
72 
2 NATURE 
[Marcu 18, 1915 

typhoid fever, he supervised the military hospitals and 
concentration camps. Afterwards he devoted his spare 
time to the leper asylum at Pretoria, and was 
assiduous in doing all he could to alleviate the lot of 
the inmates and in investigating the disease. On his 
retirement in 1907 he still continued his researches 
on leprosy in the laboratory, but after some years’ 
work he noticed that he himself had contracted the 
disease which he had set himself to fight. Neverthe- 
less, he still continued to work unswervingly amid 
the pain and beneath the shadow of a leper’s lot. 
THE arrangements which the Institute of Industry 
and Science (Aldwych Site, Strand, W.C.) has been 
making for some months past with regard to the 
holding of a conference in London of leaders of in- 
dustry and science to discuss the British position, have 
now been completed, and a conference is to be held 
on Thursday, March 25, at the Mansion House. The 
proceedings will be opened with an address on the 
influence of science in political economy, to be fol- 
lowed by a discussion on the co-operation of science 
and industry. Many distinguished representatives of 
industry and science are expected to be present and 
to speak upon these and related subjects. A very 
effective organisation has already been created by the 
Institute of Industry and Science. At a meeting of 
the directors, held on March 10, it was resolved to 
place the organisation at the disposal of the Govern- 
ment without reservation, and this has already been 
done. A large number of the principal trade organisa- 
tions are fully represented in the institute, and many 
eminent men of science and industry are taking an 
active part in its work. An important work, entitled 
“A Study of the First Principles of Production, and 
the Relation of Science to Industry,’’ which has been 
in course’ of preparation for the last six months, by 
Mr. J. Taylor Peddie, will be published immediately 
by Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co., so as to be 
available before the conference. Attendance at the 
conference at the Mansion House is by invitation only. 
In the February number of the Journal of the 
Franklin Institute there is an interesting contribution 
by Dr. C. E. K. Mees under the title of ‘‘ The Physics 
of the Photographic Process.’ He adopts Quincke’s 
suggestion as to the sponge-like character of air-dried 
gelatine, with its cells and passages between them, 
and Joly’s suggestion, which is confirmed by Nutting’s 
calculation of the energy involved, that developable 
silver bromide is this salt which has lost one electron 
per grain (or particle). He thinks that reversal by 
the continued action of light is more likely due to 
the actual decomposition of the silver bromide, than 
to “‘self-neutralisation ” brought about by the accumu- 
lation of the separated electrons in the gelatine sur- 
rounding the particles of silver bromide, as Joly and 
H. S. Allen have suggested, but we look in vain for 
any calculation as to whether the energy available 
is able to produce such a decomposition. He then 
considers the effects of the size of the grain, and 
states that a very fine-grained emulsion will never by 
cooking yield a very sensitive preparation. For this 
latter purpose one must start with a larger grain. 
In both cases sensitiveness increases as the grain 
NO. 2368, VOL. 95| 


grows. He considers, apparently favourably, the idea 
that greater sensitiveness is caused by the growth of 
the grain in size, and he illustrates by curves the 
effect of the gradation of grain size on the character- 
istic curve. An emulsion that is approximately homo- 
geneous as to grain size gives a curve with a short 
‘“‘straight line’’ portion, while a larger proportion of 
smaller (less sensitive) grains, increases it, but a 
mixture of two emulsions, a low-speed fine-grained 
one with a high-speed, coarse-grained one, gives a 
very long under-exposure part to the curve. The 
author concludes with a short summary of recent worl: 
on the resolving power of piates. 
Pror. J. STANLEY GARDINER, in lecturing on March 
8 to the Royal Geographical Society on the geography 
of British fisheries, entered on a field which must 
have been as unfamiliar to most of his audience as it 
was interesting. After indicating the topography of 
the British fishing grounds, he illustrated the ‘“ cor- 
relation of habits with physical conditions”? by dis- 
cussing some of the remarkable facts in the growth, 
development, and movements of various food fishes 
which are gradually being brought to light. He men- 
tioned the peculiar richness of the British fishing 
grounds as due largely to the quantity of organic 
remains derived from the land—indeed, he believed 
that drainage from the land would be found to be 
the ‘‘primary cause” of this richness, supplying the 
shallow seas with a substantial category of ingredients 
favourable to fish life. The varying character of the 
sea-floor, the movements of currents, and other pheno- 
mena were discussed as having important effects, 
some certain, some (so far as research has extended) 
no more than probable. Specially interesting was 
the reference to Dr. E. J. Allen’s inquiry as to the 
relation between abundance of sunshine in early 
months of the year, the resultant rich cultures of 
diatoms, and the subsequent special abundance of 
copepods which feed on these, and of mackerel, which 
in spring feed largely on copepods. ‘‘We must regard 
as hopeful,” he said, ‘‘the suggestion of physical data 
by which ‘ drifters ’ might be informed months before- 
hand of the probabilities of the fishery for the year.” 
Pror J. W. GreGcory, at a recent afternoon meet- 
ing of the Royal Geographical Society, discussed 
Suess’s classification of Eurasian mountains. He 
contrasted it with other classifications, and com- 
mended it specially on the ground that ‘it separates 
the Himalayan line from the northern highlands, such 
as the Sayans, and from the north-eastern chains, 
such as the Yablonoi and Stanovoi mountains.” 
Mountains widely different ‘‘in structure and geo- 
graphical character,” as these are, should be separated 
in classification, but Prof. Gregory stated that Suess 
did not always do this. He attached ‘excessive im- 
portance . . . to early earth movements which affected 
the foundations of the mountain areas,” and his classi- 
fication *“does not serve ordinary geographical pur- 
poses, for it links together elements which are 
different in their topography and geographical influ- 
ences, alike political, climatic, and biological; while 
it separates elements which have similar geographical 
influence.” No doubt it was not primarily intended 
