Septemher 6, 1906] 



NA TURE 



479 



• roducl, unci when this is done wc find thai ihc process 

 lias not continued regularly for an indefinite period, but 

 began, as now manifested, only some 3000 or 4000 years 

 ago. In Neoliihic times, according 10 evidence supplied by 

 liuried land surfaces, the sea stood t>o feet lower relatively 

 10 ihe land, and on the south and cast coasts of England 

 the rising downs were separated from the coasts by a wide 

 j)lain. About 4000 years ago there set in a rapid but inter- 

 mittent subsidence of the land or rise of the sea, on the 

 completion of which the coast erosion now in operation 

 Ixj^an. In course of time shingle beaches and sand dunes 

 were formed from the eroded material, and supply the best 

 protection against further inroads. Much valuable alluvial 

 land has also been formed in sheltered estuaries, so that 

 it is an important question whether the net gain from pro- 

 tective works (if existent at all) would justify the enormous 

 oiitlav involved. In the discussion which followed (in 

 which Prof. Percy Kendall, Mr. Whitaker, Mr. E. R. 

 Matthews, and others took part) the need of taking a 

 broad view of the whole question was again and again 

 emphasised, instances being given of the detrimental results 

 of uncoordinated protective operations. Mr. Matthews, an 

 <>ngineer from Bridlington, gave some instructive details 

 -IS to recent changes on the Yorkshire coast. 



The geodetic discussion was opened by Major E. 11. 

 Hills, who pointed out that though the fundamental 

 iriangulalion of these islands was excellent work for the 

 time at which it was done, it is now far behind the 

 standard of modern work of its class. This is the more 

 regrettable, inasmuch as it prevents the coordination of 

 British with Continental work, although the necessary 

 observations to connect the two series have actually been 

 made, and such coordination is of high importance in con- 

 nection with questions such as the determination of the 

 figure of the earth. All that is absolutely necessary is to 

 connect geodetically, by as good a set of triangles as 

 possible, the extreme points of our islands, and, were this 

 'lone, amplitudes of 10° and 113° respectively would be 

 lidded to two very important geodetic lines, viz. the 

 meridional arc through the Greenwich meridian and the 

 longitudinal arc along 52° N., which at present e.\tend 

 through iS° and 57°. Major Hills's proposals were warmly 

 supported by Colonel D. A. Johnston (who presided at the 

 discussion). Prof. H. H. Turner, i\Injor Close (who inen- 

 tioned as a less ambitious scheme the measurement of the 

 central meridian of England running north from South- 

 ampton), Colonel Hellard, director of the Ordnance Survey, 

 and others, the small cost of the undertaking and the 

 reproach to British science involved in the existing state 

 of things being generally insisted on. At the close of the 

 discussion Mr. E. .A. Reeves described a new form of 

 range-finder invented by him, which, though at present in 

 an experimental stage only, gives promise of proving of 

 great use in survey work as well as, possibly, for military 

 purposes. 



Several of the papers described the scientific results of 

 recent expeditions. Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner, besides pre- 

 senting the report on the general work of the Percy Sladen 

 expedition in the Indian Ocean, described the Chagos 

 .Archipelago in detail, discussing the coral formations and 

 touching also on the life conditions, especially of the vegeta- 

 tion. He showed that there was evidence here, as through- 

 out the Indo-Pacific coral-reef region, of a relative rise in 

 the land-level reaching from 5 feet to 35 feet, and probably 

 due in great part to a withdrawal of water from the equator 

 by the piling up of ice in the Antarctic. The atolls seem 

 to have been formed on submerged shoals by coral and 

 nullipore growth on the edges of the latter, and the lagoons 

 show a progressive increase in depth and area through 

 solution, boring and triturating organisms, and tides. Mr. 

 R. N. Rudmose Brown described the South Orkneys and 

 other localities in which scientific collections had been 

 made by the Scottish Antarctic Expedition ; Mr. J. Parkin- 

 son gave an outline of the physical structure of southern 

 Nigeria — a subject on which little has hitherto been known 

 — from observations during a mineral survey of the region 

 under the auspices of the Imperial Institute ; and Mr. 

 James Murray sketched the general scientific results of the 

 survey of the Scottish lochs, discussing in particular the 

 " internal seiche " which has been brought to light, and 

 was explained as occurring on the cessation of a gale which 



NO. 1923. VOL. 74] 



had maintained a temporary equilibrium between two bodies 

 of water of different densities separated by an oblique line 

 of separation. 



Two papers dealt with the economic side of geography. 

 That by .Major Beacom, of the United States Legation, 

 gave a most interesting account of the vast irrigation pro- 

 jects inaugurated within the past few years by the United 

 States Government, enlarging in particular upon the 

 Colorado River as the American Nile, and the changes in 

 the Colorado desert due to irrigation. Prof. L. W. Lyde 

 spoke of the wheat area in central Canada, showing how 

 the climatic conditions favour the growth of that crop, 

 especially along a line through Brandon and Battleford. 

 He expressed a high opinion of the probable output of 

 wheat from this area in the immediate future, but held 

 that wheat growing was here eminently the work of the 

 small farmer. 



At the afternoon meetings illustrated lectures appealing 

 to a more general audience than some of the above were 

 given. Prof. \V. M. Ramsay gave an instructive account 

 of the past and present of .Asiatic Turkey as influenced by 

 physical conditions, tracing the fortunes of the region 

 through their various vicissitudes, and forecasting ,a pro- 

 sperous future from the advent of railway communication. 

 Major P. M. .Sykes described a tour in south-east Persia, 

 dwelling on the many interesting historical associations 

 and speaking of the ruined cities of the Narmishir district. 

 Mr. Yule Oldham interested a large audience with an 

 account ot the visit of the association to South Africa in 

 1005, while, lastly, Mr. Trevor-Battye showed a striking 

 series of views illustrative of life and nature on the 

 Zambezi above the falls, which he ascended at the close 

 of the same visit of the association. 



PHYSIOLOGY AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 

 CTEVERAL subjects of great practical importance were 

 "^^ discussed at the Physiological Section of the British 

 Association ; so much was this the case that the section 

 proved to be the resort of larger audiences than formerly, 

 and before the end of the week the building placed at the 

 disposal of Section I was all too small for its purpose. 



Of the discussions, none was more appropriate to York 

 than that mtroduced by Dr. F. Gowland Hopkins on the 

 minimum proteid value in diet. This question has two 

 aspects, the physiological and the sociological ; the former 

 was the subject of extended researches some time back 

 under the guidance of Prof. .Atwater and Dr. Benedict, 

 and more recently under the very able superintendence of 

 Prof. Chittenden at Yale. It is, however, the sociological 

 aspect of the question w"hich gives it an especial interest in 

 York, for in that city, as is very generally known, Mr. 

 B. Seebohm Rowntree has made a very laborious and com- 

 plete investigation of the dietetic conditions which obtain 

 amongst the poorer classes, and has convinced himself that 

 about one-quarter of the whole population is insuflficiently 

 fed. The value of his research depends essentially upon 

 a correct judgment as to the minimum diet upon which 

 a labouring man can perfonti an efficient day's work. 

 The sociologist is therefore dependent upon the physio- 

 logist for his fundamental data. 



The physiological requirements of the body are two- 

 fold — requirements of matter and requirements of energy ; 

 the necessary carbon and nitrogen must be provided, and 

 they must be provided in a form which yields Ihe 

 number of calories equivalent to the energy dissipated 

 by the human organism as work and heat. The subject 

 was greatly simplified by Dr. Hopkins, for he showed that 

 as the practical outcome of a large number of researches 

 the energy value of the food might be almost disregarded. 

 " It always worked out," he said, " that if the nitrogen- 

 value of the food was looked after the calorie-value would 

 look after itself." Very different views obtain as to the 

 minimum nitrogen value of a daily ration, and the disparity 

 of view has been much increased within the last five years. 

 We used to think that 100 grams of proteid food per day, 

 giving 15 grams of nitrogen, was a somewhat restricted 

 diet. Prof. Atwater has raised this figure considerably, 

 whilst Prof. Chittenden h.ns reduced it. Facilities have 



