August 19, 1922] 



NA TURE 



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olcgy can congratulate itself on an exceptionally good 

 programme. Local effort is well represented, for the 

 first morning session, as well as parts of other sessions, 

 are occupied by papers contributed by Hull members 

 of the medical profession. The meeting will open with 

 a paper by Dr. F. C. Eve, senior physician to the Hull 

 Infirmary, on " Life and Energy: an Interpretation." 

 Dr. T. Ritchie Rodger is to follow with a paper on 

 " The Effect of Loud Noises on the Cochlea," in which 

 he will discuss the consequences of the boiler-making 

 industry in causing damage to the organ of hearing. 

 A demonstration of a model of the cochlea, by Dr. 

 G. Wilkinson of Sheffield, is also of interest in this 

 connexion. The investigation of the movements of 

 the alimentary canal by means of the X-rays will be 

 described and demonstrated by Dr. J. E. Bannen. 

 Prof. A. V. Hill will read a paper on athletics and 

 oxygen supplv, in which he will show what a large 

 debt of oxygen becomes due to the body in severe 

 exertion, to be called in during the succeeding period 

 of rest. The presidential address, by Prof. E. P. 

 Cathcart, on the " Efficiency of Man and the Factors 

 which Influence It," will deal with another aspect of 

 muscular work which Prof. Cathcart lias studied, in 

 America with Dr. Benedict, and at home in connexion 

 with the energv requirements of recruits. There are 

 two interesting joint discussions with other sections. 

 With the section of physics there is to be a discussion 

 on the application of physical methods to biological 

 investigations, to be opened by Prof. A. V. Hill ; 

 while with the section of agriculture there will be a 

 discussion of the popular topic of the vitamins, to 

 be opened by Prof. J. C. Drummond. In this dis- 

 cussion we welcome a paper by Dr. Atherton Seidell 

 of Washington, who has done outstanding work on 

 the isolation of vitamins. The foreign guest of the 

 section, Prof. W. Storm van Leeuwen of Leyden, 

 will contribute two interesting papers on hvper- 

 sensitiveness, a subject of considerable importance in 

 relation to the causation of asthma, hay fever, and 

 serum sickness. The section is fortunate in securing 

 two eminent physiologists to deliver popular lectures 

 — Mr. J. Barcroft on the expedition which he re- 

 centlv led to Peru for the study of mountain sickness 

 in the Andes, and Prof. W. D. Halliburton, who will 

 lecture on " Our Bones and Teeth." Dr. F. W. 

 Edridge-Green will give two papers on colour vision, 

 Dr. P. M. Tolmie of Hull one on the cvtology of the 

 blood, and Dr. J. H. Burn a contribution to the 

 physiology of sweating, in which he shows how certain 

 clinical facts can be explained on physiological lines. 



Section J (Psychology). — The new psychological 

 section of the British Association met for the first 

 time last year at the meeting held at Edinburgh. 

 Judging by the programme announced, it should have 

 an equally successful session this year at Hull. Un- 

 fortunately, however, it has already sustained a grave 

 and lamentable loss by the death of Dr. W. H. R. 

 Rivers, the elected president. Dr. C. S. Myers, who 

 has just given up his Cambridge post to become 

 director of the new National Institute of Industrial 

 Psychology, is taking the chair in Dr. Rivers' place, 

 and his presidential address will deal with the in- 

 fluence of Dr. Rivers' work on the development of 

 psychology in Great Britain. The first important 

 feature in the programme will be the opening dis- 

 cussion upon industrial psychology. In this Dr. 

 Myers, Dr. Miles, Mr. J. Seebohm Rowntree, and 

 Mr. Eric Farmer are taking part. The two first 

 .speakers will doubtless describe the work proposed, 

 and the work hitherto carried out, by the National 

 Institute, in the establishment of which they have 

 had so prominent a share. Mr. Farmer is reporting 

 an investigation on " Output Curves as Measures of 

 Fatigue " — an inquiry carried out under the In- 



NO. 2755, VOL. I JOJ 



dustrial Fatigue Research Board — and Mr. Rowntree 

 is describing the results of some group-tests of in- 

 telligence applied to the employees at the big factory 

 at York. Friday morning, September 8, will be 

 devoted to a joint discussion with the Section of 

 Educational Science upon psychoanalysis and the 

 School. In this the chief speakers will be Dr. 

 Kimmins, Dr. Crichton Miller, Prof. Pear and Dr. 

 R. G. Gordon. The other joint discussion will be 

 that held in conjunction with the Anthropological 

 Section on Tuesday morning, September 12, when 

 Prof. J. L. Myres, Prof. A. A. Fleure, and Dr. C. S. 

 Myers are holding a symposium on mental char- 

 acteristics and race. On the same afternoon there 

 will be a similar symposium oh mental deficiency, 

 in which Dr. Auden (the School Medical Officer for 

 Birmingham) and Dr. Shrubsall (the Assistant School 

 Medical Officer for London) will both take part. 



Section K (Botany). — Under the presidency of 

 Prof. H. H. Dixon, Section K has a very full and 

 varied programme for the Hull meeting. The presi- 

 dent's address will deal with " The Transport of 

 ( Irganic Substances in Plants." An interesting feature 

 of the programme will be the joint discussions on 

 photosynthesis (with Section B) and on the 

 present position of Darwinism (with Section D). 

 The discussion on photosynthesis will be opened 

 by Dr. F. F. Blackman with a paper on the 

 biochemical problem of chloioplastic photosyn- 

 thesis, which will be followed by Profs. Baly and 

 Heilbron with accounts of their recent important 

 researches upon carbon and nitrogen metabolism in 

 green leaves. Contributions to this discussion will 

 also be made by several other botanists and chemists. 

 An animated discussion is expected upon the 

 present position of Darwinism, which will be opened 

 by Dr. J. C. Willis, who will treat of " The Inadequa< \ 

 of the Theory of Natural Selection as an Explanation 

 of the Facts of Geographical Distribution and Evolu- 

 tion." He will be followed by Mr. LJdiiy Yule, with 

 a paper on " A Mathematical Concept of Evolution 

 based on the Theory of Age, Size, and Space." Mr. 

 C. Tate Regan will then enter the arena, and, it is 

 understood, will attack the Willis-Yule position from 

 the zoological point of view. Other speakers will 

 include Prof. Johannsen (Denmark), Dr. J. T. 

 Cunningham, and Dr. H. W'ager. Persons interested 

 in forestry are again linked with Section K as at 

 Edinburgh, and a morning is to be devoted to papers 

 on forestry, the most important of which is one by 

 the Right Hon. Lord Lovat (Vice-President of the 

 section) on the position of British forestry to- 

 day. The popular lecture is to be given tin- year 

 by Prof. Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, who will 

 take " Moulds " as her subject. The remainder of 

 the programme is representative of many different 

 branches of botany, including plant physiology, 

 genetics, cytology, mycology, anatomy, and ecology. 

 Thanks to the local botanical committee, a fine ex- 

 cursion programme has been arranged, including visits 

 to Spurn Head, Skipwith and Riccal Commons, and 

 Brantingham Dale. In addition, permission has been 

 given to members interested in forestry to visit Lord 

 Yarborough's woods bv the kindness of the owner. 



Section L (Educational Science). — The proceed- 

 ings of this section will open at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 

 September 7, with an address on " Educational and 

 School Science " by the president. Sir Richard Gregory. 

 The address will be used to open discussion upon 

 what should be the character and content of 

 school science courses in the general education of 

 all up to about sixteen years of age. Prof. J. Arthur 

 Thomson will be one of the speakers on this subject. 

 After the discussion there will be a paper on advanced 

 instruction in elementary schools by Mr. R. C. Moore. 



