15(3 



NATURE 



V- 



forced upon the railway companies is just so much gain 

 for the public. Never was there a more absolute fallacy. 

 \-\ the long run, the cost of every bit of railway improve- 

 ment must be paid for by those who buy tickets and ship 

 fieight. Economy in the administration of our railways is 

 just as important in the interest of the general public as 

 if the railways were actually under Government ownership. 



lUE BRITISH I'HARMACEVriCAI. 

 CONFERENCE. 

 'X'HE forty-seventh annual meeting of the British Pharma- 

 ceutical Conference was held at Cambridge on July 

 26, 27, and 28, under the presidency of Mr. F. Ransom. 

 The presidential address dealt mainly with pharma- 

 ceutical research, and Mr. Ransom indicated certain 

 directions in which progress may be anticipated. He 

 deplored the fact that a better organisation did not e.xist 

 to bring together the two classes of investigators — pharma- 

 cists and pharmacologists. If a joint committee consist- 

 ing of medical men and pharmacists were appointed with 

 the object of organising research work, investigations 

 might be directed in the proper channels, and better results 

 would be obtained. The president dealt at some 

 length with the question of the cultivation of medicinal 

 plants, and commented upon the attempts which had 

 been made to .obtain plants of more or less standard 

 alkaloidal content. He suggested that a subject inviting 

 investigation was whether the variations in the con- 

 stituents of drugs were due solely to the seasons, or whether 

 Hicy depended upon other conditions. Referring to the sub- 

 ject of the standardisation of disinfectants, which has 

 recently received much consideration, he said that neither 

 the chemical nor bacrteriological processes which had 

 hitherto been devised seemed to be applicable in all cases, 

 although for specific purposes comparisons of efficiency 

 might be deduced. 



In addition to the president's address, twenty-one papers 

 were communicated, the larger number of which were of 

 purely pharmaceutical interest. The papers which aroused 

 the most considerable discussion were those dealing with 

 the testing of disinfectants. 



In a paper contributed by Prof. Sims Woodhead and 

 Dr. C. Ponder, the authors made clear their position in 

 regard to the question of standardisation of disinfectants. 

 On analysing the Rideal-Walker drop method, they picked 

 out and gave consideration to the following factors : — 

 organisms to be acted upon ; number of micro-organisms 

 and amount of organic matter to be added ; strength and 

 number of dilutions ; time during which the disinfectant 

 is allowed to act ; temperature. Prof. R. T. Hewlett in 

 his paper criticised the Woodhead-Ponder method, but 

 expressed the opinion that the use of B. coli instead of 

 B. typhosus is perhaps a desirable change, although further 

 investigation is necessaiy. 



.Mr. C. T. Kingzett and Mr. R. C. Woodcock contributed 

 a paper, in the course of which it was pointed out that 

 while the Rideal-Walker test may very well serve to deter- 

 mine the relative germicidal values of similarly prepared 

 preparations of a coal-tar nature, it is not applicable for 

 ascertaining the real or relative value of other disinfectants 

 of a different chemical nature. Dr. D. Sommerville also 

 read a paper. There was a long discussion on these papers, 

 in which Di. Rideal, Dr. E. Feilmann, Mr. J. E. Purvis, 

 and others took part, and in the course of reply Prof. Sims 

 Woodhead said he did not wish to doubt the value of 

 the Rideal-Walker method, because he thought it was of 

 extreme value, but thev must not be expected to accept it 

 as a final standard. 



-'Vnother paper to which reference may be made is that 

 by Mr. J. F. Tocher, last year's president of the confer- 

 ence, in which the author describes a modification of 

 MendeWefF's classification of the elements; the suggested 

 new arrangement, which the author thinks may ultimately 

 prove to have a satisfactory theoretical basis, places 

 elements of like properties in similar positions, while 

 elements with unlike properties are separated by distances 

 proportional to the intensity of their differences. 



In a paper on the interpretation of water analysis re- 

 ports, Mr. J. E. Purvis pointed out the impossibility of 

 fixing any standard by which waters can be judged and 



NO. 2127, VOL. 84] 



condeinned ; but, he said, there were certain rules which 

 appeared to be necessary before a final judgment could he 

 delivered upon any water. These were briefly as follows : — 

 (i) the history of the water should be supplied to the 

 analyst ; (2) the rainfall before and after the analysis 

 should be obtained, because a heavy rainfall before analysis 

 means that the amounts of the constituents are not the 

 same as compared with the analysis before the rainfall ; 

 (3) the method of storage and of distributing the water 

 should also be considered ; (4) the surface drainage may be 

 a factor ; (5) a bacterial analysis should go hand in hand 

 with a chemical analysis ; (6) the final judgment with 

 regard to the quality of a water should rest with the 

 chemist and bacteriologist in collaboration. 



Mr. P. E. F. Perr^dfes described an insect pest in bella- 

 donna (Epilrix atropae, Foudras, a small beetle belonging 

 to the tribe HalticjE of the series Phytophaga), and sug- 

 gested a method of eradication. 



.As a result of a chemical examination of the rhizome of 

 Cimicifuga raci'tnosa, Mr. H. F'innemore found distinct 

 reactions for alkaloids, but the amount present is very 

 small. 



The meeting, as a whole, was one of the most successful 

 which has been held for many years. The attendance was 

 somewhat larger than usual, and the interest taken in the 

 papers was evidenced by the excellent discussions thereon. 



ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC BIOLOGISTS. 

 'X'HE ninth annual meeting of the Association of 

 Economic Biologists was held on July 6, 7, and 8 in 

 the Beyer Buildings of Owens College, Manchester. The 

 association was indebted in particular to Profs. Hickson 

 and Weiss for kindly hospitality, and to Mr. J. Mangan 

 for the arrangements he had made as local secretary. 

 Prof. G. H. Carpenter, of the Royal College of Science, 

 succeeded Mr. A. E. Shipltfy, F.R.S., as president, and 

 in the course of his address dwelt on the close inter- 

 dependence of research in so-called " pure " and " applied 

 science. The original discovery of minute protozoal para- 

 sites in the blood of various animals was apparently per- 

 fectly " useless," yet it prepared the way to modern 

 methods of dealing with terrible diseases of the tropics, 

 such as malaria and sleeping sickness. Similarly, the 

 more recent researches of workers intent primarily on 

 alleviating these diseases have resulted in many discoveries 

 of great theoretical significance. 



Turning to another topic, Prof. Carpenter reported that 

 a new crop — tobacco — in Ireland had brought to notice 

 fresh pests, amongst others, a spring-tail new to science. 

 He suggested that this was not a new introduction, but 

 more probably an animal hitherto present in small 

 numbers, which had multiplied under the stimulus of an 

 ample supply of a congenial food plant. 



.\ very interesting discussion arose out of Prof. S. J. 

 Hickson 's paper on the place of economic zoology in the 

 modern university. The author pointed out how at 

 present the demand for trained men capable of dealing 

 with agricultural and other pests is in excess of the supply, 

 especially in the colonies. He outlined a scheme for 

 securing to students an efficient grounding in general science 

 combined, by cooperation with experiment stations, with 

 proper practical experience. Stress was laid on the 

 importance of the fourth year's work, and the advisability 

 of securing, if possible, training at a central agricultural 

 college or experiment station, e.g. in India or Ceylon, for 

 those destined for a tropical career. 



.Another well-discussed and important topic was the 

 problem of wild-bird protection, introduced by Mr. W. E. 

 CoUinge, who pointed out that under the restrictions 

 imposed by the Wild Birds' Protection .Acts some birds 

 had apparently multiplied to an excessive degree. He 

 advocated securing definite knowledge as to which birds 

 were harmful, and taking steps to secure their diminution, 

 e.g. by placing in schools specimens of the eggs of such 

 birds, and offering rewards for their collection. The dis- 

 cussion brought out' prominently the difficulty of deter- 

 mining exactly whether certain birds, e.g. the rook, were 

 beneficial or harmful in all districts and at all seasons ; and 

 practical suggestions, some of which are already being 

 utilised, for acquiring this necessary knowledge were made. 



