460 



NA TURE 



[February 17, 19 10 



Da}-aks in Sarawak. The author gives interesting 

 notes on Dayaics and heads, and a gruesome story 

 of a head-hunting exploit. Later he lived with 

 Davaks on the Sarekei River. The chapter in w'hich 

 he describes his life among them is one of the best 

 in his book. 



The final chapter is an account of a visit to the 

 f.imous birds'-nest caves of Gomanton, in British 

 North Borneo. Of these caves and their inhabitants 

 — birds and bats — an interesting account is given. 

 Incidentally also a good word-picture is given of 

 Borneo river and jungle life. 



Mr. Walker has told his story in a very natural 

 and entertaining way. There are no dull pages. 

 Some of his cannibal and head-hunting tales may 

 be borroidiim dictti, but even these are to be matched 

 bv facts culled from many an official report on these 

 wild people of the South Seas. 



The book is well illustrated by forty-eight illus- 

 trations from photographs, and has a useful index. 



S. H. R. 



J HE FRENCH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



THE French expedition under Dr. Jean Charcot, on 

 board the Potirquoi Pas? returned to Punta 

 Arenas at the end of last week. The early return of 

 the expedition, some weeks before it was expected, is 

 due to a series of misfortunes which limited the range 

 of the expedition's operations. 



It will be remembered that this is the second of 

 Dr. Charcot's Antarctic voyages. In 1903-5, on board 

 the Franfais, he carried out an expedition along the 

 west coast of Graham Land, south of Cape Horn, 

 wintering on "A andel Island, in about 65° S. lat., and 

 continuing the voyage to a point off .Alexander I. Land 

 in about 68° S. lat. Apart from the additions 

 made to cartographical knowledge of some of the 

 islands off Graham Land, the expedition was notable 

 for the scientific observations and collections secured 

 in the departments of hydrography, terrestrial mag- 

 netism, biology, botany, and geology. 



Dr. Charcot's latest expedition was designed to 

 extend the work done in 1903-5. The programme 

 contemplated another cruise among the islands off the 

 west coast of Graham Land, whence it was hoped 

 to continue the voyage westwards in the direction of 

 King Edward VII. Land; it was also proposed to 

 make excursions southwards to investigate the 

 character of the supposed Antarctic continent, and for 

 this purpose (he Pourquoi Pas? carried a number of 

 specially designed motor sledges. The expedition was 

 liberally subsidised (24,000!.) by the French Govern- 

 ment, and the ship, a barquentine with an auxiliary 

 engine of 550 h.p., was specially built for the voyage. 

 The French Naval Department, the Paris Museum, 

 and the Prince of Monaco contributed to the scientific 

 equipment, and the scientific staff included, besides 

 Dr. Charcot, who belongs to the medical profession 

 and is an experienced bacteriologist, specialists in 

 hydrography, oceanography and meteorology, tidal 

 and chemical observations, geologv and glaciology, 

 natural history, and terrestrial magnetism. 



The expedition sailed from Havre in August, 190S, 

 and from Punta Arenas in the following December. 

 Supplies of coal were taken on board at Deception 

 Island (lat. 63° S.), in the South Shetlands, which 

 has become an important rendezvous for whalers. On 

 resuming the voyage the Potirquoi Pas? ran aground, 

 and after being re-floated lost her rudder in collision 

 w-ith icebergs. The voyage, however, was continued 

 to .\delaide Island, south of the 67th parallel, and the 

 adjacent coasts were exolored for a distance of 120 

 NO. 2103, VOL. 82] 



miles to .Mexander I. Land. Being unable to find a 

 safe anchorage, the expedition then returned north 

 and spent the Antarctic winter of last year off Peter- 

 mann Island, south of the 65th parallel. Though 

 attacked by scurvy and other diseases, the explorers 

 carried out several excursions, and made a careful 

 study of the glaciology of the region. On the return 

 of summer they continued their explorations among 

 the South Shetlands, again \-isiting Deception Island, 

 and also Bridgman Island (62° S.). The course of 

 the Pourquoi Pas? vi'as then directed south and west, 

 and the expedition succeeded in reaching Peter I. 

 Island (lat. 69° S., long. 90° \V.). LUtimately the 

 voyage was extended, between the 69th and 71st 

 parallels, to long. 126° W. King Edward VII. Land 

 extends between the 150th and i6oth meridians of 

 west longitude. 



Graham Land projects northw-ards from the Antarc- 

 tic Circle towards Cape Horn as a great tongue of 

 land with numerous adjacent islands. It has been 

 visited by several expeditions, but its connection with 

 the Antarctic continent is still a 'matter of speculation. 

 Westwards, in the region south of the Pacific Ocean, 

 Cook and Bellingshausen sighted stray patches of 

 land or appearances of land, presumably part of 

 the Antarctic continent, but the continuous coast 

 has never been definitely traced. Geographically, 

 the value of Dr. Charcot's expedition consists in 

 the work he has been able to accomplish in link- 

 ing up and defining more clearly the character 

 of these stray patches of coast. Exactly what have 

 been the results of the expedition in this connection 

 can only be determined when his charts become avail- 

 able. As on the occasion of his former expedition, 

 the most valuable feature of the results will probably 

 be the scientific data collected respecting the mag- 

 netic, meteorological, hydrographical, and geological 

 conditions in the regions south of Cape Horn. Dr 

 Charcot was unable to make use of his motor sledges 

 for penetrating the Antarctic continent. 



RADIUM IN DISEASE. 



ATTENTION has again been directed to the possi- 

 bilities of radium as a curative agent bv Sir 

 William Ramsay (at the Authors' Club on Monday), 

 and by Sir Lauder Brunton (in the Lancet). 



The supply of radium available for the treatment of 

 disease is still so limited that the therapeutic useful- 

 ness of this agent has not )-et been fully determined. 

 No sooner were indications noted of a prospect of 

 relieving cancer by the use of radium than all the 

 radium obtainable w-as devoted to this purpose ; conse- 

 quently, its action in less serious ailments is still 

 almost unknown. 



In the treatment of cancer, radium has usually been 

 employed in the form of crystals of the bromide. 

 These crystals are contained either in a sealed glass 

 tube or in a button with a covering of thin glass, 

 aluminium or mica. Recently the crystals have been 

 spread in a thin layer upon a flat surface and covered 

 with a layer of varnish. Such buttons and spread 

 preparations are suitable for application to the sur- 

 face of the body. The glass tubes may be inserti^d 

 into the interior of tumours, or into orifices of the 

 body ; thus, they may be placed in the mouth or nose, 

 in the oesophagus (within a rubber tube), in the 

 rectum, or in the cervix uteri. 



Of the three types of radiation given off by radium 

 (the alpha, beta, and gamma radiations), the view 

 commonly accepted is that the gamma rays have a 

 selective action, destroying cancer cells while leaving 

 the normal cells of the part intact, while the alpha and 



