612 
NATURE 
[May 5, 1923 

last year at the annual general meeting on April 30. 
There has been an increase of nearly two hundred in 
the number of fellows; the additions to the collections 
are more numerous than in the preceding year, the 
result chiefly of the receipt of H.R.H. The Prince of 
Wales's Nepal and Malayan collections; the attend- 
ance at the gardens maintains a very high level; and 
the financial position of the Society is thoroughly 
sound. The Proceedings have reached their pre-War 
standard as to bulk, the number of illustrations, and 
the promptness of publication; but the issue of 
Transactions has not yet been resumed. An appre- 
ciative reference is made to the work of Mr. Pocock, 
whose resignation of the post of superintendent has 
lately taken effect. Zoologists will learn with regret, 
akin to dismay, of the decision of the Society to cease 
publication of the “ Zoological Record,” owing to 
the inadequate support received. The Society has 
rendered an invaluable service to zoological science 
throughout the world in having undertaken the 
responsibility of the Record for so long a period, and 
it is a matter of grave concern that its efforts have 
met with so poor a measure of support. The council 
reports that excellent progress has been made in the 
construction of the new aquarium, and it is hoped 
that this will be ready for opening in the autumn of 
the present year. A favourable report is given of the 
durability of the coloured labels, painted in fusible 
enamel on tiles, which were introduced last year on 
the results of special experiments, and their use is to 
be extended as rapidly as possible. The scheme for 
the instruction of school teachers, which has been in 
operation since 1910, has been suspended for the 
present, as a large proportion of the London school 
teachers have now taken advantage of it. 
THE results of a conference of veterinary authorities 
convened by the Government of India at Calcutta 
in February last were summarised in the Times of 
April 17. Anthrax infection in the case of East 
Indian wool, hair, and hides is so serious that special 
attention has been directed to the subject. Yet, 
according to the official returns, anthrax is a rare 
disease in India. The cost of disinfecting wool is 
greater than its present value, and the conference 
came to the decision that the agencies for notification 
of the disease in India must be improved, and that 
much skilled research and inspection are needed 
among the living animals in the country, if the disease 
is to be attacked at its seat. Surra, a disease of 
horses and camels, is now known to be due to a 
parasite of the group that gives rise to sleeping 
sickness in Africa. Tuberculosis is proved to be a 
frequent cause of loss of cattle, but little is known 
as to its prevalence. In short, “ veterinary educa- 
tion, veterinary research, and veterinary legislation 
and administration in India are wholly unsatisfactory, 
and it is urgently to be hoped that the Government 
of India will give immediate and serious attention 
to the conclusions reached by the Conference.” 
THE meeting of the Illuminating Engineering 
Society on April 24 was notable for the large number 
of representatives of associations concerned with the 
NO. 2792, VOL. IIT] 

printing industry which attended to join in the dis- 
cussion of Mr. L. Gaster’s paper on the lighting of 
printing works. Employers and employees joined 
in expressing appreciation of the importance of 
adequate illumination, and the Rt. Hon. C. W. 
Bowerman, who opened the discussion, contrasted 
the attention that is now being paid to the subject 
with the neglect of past years. Mr. Gaster dealt very 
fully with the lighting of compositors’ benches, 
machine-rooms, etc., showing a number of attractive 
photographs taken by artificial light, and mentioning 
the values of illumination recorded in each case. It 
would appear that recent experience favours the use 
of general lighting as compared with the “ patchy ” 
local lights formerly customary, and pictures were 
shown of rooms flooded with light up to 1o-12-foot 
candles. It was interesting to learn that the cost of 
lighting in general forms only about 1 per cent of the 
wages bill in this industry, which employs highly 
skilled labour. Mr. Gaster also put in a word for the 
requirements of the journalist, who is called upon to 
read manuscripts at high speed, and whose work often 
demands scrupulous accuracy. Proper lighting, both 
for proof-readers and in the editorial rooms, is most 
important, and it is singular that in some large 
newspaper works this matter is neglected, although 
the section of the building devoted to the actual 
printing processes may be relatively well lighted. 
Pror. J. A. FLemrinc, University College, London, 
has been asked by the British Broadcasting Company 
to broadcast an appreciation of the scientific work 
of Sir James Dewar on Friday evening, May 4, at 
9 P.M. The message may be heard by all having a 
wireless telephone set which can pick up from 2 LO 
in London. 
Tue eighth Guthrie lecture of the Physical Society 
of London will be delivered on Friday, May 11, at 
5 o'clock, at the Imperial College of Science and 
Technology, by Dr. J. H. Jeans, who will take as his 
subject “The Present Position of the Radiation 
Problem.” 
Pror. J. B. Learues, professor of physiology in 
the University of Sheffield, will give the Croonian 
lectures of the Royal College of Physicians in June ; 
Prof. E. H. Starling, the Harveian oration on St. 
Luke's Day, October 18; and Dr. John Hay, of 
the University of Liverpool, the Bradshaw lecture 
in November. 
Ir is stated by Dr. Theiler in the Chemtker-Zeitung 
for March 20 that pure methyl alcohol is quite non-_ 
poisonous. The poisonous nature of impure wood 
spirit is due, not to the methyl alcohol it contains, 
but to the impurities which are present, such as 
allyl alcohol, allyl acetate, acetone, and their very — 
poisonous homologues. 
AccorDING to the Chemiker-Zeitung for March 22, 
Prof. G. Tammann, of G6ttingen, has received the — 
Bakhuis-Roozeboom medal of the Royal Academy ~ 
of Sciences, Amsterdam. This medal is conferred for 
researches connected with the phase rule, and was 
presented, for the first time, to Prof. F. A. H. Schreine- 

