JUNE 24, 1915] 
Seneca, Tacitus, Strabo, tell the same tale as Froissart 
in the Middle Ages. Prussians to-day, like the Prutzi 
of the tenth century, are ethnically Finno-Slavs. The 
dependence on ethnical bases of such different national 
characters as those of the French and the German 
should be worth full investigation. 
Hiruervo the only evidence of Neanderthal or Mous- 
terian man from Spain has been the small skull in the 
Royal College of Surgeons, which was discovered in a 
cavern at Gibraltar in 1848. A typical lower jaw has 
now been recognised by Drs. Hernandez-Pacheco and 
H. Obermaier, who describe the specimen in Memoir 
No. 6 just published by the Comision de Investiga- 
ciones Paleontolégicas y Prehistéricas at Madrid. The 
newly-described jaw was found in 1887 at a depth of 
about five metres in a bed of tufa deposited by a 
former extension of the small lake of Bafolas in 
northern Catalonia, about 23 kilometres N.N.W. of 
Gerona. It was associated with non-marine shells and 
fragments of plants, but with no remains of import- 
ance for determining its precise geological age. The 
specimen is completely fossilised, but so fragile that 
it cannot be reproduced as a plaster cast. It retains 
all the teeth, and seems to belong to a male about 
forty years old. The body of the bone is low and 
stout, as usual, without any prominent chin; the 
ascending ramus is broad, with a shallow sigmoid 
notch. The teeth are relatively large, and all except 
the last molar are much worn by mastication. The 
incisors are somewhat inclined forwards. The roots 
of the molars are unfortunately obscured, and their 
characters have not been determined by radiography. 
A utst has just been published of all pensions 
granted during the year ended March 31, 1915, and 
payable under the provisions of the Civil List Act, 
1910. Among the pensions we notice the following 
relating to scientific services:—Mr. G. Coffey, in 
recognition of the value of his researches and writings 
on Irish archzeology, tool.; Mrs. J. E. Baker, in con- 
sideration of the services of her husband, the late Dr. 
Hugh Baker, in the investigation and treatment of 
sleeping sickness in Africa, 80l.; Mrs. C. E. Burch, 
in consideration of the value of the researches of her 
husband, the late Dr. G. J. Burch, in physics and 
physiology, 6ol.; Miss A. H. Bollaert, in recognition 
of the contributions of her father, the late Mr. William 
Bollaert, to the study of history, archaeology, and 
ethnology in Spain, Portugal, and South America, 
sol.; Miss L. Hunting and Mr. F. C. Hunting (jointly 
and the survivor of them), in consideration of the 
services rendered to veterinary science and practice by 
their father, the late Mr. W. Hunting, 5ol.; Mr. W. G. 
Wallace and Miss V. Wallace, in consideration of the 
scientific work of their father, the late Dr. A. R. 
Wallace, sol. each; Dr. Charlton Bastian, in considera- 
tion of his services to science, 15ol.; Mr. R. H. 
Rippon, in consideration of his contributions to natural 
history, and of his inadequate means of support, Iool. ; 
Dr. Marshall Watts, in consideration of his scientific 
work, 75]. 
Tue President of the Board of Agriculture and 
Fisheries has appointed a Departmental Committee 
NO. 2382, VOL. 95] 
NATURE 
459 


to consider and report what steps should be taken by 
legislation or otherwise for the sole purpose of main- 
taining and, if possible, increasing the present produc- 
tion of food in England and Wales, on the assumption 
that the war may be prolonged beyond the harvest of 
1916. The Committee will be constituted as follows :— 
The Right Hon. Viscount Milner (chairman), the Lord 
Inchcape, the Right. Hon. F. D. Acland, Mr. C. W. 
Fielding, Mr. A. D. Hall, Mr. Rowland E. Prothero, 
Mr. J. A. Seddon, the Hon. E. G. Strutt, and Sir 
Harry C. W. Verney, Bart. The secretary of the 
Committee will be Mr. H. L. French, of the Board of 
Agriculture and Fisheries, to whom all communica- 
tions should be sent. The Committee has been ap- 
pointed for the specific purpose defined in its terms 
of reference, and it has been asked, should it find 
that additional powers are necessary, to report in time 
for legislation to be submitted to Parliament during 
the present session. Its functions are quite distinct 
from those of the Agricultural Consultative Com- 
mittee appointed by Lord Lucas on the  out- 
break of War. The Consultative Committee 
is a permanent Committee, to which the Board 
refers many subjects connected with practical agricul- 
ture, and no alteration in its work or constitution 
is contemplated; it will continue to advise the Board 
throughout the duration of the war. 
Ir is very comforting to note that a strong com- 
mittee appointed by the Institute of Chemistry and the 
Society of Public Analysts and Other Analytical 
Chemists has taken in hand the very important 
problem of the standardisation of chemical products 
with special reference to their purity for analytical 
purposes, and that it has published a booklet entitled 
“A List of Reagents for Analytical Purposes, with 
Notes indicating the Standards of Purity regarded as 
Necessary for Analytical Work.” The committee sug- 
gests that manufacturers should add the letters A.R. 
(signifying Analytical Reagent) to those of their pro- 
ducts which conform to this standard. This matter 
has been dealt with for many years past by the larger 
factories in Germany, and one cannot help but feel 
that the letters A.R. aré scarcely an efficient substi- 
tute for the very imposing label which is affixed to 
similar products emanating from Berlin, and which 
bears, over the signature of Dr. Bischoff, a list of 
some half-dozen substances which are not present, and 
finally the statement, ‘‘ Gehalt—go-99 per cent.” How- 
ever, a very definite step has been taken in the right 
direction, and the committee is to be congratulated on 
the manner in which it has tabulated the various 
analytical reagents, and has stated the tests by which 
the purity of each of them may be determined. It 
is sincerely to be hoped that manufacturers will fall in 
with this scheme and that they will see that their 
reagents conform in all cases with the standard re- 
quired. It cannot be denied that the reason which, in 
the past, has caused chemists to rely upon German 
sources for their reagents is to be found in the abso- 
lute trustworthiness which could always be placed 
upon the productsemanating from such firms as those 
of Kahlbaum or Merck. The English manufacturers 
have now the opportunity to show that equal trust- 
'! worthiness can be placed on their products, and that 

