134 



NATURE 



[December 12, 1907 



between 1889 and 1S99 he acted as assistant to the Senator 

 Pictro Blaserna in the Roman " Istituto Fisico, " after 

 which lie was made professor extraordinary of experimental 

 physics in tlie University. From that post, after a year's 

 success in the class-room and the laboratory, he was pro- 

 moted ordinary professor of the same subject, giving also 

 post-graduate instruction (the so-called " Corso di Per- 

 fezionamonto ") to those students who were to make pure 

 and applied physics the business of their lives. His scien- 

 tific papers, read and discussed before various scientific 

 congresses and societies, were numerous and important, 

 always rich in independent speculation and research. 

 Among these may be mentioned his study on " L'Influenza 

 dei Raggi Rontgen e della Luce Ultra-Violetta sulle 

 Scintille " and his " Riccrche sulla Radio-attivita dell' 

 .^ria." To him, in concert with Guglielmo Romiti, pro- 

 fessor of anatomy and embryology in the Universitv of 

 Pisa, Italy owes her " Association for the Advancement of 

 Science," organised on British lines and convened for the 

 first time in September last at Parma, where it achieved 

 a gratifying success, k committee, composed of Profs. 

 Blaserna, Cerruti, Reina, Volterra, and Tonelli, the Rector 

 of the University, is talcing steps to place a memorial of 

 Prof. Sella in the Istituto Fisico in the form of a bust in 

 marble. Subscriptions should be sent to Prof. Reina at 

 the school of applied engineering of the University. 



The second annual general meeting of the National 

 League for Physical Education and Improvement was held 

 on December 6 under the presidency of the Bishop of 

 Ripon. The report of the executive council stated, in re- 

 gard to the medical inspection of school children, that it 

 will be possible, now a medical department has been estab- 

 lished, to advise the Board of Education that under 

 efficient supervision and control the best uniform system 

 may prevail and be carried out under conditions sufficiently 

 elastic to suit the requirements of different districts. The 

 knowledge and experience gained in other countries are 

 sure to have important results in their bearing upon the 

 work of the league. On the question of pure milk, a joint 

 committee of the league and the National Health Society, 

 on which were members of the Infants' Health Society and 

 other similar organisations, the Royal Commission on 

 Tuberculosis, and the Royal Veterinary College, has now- 

 been formed, and has drawn up a preliminary report, in 

 which it is recommended that the periodical veterinary in- 

 spection of all cows, the milk of which is being offered 

 for sale for human consumption, should be made com- 

 pulsory throughout the United Kingdom. The Milk Com- 

 mittee is now preparing recommendations with regard to 

 milking and handling, transport and distribution. 



An account of an expedition in the Himalayas, which 

 included the first ascent of Trisul (23,406 feet), has been 

 given to Renter's representative by Dr. T. H. Longstaff. 

 The party consisted of Major C. G. Bruce, Mr. A. L. 

 Mumm (late hon. secretary to the Alpine Club), Dr. Long- 

 staff, and guides. Originally the object of the journey 

 was to attempt the ascent of Mount Everest from the 

 Tibetan side, but for political reasons this was found to 

 be impossible. It was decided to go to the central Hima- 

 layas, to Garhwal, and from that point attempt Trisul. 

 .After two marches along the Trisul glacier the party 

 started up the snow slopes of the mountain on June 7, and 

 that evening reached a height of 20,000 feet. During this 

 period Dr. Longstaff had by far the worst experience in 

 his foreign travels. On the third day the party descended 

 to the foot of the mountain, and again camped at 11,600 

 feet. On June 11 Dr. Longstaff and his guides marched 

 rapidly round his old track, camping the same afternoon 

 NO. 1989. VOL. ']']'\ 



at a height of 17,450 feet. On the following morning the 

 party started at 5.30 a.m., and five hours later reached 

 its highest camp of 20,000 feet. As dangerous crevasses 

 half covered with snow and ice were ahead, the explorers 

 roped themselves together, and at noon reached 21,000 

 feet. The party now followed the narrow N.N.E. ridge 

 of Trisul, which leads straight to the summit. At 4 p.m., 

 after ten hours' continuous climbing, the summit was 

 reached. The cold was so bitter that it was only possible 

 to remain for fifteen minutes. To the west the view was 

 one of extraordinary vastness, as the horizon extended over 

 the whole of the lower Garhwal and the snow peaks 

 beyond. To the north lay the Tibetan frontier, obscured 

 by rolling masses of black cloud. To the east were the 

 frowning cliffs of Nanda Devi and its untrodden glaciers. 

 The party now turned its attention in the direction of the 

 Tibetan frontier, and during July explored glaciers to the 

 east and west of Kamet (25,450 feet), reaching on one 

 occasion an altitude of 20,000 feet on the mountain. In 

 August and September Dr. Longstaff explored the valleys 

 to the south and west of Trisul, while Major Bruce and 

 Mr. Mumm made more ascents in Kashmir. 



The report of the council of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, presented at the annual general meeting held on 

 Wednesday, December 11, states that the frosty weather 

 in the spring caused injury to white clover, broad beans, 

 and wheat, and the wet summer and autumn led to ex- 

 tensive injuries by parasitic fungi. Many investigations 

 have been made into these diseases. Another unobserved 

 enemy to the potato, Stylanus capitatus, has been proved 

 by experiment to attack the living plant. A hawthorn 

 hedge was seriously affected by Botrytis cincrea. Bacterial 

 injuries to potatoes, broad beans, and oats have been 

 investigated. Scouring in stock was found to be due to 

 the mould developed on the feeding cake. In the zoological 

 department nothing of special importance was reported, 

 except the recurrence of the pygmy mangold beetle, which 

 is probably a more frequent and serious pest to mangold 

 than has hitherto been supposed. With the abnormally 

 w-et summer came a large number of complaints ot cater- 

 pillar attack, and in many instances the c.iterpillars were 

 of species not usually seriously troublesome. Later again, 

 certain pests generally associated with particularly dry 

 seasons began to be complained of, as the results of the 

 continued fine weeks of the late summer and autumn. 

 The council, at its last meeting, considered a suggestion 

 that the Board of Agriculture should be urged to schedule 

 tuberculosis, and, after discussion, the following recom- 

 mendation of the veterinary committee was unanimously 

 adopted : — " That in the event of the promotion of legis- 

 lation dealing with the question of tuberculosis and other 

 diseases of cattle, the council of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society of England is of opinion that any regulations for 

 dealing with this question should be issued by the Board 

 of Agriculture and not to any other department." A dis- 

 cussion ensued as to the desirability of forming a national 

 representative body to safeguard, so far as possible, the 

 interests of agriculturists in connection with any measures 

 to be adopted for dealing with the question of tuberculosis 

 in cattle, and it was resolved : — " That a committee be 

 formed to communicate with other societies for the pur- 

 pose of watching the interests of agriculture, in view of 

 possible legislation with regard to the tuberculosis ques- 

 tion." The society's show will be held at Newcastle- 

 upon-Tyne in igoS, and at Gloucester in 1909. 



The Hon. Walter Rothschild has recently received half- 

 a-dozen- specimens of the Californian elephant-seal (Macro- 

 rhinus leoninus angustirostris), a race which had for some 



