August 11, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



179 



valued at about $50,000, toward the endow- 

 ment of a library for Hanover. A citizen of 

 the town has given a building, which is just 

 completed and the local physicians have 

 undertaken to develop a medical reference 

 section as a memorial to Dr. Smith. 



The Scottish Geographical Magazine states 

 that the annual relief of the observers located 

 at Laurie Island, South Orkneys, was eifected 

 early in February by the Uruguay, which ex- 

 perienced very heavy weather, both on the 

 outward and homeward voyage. The observ- 

 ers report a very open autumn and winter as 

 having occurred last year — May, June and 

 July being all milder than any noted previ- 

 ously. The first zero temperature was not ob- 

 served till July 24, or three months later than 

 in 1903, when the Scotia was frozen in by the 

 end of March. In 1910 Scotia Bay remained 

 unfrozen till the last week of July, being the 

 latest date observed, and broke up on ISTovem- 

 ber 18. August was a cold month. During 

 the summer of 1910-11 there was much pack 

 ice round the islands, which did not disperse 

 till early in February, a few days before the 

 arrival of the relief ship. Mr. EUiston, a Nor- 

 wegian, one of the meteorological observers, 

 died on August 20 of a cardiac complaint 

 after a few weeks' illness. 



The president of the British local govern- 

 ment board has, as we learn from the Journal 

 of the American Medical Association, author- 

 ized the following special researches to be paid 

 for out of the annual grant voted by parlia- 

 ment in aid of scientific investigations con- 

 cerning the causes and processes of disease: 

 (1) A research into the causes of premature 

 arterial degeneration in man, by Dr. F. W. 

 Andrewes, pathologist to St. Bartholomew's 

 Hospital; (2) an inquiry by Dr. J. H. Thurs- 

 field, of St. Bartholomew's Hospital into the 

 causes of death in measles; (3) a comparison 

 by Professor Nuttall, F.E.S., Quick professor 

 of biology at the University of Carnbridge, of 

 the number and kinds of fleas found on rats; 

 (4) a continuation by Dr. C. J. Lewis, of 

 Birmingham University, of his investigation 

 into the' degree of prevalence and the char- 

 acteristics of microorganisms known as non- 



lactose fermenters in the alimentary canal of 

 infants; (5) an investigation into the same 

 subject by Dr. D. M. Alexander, of Liverpool 

 University; (6) an inquiry by Dr. Graham 

 Smith, of Cambridge University into the in- 

 cidence of non-lactose fermenters in flies in 

 normal surroundings and in surroundings as- 

 sociated with epidemic diarrhoea; (7) a study 

 by Dr. F. A. Bainbridge, of the Lister Insti- 

 tute, of the anaerobic bacteria in the alimen- 

 tary canal of infants; (8) an investigation by 

 Dr. Graham Smith into the possibility of 

 pathogenic microorganisms being taken up by 

 the larva and subsequently distributed by the 



fly. 



We learn from Nature that the organizing 

 committee of the fourth International Con- 

 ference of Genetics, to be held in Paris on 

 September 18-23, met recently under the pres- 

 idency of Dr. Viger. M. Philippe de Vil- 

 morin, secretary of the committee, reported 

 what had been done up to that day in prepa- 

 ration for the conference. Not counting the 

 names of the principal French biologists who 

 are members of the committee, the secretary 

 was able to give the names of the following 

 foreigners who have subscribed : Baur, Giesen- 

 hagen, Goldschmidt, Pfitzer, Poll, etc. (for 

 Germany); Agar, Bateson, Darbishire, Greg- 

 ory, Miss Durham, Hartog, Laxton, Lynch, 

 Nettleship, Baton, Punnett, Miss Saunders, 

 Staples-Browne, Sutton, Miss Wheldale, etc. 

 (for Great Britain) ; Bradley (for Australia) ; 

 Fruwirth, Strakosh, Tchermak, etc. (for 

 Austria) ; W. and Chs. Saunders (for Can- 

 ada) ; Johannsen (Denmark) ; Balls (Egypt) ; 

 Davenport, Hays, Howard, Swingle, Tower, 

 etc. (United States); Hagedoorn, Houwink, 

 Lotsy, Noordnijn (for Holland) ; Leake (for 

 India); Strampeli (for Italy) ;• Nilsson-Ehle, 

 Eosenberg (for Sweden) ; Chodat (Switzer- 

 land) ; Boris de Fedtschenko (Eussia), and 

 Areehavaleta (Uruguay). Many universities 

 and scientific societies will be officially repre- 

 sented. Numerous communications have been 

 promised; short descriptions of them will be 

 published before the meeting of the confer- 

 ence, and they will be published in full in the 

 proceedings, a copy of which will be sent to 



