December 25, 1902] 



NA TURE 



179 



administering the muzzling order — rabies has not been 

 stamped out in Wales, does not touch the real merits of 

 the question. 



Mr. Long, the former President of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, who has proved himself thoroughly well 

 instructed in the whole question of rabies, has with 

 laudable firmness resisted the outcry and the repeated 

 assaults of the uninstructed sentimentalists, and as a 

 result was able to demonstrate that by the strict carrying 

 out of the muzzling order rabies in England was checked 

 and was almost reduced to extinction, though at first it 

 was so prevalent as to be really alarming. It seems 

 hopeless to discuss this or any other dog-question with 

 people who, in the face of all expert opinion as regards 

 prevention of rabies, and particularly against the opinion 

 of sensible owners of dogs, can write that "the muzzling 

 order and the muzzle are a gross and wanton cruelty to 

 animals." 



But even if it were not an exaggeration, as we are 

 persuaded it is, that the owners of dogs in general object 

 to the muzzling order and consider it a cruelty to 

 animals, what about the human species ? Human 

 beings who are not members of the executive committee 

 of the National Canine Defence League regard the 

 muzzling order as an important safeguard. One of the 

 duties of the State is to protect the health and lives of its 

 citizens. Hydrophobia of man is one of the most terrible 

 diseases, and the slaughter of stray dogs and the 

 muzzling of all dogs in places where rabies is rife has 

 been proved to be at present the best and only means to 

 prevent the spread of the disease to man. Besides, it 

 should be the interest of owners of valuable animals to 

 insist on the retention and strict carrying out of a 

 measure which to a very large extent insures against the 

 spread of rabies and consequent loss — seemingly of 

 indifference to the members of the Canine Defence 

 League. 



RECENT WORK OF THE GEOLOGICAL 

 SURVEY. 



THE Report referred to below 1 shows that the Geo- 

 -*■ logical Survey continues with activity and success 

 its investigation of the geology of these islands. It bears 

 witness to a large amount of steady and useful routine 

 work, which may not make much show, but which will 

 contribute to our knowledge of the detailed structure of 

 these islands and in some instances will have direct 

 economic usefulness. Among the more interesting scien- 

 tific results of the year's work, the progress of the re-ex- 

 amination of Cornwall has brought to light evidence of a 

 younger granite than the main mass of that rock, showing 

 that the granitic intrusions form a somewhat more com- 

 plex series than had been supposed. The clue, however, 

 to the detailed structure of the so-called " killas " and the 

 boundaries between the true Devonian and older rocks 

 still eludes the keen eyes with which the surveyors 

 are searching for it. If we could hope that the appoint- 

 ment of a mining geologist would do anything towards 

 reviving the decayed mining industry of the region, we 

 should still more rejoice in this increase to the strength 

 of the staff. Another of the problems which for years 

 past has baffled the officers of the Survey is that of the 

 Old Red Sandstone of South Wales. They are still un- 

 able to draw any satisfactory line between the lower and ' 

 upper divisions of the system. If the key is not found 

 before the western coast is reached, we can hardly hope 

 that it will be discovered in any part of this region. 



Some interesting discoveries were made during the 

 year in Scotland. Foremost among these is the finding 

 of proof that the granite of south-west Argyllshire has 



!" Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey of the United I 

 Kingdom and Museum of Practical Geology for iqoi. " 



NO. 1730, VOL. 67] 



invaded and altered a portion of the Lower Old Red 

 Sandstone series of Lome. The importance of this new 

 fact lies in its relation to the history of the metamorphism 

 and igneous protrusions of the Scottish Highlands, for it 

 shows that some of the granitic masses, like those of 

 Galloway and Leinster, are certainly post-Silurian in age. 

 Another notable " find " is that of the zone of Pecten 

 asper in the island of Scalpay and of Upper Cretaceous 

 rocks in the sound of Soay. 



In Ireland, the energies of the Survey are now con- 

 centrated on the Drift, with the view of preparing accurate 

 maps of the superficial deposits of the country. But 

 under Mr. Lamplugh's direction, the geological interest 

 of the glacial geology is not likely to be lost sight of. 

 One of the features of the work in the Dublin district 

 was the finding of evidence which seems to support the 

 view that the eskers represent water-channels which 

 existed under the ice-sheet. 



A new arrangement has been made in this Summary. 

 Its materials are grouped by districts instead of, as 

 formerly, by formations. The change will no doubt save 

 trouble in the preparation of the volume, but it gives a 

 great deal more to the geologist who wishes to ascertain 

 what additions to our knowledge the Survey has been 

 able to make in any particular part of the geological 

 record. Another change is the omission of the Director's 

 name from the book. It surely cannot have been the 

 wish of those who wield the new brooms at South 

 Kensington to sweep Mr. Teall's name clean out of his 

 Report. 



PROF. P. P. DE HERA IN. 



T^vEHERAIN (b. 1S30, d. 1902), who in 18S7 succeeded 

 \-^ to Boussingault's place in the Academie des Sciences, 

 was, for the last twenty-two years of his life, professor of 

 vegetable physiology as applied to agriculture at the 

 Museum in Paris. His early work was chiefly agricul- 

 tural, and included researches on calcium phosphate, on 

 the sal's of potassium, &c. ; he was author of a " Cours 

 de Chimie agricole," and it should not be forgotten that 

 he founded the Annates agronomiques. In the region of 

 pure physiology, he was author of a number of memoirs, 

 of which those written in collaboration with Maquenne, 

 Moissan and others are perhaps especially well known. 

 He worked at gaseous interchange, including the absorp- 

 tion of oxygen by succulents and by oily seeds, also at 

 the assimilation of CO.,, being especially interested in 

 the action of the different parts of the spectrum on this 

 process. His researches extended to other subjects, such 

 as transpiration, the assimilation of free nitrogen and 

 denitrification. 



A sympathetic appreciation of his personal character 

 and of his career as a teacher is given by his former 

 pupil, Maquenne, in La Nature of December 13, to which 

 we acknowledge our indebtedness. Although Deherain's 

 name is not associated with any great discovery, he 

 deserves the place he won for himself in the annals of 

 plant-physiology and the honour due to one who dies 

 in harness. F. D. 



TRANSATLANTIC WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. 



IX/TR. MARCONI'S latest success is a wonderful 

 ■'•*-'- achievement. Messages have been exchanged in 

 both directions across the Atlantic, between his two new 

 stations at Glace Bay, Cape Breton, and Poldhu, Corn- 

 wall. Transatlantic wireless telegraphy has thus been 

 successfully established ; and the persistent effort which 

 has enabled this result to be accomplished merits the 

 fullest recognition. The messages which we print from 

 the Times represent the inauguration of a system of 



