October 3, [918 



AA1URE 



99 



plankton animals, including thi copepods, which feed 

 on the diatoms, the copepods in their turn serving 



as I I fur nearly all young fish and certain adults, 



such as the herring and mackerel. 



The maxima ol the various genera show much 



, ni. in with ili'' records from the English < 'hannel, 



but the interesting fad is brought out thai Skele- 



tonema, a coastal diatom enormously abundanl at 



Kiel and ver; common in the Channel, is apparently 



in tin' Irish Sea even close to land, whilst 



it i- tin- commonest form in some of the lochs in the 



ui-r of Scotland. 



11- and I ' mora, whi( h contain 



.a large amounl of nil. occui ai limes in enormous 

 numbers ami form an important food fof the herring 

 and mackerel, which follow them in shoals ami feed 

 voracioush mi them disappearing when the copepods 

 go. I hi- ; - lustration ol the prominent truth 



brought mil In this plankton investigation that, 

 although thin- U a very large amount of food avail, 

 able in tin sea, it is not evenh distributed, ami that 

 ill animals feeding on tin- plankton must seek nut 

 tin- food the\ require. Thi varying distribution of tin 



plankton is thus the chief cm t tin- movement ami 



migrations of those animals which feed on it. 



In the concluding remarks various theories of the 

 1 ni' these plankton maxima an- discussed, the 

 author inclining in the view thai here sunlight olavs 

 tin- most important part, ami thai increased alkalinity 

 1 if the sea being due to the reduction of carbon dioxide 

 is the result, ami nut tin- cause, ot the Activity of the 

 plankton. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 



INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. Dr. F. G. Chandler, of Jesus College, 

 ha- been awarded the Raymond Horton-Smith prize 

 - thesis on " Empi i 

 London. A Mitchell studentship of tooZ. is offered 

 in a graduate having the necessarj qualifications " to 

 stud) ami investigate some definite feature of busi- 

 ness or industrial organisation at home or abroad. 

 Applications will he received bj the Academic Registrar 

 ma later than December ;i next. 



The following an anion" the public lectures at 

 University College arranged for during the new 

 term: "Economy of Fuel in Private Households," 

 \ II. Barker, on Wednesday, October 9, al 7 pan.; 

 Me Scientific Problems of Radio-telegraphy," Prof. 

 J. \. Fleming, on Wednesdays, October 30, Nove/n- 

 ind -'7. and December 4. at 5 pan.; 

 Nature and Use of 'Tones' in Chinese and 

 Languages." I). Jones, on Monday, October 21, 

 ■ ■an. ; I he Nature of Language," 'I. !•'.. Palmer, 

 rhursdays, Octobei ro, 1 -. '). and 31, Novem- 

 ber 7 and 14. at 5 p.m.: "The Problem ol Inter- 

 national Language" (with special reference to 



I -i" and U"i. II. E. Palmer, on Thursdays, 



Novembei 21 and 28, D « and u, al ; p.m.; 



"Wound shock." Prof. W. M. Bayliss, on Frida} 

 Now mher 22 and 29, at 5 p.m. ; and "French Scii nci " 

 ("with lantern illu Prof. II. I., foly, on 



. Octobi ■ and , tnd Novembi 1 s, at 

 5 p.m. 



Mr. C. E Ashford. headmast. r of the Roval Naval 

 iuth, has been appointed tdviser on 

 Educal Board of \dmiralty for the duration 



of the war, continuing in his ,■ mei position. 

 Dr. W. M. Polk, late .lean ot the Medical 



ornell University-, has 1. eathed the sum of 

 N( I. >CCa vnr rml 



1000I. to the I niversit) for the continuation of the 

 |ohn Metcalf Polk scholarship in medicine. 



I in current calendar of the Edinburgh and East of 

 Scotland College ol Agricultut .1 which can 



in obtained on application to tl try, 13.* leoi ge 



Square, Edinburgh, contains full di tails ol the various 

 available courses of instruction in agriculture, horti- 

 culture, and forestry. All the coins. - j study, it may 

 be noted, are open to women. 



The following lectures have keen .a em ■ | foi de- 

 liver; al the Royal Sanitary Institute b\ the Child- 

 Study S01 iety : I hui sdaj . ( >i tobi 1 to, ' rraining the 

 Children for Citizenship in America," Mrs. K. Boulker; 

 Ihursdav, November 7, "The Girl Guide Movi 

 Lad) Baden-Powell; and Thursday, Novembet 

 "Sight-saving Schools," N. Bishop llarman. 



The Universities Bureau of the British Empire has 

 compiled a handbook of the "Universities of thi 

 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Inland," which 

 the Hoard of Education has published as No. 33 of 

 its Educational Pamphlets at the price of mi/, net. 

 In the spring of [918 the Council of National Defence 

 of the United Stales invited the universities of the 

 United Kingdom to send delegates to visit American 

 universities so as to establish relations of co-operation 

 and co-ordination. The present handbook was pre- 

 pared to place the delegates in a position to supply 

 infoi niation about the organisation and resources of 

 the individual universities of the United Kingdom. 

 The descriptions in it relate to normal times, and the 

 figures as to the number of teachers and students an 

 for the last normal session 1913-14. The pamphlet 

 states that inquiries regarding any matters connected 

 with university education may be addressed to the 

 Hon. Secretary of the Bureau at the Imperial Insti- 

 tute, London, SAY. 7. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Cape Town. 



Royal Society of South Africa, July 17. — Dr. A. Jasper 

 Anderson in the chair. — A. Ogg : The electrostatic 

 deflection in a cathode-ray lube. In the ordinary 

 Thomson cathode-ray tube for determining the value 

 of e/m for cathode ravs, the irregularity of the electro- 

 static field near the edges of the charged plates has 

 to be allowed for. It is interesting to find the electro- 

 static deflection when the rays are projected parallel 

 to the plates, but at some distance from them. 

 Methods for making the calculation were given. - Prof. 

 J. D. F. Gilchrist: Note on a disease in the snoek 

 ■■ilcs atun). The sno.k, one of the most im- 



tant Cane fishes from an economic point of view, 



is well known to be found frequently in a "pap" or 

 sufi condition. This is attributed by the fishermen 

 to the fact that it has not been properly killed on 

 capture, the consequence being that it struggles about 

 in the bottom of the boat, and, in doing so, bruises 

 the flesh to such an extent as to produce the condition 

 mentioned. This condition may occur a few hours 

 after the lish has been caught, and may quickly 

 In, mile so marked that the whole of the muscles, 



especially of the back, appear quite soft and liquid. 



The 1 1 5S is believed to be totalh distinct from d& 1; 



le putt ' : " i b) soft< ning of the flesh b\ <-■ pi 



to the ivat of the sun, which also frequentl; occurs. 

 As it was suspected that this condition might be 



hi about by the presence and rapid ull plii a- 



tion of some protozoal parasite in the muscles, the 



ised tissue was examined mict pically, and 



staining with methylene-blue ami other reagents 

 the presence of ven numerous spore-like bodies was 



'\r-\S. 



VOL. IO: 



