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NATURE 



[November 14, 1912 



The main object of this worli is to provide an indexed 

 and classified list of mental and physical traits to assist, 

 b)' enlarijintj their vocabularies, the "' field- workers " 

 employed by the office in the collection of data for the 

 study of inheritance in man. A decimal system of 

 classification is adopted. Simple numbers denote the 

 primary classes and additional numbers are added to 

 represent successive stages of subdivision ; for example, 

 4 stands for mental traits, 45 special abilities, 459 

 special ability for athletics, 4595 for ball playing, and 

 45954 for golf. The classification does not appear to 

 be always logical ; thus after 46 is written " egoistic 

 (temperament)," and after 4622 "optimism vs. pes- 

 simism," something different in kind to, and not a 

 subvariety of, egoism. Not only field-workers, but 

 others, even lexicographers, will frnd in this pamphlet 

 additions to their vocabularies, but it is doubtful 

 whether many will desire to use such words 

 as " unanecdoteness " or "unconversationableness." 

 Further, we would question the propriety of contrast- 

 ing " ludicrousness " with "absence of sense of 

 humour," as a sense of humour is the faculty which 

 most effectively enables one to avoid being ludicrous. 

 But though these and other criticisms might be made, 

 the work is one of undoubted utility, and will no 

 doubt be greatly improved in future editions. 



E. H. J. S. 



INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL CON- 

 DITIONS UPON JAPANESE AGRICULTURE. 

 T N a paper read recently before the Royal Geo- 

 -*- graphical Society, Miss E. C. Semple discussed, 

 largely on the basis of personal observation, a number 

 of interesting features in the influence of geographical 

 conditions upon Japanese agriculture. Premising that 

 islands, with climates rendered equable by marine 

 influence, and with the further advantage of supplying 

 " the double larder of land and sea," offer specially 

 favourable conditions for the early development of 

 civilisation, she showed that agriculture in such cir- 

 cumstances quickly becomes intensive owing to the 

 demand of an expanding population upon a cultivable 

 area which, being insular, is not capable of expansion. 

 Thi-i condition is particularly marked in Japan, because 

 to its insular character are added other contributing 

 causes. Cultivation and settlement are rare above 

 abf.ut 2300 ft. of elevation. Forests and barren high- 

 lands above this height clearly segregate the densely 

 populated valley-settlements, which cling closely to the 

 rivers and streams, where rice, the staple crop, may 

 receive the necessary irrigation. 



Moreover, it is not merely what may be termed the 

 mechanical facilities for this cultivation which limit 

 its distribution. The generally unfertile character of 

 the soil has also to be taken into account. Miss 

 Semple quoted the present percentage of arable land 

 to the total area of Japan proper as only I4'37, and 

 proceeded to show that so far as statistical data are 

 available, only Finland, Sweden, and Norway show 

 a smaller percentage, and these, unlike Japan, are 

 sparsely populated countries. The reclamation of the 

 unfertile and ill-watered wastes, and the diversification 

 of crops, are beyond the means of the Japanese small- 

 holder, though a few rich farmers or companies have 

 undertaken such work. 



In dealing with the fertilisation of the soil, Miss 

 Semple adverted to " the practical absence of stock- 

 mising." It has been sought to attribul" this peculiar 

 feature to the principles of the Buddhistic faith, but 

 Miss Semole prefers to find its reason in the scarcity 

 of natural pasturage or fodder-plants. She dealt at 

 some length with the two classes of wet and dry 

 fields rharacleristic of Japanese agriculture, together 



xo. 2246, VOL. go] 



with the geographical effect of relief upon their dis- 

 tribution ; on the other hand, she showed that the 

 terrace system of cultivation usually associated with 

 mountainous tracts alone is not so in Japan, because 

 the irrigation of the lowland rice-fields also involves 

 it. The raising of the silk-worm is found to be 

 practically confined to inland provinces, and largely to 

 upland farms, where communications are bad, and the 

 natural tendency has been to develop a product of 

 small bulk (and therefore easily conveyed) and high 

 proportional value. 



CHEMISTRY AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 

 'T^'HE Chemical Section may claim a fair share in 

 ■•■ what has proved to be a record year for the 

 .'\ssociation generally, and although the counter 

 attractions of the International Congress had some 

 effect on the attendance of the senior chemists, the 

 section room was better filled than has sometimes 

 been the case of late years. In particular Prof. 

 Divers was greatly missed; for many years there 

 has been no more regular supporter of the .'Vssociation. 



Whilst the plan adopted of grouping communica- 

 tions more or less under four main headings had the 

 result thatj as regards quality, the discussions were 

 the best for some years past, this plan has the dis- 

 advantage that it tends to emphasise the very special 

 nature of the subjects considered. The type of paper 

 presented was satisfactory : brief summaries of the 

 field rather than detailed accounts of method and 

 results were the rule, and in consequence the task 

 of the president in keeping to the time table was a 

 light one. 



The daily Press is apt to criticise the work of the 

 section as too technical, but it must not be forgotten 

 that the problems which chemists are now engaged 

 in studying are essentially of a fundamental character. 

 Dundee will perhaps be remembered as the " origin 

 of life " meeting, and though the discussion on this 

 subject was confined to the biologists, both in this 

 discussion and in Prof. Schafer's address it was 

 admitted that chemical science must be looked to 

 ultimately for lig-ht on the problems of life. 



In acquiring accurate knowledge of the carbo- 

 hydrates, fats and proteins, or of the properties of 

 colloids, or in the study of enzymes and cell activators 

 of all kinds, the chemist has already amassed a 

 greater store of e.xact knowledge of biological import 

 than is generally realised. T.hough he is forced at 

 present by their very complexity to surround his con- 

 ceptions in the technicalities of a nomenclature, which 

 to the initiated is unique in its expressive simplicity, 

 the day is not far distant when a more popular 

 summary will be possible — indeed, only this year the 

 announcement has been made of the success of 

 nutrition experiments carried out entirely with 

 synthetic food, every ingredient of which can be 

 built up chemically from the elements. 



The proceedings on Thursday, September 5. opened 

 as customary with the presidential address, which has 

 already appeared in full, the rest of the morning 

 being devoted to physical papers. Prof. H. Marshall 

 described the interaction between thiocarbamide, 

 iodine and sulphur. Mr. A. J. Berry dealt with the 

 distillation of binary mixtures of metals iti vacuo. 

 and described experiments show'ing that copper and 

 cadmium are quantitatively separable by volatilisation 

 of the cadmiutn, whereas magnesium and cadmium 

 yield a non-homogeneous distillate. The compound 

 MgZn, can be prepared by distilling alloys containing 

 an excess of zinc beyond this composition; the excess 

 of zinc volatilises. 



