October 24, 1912] 



NATURE 



ill! else in nature? What alterations have not been 

 seen in forty years? Pyaemia may be said to be wiped 

 out; typhus is well-nigh forgotten; typhoid fever has 

 altered; diphtheria seldom attains the initial severity 

 that so often characterised it of yore and is much more 

 amenable to attack ; scarlatina is of a much milder 

 type ; erysipelas is more of a rarity ; malaria and 

 Malta fever have been run to earth ; the late results 

 of syphilis seem to be far less often in evidence ; 

 lardaceous disease, so very common in earlier days, 

 is now seen but seldom ; and doctors have come at 

 grips with acute rheumatism and, it is to be hoped, 

 with tuberculosis. Probably as much might be said 

 of other diseases, and good old age is both more 

 i;revalent and more enjoyable. Dealing with the 

 luiure of pathology. Sir James Goodhart went on to 

 -ly fatigue is a disease nowadays. All know the 

 machine that will not spark aright. There is nothing 

 to be called structural change, and even rest fur- 

 nishes no remedy. It is clear that what is required 

 is a fresh stock of some form of energy for charging 

 u]) the machine that doctors are as yet not able to 

 supply — so far away, and yet perhaps so nigh. 



The new medical school attached to the Royal 

 Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, City Road, 

 London, was formally opened on October i", when 

 Prof. Nietner, of Berlin, delivered the inaugural 

 address. He pointed out that the researches of the 

 last ten years have brought to light facts that indicate 

 that in a large majority of cases tuberculosis infection 

 occurs during childhood, in the first years of life. 

 Hamburger has declared that go per cent, of all 

 children up to the completed twelfth year are infected. 

 Schlossmann has gone so far as to say that tuber- 

 culosis is a true children's disease, is acquired during 

 childhood, and must be prevented, treated, and healed 

 during childhood. It is a fact that in by far the 

 greater number of cases the source of infection can 

 be traced to the human subject's suffering from 

 "open" tuberculosis, and that infection is acquired 

 through the close intercourse resulting from family 

 life. Only those preventive measures can hope for 

 success which take this fact consistently into account. 

 But to prevent the child from becoming infected in his 

 own home environment without weakening family ties 

 and responsibilities offers a social problem of the 

 utmost complexity. Tuberculosis is not a " school 

 disease," and the school cannot justly be held respon- 

 sible for the spread of infection. Finally, the lecturer 

 said he attaches great value to the use of tuberculin in 

 the treatment of tuberculous children, and claimed 

 good results from it if properly administered. 



Mr. H. Ling Roth, honorary curator of the Bank- 

 field Museum, Halifax, has republished as No. i of 

 the second series of " Museum Notes," his paper on 

 Oriental steelyards and bismars, reprinted from 

 vol. xlii. of the Proceedings of the Royal Anthropo- 

 logical Institute. The original centres of distribution 

 of these instruments seem to be China and Japan, 

 whence they spread to the ports of the Malay Peninsula 

 and India, and thence to Europe. Neither the Baby- 

 lonians nor the Egyptians, until Roman times, seem 



NO. 2243, VOL. go] 



to have possessed them, and an English specimen of the 

 seventeenth century, now in the Horniman Museum, 

 preserves the characteristic Chinese turnover arrange- 

 ment. The paper, with its abundant illustrations and 

 careful description of the different varieties, forms an 

 interesting chapter in the transmission of culture. 



The September issue of The National Geographic 

 Magazine is entirely devoted to an elaborate account, 

 illustrated by an excellent series of photographs, of 

 the head hunters of northern Luzon, by Mr. Dean C. 

 Worcester, Secretary of the Interior of the Philippine 

 Islands, who has already done much to elucidate the 

 ethnology of the islands. Hitherto it has been sup- 

 posed that the custom of head-hunting did not prevail 

 among the Negrito tribes; but Mr. Worcester's ex- 

 ploration of their last important stronghold proves that 

 this is a rriistake. The difficulty of social intercourse 

 with them is increased by the barrier reef which 

 guards their coast. Besides the Negritos, this article 

 contains an interesting account of the Ilongot, 

 Kalinga, Ifugao, Bontoc, and Tingian tribes, who, in 



I spite of various savage customs, have in certain direc- 

 tions attained a fairly high degree of culture. This 



' valuable monograph on a little-known people deserves 



i the attention of anthropologists. 



The report of the Committee on Ancient Earth- 

 works and Fortified Enclosures, prepared for presenta- 

 tion to the Congress of Archaeological Societies, indi- 

 cates that there were during last year more cases than 

 usual of damage, or destruction, actual or threatened, 

 to the structures under their care. Unfortunately, 

 most of the damage has occurred during the con- 

 struction of golf links, and the committees of such 

 clubs have been urged to use their influence for the 

 protection of prehistoric remains. It is also un- 

 pleasant to learn that Irish tenants who have acquired 

 ownership of their farms under the Land Purchase 

 Acts frequently destroy ancient earthworks, and that 

 workmen, who some years ago, through fear of the 

 fairies, would not touch such remains, are losing their 

 superstitious belief. On the other hand, among the 

 more intelligent members of the community in both 

 islands there is an increasing desire for protection, 

 and the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical 

 Monuments in England and Wales is collecting much 

 valuable information, and is exciting public opinion 

 towards their conservation. 



In The Victorian Naturalist for September, Miss 

 J. W. Raff describes the female of Phreatoicopsis 

 terricola, a genus and species of isopod crustaceans 

 previously known only by the male. It is remarkable 

 that the species occurs in two isolated mountain areas 

 —the Grampians and the Otways— which are about 

 one hundred miles apart, and separated by a broad, dry 

 valley, entirely unsuited to the habits of this isopod, 

 which is restricted to forest. 



^ In an article of sixty pages on Japanese cephalopods 

 (in which all the known species are enumerated), pub- 

 lished in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy 

 for July, 1912, Mr. S. S. Berry emphasises the re- 

 markable resemblance between this fauna and the 



