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NATURE 



[June 19, 1913 



the public. It is therefore urged that the facilities 

 for scientific study which such institutions would 

 afford should be fully utilised for the general benefit 

 of the community, and that the duty of so utilising 

 them should be committed to men of science, fully 

 conversant with all that is already known in relation 

 to the subject, and able to point out the directions in 

 which further inquiry should be pursued. It is sug- 

 gested that the objects in view could scarcely be 

 obtained except by an adequate representation of 

 biological science upon any Commission to which the 

 administration of the law mav be entrusted. 



In an interesting paper published in the Biologische 

 Centralbla.it (vol. xxxiii., No. 3), under the title "The 

 Occurrence of Dextro-rotatory Albumins in Organic 

 Nature," Dr. John Beard has developed the idea, pub- 

 lished in 1907, that the albumins of cancer and of 

 malignant tumours in general must be dextro-bodies 

 because of the destructive action, ending in lique- 

 faction, of active pancreatic ferments, especially trypsin, 

 upon them. He now shows that asexual generations 

 of animals such as Hydra, Cordylophora, Trichodina, 

 Vorticella, Carchesium, Amoeba, Actinosphaerium, and 

 Stentor are rapidly killed and digested by pancreatic 

 ferments (trypsin and amylopsin), and hence concludes 

 that such asexual forms are built up of dextro- 

 proteins ; on the other hand, sexual generations such 

 as Daphnia, Nauplii, Planaria, Nais, and Melicerta 

 are not in the least affected by these enzymes, and 

 are therefore probably built up of Isevo-albumins. In 

 a striking generalisation, Dr. Beard contends that 

 "the micro-organisms, bacilli, &c, of disease are of 

 necessity composed of compounds which are stereo- 

 chemical antitheses of those making up the normal 

 human body, and that when compared similarly with 

 the pancreatic ferments, the like is true of the fer- 

 ments by means of which they effect their ends. Only 

 by means of such antithetic or opposite characters of 

 compounds and of ferments produced by them could 

 such disease-inducing organisms bring about their 

 ravages." The natural method of treatment is there- 

 fore to employ against them the ferments produced 

 by the organisms, such as mankind, which are their 

 victims, and of these by far the most potent are the 

 pancreatic enzymes, trypsin and amylopsin. 



The transference of the Northern Territory of Aus- 

 tralia from South Australia to the Commonwealth has 

 been followed by the more active investigation of the 

 country and its resources. Fresh effort is recognised 

 as necessary, for the total population, exclusive of 

 aborigines, has fallen from 4788 in 1891 to 3005 in 

 iqio. An expedition, consisting of Prof. Spencer, 

 Prof. Gilruth (who has since been appointed Adminis- 

 trator of the territory), Prof. Woolnough, and Dr. 

 Brein! (director of the Australian Institute of Tropical 

 Medicine), visited the country in 1911, and their pre- 

 liminary reports have been published as Nos. 1 and la 

 of the Bulletin of the Northern Territory. Prof. 

 Woolnough reports that he was much impressed with 

 the mineral wealth of the country, but as the deepest 

 mine is under 400 ft. in depth he recommends that a 

 shaft should be sunk further in order to determine 

 the extension of the deposits in depth. Prof. Gilruth 

 NO. 2277, VOL. 91] 



reports on the domestic animals in the territory, and 

 discusses the source of the two prevalent cattle 

 diseases, red water or tick fever, and worm nodules. 

 He concludes that they were introduced from Java 

 in 1872. The red-water fever has spread from the 

 Northern Territory to Queensland. He concludes that 

 under the conditions that have hitherto prevailed the 

 satisfactory development of the country could not be 

 expected, but with a better system of administration 

 and more reasonable land tenure the country possesses 

 unlimited possibilities. Dr. BreinI describes the 

 diseases prevalent amongst both the Europeans and 

 aborigines. He gives full tables of the health statistics 

 available. Malaria is widely spread, and was prob- 

 ably introduced from New Guinea ; it is distributed 

 by a mosquito, Nyssorhynchus annnlipes. Dr. BreinI 

 believes that malaria could be controlled by proper 

 methods. He finds that the white people living under 

 active conditions have good health, and the hajmo- 

 globin content of the blood in children is normal. 

 The population is, however, too small for its evidence 

 to show whether the country can be developed by white 

 labour. 



The Museum Journal, of Philadelphia, in its last 

 issue, records the purchase from members of the 

 punitive expedition to Benin of a fine series of brasses 

 and ivory carvings. Of the former class the more 

 important specimens are two bronze heads, said to be 

 portraits, with remarkable head-dresses and a high 

 neck ornament, in one case rising as high as the lower 

 lip. On heads like these the carved ivory tusks, 

 which were apparently objects of veneration, are said 

 to have been placed. A large bronze plaque repre- 

 sents a high official, wearing the same type of neck- 

 let, and standing surrounded by his attendants and 

 slaves. Another fine exhibit is a pair of bronze cocks, 

 about life-size, with chiselled feathers and the eyes 

 inlaid with iron. 



We have to acknowledge the receipt of No. vi. of 

 Dr. Koningsberger's "Java," which is chiefly devoted 

 to the fauna of the Bouwland. 



To the author, Mr. H. Schmidt-Jensen, we are 

 indebted for a copy of a paper, from Vidensk. Mcddcl. 

 fra Dansk. naturh. Foren, vol. lxv., on regeneration 

 in the antennas in larva? of a phasmid insect, Carausius 

 (Dixippus) morosus, as the result of both natural and 

 artificial injuries. 



No. 2 of the tenth volume of the University of 

 Colorado Studies is devoted to an illustrated synopsis, 

 by Messrs. M. M. Ellis and J. Henderson, of the 

 amphibians and reptiles of Colorado. Despite the 

 varied physical conditions of the country, which in 

 several other groups of animals is correlated with a 

 large and diversified fauna, the species of the groups 

 under review are not remarkably numerous. No new 

 species are recorded. 



The existence of a close relationship between the 

 faunas of India and Africa, which was so strongly 

 urged by the late Dr. W. T. Blanford and subse- 

 quently by Mr. Lydekker, is emphasised in an article 

 by Mr. Ernst Schwarz on Indian Viverridae, published 

 in vol. Ixxviii., part 11, of Archiv fur Naturgeschichte. 



