LABOUR AND MANAGEMENT
IN RECONSTRUCTION
H E L ab o u r P a r ty h as show n b o th im agination
an d vision in th e interim rep o rt on reconstruction
problem s in w ar-tim e issued early in M arch u nder th e
title “T he Old W orld a n d th e New Society” * for dis­
cussion a t a series of regional conferences an d a t th e
an n u a l conference of th e L abour P a r ty being held a t
W hitsuntido. I t seems to have grasped th e relation
o f reco n stru ctio n to th e w ar effort a n d p u ts th e p o in t
as forcibly as it has been p u t b y Sir Stafford Cripps,
a n d in a b rillian t in tro d u c to ry n o te to a recent P E P
b ro ad sh eet on bodies in G reat B rita in considering
reco n stru ctio n problem s. I n d etail an d in broad
outlook, th e rep o rt is evidence th a t th e L abour P a rty
is facing u p to th e problem s of th e post-w ar world,
a n d th e whole sp irit o f th e rep o rt justifies th e hope
th a t a n a tta c k on th e problem s of post-w ar recon­
stru c tio n m ay be possible on n o n -p arty lines.
A ny such p ro sp ect is sure of th e atte n tio n of
scientific w orkers if only for th e w ider possibilities
it w ould offer o f utilizing th e ir services in th e solution
o f such problem s a n d th e estab lish m en t of th e four
freedom s. T heir in te re st in th e p resen t rep o rt is
alread y claim ed b y its reference to th e im portance
of research an d to th e need for a m ore creative
a ttitu d e on th e p a r t b o th of G overnm ent an d of
in d u stry to science an d scientific research. The
rep o rt calls for th e conscious a n d d eliberate endow ­
m e n t of scientific research, b o th p u re an d applied,
th e financial responsibility for w hich shall be shared
b y in d u stry an d th e S tate. T here is no field of
economic life in w hich th e possibilities of scientific
ad vance are n o t im m ense. M any of th em are
arrested or w ith h eld from en joym ent b y th e m otives
in h eren t in a profit-m aking society, an d while it m ay
ta k e tim e to lib erate such po ten tialities from th e
p resen t restrictin g forces, th e necessary endow m ent
o f scientific research should n o t be jeopardized.
I n th e sam e vein, th e rep o rt directs a tte n tio n to
th e need to ap p ly in th e w ork of reco n stru ctio n some
o f th e im p o rta n t lessons of m anag em en t an d in d u s­
tria l w elfare th a t h av e been learned or reinforced
during th e W ar. T he w idespread failure to apply
th e know ledge acquired by th e In d u strial H ealth
R esearch B oard a n d its predecessor tw en ty or more
years ago has been profoundly discouraging to m any
scientific w orkers. T heir su p p o rt should be assured
for a n y m ove to secure th e fuller u tilization o f th e
experience w hich is now being accum ulated on such
m a tte rs as com m unal feeding in factories, th e organi­
zation of m edical inspection a n d care as a norm al
fu nction o f m anagem ent, th e evolution of factory
discipline b ased on consultation a n d co-operation
ra th e r th a n on coercion, th e full use of industrial
psychology in te stin g fitness for th e job, th e selection
for executive posts in term s o f te ste d com petence and
th e p ro p er plan n in g of facto ry accom m odation.
T h e im p o rtan ce of wise m anagem ent, utilizing th e
scientific techniques w hich are now a t its disposal els
T
C O N T E N T S
Labour and^Management in Reconstruction
Speculations in Immunology.
.
.
By Prof. A. A. Miles
Page
559
562
Logical Foundations of JPsycho-analysis. By Dr. John
Cohen
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
563
Materials and Structures
.
.
563
W o rk of Pierre Duhem.
By Dr. H. Jeffreys, F.R.S.
564
Mainly on W ild Geese.
.
.
.
.
.
564
Radioactivity and the Completion of the Periodic
System. By Prof. F. A. Paneth
.
.
.
.
By Seton Gordon, C.B.E.
565
Mosquito-breeding in Static W a te r Supplies. By J. F.
Marshall, C .B.E............................................................568
Science and W a r.
By Austin H. Clark
.
570
Statistical Control of Production. By Dr. C. G. Darwin,
F.R.S............................................................................ 573
Obituary :
Mr. W . P. Pycraft. By Sir A rthu r Smith Woodward,
F.R. S
News and Views
.
.
.
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.
575
576
Letters to the Editors :
Cosmic Rays
Duperier
and Magnetic Storms.— Dr.
.
.
.
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.
.
.
A.
579
Dispersion of Cellulose Strands in Cell Walls.—
Dr. R. D. Preston
.
.
.
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.
580
Effect of Certain Chemotherapeutic Agents on
Experimental Eye Lesions produced by Staphylo­
coccus aureus.— Dr. J. M. Robson and Major
G . I Scott
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
581
Microbial Synthesis and Autolysis in the Digestive
Tract of Herbivora.— Frank Baker. .
.
582
Spore Dispersal in the Mucorales.— Dr. C. G.
Dobbs
.......................................................583
Sea Waves : Their Growth and Subsidence. By P. J. H.
U n n a .........................................................................584
New Seismograph Station at Logan, Utah
585
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560
N A T U R E
M ay 23, 1942,
v o l.
149
th e program m e outlined b y Mr. C ourtauld an d by
well as th e increasing store of factu al know ledge as a
basis for policy a n d decisions, in reconstruction as th e L ab o u r P a r ty ’s rep o rt, an d also b y Prof. C arr in
well as in fu rthering th e w ar effort, is n o t easily ov er­ h is ch ap ter on “B ritain a t H om e” in his recen t book,
stressed. I t is one indispensable facto r in rem oving
“ Conditions of P eace” . Mr. C ourtauld believes th a t
friction an d m isunderstanding betw een m anagem ent th e tim e is ripe for a review of th e principles and
an d w orker an d developing th e sp irit an d practice of bases of in d u stry , an d he points to th e acceptance
b y in d u strialists to -d ay of th e inevitableness of
co-operation upon w hich efficiency depends. T he
change, to th e ir conscious respect for B ritish ideals
seventh a n d eighth rep o rts of th e Select C om m ittee
o n N atio nal E x p en d itu re afford sufficient evidence an d th e progressive gains of th e p a s t in w hich all
classes have h a d a h an d . T here is also a re-aw aken­
on th is p oint, a n d th e y show also th a t co-operation
ing of conscience : an in d u strial career is now a
involves a contribution from th e w orkers them selves.
A new outlook a n d an u nprejudiced a n d forw ard- metier, n o t m erely a ro ad to p riv ate acquisition.
looking m ind are dem anded of labour as well as of F o u rth ly , he notes a grow th of real fellow-feeling
m anagem ent in order th a t th e natio n al effort for w ith th e lower ran k s of in d u stry , who h av e come to
share th e sensibilities an d aspirations of those placed
w inning th e w ar a n d building th e peace m ay a tta in
above them .
its full pow er a n d efficiency.
F o r all th is, th e leaders of in d u stry are n o t likely to
T he hope th a t full co-operation betw een m an ag e­
m e n t a n d labour m a y y e t be achieved an d th a t b e stam p ed ed in to throw ing every th in g overboard,
th e problem s o f post-w ar reconstruction m ay be for th e y h av e a firm faith in m an y enduring principles
w ith o u t w hich th e re is no possibility of sound rebuild­
approached u ntram m elled b y th e prejudices of p a rty
politics is encouraged b y th e views expressed alm ost ing. T here are m an y passages in th e L abour P a r ty ’s
sum ultaneously b y Mr. B evin an d Mr. Sam uel re p o rt w hich in d icate a t least some appreciation of
C ourtauld. R eferring p articu la rly to problem s of th is position, an d it w ould b e tru e to say th a t m ost,
if n o t all, of Mr. C ourtauld’s assum ptions are im plicit
dem obilization afte r th e W ar, Mr. B evin stressed th e
im portance of closer co-operation betw een w orkers in its own argum ent. Mr. C ourtauld assum es, for
exam ple, th a t p ro duction is th e m ost v ita l activ ity
an d em ployers an d th e inevitability of greater S tate
control. T he fa ta l error w ould be to allow th e desire of th e n atio n an d th a t G overnm ent control has come
to stay . N o G overnm ent, he says, can to lerate the
for quick profits or th e disposition tow ards rap id an d
u ndue expansion to d isto rt post-w ar developm ent existence w ith in its borders of an organized and
com pletely indep en d en t pow er w ith a radius of action
in to a disastrous boom . T he controls w hich have
apportioned resources in w ar econom y m u st be m a in ­ as w ide as its own, a n d th e sam e overriding principle
tain ed in order to d istrib u te those resources in th e th a t m akes it th e d u ty of th e G overnm ent to control
m ost beneficial m anner afte r th e W ar ends. T here in d u strial com bination applies to tra d e unions as
developed to -d ay . G overnm ent bureaucracy, he
m u st be a g rea t n atio n al discipline as keen an d
efficiently im posed as th a t w hich has grow n u p during holds, as it exists in G reat B ritain , has proved itself
hostilities, u n til th e problem s of re-settlem en t have incapable of conducting business efficiently ; it would
require d rastic reform to enable it to ta k e an y p a rt
been w orked out.
Clearly Mr. B evin is prep ared to face th e u n p o p u ­ in th e ru n n in g of business.
Mr. C ourtauld assum es th a t labour will increasingly
la rity w hich m ay accom pany th e a tte m p t to guide
th e n atio n along a difficult p a th w hich prom ises share in th e m anagem ent policy an d rew ards of
p erm an en t recovery ra th e r th a n a te m p o rary boom . in d u stry an d th a t th e tra d e unions will long continue
The tw itterin g s w hich Sir W illiam B everidge’s stim u ­ to rep resen t labour. G am bling in in d u strial counters
latin g article in T he T im es has caused in th e stro n g ­ is a m alig n an t disease for in d u stry itself. The
holds of individualism a n d laissez-faire are tok en of E nglish genius for social evolution a n d for compromise
can find a m iddle w ay betw een p u re individualism
th e opposition th a t will be forthcom ing from th e
rec alc itran t a n d backw ard-looking m in o rity w ho find an d p u re socialism w hich will bring th e greatest
th e ir p riv ate interests th reaten ed .
Mr. Samuel a tta in a b le good to th e n atio n an d leave m ore and
C ou rtau ld’s article in th e Economic Journal of A pril m ore v ested in terests o u t in th e cold. Furtherm ore,
he draw s a d istin ctio n betw een productive industry
shows, how ever, th a t th e re are leaders in in d u stry
as in science who are facing th e fu tu re w ith u n p re ­ a n d financial in stitu tio n s w hich m an y scientific
w orkers have voiced before, an d his views on ad v er­
judiced an d receptive m inds.
Mr. C ourtauld’s article m akes p articu larly in te r­ tising an d p a te n t law as well as on financial in stitu ­
esting reading in th e light of th e L abour P a r ty ’s tions are tolerably certain to be th e su b ject of lively
debate.
rep o rt. M uch of th e ground covered is com mon,
W e m ig h t well hope th a t these fu n dam ental
though th e L abour P a r ty ’s rep o rt includes colonial
an d in ternational affairs in its survey. Mr. C our­ assum ptions are sufficiently sh ared b y th e labour side
of in d u stry to induce a com m on appro ach to th e
ta u ld , on th e other han d , sta te s th e questions ra th e r
th a n gives th e answers, a n d if he seems te n ta tiv e , he b ro ad questions bearing on th e relations of G overn­
is free from th e flavour of dogm atism w hich a t tim es m e n t an d in d u stry which Mr. C ourtauld p u ts w ithout
alw ays suggesting an answ er. F ix ed policy an d the
creeps in to th e L abour P a r ty ’s report.
W hen we have reached agreem ent as to th e ques­ choice betw een free tra d e a n d p rotection, w ith th e
tions to be asked, we are en titled to expect some allied question of subsidies ; G overnm ent ownership
m easure of co-operation in th e search for th e answers, a n d control an d th e m eth o d of exercising control,
an d th ere is a striking resem blance in th is respect in w ith th e relatio n betw een in d u strial representation
No.
3786,
M ay 23, 1942
NATURE
an d th e G overnm ent ; th e rig h ts of labour, w ith such
allied questions as th e ir voice in control an d m anage­
m ent, fam ily allowances, security an d wages ; in d u s­
tria l planning, b o th geographical an d h um an,
including technical e d u c a tio n ; th e protection of
consum ers ; an d th e control o f speculation—these
are all b ro ad questions on w hich it ia for th e nation,
an d n o t in d u stry itself, to indicate in advance th e
m ain lines of th e policies concerned.
On all these topics Mr. C ourtauld offers p ertin en t
com m ents a n d suggestions, as well as on th e highly
technical questions, sim ilarly calling for a n ational
lead in policy, such as th e ta x a tio n o f in d u stry ,
lim itation o f profits, depreciation a n d research
ex p en d iture ; equalization of rates ; p a te n t law ;
a n d w hether selling an d d istrib u tio n cost too m uch
to-day. I t is tru e th a t on certain points he is som e­
w h at nebulous. H o recognizes th e im portance of
retai ning th e p riv ate initiative w hich fosters economic
progress, an d a t th e sam e tim e wishes to m ake
G overnm ent control in th e interests of th e com ­
m u n ity effective. T he solution he offers, nam ely, th e
ap p o in tm en t of G overnm ent directors, is nevertheless
scarcely adequate.
The key problem of post-w ar economic policy is,
how ever, fairly raisod. In d u stria l m anagem ent m u st
be efficien t; th is ca n n o t be achieved b y Civil Service
formulae, an d th ere m u st be com m unal control. The
solution m ay well lie first in th e train in g an d evolu­
tio n of a new ty p e of Civil S ervant com petent in
in d u strial an d economic affairs, an d second, an d m ore
im p o rta n t, as Mr. Geoffrey Crow ther insists, in
draw ing a sharp distinction betw een those essential
industries, such as food, tra n sp o rt, an d p robably
fuel, w hich m u st be m anaged directly u nder th e eye
of th e com m unity, an d those w hich m u st be p erm itted
to develop w ithin th e usual p a tte rn of p riv ate e n te r­
prise b u t also w ithin th e p a tte rn of a decent, civilized
an d dem ocratic society.
Mr. C ourtauld’s article is stim ulating an d refresh­
ingly free from prejudice. H is observations on th e
p lanning of th e hum an side of in d u stry as well as its
geographical aspects are welcome, a n d it is encour­
aging to find an in d u strial leader openly expressing
th e opinion th a t no business should be allow ed to
em ploy m ore juveniles th a n it can absorb la te r into
th e ran k s of full-grow n w orkers. T he elim ination
of blind-alley occupations is a ta sk th a t calls im p e ra­
tively for th e closer co-operation o f G overnm ent,
em ployers an d labour. I t is a m a tte r on w hich
scientific w orkers m ay well be expected to m ake th e ir
own co ntribution, an d Mr. C ourtauld’s observation
th a t care should be ta k e n n o t to educate people into
blind alleys is one th a t teachers, too, should note.
T he com m ent th a t colleges an d technical schools pay
insufficient atte n tio n to th e ir responsibility for
relating th e num ber of pupils ta u g h t to th e probable
d em and for th em is fair, if it is tru e th a t q u a n tita tiv e
train in g an d recruitm ent im ply willingness on th e
p a rt of th e em ployer to forecast an d estim ate his
requirem ents.
B y an d large, m uch of Mr. C ourtauld’s article finds
its co u n terp art in th e L abour P a r ty ’s rep o rt. R ecog­
nition o f th e inability o f an unplanned society to
561
m a in tain a reasonable sta n d ard of life for m any of
its citizens is com m on ground, as are th e consequonces
th a t flow from un reg u lated p riv ate enterprise— th e
restrictio n o f production, w aste of skilled man-pow er
a n d failure to use th e achievem ents o f science an d
technology to raise th e sta n d ard of life. Im p licit in
b o th Mr. C o u rtau ld ’s p ap e r an d th e L abour P a rty
re p o rt is th e acceptance of th e objectives sta te d by
P resid en t R oosevelt a n d of th e establishm ent of th e
fo u r freedom s ; indeed, th e whole o f th e L abour
P a r ty ’s rep o rt shows th a t th e p a rty has grasped th e
tr u th s o utlined so ab ly b y Prof. C arr in “ Conditions
of P eace” , a n d th a t it recognizes th e stren g th which
a reco n stru ctiv e policy will lend to th e w ar effort.
D em ocracy can n o t develop its full pow er in w inning
th e W ar unless we begin during its course to organize
th e conditions w hich will ensure th a t w hen victo ry
is w on th e g reat ends of life will be effectively served
for every citizen.
T he rig h t n o te of cau tio n is sounded b o th in th is
rep o rt an d in Mr. C o u rtau ld ’s address. T he first aim
is to w in th e W ar, an d a n y m easures now adopted
m u st be justified first b y th e ir co n trib u tio n to
v icto ry . A t th e sam e tim e, unless opportunities
th a t now p resen t them selves of destroying rath e r
th a n consolidating abuses an d ob stru ctio n s are used,
it is useless to ta lk of rebuilding in d u stry or society on
b e tte r foundations.
W hile, how ever, th e re is m uch indeed in th e report
th a t indicates th a t th e L abour P a rty is prep ared to
face questions of in d u strial organization an d th e like
in a new sp irit a n d w ith an open m ind, one grave
defect m a rs th e rep o rt. I t is com m on ground in
alm ost ev ery im p a rtial analysis of th e new society
th a t is to be established afte r th e W ar th a t stab ility
will d epend on stress being laid on obligations rath e r
th a n on rig h ts, on services rendered to th e com m unity
ra th e r th a n on benefits to b e draw n from it. A
social order in w hich th e four freedom s of President
R oosevelt are to b e em bodied in a social m inim um
for every citizen m u st h av e as its co u n terp art a
sta n d a rd of du ties an d obligations w hich are expected
of all.
I t is th is n o te th a t is lacking in an otherw ise ad m ir­
able s ta te m e n t. N o u n ite d a tta c k on th e problem s
o f p ost-w ar reconstruction, no n o n -p arty approach is
possible in its absence. I f th e em phasis falls exclu­
sively on benefits a n d rig h ts, no dem ocratic order will
be established wide enough to resist th e renewed
o n slau g h t of a u th o rita ria n regim es w hen th e present
aggressors h av e been overthrow n. The essential
ta sk is to tra n sm u te in to th e service o f peace an d th e
building of a new order o f society, th a t sp irit of
com radeship, o f unselfish a n d strenuous endeavour
th a t th e v ery p reservation of dem ocracy now
dem ands. I f in th e discussions th a t ensue on th e
basis of th is rep o rt th is n o te of service an d d u ty is
firm ly sounded, as th e open-m indedness of th e rep o rt
w arra n ts th e hope, it should n o t b e vain to look
fu rth e r for th a t u n ite d a tta c k on th e problem s ahead
o f us, free from prejudice an d p a rty restrictions, in
w hich th e resources an d skill of scientific w orkers
am ong others can be fully an d effectively deployed,
to th e lasting benefit of m ankind.
562
NA T U R E
SPECULATIONS IN IMMUNOLOGY
M ay 23, 1942,
V ol.
149
As an altern ativ e, D r. B u rn et in th e first place
p ostu lates th a t th e serum globulins are products of
The Production of Antibodies
self-reproducing intracellular proteinases, an d repre­
A Review an d a Theoretical Discussion. B y D r.
sen t a stage in th e synthesis a t w hich th e molecule
F . M. B u rn et, w ith th e collaboration of M avis F re e ­ has th e essential stru c tu re of th e enzym e itself, and
m an, A. V. Jackson, D ora L ush. (M onographs from
is consequently stable. In th is form it is presum ably
th e W alter and E liza H all In s titu te of R esearch in
tu rn e d o u t in th e circulation ; in th e cell, th e pro­
P athology an d Medicine, M elbourne, No. 1.) P p.
teinase reproduces itself fully. A sim ilar conception has
viii + 76. (M elbourne a n d L ondon : M acm illan and
been ad vanced for th e m u ltiplication o f p la n t viruses,
Co., L td ., 1941.) 8s. 6d. net.
b u t th e re is no v alid reason w hy it should n o t apply
H E introduction o f com plex foreign substances
to syntheses in norm al cells. In th e n ex t place, it is
o f high m olecular w eight into th e tissues of p o stu lated th a t these proteinases, in v irtu e of their
w arm -blooded anim als often leads to th e appearance
enzym ic function, come in to co n tac t w ith any
of antibodies in th e blood serum . T he reaction of foreign antigens ta k e n in to th e cell, an d are lastingly
these antibodies w ith th e substance th a t stim u la ted
modified b y th is co n tact. T here is no synthesis of a
th eir appearance— th e antigen—is largely specific. new u n it in sp a tia l co n tac t w ith th e an tigen (the
Im m unologists have in th e m ain confined th e ir
‘te m p la te ’ view) b u t a change in th e ato m ic stru ctu re
atten tio n to th e specificity of com bination betw een
of th e p roteinase th a t allows its effectively hydrolytic
antigen an d corresponding antibody. A nalysis of action on th e foreign antigen. W hen th e antigenic
n atu ral antigens an d th e artificial m odification of stim ulus is rem oved, th e m odified p roteinase con­
protein antigens b y th e addition of activ e chem ical tin u es to synthesize itself, b o th in th e original cell
groups to th e surface of th e molecule have bo th
an d its descendants, b u t th e re is a slow reversion to
proved fru itfu l in revealing w h at p a rtic u la r con­ th e original ty p e, a n d th e a n tib o d y grad u ally dis­
figurations in th e antigenic p article determ ine its
appears from th e circulation. A second injection of
power to induce an d to com bine w ith specific a n ti­ th e antigen is followed b y a rap id h y d ro ly tic action
body. M uch less is know n a b o u t th e origin and
by th e specifically m odified proteinase, w hich yields
stru ctu re of antibodies them selves. A single injection
prod u cts o f p a rtia l hydrolysis th a t in tu rn m odify the
of antigen som etim es yields a detectable a m o u n t of proteinase fu rth er, a n d so lead to progressive change
antibody, b u t its m ost striking effect is to sensitize
in th e n a tu re of th e an tib o d y .
th e anim al in such a w ay th a t a subsequent injection
Speculative hypotheses of th is k in d serve two
induces a ra p id an d disproportionately large o u tp u t
useful purposes. T h ey m ay direct a tte n tio n to the
o f an tib o d y . U pon th e readiness of th is ‘secondary
facts th e y p u rp o rt to co-ordinate, an d th e y m ay link
response’ depends th e persistence of im m unity in
u p th e field of speculation w ith h ith e rto unrelated
m an an d anim als ; th o u g h all d etectable p rotective fields of science. D r. B u rn e t’s speculations serve the
an tib o d y has disappeared, th e an tib o d y response of second purpose less hap p ily th a n th e first. As an
th e conditioned anim al to la te r co n tact w ith antigen
exam ple, we m ay consider th e m odification of th e
is im m ediate an d effective.
self-reproducing proteinase b y th e antigen. W e m ay
A ntibodies are m odified serum globulins, a n d it
assum e th a t th e p roteinase exists, an d th a t globulin
appears th a t an tib o d y globulin is produced in th e
is n o t form ed b y a m ore com plex sy n th etic u n it
cells of th e reticulo-endothelial system , an d perhaps
w hich is in effect self-reproducing. B u t th e ju stifi­
cation for th e ty p e of m odification p o stu lated rests
in lym phoid tissue. I n th e absence of an antigenic
stim ulus these cells presum ably synthesize th e norm al
on d oubtful analogies w ith ad ap tiv e enzymes, an d
globulins. W e have little know ledge of th e origin of w ith th e train in g of a b acterial culture to utilize
th e norm al serum proteins, an d are consequently
substances th a t are n o t norm al p articip a n ts in its
unable to speculate very profitably a b o u t th a t of th e
m etabolism . T he ad a p tiv e enzym e, th a t becomes
modified an tibody globulin. T he c u rren t hypothesis
evid en t w hen b ac te ria l cells are b ro u g h t in to contact
is an extension of F ischer’s lock-and-key analogy for w ith its corresponding su b strate, bears a superficial
th e specificity of com bination betw een an enzym e resem blance to an tib o d y in th a t it is specifically
an d its su b strate. I t supposes th a t th e am ino acids called in to being b y th e su bstance on w hich it acts,
destined for synthesis in to globulin are specially b u t th e re is little evidence to su p p o rt D r. B u rn et’s
disposed in a cell containing antig en ; th e y are held
suggestion th a t it represents a m odification of an
in a p a tte rn determ ined by th e n a tu re and arran g e­ existing co n stitu tiv e enzym e. So fa r as is know n, a
m en t of th e active groups on th e surface of th e
b acterial species possesses a finite range of ad ap tiv e
enzymes, an d th o u g h peculiar conditions are required
antigenic particle, an d in th is p a tte rn are incorporated
for th e ir synthesis, th e y characterize th e species as
in to th e globulin molecule, w hich th u s bears th e
surely as th e co n stitu tiv e enzymes.
specific im press of th e antigen.
D r. B u rn et rejects th is view of th e antigen as a
T he analogy w ith tra in e d b ac te ria is even more
rem ote. W e are dealing here w ith an ad a p ta tio n
‘te m p la te’ for antibody production. N o t only does
th a t in m a n y cases m ay fairly be considered as th e
th e ty p e o f an tib o d y induced b y a single antigen
change as im m unization of th e anim al is prolonged,
resto ratio n of sy n th etic pow ers lo st in th e evolution
o f a b acterial species from an au to tro p h to a heterob u t also th e anim al m ay still synthesize antibody
w hen i t is reasonable to suppose th a t th e injected
tro p h , an d n o t a calling fo rth of a new an d abnorm al
antigen has been destroyed an d th e cells originally
activ ity , for th e re is am ple evidence to suggest th a t
stim u lated b y it have been replaced b y th e ir m ore or hetero tro p h s m ay re ta in sy n th etic powers w hich are
n o t ord in arily m anifest because th e y are q u an ti­
less rem ote descendants. Moreover, th e ‘secondary
response’ is often characterized b y a sharp ex­ ta tiv e ly insufficient for th e full needs of th e organism.
p o n en tial rise in th e curve of an tib o d y production,
The review is wide, an d includes original w ork by
w hich suggests a proliferation of th e antibodyth e a u th o r a n d his colleagues, p articu larly on th e
form ing m echanism , ra th e r th a n a rap id ly accelerat­ form ation of antibodies in lym ph nodes, an d on th e
ing production from an already established set of logarithm ic phase of th e secondary response. Dr.
B u rn e t’s fondness for th e p u rsu it of rem ote and
‘te m p lates’.
T
No. 3786,
M a y 23, 1942
NATURE
sometim es m isleading analogies m ay be overlooked,
for his speculations, backed b y th e experim ental
facts th a t he has m arshalled, will adm irably serve
th e purpose of challenging im m unologists to explain
those aspects of a n tib o d y form ation th a t are in ­
adeq u ately covered b y c u rren t hypotheses.
A. A. M i l e s .
LOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF
PSYCHO-ANALYSIS
Psychoanalytical Method and the Doctrine of Freud
B y D r. R oland D albiez. Vol. 1 : E xposition. T ra n s­
lated from th e F rench b y T. F . L indsay. P p . xvi +
415.
Vol. 2 : D iscussion.
T ran slated from th e
F rench b y T. F . L indsay. P p . xii + 331. (London,
New Y ork an d T oronto : Longm ans, Green an d Co.,
L td ., 1941.) 40s. net.
T is fitting th a t a critical survey of F re u d ’s w ritings
should appear a t th is tim e. In siste n t questions
are provoked b y th e W ar. W e w itness th e spectacle
of a civilized people reduced to b arbarism w ithin a
few years an d w onder how th is is possible. A re
wars, it is often asked, sim ply th e outcom e of u n ­
conscious aggressive im pulses ? H ow deep is th e
im press th a t civilized living m akes upon th e psyche ?
A re hum ane dispositions w holly p a r t of ontogenesis,
an d can no such dispositions be tra n sm itte d genetic­
ally ? To w h a t e x te n t can re-education in th e p o st­
w ar w orld nullify th e effects of to ta lita ria n p ro p a­
gan d a instilled during th e im pressionable years of
y o u th , an d w h at are th e lim its of v ariatio n in conduct
th a t th e sam e individuals m ay express u nder diverse
conditions ? No satisfactory answ er to these an d
oth er u rg en t questions can be a tte m p te d w ith o u t
enlisting th e aid of psycho-analysis. Indeed, it is
pro b ab ly tru e to say th a t w ith o u t psycho-analysis,
contem porary social behaviour is unintelligible an d
no coherent p icture of h um an failings an d aspirations
in th e m odern w orld can be draw n w ith o u t invoking
its theories, provisional though th e y m ay be.
The foundations of psycho-analysis still lie in the
w ritings of F reud. T he read er of D r. D albiez’s w ork
should therefore be led to th e conclusion th a t th e ta sk
of disentangling F re u d ’s analytic technique from th e
theory w ith w hich it is interw oven an d of subjecting
b o th technique an d th eo ry to close exam ination were
well w orth undertaking, an d th a t D r. D albiez has
ac q u itted him self w ith rare com petence. H e brings
to psycho-analysis a sta n d a rd of logical d em o n stra­
tion th a t has long been painfully lacking in th is field.
Several chapters, p articu la rly th e one en title d “T he
Various N euroses” , are notew orthy for th e ir qualities
of lucid exposition.
A specially useful contribution is th e system atic
a tte m p t to relate th e w ork of F re u d to th a t of
Pavlov. This effort to unify tw o independent h y p o ­
theses form ulated in very different term s m eets w ith
a large m easure of success. E v en th e m uch-disputed
CEdipus conflict is readily tra n sla te d into th e language
of reflexology, an d is show n to resu lt from a clash
betw een th e processes of excitation an d inhibition,
th e genital reflex m echanism s failing to differentiate
betw een tw o sim ilar stim uli. D r. D albiez m aintains
th a t th e developm ent of th e sexual im pulse reveals
itself in a progressive differentiation of object. This
view is presented as m ore in accordance w ith th e
facts th a n is th e F reu d ian notion of sexual develop­
m en t as a succession of perverse phases culm inating
I
563
in norm al heterosexuality. The belief th a t sexual
developm ent proceeds b y in teg ratio n of separate
responses is in line w ith recent experim ents on
aggressive im pulses in certain anim al species.
M ention should be m ade of th e discussion on sym ­
bolism, w hich clears u p m an y confusions in th e litera­
tu re. In p articu lar, th e retrospective, reductive, causal
in te rp re tatio n of sym bolism w hich is ado p ted by
F re u d is co n trasted w ith th e prospective, synthetic,
teleological view of Silberer.
A n u m b er of criticism s rise to m ind. T he size of
th e second volum e could h av e been m uch reduced ;
its m a tte r is scarcely com m ensurate w ith its bulk.
One m ay blam e th e philosophic train in g of th e au th o r
for a n u m b er of pu rely academ ic discussions. The
ch ap ter dealing w ith th e psychoses in th e first volume
can scarcely be regarded as having achieved its aim.
A b o u t a th ird of th is ch ap ter is devoted to a criticism
of D r. de C leram bault’s theories of m en tal au to m ­
atism , an allocation of space w hich is surely u n ­
m erited. I t is disappointing to find th a t aggressive
behaviour is n o t accorded due recognition. The word
‘aggression’ does n o t even ap p ear in th e index. The
w orld of D r. D albiez seems to be th e peaceful world
of th e philosopher, an d one w ould g ath er th a t F reu d
a tta c h e d little or no im portance to aggressive im ­
pulses— a deduction w hich w ould be v ery misleading.
J
o h n
Co
h en
.
MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES
Materials and Structures
B y D. A. R . Clark. P p . xii + 384. (London, Glasgow
an d B om bay : Blackie a n d Son, L td ., 1941.) 25s. net.
Practical Design of Simple Steel Structures
B y D r. D avid S. S tew art. Vol. 1 : Shop P ractice,
R iv eted Connections an d Beam s, etc. ; a T ext-B ook
suitable for Civil Engineers, S tru c tu ral Engineers,
R o a d an d R ailw ay Engineers, an d S tudents a t
U niversities a n d Technical Colleges. Second revised
an d enlarged edition.
Pp. xv+ 184.
(L ondon:
Constable an d Co., L td ., 1941.) 14s. n e tH E first of these tw o books h as been w ritten to
m eet th e needs of stu d e n ts prep arin g for exam ­
inations in stren g th of m aterials an d stru ctu res such
as those in P a r t I of th e U n iv ersity of London degree,
H igher N atio n al Certificate an d engineering in stitu ­
tio n s’ syllabuses. These dem and knowledge of th e
calculus, an d th e book assum es a sim ilar standard.
I t is therefore disconcerting to find several pages
given u p to th e w orking o u t in d etail of th e formulae
for th e m om ents of in ertia of such sim ple sections as
form th e m ost elem entary exercises in integration.
I f th e read er requires to b e show n th e detailed opera­
tions in th e case of these geom etrical sections, by
how m uch th e m ore m u st he need some light on th e
m ethods b y w hich p ractical sections can be evaluated.
F ro m th is p o in t of view th e a u th o r has n o t gone far
enough to satisfy th e needs of stu d en ts a t th e stage
indicated.
T he p a tte rn of th e book is determ ined b y its d e­
v o tio n to th e su b ject of stru ctu res, an d this gives it
a d istin ct ch aracter. In ste a d of ranging over th e
aspects of stren g th of m aterials w hich ap p ertain to
m achines, it confines itself to those concerned w ith
stru ctu re s an d its exam ples are draw n from this
b ran ch of engineering. I t is therefore to th e stru ctu ral
engineering stu d e n t in p articu lar th a t it will appeal
an d w hom it will m ost g reatly help. H e will find it
a valuable m edium of p rep aratio n for his profession
T
564-
NATURE
as well as for tlie m ore im m ediate needs of exam ina­
tions.
Following a v ery able presen tatio n of th e behaviour
o f m aterials u nder stress, th e re is a useful chap ter
on th e pro d u ction of m etals a n d on th e various tr e a t­
m en ts b y w hich steel, in p articu la r, can be im proved
or developed in certain desired directions. Besides
fam iliarizing th e stu d e n t w ith th e m etals, th is will
assist h im in u n d erstan d in g th e ir specifications. A
len g th y ch a p te r on testin g contains m uch inform ation
regarding th e recognized te sts an d test-pieces, an d
describes various te stin g m achines an d appliances,
th e te x t being supplem ented b y diagram m atic
sketches illu stratin g th e ir principles. T he la tte r p a r t
of th e book is devoted to stru ctu res, a n d tre a ts of
fram ed stru ctu res, influence lines, deflections, sus­
pension chains an d bridges, a n d finally m asonry. As
a concise an d educative sta te m e n t of th e th e o ry of
stru ctu res, th is section can be confidently recom ­
m ended to th e stu d e n t to w hom th e sub ject is as
y e t unfam iliar.
In co n tra st to th e volum e ju s t described, D r.
S tew art’s book deals w ith th e practical design of some
o f th e m ore sim ple stru c tu ra l details. In its earlier
ch apters it provides inform ation regarding th e rolled
sections used, draw ing office practice an d procedure
in relatio n to estim ates an d tenders, specifications
an d th e ordering of m aterial— all extrem ely useful
inform ation to th e un in itiated . E q u ally so is th e
description of th e tem p late loft, th e w orks an d th e
m achines an d processes w hich are to be seen there.
T he designs w hich are d ea lt w ith in th is first
volum e of th e series are of sim ple riv eted fastenings
a n d splices for various purposes an d of beam s. The
com plete design of a 20 -ft. span g a n try girder form s
th e tail-piece. As com pared w ith th e earlier edition,
several new features have been introduced in the
form of am endm ents to bring th e te x t into line w ith
th e la test specifications, fresh m aterial has been
ad d ed , a n d an in novation is m ade in th e arran g e­
m e n t of th e te x t on th e final design so th a t th e
calculations an d ex p lan ato ry notes are k e p t a p a rt
on opposite pages, th u s giving a greatly im proved
p resen tatio n of th e sub ject in its tw o aspects,
in stru ctio n an d exam ple.
W O R K OF PIERRE DUHEM
The Methodology of Pierre Duhem
B y A rm and Lowinger. P p . ix + 1 8 4 . (New Y o rk :
Columbia U niversity Press ; L ondon : O xford U n i­
v ersity P ress, 1941.) 15s. 6d. net.
N a p refato ry note th e a u th o r sta te s th a t his aim
is to provide a sum m ary in E nglish of th e w ork
o f Prof. P ierre D uhem (1861-1916) on scientific
m ethodology. T he g rea ter p a r t of th e book consists
o f ex tra cts from his papers an d from his book “La
T heorie P h ysique” , published in 1900 an d 1914, w ith
connecting passages supplied b y th e auth o r. In the
la st ch ap ter th e au th o r offers some criticism s.
I t is ra th e r difficult to assess th e value of a book
published in these conditions. A t th e p resent tim e
th e re is little in it th a t is n o t fam iliar to w orkers in
th e subject, m an y of w hom will em phatically accept
it an d others equally em phatically reject a g reat
deal of it ; to th em th e only question will be w hether
D uhem an ticip ated w ork th a t has been generally
a ttrib u te d to others.
I t does n o t ap p e ar to
m e th a t he did. H is approach is su b stan tially
I
May
23, 1942,
V o l.
149
th a t of Macli, except th a t he does n o t w holly reject
m etaphysics ; he only draw s a line distinguishing it
from science.
B u t th is distinction involves th e
rejection of “m odels” an d explanations from science ;
he insists on a b s tra c t form alism . I should say th a t
th e la tte r is v ery good if it can be done, b u t before
accepting it as a general principle I should like to
see th e facts of geophysics represented w ith o u t th e
aid of th e m odel th a t we call ‘th e E a r th ’. H e accepts
M ach’s view th a t th e whole aim of scientific theories
is econom y of sta te m en t. H e agrees th a t we m ake
inferences from th em beyond th e original d ata, an d
expect th e results to be verified, b u t says th a t this
has no logical justification an d is n o t science. I
should say, so m uch th e worse for such a narrow logic.
T here is no m ention in th e book of K arl P earso n ’s
“ G ram m ar o f Science”, published in 1892, w hich
does face th is problem ; a n d I consider th a t an y
la te r w ork on m ethodology th a t om its reference to
th e “G ram m ar” is like one on g rav itatio n th a t om its
K ep ler’s laws or one on th e th eo ry of th e com plex
variable th a t om its C auchy’s theorem .
D uhem
ac tu a lly insists a t a m uch la te r stage th a t we m u st
accep t testim o n y ; b u t we could n o t even arriv e a t
th e m eanings of w ords w ith o u t th e process th a t he
has rejected.
H. J e f f r e y s .
MAINLY ON W ILD GEESE
Through the Air
A dventures w ith W ild Fowl, an d Sm all-boat Sailing.
B y M ichael B ra tb y a n d P e te r S co tt. P p . 128 + 21 plates.
(London : Country L ife, L td ., 1941.) 10s. 6(2. net.
H IS is a rep rin te d account of a series of b ro ad ­
casts w hich M ichael B ra tb y has m ade, m ainly
upon w ild geese, an d th e re are a n um ber of black
an d w hite illu stratio n s b y his friend P ete r Scott.
T here are also tw o excellent photo g rap h s of a p in k ­
footed goose on her nest, evidently in Iceland or
G reenland, an d a m agnificent p h o to g rap h of an
A rctic hare. U n fo rtu n ately , we are left in th e d ark
as to who took these o u tstan d in g photographs. There
are tw o v ery good p h o tographs (facing p p . 57 an d 60),
tak en , wo are told, in Icelandic w aters. Ju d g in g
from th e icebergs th e clim atic conditions th a t season
in Iceland m u st have been exceptionally severe, an d
th e conditions recorded resemble, ra th e r, G reenland
or Spitsbergen. T here is a m ost in terestin g account
(pp. 29, 30) of a flight of blue snow geese descending
on th e w ater on m igration in dense m ist an d being
sw ept over N iag ara Falls. M ost w ere killed during
th a t trem endous descent, b u t a few survived, an d
w ere b ro u g h t to E ngland.
A nother interesting record (pp. 66 - 68 ) is of a p in k ­
footed goose w hich h ad been sh o t an d slightly
‘w inged’. T his b ird becam e v ery tam e, a m ate was
provided for her, an d seven years afte r she was
‘w inged’ th e goose nested in a flower bed in the
garden an d reared a fam ily. T here she lived for
tw elve years, an d th en , as circum stances h ad altered
for h er h u m an friends, she w as given aw ay. She was
less h ap p y in h er new surroundings, an d being full­
winged, joined a skein of wild pink-footed geese, an d
was n o t seen again.
B y th e w ay, th e a u th o r is w rong w hen he w rites
of th e wings of th e lesser black-backed gull (p. 80) as
being “as black as coal” . T he wings of th e B ritish
lesser black back are soot-grey, b u t th e w ings-of th e
S candinavian lesser black back are black.
T
S E T O N
(j O B I) O N .
No. 3786, M a y
23, 1942
NATURE
RADIOACTIVITY AND THE
COMPLETION OF THE PERIODIC
SYSTEM*
By PROF. F. A. PANETH
University of Durham
N E of th e trib u te s p aid by th e G overnm ent an d
m en of science of th e U .S .S .R . to th e m em ory of
Mendeleeff on th e occasion o f th e centenary of his
b irth 1 was th e publication o f his “ Collected W orks” .
I t contains all th e different tables of th e Periodic
System designed by M endeleeff a t various tim es, an d so
offers an excellent o p p o rtu n ity to stu d y a t w h a t pace,
an d u p to w h at point, th e com pletion of th e system
proceeded during his life. In th e first tables, w hich
O
appeared aro u n d th e y ear 1870, em p ty spaces were
left for th e elem ents eka-boron, eka-alum inium an d
eka-silicon; for eka-, dwi-, tri-, an d chatur-m anganese;
for th e rare e a rth elem ents betw een bariu m an d
ta n ta lu m (m any o f w hich were know n b u t could n o t
be assigned to definite places) ; for several elem ents
betw een b ism uth a n d u ran iu m ; an d , to com plete
th e la st horizontal row, for a few tran s-u ran iu m
elem ents. T he atom ic w eight of tellurium w as assum ed
to be 125, instead of th e experim ental value 128, in
order to m ake it sm aller th a n th a t of th e following
elem ent iodine, 127. All these sta te m en ts were
equivalent to predictions. W hich o f th em did th e
au th o r see fulfilled ?
In 1886 Mendeleeff him self answ ered th is question
in a v ery original w ay. H e h ad four photographic
p o rtra its m ounted in a com m on fram e, w ith th e
au to g rap hs of th e persons represented an d his own
com m entary on th e back. (The second volum e of th e
“ Collected W orks” contains a reproduction o f this
highly interesting historic piece.) T he four m en an d
th e ir contributions to th e developm ent of th e Periodic
System , as explained b y Mendeleeff, w ere : Lecoq de
B oisbaudran, discoverer in 1875 o f gallium (eka*
S u b sta n c e o f a le c tu re d e liv e re d b e fo re th e I n s t i t u t e o f C h e m is try
in L o n d o n o n F e b . 18.
565
alum inium ) ; L. F . N ilson, discoverer in 1879 of
scandium (eka-boron) ; Cl. W inkler, discoverer in
1886 of germ anium (eka-silicon) ; an d th e Czech
chem ist B. B rau n er, who h ad g reatly pleased
Mendeleeff by confirming by a re-determ ination of
th e atom ic w eight of tellu riu m th a t it actu ally was
125, as expected b y Mendeleeff.
W hen in 1905, review ing th e question, Mendeleeff
prep ared for th e la st tim e a ta b le of th e Periodic
System , scandium , gallium an d germ anium were
filling th e low est th ree of th e form erly em p ty spaces,
b u t still none o f th e higher homologues of m anganese
could be added, an d th e placing o f th e rare earth s h ad
m ade b u t little progress ; th e re w ere now indeed
tw en ty in stead of n ineteen spaces available betw een
b ariu m a n d ta n ta lu m — th a n k s to th e ad d itio n of th e
rare gases as G roup 0 o f th e System , th e only really
im p o rta n t developm ent betw een 1886 an d MendeWeff’s
d ea th in 1907. T he atom ic w eight o f tellu riu m was
now assum ed to be equal to th a t of iodine ; M en­
deleeff a p p a ren tly p ersisten tly refused to believe th a t
it was even higher (as proved b y th e best atom ic
w eight d eterm inations), alth o u g h B rau n er him self
h ad a d m itte d th a t his earlier low value was an ex ­
p erim en tal erro r.
T he la st horizontal row shows
rad iu m in its p ro p er position a n d so points to a
fu tu re developm ent—th e placing o f th e o th er rad io ­
activ e elem ents a n d hence th e conception o f isotopy
— w hich Mendeleeff did n o t live to see.
I f to -d ay we resum e th e never-ending ta sk of
d raftin g a ta b le of th e Periodic System em bodying
p resen t know ledge, it will ta k e th e form of F ig. 1, or
some ta b le sim ilar to it. W e are now aw are th a t
atom ic n u m b er an d n o t atom ic w eight defines th e
position of an elem ent, an d th a t betw een barium
(atom ic n u m b er 56) an d ta n ta lu m (atom ic num ber 73)
th e re are only sixteen places. W e h av e given up hope
o f assigning th e fourteen know n rare-earth elem ents
to consecutive groups in th e System , an d therefore
prefer to w rite th em outside its fram ew ork. The
discovery o f hafn iu m (elem ent 72) filled in 1922 th e
place o f eka-zirconium ; th a t o f rhenium (elem ent 75)
in 1925 th e place of dw i-m anganese. Polonium , radon,
actin iu m K , actin iu m , a n d p ro tactin iu m have tak en
566
NATURE
th eir respective places in th e la st tw o horizontal rows.
O nly throe positions below uranium are left em pty,
those corresponding to th e atom ic num bers 43, 61
an d 85, th a t is, eka-m anganese, a rare ea rth , and
eka-iodine. Before saying m ore ab o u t these, it seems
necessary to ad d a w ord of explanation to th e assign­
m e n t o f an elem ent actin iu m K to place 87 (ekacffisium).
I t is well know n th a t m o st of th e elem ents from
th alliu m (81) to u ran iu m (92) are represented b y
m ore th a n one atom ic species, th a n k s to th e th ree
radioactive disintegration series w hich s ta r t from
uranium , actino-uranium , a n d th o riu m an d em it a- as
well as (3-particles, th u s covering some p a rts of th e
Periodic System rep eated ly (“R adioactive D isplace­
m en t Law s” ). All th re e series have, how ever, one
peculiar featu re in com m on, nam ely, th e successive
emission o f four a-particles, sta rtin g from th e thorium
isotopes ionium , radio-actinium , a n d radio-thorium ,
respectively. As a consequence, im m ediately afte r
elem ent 90 th e elem ents 88, 86, 84, an d 82 are form ed.
T he elem ents 89 an d 83 are nevertheless represented
in th e Periodic System , because th e form er is produced
in th e actinium an d th o riu m series before, a n d th e
la tte r in all th ree series afte r, th e ‘four a-particle r u n ’.
E lem ents 87 an d 85, how ever, are m issing in th e th ree
disintegration series ; com pare F ig. 2, in w hich th e
full line represents th e actinium series in th e generally
accepted form .
There was alw ays hope o f finding th e m issing
elem ents outside th e m ain series as so-called ‘branch
p ro d u cts’, an d it was easy to pred ict theoretically, on
th e basis o f th e displacem ent laws, w hich atom s
would have to undergo a ‘dual d isin teg ratio n ’ in order
to produce th e looked-for effect. I f an y one of th e
em anations em itted fi-particles (in addition to th e ir
well-known a-radiation), or if eith er actinium or its
isotope m esothorium 2 em itte d a-particles (in add itio n
to th e ir (3-radiation), th e resu lt w ould necessarily be
an isotope o f elem ent 87. E x perim ents proved th a t
n eith er in th e uranium nor th e th o riu m series does
such a branching occur2. On th e o th e r han d , it was
found in V ienna3 so early as 1914 th a t carefully
purified actinium em itted, in v ery sm all in te n sity
com pared w ith th e ac tiv ity of th e m ain series, a-rays
of th e range (in air a t n . t . p .) of 3-4 cm . T he possi­
b ility was considered th a t th is indicated a “ dual
disintegration of actinium , a sm all percentage of the
atom s em itting a-particles, th e g rea t m a jo rity (3particlea” . T he resu lt o f th e a-radiation would, of
M ay 23, 1942,
V o l . 149
course, b e th e elem ent 87. T he co n tin u atio n of these
researches w as p rev en ted b y th e o u tb rea k of war,
b u t th ree years ago Mile M arguerite P erey 4 in P aris
n o t only confirm ed th e existence of a-ray s from a c tin ­
ium o f th e range observed in V ienna, b u t also was
able to show th a t in purified actinium solutions to a
sm all e x te n t a (3-radiating substance of a half-value
period of 21 m in u tes is co n stan tly form ed ; th a t this
substance can n o t be rem oved b y th e p recip itatio n of
sulphides or carbonates, b u t th a t it can be crystallized
to g eth er w ith caesium perchlorate o r chloroplatinate.
I t seems m ost likely th a t th is (3-radiating substance
w ith th e properties of an alkali m etal is th e p ro d u ct
o f those co m paratively few actin iu m ato m s which
em it a- in stead of (3-particles, an d possesses therefore
th e atom ic n u m b er 87. O f 1000 atom s, less th a n 10
seem to follow th is p a th . (In th e disintegration of
actin iu m C th e pro p o rtio n is reversed ; ab o u t 2 in
1000 em it fi-particles w hile th e re st decay w ith
a-em ission to actin iu m C".) T he (3-radiation displayed
b y th is elem en t 87 w ould necessarily lead back to an
elem ent 88, p ro b ab ly id en tical w ith actinium X ,
in th e sam e w ay as b o th ro u tes s ta rtin g from actinium
C u n ite in ac tin iu m D . See F ig. 2 ; th e abscissa
show s th e atom ic n u m b e r ( th a t is, n u m b er o f protons)
o f each atom , th e o rd in ate its m ass n u m b er ( th a t is,
n ea rest in teg er to th e ato m ic w eight, or n u m b er of
p ro to n s p lu s neu tro n s).
F u rth e r confirm ation o f Mile P e re y ’s experim ents
is ce rtain ly desirable. T he fac t, however, th a t she
w as able to follow th e decay as w ell as th e g ro w th of
th e 21-m inutes substance, a n d th e agreem ent o f th e
chem ical evidence w ith th e observed a-rad iatio n of
actin iu m , is v ery assuring. As th e nam e “ actinium
K ” h as been suggested for th is new elem ent we have
in serted its sym bol A cK in place 87 o f o u r Periodic
T able (Fig. 1).
T here is so fa r no tru stw o rth y indication o f a
b ran ch in g of a n y o f th e m ain rad io activ e series leading
to an elem ent 85, n o r h as a stab le form o f th is elem ent
been found. W e m u st assum e a t p resen t th a t th e
elem ents 43, 61 a n d 85 are m issing on o u r ea rth .
T he reg u larities o f th e P eriodic S ystem enable us
to describe ap p ro x im ately th e p ro p erties to be
ex pected from th ese elem ents ; b u t especially for 85,
since it is on th e b o rd er line betw een m etals an d
non-m etals, an d w ith o u t a higher homologue, such
pred ictio n s are necessarily vague. F o rtu n a te ly for
th e in te rests of chem ists who are sy stem atically
m inded, th e re is a possibility of stu d y in g ex p eri­
m en tally th e pro p erties even o f elem ents w hich are
n o t rep resen ted in N a tu re : we can tr y to m ake them ,
an d if we are lucky enough to o b ta in th em in a (not
too short-living) rad io activ e form , th e well-know n
m ethods o f rad io chem ical investigation, th a t is, a
com bination o f electro m etrical m easurem ents w ith
analytical-chem ical operations, will enable us to
explore th e ir chem ical b ehaviour even if q u an tities
of only 10-10 gm . or less h av e been produced.
T he m o st efficient in stru m e n t for atom ic tra n s m u ta ­
tio n is E . O. L aw rence’s cyclotron. O f th e overw helm ­
ing n u m b er of n u clear reactio n s carried o u t w ith its
help, for th e purpose of o u r p resen t su rv ey , in w hich
we in te n d to om it all d etails of no im m ediate in terest
to th e chem ist, we need rem em ber o nly tw o. In
m a n y cases w hen an ato m o f atom ic n u m b e r Z and
m ass n u m b er M is b om barded w ith d eu tero n s (fD),
an ato m o f ato m ic n u m b er Z -f- ] an d m ass num ber
M + 1 m akes its ap p earan ce w hile one n e u tro n per
ato m is lib erated . I f th e b o m b ard m en t is carried
o u t w ith helium nuclei (iH e), an elem ent Z - f 2 of
No. 3786, M ay 23, 1942
NATURE
567
in eq u ilibrium q u a n tity , a n d its a-rad iatio n (range
6-5 cm .) decays w ith th e half-value period of its
p a re n t, nam ely, 7-5 hours. T h a t m akes it possible
to in v estig ate th e chem ical p ro p erties of elem ent 85
as th o u g h i t w ere itse lf em ittin g th e a-ray s. T he final
p ro d u c t m u st be th e sam e as th a t o f th e o rdinary
AcC', n am ely ac tin iu m D, or ‘actin iu m le ad ’, of
ato m ic w eig h t 207. ( I t seems likely th a t th e slime
final p ro d u ct is also reached b y an o th e r w ay, as ele­
m en t 85 a c tu a lly undergoes a d u al disintegration,
a b o u t h alf its ato m s em ittin g a-particles.) In Fig. 2
we have in d icated b y d o tte d lines th e w ay in w hich
elem ent 85, artificially p roduced from 2g°aBBi, is
changing in to th e n a tu ra l radio-elem ent AcC7. This
exam ple, w hich is n o t th e first of its kind, illustrates
well th a t th e re is no fu n d am e n tal difference between
‘artificial’ an d ‘n a tu ra l’ ra d io a ctiv ity ; it is therefore
b e tte r to speak o f ‘artificially p ro d u ced ’, an d n o t of
‘artificial’, radio-elem ents.
T h an k s to th e fav o u rab le d ecay p eriod o f more
th a n seven h o u rs, th e ch e m istry o f elem en t 85 can be
th o ro u g h ly s tu d ie d . T h e follow ing reactio n s are of
special in te re s t. M ixed w ith b ism u th it is q u a n tita ­
tiv e ly p re c ip ita te d b y h y d ro g en su lphide in acid
solutions. F ra c tio n a l h y d ro ly sis o f b ism u th n itra te
enriches elem en t 85 in th e first fra ctio n s ; since it
is know n th a t th e ten d en cy o f polonium to hydrolyse
is a lre a d y g re a te r th a n th a t o f b ism u th , it w ould be
in te re stin g to com pare in th is resp e ct elem ent 85
w ith polonium . Closely connected w ith hydrolysis
is th e v ery c h a ra c te ristic fe a tu re o f polonium of b e­
having like a colloid in all b u t stro n g ly acid solutions ;
th e sam e p e c u la rity sh o u ld be easily d etectab le in
so lu tio n s o f elem ent 85. I f th is ‘eka-iodine’ is mixed
w ith iodine, i t ca n n o t be p rec ip ita ted , to g eth er w ith
th e la tte r, b y silver n itra te , an d i t is only p a rtly
e x tra c te d b y carb o n tetrach lo rid e. I t can be deposited
electro ly tically . I t is n o t p re c ip ita te d by h y d ro ­
chloric acid, in presence o f lead. I ts fa c u lty o f form ing
a v o latile h y d rid e h as n o t y e t been d em o n strated
conclusively ; th is one chem ical p ro p e rty , however,
can be p red ic ted w ith com plete confidence, since it
d epends d ire c tly on th e p o sitio n o f an elem ent in th e
Periodic Table-—w hich m u st precede a ra re gas by
n o t m ore th a n fo u r places— an d is show n even by
th e stillm o re m etallic elem ents polonium an d b ism u th .
I t sh o u ld be n o t too difficult an ex p erim en t to com ­
p are th e s ta b ility o f th e gaseous h y d rid e of 85 w ith th a t
o f H J an d H 2Po.
I t is clear from th e above th a t elem ent 85 differs
in im p o rta n t reactio n s from its lower homologue
iodine an d resem bles m ore its left-h an d neighbours
in th e VTth period. I t is all th e m ore in terestin g th a t
some sim ila rity to iodine is rep o rted in its p h y sio ­
logical behaviour ; i t is co n cen trated in th e thyroids
o f guinea pigs.
I t h as I icon m entioned before th a t Mendeleeff, in
som e o f h is tables, reserved room for tran s-u ran iu m
elem ents. T h e ease w ith w hich in m an y cases
artificial tra n sm u ta tio n g en erated elem ents higher in
th e P erio d ic S ystem th a n th e b o m b ard ed ones
T he first line shows th a t elem ent 85 is form ed accord­ n a tu ra lly led to experim ents to create th ese tran sing to expectations ; its in stab ility is, how ever, of uranides. F o r a w hile it w as believed th a t, by a
a p eculiar ty p e, as in d icated b y th e second line : n e u tro n b o m b ard m en t o f u ran iu m , radioactive
instead o f em ittin g p ositrons its nuclei cap tu re elem ents up to ato m ic n um ber 96 could be obtained.
electrons (out of th e ff-shell) an d a re th e re b y tr a n s ­ C areful chem ical in v estig atio n proved, however, th a t
form ed in ato m s of a well-known n a tu ra l radio-elem ent m ost o f th e elem ents th u s produced were fission
actin ium C', a n isotope o f polonium . T his process p ro d u cts o f u ran iu m , rad io activ e isotopes o f elem ents
goes on w ith a half-value period o f 7-5 hours. p laced m uch low er in th e Periodic Table; fo r exam ple,
A ctinium C has a m uch sh o rter period, only 5 x 10-3 brom ine, stro n tiu m , an tim ony, tellurium , xenon and
sec. ; it is, therefore, alw ays p resent in elem ent 85 b ariu m . H ow ever, elem ent 93, th a t is, th e one
mass M -|-2 m ay be form ed, th is tim e w ith em ission
of two neutro n s p e r atom . T he new ly created atom s
are m ostly u n sta b le ; th u s th e se tw o reactio n s give
us th e possibility of producing rad io a ctiv e elem ents
one a n d tw o places higher in th e P eriodic System th a n
the bom barded elem ents. T h e ir applicatio n has
provided ac tiv e form s o f all th re e m issing elem ents
for chem ical in v estig atio n .
H ere are th e m ain
results.
E lem ent 43, M endeleeff’s eka-m anganese, w as
o b tain ed b y bom b ard in g elem ent 42, m olybdenum ,
w ith d e u tero n s5. A t le a st five rad io a ctiv e isotopes of
atom ic n u m b e r 43 w ere recognized ; as th e ir h a lf­
value p eriods w ere o f th e o rd er o f hou rs a n d days,
a stu d y o f th e ir chem ical behaviour w as possible.
I t w as found th a t elem ent 43 can be p re c ip ita te d w ith
hydrogen sulphide fro m alkaline a n d (not too) acid
solutions ; th a t it can easily be deposited electroly tically ; an d th a t its oxide is v olatile. A ll th is
shows th a t it resem bles m ore its higher hom ologue,
rhenium , th a n its low er, m anganose. I t m a y be
m entioned th a t th e id e n tity of one o f th e isotopes
w ith elem ent 43 could be verified even b y th e m easu re­
m en t of th e K a line o f its X -ra y spectru m ; n o t in th e
usual w ay, o f course, by excitin g it on th e an ticath o d e o f a n X -ra y tube, b u t th ro u g h th e sp o n ­
taneous em ission o f th is line as a consequence o f th e
tran sitio n from a higher to a low er isom eric s ta te of
th e nucleus.
F o r th e p ro d u ctio n o f elem ent 61 both th e atom ic
reactions m entioned above h av e been successfully
trie d . W hen elem ent 60 (neodym ium ) w as bom barded
w ith d e u ta ro n s6, a rad io activ e isotope o f elem ent 61
w ith a ha)f-value period of a few hours was o b tain ed ;
b o m b ard m en t of elem ent 59 (praseodym ium ) w ith
a-particles7 resu lted in a radio-elem ent 61 o f a h a lf­
value p erio d o f a b o u t 200 days. I n th is case th e
chem ical c h a ra c te r can lie deduced w ith g re a t c e r­
ta in ty from th e p osition in th e P eriodic S ystem ;
elem ent 61 m u st be a rare e a rth , o f a b asicity higher
th a n sam ariu m a n d low er th a n neodym ium . I t is a
ta sk for th e chem ist now to te s t th is p red ic tio n w ith
th e help of one of th e radio activ e isotopes o f 61, b u t
scarcely a n y th in g else o f in te re st can b e expected
from an investigation of invisible q u an tities o f th is
now m em ber of th e raro e a rth group.
F a r m ore im p o rta n t, for th e reasons given above,
is th e chem ical stu d y of elem ent 85, an d it deserves
special consideration also on account o f its ra d io ­
activ e behaviour. Since th e elem ent one place low er
down, polonium , is n o t available in su licient q u a n ­
tities for a b om bardm ent, th e m ost prom ising reaction
w as th e tre a tm e n t o f th e elem ent tw o places below,
b ism uth, w ith helium nuclei accelerated in th e
cyclotron. I t w as found th a t, bosides others, th e
following sequence o f reactions took p la ce8 :
568
NATURE
im m ediately following uranium , w as synthesized in
an ac tiv e fo rm a n d its chem ical c h a ra c te r studied".
I t seem s th a t here, too, th e sim ila rity w ith th e
preceding elem ent, uranium , is g re a te r th a n w ith its
low er hom ologue, rhenium . E lem en t 93 is, for
exam ple, n o t p rec ip ita ted b y hydrogen sulphide in
acid solution, an d does n o t possess an oxide volatile
a t re d h e a t.
F in ally , th e question m ay be considered how g reat
is th e chance th a t th e elem ents w hich so fa r h ave only
been produced artificially occur in N atu re . F o r th e
elem ents 43 an d 61 it is certainly very sm all, for
ex p erim en tal as w ell as th e o re tic al reasons. W e have
seen th a t th e analytical-chem ical p ro p erties of elem ent
43 are v e ry m uch lik e tho se o f rhenium , an d th a t th e re
is no reaso n to d o u b t t h a t elem ent 61 follows th e o th e r
ra re e a rth s. N ow rh en iu m h a s been p re p a re d in
h u n d red s of kilogram s, b u t n o t th e slig h test tra c e of
elem en t 43 w as ever fo u n d associated w ith it. F o r
elem en t 61 a special search h as been m ade, am ong
o th ers, b y A uer v on W elsbach, w ho n o t only h ad
u n u su a lly large q u a n titie s o f rare-ea rth m a teria l a t
h is disposal b u t possessed also an u nrivalled ex p eri­
ence in th e ir fra ctio n al se p aratio n ; he cam e to th e
conclusion t h a t no ra re e a rth existed betw een
n eodym ium an d sam arium .
To th is we m ay a d d th a t, q u ite in d ep en d en tly of
th ese ex p erim en tal fac ts, a general ru le seem s to
exclude th e possib ility of a stable elem ent 43 or 61.
J . M a tta u c h 10 h a s d irected a tte n tio n to th e absence, or,
a t le ast, ex trem e r a r ity , of stab le isobars ( th a t is, atom s
o f equal atom ic w eight) belonging to neighbouring
elem ents. I f tw o neighbours in th e P eriodic T able
have isobars, one o f th e atom ic species is alm ost
in v a riab ly u n sta b le , changing in to its iso b ar b y
em ission o f an electron or a positro n (or both ). F o r
exam ple, |jjK is isobaric w ith |g A a n d w ith
Ca ;
in accordance w ith M atta u cli’s R ule, IJ K em its
(3-particles, th u s changing in to ft”t'a (and p erh a p s
also p o sitrons, th e re b y p roducing f "A, th e astonishing
te rre s tria l abu n d an ce of w hich has been te n ta tiv e ly
ex plained b y th is assum ption). I f M a tta u c h ’s R ule
is v alid in th e region o f th e elem ents 43 an d 61, th e re
are no sta b le isotopes o f these tw o elem ents possible,
as all m ass num bers are occupied b y sta b le isotopes
o f th e ir neighbours. E le m en t 42, m olybdenum ,
possesses th e stab le isotopes 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98
a n d 100 ; elem ent 44, ru th en iu m , 96, 98, 99, 100,
101, 102 an d 104 ; so for elem ent 43, th e com bining
w eight of w hich o u g h t to be betw een m olybdenum
a n d ru th en iu m , no atom s w ith m asses betw een 94
a n d 102 are available. T he case o f elem ent 61 is
sim ilar.
F o r elem ent 85 M a tta u c h ’s R u le m akes no prediction,
since from elem ent 84 onw ards no stab le atom s are
know n. N o r are th e n egative resu lts of th e ex p e ri­
m en ts carried o u t so fa r in search o f th is elem ent
conclusive ; fo r it w as generally supposed th a t in th e
course of an aly tical separations it w ould follow iodine,
w hile we know now th a t it is m uch m ore like polonium
an d b ism u th . T he ta sk of a chem ist em barking to-day
on a new a tte m p t a t its discovery w ould be facilitated
n o t o nly b y th is know ledge b u t also b y th e o p p o r­
tu n ity o f adding th e artificially produced radioactive
form o f elem ent 85 as an ‘in d ic ato r’ to his m a teria l ;
th e a-ray s, decaying w ith th e ch a racteristic period of
7-5 hours, w ould show him a t once in w hich fractio n
th e looked-for n a tu ra l elem ent, if p rese n t a t all, is
c o n c en tra ted .
E v en if it should be im possible to d etec t an y of th e
May
23, 1942,
V o l.
149
th ree m issing elem ents on th e ea rth , i t is n o t unlikely
th a t th e y possess a tra n sito ry existence in th e course
o f th e in n um erable therm o-nuclear reactions occurring
in th e in terio r o f th e su n an d th e o th e r stars.
1 See N a t u r e , 134, 799 (1934).
“ H a h n , 0 . , N a tu r w is s e n ., 14, 159 (1926).
3 M ey er, S t., H ess, V . 1’., a n d P a n e th . P . A ., S itzber. W ie n . A k a d . W iss.,
123, 1459 (1914).
4 P e re y , M ., C .it., 208, [97 [(1 9 3 9 ); J . P h y s. et le R a d iu m , 10, 435
(1939).
• S e a b o rg , G. T ., a n d Segife, E ., P h y s. lie v ., 65, 808 (1 9 3 9 ); SegrS. E .,
N a t u r e , 143, 400 (1939).
• P o o l, M . L „ a n d Q u ill, L . L ., P h y s. R e v., 53, 437 (1 9 3 8 ); L aw , H . B .,
P o o l, M . L ., K u r b a to v , J . It., a n d Q u ill, L . L ., P h n s. R e v., 59,
936 (1941).
7 K u r b a to v , J . D ., M a c D o n a ld , D . C ., P o o l, M . L ., a n d Q u ill, L . 1,„
P h y s . R e v., 61, 100 (1 9 4 2 ); W u , C. S., a n d S eg i6 , E ., P h y s. R ev.,
61, 203 (1942).
• C o rs o n , 1). I t . , M acK en zie, K . K ., a n d S cgr6, E ., P h y s. R ev., 58,
0 72 (1940).
•M c M illa n , E ., a n d A b e lso n , P . H ., P h y s . R e v ., 57, 1185 (1940).
10 M a tt a u c h , J . , P h y s . Z ., 35, 617 (1 9 3 4 ); N a tu r w is s .. 25. 738 (1937).
MOSQUITO-BREEDING IN STATIC
WATER SUPPLIES
By J. F. MARSHALL, C.B.E.
Director, British Mosquito Control Institute.
countries such as G reat B ritain, w here n eith er
m alaria, yellow fever n o r oth er m osquito-bom o
diseases are endemic, consideration of th e h ab its of
these insects in connexion w ith w ar has scarcely ever
been necessary. D uring th e W ar of 1914-18, it is
tru e, quite extensive o utbreaks of m alaria occurred
in E n g lan d owing to th e fact th a t soldiers who
h ad co n tracted th e disease abroad were sent to
convalesce in d istricts w here Anopheles maculipennis,
th e chief m alaria-carrier of E urope, was th en (as
now) p articu la rly p rev a len t1. I t m ay p erhaps also
be n oted th a t neglect of ag ricu ltu ral drainage during
th a t w ar led to a m arked (and in some cases serious)
increase in th e m osquito infestation of m an y lowlying areas of G reat B ritain.
N eith er of th e above-m entioned co n tacts between
B ritish m osquitoes an d war, however, a ttra c te d more
th a n local in te r e s t; an d it w as only in th e early
p a r t of la st year, w hen fire-fighting au th o rities com ­
m enced to in stal v ery large, open-air ta n k s all over
th e co u n try , th a t an y such association can be said
to have become a m a tte r of general concern. A lthough
public know ledge regarding m osquitoes is extrem ely
lim ited, m ost people are aw are of th e fact th a t static
w ater is liable to encourage th em : hence th e ap p e ar­
ance of these conspicuous receptacles th ro u g h o u t our
u rb a n areas has u navoidably given rise to considerable
apprehension. I t seems therefore advisable to con­
sider, first, how far these misgivings are justifiable ;
and, secondly, to w h at e x te n t precau tio n ary m easures
can an d should be adopted.
I n theory, th e ‘co n tro l’ of m osquitoes is a co m p ara­
tiv ely sim ple m a tte r, owing to th e fac t th a t b oth
th e ir larv al an d p u p al stages of developm ent are
passed en tirely in w ater. M osquitoes of th e Culicine
trib e (to w hich all b u t four of th e B ritish species
belong) breed exclusively in sta tic w ater ; b u t those
o f th e A nopheline trib e breed also (and in th e case of
m an y species chiefly) in running w ater— th eir larva)
being able to anchor them selves to surface weeds by
m eans of certain hook-ended hairs. I t th u s follows
th a t m osquito-control operations include (in addition
I
n
No. 3786,
M ay 23, 1942
NATURE
to th e obvious procedure of abolishing po ten tial
breeding-places b y drainage, filling-in, etc.) the
clearing an d re-grading of ditches an d th e rem oval
of aq u atic vegetation. I t frequently happens, how ­
ever, th a t lack of tim e (or of funds) renders such
m easures im practicable, in w hich case an alternative
m ethod is to kill the larv;e, either b y spraying oil
upon, or m ixing ‘larv icid al’ chemicals w ith, th e
infested w ater. In th e form er case th e oil dissolves
aw ay a hydrofuge secretion from w ithin th e breathing
orifices of th e la rv a a n d th e n enters th e tracheal
system w ith fa ta l re su lts 2 ; in th e la tte r case th e
larv a is poisoned w hen it feeds. F or larvicidal p u r ­
poses p reparations based on coal ta r derivatives an d
introduced into 30,000-50,000 tim es th eir own volum e
of th e infested w ater are m ost com m only em ployed.
I t is im p o rta n t to note, however, th a t w ater should
on no account be tre a te d w ith either oil or larvicide
if th e presence of m osquito larva! has n o t been actually
observed : tre a tin g uninfested w ater being n o t only a
sheer w aste of b o th tim e and m oney b u t also liable to
destroy fish, w ater bugs an d various other ‘m osquito
enem ies’ th a t n a tu ra l collections of w ater so frequently
contain.
A lthough all th e above-m entioned operations are
simple in them selves, th e practical application of
them is a m uch m ore com plicated m a tte r th a n it
sounds. This is chiefly due to th e num erous idiosyncracies th a t characterize different species of
m osquitoes, n o tab ly in regard to th e q u ality and
environm ent o f th e w ater th a t th e y instinctively
select for oviposition. (Some B ritish species lay
th eir eggs separately on w ater ; others lay them
sep arately on land liable to flooding ; others stick
them tog eth er during laying, so as to form ‘eggra fts ’. The species Culex pipiens, G. molestus and
Theobaldia annulata belong to th e last-m entioned
group.) O f th e th irty species a t present know n in
G reat B ritain, seven have been b u t rarely recorded,
b u t th e hab its of th e rem aining tw en ty -th ree have
been m ore or less thoroughly studied. O f th e species
included in th e la tte r group, eight are know n to breed
chiefly in w oodland pools ; three, exclusively in rainfilled cavities in trees ; tw o, alm ost exclusively in
slow-running, w eedy w ater ; two. chiefly, an d one,
exclusively, in th e sa lt or brackish w ater of coastal
m arshes—an d so on. The coastal species have an
exceptionally long flight-range and are consequently
able to cause annoyance in localities several miles
d istan t from th e ir breeding-grounds.
In regard to th e breeding of m osquitoes in tan k s,
reservoirs an d oth er containers, it has u n til recently
been believed th a t only tw o B ritish species—nam ely
Culex p ipiens Linnaeus an d Theobaldia annulata
Schrank—are a t all likely to do so. O f these tw o
m osquitoes, th e form er breeds im partially in either
clean or foul w ater ; th e la tte r chiefly in w ater
contam inated b y sewage or other nitrogenous m a tte r.
U nder n a tu ra l conditions, C. pipiens rarely, if ever,
bites hum an beings (its custom ary victim s being
birds), b u t T . annulata avidly does so. These facts
indicate th a t tan k-sto red w ater, unless allowed to
become contam inated in th e m anner above m en­
tioned, is unlikely to give rise to an y ‘m osquito
an noyance’ other th a n th e possible public apprehen­
sion th a t th e sight (or sound) of a n y species of
m osquito is liable to arouse.
A lthough, however, this assum ption m ay still hold
tru e where ta n k s in open-air situ atio n s are concerned,
it would be unsafe to consider it generally applicable
u n til th e breeding h ab its of an o th er B ritish m os­
569
quito, nam ely, C ulex molestus Forskal, have been
m ore fully investigated. B o th in th e larval an d
ad u lt form s th is species resembles C. pipiens so closely
th a t its presence in G reat B ritain rem ained u n ­
n oticed u n til 1931, w hen it w as accidentally discovered
a t H ayling Islan d (H an ts)3. Previous to its being
fo u n d in G reat B ritain , th e presence of G. molestus
in o th er p a rts of E u ro p e (for example, in F ran ce4,
G erm any'', Greece6, H u n g ary 6 an d M alta6) had
alread y been detected, a n d its biology studied, by
C ontinental an d o th er entom ologists, who considered
it to be an abnorm al ‘v a rie ty ’ o f G. pipiens rath er
th a n a sep arate species. T he a u th o r’s reasons for
preferring th e la tte r classification have been fully
expounded elsew here7.
To say th e least, th e biological peculiarites of
C. molestus are extrem ely striking. O f th e two
th o u san d odd species o f m osquitoes a t present
described, less th a n a dozen are know n to be stenogam ous (th a t is, able to m a te in a v ery sm all space)
an d only th ree to be autogenous (th a t is, able to lay
fertile eggs w ith o u t h aving h a d a blood m eal before
or a fte r m ating). N o t only does C. molestus differ
from b o th C. p ipiens an d T . annulata in being b oth
stenogam ous an d autogenous, b u t it also differs from
th e form er species in being an extrem ely fierce ‘manb ite r’ w henever o p p ortunities occur.
I t was suggested th a t th e detectio n of G. molestus
in G reat B rita in m ight su p p ly th e long-aw aited
ex planation of m ysterious cases, rep o rted from tim e
to tim e, in w hich h um an beings h ad been fiercely
b itte n (n otably in houses an d tu b e railw ays in
London) b y m osquitoes diagnosed as G. pipiens. The
accuracy o f th is suggestion was afterw ards established
b y th e investigation o f ‘molestus plagues’ occurring
in houses in H u ll9 ; in houses in W estm inster and
o th er Tham es-side d istricts of L ondon (for example,
B attersea, Berm ondsey, Chelsea, D eptford, Fulham
a n d Greenwich) ; an d in various statio n s of the
already m entioned tu b e railw ays.
I n ad d itio n to being b o th stenogam ous an d a u to ­
genous, C. molestus is also hom odynam ic ( th a t is,
able to breed a t an y tim e of th e y ear provided th a t
ex tern al conditions rem ain favourable). Possessing
these th ree u nusual characteristics, it is v ery easily
bred in th e la b o ra to ry all th e y ear ro u n d ; b u t, in
sp ite of th is fact, our knowledge regarding its n atu ral
breeding h ab its is u n fo rtu n ately far from complete.
I n th e case of th e tu b e railw ays, however, larvse
of th is species were found to be heavily infesting
collections of w ater sta g n atin g u n d er sta tio n p la t­
form s an d betw een th e lines. T hey h av e also been
found in flooded cellars an d cesspools, in underground
system s of household w aste disposal, in septic tanks,
in cavities w ithin a w ater-logged ru b b ish dum p and
in th e underground ta n k s of a Tham es-side laundry.
C onsideration o f th e above an d certain other facts
h av e led some entom ologists to suggest th a t C.
molestus m ay breed chiefly in w ater which, in u rban
an d other b u ilt-u p localities, is allowed to stag n ate
in d ark , underground situ atio n s ; an d since, b o th in
L ondon an d elsewhere, sta tic w ater is now being
stored in th e basem ents of m any houses, th e possi­
b ility of C. molestus being th u s provided w ith
facilities for extending th e range of its undesirable
activ ities app ears to be fa r from rem ote. (Should
a n y such developm ents occur, th e covering of ven ­
tilato rs, window openings, etc., to p rev en t gravid
females of th is species from reaching th e water,
m ig h t p erh ap s b e deem ed advisable.) I t is obviously
im p o rta n t th a t ta n k s of th is k in d should be k ep t
NATURE
570
u n d er observation, an d specim ens of any m osquito
la rv a seen collected for identification.
W h eth er even th e ‘m an-ignoring’ G. p ip ien s is
likely to breed in th e very large outdoor ta n k s th a t
are now in use is still a m a tte r for speculation.
Should such cases occur, th e question of applying
oil or larvicide m erely to allay public apprehension
m u st presum ably receive consideration. I t has to
be noted, however, th a t oil is extrem ely injurious to
ta n k s w ith bitum inous linings.
As already m entioned, tan k -sto red w ater th a t is
allowed to become co ntam inated b y sewage or other
nitrogenous m a tte r will very prob ab ly becom e
infested w ith larvae of th e m an-biting species T.
annulata. A tte n tio n has, m oreover, been directed
to th e possibility of tank-stored w ater becom ing a
su itab le breeding m edium for certain of our m ore
‘countrified’ species, owing, for exam ple, to algal
d evelopm ent or to th e accidental or mischievous
in tro d u ctio n of vegetable or other organic m a tte r.
I t is, how ever, obviously preferable to deal w ith such
contingencies if an d w hen th e y arise ra th e r th a n to
a d o p t th e sp e n d th rift policy—advocated in some
q u arte rs— of indiscrim inately tre a tin g enorm ous n u m ­
bers o f ta n k s on th e off-chance of a few of them
containing m osquito larvae. These creatures are so
easy to recognize th a t anyone who has ever seen one—
w hether in a specim en tu b e or a ta n k — can have no
difficulty w hatever in deciding w hen an ti-larv al
m easures are necessary.
1 M a rsh a ll, J . F ., “ T h e B r itis h M o sq u ito e s ” , ]>. 319 ( B ritis h M u se u m
1938).
2 K e ilin , n . , T a te , P ., a n d V in c e n t, M ., P arasitology, 27, 257 (1935).
” M a rs h a ll, J . F ., a n d S ta le y , ,T., N a t u r e , 135, 34 (1935).
4 R o u b a u d , F ., C .R . A c a d . S e t , 188, 735 (1929).
5 M acG reg o r, M . E ., T ra n s , lio v . Soc. T r o p . M e d . a n d H y u ., 26, 307
(1932).
6 T a te , P ., a n d V in c e n t, M ., P arasitology, 28, 512 (1934).
7 M a rs h a ll, J . F ., a n d S ta le y , J . , Proc. R o y . E n t. Soc., A , 1 2 ,1 7 (1937).
8 M a rsh a ll, .T. F ., a n d S ta le y , J . , P arasitolooy, 27, 4 (1935).
9 M a rs h a ll, J . F .. a n d S ta le y , ,T., N a t u r e , 136, fi41 (1935).
10 S h u te , P . G ., L a n cet, 1, 0 (1941).
SCIENCE AND WAR*
By AUSTIN
H. C LA R K
U.S. National Museum
ROM th e earliest tim es of w hich we have a record
to th e p resent day, th e history of m an has been
m arked b y co n stan t changes in th e social system s,
changes th a t often were a b ru p t an d violent. One
form of social stru c tu re or of governm ent has suc­
ceeded another. Small b u t pow erful social or political
un its have grow n b y accretion or by conquest into
g reat kingdom s or em pires.
These kingdom s or
em pires eventually have decayed or fallen ap a rt.
T ogether w ith these freq u en t social, political, or
economic read ju stm en ts of th e p a s t we see a constant
an d fairly continuous developm ent of other forces
w hich to a large ex ten t are independent of tran sien t
political conditions. W e n o te a growing interest in
an d u n d erstanding of th e products of th e e a rth and
th e ir uses. W e also are able to trac e th e everincreasing subjugation of th e forces of N ature, w hich
m ore an d m ore come to be th e servants instead of
th e enemies of m an.
T he g rea test of all hum an achievem ents w as th e
control and use of fire. W e have no knowledge of
F
*
S u b s ta n c e o f th e a d d re s s o f th e r e tirin g p re s id e n t o f th e W a s h ­
in g to n A c a d e m y o f S ciences d e liv e re d a t th e 3 0 9 th m e e tin g o f th e
A c a d e m y o n J a n u a r y 10.
May
23, 1942,
V o l.
149
w hen or how fire was first transform ed from a te rrify ­
ing n a tu ra l phenom enon in to m a n ’s m ost useful
serv an t. Second am ong h u m an achievem ents was
th e fashioning an d use of tools an d weapons. The
origin of th e use of tools is lost in th e far d istan t
p ast. T hen cam e th e w eaving of textiles from p la n t
or anim al fibres an d th e m oulding of p o tte ry vessels,
followed b y th e appearance of bronze. N o t long after
th e appearance of bronze utensils of various sorts,
th e wheel an d axle appeared in Asia, soon spreading
to E urope.
F ro m th e Bronze Age onw ard th e know ledge of
th e use of n a tu ra l pro d u cts an d th e control of n atu ra l
forces have shown a fairly continuous developm ent.
Since th e beginning of th e present cen tu ry th e
adv an ce in th e know ledge an d und erstan d in g of th e
prod u cts an d forces of N atu re has been g reater th a n
in all th e thousands of years preceding— or a t least
since th e su b ju g atio n of fire, th e first fashioning of
tools, an d th e dom estication of anim als an d plants.
W h eth er we like th e idea or n o t, we are now living
in an age, an d u n d er conditions, in w hich science
plays a do m in an t p a rt, an d th e established scientific
principles th a t underlie m an y of th e m ost fam iliar
of our p resen t-d ay im provem ents were u n h eard of,
or considered fallacious, no longer th a n a generation
ago. This is self-evident to all ; b u t th e im plications
inseparable from a culture based ever m ore intensely
an d extensively on increasingly ab stru se science are
n o t as y e t fu lly appreciated.
T he progress th a t th ro u g h th e ages has been m ade
in th e u n d erstan d in g of n a tu ra l phenom ena an d in
the u tilizatio n of n a tu ra l products is continuing a t
an accelerated pace, an d will continue in th e future,
in spite of w h at m ay h appen in th e n ex t few years.
I t m ay be locally o bstructed, or even b ro u g h t to an
end, b u t somehow, somewhere, it will carry on.
The present struggle is no m ore a contest in th e
m ilitary field th a n it is in th e field of science. I t is
quite possible to win th e W ar on th e b a ttle front, b u t
lose it in th e lab o rato ry . W e m u st see to it th a t, so
fa r as possible, th e stead y advance of science is
m aintained. A t th e present tim e we are utilizing to
th e m axim um ex ten t our scientific resources an d our
scientific personnel to aid in our w ar effort. B u t
th is is n o t enough. V arious branches of science n ot
of im m ediate m ilitary application are in th e long run
quite as essential for our progress an d our welfare
as are those form s of engineering, of physics, an d of
chem istry th a t underlie th e construction and th e use
of m odern im plem ents of w arfare. These are th e
m an y an d v aried ty p es of p u re science, lines of
w ork leading to results seem ingly of no im portance,
th a t all too often are regarded m erely as a form of
m ental exercise u n d ertak en solely for th e persona]
satisfaction an d gratification o f th e person con­
cerned. W h a t we call p ure science is sim ply a branch
of science for w hich no economic application has as
y et been found. B u t a t an y tim e a body of unco­
ord in ated facts m ay suddenly and unexpectedly
fit in to an in teg rated whole, to our advantage.
W ith o u t its advance fringe of com petent w orkers in
p ure science co n stan tly probing th e g reat unknow n
a n d accum ulating m asses of d a ta w ith no ap p aren t
im m ediate application, th e b roader aspects of
scientific progress soon w ould languish.
P ure
science is likely to suffer severely in tim es like the
present— in tim es when it w ould seem to be the
wisest course to give it th e m axim um encouragem ent.
I n th e dem ocracies, progress in an y line of science
is m ainly dependent upon th e willingness of the people
No. 3786,
M ay 23, 1942
NATURE
to su pp o rt w ork in th a t p a rtic u la r line which, in tu rn ,
is dependent upon p opular in terest an d appreciation.
T here are people w ho are b y no m eans sciencem inded. T heir a ttitu d e varies all th e w ay from
passive superciliousness to outspoken hostility. W e
who are engaged in scientific w ork, an d who u n d er­
sta n d its im portance in th e general com plex of
present-day h um an affairs, often fail to realize how
recently science has been able m ore or less success­
fully to overcom e various form s of popular p re ­
judice an d to secure th e favour of a very large section
of th e general public.
The p resen t po p u lar a ttitu d e tow ards science c a n ­
n o t properly be understood w ith o u t some know ledge
of th e public a ttitu d e in th e m ore or less recent
p ast. I propose, therefore, to digress here in order
to indicate briefly th e changes th a t have ta k e n place
here and in E ngland since th e early days of th e
settlem ent of th e U nited S tates. A t th a t tim e, in the
reign o f Queen E lizabeth, Galileo was still a stu d e n t
a t th e U niversity of Pisa, Tycho B rahe h a d ju st
com pleted his observatory, an d P aracelsus and
Agricola only recently h a d died. In those days science
was alm ost wholly included in th e subject of theology,
an d scientific w ork was restricted w ithin narrow
bounds b y th e dogm as of th e theologians.
F o r some tim e th e re h ad been a growing restiv e­
ness against th e restrictions placed on scientific
investigations b y th e theologians. This restiveness
began to ta k e th e form of concerted action in th e
first h alf of th e seventeenth century. As early
as th e reign o f Charles I , ab o u t 1615, there
existed in E ngland an organization referred to by
th e H on. R o b e rt Boyle, seventh son of th e first E arl
of Cork, as th e “Invisible College” . T his “Invisible
College” w as first suggested b y T heodor H a a k (or
H ank), a G erm an from th e P ala tin a te, th e n resident
in London. I t consisted of w eekly m eetings a t w hich
th e results of experim ental w ork in philosophy, in
its b road sense, were discussed. This was ra th e r an
unorthodox procedure for th e tim e, b u t those who
atten d e d th e m eetings were am ong th e ab lest m en
of E ngland, an d included theologians as well as
others. One of th e theologians was D r. Jo h n W ilkins,
afterw ards Bishop of Chester, who h ad m arried
R obena, sister of O liver Cromwell. A nother p a r­
tic ip a n t was Sir C hristopher W ren, who la te r laid
down th e plan for th e College of W illiam and M ary.
According to D r. Cromwell M ortim er, “h ad n o t th e
Civil W ars happily ended as th e y did, Mr. Boyle and
D r. W ilkins, w ith several other learned m en, w ould
have left England, and, o u t of esteem for th e m ost
excellent an d valuable G overnor, John Wintivrop th e
younger, w ould have r e tir’d to his new -born Colony
[Connecticut] an d th e re have established th a t Society
fo r promoting N atural Knowledge, w hich those
G entlem en h ad form ed, as it were, in Embryo am ong
them selves” .
E m igration to Am erica was, however, forestalled.
On N ovem ber 28, 1660, th e “ Invisible College”
becam e visible as “T he R oyal Society of L ondon for
Im proving N atu ra l K now ledge” . On th e W ednesday
following, w ord was bro u g h t th a t K ing Charles I I
approved th e design of th e m eetings ; in O ctober
1661, th e K ing offered to be entered as one of th e
Society ; and in th e n ex t y ea r th e Society was
incorporated under th e nam e of th e R oyal Society,
th e first ch a rter of incorporation passing th e G reat
Seal on J u ly 15, 1661.
A lthough the R oyal Society rem ained in E ngland,
b o th the College of W illiam and M ary and H arv ard
571
College received considerable am o u n ts of m oney
from th e estate of Boyle a fte r his d ea th in
J a n u a ry 1691-02.
Science now began to assum e a new aspect.
Charles I I h ad in effect declared th a t th e re is nothing
irreligious in rep o rtin g facts. So records of observed
facts an d th e ir in te rp re tatio n in th e light of other
facts began to supersede introspection in w hich th e
aid of facts was regarded as superfluous, com bined
w ith interm inable com m entaries on th e w orks of
A ristotle.
Follow ing th e R esto ratio n , science in B ritain
becam e largely an occupation of th e aristo cratic and
th e w ealthy, a n d for th e m o st p a r t w as followed
along lines th a t h ad little or no economic application.
I n th e public m ind it came to be identified m ore or
less com pletely w ith th e aristo cracy an d to be
regarded as p arta k in g of th e sam e aloofness from
th e general ru n of hum an affairs th a t characterized
th e social life of th e u p p er classes. T he n a tu ra l resu lt
of th is was th a t w hen, in th e V ictorian era, th e
cham pions of th e lower classes began to gain a
considerable following, th ey , or a t least m a n y of
them , a tta c k e d science as one of th e perquisites of
th e aristocracy. T his a ttitu d e is well illu strated by
Charles D ickens’s “Mudfog P ap ers” published on th e
occasion of th e first m eeting o f th e B ritish A ssociation
for th e A dvancem ent of Science.
Since th a t tim e science in E n g lan d gradually has
come m ore an d m ore in to p o p u lar favour. Applied
science has m ade rap id strides an d is now q u ite as
fully developed an d as highly regarded as it is in
a n y o th e r lan d . T he rise in th e prestige o f applied
science, how ever, has n o t been accom panied b y an y
noticeable decline in th e p o p u la rity of p ure science,
so th a t here we find th e tw o ty p e s advan cin g side
by side in m ore or less ideal balance. B u t, u n fo r­
tu n a tely , science in B ritain still does n o t have th e
com plete confidence of th e public, a n d is n o t b y an y
m eans free from neglect, disparagem ent, or even
a tta c k in th e popular Press.
I n th e U n ited States th e h isto ry of science has
been som ew hat different. In early Colonial tim es
scientific effort was devoted m ainly to m aking know n
th e n a tu ra l resources of th e new land, p articu larly
th e p la n t anti anim al life. B u t applied science early
a ttra c te d th e atte n tio n of th e colonists. In later
Colonial tim es applied science, especially in certain
engineering branches, was sy stem atically discouraged
in th e fear th a t th e Colonies m ight become com ­
p etito rs of th e m o th er co u n try in th e p roduction of
m an u factu red goods. I t was possibly p a rtly as a
reaction from th is suppression th a t afte r th e R ev o ­
lution science stood high in th e favour of th e rep re­
sen tativ es o f th e A m erican people, its m o st insistent
an d pow erful advocates being T hom as Jefferson of
Virginia, B enjam in F ran k lin of P ennsylvania, an d
Jo h n A dam s o f M assachusetts. B u t it w as som e tim e
before the new co u n try was sufficiently well organized
to enable th e people to devote m uch th o u g h t to
science. W hen th e y did, a sp ontaneous in terest,
ta k in g various stran g e an d crude form s, appeared,
p articu la rly in th e ag ricu ltu ral areas. This crude
p opular science—an d pseudo-science—g rad u ally b e­
cam e am algam ated w ith th e m ore orthodox science
o f th e schools an d colleges, a n d we note, especially
a fter th e m iddle of th e la st century, a n enorm ous
expansion of applied science in all form s, la te r v ery
largely supported b y F ederal an d S tate ap p ro p ria­
tions m ade possible by active a n d w idespread interest
am ong all th e different groups in our population.
572
NATURE
I n th e United. S tates p opular in te rest in science is
twofold, arising b o th from th e v ista of economic
b etterm e n t resulting from applied science, an d from
its appeal to th e im agination. W e all like to look
forw ard to th e d ay w hen we shall be even m ore
com fortable th a n we are now. B u t we all have a
n on-m aterial side. W e like to get aw ay from th e
h ard realities of everyday life and to contem plate
th e unknow n, an d beyond th a t th e unknow able. W e
all would like to know m ore a b o u t th e w orld we live
in. W h a t w ould we find a few hun d red m iles down
in th e earth , or 20,000 feet below th e surface of th e
sea ? W e w ould like to know m ore ab o u t th e sta rs :
A re th e re any oth er w orlds like ours ? A nd w h a t is
it like in in terstellar space ? W e w ould like to know
m ore ab o u t u ltim ate hum an origins—indeed, ab o u t
v ery m a n y things concerning w hich our p resent infor­
m ation is vague an d fragm entary. Now although
p o p u lar in te rest in science is m ore general a n d m ore
w idespread in th e U nited S tates th a n it is in m ost
o th er countries, it tends to g ra v ita te in these two
directions, tow ards th e directly economic an d tow ards
th e m ysterious. Betw een these tw o extrem es lies a
broad, in term ediate field in w hich th e A m erican
people as a whole tak es little interest, b u t w hich is
intensively cu ltiv ated elsewhere.
This is th e de­
scrip tiv e b ranch of p u re science, th e results of w hich
are of no im m ediate economic im port an d are n o t
m ysterious.
P o p u lar in te rest in science m u st n o t only be
m aintained, it m u st also be increased if we are to
hold our own in th e years to come, for w hether
carried on u nder G overnm ent su p p o rt or in endowed
in stitu tio n s of learning, th e full developm ent of our
scientific potentialities is dependent upon a sy m p a­
th e tic public a ttitu d e . In order to secure, to m a in ­
ta in an d to increase public interest in and sy m p a th y
tow ards scientific work, an d to convert th e still d is­
concertingly numeroife unbelievers, it is essential th a t
we continually provide th e public w ith news regarding
scientific progress in all lines of in te rest to them ,
from b o th th e m a terial an d non-m aterial or philo­
sophical points of view. Such im personal news is
especially desirable in tim es of natio n al em ergency.
F o rtu n a te ly , in th is respect th e U nited S tates is
in an excellent position. More an d b e tte r science
appears in its daily Press an d oth er journals th a n
in those of m o st other countries, an d science is
less freq u ently disparaged an d denounced th e re th a n
elsewhere. F o r th is we have chiefly to th a n k th e
N atio n al A ssociation of Science W riters, th e m em bers
of which, in addition to know ing science, know th e
public m ind an d are able to p resent th e advances in
science in term s everyone can understand.
P rogress in science is possible only w ith th e supp o rt
o f an in terested and appreciative public. I t is also
possible only thro u g h th e efforts of a carefully
selected a n d adequately train ed personnel. T his is
a m a tte r th a t heretofore has scarcely received th e
atte n tio n it deserves.
A t th e present tim e a very serious danger to our
continued progress in science has arisen. T his is the
in tro d u ctio n into th e A rm y of m an y young m en who
w ould be o f v astly greater value to th e co u n try if
th e y were p erm itted to continue th eir studies, or to
rem ain in research positions. T he m a tte r is fu rth e r
com plicated b y th e fac t th a t as a rule th e m ost
valuable of these young m en are those m ost likely to
enlist on th e ir own initiative.
A fter th e W ar of 1914-18 th e re was a m arked
scarcity o f able young scientific m en. This was m ost
May
23, 1942,
V o l.
149
noticeable, perhaps, in th e biological sciences, though
it w as m ore or less noticeable in o th er branches as
well. M any prom ising young m en were killed. O thers,
as a resu lt of several years spent in th e various
arm ies, found them selves unable to m ake th e neces­
sa ry rea d ju stm e n t to scientific w ork. Still others
trie d to rea d ju st them selves b u t were only p artially
successful. B reaking th e th re a d of co n tin u ity of
effort betw een th e im pressionable boy in th e fo rm a­
tiv e period an d th e m a tu re m an cannot b u t result
in a certain am o u n t of dislocation. W e are rem inded
of th e old B erber proverb :
“Teaching boys is like ploughing earth,
Teaching m en is like ploughing rock,
Teaching old m en is like ploughing w ate r.”
T here are tw o w ays out of th is dilem m a. E ith e r
th e stu d e n t m ay be placed on a deferred list so th a t
he m ay be enabled to continue his studies u n in te r­
ru p ted ly , or he m ay be assisted in carrying on his
work, to w hatev er degree m ay be found practicable,
while in th e Services.
M any young b o tan ists an d zoologists would w el­
come an o p p o rtu n ity for collecting specim ens and
continuing th e ir studies in regions new an d strange
to them . Such m aterial as th e y collected could to
sen t hom e to be identified, or to be stored u n til th eir
arrival. A ctivities of th is n a tu re carried on in th eir
spare hours would go far tow ards overcom ing th a t
feeling of boredom th a t afflicts alm ost everyone
statio n ed a t an isolated arm y p o st or n av al base, and
there is no reason for believing th a t these activities
would in an y w ay d e tra c t from th e ir m ilitary effi­
ciency. N o t only w ould th is w ork benefit th e men
engaged in i t ; it w ould also go far tow ards filling m any
gaps in our know ledge of th e d istrib u tio n of anim als
an d p lan ts, and o f o th er features connected w ith th e m .
In arm y posts an d n av al bases a young zoologist
or b o ta n ist who spends his spare tim e catching
insects or pressing p la n ts will a t first be an object
of ridicule to his associates, b o th officers an d men.
H is situ atio n , how ever, is b y no m eans w ith o u t
precedent— an d m ost honourable precedent. I t m ay
com fort him to realize th a t th e w orld’s leading
a u th o rity on th e Hesperiidfe, a peculiarly difficult
group of butterflies especially characteristic of
Am erica, is B rigadier G eneral W illiam H . E v an s of
th e R o y al Engineers, while in th e R oyal N av y R ear
A dm iral H u b e rt L ynes is th e leading au th o rity on a
very puzzling group of sm all A frican birds. Some
tim e ago th e collections o f th e B ritish M useum were
enriched b y a fine collection of butterflies presented
by C aptain L ord Byron. Looking a t th e m a tte r in a
m ore frivolous light, is a young m an using his spare
tim e to continue his studies, an d a t th e sam e tim e
to advance our know ledge of anim als an d plants, an y
m ore ridiculous th a n an ancient tough old sea-dog in
th e forecastle engaged in fine em broidery w ork w ith
delicately coloured silks, to th e accom panim ent of
blood-curdling o aths ?
A v a st am o u n t of such w ork has been done b y the
personnel of foreign arm ies an d navies in th e p ast,
p articu larly b y officers in th e B ritish services. In
fact, a t one tim e th e U n ited S tates N av y assigned
in terested young officers to th e S m ithsonian I n s ti­
tu tio n for in stru ctio n in th e collection an d preserv a­
tio n of m aterial.
W h eth er in its m aterial or in its non-m aterial
aspects, progress in science is d ependent upon th e
fostering of th e scientific spirit. T he scientific sp irit
is m ore th a n m ere curiosity. I t is an insatiable
No. 3786,
M ay 23, 1942
NATURE
curiosity th a t impels one to learti everything th a t is
know n ab o u t a given subject, an d th en to go fu rth e r
a n d broaden a n d extend th a t know ledge by personal
investigation an d research, in spite of all difficulties
an d discouragem ents—an d theso are alw ays m any.
T he sp irit of science is inborn, though it m ay
appear in anybody, anyw here, in an y class, or
group, or race. In order to develop th e scientific
sp irit to th e m axim um , as it m u st be developed if we
are to hold our place in th e w orld of th e futu re, we
m u st w atch for it a t its inception, an d w henever an d
w herever it is found encourage it.
STATISTICAL CONTROL OF
PRODUCTION*
By DR. C. G. D A R W IN , F.R.S.
National Physical Laboratory
OR a num ber of years I h a d been interested in
th e general question of tolerances, first from the
point of view of pure science an d la ter in its more
practical aspects. My in te re st in th is subject was
very m uch focused w hen I cam e to th e N ational
Physical L aboratory, w here I found th a t w ork was
being done on th e ac tu a l verification of m a n u fa ctu r­
ing an d inspection gauges ; th is w ork, of course,
deals w ith th e su b je ct in an enhanced degree—
squared, so to speak, because th e re is n o t only to be
considered th e tolerance of th e w ork, b u t also th e
tolerances on b o th th e go an d th e not-go gauges
w hich are to check th e work.
F rom internal evidence of th e gauge draw ings, it
looked as if some of th e tolerances w ere assigned
m uch closer th a n should be necessary, an d I sta rte d
to tr y to find o u t how th e y h a d been fixed. T o
accom plish this, on every occasion w hen I m et an
engineer I asked him how he decided th e tolerances
in his b ranch of th e sub ject ; I fear I bored a g reat
m any people a t th is tim e. I got a v arie ty of answers
w hich som etim es explained things a b it, b u t often
not a t all, an d th o u g h I discussed it w ith q u ite a
num ber of m en, m an y of them occupying prom inent
places in different branches of th e profession, I came
aw ay w ith th e im pression th a t scarcely an y of them
were really interested in the sub ject of tolerances.
To exaggerate th e pictu re w hich I got as th e result
of m y inquiry, I concluded th a t in designing a new
m achine th e chief engineer drew it free-hand w ith
dimensions to th e nearest inch, a n d sen t it to the
d rau g h tsm an to w ork out th e detail to th e nearest
th ousandth, who th e n gave it to his junior assistan t
to m ark in th e tolerances. Instru ctio n s were certainly
always given th a t tolerances should be as easy as
possible, b u t only lip service was done to them , and
th e ju n ior assistant, anxious n o t to get him self into
trouble, would, as a general rule, th in k of th e sm allest
num ber he knew an d th e n halve it. This is a carica­
ture, of course, an d h as some of th e ab su rd ity of
one, b u t also perhaps ju s t a little of th e resem blance.
Seriously, it seem ed to m e th a t th e re w as a defect
in th e h a b it of th o u g h t of m a n y in th e engineering
profession, an d th a t som e so rt of cam paign was
needed to inculcate in people’s m inds th e idea th a t
every n um ber has a fringe, th a t it is n o t to be regarded
as ex act b u t as so m uch plus or m inus a b it, a n d th a t
F
* F r o m a p a p e r b efo re a jo in t m e e t i n g o f t h e I n s titu tio n s o f C ivil,
M ech an ical a n d E le c tric a l E n g in e e rs h e l d o n A p ril 15.
573
th e size of th is b it is one of its really im p o rta n t
qualities.
W ith o u t an y v ery clear idea of where to catch
hold of th e subject, I h a d full in ten tio n of try in g
to do som ething a b o u t it a t th e tim e I w ent to th e
U nited S tates a year ago. T here I cam e across th e
m eth o d of ‘sta tistica l co n tro l’ of m ass production,
an d it was obvious a t once th a t th is is th e rig h t
approach. Sim ilar w ork has been done in G reat
B ritain too, in p articu la r b y th e staff of th e General
E lectric Com pany a n d b y m em bers of th e R oyal
S tatistical Society, an d it w as p erhaps ill-luck th a t
I never cam e across it before crossing th e A tlan tic ;
b u t th a t I did n o t shows th a t it was n o t v ery widely
know n. I w ould ad d th a t it is n o t b y an y m eans
v ery widely used y e t in th e U n ited S tates, though
th e use is spreading. I n b o th countries it has been
principally used in industries associated w ith elec­
tricity , such as th e telephone in d u stry , b u t I w an t to
em phasize th a t it should be of even g reater im p o rt­
ance in th e m echanical industries, an d th a t it is
specially applicable to a business like th e m anufac­
tu re of m unitions in all th e ir aspects.
One of th e im p o rta n t p oints in th e new m eth o d
is th a t it gives reasoned in stead of guessed values
to th e tolerances. I will ta k e as an exam ple th e m aking
o f tim e fuses for an ti-aircraft, an d I am giving aw ay
no m ilitary secrets in doing so, since I shall in v en t
th e d a ta a n d miss o u t a lo t of o th er considerations
th a t w ould really enter. Suppose th a t th e leth al
area of a b u rstin g shell is such th a t, if it explodes
w ith in a te n th of a second of th e set tim e, it will
m ake a kill. T he gunner therefore dem ands of th e
m an u factu rer th a t he m ake a fuse w ith accuracy a
te n th of a second. T he m an u factu rer w orks o u t his
m ethod, b u t finds th a t w hereas it is easy to get one
to a fifth of a second, he will h av e a lo t of tro u b le
to g et to a te n th , and, indeed, he estim ates th a t for
th e sam e effort of w ork an d cost h e could n o t hope
to g et m ore th a n a q u a rte r as m an y fuses if th e y m u st
have th e accuracy of a te n th . Now h alf his shells
will b u rst w ith in th e range I asked for an d so, in fact,
I shall be wise if I accept his inferior fuse, since I
shall th ereb y get four tim es as m an y shells of w hich
h alf will do w h a t I w an t, an d I shall therefore double
th e ra te of killing. I need n o t say th a t I h av e over­
simplified th e business ; on one side I have m issed
o u t th e cost of th e other p a rts of th e shells, an d on
th e other, I h av e forg o tten th a t th e gunner has u n ­
certainties of range to consider, so th a t his dem and
for a te n th of a second is m ore ex act th a n he can
ju stify for p ractical use.
My exam ple is in ten d ed to show th a t it is good
business for th e user an d th e m ak er of an y article to
g et to g eth er before deciding th e tolerances of m an u ­
facture. T he user m ay be inclined a t first to feel
th a t in doing th is he is surrendering some of his
freedom of choice, b u t if y o u consider it closer you
w ill see th a t th is is n o t so. H e has n o t g ot an y real
freedom of choice, since he m u st surely tr y to design
th e article so as to be as easy to m ake as possible,
b u t he has foregone th e q u a n tita tiv e inform ation of
w h at will in fac t prove to be easy, a n d above all of
w h at thing, easy to m ake, will be good enough for
th e job. I m ay sum m arize th is aspect of th e m a tte r
b y saying th a t th e user h as ten d ed to dem and th a t
everything should be m ade for him as well as possible,
b u t he ought to w an t every th in g to be m ade for
him as b ad ly as possible, or perhaps n o t quite th a t,
b u t as b ad ly as perm issible. I t is in th is aspect th a t
sta tistica l control specially gives th e rig h t inform ation.
574
NATURE
T here are a good m an y varieties of procedure called
for in th e circum stances of applying sta tistic a l con­
trol. F irst, th e re are th e tw o classes according to
w hether it is a q u a n tity or a q u ality th a t is concerned.
I t m ay be a m easure, say, of a length or perhaps an
electrical resistance, w hich has to fall w ithin certain
prescribed lim its ; for th is wo can m easure each
specim en an d record it for analysis. In other cases
th e te st is q u alitativ e, in th a t th e specim en either
passes a te s t or fails to pass—for exam ple, a vessel
is w a te rtig h t or n o t ; an d even th e m easure of a
length m ay fall in th is class if it is te ste d w ith a
gauge, so th a t th e answ er is given in th e form th a t
it passes or fails to pass th e gauge. T hen there is
an o th er distin ctio n th a t divides either ty p e of w ork
in to tw o classes. Some tests, such as a m easure of
length, can be applied to every article m ade b u t
o th er te sts are d estru c tiv e of the specim en ; for
exam ple, th e te st of th e force of a n explosive or of
th e tensile stre n g th of a bar. In th is la st case th e
te st m u st of necessity only be done on a sam ple,
an d it is obviously im p o rta n t to ta k e th e sam ple as
sm all as perm issible. Moreover, even in th e case
w here every specim en could be tested, there will be
g rea t econom y in only doing it for a sam ple ; so
th a t, in fact, we m ay reckon th a t sam pling is one
o f th e m ain features of th e process, an d to determ ine
th e advisable fractio n of th e whole n um ber th a t m u st
be sam pled is an im p o rta n t p a r t of th e d u ty of th e
sta tistician . T hen again th e practical problem of
sta tistic a l control itself falls in to tw o p a rts, for there
is first th e business of sta rtin g a new process and
g ettin g it in to sta tistica l control, an d th e n th e busi­
ness of carrying it on later, after th e control has been
established. All these m a tte rs are described in th e
British S tandards In stitu tio n publications B.S. 1008
an d 600 (revised), b u t I shall co n ten t m yself w ith
giving a very crude sketch of a single exam ple.
T he exam ple I shall ta k e is based on one I le arn t
ab o u t in th e U n ited S tates, an d I am intentionally
leaving th e details incorrect an d falsifying some of
th e facts. I le arn t a b o u t it from Colonel Simon, who
F ig . 1.
has show n g reat brilliance in developing th e m ethods
for m unitions in th e U .S. arsenals. T he subject was
a p articu la r ty p e of tim e-fuse, and th e gunners h ad
assigned certain lim it s of tolerance w hich are described
in th e d iagram (Fig. ]). T he m anufacturers all had
g reat tro u b le in satisfying th e dem and for th e longer
tim es, so th a t th e tolerances were exceeded bo th
ab o v e an d below, an d Simon w as called in to set
M ay
23 , 1942,
V ol.
149
th e m a tte r rig h t. This he did, b u t to simplify the
sto ry we will im agine he h ad been in a t th e sta rt,
an d describe how th e process m ig h t h av e gone. I t is
first necessary to be sure th a t th e process is ‘in con­
tro l’, in th e technical sense of th e term . We ta k e a
considerable b atch of th e fuses, keeping th em sorted
according to tim e an d place of m anufacture. Group
these sets (or p ro b ab ly sam ples of them ) in batches
of five an d set th e fuses a t 20 sec. Tim e each fuse,
an d w ork o ut th e m ean of each b atch an d its ‘ran g e’,
th a t is to say, th e difference betw een th e shortest
an d longest am ong th e five. These are m arked on
tw o c h arts in a w ay described on th e B ritish S tandards
In stitu tio n publication (Fig. 2). F ro m th e ‘range’ ch art
it is possible w ith th e help of tables th a t have been
co n stru cted b y statistician s to draw on th e other a p air
of lim its w ith in w hich th e dots should fall. P erhaps
th e y will n o t do so ; say th e d o ts for fuses m ade by
one p articu la r tool fall outside. T his gives sure know ­
ledge th a t som ething is w rong w ith th e process—
th e sta tistician cannot say w h at, th o u g h I was told
of cases w here he could go so far as to say either
th a t th ere was only one th in g w rong or else certainly
several things wrong. I t is for th e engineer to re ­
exam ine his process an d find th e fau lt. N ext, of
course, sim ilar w ork m u st be done a t th e oth er fuse
settings. Suppose th is h as been done, an d th a t th e
whole system is in control, an d th a t th e accuracy is
good enough for th e user. A fter th is, m uch less
sam pling is needed, b u t every so often a group should
be ta k e n an d te ste d in th e sam e w ay ; I will n o t go
in to detail, b u t th is sam pling will nearly always give
w arning of pending trouble, before th e trouble is so
b ad th a t th e fuses w ould actu ally fail in passing
th e ir test.
R e tu rn in g to th e ac tu al h isto ry of these fuses,
Simon p lo tte d average tim e an d ‘ran g e’ for batches
of five fuses a t various tim ings of th e fuse, an d got
the curves I show (Fig. 1) for th e average tim ing
an d for th e d o tte d lines on eith er side between which
all values will fall. T his was for th e fuses of one
m an u factu rer, an d th e re were sim ilar curves, some
up an d some down, for th e others. I t will be seen
th a t th e fuses m ostly failed to fulfil specification a t
20 sec. an d above, an d y e t th eir tolerance was m uch
finer th a n th a t w hich h ad been specified. This could
be overcom e in a v arie ty of w ays ; for exam ple, by
reg rad u atin g th e m arkings of th e tim e on th e fuse.
T he resu lt w as th u s th a t an article w hich system atic­
ally failed to pass its te st, was, w ith a q uite triv ial
change, found to be actu ally b e tte r th a n h ad been
asked for. I m ay ad d th a t as a consequence of his
w ork Simon found th a t th e old te sts h ad destroyed
som ething like twice as m any of th e fuses as is now
necessary.
No. 3786,
M ay 23, 1942
NATURE
I will conclude w ith a few general rem arks. W hen
1 first came across th e m eth o d I knew it w as of th e
greatest im portance, b u t I dou b ted if th e m iddle of
a w ar w as th e tim e to s ta r t it. I asked th is very
question of tw o of th e experts in th e Bell L aboratory,
an d b o th con trad icted th is first th o u g h t of m ine and
said th a t it could be applied piecem eal to one p ro ­
cess after another w ith o u t delay in production. T hen,
as showing how quickly people could a d a p t th e m ­
selves to it, I m ay recount an incident I experienced.
Im m ediately after visiting Colonel Simon, I happened
to be a t F ra n k fo rd A rsenal, w hich in peace-tim e was
th e principal facto ry m aking am m unition for th e U.S.
Arm y. As such, I expected it w ould be ra th e r con­
servative an d th a t it m ight be suspicious of new ­
fangled m ethods, a n d I therefore asked one of th e
chief colonels th e re w h at he th o u g h t of these m ethods,
w h ich , I m ay em phasize, are q uite new in th e ir applica­
tio n to m ilita ry stores. H is reply w as th a t it seemed
th e only sensible w ay of doing th e business.
A nother p o in t well w orth consideration is th a t
m any w orks have already existing a m ass of d a ta of
th e k in d used b y th e statistician , b u t th e y do n o t
subm it them to th e sam e analysis. In such cases
th e change of procedure w ould be only slight, a n d a
greatly im proved control w ould be obtained by
applying th e sta tistica l m ethod.
Thirdly, th e m ethod gives inform ation ab o u t the
size of sam ple th a t should be tested. In some cases
it m ay be inadequate, w hereas in others it will be
found th a t testin g a m uch sm aller sam ple would
give sufficiently reliable inform ation on th e quality
of th e whole.
W e cannot, of course, expect th a t th e m ethod is a
panacea for all troubles, a n d I expect in some cases
it will be tried an d prove u nsuitable ; b u t I will
v en tu re th e forecast th a t th e opposite will m uch
m ore often be th e case, a n d th a t m a n y processes
to w hich a t first sight it seems inapplicable will la ter
be found to benefit greatly b y th e intro d u ctio n of
statistical control.
OBITUARIES
Mr. W . P. Pycraft
W illiam P lane P yckaft , who died on M ay 1,
was a well-known ornithologist an d com parative
anatom ist. H e was born a t G reat Y arm o u th in 1868
an d while a schoolboy was a ttra c te d to n a tu ra l
history b y th e w ild life of th e N orfolk Broads. H e
becam e a keen observer of all living things, b u t
devoted him self specially to birds. A fter leaving
school, he desired to follow n a tu ra l histo ry as a
profession, an d sta rte d as a p riv ate pupil w ith th e
cu rato r of th e L eicester M useum, w here he learned
th e a rt of preserving and preparing anim als for
stu d y and exhibition. In 1892 he was introduced to
Prof. (afterw ards Sir) R a y L ankester, who invited
him to be his assistan t in m aking p reparations for
th e O xford U niversity Museum. W hile th u s occupied
he atten d ed L an k ester’s lectures and dem onstrations,
an d th u s extended his outlook b y acquiring a good
knowledge of th e stru ctu res an d relationships of
anim als. W hen L ankester was appointed director of
th e B ritish M useum (N atural H istory) in 1898,
P y craft accom panied him to L ondon an d becam e
his tem p o rary assistan t there. Soon afterw ards he
joined th e perm anent staff of th e Zoological D e p a rt­
m en t of th e Museum, w here he rem ained as an
575
assistan t u n til his retirem en t in 1933. H e sp en t his
la ter life a t Longcross n ear Chertsey, Surrey, in
surroundings w here he could continue th e field
observations w hich he h a d begun in early youth.
T he original researches carried o u t b y Mr. P y craft
w ere concerned chiefly w ith th e an ato m y of birds.
H is first paper, published in th e Ib is in 1895, d e­
scribed an d discussed th e arran g em en t of th e feathers
in th e Tinam ous, an d in 1898 he co n trib u ted a
m em oir on th e feathering o f th e owls to th e T ra n s­
actions o f the L in n ea n Society. Betw een 1898 and
1907 he w rote a v aluable series of nine p apers on the
osteology of birds published in th e Proceedings o f the
Zoological Society, an d in 1900 he discussed th e
m orphology an d phylogeny of th e Pakeognatha; an d
N eognatha; in an extensive m em oir in th e T ra n s­
actions of th e sam e Society.
Mr. P y craft also began to ta k e m uch in terest in
th e v ariatio n s of th e h u m an skull, an d in 1915 he
proposed to su b stitu te for th e F ra n k fo rt b ase­
line an o th er line w hich passed w holly th ro u g h the
cranium avoiding th e u p p er p a r t of th e face. This
proved to be n o t generally acceptable, anti he retu rn ed
to th e su b ject in a p ap er in M a n in 1925. H e w rote
several accounts of h um an skulls, th e m ost n o te ­
w o rth y being his description of th e Boskop fossil
from South Africa in th e Journal o f the Royal A nthro­
pological In stitu te of 1913, an d a description of th e
R hodesian fossil skull in a B ritish M useum volum e
in 1928. H e took p a r t in several discussions on th e
P iltdow n skull, a n d in 1917 published in Science
Progress an account of th e lower jaw w hich po in ted
o u t its differences from th e jaw of an ape.
Mr. P y craft was also a prolific w riter of popular
books an d articles on n a tu ra l history, w hich b ro u g h t
him a large correspondence an d n o t infrequently led
to th e discovery of new facts. H is first p o p u lar books
were th e sm all “ Stories of B ird L ife” , “F ish Life”
an d “R eptile L ife”, published b y Newnes in London
betw een 1900 an d 1905. “A H isto ry of B ird s” , a
m ore serious work, appeared in 1910, an d his “ Birds
of G reat B rita in ” followed in 1934. H is volum es on
th e “ In fan cy of A nim als” , “T he Courtship of A nim als”
(1913) an d “Camouflage in N a tu re ” (1925) are
especially readable an d contain original observations.
H is w eekly article in th e Illustrated London N ew s
was a m uch-appreciated feature of th is p ap e r for
m an y years, an d a ttra c te d wide atten tio n .
In all his w ritings Mr. P y craft show ed g reat
in terest in th e possible m ode of evolution of th e
various stru ctu res an d h ab its w hich he described, and
an address on “ Some N ew A spects of E v o lu tio n ”
w hich he delivered to th e N orfolk an d N orw ich
N a tu ra lists’ Society in 1935 w as rep rin ted in th e
an n u al rep o rt of th e S m ithsonian In stitu tio n ,
W ashington, in th e following year. B is sty le was
som etim es forceful, for w hen he h ad form ed an
opinion he could n o t readily be p ersu ad ed th a t it
m ig h t be m istak en ; b u t he h a d a versatile m ind
an d was alw ays inspiring. H e is m ourned b y a large
circle of friends who learned th e m ore to appreciate
him th e closer th e y were associated w ith him .
A. S. W o o d w a r d .
W e reg ret to announce th e following d eath s :
Prof. Charles Cohen, form erly of th e Brussels
P aste u r In stitu te , aged sixty-one.
D r. R . L. D itm ars, th e distinguished herpetologist,
form erly cu ra to r of m am m als an d reptiles in New
Y ork Zoological P ark , on M ay 12, aged sixty-five.
576
NATURE
D r. B ern h ard Fischer-W asels, professor of m orbid
a n ato m y a t Frankfort-on-M ain, president of the
G erm an Pathological Society an d ed ito r of th e
F rankfurter Zeitschrift fiir Pathologie, aged sixtyfive.
Sir Jam es L arm or, F .R .S ., form erly L ucasian p ro ­
fessor of m athem atics in th e U niversity of Cambridge,
on M ay 19, aged eighty-four.
Prof. B. Malinowski, professor of anthropology in
Y ale U niversity, form erly U niversity professor of
anthropology in th e London School of Econom ics, on
May 16, aged fifty-eight.
D r. C. H a rt M erriam, founder in 1885 an d u n til
1910 chief of th e U nited S tates B ureau of Biological
Survey, now know n as th e F ish and W ild Life Service,
on March 19, aged eighty-six.
M ay 23, 1942,
V o l . 149
D r. Jo h n Miller, director of aircraft production
(factories), form erly chief engineer, London and
N o rth -E a stern R ailw ay (N .E. A rea), on M ay 16.
T he R ev. T. E . R . Phillips, a p ast-p resid en t of th e
R oyal A stronom ical Society an d of th e B ritish
A stronom ical A ssociation, on M ay 13, aged seventyfour.
D r. G. G. Stoney, F .R .S ., who for m any years was
associated w ith C. A. P arsons an d Co. L td ., p articu larly
in connexion w ith th e developm ent of th e steam
tu rb in e , on M ay 15, aged seventy-eight.
Prof. G. A. W itherington, form erly professor of
m ath em atics in th e R o y al N aval College, Greenwich,
on M ay 1, aged sixty-nine.
Prof. W . J . Young, professor of biochem istry in the
U niversity of M elbourne, aged six ty -th ree.
NEWS and VIEWS
W orld Mineral Resources and Post-War Needs
I n th e fo u rth clause of th e A tlantic C harter, Mr.
Roosevelt an d Mr. Churchill s ta te “th a t th e y will
endeavour, w ith due respect for th e ir existing obliga­
tions, to fu rth e r enjoym ent b y all S tates, g reat or
small, v icto r or vanquished, of access, on equal
term s, to th e tra d e an d to th e raw m aterials of th e
world w hich are necessary for th eir economic p ro s­
p e rity ” . T he D ivision for th e Social an d I n te r ­
national R elations of Science of th e B ritish Association
is therefore arranging a conference on “R aw M aterials
and In d u strial Needs : M ineral Resources an d O u t­
look” , to be held in London a t or ab o u t th e end of
Ju ly . As Sir R ichard Gregory, president of th e
Association, pointed o u t in subm itting th e proposal
for such a conference, th e w orld’s n a tu ra l resources
—b o th organic an d inorganic—are m uch too large a
subject to be d ea lt w ith in a single conference, b u t
a survey of th e p resent position of m inerals of
industrial im portance, w ith suggestions for fu rth e r
investigations into th e ir geographical distributions
an d research into th e production of su b stitu tes, will
show th e close contact betw een science an d fu n d a­
m en tal n ational an d in tern atio n al problem s. The
Conference will indeed be sim ilar to a jo in t m eeting
of th e Sections of Geology, G eography, Physics and
Chem istry a t an annual assem bly of th e B ritish
Association, an d its papers will be of th e n a tu re of
contributions to a rep o rt upon th e distribution, o u t­
p u t an d in d ustrial uses of th e chief m ineral deposits of
th e world. Such energy resources as solid, liquid and
gaseous fuels belong to a class of th eir own, an d th e
facts relating to them have been brought before a
num ber of W orld Pow er Conferences. W hatever is
know n ab o u t th e n atu re , d istribution an d uses of
m inerals in th e e a rth ’s cru st has been gained by
scientific inquiry, an d th e knowledge is in ternational
in origin an d scope. B y presenting th e chief facts as
to n a tu ra l resources of m inerals and th eir geographical
control, such a conference can do m uch to prom ote
recognition of th e interdependence of nations an d th e
need for collaboration betw een them .
Scientific Workers of the Argentine
D u r i n g la st M arch, Prof. E . D. A drian, professor
o f physiology in th e U niversity of Cam bridge, paid
a v isit to th e A rgentine a t th e in v itatio n of th e
A rgentine N ational A cadem y of Medicine. H e was
welcomed w ith m uch cordiality an d w as frequently
assured of th e sy m p a th y of A rgentine m edical men
an d scientific w orkers for th e Allied cause. Tow ards
th e end of his visit, Prof. A drian w as asked to receive
a d ep u tatio n from th e Comisi6 n S an itaria A rgentina
de A y v d a a las D em ocracias (H ealth C om m ittee to
Aid D em ocratic Countries). This d ep u tatio n asked
Prof. A drian to convey a m essage of solidarity to
m em bers of th e m edical profession a n d scientific men
in G reat B ritain .
T he C om m ittee said th a t th e
exam ple se t b y B ritish m en of science w orking in
th e ir laboratories an d clinics, holding congresses even
in w ar-tim e to prom ote th e application of scientific
discovery to th e progress of m ankind, an d arranging
th e co-ordination of th e scientific w ork of G reat
B ritain , th e U .S.S.R . an d th e U n ited S tates,
stren g th en s th e ir fa ith in th e triu m p h of dem ocracy
th ro u g h science. This v ery cordial m essage from th e
A rgentine will be received w ith m uch satisfaction b y
scientific w orkers in G reat B ritain , who will be en ­
couraged to pursue th e course th e y h av e set for th e m ­
selves in helping to rid th e w orld of to talitarian ism .
Illuminating Engineering Society
A t th e an n u al general m eeting of th e Illu m in atin g
E ngineering Society on M ay 12, Mr. W . J . Jones
(president) was able to p resen t an encouraging record
for th e p a st session. A featu re h as been th e fu rth e r
developm ent of centres a n d groups, of w hich there
are now eleven, an d w hich are expected to do useful
w ork in stu d y in g th e lighting requirem ents of special
local industries.
T he position in reg ard to th e
Society’s w ork on A .R .P . lighting, und ertak en
jo in tly w ith th e M inistry of H om e Security, has for
th e tim e becom e stabilized, b u t a n u m b er of com ­
m ittees are now exploring various aspects of lighting
in relatio n to after-w ar reconstruction. T he “R ecom ­
m ended Values of Illu m in atio n ” p u t forw ard by th e
Society (I.E .S . Code) has been ad o p ted by th e
M inistry of Supply, th e A d m iralty an d th e M inistry
of A ircraft P roduction, in applying th e F actories
(Standards of L ighting) R egulations (1941). M any
m em bers of th e Society are engaged in th e ta sk of
designing lighting in stallations for factories engaged
on n atio n al w ork. T he Society in 1940 in itiated th e
practice of conferring fellowship on those of its
m em bers having th e requisite technical qualifications.
The n um ber of fellows created is now 96—ra th e r less
no.
3786, M a y
23, 1942
NATURE
577
th an te n per cent of th e m em bership of th e Society.
Industry in Scotland
The new president for th e forthcom ing session is
I n th e discussion in com m ittee in th e H ouse of
Mr. R . O. Ackerley.
Commons on M ay 1 2 on th e estim ates for th e Scottish
The Illum inating Engineering Society m ade a
H om e D ep artm en t, Mr. T . Jo h n sto n , S ecretary of
practice, in th e years preceding th e W ar, of inviting
S tate for Scotland, gave a su rv ey of in d u stria l develop­
an em inent expert from abroad to deliver an address m en t in S cotland since 1918. H e referred to th e
on th e occasion of each annual m eeting. T his p ractice advisory com m ittee on Scottish in d u stry w hich has
is no longer possible in th e p resent circum stances, been set up, an d expressed th e hope th a t b y its
b u t its own m em bers h ave filled th e gap. The lecturer
m eans th e in d u strial afte rm a th in S cotland of 1914on May 12 w as Mr. G. H . W ilson, who took for his
18, due to concentration on h eav y industries for
subject “ S treet L ig h tin g : P a st, P resent and F u tu re ” .
export, will be avoided. In th e course of th e d is­
Mr. W ilson rem arked th a t th e period 1928-38 was
cussion, Sir Jo h n G raham K err p u t in a plea for the
one of g reat technical progress. An outstanding
developm ent of a v a rie ty of sm all lig h t industries.
event in 1928 w as th e erection of fifty model lighting
T he in d u strial b e lt of S cotland has grow n in its
installations illustrating th e eight classes of the
p resen t position because th e sources o f pow er are
B ritish sta n d ard specification. This led to a recogni­
close a t h an d . In d u stry ten d s to d rift to th e more
tion of th e im portance of ro ad surface brightness as populous p a rts of th e co u n try — in S cotland to th e
a facto r in relation to visibility. D uring th e ten-year so u th — an d one w ay of stopping th is d rift is to carry
period tw o new sources, th e sodium an d m ercury
pow er all over th e co u n try . T he tra n sp o rt of pow er
v apour lam ps, were introduced.
T heir unusual
is o f v ita l im portance. In th e form of coal an d oil,
spectra raised new problem s an d th e ir shape an d
su b ject to road or rail tra n sp o rt, pow er is only dis­
size m ade necessary considerable changes in the
trib u te d w ith difficulty an d a t relativ ely high cost.
design of lanterns. A tte n tio n w as also devoted to T he new er m eth o d of d istrib u tio n o f pow er through
th e problem of th e siting of posts, w hich was dis­
an electric grid m ig h t h av e a trem endous influence
cussed in th e rep o rt of th e d ep artm en tal com m ittee
on Scotland an d its industries, for, b y these means,
appointed b y th e M inistry of T ran sp o rt appointed in
th e site of in d u stry is no longer tie d to th e source of
1934. A fter referring briefly to lessons to be learned
power, an d th e feeding of sm all u n its becomes feasible.
from our experience of th e low orders of illum ination
available during th e present black-out, Mr. W ilson
reviewed after-w ar problem s. H e pointed o u t th e Austrian Scientific W orkers in Great Britain
A n A ssociation of A u strian Engineers,, Chemists
possibilities of th e new fluorescent lam ps, express­
ing th e belief th a t technical resources are enormous. an d Scientific W orkers in G reat B rita in has recently
The fu tu re of stree t lighting, he affirmed, depends been form ed. The m ain activities of th e A ssociation
largely on th e ex ten t to w hich th e scientific a ttitu d e will be to assist m em bers in th eir professional w ork
of m ind is em ployed in th e application of th e achieve­ an d interests, to represent th em w ith th e au thorities,
to prom ote co n tact an d relations w ith B ritish col­
m en ts of research—for exam ple, in connexion w ith
leagues an d to form a link w ith B ritish scientific
bold experim ents in tow n planning.
an d technical in stitu tio n s. L ectures, courses an d
discussions will be held an d will give o p p ortunities
Fluorescent Lighting
A p a p e r o n th is subject, read recently by L. J . for th e exchange of views an d to discuss m a tte rs of
Davies, H . R . R uff an d W . J . S cott before th e I n s ti­ m u tu a l interest. I t is hoped th a t th e Association
tu tio n of E lectrical E ngineers in London, gives a m ay assure th a t b e tte r use is m ade of th e know ­
ledge an d abilities of A u strian engineers, chem ists
b rief histo ry of fluorescent lighting an d follows this
b y a description of a ty p ical m ains-voltage tu b u la r a n d scientific w orkers w ho are anxious to assist in
th e w ar effort. T he actin g chairm an of th e A ssociation
fluorescent lam p an d th e principles of its operation.
T he new fluorescent lam p com bines th e high efficiency is D r. F . E hrenfest-E gger ; inquiries should be sent
of th e straig h t electric discharge lam p, w ith m uch of to th e ho n o rary secretary, Mrs. K . H ilfreich, 133
th e convenience of operation of th e incandescent H ath e rley Court, London, W .2. L ectures are being
lam p, while possessing, in addition, special charac­ given on th e first M onday of each m o n th . E v ery
teristics of low brightness, exceptional colour- M onday, com m encing Ju n e 1 , a t 7 p.m ., a clubrendering power, a n d com parative absence of rad ia n t room will be open for m em bers of th e A ssociation
h eat. The 200/250-v., 80-w att lam p an d its auxiliaries, a t th e A u strian Centre, 69 E to n A venue, N .W .3,
m arketed in G reat B rita in in M arch 1940 to im prove w here th ere will be o p p ortunities to read technical
factory lighting in b lackout conditions, are described periodicals an d to m eet other colleagues.
in detail an d th e characteristics an d com ponents of
A Relic of Dr. John Dee
th e com plete u n it are explained. T his lam p is 5 ft.
long an d
in. in diam eter, ta k in g 0-8 am p. a t a
T h e sale b y Messrs. S otheby of an in terestin g relic
lam p voltage of 115 ; its nom inal lum inous efficiency
of th e m ath em atician an d astrologer D r. J o h n Dee,
is 35 lum ens/w att an d its m ean brightness is 3-3
who was patro n ized b y Queen E lizab eth , was recorded
candles/sq. i n .
I ts high electric pow er/light con­ in The T im es of M ay 5. T he relic is a gold disk 3J in.
version ratio is exam ined together w ith th e con­ in d iam eter weighing 1 oz. 4 dw t. 5 gr., bearing th e
ventions w hereby these are assessed. T he paper L ondon d a te le tte r for 1589 an d engraved w ith a
concentrates a tte n tio n upon th e practical features of d iagram of th e “ Vision of th e F o u r C astles” w hich
th e lam p, b u t gives a sufficient description of th e
ap p eared to his m edium E d w ard Kelley, on th e
physics involved to prom ote an appreciation of b o th m orning of J u n e 20, 1584, a t a house in St. S tephen’s
th e present characteristics an d fu tu re im portance of S treet, Cracow, w here th e tw o m en w ere staying.
this ty p e o f light source. T he au th o rs conclude th a t
T he d iagram is reproduced in “A T rue a n d F aith fu l
th e lam p is satisfactorily fulfilling a p resent industrial R elatio n o f w h a t passed for m any Y ears betw een
need, an d th a t its qu ality has been so g rea tly ap p re­ D r. Jo h n D ee . . . an d some S p irits” published in
ciated th a t it is u ndoubtedly th e forerunner of a new
1659 b y D r. Meric C asaubon. T he disk was b ought
series o f lighting lam ps.
b y th e B ritish M useum for £230.
578
NATURE
Institution of Electrical Engineers Awards
T h e Council of th e In stitu tio n of E lectrical
E ngineers has m ade th e following aw ards of prem ium s
for papers read during th e session 1941-42, or
accepted for publication : In stitution P rem ium to
Mr. J . M. Meek ; A yrton P rem ium to Mr. J . S. F o r r e s t;
Fahie P rem ium to D r. W . C. R adley an d Mr. E . P . G.
W right ; John H opkinson P rem ium to D r. A. L.
Williams an d Mr. L. E . Thom pson ; K elvin P rem ium
to Mr. E . Colin Cherry ; Overseas P rem ium to Prof.
K . A ston an d Mr. M. V. ICesava R ao ; E xtra P re­
m ium s to D r. A. H . M. A rnold, Mr. G. W . Bowdler,
Messrs. G. W . Bowdler and W . G. S tandring, Mr. R .
D avis, D r. H . D. E inhorn an d P ro f. B. L. Goodlet,
D r. H a c k e tt an d Mr. A. M. Thom as, Mr. E . A.
R ichards, Mr. V. Sia, Messrs. R . C. W oods an d A. S.
M acD o n ald ; Installations Section P rem ium s to
Messrs. L. J . D avies, H . R . R u ff a n d W . J . Scott
(Crompton Prem ium ), Mr. R . Grierson ; M eter and
Instrum ent Section P rem ium s to Messrs. E . A. B urton,
J . S. F o rrest an d T. R . W arren (Silvanus T hom pson
Prem ium ), Mr. D. J . Bolton ; T ransm ission Section
Prem ium s to Mr. J . W . L each (Sebastian de F erra n ti
Prem ium ), Messrs. W . Casson a n d F . H . B irch ;
Wireless Section P rem ium s to Mr. O. S. Puckle
(Duddell Prem ium ), D r. D. C. E spley a n d Mr. D. O.
W alter (Ambrose Flem ing P rem ium ), Messrs. J . E.
T hw aites an d F . J . M. L aver.
Earthquake in Ecuador
R e p o r t s have been received from G uayaquil, th e
chief p o rt of E cuador, th a t a severe ea rth q u ak e took
place in th e interior on th e n ig h t of M ay 13-14.
G uayaquil itself was severely shaken for some 60
seconds according to h u m an perception, an d buildings
collapsed. I t is estim ated th a t ab o u t sixty people
lost th eir lives. Mr. J . J . Shaw ’s seism ograph a t
W est Brom w ich recorded a severe earth q u ak e a t
2h. 25m. 52s. t j . t . on M ay 14. F u rth e r news is
aw aited. I t will be recalled ( N a t u r e , F eb. 11, 1939,
p. 238) th a t several earthquakes shook a considerable
area in E cuador including th e tow ns of Vallechillos
and Quito on th e n ig h t of F eb ru ary 1, 1939. On th a t
occasion th e volcano Cotopaxi erupted.
Earthquakes Registered at Kew
Tw o strong d ista n t earthquakes have recently
been recorded a t K ew O bservatory. T he first, on
April 8, 1942, began recording on th e vertical com ­
ponent a t 15h. 53m. 58s. t j . t . im pulsively, and on
th e N an d E com ponents a t the sam e tim e P was
em ergent.
The shock p robably originated some
11,000 km . distan t, a t m axim um a tta in e d an am pli­
tude of 410 (J. a t Kew, an d finished recording a t
19h. 20m. t j . t . T he second, on April 13, began
recording im pulsively on all th ree com ponents a t
07h. 55m. 48s. u . t . from an epicentral distance of
6,130 km ., a tta in e d a m axim um am plitude of 94
and finished recording a t lOh. 00m. u . t . All readings
are te n tativ e.
Betw een April 15 an d M ay 5 eighteen earthquakes
were registered b y th e seism ographs a t K ew O b­
servatory. All these shocks gave rise to sm all am pli­
tudes w ith th e exception of th e ea rth q u ak e of A pril
20. This began recording a t 08h. 52m. 40s. u . t . and
finished recording a t lOh. 25m. t t . t . T he in te rp re­
ta tio n of th is record is a t present te n tativ e, though
a n epicentral distance of 125° is possible.
M ay
23, 1942,
V ol.
149
The Ipswich Man
T h e skeletal rem ains know n as th e Ipsw ich m an,
w hich have been housed a t th e R o y al College of
Surgeons, London, since th ey w ere discovered in
Bolton an d Co’s brickfield, Ipsw ich, in 1911, have
now, th ro u g h th e in stru m en tality of Mr. R eid Moir,
an d th e kindness of th e president an d Council of th e
College, been presented to th e Ipsw ich Museum.
Since 1911 a g reat deal has been discovered regarding
th e age of these rem ains, which were th o u g h t
originally to be older th a n th e U pper Chalky Boulder
Clay— a deposit of one of th e m ajo r glaciations of
E a s t Anglia. I t now seems clear th a t th e skeleton
is referable to one of th e prehistoric floors situ ated
in th e slopes of th e ad jacen t valley, an d examples of
flint im plem ents, etc., found in these floors are
exhibited w ith th e h u m an bones in th e entrance hall
of th e Ipsw ich Museum. Though all th e geological
and archfoologieal aspects of th is m a tte r are n o t
y e t com pletely understood, it is highly probable
th a t th e Ipsw ich m an lived in th e earlier p a rt of
U pper Palaeolithic tim es, and is of considerable
an tiq u ity .
Announcements
P ros’. E . H . A lto n , reg istrar an d professor of
classics in T rin ity College, D ublin, who represented
th e College in th e D ail from 1923 un til 1937, when the
U niversity rep resen tatio n w as abolished an d he was
elected to th e Irish Senate, has been appointed
provost of th e College in succession to th e late Dr.
W . E . T hrift.
Mr . H arry B r ear I iEy , th e w ell-know n steelm aker
of Sheffield, has been elected to h o n o rary m em ber­
ship of th e Iro n an d Steel In stitu te . Mr. B rearley’s
recen tly published au to b io g rap h y was review ed in
N a tu re of A pril 11, p. 397.
T h e B ritish S tan d ard s In stitu tio n has been
recognized b y th e G overnm ent as th e sole organiza­
tion for th e issue, in consultation w ith an y G overn­
m ent, professional or in d u strial bodies concerned, of
sta n d ard s having a n atio n al application. I n regard
to th e p rep aratio n an d issue of codes of practice for
building an d civil engineering work, th e M inister of
W orks an d Buildings is m aking special arrangem ents
b y th e ap p o in tm en t of a rep resen tativ e com m ittee
w ith w hich th e In stitu tio n is co-operating.
As from th e com m encem ent of n ex t session, th e
nam e of th e M eter an d In stru m e n t Section of the
In stitu tio n of E lectrical E ngineers will be altered to
“M easurem ents Section” . T he Section will include
w ithin its scope all m a tte rs relating to electrical
m easurem ent an d control, th e design an d application
of th e ap p a ratu s, an d th e m aterials em ployed in
connexion w ith them .
A d i s c u s s i o n on “ Soviet M etallurgy” , arran g ed by
th e F a c u lty of Science, M arx H ouse, will bo held a t
th e London School of H ygiene an d T ropical Medicine,
K eppel S treet, W .C .l, on M ay 28 a t 7 p.m . The
discussion will be based on a p ap er b y Mr. Tom
B arker, w ho took a leading p a r t in th e creation of
th e g rea t K uzbas M etallurgical Com bine in Siberia.
T ickets of adm ission, including a copy of Mr. B arker’s
paper, can be o btained from M arx House, Clerkenwell
Green, London, E .C .l, price 2a.
No. 3786,
M a y 23, 1942
NATURE
579
H ouely records of th e in te n sity o f cosmic rays
h av e been m ade during th e p a s t year. T he ap p a ratu s
used consisted of a b a tte ry of Geiger counters register­
ing a b o u t 25,000 threefold coincidences each hour.
The circuit used gave a negligibly sm all n um ber of
casual coincidences. No absorbing screens were used,
b u t prelim inary experim ents w ith lead showed th a t
th e thickness of th e counter walls was sufficient to
th e o th er tim e v ariations. A detailed account of
th e results of th e w ork will be given elsewhere. I t
will be show n th a t th e changes from d ay to d ay in
cosmic rays, w hen corrected for changes in atm o ­
spheric ab sorption, are well correlated w ith th e v aria­
tions in h eig h t of th e atm ospheric layer of given
pressure a t w hich mesons are supposed to be formed.
This is consistent w ith B lac k ett’s ex p lan atio n on th e
basis of th e in stab ility of th e meson.
W hen th is effect is elim inated from th e observations,
th e n th e well-know n world-w ide changes appear
w hich are associated w ith th e disturbances of th e
te rrestrial m agnetic field. These changes are being
stu d ied in detail.
In th is le tte r an account is given of th e rem arkable
changes of cosmic ra y in te n sity associated w ith th e
c u t o u t all radioactive ray s a n d th e v ery soft cosmic
rays. To count such a ra p id ra te of coincidences
w ith o u t loss, a W ynn-W illiam s’ scale-of-two co u n ter 1
was used. F o r this circuit th e resolving tim e is so
reduced th a t, a t th e counting ra te of 400 p er m inute,
th e n um ber of particles w hich is m issed is n o t m ore
th a n one p er thousand. T he n um ber of pulses re ­
corded b y th e telephone counter is photographed
au to m atically every hour.
T he whole ap p a ratu s was p repared in th e P hysical
L aboratories a t th e U niversity of M anchester, an d
th e observations are being m ade in a room a t th e
top of th e Im perial College o f Science, South
K ensington.
T he observations began in F eb ru ary 1943, b u t th e
photographic recording sta rte d only in A pril. The
first phenom enon to w hich a tte n tio n w as given was
th e so-called te m p eratu re effect of cosmic rays, n o t
only because of its im portance in itself, b u t also so
as to be able to elim inate th is influence from the
observations a n d th u s to establish m ore accurately
m agnetic sto rm of M arch 1, 1941. T he figure shows
th e observed tim e v ariatio n from F eb ru ary 27 to
M arch 6 . T he decrease of n early 12 p er cen t on
M arch 1 is certainly u nusually g reat, and, so far as
is know n to us, is th e largest v ariatio n of th is kind
so far recorded.
T he points on th e diagram rep resen t th e m ean
value of th e cosmic ra y in te n sity d u rin g a period of
th ree hours. T he scale is in percentages from th e
norm al value. T he cosmic ra y distu rb an ce began
sh o rtly before th e onset o f th e m agnetic storm .
F ro m inform ation kindly given b y th e R oyal O bserva­
to ry , th e la tte r began a t 7h. 27m. on M arch 1.
Allowing for th e sta tistica l fluctuations ( ± 0-36 per
cent for th e three-hour period), it ap p ears th a t th e
cosmic ray s distu rb an ce began ab o u t one h o u r earlier.
T he sto rm subsided rap id ly afte r 1 a.m . on M arch 1
an d finished th ree hours later. A fter th e first rap id
recovery of ab o u t h a lf th e initial drop, w hich occurred
w ithin tw e n ty hours of th e onset, th e recovery was
v ery slow an d w as n o t com plete b y th e six th day.
LETTERS TO THE EDITORS
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible
fo r opinions expressed by their correspondents.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.
Cosmic Rays and Magnetic Storms
NATURE
580
I t is rem arkable th a t th e m agnetic storm was n o t
so intense as some others w hich have been accom ­
panied b y a less violent disturbance in cosmic rays.
The extrem e range in th e horizontal m agnetic force H
was 512 y, equivalent to less th a n 3 p er cent of th e
H value. Nevertheless, it appears th a t th e b rig h t
eruption w hich began to be observed on th e sun
19h. 27m. earlier was one of th e m ost extensive
recorded, lasted for an unusually long tim e an d p ro ­
duced a m uch larger m agnetic effect th a n usual.
Also a special feature of th e sto rm w as a series of
27 g ian t pulsations in H and V w hich lasted from
I5h. 5m. to 17h. 3m. on M arch 1, an d are, it seems,
unique in th e A binger records. I t w as ju s t in th is
in terv al w hen th e n u m b e r of cosmic particles reached
its low est value. T he m ean of th e tw o-hourly ob serv a­
tions centred a t 16h. an d 17h. represents a decrease
in th is n um ber of 12-0 ± 0-44 p er cent.
F ro m th e record of th is an d oth er storm s, i t seems
clear th a t, a t an y ra te in these latitu d es, th e re is
no sim ple p roportionality betw een geom agnetic an d
cosmic ray s disturbances.
A.
Im perial College of Science an d Technology,
D ep a rtm en t of Physics,
London, S.W.7.
M ay 6 .
1 W y n n -W illiam s, C. I:.. R e p . r r o a .
3, 239 (1937).
Dispersion of Cellulose Strands in
Cell W alls
I n a recent le tte r in N a t u r e 1 P rof. Frey-W yssling
directs atte n tio n to th e im portance in cell w all
studies of th e angular dispersion of th e co n stitu en t
cellulose micelles an d refers to m y papers as ignoring
th is p ro p erty. Cell w all physics is a stu d y in w hich
there is already m uch controversy, a n d it seems th e re ­
fore a p ity to give th e im pression of a difference of
opinion w here none actually exists. T he question
centres ro und th e desirability of ta k in g in to account
n o t only th e ‘parallel’ te x tu re said to be ty p ical of
fibres b u t also th e so-called ‘dispersed’ or ‘re tic u la r’
te x tu re p resent in some o th e r cell typ es. So far as
I am concerned, th e difference betw een ‘p arallel’ an d
‘dispersed’ te x tu res is one o f degree only an d actually,
far from ta k in g “ . . . only parallel te x tu res into
account . . .” , 1 have y e t to in vestigate a single cell
in w hich I am convinced th a t th is te x tu re does occur
in an y th in g like a stric t sense. In some fibres 2 an d
wood cells3, for exam ple, w here Frey-W yssling h im ­
self supports parallel te x tu re , an d in some collench y m a4, m y collaborators an d I have show n th a t th e
an g u lar dispersion of th e cellulose micelles ab o u t th e
ex tinction direction m ay be considerable an d is p ro b ­
ab ly of im portance in explaining certain optical
properties of th e wall. These la tte r p apers have
ap p a ren tly n o t been available to P rof. Frey-W yssling
since his citations of m y p apers cease in 1939.
In th e pap er fro m w hich he quotes, how ever, I
m ade th e first suggestion, la te r applied also to th e
conifer trac h eid 3, th a t certain optical properties are
to be explained in term s of th e angular dispersion
o f th e cellulose m a trix . In cross-section th e walls
o f some of th e cells referred to (vessels of some ringporous trees) show optical discontinuities, a n d con­
cerning th e explanation of th is fac t I rem arked :
M ay 23 , 1942,
V ol.
149
“ . . . th e observed phenom ena m ay be accounted
for eith er b y a v ariatio n in chain direction from
layer to layer, b y a v ariatio n in chem ical n atu re , by
‘a change in th e dispersion of a single d irection’, b y a
v aria tio n in th e am o u n t of cellulose p resen t in th e
crystalline phase, etc. A ny one of these possible
causes ‘m ay be accepted only w hen th e others have
been ru led o u t’.” T he sections q uoted b y Prof.
Frey-W yssling (enclosed in single in v erted commas)
are therefore m isleading. T he full q uotation, an d
even m ore strongly th e sense of th e whole paper,
m akes it ab u n d a n tly clear th a t here I am questioning
n o t th e existence of dispersion or even of changes
in dispersion b u t w hether these can explain th e
phenom ena u n d er review. In fact th e purpose of this
p arag rap h was to em phasize w h at I have repeatedly
said elsewhere— th a t th e angular dispersion of th e
cellulose in a w all should n o t be overlooked in s tu d y ­
ing its optical properties.
In several places 6 I h av e directed atte n tio n to th e
dangers involved in th e in te rp re tatio n of optical
properties, an d p articu larly of ex tinction directions,
w hen u n su p p o rted bDy u oth
an d it comes
p e r er
i e k evidence
.
therefore as a surprise to find m yself indicted for
failing to observe m y own precepts. On th e other
han d , w hile it is clear th a t th e cellulose of m ost,
if n o t all, cell ty p es is to be th o u g h t of as ‘dispersed’
ra th e r th a n ‘p arallel’ in th e stric t sense, it seems to
m e a n a tu ra l an d legitim ate sim plification, in m aking
prelim inary calculations such as I h av e presented,
to ta k e th e ex tin ctio n direction of a wall of th e
‘dispersed’ ty p e as a h y p o th etical unique ‘cellulose
chain d irectio n ’. I n m ost cases th e modifications to
be expected in ad d in g th e dispersion around th e
extin ctio n direction to th e resulting figures are of
secondary im portance only, an d m ay be considered
a t a la te r d ate as th e o p p o rtu n ity an d necessity
arise. A d m ittedly, th ere are some cases where th is
assum ption can n o t safely b e m ade— cases where th e
dispersion itself is of v ita l im portance—a n d one of
these I propose to exam ine elsewhere in th e n ear
futu re, b u t generally in geom etrical considerations of
grow th problem s w here I have used th is sim plifica­
tio n I m a in ta in th a t it is fully justified.
W ith th e sta te m e n t of Prof. F rey-W yssling th a t
th e dispersion can be m easured m ost readily from
th e X -ra y pho to g rap h I am , of course, in com plete
agreem ent. I m yself have h ith e rto used no m ethod
o th er th a n th is, b u t of th e available indirect m ethods
I w ould prefer th e fluorescence stain in g m ethod of
M orey 7 to th e chlorzinc iodide m eth o d of FreyW yssling since th e la tte r technique introduces possible
changes in dispersion on swelling. I w ould like, how ­
ever, to p o in t o u t fu rth e r th a t Prof. Frey-W yssling
is in error w hen he im plies th a t no X -ray photographs
are available of single cell walls. A pho to g rap h has
alread y been published of th e X -ray diagram of an
oak vessel 5 an d of w h at corresponds to single walls
of a conifer trach eid , an d in each of these p h o to ­
graphs th e an g u lar dispersion can be m easured
ap proxim ately. U n d er some conditions, m oreover,
th e dispersion can be detected an d m easured in some
cell types even th o u g h bundles of cells ra th e r th a n
individual walls are p h otographed1.
T here is, therefore, no fu n d am en tal difference
betw een P rof. Frey-W yssling’s a ttitu d e a n d m ine
concerning th e ‘dispersed’ te x tu re. T he ‘reticu lar’
te x tu re figured so often b y Frey-W yssling is, however,
of a som ew hat different ty p e an d I m u st confess
som e h esitatio n in accepting th is as a possibility as
it stan d s. T h a t th ere occurs in latex vessels an d in
No. 3786,
M a y 23 , 1942
NATURE
581
m ost cells w ith p rim a ry walls a high degree o f d is­
persion is well established, b u t th is b y no m eans
suggests th a t th e cellulose com plex is reticular.
R. D. P reston.
D ep artm en t of B otany,
U niversity o f Leeds.
A pril 22.
1 F r e y - W y s s li n g , A ., N a t u r e , 149, 3 8 4 (1 9 4 2 ).
' K u n d u , B . C ., a n d P r e s to n , R . D ., P roc. R o y . S o c., B , 128, 214 (1940);
P r e s to n , l i . D ., a n d A llso p p , A ., B io d y n a m ic a , N o. 53 (1939);
P re s to n , R . D ., Proc. R o y . S o c., B , 130, 103 (1941).
* P re s to n , 11. D ., P roc. Leerls P h il. So c., S ei. S e c ., 3 , 546 (1939).
* M a ju m d a r, G. P ., a n d P r e s to n , R . D ., P roc. R o y . Soc., B , 130, 201
(1 9 4 1 ).
* P re s to n , R . D ., A n n . B o t., N .S ., 3, 507 (1939).
* P re s to n , R D ., P roc. R o y . Soc., B , 125, 372 (1 9 3 8 ); P h il. T ra n s .,
B , 224, 131 (1 9 3 4 ): B io l. R e e s., 14, 281 (1939). P r e s to n , R . D .,
a n d A s tb u ry , W . T ., Proc. R o y . S o c., B , 122, 76 (1937).
’ M o rey , D . R ., T e x t R e s., 4, I I (1934).
Effect of Certain Chemotherapeutic Agents
on Experimental Eye Lesions produced by
Staphylococcus aureus
The difficulty of p roducing uniform staphylococca*
lesions of th e cornea in th e ra b b it, for th e purpose of
estim ating th e value o f th e ra p eu tic m easures, has
long been recognized1 although Brow n an d P u g h 3
succeeded in producing a fairly satisfacto ry ulcer by
using a strain found a fte r m a n y trials.
I n th e following experim ents eight coagulase
positive strain s of Staphylococcus aureus, obtained
from h um an lesions, w ere trie d in prelim inary te sts
on ra b b its ’ eyes, an d th e one found to be th e m ost
virulent was used as it consistently produced a lesion.
The lesions, how ever, were too ac u te a n d rapidly
d estructive w hen an u n d ilu ted cu ltu re was injected
into th e cornea, an d therefore, a fte r a n um ber of
prelim inary trials, th e following technique was
evolved.
A 24-hour cu ltu re in b ro th w as dilu ted w ith saline
to contain 1,500 organism s p e r c.c., a n d th is was
injected in to th e cornea to m ake a sm all bleb u n d er
th e epithelium . I n each ra b b it b o th eyes w ere so
injected, an d g rea t care w as ta k e n to m ake these
initial inoculations as equal as possible. I n each
anim al one eye w as tre a te d w ith th e ap p ro p riate
chem otherapeutic agent, w hile th e other eye was
sim ilarly tre a te d w ith saline.
T he first tre a tm e n t w as applied one h o u r afte r
inoculation, an d th e tre a tm e n t w as usually continued
a t hourly intervals for th e n e x t forty -eig h t hours, an d
th ereafter a t less fre q u en t intervals.
Lesions involving ulceration of th e cornea in v a ri­
ab ly developed in th e control eyes, a n d in 90 p er
cent o f cases th is w as associated w ith developm ent
of hypopyon. I n some 75 p er cent of cases th e ulcers
were large an d resulted in eith er extensive corneal
scarring or gross d estruction of th e eye w ith or w ith ­
out p erforation.
The lesions developed rap id ly a n d b y th e end of
forty-eight hours afte r inoculation th e ulcers w ere
already, as a rule, m oderately severe a n d associated
w ith h ypopyon an d considerable iritis.
T he following chem otherapeutic p rep aratio n s were
used : (1) sodium sulphacetam ide (this w as supplied
to us as a 30 p e r ce n t solution, a n d w as u sed either
u ndiluted or d ilu ted w ith saline to a 10 p e r cent or a
2-5 p er cent so lu tio n ); (2) a 15 p er ce n t solution of
solubilized sulphathiazole (sulphathiazole sodium
form aldehyde su lp h o x y la te ); an d (3) solutions con­
taining penicillin, prep ared b y ex tra ctin g from fluid
cu ltu re w ith am yl ac e ta te an d re-ex tractin g in to
w ater, as described b y F lorey et a l.3. W hen assayed
b y th e m ethods described b y these a u th o rs th e solu­
tio n p roduced a n are a of bacteriostasis 21-23 m m .
in d iam eter, w hen te ste d ag ain st Staphylococcus
aureus.
T he resu lts o b tain ed w ith these p rep aratio n s are
show n in th e accom panying tab le. Penicillin p ro v ed
E f f e c t s o f V a r io u s T r e a t m e n t s o n E x p e r im e n t a l S t a p h y l o c o c c a l
L e s io n s
T h e m a in s u b d iv is io n h a s b e e n d ra w n b e tw e e n s lig h t a n d m o d e r a te ,
s in ce t h e ‘s lig h t’ le sio n s le f t sc a rs w h ic h w e re s m a ll a n d lo c alized a n d
w o u ld n o t h a v e s e rio u s ly in te r f e r e d w ith v isio n , w h e re a s t h e ‘m o d e r a te ’,
a n d o f co u rse th e m o re se v e re le sio n s, p ro d u c e d s c a rrin g w h ic h w a s
c o n s id e ra b ly m o re e x te n s iv e , a n d w h ic h w o u ld h a v e s e rio u sly in t e r ­
f e r e d w ith th e fu n c tio n o f th e ey e . T h e v e r y se v e re le sio n s in v o lv e d
g ro ss d e s tr u c tio n o f t h e e y e . T h e fig u res r e p r e s e n t th e p e rc e n ta g e o f
e y e s, in a n y o n e g ro u p , sh o w in g t h e p a r tic u la r ty p e o f le sio n .
582
NATURE
M ay 23, 1942,
V ol.
149
over, th a t th e p ro d u cts of synthesis as well as th e
in itial p ro d u cts of decom position m ay be utilized by
th e h o st an im al3.4-5.6.
I n conform ance w ith th is
opinion is th e fa c t th a t v ery few iodophile m icro­
organism s are found in th e fe c e s3.6. I t can be d em on­
s tra te d th a t several agents m ay be concerned in
th e ir elim ination.
T hus in vitro experim ents on
centrifuged suspensions of iodophile m icro-organism s
from th e ru m en o f c a ttle h av e show n th a t th e y are
n o t acted upon b y p ep tic an d only slowly affected
b y com m ercial try p tic p rep aratio n s. O bservations,
how ever, on fresh ru m en co n ten ts dem o n strated th a t
th e y are ingested an d digested in large num bers by
th e ciliates p resen t (Ophryoscolecidw a n d Isotrichidse), th u s confirming W estp h al’s results w ith
in vitro cultures o f rum en p ro to zo a7. I t was found,
m oreover, th a t th e ciliates, unlike th e iodophile
m icro-organism s, were readily ac te d upon b y enzym e
prep aratio n s. Sim ilarly, exam ination of post-m ortem
m a terial show ed th a t in th e abom asum th e m a jo rity
o f th e ru m en P ro to zo a h a d been digested (cow an d
sheep). In th e c s c u m of th e horse a digestion of
b acteria b y ciliates (Cycloposthidae, Paraisotriehidai,
Butschilidse, etc.) h ad also been recorded6. In th e
guinea pig, how ever, th e E n to d in io m o rp h a are n o t
represented an d th e sm all flagellates p resen t (Hexam ita, T richom onas, etc.) do n o t p lay an im p o rta n t
p a r t in th e rem oval of b a c te ria 5. F inally, in th e
a d u lt ra b b it, P ro to zo a m ay be altogether a b se n t4.
I n these cases o th er agencies m u st be invoked to
acco u n t for th e observed elim ination of iodophile
m icro-organism s. An intensive action of digestive
enzym es is precluded b y th e position of th e cajcum
and colon. I t h ad been conjectured, therefore, th a t
in these conditions b acterial autolysis m ig h t play an
im p o rta n t p a r t6. T his hypothesis has now been
te ste d as follows :
Caical co n ten ts of a guinea pig were rem oved and
a p o rtio n suspended in 10 per cent form alin (control).
T he rem aining p o rtio n w as d ilu ted w ith saline
sa tu ra te d w ith chloroform an d divided in to tw o
fractions. One of these was h eated to 100 ° C. for
2 m in. B oth were in cu b ated a t 37° C. for 12 h r.
‘ M cD o n ald , R ., a n d T e t t i t , H ., A r c h . O p kth a l., 21, 817 (1939).
T he form alized control show ed an a b u n d a n t d is­
’ B ro w n , A . 1 ., a n d P u g h , J . , A r c h . O phthal., 16, 476 (1930).
in teg ratio n of starch grains w hich were entirely
* F lo re y , I I . W „ et a l., L a n cet, ii, 177 (1941).
surro u n d ed b y iodophile m icro-organism s. In th e
boiled fractio n th e iodine reaction of th e iodophile
m icro-organism s was unchanged, w hereas in th e
unboiled fractio n it h a d en tirely disappeared. Since
Microbial Synthesis and Autolysis in the
th e reaction of th e grains w as unim paired th e absence
Digestive Tract of Herbivora
o f free am ylase could be inferred.
T he changes
B o t h th e rum en in ru m in a n t an d th e caicum in
w itnessed were, therefore, a ttrib u te d to autolysis.
n o n-rum inant H erb iv o ra su p p o rt an a b u n d a n t iodo- Id en tical results w ere o btained in parallel experi­
phile m icroflora : th a t is, an association of taxonom - m en ts perform ed w ith ru m en co n ten ts of cattle.
ically diverse species exhibiting, in consequence of
I t is clear, therefore :
th e deposition w ith in th em of bacterial sta rc h or
(a) T h a t several agencies m ay co-operate to a
granulose, th e com m on characteristic of giving a v ary in g degree in different H erb iv o ra in th e elim ina­
blue reaction w ith iodine.
tio n o f th e iodophile m icro-organism s, nam ely :
I
h av e established b y d irect m icroscopic observa­ ( 1 ) Ingestion an d digestion b y Protozoa.
tio n th a t th e iodophile m icro-organism s m ake th e ir
(2) A ction of digestive enzymes.
appearance on th e adoption b y th e young anim al of
(3) B acterial autolysis.
a vegetable diet, progressively displacing th e aniodo(b )
T h a t th e m ode of elim ination in ru m in an ts is
phile species prev alen t in th e early phases of m ilk- m ore com plex th a n in non-rum inants.
feeding ; and, fu rtherm ore, th a t th e y p lay a d e te r­
(c) T h a t in th e sim plest instance elim ination m ay
m in a n t role in th e decom position of sta rc h , pectins be effected b y b acterial autolysis alone.
W
an d cellulose 1.2.3.
A ny effort, therefore, to elucidate th e complex
T hus th e decom position of these substances in th e
problem s concerned in th e effective u tilizatio n of a
rum en or caecum is accom panied by th e deposition
p articu la r d iet m u st in ev itab ly ta k e account of th e
w ithin th e m icro-organism s of an iodophile p o ly ­ in te ra d ju stm e n t of th e processes enum erated, th a t is,
saccharide. T he opinion has been advanced, m o re ­ of th e actu al m ode of transference of th e available
to be th e m ost effective in th e tre a tm e n t of these
staphylococcal lesions. I t is probable th a t still b e tte r
results will be produced w ith m ore concentrated solu­
tions of penicillin. T he resu lt in one anim al (494) is
illu strated in th e accom panying figure.
Sodium sulphacetam ide (30 p er cent) produced
q u ite obvious beneficial effects.
Because of its know n value again st staphylococci,
we expected very satisfacto ry results w ith th e con­
c e n trated solution of sulphathiazole, b u t th e y were
u n fo rtu n ately disappointing.
W eaker concentrations of sodium sulphacetam ide
were tried in sm all groups of anim als. T he results
suggest th a t a 10 per cent solution m ay perhaps be as
effective as th e 30 p er cent solution, b u t th e 2-5 per
cent solution produced only slight benefit in th e
tre a tm e n t of these lesions.
T he prelim inary reports of F lo re y et. a l.* have
already suggested th a t penicillin m ay be effective
in th e tre a tm e n t of eye lesions. O ur experim ental
results su p port th is conclusion, an d also offer evidence
th a t sodium sulphacetam ide m ay be of value in th e
local tre a tm e n t of staphylococcal lesions of th e
hum an eye.
W e should like to th a n k D r. Oag, of th e D e p a rt­
m en t of Bacteriology, U niversity of E dinburgh, for
his advice an d for supplying th e cultures an d dilu­
tions used in these experim ents. Mrs. M acN aughtan,
of th e D ep artm en t of Bacteriology, U niversity of
E dinburgh, very k indly supplied us w ith penicillin
solution. W e are indebted to D r. P re sc o tt of B u r­
roughs, W ellcome an d Co. for th e p rep a ra tio n of the
solubilized sulphathiazole an d to Mr. E dw ards of
B ritish Schering, L td ., for th e supply of sodium
sulphacetam ide (albucid soluble).
We are g rateful to th e W . H . Ross F o u n d atio n
(Scotland) for th e S tu d y an d P revention of Blindness,
w hich defrayed th e expenses of th is investigation.
J . M. R o b s o n .
D ept, of Pharm acology,
S c o tt.
U niversity of E d inburgh.
M ay 4.
No. 3786,
M ay 23, 1942
NATURE
polysaccharides from th e vegetable m aterials ingested
to th e tissues of th e anim al. No m ention h as been
m ade in th is com m unication o f th e p rotein syntheses
integral to th e m aintenance of a m icrobial population
in th e crecum or rum en ; n o r of th e initial nitrogen
sources from w hich th e y m ay lie able to proceed.
A detailed stu d y of some m icrobiological aspects of
th e problem is, however, now being m ade in close
collaboration w ith th e biochem ical investigation of
in vitro incubations of rum en contents in progress a t
th e H an n ah D airy R esearch I n s titu te 3-8.
F
b a n k
B
a k er
.
D ep artm en t of Biology,
County Technical College,
Stoke P ark ,
Guildford.
April 27.
1 B a k e r, F ., a n d M a rtin , E ., N a t u r e , 141, 877 (1938).
* B a k e r, I1'., S c i. Prog., N o . 134 (O c t., 1939).
1 B a k e r, F ., N a t u r e , 149, 220 (1942).
1 B a k e r, F ., a n d M a rtin , 11., Z e n t. B a ld ., A b . I I , 96, 18 (1937).
* B a k e r, F ., a n d M a r tin , K ., Z e n t. B a k t., A b. I I , 97, 201 (1937).
* B a k e r, I ’., a n d M a rtin , E,., Z e n t. B a h t., A b . I I , 99, 400 (1939).
7 W e stp lia l, A ., Z en t. P a r a s ite n k ., 7, 71 (1934).
* O w en, E . C ., S m ith , J . A . B ., a n d W rig h t, N . C ., N a t u r e , 147, 710
(1941).
Spore Dispersal in the Mucorales
problem of spore dispersal presented in m y
last com m unication 1 is now p artially solved, as a
resu lt of spore-blowing experim ents a n d th e observa­
tion of cultures grow n in cem ented glass cells w ith
coverslip surfaces.
T he chief fact w hich em erges is th a t th e M ucor
sporangium is prim arily a w ater dispersal m echanism ,
an d th a t M ucor spores, for th e m ost p a rt, becom e a ir­
borne only afte r prelim inary separation in w ater, and
th en chiefly on th e surface of soil d u st particles and
h y p h al fragm ents.
T he sporangial m em brane in M ucors breaks up
an d eventually disappears in co n tac t w ith w ater. In
Mucors w ith th in walls, usually described as ‘diffluent’
(for exam ple, M . liiemalis), this process is rapid, and
if th e sporangium rem ains untouched in m oist air
it gives place to a conspicuous sporangial drop. The
stalk on losing tu rg id ity collapses a n d usually brings
th e drop against a solid surface, w hereupon it spreads
o u t rap idly owing to surface tension. T he w ord ‘b u rs t’
is in ap p ropriate to describe th is process. On drying
dow n th e spore m asses rem ain firm ly stu c k tog eth er
w ith m ucilage which, however, is readily dissolved
an d th e spores separated in w ater.
Growing on organic m a tte r in soil th e sporangiophores can be seen to form a netw ork linking th e soil
particles, against w hich th e sporangia are inevitably
bro u g h t into co n tact a t some stage, w ith th e p re ­
sum ed resu lt th a t th e spores a re dispersed b y th e
soil w ater w hen present.
Spore-blowing experim ents on th is ty p e of Mucor
show th em to be com plete spore retainers in air. T he
function of th e sporangiophore is th u s seen to be th a t
of ensuring some prelim inary dispersal of th e spore
masses, ra th e r th a n th a t of raising th e sporangium
into th e air. I ts sensitiveness to light in th e early
stages of grow th m ay also have th e effect of co u n terac t­
ing th e down-washing of w ater, a n d raising th e spore
masses so as to keep th em in th e u pper layers of th e
soil, w here b o th aeration an d organic m a tte r provide
more favourable conditions for th e grow th o f Mucors.
H ow ever, w hen air-dried soil, w hich has been
T he
sterilized an d th e n soaked in a suspension of spores
of M ucor hiemalis, is su b jected to gentle blowing,
m any colonies are o btained, som e of w hich arise from
visibly single spores, b u t th e m a jo rity from soil
particles, a n d n a tu ra l soils also yield sc attered col­
onies of diffluent-w alled M ucors. T he occurrence of
air-borne infections b y M ucors of th is ty p o is th u s
explained, a n d also th e ir freq u en t presence in d ust.
Some species, however, n o ta b ly M . rouxianus,
exhibit a subsidiary form of air dispersal, in th a t th e
old d ry m ycelial n etw o rk is extrem ely b rittle, an d
when blow n upon fragm ents, yielding sc attered
colonies each of w hich is found to arise from a spore
m ass, or even a single spore, a tta c h e d to a hyp h al
fragm ent. T his is referred to as hyphal spore dispersal.
M ucor racemosus also fragm ents in th is w ay, d is­
persing chlam ydospores as well as a tta c h e d sporangiospores. A few spore m asses, w ith o u t hyphaj, are also
dispersed, an d th e stalk s do n o t collapse so com pletely,
so th a t some direct air dispersal is possible. H ere th e
wall survives longer in co n tact w ith w ater, an d th e
spores h av e been seen to pass o u t in to a superficial
drop. The sporangial drops are less conspicuous, as
surviving pieces of w all m ay render th em relatively
opaque. P ro b a b ly m ost of th e M ucors w ith th ick
(‘frag m en tin g ’) walls are of th is ty p e, w hich rem ains
chiefly w ater-dispersed.
A bsidia glauca is a spore-mass-shudder w ith re la ­
tively little h y p h al dispersal. D espite such a d a p ta ­
tions to air dispersal as stoloniferous grow th, rigid
sporangiophores, an d a colum ella w hich collapses into
a cup, liberating th e w hole spore m ass, i t form s
sporangial drops, scatters no single spores in air, an d
seems to be readily w ater-dispersed. I t is th u s in te r­
m ed iate in ty p e.
Rhizopus nigricans, however, exhibits advanced
a d a p ta tio n to air dispersal. T he sporangiophores,
b orne alo ft on ‘stolons’ a n d firm ly ‘ro o ted ’ on th eir
su b strate, rem ain rigid w hen dry, an d th e collapse
of th e colum ella in to a bell-shaped cap exposes th e
spores to air m ovem ents for long periods.
Such
sporangiophores, grow n in a glass cell in 1939, are
still erect an d capable of shedding viable spores afte r
th ree years. T he rough ang u lar spores are n o t easily
w etted, an d do n o t ‘clum p’ closely in w ater, so th a t
th e y d ry o u t rapidly, an d are n o t stu c k to g eth er in
m ucilage. This type, how ever, sheds no spores w hen
m oist, b u t b ro ad casts spore m asses of v ary in g size,
an d single spores, w hen q u ite d ry. I t is therefore
called a dried-spore-shedder.
F inally, in conidial ty p es such as Cunningham ella
we h av e spore shedders w hich sc a tte r spore m asses
from th e fresh, m oist colony, an d v a s t n u m b ers of
single spores from th e d ry , an d are com parable in
efficiency of air dispersal w ith m a n y H yphom ycetes.
The M ucorales are th u s b ro u g h t in to closer rela­
tionship w ith th e o th er groups from w hich th e y have
been som ew hat isolated. Once it is realized th a t th e
Mucor sporangium is a w ater-dispersal m echanism ,
it can b ear some com parison w ith th a t of th e soil
O om ycetes, especially in th o se species w hich liberate
akinetes, an d a t th e sam e tim e th e various conidial
forms, some of th em approaching those of th e
Plectom ycetes, become intelligible as a d a p ta tio n s to
air dispersal.
C. G. D o b b s .
B o tan y D ep artm en t,
K in g ’s College, London,
a t T he U niversity, B ristol 8 .
A pril 4.
‘ N a t u r e , 143, 2 8 6 (1 9 3 9 ).
NATURE
584
M ay 23, 1942,
v o l.
149
SEA W AVES: THEIR GROWTH
AND SUBSIDENCE
By P. J
H. U N N A
H E effect of tid al stream s on swell w as discussed
in N a t u r e of F eb ru ary 21, p. 219, th e standard
for com parison being th e slack-w ater sta te . E stim ates
depended on th e fac t th a t, in swell, w aves re ta in
th eir identities as individuals.
B u t w ind-forced
waves cannot do so, even w hen th ere is no change in
stream , because, w ith speed proportional to ro o t of
length, th eir periods lengthen as th e y grow—see
below— an d in so fa r as this affects th e issue th e
argum ents for swell m ay n o t hold good. B u t stream ,
m ore efficiently as th e w aves lengthen, an d so, except
tid al or otherwise, can also influence ra te of grow th,
a t q u ite an early stage, b y pressure ra th e r th a n by
for w hich no slack-w ater sta n d a rd is available, th e
friction, th e area of application of th e pressure speed­
ing up as th e waves m ove faster. L ater, well beyond
laws of grow th being still unknow n. I t is therefore
th e lim it of Stevenson’s equations, dim inution in
necessary to im provise.
I t seems th a t an y system of w ind-forced waves
steepness an d in relativ e speed o f w ind an d waves
consists of a t least th ree series : th e p rim ary a n d m ost will cause th e pressure to g et less, an d d Pj dF to do
conspicuous waves, th e sm aller secondary ones w hich
th e same.
T he figures for tim e show how long th e w ind has
ride upon them , an d th e long low w aves1’2, m ore
akin to swell, th a t are m asked b y th e prim aries. I t
to blow before th e sea a tta in s a stead y m axim um for
m ay be assum ed th a t, u n d er stabilized conditions,
a given fetch. T hey are based on th e speed of th e
energy of th e prim aries.
stead y w ind of given stren g th gives rise to p rim ary
E L , th e to ta l energy of a w ave, p er foot of crest,
waves of given average length an d height, according
ten d s to con cen trate n ear th e crest ju s t before b reak ­
to fetch an d to stre n g th a n d direction, or absence,
of stream . B u t th e only d a ta available are tw o inde­ ing, an d should therefore be an index of strik in g
force ag ain st a breakw ater. Values are given for
p en d en t sets of observations, w hich, w hen com bined,
give figures for p rim ary w aves due to th e strongest d( EL) jdF to show how, w ith stead y wind, an ex tra
w inds ordinarily m e t w ith. These figures are m erely mile added to a long fetch increases m axim um
strik in g force m uch m ore th a n w hen added to a sh o rt
te n tativ e, b u t suffice to show th e general tren d , and
one. T h ey are based on th e derived expressions,
to illu strate th e principles involved.
F irst, th e re are Stevenson’s eq uations3, intended
(6O H 3 + 4- 8H3 + 16L H ) (0-75F - i - 0 -2 5 ZM) for
to give g rea test w ave height according to fetch :
sh o rt fetches,
Hmax. = l ' 5 F i + 2-5 — F i for fetches from 1 to
(6O H 2 + 4-8H 3 + 16L H ) x 1 -125/7-1 for longer
39 miles,
fetches.
H max. = 1 -5Fi for fetches from 40 to 120 miles,
Owing to lengthening of period, w hen waves in ­
F being fetch in miles. Secondly, ta k in g W ilto n ’s 4 crease in len g th from L t to L 2, one w ave in every
theoretical lim it of 0-13 for steepness as applicable
y/L-i -7- (\/-^ 2 — ’S /Fj) has to disappear. In other
to new -born waves, th e m ore reliable recorded
m easurem ents, including m an y of those sum m arized words, one w ave m every 2 Lr .dF
— -f 1 vanishes m
dL
b y G aillard5, indicate th a t for w ave-lengths u p to
each m ile of fetch. The figures given for percentage
400 ft. th e g rea test steepness ordinarily m et w ith in
loss show th a t th e waves become m ore p erm an en t
th e open m ay be expressed as :
w ith g reater fetch, an d presum ably th e y th en behave
Smax. = (7-5 + 0-3 H ) ~\
m ore like swell w ith change of stream . However,
th a t is, L — 7*5//rrwx.
0 * • } ( / Imax.)2'
it is w ith these longer w aves th a t stream has least
There is no guaran tee th a t all th e m easurem ents
effect on swell.
on w hich these equations are based relate to slack
B u t stream m ay h av e consequences w hich do n o t
w ater, as will be assum ed here. A nd th e equations will arise w ith swell, for n o t only m ay it affect ra te of
be ta k en as th e histo ry of grow th of a definite w ave grow th, b u t also it m a y a lte r effective fetch. F or
system u nder stead y wind, although th e strongest exam ple, w hen th e re is a local w ind in th e open, and
w inds over sh o rt fetches are unlikely to persist over
so n o t blowing off a w eath er shore, speed over th e
long ones. T he following equations resu lt :
ground becomes irrelev an t, an d y e t stream m ay
m odify th e fetch. T ravel of th e centre of a cyclonic
dP
— = QH(2-5Li + 0-15L -iH -) (0-75F -i - 0-25F-i)
distu rb an ce is an analogous case. I t increases fetch
iij one semicircle, b y m ere coincidence th e one called
up to 39 miles,
‘dangerous’ for q u ite a different reason, an d reduces
dP
— = 25L i 4 - 1-5L - i H 2 from 40 to 120 miles,
it in th e o th e r6. T he speed of th e cen tre in relation
dF
to th a t of th e w ave energy is th e relev an t factor.
P (— E G ) being power, th a t is, energy jjer sq. ft. of
Consideration of th e effect of stream on ra te of
w ater surface m ultiplied b y its speed to leeward.
grow th raises th e ra th e r puzzling problem of th e
The resulting values are as in th e tab le below.
hairp in bend. A riv er tak es a hairpin bend, and
The figures for dP jd F only relate to pow er
th e w ind blows u p one reach. A lternatively, it m ay
effectively used in raising th e p rim ary waves. More be blow ing u p an arm of th e sea w ith a narrow
is required for th e other series, viscosity, turbulence,
entrance, up th e Solent from H u rs t would be a case
breaking, an d to give leew ay to th e w ate r n ear the
in point. Given, say, a 3-knot w eather-going stream ,
surface. N evertheless, th ey indicate th a t th e w ind acts
th e waves will fail to stem th e tid e u n til th ey a tta in
T
No. 3786,
M ay 23, 1942
NATURE
a 5-ffc. length, and th e ir energy will fail to do so until
they become 20 ft. long. P resum ably waves do form
near th e w eather shore w hen it s ta rts to blow, b u t
it looks as if th e y m u st be soon dispersed b y breaking.
The solution m ay be th a t those w hich form to lee­
w ard, an d so in th eir early life are independent of
speed over th e ground, a tta in th e lengths necessary
for survival before th e y are sw ept back to th e w eather
shore. I n th a t case th e re should be w aves of ap p re­
ciable length w here th e re is alm ost inappreciable
fetch, afte r th e w ind has been blow ing long enough
for th e conditions to be stabilized. I t w ould be
interesting to know w h at actually does happen.
B u t assum ing th a t a stab le regim e has been a t ­
tained, it is possible to roughly estim ate th e change
in th e dem and for w ind energy, an d so th e surplus
available for increasing th e sea, th a t a w eather-going
stream entails. W ave pow er over th e ground is
E(G -j- C), G being stream in ft./sec., an d negative
for w eather going. L et E 1G1 ap p ly to a given position,
an d _Z?j(r2 to an o th er position a mile to leew ard. The
increase in w ave pow er w ithin th a t distance, th a t is,
over a strip of w ate r a m ile long an d a foot wide,
will be E 2G2 — E 1Gl in slack w ater, an d E 2G2 —
E 1G1 -f C (E t — E ,) w ith strea m C. T h a t w ould only
be stric tly correct if th e w ind could be so ad ju sted
th a t E 2 an d G2 m ight retain th e ir slack-w ater values.
Then G(E2 — E j) w ould be th e change w hich G
entails in th e dem and for power, b u t it m ay also be
tak en as a rough estim ate of th e surplus available
for increasing th e sea w hen th e strea m has m ade
to th e w eather w ith o u t change in wind, a su r­
plus additional to an y due to greater speed
of w ind over w ater. To p u t th is in an o th er w ay,
d(EG)
T dH.
■~~jj? = 16HG.-^j-p = 18(7 ft.-lb. p e r sq. ft. p er sec.
p er mile, for Stevenson’s highest w aves w ith long
fetches.
The corresponding expression for short
fetches would be (18 + 347'' ! — IS i'H — 10F-i)C,
giving 24C, 19C, 17-5(7, 16-80, 16-3C, 16C, 15-80
for th e fetches in th e table.
To ta k e an exam ple, th e value of 18C for a 3-knot
stream is 90, a co n stan t stirplus for w eather going,
an d deficiency for lee going, stream com prised in th e
increasing slack w ater figures for dP /d F for th e longer
fetches in th e tab le. T hus, as w ith swell, stream
seems to have less prop o rtio n ate effect on longer
waves ; and from th e w ay in w hich th e sea steepens
w hen th e stream tu rn s to th e w eather, i t looks as if
th e surplus is used in heightening ra th e r th a n in
lengthening them , an d so in intensifying ra th e r th a n
in speeding up th eir energy. B u t th is line of reason­
ing for th e case in w hich a w eather shore has to be
tak en into account has obvious defects, an d it is
only p u t forw ard in th e hope th a t someone m ay be
able to explain w h at really happens.
Now as to subsidence. T he ra te a t w hich swell
subsides owing to th e viscosity of th e w ater can
scarcely be m easured, b u t i t has been calculated by
Stokes7, who, tak in g as exam ples waves 2 in. an d
240 ft. long, has show n th a t it is m uch slower for
th e longer waves. U nfortunately, his form ula gives
th e daily loss in height for th e 240-ft. w aves as only
} p er cent, an d th is seems m uch too sm all. In fact,
a steepisli swell only 100 ft. long should subside into
an alm ost flat calm afte r a couple of days, w hereas
by form ula it w ould only lose a te n th of its height
a week. T he p ro b ab ility is th a t other effects p re ­
p onderate. T hus a sh o rt sea is generally local, and
always so in narrow w aters. T herefore th e ta il of
its energy will soon pass on, an d leave a calm behind.
585
A gain, waves lose height because th e ir energy only
trav els h a lf as fast as th e y do, a n d th e sh o rter waves
will lose heig h t m ore quickly on th is account. Com­
p are tw o h y p o th etical swells, w ith 6,000 waves,
400 ft. a n d 100 ft. in length. T hey will cover 400
an d 100 m iles to s ta rt w ith. T he m iddle waves of
each will s ta r t to lose height, for th e reason m en ­
tioned, w hen th e y h av e trav elled th ro u g h these
distances, th a t is, afte r 15 an d 7|- hours, as th e case
m ay be.
T he m odulus of viscosity is based on frictional
action betw een layers shearing one over th e other.
On th e o th er han d , w ater m ovem ent u n d er w ave
action involves tw o-dim ensional distortion, w h at
were elem entary cubes in calm being d isto rted ,
approxim ately, from u p rig h t to h o rizontal oblongs,
cubical form being passed m idw ay. I f th e w ork
done ag ain st viscosity w ere p ro portional to th e linear
d isto rtio n o f th e cubes, th e loss in w ave heig h t p er
second w ould be absolute, an d n o t a percentage one,
an d p ro portional to L -i, w hile th e d istance th ro u g h
w hich th e w aves w ould h av e to trav e l before th e y
com pletely flatten down w ould be p ro p o rtio n al to
L U , T h a t seems m ore in accordance w ith ordinary
experience.
P erh ap s an ac tu al exam ple will be m ore convincing.
T he period of th e s u rf on th e G uinea Coast, 10-12 sec.,
is ab o u t double th e o rd in ary period of w aves in th e
S traits of D over. T he su rf p ro b ab ly originates in
energy th a t has trav elled from th e S outhern Ocean,
a jo u rn ey of a t least a week, w hile hours ra th e r th a n
days w ould be th e m easure of th e tim e of calm ing
in th e S traits.
B u t to re tu rn to th e original question o f length
an d heig h t in relatio n to w ind an d fetch. D eterm in a­
tio n of th e em pirical laws should go some w ay to ­
w ards solving th e problem s th a t su rro u n d windforced waves. M easurem ents ta k e n a t lee shores
w ith various b u t preferably sm all exposures, during
stead y w inds of various strengths, m ig h t give some
clues, an d th e y could easily be m ade w'here th e con­
ditions are suitable. I n a n y event, w aves affect so
m an y things, ships— b reakw aters, erosion an d litto ral
d rift—th a t fu rth e r know ledge as to th e ir behaviour
can scarcely fail to p ay .
1 V a u g h a u C o rn ish , “ W a v e s o f th e B oa” , 87.
2 J e ffre y s , H ., Proc. R o y . S o c ., A , 107, 189.
3 S te v e n so n , T h o m a s , “ T h e D e sig n a n d C o n s tru c tio n o f H a r b o u r s ”
2 n d e d ., 2 2 -2 6 .
4 P h il. M a g ., (6) 23, 1055 (1913).
6 G a illa rd , “ W a v e A c tio n ” , 32, 76.
6 See also V a u g h a n C o rn is h , “ W a v e s o f t h e S ea” , 121.
7 S to k es, “ M a th , a n d P h y s . P a p e r s ” , 3, 42 (w ith f o o tn o te ).
N EW SEISMOGRAPH STATION
AT LOGAN, UTAH
H E in stallatio n of a seism ograph a t U ta h S tate
A gricultural College was m ade possible th ro u g h
a g ift from th e estate of fhe late T hom as E . O ldham ,
an E nglish-born resid en t of Logan, who died in 1938
(“The O ldham Seism ograph sta tio n a t U tah S ta te
A gricultural College, Logan, U ta h ” , b y J . S tew art
W illiam s, B ull. Seis. Soc. A m er., 32, No. 1, Ja n u a ry ,
1942). T he nam e is a v ery h ap p y one in view of th e
histo ry o f seismology, th o u g h th e late T hom as E .
O ldham of U ta h b ea rs no know n relatio n sh ip to
T hom as O ldham o f th e Geological S urvey of In d ia
(1816-1878), an d R . D. O ldham his son (1858-1936),
who first recognized th e longitudinal an d tran sv erse
T
586
NATURE
ch aracter of th e tw o types of prelim inary waves of
a n earth q u ake.
T he seism ograph room is in th e basem ent of th e
m ain college building, th e approxim ate geographical
location being la titu d e 41° 45' N ., longitude 111°
47' W . T he sta tio n is equipped w ith tw o horizontal
com ponent W ood-A nderson seism ographs bought
w ith th e gift, and an accelerograph installed b y th e
U n ited S tates Coast a n d G eodetic Survey.
T he
seism om eters are m ounted on concrete blocks 28 cm.
high, keyed into th e surface of a pier, resting in wellcem ented gravels of th e Bonneville delta, a n d s ta n d ­
ing a t a height of 4,772-3 ft. above sea-level. I n s ta l­
lation of th e accelerograph was com pleted in J u ly
1939 an d th e W ood-A nderson instrum ents began
operation on J a n u a ry 26, 1940. Since O ctober 1,
1940, all seism ogram s have been checked b y th e
U nited S tates Coast an d G eodetic Survey, an d th e
results will be published in th e m onthly seism ographic
report.
The n o rth -so u th seism om eter has a sta tic m agni­
fication of 716-8, th e east-w est seism om eter one of
697-9. T he period for b o th is m ain tain ed a t 6-0
seconds, th e dam ping ratio a t 20 : 1. T he recording
drum has so far been ru n a t 15 m m ./m . T he seism o­
m eters are in pro tectiv e coverings w hich are also
provided w ith w ater cans in an a tte m p t to elim inate
tem p eratu re variations n ear th e instrum ents. The
accelerograph, le n t an d m ain tain ed b y th e U nited
S tates Coast a n d G eodetic Survey, is a No. M -45,
w ith a 12-in. recorder, an d has th ree com ponents.
T he site appears to be a p articu la rly h a p p y one,
especially for th e accelerographs, since U ta h appears
to be th e m ost seism ically active of th e R ocky
M ountain S tates. T his la tte r m ay be rela ted to th e
zone of faulting th a t m arks th e eastern m argin of
th e G reat Basin. One centre of a c tiv ity has been in
W ashington an d Iro n Counties, ad jac en t to th e
H urrican e fault, a n d an o th er centre lies in Sevier
C ounty betw een th e T u sh ar an d Sevier faults.
N early one th ird of th e earth q u ak es of U ta h have
occurred close to th e W asatch fault.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
(M eetings m a rk ed w ith a n asterisk are open to the public)
Wednesday, May 27
P h y s ic a l S o c i e t y (C o l o u r G r o u p ) (at, th e R o y a l P h o to g ra p h ic
S o c ie ty , 16 P rin c c s G a te , L o n d o n , S .W .7), a t 2.30 p .m .— D iscu ssio n
o n “ T h e R e la tiv e M e rits o f S p e c tr o p h o to m e try a n d C o lo rim e try ” (to
b e o p en e d b y M iss D o ro th y L . T ille a rd ).
I n s t it u t e o f C h e m is t r y (L o n d o n a n d S o u t h E a s t e r n C o u n t ie s
S e c t i o n ) ( a t 30 R u s s e ll S q u a re , L o n d o n , W .C .l ) , a t 6 p .m .— D r. H .
B ain es : “ R e c e n t A d v a n c e s in P h o to g ra p h ic T h e o ry ” .
Thursday, May 28
B r i t i s h P s y c h o l o g ic a l S o c i e t y ( I n d u s t r i a l S e c t i o n ) ( a t th e
N a tio n a l I n s t i t u t e o f I n d u s tr ia l P sy c h o lo g y , A ld w y ch H o u se , A ld w y c h ,
L o n d o n , W .C .2), a t 1.20 p .m .— M iss M ay S m ith : “ F a tig u e , a R e v isio n
o f P a s t a n d S u rv e y o f P r e s e n t P ro b le m s ” .
Friday, May 29
R o y a l I n s t i t u t io n o f G r e a t B r it a i n ( a t 21 A lb e m a rle S tre e t,
L o n d o n , W .l ) , a t 5.15 p .m .— M r. S e to n G o r d o n : “ W ild L ife in th e
W e s te rn H ig h la n d s ” .*
B r i t i s h I n s t i t u t i o n o f R a d io E n g i n e e r s ( L o n d o n S e c t i o n ) ( a t
t h e F e d e r a tio n o f B ritis h I n d u s tr ie s , 21 T o t h i l l S tr e e t, L o n d o n , S . W .l ) ,
a t 7 p .m .— M r. O . S . P u ck Je : “ T im e B a s e s ” .*
INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS (MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT BRANCH) (in
th e P h y sic s D e p a r tm e n t, U n iv e rs ity o f M a n c h e s te r), a t 7 p .m .— D r.
J . M cG . B r u c k s h a w : “ P h y sic s in th e S e a rc h fo r O il” .*
Saturday, May 30
N u t r it io n S o c i e t y ( a t th e L o n d o n S chool o f H y g ie n e a n d T ro p ic a l
M edicine, K e p p e l S tre e t, L o n d o n , W .C .l). a t 1 1 a .m .— C o nference on
“ P ro b le m s o f C o llectiv e F e e d in g in W a r- tim e ” .
M ay 23. 1942,
V o l.
ms
APPOINTMENTS VACANT
A p p l i c a t i o n s a re in v ite d fo r th e fo llo w in g a p p o in tm e n ts o n o r
b e fo re th e d a te s m e n tio n e d :
M e t a l l u r g i s t fo r re s e a rc h w o rk in c o n n e x io n w ith p ro b le m s
a tte n d in g co llie ry w ire ro p es a n d o th e r co a l-m in in g a p p lia n c e s — T h e
C h ie f E x e c u tiv e O fficer, S a fe ty in M in es R e s e a rc h L a b o ra to rie s,
P o r to b e llo S tr e e t, Sheffield 1 (M ay 29).
S p e e c h T h e r a p i s t ( w o m a n ) — T h e D ire c to r o f E d u c a tio n , E d u c a tio n
O ffices, W o o d la n d s R o a d , M id d le sb ro u g h (M ay 30).
T e a c h e r o f M a t h e m a t ic s a n d a T e a c h e r o f P h y s ic s — T h e
P rin c ip a l, S o u th -W e s t E s s e x T e c h n ic a l C ollege a n d S ch o o l o f A r t,
F o r e s t R o a d , W a lth a m s to w , L o n d o n , E .1 7 ( M a y 30).
L e c t u r e r i n S c i e n c e — T h e P rin c ip a l, D o m e s tic S cien ce T ra in in g
C ollege, K n ig h to n F ie ld s , L e ic e s te r (M ay 31).
E l e c t r ic a l E n g i n e e r a n d M a n a g e r — T h e T o w n C le rk , T o w n
H a ll, S t. H e le n s, L a n c s, (en d o rsed ‘A p p o in tm e n t o f E le c tric a l E n g in e e r
a n d M a n a g e r’) (J u n e 1.)
S e n i o r L e c t u r e r ( m a n o r w o m a n ) in th e S c i e n c e D e p a r t m e n t o f
th e C ity o f L e ed s T ra in in g C ollege, w ith sp e c ia l q u alific atio n s in
B io l o g y —-The D ir e c to r o f E d u c a tio n , E d u c a tio n Offices, L eed s 1
(J u n e 1 ).
C h i e f L a b o r a t o r y S t e w a r d — T h e P r i n c i p a l , T e c h n ic a l C o lle g e ,
D o n c a s te r.
S e n i o r W o m a n L e c t u r e r i n B io l o g y — T h e P rin c ip a l, S o u th la n d s
T r a in in g C ollege (L o n d o n ), a t H ig h b u r y , A tla n tic R o a d , W e sto n su p e r-M a re .
M i s t r e s s t o t a k e c h a r g e o f t h e G e n e r a l S c i e n c e W o r k -------
T h e H e a d m is tre s s , D a y T e c h n ic a l S ch o o l f o r G irls, F o r t P i t t , C h a th a m .
REPORTS and other PUBLICATIONS
(not included in the monthly Boohs Supplement)
Great Britain and Ireland
S o u th -W e st E s s e x T e c h n ic a l C ollege a n d S ch o o l o f A r t. A n n u a l
R e p o r t, S ession 194 0 -4 1 . P p . 23-f-4 p la te s . ( L o n d o n : S o u th -W e st
E s s e x T e c h n ic a l C ollege a n d S ch o o l o f A r t, W a lth a m s to w ./
[45
P ro ceed in g s o f th e R o y a l I r is h A cad em y . V o l. 47, S ectio n A , N o.
6 : I n h e r e n t R e la tio n s b e tw e e n R a n d o m V ariab les. B y D r. R . C.
G eary . P p . 6 3 -7 6 . I s . V ol. 47, S e c tio n B , N o . 13 : R . L iffey S u rv ey ,
4 : T h e F a u n a o f th e S u b m erg e d “ M osses” in a n A cid a n d a n A lk alin e
W a te r . B y W in ifred E . F r o s t. P p . 2 9 3 -3 6 9 + p l a t e 6. 5s. V ol. 47,
S ectio n B , N o . 14 : T h e E x p lo ra tio n o f so m e C aves n e a r C astleto w n ro ch e, Co. C o rk (S tu d ie s in I r is h Q u a te rn a r y D ep o sits, N o. 4). B y
A . M . G w y n n , G. F . M itc h ell a n d A . W . S telfo x . P p . 3 7 1 * 3 9 0 -I-plate
7. Is . 6d. V ol. 48, S e c tio n B, N o . 1 : T h e D is tr ib u tio n o f P h y to ­
p la n k to n in so m e N o rth -W e s t I r is h L o u g h s. B y W . H . P e a rs a ll a n d
E d n a M . L in d . P p . 24. I s . (D u b lin : H o d g es, F ig g is a n d Co., L td . ;
L o n d o n : W illiam s a n d N o rg a te , L td .)
[45
O ther Countries
S m ith s o n ia n I n s tit u tio n : U n ite d S ta te s N a tio n a l M u seu m . B u lle tin
161 : T h e F o ra m in ife ra o f th e T ro p ic a l P a c ific C o llectio n s o f th e
A lb a tro ss, 1 8 9 9 -1 9 0 0 . P a r t 3 : H e tc ro h e lic id a e a n d B u lim in id ae. B y
J o s e p h A u g u stin e C u s h m a n . P p . v + 67 + 15 p la te s . (W a s h in g to n ,
D . C . : G o v e rn m e n t P r in tin g Office.) 20 c e n ts .
[274
M in is try o f F in a n c e : S u rv e y o f E g y p t. S u rv e y P a p e r N o . 45 :
M ap P ro je c tio n s in P ra c tic e . B y J . H . Cole. P p . i i i + 4 3 . ( G iz a :
S u rv e y o f E g y p t.)
[304
U .S . D e p a r tm e n t o f A g ric u ltu re . C irc u la r N o . 6 3 2 : R ic e -F ie ld
I n s e c ts . B y W . A . D o u g las a n d «T. W . I n g r a m . P p . 32. (W a s h in g to n .
D . C . : G o v e rn m e n t P r in tin g O ffice.) 10 c e n ts .
[15
I n d ia n C e n tra l C o tto n C o m m itte e : T e c h n o lo g ical L a b o ra to ry .
T e ch n o lo g ical B u lle tin , S eries A, N o . 53 : T e c h n o lo g ical R e p o rts o n
T r a d e V a rie tie s o f I n d ia n C o tto n s, 1941. B y D r. N a z ir A h m a d . P p .
v ii + 103. 1 .8 ru p e e s . T e c h n o lo g ic a l B u lle tin , S erie s A , N o . 5 4 :
T e ch n o lo g ical R e p o r ts o n S ta n d a r d I n d ia n C o tto n s , 1941. B y D r.
N a z ir A h m a d . P p . ii + 115. 1.8 ru p e e s . ( B o m b a y : I n d ia n C e n tra l
C o tto n C o m m itte e .)
[115
B u re a u o f E d u c a tio n , I n d ia . E d u c a tio n in I n d ia in 1 9 3 7 -3 8 . P p .
v ii - f 109. 2.8 ru p e e s ; 4s. E d u c a tio n in I n d i a in 1 9 3 8 -3 9 . P p . vii +
138. 3 ru p e e s ; 5s. ( D e lh i: M a n a g e r o f P u b lic a tio n s .)
[115
I n d ia n F o r e s t R e c o rd s (N ew S eries). B o ta n y , V ol. 3, N o . 2 : Som e
A d d itio n s to th e “ B o ta n y o f B ih a r a n d O ris sa ” . B y H . F . M ooney.
P p . v + 6 3 -1 2 0 . 2 r u p e e s ; 3s. B o ta n y , V ol. 3, N o . 3 : F iv e N ew
I n d ia n a n d B u rm e se F lo w e rin g P la n ts — C eropegia bo rii M . B . R a iz a d a ,
B a u h in ia lyra ta M. B . R a iz a d a , N e p tu n ia robertsonii M . B . R a iz a d a ,
C a p p a ris c h a m o m sis M . B . R a iz a d a , a n d P hlogaeanthus p o c h in ii M. B .
R a iz a d a . B y M . B . R a iz a d a . P p . iii + 1 2 1 -1 2 8 + 5 p la te s . 14 a n n a s ;
I s . 3d. B o ta n y , V ol. 3, N o . 6 : T h e R e lic t V e g e ta tio n o f t h e S h illong
P la t e a u , A esam . B y D r. N . L . B o r. P p . v 4 -1 5 2 -1 9 5 . 2.2 r u p e e s ;
3s. 6$. S ilv ic u ltu re , V ol. 4, N o . 4 : In v e s tig a tio n s in to A rtificial
R e g e n e ra tio n D e ta ils o f th e D r y F u e l F o r e s ts o f M a d ra s. B y A . L .
G riffith . P p . i v - f 1 6 1 -2 2 4 + 4 p la te s . 2 .8 r u p e e s ; 4 s. ( D e lh i: M an ag er
o f P u b lic a tio n s .)
[115
F o r e s t R e s e a rc h I n s t i t u t e , D e h r a D u n . L e a fle t N o . 6 : N o te o n
so m e E x p e r im e n ts o n C o rk S u b s titu te s . B y D r. D . N a ra y a n a im irti.
P p . ii-j-4 + 1 p la te . L e a lle t N o . 7 : A N ew T y p e o f V en eer D ry in g
R ack.
B y M . A . R e h m a n a n d S u lta n M o h a m m a d . P p . i i + 4 + 2
p la te s . (D e h ra D u n : F o r e s t R e s e a rc h I n s tit u te .)
[115
H e r b e r tia . V ol. 8 : D a y lily e d itio n . E d ite d b y H a m ilto n P . T ra u b .
P p . 186 (27 p la te s ). (O rlan d o , F la . : A m e ric a n A m arv llis S o ciety .)
3.25 d o lla rs .
‘
[115