December 12, 1918] 



NATURE 



289 



mental exhibits of high interest, and the Gas Traction 

 ( Committee will show much the same collection which 

 1 such intrust at King's College. The other 

 sections comprisi heav) and fine chemicals, including 

 drugs, food products, metallurgical products, glass- 

 al, optical, thermal, mechanical, and 

 surgical appliances, ["here «ill also be a representa- 

 tive exhibit of British natural products which havi 

 been exploits d sim e m 14. 



A writer in the rimes, directing attention to the 

 fact that a large number of Royal Aii Forei officers 

 will shorth be demobilised, suggests that thej might 

 profitably !>■ employed in making an aerial photo- 

 graphic surve) of tin- British Kirs. He believes that this 

 would prove useful to surveyors, architects, engineers, 

 ami others. While fully endorsing this writer's opinion 

 that it would be unfortunate to lose the expert services 

 of these flying officers, main of whom are better 

 trained than any future airmen can hope to be, we 

 cannot agree that a series of aerial photographs could 

 he of j surveyors and engineers. Such 



photographs show the landscape from a new point of 

 view, but the) naturally lark the accuracy of carefully 

 drawn topographical maps. On the other hand, such 

 a vurwv might he of considerable value in the pro- 

 - of living fur commercial and other purposes. 

 Mam attempts have been made to devise suitable 

 maps for airmen, hut even the best available leave 

 much room for improvement. A series of photograph-, 

 01, better -till, several series taken under varying 

 atmospheric conditions, would he of great help to the 

 cartographer in constructing the type of map of usr 

 in living. A number of experienced officers and men 

 might well find employment in this work. 



Dr. R. T. Leipkr's investigations on Bilharziosis in 

 Egypt and China, and those oi various Japanese 

 gists in Japan, have demonstrated the practical 

 importance of the fresh-water molluscs as possible 

 human disease. No indigenous species ol 

 Schistosomum, the Trematode parasite of Bilharziosis, 

 i- known to be commonly found in man in India, 

 though sporadic cases of apparently autochthonous 

 infection have been reported. 1 he medical and sani- 

 tary authorities have, however, been prompt to recog- 

 nise' the danger of the introduction of SMslosomum 

 haematobium into the country by means of infected 

 returning from the front in Egypt or Meso- 

 potamia. The Government of India has, therefore, 

 instructed Ihe newlj constituted Zoological Survey of 

 India to devote its attention to a survey of the fresh- 

 water molluscs and their Trematode parasites. Dr. 

 \. Annandale, the director, is studying the taxonomy, 

 on, and geographical distribution of the mol- 

 luscs, and has commenced a series of tour- to different 

 ■ .if India proper and on the North-Wesl Frontier, 

 while Mr. S. W. Kemp i- investigating the- anatomy 

 of th. ('in aria- thai infect the different specie- of 

 water-snails and the possibility of infecting the latter 

 with miracidia from the i kistosomwn haema- 



tobium. Dr. F. II. Gravel) i- studying the life- 

 histories of tin- molluscs, while Dr. 'Baini Pr.i-h.nl. 

 former!) Superintendent of Fisheries, Bengal, has 

 appointed scientific assistant for the purpose oi 

 thi- whole inquiry. A generous granl of money has 

 been made l>\ the Indian Research Fund Association, 

 and it has been arranged that the Zoological Sl 



shall work in the closest ro-oprraiioil with the Indian 



Medical Service. 



The establishment of the Czech Republic, implying 

 tin severance of Bohemia and her neighbours, Moravia 

 and Austrian Silesia, from the lati Vustrian Empire, 

 has brought into prominence a ran with remarkable 



NO. 2563, VOL. I02] 



-ids. Among men of science belonging to the Czech 

 nation an- the physiologist J. E. Purkvne, and a 



in tie r-known name- in England, the chemist Prof . Bohu- 

 slav Brauner, D.Sc. e>( Manchester. President Thomas 



t.. .Masaryk, lately in London, and now on his way to 

 lake- up his duties at Prague-, has long been known 

 a- a critical student of the EngKsh philosophers Hume, 

 John Stuart Mill, and Spencer, besides Kant andComte. 

 Born in t8§0, the son of Slovak parents, in Silesia, 

 he began life- as a blacksmith, but was soon able 

 to cultivate his special gifts at Vienna and Leipzig. 

 When the Czech Universitv of Prague was opened 

 in 1882 Masaryk was appointed professor of philo- 

 sophy. From students we know that the standard 

 required by him as an examiner is very high. Numbers 

 of young men from Serbia and other Slav countrii s 

 have passed under his influence. Prof. Masaryk's c 

 has been that of a man of letters and politician rather 

 than of a man of science, but as a sociologist he has 

 w rit ten on suicide as a feature of modern European life, 

 and on other social questions. A fearless investigator, 



I Prof. Masaryk demonstrated that certain manuscripts 

 purporting to be ancient Czech patriotic poems latelv 

 discovered, which were highly treasured and had 

 found enthusiastic translators in manv countries, were 



I no more than adroit forgeries. In the notorious 

 Friedjung trial of 1909 Prof. Masaryk conclusiveh 



. proved that forged documents were made use of bv 

 the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office. In December, 

 11114, he contrived to escape from Bohemia, where, 



! like many of his colleagues, he must inevitablv have 

 suffered imprisonment, and has since championed the 

 cause of Bohemian independence. Prof. Masarvk has 

 lectured on Slav literature and sociologv at King's 

 College in connection with the School of Slavonic 

 Studies. His inaugural lecture was on the problem of 

 small nations in Europe. Both as writer and speaker 

 President Masaryk is a thorough master of English. 



Influenza shows a further decrease in the number 

 of deaths in London, the Registrar-General's return 

 : giving i,_jj feei' the week ending November 30. This 

 I brings the total deaths in London to 10,383 in the 

 eight weeks of the epidemic. The deaths are still 

 greatest at the ages of twenty to fortv-five. Influenza 

 has occasioned only 37 per cent, of the deaths from 

 all causes in the week ending November 30, which 

 is a lower rate than anv previous' week since 

 that ending October iq, the percentage in the five- 

 weeks ending November 23 being respectively 47, 37, 

 57, 49, and 42. The epidemic is still very virulent in 

 many countrv districts, and the returns for the ninetv- 

 six great towns of England and Wales, including 

 London, show a slight increase in Che- number of 

 deaths, manv of the largest towns being less fortunate 

 than Londeen in this respect. 



In London the aggregate rainfall for the three 

 months September, October, and November, which 

 constitute the autumn, was, according to the Green- 

 wich observations, 1-3 in. more than the normal. The 

 excess was entirel) due to the- very wet September, 

 when the- rain measurement was 4-48 in. October had 

 a elelic ii 111 \ of i-2 in., and November a deficiency of 

 02 in. Rain was measured in London on twenty- 

 five days in September, twenty-two days in October, 

 and twenty-two days in November. The atmos] 

 throughout the autumn was generallv humid, and the 

 wind was drawn very greatly from the Atlantic. 

 According to the monthly weather re-port for Septem- 

 ber, issued by the Meteorological Office, the weather 

 abnormally wet over the British Isles gene-rally. 

 In the- West Riding of Yorkshire and in Lincolnshire, 

 where the records extend over a period of more than 



