September 27, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



421 



THE STUDY OF DIATOMS 



The "Eeport on the Diatoms of tbe Alba- 

 tross Voyages in the Pacific Ocean, 1888- 

 1904," by Albert Mann, published as one of 

 the Contributions from the United States 

 National Herbarium (vol. 10, part 5) is a 

 notable addition to our knowledge of this 

 group of plants. In the introductory pages 

 the author describes the methods of work, and 

 points out the importance of a fuller study of 

 these plants than has yet been given them by 

 our government officials. The generic and 

 specific names accord with "the rules now 

 generally prevailing in botanical nomencla- 

 ture," necessitating in some instances "the 

 substitution of obscure and inappropriate 

 names for those universally known and re- 

 corded among living diatomists," which the 

 author " feels to be a grave misfortune." The 

 " Annotated Catalogue " which occupies 160 

 pages, includes three hundred species, of which 

 forty-three are here described for the first 

 time. The author has not found it necessary 

 to establish any new genera, and this fact 

 taken with the very moderate number of new 

 species, shows him to be conservative in his 

 treatment of the group. It is interesting to 

 note that of the species, 169 belong to the 

 subfamily Centricae, while 131 belong to the 

 Penivatae. The large genera are Coscino- 

 discus, with 34 species; Tripodiscus, 13; 

 Biddulphia, 30; and Navicula, 54. A most 

 useful bibliography (the work of P. L. Eicker) 

 including about four hundred titles, and 

 eleven full-page plates, including 56 figures 

 (mostly of new species) complete this very 

 interesting and valuable paper. 



Charles E. Bessey 

 The Univeksity of Nebraska 



1. Colonel David Bruce, P.R.S., C.B., Eoyal 



Army Medical Corps, who in 1887 discovered 

 the cause of Malta fever, and proved that that 

 malady was produced by the milk of infected 



MEDALS FOR RESEARCH IN TROPICAL 

 MEDICINE 



The Mary Kingsley medal, instituted by 

 the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to 

 commemorate Miss Mary Kingsley, the Af- 

 rican traveler, who died in 1900, has been pre- 

 sented to the following for distinction in work 

 of special research into tropical medicine: 



2. Professor Dr. Eobert Koch, Nobel Laure- 

 ate, who ascertained the cause of cholera, and 

 who has contributed much to the knowledge 

 of tropical diseases, especially the discovery 

 of the frequency of malarial infection in chil- 

 dren. 



3. Dr. A. Laveran, Pasteur Institute, Paris, 

 and D.Sc, University of Liverpool, who in 

 1880 made the great discovery that malarial 

 fever is caused by parasites in blood. 



4. Sir Patrick Manson, P.E.S., KO.M.G., 

 London School of Tropical Medicine, who in 

 1878 discovered that one of the parasites of 

 man belonging to the group of Filaria is car- 

 ried by a kind of mosquito. 



5. Dr. Basile Danilswsky, professor of 

 physiology. University of KharkofP, who dis- 

 covered numerous parasites of blood in a large 

 number of animals shortly after Laveran's 

 discovery was made. 



6. Dr. Charles Finlay, chief sanitary officer 

 of Cuba, who in 1880 originated the theory 

 that yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes. 



Y. Dr. Camirlo Golgi, professor of pathol- 

 ogy. University of Pavia, who in 1887 made 

 a complete study of the life cycle of parasites 

 of malaria. 



8. Colonel W. C. Gorgas, United States 

 Army, who as chief sanitary officer of Havana 

 gave practical effect in 1902 to the discoveries 

 of Pinlay and of the American commission in 

 connection with yellow fever, and succeeded 

 in banishing the disease from the city. 



9. Waldemar Mordecai W. Haffkine, CLE., 

 who in 1893 discovered a method of inocula- 

 tion beneficially used in India. 



10. Dr. Arthur Loos, professor of parasitol- 

 ogy. School of Medicine, Cairo, for work in 

 connection with parasitology. 



11. Dr. Theobald Smith, professor of com- 

 parative pathology, Harvard University, who 

 in 1893 discovered a new kind of blood para- 

 site in the so-called Texas cattle fever. 



