5° 



NA TURE 



[July 8, 1922 



that, for such a position, his qualifications were unique. 

 Before he resigned this office in 1920 he was able to 

 boast that he had visited every State in the Union and 

 spoken in every University of the Empire. Univer- 

 sities will hold his name in remembrance, not the least 

 of the causes for their gratitude being the paper which 

 he read to the Congress of 1912 on " The Establishment 

 of a Central Bureau ; its Constitution and Functions." 

 Re-reading this paper with a knowledge of the develop- 

 ments which have taken place since it was written, 



one is impressed with the practical character, and even 

 the prescience, of the proposals it contains. 



We note with regret an announcement in the 

 Chemiker Zeitung of June 15 that Prof. Wilhelm 

 Wislicenus, director of the Chemical Institute of the 

 University of Tubingen, died on May 8, aged sixty-one 

 years. Prof. Wislicenus was one of the foremost 

 chemists in Germany, and his researches on organic 

 chemistry and stereochemistry are well known. 



Current Topics and Events. 



At a meeting of the Council of the Royal Society 

 of Arts on June 29, the president, H.R.H. the Duke of 

 Connaught and Strathearn, presented the Albert Medal 

 of the Society for the present year to Sir Dugald 

 Clerk, ' ' in recognition of his important contributions, 

 both theoretical and practical, to the development 

 of the Internal Combustion Engine." 



The James Scott Prize of the Royal Society of 

 Edinburgh, established in 1918 for a lecture or essay 

 on the fundamental concepts of natural philosophy, 

 was presented on June 5 to Prof. A. N. Whitehead 

 for his lecture entitled " The Relatedness of Nature." 



Prof. L. Bairstow has been elected chairman of 

 the Royal Aeronautical Society for the year 1922-23 

 in succession to Lieut. -Col. M. O'Gorman, whose 

 period of office terminates on September 30 next. 



At the annual meeting on June 27 of the Research 

 Defence Society, Sir Walter Fletcher, secretary of the 

 Medical Research Council, gave an address on the 

 work that is being done, by medical research, for 

 the advantage of the life of the nation. He took 

 two instances : the study of the vitamins in food, and 

 the action of pituitary extract. Both are good 

 examples of work already fruitful, but not yet com- 

 plete. But they are only two examples, taken almost 

 at random, from a great wealth of material. It 

 would need a big book to describe all that has been 

 done of late years, under the Medical Research 

 Council, for our health and welfare, and it is strange 

 that there should be members of the House of Com- 

 mons opposed to the spending of public money on 

 this work. The opposition, of course, is to the 

 necessary use of experiments on animals. The 

 spirit which goes by the name of anti-vivisection was 

 described as one of the enemies of the people. 

 Happilv, in this matter, we have all the help which 

 the Government can give to us. 



It is reported in the Times that Mr. T. W. Bagshawe 

 and Mr. M. C. Lester have returned to England after 

 an adventurous wintering in the Antarctic. Landed 

 at Andvord Bay on the west of Graham Land (lat. 

 64 45' S.) by a Norwegian whaler in December 1920, 

 Messrs. Bagshawe and Lester hoped to be able to 

 undertake some exploration in the interior of Graham 

 Land; but the site of their base was ill-chosen for 



NO. 2749, VOL. I IO] 



this purpose, and they were unable to do any survey 

 beyond the immediate locality. Their work ampli- 

 fied the rough surveys of the Belgica on this coast 

 in 1898. Meteorological observations were taken 

 throughout the winter. From Mr. Bagshawe's 

 account of the adventure it would appear that he 

 and his companion were most inadequately supplied 

 with stores and equipment for an Antarctic winter, 

 having to improvise a hut from their boat with the 

 help of canvas and packing-cases. For food they 

 wisely relied largely on seals and penguins. For- 

 tunately the west side of Graham Land has a relatively 

 open winter climate. The men were rescued by a 

 Norwegian whaler from Deception Island in December 

 1921. 



An exhibition of Egyptian ornaments, tools, and 

 carvings belonging to the First Dynasty, and of 

 numerous papyri of different ages, the fruits of a 

 season's work by the British School of Archaeology in 

 Egypt, under the direction of Prof. W. M. Flinders 

 Petrie, will be open at University College, Gower 

 Street, until July 29. Admission is free and without 

 ticket. 



The twentieth session of the International Congress 

 of Americanists will be held in Rio de Janeiro on 

 August 20-30 next, under the presidency of Dr.Joao 

 Teixeiro Soares. The arrangements are in the hands 

 of a strong local committee. As the celebration of 

 the centenary of Brazil's independence begins on 

 September 7, it is anticipated that there will be a 

 large attendance. The subjects which are to be 

 discussed at the congress are the origin, history, 

 languages, customs, and religions of the native races 

 of America ; the ancient monuments and archaeology 

 of America ; and the history of the discovery and 

 European occupation of America. At the close of the 

 congress arrangements will be made for excursions 

 to the States of Minas Geraes, St. Catherina, Espiritu 

 Santo, and Sao Paolo. Members of the congress will 

 be afforded an opportunity to return by way of Para, 

 where there is, in the museum, the collection of ancient 

 pottery from the island of Marajo, which is of great 

 interest to students of American archaeology. 

 Arrangements have been made by the Royal Mail 

 Steam Packet and Nelson lines for members of the 

 congress to travel at reduced rates. Information 



