380 NATURE 

petroleum mining expert he visited Egypt, Russia, 
Galicia, and Rumania. As a journalist Prof. Louis 
had a marvellous gift of assimilating information 
rapidly; and his wide scientific knowledge was never 
at a loss. He was a constant contributor to many 
leading technical journals in this country, and fre- 
quently reported meetings of the British Association 
for the Times, the Engineer, etc. Prof. Louis was 
for many years foreign representative of the Inter- 
national Association of Journalists. He acted as hon. 
secretary for the congress which was held in this 
country in the year 1909, when his gifts as a linguist, 
his knowledge of foreign countries, and his geniality 
and savoir faire were invaluable. His loss is deeply 
felt by a large number of friends. 
In an article entitled ‘Stricken Serbia’? in the 
Times of May 28, a distressing picture is given of the 
ravages of typhoid, typhus, and relapsing fever in that 
country. The two last diseases, which accounted for 
some 15,000 of the sufferers, were traced to the Aus- 
trians who left their sick at Valievo. The conditions 
on the arrival of the various relief organisations were 
appalling; an observer speaks of “the mass of fever 
patients lying in all their filthy and verminous rags 
on the floors and under the beds of what are not 
hospitals but mere charnel-houses for the dying’’! 
Nevertheless, in less than two months the diseases 
were got under, typhus being almost stamped out. 
This was accomplished by the energy of Colonel 
Hunter and Lieut.-Colonel Stammers and the devoted 
band of doctors and nurses acting under their direc- 
tion. Six months of war had depleted the country of 
stores and provisions, and hospital stores and comforts 
had to be brought from England or Malta. Clearly 
the first need was to break the lines of communication 
between the troops and the rest of the country. 
Quarantine stations were established, all railway com- 
munication was suspended for fifteen days, all leave 
from the army was stopped, and soldiers on leave 
were recalled, The problem of typhus was compara- 
tively simple, as this disease is spread by lice. Three 
weeks were given up to the disinfection of clothes, 
blankets, and linen; and hospitals and their contents 
were disinfected. Notification was enforced, and in- 
fectious patients were removed to isolation hospitals. 
The sanitary staff travelled from place to place in a 
special train and instructed the people what to do. 
Preventive inoculation especially against cholera 
was also resorted to, as this dread disease is very 
likely to brealk out under such conditions. The worl: 
was carried out by two hospital units, Lady Paget’s 
and Lady Wimborne’s, each with about fifty doctors, 
nurses, and orderlies, and by smaller contingents 
under Dr. Moon and Mrs. Hardy. 
Mr. G. F. Cuampers, whose death on May 24 at 
seventy-four years of age we regret to record, was a 
very voluminous writer on many subjects, legal, 
political, ecclesiastical, but the book which gives him 
the best scientific claim to remembrance was written 
when he was not yet twenty years of age. This was 
the “‘ Handbook of Descriptive Astronomy.” In 1861, 
though England then boasted a distinguished and 
zealous band of amateur astronomers, amongst whom 
NO. 2379, VOL. 95] 

[JUNE 3, 1915 

were numbered men like Birt, Dawes, De la Rue, 
Green, and Webb, there was no literature to meet 
their special necessities. The first edition of Mr. 
Chambers’s ‘‘ Handbook,’’ published in December, 
1861, formed an admirable compendium of the results 
of astronomical science at that date in the departments 
which particularly appealed to the amateur observer. 
The success of the adventure was pronounced; other 
editions followed, and when the fourth and last edition 
was brought out, in 1889 and 1890, the. book had 
expanded into three volumes, containing altogether 
more than 1600 pages. The speciality of the worl 
lies in the number which it contains of useful cata- 
logues, of auxiliary tables for the simple reductions of 
a private observatory, of descriptions of different forms 
of telescope mountings and houses adapted for small 
observatories, and so forth. Mr.’ Chambers, though 
he was himself the possessor of one of the small 
observatories for which he especially catered, did not 
contribute much to science by his own personal observa- 
tions, but he was indefatigable in compiling useful 
or popular works on the subject. One worl upon 
which he bestowed a great amount of labour, 
viz. his revision of Admiral Smyth’s ‘‘ Celestial Cycle,” 
proved a failure, since his direct practical knowledge 
of double star astronomy was not sufficient to warrant 
him in undertaking so important a task; but his 
smaller and more popular astronomical books have 
met a cordial reception from the public. These are 
his “‘ Pictorial Astronomy”’ and his ‘‘Stories’’ of the 
sun, stars, eclipses, weather, and comets. He was an 
original member of the British Astronomical Associa- 
tion, and served for many years as vice-president or on 
its council. In connection with this association, he tool: 
a great interest in eclipse expeditions, and spared no 
time or energy in ascertaining the best routes by 
which intending observers could travel to places within 
the shadow track. 
Tue Daily Telegraph published a telegram ‘* From 
our own correspondent at Copenhagen,”’ on May 26, 
reporting that ‘“‘A Danish surgeon and scientist of 
the highest reputation has succeeded in discovering 
what the German soldiers use to protect themselves 
against the asphyxiating gases which they employ 
against the enemy.’’ The ‘‘discovery’’ is that the 
Germans make use of solutions of hyposulphite and bi- 
carbonate of soda to moisten their respirators. The 
announcement reminds us, however, of the belated 
discovery of the lamented death of Queen Anne! ‘The 
use of such solutions is well known to all workers 
with chlorine gas, and was mentioned in daily papers 
a day or two after the Germans commenced to dis- 
charge the gas upon our troops. 
Dr. A. R. Friet describes, under the term ‘ pian- 
tication,’’ modifications of microbes induced by treat- 
ing them one or more times with blood-serum, which 
are transmissible to, and cumulative in, their 
descendants. _ Thus organisms which previously 
almost completely resisted ingestion by leucocytes when 
‘““pianticated”’ are ingested in large numbers by leuco- 
cytes (South African Institute for Medical Research, — 
January 26, 1915). 
