OCTOBEE 4, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



449 



being one of great economic importance. These 

 experiments need to be extended over a period of 

 years before any certain conclusions can be drawn. 



SECTION E — GEOGRAPHY 



Sir Charles Watson's presidential address dealt 

 with two themes — the history of Sudanese geog- 

 raphy since Sir S. Baker was the president of the 

 section at the last meeting in Dundee 45 years ago, 

 and the new international map of the world on the 

 uniform scale of 1/1,000,000. His criticisms on 

 the coloring of the map were supported by the sec- 

 tion later when Captain E. O. Henrici, E.E., ex- 

 hibited the sheets as far as they had been published. 

 It was agreed that an uncolored edition ought to 

 be published as well as the "layer" edition now 

 appearing. 



The African branch of the president's address 

 was carried further by the papers of Dr. Felix 

 Oswald (from the Victoria Nyanza to the Kisii 

 highlands), Mr. G. W. Grabham (the country 

 north of Lake Albert), and Mr. P. Amaury Talbot 

 (South Nigeria). A valuable paper was contrib- 

 uted by Mr. E. A. Eeeves on recent improvements 

 in surveying instruments, and Sir H. G. Fordham 

 illustrated his paper on the Road Books of the 

 United Kingdom by a varied collection of maps 

 and itineraries. Great interest was taken In the 

 Antarctic discussion initiated by Sir Clements 

 Markham, who sketched the history of Antarctic 

 discovery and the outstanding problems. Other 

 speakers felt that in the praise of Captain Scott 

 something less than justice was done to other ex- 

 plorers, and especially to the expeditions which 

 started from Dundee. 



Dr. W. S. Bruce in his paper on the Antarctic 

 continent, after reviewing the earlier discoveries, 

 noted that Amundsen had confirmed Shackleton's 

 discovery of the Antarctic plateau, and traced the 

 Victoria land range to the southeast, as well as 

 finally obliterating the suggestion that the Eoss 

 Barrier extends across Antarctica, dividing it into 

 two land masses. The biological evidence confirms 

 the evidence of soundings in favor of a former 

 land connection between Africa and Antarctica. 

 Professor Charles Chilton, of New Zealand, took 

 up the biological point, and showed that the 

 inference extended to South America and Australia. 

 Dr. E. N. Eudmose Brown spoke of the structure 

 of the continent, pointing out that the theory of 

 a great strait completely lacked confirmation. Dr. 

 Marshall described the work of Shackleton's expe- 

 dition, and Dr. Hodgson, of the Discovery, defended 



the use of dogs against the criticisms of Sir 

 Clements Markham. At the very end of the meet- 

 ing Sir W. Willcocks gave a trenchant and delight- 

 fully entertaining lecture on Canadian agriculture 

 and irrigation. 



SECTION F — ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS 



This was one of the most popular of the sections. 

 All the papers discussed dealt with practical eco- 

 nomic issues of the day, and at each meeting the 

 hall was crowded. Sir Henry Cunynghame, of the 

 Home Office, who presided, said at one of the 

 meetings that he was more interested in the estab- 

 lishing of prosperous and contented communities 

 throughout the land than in the discovery of the 

 remains of creatures which existed millions of 

 years ago, and that saying well expresses the spirit 

 of the section. 



In his presidential address Sir Henry Cunyng- 

 hame also pleaded for a thoughtful and rationalist 

 treatment of economic studies. He did not con- 

 demn sympathy, for they were all men and could 

 not but be touched by the sufferings of humanity, 

 but they must be practical in their endeavors to 

 find solutions for social evils. An outstanding 

 paper in the section on the first day of the meeting 

 was that of Mr. Herbert Samuel, M.P., the Post- 

 master-General, who discussed the tendency to find 

 in a federal system of government the varying and 

 sometimes conflicting interests of the difEerent and 

 widely separated communities of the British Em- 

 pire. There was also a notable discussion on the 

 results of war by Mr. Norman Angell and Arch- 

 deacon Cunningham. 



Friday was devoted to a discussion of labor 

 problems. The readers of the four papers 

 treated difEerent aspects of the subject. Professor 

 S. J. Chapman presented the general case for and 

 against arbitration and conciliation in the settle- 

 ment of labor disputes. Sir Francis Webster gave 

 the manufacturers' point of view, noting the causes 

 afEecting prices and wages in the last 40 years. 

 Mr. Eamsay MacDonald, M.P., made a reasonable 

 plea for a minimum wage, varying according to 

 locality and industry, giving labor its due share in 

 the profits, but not unfair to the employers. Mr. 

 C. E. Fay considered the limits within which indus- 

 trial co-partnership might reasonably claim to be 

 a remedy for industrial strife, and described in 

 detail the schemes in operation at Lever Brothers 

 (limited). Port Sunlight, and those in the English 

 gas companies, where the late Sir George Livesey 

 was the pioneer. A letter relating to conciliation 



