, including engineers, have 

 formed a habit of rendering the nation gratuitous ser- 

 vices of the greatest intrinsic value. There have been 

 many instances of this since the commencement of the 

 war, and, unfortunately, the general attitude towards 

 such services is to value them at cost price It is 

 probable that the public would take a much higher 

 view of the worth of these services had the scientific 

 experts concerned, like the lawjers, politicians, and 

 NO. 2418, VOL. 97] 



certain trade-unionists, made demand for adequate re- 

 muneration. There is no doubt also that our unfor- 

 tunate educational tradition has much to do with the 

 public attitude towards the scientific and engineering 

 expert. There is not a little reason for believing that 

 the country would derive great benefit from an Act 

 making it illegal for any schoolboy under sixteen years 

 of age to devote more than one hour a week to Latin 

 and another hour to Greek. Our public schools in 

 the past have failed, to provide a general education, 

 but have been devoted largely to the attempt to con- 

 vert most of the pupils into classical specialists. 



Prof. Mohn has published, through the Fridtjof 

 Nansen Fund, a discussion of the meteorological 

 observations made by the Norwegian Antarctic Ex- 

 pedition of 1911-12, under Capt. Roald Amundsen. 

 The memoir is a pamphlet of seventy-eight pages, and 

 is written in English. The observations at Fram- 

 heim, the base of the edge of the Barrier near King 

 Edward Land, are discussed in detail, and a full 

 account is given of the less complete observations 

 made on the sledge journey to the south pole and 

 back, including a discussion of the heights deduced 

 from the aneroid and boiling |X)int observations. 

 Great prominence is given to wind, and the relation 

 of the Antarctic winds to other conditions is worked 

 out in a remarkable series of wind roses. The climate 

 of Framheim is dealt with by calculating normals 

 based on the five-years' observations available at 

 McMurdo Sound, taking account of the relation be- 

 tween Amundsen's figures and the synchronous ob- 

 servations of the Scott Expedition. Prof. Mohn 

 states that the climate of Framheim, which was the 

 southernmost meteorological station in the world, 

 may be characterised as having rather low atmo- 

 spheric pressure, and very low temperature, both 

 lower than at McMurdo Sound (maximum observed, 



— o-2° C. minimum, —59° C), the yearly mean being 



— 24° C, as compared with —17-4° C. for the same 

 latitude in the northern hemisphere. The vapour ten- 

 sion was small, and the relative humidity and cloudi- 

 ness were moderate; no rain was observed, and snow 

 fell one day out of five. The prevailing wind direc- 

 tion was easterly, and the force moderate, averaging 

 20 metres per second, being much less than at 

 McMurdo Sound, and gales were very infrequent. 



At the Manchester meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion last year it was strongly represented that the 

 association, with its great breadth of interest, might 

 afford an effective mechanism for the investigation 

 of many of the problems of national and Imi>erial 

 importance which will arise after the close of the war, 

 and already call, or will call later, for scientific inves- 

 tigation and advice. Before the meeting the Section 

 of Economics had made investigation into the ques- 

 tions of outlets for labour after the war, of the effect 

 of the war -on credit, currency, and finance, and of 

 industrial harmony. The Engineering Section set on 

 foot at the Manchester meeting an inquiry into 

 problems affecting the national welfare; and at the 

 same time, at the instance of the Chemical Section, 

 a research committee was appointed to inquire into 

 the question of economy in fuel and allied problems. 

 The wider suggestion, as affecting the work of the 



