5o8 



NA TURE 



[September 12, 1907 



attention to the study of the fungi occurring in their 

 districts. The subject was introduced by Mr. Carleton 

 Rea, of Worcester, at the instance of the British Myco- 

 logical Society. It was pointed out by Mr. Rea that 

 British botanists generally omit fungi from the county 

 floras, or give lists that are compiled without the neces- 

 sary local knowledge. Yet the group ill deserves neglect, 

 for it is one of great economic importance. It is said 

 that the cereal rusts cost Prussia in one year 2o,qoo,ooo/. 

 To encourage the study of British fungi, the Woolhope 

 Naturalists' Club in iSbS instituted a series of autumnal 

 forays, and some other natural-history clubs, like the 

 Esse.x Field Club, have followed the example ; but this 

 occasional study is insuflicicnt. The fungi should be 

 studied throughout the year, and specimens displayed for 

 exhibition at all times in the society's rooms or in the 

 local museum. In the course of the discussion. Prof. 

 J. W. Carr, of Nottingham, and some other naturalists, 

 dwelt on the difficulty of working out the fungi of a 

 given district in consequence of the general lack of e.xpert 

 knowledge. Mr. Rea, however, considered it the duty of 

 each society to be able to determine the fungi of its own 

 area, without submitting them, except in ditTicuIt cases, 

 to a mycological referee. A large collection of hand- 

 coloured photographs of fungi, taken by Mr. A. Wallis, 

 of Kettering, was exhibited by Mr. H. N. Dixon. 



Several delegates from the sections explained in what 

 way the local scientific societies might aid the sectional 

 committees. Mr. Wilfrid Mark Webb appealed for speci- 

 mens of centipedes in illustration of a work on which he 

 was engaged, but the Rev. Thomas Stebbing explained 

 that his repeated request for well-shrimps had met with 

 no response from any of the local societies through their 

 delegates. 



HEALTH AND EDUCATION. 



'pHE Health Education League of Boston, Massachusetts, 

 U.S.A., has issued a series of small pamphlets deal- 

 ing with the common aspects of our daily life from a 

 health point of view. Mrs. Ellen H. Richards appears to 

 be the moving spirit in this useful sanitary campaign, and 

 \vith her are associated as writers of' pamphlets and 

 directors of the league several medical men. The useful- 

 ness of the hints contained in these tiny publications is 

 undoubted, all the more so because they are tiny, and 

 because the facts they set forth are stated in terms 

 readily to be understood by evervone. 



The first of the series gives ''' Hints for Health in Hot 

 Weather." In it we find sensible remarks, under the 

 heading of "Rules for Children," "Cleanliness," &c., 

 concerning the general bringing up of children, but, except 

 the benefits of sunshine and the use of wire screens to keep 

 out mosquitoes, we are told all too little about bodily 

 protection in hot weather. 



No. 2 of the series deals with milk. The story of milk 

 as a food and as a vehicle of disease is admirably told. 

 The meaning of unwholesome milk, how it is brought 

 about, and how prevented bv chilling and sterilising, is 

 described and fully explained; the information contained 

 in this pamphlet is an education to the public in the very 

 best sense. 



"Colds and their Prevention" is dealt with in series 

 No. 3. Under this heading the subject of ventilation is 

 skilfully introduced. The care of the skin and of the feet 

 is also incorporated in the text. 



No. 4 of the series is concerned with " Meat and Drink." 

 Good nutrition is held to be of vital importance to our 

 courage, cheerfulness, and phvsical efficiencv, and the 

 meaning of cooking and the effects of boiling, roasting, 

 frying. &c., scientificallv vet simply explained. " 



" Healthful Homes " is the subject of No. 5. The 

 moral atmosphere of family life is dwelt upon as an 

 iirportant factor in national life, and the practical details 

 of elementary hygiene and sanitation are here collected 

 and set forth in admirable fashion. 



" The Successful Woman " (series No. 6) pamphlet tells I 

 the busmess woman how to keep well, and good and I 

 sensible rules and suggestions are laid down for her 

 guidance. Most of us would hesitate to stamp a business I 



woman, that is, one whose chief ideal is to keep well, sO: 

 " that she may earn a full salary," as one of nature*! ' 

 successful productions. That women should be compellei 

 to, or by choice, take to business cannot but be regarded 

 as one of the blots of our civilisation of which we ought 

 to be heartily ashamed. To stamp a woman so engaged 

 as a successful woman is rather encouraging woman along 

 a side-path of doubtful benefit to the race. 



" The Boy and the Cigarette " (series No. 7) should 

 be read by everyone, and the recommendations against 

 this poisonous and harmful practice should be stringently 

 enforced by law in the case of boys. Women are warned 

 that neither their brothers nor their admirers think better 

 of them for smoking cigarettes. A woman who smokes 

 is spoken of in a ribald manner, did women but know it, 

 by men in private, and their morality made a subject of 

 question and banter. 



" The Care of Little Children " (series No. 8) is replete 

 with good advice, and can be heartily commended ; and 

 the fact that the future health and welfare of the individual 

 is mostly determined by the wisdom or folly bestowed upon 

 the infant during the first few weeks of life pointedly 

 brought home. 



" The Plague of Mosquitoes and Flies " constitutes the 

 subject of series No. 9. It is a timely contribution, and 

 contains the most recent lessons we have learned concern- 

 ing the spread of disease. We know within recent years 

 that our household pests and pets, the flies, fleas, bugs, 

 and other vermin which inhabit our houses, and our dogs, 

 cats, fowls, mice, rats, &c., are frequent media of the 

 transmission of diseases. It is a great advance in know- 

 ledge, one of the greatest hygienic advances since Parker 

 first brought the subject systematically before the world. 

 This pamphlet should be distributed broadcast, and the 

 subject it deals with taught in every school. 



No. II of the series points out, under the title of 

 " Tonics and Stimulants," the necessity for temperance 

 in the use of alcohol, tea and coffee, and drugs. The 

 lessons in this short pamphlet are well taught, and the 

 advice wise and wholesome. 



The series as a whole is an unfortunate necessity. It 

 implies that mankind, in modern days, has so lost touch 

 with nature and nature's ways that the instinct of the 

 care of the young, which belongs in common to all animals, 

 is a lost attribute of modern men and women. Perhaps it 

 is wise to recognise the fact ; and being recognised, we 

 can conceive no better method of repairing the loss than 

 by the publication and wide distribution of information 

 such as we find in the series before us. 



NO. 1976, VOL. 76] 



THE INSTITUTION OF MINING ENGINEERS. 

 'T'HE annual meeting of the Institution of Mining 

 ■*■ Engineers, held at Sheffield on September 4, 5, 

 and 6, was attended by a large number of members. 

 Cordial addresses of welcome were delivered by Mr. 

 J. R. R. Wilson, president of the Midland Institute of 

 Mining Engineers, by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, and 

 by Mr. .\. J. Hobson, speaking on behalf of the Chamber 

 of Commerce and of Sheffield University, who kindly lent 

 the Firth Hall for the occasion. Mr. C. E. Rhodes w-as 

 elected president for the ensuing year, and the report of 

 the council, read by the secretary, Mr. M. Walton Brown, 

 recorded a year of satisfactory progress. The institution 

 is a federation of seven local mining societies, and its 

 membership has grown from 1230 since the foundation 

 in 1889 to 3100 at the present time. During the past 

 year sixty-eight papers of a varied nature were published 

 in the Transactions. Mention was made of the efforts 

 being made, in conjunction with the British Science 

 Guild, to secure a reduction of postage on the publications 

 of scientific societies, and of the reports submitted by 

 Mr. J. A. Longden. representative of the institution at 

 the British Association, and by Mr. Bennett H. Brough. 

 representative of the institution at the testing congfress in 

 Brussels. It was also noted that Mr. .•\rthur Sopwith, 

 senior past-president, represented the institution on the 

 governing body of the Imperial College of Science and 

 Technology. 



Three papers were read and discussed. The first, by 

 Mr. J. W. Fryar and Mr. Robert Clive, described the 



