Marcu 12, 1914] 
London parks, as has been the case at Hampstead, 
where the small bog above the Leg of Mutton 
Pond, in which grew the Sun-Dew (Drosera) and 
the Bog-bean (I used to visit them there!) might 
well have been left as a bog for the delighted 
contemplation of London naturalists. There was 
plenty of dry ground on Hampstead Heath without 
destroying the bog. There is danger of all such 
open spaces being converted into a common-place 
garden or a football field or a golf course unless 
the new society can extend its protection to them. 
The purpose of this article is to invite all lovers 
of the wilderness, all worshippers of uncon- 
taminated nature, to enter into communication 
with the Society for the Promotion of Nature Re- 
serves, and see how far they can help in promoting 
its most worthy national objects. 
E. Ray LANKESTER. 
P.S.—The following series of inquiries issued 
by the Society for the Promotion of Nature Re- 
serves will enable the reader to appreciate its 
purposes and mode of going to work. 
Answers will be treated as strictly confidential, and 
will be at the disposal of the executive committee 
only. Name of Place. District and county where 
area is situated. Name and address of society or 
person giving information. (A) Is the suggested 
area worthy of permanent preservation as:—(1) A 
piece of typical primeval country? (2) A breeding- 
place of one or more scarce creatures? (3) A locality 
for one or more scarce plants? (4) Showing some 
_ section or feature of special geological interest? 
{B) Is the place recommended primarily for birds, 
insects, or plants? (1) To whom does it belong? 
(2) Would the owner be willing to sell, or could the 
area be leased? (3) Could you get local financial aid 
should it be considered desirable to acquire the area? 
(4) Is the place or site locally popular as a pleasure 
resort? This form should be filled up and returned 
to the secretary, Society for Promotion of Nature 
Reserves, c/o Natural History Museum, Cromwell 
Road, London, S.W. 
GOVERNMENT LABORATORY REPORT.} 
Eee the report of the Government Chemist,! 
issued a short time ago, it appears that the 
work of the Department increased considerably 
during the year 1912-13. The total number of 
samples examined was 209,502, aS compared with 
195,170 in the previous year. 
It is noted that many questions of a consulta- 
tive and advisory nature, apart from those con- 
nected with the examination of samples, are 
referred to the laboratory by various Government 
departments. Above 600 such references were 
dealt with during the year. They included such 
diverse matters as the causes of the deficiency in 
the non-fatty solids of milk; the relation between 
the citric acid solubility and the availability of 
the phosphates in slags; the selection of suitable 
denaturants for growing tobacco; stamps for 
National Health Insurance; and the supply of lime 
juice to the mercantile marine. 
In connection with the attempts 
1 The Report of the Government Chemist upon the work of the Govern- 
ment Laboratory for the year ended March 31, 1913. (Cd. 7001). 
NOt aa, AVOL, 932] 
to cultivate 
NATURE 
JD 
| tobacco and sugar in this country, it is interesting 
to note that 224 samples of home-grown leaf 
tobacco were examined, and also specimens of 
beet-juice, sugar, and molasses from the recently 
erected beet sugar factory at North Cantley. 
Imported dairy produce was generally satisfac- 
tory as regards freedom from adulteration. Thus 
fresh (pasteurised) milk was not below the statu- 
| tory regulations for quality, and contained no 
preservatives or artificial colouring substances. 
Imported butter, of which 1223 specimens were 
analysed, occasionally contained a small excess of 
water, but gave no evidence of the presence of fat 
other than butter fat. 
In connection with the supervision of dangerous 
trades, a large number of lead glazes, dust, and 
other articles were analysed. From works where 
lead poisoning had occurred, fifty-eight specimens 
of lead glaze were taken; in most of these nearly 
the whole of the lead was in a soluble form, and 
therefore readily dissolved by the acids of the 
gastric juice. The principal chemist notes also 
that important investigations were conducted 
during the year for the Home Office Committees 
appointed to consider questions concerning (1) 
celluloid, and (2) the use of lead compounds in 
the painting of buildings and coaches. 
A large part of the report is devoted to an 
account of the work done by the laboratory in 
exercising chemical control over the production 
and sale of dutiable articles. The account is 
accompanied by brief outlines of the reasons for 
this control, and shows how it is exercised. 
For example, it is explained that the duty on beer 
brewed in this country is charged on the wort or 
unfermented saccharine liquid from which the beer 
is brewed; that the basis of the charge is a state- 
ment made by the brewer as to the quantity of 
materials used and unfermented wort produced, 
and that the accuracy of this statement can be 
checked at any time subsequently by analysing 
the fermented wort. That there is some need for’ 
such control is shown by the fact that out of 
11,641 samples examined, 1628 were found to have 
been “declared” at less than their true value. 
In this and numerous similar ways the laboratory 
has become an indispensable ancillary of the fiscal 
departments. 
The report shows steady progress of 
laboratory, and records a useful year’s work. 
the 
NOTES. 
THE meeting of the Royal Society on March 19 will 
be a meeting for discussion, the subject being ‘‘ The 
Constitution of the Atom.” The discussion will be 
opened by Sir Ernest Rutherford. 
Mr. LAuRENCE Brinyon, assistant-keeper in the 
British Museum in charge of the sub-department of 
Oriental Prints and Drawings; Dr. R. M. Burrows, 
Price 3d. 
principal of King’s College, London; and Mr. A. G. 
Lyster, president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 
have been elected members of the Athenzeum Club 
under the provisions of the rule which empowers the 
