^66 



NATURE 



[November 28, 1912 



1909), and the German societj-, formed this year, the 

 constitution of which will doubtless be modelled on 

 those of the other existing bodies. For some time 

 there has been a need for a body capable of dealing 

 authoritatively with illumination, photometry, 

 standards of light, &c., in Germany, and the Reichs- 

 anstalt has been entrusted with the formation of the 

 new society. A provisional committee has been 

 formed, Prof. Warburg and Dr. E. Liebenthal being 

 respectively chairman and secretary, and Herr Dett- 

 mar, representing the Verband deutscher Elektro- 

 techniker, and Dr. Bunte, representing the Verein von 

 Gas- und Wasserfachmanner, are also giving their 

 assistance. The first ordinary meeting is to be held 

 next February, when it is expected that Prof. Otto 

 Lummer will deliver an address. 



English students of megalithic monuments in 

 Cornwall will be interested in an article contributed 

 to the Bulletins et Memoires de la SocUti d'Anthro- 

 pologie de Paris (vi. series, Nos. 1-2, 1912) by MM. 

 Edouard and Paul Jeanselme under the title of 

 " Inventaire descriptif et Mensurations des Principau.x 

 Monuments Megalithiques de la Cornouailles," in 

 which we have a series of careful measurements, 

 descriptions, and drawings of rude stone monuments 

 like the Logan Stone, the Cromlech of Zennor, the 

 Lanyon and Mulfra Quoits, the Nine Maidens, and 

 the Nineteen Merry Maidens, with other remains of 

 the same kind in the Cornish peninsula. The writers 

 remark that while these monuments are now care- 

 fully protected from destruction, atmospheric erosion 

 is still carrying on the work of disintegration. 



The Bulletins et Mimoires de la Societi d'Anthro- 

 pologie de Paris (vi. series, Nos. 1-2) for 1912 are 

 largely devoted to the question of steatopygy among 

 the races of the Mediterranean area in ancient and 

 modern times. As is well known, broad-hipped 

 figures of this type have been discovered in France 

 dating from the Magdalenian, Solutrian, and pos- 

 sibly from the Mousterian periods. A description of 

 prehistoric images of the obese class is here given by 

 Dr. F^lix Regnault; and Dr. Atgier describes 

 similar examples in modern times from south and 

 south-east Africa and among existing Parisian women. 

 Dr. Regnault discusses the differences between this 

 type and the well-known Bushman or " Hottentot 

 Venus." The question is of considerable importance 

 to anthropologists, as it may imply a connection be- 

 tween the races of South Africa and those of the 

 /Egean. 



In The American Museum Journal for October Mr. 

 V. Stefansson makes a powerful appeal for the pro- 

 tection of the new Eskimo tribes from pauperisation 

 by a system of quarantine which will limit the en- 

 trance of conditions of civilisation into the territory 

 occupied by them. He gives a melancholy account of 

 the ravages of measles and other diseases introduced 

 by sailors visiting their coast. The introduction of 

 permanent houses in lieu of snow huts and tents has 

 I'd to the growth of tuberculosis among them. 

 Foreign dress has exercised a similar effect, and 

 begging has increased under a system of ill-regulated 

 NO. 2248, VOL. 90] 



doles. In the saine issue of the journal Mr. Clark 

 VVissler attempts to give a tentative summary of Mr. 

 Stefdnsson's recent discoveries, and of the possibilities 

 of the introduction of European blood among the 

 Eskimo. 



The sixth annual report, by Dr. Houston, on the 

 results of the chemical and bacteriological examina- 

 tion of the London waters for the twelve months 

 ended March 31, 1912, has recently been issued. It 

 contains full details of the analyses made, and Dr. 

 Houston expresses the reassuring opinion that seven 

 years" work on the London water question has con- 

 vinced him that to a progressively increasing extent 

 the Water Board is securing the reasonable " safety " 

 of the metropolitan water supply. 



The Education Committee of the Agricultural 

 Department of the County Council for the County 

 Palatine of Lancaster has issued a report on milk 

 tests and records carried out during iqii (Farmers' 

 Bulletin No. 23). It strongly urges all owners of 

 milking herds to weigh and test the milk and keep 

 accurate records, so that unsatisfactory animals may 

 be weeded out and the general standard of the herds 

 raised. All that is necessary is a balance with 

 bucket, which need not cost more than 305., and the 

 weighing need not be done more than one day per 

 fortnight. 



In the twenty-first report of the Board of Health 

 on leprosy in New South -Wales for the year 1911, 

 Dr. Ashburton Thompson summarises the cases of 

 the year, and also gives a return of the number of 

 persons who have been found suffering from the 

 disease in this colony since 1883. Details of recent 

 cases are given, and in emphasising the remarkable 

 improvement which may take place in cases of leprosy 

 without any special treatment whatever, he remarks : 

 " I have so often seen similar improvement in similar 

 circumstances that I am tempted to say that it is 

 often enough to look steadily at a person who is 

 suffering from leprosy to bring about some improve- 

 ment, and often a marked improvement, in his 

 general state, and even in some of the stigmata of his 

 disease." A review of recent research into the causa! 

 organism of the disease is included in the report. 



In The American Naturalist for November Mr. 

 A. L. Hagedoorn points out the essential differe;nce 

 in the nature of the colouring of tricoloured dogs 

 and tricoloured guinea-pigs and cats. The former 

 are never irregularly blotched with black and yellow 

 after the fashion obtaining in the two latter, but are 

 essentially either black and tan, or sable blotched 

 with white. Some tricoloured dogs, such as fox- 

 terriers, are black and tan blotched with white; 

 others, like most hounds, sable; while yet others, 

 such as collies, may be either black and tan or sable 

 blotched with white. A dog with a yellow blotch on 

 the back and a yellow foot appears unknown. It is 

 not easy to understand in v^-hat sense the author 

 employs the term "sable." 



The Seismological Society of .\merica is doing use- 

 ful work in encouraging the detailed study of the 



