492 



NA TURE 



[October 7, 1922 



A kindly function was fulfilled at the London 

 School of Tropical Medicine on Monday evening of 

 last week, September 25, before a company of friends 

 of the School and the family, when the first mint of 

 the new medal instituted in memory of Sir Patrick 

 Manson was presented to his widow. Major-General 

 Sir "William Leishman, who made the presentation, 

 explained that the medal was the sub-issue of a 

 project by friends of Sir Patrick Manson to present 

 to the School a portrait of its illustrious originator. 

 As the result of an appeal for this purpose, subscrip- 

 tions in excess of the actual requirements quickly 

 came in from many parts of the world, accompanied 

 by numerous very cordial tributes of approval. The 

 portrait had been presented, and when all expenses 

 had been met there still remained a balance which 

 the committee of subscribers thought would find its 

 most happily inspired application in a medal com- 

 memorative of Sir Patrick Manson's unique position 

 in the history of tropical medicine: In a graceful 

 speech Sir William Leishman alluded to the many 

 ways whereby, outside the laboratory, quite as effect- 

 ively as within it, a wife can further her husband's 

 work, and said that it was with a full appreciation of 

 the circumstances from this point of view, and not 

 as a mere compliment, that the committee desired to 

 offer the first-minted medal to Lady Manson. 



M. Le Trocouer, Minister of Public Works, was 

 present at tests on September 26, in connexion with 

 the utilisation of tidal power at Aberwrach, near 

 Brest. The scheme is to comprise a barrage 150 

 metres in length, which will permit of the storage in 

 a tidal basin of from one to four million cubic metres 

 of water, depending on the tidal range. Four tur- 

 bines are to be installed, working both on the ebb 

 and flow of the tide and capable of delivering 750-1200 

 h.p. These are coupled to alternators delivering 

 current at 1500 volts. This station is to work in 

 conjunction with a water-power station developing 

 power from river-flow, and the latter is to be used to 

 regularise the intermittent output from the tidal-power 

 scheme. Should the results of this investigation prove 

 satisfactory it is intended to develop a much larger 

 scheme on the Ranee, and, according to the Times of 

 September 28, the minister expressed the opinion that 

 this would enable electrical energy to be supplied to 

 the whole of Western France. 



We learn from the Chemical Age that the chairman 

 of the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation of New 

 York has offered, through the American Chemical 

 Society, an annual prize of 25,000 dollars "to reward 

 the chemist, residing in the United States, who in the 

 opinion of a properly constituted jury has contributed 

 most to the benefit of the science and of the world." 

 In communicating the offer, the chairman of the Cor- 

 poration writes : " Realising, as we do, the enormous 

 influence which chemists working in all the fields of 

 that science will have on the welfare of the world, 

 we desire by this prize so to encourage the workers 

 that even larger benefits should accrue than those 

 which have already placed the world under such a 

 debt of gratitude to the profession." Last week refer- 

 NO. 2762, VOL. I io] 



ence was made in our columns (p. 466) to numerous 

 substantial gifts by industrial concerns in Germany 

 to German universities to assist in the teaching of 

 scientific subjects, particularly chemistry. Thus in 

 both the United States and in Germany, commercial 

 men and manufacturers are showing their apprecia- 

 tion of the value of what may be termed, research in 

 pure science. 



According to Science, the American Medical Associa- 

 tion has agreed to co-operate with the directors of 

 the Gorgas Memorial Institute of Tropical and Pre- 

 ventive Medicine in establishing the institute, and 

 a committee of the Association has issued an appeal 

 for subscriptions. The committee is agreed that the 

 most suitable memorial to Major-General William C. 

 Gorgas would be such an institute, and considers that 

 no more appropriate place than Panama City, where 

 General Gorgas's great work in stemming tropical 

 diseases was done, could have been selected. The 

 Government of Panama has given the Santo Tomas 

 Hospital, and also the land on which it is proposed 

 to build the laboratories and departments for research, 

 to constitute the memorial institute ; Dr. R. P. 

 Strong has been appointed scientific director. It is 

 also intended that a Gorgas School of Sanitation shall 

 be established in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for training 

 public health workers and sanitary engineers especi- 

 ally for work in the Southern States of America. An 

 endowment of some 1,300,000/. will be necessary to 

 carry out in full the proposed memorial. 



Prof. Santiago Ram6n y Cajal has retired from 

 the chair of histology and pathological anatomy in 

 the University of Madrid. This distinguished man 

 of science, who is a Foreign Member of the Royal 

 Society, has been the recipient of numerous honours 

 in Spain, including the Echegaray medal, presented to 

 him in the Royal Academy of Sciences by the King of 

 Spain. The Spanish Government has introduced a bill 

 for the construction of a building for the Cajal Institute, 

 constituted in 1920, which carries with it an appro- 

 priation of nearly 36,000/., divided into four sums to 

 be expended annually from 1922 to 1925 on the build- 

 ing designated as Cajal's Biological Institute ; in 

 addition, a grant of about lyool. is to be provided for 

 maintenance. The work of the institute will be 

 directed by a board of trustees under the chairmanship 

 of Cajal himself. 



About a year ago the Chemical Society issued an 

 appeal to its fellows to assist in the alleviation of 

 distress among chemists and other scientific workers 

 in Russia. Since then a sum of more than 210/. has 

 been received, and about 170/. of it was devoted to 

 the purchase of clothing, which has been distributed 

 among men of science in Ekaterinburg, Moscow, and 

 Petrograd. In addition, three cases containing 

 clothing and books have been sent to the latter two 

 cities. It is now known definitely that the packages 

 have reached those for whom they were intended, so 

 that the possibility of gifts going astray need no 

 longer deter possible subscribers. There is every 

 reason to fear that during the coming winter distress 

 will be as acute as it was a year ago, and the Chemical 



