58 
NATURE 
[JANUARY 13, 1923, 

Dr. Krasser published several papers on Upper Triassic 
floras, and it was hoped that he would eventually 
produce an adequately illustrated account of this 
important but still very imperfectly known period 
of botanical history. It would be a fitting recogni- 
tion of the value of Dr. Krasser’s work if the authori- 
ties of the Vienna Museum could see their way to 
entrust the material to which he was devoting his 
vacations to some paleo-botanical colleague with a 
view to the publication of a comprehensive memoir. 
Among other contributions reference may be made to 
papers on the genus Williamsonia and other Jurassic 
plants from Sardinia. 
Dr. Krasser was a man of attractive personality, 
a good friend, and an enthusiastic investigator. 

Pror. Ruys DaAvips. 
By the death on December 27, in the fulness of years 
and honour, of Prof. T. W. Rhys Davids, England has 
lost a great oriental scholar. Son of a Congregational 
pastor at Colchester, and born on May 12, 1843, Prof. 
Davids was educated at Brighton School, and studied 
Greek and Sanskrit at Breslau University. He spent 
eight years in. the Ceylon Civil Service, where he 
mastered Pali and commenced his Buddhistic studies. 
Returning home he became, from 1882 to 1912, professor 
of Pali and Buddhist literature at University College, 
London, and from 1904 to 1915,professor of com- 
parative religion at the University of Manchester. He 
was secretary and librarian of thé Royal Asiatic Society 
from 1885 to 1904, and he shared in the foundation of 
the British Academy, of which he was a fellow. 
Prof. and Mrs. Rhys Davids—the latter also an 
accomplished Pali scholar—were the leading agents in 
spreading a knowledge of Buddhism in this country. 
An inspiring teacher and an indefatigable worker, he 
produced a number of books on the subject which he 
had made his own; the best known of which are his 
manual of “ Buddhism, ” * Buddhist India,” and 
“American Lectures on Buddhism.” He also did 
gdod work in establishing the Oriental’ Translations 
Fund and the Indian Text Series. His death leaves 
a gap in the scanty ranks of oriental scholars which 
will not be easily filled. 
WE regret to announce the death on December 3o, 
in his sixty- -sixth year, of Dr. J. B. Haycraft, emeritus 
professor of physiology in the University of Wales. 
Current Topics and Events. 
SCIENTIFIC workers are too well acquainted with 
the value placed on their services to be surprised at an 
advertisement for a university assistant lecturer in a 
department of science at a salary of 300/. a year. 
Recently, however, such an offer provoked an in- 
dignant protest from a disinterested member of the 
general public, who stated to us that the remuneration 
of his chauffeur was on a more liberal scale. While it 
is true that any educated man with aspirations would 
prefer a university teaching post, with its vague 
promise of an interesting and useful career, to the more 
mundane occupation, it is nevertheless a matter of 
the gravest concern that those educational institutions 
which are engaged in the task of increasing and 
disseminating knowledge are in such a parlous 
financial position that they are forced to offer salaries 
bearing no relation to the status of the posts, and 
imposing on their holders an unfair burden of financial 
sacrifice. The greatest benefactors of the universities 
are still the members of the teaching staffs themselves. 
THE story of Shackleton’s last Antarctic expedition 
on the Quest, as presented at the New Scala Theatre, 
is a little disappointing, inasmuch as considerable 
interesting material is not explained. It is a diffi- 
cult task for Commander Frank Wild to supply any- 
thing more than a running commentary with so 
much film shown. The curtailment of some of the 
“ Departure ’”’ film and ‘‘ Ports of Call’’ film, such 
as a bull fight in Portugal, all of which occupy con- 
siderable time, would, perhaps, be advantageous, and 
the audience taken as quickly as possible to the 
lonely sub-Antarctic islands with their fascinating 
bird life—to South Georgia and its whaling industry, 
and to the southern ice fields. A few still pictures 
introduced here and there would afford the lecturer 
NO. 2776, VOL. 111 | 

an opportunity of giving more information, which 
is badly needed, of the natural history pictures. The 
natural history films are extraordinarily interesting, 
and commence with a landing through the heavy 
surf on St. Paul’s Rocks on the equator. In the 
midst of these small dangerous rocks there is a lagoon 
of wonderfully clear water, with many species of fish 
to be seen in its pellucid depths. The rocks provide 
a nesting place for hundreds of sea birds. Excellent 
films are shown of the rookeries of the great wanderer 
Albatross, the Cape hen, the giant petrel, the Gentoo 
penguin, and the sea elephant, all taken at South 
Georgia. Ascension Island provides a moving picture 
of a great rookery of terns. The lengthy film of 
the whaling industry in South Georgia is shown with 
the film running at high speed, commencing with the 
harpooning of the rorqual, or blue whale, and showing 
the whole process of ‘‘ trying out.’’ This film is full 
of interest and instruction, but, unhappily, bears 
eloquent testimony to the extermination of southern 
whales. Soon these rorquals and fin-back whales 
will become as scarce as the sperm and southern 
whalebone whale, if the industry is allowed to continue 
uncontrolled. Zavodovski Island, to the south of 
South Georgia, was next visited. This ice-covered, 
rock-bound, and forbidding island is the home of 
countless penguins. Round its coast are numbers of 
deep caves which belch forth dense sulphurous fumes. 
The three months spent in the ice pack with constant 
vigilance and toil in battling the floes, are not of 
special interest from a lecture point of view, though 
no doubt useful scientific data was collected. 
Tue duration record in gliding established at the 
recent contests on the South Downs has already been 
broken in a rather sensational manner, and by another 

