November io, 1904] 



NA TURE 



37 



William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S. ; gold medal, Dr. Ludwig 

 Mond, F.R.S. ; the Owens College ; Royal College of 

 Science, London. Awards to collaborators, gold medal, 

 Prof. James Dewar, F.R.S. (low temperature research 

 exhibit) ; Mr. T. Wilton, and Dr. A. R. Garrick. Various 

 applications of electricity : awards to collaborators, grand 

 prize. Lord Kelvin (for important contributions to electrical 

 engineering) ; gold medal. Prof. Hugh Langbourne 

 Callendar, F.R.S., Mr. W. du Bois Duddell. Theory of 

 agriculture : grand prize, the Rothamsted Experimental 

 Station (Lawes Agricultural Trust); gold medal, Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries ; Royal Agricultural Society. 

 Department of Horticulture : appliances and methods of 

 pomology, grand prize. Board of Agriculture and Fisheries ; 

 Royal Horticultural Society ; the British Royal Commission ; 

 gold medal. Dr. Henry. Department of Forestry : appli- 

 ances and processes used in forestry, gold medal. Forest 

 Department, India ; silver medal, the Royal Scottish Arbori- 

 cultural Society. Department of Mines and Metallurgy : ores 

 and minerals, grand prize. Home Office (Mining Depart- 

 ment) ; Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction 

 for Ireland. Geological maps and plans of mines, grand 

 prize, Geological Survey of India. Mining literature, grand 

 prize, the Iron and Steel Institute ; the Geological Survey 

 of India ; gold medal, the Institution of Mining Engineers. 

 Fishing equipment and products : grand prize, Marine Bio- 

 logical Association of the United Kingdom, for an exhibit 

 prepared at their Plymouth laboratory illustrating the life- 

 history and the food of fishes, and a gold medal for publi- 

 cations. Department of Anthropology : ethnography, grand 

 prize, Cretan Exploration Fund ; Egypt Exploration Fund ; 

 Palestine Exploration Fund. 



A CONFERENCE OH the teaching of hygiene and temperance 

 in relation to physical deterioration was held at Caxton Hall, 

 Westminster, on November 2, under the auspices of the 

 National Temperance League, Sir John Gorst presiding. 

 The various speakers dealt with the evils of intemperance, 

 and attention was directed to the petition prepared by the 

 British Medical Association in which the medical profession 

 urged that the teaching of the elements of the laws of health 

 should be made compulsory in the elementary schools. 



The American Bar Association has passed a resolution in 

 favour of establishing in the Department of Justice, 

 Washington, a laboratory for the study of the criminal, 

 pauper, and defective classes. In the Bureau of Education, 

 Washington, Mr. MacDonald has for some vears been carry- 

 ing on work of this kind under many difficulties, and it is 

 mainly owing to his initiative that the foregoing resolution 

 was framed. 



In connection with the review on " Cancer Research " 

 (Nature, vol. Ixx. p. 279), an American correspondent, Mr. 

 Harbert Hamilton, has directed our attention to the reported 

 occurrence of a tumour in an oyster. The original paper 

 (Prof. J. A. Ryder in Pvoc. Acad. Nat. Sciences, Phila- 

 delphia, 1887, p. 25) records that the tumour was growing 

 in the pericardial cavity ; it consisted of alveoli containing 

 numbers of round nucleated cells resembling the colourless 

 blood and lymph cells of the oyster. The opinion is ex- 

 pressed that the growth was of mesodermal origin, and prob- 

 ably benign. 



With regard to the note on anti-typhoid vaccination which 

 appeared in these columns last week (p. 14), it may be of 

 interest to direct attention to a statistical inquiry on the 

 same subject contributed by Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S., to 

 the Britisli Medical Journal (November 5. p. 1243). Prof. 

 Pearson analyses mathematically certain statistics submitted 

 NO. 1828, VOL. 71] 



to him by Lieut. -Colonel Simpson, R.A.M.C., and concludes 

 that while most of the correlations both for immunity and 

 recovery are distinctly sensible, having regard to their prob- 

 able errors, yet they are so irregular that little reliance can 

 be placed upon them as representing any definite uniform 

 effect. He considers that the data suggest that a more 

 effective method of inoculation must be found before it should 

 become a routine practice in the Army. 



At a special meeting of the Charity Organisation Society 

 on October 31, Dr. Orme Dudfield, medical officer of health 

 for Kensington, contributed a paper on the need for sana- 

 toria for persons suffering from consumption. He pointed 

 out that more than one-tenth of the total mortality from all 

 causes was due to tuberculous diseases, and that consump- 

 tion accounted for nearly three-quarters of the tuberculous 

 mortality. He suggested that the Metropolitan .\sylums 

 Board, which, on an order by the Local Government Board, 

 has the power to do so under the various Health Acts, 

 should take the matter in hand and equip sanatoria, the 

 present Gore Farm Asylum being a very suitable building 

 and site. With regard to the expense of such institutions. 

 Dr. Dudfield remarked that the loss caused to London by 

 tuberculosis could not be less than 4! millions per annum, 

 and he contended that the expense incurred would be amply 

 recouped by the money saved to the community. On the 

 motion of Sir W. Broadbent, it was resolved " That it be 

 referred to the Administrative Committee to consider Dr. 

 T. Orme Dudfield 's paper and the discussion upon it, and 

 to report to the Council of the Charity Organisation Society 

 at some subsequent meeting." 



During last week a demonstration was given at Strat- 

 ford, in connection with the process invented by Mr. Powell 

 for treating timber with a solution of sugar. The result 

 is that all kinds of wood are made tougher, heavier, and 

 more lasting, while the softer varieties become more useful 

 and more ornamental when worked. Besides this it is 

 possible to put fresh and unseasoned timber through the 

 process without delay, and after treatment the " powellised '' 

 wood is ready for immediate use, as there is no danger of 

 its shrinking or warping. The timber is placed in cages 

 which are wheeled into a boiler, and after this has been 

 closed, a solution of beet sugar is pumped in, though 

 apparently an open tank can be utilised. The solution 

 takes the place of the air in the timber, and is absorbed 

 by the individual fibres, for microscopical examination fails 

 to demonstrate the presence of sugar crystals between them. 

 It is therefore difl^cult to remove the sugar, and wood blocks 

 which have been treated are no longer porous, so that 

 pavements made from them should be more sanitary 

 than those in present use. After being taken from the 

 receiver the wood is dried in ovens by artificial heat, the 

 temperature varying with the kind of wood. When sub- 

 jected to a breaking strain, " powellised " timber recovers 

 itself to a greater extent than untreated wood, and is able, 

 even when broken, to support a greater weight without 

 collapsing. It is also claimed that timber so treated is not 

 subject to " dry rot," and by the addition of some poison 

 to the sugar it is hoped to make it withstand the attacks 

 of termites in tropical countries. 



According to the report of the Natural History Society 

 of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne for 

 1903-4, the " museum talks " given once a month in winter 

 by the curator have been continued. They were fairly well 

 attended, although most of the audience contented them- 

 selves with listening to the discourse, only a few taking the 

 opportunity of inspecting the museum. 



