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explanation. It has been suggested that the radioactive emanation which is always present in the atmosphere in varying quantities may not be without influence on the human organism, and if, as Elster and Geitel suppose, this emanation is mainly derived from the underground air, which is more copiously discharged into the atmosphere as pressure decreases, it may be possible to establish a connection between the storm feel" and the presence of radio-active emanation. If this be so we should expect to find the effect more pronounced with a falling than with a rising barometer, and, in the absence of direct measurements of the amount of emanation, the results obtained from a classification of the days, or perhaps better still, by a subdivision of the data used in constructing the present curves, on this principle would probably be interesting. Such a separation might prove profitable from a purely meteorological point of view, apart from all considerations of emanations, radio-active or otherwise. Possibly the peculiar abnormalities shown by most of the data for days of calm may be to some extent due to similar causes. The connection is, however, a very complicated one; attempts to trace a similarity between days of calm and days of low barometer fail signally.

We cannot here enter into a discussion of all the results or criticise the individual conclusions arrived at. In the final chapter Dr. Dexter further develops his thesis of the "available energy" and "emotional state" in the light of all the accumulated evidence, and comes to the conclusion that the effect of weather changes is greater on the former than on the latter, at any rate in its practical effects on conduct.

The study of the problems dealt with in the book is not without a certain practical interest to all who are responsible for the control of large numbers of individuals. If certain meteorological conditions can be shown to have a deleterious or beneficent influence on conduct or working capacity, it is well that we should recognise the fact as clearly as possible, and do what we can to mitigate the harmful conditions. Man cannot hope to control the weather, but he can modify the highly artificial conditions under which he lives to a very large extent.

A LIMNOLOGICAL MONOGRAPH. Le Leman, Monographie Limnologique. By Prof. F. A. Forel. Vol. iii. Part ii. Pp. 410-715. (Lausanne: F. Rouge et Cie., 1904.)

IN

N the issue of this, the second part of his third volume, Prof. Forel completes his great monographic study of the Lake of Geneva. The veteran pioneer of scientific limnological research is to be congratulated on the successful termination of his monumental task, commenced some half-century ago.

The impetus which the study of lakes has received from the labours of Forel has now carried us so far that we find it difficult to realise the arduous nature of the work accomplished by him, who had in so many different directions to make the first tentative trials of methods of research with which all students of limnology are now familiar. The completed work is not merely a compendious study of the Lake of

Geneva, but is besides of the utmost value as a general study of the nature of fresh-water lakes. In his painstaking study of this one lake he has been so fortunate as to observe and explain in a satisfactory manner many phenomena of general scientific interest and importance, among others the mysterious rise and fall of the waters of the lakes now known as seiches, the peculiar abyssal fauna of the lake, &c.

The present part of the work, which is mainly historical, deals with such varied subjects that it is difficult to particularise. Nothing having the slightest connection, direct or indirect, with the Lake of Geneva is destitute of interest for Prof. Forel, and we find here discussed many questions which a less enthu siastic limnologist might have been content to leave to students of other departments of knowledge. He gives a résumé of the history of the surrounding countries, of legislation, the fluctuations of population, local traditions, &c. More particularly apposite to the subject are the history of the lake dwellings, undertaken fifty years ago, in company with a band of archaeologists of which he laments that he is the only survivor, the history of navigation, of fishing, and of pisciculture.

The history of navigation is treated very fully, from the canoe of the lake dweller to the modern steamer, and is illustrated with reproductions of many ancient pictures of ships; with such fulness of detail is the subject treated that we have a list of steamers plying on the lake from the Guillaume-Tell of 1823 to those of the present day.

The ancient tradition of the "éboulement du Lauredunum" is discussed in its scientific bearings. The tradition, supported by contemporary chronicles, is that in the year 563 A.D. a mountain was precipitated into the lake, destroying a castle, villages and churches, causing a flooding of the shores of the lake, and much destruction of property and life in Geneva. He shows that a landslip, such as has occurred several times in history, could not accoun! for the production of great floods. Although he has abandoned the belief that earth movements habitually produce seiches, he admits that a great earthquake might be the cause of the land-slide, and coincidently of a great seiche, which would cause destruction on the shores of the lake. He thinks it more probable, however, that at a time of ordinary flood, when the waters of the lake were very high, an ordinary seiche of no more than a metre of amplitude might cause considerable flooding in Geneva, and perhaps wash away some wooden bridges and houses, the connection with the landslip being a mere coincidence.

In his philosophical reflections at the conclusion of his work, Prof. Forel claims that there have been few problems presented to him in the course of his investigations which he has not been able to solve, and the more difficult of these few are general problems. not belonging to his special province, and the solution of which must be sought in other lakes. would, however, guard against this assertion being misunderstood as a boastfully complacent assumption that he has exhausted the subject. Every naturalist has his limits, determined from within by the extent of his powers, from without by the state of the

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sciences in the age in which he lives. What is accomplished in one generation is the foundation for the achievements of the next.

That the subject is not exhausted we may easily see by remarking the progress that has been made in one of its departments most easily reviewed, since Prof. Forel finished that part of his work. In biology, even in the simple cataloguing of the lacustrine animals and plants, it is obvious that the work accomplished under his guidance is no more than a beginning in this direction, and specialists in any branch find abundance still to do. It is with no intention of belittling the work of Prof. Forel that this aspect of the subject is adverted to. It is a great work patiently carried through, and will serve as a foundation for all future limnological studies.

HENRY SIDGWICK'S ESSAYS. Miscellaneous Essays and Addresses. By Henry Sidgwick. Pp. vii+371. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1904.) Price 10s. net.

IN

this volume we have the first instalment of the shorter essays of that brilliant thinker, Henry Sidgwick. They have been chiefly collected from journals and reviews, but two are now published for the first time. His philosophical lectures and papers are reserved for a companion volume. In a way, the selection of articles now before us illustrates a period of thirty-six years of the life of one of the most striking person alities of our time, and on that account, and from their breadth of view, they have a value even though the occasion of their appearance is long past. Of the sixteen papers, six are literary or critical, y deal with questions of socialism and economics, and four with education and university affairs. We were surprised and somewhat disappointed to find no reminiscence of his activity in connection with the education of Englishwomen, but perhaps more may be expected when the histories of Newnham and ferton come to be written.

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A detailed review of the essays on Shakespeare, Matthew Arnold, and Clough, or of those on political economy or sociology, hardly falls within the sphere of this Journal, but few of our readers who are interested n the burning question of the best education for men of science will regret having read Sidgwick's essay 10 The Theory of Classical Education," reprinted rom F. W. Farrar's "Essays on a Liberal Educain," which was originally published in 1867. In the ght of the recent controversy on the Greek question much of this excellent paper reads as if it had been ritten yesterday, and it is difficult to avoid the reflection that if several of the writers of controersial letters to the Times had read this essay of forty ars ago, both their matter and manner might have been improved.

With respect to the classical element in a scientific ducation, Sidgwick was of opinion that although ience had at length broken its connection with what so long the learned language of Europe, yet everyone who aspires to become a "learned "man of sence will require to read Latin with ease, but that

the sole stock-in-trade of Greek necessary for him would be a list of words that he could learn in a day and the use of a dictionary that he might acquire in a week. In other words, he appeared to be in favour of the retention for the highest class of science students of that modicum of Greek which is at present compulsory at Oxford and Cambridge, only he would perhaps have liked to see it reduced and treated as a distinct part of the direct teaching of English.

A clear distinction is drawn between natural and artificial educations, and between the effects of literary and of scientific training. With regard to the latter Cuvier's famous remark is quoted with approbation :

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Every discussion which supposes a classification of facts... is performed after the same manner; and he who has cultivated this science merely for amusement, is surprised at the facilities it affords for disentangling all kinds of affairs."

He admits that a student of languages could not honestly claim an analogous advantage for his own pursuit. The editors are justified in the inclusion of the essay on "Idle Fellowships "in spite of the fact that the evils of which it complains have greatly diminished. The general educational considerations discussed are of so wide a bearing that they are not less true now than in 1876, when the essay was published.

We feel certain that those who peruse this volume will share our gratitude to the editors for their share in the re-publication.

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THE perfecting of the modern dynamo electric machine, and the necessity of high potential differences have within recent years quite altered our ideas about insulation. Electrical engineers have come to view the subject from a different standpoint on account of the importance of disruptive strength of the material apart from conduction pure and simple. The book under review appears at a very appropriate time. Our knowledge of the physical properties of insulators is now sufficient, and the want of a really good book on the subject is great enough to justify its appearance. It will be welcomed by the electrical engineer as a most valuable addition to his library.

The book opens with an account of the requisites for insulating materials, and the most perplexing phenomena met with during the testing of the same. Why is it that air has comparatively such low dielectric strength, and yet it is a very good insulator as ordinarily understood? Again, why does the apparent dielectric strength per unit thickness of such a substance as mica vary with the thickness? These and many other matters difficult to understand are laid before the reader. The properties of insulating materials and the influences of temperature and moisture upon them are next dealt with. authors quite rightly lay stress upon the testing of insulators at, or even exceeding, their working limits of temperature, and the futility of baking to obtain temporary insulation unless moisture be permanently excluded. When dealing with the influence of brush discharge mention might with advantage have been made of the production of nitric acid, and the ultimate

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breaking down of the insulation. The production of ozone the forerunner of the above effect-is a matter of the utmost importance to electrical engineers, especially in damp climates.

That portion of the book dealing with varnishes is most valuable. The pros and cons. of the use of linseed oil, which undoubtedly has a very extended use at the present time, and other acid bodies are well set forth, as are those of the use of insulators of paraffin origin. The uses to which oils can be put as insulators, their various characteristics, their purity and methods for purifying and drying are carefully dealt with. Presspahn-mica is advocated instead of micanite for high tension working.

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THIS ingenious instrument is designed for use in finding the approximate areas of irregular plane figures such as indicator diagrams. It consists of a sheet of transparent celluloid marked with eleven scales on lines radiating from a point at equal angular intervals An important part of the work is that which deals of about 3°, and so divided that a scale reading is prowith insulation of armatures, field-coils, and trans-portional to the area of a sector from the centre up to formers. It is well shown upon what the so-called "space-factor," that is the ratio of area of copper to gross area of slot, depends. Very valuable suggestions are made with regard to pressure tests. Long time high pressure tests are likely to injure apparatus, and are not recommended-a few seconds' application is sufficient. The appliances in use for taping and handling insulation material, and a most interesting description of the tools employed, together with a useful bibliography, close what is really a valuable book. The printing is good, and the illustrations are excellent. ERNEST WILSON.

Insect Life. A Short Account of the Classification
and Habits of Insects. By Fred. V. Theobald,
M.A. With numerous illustrations (53 in the text).
Second edition, revised. Pp. xi+235. (London:
Methuen and Co., 1905.) Price 2s. 6d.
THE first edition of this work was published in 1896,
and the public interest in entomology is evidenced by
the increasing number of books on the subject which
reach a second edition within a comparatively short
time of publication. A cheap popular illustrated book
on insects seems at present to be assured of a sale
at least sufficient to cover expenses, which was not the
case a few years ago.

The second edition is exactly similar to the first as regards its size, illustrations, and general contents; but here and there we notice occasional additions. There is much useful information in the book, but we regret that the second edition has not been more carefully revised, for, apart from occasional misprints, several erroneous or obsolete statements contained in the first edition have been repeated in the second. Thus on p. 3 (note) we read, "The total number [of insects] described, however, is under 250,000. This is probably based on Kirby's estimate in his "Text-book of Entomology" (1885) of 222,000; but the later estimate given in the second edition (1892) was 270,000, which would require to be augmented by many thousands to be correct for 1905. On p. 87, 66 The so-called Apples of Sodom found near the Red Sea," should, of course, be the Dead Sea. While it is true, as stated on p. 105, that Danaus chrysippus is the only European species of the genus, the much larger insect occasionally found in England is the common North American D. erippus (or D. archippus), introduced, but which may not improbably become naturalised in Europe, and has established itself within the last half-century in many of the Pacific Islands, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. Lastly (p. 166), it is possible that the bite of the species of tsetse fly which destroys cattle in South Africa may be " comparatively harmless to man "; yet, as Mr. Theobald must certainly know, the terrible sleeping sickness of Western and Central Africa is now ascribed to the bites of different species of tsetse flies infesting those regions.

We hope that when this little book reaches a third

that point. When used, the sheet is laid over the figure
to be measured, and is adjusted until the figure is just
contained within the bounding radials, with its outline
cutting the nine inner scales each in two points. The
outer and inner readings at these points are now taken
and the two sets added; the difference between the
tion occupies about three minutes. Applied by the
two sums gives the required area. The entire opera-
writer to a 3" circle and a 6" semicircle, the results
were correct in both cases to within per cent.
the outside radials include an angle of about 30°, the
instrument is quite quickly adjusted over large or
small figures of any shape, and the scales are clear
and easy to read. To ensure a good approximation,
Simpson's rule has been cleverly applied in figuring the
scales. The instrument seems likely to be of consider-
able service, and should be widely known.

As

A Preparatory Course in Geometry. By W. P. Workman and A. G. Cracknell. Pp. viii+56. (London: W. B. Clive, 1905.) Price gd.

THE little book by Messrs. Workman and Cracknell is preparatory to a forthcoming work on " Geometry, Theoretical and Practical," on which the authors are now busily engaged. It consists essentially of a set of exercises on the accurate scale drawing of lines, angles, triangles, and polygons, and requires the reading off of quantitative results as regards lengths and angles. Areas, ratios, and the general properties of circles are not reached in this volume.

It

trains the youth in the proper use of the drawing-pencil,
straight-edge, scale, protractor, set-square, and com-
pass, and gives him a concrete knowledge of, and prac-
tical insight into, geometrical truths as a preliminary to
more formal work. Teachers using the book would
do well when valuing class work to act on a sugges-
tion contained therein, and give varying credit accord-
ing to the degree of accuracy disclosed by the results.
The book gives good promise of another very interest-
ing class book of elementary geometry.

The Evolution of the World and of Man. By George
E. Boxall. Pp. xi+ 191. (London: T. Fisher
Unwin, 1905.) Price 5s.

A SINGLE example to show how Mr. Boxall proposes to
supplement the deficiencies in the story of evolution as
told by science will enable possible readers to estimate
the value of his book. On p. 30, after stating that
geology tells us the order in which various strata
were laid down, he continues:-" but no attempt has
as yet been made to estimate the temperature, for
instance, when the granite was first deposited, and
yet this should not be a difficult problem to solve.
Thus, of the true metals, aluminium is the only one
which appears in the granite, . . ." and the account
continues with the same disregard of scientific fact.
Mr. Boxall expresses his own view of the value of
the book by not troubling to provide an index to it.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

The Possibility of Reducing Mosquitoes. Ix his able review of James and Liston's interesting "Monograph of the Anopheles Mosquitoes of India," published in your issue of May 25, Dr. Stephens recapitulates the arguments of these authors in favour of their hypothesis that the task of materially reducing the number of Anopheles in any place will undoubtedly be one of great magnitude." As the subject is one of the greatest sanitary importance, it may perhaps be advisable to add that the validity of these arguments is by no means accepted by all students of the subject. They are based for the most part on the results of some anti-mosquito work done at Mian Mir by Dr. Christophers and Captain James. Perhaps those of your readers who are not medical men may not be cognisant of the fact that an exhaustive and, I think, destructive criticism of this work has been published by Colonels Crombie and Giles, Captain Sewell, and myself-vide British Medical Journal, September 17, 1904, and Journal of Tropical Medicine, 1904. My own conclusions were that the operations cost too little to be effective, and that no exact method was employed for enumerating the numbers of mosquitoes present before and after their commencement. So far as I am aware, Dr. Christophers and Captain James have not replied to our criticisms, and I therefore feel justified in assuming that the case has gone against them by default. I should add that I hear on very good authority that the operations at Mian Mir are now being continued on a better basis.

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The principal argument of our authors appears to be that the local reduction of mosquitoes will be wholly or largely impracticable because of immigration of the insects from outside. Thus they mention four methods by which Anopheles are dispersed, namely, by flight, by streams, by carriages, and by gradual spreading in all directions " by short stages," and think that the last method is " overlooked by those who have no intimate knowledge of mosquito habits, but who readily draw up schemes for their wholesale destruction." I fear that these very selfevident facts were well known and carefully considered long before the authors commenced their researches, and, moreover, that they do not by any means establish their case. It is quite obvious that a considerable number of mosquitoes must always find their way by diffusion into any area of operations; but this is not enough. What the sceptics have to prove is that the number of immigrants must be so large as nearly, or completely, to compensate for the local destruction. This is quite a different proposition, and one which will, I think, tax their ingenuity to maintain. If the local mosquito-density is to remain the same in spite of local destruction, it can only be by means of an abnormally large compensatory immigration setting in coincidentally with the commencement of the work of reduction. But what is there to determine such an extraordinary and suicidal influx? Mosquitoes do not, like a gas, exist under a pressure which compels them to fill up a vacuum, and we can scarcely suppose that they voluntarily move in the direction of their own destruction. But, even if they do rush in to fill the local vacuum, they must, in order to do so, forsake the outlying tracts of country (which will be correspondingly benefited by their absence), so that the total average reduction over the whole area influenced by the operations will be exactly the same whether migration takes place or not-an argument which appears to have been overlooked by the sceptics.

Owing to the fact that the to and fro movements of all random wandering must tend to annul each other-that is, that the vectorial sum of such movements must tend to zero-l think that migration is not likely seriously to counteract the effect of anti-propagation measures. I should like to refer those interested in this part of the subject to a paper by me, published in the British Medical Journal for May 13, in which I have endeavoured to

approach the subject analytically. My results agree with those of the late Mr. Ronald Hudson, who kindly commenced a similar analysis for me shortly before his lamented death, and also, I may add, with general experience, which shows that though a few mosquitoes may occasionally wander to considerable distances, the large bulk of them remain near their breeding pools. I venture to think that those who would prove the converse must do so, not by citing individual cases of long wandering, but by making a much more exact numerical determination of the amount of immigration than they have yet attempted, and by showing that it greatly exceeds the local birth-rate-a somewhat difficult task. That their observations are not always those of others may be seen from the following quotation from Dr. Malcolm Watson's report on the highly successful anti-malaria measures carried out in the Federated Malay States (Journal of Tropical Medicine, April 1, p. 104):-"A definite improvement in the health of Klang was evident when only the swamps nearest to the main groups of houses had been dealt with, and while other swamps within the town were still untouched. The mosquitoes from these did not appear to travel any distance, and there has been no evidence of dangerous immigration of Anophelines from the extensive breeding places which until the middle of 1904 existed just outside the town boundary, and some of which still remain."

So far as I can see, the case must be the same for mosquitoes as for most other organisms, including man. We should be very much surprised if anyone were to maintain that the population of the British Isles, for instance, would remain the same after abolition of the birth-rate. Why, then, should we assume such a proposition for mosquitoes?

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RONALD Ross.

The Romance of the Nitrogen Atom. THE letter of Dr. F. J. Allen (NATURE, May 4) on the critical temperature of living substances has interested me immensely. The ideas contained in it have often presented themselves to me in a crude way, and I hope Mr. Allen will find opportunity for elaborating them. I have often thought, when pondering over what one may venture to call the versatility of nitrogen, that a useful book might be written on the chemistry of the nitrogen compounds, including the mineral and organic compounds of that element in one view. If it did no other service it would help to save the mind of the chemical student from being enslaved by the phrase," the chemistry of the carbon compounds." If the phrase "Ohne Phosphor kein Gedanke " is true, may we not with equal truth say "Ohne Stickstoff kein Leben "? The marvellous powers stored in the carbon atom are sufficiently en evidence in chemical science; yet may we not recognise the nitrogen atom as the magic demon (borrowing a figurative term from Clerk Maxwell) that holds the wand, that (under given conditions such as are noted by Dr. Allen) turns the atoms of oxygen and hydrogen hither and thither in the multiplex atomic relations of growth and metabolism in the living organism, and especially in that little understood complex we call chlorophyll? We know that the inert N, molecule of the atmosphere is made up of atoms which, in the nascent state, are possessed of great chemical energy, and we may fairly, I think, explain the inertness of ordinary atmospheric nitrogen by the stability of its molecule (N) as arising out of a difference in the ionic constitution of the two atoms which form the molecule. Is it not here that we may seek for the explanation of the otherwise puzzling fact that in the extremely stable compound NH, the nitrogen atom is trivalent, while in the oxides, halides, &c., it is pentavalent? The action of the nitrogen atom, in the way suggested by Dr. Allen, is illustrated by the well known necessity in the fertilisation of soils for the conversion of NH, into nitrates of alkaline bases, in order that the nitrogen in a more unstable state of combination may do its special work in the internal economy of the plant. I recollect discussing this matter some years ago with Dr. Voelcker, when I had the pleasure of meeting him at an agricultural gathering in this neighbourhood. The modern idea of ionisation of atoms seems also to throw light upon the fact that N,

and H, combine to form NH, under the influence of the silent electric discharge, while at the temperature of the spark-discharge NH, is again split up into N, and H. The running down also of HNO, through the whole series of oxides into ammonia in the Grove cell is full of interest from this point of view, and the subject, with its manifold ramifications, is a fascinating theme for a thesis. Bishop's Stortford, May 30. A. IRVING.

An Inverted Slab in a Cromlech.

THE remarkable articles on Stonehenge and other monuments by Sir Norman Lockyer have naturally stimulated reflection upon all that concerns megalithic remains, and therefore, perhaps, the following curious circumstances may be of some interest.

At Henblâs, in Anglesey, is a cromlech, or rather, I suppose, a dolmen, of remarkably rude and massive aspect. Two uprights remain, the larger of which is about 15 feet high by 9 feet thick, and both are very rough and irregular in shape. Resting against these, at an angle of about 20° or rather less from the horizontal, is a thinner stone, about 3 feet thick and some 13 feet square, presumably a top-stone. All are of a hard quartzite, which occurs among the schistose rocks of the district. No good exposure of this is known within a mile or so of the cromlech (a fact which Captain Evans, of Henblâs, informs me was pointed out to him long ago by Sir Andrew Ramsay). But at the base of the uprights are some obscure exposures that appear to me to be in situ, and I am inclined to think, therefore, that the materials were obtained on the spot.

Now the supposed top-stone is rough, like the uprights, on its upper surface, but its under-side is beautifully and finely ice-worn! It is clear, therefore (for it is certainly not a boulder), that it has been turned upside down.

Further, not only is it ice-worn, but the direction of the ice-movement can be made out, there being distinct lee-sides to its finely striated bosses, and these lee-sides look to N.N.E. But the natural direction of glaciation in the district is to S.S.W. Therefore, the stone has not only been turned upside down, but turned round as well.

If the materials were brought from some distance, these facts are, of course, of less interest. But if, as I think much more probable, they were obtained on the spot, it is clear that they throw a little light upon the proceedings of the builders in their work of lifting these great stones. Achnashean, near Bangor. EDWARD GREENLY.

The Cleavage of Slates.

I FIND that I owe Mr. Fisher some apology for a carelessly worded allusion in my notice of Dr. Becker's memoir (p. 20, May 4). In pointing out that the theory which I criticised had been anticipated by Mr. Fisher, I ought, perhaps, to have mentioned that the latter had somewhat qualified his original hypothesis, though the postscript notifying this qualification was, I believe, only privately

printed.

Mr. Fisher's further contribution to the question (pp. 55. 56, May 18) is of interest. If it be granted that the cleavage of the Westmorland slates coincides with the plane of greatest distortion, it becomes less necessary to urge the case of the colour-spots in the Llanberis slates; but the suggestion that these have been formed subsequently to the cleavage seems to raise some difficulty. I have seen examples in which the ellipsoidal green spots are shifted by small faults, which are quite obsolete as planes of weakness. This seems to imply that the faults, and a fortiori the spots, are older than the cleavageALFRED HARKER.

structure.

St. John's College, Cambridge, June 7.

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from other authorities, I find these facts confirmed, and that the same applies to Mohammedan children. We are aware that for ages their ancestors have been compelled to memorise long portions of their sacred books, and although occasionally we meet with a child of any nation with a gigantic memory, that differs widely from the case of a people where it has become a general characteristic. June 7. W. WOODS SMYTH.

THE UTILITY OF AN ANTHROPOMETRIC SURVEY.

HE Government which has shown so scientific a

THE spirit as to create a Council of Defence, a

constant spirit of intelligence to safeguard the Empire amid the development of armaments of other nations, might surely devote attention to that recommendation which stands first in the report of the interdepartmental committee on physical deterioration :-" With a view to the collection of definite data bearing upon the physical condition of the population, the committee think that a permanent anthropometric survey should be organised as speedily as possible. . . .'

What are the results to be expected from such a survey as was sketched out at the Cambridge meeting of the British Association last summer? An improvement in the education of the people will surely follow.

At the time of the Elementary Education Act, 1870, the re-distribution of the populace, that progressive change by which the increasing majority become citizens and cease to be country folk, was not realised. The increasing demands of intellectual exercises upon the time of the children and loss of domestic education were not foreseen, or their effect in making the requirement most urgent that the physical side of education should be brought under educational authority or otherwise definitely provided for. Hence a generation passes and there is an outcry for physical education. Let us hope a coming generation may not be crying in turn that the moral side of education suffers from want of due attention.

The effect of registration-the national survey of deaths has been a clear guide and a very great safeguard to the public health. One may quote some of the words of Dr. Farr which are to be found in his first letter to the first annual report :-"Diseases are more easily prevented than cured, and the first step to their prevention is the discovery of their exciting causes "; again, "indirect influence (of these reports) upon practical medicine must have been very great. The constant endeavour after exactness of diagnosis discipline, which reacts inevitably upon treatment." and precision of nomenclature is itself a wholesome Who at that time could prophesy the value, topographical and historical, we now find in these reports? The anthropometric survey will have upon the sphere of education an equally large and discriminating, if often indirect, influence; it will react upon medicine as well as upon education; it will detect any deterioration of the young adult that is due to the factory and workshop; it will determine the influence of environment upon physique, and, as Mr. John Gray says, "without an anthropometric survey, we are in this important question of sound national physique 'like a log drifting nowhere'; with a survey, we should be like a ship, steering by chart and compass to its destination.”

In the influence of body and mind upon one another. it is to anthropometry we must look for certainty of judgment. Mr. H. G. Beyer pointed out to the

1 Physical Deterioration; being the Report of Papers and Discussions at the Cambridge Meeting of the British Association, 1904, on the Alleged Physical Deterioration of the People and the Utility of an Anthropometric Survey. (Occasional Papers of the Anthropological Institute, No. 2.)

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