458 

not only to the rank and file of our Army, but also to 
the qualifications of the young officers who have been, 
and are being, enrolled in such large: numbers. A 
great number, indeed the great majority, of university 
trained young men have, in their enthusiasm, entered 
the ranks, and play the part of the private, the cor- 
poral, or the sergeant. Could not their services have 
been more efficiently utilised in our factories at the 
present moment? ‘The factories now engaged cn the 
production of war munitions should have their staffs as 
well filled as formerly by such young men. Many 
technically trained youths have already been brought 
back from the front to return to their positions. It is 
almost self-evident that, in the future, if the enormous 
economic strain is to be met successfully, we must 
have increased brain-power behind the manufactures 
of this country, and there is certain to be a greater 
call for mental capacity and activity than in the past. 
There certainly ought to be firm guidance brought to 
bear on all willing recruits to decide in what capacity 
they shall serve, and this control should not only be 
regulated by the needs of the moment, but should also 
take account of the future. We owe it to posterity 
to conserve our youth as far as possible, so that when 
the present generation passes away, fitting successors 
may be available to take their places and to carry on 
the traditions of our country. 
THERE is an admirable article in La Nature, June 
12, giving an account of the making of anti-typhoid 
vaccine in France, at the famous institute of Val-de- 
Grace. English doctors and pathologists have long 
known and honoured the names of three Frenchmen— 
Chantemesse, Vidal, and Vincent—who have done 
splendid work in this great field of protective medicine ; 
and what France thinks of them may be judged from 
the fact that the French Institute has just divided 
between them the Osiris prize of 100,000 francs. The 
article, by M. Benoit-Bazille, is admirably illustrated, 
and is easy for everybody to read and understand. 
The vaccine is polyvalent : that is to say, it is a blend, 
made not from one but from many strains of Bacillus 
typhosus, from diverse sources. The vaccine is steri- 
lised: that is to say, it contains no living elements, 
no living germs; the sterilisation is effected by the 
momentary use of ether. The enforcement of aseptic 
methods, at every stage in the making and putting-up 
of the vaccine, is of the utmost vigilance. A striking 
example is given, with a chart, of the value of this 
treatment, during September-October, 1914, in the 
Belfort command. It is only one of many examples ; 
but it is pleasant reading. We read with pleasure, 
also, of the zeal shown in the work. “Nobody but 
those who have lived at the laboratory from Septem- 
ber, 1914, to the early months of 1915, can have any 
idea of the activity which prevailed there, and of the 
indefatigable zeal of all, men and women, mobilised 
or voluntary workers—directors of laboratories, pre- 
parators, Red Cross ladies, hospital orderlies, all work- 
ing together.” The whole article is excellent; and we 
gladly commend it to our readers. 
We are glad to learn that Dr. H. McLeod, F.R.S., 
director of the Royal Society’s Catalogue of Scientific 
Papers, who has been seriously ill for some time past, 
NO. 2382, VOL. 95| 
NATURE 

[JUNE 24, 1915 
is now much improved, and has been able to leave 
home for the seaside. 
THE annual general meeting of the British Science 
Guild will be held at the Institution of Electrical 
Engineers, Victoria Embankment, W.C., on Thurs- 
day, July 1, at 4 p-m., when the report of the year’s 
work of the guild will be submitted. The chair will 
be taken by the president, the Right. Hon. Sir William 
Mather, P.C., and an address will be given by Sir 
William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S. 
Tue sixty-seventh annual meeting of the Somerset- 
shire Archzological and Natural History Society will 
be held at Taunton on Tuesday, July 20. The meet- 
ing will afford members of the society an opportunity 
of inspecting the museum and buildings at Taunton 
Castle, and to see the improvements and additions 
effected in the Castle since the society’s diamond 
jubilee celebration at Taunton in 1908. 
In place of the usual long excursion to the provinces 
the Geologists’ Association proposes to organise a 
series of day excursions from London between August 
25 and September 5. Mr. W. Whitaker, the chief 
director, will be assisted by the president of the asso- 
ciation (Mr. G. W. Young), and other geologists. 
These excursions will afford provincial members oppor- 
tunities of visiting the numerous fine sections easily 
accessible from the metropolis. As opportunities arise 
attention will be directed to the causal connections 
between the geology and geography of the various 
localities. The series of excursions will form a fairly 
complete demonstration of the field geology and geo- 
graphy of the London district. 
Tue Glass Research Committee of the Institute of 
Chemistry has found that a glass such as that made 
from formula No. 10, recently published by the insti- 
tute (see Nature, April 15) and recommended for 
X-ray bulbs, does not give a green phosphorescent 
glow if it is made from approximately pure materials. 
The slight glow given is blue. In view of the fact 
that a green phosphorescence appears to be preferred 
by users of X-ray tubes, it seemed desirable to deter- 
mine the conditions for obtaining this effect. It has 
been traced to the presence of manganese; and such 
a glass as No. to will give this green glow when 
manganese dioxide is added to the batch mixture in 
the quantities frequently used to correct the colour 
due to iron. 
An address delivered by the distinguished astro- 
nomer, M. Camille Flammarion, on German mentality 
in history, has been printed, together with an appeal 
to the United States on behalf of Belgium (‘La 
Mentalité allemande dans J’histoire,” by C. Flam- 
marion; Paris: E. Flammarion, 1915; price 50 
centimes). M. Flammarion takes a broad view of 
the world-war convulsing one small planet in an 
infinity of other and greater worlds, and represents 
it as a struggle between civilisation and barbarism. 
A section of interest to scientific readers is that in 
which he shows the German or Prussian traits of 
arrogance and brutality to have been recognised 
throughout history for nearly 2000 years. It can be 
no coincidence that Julius Caesar, Velleius Paterculus, 
