543 



NA TURE 



[April 5, 1906 



valleys. Of still more general interest is the papei on 

 some instances of moderate glacial erosion (Journal of 

 Geology, vol. xiii., 1905, p. 160), with its examples of 

 granite boulders lying in a sand derived from their own 

 decay, and left undisturbed by the passage of an ice-sheet 

 over them. The remarkable variations in the interisit) "I 

 glai 1.1I erosion recorded by Dr. Ampferer from the valley 

 of the Inn (Nature, vol. lxxi., p. 236) might be cited in 

 support ill the author's observations. 



The sixth volume of Spelunca is to be devoted to a 

 review and bibliography, by M. E. A. Martel, of all 

 papers on caves published so far in the twentieth century. 

 The first part, issued in June, 1905, covers the papers deal- 

 ing with France, and tin- enthusiastic author has spared 

 no pains in making a series of complete and valuable 

 abstracts. The result is a readable work, full of attraction 

 for the geographer as well as the geologist, in which M. 

 Martel devotes most of his own energies to the tracing 

 out of the courses ul underground streams. 



In the Geological Magazine for 1005, Dr. Francis Baron 

 Noprsa has begun a study of the remains of British 

 dinosaurs, preserved in the collections of the British 

 Museum at South Kensington. He shows that some 

 crocodilian remains are mingled in the rock with those ol 

 Polacanthus. The remarkable bony dermal armour and 

 the general skeleton of this dinosaur are figured, and the 

 indexible union of the lumbar vertebrae is pointed out as 

 a unique feature in this group. The author is, indeed, 

 led to style Polacanthus a sort of glyptodon among 

 dinosaurs. G. A. J. ( . 



THE FORTHCOMING INTERNATiO.\ A I 

 CONGRESS OF APPLIED CHEMISTRY. 

 ""THE sixth International Congress of Applied Chemistry, 

 ■*■ already mentioned in Nature (this vol., pp. 322 and 

 421), will be opened at Rome on April 2b by H.M. the 

 King ul Italy. The work of the congress is divided into 

 eleven sections, and in each section an extensive pro- 

 gramme has already been organised. Many of the most 

 eminent chemists of Europe and Amerit a have promised 

 to attend and deliver papers. Sir Win. Ramsaj will give 

 an address on the purification of sewage, Prof. Moissan 

 will lei tore on the distillation of metals, and Dr. A. Frank, 

 of Berlin, on the direct utilisation of atmospheric nitrogen 

 in the manufacture of manures and chemical products. 

 Among the numerous papers which have been received by 

 the committee of the congress, the following may be 

 noticed as possessing general scientific interest : — 



Section ii. II"' extraction of thorium and cerium 

 from the monazite sands, and their utilisation in Welsbach 

 mantles, bv Prof. F. Garelli and G. A. Barbieri. 



Section Hi. (metallurgy). — The actual state and the future 

 of thermoelectric metallurgy, especially with regard to 

 steel, by Major E. Stassano ; report on the state of metal- 

 lurgy in Frame, by the Comite des Forges de France. 



Section vii. (agricultural chemistry). — Chemical changes 

 during the assimilation of nitrogen by bacteria, by Dr. J. 

 Stoklasa; the significance of the bacterial examination of 

 soils, b\ Prof. Remy. 



Sei tion viii. (hygiene and medical chemistry). — The value 

 of inulin as food in glycosuria, by Prof. C. Ulpiani ; our 

 present knowledge of the fats from the standpoint of 

 physiological chemistry, by Dr. A. Jolles ; inosuria, by 

 Dr. Meillere 



Section \. (electrochemistry and physical chemistry). — 

 This section is represented by more papers than any of the 

 othei sections. The following may be mentioned: — Certain 

 cases nf hydrolysis, by Prof. Veley ; the van 't Hoff- 

 Raoult formula, by Prof. W. D. Bancroft; isomorphism 

 and solid solutions, by Prof. Bruni ; electrochemistry of 

 non-aqueous solutions, by Prof. Carrara; relations between 

 proteids and electrolytes, by Prof. Galeotti ; action of 

 catalysts in the Deacon process fur manufacturing chlorine, 

 by Prof. G. M. Levi; silicide of carbon and the calcium 

 carbide industry in France, by Prof. Moissan; catalysis 

 by common metals, by Prof. Sabatier ; chemistry of 

 colloids, by Prof. Berkhold ; amphoteric elements, by Prof. 

 l.i Blanc; toxins and anti-toxins, by Prof. Ehrlich ; 

 solid polyiodides of the alkali metals, by Prof. Abegg ; 



NO. I9OI, VOL. 73] 



dissociation of fused salts, fused silicates, and glasses, by 

 Prof. Doelter. 



The Italian State railways have granted to the members 

 of the congress and their ladies a reduction of about 

 bo per cent, on the price of an ordinary railway ticket 

 from the frontier to Rome. On their arrival in Rome 

 members of the congress will rei eive from the committee 

 a book of coupons, which will enable them to obtain at 

 am station tickets at fares reduced by 40 per cent, to 

 60 per cent., according to the length of the journey. These 

 tickets are available from April 26 until June 11. so that 

 members of the congress may have the opportunity of 

 visiting the International Exhibition at Milan. The sub- 

 scription fee for membership of the congress is 20 lire for 

 gentlemen and 15 lire for ladies. A special ladies' com- 

 mittee has been formed to receive foreign ladies with the 

 purpose of making their stay in Rome as pleasant as 

 possible. 



All inquiries should be addressed to the bureau of the 

 congress, 89 Via Panisperna, Rome 



PHYSICAL CONDITION OF CHILDREN IN 

 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 1 

 ""piIF- physical condition of those who are about to enter 

 on active service in the affairs of life, and whose 

 energy is the chief of the national assets, is certainlv a 

 matter of great national importance. Every effort is justi- 

 fied in producing as effective a working community as is 

 possible, and Dr. Kerr's report affords welcome evidence 

 of the increasing concern with which those who direct 

 education are regarding the physical conditions of child- 

 life. 



During the period dealt with in this report a limited 

 investigation was made of the conditions of some 3500 of 

 tlie girls and boys attending the Council's schools, and very- 

 striking were the results obtained. It was found that 

 some 42 per cent, of these possessed insufficient clothing 

 to retain animal heat, and therefore stood in urgent need 

 of help in this direction ; it is not surprising to find that 

 these children were below the average weight of the 

 school lot their age; 45 per cent, of those examined had 

 dirty clothes and bodies, and about one-quarter of these 

 were in a verminous condition ; here again these children 

 fell distinctly short of the average age weight. The above 

 results tend to show, perhaps, no more than the fact of 

 poverty, although the excessive shortage of weight in the 

 worst clad class of scholars suggests that insufficiency ol 

 clothing is a definite factor in producing malnutrition, the 

 insufficient food energy being first taxed to keep up the 

 animal he, a. 



I lie greatest effect upon the life capital of the popula- 

 tion is produced by the infantile mortality, which in some 

 years actually kills off during the first year one in five of 

 all children born; the question naturally arises, what is 

 ils effect upon the survivors? Does the adverse environ- 

 ment which slaughters one in five have a maiming effect 

 upon those left? Dr. Ken's investigations indicate that 

 the children born in a year when infantile mortality is 

 low show an increased physique, and those born in the 

 years of high infantile mortality show a decreased physique, 

 ll appears, therefore, that in the years of high infantile 

 mortality the conditions to which one in five or six of 

 the children born are sacrificed have a maiming effect upon 

 the other four or five. 



The examination of the teeth of some 1500 school 

 children demonstrated that, in the case of the boys, some 

 90 per cent, had caries, and 70 per cent, to a serious 

 extent. Only the boys who had insufficient grinding 

 surface were below the average in physique. It appears, 

 therefore, that caries must be severe to produce an effect 

 on nutrition. 



As the result of an examination of the condition of the 

 eves, it was found that a constant number of about 

 10 per cent, of scholars have bad vision ; and it is estim- 

 ated that deafness alone is probably sufficient to interfere 



1 " Report of the Education Committee of the London County Council 

 submitting the Report of the Medical Officer (Education) for the Year 

 ended March 31, 1905." No. 922. (London : P. S. King and Son, 1905 j 

 Price it., post free, is. 2d. 



