2o6 



NA TURE 



[June 28, 1906 



may te made between the German and the British attitude 

 towards science. Prussia began her emancipation by found- 

 ing a university as an answer to the conqueror. Germany 

 became the victor by the sheer might of thought and by 

 the wonderful organisation which that might of thought 

 enabled her to make the foundation of her future power. 

 We, on the contrary, have always made the effort after 

 material prosperity first, and when prosperity has been 

 attained have strained after science. This is rather an 

 ■outcome of the Anglo-Saxon temperament. There is an 

 aversion, in this land from anything that is abstract, a 

 ■desire to do as much as possible by individual effort, and 

 finally to turn to science and to the aid of thought and 

 organisation for the completion rather than the foundation 

 of the edifice. It is a good sign that brotherhood' of 

 science brings men of different races and different tempera- 

 ments together. The possession of common conceptions 

 and intellectual instruments, the passion for, and fascin- 

 ation of, common problems, the fact that the minds of 

 men of the most varying temperaments and the most 

 differing races are making toward a common point, has 

 brought about a great intellectual common ground, and 

 united men for the effort to accomplish a common task. 

 The functions of the State are becoming more and more 

 recognised, and more and more people in different parts 

 of the world are beginning to : feel that it is not, merely 

 the State, but the great individualities of which we are 

 proud — iindividualities which form a common heritage. It 

 is not merely Frenchmen who are proud of Laplace and 

 Lavoisier, nor merely Germans who rejoice in the names 

 of Weber, Helrhholtz, Gauss, and Riemann, nor merely 

 Englishmen who speak with pride of Newton and of 

 Darwin. These and many other names belong to the 

 world at large, are the inheritance of those who have 

 drawn in the breath of the Time-Spirit to see it come 

 forth again in the concentrated form of genius in con- 

 spicuous individuals too great to be the representatives 

 of anv one race, satisfied with being nothing less than the 

 embodiment of the finest genius of humanity. In an ideal 

 State, the ruler would take thought, not merely for the 

 dav, but for the morrow ; but there is very little thought 

 taken for the morrow in the government of almost any 

 nation. What an infinite amount of friction would have 

 been avoided, what an enormous quantity of waste would 

 have been obviated, had there been only thinking organ- 

 isation, plain principles not hurriedly to be departed from, 

 at the root of policy ! In the National Physical Labor- 

 atory we have a sign, a portent of the times, the evidence 

 that we are advancing. But a few years ago and such 

 an institution would have been impossible. We may look 

 at it as a sign that we are coming into line with ttie rest 

 of the world, and recognising that it is to science, and 

 science in the main, that we must look for the means of 

 maintaining ourselves in the vast competition of the world. 



NOTE5. 

 The programme of events in connection with the inter- 

 national celebration of the coal-tar colour jubilee has 

 now been definitely arranged. The steps leading up to the 

 celebration have been described in these columns already 

 (vol. Ixxiii., p. 419). The celebration will be held on 

 July 26 and 27. On the first day a meeting will take 

 place at 11 a.m. at the Royal Institution for the present- 

 ation to Dr. W. H. Perkin of his portrait and bust, and 

 in the evening a banquet has been arranged at the White- 

 hall Rooms, Hotel Metropole, when many distinguished 

 guests are expected to be present. On July 27 a visit will 

 be paid to the original works at Greenford Green, where 

 mauve was first manufactured, and a garden-party will 

 be held at Dr. Perkin's house. In the evening a soiree 

 will take place at the Leathersellers' Hall, at the invita- 

 tion of Dr. and Mrs. Perkin. The international com- 

 mittee arranging the ceremony includes distinguished re- 

 presentatives of science, especially chemical science, in 

 France, Germany, and .Switzerland, as well as in this 



NO. IQI3, VOL. 74] 



country. Applications for tickets and invitations should 

 be made to Dr. J. C. Cain, 28 Pembury Road, Clapton, 

 N.E., who is acting as assistant honorary secretary to the 

 executive committee. 



We learn from the Chemist and Druggist that the 

 Chemists' Club of New York has also decided to honour 

 Dr. Perkin. At a meeting held on May 28 the committee 

 (of which Prof. Chandler is chairman) reported in favour 

 of the establishment of a library, probably to be known 

 as the Perkin Library, and to cost io,ooo!. ; the appropri- 

 ation of loooi. for a Perkin medal and a token to Dr. 

 Perkin ; and a dinner on October 6, at which Dr. Perkin 

 is expected to be present. The proposals were adopted. 

 The Perkin medal is to be awarded annually to an American 

 chemist for distinguished work in technical chemistry. 



Much correspondence has appeared in the Times and 

 other journals during the past week with reference to the 

 Wireless Telegraphy Bill which has just passed its third 

 reading in the House of Lords. The Bill is merely to 

 extend the Act of 1904, a summary of which appeared in 

 our columns at the time (vol. Ixx., p. 349). The original 

 Act expires in July of this year, but will now be extended 

 to 1909. The extreme importance of wireless telegraphy 

 for the purpose of national defence has been recognised 

 from the very first, and in consequence exercise of control 

 had to be placed in the hands of the Government, especially 

 in view of the fact that — all claims to the contrary not- 

 withstanding — it cannot be said that any system has yet 

 been perfected which is completely immune from inter- 

 ference or cannot interfere with other systems. It is out- 

 side our province to enter into the legal dispute between the 

 Marconi Company and Lloyd's, but it is to be hoped that 

 a settlement will be arrived at which will give the public 

 the full advantages in connection with shipping that wire- 

 less telegraphy affords. 



Paragr.iphs have appeared in the daily papers alluding 

 to a " new disease " which was said to have appeared in 

 Essex about ten days ago. Some children at Highwood, 

 near Chelmsford, were found to be suffering from a rash 

 on the hands, face, and neck, accompanied with great irrita- 

 tion of the eyes and skin. On inquiry it was found that 

 the children had been playing with some caterpillars taken 

 from the hawthorn hedges. Much amusing " newspaper 

 science " has appeared, and the name Plusia gama (sic) 

 has been applied to the insect. The caterpillars were un- 

 doubtedly those of the Gold-tail Moth (Liparis auriflua), 

 vifhich is now common on the hedges. It is a pretty 

 creature, but the hairs which cover its body are very easily 

 detached, and, being e.xceedingly fine, readily enter the soft 

 skin of children, and thus set up inflammation. It is 

 doubtful whether any poisonous secretion accompanies the 

 hairs, or whether the painful injury is purely mechanical. 

 The malady is well known to practical entomologists, most 

 of whom have learnt by experience to banish Liparis from 

 their breeding-cages. An allied species, Liparis chrysor- 

 rhoea (the Brown-tail Moth) is in some seasons abun- 

 dant on bushes on the Essex coast, and is even a greater 

 irritant than its congener, but it is one of our immigrant 

 moths, and is not seen every year. 



A VIOLENT shock of earthquake was felt yesterday, June 

 27, at 9.45 a.m. over the whole of South Wales. At 

 Swansea a chimney was thrown down, while at Cardiff 

 the Exchange and other big buildings were shaken. The 

 shock lasted about three seconds. The earthquake was 

 felt at Knighton at 9.46 a.m., and tremors were also experi- 

 enced at Llandrindod Wells and in South Shropshire. A 

 slight shock was felt at Abergavenny and Carmarthen, 



