3-i, [ * ) r ^ 



NATURE 



v. 



industrial councils? but, in \i. I tbal ii 



was proposed thai the industrial councils should deal 

 i subjects as technical education and training, 

 industrial research, utilisation ol and im- 



provements, and industrial experiments, the Mimstei 

 ol Laboui had been asked (a) whethei it was intended 

 ilified professional technical experts should be 

 he industrial councils, and I'm whethei 

 ii was desired thai the professional bodies representing 

 n should be brought into consultation in am 

 . onnection with the t< i hnii al matti rs referred 

 the recommendation of the Public Appoint- 

 i ommitti i , the council has approved a sta* - 

 iiiriu on tin necessity Ear a definitely organised 

 | service, n hich will shoi iK bi 

 notii e "i all < iovi rnmenl I ►epartments 

 iicd. ' 



and third Chadwick lectures oh ' The 

 i \, ... | >isi asi " wi re delivered b; I h 



C kshank an Ootober 17 and 24. In the second 



encepfaalo-myeJitis (the Heine-Medin 

 disease or infantile pai ls considered. First 



d by Willie in i66i tse has recurred 



again and again, frequently assuming different types, 

 -; in this countrj occurring during the present 

 \..n and resembling in ma "botulism," a 



form of food-poisoning. Two forms Df so-called food- 

 poisoninj and botulism, were discussed in 



i!i, third lecture. Raphania was the name given in 

 eenth century by Linnaeus and his pupils 1 to 

 lisordei characterised b) mental affec- 

 s, and convulsions, that spread through- 

 len, and was ascribed bi Linnaeus to admix- 

 ture of radish-seeds wiih foodstuffs. Ii has been 

 confused bj later German writers with ergotism. 

 Botulism of the nineteenth century, usualh 



traced to the consumption of sausage and allied comes- 

 tibles. The lecturer suggested thai both botulism and 

 raphani. - ol the Heine-Medin 



disease, and directed attention to modifications in the 

 the individual) in :au in . erring manifest-: 

 ti.ms of the viruses of epidemii diseases. . 



At ihe statutory meeting of the Royal Societj ol I 



burgh, held on October 28, the following office-bearers 



ideni : I )i . I . Hoi ne. Vu e-Presi- 



Prol D'Arc; Thompson Prof, f. Wall.. 1 , Pro! 



G V. Gibson, Dr. R. Kidston, Prof. I). Noel Paton, 



and Prof. \. Robinson. General Secretary : Dr. C. G. 



.'. 1 tingi : Prof. H. I . 



VVhittaloer and Dr. J. 11. Ashworth. Treasurer: Mr. 



I ('nri: <i Library and Museum : Dr. A. 



Crichten Mitchell. CounciUors : Sii G. A. Berry, Dr. 



I S. Kbit. Prof. Magnus Maclean, Prof. D. Water- 



& Prof. P. I . Herring, Prof. 



I I Jehu, Dr. A. Lander, the Hen. Lord Guthrie. 



S 1 Sharpe) Schafer, Prof. I Lorraitn Smith, and 



Dr. W. A. Tart. Dr. W. \. I .m was also elected 



r's representative on George Heriot's Trust. 



\ 11 111 1; from Mr. Stefansson, written on July 20, 



fr.nn Port Yukon, Maska, is published in the 



hit .1/ Journal for Oi ol lii., No. j), 



somi tin -Hi. 1 details ol the work of the 



i \niie Expedition during thi las( four years, 



additional to the discoveries ol tin southern party, 



which have already hern announced The north-west 



ol Prince Patrick Island and the north-east 



coastline of Victoria Island were completed. The 



coastlines of Emerald and Fitzwilliam Owen Islands 



and the shoi es of ' Hassel So en the two 



Ringnes Islands weri mapped Si 1 il new islands 



led to the Vrctic Vrchi ■ ! 1, im hiding one 



in the Gustav Adolf S 1 ■■' N and 



lat. 77 3 55' N. in about long. 1.17 to 108 id* IV., 



NO. 2557. vol. in: 



and another in Prim Gus ai Sea. Christian Island 



and Findlav Land app ai o bj distinct, and lsachseii 



Land is prohabK separated from Filet Ringnes 

 Island. Relative!) deep v iter was found outside 

 Gusta\ Adolf and Prince Gusta\ Seas, making the 

 existence oi other islands to north-west improbable. 



Reindeer were found on all th islands visited, but 

 musk-oxen onrj on Melville and Victoria Islands. On 

 Hanks Island they havi ! I \,\ the 



Eskimo attracted there by Che wrecl 1 I Sii Robert 

 McCIure's Investigator^ which b iron 



\ear after year. Seals wen plentiful on arh all 

 shores, but polar bears were \en local. Mr. s 

 son had hoped to atari in January this yeai 

 sledgeijourney northwards from Alaska. He had 

 intended to travel about two hundred miles and then 

 form an encampment on a floe and drift throughout 

 the summer, taking soundings as he went. In 

 wa\ he hoped to accomplish some of the work of thi 

 ill-fated Kiniiik. An attack of typhoid fever, how- 

 ever, forced his return to civilisation as- soon as pos- 

 sible. We are glad to hear that he has now reooj 

 and proposes to start a lecture-tour on behall oi bhi 

 Red Cross. 



('apt. F. R. Barton contributes to the Journal of 

 the Roval Anthropological Institute (vol. xlviii., 

 part i., miS) an ela%orate account of tattooing in 

 south-eastern New Guinea, illustrated by excellent 

 photographs and drawings, a vocabulary of the terms 

 used in the art, and some folk-tales. One of the 

 stories indicates the idea that tattooing was evolved 

 from skin-painting and provides an interesting 

 parallel to similar theories current among the Maoris 

 of New Zealand. 



In the issue of Man for October Mr. H. Balfour 

 describes a collection made by Mr. Clough in the 

 Chatham Islands, now deposited in the Pitt Rivers 

 Museum, Oxford. The most remarkable specimens 

 are a fine bone dagger and a grotesque statuette 

 carved in pumice-stone. Mr. Balfour is not aware 

 of any close parallel to these articles. As he has 

 recently pointed out, the evidence of a strong 

 Melanesia!! element in the culture of Easter Island is 

 very striking, and inasmuch as the presence of a 

 similar non-Polynesian strain in the culture of the 

 Chatham Islands — and, one may add, in New Zea- 

 land — is becoming more generally recognised, the 

 suggestion offered as to die possible affinities ol these 

 articles may have considerable bearing on the ethno- 

 logical problems of the South Pacific. 



A vehy useful summar\ of he captures of the 

 North Atlantic black Right whale, or Nordcapei 

 (Baiaena b&scaymsis), in Scottish waters, from 1905 

 to K114, is given by Prof. Q'Arcy Thompson in thi 

 Scottish VatunaMsi foi Septembei The grand total 

 for this period amounted to sixty-sewn, but, it is to 

 be noted; two-thirds oi this total were taken during 

 i,,,,s and 190a. I he marked inequality in the number- 

 annually taken seems to be accounted Tor by the 

 111. .\ . 11 nut ^ nl the Gulf Stream, since when its v., 

 are abundant the tales art seance. Prof. Thompson 

 suggests that when the Gulf Stream is warm and 

 strong the whales keep further out to sea, but that 

 when there is only little stream they are tempti 

 linger on 01 1 coast. He is of opinion thai this whale 

 is fai coming extinct, but the eviden ■ does 



not seem bear oirl this optimistic view i! 

 makes some interesting comment- on its 

 is commonly regarded as smaller than that 

 Gre land whale. The evidence, so fai 



i, -1 ems to show that th difl - 



if any, between them in this p 



. -bowing the numbers of rorquals three Spi 



