916 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 782 



logical Society on November 12. In the 

 course of his address, according to the report 

 in Nature, Professor Herdman gave an ac- 

 count of the work, both scientific and eco- 

 nomic, carried out during the past year, such 

 as the curator's report upon the hatching and 

 setting free of more than seven millions of 

 young plaice, making a total of 25J millions 

 during the six years the hatching has been in 

 operation; the experiments in lobster rearing; 

 Dr. "Ward's investigations on the eggs and 

 young larvEe of the plaice (illustrated by many 

 very beautiful enlarged photographs) ; Mr. 

 Gravely's work on the development of the 

 brittle-star-fish; Dr. Herbert Eoaf's researches 

 on digestion in marine animals; Mr. Dakin's 

 physico-chemical observations on the condi- 

 tion of the sea-water at different times in con- 

 nection with the migrations of the food of 

 fishes; Mr. Edwin Thompson's photomicro- 

 graphs of various tjrpes of minute organisms 

 in the sea; and Professor Herdman's own in- 

 vestigations into the detailed distribution of 

 life in the sea. Some of the biological stations 

 and establishments for fish culture in Canada 

 and the United States were also described, 

 and attention was directed to the American 

 system of providing dormitories and dining 

 halls for the students and researchers, and to 

 the manner in which men of wealth in the 

 states advance science by making large dona- 

 tions to such laboratories in order to defray 

 the expenses of special investigations or ma- 

 rine and other explorations. 



The Journal of "the American Medical As- 

 sociation summarizes recent vital statistics for 

 England and France. It appears that the reg- 

 istrar-general's return for the quarter ending 

 September again records a decreased birth- 

 rate for England and Wales, the proportion 

 being 25.4 annually, which is 2.5 below the 

 average for the ten corresponding quarters 

 and is the lowest for any third quarter of the 

 year since the establishment of civil registra- 

 tion. On the other hand, the deaths were 

 only 11.6 per 1,000, which was 3.4 below the 

 average for the last ten years, and again the 

 lowest on record for the period in question. 

 Taking the two returns together, the natural 



increase in population by excess of births 

 over deaths was 123,878, as against 123,197 in 

 1908. The low death-rate is all the more re- 

 markable, as the weather conditions have been 

 unfavorable. The summer months included 

 only one substantial spell of fine seasonable 

 weather. Thanks to the great attention 

 which is now being paid to infant hygiene, 

 the mortality of infants under 1 year showed 

 the large decrease of 38.6 per cent. Statistics 

 in regard to the fluctuation of population in 

 France during the first semester of the pres- 

 ent year have just been published. Here are 

 the comparative figures of births and deaths 

 for the first semester of the years 1908-9 : 



1909 1908 



Births 398,710 411,402 



Deaths 426,913 401,894 



Thus the number of births has diminished by 

 12,692, and at the same time the number of 

 deaths has increased by 25,019. The popula- 

 tion of France has diminished by 28,203, 

 figures representing the excess of deaths over 

 births. Almost all the departments of France 

 have contributed to this diminution of the 

 population, but the excess of deaths over 

 births is often particularly marked in the 

 departments which contain large cities, as the 

 departments of the Seine (Paris), Rhone 

 (Lyons), Gironde (Bordeaux), Bouches-du- 

 Rhone (Marseilles), Haute-Garonne (Tou- 

 louse), etc. Only in some departments of the 

 north and west is an excess of births over 

 deaths recorded. 



The production of gold in the United 

 States in 1908 was 4,574,340 fine ounces, val- 

 ued at $94,560,000, an increase of 199,513 fine 

 ounces over the production in 1907, which was 

 4,374,827 fine ounces, valued at $90,435,700. 

 The production of silver in 1908 was 52,440,- 

 800 fine ounces, valued at $28,050,600, a de- 

 crease in quantity and in value from 1907, 

 when the production was 56,514,700 fine 

 ounces, valued at $37,299,700. On the whole 

 the gold-mining industry had in 1908 a pros- 

 perous year in spite of many adverse condi- 

 tions of trade and finance. The production 

 during the year is the largest annual output 



