JANUARY 24, 1907 | 
NATURE 301 
usual, in the library of the Electrical Engineers, 92 Victoria 
Street, S.W. 
A RECEPTION and exhibition of recent progress in science 
was held by the New York Academy of Sciences in con- 
junction with the American Museum of Natural History on 
December 28 and 29, 1906, and, for the benefit of the 
public, the exhibition was continued daily until January 14. 
The 353 exhibits were arranged in eighteen sections, cover- 
ing nearly every department of natural knowledge, and 
the exhibition as a whole was a tribute to the organising 
powers. of the managing committee. The New York 
Academy of Sciences is one of the oldest among American 
societies, having been established in 1817 as the Lyceum 
of Natural History. It embraces all branches of science ; 
its scope, in fact, is similar to that of the older European 
societies. Its publications have long been familiar to 
readers of Nature. Its membership includes a maximum 
of fifty honorary members elected from representative men 
of science throughout the world, more than 200 corre- 
sponding members, who are expected to communicate the 
results of their researches to the academy from time to 
time, and the active and associate Active 
membership is not restricted to specialists, but is open to 
those who take a general interest in science. Fellows are 
chosen from among the active members in recognition of 
scientific attainments or services. 
members. 
A DEPUTATION representing the Infants’ Health Society 
waited upon Mr. John Burns, M.P., President of the Local 
Government Board, on January 17, with reference to the 
supply of sterilised milk to infants. Several local authori- 
ties have recently established depéts for the supply of 
sterilised milk for infant feeding. The opinion has been 
expressed that in so doing the authorities have exceeded 
their legal powers, and Mr. Burns has therefore intended 
to introduce a Bill to legalise their action. The Infants’ 
Health Society, believing that sterilisation is of doubtful 
value, and that refrigeration is preferable, asked that 
before sterilisation was sanctioned an investigation should 
be made by a committee of experts which it is proposed 
to form. Sir Thomas Barlow, Sir Lauder Brunton, and 
Mr. Mayo Robson having detailed the views of the society, 
Mr. Burns in reply said that he knew that sterilisation 
was not the last word in dealing with the problem of the 
milk supply, and at present he saw no reason why a 
choice should not be given between the two methods of 
sterilisation and refrigeration, and why he should not 
embody in his Bill the power being given to local authori- 
ties to sterilise milk. With regard to the investigation of 
the question by a joint committee, he would be glad if 
sucha committee would communicate to him the results 
of their investigations. 
Tue valuable collection of British and foreign Alge 
made by Mr. E. M. Holmes, of the Pharmaceutical Society, 
has, through the generosity of Mr. William A. Cadbury, 
been acquired for the botanical department of the Uni- 
versity of Birmingham. The collection is a very large 
one, including about 13,000 specimens, and constituting 
the produce of more than thirty years of Mr. Holmes’s 
activity as a collector. The British portion of the collec- 
tion is of exceptional value, owing to the singularly prolific 
nature of Mr. Holmes’s personal investigations. When he 
commenced his work thirty-five years ago there were some 
400 species of British marine Algae known. There are 
now about 750; and 225 of the new species were distributed 
by Mr. Holmes himself, in eleven fasciculi. Of these, 
twenty-five sets only were issued, and with three or four 
NO. 1943, VOL. 75]| 
collec- 
the 
exceptions these sets were acquired for national 
tions or British or foreign universities. As 
best collecting grounds of the past, such as those near 
Weymouth, Plymouth, and Falmouth, have been in large 
measure spoilt by extensions of building areas, the difficul- 
ties in the way of making a complete collection are of 
while three or four of the speci- 
The foreign 
some of 
increasing magnitude, 
mens included in the collection are unique. 
portion of the collection is as complete as could have been 
made in the period, and includes authentic sets sent out 
by all the best-known algologists, such as Harvey, Agardh, 
Bornet, Thuret, Crouan, Ferguson, and others. Here also 
not a few of the specimens are types, having been used 
as the basis of published specific descriptions. As Mr. 
Holmes had long planned that his collection should be 
fitted for public rather than private ownership, exceptional 
care has been taken throughout in respect of display and 
mounting, and different species or different varieties are 
in no case included upon the same sheet. The donor also 
states, as a condition of gift, that the collection shall be 
accessible to algologists generally for any purposes of 
serious study or of reference. 
Britisu sea-fisheries, and more especially those of the 
North Sea, form the subject of an instructive article in 
the January number of the Quarterly Review. After a 
survey of the results of earlier investigations, the author 
discusses those of the last three or four years, which are 
based on much more precise information than was avail- 
able in the case of the former. Starting with the axiom 
that a given area of the sea can nourish only a limited 
amount of fish, it is pointed out that if the methods of 
capture tell more heavily on one kind than on another it 
is quite probable that valuable species may be largely dis- 
placed by inferior ones. This seems to be the condition of 
affairs in the North Sea, where the worthless dab is in- 
creasing at the expense of the plaice. Possibly the remedy 
for this is the introduction of young plaice. Subsequently, 
in discussing the excessive destruction of young fish which 
undoubtedly takes place, the question is raised whether 
this has really any marked effect on the adult popula- 
tion; certainly it does not appear to do this in the case 
of the herring. Be this as it may, it seems clear that the 
Grimsby supply is largely maintained by drawing on 
immature fish. Admitting this, it has yet to be proved 
that the destruction of young plaice is not the consequence 
rather than the cause of the depletion of the grounds. If 
this be so, it follows that the undersized-plaice problem 
must be considered from a fresh standpoint—the expecta- 
tion that by checking the capture of young fish the sea 
will be replenished being obviously untenable. Apart from 
the grave condition of that of the North Sea, the author 
expresses the opinion that the condition of British fisheries 
generally was never better than at present. Obviously, 
however, interference of some kind must eventually be 
necessary in nearly all cases, and if this be so it is of the 
utmost importance that our knowledge of the fishery 
problem in all its aspects should be made as nearly as 
complete as possible while prosperity lasts. The Govern- 
ment is, therefore, urged to increase rather than slacken 
its efforts and support. 
In connection with the preceding note, it may -be 
mentioned that there has been recently installed in the 
central hall of the Natural History Museum an exhibit pre- 
pared by the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth, to 
illustrate the growth of plaice and pollack, and the methods 
of ascertainirg the ages of individual specimens of each. 
