;8o 



NATURE 



[July 6, 1916 



he may not possess ; but for those who can follow 

 it the book should be full of charm, of interest, 

 and of real utility. T. T, 



More Minor H6rrars. By Dr. A. E. Shipley. 



Pp. xiv+i63. (London: Smith, Elder and Co., 



1916.) Price IS. 6d. net. 

 This little volume is to be reg-arded as a sequel 

 to the author's "Minor Horrors of War," and, 

 like the latter, is written in a style calculated to 

 entertain and instruct the layman. Dr. Shipley's 

 innate humour leavens the " horrors " that are 

 commonly associated with the subjects which he 

 treats of, but at the same time he imparts in- 

 formation which is both accurate and up to date. 



The book opens with a dissertation on the 

 ubiquitous cockroach and its various phases of 

 activity. The following- chapter treats of the ox 

 warble-fly, the larva of which, by destroying the 

 continuity of the integument of our oxen, affects 

 detrimentally an important munition of war. 

 Mosquitoes come in for a very full share of treat- 

 ment, with special reference to those which serve 

 as carriers of malaria and yellow fever. The ex- 

 tension of the war into Asiatic Turkey may have 

 possibly suggested to the author the inclusion 

 of the fig moth in the present volume, and to 

 dilate on the ravagfes it entails among the chief 

 product of Smyrna. Among- other topics the 

 common stable fly is well described, and timely 

 reference is made to the rdle which it may very 

 likely perform in the spread of infantile paralysis. 



The book is well printed and illustrated, and 

 for the modest expenditure of eighteenpence we 

 can glean an insight into the ways and means of 

 some of the undesirable companions of our 

 countrymen now fighting- in divers lands and 

 seas. A. D. Imms. 



Rhizopod Protozoa. The Causes of Cancer and 



Other Diseases, being Part iv. of "Protozoa 



and Disease." By J. J. Clarke. Pp. xiv+187. 



(London: Balli^re, Tindall and Cox, 1915.) 



Price 75. 6d. net. 

 In this book the author bring-s together data and 

 observations which he considers enable him to 

 state definitely that cancer and certain other 

 diseases are caused by protozoa belonging to the 

 same group of organisms as the Mycetozoa. The 

 author has studied the mycetozoon Dydimium 

 difforme, and believes that similar structures and 

 developmental forms are met with in it and in 

 cancers, moUuscum, etc., from which he concludes 

 that these appearances in the latter must be due 

 to a parasite of the same botanical or zoological 

 position as the mycetozoon. He similarly holds 

 that the Negri bodies of rabies, the trachoma 

 bodies, the Councilman bodies of small-pox, etc., 

 are the actual parasites, and are protozoa, and 

 are not, as is usually held, the "g-arments" 

 enclosing an ultra-microscopic organism. 



Mr. Jackson Clarke is well known for his pro- 

 nounced views on the cancer question, but so far 

 he has failed to carry conviction, and we doubt 

 if this work will do much to advance his propa- 

 ganda. The book is lavishly illustrated by a 

 number of beautiful drawings. 

 NO. 2436, VOL. 97] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 

 the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.] 



Economic Geology and an Imperial Bureau of 

 Scientific intelligence. 



The subject of Sir R. Hadfield's address to the 

 Ferrous Section of the Metallurgical Committee of 

 the Advisory Council for Scientific Research (see 

 "Nature, May 25, p. 264) i$ of much interest. 



As far back as igoi the Department of Agriculture 

 and Technical Instruction for Ireland, recognising the 

 need for obtaining information as to the economic raw 

 materials which would be worthy of development in 

 Ireland, decided to appoint a practical man trained 

 in this special work. I had the honour to be the 

 person appointed as their economic geologist. 



The inquiry thus begun has resulted in furnishing 

 considerable data as to the mineral industries already 

 existing, and as to mineral deposits capable of develop 

 ment. Some progress has been made, the exports 

 of raw materials (stones, slates, metal ores) having 

 risen in value from 380,188/. in 1909 to 524,458/. in 1914. 

 In the course of the inquiry a comprehensive collection 

 of mineral raw materials, building stones, etc., was 

 got together and shown at various exhibitions in Ire- 

 land, also at the Imperial Institute, London, and at 

 the St. Louis Exposition, U.S.A., with the object of 

 attracting capital to develop the deposits, finding a 

 market for the materials ajready being worked, etc. 

 The Department has thus organised what is in effect 

 a bureau of investigation and information upon the 

 economic side of the mineral resources of the country. 

 Through this bureau the I>epartment give a degree of 

 assistance in the form of inquiry and information 

 which goes as far as is deemed proper to Government 

 action in any country, and of a kind which is not 

 furnished by Government departments elsewhere in 

 the United Kingdom. 



I am in thorough agreement with Sir R. Hadfield 

 in his proposal for the establishment of a central 

 bureau of information as to the materials existing 

 within the British Empire. I well know the need for 

 such a bureau, which, in my opinion, should also 

 collect information regarding materials exported from 

 enemy countries, and which might be replaced by our 

 own products. Since the beginning of hostilities I 

 have been engaged in special inquiries and experi- 

 ments, having in view, amongst other purposes, the 

 finding of possible substitutes for raw materials im- 

 ported from enemy countries, and if such a bureau 

 had been in existence it would have been 

 of much assistance in this work. I have had 

 an opportunity of visiting the Philadelphia Com- 

 mercial Museum, and the Commercial Museum, Brus- 

 sels, and much appreciate the advantages of these 

 institutions. 



A circumstance in Irish conditions which tends con- 

 siderably to facilitate the work of State action in the 

 development of minerals is the fact that under the 

 Land Purchase Acts of 1903 and subsequent years the 

 mineral rights of the land sold are, as a rule, vested 

 in the Irish Land Commission. The Department work 

 in this matter in close co-operation with the Land 

 Commission, my services being placed by special . 

 arrangement at the disposal of this body. The policy 

 regarding the leasing of mineral rights is to give 

 fair and equitable terms to the prospector. 



E. St. John Lyburn. 



4 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin, June 19; 



