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OcrosER 12, 1916] 
i _  . Pre-Boulder Clay Man. 
It will no doubt be remembered that at the time 
of the discovery in 1911 of a human skeleton in a sand 
pit in the occupation of Messrs. A. Bolton and Co., 
Ltd. (late Bolton and Laughlin), of Henley Road, Ips- 
wich, it was held by some geologists and by myself 
that the remains occurred beneath an undisturbed 
stratum of weathered chalky boulder clay. Since 
this discovery I have been enabled to investigate 
extensively the small valley adjoining the sand pit in 
which the human skeleton was found, and to conduct 
excavations in the immediate vicinity of the spot where 
the bones occurred. 
These investigations have shown that at about the 
level at which the skeleton rested the scanty remains of 
a “floor” are present, and that the few associated 
flint ‘implements appear to be the same as others 
found on an old occupation-level in the adjacent 
valley. This occupation-level is in-all probability re- 
ferable to the early Aurignac period, and it appears 
that the person whose remains were discovered was 
buried in this old land surface. The material which 
has since covered the ancient “ floor" may be re- 
garded as a sludge, formed largely of re-made boulder 
clay, and its deposition was probably associated with 
a period of low temperature occurring in post-chalky 
boulder clay times. 
It appears, then, that the human skeleton found is 
referable to a late Palzolithic epoch, and cannot 
claim a pre-chalky boulder clay antiquity. I wish to 
take this opportunity to state that those who op- 
posed my contention as to the great age of these 
remains were in the right, while the views held by 
me regarding them have been shown to be erroneous. 
J. Rem Mor. 
12 St. Edmund’s Road, Ipswich. 
Variable Stars. 
THERE are good reasons for believing that when a 
molten sun has sufficiently cooled down to allow of 
the formation ofa solid surface, the solid surface 
rapidly cools. We may, therefore, regard a cooling 
sun as passing through three stages: (1) a stage in 
which the light emitted is very intense and regular ; 
(2) a stage in which the surface from time to time 
solidifies and breaks up again; in this condition the 
emission of light would be very variable; (3) a stage 
in which the crust had become so firm as to be 
practically permanent, little, if any, light being 
emitted. 
The conditions obtaining during the second stage 
are supposed to be of comparatively short duration. 
May not some of the irregularly variable stars be 
in stage 2? If such were the case we should only 
expect a small proportion of the stars to show this 
variability; for there would be only a small propor- 
tion of them in stage 2. 
R. M. Destey. 
Abbeyfield, Salisbury Avenue, Harpenden, 
October 2. 
[This question is dealt with in the Hill Observa- 
tory Bulletin, vol. i., No. 2, Pp. 4.—Editor, Nature.] 
Scarcity of Wasps. 
Ir would be interesting to know whether the 
scarcity of wasps which is so marked in this district is 
general. I have seen only one wasp here this season. 
I am informed that sixty-seven queens were destroyed 
in one week this spring on the Earl of Crewe’s 
estate, but this cannot fully account for the absence 
NO. 2450, VOL. 98] 
NATURE 
109 
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of wasps. Also, while at Bordon (Hants.) for three 
weeks in August I saw only one wasp. 
Are there general causes to account for the 
Scarcity, such as the cold spring, or disease, or is there 
a cycle of fecundity and scarcity? Possibly some 
readers of Nature have observed and remarked the 
absence of wasps this season in other parts of the 
country, and may be able to forecast the probable 
effect on insect pests next summer. 
H. V.. Davis, 
‘“Noddfa,” Wistaston, Crewe, October Ze 
CAPT. KEITH LUCAS, F-.R.S. 
ebay Thursday last, October 5, Capt. Keith 
Lucas lost his life in a flying accident. In 
his short span of life—he was but thirty-seven— 
he had become the leading authority on the 
phenomena of excitation in nerve and muscle. 
He had gone through several phases. Coming 
up from Rugby, he obtained a minor scholar- 
ship in classics at Trinity College, Cambridge, 
and entered the college in 1897. He passed. to 
natural science studies, and took a first class in 
the Natural Sciences Tripos. Soon after this he 
made a bathymetrical survey of a New Zealand 
lake. He then began research in physiology, was 
elected a fellow of Trinity in 1904, and a little 
later was appointed lecturer of the college and 
demonstrator of physiology in the University. 
The line of research he had chosen led to the 
development of his inherited faculty of mechanical 
design, and each additional step of his work was 
marked by the invention of a new instrument or 
by some striking improvement in instrumental 
methods necessary for the successful investiga- 
tion of the problem. His exceptional mechanical 
ability found further scope when he became one 
of the scientific directors of the Cambridge Instru- 
ment Company. 
On the outbreak of war he gave up work at 
Cambridge and undertook research at the Royal 
Aircraft Factory. His success in modifying the 
magnetic compass for use in the peculiar condi- 
tions of aircraft flight has been specially noted in 
‘the recently published report of the Advisory 
Committee for Aeronautics. The committee 
pointed out how greatly flyers are indebted to 
Dr. Lucas. His subsequent investigations afford 
an instance of his thoroughness and devotion to 
the work in hand. He acquired, as an accessory 
matter, a personal knowledge of the conditions of 
flight, and obtained a pilot’s certificate. It was 
while engaged in this investigation that the acci- 
dent happened which cost him his life. 
Much as Keith Lucas had achieved in physio- 
logy, it is certain that, had he lived, he would 
have done much more. He conceived early the 
whole scheme of investigation necessary to settle 
his particular problem, and he followed it up step 
by step with unsurpassed logical method. So far 
as it can be said in science that the determina- 
tion of a special problem depends on one man, it 
can be said of Keith Lucas. His friends loved 
the quiet and unassuming manner which carried 
so much strength of character. 
J: N. Lanctey. 
