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76 



NATURE 



[May 27, 1909 



A DIRECTOR will be appointed shortly for the Australian 

 Institute of Tropical Medicine, which has been founded to 

 further the scientific study of the diseases peculiar to 

 tropical Australia, and to afford opportunities for the train- 

 ing of medical men in this department of medicine. The 

 institute will be situated in Townsville, Queensland, where 

 a large and well-equipped general hospital exists. The 

 general control of the institute is vested in a committee 

 appointed by the Universities of Sydney, Melbourne, and 

 Adelaide, and one representative of the Government of 

 ■Queensland. The director will be required to organise 

 and administer the institute, to conduct investigations into 

 the tropical diseases of Australia, and to give such instruc- 

 tion in tropical diseases as may be determined upon, and 

 superintend research work undertaken in the laboratories 

 of the institute. The appointment will be, in the first 

 instance, for five years at a salary of 600L per annum. 

 The selection of the director will be made by a committee 

 ■of three representing the Royal Society, the London 

 'School of Tropical Medicine, and the Liverpool School of 

 Tropical Medicine. 



Last week we referred to the new museum, at Truro, 

 ■of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. At a meeting of 

 the institution held on May 25 it was announced that the 

 'following letter had been received from the Duchy of 

 Cornwall Office : — " The Prince of Wales has been pleased 

 to sanction a donation of 200 guineas from the Duchy 

 revenue to the fund for a new county museum at Truro. 

 His Royal Highness directs that the donation may be 

 given in memory of Sir Humphry Davy and Richard 

 Trevithick, two great Cornishmen who commenced their 

 careers with few advantages and left names which can 

 never be forgotten. His Royal Highness hopes that with 

 Increased facilities for the study of science and art the 

 great traditions of the Duchy may be more than main- 

 tained." 



In his article on " The Government and Aeronautical 

 Research " in Nature of May 13 Prof. Bryan re- 

 marked : — " The Aeronautical Society mainly exists for 

 the purpose of promoting discussions on aeronautical 

 matters." Mr. Eric S. Bruce, late honorary secretary of 

 the society, writes to say that, from the days of its founda- 

 tion in 1866, the society has had wider objects and aims 

 than merely debate. Experiments have been encouraged, a 

 " well-illustrated " journal has been published, and it is 

 hoped that a well-equipped aeronautical laboratory may 

 before long be established. " Another special object has 

 been the establishment of a comprehensive aeronautical 

 library, and many of the important works on aeronautics 

 in various languages have already been collected." Prof. 

 Bryan has favoured us with the following remarks upon 

 the subject of Mr. Bruce's letter : — " No difference of 

 opinion can possibly exist as to the value of libraries, 

 laboratories, practising grounds, and properly conducted 

 ■experiments in furthering the progress of aeronautics. 

 But while the Aeronautical Society deserves full credit for 

 all that it has done in the right direction, it would be 

 invidious to single it out without referring in equal detail 

 to claims of a similar or different kind possessed by the 

 •other two bodies under discussion. The Aero Club also 

 has its experimental ground, while the Aerial League 

 attaches the greatest importance to scientific research, 

 which it proposes to further by founding and endowing a 

 college. If this movement receives the support which it 

 •deserves, that institution should certainly become the lead- 

 ing authority on all scientific developments of aeronautics. 

 In the accounts of the amalgamation given in the daily 



NO. 2065, VOL. 80] 



papers a claim to that position was put forward on behalf 

 of the Aeronautical Society. But the right of a society 

 10 rank among the leading scientific bodies must neces- 

 sarily depend largely on the maintenance of a uniformly 

 high standard of scientific value and accuracy in the com- 

 munications published in its Proceedings, and an examina- 

 tion of the Journal shows that such a claim could not 

 be admitted unchallenged in the columns of Nature any 

 more than the description of the Journal as ' well illus- 

 trated ' could be allowed to pass without referring to the 

 figures on pp. 52, 53, of the April number. For this 

 reason the sentence quoted by the energetic and enter- 

 prising ex-secretary was chosen after careful consideration 

 as indicating the special and distinguishing characteristics 

 of the society better than any statement of a more 

 ambitious character." 



What is perhaps the largest prehistoric relic found in 

 England has just been secured for the Hull Municipal 

 Museum. This is the well-known " dug-out " boat found 

 during excavations at Brigg, Lines, in 1886. The boat 

 is cut from a single piece of oak, more than 48 feet in 

 length and 6 feet in width — a much larger size than any 

 oak tree living in Britain to-day. With the boat were 

 found many interesting relics, and these have also been 

 presented by Mr. 'V. Cary-Elwes. Mr. T. Sheppard, the 

 curator of the museum, has successfully removed the boat 

 to its new quarters, where it forms a welcome addition 

 to the already large series of Lincolnshire antiquities. 



K magnetic storm of some sire was recorded at Kew 

 during May 14 and 15. It commenced suddenly at about 

 5.0 a.m. on May 14, the initial change of horizontal force 

 — about 70 7 in five minutes — being unusually large. The 

 total range was about 400 7 in horizontal force and 54' 

 in declination. The largest and most rapid changes took 

 place between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on May .14. Westerly 

 declination diminished by about 48' between 5.12 p.m. and 

 5.18 p.m. The vertical force was continuously in excess 

 of its normal value between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. on May 14, 

 the excess not falling short of 1007 between 2.40 p.m. 

 and 8. 40: p.m. There were no large movements after 

 4 a.m. on May 15, but the curves remained somewhat 

 disturbed until the evening. There was a marked appear- 

 ance at. times of continuous oscillatory movements of the 

 type which usually accompany aurora. 



In his recent discourse at the Royal Institution, which 

 we hope to publish in an early issue, Prof. Ronald Ross 

 referred to the neglect of malaria prevention for ten years 

 in many British possessions. In answer to a question 

 upon the subject asked by Mr. Ramsay MacDonald in 

 the House of Commons a few days ago. Colonel Seely 

 referred him to the report of the advisory committee for 

 the Tropical Diseases Research Fund for the year 1907 

 (Cd. 3992) containing reports relating to malaria. He 

 added : — " These reports show, I regret to say, that 

 nothing of any consequence had been done in the direc- 

 tion indicated at that time. The reports in question have, 

 with the rest nf the matter contained in the Blue-book, 

 been brought to the notice of the schools of tropical 

 medicine, but action to be effective must needs be taken 

 by the Governments concerned, with the cooperation of 

 the general community." 



In the House of Commons on May 20 Mr. Balfour 

 asked the Prime Minister whether he could state the nature 

 of the duties entrusted to the scientific committee on 

 aerial navigation, and explain the relation of the com- 

 mittee to the executive officers -ivho were understood to be 



