September 14, 191 1] 



NATURE 



569 



practical, useful, nor economical. Letters can be sent far 

 more cheaply, trustvvorthily, and conveniently by train or 

 motor-van, and it i> to be expected that these conditions 

 will continue for the next half-century at least. From a 

 philanthropic point of view the post has been a success, 

 large sums having been received by the sale of letters and 

 postcards, which are to be devoted to charity ; but from 

 the aeronautical point of view it' proves nothing and 

 promises nothing. Besides, it is unthinkable for very 

 many years to come that we should put good aviators to 

 the menial task of carrying mails regularly. 



The Zeppelin airship Schwaben made a successful non- 

 stop flight on September 6 from Baden Baden to Gotha 

 by way of Frankfurt-on-the-Main. It left Baden at 6.10, 

 and descended at Gotha at 12.30, covering a distance of 

 about 200 miles. It carried seven passengers in addition 

 to the pilot. On September 9 it flew from Gotha to 

 Berlin, and on September 12 it carried eight passengers 

 from Gotha to Diisseldorf. 



Particulars are given in The Times of the anthropo- 

 logical research expedition to the islands of Normanby, 

 Fergusson, and Goodenough, in British New Guinea, funds 

 for which are being provided out of the Oxford University 

 common fund and by several of the colleges. The work 

 has been undertaken by Mr. David Jenness, of Balliol 

 College, who proposes, unaccompanied, to spend a year 

 amongst people who are admittedly cannibals. Mr. 

 Jenness started on his journey last week. It is stipulated 

 by the University, in contributing to the expedition, that 

 the University museum shall have the first offer of articles 

 of interest which may be obtained. Assistance has been 

 promised by the missionaries on Goodenough Island, 

 including the use of a boat and native oarsmen. The first 

 few weeks will be spent in cruising around the islands 

 endeavouring to get on friendly terms with the people and 

 in studying the trade relations, after which Mr. Jenness 

 hopes to settle down for some time ; later he will proceed 

 on a mission boat to Rossell Island, at the eastern end of 

 the Louisiade Archipelago, to study some ethnological 

 problems concerning the relationships of Oceanic peoples. 

 Mr. Jenness has been provided with the latest scientific 

 instruments, including a phonograph for recording native 

 songs and speech. 



A preliminary announcement with reference to the 

 eighth International Congress of Applied Chemistry, which 

 is to be held in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., on September 

 4, 1912, and in New York on September 6 to 13, 1912, has 

 been sent to us. We learn from it that the sections will 

 be devoted to the following subjects : — (1) analytical 

 chemistry ; (2) inorganic chemistry ; (3a) metallurgy and 

 mining ; (36) explosives ; (3c) silicate industries ; (4) organic 

 chemistry ; (4a) coal-tar colours and dyestuffs ; (5a) indus- 

 try and chemistry of sugar ; (5b) indiarubber and other 

 plastics ; (5c) fuels and asphalt ; ($d) fats, fatty oils, and 

 soaps ; (5e) paints, drying oils, and varnishes ; (6a) starch, 

 cellulose, and paper ; (6b) fermentation ; (7) agricultural 

 chemistry : (8a) hygiene ; (8b) pharmaceutical chemistry ; 

 (8c) bromatology ; (Sd) physiological chemistry and 

 pharmacology ; (9) photochemistry ; (ioa) electrochemistry ; 

 (10b) physical chemistry; (11a) law and legislation affect- 

 ing chemical industry; (lib) political economy and con- 

 servation of natural resources. Further particulars of the 

 prospective arrangements of the congress may be obtained 

 from the secretary, 25 Broad Street, New York City, 

 U.S.A. 



The autumn meeting of the Institute of Metals will 

 take place at Newcastle-on-Tyne on September 20 to 22, 

 NO. 2185, VOL. 87] 



and the reading of the undermentioned papers has 

 been arranged for : — the corrosion of brass, with special 

 reference to condenser tubes, by Mr. P. T. Briihl ; 

 further note on the nature of solid solutions, by Mr. 

 C. A. Edwards ; the electrical conductivity and con- 

 stitution of alloys, by Dr. W. M. Guertler ; volume 

 changes in the alloys of copper with tin, by Mr. J. L. 

 Haughton and Prof. T. Turner ; non-ferrous metals in 

 railway work, by Mr. G. Hughes ; the failure of a brazed 

 joint, by Prof. H. Louis ; the mechanical properties of 

 hard drawn copper, by Mr. D. R. Pye ; the alloys of 

 aluminium and zinc, by Dr. W. Rosenhain and Mr. S. L. 

 Archbutt. 



We learn from Science that the third National Con- 

 servation Congress will be held in Kansas City on Sep- 

 tember 25 to 27. It will be remembered that the general 

 objects of the congress are to provide for the discussion 

 of the resources of the United States as the foundation for 

 the prosperity of the people ; to furnish definite information 

 concerning the resources, and their development, use, and 

 preservation ; to afford an agency through which the 

 people of the country may frame policies and principles 

 affecting the conservation and utilisation of their resources, 

 to be put into effect by their representatives in State and 

 federal Governments. 



The third congress of the International Society of 

 Surgery will take place in Brussels on September 25 to 29, 

 and a lengthy programme of papers to be read and dis- 

 cussed has just been issued. 



At the meeting of the Astronomical and Astrophysical 

 Society of America, held at the Dominion Observatory, 

 Ottawa, on August 23 to 25- Prof. E. C. Pickering was 

 re-elected to the presidency and Prof. Hussey to the 

 secretaryship. The next annual meeting is to take place 

 in August next at the Allegheny Observatory, Pittsburg. 



It is announced in Science that Mr. Arthur A. Allen, 

 instructor in neurology and vertebrate zoology in Cornell 

 University, is to spend next year in South America as 

 chief of an expedition organised by the American Museum 

 of Natural History. The expedition will go to Colombia, 

 its immediate object being to explore ruins and collect 

 antiquities. 



The New South Wales Government, in consequence of 

 the efforts of Prof. Edgeworth David, F.R.S., has granted 

 the sum of 7000Z. towards the cost of Dr. Mawson's 

 Antarctic expedition. The amount subscribed locally has 

 now reached 19,100/. 



The sum of sooi. a year for two years has been given 

 to the Sheffield City Council by Mr. Douglas Vickers to 

 cover the cost of a trial of the tuberculin treatment for 

 consumptives, and Dr. Chapman, formerly of the Sheffield 

 Infirmary, has been appointed to superintend the treat- 

 ment. 



The twenty-sixth annual congress of the Incorporated 

 Sanitary Inspectors' Association met at Yarmouth last 

 week under the presidency of Sir James Crichton-Browne, 

 F.R.S., who in his opening address made the following 

 remarks on the subject of tuberculosis : — For all prac- 

 tical purposes the identity of human and bovine tuber- 

 culosis is established, and we can hold fast to the 

 faith which had been unquestioned until Koch launched 

 his thunderbolt — the explanation of which was afforded 

 by the Royal Commission report. It was the difficulty he 

 experienced in communicating human tuberculosis to 

 calves, cattle, and pigs, whether by injection or feeding, 

 that led Koch to conclude, too hurriedly, that human and 



