5'0 



NATURE 



[October 20, 1910 



work in Peru. Engineer Macliado presented a paper on 

 petroleum in Chile, Engineer Hermitte and Lieut. -Col. 

 Romero on the petroleum formation of Argentina. The 

 topography and mineralogy of the Andes region was treated 

 of in various papers. 



The Argentine Meteorological Office presented a large 

 number of interesting papers, chiefly upon the meteorology 

 of Argentina and the southern ocean. The director, Dr. 

 Davis, presented a paper upon the temperature of Argentina 

 as compared with other portions of the globe. A paper by 

 Prof. Clayton dealt with a new method of forecasting 

 which promises to cover periods much longer than is now 

 possible. Profs. Mossman and Solyom presented papers 

 on the effect of the antarctic currents upon the weather of 

 South America, and the cyclones and anti-cyclones of the 

 South .'\merican continent, respectively. 



Dr. Knoche presented a paper descriptive of the organisa- 

 tion of the meteorological service of Chile, and Dr. 

 Montessus de Ballore a paper on a convention of the 

 seismological services of Chile and Argentina. Dr. Negri 

 read a paper on two seismical laws discovered by himself. 



Biology. 

 The communications to this section included the follow- 

 ing : — The action of the principal alkaloids on protozoas, 

 Prof. Scala ; a contribution to the study of some arthropods 

 of Chile-.Argentina, Prof. Porter ; contribution to the study 

 of sea fishes in Uruguay, Prof. Bouyat ; the mosquitoes, 

 gad-flies, and serpents of .'\rgentina, Serior Brethes ; the 

 marsupials of Chile, Dr. Wolffsohn ; the vegetation of the 

 north-western portion of Argentina, Dr. Seckt ; a re- 

 classification of Argentine vascular plants. Dr. Stuckert. 



Anihro^ology. 

 Two papers were presented by Dr. Ameghino relating to 

 three fossil human skeletons found in Arroyo Siasgo and 

 El Moro. Other papers discussed different characteristics 

 of the Indians and indigenous inhabitants of certain regions 

 of South America, particularly Argentina, and of means of 

 caring for such peoples and preserving accurate data re- 

 specting them. The oiigin of the American races and the 

 languages of different South American races were subjects 

 of investigation. Of especial interest were the results 

 presented by Prof. Mercante of a comparative study of 1200 

 of the .Argentine youth between the ages of six and twenty 

 years, the se.xes being nearly equally divided. 



'Engineering. 

 Many of the papers in this section dealt with architecture, 

 particularly that of the Latin American countries. Notable 

 among these were the papers of Engineer Gonzdlez. 

 Engineer Selva discussed the advisability of houses for 

 workmen and the best forms of such houses. A sentiment 

 was adopted emphasising the absolute necessity of finding a 

 solution for the question of reducing house rent for work- 

 men and employees of modest salary. The same author 

 also discussed the subject of earthquake construction. The 

 subject of reinforced cement construction occupied the 

 attention of one session. Railway and bridge questions 

 occupied another session. The question of irrigation is a 

 very important one in several of the South American 

 republics, particularly Argentina. Conforming to the im- 

 portance of the subject, two sessions were devoted to the 

 discussion of the laws and systems of irrigation in 

 .'\rgentina, and with various plans for betterments. Rivers 

 and harbours and their various needs received attention in 

 another session, as did various municipal matters relating 

 to sanitation, transportation, and streets, in another. The 

 engineering section attracted unusual attention. 



figricuMuie. 

 Engineer Juan h. Devoto presented a paper detailing his 

 investigations of the micro-organisms of milk. Dr. Wolff- 

 hugel read a paper on the zooparasites of the domestic 

 animals of the Argentine Republic. Recommendations were 

 made to protect the guanaco and vicuna. Great interest 

 was manifested in this section, and a large number of 

 papers were presented dealing with the practical details of 

 this branch of science. One which attracted much atten- 

 tion was on the degeneration of the Malbeck, by Senor 

 Suirez. 



NO. 2138, VOL. 84] 



Psychology and Pedagogy. 

 In this section Prof. Jakob gave the inaugural address, 

 discussing human beings with defective brains. Among the 

 papers were : — Value of psychological statistics in peda- 

 gogy, Senor Mercante ; necessity of methodical investiga- 

 tion of the child and all abnormal persons. Dr. Pinero ; 

 abnormal psychology and- education. Prof. Senet ; invesliga 

 tions of the nervous system. Dr. Roveda ; the measurement 

 of intelligence. Dr. Vidal ; experiments upon the sensitive- 

 ness of the human skin. Dr. Duceschi. 



Resolutions. 



During the congress a large number of resolutions were 

 adopted by the various sections, which at the close were 

 ratified by the entire congress. The substance of some of 

 the most important is given below. 



The necessity of solving the problem of reduced rent for 

 the workman and the employee, so that they may live near 

 their work, which is usually in the centre of the city. It 

 may be remarked in passing that this question is especially 

 iniportant in Buenos Aires, where the population is spread 

 over a very large area in one-story houses, instead of the 

 tall structures of Anglo-Saxon cities. 



Reiterating the necessity of prosecuting and accelerating 

 the Pan-American railroad according to a fixed plan. 



The advisability of studying the causes which hinder the 

 more general adoption of reinforced concrete constructions 



The strong approval of a project for the formation of a 

 " Union Internacional Hispanoamericana de Bibliografia 

 y Tecnologfa Cientificas." The details of such an organisa- 

 tion were, worked out. 



Recognising the convenience of a reform of the Gregorian 

 calendar. 



Recognising the advantage of adopting the meridian of 

 Greenwich for all .American countries and from January, 

 19 1 1, basing their time on meridians differing by an exact 

 number of hours from Greenwich, as is already in use in 

 the United States. 



The urgent necessity of preventing adulterations and 

 frauds in foods. 



Recommending the adoption of standards of purity for 

 the potable water of the Republic (.Argentina) ; the necessity 

 of forming an American society of chemists ; the establish- 

 ment of biological stations with a view to the study of 

 marine life and the development of the fish industry ; the 

 advantage of legislation which will encourage the develop- 

 ment of the petroleum industry and prevent all monopolies 

 in this industry ; the study of the German language in 

 science courses along with French and English ; the utility 

 of employing the " altazimetro " invented by Rear-Admiral 

 Mansilla, to facilitate nautical calculations ; the stereo- 

 giaphic method of locating the stars for nautical purposes, 

 proposed by Captain Ballv^ ; an international .American 

 commission of psychological and pedagogical studies and 

 a children's congress of specialists; the formation of 

 agrarian societies modelled after those of France ; 

 the greater use of agricultural machinery, and the 

 teaching of the use of such machines ; the study of 

 the conditions and regions suitable for the growth of the 

 sugar beet with the view of extending its production ; the 

 development of the cotton-growing industry ; uniform 

 regulations in all .American countries governing the im- 

 portation and exportation of animals ; legislation looking to 

 the protection of working women before and after child- 

 birth, and making compulsorv the providing of time and 

 suit.^ble accommodation by employers for the necessary 

 attention to babes. C. D. Perrine. 



RECENT INVESTIG.iTIONS ON THE 

 CLJLTIV.ATION OF RUBBER.' 

 "PXPERIMENTS on the cultivation and preparation of 

 ^-^ rubber are being pushed forward at several stations, 

 and the results are discussed in the agricultural journals 

 circulating in tropical and subtropical countries. Methods 

 of tapping the tree have been studied in Hawaii, and found 

 to have a marked effect on the yield of latex. Trees 



1 Tropica/ Li/c. 



The .4gricultuyal News. (Imperial Department of AgrlcuUnre for the 

 West Indies.) 



Bulletins of the Federated Malay States, and of the Hawaii Agricultural 

 Experiment Stations. 



