December 2, 1922] 



NA TURE 



745 



The issue of Science for November 3 contains a 

 paper by Dr. J. R. Schramm of the National Research 

 Council on " The Abstracting and Indexing of Bio- 

 logical Literature," which is of interest as it shows 

 that in the United States the subject of the organisa- 

 tion of bibliography is entering the field of practical 

 politics. Dr. Schramm's paper is eminently business- 

 like. He first investigates the wants of the research 

 student and decides in favour of sufficient abstracts 

 published in book-form, with adequate indexes — ' ' the 

 complete subject index being perhaps of the greater 

 importance. ' ' He then turns to the publishing aspec t 

 and points out that with adequate support in the 

 shape of a guaranteed circulation, the cost of com- 

 position is a relatively small matter — each copy cost- 

 ing little more than the cost of paper, machining, 

 binding, and distribution. From these data he goes 

 on to advocate publication on the lines of Chemical 

 Abstracts. The federation of the Biological Research 

 Associations of the United States is, of course, a 

 necessary preliminary, but here the first steps have 

 already been taken under the a^gis of the National 

 Research Council. A committee has been formed to 

 draft a constitution and to report on the whole ques- 

 tion. Dr. Schramm does not underrate the diffi- 

 culties before him, but we think that he under- 

 estimates the volume of literature with which the feder- 

 ated body will have to deal. If the statistics of the 

 International Catalogue of Scientific Literature afford 

 any guide, the federation will have to deal with an 

 output at least double that of pure and applied 

 chemistry. The order for the output of the Inter- 

 national Catalogue for 1 901- 13 was (1) physiology, 

 (2) zoology, (3) chemistry, (4) botany, (5) bacteriology. 

 It is, however, premature to discuss a scheme which 

 has not yet been definitely forwarded. We shall be 

 content to express a hope that we may be favoured 

 with a copy of any further report of the committee's 

 activities. 



The Iron and Steel Institute, 28 Victoria Street, 

 S.W.i, is prepared to receive before the end of 

 February next, upon a special form obtainable from 

 the secretary, applications for grants from the Andrew 

 Carnegie Research Fund in aid of research work on 

 the metallurgy of iron and steel. 



Capt. H. Riall Sankey will deliver his presidential 

 address to the Junior Institution of Engineers on 

 Tuesday, December 12, at 7.30, taking as his subject 

 " The Utility of Theory to the Practical Man." The 

 address will be given at the Royal United Service 

 Institution, Whitehall. 



A course of twelve free public Svviney lectures 

 on " Fossils and what they teach " will be given in 

 the lecture theatre of the Imperial College of Science 

 and Technology, South Kensington, by Prof. T. J. 

 Jehu at 5.30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 

 beginning on Tuesday, December 12. 



The gold medal of the Ramsay Memorial Fund, 



which the Prince of Wales would have received after 



unveiling the memorial in Westminster Abbey if he 



had been able to be present, was presented to him 



NO. 2770, VOL. I io] 



on November 22 by the French Ambassador, the 

 Comte de Saint- Aulaire, who was accompanied by 

 the officers of the memorial fund. 



In connexion with the Institute of Industrial 

 Administration a lecture on " Standardisation of 

 Repairs in Relation to Industrial Economy " will be 

 delivered at the London School of Economics, Hough- 

 ton Street, Aldwych, on Tuesday, December 12, at 

 8 o'clock, by Mr. R. Twelvetrees. The meeting will 

 be open to all, and the lecture will be followed by a 

 discussion. 



The council of the Institution of Electrical 

 Engineers of London at the last meeting announced 

 that Dr. J. A. Fleming had been elected an honorary 

 member of the Institution. Dr. Fleming has accepted 

 the invitation to give the fourteenth Kelvin lecture 

 to the Institution in May next. The Royal Society 

 of Arts recently awarded Dr. Fleming a silver medal 

 for the fifth Henry Trueman Wood lecture he delivered 

 on November 23, 192 1, " On the Coming of Age of 

 Long-Distance Wireless Telegraphy and some of its 

 Scientific Problems." 



The Committee of the Norfolk Agricultural Station, 

 Norwich, will shortly appoint a director and solicits 

 applications for the post, which will be of the annual 

 value of 600/., plus travelling and incidental expenses. 

 In the first instance the appointment will be for 

 one year only. Applicants must possess a modern 

 scientific training in agriculture, with university 

 degree or diploma, practical knowledge of mixed 

 farming, organising ability, and be qualified to lecture. 

 Applications, with testimonials, must reach the honor- 

 ary secretary of the committee, 32 Prince of Wales 

 Road, Norwich, by, at latest, Saturday, December 9. 



The first country meeting of the Association of 

 Economic Biologists since pre-war days will be held 

 in the Botanical Department of the University of 

 Manchester on Friday, December 15, when Dr. W. 

 Lawrence Balls will open a discussion on " Genetics 

 in Relation to Applied Biology." Dr. S. G. Paine 

 will read a paper on " Internal Rust Spot (Sprain and 

 Net Necrosis) in the Potato and the Possible Associa- 

 tion of this Disease with Leaf Roll," followed by in- 

 formal discussions on "The Place of Applied Biology 

 in Universities," and "The Relation of Biology to 

 Medicine." On Saturday, December 16, a visit will be 

 paid to the British Cotton Industry Research Associa- 

 tion, Shirley Institute, Didsbury. 



The suggestion made by Mr. F. Gill, president of 

 the Institution of Electrical Engineers, in his recent 

 address, that an international European conference 

 should be held with the view of establishing on a 

 commercial basis a practical system of long-distance 

 telephony in the European trunk lines, has now been 

 realised by M. Paul Laflont, the French Minister of 

 Telegraphs and Telephones. He proposes to invite 

 a conference at Paris of the technical administrators 

 of the Western European countries, and he urges 

 that France would naturally be the centre of the 

 vast telephone system formed by combining the 

 systems of these countries. The long - distance 



