402 

Geographical Society on May 31, of the northern 
district of that region. It is an immense backbone 
of granite, associated in places with much more 
recent outbursts of volcanic materials. The older 
rock is carved into deep valleys and grand peaks, the 
higher of which rise well above the snow line, for 
they frequently exceed 10,000 ft. in altitude. The 
valleys often afford scenes of remarkable beauty, in 
which steep and rugged crags contrast with luxuriant 
vegetation, and the ice-fields above sometimes present 
the usual difficulties to the mountaineer. He ascended 
four of the principal summits, the highest of them 
attaining 10,430 ft. These masses of granite, into 
which the graving tools of nature have cut so deeply, 
must be vastly more ancient than the volcanoes, a 
few of which are still active at times, because the 
former, once a deep-seated, intrusive rock, must have 
been stripped of a thick protective covering before it 
could be exposed to the agencies of denudation by 
which it has been shaped. A parallel may be found 
in the Ecuadorian Andes, where the great volcanic 
masses, one or two of which are still active, rise from 
a high plateau of ancient rocks. In the Japanese 
Alps the flowers are often remarkably beautiful, and 
the traveller, as Mr. Weston found, can count on a 
kindly reception. 
In the recently issued report of the Decimal Asso- 
ciation for 1914 it is stated that since the outbreak of 
the war public interest in the metric system of weights 
and measures has greatly increased. Many of our 
manufacturers, however, still persist in using only 
British weights and measures in their catalogues and 
price lists intended for abroad, instead of quoting in 
terms of the units in vogue in the foreign country. It 
is evident from the reports of our consuls and repre- 
sentatives abroad that this practice has a prejudicial 
effect on the extension of our foreign trade, particu- 
larly in countries in which the metric system is used 
exclusively. That system has been legal in the United 
Kingdom for the last eighteen years, but compara- 
tively little advantage has been taken of it either in 
internal or export trade. This is probably due to the 
fact that the system is not given sufficient attention 
in schools, and is more or less completely unknown 
to the majority of the trading public. The Associa- 
tion of Chambers of Commerce has realised that the 
general adoption of the metric system in this country 
is primarily an educational question, and has recently 
passed a resolution urging the Board of Education to 
take action in the matter. The decision of the 
Decimal Association to give precedence in its propa- 
ganda to the adoption of decimal coinage appears 
scarcely to be auspicious for the success of its metric 
system campaign. The decimalisation of the coinage 
is not an urgent matter. It will meet with strenuous 
opposition from interests that look with favour or at 
least indifference on the metric system of weights 
and measures, so that the idea of making such a 
highly controversial innovation a preliminary to the 
introduction of the metric system seems rather a retro- 
grade policy. 
Tue National Geographic Magazine for April con- 
tains a timely article by Miss F. C. Albrecht, illus- 
NO. 2380, VOL. 95] 
NATURE 

[JUNE 10, 1915 
trated by a fine series of photographs, on the Austro- 
Italian mountain frontiers. These admirable photo- 
graphs, with interesting letterpress, give a vivid 
impression of the enormous difficulties which the 
Italian army must face in forcing its way through 
the Trentino. 
In the June issue of Man Major A. J. N. Tre- 
mearne describes a new variety of head-measurer for 
use in anthropometry, and likely to be suitable for 
sculptors. It is intended to meet the prejudices of 
savages who do not fear to submit to an instrument 
of this kind so long as all the measurements can 
be taken from one single position. The new model 
has been improved under the advice of Profs. A. 
Keith and Karl Pearson. Those who are interested 
in the subject can inspect the model at the Museum 
of the Royal College of Surgeons. 
Pror. Exttiorr Situ, speaking on ‘The Influence 
of Racial Admixture in Egypt’’ at the Grafton 
Galleries before the members of the Eugenics Educa- 
tion Society, on June 4, gave an account of the 
distinctive physical and cultural characteristics and 
racial affinities of the earliest Egyptians, and discussed 
the factors which determined the development of their 
peculiar type of civilisation. He described the various 
alien peoples who entered the Nile Valley at: its 
northern (Mediterranean) and southern (Sudanese) 
extremities; their influence upon the physical features 
and mental aptitudes of the Egyptians, and its bearing 
upon the history of Egypt and the achievements of its 
people. The stimulating effect of contact with the 
more energetic and enterprising people of the north 
was counterbalanced by the retarding influence result- 
ing from intermixture with the negroes from the 
south; and the fluctuating fortunes of Egypt through- 
out her long history was intimately related to the 
ascendancy of one or other of these conflicting factors. 
THe U.S. Department of Agriculture has just 
issued a pamphlet embodying the results of ‘‘an ex- 
periment in house-fly control” carried out at the 
Maryland Agricultural College. In this experiment it 
was sought to destroy, not the adult insect, but the 
larve bred in a ““maggot trap,’’ formed by an ex- 
posed heap of stable-manure placed on a_ specially 
constructed platform. This consisted of a wooden 
grating placed upon stout pillars standing upon a 
concrete floor surrounded by a concrete wall, four 
inches high, to retain water. All the flies in the 
neighbourhood resorted to the heap to deposit their 
eggs. None of the larvae hatched therefrom attained 
to the pupation stage owing to the fact that the 
manure was kept saturated with water, which served 
to deprive the heap of air. Such as attained to full 
growth invariably migrated to the bottom of the 
heap and fell through the grating into the water. In 
this way it is claimed that 98 per cent. of the larve 
hatched in the heap were destroyed. Old manure 
was found to be unfavourable for. the breeding of 
flies, owing to the absence of air and the high per- 
centage of carbon dioxide and methane within the 
mass. Adult flies, captured as they emerged from 
carefully guarded breeding places, were powdered 
