APRIL 23, 1914] 
NATURE 
195 
the end of March was 42-5°, which is 2-5° in excess 
of the average, and the temperature was above the 
normal on fifty-seven days out of the ninety. The 
aggregate rainfall was 6-92 in., which is 142 per cent. 
of the average, and is 2-05 in. above the normal. The 
duration of sunshine was 216 hours, which is an 
excess of 29 hours. 
Tue first course of a series of lectures arranged by 
the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, under 
the William Ellery Hale foundation, is being delivered 
by Sir Ernest Rutherford, at the National Museum, 
Washington, on April 21 and 23. The series of lec- 
tures is to cover several years on the general subject 
of evolution, the intention being to present a clear 
outline of the broad features of inorganic and organic 
evolution in the light of recent research. The subjects 
of Sir Ernest Rutherford’s lectures are the constitution 
of matter and the evolution of the elements. The second 
course in the evolution series will be given at the 
autumn meeting of the academy by Dr. W. W. Camp- 
bell, director of the Lick Observatory; and a distin- 
guished European geologist will be invited to give 
the third course at the annual meeting of the academy 
next year. Taking the earth from the hands of the 
astronomer, he will show how its surface features 
have been altered in the process of time. Later lec- 
tures, preserving the continuity of the series, will then 
enter the field of organic evolution and illustrate the 
bearing of recent investigations in paleontology, 
zoology, and botany on the evolution of plant and 
animal life. The evolution of man will form the 
subject of another course, and the series will close 
with an account of tke rise of the earliest civilisations, 
coming into touch with the modern times in the life 
of the Nile Valley. In all cases the lectures will be 
given by leading European and American investi- 
gators, whose personal researches have contributed 
largely towards the development of the fields of science 
which they represent. 
THE second reading of a Bill to prohibit experi- 
ments on dogs was carried in the House of Commons 
on Friday last, April 17, by a majority of forty-two, 
the voting being 122 for the second reading and 
80 against. It was stated on behalf of the Govern- 
ment that an amendment will be moved in Committee 
to abolish the proposed prohibition and to allow ex- 
periments only in cases where no other animal but 
a dog is available for the purpose. The Bill was 
brought in by Sir F. Banbury, one of the members 
for the City of London. The motion for the second 
reading was seconded by Colonel Lockwood, member 
for the Epping Division of Essex. Mr. Rawlinson, 
Cambridge University, moved the rejection of the 
Bill; and the amendment was seconded by Sir P. 
Magnus, London University, and supported by Sir 
H. Craik, Glasgow, and Aberdeen Universities. Be- 
fore the second reading was taken, a memorial signed 
by more than three hundred eminent physicians, sur- 
geons, and other scientific investigators, protesting 
against the measure, was addressed to the Home 
Secretary. The memorial is in the following terms :— 
““We desire to express to you our strong conviction 
that the Dogs Protection Bill, which is put down for 
NO! 2321, VOL. 93] 
second reading on Friday, 17th inst., would inflict 
very severe injury, not only on medicine and surgery, 
but also on the study of the diseases of animals. We 
think that we have some right to ask you to oppose 
this attack on the advancement of medical science and 
practice; especially as the Final Report of the Royal 
Commission on Vivisection does not advise the pro- 
hibition of experiments on dogs. We are absolutely 
certain that such experiments are necessary for the 
complete study of many problems of physiology, phar- 
macology, and pathology.” 
Tue discovery of a prehistoric workshop floor, with 
flints, and other fragments, was incorrectly said in a 
note last week (p. 169) to have been made at St. 
Albans, instead of Ipswich, though the latter place 
was mentioned later in the paragraph. 
In the Times of April 11 Mr. H. St. George Gray 
gives his final report of the results of excavations at 
Maumbury Rings, Dorchester. The great earthwork 
has now been investigated. In prehistoric times there 
existed an immense circular ditch, having a medial 
diameter of 169 ft. This was adapted by later Roman 
settlers for use as an amphitheatre. In some respects 
Maumbury resembles Avebury, and the fosse in both 
cases may have been intended to prevent animals and 
the ordinary public from trespassing on a spot reserved 
for ceremonies conducted by the privileged. The ex- 
cavations now in progress at Avebury may result in 
strengthening. a comparison between these two im- 
portant prehistoric enclosures. 
In part i., vol. xxxvi., of the Transactions of the 
Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society for 
1913, Miss I. M. Roper discusses the delineation of 
flowers in stone in Bristol Church architecture. Such 
carvings appear only sporadically in Anglo-Saxon 
work, as at Britford, near Salisbury, and on Acca’s 
Cross at Hexham. But they become numerous at 
the close of the Norman period, from a.D. 1175 to 
A.D, 1200. The designs are naturally conventional, 
but display much appreciation of botanical forms. It 
is possible in some churches to recognise the cam- 
panula, trefoil, and vine-leaf. The magical use of the 
holy herb, now known as yellow avens or herb bennet, 
constantly appears. Such flower ornamentation ap- 
pears on the tower of St. Mary Redcliffe, a.p. 1292, 
and in the choir of Bristol Cathedral, a.p. 1298-1332. 
In the latter the oak-leaf.is a common subject, and 
we also find the maple, beech, ivy, and hawthorn. 
Among herbaceous plants may be recognised the 
yellow water-lily, white bryony, and the buttercup. 
Miss Roper identifies the familiar ball-flower type of 
ornament with the ripe fruit of the juniper. Excel- 
leit as most of the carving is, its best efforts naturally 
bear no more than a coarse resemblance of nature’s 
handiwork. 
WE have received the first progress report of the 
Thompson-McFadden Pellagra Commission. It  in- 
cludes a study of the epidemiology of pellagra by 
Capt. Siler and- Surgeon Garrison, in which it is 
stated that observations on the habitual use of the 
more common foodstuffs failed to discover any points 
of difference between pellagrins and non-pellagrins. 
