November 21, 19 12] 



NATURE 



001 



mycoplasms of bacteria and the protoplasms of 

 plant and animal cells. 



The president then gave an account of experi- 

 ments of his own, in which he has shown that, 

 under the action of the rays from radium emana- 

 tion dissolved in water, seeds may germinate from 

 two to three times as rapidly as they do in ordinary 

 water. In other experiments he has shown also 

 that, by acting on carbon dioxide and nascent 

 hydrogen in the presence of ultraviolet light, a 

 photosynthesis is effected resulting in the forma- 

 tion of formaldehyde, and this body itself, in the 

 presence of potash, condenses to form a sugar. 

 Further results indicate that photosynthesis in 

 chlorophyll cells, and in nature generally, is due 

 entirely to the action of ultraviolet light, or of the 

 radiations from radioactive bodies. Chorophyll, 

 indeed, owes its properties to the fact that it 

 is the medium through which these radiations act 

 on the cells. Carbohydrates are produced in 

 nature by the action of ultraviolet light on carbon 

 dioxide and water, and, without this synthesis, all 

 life in any form would be impossible. 



Throughout his address Prof. Stoklasa em- 

 phasised the need of biologists and of physiologists 

 for a better understanding of the newer develop- 

 ments in experimental physics. A. S. R. 



SLEEPING SICKNESS IN THE KATANGA J 



THE brochure referred to below contains the 

 results of an investigation undertaken by 

 the author into the distribution and other prob- 

 lems of sleeping sickness in the Katanga. His 

 object is to consider the question from a general 

 point of view and to collate the results of two years 

 of work in the northern part of the province. He 

 wishes to prove that "methodical work on the 

 spot is the sole means of combating the evil in 

 each district." If the differences presented by 

 the districts "are lost sight of in attempting to 

 put in practice measures prescribed in ignorance 

 of the actual conditions, only negative, though 

 costly, results can be obtained." With these ob- 

 jects in view, the author sets forth his observa- 

 tions upon the Katanga, its geography, commerce, 

 and people, and upon the special problems of 

 sleeping sickness in that country, such as the 

 origin and progress of the disease, its diagnosis, 

 treatment, and natural course, the distribution 

 and occurrence of the transmitting fly, Glossina 

 pajpalis, and the results of administrative efforts 

 to cope with the evil. His descriptions are supple- 

 mented by nine maps and a number of excellent 

 photographs. 



The author's attitude is mainly that of an 

 independent observer offering gratuitous advice 

 to the Belgian administration of the Congo ; 

 hence, doubtless, his choice of the French language 

 for publishing his results. His foremost conclu- 

 sion is that "the first thing to do is to publish the 

 truth in Belgium " ; the next, that as a necessary 

 preliminary to efficacious measures, the zones of 



1 •' L.T Maladie du Somn 

 Pp. 33, with maps and illustr 

 1912.) Price 4s. net 



NO. 2247, VOL. 90] 



Katanga." By F. O. Stohr (0.von.) 

 (London: ConstaLIe and Co., I-td., 



Glossina palpalis and sleeping sickness should be 

 delimited accurately ; and his third, that when 

 the country has been carefully surveyed from this 

 point of view the problem becomes administrative 

 rather than medical. " For medical men the most 

 simple and radical system of conquering the dis- 

 ease-is to remove the people from the proximity of 

 G. palpalis ; it is for the administration to decide 

 how far this is practicable." He is strongly 

 against the treatment of the infected natives in 

 isolation-camps, which he considers to be of little 

 use, while difficult and costly. 



NOTES. 



The King has approved of the awards this year, by 

 the president and council of the Royal Society, of a 

 Royal medal to Prof. W. M. Hicks, F.R.S., for his 

 researches in mathematical physics and investiga- 

 tions on the theory of spectroscopy, and a Royal medal 

 to Prof. G. Elliot Smith, F.R.S., for his researches 

 on the comparative anatomy of the brain. The fol- 

 lowing awards have also been made by the president 

 and council : — The Copley medal to Prof. 

 Felix Klein, For.Mem.R.S., of Gottingen, for 

 his researches in mathematics ; the Rumford medal to 

 Prof. H. Kamerlingh Onnes, of Leyden, for his re- 

 searches at low temperatures ; the Davy medal to 

 Prof. Otto Wallach, of Gottingen, for his researches 

 on the chemistry of the essential oils and the cyclo- 

 olefines; the Darwin medal to Dr. Francis Darwin, 

 F.R.S., for his work in conjunction with Charles 

 Darwin, and for his researches in vegetable physio- 

 logy ; the Buchanan medal to Colonel William C. 

 Gorgas, of the United States Army, for his sanitary 

 administration of the works of the Panama Canal ; the 

 Hughes medal to Mr. William Duddell, F.R.S., for 

 his investigations into technical electricity. 



At the annual general meeting of the London 

 Mathematical Society, held on November 14, the fol- 

 lowing were elected officers and council for the ensuing 

 session : — President, A. E. H. Love, F.R.S. ; Vice- 

 Presidents, H. F. Baker, F.R.S. , and J. E. Campbell, 

 F.R.S. ; Treasurer, Sir Joseph Larmor, M.P., 

 F.R.S.; Secretaries, J. H. Grace, F.R.S., and 

 T. J. I'A. Bromwich, F.R.S. ; Other Members of the 

 Council, W. Burnside, F.R.S., A. L. Dixon, F.R.S., 

 L. N. G. Filon, F.R.S., J. H. Jeans, F.R.S., E. W. 

 Hobson, F.R.S., J. E. Littlewood, H. M. Macdonald, 

 F.R.S., P. A. MacMahon, F.R.S., H. W. Richmond, 

 F.R.S., and A. E. Western. 



At the anniversary meeting of the Mineralogical 

 Society, held on November 12, the following officers 

 and members of council were elected : — President, 

 Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, F.R.S.; Vice-Presidents, Prof. 

 H. L. Bowman, Dr. A. Hutchinson; Treasurer, Sir 

 William P. Beale, Bart., K.C., M.P. ; General Secre- 

 tary, Dr. G. T. Prior, F.R.S.; Foreign Secretary, 

 Prof. W. W. Watts, F.R.S.; Editor of the Journal, 

 Mr. L. J. Spencer; Members of Council, Mr. T. V. 

 Barker, Mr. W. Barlow, F.R.S., Mr. F. H. Butler, 

 Mr. T. Crook, Mr. J. P. De Castro, Rev. J. M. Gor- 

 don, Sir Thomas H. Holland, K.C.I.E., F.R.S., Mr. 



