60 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1307 



of the nation the duration of the supply will be 

 brief. 



The public has a right, therefore, to demand that 

 this natural asset be used to the greatest advantage 

 of all and that no one be allowed to waste it. Nat- 

 ural gas in each ctiy is a community asset and 

 every consumer has a right to demand that waste- 

 ful use shall be prohibited in the interest of the 

 public service. This is particularly important dur- 

 ing cold spells in the winter when the supply is in- 

 sufficient and actual suffering may occur. Clearly, 

 it is not right that any consumer suffer at such 

 times because of the extravagance and waste of 

 other consumers, even though they are willing to 

 pay for the gas wasted. Nor can the citizens 

 justify demands for better service from the public 

 utilities without making provision to correct 

 abuses in their own homes. It must be recognized 

 that the public has been and is to-day just as much 

 a party to the crime of wasting this natural re- 

 source as are the companies that produce and 

 market it. 



SCIENTIFIC LECTURES 



Under the auspices of the division of geology 

 of Harvard University, Dr. James Mackintosh 

 Bell, former government geologist of New Zeal- 

 and, will give a series of nine lectures on topics 

 in economic geology. These lectures are 

 given in the Geological Lecture Room, Geolog- 

 ical Museum, at 4.30 o'clock, and will be open 

 to the public. The dates and titles are as fol- 

 lows: 



"The Waihi goldfield, New Zea 

 ' ' The Mount Morgan copper mine 

 ' The Mount Bischoff tin mine, Tas 

 ' ' The Mount LyeU copper mine, 

 "The Spassky copper mines, Si' 

 "The Atbasar copper mines. Si' 

 "The Sadbury nickel-copper area 

 "The Cobalt Silver Camp, On- 

 ' ' The Porcupine goldfields, On- 



January 5, 

 land. ' ' 



January 7. ' 

 Queensland. ' ' 



January 9. ' 

 mania. ' ' 



January 12. 

 Tasmania. ' ' 



January 14. 

 beria. ' ' 



January 16. 

 beria. ' ' 



January 19. 

 Ontario. ' ' 



January 20. 

 tario. " 



January 21. 

 tario. ' ' 



The following are among the lectures to be 

 given at the Royal Institution : Professor W. 



H. Bragg, six lectures adapted to a juvenile 

 auditory on The "World of Sound; Sir John 

 Cadman, two lectures on (1) Modern Develop- 

 ment of the Miner's Safety Lamp and (2) 

 Petroleum and the War; Professor G. Elliot 

 Smith, three lectures on The Evolution of 

 Man and the Early History of Civilization; 

 Professor Ernest Wilson, two lectures on 

 Magnetic Susceptibility; Professor Arthur 

 Keith, four lectures on British Ethnology; 

 The Invaders of England; Professor A. E. 

 Conrady, two lectures on Recent Progress in 

 Photography; Professor A. H. Smith, two lec- 

 tures on Illustrations of Ancient Greek and 

 Roman Life in the British Museum; Lieu- 

 tenant-Colonel E. Gold, two lectures on The 

 Upper Air; Sir F. W. Dyson, Astronomer 

 Royal, three lectures on The Astronomical 

 Evidence bearing on Einstein's Theory of 

 Gravitation; and Sir J. J. Thomson, six lec- 

 tures on Positive Rays. The Friday evening 

 discourses will begin on Friday, January 16, 

 1920, at 9 o'cock, when Sir James Dewar will 

 deliver a discourse on Low-temperature Stud- 

 ies. Succeeding discourses will probably be 

 given by Sir C. A. Parsons, Mr. S. G. Brown, 

 Professor W. M. Bayliss, Dr. E. J. Russell, 

 Mr. W. B. Hardy, the Hon. J. W. Fortescue, 

 Professor J. A. Fleming, Mr. E. McCurdy, Sir 

 J. J. Thomson, and others. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



At a meeting of the Societe de Pathologie 

 exotique at the Institut Pasteur of Paris, 

 held on December 10, Dr Simon Flexner of 

 The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re- 

 search, in New York, was elected an associate 

 member. Dr. Flexner was also elected to as- 

 sociate membership in the Societe Royale des 

 Sciences Medicales et ISTaturelles of Brussels, 

 at a meeting held on December 1, and to the 

 Societe Beige de Biologie of Brussels, at its 

 meeting of December 6. On December 22, 

 Dr. Flexner was made a corresponding mem- 

 ber of the Bataafsch Genootschap der Proe- 

 fondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte of Rotterdam, 

 Holland. 



Official notice has been issued by the 

 French Academy of Sciences of the award of 



