34& 



NA TURE 



[January it, 1909 



their social structure and magical and religious beliefs 

 they are the most primitive people who have yet been 

 systematically studied. The Australians, so often 

 spoken of as very primitive people, have well-developed 

 totemic and local organisations, a classificatory system 

 of kinship names, and elaborate systems of myths and 

 magical beliefs. The Andamanese have no system of 

 clans, but live in small hordes having little cohesion. 

 Their system of kinship terms appears to be ante- 

 cedent to the classificatory system. Their myths and 

 magical beliefs are equally simple and undeveloped. 



The Little Andamans are still left for future in- 

 vestigation, although Mr. Brown spent three and a 

 half months with these wild islanders. As, however, 

 there was no interpreter, the amount of progress 

 which he made in learning their language was in- 

 sufficient to enable him to pursue the investigation 

 of their sociology and religion, but he has recorded 

 their material culture. A. C. Haddon. 



JVOTBS. 



The third annual general meeting of the British Science 

 Guild will be held at the Mansion House to-morrow, 

 January 22, at 4 p.m., under the presidency of the Lord 

 Mayor. Mr. Haldanc, president of the Guild, will address 

 the meeting, and will be supported by Sir \V. Ramsay, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S., Sir F. Pollock, Bart.', Sir .Aston Webb, 

 R..A., Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., Sir Boverton Redwood, 

 Dr. Bovey, and other speakers. 



\A'e see with deep regret the announcement that Dr. 

 Francis Elgar, F.R.S., whose scientific and practical work 

 in naval architecture is of world-wide renown, died 

 suddenly on January 17 at sixty-three years of age. 



The British Association will meet in Winnipeg from 

 August 25 to September i of this year. The president-elect 

 is Sir J. J. Thomson, F.R.S. ; and the following sectional 

 presidents have just accepted office : — .\ (Mathematical and 

 Physical Science), Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S. ; B (Chem- 

 istry), Prof. H. E. Armstrong, F.R.S. ; C (Geology), Dr. 

 A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S. ; D (Zoology), Dr. A. E. 

 Shipley, F.R.S. ; E (Geography), Sir Duncan A. Johnston, 

 K.C.M.G. ; F (Economic Science and Statistics), Prof. S. J. 

 Chapman ; G (Engineering), Sir William H. W'hite, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S.; H (Anthropology), Prof. J. L. Myres ; 

 I (Physiology), Prof. E. H. Starling, F.R.S. ; K (Botany), 

 Lieut. -Colonel D. Prain, F.R.S. ; L (Educational Science), 

 Dr. H. B. Gray; and subsection. Agriculture, Major 

 P. G. Craigie (chairman). A handbook of preliminary in- 

 formation, drawn up by the local executive committee, 

 may be obtained from the office of the British Association, 

 Burlington House, London, W., or will be sent to 

 applicants enclosing 2\A. for postage. 



."^ SUM of 20,000/. has been placed in the hands of the 

 trustees of the medical school of the London Hospital to 

 be invested to the best advantage, and the income from 

 it to be expended in the advancement of medical research 

 and the promotion of higher education in medicine. The 

 administrators are the chairman, Mr. Sydney Holland, 

 and two members of the acting staff of the hospital. It 

 has been settled that the money is to be spent on in- 

 creasing the facilities for research, and not for the routine 

 teaching of candidates for examination. The benefits 

 derived from the gift will not be confined to those students 

 educated at the London Hospital, but will be open to 

 qualified medical men from any part of the British Empire 

 Avho are willing to give up their time to advancing medical 

 Jinowledge within the walls of the London Hospital or 

 NO. 2047, VOL. 79] 



college. The donor of this munificent gift desires to re- 

 main anonymous, in the hope that the fund which he has 

 thus started will be added to by others, and that in time 

 it may become of such magnitude as to be of great use 

 lo the present and to all future generations in the fight 

 against, and the prevention of, disease. 



.\x interesting summary by Dr. H. R. Mill of the rain- 

 fall of the British Isles in igo8 appeared in the Times 

 of Januarj' 16. The discussion is only a preliminary one, 

 containing results of observations at ninety representative 

 stations, and comparisons with the average of the last 

 thirty years. A complete discussion of the data will appear 

 later in " British Rainfall," but the author reinayks, " the 

 laborious re-computation from all the data ultimately avail- 

 able rarely shows the preliminary estimates to be much 

 in error, though, of course, greater detail becomes 

 possible." The production of the present summary in so 

 short a time reflects great credit on (he promptitude of 

 the voluntary observers and on the staff of the British 

 Rainfall Organisation. The figures show that the year 

 was technically dry ; the following are the percentages of 

 the average for the general rainfall: — England, S., 86; 

 Wales, 95; England, N., 91; Scoland, 98; Ireland, loi ; 

 British Isles, 93. The monthly values are, of course, much 

 more variable than the annual ; the author summarises 

 them as follows: — "The collective rainfall of the country 

 was above the average from March to the end of 

 September. The dry October brought it back to the 

 average, the dry November greatly reduced it, but a really 

 wet December would have made it up in the end ; and 

 even with the moderately dry December the final deficiency, 

 as has been shown, was not very great." June was very 

 dry in England, but less so in other parts. The rainfall 

 for London (Camden Square) was 23-67 inches, an inch 

 and a half below the thirty years' average ; but, the author 

 remarks, London is a large place ; the general average of 

 the district ranges from about 23 inches in the low-lying 

 parts near the river to at least 27 inches on the encircling 

 girdle of hills. 



M. Antonv PoiNCARfi has been elected president, and 

 MM. Eiffel and Maillet vice-presidents, of the French 

 Meteorological Society. 



Dr. Sven Hedin arrived at Stockhohn on January 17, 

 and had an audience of the King of Sweden, who pre- 

 sented him with the Grand Cross of the Polar Star. He 

 will give an account of his recent expedition in Tibet at 

 a special meeting of the Royal Geographical Society to 

 be held in the Queen's Hall on February 8. 



It is announced in the Chemist and Druggist that 

 Baron Bessiferes has left a legacy of 3200/. to the Pasteur 

 Institute, Paris, to be employed in scientific researches in 

 accordance with special instructions he has left with his 

 executor. 



The seventieth birthday of Prof. G. Lunge will be 

 celebrated on September 15, and a local committee has 

 undertaken to arrange a suitable commemoration of the 

 occasion. Chemists who desire to be associated with this 

 festival should communicate with Dr. E. Berl, Zurich I\', 

 Sonneggstrasse 84. 



The council of the Institution of CiviJ Engineers, after 

 consideration of the papers on Indian engineering subjects 

 published in the Proceedings for the past session, has 

 awarded the " Indian premium " of the institution for 

 1908, of the value of 33/., to Mr. F. P. .Anderson, for his 

 paper on river control by wire net-work. 



