2 14 



NATURE 



November 14, 1918 



f so many brave men for special i ecognition. \Vha1 



would be mosl suitable would be for the Royal S j 



hi some othei bodj to name a research scholarship in 

 Moselej 's honour, and it is to I"' hoped thai ulti- 

 mately something in this direction will be dune. We 

 understand thai as soon as his friends on 

 service return to this countrj .1 Moselej memorial 

 meeting will be held in thi laboratorj where he did 

 his greal research, with the view of erecting a tablet 

 there, though this is nol exactl) the type "I memorial 

 which Prof. Bruni has in mind. 



The Times publishes an official report from Capt. 

 Amundsen to the Norwegian Consul-General a( Arch- 

 angel, sent from Dickson Island l>\ wireless telegraph 

 mi September 4. The Maud took a week to cross the 

 Kara Sea, which in \ugusl was impeded with heavy 

 ice, bul Capt. Amundsen reports that, so far as he 

 could judge, the ici conditions north of Siberia seem 

 to be favourable. The beginning of September is 

 rather late to pass Dickson Island, but Dr. F. Nansen, 

 in an interview with the Times correspondent, ex- 

 presses the hope that the expedition passed the New 

 Siberia Islands early in November. In this casi the 

 ship should l>\ now be besel in the pack and have 

 begun her transpolar drift. Cant. Amundsen, how- 

 ever, has a difficult coast to navigate. He max- quite 

 possibh have been caught west of the Taimir Penin- 

 sula, and have had to seel; winter quarters on the 

 coast. The coast in the vicinity of the Nordenskjold 

 \rchipeIago affords several suitable harbours. Nansen 

 in August, [893, and Vilkitski in September, rqi >, 

 had difficulties with ice in this region. Even if Cape 

 Chelyuskin is safely rounded, heavy ice mav possibh 

 In I, Hind between that cape and the Lena delta — a 

 region which has a had reputation. Possibly in that 

 case Capt. Amundsen will attempt to winter in the 

 little-known Nicholas Land. The expedition reports 

 having fifteen sledge-dogs on board, and to have loaded 

 ns barrels of oil at Dickson Island. 



In Mind (n.s., Nos. 107 and 108) W. M. Thorburn 

 discusses the tights and wrongs of a person in lan- 

 guage which is mon' vehement and impelling than is 

 usual in philosophical papers. He contends that, in 

 spite of the teaching of astronomers and biologists, 

 men will persist in looking upon the "bimanous biped" 

 as the apex of all creation, the highest possible evolu- 

 tionary form, ami, as a corollary, estimate the life 

 of any man as of more intrinsic value than the life of 

 any animal. The quantity and not the quality of the 

 human species is too commonly taken as the ideal. 

 The result is a maudlin sentimentality which fears 

 to face the problem of retribution as the necessary 

 result of wrong-doing, and a futile belief that, by an 

 adjustment of environment, equality among men can 

 he maintained— a belief which is disproved by all the 

 analogies of Nature and the lessons of history. 

 Science is the fruit of leisure, and men of science can 

 have the necessary leisure only if others less gifted 

 are prepared to undertake work which is often called 

 menial. The author's conclusion is a plea to con- 

 sider whither democracy is leading. The whole dis- 

 cussion is provocative and stimulating, supported bv 

 a wealth of literary and scientific allusion, and will 

 be valuable to thinkers in many fields of activity from 

 speculative philosophy to the most practical science. 

 Many will disagree with his conclusions, but bis point 

 of view is one which ought to he realised and honestly 

 faced. 



1\ the Journal of Hellenic Studies (vol. xwviii., 



for [918) Prof. Percj Gardner publishes an account of 



a valuable addition to the Ashmolean Museum in the 



shape of a female marble figure of great beauty, which 



NO. 2559, VOL. 102] 



lay unnoticed ai Deepdene, and was purchased at the 

 sale of tin Hope collection in Jul) last. It is nol a 

 men- portrait, but a portrait of a woman in the guise 

 of .li in, women in Greece being seldom honoured 



with a Statue unless they were more 111 less deified. 

 It dates from the period 460-440 B.C., corresponding 

 with the active period of Pheidias, ami there is good 

 nasi. a 1.1 believe that it is a portrait of Aspasia as 

 Aphrodite, and ii may account for the accusation of 

 inipi.n which we know to have been brought against 

 her. Tin .a lid. is fulls illustrated by examples of 



the same type, and thi Ashmolean Museum is to be 

 congratulated on an acquisition of singular int. rest 

 and value, 



Tin Sui' 1' Geographical Society, Cairo, has 



recently published an attractive programme ..1 its 



future ..pel at ; uiis. It proposes to undertake an 



ethnographic and geographical survej of Egypt, the 

 results ..I which will be published in periodical bul- 

 letins and memoirs; to provide for lectures, a 

 museum, and the conservation of archives connected 

 with this work. The special subjects to which atten- 

 tion will be directed are a monographic survey of the 

 Siva oasis, an outpost of Egypt which has been little 

 Studied; an examination of the three groups of Egyp- 

 tian gipsies the Beledi, Ghagar, and Nawar- of 

 whom little is known; a study of irrigating devices, 

 with comparison of ancient models; and basket- 

 making. On these subjects monographs will be pre- 

 pared, and documents, sketches, and photographs col- 

 lected. The society is undertaking a valuable work 

 which deserves the support of anthropologists. 



'fur: Indian Journal of Medical Research for 

 Jul) (vol. vi., No. 1) contains an excellent sum- 

 m.n \ l.\ Lt.-Col. Clayton Lane on methods old and 

 new, for the detection of hook-worm (ankylostome) 

 infection. Concentration of the ova of the parasite in 

 the dejecta mav be effected by straining and centri- 

 fuging, and also by a "levitation" method. In the 

 latter the centrifuged deposit is placed on a slide in a 

 little water and allowed to stand for five minutes. 

 At the end of this time the slide is carefully im- 

 mersed in water and then taken out. By this pro- 

 cedure particulate matter is largely removed, hut the 

 hook-worm ova are sticky and adhere to the slide. 

 The exact technique is described, and the method is 

 applicable for parasitic ova other than those of the 

 hook-worm. 



A brief summary of the present position of the kelp 

 industry appears in California Fish ami Game (vol. iv., 

 No. 3). In iqio the Bureau of Soils of the United 

 States proposed to exploit the vast beds of giant kelp, 

 fringing much of the west coast of America, for the 

 purpose of using these plants for the manufacture of 

 potash and other fertilisers; and the scheme has 

 proved a most fruitful one. The commonest of these 

 plants is the ribbon-kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), which 

 forms enormous beds, usually in places where there is 

 pronounced wave action. The beds of Macrocystis 

 with which the Californian kelp' industry is con- 

 cerned extend from San Dice,, 1,, Point Conception, 

 .and they have been divided up and rented to various 

 companies, which last year harvested nearly 400,000 

 tons of kelp. It has been found necessary 

 periodically to close the beds for recuperation after 

 harvesting, and to regulate the time of cutting in order 

 that the beaches should not be interfered with during 

 the summer months, nor with unprotected beaches 

 during the winter. From observations so far made, 

 then is n,. evidence that the fishing industr) is in any 

 way injured by this removal of the terminal fronds 

 of the weed, though adjustments are found to be 



