May 29, 19 1 3] 



NATURE 



■5 



Si nit's diary and some of Dr. Wilson's beautiful 

 water-colours. He mentioned the important work 

 projected in the Arctic by Amundsen, Stefansson, and 

 Macmillan, and briefly reviewed geographical work 

 elsewhere. He had naturally a good deal to say on 

 the new establishment of the society at Kensington 

 Gore, viewed with optimism the important bearing 

 which the better conditions under which the society 

 will now work should have on the progress of geo- 

 graphical study in this country, and discussed the new 

 meeting-hall which he clearly expects to see built. 

 At the annual banquet in the evening, Sir E. Grey 

 and Lord Milner, among the speakers, both testified 

 emphatically to the importance of geographical teach- 

 ing and study, in relation to the maintenance of 

 empire, on their now broadened basis of the bearing 

 of physical conditions upon human activities. 



The annual congress of the Royal Institute of 

 Public Health was held in Paris, May 14-19, Prof. 

 \V. R. Smith, the principal of the institute, presiding. 

 Important papers on tuberculosis were contributed by 

 Prof. Delepine (" Milk-borne Tuberculosis ") and Dr. 

 Lister ("The Future of State Campaigns against 

 Tuberculosis"), who considered that the future of 

 campaigns against the disease was a matter more for 

 the social reformer than for the public health officer. 

 Mr. L. Gaster lectured on artificial illumination, 

 making many useful suggestions on the nature of 

 the illuminant to be employed and its methods of use. 

 Dr. Bertillon arranged an exhibit showing the mor- 

 i.iliiv in a number of trades and employments, con- 

 trasting those of Great Britain with those of France 

 and one or two other countries. The members of 

 the congress were most cordially received, and visits 

 were arranged to all the important institutions, muni- 

 cipal and public, factories, and so on. The Harben 

 gold medal of the institute for 1912 was presented to 

 Dr. Roux, of the Pasteur Institute. 



This year the Soci6t6 Helv^tique des Sciences 

 Naturelles will hold its meeting at Frauenfeld on Sep- 

 tember 7-10. Among the lectures announced already 

 the following may be mentioned : — Prof. Grubenmann, 

 of Zurich, " Ueber die Entwicklung der neuern Ge- 

 steinslehre"; Prof. Fuhrmann, of Neuchatel, "Voyage 

 d'tStudes scientifiques dans les Cordilleres de Colombie " ; 

 Dr. de Quervain, of Zurich, "Die Durchquerung 

 Gronlands durch die schweizerische Expedition und 

 deren Ergebnisse " ; Prof. Keller, of Zurich, " Die 

 Tiergeographie des Kaukasus " ; Prof. Maillefer, of 

 Lausanne, "Les lois du geotropisme " ; Prof. Rikli, of 

 Zurich, " Pflanzengeographische Studien uber die 

 Kaukasuslander " ; and Prof. Dutoit, of Lausanne, on 

 a subject of physical chemistry. On September 9 the 

 Swiss mathematical, physical, chemical, geological, 

 botanical, and zoological societies will also hold their 

 annual meetings at Frauenfeld. A number of attrac- 

 tive excursions have been arranged for visitors. Per- 

 sons desiring to attend the meeting of the Swiss 

 Association should communicate with M. A. Schmid, 

 president of the committee, at Frauenfeld. 



The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries has issued 

 a circular intimating that numbers of salmon smolts 

 NO. 2274, VOL. 91] 



and kelts have been "marked" in various rivers, 

 by means of a wire, or a wire and label, attached to 

 the dorsal fin. Rewards will be paid for the return 

 of these marks, accompanied by the particulars of 

 sex, length, weight, and condition of the fish to which 

 it was attached, and by a few scales taken from the 

 body of the fish behind the gill-cover. The object 

 of these experiments is to trace the migrations of 

 the fish, mainly the length of the period spent in the 

 sea. The object of the removal of the scales is to 

 determine, from a microscopical examination of the 

 latter, the age of the fish and its history as regards 

 sexual maturity and previous spawning acts. Anglers 

 and others interested in the study of the salmon will 

 welcome the instigation of these experiments by the 

 Board. Investigations of a similar kind have been 

 made so far mainly by private persons in this country, 

 but with the resources at the command of the Board 

 very valuable results should be obtained. The inves- 

 tigation is, of course, one which depends for its suc- 

 cess upon the cooperation of sportsmen and fishermen, 

 and we cordially recommend that this assistance be 

 rendered. 



On May 23 a communication was made to the Hon. 

 Society of Cymmrodorion, by Mr. T. A. Acton and 

 Mr. W. Burton, descriptive of the excavations that 

 have been conducted during the last three years at 

 Holt, near Wrexham. Mr. Acton has discovered the 

 site of a tile and pottery works of the twentieth 

 Roman Legion, and he gave a review of the dis- 

 coveries of the foundations of buildings for housing 

 the workers and probably the garrison of what must 

 have been practically a frontier post, and also of the 

 excavations of a series of potters' kilns. Thousands of 

 fragments of Roman tiles and pottery have been ex- 

 cavated from the site, and are now in process of 

 classification. Mr. William Burton explained the 

 construction of the kilns, which are fortunately so 

 well preserved that the leading features of the con- 

 struction of both the circular and rectangular kilns 

 used by the Romans in various parts of the empire 

 are now clearly established ; they foreshadow in a 

 remarkable way the main principles of modern kiln 

 construction. Mr. Burton exhibited three models of 

 different types of kilns made from careful measure- 

 ments of the remains, and these will be deposited 

 ultimately in the British Museum. 



The census report of the Nicobar Islands for 191 1, 

 just published, gives a good example of the custom 

 of Couvade or "hatching." For some days or even 

 weeks before the wife's confinement, the people in 

 the hut, as a form of sympathetic magic, unloose 

 all the cane and fibre lashings of their spears or 

 vessels. During the first month after the birth of 

 his first child the father is treated as an invalid. On 

 subsequent occasions this lasts only one or two 

 days. He is looked after and fed by his wife, and 

 may not bathe or chew betel. These rules, which 

 are enforced by the Menluanas, or medicine-men, are 

 so irksome that it is believed their observance accounts 

 for a widespread avoidance of maternity among the 

 women. 



