14 



NA TURE 



[NoVEMBER''3, 1904 



" The Animals of Africa " forms the title of an article 

 by Mr. Lydekker in the October issue of the Quarterly 

 Review. While admitting the African origin of the masto- 

 dons, the author does not consider that there are sufficient 

 grounds for rejecting Huxley's theory that the bulk of the 

 modern mammalian fauna of Africa came from the north. 

 In an article on fatigue, Sir W. R. Gowers points out that 

 the study it has received has been chiefly at the hands of 

 Italians. The facts known relating to both muscular and 

 brain fatigue are passed in review, and the methods of pre- 

 vention are considered in turn. Mr. D. G. Hogarth de- 

 scribes the palace of Knossos, and his account of recent 

 researches is accompanied by a large plan. Two other 

 articles also are of special interest to men of science — one 

 dealing with the Panama Canal and maritime commerce, 

 the other summarising what has been accomplished in 

 Wales in the provision of higher education. Referring to 

 Sir Norman Lockyer's calculation, that to place the Welsh 

 universities on a footing of equal efficiency with the best 

 universities of Germany and America a capital sum of four 

 millions is required, the writer says it is clear that Wales 

 herself cannot raise a tithe of this large sum, and emphasises 

 the fact that it is to the State that Wales must look for 

 the bulk of the money needed. 



In a brief Bulletin issued by the Michigan State Agri- 

 cultural-Experiment Station (No. 218) Mr. Fred Edwards 

 reviews in popular language our present knowledge of soil 

 bacteria in their relation to agriculture. 



The October number of Climate contains articles on 

 malaria by Dr. Harford, the climate of Uganda and of 

 Lovaleland by Mr. Cook and Mr. Fisher respectivelv, and 

 medical articles, notes, and reviews. 



The Journal of the Royal Statistical Society for September 

 (vol. Ixvii., part iii.) contains the second and third reports 

 of the committee appointed to inquire into the production 

 and consumption of meat and dairy products in the United 

 Kingdom, with remarks thereon by Mr. Rew, from which 

 it appears that we are well ahead of other European nations 

 in meat consumption (122 lb. per head as against Germany's 

 99 lb.), but appreciably behind our American cousins (150 lb. 

 per head), and much less carnivorous than our Australian 

 kinsmen (262 lb. per head). Mr. Thompson contributes a 

 paper on local expenditure and indebtedness in England and 

 Wales, and Mr. Adam a newly calculated life-table for 

 Scotland. 



Prof. A. E. Wright's system of anti-ivphoid inoculation, 

 introduced by him in 1896, after being applied to the British 

 Army in India was forbidden by an army order in con- 

 sequence of certain objections raised against it. During 

 the South African War the inoculation of troops proceeding 

 there was officially sanctioned, and Prof. Wright and his 

 assistants injected some 100,000 men without the slightest 

 mishap. At the termination of the war the advisory board 

 of the reorganised Army Medical Department recommended 

 that the practice of anti-typhoid inoculation should be 

 suspended. Prof. Wright demurred to this decision, and in 

 consequence Mr. Brodrick referred the matter to the Royal 

 Society, and at their suggestion a special committee of the 

 Royal College of Physicians was appointed to examine and 

 report. This committee was composed of Dr. Rose Brad- 

 ford, Dr. Gee, Dr. Howard Tooth, Prof. Simpson, and Dr. 

 Caiger, and reported unanimously that, " after careful 

 scrutiny of the statistics from both official and private 

 sources which have been made available, we are of opinion 

 that not only is a lessened susceptibility to the disease 

 NO. 1827, VOL. 71] 



brought about as a result of the inoculations, but the casei 

 mortality is largely reduced. We are further of opinion! 

 that w^ith due care the process of inoculation is devoid ofl 

 direct danger, but that under special circumstances there 

 may possibly be some temporary increase of susceptibility 

 to infection immediately following inoculation ; and it is] 

 therefore desirable that the preparation of the vaccine and 

 the inoculations should be carried out under specially skilled 

 supervision." In spite of this favourable verdict the 

 advisory board still maintained its opposition, and Mr. 

 .'\rnold-Forster therefore appointed another committee to 

 advise him, consisting of Colonel Bruce and Dr. James 

 Galloway, of the advisory board, together with Dr. C. J. 

 Martin and Dr. A. Macfadyen, Lister Institute, Dr. Bulloch, 

 London Hospital, Dr. Bruce Low, Local Government Board, 

 Major Leishman, R.A.M.C., and Prof. Wright. This com- 

 mittee has reported unanimously " that the anti-typhoid 

 inoculation has resulted in a substantial diminution in the 

 incidence and case mortality from typhoid fever, and re- 

 commend that, the system introduced by Prof. Wright 

 should be resumed in the Army.". The Army Council has 

 adopted this recommendation, and is proceeding to carry 

 out inoculations and to conduct investigations, bv the agency 

 of .Major Leishman, on volunteers from the 2nd Battalion 

 of Royal Fusiliers now proceeding to India. 



A LIST of fresh-water algfe, collected by Mr. A. Howard 

 in Barbados, Dominica and Trinidad, and described by Mr. 

 G. S. West, appears in the Journal of Botany (October). 

 This contains' species, some new, which are additional to 

 those recorded in papers previously published by the same 

 author. A species of Gloeotaenium, a green alga, is 

 figured, which is distinguished bv the presence of a peculiar 

 opaque cruciform zone. Biographical notes culled from Sir 

 M. Grant Duff's " Notes from a Diary " and other sources 

 include references to .Sir James Paget, Brodrick, and John 

 Ball. 



The success obtained with Para rubber in Ceylon has led 

 to the experimental plantation of the tree in other countries. 

 In India planters are wisely hesitating before they embark 

 upon a venture which yields no return for five years or 

 longer. It is obviously the duty of the superintendents of 

 experimental gardens to investigate the possibilities, and in 

 the Tennasserim circle, Burma, the scheme instituted by Mr. 

 Manson for developing a large Para rubber plantation at 

 Mergui is progressing. Up to the present serious de- 

 predations have been caused by deer and pigs which attack 

 the seedlings, but by planting out two-year-old plants it is 

 hoped that this may be to a great extent obviated. The 

 experiment, which was started in 1901, will be followed 

 with considerable interest by planters. 



The annual report of the Royal Alfred Observatory, 

 Mauritius, for the year 1903, states that the rainfall of the 

 island for the year (mean of fifty-one stations) was 68 8 inches, 

 the average being 77 3 inches. The greatest falls in twenty- 

 four hours were 9 inches at Constance d'Arifat on April 23, 

 and 85 inches at Britannia on January 14. The number of 

 ships which visited the island was 274, against 686 in 1882. 

 From the observations contained in their logs, daily synoptic 

 weather charts were prepared and tracks of cyclones laid 

 down. Photographs of the sun were taken daily when the 

 weather permitted; 173 negatives were sent to the Solar 

 Physics Committee. During the year 117 earthquakes were 

 recorded, particulars of which will be published in the annual 

 volume of observations. Mr. Claxton states that much 

 damage has been done to the library by white ants, and that 

 it has been necessary to remove the books to another 

 position. 



