December 5. 1918] 



NATURE 



269 



Is hi- ech at Wolverhampton Mr. Lloyd 



George, when referring to agriculture, spoke of Che 



ibilitv of providing a national snpphj of fertilisers. 



It seems likely that a schi me lias linn pul before him 

 for the continuance of the present arrangements under 

 which the Ministr\ ot Munitions control- the manufac- 

 ture of artificial fertilisers. In fact, it may be thai thi 

 intention is that the State should actually undi 

 the manufacture of certain fertilisers. It is common 

 knowledge that there an- now in existence a numbei 

 of State-owned sulphuric acid factories, and, further, 

 that, inasmuch as the Stair has agreed to purchase a 



a 1I1. Australian output of zinc ores 

 containing sulphides of the metal, it will be in a posi- 

 tion • sulphurii arid output of the country. 

 A State-owned supply of sulphuric acid naturally sug- 



manufacture of superphosphate and 



sulphate of ammonia in the interests of increased food 

 production. Schemes of this nature for "-lair ti tdin 

 of many kinds are likely to be put forward, but 

 whether they will survive the opposition of manu- 

 facturer-, is perhaps doubtful. 



I\ London the Registrar-General's returns show a 



ver\ substantia] decrease in the number of deaths from 

 influenza in each of the two weeks ending Novem- 

 ber 10 and 23. The climax of the epidemic wa- 

 ned in the two weeks ending November 2 and o, 

 in both of which influenza caused 57 per cent, 

 of the deaths from all causes, whilst for the 



ending November 23 onlj 42 per cent, of the 

 death- wet e due to influenza. The epidemic has 



caused 0)41 deaths in London during the seven week's 

 endin 23, which i- 4- per cent, of the 



deaths from all causes, whilst the percentage of deaths 

 from pneumonia was 12, and from bronchitis 6. 

 Chicago during the two weeks ending October iq had 

 respectively 571 and 1242 deaths from influenza, whilst 

 in London the death- were So and 371. In Paris the 

 deaths for the week ending November q were 620, 

 which i- a decrease of 4. |( > on the preceding week, 

 whilst in London the decrease of deaths was 25 fo'" 

 the corresponding week. The closing wee!- of, Novem- 

 ber 1 .1 return of milder and more humid 

 weather, and this possibly ma) lessen the continued 

 decrease in the death- from the epidemic. The re- 

 issue ot tb.' weather table- in the Registrar-General's 

 returns is a welcome feature. The meteorological 

 results for certain towns are already recommenced, 

 and the table of Greenwich dailv values is promised 

 from the beginning of next year. 



Wi regret to learn from Science of the death of 



Mr. H. S. Coe, agronomist in the United States 



Department of Agriculture, and author of numerous 



nical and agricultural papers, on October 25, at 



thin \ age; and ot Prof. W. (i. Maflon, 



iate professor of physics in Oberlin College, on 



r 19. 



We regret to note thai the death of Mr. 



recorded in Engineering for Novembei 

 Mr. Sharer, who was sixty-two years of age, was, up 

 to a few years ago, shipyard director ai the Dalmuir 

 union wan ks of Messi S. William Beanlm. 11 1 

 1 11. lb- was responsible for the construction of 

 many notable naval and mercantile vessels, and w a- a 

 member, since 1894, of the Institution of Naval Archi- 

 tei 1-. 



By the death on December ,. ai eighty-four vears 

 of age, of Dr. John Percival, formerly Bishop of 

 Hereford, the nation has lost a vigorous worker and in- 

 dependent thinker whose whole active life was dl 

 to the furtherance of progressive aims. Dr. P. 

 was the first headmaster of Clifton College, and 



NO. 2562, VOL. I02] 



during his fifteen years' wank there he brought this 

 public school to the high position which it occupies. 

 He was one of the founders of University College, 

 Bristol, and took a leading part in all educational 

 matters, particularly the education of women and the 

 extension of university teaching. From Clifton Dr. 

 Percival went to Oxford in 187X as president of 

 Trinity College, and in 1887 he became, headmaster 

 of Rugby School, where he had formerly been an 

 assistant master. He was nominated Bishop of Here- 

 ford in 1895, and while in the Upper House he main- 

 tained on all occasions the broad principles and 

 courage in expressing them which distinguished his 

 career. He was the author of "The Universities and 

 the Great Towns," and was president of "the Educa- 

 tional Science Section of the British Association at the 

 Cambridge meeting in 1904. 



The death is announced of Mr. G. P. Rose, CLE., 

 who began his caree. on the Indian State railways' 

 and afterwards acted as executive engineer in the 

 construction of the Chappar Rift works and bridge 

 in the sand-swept, tortuous defiles of the river gorge 

 on the Sind-Peshin railway. Mr. Rose also won the 

 respect and confidence of the gangs of wild border men 

 - Afridi, Waziri, and Baluch — upon whose assistance 

 the success of the work depended. He superintended 

 \vorks on the line from Ouetta to New Chaman and the 

 Khojak tunnel. After acting as deputy manager of the 

 North-Western State railways, his services were lent 

 to the Nizam's Government, and he afterwards be- 

 came junior consulting engineer to the Government 

 of India. After his retirement in 1904 he joined the 

 board of the Hyderabad (Deccan) Mining Co. 



The death is announced, at the age of eighty-six, 

 of Mr. N. C. Macnamara, consulting surgeo'n to 

 Westminster Hospital, and vice-president of the Royal 

 College of Surgeons in 1893 and 1896. Mr. Mac- 

 namara was appointed assistant surgeon in the Indian 

 Medical Service in 1854, and became surgeon-major 

 in 1873. During his career in India, which ended in 

 1S70, he wrote on diseases of the eve, the history of 

 Asiatic cholera, and other medical subjects. Return- 

 ing to this country, he was ; r. due course appointed 

 surgeon and lecturer on clinical surgery at the West- 

 minster Hospital, and later became consulting surgeon 

 to the Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital. He pub- 

 lished, among" other works, " Lectures on Diseases of 

 Bones and Joints" and "Instinct and Intelligence," 

 which was published in 1015, when he was eighty- 

 three years of age. In addition to numerous other 

 activities, Mr. Macnamara was a member of the 

 Departmental Committee on the Army and Navv 

 Medical Service appointed by the War Office in [889, 

 a member of the Government of India Commission 

 on Leprosy, and president of the Commission of the 

 British Medical Association on Medical Education 

 and a Teaching University for London. 



The last of the first series of lectures arranged b\ 

 the' Industrial Reconstruction Council will be held in 

 the Saddlers' Hall, Cheapside; E.C.2, on Wednesdav, 

 December n. The chair will be taken at 4.30 by tin 

 Marquess of Salisbury, K.G., and a lectun 



Si nee and Industry " will be delivered by Sir 

 William S. McCormick, of the Department of Indus- 

 trial and Scientific Research. Applications for tii 

 should be ma le to the Secretarv, I.R.C., 2 and 4 

 Tudor Street, E.C.4. 



A general discussion on "The Reli il Science 



to the Non-ferrous Metals Industry " will form the 



feature of the Forthcoming annual general 



meeting of the Institute of Metals. At that meeting 



