January 25, 1917] 
still remain in full force. Hence a token in some 
form of the dead is preserved in the household. The 
Egyptians seem to have retained the savage custom 
of keeping in the family the head of the deceased. 
For his benefit, however, it was held necessary to , 
return it to the grave; and the next. stage was the 
provision of a stone image of the head in the grave, in 
‘case the actual head was lost or injured. The stone 
mummy figures appear at first as a plain, bandaged 
mummy, without any hands or detail except the face, 
which gave it personality. It is on rough wooden 
figures of the Seventeenth Dynasty that the wood 
shuabti, whence came the name of the well-known 
Ushabti figures, first appears. Prof. Petrie gives a 
fine series of illustrations of the later developments of 
these figures, and provides a transcript and translation 
of the formulz inscribed upon them. 
Tue Indian Journal of Medical Research for Octo- 
ber, 1916 (vol. iv., No. 2), contains valuable papers 
on the epidemiology of malaria in Malaya and on 
anopheline mosquitoes by Mr. C. Strickland. Mr. 
E. H. Hankin details several simple tests for narcotic 
~ and anesthetic drugs which should be of much use. 
Major Harvey discusses birth and marriage 
rates and fertility among Brahmins and Indian 
fighting communities. Capt. Fox: describes ex- 
periments undertaken to ascertain the relative values 
of the various kinds of cholera vaccines. The most 
effective seems to be a heated vaccine without phenol, 
the next in order being living culture. A useful fea- 
ture of the number is a summary of recent medical 
research in Germany dealing with dysentery, epidemic 
jaundice, paratyphoid fever, and methods of cholera 
diagnosis, 
Tue prize essay on ‘‘A Scheme for Maternity and 
Child Welfare Work,’ by Miss Isabel Macdonald and 
Miss Kate Atherton, is published by the Royal Sani- 
tary Institute, price 1s. The essay is divided into 
two parts: (1) preliminary organisation, and (2) the 
scheme in operation, For a typical district with, say, 
2500 births a year, the cost per annum for such a 
scheme is estimated at 1230l. for staff and rsool. for 
buildings (rent, rates, upkeep, etc.). The accommoda- 
tion suggested comprises (a) waiting-room; (b) dress- 
ing-room; (c) weighing- and recording-room; (d) one 
or two consulting-rooms; (e) isolation-room; dis- 
pensary ; (g) office; (h) staff rooms and offices; (t) sani- 
tary accommodation, As regards the scheme, it is re- 
marked that ante-natal care can only be dealt with 
incidentally, as no machinery exists for the notification 
of pregnancy. This difficulty might, however, be met 
to some extent by co-operation with the district visitors 
of religious denominations. The compulsory notifica- 
tion of births enables the health visitors of the centre 
to visit the home within two or three days of the 
notification. Teaching would be given to mothers and 
voluntary workers on the feeding and health of chil- 
dren and general care of the infant. Infant consulta- 
tions with a supply of milk and medicine would be 
available at the centre. Health lectures, day nurseries, 
and many other activities in connection with the 
centre are dealt with, 
THE question of the physiological aspect of moun- 
taineering is discussed at some length in a paper by 
Dr. A. M. Kellas on a consideration of the possibility 
of ascending the loftier Himalaya (Geographical 
Journal for January, xlix., No. 1). The physiological 
difficulties depend upon the deficiency of oxygen. The 
evidence from balloon ascents to high altitudes would 
tend to prove that the ascent of peaks of 28,000 ft. or 
29,000 ft. would be impossible, but the balloonist 
ascends so rapidly that he has no opportunity of be- 
NO. 2465, VOL. 98] 
NATURE 
415 
ee eee 
coming acclimatised. The fact is of fundamental im- 
portance, for experience has shown that men can 
become accustomed to air deficient in oxygen. The 
case of Pike’s Peak (14,109 ft.) is cited, Four factors 
concerned in acclimatisation to high altitudes are: 
first, the oxygen pressure in the alveolar air which 
rises; secondly, the number of red-blood corpuscles 
and the quantity of hemoglobin in the blood, which 
increase in due proportion to each other; thirdly, the 
possibility of actual secretion of oxygen in the lung 
epithelium; and, fourthly, the more rapid circulation 
of the blood-stream during exercise. The conclusion 
which Dr, Kellas arrives at, after discussing these 
factors, is that towards the summit of Mount Everest 
(29,141 ft.) the climber would probably be near his 
last reserves in the way of acclimatisation and 
strength, but that he could accomplish the feat pro- 
vided that the physical difficulties above 25,000 ft. 
are not insuperable. 
Tue Proceedings of the United States National 
Museum, vol. li., 1916, contains a long report, by 
Messrs. C. H. Gilbert and C. L. Hubbs, on_the 
Japanese Macrourid fishes collected by the U.S. 
Fisheries steamer Albatross in 1906, with a synopsis ~ 
of the genera. The authors find themselves in dis- 
agreement with previous workers on this group of 
fishes, not merely in the matter of nomenclature, but also 
on the more important questions of classification and 
the characters on which this is founded. They regard 
the branchiostegal rays as being more trustworthy 
than the dentition. The serration of the dorsal spine 
they also regard as affording a valuable character, 
while the position of the coracoid foramen, used by 
Regan and others, they consider as of no generic 
value in this group. But it remains to be seen whether 
the purely superficial characters adopted as a systematic 
basis in this repprt will stand the test of time. 
Tue Annals of the South African Museum (vol. xv., 
part v.) is devoted to the description of some South 
African Ichneumonide, and new, or little-known, 
Orthoptera. The account of the Ichneumonidz has 
been written by Mr. Claude Morley, who describes 
several new species. Dr. L. Péringuey is responsible 
for the section on the Orthoptera. He describes a 
number of new genera and species of the families 
Acridide and Locustide. In his account of the re- 
markable and non-saltatorial Pneumorine he makes 
some interesting remarks on their powers of stridula- 
tion. Camping, or one occasion, in a waterless spot 
near the seaboard of Saldanha, he tells us, the deep 
voice of Bulla immaculata could be heard above the 
din made by innumerable geckoes, occupying clumps 
of reeds growing in this sandy spot. This was just 
after rainfall, when the noise made by the lizards was 
like the croaking of countless frogs. Dr, Péringuey 
also makes some noteworthy observations on the 
coloration of these extraordinary insects. His paper 
is illustrated by several text-figures and one plate. 
In the Journal of the Washington Academy of 
Sciences (vol. vi., No. 20) Mr. T.° Wherry publishes 
the results of an interesting investigation on the soil 
conditions. favoured by the walking fern, Camptosorus 
rhizophyllus. This fern, it is always stated, prefers a 
calcareous habitat. In the course of the present 
investigation, however, it has been collected not only 
on limestone, but also on granite, shale, sandstone, 
tree-trunks, and other substrata not usually classed 
as calcareous. Chemical analysis has shown that the 
actual soils in which the fern grows are rather high 
in their percentage of both total and soluble lime. 
Rocks with much lime suffer leaching during soil 
formation, and those poor in lime gain it through the 
decay of vegetable matter, and the average lime con- 
