December 17, 1908] 



NA TURE 



197 



Sydney Buxton, the PostniastiT-Gcneral, on DeccmbiT ii. 

 The station will be available lor communication with all 

 ships fitted with wireless telegraphy, whatever their 

 nationality and whatever the particular system of radio- 

 telegraphy with which they may be equipped. It will be 

 worked in accordance with the provisions of the Inter- 

 national Radio-telegraphic Convention, which was ratified 

 by his Majesty's Government in June last, and came into 

 operation on July i. The great majority of the liners 

 which call at ports in the English Channel can be com- 

 municated with through the station. It will also be avail- 

 able for transmitting, to and from ships, messages 

 originating at or destined for places abroad. The range of 

 the station is 250 miles, but for the most part the station 

 will probably not have occasion to exchange messages 

 with ships beyond 100 miles. The station will also be 

 used for communication with the Channel Islands if there 

 is any interruption in the telegraph cable between England 

 and the islands. In the course of an address at the open- 

 ing of the station, Mr. Buxton pointed out that the 

 primary use of wireless telegraphy is for communication 

 from ship to shore and from shore to ship. He added 

 that the cost of wireless stations for shore-to-shorc com- 

 munication is far less than that of a cable, and, further, 

 that in mountainous or inaccessible districts, where the 

 erection or maintenance of land lines is impracticable or 

 exceedingly costly, connection by wireless telegraphy may 

 be the most effective means of communication. 



Dr. Charles EDW.iVRD Beevor, whose death on 

 December 5, at the early age of fifty-four, we announced 

 with sincere regret last week, was for five-and-twenty 

 years an ardent worker in the rapidly extending field of 

 neurology. His interest was early centred on the action 

 of muscles, and his Croonian lectures, delivered in 1907, 

 contained the fruits of patient observations extending over 

 many years. Recently, he published in the Philosophical 

 Transactions of the Royal Society an extensive monograph 

 on the distribution of the arteries of the brain, illustrated 

 with colour-photographs from his beautiful preparations. 

 This research was the result of enormous industry, for 

 in many instances five cerebral arteries were injected 

 simultaneously with coloured fluids. His Lettsomian 

 lectures, dealing with the diagnosis and localisation of 

 intra-cranial tumours, were the fruit of much careful 

 observation. Owing to his extreme modesty and the un- 

 pretentious way in which he worked, the value of his 

 iihservations was, until recently, known mainly to members 



I the neurological section of the Royal Society of Medi- 

 110, of which he was president at the time of his death; 



..it. within the last few years, neurologists all over the 

 world have recognised the merits of his work, and this 

 summer, by special request, he delivered an address to 

 the American Medical Association. Generous and un- 

 assuming to a remarkable degree, he thought little of 

 his own researches compared with those of his colleagues. 

 Curing the preparation of the Croonian lectures it was 

 '^'tVicult to make him understand that what he called 

 simple facts " were unknown outside the circle of his 

 iirological friends. He belonged to that rare group of 



ii'n who inspire, not only respect, but affection in all 

 who are brought into contact with them. 



Dk. Otis -Tufts Masox, head curator of the division of 

 ihnology of the United States National Museum at 

 \ .ishington, passed away on November 5 at the age of 

 venty years. Dr. Mason was the great exponent of the 

 I hnology of the American Indians; the general trend of 

 !- studies was embodied in two valuable little books, " The 

 NO. 2042, VOL. 79] 



Origins of Invention " tLondon : Walter Scott, 1S95J, and 

 " \\'oman's Share in Primitive Culture " CMacmillan, 1895). 

 Most of his memoirs were published in the Annual Re- 

 ports of the United States National Museum. The follow- 

 ing imperfect list will give some idea of his activity and 

 wide range of interests : — " The Human Beast of Burden " 

 (1887), " Cradles of the American Aborigines " (1887), 

 " The Ulu or Woman's Knife of the Eskimo " (1890), 

 " Influence of Environment upon Human Industries or 

 Arts " (1896), " Pointed Bark Canoes of the Kutenai and 

 Ainu " (1899), " Traps of the American Indians " (1901), 

 " A Primitive Frame for Weaving Narrow Fabrics " (1901), 

 " -Aboriginal American Harpoons " (1902). Dr. Mason was 

 a great authority on American basketry, and published 

 several papers on the subject ; and in 1904 appeared his 

 memorable work, " Aboriginal American Basketry : Studies 

 in a Textile Art without Machinery," which consists of 377 

 pages, 212 figures in the text, and 248 plates, which will 

 long remain the standard work on the subject. Dr. Mason 

 arranged some very instructive cases in the museum illus- 

 trating the evolution and distribution of various imple- 

 ments, and no one who has had the privilege of being 

 taken round the U.S. National Museum, and especially the 

 grand collection of baskets, by Otis T. Mason will ever 

 forget the erudition and enthusiasm of that lovable man. 



The annual general meeting of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society was held on December 9. The report of the council 

 announces that in recognition of the valuable services 

 rendered by him to the agriculture of Canada, the council 

 has elected, as an honorary member of the society. Dr. 

 William Saunders, C.M.G., Director of Experimental 

 Farms, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa. The Earl of 

 Jersey has been nominated for election as president of the 

 society for the year 1909. The seventieth annual show of 

 the society will be held at Gloucester on June 22-26 of 

 next year, and the show in 1910 will be held at Liver- 

 pool. At the Woburn Experimental Station field trials 

 have been begun with the growing of different varieties 

 of lucerne, and on the use of calcium cyanamide on corn 

 and root crops ; also, the influence of inoculating methods- 

 for lucerne and white clover has been tried. Further work- 

 has been done at the pot-culture station on the action of 

 magnesia in soils, and, for the Royal Commission on 

 Sewage Disposal, an additional year's work on the utilisa- 

 tion of sewage sludges has been conducted. In the 

 botanical department of the society a bacterial disease of 

 swede turnip was investigated, which had rendered an 

 entire crop a failure. Black-scab disease of potato, more 

 correctly known as potato canker, made its appearance 

 again in many places. This pest, by its steady increase, 

 threatens to be as serious for potato growers as the potato 

 disease. Various injuries affecting roses, potatoes, beans, 

 peas, turnips, and swedes were reported upon. The zoo- 

 logical department reports that, on the whole, crops appear 

 to have been freer than usual from insect attack during 

 the past year. Much attention has been given to a disease 

 of the pea plant, which, although apparently widespread, 

 has hitherto escaped observation in this country. It is dut 

 to the so-called corn thrips, Thrips cerealiuin. The 

 general interest in the external parasites of domestic 

 .•mimals, which has been e.xcited by the discovery of their 

 power to communicate disease, is still on the increase, and 

 numerous ticks and other animals are continually sent ta 

 the society for identification from various parts of the 

 world. 



A LECTURE on the Danish North-east Greenland Expedi- 

 tion was delivered at a meeting of the Royal Geographical 



