December 19, 1912] 



NATURE 



U7 



lively into the glass. Anodes of lead oxide or copper 

 oxide are insoluble, and exhibit the same phenomena 

 as platinum or graphite anodes. 



Among other investigations, either completed or in 

 course of progress, the following may be mentioned : — 

 Anode rays, fhe Doppler spectrum in canal rays, deter- 

 mination of the constant c of the law of black-body 

 radiation, the thermal expansion of metals at high 

 temperatures, electrolytic valvular action, influence of 

 chemical composition and heat treatment on the 

 magnetic and electric properties of iron alloys. 



E. S. Hodgson. 



AWARD OF BEIT MEMORIAL 

 FELLO W SHIPS. 



THE trustees of the Beit Memorial Fellowships for 

 medical research have elected the following to 

 fellowships. Each fellow-ship is of the annual value 

 of 250^., payable quarterly in advance. The usual 

 tenure is for three years, but the trustees have power 

 in exceptional cases to grant an extension for one year. 

 The general character of the research which each 

 fellow proposes to follow, and the place of research, 

 are indicated. 



Dr. Ida Smedley, the processes involved in the 

 formation of fat in the organism (the Lister 

 Institute of Preventive Medicine). Dr. R. A. 

 Chisolm : An investigation into the production of ex- 

 perimental nephritis by various methods, and the 

 problems arising therefrom (the Pathological Depart- 

 ment, Guy's Hospital). Dr. D. V. Cow : (i) Investi- 

 gation of the diuretic action of certain tissue extracts, 

 especially of an extract obtained from the intestinal 

 mucous membrane ; (2) investigations of certain bac- 

 terial diseases with the object of ascertaining any 

 possible beneficent action thereon of organic com- 

 pounds of a non-toxic nature (the Pharmacological 

 Laboratory, Cambridge). Miss Elsie J. Dalyell ; In- 

 vestigation of gastro-enteric diseases in infants, with 

 reference to etiology (bacteriological research), influence 

 of diet (chemical and bacteriological research), vaccine 

 therapy as a protective and curative measure (Lister 

 Institute of Preventive Medicine). Dr. C. Funk : An 

 investigation into the nature of the so-called deficiency 

 diseases (beri-beri, scurvy, &c.), with special reference 

 to the chemical nature and physiological properties of 

 the substances concerned in their etiology and pre- 

 vention (the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine). 



Prof. A. B. Macallum : Problems in metabolism in 

 disease, especially those concerned with the formation 

 of urea, ammonia compounds, and uric acid and 

 their excretion (Prof. Fredrik von Miiller's Labora- 

 tory, Munich). Dr. J. Mcintosh : Certain problems 

 concerning the immunity of syphilis (Bacteriological 

 Laboratory, London Hospital Medical College). Dr. 

 S. W. Patterson : (i) Questions concerned with 

 diabetes, especially the fate of laevulose in the normal 

 and diabetic organism ; (2) later, to investigate the 

 toxsemias of intestinal origin, especially the influence 

 of different forms of diet on the production of poison- 

 ous products, amine derivatives of amino-acids, &c. 

 (Institute of Physiology, University College, London). 

 Miss Helen L. M. Pixell : The life-histories of para- 

 sitic protozoa (the Protozoology Laboratory, Bedford 

 College, and the Lister Institute of Preventive Medi- 

 cine). Dr. H. L. H. Schiitze : Studies concerned with 

 the modern absorption theory of the union between 

 bacillary antigen and the antibodies of the blood 

 serimi (the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine). 



All correspondence relating to the fellowships should 

 be addressed to the honorary secretary, Beit Memorial 

 Fellowships for Medical Research. S5 Clarges Street, 

 Piccadillv, W. 



ZOOLOGY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



CECTION D, which w-as largely attended, presented 

 •~-' a very full and varied programme, and the interest 

 in the meetings of the section was well sustained 

 throughout. 



A lantern lecture, of a semi-popular nature, was 

 given by Mr. F. Balfour Browne, on the life-history 

 of a water-beetle. After describing his methods of 

 keeping and rearing water-beetles, he proceeded to 

 detail the life-history of a type of each of the two 

 groups of water-beetles, taking Dytiscus lapponicus 

 as a type of the group Hydradophaga, and Hydro- 

 charis caraboides as a type of the group Palpicornia. 

 The former, which has a very restricted distribution in 

 the British Islands (N.W. Ireland and W. Scotland), 

 being apparently a remnant of the fauna which in 

 earlier and colder times occupied this area, seems t,i 

 be the first species of the genus the life-history of 

 which has been followed in detail. Mr. Balfour 

 Browne gave an account of the egg-laying habits, the 

 development of the larva and its escape from the 

 egg b}' means of a pair of small spines on the head, 

 the scraping of which against the shell ultimately rup- 

 tures it, and allows the larva to wriggle out. He 

 stated that the larva, in addition to sucking the 

 juices of its prey, from time to time reverses the action 

 of its pharyngeal pump, so as to pour digestive juice 

 into the prey (e.g. an insect larva), so that all the 

 soft parts are dissolved and a thin pellicle of chitin 

 only remains. He showed how the larva, after it is 

 full grown and leaves the water, builds the pupal 

 cell, and he referred to the winter habits of the perfect 

 insect. He then compared the life-histories of Hydro- 

 charis and Dytiscus, and pointed out how each type 

 has adopted different means to attain the same end, 

 and that it was just such differences which enabled 

 each species to hold its own in its particular com- 

 munity in the great struggle for existence. 



Foraminifera. 

 Messrs. Heron-Allen and Earland maintained that 

 the life-history of Saccammina, as described by 

 Rhumbler, was a composite sketch, and involved three 

 separate organisms : (i) the early phases were stages 

 of Crithionina mamilla, a sessile rhizopod, which, 

 although often associated with 5. sphaerica, has a 

 wide distribution apart from that species ; (2) the next 

 phase was really Psammosphaera fusca, an extremely 

 variable species, occurring^ both free and sessile, 

 always without a general aperture, and found under 

 conditions of depth, &c., in which Saccammina never 

 exists ; (3) the " Saccammina " stages, described by 

 Rhumbler, which represent the complete life-cycle of 

 S. sphaerica. Early shell-bearing stages of this 

 species differ from the adult only in their smaller size, 

 somewhat less finished exterior, and in the form of 

 the general aperture, which is at first a mere fissure. 

 The nipple-like protuberance, on which the aperture 

 of the adult is placed, gradually develops later. 



The Isle of Wight Disease of Bees. 

 Dr. H. B. Fantham gave an account of the causal 

 organism of this disease — a minute microsporidian 

 parasite. Nosema apis — which was discovered by Dr. 

 .Annie Porter and himself. The organism is, in the 

 main, a parasite of the alimentary tract of the bee. 

 Spores of the parasite, swallowed by the bee, give 

 rise each to an amoebula, which enters an epithelial 

 cell of the gut, becomes rounded, grows and feeds 

 for a time, and then begins to multiply by various 

 tvpes of binary fission, producing clusters or chains, 

 each individual of which is ultimately uninucleate. 

 The presence of these parasites causes derangement 

 of the tee's digestive processes, and may be fatal. 



NO. 2251, VOL. 90] 



