April io, 19 13] 



NATURE 



141 



The annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute 

 will be held on Thursday and Friday, May 1-2. At 

 the opening session the Bessemer gold medal for 1913 

 will be presented to Mr. A. Greiner, and on May 2 

 the Andrew Carnegie gold medal (for \^t->\ will be 

 presented to Dr. J. Newton Friend, and the awards 

 of research scholarships for the current year will be 

 announced. Among the papers that are expected to 

 be submitted are the following : — " Critical Ranges of 

 Pure Iron, with Special Reference to the Point A,," 

 Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter; "Influence of the Metalloids 

 on the Properties of Cast Iron," H. I. Coe ; " Influ- 

 ence of Silicon on the Corrosion of Cast Iron," Dr. J. 

 Newton Friend and C. W. Marshall; "Studies in the 

 Cold Flow of Steel," P. Longmuir; and "Production 

 of Sound Steel by Lateral Compression of the Ingot 

 whilst its Centre is Liquid," B. Talbot. 



We have received the prospectus of an International 

 Ornithological, Entomological, and Botanical Exhibi- 

 tion, to illustrate the economic aspects of ornithology, 

 which is to be held from May 3 to June 1 in the 

 Palais des Beaux-Arts at Liege, under the auspices 

 of three Belgian ornithological societies. The ex- 

 hibition will be essentially " documentaire," that is to 

 say, based on treatises devoted to the economic aspects 

 of ornithology, and its connections with entomology, 

 but it will also include collections of birds, insects, and 

 such plants as furnish, in the shape of their seeds, a 

 large proportion of the food of birds. To render the 

 show more attractive to the general public, collections 

 of butterflies will be admitted. The object of the ex- 

 hibition is stated to be entirely for the advancement 

 of science, and not for profit. Exhibits are invited, 

 and intending exhibitors requested to send their com- 

 munications to L. Cuisinier, 155 Rue de Bruxelles, 

 Ans. 



The death is announced, on April 6, at sixty-three 

 years of age, of Prof. Adolf C. H. Slaby, inventor 

 with Count Arco of the German system of wireless 

 telegraphy. He had a stroke of paralysis about two 

 years ago, and was obliged to retire from the Char- 

 lottenburg Hochschule, of which he was at various 

 periods director. A fortnight ago he had a second 

 stroke, and never recovered consciousness. We are 

 indebted to The Times for the following particulars 

 of his career : — Prof. Slaby was from 1884 to 1902 

 director of the electrical laboratory at the Technische 

 Hochscule, and there began the experiments which 

 led to the perfection of the "Telefunken" system. 

 From the Emperor William, who made his acquaint- 

 ance when the White Hall of the Royal castle in 

 Berlin was fitted with electric light and gave him 

 frequent encouragement and support, he obtained per- 

 mission to use the Royal gardens on the banks of the 

 Havel for his experiments. Here he worked the whole 

 of the summer of 1897, sometimes ten hours a day, 

 attempting to establish wireless communication be- 

 tween the Pfauen island in Wannsee and the Pfingst- 

 berg. In October of that year he established wireless 

 connection between two captive balloons at a distance 

 of 21 kilometres. The range of the German wireless 

 system, of which Siemens Telefunken Company has 

 acquired the monopoly rights for Great Britain, is now 

 said to be 6000 kilometres. 



NO. 2267, VOL. 91] 



It is gratifying to learn that the Gypsy Lore S01 ii i\ 

 is now in a flourishing condition, though the number 

 of members is still smaller than it should be. In the 

 second part of vol. vi. of the society's Proceedings 

 Mr. H. L. Williams, of the Indian Police, continues 

 his interesting notes on the criminal and wandering 

 tribes of India. He quotes a current rumour that 

 some of these people in the Punjab and United Prov- 

 inces of Agra and Oudh are anthropophagous. Two 

 supposed informers are said to have been killed and 

 eaten in a Sansi camp in the Bhartpur State. The 

 story, as it is recorded, is almost incredible, and seems 

 to be only an instance of the facility with which the 

 settled people in the northern plains are accustomed 

 to accept all kinds of marvellous tales regarding 

 these uncanny and mysterious vagrants. 



The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 

 of which the final part of vol. xlii. has recently been 

 issued, forms a valuable record of the excellent work 

 in physical anthropology, ethnography, prehistoric 

 archaeology, and linguistics which the institute, under 

 its present management, is prosecuting. In its format 

 and in the abundant illustrations with which it is 

 furnished, it is equal, or perhaps superior, to the 

 publications of any European society which covers 

 the same field of research. It is scarcely creditable 

 to the Empire that work of this kind does not receive 

 more adequate recognition. In any other country 

 possessing opportunities for the study of anthropology 

 a society like this would be supported by a State 

 grant, and would bear on its rolls a much larger 

 number of subscribers. Funds are urgently required 

 for extending its work. In particular, Man, the 

 monthly journal of the institute, does not provide 

 adequate space for a record of current literature, and 

 for the publication of short notes or articles of anthro- 

 pological interest. The institute is most uncomfort- 

 ably housed, and its library needs extension and better 

 arrangement before it can meet the wants of students. 

 It may be hoped that when the condition of this 

 important branch of research is brought to public 

 notice the institute may meet with adequate support 

 from the State, from students in this country, and 

 from the large body of English officers working 

 among savage races throughout the Empire. 



We have before us the first part of a new text-book 

 of physiological histology, by Prof. Sigmund, of 

 Teschen, which is being translated into English by- 

 Mr. Lovatt Evans, of University College, London. 

 Carl Zeiss, Ltd., is the London firm responsible for 

 the issue. It is beautifully illustrated, and the de- 

 scriptive text is admirably lucid and up-to-date. The 

 special feature of the work, however, is that it is 

 accompanied by actual microscopical specimens. Thus 

 part L, which deals with the skin, has with it ten 

 specimens to illustrate the structure of the cutaneous 

 organs. We have nothing but praise for the speci- 

 mens, and these will be highly prized by those who 

 have not the time or opportunity of making micro- 

 scopic slides for themselves, but nevertheless desire 

 to examine such specimens. We would, however, 

 caution students that pictures, however beautiful, 

 and bought slides, however perfect they may be. 



