Full text of "Nature"
Few,
bea ed
Beene
ie
Sir
aS
ean
Mae
i
Wr dee
Hb BRE:
Cae
is ey
ay
gale
ce
: *
Ast A yaa
* tye
* oe
*
oy
Ls
J ®
ered fj ye
a is ts bias
S52 eae
$9) a4 Air
£
3?
Vieamliqraist
Oia Ween
its Nata ote
vA
A
4
tf
§
¢
jane
jays
AN
§
oA
UA:
rid d
df Bank 33
Pak aie aie
Ph eee
anata
fie
ae
Sh ctea ka 4
re PT a ai
ash ae
ete aks
. 1
7 7
Ad eiatan a)
A i! ty
frei, ree
awete dt te BES
ead Vey fem iat
44
4 hk
*
ee
1 Dice bt eer PY cons
a:
A
ue
af 3 rates
ribet deat
¥
ts
rt ea
< A
Sake
ta
Sa
her
:
fy Ash
i
«
z
+)
Te
=
ER be
ities
leas
cis
o
its
cite
sade hg
a HEED ed
pear
y WES ay
ae
enyesit
rs
HOA
sta )
set. i
ari sat
We
»
=45
a *
eRe T *
Pell eel byt
ih a Sm eae Ney
VERA,
4 Rie end ‘i
Peres
*
$e
17 aay ary
A ted hee
es
hd
t 47
po my
Fie
» et
reo
Sahn”
Ik i
eecabiie ara hp
ae ee
.
te
3
PA yt
Oa ad ae
:
Mer
ts
a4
é ~
ee Par
- f oe We Al te if
t 06 ae ete
be A ay Fe a] ‘
gies
Mat
fy
th
De
mente
ea f
‘ ve ee @ ware
Pt as sJ
iat ate Th
re
eee
i” 1 eth a
het
»
calf HA 4
ane
cee
iat
#43 pt
tidrekeny
HOES ue
Pata
ct
Ly
hie:
x
=
era
ene
agrees ah
—
[oeragtg is
te Taek
Figeabe aaah
sy
mi
RS
apy
to
fal
View
ety
th ’
A itgl
®
.
.
i‘
=
¥
ae
es sili s
A’ WEEKLY «6 * GS/7
TRATED JOURNAL OF “SCIENCE
VOLUME CV
MARCH, 1920, to AUGUST, 1920
at To the solid ground
Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.” —\VORDSWORTH
Ueda Fondon
s “MACM ILLAN AND CO., LimitepD
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
.
‘NAME
), A New Method of Determining the Solar
Radiation, 667; Solar Variation and the
. J. J.), The Honorary Degree of, Doctor of Law
upon, by Cambridge University, 730
:.), nc Aloy, Digestive Hydrolyses by
ation of Water, 380 :
British and Metric Systems of
es, 456; Curious Formation of Ice,
Grants from the Dixon Fund of the
yndon, 569
H. A. L. Fisher,. The Directorship of
lass Research Association, 178.
elected an Honorary Fellow of Christ’s
rambridge, 440; elected an Honorary Fellow
ge, Cambridge, 505
The Einstein Theory, 842
ted a Foreign Associate of. the U.S.
of Sciences, 463 kt
nd H. G. Becker, The Rate of Solu-
Nitrogen and Oxygen by Water
6 Butterflies and Moths in regard
boas
Alkalis, and Salts, 7
niversity Lecturer in Physiology
es, ty, 537 i
ology : with special reference to the
482 sae eis ’
Fea Tropical Hardener,’’ 182
by Ear, 295 Pee
-), An Undescribed Species of Clytocos-
fipulidz, Diptera), 635 ~
.), Space, Time, and Deity: The Gifford
sgow, 1916-18, 2 vols., 798
d), Portrait of, bv Sir William Orpen,
al Academy, 335; to be Sworn a Member
Council, sq0; Presidential Address to the
il Association, 661
nal Coinage, 261
, [obituary], 230 |
and E. W. Sexton, Mutations in Eye-
arus chevreuxi,
An Electronic Theory of Isomerism, 71
sed Plate and Plate-and-Frame Types
.), Anti-Gas Fans, 453, 612 5
; of the Body and Respiration, 635; The
iratory Endurance, <9
C.), appointed Director of the National
Natural History, Buenos Aires, 80; Dis-
Ancient Human Remains in Buenos Aires,
A
pointed University Lecturer in Agriculture in
University, 88
ion on Tectonic Features, 836
(Capt. R,), News of the Expedition of, 240, 273,
rnier), The Optophone: An Instru- -
_ ©.), Influence of Deep Notches cut by.
INDEX.
INDEX.
Anderson (J-), appointed Lecturer in Logic and Meta-
physics in the University of Edinburgh, 280
Anderson (J. A.), Spectra of Explosions, 668
Anderson (J. Wemyss), appointed Professor of Engineering
Refrigeration in Liverpool University, 376
Andrew (Dr. J. H.), appointed Professor of Metallurgy in
the Royal Technical College, Glasgow, 249
Andrewes (Sir Frederick), to Deliver the Harveian Oration,
722
Andrews (E. S.), Elements. of Graphic Dynamics, 65
Angell (Dr. J. R.), elected President of the Carnegie Cor-
poration of New York, 527; Relation of Psychology to
the National Research Council, 796
Angles (J. W.), Mensuration for Marine and Mechanical
Engineers (Second and First Class Board of Trade
Examinations), 163 ;
Annandale (Dr. N.), and others, Biological Papers from
Bengal, 436 i
Anthony (H. E.), Mammalian Remains in Jamaica, 757
Appleton (E. V.), appointed an Assistant Demonstrator in
Experimental Physics in the University of Cambridge,
5 ‘.
Arber (Dr. Agnes), awarded a Keddey Fletcher-Warr
Studentship by the University of London, 155; The
. Binucleate Phase in the Plant-cell, 90
Ariés (E.), The Equation of State of Ether, 314
Armstrong (E. C. R.), Ancient Gold Articles found in an
Irish Bog, 527 ‘
Armstrong (Dr. E. F.), Catalytic Chemical Reactions and
the Law of Mass Action, 696; and T. P. Hilditch,
A Study of. the Catalytic Action at Solid Surfaces, iii.
and iv., 314; v., 631
Armstrong (Prof. H. E.), A Chemical Service for India,
669
Arthur (Sir George), Life of Lord Kitchener, 3 vols., 319
Ascoli (M.), and A. Fagiuoli, Sub-epidermic *Pharmaco-
dynamic Experiences, ii., iii., 844
Ashfield (H. W.), Scientific Apparatus and Laboratory
Fittings, 357 ‘
Ashworth (Dr. J. R.), A Possible Cause for the Diamagne-
tism of Bohr’s Paramagnetic Hydrogen Atom, 516;
The Diamagnetism of Hydrogen, 645
Asiatic Petroleum Company, Gift to Birmingham Univer-
sity, 154
Aston (Dr. F. W.), elected to a Fellowship in Trinity
College, Cambridge, 568; Isotopes and Atomic Weights,
617; The Constitution of the Elements, 8, 547; The
Separation of the Element Chlorine into Normal
Chlorine and -Meta-Chlorine, and the Positive Electron,
231; and T. Kikuchi, Moving Striations in Neon and
Helium, 633 nea at
Atack (F. W.), assisted by L. Whinyates, The Chemists
Year Book, 1920, 2 vols., 740
Atanasoff (D.), and A. G. Johnson, The Use of Dry Heat
for the Disinfection of Cereal Seeds, 310
Athanasiu (J.), The Supposed Dynamogenic Power of
Alcohol, 251 : ,
Atwood (Dr. W. W.), appointed President of Clark Univer-
sity and College, 602
‘
- Audant (M.), The Critical State of Ethyl Ether, 634
>
vi
Lndex
[ : Nature,
‘October 7, 1920
Auger (V.), The Salts of Nitrosophenylhydroxylgmine (Cup-
ferron): Uranous Salts, 379 #
Ault (Capt. J. P.), Results of the Magnetic Survey of the
Atlantic made by the Carnegie, 529; Results of the
Magnetic Observations taken by the Carnegie in
February and March, 1920, 788
Austen (Major), The House-fly, 787
Austin (Major E. E.), awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal,
7
Avery (Margaret), A Text-book of Hygiene for Training
Colleges, 259
Ayrton (Mrs. Hertha), Anti-Gas Fans, 336, 422, 612, 613
B. (A.), A Note on Telephotography, 488
Backhouse (T. W.), [obituary], 3353, Bequests by, 630
sosatir ne P.), Bequest to the U.S. National Museum,
Baglion (Sig.), Life and Work of the late Prof. L. Luciani,
844
ee (Dr. A. G.), awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal,
Bailey “Prof. | Baa y ih ), reorganising the American Pomologi-
cal Society, 623
eoggin py 3 (Mr.), The Solubility of Basic Slag in Citric
d Carbonic Acids, 184
Baird. (D. W.), British and Foreigh Scientific Apparatus,
390; History of the Formation of the British Lamp-
blown fees Glassware Manufacturers’ Association,
Ltd.,
Bairstow &. Applied Aerodynamics, 95; Knowledge and
Power, 135
Baker (C. }, Scientific Apparatus and Laboratory Fittings,
356
Baker (F. C.), Mollusca obtained by the Crocker Land
Expedition, 593
Baker (F. W. Watson), British and Foreign Scientific
Apparatus, 518
Baker (Prof. H. F.), Construction of the Ninth Intersection
of Two Cubic Curves passing through Eight given
Coplanar Points, 474
Baker (Julian), re-elected Chairman of the London Section
of the Society of Chemical Industry, 526
Baker (Prof. R. P.), Engineering Education :
English, selected and edited by, 258
Essays for
- Baker (R. T.), The Hardwoods of Australia and their
Economics, 802
Baker (Commander T. Y.), A New Method for Approximate
; ao of Definite Integrals between Finite Limits,
Baldtt. (F.), The Diurnal Variation of the Atmospheric
Potential at the Algiers Observatory, 283
Balfour (Dr. A.), awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal, 697 ~
Balfour (H.), Presidential Address to the Somersetshire
Archzological and Natural History Society, 835
Ball (Dr. J.), Astrolabe Diagram, 329; Use of Sumner
Lines in Navigation, 806; and H. Knox Shaw, A
Handbook of the Prismatic Astrolabe, 329
Ballantyne (Dr. A. J.), appointed Lecturer. in Ophthalmo-
logy in Glasgow University, 761
Ballou” (HL. H.), Cotton Pests, 503; and others, The Re-
sistance of Plants to Insect Attacks, 503
Balls. (Dr. W. Lawrence), Cotton-growing in the British
Empire, 103; Researches on Egyptian Cotton, 664;
The Nature, Scope, and Difficulties of Research, 4973
Trichodynamics, a99
Balsillie (D.), The Intrusive Rocks of the Dundee District,
666
Banks (Sir Joseph), The Centenary of, 530
Bannister (C. O.), appointed Professor’ of Metallurgy in
Liverpool University, 630
Barber (Dr..C. A.), appointed Lecturer in Tropical Agri-
culture in the University of Cambridge, 537
Barcroft (J.), Presidential Address to Section I of the
British Association, 828
Barjon (F.), Translated by Dr. J. A, Honeij, Radio-
Diagnosis of Pleuro-Pulmonary Affections, 4
Barker (Prof. A. F.), A Summer Tour (1919) through the
Textile Districts of Canada and the United States, 789
Barker (E.), appointed Principal of King’s College,
London, 630
Barling (Sir Gilbert), The Need for Increasing the Stipends
in Birmingham University, 730
Barlot (J.), Determination of Poisonous
Amanita by Colour Reactions, 219
Barlow (W.), Models illustrating the Atomic Arraiigeanaae
in Potassium Chloride, etc., 570
Barnard (Prof.), Photographs of the Brorsen-Metcalf Comet,
67
Varieties a
467
Barratt (S.), The Origin of the ‘‘ Cyanogen’ Bands, 633
Bartholomew (Dr. G.), [obituary article], 238; Bequest
to the University of Edinburghy 537
Bartlett (Capt. F. W.), and Prof. T. W. Johnson, Engi-
bara Descriptive Geometry and Drawing. 3 parts,
515
Bartrum (C, O.), A Rainbow Inside Out, 388
Bartsch (P.), Experiments in the Breeding of Cerions, 545
Barus (Prof. C.), An Example of Torsional Viscous Re-
_ trogression, 667 ; Displacement Interferometry by the aid
of the Achromatic Fringes. Part iv., 563
Bary (P.), The Mae ad of Colloidal Solutions, 5
Bateson (Dr. W.), Prof. L. Doncaster, 461; Genetic Segre-
gation, 531; Organisation of Scientific Work, 6
Bather (Dr. F. A.), Museums and the State, 69; Presi-
oe Address to Section C of the British Association,
buidearal (M.), The Optimum Magnification of a Tele-
scope, 443
Bauer (Dr. - A.), Magnetic and Electrical Observations
and their Reduction, 20; Results of Geophysical
Observations during the Solar Eclipse of May 29, 1919,
and their Bearing upon the Einstein Deflection of Light,
842; The Solar ‘Eclipse of May, 1919, 311
Bayliss (Prof. W. M.), British and Foreign Scientific
Apparatus, 641; Scientific Apparatus from Abroad,
293; The Circulating Blood in Relation to Wound
Shock, 10; The Properties of Colloidal Systems, iv. :
Reversible Gelation in Living Protoplasm, 26; The
Rockefeller Gift to Medical Science, 501
Beamish (A, J.), elected to the Wrenbury Scholarship in
Economics in Cambridge University, 601
Beccari (Dr.,O.), The Palms of the Philippines, 180
Beck (C.) Scientific Apparatus and Laboratory Fittings, 355
Becker (Prof. L.), Capture Orbits, 560; The Daily Tem-
perature Curve, 282
ager (De. F. E:), Two Embryos of the Sperm Whale,
Bedford (the Duke of), The Cancer Research Fund, 696
Beer (R.), and Dr. Agnes Arber, Multinucleate Cells, go
Beeson (C. F. C.), The Toon Shoot and Fruit Borer, 629 »
Bell (A. J. M.), [obituary], 721
Bellingham and Stanley, Ltd., Scientific Apparatus and
Laboratory Fittings, 357
Belot (E.), L’Origine des Formes de la Terre et des Planétes,
59
a (Dr. W. van), High Rates of Ascent of Pilot
Balloons, 485
Benedicks (Prof. C. A. F. ), Recent Progress in Thermo-
Electricity, 499
Benedict (F. G.), The Basal gro of Boys from One
to Thirteen Years of Age, 667
Bennett (A. G.), The Occurrence of Diatoms on the Skin -
of Whales, 633
Bennett (G. T.), The Rotation of a Non-spinning Gyrostat,
and its Effect in. the Aeroplane Compass, 378
Benson (O. H.), and G. H. Betts, Agriculture and the
Farming Business, 35
Berger (E.), Some Reactions Started by a Primer, 603
Bernewitz (Dr.), The Duplicity of » Geminorum, 340
Berry (A. J.), re-elected to a Fellowship at be:
University, 761
Berthoud (Prof, A.), The Structure of Atoms, 306
Bertrand (G.), Action of Chloropicrin upon the Higher
Plants, 283 ; Conditions which may Modify the Activity
of Chloropicrin towards the Higher Plants, 347; and.
M. Brocq-Rousseu, The Destruction of Rats by Chloro-
picrin, 27; and Mme. Rosenblatt, Action of Chloro-
picrin upon some Bacterial Fermentations, 571; Action
of Chloropicrin upon Yeast and Saccharomyces vint,
507; Does Chloropicrin Act upon Soluble Ferments?,
699
a ee lh I el
Index
‘Vil
{(W. E. H.), appointed Lecturer in Mathematics
— University of Leeds, 56; Quintic Transforma-
and Singular Invariants, 474
ay The Actingmeters of Arago and Bellani, 283
ie De tn ight Saving and the Length of the
5 The ericilnwral Industries of Cyprus, 757
(Sir William), A Hitherto Unrecognised Periodi-
the Weather and the Crops, 370
. Z.), ‘‘La Trepidazione in Dante?” 664
i; Ps Sponges, 441
| ae ie Reatard and Work of the Sainte-
tve Observatory, 475
(Sir Henry), appointed Chairman of the
oe preperation, 303 ; Importance of the Dye
sy “The Iron and Steel Trades inant the
ay 663
. J. W.), An (ae Determination of
Distribution of the Partial Correlation Coefficient .
iples of 30, 187
(Prof. V.), The Meteorology of the Temperate
and the General Atmospheric Circulation; 522
and Carter, gy plumbeus, 241
( ‘* The House of the Morning ” in
80 Presidential Address to Section L of
1) Association, 828
E.), The Action of Hydrazine on the 1: 4 Acyclic
506; The Action of Substituted Hydrazines
clic 1: 4-Diketones, 666
Selected Studies in Elementary Physics: A
for the Wiréless Student and Amateur, 739
G eo The Relation of the Bacillus influensae
) Tne Control of the poe Sa 629
M sy Gift to the Huddersfield Technical
The Stability and Fertility of the Hybrid
x G. rivale, 475
_E.), Production of the Band Spectra of
Electrons of Low Velocity, 539; Some
< Spectra in the Extreme Ultra-violet, 27
. Text-book on Machine Drawing for Elec-
Engineers, 260
(Dr. R. H. D.), Our National ceuie A Short
Account of the Work of the ,U:S. Forest
on the National Forests, 577 _
The Psychology of the Future (‘ $ Avenir des
fegeeeayni ”), Translated and Edited with an
by W. de Kerlor, 323
Col. c. J. ds Loss of Fragrance of Musk Plants,
Ww. A. i The Position of University. Teachers
€ to the Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 89
ys rof. T. eS), Nee Sees R. Pryor, 333
G.), elected a Foreign Member of the
Society, 366; The Changes in Plant Forms
: Experimentally, 539
x ieee), Gift to University College, Nottingham,
(w. G), School Mechanics,
he
Sitios
agadis etsy Conterenent upon, of an Honorary
by Aberdeen University, 154; Experiments on
nts in Plants, 305; Life Movements in Plants,
Part ‘i, School
ADs de Martial of Elementary Zoology.
‘owth of Plants, 615, 648
(Dr. T. O.), Geology of the Mid-Continent Oil-
is. Kansas, Oklahoma, and North Texas, 608
(F.), Researches on the Posterior Salivary Gland
Cephalopodes (iii.), 251
(J.) and J. Perrier, New Researches Relating
"Organisation of Scientific Work, 395 Researches |,
Action of Hydrocyanic Acid on Glucose, 539 ; |
Kiliani’s
The lodoamidines,
The Action of Hydrocyanic Acid on Glucose;
9 443; and P, Robin,
Peony (Ch.), and L. J. Simon, Action of Water on Di-
chloroethyl Sulphide, 283; The Preparation of Methyl
Chloride and Bromide starting from Dimethyl Sul-
phate, 218
Bourion (F.), A Method of Physico-chemical Analysis of
Commercial Chlorobenzenes, 379; Kinetic Study of
the Chlorination of Benzene, 506; The Analysis of
Commercial Chlorobenzenes by Distillation, 347; The
Impurities of the Benzene extracted from Commercial
Uhlorobenzenes, 443
Bourquelot (Em.), and M. Bridel, A New Glucoside capable
of Hydrolysis by Emulsin, Scabiosine, 187; Detection
and Characterisation of Glucose in Plants by a New
Biochemical Method, 218; The Biochemical Prepara-
tion of Cane-sugar starting with Gentianose, 666; and
H. Hérissey, The Presence in the Melilot and Woodruff
of Glucosides furnishing Coumarin under the Hydrolys-
ing Action of Emulsin, 634
Boutroux (Prof. P.), Les Principes de 1’Analyse Mathé-
matique : Exposé Historique et ,Critique. Tome ii.,
256
ewer (Prof. F. O.), The Earliest Known Land Flora,
681, 712
Bowie (W.), Report on the Connection of the Arcs of
Primary Triangulation along the Ninety-eighth Meri-
dian in the United States and in Mexico, and on
Triangulation in Southern Texas, 141
Bowlby «(Sir Anthony A.), elected President of the Royal
College of Surgeons of England, 622
Boys (Prof. C. V.), A, Noon Reflector, 117 :
Braak (Dr. C.), Atmospheric Variations of Short sad
Long Duration in the Malay Archipelago and Neigh-
bouring Regions, and the Possibility to Forecast
Them, 729
Brabrook (Sie Edward), Anthropology and Economics dur-
ing the Past Quarter of a Century, 5303 Sir Norman
Lockyer, 784 9 -
Bradford (S. C.), An Electronic Theory of Isomerism, 171 ;
Langmuir’s Theory of Atoms, 41, 725
Bradley (Dr. O. C.), elected President of the Royal (Dick)
Veterinary College; Edinburgh, 601 -
Bragg (Sir W. H.), elected’ an Honorary Fellow of
Trinity College; Cambridge, 88; Increased Interest in
Scientific Studies, 281; to receive the Honorary De-
gree of D.Sc. from the University of Dublin, 89
Bragg (Prof. W. L.), Crystal Structure, 646 -
Braly (Ad.), Method for Collecting and Characterising the
Sublimates Produced by Metalloids and Metals Vola-
tilised> by. the Blowpipe, 219
Brashear (Dr. J..A.), aN Prey 2973
Brenchley (Dr. W. E.), Sugar Cultivation in indie: ‘naa
The Improvement of Grassland, 408
Breuil (l’Abbé), appointed Munro Lecturer for 1920-21 in
' Edinburgh University, 121 |
Bridgman (Dr. P.. W.), Effects of Pressure on the Elec-
trical Resistance and Thermo-electric Properties of
_ Metals, 529
Brierley (Mrs. S.), The Present Attitude of Employees to
Industrial’ Psychology, 400
Brierley (W. B.); A Form ‘of Botrytis cinerea with Colour-
less Sclerotia, 186; Ellis’s Applied Botany, 164
Briggs (G: E.), elected to the’ Allen Scholarship in Cam-
bridge “University, 1543. The Beginning of Photo-
synthesis in the Green Leaf, 89
Brindley (H. H.), Further Notes on the Food-plants of the
Common. Earwig (Forficula’ auricularia), 378 :
Brindley (H. S. B.), [obituary], 208 -
British Dyestuffs Corporation, Gift’ to’ Oxford University
‘ towards ‘the Extension ‘of the coreanie Chemical
* Laboratory, 313
Britten (J.), Banks as a Botanist, 530
Britton (N. L.);"and C. P. Berkey, The Scientific “Survey
of Porto Rico and the Virgin’ Islands, °147
page Ang ), Some Results of a New Journey in Mprocess
Broatt (Dr. C, D.), appointed Professor of. Philosophy in
Bristol University, 630 ~
viii
Index
Nature,
October 7, 1920
Broden (Dr. A. L,. G.), awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal,
6
Bistetae (Dr. S.), A Graphical Treatment of Differential
Equations, 466; Mathematics: Pure and Applied, 65
Brodie (J. A.), elected President of the Institution of Civil
Engineers, 304
Broglie (L. de), Calculation of the Limiting Frequencies
of K and L Absorption of the Heavy Elements, 218;
The Fine Structure of X-ray Spectra, 475
Brook (A.), The Buzzard at Home, 746
Brooks (C. E. P.), Climates of the British Empire Suitable
for the Cultivation of Cotton, 338; The Climate and
Weather of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia,
275
Brooks (F. S.), The Control of the Apple-tree Borer, 629
Brotherus (Prof. V. F.), elected a Foreign Member of the
Linnean Society, 366 _ -
Brown (Prof. Adrian), Erection of a Memorial Tablet to,
in the Brewing School of Birmingham University, 154
Brown (G. E.), The British Journal Photographic Almanac
and Photographer’s Daily Companion, 1920, 66
Brown (O. F.), appointed Technical Officer to the Radio |-
Research Board, 463
Brown (S. G.), The Gyrostatic Compass, 44, 77
Brown (Dr. T. Graham), The Function of the Brain, 123
Brown (Prof. W.), The Decay of Magnetism in_ Bar
Magnets, 123; and P. O’Callaghan, The Change in
the Rigidity of Nickel Wire with Magnetic Fields, 634
Browne (Dr. E. G.), to deliver the FitzPatrick Lectures,
722
Browne (R. Grant), Races of the Chindwin, Upper Burma,
281
Bruce (Major-Gen. Sir David), The, Prevention of Tetanus
during the Great War, 785
Brunner, Mond, and Co., Ltd., Purchase of H.M. Nitrate
Factory at Billingham-on-Tees, 312; Vote of 100,000l.
for Scientific Education and Research, 762
Bryan (Prof. G. H.), awarded the Hopkins Prize of the
Cambridge Philosophical Society, 440
Bryant (W. W.), The Cost of Scientific Publications, 327;
The Position of the Meteorological Office, 38
Bryce (G.), Structure and Development of the Small Woody
** Burrs ’’ or ‘f Nodules ’’ in Hevea brasiliensis, 20
Bryce (Lord), to receive the Honorary Degree of LL.D.
from the University of Dublin,
Brylinski (E.), The Transport of Electrical Energy to Great
Distances, 347
Buchanan (Capt. A.), Wild Life in Canada, 426
Budge (Sir E. A. Wallis), The ‘‘ Book of the Dead,” 755
Buller (Prof. A. H. R.), Essays on Wheat, 224
Bullock (F.), The Compilation of Bibliographies, 116
Bumstead (Prof. H. A.), elected Chairman of the U.S.
National Research Council, 526
Burke (E. T.), The Venereal Problem, 543
Burnet (A.), Conjunction of Mercury with e Geminorum,
37°
Burnside (Dr. W.), awarded the Hopkins Prize of the
Cambridge Philosophical Society, 440; Cyclical Octo-
section, 473
Burrow (E. J.), The Ancient Entrenchments and Camps of
. Gloucestershire, 128
Burrows (Principal R. M.), [obituary article], 364
Burstall (Prof. F. W.), elected Dean of the Faculty of
Science of Birmingham University, 505
Bury (H.), Mortlakes as a Cause of River-windings, 391
Bury (Prof. J. B.). The Idea of Progress: An Inquiry into
its Origin and Growth, 733
Butler (Sir Geoffrey), appointed’ Secretary of the Board
of Research Studies in Cambridge University, 345
Butler (S.), Luck, or Cunning, as the Main Means of
Organic Modification? An Attempt to Throw Addi-
tional Light upon Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selec-
tion. Second edition, 773; Unconscious Memory.
Third edition, 774
Butterworth (S.). The Maintenance of a Vibrating System
by means of a Triode Valve, 842
Cadman (Sir John), Impending Resignation of the Chair
of Mining in the University of Birmingham, 4097
W. B. Hardy, and Prof. S. Young appointed Members
of the Advisory Council to the Committee of the Privy
Ceuncil for Scientific and Industrial Research,
590
Cahen (E.), and W. O. Wootton, The Mineralogy of the
Rarer Metals: a Handbook for Prospectors. Second
edition, revised by E. Cahen, 259
Caillas (A.), The Search for Invertin in Pure Honey, 218
Cain (Dr. J. C.), The Chemistry and Technology of the
Diazo-Compounds. Second edition, 449; The Manu-
facture of Intermediate Products for Dyes. Second
edition, 260
Cajal (S. R. y), elected a Foreign Associate of the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences, 463
Cambage (R. H.), A New Species of Queensland Ironbark,
732
Camichel (C.), The Permanent Régime in Water-chambers,
314
Campbell (A.), The Magnetic Properties of Silicon Iron
(Stalloy) in Alternating Magnetic Fields of Low Value,
473
Campbell (D. F.), Recent Developments of the Electric
Furnace in Great Britain, 695
Campbell (Prof. D. H.), Derivation of the Flora of Hawaii,
217
Campbell (R. E.), Distribution, ‘Life History, and Measures
of Control of Bruchus rufimanus, Boh, 310
Campbell (Prof. W. W.), and J. H. Moore, Researches on
Nebulz, 490
Cannon (H. G.), Production and Transmission of an
Environmental Effect in Simocephalus vetulus, 538
Cannons (H. G. T.), Bibliography of Industrial Efficiency
and Factory Management, 641 ©
Carmody (Prof. P.), Camphor-growing in the British
Empire, 757
Carnot (A.), [obituary], 555
Carnwath (Dr.), Influenza, 151
Carpenter (Dr. G. D. H.), The Bionomics of Glossina pal--
palis on Lake Victoria, 663
Carpenter (Prof. G. H.), elected Secretary of the Royal Irish
Academy, 590; Injurious Insects observed in Ireland
during the years 1916-18, 634; and F. J. S. Poltard,
Presence of Lateral Spiracles in the Larvae of Warble-
flies, 835
Carpenter (Prof. H. C. H.), The Future of the Iron and
Steel Industry in Lorraine, 588; and Prof. G. C, Cullis,
Report on the World’s Production of Silver, 73
Carr (Prof. H. Wildon), Behaviourism, 512
Carruthers (D.), The Heart of a Continent, 330
Case (Prof. E. C.), The Environment of Vertebrate Life
in the Late Paleozoic in North America, 223
Casella and Co., Ltd. (C. F.), Catalogue of Meteorological -
Instruments, 20 ,
Cassel (Sir Ernest), Educational Trust Gifts to the Univer-
sity of London, 25 i
Cattell (Dr. J. McK.), Methods, 795
Cave (Capt. C. J. P.), A Peculiar Halo, 171; Weather
Notes of Evelyn, Pepys, and Swift in Relation to
British Climate, 393; and J. S. Dines, Soundings
with Pilot Balloons in thedsles of Scilly, 663
Cayeux (L.), The Hettangian Iron Minerals of Burgundy,
Cellcrier (M.), The Verification of Screw Gauges, 184
Cestro (Prof. G.), Minerals from Monte Somma _ and
Vesuvius, 464
Chadwick (J.), elected to the Clerk Maxwell Scholarship in
Experimental Physics in Cambridge University, 601
Chalmers (Mrs. A. J.), awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal, 697
Chalmers (Dr. A. J.), [obituary article], 271
Chalmers (Dr. A. K.), appointed Head of the Health De-
partment of Glasgow, 19
Chalmers (T. W.), Paper-making and its Machinery: in-
cluding Chapters on the Tub-sizing of Paper, the Coat-
ing and Finishing of Art Paper, and the Coating of
Photographic Paper, 480
Chamberlin (R. V.), Priapulus humanus, 786
Chamberlin (Prof. T. C.), awarded the Hayden Memorial
Medal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila-
delphia, 390 mt
Chapman (D. 'L.), The Separation of the Isot¢pes of
Chlorine, 487, 611 a
Index ix
s Atmosphere, 506; and E. A. Milne, The Com-
_Tonisation, and Viscosity of the Atmosphere
Heights, 570 : .
. de), The Piltdown Remains, <93
i¢ Minute Fissures in Steel Ingots, 27
L. le), elected an Honorary Member of the
Academy, 117
.), Reversible Reactions of Water on Tungsten
Oxides of Tungsten, 411
), The Measurement of Hysteresis Values
High Magnetising Forces, 838
T.), The Origin of Agriculture, 474
Plans for the Reorganisation and Extension
Services in French Indo-China, 4o1
P.), The Elasticity of Torsion of Nickel-Steels
igh Proportion of Chromium, 699; The
Change of the Elastic Properties of Nickel-
arriette), awarded the Stewart Prize of the
edical Association, 432
. W. P.), awarded the Cuthbert Peek Grant
oval Geographical Society, 112 y
entine), The Enduring Power of Hinduism,
Dr. J. G. Bartholomew, 238; Cr. J. G.
the Layer System of Contour Colour-
vations of the Periodic Comet Tempel
) 19200, 794 ;
agnetic Storm on March 4 and 5, 56;
Values of Magnetic Declination at
tish Stations, 632; The Magnetic Storm of
23 and Associated Phenomena, 136
4. G.), Applied Sciepce and Industrial Re-
17; Expenses of Scientific Work, 72,
ction of Industrial Research, 40
Elementary Notes on Structural Botany ;
Notes on the Reproduction of Angiosperms,
eernestens of the Imperial Cancer
‘ion of the Equation of Wave-motion in
ii:, 843
H.), Presidential Address to Section F
Association, 827 .
Distribution of ‘Littoral Echinoderms of the
Pa7Q: :
itees Hailstorm of July 16, 1918, 281;
s, Report on the Phenological Observa-
1 Ritatyele of Cloud Distribution at Aber-
the years 1916-18, 148
Plea for an Ampler Provision of Scholar-
pment of the Synthetic Dye Industry, 686
. J.), Land Drainage from the Engineering
42
.), appointed Professor of Pathology in
versity, 217
Jugald), The Conservation of Fuel, 406
e Prevalence of Occultism, 432
. A.), appointed Principal of Newnham
bridge. 537 Beans ic Pi
E.), appointed Professor of Chemistry at
College, Swansea, 665
W.), Fuel Research, 550 -
The Cambrian Horizons of Comley (Shrop-
their Brachiopoda, etc., 314
W.), and H: Kahler, A New Spectropyr-
er and Solar Measurements made with it,
5
"*)) New Zealand Plants and their Story,
edition, 707
. T. D. A.), Eye Colour in Bees, 518
T.), ‘‘ Cresineol,’’ 726
G.), The Attainment of High Levels in the
Cohen (Prof. J. B.), A Class-book of Organic Chemistry,
Vol. ii., 195
Cohen-Kysper (A.),
Entwicklung, 164
Cole (J. H.), Systematic Error in Spirit Levelling, 409
Coles (Principal C.), The Necessity for Close Co-operation
. between Technical Colleges and the Universities, 728
Colin (H.), The Diastatic Hydrolysis of Inulin, 380
Collie (Prof. J. N.), Krypton and Xenon, 441
Collinge (Dr. W.°E.), Sea Birds: Their Relation to the
Fisheries and Agriculture, 172; The Plumage Bill and
Bird Protection, 196
Collingwood (Dr. B. J.), appointed Professor of Physio-
logy at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, 568
Collins (W. H.), Replacement of Sands and Gravels by
. Silica, 242 :
Compton (R. H.), The Botany of New Caledonia, 122
Comrie (L. J.), Occultation of a Star by Saturn, 22
Camstock (Prof. G. C.), The Sumner:Line or Line of
Position as an Aid to Navigation, 552; Use of Sumner
Lines in Navigation, 742
Connaught (Duke of), admitted an Honorary Fellow of
the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 556
Connaught (Prince Arthur of) and others, The Scheme for
the Extension of the Engineering Laboratories of
University College, London, 114
Riicklaufige Differenzierung . und
» Conway (Sir Martin), The Formation of the Imperial War
Museum, 626
Cook (Dr. M. T.), Applied Economic Botany: Based upon
Actual Agricultural and Gardening Projects, 34
Cook (O. F.), Commercial Parasitism in the Cotton In-
dustry, 548
Cooke (H. C.), The Gabbros of East Sooke, 464
Coolidge (Dr. W. D.), The Manufacture of the Coolidge
Tube, 655
Cope (Miss L.), Calendars of the Indians North of Mexico,
75 '
Corbett (Sir J. S.), History of the Great War, based on
Official Documents. By direction of the Historical
Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence: Naval
' Operations, Vol. i., 546
Core (A. F.), The Separation of the Isotopes of Chlorine,
582, 677
Corney (B. G.), A Remarkable Stone Bowl in the Museo
Arqueolégico, Madrid, 755 ;
Cornubert (R.), The Constitution of some Dialkylcyclo-
hexanones, 475
Cortie (Rev. A. L.), Report and Notes on the Stonyhurst
College Observatory, 624; Stonyhurst Observations in
1919, 789; The Magnetic Storm of March 22-23 and
Associated Phenomena, 137
Cottrell (Dr. F. G.), awarded the Willard Gibbs Medal of
the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society,
526; nominated as Director of the U.S. Bureau of
Mines, 432
Coupin (H.), Seedlings which turn Green in the Dark, 411
Cournot (J.), The Annealing of Electrolytic Iron, 763
‘Coursey (P. R.), Telephony without Wires,
Coward (T. A.), The Birds of the British Isles and their
Eggs, First Series, 132 ;
Cowles (R. P.), The Transplanting of Sea-anemones by
Hermit Crabs, 668 :
Cox (Dr. A. H.), A Report on Magnetic Disturbances in
Northamptonshire and Leicestershire and their Rela-
tions to the Geological Structure, 175; and A. K.
Wells, The Lower Palaeozoic Rocks of the Arthog-
Dolgelly District, 123 ;
Crabtree (J: H.), Grasses and Rushes and How to Identify
Them, 805; Wonders of Insect Life: Details of the
Habits and Structure of Insects, 651 : oe
Craib (W. G.), appointed Professor of Botany in the Uni-
versity of Aberdeen, 120 : em
Cranworth (Capt. the Lord), Profit and Sport in British
East Africa, being a Second Edition, revised and en-
} larged, of ‘‘ A Colony in the Making,’’ 392
Craster (Lt.-Col. J. E. E.), Estimating River Flow from
Rainfall Records, 42 : :
Creak (Capt. E. W.) [death], 178; [obituary article], 300
Cremer (H. W.), appointed Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry
at King’s College, London, 698
Xi L[ndex
Nature,
October 7, 1920
Crewe (Marquess of), The Imperial College of Science and
Technology, 281; The Working of the Education Act
of 1918, 22
Cripps (Miss L. D.), awarded the Dr. Jessie Macgregor
Prize of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh,
794
Grinradin (Dr. A. C. D.), Calendar Reform, 105; Deflec-
tion of Light during a Solar Eclipse, 8; The Einstein
Deflection of Light, 23; Woltjer’s Investigations in
the Theory of Hyperion, 675
Crooke (Dr. W.), Nudity in India in Custom and Ritual,
723; to receive the Honorary Degree of D.Litt. from
the University of Dublin, 89
Crossley (Dr. A. W.), The Constitution and Methods of
. the British Cotton Industry Research Association, 372
Crosthwaite (P. M.), Earthworks and Retaining Walls, 87
aba J. A.), Ions, Electrons, and Ionising Radia-
Cullis. (Prof °C. E.), Matrices and Determinoids, Vol.
Ig
Cumming (Dr. A. C.) and Pr. S. A. Kay, A Text-book of
co cow rege Chemical Analysis, Third edition, 33
Cumming (W. M.), appointed Senior Lecturer in Organic
Chemistry at the Royal Technical College, Glasgow,
630
Daiad Steamship Co., Ltd., Gift to Liverpool University,
313, 762
Cunningham (Dr. Brysson), Rainfall and ‘Land Drainage,
42
Cunningham (E.), Relativity and Geometry, 350
Cunnington (Mrs. M » A Curious Stone Mould found
on the Worms’ Head, Glamorganshire, 497
Curtis (A. H. s ary gene Ores, 193
Curtis (Dr. D.), appointed Director of the Aeghesy
A lit 3266; Researches on Nebule, 489
Curtis (Miss K. M.), The Life History and Cytology of
Synchytrium endobioticum (Schilb.), Pere., the Cause
of Wart Disease in Potato, 346
Cushing (Prof. H.), The Honorary Degree of Doctor of
Law conferred upon, by Cambridge. University, 730
Cushman (J. A.), Recent Foraminifera from off New
Zealand, 242
Cuthbertson (c and Maude), The Refraction and Disper-
sion of * Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, and
Methane, 58
Cvijic (Prof. J.), awarded the Patron’s Medal of the Royal
Geographical Society, 112
Czaplicka (Miss), awarded the Murchison Grant of the
Royal Geographical Society, 112
D. (F. V.), The Mole Cricket, 294
D. (J. S.), Sea and Sky at Sunset, 358
Da Fano (C.), Method for the Demonstration mn the Golgi
Apparatus in Nervous and other Tissues, 2
Dakin (Prof. W. J.), appointed Derby Professor ff Zoology
in the University of Liverpool, 537
Dalby (Prof. W. E.), The Elastic Properties
Plastic Extension of Metals, 377
Dale (Prof. J. B.), Some Methods of Approximate Integra-
tion and of Computing Areas, 138
Dall (Dr. W. H.), The Mollusca Obtained by the Crocker
Land Expedition, 688
Dalton (H.), appointed Reader in Commerce at the ‘London
School of Economics and Political Science, «68
Damour (E.), The Application Value ‘(valeur d’usage) of
Combustibles, 634
Dangeard (P. A.), Structure of the
Metabolism, 251
Daniel (A.), A New Race of Asphodelus Obtained by the
Action of a Marine Climate, 506
Darwin (C. G.), Lagrangian Methods for
Motion, 379
Darwin (Sir Horace) and W. G.
Microtome, 570
Davenport (Dr. C. B.), Influence of the Male on the Pro-
duction of Twins, 755
Davidson (the late Sir J. Mackenzie),
to, 50
and the
Plant Cell and its
High-speed
Collins, A Universal
Proposed Memorial
Davies (Rev. A. E.), .Anselm’s Problem of a rat and
Existence, 569
Lavies (G, M.), Tin Ores, 1
Davies (J. H.), A Map of i World (on Mercator’s Prot
jection), having Special Reference to Forest Regions
and the Geographical Distribution of Timber Trees,
Timber Maps, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 577
Davis (H. V.), ‘‘ Little Book ahoul Snowdon,”’ 787
Davis (Prof. W. M.), The Small Islands of Almost-Atolls,
292
Davison (Dr. C.), Differential Calculus for Colleges and
Secondary Schools, 65
Dawson (B. H.), Determination of the Orbit of p Eridani,
8
4
Dawson (Dr. H. M.), appointed Professor of Physical
Chemistry in the University of Leeds, 409
Dawson (Sir Philip), Electric Railway Contact Systems,
6
57
Dawson of Penn (Lord), presented with the Medal of
Honour of the University of Brussels, 440
Daynes (H. A.), The Process of Diffusion through a Rubber
Membrane, 122; The Theory of the Katharometer, 122
De Angelis (M.), Crystalline Forms of Nitrodichloroacet-
anilide, 84.
Debenham (F.), The Transfer of Marine Deposits from the
Sea-floor to the Surface of Glacier Ice, 724
| De Candolle (A. P.), [obituary], 365
Dee (A. A.), appointed an Assistant Lecturer in ‘Physics
in Birmingham University, 120
Deeley (R. M.), Anticyclones, 677; The Antarctic Anti-
cyclone, 808
[efant (Dr. A.), Tides in Landlocked and Border Seas,
Bays, and Channels, 466
De Launay (L.), The Course of the Coal Measures in the
Central Massif and at its Edges, 634 ~
Delépine (M.), Ethylene Sulphide, C,H,S, 666; and L.
Ville, The Chloride of Bromine: its Combination with
Ethylene, 539
etait (Prof, S.), The Problem of Clean and Safe Milk,
De ee (Prof. A. T.), The Appointment of, in the Univer-
sity of Toronto, 762
Demoussy (Dr. E.), Engrais. Amendements Produits anti-
cryptogamiques et Insecticides, 738
Dendy (Prof. A.), The Plumage Bill and Bird Protection,
169
Denigés (G.), Iodic Acid as a Microchemical Reagent
Characteristic of Gaseous Ammonia, 763; Iodic Acid
as a Microchemical Reagent for Calcium, Strontium,
and Barium, 379
Penning (W. F.), Discovery of a Nova in Cygnus, 838;
Fireball of February 4, 105; The Great Red Spot on
Jupiter, 423; Wasps, 328
Dennis (L. G.), Canadian Water-power Development, 311
Dennis (T.), An Arithmetic for Preparatory Schools, with
Answers, Second edition, 67
Desch (Prof. C. H.), Some Properties of 60-40 Brass, 695
Descolas and Prétet, The Macrographic Study of the Pro-
pagation of Cooling in the Interior of a Steel Ingot
Starting from its Solidification, 411
Detmold (E. J.), Twenty-four Nature Pictures, 352
Devaux (H.) and H. Bouygues, The Usefulness of Sodium
Fluoride employed as an Antiseptic for the Preserva-
tion of Railway-sleepers, 379
Dewar (Sir James), elected a Corresponding Member of
the French Academy of Sciences, 80
Dewey (H.), Arsenic and Antimony Ores, 338; Flat-based
Celts from Kent, Hampshire, and Dorset, 153
Dey (M. L.), Fireball of February 4, 105
Dickie (R. S.), Economics of the Petroleum Industry, 269
Dicksee (Prof. L. R.), appointed Professor of Accountancy
and. Business at the London School of Economies and
Political Science, 568
Dines (J. S.),. Methods of Computation for Pilot-balloon
Ascents, 837; The Rate of Ascent of Pilot-balloons, 581
Dines (W. H.), ‘Attainment of High Levels in the Atmo-
sphere, 454; The Ether Differential Radiometer, 570;
The Sirobching of Rubber in Free Balloons, 613
Dixey (F.), Pleistocene Movements of Elevation. in Sierra ~
Leone, 689
f. R. B.), A New Theory of Polynesian Origins,
. W. E.), Practical Pharmacology, 420
‘James J: » re-elected President of the Chemical
Y, 145; and J. J. Fox, The ec pine of Light
ements in the State of Vapour, 538
fiss Ethel M.), The Historia of the Genera
and Irene, 667
ae elected a Foreign Member of the Linnean
(Lieut. C. W.), Submarine Warfare of To-
y (Prof. L.), An Intréduetion to the Study of
gy, 190; Genetic Studies of Drosophila, 405 ;
ofthis [obituary article], 461; Resolution of the
verpool University on the Death of, 472
arey, and Baldwin, The Theoretical Determina-
the Longitudinal Seiches of Lake Geneva, 275
| M.), Clouds as seen from an Aero-
18; Temperature Variations at 10,000 ft., 614
: », The Annual ae 3 of Trees in Relation to
and Solar Activity, 5
T.) and oe D. J Snell Food :
» 99
(Prof. E. B, "A Doce and Laboratory Guide in
; M. ), Wire ah "Telezraphy and Telephony :
Prin bcc eed Present Practice, and Testing, 483
The Spiral Compensator and New Problems of
of Regulation, 443
Notes on Chemical Research : An Account
Conditions which apply to Original In-
Second edition, 773
_Spermatophores of Octopus americana,
its Composi-
ay C.), appointed Reader in Physiological
t University College, London, 608
—“ Mackinder’s ‘ World Island ’
in ‘ Satellite ’,’? 624
Ww. Ww), fobitwary) 590
alee of a Fossil-bearing Layer in
Pos Watten (Nord), 795
Application of a New Method of Physico-
“analysis to the Study of Double Salts, 634
W. L. H.), Presentation to, 794 +
Pe E.), A Stalked Parapineal Vesicle in the
16; Ostrich Study in South Africa, 106; The
Bill = Bird Protection, 263
G.), T. H. Burnham, and A. A. Davis, The
upon the Poles of Metallic Arcs, including
‘Composite Arcs, 121
), The Stereo-isomeric Forms _of Benzoyl-
etylene Di-iodide, 475
JiR. EE A New Apparatus for Drawing Conic
, 187; A New Method for Approximate Evalua-
of Definite Integrals between Finite Limits, 354,
: ED: The Natural Wealth of Britain :
bp y rr and Foreign Scientific Apparatus,
and. its
Its Origin
appointed a Lecturer in the Department of
f the University of Edinburgh, 627
Magnetic Induction in the Soft Iron Compass
under the Influence of the Needles, 539
.), Calculation of Vapour Densities, 742
_A.), The Nature and Function of the Anti-
Vitamine, 667
..), The Nature Study of Plants in iipuyts and
for the Hobby Botanist, 804
Gift to the University. of Rochester, N.Y.,
Ww. HH), Wireless Telephony, 519
apt. P. P.), The Application of Duplex Wire-
to Aircraft, 154
1 (Principal C. L.), Continuation Schools and
telation to Technical Institutes and Colleges, 728
(Prof. A. S.), Gravitational Deflection of High-
speed Particles, 37; Presidential Address to Section A
of the British Association, 825; and others, Einstein’s
Theory of Relativity, 306
Edgcumbe (Major K.), elected Chairman of the Nationat
Illumination Committee of Great Britain, 557
Edgell (Miss), Memory and Conation, 603
Edgeworth (Lt.-Col. K. E.), Science and the New Army,
233 ; Sea and nag at Sunset, 358
Edridge-Green (Dr. F. W.), appointed a Special Examiner
in Colour Vision and Eyesight by the Board of Trade,
654; The Physiology of Vision, with special reference
to Colour Blindness; Card Test for Colour Blindness,
575
Edwards (Prof. C. A.), appointed Professor of Metallurgy
at University College, Swansea, 665
Edwards (F. W.), Mosquitoes, 787
Einstein (Prof.), awarded the Barnard Medal of Columbia
University, 590
Eisig (Prof. H. a [obituary], 50
Elgie (J. H.), Elgie’s Weather Book: For the General
Reader, 739 .
Elhuff (L.), General Science: First Course, 352
Elliott (G. F. Scott), The Trade Routes of the
Empire in Africa, 274
Ellis (Dr. D.), Iron Bacteria, 323 ;
teria, 727
Ellis (G. S. M.), Applied Botany, 164
Ellis (Havelock), The Philosophy of Conflict :
Essays in War-time, Second Series, 353
Ellis (T. S.), Mortlakes as a Cause of River-windings, 264
Enriques (Prof.), Experiments in Breeding Blow-flies, 756
Entat (M.), The Destructive Effect of Light on Textiles,
Dopes, and Rubberised Fabrics, 758
Escher (Dr. B. G.), Percussion Figures, 171
Evans (Dr. E. A.), appointed Professor of Physics at Uni-
versity College, Swansea, 665
Evans (I. H. N.), A Rocle Shelter in the Batu Kurau
Parish, Perak, 834
Evans (Dr. J. W.), Knowledge and Power, 165; Scientific
Research, 358
Eve (Prof. A. §.), Observation of an Aurora in Montreal
on March 5, 337
Everdingen (Prof. E. van), Aerial Navigation and Meteoro-
logy, 637, 776; Investigation of the Upper Air, 663
Evermann (Dr.), The Present Position of the Northern
Fur Seal, 623
Evershed. (J. ), The Einstein Displacement of Spectral Lines,
244; and Mrs., The Prominence Observations of, 340
Evershed (S.), Permanent Magnets in Theorv and Practice,
British
Iron Depositing Bac-
and other
- 435
Ewart (Prof. J..C.), The Nestling Feathers of Birds, 250
Ewing (Sir Alfred), Molecular Energy in Gases, 472
F.R.S., Museums and the State, 136
Fabre (J. H.), Translated by A. T. de Mattos, The Mason
Wasps, 291: The Story Book of Birds and Beasts, 651 ;
The Story Book of Science, 651
Failes (Rev. W.), orcs 18
Fallaize (E. N.), Dr. R. Munro. 685; Suggestions for the
Classification of the Subiect-matter of Anthropology,
626; The Present Condition of the Aborigines of Central
Australia, 601
Fallou (J.), The Expansion caused by Joule’s Effect at the
Contact of Two Solids, 506
Farabee (W. C.), Form of Puberty Ordeal among the
Apalaii Indians, 240; The Central Arawaks, 159
Fargher and Pyman, The Composition of Salvarsan, 185
Farmer (G. W.), A First-year Physics for Junior Technical
Schools, 229
Farrer (R.), awarded the Gill Memorial of
Geographical Society, 112
Fawcett (W.) and Dr. A. B. Rendle, Flora of: Tamalce, Vol.
iv., Dicotyledons: Families Leguminose to Calli-
trichacez, 738
Fayet (M.), Tempel’s Comet, 789
Feldman (W. M.), The Principles of Ante-Natal and Post-
Natal Child Physiology : Pure and Applied, 638
Fenton (Dr.) and A. J. Berry, Studies on Cellulose Acetate,
378
the Royal
xii
L[ndex
Nature,
October 7, 1920
Fernbach (A.) and M. Schoen, New Observations on the
Biochemical Production of Pyruvic Acid, 251
Ferraris’ ‘‘ Dioptric Instruments ’’: Being an Elementary
Exposition of Gauss’ Theory and its Applications.
Translated by Dr. O. Faber from Prof. F. Lippich’s
German Translation of Prof. G, Ferraris’ ‘ The
Fundamental Properties of Dioptric Instruments,” 542
Ferry (E. S.), O. W. Silvey, G. W. Sherman, jun., and
D. C. Duncan, A Handbook of Physics Measurements,
2 vols., 193
' Fewkes (J. W.), Prehistoric Villages, Castles, and Towers
of South-Western Colorado, 367
Fields (Prof. J. C.), Universities, Research, and Brain
Waste, 839
Filon (Prof. L. N. G.), Science and the New Army, 133
Findlay (Prof. A.), The Hurter and Driffield Memorial
Lecture, 689
Firth (J. B.), Sorption of Iodine by Carbon, 602
Firth (Sir R. H.), Musings of an Idle Man, 100
Fisher (H. A. L.), elected a Fellow of the Royal Society,
556; The Government Offer of a Site for the Univer-
sity of London, 404
Fisher (Lord), Memories, 95
Fisher (R. -A.), Kenyon and. Lovitt’s Mathematics for
Collegiate Students of Agriculture and General Science,
Revised edition, 131 ;
Flammarion (C.), Reform of the Calendar, 22, 105
Fleck (Dr. A.) and T. Wallace, Conduction of Electricity
through Fused Sodium Hydrate, 602
Fleming (A. P. M.), Engineering Research in the U.S.A.,
598; Industrial Research, 771 4
Fleming (Prof. J. A.), The Propagation of Electric Cur-
rents in Telephone and Telegraph Conductors, Third
edition, 611; The Thermionic Valve in Wireless ‘Tele-
graphy and Telephony, 716
Fletcher (J. J.), Presidential Address to the Linnean Society
of N.S.W., 724
Fletcher (Sir Walter), The Work of the Medical Research
Committee, 400 .
Flett (Dr. J. S.), appointed Director of the Geological
Survey and Museum, 590
Flint (G. E.), The Whole Truth about Alcohol, 386
Flint (H. T.), appointed Lecturer in Physics at King’s
College, London, 698
Florentin (M.), The French Experience of German Gas
Warfare, 434
Forbes (Dr. H. O.), The Doctor of Philosophy in England,
234
Forcrand (Prof. R. de), Cours de Chimie 4 l’usage des.
Etudiants P.C.N. et S.P.C.N., Dieux. édition, Tome
_ i, et Tome ii., 63
Forder (H. G.), Gravitational
‘Particles, 138
Fornander (Judge), Source and Migrations of the Poly-
nesian Race, 628
Forrest (H. E.), A Handbook to the Vertebrate Fauna of
North Wales, 386
Forsyth (Prof, A. R.), Solutions of the Examples in a
Treatise on. Differential Equations, 260; The Central
Differential Equation in the Relativity Theory of Gravi-
tation, 186
Fotheringham (Dr. J. K.), Tycho Brahe, 672
Fournier d’Albe (Dr. E. E.), The Optophone: An Instru-
ment for Reading by Ear, 295; and Prof, A. Barr,
The Optophone, 722
Fourniols (M.), ‘Utilisation of .the
Rhone, 466 i
Fowler (Prof. A.), elected a Corresponding Member of the
Paris Academy of Sciences, 52; Sir Norman Lockyer’s
Contributions to Astrophysics, 831 T:
Fowler (Dr. G. J.), Scientific Work: Its Spirit and Re-
ward, 387 ;
Fowler (R. H.), The Dynamics of Shell Flight, 459; The
Elementary Differential Geometry of Plane Curves, Rar’
E. C. Gallop, C. N. H. Lock, and H. W. Richmond,
The Aérodynamics of a Spinning Shell, 377 an
Francis (Prof. F.), appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Bristol
University, 601 F
Francotte (Rev. E.), Meteorological Observations at St.
Xavier’s College, Calcutta, Part i., 55
Water-power of the
Deflection of High-speed:
Franklin (Capt. T, B.), Effect of Weather Changes on Soil
Temperatures, 282, 628
Fraser (Dr. A. M.), The Prevention of Venereal Diseases,
a
Fraser (P.), appointed Deputy Dean of’ the Faculty of
Science of Bristol University, 630 j
Frazer (Sir James G.), elected a Fellow of the Royal —
Society, 556
Frederiksen (J. D.), The Story of Milk, 229
Freeman (W, G.) and others, Cultivation of the Avocaau
or Alligator Pear, 408
Fremont (Ch.), The Resistance of Steels to Cutting by ‘
Tools, 187; Work Done in Sawing Metals by Hand,
251
Freundlich (Dr. E.), The Foundations of Einstein’s Theory
of Gravitation, Translated by H. L. Brose, 350
Friedel (Prof. G.), Opening Address on the Installation of
' the Chair of Mineralogy at the University of Stras-
bourg, 368 !
Fullarton (Dr. J. H.), {obituary], 365 ; :
Fuller (Brevet-Col. J. F. C.), Tanks in the Great War,
1914-1918, 702
Fulton (A. R.), Earthworks and Retaining Walls, 88.
Gadow (H.), appointed Reader in the Morphology of Verte-
brates in Cambridge University, 345
Gallenkamp and Co., Ltd., List of Graduated Instruments
for Volumetric Analysis, 306 pest}
Gamble (J. S.), Flora of the Presidency of Madras, Part ;
iii., 36; Organisation of Scientific Work,6
Gamble (W.), Photography and its Applications; 740 _
Gardiner (Prof. J. Stanley), Museums and the State, 101;
Presidential Address to Section D of the British Asso-
ciation, 826; to Undertake the Temporary Direction
of the Scientific Work of the Fisheries Department of —
the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 52
Garner (W. E.), An Electronic Theory of Isomerism, 171
Garner (W. W.) and H. A. Allard, Light and Plant-growth,
404
Garnett (J. C. M.), A National System of Education, 728 ;
Resignation of the Principalship of the Manchester
College of Technology, 630
Garrod (Sir Archibald E.), appointed Professor of Medicine
in the University of Oxford, 25;
Honorary Degree of M.D. from the University of
Dublin, 89
Gascard (A.), Ceryl Alcohol and Cerotic Acid from China
Wax, 506; The Melissic Alcohol of Brodie, 314 k
Gatenby (J. B.), The Modern Technique of Cytology, 463
Gates (Dr. R. R.), The Meiotic Phenomena in the Pollen
Mother-cells and Tapetum of Lettuce, 186, 756
Gault (H.) and R. Weick, A Case of Isomerism in the
Series of the Aromatic a-Ketonic Acids, 539
Gauthier (D.), The Synthesis of a-Ketonic Tertiary Alcohols,
27
Gautier (Ch.), A Sundial giving Legal Time throughout
- the Year, 506
Gayley (J.), [obituary], 239
Geddes (Sir Auckland C.), appointed Ambassador Extra-
ordinary and Plenipotentiary in Washington; Resigna- —
tion of the Principalship of McGill University, 17
Gee (W. J.), A New Process for Centrifugal Filtration, 696
Geikie-Cobb (Dr. W. F.), Mysticism, True and False, 633
Gentil (L.), The Mode of Formation of Terraces in Chalk
Districts, 315 } :
George (W. L.), The Birth-rate, 82
Georges (H.), A New Alternating Mercury Arc, 91
Gerhardt (Charles), Proposed Monument to, 436
Giaya (S.), Zinc in the Human Organism, 315
Gibson (C. R.), Chemistry and its Mysteries: The Story
of what Things are made of, Told in Simple Language,
99 m ;
Gilbreth (F, B. and. Dr. L. M.), Motion Study for the
Handicapped, 737
Gill (J. F.), and F. J. Teago,. Examples in Electrical -
Engineering, 195
<
Gill (T. P.), Impending Resignation from the Secretary-
.
to receive the |
ship of the Department of Agriculture and Technical _
Instruction for Ireland, 376
Index
xlil
(C. W.), A Skeleton of Dimetrodon from the
ian of Texas, 118
(W. H.), appointed Professor of Dental Surgery
siverpool University, 630
g (M.), Is there a General Will?, 155
Prof. M.), Chimica delle Sostanze Esplosive, 483
d “ape The Geyser of Martres d’Artiéres (Puy-
me), 315
« (Sir Richard), elected First President of the
itute of Physics, 304; Lectures on Aeronautics, 214
R. S.), appointed Chief Lecturer in Pharmaceutics
the Royal Technical College, Glasgow, 841
t (M.), The Oxidation of Coal, 666
(Prof. R. H.), A Method of Reaching Extreme
des, 809 ;
H.), Fifty Years of Canadian Progress, 147
|. E.), Aerial Navigation and Meteorology, 775 ;
ce and the New Army, 135
(Vice-Admiral Sir George), Progress in Naval
veering, 235
(Gen. Sir John), Army Hygiene Prior to the
War, 52; Army Hygiene and its ‘Lessons, 532;
itary Hygiene, 114
), The Musical Scale, 666
(A.), The Nesting Habits of the Storm-Petrel, 20
(G. F. C.), appointed Superintendent of the
ering Workshops of Cambridge University,
(Dr. W. T.), Archzocyathine from the Moraine
h irdmore Glacier, 528
j .-General W. C.), [death], 590; [obituary
), The Chemical Composition of the Tubercle
.), Development of Thermionic Valves for
$s, 559
-), Half-past Twelve :
Odd Half-hours, 611
.), Verification of the Thermo-electricity of
Dinner-hour Studies
dan, 199
-)» The Alligator Pear, 517; The Cluster
), re-appointed University Lecturer in Mathe-
Cambridge University, 505
. G.), appointed Goulstonian Lecturer of the
Jollege of Physicians of London, 1921, 755
I.), Apparatus for the Estimation of Carbon
in the Air of Mines, 624 -
Hy Zinc, in Animal Organisms,’ 411
F. T.), Meteorological Conditions of an Ice-
B.). awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal, 697
George), Use of Graphs in Society and
Statistics, 463
R.), The Collection of Lower Paleozoic Fossils
be purchased bv the British Museum, 336
F. N.), The Vulcanicity of the Lake District,
r George), Artillery Science, 268
(H. W.), Barytes in the English Triassic Strata
from Overlying Jurassic Strata, 837
. J. W.), Meteorological Influences of the Sun
i the Atlantic, 715; Museums and the State, 68;
e Conservation of our Coal Sunplies, 108; The Irish
>
346
ir Richard), Plea for a National Survey of the
tions and Requirements of University and Higher
cal Education in the Country, 281; Scientific
‘echnical Books, 41
rT. E. G.), appointed a Reader in Commerce at
e London School of Economics and Political Science,
. C.), The Enzymes of B. coli communis which
Concerned in the Decomposition of Glucose and
annitol, Part iv., <38 i» ;
n (Sir George), elected a Fellow of the Royal Danish
siety of Science, 200; The Indo-Aryan Vernaculars,
; The Linguistic Survey of India, 688
\. de), The Spectrographic Detection of Metals, |
Griffith (A. A.), The Phenomena of Rupture. and Flow in
Solids, 58
Grinnell (J.) and J. Dixon, Life-histories of Ground-squirrels
in California, 81
Grist (W. R.), appointed Secretary of the Leeds Univer-
sity Appointments Board. 698
Gros (F.), Improvements Relating to the Commercial Pro-
duction of Oxides of Nitrogen in Arc Furnaces, 283
Groves (C. E.), Bequests of, 145
Gruzewska (Mme. Z.), Study of Laminarine from Lamin-
aria flexicaulis, 187
Gudger (E. W.), The Ovary of Felichthys felis, 279
Guerbet (M.), A Reaction for Benzoic Acid Based on its
Diazotisation, 666
Guérin (P.).and A. Goris, A New Plant Containing Cou-
marin, Melettis melissophyllum, 411; and Ch. ‘'Lor-
mand, The Action of Chlorine and Various Vapours
upon Plants, 59
Guérithault (B.), Presence of Copper in Plants, and particu-
larly in Food of Vegetable: Origin, 763
Guglielminetti (Dr.), The Physiological Aspect of Flying
at High Altitudes, 401
Guiche (A. de Gramont de), Work of the Institute of
Optics of France, 466
Guild (J.), The Use of Vacuum Arcs for Interferometry, 842
Guillaume (Dr. Ch. Ed.), Action of Metallurgical Additions
on the Anomaly of Expansion of the Nickel Steels, 571;
The Anomaly of Elasticity of the Nickel Steels, . 699 ;.
The Anomaly of the Nickel Iron Alloys: Its Causes
and its Applications, 438; Values of the Expansions of
Standard Nickel Steels, 634
Guillaume (J.), Observations of the Sun made at the Lyons
Observatory, 218, 251
Guillet (A.), An Auto-ballistic Astronomical Pendulum, 506;
and M. Aubert, An Absolute Bispherical Electrometer,
Guillet (L.), The Alloys of Copper, Zinc, and Nickel, 91;
and M. Gasnier, The Plating with Nickel of Aluminium
and its Alloys, 475
Gunton (Major H. C.), Entomological-meteorological Re-
cords of Ecological Facts in the Life of British ‘Lepi-
doptera, 26
Gurney (J. H.), Ornithological Notes from Norfolk for
1919, 81 Bite
Cashes Dixon (Dr. S.), The Transmutation of Bacteria,
131
Guthrie (Lord), fobituary], 302 bray
Gutteridge (H. C.), appointed Professor of Commercial and
Industrial Law at the London School of Economics and
Political Science, 568 ; :
Guyon (Prof. J. C. F.), {obituary article], 721
Guyot (J.) and L. J. Simon, Combustion of Methyl Esters
with a Mixture of Sulphuric and Chromic Acids, 187 ;
Combustion of Mixtures of Sulphuric and Chromic
Acids of Organic Bodies Containing Chlorine, 251
University Stipends and Pensions, 582
H. (G. W. O.),
‘ ) in Psychology at
Hadfield (J. E.), appointed Lecturer
King’s College, London, 698 pore
Hadley (L.), The Elements of ¢/ Urse Majoris, 244
Hadwen (Dr. S.), Resignation of the Post of Chief Patholo-
gist of the Biological Laboratory, Health of Animals
Branch, Canadian Department of Agriculture, and
appointed Chief Pathologist in the Reindeer Investiga-
tions of the U.S. Biological Survey, 623%
Halbert (J. N.), Acarina of the Intertidal Zone, 474
Haldane (Viscount), Prof. Alexander’s Gifford Lectures, 798
Hale (Dr. G. E.), elected an Honorary Member of the
Royal Irish Academy, 113; Some Tests of the 100-in.
Hooker Telescope. 266
Haleole (S. N.), The Functions of the Kahuna, 628
Hall (A. L.), The Mica Industry in Eastern Transvaal, 787
Hall (Sir Daniel), Development and Use of Allotments, 371;
Gardening and Food Production, 371; Social and
Hygienic Conditions respecting Gardens and _Allot-
ments, 371; The Soil: An Introduction to the Scientific
Study of the Growth of Crops. Third edition, 384
Hall (Dr. G. Stanley), Resignation of the Presidency of
Clark University, 602
; Nature,
X1V L: nN dex Ualober 7 fas
Hall (H. V.), African Art, 180 Helland- Hansen (Dr. B.), and Dr. F, Nansen, Temperature
Hall (Maxwell), [obituary], 302
Haller (A.): and R. Cornubert, The Constitution of the
Dimethylcyclohexanone obtained by Methylation of the
Sodium Derivative of a-Methylcyclohexanone, 250; The
Constitution of the Methylethylcyclohexanone prepared
by the Ethylation of a-Methylcyclohexanone, 379; and
Mme. -Ramart-Lucas, Bromohydrins and Dibromo-
derivatives, 762
Halliburton (Prof. W. D.), The Essentials of Chemical
Physiology. Tenth edition, 192
Hansen (Lieut. G.), Leading a Supporting Expedition for
Amundsen’s Trans-Polar Voyage, 82
Hansen (Dr. H. J.), The Cumacea and Phyllocarida in the
Seas round Iceland and South Greenland, 81
Harden (Dr. A.), and Dr. S. S. Zilva, The Antiscorbutic
Requirements of the Monkey, 499
Harder (E. C.), Iron Depositing Bacteria and their Geologic
Relations, 727
Harding (Dr. V. J.), appointed Professor of Pathological
Chemistry in the University of Toronto, 537
Hardy (G. H.), Synonyms, Notes, and Descriptions of
Australian Flies in the Family Asilidz, 635
Hardy (Prof. G. H.), S. Ramanujan, 494: The Cost of
Scientific Publications, 353
Hardy (Dr. M. E.), The Geography of Plants, 386
Harker (Dr. A.), Petrology for Students: An Introduction
to the Study of Rocks under the Microscope. Fifth
edition, 99
Harkins (Prof. W. D.), The Separation of the Element
Chlorine into Normal Chlorine and Meta-Chlorine, and
the Positive Electron, 230
Harper (F.), The Okefinokee Swanp, Georgia, 593
Harrison (J. W. H.), Melanism in British Lepidoptera, 278
Harrison (W. J.), The Theory of Vibrations, 473
Hartog (P. J.), appointed: Vice-Chancellor of the University
of Dacca. 569
Hartridge (Dr. H.), Microscopic Illumination, 275
Harvey (A.), Practical Leather Chemistry, 382 |
Harvey (Prof. E. N.), Animal Luminescence and Stimula-
tion, 843; Chemistry of Light Production in Luminous
Organisms, 279
Harvey-Webh (the late Capt. G. D.), Gift by the Relatives
: of, to University College, London, 155
Hatfield (Dr. W. H.), and H. M. Duncan, The Mechanical
Properties of Turbine Steels, 148
Hatschek (E.), Laboratory Manual of Elementary Colloid
Chemistry, 705
Hatton (Prof. J. L. S.), The Theory of the Imaginary in
Geometry, together with the Trigonometry of the
Imaginary, 736
Haughton (J. L.), Measurement of Electrical Conductivity
in Metals and Alloys at High Temperatures, 602
Haughton (S. H.), The Reptilian Fauna of the Karroo
System, 837
Haupt (Prof. P.), The Beginning of the Fourth Gospel, 764
Haviland (Miss Maud D.), Preliminary Note on Antennal
Variation in an Aphid (Myzus ribis, Linn.), ;
Haworth (Dr. H. F.), Measurement of Electrolytic Resist-
ances using Alternating Currents, 602
Haworth (Dr. W. N.), appointed Professor of Organic
Chemistry at Armstrong College, 537
Hayata (B.), The Flora of the Island of Formosa, 664
Hayward (Dr. F. H.), A First Book of School Celebrations,
707; A Second Book of School Celebrations, 804
Head (Dr. H.), elected an Honorary Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge, 88; Sensation and the Cerebral
Cortex, 363
Heath (Sir Thomas L.), elected an Honorary Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, 88; Euclid in Greek.
Book I. With Introduction and Notes. 288
Hedrick (U. P.), Manual of American Grape-growing, 674
Heenan (H.), poe) RSS
Heilbron (Prof. M.), appointed Professor of Organic
Chemistry in the University of Liverpool, 537
Heitland (W. E.), Agriculture in Italy in Imperial Times,
ea Od,
Hele-Shaw (Prof. H. S.), The Title of Emeritus Professor of
Engineering Conferred upon, by Liverpool University,
841
Variations in - North Atlantic Ocean and in ihe
Atmosphere,
Henderson (G. S. ‘s ‘practial Salt-Land Reclamation, 434
Henderson (G. T.), awarded a Frank Smart Prize of the
University of Cambridge, 537
Henderson (Dr. J. A. R.), Alchemy and Chemistry among
the Chinese, 474
Henri (Dr. V.), Etudes de Photochimie, 640
Henry (Prof. A.), Forests, Woods, and Trees in Relation
to Hygiene, 158
Henson (G. W.), and S. H. Fowles, The More Economical
Utilisation of the Coke-oven and Blast-furnace Gases
for Heating and Power, 695
Herdman (Prof. . A.), Oceanography and the Sea-
Fisheries (Presidential Address to the British Associa-
tion), 813; The Cost of Scientific Publications, 326
Héricourt (Dr. J.), Translated, and with a Final Chapter,
by B. Miall, The Social Diseases :
Syphilis, Alcoholism, Sterility, 543
Heritsch (Dr. F.), Discovery of Tabulate Corals in the
Supposed Mesozoic Mantle of the Hohe Tauern, 836
Herkless (Ppl. Sir John), [obituary], 495
Herman (C. L.), The Platana of the Cape Peninsula, 700
Heron (F. A.), Gifts to Queen’s University,. Belfast, 248
Heron-Allen (E.), and A. Earland, An Experimental Study
of the Foraminiferal Species Verneuilina polystrophia,
Reuss, etc., 282
Herrera (A. Ey The Imitation of Cells, Tissues Cell-
division, and the Structure of Protoplasm with Calcium
Fluosilicate, 635
Hetherington (Prof. H. J. W.),
Exeter University College, 280
Hewitt (Dr. C. Gordon), [death], 18; [obituary article], 75
Hewitt (J.), Survey of the Solifuge of South Africa, 275
Hewitt (Dr. J. A.), appointed Lecturer andi Demonstrator in
Physiology at King’s College, ‘London, 698
Heycock (C. T.), Presidential Address to Section B of the
British Association, 825
Hicks (Prof. G. Dawes), The Ultimate Data of Physics,
446
Hickcod (Prof. S. J.), Science in Medical Education, ¢ 643:
elected an Honorary Fellow of Downing College, Cam-
bridge, 761
Higham (J.), appointed Lecturer in Physics and Electrical
Engineering in Manchester University,
Hildt (E.), The Hydrolysis of the Polysaccharides, 603
apne be E.), The Fungal Diseases of the Common Larch,
Hite (Adam), Ltd., Catalogue of Wave-length Spectro- .
meter, etc., 3
Hill (A. V.), and W. Hartree, The Thermo-elastic Pro-
perties of Muscle, 537
Hill (C. A.), Progress in Science and Pharmacy, 659
Hill (J. G.), A ater Transmission, Theoretical and
Applied
Hillebrand we F.), Analysis of Silicate and Carbonate
Rocks, 836
Hillhouse ‘e A.), Degree of D.Sc.
Glasgow University, 568
Hilliar (H. W.), The Pressure-wave Thrown Out by Sub-
marine a are 313
Hills (Col. E. H.), Science and the New Army, 103°
Hilton-Simpson (M. W.), Flint-trimming in Algeria, 81
Hind (Dr. Wheelton), [obituary], 555
Hinks (A. ge The Total Solar Eclipse of September 20,
1922,
Hinton ( im’ A. C.), Rats and the Need of 2 8
Measures, 756
Hiorns (A. H.), [obituary], 335
Hirst (H.), Scorpions, Mites, Ticks, Spiders, and -Centi-
pedes, 787 :
Hitchcock (A. S.), and P. C. Standley, Flora of the District
of Columbia and Vicinity, 242
Hobbs (Prof. W. H.), The Mechanics of the Glacial Anti-
cyclone, illustrated by Experiment, 644 —
Hobson (Dr. F. G.), New Aspects in the Assessment of
Physical Fitness, 812
Hodge (E. T.), The Geological History of Porto’ Rico,
593
Tuberculosis, -
appointed Principal of
conferred upon, by ~
as ey
Lndex
XV
.+A.), elected to a Beit Fellowship for Scientific
ch, 66
earc ‘
Dr. D. G.), Discoveries in the Hejaz, 528
. T.), Studies on Synapsis, ii., 539 ; The Problem
Aapsis, 570
F.), elected to the Benn W. Levy Research
tship in Biochemistry in Cambridge University,
- Thomas H.), The Organisation of Scientific
India, 452
College of Physicians of London, 1922, 755
Co.,” Ltd. (A.), Gift to the Liverpool University
Fund, 376
(Dr.), ‘The
Distribution of ‘Land and Water in
ndinavian Mountain Problem, 623
. E.), awarded a Frank Smart Prize of the
rersity of Cambridge,
Miss L.), Shamanism among the Cahuilla Indians,
fF. Gowland), The Present Position of Vita-
1 Clinical Medicine, 722
F. L.), The Thermionic Properties of Hot
}
_W.), Meteorology for All: Being Some
Problems Explained, 323 ~
labits of the Sage Grouse, 786
-), and Ann C. Davies, The Effects of
Collisions with Atmosvheric Neon, 633
_B.), The Aurora of March 22-23, 200
R. A.), An Experiment on the Spectrum,
, The Empire Timber Exhibition, 691
). and O. Chick, Some Recent Samples
Cinchona Bark, 726 ei
(B. F.), The Middle Cambrian Beds at
Newfoundland, and their Relations, 843
Henry), Presentation of Mammalian’ and
to the Natural History Museum, 209;
dhism in the Pacific, 407
Extermination of the Australian Native
ae - :
), “Museums and the State, 69
), Faint Nebulz, 84
), Birds in Town and Village, 651; The
aturalist, 651.
appointed Lecturer in Histary at Univer-
ege, Swansea, 665
1.), Gift to the Appeal Fund of Liverpool
: . The Deposition of Iron by Electrolysis,
Uses of the Electro-deposition of Metals,
.), A Device for Obviating the Use of the High
p uired in Wireless Telegraphy, 624
(T LI.), The Industrial Fellowship System
Promotion of Industrial Research, 665
| (Prof. A. &.), [death], 239; [obituary article],
H. E.), Records’ of the Nile Gauges. 1913 to 1918,
finand), and Vero C. Driffield, A Memorial
by W. B. Ferguson, 609
.), appointed Professor of Civil Engineering in
Id University, 601
on (R. W.), Intermediate Text-book of Magnetism
Electricity, 515
T. W.), [obituary], 462
E. P.), P. W. Cobb. H. M. Johnson, and W.
Weniger, Report on the Relative Merits of Monocular
Binocular Field-glasses under Service Conditions,
be HL), “The Viscosities and Compressibilities of
uids at High Pressure, 57
(Dr. J. H.), [death], 555
>
_G,. M.), appointed Croonian Lecturer of the |
orth _Atlantic Region in Palzozoic Times, 212 ;°
I. (F. O.), Knowledge and Power, 165
Ilford, Ltd., Panchromatism. Second - edition, 306
Imms (Dr. A. D.), and others, The Investigation of Grain
Pests, 236; The Training of Practical Entomologists,
Inchley (Dr. O.), appointed Lecturer in Pharmacology a
King’s Coleee Loddon, 698 af
Innes (R. T. A.), A Search for Proper Motions by the Blink
Method ; Galactic Condensation, 759 :
Inge (Dean W. R.), elected President of the Aristotelian
Society, 622; The Idea of Progress, 431
Ingle (H.), Elementary Agricultural Chemistry. Third
edition, 773
Inostranseff (Prof. A. A.), [obituary], 525
Jackson (Prof. A. V. W.), The Zoroastrian Doctrine of the
Freedom of the Will, 763
Jackson (Dr. B. Daydon), Banks as a Traveller, 530; The
Cost of Scientific Publications, 354
Jackson (Sir Herbert), elected President of the Institute of
Chemistry, 19
Jackson (J.), Double Stars, 436
3
Jackson (V. G.), Cultivation of the Vine in America, 674
Jacobson (E.), and C. B. Kloss, The Sumatran Hare
(Nesolagus Netscheri), 115
Jaffrey (Sir Thomas), Gift to Aberdeen University, 154
James (Rev. E. O.), An Introduction to cae As A
General Survey of the Early History of the Human
Race, 384
Jardine (E. E.), Practical Science for Girls: As Applied to
Domestic Subjects, 705
Jarry-Desloges (R.), Different Phenomena observed on the
Planet Mars, 603
Jastrow, junr. (Prof. M.), A Gentle Cynic: Being a Trans-
lation of the Book of Koheleth, commonly known as
Ecclesiastes, stripped of Later Additions; also its
Origin, Growth, and Interpretation, 226; The Hittite
Civilisation, 763 .
Jeans (J. H.), Problems of Cosmogony and Stellar
Dynamics, 31
Jee (Dr. E. C.), Fishery Investigations. Ser. III. Hydro-
graphy, Vol, I.; The English Channel, Part II. ;
Vol. II., Lightship Observations, Part I.; Vol. Ill.,
The Atlantic Ocean, Part I., 150 : :
Jeffery (G. B.), Plane Stress and Plane Strain in Bipolar
Co-ordinates, 632 :
Jeffreys (Dr. H.), Gravitational Shift of Spectral Lines, 37 ;
Tidal Friction and the Lunar and Solar Accelerations,
403; Tidal Friction in Shallow Seas, 632
Jellicoe (Lord), The Grand Fleet, 1914-16, 93 :
Jenkin (Prof. C. F.), Presidential Address to Se@tion G of
the British Association, 827
Jenkins (Dr. J. T.), The Sea Fisheries, 397
Jensen (P. B.), The Fish-food in the Limfjord, 1900-1917,
2 .
Job P), and G. Urbain, Detection of Masked Sulphuric
Ions in Complex Compounds, 283 te
Johansen (Dr. A. C.), and Dr. Kirstine; Intensive Fishing,
I
2
Johnson (Dr. S. C.), Pastimes for the Nature Lover, 774;
Wild Fruits and How to Know Them, 774
Johnston (Sir H. H.), The Plumage Bill and Bird Protec-
tion, 168 :
Johnston (Lt.-Col. W. J.), New Editions of the, One-inch
and Quarter-inch Ordnance Survey Maps, 312 :
Jolibois (P.), and P. Bouvier, The Precipitation of Mercuric
Salts by Sulphuretted Hydrogen, 603
Jolliffe (A. E.), appointed Professor of Mathematics at the
Royal Holloway College, 568
Jolly (W. A.), The Reflex Times in Xenopus laevis, 699
Jones (D. W.), Chemical Sheet-Lead, 695
Jones (E. G.), Chemistry for Public Health Students, 705
Jones (Prof. E. T.), The Action of the Induction Coil, 369
Jones (LI. Rodwell), appointed a Lecturer in Commerce at
the London School of Economics and Political Science,
568
Jones (Sir Robert), awarded the
Cameron Prize of the
University of Edinburgh, 622
xvi
Index
Nature,
October 7, 1920
Jordan (M. E. C.), elected a Foreign Associate of the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences, 463
Joynt (T. A.), appointed a Lecturer in Commerce at the
London School of Economics and Political Science, 568
Kamakau, Ancient Religious Ceremonies of the Hawaians,
62
Kapp (Prof. G.), The Principles of Electrical Engineering
and their Application. Vol. II., Application, 418
Kapteyn (Prof. J. C.), Researches on the Stellar System,
838
3
Karpinski (Prof. L. C.), Prof. H. Y. Benedict, and Prof.
J. W. Calhoun, Unified Mathematics, 162
Keane (Prof. A. H.), Man: Past and Present. Revised,
and largely re-written, by Mrs. A. H. Quiggin and
Dr. A. C. Haddon, 255
ree: per oS Ne)» The Sir John Cass Technical Institute,
Keeble. (Prof. F. W.), Presidential Address to Section M
of the British Association, 828
Keen (B. A. ‘ Physical Problems in Soil Cultivation, 438
Keeping (H.), ‘‘ Reminiscences,’’? 624
Keith (Prof. A), How Far Can Osteological Characters
Help in Fixing the Antiquity of Human Remains ?, 153;
The Engines of the Human Body: Being the Substance
of Christmas Lectures given at the Royal Institution
of Great Britain, Christmas, 1916-1917, 195; The
Mathematician as Anatomist, 767
Kellogg (Prof. V.), The United States National Research
Council, 332
Kelly (R. J.), Donnybrook Fair, 433
Kennedy (J.), [obituary], 555
Kennelly (Dr. A. E.), The Transient Process of Establishing
a Steady Alternating Electric Current on a Long Line
from Laboratory Measurements on an Artificial Line,
843
eieson (Prof. A. M.), and Prof. W. V. Lovitt, Mathe-
matics for Collegiate Students of Agriculture and
General Science. Revised edition, 131.
Kershaw (J. B. C.), Fuel, Water, and Gas ate for
Steam Users. Second ‘edition, 227
Kessler (D. W.), Tests of the Physical and Chemical Pro-
perties of Commercial Marbles of the United States,
181
Kestner (P.), presented with the Gold Medal
Society of Chemical Industry, 654
Kidston (Dr. R.), Presentation of Mesozoic Fossil Plants to
the Geological Department of the University of Edin-
burgh, 280; and Prof. Lang, Asteroxylon Mackiei from
the Rhynie Chert-bed of Aberdeenshire, 527
Kienast (A.), Equivalence of Different Mean Values, 474
Kiess (C. C.), and W Meggers, The Infra-red Arc
Spectra of Seven Elements, 726
Kincer (J. B.), Sunshine in the United States, 791
Kinch (Prof. E.), [obituary], 784
King (A. S.), The Zeeman Effect in Furnace Spectra, 529
King (H. H.), Entomological Work in the Anglo-Egyy tian
Sudan, 503
King (Dr. L. V.), appointed) Macdonald Professor of
Physics at the Macdonald Physics Building, McGiil
University, 721
Kingdon (K. H.), Low-voltage Ionisation Phenomena in
Mercury Vapour, 632
Kingzett (C. T.), Posse Chemical Dictionary, 227
Kirkaldy (J.), [obituary], 784
Kitchin (F. L.), and J. Pringle, A Mass of Gault and
of the
Cenomanian Strata Inverted on Lower Greensand, 836
Kling (A.), and D. Florentin, The Differentiation of Masked
and Apparent Sulphuric Ions in Complex Salts, 379 ;
and A. Lassieur, The Separation of Tin and Anti-
mony, 442
Knecht (Prof. .E.), Alpine Insolation Effects on Unprotected
Wood, 90
Knibbs (N. V. S.), and H. Palfreeman, The Theory of
Electro-chemical Chlorate and Perchlorate Formation,
602
Knobel (E. B.), The Cost of Scientific Publications, 327
Knoop (D.), .appointed a Reader in Commerce at the
London School of Economics and Political Science, 568 ;
appointed Professor of Economics in Sheffield Univer-
sity, 665
Knott (Dr. C. G.), Cost of Scientific Publications, 425;
Earthquake Waves and the Elasticity of the Earth, 730
Kobold (Prof.), Astronomical Announcements by Wireless
Telegraphy, 403
Kodak, Ltd., Circular Light-filters for Work with the
Microscope, 435 :
Kofoid (Prof. C. A.), Noctiluca, 433
Konno (S.), The Heat Conductivities of Metals Below and
Above Their Melting Points, 181
Konstam (E. M.), Land Drainage from the Administrative
Point of View, re
Kopaczewski (W.), A. H. Roffo, and Mme. H. L. Roffo,
Anesthesia and Anaphylaxy, 540
Korezynski (A.), W. Mrozinski, and W. Vielau, New
Catalytic Elements for the Transformation of Diazo-
compounds, 763.
Krempf (A.), The Development of Pocillopora ceias and
Seriatopora subulata, 380
Kroeber (Prof. A. L.), Peoples of the Philippines, 420
Kromm (F.), A Star with a Large Proper Motion, 282
Kténas (C, A.), The Hydrocarbon Zone of Western Greece,
251
Lacroix (A.), An Eruption of the Karthala Volcano at
Grand Comore in August, 1918, 666; The Eruption of
Katla eee, in 1918, 314
Lacroix (F. A. A.), elected a Foreign Associate of the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences, 463
Lalesque (Dr. F.), Arcachon, Ville de Santé: Monographie
Scientifique et Médicale, 322
‘Lamb (C. G.), Notes on Magnetism, 19
3
Lamb (Prof. H.), elected an Honorary Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge, 88
Lamb (J.), The Running and Maintenance of the Marine
Diesel Engine, 290
Lamplugh (G. W.), Anticlinal Uplift the Sequel to Deana:
tion in a Gradually Deepening Trough, 338; Some
Features of the Pleistocene Glaciation of England, 58
Lang (H., The Pygmies of Central Africa, 367
Lang (Dr. W. D.), Old Age and Extinction in Fossils, 212
Langmuir (I.), Theories of Atomic Structure, 261
Lankester (Sir E. Ray), Museums and the State, 100; Pre-
sentation to, of the Gold Medal of the Linnean Society,
526; Progress !, 733; re-elected President of the
Marine Biological Association, 303; Some Rostro-
carinate Flint Implements and Allied Forms, 631
Lapicque and Brocq-Rousseu, Marine Algz as” Food for
the Horse, 635
Lapworth (Prof. A.), Latent Polarities of Atoms and
Mechanism of Reaction, with Special Reference to Car-
bonyl Compounds, 346
Lapworth (Prof. C.), [death], 76; [obituary article], 110
Larmor (Sir Joseph), elected a Corresponding Member of
the French Academy of Sciences, 113; Oration in
Presentation of an Honorary Degree to, 568
Latter (O. H.), Note on the Habits of the Tachinid Fly,
Sphexapata (Miltogramma) conica, 614
Laucks (I. F.), Commercial Oils: Vegetable and Animal,
with Special Reference to Oriental Oils, 132
Lavington (F.), appointed Girdlers’ Lecturer in Economics
in Cambridge University, 601
Laws (B. C.), Conferment of the Degree of D.Sc. upon,
by the University of London, 409
Layard (Miss Nina F.), Worked Flints with Finger-grips,
557
Lazarus-Barlow (Dr. W. S.), appointed Professor of Ex-
perimental Pathology at Middlesex Hospital Medical
School, 698
Le Bon (G.), Certain Antagonistic Properties of Various
Regions of the Spectrum, 571
Lecat (Dr. M.), La Tension de Vapeur des Mélanges de
Liquides: L’Azétropisme. Premiére Partie, 129
Lee (H. A.), and H. S. Yates, The ‘* Pink Disease ’? in the
Philippines, 115
Lee (Miss R. M.), The Scale-markings of Fishes, 275
Leechman (D.), The Present State of the Patent Law in
the Light of the New Patent Act, 366
Index
XVili
(E. de K.),
ern Alaska, 559
of. H. Maxwell), The Plumage Bill and Bird Pro-
n, 168; and others, The Education of Economic
omologists, 503 ee
; (R.), and J. Mesnard, Vitamines for the Culture of
Bacteria, 315
x (Prof. RK. T.), awarded ‘a Mary Kingsley Medal, 697
(Sir William), to Deliver the Horace Dobell
722
; (M.), The Reactions of the Metallurgy of
.), Indices of Physical Prog'ress, 26
re. G.), Ry Agnes Browne, Some Derivatives
0 2, 034
-), [obituary], 19 _
d Borguel, Production of True Acetylene Hydro-
leroy | from Epidibromhydrin, 635; and
. The Phenylpropines, 699 :
H.), elected Chairman of the Chemical Section
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society,
ita Rag he Harmonics in the Neighbourhood of an
>
(Dr. H.), The Close Co-operation of the German
nent and the ‘‘ Interessen Gemeinschaft,’’ 722
Prof. V. B.), and Prof. J. S. S. Brame,
emistry. Fifth edition, 287
-), appointed Oliver Sharpey Lecturer of the
e of Physicians of London, 1921, 755
Easy Method of Finding Latitude, 625
se of Mixtures of Formal and Chromium
as Fixing Agents, 604.
R.), Problems of Fertilisation, 225
W. Mz), elected a Fellow of the Royal
sty of Science, 209 © :
ppointed Adrian Brown Professor of Brew-
m University, 154
bs: loyment Psychology: The Applica-
ie Methods to the Selection, Training,
The Canning River Region,
$
Employees, 673
mmemorating the Work of, 654
, appointed Cayley Lecturer in Mathe-
abridge University, 505
L.), and others, Lighting Conditions in
Special Reference to the Eyesight of
Destruction of the Glasshouse Tomato
5. L.), Mining and Manufacture of Fertilising
als, and their Relation to Soils, 4
R. D.), appointed a Lecturer in Anatomy
en University, 730
Norman), Contributions to Astrophysics, 831;
articles], 781, 784 . :
or W. J. S.), Central Wireless Station for
. . 454; Helium: Its Discovery and Applica-
360; Recent Researches on Nebula, 489
Edmund Giles), [obituary article], 3o1
Oliver), Prof. A. Righi, 753
E.), Zine and its Alloys, 193
t. F. C.), Announcement that the Post Office
Favour of Granting Wireless Licences for Ex-
ntal Work, 80 i
Py British Iron Ores, 419
sticity. Third edition, 511; elected an
Member of the Royal Irish Academy,
J.), Bees and the Scarlet Runner Bean, 742
Or. A. The Honorary Degree of Doctor of
_Conferred upon, by Cambridge University, 730
‘y (Dr. T. M.), appointed Professor of Physical Chemis-
ry in Cambridge University, 630; and F. C. Hem-
igs, The Properties of Powders, 217; and S. Wilding,
e Setting of Dental Cements. 217
as (A.), Legal Chemistry and Scientific Criminal In-
_ Yestigation, 772
.
Lumiére (A.), Are Vitamines Nece y 2
oF Pala? sos Necessary to the Development
Lundmark (K.), The Parallaxes of Globular Clusters and
Spiral Nebulz, 215
Lunn (A. C.), The Commutativity of One-parameter Trans-
formations in Real Variables, 667
Lunt (Dr. J.), The Expanding Disc of Nova Aquilze
The Spectrum of 4 Argis, 149
Lyons (Col. H. G.), appointed Director and Secretary of the
Science Museum, South Kensington, 463
» 595;
Lyster (A. G.), [obituary], 143
MacAlister (Sir Donald), to Receive the Honorary De
of LL.D. from the University of Dublin, 89 ae
MacArthur (J. S.), [obituary], 112
MacBride (Prof. E. W.), Museums and the State, 68; The
Method of Evolution, 655 ‘
MacCallum (Dr. Bella D.), appointed Assistant in Botany in
Edinburgh University, 120
MacDougal (Dr. D. T.), The Components and Colloidal
Behaviour of Protoplasm, 795
MacDougall (Dr.), Insects in Relation to Afforestation, 503
MacFadden (Dr.), Work of Inspectors of Food, 151
juego oe (M.), and others, The Iron Ores of Scotland.
ol. xi., 419 :
MacIntyre (Dr. J.), Degree of LL.D. conferred upon, by
Glasgow University, 568 ;
Mackenzie (Col. J. S. F.), A Night Raid into Space: The
Story ‘of the Heavens told in Simple Words, 100
Mackenzie (K. J. J.), Cattle and the Future of Beef Pro-
- duction in England. With a Preface and Chapter by
Dr. F. H. A. Marshall, 62
Mackenzie (Sir Leslie), presented with the Medal of Honour
_ Of the University of Brussels, 440
MacLachlan (Dr. N. W.), The ‘Testing of Bars of Magnet
Steel, 122
Maclaurin (Dr. R. C.), [obituary], 144
MacMahon (Major P. A.), Congruences with Respect to
Composite Moduli, 474 ¥
MacMichael (H. A.), Stone Worship, 115
MacMillan (Prof. W. D.), The Structure of the Universe,
789
MacNutt (J. S.), The Modern Milk Problem in Sanitation,
Economics, and Agriculture, 385
McAdie (Prof. A.), The Attainment of High ‘Levels in the
Atmosphere, 437; The Principles of Aérography, 479
McAulay (Prof. A.), Relativity and Hyperbolic Space, 808
McBain (Prof. J. W.), Colloidal Electrolytes, 760 ;
McBride (G. McC.), The Possibilities of Cotton-growing in
South America, 399
McCarrison (Col.); Vitamines in their Relation to Health.
557
McClelland (Prof. J. A.), [obituary article], 238; and A.
Gilmour, The Electric Charge on Rain, 498; (the late
Prof.), and the Rev. H. V. Gill, The Causes of the
Self-ignition of Ether-air Mixtures, 634
McClure (Rev. Canon E.), Buzzards and Bitterns, 105
McCurdy (E.), Leonardo da Vinci, 307, 340
McDougall (Dr. W.), An Introduction to Social Psychology.
Fourteenth edition, 2a1 ?
McEwen (G. F.), and E. L. Michael, The Functional Rela-
tion of One Variable to each of a Number of Correlated
Variables, 82
McFarlane (J.), Presidential Address to Section E of the
British Association, 826
McFarlane (Miss Margaret), awarded a Keddy Fletcher-
Warr Studentship by the University of London, 155
McGregor (E. A.), The ‘‘ Red Spiders ’’ of America, 275
McIntosh (Dr. J.), appointed Professor of Pathology at
Middlesex Hospital Medical School, 25.
McIntosh (Prof. W. C.), International Council for Fishery
Investigations, 167, 358
McKendrick (Major), and Major Morison, Influenza on
Shipboard, 40 ;
McLennan (Prof, J. C.), Helium: Its Production and Uses,
747, 778; Sources of Helium in the British Empire,
425: and A. C. Lewis, Spark Spectra of Various Elements
in Helium in the Extreme Ultra-violet, 632; J. F. T.
XVII
Index
Naiure,
October 7, 1920
Young, and H. J. C. Ireton, Arc Spectra in vacuo
and Spark Spectra in Helium of Various Elements, 632
McNamara (Dr. J.), The Flight of Flying-fish, 421
Mailhe (A.) A New Method of Formation of Nitriles by
Catalysis, 283; A New Preparation of Amines by
Catalysis, 442; The Catalytic Hydration of Nitriles,
795; and F., de Godon, The Preparation of Fatty
Acids by the Catalytic Oxidation of the Primary
Alcohols, 187; The Catalytic Formation of Ether
Oxides, 27 wee
Majorana (Q.), Gravitation, 283; vi., 251; ix., 844
Malinowsky (Dr. B.), Kula: The Circulating Exchange of
Valuables in the Archipelagoes of Eastern New
Guinea, 688; and others, The Economic Pursuits of the
Trobriand Islanders, 564 .
Mallock (A.), Genera and Species, 675; Growth of Waves,
777 ; Influence of Temperature on the Rigidity of Metals,
631; Muscular Efficiency, 197; Weather Forecasts and
Meteorology, 580
Malone (Capt.), and Capt. Maitra, Encephalitis lethargica
in Karachi, 834
Mangenot (G.), The Chondriome of the Vaucheria, 571
Mangham (S.), appointed Professor of Botany at the Univer-
sity College of Sotthampton, 698
Manning (Dr. V. H.), appointed Director of Research in
the American Petroleum Institute, 52
Mansbridge (A.), Technical Schools and Their Part in Adult
' Education, 23
Maquenne (L.), and E. Demoussy, a Case Favourable to the
Action of Copper on Vegetation, 634; The Catalytic
Action of Copper Salts on the Oxidation by air of
Ferrous Compounds, 699; The Absorption of Calcium
by Plant-roots, etc., 91
Marchal (Prof. P.), elected a Foreign Member of the
Linnean Society, 366
Marconi (G.), An Appreciation of the late Prof. Righi, 526
Marr (Prof. J. E.), The Relationship of the Various Periods
of Prehistoric Man to the Great Ice Age, 153
Marshall (the late Prof. A. Milnes), and the late Dr. C. H.
Hurst, A Junior Course of Practical Zoology. Ninth
edition, revised by Prof. F. W. Gamble, 516
Marshall (the late Rev. E. S.), Bequest to Cambridge
Marshall (1) 7A 1
arshall (J.), “A Law of Force Giving; Stabili
Rutherford Atom, 666 ‘3 roe
Martin (Major A. J.), Presentation to, of the- Gold Medal
of the Institution of Sanitary Engineers, 526; The
Nature and Treatment of Sewage, 792
Martin (Prof. C. J.), elected a Member of the Athenzum
- Club, 209
Martin (E. A.). The Condition of Kent’s Cavern, 742; The
Glaciation of the South Downs, 530
Martin (J.), A Geography of Asia, 35
Martin (M. J.), Wireless Transmission of Photographs.
Second edition, 451
Mason (T. G.), The Inhibition of Invertase in the Sap of
Galanthus nivalis, 123
Mason (Dr. W.), appointed Professor of Engineering
(Strength of Materials), in Liverpool University, 630
Massy (Miss Anne L.), a Revised List of the Species of
Holothurioidea of the Coasts of Ireland, 433
Mathews (Prof. G. B.), Complex Elements in Geometry,
736
Matignon (C.), and J. A. Lecanu, The Reversible Oxidation
of Arsenious Acid, 347: and Mlle. Marchal, The Pro-
longed Action of Carbon Dioxide on Silicates- and
Quartz, 44
Matisse (G.), Action de la Chaleur et du Froid sur 1’Activité
des Etres Vivants, 161
Matthew (W. D.), Plato’s Atlantis in Palaogeography,
Matthews (D. J.), Demoussy’s Engrais, 738
Matthews (R. Borlase), The Technical Library, sos
Maulik (Prof. S.), The Fauna of. British India, including
Ceylon and Burma. Coleoptera. Chrysomelide (His-
pinze and Cassidinz), 64
Maurice (H. G.), elected President of the International
Council for the Exploration of the Sea,: 86
Maury (Miss C. J.). The Shells of Porto Rico, 593
Max Miller (Dr. W.), The Bilingual Inscriptions at Phil,
592
667
Maxwell (Sir Herbert), Sir Edmund Giles Loder, 301; The
Plumage Bill and Bird Protection, 169
Mayer (A.), Guieysse, Plantefol, and Fauré-Fremiet, Pul-
monary Lesions determined by Blistering Compounds,
604; H. Magne, and 'L. Plantefol, Reflex Action Pro-
duced by the Irritation of the Deeper Respiratory
Tracts, 507; H. Magne, and L. Plantefol, The Reflexes
Provoked by Irritation of the Respiratory Passages, 443
Mayo (C. H. P.), Elementary Calculus, 163
Meek (Prof. A.), The Physiology of Migrations in the Sea,
I
Meek (D. B.), Degree of D.Sc. conferred upon, by Glasgow
University, 568 é
Mees (Dr. C. E. Kenneth), The Nature of Photographic
Images, 307; The Organisation of Industrial Scientific
Research, 771 .
Meggers (W. F.), and C. G. Peters, Measurements of the
Index of Refraction of Arc for Wave-lengths, 53
Meldrum (A. N.), The Development of the Atomic Theory,
212
Mellanby (Dr.), appointed Professor of Pharmacology in
Sheffield University, 601 ise
Meltzer (Dr. S. J.), The Dualistic Conception of the Pro-
cesses of Life, 763 ' ‘ ea
Mennell (F. P.), Rare Zinc-copper Minerals from the
Rhodesian Broken Hill Mine, Northern Rhodesia, 569
Mercer (J.), Symmetrisable Functions and their Expansion |
in Terms of Biorthogonal Functions, 632
Mercer (Right Rev. Dr. J. E.), Some Wonders of Matter,
6 :
Meccan (C. F.), A New Method for Anoroximate Evalua-
tion of Definite Integrals between Finite Limits, 422
Merrill (E. D.), New or Noteworthy Philippine ‘Plants,
I
Merrill (G. P.), An Interesting Meteorite, 759
Merrill (P. W.), Variable Stars of Class Md, 244 -
Merton (Dr. T. R.), The Structure of the Balmer Series
of Hydrogen Lines, 314; The Title of Professor Con-
ferred upon, by Oxford University, 40; and Brig.-
General H. Hartley, The Separation of Isotopes, 104
Mesnil (Prof. F.), awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal, 697
Messel (Dr. R.), [death], 239; [obituary article], 270; Be- -
quests by, 569
Metcalfe (J.), [obituary], 273 . :
Meunier (J.), The Catalytic Action of Aluminium in the
Preparation of the Chlorobenzenes, 571 _
Miall (Dr. S.), The Standard of Atomic Weights, 294
Michell (A. G. M.), A Simple Viscometer, 344 ate
Michelson (Prof. A. A.), awarded the Albert Medal of the
Royal Society of Arts, 496; The Application of Inter-
ference Methods to Astronomical Measurements, 666
Middleton (Sir T. H.), Organisation of Scientific Work, 103 :
The Place of Basic Slag in the Agricultural System of
the Country, 183 ‘
Miers (Sir Henry A.), re-elected President of the Man-’
chester Literary and Philosophical Society, 303; C..G.
Darwin, and Dr. H. Robinson, Moseley Memorial, 200
Mignonac (G.). The Catalytic Hydrogenation of Nitriles,
609; The Ketimines, 247 i
Mill (Dr. H. R.), The Position of the Meteorological Office,
38; Woods and Water Supply, 158 ;
Miller (Dr.), List of Observed Parallaxes, 500
Miller (Prof. D. C.), The Velocity of Explosive Sounds, 842
Miller (L. E.), In the Wilds of South America: Six Years
of Exploration in Colombia, Venezuela, British Guiana,
Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, 159
Millikan (Prof. R. A.), to Receive the Honorary Degree of
' D.Sc. from the University of Dublin, 89
Milne (E. A.), appointed Assistant Director of the Solar
Physics Observatory, Cambridge, 376 5 We
Milne (J.), The Analytical Geometry of the Straight Line
and the Circle, 65
Milner (H. B.), Petroleum Geology, 608
Mitchell (Dr. A. C.), The Magnetic Storm of March 22-23
and Associated Phenomena, 170 ;
Mitchell (C, Ainsworth), Characteristics of Pigments in
Early Pencil Writing, 12 pent
Mitchell (Dr. P. Chalmers), Impressions on the Physio- .
graphy of the Nile Basin, 113; Value of Aviation in |
Scientific Exploration, 336
/ndex
xix
A>), and C. P. Olivier, The Binary Krueger 60,
L.), and C. Wriedt, A New Type of Hereditary
phalangy in Man, 464 :
liard (M.), Influence of a Small Quantity of Potassium
_the Physiological Characters of Sterigmatocystis
» 347 ;
Colour and Chemical Constitution. Part xi., 667
Reid , An Early Neolithic ‘‘ Floor ’’ in the Neigh-
ood of Ipswich, 527; Early Palzolithic Flint Im-
146,; Naturally Fractured Eocene Flints, 358;
olithic Man, 289
- and Mrs. P. A.), Further Gift Towards the
© Institute of Parasitology at Cambridge, 665
(Prince Albert de), Stray Mines in the North
(Hon. E. S.), The Plumage Bill, 303
of Beaulieu (Lord), Some National Aspects of
Ort, 4! ais
. O.), appointed FitzPatrick Lecturer of the
llege of Physicians of London, 1921, 755
(Dr. B.), appointed Professor of Biochemistry in
University of Oxford, 537; E. Whitley, and T. A.
bster, Sunlight and the Life of the Sea, 90; and
A. Webster, Photosynthesis in Fresh-water Alge,
The Ignition Points of Liquid Fuels, 245
i), fobituary], 76
x Fp fobituary], 76 . bd
- Lloyd), appointed Emeritus Professor of
and Ethics in Bristol University, 630
.), The Limestone Resources of New Zea-
T. H.), Dr. C. B. Bridges, and A. H.
ontribution to the Genetics of Drosophila
405 bs
), Scientific Apparatus and Laboratory
), elected President of the Oil and Colour
ssociation, 527 :
Evolution of Wealden Flint Culture from
Times; 431
id others, The Imperial College of Science
471 Fae
.), [obituary], 431
o the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 731
a m: Its Manufacture, Manipulation,
J.), [obituary], 363. .
; appointed Professor of, Physiology at
2 for Women Household and Social
a 2 698
Clarke, Reduction in Number of White Blood
| those Handling Radium for Curative
The Training and Functions of the
Pineer, 52
C.), Notions fondamentales de Chimie
Sixiéme édition, 63; and J. C. Bongrand,
hes on Carbon Sub-nitride, 411; and G.
2 angpeadla 539
A New Genus of Australian Delphacide
ra), 63.
pose Gift of Mathematical Works to the
African Public Library, Cape Town, 305
7. H.), H. Kirke Swann, and Rev. F. C. R.
A Geographical Bibliography of British
from the Earliest Times to the end of 1918.
7 Fa
Jr. A. A.), Investigation and Standardisation of
lysical Efficiency of Children, 26
. E.), The Cost of Laboratory Fittings, 294, 456
Dr. R.), [obituary article], 685
rof. C. E.), Products of Detonation of T.N.T.,
(J. B.), The Effect of Phvsical Agents on the
of Mice to Cancer, 668 :
and C. Voegtlin, The Chemical Isolation of
ance
Oldham
S.), Science and the New Army, 135
Myers (Dr. J. E.), and J, B. Firth, Elementary Practical
Chemistry. For Medical and Other Students, Second
edition, 705 :
Nagaoka (H.), Diffraction Image of a Disc, 436
Nansen (Dr. F.), The Discovery of Spitsbergen, 210
Nash (J. K.), The Nesting of. the Bee-eater in Scotland, 786
Wee (R. E.), Electricity: Its Production and Applications,
04
Neave (the late Dr, G, B.), and Prof, 1. M. Heilbron, The
Identification of Organic Compounds. Second edition,
774
Neilson-Jones (W.), appointed Professor of Botany at Bed-
ford College, 155 ‘
Neville (G. O.), The Aborigines of Western Australia:
Their Treatment and Care, 248
Neville (H. A. D.), and L. F. Newman, A Course of Prac-
tical Chemistry for Agricultural Students. Vol ii.,
Mare 1. 74%
Newman (Sir George), The Origin and Growth of the
Medical Department of the Local Government Board,
151; and others, The Place of ‘‘ Preliminary Science ’’
in the Medical Curriculum, 661
Newman (L. F.), and Prof. H. A. D. Neville, A Course of
Practical Chemistry for Agricultural Students. Vol i.,
291
Nichols (Prof, E. F.), Resignation of the Chair of Physics
at Yale University, 440; appointed Director of Pure
Science in the Nela Research Laboratory, 834
Nichols (E. L.), H. L. Howes, and others, The Fluor-
escence and Absorption Spectra of Uranyl Salts, 498
Nicholson (Prof. J. W.), The Secondary Spectrum of
Hydrogen, 166
Nicoll (M. J.), Hand-list of the Birds of Egypt, 674
Nicolle (M.), E. Césari, and C. Jouan, Toxines et Anti-
toxines, 67 ‘
Nierenstein (Dr. M.), Waage’s Phytochemical Synthesis
of Phloroglucin from Glucose, 391
Nordenfelt (T.), [obituary], ‘19
North (B.), assisted by N. Bland, Chemistry for Textile
Students, 382
Northumberland (Duke of), elected President of the Royal
Institution, 304
Nottin (P.), The Absorptive Power of Earth for Manganese,
Noyes (A. A.), and D. A. MacInnes, The Ionisation and
Activity of Largely Ionised Substances, 667 :
Ogilvy (J: W.), British and Foreign Scientific Apparatus,
Ohash? (Prof. R.), The Plumbiferous Barytes from Shi-
bukuro, Japan, 569 :
(R. D.), elected President of the Geological
Society, 52; The Frequency of Earthquakes in Italy
in the Years 1896 to 1914, 186
Onicescu (O.), Newtonian Fields in the Neighbourhood of a
given Vectorial Field, 843
Onnes (H. K.), elected a Foreign Associate of the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences, 463
Onslow, The Melanic Variety of Boarmia (Tephrosia) con-
sonaria, 278 pene
Orange (J. A.), Deflection of Light during a Solar Eclipse,
8
Ormandy (Dr. W. R.), Patents taken out for Mixtures
Intended as Motor Fuels, 21; The Filtration of
Colloids, 696
Orpen (Sir William), elected a Member of the Athenzum
Club, 209 ; :
Ortmann (Dr. A. E.), Correlation of Shape and Station
in Fresh-water Mussels, 843
Osborn (Prof. H. F.), Report of the American Museum of
Natural History, 1919, 724; and C.-C. Mook, Recon
struction of the Skeleton of the Sauropod Dinosaut
Camarasaurus, Cope (Morosaurus, Marsh), and W. K.
Gregory, Restoration of Camarasaurus and Life-model,
667; Type Specimens of Fossil Horses from the Oli
gocene, Miocene, and Pliocene Formations of North
America, 117
XX
Index
Nature,
Octvber 7, 1920
Osborne (Prof. W. A.), Marat and the Deflection of Light,
6
45
O’Shea (Prof. L. T.), [death], 239; [obituary article], 272
Osler (the late Sir bia a Proposed Memorial to, 50
Osterhout (Prof. V.), Respiration, 795
Oxley (Dr. A. E.), Wives and Molecular Structure, 231;
Atomic and Molecular Forces and Crystal Structure,
327; Diamagnetism and the Structure of the Hydrogen
Molecule, 581; Diamagnetism of Hydrogen, 709 ; Lang-
muir’s Theory of Atoms, 105; The Magnetic Properties
of Forty Organic Compounds, 243
Oyler (Rev. D. S.), The Shilluks’ Belief in Medicine Men,
527
Pacific Steam Navigation iCo., Gift to the - Liverpool
University Appeal Fund, 762
Page (L.), Gravitational Deflection of High-speed Particles,
233
Palander (Admiral A. L.), [obituary], 754
Palmer (W. G.), The Catalytic Activity of Copper. Part i.,
633
Parker (Prof. G. H.), The Phosphorescence of Renilla, 843
Parker (W. H.), appointed Director of the National Insti-
tute of Agricultural Botany, 335
Parkinson (Dr. W. H.), and H. D.
Sewage Filters, 131
Parsons (Prof. F. GS, and others,
the British Isles, 531
Parsons (S. J.), Malleable Cast Iron. Second edition, 290
ies ees (Prof. J. R.), The Standard of Atomic Weights,
Bell, Insect Life on
The Colour Index of
Partridue (W.), appointed Lecturer in Chemistry (Public
Health), at King’s College, London, 698
Pascoe (Dr. E. H.), Relations of the Indus, the Brahma-
putra, and the Ganges, 835
Patchell (W. H.), Operating a By-product Producer-gas
Plant for Power and Heating, 148
Paulson (R.), Stages in the Sporulation of Gonidia within
the Thallus of Evernia prunastri, Ach., 281
Pauthenier (M.), Ratio of the Absolute Retardations in
Carbon Bisulphide for Increasing Durations of Charge,
699; Ratio of the Absolute Retardations in the Kerr
Phenomenon for Different Wave-lengths in the case of
Nitrobenzene, 634
Payman (W.), Need of a Safety Lamp in Chemical Works,
116; The Propagation of Flame in Complex Gaseous
Mixtures, 279
Peachey (S. ‘y.). A Process for the Cold Vulcanisation: of
Rubber, 625
Peake (H.), The Finnic Question and Some Baltic
Problems, 723
Pearl (Prof. R.), The Consumption of Foodstuffs in
America from 1911—1918, 597; and
Production of Ayrshire Cattle, 245
Pearson (E. S.), awarded the Sheepshanks Exhibition in
Astronomy in Cambridge University, 313
Pearson (Prof. Karl), Presidential Address to Section H
of the British Association, 827; The Permanent Value
of University Benefactions, 501; and Julia Bell, A
Study of the Long Bones of the English Skeleton.
J. R. Miner, Milk
Part i., The Femur; Part-i., Section ii., The Femur
; of Man, with Special Reference to other Primate
Femora, 767
Pease (F. G.), sgh Poe of the Moon, 267
Peirce (Prof. B. O.), Magnetic Characteristics of the Iron
Core of a Transformer or of an Induction Coil, 243
Pendred (L.), Plant-life in Cheddar Caves, 709
Percival (A: S.), Some Methods of Approximate Integra-
tion and of Computing Areas, 70
Péringuey (L.), Stone Implements of Palzolithic Type
Throwing Light on the Manufacture in South Africa,
699; Strand-loopers, 558; The Whales Frequenting
South African Waters, 507
Perkin (Prof. W. H.), University Grants, 805
Perot (A.), Comparison of the Wave-lengths of a line of
the Cyanogen Band in the Light of the Sun and that
of a Terrestrial Source, 794
Perotti (R.), Measure of Ammoniating Power of Soils, 844;
Nitrogen of the Cyanic Group in Manures, 844
Perrett (Dr, W.), ‘‘ All-or-None ’’ in the Auditory nerve,
390; Photographs of Seven Vocal Notes, 39
Perry (Prof. J.), [obituary articles], 751, 752
Perry (W. J.).The Origin of Warlike States, 442; The
Search for Amber in Antiquity, 274; The Search for
Gold and Pearls in Neolithic Times, 250
Perrycoste (Honor M. M.), The First Act of a Young
Thrush, 456
Petavel (Sir J. E.), elected a Member of the Athenaum
Club, 209
Petch (T.), Revisions of Ceylon Fungi, Part vi., 20
Petersen (Prof. -), Our Gobies (Gobiidz) from the
Egg to the Adult Stages, 527
Petrie (Prof. Flinders), A Remarkable Ebony Statue from
Egypt, 463; and Dr. Dennison, Personal Ornaments
Found in Upper Egypt, 210
Peyrouel (B.), A Parasite of the Lupin, Blepharospora
terrestris, 844
Pfeffer (Prof. W.), [obituary article], 302
Philby (H. St. John B.), awarded the Founder’s Medal of
the Royal Geographical Society, 112
Philip (A.), Reform of the Calendar, 22
Philip (J. B.), sence wtigiid with Plants,
book of Science, 805
Philip (Sir Robert W. ), Degree of LL.D. Conferred upon,
by Glasgow University, 568
Phillips (Rev. T: E. R.), The Planet Jupiter, 500
Phillips (W. J.), Insect Pests in the United States Affecting
Grain Crops, Cultivated Grasses, and Wild Grasses,
662
A First School-
Pictet (A.), and P, Castan, Glucosane, 795
Piedallu (A.), P. Malvezin, and L. Grandchamp, The Treat-
ment of the Blue casse of Wines, 442
Pierantoni (Prof.), Physiological Symbiosis, 756
Piettre (M.), and A. Vila, The Separation of the Proteins
of the Serum, 571 -
Pilgrim (Dr. G. E. ), A Great Pliocene River Running on
the South Side of the Himalayas, 836
Pilon (H.), authorised translation. The Coolidge Tube.
Its Scientific Applications. Medical and Industrial,
739
Pilsbry. (Dr. H. A.), Review of the Land Mollusks of ee
Belgian Congo, 433
Pitman (P.), Pelton-wheel Construction, 625
Pitt (Miss F.), The Colour and Markings of Pedigree
Hereford Cattle, 211
Piutti (A.), Action of Chloropicrin on the Parasites of
Wheat and on Rats, 283
_Pixell-Goodrich (Mrs.), Cause of the’ Death of Honey-bees,
53 |
Pleasance (R. E.), appointed Demonstrator in Pathology in ©
Sheffield University, 601
Pocock (R. I.), External Characters of the South American
Monkeys, 218
Poincaré (L.), [death], 50; seri 208
Pollard (S.), awarded a Smith’s Prize by Chakenge
University, 88 ;
tie hey H.), The FitzGerald-Lorentz Contraction Theory, .
Bok. “8. T.), The Medical History of Ishi, 755
Pope (Sir W. J.), elected an Associate of the Académie
Royale de Belgique, 463; nominated President of the
Society of Chemical Industry, 432; elected President
of the Society of Chemical Industry, 654
Porcher (C.), Milk and Apthous Fever, 699; Want of Food
and the Chemical Composition of Milk, 571
Porritt (B. D.), appointed Director of Research by the
Research Association of British Rubber and . Tyre
Manufacturers, 179
Portier (P.), The Rabbit deprived of its Czcal Appendix
Regenerates this Organ, 347
Posternak (S.), The Variations of the Composition of
Ammonium Phosphomolybdate, 347
Pott (J. A.), [obituary], 334
Potts (F. A.), appointed University Lecturer in Zoology in
Cambridge University, 537
Powell (B.), Methods for the
Gauges, * 184
Prain (Sir David). elected a Foreign Associate of the U. Ss.
National Academy of Sciences, 463
Verification of Screw
Lndex
xxi
rof. T.), The Theory of Heat.
d by J. R. Cotter, 228
Third edition.
J. D.), Celt and Slav, 763
N.), Occurrence of Ozone in the Atmosphere, 645
. G. T.), The Meteoric Iron of Mount Ayliff,
uland East, 156
(S.), The Double Refraction and Dichroism of
nes of Ammonium Chloride in the Electric Field,
.), [obituary], 112
Iborough R.), [obituary article], 333
-), Methods of Determining Time and Latitude,
+
rof. P. F.), The Peat Resources of Ireland, 791
3 t), Tropical Control of Australian Rainfall, 152
Standard Time in Finland, 145
), Light Concrete, 91
ow (W. J.), [obituary], 208 Syouite or
in ( ee ve: The Einstein Deflection of Light, 23
rof. S.), [death], 431; [obituary article], 494
_ (J.), and others; Canvas-destroying Fungi,
so Manual of Tree Diseases, 577
eB. -), The Trematode Family Hetero-
l.), and Prof. Baker, Generation of Sets of
hedra Mutually Inscribed and Circumscribed,
Flight at Very High Altitudes and. the Use
. ssor, 282; Maps of the Network of
Distribution in France, 571
, W.), yahees at Harkness Scholarship of
University of Cambridge, 537
rof. FR). Plant Culture in Denmark, 761
. Canon H. D.), [obituary], 430
appointed Principal of the West Bromwich
echnical Institute, 698
Schmidt’s Die Gliederung der Australischen
07; The Religion and Origin of the
0-con
ulla Chandra), The Indian Chemical Service,
late Lord), Proposed Memorial to, 50, 687;
of a Committee to Collect Funds for a
3 '
c BS xc mination of the Light Scattered
Respect of Polarisation. I. Experiments
mmon Gases, 631; The Blue Sky and the
arties of Air, 584
rcules), elected President of the Society
tiquaries of London, 273; The Prospects of
gical Research, 497 —
and L. Dunoyer, Utilisation of Cirrus Clouds
er Prediction, 251
. S.), Bygone Beliefs: Being a Series of Ex-
in the Byways of Thought, 610
and Dr. MacNalty, Encephalitis lethargica,
W.), The Heron of Castle Creek and Other
es of Bird Life, 514
: , The D.Sc. (Economics) Degree Conferred upon,
by the University of London, 25
(W. J.), The Corrosion of Coke-oven Walls, 695
's. Eleanor M.), A Comparative Review of Pliocene
oras, Based on the Study of Fossil Seeds, 249; Two
e-Glacial Floras from Castle Eden (County Durham),
of. H. F.), Distribution of Land and Water on the
h, 763; and S. Taber, The Porto Rico Earthquake
October 11, 1918, 276 pores Boy
(W. F.), The Difficulty of Inventors in Obtaining
Recognition, 367 |
(Dr. J.), and W, J. Hickinbottom : (1) The Influence
f Electrolytic Dissociation on the Distillation in Steam
of the Volatile Fatty Acids. (2) Some Applications of
the Method of Distillation in Steam, 379; and others,
Preparation of Acetone by the Fermentation of Starchy
Material, 466
vateee (M. J.), The Teaching of Art in Local Museums,
7
Rendle (Dr. A. B.), Banks as a Patron of Science
The Cost of Scientific Publications, 353
Rennesson (M.), Loss of Energy in the Dielectric of Com-
mercial Cables, 218
Renouf (L.), The Mounting of Wet Specimens under
Watch-glasses and Petri Dishes, 689
Renwick (F. F.), The Hurter Memorial Lecture, 689
Rew (Sir R. Henry), elected President of the Royal
Statistical Society, 526; Food Supplies in Peace and
War, 320; Social Service in Rural Areas, 731
Reynolds (Prof. J. Emerson), [obituary article], 49
Khead (E. L.), Technical Education and Mind Training,
439
Rhodes (C. E.), [obituary], 495
Rice (G. S.), The Mines and Methods of Working Them, in
_ the Pas-de-Calais District, 688
Richardson (Lt.-Col. A. R.), appointed Professor of Mathe-
matics at University College, Swansea, 665; Science
_ and the New Army, 170 :
Richardson (C. A.), Spiritual Pluralism and Recent Philo-
sophy, 773 ; The Principle of Equivalence and the Notion
of Force, 72 .
Richardson (H.), appointed Principal of the Bradford
_ Technical College, 505
Richardson (L. F.), Some Measurements of Atmospheric
Turbulence, 57; The Supply of Energy to Atmospheric
Eddies, 378
Richardson (W, A.), A New Model Rotating-stage Petro-
logical Microscope, 570; The Fibrous Gypsum of
Nottinghamshire, <69
» 539;
‘Ridgeway Ce W.), Two Wooden Maori Daggers, 274:
and Dr. D. Barnett, The Origin of the Hindu
_ Drama: Additional Evidence, 433
Righi (Prof. A.), [death], 462; G. Marconi, 526; .
[obituary article], 753
eigen (Dr. E. van), Secondary Maxima and Minima,
761
Riquoir (G.), Colloidal Complexes and Sera, 187
Robb (Dr. A. A.), The Construction of a Magnetic Shell
Equivalent to a Given Electric Current, 199
Robertshaw (G. F.), Examination of Lubricating Oils, 339
Robertson (Principal C. Grant), University Grants, 774
Robertson (G. Scott), Effect of Various Types of Open-
hearth Basic Slags on Grassland, 184
Robertson (J. B.), The Chemistry of Coal, 382
Robertson (Prof. P. W.), and D. H. Burleigh, Qualitative
Analysis in Theory and Practice, 705
Robertson (Sir Robert), The Research Department, Wool-
wich, 710, 74
Robertson (Prof.
Proteins, 257
Robinson (J. W. D.), The Devonian of Ferques (Lower |
Boulonnais), 314
Robinson (Prof. R.), The Conjugation of Partial Valencies,
346; The Mechanism of the Production of Kynurenic
Acid in the Dog, 346
Rocasolano (A. de G.), The Catalytic Decomposition of
Solutions of Hydrogen Peroxide by Colloidal Platinum,
3
T. B.), The Physical Chemistry of the
603
Rogers (Sir Leonard), Fevers in the Tropics. Third
edition, 33; Organisation of Scientific Work, 292;
Return of, to England, 303
Rogers (R. A. P.), Perimeter of an Ellipse, 8; Dr. F. A.
Tarleton, 554; Some Methods of Approximate Integra-
tion and of Computing Areas, 138 é
Rohwer (S, A.), and F. X. Williams, Philippine Wasp
Studies, 600
Rootham (C.), Mr. Sedley Taylor, 143
Rose (Lady Jenny), Early Hawthorn Blossom, 234.
Rose (W. N.), Mathematics for Engineers. Part ii., 260
Rosenhain (Dr. W.), Glass Manufacture. Second edition,
12
Rosenheim (O.), The Formation of Anthocyanins in Plants,
401
XXil
L[ndex
Nature.
Octoler 7, 1920
Ross (Sir Ronald), Organisation of Scientific Work, 6;
Philosophies ; Psychologies, 414; Fellow-workers, 455
Rothé (E.), A New Electrical Anemometer, 443
Roubaud (E.), The Mode of Action of Powdered Trioxy-
methylene on the Larvz of Anopheles, 667
Roubaud. (E.), Use of Trioxymethylene in Powder for the
Destruction of the Larvze of Mosquitoes, 604
Rouch (J.), Manuel Pratique de Météorologie, 451; The
Height of Sea-Waves, 219
Routledge (Mrs. Scoresby), The Mystery of Easter Island:
The Story of an Expedition, 583
Roux (Dr, E.), and Dr, C.-F. Muttelet, Aliments Sucrés.
Sucres—Miels—Sirops—Confitures—Sucreries—Sucs et
Réglisse, 641
Rowett (J. Q.), Gift to the Institute of Research in Animal
Nutrition at Aberdeen, 80
Russ (Dr. S.), appointed Professor of Physics at the
Middlesex Hospital Medical School, 25
Russell. (Dr. A.), Applications of Electricity, 418; The
Capacity Coefficients of Spherical Conductors, 57;
Occurrence of Cotunnite, Anglesite, Leadhillite, and
Galena on Fused Lead from the Wreck of the Fireship
Firebrand, Falmouth Harbour, 156
Russell (Dr. E. J.), A Student’s Book on Soils and Manures.
Second edition, 130; Basic Slag and Its Uses in Agri-
culture, 183; British Crop Production, 176, 206;
Organisation of Scientific Work, 7; The Manufacture
of Artificial Fertilisers, 4; The Nation’s Food, 320;
Wheat and Wheat-growing, 224
Russell (Prof. H. N.), The Masses of the Stars, 500; The
Planetary Families of Comets, 467
Russell (Sir Thomas W.),; [death), 302
Rutherford (Sir Ernest), elected an Honorary Member of
the Royal Irish Academy, 113: elected a Fellow of
the Royal Danish Society of Science, 209; To Deliver
the Bakerian Lecture of the Royal Society, 80;
Nuclead Constitution of Atoms, 500
Rutherford (Capt. W. J.), ‘‘ A Border Myth: The Stand-
ing Stones at Duddo,”’ 623 .
Rydberg (Prof. J. R.), [obituary article], 525 :
Ryneveld (Col. van), and Capt. Brand, Completion of
African Aeroplane Flight, 113
Sabatini (V.), Leucitic Lavas of the Volcano of Roccamon-
fina, 844
Saccardo (Dr. P. A.), [obituary], 76
Sadler (Sir M. E.), University Grants, 740
Saha (M.. N.), Ionisation in the Solar Chromosphere, 232
Saillard (E.), The Sugar-beet During the War, 571
St. John (C. E.), The Einstein Displacement of Spectral
Lines, 244 :
Salmon (Dr. C. S.), appointed Lecturer in Physical Chemis-
try at King’s College, London, 698
Sampson (Prof. R. A.), appointed Halley Lecturer for
1920, 56; Eiffel Tower Wireless Time-signals, 265 ;
Longitude by Wireless Telegraphy, 370; Relativity and
Reality, 708
Sanderson (F. W.), The Evil in Existing Educational Sys-
tems, 561 : :
Sanford (Dr. E. C.), Resignation of the Presidency of
Clark College, 602
Sargent (H. C.), The Lower Carboniferous Chert-formations
of Derbyshire, 58
Saunders (Miss E. R.), Presidential Address to Section K
of the British Association, 828
’ Sauzin (M.), The Propagation of Sustained Electrical
Oscillations in Water and the Dielectric Constant of
Water, 763
Savage (R. E.). Structure of Scales of Fishes, 275
Savoor (S. R. U.), Rotating Liquid Cylinders, 379
Savory (Isabel), The Romantic Rousillon: In the French
Pyrenees, 163
_ Sazerac (R.), Culture of the Tubercle Bacillus on a Medium
of Autolysed Yeast, 795
Scales (Dr. S.), appointed University Lecturer in Medical
Radiology and Electrology in Cambridge University,
60
I
Schafer (Sir E. Sharpey), London University Site and
Needs, 484; The University Problem, 698
Schaumasse (M.), A New Comet, 658; Discovery and ~
Observations of the Comet 1920b (Schaumasse), 794
Schleiter (Dr. F.), Religion and Culture: A Critical Survey
of Methods of Approach to Religious Phenomena,
451
Schlesinger (Prof. F.), and Z. Daniel, Capella, 183
Schlick (Prof, M.), Rendered into English by H. L. Brose,
Space and Time in Contemporary Physics: An Intro-
ies to the Theory of Relativity and Gravitation,
54
Schmidt (P. W.),
Die
Sprachen, 707
Schroeder (Major R. W..), Record Aeroplane Height Flight,
Gliederung der Australischen
18
Schwarz (Prof. E. H. L.), The Kalahari and Ovamboland,
297
Scott (A.), A Swarm of Noctiluca and Pleurobrachia and
Beroé in the Barrow Channel, 656
Scott (Dr. H.), appointed Curator in Entomology in Cam-
bridge University, 345
Scott (H. H.), and C. Lord, Skeleton of Nototherium
Found in Tasmania, 593; Studies of Tasmanian Mam-
mals, Living and Extinct. Part ii., 796
Scott (J. W.), appointed Professor of Logic and Philosophy
in the University College of South Wales and Mon-
-mouthshire, 537
Scott (Sir Percy), Fifty Years in the Royal Navy, 94
Searle (A. B.), elected President of the National Associa-
tion of Industrial Chemists, 785; The Preparation of
Tungsten and its Uses in the Filaments of Incandescent
Lamps, etc., 339; The Use of Colloids in Health and
Disease, 351
Searle (G. F. C.), A Bifilar Method of Measuring the
Rigidity of Wires, 473; An Experiment on a Piece
of Common String, 474; Experiments with a Plane
Diffraction Grating, Using Convergent Light, 474
Seeger (H.), The Lighting of Museums and Art Galleries,
627; The Lighting of Picture-galleries and Museums,
2
723
Selous (the late Capt. F. C.), Memorial to, 504 —
emmes (D. R.), The Geology of the San Juan District,
Porto Rico, 148
Senderens (J. B.), and J. Aboulenc, The Catalytic Decom-
position of the Fatty Acids by Carbon, 411
Sergent (Dr. F.), awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal, 697
Seton (E. Thompson), Animal Heroes. Fourth impres-
sion, 580; Monarch: The Big Bear of Tallac, 450; The
Arctic Prairies: A Canoe-journey of 2,000 Miles in
Search of the Caribou, 426 \
Seward (Prof. A. C.), A Study in Palzogeography, 223 ;
Fossil Plants. Vol. iv.: Ginkgoales, Coniferales,
Gnetales, 97; Organisation of Scientific Work, 7; The
Origin of the Vegetation of the Land, 250
Seyewetz (Dr.), Photographic Developing Agents, 182
Seymour (H. L.), Astronomy in Town Planning, 691
Shanahan (Dr. E. W.), Animal Foodstuffs: Their Produc-
tion and Consumption, with a Special Reference to th
British Empire, 513
Shapley (Dr. H.), Increasing the Photographic Power o
Telescopes, 625; Star Clusters, 54
Shaughnessy (Major), A New Radio Call Signal, 690
Shaw (F.), appointed Assistant Lecturer in Electrical
Engineering in Birmingham University, 154
Shaw (Sir Napier), appointed Professor of Meteorology in
the Department of Aeronautics at the Imperial College
of Science and Technology, 841: Impending Retirement
of, from the Meteorological Office, 144
Sheldon (W.), [obituary], 495
Sheppard (W. F.), Reduction of Error by Linear Com-
pounding, 632
Sheriff (Miss C. W. M.), appointed Assistant Lecturer in
Mathematics at King’s College, London, 698
Sherman (H. C.), The Protein Requirement of Mainten- -
ance in Man, 668
Shidrowitz (Dr. P.), to Direct the School of Rubber
Technology at the Northern Polytechnic Institute, 731
Shive (J. W.), Relation of the Moisture in Solid Substrata to
the Physiological Salt-balance, etc., 310
Shore (A.), Alternating Current Work. An
Students of Wireless Telegraphy, 133
Outline fer
~
te | Lndex
XXi111
. G. H.), A Third Duplication of Genetic Fac-
in Shepherd’s-purse, 795
n (Dr. L.), Abstracts of Papers Presented to the
demia dei Lincei, January 18, 251; Feb. 1,
Projective Vector Algebra: An Algebra of Vectors
mdependent of the Axioms of Congruence and of
aral els, 65; The Aspherical Nucleus Theory Applied
0 the Balmer Series of’ Hydrogen, 441
s (D.), The Formation of Basic Slag in the Manu-
‘of Steel, 184
(Lieut. N. L.), Local Weather Conditions at Mul-
m, Cornwall, 281,
ajor W. E.), Resignation of the Direction and
lip of the Technical Review; appointed to
1e Intelligence Branch of ‘the Ministry of
t, 722; Technical Libraries and Intelligence,
(Dr. G. C.), appointed Director of the Meteor-
, 721; The Antarctic Anticyclone, 777 °
T.), Hidden Treasure: The Story of a Chore
‘made the Old Farm Pay, 36
R. W.), Paper-making and its Machinery, 480
C.), Early English Magic and Medicine, 337;
< Science and Philosophy, 373; ‘Science and
ism, 127,
548 é
‘W. de), The Lunar Parallax and Related
a
), Gens South African Entomophthoracez, 507
(Ada M. and Eleanor 'L.), Stories for the Nature
The Fundamental Equations of Dynamics
iin Co-ordinate Systems Vectorially Treated
ed, from Rigid Dynamics, 65
others, Observations of the Total Solar
; 18, June 8, 117
J.), appointed Professor of Botany in Queen’s
Belfast, 25; The Chemical Reversal of
onse in Roots and Stems, 249; The
oy ment of the Composite, 450
L.), Local Colleges and Adult Education,
on. Sir Charles A.), bequest to Peterhouse, Cam-
» 313
, By-products from Coke-oven Gas, 695
ited’ Reader in Estate Management in
ersity, 120 - :
sinted Director of Scientific Research of
9 245 age aaa
Elliot), elected to the Mary Louisa Prentice
Lectureship in Ophthalmology, 240;
Past and Present, 255; Medical Re-
» 72
Malcolm), appointed Assistant in Clinical
e University of Edinburgh, 280
and A. R. Penfold, The Manufacture of
thone, and Menthol from Eucalyptus Oils,
).); appointed a Lecturer in Commerce at the
School of Economics and Political Science, 568
. C.), Misinformation and Misconception con-
atural History, 146
The Balancing of Errors, 122; Tracing Rays
an Optical System, 473
Sir William), presented with the Medal of
r of the University of Brussels, 440
C.), Riebeckite-rhyolite from North Kordofan,
i 5S
. W.), A Theory of the Mechanism of Survival :
Fourth Dimension and its Applications, 484
mai, Two Factors concerned in Spotting in Mice,
of. F.). Apnlied Science and Industrial Research,
Education in the New Era, 561; Le Radium:
étation et Enseignement de la Radioactivité,
‘Traduit de 1’Anglais par A. Lepape, 805; Science and
ife: Aberdeen Addresses, 1; The Public Support of
Scientific Research, 309; The Separation of the Iso-
topes of Chlorine, 516, 642°
Ini
' Sola (C.), The New Minor Planet GM, 595 :
Solvay (Dr. E.), elected an Honorary Member of the
American Chemical Society, 590
Sonntag (Dr. C. F.), Comparative Anatomy of the Tongues
of the Mammalia, 218
Sorabji (R. K.), Facilities for Indian Students in America
and Japan, 377
Souder (W. H.), and P, Hidnert, Measurements of the
Expansion of Samples of Porcelain, etc., 181
Souéges (R.), The Embryogeny of the Solanaceze, 442, 475
Spaight (Dr. J. M.), Aircraft in Peace and the Law, 483
Speare (A. T.), Experiments on Sorosporella uvella, 310
Speidel (C. C.), Gland-cells of Internal Secretion in the
Spinal Cord of the Skates, 279
Spring (F, G.), and J. N. Milsum, Food Production in
Malaya, 180
Squier (Gen.), Multipiex Telephony and Telegraphy over
Open-circuit Bare Wires laid in the Earth or Sea, 467
Stacey (W. F.), Practical Exercises on the Weather anda
Climate of the British Isles and North-west Europe, 13°;
Stamp (L. D.), appointed Demonstrator in Geology at
King’s College, London, 698
Stanton (T. E.), Miss D. Marshall, and Mrs. C. N. Bryant,
The Conditions at the Boundary of a Fluid in Turbu-
lent Motion, 44r
Starkie (Dr. W. J. M.), [obituarv], 686
Stauffacher (Dr. H.), eue Beobachtungen iiber den
Erreger der Maulund Klauenseuche : Die Entwicklung
des Schmarotzers im Blut, speziell in den roten Blut-
k6érperchen, 100
Staward (R.), Practical Hardy Fruit Culture, 545
Stead (Dr. J. E.), Progress made in the Ferrous Industries
during the past Fifty Years, 403
Stebbing (E. P.), appointed Professor of Forestry in the
University of Edinburgh, 537; Commercial Forestry in
Britain : its Decline and Revival, 577
Stephens (Miss Jane), The Fresh-water Sponges of Ireland,
474
Stephenson (Prof.), Oligochceta from the Lesser-known
Parts of India and from Eastern Persia, 656
Stephenson (T. A.), The Genus Corallimorphus, 474
Stevens (Dr. H. P.), The Stretching of Rubber in Free
Balloons, 613
Stevenson (Dr. T. H. C.), The Fertility of, the Social :
Classes in England and Wales, 655
Steward (G. C.), appointed Assistant Lecturer in Applied
Mathematics in Leeds University, 698
Stewardson (H. C.), [obituary], 302 ?
Stewart (Prof. A. W.), Stereochemistry. Second edition,
12
Stiles (Prof, C. W.), awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal, 697
Stillwell (Dr. F. L.), The Factors Influencing Gold Deposi-
tion in the Bendigo Goldfield, 465
Stoklasa (J.), The Action of Hydrocyanic Acid on the
Organism of Plants, 539
Stoney (Edith AS The Carrying Power of Spores and
Plant-life in Deep Caves, 740
Stratton (Dr. F. J. M.), The Universities and the Army, 234
Street (R. O.), The Tidal Motion in the Irish Sea: its
Currents and its Energy, 632
Stromeyer (C. E.), The After-effects of Cannibalism, 90
Strong (Prof. J.), elected President of the Association of
University Teachers, 537 ' ,
Stuart (H. Akroyd), Claim for Recognition as a Pionee
Inventor of Oil-engine Cycles, aga :
Stuart (Sir Thomas P. Anderson), [obituary article], 111
Sullivan (L. R.), The Pygmy Races of Man, 367 ;
Sulman (A, E.), Australian Wild Flowers. Second series,
34; Some Familiar Wild Flowers, 34
Sulman (F.), A Popular Guide to the Wild Flowers of New
South Wales. Vol. ii., 34
Summers (A. 'L.), Asbestos and the Asbestos Industry: the
World’s Most Wonderful Mineral and other Fireproof
Materials, 193 ; ,
Sutton’ and’ Sons, Experiments in Seed Electrification. 337
Sutton (J. R.), A Possible Lunar Influence upon the Velo-
city of the Wind at Kimberley, 700; Overgrowths on
Diamond, 507; Statistics of Thunder and Lightning at -
Kimberley, 507; The Relationship between Cloud and
Sunshine, 667
XX1V
Lnaex
Nature,
October 7, 1920
Swinton (A, A. Campbell), elected Chairman of the Council
of the Royal Society of Arts, 654; Life and Letters of
Silvanus P. Thompson 448; Receipt of Wireless
Messages from Paris and Slough while Lecturing, 80
Sydenham (Lord), Science and the Nation, 468
Sykes (Maj:-Gen. Sir Frederic H.), Imperial Air Routes,
359
Sykes (Miss Ella), and Brig.-Gen. Sir Percy Sykes, Through
Deserts and Oases of Central Asia, 330
Tancock (E. O.), The Elements of Descriptive Astronomy.
Second edition, 131
Tanner (Dr. F. W:), Bacteriology and Mycology of Foods,
99
Tanret (G.), Pelletierene and Methylpelletierene, 442
Tansley (A. G.), The New Psychology and its Relation to
Life, 770
Tarleton (Dr, F. A.), [death], 525; [obituarv article], 554
Tattersall (Dr. W. M.), Life-history of the Periwinkle, 373;
Museums and the State, 102
Tavener (P. A.), ‘‘ The Birds of Eastern Canada,’ 623
Taylor (E. H.), Need for the Protection of the Philippine
Hawksbill Turtle, 756
Taylor (Dr. Griffith), Agricultural Climatology of Aus-
tralia, 442; Climatic Cycles and Evolution, 728
Taylor (H. J.), Day Continuation Schools, 23
Taylor (Dr. H. S.), Fuel Production and Utilisation, 609
Taylor (Dr. Monica), Aquarium Cultures for Biological
Teaching, 232
Taylor (Sedley), [obituary article], 143
Taylor (W.), Scientific Apparatus and Laboratory Fittings
5
Taylor (W. T.), Calculation of Electric Conductors, 229
Templeton (J.), appointed Lecturer in Botany in Edinburgh
University, 120
Terada (Prof.), Effect of Topography on Precipitation in
Japan, 509
Terhune (A. P.), Lad: a Dog, 484
Termier (Prof. P.), ‘‘ Les Grands Enigmes de la Géologie,”’
593: ‘* Les Océans a travers les Ages,”’ 624
Terras (H.), The Story of a Cuckoo’s Egg, 746
Thaxter (Prof. R.), elected a Foreign Member of the
Linnean Society, 366
Thomas (H. Hamshaw), Aircraft Photorraphy in the
Service of Science, 457; Petrographical Notes on Rocks
from Deception Island and Roberts Island, etc., 282:
re-appointed Curator of the Cambridge University
Botanical Museum, 313; and E. G. Radley, Certain
Xenolithic Tertiary Minor Intrusions in the Island o
_ Mull, 473
Thomas (J. S. G.), A Directional Hot-wire Anemometer,
122
Thomas (T.), Revision Arithmetic, Logarithms, Slide Rule,
Mensuration, Specific Gravity, and Density. Second
edition, 229
Thomas (W. N.), Surveying, 801
Thompson (Prof. D’Arcy W.), Hydrographical Studies,
150; Poetry and Medicine, 414
Thompson (Dr. F. C.), awarded the Sorby Research Fe-
lowship, 377
Thompson (Dr. J. M’Lean), New Stelar Facts and their
Bearing on Stelar Theories for the Ferns, 250
Thompson (J. S.). and H. G. Thompson, Silvanus Phillips
Thompson, D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S., his Life and
Letters, 448
Thompson (L. Beatrice), Just Look! or How the Children
Studied Nature, 651
Thomsen (T. C.), Memorandum on Solid Lubricants, 372
Thomson (D. H.), A New Alignment Diagram for Engin-
. eers, 116
Thomson (Sir Joseph), elected a Fellow of the Royal
Danish Society of Science, 209; La Théorie Atomique,
Traduit par Prof. M. C. Moureu. Nouveau -Tirage,
36; Oration in Presentation of an Honorary Degree
to, 568
Thomson (W.), and H. S. Newman, Behaviour of Amal-
gamated Aluminium Wire, 90; Further Notes on the
Filamentous Growths from Aluminium Amalgams, 506
Thorne (P. C. 'L.), Chemistry from the Industrial Stand- —
point, 227
Thorpe (Prof. Jocelyn), The Indian Chemical Service,
324 ;
Thorpe (Sir T. E.), Lewes and Brame’s Service Chemistry. —
Fifth edition, 287; Monument to Charles Gerhardt,
436
Thring (L. G. P.), appointed Superintendent of the En-
gineering Drawing Office of Cambridge University,-
345
Thurn (Sir Everard im), The Island of Stone Statues, 583
Tilho (J.), The Frequency of Fogs in the Eastern Sahara,
571
Tillyard (Dr. R. J.), The Cawthron Institute, 603; The
Neuropteroid Insects of the Hot Springs Region, N.Z.,
in relation to the Problem of Trout-food, 667; The
Panorpoid Complex. Additions to part 3, 667 :
Timiriazeff (Prof. C. A.), [obituary article], 430
Ting (Sih Ling), Electron Emission from Hot Bodies, 441
Tinkler (Dr. C. K.), and Helen Masters, Applied Chem-
istry. Vol. i., Water, Detergents, Textiles, Fuels, etc.,
227
Tisdale (C. W. W.), and J. Jones, Butter and Cheese, 738
Tizard (Capt: T. H.), Use of Sumner Lines in Navigation,
552, 742
Tomes (Sir Charles), Gift of Microscovical Preparations to
the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of
England, 557 ;
Tonelli (L.), Primitive Functions, 251
Toni (Prof. G. B. de), elected a Foreign Member of the
Linnean Society, 366
Toporescu (M.), The Lime and Magnesia carried down by
Precipitates of Ferric Oxide, 475 Zi he
Torrance (W.), Observations on Soil Erosion, 434
Tostevin (Eng.-Comdr. H. B.), The Use of Mechanical
Reduction Gears between the Turbines and the Pro-
peller in the Royal Navy, 148
Trafton (G. H.), The Teaching of Science in the Ele-
mentary School, 420 aa
Travers (Dr. M. W.), Scientific Research and the Glass
Industry in the United States, 9; The Indian Chemical
Service, 354 : ce
Trechmann (Dr. C. T.), A Dried Specimen of Holopus
from Barbados, 757
Treub (Prof. H.), [death], 208
Trillat (A.), ‘and M. Mallein, The Projection of Micro- ‘
organisms into the Air, 475
Trotter (A.), The Supposed Parthenocarpy of the Hazel-
nut and its Possible Characters (ii.), 251
Trowbridge (Prof. A.), Sound-ranging as Practised by. the
S. Army during the War, 116 a
Trueman (Dr, A. E.), avpointed Lecturer in Geology at
University College, Swansea, 665 ;
Tsuboi (S.), Oshima, 787
Turner (Major C. C.), The Struggle in the Air, 1914-18,
229 :
Turner (Prof. H. H.), The Cost of: Scientific Publications,
* 326; and others, Papers on Astronomy published during
IQI4-19, 407 :
Turner (Dr. W. E. S.), appointed Professor of Glass
Technology in Sheffield| University, 601
Turreli (Dr. W. J.), The History of Electro-therapy, 81
Turrill (W. B.), Botanical Exploration in Chile and Argen-
tina, 433 :
Tutton (Dr. A, E. H.), Monoclinic Double Selenates of the
Copper Group, 538 ofa
Tychonis Brahe Dani Opera Omnia. Edidit I. L. E.
Dreyer. Tomus vi., 672
Tyndall (Prof. A. M.), appointed Dean of the Faculty of
Science of Bristol University, 630
Unwin (A. H.), African Softwoods for Pulp Production, sao
Urich (F. ), and others, Artificial versus Natural
_ Methods of Control of Insect Pests, 503
Ussher (W. A. E.), [obituary], 144
Vail (T. N.), [obituary], 272
Vanghetti (Dr. G.), awarded the Riberi Prize, 557
/ndex
XXV
(P. J.), Total ‘Light of the Stars, 54
e (f. -), The American Tertiary, Pleistocene,
Recent Coral-reefs, 401
1-Williams (Capt.), Discovery of supposed Saxon
ains in Windsor Great Park, 209
(R. H.), appointed Assistant to the Professor of
mistry in the University of Cambridge, 665
felt 2: E.), and R. Crombez, Anomalous Dis-
in Methyl-violet, etc., 559
S.), Alloys of Oxides, 347
F. W.), The Wasting of Stellar Substance, 276
4.), The Columbian Tradition on the Discovery
America and of the part played therein by the
onomer Toscanelli, 803
(L.), The Resistance of Tissues to Light and
a-violet Rays, ne
Flight at High Altitudes, 346
ine (Dr. J. H.), Further Experiments on the Varia-
tion of Wave-length of the Oscillations Generated by
nic Valve due to Changes in Filament Current,
The Origin of the Elements, 842
), Milk and Hemolysis, 411
. Davy de), Comparative Geographical Distribu-
Primula officinalis, P. grandiflora, and P.
in the west of France, 411 }
Study of Absorption based on the Properties of
>
it.
*C.), A new Series of Complex Combina-
Antimony Oxyiodides, 475
. L.), The Economical Use of Special Alloy
he Construction of Bridges, 699 ©
-), Museums and the State, 70
late E. K.), Canonical Forms, 369
C. D.), The Persistence of Genera, 689
e Prince of), nominated as an Honorary Fellow
ne Royal mey of Edinburgh, 335; patron of
the Brit 1 School of Archzology in Jerusalem, 52
ae
.), appointed Associate-Professor in Cytology
r in Histology in Liverpool University, 376
7T.), The Probable Amount of Monsoon
on, 129 |
B.), to Deliver the Bradshaw Lecture, 722
. Graham), gift to University College, London,
A -D,), The apparent ‘‘ Growth ” of Plants
of Inanimate Materials) and of their apparent
actility,’’ 410
E.), The Lycopodium Method of Quantitative
oY, 249
(Lt. ty “The Recent Trans-African Flight,”’
of. J. J.), Medieval Medicine, 127; Science and
icism, 547
Of M R.), The Pathology and Symptom-
ry of Beri-beri, 241
ir Charles), Eugenics, Civics, and Ethics, 804
x (R. G.), and W. W. Coblentz, The Spectral
ective Properties of Alloys of Aluminium, etc., 212
(H. P.), The Effect of a Magnetic Field on the
ntensity of S al Lines, 379
iss E. M.), The Evolution of the Hastings Coast-
82
Dr. F.), Animal Life under Water, 651 ;
(W. A.), Modern By-product Coke-oven Construction,
(S. H.), A Natural ‘ Eolith ’’ Factory beneath the
_ Thanet Sand, 378 F
Vaterson (J.), Fleas and their relation to Man
Domestic Animals, 787 _
and
others, Parallax of the B-type Star Boss
Watkins (L. T.), Libraries in Indian High Schools, 698
Watson (Prof. J. B.), Psychology from the Standpoint of
a Behaviorist, 512
Watson (J. S.), Development of the Generating Stations of
the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Co., 369
Watt (Sir George), Cotton-growing in the British Empire,
104; to deliver Lectures on Indian Forest Trees at
Edinburgh University, 120
Watt (Dr. H. J.), The Foundations of Music, 98
Watts (Sir Francis), Tropical Departments of Agriculture,
with Special Reference to the West Indies, 344
Watts (Prof. W. W.), The Evolution of the Bicycle, 435
Webb (Sir Aston), Value of Science and Scientific Research
to Medicine and Surgery, 304
Webb (W. M.), The Brent Valley Bird-sanctuary, 614
Weber (Dr. F. Parkes), appointed Mitchell Lecturer of the
Royal College of Physicians of London, 1921, 755
Webster (A. D.), National Afforestation, 577
pane hd 'L.), The Intensities of X-rays of the L series
-» 667
Wedderburn (Dr. E. M.), The Importance of Meteorology
in Gunnery, 492
Wedmore (E. B.), The Importance of Co-operative Scientific
Research, 339
Weiss (H.), The Constituents formed by Reciprocal Pene-
tration of Zinc and Copper at a Temperature where
One of the Two Metals and All their Alloys are in
the Solid State, 699
Wells (Prof. H. L.), Chemical Calculation Tables: fo.
Laboratory Use. Second edition, 33
Wells (Dr. S. Russell), London Degrees in Commerce, 440;
re-elected Vice-Chancellor of London University, 568
Wells and Southcombe, The Theory and Practice of
Lubrication, 21
Wertheimer (Prof. J.), Seconding of Officers for Study at
Universities, 41
West (F. L.), N. E. Edlefsen, and S. Ewing, Determina-
tion of Normal Temperatures by Means of the Equa-
tion of the Seasonal Temperature Variations, etc.,
628
West (G. D.), A Modified Theory of the Crookes Radio-
meter, 473; The Forces Acting on Heated Metal-foil
Surfaces in Rarefied Gases, 122
West (Dr. S. H.), [obituary], 50 :
Westaway (F. W.), Science and Theology: Their Common
Aims and Methods, 607; Scientific Method: its Philo-
sophy and its Practice, 5
Wharton (the late Rear-Admiral Sir W. J. L.), Hydro-
graphical Surveying. Fourth edition, revised and en-
larged by Adml. Sir Mostyn Field, 576
Wheaton (Dr.), Maternity and Child Welfare, 151
Wheeler (Dr. R. B.), appointed Professor of
Technology in Sheffield University, 665
Wheeler (Dr. R. E. M.), appointed Keeper of the Depart-
ment of Archzology in the National Museum of Wales,
and Lecturer in Archeology in the University of South
Wales and Monmouthshire, 569
Wheeler (Prof. W. M.), The Parasitic Aculeate Hymen-
optera, 835; and I. W. Bailey, Feeding Habits of
Pseudomyrmine Ants, 843 :
Whiddington (Prof. R.), An Attempt to Detect the Fizeau
Effect in an Electron Stream, 708; Science and the
New Army, 135 oe j
Whipple (Prof. G. C.), Vital Statistics: An Introduction to
the Science of Demography, 131 ;
Whipple (R. S.), Electrical Methods of Measuring Body
Temperatures, 338 :
White (B.), Gold: Its Place in the Economy of Mankind,
774; Silver: Its Intimate Association with the Daily
Life of Man, 774 ate :
White (Dr. N.), Health Conditions in Eastern Europe:
Typhus a Serious Menace, 723
White (R. S.), Report on Outbreak of Pellagra amongst
Armenian Refugees at Port Said, 592 :
Whitehead (Prof. A. N.), An Enquiry Concerning the
Principles of Natural Knowledge, 446 auyse
Whitehead (Prof. J. B.), The High-voltage Corona in Air,
Fuel
8
Whitfeld (Dr. A.), appointed Lumleian Lecturer of the
Royal College of Physicians of London, 1921, 755
XXvVI
Lndex
Nature, .
October 7, 1920
Whitley (E.), Gift for the Endowment of a Professorship
in Biochemistry in Oxford University, 313
Widal (F.), P. Abrami, and N. Iancovesco, The Proof of
Digestive Hemoclasia and Latent Hepatism, 794;
Proof of Digestive Hzemoclasia in the Study of Hepatic
Insufficiency, 762; The Possibility of Promoting the
Hemoclasic’ Crisis by the Intravenous Injection of
Portal Blood Collected ' donne the Digestive Period, 699
Wild (L. J.), Soils and Manures in New Zealand, 130
Williams (Dr. A. M.), The Pressure Variation of Equili-
brium Constant in Dilute Solution, 603
Williams (W. R.), [obituary], 76
Williamson (J. W.), Applied Science and _ Industrial
Research, 387, 518; Remuneration and Superanuation
of the Scientific Workers of Research Associations, 372
Wilson (C. T. R.), awarded the Hopkins Prize of the
Cambridge Philosophical Society, 440; Investigations
on Lightning Discharges and on the Electric Field of
Thunderstorms, 377
Wilson (Prof. F. J.), and Prof. I. M. Heilbron, Chemical
Theory and Calculations. Second edition, 805
Wilson (Prof. J.), Application of the Food-unit System to
the Fattening of Sheep, 282
Wilson (J. S.), and G. A. Garfitt, Map of the Eyam Moor
Circle in Derbyshire, 180
Wilson (Prof. J. T.), elected Professor of Anatomy in Cam-
bridge University, 439
Wilson (R. E.), Researches on Nebulz, 491
Wilson (W. H.), and Miss T. D. Epps, Construction of
Thermo-couples by Electro-deposition, 842 .
Wilson-Barker (Sir David), The ‘‘ Flight ’’ of Flying-fish,
B55-:
Wilton (T. R.), appointed Lecturer in Dock and Harbour
Engineering in Liverpool University, 505
Wimmer (Prof. L. F. A.), [obituary], 365
Winstedt (R. O.) Analogies between the Local Customs of
the Malay Peninsula and those of the Brahmans of
South India, 834
Winterbotham (Lt.-Col,
Medal of the Royal Geographical Society,
ciples and Practice of Surveying, 801
Witz (Prof. A.), Heat Economy, 212
Wohlgemuth (Dr. A.), Pleasure—Unpleasure: An Experi-
mental Investigation on the Feeling-elements, 3
Wolf (Prof.), A Nova in a Spiral Nebula, 213
Woltjer, jun. (Dr. J.), Investigations in the Theory of
Hyperion, 675
Wood Bros. Glass Co., Ltd., Catalogue of English Chemi-
cal Glassware, 435
Wood (Miss J. F. ), History of Popular Education since the
Act of 1870, 213
Wood (T. B.), and Dr. F. H. A. Marshall, Physiology -
Farm Animals. Part i., General, Dr. F.- i.
Marshall, 704
Woodland (Prof W. N. F.), The ‘‘ Flight ’’ of Flying-fish,
455; The ‘‘ Renal Portal ’’ System (Renal Venous Mesh-
work) and Kidney Excretion in Vertebrata, ato
H. S. L.), awarded the Victoria
112; Prin-
Woodward (Dr. A. Smith), re-elected President of the
Linnean Society, 496
Wordie (J. M.), awarded the Back Grant of the Royal
Geographical Society, 112
Worsdell (W.), [obituary], 239
Wright (C. S.), Science and the New Army, 391
Wright (H. E.), Coke-oven Gas for Town Supply, 695
Wright (Lewis), Optical Projection: Fifth edition, re-
written and brought up to date by R. S. Wright (in
two parts). Part i., The Projection of Lantern Slides,
773
Weight (Wilbur), Unveiling a Statue to the Memory of,
wright (W. B.), An Analysis of the Palzozoic Floor of
North-East Ireland, with Predictions as to Concealed
Coalfields, 368; The Asiatic Origin of Man, 728
Wright (W. HD), Certain Aspects of Recent Spectroscopic
Observations of the Gaseous Nebulz, 842; Infra-red
Spectra of Nebula, 149; Researches on Nebulze, 492 -
Wyatt (R. B. H.), appointed Lecturer in Bacteriology in
Birmingham University, 154
Wyatt (S.), Individual Differences in Output in the Cotton
Industry, 657
Wybergh (W.), The Coastal
Province, 689
Limestones of the Cape
Wyeth (F. x: Development of the Auditory Apparatus in —
Sphenodon punctatus, 26
Dh Z., International Council for Fishery Investigations,
262
Xanthoudides (M.), Excavations in Crete, 273
Yamasaki (E.), The Chemical Kinetics of Catalase, ie
Yeatman (M. E.), British and Metric Systems of Weights
‘and Measures, 355
Yendo (Prof. K.), The Genus of Brown Seaweeds, Alaria,
66
4
Yerkes (Dr. R. M.), Psychological Examining and Classi-
fication in the U.S. Army, 795
Yokoyama (Prof. M.), Fossils from the Miura Peninsula ~
and its Immediate North, 836
Young (J.), The. Royal Military Academy, 487
Younghusband (Lt.-Col. Sir Francis), Plea for a Wider
Outlook in Geography, 465
Yule (G, U.), re-appointed University Lecturer in ’ Statistics
in Cambridge University, 88
Zammit (Prof. T.), awarded a Mary Kingsley Medal, 697;
conferment upon, of the Honorary Be cx of Doctor of ©
Letters by Oxford University, 44
Zanghelis (C.), A New View of he. "Naisene State, 339;
New Researches on the Action of Gases in a very Fine
State of Division, 763; and B. Papaconstantinou,
Colloidal Rhodium, 411; The Acceleration of the De-
composition of Hydrogen Peroxide
Rhodium, 443
TITGCE
Aberdeen University: W. G. Craib appointed Professor of
Botany in, 120; Gift to, by Sir Thomas Jaffrey ; Con-
ferment of an Honorary Degree upon Sir Jagadis
Chandra Bose, 154; Dr. R. D. Lockhart appointed a
Lecturer in Anatomy, 730
Aborigines of Central Australia, The Present Condition of
the, E. N. Fallaize, 601
Absorption: Based on the Properties of the Nitrophenols,
F. Viés, 506; Light by Elements in the State of
Vapour, Sir James Dobbie and J. J. Fox, 538
Abstracts of Papers in Scientific Transactions and Periodi-
cals, 758
Academic Research and Industrial Application, 449
Académie Royale de Belgique, Sir W. J. Pope elected an
Associate of the, 463
INDEX.
Academy, The Royal, 300
Acarina of the Intertidal Zone, J. N. Halbert, 474
Acetone, Preparation of, by the Fermentation of Starchy
Material, J. Reilly, and others, 466
Acetylene Hydrocarbons, ' The Production of True, starting
from Epidibromhydrin, Lespieau and Bourguel, 635
Acids, Alkalis and Salts, G. H. J. Adlam, 705
Acmopyle pancheri, Pilger, Structure and Affinities of,"
B. Sahni, 346
Actinometers of Arago and Bellani, The, i. Besson, 283
Acylketimines, C, Moureu and G. Mignonac, 539
Adelaide University, Dr. J. B. Cleland appointed Professor
of Pathology in, 217
Admiralty, F. E.
Research to the, 245
by Colloidal |
Smith appointed Director of Scientific
‘
Lndex
XXVii
y Council to the Committee of the Privy Council for
tific and Industrial Research, Sir John Cadman,
__B. Hardy, and Prof. S. Young
mbers of the, 590
erial Navigation and Meteorology, Lt.-Col. E. Gold, 775;
_ Prof. E. van Everdingen, 637, 776
odynamics, Applied, L. Bairstow, 95; of a Spinning
, R. H. Fowler, E. C.. Gallop, C. N. H.
s, and H. W. Richmond, 377
hy, The Principles of, Prof. A. McAdie, 479
cal Research, 95, 342
cs: Education and Research in, Report of the
ee on, 15; Lectures on, at the Imperial College
Science and Technology, Sir Rithard Glazebrook,
; Research in, The Relationship of Education to, 14;
prt of the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics for
year 1918-19, 561
: Flight ; along Africa from North to South, Col.
eveld and Capt. Brand, 113; From Cairo to
e, Failure of the, 18; Height Flight, Record,
jor R. W. Schroeder, 18
es, Wireless Telephony in, Major C. E. Prince,
: on, National, A, D, Webster, 577
n: Art, H. V. Hall, 180; Softwoods for Pulp Produc-
fe Mita ag he West Indi R
ural :— ent in the West Indies, 344; Re-
American, 310
rt the Farming Business, O. H. Benson
. Betts, 35; Basic Slag and its Uses in, Dr.
ssell, and others, 183; The Origin of, Major
» 474 ;
Peace and the Law, Dr. J. M. Spaight, 483;
iy in the Servite of Science, H. Hamshaw
Set iideition for the Regulation of Aerial
(October 13, 1919), 637; Routes, Imperial,
ir Frederic H. Sykes, 359; Service, Science
h in the, 142; The Optical Properties of,
ky, and, Hay Rayleigh, 584; The Struggle
4-18, Major C. C. Turner, 229
x. Yendo, 664 ;
ration and Illustration of, 147
Chemistry among the Chinese, Dr. J. A. R.
_ Supposed Dynamogenic Power of,
aes The
whole Truth About, G. E.
Tertiary, The Synthesjs of, D. Gauthier,
a, Projectiv e Vector, An Algebra of Vectors Inde-
the Axioms of Congruence and of Parallels,
» 65
Diagram for Engineers, A New, D. H. Thomson,
Sucre Sucres—Miels—Sirops—Confitures—
ies—Sucs et Réglisse, Drs. E.
uttelet, 641 ;
The Small Islands of, Prof. W. M. Davis,
Roux and
ihren Work. An Outline for Students of
Telegraphy, A. Shore, 133; Electric Current,
Transient Process of Establishing a steady, Dr.
Kennelly, 843
Extreme, a Method of Reaching, Prof. R. H.
ty Raeitinnted, and Aluminium Wire, The
viour of, W. omson and H. S. Newman, 90;
Amalgams, The Filamentous Growths from, W. Thom-
son and H. S. Newman, 506; Catalytic Action of, in
1e Preparation of the Chlorobenzenes, J. Meunier, 571 ;
s Manufacture, Manipulation, and Marketing,
. Mortimer, 805 ; ‘
oh ohm Dr. H. D. Curtis appointed Director
ee
; Dr. M. Grabham, 517
gator Pear, The, 408 )
All—or—None ” in the Auditory Nerve, Dr. W. Perrett,
appointed.
Allotments, The Development and Uses of, Sir Daniel
Hall, 371
Alloys of Copper, Zinc, and Nickel, The, L. Guillet, gt
Amanita, Determination of Poisonous Varieties of, by
Colour Reactions, J. Barlot, 219
Amber in Antiquity, The Search for, W. J. Perry, 274
American: Agricultural Research, 310; Chemical Society,
Dr. F. G. Cottrell awarded the Willard Gibbs Medal
of the Chicago Section of the, 526; Dr. E. Solvay
elected an Honorary Member of the, 590; Fisheries
Society, Forthcoming Jubilee of the, 591; Fossil Verte-
brate Animals, Prof. H. F. Osborn, and others, 117;
Grape-growing, Manual of, U. P. Hedrick, 674;
Museum of Natural History, Report for 1919 of the,
Prof. H. F, Osborn, 724; Petroleum Institute, Dr.
V. H. Manning appointed Director of Research in the,
527; Pomological Society, Re-organisation of the, by
Prof. L. H. Bailey, 623; Tertiary, Pleistocene, and
Recent Coral-reefs, T. W. Vaughan, 401
Amines by Catalysis, A New Preparation of, A. Mailhe,
442
Ammonium Phosphomolybdate, Variations of the Composi-
tion of, S. Posternak, 347
Amundsen’s Trans-Polar Voyage, a Supporting Expedition
for, 82; Further News of, 305
Anesthesia and Anaphylaxy, W. Kopaczewski, A. H. Roffo,
and Mme. H. L. Roffo, 540
Ancient: Camps in Gloucestershire, 128; Egypt, Resump-
tion of, 180; Entrenchments and Camps of Gloucester-
shire, The, E. J. Burrow, 128
Anemometer, A Directional Hot-wire, J. S. G. Thomas,
122
Angiosperms, Reproduction of, Elementary Notes on the,
A. H. Church, 162
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Entomological Work in the, H. H.
King, 50
503
| Animal: Foodstuffs: The World’s Supply of, 513; Their
Production and Consumption, with a Special Reference
to the British Empire, Dr, E. W. Shanahan, 513;
Heroes: Being the Histories of a Cat, a Dog, a
_ Pigeon, a Lynx, two Wolves, and a_ Reindeer,
E. Thompson Seton. Fourth impression, 580; Life
under Water, Dr. F. Ward, 651; Luminescence and
Stimulation, Prof. E. N. Harvey, 843; Nutrition, In-
stitute of Research in, at Aberdeen, Gift to the, by
J. Q. Rowett, 80; Products, The Chemistry of, 192
Animals, The Slaughter of, and the Distribution of Meat
for Human Consumption, Appointment of a Committee
of Inquiry Upon, 591
Anomalous Dispersion of tee
Verschaffelt and R. Crombez, 559
Anopheles plumbeus, Misses Blacklock and Carter, 241
Anselm’s Problem of Truth and Existence, Rev. A. E.°
Davies,
Antarctic Anticyclone, The, Dr.
R. M. Deeley, 808
Anthocyanins in Plants, Formation of, O, Rosenheim, 402
Anthropology : An Introduction to, Rev. E. O. James, 384;
and Economics, Progress in, Sir Edward Brabrook,
530; Suggestions for the Classification of the Subject-
matter of, E. N. Fallaize, 626
Anticyclones, R. M. Deeley, 677
Anti: -Dumping Bill, The, 125; -Gas Fan, Neglect in Re-
gard to the Use of the, Mrs. Ayrton, 336; 422; 612;
613; Prof. A. J. Allmand, 453; 612
Antineuritic Vitamine, The Nature and Function of the,
R. A. Dutcher, 667
Antiquaries of London, Society of, Election of Officers and
Council of the, 273
Antiquity of Human Remains?, How Far can Osteological
Characters Help in Fixing the, Prof. A. Keith, 153
Ants, Pseudomyrmine, Feeding Habits of, Prof. W. M.
Wheeler and I. W. Bailey, 843
Apalaii Indians of the Amazon, The, W. C. Farabee, 240
Applied Science and Industrial Research, J. W. Williamson,
518; Major A. G. Church, 547 °
Apprentices in Shipyards and Marine Engineering Works,
Education and Training of, 151
Approximate Integration, Some Methods of, and of Com-
puting Areas, Prof. J. B. Dale; R. A. P. Rogers, 138
Methyl-violet, etc.,
G. C. Simpson, 777;
XXVIil
I[ndex
[ Nature,
October 7, 1920
April Meteor Shower, The, 276
Aquarium Cultures for Biological Teaching, Dr. Monica
Taylor, 232
Arawaks, The Central, W. C. Farabee, 159
Arcachon, Ville de Santé; Monographie Scientifique et
Médicale, Dr. F. Lalesque, 322
Archzocyathinz from the Weddell Sea, Dr. W. T. Gordon,
528
Archeological Research, The Prospects of, Sir C. H.
Read, 497
Arc Spectra in vacuo and Spark Spectra in Helium of
Various Elements, Prof. J. C. McLennan, J. F. T.
Young, and H. J. C. Ireton, 632
Arcs of Primary Triangulation along the Ninety-eighth
.Meridian in the U.S. and in Mexico, and on Triangula-
tion in Southern Texas, Connection of the, W. Bowie,
14
Arctic: Expedition, Capt. Roald Amundsen’s, 240, 273;
Prairies, The, E. Thompson Seton, 426
n Argds, Spectrum of, Dr. J. Lunt, 149
Aristotelian Society, Dean Inge elected President of the,
622 ;
Arithmetic: for Preparatory Schools, An, with Answers,
T. Dennis. Second edition, 67; Revision, Logarithms,
Slide Rule, Mensuration, Specific Gravity, and Density,
T. Thomas. Second edition, 229 :
Armstrong College, Dr. W. N.-Haworth appointed Pro-
fessor of Organic Chemistry at, 537
Army: Hygiene and its Lessons, Lt.-Gen. Sir Thomas
Goodwin, 532: Prior to the Recent War, Gen. Sir
John Goodwin, 52; The New, Science and, 61; Col.
E. H. Hills, 103; Prof. L. N. G. Filon; Prof. R.
Whiddington, 133; Lt.-Col. E. Gold,; Dr. C. S. Myers,
135; Prof. A. R. Richardson, 170; Col. K. E. Edge-
worth, 2333 C. S. Wright, 391; The Scheme for the
Education of the Rank and File of the, 121; The
Universities and the, 157; F. J. M. Stratton, 234
Arsenic and Antimony Ores, H. Dewey, 338
Arsenious Acid, The Reversible Oxidation of, C. Matignon
and J. A. Lecanu, 347
Art, The Teaching of, in Local Museums, M. J. Rendall,
627
Artillery Science, Sir George Greenhill, 268
Asbestos and the Asbestos Industry: The World’s Most
Wonderful Mineral and othér Fireproof Materials,
A. L. Summers, 193
Asia, A Geography of, J. Martin, 35
Asiatic Origin of Man, The, W. B. Wright, 728
Aspherical Nucleus Theory Applied to the Balmer Series
of Hydrogen, The, Dr. L. Silberstein, 441
Asphodelus, A New Race of, Obtained by the Action of
a Marine Climate, L. Daniel, 506 :
Association: of Technical Institutions, Forthcoming Sum-
mer Meeting of the, 631; of University Teachers, Prof.
J. Strong elected President of the, 537
Asteroxylon Mackiei from the Rhynie Chert-Bed of
Aberdeenshire, Dr. Kidston, and Prof. Lang, 527
Astrographic Catalogue, The, 403
Astrolabe : Diagram, Dr. J. Ball, 329; A Handbook of the
Prismatic, Dr. J. Ball and H. K. Shaw, 329
Astronomical Announcements by Wireless Telegraphy,
Prof. Kobold, 403
ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.
Comets :
Return of Tempel’s Comet, 436; Photographs of the
Brorsen-Metcalf Comet, Prof. Barnard, 467; The
Planetary Families of Comets, Prof. H. N. Russell,
467; Tempel’s Second Periodic Comet, 560; Denning’s
Comet of 1881 and a Meteoric Shower, Rev. M.
Davidson, 560; A New Comet, M. Schaumasse, 658;
Tempel’s Comet, M. Fayet, 789
Instruments :
A New Spectropyrheliometer and Solar Measurements
made with it, W. W. Coblentz and H. Kahler, 625
Meteors :
Bright Meteors, 54; April Meteors, 149; The April Meteor
Shower, 276; A Bright Fireball, 370; Commencement
of the Great Perseid Shower of Meteors, 595; An
Interesting Meteorite, G. P. Merrill, 759
Observatories :
The Madrid Observatory, 213; Memoirs of the Kodai-
kanal Observatory, vol, i., part ii., 340; Parallax
Work at the Sproul Observatory, Dr. Miller, 500;
Publications of the Dominion Astrophysical Observa-
tory, Victoria, b.C., vol. i., No. 1, 658; Annual
Report for 1920 of the Hill Observatory, Sidmouth,
726; New Solar Radiation Station in Arizona, 726;
The Union Observatory, Johannesburg, 759; Stony-
hurst Observations in 1919, Rev. A. L. Cortie, 789;
Publications of the Astronomical Laboratory at Gro-
ningen, No. 29, Prof. J. C. Kapteyn, 838
Planets :
Cape Observations of the Sun, Mercury, and Venus, 183 ;
Conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune, 213; Occultation
of a Star by Saturn, Prof. Plassmann and others,
244; Eclipse of the Moon, 276; Mars and Wireless
Signals, 276; The Lunar Eclipse, 307; Conjunction
of Mars with Spica, 340; Conjunction of Mercury with
e Geminorum, A. Burnet, 370; The Planet Jupiter,
Rev. T. E. R. Phillips, 500; Mercury an Evening Star,
529; The Lunar Parallax and Related Constants, Prof.
W. de Sitter, 529; The New Minor Planet GM, 595
Stars:
Occultation of a Star by Saturn, L. J. Comrie, 22;
Total Light of the Stars, P. J. Van Rhijn, 54; Star
Clusters, Dr. H. Shapley, 54; The Binary Star
p Eridani, B. H. Dawson, 84; Faint Nebula, E. P.
Hubble, 84; Spectrum of 4 Argis, Dr. J. Lunt, 149;
Infra-red Spectra of Nebula, Dr. K. Burns and wt
Wright, 149; Capella, Prof. F. Schlesinger and Z.
Daniel, 183; A Nova in a Spiral Nebula, Prof. Wolf,
213; Stellar Spectroscopy at the Detroit Observatory, —
P. W. = Merrill,
of Stellar Substance,
L. Hadley,
Prof.
244; The Wasting
Fo: Wo Nery ago:
The Binary Kruegér 60, S. A. Mitchell and C, P._
Olivier, 307; The Duplicity of v Geminorum, Dr.
Bernewitz, 340; Conjunction of Mercury with e Gemi-
norum, A. Burnet, 370; Double Stars, J. Jackson, 436; |
Diffraction Image of a Disc, Dr. H. Nagaoka, 436;
The Masses of the Stars, Prof. H. N.* Russell, 500;
Capture Orbits, Prof. L. Becker, 560; The Expanding
Disc of Nova Aquilz, Dr. J. Lunt, 595; Galactic Con-
densation, R. T. A. Innes, 759; Discovery of a Nova
in Cygnus, W. F. Denning, 838; Parallax of the B-
type Star Boss 1517, J. Vodte and others, 838
Sun:
The Total Solar Eclipse of September 20, 1922, A. R.
Hinks, 84; The Total Solar Eclipse of 1918, June 8,
117; Cape Observations of the Sun, Mercury, and
Venus, 183; Kodaikanal Observations of Prominences,
J. and Mrs. Evershed, 340
Miscellaneous :
The Nautical Almanac for 1922, 22; Calendar Reform,
A. Philip, M. Flammarion, 22 ; A Noon Reflector, Prof.
C. V. Boys, 117; The Einstein Displacement of Spectral
Lines, J. Evershed, C. E. St. John, 244; The Nature
of Photographic Images, Dr. Kenneth Mees, 307;
Longitude by Wireless Telegraphy, Prof. Sampson,
370; Astronomical Announcements by Wireless Tele-
graphy, Prof. Kobbold; The Astrographic Catalogue,
Tidal Friction and the Lunar and Solar Accelerations,
Dr. H. Jeffreys, 403; The Zeeman Effect in Furnace
Spectra, A. S. King, 529; Am Easy Method of Finding
Latitude, N. Liapin, 625; Increasing the Photographic
Power of Telescopes, Dr. Shapley, 625; The Date of
Easter, 691; Astronomy in Town Planning, H. L.
Seymour, 691; The Infra-red Arc Spectra of Seven
Elements, C. C. Kiess and W. F. Meggers, 726; The
Structure of the Universe, Prof. W. D. MacMillan, 789
Astronomy: At Oxford during the War, Prof. H. H.
Turner, and others, 407; Central Wireless Station for,
Major W. J. S. Lockyer, 454; Descriptive,
the |
Jnilies
XXix
nts of, E. O. Tancock. Second edition, 131; in
Planning, H. L. Seymour, 691
s, Sir Norman ‘Lockyer’s Contributions to, Prof,
wler, 831 >
m Club, Prof. C. J. Martin, Sir William Orpen,
Sir J. E. Pelavel elected mémbers of the, 209
Meteorological Influences of the Sun and the,
. W. Gregory, 715; Ocean, an Oceanographical
Meteorological Atlas of the, Pt. i., 368 :
here: At Great Heights, Composition, [onisation,
Viscosity of the, Prof. S. Chapman and E,. A.
570; High Levels in the, Attainment of, W. H.
454; Occurrence of Ozone in the, J. N. Pring,
ce: Circulation, General, The Meteorology of the
ate Zone and the, Prof. V. Bjerknes, 522;
the Supply of Energy to, L. F. Richardson,
Eecrogee ‘Rate of Solution of, and Oxygen by
ter, Prof. WwW. E. Adeney and H. G. Becker. Part
9: Potential at the Algiers Observatory, A
Variation of the, F. Baldet, 283; Turbulence,
Measurements of, L. F, Richardson, 57; Varia-
f Short and Long Duration in the Malay
lago and Neighbouring Regions, and the Possi-
to Forecast Them, Dr. C. Braak, 729
+ and Molecular Forces and Crystal Structure,
A. E. Oxley, 327; and Molecular, Structure, on,
E. Oxley, 231; Structure, Theories of, I. Lang-
261; Theory, The Development of the, A. N.
1, 212; Weights, Isotopes, and, Dr. F. W.
; The Standard of, Prof. J. R. Partington,
- Miall, 204
Théorie, Sir J.. J. Thomson; Traduit par
sureu, Nouveau tirage, 36
nuir’s Theory of, S. C. Bradford, 41, 725;
Oxley, 105; Nuclear Constitution of: Atoms,
t Rutherford, 500; The Structure of, Prof. A.
Boy 20
d Respiration, J. Amar, 635
-None ’’ in the, Dr. W. Perrett,
ant, Observed at Montreal, Prof. A. S.
f March 22-23, The, W. B. Housman, 200
iltural Climatology of, Dr. Griffith Taylor,
‘Delphacidee Homoptera), A New Genus of,
.; Flies of the Family Asilide, Synonyms,
; ptions of, G. H. Hardy, 635; Hard-
Native Fauna, Extermination of the,
Die Gliederung der, P. W.
Ray, 707 - :
‘ronomical Pendulum, An, A. Guillet, 506
els, Research on, 690
Scientific Exploration, Dr. P. Chalmers
336; Civil, Report of the Advisory Com-
ag ; Report of the Department of, 592
A tor Pear, Cultivation of the, W. G.
i Milk Production of, Prof. R. Pearl and
+ R. Miner, 245
communis, The Enzymes of, E. C. Grey, 538
: -Transmutation of, Dr. S. Gurney-Dixon, 131
Lecture, The, Sir Ernest Rutherford, 500
Series of Hydrogen Lines, The Structure of the,
T. R. Merton, 314
edward. 530
Medal of Columbia University, The, awarded to
Prof. Einstein, 590
tes in the English Triassic Strata derived from over-
7.
Bre EB. J.
E ussell; Sir Thomas Middleton, 183; Bainbridge ;
_G. Scott Robertson; D. Sillars, 184
Batu Kurau Parish, Perak, Exploration of a
Shelter in the, Il. H. N. Evans, 834
Bedford College for Women, Appeal for Funds by, 186
Bee-Eater in Scotland, Nesting of the, J. K. Nash, 786
Bees: Eye-Colour in, Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, 518; and
the Scarlet-Runner Bean, H. J. Lowe, 742 ;
Beetles, Indian, 64
Behaviourism, Prof. H. Wildon Carr, 512
Beit Fellowship for Scientific Research, M. A.
elected to a, 665
Belfast, Queen’s University: Dr. J. Small appointed Pro-
fessor of Botany in, 25; Gift to, by F. A. Heron, 248
Belgian Congo Territory, Zoological. Collections made in
the, during 1909-15, 593
Bengal, Biological Papers from, Dr. N. Annandale, 436
Benzene: Chlorination of, Kinetic Study of the,
Bourion, 506; extracted from Commercial Chloro-
benzenes, Impurities of the, F. Bourion, 443
Benzoic Acid, A Reaction for, based on its Diazotisation,
M. Guerbet, 666
Benzoylphenylacetylene _ di-iodide,
forms of, C. Dufraisse, 475
Beri-Beri, The Pathology and Symptomatology of,
F. M. R. Walshe, 241
Bibliographies, The Compilation of, F. Bullock, 116
Bicycle, The Evolution of the, Prof. W. W. Watts, 435
Billingham-on-Tees, Sale of the Nitrate Factory at, to
Brunner, Mond and Co., Ltd., 312
Biological Papers from Bengal, Dr. N. Annandale, and
others, 436
Bipolar Co-ordinates, Plane Stress and Plane Strain in,
_. G. B. Jeffery, 632
Bird: Life, The Romance of, 746; Protection, The
Plumage Bill and, Sir H. H. Johnston; Prof. H. M.
Lefroy, 168; Sir Herbert Maxwell; Prof. A. Dendy,
169; Dr. W. E. Collinge, 196; Prof. J. E. Duerden,
263
Birds: and Beasts, The Story-Book of, J. H. Fabre, 651;
in Town and Village, W. H. Hudson, 651; Life and
Lore . of, 514; of Eastern Canada, The, P. A.
Tavener, 623; of Egypt, Hand-List of the, M. J.
Nicoll, 674; of the British Isles, The, and their Eggs,
T. A. Coward. First series, 132
Birkbeck College, A Course of Training for ex-Service
Men for Positions on Rubber and Tea Plantations, 280
Birmingham University: A. A. Dee appointed an
Rock
Hogan
, . ’ .
The Stereo-isomeric
Dr.
Assistant Lecturer in Physics in, 120; A. R. Ling
appointed Adrian Brown Professor of Brewing;
Erection of a Memorial -Tablet to Prof. Adrian
Brown; Gift from the Asiatic Petroleum Co.; F.
Shaw appointed Assistant Lecturer in Electrical
Engineering, and R. B. H. Wyatt Lecturer in Bac-
teriology, 154; Impending Resignation of Sir John
Cadman of the Chair of Mining, 409; Students in,
472; The Department of Mining to be re-organised
and extended; Prof. F. W. Burstall elected Dean
of the Faculty of Science, 505; Conferment of
Degrees, 630; Increase in Cost of Fees; The Neces-
sity for Increasing the Stipends of the Staff, Sir Gil-
bert Barling, 730
Birth-Rate, The, W. L. George 82
Bitterns, Buzzards and, Canon E. McClure, 105
Black Smoke Tax, The, 471
Blepharospora terrestris, A
Peyrouel, 844
Blood, The Circulating, in Relation to Wound-Shock,
Prof. W. M. Bayliss, 9
Blow-flies, Experiments in Breeding, Prof. Enriques, 756
Board of Trade, Dr. Edridge-Green appointed a Special
Examiner in Colour Vision and Eyesight by the, 654
Body Temperatures, Electrical Methods of Measuring,
R. S. Whipple, 338
** Book of the Dead,’’ The, Sir E. A. Wallis Bridge, 755
Books, Scientific and Technical, Sir R. A. Gregory, 41
Boss 1517, Parallax of the B-type, J. Vofite, and others,
838
Parasite of the Lupin, B.
3
Botanical Guides, 34
Botany: Applied, G. S. M. Ellis, 164; Applied Economic,
Based upon Actual Agricultural and Gardening Projects,
Dr. M. T. Cook, 34; A University Course in, 162;
Structural, Elementary Notes on, A. H. Church, 162
XXX
Lndex
[ Nature,
October 7, 1920
Botrytis cinerea, with colourless sclerotia, A Form of,
W. B. Brierley, 186
Bowl, a Remarkable Stone, in the Museo Arqueoldgico,
Madrid, B. G. Corney, 755
Brachyphalangy, Hereditary, in Man, A New Type, of,
O. L. Mohr and C, Wriedt, 464 ,
Bradford Technical College, H. Richardson dppointed
Principal of the, 505
Brain, The Function of the, Dr. T. G. Brown, 123 :
Brass, 60-40, Some Properties of, Prof. C. H. Desch,
6
Bear Valley Bird Sanctuary, The, W. M. Webb, 614; 622
Bristol University: Forthcoming Award of the Vincent
Stuckey Lean Scholarship; Proposed Extensions of the
Engineering Faculty, 313; Prof. F. Francis appointed
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, 601; Resignation of Prof. F.
Francis as Dean of the Faculty of Science; Prof.
A, M. Tyndall appointed Dean of the Faculty of
Science, and P, Fraser Deputy Dean; Prof. C. Lloyd
Morgan appointed Emeritus Professor of Psychology
and Ethics; Dr. C. D. Broad appointed Professor of
Philosophy, 630
British ; Aeronautics, 561 ; and Foreign Scientific Apparatus,
D. H. Baird, 390; J. W. Ogilvy, 424; J. S. Dunkerly,
425; F. W. Watson Baker, 518; Prof. W. M. Bayliss,
641; and Metric Systems of Weights and Measures,
A. S. E. Ackermann, 456; Association, The Sectional
Presidents of the Cardiff Meeting of the, 112; Forth-
coming Meeting of the, 399; The Cardiff Meeting
of the, 524, 780; Subjects for Discussion at the
Cardiff Meeting, 626; Bequest to, by I. W. Back-
house, 630; Presidential Address, Prof. W. A. Herd-
man, 813; Summaries of Addresses of the Presidents
of Sections, 825; The Meeting at Cardiff, 830;
Astronomical Association, Bequest to, by T. W. Back-
house, 631; Chemical Mission on Chemical Factories
in the Occupied Area of Germany, A Summary of
the Report of the, 253; Chemists, Central Head-
quarters for, 697; Cotton Industry Research Associa-
tion, pending Scientific Appointments by the, 274;
Constitution and Methods of the, Dr. A. W.
Crossley, 372; First Annual Report of the, 840;
Crop Production, Dr. E. J. Russell, 176, 206; Dyes
Corporation, Sir Henry Birchenough appointed Chair-
man of the, 303; East Africa, Profit and Sport in,
being a Second Edition, revised and enlarged, of “‘ A
Colony in the Making,’’ Capt. the Lord Cranworth,
392; The Development of, 392; Empire, Cotton-
Growing in the, Dr. W. Lawrence Balls, 103; Sir
George Watt, 104; Exhibition, The Forthcoming,
755; (Forestry Conference, The Principal Members
of the, Received by the King, 687, 759; Order of the,
Promotions and Appointments of the, 144; Sugar
Research Association, The, 80; Timber Exhibition,
The, 591; India, The Fauna of, including Ceylon and
Burma, Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae (Hispinae and
Cassidinae), Prof. S. Maulik, 64: Iron Ores, Prof.
H. Louis, 419; Isles and North-West Europe, Prac-
tical Exercises on the Weather and Climate of the,
W. F. Stacey, 133; The Birds of the, and their
Eggs, T. A. Coward, First Series, 132; The Colour
Index of the, Prof. F. G. Parsons, and others, 531;
Journal of Experimental Pathology, No. 1, 82;
Lampblown Scientific | Glassware Manufacturers’
Association, Ltd., History of the Formation of the,
D. H. Baird, 496; Motor Cycle and Cycle Car In-
dustry, The. Research Association for the, Approved,
526; Ornithology from the Earliest Times to the end
of 1918, A Geographical Bibliography of, W. H.
Mullens, H. Kirke Swann, and Rev. F. C. R. Jour-
dain. Part I., 3%53; Research Association for the
Woollen and Worsted Industries. Report of, for
1918-19, 118; Rubber and Tyre Manufacturers, Re-
search Associatiun of, B. D. Porritt appointed
Director of Research by the, 179; School of
Archeology in Jerusalem, The Prince of Wales
Patron of the, 52; Science Guild, The Forthcoming
Annual Meeting of the, 398; Annual Meeting of the.
468: Journal of the, June, 657; Sea Fisheries, The,
397
Bromohydrins and Dibromo-derivatives,
me. Ramart-Lucas, 762
Brorsen-Metcalf Comet, Photographs of the, Prof. Bar-
nard, 467 ,
Bruchus rufimanus, Boh, Distribution, Life-History, and
Measures of Control of, R. E. Campbell, 310
Brussels University, The Medal of Honour Presented to
Lord Dawson of Penn, Sir Leslie Mackenzie, and
Prof. Sir William Smith, 440
Buddhism in the Pacific, Sir Henry Howorth, and others,
407
Buenos Aires, Discovery of Early Remains of Man in,
Dr, C. Ameghino, 209; National Museum of Natural
History, Dr. Ameghino appointed Director of
the, 80
Butter and Cheese, C. W. W. Tisdale and J. Jones, 738
A. Haller and
. Buzzard at Home, The, A. Brook, 746
Buzzards and Bitterns, Canon E. McClure, 105
Bygone Beliefs: Being a. Series of Excursions in the
Byways of Thought, H. S. Redgrove, 610
Cairo, Proposed University at, 731
Calcium, The Absorption of, by Plant-Roots and its Anti-
toxic Properties towards Copper, L. Maquenne and
E. Demoussy, 91
Calculus: Differential for Colleges and Seconda
' Schools, Dr. €C. Davison, 65; Elementary, C. H.
P. Mayo (with answers), 163
Calcutta, Report for 1918-19 of the Bureau of Educa-
tion, 794
Calendar Reform, A. Philip, C. Flammarion, 22; C.
Flammarion, Dr. A. C..D. Crommelin, 105
Camarasaurus, Cope (Morosaurus, Marsh), Reconstruction
of the Skeleton of, H. F. Osborn and C. C, Mook,
and Restoration of the Camarasaurus and Life-Model,
W. K. Gregory, 667
Cambrian Horizons of Comley (Shropshire), The, and
their Brachiopoda, etc., E. S. Cobbold, 314
Cambridge University: Girton College, Offer of a Fellow-
ship by, 25; E. V. Appleton appointed an Assistant
Demonstrator in Experimental Physics; Proposal to
Create a Readership in the Morphology of Verte-
brates and a Lectureship in Zoology; New Building
Schemes, 56; Prof. H. Lamb; Sir Thomas L. Heath,
Prof. W. H. Bragg, and-Dr. H. Head elected
Honorary Fellows of Trinity College; A. Amos
appointed University Lecturer in Agriculture, and G.
U. Yule re-appointed University Lecturer in Statistics,
88; A Smith’s Prize awarded to S. Pollard; Grants
from the Gordon-Wigan Fund, 88; Fresh Regulations
for the Diplomas in Agriculture and _ Forestry
Drafted, 89; Two Exhibitions Offered by Emmanuel
College; Approval of the New Statute Authorising —
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy for Research, —
120; F. B. Smith appointed Reader in Estate Manage-
ment in, 120; G. E. Briggs elected to the Allen
Scholarship; The New Ph.D. Statute, 154; Gifts
.towards the Hopkinson Professorship in Thermo-
dynamics; The Linacre Lecture to be delivered by
Dr. H. Head; Proposed Honorary Degrees, 312; The
Sheepshanks Exhibition in Astronomy awarded to
E. S. Pearson; Examination for the Diploma in
Medical Radiology and Electrology; H. Hamshaw
Thomas’ re-appointed Curator of the Botanical
Museum; Bequest by the Hon. Sir Charles A. Smith
to Peterhouse, 313; Report of Syndicate on the
Relation of Women Students; Sir Geoffrey Butler
appointed Secretary of the Board of Research
Studies; H. F. Gadow appointed Reader in the
Morphology of Vertebrates; Dr. H. Scott Curator
in Entomology; G. F. C. Gordon Superintendent of
the Engineering Workshops; L. G. P. Thring Super-
intendent of the Engineering Drawing Office,’ 345;
F. A. Milne appointed Assistant Director of the Solar
Physics Observatory; The First M.B. Examination ;
Relation of Women to the University; The Local
Lectures Summer Meeting, 376; Conferment of
Honorary Degrees, 409; Prof. J. T. Wilson appointed
Professor of Anatomy, 439; Hopkins Prize Awards
ve ndex
XXxI
to Dr. W. Burnside, Prof. G. H. Bryan, and
_R. Wilson, 440; Dr. T. G. Adami elected an
wary Fellow of Christ’s College, 440; Offer for
rection, etc., of a Low-Temperature Station,
Gift for a Biochemistry Building, 472; The
t for the Sir William- Dunn School of Bio-
nistry; Dr. T. G. Adami elected an Honorary
y of Jesus College; J. E. Littlewood appointed
vy Lecturer in Mathematics; J. H. Grace re-
ted University Lecturer in Mathematics, 505;
tution of Thermodynamics for Elementary Optics
le A of Part II. of the Mathematical Tripos
iended; Proposed Honorary Degrees; 505; A
for a Degree in Horticulture, 506; An ad
2 "grant by the Government; Donation Received
ctures in Tropical Agriculture; Dr. C. A. Barber
ted Lecturer in Tropical Agriculture ; Miss: B.
gh appointed Principal of Newnham College,
_ Adrian appointed University Lecturer in
y; F. A. Potts University Lecturer in
E, W. Ravenshear awarded the Harkness
p; R. E. Holthum and G. T. Henderson,
Smart Prizes, 537; Dr. F..W. Aston elected
Fellowehis in Trinity College; Latin Orations
Presentation of Sir Joseph Thomson and Sir
for Honorary Degrees, 568; Bequest
eS, Marshall, 601; Dr. S. Scales ‘appointed
_Lecturer in Medical Radiology and Elec-
t. Lavington appointed Girdlers’ Lecturer
s; J. Chadwick elected to the Clerk
Sebolarsbip in Experimental Physics; H. F.
the Hees W. Levy Research Studentship
: J. Beamish to the Wrenbury
og oa 601; Dr. T. M. Lowry
essor of Physical Chemistry, 630;
by Mr, and Mrs, P. A. Molteno towards
: Molteno Institute of Parasitology ;
‘non appointed Assistant to the Professor
; Impending Conferment of Honorary
; The Balfour Memorial Fund Student-
onorary Degree of Doctor of Law Con-
A. L. Lowell, Prof. J. J. Abel, and
ng, 730; Prof. S. J. Hickson elected
‘ellow of Downing College; A. J. Berry
Fe > 761; Presentation to Dr.
rigs
Jones, 622
the British Empire, Eee: P. Car-
d the United States, A Saiieies Tour (1919)
the extile Districts of, Prof. A. F,. Barker,
Insects of, 730; _ Natural History Studies
mary Report ‘of the Mines Branch of
of Mines of, for the year 1918, 242
peention, 1913-18, Reports on Crustacea,
and Dr. C. Juday, 835; Progress,
H. Godfrey, 147; Water-power
ae iS. Dennis, 311
of Physical Agents on the Resistance of
‘ by Murphy, 668; Research Fund, The
1¢ Biochemical Preparation of, starting
nose, Em. Bourquelot and M. Bridel,
. The After-effects of, C. E. Stromeyer, 90
River Region, The, Northern Alaska, E. de K.
ell, 55a
; ‘Ey K: Wakeford, 369
\lcock, 563
es Schlesinger and Z. Daniel, 183
bits, Prof. L. Becker, 560
mesg for Increasing Durations of Charge,
Ratio of the Absolute Retardations in, M.
‘nier, 699; Dioxide, Prolonged Action of, on
es and Quartz, C. Matignon and Mlle. Marchal,
Monoxide in the Air of Mines, er for
permation of Small Quantities of, J. I. Graham,
the Diversity of Edinburgh, The,
J. Ramsbottom; Major w.
624; Sub-nitride, New Researches on, C. Moureu and
J. C. Bongrand, 411
Carbonyl Compounds, Latent Polarities
Mechanism of Reaction,
Prof. A, Lapworth, 346
Carnegie: Corporation of New York, Dr.
elected President of the, 527; Foundation, The, and
. Teachers’ Pensions, 596; Magnetic Observations
taken on the, in February and March, 1920, 788;
Results of the Magnetic Survey of the Atlantic made
by the, J. P. Ault, 520; United Kingdom Trust,
Sixth Annual Report’ of the, 56
Cass Technical Institute, Sir John, Membership of and
Courses at the, Dr. C. A. Keane, 121
Catalase, The Chemical Kinetics of, E. Yamasaki,
Catalytic: Action at Solid Surfaces, A Study of the, Dr.
E. F. Armstrong and T. P. Hilditch, III. and IV.,
314; V., Dr. E. F, Armstrong and T. P. Hilditch, 631;
Activity ‘of Copper, Part I., We G. Palmer, 633 ; Chemi-
cal Reactions and the Law of Mass Action, Dr.
E. F, Armstrong, 696; Decomposition of Solutions of
Hydrogen Peroxide by Colloidal Platinum, A. de G.
Rocasolano, 603; of the Fatty Acids by Carbon, 3:
B. Senderens and J. Aboulenc, 411; Hydration of
Nitriles, The, A. Mailhe, 795
peer and the Future of Beef-Production in England,
nad en Soap apes with a Preface and Chapter by
F. H. A. Marshall, 62
Gratton Institute, Appointments at the, 590; Dr. R.
J. Tillyard, 603
Cells, Multinucleate: An Historical Study (1879-1919), R.
Beer and Dr. Agnes Arber, 90
Céllulose Acetate, Studies on, Dr.
of Atoms and
with Special Reference to,
J. R. Angell
402
Fenton and A, J.
Berry, 378
Celt pa ‘Slav, Prof. J. D. Prince, 763
Celts, Flat- based, from Kent, Hampshire, and Dorset,
H, Dewey, 153
Census, The Forthcoming,
Central: Asia, Through Deserts and Oases of, Miss Ella
Sykes and Brig.-Gen. Sir Percy Sykes, 330;
Australia, The Present Condition of the Aborigines of,
EN: Fallaize, 601
Cephalopodes, Researches on the Posterior Salivary Gland
of III., F. Bottazzi, 251
Cereal Seeds, Dry Heat Treatment of, D. Atanasoff and
ALG. Johnson, 310
Cereals, Estimated Yields of, Throughout the World, 657;
The Prospective Yields of, for 1919-20, 147
Cerebral Cortex, Sensation and the, Dr. H. Head, 363
Cerions, Experiments in the Breedin ng of, P. Bartsch, 545
Ceryl Alcohol and Cerotic Acid Sirs China Wax, A.
Gascard, 506
Ceylon Fungi, Revisions of, Part VI. T. Petch, 20
Chadwick Public Lectures, Forthcoming, 20
Chaleur et du Froid, Action de la, sur 1’Activité des
Etres Vivants, G. Matisse, 161
Cheddar Caves, Plant-Life in, L. Pendred, 709
Chemical: Age, Vol. I., 116; Analysis, Quantitative, A
Text-book of, Dr. A. C. Cumming and Dr. S, A.
Kay, Third Edition, 33; Calculation Tables: For
797
Laboratory Use, Prof. H. L. Wells, Second Edition,
33; Dictionary, Popular, C. T. Kingzett, 227;
Engineer, The Training and Functions of the, Lord
Moulton, 83; Industry, Society of, The Medal of the,
awarded to P. Kestner, 366; Sir William J. Pope
elected President of the; The Gold Medal of the, Pre-
sented to P. Kestner, 654; Annual Meeting of, 695;
Industries of German Rhineland, The, 253; Physiology,
The Essentials of, Prof. W. D. Halliburton, Tenth
Edition, 192; Research as Applied to Industry, An
Impending French Institute for, 722; Notes on,’ An
Account of Certain Conditions which apply to
Original Investigation, W. P. Dreaper, Second
Edition, 773; Service for India, A, Prof. H. E. Arm-
strong, 669; Sheet-Lead, D. W. Jones, 695; Society,
- Proposals for Election of Honorary and_ Foreign
Members, 52; Election of Officers and Council of the,
145; and its New By-laws, 344; Women Made Eligible
for Fellowships of the, 432 ; Text-books, 705; Theory
XXXIl
Index
Nature,
October 7, 1920
and Calculations, Profs, F. J. Wilson and I. M.
Heilbron, Second Edition, 805
Chemistry : Annual Reports on the Progress of, for 1919,
Vol. XVI., 708; and its Mysteries: The Story of
what Things are Made of, told in Simple Language,
Cac Ri\ Gibsony.995 Applied, A Practical Handbook
for Students of Household Science, and Public Health,
Dr. C. K. Tinkler and Helen Masters, Volcan, 227.2
Manuals on, 382; Elementary Agricultural, H. Ingle,
Third Edition, 773; Practical, for Medical and other
Students, Dr. J. E. Myers and J. B.. Firth, Second
Edition, yo5; for Public Health Students, EG.
Jones, 705; for Textile Students, B, North, assisted
by N. Bland, 382; from the Industrial Standpoint,
Pe es Thorne, 227; French Text-books of, 63;
Industrial, New Books on, 227; Institute of, Annual
General Meeting of the, 19; ‘Legal, and Scientific
Criminal Investigation, A. Lucas, 772; of Coal, The,
J. B. Robertson, 382; Organic, A Class-book of, Prof.
J. B. Cohen, Vol. IL., 195; Physical, Introduction
to: Prof. J, Walker, Eighth Edition, 129; Practical,
33; A Course of, for Agricultural Students, Vol. I.,
L. F. Newman ‘and Prof, iH. D. Neville, 291;
Vol. Il., Part I., H. A. D. Neville and L. F. New-
man, 33; Leather, A. Harvey, 382 ; Service, the late
Prof V. B. Lewes and Prof, J. S. S. Brame, Fifth
Edition, Sir ‘I. E. Thorpe, 287
Chemists : British, Central Headquarters for, 697; Indus-
trial, The National Association of, < B. Searle
elected President of, 785; Year Book, 1920, Edited
by F. W. Atack, assisted by L. Whinyates, 2 vols.,
The: Ante-Natal and
740
Child Physiology : Principles of
Post-Natal, Pure and Applied, W. M. Feldman, 638
Children, Physical Efficiency of, Investigation and
Standardisation of the, Dr. A. A. Mumford, 26
Chile and Argentina, Botanical Exploration in, W.
Turrill, 433
Chimica delle’ Sostanze Esplosive, Prof. M. Giua, 483
Chimie: Cours de, a l’usage des Etudiants P.C.N, et
S.P.C.N., Prof. R. de Forcrand, Deuxiéme édition,
Tome I. et Tome II., 63; Organique, Notions Fonda-
mentales de, Prof. C. Moureu, Sixiéme édition, 63
Chindwin, Upper Burma, Races of the, R. Grant
Browne, 281
Chloride of Bromine, The: Its Combination with Ethyl-
ene, M. Delépine and ‘L. Ville, 539
Chlorine: and Various Vapours, The Action of, upon
Plants, P. Guerin nad Ch. Lormand, 59; The Separa-
tion of the Isotopes of, D. L. Chapman, 487, 611;
Prof. F. Soddy, 516, 642; The Separation of the
Element, into Normal Chlorine and Meta-chlorine, and
the Positive Electron, Prof. W. D. Harkins, 230;
Dr, F. W. Aston, 231; A. F. Core, 582, 677
Chlorobenzenes, Commercial, Analysis of, by Distillation,
F. Bourion, 347
Chloropicrin: Act Upon Soluble Ferments? Does, G.
Bertrand and Mme. Rosenblatt, 699; Action of, Upon
Yeast and Saccharomyces vini, G. Bertrand and Mme.
Rosenblatt, 507; Activity of, Towards the Higher
Plants, Conditions which may Modify the, G.
Bertrand, 347; Upon Some Bacterial Fermentations, G.
Bertrand and Mme. Rosenblatt, 571; Upon the Higher
Plants, G. Bertrand, 283; on the Parasites of Wheat.
and on Rats, A. Piutti, 283
Chondriome of the Vaucheria, The, G. Mangenot, 571
Cinchona: Bark, ‘‘ Grey,’’? Some Recent Samples of, B. F.
Howard and O. Chick, 726; Botanical Station, Con-
tinued American Lease of the, 19
Civil: Aviation, Report of the Advisory Committee on,
556; Engineers, Institution of, Awards of the, 303;
Election of Officers of the, J. A. Brodie President,
304; List Pensions, Some, 654; Service Estimates for
1920-21, Education and Science in the, 246
Clark University and Clark College, Resignations of Dr.
G. Stanley Hall and Dr. E. C. Sanford; Appoint-
ment of Dr. W. W. Atwood as Head of Both Institu-
tions, 602
Clifton College Scientific Society, 631
Climate of the Netherlands, 600
{ Climatic :
Cycles and Evolution, Dr. Griffith Taylor, 728;
Cycles and Tree-growth, Prof. Douglass, 562
Climatology of North-west Russia and France, 119
Cloud and Sunshine, The Relationship between,
Sutton, 667;
years 1916-18, An Analysis of, G. A. Clarke, 148
Clouds as Seen from an Aeroplane,
Douglas, 218
Cluster Pine, The, Dr. M. Grabham, 675
Clytocosmus, An Undescribed Species of, Skuse (Tipulide,
Diptera), Dr. C. P. Alexander, 635
Coal: Measures in the Central Marsif and at its Edges,
The Course of the, L. De Launay, 634; Supplies,
Our, The Conservation of, Prof. J. W. Gregory, 108;
The Chemistry of, J. B. Robertson, 382; The Oxida-
tion of, M. Godchot, 666
Coastal Limestones of the Cape Province, W. Wybergh,
689
Coke-oven : Construction, Modern By-product, W. A. Ward,
695; and Blast-furnace Gases for Heating and Power,
[he More Economical Utilisation of the, G. W. Hen-
son and S. H. Fowles, 695; Gas, By-products from,
Dr. 1b Wey Smith; 695 ; for Town Supply, H: “E.
Wright, 695; Walls, The Corrosion of, W. J. Rees,
695
Colloid Chemistry, Elementary,
E. Hatschek, 705
Colloidal: Complexes and Sera, G. Riquoir, 187; Electro-
lytes, Prof. J. W. McBain, 760; Systems, The Pro
perties of, IV.: Reversible Gelation in Living Proto-
plasm, Prof, wW. M. Bayliss, 26; Therapy, 351
Colloids: in Health and Disease, The Use of, A. B.
Searle, 351;
696; The Physics and Chemistry of,
Symposium and Discussion on, 654
Cologne Post, Anniversary of the, 211
Colour : and Chemical Constitution, Part XI., J. Moir, 667 ;
Blindness, Card Test for, Dr. F. W. Edridge-Green,
575; Index of the British Isles, The, Prof. F, G
Parsons, and others, 531; Vision, The Theory and
Facts of, 575
Colouring Matters of Plants, 139
Columbia and Vicinity, Flora of the District SES.
Hitchcock and P. C. Standley, 242
Columbian Tradition, The, on the Discovery of America
Laboratory Manual of,
- Forthcoming
and of the Part Played Therein by the Astronomer
Toscanelli, H. Vignaud, 803
Combustibles, The Application Value of, E. Damour, 634
Commercial Parasitism in the Cotton Industry, O. F.
Cook, 548 :
Compass :
Mariner’s, 44
Complex Combinations : A New Series of, the Antimony
Oxyiodides, A. C. Vournazos, 475
Composite: Ancestral Studies of, 450; The Origin and
Development of the, Dr. J. "Small, 450
Concrete, Light, C. Rabut, 91
Conflict, The Philosophy of, and other Essays in War-
time, Havelock Ellis, Second Series, 353
Congress, Librarian of, Report of the, for the year end-
ing June goth, 1919, 537
Congruences with respect to Composite Moduli, Major P. A.
MacMahon, 474
Conic Curves, A New Apparatus for Drawing, A. F. Dufton,
187
Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies, Report for 1919, 343
Conquest, August, 756
Continent, The Heart of a, D. Carruthers, 330
Continuation Schools and their Relation to Technical Insti-
tutes and Colleges, Principal C. L. Eclair-Heath, 728
Contour Colouring, the Layer System of, Dr. 3 G.
Bartholomew and, G. G. Chisholm, 328
Coolidge Tube: The Manufacture of the, Dr. W. D.
Coolidge, 655; The Radiator Dental Type of, 758; Its
Scientific Applications, Medical and Industrial, H. Pilon”
translated,
Copper: A Case Favourable to the Action of, on Vegetation,
L. Maquenne and E. Demoussy, 634; in Plants,
The Presence of, and particularly in food of veamert
Origin, B. Guérithault, 763
j. Roe
Distribution at Aberdeen during the —
Capt, C.: Kia
The Filtration of, Dr. W. R. Ormandy, =:
The Gyrostatic, S. G. Brown, 44, 77; The
Nature,
_ October 7, 1920.
Index
XXXili
Coriibporgbus The Genus, T. A. Stephenson, 474
* Correlation Coefficient, Partial, in Samples of 30, An Ex-
G mental Determination of the Distribution of the, J.
ham, 187
CORRESPONDENCE.
avigation and oreesy: Lt.-Col. E. Gold, 775;
fs van Everdingen, 776
Pear, The, Pr. M. Grabham, 517
None in the Auditory Nerve, Dr.
tells, ‘The Small Islands of, Prof. W.
a The, Dr. G. C. Simpson, 777; .R. M.
R. M. Deeley, 677
Mrs. Hertha Ayrton, 422, 612, 613; Prof.
d, asz. 612
r and Industrial Research, J. W. Williamson,
; Prof. F. Soddy, 422; Major A. G, Church,
W. Perrett,
M. Davis,
se for Biological Teaching, Dr. Monica
ti’ New, Science and, Col. E. H. Hills, 103 ;. Prof.
G. Filon, 133; Prof. R. Whiddington, 134;
E. Gold; Dr. C. S. Myers, 135; Prof. A. R.
dson, 170; K. E. Edgeworth, 233; C. S.
» 3913 Universities and the, Dr. F. J. M.
2!
n aac Forces and Crystal Structure, Dr.
— 327; and Molecular Structure, On, Dr.
ae , 231; Structure, Theories of, I. Langmuir,
ts, The Standard of, Prof. ¥. R. Parting-
2
Li uir’s oieoct of, S. C. Bradford, 41;
Pia. 105
22-23, The, W. B. Housman, 200
Free, The Stretching of Rubber in, Dr. H. P.
; W. H. Dines, 613
the 9 aa ge Bean, H. J. Lowe, 742;
r in, Prof. T. A. Cockerell, 518
agnetic Hydrogen Atom, A’ Possible Cause
magnetism of, J. R. Ashworth, 516
-and Technical, Sir R, A. Gregory, 41
Bird Sanctuary, The, W. M. Webb, 614
‘ Scientific Apparatus, D. H. Baird,
vO ilvy, 424; J. S. Dunkerly, 425; F. W.
; r, 518; Prof. M. Bayliss, 641; and
a, of se we ‘and Measures, M. E.
: E. Ackermann,
a Bitas, Rev. Canon E. Mite, 105
Reform, C. Flammarion; Dr. A. C. D. Crom-
ce, The Indian, Prof. Jocelyn Thorpe, 324;
Chandra R4y, 325; Dr. M. W. Travers,
ce ation of the Element, into Normal
e and Meta-Chlorine, and the Positive Electron,
I. Harkins; Dr. F. W. Aston, 230; the
“of, The Separation of, D. L. Chapman, 487,
of Fad Soddy, 516, 642; A. F. Core, 582, wa
arasitism in the Cotton Industry, oO.
a ay Layer System of, Dr. J. G.
G. G. Chisholm, 328
in de British Empire, ‘Dr. W. Lawrence
ir George Watt, 104; Industry, ot
Stim in the, O. F.’ Cook, 548
et, 29
tal Structure, Atomic and Molecular Forces and, Dr.
. E. Oxley, 327
nt Saving ag: cee ‘Length of the Working Day,
e D. Betts,
al Coinage, H. ny ee 261
Integrals between Finite Limits, A New Method
F Approximate Evaluation of, A. F. Dufton, 354, 455;
_ F. Merchant, 422; Commander T. Y, Baker, 4
enetism: and the Structure of the Hydrogen Mole-
i cule Dre As _ Oxley, 581; of Bohr’s Paramagnetic
Hydrogen Atom, A Possible Cause for the, Dr. J. R.
Ashworth, 516; of Hydrogen, The, Dr. J. R. Ash-
worth, 645: Dr. A. E. Oxley, 709
oy of Philosophy in England, The, Dr. H. O. Forbes,
Eiffel” Taiihee Wireless Time-Signals, Prof. R. A. Sampson,
265
Elements, The Constitution of the, Dr. F. W. Aston, 8,
547
Ellipse, Perimeter of an, R. A. P. Rogers, 8
Entomologists, Practical, The Training of,
Imms, 676
Eocene Flints, Naturally Fractured, J. Reid Moir, 358
Equivalence, The Principle of, and the Notion of Force,
C. A. Richardson, 72
Expenses of Scientific Work, Major A. G. Church, 72°
Fellow-Workers, Sir Ronald se 45
Fireball of February 4, M. L. Dey, W. F. Denning, 105
Fishery bie ec haan International Council for, X. Y. Z.
262; Prof. C. McIntosh, 167, 358
PusGerakLnoin Contraction Theory, The, H. H. Poole,
200
Fizeau Effect in an Electron Stream, An Attempt to Detect
the, Prof. R. Whiddington, 708
Flying-fish, The Flight of, ©. J. McNamara, 421; Prof.
W. N. F. Woodland, Sir David Wilson- Barker, 455
Genera and Species, A. Mallock, 675
Glacial Anticyclone, The Mechanics of the,
Experiment, Prof. W. H. Hobbs, 644
Gravitational: Deflection of High-speed Particles, Prof.
S. Eddington, 37; H. G. Forder, 138; L. Page,
233; Shift of Spectral Lines, Dr. H. Jeffreys, a
Halo, A Peculiar, Capt. C. J. P. Cave, 171
Hawthorn Blossom, Early, Lady Jenny Rose, 234
High Levels in the Atmosphere, Attainment of, W. H.
Dines, 454
High Rates of Ascent of F cl Balloons, Dr. W.
Bemmelen, 485; J. S. Dines, 581
Hydrogen, The Secondary Spectrum of, Prof. J. W. Nichol-
son, 166
Hyperbolic Space, Relativity and, Prof. A. McAulay, 808
Ice, Curious Formation of, A, S. E. Ackermann, 741
Indian Chemical Service, The, Prof. Jocelyn Thorpe, 324; .
Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray, 325; Dr. M. W. Travers,
Rew Aw: D:
illustrated by
van
354
Industrial Research, Scientific Direction of, Major A. G.
hurch, 40
Integration, Approximate, and of Computing Areas, Some
Methods of, A. S. Percival, 70; Prof. J. B. Dale;
R..A. P. Rogers, 138
Ionisation in the Solar | Ne M. N. Saha, 232
Isomerism, An Electronic Theory of, Pr. H. S. Allen, 71;
W. E. Garner; S. C. Bradford, 171
Isotopes: The Separation of, Dr. T. R. Merton and Brig.-
Gen. H. Hartley, 104; of Chlorine, The Separation of
the, D. L. Chapman, 487, 611; Prof. F. Soddy, 516,
642; A. F. Core, 582, 677
Jupiter, "The Great Red Spot on, W. F. Denning, 423
Kent’s Cavern, The Condition of, E. A. Martin, 742
ate a and Power, L. Bairstow, 135; F, 'O. ja
. W. Evans, 165
Laboratory Fittings, The Cost of. A. E. Munby, 294, 456;
. Beck, 355; B. H. Morphy; C. Baker, 356; Bel-
lingham and Stanley, Ltd.. W. Taylor; H. W. Ash-
field, 357,
‘Langmuir’s Theory of Atoms, On, S. C. Bradford, 41;
Dr. A. E. Oxley, 105
Light: [eflection of, During a Solar Eclipse, J. A.
Orange; Dr. A. C. D. Crommelin, 8; the Deflection
of," Marat and, Prof. W. A. Osborne, 456
London University Site and Needs, Sir E.Sharpey Schafer,
Dr.
4
Magnetic: Shell, The Construction of a, Equivalent to a
given Electric Current, Dr. A. A, Robb , 199; Storm of
March 22-23, The, and Associated Phenomena, Dr. C.
Chree, 136; Rev. A. L. Cortie, 137; Dr. A. C.
Mitchell, 170
Marat and the Deflection of Light, Prof. W. A. Osborne,
45
Medical Education, Science in, Prof. S. J. Hickson, 643
XXXIV Ln dex octet aan
Marat Motion of, A Dynamical Specification of the, | Telephotography, A Note on, A. B., 488
G. W. Walker, 198 Temperature Variations at 10,000 ft., C. K. M. Douglas,
iblesaet ical Conditions of an Ice Cap, R. F. T.
Granger, 709; Office, The Position of the, Dr. H. R.
Mill, W. W. Bryant, 38°
Migrations in the Sea, The Physiology of, Prof. A. Meek,
197
Mole Cricket, The, F. V. C., 29
Mortlakes as a Cause of River Windings, T. S. Ellis, 264
H. Bury, 391
Moseley Memorial, Sir Henry A. Miers, C. G. Darwin, and
Dr. H. Robinson, 200
Muscular Efficiency, A. Mallock, 197
Museums and the State, Prof. E. W. MacBride, Prof. J. W.
She ae 68; Dr. F. A. Bather, Dr. W Hoyle,
69; W. G, Wagner, 703 Sit °K. Ray Lankester, 100:
Prof. J. Stanley Gardiner, 1o1; Dr. W. M. Tattersall,
102; F.R.S., 136
Musk Plants, Loss of Fragrance of, Hon. Col. C. J. Bond,
Oo
Officers, Seconding of, for Study at Universities, Prof. J.
Wertheimer, 41
Organisation of Scientific Work, Dr. W. Bateson, J. S.
Gamble, Sir Ronald Ross, 6; Dr. E. J. Russell, Prof.
A. C. Seward, 7; Sir j. c. Bose, 39; Sir ie ee
Middleton, 103; Sir Leonard Rogers, 292; in India,
Sir Thomas H. Holland, 452
Ostrich, A Stalked Parapineal Vesicle in, the, Prof. J. E.
Duerden, 516
Ozone in the Atmosphere, Occurrence of, J. N. Pring, 645
Percussion Figures, Dr, B. G. Escher, 171
Pilot Balloons, High Rates of Ascent of, Dr. W. van
Bemmelen, 485; J. S. Dines, 581
Pine, The Cluster, Dr. M. Grabham, 675
Plant Life in Cheddar Caves, L, Pendred, 709
Plumage Bill, The, and Bird Protection, Sir H. H. John-
ston, Prof. H. M. Lefroy, 168; Sir Herbert Maxwell,
Prof. A. Dendy, 169; Dr. W. E. Collinge, 196; Prof.
E. Duerden, 263
Rainbow Inside Out, Ay CoQ: Bartrum, 388
Relativity : and Hyperbolic Space, Prof. A. McAulay, 808 ;
and Reality, Prof. R. A. Sampson, 708
Royal Military Academy, The, J. Young, 486
Science: and Scholasticism, Prof. J. J. Walsh, 547; Dr. C.
Singer, 548; and the New Army, Col. E. H. Hills,
103; Prof. L. N. G. Filon, 133; Prof. R. Whid-
i Sry 134; Lt.-Col. E. Gold, Dr. C. S. Myers, 135;
Pro R. Richardson, 170; *K. E. Edgeworth, 233;
C, <. AWright 391;
Hickson, 643
Scientific: and Technical Books, Sir R. A. Gregory, 41;
Apparatus from Abroad, Prof. W. M. Bayliss,
— C. Beck, 355; B. H. Morphy, C. Baker, 356;
lingham and Stanley, Ltd., W. Taylor, H. W. Ashfield,
357; British and Foreign, D. H. Baird, 390; J. W.
Ogilvy, 424; J. S. Dunkerly, 425; F. W. Watson
aker, 518; Prof. W. M. Bayliss, 641; Direction of
Industrial Research, Major A. G. Church, 40; Publica-
tions, The Cost of, Prof. W. A. Herdman, Prof, H. H.
Turner, 326; . B. Knobel, W. W. ‘Bryant, 327;
Prof. G, H. Hardy, Dr. A. B. Rendle, 353; Dr.
Daydon Jackson, Dr. C. S. Myers, 354; Dr. C. G.
Knott, 425; Research, Dr. J. W. Evans, 358; Re-
unions at the Natural History Museum, Dr. G. F. H.
Smith, 72; Work, Expenses of, Major. A. G. Church,
72; Its Spirit and Reward, Dr, G. J. Fowler, 387;
Organisation of, Dr. W. Bateson, J. S. Gamble, Sir
Ronald Ross, 6; Dr. E. J. Russell, Prof. A. C. Seward,
veri eel Pag Os Bose, 39; Sir T. H. Middleton, 103 ; Sir
Leonard Rogers, 292; in India, Sir Thomas H. Hol-
in Medical Education, Prof. S. J.
land, 452
Sea and Sky at Sunset, Lt.-Col. K. E. Edgeworth,
J +5 358
‘Spectrum, An Experiment on the, Dr. R. A. Houstoun, 421
Sphexapata (Miltogramma) conica, Note on the Habits of
the Tachinid Fly, O. H Latter, 614
Spores and Plant Life in Deep Caves, The Carrying Power
of, E. A. Stoney, 740
Sumner Lines in Navigation, Use of, Prof. G. C. Com-
stock, Capt. T. H. Tizard, 742; Dr. J. Ball, 806
614 z au
Thrush, The First Act of a Young, Honor M. M. Perry. —
coste, 456 ;
Trichodynamics, Dr. W. Lawrence Balls, 777
Universities, The, and the Army, Dr. F, J.
234
University : Grants, Sir Michael E. Sadler, 740; Principal
C, Grant Robertson, 774; Prof. W. H. Perkin, 805;
Stipends and Pensions, Prof. G. W. O. Howe, 582
Vapour Densities, Calculation of, R. G. Durrant, 742
Vocal Notes, Seven, Photographs of, Dr. W. Perrett, 39
Volcanic Rocks in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Dr. G. W.
Grabham, 199
Waage’s Photochemical Synthesis of Phiorogiaces from Glu-
cose, Dr. M. Nierenstein, 391
Wasps, W. F. Denning, 328
Waves, Growth of, A. Mallock, 777
Weather Forecasts and Meteorology, A. Mallock, 580
Weights and Measures, British and Metric Systems of,
M. E. Yeatman, 355; A. S. E. Ackermann, 456
Wireless : Station for Astronomy, Central, Major W.-J. S.
Lockyer, 454; Time-Signals, Eiffel Tower, Prof. R. A.
Sampson, 265 ‘
M. Stratton,
Corrosion Research Committee, Appeal for Funds by the,
304
Cosmogony, Problems of, and Stellar Dynamics, J. H.
Jeans, 31
Cottage Building, Experimental, 792
Cotton: Climates of the British Empire suitable eh the
Cultivation of, C. E. P. Brooks, 338; Egyptian, Re-
searches on, Dr. W. L. Balls, 664
Cotton Growing: Future Organisation, 793; in South
America, Possibilities of, G, McC. McBride, 399; in
the British Empire, Dr. 'W. Lawrence Balls, 103; Sir
George Watt, 104; Industry, Commercial Parasitism in
the, O..<F. Cook, 548; Research, 840; Pests, H. H.,
5
Cosnnie Anglesite, Leadhillite, and Galena, The Occur-
rence of, on Fused Lead from the Wreck of the Fireship
Firebrand, Falmouth Harbour, A. Russell, 156
Coumarin, Melettis melissophyllum, A New Plant Ze aca
ing, P. Guérin and A. Goris, 411
‘* Cresineol,’? T. T. Cocking, 726
Crete, Excavations in, M. Xanthoudides, 273
Cricket, The Mole, F. V. D.,
294
‘Crocker Land Expedition, Mollusea obtained by the, F.
C. Baker, 593
Crookes Radiometer, A Modified Theory of the, G. D.
West, 473
Crop Production, British, Dr. E. J. Russell, 176, 206
Crystal Structure: Atomic and Molecular Forces and, Dr.
A. E. Oxley, 327; Prof. W. L. Bragg, 646
Cubic Curves, Construction of the Ninth Intersection of
two, passing through eight given Coplanar FOR,
Prof. H. F. Baker, 474
Cuckoo’s Egg, The Story of a, Hilda Terras, 746
Cumacea and Phyllocarida obtained by the Ingolf and other
expeditions, Dr. H. J. Hansen, 81
Currency Reform and the Need for a Nickel Coinage
ona Decimal Basis, 114
‘* Cyanogen ’’ Bands, The Origin of the, S. Barratt, 633
Cylindrical Octosection, On, W. Burnside, 473
Cyprus: The Agricultural Industries of, W. Bevan, 757;
The Handbook of, Eighth Issue, Edited by H. C. ‘Luke |
and <D:9. Jardine, 291
Cytology: An Introduction to the Study of, Prof. L. Don-
caster, 190; English, 190; The Modern Technique of,
A era) oo Gatenby, 463 ; with special reference to the Meta-
zoan Nucleus, Prof. W. E. Agar, 482
Dacca University: P. J. Hartog appointed Vice-Chancellor, i
509
Dante and. Trepidation, O. Z. Bianco, 664
Day Continuation Schools, H. J. Taylor, 23
Daylight Saving and the Length of the Working Day,
‘Annie D. Betts, 41 3
Index XXXV
02
beds Ms Anderson), 111
eton (Dr. F. A.), 525; 554
yl (Sedley), 143
Wimmer (Prof. L. F. A.), 365
Worsdell (W.), 239
Decimal Coinage: H. Allcock, 261; Report of the Royal
Commission on, 145, 210 .
Definite Integrals: A New Method for Approximate Eval-
uation of, between Finite Limits, A. F. Dufton, 354,
~455; Commander T. Y. Baker, 486; C. F. Merchant,
422
Denmark, Plant Culture in, Prof. J. K. Ravn, 761
Denning’s Comet of 1881 and A Meteoric Shower, 560
Dental Cements, The Setting of, Dr. T. M. Lowry and
S. Wilding, 217 ;
Deutsche Seewarte, Report of the, for 1914-18, 528
Devonian of Ferques (Lower Boulonnais), The, J. W. D.
Robinson, 314
Diabetes, Returns concerning, 723 ‘
Dialkylcyclohexanones, The Constitution of Some, R. Cor-
nubert, 475
Diamagnetism: and the Structure of the Hydrogen Mole-
cule, Dr, A. E. Oxley, 581; of Bohr’s Paramagnetic
Hydrogen Atom, A Possible Cause for the, J. R. Ash-
worth, 516; of Hydrogen, The, J. R. Ashworth,
645; Dr. A. E. Oxley, 709
Diamond, Overgrowths on, J. R. Sutton, 50
Diatoms on the Skin of Whales, Occurrence of, A. G.
Bennett and E. W. Nelson, 633
Diazo-compounds : New Catalytic Elements for the Trans-
formation of, A. Koreznski, W. Mrozinski, and W.
Vielau, 763; The Chemistry and Technology of the,
Dr. J. C. Cain, second edition, 449
Dielectric of Commercial Cables, Loss of Energy in the,
M. Rennesson, 218
Diesel Engine, Marine, The Running and Maintenance of
the; J. Lamb, 2
go
Differential Equations: Graphical Treatment of, Dr. S.
Brodetsky, 466; Solutions of the Examples in a Treatise
on, Prof. A. R. Forsyth, 260 i
Diffraction : Grating, Experiments with a Plane, using Con-
vergent Light, G. F. C. Searle, 4-4; Image of a Disc,
H. Nagaoka, 436
Diffusion through a Rubber Membrane, The Process of,
H. A. Daynes, 122
Digestive Hoemoclasia : and ‘Latent Hepatism, The Proof of,
F. Widal, P. Abrami, and N. Iancovesco, 794; in the
Study of Hepatic Insufficiency, Proof of, F. Widal, P.
Abrami and N. Iancovesco, 762; Hydrolyses by Me-
chanical Ionisation of Water, J. E. Abelous and J.
Aloy, 380
Dimethylcyclohexanone, The Constitution of the, obtained
by Methylation of the Sodium derivative of a-Methyl-
cyclohexanone, A. Haller and R. Cornubert, 250
Dimetrodon, a Skeleton of, from the Permian of Texas,
C. W. Gilmore, 118
Dioptric Instruments, Theory of, 542
Discovery, The Encouragement of, 189
Disease, Radiological Diagnosis of, 4 .
Distillation in Steam, Some Aovplications of the Method of,
Dr. J. Reilly and W. J. Hickinbottom, 379
Doctor of Philosophy in England, The, 204; Dr. H. oO.
Forbes, 234 ee
Dogs, Vivisection of, The Bill to Prohibit the, grscria
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria, B.C., Publi-
cations of the, Vol. I, No. 1, 658
Donnybrook Fair, R. J. Kelly, 433
Dove Marine Laboratory, Report of the, 216
Drosophila : Genetic Studies of, Prof. L. Doncaster, - 405 +
melanogaster, Contributions to the Genetics of, Prof.
T. H. Morgan: Dr. C. B. Bridges; A. H. Sturtevant,
40
Dubiins Trinity College, Forthcoming Election to a Fellow-
ship in Experimental Physics or Physical Chemistry,
"31; University, decision to grant-Honorary Degrees to
Dr. W. Crooke, Lord Bryce, Sir Donald MacAlister,
Sir Archibald E. Garrod, Prof, W. H. Bragg, and Prof.
R. A. Millikan, 89; and Trinity College, Dubin, ap-
pointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the
financial resources and working of, :
Duplex Wireless Telephony, Application of, to Aircraft,
Capt. P. P. Eckersley, 154
XXXVI
[ndex
wWVature,
October 7, 1920
Dutch East Indies, Rainfall Records in the, for 1915, 1916,
1917, 368
Dye Industry : Development of the Synthetic, V. Clay, 686 ;
Present State of the, 413
Dyes, The Manufacture of Intermediate Products for, Dr.
J. C. Cain, second edition, 260
Dynamics : Graphic, Elements of, E. S. Andrews, 65; The
Fundamental Equations of Dynamics and its Main
Co-ordinate Systems Vectorially Treated and Illustrated
from Rigid Dynamics, Prof. F. Slate, 65
Earth: The Absorptive Power of, for Manganese, P.
Nottin, 666; The Elasticity of the, Earthquake Waves
and, Dr. C. G. Knott, 730
Earthquake Waves and_ the
Dr. C. G. Knott, 730
Earthquakes in Italy in 1896 to 1914, The Frequency of,
R. D. Oldham, 186
Earth’s Magnetic Field, The Daily Variations of the, Miss
A. van Vleuten, 401°
Earthworks and Retaining Walls, P. M. Crosthwaite, 87;
A. R. Fulton, 88
Easter, The Date of, 691
Easter Island, The Mystery of, the Story of an Expedition,
Mrs. Scoresby Routledge, 583
Eastern Europe: Health Conditions in, Typhus a Serious
Menace, Dr. N. White, 723
Economic: Biologists, Association of, Meeting of the, 170;
Entomologists, The Education of, Prof. H. Maxwell
Lefroy, and others, 503
Edinburgh University: Sir George Watt to deliver the
course of lectures on Indian Forest Trees: J. Templeton
appointed Lecturer in Botany; Dr. Bella D. MacCallum
appointed assistant in the Botany department; a series
of lectures on Aeronautics to be delivered, 120; 1l’Abbé
Breuil appointed Munro Lecturer on _ Prehistoric
Archeology for 1920-21, 121; The King to lay the
foundation stone of new buildings; no person not of
British nationality and parentage to be appointed pro-
fessor of German; Dr. G. L. Malcolm Smith appointed
assistant in Clinical Medicine; J. Anderson avpointed
Lecturer in Logic and Metaphysics; Mesozoic fossil
plants presented to the Geological Department by Dr.
R. Kidston; loans of forestry exhibits to the Forestry
Department, 280; E. P. Stebbing appointed Professor
of Forestry; J. P. Dunn a Lecturer in the Department
of Music; bequest by Dr. J. G. Bartholomew, 537;
Foundation-stone of new buildings laid by the King;
acceptance of the Honorary Degree of LL.D. by the
Queen, 601; The New Science Buildings of, 627
Education: and Science in the Civil Service Estimates for
1920-21, 246; Act of 1918, Working of the, Marquess
of Crewe, 22; L.C.C. Draft Scheme, 693; A National
System of, 345; J. C. M. Garnett, 728; in the New
Era, Prof. F. Soddy, 561; Medical, 573; Medical
Science and, Sir T. Clifford Allbutt, and others, 661:
National, 213; Naval, 44s; Popular, since the Act of
1870, Miss J. F. Wood, 213; The Relationship of, to
Research in Aeronautics, 14; University and Higher
Technical, 509
Educational Systems, The Evil in Existing, F. W. Sander-
son, 561
Eel Fisheries, Report on, 368
Egypt: Discovery of a Remarkable Ebony Statue in, Prof.
Flinders Petrie, 463; the Birds of, Hand-list of, M. J.
Nicoll, 674; Upper, Personal Ornaments found in,
Prof. Flinders Petrie and Dr. Dennison, 210
Egyptian Cotton, Researches on, Dr. W. L. Balls, 664
Eiffel Tower Wireless Time-Signals, Prof. R. A. Sampson,
Elasticity of the Earth,
265
Einstein: Deflecton of Light, The, Dr. A. C. D. Crom-
melin; Prof. C. V. Raman, 23; Displacement of Spec-
tral Lines, The, J. Evershed and C. E. St. John, 244 :-
Theory, The, Prof. E. P. Adams, 842; The Foundations
of, Dr. E. Freundlich, translated by H. 'L. Brose, 350;
Relativity, Prof, A. Eddington, and others, 306
Elasticity, the Mathematical Theory of, A Treatise on,
Prof. A. E. H. Love, third edition, 511
Electric Charge on Rain, The, Prof. J. A. McClelland and
A. Gilmour, 498; Conductors, Calculation of, W. T. —
Taylor, 229; Currents in Telephone and ‘Telegraph —
Conductors, The Propagation of, Prof. J. A. Fleming, —
third edition, 611; Furnace in Great Britain, Recent
Developments of the, D. F, Campbell, 695; Railway
Contact Systems, Sir Philip Dawson, 657
Electrical and Allied Industries, Education and Training
for the, 151; Anemometer, A New, E. Rothé, 443;
Conductivity, Measurement of, in Metals and Alloys at
High Temperatures, J. L. Haughton, 602; Energy,
The Transport of, to great distances, E. Brylinski,
347; Engineering and their Application, The Principles
of, Prof. G. Kapp, Vol. II., Application, 418; Examples
in, J. F. Gill and F. J. Teago, 195; Oscillations in
Water, The Propagation of Sustained, and the Di-
electric Constant of .Water, M. Sauzin, 763
Electricity : Applications of, Dr. A. Russell, 418; Conduc-
tion of, through fused Sodium Hydrate, Dr. A. Fleck
and T. Wallace, 602; Distribution in France, Maps of
the Network of, A. Rateau, 571; Its Production and
Applications, R. E. Neale, 804 — - oe
Electro : -chemical Chlorate, Theory of, and Perchlorate for-
mation, N. V. S. Knibbs and H. Palfreeman, 602 ;
deposition of Metals, Uses of the, W. E. Hughes, 339
Electrolytes, Colloidal, Prof. J. W. McBain, 960 _
Electrolytic : Dissociation, Influence of, on the Distillation in
Steam of the Volatile Fatty Acids, Dr. J. Reilly and
W. J. Hickinbottom, 379; Iron, The Annealing of, J.
Cournot, 763; Resistances, Measurement of, using
Alternating Currents, Dr. H. F. Haworth, 602 é
Electrometer, An Absolute Bispherical, A. Guillet and M.
Aubert, 59
Electron : Collisions, Effects of, with Atmospheric Neon, Dr.
F. Horton and Ann C. Davies, 633; Emission from
Hot Bodies, The, Sih ‘Ling Ting, 441
Electro-therapy, The History of, Dr. W. J. Turrell, 81
Elements: The Constitution of the, Dr. F. W. Aston, 8,
547; The Origin of the, Dr. J. H. Vincent, 842
Elgie’s Weather Book: For the General Reader, J. H.
Elgie, 739 peti
Ellipse, Perimeter of an, R. A. P. Rogers, 8
Empire Timber Exhibition, The, A. L. Howard, 691
Employment Psychology: The Application of Scientific |
Methods to the Selection, Training, and Grading of
Employees, Dr. H. C. Link, 673
Encephalitis I ethargica: Dr. Reece and Dr. MacNalty, 151;
in Karachi, Capts. Malone and Maitra, 834
Engineering : Descriptive Geometry and Drawing, Capt. |
F. W. Bartlett and Prof. T. W. Johnson, 3 Parts, ©
515; Education: Essays for English, selected and
edited by Prof. R. P. Baker, 258; Naval, Progress in,
Vice-Admiral Sir George Goodwin, 235: Research in
a4 United States, A. P. M. Fleming, 598; Science and,
25
Engineers, Education of, 152
English: Magic and Medicine, Early, Dr. C. Singer, 337
Sedimentary Series, Thickness of, G. W. Lamplugh,
338; Skeleton, A Study of the Long Bones of the,
Prof. Karl Pearson and Julia Bell. Part I, The Femur.
Part I, Section II, The Femur of Man, with special
reference to other Primate Femora, 767
Engrais: Amendements Produits Anticryptogamiques et
Insecticides, Dr. E. Demoussy, 738
Entomological: Conference, The, 502; ~-Meteorological
Records of Geological Facts in the Life of British
Lepidoptera Major H. C. Gunton, 26
Entomologists, Practical, The Training of, Dr. A. D. Imms,
676
7
Entomology, Economic, in the Philippines, 600
Eocene Flints, Naturally Fractured, J. Reid Moir, 358
‘‘ Eolith ’? Factory, A Natural, beneath the Thanet Sand, —
S. H. Warren, 378
Equilibrium Constant, The Pressure Variation of, in
Dilute Solution, Dr. A. M. Williams, 603
Equivalence, The Principle of, and the Notion of Force,
C: A. Richardson, 72 ;
6 Eridani, The Binary Star, B. H. Dawson, 84
Errors, The Balancing of, T. Smith, 122
Eruption of Katla (Iceland) in 1918, The, A. Lacroix, 314
Ether : -Air Mixtures, The Self-Ignition of, the Causes of, +
Index
XXXVii
Prof. McClelland and Rev. H. V. Gill, 634;
ntial Radiometer, The, W. H. Dines, 570;
The Catalytic Formation of, A. Mailhe and F.
don, 27; The Equation of State of, E. Ariés, 314;
“ritical State of, M. Audant, 634
Sul ide, C,H,S, M. Delépine, 666
ils, The Manufacture of Thymol, Menthone,
Menthol from, H. G. Smith and A. R. Penfold,
Greek. Book I, with introduction and notes, Sir
L. Heath, 288
(oo 288
vies, and Ethes, Sir Charles W alston, 804
ht, Recent Developments in, Essays
edited by F. S. Marvin, 607
Fendi Swift, Weather Notes of, in Relation
Climate, Capt C. J. P. Cave, 393
Method of, Prof. E. W. MacBride, 655
iversity College, Prof. H. J. W. Hetherington
ted Principal of, 280
of Diseases of the Para Rubber Tree, 86
by Joule’s Effect at the Contact of Two
The, J. Fallou, 506
herd the Sea, International Council for the:
ia) 51, 84: H. G. Maurice elected Presi-
eons, ‘The Velocity of, Prof. D. C. Miller, 842
or Circle in yo head Map of the, J. S. Wilson
Bees Pi
EL P. Brooks, 275
tory, The Weather Experienced at, 656
logy of, T. B. Wood and Dr. F. H.
Part I, General, Dr. F. H. A. Marshall,
: W. Gudger, 279
* Ronald Ross, 455
fic Society, Report of the, for 1918
icia “Phe Manufacture of, Dr. E. J.
Mining pied a laa. of, and
to Soils, S. L. Lloyd, 4
| 1 Classes in England <a Wales, The,
Stevenson, 655
veined of, Prof. F. R. Lillie, 225
Instruments ”’ : Being an Elementary
Gauss’ Theory and _ its Applications.
slated by Dr. O. Faber from Prof. F. Lippich’s
1 translation of Prof. G. Ferraris’ ‘ The Fun-
_ Properties of Dioptric Instruments,’’ 542
during the past fifty years, The Progress
ni n the, Dr. J. E. Stead, 403
S| the Tropics, Sir Leonard Rogers, Third edition,
onocular oe Binocular, Report on, E. P.
Cobb, H Johnson and W. Weniger,
\ 1 of Natural History, Work of the
“al Laboratories of the, 498
Recessed Plate and Plate-and-Frame Types
. Alliott, 606
7 M.
i 723
*ireball : Bight, 370; of February 4, M. L. Dey; W.
Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and
Prof. J. Stanley Gardiner to direct tempo-
a the scientific work of the, 52
| ations, Ser. III, Hydrography. Vol. I,
The English Channel, Part Il; Vol, II, Lightship
ations, Part I; "Vol. III, The Atlantic Ocean,
ines . bre t.. Cz Jee, 150; International, 84; ce aul
_ for, Prof.
Recent, 216
Fishes, Determination of the Age of, by Inspection of the
Scales, R. E. Savage, Rosa M. Lee, 275
Fish-Food in the ‘Limfjord, 1909- 1917, P. B. Jensen, 527
Fishing, ‘‘ Intensive,’’ Drs. A. C. Johansen and Kirstine,
W. C. McIntosh, 167, 358; X.Y.Z., 262;
216
FitzGerald-Lorentz Contraction Theory,
200
Fizeau Effect in an Electron Stream, An Attempt to detect
the, Prof R. Whiddington, 708
Flame in Complex Gaseous Mixtures,
W. Payman, 279
Flight at High Altitudes, J. Villey, 346
Flint Implements, The Earliest, 2
Flints: Trimming of, in Algeria, M. W. Hilton-Simpson,
81; worked, with finger-grips, Miss Nina F. Layard,
The, H. H. Poole,
The Propagation of,
557
Flora: Land, The Earliest Known, Prof. F. O. Bower, 681,
712; of Jamaica. Vol. IV., Dicotyledons: Families
Leguminosz to Callitrichacez, W. Fawcett and Dr.
A. B. Rendle, 738; of the Hawaian Islands, 217; of the
Presidency of Madras, J. S. Gamble, Part III, 36
Flowers : Wild, Australian, Second Series, photographed by,
i. Cae 7 Sulman, 34; Wild, of New South Wales, A
Popular Guide to the, F. Sulman, Vol. 17,34; Wild,
Some Familiar, Photographed by A. E. Sulman, 34
Fluid in Turbulent’ Motion, The Conditions at the Boun-
a Of a -TacB. Stanton, Miss D: Marshall and Mrs.
C. N. Bryant, 441
Flying : na High Altitudes, The Physiological Aspect of,
Dr. Guglielminetti, 401: -fish, The Flight of, Dr. ie
McNamara, 421; Prof. W. N.
Wilson-Barker, 454
Fogs in. the Eastern Sahara, Frequency of, J. Tilho, 571
Food : Consumption, National, in the United States, Prof.
R. Pearl, 597; Inspectors of, Work of, Dr. MacFadden,
151; Its Composition and Preparation, Mary T.-Dowa
and Jean D. Jameson, 99; Science of, 99; Supplies in
Peace and War, Sir R. Henry Raw, 320; Supply, The
National, 371; ‘The Nation’ oe) Den EsJ- ‘Russell, 320;
Want of, and the Chemical Composition of Milk, Ch.
Porcher, 571
Foods, Bacteriology and Mycology of, Dr. F. W. Tanner,
F. Woodland; Sir David
99
Foraminifera from off New Zealand, Recent, J. A: Cush-
_ man, 242
Foreign Decorations, permission to scientific men to wear,
463
Forest Research, 639
Forestry : Commercial, in Britain; Its Decline and Revival,
E. P. Stebbing, 577: Commission, The, 215; Con-
ference, The British Empire, 759; Tree Diseases, and
Timber, 577
Forests: Our National, A Short Popular Account of the
Work of the U.S. Forest Service on the National
Forests, Dr. R. H. D. Boerker, 877; Woods, and Trees
in Relation to Hygiene, Prof. A. Henry, 158
Forficula auricularia, The Food-Plants of, H. H. Brindley,
8
Fornal and Chromium Compounds as Fixing Agents, The
Use of Mixtures of, E. Licent, 60%
Formosa: The Flora of the Island of, B. Hayata, 664;
The Rainfall in the Island of, 680
Fossil: -bearing Layer in the Flanders Clay at Watten
(Nord), Discovery of a. G. Dubois, 7as; Plants: A
Textbook for Students of Botany and Geology, Prof. A.
C. Seward, Vol.. IV, Ginkgoales, Coniferales, Gne-
tales, 97
Fossils: from the Miura Peninsula and its Immediate
North, Prof. M. Yokoyama, 836; Lower Palzozoic,
The Gray Collection of, to be purchased by the British
Museum, (Natural History), 336; Old Age and Ex-
tinction in, Dr. W. D. Lang, 212
Fourth Gospel, The Beginning of the, Prof. P. Haupt, 764
ree, Etudes sur le Climat de la, Deux. Partie, A. Angot,
Franklin Medals of the Franklin Institute presented to the
Hon. Sir Charles A. Parsons and Prof, Svante A.
Arrhenius, 432
XXXVill
TL n de 40 Nature,
October 7, 1920
Free Balloons, The Stretching of Rubber in, Dr,
Stevens; W. H. Dines, 613
French Academy of Sciences, Sir James Dewar elected a
Corresponding Member of the, 80; Sir Joseph Larmor
elected a Corresponding Member of the, 113
French: Indo-China, The Reorganisation and Extension
of the Scientific Services in, A. Chevalier, 401; Text-
books of Chemistry, 63
Fruit Culture, Hardy, The Elements of, s54«
‘se
Fruits, Wild, and How to Know Them, Dr. S. C. John-
son, 774
Fuel: Problems, 609; Production and Utilization, Dr, H.
S. Taylor, 609; Research, Prof. J. W. Cobb, 550; The
Conservation of, Sir Dugald Clerk, 406; Water, and
Gas Analysis for Steam Users, T B. C. Kershaw.
Second edition, 227
Fumes of Ammonium Chloride in the Electric Field, Fhe
Double Refraction and Dichroism of the, S. Procopin,
571
Functional Relation of One Variable to each of a number
of nire tena Variables, G. F. McEwen and E. L.
Michael,
Fungal prolled of the Common Larch, The, W. E. Hiley,
639
Gabbros of East Sooke, The, H. C. Cooke, 464
Galactic Condensation, R. T. A. Innes,
Galanthus nivalis, Inhibition pf Invertase in the’ Sap of,
T. G. Mason, 123
Gammarus chevreuxi, Experiments with, Dr.
and E. W. Sexton, 368
Garden, A, in the Dunes, 322
Gardening and Food Production, Sir Daniel Hall, 371
Gardens and Allotments, Social and Hygienic Conditions
respecting, Sir Daniel Hall, 371
Gas Cylinders, Tests of, 113
Gases, The Molecular Energy in, Sir Alfred Ewing, 472
Gault and Cenomanian Strata, A Mass of, inverted on
Lower Greensand, F. L. Kitchin and J. Pringle, 836
Gelatine pet Oe Plates under Tropical Conditions,
Working, A. Agnew, 182
v Geminorum, the. Duplicity of, Dr, Bernewitz, 340
curate and Species, A. Mallock, 675; The Persistence of,
C. D. Walcott, 689
Seco Segregation, ‘Dr. W. Bateson; Sars
sophila, Prof. L. Doncaster, 405
Geodetic Survey in North America, 141
Geography : of Asia, A, J. Martin, 35; of Plants, The, Dr.
M. E. Hardy, 386; Plea for a Wider Outlook in, Lt.-
Col. Sir Francis Younghusband, 465
Geological: Society, Election of Officers and Council of
the, R. D. Oldham, President, 52; Structure, Magnetic
Disturbances and, 175 Survey and Museum, Dry;
S. Flett appointed Director of the, 590; Survey Board,
Appointment of a, 20
Géologie,’’ ‘* Les Grands Biiawass de la, Prof. P. Termier,
E. J. Allen
; Studies of Dro-
593
Geologische Reichsanstalt, Vienna, change of name _ to
Geologische Staatsanstalt, and changes on the staff,
836
Geology: of the Mid-Continent Oilfields.
homa, and North Texas, Dr. T.
of the West Indies, The, 24
Geometry : Complex Elements in, Prof. G. B. Mathews,
4736; Differential, The Elementary, of Plane Curves,
R. H. Fowler, 321; Relativity and, E. Gynatoghan,
350; The Analytical, of the Straight Line and the Circle
a; Milne, 65; The Theory of the Imaginary in,
together with the eer of the Imaginary,
Prof. J. L. S. Hatton, 736
Geophysical Observations. during the Solar Eclipse of
May 29, 1919, Results of, Dr. L. A. Bauer, 842
Geotropic Response in Roots and Stems, The Chemical
Reversal of, Prof. J. Small, 249
Gerhardt, Charles, Monument to, Sir T. E. Thorpe, 436
German: Aniline Dye Manufacturers, The German Govern-
ment and the Combine of the, Dr. H. Levinstein, 722 ;
Gas Warfare, The French Experience of. M. Florentin,
434; Imperial Chemicotechnical Test Laboratory, A
Kansas, Okla-
O. Bosworth, 608;
coe” 785; Rhineland, The Chemical’ Industries”
of,
pa "the Works Council Bill in, 145 3
Geum urbanum x G. rivale, The Stability and Fertility
of the Hybrid, L. Blaringhem, 475 om
Gifford Lectures, Prof. Alexander’s, Viscount Haldane, 798
Glacial Anticyclone, The Mechanics of the, illustrated b.
Experiment, Prof. W. H. Hobbs, 644
Glaciation of the South Downs, The, E. A. Martin, 530
Gland-cells of Internal Secretion in the Spinal Cord of the
Skates, .C. C, Speidel, 279
Glasgow : Health Department, Dr. A. K. Chalmers ap-
pointed Head of the Enlarged, 19; Royal Technicai
College, Dr. J. H. Andrew appointed Professor ~ of
Metallurgy at the, 249; Work of the, in the War, al
W. Cumming appointed Senior Lecturer in Or,
Chemistry at the, 630; R. S. Glennie appointed shie
Lecturer’ in Pharmaceutics at the, 841; Caneel,
Reports on the Hunterian Collections for 1918-19, 146;
Conferment of Degrees upon P. A. Hillhouse, D.
Meek, Dr. J. MacIntyre, and Sir Robert W. Philip ;
Award of Prizes, 568; Conferment of. Degrees, #65;
Dr. A. J. Ballantyne ‘appointed. Lecturer in th
mology, 761. ee
Glass: Industry in the United States, Scientific Re-
search and the, Dr. M. W. Travers, 9; one
Principles of, 128; Manufacture, Dr. W. R
Secont Edition, 128; Research Association, “The
Appointment of a Director of Research to the, F.
D. Acland and H. A. L. Fisher, 178; -ware, English
Chemical, Wood Bros.’ Catalogue of, 435; Scien- —
tific, Volumetric Testing of, 120 :
Globular Clusters and Spiral Nebule, The Parallaxes of,
K. Lundmark, 215
Glossina Palpalis, Bionomics of, Dr. G. D. H. Carpenter,
66
Gloucestershire, The Ancient Entrenchraail and “oral
of Boat, ‘Burrow, 128
Glucosane, A. Pictet and P. Castan, 795
Glucose: Action of Hydrocyanic Acid on, Kiliani’s Re-
action, J. Bougault and J. Perrier, 443; in Plants,
The Detection and Characterisation of, by a New
Biochemical Method, Em. Bourquelot and M.
Bridel, 218
Glue, Manufacture of, in the Tropics
Refuse, 690
Our (Globiidze) from the Egg to the Adult
Stages, Prof. C. G. J. Petersen, 527
from Tannery
Gold: and Pearls in Neolithic Times, The Search for,
_ W. J. Perry, 250; Deposition in ‘the Bendigo Gold-
field, The Factors Influencing, Dr. F. L. Stillwell,
465; Its Place in the Economy of Mankind, B. White,
774; Objects, Ancient, Found in an Irish Bog, E
C. R. Armstrong, 527
Golgi Apparatus, Method for the
in Nervous and other Tissues, C. Da Fano, 249
Gonidia, Stages in the Sporulation of, within the Thallus
of Evernia prunastri, Ach., R. Paulson, 281
Graduated Instruments for Volumetric Analysis, Gallen-
kamp and Co.’s List of, 306
Grain Pests, The Investigation Of Dre Age Imms, 236
Grand Fleet, The, 1914-16, Lord Jellicoe, 93
Graphs, The Use of, in pe ses and Museum Statistics,
H. St. George Gray, 4 463
Grasses and Rushes and How to Identify Them, J. H.
Crabtree, 805
Grassland, The Improvement of, Dr. W. E. Brenchley,
08
Demonstration of the, —
Gcevttetion, Q. Majorana, VI., 251; Q. Majorana, 283; °
Q. Majorana, IX., 844; Einstein’s Theory of,
Foundations of, Dr. E. Freundlich, Translated by H.
L. Brose, 350
Gravitational Deflection of High-speed Particles, Prof. A.
S. Eddington, 37; H. G. Forder, 138; L. Page, 2335
Shift of Spectral Lines, Dr. H. Jeffreys, 37 :
Greek : at Oxford University, Abolition of Compulsory, a7
Science and Philosophy, Dr. C. Singer, 373
Greenwich: Royal Observatory, Annual Visitation of the,
469; Time or the Nearest Standard Meridian Time
for Magnetic Records? Dr. L. A. Bauer, 21 :
Index
XXAILX
Astronomical Laboratory, Publications of the,
Prof. J. C. Kapteyn, 838
‘rels of California, The, J. Grinnell and J.
hor
» 492
re of the Physical Society of I.ondon, The,
Guillaume, 438
History, 97
brous, of Nottinghamshire, W. A. Richard-
; on-spinning, Rotation of, and its Effect
‘roplane Compass, G. T. Bennett, 378
Crisis, The Possibility of Promoting the, by
Digestive Period, F. Widal, P. Abrami,
: ‘
Survey, of July 16, 1918, J. E. Clark, 281
: Dinner-hour Studies for the Odd Half-
Gough, 611
ar, Capt. C. J. P. Cave, 171
ustralia, The, and Their Economics, R.
2 Practical, R. Staward, 545; The
eighbourhood of an Assigned Func-
ta, 844
Early, Lady Jenny Rose, 234
edal “of the Academy of Natural
hia, The, Awarded to Prof. T.
_ Parthenocarpy of the, and its
IL, A. Trotter, 251
r, 259 ' ’
A: Witz, 212; The Theory of,
‘Third Edition, Edited by J. R.
. the, ‘Dr'D. G. Hogarth, 528 |
itish Empire, Sources of, Prof. J. C.
ts Discovery and Applications, Dr.
, 360; Its Production and Uses,
nnan, 747, 778
uur and Markings of Pedigree, Miss
ees, 514
euereels of the Trematode Family, Dr.
Minerals of Burgundy, The, L. Cayeux,
Steuchire ahd Development of the
» or “ Nodules”’ in, G. Bryce, 20
The Origin of the, Additional Evidence,
idgeway and Dr. L. D. Barnett, 433
The Enduring Power of, Sir Valentine Chirol,
isation, The, Prof. M. Jastrow, jun., 763
| Dried Specimen of, Found in Barbados, Dr.
_Trechmann, 757° 3
lolothurioidea of the Coasts of Ireland, Species of, Miss
Anne L. Massy, 433
bees, Cause of Death of, Mrs. Pixell-Goodrich, 53
nous Injection of Portal Blood Collected |.
Hygiene,
Hong-Kong, Meteorology at, 244; Royal Observatory,
Report for 1919 of, 788
Hood, H.M.S., 182
Hooker Telescope, The 100-in., Some Tests of, Dr. G. E.
Hale, 266
Hot Filaments, The Thermionic Properties of,
ments on, Dr. F. L. Hopwood, 473
House of the Morning,’’ ‘‘ The, in Egyptian Ritual, Dr.
A. M. Blackman, 241
Huddersfield Technical College,
Biamires, 185
Human Body, The Engines of the, Prof. A. Keith, 195
Hurter and Driffield: A Memorial Volume Containing an
Account of the Photographic Researches of Ferdinand
Hurter and Vero C. Driffield: Being a Reprint of
their” Published Papers, together with a History of
their Early Work and a Bibliography of Later Work
on the Same Subject, Edited by W. B. Ferguson, .
Memorial Lecture, The, Prof. A. Findlay, 689; F.
F. Renwick, 689
Hydrazine, Action of, on the 1:4 Acyclic Diketones, E.
' E, Blaise, 506 ’
Hydrazines, The Action of Substituted, upon Acyclic 1:4
Diketones, E. E, Blaise, 666 :
Hydrocyanie Acid, The Action of, on Glucose, J. Bougault
and J. Perrier, 539; on the Organism of Plants, J.
Stoklasa, 539
Hydro-electric Power Works at the Great Lake, Tas-
mania, The, 690
Hydrogen: Molecule, The Structure of the, Diamagnetism
and, Dr. A. E. Oxley, 581; Peroxide, The Accelera-
tion of the Decomposition of, by Colloidal Rhodium,
Experi-
Gift to, by Mrs, M.
C. Zenghelis and B. Papaconstantinos, 443; The
Diamagnetism of, Dr. J. R. Ashworth, 645; The
Prof. J. W. Nicholson,
Secondary Spectrum of,
66
I
‘Hydrographical Studies, Prof. D’Arcy W. Thompson, sd :
Surveying, the late Rear-Admiral Sir W. J. :
Wharton, Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged by
Admiral Sir Mostyn Field, 576
Hydrolvsing Action of Emulsin, Presence in the Melilot
and Woodruff of Glucosides Furnishing Coumarin
under the, Em. Bourquelot and H. Hérissey, 634
Army, and its Lessons, Lieut.-General Sir
Thomas Goodwin, 532; for Training Colleges, A Text-
book of, Margaret Avery, 259
Hymenoptera, The Parasitic Aculeate, WwW. M.
Wheeler, 835
Hyperbolic Space, Relativity and, Prof. A, McAulay, 808
Hyperion, The Theory of, Investigations in, Dr, J. Woltjer,
jun.; Dr. A. C. D, Crommelin, 675 ;
Hysteresis Values when Using High Magnetising Forces,
The Measurement of, W. L. Cheney, 838
Prof.
Ibérica, A New Spanish Scientific Journal, 755
Ice, Curious Formation of, A. S. E. Ackermann, 741; in
Arctic Seas, State of the, 275
Ignition Points of Liquid Fuels, H. Moore, 245 :
Illuminating Engineering Society, ‘Report of the, Council
of the, 402
Imitation of Cells, Tissues, Cell-Division, and the Struc-
ture of Protoplasm with Calcium Fluosilicate, A. L.
Herrera, 635 :
Imperial : Air Routes, Major-General Sir Frederic H. Sykes,
359; College of Science and Technology, Provision of
Post-Graduate Scholarships at American Universities,
89, 173; Claim of the, to University Status, Lord
Morris, and others, 471; The Department of Aero-
nautics, The Work and Staff of the, 841; Ento-
mological Conference, The Forthcoming, 398, 432,
502; War Museum, The Formation of the, Sir Martin
Conway, 626; Wireless Telegraph Committee, Report
of the, 504
India: A Chemical Service for, Prof. H. E. Armstrong,
669; Map-making in, 277: Scientific Work in, The
Organisation of, Sir Thomas H. Holland, 452, 565;
Sugar Cultivation in, Dr. W. E. Brenchley, 840;
Survey of, Report for 1915-16 of the Records of the,
_ 277; The Census of 1921, Consideration of the Prin-
xl | | bak
Nature,
October 7,.1920
ciples of, 338; The. Linguistic Survey of, Sir George
Grierson, 688
Indian: Beetles, 64; Bauxites, Dr. L. L. Fermor, 212;
Chemical Service, The, Prof. Jocelyn Thorpe, 324;
Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray, 325; Dr. M, W. Travers,
354; Students in America and Japan, Facilities for,
R. K. Sorabji, 377
Indians North of Mexico, Calendars of the, Miss L.
ope, 75 ; ;
Indo-Aryan Vernaculars, The, Sir George Grierson, 557
Induction Coil, Action of the, Prof. E. T. Jones, 369
Indus, Brahmaputra, and Ganges, Relations of the, Dr.
E. H. Pascoe, 835
Industrial: Efficiency and Factory Management, Biblio-
graphy of, H. G. T. Cannons, 641; Fatigue Research
Board, First Annual Report of the, 786; Seventh Re-
port of the, S. Wyatt, 657; Fellowship System for
the Promotion of Industrial Research, The, T. LI.
Humberstone, 665; Peace, The Road to, = 55;
Psychology, The Present Attitude of Employees to,
Mrs. S. Brierley, 400; Research, A. P. M. Fleming,
771; Applied Science and, J. W. Williamson, 387;
Prof. F. Soddy, 422; Major A. G. Church, 423; J.
W. Williamson, 518; Scientific. Direction of, Major
A. G. Church, 40; Scientific Research, The Organisa-
‘tion of, Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, 771
Industry, Optical Instruments in, 394
Influenza: Dr. Carnwath, 151; Epidemic of 1918-19 in
Switzerland, The, 400; on Shipboard, Majors McKen-
drick and Morison, 400; Returns, 274, 367; of the
Registrar-General, 557; The Relation of the Bacillus
influenze to, Dr. F. G. Blake, 763
Infra-red Arc Spectra of Seven Elements, The, C. C.
Kiess and W. F. Meggers, 726; Spectra of Nebule,
W. H. Wright, 149
Injurious Insects Observed in Ireland During 1916-18, Prof.
G. H. Carpenter, 634
Insect : Life on Sewage Filters, Dr. W. H. Parkinson and
H. D. Bell, 131; Life: Wonders of, Details of the
Habits and Structure of Insects, J.. H. Crabtree, 651;
Pests, Artificial versus Natural Methods of Control
of, F. W. Urich, and others, 503; Control of, L.
Lloyd; E. B. Blakeslee; F. S. Brooks; C. F. C.
Beeson, 629; W. J. Phillips, 662; F. C. Bishop and
H. P. Wood, 663
Insects of Arctic Canada, 730
Institute : of Industrial Administration, Foundation of the,
E, T. Elbourne Elected Honorary Secretary, 754; of
Metals, The May Lecture of the, 499; of Optics of
France, Work at the, A. de Gramont de Guiche, 466
Institution of Sanitary Engineers, The Gold Medal of the,
. Presented to Major A. J. Martin, 526
Integration, Approximate, Some Methods
Computing Areas, A. S. Percival, 70
Intellectual Stock-taking, 607
Interference Methods, The Application of, to Astronomical
Measurements, A. A. Michelson, 666
Interferometer, The, in Physical Measurements, 563
Interferometry, Displacement, by the Aid of the Achro-
matic Fringes, Prof..C. Barus, 563
International: Bureau of Weights and Measures at Sévres,
-. The, 242; Council for Fishery Investigations, Prof.
W. C. McIntosh, 167, 358; Federation of University
Women, First Conference of the, 662; Fishery In-
vestigations, 84; Research Council: Constitutive
Assembly held at Brussels, July 18th to July 28th,
1919, Report of Proceedings, Edited by Sir Arthur
. Schuster, 543 ‘
Lay Rocks of the Dundee District, The, D. Balsillie,
of, and of
6
Inulin, The Diastatic Hydrolysis of, H. Colin, 380
Inventor, Relations of the, to the State, D, Leechman,
366; W. F. Reid, 367 ‘
Invertin in Pure Honey, The Search for, A. Caillas, 218
Iodic Acid: as a Microchemical Reagent Characteristic of
Gaseous Ammonia, G. Denigés, 763; as a Micro-
chemical Reagent for Calcium, Strontium, and Barium,
G. Denigés, 379
Todine, Sorption of, by Carbon, J. B. Firth, 602
T-doamidines, The, J. Bougault and P. Robin, 666
Ionisation: and Activity of largely lonised Substances, a2
A. A, Noyes and D. A. MacInnes, 667; in the Solar ~
Chromospherea, M. N. Saha, 232 ;
Ions, Electrons, and lIonising Radiations, Dr. J. A.
Crowther, 740 }
Ireland: Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruc-
tion, Impending Retirement of T. P. Gill from the
Secretaryship of the, 376; The Peat Resources of,
Prof. P. F. Purcell, 791
Irish Eskers, The, Prof. J. W. Gregory, 346
Iron: and Steel Industry in Lorraine, The Future of the,
Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter, 588; and Steel Institute,
Annual Meeting of the, 179; Presidential Address to
the, Dr. J. E. Stead, 403; Trades during the War,
The, M. S. Birkett, 787; Bacteria, Dr. D. Ellis, 323 ;
Cast, The Heat Treatment of, 290; Core of a
Transformer or of an Induction Coil, Magnetic Char-
acteristics of the, The Late Prof. B. O. Peirce, 243;
-depositing Bacteria, Dr. D. Ellis, 727; and their
Geologic Relations, E. C. Harder, 727; Ores of Scot-
land, The, M, Macgregor, and others, vol. XI.,-419;
The Deposition of, by Electrolysis,. W. E. Hughes,
594
Ishi, The Medical History of, S. T. Pope, 755
Isis, and other Periodicals dealing with the History of
Science, 241
Isomerism, An Electric Theory of, Dr. H. S. Allen, 71;
W. E. Garner; S. C. Bradford, 171 ‘
Isotopes: and Atomic Weights, Dr. F. W. Aston, 617;.
The Separation of, Dr. T. R. Merton and Brig.-Gen.
H. Hartley, 104; of Chlorine, The Separation of the,
D. L. Chapman, 487, 611; Prof. F. Soddy, 516, 642;
A. F. Core, 582, 677 ’
Italy, Agriculture in, in Imperial Times, W. E. Heitland,
‘ie aoe
Jamaica, Flora of,, Vol. IV.,
Leguminose to Callitrichacex, W.
A. B. Rendle, 738
Japan, Effect of Topography on Precipitation
Terada, 599
Japanese Botanical Work, 664
Java, Long-range Forecasting in, 729
Jib, a Long Wooden, for a Derrick Crane, 838
Jupiter: Conjunction of, with Neptune, 213; The Great
Red Spot on, W. F. Denning, 423; The Planet, Rev.
T.: Be Re oR ape: soo j
Just Look! or, How the Children Studied Nature, L.
Beatrice Thompson, 651 }
Dicotyledons: Families
Fawcett and Dr.
in, Prof.
K and L Absorption of the Heavy Elements, Calculation
of the Limiting Frequencies of, L. de Broglie, 218
Kalahari, The, and Ovamboland, Prof. E. H. L. Schwarz,
297 /
Karroo System, The Reptilian Fauna of the, S. H. Haugh-
ton, 837
Karthala Volcano, An Eruption of the, at Grand Comore
in August, 1918 A. Lacroix, 666
Katharometer, The Theory of the, H. A. Daynes, 122
Kent’s Cavern, The Condition of, E. A. Martin, 742
Kerr Phenomenon, The Ratio of the Absolute Retardations
in the, for Different Wave-lengths in the case of
Nitrobenzene, M. Pauthenier, 634
Ketimines, The, G. Mignonac, 347 :
Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens: Bulletin of Miscellaneous
Information, 1919, 228; Official Guide to the Museum
of British Forestry at the, 211; Question of Guide
Lectures at the, Lord Sudeley, 178
King’s Birthday Honours, The, 462
King’s College, London: decision to form an Old Stu-
dents’ Association in connection with, 217; Post-
Graduate Courses for Engineers, 313 .
Kingsley, Mary, Medals, Award of, 696
Kitchener, Lord: as a Scientific. Worker, 319; Life of,
Sir George Arthur, 3 Vols., 319
Knowledge: and Power, 93; L. Bairstow, 135; F.O.1.:
Dr. J. W. Evans, 165; and Understanding, 1
Kodaikanal Observations of Prominences, J. and Mrs.
Evershed, 340
Index xli
k of, commonly known as Ecclesiastes, A
» Cynic: Being a Translation of: the, stripped
Additions; also its Origin, Growth, and
pretation, Prof. M. Jastrow, Jun., 226
bo, The Binary, S. A. Mitchell and C. P. Olivier,
and Xenon, Notes* on, Prof. J. N. Collie,
Circulating Exchange of Valuables in the
s of Eastern New Guinea, Dr. B. Malin-
cid in the Dog, Mechanism of the Production
f. A. Robinson, 346
: igs Scientific Apparatus and, C. Beck,
H. hy; C. Baker, 356; Bellingham and
_Ltd.; W. Taylor; H. W. Ashfield, 357; The
»s' A. E. Munby, 294, 456
Dog, A. P. Terhune, 484
mmell, and Co., Ltd., The Birkenhead Shipyard
Works of, 560
District, The Vulcanicity of the, J. F. N. Green,
Geneva, The Theoretical Determination of the
tudinal Seiches of, Doodson, Carey, and Buld-
loca Laminaria flexicaulis, The Study of,
Gruzewska, 187
_Sea-Fisheries Laboratory, Report of the, for
md: and Water in the North Atlantic Region in
Paleozoic Times, The Distribution of, Dr. Holtehahl,
12; Land and Water on the Earth, Distribution of,
_F. Reid, 763; Drainage from the Adminis-
Point of View, E. M. Konstam, 42; Land
Earliest Known, Prof. F. O. Bower, 681,
the I ering Point of View, C. H. J.
, 42; Rainfall and, Dr. Brysson Cunningham,
llusks of the Belgian Congo, Dr. H. A. Pilsbry,
s Theory of Atorns, On: S. C. Bradford, 41;
, Oxley, 105
,» The Fungal Diseases of, W. E.
+ Method of Finding, N. Liapin, 625
tions Union, Forthcoming Sumnier School
Assistant Lecturer in Applied Mathematics,
a Vinci, E. McCurdy, 307, 340
a, British, Melanism in, J. W. H. Harrison;
H. Onslow, 278
Maitres de la Pensée Scientifiaue.’’ 788
Océans A travers les Ages,’’ Prof. P. Termier,
Encephalitis, 785
The Meiotic Phenomena in the Pollen Mother-
and Tapetum of, Dr. R. R. Gates, 186, 756
in Indian High Schools, L. T. Watkins, 698
nd Existe , Wisdom of, 226; and Temperature,
; Movements in Plants, Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose,
16; The Processes of, The Dualistic Conception of,
. S. J. Meltzer, 763
_and Plant-Growth, The Relationship between,
W. Garner and H. A. Allard, 464; Production in
_ Luminous Organisms, The Chemistry of, E. N. Harvey,
_ 270; Scattered by Gases in respect of Polarisation,
. A Re-examination of the, I.. Lord Rayleigh, 631; The
_ Absorption of, by Organic Compounds, 640; Deflection
of, during a Solar Eclipse, J. A. Orange; Dr. A. C. D.
__- Crommelin, 8: Marat and. Prof. W. A. Osborne, 456:
_ Destructive Effect of. on Textiles, etc., M. Entat, 758;
_ ‘Filters for Visual Work with the Microscope, Kodak
Ltd., 435; The Einstein Deflection Oo. te AS SD:
: Crommelin ; Prof. C. V. Raman, 23
Lighting : Conditions in Mines, with special reference to
the Eyesight of Miners, Dr. T. L. Llewellyn, and
others, 21; of Picture-Galleries and Museums, The,
H. Seager, 723
Lightning Discharges, Investigations on, and on_ the
_ Electric Field of Thunderstorms, C. T. R. Wilson, 377
Lime and Magnesia carried down by Precipitates of Ferric
_ Oxide, The, M. Toporescu, 475
Linné, Carl von, Movement to Restore the Botanic Garden
and House of, 591
Linnean Society: Election of Officers and Council of the,
496; Profs. G. Bonnier, V. F. Brotherus, G. B. de Toni,
L. Dollo, P. Marchal, and R. Thaxter elected Foreign
Members of the, 366; The Financial Position and
Outlook of the, 80; The Gold Medal of the, Pre-
sented to Sir Ray Lankester, 526
Linnean Society of N.S.W.; Presidential Address to the,
J. J. Fletcher, 724
Liquid : Cylinders, Rotating, C. R. U. Savoor, 379; Fuels,
Ignition Points of, H. Moore, 245; Mercury, The
_ Thermo-Electricity of, Verification of, M. Gouineau,
34
Liquids at High Pressure, Viscosities and Compressi-
bilities of, J. H. Hyde, 57
Lister: Lord, Proposals for Commemorating the Work of,
654; Institute of Preventive Medicine, Establishment
at the, of a National Collection of Type Cultures,
599
Liverpool: School of Tropical Medicine, Inception and
History of the, 785; Opening of the Sir Alfred Jones
Laboratories of the; Award of Mary Kingsley Medals,
696; University, Appeal for Funds, 121 ; Contribution by
the King to the Appeal Fund, 601; Gift to the Appeal
Fund by the Pacific Steam Navigation Co., 762 ; Gift to,
by the Cunard Steamship Co., 313, 762; Gift by T.
Harrison Hughes, 345; Dr. C. Walker appointed Asso-
ciate-Professor in Cytology and Lecturer in Histology ;
J. Wemyss Anderson appointed Professor of Engineer-
ing Refrigeration, Gifts to the Appeal Fund, 376; Con- |
ferment of Honorary Degrees, 440; Resolution of the
Senate on the Death of Prof. L. Doncaster, 472; T. R.
Wilton appointed Lecturer in Dock and Harbour
Engineering, 505; Dr. W. J. Dakin appointed Pro-
fessor of Zoology; Dr. I. M. Heilbron Professor of
Organic Chemistry, 537; Dr. W. Mason appointed
Professor of Engineering (Strength of Materials); C. O.
Bannister Professor of Metallurgy, and W. H. Gilmour
Professor of Dental Surgery, 630; The Title of Emeritus
Professor of Engineering conferred upon Prof. H. S.
Hele Shaw, 84t ;
Local Colleges and Adult Education, Principal L. Small,
28
tad Government Board, The Origin and Growth of the
Medical Department of the, Sir George Newman, 151; >
Forty-eighth Annual Report of the, 151
Long-range Forecasting in Java, 729
London: County Council, Compulsory Day Continuation
Schools, Forthcoming Appointment of. Principals of,
280; Draft Scheme, The, The Education Act, 1918,
693; Degrees in Commerce, Dr. Russell Wells, 440;
School of Economics, The Foundation-Stone of the
New Wing of the, Laid by the King. 440; University,
Appointment of Fellows of University College; The
Degree of D.Sc. conferred on W. Rees. 25; Gifts to,
bv the Sir Ernest Cassel Educational Trust; Dr. J.
McIntosh appointed Professor of Pathology at the
Middlesex Hospital Medical School; Dr. S. Russ ap-
pointed Professor of Physics at the Middlesex Hospital
Medical School, 25; Appeal for a War Memorial, 57:
W. Neilson-Jones appointed Professor of Botany at
Bedford College; Posts in connection with the Sir
Ernest Cassel Benefactions; Various Gifts: Conferment
of Doctorates; Award of Keddey Fletcher-Warr
Studentships to Dr. Agnes Arber and Miss Margaret
McFarlane; Annual Report of University College, 155:
Forthcoming Public Lectures, 312 ; Courses of Advanced
Lectures, 376; The University of, A Great Opportunity,
381; Government Offer of a Site, H. A. 'L. Fisher, 404;
The Degree of D.Sc. conferred on B. C. Laws; Report
xii
[ndex
{ Naiure,
October 7, 1920
of the Principal Officer for 1919-20, 409; Site and
Needs, Sir E. Sharpey Schafer, 484; and the British,
Museum, Chance of Increased Co-operation between,
528; Dr. S. Russell Wells re-elected Vice-Chancellor ;
Acceptance of the Rockefeller Gift; Appointments ;
Grants from the Dixon Fund, 568; The Degree of
Bachelor of Science .in Household and Social Science to
be Instituted, 569; Resolution re the Proposed Site for,
569; E. Barker appointed Principal of King’s College,
630; Mr. Fisher on King’s College, 665; V. H.
Mottram appointed Professor of Physiology at King’s
College for Women Household’ and Social Science De-
partment; Dr. W. S. Lazarus-Barlow appointed Pro-
fessor of Experimental Pathology at Middlesex Hos-
pital Medical School; Dr. J. C. Drummond appointed
University Reader in Physiological Chemistry at Uni-
versity College, 698; Conferment of Doctorates; The
Proposed Site; Appointments at King’s College, 698;
University College, Opening of the New Buildings ot
the Department of Applied Statistics, 470 ;
Longitude by Wireless Telegraphy, Prof. R. A. Sampson,
37° y
Lorraine, The Future of the Iron and Steel Industry in,
Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter, 588
Louth: Disastrous Flood at, 432; The Thunderstorms of
May 29, and the, 468; The Flood at, s94
Lower Carboniferous Chert-formations of Derbyshire, The,
H. C. Sargent, 58
Lower Palzozoic Rocks of the Arthog-Dolgelley District,
The, Prof. A. H. Cox and A. K. Wells, 123
Lubricants, Solid, Memorandum on, T. C. Thomsen, 372
Lubricating Oils, Methods of Examining, Plea for Uni-
formity in, G. F. Robertshaw, 339
Lubrication, The Theory and. Practice of, Wells and South-
combe, 21
Luciani, Prof. L.., Life and Work of the late, Sig. Baglioni,
44
Luck, or Cunning, as the Main Means of Organic Modifica-
tion? An Attempt to Throw Additional Light upon
Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, S. Butler,
second edition, 773
Lunar: Eclipse, The, 307; Parallax, The and Related
Constants, Prof. W. de Sitter, 529; Tides, The Effects
oa on the Earth’s Atmosphere, Prof. S. Chapman,
50
McGill University : Resignation of the Principalship of, Sir
Auckland C. Geddes, 17; Dr. L. V. King appointed
Macdonald Professor of Physics at the Macdonald
Physics Building of, 721 ~
Macgregor, The Dr. Jessie, Prize for Medical Science,
Forthcoming Award of, 377
Machine Drawing, A Text-book'on,
E. Blythe, 260
_ Mackinder’s ‘‘ World Island ’’ and its American ‘‘ Satellite,’
; C. R. Dryer, 624
en: Flora of the Presidency of, J. S. Gamble, part iii.,
for Electrical Engineers,
3
Madrid Observatory, Annual of the, for 1920. 213
Magnet Steel, Bars of, The Testing of, Dr. N. -W.
MacLachlan, 122
Magnetic: Declination, Simultaneous Values of, at Different
British Stations, Dr. C. Chree, 632; Disturbances and
Geological Structure, 175; Disturbances in Northamp-
tonshire and Leicestershire, A Report on, and _ their
Relations to the Geological Structure, Dr. A. H. Cox,
175; Induction in the Soft Iron Compass Correctors
under the Influence of the Needles, L. Dunoyer, 539;
Shell Equivalent to a Given Electric Current, The Con-
struction of a, Dr. A. A. Robb, 199; Storm of March
4-5, Dr. C. Chree, 56: of March 22-23, The, and
Associated Phenomena, Dr. C, Chree, 136; Rev. A. L.
Corbie, 137; and Associated Phenomena, Dr. A.
Crichton Mitchell, 170 :
Magnetism: and Electricity, Intermediate Text-book of,
. W. Hutchinson, 515; Notes on, for the Use of
Students of Electrical Engineering, C. G. Lamb, 193;
‘The Decay of, in Bar Magnets, Prof. W. Brown, 123
Magnets, Permanent, in ‘Theory and Practice, S. Evershed,
435 ie me |
Malaya, Food Production in, F., G. Spring and J. N.—
Milsum, 180
Malleable Cast Iron, S. J. Parsons. Second edition, 290
Mammalia, Tongues of the, Comparative Anatomy ef the,
Dr. C: F. Sonntag, 218 .
Mammalian Remains from Cuba
Anthony, 757. .-
Man: Past and Present Prof. A. H. Keane. Revised,
and largely re-written, by Mrs. A. H. Quiggin and
Dr. A. C, Haddon; Prof. G, Elliot Smith, 255; The
Ascent of, 708; The Asiatic Origin of, W. B. Wright,
28
Makehester: College of Technology, Work of the, in the
War, 410; Resignation of J. C, M. Garnett of the
Principalship of the, 630; Literary and Philosophical
Society, Sir Henry A. Miers re-elected President of
the, 303; J. H./Lester elected Chairman of the Chemi-
cal Section of the, 335; University, Grant from the
Carnegie United Kingdom Trust for the Foundation
and Maintenance of a Library for Deaf Education,
155; Developments at, 278; The Appeal Fund of, 313;
Gift by the King to the Appeal Fund, 630; J. H
appointed Lecturer in Physics and Electrical Engineer-
ing, 698
Manganese Ores, A. H. Curtis, 193
Manures : Soils and, A Student’s Book on, Dr. E. J. Russell,
Second edition, 130; and, in New Zealand, 'L. J. Wild,
and Porto. Rico, H. E.
130 !
Maori Daggers, Two Wooden, Sir W. Ridgeway, 274 _
Map-making in India, 277
Maps, New Ordnance Survey, Lt.-Col. W. J. Johnston,
312 :
Marat and the Deflection of Light, Prof. W. A. Osborne,
6
Maite Algze as Food for the Horse, Lapicque and Brocq-
Rousseu, 635; Biological Association, Annual General
Meeting of the, Sir E. Ray Lankester re-elected Presi-
dent, 303; Biological Structures and Functions, 279;
Deposits, The Transfer of, from the Sea-floor to. the
Surface of Glacier Ice, ‘F.. Debenham, 724; Diesel
Engine, The Running and Maintenance of the, J-
Lamb, 290 f :
Mariner’s Compass, The, 44 :
Marlborough College Natural History Society, Report for
1919, 337
Marriages between
Make Valid, 241 ; on
Mars: and Wireless Signals, 276; Conjunction of, with
Spica, 340; Different Phenomena Observed on the
Planet, R. Jarry-Desloges, 603
Martres d’Artiéres (Puy-de-Dome),
Glangeaud, 315
Mason-Wasps, The, J. H. Fabre.
Mattos, 291
Maternity and Child Welfare, Dr. Wheaton, 151
Mathematical: Books and Pamphlets, Gift of, to the South
African Public Library, Cape Town, by Sir Thomas
Muir, 305; Cosmogony, 31; Text-books, Recent, 162
Mathematician as Anatomist, The, Prof. A. Keith, 767
Mathematics: Critical, 256; for Collegiate Students of
Agriculture and General Science, Prof. A. M. Kenyon
and Prof, W. V. Lovitt. Revised edition, R. A. Fisher,
31; for Engineers, part ii., W. N. Rose, 260; of Elas-
Hindus of Different Castes, Bill to
The Geyser of, Ph.
Translated by A, T. de
ticity, 511; Pure and Applied,-Dr. S. Brodetsky, 65; — ,
Unified, Profs. L. C. Karpinski, H. Y. Benedict, and
J. W. Calhoun, 162
Mathématique, Les Principes de 1l’Analyse, Exposé His-
torique et Critique, Prof. P. Boutroux. Tome second,
256
Matinee and Determinoids, Prof. C. E. Cullis, vol. ii., 19%
Matter, Some Wonders of, Rt. Rev. Dr.
Mauhand Klauenseuche, Neue Beobachtungen iiber den
Erreger der: Die Entwicklung des Schmarotzers im
Blut, speziell in den roten Blutkérperchen, Dr.
Stauffacher, 100 Bares
Mean Values, Equivalence of Different, A. Kienast, 474
J. E. Mercer,
:
Index
xliii
al: Engineers, Institution of, Researches under
Jirection of the, 53;. Reduction Gears, Use of,
een the Turbines and the Propeller in the Royal
, Eng.-Comdr, H. B. Tostevin, 148
School, part i., School Statics, W. G.
ee (e
y 103
very, Awards for, Visit of a Deputation of
itish Medical Association and the British Science
on, to Mr. Balfour, 18; Education, 573; Science
, S. J. Hickson, 643; Research, Prof. G. Elliot
95 ; and the Practitioner, 541 ; Committee, The
| the, 43; The Work of the, Sir Walter
The Promotion of, 221;~Science and
Sir T. Clifford Allbutt, and others, 661;
dmission of Qualified, to the Fellowship of
yal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 51
Medieval, Prof. J. J. Walsh, 127; Poetry and,
*Arcy W. Thompson, 414
pes eehy, A Project for Systematic
ratic » Il
n British Mbenidopiera; J. W. H. Harrison,
. Onslow, 278
ene, The haustoria of the Genera, Miss
3s 667 -
>, The, A. Gascard, 314
er, 95
eeaktioa Miss Edgell, 603; Unconscious,
Third edition, 774
Marine and Mechanical Engineers (Second-
Board of Trade Examinations), J. W.
cipitation of, by Sulphuretted Hydrogen,
-P. Bouvier, 603 ;
w Alternating, H. Georges, 91; as an
9; Conjunction of, with e Geminorum,
Motion of, A Dynamical Specifica-
alker, 198; Vapour, Low-voltage
ain, K. H. Kingdon, 632
from One to Thirteen Years of Age,
in Rarefied Gases, The Forces Acting on
Jest, 122 a
ivities of, S. Konno, 181; Institute
Meeting of the, to be Held at Barrow-
The Journal of the, vol. xxii., No. 2,
G. Shaw Scott, 164; Minerals and,
Detection of, especialfy Zinc, in
, A. de Gramont, 411; The Elastic
ind the Plastic Extension of, Prof. W. E.
ie Mineralogy of the Rarer, A Handbook
E. Cahen and W. O. Wootton. Second
4 E. Cahen, 259
I G. P. Merrill, 759 ©
‘ ditic an Ice-cap, R. F. T.
, 709; Conference, International, Work of the
ig of the, 180; Influences of the Sun and
tlantic, Prof. J. W. Gregory, 715; Instruments,
*. Casella and Co.’s Catalogue of, 20; Magazine,
he, 83 ; Observations in Netherlands East India, 1917,
. KXavier’s College, Calcutta, Rev. E.
553 + sa The Position of the, W. W.
“2? ee - Mill, 38; Resolution
Scottish Meteorological Society on, 87; Im-
tetirement of Sir Napier Shaw from the
ship of the, 144; Dr. G. C. Simpson ap-
Director of the, 721; Variations, Short-period,
. van Rijckevorsel, 761
, Manuel Pratique de, J. Rouch, 451
, Aerial Navigation and, Prof. E. van .Ever-
, 637, 776; Lt.-Col. E. Gold, 775 ; at Hong-Kong,
or All: Being some Weather Problems Explained,
_W. Horner, 323; in Gunnery, The Importance of,
. E. M. Wedderburn, 492; of the Temperate Zone,
The, and the General Atmospheric Circulation, Prof. V.
_ Bjerknes, 522; Weather Forecasts and, A. Mallock, 580
in the Food Supply of the Nation, Report
Meteors: April, 149; Bright, 54; Great Perseid Shower of,
Commencement of the, 595
Methods, Dr. J. McK. Cattell, 795
Methwold, Norfolk, The National Demonstration Farm at,
179
Methyl! : Chloride and Bromide, The Preparation of, starting
from Dimethyl Sulphate, Ch. Boulin and L. J. Simon,
218; Esters, Combustion of, with a Mixture of Sul-
oe and Chromic Acids, J. Guyot and L, J. Simon,
197
Methylethylcyclohexanone, The Constitution of the, pre-
pared by the Ethylation of a-Methylcyclohexanone,
A. Haller and R. Cornubert, 379
Metric Literature Clues, 179
Mica Industry, The, in Eastern Transvaal, A. L. Hall, 787
Mice, Spotting in, S6 and Imai, 400
Micro-organisms, The Projection of, into the Air, A. Trillat
and M, Mallein, 475
Microscopic Illumination, Dr. H. Hartridge, 275
Microscopy, Quantitative, The Lycopodium Method of,
T. E, Wallis, 249
Microtome, A Universal, Sir Horace Darwin and W. G
Collins, 570.
Middle Cambrian Beds at Manuels, Newfoundland, The,
and their Relations, B. F. Howell, jun., 843
Middlesex Hospital, Reorganisation and Co-operation of
Research Departments of the, 240
Migrations in the Sea, The Physiology of, Prof, A. Meek,
19
Military Hygiene, Gen. Sir John Goodwin, 114
Milk : and Apthous Fever, C. Porcher, 699 ; and Hzmolysis,
H. Violle, 411; Problem, The Modern, in Sanitation,
Economics, and Agriculture, J. S. MacNutt, 385; Pro-
duction of Ayrshire Cattle, Prof. R. Pearl and J. R.
Miner, 245; The Problem of Clean and Safe, Prof. S.
Delépine, 385 ; The Story of, J. D. Frederiksen, 229
Mind Training, Technical Education and, E. L. Rhead, 439
Mineralogical Abstracts, part i., 147
Mineralogy of the Rarer Metals, The, A Handbook for
Prospectors, E. Cahen and W. O. Wootton. Second
edition, revised by E. Cahen, 259
Minerals : and Metals, 193; from Monte Somma and Vesu-
vius, Prof. G, Cesaro, 464 d *
Mines in the Pas-de-Calais District, and the Method of ©
Working Them, G. S. Rice, 688
Models Illustrating the Atomic Arrangement in Potassium
Chloride, etc., W. Barlow, 570 ,
Mole Cricket, The, F. V. D., 294
Molecular Energy in Gases, The, Sir Alfred Ewing, 472
Mollusca Obtained by the Crocker Land Expedition, Dr.
W. H. Dall, 688
Monarch: The Big Bear of Tallac, E. Thompson Seton,
450
Monkey, The Antiscorbutic Requirements of the, Drs. A.
Harden and S. S. Zilva, 499
‘Monoclinic Double Selenates of the Copper Group, Dr.
A. E. H. Tutton, 538
Monsoon Rainfall in 1920. The Probable Amount of, Dr.
G. T. Walker, 1920, 724
Montefiore, Fondation George, Prize, 834 ‘
Montgomery, Mary Louisa Prentice, Lectureship in
Ophthalmology, Prof., G. Elliot Smith elected to the,
240
Eclipse of the, 276; Photograph of the, F. G.
Pease, 267 ; :
Morocco, Some Results of a New Journey in, A. Brives, 475
Mortlakes as a Cause of River-windings, T. S. Ellis, 264;
H. Bury, 391 ;
Moseley Memorial, Sir Henry A. Miers, C. G. Darwin,
Dr. H. Robinson, 200
Motion: High-speed, Langrangian Methods for, C. G.
Darwin, 379; Study and the Manual Worker, 737; for
the Handicapped, F. B. and Dr. L. M. Gilbreth, 737
Motor Fuels, Mixtures for Use as, Dr. W. R. Ormandy, 21
Mounting of Wet Specimens under Watch-glasses and
Petri Dishes, L. Renouf, 689
Mowra Flowers, Suggested Use of, for the Manufacture
of Alcohol, 147 :
Murchison, Charles, Scholarship in Clinical Medicine, of
the Royal College of Physicians of London, The, 280
xliv
| Index
Nature,
October 7, 1920
Muscle, The Thermo-elastic Properties of, A. ¥.
W. Hartree, 537
Muscular Efficiency, A. Mallock, 197
Museums: and Art Galleries, The Lightning of, H. Seeger,
627; and the Advanced Student, Report on, 463; and
the State, Prof. E. W. MacBride; Prof. J. W. Gregory,
° 68; Dr. F. A. Bather; Dr. W. E. Hoyle, 69; W. G.
Wagner, 70; Sir E. Ray Lankester; Prof. J. Stanley
Gardiner, 101; Dr. W. M. Tattersall, 102; F.R.S., 136;
Association, Annual Conference, 626; National, The
State and the, 29; The Proposed Transfer of, to the
Local Education Authorities, Dr; F. A. Bather and
Sir A. Selby-Bigge; 114
Music, The Foundations of, * De. H. J. Watt, 98
Musical: Scale, The, J. Goold, 666; Sound, The Nature
of. 98
Musings an Idle Man, Sir R, H. Firth, 100
Musk Plants, Loss of ’ Fragrance of, Hon,
Bond, 709
Mussels, Fresh-water, Correlation of Shape and Station in,
Dr. A. E. Ortmann, 843
Mysticism, True and False, Dr. W. F. Geikie-Cobb, 633
Myzus ribis, Linn., Preliminary Note on Antennal Varia-
tion in, Miss Maud D. Haviland, 378
Colnts.: 3
Nascent State, A New View of the, C. Zenghelis, 339
National : Education, 213 ; Food Consumption in the United
States, Prof; R. Pearl, 597; Food Supply, The, 371;
Illumination Committee of Great Britain, Major K.
Edgcumbe elected Chairman of the, 557; Institute of
Agricultural Botany, W. H. Parker appointed Director
of the, 335; Museum of Wales, Dr. R. E. M. Wheeler
appointed Keeper of the Department of Archeology,
and Lecturer in Archzology in the University College
of South Wales and Monmouthshire, 569; Physical
Laboratory, Annual Visitation of the, 595; Report for
1919 of the, 725; Physique, A Survey of, 202; Research
Council, Relation of Psychology to the, Dr. J. R.
Angell, 796; Prof. V. Kellogg, 332; Union of Scientific
Workers, Progress of the, 5
Native Tribes of Western Australia, The, 248
Natural: History, Misinformation and Misconception con-
cerning, Dr. R. C. Smith, 146; Museum Pamphlets
(Economic Series), New Editions of, 787; Presentation
to, by Sir Henry Howorth of a Collection of Mam-
malian, and other Remains, 209; Staff Association,
Scientific Reunion of the, 52; History, Popular, 651;
Studies in Canada, 426; Knowledge, An Inquiry con-
cerning the Principles of, Prof. A. N. Whitehead, 446;
Wealth of Britain, The, Its Origin and Exploitation,
S. J. Duly, 579
Naturalist, The Book of a, W. H. Hudson, 651
Nature: Hour, Stories for the, Compiled by Ada M. and
’ Eleanor L. Skinner, 804; Pictures, Twenty-four, E. J.
Detmold, 352; -study of Plants, The, in Theory and
Practice for the Hobby-botanist, - ae Dymes, 804
Nature, The Jubilee of, Congratulations upon, from the
Nova Scotian Institute of Science, 113
Nautical Almanac for 1922, The, 22
Naval: Education, 445; Engineering, Progress in, Vice-
Admiral Sir George Goodwin, 235; Research and Ex-
periment, 245
Navy Estimates, A Vote for Scientific Services under the,
S)
Nebule: Faint, E. P. Hubble, 84; Recent Researches on,
. D. Curtis, and others ; Major W. J. S. Lockyer, 489
Nela Research ‘Laboratory, The, 8 3.4
Neolithtc ‘* Floor ’’ in the Neighbourhood of Ipswich, An
Early, J. Reid Moir, 527
Neon and Helium, Moving Striations in, Dr. F. W. Aston
and T. Kikuchi, 633
Neptune, Conjunction of Jupiter with; 213
Nestling Feathers of Birds, The, Prof; J. C. Ewart, 250
Netherlands, Climate of the, 600
Neuropteroid Insects of the Hot Springs Region,
Zealand, The, in relation to the
food, Dr. R. J. Tillyard, 667
New Caledonia, The Botany of, R. H. Compton, 122
New
Problem of Trout-
Hill and
New Zealand: Institute, The, 24; Fellowship of the, 88;
Plants and their Story, Dr. L. Cockayne. Second
edition, 707; Soils and Manures in, L. J. Wild, 1305,
The Limestone Resources of, P. G. Morgan, 465
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Electric Supply Co.,
the Generating Stations of the, J. S. Watson, 369
Newtonian Fields in the Neighbourhood of a given Vec-
torial Field, O. Onicescu, 843.
Nickel: Iron Alloys : The Anomaly of the, its Causes and
its Applications, Dr. C. E. Guillaume, 438; -Steels,
Expansion of the, Action of Metallurgical Additions on
the Anomaly of, Ch.. Ed. Guillaume, 571; Standard,
Values of the Expansions of, Ch, Ed. Guillaume, 634;
The Thermal Change of the Elastic Properties of,
P. C. Chevenard, 603; Wire, The Change in the
Rigidity of, with Magnetic Fields, Prof. W. Brown and
Ps O’Callaghan, 634
Night: Raid into Space, A, The Story of the Heavens told
in Simple Words, Col. J. S. F. Mackenzie, 100; Sky
Recorder, A, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 281
Basin, Physiography of the, Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell,
113; Gauges, Report upon the, for 1913-1918, H. E.
Hurst, 275; Proposals for the Development of the
Cultivable Area of the Valley of the, Opposition to the,
Nile:
837 ir
Nitriles: by Catalysis, A New Method of Formation of,
A. Mailhe, 283; The Catalytic Hydrogenation of,
G. Mignonac, 699
Nitrodichloroacetanilide, M. De
Angelis, 844
Nitrogen : of the Cyanic Group in Manures, R. Perotti, 844;
Products Committee, Final Report, 201; Problem, "The :
By-products, 201
Crystalline Forms of,
Ne Ultra-violet Spectrophotometry of the,
F. Vlés, 475 ' ;
Nitrasnohengiyecaxylarains (Cupferron), The Salts of,
V. Auger, 379
Nitrototuidine, Some Derivatives of, A. G. G. Leonard and
Agnes Browne, 634
Noctiluca: Prof. C, A. Kofoid, 433; Pleurobrachia and
Beroé, A Swarm of, in the Barrow Channel, A. Scoit,
6
Noon ReBesne, A, Prof..C. V. Boys; 117;
Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Sica Transactions of
the, vol. x., part 5, 115
North : America, Geodetic Survey in, 141;
Meteorological Office Chart of the,
Stray Mines in the,
-East Ireland, An Analysis of the Palwozoic Floor of,
with Predictions as to Concealed Coalfields, W. B.
Wright, 368; Wales, A Handbook to the Vertebrate
Fauna of, H. E. Forrest, 386
Atlantic Ocean,
February, 181;
Northern : Fur-seal, Present Position of the, Dr. Evermann,
623; Polytechnic Institute, Re-establishment of the
School of Rubber Technology at the, under the
Directorship of Dr, P. Shidrowitz, 731
Nototherium: Skeleton Found in Tasmania of the, 5593
H. H. Scott and C. Lord, 593
Nottingham, University College, Gift by Sir. Jesse Boot, 665
Nova: Aquilz, The Expanding Disc of, Dr. J. Lunt, 595 §
in Cygnus, Discovery of a, W. F. Denning, 838;
a, Spiral Nebula, Prof. Wolf, 213
Nuclear Constitution of Atoms, Sir Ernest Rutherford,
500
Nucleus, The Structure of the, 482
Nudity in India in Custom, and Ritual, Dr. W. Crooke, 723
ite sae mics and the Common Good, C. C. J.
Webb,
Occultism, The Prevalence of, E. Clodd, 432
Oceanography and the Sea-fisheries, Prof. W. A. Herdman,
813
Officers :
Wertheimer, 41;
versities, 340
Oil: and Colour Chemists’ Association, Dr. R. S. Morrell
elected President of the, 527; -engine Cycles, Claim as
a Pioneer Inventor of, H. Akroyd Stuart, 499
Seconding of, for Study at Universities, Prof. -:
Training Corps, The, and the. Uni-
Development of
Prince Albert de Monaco, 282; .
tit Cs
Index
xlv
nercial, Vegetable and Animal. With Special
ce to Oriental Oils, I. F.. Laucks, 132
cee Swamp, Georgia, F. Harper, 593
from the Lesser-known Parts of India and
ym Eastern Persia, Prof. Stephenson, 656
+ Instruments in Industry, 394; Projection, Lewis
Wright. Fifth edition, re-written and brought up to
y R. S. Wright. (In two parts.) Part i., The
on of ‘Lantern Slides, 773
apneam ae Precision, Review of, March and
. Dr, -E. E. Fournier d’Albe, 295; of Dr.
nier d’Albe and Prof. A. Barr, 722
y Maps, New, Lt.-Col. W. J. "Johnston, 312
ounds: Magnetic Properties of, Major ALE.
3; The Identification of, the late Dr. G. B.
Prof. I. M. Heilbron. Second edition, 774
Scientific Work: Dr. W. Bateson; J. S:
oueanges Ross, 6; Dr. E. J. Russell ; Prof.
ward, 7; Sir Leonard neeerss 292
i agg from Norfolk, J. H. Gurney, 81
. Study of, S. Tsuboi,
ae Parapineal ccs | in the, Prof, J. E.
16; ‘Study in South Africa, Prof. jive.
weemzanin and, Prof. E. H. L. Schwarz,
tion of the, 225 |
Garrod appointed Regius Professor of
Prof. R. A. Sampson appointed Halley
1920, 56, <27; Dean Inge to deliver the
ure on ‘*‘ The Idea of Progress,’’ 155;
Offer. from E. Whitley towards the En-
Professorship of Biochemistry ; Donation
tension of the Organic Chemical Labora-
sh Dyestuffs Corporation, 313 ; Con-
inoraty Degree of Doctor of Letters
; Dr. T. R; Merton granted the
440 ; Dr. B. Moore appointed Pro-
ry; Gift by W. Morrison to the
ee
pf Ss. Veil, 347; of Nitrogen, Im-
ting to the Commercial Production of, in
. Gros, 283 —
here, Occurrence of, J. N. siti 645
Fe ieieents fot in. the River Gravels
F tngiocd, J. Reid Moir, 146
t of a Department of Antiquities for.
: Sina Edition, 306
ae: ‘The, Additions to” Part 3; Dr, ‘R. J.
Scientific Congress; Forthcoming, 398
and its Machinery, R. W. Sindall, 480; In-
rs on the Tub-sizing of Paper, the Coat-
Finishing of Art Paper, and the iepea of
phic Paper, T. W. Chalmers, 480
at the Sproul Observatory, Dr. Miller, 500
Globular Clusters and Spiral | Nebulz,
ak alia of the, Exhibition of, 86.
‘Sciences, Prof. A. Fowler elected a Corre-
ember of the, 52 |
the Nature Lover, Dr. S. C. Johnson, 774
es of Ireland, The, Prof. P. F. Purcell, 79!
hg ae Armenian metenece at Port Said, R. S.
erine re dl “Methyl lleticrine, G. Tanret, 442
Wheel Construction, P, Pitman, 625
cil Writing, Early, Characteristics of Pigments in,
; voappeabe' Mitchell, 12
| Petroleum :
Abolition of Compulsory Greek at, 17;.
- Maquenne and E.
Pepys, Evelyn and Swift, Weather men of, in Relation to
British Climate, Capt. C. J. P. Cave, 393
Percussion- -Figures, Dr. B. G. Escher, 171
Periodicity in Weather and Crops, Sir William Beveridge,
379
Periwinkle, Life-History of the, Dr, W. M. Tattersall, 373
Petrographical Notes on Rocks from Deception Island and
Roberts Island, ete., H. H. Thomas, 282
Geology, "H. B. Milner, 608 ;
Economics of the, R. S. Dickie, 369
Petrological Microscope, A New Model Rotating-Stage,
W. A, Richardson, 570
Petrology for Students : An Introduction to the Study of
Rocks under the Microscope, Dr. A. Harker, Fifth
Edition, 99
Pharmacodynamic ii aen Sub-epidermic, M. Ascoli and
A. Fagiuoli, II., IIL.,
Pharmacology, Practical, pet W. E. Dixon, 420
Pharmacy, Science and, Progress in, C. A. Hill, 659°
Phenological Observations for the Year 1919, : E,
and H. B. Adames, 442
Phenylpropines, The, Lespieau and Garreau, 699
Philz, Decipherment of the Bilingual Inscriptions at, Dr.
W. Max Miiller, 592
Philippine : Hawksbill Turtle, Need of Protection of the,
E. H. Taylor, 756; Plants, New or Noteworthy, E. D.
Merrill, 146; Wasp Studies, Part I., S. A. Rohwer;
Part II., F. x Williams, 600
Philippines : "Palms of the, Dr. O. Beccari, 180; Peoples of
the, Prof. A. L. Kroeber,. 420
Philosophies, Sir Ronald Ross, 414
Philosophy, A Forthcoming Congress of, ost A
Photochimie, Etudes de, Dr. V. Henri, 640
Photographic : Almanac, The British Journal, and Photo-
grapher’s Daily Companion, 1920, Edited by G, E.
Brown, 67; Developing Agents, Dr. Seyewetz, 182;
Images, The Nature of, Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, 307
Photography : Aircraft, in the Service of Science, H. Ham-
shaw Thomas, 457; and its Applications, W. Gamble,
Industry,
Clark
749
Photosynthesis : in Fresh-Water Algz, Prof. B. Moore and
T, A. Webster, 26; in the Green Leaf, The Beginning
of, G. E. Briggs, 89 ; The Photoplasmic Factor in, Dr.
F. F. Blackman, 89
weir shee Chemistry, 129; Examination of Men of Military
Age by National Service Medical Boards from Novem-
ber 1, 1917—October 31, 1918, Report upon the, 202;
Fitness, The Assessment of, New Aspects in, Dr. F. G.
Hobson, 812; Nature-Study, A Field and ‘Laboratory
Guide in, Prof, E. R. Downing, 675; Progress, Indices
of, Dr. Lempriere, 26
Physico-chemical Analysis: A Method of, of Commercial
Chlorobenzenes, F. Bourion, 379; Application of a New
Method of, to the Study of Double Salts, D. Dubrisay,
634
Physics: Elementary, Selected Studies in, A Handbook for
the Wireless Student and Amateur, E. Blake, 739; for
Junior Technical Schools, A First Year, G. W. Farmer,
229; Institute of, Foundation of the, Sir Richard
Glazebrook elected First President, 304 ; Measurements,
A Handbook of, E. S. Ferry, O W. Silvey, G. W
Sharman, Jun., and D..C. Duncan, 2 Vols, 193 ; Some
Applications of, to War Problems, 237; The Ultimate
Data of, Prof. G. Dawes Hicks, 446 | Theoretical and
Practical, 193
Physiological Symbiosis, Prof. Pierantoni, 756
Physiology : and National Needs, Edited by Prof. W. D.
Halliburton, 286; of Farm Animals, 704; Useful, 286
Pigments in Early Pencil Writing, Characteristics of,
C. Ainsworth Mitchell, 12
Pilot: -balloon Ascents, Methods of Computation for, J. S.
Dines, 837; Balloons, High Rates of Ascent of, Dr.
W. van Bammelen, 485 ; Soundings with, in the Isles
of Scilly, Capt. Cave and J. S. Dines, 663; The Rate
of Ascent of, J. S. Dines, 581
Piltdown Remains, The, P. T. de Chardin, 593
Pine, The Cluster, Dr. M. Grabham, 675
‘Pink Disease ” in the Philippines, H. A. Lee and H. S.
Yates, 115
xlvi
Index
Nature,
October 7, 1920
Planet GM, The New Minor, C. Sola, 595
Planetary Families of Comets, The, Prof. H. N. Russell,
467
Plant: -cell, Structure of the, and its Metabolism, P. A.
Dangeard, 251; The Binucleate Phase in the, Dr. Agnes
Arber, 90; Culture in Denmark, Prof. J. K. Ravn, 761;
forms, The Changes in, obtained experimentally, G.
Bonnier, 539; Pests in the British Empire, Legislation
in regard to, C. P. ‘Lounsbury, 502; Protection Insti-
titute, Organisation in the U.S.A. of a, 687
Plants : Colouring Matters of, 139; Experiments with J. B.
Philip, 805 ; Movements in, Experiments on, Sir Jagadis
Chunder Bose, 305 ; Movements of, 416; Researches on
Growth of, Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose, 61 5, 648; Resist-
ance of, to Insect Attacks, Ballou, and others,
503 ; The Apparent ‘ Growth ’ ’ of, (and of Inanimate
Materials), and of the Apparent “ Contractility,’? Dr.
Waller, 410; The Geography of, Dr. M. E.
Hardy, 386
Platana of the Cape Peninsula, The, C. L. Herman, 700
Plating with Nickel of Aluminium and its Alloys, The, L.
Guillet and M. Gasnier, 475
Plato’s Atlantis in Paleaogeography, W. D. Matthew, 667
Pleasure-Unpleasure: An Experimental Investigation on
the Feeling-Elements, Dr, A. Wohlgemuth, 3
Pleistocene Glaciation of England, Some Features of the,
G. W. Lamplugh, 58
Pliocene: Floras, A Comparative Review of, based on the
Study of Fossil Seeds, Mrs. Eleanor M. Reid, 249;
River, a Great, on the South Side of the Himalayas,
Dr. G. E. Pifgrim, 836
Plumage: Bill, The, and Bird Protection, Sir H. H.
Johnston ; Prof. H. M. Lefroy, 168; Sir Herbert Max-
well ; Prof. A. Dendy, 169; Dr. W. E. Collinge, 196;
Prof. J. E.° Duerden, 263; ‘‘Talked Out,’’ 303;
(Prohibition) Bill, Importation of, Second Reading
Carried, 366
Plumbiferous Barytes from Siibukueo, Japan,
Ohashi, 569
Poetry and "Medicine, Prof. D’Arcy W. Thompson, 414
Pocillopora cespitosa and Seriatopora sublulata, The De-
velopment of, A. Krempf, 380
Poles of Metallic Arcs, The Pressure upon the, including
Alloys and Composite Arcs, W. G. Duffield, ot ea &
Burnham, and A. A. Davis, 121
Polynesian Origins, A New Theory of, Prof. R. B., Dixon,
6
Prof... -R.
793
Polysaccharides, The Hydrolysis of the, E. Hildt, 603
Pomology : Scientific and Systematic, 629; The Journal of,"
Nos. 1 and 2, 629
Population and Parenthood, Problems of (Being the Second
Report of, and the Chief Evidence taken by, the
National Birth-rate Commission, 1918-20), 543
Porcelain, etc., Measurements of the Expansion of Samples
of, W. H. Souder and P. Hidnert, 181
Port Erin Biological Station, The, 179
Porto Rico: Scientific Survey of, and the Virgin Islands,
N.'L. Britton and C. P. Berkey, 147; The Earthquake
at, on October 11, 1918, Prof, H. F. Reid and S.
Taber, 276; The Geological History of, E. T. Hodge,
593; The Shells of, Miss C. J. Mawry, 593
Potassium, Influence of, on the Physiological Characters
of Sterigmatocystis nigra, M. Moilliard, 347
Powders, The Properties of, Dr. T. M. Lowry and F. C.
Hemmings, 217
Power: Knowledge and, 93; L. Bairstow,
Dr. J. W. Evans, 165
Precipitation in Javan, Effect of Topography on,
Terada, 599
Pre-Glacial Floras, Two, from Castle Eden (Co. Durham),
Mrs. Eleanor M. Reid, 249
Prehistoric: Man and Racial Characters, 153; Relation-
ship of the Various Periods of, to the Great Ice Age,
Prof. J. E. Marr, 153; Villages, Castles, and Towers
of South-Western Colorado, J. W. Fewkes, 367
Pre-Palzolithic Man, J. Reid Moir, 289
Pressure on the Electrical Resistance and Thermo-electric
Properties of Metals, Effects of, Dr. P: W. Bridgman,
529
135; F.O.L.,
Prof.
Priapulus puoee are by the Canadian Arctic Expedi-
tion, 1913-18 V. Chamberlin, 786
Primitive ee ie Tonelli, 251 7
Primula officinalis, etc., in the West of France, T he Cone
parative Geographical Distribution of, Ad, Davy de
Virville, 411
Privy Council, Sir T. Clifford Allbutt to be Sworn a Mem-
ber of the, 590
Producer-Gas Plant for Power and Heating, Operating a
By-product, W. H. Patchell, 148
Progress!: Sir E. Ray Lankester, 733; The Idea of,
ean Inge, 431; An Inquiry into its Origin and
Growth, Prof. J. B. Bury, 733
Prominences, Observations of, J. and Mrs. Evershed, 340
Proper Motions, Search for, by the Blink Method, R. T. A.
Innes, 759
Protein Requirement of Maintenance in Man, The, H. C.
* Sherman, 668
Bidens The, 257; The Physical Chemistry of the, Prof.
. B. Robertson, 257
Protoplasm, The Components and Colloidal Behaviour of,
Dr. MacDougal, 795 aa
Psychological Tests in Industry, 673.
Psychologies, Sir Ronald Ross, 414 ; :
Psychology: Applied, A Laboratory of, 305; from ee
Standpoint of a Behaviorist, Prof. J. B. Watson,
New Conceptions of, 363 ; of the — : a
(‘‘ L’Avenir des Sciences Psychiques ’’), E. Boirac;
Translated and Edited with an Introduction by W.
de Kerlor, 323; Social, An Introduction to, Dr. W.
McDougall, Fourteenth Edition, 291; The New, -and
its Relation to Life, A. G: Tansley, 770; Vocational,
A ‘Laboratory of, 210
Psychotherapy, The Theoretic Basis of, 770
Public Health and Welfare, 151
Pulmonary Lesions determined by Blistering Compounds,
A. Mayer, Guisysse, Plantefol, and Fauré-Fremiet, 604
Pygmies of Central Africa, The, H. Lang, 367
Pygmy Races of Man, The, L. R. Sullivan, 367
Pyruvic Acid, New Observations on the Biochemical Pro-
duction of, A. Fernbach and M. Schoen, 251
Qualitative Analysis in Theory and Practice, Prof. P. W.
Robertson and D. H. Burleigh, 705 i
Queensland Ironbark, A New Species of, R. H. Cambage,
732 il
Quintic Transformations and Singular Invariants, W. E. H.
Berwick, 474
Rabbit, The, deprived of its Czecal Appendix, regenerates
this Organ by differentiation of the Extremity of the
Czcum, P. Portier, 347
Radio: Call Signal, A New, Major Shaughnessy, 690;
-Diagnosis of Pleuro-Pulmonary Affections, E, Barjon,
Translated by Dr. J. A. Honeij, 4; Research Board,
O. F. Brown appointed Technical Officer to the, 463 ;
Sub-Committees to assist the, 754
Radium: Facts, 435; for Curative Purposes, Reduction in
the number of White Corpuscles in those handling,
Mottram and Clarke, 400; Le, Interprétation et
Enseignement de la Radioactivité, Prof. F. Soddy,
Traduit de 1’Anglais par A. Lepape, 805 ;
Railways, Electrification of, Appointment of a Committee
on the, 113
Rainbow Inside Out, A, C. O. Bartrum, 388
Rainfall and Land Drainage, Dr. Brysson Cunningham,
Mpbic Memorial Fellowships, Forthcoming Award of, 249
Rats: Destruction of, by Chloropicrin, G. Bertrand and
M. Brocq-Rousseu, 73 Repressive Measures against,
M. A. C. Hinton, 756
Rayleigh, The Late Lord, The Memorial to, 687
Rays, Tracing, through an Optical System, ae Smith, 473
Reactions started by a Primer, Some, E. Berger, 603
Reading, The Proposed University of, 88
Real Variables, The Commutativity of One-parameter
Transformations in, A. C. Lunn, 667
_pard, 632
Reflex Action produced by the Irritation of the deeper
at Tracts, A. Mayer, H. Magne, and L.
“a ol, 507
: and Dispersion of Carbon Dioxide, Carbon
, and Methane, C. and Maude Cuthbertson,
; of Air for Wave-lengths, Measurements of the
of, W. F. Meggers and C. G. Peters, 53
_ Association, and the Civic Education League,
osed Meeting of the, 376
t Geomet E. Cuningham, 350; and
| Space, Prof. "A. McAulay, 808; and Reality,
Prof. R. A. SampSon, 708 ; Theory of Gravitation, The
Central Differential Equation in the, Prof, A. R.
186
n and Culture: A Critical Survey of Methods of
roach to Religious Phenomena, Dr. F. Schleiter,
ences, H. Keeping, 624
Portal ’? System (Renal Venous Meshwork) and
Excretion in Vertebrata, The, Prof. W. N. F.
90dland
Brat Pitaphorescence of, Prof. G. H. Parker, 843
ch : i actisioe for the Sill Industry, The, Approved,
for the Cutlery Industry, The, Approved, 623 ;
tions, Remuneration and Superannuation of
atific Workers employed by, J. W. Williamson,
2; Defence Society, Annual Meeting of the, 557, 785;
— Scope, and Difficulties of, Dr. W. L.
- W. J. V. Osterhout, 795
+: Endurance, The Index of, J. Amar, 59;
s, The Reflexes provoked by ‘Irritation of the,
r, #. i and L. Plantefol, 443
a i. Rr} Essays on Wheat, 224
(J. D.), The Story of Milk, 229
A. D.), The Soil: An Introduction to the
Study. of the Growth of Crops. Third
ck (U,. .), Manual of American Grape-growing, 674
re L.), Mining and Manufacture ‘95 Fertilising
rials, and their Relation to Soils,
kenzie (K. J. J.), with a preface ‘dod chapter by
r. F. H. A. Marshall, Cattle and the Future of Beef-
eduction in’ England, 62
eg mead Prof. H. A. D. Neville, A Course
ceria for Agricultural Students,
res, 130
Shanahan ‘Wr. E. W.), Animal Foodstuffs: Their Pro-
duction and Consumption, with a special reference to
the British Empire, 513
Boy who made the Old Farm Pay, 36
-Staward (R.), Practical Hardy Fruit Culture, 545
jild (L. J.), Soils and Manures in New Zealand, 130
vod (T. B.), and Dr. F. H. A. Marshall, Physiology ny
F Animals. Dr. F. H.
Marshall, 704
Anthropology and Archeology :
_ Burrow (E. J.), The Ancient Ritencimsots fad Camps
of Gloucestershire, 128
“Farabee (Ww. oe ape Central Arawaks, 159
_ Harrison (Dr. H S.), The Ascent of Man, 708
James (Rev. E. 0,), An Introduction to Anthropology :
A General Survey of the Berly History of the Human
Race, 384
Part i., General, -
. T.), Hidden Treasure : The Story of a Chore |
Nature, oe
Fy Gein 7, 00 L[ndex xlvii
Reduction ‘of Error by Linear Compounding, W. F. Shep- Keane (Prof. A. H.), Man: Past and Present. Revised,
and largely re-written by A. H. Quiggin and Dr. A, C.
Haddon, 255
Kroeber (Prof. A. L.), Peoples of the Philippines, 420
Routledge (Mrs. Scoresby), The Mystery of Easter
Island: The Story of an Expedition, 583
Schleiter (Dr, F.), Religion and Culture: A Critical Sur-
vey of Methods of Approach to Religious Phenomena,
451
Schmidt (P. W.), Die Gliederung der Australischen
Sprachen : Geographische, bibliographische, linguistische
Grundziige der Erforschung der Australischen Sprachen,
7°97
Biology:
Agar (Prof. W. E.), Cytology: With Special Reference
to the Metazoan Nucleus, 482
Bartsch (P.), Experiments in the Breeding of Cerions,
545
Boerker (Dr. R. H. D.), Our National Forests : A Short
Popular Account of the Work of the U.S. Forest
Service on the National Forests, 577
Borradaile (L. A.), A Manual of Elementary Zoology.
Third edition, 804
Brook (A.), The Buzzard at Home, 746
Buchanan (Capt. A.), Wild Life in Canada, 426
Church (A. H.), Elementary Notes on Structural Botany ;
Elementary Notes on the Reproduction of Angiosperms,
162
Cockayne (Dr. L.), New Zealand Plants and their Story.
Second edition,
Cook (Dr. M. .. Applied Economic Botany: Based
upon Actual Agricultural and Gardening Projects, 34
Coward (T. A.), The Birds of the British Isles and their
ggs. First series, 132
Crabtree (J. H.), Grasses and Rushes, and How to
Identify Them, 805; Wonders of Insect Life: Details
of the Habits and Structure of Insects, 651
Davies (J. H.), A Map of the World (on Mercator’s Pro-
jection), having special reference to Forest Regions and
the Geographical Distribution of Timber Trees: Tim-
ber Maps, Nos. 1 to 4, 577
Detmold (E. J.), Twenty-four Nature Pictures, 352
Doncaster (Prof. L.), An Introduction to the Study of
Cytology, 190
Dymes (T. A.), The Nature Study of Plants in Theory
and Practice for the Hobby-Botanist, 804
Ellis (Dr. D.), Iron Bacteria, 323
Ellis (G. S. M.), Applied Botany, 164
Fabre (J. H.), Translated by A. T. de Mattos,
Mason-Wasps, 291; The Story Book of Science ;
Story Book of Birds and Beasts, 651
Fawcett (W. ), and Dr. A. B. Rendle, Flora of Jamaica.
Vol. iv., Dicotyledons : Families Leguminosze to
Callitrichaceze, 738
Forrest (H. E.), A Handbook to the Vertebrate Fauna of
North Wales, 386
Gamble (J. S.), Flora of the Presidency of Madras.
Part iii., 36
Hardy (Dr. M. E.), The Geography of Plants, 386
Hiley is a The Fungal Diseases of the Common
Larch,
Hudson we "HH, Birds in Town and Country ; The Book
of a Naturalist, 651
Jenkins (Dr. J. T.), The Sea Fisheries, 397
Johnson (Dr. S. C.), Wild Fruits and How to Know
Them, 774
Lillie (Prof. F. R.), Problems of Fertilisation, 225
Marshall (the late Prof. A. M.), and the late Dr. C, H.
Hurst, A Junior Course of Practical Zoology. Ninth
edition, revised by Prof. F. W. Gamble, 516
Matisse (G.), Action de la Chaleur et du Froid sur
l’Activité des Etres Vivants, 161
Maulik (Prof. S.), The Fauna of British India, including
Ceylon and Burma. Coleoptera. Chrysomelide (His-
pinze and Cassidinz), 64
Mullens (W. H.), H. Kirke Swann, and Rev. F. C. R.
Jourdain, A Geographical Bibliography of British
Ornithology from the Earliest Times to the end of 1918.
Part i., 353
The
The
xlviii Lndex Octalenotiae
Nicoll (M. J.), Hand-list of the Birds of Egypt, 674 Kingzett (C. T. ), Popular Chemical Dictionary, 227 __
Parkinson (Dr. W. H.), and H. D. Bell, Insect Life Laucks (I, F.), Commercial Oils: Vegetable and Animal, —
on Sewage Filters, 131
Philip (J. B.), we dghe agp with Plants.
book of Science, 805
Rankin (Dr. W. H. ), Manual of Tree Diseases, 577
Rees (A. W.), The Heron of Castle Creek and other
Sketches of Bird Life, 514 _
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Bulletin of Miscellaneous
Information, 1919, 228
. Seton (E. Thompson), Animal Heroes: Being the His-
tories of a Cat, a Dog, a Pigeon, a Lynx, two Wolves,
and a Reindeer. Fourth impression, 580; Monarch:
The Big Bear of Tallac, 450; The Arctic Prairies: A
iodo probed of 2000 miles in Search of the Caribou,
A First School-
Tact (Prof. A. C.), Fossil Plants. Vol. 97
Skinner (Ada M. and Eleanor L.), Stories for ‘the Nature
Hour, 804
Small ‘Dr. J.), The Origin and Development of the
Composite, 450
Stebbing (E. P.), Commercial Forestry in Britain: Its
Decline and Revival, 577
Sulman (A. E.), Australian Wild Flowers.
34; Some Familiar Wild Flowers, 34
Sulman (F.), A Popular — to the Wild Flowers of
New South Wales. Vol. ii., 34
Terras (H.), The Story of a eckoe! s Egg, 746
Thompson (L. Beatrice), Just Look! or,
Children Studied Nature, 651
Ward (Dr. F.), Animal Life under Water, 651
Webster (A. D.), National Afforestation, 577
Chemistry :
Adiam (G,. H. J.), Acids, Alkalis, and Salts, 705
Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry for 1919.
Vol. xvi., 708
Atack (F. W.), assisted by L. Whinyates, The Chemists’
Year Book, 1920, 2 vols., 740
Brannt (W. T.), and Dr. W. H. Wahl, Techno-Chemical
Receipt Book, 739
Brown (G. E.), The British Journal Photographic
Almanac and Photographer’s Daily Companion,’ 1920,
Second series,
How the
if
Cain (Dr. J. C.), The Chemistry and Technology of the
Diazo-Compounds. Second edition, 449
Cohen (Prof. J. B.), A Class-book of Organic Chemistry.
Vol. ii., 195
Cumming (Dr. A. C.), and Dr. S. A. Kay, A Text-book
of Quantitative Chemical Analysis. Third edition, 33
Demoussy (Dr. E.), Engrais » Amendements Produits
anticryptogamiques et Insecticides, 738
Dowd (M. T.), and J. D. Jameson, Food: Its Composi-
tion and Preparation, 99
Dreaper (W. P.), Notes on Chemical Research: An
Account of Certain Conditions which Apply to Original
Investigation. Second edition, 773
Forcrand (Prof. R. de), Cours de Chimie a l’usage des
Etudiants P.C.N. et S.P.C.N., Deux. édition. Tome
i. et Tome ii., 63
Gamble (W.), Photography and its Applications, 740
Gibson (C. R.), Chemistry and its Mysteries, 99
Giua (Prof. M.), ees delle Sostanze Esplosive, 483
Halliburton (Prof. W. D.), The Essentials of Chemical
Physiology. Tenth edition, 192
Harvey (A), Practical Leather Chemistry, 382
Hatschek (E.), Laboratory.Manual of Elementary Colloid
Chemistry, 705
Henri (Dr. V.), Etudes de Photochimie, 640
Hurter (Ferdinand), and Vero C. Driffield, A Memorial
Volume containing an Account of the Photographic
Researches of, edited by W. B. Ferguson, 609
Ingle (H.), Elementary Agricultural Chemistry. Third
edition, 773
Jardine (E. E.), Practical Science for Girls:
to Domestic Subjects, 705
Jones (E. G.), Chemistry for Public Health Students,
As applied
795
Kershaw (J..B. C.), Fuel, Water, and Gas bgcyyirn for
Steam Users, 227 ‘
‘Morureu (Prof.
with special reference to Oriental Oils, 132
Lecat (Dr. M.), La Tension de Vapeur des Mélanges de
Liquides: L’Azéotropisme.. Premiére Partie, 129
Lewes (the late Prof, Vivian B.), and Prof. J. S. S.
Brame, Service Chemistry: Being a Short Manual of
Chemistry and Metallurgy and their Application in the
Naval and Military Services. Fifth edition, 287 —
Lucas (A.), Legal Chemistry and Scientific Criminal In-
vestigation, 772
C.), Notions hoa: Sieg de Chimie
Sain Sixiéme édition, 63
Myers (Dr. J. E.), and J. B. Firth, Siaenecitane Practical
Chemistry. For Medical and other Students. Setond
edition, 705
Neave (the late Dr. G. B.), and Prof. I, M. Helles,
Second
The Identification of Organic Compounds.
edition, 774
Neville (H. A. D.), and L. F, Newman, A Course of
Practical Chemistry for Agricultural Students. Vol, 4s,
200) Wokitas Ot. ey 32
North (B.), assisted by N. Bland, Chemistry for Textile
Students, 382
Robertson (J. B.), The Chemistry of Coal, 382 /
Robertson Prof P. W.), and D. H. Burleigh, Qualitative
Analysis in Theory and Practice, 705
Robertson (Prof. T. B.), The Physical Chemistry of the
Proteins, 257
Roux (Dr. E.), and Dr. C.-F. Muttelet, Aliments Sucrés.
Sucres—Miels—Sirops—Confitures—Sucreries—Sucs en
Réglisse, 641
Searle (A. B.), The Use of Colloids in Health and
Disease, 351
Soddy (Prof. F.), Le’ Radium : Interprétation et
Enseignement de la Radioactivité. Traduit de l’Anglais
par A. i is 805
beewriee (Prof. A. W. if Stereochemistry. Second edition,
129
Tanner (Dr. F. W.), Bacteriology and Mycology of
Foods, 99
Taylor (Dr. H. S.), Fuel Production and Utilisation, 6
Thorne (P. C. L.), Chemistry from the Industrial Stan
point, 227
Tinkler (Dr. C. K.), and-Helen Masters, Applied Chemis-
try: A Practical Handbook for Students of Household
Science and Public Health. Vol. i., 227
Walker (Prof. J.), Introduction to Physical Chemistry.
Eighth edition, 129
Wells (Prof. H. L.), Chemical Calculation Tables: For.
Laboratory Use. Second edition, 33
Wilson (Prof. F. J.), and Prof. I. M. Heilbron, Chemical
Theory and Calculations. Second edition, 805
Engineering:
Bairstow (L.), Applied Aerodynamics, 95
Baker (Prof. R. P.), Engineering Education : Essays for
English, Selected and Edited by, 258
Bartlett (Capt. F. W.), and Prof, T. W. Johnson, Engin-
eering Descriptive Geometry and Drawing, Three Parts,
515
Blythe (E.), A Text-book on Machine Drawing for Elec-
trical Engineers, 260
Gill (J. F.), and F. J. Teago, Examples in Electrica] En-
gineering, 195
Hill (J. G.), Telephonic Transmission
Applied, 418
Kapp (Prof. G.), The Principles of Electrical Engineering
and their Application. Vol. ii., Application, 418°
Lamb (J.), The Running and Maintenance of the Marine
Diesel Engine, 290
: Theoretical | and
Geography and Travel:
Cranworth (Capt. the Lord), Profit and Sport in British
East Africa, being a second edition, revised and
enlarged, of “A Colony in the Making,’’ 392
Cyprus, The Handbook of. Eighth issue, edited by
H. C. Luke and D. J. Jardine, 291 .
Lalesque (Lr. F.), Arcachon, Ville de Santé; Mono- -
graphie Scientifique et Médicale, 322. |
of Exploration in Colombia, Venezuela, British
Kee - ont Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, and
Poy
‘Savory (. sad The Romantic Roussillon :
i 163
‘ “Sykes. (Miss Bula), and Brig.-Gen. Sir Percy Sykes,
Deserts and Oases of Central Asia, 330
‘Vignaud (H.), The Columbian Tradition on the Dis-
covery of America and the Part played therein by the
_ Astronomer Toscanelli, 803 .
In the French
rth (Dr. T. Be > Geology of the Mid-Continent Oil-
gree klahoma, and North Texas, 608
and W. O. Wootton, The Mineralogy of the
Metals : A Handbook for Prospectors. Secona
Ss a by E. Cahen, 25
E. C.), The Environment of Vertebrate Life in
Late Liege in North America: A Paleogeo-
f a: Natural Wealth of Britain: Its Origin
xploitation, 5
er (D Eaitctogy for Students. Fifth edition, 99
5 Reid) ” Pre-Palzolithic Man, 289
and Physical Science :
Ww: | (E. S.), Elements of Graphic Dynamics, 65
les (J. W.), Mensuration for Marine ‘and Mechanical
ineers ( nd and First Class Board of Trade Ex-
), 163
. J.), Astrolabe Diagram, 329
J.), and H. K. Shaw, A Handbook of the
ma ‘olabe,
3
, Selected Stadies i in Elementary Physics: A
ok gts the Wireless Student and Amateur, 739
/, G.), School Mechanics. Part i., School
rt P.), Les Principes de 1|’Analyse Mathé-
Historique et Critique. Tome
lencourt, Description et Usage de 1’Astro-
(Prof, & C.), The SS, Line or Line of
on as an Aid to Navigation, 552 >
er R), Telephony without Wires, 5
PYOL.: - E.), Matrices and Determinoids.
ther oe J. A.), Ions, Electrons, and Ionising Ra-
Vol.
sn
ig oH Differential Calculus for Colleges and
"Schools,
one 65
¥ A ), An Arithmetic for cle daha Schools.
. Second edition, 67
bocsing (Prot (Prof. E. R.), A Field and Laboratory Guide in
psa sare eee toy. 675
, ee Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony :
Principles Present Practice, and Testing, 483
Tso Farmer G ), "A First Year Physics for Junior Tech-
Man Schools, 229
Ferraris’ “ Dioptric Instruments ”’: Being an Elemen-
vo sles eaeerican ot of Gauss’ Theory and its Applications.
Translated by Dr. O. Faber from Prof. F. Lippich’s
German Translation of Prof. G. Ferraris’ Italian Work
entitled “ The Fundamental Properties of Dioptric In-
wah? struments,” 542
Ferry (E. S.), and others, A Handbook of Physics
_Measurements. Two vols., 1
| Fleming (Prof. J
93
. A.), The Propagation of Electric Cur-
rents in Telephone and Telegraph Conductors.
a
;
Third
_ edition, 611
.. Forsyth (Prof. A. R.), Solutions of the Examples in a
Treatise on Differential Equations, 260
_ Fowler (R. H.), The Elementary Differential Cuameticy
_ of Plane Curves, 321
Freundlich (E.), translated by H. L. Brose, The Founda-
tions of Einstein’s Theory of Gravitation, 350
Hatton (Prof. J. L. S.), The Theory of the Imaginary in
Nature, . °
Geile >. Lndex xlix
“Mine (2) A Nee hea of Asia, 35 Geometry, together with the Trigonometry of the Ima-
E.), In the Wilds of South America: Six ginary, 736
Heath (Sir Thomas L.), Euclid
With Introduction and Notes, 288
Hutchinson (R. W.), Intermediate Text-book of Mag-
netism and Electricity, 515
Jeans (J. H.), Problems of .Cosmogony and Stellar Dy-
namics, 31
Karpinski (Prof. L. C.), Prof. H. Y. Benedict, and Prof.
J. W. Calhoun, Unified Mathematics, 162
Kenyon (Prof. A. M.), and Prof, W..V. Lovitt, Mathe-
matics for Collegiate Students of Agriculture and
General Science. Revised edition, 131
Lamb (C. G.), er on Magnetism, 193
‘Love (Prof, A. H.), A Treatise on the Mathematical
Theory of Baaciciey Third edition, 511
Mackenzie (Col. J. S. F.), A Night Raid into Space, 100
Martin (M. J.), Wireless ‘Transmission of Photographs.
Second edition, 451
Mayo (C, H. P.), Elementary Calculus (with Answers),
163
Worcet (Rt. Rev. Dr. J. E.), Some Wonders of Matter,
in Greek. Book I.
67
Milne (J.), The Analytical Geometry of the Straight
Line and the Circle, 65
Preston (Prof. T.), The Theory of Heat. Third edi-
tion, edited by J. R. Cotter, 228
Rose (W. N.), Mathematics for Engineers.
Part ii., 260°
Schlick (Prof. M.), Rendered into English by H. L.
Brost, Space and Time in Contemporary Physics :
An ipo yg to the Theory of Relativity and Gravi-
tation,
Shore (A), x PI Current Work, 133
Silberstein (Dr. L.), Projective Vector Algebra: An Al-
gebra of Vectors Independent of the Axioms of Con-
gruence and of Parallels, 65
Slate (Prof. F.), The Fundamental Equations of Dy-
namics and its main Co-ordinate Systems Vectorially
Treated and Illustrated from Rigid Dynamics, 65
Tancock (E. O.), The Elements of Descriptive Astro-
nomy. Second edition, 131
Taylor (W. T.), Calculation of Electric Conductors, 229
Thomas (T.), Revision Arithmetic Logarithms, Slide
Rule, Mensuration, Specific Gravity, and Density.
Second edition, 229
Thompson (J. S. and H. G.), Silvanus Phillips Thomp-
son, D. LL.D., F.R.S., His Life and Letters, 448
Thomson (Sir F: J.) traduit par Prof. M. C, Moureu,
La Théorie Atomique, 36
Triimpler (R.), Bestimmung fundamentaler Sternérter
aus Héhendurchgangsbeobachtungen, 329
Tychonis Brahe Dani Opera Omnia. Edidit I. L. E.
Dreyer. Tomus vi., 672
_ Whipple (Prof. G. Ci; Vital Statistics, 131
Whitehead (Prof. A. N.), An Soauity concerning the
Principles of Natural Knowledge, 4
Woltjer, jun. (Dr. J.), eee ng a the Theory of
Hyperion, 675
X-rays, The Examination of Materials by. A General
Discussion held by the Faraday Society and the
Réntgen Society, Tuesday, April ‘29, 1919, 132
Medical Science :
Avery (Margaret), A Text-book of Hygiene for Training
Colleges, 259 : ;
Barjon (F.), translated by Dr. J. A. Honeij, Radio-
Diagnosis of Pleuro-Pulmonary Affections, 4
Dixon (Prof. W. E.), Practical Pharmacology, 420
Edridge-Green (Dr. F. W.), The Physiology of Vision,
with Special Reference to Colour Blindness; Card Test
for Colour Blindness, 575
Feldman (W. M.), The Principles of Ante-Natal and Post-
Natal Child Rags Pure and Applied, 638
er apes (Dr. S.), The Transmutation of Bacteria,
Keith (Prof. A.), The Engines of the Human Body:
Being the substance of Christmas Lectures given at the
Royal Institution of Great Britain, Christmas, 1916-
1917, 195
we ¢ Be Index
Nature, .
October 7, 1920
Nicolle (M.), E. Césari, and C. Jouan, Toxines et Anti-
toxines, 67
Pearson (Prof. Karl), and Julia. Bell,
Long Bones of the English Skeleton, 767
Physiology and National Needs, edited by Prof. W. D.
Halliburton, 286
Pilon (H.), The Coolidge Tube: Its Scientifie Applica-
tions, Medical and Industrial, 739
Rogers (Sir Leonard), Fevers in the Tropics. Third
edition, 33
Stauffacher (Dr. H.), Neue Beobachtungen iiber den
Erreger der Maulund Klauenseuche, 100
Walsh (Prof. J. J.), Medieval Medicine, 127
Metallurgy :
Curtis (A. H.), Manganese Ores, 193
Davies (G. M.), Tin Ores, 193 |
Lones (Dr. T. E.), Zinc and its Alloys, 193
Macgregor (M.), and others, The Iron Ores of Scot-
‘land, 419
‘ Metals, Institute of, Journal of the, vol.
edited by G. Shaw Scott, 164
Parsons, (S. J.), Malleable Cast Iron.
290
xxii., No. 2,
Second edition,
Meteorology:
* Elgie (J. H.), Elgie’s Weather Book: For the General
Reader, 739
Horner (D. W.), Meteorology for All:
Weather Problems Explained’, 323
McAdie (Prof. A.), The Principles of Aérography, 479
Rouch (J.), Manuel Pratique de Météorologie, 451
Stacey (W. F.), Practical Exercises on the Weather
and Climate of the British Isles and North-West
Europe, 133
Miscellaneous:
Arthur (Sir George), Life of Lord Kitchener, 3 vols., 319
Bose (Sir Jagadis Chunder), Life Movements in Plants,
Being some
416 ;
Burke (E: T.), The Venereal Problem, 543
Bury (Prof. J. B.), The Idea of Progress :
into its Origin and Growth, 733
Cannons (H. G. T.), Bibliography of Industrial Effi-
ciency and Factory Management, 641
Corbett (Sir J. S.), History of the Great War, based on
Official Documents. By direction of the Historical
Section of the enh of Imperial Defence: Naval
Operations, vol. 546
C. W.),
Domville-Fife (Lieut.
To-Day, 36
Elhuff (1), “Géolcal Science: First Course, 352
Firth (Sir R. H.), Musings of an Idle Man, 100
Fisher (Lord), Memories, 95
Flint (G. E.), The Whole Truth about Alcohol, 386
Fuller (Brevet-Col. J. F. C.), Tanks in the Great War,
1914-1918, 702
Gilbreth (F. B. and Dr. Lillian M.), Motion Study for
the Handicapped, 737
Gough (G. W.), Half-past Twelve:
Studies for the Odd Half-hours, 611
An Inquiry
Submarine Warfare of
Dinner Hour
Hayward (Dr. F. H.), A First Book of School Celebra-.
tions, 707; A Second Book of School Celebrations, 804
Henry (Prof. A.), Forests, Woods, and Trees im relation
to Hygiene, 158
Héricourt (Dr. J.), The Social Diseases: Tuberculosis,
Syphilis, Alcoholism, Sterility. Translated, and with
a final chapter, by B. Miall,
International Research Council: Constitutive Assembly
held at Brussels, July 18 to July 28, 1919. Report
of Proceedings, edited by Sir Arthur Schuster, 543
Jellicoe (Lord), The Grand Fleet, 1914-16, 93
Johnson (Dr. S. C.), Pastimes for the Wature Lover,
774
MacNutt (J. S.), The Modern Milk Problem in Sanita-
tion, Economics, and Agriculture, 385
Mees (Dr. C. E. Kenneth), The Organisation of Indus-
trial Scientific Research, 771
Population and Parenthood, Problems of (being the
A Study of the
Second Report of, and the Chief Evidence taken by, —
the National Birth-rate Commission, 1918-20), 543 z
Ross (Sir Ronald), Philosophies ; Psychologies, 414
Scientific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and
Ireland, The Year Book’ of the. Thirty-sixth annual
issue, 580
Scott (Sir Percy), Fifty Years in the Royal Navy, 92
Soddy (Prof. F.), Science and Life: Aberdeen Ad-
dresses, 1
Spaight (Dr. J. M.), Aircraft in Peace and the Law, 483
Terhune (A. P.), Lad: A Dog, 484
Thomas (W. N.), Surveying, 801
Tisdale (C. W. W.), and J. Jones, Butter and Cheese,
738
Trafton (G. H.), The Teaching of Science in the Ele-
mentary School, 420
bat: (Major C. C.), The Struggle in the Air, 1914-18,
Walston (Sir Charles), Eugenics, Civics, and Ethics, 804
Watt (Dr. H. J.), The Foundations of Music, 98
Westaway (F. W.), Scientific Method: Its ' Philosophy
and its Practice. New edition, 5
Wharton (the late Rear-Admiral Sir W.-J. L.), Hydro-
graphical Surveying: A Description of Means and
Methods employed in constructing Marine Charts.
Fourth edition, revised and enlarged by Admiral | Sir
Mostyn Field,” 576
Wright (Lewis), Optical Projection. Fifth edition,
written and brought up to date by R. S. oe in
two parts). Part i., The Projection of
Slides, 773
Philosophy and Psychology:
Alexander (Prof. S.), Space, Time, and Deity : The
Gifford Lectures at Glasgow, 1916-18. Two vols.,
798
Boirac (E.), translated and edited with an introduction
by W. de Kerlor, The Psychology of the Future
(‘‘ L’Avenir des Sciences Psychiques ’’),. 323
Butler (S.), Luck or Cunning, as the Main Means of
Organic Modification? An Attempt to throw Addi-
tional Light upon Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selec-
tion. .Second edition, 773; Unconscious Memory. |
Third edition, 774
Cohen-Kysper (A), Riicklaufige
Entwicklung, 164
Ellis (Havelock), The Philosophy of Conflict :
Essays in War-time. Second! series, 353
European Thought, Recent Developments in, Essays ,
arranged and edited by F. S. Marvin, 607
Jastrow, jun. (Prof.‘M.), A Gentle Cynic: Being a Trans-
lation of the Book of Koheleth, commonly known as
Ecclesiastes, stripped of later additions; Also its
Origin, Growth, and Interpretation, 226
Link (Dr. H. C.), Employment Psychology: The Appli-
cation of Scientific Methods to the Selection, Training,
and Grading of Employees, 673
McDougall (Dr. W.), An Introduction to Social Psycho-
logy. Fourteenth edition, 291
Redgrove (H. S.), Bygone Beliefs: Being a series of
Excursions in the Byways of Thought, 610
Richardson (C. A.), Spiritual Pluralism and Recent
Philosophy, 773
Smith (W. W.), A Theory of the Mechanism of Sur-
vival: The Fourth Dimension and its Applications, 484
Tansley (A. G.), The New Psychology and its Relation
to Life, 770
Watson (Prof. J. B.), Psychology from ‘he Standpoint
of a Behaviorist, 512
Westaway (F. W.), Science and Theology :
mon Aims and Methods, 607
Wohlgemuth (Dr. A.), The British Journal of Psycho-
logy: Monograph Supplements. No. vi., sibicarm ci
Unpleasure, 3
Diffecenvierange und
and other
their Com-
Technolog
Baker (R. T.), The Hci pineal of Australia and their
Economics, 802
Chalmers (T. W.), Paper-making and its Machinery :
Including chapters on the Tub-sizing of Paper, the
Nature,
if October 7, 1920
Index ° li
ting and Finishing of Art Paper, and the Coating
Photographic Paper, 480
ner (G.), Aluminium’: Its Manufacture, Manipula-
n, and Marketing,’ 805
(R. E.), Electricity: Its Production and Applica-
tions
osenhain (Dr. W.), Glass Manufacture. Second edition,
¢
aa8 +)».
mmers (A. L.), Asbestos and the Asbestos Industry :
The World’s Most Wonderful Mineral, and other Fire-
proof Materials, 193
Vhite (B.), Gold: Its Place in the Economy of Man-
vee Tt ; Silver: Its Intimate Association with the
_ Daily Life of Man, 774 8=— *
aol A New Italian Review, 756
[useum, Bulawayo, Report of the, 367
Colloidal, C. Zenghelis and B. Papaconstantinou,
tilisation of the Water-power of the, M. Fourniols,
ards, Ellen, Research Prize, The, 366
eckite-rhyolite from North Kordofan, Sudan, W. C.
mith, 7
y of Wires, A. Bifilar Method of Measuring the,
. C, Searle, 473 :
Flow, Estimating, from Rainfall Records, Lt.-Col.
-E. E. Craster, 42; -windings, Mortlakes as a
uf i! cause of, T. S$: Ellis, 264 §
st Beef of Old England, The, 62
a, Leucitic Lavas of the Volcano of, V. Saba-
FP niversity, Endowment from the U.S. General
cation Board and G. Eastman, for a School of
Me etc., 601 }
: Gift to Medical Science, The,.Prof. W. M. Bay-
re, The, Dean Inge, 431
nate Flint Implements and Allied Forms, Some,
Lankester, 631
of London and Demobilised Men out of
erimental Station, Visit of the Association
Biologists and the Imperial Entomological
e to the, 464
3353
ry, July, of the, 835; College of
s, Edinburgh, The. Dr. Jessie Macgregor
“yen Sra for the Delivery of Lectures of
k ane itment of Lecturers in connection with
5; College of Science, Annual Dinner of Old
mts of the, Speeches by Sir Richard Gregory, the
Marquess of Crewe, and others, 281; for Ireland,
d of the Fellowship Diploma of the, to H. Ramage
and R. L. Wills, 25; College of Surgeons of England,
Subject for the Jacksonian Prize for 1921, 249; The
Duke of Connaught admitted an Honorary Fellow of
io) Gift to the Museum of Microscopical Pre-
R tions by Sir Charles Tomes, 557; Elections in
‘connection with the, 622; College of Veterinary Sur-
(ooreagae O. C. Bradley elected President of the, 601 ;
Danish Society of Science, Sir Ernest Rutherford, Sir
Thomson, Sir George Grierson, and Prof. W. M.
indsay elected Fellows of the, 209; Geographical
‘Society, Awards of the, 112; Institution Lecture Ar-
zements, 80; Election of Officers of the, the Duke
Northumberland President, 304; Irish Academy,
L. Le Chatelier, Prof. G. E. Hale, Prof. A. E. H.
Love, and Sir Ernest Rutherford elected Honorary
_ Members of the, 113; Prof. G. H. Carpenter elected
; ry of the, 590; Military Academy, The, J.
Young, 487; Navy, Fifty~Years in the, Admiral Sir
__ Percy Scott, 94; Observatory, Greenwich, Annual
--——s Visitation of the, 469; Society, Recommended Candi-
dates for the Fellowship of the, 17; Reports of the
Grain Pests (War) Committee, Nos. 4 to 7, 236; Con-
versazione, The, 373; H. A. L. Fisher and Sir James G.
Frazer elected Fellows of the, 556; Society of Edin-
burgh, The Prince of Wales nominated as an Honorary
Fellow of the, 335; W. W. Campbell, Prof. Y. Delage,
Prof. H. A. Lorentz, A. G. Nathorst, Ch. E, Picard,
Prof. C. Richet, and Prof G, O. Sars elected Foreign
* Honorary Fellows of the, 556; Society of Arts,
The Albert Medal of the, awarded to Prof. A. A.
Michelson, 496; Award of Medals of the, 556; A. A.
Campbell Swinton elected Chairman of the Council of
the, 654; Statistical Society, Election of Officers of the,
526
Rubber: Cold Vulcanisation of, A Process for the, S. J.
Peachey, 625; The Industrial Uses of, Offer of Prizes
in connection with, 496; The Stretching of, in Free
Balloons, Dr. H. P. Stevens; W. H. Dines, 613
Riicklaufige Differenzierung und Entwicklung, A. Cohen-
Kysper, 164
Rupture and Flow in Solids, The Phenomena of, A. A.
Griffith, 58; Russia, North-West, The Climate of, 119
Rutherford Atom, A Law of Force giving Stability to the,
J. Marshall, 666
Safety ‘Lamps in Chemical Works, Need of, W. Payman,
116
Sage Grouse, Habits of the, B. Horsfall, 786
St. Andrews University, Forthcoming Conferment of
Honorary Degrees, 440
Sainte-Geneviéve Observatory, Instruments and Work of
the, G. Bigourdan, 475
Salisbury Public Library, Report for 1919-20 of the, 240
Salt-Land Reclamation, Practical, G. S. Henderson, 434
Salts necessary for Plant Nutrition, The Physiological
Balance of the, J. W. Shive, 310
Salvarsan, The Composition of, Fargher and Pyman, 185
“San Juan District, Porto Rico, The Geology of the, D. R.
Semmes, 148
Sands, Stratified, and Gravels replaced by ‘‘ Snow-white
Granular Silica,’? W. H. Collins, 242
Saturn, Occultation of a Star by, 244
Savages of the Far Past, 384
Sawing Metals by Hand, Work done in, Ch. Fremont, 251
Saxon Remains, Supposed, Discovery of, in Windsor Great
Park, Capt. Vaughan-Williams, 209
Scabiosine, A New Glucoside capable of Hydrolysis by
Emulsion, Em, Bourquelot and M. Bridel, 187 __
Scandinavian Mountain Problem, The, O. Holtedahl, 633
Schaumasse Comet, 1920b, Discovery and Observations of,
A. Schaumasse, 794
Scholarships, Plea for an
Clay, 23
Scholasticism, Science and, Prof. J. J. Walsh, 547; Dr. C.
Singer, 548
School: and University Training, Formation of a Consulta-
tive Council of the Overlapping of, 602; Celebrations,
A First Book of, Dr. F. H. Hayward, 707; A Second
Book of, Dr. F. H. Hayward, 804
Science : and Crime, 772; and Engineering, 258; and Life :
Aberdeen Addresses, Prof. F. Soddy, 1; and Pharmacy,
Progress in, C. A. Hill, 659; and Philosophy, Greek,
Dr. C. Singer, 373; and Research in the Air Service
‘142; and Scholasticism, Dr. C. Singer, 127; Prof.
J. J. Walsh, 547; Dr. C. Singer, 548; and Scientific
Research in Medicine and Surgery, Sir Aston Webb,
304; and the Nation, Lord Sydenham, 468; and the
New Army, 61; Col. E. H. Hills, 103; Prof. L. N. G.
Filon; Prof. R. Whiddington, 133; Lt.-Col. E. Gold;
Dr. C. S. Myers, 135; Prof. A. R. Richardson, 170;
Col. K. E. Edgeworth, 232: C. S. Wright, 391; and
Technology, The Imperial College of, 173; and
Theology: their Common Aims and Methods, F. W.
Westaway, 607; Applied and Industrial Research, J. W.
Williamson, 387; Prof. F. Soddy, 422; Major A. G.
Church, 423; J. W. Williamson, 518; Major A. G,
Church, 547; Artillery, Sir George Greenhill, 268;
Education and, in the Civil Service Estimates for
1920-21, 246; General, First Course, L. Elhuff, 352;
History of, Courses on the, 279; in Medical Education,
Prof. S. J. Hickson, 643: in the Elementary School,
Ampler Provision of, Dr. R. S.
lii ' Index
[ Nature,
October 7, 1920
the Teaching of, G. H. Trafton, 420; Museum, South
Kensington, Col. H. G. Lyons appointed Director and
Secretary to the, 463; the Geological Survey) and
Museum of Practical Geology, Reports on the, for
1919, 656; Practical for Girls: as Applied to Domestic
Subjects, E. E. Jardine, 705; The Federation of, 3175
The Story Book of, J, H. Fabre, eh
Scientific ; and Technical Books, Sir R. A. Gregory, ais
Apparatus and Laboratory Fittings, C. Beck, 355; B. A.
Morphy ; C. Baker, 356; Bellingham and Stanley, itd
W. Taylor; H. W. Ashfield, 357 ; Apparatus, British and
Foreign, D. H. Baird, 390; J. W. Ogilvy, 424; J. S.
Dunkerly, 4253 Watson Baker, 518; Prof.
W. Bayliss, 641; Apparatus from Abroad, Prof.
W. M. Bayliss, 293; Direction of Industrial Research,
Major A. G. Church, 40; Method:
its Practice, F. W. Westaway. New edition, 5; Publi-
cations, The Cost of, 285; Prof. W. A. ‘Herdman ;
Prof. H. H. Turner, 326; E. B. Knobel; W. W.
Bryant, 327; Prof. GH: Hardy; Dr. A. B. Rendle,
353; Dr. C: Myers, 354; Dr. C. G. Knott, 425;
Research, Dr. J. W. Evans, 358; and the Glass Industry
in the United States, Dr. M. W. T ravers, 9; Importance
of Co-operative, E. B. Wedmore, 339; The Public Sup-
port of, Prof. F. Soddy, 309; Reunions at the Natural
History Museum, Dr. G. F. H. Smith, 72; Societies,
Conjoint Board of, Report for 1919, 343; Work, Ex-
penses of, Major mie ce: Church, 72; in India, The
Organisation of, 565; Sir Thomas. H. Holland, 452 ;
Work : Its Spirit and Reward, Dr. G. 5 Fowler, 387;
Organisation of, Dr. W. Bateson : 5.5 . Gamble, Sir
Ronald Ross, 6; Dr. E.. J. Russell ;_ Prof. A.
Seward, 7; Sir J. C. Bose, 39; Sir T. H. Middleton,
103 ; Sir Leonard Rogers, 292
Scotland, The Economic Geology of the Central Coalfield
of,
Scottish "Shale Oil Scientific and Industrial Research
Association, Approval of the, 210
Screw Gauges, Verification of, for Munitions of War,
M. Cellerier; B. Powell, 14
Sea: and’ Sky at Sunset, Lt.-Col. K. E. Edgeworth; J. S. D.
358; -anemones, The Transplanting of, by Hermit
Crabs, mR, Cowles, 668 ; -birds : Their. Relation to the
Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr. W. E. Collinge, 172;
Fisheries, Oceanography and the, Prof. W. erd-
man, 813; The, Dr. J. T. Jenkins, 397; -waves, the
Height of, J. Rouch, 219
Seed: Electrification, Experiments in, Sutton and Sons,
337; -wheat, the Treating of, for ‘Bunt, 211
Seedlings which turn Green in the Dark, H. Coupin, 411
Seismological Observations at De Bilt, Report of the, for
1916, 276
Selous Memorial at the Natural History Museum, The,
504
Sensation and the Cerebral Cortex, Dr. H. Head, 363
Serum, Proteins of the, Separation of the, M. Piettre and
A. Vila, 571
Service Chemistry, the late Prof. V. B. Lewes and. Prof.
fess Brame. Fifth edition, Sir T. E. Thorpe,
287
Sewage: Filters, Insect Life on, Dr.
and H. D. Bell, 131; Systems,
A. J. Martin, 792
Shamanism among the Cahuilla Indians, Miss L. Hooper,
W. H. Parkinson
Past and Present,
592
Sheep, the Fattening of, Application of the Food-unit Sys-
tem to, Prof. J. Wilson, 282
Sheffield: University, Dr. . E. S. Turner appointed
Professor of Glass Technology; J. Husband, Professor
of Civil Engineering; Dr. Mellanby, Professor of
Pharmacology; R. E. Pleasance, Demonstrator in
Pathology, 601; Dr. R. B. Wheeler appointed Pro-
fessor of Fuel Technology; D. Knoop, Professor of
Economics, 665
Shell Flight. The Dynamics of, R. H. Fowler, 459
Shepherd’s-purse, A Third Duplication of Genetic Factors
in, Prof. G. H. Shull, 795
Shilluks’ Belief in Medicine Men, The
527
Rev. D. S. Oyler,
Its Philosophy and .
Sodium Fluoride,
Sierra Leone, DS ar alates Movements of Elevation in,
F. Dixey, z
Silicate and luna Rocks, Analysis of, W. F, Hille-
brand, 836
Silicon Iron (Stalloy), The Miuastc Properties of, in Alter- _
‘nating Magnetic Fields of Low Value, A. Campbell,
473
Silver’: Its Intimate Association with the Daily Life of
Man, B, White, 774; The World’s Production of, Report
on, Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter and Prof. C, G. Cullis,
72
Simocephalus vetulus, Production and Transmission of an
Environmental Effect in, H. G. Cannon, 538
Sky, the Blue, and the Optical Properties of mee Lord
Rayleigh, 584
Slag, a New Use for, 434
Sleeping Sickness Commission of the Royal Society, Re-
ports of the, No. xvii., 663
Smithsonian, Lessons from’ the,
Smoke Nuisance, ‘The, 471
Snowdon, Little Book "About, H. V. Davis, 787 é
Social : Diseases, The, Tuberculosis, ‘Syphilis, Alcoholism,
Sterility, Dr. a5 Héricourt. Translated, and with a
final chapter, by B. Miall, 543; Service in Rural Areas,
Sir Henry Rew, 731 |
Société Helvétique ‘des Sciences Naturelles, © Forthauming
Annual Meeting of the, 687 pee oe
Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, The, to be
known in future as the Royal Society of Tropical
Medicine and Hygiene, 526
The Usefulness of, Employed as an
Antisepti¢ for the Preservation of Railway-sleepers,
H. Devaux and H. Bouygues, 379
Softwoods, African, for Pulp Production, A. H. Unwin,
627
599
Soil: Cultivation, Physical Problems in, B. A. Keen, 438;
Erosion, Observations on, W. Torrance, 434; Tem-
peratures, F. L. West, N. E. Edlefsen, and Eve:
Capt. T. B. Franklin, 628; Effect of Weather
on, Capt. T. B. Franklin, 282; The, An leckconeton
to the Scientific Study ‘of the Growth of Crops,
Sir A. D. Hall. Third edition, 384
Soils: A Standard Book on, 384; "Ammoniating Power of,
Measure of the, R. Perotti, 844; and Manures, A
Student’s Book on, Dr. E.. J. Russell.
130; in New Zealand, L. J. Wild, 130
Solanace, The Embryogeny of the, R. Souéges, 442, 475
Solar: Constant of Radiation, A New Method of Determin- °
ing the, C. G. Abbot, 667; Chromosphere, [onisation|
in the, M. N. Saha, 232; Eclipse, The Total, of 1918, °
June 8, Dr. Slipher, and others, 117; of May, 1919,
The, Prof. L. A. Bauer, 311; Radiation Station, ‘en
in Arizona, 726; Variation and the Weather, Dr. .
Abbot, 678
Solifugee of. South Africa, Survey of the, J. Hewitt, ci
Solvay, International Institute of Physics, Impending Re-
sumption of the Work of the, 399
Somersetshire : Archaeological and Natural History Society,
Annual Meeting of the, Presidential Address to the,
H. Balfour, 835
Sorby Research Fellowship, The, awarded to Dr, F. C.
Thompson, 377
Sorosporella uvella, Experiments on, A. T. Speare, 310
Sound : -ranging as practised by the U.S. Army during the
War, Prof. A. Trowbridge, 116
Second edition,
South: Africa, Ostrich Study in, Prof. J. E. Duerden, 106;
African Entomophthoraceze, Some, S.- H. Skife, 507;
America: In the Wilds of, Six Years of Exploration in
Colombia, Venezuela, British Guiana, Peru, Bolivia,
Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, L. E. Miller, 159;
The Wilds of, 1<9; American Monkeys, External Char-
acters of, R. I. Pocock, 218; -Eastern Union of Scienti-
fic Societies, Annual Congress of the, 530
Southampton, University College of, S. Mangham ap-
pointed Professor of Botany at the, 698
Southern Pine Association, Gift from the,
Work, «2
Space: and Time in Contemporary Physics: An Introduc-
tion to the Theory of Relativity and Gravitation, Prof.
for Forestry.
at raid
is October orn, tox
Schlick. Rendered into English ‘ty HL. Dives,
Time, and Deity: The Gifford Lectures at Glas-
, 1916-18, Prof. S. Alexander. 2 vols., 798
‘ - Spectra of various Elements in Helium in the
seen Ultra-violet, Prof. J. C. McLennan, and A. C.
Lewis, 632
, Genera and, A. Mallock, 675
of Explosions, 3e A: Anderson, 668
al: Lines, Intensity of, Effect of a Magnetic Field on
, H, P. Waran, 379; Reflective Properties of certain
Alloys, Preparation and Determination of the, R. G.
‘Waltenberg and W. W. Coblentz, 212
aiioter,.
ryrheliometer, A New, and Solar Measurements
with it, W. W. Coblentz and H. Kahler, 525
pic Observations of the Gaseous Nebulz, Certain
cts of Recent, W. H. Wright, 842
Spectra An Experiment on the, Dr. R. A. Houstoun,
1; Certain Antagonistic Properties of various
gions of the, G. Le Bon, 571
ohh yay gie Development of the Auditory Appara-
etc., Wave-length, Catalogue of Hilger’s,
sin, F. J. Wyeth, 26
oe a The Capacity Coefficients of,
Russell, 5'
(Miaicgramma) conica, Notes on the Habits of
Tachinid Fly, O. H. Latter, 614
njunction of Mars with, 340
_Compensator, The, and New Problems of the
echanics of Regulation, J. Drach, 443; Nebule,
bu “soe and, The Parallaxes of, K. Lund-
a Systematic Error in, J. H. Cole, 409
Plura ism and Recent. Philosophy, C. A. Richard-
: The Diactvery of, Dr. F. Nansen, ,210
Dr. P. Bidder, 441; of Ireland, “the Fresh-
Miss “Jane Stephens, 474
lant-life in Deep Caves, The Carrying Power
\. Stoney, 740
rees, Injury to Foliage by the, 211
tory, Parallax Work . the, Dr. Miller, 500
n Finland, H.R., 1
at Duddo, The, "Capt. W. J. Rutherford,
Pag e Large Proper Motion, F. Kromm, 282;
Shapley, 543 Occultation of a, by
L. J Comrie, 22
ible, J. Jackson, 436; The Masses of the, Prof.
Rust, 500; Total Light of the, P. J. Van
In, 5:
pec mid’ the, Prof. E. W. MacBride; Prof.
. F. A. Bather; Dr. 'W. E.
ig OM Wagner, 70; Sir E. Ray Lankester ;
i. Stanley Gardiner, 101; Dr. W. M. Tattersall,
RS So 136 ; The, and the Nationa Museums,
bees, Schoot (School Mechanics, Pye: wy G:
ge
Part.
ae
el: Ingot, Macrographic Study of the Propagation of
Cooling in the Interior of a, starting from its solidifica-
} Descolas and Prétet, 411; Ingots, the Minute
; in, G. Charpy, 27; Nickel, The Anomaly of
Elasticity of the, C. E. Guillaume, 699 ; The Elasticity
of Torsion of, with a high proportion of Chromium,
: ard, 699; Special Alloy, in the Construction
of Bridges, The conomical Use of, J. A. L. Waddell,
9; The Resistance of, to Cutting by Tools, Ch.
remont, 187
ir: Facts, New, and their bearing on Stelar Theories
for the Ferns, te M’Lean Thompson, 250
Stellar = Dynamics, Problems of Cosmogony and, J. H.
Jeans, 31; Spectroscopy at the Detroit Observatory,
yaaa: Substance, The Wasting of, Prof. F. W. Very,
¢ Eiecochaciintey, Prof. A. W. Stewart. Second edition,
Stewart Prize of the British Medical Association,
awarded to Dr. Harriette Chick, 432
_-Stipends and Pensions, University, 477
129
The,
litt
Stone : Wen hetiliel of Palzolithic Type Throwing Light
on the Method of Manufacture’ in South Africa,
Dr. L. Péringuey, 699; Mould, A Curious, Mrs. M. I
Cunnington, 497; Statues, The Island of, Sir Everard
im Thurn, 583; Worship, A Curious Case of, H. A.
MacMichael, 115
Stonehenge, Restoring to a Position of Safety the Stones of,
209
Stonyhurst: College :
1919, Rev. A. L.
A. L. Cortie, 789
Storm-petrel, Nesting Habits of the, A.. Gordon, 20
Strand-loopers, Dr. L. Péringuey, 558
Strasbourg University, Opening Address at Installation of
the Chair of Mineralogy in, Prof. G. Friedel, 368
String, An Experiment on a Piece of Common, G. F. C.
Searle,
Sublimates produced by Metalloids and Metals Volatilised
by the Blowpipe, Method for Collecting and Character-
ising the, Ad. Braly, 219
Submarine ; Explosions, The Pressure-wave thrown out by,
Observatory,
Cortie, 624;
Report and Notes on,
Observations, 1919, Rev.
H. W. Hilliar, 313; Warfare of To-day, Lt. C. W.
Domville-Fife, 36 a5
-Sugar:-beet during the War, The, E. Saillard, 571;
Production in England, Possibilities of, 434; Cultiva-
tion in India, Dr. W. E. Brenchley, 840
Sulphuric Ions: Detection of Masked, in Complex Com-
pounds, R. Job and G. Urbain, 283; in Complex Saits,
the Differentiation of Masked and Apparent, A. Kling
and D. Florentin, 379
Sumatran Hare (Nesolagus Netscheri), The,.
and C. B. Kloss, 115
Summer, The Weather of the Present, 837
Sumner Line: The, or Line of Position as an Aid to
Navigation, Prof, G. C. Comstock, . 552,;, Lines in
Navigation, Use of, Capt. T. H. Tizard, 552; Prof.
G. C. Comstock ; Capt. T. H. Tizard, 742; Dr. ¥: Ball,
806
Sun: as a Weather Prophet, The, 839; Mercury, and
Venus, Cape Observations of the, 183; Meteorological
Influences of the, and the Atlantic, - Prof. J. W.
Gregory, 715; Observations of the, made at the Lyons
Observatory, J. Guillaume, 218; 251
Sundial giving Legal Time throughout the Year, A, Ch.
_ Gautier, 506
Sunlight and the Life of the Sea, Dr. B. Moore, E Whit-
ley, and T. A. Webster, 90
Sunshine in the United States, L ipa: Rinker: 791
Surveying : W. N. Thomas, Bor; Principles and Practice of,
Lt.-Col. H. S. Winterbotham, Sor
Survival:' A Theory of the Mechanism of, The Fourth
Dimension and its Applications, W. W. Smith, 484
Swanley Horticultural College, Proposal to allot a Treasury
Grant for the, 472
Swansea: University College, Prof. C. A. Edwards ap-
pointed Professor of Metallurgy, Dr. J. E. Coates
Professor of Chemistry, Dr. E. A. Evans Professor of
Physics, Lt.-Col. A. R. Richardson Professor of Mathe-
matics, Dr. A. E. Trueman Lecturer in Geology, E. E,
Hughes, Lecturer in History, 6 5; The Laying of the
Foundation-stone by the King, 665 Grants to, by the
Treasury, 841
Swift, Evelyn, Renin: and, Weather Notes of, in Relation
to British Climate, Capt. C. J. P. Cave, 393
Syme, The David, Prize awarded to F. Chapman, 496
Symmetrisable Functions and their Expansion in Terms of
Biorthogonal Functions, J. Mercer, 632
Sager Studies on, II., L. T. Hogben, 539; The Problem
of, L. T. Hogben, 570
Synchytrium endobioticum (Schilb.), Perc., Life-history and
Cytology of, Miss K. M. Curtis, 346
Synthetic Ammonia, The Manufacture of, and Production
of Nitrates, 312
E. Jacobson
T.N.T., Products of Detonation of, Prof. C. E, Munroe,
795
Tanks: and Scientific Warfare, 702; in the Great War,
1914-1918, Brevet-Col. J. F. C. Fuller, 702
Tannins from Wattle-bark, Extraction of, 724
liv
Tu dex
[ Nature,
October 7, 1920
Tasmanian Mammals, Living and Extinct, Studies of.
Part. ii., H. H. Scott and C, Lord, 796
Teachers in the U.S.A., The Supply and Remuneration of,
731
Technical: Colleges and the Universities, The Necessity for
Close Co-operation Between, Principal C, Coles, 728;
Education and Mind Training, E. L. Rhead, 439; In-
stitutions, Association of, Annual General Meeting of
the, 22; 727; Libraries and Intelligence, Major W. E.
Simnet, 505; Library, The, R. Borlase Matthews, 505 ;
Review, Retirement of Maior W. E. Simnett from the
Editorship and Direction of the, 722; Schools and their
part in Adult Education, A. Mansbridge, 23
Techno-Chemical Receipt Book, Compiled and Edited by
W. T. Brannt and Dr. W. H. Wahl, 739
Telephonic Transmission: Theoretical and Applied, J. G.
Hill, 418
Telephony and Telegraphy, Multiplex, over Open-circuit
Bare Wires laid in the Earth or Sea, Gen. Squier, 467 ;
Wireless, Prof. H. Eccles, 519; . without Wires,
P. R. Coursey, 5 .
Telephotography, A Note on, A.B., 488
Telescope, The Optimum Magnification of a, M. Battestini, |
443
Telescopes, Increasing the Photographic Power of, Dr. Shap-
ley, 625
Tempel’s Comet: Return of, 436; 560; M. Fayet, 789;
P. Chofardet, 794 3
Temperature: Curve, The Daily, Prof. L. Becker, 282;
Life and, 161; The Influence of, on the Rigidity of
Metals, A. Mallock, 631; Variations at 10,000 ft.,
C. K. M. Douglas, 614; in the North Atlantic Ocean
and in the Atmosphere, Drs. B. Helland-Hansen and
F. Nansen, 715
Terra Sigillata, Introduction to the Study of, Dr. F.
Oswald and T. D. Price, 240
Terraces in Chalk Districts, The Mode of Formation of,
L. Gentil, 315
Terre et des Planétes, L’Origine des formes de la, E. Belot,
559
Tetanus during the Great War, Prevention of, Major-Gen.
Sir David Bruce, 785 :
Tetrahedra, Generation of Sets of Four, mutually Inscribed
and Circumscribed, C. V. H. Rao and Prof. Baker,
379
Textile: Industries and Technical Education in Canada
and the United States, 789; Research in, 118; Students,
Chemistry for, B. North, assisted by N. Bland, 382
Therapeutic Substances offered for Sale, Appointment of a
Committee Upon, 273
Thermionic: Valve, The, in Wireless Telegraphy and Tele-
phony, Prof. J. A. Fleming, 716; Valves, The Develop-
ment of, for Naval Uses, B. S. Gossling, 559
Thermo: -couples, Construction of, by Electro-deposition,
W. H. Wilson and Miss T. D. Epps, 842; -electricity,
Recent Progress in, Prof. C. A. F.
Thermostatic Metal, 793
Thompson: Life and Letters of Silvanus P., A. A. Camp-
bell Swinton, 448; Silvanus Phillips, D.Se.,° LL.D.,
F.R.S., His Life and Letters, J. S. and H. G. Thomp-
son, 448
Thrush, The First Act of a Young, Honor M. M. Perry-
coste, 456
Thunder and Lightning at Kimberley, Some Statistics of,
: Sutton, 507
Thunderstorms of May 29, The, and the Louth Disaster,
Benedicks, 499
4
Tidal: Friction and the Lunar and Solar Accelerations,
Dr. H. Jeffreys, 403; in Shallow Seas. H. Jeffreys, 632 ;
Motion in the Irish Sea: Its Currents and its Energy,
. R. O. Street, 632; Power, 427
Tides in Landlocked and Border Seas, Bays, and Chan-
nels, Dr. A. Defant, 466
Timber: Exhibition, The Empire, A. L.
Map, Nos. 1 to 4, J. H. Davies, 577
Timbers Grown in France, Forthcoming Researches upon,
Howard, 691;
722
Time: and Latitude, Methods of Determining, C. Puente,
213; -reckoning of the North American Indians, 7§
Tin: and Antimony, The Separation of, A, Kling and A. —
‘Lassieur, 442; Ores, G. M. Davies, 193 eB
Tissues, Resistance of, to Light and Ultra-violet Rays, —
L, Vignon, 506
Topography, Effect of, on Precipitation in Japan, Prof. —
Terada, 599 :
Toronto University: Dr. V. J. Harding appointed Professor
of Pathological Chemistry in, 537; the Appointment of
Prof. A. T. De Lury as head of the Department of
Mathematics, 762
Torquay Natural History’ Society, Journal of the, Vol. II,
No. 6, 788 ‘ i
Total Solar Eclipse of September 20, 1922, The, A. R.
Hinks, 84 ee:
Toxines et'Antitoxines, M. Nicolle, E. Césari, and C. Jouan,
6 .
7,
| Trade Routes of the British Empire in Africa, G. F. Scott
- Elliott, 274
Trans-African Flight, The Recent, Lt. L. Walmsley, 624
Transport, Some National Aspects of, Lord Montagu of
Beaulieu, 469 Yee
Tree: Diseases, Manual of, Dr. W. H. Rankin, 577:
-growth, Climatic Cycles, etc., Prof. Douglass, 562
Trichodynamics, Dr. W. Lawrence Balls, 777 i
Trioxymethylene : in Powder, The Use of, for the Destruc-
tion of the ‘Larva of Mosquitoes, E. Roubaud, 604;
The Mode of Action of Powdered, on the Larve of
Anopheles, E. Roubaud, 667 ae
Trobriand Islanders, The Economic Pursuits of the, Dr. B.
Malinowski, and others, 564
Tropical: Agriculture, A College of, 153; Control of Aus-
tralian Rainfall, E. T. Quayle, 152; Departments of
Agriculture, with Special Reference to the West Indies,
Sir Francis Watts, 344; Medicine, 33
Tsetse-Fly Problem, The, R. W. Jack, and others, 503 —
Tubercle Bacillus: Culture of the, on a Medium of Auto-
lysed Yeast, R. Sazerac, 795; The Chemical Compo-
sition of the, A. Goris, 604 : J
Tuberculosis, particularly in connection with the War,
55
‘Tungsten: and the Oxides of Tungsten, Reversible Re-
actions of Water on, G. Chaudron, 411; Preparation
and Uses of, in Incandescent Lamp Filaments, ete.,
A. B. Searle, 339 ; ge
Turbine Steels, The Mechanical Properties of, Dr. W. H.
Hatfield and H. M. Duncan, 148
Turin Academy of Medicine, Award of the Riberi Prize to
Prof. G. Vanghetti, 557 :
Twins, Influence of the Male on
Dr. C. B. Davenport, 755 ;
Tycho Brahe, Dr. J. K. Fotheringham, 672
Tychonis Brahe Dani Opera Omnia, Edidit,-I. L. E.
Dreyer. Tomus VI, 672 r
Typhus Fever, 81
the Production of,
rs ‘
Ultra-Violet, Extreme, Some New Spark Spectra in the,
L. and E, Bloch, 27
Union Observatory, The, Johannesburg, Circular No. 17,
usa: Increased Demand for Collegiate Education in
the, 731: Army, Psychological Examining and Classi-
fication in the, Dr. R. M. Yerkes, 795; Bureau of
Mines, Dr. F. G. Cottrell nominated as Director of the,
432; Commercial Marbles of the, Physical and Chemi-
cal Properties of, D. W. Kessler, 181; Engineering
Research in the, A. P. M. Fleming, 598, General Edu-
cation Board, Appropriations by the, 602; Glass
Industry in the, Scientific Research and the, Dr. M. W. |
Travers, 9; National Academy of Sciences, F. D.
Adams, M. E. C. Jordan, F. A. L. Lacroix, H. K.
Onnes, Sir David Prain, and S. R. y Cajal elected
Foreign Associates of the, 463 ; National Food Consump-
tion in the, Prof. R. Pearl, 597; National Research
Council, Appointment of a Committee on Eugenics, 240 ;
Election of Chairman of Divisions of the, 754; Elec-
tion of Officers of the, 526; Prof V. Kellogg, 332;
Statistics of School Systems in the, for 1917-18, 841;
Sunshine in the, J. B. Kincer, 791
‘he Structure of the, Prot. W. Db. MacMilia.,
S: and the Excess Profits Duty, 686; Researd.
in Waste, Prof. J. C. Fields, 839; ‘Lhe, anc
Y, 1573 #. J. M. Stratton, 234: the Officers
Corps and the, 349
nd Higher ‘Lechnical Education, 509; Bene-
the Permanent Value of, Prof. Karl Pear-
College, London, the Engineering School ot,
w Extension of, Prince Arthur of Connaught,
13; College of South Wales and Mon-
W. Scott appointed Professor of Logi
y in the, 537; Extension, -Public Discus-
‘mation Service of, 762; Grants, 701; Si:
z ata re C. Grant Robertson, 774;
. Perkin, 805; of California Publications.
the Lick Observatory. Vol. xiii., 489;
e, A Great Opportunity. 381; ‘Lhe,
fler of a Site, H. A. L. Fisher, 404 ;
The, Sir E. aah se Schafer, 698; Stipends
ions, 477; G. W. O. H., 582; Teachers, Posi-
- Relation to
the Teachers (Superannuation)
“sag a3 Conference of the International
9, 663 —
tions of the, Dr. van Everdingen;
S. Dines, 663
orescence and Absorption Spectra of,
-H. L. Howes, and others, 498
Pans
aes ‘-
y rcs, The Use of, for Interferometry, J. Guild,
, The Conjugation of, Prof. R. Robinson,
nges de -Liquides : La Tension de,
ie, Dr. M. Lecat. Premiére Partie, 129
culation of, R. G. Durrant, 742
‘i re Origin of the, Prof. A. C.
isinfection against, 834; Diseases,
gh Council and Prevention against,
on the Prevention of, Dr. A. M.
, The, E. T. Burke, 543
opha, Reuss, An
Species, and some others» E. Heron-
282
North Wales, A Handbook to the,
386; Life in the Late Paleozoic ir
he Environment of, Prof. E. C. Case,
lutions, The, P. Barry, 539
Torsional, An Example ot, C. Barus,
y of, with Special Reference to
Dr. F. W.. Edridge-Green, 575
Introduction to the Science of Demo-
Prot C. Whipple, 131
_the Culture of Bacteria, R. Legroux and
_ 315; in Clinical Medicine, The Present
Prot of. F. Gowland Hopkins, 722; in their
Health, Col. McCarrison, 557; Necessary
Development of Plants? Are, A. Lumiere,
Chemical Isolation of, C. M. Myers and C.
Photographs of Seven, Dr. W. Perrett, 39
Rocks in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Dr. G. W.
‘ous am, 199
tri Testing of Scientific Glassware, 120
Phytochemical Synthesis of Phloroglucin from
e, Dr.-M. Nierenstein, 391
tory of the Great, based on Official Documents.
L, ade
1 Experimental Study of |
—————
lv
Naval Operations. Vol, i., Sir J. 5S. Corbett, 546;
_ Probiems, Some Applications of Physics to, 237
Warble-flies, Lateral Spiracles in the Larvez of, Prof. G. H.
Carpenter and F, J. $, Pollard, 835
Warlike States, Lhe Origin of, W. J. verry, 442
Washington, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
_ in, Sir Auckland C. Geddes appointed, 17 ;
Wasps, W. F. Denning, 328
Water: -chambers, The Permanent Régime in, C. Camichel,
314; Power Resources Committee, Second Interim Ke-
port of the, 556, 765; Power Development, Canadian,
. G. Dennis, 311; Resources, The Control of, 765;
Supply Papers of the United States Geological Survey,
434; Supply, Woods and, Dr. H. R. Mill, 158
Wave: -length of the Oscillations Generated by an lonic
Valve due to Changes in Filament Current, Variation
of, J. H. Vincent, 121; -lengths of a Line of the
Cyanogen Band in the Light of the Sun and that of
a Terrestrial Source, Comparison of the, A. Perot, 794;
-motion in a Deep Canal, Integration of the Equation
of, II., U. Cisotti, 843
Waves, Growth of, A. Maliock, 777
Wealden Flint Culture from pre-Palzolithic Times, Evolu-
tion of, H. Morris, 431
Weather : and Climate of the British Isles and North-west
Europe, Practical Exercises on the, W. F. Stacey, 133;
and Crops, Periodicity in, Sir William Beveridge, 370;
Changes, Effect of, on Soil Temperatures, Capt.
T. B. Franklin, 282; Conditions, Local, at Mullion,
Cornwall, Lieut, N. L. Silvester, 281; Forecasts and
Meteorology, A. Mallock, 580; Notes of Evelyn, Pepys,
and Swift in Relation to British Climate, Capt. C. J. P.
Cave, 393; of 1919, The, 243; of the Spring Season,
The, 498; Prediction, Utilisation of Cirrus Clouds for,
G. Reboul and L. Dunoyer, 251; Solar Variation and
the, Dr. C. G. Abbot, 678
- Weights and Measures, British and Metric Systems of,
M. E. Yeatman, 355; A. S. E. Ackermann, 456
Welfare Work, 55
West : Bromwich Municipal Technical Institute, E. Rawson
appointed Principal of the, 698; Indies, Agricultural
Development in the, 344; Distribution of Littoral Echi-
noderms of the, H. L. Clark, 279: Report of the
Tropical Agricultural College Committee, 153; The
Geology of the, 24
Western: Australia, A Coloured Geological Map of, 498;
Royal Society of, Journal and Proceedings of the,
1918-19, 559; The Aborigines of, G. O. Neville, 248;
Greece, The Hydrocarbon Zone of, C. A. Kténas,
251
Whale, Sperm, Two Embryos of the, Dr. F. E. Beddard,
re Oe
Whales Frequenting South African Waters, Dr. L.
Péringuey, 507
Wheat : and Wheat-growing, Dr. E. J. Russell, 224; Essays
on, Prof. A. H. R. Buller, 224
‘Wild Life in Canada, Capt. A. Buchanan, 426
Will? Is there a General, M. Ginsberg, 155; The Freedom
of the, The Zoroastrian Doctrine of, Prof. A. V. W.
Jackson, 763
Wind at Kimberley, A Possible Lunar Influence upon the
Velocity of the, J. R. Sutton, 700
Wines, Blue Casse of, Treatment of the, A. Piedallu,
P. Malvezin, and L. Grandchamp, 442
Wireless : Licences for Experimental Work, The Post Office
and, 80; Messages from Paris and Slough, 80; Signals,
Mars and, 276; Station for Astronomy, Central, Major
W. J. S. Lockyer, 454; Telegraphy, Device for Obviat-
ing the Use of High Voltages in, L. M. Hull, 624;
Longitude by, Prof. Sampson, 370; to America, Reduc-
tion of Charges for, 18; and Telephony: First Prin-
ciples, Present Practice, and Testing, H. M. Dowsett,
483 ; for Use in the Army, 528; The Thermionic Valve
in, Prof. J. A. Fleming, 716; Telephony, Prof. W. H.
Eccles, 519; Duplex, Application of, to Aircraft, Capt.
P Eckersley, 154; in Aeroplanes, Major C, E.
Prince, 55; to and from Aeroplanes, and Wireless
Direction-finding Apparatus, Demonstration of, 145;
Time-signals, Eiffel Tower, Prof. R. A. Sampson, 265 ;
Transmission of Photographs, M. J. Martin. Second
ze ot Ag at ee cia yh Aim ait JS cy ee ae Reames 2) Seer
F " if = * at re: ti;
er ts ee .
e hy, Bid lee es ss oe Penne eres
Waar. uy ee
F ceditions "45% ; Weather Forecasts Londadiwoar Souk "Yearbooks of the Sie Lea
East ‘England, Pie fr Lan eR casas Ireland, ‘he, Thirty-six
Wood, Treatment _ Preservation of, lof; oe BO OR a hn PE at pei eas cee kati Lk
Woods and’ Water. Supply, ill, 158 . Yorkshire bar sia School of Geogeaphy, Forth
Woolwich: The Research Ceoaren Sir Robert ‘Robert- Is:
‘son, .710,' 743; Exhibits of the, at the Impetial War
Museum, .622
Wound-shock, The Circulating Blood i in Relation to, Prof. :
W. ‘Bayli sly
Wright Wilbur, Un ling a Statue to. es Memory of,
se EN , Ay Goes
' J ‘
Xenulithic Tertiary Minor Initrusions, inthe, ining of Mull,
Certain, Dr. H. H. Thomas, with. Chemical Analyses
by E.G, Radley, 473 - hr ia aes
Xenopus laevis, The Reflex Times, in, W. A. Jol iy. 699
X-ray: Spectra, The Fine Structure of, M. de Broglie, 475;
aoe ‘Stands, Manipulation and Precision in Adjusting,
Nitays = of the L Series, The ’ Intensities of, DL. ‘Webster,
: The Examination of Materials by, A General Dis-
‘cussion held by the Faraday | —o and the. ai
Seclety. perth 29. ee: 132
Maes be paid BOA ea ea
Zesiiah Effect. he Pupense’ Spectra, The,
Zinc : and Copper, The Constituents Serined i
Penetration of, at a-Temperature- where -
Two Metals and all their Alloys are-in
-H. Weiss, 699 ; and its Alloys, -Dr. T
- Copper: Minerals, Rare, from. the
_ Hill Mine, F. P.. Mennell, 569; in
RBs - Giaya, 315; ange fae
-M. ‘Lemarchands, 282. ©. >
Zonal Deposition, 498
Zoological Bibliography and Publication
of the British Association Committee
Zoology : Elementary, A Manual of, |
Third edition, 804; Practical, A Jun
late Prof. A. Milnes Marshall and
-Hurst.. Ninth ‘edition, revised by Pr
516 bg: Se
4
q
he has made very important contributions.
Spal or Oe
_ THURSDAY, _MARGH 4, 1920.
oe
Se Knowledge ray adeteanding.
Science and Life: Aberdeen Addresses. By Prof.
_ Frederick Soddy. Pp. xii+229. (London:
| John Murray, 1920.) Price 10s. 6d. net.
Hear, Land of Cakes and brither Scots,
Frae Maidenkirk to Johnny Groat’s ;
. eae If there’s a hole in a’ your coats,
is ~ 1 rede ye tent it;
‘Soar A chiel’ s amang ye ‘takin’ notes,
sane And, faith, he’ll prent it.
OF... SODDY, who has recently removed
- from the chair of chemistry in the University
= Aberdeen to the newly created Lee’s professor-
ship of inorganic and physical chemistry in the
_ University. of Oxford, is well known throughout .
the scientific world by reason of his work in con-
nection with the subject of radio-activity, to which
But
' it was not suspected, at least generally, that from
“his northern post of observation he was finding
so ‘many holes in the coats of the inhabitants of
that part ‘especially, and of the institutions of the
_ country generally, and that he would “prent it.’
Yet here is a volume which bears as sub-title
"Aberdeen Addresses,” the delivery: of which
_ must hhave caused many of his “unco’ guid”
neighbours: to sit up and perhaps furieusement &
f penser.
But, as the old, cles | in |“ Silas Marner”
_ said: “Where’s the use 0’ talking? ‘You can’t
' think what goes on in’ a cute ‘frian’s inside.”
}
‘
‘
(may "be! récalled” that 'scientific. ‘men have,
‘We must all agree with the author in the view
_that “the times seem to call for outspokenness,
if one has anything to say, rather than persuasive
propagandism and time-serving compromise.
for
nearly av century,,.pdinted ont.the,dangers to the
nation of the traditional school and university
s training, | disastrous especially in that it embraces
NO. 2627, VOL. 105
It
A. WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE.
“To the solid ground
5 : Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.”—WorRDSWORTH.
even those who are to be its rulers “und ‘states-
”
men.” So Prof. Soddy has spoken, out) with, a
voice which is bound to be heard even. by) these
who, having no ears to hear, or understanding to
learn, cannot help catching the echoes of, this new
trumpet. -call.
The essays may be broadly divided ; canto two
groups, of which one contains an exposition .of
the marvellous disclosures concerning the physical
constitution of matter which have absorbed the
concentrated attention of so many physicists
‘during the last twenty years, while | ‘the® “second
group, addressed to various audiences; ‘shows
the bearing of modern scientific Hersey on . the
philosophies hitherto prevalent. © .
Let us glance first at the former set OF essdys.
For nearly a century the atomic theory of Newton
‘and Dalton had been accepted by chemists as the
almost undisputed basis of their theoretical con-
ceptions, and for all ordinary chemical pheno-
mena the atom is still the fundamental unit of
mass. Views as to the nature of the atom and its
constitution now assume a different form. It is
as though an observer, looking along a street,
having formerly supposed each house to consist of
a solid mass of bricks, now finds out that each
contains many chambers and inhabitants capable
of moving about. This knowledge has been
obtained. in two ways. By bombardment the con-
stituent materials and inhabitants have been dis-
tributed in. various directions, and ina strange,
unaccountable way the inhabitants of certain
houses escape from them carrying aWay portions
of the fabric, which is thus gradually led ‘tumble
down. The metaphor can be carried, fo farther,
but is sufficient to remind the reader of the con-
ceptions gradually introduced as the ,resalt of
experimental. work carried jon ‘first by Crookes,
.and later especially by Sir Joseph Thomson,
and, on the other hand, by the discoveries of
B
2 NATURE
| Marcu 4, 1920
Becquerel and the Curies in:connection with. radio-
activity.
Prof. Soddy has been associated with: research
on radio-activity since r901, when, in Sir Ernest
Rutherford’s laboratory in Montreal, he joined in
framing the idea which. attributes radio-active
change to the spontaneous disintegration of the
atom. Later, in conjunction with Ramsay, he
proved that the a-particles escaping from radium
are electrified atoms of helium. In 1913 he also
traced, simultaneously with other observers, the
nature of the successive changes in. radio-active
matter which ultimately lead to the production of
non-radio-active elements,
known case is lead.. The whole story is told in
a condensed form in several of the essays in this
volume, and ‘it could not be told better. Those
who are interested in such subjects should obtain
the book and read it.
Turning, now, to the remainder of the contents
of this volume, so many questions are touched
on of which many would be regarded as debatable
that it seems probable that readers will be divided
into two camps, those who would cordially
approve and support the views set forth, and
those, chiefly the orthodox, who would deeply
resent the attitude and conclusions of the writer.
The first article, entitled “Science and Life,” deals
with the influence which scientific discovery has
exercised on the conditions of modern life, seen
from various points of view, and contains little that
is seriously controversial. There are, of course,
passages which seem a little over-enthusiastic—
e.g. the statement that, “if not yet, some time in.
the future, the synthesis of food from the material
constituents and any form of available energy will
probably become possible ’’—but the review given
of the sources of energy in Nature is useful as
popular instruction. The author’s remarks on the
relations of brains, labour, and capital seem
rather to belong to the views likely to find ex-
pression at the meetings of a young men’s debat-
ing society, though it is certainly true that “the
exploiters of the wealth of the world are not its
creators,” and is likely to remain so until human
nature undergoes a profound change. A similar
remark might be made on the question which
occurs in the second article: ‘Physical force, the
slave of science, is it to be the master or the
servant of man?”
Of course, Prof. Soddy has a good deal to say
on the subject of education. He is an experienced
and distinguished teacher, but in one direction he
seems -to overlook the necessity for clearly differ-
éntiating ‘the kind of general. education which
thust. necessarily be provided wholesale for the
"NO. 2627, VOL. 105 |
i
of which the, best-.
great majority, and that which should be adapted —
to the exceptional youth, the genius, that rara_
avis for whom is wanted more in the shape of
opportunity than in direct instruction along lines”
which may or may not be useful to him. The
great difficulty in regard to this kind of student
is to recognise his qualities early enough. In con-
nection with the continued appropriation of more.
than their due share of scholarships, emoluments,
and facilities of. all kinds by the authorities and
powers which claim to represent humanist interests
at the schools and universities, everyone con-
cerned with such matters remembers Prof.
Soddy’s criticism of the action of the executive
committee of the Carnegie Trust for the Universi-
ties of Scotland in January, 1918, and the inade-
quate reply thereto. The whole of the relevant
papers are added to this volume in a series of
appendices A, B, and C.
Many peau will find the lecture given to the
Aberdeen University Christian Union on “Matter,
Energy, Consciousness, and Spirit ” among the
most startling of the utterances contained in this
book. There are still many serious religious
persons who find the almost universal abandon-
ment of the Mosaic account of Creation and of so
many of the Hebrew legends disturbing to the
whole of their Christian faith and subversive of
all religion. But the religious reader may get
some comfort from this chapter if he will read it
thoughtfully and with prejudice discarded as
much as possible. Truth in the realm of science
is of a quality and nature quite its own, and the
man of science who frames a hypothesis does so |
in the knowledge that, while it responds to every
test applied to it up to that moment, it may be
modified by further discovery or absorbed into
and covered by a theory of a more comprehensive
character. The continuous advance of knowledge.
proves, however, that the foundations have been
well and truly laid. “The scientific man seeks
truth as a continually. developing revelation, and
he changes his outlook on the world according
as it unfolds itself before his eyes. The priest
teaches that in some remote period of the world
God Himself revealed Truth once and for all
time, and his profession is to guard it against all
comers. I do not believe that the soul, any more
than the mind, can stagnate. It must grow or
decay. Christianity cannot be crystallised into a
creed binding for all time, and least of all into —
a creed dating back to the century that preceded
the relapse of Europe into intellectual barbarism.
The world changes and has. changed in the. last
hundred years out of all recognition. - a Ge Oe
account of the new revelations of science, though .
these have come about by a process the reverse
Marcu 4, 1920]
NATURE 3
srnatural. . . . They. constitute an essential
f the whole truth, be our religious convic-
r eee we must leave this interesting volume
judgment of the many readers who will
y be attracted by its contents.
W. A. T.
itish Journal of Psychology: Monograph
ements. No, vi. Pleasure—Unpleasure:
erimental Investigation on the Feeling-
s. By Dr. A. Wohlgemuth. Pp. vii+
(Cambridge: At the University Press,
: eee 14%; net.
oad Dr. Wohlgemuth has have
for the feeling-elements of the mind.
ce Ke the author Sediatis may be re-
He first step towards the building up of
ne or at the application of the psycho-
to practical life.
Ity in the presentation as regards work
kind consists of the fact that the data
which the conclusions are drawn (i.e. the
; of the observers) are recorded in full,
the largest portion of the book (137
Cabapa pages), references in the margin
passages in the protocols from which
Sdteawentiy stated conclusions have been
. From the purely scientific point of view,
procedure has everything to recommend it.
: — no well-recognised and trustworthy
is of summarising introspective data, such
ere are, for instance, in the case of purely
iative results, and the presentation of the
lete material enables the reader and critic
Seam at each step the author’s conclusions,
yr to draw new and independent conclusions of
sis ‘own, in a way that would not otherwise be
sible. The opportunity of studying the
vers’ gradually increasing power of analysing
d describing the fleeting affective contents of
mind should, moreover, be welcome to all who
are interested in the possibilities of the modern
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
-
» &
G3
method of exact introspection. in psychology. On
the other hand, the inclusion of the full data has
increased by not a little the size (and: doubfless
also the cost) of the present work.
It is impossible to summarise adequately the
wealth of conclusions arrived at from the study
of the protocols. A very few only of the more
salient points can be mentioned here. The
observers find that “the feeling-elements are not
attributes or functions of sensations or other cog-
nitive processes, but a separate class of conscious
processes. Although generally closely dependent
upon the cognitive and conative processes to
which they belong, they often show a certain inde-
pendence and detachment.” The feeling-elements
possess two qualities only—pleasure and un-
pleasure, this result supporting the more common
view as against the multi-dimensional theories
advanced by Wundt and certain others. Un-
pleasure must be clearly distinguished from pain,
which is not a feeling, but a sensation-——“‘a sensa-
tion of a definite modality whose feeling tone is
mostly unpleasant, but which may be neutral or
sometimes even pleasant.”
As regards the much-disputed question con-
cerning the possibility of the co-existence in con-
sciousness of distinct feeling-elements, some
fairly strong evidence is brought in favour of
such co-existence, the co-existing feelings being
either of the same quality (i.e. both pleasant or
unpleasant) or of different qualities (i.e. one
pleasant, the other unpleasant). There are, how-
ever, important individual differences in the ease
and frequency with which such co-existence can
be observed.
A further disputed question—that of the local-
isability of the feelings—is also answered in the
affirmative, the localisation of feelings being
closely dependent on the observer’s power of
objectifying the feelings in question. In this con-
nection it is interesting to observe that “the
behaviour of feeling-elements is inverse to that of
sensations in this way, that whilst sensations of
the auditory and visual senses are more readily
objectified than those of other senses, the feeling-
elements when belonging to the former are less
readily objectified and localised than when they
belong to the latter.”
An important difference between feeling and
sensation was found in the fact that “there is
nothing on the affective side of consciousness to
correspond with the memory image on the cog-
nitive side. The memory of a past feeling-element
is merely knowledge—i.e. solely cognition. The.
affective experience attaching to an ekphored |
[i.e. recalled] cognitive experience isa new feeling.
element, a new pleasure or a new unpleasure.”
4 NATURE
[Marcu 4, 1920
Another difficult point on which much light is
thrown concerns the influence of attention upon
feeling. At first individual differences were dis-
‘covered which corresponded to the opposing views
that have been held on this subject. It was found,
however, that these differences resulted merely
from a difference of attitude. “If a feeling-
element is attended to as belonging to a cognitive
content or as part of a situation or complex, it is
intensified and becomes clearer; but if an attempt
be made to focus the attention upon it to the
exclusion of its cognitive concomitant, the feeling-
element is destroyed.” On the other hand, the
feeling-element is also destroyed, or at least weak-
ened, if attention is directed exclusively to the
purely cognitive aspects of an experience.
Many of these results and of the others which
we have no room to mention here have a practical
as well as a theoretical interest, and the author
a aes as-a result of the further study
of the feelings; we shall be able to formulate
canons in order ‘to increase pleasure and reduce
unpleasure, to evolve, in fact, a normative science
of kalobiotics.
_ The book contains little or no theory, confining
itself almost entirely to an elaborate statement
and discussion of the experimental results. As
such it makes, perhaps, a greater demand on the
reader’s powers of concentration and endurance
than is the case with most of the works that have
hitherto appeared on this subject. Nevertheless,
it constitutes fairly certainly the most complete
and satisfactory study of feeling from its own
point of view, and is one of the most important
existing scientific contributions to this aspect of
psychology.
Radiological Diagnosis of Disease.
Radio-Diagnosis of Pleuro-Pulmonary Affections.
By F. Barjon. Translated by Dr. James A.
- Honeij. Pp. xix+183. (New Haven: Yale Uni-
versity Press; London: Humphrey Milford;
Oxford University Press, 1918.) Price 10s. 6d.
net.
HE author points out that the perfecting of
the instruments used in radiological exam-
inations has changed a process regarded at first as
a mere curiosity into a useful scientific and practi-
eal method. Radiology has gradually extended its
province in an extraordinary manner. It has
entered the physiological and pathological study
of all the important organs. In lesions of the lungs
and pleura the radiologist can determine the topo-
graphy of the trouble in a manner aptly called by
Claude Bernard “a living autopsy.’’ No other
method of exploration demonstrates so clearly and
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
simply the functions of the heart and lungs. It
shows, without the cardiograph, the pulsations of
the auricles and ventricles and the aorta. It esti-
mates, without the spirometer, the respiratory
value of the lungs, and shows the movements of
the diaphragm, the intercostal spaces, and the
displacement of the mediastinum in inspiration and
expiration.
The author shows that the radiological method
should not be used alone, but always in conjunc-
tion with other methods. “The radiologist must
be a physician. The interpretation of X-ray
results demands a very accurate knowledge of
anatomy, physiology, and pathology.’’ Con-
versely, it is well also for the physician to be, in
a less degree, a radiologist.
The book contains a very full and complete
account of the radiological appearances of the dis- —
eases of the lungs and pleura, with many valuable
hints to help the observer from falling into errors
of diagnosis. The subject of pulmonary tuber-
culosis is discussed in full detail. The perusal of
this section leaves no room for doubt as to the
extreme importance of the X-ray method in the
diagnosis of this disease. Even in the early stages
the exact position of the lesion is clearly shown,
and its extent revealed. The progress of treat-
ment, also, can be followed; in successful cases
the gradual clearing of the affected portions of the
lungs can be studied.
The last part of the book deals with penetrating
wounds of the thorax by war projectiles. It shows
how the nature of the projectile is to be recognised,
5
how its exact. situation within the thorax is to be ©
localised, and how the radiologist may aid in
deciding whether operative interference is advis-
able or urgently needed.
The book is printed in good type, and profusely
illustrated by diagrams in the text and by ‘half-
tone reproductions of X-ray prints and negatives
in plates printed on art paper.
The Manufacture of Artificial Fertilisers.
Mining and Manufacture of Fertilising Materials,
and their Relation to Soils. By Strauss L.
Lloyd. Pp. vit+153. (New York: D. Van
Nostrand Co. ; London: Crosby Lockwood and
Son, 1919.) Price gs. net.
HERE is at present no good book in English
on the manufacture of artificial fertilisers,
but there is ample room for one. Mr. Lloyd does
not quite supply the need. He evidently knows
something about the mining and working of
Florida phosphate rock and the making of super-
phosphate, but instead of giving a clear descrip- |
tion of all this, illustrated by diagrams, he occupies
*
n
SM 1920]
NATURE 5
ble “space with an account of soils and soil
an, analy is which the reader could far better obtain
e ere. Yet there i is scarcely a more vital: in-
y at the present time than the manufacture
ficial fertilisers, nor is its importance likely
As best chapters. are. the two on pebble phos-
on hard-rock phosphate. The Florida
hates are usually classified into four groups :
rock, soft rock, land pebble, and river pebble,
‘which occur in the Eocene and more recent
Hions. Of these the hard rock is the purest,
gz phosphate equivalent to 80-85 per cent.
Peek phosphate; the land pebble contains
1ewhat less, while for the soft rock and river
le the corresponding figures are about 55 to
per cent. The method of working is fairly
described. The remaining chapters, however,
not so good. More information might have
given about the mechanical dens and other
‘ivances — used in the manufacture of super-
phate. Scarcely anything is said about the
shetre of mixed manures, although this is
of the largest branches of the business. The
ter on the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen is
years out of date; no mention is made of the
er or the Ostwald process ; the old view, now
up elsewhere, is still put forward, that
nide changes to “‘dicyanamide” (dicyano-
le) and then to ammonia by bacterial action.
da a second edition be called for, the author
science of manuring. It might also be
ask a chemist to read the proofs in view
> about treatises on agricultural analysis
n nif he entered a fertiliser factory, where he
uld have to enalyse manures against chemists
| some reputation.” _ The reader would thus be
% sodit
iy ie acid caused the bags to burst in transit,
2 is no substance which rots bags like free
nlorine and fluorine—two elements given off when
trate and damp ‘cabaaeeees are mixed.”
E. J. Russet.
ir Our Bookshelf.
slephony without Wires. By. Philip R. Coursey.
Pp. xix+414. (London: The, Wireless Press,
iL d., 1919.) Price eS: pet.:|'*
1S book gives a fairly complete account. of .the
ractical development of radio-telephony. | Accu-
rate descriptions are given of very many types of
~ "NO. 2627, VoL. '105] P
‘chapter in the original issue.
apparatus. The book, therefore, is more useful
for reference than for learning the principles of
the art. Little space is devoted to theoreti¢al con-
siderations, but the author mentions some of the
difficulties encountered, and indicates possible/lines
of advance. The bibliography is very, complete,
some 700 references. being given to original papers
on the subject.
From the commercial point of view, radio-
telephony is not vety attractive at present, as its
applications are mainly confined to those cases
where the ordinary telephone service cannot -be
used. It is possible by. using very costly apparatus
to telephone on Jand over thousands of miles. For
instance, New York and. San Francisco. were put
in telephonic communication in November, 1917,
although the distance is 3400 miles. The experi-
ment was successful, but it did not prove ‘the
commercial feasibility of such a long-distance
“service, as the value of the ae in use: w hes
talking was 400,000.
Radio-telephony Was very useful | in the taiee
months of the war, as communication, ,was ,estab-
lished by its use not only between aeroplanes . and
the earth, but also directly between aeroplanes. ° It
has also proved useful in establishing Gommiunica-
tion between moving trains and the ofditratty: fixed
telephone systems. During the last ifew.»yéars
the rapid development of radio-telephony: has! been
mainly due to the researches of the physicist, and
the mathematician. The problems it furnishes
are of absorbing interest, and it is rapidly widen-
ing our knowledge of the laws of Natute. |
Scientific Method: Its Philosophy. and, its Practice.
By F. W. Westaway. New edition. Pp, xxi+
426. (London: Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1919.)
Price 10s. 6d. net. ae gaa its
Sir J. J. THomson’s committee on the’ position
of natural science in the educational system’ of
Great Britain expressed agreement with the view
that “some knowledge of the history and philo-
sophy of science should form part of the intel-
lectual equipment of every science teacher in a
secondary school.”’ There is no more enlightening
and helpful volume from which to acquire, such
knowledge than this by Mr. Westaway. | The
implications of scientific reasoning, method,, and
practice are clearly presented, and the examples
are -both apt and instructive. Any © science
teacher, whether in university or school, ‘who
reads the book cannot fail to derive ea nae
interest from it.
In this second edition the chapter on. « Philo-
sophers and Some of their Problems ’’ has been
re-written, and is now a more precise statement
of the specific claims of philosophy than was the
A new appendix,
entitled “ Retrospect and Reflections,’ susveys the
function and influence of science and scientific
method. in national life, superseding one,on “An
“American School Course in Chemistry.” The index
is missing in our copy of the book, though there
was one in the first edition, but its absence” ‘is
‘possibly due to a fault of the binders.
i
6 NATURE
| Marcu 4, 1920
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice ts
taken of anonymous communications.]
Organisation of Scientific Work.
Tue relations between scientific inquiry and con-
stituted authority, whether ecclesiastical or civil, have
seldom been cordial or wholesome. Science was once
a fearful dragon, to be destroyed or confined. With
the discovery that the beast had powers from which
profit could be made by cunning masters, it was found
more expedient to tempt him into harness. Our former
state was probably the better, or at least the safer,
and most of us will agree with Prof. Soddy that the
scheme devised by the Indian Industrial Commission
is simply an offer of servitude undisguised. While
there is time, those with whom the decision rests
should be told very plainly that the adoption of such
rules of service as those quoted in the leading article
in Nature of February 19 must mean the alienation
of all sincere and genuine investigators.
Research, like art, literature, and all the higher
products of human thought, grows only in an atmo-
sphere of freedom. The progress of knowledge follows
no prescribed lines, and by attempting such prescrip-
tion the head of a Service would merely kill the
spontaneity and enterprise of his workers. No one
fit to be entrusted with research worthy the name
would undertake it knowing that his results might be
burked or withheld from publication at the whim of
his superior in the Service. Such conditions may be
appropriate to certain forms of technical or industrial
invention, where the sole purpose is to get ahead of a
trade rival, but‘we can scarcely imagine that the vast
and manifold undertakings promoted by the scientific
services of the Indian Government are to be conducted
in that spirit. W. Bateson.
The Manor House, Merton, S.W.1o.
I HOPE you will allow me to express through the
medium of NaTURE my concern at the proposal
referred to in the leading article in the issue of
February 19 to centralise in an Imperial Department
the various scientific services in India—a policy which
I believe to be likely to prove detrimental to good
work, I was a member of the Indian Forest Depart-
ment during the years 1871-99, so that my Indian ex-
perience is not very recent, but I have kept myself
informed of what was going on. Since I left India
research institutes have been established in different
provinces with officers attached to them required to
devote themselves to the study of scientific questions.
In my opinion, it is of the utmost importance that
these officers should have as free a hand as possible,
and be allowed to work in their own way on the
subjects which they know themselves most competent
to study. If they are called upon to work under a
centralised Department, and perhaps to turn from
branches of study which they thoroughly understand
to others in which they may have to begin by reading
up, much of their time will be wasted and the results
poor.
A centralised Department, to most people of Indian
experience, means many reports and returns and
constant correspondence, and. I believe the result
of such: an innovation will be that some hors at
the beginning of each dav will have to be spent on
what may be called ‘‘clerical duties.’? If a scientific
worker is to do his best, he must be able to spend
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
all his time on his researches, and not be obliged to
waste much of the day on clerical duties, only
beginning his real work when tired and unable to
do his best.
Centralisation will also mean, in my opinion, the
spending of much money in keeping up clerical staffs,
which, as most Indian officers will admit, have a
wonderful tendency to increase. It will be much
better that the recommendations of the last paragraph
but one of your leading article should be followed
and the money spent in giving financial assistance to
the universities and research institutes instead. The
paragraph to which I refer puts the arguments for
the continuance of the present system and its better
development excellently in a few words, and I trust
it may have the effect on the administrative authori-
ties that I feel sure it must have had on the scientific
men who have read it. J. S. GAMBLE.
Highfield, East Liss, Hants, February 25.
I HAVE not yet had time to study the Report of the
Indian Industrial Commission, and may, therefore, be
ignorant of some of the arguments for centralisation,
but I am certainly in general agreement with the
views expressed in the leading article in Nature of
February 19, and by Prof. Soddy and Dr. Rendle in the
issue for February 26, regarding the dangers of that
method of research organisation. Investigations under
centralised bureaucratic control must almost always
be concerned solely with questions capable of receiving
easy and immediate replies, for the obvious reason
that directors and committees can rarely be persuaded
to authorise attacks upon difficult or distant objectives,
regarding which, perhaps, no replies at all may be
forthcoming. Now the most important discoveries
have. generally been made precisely by such attacks,
and investigation is ‘a lottery in which the greatest
prize often falls to him who takes the greatest risks.
Directors and committees do not like risks, and, con-
sequently, seldom make discoveries. I should like
to know, for instance, how any ‘Indian Scientific
Service’? would have attacked the malaria problem,
which I commenced to assault (in a very foolhardy
manner!) in 1890.
to authorise my attempts, and even to publish my
first results. On the other hand, it would have
wasted, with ripe bureaucratic prudence, thousands cf
pounds in looking for Plasmodia in marshes, or in
trying to correlate various species of mosquitoes with
local outbreaks of the disease, and I am sure it
would have achieved nothing at all up to the present
day. .
We forget that, like really valuable art and inven-
tion, scientific discovery is almost always due mainly
to the individual. One might as well try to organise
an Institute for the Writing of Poetry as institutions
for making great discoveries or inventions. Like art,
discovery is creative. It depends much more on the
brain than on the hand, even in work requiring the
most careful manipulative skill. Scientific services
will not be able to pick up ‘discoverers’’ on every
bush. All they can do is to organise hand-work, for
which they may be useful. But if the Government
of India wishes to obtain great results for its expendi-
ture it must buy genius. Now genius may be defined
as the quality which achieves success, and the only
way to buy it is to reward success—as suggested by
the Committee on Awards in Nature of January 8.
What we all fear is that the Government of India
will be tempted to spend much larger sums of money
in buying, not genius, but its opposite. Sie
At the same time certain researches, even of a
petty kind, will require subsidies, and the Government
I am sure it would have refused
i SRY ketal
RCH 4, 1920]
NATURE
7
t also to possess expert advisers in many branches
dence. Some kind of scientific service will there-
be needed, but this should not be allowed to
oss the whole field; and the best results are sure
2 obtained in the future, as they have been in the
by untrammelled men of capacity working as
ease. Ronatp Ross.
discussing the best ways of fostering research
it is important to remember that, the word
reh”’ is used in two widely distinct senses: it
stand either for the careful collection of observa-
ons, or for the deduction of the principles expressing
e relationship between one set of phenomena and
r. The difference between them is like that
the discovery of a new country and the careful
ng of one known in a general way but not in
.
ould be unfair to set either of these kinds of
h above the other; each is indispensable to the
ther. Experience shows, however, that the power
collect careful observations can be imparted to a
number of men and women, while the power to
the material and deduce from it anything more
the comparatively obvious is rare and cannot
arted. Further, this ability is not equally
as between different classes of men or as
men and women.
recognition of the necessity for each kind of
is essential to the proper conduct of a research
tion, and one of the great difficulties is to find
s of new ideas and to ensure that they shall
harmoniously with the equally necessarv, but
rare, collectors of observations. The difference
m the two groups of workers is fundamental
reaching, manifesting itself even in trivial
e present discussion: the first group greatly
immediate direction; the cui’ do not, pro-
they see advantages therein. In all research
utions of any size the chief problem is to keep
roups of workers as nearly abreast as possible.
tions made in advance of facts are often wrong
metimes harmful. Facts and _ observations
ated without any illuminating hypothesis or
principle are rather drearv and soon forgotten.
one of the tragedies of a life devoted to science
often the fruit falls stillborn and is entombed
¥ journal, never again to see the light. We
known such workers : apes
j And, as year after vear :
Fresh products of their barren labour fall
From their tired hands, and rest
Never vet com~s more near,
Gloom settles slowly down over their breast.
The only way of avoiding the tragedy and its
banying waste is to ensure that both groups of
‘kers keep together.
t is not only between these two groups, however,
. ation is necessary; under modern condi-
ns there must also be close relationship between
workers in different subjects. Science is becoming
easingly specialised; no one man now knows
ich of any subject except his own. For the inves-
gation of phenomena such as those of agriculture,
lie outside the present arbitrary divisions of
ence, recourse must be had to team-work; a bodv
/ young workers whose minds are still elastic must
be interested in the problem and induced to work
ether for its solution.
xperience shows that successful co-operation is
achieved only when a deliberate attempt is made to
Secure optimum conditions for each individual. worker.
NO. 2627, VOL. 1051
actions. One difference is particularly important
How can a State system be adapted to fit these various
necessities? For financial reasons complete elasticity
is impossible; Treasuries must know their liabilities.
In any Civil Service system promotion is almost in-
evitably by seniority. Individual action and thought
would be intolerable; everything must go through a
chief, while anything repugnant to him must be sup-
pressed. In all these directions the State system is
absolutely incompatible with living research, although
it might be consistent with much careful accumulation
of facts, with survey work, and with the establish-
ment of some central collecting institute. For these
reasons I cannot believe that the intensely centralised
system proposed for India could succeed. One man
may organise work in one institution where he is
accessible to the staff morning, noon, and night; but
he would indeed need to be a superman of most exalted
degree if he aspired to direct the research work of a
country.
The system devised by the English Ministry of Agri-
culture is, in my view, much better. It possesses
some degree of financial elasticity. While it contains
the inevitable regulation about promotion by seniority,
this is qualified by clauses under which the best man
available can, nevertheless, be appointed to fill a
vacant post. There is no attempt to govern from
Whitehall; no general director, deputy director, or
other official to run the research workers, but only
occasional friendly gatherings of the chief officers to
discuss common problems. Could not some such
system be tried in India? E. J. Russet.
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden.
THE question of reorganising and _ developing
scientific work in India discussed in the leading
article in Nature of February 19 is. of the utmost
importance to all concerned with the welfare and
scientific reputation of the Empire. Now that there
is a prospect of recognition by the Government of
India and the Secretary of State of the necessity for
increased expenditure on scientific investigation, it is
essential that the new era should be inaugurated
under the most favourable conditions. Two policies
are apparently under consideration, which may be
referred to respectively as centralisation and decen-
tralisation; these are clearly defined in the article of
February 19. The advantage of organising research
within certain limits is generally admitted; facilities
should be afforded for supplying information, for sug-
gesting problems, and for the co-ordination of the
activities of individuals or institutions, but it would
seem that the policy of centralisation advocated by
the Indian Industrial Commission, presided over by
Sir Thomas Holland and “favoured by a number of
administrators,’’ is much more than this. It is, in
short, a proposal to bring scientific investigation into
line with routine official work—a procedure which,
one learns with surprise, has the support of several
scientific witnesses examined by the Commission.
If there is one thing vital for the successful prosecu-
tion of scientific research of the best type and for the
encouragement of the full development of a re-
searcher’s capacity, it is freedom of action. ;
Tt is safe to predict that verv few men possessing
what may be called the research temperament would
consent to submit to a bondage that would be not
only irksome and irritating, but also fatal to indivi-
dual initiative and enthusiasm. If adequate remunera-
tion is offered and reasonable laboratory facilities are
provided, good men will be easily secured. Given
the right sort of men, I venture to think that the
only rational course is to trust them to work out in
8 NATURE sae
[Marcu 4, 1920
their own way, with such advice or assistance as may
be asked for, the problems entrusted to them.
The appointment of a head for each department cf
science with the powers of a dictator would be the
surest means of encouraging mediocrity, and of warn-
ing off just that type of original thinker and indepen-
dent investigator whose services would be of inestim-
able value to the State. It may be contended that any
State scheme, whether concerned with routine duties
or original work, must be under some central direc-
tion, but there is no reason why the direction should
be of such a kind as would be tantamount to asking
every researcher to place himself, body and soul, under
a dictator. A. C. SEWARD.
Botany School, Cambridge, February 26.
The Constitution of the Elements.
In continuation of my letter on the above subject in
NaturE of December. 13, 1919, several more elements
have been subjected to’ analysis, yielding interesting
‘* mass-spectra.’”
Argon (atomic weight 39:88 Ramsay, 39-91 Leduc)
gives a very strong line exactly at 40, with double
charge at 20 and triple charge at 133. The last line,
being closely bracketed by known reference lines at
13 and 14, provides very trustworthy values. At first
this was thought to be its only constituent, but further
photographs showed an associated faint line at 36.
This has not yet been proved an element by double
and triple charges, as the probable presence of OH,
and the certain presence of C prevent this, but other
lines of reasoning make it extremely probable that this
is a true isotope, the presence of which to the extent
of 3 per cent. is enough to account for the fractional
atomic weight quoted.
Helium was compared with O++ (8) by a special
system of bracketing, and directly with C++ (6) by
extrapolation. Both methods give its mass as 4, with
an accuracy of 2 or 3 parts in 1000.
By the same methods H,, H,, and H, all give con-
sistent results for the mass of the hydrogen atom as
1-008 within experimental error, agreeing with the
value given by chemical analysis, and, incidentally,
confirming the nature of H, beyond doubt. These
three lines are the only ones diverging from the whole
number rule to a definite and measurable extent.
Nitrogen is apparently a ‘“‘ pure’’ element, its doubly
charged atom being 7 exactly.
Krypton (atomic weight 82-92) has no fewer than
six constituents: 78, 80, 82, 83, 84, and 86. The
last five are strong lines most beautifully confirmed
by double- and triple-charged clusters, which can be
compared with great accuracy against A (40) and
CO (28). These reference lines obliterate one of each
group, but not the same one. The 78 line has not
yet been confirmed in this way owing to its faintness,
but there is no reason to doubt its elemental nature.
Krypton is the first element giving unmistakable
isotopes differing by one unit only.
The partial pressure of xenon (atomic weight 130-2)
in the gas used was only sufficient to show its singly
charged lines clearly. These appear to follow the
whole number rule, and rough provisional values for
the five made out may be taken as 128, 130, 131, 133,
and 135.
Further examination of the multinlv charged mer-
cury clusters indicate the probability of a strong line
at 202, a weak component at 204.-and a strong band
including 197 and 200, unresolvable up to the present.
F. W. Aston.
Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge,
February 25.
NO. 2627, VOL. 105 |
Deflection of Light during a Solar Eclipse.
Pror. ANDERSON has suggested in NaATurRE that the
apparent displacement of stars observed during the
solar eclipse may be ascribed to an unusual form of
refraction in the terrestrial atmosphere. The discus-
sion which has followed shows some lack of agree-
ment as to the importance of such a refraction effect.
I wish to suggest that it might, perhaps, be possible
to form an estimate of the magnitude of this effect
by making measurements of the apparent diameter of
the moon during the eclipse. Star photographs would
seem to be somewhat unsuitable, although one dia-
meter of the moon may leave a clear enough trace on
the plates (a diameter at right angles to the apparent
motion of the moon relative to the stars). It should
be possible, however, to obtain sharp silhouette images
of the moon on plates devoted to this particular pur-
pose; perhaps such photographs are already avail-
able. The nature of the clockwork drive needed is
dependent on the necessary exposure, and need not be
discussed.
J. A. ORANGE.
Mr. ORANGE’s point is, of course, that we should
use the one object in the field of which the light has
not been through the sun’s gravitational field in
order to get rid of the Einstein disturbance; also
of ‘the suggested refraction by gases near the sun.
IT have talked the matter over with Mr. C. Davidson,
who agrees with me that nothing is to be done with
existing photographs in this direction—the exposures
were too long, and the moon’s limb too ill-defined;
but it is possible that in future eclipses short ex-
posures, given specially for the purpose, might vield
something of interest. The chief difficulty is that we
do not know the moon’s dark photographie diameter.
It cannot be assumed equal to the bright photogranhic
diameter, for irradiation (and other similar actions)
go in the reverse direction. ay
A. C. D. CROMMELIN.
55 Ulundi Road, Blackheath, S.E.3,
February 28.
Perimeter of an Ellipse.
Tue following approximate formula for finding the
perimeter of a fairly flat ellipse may be found prac-
tically useful. Suppose a=1, then the length of a
quadrant of the ellipse is nearly
1+0°60',
where a is the major, and b the minor, axis. The
formula works best from about b=o0-2 to b=o:5, after
which the formula of Boussinesq is more accurate,
V1Z.
={ac +6) 4 Jo. ;
But the formula I give is for practical purposes
quite satisfactory up to b=o-6, the relative error never
being. large. It does not work if the ellipse is
nearly circular. Boussinesq’s formula is of no use
if the ellipse is flat.
Other more accurate formulz could be given, bu
the above has the advantage that it can be calculated
very rapidly, and, within the range mentioned, I doubt
if higher accuracy is ever required in practice.
R. A. P. Rocers.
Trinity College, Dublin, »
February 16.
Marcu 4, 1920]
NATURE 9
HE great American glass works engineer, Mr.
Owens, referring to the fact that he had been
:d admission to an English glass works, once
served to a friend of mine, ‘‘If a man refuses to
me to his plant I generally reckon that he
amed of it.” I had often wondered whether
Owens’s countrymen really practised the
icy which he preached, and last autumn the
unity offered of putting it to the test.
e a seven weeks’ tour through the States |
aid almost daily visits to glass plants, with no
ther introduction than the information conveyed
y my private visiting card, and only once was my
sit restricted to the office.. Generally I was
yn the whole plant, and all my questions were
kly answered ; sometimes I was even permitted
ake a second round of the works on my own
unt. In the research laboratories of both
te companies and great industrial corpora-
I was made doubly welcome. I can only
Ss a sense of obligation, which I can never
“was very frequently that I heard statements
to the effect that the application of science
justry in America was only in its infancy.
a fact that American industry is absorbing
whole output of the universities, and also draw-
men from this country. America has found
yplication of science to industry to be a pro-
n which appears to be a sound one,..and, in
rmity with American industrial policy, means
science a fair trial. If men of science
their value from the commercial point of
they will rank equally with men of business
ity, who are able to dictate the terms of their
e to industry.
‘must be remembered that the American glass
stry is relatively small, and even in Pittsburgh,
re the glass factories are most numerous, it
entirely overshadowed by the steel industry.
owever, so far as scientific research goes, the
industry is in a remarkably favourable position.
The Geophysical Laboratory at Washington, D.C.,
which I visited, is primarily an institution for the
vestigation of scientific problems connected with
lasses, of which the earth itself so largely con-
‘sists, and the Bureau of Standards has devoted a
considerable amount of attention to the subject.
‘In April, 1917, soon after America joined in the
‘war, American industry had to face a demand
for an immense amount of optical glass. The work
done by the staff of the Geophysical Laboratory is
told in a few words in the director’s report for
1918: “Suffice it to say that with a staff of twenty
“scientifically trained men, all trained in the hand-
ling of silicate solutions at temperatures required
fe - the making of glass, and familiar with the con-
_ trol of the most important factors in the problem,
_ it proved practicable to make rapid progress.”
_ After two months the output had doubled, and
_ rejections by Government inspectors had become
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
-.
under the control of Government.
Scientific Research and the Glass Industry in the United States.
By Dr. M. W. Travers, F.R.S.
very rare. A few months later “the output had
reached a magnitude such that an adequate supply
of suitable glass was assured for national needs,
and. . . many refinements were being effected to
bring the quality of the glass to a higher level.”
To achieve these results, the staff of the Geo-
physical Laboratory did not remain in Washing-
ton and issue advice to manufacturers, but actu-
ally took over the scientific control of the plants,
some of which were built after America’s entry
into the war, and in such positions I still found
some of them when I was in America. The Bureau
of Standards also established a small manufactur-
ing plant in Pittsburgh, and here some very im-
portant work on glass pots for optical glass manu-
facture was carried out by Dr. Bleiniger. Accounts
of much of this work have been published in the
American Journal of Science and the Journal of
the American Ceramic Society, and the work is
described as being carried out ‘“‘at the Geophysical
Laboratory and at the plants of the Bausch and
Lomb Optical Co., Spencer Lens Co., and Pitts-
burgh Plate Glass Co., under the authority of
the War Industries Board.” Anyone who is in-
terested may learn exactly what was accomplished
and what the position is at the moment, and may
visit such of the plants as are in operation. Can
anyone say what really has been accomplished in
connection with optical glass in this country, what
remains to be done in order to establish the in-
dustry, and what organisation exists for doing it?
The Bureau of Standards is, of course, an
official institution; the Geophysical Laboratory is
maintained by the Carnegie Institution, and is not
I do not know
how far the experimental work in connection with
optical glass was subsidised by the Federal
Government, but during the war very substantial
funds for research work were at the disposal of
the National Research Council, which was organ-
ised, at the request of the President, by the
National Academy of Sciences, and money from
this source was available for such purposes. It
must be noted that wherever an appointment had
to be made in any matter of a scientific character,
even in the case of officials, it was made on the
recommendation of the men of science. In this
we find an essential difference between American
and British practice.
The development of scientific glassware, other
than optical glass, was left to individual effort,
and was solved with equal success by several firms.
The Corning Glass Works, at Corning, N.Y., suc-
ceeded, however, in producing a very remarkable
glass, which is called “Pyrex” glass, from which
are manufactured both chemical hollow-ware and
the so-called oven-ware. This glass has so low a
coefficient of expansion and so high a tenacity that
one can take extraordinary liberties with it, and it
is much more highly resistant to changes of tem-
perature than any glass previously produced. The
10 NATURE
[Marcu 4, 1920
production of this glass is a very remarkable
achievement.
“Pyrex” glass and the Empire bulb-blowing
machine were only two of the many interesting
developments which I was shown at Corning.
When I was there, Dr. A. L. Day, who has long
been connected with the works, was acting as
vice-president of the company ; and Dr. E. C. Sulli-
van and Dr. W. C. Taylor, assisted by a con-
siderable scientific staff, were in charge of the
technical side of the work. Dr. Taylor told me
that they had been carrying out a_ systematic
survey of. possible combinations in glasses, and
that as each glass was made experimentally its
properties were investigated and recorded. In the
Steuben Works, which are under the same
management, and only a few hundred yards
distant, Dr. J. C. Hochstetter was collaborating
with Mr. F. C. Carder in the investigation of
problems relating to coloured glasses.
Scientific glassware was also being manufac-
tured at the H. C. Fry Glass Works, where I |
spent a day with Dr. Scholes and his staff, and
at the Macbeth Evans Glass Co.’s plant, also near
Pittsburgh, Pa., over which I was shown by Dr.
Macbeth and Prof, Hower, who is consultant to
the firm. I found quite a numerous scientific staff
working in excellent laboratories,
In the bottle-making branch of the industry the
engineer predominates. I believe that the first
bottle machine was English, and one would like
to know why it is that the development of bottle
machinery has been practically wholly American.
The Owens machine, the Hartford-Fairmont flow
feed, the Westlake machine, and the Empire
machine are purely American, and they are
American because Americans understand the value
of sciencé organised in the service of industry, and
are willing to give good brains a fair chance and to
back. them with good money. Developments in this
direction are entirely a matter of private enter-
prise, in which consumers as well as manufacturers
are often financially interested.
To no branch of the glass industry has science
at Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. W.
been of greater service than to that of the electric
lamp industry. I was able to spend two days in
the research laboratories attached to the great
plant of the General Electric Co. at Schenectady,
in company with Drs. Whitney, Langmuir, Cool-
idge, and Hull, whose names are as well known in
Europe as in America. The staff of the laboratory
is said to number more than 150 members, and
the work carried on is in some cases purely scien-
tific, and in others highly technical, processes
being actually worked in the laboratory until the
demand for the goods or material produced justi-
fies the erection of separate factories. While I was
M. Clark, the chief
chemist of the National Lamp Association, was
good enough to show me over the whole plant of
his firm. Here a physical laboratory dedicated to
investigations connected with illumination, but
only indirectly with artificial lighting, has been
established in recognition of the services of science
to the industry.
In several of the universities research is being
carried out in connection with glass, and I had
the good fortune to meet both Prof. Washburn, of
Illinois University, and Prof. Silverman, of Pitts-
burgh University, and to discuss with them their
work on the chemistry and physics of glass.
A short article permits me to deal only with
isolated incidents in my tour, but the impression
which I brought away with me and wish to convey
to others is that there are a great many men of
high scientific ability engaged in the American |
glass industry, which has learned, as the German
glass industry learned, to our undoing, that indus-
trial progress implies. the co-operation of science
and industry. American industry is not securing
the co-operation of science for sentimental reasons,
but with a view to competition with us in the
markets of the world. To this movement science,
through the National Research Council, organised
by the National Academy of Sciences, in co-opera-
tion with the national scientific and _ technical
societies of the United States, is giving its hearti-
est support.
The Circulating Blood in Relation to Wound-Shock.!
By Pror. W. M. Baytiss, F.R.S.
ane system of vessels in which the blood is
contained must be conceived of as a closed
system. But the walls are distensible and elastic;
they can therefore stretch and collapse to accom-
modate varying amounts of liquid. This is pos-
sible, however, only to a limited extent. Although
the veins ie thinner walls than the arteries,
and appear to be less supported by surrounding
structures than are the capillaries, it is remark-
able that they oppose a greater resistance to a
bursting pressure than do the arteries. Veins,
moreover, have a muscular coat which is in a
1 Discourse on ‘‘ The Volume of the Blood a its 'Sindllicaice,” delivered
at the Royal Institution on Friday, February 13
NO. 2627, VOL, 105]
more or less contracted state during life. Hence
the introduction of more fluid into the system
must encounter a certain resistance and raise the
internal .pressure, unless the muscular coat
actively relaxes to accommodate the fluid intro-
duced.
This closed system contains, under normal con-
ditions, about four litres of blood in man. It
consists, as is generally known, of the heart, of
branching tubes (arteries), leading from the heart
to the tissues, where they break up into a net- -
work of much finer tubes, the capillaries, which
unite again to form the veins, and so lead the
blood back to the heart. Consider the distribution
of the blood at the time when the heart is at rest. _
MARCH 4, 1920]
NATURE 11
amount present in each part, including the
itself, is obviously in proportion to the
ty of each part.
heart, however, works as a pump. The
‘in which the blood is circulated was first
larly propounded by Harvey in 1616, although
yardo da Vinci came very near to the dis-
y more than a century before. Harvey saw
ood sent out from the heart, propelled to the
-in the arteries, and returned to the heart
e veins. The course of the blood from one
other through the minute capillaries could
_Seen until the invention of the microscope
euwenhoek, who made use of it in 1686 to
» the blood tr aversing the capillaries in the
‘ the tadpole.
he heart, then, when it contracts, drives out
blood which is contained in its cavities, or
+ the whole of it. This same quantity must
eo returned by the veins, otherwise the blood
ud soon all be accumulated in the peripheral
arts of the body. Further, the heart is capable
driving out the more blood the greater the
uantity it contains when contraction begins.
is what has been called by Starling the “law
2 heart.” It depends on the fact that
ar fibres contract the more powerfully the
sr the length to which they are stretched to
with—within limits, of course.
see, therefore, that the amount of blood
through the organs of the body in a given
depends on the amount present in the heart
al _ Since this is a definite fraction_of the
whole blood, the irrigation, as we may call it,
of the body is in proportion to the total quantity
of blood. available. The importance of sufficient
rigation is obvious. The blood conveys to the
cells. the materials required for their work,
these the most necessary is oxygen. If
ily is too meagre, the first few cells with
the blood meets exhaust it, and those
d suffer from deprivation. Waste products
removed at the same time.
es the part played by the volume of the
ul! blood in relation to the capacity of
= vascular system was realised by Carl Ludwg
and_ his school, who made many experimental
investigations on the subject, the matter came
espe y into prominence in connection with the
‘ xplanation and treatment of the state known
reviously as “surgical shock,” but which
occurred with alarming frequency i in men wounded
in the late war. The name “wound-shock” is a
mo = comprehensive name, although the use of the
. d “shock” is liable to give a misleading im-
ssion as to the rapidity of its onset, and to
se confusion with “shell-shock,”’ another un-
sfactory name, but used to designate an affec-
of the nervous system of quite a different
ture from that brought about by the wounds
themselves. Wound-shock is not easily defined in
ch terms as to distinguish it clearly from other
nilar states, such as that due to loss of blood,
t it may be said to be one of general collapse,
in death if not combated in some way.
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
It does not come on hepeniedintel) alte injury, but
in the course of some two or three hours. It
shows itself by pallor, coldness, sweating, vomit-
ing, thirst, low blood- -pressure, and the other
Symptoms which were early recognised as indi-
cating a defective circulation.
But what is the actual cause of this collapse
of the circulatory mechanism? It was soon real-
ised, by those who examined cases of wound-
shock, that it was not due to any failure of the
heart itself, nor was the central nervous system
involved, except indirectly in the later stages.
On the other hand, much difficulty was found in
distinguishing between this state, even when
attended by very little loss of blood, and that
resulting from great loss of blood unaccompanied
by serious injury. The latter is obviously the
result of the defective volume of blood. and its
consequences, since blood is known to have left
the body. But why do the former cases also
appear to be suffering from the same condition,
when scarcely any blood has actually been lost?
In the endeavour to find an explanation for this,
we may call to mind the circumstance that blood
may be effectively removed from circulation
by being pooled away in some part or, other
of the vascular system, as, for example, by
a great dilatation of this part. The amount
which is available for propulsion by the heart
to serve for continuous irrigation of the
tissues is reduced as much as it would be
if the blood held in the pool were actually lost
to the outside. Such changes in the capacity of
the peripheral blood-vessels play a large part in
the regulation of the blood-pressure and the
supply of blood to various organs. We may
inquire whether anything of this kind happens
after severe injuries.
The first step taken in the course of this inquiry
was the discovery that some poisonous substance
is produced in injured tissues. This, passing into
the blood, is carried to all parts of the body. Sir
Cuthbert Wallace, some years ago, had noticed
that operations in which the cutting of large
masses of tissue was involved were especially
liable to be followed by shock. Quénu and others,
during the war, were struck by the rapid benefit
frequently ensuing from removal of the injured
parts or even when they are tied off from con-
nection with the rest of the blood-vessels, if such
is possible. Cannon and myself found ‘that we
could produce the state of wound-shock in anzs-
thetised animals in the laboratory, and that it was
due to a chemical agent, not to any effect on
nerves. This being so, we see that we can replace
the name of “wound-shock ” by the more descrip-
tive one of “traumatic toxemia.’
But can we form any conclusion as to the
chemical nature of this toxic substance or as to
the way in which it acts? It is evidently pro-
duced too quickly to be a result of bacterial infec-
tion, and, indeed, McNee was able to exclude this
possibility quite definitely. Dale and Laidlaw,
however, showed that there is a compound of
known chemical structure, called “histamine,”
12 NATURE
' [Marcu 4, 1920
and produced without difficulty from a constituent
of the nitrogenous cell structures, which is able
to produce a state of the circulation like that
present in wound-shock. It was found that the
effect was not due to a dilatation of the arterial
part of the system, as was known to be the case
in the fall of blood-pressure brought about by
vaso-motor reflexes. Here the similarity to
traumatic toxemia showed itself again, because
it was known that arterial: dilatation was not
present in this state. Next, Dale and Richards,
by a number of ingenious experiments, were able
to localise the effect in the capillaries, which
became widely dilated and thus capable of taking
up the greater part of the blood in the body,
leaving the heart nearly empty, with too meagre
a supply to carry on the circulation with any
degree of efficacy. It is to be admitted that
we have not yet definite proof that it is histamine
itself which is responsible for the toxemia of
injury. But that the agent is something which acts
in the same way is made clear by the observations
that have’ been made on wounded men. The
determinations of the volume of the blood in
circulation, made by N. M. Keith, may be espe-
cially mentioned. Keith showed that, in severe
cases, it may be reduced to little more than half
the normal amount, although scarcely any has
actually been lost by hemorrhage. The method
used was that of introducing into a vein a known
quantity of an innocuous dye which does not pass
through the walls of the blood-vessels, and, after
a short interval, taking a sample of the blood and
finding how much the dye has been diluted.
If the toxeemia is severe, a second property of
the poison shows itself. This is an effect on the
walls of the capillaries such that they allow the
liquid part of the blood to escape by filtration.
In this way the volume of the blood is still further
reduced.
The treatment, in principle, is obvious.
Restore the blood-volume. It would appear that
when blood has been lost it ought to be replaced
by blood. The case of traumatic toxéemia is not
so clear at once, because blood has not been
actually lost, and it should be possible to keep
um an effective circulation by some other liquid
until the poison is got rid of and the pooled blood
returned to circulation. In fact, as experience
increased, it was realised that the important
matter is to maintain the volume in circulation,
whether by blood or other solution. An innocu-
ous fluid seemed to serve practically as well as
blood, and had the advantage of being always at
hand and in as large a quantity as required.
As to the properties of such a solution, it was
soon found that a simple saline solution is very
rapidly lost from the circulation and is useless.
It is necessary to add to it some colloid with an
osmotic pressure, such as gelatin or gum acacia.
The colloid does not pass through the walls of
the blood-vessels, and its osmotic pressure causes
an attraction of water to balance that lost by
filtration. Thus, although the slow circulation
incidental to a small volume of blood is inade-
quate, this very quantity, if diluted to normal
volume, is able to serve effectively. Comparing the
oxygen carried by the red corpuscles to railway
passengers, it will be realised that if we have a
limited number of trains, we can carry more
passengers in a given time if the velocity of the
trains is increased. Animal experiments made by
Gasser showed that this is actually the case with
the blood. After a loss of blood the injection of
gum-saline might even raise the supply of blood-
corpuscles to a level beyond what it was before
the hemorrhage.
The general conclusion is that the volume of
the liquid in circulation must be kept up to its
normal value, whatever this liquid may be. Of
course, the number of red corpuscles cannot be
allowed to fall below some particular value, and
it has been found that about one-quarter of the
normal quantity is the lowest compatible with
life. If they fall below this, moreover, there is
no production of new corpuscles.
In the later stages of the war gum-saline was
largely used in the British, American, and French
Armies, and is reported to have saved many lives..
Unfortunately, if too long a time is allowed to
elapse before treatment, nothing avails, not even
transfusion of blood. Hence the importance of
the early use of intravenous injection, and also
of removal of the injured tissue by operation.
As the war progressed, these procedures were,
therefore, pushed more and more forward to the
battle area, and with more and more favourable
results.
Characteristics of Pigments in Early Pencil Writing.
By C. AtnswortH MITCHELL.
Eales pigments may be classified in the fol-
lowing groups: (1) Metallic lead or alloys
of lead; (2) graphite cut from the block; (3) early
composite pigments containing graphite, sulphur,
resins, etc., but no clay; (4) graphite powder
compressed into blocks; and (5) composite pig-
ments containing graphite with clay and other
ingredients. These pigments usually show dis-
tinctive microscopic characteristics in the marks
which they produce.
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
When examined under the microscope with a
magnification of about twenty diameters and the
light at right angles, ordinary lead shows, in its
vertical markings on paper, a series of irregularly —
distributed patches, uniformly and brilliantly lit up,
and marked with regular vertical striations which
have the appearance of ridges. In the case of
Borrowdale graphite (Fig. 1) the vertical lines show -
relatively few brilliant straight striations (due to —
siliceous impurities), and when these occur in the
Marcu 4, 1920]
| heavier strokes they are disjointed and irregular.
| The fibres of the paper may be brilliantly lit up
|» by particles of adhering graphite which reflect the
| light, especially in those places showing a metallic
‘lustre to the naked eye. Less pure forms of
graphite show more numerous Striations, but
_ these are always more or less disjointed and
irregular, and quite distinct from the fine stria-
_tions in modern pencil markings.
___ the composite pigments (containing sulphur) in
» early specimens of pencils in South Kensington
_ Museum, which Mr. T. H. Court kindly placed
_ at my disposal, show a faint greyish pigment, with
occasional striations, whilst Brockedon’s graphite
(1843) (Fig. 2) and other kinds of compressed
_ graphite produce lines which show a rich black
_ pigment with silvery dashes and lines distributed
- fairly uniformly all over
NATURE
|
|
|
|
13
| markings in ordinary metallic lead for graphite.
| Through the kindness of Mr. J.
P. Gilson, of the
MSS. department, I have been able to examine
| Specimens of early pencil marks in the writing
and drawings in manuscripts in the British
Museum. The earliest example was a drawing
in the Stowe MSS., “Arms of Ancient Nobilitie ”
(705), of the early seventeenth century. The
particles composing the lines of this drawing all
reflected the light brilliantly, but were much
smaller, and lacked the striations which are
characteristic of metallic lead. On the other hand,
the lines had not the appearance of any form’ of
graphite, the particles being disjointed and not
showing any connecting interrupted striations, as
are often to be seen in lines of graphite having a
metallic lustre.
It is therefore probable that this
meine field.
Modern pencil com-
_ positions, mainly of
_ graphite, clay, and wax,
_all have a similar micro-
_ scopic appearance in the
_ vertical lines made by
them on paper, which is
quite different from the
| markings of the old
pencils of natural
_ graphite, and in most
_ cases from those made
from the odd com-
_ pressed graphite pow-
der. In the modern pig-
_ ments the fine siliceous
_ particles, derived from
_ the clay and impurities
in the graphite, are
_ evenly distributed, and
appear in the pigment
_ on paper as fine beaded
_striatioris, which are
uniform and. parallel
* throughout the line
(Fig. 3). Chemical
_ methods of distin’
_ guishing between
| these pigments have been described by the present
' writer (J. Soc. Chem. Ind., 1919, XXXVili., 3837).
_ Some particulars of early pencil markings are
" given in a curious book by C. T. Schénemann
| (Versuch eines Systems der Diplomatik, Leipzig,
_ 1818, 2 vols.) upon the codices preserved in the
_ libraries in Germany. In vol. ii. (p. 108) it is
|» asserted that lines in blacklead (Reisblet) had
been drawn on the ‘Codex Berengarii
_ Turonensis” of the eleventh or twelfth century,
_ which was in the Wolfenbiittel library. The
_ “Codex Guidonis Aretini de Musica ” (eleventh or
_ twelfth century) in the Géttingen library contained
_ vertical and horizontal lines showing traces of
_ blacklead (p. 112), whilst the ‘Codex Theophili ”
_ (twelfth century) in the Wolfenbiittel library
showed very fine vertical lines in blacklead.
_ Now, as graphite was not known until about
7 1560, it is obvious that Schénemann mistook the
marking, 1831. X 20.
NO. 202 VOL. 105]
Fic 1.—Typical early gaphite Fic. 2.—Brockedon’s compressed Fic. 3-—Typical modern cumposite
(Mark made
pencil. X 20.
Geol ogical
graphite, 1843.
by specimen in
M useum). X 20,
drawing was done with a metallic pencil in which
lead did not predominate.
A later MS. (1691) (Add. 22,550) includes
drawings in which the lines show the large
isolated particles with the vertical striations char-
acteristic of metallic lead. In another Stowe
MS., 686 (circ. 1630), the lines in the drawings have
the appearance of ordinary graphite. The pencil
markings in two note-books of Sir Thomas Cotton
(Harley, 6018, about 1630-40) and Cotton Ap-
pendix, xlv. (1640-44), have all the characteristics.
of graphite. :
The writing in Lord Hardwicke’s “Notes on
Briefs”’ (1718) is undoubtedly in graphite, but a
drawing by Vertue (Add. MS. ari) (1741)
has the appearance of metallic pigment. A
note-book of Hogarth (Egerton MS. 3011) (prior
to 1753) contains heavy pencil writing, the pig-
ment of which is a particularly rich graphite.
14 NATURE
[| Marcu 4, 1920
The pencil outline of a drawing on the top of ink
in another of MHogarth’s note-books is also
in typical graphite. The lines in the drawings of
a later volume of Stowe MSS. (993), about 1747,
show fine ‘interrupted striz, such as are frequently
noticeable in the marks made by pure graphite.
In “Heraldic Collections” (Stowe MS. 661) of
1763-64 the pigment in the drawings of the coats-
of-arms is also in graphite, and shows the fibres
of the paper lit up by adherent particles. An inter-
esting example of graphite markings is to be seen
in a letter from Prof. Herrmann (1780) from Stras-
bourg (Add. MS. 22,935, fol. 140b). This contains
a pencil drawing of a fish, in which the pigment
has formed branching striations along the lines
of the paper fibres.
Flaxman was in the habit of making drawings
on the backs of the envelopes of letters received
by him at Buckingham Street, Fitzroy Square, and
a series of these, dating from about 1800 to 1814,
is preserved in the British Museum. In every
instance the pigment in these drawings is typical
of pure graphite, and even interrupted striations
are only of exceptional occurrence.
In view of the fact that Conté’s composite clay
process was invented in 1795 in Paris, it is inter-
esting to note that a card sent to Flaxman by
the painter Fleury Epinat, of Lyons, between
1805 and 1814 was written with a pencil produc-
ing the characteristic fine regular beaded striations
of the modern type of pencil. This is the first
instance noted of the occurrence of writing in a
composition pigment in the MSS. in the Museum.
Of the other manuscripts and drawings of the
early nineteenth century, mention may be made
of a letter of Byron (about 1809) which is written
in a particularly brilliant graphite, and of the
pencil corrections made by Keats (about 1820) in
his manuscript of ‘‘ Hyperion,” which are also in
pure graphite. The same characteristics of rich
pigment deposit, showing only scanty, irregular,
broken striations, may. also be seen in a letter of
Lord Wellesley written about 1828. ;
- The manufacture of graphite pencils by the
original method of cutting from the block was
continued until about 1869, overlapping the
modern process; but, as the old pencils must have
been widely distributed, it is not surprising that
the characteristics of pure graphite are frequently
to be found in writing, and especially in drawings,
for several years after that date. Hence it is
quite in accordance with the development of the
industry that the note-book of James Thomson,
the author of “The City of Dreadful Night,”
for the year 1869 should be written with a pencil
which produced no silvery striations.
The Relationship of Education to Research in Aeronautics.
HE relation of education to research is a
' simple one in most fields of scientific work,
in that the universities provide both one and the
other. This simplicity cannot, however, extend to
the subject of aeronautics, because the cost of
experimentation is so great and the organisation
required so complex. In the future the universi-
ties may perhaps be equipped even for this exten-
sion of their activities, but at the present time, and
for many years to come, the experimental work
will in general be beyond their means. The
Government, however, for its own sake, needs
to continue to carry on aeronautical research, and
the question naturally arises: What are to be the
relations between the Government research estab-
lishments and the university teaching establish-
ments? The Committee appointed in October,
1918, by Lord Weir to advise on this matter has
now reported, and its recommendation is to merge
the staffs undertaking these two classes of work.
At the present time it is scarcely practicable or
wise to found more than one school of aeronautics,
and the Committee selects the Imperial College of
Science as its home, suggesting that the staff of
the school should for the most part be composed
of those members of the Government research
establishments who are best qualified for the
work, and can be permitted to spend part of their
time at the Imperial College.
The Committee also provides that the Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics should come to an end,
and that its former powers should—with certain
additions—be made over to a new body, the Aero-
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
_ sidered).
nautical Research Committee. The Advisory Com-
mittee has had a very distinguished history. Its
composition was mainly non-official, and it became
a watchful and highly independent body able
and ready to intervene in any matter where it
thought such intervention was required. With the
many reorganisations of Air Service matters
during the war, whether relating to the R.N.A.S.,
the R.F.C., the Air Board, the Air Ministry, or
the R.A.F., it became the one continuously
operating body, and rendered services to the
State of a value which can be realised only by
those who kept in touch with its wide activities.
The Education and Research Committee endeay-
ours to pay tribute to the Advisory Committee,
and it must have had some difficulty in finding
words appropriate to the occasion.
It seems that the Government took definite
decisions some six months ago that an Aero-
nautical Research Committee should be created to
replace the existing Advisory Committee; that, in
addition, research work should be undertaken by
a Research Association to be formed by the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research,
on the usual terms, if the industry should so
desire; and that the Imperial College should be
the educational centre (although applications from
provincial universities for grants would be con-
The Committee, taking note of these
decisions, suggests that the new Aeronautical
Research Committee (A.R.C.) should supervise
both research and education. Any plan for the
supervision of research needs to take into account
ARCH 4, 1920]
NATURE
oe)
nature of the establishments where it is at
nt undertaken. These places are the Royal Air-
faft Establishment (Farnborough); the National
aysical Laboratory (controlled by the D.S.I.R.);
rtlesham Heath, Biggin Hill, Pulham, Grain,
‘stowe, and possibly other Government aero-
ies. All of these, except the R.A.E. and the
., are controlled by the Director of Research
Air Ministry on behalf of the Air Council,
is responsible for these centres and pays
them. The Committee does not attempt to:
ursue the allocation of responsibilities further,
at such allocation need not be expected to lead
‘difficulty, since much of the work from these
es found its way in the past to the old
sory Committee, and will doubtless in the
ure find its way to its successor.
.s regards the educational side, the Committee
tions an estimate that before the war the total
y number of honours graduates in engineer-
including civil, mechanical, and electrical, and
n naval architecture, etc., from all the universities
the United Kingdom averaged only about two
ed, and that of these it rightly considers
fraction of the future number are likely to
themselves entirely to aeronautics. It
inly seems probable that the number will be
ite small; the Government has its own Air
: ice establishments, and these will naturally
take a proportion of the possible entrants each
year. Moreover, the most promising career for
eronautical engineering work at present is the
f ment service, since it is the Government
which controls nearly all the research and no
‘small proportion of the full-scale design, to: say
nothing of the ordinary Service work and its
a on to the adventurous. The only factor
yould seem capable under present condi-
f adding materially to the numbers of
udents taking an aeronautical engineering course
at the Imperial College or elsewhere would be if
the Government used this means for the training
of its own future technical staff.
__ The course, once formed, is to consist of twelve
‘months’ specialised teaching, coming after the
usual degree or diploma course in engineering
already provided at the universities and great
technical schools. The subjects selected for this
course are: Aerodynamics; aero-engines; general
design; instruments, meteorology, and navigation.
_The proposed staff includes a general director, who
would be the Zaharoff professor of aviation, two
other professors, and a number of lecturers. This
staff should, the Committee suggests, act’ as a
_clearing-house for the study of the results of
experimental work, whether full-scale or in the
laboratory, and for the dissemination of con-
clusions ‘based thereon as forming the right
_ foundation for further design.. As the Committee
naturally adds, no school for providing this
education can be successful unless the students
are brought into direct touch with practical prob-
lems during their tuition, and unless those en-
we in teaching are also occupied in, or. direct-
“Ing, scientific research or experimental design.
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
4 a
a
4
_ Thomas, Prof. J. E. Petavel, and Lt.
Some extracts from the Committee’s report are
subjoined.
INTRODUCTION.’
_ The Government has now decided how provision
is to be made for research in aeronautics. We
desire at the outset to emphasise the necessity for
that research. The Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research is to continue the provision for
fundamental research at the National Physical Labora-
tory, and to assist the aeronautical industry in the
Same manner as other industries by taking part,
when desired, in the formation of a research associa-
tion. In our view, at the start of a new industry
something more is required. At the present moment
the industry is passing through a crisis; Govern-
ment support is necessary if it is to spp. 58 satisfac-
torily. The time is critical and the development of
civil aviation is beset by numerous difficulties, and
calls for. the fullest consideration. It is urgently
necessary that the policy adopted should command
the support ofall who desire to maintain the
superiority in the air gained during the past eventful
years, and that ample funds should be provided for
carrying it into effect.
A difficulty which arises in the case of a new
industry of this kind lies in the fact that the scope
of the work is inadequate to maintain automatically
a sufficient number of experts in design and produc-
tion. A research organisation may elucidate problems
and provide general information and specific facts, but
before these can bear fruit of industrial value they
must be interpreted and applied by a suitable technical
staff, closely associated with the works organisation.
At the end of the war most of the works had collected
a team of technical experts of marked ability; many
of these teams have now been disbanded, and further
disintegration is in progress. We see no possibility
of. achieving the desired result except by such Govern-
ment action as will secure the retention of adequate
technical staffs.
During the war this country obtained the lead in
aeronautical research; it would be lamentable to see
the fruits. of the work pass from a paralysed industry
to better-supported foreign competitors. -In the later
sections of our report we recommend the establish-
ment of an. organisation. for aeronautical research to
assist the Air Council, and, in our view, it is im-
portant that the work of that organisation should be
available in great measure for the assistance of the
industry and for the advance of civil aviation, as well
as for the Services. Should an industrial research
association be formed, it should be linked up with .the
organisation we recommend. ‘
Education and research are clearly very closely inter-
related. The education with which we have chiefly
concerned ourselves is that suitable for aeronautical
engineers and constructors—that is to say, post-
graduate work for which the students _ will be fitted
by a previous undergraduate course of either. mechani-
cal. or general engineering training at one of the
universities or technical colleges. We have not. dealt
with the training of pilots or of mechanics. The course
we contemplate will comprise a special study of the
following matters:—Aerodynamics, the laws of
motion of bodies moving in the air, illustrated by
experiments and researches in wind-channels; the
principles of design and construction; engines and
the methods of propulsion of aircraft; and the inves-
YD __
1 Abridged from the Report of the Committee on Ed }
in Nemcacancth (Cmd. 554. Nites ad, net) to Mr. Winston S. Churchill, Secre-
tary of State for Air. The members of the Committee were : Sir R. T.
Glazebrook, K.C.B. (Ch ‘irman), Sir Alfred Keogh, G.C.B., Sir H. Frank
Heath, K C.B., Sir Froncis G. Ogilvie. er ae Page, Mr, G. Holt
ol. H. T. Tizard.
16
NATURE
[Marcu 4, 1920
tigation of instruments used in flight, with problems
in meteorology and navigation. The engineer must
also gain, the practical knowledge acquired only in
the. workshop, and must have experience of the full-
scale researches necessary to test and verify his
theoretical conclusions. Such a. course might
eventually involve one or more centres of theoretical
instruction with experimental aerodromes and labora-
tories where the full-scale problems may be worked
out, but as the number of persons likely to require
this higher post-graduate education will not be great
we consider that it will be wise for the present to
concentrate the work in one central institution with
which the experimental aerodromes should be closely
connected. Such a central institution we find in the
Imperial College of Science and Technology, at which
the professorship lately founded by Sir Basil Zaharoff
‘is to be held.
To turn. now to research. This is the means by
which ,advance in aeronautics is possible, and it is
required, by all interested in the progress of the sub-
ject : by the State, whether for the purposes of defence
or’ to enable*it to lay down the rules necessary for
the: safety of aircraft. when used for civil purposes;
by the professor, whose aim is to increase knowledge ;
-and.by.. the industry, in order that it may maintain
the. superiority which British aircraft has already
achieved... Research is difficult, its requirements are
costly,“arid the men who can undertake it are few.
“To establish separate research laboratories and aero-
dromés“for each of these special interests is, for the
‘Moment,y»out of the question; here, again, combina-
tion jis called for—combination, too, with the agencies
concerned in education. At the same time we recog-
nise_ fully, that special problems may be dealt with at
other research centres, and we trust that every en-
‘couragement may be given to these for such work.
Since the commencement of practical aeronautics,
research, has been directed by the Advisory Committee
for ‘Aeronautics, a body, under the presidency of the
late Lord Rayleigh, avpointed by the Prime Minister
in’ the ‘yéar 1909 ‘for the superintendence of the
investigations at the National Physical Laboratory
and for.general advice on the scientific problems aris-
ing in.connection with the work of the Admiralty and
War. .Office in aerial construction and navigation.”
_ Full-scale research has been carried out at Farn-
borough, in part at the initiation of the Advisory
Committee, in part at that of the military authorities ;
the Committee, however, has no control over the
work ,there, and occupies only an advisory position
with regard to it. During the war other centres of full-
scale. research were established—e.g. the Isle of Grain
and Felixstowe for seaplanes, Kingsnorth and Pulham
for. airships—and the Advisory Committee has been
kept in close touch with the work in progress at all
of these.. Its activities have been of the greatest value.
In our view, a central co-ordinating body of this kind
is essential, and it is now pronvosed to establish an
Aeronautical Research Committee, to which the
duties..of::the Advisory Committee would be trans-
ferred, and certain other duties and_ responsibilities
added with regard both to the central research aero-
dromes and to education. The proposed Committee
should be in a position to supervise effectively such
work ‘As comes within its purview.
The work in aeronautics conducted at the National
Physical Laboratory would also, usually, be. under-
taken on the initiation of the Committee. the expendi-
ture for such work forming part of the budget of the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.
Insxorder to connect the Committee with the educa-
tional work and to render the onportunities of. research
at .Farnborough. and elsewhere available both to
teachers and to students, we suggest that arrange-~
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
ments should be made between the Committee and —
with
My
the Imperial College for dealing with matters
which they are jointly concerned.
; In this conneesiiis
moreover, we suggest that it would be possible At
a number of cases for members of the research staff
to act as professors or lecturers at the college. ~
; ae j ” ! (is. ear
CONSTITUTION OF THE AERONAUTICAL RESEARCH |
COMMITTEE. | here
- The Aeronautical Research Committee should in-
clude representation of (a) the Department or Depart-
ments responsible for (i) naval and military aero-
nautics, (ii) the regulation of civil aerial tra .
(b) the Department of Scientific and Industgial Re!
search, including direct representation of the National
Physical Laboratory; (c) the aircraft industry; (d) the
‘Imperial College; as well as (e) other members of
scientific attainments. The chairman of the Com-
mittee should be an eminent man of science, and
in a position independent of the Government Depart-
ments represented on the Committee. He and the
other non-official members of the Committee should
receive suitable remuneration. : eet
FUNCTIONS OF THE AERONAUTICAL RESEARCH
COMMITTEE. ties
It should be the duty of the Aeronautical Research
Committee to devote itself to the advance of aero-
nautical science, and, with this object, in particular
(1) to advise on scientific and technical problems relat-
ing to the construction and navigation of aircraft;
(2) to undertake or supervise such research or experi-
mental work as is proposed to the Committee by the
Air Ministry, and to initiate any research work which
the Committee considers to be. advisable; to carry out
such work itself or to recommend by whom the work .
should be carried out; (3) to take over complete
responsibility for the Air Inventions Committee and
for the Accidents Committee; (4) to promote educa-
tion in aeronautics by co-overating with the governors’
of the Imperial College; (5) to assist the aeronautical
industry of the country by scientific advice and re-
‘search, and to co-operate with any research associa-
tion that mav be established; (6) to prepare for the
approval of the Air Council a scheme of work and
estimate of expenditure for the year, and to administer
the funds placed at its disposal by the Air Council;
and (7) to make reports from time to time to the Air
Council. :
CO-ORDINATION OF THE RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL
ORGANISATION.
We have referred to the need for close association
between the reseafch and experimental work and the
strictly academic portion of the higher education. .
No school for providing this education can be success-
ful unless the students are brought into direct touch
with practical problems during their tuition, and unless
those engaged in teaching are also engaged in or
directing scientific research or experimental design.
The arrangements whereby the student will divide
his period of post-graduate instruction between work
on books and at lecturés and practical work at re-
search stations should apply also in regard to the
duties of the teaching staff. These should be such as
to enable a professor or lecturer to spend part of his
time in giving instruction at the Imperial College,
while giving the rest to investigations at one of the
research centres: pets ih
The School of Aeronautics should provide advanced
instruction as’ regards aeroplanes, seaplanes, airships,
‘and kite-ballodns
in (1) aerodynamics; (2) aéro-
engines arid ‘methods of propulsion; (3) design,
ys
"Marcu 4, 1920]
NATURE
17
cluding structure and materials; and (4) instru-
ments, meteorology, and navigation. It would follow,
terefore, that certain of the professors or lecturers
each of these subjects will discharge double respon-
‘sibilities (a) as members of the staff of the Imperial
College and (b) as officers of the research organisa-
directed by the Aeronautical Research Com-
- The Interim and Final Reports of Special Com-
“mittee No. 5 of the Civil Aerial Transport Committee
tain much valuable information as to the organisa-
tion of teaching and research. One factor of import-
which they emphasise is the need for a trained
to act as a clearing-house for the co-ordination
dissemination of aeronautical knowledge in all its
ts. The Central School of Aeronautics should,
our view, serve this purpose.
The functions of the teaching staff of the School
y be stated Scare four one gio Soveb closely
ted, purposes :—(a) To study, co-ordinate, sum-
2, apply, and extend the knowledge derived from
experimental work carried out by the individual
<ers at various experimental stations in this
_ country and abroad. (b) To stimulate research bv
indicating what information is most urgently required
- and what line of attack is likely to prove most profit-
le. (c) To guide and encourage research by con-
‘uctive fedticisn based on a careful study of past
mt work in this country and abroad. (d) To
is knowledge by personal teaching to a
“number of post-graduate students.
similar clearing-house for current knowledge
_ would be of value in any science, but for aeronautics
it is, for the present, essential; for whereas in
older sciences—physics, for instance—the bulk of the
experimental data has, throughout the course of
rations, crystallised into well-defined laws which
n a framework ready to receive any new facts and
erion by which their accuracy can be estimated,
in aeronautics the facts are the result of the work of
e last five or ten years, and the framework uniting
em exists ‘in the minds of the few men who
have been personally connected with the process of
Before the war the total available knowledge was
vall, and it was possible for the members of the
ory Committee to keep all the facts in mind
» de g most of their time to other duties.
3 * then ovided the necessary co-ordinating
_ factor. This is no longer possible, and the function
y se gs be discharged by the staff of the School
vorking under their director with the view of co-
ordinating and making available all the knowledge in
branch of the work as existing at the moment.
For these reasons it is essential that the permanent
of the Central School should be adequate both
in numbers and in range of experience to the duties
_ outlined above.
subject of meteorology, including with it
nployed in flight, is one of great importance. The
on, however, of the teacher of this subject must
de on the action taken with regard to research
and inquiry into meteorological science generally. We
have made provision in the estimates for a teacher in
Meteorological subjects closely connected with aero-
F uleng who should combine this work with research
4
one of the experimental stations. His work would
be brought into connection with the central meteoro-
logical establishment. We would add that, quite apart
from. other interests concerned, we feel it our duty
_ to press for the establishment of a properly equipped
_ centre of teaching in this subject, the need for which
_ has been felt for some years and is now acute.
E NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
tag
ig in navigation and the use of instruments.
Notes.
By a majority of seventy-five in a House of close
on eight hundred Oxford has decided, for good or ill,
that the Greek language shall no longer be a com-
pulsory study for any of her alumni. In favour of
the statute embodying this policy, which came before
a full meeting of Convocation on March 2, speeches
were delivered by Mr. C. Bailey, of Balliol College,
Dr. Farnell, Rector of Exeter College, and Dr. David,
Headmaster of Rugby. The opposition was under-
taken by Mr. R. W. Livingstone, of Corpus, Mr. R.
Carter, Headmaster of Bedford Grammar School, and
Mr. John Murray, M.P., of Christ Church. The issue
before Convocation was, perhaps, not quite so clear
as it might have been; for it is probable that many
voters thought that the rejection of the statute would
have meant the perpetuation of the old form of
Responsions, an examination which is allowed on
all hands to be in need of radical reform. There is
no doubt that in any case, whether the statute passed
or was rejected, no attempt would have been made by
the advocates of Greek in Responsions to make that
language compulsory for passmen or for honours candi-
dates in science or mathematics. But the feeling against
compulsory Greek in any circumstances prevailed with
the majority of voters, and Oxford has distinctly and
definitely decided that, so far as she is concerned, the
Greek language, however desirable as a study for
specialists, is no longer to be considered a necessary
element in a general education. The present vote may
be taken as the final settlement of a keenly debated
and long-protracted controversy.
TuHE council of the Royal Society has decided to
recommend for election into the fellowship of the
society the following fifteen from the list of candi-
dates:—Dr. Edward Frankland Armstrong, Sir
Jagadis Chunder Bose, Dr. Robert Broom, Prof.
Edward Provan Cathcart, Mr. Alfred Chaston Chap-’
man, Dr, Arthur Price Chattock, Mr. Arthur William
Hill, Dr. Cargill Gilston Knott, Prof. Frederick
Alexander _Lindemann, Dr. Francis Hugh Adam
Marshall, Dr. Thomas Ralph Merton, Dr. Robert
Cyril Layton Perkins, Prof. Henry Crozier Plummer,
Prof. Robert Robinson, and Prof. John. William
Watson Stephens.
THE Kine has been pleased to approve the appoint-
ment of the Right Hon, Sir Auckland C. Geddes,
K.C.B., President of the Board of Trade, as his
Majesty’s Ambassador Extraordinary and _ Pleni-
potentiary in Washington. Sir Auckland Geddes was
formerly demonstrator and assistant professor of
anatomy in the University of Edinburgh; professor
of anatomy, Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin; and
late professor of anatomy, McGill University, Mont-
real. A year ago he was appointed to succeed the
late Sir William Peterson as principal of McGill Uni-
versity, and he has now cabled his resignation of
this post.
DurineG the war little was heard of wireless tele-
graphy except that its use by unauthorised persons
was entirely prohibited, but a great deal of pioneering
research in the development of new methods and the
ke | NATURE
[Marcu 4, 1920
perfection of old was carried out. The oscillation valve
in particular came to its own as a wave generator, an
amplifier, and a detector; and wireless telephony
passed from its experimental to its practical stages.
The human voice is now heard across the Atlantic and
from aeroplane to aeroplane. Notable advances have
also been made in long-distance wireless telegraphy,
especially in the directions of increased speed of trans-
mission and carrying capacity of installations. It is
mainly due to these improvements that, as announced
in the Times of March 2, it has now been found
possible to accept commercial messages to America
at rates lower than the ordinary cable rates by as
much as 4d, per word. A-service on these lines was
inaugurated on Monday last between the high-power
Marconi station at Carnarvon’ and Belmar (New
Jersey). High-speed automatic: transmitters are em-
ployed, and the installation is duplexed so that mes-
sages can pass simultaneously in both directions.
A DEPUTATION representing the British Medical
Association and the British Science Guild waited upon
Mr. Balfour at the Privy Council Office on Tuesday,
March 2, to urge that a sum of about 20,000l.
should be set aside annually for the purpose of awards
for medical discovery on the lines suggested in the
report of the joint committee of the two bodies pub-
lished in Nature of January 8 (p. 488).. The deputa-
tion was introduced by Sir Watson Cheyne, and its
views were put forward by Sir Clifford Allbutt and
Sir Richard Gregory. In 1802 the House of Commons
voted Jenner a grant of 10,o0ol. in recognition of the
national value of vaccination, and five years later
made him a further grant of 20,0001. The proposal
is that this precedent should be made the basis of an
established system of awards for medical and scientific
discoveries as just compensation for financial sacrifice
commonly involved in producing them. The Medical
Research Committee and the Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research have funds from which grants
are made to assist research, but they cannot offer
reward or even recompense to the investigator
who makes a notable discovery with or without any
such aid. Organised work on particular problems
is necessary, but its character is different from that
of the creative genius, who must be left free to follow
his own course wherever it may lead. Devotion to
such research ought not to gery ultimate pecuniary
loss when the results achievéd contribute substantially
to human welfare and progress, and a modern State
may well accept the obligation to make reasonable
provision for those who have thus enriched it. Mr.
Balfour expressed himself in full sympathy with these
views, and promised to put them before the Prime
Minister, who, he reminded the deputation, had
always been ready to give practical support to
scientific work and to show his appreciation of its
essential value in national life.
Mucu regret will be felt at the failure of the
Times aeroplane, with Dr. Chalmers Mitchell as
scientific observer, to complete the flight from Cairo
to the Cape. On Friday last, February 27, a forced
descent at Tabora, in the Tanganyika territory, due to
the failure of one of the engines, damaged the machine
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
beyond repair, and further flight with it has had to -
be abandoned. Fortunately, Dr. Chalmers Mitchell
and his companions are safe, though two of them are
hurt. Misfortune has followed the attempt from the
beginning, owing chiefly to engine trouble. On
February 20, soon after starting from Mongala, the —
starboard magneto cut out, and the aeroplane had to
return there. Leaving later the same day, an un-
intended descent was necessary at Nimule, at the
head of the Nile rapids. Then followed two compara-
tively short flights to Jinja, where the Nile leaves the
Victoria Nyanza, and past the archipelago in the
north-eastern part of the lake to Kisumu. The visit
to Jinja probably enabled Dr. Chalmers Mitchell to
settle the question whether the Ripon Falls, where the
Nile discharges from the Victoria Nyanza, are due
to a. dyke of igneous rock, as has been often —
asserted,.or to a hard band of gneiss. The next stage
of the journey from Kisumu to the southern end of
Lake Tanganyika was known to present new diffi-
culties, but if these had been surmounted the rest of
the route would have been near railways, along which
there. would be better facilities for repairs than
between Khartum and the Victoria Nyanza. It is
very disappointing that the disaster should have hap-
pened after the ‘worst part of the journey had been
traversed, yet we are confident that the observations
made by Dr. Chalmers Mitchell in the course of his
flight will abundantly justify the scientific BUEROEE, he
had in mind in taking part in it.
WE much regret to see in the Daily mebiee of
March 2 the announcement that. Dr. C. Gordon
Hewitt, Dominion entomologist, has died in Ottawa.
Tue New York correspondent of the Times reports
that Major R. W. Schroeder, chief test pilot at
Dayton (Ohio), on February 27 ascended to the record
height of 36,020 ft. (nearly seven miles) in an attempt
to attain a height of 40,000 ft. At the former height ©
the oxygen supply ceased to flow, and Major
Schroeder fainted. He raised his goggles to see if -
the emergency supply was working. ‘All at once,”
he says, ‘‘it seemed as though a terrific explosion had
taken place inside my head. My eyes hurt terribly.
I could not open them. I seemed to be peeping
through a crack. There was a tremendous rush of
air, and I seemed to be aE os . I do not remem-
ber landing.’’
Tue news of the death of the Rev. Watson Failes
has been received. with deep regret by Old West-
minsters and many former colleagues who remember
him with affection. Mr. Failes was a mathematical
scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduated
as nineteenth Wrangler in the year 1871. He was
assistant master at Bromsgrove in 1874 and 1875,
and at Dulwich from 1875 to 1877. In 1877 he went
to Westminster School, where he remained for thirty ~
years. On the retirement of Mr. Cheyne and Mr. —
Jones he became senior mathematical master, and in_
1897 he became master of Rigauds. Mr. Failes was _
an enthusiastic and stimulating teacher; his own —
solutions, | especially . .of purely geometrical . problems,.
were models of lightness and elegance. He was the
vi RCH 4, 1920]
NATURE 19
uthor - f “Solutions of Jones’ and Cheyne’s ‘ Alge-
al E mee.”
ROup of American botanical institutions and
vidu: is has arranged through the Smithsonian
Stitution for the continuation of the lease of the
ichona Station in Jamaica. Both British and
herican botanists are welcomed at Cinchona. Any
| workers desiring to use the station should
ect to the Jamaican Government. Local
n could be obtained from Mr. William
= Government Botanist, at Hope Gardens,
Jamaica. The opportunity of studying the
good, while the station itself provides labora-
ce. Not the least advantage to British
would be the intercourse with ‘American
and the interchange of ideas which would
follow. The arrangements for American
re in the hands of a committee consisting
sritton and -Profs. Coulter and Duncan
announced, was best known as’ the
the gun which bears: his name and as the
all achieved success with
ins, but the greatest advance was made by
who first used the force of the recoil to work
inism. In the Nordenfelt gun the barrels
placed side by side horizontally, the firing
anism being actuated by a lever moved to and
gunner. A series of trials carried out at
in 1880 led to the use of the Nordenfelt
[.M. ships for defence against torpedo-boats.
Yordenfelt constructed a submarine of about
placement. The propelling machinery con-
| compound surface-condensing steam-
about 100 h.p., the surface speed being nine
eam generated while on the surface could
and this was used for running short dis-
nn the boat was submerged. The crew
f three men, and the boat carried White-
des. It was, however; as the inventor of
this country, and the firm formed for the
cture of the. gun became amalgamated with
im Co., and now forms part of the Vickers
egret to see the announcement of the death
C. D. Leslie at Fortuna, Transvaal, as the
a railway collision. Mr. Leslie was born in
e, Scotland, in 1871, and was educated at
‘Academiy ‘and George Watson College, Edin-
In 1889 he went to South Africa to take up a
n with the Natal Civil Service, and six years
he left Natal to try his fortunes on the Rand.
he acquired his practical knowledge of mining
orking side by side with the miners, and his
early experience gave him a great insight into under-
ground working conditions and a profound knowledge
of the-miners. His first position-on the Rand was
that of contractor to one of the mines of the Central
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
h flora of the mountain forests is excep-
NorpenreL1, whose death at Stockholm
fa submarine. Gatling, Gardner, Hotchkiss,.
det | their
: his name that Nordenfelt was best’
' others.
ning group, after which he joined the Consolidated | ment will conduce to efficiency and economy.
Gold Fields group, and became manager of the Jupiter,
Nigel Deep, and Simmer and Jack Proprietary Mines,
where his organising powers and general mining know-
ledge, gained in his early mining training, fitted him
for the position which he ultimately held as consulting
mining engineer to the Consolidated Gold Fields of
South Africa, Ltd. During the time that Mr. Leslie
held this position he interested himself considerably in
improving general mining conditions, being, amongst
other things, prominent in the organisation of the
early trials on drill steels, and the interest he took in
the. mining industry was exemplified. by the able
address he made during his period as president of the
South African Association of Engineers and by the
scientific movement he initiated in 1916 to develop the
industries of South Africa. .
_Ar the forty-second annual general meeting of the
Institute of Chemistry, held on March 1, Sir Robert
Robertson, vice-president, occupied the chair in the
place of Sir Herbert Jackson, the president, who was
absent ‘through illness. In moving the adoption of
the report of council, Sir Robert read the president’s
address, in which reference was made to the position
of professional men under prevailing economic condi-
tions. The situation is far more promising than at
the time of the armistice; more than 530 chemists
whose names had been on the appointments register
have now no further need of this assistance. The
roll of the. institute is steadily increasing, numbering
nearly three thousand fellows and associates and
more than five hundred registered students. The
council has taken up the quéstion of securing repre-
sentation of chemistry in the Ministry of ‘Health,
with the satisfaction of seeing. Sir William Tilden
appointed a member of the Council of Medical and
Allied Services, and Dr. J. F. Tocher’ Chemist
to the Scottish Board of Health. Jointly with
the Institute of Metals, a committee is engaged
on questions ‘affecting the status and organisation of
chemists and metallurgists with the Navy, Army, and
Air Force. The officers and members of council for
the year 1920-21 were elected as follows :—President :
Sit Herbert Jackson. Vice-Presidents: H. Ballantyne,
Sir J. J. Dobbie, E. M. Hawkins, G. T. Morgan,
Sir Robert Robertson, and G. Stubbs. Hon. Treasurer:
E. W. Voelcker. Members of Council: W.E. Adeney,
W. Bacon, E, C. C. Baly, O. L. Brady, F. H. Carr,
A, Chaston Chapman, A. Cottrell, A. C. Cumming,
J.T, Dunn, L. Eynon, A. Findlay, G. W. Gray, F. W.
Harbord, C. A. Hill, P. H. Kirkaldy, J. H. Lester,
W. Macnab, 'S. E. Melling, G. W. Monier-Williams,
A. More, F. Mollwo Perkin, G. H. Perry, B. D.
Porritt, F. M. Potter, J. Rogers, E. W. Smith,
and W. M. G. Young.
AN important scheme for the co-ordination of the
Health Department of Glasgow has been adopted by
the City Council. Dr. A. K. Chalmers, the Medical
Officer of Health, will be the head of an enlarged
health department, which will now. include the sani-
tary inspector, the veterinary. surgeon, and the bac-
teriologist, each of whom until now has been head of
a separate department and largely independent of the
It,can scarcely be doubted that this arrange-
20
WATURE
‘LM arRcH: 4; bic”
_ Tuer ifitst: of three. Chadwick :public lectures eas
‘Military Hygiene in Peace and War”’ will be delivered
by Gen. Sir John Goodwin, Director of the Army
‘Medical ‘Department, on Monday next, March 8, at
$.15 pim., in the lecture-room, Royal Society of Arts,
‘John Street, Adelphi, W.C.2. Immediately preceding
the lecture Chadwick gold medals and’ prizes for ser-
vices'in promoting the health of’ the men of the Navy
and Army will be presented to Surg.-Comdr. E. L.
Atkinson, R.N., and Brig.-Gen. W. W. O. Beveridge,
A.M.S.
_ AN extremely interesting account of the nesting
habits of the storm-petrel by Mr.
appears in British Birds for February. The author’s
notes were made during a brief stay on one of the
smaller islands of the Inner Hebrides. Of the court-
ing habits of this bird nothing is known, but the
author believes that certain weird noises uttered while
on the wing during dark and stormy nights or when
the nights were misty are to be regarded, as part of
the courtship performances of the males. During this
_time the, birds would seem to be circling round the
nesting area at a great pace, like nocturnal swifts.
While this is going on an incessant ‘‘purring’’ can
be heard from the birds, which were probably the
; females, ensconced in rocky crevices. Mention is made
ofthe bare patch on the crown of the nestling. This
deserves closer investigation.
_young ostrich and in the nestling of the great crested
grebe, where it. takes the form of a _ vermilion
heart-shaped prominence.
‘IN the: Annals of the Royal Botanic Gerlens: Pera-
deniya ’ (vol. vii.), “Mr. T. Petch continues the publica-
tion of his work on the fungi of Ceylon. ‘‘ Revisions
of Ceylon: Fungi,” part .vi., embodies a critical
examination of a large number of species and the cor-
‘relation of the specimens in the original collections
of Thwaites in Ceylon with those sent by Thwaites
to” Berkeley and Broome, now at Kew and the British
Museum’ respectively, from which the species were
described. Incidentally, an interesting question arises
as to which series is to be regarded as containing the
_ type- specimens.
zeylanicae,’ ? contains a list of these larger fungi, in-
cluding those .originally recorded by Berkeley and
_Broome,, as well as more recent additions. A _ full
account of. one of these,, a remarkable phalloid
form, which the author has studied in detail, appears
in the Transactions of the British Mycological Society
(vol. vi., part ii.), where it is described as the type
of a,néw-genus, Pharus.
“THe Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Pera-
deniya’ (vol. ‘vi., part iv.), contains an account, by
“Mr. G.” Bryce, ‘of the ptruchire and development. of
the. small woody ‘burrs’ or “nodules ”? which, are
found ‘in the cortex of © the ‘tubber-tree, Hevea
brasiliensis,
pea. “to' that of a hen’s egg, and may sorenite pro-
“ duce®, “large sheets of woody tissue. As_ they
grow ‘larger the stem becomes gnarled and. warted,
“the - cortex cracks and. latex oozes out, and. the tree
becomes tseless for tapping. These nodules’ occur’
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
Audrey Gordon .
It is found also in the
.A second paper, ‘‘ Gasteromycetae-
The nodules increase from the size of a
only on trees which have: Sess tapped, .and appemnned
be the result of physiological changes, the nature and’
cause of which are. at present unknown, in the eon-
tents .of the latex-vessels. They. are. formed round —
altered Jatex-vessels or round: lesions or areas: inthe —
cortex .into:' which, latex .has.,oozed and, coagulated.
The tendency to nodule formation appears to be: con-
fined to certain predisposed individual trees, and. this:
abnormal condition is apparently not infectious, The
nodules in Hevea are somewhat similar in Structure
to the isolated woody nodules which occur in the:
cortex of beech, pear, and apple. They consist of a
central dark brown core, appearing as a point: or
line, of cortical elements, surrounded by a zone of
wood derived from cambium and forming the ulk of.
the nodule. They are quite distinct from the globular
woody shoots, such as are well known in beech, and.
are formed by the subsequent growth of dormant.
buds which have lost their original connection with.
the woody cylinder of the stem. These occur in both.
tapped and untapped trees of Hevea, but never form
large masses of woody tissue as do the nodules.
A CATALOGUE of meteorological instruments has just.
been issued by Messrs. C. F. Casella and Co., Ltd., of
Westminster. It is interesting to see the return of pre- —
war activity in this direction; necessarily a largely —
increased cost has occurred in the manufacture of the
instruments, ranging from 33 to75 percent. Fulldetails —
are given of the respective instruments, and there is
much information as to the placing and the exposure
required by meteorologists to render the observations -
of scientific value. Many may require the instruments —
only for casual use, but, occasions will occur. when —
the observations may be of real value to meteoro-
logists. The catalogue gives a largé range of choice ©
with regard to price, and without doubt even the
cheaper instruments noted. are trustworthy. From a
scientific point of view a mercurial barometer should
be preferred to an aneroid. In the class of thermo-
meters, perhaps a Six’s maximum and minimum
thermometer should: be less preferable than the more
ordinary maximum and minimum thermometers; .
experience has proved it to be more liable to get out of
order. Referring to terrestrial radiation thermometers,
it is recommended that the instrument should be
placed at a height of about 2 in. above short grass;
to fall into line with the recommendations of the
Meteorological Office, the bulb of the thermometer
should just touch the blades of short grass. Good
illustrations are given of the various self-registering
instruments, and the catalogue affords an easy means
of selecting an outfit for’ all meteorological purposes.
In the December, 1919, issue of Ternestrials Mag-
_netism and. Atmospheric. Electricity the editor,. Dr.
L, A. Bauer, directs, attention to the difficulties raised
by the .directors; of magnetic and electrical. observa-
tories. who donot. carry out the decisions) as to the
observations .and . their ..reduction.’ arrived at . after
adequate discussion. at: meetings of the. International
Commission ,on Terrestrial |, Magnetism, and» Atmo-—
spheric, -
Electricity. »'Although. atthe » Innsbruck —
meeting of the, Gommission in .;1905 : it was, resolved ©
without any dissentientthat future, tabulation of the
*
RCH'4, 1920]
“MATURE
24
atic elements: should be in Greenwich time, no
* observatory outside
pel: ‘out the decision.
Great. Britain has
With the view of securing
formity, Dr. Bauer invites discussion of the fol-
g questions : Shall Greenwich time or the nearest
ani meridian time be used for the “magnetic
ords? Shall the mean value ‘of an element be taken
yma full hour’to the next or from a half-hour to
next half-hour ?
ey meeting of the Illuminating Engineering
on February 24 a discussion on “ Lighting
ons in Mines, with Special Reference to the
of Miners,’’ was opened by Dr. T. Lister
yn, a considerable number of members of the
of British Ophthalmologists and of the
nological Section of the Royal Society of
ine being present. The introductory paper dealt
y with the disease of the eyes known as “ miners’
nus,’? the increase in which has given, much
chy recent years. The disease is common in
but practically unknown in metalliferous
Ss. a Llewellyn, by the aid of statistics on eye-
- supplemented by data on the actual working
vosaanl we vee in mines, contended that the disease was
to inadequate illumination; while Dr. H.S.
y adduced data to show that the colour of
mm
surface, was also an influential factor.
Ae from various mining districts eniphasised
ity of the problem, but there was general
that illumination and the dark nature of
ecting surface in coal-mines were important
A. variety of types of miners’ lamps were
and Mr. E. Fudge, secretary of the Home
Committee - ‘on Miners’ Lamps now sitting,
e remarks on possible developments. The
of whitewashing coal-surfaces in order to
the reflection of light was also considered. At
jusion of the discussion Mr. L. Gaster sug-
"comprehensive investigation by competent
c experts, aided by ophthalmic surgeons, in
» obtain data on a uniform basis, establish the
of the conditions of illumination to be guarded
Pr and consider possibilities of meeting lighting
erements
An” ‘interesting paper on the theory and practice of
lubrication | was read by Messrs. Wells and South-
combe before the London Section of the Society of
hemical Industry on February 2. Free fatty acids
ants have hitherto been, judged mainly by
rious effects which they are. capable of causing.
It has now or ie found, however, that’ these acids, in
~ strictly limited amount, ‘can greatly increase the value
_ Of mineral oils as lubricants. Tested in a’ Thurston,
ction machine under conditions’ of very low speed
est: high pressure, it was found that .o-5 per cent.
_ of the fatty acids of rape-oil added’ to a mineral oil.
‘reducéd the? friction baeicient from: 06-0066 *to ‘0-0049,'
whilst: nearly 60 per: cent: of the same ‘rapé-oil ‘free
from acid was ‘required to’ produce the same effect.
ltrs s, therefore, that this discovery affords ' the:
men
epee
"A NOL 2627, VOL."T05]" °
spring.
the greater part of the septnifiable ses and fats now
used for blending with mineral oils.
IN a paper read to the Institution of: Petroleunr
Technologists on February 17, Dr. W. R. Qrmandy
describes a number of patents which have been taken
out for mixtures intended to be used as motor. fuels.
Protesting against the present system, he states that
patents have been granted for admixtures. of. bodies.
which every chemist knows will mix, and every
engineer knows will drive an_ internal-combustion
engine. Many of them are certainly not inventions or
discoveries. Presumably the patents have been granted
because the patent records of the preceding fifty years
cannot show that anything of the sort has previously
been patented. But it is common knowledgé to those
skilled in the matter that such liquids as paraffin,.
petrol, benzol, alcohol, ether, and acetone will mix
either in any proportion or in restricted propottions ;
and also that by admixture, for example, “of petrol
-with benzol a certain amount of alcohol can’ be’ caused
to dissolve in the mixture which would not ‘dissolve
in the petrol alone. It is equally common knowledge
to chemists and engineers that any admixture’ of two
or more volatile fuel bodies will result in a third sub-
stance also capable of being used as a fuel. ‘Disclaim-
ing any intention of expressing a pronouncéd Opinion
on any of the specifications, the author regatd§ it as
prejudicial to the general interests of the commitinity
that such patents should exist, and has no doubt keg
they contain the seeds of many lawsuits. | F
WE have received from Messrs. Flatters aa 4 Garnett,
Oxford Road, Manchester, their price-list. of stains,
chemicals, slides, cover-glasses, dissecting instruments,
etc., for use in. microscopical and histological. work.
The list of stains, which are all tested, seems fairly
complete, and the solids are supplied in quantities of
24, 5, 10, and 25 grams. With a selection, of. this
kind to choose from, the worker in these branches. of
science should be independent of foreign supplies.
Messrs. Methuen and Co., Ltd., will publish’ shortly
a translation by Mr. R. W. Lawson; of the University
of Sheffield, of ‘‘The Special and the General ' ‘Theory
of Relativity,’’ by Prof. Einstein. The ‘voliime | is.
primarily intended for those who are not ‘conversant
with the mathematical analysis used in theoretical
physics, the aim of the author being to give the main
ideas of the theory of relativity in the cledrest and
simplest form.
7
A course of lectures was delivered in the University
of London in 1913 by Prof. E, Bresslau, of, the Uni-
versity of Strassburg, and a volume based on them,
bearing the title of “The Mammary Apparatus. of
the Mammalia in the Light of Ontogenesis and
Phylogenesis,” with a preface by Prof. J. P. Hill,
to be ‘issued by Messrs. Methuen and Co., ‘Ltd. - ‘this
It will provide an epitome of Prof. Bresslau’s
investigations on the development of the milk-glands
and related parts in the mammalia, and of his _ con-
clusions’ respecting the evolutionary history of. the
- Omeéans: of- diverting to other and more’ raphicn peers |
imamimaty apparatus, and be fully illustrated,
(xy
vo
NATURE
[Marcu 4, 1920
Our Astronomical Column,
OCCULTATION OF A STAR By SaTURN.—Mr. A: Burnet
has pointed out that the star Lalande 20654 (mag. 7-3)
will be occulted by Saturn on the evening of March 14.
Mr. L. J. Comrie gives some further. details and a
diagram in the Journal of the British Astronomical Asso-
ciation for January. At Greenwich the star disappears
at 7h. 5m. in position angle 281°, just to the north of
the ring, reappearing at 8h. 4om. in angle 121°. The
star will pass very close to Titan about 12h. 15m.,
and an occultation by that satellite will probably
occur somewhere on the earth; hence it is important
to observe the conjunction with care, and, if an
occultation occurs, to take the times of disappearance
and reappearance, as a useful determination of Titan’s
diameter might be made from such observations. A
central occultation would last about five minutes.
Tue NavuticaL ALMANAC FOR 1922.—This volume
has lately been issued, and is of interest as being the
last almanac in which the places of the moon are based
on Hansen’s tables; these were first used in the
1862 almanac, but, starting with 1883, Newcomb’s cor-
rections have been applied to them. For ten years_
after this the errors of the almanac places of the
moon were very small, then they began to mount up,
and now reach nearly 1 sec. in R.A. The introduc-
tion of Brown’s tables in the 1923 volume will greatly
reduce this error, but will not remove it entirely, since
Dr. Brown has preferred not to introduce a term of
some sixty years’ period which is indicated by the
observations.
CALENDAR REFORM.—This question, which was sus-
pended during the war, is again coming to the front.
‘The majority of the reformers agree on the following
points :—(1) That each quarter should have ninety-
one days (thirteen weeks), there being two months
with thirty days and one with thirty-one, these lengths
repeating themselves in the same order in. each
quarter; (2) that one day in each year, and a second
day in leap year, should stand outside the week, so
that the week-days repeat themselves alike in every
year; and (3) that the leap day should come at the
end of the year, its position in the second month
being extremely inconvenient. Mr. Alexr. Philip pro-
poses to begin the year with March, thus restoring the
meaning of the names September, etc. He further
suggests that the day outside the week should be
Whit-Sunday, which is put at the end of the first
quarter (May 31); it is immediately followed by an
ordinary Sunday, taking advantage of the fact that
the day following Whit-Sunday is already-a general
holiday. Easter Sunday on this plan would always
be on April 12. The leap day would come as now, at
the end of February, but this would then be the last
month of the year. He further suggests that, if it be
desired to keep the months as nearly as possible at
their present lengths, his scheme would involve no
greater change than that August should give one day
to February.
M. Flammarion’s scheme, reprinted in the Annuaire
Astronomique for 1920, is similar, but more revolu-
tionary. He would begin the year at the vernal
equinox, giving new names to all the months. Their
lengths in each quarter would be 30, 30, and 31 days.
Easter would be the 21st of the first month (corre-
sponding with April 10). The extra-week day and
the leap day would both come at the end of the year.
~ It would seem desirable that all reformers should
agree to adopt one of the many schemes that have
been proposed, as. unanimity is required to give
sufficient driving power to carry any reform. The
fact that- the present: most. illogical calendar has sur-
vived so long is a forcible illustration of the strong’
conservatism of mankind.
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
The Association of Technical Institutions, —
THE twenty-seventh annual general meeting of the
Association of Technical Institutions was held in.
the Cordwainers’ Hall, E.C., on Friday and Saturday
last, February 27 and 28. The meeting. was opened by
the retiring president, Lord Sydenham, -The Marquess of
Crewe, K.G., was elected president for the year 1920,
and delivered his inaugural address, in which he dealt
at length with the working of the Education Act of
1918, especially in its relation to continuation schools,
and went on to plead strongly for better education
and training in the science and methods of agriculture,
certainly our oldest, and possibly our largest and most
vital, industry. .No industry demands for its suecess-
-ful prosecution a sounder knowledge of the various
sciences, including chemistry, botany, geology, bac-
teriology, entomology, meteorology, and engineering,
Modern agriculture is a complex business,. and
measures should be taken for the due training of all
concerned,- whether engaged in it on a small or a
large scale, and especially in the scientific study and
practice of forestry. One of the fruits of the great
war was seen in the newly awakened interest of em-
ployers in the applications of science to industry, and
in their greater readiness to find appointments and
opportunities for students who, on the foundation of
a good general education, had specialised in scientific
subjects and showed themselves willing and able to
undertake important research. In this regard we
could learn valuable lessons from American practice.
It was gratifying to observe also the keenness dis-
played by the general class of workers, who, under the
auspices of the Workers’ Educational Association, are
now, with shorter traditions and scantier leisure *han
other social classes, interesting themselves in liberal
studies relating to literature and history, and in social
and political economy. It is all to the good in the
building up of an educated nation.
The report for the year 1919 was submitted, show-
ing that the membership of the ‘association now com-
prised 108 institutions, the highest in its history, being
an increase of ten over that of 1914. Steps have bee
taken to bring before the Board of Education the
necessity for providing not only facilities, either in full- —
time or vacation courses, for persons desiring to be-
came teachers in the new continuation schools set forth
in the Education Act of 1918, but also opportunities
for present continuation-school teachers who need
are training in this special form of educational
work.
than six months, and that in the event of approved
teachers so devoting themselves the Board might con-
sider favourably the question of granting a mainten-
ance allowance for such teachers. The council. was
assured of the sympathy of the Board in this matter,
especially in the case of demobilised officers, and that
a maintenance allowance would be made.
The question of: pensions for teachers in technica
institutions had also been considered and information
thereon sought from the Board, which states that, with
the approval given by the Treasury, the following will
be accepted as counting for, qualifving service, namely,
in private schools (prior to April 1, 1919), provided
they are conducted on the same standards of efficiency
as schools under public management; as inspectors of
schools under any Government Denartment in Eng-
land. Scotland, or Ireland: as officials of the Board —
of Education or of the. Scotch or Irish Education
Denartment; as officials of ‘a local education
authority whose salaries are paid out of the educa-
tion rate; -as officials of any school or educational in-—
stitution (not conducted for private profit), including —
a university, if the institution is one, teaching service
¥
It was suggested by the council that full-time
courses might be of one year’s duration or not shorter
i
Marcu 4, 1920]
NATURE
which would be regarded as recognised and qualify-
§ service; in the case of trade or commercial in-
tors, five years of practical experience or not more
mM seven-years in special cases; in any university
university college; in any school receiving .grants
ided by a Government Department; as a supple-
Y teacher in a public elementary school; in any
in any British Colony or Dependency or in
ai or under regular inspection by the
1ent; in any foreign country where there exists
sement for the interchange of teachers made
> Board of Education.
- question of salaries for teachers of various
technical institutions had been carefully
, and the following scale was submitted
nd approved by, the meeting, and ordered to be
ae to local education authorities and the
' bodies of technical institutes for their con-
tion, namely: Principals in four grades of
ranging from 12501. down to 5ool., and rising
l increments during five years to 15001. and
of departments in three grades ranging
901. down to 4ool., and risine by annual incre-
during ten years to gool. and 6ool.; heads of
technical and commercial schools to be classed
s of departments; lecturers in three grades
from 4ool. down to 250l., and rising by annual
during three years to 6ool. and 4pool.
er by Mr. A. Mansbridge on ‘ Technical
‘and their Part in Adult Education,” it
rged that a great crusade against the
vy use of leisure is a pressing need of the
‘here can be no better way for.the worker to
his off-hours than that which leads to the
ent of his interests or his skill. Technical
, however, never flourish in a community
not regard the matters with which it deals
umental importance to the whole health of
tion which merely regards it as a means of
i others must always be content with
f achievement. The education of a man lies
than the pursuit of knowledge or training.
turn to influencing or contemplation of the
“movements of men, others to the creation
al things, and each alike serves his genera-
he direction be true. Mr. Mansbridge pleaded
technical institutes should make provision for
| and women to study in their leisure time
rs, technical or non-technical, in which they
sted, or rather for which they possess the
aptitude. He asked that serious attention
be given to the notable Report of the Com-
ee on Adult Education issued in July last.
er was read on ‘‘Day Continuation Schools”
H. J. Taylor, of Dewsbury, in which he urged
earty response should be given to the invita-
n of Mr. Fisher to local education authorities to
iblish these schools voluntarily on the lines laid
vn by the Board of Education in its recent cir-
ir, namely, that such schools must give as great
measure, of liberal. education, both phvsical and
fal, as opportunity and time afford. Mr. Taylor
ded that the most effective way in which the
conditions could be met. was by arranging for a com-
plete day each week for groups of boys and girls, and
cited. the efforts of the Dewsbury Education, Com-
' mittee and of the employers. of the town (without
reducing the wages of their employees) to establish
such a. school as. illustrating its possibilitv.
‘ _A further paper was.read by Dr..R. S. Clay, of the
Northern Polytechnic, London, in which he advocated
_ an ampler. provision .of scholarships, throughout the
whole sphere of education by the institution to each
ten thousand of the population of six junior scholar-
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
23
ships from elementary to secondary schools, six indus-
trial scholarships, three intermediate scholarships to
enable the recipients to continue their education at the
secondary school until the age of eighteen or nineteen,
one senior scholarship to the university or the technical
institute, and one post-graduate or research exhibition
tenable at the close of the graduate course.
Resolutions were adopted dealing with lengthened
vacations, so that teachers of special subjects
should have facilities for keeping in touch with
industrial developments; maximum teaching hours
for ordinary lecturers and heads of departments;
the appointment of a consultative committee com-
prised of representatives of industry, and including
representatives of universities and technical institu-
tions,. to advise the university and _ technological
branches of the Board of ‘Education’ on all matters
affecting the relationship of. university ‘and higher
technical education to industry; and, finally, the provi-
sion that should be made in the preparation of schemes
required by the, Education Act of 1918 for the con-
tinuation of study on the part. of science teachers by
means of suitable tutorial courses of science lectures
and practical work, together with facilities to attend
meetings of scientific and technical societies and to
visit special educational centres and industrial works.
The Einstein Deflection of Light.
HE idea of detecting the Einstein deflection by
measures of two neighbouring stars has occurred’
to many people, and Prof. C. V. Raman writes- to
suggest that the apparent distance of the two com-
ponents of a binary star may be influenced by the
effect. It seems, therefore, worth while to examine
the conditions, and to try to discover whether any
sensible effects are to be expected.
First, it is easy to show that where the linear
distance between the two stars is small compared with
their distance from the sun, then the angular shift
of the further star, due to the Einstein effect, is
diminished as seen from the sun in the approximate
ratio: Distance between the stars/their distance from
the sun. That is, it becomes absolutely evanescent,
and the effect suggested by Prof. Raman is non-
existent.
Secondly, let the two stars be at different distances:
from the sun; for simplicity, take the distance of the
A
B
Fic. 1.—To illustrate the production of an image of a distant star
by the gravitational bending of its light by a nearer one.
nearer star as half that of the further; let their
angular diameters be 0-002" and o-oo1" respectively,
and let the angular distance between them be 1”.
Then the light from the further star passes the nearer
star at a distance of 1000 of its radii. If the bending
of a grazing ray be 2”, the bending in the actual case
is 0-002", and the apparent shift as seen from the sun
o-oo1”. It appears that in. no case where the two
star-discs are sufficiently far apart to be. easily separ-
able is the Einstein shift appreciable.
A second Einstein effect has been imagined, viz. the
formation of an image of the distant star on the
reverse side of the nearer one. - From C, the centre
of the latter, draw tangents CA, CB, and produce
them. backward to DE. Then DE is one-millionth of
a second. Now it is only along the arc DE that the
Einstein image is produced, and the radial diameter
24
NATURE
| Marcu 4, 1920
of.the image can easily be shown to be of the same
order as DE; whence the angular area of the image
is, say, one-millionth of the area of AB; and since
no optical arrangement can increase the surface. bril-
jiancy of an image, the latter is fifteen magnitudes
fainter than AB, and therefore utterly invisible.
It is only when two stars approach each other
so closely, that their discs are almost in contact that
any. sensible Einstein effect occurs; and since the
two discs are in this case absolutely inseparable, the
visible effect would be simply a slight brightening.
In view of (1) the rarity of such close appulses, (2) the
impossibility of predicting them, and (3) the transient
nature of the. brightening, which would last for only
a few days, the prospect of detecting such a pheno-
menon is. very small.
The outburst of nove cannot be explained in this
‘manner,.as some have suggested, for it could not
possibly produce a ten-thousandfold increase in light;
‘moreover, the light-curve before and after maximum
would. be exactly symmetrical, which is assuredly not
the case, with nove, the increase of light being much
‘more rapid than the decline.
It is to be noted that even if some brightening were
observed in an apvulse, it would be impossible to sav
whether the light-bending followed the Newtonian cr
the. Einstein law. A. C.D. CROMMELIN.
The New Zealand Institute.
Te publication of the fifty-first volume of the
Transactions and Proceedings of the New
Zealand Institute marks the commencement of a new
epoch in the history of that very vigorous scientific
organisation. The volume itself compares very
favourably with those of past years, and its contents
show that there is at least one part of the British
Empire where pure science is being cultivated as
‘strenuously as before the war. We are glad to see
that the institute is receiving more support from the
New Zealand Government, while the large member-
ship of the nine constituent societies scattered through-
out the Dominion clearly indicates the influence which
jt is exerting upon the New Zealand public.
The volume opens with obituary notices and por-
traits of three distinguished New Zealanders—
Alexander Turnbull, who devoted his leisure to the
‘collection. of a magnificent library, bequeathed to the
Dominion, including 32,000 bound volumes, dealing
especially with the history of the Pacific Islands;
Henry Suter, known throughout the scientific world
as a'distinguished student of conchology, and author
of the ** Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca”; and
‘Thomas Adams, who did great work for his adopted
country in the promotion of scientific arboriculture.
Of the numerous. original memoirs which the
volume contains, it is not too much to say that they
embody a large amount of information of high
‘scientific value, and if they relate almost exclusively
to. matters of local interest, dealing chiefly with the
fauna, flora, and geology of the islands, this is only
as it should be, for it is in these fields that the New
Zealand, man of science finds his magnificent oppor-
tunities. Where there is so much to choose from it
is difficult to single out particular contributions for
notice, but the attention of zoologists should be directed
to the very interesting discovery of a second species
of New Zealand frog, Liopelma Hamiltoni, found by
Mr. Harold Hamilton on Stephen Island, in Cook
Straits, and described (with excellent coloured: illus-
trations) by Mr. A. R. McCulloch, of the Australian
Museum. This species is closely related to the long-
known but rare Liopelma Hochstetteri of the North
Island, the only previously known New. Zealand
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
amphibian. In the botanical field Dr. J. E. Hol-
loway continues his admirable studies on the genus
Lycopodium, while geology is well represented. by
papers by Dr. P. Marshall, Mr. R. Speight, —
others. In the department of geophysics Mr. A. W.
Burrell contributes a very interesting account of a
working model to demonstrate the’ manner in which
ocean currents may be caused by the rotation of the
earth, eee hes Beer
In conclusion, we may note that the institute has”
decided to elect a body of fellows, limited to forty in
number, who are to have the privilege of writing
after their names the letters F.N.Z.Inst.—a distinction
which we do not‘ doubt will have a real value in the
world of. science. ies
The Geology of the West Indies. —
BAsly in 1914 Dr. T. Wayland Vaughan, of the
United States Geological Survey, paid an official
visit to several of the smaller West Indian islands,
partly with help from the —— Institution of
Washington. Besides studying the stratigraphical
geology of the islands and making notes on their
physiography, he also collected large series of fossils
which were sent for detailed examination to Washing-
ton. He thus obtained material for a valuable con-
tribution to our knowledge of the Tertiary sedimen-
tary rocks which form the greater part of these
islands, and made possible satisfactory comparisons
with the corresponding geological formations of the
southern United States. Dr. Vaughan has already
published several preliminary notes on his results, and
an especially important memoir on some fossil corals
and the formation of coral-reefs. His final report,
however, on the details of local geology and the
general conclusions are deferred until all the fossils
are examined and described. He has just edited a
series of these descriptions, which has been pub-
lished by the Carnegie Institution (Publication
No. 291, 1919) in a small volume illustrated by
beautiful photographic plates.
Calcareous algz from the Eocene limestone of St.
Bartholomew and from the Oligocene limestone of
Antigua and Anguilla are described by Mr. Marshall A.
Howe. Lithothamnium and related forms are well
illustrated by enlarged sections. The Foraminifera
are not only described with excellent figures by Mr.
J. A. Cushman, but also discussed from the geological
point of view. Some of the larger orbitoid species
make correlations possible with corresponding rocks
both in continental America and in Europe, while the
' small Miocene species allow very definite correlations _
with Panama and the coastal plain of the United
States. The Bryozoa, described by Drs. F. Canu and
R. S. Bassler, are of Upper Oligocene and Lower
Miocene age, and notes are added on the distribution
of those species which occur in other parts of the
world. The Eocene and Oligocene mollusca, described
by Mr. C. W. Cooke, are of.great geological import-
ance, and comparisons are facilitated by faunal lists.
The account of: the Decapod Crustacea, by Miss
Mary J. Rathbun, is:almost entirely new, .only two
species of one genus (Ranina) having previously been
recorded. from the: Tertiary formations of the West
Indies. A few genera are distinctively American, but
some: have close affinity with those at. present living
in the Indo-Pacific region. ct Neg hema
We congratulate Dr. Wayland .Vaughan and his
‘colleagues on the thoroughness with which: they are
accomplishing «their: task, and we look. forward to
the publication of the concluding sections of this great
contribution:to the geology and paleontology of. the
Central American regions6))*! )o. 47) Tee ig
2
4
[ARcii 4, 1920]
NATURE 25
versity and Educational Intelligence.
st.—Dr. James Small, lecturer on botany in
¢ Se London, and in the London School
nacy, has been appointed professor of botany
on to Prof. Yapp. — gees:
RIDGE.—It, has already been announced ‘that a
of Girton College has given 10,000l., to be
ed, both capital and interest, durine the next
ent} rs for the encouragement of research by
men ee cit citeticel,. physical, and natural
., We now. learn that a fellowship of the
g3o0ol. a year is offered by the college for
hh in such sciences as chemistry, electricity,
ngineering, botany, logy, medicine, agriculture,
*. The election of the fellow will take place in
ape of the award by the council being
“later than June 30. “Women who are
or have taken honours in a final degree
ination of any university, and members of the
College Roll, are eligible for the fellowship.
fellow will be elected for three years in the first
ice. Applications for the fellowship: must be
the secretary of the college on or before
h 31.. Each candidate should describe a course
research and submit~a dissertation or published
k, in addition to any other evidence she may
ire to furnish of her fitness to undertake the pro-
sd course of research.
pON.—The Senate has received two letters from
Haldane of Cloan, chairman of the Sir
Cassel Educational Trust, offering important
connection with the new degrees in com-
1e trustees offer an endowmént of 150,o000l.
n, producing 7500l. a year, for the provi-
eight, or possibly more, teaching posts in
# and currency, foreign trade, accountancy and
“methods, transport and shipping, industrial
tion, and commercial law, and propose that
‘should include three Sir Ernest Cassel professor-
: apaar and currency, foreign trade, and
ney and business methods respectively. They
suggest that the teaching in all the above-
subjects should be given at the London School
nomics, it being understood that accommoda-
1 for increased teaching is to be provided in the
_ néw buildings now being erected at the school, with
_ the assistance of the sum of 50,0001. recently given
‘by the General Committee for Degrees in Com-
_ merce, on the new site granted by the London County
vaaiene ‘The peat also offer ee to os ea
Py ve - an annual grant up to 3000/. a year, for five
yeats in the first instance, for the provision of addi-
tional instruction in the following modern languages
required to meet the needs of students in commerce:
French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Rus-
sian, and Arabic, together with a further sum of
toool. for the current year to:meet the expenditure
on additional modern-language instruction incurred
i Sell Nag ‘They also place at the disposal of
fiversity a sum of toool. a year, in the first
ance for five vears, for travelling scholarships for
the benefit of students in commerce. The offers have
“en accepted by the Senate, and the Vice-Chancellor
as been asked to convey to Sir Ernest Cassel and to
the chairman of the Cassel ‘Trust ‘‘the warmest
‘thanks of the Senate for these’ great gifts for the
_ cause of education, from which they anticipate the
most fruitful results:’”? ~ sli hath |
Dr. James McIntosh has been appointed as from
March 1 to the University chair of pathology tenable
oo ee Hospital »Medical School. During
‘ war Dr. McIntosh carried: out investigations at
the Royal Herbert Military Hospital, Woolwich, on
cerebro-spinal fever, and at the London Hospital on
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
i.
gas-gangrene. For the last nine months he hasbeen
a full-time investigator on the staff of the Medi¢al
Research Committee. Dr. McIntosh is the author
of numerous reports and other articles in medical and
scientific journals,
Dr. Sidney Russ has been appointed as ’from
March 1 to be the first incumbent of the Joel chair of
physics tenable at the Middlesex Hospital Medical
School. The work of this professorship, ‘recently
established by the munificence of Messrs. S. B. and
J. B. Joel, will deal especially with physics in’ relation
to medicine. From 1906 to 1910 Dr. Russ was demon-
strator in physics at the University of Manchester,
and was appointed physicist to the Middlesex Hospital
in 1913. He is the author of a large number of
articles and other’ papers dealing with radio-activity
and other aspects of medical physics. ;
The following have been appointed fellows of Uni-
versity College :—Mr. F. J. F. Barrington, assistant
surgeon, Surgical Unit, University College Hospital;
Mr. W. C. Clinton, assistant professor in the depart-
ment of electrical engineering and Sub-Déan’'of the
college faculty of engineering; Miss Ethel M. Elder-
ton, Galton research fellow in the department of
applied statistics and eugenics; Dr. T. H.C. Steven-
son, superintendent of statistics at the ‘General
Register Office, and fellow and joint secrétary of
the Royal Statistical Society; and Dr. Ethel N.
Thomas, lecturer in the department of botany, and
keeper of the department of botany in the National
Museum of Wales. , 1. dH?
The degree of D.Sc. (Economics) has been conferred
on Mr. W. Rees, an internal student, of the, London
School of Economics, for a thesis entitled)‘ An
Agrarian Survey of South. Wales and- the,.March,
1284-1415.’?. ide wd
On Wednesdav next, March 10, at 5.30 p.m... Lord
Moulton will deliver an address at University College
on “The Training and Functions of the Chemical
Engineer.” Prince Arthur of Connaught will, preside.
Oxrorp.—The King has been pleased to'.approve
of the appointment of Sir Archibald E.) Garrod,
K.C.M.G., F.R.S., to be Regius professor of medi-
cine in the University in succession to. the late Sir
William Osler, Bart. HOV. Ori
Tue fellowship diploma of the Royal College of
Science for Ireland has been awarded to Mr. Hugh
Ramage and Mr. R. L. Wills. .
Mr. W. D. Ecoar will deliver a course of four
public illustrated lectures on_‘ Optics”’ at Gresham
College, Basinghall Street, E.C.2, at 6 o’clock, ‘on
March 9, 10, 11, and 12, in place of the -course
announced for delivery by the Gresham professor, .of
geometry, who is suffering from illness. 4) |)
Tue Master and fellows of Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge, propose to elect in July next a holder of
the Almeric Paget studentship in political''science,
economics, and kindred subjects.. The studentship is
of the value of 1sol., and tenable for one’ year.
Applications should be addressed to Mr. W. Spens,
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, by, at latest,
July 1. :
Tue next of the series of lectures for teachers on
“Recent Developments in Science,” arranged by the
Education Officer of the London County Council, will
be on ‘The Dve Industry,” by Prof. G. T. Morgan,
and will be delivered at Finsbury Technical College,
Leonard Street, City Road, E.C.2, on Saturday,
March 20, at 11 a.m. The chair will be, taken by Dr.
M. O, Forster, depes
H.R.H. Prince ArtHuR oF CONNAUGHT. will) preside
on March 19 at a luncheon to be held at the Savoy
26
NATURE
[Marcu 4, 1920
Hotel, when the proposals. for the reconstruction and
we-equipment of the engineering laboratories at
University College, London, will be explained by the
treasurer, Sir Ernest Moir, and others. It will be
remembered that an appeal for 100,000l. towards this
object was recently issued. Already more than
33,0001. has been collected—that is, about one-third
of the total stim required. It is urgently necessary
that the wholé fund should be subscribed by June at
the latest, in order that the buildings may be put in
‘hand. Further donations should be sent to H.R.H.
Prince Arthur of Connaught at 42 Upper Grosvenor
‘Street, W.1.
In School Hygiene (vol. xi., No. 1, February) Dr.
A. A. Mumford. puts forward an interesting scheme for
the investigation and standardisation of the phvsical
efficiency of children which is characterised by. the
‘breadth of view we should-expect from the author of
the ‘‘ History of the Manchester Grammar School.”
“Grading his subjects in six age-groups from two to
eighteen, he indicates the materialistic tests which are
appropriate. A boy of about thirteen, for example,
should be able to run 100 vards in 14 seconds; for. the
oldest boys Flack’s manometer test of expiratory force
is of value. But realising, as medicine has come to
realise more and more in recent years, the influence
of the mind on the body, he emphasises the necessity
of studying the emotional incentives to be found in the
imagination, and would. have the school medical officer
pay attention to sulkiness as much as to adenoids.
In the discussion of. the paper Dr. Lempriere, of
Haileybury, describes the quick, practical. utility of
height-weight ratios as indices of physical progress.
Athletes are taller and heavier. than the average,
““erocks’? shorter and lighter; it is, perhaps, charac-
‘teristic that nothing is said about the physical qualities
of the scholars. and dunces.
Societies and Academies.
LONDON,
Royal Society, February 19.—Sir J. J. Thomson,
president, in the chair.—B. Moore and T. A. Webster:
Studies of photosynthesis in fresh-water alge. (1)The
\ fixation of both carbon and nitrogen from the atmo-
‘sphere to form organic tissue by the green plant-cell.
(2) Nutrition and growth produced by high gaseous
‘dilutions of simple organic compounds, such as
formaldehyde and methylic alcohol. (3) Nutrition and
' growth by means of high dilutions of carbon dioxide
and oxides of nitrogen without access to atmosphere.
‘The primeval living organism, like the inorganic col-
' loidal systems which were its precursors, must have
possessed the power of fixing carbon and nitrogen,
and building these up into reduced organic compounds
with uptake of energy. The source of the energy was
sunlight. This power is still possessed by the lowliest
type of synthesising cell existing, namely, the uni-
cellular alga. A synthesising cell must have existed
prior to bacteria and other fungi, since’ these can
exist only upon organic matter,’ and the primeval
world before the advent of. life could contain no
organic matter. Their specific reactions show that
even the ultra-microscopic filter-passing organisms are
highly organised products on the path from the in-
organic towards life, and hence it follows that there
is a long intermediate range of evolution. The first
synthesising system( acting. upon light was thus prob-
ably an inorganic colloidal system in solution,. capable
of adsorbing the simple organic substances which
it synthesised. It is therefore futile to search for
the origin of life at the level of bacteria and torule.
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
‘loidal» systems.
————
As complexity increased with progressive evolution,
more and more rapid transformers for the capture of
the energy of sunlight came into et
transformers are found in the ‘green ‘cell for fixation
of both carbon and nitrogen. The earlier trans-
formers in the inorganic colloidal systems can only
utilise light of short wave-lengths; the later trans-
formers. in the living cells are adapted to utilise longer
wave-lengths; and the very short wave-lengths, which
are lethal, are cut off by their colour-screens of chloro-
phyll,, etc.—W. M. Bayliss: The properties of col-
iv.: Reversible gelation in living
protoplasm. With intense dark-ground illumination it
is possible to see that the apparently clear pseudo-
podia of Amoeba are filled with numerous very minute
particles in Brownian movement, thus affording
further evidence of the liquid, hydrosol nature of —
simple protoplasm. By electrical stimulation this sol
can be reversibly changed into the gel state, evidenced
by the sudden cessation of the Brownian movement.—
F. J. Wyeth: The development of the auditory ap-
paratus in Sphenodon punctatus. This memoir con-
tains-a detailed and fully illustrated account of the
development of the auditory apparatus and associated
structures in the New Zealand Tuatara. As this
important type is on the verge of extinction, it was
thought desirable to treat the subject fully, although,
as might be expected, the developmental history agrees ©
closely with that found in other reptiles. The work
was carried out: chiefly by means of wax-plate recon-
struction models. The third and fourth visceral clefts
are closed by a backwardly growing operculum, but
separate dorsal and ventral openings of the’ clefts
were not observed. The existence of two pairs of
head-cavities was confirmed, those of each pair com-
municating with each other by transverse canals.
The vascular system was found to exhibit a number
of primitive features. The region investigated in-
cludes cranial nerves vi.-xii., the development of which
was worked out in detail. The general development
of the internal ear and auditory nerve is thoroughly
normal. The development of the cristae and maculz
acusticze from the primitive néuroepithelium is given
in detail. A well-marked macula neglecta is found.
As regards the much-debated question of the origin
of the columellar apparatus, evidence is brought for-
ward in support of the contention that this is
essentially a derivative of the hyoid arch, and it is
maintained that the auditory capsule contributes at
most a portion of the foot-plate of the stapes.
Linnean Society, February 19.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-
ward, president, in the chair.—Major H. C. Gunton ;
Entomological-meteorological records of ecological
facts in the life of British Lepidoptera. The author
believed that interesting facts would be obtained by -
recording and plotting the results of observations
made by a number of entomologists in various locali-
ties. The scheme exhibited was derived from his
notes from February to December, 1919, within: a
radius of four miles from Gerfard’s- Cross; Bucks,
which includes oak and beech woods, héath, marsh, —
and cultivated land. Special signs are used to denote
the occurrence of species of macro-Lepidoptera on
sallow-bloom in the spring, ivy in the autumn, sugar,
and light. Thirty-five species of buttérflies and two
hundred and forty svecies of moths are thus tabulated
and correlated with meteorological data. The diagram
places many facts before the eye, as the long con-
tinuance of certain species, the presence of more than
one brood, and the like.’ Sugar scarcely appeals when
honey-dew is abundant, and artificial light is’ ineffec-
tive during bright moonlight. Other problems, as of
immigration, still await solutions." % Rm ang
27
MARCH 4, 1920].
ots < PABIS.
lemy of“ ‘Sciences,’ February. 9.—M... Henri
es in the 1a a A. Dangeard: The
@, vacuome, and spherome in Selaginella
1a.—G, Charpy: The minute fissures “i steel
she mode of formation and method of detec-
f ‘minute cavities in steel ingots are described,
with an account of their alteration, during
and forging——M: Leclerc du Sablon was
a correspondant for the section of botany in
on to the late M. Farlow, and M. Luslon
dant for the section of mineralogy in suc-
_M. Walcott, elected foreign. associate.—
The reduction of contact transformations.
and; A reduction of Abelian integrals.—J.
ee eeeenary glaciation of Central
L. and E. Bloch: Some new spark spectra
treme ultra-violet. Measurements for wave-
between 1855 and 1500 A.U. are given for
-violet spectra of cadmium, bismuth, nickel,
er.—J. A. Le Bel: New observations on cata-
phenomena.—D. Gauthier: The synthesis of
tertiary alcohols. A correction relating to
tution of a body previously described.—J.
d L. J. Simon: The action of water. on
chlorosulphonate.—A. Mailhe and F. de Godon :
lytic formation of ether oxides. © Calcined
an excellent: reagent for the conversion of
alcohol into ether, with a yield of 71 per cent.
s reaction has been extended to propyl alcohol
d of ether 54 per cent.), isopropyl alcohol (vield
r cent.), isoamyl alcohol (yield 28 per cent.),
eese.—E. F. Galiano: The histology
hearts of Sepia officinalis and their
alippe: Researches on the evolution
_of certain plant-cells by the method
aaaok! and M. Brocq-Rousseu: The
of rats by chloropicrin. Both the rat and the
readily destroyed by the vapour of chloro-
_ as this substance is without action upon
and dyes, it can be utilised for the
-
n of rats in ships. =
Bw _ Books Received.
Course of. Practical Chemistry for Agricultural
ts. By L. F. Newman and Prof. H. A. D.
le. Vol. i. Pp. 235. (Cambridge: At the Uni-
Press.) 10s. 6d. net. eit ate
reatise on the Mathematical Theory of Elas-
ero. A. Eb. Love. Third edition.
(Cambridge: At the University
: 6d. net, ist
ae the aa Lever. «By Dri: Sic.
on. Pp. 136. ondon: Holden and Harding-
Ltd.) - 1s. . , .
Department of Applied Statistics, University of
London, University sollege. Drapers’ Cacti Re-
search Memoirs. Biometric Series. X.: A Study of
e Long Bones of the. English Skeleton, By, Karl
rson and’ Julia Bell.’ Part i.: The Femur. Text,
chaps. i. to vi., pp. v+224; Atlas, pp. vii+plates lim:
i 1, Tables. -of Measurements and Observations.
Part i., section ii. Text, pp. 225-539; Atlas, pp. vii+
‘ tes Ix-ci. (Cambridge: At the University Press.)
Part i., Text and Atlas, 30s. net; part i., section ii.,
Text and Atlas; 40S: net.
- Tanks in the.Great War, 1914-1918. By Brevet-
Col. J. F. C. Fuller.. Pp.. xxiv+331+vii plates.
(London: John Murray.) 21s. net. _
NO. 2627, VOL. 105 |
NATURE
= " SSNS
| The Heron, of Castle Creek, and other Sketches of
Bird’: Life.* By -A. W. Reéés.~ Pp. 218. (London:
John Murray.) 7s. 6d, net.
The Soil: An Intreduction to the Scientific Study
of the Growth of Crops. By Sir A. D. Hall. Third
edition. Pp. xv+352. (London: John Murray.)
7s. 6d. net. i
Medieval Medicine. By Prof. J. J. Walsh. Pp.
xii+221. (London: A. and C. Black, Ltd.) 7s. 6d,
net.
Laboratory Manual of Elementary Colloid Chemis-
try. By E. Hatschek. Pp. 135. (London: J. and A
| Churchill.) 6s. 6d.
Euclid in Greek. Book i. With Introduction and
Notes. By Sir Thomas L. Heath. Pp. ix+239.
(Cambridge: At the University Press.) os. net.
Sleeping for Health. By Dr. E. F. Bowers.
128: (London: G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.)
Foodstuffs ;
Animal Their Production and Con-
sumption, with Special Reference to the British
Empire. By Dr. E. W. Shanahan. Pp. viii+331-
(London: , G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.) 10s, 6d.
net. rs
Intermediate’ Text-book of Magnetism and Elec-
tricity. By R..W. Hutchinson. Pp. viii+620-
(London: W. B. Clive.) 8s. .6d.
‘The Mineralogy of the Rarer Metals. By E. Cahen
and W. ©. Wootton. Second edition. Revised by
E. Cahen. Pp. xxxii+246. (London: C. Griffin and
Co., Ltd.) tos. 6d.
The Running and Maintenance of the Marine Diesel
Engine. By J. Lamb. Pp. xii+231+4 plates.
(London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd.) 8s. 6d
“Memoirs. of the Geological Survey,
Special Reports on the Mineral Resources of Great
Britain. Vol. xi.: lron Ores (continued). The Iron
Ores of ‘Scotland. “By M. Macgregor and others.
Pp. viit+240. (Edinburgh : H.M.S.O.; Southampton :
Ordnance Survey Office.) tos. net.
Motion Study for the Handicapped. By F. B. Gil-
breth and Dr. L. M. Gilbreth. Pp. xvi+165.
(London: G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net.
Qualitative Analysis in Theory and Practice. By
Prof. P. W. Robertson and D. H. Burleigh. Pp. 63-
Scotland,
(London: E. Arnold.) 4s, 6d. net. ig
Tychonis Brahe. Dani Opera Omnia. _ Edidit
1. L. E. Drever. Tomus vi. Pp. v+375- (Hauniz :
Libraria Gyldendaliana.)
Moses: The Founder of Preventive Medicine. By
P. Wood. Pp. xi+116. (London: S:P.C.K.) 4s.
net.
Manual of American Grape-Growing. By W. P.
Hedrick. Pp. xiii+4584+xxxii plates. (New York:
The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd.) 15s. net.
Diary of Societies.
¢ THURSDAY, MARCH 4.
Royat Institution or Great BritTatn, at 3.—Lt.-Col. E. “Gold :
The Upper Air: (i) Modern Methods of Investigation, and their
Application in the War.
Rovar Society, at 4.30.—Dr. F. F. Blackman : The Protoplasmic
Factor in Photosynthesis.—G. E. Briggs: The Beginning of Photo-
synthesis in the Green Leaf.—Prof. B. Moore, KE. Whitley, and T.. A.
Webster : Sunlight and the Life of the Sea. E
LINNEAN Society, at 5.-Dr. A. B. Rendle, 'E. G. Baker, and S. L.
Moore : A Contribution to the Flora of New Caledonia based upon the
Collections of R. H. Compton in 1914. : ;
Roya CoLiece or Puysicrans, at 5.—Dr, A. Castellani : The Higher
Fungi in relation to Human Pathology (Milroy Lecture). )
Roya Instirure oF Pustic Heautu, at 5.—Dr. T. G. Maitland:
Hospital Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis .
RovaL Sociery or: Mepicinr, at 5.30—Dr, W. Edgecomb : Visceral
Fibrositis. —Discussion on paper by Dr. Ferreyrolle : Immunity and
Mineral Water Treatment.
Cyemicat Society, at. §.—E. H. Rennie, W. T. Cooke, and. H. H.
Finlayson : An Investigation of the Resin from Species of Xanthorrhea
Not Previously Examined.—l.. S. Bagster: The Reaction between Nitric
Acid and Copper.—M. Chikashige : Ancient Oriental Chemistry and
18°
_NATURE
poHaé
[Marc 4, 1920 _
VT aati wr nad ak, Yom
Ses Alliéd“Aits. “TN ~ Makheries : Coagulation of Metal Sulphide Sols
art II. Influence of Temperature on the Rate of Coagulation of Arsenious
Iphide Hydrosols.
(OVAL SOCIETY OF \MEDICINE Obstetrics and oa Te Section),. a a
S+G. Ley: Utero-Placental Apoplexy (Recidedt Hemorrhage). "
inalysis of Fifty Cases. >
‘FRIDAY, Marci §
Roiar ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. tA. Perens? Discussion.)
J. de Graaf Hunter and Others: The Earth's Axes and Figure. «
epcnere InstiruTE (at 296 Vauxhall’ Bridge ‘Road), at 6.—E. S.
ndrews : Some Properties of Steel.
INsTiTUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Adjourned Discussion
on Recent Advances in Utilisation of Water Power. E. M. Bergstrom.
AnstTiTuTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (Students’ Meeting) (at City and
Guilds (Engineering) College), at 7.—Roger T. Smith: Presidential
Address,
“TECHNICAL Inspection AssociaTION (at the Royal Society of Arts), at
7:30.—W. L. Baillie : Sampling—Some Probleis and Fallacies.
JUNIOR arbi Asai OF “ENGINEERS (at’ 39 Victoria S reet), at 7. 30.
H. : Notes on Gauge Testing and Measuring Appliances.
‘Rovat res ITUTION or GREAT: BRITAIN, at 9.—Hon. J. W. Fortescue:
Military History...
SATURDAY, Marcu 6.
Rovat InstrTUtION -OF GREAT Britain, at opie J. J. Thomson :
Positive Rays: °
; MONDAY, Marcu 8.°
Rovat InstiTUTION oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3-—Sir John: Cadman :
qncten Development of the Miner's Safety Lamp.
‘Royat Grocrappicat Society (at Lowther Lodge), a
ef vagy rs So¢rery (Annual General Meeting) (at Taaieats of Physio-
logy, University College), at 5.30.—S. Zilva : The. Fat-Soluble
5 ge td Factor in Cabbage and Carrots.—A. Harden and S. 5S. Zilva :
he Antiscorbutic Requirements of the Monkey.—A. Harden and 3. S.
/Zilva: Dietetic Experiments with Frogs.—O. Rosenheim and J. C. Drum-
‘mond: he Association of Fat-Soluble A with Lipochrome Pigments.—
i. R. Henley: Bacterial Process for the cag apt of Acetone.
Surveyors’ Instirution (Junior Meeting), at
-ARISTOTELIAN Soctety (at 74 Grosvenor Street), at 8.—M. Ginsberg:
‘Is there a General Will ?
Soa Society or Lonpon, at 8.30.— Dr. ‘W.-H. Willcox :
Seb adiam : The Clinical Aspect.—Dr. L. E.- Hill:
spect
Heat
The. Physiological
s TUESDAY, Marcu 9.
RbGaL Horticutturat Society, at 3.—J. Hudson :
‘be Grown under Glass without Fire ical
Roya InstiruTion or Great BRITAIN, at 3.—Prof. A. Keith: British
‘Ethnology—The Invaders of England. .
OvaL COLLEGE oF Puysicrans, at 5.—Dr. J. L. Birley : The Principles
edical-Science as applied to Military Aviation-(Goulstonian Lecture).
INSTITOTION™ OF Civic “ENGINEERS, ‘at 5.30 —Maj.-Gen. Sir Gerard
Heath?” Royal Engineer Work in the GreatsWar.
British Psycuo.ocicat Society (Education Section): (at London Day
Training College), at 6.—D. J. Collar: A Statistical Survey of Anith:
metieakA bility.
Re feioansenic ‘Socrery or Great Britain (Scientific and
Teéclinical Group), at _7.—G. I. Higson: Photomicrograpby in Photo-
Sropbig, Resparch<— ——K. Hickman: (1) A New Washing Device and Plate
Kocker;(z) Dark-room Illumination by means of Lamps.in Liquid Cells.
‘QUEKETT Rrtekoscer ea: Cup, at 7.30.
WEDNESDAY, Marcu to.
Rovat. InstiruTion oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Sir John Cadman :
Petroleum and the War.
Rovat Society or Arts, at 4.30.—H. M. Thornton : Gas in Relation to
Industrial: Production and National Economy.
GrolocicaL Society or Lonpbon, at 5.30.—Prof. A. H. Cox and A. K.
Wells: The Lower Palzozoic Rocks of the Arthog-Dolgelley District.
THURSDAY, Marcu it.
‘ROYAL Neeiervine or GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Lt.-Col. E. Gold:
The Upper Air: (ii) Results and their Interpretation.
InstiruTs: or MeETAts (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers) (Annual
General Meeting), at 4.—Eng. Vice-Admiral Sir George Goodwin :
Inaugural Address.
Rovat ‘Sotizty, at 4.30.—Probable Pabers—W. G. Duffield, T. H.
Burnham, and A. A. Davis: The Pressure upon the Poles of Metallic
Arcs, including Alloys and Composite Arcs.—J. incent : Further
Experiments, on the Variation of Wave- length of the Oscillations Gen-
erated by an Ionic Valve Due to Changes in Filament Current.—H. A.
Daynes't\(1)"The Theory of. the Katharometer ; (2) The Process of
Diffusion through a Rubber Membrane.
Rovat Cotiece oF Puysicrans, at_5.—Dr. J. L. Birley : The Principles
of Medical Science as applied to Military Aviation oaeeren Lecture).
Royat, ese oF Mep'c:neE (Occasional. Lecture), at, 5.—Sir Jagadis
Bose:;. Pja nt and Animal Response (with Demonstrations of Growth by
the ablane Crescograph).
Citp:STupy Society (at Royal-Sanitary Institute), at 6.—Miss M. Jane
Reaney : The Educational Needs of Adolescence.
IwstirvtioN or Ececrricat. ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil Engineers),
6.+W:"H. Patchell! ene a By-Product Producer-Gas Plant for
ae nae ‘Heating.—S. H. owles: Production of Power from Blast
furnace, :
Olt AND Cor OUR CHEMISTS’ AssociaTION (at 2 Furnival Street); at’ 7 —
J. B,. Shaw: Various Points in the Manufacture of Lake and Pigment
Colours.
OptTicaL SociETy, at 7.30.
INSTITUTION QF -AUTOMOBILE. ENGINEERS (Graduate Section), at 8.—
C. A. Chappell : Magnetos.
Insrey in br Meats (at’ Institution. of Méchanical En gineers) (Annual
eee eeting), at 8.—Dr. G. D. Bengough, R. M. Jones, and Ruth
Pirret : Fifth Report to.the Coricalon Research Committee.—R. Seligman
a Se Apt i pes: : The Action on, Aluminium of.Hard Industrial Waters,
“é° Mepicine (Neurology Section), at’ 8.30.—Prof.
Je Ses om nedl Results of End-to-end Suture of Peripheral Nerves.
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
Fruits which can
ee en ks ee)
-MALAcoLoGicaL Sociery oF Lonpon (at, Linnean VW Ba at 6.
oe CARRERA RAAT ENE Serpe rea UN oe Des xs ’
“"FRIDA AY, Marcu 12.
INSTITUTE OF METALS (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers) (Annua
ree Rp ty at 10.30.—J. Neil MacLean: The Art of sting
High . / Brass. —H, Moore a ee _ Betkinsale The Rem
unt 2~ ere
I er . Stee in 103 perature Annealing a
: sentaint L. afagheeh, aad i Kathlces “Bin :ham:* Zine Alloy |
withA minium died Copper . W. Rosenkain: A Model for Re
ing the Constitution of Ternary Alloys, —A. C. Vivian ; Tin-P
ork —wW.C. peeps and E.L . Khead : Some Notes on the Effect ;
of Hy
Pcs of me Jed (at q istitutiord of Mechanical Engineers) (Annual ©
General Meeting), at_2.30.— E. Alkins: The Effect of P. Seman
Drawing upon some Physical Properties of Commercially Pure re
—F. Johnson: The Influence of Cold Rabie on the Physical Properties «
of Copper. hake L,.. Haughton :-' he'S ay ‘thermal. Reece 5
Force as an Aid Yo the Investigation. 7 ‘ihe SC okinnioea lloy ‘
—H. H. Hayes: The Polishing and 1Etching of Zinc for * cro-examina-
tion.— W. E. Hughes: Idiomorphic Crystals of Electro-d ited Copper. ©
Roya. AsTRoNomIcAL Society, at, 5. ‘4
Puysicat Society or LONvoN, at 5.—F, W. Newmar TA ef
Gases in the Electric Discharge Tube.—F. S.°G. ‘Phomas: A
Directional Hot. Wire Anemometer:—Dr. Hans ‘Pettersson? Bo Exhibit ito. a
ew Micro balance.
Rovau Institution oF GREAT BriTAaIn, at 9.—W.
String. Figures. :
SATURDAY.. MARcH 13:_
Royat InsTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, ‘at il y. J. Thomson = A
Positive Rays. ‘
CONTENTS. : PAGE:
Knowledge and Understanding. By W.A.T.... 1
A Natural History of the Feelings . ty 3
Radiological Diagnosis of Disease . .
The Manufacture of Artificial Fertilisers.
E. J. Russell, F.R.S. . .
Our Bookshelf |... . .
Letters to the Editor :—
Ms ae of Scientific Werk,—Prof, W, Bateson,
J. S: Gamble, F.R.S.; Sir Ronald
KC.B., F.R.S.; Dr. Boas Russell,
Prof, A. C. Seward, F.R.S. . 6
The Constitution of the-Elements.-Dr. F. W. Aston 8
Deflection of Light during a Solar beisntas” 5. aed
Or-nge; Dr. A. C. D. Crommelin pe a4
9
" By ‘Dr.
Ross,
F.R.S., ;
Perimeter of an Ellipse. —R. A. P. Rogers 5
Scientific Research and the Glass Industry in the ey
United States: By Dr. M. W. Travers, F.R.S. . 9
The Cireptatiog Blood in Relation to Wound-shock. 2
By Prof... W. M. Bayliss, F:R.S. . . 10
Characteristics of Pigments in Early Pencil Waiting.
(Illustrated.) By C, Ainsworth Mitchell —~ . 12
The Relationship of Education to Research fe
Acronautics ).°. “Vo Rmraerares et Pe ot Fa nc Me
Notes... os
Our Astronomical Column :— : s
Occultation of a Siar by Saturn... 1 ns * 5 6 SBE
The Nautical Almanac for 1922... «2 ss + « 22)
Calendar Reform : aE Nighi an eae
The Association of Technical Institutions . 22.
The Einstein Deflection of Light. ex Diagram.) ae
By Dr. A.C. D. Crommelin ... 23,
The New Zealand Institute ...... Ree) 1) 24,
The Geology of the West Indies. . . ik ea) ca
University and Educational Intelligence | ae nah oa 25
Societies and, Academiés*. 2 i). 2. a eee :
Books Received... , sss fo te
Diary of Societies » 60. 6 1 ee ee ee ee ie OF
Editorial and Publishing Offices: ~ me <i
MACMILLAN. AND. CO., Lrp., oy
ST. rerun 0 yh & Lo es ie:
Advertisements and” business letters to be addressed to t
\Publishersy:. 5
mn & a AY ,
( “ Bditosial Coniriunications: ‘to ‘the. (Editor!) : i ‘ :
; glegraphic Address: Puysis,. | Lonnon. :
Telephone’ eer Cieeary ® 30. ee
NATURE
29
ee HURSDAY, MARCH 11,’ 1920.
State and the National Museums.
LE reconstruction in almost every direc-
tion is in the air, there is a very real
iat the needs of our national museums
e notice. The time is, indeed, more than
the State to consider with all due care
ie
increased were there some system of co-
. _ between them, the connecting links
e m its proper work without the irksome
that accompany undue centralisation. In
of two reports issued by the late
of Reconstruction, certain suggestions
for achieving this end; to them we shall
. The proposal which we put forward
, different, but we consider it to be a
‘solution. To apprehend more cor-
‘nature of the problem, it will be neces-
ae set out prielty the origin and the
fe as parts of some wide and com-
gaia but casually and at haphazard
The oldest and most famous of
ritish Museum—was founded | in 1753
c or in his day. In the following century
of the patections was so great, fed
a in ‘the early ‘eighties 16 transfer the
history collections to the new buildings at
Kensington which had been erected for
‘ain when it will be possible to nrocesd with them.
The original Act of Parliament constituting the
seum provided for its governance by a body
trustees; this arrangement still remains, and
NO. 2628. VoL. 10%]
no exception could be taken. to it were it not for
the fact that election to the standing committee
of the British Museum has come to be regarded as
a distinction to be awarded on quite irrelevant
grounds, and that, owing in the past to the little
attention given to science in the public schools,
this process has not in general led to the selection
of trustees most suitable for the Natural History
Museum. Despite the actual physical distance
between the two branches of the British Museum,
and the great difference in the chafacter of the
work carried on at the two institutions, they are
still officially regarded as one museum, and the
Natural History Museum is subordinated to the
parent establishment, the officiai title of its director
being Director of the Natural History Departments.
There can, unfortunately, be little question that
the development of the Natural History Museum
has been grievously hampered by the persistent
attempt made to fit it to a system devised for the
older building, and especially for the great library,
which has, in fact, always tended to overshadow
the rest of the museum.
The institution which was at one time known
as the South Kensington Museum originated in
the collections which were purchased at the Exhibi-
tion of 1851 on account of the excellence of their
art and workmanship. Half a century later the
need for expansion had become acute, and plans
for new buildings were put in hand, but in the
reorganisation of this museum wiser counsels pre-
vailed, and the Science Museum was created a
separate institution, quite independent of the Art
Museum, afterwards known as the Victoria and
Albert Museum. The title of the former museum
cannot be considered altogether happy, since it
is concerned, not with science in general, but
chiefly with engineering and applied mechanics.
Both museums are administered by the Board of
Education.
The Museum of Practical EGelieey was a neces-
‘sary concomitant of the Geological Survey, which
was instituted in 1832. Plans had been prepared
for bringing this museum and the offices of the
Survey to a new building to be erected near the
Natural History Museum at South Kensington,
but the war intervened, and many years are likely
to elapse before they reach maturity. Up to a few
months ago the Survey was attached to the Science
Museum under the administration of the Board of
Education, but it has now been transferred to the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research,
the creation of which is one of the few beneficent
results of the war.
The London Museum, now located at Lancaster
Cc
30 NATURE
[Marcu 11, 1920
House, was instituted for the conservation of the
antiquities of London. The Wallace Collection,
bequeathed to the nation in 1897, is contained in
Hertford House, which was acquired by the
Government for the purpose. Both the last-named
museums are under independent bodies of trustees.
The Imperial Institute contains large collections
of the economic products of the Empire, and a
scientific and technical staff has been provided for
their conservation and study; it is managed by the
Secretary of State for the Colonies, assisted by
an executive committee. Towards the close of
the war the Imperial War Museum was founded
for the preservation and custody of objects and
records connected with the war. Besides the
museums, there are the various picture galleries
in London, all under independent bodies of
trustees, and outside London there are important
national museums at Edinburgh, Cardiff, and
‘Dublin, all under their own authorities.
Owing to the overlapping of the scope of
several of these institutions, there often arises
duplication of work and competition for the
acquisition of specimens. Thus similar ground is
covered by certain sections of the British Museum
and the Victoria and Albert Museum as regards
art; by the Natural History Museum, the Geo-
logical Museum, and the Imperial Institute as
regards minerals and rocks; by the Natural His-
tory Museum and Kew Gardens as regards the
systematic study of plants. There is further over-
lapping in the range covered by the associated
libraries—to some extent that is both desirable
and inevitable—but at the same time no attempt is
made to ensure that a copy of every important
book or periodical is accessible in London.
The lack of co-ordination between the various
museums was noticed by the Sub-Committee,
under the chairmanship of Lord Haldane, which
was appointed by the Reconstruction Committee
in July, 1917, to investigate the machinery of
Government, and confirmed in its appointment
when the Ministry of Reconstruction began its
brief existence. In its report published in 1918
(Cd. 9230) the following important paragraph
occurs :—
“As regards the other national museums (i.e.
other than the Geological Museum, the suggested
transference of which to the Department of Scien-
tific and Industrial Research was approved] . . ; ,
we think that the responsible authorities might
consider with advantage the possibility of entering
into regular arrangements, by means of a body
representative of each of the museums, and estab-
lished for the purpose, whereby the spheres of the
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
“criticism and discussion.
respective museums should be arranged with a
view to the avoidance of competition for objects,
and to the development of each museum to the
full as a centre of education and research. From
the latter point of view it would no doubt be
desirable to secure that the Board of Education,
and the general organisation for research and
information, . . . should be associated with any
movement in this direction.”
In this connection we may refer also to the
third interim report by the Adult Education Com- ~
mittee, which was also appointed by the Ministry
of Reconstruction, in its report on libraries and
museums (Cd. 9237, 1919), in which it is urged
that ‘the powers and duties of the Local Govern-
ment Board regarding [the local] publie libraries
and museums should be transferred forthwith to
the Board of Education.” Those interested in
such institutions promptly took steps to register
their strong disapproval of the course proposed ;
with that dissent we are in full accord. It must
be remembered that it is the business of the Board
of Education to allocate parliamentary grants to
schools and other teaching institutions, and to see
that the range of the curriculum of the studies at
them adheres to the official regulations, and not
to take part in the actual practice of education.
A department of which the vision is restricted by
the blinkers of sub-heads and schedules is not
often able to take a broad view on questions of
learning and research, aug
In our opinion the best solution of the difficulty
would be to expand the present Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research into a Ministry
of Learning and Research, and to bring under it
the national museums and picture galleries, as
well as the national institutions engaged in
research. To ensure proper co-ordination and
continuity of policy, the administration of the pro-
posed Ministry should be entrusted to a board of
trustees, comprising representatives of the stand-
ing committees appointed to control each of the
constituent establishments.
We recognise the complexity of the question,
and our readers must not assume that we con-_
sider the solution which we offer to be beyond
In the House of Lords
on March 3 Lord Sudeley suggested that the —
Government should appoint a committee on
museums and galleries “to consider and recom-
mend how these institutions can be further adapted
to public needs, and especially be made through-
out the country of far greater use for public:
benefit and instruction.” His lordship made it clear,
in the course of the speech with which he intro-
RCH IT, 1920]
NATURE 31
the motion, that he had in mind the
2 ry member of the public, and particularly
ild in the elementary school, and appeared
e under the impression that the expert was
dy sufficiently well cared for. An instructive
e of the debate is the almost entire absence
iy reference to science in general, or to the
il History Museum. in particular. Another
ng point is suggested by a passage in Lord
ord’s reply for the Government, in which,
ence to Lord Bryce’s proposal that a central
department of the Government should be
he said: “Among the purposes for which
he Scientific and Industrial Research Department
«seid . + . is actually that of acting as a
to any Government Department”; for,
of this statement, we must hberve that,
s every administrative Department is repre-
ae *s motion was eventually by Geis
H ; nevertheless, we hope that the matter
he allowed to rest there.
ion of a Royal Commission, the
who at
trator of Re veasondines standing, and
urge the Government to appoint one
i. . Jeans. Bing an essay to which the
s prize of the University of Cambridge
_ for ie year 1917 was adjudged. Pp. vili+
c Ey. plates. (Cambridge: At the University
ress, 1919.) Price 215. net.
Fi developed science two branches are
roadly_ to be distinguished. In the one, an
ting: state of thing's is investigated. The
ject of research is events immediately con-
ted, forms, functions, and the laws which
them. The other branch generally marks
i later stage, and, basing itself on the results of
the first, seeks to reconstruct from the present as
mplete a picture as possible of the past and
en of the future. As in the conception which
nderlies the theory of relativity, the present,
which» is the limited subject of experience, is
merely a section in time from which a higher
et. NO. 2628, VOL. 105 |
Aes
a
We think,
question of sufficient importance for
manifold is to be deduced.
matter is biological,
When the subject-
the outcome is a theory of
evolution. When it coincides with the domain of
astronomy, the result is more specifically recog-
nised as a scheme of cosmogony.
There are at least three methods by which
attempts have been made to formulate such a
scheme. The first, and most trivial, is to seize on
some remarkable phenomenon, like Saturn’s rings
or a spiral nebula, and to see in it a clue which
can be followed up more or less plausibly with
the help of an exuberant and unfettered imagina-
tion. Progress on that line is naturally as limited
as it is precarious. The second method is illus-
trated in its highest form by the work of Sir W.
Herschel. It is the way of comparison and classi-
fication. The Draper classification of stellar
spectra by Pickering is an apt modern example.
Without preconception, except such as readily van-
ished in the light of fuller experience, almost all
the stars fell into an ordered sequence, which
became more complete and continuous as_ the
material accumulated. To connect the ascertained
sequence with a time scale was natural. But the
problem has not proved quite so simple as at one
time it appeared. In general, when the process
is exceedingly slow and the section of experience
correspondingly thin, the very direction of the
scale is ambiguous, and the method requires to
be supplemented by some additional principle. A
third method remains. This consists in the study
of models having a definite specification as nearly
as possible in accordance with cosmic examples,
but always within the power of analysis to discuss.
The behaviour and development of such a model
are traced to their logical consequences with full
mathematical rigour, and only after this has been
done is an attempt made to find their counterparts —
in the actual universe. This is the profoundly
difficult but promising method adopted by Sir
George Darwin, by Poincaré, and by Mr. Jeans in
the work under notice.
It is curious how great are the difficulties which
surround problems capable of the simplest state-
ment. Three balls are thrown in any given way
in empty space. All the intractable difficulties of
the problem of three bodies are involved in discuss-
ing the subsequent motion under their mutual
attractions. Or again, to take the fundamental
problem of the present subject, a mass of liquid is
stirred into rotation and left to find its shape under
its own attraction. What figure will it assume
when isolated in space? The following quotation
from Thomson and Tait may be worth recalling :—
“During the fifteen years which have passed
since the publication of our first edition, we have
never abandoned the problem of the equilibrium
———eee
<=
se NATURE
[Marcu IT, 1920
‘of a finite mass of rotating incompressible fluid.
Year after year, questions of the multiplicity of
possible figures of equilibrium have been almost
incessantly before us, and yet it is only now, under
the compulsion of finishing this second edition of
the second part of our first volume, with hope for
a second volume abandoned, that we have suc-
ceeded in finding anything approaching to full
light on the subject.”
The full light, it must be admitted, was rather
dim, especially as such results as had been
obtained were published without proof. But it
sufficed to lead Poincaré to write a celebrated
memoir on the subject, and this, with the contem-
porary and independent work of Liapounoff, has
been the germ of all subsequent advance.
The first step had been taken by Maclaurin,
who showed that the spheroid was a_ possible
figure of equilibrium. The second solution was
found by Jacobi in the form of an ellipsoid with
three unequal axes. In the cosmical problem the
whole mass and the moment of momentum are
given ‘constants; the angular velocity increases
as the state of contraction advances, but so slowly
that the development follows a succession of equi-
librium figures. Thus a body traces out the series
of Maclaurin to the point where it meets the series
of Jacobi, and where secular stability is inter-
changed between the two series. Proceeding along
the second ‘series, it comes to the first point, dis-
covered by Poincaré, where another possible series
intersects. Here the Jacobian series becomes
unstable, and it was a question whether the
stability passed over to the series of deformations,
or whether it disappeared completely at this point,
in, which case the figures of statical equilibrium
would come to an abrupt end and be followed by
a rapid change under dynamical conditions.
It was not in Poincaré’s nature to embark on the
complicated arithmetic needed to solve the ques-
tion ; but this part of the work was supplied by
Liapounoff and by Darwin, who arrived at oppo-
site conclusions, the latter maintaining that the
deformed figure was stable. These ‘three writers
all used Lamé’s functions in the discussion, and
carried the development to the second order. One
cannot help feeling that, in spite of his courage,
Darwin was in this instance trying to stretch a
bow a little beyond his strength. At any rate, the
important problem remained undecided for some
years. Mr. Jeans began his attack on it by forg-
ing a lighter and handier weapon, described in
chap. iv: of the present work, on the gravitational
potential of a distorted ellipsoid. His next step
was to show that no conclusion could legitimately
be drawn from a development to the second order ;
NO. 2628, VOL. 105 |
and finally, on proceeding to the third order, he
proved definitely that the figure at the point where
the series bifurcate is unstable, thus closing a-
dispute remarkable in the case of a definite issue :
between authorities so eminently qualified. After
this signal achievement as regards the incom-
pressible fluid mass Mr. Jeans extended his —
researches to rotating masses of compressible
and heterogeneous fluid, hitherto an almost
untouched field. In following out the develop-
ment of such bodies as exemplified in different
selected models, he has shown always the same
originality, resource and power.
In the present essay, which will be warmly wel-
comed, Mr. Jeans brings together these and other
related researches in a connected form, but at the
same time he adds so much of the work of his
predecessors that his own is seen in its proper
setting, and the whole book forms a fairly com—
plete treatise on the subject. The earlier chapters
provide that firm mathematical foundation to
which the author has contributed so largely, while
the later chapters deal in turn with the different
classes of celestial objects to which the theory can
be applied—rotating nebule, star clusters, binary
and multiple stars. The origin of the solar system,
the very point at which speculations of this order
began, remains apparently more elusive than ever.
The later part of the book can be read with profit
by many to whom the power of appreciating the
earlier mathematical chapters has been denied. It~
will be found exceedingly interesting, and will
repay the most careful attention. Here the specu-
lative element necessarily enters, and the per-
manent value which belongs to the abstract —
problems: definitely solved cannot be assumed.
But ingenuity and a wide knowledge are always
in evidence, and the essay should have an imme- —
diate value equally in limiting the area of profit-
able speculation and in suggesting lines which
can be controlled by observation.
Of the technical excellence of the production,
which is always a point of real importance in a
mathematical text, it is unnecessary to say more
than that it is worthy of the Cambridge University
Press. There is an obvious, and therefore harm-
less, misprint in equation (72) (p. 38), and
‘Meyers ” (p. 248) for “Myers” betrays an un-
‘ verified quotation. On p. 2, “parallaxes are less ”
should read “greater.” But these are trifling
exceptions to the rule of accuracy. Beautiful pic- |
tures like the photographs of selected nebulz in-
cluded by Mr. Jeans are an unusual feature in a
mathematical work. They have been supplied from
the Mount Wilson Observatory, and are master- —
pieces of their kind. H. Came
Marcu 11, 1920]
NATURE
33
Tropical Medicine. ¢
vs in the Tropics. By Sir Leonard Rogers.
ird edition. Pp. xii+404+9 plates. (Oxford
edical Publications.) (London: Henry Frowde
d Hodder and Stoughton, 1919.) Price 30s.
SHIS, the third edition of Sir Leonard Rogers’s
‘well-known work, has, in our opinion, been
proved by the pruning process to which it has
subjected, but it may be doubted whether
process has been sufficiently «drastic, and per-
nally we should breathe a sigh of relief if the
wan fever” and some other hardy peren-
ials were finally laid to rest. The distinguishing
haracter of the author’s method is the great
eae which he attaches to the study of tem-
ure charts and to leucocyte counts as means
rnosis, with the result that, perhaps unwit-
y, he scarcely emphasises sufficiently that. in
ases of a parasitic nature these can be only
secondary importance. Thus “a great leuco-
may be “greatly in favour of kala-azar,”
diagnosis can be made with certainty only
way, viz. by finding the parasites; and as
‘not stated whether this has been done in the
examples, accompanied by charts, given of
disease,” we are uncertain whether they
are “this disease,” or examples of another
possibly the 43 per cent. of “kala-azar”
gi parasites are not found, and which,
Coe s exposition of these indirect
> that pathological histology, which should
mptoms, receives rather scant attention.
nothing is said of the changes in American
inosomiasis, and those of malaria and black-
r fever, for example, are very incompletely
ain, although twenty-one pages are allotted to
discussion of pre-suppurative hepatitis, we our-
selves do not know what a liver in this condition
uld look. like, as no post-mortem descriptions
given.
Under blackwater fever it is stated that “the
rasite most commonly met with i -o the malignant
tertian, the other forms being rare.” If the other
orms are rare, as in’a malaria district like West
Africa, or the Duars.in India, this is only what
one would expect ; consequently, the statement has
little significance; but if we are considering a
district like the Panama Canal, where the simple
A malaria cases, then this statement is not true, for
| NO. 2628, VOL. 105 |
of diagnosis consumes, we think, too much
I only certain basis for the interpretation.
tertian parasite forms about 26 per cent. of the
we find that about the same percentage—viz. 24
per cent.—-of the blackwater cases show simple
tertian parasites, and on the Madera River, Brazil,
where simple tertian forms about 30 per cent. of
the malaria cases, the percentage for the black-
water cases is 42 per cent.
On p. 66 we find a common error repeated—
viz. that tsetse-flies in the resting position can
be distinguished from all other flies by the wings
“closed like the blades of a pair of
scissors’; and on p. 86, probably through a lapse
of memory, it is said that tartar emetic is specific
for American trypanosomiasis; unfortunately, it
appears to have no action on it. Misprints are
rather numerous: Crintridia for Crithidia, Trio-
mata for Triatoma, lenticularis for lectularius,
sodia for sordida, tropical for bis a galinarum
for gallinarum, etc.
Readers who do not already know the work will
find something different from the ordinary text-
book, but we think they would: be glad if the
author’s well-known clinical enthusiasm could
express itself more tersely and—dare we say it >—
more critically. J. W.. We S.
Practical Chemistry.
(1) A Text-book of Quantitative Chemical Analysis.
By Dr. A. C. Cumming and Dr. S. A. Kay.
Third edition. Pp. xv+416. (London: Gurney
and Jackson; Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd,
1919.) Price 12s. 6d. net. ;
(2) A Course of Practical Chemistry for Agri-
‘cultural Students. Vol. ii. Part i. By
H. A. D. Neville and L. F. Newman. Pp. 122.
(Cambridge: At the University Press, 1919.)
Price 5s. net.
(3) Chemical Calculation Tables: For Laboratory
Use. By Prof. H. L. Wells. Second edition,
revised. Pp. v+43. (New York: John Wiley
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall,
Ltd., 1919.) Price 6s. 6d, net. .
HERE is always a tendency among students
of analytical chemistry to value their work
by its quantity and the nearness of their results
to what is assumed to be correct, and in this they
are often encouraged by those who have the
direction of their studies. They do as they are
told in their text-book—weigh out so much, dis-
solve in 200 c.c. of water, add 20 c.c. of a stock
reagent, heat to boiling, wash three times by
decantation, and so on; and in the end, though
they get an excellent result they have learned not
so much chemistry as if they had made an apple
dumpling by intelligently following the instructions
of a cookery book.
o
34 NATURE
[| MarcH 11, 1920
There is only one way to learn practical
chemistry, and that is to study the work as well
as do it. A student should not pass from an
estimation until he knows definitely the reason for
every step in the process, how it can be proved
to be complete, and why the operation is done in
the way it is rather than in an alternative way.
He should make a rule of proving that his pro-
duct is what he means it to be, and that it is
pure. In short, he should make a thorough study
of every piece of work. He may get fewer results,
but he will have learned more chemistry, and he
will have gained the only true confidence, namely,
that founded on knowledge.
We deprecate, as a rule, general instructions,
such as that every precipitate should be ignited
two or more times until it ceases to change in
weight. Some products need it,
The point for consideration is, What is present
that it is desired to get rid of by the ignition,
and what conditions are necessary to eliminate it
with certainty? Unless the- student knows this
and concentrates his attention upon it, he is work-
ing by mere rule of thumb. As to purity of pro-
duct, we have known a conscientious and careful
worker to get a good result for one of the minor
constituents of an ore, but when it was suggested
that he should examine the product that he had
weighed, he did so, and found that it did not
contain even a trace of the compound of which
the thought it consisted.
(1) The manual by Drs. Cumming and Kay is
an excellent text-book for students. It includes
a full course of mineral analysis, finishing with
instructions for the analysis of several alloys and
‘ores, gas analysis, water analysis, organic
analysis, the determination of molecular weights,
and various desirable tables. There are many
‘helpful and practical hints, though we think that
some parts might profitably be a little expanded
on the lines indicated above. The method of
igniting ferric hydrate without separation from the
filter paper containing it is, of course, not original
with the authors, but we think that it will be
found generally to lead to a notably short weight,
because the reoxidation of the reduction products
is very uncertain.
(2) This “Part” of Messrs. Neville’ and New-
-man’s course deals only with exercises on “pure
organic chemistry.”” It covers the examination of
many classes of organic bodies, finishing with pro-
teins and enzyme action.
course for students of agriculture. Like so many
others who refer to the production of acetaldehyde
for detection purposes, the authors describe its
odour as characteristically fruity.
(3) The “Chemical Calculation Tables ” include
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
some do not. :
It is a well-arranged.
a five-figure table of logarithms with a double |
thumb index that enables the user to turn imme-
diately to any desired page either backwards or |
forwards. There are extensive tables of factors —
and weights, giving both the number and the >
logarithm, and tables referring to gas calculations
and molecular weight determinations. It is exactly
what one wants to facilitate calculations in the
laboratory. : Cre
Botanical Guides. ©
(1 1) Applied Economic Botany: Based upon Actugl
Agricultural and Gardening Projects, By Dr.
M. T. Cook. (Farm Life Text Series.)
Pp. xviii+261. (Philadelphia and London:
J. B. Lippincott Co., 1919.) Price 7s. 6d. net. —
(2) Some Familiar Wild Flowers, Photographed
by A. E. Sulman. Pp. ii+65. (Sydney:
Angus and Robertson, Ltd., n.d.) Price 1s. net.
(3) Australian Wild Flowers, Photographed by
A. E. Sulman. Second Series. Pp. ii+6r.
(Sydney: Angus and Robertson, Ltd., n.d.)
Price 1s, net.
(4) A Popular Guide to the Wild Flower of New
South |WVales. By Florence Sulman. Vol. ii.
Pp. xxxi+249+71 plates. (Sydney: Angus and
Robertson, Ltd., 1914.) Price 6s, net. j
(1) HE title of Dr. Cook’s book is mislead-
ing; from the preface we learn that
it is intended as a_ guide
work in the study of plants, such as should be
carried on in any high school,
objects would be served by a good general prac-
tical introduction to the study of plant life, and
this, we gather, is what Dr. Cook is attempting.
Part i., “Plant Life,” occupies nearly three-—
fourths of the volume. Beginning with the seed
and seedling, the form of the various plant organs
and their uses to the plant are described in suc-
cessive chapters, and exercises for practical work
are suggested at the close of each chapter. A
short chapter on the anatomy of the angiosperm-
ous plant follows, then a brief description of the
chemical composition and a chapter on plant
food and growth, and finally very short chapters
on the Gymnosperms,_ ecological relations,
forestry, plant-breeding, weeds, Pteridophytes,
Bryophytes, Thallophytes, and Bacteria.
The remainder of the book, part ii., entitled
“Important Families of Economic Plants,” is an
account of a number of plants of economic value
arranged in their families, with a short and often
very inadequate description of the characters of
each family. The general effect is scrappy. There
to experimental —
and as a pre- |
liminary work to the agricultural studies which ©
are now recognised in many high schools. These ~
[ARCH IT, 1920]
NATURE
35
‘a large number of figures, many of which are
good, but others are poor, as, for instance, some
of th ose in the chapter on flower-types. A photo-
rraph of two ripe ears of Indian corn is described
as the pistillate flower. The use of the terms “ endo-
Boks ” and “exogenous” for the stem of the
“‘monocotyledon and dicotyledon respectively is not
] élpful ; and to describe the flower. as consisting
‘leaves which have ‘been greatly modified in
‘and colour” may be misleading. Annual
re invariably referred to as annular rings.
. is disappointing.
and (3) The two little books by Mrs. Annie’
ographs of some of the common Aus-
wild flowers, and each is very well worth
ling. There is no letterpress apart from
ort preface and index; the botanical and,
‘such exists, the popular names are given
each plate, and the colour of the flower is
d. There is little attempt at arrangement ;
ly the species of the same genus are
together, but members of the same family
in different parts of the books. If the
Id arrange the plants in some definite
» and indicate in each case the family to
e plant belongs, she would add to the
ss of these little volumes. :
Sulman’s “Popular Guide to the Wil
f New South Wales” is complementary
ume previously issued. It forms a very
well-arranged working flora descriptive
umber of New South Wales flowering
ants, illustrated by clear, well-drawn, and emin-
tl helpful full-page illustrations. The arrange-
that of Bentham’s “Flora Australiensis.”
are a useful illustrated glossary, a list of
s of reference, a key to the families, twenty-
»f which are included, and, at the end of the
ume, a colour index, by which a clue may be
| to the name of a flower. The descriptions
plants are clearly written, and a great deal
ormation is given in a small space.
-—-
Our Bookshelf.
riculture and the Farming Business. By O. H.
3enson and G. H. Betts. Pp. xvi+778. (Lon-
don: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price
tos, 6d. net. .
fessrs. BENSON AND Betts have essayed an
ambitious task; it is no less than to make their
volume a clearing-house for the mass of valuable
scientific information about agricultural problems
‘now accumulated at experiment stations and col-
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
leges, but not always wanted by practical farmers.
Although the book emanates from a London pub-
lisher, it is entirely written for the American
farmer.
The scope of the book is unusually wide; it
deals with office equipment, crops, animals,
manures, soil fertility, implements, motor-cars,
roads, education, recreation and health, and
finally there is a miscellaneous chapter including
such diverse subjects as the removal of stains,
the quantity of seed to sow per acre, a planting
table, etc. Full information about all these things
could scarcely be expected, and yet a vast amount
of material is collected. Unfortunately, it is of.
very unequal value; there are few tables of figures
and practically no references; the student wishing
to check the data cannot do so, and the farmer
seeking information is not told where he can
obtain it. Thus, under “The Origin of Wheat,”
the only information given is: ‘“ Just where wheat
came from none can say. Some think it originated
in the Valley of the Nile or the Euphrates, or
possibly that it may have come from Sicily.
Wherever it originated, it seems to have developed
from one of the wild grasses. Certain scientists
think it descended from the lily; others tell us.
that it is probably a descendant of the wild ammer.”
This statement is not very satisfying. Like
many others in the book, however, it might serve
to whet the farmer’s curiosity, and some good
would then be served by references to trustworthy
specialised books or bulletins. If a second edition
is called for, the authors might well seriously con-
sider these points.
A Geography of Asia. By Joseph Martin. (Mac-
millan’s Practical Modern Geographies.) Pp.
vili+ 298. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
1919.) Price 5s.
THE tendency of school geography to embrace too
much and so to fail in achievement has been
avoided in this book, which is well proportioned
and thoroughly geographical throughout. Mr.
Martin has the courage to omit considerations of
geological structure where it has no direct bearing
on human activity. Physical explanations of
climatic problems are generally omitted. The
diagram of the planetary. winds is an improvement
on that produced in most text-books, but should
have the polar high-pressure areas added. Asia
is treated under the larger natural regions, but
these are not allowed to obscure the political units
-which are an essential to a full understanding of
world geography.
Each chapter is prefaced by some simple statis-
tical matter on which is based a number of exer-
cises designed in the main for oral answers. At
the end of each chapter are a number of mapping
exercises. The extent to which wide generalisa-
tions are admissible in school geography will
always be a disputed point, but statements that
certain climates are unhealthy to Europeans, if
true, require explanation. Even a_ school
geography should emphasise the part played by
the mosquito.
36
NATURE
| MARCH 11, 1920\/
More than fifty excellent black-and-white maps,
most of which show relief, and as many finely
reproduced illustrations add considerably to the
value of the book. One or two small points might
be corrected in the next edition. The number of
emigrants entering Asiatic Russia was scarcely
250,000 a year immediately before the war. The
figure given for Siberia on p. 264 is much too high.
It would be more correct to say that the Kara
Sea ‘is navigable for two months than that it is
ice-free for that period. The railways to Kuznetsk
and Minusinsk should be noted. The use of a
volume like this must result in raising the standard
of geographical teaching, and, incidentally, in
justifying full attention to the subject in the school
curriculum,
Submarine Warfare of To-day, By Lieut. Charles
W. Domville-Fife. (Science of To-day Series.)
Pp. 304. (London: Seeley, Service, and Co.,
Ltd., 1920.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
THE Allied peoples, to whom the defeat of the
German submarine campaign has meant so much,
. cannot fail to be interested in the means by which
that defeat was consummated. Hitherto they
have had to rely on scraps of information—per-
haps true, perhaps not—whispered in the ear or
appearing furtively in the Press. An urgent
demand undoubtedly exists for a comprehensive
statement of the case. Lieut. Domville-Fife has
given us that—and more. His book is full of
romance as well as of facts. The victory over the
submarine was won, not by any sovereign remedy
for their depredations, or by a single weapon
invincible in attacking them, but by the cumula-
tive effect of a multitude of devices, each itself
imperfect, but employed systematically and in spite
of numerous failures. To which must be added—
and the author gives this its proper proportion by
telling actual incidents in a fine literary style—the
bravery and pertinacity of the men on the ships.
The only criticism which is permissible is that
the book is somewhat lacking in detailed descrip-
tion of the instruments used—the directional
hydrophone, for example. Possibly this omission
is due to the continued maintenance of official
secrecy in such matters. This probably also
accounts for the lack of all reference to certain
new devices which were used with considerable
effect, or to the development of others which will
in future render the action of the submarine
increasingly difficult.
Hidden Treasure: The Story of a Chore Boy who
Made the Old Farm Pay. By J. T. Simpson.
_ Pp. 303. (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lip-
pincott Co., n.d.) Price 6s. net.
Mr. Simpson has woven many of the features of
modern farming into a story of an American
college youth who went to a Pennsylvanian farm
owned by a very conservative uncle just about to
marry and set up housekeeping. The young man’s
suggestions for improvements are received with
the usual incredulity, the uncle even declining to.
oil the wheels of the grindstone, because he has
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
‘casting the end.
‘quently found self-sown.
appears under the name Delonix, an unnecessary
never done it before. But before’ the onslaught 1)
of the boy’s “git up and git,” and the insistence
of the up-to-date wife, the uncle’s prejudices slowly .
break down, and in one way and another the old
run-out farm is gradually improved. New con-
crete buildings are put in, the tractor is intro- —
duced, the dairy herd is improved, and in course —
of time the farm becomes a completely modersy/
establishment. The young man _ receives his
reward; the local banker becomes interested in”
him, a desirable farm falls vacant, and in
chap. xiii. (ominously enough) an eligible young —
woman turns up equipped with brown eyes and
shy glances, and although the recorded conversa-
tions all relate to agricultural improvements, the
perspicacious reader will have no difficulty in fore-
Flora of the Presidency of Madras, By J. S.
Gamble. Part iii. Leguminosae—Caesal-
pinioideae to Caprifoliaceae. Pp. 391-577.
(London: Adlard and Son, and West Newman, ~
Ltd., 1919.) Price ros. net.
Tue third part of Mr. Gamble’s handy little
flora contains the remainder of the polypetalous
dicotyledons.
Mimosa sections of Leguminose, containing many
forest-trees and shrubs, and, among others, the
important families Combretacee, Myrtaceze,
Melastomacez, and Cucurbitacee. As in previous
parts, descriptions are given of families and
genera, but the determination of the species
depends on the keys in which the characters of
the principal organs are fully contrasted. No
typographic distinction is made between native
and introduced genera, such as Parkinsonia
(tropical American) and Eucalyptus (Australian) ;
E. globulus, the blue gum, is largely grown in
forests on the Nilgiris and other hills, and is fre-
Another alien genus
It includes the Cesalpinia and
revival from Rafinesque; it includes the familiar —
“flamboyant” generally known as _ Poinciana
regia. As with the previous part, the author has
been restricted in the preparation of the work to —
‘material available in the great herbaria in this
country, but for future parts the Indian collections
will again be available.
La Théorie Atomique. Par Sir J. J. Thomson.
Traduit de l’Anglais par le Prof. M. Charles:
Moureu. Nouveau tirage. Pp. vi+57. (Paris:
Gauthier-Villars et Cie, 1919.) Price 2.40
francs net.
THIS is a translation of the Romanes lecture of
1914, made during the war under the full inspira-
tion of the Anglo-French comradeship in arms.
The translator stipulated that the proceeds should
go to the British Red Cross; Sir J. J. Thomson
insisted that they should go to the French Red
Cross; and, as neither would give way, they finally
agreed that they should benefit the Belgian
wounded.
Prof. Moureu has given an excellent -
translation, which fully. preserves the “intérét
passionnant” of the original lecture. ae
RCH II, 1920]
NATURE
By Letters to the Editor.
Editor does not* hold himself responsible for opinions
bpressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to
turn, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu-
intended for this or any other bart of NATuRE. No
| taken of anonymous communications.]
Deflection of High-speed Particles.
H Pace has given a very simple method of
the motion of high-speed particles in a
al field on Einstein’s theory (Nature.
26, p. 692). In one respect his results differ
which have been obtained by more
methods, and I think that some error must
pt in, either through a failure of his ap-
fon or from some other cause. He finds
Rejetiae travelling with the velocity of light
undeflected, whereas a ray of light is
d. It would be difficult to reconcile this with
ciple of equivalence, which seems to require
oe gee of a material particle should
that of a light-pulse as the velocity
that of light. ~
erential gee of the orbit of a material
ving with any speed is [Report, Physical
p. §1, equation (31-2)]
‘+u=m/h?+3mu’, (u=1/r),
constant h=r°d@/ds. It is from this exact
t the motion of perihelion of Mercury is
For motion with the speed of light ds=o,
infinite, and the equation becomes
— @u/dP+u=3mu’.
1s .
cos*6 + 2 sin%6),
27 RE.
* .
co-ordinates this becomes
4=R-——
mpt are found by taking y very large
with x, giving
oe =R+ 2”
mo RT ss
lence th ee between them is 4m/R, agreeing
the result for the deflection of light rays.
. verified by the usual methods the other
result given by Mr. Page, that for radial
» force (relative to the co-ordinates used) is
on if the speed exceeds 1//3 times the
_ regard to the question whether the system
atom on the sun can be identical with that of
non the earth, inasmuch as the warping of
ime is different in the two places, it is clear
the identity cannot be exact; but this loophole
- escape from the predicted shift of the Fraunhofer
es does not seem to be very promising. If the
als ’’ of vibration of the two atoms are not
ae, the difference must depend on some in-
of space-time which differs at the two places.
not think that any invariant of order m/r exists.
simplest invariant which does not vanish is
88S Sos BaveBapy '
t is rather laborious to work out the actual value of
his (since it consists of 65,536 terms), but it appears
> be of order m’?/r?. The Fraunhofer displacement
ands on terms of the much greater order of magni-
tude m/r. A. S. EppINncToN.
Observatory, Cambridge.
NO. 2628, voL. 105]
Gravitational Shift of Spectral Lines,
THE assumption that the equations of motion in a
gravitational field can be deduced from a condition of
the form 8fds =o is in itself. little more than a very
natural way of expressing the principle of least
action. The greatness of Einstein’s theory really lies
in the suggestion, made apparently on purely a priori
grounds, that a certain set of six relations between the
coefficients in the formula for ds*, which are true
when no heavy body is near, still hold near one.
These are found to make the coefficients determinate,
whereas previously they were quite arbitrary, and the
observed motions of the planets, including the advance
of the perihelion of Mercury, are at once deduced.
_ The displacement of star images during an eclipse
is based on the further very plausible assumption
that a light-wave moves like a material particle of
zero mass starting from an infinite distance with the
velocity of light thete. Now that this displacement
has become a result of observation, the data are just
enough to make it possible to reverse the argument
and deduce the fundamental assumption of the theory
from observation, as I have done in a. forth-
coming papér in the Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society. Neither in Einstein’s discussion
nor in mine is any identification of ds with an invari-
able line element in four-dimensional space-time
relevant to the theory; and as the application of thé
theory is purely physical, I think it undesirable that
any such abstract idea should be made to appear as
part of it. Physically, the invariance of ds means
simply that the motion of a particle can be described
in terms of any set of co-ordinates we like to choose.
In discussing these phenomena all positions and
times are referred to an observer at the centre of the |
sun, and it is not necessary to determine the relations
between his measures and ours, for the uncertainty in
these would not affect the observed quantities
appreciably. The problem of the shift of spectral
lines, however, depends essentially on such a com-
parison. About part of the theory of it there can be
no reasonable doubt, namely, the assumption that
the vibration on the earth appears to any observer
to have the same period as the vibration on the sun
that causes it. What is doubtful is whether the atom
on the sun vibrates in the same time as a similar atom
on the earth. Einstein assumes that it does not, but
that the increase in ds in a period is the same for
both, and deduces the shift of the spectral lines.
There is nothing very bizarre about this; it only
means that when we move about we must refer our
observations to time standards in the place where
these were originally used, and not expect that they
will serve the same functions if we carry them about
with us. An analogy from colour will illustrate this.
Suppose we have a standard of redness in the form
of a particular red body. We judge the redness of
other bodies by comparison with this. Now suppose
we go to a place where the prevailing illumination is
green, but where our standard of redness is still visible
through a window. We then say that none of the
things in the room look red, but our judgments as to
what outside bodies look red are the same as before.
Our standard is now brought into the room. Are we
going to say that it looks red still? If we do, we
shall have to say that the red external bodies that
haye not been moved have been changed in colour
by the motion of our standard, which is at least in-
convenient, and which most people would call absurd.
Therefore we say that our colour standard has been
altered bv its displacement, and choose another
standard from among the visible external bodies.
Similarly, if an observer on the earth went to the
' false.
38 | NATURE
+} A 7
[Marcu 11, 1920
sun his time standard would not be that determined
by bodies he -had carried with him, but the standard
found by observing from the sun similar bodies on
the earth, and he would judge that his time standards
were changed by being displaced. Of course, if they
were not changed, the spectral shift would be zero.
The colour analogy, however, shows that there is no
special reason to believe that they are unchanged, and
it. certainly seems most likely that the invariable
quantity in such a displacement is ds, for this is
_ already known to be of fundamental importance in
other problems. The shift, therefore, is probable,
though if it were absent it would not be very difficult
to construct a theory that would fit the fact.
If it were true that dt was the same for atoms on
the sun and on the earth, we might expect our
standards of length also to be the same; but this
leads to a surprising result, for if they were, the
measure of the wave-length of the emitted light would
be proportional to (g,./::)3, so that it would not be
possible to continue to use the wave-length as a
standard of length; thus such a hypothesis would
lead, not to a simplification, but to an added com-
plexitv. It may also be noted that the spectral shift
depends on the part of Einstein’s law that agrees
with Newton’s, so that the two stand or fall together
if this phenomenon is crucial.
Einstein’s law, however, rests on firmer ground
than the theory of the spectral shift. As to whether
this shift exists, the available data on an average point
to one of nearly the predicted amount, and are cer-
tainly much nearer this than zero. They show a great
variation in the amount of the shift, which must be
explained before the question can be regarded as
solved. Many causes are capable of producing this
variation, but what seems to me likely to be the chief
does not appear to have received much attention. The
ptediction rests on the assumption that the vibrating
atoms are in similar surroundings, which is plainly
It is, indeed, required by the theory of stellar
evolution that the whole constitution of a star must
alter owing to successive types of atom becoming un-
stable and passing over into more stable forms. In-
stability demands that the slowest free vibration of
the atom: has its frequency reduced to zero, and in the
process the other periods must be affected. The
remarkable fact is not that there are shifts, but that
the observed spectra are as much like terrestrial ones
as they are.
HAROLD JEFFREYS.
Meteorological Office, S.W.7.
The Position of the Meteorological Office.
‘Twat the study of the atmosphere and the practical
applications of meteorology should be supported and
encouraged by the Government is a proposition so
obvious that it is accepted in every civilised country.
It does not, however, follow that the meteorological
service of a country should be conducted as a branch
of the civil service, still less of the military service,
and British meteorologists must be grateful for the
emphasis. laid in the leader in Nature of February 26
on the importance of scientific control of official
‘meteorology.
do not know enough of the present constitution
‘of the Meteorological Office to offer any criticism of
the Air Ministry ‘in relation to it, but I am_ very
strongly in’ agreement with the resolution of the
Roval Meteorological Society as to the importance of
full. inquiry. before changing the constitution of the
Meteorological Office, which has led to such remark-
able advances in meteorological science since 1905.
NO, 2628, VOL. 105]
The transfer to the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research, which you state to have been
contemplated at one time by a+ Committee of the
Cabinet, would, it seems to me, have been. a natural
development of the constitution under the Meteoro-
logical Committee, and it would have been free from
the dangers to scientific progress which are, not un-
naturally, feared from a subordinate position in the
Air Ministry. Had a full inquiry been held, I doubt
whether the claims of the Air Ministry would have
been preferred to those of the Board of Agriculture
and Fisheries, the Admiralty, the Board of Trade,
and, in particular, to those of the Ministry of Health.
The union of the British Rainfall Organization with
‘the Meteorological Office has altered its centre of
gravity so far as to make its equilibrium less stable
in the Air Ministry than it would be in either the
Board of Agriculture and Fisheries or the Ministry
of Health. As part of the Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research the Meteorological Office
would be in neutral territory, and could be equally
serviceable to all the great Departments, each of which
would naturally be represented on the Advisory Com-
mittee controlling the organisation. The position
would then be analogous to that of the Geological
Survey, which, perhaps, is the official scientific body
most nearly akin to the Meteorological Office.
For scientific bodies of this kind freedom from all
unnecessary -trammels of officialdom is necessary in
order to permit the expansion and development which
are essential to healthy life and practical usefulness ;
and in a body of such universal usefulness as the
Meteorological Office in its present expanded form
some representation of the industrial and economic
applications of meteorology upon the advisory com-
mittee or other controlling board is nearly as im-
portant as the representation of independent men of
science.
Hucu Ropert MIL.
Hill Crest, Dorman’s Park, Surrey, . if
March 2.
THE issue of NarurE for February 26 contained an
account of the Royal Meteorological Society’s resolu-
tion in reference to the transfer of the Meteorological
Office to the Air Ministry, a leading article dealing
with the same subject, and correspondence on the
organisation of scientific work, part of which seems
directly applicable to the same theme. —
If it be true that the Meteorological Committee is no
longer to exist, the society’s protest appears amply
justified. Otherwise the position of the Meteorological
Office as a branch of the Air Ministry, with a scientific
advisory committee, would appear not very dis-
similar to that of the Natural History Museum; or
perhaps a better comparison would be with the Royal
Observatory, Greenwich, which is under the Ad-
miralty, the Astronomer Royal being supported by a
scientific advisory committee in the shape of the Board
of Visitors, of whom only one, the Hydrographer,
directly represents the Admiralty, the rest being either —
university. professors of astronomy or else expressly.
nominated by the Royal Society or the Royal Astro-
nomical Society. CS Ae Tienes
The Meteorological Department at Greenwich,
though now in its eightieth year, is too recent to
expect direct representation on the Board, especially
as its activities have not generally run in the direc-
tion of research, but the fact remains that’ the’ work
at Greenwich has points of contact not only with the
Admiralty, but also with the Board of Trade, the Post
Office, the Meteorological Office, the Colonial Office,
and other bodies. It ought not to be ‘impossible to
CH II, 1920]
NATURE
39;
‘due attention from the Meteorological Office to
ements of the Board of Trade and of the
Agriculture and Fisheries, even though
icity, and possibly for financial reasons, it is
1 the Air Ministry and its separate expenses
in the account of that Department.
meee 3 WALTER W. Bryant,
ime Hon. Secretary.
Meteorological Society. Y
_ Organisation of Scientific Work.
[He fostering and development of the resources of
a means of scientific research is not a mere
of academic interest, but one. on which: the
mic existence of the country depends. For-
y the Government of India has realised the
of the situation, and is anxious to develop the
tialities of the country through the applica-
science, as Japan has already done with her
More limited resources. It is obvious that the
access of the proposed scheme will largely depend
: th - uragement of investigation among the
ents and workers, who will necessarily be
recruits for the work of the utilisation
enous talent in the services of their own
_A quarter of a century ago, when science
as in its infancy in i Sing I ventured to
through an ever-increasing ingenuity of
sary for extending the boundaries~ of
there would in the near future. be seen
n advance of skill and of invention among
, and that, if this skill could be assured,
lications would not fail to follow in many
an activity. .
vations have since been fully réalised;
, the extremely delicate instruments which
ed me to carry out all my investigations
nstructed entirely by Indian mechanicians,
been assured that the most skilled Ameri-
ent-makers could not have produced ap-
2 delicate. As regards scientific advance
AN departments, it is generally recognised
ie present period in India may truly be described
snce to the practical scheme now under the
ation of the Government of India, the leading
in Nature of February 19 states very fairly
iparative merits of the two alternatives, namely,
centralisation under a proposed Imperial
t, and that of decentralisation, under which
kkers will be\given as free a hand as
_ Under the centralisation scheme the work
estigator would depend on the previous sanc-
the head of the Service, who would probably
f any scientific eminence, or might even be
scientific qualification; and, most serious of
e would not be able to publish his results with-
the consent of the. official head of his special
it. The possible abuses of such conditions
viently obvious to all.
real investigator is making a great adventure
> unknown, and all the initiative and all the
_must therefore be his own. Nothing could be so
istrous for the growth of knowledge as to place
etent men under an incompetent machine.
ally, who should be the judge of the value of the
rls accomplished? Such judgment should not be
spartmental or secret; the verdict should come from
pen court of the scientific world itself, and this
it euectively put an end to official or non-official
petence. Mean J. C. Bose,
loomsbury Square, London, March 6.
NO. 2628, vot. 105]...
Photographs of Seven Vocal Notes.
Dr. A. O.-Ranxkrne, by means of the invention
described by him in Nature of February 5, has placed
me under a great obligation in furnishing ocular con-
firmation, desirable for those whose hearing is un-
disciplined or poor, of observations made by the
unassisted ear on the inherent pitches of vowel
sounds. No one who can hear harmonics of a
sustained note from the larynx reinforced suc-
cessively by a continuous change in the. pitch
of the mouth-cavity acting as a resonator should
remain in doubt as to their place in the tablature,
for, the pitch of the voice being known, if a harmonic
sequence is heard, such as 4:5.:6:7,. the vibration
number of any one of these overtones is the product
of a simple multiplication. The well-known spherical
resonators, applied in turn to the ear, cannot be
changed instantaneously, destroy the all-important con-
trast, and have failed. The late Lord Rayleigh’s com-
pound resonator (Phil. Mag., 1907, p- 321) would do
better service, but I do not know that anyone has
used it for this purpose. The table in text-books of
physics, physiology, etc.,.shows an extreme error of
two octaves. The inherent pitches of the vowels of
ordinary speech from oo to ee range from about fii to
div. Taking two octaves .as the extreme compass of
the mouth shaped for vowels, this supplies such “real
characters ’’ for vowel sounds as Bishop Wilkins and
his friends looked for in vain, and the use of an
alphabet thus réctified will make it unnecessafy for
English-speaking children to learn to spell, while the
re-formed print. writing will obviate spelling. reform.
‘I have explained this seeming paradox in a book now
in the press.
The films were marked before exposure.
(1) ‘128 not, ?6.’? This means that a note c
physical pitch is to be sung in which the singer hears
the sixth harmonic intensified in the mouth, the vowel-
quality more or less resembling the vowel in not pro-
longed. When the negative was changed back into
sound by Dr. Rankine, the harmonic no longer in
question (6, g”) was clearly heard by him, and after-
wards by myself. The octave comes out in the photo-
graph surprisingly strong. I suspect that it may be
largely a self-combination tone. I do not with cer-
tainty distinguish the octave in any quality of my
voice unless it is strengthened in the mouth, as when
the vowel oo is sung to a top note of chest register.
Six more films were exposed on February 16. Brief
samples of all six are here shown.
(2) ‘192 not, ?4.” The voice being raised a fifth,
to g, the mouth-tone g” is now harmonic 4. The four
light bands and four dark lines in each period are
evident. The inequality of the spacing reminds us that
the thing photographed is not a simple tone with the
double octave imposed upon it, but a voice in which
the fourth harmonic component is made especially
prominent. |
(3) ‘256 not, ?3.” The voice at middle C, c’ phy-
sical pitch, the overtone g” is now harmonic 3. — |
(4) ‘‘128 book, ?5.’? The pitch of the resonator is
lowered to e” by an unusual protrusion and rounding
of the lips. The pitch of the vowel in book as spoken
in southern England is considerably higher than e”.
One vibration in each periodic group is of the fre-
quency 128X5. The rest appear displaced by the
octave or the double/ octave.
(5) ‘256 book, ? high.” The quality of the vowel
is not affected, but now the pitch of the resonator is
too remote from the nearest of the lower harmonics
of c’,-2 and 3, c” and g”; and the only tone audible
| from the mouth is a very high, thin sound, noted
more than once as undoubtedly a sharp F, harmonic
40 NATURE
| Marcu 11, 1920
11 of c’, fiv+. No such frequency is visible on the
film, which seems to have recorded only the funda-
mental and the octave. This vocal note might fairly
be called a ‘‘dud.’’ Though sustained with greater
effort than (3) above, there is no ring in it, energy
being wasted in the attempt to force a vibration in a
mistuned resonator. When a singer happens upon a
note of this kind he instinctively alters the oral con-
figuration. Hence the endless complaints that some
vocalists, no matter what language they sing, distort
the vowels. It is impossible always to combine good
resonance with purity of vowel sound, and the higher
the voice, the more frequent the occurrence of such
an unfavourable conjuncture as here illustrated. It is
a matter of arithmetic.
Period |rzas' 2, rae
(16) “128 not, ? 6.’ The seventh harmonic was not-‘on
the programme. The proposal was to repeat (1) louder.
The note began well, but while forcing the voice I
became doubtful whether I could hold out until the
one second which was to receive duration had come
and gone, and listening anxiously for the click of the
shutter lost ear-control of the harmonic. _In fact, I
have to confess to a facial lapse, as sometimes happens
when, one is having a photograph: taken. A slight
enlargement of the lip-opening in the direction of the
vowel in far, a nearer approach to the vowel. in not
as I speak it naturally, introduces harmonic 7 of the
fundamental 128. It would: be easy to demonstrate
this at another sitting. - The earlier part of the film is
all at sixes and sevens. The strip reproduced with
its apparently lop-sided octave proves that the period
has been correctly marked in ar),
NO. 2628, VOL. 105 |
(7) ‘128 Somerset R.’’ It was hoped to discover ~
why the Wessex or American 7 should sound harsh
to unaccustomed ears. So far, the ear tells me more
than the eye. :
It would be interesting to try a longer film marked
‘128 we may, pa, all go too, ?17 to 5.”
W. PERRETT.
University College, Gower Street, London,
W.C.1, February 27.
Scientific Direction of Industrial Research.
EMBODIED in its rules, the National Union of
Scientific Workers states that one of its objects is
‘‘to secure in the interests of national efficiency that
all scientific and technical departments in the public
service, and all posts involving scientific knowledge,
shall be under the direct control of persons having
adequate scientific attainments.’’ The executive com-
mittee of this union realised that it had to over-
come much prejudice existing against the application
of this rule to the older Departments of State;
but from the very circumstances which gave birth to
the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
it imagined that the Department would adopt this
rule as a cardinal principle, and enforce it in its rela-
tions with the many manufacturers’ associations the
co-operation of which was invited in the formation of
research associations for the benefit of British indus-
tries.
Until the great war cut off supplies from Germany
the British nation as a whole had realised neither
its dependence upon that country for dyes, drugs, —
instruments, and glassware, among other things, nor
the fact that great German industries had been
founded upon the original work of British men of
science. The war brought enlightenment; the nation
discovered that its manufacturers, either from apathy
or ignorance, had failed to exploit British brains for
the benefit of the British communities; and it is safe
to assume that the Department of Scientific and Indus-
trial Research came into being to remedy this state of
things and to bring the manufacturing interests into
touch with the real scientific worker as distinct from
the essentially ‘‘ business’? man. \
The appointments of Sir Herbert Jackson, Prof.
Crossley, and Dr.. Slade as directors of research of
different industrial research associations were wel-
comed by this union as an indication of the Depart-
ment’s acceptance of the principle laid down by all
men of science, but later appointments have given
rise to dismay, particularly that of Mr. R. L. Frink as
director of the Glass Research Association, referred
to by Dr. Travers in Nature of February 5. Mr.
Frink appears to have been successful as the head of
a commercial organisation connected with the window-
glass and bottle-glass trade, but careful inquiry has
failed to provide evidence that by training or experi-
ence he can claim to be a man of science.
My union feels compelled, therefore, to: protest with
all its power against the appointment. It has sent
its protest both to the Glass Research Association,
which made the appointment, and to the Department
of Scientific and Industrial Research, which approved
it. From the former no reply has been received, —
although a month has elapsed since we made our
protest; from the latter the following extracts from
the reply are a confession of impotence to deal effec-
tively with the matter :
‘Tt is the intention of the Government that, so far
as the conduct of the affairs of research associations
is concerned, this shall be in the hands of the associa-
tions themselves... . ‘ oie
‘“* Accordingly, the responsibility for the selection of ©
a director of research and for the conditions of his
NATURE 41
ent rests in each case with the research asso-
ition, and not with this Department.”
‘the case of the Glass Research Association the
contribution to its funds for the next five years
jarters of the total. In view of its relatively
bution, the State should be able to exer-
than a merely nominal control over the
of the director; if it cannot do so, it
immediate steps to remedy its position.
inion of the National Union of Scientific
it is the subordination of the scientific
ie “business man’’ which has been
sible in the past for the tardy develop-
cientific industry in this country. It feels
is appointment negatives the aims outlined by
ment, and that the whole industry - will
the consequent neglect of the scientific
glass research work and from the un-
f scientific workers to submit to such
elieve that the matter is one of the
and that the result of our repre-
s matter, not only with a commercial
but also with the Department charged
of scientific interests in the country,
the relations of science and industry
_ A. G. CHurcH,
ee
es Secretary.
-Westminster,
6.
s Theory of Atoms.
objecti ion to Langmuir’s theory of atomic
e difficulty of accepting his hypothesis
ons. In view of the extraordinary
y, it is important to inquire if
O-----
a}
1
eo
'
i
?
——_—
,
an
‘
: Pek
“On:
HA :
' i!
/
,
9?
ee
argument from the fixity of direction of
orces necessarily holds. There appear
ous ways in which the rotation can be
of the stable groups of electrons formed by
ation of atoms. figures represent
utically, according to Langmuir’s system,
groups of electrons in the outer shells of
of neon, fluorine; and oxygen. In the case
1orine molecule the six electrons, forming two
with two electrons in common, may revolve
ole. The same thing may happen in the
molecule, or the electrons may revolve as three
ts. Revolution of the stable groups of electrons
-add to the stability of the molecules formed by
combination and increase the directional steadi-
: NO. 2628, VOL. 105 |
Piatacdes ba
ness of the valency forces. In this way it may be
possible to reconcile Langmuir’s theory with that of
Bohr. S. C. Braprorp.
The Science Museum, South Kensington,
London, S.W.7, February 16.
Seconding of Officers for Study at Universities.
THe War Office 5 Poenec fi recently issued
rightly points with satisfaction to the arrangements
made to allow Regular officers to take a full course
of study at a university (A.O. 323 of 1919). Unfor-
tunately, however, the conditions under which officers
may avail themselves of this privilege are such
that only the wealthy ones will be able to take advan-
tage of it, for while seconded they will receive no
pay or dilowance from Army funds; indeed, it has
not even been decided.whether the whole or any
portion of the period spent at a university will count
towards pension.
I venture to suggest that pressure should be brought
to bear on the War Office to secure that these privi-
leges shall be open to officers of small means by
allowing them to retain their pay and allowances
during the time they are undergraduates.
J: WERTHEIMER.
Venturers’ Technical College, >
Merchant
Bristol, March 8.
_ . Scientific and Technical Books. . ..
OnE part of the Descriptive Catalogue of the British
Scientific Products Exhibition organised by the British
Science Guild last year was devoted to selected lists
of books on science and technology.
The guild has been asked to extend these lists, so as
to include not: only all branches of science, both bio-
logical and physical, but also the chief technical sub-
jects. It has undertaken to do this, and a com-
mittee, of which I am chairman, has been appointed
to prepare such a catalogue.
The lists will be limited to books of British origin
actually in current catalogues of the publishers, so
that they can be obtained in the usual way throug
booksellers. | School books and elementary manuals will
not be included, and the general standard will be that
of college cowrses in scientific and .technical subjects
| or of works libraries: Each list will be submitted to
authorities upon the subject with which it deals, but
in order to secure that no important work is omifted
the committee invites the assistance of everyone
interested in its task. Such aid may be afforded by
sending (to the British Science Guild, 6 John Street,
Adelphi, London, W:C.2) lists or single titles of British
books of standard value or proved worth in any branch
of science or. industry.. I shall much appreciate help
of this kind which any readers of NATURE may be
able to give. R. A. GrEGorY.
Daylight Saving and the Length of the Working Day.
SuMMER time this year is to begin on March 28 and
end on September 27 (Nature, February 26, p. or).
In this connection it may be of interest to point out
one effect of the Daylight Saving Act which appears
to have escaved notice.
During the six months when the Act is in operation
the physiological working day is lengthened by one
hour—that is to say, we are all practically compelled
to be in active movement (of body or brain) for an
hour longer than we: normally should be. This
lengthened day is accompanied by a curtailment of
sleep, particularly in the case of working men who
have to rise early, and children. It would be of interest
to know the effect of these conditions on the worker’s
rate of production and the demand for shorter hours. |
Anniz D. Berts. »
Hill House, Camberley. Pe
42 NATURE
{Marcu 11, 1920.
Rainfall and Land Drainage.”
By Dr. Brysson CUNNINGHAM.
‘THE problem of the economical disposal of
surplus rainfall in cultivated districts is one
which naturally engages the attention of the agri-
culturist and, as a consequence of his needs and
interests, of the meteorologist, the engineer, and
the lawyer. All three aspects of the matter have
been dealt with recently in an article in Engineering
and in two papers read before the Surveyors’
Institution.
The precipitation cf atmospheric moisture is
counterbalanced in part by. the processes of (1)
evaporation, (2) transpiration, and (3) percolation,
the residue forming the run-off which collects on
the surface of the ground and ultimately finds
its way to sea by watercourses, either natural or
artificial. In cultivated areas it is essential » that
the soil should be drained promptly and effec-
tively, and left in a ‘‘moist,’’ as distinguished
‘from a “wet,” or saturated, condition. _ Ill-
drained land is incapable of experiencing the full
benefit of those seasonal physical and chemical
changes which promote the growth and develop-
_ ment of crops. ee
The article by Lt. -Col. Craster discusses the
proportion of run-off to rainfall, and the author
finds that it varies in this country, as also in
America, roughly between the limits of 33 and 67
per cent. It has been found that 0-065 in. ae
water is required to wet a crop of rough grass
about 5 in. in height, the aftermath in a hayfield,
_ up to the point at which it commences to drip on to
the soil. It may therefore be assumed that the
amount of water required to wet vegetation and
the surface of ploughed land is not less than 0-04 in.
or 1 mm. The whole of: this amount is lost by
direct evaporation after every fall oferain. If the
number of days with a rainfall of 0-04 in. or more
be 127 (as in the North-East of England in 1918)
and the number of days with less rainfall be 67,
the direct evaporation for this area will be
0°04 x 127+0'02 x 67=6'42 in. As regards tran-
spiration (i.e. absorption by vegetation), figures
from German sources show that a beech wood
transpires 142 ‘in. of water’ per year; a crop of
oats, 8°98 in. ; and a crop of barley, 4°88 in.. For
an average of 9 in. per year this moun be divided |
as follows: July, 25 per cent. ; June, 18; August,
15; May, 12; April and September, 8 each; March
and October, 5 each; and the remaining months,
I per cent. each. Percolation is more difficult to
estimate, owing to variable geological conditions,
but, as a rough rule, may be taken at not less than
1o per cent. Summarising these figures for the
North-East coast of England, there would be
a residue, or run-off, of 8°7 in. out of an. annual
rainfall of 26°8 in., i.e. 32°5 per cent.,
Fort William, Inverness, a run-off of 52-67 in. out
of an annual rainfall of 78°7 in., 1.e. 67 per cent.
1 “Estimating River Flow from Rainfall Records.” By Lt.-Col. J. E. E.
Craster. _ Engineering, January 2.
**'Land Drainage from the Engineering Point of View.” By C. Hs J:
Clayton.
‘*fLand Drainage from the Administrative Point of View.” By-E. M
Konstam. The last two are papers read before the Surveyors’ Institution on
January 12.
NO. 2628, VoL. 105]
and: for’
From a survey of the flood discharges in Eng-
land and Wales, Mr. Clayton arrives at the con-
clusion that, while no general rule can be laid down,
it is permissible to assume that in average areas the
run-off to the sea is from 50 to 60 per cent. of the —
As the general average rainfall
total rainfall.
is about 32 in. per annum, this means that, roughly,
1800 tons of .water per acre. finds its Way
annually into rills, brocks, streams, and rivers.
Taking into consideration the fact that about. 60
per‘cent. of the whole rainfall occurs in the six
months October to March, the general proposition
is established that 36 per cent. ‘of the total rainfall
has to be received by watercourses during a period:
of 182 days, whence it follows that an average wet
period run-off to sea is 0-0633 in. per day. In
designing drainage channels and in order to cover
reasonable cases of abnormal rainfall, Mr. Clayton
advises that this figure should be multiplied by
5, and the result so nearly equals 1 per cent. of
the total annual rainfall that he recone the
adoption of this standard. ,
The calculation is pursued furthes to the deter-
mination of the flow in tidal rivers necessary to
discharge this accumulation of land water. Apply-
ing the rule to a catchment area of half a million
acres, the total volume to be discharged within an
ebb-tide period of fourteen hours per day is
576,000,000 cu. ft., or, say, 11,430 cu. ft. per sec.,
which for a distance to sea of twenty miles would
necessitate a channel with a theoretical mean area
of 2721 sq. ft.
The maintenance and deepening of these eaitlet
channels are important considerations, but, unfor-
tunately, the jurisdiction and < supervision exercised
‘over them are casual and unsystematic in the ex-
treme. Before the railway era, river and canal
navigation brought in revenues from tolls which
enabled due regard to be paid to the drainage needs
of the districts through which they passed, but the
decay of inland navigation has resulted in the loss.
of these financial resources, and drainage condi-
tions have, in many cases, become deplorable. This
view is endorsed in Mr. Konstam’s paper, which
deals with the legal and administrative point of
view. The startling assertion is made that it is
doubtful whether there is a single river in England
which is at present in a satisfactory condition as a
means of draining water from agricultural land.
Whether strictly or approximately true, the situa-
tion calls for earnest attention. Drainage authori-
ties—known as Commissioners of Sewers in many
| parts of the country—date back to medieval times,
and their powers and functions have, in many
cases, become ineffective and cbsolete. The Land
Drainage Act of 1918, however, does something”
_ towards alleviating the situation by enabling the
| Board of Agriculture and the Ministry of Transport
to sanction the transfer of a navigation undertak-
ing to drainage functions. _No doubt in, PEncens of
be establighed.
’
:
:
‘
'
-
Marcu 11, 1920]
NATURE 43
\A HEN a bertaive small fraction of the National
‘Health Insurance funds was set apart for
es of research, the experiment was regarded
by many scientific men with suspicion or
rence. It was suggested that the State aid,
; provided for research, would result only in
atin a new class of Civil Servants, and might,
lead to the sterilisation of such of the
men as had earned appointment under
eme by the excellence of their early re-
It was also objected that any concen-
1 of State aid in a central institute or among
= group of workers would be effected only at
e of starvation of the work already being
out with insufficient means in the various
*s and research institutes of the country.
rk of the Medical Research Committee
the first five years of its existence has
y refuted such @ priori objections, and
eed, justified the view that the action taken
epresents the greatest advance in the
ion of scientific effort in the service of
science that has yet taken place in this
_ The Committee seized the opportunity
by the war, and initiated and supported
investigations urgently required for the
treatment of our soldiers in the field. So
‘succeed that, by the end of ‘the war,
ired for practically all the mem fitted
‘inquiry not only the opportunity, but
ate payment, either by way of com-
the Navy, or Army, or Air Force, or
report points out, the casualties and
of peace are not smaller and less painful,
less conspicuous and more familiar, than
of war. For example, the epidemic
killed during a few months more
people in their prime than fell in battle
ae ain. war. Fully justified, then, are
made by the Medical Research Com-
to create and maintain organised scientific
work, which shall repeat and continue for the
maladies of peace the same success as was effected
r those of war. Taking the difficulties of the
tion into account, the report is really a won-
record of achievement,
Committee carries out its work in two
In the first place, it maintains a small
1 s of workers in whole-time service. Most
of these will pursue their researches in the central
nstitute, located in the old Mount Vernon Hos-
‘pit , which has been adapted for this purpose ;
the ugh, where the object of the work requires it,
_ these workers may be attached to hospitals or
laboratories elsewhere. Thus during the past year
both Dr. Lewis and Dr. Elliott were attached as
whole-time workers to University College Hos-
pital, and other whole-time workers pursue their
researches at Cambridge, Oxford, and St.
cy National Health Insurance. Fifth Annual Report of the Medical
a (amg fen bee scaniupasie 1918-19. Pp. 90. (Lcndon: H.M. Stationery
No. 2628, VOL. 105 |
*
ons.
The Work of the Medical Research Committee.
Bartholomew’s Hospital. In the second place, the
Committee assists organised research already in
progress at different universities and medical
schools by means of grants made in payment for
part-time work. We are glad to see that the
Committee declares its desire to assist in this
manner the work of the units which are being
formed in London for higher clinical teaching and
research.
The record of work for the, past year must be
regarded as highly creditable and a striking testi-
mony to the value of the aid which the Committee
has been able to render. Scarcely any aspect of
medical science has been left untouched. Collec-
tive investigations have been undertaken on tuber-
culosis, on dysentery, on typhoid and paratyphoid,
on the treatment of wounds, and on cerebro-spinal
fever and influenza. Fundamental problems of
nutrition have been attacked especially by the
Committee on Accessory Food Factors, which has
carried out researches not only in this country,
but also in Vienna, and thrown much light on
the causation of rickets and on the factors con-
cerned in normal growth. The investigation of
the disorders of the cardio-vascular system, in-
cluding the causation of soldier’s heart (in which
such valuable results were attained during the
war), has been continued, and a special depart-
ment for this purpose has. been instituted under
the care of Dr. Lewis. The research into trench
nephritis is being continued by Dr. MacLean and
extended to include all forms of nephritis. The
report records also the results of researches on
the effects of oxygen lack, on chronic arthritis, on
wound shock, on industrial fatigue, and ; on many
other subjects.
The great value of the Committee’s ware is
that in a time of transition, when the community
is slowly awakening to the value and necessity of
research in medicine, but has not yet provided the
necessary organisation and support, it is making ©
it possible for practically all provided with the
necessaty ’ intellectual endowments to take up
scientific work, at any rate for a time. No doubt
many of these workers will later pass into prac-
tice; but the Committee by its action is creating
a reserve of scientific workers, from which the
country will be able to draw its teachers and teams
of research workers, when once it recognises the
need for them and is prepared to provide such
salaries that a man can devote himself to the
advancement of knowledge without taking vows
of celibacy and poverty. There will always be a
small handful of men in every country who will
devote their lives to this cause. Faradays, how-
ever, are few and far between, and the vast
majority of men of first-class intelligence are not
prepared to make the supreme sacrifice. The
country has need of these men to fill its depleted
ranks of scientific workers, academic and indus-
trial, but it will not obtain their services until it
ean provide a career in science equal in status and
remuneration to that afforded by other professions.
44
NATURE
[Marcu II, 1920
The Mariners Compass.
ORE than 300 years ago William Barlow,
writing of the compasses of his day, said
that, though the compass needle was “the most
admirable and useful instrument of the whole
world,” yet nothing was more “bungerly and
absurdly contrived.” How little advance was
made in the succeeding two centuries can be
gathered from Peter Barlow's remark to the Lords
of the Admiralty in 1820 that “the compasses tn
the British Navy were mere lumber, and ought to
be destroyed.” It was Barlow himself who made
the first notable improvements in compasses during
the nineteenth century, and his work was_ the
prelude to the. important investigations of Airy,
Archibald Smith, Kelvin, and others. The prac-
tice of “swinging ship’”’—that is, turning a ship
slowly round and noting the deviations of the
compass in different positions by taken bearings—
was introduced in 1810 by Matthew Flinders, who
also invented the use of the “ Flinders bar,” a rod
of soft iron placed near the compass to correct
for changes in the magnetism of the ship due to
the vertical component of the earth’s magnetism.
The graduai increase in the employment of
wrought-iron fittings in wooden ships; the use of
iron cables instead of hempen; the placing aboard
of ponderous iron boilers and engines; and, lastly,
the construction of the vessel itself of iron, each
in its. turn added difficulties to the problems
involved. Barlow, in his attempts in 1819 to find
a remedy for the large deviation due to the extend-
ing use of iron in ships, made the first experi-
mental investigation of the phenomena of induced
magnetism. From his inquiry he was able to give
a simple means of correcting ships’ compasses by
fixing soft iron discs in suitable places near the
compass, and he afterwards introduced a type of
compass having four or five parallel straight strips
of magnetised steel fixed under a card, which
remained the standard pattern until Kelvin brought
out his famous patent in 1876.
The mathematical investigations of Poisson an‘
of Airy about 1838 led to the introduction of
methods of correction by the use of permanent
magnets, and also of the well-known soft iron
spheres. Many of Airy’s experiments were made
in the iron vessel Rainbow off the old Woolwich
Dockyard.
The story of Kelvin’s share in the improvement
of the compass has often been told. Asked in 1871,
by his friend Norman Macleod, to write an article
atte s
for the newly founded magazine, Good Words,
Kelvin. chose as a topic the mariner’s compass.
The first part of his article appeared in 1874,,and
the second not until five years later. ““When I
tried,” he said, “to write on the mariner’s com-
pass, I found I did not know néarly enough about
it. So I had to learn my subject. I have been
learning it these five years.” The Admiralty
standard compass, adopted in 1842, and in use
when Kelvin took up the matter, had a card 7} in.
in diameter, and under it four needles; each of
which was a long, straight bar of flat clock spring
placed on edge. The card and the needles weighed
about 1600 grains, and had a period of vibration
of 19 sec. So considerable was the friction
that the binnacle was often kicked by the sailors
to make the card move. Kelvin’s “gossamer
structure” of eight small needles weighed about
170 grains, and had -a period of about 40 sec.
The cold reception Kelvin received from the then
Hydrographer to the Navy, and Airy’s remark
on the compass, “It won’t do,” remind one of the
reply made to Berthon in 1835: “The scréw was
a pretty toy which never would and never could ~
propel a ship.” i
The ultimate adoption of the Kelvin compass
was largely due to Lord Fisher, who had one on
board the Inflexible at the bombardment of Alex-
andria in 1882. Torpedo craft, however, continued
to be supplied with a form of compass in which
the whole card floats in liquid, and improvements
made in this type led to its being adopted as
the standard compass about 1906. Since this has
come the invention of, first, the Anschutz, then the
Sperry, and, now, the Brown gyro-compasses, the
introduction of which has taken place during the
last ten years. As remarked by Mr. S. G. Brown
in the Royal Institution discourse reproduced below, |
the gyro-compass is a necessity in a submarine,
while in larger vessels it has the great advantages
that it can be placed below the water-line more
or less immune from gunfire, and lends itself to
utilisation with fire-control apparatus and the tor-
pedo director.
All the work on compasses for the Navy is
to-day carried out at the new Admiralty compass
observatory at Ditton Park, near Slough, where
the work of the five departments—the gyro-
compass branch, magnetic compass branch, optical
branch, experimental branch, and air compass
branch—is superintended by the director, Capt.
F, O. Creagh-Osborne. fees
i
The Gyrostatic Compass.
By S. G. Brown, F.R.S.*
THE subject of this lecture is the gyrostatic
compass, often called the gyro-compass. An
engineer of: my acquaintance was asked if he under-
1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, January-30.
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
stood what a gyro-compass was, and he replied, ‘Of
course I do; it is a magnetic compass mounted upon
a gyroscope.” Now the gyro-compass has au g
to do with magnetism or the magnetic compass. 7 he
PK
}
Marcu II, 1920]
NATURE
45
kt.
y iting that 7 two instruments have in common
is the property of pointing north and south. I am
anxious that this should be clearly understood, because
m a recent lecture I gave at Bournemouth on this
very subject one of the audience asked me after the
ecture how the gyro-compass was shielded from out-
side magnetic influence. I pointed out, as I had
endeavoured to do during the lecture, that the gyro-
apass had nothing to do with magnetism, and,
therefore, did not require shielding. he magnetic
‘compass and the gyro-compass are, in fact, two
absolutely different instruments operated by entirely
erent laws, although they are for the same purpose.
“many people do not understand why a gyro-
ass is needed when the magnetic palligany is
available, it is worth while to describe briefly
gnetic or mariner’s compass before attempting
lain the gyro-compass. e€ mariner’s compass
tras
es fixed side by side, and balanced upon a sharp
_ A card divided into thirty-two (points of the
ompass) is attached to the needle, and swings round
with it, so that the point marked N on the card
always points to the north.
_ The earth, as we know, is a magnet, but not a
very powerful one, and it has been calculated that if
were wholly of iron it would have an intensity of
1etism 17,000 times greater than it has. All the
me, the magnetism is sufficiently strong to give a
directive action to a pivoted needle. The mag-
poles of the earth are not coincident with the
aphical poles, but are situated some distance
good
T al
etek
3? |
1. The north magnetic pole was discovered by Sir
Ross to be situated in latitude 70° 5’ N. and longi-
46’ W. in Boothia Felix, just within the Arctic
some 1000 miles away from the actual pole.
th this displacement of the magnetic poles we
irreguiar distribution of the magnetism over
_surface of the earth; and thus the magnetic
2 does: not og truly north and south at many
s of the ’s surface. In London, for instance,
it points at an angle of 16° W. of the true north.
This angle is called the deviation or variation of the
needle. To enable ships to steer by the compass,
‘ etic ts have been prepared and the deviation
lifferent places Scere tel measured. These mag-
charts have to be checked and altered from time
time, as the deviation slowly varies from year to
ar. Thus in London in 1659 the needle pointed true
rth, while in 1820 there was an extreme ‘westerly
ariation of 244°. Since then it has been slowly com-
¢ back to something like 16° at the present time.
n a wooden ship the accuracy of a good modern
netic compass leaves little to be desired, but on
ron ship the case is quite different. The magnetic
of the earth tends to be weakened in the length-
se direction of the iron ship, because a portion of
e magn enters the ship, while across the ship
= field is stronger; and as it is essential that the
agnetism in which the needle lies should be uniform
strength in whatever direction the ship may happen
point, it is important that this stronger field should
uced cape method of magnetic shielding. This
_is accomplished by fixing a pair of iron globes athwart
_the ship on the two sides of the compass. The effect of
_ the iron of the ship and the corrections that have to
_ be made to the compass is to reduce the diréctive force
_of the earth’s magnetism, and thus the compass is
tendered slow and sluggish in its action. This is
particularly the case on board a battleshin. In the
terior of a submarine the: force is still further
reduced, so much so as to render the magnetic com-
pass useless for this class of vessel.
It is quite vossible on an iton ship to correct the
No. 2628, VoL. 105] .
s of a magnetic needle, or of several magnetic
errors of a compass, but as the ship itself may be a
magnet, and its strength a variable quantity, it is
important that the navigator should test the readings
of his compass at every available opportunity, and
particularly at the commencement of each voyage.
The ship’s magnetism may quickly change through the
hammering action of the waves, through the heating
action of the sun on one side of the vessel, or through
an earth on any of the electric wires that may be
running near the compass; all these things together
add to the anxiety of the captain, as he is never quite
certain how far the compass is correct in its readings.
The swings of the modern compass are damped by
immersing the needles and card in a liquid such as
alcohol, but as this fluid is attached to the ship and
turns with it, swinging the ship in any direction
carries the liquid round and reacts on the needle and
card, so that the compass has a tendency to be
carried round with the vessel. This lag in the instru-
ment renders it difficult to hold a ship dead on her
course, and the path, as a consequence, is sinuous,
and may oscillate, even in a calm sea, as much as
7° each side of the correct heading. As a ship has
usually to steam entirely by the readings of the
compass, any error is serious. For instance, if there
is an error of 3°, and the ship is steaming at sixteen
knots, she will move one English mile off her course
every hour. It is obvious how necessary it is to have
absolutely correct readings.
Lord Kelvin was the first seriously to study the
errors of the magnetic compass. He started in 1871,
and in 1876 produced his well-known instrument.
Although it was a great advance on any compass in
the British Navy, he had the greatest difficulty to get
it adopted; finally, in 1879 he proposed to place an
instrument at the disposal of the Admiralty at his
own expense. This offer was accepted. In spite of
this, it was only through the acquaintance of influen- —
tial naval officers, particularly of Capt. (now Lord)
Fisher, that the compass was ever adopted. In 1880,
eighteen years after the commencement of his experi-
ments, and long after it was in common use in com-
mercial ships, he received official notification that his
10-in. compass was to be adopted in future as the
standard of the Navy. It is fortunate that we have
an alternative method of securing a_ north-seeking
property in the gyro-compass, an instrument of much
greater accuracy than the magnetic and with none
of its errors; for if deviations do occur they are
known deviations, and can therefore be allowed for.
Evans and Smith, in 1861, were the first to discover
how important it was to mount’ the needles on the
card so that the moments of inertia of the moving
system should be the same about all directions—that
is to say that the system should be in dynamic
balance, otherwise the rolling of the ship would cause
deviations in the reading. I have lately discovered
that another deviation may be brought about, not by
an oscillation in one direction, but by the card being
set wobbling; the needles and card would then have
a force applied trying to carry the moving system
round in the direction of the wobble.
I have a magnetic compass here to demonstrate
this. It consists of a heavy brass disc mounted on a
vertical frictionless spindle. The needles are fixed to
the disc, and the whole movable system is carried on
a pendulous mounting, as in the gyro-compass. The
disc and needles are in correct static and dynamic
balance. Swinging the pendulum in any one direction
produces no deviation, but by making it swing in a
circular conical path, thus giving a wobble to’ the
plate, a serious deviation is caused in the reading of
the compass. The error is pérmanently maintained
against the earth’s attraction so long as the circular
27
46 NATURE
[Marcu II, 1920
motion: of the pendulum persists. When the compass
is carried round in a horizontal circular path without
wobble, the plate still goes round, or tries to go round,
with a circular movement.- This should be of interest
to mathematicians.
Before leaving the instrument I will set it spinning
so as to demonstrate the frictionlessness of the vertical
axis: It is rotating now entirely by means of the
energy of the motion of the plate, and I think you
will find at the end of the lecture that it is still”
revolving, but, of course, not so fast as at present.
The magnetic. compass is a simple piece of ap-
paratus; but it is complicated in its readings and cor-
rections, and points to the magnetic north. The eyro-
compass is a complicated instrument, but simple in
its readings, and it points to the true north.
Before proceeding to describe the gyro-compass I
wish ‘to direct attention to the equipment here dis-
played. A gyro-compass is in full operation, and at
the present moment. is recording its movement upon
a travelling strip of paper. About half an hour before
the lecture started the compass was deflected from
the north position, and it has since been left to itself.
The record shows that it is engaged in swinging back
Fic. 1.
again to the north, recording a curve upon the paper
strip, and this record can be followed during the whole
of the lecture.
The compass is working two repeaters, which
truly copy the reading of the master compass.
Of course, any number of repeaters could be
used on board ship if it were necessary. The
steering repeater (Fig. 1) has a card that revolves four
times to one of the master, and the divisions are,
therefore, very much enlarged. The other is a cor-
rection repeater; it moves backwards and forwards
very slightly, and this motion we term the ‘hunt.’’
In the steering repeater the ‘“‘hunt’’ has been cut out
by providing the mechanism within the case with a
requisite amount of slackness.
About sixty-eight years ago Foucault did what was
thought a wonderful thing at the time; he gave a
lecture-room proof that the earth was rotating on its
axis—he looked through a microscope at a gyrostat.
He could not get a frictionless, free, vertical axis, so
that the experiment could not last for long. I shall
‘be able to show you a piece of apparatus which carries
out Foucault’s idea in a perfect way, and will be
visible to this audience.
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
A gyrostat consists of an accurately balanced
spinning wheel, mounted’ with as little friction as_
possible, and in such a way that the axis of thé:
wheel may point in any direction in space. Mere
translation in space has no action on the instrument; -
carrying it about, for instance, does not alter the
direction of the axis. On the other hand, the gyrostat
is acted upon by any force that tends to tilt the’ axis’
or to give the axis a new direction in space.
The wheel (Fig. 2) spins round its axis; call the
If we impress a force upon the.
wheel tending to tilt or rotate it round another axis ob,
then the rule is that the spinning wheel will ‘‘ precess”’ .
direction of this oa.
or move in such a direction as to try to make the
two axes oa and ob coincide, and the direction of spin
of the wheel to coincide with the new direction of rota-
tion that we are trying to produce by the applied force.
An electric circuit has similar mathematical laws -
to those of the gyrostat, and may be used as an
illustration. The circuit here used (Fig. 3) consists of
Fic. 2.
an outer fixed coil and a central suspended coil. A
strong direct current indicated by a is kept flowing
in the central coil; this corresponds to the spin cf
the wheel. If a direct current indicated by b is sent
round the outer coil, then the central coil will move
in such a direction as to make not only the axes of
the magnetic fields of the two coils, but also the
direction of the two currents, coincide. In, fact, the
coils will move, or try to move, in such a way as to
make the self-induction of the whole circuit a maximum.
This is very much like the gyrostat, or, in fact,
any piece of mechanism which under impressed forces
tends to move so as to make the whole moment of
momentumamaximum. Suppose, therefore, a gyrostat
has its axis oa fixed parallel to the earth’s surface,
but free to turn in “‘azimuth,’’ as it is called, upon
a frictionless vertical spindle; the earth will act upon
such an instrument, and it would be a gyro-compass.
The earth as it rotates is continually tilting the axis
of the wheel in space;° the wheel will therefore turn
faRcH 11, 1920] |
NATURE
47
to set its axis of rotation as nearly as possible
to the axis of the earth. It is only when
axes coincide that the wheel is free of any
Heng -action—that is, when it is pointing
th; deviate the axis, however slightly, from
tion of rest, and the action of the earth comes
im to precess the wheel back again to the
ere is a simple form of gyrostat with three
Ss of freedom. If I hold it in my hand and
2 On my axis, this does not move the wheel,
still keeps pointing to the same part of the
On the other hand, if I restrain or clamp
its degrees of freedom so that I am able to
the axis of the wheel during my revolution, the
is caused to precess and to set its axis parallel
axis on which I am revolving. Reversing the
the wheel also reverses.
is what takes place with the gyrostat on the
surface provided it is frictionlessly mounted.
1 an instrument is before you, and I will try to
rate by its means the rotation of the earth.
is rotating inside this case at 15,000 revolu-
per minute. The case is constrained to move
Fic. 3.
this vertical frictionless axis. Mere motion
anslation has no effect in changing the direction
e axis of the wheel, but if this room rotates the
about which the room is rotating.
We all believe that this room is rotating about the
axis of the earth; if so, the axis of the wheel must
itself parallel to the axis of the earth, but it
_ must be kept horizontal, and, therefore, it will point
north and south. Here it is pointing in an east-and-
west direction; it is held by a string. I will now
burn the string. and it will find for us the true north.
Observe that it is really the true north direction,
whereas that magnet points to the magnetic north.
‘set it away from the north, but on the other side,
and repeat the experiment. .
‘Such a simple form of gyro-compass could not be
any use on a moving ship, because the rolls of
the ship would react too violently on the spinning
A and cause considerable deviations in the read-
ings of the compass. The use of a gyro-compass on
~ Tand is very limited. and its great value at the present
_ time is on board ship. The spinning wheel is acted
NO. 2628, VOL. 105
of the wheel tends to set itself’ parallel to the
upon by forces which tilt the axis. Now, a rolling
and pitching ship is about the worst place to put a
gyrostat to act as a compass, because the ship’s
movements all tend to tilt the axis.
The problem, therefore, is to make the compass
insensible to the movements of the ship and respond
only to the slow angular rotation of the earth. To
indicate the severity of the ship’s movements, I may
recall a recent trip of this gyro-compass on board a
fast destroyer. During a severe gale the ship was
recorded to roll more than 50° of total angle. Many
of the crew were forced to lie on the decks, the
lockers emptied their contents, and even some of the
oil-lamps suspended from the ceiling were unseated
by the pitching of the vessel; yet the gyro-compass
maintained its accuracy, and allowed the ship to be
steered safely into harbour, to which she had to run
for safety. In all this whirlwind of movement the
gyro-compass heard, and only responded to, the still,
small voice of the earth’s rotation.
For use on board ship the compass must be
mounted on a pendulum in gymbal rings, and its
period of oscillation is lengthened to something like
85’, which is usual in practice, so that the rolls,
which are of the order of 7 to 15 seconds’ period,
shall have but.small effect on. the compass. In this
case the rotation of the earth does not act directly
upon the gyro-wheel, but by means of the force of
gravity through the pendulous weight. -Unfortunately,
this. form of mounting introduces troubles of its own.
Suppose we study. our simple gyrostat and see what
happens when we attach a weight to the end of the
horizontal spindle; this will give us some idea of
what occurs when the force of gravity is, acting
through the pendulum trying to tilt the gyro-wheel.
-We know from our law that the wheel will precess
under the tilting action, but the new direction of
rotation that we are trying to produce by means of
the weight, unlike that produced by the earth, which
is always in one direction, is in this case continually
carried round by the precessing wheel, and the pre-
cession is, therefore, permanently maintained. We
also find that if we hurry the precession the spindle
rises, lifting the weight; while, on the other hand,
if we delay, the precession, the spindle drops and the
weight falls. The rate of precession is proportional
to the weight. Halving. the weight, for instance,
halves the rate at which. the wheel rotates round the
vertical support.
Coming back again to our pendulous-mounted
gyro-compass (Fig. 2); suppose the spindle is pointing
west and is horizontal, then the earth as it rotates
will leave the wheel pointing in this one direction in
space, but the weight will try to follow the earth’s
rotation, and will start precessing the gyro towards
the north. The rate at which the wheel comes to
the north depends upon the weight W attached
to the casing. All the time the wheel is coming to
the north the earth is adding to the rate of the pre-
cession, and the spindle is, as a consequence, tilted,
and deflecting the weight at the north position.
Under these conditions the effect of the weight is to
continue the precession, and the gyro-wheel will swing
through the’ north position, and continue to move
until the effect of the earth arrests and reverses the
motion. ;
The compass will therefore continue to swing
through the north position with constant amplitude
backwards and. forwards; undamped. To render the
compass of use, some method of damping the swing
must be introduced’ so that the compass may finally
settle on the north. This damping can be carried out
by means of friction, preferably fluid friction; between
the vertical spindle and its support; but, although
this will damp the swings, it is inadmissible because
.
NATURE
| Marcu II, 1920
the movements of the ship would react through the
friction and cause errors in the reading.
Anschutz, in his early form of compass, by use of
an air blast, gets rid of this connection with the ship.
The air blast was arranged to oppose the movement
in azimuth when the wheel tilted, and thus he ob-
tained an effective method of damping. The strength
of the air blast, which varies proportionally to the
tilt, should be nothing when the compass is at rest
on the north—that is, when the tilt is nothing—and
this would be true with the compass on the equator.
In other latitudes, however, the compass rests at
the north with a tilt still remaining. It does not
come back to the horizontal position because the axis
of the wheel is trying to set itself parallel to that of
the earth. This leaves a residual air blast continuously
acting, producing a permanent twist in azimuth and
a constant error. It is, therefore, preferable to damp
the swings of the compass by acting upon the tilt
rather than upon its movement in azimuth, because in
this case there will be no latitude error. The tilt is a
maximum at the middle of each swing—that is, when
it is moving throush the north position—and it is
the return of the weight to its truly vertical position
that is resnonsible for the continuation of the oscilla-
tion; we therefore require some method of neutralis-
ing the action of the weight, not before, but after,
the compass has reached the north. This I accom-
plish in the Brown gyro-compass by automatically
moving a liquid from one bottle to another, and in
such a direction as to counterbalance the weight, pre-
cessing the gvro-wheel, and I delav its action bv
means of a valve or constriction in the tube joining
the two bottles.
The force with which the compass seeks the north
is proportional to the product of the rotation (one
revolution in twenty-four hours) and the spin of the
wheel. The faster we.can spin the wheel, the more do
we obtain directive force. It is for this reason that
the wheel is rotated at its maximum speed and
strength consistent with the rise of temperature.
Taking the Brown gyro-compass as an example,
the wheel, which is 4 in. in diameter and 4} lb. in
weight, runs at 15,000 revolutions per minute. The
maximum directive force of the earth on this wheel—
that is, when the spindle is pointing east to west—is
only the weisht of 30 grains, with a leverage of 1 in.
This small force is continually diminishing in value
as the axis approaches the north direction, and
vanishes absolutely in that position. If the compass
was deflected, say, 1° from the north, then the force
of restoration is only 4 grain at a leverage of 1 in.
It will therefore be seen how important it is to
eliminate as completely as possible any friction on
the vertical axis that would tend to oppose the direc-
tive action of the earth.
There are three forms of gyro-compass now in use:
the Anschutz (German), the Sperry (American), and
the Brown (British). In the Anschutz the vertical
axis is supported by a bath of mercury, and in the
Sperry by a suspended wire, the twist, if any, being
taken out by a follow-up motor through an electric
contact, which switches on the current to the motor;
while the Brown is operated by a hydraulic system
of support. The lower end of the vertical spindle acts
as a ram and stands upon a column of oil. The oil
is under great pressure, some soo lb. per square inch,
and is kept pumning uv and down, and thus raising
and lowering the vertical axis continually some
180 times every minute.
The continual movement of the spindle results in
a practically frictionless vertical support, so that the
total movins vart. some 7} Ib. in weight, can be
carried round in azimuth by the smallest force, due to
the earth’s rotation: in fact. so small is the friction
No. 2628, VoL. 105]
that the compass, if deflected, will always come
back again to its true north position, certainly within
one-tenth of a degree. I think I am safe in saying
that it is the most perfect frictionless support yet
given to the vertical spindle of any gyro-compass,
or, indeed, of any machine. Garey
In an earlier part of this lecture it was stated
that the period of oscillation given to a gyro-compass
is of the order of 85’. I .will now try to explain
why this is so. The earth has no angular movement
from south to north, but has one from west to east,
due to the daily revolution on its axis. A ship, how-
ever, sailing to the north at, say, twenty knots an hour
introduces an angular movement in that difection
because it is moving over the curved surface of the
ocean, and would complete a revolution of the globe
in forty-five days.
If there were a gyro-compass on the ship the
instrument would be sensible of these angular
movements, set itself so as to make a com-
promise between them, and, as a consequence, point,
not to the true north, but one or more degrees west
of the actual pole. This division is termed the ‘ north
steaming error.”’ Knowing the latitude, the speed
of the ship, and its direction towards the north and
south, the extent of the error can be accurately cal-
culated, and speed-correction tables have been pre-
pared so that this error can be determined for any
latitude, speed, and heading of the ship, and can be
allowed for.
Automatic means have also been devised to make
these necessary corrections in the reading of the
compass. For instance, my special form of repeater
has been designed so that the card can be set
eccentric, and, when once set, the correction will
be automatically applied without any further reference
to the tables. ‘
When a ship is in harbour a gyro-compass 6n board
points due north, but when the ship starts steaming
to the north the compass begins an oscillation so as
to bring the axis of the wheel into the new resting —
position to include the north steaming error
in the reading. Getting up speed will, however,
have another effect on the compass. We know that,
the gyro-wheel is acted upon by a pendulous weight. |
As the ship changes its speed the acceleration will —
act upon the pendulous weight and cause an oscilla-
tion to be started. This oscillation is termed the
‘ballistic deflection.’’
The permanent north steaming error and the transi-
torv error due to the ballistic deflection are in the
same direction, and mathematicians have calculated
that with an undamped gvro-compass, if the time of
its oscillation is set to 85’ in any particular latitude,
the ballistic deflection can be made exactly the same
as the deflection due to the north steaming error;
this being so, the compass should move into its new
resting-place without further oscillation. This would
be true if, as before indicated, the compass were un-
damped in its swings, but the mathematicians have
overlooked. the fact that all gyro-compasses are
damped, and the ballistic deflection must, therefore,
include a term due to the damping.
This damping term up to the present has been
neglected, but in practice it is found that when a
ship is steaming and turning to alter its course the
compass does not come dead-beat to its new position,
but has an oscillation started which is common to
all existing gyro-compasses. The extent of this
oscillation mav be termed the “‘damping error.’’
a merchant ship the damping error is of little moment,
but on a war vessel which is manceuvring it may
be serious, as it may swing the compass off its cor-
rect reading by several degrees. omg
(To be continued.)
NATURE
49
Obituary.
or, J. Emerson Reyno.ps, F.R.S.
JAMES EMERSON REYNOLDS,
se death at seventy-five years of age
yunced in Nature of February 26, was
(844 in Booterstown, a suburb of
dis father was a medical practitioner
prietor of a medical hall, and it was while
his father that he first became enamoured
idy of chemistry. Destined to follow in
sion of his father, Reynolds studied
.and became a licentiate of the Royal
Physicians and Surgeons of Edinburgh.
practised in Dublin for a short time,
sire was to devote himself to chemistry,
March, 1867, he was appointed “keeper
” at the National Museum in Dublin,
following year analyst to the Royal
Society. It was here that he made
important contribution to chemistry.
1869 he discovered thiocarbamide, the
hur analogue of urea, which he obtained as
result of the isomeric transformation of
thiocyanate. This was a discovery
ed a good deal of attention at the
jebig and, later, Hofmann had both
ssful in their attempts to isolate the
fact, Hofmann had previously ‘sug-
at ammonium thiocyanate was probably
later, in a paper communicated to
siety, Reynolds described the pre-
interesting compound of acetone
me _ oxide, of the composition
O 3HgO, which was the first
-of a colloidal mercurial derivative. The
under which this body is formed con-
ry delicate reaction for the detection
eynolds was appointed to the chair
in the University of Dublin in suc-
the late Dr. Apjohn, having previously
0 years professor of chemistry at the
se of Surgeons of Ireland. He quickly
for himself a high reputation as a
lecturer, and for a few years his
; ere mainly directed towards the
elopment of the teaching of chemistry on
‘in _ Shortly after his appointment he
| the writing of his well-known
ental Chemistry for Junior Students,”
was ultimately published in four small
ames. The first volume was a_ distinctly.
inal work. By the aid of a progressive series
ple and helt tested experiments, the junior
Gent was enabled to verify for himself the
damental laws of chemistry by quantitative
its. Whilst the quantitative method is now
ally adopted in the early training of the
, Reynolds must be given the credit of
‘been the first to introduce it, now forty
ago. The experimental illustration of his
NO. 2628, VoL. 105]
chance to discard medicine soon came
lectures was a matter to which Reynolds gave
great attention and a good deal of his time. If,
from one cause or another, an experiment failed,
which was of rare occurrence, it was always
successfully repeated on the following occasion.
As a result, his lectures were very attractive, and
the discipline which he maintained in his classes
was proverbial in the college.
This, it can be understood, was not attained
without the display of a certain amount of well-
meant severity, and, though Reynolds always
refused to nourish popularity at the sacrifice of
a surrender of discipline, he was nevertheless held
in high esteem by all young men who came under
his tuition. Past students have many times
spoken to the writer of ‘their great appreciation
of Reynolds as a lecturer, teacher, and disciplin-
arian.
Whilst his professional duties absorbed most
of -his time, Reynolds continued research, and,
from a comparison of the specific heats of silver
and beryllium (glucinum), which he had prepared
in a nearly pure state, he showed that the atomic
weight of the latter must be taken as g, and that
the element was a member of the family of
alkaline earths, .
In 1885 his researches on organic derivatives
of silicon, in which this element was united to
nitrogen, were commenced. The results were
described in a series of more than a dozen papers
published in the Transactions of the Chemical
Society up to 1909. Amongst several new sub-
stances which were prepared, perhaps the most
interesting was the beautifully crystalline silico-
tetraphenylamide, Si(NH.C,H;),, the — carbon
analogue of which has never been obtained, and
by the action of heat silico-diphenylimide,
Si(NC,H,)., was obtained, the carbon analogue of ©
which is well known. After twenty-eight’ years’
occupation of the chair of chemistry in the
University of Dublin, Reynolds retired in 1903,
and went to live in London, where he continued
work in the Davy-Faraday Laboratory.
Reynolds’s last contribution to chemistry,
published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society
in 1913, was an _ interesting synthesis of the
mineral anorthite, CaAl,Si,0,, which he prepared
by the combined action of oxygen and water
vapour at a high temperature on the synthetic
substance Ca(SiAl),, which he had previously
prepared. Reynolds had many honours conferred
upon him during his career. He was elected a
fellow of the Royal Society in 1880, and vice-
president in 1901, president of the Chemical
Society 1901-3, president of the Society. of
Chemical Industry 1891-92, and president of the
chemical section of the British Association in
1893. Reynolds died suddenly on Tuesday,
February 17, at his residence in London. He was
an honorary M.D. and Sc.D. of the University of
Dublin. He married, in 1875, a daughter of
Canon Finlayson, of Dublin. He leaves two:
children, a son and a daughter.
ifs
50
NATURE
| Marcu 11, 1920
WE much regret to see the announcement of the
death on March 9 of M. Lucien Poincaré, Vice-Rector
of the University of Paris, at fifty-eight years of
age,
Dr: SamuEL Hatcu West, who died on March 2
at the age of seventy-one, was well known in London
as a consulting physician. He was trained at Oxford
under Rolleston and Acland, and as Radcliffe travel-
ling fellow he studied in Vienna and Berlin. He was
physician to the Royal Free Hospital and to the City
of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, but
his life’s work was carried out at St. Bartholomew’s
Hospital, where he received his medical education,
and held successive medical appointments until he be-
came full physician. Dr. West was a successful clinical
teacher, and many generations of students will be
grateful to him for the thorough manner in which he
taught them to examine a patient, system by system,_
so that no important organ. could be overlooked. Dr.
West deserved his high reputation as a careful clinical
observer. Diseases of the lungs were his particular
study, and on this subject he produced a monograph
in two volumes which is a monument of industry
and a veritable mine of information. He delivered
the Lettsomian lectures at the Medical Society of
London in t1go00, taking as his subject ‘‘ Granular
Kidney,’’ but it is by his teaching and his work on
diseases of the lungs that he will best be remembered.
“G. P. -B.,” — writes :—‘* All
ever worked at the ‘ Stazione
will be grieved to read of the
whose obituary notice by Prof.
R. Dohrn appears in the Ziirich Zeitung of
February 19. Hugo Eisig was born in Baden in
1847. When Anton Dohrn, aged thirty-one, decided to
sink his whole fortune in the building of the Naples
‘station, knowing that it would suffice to rear up only
the ground story, his friend Kleinenberg went with
him; Ejisig, seven years their junior, offered himself
also, and was accepted. Many years of great difficulty
followed, and then many years of very great success.
Through all Ejisig continued the career which he
had chosen as part and, parcel of the Stazione
Zoologica. His contribution to zoology is not to be
measured by his published work, even though it in-
cludes his great ‘ Monograph of the Capitellide.’ ‘To
all of us who worked at Naples he was a friend,
loyal, sympathetic, unselfish, and gentle: .In 1907
Eisig retired on a pension from his administrative
post in the Zoological Station, but continued his own
zoological work. ‘Two years later Anton Dohrn died,
and was succeeded by his able son, but in 1915 Prof.
Reinhard Dohrn, with Eisig and others of the staff,
had to leave Naples for the hospitality of the Ziirich
Zoological Museum and Swiss territory. There Eisig
died on February 10 last from the after-effects ofan
operation which appeared to have been successful.
He died in exile from his home of forty-four years,
but in the warm memory of many friends all over the
world.’”’
NO. 2628. VOL. 105]
A CORRESPONDENT,
zoologists who have
Zoologica’ of Naples
death of Prof. Eisig,
Notes.
A MEETING convened by the Chancellor of the Uni-
versity of Cambridge and the president of the Royal
Society was held on Thursday, March 4, at the rooms —
of the Royal Society, to consider the question of a
memorial to the memory of Lord Rayleigh. After
a preliminary statement by the president of the Royal —
Society announcing the purpose of the meeting,
speeches in favour of the proposal to erect a memorial
were made by Mr. A. J. Balfour, Sir Charles Parsons,
Dr.- P. Giles (Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Cambridge), Sir Arthur Schuster, Sir Richard Glaze-
brook, and Sir Joseph Larmor. It was agreed that
a fund should be raised for the purpose of placing a
memorial, preferably a window, in Westminster
Abbey. A general committee was appointed, as well
as an executive committee, to consider details, and
also the further question of raising a fund in memory
of Lord Rayleigh, to be used for the promotion of
research in some branch of science in which Lord
Rayleigh was specially interested. |
A PUBLIC meeting was held in the University
Museum, Oxford, on March 6, to initiate a memorial
to the late Sir William Osler, Bart., Regius professor
of medicine in the University for the past fifteen ©
years. The Vice-Chancellor presided. Sir Clifford
Allbutt, who introduced the proposal, paid a feeling
and eloquent tribute to the memory of Sir William
Osler, to the wide range of his intellect, and to the
singular charm of his character. He referred to his
international reputation and to the binding influence —
he had on the medical profession in many lands,
to his love of peace and goodwill, and to the extra-
ordinary power he exerted in diffusing without —
diluting friendship. ‘The president of Magdalen, Sir
Herbert Warren, mentioned the many-sidedness of —
Osler’s interests and activities, the breadth and _
accuracy of his scholarship, and the clear and
steady optimism with which he regarded life and its
progress in all ages. Sir William Church, who
introduced the specific proposal that the memorial
should take the form of an Osler Institute of General —
Pathology and Preventive Medicine, stated that such —
a-memorial as that suggested would be a singularly
appropriate tribute to the outlook and ideals that
Osler had kept before him in his life-work. Prof.
Thomson emphasised the need of new laboratory
accommodation in Oxford for teaching and research.
The Dean of Christ Church and Sir Archibald Garrod —
also spoke.
tary, Prof. Gunn, had received expressions of sym-
pathy with the proposed memorial from a large
It was announced that the hon. secre-
number of people representing many interests, and —
that a collateral committee had been formed
America to aid in raising the memorial.
A MOVEMENT has been started to commemorate the —
life and work of the late Sir James Mackenzie David- —
son by an appropriate memorial. The proposal is |
that steps should be taken to found a Mackenzie ~
Davidson chair of radiology at some university, but, ©
whereas nothing could be more fitting as a memorial
to the work of one who devoted a large part of his —
q
in
‘
RCH II, 1920]
NATURE 51
s development of the subject of radiology, it
the thirty signatories of the appeal that,
claims of the subject are to be met, there
be an X-ray institute. The applications of
in medicine have vastly extended both in
and in treatment during the last ten years,
ew knowledge as to the properties of X-rays
crystal analysis has opened out many new
of investigation and of application. If the
widening ‘in these respects, there are signs
of a growing need for improved teaching
y fields of X-ray activity. The institution
a in radiology by the University of Cam-
one indication of the demand that exists
ent day for instruction in vs subject -
st likely way in which the Aiba Holts
-rays can best be welded into an efficient
10 es and it is hoped that the response to
... “meeting of the International
the Exploration of the Sea was held in
ist week, March 2-6. The countries repre-
d, Norway, and Sweden. France sent
Mr vet first time, and the United States
received the delegates.
self a number of sections for the con-
of particular questions; these were the
scheme of research to enable the
nts to make a convention for the
of the North Sea fishing-grounds ;
duct of the hydrographic and plankton
ches; biological, statistical, and historical in-
ns with. respect to the herring; the European
The meeting re-
tish Isles; a limnological survey ; inter-
ery i statistics ; and certain basal physical
al matters. Much interest was ex-
held several meetings. The
ir “sectional meetings were very _ in-
but it was clear that no immediate
were to be expected. The personnel of ‘the
had not undergone much change. In_ the
of Sir John Murray the organisation has
great loss, but the genial and forceful
of Dr. Johan Hjort is still an asset of
2. Prof. Otto Pettersson vacated the chair
H. G. Maurice, of the English Ministry of
and Fisheries, to whom the continued
e of the international investigations through-
period of war is largely due.
pING to the British Medical Journal, Sir
ick Banbury’s Bill to Prohibit the Vivisection
is is down for second reading on March 19. It
will be remembered that when the same Bill was intro-
duced last year a Government amendment allowing
experiments to be made on dogs under special certi-
ficates was carried. The title was also changed. Sir
Frederick Banbury himself moved the third reading
with these amendments. The Bill was, however,
rejected. It is now brought forward again in the
form in which it existed before the Government
amendments—that is, prohibiting all experiments on
dogs. Although there seems some hope that the
prospects of its progress in Parliament are not very
favourable, its unexpected temporary success last year
must not be forgotten, and careful watch is impera-
tively necessary. It is inconceivable that the Govern-
ment can allow a Bill of this kind to pass, nullifying,
as it does, the activities of so many of their Depart-
ments. Sir Frederick Banbury admitted that he had
‘failed to mention ’’ the safeguards against possible
cruelty already existing in the Statute Book. The
opinion of the medical profession is sufficiently shown
by the unanimous vote of the clinical and scientific
meeting of the British Medical Association in London
last April. It was agreed that such prohibition of
experiments on dogs would have a deplorable effect in
hampering the progress of physiological and patho-
logical investigation, Since many important fields of
research are only available when dogs can be used.
They are the only large animals that can be kept in
health and comfort under laboratory conditions.
THE admission of qualified medical women to the
fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edin-
burgh reminds us of the fight waged in the late
sixties and early seventies of last century for
the admission of women to the classes and examina-
tions of the faculty of medicine of the University of
Edinburgh. The fight was lost by the gallant band
of women—septem contra Edinem. It has been
fought and won in the fifty intervening years, and
this resolution of the Royal College marks the fall
of the last barrier to equality of the sexes in medica®
education in this ancient seat of learning. Women
medical students have recently been admitted to the
complete courses in the faculty of medicine, and the
extra-mural Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women
has been merged into the University. It remains to
be seen whether the new régime will justify those
who have borne much anxiety and labour to promote
it. We believe it will. The Scottish women proved
their quality in the hospitals they equipped and staffed
in the various seats of war. They have started a
small hospital in Edinburgh staffed by women only.
There is an increasing body of medical women and
women students attached to the University, and
among them will be found doubtless the same capacity
for work and leadership which was so nobly exem-
plified by the late Dr. Elsie Inglis. With all the
examinations open to women which lead to hospital
staff appointments, it is hoped that an_ increasing
number of highly qualified women will present them-
selves as candidates when vacancies occur, and that
appointments will be open to merit irrespective of
sex. Much of the work to be done in the future in
the State-aided hospital is obviously of a character to
52
NATURE | ;
Ssneew II, 1920
demand the services and judgment of qualified medical
women.
THE twenty-sixth James Forrest lecture will be
delivered at the Institution of Civil Engineers on
Tuesday, April 20, at 5.30 p.m., by Sir Dugald Clerk,
K.B.E., F.R.S., upon the subject of ‘‘Fuel Con-
servation in the United Kingdom.”’
Pror. A. Fow ter, professor of astrophysics,
Imperial College of Science and Technology, South
Kensington, and president of the Royal Astronomical
Society, has been elected a corresponding member of
the Paris Academy of Sciences,
astronomy, in succession to the late Prof. E. Weiss,
-of Vienna.
Pror. J. STANLEY GARDINER has, at the request of
the Deputy-Minister of Fisheries, undertaken tem-
porarily the direction of the scientific work of the
Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries. Prof. Gardiner’s particular duty will
be to restart fishery investigations, which have neces-
sarily been in abeyance during the war.
Tue Faraday Society has arranged a general dis-
cussion on ‘Basic Slags: Their Production and
Utilisation in Agricultural and other Industries,’’ to
be held on Tuesday, March 23, from 7.30 to 10.30,
in the rooms of the Chemical Society, Burlington
House, London, W.1. Prof. F. G. Donnan, vice-
president, will preside over the discussion, and there
will be papers by Dr. E. J. Russell, Prof. C. H. Desch,
Sir T. H. Middleton, Sir Daniel Hall, Prof. D. A.
Gilchrist, and others.
Tue U.S. National Research Council has received
a gift from the Southern Pine Association of
10,000 dollars to meet the incidental expenses of
a co-ordinated scientific study by a number of inves-
tigators of the regrowth of trees on cut-over forest-
lands, with the view of determining the best forestry
emethods for obtaining the highest productivity. The
investigation will be conducted under the advice of
the Research Council’s special committee on forestry,
and will not duplicate any present Government or
other undertakings along similar lines.
_ It was announced at the ordinary scientific meeting
of the Chemical Society on March 4 that the fol-
lowing had been proposed for election as honorary
and foreign members, and that a ballot for their
election would be held on March 18: W. D.: Ban-
croft, V. Grignard, H. Kamerlingh Onnes, E. Paterno,
P. Sabatier, J. B. Senderens, S. P. L. Sérensen, and
G. Urbain. The annual general meeting of the society
will be held at Burlington House on Thursday,
March 25, at 5 p.m., to receive the address of the
president, Sir James J. Dobbie, and to elect the
officers and council for the ensuing year.
Tue following officers and council of the Geological
Society have been elected for the ensuing year :—
President: R. D. Oldham. Vice-Presidents:
E. J. Garwood, G. W. Lamplugh, Col. H. G. Lyons,
and Prof. J. E. Marr. Secretaries: Dr. H. H. Thomas
and Dr. H. Lapworth. Foreign Secretary: Sir Archi-
bald Geikie. Treasurer: Dr. J. V. Elsden. Other
No. 2628, VoL. 105]
in the section of.
Prof..
Members of Council: Dr. F. A. Bather, Prof. W. &.-
Boulton, R. G. Carruthers, Dr. A. M. | Davies,
J. F. N. Green, R. S. Herries, J. Allen Howe, Prof.
O. T. Jones, Prof. .P. F. Kendall, W. B. R: King, —
Dr. G. T. Prior, W. C. Smith, Prof. H. H.aSwinner= >
ton, and Prof. W. W. Watts.
Tue first of the Chadwick public leche on mili :
tary hygiene was delivered by Gen. Sir John Goodwin, —
Director, Army Medical Service, on March 8 at the B
Royal Society of Arts, the subject being
Hygiene Prior to the Recent War.’? The lecturer
dealt with the history of hygiene from the earliest
times up to the period immediately preceding the war,
“Army.
The ravages wrought by disease during the various —
campaigns of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
and their effects upon the armies in the field were ©
detailed, and emphasis was laid on the lessons gained
during the South African War in the prevention of
disease. The various measures that have been
elaborated to improve the health of the Army were —
outlined, and stress was laid on the good results
accruing from education in hygiene of the Army as a
whole. In India, during the years 1878-82, the
number constantly sick among the European troops
was 68-1 per 1000, with a mortality of 20:5; in 1912
the corresponding figures were 28-3 and 4-6 respec-
tively. Immediately preceding the lecture Chadwicl<
gold medals and prizes were presented to Surg.-Comdr.
Edward L. Atkinson, R.N., and Brig.-Gen. W. W. O.
Beveridge, A.M.S.,
health of the men of the Navy and Army. — ‘
WE are authorised to announce that H.R.H. the:
for services in promotines the —
Prince of Wales has been graciously pleased to ‘become
the patron of the new British School of Archzology :
in Jerusalem, referred to in Nature of December 18
last (p. 398).
The school has been formed for the —
study of the wide and important field of archeological fl
research which has now been opened up in Palestine —
and the surrounding districts. The director, Prof. f.
Garstang, of the University of Liverpool, is shortly
proceeding to Palestine to complete the organisation
of the school.
As soon as the political destiny of —
Palestine has been fixed and a mandate formally —
assigned, it is hoped that a department of antiquities —
will be formed, under which the school looks forward —
to collaborating with the Palestine Exploration Fund —
in the excavation of an important site which has —
already been provisionally selected. Anyone who is —
interested in the school is invited to communicate
with the secretary at 2 Hinde Street, Manchester
Square, W.1.
THe Natural History
year by holding a double reunion on March 2 and 3.
At the first most of the members of the International
Council for the Exploration of the Sea were present,
and the exhibits arranged in the board-room included
many specimens—some being classical type-specimens—
collected during the voyage of the Challenger.
second reunion other exhibits were added, so that the
whole series was of wide interest, and there was. an.
attendance of nearly fifty visitors, amongst whom may
At the
a a eS A Se eS ee ey a a
Museum Staff Association
opened its series of scientific reunions for the current
RCH II, 1920]
NATURE
53
tioned Eset Rothschild, Sir Ronald Ross, Prof.
Poulton, Lt.-Col. Winn Sampson, Mr. F. E.
, Prof. J. Stephenson, Dr. H. O. Forbes,’ Mr.
Scharff, Prof. J. P. Hill, Dr. S. Kemp, Dr.
on Jackson, Prof. J. Graham Kerr, Mr.
on Copeman, Mr. G. T. Bethune Baker,
Allen, Dr. H. H. Thomas,.Dr. C. Christy,
J. E. Duerden.
é f-yearly council meeting of the National
‘Scientific Workers, presided over by Mr.
-, of the National Physical Laboratory,
| University College on March 6. The
of the union has necessitated the ap-
a full-time secretary, and Major A. G.
been appointed to fill that office. The
mittee in its report outlined the function
and that of the research council, which
| will _ Shortly be constituted. Tt will
NG and ensure that the views
ns of employment of scientific workers
s display an anxiety to ensure that
research shall be in the hands of
shown capacity for leadership in
. A report on ep rights presented
an ea salary bhootd have no
nexpectedly remunerative.’’ On _ the
B. Dale, the council unanimously
strongly against the differential
an and women as regards the method
to. the Civil Service and the salary
therein as recommended by the Re-
| ee tice of the Civil Service
W y Council. rs
; “unusually warm over the southern
British Isles, and at Greenwich Ob-
= mean temperature for the month was
4°. above the normal; the mean, how-
igher in 1914, when it was 449°, and the
both maxima and minima readings. were
er. There were four days with a shade tem-
60° or above, whilst there is no previous
Greenwich with more than two such
ince 1841, and in all only seven days as
a period of seventy-nine years. Frost
> only occurred on four nights ‘during
and the lowest temperature was 27°. The
bright sunshine was eighty-seven hours,
thirty hours more than the normal, and
re three days at Greenwich with eight hours
of sunshine. Rainfall was much below the
and in London there was no day during the
th a fall of o-1 in.; the total measurement
9 in., which is the driest February since 1895
0. 2628, VoL. 105]
any extra payment because his
and 1896. Rain was measured only on eight days-
The whole winter, December, January, and February,
has been unusually mild over England, and at Green-
wich the mean temperate for the three months was
42:8°, which is 35° warmer than the average for sixty
years. The winter of 1915-16 was slightly warmer,
and the winter of 1898-99 was warmer by about 1°.
The warmest winter during the last eighty years,
1868-69, was warmer than the winter just ended by
nearly 2°
In view of the prevalence of disease amongst honey--
bees during recent years, it has become a matter of
practical importance to be able to distinguish with:
certainty between individuals which have died* from
disease and those the death of which is merely the
result of old age or exhaustion. Mrs. Pixell-Goodrich
contributes an interesting paper on this subject to the
Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science (vol. Ixiv.,,
part 2). It appears that during the summer, when
actively engaged in collecting honey and pollen, the
worker-bees very soon wear themselves out and die a
natural death at the age of about six weeks.
Senescence—or perhaps one should rather say exhaus-
tion from over-exertion—is accompanied by well-
marked and easily recognisable changes in’ the nerve-.
cells of the “brain.’’ The cytoplasm of these cells:
undergoes gradual reduction in quantity, until only
a vestige remains around the nucleus. The examina--
tion of the nerve-cells appears to be the most trust--
worthy method yet proposed for determining the age-
of bees, but, unfortunately, it involves a considerable-
amount of labour in the case of each individual.
examined. 7
THe Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards for:
July 12, 1919, contains the results of the measure-
ments of the index of refraction of air for wave-
lengths 2000 to 10,000 tenth metres at different tem-
peratures and pressures made by Messrs. W. F.
Meggers and C. G. Peters to meet the demands of
modern accurate spectroscopy. The Fabry and Perot
interferometer was used in the measurements, the
plates being of glass or quartz 4-2 cm. in diameter
and 06 to o8 cm. thick. They were rendered’
partially reflecting by films spluttered from a metallic
cathode in vacuo. Iron or copper arcs and neon or
argon tubes served as sources of light. The inter-
ference rings were photographed and the diameters
of the first three measured. Between the limits of
pressure used—73 to 76 cm.—the refractive index was
found proportional to the pressure. The variation
of the index with temperature between o° C. and
30° C, is not sufficiently well represented by the usual
##—1 proportional to density law. The index of refrac-
tion at normal temperature and pressure is given by
0°00057 38A? é
53 sgh 160? wht
sign of an appreciable absorption band in the infra-
red part of the spectrum.
the equation »?—1= shows no:
THE annual report of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers gives particulars of the various researches.
, which are being carried on under the direction of
' the institution.
The following grants were made by-
54
\
NATURE
cleanin: 1I, 1920
the council for the year :—Alloys, 220l.; steam-
nozzles, 150l.; hardness tests, 150l.; and cutting tools,
100l. ‘The alloys research has been carried on at the
National Physical Laboratory, and the eleventh report
will be presented at an early date. The construction
of the experimental apparatus for the steam-nozzles
research has been further delay for lack of funds,
but help has been promised by a grant of 5o0ol. from
the Turbine Blade Research Committee of the
British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers’ Asso-
ciation. It is intended to erect the apparatus
at the Dickinson Street Power Station, Manchester,
and the experiments will be conducted under the super- |
vision, of Prof. G. Gerald Stoney and Mr. S. L.
Pearce. Hardness tests have been carried out at the
National Physical Laboratory by Dr. T. E. Stanton,
and it is hoped that reports will be presented this
year. <A bibliography on cutting tools is being pre-
pared by Mr. G. W. Burley, and it is proposed to
collect information from makers and users of cutting
tools. The work of the wire-ropes research com-
mittee has been considerably delayed owing to the
war; arrangements have now been made for exneri-
mental work to be carried out at Woolwich Poly-
technic by Dr. W. A. Scoble. The work of the
refrigeration research committee has been suspended
since 1914; it is hoped that investigations may be
made shortly into the physical properties of the sub-
stances used in refrigeration.
A CATALOGUE (No. 357) of rare books and manu-
scripts has just been issued by Messrs. Bernard
Quaritch, Ltd., 11 Grafton Street, W.1, and is worthy
of perusal. It is of a fairly general character as to
the subjects, but two sections will appeal especially
to readers of NaTurE, viz. those dealing with natural
and physical sciences (21 pp.) and with periodicals
(13 pp.). Many scarce volumes and long runs are to
be found in these. The price of the catalogue is 1s.
We notice that Messrs. Quaritch are about to begin
the publication of the Journal of Pomology. It will
appear at quarterly intervals under the editorship of
Mr. E. A. Bunyard, who has secured the promise of
assistance from many experts.
An illustrated book on ‘‘Weeds of Farm Land,”
the work of Dr. Winifred E. Brenchley, of the
Rothamsted Experimental Station, is to be pub-
lished by Messrs. Longmans and. Co. It will deal
with various aspects of the weed problem, but
especially with the relations existing between weeds
and the soils and crops with which they are chiefly
associated. A survey will be given in the volume of
the present position with regard to the questions of
prevention, eradication, and uses of weeds, also of
their habits and method of distribution and the vitality
of buried weed-seeds.
ReaDERS of NaTurE who are interested in ancient
herbals and old-time gardening and agriculture should
see Catalogue No. 81 of Messrs. Dulau and Co.,
Ltd., 34 Margaret Street, W.1, in which are to be
found particulars of 1000 works dealing with these
and other scientific subjects, many the property of
the late Sir Frank Crisp. An unusual feature is a
collection of volumes on sundials.
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
_—————
Our Astronomical ee
Bricut MErrors.—A fine meteor was observed on
February 17 at 8h. 52m. by Mr. F. Wilson, Totteridge,
and Mr. S. B.-Mattey, Plumstead. It was brighter
than Jupiter, and moved very slowly from a radiant
at 72°+43° near aAurige. The approximate height
of the object was 67 to 30 miles, path 53 miies, and
velocity 10 miles per second. It passed — over
south-west of Needham Market to Woodbri
Another very brilliant meteor was observe on
February 27 at 8h. 58m. by Mrs. Wilson and Miss
Cook, and also by Mr. S. B. Mattey at Plumstead.
The radiant was at about 17°+8° near the horizon —
g° north of west. The height of the object was 53 to
49 miles, path 95 miles, and velocity 12 miles per
second. It passed from over Lydd, Kent, to about —
50 miles east of Calais, France. Fireballs from
Auriga and Pisces have been recorded in previous
years at about the same dates as those of this year.
Torat Licurt or THE Stars.—The late Prof. New-
comb laid stress on the desirability of obtaining this
observational constant, and_ several nee have
been madé to do so.’ The latest is by Mr. P. J. Van
Rhijn (Contributions from Mount Wilson Observa-
tory, No. 173). This paper shows that there is
illumination, which is probably due to (a) a faint
extension of the zodiacal light, including the Gegen-
schein, and (b) faint aurore. The amount of these
was found by observing regions of the sky remote
from the Galaxy and assuming that the starlight in
these regions could be inferred from the observed
number of stars of each order of magnitude. The
amount of each of these is discussed, and it is con-
cluded that the total amount of light received from
all the stars in both hemispheres is equal to 1440 stars
of magnitude 1-00, Harvard visual scale. he fol-.
lowing are the values of extra-galactic sky brightness
per square degree found by different observers, the
unit being a star of magnitude 1-00 :—Newcomb,
0-029; Burns, 0-050; Abbot, 0-075; Yntema, 0-140; and |
Van Rhijn, 0-130. The magnitude of the full moon is
about —12; it is, therefore, about 140,000 times as |
bright as a star of magnitude 1-00, or a hundred
times as bright as all the stars together. |
Star CLusTErs.—Scientia for March contains the
fourth of a series of papers on clusters by Dr. Harlow
Shapley. Dr. Shapley quotes a remark that distance
introduces simplification in’ our study of the clusters;
it makes apparent magnitudes equivalent to absolute
ones, since all the components arg at practically the
same distance from us. He then proceeds to consider
the local cluster to which the sun belongs, which he
regards as defined by Dr. Charlier’s research on the
distribution of the B stars in space. The conclusion
was that they form a flattened cluster, with greatest
diameter 4000 light-years. This is supposed to be
merely one unit out of many that go to make up thee —
galaxy. Its. equatorial region is marked by a zone
of bright stars, to which attention was directed by
Sir J. Herschel and Dr. B. A. Gould. Its plane is
inclined some 15° to the medial line of the galaxy. °
Dr. Charlier puts the centre of the local cluster in
Carina, some 250 light-years from the sun; while
Dr. Shapley makes the distance only 150 light-years.
Since from analogy the cluster is likely to be
moving with respect to its neighbours, the two star-
drifts would appertain respectively to cluster and non-
cluster stars. It is left an open question to which —
category the sun belongs. Viewed telescopically from
the Hercules cluster, the local cluster would seem to
be mainly composed of B stars, with a smaller number
of giant M ones. The sun would be of the
twentieth magnitude, too faint for visual observation,
though it might be photographed.
ARCH II, 1920]
NATURE
a5
steorological Observations at Calcutta.
ERE is a perpetual struggle between the advo-
cates of continuity and of uniformity in such
ers as meteorological observations. For a net-
of official stations under a central authority, the
ss of which have to be co-ordinated, uniformity is
great importance. On the other hand, experi-
th different methods are much less likely to
raged in an independent observatory, the work
sh has a value of a totally different kind. In
ce continuity has a special significance, and
hing to meet with a volume of data from
n that has been on the same site for fifty
even though that site was criticised very soon
» beginning of the period.
cial observatory at Alipore is only two miles
. Xavier’s College, so that the latter is not
d as a vital station for the Indian Meteorological
, and the Jesuit Fathers, who have maintained
observatory for half a century, have received no
special blame for departures from established practice,
financial support. The Rev. E. Francotte, S.J.,
director for thirty-two years out of the fifty,
responsible for the present volume of some
ges of very clear print with large figures not
crowded. His full plan consists of four parts,
the volume before us is the first. It contains
day in the fifty years, 1868-1917, maximum,
and mean shade temperature, with maxi-
‘solar radiation and minimum terrestrial. radia-
ic pressure, wind direction and velocity,
umidity and rainfall; the monthly extremes
pe, with notes on absolute extremes where
This is intended to show the mutual
of climatic elements, and to further this
n addition to the tables, some graphs are
he original scheme was to publish at the
-six years, and part of the volume is sum-
that period. The war, which held back
enabled four more years to be included
ss of data contained in the volume, but a few
s of interest may be mentioned. In forty-six
verage number of days with at least 1 in.
as nineteen per annum. Daily falls of at
. occurred five times in the period, including
tal fall of 14 in. The shade temperature reached
- veil days in forty-eight years: 59 in March,
April, 136 in May, 48 in June, and only 2 in
oth in 1897. Father Francotte examines some
tables for periodicity, but is reserving a great
lore analysis for the second volume, the. pub-
| of which will be awaited with interest by
who have seen the first.
M time to time the Advisory Council of Science
and Industry in the Australian Commonwealth
ues bulletins dealing with various industrial
blems, and the latest of its publications is
led “Welfare Work,” though it is wider in scope
1 the title is usually taken to imply. The preface
s us that the bulletin is prepared for the benefit of
all who are seeking for some road to industrial peace
ind the establishment of more satisfactory and har-
_ 1 “Meteo: ological Observations at St. Xavier's College, Calcutta. (With
a Short. Cursory Discussion on the Same).” Part i., Forty-six Years, 1868—
1913. With Appendix, 1914-17. Bv E. Francotte. Pp. xiv+359. (Cal-
cutta: St. Xavier's College, 1918 ) Price, unbound, Rs. 3 per coy.
2 ** Welfare Work.” Bulletin No. 15 of the Advisory Council of Science
_ and Industry. (Melbourne, 1,19) Pp. 110. Price €d.
‘
NO. 2628, ‘VoL. 105]
not space to consider in any detail the
monious relations between capital and labour. It
points out that these relations are far wider than
questions of wages and hours of labour. A compre-
hensive industrial policy considers the responsibilities
which fall on the shoulders of employers, the effect of
industrial conditions on the employee, his well-being
outside working hours, the distribution of the wealth
produced, and the participation of the employees in
the management and control of industrial operations. °
The bulletin sets out what has been done on these
lines in Great Britain, the United States, and other
countries, and in order to encourage its circulation it
is issued at a very low price. It is to be hoped that
it will receive the wide publicity it deserves, not only
in Australia, but in this country as well. It is, in
fact, of more direct interest to us than to its country
of issue, in that all reference to welfare work in
Australia is reserved for publication in a later bulletin.
The bulletin is admirably written, and affords a
most valuable and impartial summary, especially
of the large body of information which has been
acquired during the war through the activity of the
Health of Munition Workers Committee and other
bodies. It describes the motives, scope, and adminis-
tration of welfare work, and the social life, recrea-
tion, education, and housing of the workers. It dis-
cusses wage-payments, profit-sharing and co-partner-
ship, provision for old age and sickness, and it goes
somewhat fully into what is being more and more
recognised as the most important factor of all in
the attainment of industrial peace, viz. co-operation
between employers and employed in control. The
health and safety of the worker and the provision of
a healthy industrial environment are debated at some
length, whilst there is an excellent summary of
problems of industrial fatigue in relation to hours of
labour, overtime, and rest pauses. An _ extensive
bibliography is included. BS A Wiese
Wireless Telephony in Aeroplanes.
ts a paper read before the Wireless Section of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers on February 18
Major C. E. Prince lifted the veil from the important
results in wireless telephony from aeroplanes which
were achieved in consequence of the stimulus of the
necessities of war. Up to the summer of 1915, the
author believes, wireless speech had not been received
in an aeroplane, and, indeed, great were the difficul-
ties that had to be surmounted before practical
apparatus for working between ground and aeroplane
or between aeroplane and aeroplane could be pro-
duced. In the earlier experiments, transmission from
air to ground only was attempted by a small oscilla-
tion-valve set, but an aeroplane-carried receiving set,
also of the oscillation-valve type, was successfully used
in 1916. This, however, did not meet the immediate
military requirements overseas, and attention was
more particularly devoted to the urgent, but more
difficult, problem of telephonic communication between
machines in the air.
Major Prince gave a good idea of the difficulties
encountered and the ingenuity with which he and his
colleagues surmounted them. The crux of the
problem is the method of controlling the radiation.
Direct control was found to suffer from grave dis-
advantages. Placing a microphone in the grid circuit
of the «oscillation valve was tried with some success,
but finally a method known as ‘‘choke”’ control, in
which the modulation is applied te the anode circuit
of a second or control valve, was employed. The
grid of the control valve is acted on by the micro-
phone transformer, the anode of which is in series
with a one-to-one transformer, or choke coil, in the
56 i : NATURE
jMarcu-lt, 1929 —
anode circuit of the main valve. When variations
take place in the control anode at speech frequency,
very large surges are set up in that of the power
valve, which may approximate to the original high-
tension direct-current potential, and so sweep the
output from nearly double its steady value to zero.
The standard R.A.F. set is of the 20-watt size, with a
high-tension supply of 600 volts direct current. A great
advantage in the system for aeroplane work is that -
no critical adjustments are required. The arrange-
ment of the apparatus is such that the set proper can
be mounted in any convenient position, and only a
very small control unit brought within reach of the
user’s hand. One switch makes or breaks the
dynamo field, filament, and microphone circuits. <A
great deal of experiment was necessary before a suit-
able microphone was found, as it had to be almost
insensible to sounds of ‘‘ noise ’’ intensity, but respon-
sive to the powerful concentrated waves of a voice
impinging upon it at a very short distance.
The receiving set depended upon high-frequency
magnification, and was, in its first form, a three-
valve arrangement. It consisted essentially of a
detector valve with reaction and two note magnifica-
tions. The detector valve was not energised direct
from the aerial, but through an aperiodic circuit,
which was a circuit approximately syntonised by its
self-capacity. The final adjustment for obtaining the
best effect is made on a rheostat in the filament
circuit carried on the ‘joystick ’’ itself. These three-
valve sets were employed to a considerable extent
both before and after the armistice, but a five-valve
receiver was developed later in which a choice was
made of two high-frequency magnifications and two
low, with a detector valve. This set was very much
more sensitive than the three-valve arrangement, \and
enabled fixed aerials rigidly connected to the wings
and fuselage to replace the trailing aerial, which
latter was a great embarrassment in fighting. The
normal safe range of the apparatus is about four
miles from machine to machine, while the range to
a ground station is from twenty to fifty miles or
more. The author anticipates that in the future the
wireless apparatus will be able to be plugged through
on to the ordinary. exchange lines, so that’ a man
sitting in his office will be able to hold a conversation
with a machine in the air.
Magnetic Storm of March 4-5.
HE Director of the Meteorological Office has
_ been good enough to send us the subjoined com-
munication from Dr. Chree concerning a magnetic
storm which occurred on March 4 and 5. It may be
mentioned that. on these days the sky was mostly
overcast in Scotland, though there was very fine
weather in the South of England. We are informed
that the only aurora observation reported so far was
made at Aberdeen at th. 30m. on March 4, i.e. ten
hours before the ‘‘sudden commencement’’ of the
storm :—
‘“A considerable magnetic disturbance was recorded
at Kew Observatory on the night of March 4-s.
‘There was a_ well-marked S.C. (sudden com-
mencement) at about 11h. 4om. on March 4. This
was of an oscillatory character both in D (declination)
and H (horizontal force). The first, smaller, move-
ment was a fall in H and an easterly swing in’D, the
range of the oscillation being about 45y in H and
7’ in D. H retained an enhanced value for four or
five hours after the S.C., and no really large move-
ments occurred until after 17h. on March 4. The
most disturbed time was from 18h. on March 4 to
gh. on March 5. On the whole, H was falling from
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
17h. on March 4 until after 2h. on March . the
maximum being recorded at about 16h. 20m. on
March 4, the minimum at about 2h. 5m. on March g,
and the range being approximately 300y. The ii
curve had become quiet before 1oh. on March 5, but
still showed a depression of about 75 y.
‘The D trace was off the sheet, in the direction
answering to easterly displacement, for fully twenty
minutes between 22h. and 23h. on March 4; so the
range recorded, 60’, may have been considerably ex~
ceeded. The maximum westerly displacement oc-
curred at about 18h. 35m. on March 4.
“From r2$h. to 17$h. on March 4 the D trace
was practically normal except that the declination was
1’ or 2' more westerly than usual. Thus the dis-
turbance was rather a conspicuous example of the
lull that not infrequently intervenes between the S.C.
and movements that would be recognised as con-
stituting a magnetic storm.”’
University and Educational Intelligence.
CampripGE.—Mr. E. V. Appleton, of St. John’s
College, has been appointed an assistant demonstrator
in experimental physics. eric”
It is proposed to confer the honorary degree of
D.Litt. on the Abbé Henri Breuil, professor of the
Institute of Human Palzontology at Paris.
It is proposed to»create a readership in the morpho-
logy of vertebrates and a lectureship in zoology in
place of the present readership in zoology. :
Besides additions and improvements to the chemical
laboratory and the erection of the Molteno Institute
for Parasitology, other building schemes are in view
for engineering, physics, and also for the University
library. The last proposal to meet the difficulty of
finding room for books was to excavate a large
underground chamber. The cost of this has been
found to be prohibitive, and the Senate has recently
discussed a revival of an old scheme to erect a new
building akin to the Senate House and on the south
side of Senate House Yard. If this scheme is adopted
a public appeal will be made for subscriptions towards —
the erection of the building.
Lreeps.—Mr. W. E. H. Berwick has been appointed
lecturer in mathematics in the University. Mr. Ber-
wick was assistant lecturer in the University of
Bristol for two years, and afterwards became lecturer
in mathematics in University College, Bangor. For
two years he was engaged on the technical staff of the
Anti-Aircraft Experimental Section of the Munitions
Inventions Department at Portsmouth, where he made
important contributions to the experimental and com-
putative theory of gunnery. He has published a long
series of papers in the Proceedings of the London
Mathematical Society and elsewhere.
Oxrorp.—Prof. R. A. Sampson, Astronomer Royal
for Scotland, has been appointed Halley lecturer for
1920.
THE governors and trustees of Tancred’s student-
ships propose to elect a student in physic at Gonville
and Caius College, Cambridge, at Whitsuntide. The
annual value of the studentship is about g5/. Par-
ticulars are obtainable from Mr. E. T. Gurdon,
28 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, W.C.z2.
Tue sixth annual report of the Carnegie United
Kingdom Trust is an account of the work done by
the Trust in 1919, and contains a statement of income‘
The committee had
and expenditure for the year.
hoped that the coming of peace would have brought
with it a great opportunity for institutions which
al a a i i
RCH II, 1920]
for philanthropic purposes. But the first vear
e has been a disappointment. Building opera-
which form a very large part of the activities
by the Trust, are kept back because building
y so costly. The outstanding obligations
undertaken by the Trust are sufficient
rb the greater part of the available income
the next five years. It is evident that further
| be required to supplement grants already
t building libraries. The’ committee is, there-
disinclined to consider new requests for grants
of library building. The committee considers
assistance given to rural library schemes is
the most important and satisfactory of the
’S activities. Under these schemes a box con-
fty books is sent to a small town or village
sre used as a lending library until, the. books
ing been read, it is time to exchange them for a
supply. Reports from those in charge of rural
show that the scheme really provides a means
ing education in thinly populated districts.
gie Trust has made a grant towards the
2 of the School of Librarianship recently
at University College, London. The
ned students who pass through this school
much to make our libraries more useful.
ittee of the Carnegie Trust also reports on
promotion of music.
_ has just been issued by the University
through its Military Education Committce
ig subscriptions to the war memorial which it
osed to raise to the former officers and cadets
ersity of London Officers Training Corps
in the war. The services reridered
Training Corps during the war are
n Or appreciated. When war broke
came forward practically as one man,
heroism and the unremitting labours
: teeth of great discouragement and diffi-
their pre-war instructors we owe the fact
t have proved a most dangerous gap
ly of officers during the earlier part of the
as successfully bridged. The record of the
f London contingent appears to be second
number of past and present officers and
served in the war as officers is 4197,
have to deplore the loss of no fewer than
number of distinctions gained is 1650, in-
five V.C.’s (the only two surviving V.C.’s,
utman and Major White, both graduates
liversity, are honorary secretaries of the
. In particular the gratitude of Londoners
it. to Major Sowrey, who brought down a
1 flames, and later a Gotha aeroplane.
The scheme is to include a memorial in London, and,
additions a permanent hall in connection with the
' anding camp of the University of London
t Great Kimble, near Princes Risborough,
special memorials to individuals may be put
which the first will commemorate Lt.-Col.
Egerton, Coldstream Guards, the first adjutant
contingent, whom all the original officers: and
mourn as a personal friend. The appeal com-
is a strong one, and includes many honoured
es outside the University itself—in particular, those
Marshal Foch and of Field-Marshals Lord French
id Sir Henry Wilson. It is to be hoped that every
riotic person who realises the part played by the
ritish universities in the great national struggle and
the importance of maintaining this splendid tradition
will contribute generously towards the 30,0001. asked
or. Contributions should be sent to the hon.
treasurer at 46 Russell Square, London, W.C.r.
Af
No. 2628, vor. 105]
NATURE
eddy stresses are studied.
it has taken in physical welfare schemes
57
Societies and Academies.
Lonpon.
Royal Society, February 26.—Sir J. J. Thomson,
president, in the chair.—L, F, Richardson: Some
measurements of atmospheric turbulence. The eddy-
shearing stress on the ground is deduced from pilot-
balloon observations. Satues on land in any con-
sistent dynamical units are found to range from
00007 to 0-007 times the value of m?/p, where m is
the mean momentum per volume up to a height of
2 km. and p is the density. Evidence is given to
show that the eddy viscosity across the wind at
Lindenberg increases ; with height, and, except near
the ground, is much,.greater than the eddy viscosity
along the wind. In parts iv. and v. the spreading of
a lamina of smoke is considered. Osborne Reynolds’s
For one occasion an
attempt was made to measure simultaneously all six
components of stress by observing the motion of
thistledown. The three direct stresses are easily
measured. Not so the shearing stresses; however,
one was found to be 2-4 times its probable error.
The theory of the scattering of particles is summarised,
and numerical values are derived from scattering. The
‘‘turbulivity ’’ € is estimated from the rising cumuli
in calm weather and found to be 10°, applicable only
in the sense of friction. Thus the whole range of &
observed in the free atmosphere was from seven to
a million, in contrast with o-2 in perfectly still air.
The eddy stresses observed have ranged in absolute
value from 0-004 to 110 dynes cm-*.—J. H. Hyde:
The viscosities and compressibilities of liquids at high
pressure. In the first place, experiments were made
to determine the change. in the value of the
kinematical viscosity (n/p) of the various oils, and
after this investigation was completed apparatus was.
designed for the determination of the change in
density with pressure. The apparatus used for the
determination of the kinematical viscosity consisted
essentially of a system of two horizontal (the upper
one of capillary dimensions) and two vertical. tubes
forming a closed circuit of liquor under pressure, the
lower half of the circuit containing mercury and the
upper half the liquid under test. One end of the
tubular frame rests on a horizontal knife-edge, and
the frame is supported in a horizontal position by a
spiral spring. On the mercury being displaced by
a given amount, flow will take place round the circuit
owing to the difference of head, and it is evident that
if the spring be so designed that its rate of extension
is equal to the rate of change of head of the mercury,
flow of the liquid under test will take place through
the capillary tube under a constant pressure-difference .
and at a velocity which can be calculated from the
rate of extension of the spring. In this way all the
data required for the determination of the absolute
kinematic viscosity of the fluid were determined.
The determinations of the variation in density under
pressure were made by measuring the decrease in
volume of known quantity of the liquid enclosed in a
steel cylinder sealed at one end and closed at the
other by a long steel plunger. The cylinder and
plunger were enclosed in a pressure vessel and the
motion of the plunger for any particular pressure was
measured. The density was calculated - from . the
decrease in the volume thus measured. From the
values of the densitv (0) and those of the kinematical
viscositv (n/p) obtained for the oils, the values of the
absolute viscosity (7) were calculated. he results
show that the absolute viscosity of all the oils tested
increases considerably with pressure.—A. Russell :
The capacity coefficients of soherical conductors. Jt
is proved that the capacity coefficient of a spherical
58 NATURE
[Marcu 11, 1920
conductor equals its radius, together with the capacity
of the condenser formed by the spherical surface on
one side and the images in it of all external
objects connected in parallel on the other. This
theorem leads at once to relations between the
capacity coefficients of a system of two spheres and
the capacities of certain spherical condensers which
lesséns very appreciably the labour involved in com-
puting the values of these coefficients which are
required in practical work. The mutual coefficient
also is given in terms of the capacity of a spherical
condenser, and other relations between the various
capacities used by engineers and physicists are proved.
Finally, a method of finding the approximate value
of the capacity between a sphere and distant large
conductors is given.—C. Cuthbertson and Maude
Cuthbertson: The refraction and dispersion of carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane. The refrac-
tivity of the above-named gases has been measured
at eight points in the visible svectrum between
AA 6708-4800. The work was undertaken with, the
object of ascertaining the refractive power of the
carbon atom, on the assumption of the validity of, the
additive law. By deducting the refractivity of the
oxygen or hydrogen atoms from that of the carbon
compound values are obtained from which the refrac-
tivity of carbon can be expressed in the form
E€
5 te eat
For 11=0 the expressions obtained are:
From carbon dioxide Carbon monoxide Methane
(u-1)= 9°7708 _ 1'988__. 1672,
=0'ooor ==0'000195 =0'ooor
© carbon 16042 rh 10213 sti 10623 se
‘There are thus wide differences, not only between the
quotients, which give the refractivity, but also between
the numerators, which should be proportional to the
number of ‘‘dispersion electrons,’’ and the denomina-
tors, which give the squares of the hypothetical free
frequencies. The result affords a further proof that
the ‘‘additive law’’ is untrustworthy except as a
rough guide.—A. A. Griffith: The phenomena of rup-
ture and flow in solids. Difficulties which had been
experienced in predicting the fracture of machine
parts under certain types of loading suggested the
desirability of .a fundamental inquiry into the
mechanism of rupture. A_ theoretical criterion of
the rupture of an elastic solid, based on the ‘‘ theorem
of minimum energy,’’ is enunciated in the paper.
This has been shown experimentally to be true in
the case of a glass plate which contains a crack when
unstrained. The calculation involves the surface ten-
sion of the material. In the experiments the maxi-
mum stress in the glass was estimated to be more
than ten times the normal tenacity of the material.
It is shown that this result is compatible with the
general criterion of rupture unless the material is
weakened by discontinuities of flaws the dimensions
of which are at least of the order ten thousand times
the molecular spacing. Evidence is adduced to show
that the strength of other substances, including metals
and liquids, is governed by similar considerations.
and that an enormous increase in the tenacitv of
materials would be possible if the flaws could be
eliminated. Experiments are described showing how
the elimination mav be performed in the case of glass
and fused silica, it having been found possible to
prepare samples of these materials with nearlv fiftv
times their normal tenacitv. The strong phase of
these materials is, however, unstable, and changes
svontaneouslv in a few hours to the normal modifica-
tion. It is shown that many of the phenomena asso-
ciated with the mechanical properties of materials,
including those described in the present paper, are
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
capable of explanation in general terms if it be sup-
posed that intermolecular attraction is a function of
the relative orientation of the attracting molecules.
Some consequences of this theory are discussed in the
paper. The paper concludes with a short discussion
of the bearing of the work on engineering practice.
Geological 20.-—Mr: |G. W.
Society, February
Lamplugh, president, in the chair.—Annual general
meeung.—G. W. Lamplugn; Presidential aadress :
Some ieatures of the Pleistocene glaciation of Eng-
land. ‘he address dealt principally with the changes
brought about by the ice in the surface-features of
our country.
of English land, or about one-tenth of the whole
country, would vanish if the drifts were removed, as
the ‘solid’? rocks lie below sea-level in tracts of this
extent. <A further area of about ten thousand square
miles is overspread by drift of sufficient thickness
wholly to mask the ‘‘solid’’ land-forms, so that rather
more than one-quarter of the country owes its present
shape to Glacial and post-Glacial deposits. Another
twenty thousand square miles was glaciated, and
more or less modified, but without losing the
dominating features of its rocky framework. The
remainder of the country was affected only by the
intensification of the atmospheric agencies, whereby
its original features were accentuated. In a general
sense, the hill-districts have not been greatly changed,
but the lowlands have been in most parts completely
altered. The source of the huge mass of material
contained in certain of the lowland drift-sheets was
considered, and the opinion was expressed that a
large portion of this was an addition to the land,
brought in by the ice from outside our present coast-
line. Comment was made on the curious rarity of
peat or other land-detritus in Boulder Clay known
to have been derived entirely from the land, and this
was thought to indicate that the conditions for a long
period before the actual glaciation had been unfavour-
able for the growth of timber or peat-producing
vegetation.
February 25.—Mr. R. D. Oldham, president, in
the chair.—H. C. Sargent: The Lower Carboniferous
chert-formations of Derbyshire. The chert-formations
occurring in the Carboniferous Limestone and asso-
ciated rocks of Derbyshire may be classified under
two heads: (1) Those which owe their silica to
gaseous or aqueous emanations from igneous rocks.
(2) Those which derived their silica from the land by
means of chemical denudation. The author considers
that in both cases the silica was precipitated direct,
and did not, to any considerable extent, pass through
an intermediate stage of secretion by organisms with
subsequent solution and redeposition. He adduces
evidence to show that simultaneous deposition of silica
and calcium carbonate often took place, and it is
believed that, in such cases, segregation ensued, and
sometimes resulted in the formation of nodules and
lenticular masses of chert. It is suggested that the
bedded cherts of terrestrial origin resulted from
heavier precipitation of silica, comparatively free from
calcium carbonate, and spread over the sea-floor by
gentle currents. Metasomatic replacement of lime-
stone and calcareous organisms by silica has taken-
place at their contact with the chert. Impurities in
the silica have tended to limit such replacement.
Organisms existing in the sea or on the sea-floor
would be entangled in the precipitated silica, and
their presence in the chert is thus explained. The -
blackness of some chert is shown to be due to the
presence of carbonaceous matter.
possibly have operated sometimes in the same way.
4
More than tive thousand square miles
Ferrous iron may
— so
CH II, 1920]
_—
NATURE
59
: Paris.
of Sciences, February 16.—M, Henri
es in the chair.—G. Humbert; The positive
forms of Hermite in an imaginary quadratic
Hadamard: Certain solutions of a func-
; differential equation.—G. Bigourdan: Co-
ates, instruments, and work of the Observatory
Collége de France.—A. Rateau: The greatest
nd maximum realisable velocities of aero-
Ciamician was elected a foreign asso-
iccession to the late Sir William Ramsay,
. Bianchi a correspondant for the section
ry in succession to M. Volterra, elected
ssociate.—G. Cerf: Remarks on a generalisa-
s problem.—B. de Fontviolant ; Calcula-
cular bridges.—D. Pompieu: A condition
to monogeneity and the demonstration of
ntal theorem of Cauchy.—J. Boccardi :
ial variation of latitude——A. Guillet and M.
An absolute bispherical electrometer. The
1 calculation of its
_ Diffraction grating spectra in the case
= incident light is oblique with respect to
I plane of the lines.—A. Pérard : A method
iso ae eet in absolute
with plane ends by an interference
Boulin and L. J. Simon: The action of
methylsulphate.—F. Canac: The deter-
» parameters of a crystal by the X-rays.
he ascending movements of the earth’s
evolution of fossil remains.—G. Denizot :
» of two peneplains in the Paris basin.—
Ch. Lormand: The action of chlorine
ours upon plants. After one or two
T an atmosphere containing 1/2000
romoacetone, and other poison gases,
sist; they lose their leaves, but new
the plants finish their normal
: The production of chlorophyll
© a discontinuous light.—]. Amar :
respiratory endurance. This is defined
f the volume of air entering the lungs at
n to the body-weight.—H. V. Vallois :
the muscle svstem of the episome in
Mercier: Variation of Corophium
rding to its place of origin.—E. Chatton :
forms of reproduction of their hosts.
eBooks Received.
‘of Milk. By J. D. Frederiksen. Pp:
New York: The Macmillan Co.; London:
and Co., Ltd.) gs. net.
Handbook of Cyprus. Eighth issue. Edited
C. Luke and D. J. Jardine. Pp. xii+300.
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 12s. net.
rst Book of School Celebrations. By Dr. F.H.
vood. Pp. 167. (London: P. S. King and Son,
uae 5S.
‘he Chemical Age. June-December, 1919. Pp.
50. (London: Benn Bros., Ltd.) 15s.
Maula ka Polska Jej Pstrzeby, Organizaeja i Rozwéj.
fom i. Pp. xvi+558. (Warszawa.) Cena M.P. 15.
he Elementary Differential Geometry of Plane
es. By R. H. Fowler. Pp. vii+105. (Cam-
e: At the University Press.) 6s. net.
characteristics.—S.
in Radiolaria of parasitic Periclinians |
Rovat ASTRONOMICAL SocteTty, at 5.—N.
The Foundations of Einstein’s Theory of Gravita-
tion. By E. Freundlich. Authorised English transla-
tion by H. L. Brose. Preface by A. Einstein. Intro-
duction by Prof. H. H. Turner. Pp. xvi+61. (Cam-
bridge: At the University Press.) 5s. net.
Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia. By
Miss Ella Sykes and Brig.-Gen. Sir Percy Sykes.
Pp. xii+340. “(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.)
21s. net.
The Origin and Development of the Composite.
By Dr. J. Small. Pp. xi+334+6 plates. (London:
W. Wesley and Son.) 15s. net.
A Text-book on Machine Drawing for Electrical
Engineers. By E. Blythe. Pp. viit+81. (Cambridge :
At the University Press.) 20s. net.
La Molécule Chimique. By Prof. R. Lespieau.
Pp. iii+286. (Paris: F. Alcan.) 3.50 francs.
L’Unité de la Science. By Prof. M. L. du Sablon.
Pp. iii+284. (Paris: F. Alcan.) 3.50 francs.
The Examination of Materials by X-rays.
64. *(London: Faraday Society.) 13s. 6d.
The Physiology of Vision: With Special Reference
to Colour Blindness. By Dr. F. W. Edridge-Green.
Pp. xii+280. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 12s.
net.
Pp. -ii+
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, Marcu 1t.
Rovat INsTiruTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Lt.-Col. E. Gold:
The Upper Air: (ii) Results and their Interpretation.
InstituTS oF METAts (at Institution of Me:zhanical Engineers) (Annual!
General Meeting), at 4.—Eng. Vice-Admiral Sir George Goodwin :
Inaugural Address.
Rovat Sociz1y, at 4.30.—W. G. Duffield, T. H. Burnham, and
A. A. Davis: The Pressure upon the Poles of Metallic Arcs,
including Alloys and Composite Arcs.—J. H. Vincent: Further
Experiments on the Variation of Wave-length of the Oscillations Gen-
erated by an Ionic Valve Due to Changes in Filament Current.—H. A.
Daynes: (1) The Theory of the Katharometer; (2) The Process of
Diffusion through a Rubber Membrane.
Lonpon MATHEMATICAL SociETY, at 5.—G. S. Le Beau: A Property of
Polynomials whose Roots are Real.—B. M. Sen: Double Surfaces. _
Roya. CoL_eGeE or Puysicians, at 5.—Dr. J. L. Birley : The Pr’nciples-
of Medical Science as applied to Military Aviation (Goulstonian Lecture).
Rovat InstiruTE oF Pusiic HEALTH, at 5—Dr. H. M. ry :
X-rays in the Diagnosis of 1uberculosis. : sie
Rovat Society oF MeEp'ctne (Occasional Lecture), at 5.—Sir Jagadis
Bose : Plant and Animal Response (with Demonstrations of Growth by
the Magnetic Crescograph).
Cuitp-Stupy Society (at Royal Sanitary Institute), at 6.—Dr. M. Jane
Reaney : The Educational Needs of Adolescence. ey i
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICA! ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil Engineers),
at 6.—W. H. Patchell: Operating a By-product Producer-gas Piant. for.
Power and Heating.—S. H. Fowles: Production of Power from Blast-
furnace Gas.
‘Oi. AND Cotour CueEmists’ AssoctATIOoN (at 2 Furnival Street), at 7-—
J. B. Shaw : Various Points in the Manufactwe of Lake and Pigment
Colours,
Optica Society, at 7.30.—A. C. W. Aldis: Portable Electric Signalling
amps.
Karenarcion or AuTomosBILE Encineers (Graduate Section), at 8.—
C. A. Chappell : Magnetos. ;
InstiruTE of METALS (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers) (Annual
General Meeting), at 3. —Dr. G. D, Bengough, R ones, and Ruth
Pirret : Fifth Report to the Corrosion Research Committee.—R. Seligman
and P, Williams : The Action on Aluminium of Hard Industrial Waters.
Rovat’ Sociery oF Mepicine (Neurology Section), at 8.30.— Prof.
J. S. B. Stopford : Results of End-to-end Suture of Peripheral Nerves.
Society oF ANTIQUARIKS, at 8.30.
FRIDAY, Marcu 12. E
INstTiITUTE OF METALS (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers) (Annual
General Meeting), at 10.30.—J. Neil MacLean: The Art of Casting in
High Tensil: Krass.—H. Moore and S. Beckinsale: The Remova’ of
Internal Stress in 70: 30 Brass by Low-temperature Annealing.— Dr.
W. Rosenbain, J. L. Haughton, and Kathleen Binzham: Zinc Alloys
with Aluminium and Copper.—Dr. W. Rosenhain: A Model for Represent-
ing the Constitution of ‘lernary Alloys.—A. C. Vivian : Tin- Phosphorus
Alloys.—W. C. Hothersall and E. L. Khead : Some Notes on the Effect
of Hydrogen on Copper. : :
Institute oF METALS (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers) (Annual
General Meeting), at 2.30.—W. E. Alkins: The Effect of Proxressive
Drawing upon some Physical Properties of Commercially Pure Copper.
—F. Johnson : The Influence of Cold Rolling on the Physical Properties
of ah ey L. Haughton: The Study of Thermal Electro-motive
Force as an Aid to the Investigation of the Constitution of Alloy Systems.
—H. H. Hayes: The Polishing and Etching of Zinc for Micro-examina-
tion.—W. E. Hughes: Idiomorphic Crystals of Electro-deposited Copper.
Liapin: Some Remarkable
Properties of Diurnal Motion.—H. C. Plummer : The Nature of Short-
period Variables.—-L. Becker : (1) Capture Orbits; (2) The Capture Hypo-
60
NATURE
| Marci 11, 1920
thesis of Binary Stars.--T. C. Hudson: A Vectorial Theorem —R. A.
Sampson: Theory of the Four Great Satellites of Jupiter.—J. Jackson :
‘The ‘ rbits of 20 Double Stars. —H. W. Newton: Note on the Sun-spot
ea Facular Disturbance in the Region of the Eclipse Prominence of 1919.
S. Williams: The Observed Changes in the Colour of Jupiter’s
Ravarorat Zone.—A. R. Hinks: A Pre.iminary: Account of the Geo-
graphy of the 1922 Septtember 20 Eclipse ‘Track.
PrysicaL SociETy OF Lonpon, at 5.—F. W. Newman: Absorption of
Gases in a Discharge Tube.—F. S. G. ‘Thomas: A New Directional
Hot-wire Anemomeier of High Sensitivity, especially applicable to the
Investigation of Slow Rates of Flow of Gases.—Dr. Hans Petterssen:
Exhibit of a New Micro-balance.
University CoLLteGe ENGINEERING Society (Annual Public Meeting),
at 5.30.—Sir Dugald Clerk: Coal Conservation.
MALACULOGICAL SociETY oF LONDON (at Linnean Society), at 6.
gait NTION OF MECHANICAL EncineERS (Informal Meeting), at 7.—
A. J H. Fitt and Others: Costing.
Junior INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, at 7.30.--F. A. Simpson: Chain
Helice Pumps.
Harveian Society (at the Medical Society of London), at 8.30. —Sir
Thomas Horder: The Diagno tic Significance of Nerve Symptoms in
Acute Infections (Harveian Oration).
Roya InsTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 9.—W. W. Rouse Ball:
String Figures.
' SATURDAY, Marcu 13.
Roya Institution OF, GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Sir J. J. Thomson:
Positive Rays.
MONDAY, Marcu 15.
Vicroria INstTiITUrE (at Central Hall, Weatmuinetar), at 4.30.—E. w. G
Masterman: The Walls of Jerusalem at Various Periods.
Rovat Socizry of Mepicine (Occasional Lecture), at 5.—Dr. ‘:
Fre+man: Toxic Idiopathies: The Relationship between Hay and other
Pollen Fevers, Animal Asthmas, Food I liosy ‘ l an
Spasmodic Asthmas, etc.
INSTITUTION OF EL&CTRICAL ENGINEERS gs Sas ae Meeting) (at Mesa tae
Institute of Patent Agents), at7.—J. W. Beauchamp and S. M.
Industria! Electric Heating.
Royat InsriruTE oF BrririsH ARCHITECTS, at 8.—H. Austen Hall:
The Planning of American Departmental Stores. .
Surveyors’ INSTITUTION, at 8.
Royat GroGcrapnHicat Society (at Aolian Hall), at. 8.30.—Prof. J. L.
Myres: ‘Il he Dodekanese.
TUESDAY, Marcu 16.
Royat InsriruTion of GrEaT BriTain, at 3.—Prof. A. Keith:
British Ethnology—The Invaders of England.
Roya CoLv_eEGE oF Puysictans, at 5.—Dr. J. L. Bir'ey : The Principles
of Medical Science as applied to Military Aviation (Goulstonian
Lecture).
JRovar Society or MEpIctng, at 5.—(Special General Meeting of Fellows.)
RovAL STaTISTICAL SOCIETY, at 5.15.—M. S. Birkett: The Iron and
Steel Trades during the War.
AInsTITUTION OF CIvIL ENGINEERS, 5.30 —Sir Alexander B. W.
at
Kennedy; Lantern Exhibit'on of Views taken throughout the War Areas ~
in France and Flanders.
InsrituTrion oF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGISTS (at Royal Society of Arts),
at 5.30.—-M. A. Ockenden and A. Carter: Plant se in the. Rotary
System of Drilling Oi: Wells. BaD Hee,
MinExALocicat Society (at Geological Society), at 5 pe er, Russell : The
Occurrence of Cotunnire, Anglesite, Leadhi lite, andGa'ena on Fused Lead
from the Wreck of the Fireship /zve’rxands, talmouth Harbour, Corn-
wall.—W. Campbell Smith: Riebeckite-rhyolite from Northern Kordo-
fan.—Dr. G. T. Prior: The Meteoric Iron of Mount Ayliff, Griqualand
_ East, South Africa, Be
ZooLocicaL Society oF Lonpon, at 5.30,—R. I, Pocock: The
External Charact rs of South American Monkeys.—Dr. C. F. Sonntag :
he Comparative Anatomy of the Tongues of the Mammalia ; I. General
Description of the Tongue.
Roya. PHorocrapuic Society oF Great Britain (Lantern Meetin2),
at 7.—Maj.-Gen. W. S. Bvancker: Bird’s-Eye Views of London and
other Districts in Eng!and from Aeroplane Photographs.
RoyaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—N. W. Thomas: The
Ovia Secret Society Nig eres by Lantern Slides and Phonograph
Record-),—Surg.-Lt, R. Buddle: Exhivition of Flint Implements from
Russia.
WEDNESDAY, Marcu 17.
Rova. Unitep SERVICE INSTITUTION, at 3.—Major H. F. S. Huntington
The Physical and Ethical Value of Boxing.
Rovat Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—W. W. Beaumont ;
Transport of London. *
Royvat Mereoro.ocicaL Society (at Royal Astronomical Society), at
5.—Capt. C. K. M. Douglis: Clouds as seen from an Aeroplane.
InsTiITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (Wireless S<ction) (at Institution
of Civil Engineers), at 6.—Capt. P. P. Eckersley: Duplex Wireless
Telephony : Some Experiments on its Application to Aircraft.
RoyaL AERONAUTICAL Soci-«Ty (at Royal Society of Arts), at 8.—
Major C. F. Abell: Airship Machinery.
Roya MicrOscoPIcAL Soci..Ty, at &.
THURSDAY, Marcu 18.
Rovav InstitutTION oF GREAT Britain, at 3.—Stephen Graham: The
Spirit of America after the War.
Roya Sociery, at 4.30.—Probable Paper s.—W. B. Brierley : A Form of
Botrytis cin rea with Colourless Sclerotia.—R. R. Gates: A Preliminary
Account of the Mei tic Phenomena in the Pollen Mother Cells and
Tapetum of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa).
LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 5.
Royat CoiLEGe oF Puysictans, at 5.—Sir John R. Bradford :
Street Passenger
The
Clinical Experiences of a Puysician during the Campaign in France and |
Flanders, 1914-t919 (Lumleian Lecture).
INSTITUTION OF MINING AND MeEtTaLLurGy (at Geological Society’,
at 5.30. W. R. Jones: Tin and Tungsten Deposits: The Economic
Signiticance of their Relative lemperatures of Formation.
NO. 2628, VOL. 105]
|
|
og
INSTITUTION OF ELEcrRicaL .ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civi
bb
Hg
*
Engineers), at 6.—Adjourned Discussion on the Papers of W. H.
Patchell and 8s. H. ghigedg read at the Meeting on March aie
Cuemicat. Society, at 8.—I. Masson and R. McCall: the Viscosity of :
Nitrocellulose in Mixtures of Acetone and Water.—H. Stephen, W. F.
Short and G, Gladding:
into the Aromatic Nucleus.—H. E. Cox: The Influence of the Solvent
on the Veloci y of Reaction between certain Alkyl lodides and Sodium
8-Naphthoxide,—H. Crompton and P. L.Vanderstichele: The Use of 1:2-
Dichlorovinylethyl Ether for the Production of Chloroacetates and ‘ci
Chlorides.
mA A rs ape bs 19. w
OYaL Society or Arts (Indian Section), at 4.30.—Sir
Meyer : The Indian Currency System and its Developaieiiee ee ‘4
Concrete InstTivurTe, at 6.—Dr. O. Faber: ‘he Practical App'ication
of Reinforced Concrete.
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINFERS, at 6 —D. Brownlie: Exact
Data on the Performance of. Mechanical Stokers, as applied to “* Lanca-
shire” and other Narrow-flued Boilers.
Roya InstTiruTION oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 9 —E, —— ‘Leonardo
da Vinci.
SATURDAY, Marcu 20.
Roya Institution oF GREAT BRITAIN, at oan oe i hoc oeypaal
Positive Rays
PHystvLoG —_
Oe ba eee College), at 4.—J. F.» “Donegan
CONTENTS. _ PAGE
The State and the National Museums ....... 29
Mathematical Cosmozony. By H.C. P, pie. 3 E
Tropical Medicine. ByJ. W.W.S. ....... 33.
Practical Chemistry. By ©: J , pes ea ae R
Botanical Guides : Pe Me Tet A Ts ec Cane
Our Bookshelf 4. coc Car tes BE |
Letters to the Editor: —
Gravitational Deflection of High- speed: Particles. —
Prof, A. S. Eddington, F.&.S, 37
Gravitational Shift of Spectral Lines. —Dr. sch
Jeffreys
The Position of the Meteorological Office. Dr. Hugh °
Robert Mill; Walter W. Bryant ...
Organisation of Scientific Work. —Sir J. C. Bose .
Photographs of Seven. Vocal Notes.
Dr. W. Perrett
Scientific Direction of Industrial Research. —Major
Gok hurch . . 40
n Langmuir’s Theor of Atoms. (With Diagram.
S. C. Bradford : ‘ ) 4i
Seconding of Officers for Study: at Universities. Prof.
J. Wertheimer. . . 41
Scientific and Technical Books.—Sir R. A. Gregory. 41
Daylight Saving and the Length of the Working Day.
—Annie D. Betts . ; 4I
Rainfall and Land Drainage. ‘By Dr. Brysson :
Cunningham Aiea? 3
The Work of the Medical Research Committee sas A}
The Mariner's Compass Re ee
The Gyrostatic Compass. ‘(illusirated.) By Ss. G.
Brown, F.R.S. Sad
Obituary : Prof. nda Emerson Reynolds, F.R.S. By
E. A. W. ae co ete a ao
Notes ar iain) Nig ROE aE BO
Our Astronomical Column :— at
Bright Meteors ‘ er edad Nae i Fae
Total Light of the Stars. | sh aeons ae 54
Star Clusters. oc a eS ee
Meteorological Observations at Calcutta. By
WWE ee ee en oes ees 68
The Road to Industrial. Peace. By H. M. se see, 55
Wireless Telephony in Aeroplanes . . LC tiaite ny SS
Magnetic Storm of March 4-5 - oe 56
University and Educational intelligence : f 56
Societies and Academies on ae 7.
Books Received . . TUN deal Ar ta Pam ta er |
Diary of Societies... «6 ". 6. on ee
¥
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDG W.C.2,
Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the
Publishers.
Edito: ial Communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
(I Ilustrated.)— ee
The Introduction of the Chiotomathill Group. — x
’ zr
é: Hiss, MARCH 18,
‘p20.
Science cas the New Army.
1E memorandum of the Secretary of State for
— War ‘relating’ to the Army: Estimates for
1, which has been recently issued by the
ar Office “‘in amplification of the speech of the
isledetary of State introducing the Army Esti-
mates ” (Cmd. 565, price 3d.), is a notable docu-
nt in both its national and scientific aspects.
- Saieeionl the introduction of a new attitude
rds military and medical science, as is shown
a following quotations :—
“We must continue to Seales the power of
r armaments, not by accumulating large stocks
f weapons and stores for a great national: Army
in peace time of patterns that may become obso-
_lete before they are used, but by scientific
research and experiment witch will lead. to the
esign of the best types, and by preparation
_ which will enable bulk production to commence
_ without the unfortunate delays that had such a
lamentable effect during the early stages of the
ftewer . . . It is necessary to make
equate provision for research experiments and
in connection with war material. . We
, unfortunately, continue our studies of what
is known as chemical warfare. . It is our
aa policy to farm out to civil scientific institutions.
such as the universities, the National Physical
_ Laboratory, the Imperial College of Science and
chnology, etc., all pure research that can be
tably farmed out, and, generally speaking, to
restrict © military institutions to applied research
and the preliminary design of apparatus.”
‘ More could be quoted to encourage the belief
_ that the Army has learnt its lesson, and, besides,
_ there is the new Education Corps, as well as
Bs. changes at Woolwich, Sandhurst, and the staff
colleges, and new Army schools.
pe Rhosd men of science who have served in the
_ Army and were at times driven to despair by its
_ patterns that have become obsolete in high places
} may be slow to believe in the seeming change of
heart. With this memorandum before us, how-
ever, We are given reason for hope in improved
- conditions, and should assist-in realising them.
q E It-is “undeniable. that, broadly speaking, early in
r ne war, the Army was perilously out of touch
and out of comprehension with respect to science,
a but it must also be remembered that the forces
_ of. science were not marshalled and led by any
a means so well as they might have been. The
chemists, it is true, made an attempt to organise,
_ but when. they. approached the Board of Trade
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
with the view of establishing something like a
clearing house, they succumbed to 4 strange non
sequitur in the form .of an assurance that the
Government was going to establish a Department
of Scientific and Industrial Research. Before and
after that, chemists drifted to their various posts
under a variety of currents, which only too often
put a wrong man in a place for which the right
one was equally available.
No doubt wonders were done, but it is surely
most desirable that, for the future, science should
have some scheme of mobilisation ready. In
saying this, it is not suggested that a rigid scheme
could, or should, be attempted, but there is some-
thing between detachment and regimentation that
is better than either, and this at least it ‘should
not pass the wit of man to design.
Over-organisation is one of. the reactionary
extravagances of the war, and it is evident to
some degree in the memorandum before us. Some
pride appears to be taken for the provision of Co-
ordinating Boards, which among other things
“should lead to the detection of overlap yA
research] where such exists, and its elimination.”
Overlap is the bogey of the official mind, and
co-ordination the blessed word. So far as the
advancement of science for peace or war is con-
cerned, let us hope that philosophers will go to
the stake rather than be deprived of their right
to overlap anybody or anything they may choose.
The overlap of chemistry and physics is main-
taining the credit of our country in science; an
equal overlap of the General Staff of the Army
and the brotherhood of science, if ‘it can be
achieved, will do also much for the safety of the
country. That is the vital thing. for which
there is perhaps some promise, but not yet
adequate assurance. Science linked to the Army
by fussy research co-ordinators acting under a
nescient soldier will not solve the difficulty. ' It
is perhaps too much to expect that all officers on
the General Staff will have had a scientific educa-
tion, but until it is made obligatory for a propor-
tion of them to have had such a training, the
fundamental. reform .will not. have been effected,
-and science will not occupy its ‘rightful position
_in the new Army.
-The section of the memorandum which relates to
the Royal Army Medical Corps is of noteworthy
interest. An important feature is the reorganisa-
tion of the medical section of the Territorial Army
under the supervision of a Territorial section of
the War Office. In view of the fine work which
was done by Territorial units during the war, it is
D
62 NATURE
| Marcu 18, 1920
to be hoped that this branch of the Medical Corps
will be given the opportunities it deserves. The
proposal to form a dental corps is indeed excel-
lent, and it might be advantageous to unite with
this the plastic surgery which was so intimately
associated with dental work in the late war.
In our opinion one of the best changes in the
Army medical administration is the establishment
of the new directorates of pathology and hygiene ;
an important consequence of this is that promo-
tion to the highest rank is now -open to the
specialists who take up such work in the Army.
Efficient collaboration with the civil profession and
with other branches of State medical work will
be ensured by the aid of an advisory committee
of expérts, both civil and military. It may be
assumed that the work hitherto carried on by
the vaccine department of the Royal Army Medical
College will henceforth be taken under the direc-
torates of pathology and hygiene. The figures
given in the memorandum show how largely the
work of the vaccine department aided in main-
taining the health of the troops in the field, and
with a very much smaller expenditure than would
have been entailed in private purchase. More
than 33,000,000 doses of vaccines of various types
were prepared during the last five years; the
value of the vaccines is well illustrated by the
case of the protection afforded against the typhoid
group of diseases. In the French Army, before
full protection against typhoid, there were from
the outbreak of the war until the end of October,
1915, 95,809 cases, with 11,690 deaths; after the
adoption of treatment the French figures were
comparable with our own—during the entire war
we had 7423 cases, with 266 deaths, in our
Expeditionary Force in France.
The future of gas warfare is briefly dealt with
in the memorandum. This form of offensive has
evidently come to stay, and it is stated that, owing
to the fact that preparations for the use of gas-
can be made in peace time with great secrecy, it
is necessary continually to study defensive
measures capable of meeting such a form. of
attack. Defence against gas involves physio-
logical, quite as much as chemical, measures, as
is shown by the important part played by physio-
logists in the elaboration. of the British box
respirator, which is the most perfect and
wearable defence against all gases hitherto
employed in war. It, is to be hoped that the War
Office. will: continue: to consult. both physiological
and chemical, experts, in. problems connected with.
the construction. of .respirators, and. also. in. the
arrangements for training troops in such Gevicgs:
NQ 96900 wot tnel
The Roast Beef of Old England. —
Cattle and the Future of Beef-Production in
England. By K:; J. J. Mackenzie. With a
preface and chapter by Dr. F. H. A. Marshall.
Pp. xi+168. (Cambridge: At the University
Press, 1919.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
ITH the advent of peace, British sigticilaglte;
still harassed and _ bewildered by the
vagaries of a “control,” painful, like a tooth, in
its going as in its coming, has entered upon a
transition stage towards the establishment of a
new equilibrium, the character of which must be
a subject of anxious concern to all who believe
that a prosperous and contented agriculture is the
soundest basis upon which the national welfare
can rest. At this juncture wise counsel is needed
from those best qualified to give it, and it will find
a more sympathetic hearing than was wont to be
the case in the bygone days when farming was
so generally looked upon more as a mode of life
than as a complex industry of vital importance to
the nation, and requiring the sympathetic and
active support of the community. :
The change in the direction of an increase of
plough-land at the expense of grass-land, which
was forced upon the industry by the necessities of
war, is already in process of reversal, and this
return to grass is likely to proceed at an increasing
rate unless clear evidence is forthcoming that
arable farming for some years to come is likely
to give such enhanced profits as compared with
grass farming as will compensate adequately for
the greater worries and outlay it entails. The
gain to national security which the increased
supply of home-grown breadstuffs obtainable
from an enlarged arable acreage can confer is
obvious, and that this is at the same time con-
sistent with a profitable system of agriculture is
amply demonstrated in the practice of Germany,
Belgium, and the Scandinavian countries, where
systems designed essentially for the production of
corn, vegetables, and milk prevail.
It must not be too readily assumed; however,
that these systems are directly applicable to
British conditions, which differ in many respects,
and, Mr. Mackenzie would warn us, in none more
vitally than in the more refined taste in meat, par
excellence beef, which marks us out as a race
apart. The German and the Dutchman are appar-
ently condemned by their systems of agriculture
to a beef mainly derived from the carcasses of
worn-out milch cows and draught oxen, but who
could forecast the consequences of a change in our
agriculture which would restrict the British work-
man—and the British cook—to’ such: fare! Mr.
Mackenzie has no doubt that, it would lead to “a
“Maxcu 18, 1920]
NATURE
63
eral fall in our national standard of life,” and
ave ‘a very Suschonaiae effect on the efficiency
yf our race.’
4 would Di adate. therefore, that no system
yf agriculture can be sound for this country
inless it provide for an abundant supply of prime
We must hasten to explain, however, that
no adyocate of reversion to grass farming,
, indeed, he condemns roundly as “stealing
the land.” Nor is he satisfied with other
t systems of beef production. Taking the
us systems at present in vogue, he has no
' in demonstrating that on the average
h farm even the best of them represents but
inefficient use of the possibilities of the soil.
eat deal of our grass-land can be made far
productive by suitable ameliorative treat-
but more fundamental than this is the need
ec. is deplorably low. This’ is in some
ure due to the great development of our
t r of cattle, which has given to the foreigner
se
et State action with the co-operation
‘landed proprietors and agricultural associations
encourage the dexelopment of types of cattle
ecially suited for our own purposes and to
their distribution over the farms of the
y. With an improved type of cow, capable
“producing a good yield of milk and early-
aturing, well-fleshed progeny, it will be possible
combine | intensive cultivation with the produc-
on at réasonable cost of the milk, beef, cheese,
ter, and veal which the maintenance of a high
dard of living requires.
There are many signs that the line of reorgan-
ion which Mr. Mackenzie indicates is the one
; een British agriculture is most likely to follow,
and it is sincerely to be hoped that his book will
culate widely amongst the leaders of agricultural
ya and the farming community generally.
4 , but not least, h:s exposition of the need for
a - greater provision for research in animal husbandry
‘must be warmly commended. Withcut this the
provement of live-stock must remain to a large
extent a blind groping after ends incapable of
- precise definition. C; ¢.
| NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
French Text-books of Chemistry.
(1) Notions Fondamentales de Chimie Organique.
By Prof. Charles Moureu.. Sixiéme édition.
Pp. vii+552. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et Cie,
1919.) ° Price 16 francs.
(2) Cours de Chimie a l’usage des Etudiants
P.C.N. et S.P.C.N. By Prof. R. de Forcrand.
Deuxiéme édition. Tome 1. Généralités—
Chimie minérale. Pp. viiit+437. Tome 2.
Chimie organique—Chimie analytique ; Applica-
tions numériques. Pp. 527. (Paris: Gauthier-
Villars et Cie, 1919.) Price 14 francs and
18 francs respectively.
(1) Sa science develops and facts multiply
and group themselves into laws and
theories, the system of imparting knowledge is
greatly simplified by using these generalisations
as pegs upon which to hang the facts. Whilst this
process is of the very essence of scientific growth,
it is important not only that the theories should
clothe the facts, but also that the tight or loose
parts of the garment should be clearly marked in
sartorial fashion for future modification. Nothing
is more misleading than the attempt to adjust
a theory by implication or by omission of details
to limbs it does not fit. How flabby many a
theory has looked on close inspection !
Herein lies a danger into which present writers
on organic chemistry may fall. The mere enu-
meration of compounds has been replaced by the
description of a few typical examples, and broad
generalisations have been illustrated and con-
densed into a few paragraphs. This system of
condensation, whilst it affords a useful survey of
the whole region of organic chemistry, may in the
process omit those apparently insignificant excep-
- tions which, like the minute foreign substances in
metals, modify the whole character of the material.
We have been led to express these views in the
perusal of Prof. Moureu’s treatise.
The fact that it has reached a sixth edition is
sufficient evidence that, whatever its merits or
defects, the book has established itself as a
popular text-book, and that it should have so
established itself is easy to understand.
The number of compounds described, though
sufficiently numerous, is not more than is necessary
to illustrate some general process. Each chapter
and section is introduced by a few paragraphs on
généralités, admirably and lucidly explained. The
weak point of these généralités is their brevity.
They merely touch the fringe of the subject, and
as there are no references, the student is not
encouraged to bridge the gaps. Tautomerism,
which finds a place under ketonic acids, is. dis-
missed in less than three pages.
“64
[March 18; :g2o
‘Each' new subject is introduced by: a string of
‘flames of distinguished chemists who have been
concerned in its study (sometimes as many as
‘eight are given), but there is no indication of the
nature of their contributions, and again no refer-
-ences are given. Incidentally, it may be pointed
out that the names of French chemists are much
| in evidence. Under “ Valency,” Frankland’s name
is not even mentioned. These are. minor points.
'.. The arrangement, though somewhat novel to
English chemists, is finding favour both in France
-and in America. There is no division into ali-
_phatic and aromatic compounds, but the two are
combined. Thus.chap. ii. includes all the hydro-
carbons, saturated and unsaturated, aromatic and
_hydro-aromatic, and the same system is followed
_throughout.. The nitrogen compounds have a
chapter to themselves, and there are others on
organo-metallic compounds, heterocyclic com-
ponnils,, and colouring matters.
_(2) Prof. de Forcrand’s class-book of chemistry,
_ which ‘has reached a second edition, is written
for students who are entering on a course for the
P.C.N. and S.P.C.N.—that is to say, a certificate
sanctioned by the Ministry of Public Instruction
for advanced study in physics, chemistry, and the
_natural sciences, the P.C.N. representing a
_Standard intermediate between the baccalauréat,
and the licencié in science, and the S.P.C.N.
being. the equivalent of the latter.
-The course is divided into two parts, inorganic
and. organic, which are treated in separate
volumes. The inorganic section is divided into
généralités, metalloids, and metals. The book is
not intended for, nor is it to be recommended to,
beginners. The general principles laid down in
the first section, which include such notions
: as reversible and isomeric changes, the phase law,
.mass action, displacement of equilibria, etc.,
would be almost meaningless unless the student
were already acquainted with the phenomena upon
“which these generalisations are built.. Moreover,
‘the subjects are presented in a didactic ‘manner,
‘in which general statements are laid down without
any attempt at adducing evidence for them.
_.It seems to the writer that the old method,
_ which was so common formerly among authors of
‘science. text-books,. of introducing general. prin-
ciples and definitions. before any experimental facts
_had been discussed, though perhaps philosophically
. sound, is not the best way of applying the experi-
mental method—that is, the method of reasoning
“from facts to Jeheralisation’ and not only so,
but it is almost bound to lead, as in the present
case, to didactic treatment.
_ The same criticism applies to the volume on
organic chemistry.’ The linking of carbon atoms
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
‘by single and multiple bonds is assumed» without
evidence, and so also is the : structure: of: the |
various organic groups. iG
Generally speaking, the. book is somiewiiin old-
fashioned in its arrangement, in spite of para-
graphs on modern topics. It suffers, too, from a
dearth of. illustrations. Even if the student has
studied his subject experimentally; and is
acquainted with apparatus and methods, he is still
ignorant of many practical operations of a: tech-
nical character or special apparatus used in the
7
{ Vidoes
‘preparation of rarer compounds which some good
drawings would help him to grasp.
Having pointed out what seem to the writer the
chief defects of treatment, it should be added that
the information is well arranged, and covers the
most important facts without unnecessarily multi-
plying the number of compounds. It: is curious
to. find the subject of analytical chemistry, both
inorganic and organic, relegated to i ain of ae
volume on organic chemistry. |
| J. B.C.
Indian. Beetles.
The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and
Burma. __ Coleoptera, ‘Chrysomelidae (His-
pinae and Cassidinae), By Prof. S. Maulik.
Pp. xi+439. (London: Taylor and Francis,
July, 1919.) Price I guinea. /
HERE is evidence enough in this ‘bile: to
show that many months of assiduous work
must have gone to its preparation; but it leaves
more than an impression that the author lacked
experience to begin with, and had not -quite
mastered his subject. His descriptions are gener-
ally too long. An author of experience, using
better judgment, would have confined his attention
to essentials when describing species, and left out
the rest, thus saving himself and his readers both
time and trouble. It would have meant a lot in
a volume like this, where 388 species altogether
‘come under notice, and all but a few are described
at length. Where the descriptions are long and
the differential characters not clearly marked out,
the keys to genera and species need to be well
constructed and. trustworthy. Yh ee
Prof. Maulik’s keys do not always answer to
this description. His keys to species not infre-
quently contain diagnoses which, though fairly
long, are not quite long eidugl to enable the
text descriptions to be dispensed with altogether ;
and the key to his first group of genera is of
so little service that the reader is left to decide
‘which is the more to be trusted, the author or
his artist, the key or the text. He has nowhere
ance 18; 1920] AWATURE 65
ple aed) why he has rejected’ certain characters (Cambridge Mathematical Series.) Pp.,.viii+
»useiof:with great. success by Chapuis:in his | .--309: (London: G. Bell. and Sons, Ltd., 1919-)
ouping of the genera of Hispine; and it is to Price 6s.
jicedvalso that he has not stated: why there
very'rarely any reference to sexual differ-
in his descriptions, .either' of genera or of
i: which Serhan wise to show close
ation. ©
ut ninety of ie species Maiecibed are the
’s own, and to many of these he has given
‘which, derived from the ancient language
country, form. a’novel and_ interesting
. of the book. In a short introduction to
sub-family an account is given of the few
and life-histories known, and a list of useful
mees to other works in which information
them may be found. Mimicry in the His-
is touched upon, and Gahan’s observations
Linger atte structures met with
ume is well illustrated, and the figures,
ly enlarged, appear to be carefully drawn,
th the exception of one on p. 86, which is not
it is said to be—the “mentum” of a genus
-is unique amongst the Chrysomelide in
labial palpi. Were it not for defects
kind pointed out, and frequent signs of
ss in the text, the volume, on the whole,
deserve much praise, due regard being
atie work « on more than a 9 scale,
ed a
Main Co-ordinate Systems — Pictorial
eated and Illustrated from Rigid Dynamics.
m. B Frederick, Slate. _(Semi-centennial Publica-
__ tions of the University | of California.) Pp. ix+
‘, wa Seater. HeNerPHY of California
rojective Vector ‘Algebra:
Vectors Independent of the Axioms of Congru-
ence ‘and of Parallels. By Dr, ‘L, ‘Silberstein.
Pp. vii+78. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.,
9.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
Elements of Graphic Dynamics ; An Element-
ry, Text-book for Students of Mechanics and
engineering, « By Ewart S. Andrews. — Pp.
viii+ 192. (London: Chapman, and Hall, Ltd.,
1919.) Price 10s. 6d. net... |
) Differential Calculus for. Colleges and Second-
ary . Schools. «BY ,.Dr. Charles . Davison.
NO, 2629, VOL. 105]
An Algebra of
is often a puzzle.
(5) The Analytical Geometry of the Straight Ling
and the Circle. By John Milne. (Bell’s Mathe-
matical Series.) Pp. xii+ 243. (London.:.,G-
Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1919.) Price 5s.
(1) ANIFOLD adaptations of dynamical
reasoning have given’ rise to special-
ised treatises of undoubted excellence. © Prof.
Slate sets himself the task of surveying the com-
mon foundation and the common stock of re-
sources of these adaptations, as well as the trend
of modern development in dynamics. ‘Six quan-
tities enter into the formulation of fundamental
dynamical principles: force, power, and force-
moment on one hand, momentum, kinetic
energy and moment of momentum on the other.
Each triad can be, and has been, used in the
enunciations of dynamics. But the enunciations
involve the use of reference-frames, leading to the
question of the relativity of such frames and the
transformation from one frame to another—both
when the transformation is that of a mere trans-
lation, and when it partakes of the more general
form of a shift and a rotation. The author con-
siders these transformations and the chief’ kinds
of co-ordinate systems. Euler’s and Lagrange’ Ss.
equations, and their use in the study’ of the
dynamics of a rigid body, conclude a présentation
possessing considerable interest and originality.
A number of notes are added containing refer-
ences and further elucidations.
An objectionable feature of the book, ‘and one
that destroys much of its value, is the difficult
English in which it is written. The most intel-
ligible portions are those consisting. of mathe-
matical symbolism—the accompanying letterpress
What is one, e. gy to make of
the following ?—
“In consequence it has not been displassiti as
a tenet of orthodox dynamical doctrine that
standards by which to judge of the, energy,
momentum and force that ought to appear in its
accounts will not stand on a par if adopted at
random, ‘ however interchangeable they have
‘proved in passing upon rest, velocity | and» ac-
celeration by the mathematical criteria in the more
indifferent domain of kinematics.”
The impression one has in reading the book is
that of a laborious progress over a succession of
obstacles. Not every reader can be expected to
persevere when so many of the obstacles are due
to the guide whose function it should be to remove
such difficulties as are inherent in the subject.
_ (2) In Dr. Silberstein’s book on “ Projective
“66
NATURE
[Marcu 18, 1920
Vector Algebra” we have a very lucid exposition
of a subject somewhat removed from the ordinary
interests of the mathematical teacher or re-
searcher. Vectorial representation is a common
feature of many branches of physical science, and
the author’s share in the encouragement of the
use of vectorial methods amply justifies his further
contributions to the discussion of the nature and
properties of vectors, whether as means of cal-
culation and research, or as illustrative of funda-
mental geometrical properties of space. The
present book aims at the construction of an
algebra of vectors, based solely on the axioms of
connection and of order. Only addition and sub-
traction of unlocalised vectors are dealt with in
the book itself; in a subsequent paper in the
Philosophical Magazine the treatment is extended
so as to include multiplication and division.
Opinions may differ as to the utility of the
system thus constructed; there does not seem to
be any obvious application of the ideas to the
discovery of new results in pure mathematics or
in investigations of a physical character. But
the methods are elegant, and the exposition
is admirable. The proofs afforded of theorems
on the projective geometry of rectilinear figures
and conics amply repay the few pleasant hours
spent in reading the book and its continuation in
the above-mentioned paper. One may perhaps
question whether the book is really adapted for
“beginners in geometry.”
It would have added to the value of the in-
vestigation if the book had been divided into
chapters and.a reasonable number of examples
inserted for exercise in the methods developed.
The construction for scalar multiples of a vector
admits of some simplification.
(3) This is a useful account of the application
of graphical methods to dynamical problems,
especially such as are of an engineering character.
The process of graphical integration is applied to
work, to space, to velocity and acceleration, and
to action, the auxiliary parabola being used for
the last. Polar diagrams are used with special
application to simple harmonic motion and_ to
combinations of simple harmonic motions, to cams,
etc. Velocities changing in direction ‘are then
considered with applications to rotating bodies
and the turbine. Linkages and static forces in
mechanisms are followed by the elements of fly-
wheel design and the theory of the balancing of
rotating parts. There are many diagrams and
exercises.
Though primarily intended for the engineer, the
book contains much that should be. incorporated
into ordinary elementary courses on dynamics.
Actual live problems with their practical solutions
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
are far more valuable,
numerous artificial exercises that are given in’ so
many of the books written “for schoo and
colleges.”
Mr. Andrews should take more pains with his
notation; the needless use of x for ordinates must
surely annoy the student. The statement __
area below curve
length of curve
(p. 14) needs obvious correction. The defiaition
of work on p. 34 applies only to a force constant
in -magnitude and direction. On p. 47 simple
harmonic motion is defined in the usual manner,
but with the addition that the force acts in a
direction opposite to the direction of motion of
the body. This is not an oversight, for it is
repeated on p. 64!
(4) This is not a book for beginners, although
mean effort=
Dr. Davison follows the usual practice of indi-
cating what might be omitted on a first reading:
The whole book should be put aside on a first
reading of the subject, and a more suitable pre-
sentation selected for the purpose.
But the student who has already mastered the
elements of the calculus, and understands the
meaning of a limit and the notion of differentia-
tion and integration, is ready for Dr. Davison’s
book. It is brief, yet full. Part i. contains first
principles—i.e. differentiation, successive differ-
entiation, expansions, and indeterminate forms.
Part ii. deals with the applications to maxima
and minima, and to the theory of curves, including
curvature, asymptotes, singular points, curve-
tracing in Cartesian and in polar co-ordinates,
envelopes, evolutes, and pedals. There are
numerous examples, including sets of revision
exercises. Two excellent features are the problem
papers and the suggestions for a number of
mathematical essays. The form of the book is
pleasant, and the diagrams are well drawn and
reproduced.
A few improvements are possible. Thus §§ 28
and 34 are ambiguously worded. There is a trap in
the formule of § 61. In the chapter on polar
co-ordinates nothing is said about the ambiguity
inherent in polar equations, as mentioned in these
columns in a recent review of another book.
These are but a few blemishes in what is an
excellent production on well-known traditional
lines.
(5) There is much excellent matter in Mr.
Milne’s discussion of the analytical geometry of
the estraight line and circle. The treatment is
lucid and such as will appeal to the beginner; the
subject-matter is very well chosen, and pre-
sented in abundant detail with numerous _illus-
trative exercises, both worked and unworked.
pedagogically, than the
ae a
NATURE
67
eral uke in shoals, Attention has been
on several occasions: to defective figures
entary mathematical text-books. In Mr.
book the fault exists in an accentuated
_ No attempt seems to have been made to
nate the diagrams and the letterpress,
3 many of the diagrams printed on squared
contain actual mistakes. These criticisms
diagrams on pp. 3, 34, 35, 36-37, 38, 53,
» 63, 72, 74, 88, 92, 120, 123, 128, 129,
Bey bad case), 147, 148, 155, 157, 166,
an is surely not right to place such diagrams
re young students.
book were re-issued with correctly drawn
eee it would constitute a valuable addition
S. BRODETSKY.
- Our Bookshelf.
lec. - Daily itaanion, 1920. Edited
orge E. Brown. Pp. g12. (London:
I Greenwood and Co., Ltd. ) Price 1s. 6d.
Mig: has gone a cag way towards
iipsares to be now lacking only a little
ts former plethora of advertisements. Un-
vourable conditions still hold, but the editor
ee able to restore the tables, formule, and
echnical details that photographers have
score years been in the habit of consulting
y work. The “Epitome of Progress ”
summary of the novelties of the past
there is, we think for the first time,
in Brief of Photographic and Photo-
mechanical Processes.” The nine pages devoted
t ‘this subject will be of special interest to
udent, for they give the dates of a
* number of important facts con-
e development of photography,
from the very beginning. We notice
_sensitol red and sensitol green are ascribed
of. Pope in 1917. We always thought
_ these were pinacyanol and_ pinaverdol,
spe ee vely, of -German origin some _ years
, and that to Prof. Pope was due the
it of "preparing them in this country, and also
itroducing sensitol violet, which, however,
; not appear to be mentioned. The section
Beginners’ Failures in Photography,” by the
tor, deserves much appreciation. Ca Ji
" Toxines et Antitoxines. By M. Nicolle, E. Césari,
and C. Jouan. Pp. viiit+123. (Paris: Masson
4 et Cie, 1919.) Price 5 francs net.
. NIcotLE holds such a high place among those
who have made contributions of real importance
to our knowledge of parasites that it seems a
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
pity he should put out this disorderly summary
of some of the researches of himself and his col-
laborators. It reads like a bundle of notes that a
man might make to define the current position of
his investigations, and to settle which piece of
work he should take up next. With trivial excep-
tions M. Nicolle reviews no facts but those of his
own discovery, and it is impossible to distinguish
between conclusions and hypotheses. He points
out, for example, the similarity of symptoms and
anatomical lesions produced by various toxins of
different origins, and the diversity and specificity
of the antibodies which result from their intro-
duction ‘into the animal economy. He therefore
concludes that toxins consist of two parts, one
poisonous and not an antigen, the other inactive
and an antigen. This is no more than a pos-
sibly fruitful hypothesis on which to base further
experimentation. Those who know the subject -
well might run through the book with advantage;
others had better leave it alone. A. EH. Bi
Some Wonders of Matter. By the Right Rev.
Dr. J. E. Mercer. Pp. 195. (London: S.P.C.K.;
New York: The Macmillan Co., 1919.) Price
5s. net.
BisHop MERCER writes for children, and in a
manner in accordance with the Child’s' Guide. of
our grandparents rather than with modern educa-
tional ideals. His primary concern is to excite
the naive wonder which he considers so valuable ;
so he makes no selection, but ranges apparently
at random from Pharaoh’s serpents to Browniam
motion without giving any clue to the relative
importance of the very varied matters at which:
he glances. So wide a range in so small a space
would tax severely the highest powers of exposi-
tion, and Bishop Mercer has not the genius for
happy analogy that is characteristic of all the
most successful writers for the young. © Again,
though the work is free from serious error, we
judge that its author has not a first-hand acquaint-
ance with science. If he had, he would scarcely
puzzle the brains of his small charges (and inci-
dentally that of the reviewer) by raising questions
no serious student of science would ask—those,.
for example, which give rise to the paradoxes of
Berkeleyan idealism. On the other hand, some
parents will welcome the definitely religious tone
and be gratified that the Divine Intelligence is
presented in a form sympathetic to the. simplest.
An Arithmetic for Preparatory Schools. With
Answers. By Trevor Dennis. Second edition,
revised. (Bell’s Mathematical Series.) Pp-
xiv+ 376. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.,
1919.) Price 4s. 6d.
Mr. Dennis's “Arithmetic” well deserves
the second edition which it has reached. The
sequence is based on the syllabus of mathematical
teaching for ages nine to sixteen, for non-
specialists, issued by the Curriculum Committee of
the Headmasters’ Conference, Suitably chosen
exercises and clear type make the book , well
adapted for the students for whom-it is intended.
NATURE
[Marcu 18, 1920
33
Letters to the Editor.
(The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to
return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu-
scripts intended for .this or any other part of NATURE. No
notice is taken of anonymous communications.]
Museums and the State.
1 HAVE read with deep interest the leading article
entitled ‘*The State and the National Museums ”’
which appeared in Nature of March 11. As a
zoologist my interest is chiefly centred in the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington, and 1 most
heartily agree with the statement that ‘the: develop-
ment of the Natural History Museum has been
grievously hampered by the persistent attempt made
to fit it to a system devised ... especially for the
great library [at Bloomsbury], which has, in fact,
always tended to overshadow the rest of the museum.”
Historically, as you point out, the museum at South
Kensington is the offspring of the mother institution
at Bloomsbury, but the daughter is now fully grown
up, and should be completely free from parental con-
trol. It seems quite anomalous that a man chosen
for his knowledge of antiquities and literature should ©
be the supreme head over the greatest collections of
animals and plants which exist anywhere in the world.
Few Englishmen have any adequate idea of the
value of the asset represented by these colléctions.
Most of them, like Lord Sudeley, whom you quote,
regard the museum merely as* an instrument of
popular education. But this is only one of its
lesser functions. Its main value lies in the fact
that it is the repository of type-specimens of the
majority of the determined species of animals and
plants. In these days of the energetic development
of newer lines of research in zoology, it must never
be forgotten that systematic zoology is the basal
science, the pre-requisite for successful advance in
any other branch of the subject.
Just as it is necessary that standard measures of
length, weight, etc., should be stored in some central
‘repository, so it is necessary that there should be a
central institution in which every biologist should be
able to determine accurately the species with which
he is working. The agriculturists of Mauritius are
bothered by an insect pest which they regard as
_identical with one of the common insects of the island.
_Measures are taken for its extermination, and these
prove unsuccessful. It is then discovered, on refer-
“ence of the matter to South Kensington, that the pest
is a foreign one accidentally imported from the West
_Indies! Examples of this kind could be multiplied
indefinitely, but one more may suffice. The fishery
iuthorities of South Africa desired to introduce the
“erring into their. coastal waters, but the experts
at South Kensington were able to point out that,
although different species of. herring exist in various
parts of the world, in both northern and southern
hemispheres and east and west, yet all these species
are confined within the limits prescribed by two
.isotherms of annual temperatures, and that South
Africa lies outside these limits; so that if herring
were liberated near its coast, they would, if they
survived, at once swim southward into cooler waters.
The supreme government of the two museums at
Bloomsbury and South Kensington is vested in three
principal trustees, viz. the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Speaker of
the House of Commons, not one of whom has any
necessary connection. with or knowledge of science.
The scantiness of this knowledge may, indeed, be
gauged by the scornful remarks made by the Speaker
during the war in reference to the alleged purely
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
academic interest of studies on Microlepidoptera at
the. very time that the War Office was imploring the
aid of specialists in this department in fighting a pest
which was destroying its stores of biscuits. — ,
The article in Nature advocates placing the museum
under the control of a Government Department—
‘‘Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.’’ It seems to me
that the ideal of the present Government, viz. a small —
committee of broad-minded men, is the correct one;
only the personnel requires to be changed.
It has been cynically observed that the constitution
of the present committee was chosen at a time when
the Archbishop, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
the Speaker were the three men in England least
likely to be bribed. If for them were substituted the
presidents of the Royal Society, of the Zoological
Society, and of the Geological Society, the control of
the museum would be in the hands’ of a committee
of scientific eminence, and one peculiarly susceptible
to the pressure of scientific opinion. ;
In view of the unique importance of the collections,
it is surely essential to have a distinguished man of
science presiding over each division of the collection,
and for the services of such a man the museum ought
to be in a position to pay generously. In the past the
museum has been far better served than it deserved
to be; it has, in fact, exploited the scientific en-
thusiasm of young men. In the long run, however,
low pay will evoke inferior service. As the present
holders of positions in the museum die or resign,
clever men will be reluctant to step into their places if
to do so means to embrace a life of poverty. A govern-
ing body such as I suggest would be in a far better
position to estimate the real value of the services of
these experts than one which is too much inclined to
regard them as a set of obscure academic recluses. ©
E. W. MacBripe. -
Royal College of Science, Zoological
Department, South Kensington,
London, S.W., March 12.
Tue leading article in Nature of March 11 on ‘‘ The
State and the National Museums ”’ directs attention to
a reform the need for which has been increasingly felt
by those especially interested in our great national
museums. Your summary of their haphazard history
explains why their relation to the Government is out
of date; why between them there is an overlap which,
despite the advantage of competition, causes waste and
inconvenience and is a hindrance to efficiency; and
why our Museum of Natural Science is administered
by a board of trustees planned—so far as it was
planned and has not been a fortuitous aggregate of
distinguished men—in reference to @he library and
departments at Bloomsbury, The titles of the museums
are a product of this erratic growth and misleading
to the public; the Natural History Museum is actually
the British Museum of Natural Science, since, accord-
ing to recent usage (cf. e.g. Webster’s Dictionary),
natural history is restricted to zoology, or perhaps to
biology, while the adjacent museum is the British
Museum of Physical Science.
Dissatisfaction. with our museum administrative
svstem has been clearly growing for years, but there
has been no particular opportunity to secure reform
or to organise a sufficient bodv of opinion to convince
the Government of its need. Now. however, the estab-
lishment of the Devartment of Scientific and Indus-
trial Research has provided an organisation to which
the management of the scientific museums might be
apvropriately entrusted. uN cae
The suggestion, however, to extend that Depart-
mert so as to include all learning and research requires
cautious consideration, since it would throw on that
Ry tical |
RCH 18, 1920]
as NATURE
69
PAROS GT {3
ment iduties. so
entific) and: artistic’ collectioris; and would
se. its- ‘stientific. position: ...One — great
lagei of that Department: is’ that it provides:
_ Somme and» influential organisation devoted
. the,.development «and utilisation . of science;
it had. to .control all. literary and classical re-
its,aims would be diffuse, and pure science,
the claims of the ‘‘ humanistic’? and indus-
etions, might fare poorly.
unite all our museums, artistic and antiquarian,
Land commercial, scientific and military, under
control would maintain the practice that a
nis a“ raree’’ show, and be inconsistent with
modern principle that a museum is primarily a
y of which the general policy should be deter-
by the authorities in. its own department of
dge. To place a technical or research museum
the Board of Education is..as anomalous as to
some 0 museums under a research depart-
There are museums in London—for example,
Bethnal Green—which would be: appropriately
‘d by the Board of Education or by the Educa-
mmittee of the London Country Council as the
ration department of the East London schools.
foundation and. original endowment of the
fuseum by a State lottery introduced into
museum policy a virus of chance, which has
1 a potent factor in the development of the
; but a commission of inquiry might now
‘sufficient support to establish them on a firmer
1 and utilise the unique opportunities of
the home of a well co-ordinated group of
sentative museums. The present medley,
its unrivalled material, is being outclassed
useums of America. J. W. Grecory.
Quadrant, Glasgow...
OsE who have long viewed with increasing irrita-
e fe of time, labour, and money involved in
unco-ordinated condition of our national
1 welcome the leading article in NATURE
in which you have with such justice ex-
situation and indicated a possible solution
ifficulties. It is a little dangerous for a Civil
to express a candid opinion on the. workings
; t Departments, but perhaps I may be
go outside that taboo area and to point
» duplication of work and the competition
-to which you have alluded affect all
s (including art galleries) of the country.
yf us, therefore, have come to the conclusion,
1s also ‘should be co-ordinated with the national
sand «knit into a single scheme. There
be no interference with the existing direction of.
‘muséum,but there could be much. organised help.
Ve of the geological department sof the British
. do, in a small, disjointed. way, try to help
>to dred of other museums, and: we receive
“them. But this is just enough to let us—
ine what could be done if*such mutual aid wére
1on’a tecognised footing; if, forinstance, the small
‘of' museum paleontologists of Great: Britain (and.
i?) was°so organised.as to cover: the: field; and.
ployed that each specialist could help rand advise)
3 dWn' Subject in all museums: as part of his
uties. At the first:-meeting: of the’ Museums
KSsociation® in 1890:\a committees was appointed to
considersome such co-operation; but’ little practical
esu Pay ensued, not for lack of ‘goodwill, but because
. 5 Cc
TmICIAL’
n
tions’ stand in» the oway.)' What:-applies
palzontotogy appliesto. all other: branches of -know-
$6. *But«this is only ‘one of the improvements that |
SET. To AEM) tT: T per 7
dissimilar as the management
brains best adapted for the purpose in view.
: nig t spring from a reform such as we have in view.
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
Many other good results there could be, among
them, perhaps, a better training for curators. “But
that the results shall be good it is necessary for the
directing board to be composed of men with museum
sympathies and. experience. . Therefore, whether . the
Ministry be that of Education or some new Ministry
of Learning and Research, it should exert its financial
or ‘other control over museums through a special
museum board. :In this way those branches’ of
museum work which do not meet the public eye would
run less risk of being overlooked. Any large natural
history or other science museum is part of the arma-
ment employed by man in his unceasing warfare
against the forces of Nature. Intellectually ‘and
economically that is its main purpose. As the Earl
of Crawford, in replying for the Government. on the
debate raised by Lord Sudeley, rightly said: ‘It is
not the popular guide-books, but the technical and
specialised publications issued by museums which
really count. They are of vital importance.’’:” Visits
to a museum, like visits to a battleship, may be of
high educational value, especially under the: guidance
of a qualified demonstrator, but—well, the inference
is obvious. Only one point needs emphasis. Museums,
no less than battleships, should be under the adminis-
tration of those familiar with the principles: ‘and
methods of the respective warfares. t Mot
F. A. Barner.
Wimbledon, March 13. 2olf
?
TuE relation of the State to the national museums,
and of the latter to each other, discussed in’ NaTURE
for March 11, is a matter calling for very careful
consideration at the present time. A Ministry of
Learning and Research, such as is there ‘suggested
would render very useful service if" it could (1)'sée
that the governing body of each institution was’ cont
posed of persons duly qualified for their work;
(2) define the scope of each institution, so as ‘to
diminish the risk of competition for désirable. Speci-
mens, and to provide each with a definite’ piece’ ‘of
work for the benefit: of the community; (3) provide:
each institution with a due proportion of financial’
assistance; and (4) arrange such a scale of salaries
as would ensure the appointment and dvi. rst
At this
point central control should cease, and each’ governing
body be left to do its own work, with the assistance
of its staff. Sie aEstEe OO
The proposal to place museums and libraries under’
the Board of Education, to which the article ‘alludes,’
has no reference, I believe, to national museums, ‘but’
I should like to place on record my strong disapproval |
of such a step. A museum has many duties’ to: pér-
form, and education in the sense in which the Board
deals with it is only one, and not the most important,’
of them. On the basis of a very extensive acquaint
ance with provincial museum curators, I have. ‘no;
hesitation in saving that they are fully alive to the
educational possibilities of their work.. Many of them»
have rendered valuable. service to. the education:
authorities of-their- localities, and many. more would
have done so had they been permitted; but this does
not -prevent them from seeing that their’ museums«
-have other functions to perform which ‘doi-not,/fall
within the purview of education committees’ as: at
present: constituted. In the first place, they ‘are stores |
houses of material for enlarging the bounds of human
knowledge; secondly; they provide objects of: interest
and beauty. for. the ‘intellectual ‘and azsthetic contem-
plation’ of the citizen; .and, thirdly, they furnish
‘material for the university student, : post-graduate and»
‘undergraduate. as well as’for ‘children of’ schdol. ages»
-. Mav I say in conclusion, thaty in yoy opinion, . the
70 NATURE
[Marcu 18, 1920
chief thing that is wrong with museums, national and
provincial, is (as Bernard Shaw says of the poor) their
poverty ? Wo. Evans Hoy e.
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff,
March 165.
—
In the timely and suggestive leading article on
museums in Nature of March 11 there are references
to the Museum of Practical Geology that need explana-
tion, not because they are incorrect, but because they
are symptomatic of that forgetfulness of the funda-
mental purposes of this museum which has long been
obvious in some quarters.
It is true that ‘“‘the Museum of Practical Geology
was a _ necessary concomitant of the Geological
Survey,’’ but this was not, and never has been, its
sole raison d’étre. It was founded as the Museum of
Economic Geology—that is, of economic geology in
its broadest aspects. It had, therefore, from its
inception two functions to perform: (1) To serve
as the storehouse and exhibition for all the concrete
documentary material collected during the making of
the geological maps—material of the greatest value
as a demonstration of the facts of British geology and
usefully employed for educational, industrial, and
purely scientific purposes; and (2) to act as the
national repository of material illustrative of all those
mineral resources that form the basis of mining,
metallurgical, arid other industries.
The first of these functions is purely British in
scope, the second is world-wide.
As regards overlapping with the Natural History
Museum, there is none; and alternatively, as the
lawyers say, if there is any it, should cease, since the
functions of the two institutions are clearly
differentiated. The scheme of the geological and
mineralogical departments of the Natural History
Museum is academic, and that of the Museum of
Practical Geology economic. On the other hand, the
_ Imperial Institute in respect of its mineral exhibits
does overlap the functions of the older institution.
This is a question requiring attention in any scheme
of reconstruction. Witiiam G. WAGNER.
March 15.
Some Methods of Approximate Integration and of
Computing Areas.
ENGINEERS and shipbuilders are continually requir-
ing to find the area of a surface bounded by curved
lines. If both the upper and lower boundaries are
curved, it is a simple matter to divide the surface
into two by a straight line, find the area of each
part separately, and add them together.
Simpson’s rule is almost universally used for this
purpose, but a little consideration will show that a
more accurate evaluation of the area can be obtained
in most cases by using other rules.
We will consider an area contained by a base line,
two vertical ordinates at the ends, and a number cf
intermediate ordinates placed at equal distances along
the base line. If the base line be divided into m equal
intervals, each of a length h, there will, of course, be
m+i1, or n, ordinates. When the height of these
ordinates is known, and the value of h the interval
also, an approximation to the value of the area can
‘be obtained which increases in accuracy with the
number of ordinates taken and measured, when the
curve is of an anomalous shape.
(1) If the upper boundary be a straight line, an
exact result will be obtained by merely the two end
ordinates y, and y, and the length of the base line h;
A=sh(v,+y, ‘ ;
(2) If the upper boundary be a parabola, an exact
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
rh will be obtained by bisecting the base line, and
then
—(n +Y3+ 4y2);
where h is half the base line.
This is Simpson’s well-known rule: If any odd
number of ordinates be taken, say 7, it is considered
as a succession of three areas bounded above by three
parabolas, i.e. the area from y, to y, is added to the
area from y, to y,, and this, again, is added to the
area from y, to y,. The formula used is then
4 —,,
A oe FY, +2 Vyet+V5+4 Vt I+Ie |
If m denote the number of additional areas com-
puted by this method, the general formula will take .
the form
oo een ae
A Se [21 tys+m+2 Vi+omt4 ea
It should be especially noted that this formula must
be used only when the number n of ordinates is odd
and the number of intervals even. In the second
and third terms the values 1, 2, 3, etc., are assigned
successively to the symbol m, ending with that value
of m which denotes the number of additional areas ©
that are to be computed. The formula is based on
the assumption that y=a+bx+cx?, and gives the
best possible approximation to the true area if only
three ordinates are given. why
(3) If, however, four ordinates be given, we, may
assume that y=a+bx+cx?+dx*, and the resulting
formula based on this assumption,
wen 34. —— , . ——
Ax <| yty+3 +I}
will give the best possible approximation if only four
ordinates are given. This formula should be used
only when the number of ordinates is 4+3m, and it
then becomes
cn od Chagergnaers | :
A we], ynvant2 Vi+gnt+3 TatIs+Iaxan4Iaram |
(4) If five ordinates be given, we shall obtain a
more accurate result by assuming that y is a quartic
function of x, and for 5, 9, 13, or 5+4m ordinates
the following formula may be used:
eon 2H ————
ASS aL? NtVs+amt14 Yy+amt
12 VetV3+4m+32 V2 I+ IaxemtIacon |
(5) Similarly, if 6+5m ordinates be given, y may
be regarded as a quintic function of x, and the for-
mula becomes :
hve h REBT pm
Aw 52) 19 Vit Io+rsm+ 38 Vi 45m+
75 VatVetIo+5mtI5+5m + 50 T+ ee
(6) Again, if 7+6m ordinates be given, y may be
assumed to be a sextic function of x, and we then
have the formula :
AeA] gr +z 46m+82 +
mete 40 Witz +6m Vir+em
216 Yo+Vet+Ix+0m+Io4om+
27 VatVstV3+omtI5+6mt 272 V+Yex0n
In all these formule the first term consists of the
sum of the first and the last ordinate. In (2), (3), (4),
(5), and (6) the values 1, 2, 3, etc., are assigned suc-
cessively to the symbol m in the following terms
according to the number of ordinates. Thus if in
(6) nineteen ordinates are given, 19=7+6m, so m=2.
a eee
; Marcu 18, 1920]
— ; -
NATURE 71
en m=o, the ordinates with m as a part of their
cript are omitted in all but the first term.
-Example.—Suppose the base line be divided into
equal Sh agehdgad (h=%), and the value of the
q y,=0 Y2=0°5527708
-- Ys =0°7453560 Y,=0°3660254
Vs =0-942 : . ¥—e= 09860133
(6), (3) which is adapted to 4+3m
es, and (2) which can be used when 3+2m
es are employed. We should expect to get a
ore accurate result when the higher-order formula
; employed, this we shall find to be correct.
he values given refer to the quadrant of a circle,
) that the true value is 7/4, or 0-78539816 .. .
‘method (6), putting m=o, the result is 0-7791866,
07972 per cent. too small,
method (3) the result is 07758061, or 1-342 per
method (@) the result is 0777531, or 1-063 per
result is curious, and shows that a small arc
2 approaches more nearly to a small arc of
ala than to a small arc of any cubic curve,
will be noted that method (6) gives a much
‘may, however, use a combination of the above
for instance, we may take five ordinates by
) and the remaining two intervals by rule (2).
first three ordinates increase more rapidly than
three, we should naturally leave the last
be dealt with by rule (2). In this way a
0-7! 54, or a defect of o-0069027, or an
per cent. is obtained. Had we
the order and used Simpson’s rule for the
wo intervals, the defect would have been
, Or an error of 1-o102 per cent.
sion, it may be stated that if the nature
is unknown a more accurate result will
obtained by using the highest-order formula
be used with the given number of ordinates.
different formule are used, it has just been
that the most accurate result is obtained when
ver-order formula is used for that part of the
in which the variation of the ordinates is the
If the curve be a parabola, an absolutely
result is obtained by using only three
by means of method (2).
; may be thought that plotting the curve and
_ estimating its area mechanically by means of a plani-
_ meter will be always the best and speediest method to
adopt, but this is by no means the case. It often
takes far less time to calculate, say, thirteen ordinates
to use method (6) than to trace the curve.
Snek os A. S. PERcIVAL.
“Westward, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
OE I ye
An Electronic Theory of Isomerism.
_ Tue interesting suggestions made by Mr. W. E.
Garner in Nature for February 19 with regard to a
_ possible explanation of the isomerism of certain
_ Organic compounds may be examined from a different,
_ but perhaps simpler, point of view by employing the
_ “ring electron ” or ‘‘ magneton ”’ of Mr. A. L. Parson.
The electron is looked upon as a circular anchor ring
of negative electricity rotating about its axis at a
high speed, and therefore behaving like a small
magnet. In connection with atomic and molecular
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
>
numbers | have directed attention elsewhere to the
‘rule of eight,” according to which a difference of
8 or a multiple of 8 is frequently found between the
numbers of the unit electric charges associated with
analogous atoms or molecules. In the theory of the
“cubical atom”? put forward by Prof. Gilbert N. Lewis
and developed by Dr. Irving Langmuir, one of the
most stable configurations for the atomic shell is
that in which eight electrons are held at the corners
of a cube. The single bond commonly used in
graphical formulz involves two electrons held in
common by two atoms (Fig. 1); the double bond
implies that four electrons are held conjointly by two
atoms (Fig. 2) Or if the pair of electrons be regarded
as the most stable grouping of all, it may be, as
Lewis and Langmuir suggest, that the pairs of elec-
trons held in common by two atoms are drawn closer
FIG. 3.
together by the magnetic attraction between them.
Dextro- and lzvo-rotatory forms of a compound might
then be represented as mirror images as in Fig. 3.
The letters N and S in this diagram may be taken
to represent the polarity of the external face of the
ring electron.
Mr. Garner suggests the possibility of the existence
of a large number of optical isomerides amongst
organic compounds, but the view here put forward
does not lead to that conclusion; on the contrary, it
seems to give exactly the same number of isomerides
as the ordinary structural formula. It is true that
it is possible to reverse in the diagram the magnetic
polarity of one or more pairs of electrons, but even
if the arrangements so obtained were stable, it is
doubtful whether they would represent different iso-
merides. It would not be possible to explain the
phenomenon of free mobility about a single bond
72 NATURE °
[| Marcu 18, 1920
which is assumed in_ stereo-chemistry if such a
reversal of the magnetic axis were accompanied by
a change in the nature of the compound. Such modi-
fications, however, might conceivably account for muta-
rotation. It was thought that in the case of a double
bond, such as exists in cinnamic acid, it might be
possible to have a larger number of isomerides than
would be given by the ordinary theory, but a close
examination of the structural formulz based on the
cubical atom has shown that (subject to the limitation
already referred to) this is not so.
The view here suggested appears to afford an
adequate basis for a theory of optical activity. Such
activity arises from a difference effect, and can be
manifested only when there is lack of compensation
amongst the electrons associated with the various
parts of the molecule. If the chemical bond is to be
attributed to a pair of electrons, it is easy to under-
stand how such compensation can be brought about
in the great majority of chemical compounds. In the
case of a single asymmetric carbon atom, the sym-
metrical arrangement of each of the four electron
pairs is disturbed by the presence of the adjacent
groups, resulting in only partial compensation. Thus
in the compound Cabcd, the pair of electrons asso-
ciated with group a is under the influence of the
unlike groups c and d, and, therefore, cannot be sym-
metrical. But if c and d are made alike, the whole
molecule will have a plane of symmetry indicated by
the broken line in the left half of Fig. 3. Thus the
molecule will be inactive through ‘internal com-
pensation ’’ with respect to the electrons which form
the outer shell of the carbon atom. I may add that
the ring electron, constrained to move backwards and
forwards along its linear axis, is admirably adapted to
replace the ordinary electron moving backwards and
forwards along a spiral path postulated in Drude’s
theory of rotatory liquids.
It may be permissible in this connection to
emphasise the remarkable success that has attended
Langmuir’s development of the “octet” theory, by
means of which it is possible to predicate the physical
and chemical qualities of a substance, and even its
crystalline structure. Langmuir states that the theory
seems to explain all the cases of stereo-isomerism with
which he is. familiar. ‘‘ For example, in the amine
oxides, N R,R,R, O, nitrogen is quadricovalent, so
that these substances exist as optical isomers, just as
in the case of a carbon atom attached to four different
groups.’? Such a compound is, in fact, represented
by the diagram already given. H. S. Aten.
The University, Edinburgh, March 2.
The Principle of Equivalence and the Notion of Force.
I sHaLt be grateful to be permitted to make an
inquiry in connection with the principle of equivalence
through the medium of the columns of Nature.
In the recent forms of the theory of relativity it
has been asserted that in the neighbourhood’ of
matter we may alternatively conceive the existence
either of a field of gravitational force or of a dis-
tortion in the space-time continuum, the two con-
ceptions being equivalent. The point then arises,
however, as to whether, in arranging the body of ideas
and propositions constituting hysical science in logical
sequence, the idea of force (at any rate, ‘‘force” in
the sense of ‘‘action at a distance’’) or that of dis-
torted space-time should be regarded as logically prior.
The possibility of adopting the idea of distorted space-
time as prior, and hence of finally dispensing with the
notion of force from the physical scheme, evidently
depends on a further generalisation of the principle
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
of equivalence.
connection with other forms of action at a distance,
such as the forces in a magnetic or an electrostatic
field. Apparently we cannot regard these as equivalent
to a space-time distortion, for they lack the uni-
versality of gravitation, seeing that only bodies of
specific types of material are deflected by them.
I should therefore like to ask two questions:
(1) Is it possible to extend the principle of equi-
valence in any way so as to include all forms of
action at a distance?
(2) If not, is there anything
purely logical point of view, by
ained, even from a
iscarding the notion
of gravitational force while we are still unable to
discard by the same method the notion of certain
other forces which in many respects exhibit a close
analogy to gravitation? OF, ©, Prins
4 The Crescent, St. Bees, Cumberland,
March rt.
Expenses of Scientific Work.
A JOINT committee of the British Association of
Chemists, the Institute of Chemistry, and the National
Union of Scientific Workers is putting forward the
claim that the following expenses should be allowed
as a charge against income in arriving at the assess-
ment of those who earn their living either by purely
scientific pursuits or by the application of science to
industry :—
(1) Subscriptions to scientific and technical societies
and libraries, and to scientific and technical periodicals.
(2) Purchase and renewal of scientific and technical
books, instruments,
materials.
(3) Rent and expenses of study or laboratory.
(4) Travelling and other expenses incurred in attend-
a, scientific meetings.
5
). Provision of special clothing for work: and re. —
newal of clothes damaged in the course of employ-
ment.
(6) Other
research.
expenses incurred
A form of memorial to be presented to the Lords of |
the Treasury is being sent to all bodies representative
of scientific workers for their consideration and Ste:
port.
Some claims for abatements under the above head-
ings have already been made by individuals with
varying success. I should be grateful for any informa-
tion available in support of the petition. |
e A. G, CHuRCH,
Secretary.
National Union of Scientific Workers,
19 6©Tothill Street, Westminster, -
London, S.W.1, March 15.
Scientific Reunions at the Natural History Museum.
I write to correct a small error that has crept into
the note on the meeting of the International Council
for the Exploration of the Sea which appeared in
Nature for March 11. When the members of that
council visited the Natural History Museum on
March 2 they were entertained, not by the Trustees,
but by the Staff Association, the occasion being a
scientific reunion, as was, indeed, stated in a later
note in ‘the same issue. JI may add that these reunions
are held with the approval and permission: of the
Trustees. G. 1 ee HERBERT | ‘SMITH, .
‘Hon.. Secretary. ©
Natural History eee Staff Association.
For a difficulty seems to arise in ~
apparatus, chemicals, and other’
in the course of
NATURE
Exchequer in introducing a Bill into the
ise of Commons for the purpose of debasing
sr Currency from 925 to 500 parts per 1000
directed public attention to the acute shortage
silver which exists. This action is unavoidable
silver currency is to be maintained, since the
of the metal has risen so much that coins
9 longer tokens. They are, in fact, worth
y considerably more than their face value,
there is, accordingly, a temptation to melt
ss ; that the transaction would bring in. Such
a procedure is, of course, illegal. In the years
ding the war the market price of silver,
e subject to fluctuations, was never far from
per “standard ounce.” This expression is
er unfortunate, since it is not the ounce that*
standard, but the quality of the metal. Its
meaning is a troy ounce of silver alloy con-
ning 92-5 per cent. of the metal. With
standard silver at about 5s. 6d. per ounce, the
jins reach parity. During recent weeks the
market price has fluctuated between 7s. and
5d. per ounce, though it is true that a remark-
able fal of 64 in the price took place on
_ March 5, and a further fall of 54 on March 11,
owing to the improvement in the exchange
with the United States of America.- As
_ stated, however, the Chancellor’s action is neces-
sary, since the minting of silver coins is possible
only at a heavy loss. Nevertheless, this Bill was
in the House, although the opposition
not carried to a division.
It so happens that in January this year the
rt and appendices of the Committee appointed
_ by the Secretary of State for India to inquire into
- Indian exchange and currency were published and
presented to Parliament. In vol. iii. will be found
dix xxx., which contains a report on the
_ world’s production of silver.!_ This is the work of
Prof.
C. Gilbert Cullis and Prof. H. C. H. Car-
ter, who at the request ‘of the Secretary of
tte for India undertook an inquiry more than
year ago into the output of silver during recent
_ years in the various silver-producing countries ;
_ the prospects, so far as they could be estimated,
future output; and the causes by which it is
likely to be influenced. Their report covers some
sixty foolscap pages. The subject-matter is pre-
sented in five main sections dealing severally with
the raw materials from which silver is obtained,
the location and quantitative importance of centres
_ where silver-bearing ores are mined, the processes
_ involved in the extraction of the metal, the dis-
tribution and relative importance of the centres
where refining is carried out, and the conclusions
affecting the supplies and price of the metal.
_ It appears from this report that in 1860 the
Sttary of State for India to inating ito Indian Hxcharge and gah hong
1
No. xxx., *‘ Report on the World’s Production of S
H. C. H. Carpenter and Prof. C. Gilbert Cullis.
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
a
ver.” By Prof.
Pp. 182-241.
down and sell them for the considerable |
. The World’s Production of Silver.
E recent action of the Chancellor of the |
world’s production of “fine ”—i.e. pure—silver
was 30 million ounces. With some fluctuations
this increased steadily until 1912, when the output
was 233 million ounces, or nearly eight times that
of more than half a century earlier, From that
date, although a continuance of the upward trend
was to be expected, a decline in production set in
and continued down to the end of 1917, which was
the last year for which complete figures are avail-
able. It is clear from the report that this reduc-
_ tion in output is assignable not to any sudden
failure of the world’s resources, but to an inter-
ruption in the winning of them.
The main source of the sunnly of silver ore is
the American Continent, which in 1912 produced
82-5 per cent. of the total output. Approximately
three-quarters came from North America and
Mexico, the former furnishing 42 per cent. and
the latter 32 per cent. Mexico was the largest
single producer. A decrease in Canadian produc-
tion had set in shortly before this, due to the pro-
gressive exhaustion of the Cobalt mines, but this
was more than compensated by an increase in the
production of the United States. The key to the
shortage of the world’s supplies is to be found in
Mexico, where, owing to a series of political
revolutions, the production fell from an average
of close upon 74 million fine ounces for the years
T910-13 to an average of little more than 30}
million fine ounces for the years 1914-17, a reduc-
tion of some 434 million out of a total reduction
of 50 million ounces in the world’s output.
_ This serious diminution in the supply came at
a time when, owing to the withdrawal of gold
from circulation on account of the war, there was
an unusually keen demand for silver, particularly
for coinage purposes. The report of the Currency
Committee points out that the coinage of the
British Empire absorbed nearly 108 million ounces
of fine silver in the years 1915-18, as against
30% million ounces in the years 1910-13, and there
is evidence that there have been similar increases
in the coinage of other countries. Moreover,
whereas China from 1914-17 was a seller of silver,
and her net exports amounted to more than
77 million ounces, she has since become a per-
sistent buyer, and the recent remarkable rise in
the price of the metal is due to her purchases.
India has for many years been a heavy buyer of
the metal, and in times of normal trade was the
largest importer of this commodity. War con-
ditions have accentuated this, and in the three
fiscal years April, 1916, to March, 1919, purchases
for the purpose of liquidating trade balances
amounted to more than 500 million ounces, which
was probably very nearly the entire world’s pro-
duction for the period. These have been the chief
_ (but not the only) factors in raising the price of
_ silver to its extraordinary level.
It is clearly seen from the report that silver is
mainly obtained as a_ by-product from mines
| which are worked for some other metal or metals.
74
NATURE
| Marcu 18, 1920
‘Relatively few properties are worked solely or
even mainly for silver, and only a small propor-
tion of the world’s supply has of late years been
derived from them. It is therefore essentially a
by-product. The more important economic metals
with which it is most commonly associated are
gold, copper, lead, and zinc. These five metals
tend to be gregarious, and many deposits contain
all of them. It is also found with tin, as in
Bolivia, and with nickel and cobalt, as in Ontario,
but such cases are uncommon. Although in dif-
ferent regions or in different parts of the same
region the above five metals are found in a great
variety of combinations, certain of these are par-
ticularly common. Thus gold and silver almost
invariably occur together either with or without
base metals. Again, lead and zinc nearly always
accompany each other, and ores carrying these
two metals, notably those in which lead pre-
dominates, are often richly argentiferous, the lead
and silver forming an especially characteristic
association. Copper in like manner is usually
accompanied by small quantities of gold or of
both gold and silver. The presence or absence
of base metals in silver-yielding ores is of par-
ticular importance, since it determines the exist-
ing diversity in their metallurgical treatment and
occasions their classification into two groups,
known respectively as “milling ores” and “smelt-
ing ores,” the former signifying those in which
the values are entirely or mainly in precious metal.
From the figures quoted in the report, it appears
that, broadly speaking, about two-thirds of the
world’s supply of silver in 1912 was obtained
from base metal, and one-third from precious
metal, ores. Further, only one-fifth was obtained
from mines worked exclusively for silver, while
four-fifths was derived as a by-product from mines
which were worked primarily for one or more of
the metals—gold, copper, lead, and zinc—and
would not have been in operation if their silver
had been the only metal present. Formerly, the
precious metal ores were the more important
source of supply, but in the last few decades more
and more of the metal has been won from base
metal ores. It will be seen, therefore, that the
authors, in endeavouring to estimate the future
production of silver, have been forced to take into
consideration the mining and metallurgy of four
other important metals as well.
It is stated in the report that in 1912 the New
World—i.e. the American Continent—furnished
82°5 per cent., and the Old World only 17-5 per
cent., of the mine production of silver. The output
in the British Empire was 21-7 per cent. Mexico
led with 32-0 per cent., followed closely by the
United States with 28-3 per cent. Towards the
production of refined silver the New World con-
tributed 73-0 per cent., and the Old World
27-0 per cent., the contribution of the British
Empire being 18-2 per cent. The interesting fact
emerges that the United States of America refined
just about one-half the world’s silver (49-6 per
cent.), whereas Mexico refined only 14:2 per cent.
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
More than half the Mexican mine production was
refined in the U.S.A., and very nearly the same ~
proportion of the Canadian output. It will be
seen, therefore, that the position now held by the
U.S.A., as the chief source of supplies of refined
silver, is one of considerable importance. The
same is true to an even greater extent for the
metals copper and zinc.
The authors’ view of the future is that if
normal industrial conditions are restored in
regions of curtailed production, a silver output at
least as great as any yet attained may reasonably
be anticipated. If, however, conditions affecting
industry in general, and mining and metallurgical
industries in particular, do not become favourable
in these regions, a long period must elapse before
the world’s output can return to the previous
high-water level, and a still longer one before
the advance beyond that level interrupted since
1912 can be resumed. So long as the political
‘conditions remain unsettled in Mexico, supplies
from that country will continue to be small. This
is particularly serious, because of the large dimen-
sions of the normal Mexican output. .
With the demand for silver more urgent than
any previously experienced, the restoring of the
mines and mills of Mexico to unhampered pro-
duction has become a matter of pressing inter-
national importance. It must be borne in mind,
however, that any extension in the mining of
precious metal ores will take time, and that the
mining of base metal ores is for the moment below
normal, and will continue so as long as the surplus
supplies of copper, lead, and zinc produced during
the war remain unabsorbed. Silver production —
will probably, therefore, remain for a time at a
low level. When, however, increased precious
metal mining reaches the production stage, and
the temporary check to base metal mining has
been removed, the authors anticipate a steady
increase in the output of the metal.
It is well to remember that, although silver has
long occupied an important position as “second
string’ among metals suitable for currency, there
are important industrial demands for it for other
purposes. It is only necessary to mention two
of these. First, in addition to the mechanical
properties which make it valuable as a currency
metal, there are others which have long been
known and utilised in the silversmith’s art.
Standard silver lends itself readily to rolling,
stamping, spinning, and mechanical operations
employed in the manipulation of the metal in the
arts, and upon them important industries giving
employment to many workers are _ based.
Secondly, the well-known sensitiveness of silver
salts to light, made use of in photography, is
being increasingly utilised in the ‘moving
picture”’. industry, which in recent years has
absorbed a considerable proportion of the total
output of the metal. Both these industries are
formidable competitors for silver produced to-day,
and they will have to be reckoned with by future
Chancellors of the Exchequer.
I. RCH 18, 1920]
NATURE
75
DER the title, “Calendars of the Indians
North of Mexico” (University of California
tions in American Archeology and Ethno-
-yol. xvi., No. 4), Miss Leona Cope has
d and arranged a large amount of informa-
saling with the divisions of time in use
the Indians of North America, including
linguistic 1 material. The term “calendar ”
e taken in a very elastic sense, for the
power of keeping account of an interval
is usually limited to two or three years,
never went so far, apparently, as even to
“number of days in a month. The only
rule seems to be a complete absence of
nity, variations of system being found even
the most closely related groups. The basic
is naturally the lunation, indicated by an
on which is related etymologically, with-
ception, to the moon, and reckoned generally
new moon, but in some cases trom full
_ Whe month is sometimes divided into
E ly depending on the lunar phases,
‘variable in length and number. In
eral, the seasons are vaguely marked periods
directly connected with the months, though
latter are sometimes divided into a summer
winter series. When the wide range of
in the area is considers, a corresponding
Practice is natural enough. Thus it is
that the Ee eulasd Eskimo find a
division of the day in the ebb and flow
des, or that a Point Barrow Eskimo
y that there are nine “moons,” and after
moon, but the sun only. But the varia-
_Time-reckoning of the North American Indians.
tions within connected groups make the study a
complicated one.
This appears especially in the attempts to con-
nect the series of months with the year. For the
most part, covering the whole of the eastern and
central region, there is no astronomical founda-
tion. There is no uniformity in the time of begin-
ning the year. In general, twelve months are
recognised and are designated by purely descrip-
tive names associated with some seasonal event.
Some tribes have thirteen or even more months,
but the mode of adjustment is quite crude, a
month being sometimes intercalated or omitted
only when a palpable discrepancy with the seasons
shows the need. Only in the south-west, along
the Pacific coast, and among the Eskimo of the
far north is an astronomical element introduced.
This takes the form of observing the winter sol-
stice; the equinoxes, if recognised, are never
used for the purpose. A particular variation in
the naming of the months takes a numerical form.
This occurs on the Alaskan coast and further
south; only two tribes have a complete system of
this kind, while a third is unique in combining
numbered months with a solstitial basis. Ritual
ceremonies are also represented in the names of
the months among western tribes. Apparently,
the Kaniagmiut Eskimo are alone in naming
months from the rising of the Pleiades or Orion.
Altogether the astronomical element in this com-
plex subject is small, and the present memoir,
which contains three maps representing the
regional distribution of different types or systems,
has its chief interest on the linguistic side and as
a study of primitive culture.
HE premature death of Dr. Charles Gordon
Hewitt, Dominion Entomologist of Canada,
uccumbed to an attack of pneumonia, follow-
influenza, on February 29, is a serious loss to
cal science. To an aptitude for field observa-
cultivated from his earliest youth, Dr. Hewitt
knowledge and skill in the latest labora-
methods. While eagerly devoting attention
» the numerous economic problems which came
efore him, he always appreciated the necessity
_constant purely scientific research. He
ked, indeed, in the most favourable circum-
nees, and made the best. use of his opportunities.
_ Born near Macclesfield in 1885, Dr. Hewitt
ssed from the local grammar school with a
arship to the University of Manchester. After
oe with honours in zoology, he was
u ited assistant demonstrator in that science,
id F wiien a new department of economic zoology
as founded at Manchester, he became the first
lecturer. During this period he hired a green-
he 1ouse and made an exhaustive study of the life-
NO, 2629, VOL. 105 |
Obituary.
Dr. CHARLES Gorpon HEwiItTT.
history of the house-fly, which formed the subject
of his thesis for the doctorate. He was a pioneer
in such work in this country, and his general
results were eventually published in the form of
a Cambridge manual. At the same time he
undertook researches on the large larch saw-fly,
which was ravaging the plantations of the Man-
chester Corporation round Thirlmere. He was
also interested in the feeding habits of certain
insectivorous birds.
In r909 Dr. Hewitt was appointed entomologist
to the Dominion of Canada, and at once began
to organise laboratory work on the lines which
he had already proved successful. He also paid
much attention to the improvement of the law
relating to injurious insects, Gradually his
interests widened, until in 1917 he increased his
responsibilities by accepting the post of consulting
zoologist to the Canadian Commission of Con-
servation. He took an active part in the work
of the Commission, at@ contributed several
papers on the protection of mammals and birds
70
_NATURE
[Marcu 18, 1920
to its annual reports. His advice was duly
appreciated and considered in framing legislation.
Dr. Hewitt was a corresponding member. of
the Zoological Society of London, and he received
the gold medal of the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds.
By the death of Sir Ropert Morant at the early
age of fifty-seven the Civil Service loses one of
its ablest and most remarkable members. His
great powers of organisation found full scope for
their exercise when he was, in 1902, appointed
Secretary of the recently created Board of Educa-
tion. The appointment was well merited, for it
was to his indefatigable industry in supplying
material, to his skill in dealing with details, and
to his ingenuity in overcoming difficulties that the
Education Bill of 1902 was safely carried through
Parliament. As permanent head of the Board of
Education his restless energy and ceaseless activity
bore down all opposition, and made him ready at
all costs to carry out his own ideas. Organisation
was indeed with him a rulitfg passion, and the
smooth working of a complicated machine tended
to become more important than the purpose the
machine was intended to serve. During the ten
years that he held the post of Secretary he served
under five different Presidents, and the rapid suc-
cession of his temporary chiefs was not altogether
unconnected with his own remarkable tenacity of
purpose and skill in carrying it into effect. While
his undoubted talents and magnificent powers of
work have thus left their mark on the educational
system of the country, it still remains to be seen
if the vast and expensive machinery he called into
existence will be more of a help than a hindrance
in the development of our national education. In
1912, on the appointment of Mr. J. A. Pease as
President of the Board of Education, Sir Robert
Morant was promoted to the chairmanship of the
English Commission formed under the National
Health Insurance Act. He lived to see the early
opposition to this Act gradually die away, and
the Act itself become part of a great scheme of
health legislation. To this Commission he devoted
the same power of organisation and intensity of
effort, and his early death is probably largely
owing to his unsparing use of these great talents
in the public service.—C. A. B.
THE death is announced of the veteran Italian
botanist, Dr. PIER ANDREA SACCARDO, emeritus
professor in the Royal University of Padua. Born
at Treviso in 1845, Prof. Saccardo joined the Royal
Botanic Garden of Padua in 1866 as assistant
director, and in 1878 became director—a post
which he retained for the remainder of his official
life. He was also professor of botany in the Royal
University. He is best known for his systematic
work on the fungi; his ‘“Sylloge Fungorum
omnium hucusque cognitorum” has been, since
the publication of vol. i. in 1882, the working
handbook of systematic mycology. Succeeding
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
parts or volumes appeared at intervals, the last,
vol. xxii, in 1913; other eminent mycologists
have co-operated in this great work. Prof.
Saccardo also published numerous separate
memoirs dealing with the fungi. His “Note
Mycologice ’’ was a series of descriptive papers
in various journals devoted to mycology from 1890
to. 1916, when series xx. appeared in the Nuovo
Giornale Botanico Italiano. But his activities
were not limited to the fungi. Under the title
“La Botanica in Italia” (1895, 1901), an
exhaustive compendium of Italian botanists and
their work from the Roman epoch onwards, he
made a valuable contribution to botanical biblio-
graphy.
volume to the “Flora analitica d’Italia” (by
Fiori, Paoletti, and Béguinot), entitled “Crono-
logia della Flora Italia,” a systematic list of the
earlier records of the species of ferns and flower-
ing plants, native or naturalised in Italy. Prof.
Saccardo was also the author of a pamphlet,
‘““Chromotaxia,”’ on colour nomenclature, for the
use of botanists and zoologists. In recognition of
his eminent services to botany he was elected in.
1916 a foreign member of our own Linnean
Society.
WE regret to note that Engineering for March 5
records the death of Mr. Wiuti1AM RICHARDS
WI.u1AMs on February 23. Mr. Williams studied
engineering at the Royal Engineering College,
Coopers Hill, and was appointed in 1887 assistant
engineer to the Public Works Department by
H.M. Secretary of State for India. His work in
India was chiefly connected with irrigation. ~ In
1go1 he was appointed to the Irrigation Service in
Egypt, and ultimately became Inspector-General
of Irrigation, Lower Egypt. Mr. Williams had
been a member of the Institution of Civil
Engineers since 1906.
WE have received from Dr. Angel Gallardo,
now president of the Argentine National Council
of Education, a copy of his obituary notice of
Dr. F. P. Moreno in El Monitor de la Educacion
Comun (Buenos Aires, December 31, 1919). Dr.
Gallardo gives some account of Dr. Moreno’s
later work for education, to which we briefly
referred in Nature for January 15, and empha-
sises especially the importance of his efforts to
provide for the children of the poorer classes.
Among other institutions, Dr. Moreno established
the Boy Scouts in Argentina. The notice is
accompanied. by an excellent portrait, which is, |
however, a little blurred in the printing.
We much regret to see the announcement of
the death, on March 13, in his seventy-eighth
year, of PRor. CHARLES LAPworTH, for many
years professor of geology and physiography in
the University of Birmingham.
In 1909 he contributed a supplemental —
ARCH 18, 1920 |
E directed attention to several faults that have
s rectified if the compass is to be of use on a
I shall now discuss the last, but by no
e least, of the errors that may arise if the
is not properly designed. This error was
| when the ADR gt pate was first brought
it proved a most difficult fault to correct,
elimination has had more to do with the
the later forms of gyro-compass than any
gyro-wheel is precessed towards, and kept
to, the north by an ordinary pendulum
it will work well on board ship provided that
ip is steaming on a fairly smooth sea; but if
irection of the ship points anywhere in the
its—that is, north-west or north-east, south-
-south-east—and the ship rolls, the wheel will
set itself so as to bring the rim of the spinning
eel in line with the roll; and in a long-continued
heavy roll the compass may show an error of
_more—a most serious fault, and one that
ender the instrument quite useless in a heavy
his. error is called the ‘‘quadrantal error.”
nt of the error depends upon the violence of
y’s rolling and the direction of the axis of the
. If the ship points direct north, south, east,
t, the error is nothing, but it would be a maxi-
any of the directions before méntioned. |
nk Anschutz was the first to point out the
nd suggest a cure. This I gather from one
ublications in the year 1911, in which, spéak-
le tendency of the compass to wander when
ship, he says :—‘‘ Theoretically, the influence
lic turning movements on a gyroscopic ap-
must disappear completely if not only the
but also the apparent, movements of inertia
novable system become equal for each plane.’’
go back again and study our simple gyro-
we see that the movable system is not sym-
. In the direction of the axis of the wheel
et of tilting movement is more or less resisted
the spinning wheel—this may be termed the
ed direction; while at right angles to this—
, in the direction of the rim of the wheel—there
resistance to tilting encountered, and this direc-
we term the direction of free swing. A simple
orm of gyro-compass pointing, therefore, in a direc-
On, say, north-west on board a rolling ship has a
force applied to it tending to turn it so as to bring
its direction of free swing into line with the roll.
Anschutz gets rid of the error by multiplying the
umber of his gyro-wheels and by making the
istrument as symmetrical as possible. In England
juadrantal error was first discovered and studied,
eve, by the Admiralty Compass Department. In
ar 1914 the Sperry Co. claimed to have effected
re for the error by attaching the pendulous weight,
directly to the gyro casing, but through a pin
‘ranged to move in a slot in the casing. In order
hat the axis of suspension of the pendulum may
emain vertical when the compass oscillates with the
olling of the ship, a small auxiliary gvro was em-
lo to stabilise the pin connection between the
endulum and the gvro casing.
_ We therefore see in these applications of Anschutz
and Sperry two -eneral ideas. In the first case the
idea is to make everything symmetrical, like a ball,
that there is no stabilised or free swing direction
cul
t
IVEG
isconrse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday,, January, 30.
inued from p. 48. :
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
iyyes
NATURE a7
The Gyrostatic Compass.
By S. G. Brown, F.R.S.'
to the wheel, and; therefore; no tendency to turn;
while in the second a method is provided to pre-
vent the point of application of the pendulum weight
from moving and acting as a crank, and, by keeping
the pendulum weight always vertical in the north-
west direction, to destroy its power of turning the
compass. In the Brown compass the quadrantal error
is eliminated by making the weight operate completely
out of phase with the roll—that is, at 90° displace-
ment.
If a gyro-compass is worked by a weight which
tends to precess the wheel in phase with the roll,
then there must be a quadrantal error, but there
will be no error if it is forced to operate completely
out of phase with it. It is also essential, as Anschutz
has remarked, that the real moments of inertia shall
be the same in all directions of the movable system
of the compass; that is to say, the moving system
should be in dynamic balance, as it is termed.
If a child’s hoop is suspended by a string and is
swinging in one direction, the hoop tends to set itself
lengthwise to the direction of the swing. On the
other hand, if an exactly similar hoop be_ placed
over, but at right angles to, the first, and suspended
as before, then on swinging the hoops there will be
no tendency for them to turn, as they are now in
dynamic balance. It is for this reason that the mass
distribution of the moving system of the gyro-compass
should be in dynamic balance, and to carry this out
adjustable weights are fitted, usually in the direction
of the spindle of the wheel, to counteract the weight
of the supporting ring of the gyro casing, and thus
there is no tendency for the compass to turn, due to
this cause, when under the action of rolling.
The Brown gyro-compass is shown diagrammatically
in Fig. 4. <A is the gyro-wheel in its casing B.
This case is carried on knife-edges M in the vertical
ring F, and is thus free to tilt under the action of
the rotation of the earth. The vertical ring turns in
azimuth on a frictionless mounting, consisting of an
oil-pump at the bottom and a ball-bearing, m, at
the top. XY is the three-phase motor that drives the
oil-pump.
The gyro-wheel is the rotor of a three-phase motor,
and current is led into the moving system through
the three sets of iron contact rings R and S. These
rings do not touch, but the outer set are hollow, and
mercury fills the space between them, so that there
is little friction. The vertical ring is dynamically
balanced by two projecting weights D. QO is the
pendulous mounting, supported by gymbal rings and
bv the outer row of springs to take up shock.
‘The gyro-wheel runs at 15,000 revolutions per
minute, and thus acts as a powerful blower, giving
an air-pressure equal to some 3 in. of water. Fixed
to the vertical ring, but connected through the hollow
bearing M to the inside of the case, is the air-jet L.
This jet blows into the two halves of the air-box K,
and thence through the: pipes T; the air-pressure is
thus transmitted to the oil in the two sets of bottles
C and D. H is another air-jet similarly mounted,
and employed to act upon a pair of contact-making
vanes I.
The contacts I, through the agencv of the con-
troller, which is fixed on the switchboard, are to work
the repeaters and the step-by-sten motor V;_ this
motor forces round the follow-up ring N to keep the
contact-making vanes I always opposite the air-jet,
and in doing this all the repeaters on the ship follow
suit. U is the compass card fixed to the upper por-
78 NATURE
[Marcu 18, 1920
tion of the vertical ring, and O the lubber-line
support.
By removing the four screws marked n the gyro-
compass can be completely removed from the gymbal
rings. The instrument thus removed is shown in
Fig. 5.
To explain the action of the oil bottles I have
introduced Figs. 6 and 7.
Fig. 2 illustrates the simplest form of compass, in
which the wheel and case B are controlled by the
pendulous weight W. When the case tilts, as shown,
W is moved to one side of the vertical. support, and
the weight tries to bring the case again to the
horizontal.
Suppose the whéel revolves in the direction of the
arrow a, the righting torque is in the direction of the
arrow b; then the wheel and case will turn in azimuth
in the diréction of the arrow e. Such a compass would
other. At the middle of swing of the pendulum the
air-jet is at the middle of the air-box, and there is
no difference of air-pressure, and, therefore, no move-
ment of the oil; and when the swing is at the end
of its path, and not moving, the air-jet is at one side
of the air-box and producing the maximum move-
ment in the oil; it will therefore be seen that the
movement of the pendulum and that of the oil are
out of phase with each other. It is for this reason,
given good dynamic balance, that there is no quad-
rantal error whatsoever with this method of control.
Fig.. 7 illustrates the method of damping the
compass. Fixed to the same air-box K are the two
damping bottles C, C, smaller than E, E, but the
rf eae acts in the opposite direction to that in
ig. 6.
In one of these damping bottles is the adjustable
needle-valve, and this valve has a constricted passage,
have ‘a quadrantal error, because the weight W would
produce stresses in phase with the roll.
Fig. 6 illustrates the method of control of the
Brown compass. When the case B is horizontal the
bottles E, E are half-full of oil, and the air-jet L is
blowing equally into the two halves of the air-box K;
but when the case tilts, as shown, then the air-
pressure blows into one side of the box more than
into the other, and in such a direction as to force the
oil from the lower bottle into the one raised. There is,
therefore, a considerable righting torque indicated by
the weight of the oil W trying to restore the case
back again to the horizontal.
When the pendulum swings under the action of the
rolls of the shin, the air-jet L moves from one side
to the other of the air-box in tune with the roll,
blowing the oil periodically from one bottle to the
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
Fic. 4.
and thus the flow of oil from one bottle to the other
is suitably retarded.
As regards the accuracy of the compass, I may
mention that one on board a flagship in the North
Sea during the war was observed with particular care,
especially during very heavy weather, and it was
reported that it was never more than 134° from the
true north position during the whole of the tests. -
Trials on a commercial ship have demonstrated the
fact that the employment of a gyro-compass resulted
in the ship steaming every day more than 3 per cent. -
ereater mileage; in other words, one day’s steaming
in thirtv would, be saved, resulting in a proportionate
saving in coal and all other expenses.
I come now to a most important application of the
svro-compass, namely, its employment as a gun
director. '
—_
use of the same instrument in the
_ form of a gyro-compass gun director
possibly produce profound
nges in gunnery practice in the
re.
Modern naval warfare is entirely
De ifferent from that of the past in the
fact that the rival fleets come into
ion when separated by many
s; the guns have, therefore, to
e worked and fired while the dis-
tant targets are invisible to the
gunners. —
The guns have to be directed by
observers in an elevated position,
_ these observers communicating the
_ distance of the target and its direc-
tion in space.
_ The direction in space must be
_ supplied by a o-compass on board
_ the ship, and it is essential that the
compass for this purpose should be
- of extreme accuracy.
=. Once ns are properly
trained, they may be joined up and
_ controlled by the gyro-compass, and
- for this purpose the turrets would
be designed to act as huge repeaters,
the guns pointing on the
target, e's only on receiving
new directions from the observer.
The compass would hold the guns
See ory on the distant target. quite
¥ dently of the movements of
the ship, which may at_ the
- time be steaming at full speed and
manceuvring. Such movements are
e
a great protection to ships against submarine
’ aerial attack.
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
and
Fic. 5.
understand that ships can be made
| ordinarv. submarine attack by means 0
Marcu 18, 1920] NATURE 79
i The use of the gyrostat in the Whitehead torped
. of | pedo It has been suggested that the day of i
"has revolutionised naval strategy, and | believe the | battleship is eden Wat I am doubtful Y i diate 4
proof against
f blisters filled
NATURE —
LADS
80 [Macy 18, 1920.
_ . - tie x Tho wh Tee
with il, as in our .Navy, or by coal-dust, as used the itetinguialees paleontologist, dio held the, same
by the Germans. , office from 1902 until his death in, 1911, | During the
Working the guns with the ships at full speed, as
Ihave just’ stated, will be an additional protection,
while submarine craft’ will be more dangerous
operating, against fixed objects, such as harbour
defences, .etc., in which case they could be detected
from the shore by submarine listening devices, such
as my liquid microphone.
In ‘closing this discourse, I should like to say that
a°'good ‘deal of credit is due to Anschutz for the
courage he displayed in being the first to attempt a
gyro-compass, knowing as he did the extremely feeble
force that is likely to result. from the earth’s rotation,
and in the fact that the instrument must be carried
on a rolling, pitching, pltinging vessel. “With us who
follow it is a question over again of Columbus and
the’ egg. For myself, if I had known at the com-
mencement of my acquaintance with the g¥ro-compass
- —.some. five, years ago—all the difficulties that had to
be. encountered, I think I should have abandoned the
pursuit. :
Notes.
Mr the. meeting of the Royal Society on June 3
the “Bakerian lecture will be delivered by Sir Ernest
Rutherford on ‘The Nuclear Constitution of the
Atom. » ‘ ,
Sir jane Bik has been elected a corresponding
member of:the French Academy of Sciences in the
section: of: general physics in succession to the late
Prof. P. > Blaserna.
rape Tnstitute of Research in Animal Nutrition at
Aberdeen has received a gift of t10,oool. from Mr.
iB Aw _Rowett. The amount required from public
sources for _the establishment of the institution is
MR, AL; As 7 SWINTON, during his presi-
dential address, to the Wireless Society of London on
February 28, reviewed, with the aid of experiments,
adyances'.in wireless telegraphy since 1914, and
received, in full view of the audience, messages from
Gen,,‘Ferrié. in Paris,and from the Slough station of
the: Radio Communication Co, These messages were
received, not,on the usual external aerial, but on a
simple loop of wire standing on the lecture-table.
Ine, the. eourse of a speech at a Conference of Pro-
vineial; and: ‘Suburban Wireless Societies, held on
Februaty 27: under. the presidency of Sir Charles
Bright;) Capt.. F. C. Loring announced that the Post
Office :is:.in..favour of granting wireless licences of
about ,to:;watts where an. amateur can prove that he
thoroughly: understands the apparatus and is a pro-
ficient, operator, and that his. transmitting station’ is
to, ;be;.used for’ genuine experimental work and not
merely.. for ,communication .between. other ‘stations: in .
a general way.
WE are officially informed that Dr. Carlos Ameghino
1as, ‘been appointed director of the National Museum .
in succession to,|_
of ‘Natural History, Buenos Aires,
Dr. ‘Angel Gallardo,
Minister of ‘Education. The new director ;
younger brother of the late Dr. Florentino Ameghino,
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
who retired in 1916 to become:
is.‘ the.
earlier part of his career Dr.
plored many parts of Patagonia and made. ithe. great
collections of fossil vertebrate, remains.,.which. were
studied and, described by his brother. . During, recent
years he, has been interested in the evidence: fort “ts
association of man. with extinct Bigh
Argentina. bay
Tue council of the Linnean Society has is sai to
the fellows a statement of the present ‘financial _posi-
tion and outlook of the society, recommending. them
to increase the annual contribution from 3l.. to 4l.
The cost of publication is now so high that the Wein.
actions have already been suspended, and the Journal
is so much reduced that the issue of many valuable
papers has to be postponed for an. indefinite time.
The due maintenance of the library and the prepara- |
tion of an up-to-date catalogue are impossible in
existing circumstances, and all establishment charges ;
still tend to rise. If the difficulties appeared to be
temporary some of the small invested funds. of the
society might be used, but as there is no prospect of
a return to former conditions an increased income is
absolutely essential. Nearly all the learned societies
are at present faced with similar problems, and the
time seems to have arrived when there should be some
action in common to consider the posits of ome
from public funds.
Tue following are among the lecture arcasi@ectiente
at the Royal Institution after Eastér :—Major
G. W. C. Kaye, two lectures on recent advances in
X-ray work; Prof. Arthur Keith, four lectures on
British ethnology: The Invaders of England; Major
C. E. Inglis, two lectures on the evolution of large
bridge construction; Mr. Sidney Skinner, two lectures
on (1) Ebullition and Evaporation, (2) The Tensile
Strength of, Liquids; Mr. R. Campbell Thompson,
two lectures on (1) The Origins of the Dwellers in
Mesopotamia, and (2) The Legends of the Baby-
lonians; Mr. A. P. Graves, two lectures on Welsh
and Irish folk-song (with musical illustrations); Prof.
W. H. Eccles, two lectures on the thermionic vacuum
tube as detector, amplifier, and generator of elec-
trical oscillations; Prof. Frederic Harrison, two lec-
tures on (1) A. Philosophical Synthesis as Proposed
by Auguste Comte, and. (2) The Reaction and the.
Critics of the Positivist School of Thought; and Prof.
J. H. Jeans, two lectures on recent revolutions in
physical science, '(1) The Theory of Relativity, and
(2) The Theory of Quanta (the Tyndall lectures).
The Friday’ evening’ meetings will be resutied on
April 16; when‘ Prof. J. A. ‘McClelland % will ‘deliver me
discourse on ions And ‘uclei. ’ Succeeding discourses
will probably ‘be’ give “by Prof. H. Maxwell Lefroy,
Prof. F. O1 Bower, the Right Hon. Lord ‘Rayleigh,
Prof. Karl Pearson, ‘Prof. J. A. Fleming, Prof, W. Lb.
Bragg, and other” ‘Retitlemien. : o's
/ gt GF oes
OnE ‘of the, Industrial, Bechrch Associations: formed,
in connection. ‘with, the, Department: of Scientific aad:
Industrial Research is the British Empire:; Sugar.
Research Association. _.If, the. association ;plans its
Carlos Ameghino,, ae
XN ARCH. 18, 1920]
NATURE 81
- ona fifliciently large scale, and raises soool. a
* from the trade for five years, grants of the same
and for. the same period will be made from
funds. The offices of the association are in
“House, 62 Oxford Street, W.1. The objects
association are to establish, in co-operation
e Department of Scientific and Industrial
ch, an Empire scheme for the scientific inves-
n, either by its own officers or by universities,
schools, and other institutions, of the
; arising in the sugar industry, and also to
e and improve the technical education of
who are or may be engaged in the industry.
is being made of the field of research which
y to be beneficial to the industry, and it is
ed to establish a bureau of information to
any member of the association can apply for
nce. In the, first instance, the whole of the
h undertaken will be carried out in existing
ms, and it will be necessary to enter into
nts with the bodies controlling these institu-
for the use of laboratories and the services of
scientific investigators. With regard to the
production of sugar, experiments on the cul-
ae sugar-cane and of the sugar-beet will
ken in suitable parts of the Empire. In
nection it is hoped that very close relations
stablished with Colonial Agricultural Depart-
The organisation and general supervision of
earch work will eventually be entrusted to a
f research, and it is hoped to establish a
ugar Research Institute if and when it
. Sine. Algeria most gun-owners are able to trim roughly
flints they require for the long-barrelled muzzle-
guns and pistols which still form the principal
of the nation. Mr. M. W. Hilton-Simpson,
Museum, Oxford, came across a spetialist who
flints for sale. This worker’s methods are
bed in the March issue of Man. He em-
rough stone for striking the flakes from the
and for trimming the flakes thus struck off he
-utility implement of the country, a combina-
n of a hoe and pick. This man’s features indicate
infusion of negro blood, but flint-chipping does
seem to be a special negro trade, the man being
n in the population.
“Or ‘the eighteen species of BA sautricle found
the State of California, four, inhabiting cultivated
s, have become’ pests. The: life-histories of these
‘and of the harmless species have been very care-
_ described by Messrs. Joseph Grinnell and Joseph
ixon in vol. vii. of the Monthly
ite Commission of Horticulture. In one district
fested by the Oregon ground-squirrel the authors
imated that there were 112 adults to the acre or
4000 to the square mile, and that these would con-
ne in one day more than two tons of green forage,
nich. would be sufficient to feed ninety head of cattle
ring the same time.
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
aged in collecting specimens for the Pitt-
‘small tool resembling in outline the universal:
resident of one of the oases where there is a negro
Bulletin of the
BirD-LOVERS will read with no small pleasure Mr.
J. H. Gurney’s ornithological notes from Norfolk for
1919 in British Birds for March. Perhaps the most
interesting of these notes are those referring to the
bittern, which seems to be returning to the Broads
in increasing numbers to breed. It is satisfactory to
learn that, so far as can be ascertained, this year no
nests were raided, though in one nest the brood, un-
fortunately, died. The little owl, he tells us, which
up to 1914 was confined to a few districts in the west
of the county, is quickly spreading throughout the
whole of Norfolk. The prevailing prejudice against
this bird he considers scarcely to be justified, since
“the test of dissection is rather in its favour than
otherwise.’’ During the war vast quantities of a tar-
like substance were spread over much of the North
Sea for military reasons. One would have imagined
that the need for this had now ceased, but in these
notes are records of numerous divers and guillemots
picked up in an exhausted condition owing to this
compound clogging the plumage.
In the fourth part of his study of the Mala-
costracous Crustacea obtained by the Ingolf and other
Danish expeditions from deep. water in the seas
round Iceland and South Greenland (‘‘The Danish
Ingolf Expedition,” vol. iii., part 6, Copenhagen,
1920), Dr. H. J. Hansen describes the Cumacea and
Phyllocarida. Of the former group no fewer than
sixty-six species are enumerated, of which twenty-
four are new—a surprisingly large proportion of
novelties in view of the attention that has been given
by G. O. Sars and others to the Cumacea of northern .
waters. Together with Dr. MHansen’s previous
memoirs on the Isopoda and Tanaidacea, this report
serves to bring into prominence both the extraordinary
richness of the micro-fauna of the sea-bottom and
thé imperfection of our knowledge of it even in the
better-known regions of the ocean. From the point
of view of systematic zoology, if not also from that
of marine bionomics, a one-sided impression is apt to
result from confining attention mainly to the more
easily studied species of the plankton. In dealing
with the Phyllocarida Dr. Hansen is able to throw
new light on the strueture of the limbs and mouth-
parts of the long-known and much-studied Nebalia.
In the March issue of Medical Science: Abstracts
and Reviews (vol. i., No. 6), one of the reviews is
devoted to the subject of typhus fever. Owing to the
war this disease has been very prevalent in Europe
during the last four years; for example, in Poland
124,620 cases were recorded between January 1 and
July 27, 1919. Lice are the agents by which the
disease is transmitted, but the causative micro-
organism is still unknown. The blood-serum gives
agglutination with a Proteus bacillus, the Weil-Felix
reaction, which is of considerable value for the
diagnosis of the disease.
AN interesting lecture on the history of electro-
therapy by Dr. W. J. Turrell is published in the
Archives of Radiology and Electrotherapy for February
(No. 235). In England electrical treatment appears
to have been first practised by. the clerical profession.
83
‘NATURE
[Marcu 18, 1920
In 1756 a book on the subject was published at Wor-
cester by Richard Lovett, a lay clerk at the cathedral,
in which he records the treatment of a number of
diseases with electricity. In 1780 John Wesley, the
great divine, anonymously published a book entitled
‘““The Desideratum; or, Electricity made Plain and
Useful.’’ In this he appeals to the medical profession
for a trial of the curative effects of electricity, and
records many alleged cures.
WE have received the first number of a new British
journal devoted to pathology, entitled the British
Journal of Experimental Pathology. It is published
bi-monthly under the editorship of a board of editors
by Messrs. H. K. Lewis and Co., the annual sub-
scription, post free, being 2l. The journal has been
founded for the publication of original communica-
tions describing the technique and results of experi-
mental researches into the causation, diagnosis, and
cure of disease in man. Among the contributors to
this first number are Prof. Bayliss (‘Is Hamolysed
Blood Toxic?’’), Dr. Cramer (‘‘On Sympathetic
Fever and MHyperpyrexial MHeat-stroke’’), Prof.
McIntosh and Mr. Smart (‘‘ Determination of the
Reaction of Culture Media’’), and Mr. Fildes (‘‘ Sero-
logical Classification of Meningococci’’). The journal
is well produced, and will, we believe, fill a lacuna
in the means of publication of research work at the
disposal of British pathologists.
Mr. W. L. GreorcE, who gave evidence before the
National Birth-rate Commission, has contributed to
the Fortnightly Review for March a summary of the
arguments he presented to that body, which does not
appear yet to have arrived at a conclusion upon them.
The line he takes is that a high birth-rate corresponds
with a low degree of education, a low level of com-
fort, and poor foreign trade. He views, therefore, with
calmness, and, indeed, with satisfaction, the recent
decline in the birth-rate, and would take active steps
in that direction by promoting the understanding of
contraceptives and other preventive measures.
Whether this could be done without leading to grave
evils may be doubted. At any rate, Mr. George is
justified in opposing proposals tending in the other
direction, such as those for the endowment of mother-
hood, which would have the effect of encouraging im-
prudent. marriages or illicit connections, and, as they
involve an expenditure that he sees is financially
impossible, must fall to the ground. He would have
us base our quest for national prosperity on good
births rather than on more births, on quality rather
than on quantity. Like all difficulties that arise out
of the passions and the instincts of mankind, the
problem is soluble only by an appeal to reason and by
a gradual education of the will in men and women.
It should be noted that large families have given to
the community many valuable members.
A suppoRTING expedition for Roald Amundsen’s
trans-polar voyage has been organised by the Nor-
wegian State. Some details from Scandinavian
sources: are published in La Géographie. (vol. xxxiii.,
No.1). The expedition which reached Greenland last
summier:.is in charge of Lieut. G. Hansen, a Danish
naval officer who accompanied Amundsen in_ the
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
voyage of the Gjoa in 1903-5. Lieut. Hansen is now
wintering at Etah, in about 78° 15’! N. This month
he hopes to leave with a dozen sledges for Cape
Colombia, the most northerly point of Grant Land,
in 83° N. Stores and provisions for a year will be
taken. Amundsen, who proposes to leave his ship,
the Maud, at the most northerly attainment of its
drift, is expected to make for Cape Colombia, and
may arrive there in March, 1921.
At a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society
on March 8, a paper was read by Miss E. M. Ward
n ‘The Evolution of the Hastings Coast-line.” We
can scarcely agree that the Wealden dome stretches
from Beachy Head to the North Foreland, as it does
not extend beyond the Warren at Folkestone, where
the chalk of the North Downs comes down to the
sea, or that the North Foreland’ is in the Channel,
as we might be led to believe. It may be pointed out
that the eastward-flowing drift of flint beach is general
on the South Coast, and that this has resulted in
most of the southern-flowing rivers being turned to the —
east, whilst forming a spit of beach on the seaward —
side of the stream, this being the result of the con-
flict between the eastward-flowing tide and the south-
ward-flowing stream. As the streams lost their
velocity and carrying power they deposited their silt,
and finally the conflict between sea and mud ended
in the victory of the former, when the sea made
its bold attack on the land, which is still going on,
and against which engineers are fighting. The exist-
ence and continued growth of Dungeness have never
yet been satisfactorily accounted for, but there is
some reason to believe that the destruction of the
Hastings headland let loose vast quantities of beach
which had accumulated on its western side, and that
this gave rise to the various low terraces still to be
observed on the west-side of the Ness. Miss Ward
finds it difficult to believe that at Hastings there was
a promontory in Neolithic times even so much as
seven miles in length, but it is fairly generally be-
lieved that the passage between England and France
was comparatively narrow in those times, and
Prof. Boyd Dawkins even suggested that Neolithic
man came across on dry land.
In the Proceedings of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences (vol. lv., December, 1919), Messrs.
George F. McEwen and Ellis L. Michael deal with
the functional relation of one variable to each of a
number of correlated variables when the representa-
tion by linear regression is unsatisfactory. The basal —
idea is to assume that the dependent variable may
be represented by a sum of functions of the indepen-
dent variables, and to determine these functions by
dissection of the material into a series of groups.
If, for instance, a variable w is to be expressed in
terms of x, y, and z, a series of groups of (w, x),
(w, y), and (w, z) are formed; a first approximation
to the relation between w and x is obtained by taking
the averages of the (w, x) groups; corrections are
then derivéd from the averages of the (w, y) and
(w, 2) groups; from the second approximations third
approximations are derived, convergence being ob-
NATURE
83
one. Similarly the other functional relations
ined. The idea of defining a. function by
‘by various mathematicians; the most obvious
‘of its statistical applicability is that an
amount of arithmetic would be required to
more than a very small number of corre-
values. The method, however, deserves
consideration .
feteorological Magazine, an official publica-
Meteorological Office, was first issued
new title about the middle of February. The
incorporates Symons’s Meteorological Maga-
nd the Meteorological Office Circular. For
ce in reference, the serial numbers of
Meteorological Magazine are being carried
inge has come about through the absorp-
British Rainfall Organization in the
Office. The cover of the new pub-
s the portraits of four pioneers of meteoro-
whom were associated with the Meteoro-
ic Of these Admiral FitzRoy had
the Office at its initiation, when it was a
the Board of Trade, and Mr. Symons was
nt sixty years ago, but left after a short
riod and devoted himself to the collection of
rm a. from which evolved later the “British
Organization. Gens. Sabine and Strachey
sively chairmen of the Meteorological
| controlled by the Royal Society. Little
s been introduced into the style and
‘the publication, and it is evidently not
9 make any radical alteration. In addi-
interesting article on ‘Weather in
s’’ for the preceding month, which has
rly appeared in Symons’s Meteoro-
agazine, an article is now given on ‘‘ Weather
which will doubtless be valued by readers
-ON . Lord. Moulton. delivered a lecture at
Univer ieeiree on “The Training and Functions
ical Engineer.’’ The lecture was presided
H LH. Prince Arthur of Connaught. Lord
fe and suitable training for those who -had
chemical operations on a large scale. In
th chemical laboratory work is carried out
| quantities of pure substances with every
ence at hand and regardless of cost and
In chemical industry, on the contrary, it
at ’ to carry out operations on vast quanti-
“impure. substances with no conveniences
with the greatest possible regard to the matters
cost and economy. The question of change of
was all-important, since it was extremely diffi-
to secure on a ‘large: scale that uniformity of
tions easily obtained in a research labora-
and fundamental for the success of the
ation. Lord Moulton
the subject of costing and costs, since, as
he “pointed out, the success of an _ industrial
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
‘of a series of corresponding values has been |
_tion.”’
laid great emphasis |
operation in the real world of chemical industry,
as compared with the success of a _ chemical
operation in the ideal world of the research labora-
tory, depended entirely on its cost. It was a noble
and dignified business to make things cheaply so:
that they could be utilised by large numbers of people.
In conclusion, Lord Moulton referred to the fact that
the Ramsay Memorial Committee had given 25,000l.
for the building of a laboratory of chemical engineer-
ing at University College. He earnestly hoped that
the further sum of 50,o00l. which was required would
be forthcoming. A vote of thanks to Lord Moulton
for his interesting lecture was proposed by Prof. F. G.
Donnan, who referred to the great work Lord Moulton
had done during the war-as Director-General of the
Explosives Supply.
Mr. James Thin, 54 South Bridge, Edinburgh, has
just issued a useful and comprehensive catalogue of
new and second-hand books on technical and scientific
subjects. The prices named in the second-hand section
are very reasonable. A laudable feature of the cata-
logue is the giving of the dates of publication of the
volumes,
Tue Oxford University Press will shortly publish an
English rendering, by H. L. Brose, of ‘“Space and
Time in Contemporary Physics: An Introduction to
the Theory of Relativity and Gravitation,” by M.
Schlick, with an introduction by Prof. F. A. Linde-
mann. The work is intended for the general reader.
It deals with the problem of the structure of cosmo- —
logical space, discusses the relation of psychological to
physical space, and analyses the significance of
measurements in physics.
Tue Reader’s Index—a bi-monthly magazine issued
by the Croydon Public Libraries—for March and April
contains much useful guidance for readers, including
a reading list of books and periodical articles on the
Einstein theory. We notice references to articles in
NaToRE of June 11, 1914; December 28, 1916; March 7
and 14, 1918; November 13, 1919; and December 4,
Ir, and 18, 1919.
A NEw series of books dealing with the textile indus-
tries has been arranged for by Sir Isaac Pitman and
Sons, Ltd. The editor will be Prof. R. Beaumont, and
one of the first volumes in the series to be published
will be that by the editor on ‘‘ Union Textile Fabrica-
tion,” which will contain three main divisions dealing
respectively with bi-fibred manufactures, compound-
yarn fabrics, and woven unions. Another volume in
the series will treat of ‘‘Flax Culture and Prepara-
It will be the work of Prof. F. Bradbury.
Mr. D. N. Wapta writes to say that the two illus-
trations from his “Geology of India’? reproduced in
Nature of January 15 were not his own photographs,
but from the collection of negatives at the offices of
the Geological Survey at Calcutta. Acknowledgment
of this was, unfortunately, omitted from the ‘book,
and our reviewer assumed, therefore, that the. photo-
graphs were the author’s.
84
{Marc 18) 1920
Our Astronomical Column.
‘Tue Torat Sorar Ecripsk OF SEPTEMBER 20, 1922.—
Mr. A. R. Hinks read:'a paper at the meeting of the
Royal Astronomical Society on March 12 on the condi-
tions along the track of totality in this eclipse. The
nearest available station is in the Maldive Archipelago,
where the sun’s altitude is 343° and duration 4m. 11s,
It is recommended that an uninhabited islet be
‘selected, as there is less risk of illness on,one of
these, the others having a bad reputation for Euro-
peans. Also it should be’ an islet in the centre of a
lagoon, as the outer ones experience vibration from
the surf, which would spoil fine definition. The
weather is likely to be clear but windy.
Christmas Island, south of Java, is near the noon
point; the sun’s altitude is 783° and the duration 33m.
at the south point of the island. There are a flourish-
_ ing phosphate industry on the island, a monthly
‘steamer from Singapore, and good jetties and cranes
‘at Flying Fish Cove, whence there is a railway to the
south coast. Much of the island is covered with
forest (haunted by large land-crabs), so some clearing
might. be necessary to give enough sky room _ for
adjusting the equatorial mounting which it is intended
to. use, here. The weather conditions in September
promise to be very good. .
The west coast of Australia offers difficulties, the
country being barren, and there being no port in the
neighbourhood of the track. The east end of the
track in Australia is in Queensland, just south of
Brisbane. The sun’s altitude here is only 18°, but it
-is possible to obtain an altitude of about 26° by travel-
ling by rail into the interior.
The. programme will include a répetition of the
investigation of the Einstein shift; there is a fair field
of stars round the eclipsed sun, though they are much
less. bright: than those of the eclipse of May, 19109.
“. Tue Binary Star p Ermpani.—This southern binary
‘star’ (R.Av ith. 36m. 45s., S.°. decl. 56°. 36') was
first noted as double by Dunlop in. 1826, and. ob-
served by Sir John Herschel at the Cape, 1834. to
1836. It was for some time doubtful whether the
‘relative motion was not rectilinear, but curvature is
now definitely established. Mr. B.H. Dawson gives a
determination of the orbit in the Astronomical Journal,
No; 762, as follows :—Period 218-9 years, T 1806-14,
e'0-721, a 8-025", 301-40°, i +114:26°, §{1-03°. There
4s still much uncertainty, as only one quadrant has
been observed. The large size of a makes the pair
‘an cinteresting one. Apastron was passed in 1916,
and the stars are now 9” apart. Both are of magni-
tude’ 62; the proper motion of the middle point
‘between them is +0-0336s.,. +0:022", according to
Boss. ° : :
Faint NeEsuta.—Publications of the Yerkes Ob-
“Servatory, vol. iv., part 2, is occupied with an account
of a research on faint nebule by Mr. Edwin P.
Hubble. Mr. Hubble took a series of photographs,
‘with the 24-in. reflector at the Yerkes Observatory,
of some rich nebulous regions, including seven well-
defined clusters, containing more than five hundred
‘nebula. The measures for ascertaining their posi-
‘tions are given; but, owing fo the bad figure of the
images in the outer parts of the field, the precision is
not considered very great. The exposures did not
generally exceed two hours, as beyond that point very
little seemed to be gained. The average diameter of
the nebulz is about 25”, but in certain regions, notably
in Perseus, they are distinctly smaller, about: 15”.
The question of the distance and status of these small
nebulz is discussed at some length, but the evidence
appéars to be insufficient to decide whether they are
in ‘the remoter parts of the galactic system or -alto-»
gether, outside it,
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
i Oe ternational Fishery. kavestacatianaaaa
“THE: first meeting’ since’ the autumn ‘of? 13 Of
*" ‘the International Council for’ the Exploration of
.the Sea took place in the Surveyors’ Institution, West-
minster, on March 2-6. The Council’ exists ‘to ‘con-.
sider and conduct investigations into the fisheries of
‘the North Atlantic; to examine how far these fisheries
‘are being depleted by fishing; to investigate’ natural
methods, such as by breeding, etc., of keeping up
the stock; and in cases of certain’ future’ failure of
supply to suggest’ the necessary remédial measures.
The Council has been conducting researches for nearly
twenty years, but its operations during the war were
brought almost to a standstill. For the most part it
deals with the sea-fish common to all countries, but
a special sub-committee considers the salmon, and.
a second the eel; shellfish are not investigated. The
countries represented were France, Belgium, Holland,
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Great
Britain, each country having two delegates, with
scientific experts from the fishery authorities of each.
France was represented for the’ first time, but Ger-
many and Russia dropped out of representation; the
meeting was too hurriedly convened to allow of the —
U.S. Congress appointing delegates, and there was
no representative of Canada, the eastern fisheries of —
which are mainly coastal. Great Britain was repre-
sented by Mr. H. G. Maurice and Prof. D’Arcy
Thompson as delegates, Mr. Holt representing Ire-
iand, while most of the scientific staffs of the three
‘countries took part in the deliberations of thé com-
mittees, including Prof. Stanley Gardiner (temporary
Director of fone Research) and Comdr. Jones (of
the Scottish Office).
March 2 was devoted to general business and the
formation of committees, the whole body meeting
together under the chairmanship of Prof. Petterssen
(Sweden). After a telegram of respectful homage had
been dispatched to the King, the chairman referred
in sympathetic terms to the troubles of the last years
and to. the increased importance to Europe of safe-
guarding its supplies of fish. Commodore Drechsel
(Denmark) and others spoke of the closure of the
greater part of the North Sea as the most gigantic
scientific experiment ever made in respect to the
closure, of areas, and one from which we might be
able to draw the most important deductions in respect
to the conservation .of our fish supply. Mr.,. Maurice
pointed out the difficulties under which all countries
are at the present time labouring, and appealed to all
to help in drawing up practical programmes of work
such as each country could guarantee to carry out.
The meeting then split into two committees for
| fishery investigations and. fishery statistics and for
hydrography and plankton (floating life in the sea).
The committees met twice daily during the next
three days to draw up their programmes to be sub-
mitted on Saturday, March 6, to the whole body
of delegates. The main deliberations of the Fish
Committee were in respect to the plaice. All were
agreed. that the fishery statistics of Western Europe
up to 1914 proved that there had been a most serious
‘depletion of the stock of plaice on the fishing-grounds.
of Western Europe, particularly in the southern half
of the North Sea. The apparently probable disappear-
ance of.this fish, from the point of view both of the
industry and of the consumer, was felt to, be so
calamitous. that..even. the. strongest measures were
thought to..be justifiable, It was proposed that the
Council should suggest to the diplomatists to negotiate
a size-limit and the permanent closure .of certain
areas to. provide a reserve, from which the young
plaice might spread so as to restock the open grounds.
It was pointed out that Denmark had. already insti-
\Marcw 18, 1920]
\WATURE
$5
_a-size-limit of nearly 10 in., but that Holland.did
favolir Ohne of more than about 8'in. The repre-
atives.of, Great Britain considered that. the etfect
closure of areas on the industry had not been
t studied; that the closed areas must be as
$s possible, consistent with the preservation of
se stock of the North Sea; and that the study
lect of the war. in having closed, great areas
iterially assist the Council.in arriving at the
tical results. | =
British view was finally adopted, and it was
to undertake a year’s intensive plaice inves-
with the view of considering the whole ques-
1921 and making recommendations. The
ée then proceeded to draw up a programme
tigations. A thorough collection of statistics
>.marketed was deemed essential. Further-
n accurate knowledge of the sizes of the fish
~ marke and as caught on commercial
‘was recommended. The liberation after
of a series of fish would be necessary to
r wandering during the year. Further ex-
‘in the liberation of marked fish of small
Dogger Bank were recommended. The
sounds should be more fully investigated
rted. The liberation of a large series of drift-
» both surface “ayaa mg deemed essential
Soa iy iin the drift of the eggs and youn
which float for many weeks in the Han by The
mination of numbers of eggs so as to ascertain
he in wid _of spawning in different areas was
ec ible, as well as an investigation into the
on which the larvz feed. |
ost of the spawning areas of the plaice are off
coasts of Great Britain, it was generally recog-
this country would have to concentrate in the
ar mainly on these plaice investigations, but
was expressed that the examination of the
and wanderings of the lemon-sole would
slected, while the other fish occupying
inds. should be carefully recorded. The con-
mination of the constitution of the herring
of the other work on the life-history,
a ., of the herring was recommended, Great
in being requested to collect samples and to send
| to Norway, the representatives of which (Dr.
, Prof. Gran, and Dr. Lea) undertook to examine
METRE LS , 1. ; . ;
e Danish representatives described their plans
second great expedition in the North Atlantic
, among other objects, for the spawning-
‘the fresh-water eel, which their previous
wed to be somewhere in the latitude of
and at depths of at least 1000 or 1500
“They also gave an account of the com-
results obtained by the importation of the
eels (elvers) and their liberation in Danish
and lakes. Dr. Johansen (Denmark) and Dr.
n. (Sweden) described the work of their respec-
countries on the movements of salmon and sea-
, the ages of these fishes for spawning, the libera-
xe) 4 ieee ‘showing results of considerable
mic importance—results capable of immediate
cation.
in many British rivers could ‘the difficulties
‘to pollution be overcome.
Hyvdrographical and Plankton Committee
divided. into sub-committees for, its’ two ‘subjects.
BS. » former ‘is mainly concerned with the currents on:
the fishing-grounds in respect both to the movements
of such sh as herring, mackerel, and pilchards, and!
c 1e drifting of fish-eggs and young. It was
atl considered that the hope of foretelling the.
ovements of the fish and the success or otherwise
the spawning year by year dependéd on a more)
ensive study of the movements of Gulf Stream’
‘in
em ‘t
Toast
f
‘NO, 2629, VOL. 105]
' tion on which he
“Prof. Behal, Prof. Joubin, and Dr.
‘meeting with the English and Irish representatives
waters from Barents, Sea to Iceland and down the
European coasts to Mogador; with more intensive
investigations in the North Sea. ‘Vhe nature of ‘the
spawning was deemed peculiarly important, as .on
this depends to a large degree the success of. the
fishing some years afterwards when the spawn has
grown into fish of marketable size. Extensive. tem-
perature records and water samples from a series of
transoceanic liners month. by month were recom-
mended, and the hope was expressed that the United
States would co-operate by collecting. samples on
liners cutting the Gulf Stream nearer where it leaves
the Straits of Florida.
A full programme of hydrographic work was recom-
mended in the southern half of. the North Sea in ‘view
of the plaice investigations. Here the sea is so
shallow that the water is thoroughly churned up from
surface to bottom, and, in consequence, surface
samples only, mostly from passenger ships, were pro-
posed. The drift-bottle programme was approved and
somewhat extended in the’ hope of understanding
better the isobaric, temperature, and salinity charts
of the region in respect to the movements of fish,
with the view of making them usable by fishermen.
The plankton sub-committee, under Prof. Gran,
drew up a very small programme on account of
present difficulties, but it decided to recommend
researches on the physico-chemical conditions of sea-
water in respect to the life in the sea. It regarded -
this basal research as impossible either to initiate or
carry out under the Council, and so decided to record
its opinion as to the necessity of such researches
on living animals in respect to the water in «which
they live. It was pointed out that the acid or allka-
line nature of the water affects the rate of growth of
young fish, and that further knowledge here in respect
to trout, salmon, and plaice might become at*once -
of economic importance. Animals, too, show growth
in the most carefully filtered sea-water—a ‘matter of
the greatest importance, the meaning and utility. of
which could not be foretold. It is well known that
the blood of human beings can be replaced by sea-
water, but not so effectively by artificial sea-water,
which is made from distilled water by dissolving in
it the various salts. The ‘possible meaning of this
was discovered by Dr. Allen (Plymouth) working on
minute marine animals, and points to those mys-
terious substances ‘‘vitamines,’’ of which so much
has been heard in the last six years and so little
is known. ° The searcher’ for economic results, .in
fisheries must have the basal theory and knowledge in
respect to his living fish duly developed as the founda-
has to build. Incidentally, an
increase in knowledge of this soluble food, etc.,.should
be rapidly applicable to oyster- and mussel-farming,
and the sub-committee could only hope that the
requisite genius to give further ideas would soon be
found. ;
The development of lakes and rivers for the pro-
duction of food was of special interest to Mr. Holt
(Ireland), the Swedish and Finnish representatives,
and Dr. Redeke (Holland), the last giving an
account of the very great development of the fresh-
waters of his country. So far as fish were concerned
—salmon is treated separately—the subject is of little
importance to Great Britain, but the possibilitv of
the development of a button industry by the cultiva-
tion of mussels was thought worthy of investigation.
France was represented by M. Kersoncuf (Director
of Marine Fisheries), accompanied by M.. Tissier,
e Danois. <A
resulted in the formation of a special committee to
consider and report as to fisheries off the. mouth of
,
86
NATURE
}
| Marcu 18, 1920
the English Channel and in the Bay of Biscay and to
the west and south. The chief fish of this region
are the migratory mackerel and pilchard and_ the
hake, which apparently is a great wanderer. It is
hoped also to investigate the possibilities in respect
to tunny, of which there should be an almost un-
limited supply in the Atlantic. France undertook the
preparation of a fishing chart of certain grounds,
Ireland particular cruises to meet the French vessel,
and England to continue and extend her investigations
into the waters of the Channel. England was also
asked to undertake, as soon as possible, regular
cruises to the south-west to investigate the approach
of the Gulf Stream waters in respect to mackerel,
pilchards, and tunny.
At the full meeting on Saturday, March 6, the pro-
grammes of the committees were adopted, and Mr.
H. G. Maurice was unanimously elected president for
the ensuing year, the next meeting to be held in
Copenhagen in 1921. The present writer believes that
the fishery industry appreciates the vital importance
of these very technical investigations, in the results
of which the interests of the fisherman and the re-
searcher are identical; he appeals to the industry to
co-operate in every way in its power, and in par-
ticular to return drift-bottles and marked fish.
Exhibition of Diseases of the Para Rubber-
: tree.
AX important exhibition illustrating the fungal
diseases to which the Para rubber-tree (Hevea
brasiliensis) is subject in Ceylon and Malaya was
opened on March to in the Botany Department of
the Imperial College of Science and Technology by the
Marquess of Crewe in the presence of leading repre-
sentatives of the rubber trade. The exhibition, which
has been organised by Prof. J. B. Farmer, Director
of the Biological Laboratories of the college, includes
a large number of trunks of rubber-trees, specially
shipped from the East, showing the diseases as they
occur in the plantation, and forms a striking com-
mentary on the optimism which obtained in the first
years. of the industry as to the probable relative im-
munity of Hevea from disease,
The warnings issued by botanists at the time that
the Para rubber-tree would no more escape epidemic
fungal disease than any other crop plant has, unfor- |
tunately, been justified by events. At the present time
there are several diseases which, if not checked as the
result of sound sciéntific knowledge, intelligently
applied, may seriously affect the future of the planta-
tion industry. The former optimism finds a present-
day counterpart in the equally dangerous view held in
certain quarters that ‘‘ sanitation ’’ is all that is neces-
sary as a safeguard against disease, and that, in con-
sequence, expenditure on mycological research is waste
of money. The fact that the causative organism (if
vurganism it be) of the most dangerous disease in the
plantations at the present time (‘‘ brown bast ’’) is as
yet unknown is sufficient reply to so: short-sighted a
view. The exhibition comprises three main sections :
(1) A series of rubber trunks affected by the chief
diseases met with in the East, illustrated by admirable
coloured wall-pictures of the diseases in situ; (2) cul-
tures and microscopic preparations of living fungi
isolated at the college from the trunks exhibited; and
(3) a section devoted to the important bearing of a
knowledge of the anatomy of the bark of the tree
upon’ questions of latex yield. This section also in-
cludes trunks illustrating different systems of tapping.
All the exhibits are accompanied by explanatory labels.
The principal diseases represented are as follows:
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
(1) Brown Bast.—This is by far the most important
disease at the present time, and is rapidly increasing,
certain estates in Java having as many as 60 per cent.
of the trees attacked. It is an affection of the bark
in the tapping area, and is of acute importance, since
it quickly results in the complete cessation of latex
flow. Later, the bark becomes discoloured and burrs
appear over the affected area. The disease is met with
on young and old and on vigorous and backward trees,
and occurs in every type of soil. At present preven-
tive measures are confined to disinfection and excision
of the affected tissues, but successful treatment is
hindered by ignorance of the real nature of the disease.
Hitherto physiological disturbance produced by tapping
has been held to be the cause, but recent work in
‘Sumatra suggests a bacterial origin. Further research
alone can settle this fundamental question.
(2) Fomes lignosus.—Next to brown bast this is the
most serious disease of Hevea. It is a fungus of the
familiar Polyporus type, attacking the cortex of the
roots. In cases where it was neglecta in the early
stages it has since wiped out large blocks of rubber, and
from the nature of the disease the replanting of such
areas has been impracticable. The mycelium spreads
to the Hevea roots from old jungle stumps, or from
soil in which old jungle roots have been rss From
the infected Hevea roots it passes to all healthy roots.
in the vicinity, finally destroying the trees. Treat-
ment consists in exposing the root-system and paint-
ing the diseased roots with Bordeaux mixture or
other fungicide. The soil is also heavily limed to
destroy the mycelium invariably present in it, and the
whole infected area isolated by a trench. Re
(3) Fomes pseudoferreus (Poria).—This fungus pene-
trates deeply into the wood of the Hevea roots, often
leaving the cortex as a living cylinder until the wood
is destroyed by a “wet rot.” The tree thus shows
little external signs of attack until the disease has
reached the final stage. In consequence, measures of
dealing with Poria are limited to preventing its spread.
The treatment adopted is essentially the same as for
Fomes lignosus. me :
(4) Dry Rot (Ustulina zonata).—This fungus is a
wound parasite, and gains entrance via lesions on
roots, stems, and branches, killing the wood, which
becomes soft and tindery. Owing to former neglect
of wounds, the disease is greatly increasing in older
plantations. The best preventive treatment Is a
periodical dressing of all wounds with tar. When
confined to the branches the disease may be removed
by pruning, but if on the base of the trunk or on the
roots, the tree is usually found to be infected with
Fomes in addition, and treatment is impracticable. _
(5) Patch Canker (Phytophthora Faberi).—This
disease is increasing in all the rubber-growing countries
of the East. The bark just below the surface becomes
claret-coloured, and eventually dies off in patches.
The disease can be controlled by early removal of the
bark and coating the exposed surface with tar, but
the chief difficulty is that the affected bark is freely
entered by boring beetles which’ penetrate deeply into
the wood, carrying with them spores of dry rot
(Ustulina). In consequence, nearly every case of
neglected patch canker is also infected with dry rot. .
(6) Stripe Canker (Phytophthora sp.).—This canker
was a formidable menace during 1915-17, more than
7o per cent. of the trees in tapping on some estates
being attacked. The disease first appears as narrow
vertical stripes just above the newly tapped bark, -
and if tapping is continued during the wet season
the whole of the tapping surface rots away. For-
| tunately, it is now almost completely preventable by
daily disinfection of the tapping cut.
(7) Pink Disease (Corticium salmonicolor) has
Marci 18, 1920]
NATURE
87
“much damage in the East. It rarely attacks
Oung trees, and develops most rapidly during
‘of heavy rain. Manifestations of the disease
emely variable, but a common form, viz. a
ncrustation on the branches or main stem,
-disease its popular. name. Once the bark is
d the fungus spreads rapidly, destroying the
and frequently enters the wood, interrupting
er-supply to the branches, which turn brown
So far the best treatment has been the
f infected branches, or by treating the
arts with tar. Except in special cases,
is not practicable,
section devoted to fungal cultures and pre-
the following fungi, among others, have
d and grown from the trunks exhibited :
heveae, a cause of ‘thread blight ’’ ‘disease ;
There, gat aha a cause of ‘‘die-back ’’;
SUS ; yphomycetes associated with
odiplodia. - ‘In addition to living cultures of
on potato and banana agars, interesting
are in progress with the view of ascer-
effect of the vitality. of the host upon the
the parasite. The fungi have therefore
on wounds) on apple-twigs respectively
low vitality, and dead, and the cultures
in a saturated atmosphere and at 25° C.
third section well illustrates by means of
; the important relationship between the
of the rubber stem and the yield of latex.
elding trees the bark shows a large number
rings of latex tubes and a high relative proportion
soft bast as compared with hard bast, which latter
abundant groups of stone-cells interrupting
of latex tubes. In good yielders the stone-
more or less confined to the external part
ex; in low yielders they are distributed in
well-known superior yield of tapping cuts
left to right over cuts made from right to
o the oblique course of the latex tubes in
‘This important fact is explained in a
m. Mr. H. Ashplant exhibits elaborate
owing individual daily tapping yields ob-
- different coolies on one estate over a period
e years. The figures show that highly skilled
working a group of trees previously tapped by
or poor tappers may collect from 50 to
cent. more latex than the unskilled men.
we
‘by the inferior tappers, who do not reach the
internal rings of latex tubes. A_ further
&
s much to be hoped that efforts will be made
i
; the
st fashion the supreme importance of scientific
rch in this vital aspect of rubber-planting.
' diseases are bound to occur in the future,
it may be disastrous to wait until the
utions are seriously affected before taking’ stens
secure expert advice. Adequate scientific staffs
hould be continuously engaged in studying the com-
ete biology of Hevea, so that in the advent of a
w disease experienced specialists could be detailed
once to cove with it. It is, however, essential that
ch staffs should be composed of men of fifst-rate
bility and training, for where so much is at stake
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
esults from the variable depth of the cut.
anything short of the best is worse than useless.
Moreover, the best men afford the greatest chance. of
effecting the desideratum in combating all disease,
viz. the stitch in time. The industry must be prepared
to pay for such men, but there can be no question
that money generously and wisely spent on these lines
would be repaid times over.
The Position of the Meteorological Office.
R. C. G. KNOTT, president of the Scottish
Meteorological Society, has sent us a copy of the
following resolution passed by the council of the
society with reference to the present position of the
Meteorological Office :—
“The council of the Scottish Meteorological Society
have had under consideration the information pub-
lished regarding the future status of the Meteoro-
logical Office and its relation to various Departments
of State. They recognise that an_ incorporation
in one of the great Departments of State is desir-
able, and realise that meteorology has much to gain
by an intimate connection with the Air Ministry.
At the same time they have in view that the State
Meteorological Office has many other departments and
interests to serve, not the least of: which are those
of pure research. They feel that any system by which
the policy of the. Office was directed by the interests
of only one Department might in certain circum-
stances hamper its proper development. The science
of meteorology made notable advances in many direc-
tions under the liberty enjoyed by the Director of the
Office with the administrative committee as con-
stituted in 1905. The council urge that, whatever
constitution it may be convenient.to give to the Office,
the public, departmental, and scientific interests of the
science should be safeguarded by expressly and per-
sonally charging the Director with the care of
meteorology in all its- branches. Under such an
instruction the Director could be relied upon to
organise the service upon a scientific plan and to
build up the administrative elements in accordance
with the demands made uvon him. The council alsu
feel that any step which will modify the functions and
responsibilities of the Meteorological Committee
should be taken onlv after searching inquirv by a
Departmental Committee into the necessity for anv
modification, and the probable effect of such modi-
fication on the work of the Meteorological Committee.”
Earthworks and Retaining Walls.
ie is admitted that our knowledge of earthwork
- problems is far from complete, and the informa-
tion given in two papers read at the Institution of
Civil Engineers on February 10 forms a_ welcome
addition. Mr. Ponsonby Moore Crosthwaite has made
experiments on the horizontal pressure of sand, and
finds that the angle of internal friction is much less
than the angle of repose. The experiments show that
the pressures on a wall, as calculated from the
Rankine and Colomb theories, are much too high,
especially for surcharged walls. Further experiments
show that the wedge theories which take account of
the friction between the wall and its backing give
correct results ifthe wall is not surcharged, but break
down for surcharged walls. _Bv modifving the wedge
theory so as to neglect the friction on the hack of fhe
wall, and introducing the angle of internal friction
instead of the angle of repose, marked agreement was
found with the experiments for surcharged walls.
88
WATURE
[ Marcu. 18, 4920
Experiments. were made with the object of testing
whether the friction between the wall and the backing |
was of importance, and these showed that this friction
did not affect the horizontal thrust.
The second paper, by Mr. Angus Robertson Fulton,
gives an account of experiments made on the over-
turning moments on retaining walls. The method
of direct measurement of the moment was employed;
the filling was of three kinds: (1) clean river sand,
(2) gravel, and (3) garden soil. The total height
without surcharge was limited to 7 ft., and with sur-
charge it reached g ft. The experiments without sur-
charge show that results calculated from the Rankine
theory are greatly in excess of the observed values,
while those obtained from the wedge theory approxi-
mate, fairly closely to experiment.
vertical walls with unlimited slope the wedge and
Rankine formulz give values too great by 20 and
‘50 per cent. respectively. In the whole series of
‘experiments the greatest discrepancy occurred with
the 7-ft. levels (no surcharge) when gravel-filling was
used, and was worst with the wall inclined outward.
Low experimental values were also obtained in the
sand tests at the lower level under surcharge. Mr.
Fulton concludes that the wedge theory gives good
results with material uncompacted for walls in which
the inclination of the inner face is not greater than
usually obtains in practice. ;
Fellowship of the New Zealand Institute.
Af the annual meeting in 1919 of the Board of
., Governors of the New Zealand Institute it was
decided to establish a fellowship of the institute, since
—apart from Hutton and Hector memorial medals,
which can be gained only by very few—there are
no honours attainable in the Dominion for those
engaged in scientific research, the number of whom
has. greatly increased in recent years, while more
branches of science are pursued than formerly. This
fellowship, which entitles the recipient to place the
letters ‘‘F.N.Z.Inst.” after his name, is limited to
forty fellows, and not more than four are henceforth
to be elected in any one year until the number is
_ complete, after which only such vacancies as occur
may be filled.
In order to make a commencement, and as there
were many who well deserved recognition for their long
and valuable services to science, it was resolved that,
in the first place, twenty original fellows should be
appointed, these to consist of the living past-presidents,
together with Hutton and Hector medallists (ten in
all), and of ten more members of the institute who
Were: to be elected by the past-presidents and medal-
lists from persons nominated by the various affiliated
branches of the institute.
The fellowship is to be given only for research or
distinction in science, and it is plain that the dis-
tinction even now is far from easy of attainment, and
that, as time goes on, its value will greatly increase.
_The election and appointment of the original fellows
took place at the close of 1919, and resulted as
follows :—Mr. B. C. Aston, *{Prof. W. B. Benham,
+Mr.. Elsdon Best, *+Mr. T. F. Cheeseman, *+Prof.
Chas. Chilton, *t{Dr. L. Cockayne, +Prof. T. H.
Easterfield, Prof. C. C. Farr, Mr. G. Hogben, Mr.
.G. V.. Hudson, Prof. H. B. Kirk, t{Dr. P. Marshall,
_*Dr. D. Petrie, +Sir Ernest Rutherford. Prof. H. W.
Segar, Mr. S. Perev Smith, Mr. R. Speight, Prof.
A. P. W. Thomas, *the Hon. G. M. Thomson, and
Dr. J. Allan Thomson. * signifies past-president ;
+ Hector medallist; and t Hutton medallist:
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
schools.
For surcharged |
The Proposed University of Reading. —
[ORD HALDANE’S conception of ‘the. division of
¢ the country into areas in each of which:a “civic —
university ’? caps the provincial education scheme is —
coming to be recognised as not only wise and far-seeing,
but also essential. In Georgian and Victorian days
a university was looked upon as primarily an institu-
tion for the completion of the teaching work of public
The wider view is taken now of the univer-
sity as a focus of the intellectual life of the com-
munity which it serves and as a centre for research.
When in 1902 it was proposed that the Victoria
University should be split up into the Universities of
Manchester and Liverpool, many regarded the multi-
‘plication of degree-giving bodies with apprehension.
It was feared that it would lead to a competition
downwards. The reverse of this has happened.
Leeds, Sheffield, and Bristol have secured independent
universities, and each of them fears, above all things,
the imputation that its degrees are less desirable than
those of any other. ae Pee
Reading is now seeking a charter. This project is
not new. In 1g11 the college received great endow-
ments from Mr. and Mrs. G Palmer, Lady
Wantage, and Mr. Alfred Palmer, given for the pur-
pose of enabling it to qualify for a charter. The
scheme was interrupted by the war, but has now been
taken up again with the utmost vigour. Three or
four only of our modern universities have so large
a permanent source of income. Its students are now
more numerous than were those of two chartered
English universities before the war. ‘
In the provision of residential. accommodation
Reading is unique. Its six hostels lodge upwards of
four hundred students. The college has also certain
definite claims to be regarded as a national institu-
tion. In addition to the faculties of letters and science
and the departments of fine arts, music, and domestic
subjects, its distinctive line of study is agriculture,
horticulture, and dairying. In these subjects it is a
most important centre of research. Students go to
it, not only from the whole of the United Kingdom,
but also from the Continent and the British
Dominions overseas. ; “
The desire for independence is most natural. As
matters stand at present, its professors and lecturers
have no voice in determining the conditions for
degrees, in settling the svllabuses of teaching, in
carrving out the examinations, or in marking their
students’ answer-papers.
University and Educational Intelligence.
CamBrRIDGE.—Prof. Horace Lamb, Sir Thomas L. |
Heath, Prof. W. H. Bragg, and Dr. Henry Head have
been elected honorary fellows of Trinity College.
Mr. A. Amos, Downing College, has been appointed
University lecturer in agriculture, and Mr. G. U.
Yule, St. John’s College, re-appointed University
lecturer in statistics. | arn
A Smith’s prize has been awarded to S. Pollard,
fellow. of..Trinity College, for an essay on ‘‘The
Stieltjes Integral and its Generalisations.”?
The following grants have been made from the
Gordon-Wigan. fund :—sol. for plant-breeding experi-
ments. sol. for an experimental gas chamber in the
physiological laboratory, sol. to assist in the provision
and display of entomological specimens, 3o0l. to help
in the study of Pleistocene deposits round Cambridge,
and sol. towards a deficit on the working of the
' botanical department. a
'
Marci’ 18; 1920]
——
89
The apa clay ,of the Royal Commission on Oxford
and ~ ridge Universities gives “notice ‘that all
ibersfof.the University. who desire to submit repre-
ations on.matters falling within the. terms of refer-
nce’ Of: the Commission should forward written
smorarida in triplicate to him at 22 Carlisle Place,
.W.a;. if possible. by. the middle of April,
_ Fresh regulations for the diplomas in agriculture
‘and forestry. have been drafted. .It is proposed to
shia’ diploma in horticulture, and, further, to
include ‘horticulture in the subjects to be examined
upon for the degree of B.A. in agriculture, estate
r ement, and forestry.
SEP Er oe : \s ’ ;
_ Tue Senate of the University of Dublin has decided
to. grant the following honorary degrees :—D. Litt. :
“Dr. William Crooke. LL.D.: Lord Bryce and Sir
Donald MacAlister. M.D.: Sir Archibald E. Garrod,
‘Regi us professor of medicine in the University
of | D.Se.: Prof. W..H. Bragg, Quain
Sager physics in the University of London, and
- University of Chicago.
R. A. Millikan, professor of physics in the
_ A Royat Commission has been appointed to inquire
into the financial resources and working of the Uni-
versity of Dublin and of Trinity College; Dublin, and
_ to consider the application which has been made by
the University for State financial help. The members
of the Commission are:—Sir Archibald ‘Geikie, Sir
~John Ross, Dr. A. E. Shipley, Prof. J. S. E.
_ Townsend, and Prof. J. Joly. Prof. G. Waterhouse
is to be the secretary to the Commission.
__ THE governing body of the Imperial College of
_ Science and Technology has made arrangements for
_ the provision, partly from its own funds and partly
_ from the gifts of donors for this special purpose, of
_ Six post-graduate scholarships for advanced work and
_ research to be held in the coming year at American
universities. It is hoped that arrangements may be
_ made for interchange by the reception at the Imperial
College. of a corresponding number of university
_ students from America. Lord Crewe, chairman of
_ the governing body, has received the following letter
_ from Viscount Grey :—"It is most desirable that
_ young men of the rising generation, who will do
_ much: of the public work here and in America in the
coming» , should get to know each other’s uni-
__versities. It will help both countries to realise how
_ much -the British and American peoples have in
_ common, not merely in language, but in thought and
in political views and aspirations. I am sure the
_ interchange of students between British and Ameri-
ean eas is most valuable both to individual
__ Sftidents ther
b ship:
. <"A wh
March, 12, under the chairmanship: of Prof. W. A.
_ Bone, ‘of the ‘Imperial College -of Science . and
_ Technology, to consider the position’ of. university
__ teachers in’ relation to the Teachers’ (Superannuation)
Act. s ‘chairman pointed: out that, as'‘the Act! ‘s
t framed, agniversity teachers ate’ expressly. excluded
from its be
tN t
ey
i) re Fe
if with
Ci eat
contributory scheme for university teachers, which
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
“NATURE
determined protoplasmically.
makes no provision in respect of the years of service
of a teacher prior to his joining the scheme, whéréas
the Act is retrospective and takes account of all yeai's
of recognised service. As the scheme was only insti-
tuted in 1913 this is a matter.of serious concérn ‘to
the older university teachers, for whom the’ provision
on retirement is; totally inadequate. The new séales
of salaries and the Teachers.Superannuation Act have
made the school-teaching profession much moré atfrac-
tive than in the past, and unless the univetsities are
placed.in a position to offer salaries and retiring allow-
ances at least comparable with those offeréd’’ to
teachers in secondary schools, they cannot maintain
their efficiency and attract the abler graduates to their
service. After discussion the following resolution was
passed with only five dissentients :—‘t That this meéét-
ing of whole-time teachers in the Incorporated’ Col-
leges and Schools of the University of London hereby
requests the Government to extend to university
teachers and administrative officers all the benefits ‘of
the School Teachers (Superannuation) Att, i918.’
A committee was. appointed to take further action in
conjunction with the Association of University
Teachers, panier
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Royal Society, March 4.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Dr. F. F. Blackman: The proto-
plasmic factor in photo-synthesis. ‘The centre’ of
interest in problems of the photo-reduction of CO, in
green photo-synthesising cells is shifting from /the
chlorophyll to the. protoplasm, The quantitative con-
trol of photo-synthesis in the normal green cell’ is
This is illustrated by
the temperature relations, which are not those of a
photo-chemical reaction, but of a dark reaction... The
photo-synthetic activities of leaves of different’ vitie-
ties (green. v. golden leaves) and at different stages’ of
development show no relation to the amount of chioro-
phyll that they contain, as is brought dut* by. the
“assimilation numbers”’ of Willstatter. The relation
between chlorophyll development and photo-synthesis
development, described in the next communication,
furnishes another instance of the dominance of factors
other than the pigment. In many lower organisms
| we find the power of reducing CO, to form organic
matter by chemical energy in the absence of pigment
or light. This chemo-synthesis may ‘be the’ sole or
only an alternative source of the carbon for the living
cell. The process.involves, of course, no cosmic gain
of energy. In these. cases the efficiency .of energy
transference from-the oxidation of various. substances
to.the reduction of CO, seems to be as great as or
greater than in the utilisation. of li ht energy ee
photo-reduction of CO,.—G. E. Briggs: The ‘be-
ginning of photo-synthesis in the green leaf. In
young. leaves development of the power of photo-
synthesis is-found to lag behind development of chloro-
phyll, so that a green leaf when young may exhibit
very slight or zero photo-synthetic power. This means
that photo-synthetic activity demands development. cf
»some other internal. factor~ than, . chlorophyll: |, The
potentiality of this.other factor rapidly increases with
wage day by day, even when the leaf is Kept, in dark-
| ness. continuously. . By keeping a-leaf_in a, very low
partial pressure of oxygen, further development, of
chlorophyll can, be completely arrested, even in con-
| tinuous -light. , Here .also, starting witha Ipaf, of
feeble green tint, there is similar day-by-day increase
in photo-synthetic. power, in, spite of there being ‘no
further greening. Experiments were. carried out by
90
NATURE
[ Marcu 18,.1920
means of a new apparatus designed by Dr. F. F.
Blackman for measuring a small output of oxygen
in photo-synthesis. The leaf is illuminated in a
closed circuit in an atmosphere of hydrogen and
carbon dioxide. In part of the circuit gases are
carried over palladium black, so that oxygen pro-
duced unites with two volumes of hydrogen. The
threefold reduction of volume resulting -is measured
by a gas burette in the circuit. In this apparatus
oxygen pressure is kept so low that no further
development ‘of chlorophyll takes place, while photo-
synthetic production of oxygen can be measured with
great accuracy: If a leaf is cut from a seedling
growing in the dark at an early stage of development,
and then partially greened by exposure to light in
air, its photo-synthetic activity when transferred to
the apparatus will be very small or nothing. If
exactly the same procedure is repeated a few. days
later, the photo-synthetic activity may be nearly as
great as in the normally developed leaf.—Dr. B.
Moore, E. Whitley, and T. A. Webster: Sunlight and
the life of the sea. [Studies of the photo-synthesis in
marine algz. (1) Fixation of carbon and nitrogen
from inorganic sources in sea-water; (2) increase of
alkalinity of sea-water as a result of photo-synthesis
and as a measure of that process; and (3) relative
photo-synthetic activity of green, brown, and red sea-
weeds in light of varying intensity.]| The vernal out-
burst of green life which occurs at the spring equinox
is occasioned by the rapid change in intensity of daily
illumination. A study of the seasonal variations in
plankton around Port Erin, Isle of Man, has now
been carried on for many years by Prof. W. A. Herd-
man and his co-workers. -In many years the great
outburst of diatoms occurs before the temperature of
the w&ter has even begun to move from its winter
level. It thus becomes clear that it is the longer,
brighter day, with increased altitude of the sun, which
is the primary factor in the sudden dawn of the life
of the sea each spring. This is illustrated by a chart
upon which are shown for each month (1) temperature
of the sea, (2) number of diatoms, (3) hours of bright
sunshine, (4) total radiant energy, and (5) the amounts
of nitrogen peroxide present in the air (formerly called
“ozone of the air’’ or ‘‘active oxygen ’’), as taken at
Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, by Schénbein’s
‘“Ozone’’ papers. A sudden rise in radiant energy
in March is accompanied by (1) the diatomic outburst
and (2) increased nitrite content. It has been shown
that the growing diatoms capture this enormous in-
crease of light, and utilise it for building both carbon
and nitrogen into their organic substances. The
source of the nitrogen is the atmospheric elemental
nitrogen dissolved in the sea-water, and not ammonia,
nitrites, or nitrates. The source of the carbon is the
carbon dioxide of the bicarbonates of calcium and
magnesium dissolved in sea-water. As this carbon
is removed in photo-synthesis the sea becomes always
more alkaline, and the change of reaction can be used
as a rough measure of the marine crop. Although the
increase of alkalinity is small, yet the volume of sea-
water is so immense that, as has been pointed out
by Moore, Prideaux, and George Herdman, suppos-
ing this to happen to a depth of 100 metres over the
surface of the sea, then the crop of moist plankton
per square kilometre would amount to about 1,500,000
kilograms. This corresponds roughly to about 10 tons
per acre.
Royal Microscopical Society, February 18.—Prof. John
Eyre, president, in the chair.—Dr. Agnes . Arber:
(1) Studies on the binucleate phase in the plant-cell.
Rudolf Beer and Dr. Agnes Arber: (2) Multinucleate
cells: an historical study (1879-1919). These two
papers were read as one. It was pointed out that in
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
1844 Nageli first stated that the plant-cell is essen-
tially uninucleate. Those botanists who have from ~
time to time directed attention to exceptions to
Nageli’s rule, usually attributed little importance to
them, but recent work has made it clear that a bi- —
nucleate or multinucleate condition is a very constant
character of young and active tissues. The authors’
observations on the subject were then discussed, the
case of the nuclei of the young inflorescence axis of
Eremurus himalaicus being described in detail. It was
shown that the binucleate condition arises by mitosis.
The division is normal up to the formation of the
daughter-nuclei and the initiation of the cell-plate.
At this point the mechanism apparently breaks down,
the cell-plate is resorbed, and the spindle-fibres and
associated cytoplasm—the ‘‘ phragmoplast” of Errera
—become transformed into a hollow sphere which
encloses the two daughter-nuclei, and eventually, by
gradual expansion, merges with the cytoplasm lining
the cell-wall. For this hollow shell, derived from the
phragmoplast, the authors have proposed the term
‘‘phragmosphere ’? (Proc. Roy. Soc., B, vol. xci.,
1919, p. 10). The question as to how the binucleate
condition of these young cells passes into the uni-
nucleate condition characteristic of mature tissues,
was then considered. It was shown that, although
bilobed nuclei often occur, which at first sight suggest
that the two nuclei have fused together, more critical
examination indicates that these nuclei are simgle
nuclei, the lobing of which is an indication either of
senility (axis of Asparagus) or, in some cases, of an
effort by young and active cells to increase their
nuclear surface (stelar parenchyma of roots of
Stratiotes, leaf epidermis of Hemerocallis). The
authors think it more probable that the uninucleate
condition is restored by degeneration and resorption
of one nucleus, than by the fusion of the two nuclei.
The paper closed with a brief reference to the signi-_
ficance of the multinucleate phase. ;
MANCHESTER. aia ;
Literary and Philosophical Society, February 3.—Sir
Henry A. Miers, president, in the chair.—Prof. E.
Knecht; Alpine insolation effects on unprotected wood.
Effect of direct sunshine on the wood of Alpine
chalets. -When exposed for about a hundred years
the surface of the wood was sometimes charred or
scorched to a uniform black, presenting under the
microscope the appearance of coal. The changes were
probably brought about more by thermo-chemical than
by photo-chemical action. By prolonged heating of
wood to 93° C. the author had produced incipient
blackening of the surface.. The temperature of de-
composition of wood appeared to have an important
bearing on the question of coal-formation.—W.
Thomson and H. S. Newman: The behaviour of
amalgamated aluminium and aluminium wire. In-
vestigations on the fine feathery growths produced
when aluminium wire is brought into contact with
mercury. No such growths are obtained from amal.
gamated magnesium, although it undergoes oxidation
more readily than aluminium at the ordinary tem.
peratures of the. air.—C. E. Stromeyer: The after.
effects of cannibalism. Cannibalism would not be
indulged in by people with vegetarian tastes, or by
those who, having a craving for animal food,
could satisfy it. Others who had this craving,
but no animals to eat, would become cannibals.
No State in which indiscriminate man-eating was
indulged in could have flourished. Officials were there-
fore appointed who invented rites which became
religious ceremonies. Human sacrifices were, to a
certain extent, discontinued, but the rites were con-
(aRcH 18, 1920]
NATURE ya
ied. Religious animal sacrifices of the ancients
an after-effect of human sacrifices, as is possibly
practice of saying grace before meat.
Tall ieee Paris.
lemy of Sciences, February 23.—M. Henri
andres in the chair.—M. L. Mangin gave an account
life-work of Emile Boudier, correspondant in
-—H. Andoyer: The method of Gauss for the
tion of secular perturbations.—L. Maquenne and
: The absorption of calcium by plant-
and its antitoxic properties towards copper.
ium does not prevent the absorption of copper
roots of plants, and copper does not prevent
nilation of calcium. The antitoxic action of
‘ium, experimental proofs of which are given, is
a physiological order; it prevents a dangerous
ation of the poisonous metal.—yY.. Delage:
ion for the reason for the double fovea of
n birds of prey.—W. Kilian: The repartition of
cies of the Palwo-Cretaceous in the structural
of the south-east of France.—J. Hadamard ;
on the works examined and retained by the
s Committee during the period of the war.—
Michelson was elected a foreign associate in
on to the late Lord Rayleigh, and M. Camille
a correspondant for the section of ‘anatomy
oology in succession to the late Gustaf Retzius.—
ellariou : The oblique linear and surface curva-
a surface.—H. Villat: Certain :eyclic move-
s with or without vortices.—C. Rabut: Light
ete: the calculation of increase of power result-
‘ing from its use in building. Slag concrete is lighter
_ than concrete made up with sand or gravel. *A sketch
the theory of its application is given.—P. Le
and influence of the deformation ‘of the
e and of the plane of suspension on the
swing of a pendulum.—H. Georges: A new
fing mercury arc. A description of a new
‘tz mercury lamp which with electromotive forces
ore than 500 volts starts cold.—L. Guillet: The
yf copper, zinc, and nickel. An account of the
anical properties of alloys containing copper,
-and 40:5 per cent.; zinc, 43-2 and ‘44-7 per cent. ;
nickel, 10-4 and 14-4 per cent. Comparisons with
free from nickel are added. Compared with
these alloys possess advantages in colour,
resistance to oxidation, and facility of forging
temperatures.—C, Matignon and M. Fréjacques :
ssociation of ammonium carbamate. Disgocia-
pressures are given for temperatures ranging
m 100° to 150° C.—M. Tiffeneau and A. Orekhoff :
transposition of the phenyl group in the tetra-
thalene series.—R. Souéges: The embryo-
the Chenopodiaceze. Development of the
~
rey
_ berger: The evolution of the chondriome in the forma-
tion of the sporangium in ferns.—J. Pottier: The
rality of the foliar asymmetry in mosses.—P.
angeard: The evolution of the vacuolar system in
; ee imagen Portier and Mme. Lucie Randoin :
_ The creation of vitamines in the intestines of rabbits
_ receiving nourishment sterilised at a high tem-
Books Received.
Card Test for Colour Blindness. By Dr. F. W.
_ Edridge-Green. 24 cards. (London: G. Bell and
' Sons, Ltd.) 25s. net. .
__ The Development of the Atomic Theory. By A. N.
4 By C. R. Attlee. Pp. viii+
_ 286. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 6s. net.
NO. 2629, VOL. 105]
yo in Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus.—L. Em-
Fourth revised
(Washington: Smithsonian
Smithsonian Meteorological Tables.
edition. Pp. Ixxii+261.
Institution.)
The Sumner Line, or Line of Position as an Aid to
Navigation., By G. C. Comstock. Pp. vit+7o. (New
York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman
and Hall, Ltd.) 6s. net.
Blank Reduction Forms for Line of
Observations (Marc St. Hilaire Method). By G. C.
Comstock. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.;
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net
Silvanus Phillips Thompson, D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S. :
His Life and Letters. By J. S. and H. G. Thomp-
son.. Pp. ix+372. (London: T. Fisher Unwin,
Ltd.) 21s. net.
Wild Life in Canada.
Position
By Capt. A. Buchanan.
Pp. xx+264. (London: J. Murray.) 15s. net.
Collected Scientific Papers. By Prof. J. H.
Poynting. Pp. xxxii+768. (Cambridge: At the
University Press.) 37s. 6d. net.-
The Principles of Aérography. By Prof. A. McAdie.
Pp. xii+318. (London: G. G. Harrap and Co.) 21s.
net.
General Science :
Pp. vili+435. (London:
5s. net.
Quantitative Analysis by Electrolysis. By A.
Classen and Cloeren. Revised English edition
by Prof. W. T. Hall. Pp. xiii+346. (New York:
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and
Hall, Ltd.) 17s. 6d. net.
Practical Histology. By Prof. J. N.
Third edition. Pp. viiit+320. (Cambridge: W.
Heffer and Sons, Ltd.) tos. 6d. net. :
Fuel Production and Utilization. By Dr. H. S.
Taylor. Pp. xiv+297. (London: Bailliére, Tindall,
and Cox.) tos. 6d. net.
History of the Great War, Based on Official Docu-
ments. Naval Operations. By Sir Julian Corbett.
Vol. i. Pp. xiv+470+vol. of 18 maps. (London:
Longmans and Co.) 17s. 6d. net.
Nature and Super-Nature: A Key to the Soiritual
World. Bv J. Leslie. Pp. 80. (Aberdeen: W. Jolly
and Sons, Ltd.) 2s.
First Course. By L. Elhuff.
G. G.. Harrap and Co.)
Langley.
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, Marcu 18.
Rovat InstiTuTION oF GREAT Britain, at 3.—Stephen Graham: The
Spirit of America after the War. et
Royat Sociery, at 4.30.—W. B. Brierley: A Form of Botrytis cinerea
with Colourless Sclerotia.—R. R. Gates: A Preliminary Account of the
Meintic Phenomena in the Pollen Mother Cells and Tapetum of Lettuce
(Lactuca sativa). 2
LinNEAN Society, at 5.—Dr. J. Small: The Chemical Reversal of Geo-
‘tropic Response in Roots and Stems. :
Rovat CotLKce oF Puysicrans, at 5.—Sir Join R. Bradford: The
Clinical Experiences of a Physician during the Campaign in France and
Flanders, 1914-r9t9 (Lumleian Iecture). ‘
Roya InstiruTe oF Pustic Hearn, at 5.—Dr. S. V. Pearson; Sug-
gested Reforms in the Campaign against Tuberculosis. : }
INSTITUTION OF MiniING AND METALLURGY (at Geological Society),
at 5.30.—W. R. Jones: Tin and Tungsten Deposits: The Economic
Significance of their Relative Temperatures of Formation. _ Rips
InsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil
Engineers), at 6.—Adjourned Discussion on the Papers of W. H.
Patchell and S. H. Fowles read at the Meetingon Marchrt.
Cuemicat. Society, at 8.—I. Masson and R. McCall: The Viscosity of
Nitrocellulose in Mixtures of Acetone and Water.—H. Stephen, W. F.°
Short, and G. Gladding: The Introduction of the Chloromethyl Group
into the Aromatic Nucleus.—H. E. Cox: The Influence of the Solvent
on the Velocity of Reaction between certain Alkyl Todides and Sodium
8-Naphthoxide.—H. Crompton and P. L. Vanderstichele : The Use of r:2-
Dichlorovinylethyl Ether for the Production of Chloroacetates and Acid
Chlorides.
Society or ANTIQUARIES, at 8.30.
FRIDAY, MARCH 19. j ne
Roya Socrety or Arts (Indian Section), at 4.30.—Sir William. S.
Meyer : The Indian Currency System and its Developments. aT
Concrete Ixstirure, at 6.—Dr. O. Faber: The Practical Application
of Reinforced Concrete. :
InsTiITUTION OF. MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—D. Brownlie : Exact,
Data on the Performance of Mechanical Stokers, as applied to ‘‘ Lanca-
shire” and other Narrow-flued Boilers.
Gay d+
NATURE
[Marcu 18,\ 1920
Jonior INSTITUTION or ENGINEERS, at 7.30.—W. H. F. Robba: Ship-
building and Shipping Developmen's in Italy.
Roya Socirty or MEpDICcINE (Electro- Thera
Dr. A. E. Barclay and Others Discussion on Radium-Therapy and Radio-
phhetapy of Exophthalniic Goitre. —Dr. S: Russ: Vision by Ultra-violet
j
Roost InstiTuTION oF GREAT Britain, at 9.—E. McCurdy:
ida Vinci.
SATURDAY, MARCH 20,
RovaL InstiruTion oF GREAT BRITAIN, at’ §--Sir J. J. Thomson:
Positive Rays.
PuystoLocicaL Society (at University College), at 4.—J. F. Donegan
and Others: Innervation of Veins.
MONDAY, Marcu 22.
Ablarovincie Soctery (at 74 ‘Grosvenor Street, W.1), at 8.—C, C. TF; ‘Webb:
‘Obligation, Autonomy, and the Common Good.
Mepvicat Society oF. Lonpon, at 8.30.—E. M. Little and Others :
‘Discussion on the Re-education of the Amputated.
Roya. Greocraruicat Sociery (at Philharmonic. Hall),
Ernest Shackleton: The 1914-1917 Antarctic Expedition.
' TUESDAY, MARCH 23.
Leonardo
at 8.30.—Sir
Reka: ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE AND:PREHISTORIC SOCIETY OF EAST |
ANGLIA (Joint Meetings) (at Geologicat Society), at 3.—The Prehistoric
‘Society of East Anglia.—Prof, arr: Man and ‘the Glacial Period
‘(Presidential Address).—H. Dewey.? Flat- based Celts from Kent, Hamp-
Shire, and Dorset.—Dr. A. E.. Peake: Exhibit of. Specimens found: at
Grime’s Graves in 1919.
Rovat Horricuctura Society, at 3. —Rev. Ji Jacob: Wandering down
‘Old Garden By-roads.
Rovat INSTITUTION OF GREAT ee bop at 3.—Prof. A. Keith :. British
Ethnology—The Invaders of Englan
Roya CoL_eGE or Puysicrans, vi 6:—Sir John R. Bradford: The
‘Clinical Experiences of a Physician during the Campaign in France and
Flanders, 1914 1919 (Lumleian Lecture).
InsriruTion oF CrviL ENGINEERS, at 5.30 —Col. D. Lyell: The Work
done by Railway Troops in France during 1914-1919.
RoyaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE AND PREUISTORIC Society or East
‘Ancta (Joint Meetings) (at Geological Society), at 6.—Prof. A. Keith:
“How Far Cranial Characters can Help in Estimating the Antiquity of
‘Human Remains. (Lantern.)
Roya. PHotrocrapuic Society or GREAT BRUrain (Technical Meetin 2);
at 7.—Dr. B. Glover: Factorial and Time. Methods of Development
applied to Bromide.and Gaslight Papers; Theoretical Principles and
‘Practical Demonstrations.
Farapay Society (at Chemical Society), at 7-30. —General Discussion :—
Basic S'ags:_ Their Production and Utilisation in Agricultural and other
Industries. Prof, onnan will preside over the discussion.—
r..E.. J.. Russell will-open the discussion and give a general survey of .
the subject. —Prof. C. H Desch will discuss the subject from the Physico-
Chemical Standpoint. —Sir T. H. Middleton: The National Aspects of
the Case for the of Basic Slag.—Sir A. Daniel Hall:
The Demand _for Basic Slag. PE D. A. Gilchrist: Basic Slag and its
Place in the Development of Agriculture.—G. Scott Robertson: A Com-
parison of the
Grassland.—Dr. J. ‘E. Stead, F. Bainbridge, and E. W. Jackson: Papers
on Solubility of Basic Slags. —D. repr ves The Formation of Basic Slag
in the Manufacture of Steel —W. S. Jones; The Improvement of Low-
grade Dasic Slag.
WEDNESDAY, Marcu 24.
InsTITUTION oF Nava Arcuirects (at Royal Society of Arts), at 11.—
The Earl of Durham: Presidential Address.—Sir Eustace D’Eyncourt
H.M.S. Hoo7.—A. W. Johns : German Submarines.—G. S. Baker : Mode
Experiments i in Connection with Submarine Warfare.
ASSOCIATION OF Ec nomic BioLocists (General Meeting) (in Botany
School of the Imperial College of Science _and Technology), at 11.30.—
Short Communications and Exhibitions —D. utler: The Relation
of Protozoa to Soil Problems.—Wimifred E. Brenchley: Correlation
between Seed and Crop.—At 2.15.—Dr. W. Lawrence Balls : The Nature
and Scope of Botanical Research in the Cotton Industry.—M. C, Rayner:
he Calcifuge Habit in Ling (Ca luna vulgaris) and other Ericaceous
Plants.—H. Wormald: Shoot Wilt of Plum Trees.
Royat Society or Arms, at 4.30.—L. Gaster: Industrial Lighting in its
relation to Efficiency:
GEoLocicaL Society oF Lonpon, at 5.30.—Mrs. E. M. Reid: Two Pre-
Glacial Floras from Castle Eden, Durham, and a Comparative Review of
Pliocene Floras, based on the Study of Fossil Seeds.
PsycHoLocicaL Society (Industrial Section) (at Examination Ro. ms of
the Royal College of Physicians, 8-11. Queen Square, W.C. 1), at 6.—
Miss G. Broughton; The Psychological
in Factories employing Women.
. THURSDAY, Marcu 25.
INSTITUTION OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS (at Royal Society of Arts), at rr.—
Sir Alfred Yarrow: Notes on our Economic Position as a Shipbuilding
Country.—J. Anderson : Further Notes on the Dimensions of Cargo
S:eamers.—Dr, J. Bruhn; Freeboard and Strength of Ships.
INSTITUTION OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS (at Royal Society of Arts), at 3.— .
P. R Jackson: The Stabilisation of Ships by means. of Gyroscopes. —
Prof. K,.
Waves.
Roya INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Stephen Graham: The
Hope for Russia.
Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Prof. A. R. Forsyth: Note ©
on the Central Differential Equation in the Relativity Theory of Gravi- |
tation.—R. D. Oldham: The Frequency of Earthquakes in Italy in the
Years 1896 to 1914. * A. F. Dafton: A New Apparatus for Drawing Conic
Curves.—Capt. J. W. Bispham: An Experimental Determination of the
Distribution Of the Partial Correlation Coefficient in Samples of 30.
Cuemicat Society (Annual General Meeting), at 5.-Sir James J, Dobbie:
Presidential Address.
Roya CoLLeGck oF Pnysicians, ‘at: 5.—Sir John R. Bradford: The
Clinical Experiences of a Physician during the Campaign in France and
_¥ landers, 1914-1919 (Lumleian Lecture).
NO. 2629, VOL. 105 |
eutics Section), at 8.30.— _
‘Roya
| Letters to the Editor :—
Effect «f various Types.of Open-hearth Basic Slag on,
auses of the Wastage of abou:
Suyehiro: Yawing of Ships caused by Oscillation amongst |
Chesser: Adolescence and the Continuation Schools.
INSTITUTION oF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (at 'nstitution of on rise Dell
at 6 —Diseussion on :—(a) The ckonttiga Psi ee of
ings (with Introductory Paper Milne). (4) The Rook ‘of the —
Farthing Sub-Committee of the Wiring Rules Committee of the Insti-
tution.
| ‘Cutv-Stupy. Society: (at. Royal ‘Sanitary Institute), at-6.—Dr. pier |
INSTITUTION OF NaAvAL ARCHITECTS (at Roval Society of Arts), at 7.30.— :
C. I, R. Campbell and C. H. May: The Effect of Size upon Per
of Rigid Airships.—Prof. E, G. Coker and A: Kemball, jun.: The ~
Effects of Holes, Cracks, and other Discontinuities in Ships’ Plating. 3
Cuemicav Society ({nformal Meeting), at 8.
FRIDAY, Marcu’ 26.
InstituTION oF NAvAL Aaeun eens (at Royal Society of Arts), at 11.— —
“Eng.-Com. H. B, Tostevin: rience and Practice in Mechanical Re- ©
duction Gears.in Warships.—J. orion Salter <
and Determining the Position and Am unt of the Balancing Weights.— ,
Prof. T. H. Havelock: Turbulent ein me and Skin Friction.
PuysicaL Society or Lonpon, at 5.—Prof. A..S Phew. sane and Others: +
Discussion on Einstein's Theory of Re’ ativity, , ‘
WIRELESS PORiEey OF Lonpon (at Institution of Civil
Capt. L.A. T.’Broadwood: Harmonicsin Continuous }
(Illustrated by Lantern Slides and Experiments). 5
en Ca OF MECHANICAL. ENGINEEKS (informal Ming) at 7.—
L. Young’and Others : Discussion on Foundry ;
Rovat InstTrtuTION of GREAT BRITAIN, at’ 9.—Sir’J. FE Phoned The -
eriqaiine Work of the late ‘Ihe Right Hon.. Lord Rayleigh. peels
SATURDAY; Marcu 27.
INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Sir J. J. "Thomson :
Positive Rays.
poe eers), at 6.— |
Transmissions
Our, Bookshell 2:, 40032 ees
Museums and the Sigh Beat: E. W. MacBride,
F.R.S,; Prof. J...W..:Gregory,. Fh. Rissa ee
F. A, Bather, F.R.S.; Dr. Wm. Evans Hoyle;
William G. Wagner
Some Methods of Approximate Integrates ‘and of
‘Lhe Balancing of Rotors : .
CONTENTS. PAGE
Science and the New Army ch gk
The Roast Beef of Old England. "By C. G5 ype
French Text-books of ca ah By J. B. OC. ee.
Indian Beetles. By C. J. 2 Bee:
‘Mathematics: Pure and “Applied. “By Dr. S.
PILOMOL@ Ms re aie estas) bal ate «9,38 a ee
Computing Areas.—A. S. Percival 70
An Electronic Theory of Isomerism. (With Diagrams.) -
—Dr. H.-S; Allen... Pi:i;
The “Siege of Equivalence and the Notion of Force. - sm
. Richardson
ee of Scientific Work. — Major A. G Church. a !
Scientific Reunions at.the Natural. sta Museum. -
Dr. G. F. Herbert Smith. . . 9 ay a eae a
The World’s Production of Silver < oe
Time-reckoning of the North Ametican Indians se Se
Obituary : Dr, Charles Gordon Hewitt . Ae :
The Gyrostatic tea gi te orbs By S. G,
Brown, F.R.S. . 5 9: a accent Ea eaeaae ane
Notes . SLL eee
Our Astronomical Céldmnn — 3
The Total Solar Eclipse of Sepiemiee 20, gat igh ee
The‘Binary Star p Eridahi' . 45) 24g? eee
Faint Nebule . . ... ied eis ee
International Fishery Investigations . oer! te
Exhibition of Diseases of the Para Rubber- tree. ae
The Position of the Meteorological Office “signal
Earthworks and Retaining Walls — 10s Sas
Fellowship of the New Zealand Institute . . 1 ee
The Proposed University of Reading =... . . . . 88
University and Educational intelligence PE Sd
Societies and Academies wg ee spies eg
Books Received *: Pe Me OF a
Diary of Societies’ 5 ws. gr
' Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN’ AND CO., Lrp.,
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements ae Susana letters to be addressed to the”
Publishers,
h
Editorial CO setae to the Editor.
Telegraphic..Address:: Puusis, LONDON. 9 oy
T aahens Number: GERRARD. 8830.
, ay
,
+
no
NATURE
93
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1920. -
SS bee ee ’
Knowledge and Power.
ae in the restricted fields of executive per-
To this situation is due, as is: well
yn, the need that -has arisen in recent times
nat high degree of specialisation in certain
of knowledge which has revolutionised the
: of organisation of the personnel in the
nce.
nsible for the introduction, in many enter-
throughout - world, of the régime of the
Pimps liiiely speiticins, a newcomer in
a
there, and at the same time to have the
> of his authority and the dignity of his status
ly determined and unequivocably declared.
are matters calling for early attention, for
exists, not without foundation, that,
i t in ‘commercial and industrial circles the
has been very generally permitted to occupy
of influence: compatible with the import-
“his métier, in the governmental sphere
ert has, more often than not, been rele-
to a position in which his every purpose is
le more or less ineffectual, one, moreover,
which the exercise of his legitimate activities
barely tolerated by those lah an the clerical
controlling positions,
During ‘the past few years the piety
4 asiness regarding the unsatisfactory footing
on which the technical staff in the public services
finds itself has been quickened, owing largely to
2 appreciation on the part of the public of the
t that it was the failure in governmental
ters to give heed to the advice of the technical
<pert that wagyresponsible for bringing the
yuntry to the brink of a dire catastroplie—one,
deed, which, at the crisis of the late war, threat-
ened its continued existence as an independent
Brcopiss: ‘one from sa it escaped with but a very
“marrow margin.
The British phi” had been persuaded to
believe that any deficiency in the military
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
of commerce and industry, and is likewise |
realms of officialdom, the middern technical
i has still to be assigned his place of prece- |
establishments, 6f. the country was more than
counterbalanced and compensated for by. reason
of the high perfection to which every detail con-
nected with the Royal Navy had been brought. In
the circumstances, the public may well be par-
doned for the belief so firmly held by it before
the Great War that the British Navy had
nothing whatever to learn from either friend
or foe. .
- That the popular conceptions on the foregoing
matters were in many respects erroneous now
stands out in cold print in the pages of Lord
Jellicoe’s “The Grand Fleet, 1914-16.” 1 In the pre-
face to this book it is ares. ip unequivocal terms
that the Germans were “superior to us in
material.” The gallant Admiral does not limit
himself to generalisations, but on many a page
he particularises the specific matters in which the
equipment or arrangements on our battleships
were deficient, defective, or obsolete, and our
defence works wanting. For example, he states :
“The Jutland battle convinced us that our armour-
piercing shell was inferior in its penetrative power
to that used by the Germans.” “Some delay
occurred in improving our range-finders. . Our
most modern Ships were provided with range-
finders 15 ft. in length, but the. majority of the
ships were fitted with instruments only 9 ft. long.
During 1917 - successful steps were taken to
Supply range-finders: up to 25 ft. and 30 ft.-in
length ; a series of experiments with. -stereoscopic
range-finders was also instituted in the same year.
It had become known, that the Germans used this
type of range-finders.” . “The use of smoke
screens was closely investigated as a result of our
experience of the German use of this device.”
“ Neither our searchlights nor their control arrange-
ments were at this time of the best type.” The
foregoing are but a few of the specific matters in
which the foremost Navy in the world is recorded
to have been outstripped, at a critical period of
the war, by a rival of new creation,
In ther directions, too, was Great Britain lack-
ing in the matter of naval defence, For example,
reference is made by Lord Jellicoe to the fact that
harbour defences and obstructions were non-
existent in the early days of the war. Again,
it is stated that in the matter of gunnery and
torpedo practices considerable leeway had to be
made good. As regards the former, after the out-
_break of war a great extension of the system of
director firing, by which one others Or man can
1 Published by Cassell and Co., Ltd. Price 34s. 67. net,
E
94 NATURE
[ Marcu 25, 1920
lay and fire all the guns of a ship, was made (in
August, 1914, only eight battleships had been
fitted with this system).
In the face of the disclosures made in connection
with the Battle of Jutland, it may well be asked
whether the deficiencies and defects to which
attention has been directed could have been fore-
seen in peace time and provided against. Little
doubt on the subject can be left in the minds of
those who read in a spirit of inquiry “Fifty
Years in the Royal Navy,” the autobiography
of Admiral Sir Percy Scott?; the matters
dealt with therein provide a direct answer
to the foregoing question. In many of the
pages of this autobiography will be found the
story of the striving, over a long period of years,
after progress and efficiency in relation to various
details connected with the Senior Service, and of
the obstinate opposition to all reforms which
was constantly met with by. those who were in
pursuit of essential improvements. The remarks
of Sir Percy Scott on every subject the theme
_of which relates to the attempt to introduce
into the public service some new idea or device,
or some improvement on existing apparatus,
machinery, or methods, have all the same ring
about them. In relation to every one of the matters
to which the distinguished Admiral refers, the
conduct of those in the controlling positions was
consistent ;'in every instance the advice and assist-
ance of the expert were ignored, either until it was
altogether too late, or until considerable harm
had been done and the waste of much public
money, if not also the loss of valuable lives,
involved.
Sir Percy Scott tells us that it was so long ago
as February 10, 1909, that battle practice first
took place, at Tetuan, with extemporised director
firing. Yet it took the Admiralty two years to
come to a decision as to its introduction into the
Navy, and the Board waited for eight years—
indeed, until the nation had for nearly three years
been involved in a life-and-death struggle—before
it adopted the system generally.
Another remarkable illustration of Admiralty
methods mentioned by Sir Percy Scott is that con-
nected with the depth charge, which ultimately
turned out to be the antidote to the submarine.
The design of a depth charge, actuated by a
hydrostatic valve, was submitted by Capt. P. H.
Colomb on October 1, 1914. The idea was so
simple that these depth charges could have been
2 Published by John Murray. Price 21s. net.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
supplied in large quantities within a few weeks
of the date mentioned, but it was not until 1916
that a decision was arrived at on the matter;
meanwhile, the delay, it is stated, involved the
nation in a loss of 200,000,000l. cae ee
A similar striking example of officialism
occurred in relation to the Pomeroy bullet, which
was eventually’ successfully used in attacking
Zeppelins. This bullet had been first tried in 1908,
and gave satisfactory results; it was submitted to
the War Office in 1914, but rejected. Jn June,
1915, another trial was made of the bullet, and
again it proved satisfactory ; however, it was not
accepted and brought into use until the autumn of
1916—that is to say, the country had to wait two
years for the adoption of an essential missile
which was urgently wanted, in spite of the fact
that the efficacy of the invention had been unmis-
takably proved many years previously.
Instances of official ineptitude and bureaucratic
formalism similar to those referred to in the fore-
going examples, and others mentioned in Sir
Percy Scott’s autobiography, are, unfortunately,
all too common in practically every Government
Department in this country, and arise all from the
same cause, the ignoring of the advice and
opinions of the technical expert and a fixed dis-
trust of him. Expression was given to this atti--
tude a few years ago by an official of the adminis-
_trative branch of a Government Department during
an inquiry before a Select Committee of the House
of Commons into an important engineering con- |
tract-—a contract in which the technical staff had
been entirely ignored at every stage connected
with its negotiation. “I do not think,” said this
official, “these gentlemen, the highly technical
experts, are suited, by their education or their
environment and line of thought, and all that sort
of thing, to decide very often what is the best
thing to do. They jump to a conclusion.” Yet
the most superficial examination of the evidence
that exists in relation to the measures and steps
by which the technical expert has succeeded
in providing man with the material comforts
enjoyed by him, and by which there have been
placed at the command of the business community
the powerful aids to commerce and industry com-
prised in the domain of the public utility services,
affords the most complete contradiction of the mis-
chievous doctrine contained in the foregoing utter-
ance,
It. must not be imagined that it is alone in
relation to questions of high policy, such, for
MARCH 25, 1920]
NATURE
le, as the Dardanelles Expedition—with
d to which it is recorded in Lord Fisher’s
ies *3: “The Cabinet Council reached its
mnclusi without drawing the opinion of the
pert thereat for its guidance ’—that the tech-
es can be given of instances when, in
_ both to important technical aspects of
ental policy and to simple matters of
cutive detail, the advice of the technicians has
isscrruled or not sought.
rt - root cause of the mischief under discussion
#s in the system of the Civil Service. A _privi-
zed class has been allowed to grow up there, a
ss which, by reason of its proximity to the
ster and of the long service of the individual
1e niet for the oe unsatisfactory state
ffairs as regards the position of the technical
pert is not far to seek. As matters stand to-day,
technical staffs in the Government Departments
too little influence and authority, whilst the
Service clerk has too much influence and an
_of authority. The disparity between the
s of these two classes is a source of public
‘, and the way to obviate it is by a thorough
isation of the Civil Service and its system.
it is required is that the chief administrative
s shall forthwith cease to be a monopoly of
lerical staffs. A suitable organisation for the
Service would be one which provided that
rants into every branch of it should, as a rule,
gin their careers in an executive grade, and
promoted to occupy administrative posts at
2 headquarters of a Ministry or Department
y after giving proof that they were familiar with
practical aspects of the matters they might
called on to administer. By the introduction of
‘Such an organisation into the Civil Service, it
would be possible, to select the best qualified
officers in each branch for the important adminis-
trative posts, and, in consequence, render pos-
ble the adoption of a system whereby all matters
sferred to headquarters on which decisions have
0 be passed would come invariably before those
ho were experts in the particular subject upon
hich action had to be taken.
% Published by Hodder and Stoughton.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
Price 21s. net.
Aeronautical Research.
Applied Aerodynamics. By Leonard Bairstow.
Pp. xii+566. (London: Longmans, Green,
and Co., 1920.) Price 32s. net.
MPATIENTLY as we have waited for the
publication of this book, we feel that its
appearance could scarcely have been more oppor-
tune. For here, as we believe, will be found
abundant evidence in support of those who, like
the Committee for Education ‘and Research in
Aeronautics, have striven to resist the break-up of
our aerodynamics laboratories and design staffs.
Research is always costly, aeronautical research
superlatively so; and a public whose ear has been
somewhat dulled by the insistence with which its
claims were urged—not always wisely—during: the
war is somewhat naturally deafened now, by
strident calls for economy, to any temperate state-
ment of its claims. It is not promises that are
wanted at the present time, to justify further
expenditure, but a record of things achieved; and
although the tangible results of British science
and invention, as applied to the construction of
aircraft, have appealed, and by the glamour of
long-distance flying are still appealing, to the
popular imagination, yet it has resulted from
secrecy necessary in war time that the foundations
upon which these successes have been built—the
patient, detailed investigations which have sup-_
plied our designers with the data they required
—are familiar only to a very few, being for the
most part contained in reports of which the circu-
lation, no less than the appeal, has been limited
to specialists.
Now, within one volume of reasonable dimen-
sions and large type, we are presented with an
authoritative review of the work achieved by our
research organisations during five years of strenu-
ous activity. We have no fears that impartial -
judgment will pronounce the time and expenditure
to have been wasted. Most branches of applied
science have developed rapidly under the stimulus
of war conditions, but of applied aerodynamics it
might without serious exaggeration be said that
the science has been created. The pioneer work is
done, but to those who read Mr. Bairstow’s book
carefully it will be evident that om every side lie
fields for research of which scarcely the surface
has been broken, and that no mistake could be
more disastrous, if we acknowledge the import-
ance of aeronautics, than a refusal now to avail
ourselves of the experience acquired by those few
men to whom its present state of development
is due.
We do not, of course, imply that the book is
96 NATURE
[MaRcH 25, 1920 |
merely a record of war developments, still less
an apologia for the aerodynamics laboratories. It
is, both in intention and in effect, a handbook for
the student, for the designer, and for the research
worker, which assumes no previous knowledge in
the reader, beyond the elements of hydrostatic
theory, and illustrates the applications of aero-
dynamics in all its essential branches. Mr.
stow’s qualifications for authorship are too well
known to need description here. A leader in aero-
dynamic research at the National Physical Labora-
tory since the formation of the Advisory Com-
mittee for Aeronautics in 1909, his duties as expert
adviser to the Air Board and Ministry during the
war brought him into intimate contact with every
side of aeronautical activity. Of great import-
ance, in our opinion, is the fact that he has had
first-hand acquaintance with research on both the
model and the full-scale aeroplane, and so is
entitled—whether we agree with his conclusions
or not—to pronounce with authority upon the
vexed questions which relate to “scale effect.”
But copious knowledge has not always, in the
past, given us satisfactory text-books, and it is a
real pleasure to find how well balanced is the
structural scheme which Mr. Bairstow has devised,
After touching lightly, but adequately, upon the
early history of his subject, and having illustrated
its. present state of development by brief descrip-
tions of typical modern aircraft and engines, he
passes at once to a discussion of the principles of
flight, and in his second chapter, within some fifty
pages, the reader learns, by actual examples fully
explained, how to make practically all the funda-
mental calculations required in estimating the per-
formance and. characteristics of aircraft.
In our opinion, this is one of the best features
of the. book. Aerodynamics is an empirical science,
and design proceeds by the manipulation of ex-
perimental curves which, with rare exceptions,
cannot, be represented by mathematical functions ;
present-day developments consist almost entirely
in refinement of the experimental data and of
the methods of their manipulation, and thus have
a.tendency to obscure, for the general reader,
the basic principles involved. ‘By discarding all
refinements, whilst extending his specimen calcu-
dations to..cover a wide range of problems, Mr.
‘Bairstow emphasises the fundamental principle
that all design is conditioned by the experimentally
determined properties of the wing section, and
thus prepares, his reader for an_ intelligent
-appreciation of the more detailed considerations
which follow.
Chap...iii.,., which deals with experimental
methods ,of measurement, as they have ~been
developed in the aerodynamics laboratories, is
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 | ?
Bair-_
characterised by the same breadth of view and
neglect of unnecessary refinement. _ In it the |
reader, now initiated into the problems which the
science of aerodynamics has to solve, learns how
these problems are attacked on the experimental
side, and what order of accuracy may reasonably
be expected in their solution. The account, given
on p. 115 of the theory of model experiments on
non-rigid airship envelopes might seem (to suggest
that the model scale should be chosen so-as to
give (in theory) equality of fabric tensions,
whereas actually, of course, it is easy to obtain
proportionality in a model of any scale, and
increase in scale has the advantage that it. reduces
the error introduced by the weight of the fabric.
Again, we could have wished that some descrip-
tion had been included of the ‘ ‘cascade ” _experi-
ment on aerofoils, which seems so promising a
line of development for propeller theory ; but from
a footnote on p. 290 we gather that the technique
of this experiment had not been fully ‘worked out
at the time of writing.
Considerations of space prevent us from dealing
as we could have wished with chap. vii., an admir-
able résumé of the investigations which have been
made—without very much result,.so far, as
regards their practical application—into the
theory of fluid motion, and with chap. viii., in
which the author states his present position on
the question of ‘“‘scale effect.” Not long ago this
was a question which divided. aeronautical experts
into two fiercely warring bands: but the heat
of that battle has since died down, and we
imagine ‘that few will take exception to Mr.
Bairstow’s summing up of the position. Scale
effect, or at any rate its possibility, is indicated
by theory; it is proved beyond question to exist
in many of the problems which can be investigated
in wind-channels ; and it may very well be present
to a troublesome degree in many of the problems
which concern the complete aircraft: but the
order of accuracy hitherto attainable in full-scale
work is too far below the ordinary standard of
wind-channel work to justify us in attributing to
scale effect every discrepancy which has been dis-
covered in the comparison of model and full-scale
data. : ; ‘
The remainder of the book, which analyses and
applies the design data from the aerodynamics
laboratories, scarcely affords suitable material for
criticism on a first reading; ultimately these
chapters must be judged by the service
which they render, in daily use, to the
design office and the laboratory. We-shall con-
tent ourselves by mentioning one particular in
which, as we believe, the book could be improved
in a second edition. ‘We do not think it is merely
ARCH 25, 1920]
NATURE
97
personal preference which has been disappointed
y the scantiness of the references in this volume
)_ original sources of information, and. to
uthc $; in our opinion, the more dinhiecitativd a
60k is, the more importance attaches to complete
rences, whereby the reader is assisted in pur-
Bb wtich interests him. We hold, too, that the
ent ior of authors’ names is important for other
1a! hee it is an aid to memory and to verbal
m—shall we attain to the definiteness of
ing which we associate with “Lenz’s law,”
he ‘“Willan’s line”?); and it is of enormous
ssistance to the reader in helping him to fit each
ew fact or theory into his mental picture of the
ntific. structure. We might add that con-
ney demands either the suppression of all
rences to individuals (which is no longer think-
) or the adoption of the course which we
ia ity (and if a refutation of the charge. were
ted, it could be found in the entire absence
» describes), yet we have been struck by the
apparent arbitrariness with which authors’ names
hav o> reagg included or suppressed. We are
cious that it would be very difficult to
bet ive. saebiplete references at the present time,
1 because of the unfortunate preference for
onymous reports which was so prevalent in
_ the early days of the war; but this difficulty should
be oye ‘by the publication of the reports in
_ their final form, and we shall hope then to see
Pehose additions which will make this book the
_ standard work of reference in its subject.
_ The printing and paper of the book are good,
__and a special word of praise is due to the illus-
trative diagrams, which appear to have been
_ re-drawn specially for this work. The book is
thick and rather heavy, and those who will make
_ it a work for daily reference will probably find it
desirable to clothe it in rather stronger binding.
7. ex
ie - Gymnospermic History.
ES Foskit Plants: A Text-book for Students of
Botany and Geology. By Prof. A. C. Seward.
= Vol. iv. : Ginkgoales, Coniferales, Gnetales.
ae Biological Series.) Pp. xvi+543.
(Cambridge : At the University Press, 1919.)
Price 1 guinea net.
every science, works wiiah Saline together
_ the data of the subject are essential, and to
; none more so than to paleobotany, which is haned
Bete...» NOs, 2030, ; FP 105 |
x
his: investigations into any particular ques- |
s than the mere gratification of their per- .
ssion (how otherwise—to take examples at :
Rankine cycle,” ‘“Bernoulli’s equation,” or
on the correlation of fragmentary remains from
all countries and of all ages. Prof. Seward has
served his science well in completing the almost
Herculean task of writing a text-book covering
the whole field of these plant remains. The first
volume appeared many years ago, and this, the
fourth, is the final one of the series,
This disappointingly closes with the higher Gym-
nosperms, the series of plant families treated, and
the author does not propose to continue the work
so as to deal with the flowering plants. This is
perhaps scarcely surprising, as the data bearing
on the flowering plants are very complex and of
a. fragmentary and unsatisfactory. nature, and
have, moreover, been little studied in this country.
Some up-to-date handling of the Angiosperms is
greatly to be desired, and students will await with
some impatience the appearance of the independent
work Prof. Seward promises, in which he proposes
to deal with the generalities of plant distribution,
taking the fossil Angiosperms into account.
Prof. Seward’s text-book should be a useful
tool, not only to palzobotanists in particular, but
also to all students of either botany or geology in
general. Somewhat lost sight of in the mass of
fossil species, there are, prefacing each group,
excellent accounts of the living representatives of
each family.
In a volume of such laborious detail as: the
present one, which appeals to the specialist rather
than to the average layman, there must, of course,
be many comparative trifles which tend to side-
track any critic by inducing an attempt to deal with
minor controversial matter. To do this, however,
in a general review would be both ungenerous
and unfair, because the amount of public recogni-
tion and the gratitude which scientific authors
receive is small and out of proportion to the
labour and to the sacrifice involved in their tasks.
Misprints are remarkably few, and the general
perspective of presentation is well preserved,
although here and there the author has naturally ,
indulged in rather longer descriptions of one or
two individual species which are first published in
this book than such specimens would be allowed
had they been published separately at an earlier
date. It is doubtful, as a matter of general policy,
whether a text-book is the place to publish new
species at all, although any research worker must
have in his notes records of small and relatively
unimportant species which scarcely deserve inde-
pender.t memoirs, and the temptation to put them
in the text-book must be very great.
_ Knowledge of the higher Gymnosperms largely
depends on petrified material of secondary timber,
for although fragments of foliage impressions
with a few cones are known, they are compara-
98
NATURE
| MarcH 25, 1920
tively rare. The Mesozoic and Tertiary rocks,
however, are rich in silicified and other petrified
woods, many of which belong to the coniferous
genera. The determination of these woods is a
particularly difficult branch of paleontological re-
search, demanding great patience and knowledge
of the finer points of plant structure. Wood deter-
aminations are often—-indeed generally—neglected,
owing to the difficulty of mastering the technique ;
but, as Prof. Seward truly says, “the student
cannot afford to neglect this line of inquiry if he
desires to obtain a comprehensive view” of the
essentials of paleontological plant history. In
the present volume a considerable proportion of
the space is allotted to the careful and critical con-
sideration of the species based on secondary wood.
The terminology of this section is not entirely
that adopted by other leading workers in this
field, but tends perhaps to simpler grouping of
the subject by the elimination of certain “genera ”
which -are based on distinctions too subtle for
secure determination, such, for instance, as the
Phyllocladoxylon of Gothan. The elimination of
doubtful genera, principally those which have
names suggestive of affinities remote from those
with which they properly are really to be asso-
ciated, on the whole tends towards the clarifying
of the science.
In conclusion, one can only urge every geologist
and every botanist not only to possess himself of
Prof. Seward’s text-book, but also to acquaint
himself with its contents.
The Nature of Musical Sound.
The Foundations of Music. By Dr.
Watt. Pp. xvi+239. \ (Cambridge:
University Press, 1919.) Price 18s. net.
Henry J.
At the
HE author unfolds a new theory to Account
for the fact that certain combinations of
sound, called. concords, are “pleasant,” while
others, called. discofds, are “unpleasant.” In
" place of the ancient theory by which the “harmony
of numbers ” in the sense of proportions of string-
length to pitch has dominated these questions
since the days of Pythagoras, he considers. that
sound possesses “volume,” an attribute some-
what difficult to grasp at first sight. So far as
we can understand the new theory, the volume
of a low sound contains within itself the volumes
of all sounds higher than itself; the proportions
of the various volumes coincide with the well-
known proportions of those of pitch. Hence the
volume of the sound represented by C is exactly
double that of the next C above it, and the volume
of G, lying between the two, is two-thirds that
of the lower C.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
}
:
As the lesser volume is contained in the greater, i
there is “‘fusion’”’ of volume when two sounds are
heard together. This fusion being complete in
the octave, the two sounds coalesce to such an
extent as sometimes to be heard as one sound.
We are to understand, then (so far as we can
make out), that the octave is the ‘ ‘ pleasantest ”
interval. Next come fifths and thirds as pleasant
intervals; and the discords, the volumes of which
do not fuse with the root volume, are classified
as “unpleasant ” (pp. 24 et seq.), or words to that
effect. We confess that this theory is so novel
that we find it hard to grasp. To the musician
a discord is not an “unpleasant” part of his raw
material; it is simply a chord that requires to
be “resolved” into a succeeding chord. It has,
therefore, the element of motion, while the con-
cord suggests repose.
The theory of fusion raises the ancient question
of the prohibition of consecutive fifths and
octaves. The author discusses at great length all
the well-known attempts at explanation, and adds
his own. Probably the prohibitions are merely
conventions, as suggested by Cyril Scott, quoted
in a footnote on p. 132. In the tenth century
Hucbald says of the ancient organum of his day:
“If sung with suitable slowness, you will see
that it produces a sweet concord.” The present
reviewer, wishing to scoff at the notion that suc-_
cessions of fifths and octaves could “produce a >
sweet concord,” asked the choir of the Plainsong
Society to sing a specimen of tenth-century
organum. To his and their surprise they found
Hucbald entirely vindicated. And Dr. Watt —
shows (p. 84) that Gevaert, making a similar experi-
ment at Ghent in 1871, found exactly the same
result: ‘‘ The impression made on the ona
was profound.”
The only example Dr. Watt gives in musical
notation (p. 120) is a series of consecutive fifths
by Karg-Elert, played very slowly on the softest
organ stop. He offers an explanation of its
“beauty ”’; we think, however, that the same
passage, if sung or played rapidly and loudly,
would be anything but beautiful.
Dr. Watt revives the old controversy as to
whether the interval of the fourth is a concord
or discord. We thought that musicians had long
settled that the fourth from the bass, since it
requires resolution, is a discord, while the fourth
from any other voice is a concord, since it does
not require to move. |
The book ends with chapters on “The Object-
ivity of Beauty” and “Aisthetics as a Pure
Science.” To those wishing to investigate the
nature of sound, its new outlook should prove
interesting.
. net.
‘Food: Its Composition and Preparation. A
ext-book for Classes in Household Science. By
; T. Dowd and Jean D. Jameson. (The
y Technical Series.) Pp. viiit+ 173. (New
k-: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London:
pm ian and Hall, Ltd., 1918.) Price 6s. net.
ESE two books are very laudable attempts
by our American cousins to place the im-
fant question of food on a scientific basis. The
Fuabagtit home to people at large the im-
portance of such study, but one hopes, in days of
a ace, not only that investigations will continue,
‘put also that their application will be carried out
te \ a. greater extent.
(1) The first of the two books mentioned
above is very complete, not only in_ the
number of important foods dealt with, but
also in the numerous methods of investigation
described to detect impurities and prevent
_ contamination with undesirable admixtures. It
is the science of cleanliness in technical costume.
_ The preface informs us that the work is written
4 for those who wish to fit themselves for food
“control ; but as it presupposes a thorough training
in bacteriology and chemistry, we fear it will
"scarcely appeal to those who are food controllers
here. What is really wanted is a book that he
who runs may read, a book intelligible to the
manufacturer, the packer, the tradesman, and the
housewife. To present such with the graphic
formule of, say, amino-acids and fats would be
simply to terrify them. Still, the book should be
useful to a more limited section of the population
—namely, the analysts and bacteriologists. Its
3 | price strikes one as exorbitant even in these days
iy high charges.
_ (2) The second book is of a much more practical
; nature, and will be welcomed by all those engaged
j in the study of household science. It is an excel-
_ lent chemical introduction to the science of intelli-
_ gent cookery. The authors have taken care
_ to provide themselves with a good preliminary
knowledge of physiology and bio-chemistry, and
_ if they go a little wrong in a few details, such as
4 in their account of the vitamines, the slips are
_ trivial, and do not affect their main arguments or
__ their main endeavour, which is to rescue cookery
from the domain of empiricism and ignorance.
W. D. H.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
Marcu 25, 1920] NATURE 99
Science of Food. Our Bookshelf.
Bacteriology and Mycology of Foods. By Dr. | Petrology for Students: An Introduction to the
id Wilbur Tanner. Pp. vit 592+ 10 plates. Study of Rocks under the Microscope. By Dr.
ek: John Wil as ie. 1, Alfred Harker. Fifth edition, revised. (Cam-
w York: Jo Ss called ate sale ie tal bridge Geological Series.) Pp. viii+ 300.
: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1919.) Price (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1919.)
Price 8s. 6d. net.
A HEARTY welcome must be extended to this new
edition of one of our most widely known geo-
logical text-books, which has had considerable
influence in securing systematic and accurate
descriptions of rocks by British petrologists. The
present edition contains a few pages less than
the previous issue, but this has been accomplished
by diminishing the space at the headings of
chapters and by the excision of superfluous notes
and references to occurrences of minor interest, so
that the value of the book is in no way diminished.
New illustrations have been added, and_ the
chapters on metamorphism largely re-written.
As in previous editions, the author rejects names
given unnecessarily to local varieties, which
he distinguishes simply by reference to the places.
from which the names were formed. This process
might with advantage have been carried very
much further. There is, however, already so
much diversity in petrological nomenclature, not
only in different countries, but also among
individual geologists, that the author is probably
wise in refraining from attempting any far-
reaching reforms.
Perhaps in another edition a certain number of
analyses of the more important rock-species might.
be included, as well as their specific gravities,.
which afford a valuable means of checking the
determination of rocks in the field. J. W. E.
Chemistry and its Mysteries: The Story of What
Things are Made Of, Told in Simple Language.
By Charles R. Gibson. (Science for Children.)
Pp. 246. (London: Seeley, Service, and Co.,
Ltd., 1920.) Price 4s. 6d. net.
Here is another of Mr. Gibson’s wonderful books
for children. This time Mr. Gibson treats of the
elements of chemistry, the conception of chemical
constitution, combustion and respiration, electro-
lysis, spectroscopy, and “queer things” such as
radium and liquid air. The author has not lost
his powers of stating scientific propositions in
simple and attractive form without departing
(except in quite minor details) from the strictest
accuracy. We confess that we had thought
modern children rather more sophisticated and apt
to regard as ridiculous analogies drawn from
nursery games; but in this matter we bow to
Mr. Gibson’s judgment. His success in what he
has set himself to do is beyond question;
criticism, if any were offered, would concern
rather his objects. But this is not the place to
inquire whether it is really useful, or even harm-
less, to present the complex and highly theoretical
conclusions of modern science without any serious
attempt to present also the evidence on which
they are based.
Ree)
NATURE
[ Marcu 25, 1920
Neue Beobachtungen iiber den Erreger der Mau-
lund Klauenseuche: Die Entwicklung des
Schmarotzers im Blut, speziell in den roten Blut-
kérperchen. By Dr, Hrch. ‘Stauffacher.
Pp. 62+plates. | (Zirich, 1918.) Price
8 francs, -
Tue author seine: and illustrates a number of
curious linear and spherical bodies found in the
red corpuscles of animals with foot-and-mouth
disease, and works out a life-history for them
, along the lines familiar from the parasites of
malaria. - The difficulty in all such investigations
is to be sure that the intracellular appearances
represent the cause rather than the effect of the
disease, and to distinguish between a parasite and |
some remnant of the nucleus of the erythroblast |
seems often to be impossible. Sometimes the
nuclear remains are plain as such; sometimes by
special methods they can be brought to take a
basic stain in cells which by ordinary procedures
would appear normal; it is quite possible that they |
may be thus unmasked in consequence of a para-
sitic illness. What curious objects may be found
in red corpuscles is readily appreciated by examin-
ing the blood of a.dormouse or of a new-born rat.
The nail- or tadpole-like bodies shown very clearly
in the first photograph are extraordinarily similar
to those demonstrated some years ago by Braddon
in: (or on) the red cells in rinderpest.
A Night Raid into Space:
_ Heavens told in. Simple
ae S. F. Mackenzie.
" Hardingham, n.d.) Price. 2s. 6d. net.
Words.
the elementary facts of astronomy. , It is avowedly
written for those who have absolutely no oven
‘matical’ knowledge. ~ Unfortunately, ‘there is |
many placés an absence of the necessary’ precision
of staterhént.
The Story of the
By Col.
Pp. 143. (London: Henry
‘Thus the’ description of precession |
suggests that it affects the earth’s orbital’ motion, |
there being no mention: of the ‘equatorial plane.
“Moreover, the: action is ascribed wholly to the,
“sun, though the: moon’s contribution is’ twice as
#reat. The description ‘of sidereal time, and
the explanation of ‘the spectroscopic determination |
of ‘radial velocity, are misleading. Also the
erroneous statement’ is made that the Babylonian
year contained 360 days, and had-an intercalary
‘month ‘every sixth year. Its real length was 12
lunations, or 354 days, and there were 7 inter-
calary months: in 19 years. Altogether the book
‘meéeds careful | ‘revision ; if this were carried out, it,
could be recommended as a simple handbook.
‘Musings ‘of an Idle Man.
Pp.. xii +3509. :
Danielsson, Ltd., 1919.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
Tuis book comprises ' seventy-five. readable and
suggestive essays on the most varied subjects,
ranging from ‘The Origin of Life ” to “Good and
Bad Form.” In an essay on “The End of Life”
the author envisages the final destruction of life by
heat due to radio-activity.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
By Sir R. H. Firth.
(London: John Bale, Sons, and
obstructive,
eS ees
Letters. to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neith
’ can he undertake to return, or to correspond wi
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended f.
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications. ] ;
Museums and the State.
Tue old danger arising from the haphazard appli
tion of a, name ‘Surrounds the public institu
which are called ‘“‘museums.’’ By a ie ee
its ancient gcubicaton: the word ‘‘museum’? is
now used to designate a collection of natural history
specimens, pictures, antiquities, machinery, bpd
work or other articles (rarely libraries), .
well as the building where it is exhibited to the
either with or without charge for admission. There
are various so-called ‘‘museums ”’ supported by public
funds, either national or municipal. The proposal to
create a new body of Government clerks (or to
aggrandise an existing one) on the pretence that
museums form a ‘genus ’’ which all alike require
central control of one and the same ‘‘ tape and sealing-
wax”’ type, and that the well-known ignorant, and
therefore impartial, Civil Servant is to have new fields
of plunder thrown open to him—as “ administrator”’—
is not surprising. We are familiar with such schemes,
but, none the less, this is one that all. serious. lovers
of science and of art should resist to the uttermost !
What is needed in regard to our existing national
and other public museums is not the creation of highly
paid posts for otherwise unemployable “‘administra-
ublic
tors,’? but definite legislation after inquiry and report ©
by a Royal Commission as to the specific p purpose,
scope, and method of work to be followed in each of
those great museums which in this ‘country receive
‘support from public funds. ‘Overlapping ”’ col-
irre book: describes in a chatty, discursive ar | lections, and neglect of this and that. department ‘could
be at once prevented by assigning to each museum
its propér function. and by making its income depend
upon its doing what it is intended that it shall do.
No central salaried body, no ‘‘committees ”’ of dele-
gates, trustees, or members of governing bodies are »
required. They certainly would prove incapable and
as such “committees ’® have - gencraty
shown themselves to-be. .
The defects in the working of our national museums
have arisen from the fact that they have come irto
existence in obscure, sutreptitious ways and by chance
—witness the history of the British Museum, of the
Victoria and Albert Museum, and of the new so-called
Science Museum. They have no programme, no clear
assignment of scope and purpose to guide them,
and no attempt is made by successive Governments
to define their functions and. to ensure for each of
them and for other “‘museums” ‘supported by public
funds a reasonable. system of management and con-
trol designed so as.to ensure their activity and
development as efficient instruments, of public service.
A central bureau of managing clerks pretending to
deal under. a heterogeneous “committee ’’ with all the
various branches of science and*art concerned in the
life and progress. of.all our museums would be an
exaggeration of the worst features of the present
management by irresponsible and incapable “* trustees.”
I am convinced that what is needed is the separa-
tion and independence of the chief departments now
agglomerated in the national museums and their
redistribution to form a series of independent institu-
tions each under its own highly expert specialist as
director, with no other interference than that of a
visitatorial. board assigned to each museum, approved
cet ee ee, ah et el Ee Se ee
Marcu 25, 1920]
NATURE
TO!
the Government, and reporting annually on the
and requirements of its own particular museum.
h an institution is Greenwich Observatory. Limit-
my suggestions to the natural history sciences, I
uld h a separate ‘‘museum’’ for zoology and
imal palzontology; another for geology (the study
» history of the earth’s crust, not merely palz-
logy) with mineralogy and petrology, uniting the
sum of the Geological Survey with certain portions
the British Museum; another for botany formed by
removal to the great and flourishing establishment
of the botanical department of the British
um; and another for anthropology and human
ontology. There seems to me no reason, no
antage, in mixing up the administration of these
at centres of special study and research with one
ther or with the museum of ancient art, or for
sociating any of these with the great national public
Our museums are liable to suffer from the erroneous
tion that their chief purpose is to furnish ready
truction to school-children and ‘the general public.”
‘ing with special reference to natural history, I
it will be admitted that (as in the case of
s records, antiquities, books, etc.) the main
most important function of a museum is the
_ acquisition, study, and safe and permanent guardian-
_ ship of specimens—specimens which are often unique
_ or of extreme rarity and value, and form the actual
_ evidential basis of the natural history sciences. This
ardianship is necessarily to be associated. with
‘perennial study and development of the collections
and abundant publication of finely illustrated mono-
graphs, catalogues, and descriptions by the museum
and his staff. These duties are, in spite of
obstacles, performed in a highly creditable way by
‘the present staff of the Natural History Museum,
thich, were it free from the dead-weight of an un-
and the nation.
In my judgment, the exhibition of the collections
in galleries, through which the public may promenade
or be personally conducted by. itinerant lecturers, is
matter of subordinate imvortance. But it is one of
ce value to the public, and must be seriously taken
t
n hand
museum. It is the simple fact that many (but not
all) of the fine things in museums of natural history
can readily be exhibited to the public so as to give
pleasure and instruction, and it is desirable to enlist
the y and interest of the public by exhibiting
with the greatest skill and judgment specimens so dis-
played and labelled as readily to attract attention and
‘convey information suited to those who have no special
knowledge of the branch of science in which the
“specimens have their place. : ne
It is, however, of the utmost conseauence that this
kind of exhibition should be strictly limited in amount,
and that what is done in the way of such exhibition
should be the very best possible—the specimens most
carefully chosen because they can be well seen and
appreciated when in a glass case and without being
handled, and because the information which they and
others placed with them afford is of first-rate import-
ance or of a specially fascinating character. It is a
profound mistake to attempt to set out the mass of
__. the contents of a museum in this way. Neither space
nor skilful design and handiwork can be afforded for
_ £*exhibiting’’ huge collections in this stvle. The
__ public is wearied and confused by too great profusion,
and galleries which are needed for the preservation
and study of collections by exverts are liable to be
___ sacrificed to the satisfaction of a mistaken demand
____ for the setting out of a sort of high-class Noah’s Ark
NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
-
a les iene and irresponsible committee of trustees, |
; render even more abundant services to science
and dealt with wiselv by the director of each —
through which a visitor may wander in a state of
dreamy contentment, hypnotised by the endless stream
of queer or brilliant things appearing and disappearin
‘ ‘ ppearing
barere him without any effort or comprehension on his
part!
In any case, it is, I think, important not to allow
the great public museums to become class-rooms for
ill-provided schools. I should like to see the system
which is used in the American Museum of Natural
History in New York introduced. ‘There is a large
lecture-room in the museum, and courses of lectures
on the contents of the museum, illustrated by photo-
graphic lantern-slides, are given by highly qualified
members of the museum staff. Copies of the lectures
and the lantern-slides are also supplied by the museum
to schools around New York, so that pupils can be
prepared by them beforehand for recurring visits to
the museum. Though the specimens in a museum
may be very thoroughly and well labelled, as in Crom-
well Road, it is the fact that no method of insisting
upon attention to a label has yet been devised. The
public seem to be scared by labels. Nothing is so cer-
tain to secure attention as a man standing up in front
of the visitor and telling him all about a specimen
whilst pointing to this or that part of it.
The Natural History Museum has more of its col-
lections in quiet study-rooms and less of them
paraded in bewildering rows in show-cases than
has any other public museum in Europe, so far as I
know. But it has, nevertheless (in my opinion),
too many galleries and cases given up to public
exhibition. Even now (after the heroic efforts of Sir
William Flower, in whose footsteps I followed in this
matter) many of the cases are overcrowded and many
are hopelessly placed as regards lighting, and should
be abandoned as public show-cases.
There appears to have been no attempt on the part
of the architect of the Cromwell Road museum to
erect a building with the lighting or height and shape
of galleries necessary for such a museum. e
trustees were neither consulted in the matter nor com-
petent to give an opinion if they had been. _
I should wish, in conclusion, to refer anv readers
of Nature who may wish to see a little fuller state-
ment of my opinions concerning the scope and methods
of ‘“*museums”’ to the chapter on museums in my
“Science from an Easy Chair,’ second series, 1913,
pp. 310-29. E. Ray LANKESTER.
ino
I CORDIALLY welcome the suggestion in the leading
article in Nature of March 11 that the Natural
History and other science museums should be placed
under the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research. For this Department to take over the
Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the
Museum. of ‘Practical Geology (and the Geo-
logical Survey), and Kew Gardens there need be
no change in its constitution. No Royal Commission
need be invoked, for the Department would be merely
undertaking duties for which it was formed, these
institutions being the depositories of most: of the basal
collections, the facts, upon which much of science is
founded. The administration of all could be carried
out under one scheme, since the work. of all is akin,
and the men required to recruit their staffs are drawn
from the same class of university men, having similar
early training, with diverse specialisations later on.
The present condition in the above museums is most
unsatisfactory in respect to differences in the pay and
position of their ‘staffs. Thus, according to Whitaker,
the assistants at Kew and in. the Science Museum
start at zool. a vear, while geologists and naturalists
with similar training start in the two others at r5ol.;
all have war bonuses at present. At Kew there are
.
102 NATURE
[Marcu 25, 1920
eleven in the lower gvade (300l.-5ool.) .and_ three
above; in the Science Museum the numbers are three
and six; and in the Geological Survey twenty and ten.
In the Natural History Museum there are thirty-two
graded up to 500l. a year as against eight above.
The position in the latter is so bad that there has
been a constant leakage for many years from its
highly specialised staff into) university and other
appointments, the salaries in which exceed those paid
in the museum. There is no abundant field of men
with private incomes and natural history tastes upon
which to draw. The fact that only about one man
in four or five who join the staff can hope ever to
receive an income above 5o0o0l. a year prevents any
of the best students of universities from entering,
while the museum, as the basal institute of several
Sciences in this country, demands the services of the
best men, and of the best men only. The Natural
History Museum is, furthermore, out of date in that,
while the sciences it represents have advanced, it has
taken little account of these advances; its staff has
all the same duties as it had twenty or thirty years
ago, and, still numbering the same, can undertake
new duties only by neglecting older ones. It was
never intended to be a museum solely for education
and amusement, but the policy pursued in regard to
it in the last twenty years has neglected its other
sides in respect to research, and its assistants have
become more and more the cataloguers, arrangers,
and cleaners-up of specimens. The staff less and less
takes part in the proceedings of scientific societies
because it cannot afford to belong to them.
May I suggest’ that the pay, position, and grading
of the ‘staffs in all the above four institutions should
be those of the Home Civil Service, and that the
numbers in different grades should be the same as in
that Service? The prestige and position of the Civil
Service are such that it is an object of ambition to
the boy, and no lower position will attract’ the picked
students of science. J. StanLEy GARDINER.’
Zoological Laboratory, Cambridge March 15.
Tue timely leading article which appeared in
Nature of March fr raises the very important ques-
tion of the future administration of the national
museums and art galleries of this country. With the
main recommendations of the article I am in com-
plete agreement. There is little doubt that the ad-
ministration of the national museums and art gal-
leries on federal lines from a central Government
Department: would make for greater efficiency and
economy, obviate considerable overlapping, and
lead to the fuller use and development of the
unique collections housed within their walls. The
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has
already assumed control of the Museum of Practical
Geology, and the machinery, therefore, for the ad-
ministration of the whole of our national museums
is already in existence, and only requires adapting
and expanding.
Such a central Museum Department could be of the
greatest service to the provincial museums and art
galleries of the country if extended to include them
and link them all up in one comprehensive scheme.
At present the provincial museums are isolated. There
is a lack of co-ordination and co-operation in their
work, and they need the advice and assistance of a
central body to help them in their development. The
national museums between them cover the whole
field of museum activities, and their amalgamation
into a federal scheme would provide a Department |
able to deal with any branch of museum work, and
to render invaluable assistance to the provincial and
private museums ‘throughout the country.
NO, 2630, VOL. 105]
The National Gallery and the Tate Gallery would —
supply the nucleus for fine arts, the British Museum
(Bloomsbury) for pre-history, anthropology, antiquities,
| and numismatics, | the
British Museum (Natural
History) for natural history, the Victoria and Albert
Museum for industrial and applied art, and the
Imperial Science. Museum for applied and techn
logical science. eas
It is sufficient to indicate one or two ways in
which the assistance of such a Department would be
of the highest value: “ft
(1) In the development of a comprehensive system
of circulating collections for all branches on the same
lines as is now done for industrial art by the Victoria
and Albert Museum. (2) The provision of a staff of
experts in all branches who could be placed at the
service of museums for specialist work on collections.
(3) The provision and circulation of approved casts
of important and rare specimens. (4) The standardisa-
tion of museum cases and fittings to allow of their
production on a'cheaper and more efficient scale.
A Department such as I have indicated, linking
up all the museums into one comprehensive
scheme, would lead to the co-ordination of museum
work throughout the country. The resources of
the museums for each and every available line of
research would be accurately known. The provincial
and’ private museums would benefit enormously by
having their collections accurately
labelled, and be able to utilise and develop their
collections to the ‘best advantage. By means of
the circulating collections the vast resources of
duplicate and reserve material in
museums would be rendered available and accessible
to the nation at large. .
The cost of such a scheme would not necessitate
an undue burden being placed on the State.
(1) The Government museums are already provided
for by direct appropriations. The extension of their
work on the lines I have indicated would necessitate
larger staffs, but the labours of each expert would
not then be rigidly confined to the one museum ‘to
which he was’ primarily attached. While the plan
would require organisation and co-operation, it does —
not seem to involve any drastic change in the presen
management or governance of such museums. —
(2) The public museums of the country could
remain, as at present, under the control of the local
governing bodies, and their financial resources be pro-
vided, as now, by the levy of a rate. et
(3) Private museums would need financial assist-
ance from the State, and this might be given in the
form of grants-in-aid based on the amount of money
provided by the resources of such museums. _
The institution of a central Government Depart-
ment would naturally necessitate Government control
and inspection of museums, but such control, wisely
and judiciously exercised, would stimulate their
development. The Department should clearly recog-
nise that its function would be to help and advise
museums, not to hinder them by the imposition of
irkséme regulations. Museums should be encouraged
to preserve their individuality and to develop along
their own lines.
It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to add that a
central Department should have as its chief executive
officers men trained in the various branches of
museum work, whose vety training and experi-
ence would give them the necessary knowledge to
deal sympathetically with questions of museum
administration, and to foster that spirit of research
which is fundamental to the proper development of
museums. _W. M.. TatTERSALL.
The Museum. ‘The University, Manchester.
identified and.
the national
“Marcu 25, 1920]
NATURE
103
Ovi
_ Organisation of Scientific Work.
HAVE not read the report of Sir Thomas Holland’s
nission which has led to a discussion in thé
is of Nature, and I do not wish to express
n opi ion on its conclusions. Those who know some-
of the conditions of India and of the many
nomic problems awaiting attack will at least agree
country offers a great field for the investiga-
nd a difficult ome from the point of view of those
d in the administration of funds for research.
purpose in writing is to support Dr. Russell’s
on the importance of team-work in scientific
igations (Nature, March 4, p. 7). It seems to
t in discussing the proper relation of the State
entific work our conclusions will depend chiefly
precise meaning which we attach to ‘ research.”
. Bateson writes (ibid., p. 6): ‘Research,
art, literature, and all the higher products of
' thought, grows only in an atmosphere of
jom.”’ But should not the word used here be
ence”? Is not “research”? the art by which
wledge is advanced? And is it not the case that
s art there is need for the co-operation of men
ntly endowed? “ Bricklayers’? may be wanted
1 as ‘“‘architects ’’ in the building up of know-
nor are delays in programmes, other than
ig, necessarily due to the lack of a plan.
by ‘research worker’? one meant only the
fer,’’ then I should agree with Sir Ronald Ross
_p. 6) that the policy of organising institutes
r scientific research and institutes for the writing
poetry might be considered together. But research
cers are not all ‘‘masters.’? There are other
essential to progress in certain branches of
cnowledge, never likely to make great discoveries,
laps, but, since the State needs them, it must
le t to live; and it is the function of the
cial’? not to direct their work (that must be left
“master ”’), but to see that they live under
ns likely to promote efficiency. I am not sure
ee with Prof. Bateson.’ There may be
er in State action, but it seems to me to be safer
_ While arguing for the recognition of the importance
of co-operation in research, let me add that, whatever
yart the worker in a research laborato
arly is part of a team for the advancement
Daieledoe. and that he should regard himself as a
tential discoverer. I welcome Dr. Russell’s analysis
the functions of the staff of an institution main-
d for research, as it brings out what seems to me
fundamental point in this discussion, but I feel sure
t he would agree with me in deprecating any rigid
ification of workers as tending to cause dis-
agement. Whatever the natural qualifications of
members of a team of workers may be, two are
ntial for real progress: the desire to learn more
the willingness to help others.
Bees sig T. H. Mippieton.
Dean’s Yard, Westminster, S.W.1,
. March 19.
Science and the New Army.
our leading article of March 18 on ‘‘Science and
New Army”’ directs attention to some hopeful
res in our future military organisation, but many
ill share with you the doubt whether any real funda-
nental reform has yet been effected. The new policy
“farming out ’’ research work to civil institutions
sounds suspiciously like the old policy, so well practised
the past, of getting technical work done and advice
given without the obligation of paying anything for it.
~ NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
-
ee
i
“¢
x
success.
Doubtless it may be argued that so long as scientific
men are complaisant enough to work for nothing. a
Government Department which paid them would be
guilty of extravagance. Ultimately, however, it will
be found good policy. and sound economy to recognise
that skilled knowledge is worth its hire, and scientific
men, in their turn, may perhaps learn that in attach-
ing a low valuation to their own labour they help to
confirm the widely held idea that expert training is a
thing of small account. The Army would keep more
closely in touch with all scientific progress in any
remote degree affecting the conduct of warfare—and
who can set limits to this qualification ?—if it retained
men of proved competence with the duty of posting
the General Staff in all such advances of knowledge.
These men need not, in fact should not, give their
whole time to the work ; it would be an essential
condition that they should be in full activity as re-
searchers, teachers, or professional engineers, chemists,
etc., and it would be equally essential that they should
be remunerated at adequate rates. No unpaid com-
mittee, however august the membership, will fill the
want.
I must confess that I scarcely understand. what is
ment by “preliminary design of apparatus,’’ stated to
be part of the functions of the military institutions.
Of what value is a preliminary design if the under-
lying principles are not understood, and wherein does
it differ from a mere statement of what some un-
_instructed amateur thinks can be done by “electricity”
or by ‘‘cog-wheels ’’? Furthermore, unless these mili-
tary institutions are directed by trained specialists,
the “applied researches’ entrusted to them are not
likely to be crowned with any consvicuous measure of
E. H. Hits.
Cotton-growing in the British Empire.
In Nature of February 26 Sir George Watt reviews
in a critical spirit the report to the Board of Trade
of the Empire Cotton-Growing Committee. Much
of his criticism is based on an expressed aversion to
committees, which has misled him into stating that
we propose our central (cotton-growing) research
institution should be staffed by a ‘committee of
voluntary workers.’’ This is quite erroneous. The
report itself describes in some detail the permanent
staff which is suggested.
Some of the criticisms are due to the reviewer not
having realised that the Committee was dealing with
cotton-growing alone, and that the British Cotton In-
dustry Research Association is working in co-operation
with the Empire Cotton-Growing Committee through
a joint body (of which I happen to be chairman), so
that his desire for the Cotton-Growing Committee to
establish its central research institution in Manchester,
where no cotton will grow, is invalid.
Nor do I think that his suggestion of a programme
for the members of the research institution as being
“‘research, education, and cotton production” makes
a sufficiently clear discrimination between means and
ends; but chiefly I regret that the reviewer has missed
our main thesis, which concerns the need for know-
ledge, based on pure science, as the essential to pro-
gress in this matter. Indeed, he seems to be com-
pletely antagonistic to this view of ours when he states
that ‘‘general principles of education must never be
allowed to take the place of specific training and
definite results.’ It is no little thing that a utilitarian
body, representing all aspects of the cotton trade,
from the native cultivators to spinners and manufac-
turers, should have come into the open with such a
plea for the encouragement of pure science, as being
the basis of useful development, and it is indeed un-
104
“NATURE
| MarcH 25, 1920
expected to find this plea condemned by a reviewer in
the columns of Nature.
Nevertheless, Sir George Watt makes a legitimate
criticism when he says that our proposals *‘do not
seem to resolve themselves into: the promulgation of
a concrete scheme of increased and improved pro-
duction.’’ I would like to explain why we deliberately
avoided advancing such a scheme in this report.
The consideration of actual steps to be taken in
cotton production is the next stage in the Committee’s
work, to which it has already settled down. When
this report was issued we were penniless, and could
not with any utility consider how money should be
spent until we were assured of :—(a) Annual financial
support from Lancashire. (b) Regular financial sup-
port from H.M. Government. (c) Approval of policy
from the Governments of the Dominions, Colonies,
and Protectorates.
Since our report was issued (a) the home industry
has agreed to make a voluntary annual levy on itself;
(b) our maintenance charges are assured, so that our
executive can be built up, while the question of further
support is under consideration; and official informa-
tion as to (c) is awaited. A large income is already
in sight, and the way is becoming clear for practical
planning and guidance as distinguished from the
enunciation of principles., It should be noted that the
capital required actually to grow the cotton which this
country now purcheses outside the Empire is of the
order of 250,000,000l., being more than a thousand-
fold the sum asked for in our report.
But those principles had to be settled first, and I
for one regret that Sir George Watt should have
‘ missed their significance through misunderstanding
the present stage of our development and our inabilitv
to be anything else hitherto but a ‘“‘committee,’’ if
we were to represent the native peovles abroad as
well as the operatives at home, with all the inter-
vening stages of industry, of administration. and of
knowledge. W. LawrENce BALLs.
Edale, Derbyshire, March 8.
_ 1 am obliged for the opportunity given me to read
Dr. Lawrence Balls’s reply to my review in NATURE
of February 26 of the report issued by the Committee »
on Cotton-Growing, within the British Empire, ap-
pointed by the Board of Trade. Dr. Balls seems to
me, in the main, to admit my- contention, namely,
that the Committee’s report, as it stands, does not
resolve itself into a concrete scheme of increased and
improved production of cotton. In fact, it may be
said to. be unfortunate that the Committee did not
anticipate such criticisms as mine by giving the public
some hint of the possible future stages of its opera-
tions. The public were anxiously awaiting a full
scheme, and one that would give distinct prospect of
success, but in place of getting such we are now told
we have only seen (as it were) the first instalment,
and must look for better results in the future.
But, turning to some of Dr. Balls’s observations
on my review, I do not find that I have stated that
the report contemplates the staffing of the central
research institution by committees of voluntary
workers. It is surely self-evident that there would
have to be permanent officials appointed to the cen-
tral research institution, as also to the branch institu-
tions. But what I did object to was that these
officials should be put under a panorama of six com-
mittees, as seemed contemplated by the authors of
the report: .I am old enough to recollect the great
Cotton, Commission in India. Indeed, my official
connection with that country might be said to have
commenced with having to try to pick up the dis-
hevelled threads of that futile expenditure of public
NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
money. The late» Mr..C.°B. Clarke,: in the preface
to his edition of Roxburgh’s ‘‘Flora of India,”
alludes to the issue of one of the Commission’s
reports as follows :—‘‘ We have had plenty of Govern-
ment and other reports, some very large and expen-
sive ones, it is true, but we have very little economic
work by persons competent as botanists; and wi
reference to one large and expensive report lately
issued on an: Indian economic plant it was discovered
after it was printed that the Commission never learnt
what the plant was.”’
The result of the great Cotton Commission of India
was officialism, Cotton Frauds Acts, and other such
futilities. It is the knowledge of past failures having
very largely proceeded from officialism that makes me
urge with all the earnestness I possess that the staff
of the central and branch research institutions should
be as free and independent as the professors of a
university. They need no supervision more than is
exercised by Departmental control in the allocation
of funds and in the laying down of general rules and
political instructions. Official control should be with
the principal or principals of the college or colleges
of cotton, but with no one else. :
I am at a loss to understand Dr. Balls when he
says I have missed ‘‘our main thesis, concerning the
need for knowledge, based on pure science, as the
essential to progress in this matter.”” The Com-
mittee, as I understood the report, recommends that
cettain universities should be asked to establish lee-
tureships and readerships; my scheme was that the
research institution or institutions, in addition to con-
ducting research, shculd undertake the entire educa-
tion of both the experts and the practical planters,
and thus have their own professors of plant physio-
logy, plant genetics, mycology, entomology, and the
like. ;
My recommendation is thus to concentrate all effort
in the hands of a body of highly trained scientific and
practical experts, to place all the funds available in
their hands, and to hold them responsible not only
to increase the supply, but also to improve the quality
of the cotton produced within the British Empire.
GEORGE WATT .
(Formerly Reporter on Economie Products
with the Government ‘of India).
Annandale House, Lockerbie, March 13.
The Separation of Isotopes.
In a recent discussion (Phil. Mag., vol. xxxvii.,
p. 523, 1919) of a number of methods of separating
isotopes Prof. Lindemann and Dr. Aston have shown
that there is little prospect of effecting by the methods
considered a separation which will yield pure samples
of the isotopes in a reasonable time. Dr. Aston has
recently announced the discovery that chlorine consists
of a mixture of at least two isotones having atomic
weights 35 and 37. It appears that there is here a
possibility of effecting a separation of the isotopes by
a direct method which does not seem to be anplicable
in the case of most other elements.
posed depends on the assumption that in the absorp-
tion spectrum of chlorine, which contains a vast
number of narrow lines, there is a difference between
the wave-lensths of the absorption lines due to mole-
cules containing different isotopes.
Supposing that ordinary chlorine contains the isotopes
Cl,, and Cl,, in the ratio 3: 1. the molecules will con-
sist of Cls:Clas, ClesCle, and Cl,Cle in the ratio
9:6:1. It follows that if white light traverses a
column of chlorine of such a length that the radiations
absorbed by Cl,-Cl,. are reduced in intensity by a
factor 1/10°,’ the corresponding factors in the case of
Cl,;Clyy and Cl.,Cl,, will be: 1/10'*. and 1/10” respec-
‘The method pro-°
7
ee ie ee a a
Marcu 25, 1920]
-NALURE
rO5
tively. Suppose that the light-after passing through
this column of chlorine enters a vessel containing a
mixture of hydrogen and chlorine, which combine
the influence of the light absorbed by the
rine, it would appear to follow that the initial
es of reaction for the molecules Cl,;Cl,;, Cls7Cls;,
Cl,,Cl,, should be in the ratio 1: 10°: 10%*. The
1 ochloric acid thus formed should therefore consist
ost entirely of HCl,, if the reaction is allowed to
eed for a suitable time.
' this experiment should prove successful, it would
dently be possible to prepare a ‘‘filter’’ from the
rine thus obtained which would favour the forma-
of HCl,,. It is fully recognised that there are a
ber of factors which may affect the success of the
‘iment, which is now being tried; it is hoped that
ilts will be obtained before long, but the method
ms worthy of mention as involving principles which
ve apparently not been considered hitherto in this
nection. Tuomas R. MERTON.
2s ad * Haroip Hart ey.
Balliol College, Oxford.
eee. _ Galendar Reform. ©
_ Vous avez cent fois raison de souhaiter un accord
ique entre les partisans de la réforme du
drier, et je vous demanderai, pour ma part, la
nission | répondre quelques mots A _ votre
judicieuse invitation.
On peut lire dans mon Annuaire astronomique pour
: o que la réforme radicale que j’ai proposée en
g, en et en 1891 étant trop difficile a réaliser,
manité étant incapable d’accepter des solutions
nnelles en quoi que ce soit, nous pourrions nous
ier A la simplification suivante :
mois partagés en 4 trimestres égaux de 30,
et. , le premier mois de chaque trimestre
amet t un lundi et le dernier jour du troisiéme
> Le rer j ; t voisin solstice peut étre
iservé. Ce serait, tous les ans, un lundi. .
_La féte de PAques pourrait étre fixée au dimanche
Bee
Le tre trimestres égaux de g1 jours chacun
al ake jure, il y aurait un jour de féte=o pour
années ordinaires et deux pour les années bis-
0d
n aurait ainsi un calendrier perpétuel et universel.
Sie CAMILLE FLAMMARION.
le 8 mars, 1920.
_ Cavenpar reformers will welcome M. Flammarion’s
alteration of his scheme to one which minimises the
changes from the existing calendar, while it secures
the removal of its anomalies and inconveniences. It
would seem advisable to choose some day for the
__ extra-week day that is already a public holiday.
Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Whit-Sunday
ave been suggested.
_ From the astronomical point of view the most im-
‘portant amendment is the placing of the leap-day at
the end of the year, so that the interval from the
beginning of the year to any calendar date is constant.
2 aa : ; A. C, D. CROMMELIN.
} On Langmuir’s Theory of Atoms.
— Mr. S. C. Braprorp’s criticism in Nature of
March 11 of Dr. Langmuir’s theory is scarcely justi-
fiable, considering that the latter clearly states in his
paper (Journ. American Chem. Soc., vol. xli., p. 868,
___—- gig) that the equilibrium positions of the electrons
are determined in part by magnetic, and in part by
NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
electrostatic,. forces,
a ag rotations.
he electrons are probably rotating (some right-
handedly, others left-handedly) in very ‘snl orbits
about certain fixed points, e.g. the corners of each
cube, the centres of such orbits being the positions of
Dr. Langmuir’s “ stationary ’’ electrons. Such rotations
are exactly what is required for the explanation of
directed valencies and the paramagnetic or diamagnetic
properties of the elements. From magnetic con-
siderations, Mr. Bradford’s suggestion as to the nature
of the rotation is inconceivable, since the one he pre-
scribes would make fluorine and a number of other
elements paramagnetic, contrary to experimental data.
Moreover, the frequencies of such rotations, which he
suggests might be identified with Bohr’s spectral fre-
quencies, would be affected by temperature changes.
Electrons rotating right- and left-handedly about
definite points, in small circles the radii of which are
small compared with the accepted radius of the
hydrogen atom, appear to be necessary; but there is
little possibility of reconciling such small orbital
motions with the coplanar ones of Bohr, the radii of
which are, under normal conditions, essentially of the
conventional atomic size, and under certain conditions
far larger. A, E. Ox ey.
University College, London, March 12. ©
the former necessarily implying
Fireball of February 4.
On Wednesday, February 4, at 6 p.m., a very
bright meteor appeared in the sky at Naini Tal
(India). It travelled from west to east at an altitude
of about 60°, and was visible for fully five seconds.
The yellow fireball left a bluish-white trail, which
remained hanging in the air for a considerable time,
and then gradually dispersed. About half-way
through its course a big puff of vapour came out
of the meteor, which probably indicated the burst-
ing. Half a minute later a thundering noise was
heard, which continued to rumble for a quarter of a
minute. It had been snowing an hour before, but
the sky was perfectly clear at that time. ‘
M. L. Dey.
Central Chemical Laboratory, Naini Tal,
India, February 5.
Ir is curious that on the same date a large fireball
was observed in England at 6.14 p.m., but in this
case the object moved from east to west, i.e. in a
contrary direction to the one seen by Mr. Dey. It is,
however, by no means rare that two or more fire-
balls appear on the same night, though they are ©
seldom members of the same meteoric system.
W. F. DENNING.
—_—— —_
Buzzards and Bitterns.
In the Times of March 12 it is stated that “the
Lakeland buzzards are extending their breeding range
.. . and that a nest was detected in the Buttermere
Valley.’’
It would thus seem that the buzzard was finding
its way by instinct to a region where, in old times,
it had obtained an easy prey in the bittern, which
gave its name to the mere. The early name of the
bittern was “butter,’’ and a Buttermere is mentioned
in a charter ascribed to a.p. 863 as occurring jn Wilt-
shire. There are a number of place-names in the
country involving the designation of the bird, although
its ‘‘bump”’ is no longer heard, as by Tennyson’s
Northern Farmer. Epmunp McCrure.
80 Eccleston Square, S.W.1, March 13.
106
NATURE
| Marcu 25, 1920
Ostrich Study in South Africa.
By Pror. J. E. DUERDEN.
"T°HE domestication of the two-toed ostrich in
South Africa has rendered available for
observation and experiment large numbers of a
creature in many respects worthy the attention
of zoologists. While this bird’s lack of intelligence
and absence of any personal recognition may dis-
courage the lover of animals who looks for some
response for care and attention bestowed, its
towering size, wayward strength, and nuptial
viciousness yet engender a wholesome regard.
The high industrial importance which attaches to
its plumage has made necessary an intensive study
of the physiological conditions which influence
feather growth, as well as of the genetical con-
siderations which determine its advance. It is
true that, as the foundation of an industry appeal-
ing only to adornment and luxury, the bird fell
on evil days during the war; but the outlook for
the future is now encouraging.
Though in the wild state the ostrich is one of
the most nervous of birds, its instinctive fear of
man the unusual can be kept in abeyance on the
farm by close association and constant handling
from the chick stage onwards, and with intelligent
control it is rendered amenable to all the necessary
restraints of domestication. Should neglect occur,
however, the wild nature asserts itself, and
restraint is afterwards impossible, irresponsive as
it remains to any “breaking ”’ process.
During the past fifty years or so the farmer
has worked out the main conditions necessary for
the production of plumage of the highest excel-
lence, without, however, any concern as to the
physiological principles involved. As epidermal
outgrowths, growing at the rate of a quarter of
an inch a day, the unripe plumes are found to
be extremely responsive to any variation in the
condition of nutrition of the bird. Even the slight
difference of blood-pressure between day and night
is often found to leave its impress on the growing
feather in the form of an alternation of denser
and weaker annulations, while, should the bird
be in a reduced state, a kinking of the feather
sheath at a ring of night growth may result-in
the formation on the opened plume of the familiar
defects known as “bars” (Fig. 1). Reduced
nutrition may even result in complete stoppage
of feather growth, particularly: in the case of
chicks, a new plume pushing out the old on the
restoration of. better conditions. Of all parts of
the body, epidermal structures seem the first to
suffer from insufficient nutrition and to retain a
more or less permanent impress of it, as is so
often exemplified in nails, hoofs, horns, wool,
and hair; but in the rapidly growing ostrich plume
the response appears more manifest, and an
economic importance attaches thereto.
The clipping of the plumes is no more’ harmful
to the bird than is the cutting of the hair or the
trimming of the nails to ourselves. They are
taken as soon as opened out for fear of deteriora-
NO.- 2630, VOL. 105]
tion, while the quills are allowed another two
months in which to complete their growth. Several
helpful facts are disclosed on the extraction of the
quills. Thus, the drawing of the quill invariably
serves as a stimulus to the germ below, and the
new feather appears at the lip of the socket in
about a month’s time. All being drawn simul-
taneously, a full, even crop of plumes is secured,
each regular and perfect in its growth, owing to
mutual protection—a great contrast with a crop
from a wild or uncared-for ‘bird, which is made
up of plumes at all stages of growth as a result
of moulting irregularities. Before maturity of
plumage is reached, a feather drawn out of time
is intermediate in character between those of the
Fic. 1.—Ostrich plumes showing barring defects and sloping butts, results
of reduced nutrition.
plumage before and those coming after. The time
of quilling is the most critical of all the operations
connected with the farming of the bird, as it
determines largely the nature of the succeeding
feather crop. The state of nutrition, sexual stage,
period of the year, and climatic and food con-
ditions have all to be considered. Where only a
single clipping annually is secured, adult birds are,
if possible, quilled at such a period‘as will bring
the crop to ripeness about the beginning of the
breeding season—that is, the middle of winter.
While the growing plume is highly responsive
to changes of nutrition, the farmer soon dis-
covered that the response was limited, and that
with all his care only certain birds produced
superior plumes... As in other domestic animals
where much importance is attached to details of
Marcu 25, 1920] ©:
NATURE
107
Sa Vee Pe
nutiz of feather structure were encountered, all
hich have a big industrial bearing. Searcely
two birds produced plumage alike in character,
d the whole object of the breeder has been to
@ together in a single plume the best of all the
sristics distributed among the original wild
‘ks. Without any knowledge of Mendelism or
> factorial hypothesis, the ostrich farmer has
y "grasped the genetic distinctness of the in-
able “points ” of the plume, and the impos-
ity of procuring those desired except from
f lresdy exhibiting them. The best plumage
‘ds in South Africa to-day are the product of
two or three original strains ; all the rest have
n discarded as breeders, through not showing
ao merit. No new character or mutation in
: - has ever occurred + ‘since domestication.
lection in breeding is based on plumage alone,
se characters having been found to be
Te lated with it. It is manifest that any ostrich
a bddtective plume also and be discarded on
nance alone, however desirable the plume
of the germ might be known to be; hence
‘armer is more justified in selecting his
ers on production than he would be in select-
pedigree alone. It is not much that the
st can do for the practical breeder in cases
his kind; he can, however, expound to him
soundness of the principles on which he is
ing and thereby encourage him in his efforts.
x with the other members of the ratite
the ostrich has long been regarded as in
respects: degenerate or as undergoing retro-
ive evolution. The relative smallness of the
s and the presence of only two toes to the
-many other directions in which loss has
place, particularly in connection with the
nal derivatives, scales, feathers, and claws.
Miohsiands: of specimens available provide
= material for observing the various stages
Process and the manner in which the loss
In such studies it becomes important
‘to distinguish between diminution in size and the
| oat of constituent parts of a structure. Thus,
— althe aby h the wings are so disproportionately small,
5 co dh gtd y are actually less degenerate than
in . any other living bird. “The first and second
digits bear claws, and the third digit has some-
Ss a free second phalanx and may bear feathers.
e outer toe of the foot is far less in size than
_ would be expected of the fourth in the sauropsidan
_ sequence, yet it retains all its five phalanges.
Also, as showing the independence of the de-
generative changes one of another, it may be
_ observed that, though the wing is structurally less
reduced than in other birds, the foot is unique in
having only two toes; it is more degenerate than
_ in any other living bird.
_ That a type has undergone degeneration in any
respect can be established only by comparison with
belongs, comparative anatomy affording us a safe
NO. 2630, VOL, 105 |
m and production, great variations in the
are manifest features, but a closer study ©
closely related members of the group to which it |
standard. On‘this basis there can be no quéstion
of the various lines of degeneration represented
in the ostrich, and if among the multitude of
specimens examined differences of degree are met
with along these lines, it is a fair inference that
they represent the various stages of the process,
and reveal to us the manner in which evolution
proceeds. Whether the occurrence of these inter-
mediate stages within extremes proves that evolu-
tion is actually in progress to-day may be a
reasonable inference in the case of such an animal
as the ostrich; but, as Prof. Bateson. has pointed
out, it can be definitely established only by com-
parisons at long intervals of time showing a
general average reduction.
Comparing, then, the various stages in the de-
generation of any particular feature of the ostrich,
it is found that wherever a sufficient number of
Fic. 2.—Series showing stages in degeneration of a feather.
individuals can be got together a continuous series
is presented, linking up the extremes (Fig. 2).
Thus birds are to be found with wing quills vary-
ing in number all the way from 44 to 33; the
under-covering of down may be practically lack-
ing, while all stages occur leading up to a feeble
development over the greater part of the body;
the under-surface of the wing may be naked with
the exception of a much reduced single row of
under coverts, but intermediate stages occur cul-
minating in three rows of coverts; many degrees
in reduction of the upper coverts are also encoun-
tered ; the second phalanx of the third finger varies
from a free distinct bone to a triangular vestige
fused to the end of the first phalanx. On the
little toe the claw varies from a stage where it is
well developed to one where it is altogether
absent, .and the scutellation of the big toe may
108
NATURE
[Marcu 25, 1920
either. be continuous with that on the tarsus or
show stages in “breaks” at one or two of the
joints (Fig. 3). These and other facts of a like
character go to prove that the degenerative: evolu-
tionary processes in the ostrich are all ortho-
genetic in their nature, and that a retrogressive
change set up in any one direction Is likely to be
continued until final elimination of the part in
question. The continuity is probably more apparent
Minis
SS
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
-
=
=
‘A
\
ae
Fic. 3.—Series showing various stages in the loss of scales over the big toe.
than real; for if the somatic changes correspond
‘with alterations in the germ plasm, it must be in-
ferred that these are discrete in their origin,
and apparent continuity is conferred mainly by
intermixture and owing to the smallness of the
changes. The stages must, however, be succes-
sional and represent a definite tendency in the
germ plasm, in contrast to the haphazard nature
of the mutations usually studied—a tendency which
appear to have a contribution to offer.
is held to be wholly apart from any considerations
as to the welfare of the bird, as well as from
environmental influences. i
To the highly contentious question of the inherit-
ance of acquired. characters, the ostrich: would
Owing to
the loss of its second toe, the crouching bird, for
mechanical reasons, no longer makes use of the
symmetrical axial callosity at the ankle, but
develops an accessory one to the side. This is
formed anew with each generation, and must have
done so ever since the second toe disappeared,
though presumably this happened thousands and
thousands of generations ago. No hint of the
accessory callosity occurs on the newly hatched.
chick; it is not inherited, but has to be acquired
anew each time. On the other hand, the here-
ditary axial callosity, though unused for the same
period, shows no signs of reduction; it has per-
sisted through the ages, though non-functional.
Further, the ostrich rests upon its sternal and
pubic projections, and a strong callosity is de-
veloped over each. These would unquestionably
form as a direct response of the skin to the pres-
sure and friction involved in crouching, but are
found to be hereditary, showing on the newly
hatched chick. Hence we are presented with an
hereditary structure which would also be formed
independently as a result of the ordinary activities
of the bird were it not already provided, strongly
compelling us to suspect that the presence of the
former is in some manner directly connected with
the latter; in other words, that a character origin-
ally developed as a result of external stimuli has
in time become so impressed upon the organism
that it now makes its appearance apart from the
primary stimuli. re
The question of the origin of the three or four
species of ostrich also makes some appeal to the
evolutionist. No one intimately acquainted with
the northern and southern ostrich would dispute
their specific distinctness, but the East African and
Somali species appear to be founded on inter-
mediates of the two. Moreover, the northern
and southern. birds freely interbreed, and their
offspring are fertile, some of the characters blend-
ing and others showing Mendelian segregation.
Unquestionably all the representatives of the
genus Struthio are a common stock, continental
in their distribution, in which miftations have
occurred in certain areas and not in others, but
not of such a nature as to. prevent free inter-
breeding.
The Conservation of
Our Coal Supplies.*
By Pror. J. W. Grecory, F.R.S.
OAL is the main material foundation of British
industrial supremacy. The importance of
coal is given by Mr. Justice Sankey as his first
reason for its State ownership. The rapid British
industrial progress at the end of the eighteenth
1 Address.to the Philosophical Society, Glasgow, on March 10.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
century was due to our abundant coal. Modern
coal mining began in Belgium earlier than in
Britain, but British mines soon had the greatest
output in the world. In 1800 they produced two-
thirds of the world’s coal, in 1860 the proportion
was 60 per cent., and in 1913 the United States,
Marcu 25, 1920]
NATURE
109
_ Britain, and Germany together produced 87 per
cent. of the world’s coal. It was not until 1899
that the British output was surpassed by that of
United States; but, in spite of the ease of
king of the American fields, our yield per unit
of coal area is sixteen times as great as that of
America. The British output of nearly 300 million
tons is irrefutable evidence of the skilful organisa-
yn of the British coal industry and of the courage
capacity of the British miner.
This drain of 300 million tons a year inspires
disquietude as to how long it can last. The first
authoritative estimate of our coal resources was
‘that of the Royal Commission of 1865, which
estimated them as roughly 150,000 million. tons.
Later estimates have increased this amount to
about 200,000 million tons, which would main-
tain the 1913 output for 600 years; the United
_ States supplies would be maintained for 1500
_ years, those of Germany for more than-1500 years,
_ while the coal fields of China would last for several
_ millenniums. The world is in no immediate danger
_ of a coal famine, but the British industrial position
_ is threatened by the continued rise in the price of
coal, which may hamper competition with
_ countries with cheaper supplies.
_ issued a warning of this danger, and his main
_ prediction has been amply. justified, for during the |
_ seventy years from 1834 to 1904 the price of
_ coal almost doubled, while that of general com-
- modities fell by about a quarter. The increased
_ cost of coal cannot, therefore, be explained by
such influences as variations in currency.
__ The maintenance of the British output at a price
_ which will enable British manufacturers to
compete with those of foreign coal-producing
_ countries depends on the increase of our coal
_ reserves by the discovery of buried coal fields,
_ such as doubtless occur under the younger rocks
_ of eastern and southern England, while an exten-
_ sion of the Scottish coal fields may occur in north-
__ eastern Ireland under the lava sheets of Antrim.
_ The coal field of South Yorkshire and Nottingham-
_ shire has been enlarged since 1905 by the dis-
__ covery of 400 square miles of coal-bearing country,
- most of which is already being worked or
_ developed. The eastward extension of this field
_ is less than was expected by the Coal Commission
_ of 1905, but its eastern and southern margins are
still undetermined. The Kent coal field was found,
in consequence of a geological prediction, during
boring operations at Dover in connection with
the Channel tunnel. Private bores for water have
thrown light on the possible range of the coal in
_ the south-east of England, but there are large
areas which are unlikely to be tested by private
enterprise. It is deplorable that they should be
_ left unproved, as a few bores between the Not-
_ tinghamshire and Kent coal fields, and between
_ London and Bristol, might lead to the discovery
__ of very important additions to the national coal
__ reserves. Such bores should be put down at the
‘national expense, the cost, if successful, being
charged to the ‘area benefited.
As much light may be thrown on the distribution
NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
Jevons in 1865.
of concealed coal by private: bores, the journals
of all deep bores should be communicated to the
Geological Survey and published either annually
or, if desired by those who have paid for them,
after an interval of ten years.
The national coal supplies will be increased by
the working of deeper seams. The extreme limit
of coal mining has been regarded as 4000 ft., but
that depth has been greatly exceeded in metal
mining, and 4900 ft. is the accepted Continental
limit for coal mining.
The working of thinner seams is becoming prac-
ticable by the use of machinery and by working
coal in conjunction with the adjacent clays; but
the extension of thin-seam working would be hin-
dered by a Government scheme for the national-
isation of coal. The nationalisation of all minerals,
since clay and limestone often form the ground in
large areas, would mean the nationalisation of the
land. The nationalisation of coal alone would
seriously hamper that combined working of coal
with clay or limestone on which the development
of thin-seam working is mainly dependent.
It may also pay the nation to arrange for the
extraction of seams so thin that they cannot be
worked at a profit, for if the labour be available
the direct loss may be recompensed from the
profits earned by the coal in other industries. It
has often been suggested that to make our coal.
last longer the output should be restricted, but that
policy, fortunately, appears now to have no advo-
cates. The universal demand is for an increased
output. Its restriction is opposed to the sound
commercial principle, ‘“‘Use an asset while you
can.” Unrestricted output is, however, justifiable
only so long as coal is used economically, Great
savings are possible. Sir George Beilby estimates
that the average British consumption of coal per
horse-power per hour is 5 lb., and that it should
be no more than 1} lb., thus saving 56 million
tons of coal a year. Greater saving appears
possible by economy in the use of coal than
from the numerous alternative sources of
power, though resort to them will become neces-
sary if coal prices rise.
Economy in coal is the most promising method
of reducing the drain on our coal reserves. The_
country has used only about 6 per cent. of its
total coal. Our coal supply would maintain the
1913 output for centuries, but if the annual output
increases until, as some authorities expect, it is
trebled, the handicap of high price may be on us
in less than a century. By economy in coal con-
sumption great industrial expansion is possible on
the present output.
The essential factors with regard to the coal
question are that no other source of power is
available in this country on a large scale; coal is
still indispensable, while it is limited in amount
and irreplaceable ; and, owing to the exhaustion of
the more easily worked seams, a steady rise in
price will continue, and probably at an accelerated
rate. Ultimately the nation «must enforce
economy in the consumption of coal, prevent waste
in mining, and be prepared to work. seams at a
‘L110
“NATURE
[Marcu 25, 1920 _
direct financial loss. The coal industry can be
conducted on those lines in accordance with three
possible policies—nationalisation, one coal trust
for all the British fields, or group working by
a combine for each coal field, co-ordinated by
national control. Which of these policies is best
is not a geological question. The problem for
geologists is whether one of these policies is neces-
sary at once, owing to the diminution of our coal
reserves. The recent rise in the price of coal has
been due partly to a just increase in miners’
wages, partly to the higher costs of supplies, and
partly to some spontaneous hypertrophy of
price in distribution. Compared with these influ-
ences, the contribution to the soaring of coal prices
by the geological factors is trivial. The conditions
of our coal supplies do not render immediately
necessary any drastic action in the conduct of the
industry. In countries such as India, where the
total coal reserves relative to the area and popula-
tion are small, nationalisation may be the soundest
economic policy, but we are far from the time
when the three great coal-producing countries—
the United Kingdom, the United States, and
Germany—will find nationalisation necessary
owing to the approaching exhaustion of their coal
supplies. ape
The direct issue before the nation at present is
between national ownership of the minerals ‘with
centralised Government control of mining—which
may give us the drawbacks of nationalisation
without its advantages, and is repudiated by both
the miners and the mine owners—and a scheme
of nationalisation combined with local administra-
tion of the industry by those engaged in it. The
issue between nationalisation and the pre-war _
system may not be put to the nation unless as a ~
result of the conflict between the nationalisers who
advocate central control and those who advocate
local control. The pre-war system has no chance
of permanence unless developed to give the miners
better conditions and a share in the control and
financial fluctuations of the industry, combined
with regulations to enforce economy in the use of
coal and to secure less waste in mining, and with
the determination of the extent of the concealed
coal fields on which the future of the country will
ultimately depend.
Obituary.
PrRor, CHARLES LapwortTH, F.R.S.
S work of Prof. Charles Lapworth (who
_ died on Saturday, March 13) in the sciences
of geology and geography will continue to influ-
ence and inspire the growth of these sciences for
many years to come. At the moment we can but
mourn the loss of one worthy to be classed with
the greatest of the old masters. 3
Gifted with a vivid and flexible imagination
which he kept in his most brilliant excursions well
under the control of his data, with unwearied
patience in the collection of fact by his own
observation or that of others, with an active. and
most orderly mind for grouping and arranging
ideas, with the moral courage to hold his hypo-
theses in test until the survivors of them became
proved theories, with a perfect genius for strati-
graphy, an instinct for geometry, and the. hand
of an artist, Lapworth had the qualities requisite
to bring the study of the older paleozoic rocks
to the level of an exact science, to throw new
light on the mechanism of earth-movement, and
to forge the links between geology, “the geo-
graphy of the past,” and the geography of the
present. :
In 1864 Lapworth grasped the opportunity of
work in the Southern Uplands, the country redo-
lent of Scott, his favourite author. Spending
every leisure moment in walking over ground
thus made sacred to him, and possessing. the gift
of close and accurate observation, he could not
help becoming interested in the landscape and the.
rocks; and he soon found himself studying the
geology of the region in company with his friend
James Wilson...
NO. 2630; VOL. 105]
It happened that the landscape of this area
concealed under an aspect of simplicity, but
revealed to the eye of genius, a rock-structure
of extraordinary complexity, to which there was
apparently no clue except a few obscure pen-like
markings, called graptolites, in the Moffat shales ;
and these had been tried for the purpose, but
“turned down” as useless. Lapworth, however,
determined to give them a second chance, and, as.
a result of systematic collecting, a keen eye for a
country, and a retentive memory for minute, but
significant, lithological variation, accompanied by
a more elaborate piece of geological mapping than
his predecessors had ever attempted, succeeded in
proving that they could be used to unravel a rock-
succession, even though it was more crumpled,
inverted, and tangled than any other then known.
The rock succession and tectonic structure thus
made out were tested against the simpler succes-
sion and relations and the more normal fossils. of
the Girvan area, and proved correct. At the same
time, the graptolite zones that Lapworth had
established were tested by comparison with suc-
cessions made out partly by others, but mainly
by himself at home, and by workers in Scan-
dinavia, Bohemia, etc., proving that he had suc-
cessfully performed at Moffat the double feat of
working out the succession by means of the
structure, and the structure by the succession.
The correct reading of the Uplands having shown
that an apparently simple upward succession
might be altogether misleading, and that this region
gave support, and not contradiction, to general
laws previously established in the organic and
Marcu 25, 1920}
NATURE
II!
inorganic world, suggested the probability that
the varying interpretations of the Highland
problem might admit of a like solution. While
i was able to carry and apply his tectonic
iples to the Highlands, definite organic suc-
on now failed him, and he was driven to
nd mainly on his stratigraphical methods
applied to variations: which were mainly litho-
ogi Again, most elaborate mapping, and
something akin to inspiration in the interpretation
yf it, came to his aid, and in ‘a few months he
had proved that the secret of the Highlands was
hat the.region was the basal wreck of an ancient
untain chain exhibiting tectonic features akin
those worked out by Escher and Heim in the
s. Lapworth was passing forward to the fuller
tudy of the metamorphic area of the Highlands
when his work was cut short by illness, and, in
‘spite of his wish to do so, he was never able to
take it up again. :
The tectonic work, however, led on to the sug-
ive study of the rock-fold, which formed the
ject of his address to the British Association
Edinburgh (1892), in which he passed from the
‘structure of mountain chains to that of continents
and oceans, and onward to the antilogous crests
-and troughs of the earth’s crust as a whole, includ-
ing that great “septum” the Pacific girdle of fire,
the “wedding-ring of geology and geography.”
Later, Lapworth laid before the Geologists’ Asso-
ciation his conception that a great continental
wave sweeping round the earth would produce
_ results analogous to those revealed by the succes-
sion of stratified rocks. In this, as in his other
work, while possessing deep and sympathetic know-
ledge of the researches of such geologists as
Suess, Heim, and Bertrand, he held steadily to
the views of the mechanics of the earth’s crust to
which his independent thought had led him.
__ The success of his own graptolite work and the
_keenness with which it was being followed up by
young observers led him to propose a new classi-
fication of the Rhabdophora, and to contemplate a
_ monograph on the Order. This has now been com-
sted by Miss Elles and Mrs. Shakespear under
s guidance and editorship.
Although his duties at Birmingham, and the
great amount of professional work involved by-
his position there, kept Lapworth fully occupied,
s ideal diversion was always the discovery of
new facts and their delineation on maps.
Field classes, week-ends, and longer holidays were
always devoted to this, resulting in the completion
(of large-scale maps of Nuneaton, the Lickeys,
Dudley and the Coal-field, the Wrekin, the Long-
mynd and Caradoc, the Shelve country, and, last
_ but by no means least, with his friend Dr. Stacey
_ Wilson, the Harlech area. Little of all this work
has been published. He loved to add to it,
_ to improve and polish it, to fill in difficult corners
in detail, and to show his treasures to his friends,
delighting that they should realise some of the
Steps which led to his conclusions, and appreciate
_ some of the labour of discovery. :
_ As a great teacher Lapworth earnestly desired to
NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
cs
WY
hl
equip his students to take their share in furthering
the advance of science and to remove anything
that could retard its progress. It was only fitting
that the man who had stilled the Lowland con-
troversy, and wrested its secret from the High-
lands, should give the law in the “Silurian” con-
troversy and make the opponents sink their differ-
ences by the adoption of his term “ Ordovician.”
Sir THomas P. ANDERSON STUART.
It is with deep regret that we have to record
the death, on February 29, in Sydney, of Sir
Anderson Stuart, the well-known and _ highly
respected professor of physiology in the University
of that city, and the dean of its medical faculty.
He had been in failing health for some months
previously, but the fatal outcome of his malady
was unexpected by his numerous friends.
Anderson Stuart was born at Dumfries in 1856,
and was the son of Alexander Stuart, Dean of
Guild. He received his early education at the
Dumfries Academy, and later studied in Germany
(Wolfenbiittel and Strassburg) and in the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh, where he _ graduated
M.B., Ch.M. with honours in 1880. The next
year he was appointed assistant of the professor
of the Institutes of Medicine at Edinburgh, and
later took the M.D. at that University, obtaining
the gold medal.
It was in 1883 that Anderson Stuart went to
Australia as professor of physiology at Sydney,
which post he held until his untimely death. His
was a forceful character, and he threw himself
with enthusiasm into the work of teaching and
research there. He will be remembered for many
useful pieces of original work in’ connection with
the circulation, the physiology of swallowing, and
the eye. His various models and schemata, in
which he manifested extreme ingenuity, are
standard helps to teaching in all modern labora-
tories. His work as dean at a later stage in his
career brought the medical school into high repute,
and at the meeting of the British Association in
Australia in 1914 he pointed out with justifiable
pride the new buildings of the medical school,
fully equipped with all modern appliances and
accommodation for research and teaching, which
formed the successful culmination of his efforts.
But Anderson Stuart was more than a professor,
more even than a dean; he was a sagacious man
of the world, and was appointed on many occa-
sions delegate by his University to various inter-
national congresses, and consulted by the Govern-
ment of New South Wales on many questions of
public importance mainly related to educational
problems. He was thus a well-known figure, not
only in Great Britain, but also in other European
countries.
In his adopted country Anderson Stuart’s life
was a long story of official appointments success-
fully discharged. He was twice president of the
Royal Society of New South Wales. He was
medical adviser to the Government of. that colony,
a
NATURE
[Marcu 25, 1920.
and took a prominent part in all public health
and educational movements; he was health officer
to Port Jackson, president of the Board of
Health, chairman of the board of the Royal Prince
Alfred Hospital, trustee of the Australian Museum,
and held many other public posts too numerous
to mention. His activities in so many directions
were recognised by the conferment of honorary
degrees (M.D., Universities of Melbourne and
' Sydney; LL.D., University of Edinburgh; D.Sc.,
University of Durham), and finally by the honour
of knighthood in 1914.
Anderson Stuart was held in high affection by
his students, colleagues, and numerous friends
in both hemispheres. He leaves a widow and
several sons (who saw service in the recent war)
to mourn his loss, and to them our ~ heartfelt
sympathy is offered.
By the death of Mr. J..S. MacArtuur on
March 16 industrial chemistry has lost a notable
exponent. Mr. MacArthur’s name will always be
remembered in connection with the Forrest-
MacArthur patent for the extraction of gold
from its ores by means of cyanide. It is given
to few men to discover a process which has
had such a far-reaching effect in almost every
branch of civilised life. The influence of an enor-
mously increased quantity of gold available for
mankind has been—as, indeed, it must be—pro-
found, no matter whether it is for good or for
evil. Compared with the huge sums of money
involved, the amount accruing to Mr. MacArthur
out of this patent was infinitesimal. His type was
essentially a pioneering one. The initial work in
connection with the extraction of gold was carried
out with small funds in a laboratory which was
in reality a cellar at the back of a Glasgow tene-
ment house. After this work was completed,
Mr. MacArthur engaged in many commercial
ventures in connection with chemistry and
mining, but, with the possible exception of his
last, none of them seemed to possess the elements
of permanent success. This was the extraction
of radium from its ores, which he carried on first
of all in Cheshire, and then practically on the
shores of Loch Lomond, in order to avail himself
of the purest possible water. He was proud of
his works there, and delighted to feel that he was
able to carry on his work in the midst of such
beautiful surroundings. Mr. MacArthur’s person-
ality was delightful and genial. His travels had
been world-wide, and to anyone _ interested
in mineralogy and travel he was_ indeed
entertaining.
Mr. JAMES PRocTER, whose death occurred on
March 6, was born in 1841. He took a prominent
part in the design and manufacture of the engines
required for blast-furnace work and iron and steel
works, and is said to have been the first British
engineer to construct blowing engines with
mechanically controlled valves. Mr. Procter was
a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engin-
eers and of the Iron and Steel Institute.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
Notes. iy
As president of the British Association at its
meeting in Cardiff on August 24-28 next, Prof. W. A.
Herdman, of Liverpool University, will deal in his
inaugural address with oceanography, of which he will
give a general survey, and discuss in detail certain
special problems and recent investigations, with par-
ticular reference to the sea-fisheries. The following
presidents of sections have been appointed :—
A (Mathematics and Physics), Prof. A. S. Eddington ;
B (Chemistry), Mr. C. T. Heycock; C (Geology),
Dr. F. A. Bather; D (Zoology), Prof. J. Stanley
Gardiner; EE (Geography), Mr. J. McFarlane ;
F (Economics), Dr. J. H. Clapham; G (Engineer-
ing), Prof. C. F. Jenkin; H (Anthropology), Prof.
Karl Pearson; I (Physiology), Mr. J. Barcroft;
K (Botany), Miss E, R. Saunders; L (Education),
Sir Robert Blair; and M (Agriculture), Prof. F. W-
Keeble.
In the interests of physiological and medical re-
search, we may congratulate ourselves that the debate
on the mischievous and unnecessary Dogs Protection
Bill of Sir F. Banbury was ‘adjourned ”’ on Friday
last. Owing to the length of the discussion on the
really important Early Closing Bill, that on the former
Bill was prolonged until the rising of the House. It
may be pointed out once again that no other animal
of the size of the dog can be kept under laboratory
conditions in a healthy state, and that the general
chemical changes in this animal are closely similar to
those of man, mainly owing to its omnivorous nature.
The letter by Dr. Thos. Lewis in the Times of
March 19 shows how obstructive the exclusion of the
dog would be to one branch of investigation of great
practical utility; and an equally strong case could
easily be made out for many others. The report of
the last Royal Commission on Vivisection shows that
adequate provision against any possible cruelty has
already been made, even if it were necessary to do so.
His Majesty THE Kina has approved the award of
the Royal medals of the Royal Geographical Society
as follows :—Founder’s medal to Mr. H. St. John B.
Philby, for his two journeys in south-central Arabia,
1917 and 1918; and Patron’s medal to Prof. Jovan
Cvijic, Rector of the University of Belgrade, for dis-
tinguished studies of the geography of the Balkan
Peninsula. The council of the society has awarded
the Victoria medal to Lt.-Col. H. S. L. Winterbotham,
for his exceptional services to the country in the initia-
tion and development of scientific methods of/artillery
survey and the production of high-class maps of in-
accessible areas. Other awards are :—Murchison
grant to Miss Czaplicka, for her ethnographical and
geographical work in northern Siberia; Cuthbert Peek
grant to Mr. A. W. Pearson Chinnery, to assist him
in continuing his work in the unexplored parts of New
Guinea; Back grant to Mr. J. M. Wordie, for his
scientific work on the Antarctic Expedition of 1914-17;
and Gill memorial to Mr. Reginald Farrer, for his
journeys on. the Chinese borders of Tibet.
oral 25, 1920]
WATURE
L13
P the: ‘meeting of the Royal Irish Academy on
March 16, the following were elected
“members in the section of science :—
: ri Louis le Chatelier, Prof. George Ellery
‘Prof. Augustus Edward Hough Love, and Sir
: peaeeriord.
Syatletia of railways. The Gicinttion is
ted as follows :—Sir Alexander Kennedy (chair-
, Sir Alexander Gibb, Mr. C. H. Merz, Sir
p Nash, Sir John Snell, Sir sonal Thornton, and
- Redman.
- Recording | Secretary of the Nova Scotian
tute of Science has been good enough to inform
s that at a meeting of the institute held at Halifax
‘March 8, on the motion of Mr. H. Piers, seconded
_D. Fraser Harris, it was ‘resolved that the
Scotian Institute of Science convey to the. pub-
rs and Editors . of NatTuRE, London, its con-
lations on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary ,
establishment of that well-known - scientific
and wish Lim continired success in ‘the
os fac systematic. Steiotiiies in Mediter-
1. oceanography was started at. an _ inter-
i eeegaey) nee held at Madrid. ‘Accord-
to. La. : Géographie for January (vol. xxxiii., No. 1),
States represented were France, Italy, Spain,
se, Monaco, Egypt, and Tunis. A _commission
founded, with headquarters at Monaco and the
‘of Monaco as president. This commission will
- the methods to be. adopted. . Ships for. the
are under construction or being planned by
a Spain, and-Monaco. A. beginning will |
and Monaco and Spain in the Straits »
. were used. The fitst left Brooklarids'-on -
4 and was wrecked at Wadi Halfa on—
“a1. ‘A new start was made from Cairo on
‘eb - 22 with an ‘aeroplane fitted with the engines
ror the first machine, and a flight was made so far.
is OSaengee where the machine crashed on March 6.
1 March 17 a machine was supplied by the Union
ment to replace this, and with it’ Col. van.
slid and Capt. Brand completed their. African
air B Oute of more than five thousand miles. Though
ot associated with scientific observation during the
ney, the flight is a notable feat in the history of
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
), Sir John Aspinall, Mr. A. R. Cooper, Mr. Philip
made th sie: spring, ‘France and Italy working i in the
ib niga ar. The secretary of the central commission —
De J tapcbiard, Musée Cetanogranhique, Monaco. .
Dr. CHALMERS MITCHELL, in cablegrams from Dar-
és-Salaam, published in the Times of March 15 and
16, graphically. summarises his impressions on the
physiography of the Nile basin as seen in_ his
flight from Cairo to Tabora. His despatch depicts
the unity of the processes which have moulded the
surface of north-eastern Africa. The dominant features
due to earth movements are being slowly smothered
by sheets of sand and silt deposited in river deltas,
in the marginal lakes formed where tributaries are
barred entrance to the main river by the raising of its
bed and banks, and in wide basins slowly being con-
verted to plains by wind-borne dust. _Dr. Chalmers
Mitchell represents East Africa as having been
cracked, whereas most other lands have been folded,
and its vastest plains as due more to wind than to
water. The lowlands are being filled by sub-aerial
drift which buries the lower irregularities, and leaves
the peaks rising abruptly out of the plains like reefs
through the sand; upon a shore. In the second part
of his report Dr.. Chalmers Mitchell refers to the
beauty of the country, despite its. aridity, and. offers
strong’ testimony -to, the progress which, has been
achieved: in the Tanganyika territory, owing to
“much ingenuity and vast.expenditure. of ;money, well
laid out.” His remarks on the elephants, , giraffes,
and antelopes observed during. the flight, show that
the aeroplane would be of great service 19 pines
in the search for big game.: ,
Ir has frequently been suggested oe the: very v Heavy
cylinders used for compressed gases aré now out of
date, and’ that the advances made’ during recent years |
in the science of ‘metallurgy, particularly in connec-
tion with steel and its alloys, should énable - a vessel
to be produced which is lighter as well as safe. .’ In con-
sequence of these suggestions the Department of Scien-
tific and Industrial Research forméd a ‘Gas’ Cylinders
Committee in 1918, the members of the Committee
being. Fro. Ce i. Carpenter (chairman), Prof.
C.. V.. Boys, Prof. E.G. Coker,’ ‘Diy J.'A. Harker,
Major Cooper-Key, Prof, F. C. Lea, Eng: {Capt. J.
McLaurin, Sir Charles Parsons, Major sah) Stewart,
and Prof. J. F. Thorpe. Compressed. gases were much |
used during the war, for various purposes, such as,
for. example, in supplying oxygen for airmen flying
at high altitudes and for poison-gas warfare. Indus-
trially also, in war, as in peace, there has been an
immense .development in the use of oxygen and
acetylene for welding, of carbon dioxide and ammonia
| for refrigeration, of hydrogen for ballooning, étc., which
no doubt will be maintained. Arising from the neces-
sity of war, very light cylinders have been manufac-
tured for the purposes above mentioned, and slightly
heavier cylinders were made to an Admiralty specifica-
tion. . The Gas Cylinders. Committee, in conjunction
with the leading tube. manufacturers, has made a
number of.tests of cylinders based upon these war
specifications, and it is hoped-that as a result of this
work it may be possible to recommend the adoption
of cylinders considerably lighter, than those now in
general use,
Tue first engineering school to be established in
London was that at University College. Since 1828
LI4
NATURE
[Marcu 25, 1920
a succession of engineers have been educated there
under an eminent series of professors, and it would
be a thousand pities if its work in this direction were
now to be cramped for lack of funds. The case was
ably put by Prince Arthur of Connaught at a lunch
at the Savoy Hotel on Friday last. His Royal High-
ness explained that the present scheme of extensions
of the engineering laboratories of University College
had a pre-war inception, and he paid a tribute to the
valuable anti-submarine and other electrical research
work carried out during the war by the professors at
the college. The war had made us realise the necessity
for adequate provision for scientific education and
research, and he urged the need for the laboratories
opened twenty-seven years ago by his father to be
modernised and brought up to date. Twenty-four
thousand pounds out of the 100,000l. which they were
asking for had already been subscribed, including
10,0001. from Lord Cowdray in memory of his son,
the Hon. F. G. Pearson, who lost his life during the
war. Lord Cowdray had also promised a’ further
10,000l. when a total of 70,0001. had been collected.
Dr. Russell Wells (Vice-Chancellor of the University
of London) also emphasised the necessity for improved
technological education for the future prosperity of
the country, and announced further subscriptions
aggregating more than 4oool. Sir Ernest Moir
(honorary treasurer to the fund) supported the appeal,
and Sir Robert Hadfield referred to the valuable
research and educational work done at the college,
which could not be continued without adequate funds.
Sir Gregory Foster (Provost of University College)
explained how important it was that the extensions
should be put in hand without delay, and pointed
out that, although the Government policy was to pro-
vide grants for maintenance purposes, capital expendi-
ture had to be met entirely by voluntary subscription.
A PAMPHLET entitled ‘‘Currency Reform and the
Need for a Nickel Coinage on a Decimal Basis,”
issued by the Decimal Association, directs attention
to the recommendations in favour of decimal coinage
which have been made from time to time by com-
mittees appointed by the Government to consider the
question of currency reform. The simplification of
account-keeping and of conversions of values into
foreign equivalents which the introduction of a
decimal coinage would necessarily secure is an
advantage which would benefit the whole of our
business community, and, in addition, effect a great
saving of time in our schools. The Decimal Asso-
ciation is in favour of the pound-mil system, which
retains our gold coins and replaces the present bronze
coinage by new denominations of 4 per cent. lower
value. The main objection to the alternative decimal
' systems is that they would impair the prestige of
the pound sterling, which under the pound-mil system
is retained intact. Proposed changes in the materials
of our coins are now under consideration by the
Government, and the pamphlet urges that the oppor-
tunity should be taken to get rid of our present in-
convenient system and introduce a new coinage on a
decimal basis.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
THE second of the Chadwick public Jectures on _
military hygiene was delivered by Gen. Sir John —
Goodwin, Director A.M.S., on March 15. The
lecturer reviewed the Army hygiene during the
recent war. The clothing served out to the troops
was of the best, and special attention was devoted
to feeding and rationing. The water-supply in large
measure was subjected to chlorination in order to
purify it, bleaching-powder being principally used for
the purpose. Special measures were taken for
cleansing purposes, bathing stations being established
where the men bathed, and in the meanwhile their
uniforms were sterilised and fresh underclothing was
served out to them. Destructors were built, or extem-
porised out of biscuit-tins, etc., in which all the camp
refuse was burnt. Special means were devised to
prevent waste. Thus in the destructors all the solder
from old tins was melted out and collected, and fat
from the kitchens was saved and sent home for manu-
facture into glycerine and munitions. By these
measures the health of the Army was preserved to a
degree unknown in former campaigns. For example,
in 1916, among a total strength of a million and a
quarter of all nationalities, the number of cases of
enteric fever was 0-2 per 1000 men, whereas in ~~
Boer War the figure was 153 per I000.
Tue February number of the Museums. Tiubnat
contains the report of a conference between Sir
Amherst Selby-Bigge, Secretary of the Board of
Education, and representatives of the Museums Asso-
ciation, headed by Sir Martin Conway, on the pro-
posed transfer of museums to the local education
authorities. The association presented a reasoned
protest, laying stress on the fact that the educational
activities of museums must necessarily be subsidiary to
their primary function of collecting and preserving the
works of Nature and of man, and to the study of this
material in prosecuting ‘‘the highest aim of a museum
. the advancement of science, art, and industry.”” It.
is the results of that study which eventually become
available for the education of the public. The argu-
ments in favour of linking up all the museums of
the country with the national museums under the
control of a separate museum board were advanced
by Dr. Bather, who instanced among the prospective
advantages of such an arrangement “the ,loan-
circulation of natural history and other objects from
the British Museum, the provision of expert help, and
the cataloguing of the wealth of our scattered
museums.’’? Sir A. Selby-Bigge, in his reply, claimed
that the conception of education had recently widened
so as to include the chief functions which the deputa-
tion assigned to museums, The previous number of the
Museums Journal reprints, with comments, the recom-
mendations concerning the staffs of the national
museums made by a Royal Commission, the report
of which (Cd. 7338), issued in April, 1914, was
obscured by the smoke of war.
A “Sprciat Report on the Prevention of Venereal
Diseases,’? by Dr. ‘A. Mearns Fraser, Medical Officer
of Health for Portsmouth, has recently been addressed
by him to the Health and Housing Committee of the
Marcu 25, 1920]
NATURE
115
aoe Council, and is worthy of the careful con-
; of all authorities concerned with national
“San Dr. Fraser urges that the highest aim of a
S aealleccity should be the prevention, not the
ment, of disease, and that the necessity for exten-
e provision for treatment is evidence of the neglect
failure of prevention. He shows clearly that the
scessful prevention of venereal disease by scienti-
aecredited means can be achieved only by the
tion of certain sanitary measures which are readily
ble and easily applicable. These measures con-
in ne use of a solution of permanganate of potash
nediately after exposure to infection and of an
nt containing calomel. The provision of these
nfectants by any local health authority is not sug-
ted, but the authority is recommended to take such
steps as are necessary to spread the knowledge of the
‘means of self-disinfection, so that those who insist
_ on satisfying their sexual appetites by promiscuous
intercourse may be instructed how to protect them-
selves: from diseages which, when contracted, are
_ notoriously so often communicated to innocent women
and children. Since it is far more easy to disinfect
men than women, it is rightly urged by Dr. Fraser
_ that it is of the first importance to prevent the infec-
tive germs from entering the body of the male,
for if one sex can be protected from infection venereal
diseases will be well on the way towards extinction.
_ The report gives ample consideration and reply to
a Vatious objections which have been- persistently made
- against the inclusion of venereal diseases in the cate-
F gee? of infectious and preventable diseases which can
now be dealt with on a apa ora lines.
ti 3
A cuRIOUS case of stone worship is described by
. H. A, MacMichael among the Tungur-Fur tribe
in ‘the Sudan (Sudan Notes and Records, vol. iii,
Bit 4, January, 1920). "The stone is known as the
‘Bride’s Stone” or the ‘Custom Stone.”’ Rites are
: on marriage, at the circumcision of a child,
ata birth, and when a high official visits the place.
_ But that at marriage is; as the name implies, the
_ me most usual. After the marriage rite the pair are made
; rub some blood of a sacrificed animal on the stone
n the form of a cross. If they are too poor to afford
, they offer a piece of cowdung. Then they are
toa neighbouring well, where the officiant takes
ids, shoulders, waists, enaea: and loins of the
le, and binds some green grass on their necks.
les, and wrists—all doubtless intended as a fer-
ier in ati Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’
Society attained its jubilee, and we congratulate its
members on their fifty years of good work. The
name of ‘‘naturalist’’ is in danger of extinction.
ce) ar pursuits are so specialised that we have ornitho-
gists, marine biologists, and protozoologists who yet
prec ould scarcely be called naturalists. Another peril to the
Bi 1e of naturalist was brought about by Mr. Arthur
Balfour’s use of the word “naturalism ”’ to denote
vhat other people call ‘‘ materialism.’’ It would be a
Diccsan pities to lose familiarity with this most
NO. 2620 vot. toc!
honourable name of naturalist, or to pervert it to a
false use. Happily, we are safe so long as the Norfolk
and Norwich Naturalists’ Society flourishes, and others
like it. Its latest number of Transactions (vol. x.,
part v., 1918-19) is altogether admirable, with Mr.
W. P. Pycraft’s paper on “Some Neglected Aspects
in the Study of Young Birds,’”? Mr. Robert Gurney’s
‘Breeding Stations of the Black-headed Gull in the
British Isles,’? and Mr. W. G. Clarke’s ‘‘The Fauna
and Flora of an Essex Common.”’ The whole issue
is well illustrated and well edited; and Dr. Sydney
Long, the society’s hon. secretary and editor, says
truly that new problems and new points of view con-
tinually arise. ‘It is to: be hoped that members of
our society may devote attention in the future to such
questions as the limiting factors in the distribution
of our flora and fauna, to the peculiar physical and
biological features of our great asset, the Norfolk
Broads, or even to such practical questions as the
advancement of agricultural methods by the applica-
tion of modern ideas on heredity and soil fertility.’’
Tue Sumatran hare (Nesolagus Netscheri) is one of
the rarest of known mammals. Hitherto’ only two
specimens have ever found their way into a museum,
and these are in the Natural History Museum at
Leyden. Messrs. E. Jacobson and C. Boden Kloss
are therefore to be congratulated on being able to
describe four recently captured examples in the
Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums
(vol. vii., part iv.). The specimens were obtained by
Mr. Jacobson after a long and almost hopeless search —
in south-west Sumatra. In its coloration this animal
is remarkable, being broadly striped with dark brown
on a “buffy or greyish” background, forming a strik-
ing pattern, which is admirably shown in two photo-
graphs of a living animal. The skin of. this creature
is so exceedingly thin that it was possible to prepare
the specimens captured only after hardening in spirit.
It is nocturnal in its habits, and haunts the remote
parts of the forest at an altitude of from 600 to
1400 metres. Hence it is almost unknown, even to
the natives. So far as can be ascertained, it would
seem to live in burrows at the base of big trees or
in holes in the ground made by other animals. Mr.
Jacobson succeeded in keeping one of the specimens
here described for more than a year, during which
time it fed readily upon cooked rice, young maize,
bread, and ripe bananas. But its favourite food in the
wild state would appear to consist chiefly of the juicy
stalks and leaves of different species of Cyrtandra,
which plants form a large part of the undergrowth
of the forests in which it lives. Repeated experiments
showed that these plants were preferred to all others,
and were consumed in large quantities.
Tue Philippine Journal of Science (vol. xiv., No. 6)
contains an account by H. A. Lee and H. S. Yates of
the so-called ‘‘pink disease’? which has_ recentiy
appeared in the Philippines, spreading rapidly and
causing serious stem- and branch-disease of citrus-
trees. The organism is a well-known fungus, Cor-
ticium salmonicolor, which, though not previously
reported upon citrus, is known to cause disease on
rubber-trees (Hevea brasiliensis), cocoa, coffee, and
116
NATURE
[Marcu 25, 1920
other plants, economic and wild, in the Orient, where
it is now widely distributed, though in rgoo the
diséase was practically unknown.
Tue Journal of the Franklin Institute for February |
contains the address on ‘‘Sound-ranging as Practised
by the United States Army during the War’’ delivered
at the meeting of the physics section of the institute in
October last by Prof. A. Trowbridge, of Princeton Uni-
versity. The methods used were those developed by our
own Sound-ranging Section, and are known to many
of our readers. They depend on the differences of the
times of arrival of the sound of a gun at six stations
near the gun, and are both sensitive and instru-
mentally very accurate.
almost all due to uncertain meteorological conditions
at the time of observation. As compared with other
methods of location of enemy guns, the American
- experience is summed up in the following numbers :—
During a three weeks’ rapid advance sound-rangers
accounted for 21 per cent., and flash-rangers for 79 per
cent., of the guns located. During the two following
weeks, when the advance had been: checked, sound
was credited with 54 per cent., and light with 46 per
cent., of the locations. These records are charac-
teristic, and show that the Sound-ranging Section
required a little longer to get. into efficient action
than the Flash-ranging Section.
‘WE have received a copy of the first volume of the ©
Chemical Age (June-December, 1919). Besides more
or less ephemeral matter, the volume contains a>
number of important articles possessing a permanent
interest. Among these may be mentioned ‘The
Chemist’s Place and Function in Industry,’ by Sir
Robert Hadfield; ‘‘Recent Developments in Indus-
trial Catalysis,’? by Dr. H. S. Taylor; ‘‘The Com-
mercial Synthesis of Organic Compounds from
Acetylene,”? by Mr. M. J. Marshall; and ‘‘The Syn-
thesis of Ammonia,’”’ by Dr. E. B. Maxted. A useful
feature of the journal is the weekly account; with |
illustrations, of patent literature; this keeps the
reader early in touch with advances made both in
this country and abroad, and will be of value to the
industrial chemist and the chemical engineer. It is
satisfactory to find that the promising standard of the
early numbers is well maintained in the later issues.
Ir is more than a hundred years since Sir
Humphry Davy first described his wire-gauze safety
lamp to the Royal Society (1818). The-chief use of
the lamp has, of course, been in the coal-mining
industry. Danger of gaseous explosions also exists,
however, in various chemical works where inflam-
mable liquids are dealt with, a frequent cause being
the use of naked lights in the repair or cleansing of
large holders in which such liquids have been stored.
Even at some distance from the liquid a naked light
may be dangerous, as vapour given off may render
the atmosphere capable of propagating flame. Atten-
tion is directed to this fact in the Journal. of the
Society of Chemical. Industry (February 28) by Mr.
W. Payman, who advocates the use of some form. of
safety lamp where artificial illumination is required
in such circumstances, and describes various forms
of lamp, suitable for the purpose.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
The residual errors are ;
ENGINEERS who have to solve problems based on
the properties of steam, and especially those connected
with steam turbines, will welcome a new alignment
diagram constructed by Mr. D. Halton. Thomson, and
published in Engineering for March 5. The principal
part of the diagram is based on Callendar’s equations
for the properties of steam, and by applying the prin-
ciple of duality Mr. Thomson has succeeded in produc-
ing an alignment diagram which represents not only the
simpler of the Cailendar equations, but also the others
not hitherto amenable to this treatment. The diagram
has scales showing (a) the total heat of superheated
or supersaturated steam, and also the total heat of
wet steam; (b) the amount of superheat; (c) the dry-
‘ness fraction; (d) the total entropy; (e) the hydraulic
efficiency for multi-stage turbines during superheated
or supersaturated expansion; (f) the specific volume
of superheated or supersaturated steam, and also of
wet steam; (g) the absolute pressure; and (h) the
saturation temperature. An auxiliary scale gives the
relation of the heat drop and the steam velocity, and
the Wilson point is marked on the chart. A straight-
edge laid across the scales gives the whole of the
required properties at once. As an example of the
‘kind of complex problems which can be answered in
this way, we quote the following from the article :-—
In a four-stage turbine the steam expands’in thermal
equilibrium from 200 lb. per sq. in. absolute and
superheat 100° F. to 1-5 lb. per sq. in. absolute;
the stage efficiency is 0-65 and the reheat factor 1-045.
Required the pressure, specific volume, and quality
at the end of each stage. By no means the least
interesting part of the article is an appendix showing
the methods employed by Mr. Thomson in trans-
forming the equations to the form desired. .
Dr. GrirFITH Taytor, the Australian meteorologist,
delivered during the war courses of lectures on
meteorology to the Commonwealth Flying School and
at the University of Melbourne, and as a result he is
now publishing, through the Oxford University Press,
‘Australian Meteorology, with Sections on Aviation
and Climatology.”? The volume will include chapters
on the study of the weather chart, work at a small
station, the peculiarities of the Australian rainfall, the
special storms and hurricanes of Australia, actual pro-
cedure in upper-air research, the discussion of long-
distance forecasting and the application of meteorology
to aviation, etc.
In the Veterinary Review for February (vol. iv.,
No. 1) Mr. Fred Bullock contributes an instructive
article on the compilation of hibliographies. Full
details are given of the proper manner of compiling
a bibliography, and a number of examples of correct
and incorrect references to journals and other pub-
lications are given and criticised.
Messrs. Crospy. Lockwoop anp Son, 7 Stationers’
Hall Court, London, E.C.4, have just issued a new
select list. of books published by them on chemical
technology.. A copy will be. sent to any reader of
NaTurE post free upon application to. this well-known
firm. of. publishers of modern sven industrial, and
technical books. — ‘
nie
NATURE
117
“Marcu 25, 1920]
Be te 2 s
Our Astronomical Column.
Tora, Sorar Ectipse or 1918 Junge 8.—
. Iviii., No. 4, of the Proceedings of the American
ophical Society is entirely taken up with a dis-
sion of the observations made during this eclipse.
photographs taken by the Lowell Observatory
sdition at Syracuse, Kansas, bring out very clearly
‘connection between the prominences and _ the
l arches. It is pointed out that this connection
1 easier to trace at sun-spot maximum than at
um. Dr. Slipher’s photographs of the coronal
um indicate that coronium is much more abun-
in the equatorial than in the polar regions.
srs. Jakob Kunz and Joel Stebbins were stationed
Rock Springs, Wyoming, and measured the total
t of the corona by photo-electric cells. Compari-
| was made with the full moon through the inter-
-mediary of standard candles. Allowing for absorption
_ by the atmosphere, the total light of the corona was
candle-metres, just half the value found for the
full moon. Comparison of the corona with the sky
_ near the sun before and during the eclipse showed that
the corona gave 1/10th of the sky light (same aréa)
_in full sunshine, and six hundred times the sky light
during totality. It is obvious that most of the illu-
mination of the landscape during totality comes, not-
_ from the corona, but from the distant regions of the
terrestrial atmosphere, which are outside the shadow.
_ Endeavours are being made by Prof. Hale at Mount
_ Wilson to ee the corona in daylight by the use of
Mr. John A. Miller, of the Sproul Observatory,
describes some researches to detect motion in coronal
_ streamers by comparing plates taken at different
_ stations. Recessions from the sun of 90, 60, and
15 miles per second were indicated for three different
streamers. Mr. Miller also states that the forms of
4 oar) the streamers can be explained on the sup-
position that they are projected matter acted on by a
epulsive force. ES
A Noon Rerrector.—Prof. C. V. Boys describes
the English Mechanic for March 5 an ingenious
ttle ir ent which he states to be capable of
ing apparent solar time within a_ second.
a
s essentially a transit instrument; a small mirror,
:
se
in
2
: “Iti
; in. ameter, is mounted on an axis about 2 in.
_ long, cylindrical ends which rest in two Y’s,
_mounted on a stand which is capable of being firmly
Full details
: i nyges# of the various parts are given in the
ticle, with instructions which should enable any
son with a mechanical bent to construct it. Small
ovements for fine adjustment in level and azimuth
_ are allowed for in the design. Some protecting cover
and some means of fixing firmly after adjustment is
_ secured are also demanded, as it is somewhat tedious
_and troublesome to adjust it with high accuracy. The
mirror is so small that the reflection of the sun on
the opposite wall is fairly well defined, like a pinhole
image, and the author states that he has frequently
_4een able to see large sun-spots clearly.. There is a
certain amount of penumbra, but by practising uni-
_formity in observing either the inside or the outside
of the penumbral fringe the time of transit of the
_sun’s centre may be determined to a second. The
ridian is marked by a line on the north wall of the
om; the noon image of the sun may be brought to
same point at all times of the year by rotating
e mirror axis in the Y’s.
NA 9692N Wot tor]
_ fixed in a window of southern aspect.
' discoveries,
American. Fossil Vertebrate Animals.
AMERICAN palzontologists are making good pro-
gress with their detailed studies and déscriptions
of the original type-specimens of the various species
of extinct vertebrate animals found on theit con-
tinent. Most of the first descriptions were necessarily
hurried and superficial, often unaccompanied with
figures, and they are scattered in’ numerous small
publications. Later discoveries have indicated more
clearly the features that are of special significance
and need particular attention in each case, so that
new descriptions are of fundamental importance for
exactitude in the science. Realising this, Prof: H. F.
Osborn has just completed a valuable work by ‘bring-
ing together a series of up-to-date technical descrip-
tions and figures of all the type-specimens ‘of fossil
horses from the Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene
formations of North America (Memoirs of the ‘Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History, new series, vol. ii.,
part i.). He not only deals with every species on a
uniform plan, but also discusses in ample detail the
correlation of the various formations from which the
fossils were obtained. Besides reproducing the
original figures already published, he adds many
more, and among these the pencil drawings by two
Japanese artists are especially noteworthy. A series
of new drawings collected to illustrate the evolution
of the upper and lower molars of the horses is a
welcome compendium.
Other fossil mammals are described and discussed
in the sixth volume of papers on vertebrate palzeonto-
logy extracted from the Bulletin of the American
Museum of Natural History, 1915-17. We noticed
some of these contributions at the time of
their publication, and we are glad to have them
so conveniently collected. Several notes on the
mammalian remains of the Lower Eocene by Messrs.
W. D. Matthew and W. Granger add to our know-
ledge of the type-specimens by comparison with later
which are described and illustrated in
detail. The paper on the Eocene Notharctus by
Messrs. W. Granger and W. K. Gregory is also
fundamentally important for a discussion of the origin
of the Primates. In another valuable memoir Dr.
Gregory pursues this subject, and reviews our present
knowledge of the fragmentary fossils which seem to
afford some information as to the origin of man.
The skeleton of Diatryma, a heavy running bird
> ft. high, from the Lower Eocene of Wyoming, is
described by Messrs.’ Matthew and Granger as repre-
senting a new order of uncertain relationships. Some
of the Cretaceous Dinosaurs described bv Prof.
Osborn are also remarkably bird-like; and the won-
derfully preserved Corythosaurus described bv Mr. B.
Brown, though evidently an amphibious Dinosaur
related to Iguanodon, has a bony. crest which would
make the outward shave of its head like that of a
cassowary.
In the volume from the American Museum there
are also some notes on the gigantic Dinosaurs related
to Diplodocus, but a still more important contribution
to our knowledge of these reptiles is Prof. R. S. Lull’s
detailed description of Barosaurus in the Memoirs of
the Connecticut Academy (vol. vi., pp. 1-42, pls. i-
vii.). Barosaurus seems to have a longer neck and
shorter tail than Diplodocus, but is otherwise very
similar to the latter. The gigantic Sauropoda,
indeed, are not easilv classified, and we still need
many more technical descriptions like that before us.
Some of the type-specimens of the Permian and
Triassic reptiles are also redescribed and, discussed by
Baron von Huene and Mr. D. M. S. Watson in the
Bulletin of the American Museum; but the most
118
NATURE
[ MARCH 25, 1920
striking recent addition to our knowledge is a fine
skeleton of Dimetrodon from the Permian of Texas,
described by Mr. C. W. Gilmore in the Proceedings
of the U.S. National Museum (vol. lvi., pp. 525-39,
pls. 70-73). Mr. Gilmore has restored the reptile as
shown in the accompanying figure, and none of the
proportions are hypothetical except the length of the
thin end of the tail. The total length is about 7 ft.,
while the greatest height at the middle of the dorsal
crest is nearly 5 ft. It must have been an agile
reptile, and the serrated sabre-shaped teeth would be
very effective for the capture and tearing-up of its
prey. The feet have sharp claws. The remarkable
crest on the back is formed by the projection of the
greatly elongated neural spines of the vertebra, as
in the existing little lizard, the basilisk, of tropical
America,
shown in the upper corner of our figure.
of the largest, wealthiest, and most active of the
associations under the Department. The annual
income, apart from special donations and interest, is
nearly 12,000l., and it is hoped that ultimately the
association will embrace the two thousand firms
engaged in wool manufacturing in the British Isles.
The outstanding feature of the year covered by the
report has been the appointment of a director of
research, Major H. J. W. Bliss having taken up his
duties on March 24 last year.
Among the interesting matters dealt with in the
report are the seven reports on researches or inves-
tigations undertaken by the association; the partial
engagement of two specialists and the appointment
of two investigators; the development of consulting
work; the dissociation from the larger educational
institutions—particularly the University of Leeds and
Fic. 1:—Restoration of a primitive carnivorous reptile, Dimetrvodon gigas, from the Permian of Texas, made by Mr. Charles W. Gilmore
for the U.S. National Museum, Washington ; about one-twelith natural size.
Inset, the ex sting lizard, Basiliscus plumifrons, from
Central Ame ica, showing dorsal crest formed by projecting neural spines.
The use of this crest is uncertain, but the most
plausible suggestion seems to be that the reptile lived
among scrubby vegetation, and the outgrowths, pro-
tectively adorned, may have helped to osraresn it.
5 aay BY
Research in Textile Industries.
Pe ING its initial impetus from the activities
of the University of Leeds, later aspiring to
wider activities in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the
British Research Association for the Woollen and
Worsted Industries has now attained to full status
under the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research, and, according to the report for 1918-19
of the council, just published, may claim to be one
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
the Bradford Technical College—and the start on the
development of. private laboratories at Frizinghall,
Bradford; the institution of a library and informa-
tion bureau and the indexing of past textile publica-
tions and research; the formation of two joint com-
mittees, one to deal with woollen carding and
spinning, and the other with sheep-breeding; the
receiving of deputations; and the formation of five
local committees for England, Scotland, and Wales.
Reference is also made to the progress of research,
| especially in the United States and in Germany, atten-
tion being directed to the large sums of money spent
and the large staffs engaged by individual firms, and
the inference drawn that, large as the resources of the
British Research Association are, they will have to
| be much augmented if the requirements of the wool
industry are to be satisfactorily met.
A little homily
Marcu 25, 1920]
NATURE
119
emedying the Neglect,” ‘‘The Basis of Research,”’
‘Research: What it is not.”
t is to be regretted that the report shows a certain
of appreciation of the conditions under which
ntific research and investigations may be con-
The appointment of a director who comes
and unbiased to the wool industry is an experi-
nent well worth watching in view of future develop-
nents. But how comes it that the actual laboratories
to be divorced from the Yorkshire University of
ds? This action appears all the more strange
it is noted that of the seven researches and
westigations undertaken, five have been carried out
1 the University of Leeds; of the four appointments
made to the staff, three are from the University of
eds; and of the two large researches conjointly
) taken, both originated in the University of
weeds, the second being started by drawing upon the
U “hap de unique flock of Soay sheep.
It is further somewhat strange to read that “in
the simplest matters it is not possible to find informa-
‘tion in a correct and authoritative form,’’ in view of
the fact that the country which has been specially
comme _in the report for its highly developed re-
ucted.
_ 5 at
:
oa
activities (the United States of America) adopts
shire text-book as its standard work of refer-
and that Australia similarly regards Yorkshiré
publications on wool.
here indicated are only a passing phase, and that ulti-
ately credit will be rendered to those institutions,
articularly the University of Leeds and the Bradford
echnical College, and individuals who by their
ours in the past have made possible the develop-
ment of this association, ©
- Research work on wool presents such remarkable
difficulties that apparently the only possibility of sound
progress in the future lies in the closest and most
_ amicable association of all institutions and individuals
ially qualified to assist in introducing science and
scientific method to the greatest. possible extent
throughout the wool industries. It may be that the
secrecy insisted on bv this association is essential in
th
3
f
+s
th ests of subscribing members, but the broader in-
_terests of research are represented by an approximately
equal Government contribution, and it is obvious that
these broader interests can best be fulfilled by a well-
considered scheme of association between the educa-
tional. institutions in question and the Research
SE Pace ar oe |
_ Climatology of North-west Russia and
ae France.’
‘CINCE the withdrawal of the British Forces from
~ Ar l and Murmansk, the climate of North--
west Russia has become a matter of less interest to
the average Englishman than was the case six months
ago, but to the meteorologist the district remains one
ce. The climatic features of the area in
vinter must be considered in relation to its inter-
‘mediate position between the relatively warm waters
of the Arctic Ocean and the intense cold of Central
_ Asia. The effect of these two influences is seen in
_ the approximate equality of temperature in January
at Alexandrovsk, near the mouth of the Kola River,
in the north, and Petrograd in the south, notwith-
standing a difference of nearly 10° in latitude between
the two stations.
a (1) “The Climate of North-west Russia.” Pp. 26-++4 plates. (London:
Meteo ological Office, 1919.) : y : : :
(2) “ Etudes sur le Climat de la France.” Deuxiéme Partie: ‘‘ Région
mex Cae et du Sud.” By A. Angot. Pp. 114+13 plates. (Rézime
‘ Ss rues,
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
5
:
‘
given on “The Effect of Neglect in the Past,’’
We hope that the tendencies .
_The comparative warmth of the Arctic coast is
likely to become a matter of considerable economic
importance, as it enables the recently developed port
of Murmansk to be used for navigation throughout
the year. The dates of the forming and breaking-up
of ice on the Nova, Dvina, and Onega Rivers and on
Lake Onega are shown in a table in the work under
notice, where are given not only the mean date, but
also the periods within which the date will occur on
the average, (a) once in two years, and (b) once in
five years, thus indicating the degree of variability
experienced. This may be a matter of nearly as much
importance as the actual mean value. :
The climatic conditions of North-west Russia are
presented in a series of tables giving data for seven
stations, while letterpress directs attention to the more
important features. It may cause surprise to learn
that a temperature of 85° F. has been recorded at
Archangel, while the average highest reading for July
is 80° F. The percentage of cloudy skies in North
Russia is high even in the summer—a feature which
is well brought out by diagrams of a novel type, which
show the frequency of fog, precipitation, and over-
cast, cloudy, and clear skies for Archangel and Kola.
Upper-air temperatures are presented for Petrograd,
where trustworthy means are available, and also for
Kiruna, in Swedish Lapland, where the number of ob-
servations is less satisfactory. In the two tables in
which these data are set out, increasing height runs
in one case up the page, and in the other down. It
.seems desirable that one or the other of these methods
should be standardised. ‘There is much to be said for
reversing the older method and following the more
natural way by running increasing heights up the
page, so that the greater heights are above the smaller.
he paper does not aim at being a complete treatise
upon the subject of the climate of North-west Russia,
but within a small compass a good deal of interesting
information is put together.
The second of the two publications under notice is
of a different and more specialised type, dealing with
but one branch of climatology, namely, rainfall, for
the southern and south-western districts of France.
This forms the second part of a larger work which
is to cover the rainfall of the whole of France, and,
as the discussion of the data is left over until the
publication. of the whole is complete, the present
volume contains little but tabulated matter. The
region embraced is bounded by the Rhone on the
east and by the Pyrenees on the south, while north-
ward it stops somewhat short of the Loire.
The thirty Departments included in the area are
represented by some g50 rainfall stations, the mean
‘density’ varying in general in the different regions
from 4 to 1 station per 10 km. square. In the main
tables each Department is dealt with separately in the
following manner :—First are set out brief particulars
of the different stations giving height above sea-level
and the period covered by the observations. Next are
given the mean monthly and annual fall in millimetres
for each station reduced to the common period 1851-
1900. Finally, for selected stations the proportionate
fall in each month of the year is shown. The means
from these selected stations show the annual march of
rainfall for the ,.Department as a whole, and in this
case correction is made for the unequal lengths of
the months.
At certain stations, more numerous in some Depart-
ments than in others, the rain-gauge is placed upon
a roof, which leads to an unsatisfactory exposure. It
is pointed out that the errors introduced by such an
exposure’ are proportionately greater in winter than
in summer, so that the annual curve is distorted. It
is worth noting that the normal height of the rim
120
NATURE
| MARCH 25, 1920
of the gauge above the ground is 1-5 to 1-8 metres in
France, so that a correction would be necessary before
making comparison of the results with British records,
An excellent ‘series of charts at the end of the
volume indicates the rainfall distribution in each month
and in the year as a whole. In the study of these
charts’ one misses a contour map of the country. The
annual fall varies from 500 mm. in two small areas
on the shores of the Mediterranean to more than
1500 mm. in the mountainous regions. It is note-
worthy that, after the Mediterranean seaboard, parts
of the Atlantic coast take a high place among the
driest regions of southern and south-western France.
This is particularly the case in the summer months.
A wise discretion has evidently been used in rejecting
stations of doubtful accuracy in the preparation of the
district means, and in other ways it is evident that
trouble has not been spared to render the results as
trustworthy as possible. J. SD,
Volumetric Testing of Scientific Glassware.
Yi Weedon sted work in the chemical and physical
laboratory depends not only on the worker, but
also to a large extent on-the trustworthiness of his glass
measuring apparatus, such as burettes, pipettes, and
calibrated flasks. Whilst it is no doubt true that
every operator who is master of his craft should be
able, on: occasion, to~verify the accuracy of his
measuring instruments, it is also. true that both time
and practice are required to do it well, to say nothing
of the ‘fact that special equipment is necessary for
some of the verifications. Hence it is important, both
to makers and to users, that facilities should be avail-
able for the testing of such instruments by experts,
upon whose -testimony reliance can safely ‘be placed.
At the National Physical Laboratory apparatus of
the kind in question has been tested, in respect of its
accuracy, for the past fifteen years, but on a small
scale only. Such instruments were. mainly obtained
- from abroad in pre-war days, and it is only within
the last two or three years that the making of them
has developed appreciably in this country. .
With the growth of the industry here it became
necessary to make arrangements for ‘testing and
certifying glass volumetric apparatus on a larger scale
than heretofore. .Facilities were therefore provided
and regulations drawn up, in co-operation with manu-
out systematically what are known as “‘Class. A”
tests—that is, tests on apparatus required to be of the
highest degree of accuracy. A» pamphlet describing
the arrangements and regulations was issued in July,
1918, and a new building has just been’ completed,
with special equipment for dealing with this class of
work on a large scale.
Instruments required to be only sufficiently accurate
for commercial purposes are designated as “Class B.”
A permanent. scheme for commercial testing. of such
bodies, is now under the consideration of the Govern-
ment. Pending the settlement of this scheme, manu-
facturers may note that the National Physical Labora-
tory is. prepared to undertake ‘Class B”’ tests, which
for the present will be carried out at.Teddington. | It
is hoped eventually to arrange for this work to be
done at local centres.
‘A full account of the methods of testing, limits of
‘error allowed, details of construction, and fees charged
is given in a new edition of the laboratory pamphlet,
“Volumetric Tests on Scientific Glassware.’’ Copies
of this pamphlet may be obtained free of charge on
application to the Director.
The “Class A” tests are designed for instruments
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
intended to possess the highest degree of accuracy —
required in scientific use. Whilst the ‘Class B”
tests are less stringent, the limits of error assigned
are such as all graduated apparatus of good com-
mercial quality should comply with, and are necessary
for obtaining satisfactory results in ordinary routine
analysis. ee
It is very desirable that the scientific glass-making
industry developed in this country during the war
should remain as a permanent asset: To attain’ this
end the graduated apparatus produced should be not
only well made, but trustworthy in respect of accurate
calibration. From the maker’s point of view; the
advantage of having apparatus guaranteed by an im-
partial institution is invaluable for establishing a
reputation for accuracy. As regards users, they will
no doubt be glad to know that it is now possible to
obtain apparatus the correctness of which has been
impartially verified. The monogram of the National
Physical Laboratory is the hall-mark of British
scientific glassware so far as accuracy of measurement
is concerned. ; Beeb.
University and Educational Intelligence.
ABERDEEN.—Mr. W. G. Craib, formerly assistant
at Kew, and now of the botanical department, Edin-
burgh University, has been appointed to the chair of
botany vacant by the death of. Prof. J. W. H. Trail.
' BirmincHamM.—Mr. A. A. Dee has been appointed
an assistant lecturer in physics. — + gee
_ CaMBRIDGE.—The governing body. of | Emmanuel |
College offers to research students commencing resi-
sidence at the college in October, 1920, two exhibi-
tions, each of the annual value of 5o0l. and tenable:
for two years and, on .the..recommendation of the
| student’s director of studies, for such longer period
as the degree course may require. The governing
body may also make additional grants to students
| whose means are insufficient. to cover the expense of
residence at Cambridge or whose course of research
may entail any considerable outlay.in.the provision
of apparatus or materials. The exhibitions will be
awarded .at. the beginning of October, and applications
should be sent so as to reach the Master. of Patmanuel
| (The. Master’s Lodge, Emmanuel College, Cambridge)
nu- | not later than September 18.
facturers and users of scientific glassware, for carrying |
The new statute authorising the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy for Research has been Bh pees by his
Majesty the King in Council, and regulations giving
effect to the new statute will be offered for accept-
ance at the. first Congregation in the Easter term.
Mr. F. B. Smith, of Downing College, has been
appointed reader, in estate management. _.
Vacancies are announced in the Cayley lectureship
in mathematics and in'the University lectureships in
physiology and zoology. Candidates must apply to the
5 ! ' Vice-Chancellor. by. April 20.
articles by State institutions, or by other approved |
EpINBURGH.—In consequence of the appointment of
Mr. W. G. Craib, of the botanical department, to the
chair of botany in the University of Aberdeen, it has
been arranged as'a matter of urgency that Sir George
_ Watt, formerly professor ‘of botany in the University
of Calcutta, deliver the course of lectures on Indian
forest trees during the summer term.
Mr. James Templeton has been appointed lecturer
in botany in succession to Mr. Pealling (resigned),
and Dr. Bella D. MacCallum full-time assistant in
the same department. se
With the assistance. of the Scottish Committee of
‘the Royal Aeronautical Society, the services of four
_ lecturers had been obtained to give a series of lectures
aoe nr eee
"Marcu 25, 1920]
NATURE
h21
aeronautics in connection with the engineering
ss at the Universities of St. Andrews, ot
and Edinburgh. The University Court voted a grant
of sol. to defray the cost of the lectures in Edinburgh,
ind suggested that the lectures should be open to the
IDHC... .
M. ere’ Breuil, of, Paris, ia meant appointed
Munro lecturer on prehistoric archzolo for the
-academical year 1920-21. - .
_ Liverroo..—The University, through its Chan-
21 or, Lord Derby, has just issued an appeal to its
_ constituency, the counties of Cumberland, Lancashire,
Cheshire, and North Wales, for funds that will enable
_to come abreast of present needs. Some of the
as
o>!
_ are obviously inadequate, while all of them are now
a » small ; thus the practical course in elementary
physics is being repeated eleven times each week.
The library needs to .be extended; the chemical
laboratories are so overcrowded: that work is being
_ carried on in Army huts; new departments are con-
temp! and interesting developments are being
_ thought out. A chair in the mathematical theory of
Statistics, a ship-model tank, a department of col-
oidal chemistry, and.a department of marine food
try’ are among” the ‘futurist ’’ ideas that make
appeal so relevant to a
rcial centre. It»is hoped that the sum of a
on pounds. mav ‘be: obtained; and of this about
,oool. is urgently required for pressing expan-
. Already about 200,000l. has been promised.
5 SD lig oA, f :
4 On Saturday last, March 20, the third annual dinner
_ of the metallurgy department of the. Sir. John. Cass
4 4 chnical Institute was held, Mr. ,G. Patchin, the
El head of the department, being in the chair. Dr.C. A.
re Keane, the principal, replying. to the toast .of the
q te, stated that. at the present time. there are
more | han a thousand individual students attending
the various courses. In 1904 there were three courses
Be etsents in ie metallurgy depart-
ment, and this year there are eleven courses and one
hundred and twenty students. .
_ One of the most valuable provisions of the new
_ Army scheme is that which relates to the education
_ of the rank and file. The intention is to provide men
_ in the Army with an educational training equal, or
_ even superior, to what is available in civilian life.
Every officer in command of a company will be held
responsible for the instruction of his men, not only
n drill and oe agg but also in the class-room and
rkshop, and the result will certainly be increased
se and efficiency.
elliges ct re oa ca dae aa of
this subs tial reform Col. Lord Gorell, who since
7R: 18 has been Deputy Director of Staff Duties
& (Educa tion) at the War Office, Sir Henry Hadow,
and Mr. P. A. Barnett are largely responsible, and
_ they are to be congratulated cordially that the scheme
A certificates of education is to come into
peration on July 1, 1921. Four classes of certificates
_ are to be awarded on the results of examination.
_ For the third-class certificate candidates must be rble
_-to read intelligently a selected piece of English prose,
ite a simple letter, work simple sums up to and
luding vulgar fractions in reference to concrete
é nples, and answer questions on a course of citizen-
ship and history. The second-class certificate will
~ apparently require a standard of attainment comparable
_ with those of the former Preliminary Local Examina-
_ tions of Oxford and Cambridge; and the first class,
_ involving English, mathematics, geography and map-
_ reading, and (optional) an ancient or modern language,
‘ approximately that of the First School Examination.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
La
_ laboratories have been in existence since 1881, and |
great industrial and .
By taking, in addition, two or three single subjects
from different groups, a special certificate may be ob-
tained. Various practical subjects may be taken for
the second-class . certificate, and the groups for the
special certificate include mechanics, chemistry, physics,
botany, zoology, geology, physiology, civil, mechanical,
and electrical engineering, agricultural chemistry, and
commerce. We shall ‘watch with close attention the
application and results of this educational scheme.
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Royal Society, March 11.—Sir J. J. Thomson,
president, in the chair.—W. G. Duffield, T. H.
Burnham, and A. A. Davis: The pressure upon the
poles of metallic arcs, including alloys and composite
arcs.. In a previous communication (Phil. Trans.,
A, ccxx., p.°209, 1919) the authors showed that the
poles of a carbon arc behaved as though they repelled
one another, and methods were described by’ which
the pressure upon each pole could be measured.
Reasons were given for attributing this effect to the
reaction consequent’ upon the emission of électrons
from the poles under the influence of thermionic or
photo-electric action. The present experiments relate
to arcs between iron, copper, and silver terminals, the
rate of variation of the pressure with current ‘density
being measured for the anodes and cathodes. The
pressures were greater than in the carbon arc, that
within the copper arc being the largest. Assuming
that the pressure is due to the projection of electrons,
a comparison between the kinetic energy of the elec-
tron and that of the metallic atom at the temperature
of the poles showed sufficient agreement to suggest
that the electrons before projection were in thermal
equilibrium with the metal of the pole. The reactions
upon electrodes composed of an alloy of silver and
copper were also measured, likewise those within an
are between a silver and a carbon pole. In this case
the pressure was determined mainly by the material
of the pole under examination. The problem of the
mechanism whereby a gas may be heated is briefly
discussed. Some account is also given of the varia-
tion in the potential difference between the poles when
the material of one is altered.—J. H. Vincent : Further
experiments on the yariation of wave-length of’ the
oscillations generated by an ionic valve due to changes
in filament current. Eccles and Vincent have found
that in an oscillatory circuit maintained by a
thermionic valve with ‘a grid coil coupling, the wave-
length has a maximum value for a, certain filament
current. This effect is studied further in this paper.
In order to vary the filament current, rheostats were
designed and used in which the change of resistance
was unaccompanied by any sensible change in the
self-induction of the filament circuit. The methods of
measuring the change of wave-length due to the
variation of filament current were different from that
employed by Eccles and Vincent, but it was found
that the results obtained were independent of the
particular method by which the wave-length was
studied. It is suggested that changes in several of
the variables of a valve-maintained circuit produce
effects of the same sign on the wave-length and the
amplitude of the oscillations. The wave-length and
amplitude decrease with the decrease of the grid
voltage or of the plate voltage. They also decrease
when the coupling of the grid coil with the main
oscillator coil decreases. Increasing the. resistance in
either the condenser branch or the induction branch
of the main oscillating circuit lessens the amplitude
and wave-length; while altering the filament current
122
NATURE
| Marcu 25, 1920 |
in either direction from that giving the maximum
wave-length gives also a decreased amplitude.—H. A.
Daynes: The theory of the katharometer. <A_his-
torical introductory note by Dr. G. A. Shakespear
gives a description of the katharometer and an
account of its development by him for hydrogen purity
measurements and similar work in connection with
lighter-than-air craft. The paper discusses the condi-
tions which determine the temperature of the hot
wire in the katharometer cell, and shows that loss of
heat by conduction through the gas is the most im-
portant factor, convection and radiation being quite
unimportant. Equations are given expressing the
experimental law of heat loss in a single katharometer
wire, and these are applied to the case of two wires
in parallel in the arms of a Wheatstone bridge.
These equations are then used to show what are the
conditions for greatest sensitiveness and precision in
various cases arising in practice.—H. A. Daynes: The
process of diffusion through a rubber membrane.
The nature of diffusion of gases through rubber
membranes is discussed in the light of some recent
work. This all points to a simple process, deter-
mined by the case of diffusion through the rubber,
and by the absorption of the gas by the rubber. This
is introduced mathematically into the problem of dif-
fusion through a membrane. The unsteady state is
considered, in which the membrane, after being ex-
posed to air, is suddenly exposed on one side to,
say, hydrogen, and the rate of emission of hydrogen
from the other side calculated. The passage of gas
through the material is treated purely as a diffusion
problem, the boundary conditions only being deter-
mined by absorption. It is shown that measurements
of the permeability of a membrane and of the lag oa
reaching a steady state are sufficient for the deter-
mination of both absorption and diffusion constants.
Experiments are described in which these conditions
are fulfilled. The measurements of the diffusion are
made by means of a katharometer. From _ these
experiments the constants of diffusion and absorption
for hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide,
nitrous oxide, and ammonia are determined. Tem-
perature coefficients for the constants are given for
hydrogen, and the high temperature coefficient of
permeability of rubber is shown to be due chiefly to
the high temperature coefficient of the diffusion con-
stant. The extraordinarily high permeability of rubber
to carbon dioxide, ammonia, etc., is shown to be due
entirely to the high absorption. A relation is also
suggested between absorption and critical temperature
of the gas.
Physical Society, February 27.—Prof. W. H. Bragg,
president, in the chair.—T. Smith: The balancing of
errors. In calculating functions from Taylor expan-
sions or otherwise, the results obtained by summing
any finite number of terms will differ to a greater or
less extent from the true results. It is shown in the
paper that by suitable modifications of the coefficients
the results obtained, even when comparatively few
terms of the expansion are taken, can be made to
approximate very closely to the true results for all
values of the variable between selected limits.—Dr.
N. W. MacLachlan: Notes on the testing of bars of
magnet steel. The paper describes the results of
experiments with the Ewing double permeameter. It
is shown that the assumption underlying the theory of
the method, viz. that the end effects are the same
with the long and short bars, is not justified, and
that the value of H, as found by calculation on this
assumption, is in error. The error did not, however,
exceed 1 per cent. for any of the bars tested, but
the author concludes that the method is inferior as
regards accuracy and convenience to the differential-
NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
‘rarefactions the pressures on the strips arise from
coil method.—G. D. West: The forces acting on
heated metal-foil surfaces in rarefied gases. The
present paper arises out of two previous papers by the —
author on the pressure of light (Proc. Phys. Soe.,
XXV., P. 324, 1913, and xxVili., p. 259, 1916), and
consists of an experimental investigation of the nature
of certain peculiar movements of strips of thin metal
foil surrounded by rarefied gases and exposed to radia-
tion. The experiments deal chiefly with phenomena
at gas pressures below 1 cm. of mercury, and it is
shown that the apparently diverse results obtained
can be connected by a theory based on the work of a
previous paper (Proc. Phys. Soc., xxxi., p. 278,
1919). The author concludes that at the highest
the fact that, if differences of temperature exist in
an enclosure, the pressure of the gas is not uniform,
but varies approximately as the square root of the
latter’s absolute temperature. The simple conditions
that exist at low gas pressures are complicated at the
higher pressures by gas currents which differ
fundamentally from convection currents, but are
closely connected with the phenomena of thermal
transpiration. ann
March 12.—Prof. W. H. Bragg, president,
in the chair.—F. H. Newman: Absorovtion of —
gases in the electric discharge tube.—J. 5S. G.
Thomas: A directional hot-wire anemometer. The
instrument consists of two fine platinum wires
mounted close together, and forming two of arms
of a Wheatstone bridge. These are heated by the
current in the bridge. When a stream of gas moves
in a direction perpendicular to the wires, but parallel
to the plane containing them, the leading wire is
cooled, while the second wire, being shie a the
first, is not cooled so much, and may actually be
heated on account of the air flowing past it being
warmed by the first wire. A deflection of the galvano-
meter is obtained, therefore, which is reversed if the |
flow of gas is in the reverse direction. The instru-
ment is much more sensitive than the non-directional
hot-wire anemometer.
Linnean Society, March 4.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-
ward, president, in the chair—R. H. Compton; A
contribution to our knowledge of the botany of New
Caledonia. The subject of this communication is the
collection made by Mr. Compton in New Caledonia
and the Isle of Pines during 1914 with the aid of
money grants from the Royal Society, the Percy
Sladen Trust, and the Wort’s Travelling Fund of
Cambridge University. The specimens collected have
been presented to the British Museum, and the
greater part have been worked out in the department
of botany at that institution. Dr. Rendle gave a short
account of the position and physical character of the
island, and referred to previous work on its flora
and its general characters. Important features are
the igneous rocks which form a mountain chain of
gneiss in the north-east, and the serpentine forma-
tion which covers the southern portion and oceurs in |
larger or smaller areas throughout the island. The
flora is rich, and the proportion of endemic forms
exceptionally high. The main affinities of the flora
are with Indo-Malaya and South-East Australia, the
former represented chiefly in the forest regions and
the latter in the scrub and savannah regions; and a
study of it suggests that New Caledonia is a very
ancient land mass which has been isolated for a very ~
long period. Dr. Rendle also gave a résumé of Mr. —
Compton’s account of the ferns and gymnosperms. —
The latter are of great interest; they number gbout —
twenty-seven, and are all endemic. Mr. Baker
referred to a number of interesting specimens among.
the dicotyledonous flowering plants, which included
ARCH 25, 1920]
NATURE
123
y novelties. Miss Lorrain Smith gave an account
e lichens, which include a new genus and a fair
lion of new species. Miss E. M. Wakefield
d to the fungi, the geographical distribution of
points of interest; and Miss G. Lister
the small collection of Mycetozoa.
jical Society, March 10.—Mr. R. D. Oldham,
dent, in the chair.—Prof. A. H. Cox and A. K.
‘ Lower Paleozoic rocks of the Arthog-
oigelley district (Merionethshire). This paper gives
nm account of the geology of the country between the
r Idris range and the Mawddach Estuary. The
sraphy of the district was described, and a sum-
the work of previous investigators given.
Ree: MANCHESTER.
'y and Philosophical Society, February 17.—Sir
A Miers, president, in the chair.—Dr. T.
1 Brown: The function of the brain. The
ty of an animal, as seen by an observer, consists
movements of its limbs, changes of its attitude,
nges in its expression, and so on. This activity is
ally called ‘“‘behaviour.”” In itself the action is
ate movements of the parts of the body are
o ' This integration may occur at different
in the central nervous system. The great brain
be present if the animal is to exhibit all the
aes of behaviour which characterise the
animal. The two general methods of examina-
e described and illustrated by experimental
ons. Brain injuries and their results in men
nimals, with consequential paralysis, and the
- of the “cerebral localisation of functions”
_ Literary and Society (Chemical Section),
ry 27.—Mr. R. H. Clayton, chairman, in the
-J. Allan: Engineering as applied to the build-
and plant in chemical works.
im ae DvBLIn.
Royal Dublin Society, February 24.—Dr. F. Hackett
in the chair.—Prof. Wm. Brown: Note on the decay
magnetism in bar magnets. Twenty-one bar
- magnets of different chemical composition were re-
_ tested for magnetic moment per gram after being
_ laid aside for ten years. The most retentive were
of to be magnets with about 1 per cent. of C.
and those with about 3 per cent. of Cr. The general
results show that in ten years the manganese group
t about 25 per cent. of their magnetism, the
nm group 20 per cent., and the chromium group
) er cent.—T. G. Mason: The inhibition of
vertase in the sap of Galanthus nivalis. The inver-
on of sucrose in the sap extracted from the leaves of
us nivalis takes place with extreme slowness,
that at the end of five days, at a temperature of
-C., it is still incomplete. The delay is observed
hether the sap is pressed from untreated leaves or
ym leaves the cells of which have been rendered
leable by exposure to intense cold or to toluene
_ Vapour; but the delay is least marked in the sap
extracted by the first method. It is shown that inver-
m such as occurs is due neither to the acids of
the cell-sap nor to the enzymes of organisms external
_ to the cells, and hence the presence of invertase in
_the sap seems established. Efforts were made to
_ demonstrate the presence of an invertase-inhibitor by
dialysis, and by testing the effect of the sap on
yeast-invertase, with negative results. Possibly the
NO. 2630, VOL. 105 |
BY
Ae
ie
’
logical one, and may be analysed and
d in terms of physiological mechanism. It
used as an index of the mental processes. .
the nervous system in the total be-.
greater part of the invertase of the sap is thrown
down with the colloids coagulated by extraction,
especially during exposure to cold or to toluene
vapour. The inversion of the sucrose was traced by
thermo-electric observations. of the depression of
freezing point of the sap. These observations usually
showed a comparatively rapid inversion during the
first few hours, followed by a slight reversal or sus-
pension of the process for the next few hours, and
then a steady inversion at a very slow rate. The
reversal is remarkable, and may be attributed to a
condensation of hexoses to form sucrose or to oxida-
tion of the hexoses.
Books Received.
Spring Songs. By T. J. W. Henslow. Pp. 54.
(London: Electrical Press, Ltd.) 1s. 6d. net.
The Propagation of Electric Currents in Telephone
and Telegraph Conductors. By Prof. J. A. Fleming.
Third edition. Pp. xiv+370. (London: Constable
and Co., Ltd.) 21s. net.
The Arctic Prairies. By E. Thompson Seton.
Pp. xii+308. (London:
8s. 6d. net.
Paper Making and its Machinery. By T. W.
Chalmers. Pp.’ xi+178+vi plates. (London: Con-
stable and Co., Ltd.) 26s. net.
Mathematical Papers for Admission into the Royal
Military Academy and the Royal Military College,
and Papers in Elementary Engineering for the Royal
Air Force for the Years 1910-1919. Edited by R. M.
Milne. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) tos. 6d.
Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry for
1919. Vol. xvi. Pp. ix+234. (London: Gurney and
Jackson.) 4s. 6d. net.
A Manual of Elementary Zoology. By L. A. Borra-
daile. Third edition. Pp. xvili+616+xxi plates.
(London: Henry Frowde and Hodder and Stoughton.)
18s.
The Ghost World: Its Realities, Apparitions, and
Constable and Co., Ltd.)
Spooks. By J. W. Wickwar. Pp. 158. (London:
Jarrolds, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net. ;
Treatise on General and Industrial Inorganic
Chemistry. By Prof. E. Molinari. Second edition.
Translated from the fourth Italian edition by T. H
Pope. Pp. xix+876+2 plates. (London: J. and A.
Churchill.) 42s. net.
Industrial Organic Analysis. By P. S. Arup.
Second edition. Pp. xi+471. (London: J. and A.
Churchill.) 12s. 6d. net. wet
Electricity: Its Production and Applications. By
Neale. Pp. viiit136. (London: Sir Isaac
Pitman and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net.
Aviation : Theorico - Practical Text-book for
Students. By B. M. Carmina. Pp. ix+172. (New
York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and
Co., Ltd.) 11s. net.
The Link between the Practitioner and the Labora-
tory. By C. Fletcher and H. McLean. Pp. gt.
(London: H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd.) 4s. 6d. net.
A Memorial Volume containing an Account of the
Photographic Researches of Ferdinand Hurter and
Vero C. Driffield. By W. B. Ferguson. Pp. xii+
374. (London: The Royal Photographic Society of
Great Britain.) 25s.
Common Pistons. By T. K. Mellor. Pp. 16+
plates. (London: W. Wesley and Son.) 6s. net.
Legal Chemistry and Scientific Criminal Investiga-
tion. By A. Lucas. Pp. viiit+181. (London: E.
Arnold.) tos. 6d. net.
A Map of Europe and Africa (on Mercator’s Pro-
jection), having Special Reference to Forest Areas
124
\
NATURE
[ MarcH 25,.1920
and the Distribution of the Principal Timber Trees.
By J. H. Davies. (Edinburgh: W. and A. K. John-
ston; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 8s. net.
A Map, of South America, Central America, and
the West Indies (on Mercator’s Projection), having
Special, Reference to the Principal Forest Regions
and the Chief Timber Trees. By J. H. Davies.
(Edinburgh: W. and A. K. Johnston; London:
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 8s. net.
Cytology, with Special Reference to the Metazoan
Nucleus. .By Prof. W. E. Agar. Pp. xii+224.
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 12s, net.
Tuberculosis and Public Health. By Dr. H. Hyslop
Thomson.
Co.) 5s. n
Macrnillan’ s Geographical Exercise Books: Key to
ae xi+104. (London: Longmans and
Physical ina gee With Questions by B. C.
Wallis. Pp. 48. (London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd.) 4s. 6d: net.
T. ‘Jenkins. Pp.
Ltd.) 245.
nthe Flora of Chepstow. By: W. A. Shoolbred.
The Sea Fisheries.. By Dr. -J.
pig aie (London : Constable and Co.,
Pp. x+ ae (London: Taylor-and Francis.) 10s. 6d.
net.
Type Ammonites. By S. S. Buckman. ‘The Illus-
trations’ from Photographs mainly by J. W. Tutcher.
Part xxi. Pp. 9-16+14 plates. (London: W. Wesley
and Son.) a
Diary of Societies.
_ THURSDAY, Marcu 25.
Institution OF Nava ARCHITECTS (at Royal Society of Arts), at 11.—
Sir Alfred Yarrow: Notes on our Economic Position as a Shipbuilding
- Country.—J. Anderson: Further Notes on the Dimensions of Cargo
’ Steamers.—Dr. J. Bruhn: Freeboard and Strength of Ships.
InstrTuTION oF NAVAL ARCHITECTS (at Royal Society of Arts), at 3.—.
P. R Jackson; -The Stabilisation of Ships by means of Gyroscopes. —
Ree K. Suyehiro: Vawing of Ships caused by Oscillation amongst
aves.
Roya INsTiTuTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Stephen Graham: The
Hope for Russia.
Royat Socirry, at 4.30.—Prof. A. R. Forsyth: Note on the Central
Differential Equation in the Relativity Theory of Gravitation.—R. D.
Oldham; :The Frequency of Earthquakes in Italy in the Years 1896 to
1914. - A. Dufton: A New Apparatus for Drawing Conic Curves.—
Capt. J. W. Bispham: An Experimental pals mae vel the Distri-
bution of the Partial Correlation Coefficient in S
Cuemicat Socrery (Annual General Meeting), at 5. - Sir James J. Dobbie:
Presidential Address.
Rovat CoLtiteck oF Prysicians, at 5.—Sir John R. Bradford: The
Clinical Experiences of a Physician during the Campaign in France and
Flanders, 19 4-19r9 (Lumleian I.ecture).
CuiLp-Stupy Society (at Royal Sanitary Institute), at 6.—Dr. E. Sloan
Chesser: Adolescence and the Continuation Schools.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil Engineers),
at 6 —Discussion on :—(a) The Electrical OEE Nd Artisan Dwell-
ings (with Introductory Paper by L. Milne).* (4) The Report of the
Farthing Sub-Committee of the Wiring Rules Committee of the Insti-
tution.
ConcreTE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—E. L. Hall:
County Hall.
InsTITUTION. oF NAVAL ig art eg (at Roval Society of Arts), at 7.30:—
C I. R. Campbell and C. H. May: The Effect of Size upon Performance
of Rigid -Airships.— Prof. E..G. Coker and A, L. Kemball, jun.: The
Effects of Holes, Cracks, and other Discontinuities in Ships’ Plating.
CHEMICAL Society ({nformal Meeting), at 8.
FRIDAY, Marcu 26,
Steelw ork in the new London
asuieosien or Nava ARCHITECTS (at Royal Society of Arts), at r1.—,
Eng.-Com. H. B. Tostevin: Experience and Practice in Mechanical Re-
duction Gears in Warships.—J. J. King-Salter: The Balancing of Rotors
and Determining the Position and Amount of the Balancing Weights.—
Prof. T. H. Havelock: Turbulent Fluid Motion and Skin.Friction.
PuysicaL Society oF Lonpon, at 5.—Prof. A. S. Eddington and Others :
Discussion on Ejhstein’s Theory of Relativity.
Wiretess Society or Lonpon (at Institution of Civil Engineers), at 6.—
Capt. L. A. T. Broadwood: Harmonics in Continuous Wave Transmissions
(Illustrated by Lantern Slides and Experiments).
InstiTuTION oF MécHANICAL ENGINEERS (Informal Meeting), at 7.—
P. L. Young and Others: Discussion on Foundry Memories.
Junior Instirution or ENGINEERS, at 7.30.—W. A. Tookey: The
Future of the Gas Industry.
_ MepicaL OrrFicers or ScHoors AssoctaTion (at 11 Chandos Street,
W.), at 8.—Dr. G. H. Lock and Others: Discussion on Care of Minor
Ailments in School Children.
Rovat Socirry or Mepicine (Epidemiology and State Medicine Section),
at 8.30.—Dr. S. Monckton Copeman: The Relationship of Smallpox
and Alastrim.
NO. 2630, VOL. 105]
Rowan Recher ieretink OF anes BRITAIN, at 9.—Sir J. inh Thomeona gi]
Scientific Work of the late The Right Hon. Lord Ray
SATURDAY, Marcn 27.
RoyaL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Sir J. J. Thomson :
Positive Rays.
MONDAY, March 29.
INSTITUTION OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERS (Graduate Section), at pe}
W. D. Pile: The Use of Benzol. ”
Royat InsriruTE oF BritisH ARCHITECTS, at 8.—Delissa Toes!
Higher Buildings for London.
RovaL GEoGRAPHICAL Society (at Aolian Hall), at 8. 30--Comatande:
D. G. Hogarth: War‘and Discovery in Arabia.
TUESDAY, Marcw.3
TECHNICAL INSPECTION ASSOCIATION (at the Royal Soil of joy at
5-—Annual General Meeting. '
ZooLoeica Society or LONDON, at 5.30.—Sir Frank. © Colyer: Exhibition |
of Skulls. of Macacus »hesus.—Dr. C. F. Sonntag : Abnormalities of the
Abdominal Arteries of a Young Panda.—A. Loveridge ! 3, Notes on East
African Lizards collected 1915-1919, with Desenpaey of a’ new Genus-
and Species of Skink, and a new Subspecies of Gecko.—A. M, Altson:
The Life-history and Habits of Two Parasites of the Blowfly.
Roya Rey Abuic Society oF Great BriTaIn (Lantern Meeting)
at 7.—E. W. H. Piper: Gloucester Cathedral. ~
ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SOCIETY (at Royal Society of Arts), at oa
J. W. T. Walsh and Others: Discussion on Motor-car Headlights
relation to Traffic Requirements. }
Rox TGEN, Society (in X-ray and Electrical Departments, St. bape
mew’s Hospital), at 8.15.
J
ne
CONTENTS.
Knowledge and Power ... . oS a boiled Rie 3s
Aeronautical Research ee MeN oT
Gymnospermic. History ... ..... ... » 0 eee? 8
The Nature of Musical Sound... eee er: 2a SE
Science of Food... By W..D, H.. .) ue eee,
Our Bookshelf. yb a eee 99.
Letters to the Editor:—
Museums me the State.—Sir E. Ray Lankester,
c, ” F.R.S.; Prof. *J. Te Garseems
F.R.S. ; Dr. W.'M., Tattersall , “100.
Organisation of Scientific » Work. — Sit" ke As) ee
Middleton .. 103;
Science and the New. Army. —Col. E. H. ‘Mills, nS
-C.M.G., F.R.S. AOS:
Cotton- “growing in the British. pie, De. W Ww.
Lawrence Balls; Sir Geode att’. 2, ws. 103
The Separation of. Isotopes. —Dr. Thomas R.
Merton and Brig.-Gen. Harold Hartley .. 104
Calendar _Reform.—Camille Flammarion ; ‘Dr
.Crommelin . - 105
On Langmuir’s Theory of Atoms.—Dr. A. E. Oxley 105
Fireball of February 4.— —M. L. Dey; We 2).
Denning . . + Vee aehegeete eae ok
Buzzards and Bitter ae Canon Edmund
McClure. . os Ce tak Sa eae
Ostrich Study in South Africa. (Illustrated.) By
Prof. J. E. Duerden .. bree et igi haa
The Conservation of Our Coal Supplies. By Prof. .
ee ‘ a ee ee eS
Obituary! 47 Oe eee Ho
Notes ‘ MR ie ee ee a
Our Astronomical Column: —
The Total Solar Eclipse of 1918 June 8 ....... I17
A Noon Reflector. ., 117
American Fossil Vertebrate Animals. ‘(ilustrated)
of A Ss aI NS oh Seat By aas ' 117
Rissarch in Textile Industries a 118 .
Tee ci eY of North-West Russia and France. - By
Ss. 3 119
veibeients Testing of Scientific Glassware... . 120.
University and Educational Intelligence .... 120
Societi¢és and, Academies ... 1s)... -.' sy ge ek
Books Received» 6.0 ike Rs ee a Re ee ee
Diary:-of. Societies 23). 24 igise 3... sis cele
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN AND CO. 3h tes
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.z2.
Advertisements ‘and business letters to be addressed to the
Publishers.
Editorial] Communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, Lonpon.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
a A we
NATURE
125
: URSDAY, APRIL 1, 1920.
The Anti-dumping Bill.
Bill to prevent dumping and to establish
Special Industries Council to advise as
notion and assistance of special indus-
just: been introduced into the House of
ord Balfour of Burleigh, and, as might
anticipated, met with a somewhat
ption from certain noble Lords who,
C the faithless, still bow the knee to
s of Manchester.” Autres temps, autres
e seem to remember a time when the
at sor of the Bill made the ‘‘ happy
” rather than obey the behest of the chief
; Tariff Reform and Imperial Preference
"path he is now treading. But we live
y means the only citizen who recog-
» altered economic conditions of the
‘said, however, of the new de-
the Bill, after all, deals with a
very great magnitude. Even if
mes law it is not likely to have any im-
oe world-wide consequence. As regards
ig, it is primarily aimed, of course, at
dversary. The Germans, no doubt,
again if faae! could, or saw any
oad unlikely that the Board of
be called upon for many months,
s, to come to prohibit their importa-
lation Act of 1876.
yolitical and economic condition of
“nation forbids any hope that she
= time yet, if ever, resume her
ities, sugar, for example, there is nothing
p, amd the prospect that there ever will
very remote. But it. must never be
n that Germany is not the only nation that
conceivably resort to dumping in the future,
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
times, and events are apt to play’
and after our bitter experience we cannot afford
to let the future take care of itself.
The provisions of the Bill are very elastic, and
the Board of Trade is to be entrusted with a
fairly wide discretion as regards prohibition of
entry. If the imported goods are shown to be
necessary in the national interest they may be
admitted under such conditions as the Board may
order, and any such order must be brought to
the notice of both Houses of Parliament. This
would not preclude the Board from taking prompt
action when necessary; but the Minister would of
course be responsible ultimately to Parliament.
As an interference with freedom of trade, even
the reasonable safeguards involved in this measure
.will no doubt be fiercely opposed; and it remains
to. be seen what power the doctrinaires of the old
school still retain. The plain man will find it
difficult to see the snake in the grass.
The sections of the Bill dealing with the estab-
lishment of the Special Industries Council. for
the promotion and assistance of special industries
are, however, of immediate and pressing import-
ance, and it is to be hoped that, whatever may be
the fate of the clauses directed to the prevention
of dumping, this portion of the measure will not
be sacrificed. It is concerned with matters which
may be said to have originated out of and in
consequence of the war, and to have been forced
upon us in great measure by the action of our late
enemies. It is notorious that for years prior to
the outbreak of war Germany had by divers arts
-and cunning contrivance sought to hamper and
restrain the development of our industries and to
thwart the expansion of our commerce. Her
methods at times, especially in foreign markets,
had violated every principle of fair trading. ; Her
practices were part of Her policy of world-wide
aggression—Deutschland iiber alles—no matter
at what cost or at what sacrifice of commercial
rectitude. It was that policy which produced, and
probably precipitated, a war which practically
every element of German nationality had con-
spired for a generation past to bring about. It
was only on its outbreak that the extent and
character of that, conspiracy were realised, and
that this country fully recognised- how it had
been tricked, and with what subtlety one
after another of the things that count in the
struggle which was contemplated had _ been
“cornered” and impropriated. Chagrined as
Germany was by our entrance into the war, it
was untrue to say, as she alleged, that jealousy
of her impending commercial supremacy was at
F
126
NATURE
[APRIL I, 192
the bottom of our action. However disquieted and
perturbed we might be with Germany’s repeated
acts of aggression and with the truculence and
arrogance of her methods, strained trade relations
would never have induced this Empire to draw the
sword. That was not the issue which welded the
English-speaking world together. But that Ger-
many should have so imagined is intelligible. She
had at least good cause for the supposition.
The special industries which the Bill seeks to
promote and assist have originated, so far as this
country is concerned, in great measure through
and by reason of the war. We were compelled
to take them up by sheer necessity. Certain of
them were among the things of which the
Germans had gradually acquired practically com-
plete control for years past. All of them were ne-
cessary to our national welfare, and some of them,
under the conditions of modern warfare, were
essential to our national existence. Our late ex-
perience ought surely to have burnt the lesson into
the national mind. Never again must we be de-
pendent on outside sources for our medicaments
and dyes, certain metals, magnetos, glassware,
and optical instruments. These special industries
—enumerated in the second schedule to the Bill—
were in great measure started during the earlier
years of the war. They are defined to be indus-
tries supplying commodities which are essential
to the national safety, as being absolutely in-
dispensable to important industries carried on in
the United Kingdom, and which formerly were
entirely or mainly supplied from countries outside
these islands. They cannot be said to be
firmly established as yet. Some of them, like the
manufacture of synthetic dyes, have made extra-
ordinary progress, and their permanence is only
a question of time. Others are being developed
with more or less rapidity. But every one of them
is the subject of continued scientific inquiry and
research, and it is the purpose of the projected
measure to foster and protect them during this
incubatory period.
To this end it is proposed to create a Council
of not fewer than five and not more than nine
persons of commercial and industrial experience,
to be appointed by the President of the Board
of Trade. Its duties will be to watch the
course of industrial development and, in consulta-
tion with the Department of Scientific and Indus-
trial Research and any other Government Depart-
ment interested in any special industry, to advise
the Board as to the promotion and assistance of
the special industries named in the schedule to the
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
Bill, and any other industry which, in the opinion
of the Council, is a special industry in the sense
already defined. It is required to examin
any proposals made as to the promotion and as
sistance, or any suggestions as to the bette
organisation or management, of any special in
dustry on the application of any Government
Department interested, or any firm or person
engaged, in any such industry, to advise the
Board as to what steps, if any, should be taken
by way of assistance to-conserve or promote any
special industry, and to indicate the terms uport
which, in its opinion, such assistance should b
given. It is further required to make an
annual report to Parliament stating what has
been the progress of any special industry to whick
State assistance has been given, and what recom-
mendations have been made in respect to it.
Lastly, any application made to the Board for
State assistance by any firm or person engaged jin
a special industry shall be referred to the Council
together with any information in the possessior
of the Board as respects that industry, and the
Board may require any firm or persons engaged
in that industry to furnish any information whict
the Council may deem necessary under sel ce)
fine or imprisonment:
These, no doubt, are somewhat drastic powers
but, it must be remembered, they are asked fo
in the interests of national security, and it i
unlikely that in operation they will prove to De
inconsistent with the proper interests of private
trading. As the Council will be associated with
the Department of Scientific and Industrial Re
search, we assume that it will exert a nurturing
influence upon scientific work through which in§|
dustries are created and developed. No ong)
desires to assist an industry which is not itse
endeavouring to grow by the use of knowledge
but when this intention is clearly. manifested, t
State may very well exercise the function of stimt
lating it or of removing obstacles to expansiot
We are faced with the necessity for doi
whatever is within our power to promo
the establishment of mew industries as —
means of increased production, not only becaus
our national position demands the use of pr
gressive methods, but also to enable us to me
the vast expenditure which the war has entaile
We have regained in a measure the control |
raw materials, and for their profitable use scie
must co-operate with industry, and both must ©
the objects of the fostering care of the State. T
new measure seems to have been conceived in t
spirit. .
Apr I, 1920]
NATURE
127
Science and Scholasticism.
Medicine. By Prof. James J. Walsh.
History Manuals.) Pp. xii+221.
on: A. and C. Black, Ltd., 1920.) Price
- 6d. net.
4 D D ROF. ‘WALSH has written an attractive and
“most readable account of the course of
H 2 ~ aaa He has painted a good, even
king, picture, but it is not a likeness which
fest. Gani! investigators of his material will
y recognise, nor is the voice with which it
; that which is familiar to them. As to his
ing and competence for his task, no question
an be raised, but the method he elects to adopt
one which has brought much work on the
ry of science into not unjustified contempt.
are authors, less well equipped than Prof.
Walsh, who occupy their time in ransacking the
Y rinted masses of ancient literature and abstract-
ces similar to, yet quaintly different from, those
ur own time. This of itself, though neither
nor science, is an entertaining and harm-
antiquarian diversion. But it is a different
=r when such extracts, riven from their con-
text, are gravely pieced together and presented
is an account of medieval science to a public
1ecessarily ignorant both of the original material
nd of the method of research. If an expert, such
is Prof. Walsh undoubtedly is, adopts this
thod, he leaves no alternative but protest to a
iewer with first-hand knowledge.
Prof. Walsh’s attitude towards the medieval
past may perhaps be illustrated by a single critical
sentence: “We have come,” he says, “to know
_ more about Aristotle in our own time, and as a
__ consequence have learned to appreciate better
_ medieval respect for him.” This, we submit, is
not an attitude with which many Aristotelian
olars or many men of science will be found in
ent. It is undoubtedly a fact that at the
sent time the reputation of Aristotle stands
y high indeed as an observer of animal life;
that was not the cause of his appreciation in
» Middle Ages. In the scholastic centuries his
putation in physical science,—we omit discussion
uiefly on his view of the form of the universe
nd of the nature of matter and of man. His
rst-hand and very valuable observations on the
abits, structure, and development of animals
vere either neglected or they were misunderstood
nd placed in series with his oracular utterances
e on the circular motions of the heavenly bodies, the
_ Sub-celestial character of comets, the existence of
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
x passages which seem to show traces of prac-
the outer ether and of the primum mobile, the in-
telligences of the stars, and the continuous nature
of matter. It was these conceptions that earned
for Aristotle his position in medieval science, and
on the errors involved in them Prof. Walsh is con-
tent to be silent.
Prof. Walsh similarly places in the forefront of
his argument that “the most interesting feature
of the work of the North Italian surgeons of the
later Middle Ages is their discovery and develop-
ment of two specific advances of our modern
surgery... union by first intention and anes-
thesia.’’ Now, since the days of Hippocrates,
and doubtless before, the medical attendant, both
for his patients’ sake and for his own, has never
been reluctant to prescribe narcotic drugs to
those in acute pain. The medieval physician was
accustomed to use far more drugs than are con-
tained in the modern pharmacopeeia, and he in-
cluded in his long list many sedative and narcotic
substances. The very vices of the nations will
tell of this, for there was never a time when men
did not seek oblivion from care and pain in that
form of unconsciousness which is brought by
poppy and mandragora and all the drowsy per-
fumes of the East. Such devices were as
freely used by medical men in medieval\as in
pre-medieval or in post-medieval times; in
the nineteenth century they were partly super-
seded by the advent of chloroform and ether,
though many surgeons even yet give a dose of
belladonna or opium in addition to the inhaled
anzesthetic as a routine in major operations. Prof.
Walsh, however, seizes on the practice of nar-
cotisation before operation in medieval times, and,
directing attention to a few references to the
administration of anodyne drugs by inhalation,—
a generally unsatisfactory procedure with such
substances,—he boldly writes :
“Hugh [of Lucca] seems to have been deeply
intent on chemical experiments, and _ especially
anodyne and anesthetic drugs. . A great many
of these surgeons of the time seem to have experi-
mented with substances that might produce anes-
thesia. . . . With anesthesia combined with anti-
sepsis, it is easy to understand how well equipped
the surgeons of this time were for the develop-
ment of their speciality.”
The facts are that Hugh wrote nothing on
surgery, or if he did his work is lost; that the
evidence, such as it is, of his use of anesthetics
is at best but second-hand ; that among all the tens
of thousands of medieval medical MSS.—there
are some fifteen thousand in this country alone—
perhaps some dozen have a single sentence re-
ferring to this process of inhalation; that inhala-
tion is a measure ill-adapted to the drugs said to
128
NATURE
[APRIL I, 1920
have been used; and lastly, that the principal
author who mentions it—Guy de Chauliac—-gives
no indication that it was a method that he either
approved or had ever employed.
This is the general character of the book.
History written on these lines has ceased to be
scientific, and, however attractive, learned,’ or
entertaining, cannot be regarded as a serious at-
tempt to interpret the past in the light of present
knowledge. CHARLES SINGER.
Ancient Camps in Gloucestershire.
The Ancient Entrenchments and Camps _ of
Gloucestershire. By Edward J. Burrow.
Pp. 176. (Cheltenham and London: Ed. J.
Burrow and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 215. net.
N observer who casts his eye over one of the
most delightful landscapes in England, the
view of the Severn Valley as seen from the escarp-
ment of the Gotswolds, with the Malvern range
and the Welsh mountains in the far distance, must
have noticed the numerous ancient fortifications
which stud the Cotswold glacis.
of conquest and armed occupation has broken
against this hill rampart. Goidel and Celt, British, |
Roman, Saxon, Dane, and Norman in succession
occupied these uplands, and gradually brought the
rich valley lands under the plough. The camps
remain as evidence of these struggles in the distant
past, down to the time when Cromwell drew his
entrenchments on Churchdown Hill at the siege
of Gloucester.
We have little trustworthy history beyond Neo-
lithic flint implements and similar remains of the
builders of these fortifications, until some of them,
like Chipping Norton and Landsdown, near Bath,
were occupied by the Romans probably before they
reached the stage of constructing fortified cities on
the model of the camps of their legionaries, like
Glevum (Gloucester) or Corinium (Cirencester).
When Christianity replaced paganism, some of
these camps, like those at Churchdown and Old-
bury, became the sites of Christian churches,
The oldest form of camp seems to have been
the hill-fortress, generally consisting of a strong
bank and ditch, either cutting off a projecting
headland from the downs, or marking off an area
with an irregular oval line of entrenchments, the
two ends resting on the escarpment of the hill.
But the more developed types are infinitely varied,
often showing considerable strategical skill in the
selection of the site, the alignment of the ramparts,
and the provision of a water supply. Others,
, again, were not designed for permanent occupa-
tion, being merely temporary shelters for human
beings, cattle, and grain in the event of a sudden
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
‘
Wave after wave |
‘raid by the Silures or other formidable tribes of */
the West Country. ’
Much information regarding these camps was
collected’ by the late Mr. G. B. Witts im his
“Archeological Handbook 6f » Gloucestershire,”
by the local historians, and in the Proceedings of
the local societies. Mr. Burrow, though not a
trained antiquary, has done useful work in com-
piling this monograph. After an introduction deal-
ing briefly with the ethnographical and historical
aspects of the question, he describes in alpha-
‘betical order more than a hundred encampments,
and he is careful to give references to the authori- —
ties on which his notices have been based. A dis-
tinguishing feature of the book is the series of
excellent illustrations from sketches by the author
of all the encampments described. The format
of the book is creditable to the local printers, and
the monograph, as a whole, is a good example of
careful field work and artistic taste.
Principles of Glass-making.
Glass Manufacture. By Dr. Walter Rosenhain-
Second edition, largely re-written. Pp. xv +258.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 19719.)
Price 12s. 6d, net. eat
HIS volume is very welcome, because there
T are so few English books on glass-making.
It brings the author’s 1908 edition up to date.
It is easy to read and interesting throughout. The
preface states that the book is intended for those
who are users of glass, and makes no claim to
be an adequate guide or help to glass manufac-
turers; this makes the book rather a disappoint-
ment to a glass-maker, who, from the title, would
expect more explicit information.
The author invariably keeps to general prin-
ciples, and does not give any practical particulars,
and in some cases just stops when there is no
need to do so. For example, on p. 17 he states
that results serve to show that chemical composi-
tion has a profound influence on the mechanical
strength of glass, and on p. 18 that the modulus
of elasticity was largely dependent on the chemical
composition of the glass—then why not say in
general terms in which direction the mechanical
strength and the modulus of elasticity vary with
the chemical composition? On p. 36 the pure
sands are stated to contain o°2 to 03 per cent. of
iron; this is evidently an error, and should read
o'02 to 0-03 per cent.
The chapter on “Raw Materials ” is instructive,
but the author overlooks the fact that dolomite is
by far the cheapest form in which to introduce ~
magnesia into common types of glass. The remarks
on dimension and height of tank furnace crowns
ApRIL 1, 1920]
NATURE
129
76 are very good, but the statement on p. St
from four to eight fillings are commonly
n to pots is not a fact in practice. The prin-
of annealing discussed in the latter half of
are most useful, and confirm the
sions arrived at by Mr. F. W. Twyman in
ee read before the Society of Glass Tech-
‘ les in eta: ix., x., and xi. Chap. xii., on
slo ired Glasses,” is good on the whole, but
iuthor has entirely missed the real function
enic and antimony in glass-making. The
a nt question of optical glass is treated in
xiii. and xiv., and the requirements are
lucidly explained, but only old methods are
ed; modern developments in manufacture in
branch of the industry are not even mentioned.
e book is well indexed, and will be read with
ch interest by both users and makers of glass.
James Walker. Eighth edition.
: Macmillan and Co.,
“16s. net.
Pp. xiii + ae
Ltd., 1919.)
edition:
1 (Text-books of”
misty.) be aries
gsc
Physical
ee.
) Le To Tension de Vapeur des Mélanges de
Li wides : L’Azéotropisme.
By Dr. Maurice
at Premiére partie: Données expéri-
_mentales; Bibliographie. Pp. = xii+ 319.
(Gand: Anct. Ad. Hoste, S.A.; Bruxelles :
Henri Lamertin, 1918.) Price 45 tration.
ROF, WALKER’S) “Introduction to
_ Physical Chemistry” has, since its first
in 1899, been recognised in this
as the standard work for beginners in this
of science. No great changes from
ous editions pepeet in the present one; the
ed chapter” method of treatment is em-
1, each branch of the subject being treated
n the point of view of showing how physico-
nical principles are applicable to the student’s
_ practical work in inorganic and organic
mistry. Its past success is no doubt due to
is and also to the sound and thorough manner
which the explanatory portions are dealt with.
The arrangement of the subject-matter is much
‘same as in previous editions; two new
pters have, however, been added, one dealing
‘NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
with “Atomic Number,” and the other with
“Atoms and Electrons.” Several of the chapters
have been revised, and a number of additions
made with the object of bringing the work up to
date. Such additions include brief accounts of
Ghosh’s equation (1918) to account for the abnor-
mality of strong electrolytes and of Dieterici’s
equation of state, while mention is made of
recent work on specific heat at low temperatures
and also of the isotopic elements. <A useful
feature of the book is a list of important refer-
ences to the appropriate literature at the end of
each chapter. This is a book which can be ware
recommended to students of chemistry.
(2) The author states in the preface to the new
edition :
it general I have tried to | condense
and re-write the material in such a way as to
convert what was, perhaps, too much of a refer-
ence book into a more readable text-book. At
the same time, by the retention of the references
given in the previous edition, the volume still
maintains its value as a guide to the literature.” .
“Certain reviewers of the first edition criticised
adversely the amount of space devoted to steric
hindrance, and in preparing the new edition I
have come to the conclusion that they were right,
the more so since this subject now attracts less
attention than other branches of stereochemistry
do. The portion of the volume devoted to steric
hindrance has therefore been markedly
diminished.”
The plan of the first edition has been followed
throughout; two new chapters have been added,
one being allotted to the Walden inversion, and the
other to ‘“‘The Arrangement of Atoms in Space,”
a short account of the X-ray work of Profs. W. H.
and W. L. Bragg. The book contains three
appendices, the first being an interesting account
of the relation between physiology and stereo-
chemistry, the second giving directions for making
solid models, the employment of which is a great
aid to following the subject, and the third contain-
ing references to literature on the subject of steric
hindrance. The author has succeeded in giving
a critical survey of his subject, including recent
important work. The book is well got up and
illustrated, but contains a few misprints, which, .
however, are of a minor character.
(3) This book,-which was published in Belgium
during the German occupation, deals with a very
specialised branch of physical chemistry. Azeo-
tropic mixtures are defined as liquid mixtures
which, under constant pressure, distil at a con-
stant temperature, their composition correspond-
ing to a maximum or a minimum in the vapour
pressure-composition diagram, The work is a
130
NATURE
[APRIL I, 1920
sort of handbook of the subject, and is arranged
in three divisions. The first comprises sixty
pages, devoted to a theoretical introduction enun-
ciating general laws applying to binary and ter-
nary mixtures. The author gives empirical rules
for predicting whether azeotropism will occur in
a given binary mixture and for roughly calculating
the azeotropic composition and temperature. This
portion is concisely written, but rather. spoilt
by the frequency and length of the footnotes.
The second division, which is the largest portion
of the book, consists of tables giving experiment-
ally observed data for about 2500 liquid mixtures,
mainly binary. As a result of his own experi-
ments, the author points out that azeotropism
occurs fairly frequently, some 1000 new binary
systems possessing this property having been dis-
covered. In the third division is given a very
complete bibliography, and the book concludes
with an appendix containing notes on the prepara-
tion, in a state of purity, of some of the organic
substances employed in the course of the author’s
researches.
Soils and Manures.
(1) Soils and Manures in New Zealand, By L. J.
Wild. (New Zealand Practical Handbooks.)
Pp. 134. (Auckland, Melbourne, and London:
Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., 1919.) Price
2s. 6d.
(2) A Student’s Book on Soils and Manures. By
Dr. E. J. Russell. Second edition, revised
and enlarged. (The Cambridge Farm Institute
Series.) Pp. xii+240. (Cambridge: At the
University Press, 1919.) Price 6s. 6d. net.
T is one of the special charms, as it is also
| one of the special difficulties, of agriculture
to the student that it offers such infinite possibili-
ties of variation in its manifestations of the work-
ing of the fundamental laws of Nature, not only
from country to country, but also from farm to
farm, and even often within the confines of the
~ same field.
‘How desirable it is, therefore, that the cultivator
of the soil shall be doubly armed, on one hand
-with a sound grasp of the basal principles under-
lying the relationship of crops to soils, and on the
other with a knowledge of the characteristic local
environmental factors the resultant effect of which
determines the level of crop ‘production attainable
on the particular area on which his efforts are con-
centrated! Yet how can the wonderful complex
of chemical, physical, and biological relationships
involved in the growth of plants in the soil be so
simply resolved that he who ploughs may read!
The exposition of scientific principles to the
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
farmer unversed in science, yet engaged in an
occupation which represents in its fundamentals
perhaps the very acme of complexity in applied
science, is a task of the utmost difficulty, and has
rarely been accomplished with even moderate
success. The common weakness of books of this
class, written professedly for the practical farmer,
as distinct from the college student, is a failure of
the author to keep consistently down to the educa- —
tional level of his intended reader, to adhere closely
to essentials, and to repress the natural inclination
to demonstrate his own familiarity with the latest
developments of agricultural research, all-import-
ant and of absorbing interest to himself, but apt
to divert the attention of the reader from the
simple essentials which afford him ample material
for digestion.
(1) Mr. Wild is fortunate in having in the New
Zealand farmer a reader probably on the average
better equipped by general education for serious
study than the main body of farmers in the home
country, and for the particular body of readers to
whom he appeals his book is but little open to the
foregoing criticisms, so far, at any rate, as the
simplicity and clearness of his exposition are con-
cerned. Within the compass of this small book
he has condensed a large body of information,
much of which will be readily assimilated and
found of practical utility by his readers. This
applies particularly to his outline of the character-
istics and manurial requirements of the various
soils of New Zealand.
is devoted, however, we should have ruthlessly
eliminated all but the absolute essentials and
devoted the space thereby gained to a more
leisurely and more fully illustrated discussion of
the nature and the mode of action of the latter.
Unless we can assume an elementary knowledge
of chemistry, physics, and biology in the reader,
ic is surely better frankly to avoid the attempt at
scientific exposition and to concentrate upon im-
planting firmly in the reader’s mind a knowledge
of those simple but important conclusions from
scientific reasoning and investigation without
which he must surely often go astray in his
practice.
(2) It is a pleasing indication of the “revival
of learning” in British agriculture that a second
edition of Dr. Russell’s book should have been
called for so closely upon its first issue. This work
is specifically intended for the young farmer taking
a course of instruction of intermediate grade in the
type of institution which is now being developed
in most counties under the designation of farm
institutes. With the teacher’s hand to guide him
through the more difficult portions, the young
In the exposition of under-.
lying principles to which the first half of the book »
Gey” |
farmer will derive inspiration,
section on fertilisers and manures
oy. APRIL I, 1920]
NATURE
131
y together with a
useful fund of information, from this book, which
is written with the clearness of exposition and
* forcible reasoning which are so characteristic of
all Dr. Russell’s writings. The opportunity of a
_ new edition has been taken to embody in the
; the new
materials and the new points of view which the
difficulties of war-time have introduced into British
__ agriculture, whereby the book equips the student
with a comprehensive epitome of the resources
now at his disposal. Cc. C.
oo. . Our Bookshelf.
Mathematics for Collegiate Students of Agriculture
and General Science. By Prof. A. M. Kenyon
and Prof. W. V. Lovitt. Revised edition.
Pp. vii+337- (New York: The Macmillan Co. ;
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price
tos. 6d. net.
= “Turis book is designed as a text in freshman
mathematics for students specialising in agricul-
ture, biology, chemistry, and physics in colleges
and technical schools” (p. v). Whatever may be
the needs of the American student, the book would
za scarcely be of use in this country. Originality is
__ not expected in a small book designed to be “the
entire mathematical equipment of some students ”
(p. v), but the chapter on statics would surely be
much improved if it contained some account of
simple machines. The section headed “ Mendel’s
Law” on p. 282 is defective and misleading ;
witness the following exercises (p. 284): “A
farmer buys two different kinds of thoroughbred
chickens, but allows them to mix freely. How
many different kinds of chickens will he have at
__. the end of (a) the first, (b) the second, (c) the third
__-year of hatching? Ans. (a) 3, (b) 5, (c) 9.”
a R. A. FIsHER.
The Elements of Descriptive Astronomy. By
E. O. Tancock. Second edition, revised, with
additional matter on practical work for begin-
ners with small instruments. Pp. 158. (Oxford :
At the Clarendon Press, 1919.) Price 3s. net.
Mr. Tancock is the secretary of the committee
appointed by the British Astronomical Association
for the purpose of encouraging the teaching
of astronomy in schools. This book is based
on courses of lessons which he gave to junior
forms. A large portion of it is descriptive
of the aspect and nature of the various
orbs, of which excellent photographs and
drawings are reproduced. The remainder is
devoted to explaining the celestial motions, which
is done in a lucid manner. Instructions are given
for making a model of the celestial sphere on the
surface of a spherical flask that is half filled with
some dark fluid. A useful series of questions and
exercises is appended, also a set of passages relat-
ing to astronomy, selected from English literature,
on which explanation or criticism is invited.
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
The time of
ring should be
An erratum occurs on p. 55.
revolution of Saturn’s outer
13-7 hours, not 137.
Vital Statistics: An Introduction to the Science
of Demography. By Prof. George Chandler
Whipple. Pp. xii+517. (New York: John
Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and
Hall, Ltd., 1919.) Price 18s. 6d. net.
THis manual is intended for American public
health officials who, in the author’s words, have
forgotten most of their arithmetic—not to mention
algebra. A good deal of space is consequently
devoted to the details of tabulation and the making
of diagrams. The census and the statistics of
births, marriages, and deaths are fully treated.
The absence of uniform laws in the different States
of the Union, and the mixed character of the
population, are sources of many pitfalls for the
student. General rates are of little value in deal-
ing with a population of native-born whites,
foreign-born whites, and negroes, and the author
duly emphasises the need for care in such cases.
The more theoretical parts of the book touch on
frequency curves, correlation, and the structure
of a life table. In the chapter on correlation, a
coefficient 0-54 is described as low, and cited
as an example of the use of the coefficient as “an
admirable weapon for exploding false theories.”
A public health official would need more technical
knowledge than is provided in this book to justify
him in rejecting a coefficient of this magnitude.
Insect Life on Sewage Filters. By Dr. W. H.
Parkinson and H. D. Bell. Pp. viii+64.
(London: Sanitary Publishing Co., Ltd., 1919.)
Price 35. 6d. net.
Tue title of this little book is rather misleading.
The original matter deals almost entirely with
one species of insect, Achorutes viaticus, in rela-
tion to the efficiency of the sewage filters where
it is very frequently found in large numbers. The
authors seek to prove that Achorutes attack and
consume the colloidal matter and fungoid growths
which often choke the upper layers of the filters,
and in this way enable a larger volume of sewage
to be purified than is possible when these insects
are not present. Experiments were made with
two filters; in one precautions were taken to
exclude Achorutes; in the other the insects were
encouraged to develop. Analyses of the effluents
produced by these filters showed that where
Achorutes was absent the purification effected was
less than in the other filter, but when the insects
were added to the first filter nitrification improved
at once. Although the authors’ conclusion seems
to be justified, their interesting experiment is
scarcely worthy of publication in book form. The
biological details appear to be mostly from Haig
Johnson’s work on the subject.
The Transmutation of Bacteria. By Dr. S.
Gurney-Dixon. Pp. xviiit+179. (Cambridge:
At the University Press, 1919.) Price 1os. net.
Tus small book deals with certain variations,
morphological and physiological, which are
132
NATURE
[APRIL 1, 1920
encountered amongst pathogenic bacteria. The
word “transmutation ” is employed by the author
to indicate the transformation of members of one
recognised species into those of another, and he
refers in detail to the arbitrary methods hitherto
employed by bacteriologists for the differentiation
of bacterial species. Apart from two or three
pages in which the author’s own experimental
work is briefly described, the book is mainly a
study of bacteriological literature in the English
language. A large part of the abundant publica-
tions in foreign languages is either not dealt with
at all, or is analysed from English abstracts. There
is a good deal of reiteration, certain observa-
tions, often obsolete, being utilised again and
again in different parts of the book. The use of
the apostrophe in “ Aertryck’s bacillus’ seems to
indicate that the name is that of a man instead
of that of a place. The last chapter, entitled
“The Enzyme Theory of Disease,” deals with the
idea that most of the attributes of pathogenic
bacteria can be referred to the activities of ultra-
microscopic bodies of the nature of enzymes, and
the author considers that this may be the means
by which bacteria may exchange many of their
characters and functions without themselves under-
going transformation.
The Examination of Materials by X-rays. A
General Discussion held by the Faraday Society
and the Réntgen Society, Tuesday, April 20,
1919. Pp. 88+64. (Reprinted from the
Transactions of the Faraday Society, vol. xv.,
part 2, 1919.) (London: Faraday Society,
1919.) Price 13s. 6d.
Tue Faraday and R6ntgen Societies did good
_ work when they held a joint meeting in April last
year and thrashed out the position as regards the
achievements, possibilities, and limitations of the
method of the examination of materials by X-rays.
The present volume will form a most useful
jumping-off point for the investigator or manu-
facturer who desires to know what had been
- achieved in industrial radiology up to 1919. The
. contributors to this “symposium number ” include
_ many of the leading radiographers in this country
who have not confined their interests to medical
radiology. Not all the noteworthy work achieved
during and since the war was, however, available
for publication when the discussion was held.
The first paper, by Prof. W. H. Bragg, forms a
delightful introduction to the subsequent papers
and discussions, which deal with such varied
subjects as steel, light alloys, aircraft timber,
carbon electrodes, X-ray plates, etc. There are
many excellent reproductions of radiographs.
One realises, from a close reading of the
volume, that we stand only on the threshold of
radiology, and big and unexpected developments
are probable during the next ten years. Both the
Réntgen and Faraday Societies are to be con-
gratulated on the results of the meeting. We
understand the volume is procurable from the
secretary of either society.
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
Commercial Oils: Vegetable and Animal. With
‘Special Reference to Oriental Oils. By I. F.
Laucks.. Pp... viiit+ 138. (New York: John
Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman and
Hall, Ltd., 1919.) Price 6s, net. “9
Tuts is a handy little book, intended, not for the ©
oil chemist, but for those persons concerned in the
oil industry who have no knowledge of chemistry,
or at least no knowledge of it as applied to oils.
There are no doubt many such who will often
desire to understand what is meant by the various
analytical tests and terms used in the specifica-
tions on which large users of oil base their con-
tracts of purchase. For example, on p. 70 of the
book there is a specification for oil to be employed
as a lubricant for aircraft engines; this stipulates _
that the oil must have (inter alia) a certain iodine
number, saponification value, flash point, and so
on. The author describes in simple terms what
these and similar phrases mean, and how they
are employed as criteria of the purity and quality
of the oil. He gives also short descriptions of
the principal oils and fats met with in commerce, —
and ‘has some very useful advice to offer on
methods of taking samples. Even the expert may
peruse this part of the volume with advantage,
and the non-technical reader should at least have ©
an intelligent idea of the whole subject after study-
ing Mr. Laucks’s book. oe
The Birds of the British Isles and their Eggs. By
T. A. Coward. First series. Comprising
Families Corvide to Sulide. Pp. vii+376+159 ~
plates. (London and New York: Frederick
Warne and Co., Ltd., 1919.) Price 12s. 6d.
net. ;
Tus volume of ‘The Wayside and Woodland —
Series” of handy pocket-guides affords a popular
account of our British birds. Such a work, espe-
cially if embellished with good coloured plates of
the various species and their eggs, and accom-
panied by trustworthy letterpress, has long been a
desideratum. The figures of the birds are repro-
ductions, much reduced in size, of those in the late
Lord Lilford’s much-prized book. They are 159
in number, and most of them are decidedly good;
but others are disappointing from the fact that
the three-colour process has not been equal to
doing them justice. The figures of the eggs, which
are from one of the editions of Hewitson’s well-
known book, are disappointing for the same
reason, and will mislead the tyro who attempts
by their aid to name many of his specimens. There
is also an acceptable series of black-and-white
illustrations devoted to nests, etc. “a
Mr. Coward’s letterpress, as one would expect,
is good, but it is questionable if his excellent
descriptions of habits have not been awarded too
much space at the expense of other sections,
among them the British distribution of the more —
or less local species. Given a knowledge of the
bird and where it is likely to be found, its various
activities may be observed by those who care to
devote their attention to the delights of bird-
watching. . This neat and useful little volume—the
first of the series on birds—will, no doubt, be
PRIL I, 1920]
NATURE
133
uch appreciated by those who desire a popular
at a moderate price.
cal Exercises on the Weather and Climate
the British Isles and North-west Europe.
(Cambridge :
4
r W. F. Stacey. Pp. vii+64.
| the University Press, 1919.) Price 2s. 6d.
STACEY has produced an excellently planned
book, a model of the way in which a specific
iquiry into a subject of relatively narrow com-
s should be conducted. But, although the
thods he adopts are suitable for school work,
bject-matter under consideration is not geo-
and is not necessary for all or perhaps
of the forms of a secondary school. Mr.
has selected a typical set of weather data
e British Isles from the Daily Weather
ts, and has based thereon exercises in which
ipils construct and interpret weather maps.
rally enough, the work is based upon the
ds of pressure observations, and his titles
e the terms ‘cyclone,” “depression,”
,” “col,” and “anticyclone.” The exercises
vith weather records, but not with climate.
fairly certain that the study of pressure, as
listinct from the study of isobars, is out of place
a school geography course unless carefully
related with a well-developed course in physics,
it is to be feared that Mr. Stacey’s efforts
lead to a juggling with words and symbols
than to a comprehension of atmospheric
l ns.
*
mating Current Work. An° Outline for
ents of Wireless Telegraphy. By A. Shore.
Pp. ix+163. (London: Wireless Press, Ltd.,
1919.) Price 3s. 6d. net.
‘Ss shown by the sub-title, this work is addressed
© students of wireless telegraphy. It outlines,
‘ithout very elaborate mathematics, the general
rinciples of alternating currents and _ their
eneration, transformation, etc., in a way readily
atelligible to those having already some general
rnowledge of electricity and magnetism. As the
ok advances, the treatment specialises more
nd more in the direction of wireless working.
Jiscussions of the influence of inductance and
upacity lead up to a consideration of resonance,
nd high-frequency resistance is given a promin-
nee justified by its importance in this class of
york. A few typical measuring instruments, as
d in wireless installations, are briefly described
the end. A reviewer, on turning over the
aves for the first time, might receive a false
. ssion from the presence of an illustration
_in the chapter on alternating-current generators
of an obsolete, although historically interesting,
me of machine. This is, however, not unduly
nlarged upon in the letterpress. The book ‘s
early written throughout, and should save those
for whom it is intended much trouble and waste
of time in picking out the parts of the subject
hat they require from the many more complete
general works on alternating-current working.
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
JO)!
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
Science and the New Army.
_ Tue leading article on ‘ Science and the New Army”
in Nature of March 18 raises a number of points of
fundamental importance with regard to the future
relations between science and the Services. The
whole subject may conveniently be considered under
two heads: (a) The utilisation of the results of
scientific research for military purposes; and (b) the
direct employment in times of emergency of scientific
workers themselves.
With regard to the first, the difficulty has been the
lack of real contact. The university worker is neces-
sarily largely withdrawn from the problems of every-
day life; and this, not through either mental in-
capacity or unwillingness on his part, as many people
seem to think, but mainly because his time is usually
fully occupied with teaching or university routine.
_Thus he is not, in many cases, even aware of the
problems which need solution, and some organisation
is required to bring them to him. More, however,
than this is wanted if he is to give active help, and
attention will have to be carefully given to the fol-
lowing points :—
(1) There is a great disinclination among reputable
scientific societies to publish work (even though it
may be of considerable practical value) which does
not constitute a definite advance in science itself.
Now, the solutions of many Service problems are,
from the scientific point of view, trivial, though
laborious. Nevertheless, it is of great importance that
they should be explicitly worked out and reach the
people interested. On the other hand, _ technical
journals often look askance at what they would
probably call ‘‘academic’’ contributions. There is
here a gap to be bridged.
(2) Even a scientific worker will expect either
remuneration or credit for his work; if the Services
expect his collaboration, they must be prepared to pay
for it. It has frequently happened that scientific men
have given their time and efforts without stint
and received little beyond mere thanks (if as much),
whilst the credit has been monopolised by some
administrative official.
(3) It must also be made clear that scientific
workers are not wealthy amateurs, and that the sum
(sometimes considerable) necessary to finance pre-
liminary experiments must be provided. Further, the
Services must be willing to take the worker into their
confidence and to let him observe for himself the °
actual conditions to which his work will apply. Most
Service men cannot even state a problem to a re-
searcher, and are incapable of distinguishing between
data which are essential and those which are not. It
is entirely useless to expect a scientific man to work
in the dark, on second-hand statements from them.
For example, one cannot work on submarine detec-
tion without submarines at one’s disposal. Facilities
(which may involve the temporary use of a ship, of
aircraft, or of troops) are necessary if results are to
be obtained.
In this connection I feel doubtful as to the wisdom
of the policy quoted in your leading article from the
memorandum of the Secretary of State for War of
separating what is called “pure research” (query:
Does this mean ‘research in pure science ’’?) from
134
NATURE
[APRIL I, 1920
‘‘applied research,’’ which latter it is proposed to
restrict to military institutions. This seems an unfor-
tunate distinction. If a research is initiated in view
of a definite application, then that application must
never be lost sight of, and the whole should be co-
ordinated by the same brains, or else the ‘“pure”’
and the ‘‘applied’’ researchers will be at cross-
purposes. The co-ordination should be done by the
research worker himself, not by semi-scientific officials
appointed for the purpose.
(4) The creation and development of firms willing
to carry out experimental work ought to en-
couraged and subsidised. Even during the war, and
with the backing of a Government Department, it
was often a matter of the very greatest difficulty to
get firms not to neglect experimental work in favour
of mass production.
(5) It would be well if officials would understand
that a scientific man does not work in the same way
or under the same conditions as, say, an orderly
officer or a clerk, and that he should be given the
utmost freedom of movement and of hours; that he
should not be continually bothered with reports and
returns or unnecessary official correspondence; and
that usually he does his real work, not in an office,
but in the solitude of his study, and sometimes during
wakeful hours in the night. They will also have
to realise that research work is individual, and that
one cannot hand it over from one person to another
every six months, as one does a platoon.
(6) Finally, the Services must be prepared to put up
with negative results without making a wry face or
putting a black mark against the worker. The trail
of science is dotted with the bones of dead theories
and the remains of unsuccessful attempts, yet it is
largely by means of these that science has been built
up.
Coming now to the other side of the question,
namely, the employment of scientific workers in the
Services in an emergency, this is a problem needing
urgent and careful attention. Undoubtedly the treat-
ment of it during the war left much to be desired.
The only co-operation which the War Office ap-
parently looked for from the universities, previous to
the outbreak of war, was that, through the Officers
Training Corps, they should provide a proportion of
Reserve officers—chiefly infantry—with a minimum of
military training of the normal pre-war type. The
idea of using the specialised knowledge of the uni-
versities for the technical services of the Navy, Army,
and Air Force took shape only very slowly, as the
development of the actual fighting made it plain that
science would play an increasing, perhaps eventually
a predominant, part in modern warfare. By that time
much of the promising human material which the
universities might have supplied had already been
wasted. The main difficulty, however, which was
then encountered (and still exists) was that the
regular military or naval officer upon whom devolved
the choice of persons for appointments of a quasi-
scientific nature had not, in general, a suitable educa-
tion or training for estimating scientific abilitv. The
inevitable result was that large numbers of young
men with little or no qualifications got taken on in a
hurry at their own valuation, while the best use was
not made of such real experts as were available.
I feel that the writer of the article in NaTuRE has
hit the right nail on the head when he says: ‘‘ Until
it is made obligatory for a proportion of them [the
General Staff] to have had such a training [in science],
the fundamental reform will not have been effected.”
The same, of course, applies even more strongly to
the Air Force and the Navy. In the latter the
scientific tradition is much more powerful, and there,
on the whole, far better and more intelligent co-
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
operation was obtained. I would suggest, however,
that what is most urgently needed for General Staff
officers is a course of scientific classification and
organisation where they would be taught the real
meaning of scientific qualifications and the names of
living authorities in various subjects. This would en-
able the military administrator at least to make an
intelligent selection.
I also agree that ‘‘it is surely most desirable that,
for the future, science should have some scheme of
mobilisation ready.’’ What is wanted is a mobilisation
register of all scientific workers, carried out under the
auspices of a committee on which the various scientific
bodies and the universities should be represented.
.This mobilisation register would indicate, from the
scientific side, the age, qualifications, and grade of —
the worker, the nature of the work which may be —
expected from him, and the remuneration which he
is entitled to expect. The Service authorities could
then add medical category, arm or branch of Service
to which assigned, rank (if it be desired to give a
commission), unit, and place of mobilisation.
So far I have dealt purely with the technical side
of the Services; but brains are not unnecessary on
the executive side, and the suggested register might —
well be extended to cover men with high intellectual —
(not necessarily scientific) qualifications who hap- ~
pened also to have had an adequate amount of mili-
tary training, so that on the outbreak of war they
might be ear-marked for Staff appointments. In
1914 we had a highly trained, if small, General Staff;
unfortunately, most of them (to their own great
honour, but the nation’s loss) rushed to the front
line, and a large proportion never returned. Their
places and the new vacancies created by the expan-
sion of the Army were necessarily filled in an un-
systematic way, as emergency dictated. Many of the
junior Staff appointments had to be given to men
who had had an inadequate general education and no
pre-war military training.
The War Office might well consider the possibility
of instituting a General Staff Reserve, largely drawn
from among university men. The officers of this
Reserve should (by expanding the Officers Training
Corps organisation or otherwise) be kept in constant
touch with the growth of military thought and prac-
tice; they might be called up at’ fairly frequent
intervals for courses, or attachments to Regular units,
or manceuvres on a large scale, and they should be
adequately remunerated for the time they gave.
. GON GOs,
University of London, University College,
March 20.
I HAVE read the leading article on ‘‘ Science and the
New Army ”’ in Nature of March 18 with great interest
but with mixed feelings. The meaning of the word
‘“‘research’* and the value of the investigator who
researches have, in my opinion, never tn fully |
appreciated by the official or military mind.
The attitude of repression and discouragement so
general at the beginning of the war was particularly |
depressing for those of us actually in one of the Ser-
vices, and therefore not free agents. Towards the
end, however, there certainly was a distinct and
gratifying change of front—a change which, at any
rate in the section I knew best, produced excellent
results. Yet, with the best intentions in the world,
the authorities in their experimental establishments —
must needs call into existence a bewildering and un-
necessary maze of organisation, or rather over-organisa-
tion, in which ten men did badly the work of one,
and the few true investigators and designers, for
whom presumably all this had been arranged, found —
APRIL I, 1920}
NATURE
135
‘themselves so tied and hobbled as to be practically
‘It does not seem feasible, in fact, usefully to
rganise research on such lines. Research—and
ssign, for that matter—speaking again of the little
corner I knew, has been almost invariably the result
the strenuous effort of individuals, and ndt the fruit
the organisation in which these particular indi-
viduals happen to have been embedded at the time.
t is not meant to imply that there should be no
organisation in Government experimental establish-
“ments, but, speaking from experience, I feel most
_ strongly. that capable investigators and designers will
mot produce their best if compelled to work in an
tmosphere of over-organisation.
What must surely be a matter for congratulation
_ the ed of scientific workers in the country is the
fact, which the article referred to brings out, that the
aoe) and
ind presumably also the Navy and the Air
nabig 1as learnt its lesson, and hastens to admit that
re is something to be gained even in peace from
the universities and other scientific and technical
_ institutions. Yet here again one seems to detect—
_ perhaps in pessimism—a touch of misunderstanding.
_ The Government’s policy (expressed in the following
; pape unfortunate words) is “‘to farm out to civil
cientific institutions, such as the universities, the
tional Physical Laboratory, the Imperial College
Science, etc., all pure research that can be profit-
ably farmed out.’’ The universities will surely be
only too willing to give the most sympathetic con-
sideration to a co-operative scheme of this sort, pro-
vided that the subject-matter of the researches to be
*“‘farmed out ”’ is sufficiently interesting and important.
. premably the Department of Scientific and Indus-
_ trial Research will be largely responsible for the alloca-
_ tion of these researches, but if at the same time the
smallest step is taken towards ‘the detection of over-
_ lap [in research], where such exists, and its elimina-
tion,” a feeling the reverse of sympathetic will be
_ Investigations worthy of the name should surely
_ be carried out in all freedom of both thought and
action; even the suspicion of interference would be
intolerable. The official interest now taken by the
_ Army in scientific research is a great sign of regenera-
_ tion—if, indeed, it is more than a surface interest,
as we all hope. Let us pray that over-organisation
_of the Government experimental establishments and
ae oar ti treatment of civil scientific institutions
will not dwarf the growth of the new scheme.
R. WHIDDINGTON.
_ The University, Leeds, March 23.
_ Tue leading article in Nature of March 18 directs
timely attention to the need for action by men of
_ science if the lessons of the war are not to be for-
gotten in the Army of the future.
It was impossible in the war to scrap the old
achine; years and experience are essential if a
new one is to be made. But no memorandum
paper policy, or even consultation with experts,
il make a good machine unless the right material
In peace-time the new Army should have technical
ucation (in the broad sense) and scientific research
‘its two main functions; thev are the only sound
ases upon which an efficient fighting machine can
be built. That appears to be accepted. But these
_ functions can only be performed by an Army with an
_ educated staff, led by scientific men who combine
_ originality with administrative capacitv. If the main
_ body of the staff consists of men without the rudi-
ments of a scientific education, who will ‘‘ administer”
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
the men of science and control the allocation of funds,
then there will be a largely unnecessary sacrifice of
the Army if a great emergency arises.
With regard to the co-ordination of research, it is true
that a good deal of duplication must inevitably occur
if the independence essential for great discoveries is
to be maintained. But there is much unnecessary
waste which can be avoided without real restriction
of independence. The direct economy is, however,
of minor importance; the greatest advantage comes
from forming the habit of consulting the right depart-
ment or the right expert; and this is as necessary for
the man of science as for any other man. The late
Lt.-Col. W. Watson, whose untimely death deprived the
nation of an expert with an almost unrivalled know-
ledge of the applications of science in war, once
related how a board of chemists spent half a day
discussing a reper bes, ‘een problem which could have
been solved in half an hour by a single meteorological
expert. GOLD.
March 22.
Att ‘scientific workers whose research has brought
them into contact with military authority during the
war must appreciate the leading article on ‘Science
and the New Army” in Nature of March 18, especially
the sentences in which it is urged that “science linked
to the Army by fussy research co-ordinators acting
under a nescient soldier will not solve the difficulty,”
and that “‘science will not occupy its rightful position
in the new Army” until the General Staff includes a
due proportion of officers who are endowed with a
scientific spirit and have received a scientific train-
ing. Until then some of the outstanding defects
manifested during the war will continue. These
defects are :— saat:
(1) The unthinking application of scientific research,
A good instance of this occurred in the issue of the
ridiculously excessive diet (based on research under
active marching conditions) to our soldiers in Flanders
who were unexercised in the trenches, whilst wholly
inadequate rations were being supplied during the
period of the soldiers’ strenuous training in England.
(2) The delay in seeking expert advice. Too often
G.H.Q. failed to realise how expert advice could help
it, and did not trouble to seek it until too late. —
(3) The choice of expert. The truly _ scientific
worker rarely asserted himself spontaneously during
the war; he waited until his advice was asked. The
man who forced himself to the notice of the General
Staff as an expert was usually unscientific. Thus
G.H.O. was “taken in,” and came to rely too often
on those whom the scientific world considered as being
pretentious in greater or less degree. Their one source
of strength was that they were usually ‘* practical’
men, whereas the men of science in some cases
offered suggestions which could scarcely be carried
out during service in the field. But in the long run
the Army suffered. Cnares S. MYERs.
30 Montagu Square, W.1, March 209.
Knowledge and Power.
Tue leading article ‘‘ Knowledge and Power” in
Nature of March 25 strikes a resonant chord. I am
a newcomer into the realms of officialdom, but my
experience relates to a Department of State which is
of new growth and not yet rooted in tradition. Aero-
nautics in Britain has had*its foundations laid on a
scientific basis, and technical staffs have been able to
build on trustworthy data. In view of the fact that
British aircraft obtained an absolute ascendancy over
the craft of any other country, Allied or enemy, and
that Britain was the only country with this scientific
*
136
NATURE
[APRIL I, 1926
foundation, it is not unfair to regard the two facts as
being, in some measure, cause and effect.
The scheme which led to the scientific basis was
announced in 1909 by the then Prime Minister, and was
the result of advice from scientific and technical men,
of whom it is sufficient to mention the late Lord Ray-
leigh as leader. Throughout the vicissitudes of air
developments—separate naval and military Forces,
Air Board, and Air Ministry—the Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics maintained a steady course and steady
output of fundamental data. It was, unfortunately,
not responsible for the conduct of full-scale research
at the Royal Aircraft Factory, and the lack of any
definite policy on the part of those in control has led
to the reduction of the full-scale experimental side to
relative insignificance.
During the war large developments in aviation were
called for, and scientific and technical men devoted
their efforts to make the best of a very difficult
situation. The Technical Department was not at-
tached in an advisory capacity to the Royal Air Force,
but was subordinated to the Department of Aircraft
Production. As a consequence of this it would appear
that the responsible advisers of the Secretary of State
too frequently found themselves in the position of.
children crying for the moon. The effect during the
War was minimised by the absence of rigid organisa-
tion, and has been fundamentally modified by the
recent absorption of the Department of Supply and
Research by the Air Ministry, whereby the technical
side is directly represented on the Air Council. It can
now be pointed out at their inception that certain
policies are technically unsound.
The result of relegating the Technical Department
to a position of inferiority during the war has been
little short of a disaster. Within a few weeks of the
armistice both the Controller and Deputy Controller
had left; they were followed by the three Assistant
Controllers and the great majority of the senior
members of the staff. It is true that many had only
entered aeronautics in view of the war emergency, but
the rapidity with which the offices became vacant was,
I think, an indication that the atmosphere was one in
which scientific and technical ability could not exist.
The process of attrition is not ended, and the
best British business firms are attracting the picked
men. Aeronautics, from the business point of view,
has been a testing-ground of a man’s capacity and
adaptability, and as the science and practice of the
subject are still young it appears to be better for the
individual to abandon his special knowledge and to
return to seneral engineering rather than to remain in
a profession which has no openings or prospects for
those in it. It is no exaggeration to say that the
policv adopted bv the State towards scientific and
technical knowledge in aeronautics has brought this
side of the profession to a condition in which its con-
tinued existence is doubtful.
The man of science and the technician, particularly
the former, is in large measure himself responsible for
this state of affairs. He has been content to recog-
nise the importance of the work he has been doing
as justification for acceptance, in spite of a non-
commercial salary. The conditions now prevailing
have brought home to him the fact that he cannot
maintain himself in a reasonable standard of life on
this basis. In an age when the value of a man’s
work is estimated in terms of the money he earns, it
is not wise to neglect the ‘criterion applied, although
all should help in the search for the sounder basis
towards which the industrial world is groping its way.
As a scientific man. I regret that we are not takine
the lead, but are considerable laggards in the search
for a just method of payment by results.
March 28. L. Batrstow.
et en er ee
Museums and the State.
In the recent correspondence on this subject the
opinion has been expressed that a lack of co-operation
between the various national museums has diminished
their efficiency. In this connection it may be useful
to recall the report of a Committee upon the Science
Museum and the Museum of Geology in Jermyn Street
of which the first part was issued in 1911 and the
second in 1912; the former was discussed in NATURE
at the time (May 4, 1911). This Committee,
on which science was strongly represented, was
appointed by the President of the Board of
Education, and consisted of Sir Hugh Bell, Sir
James Dobbie, Sir Archibald Geikie, Sir Richard
Glazebrook, Mr. Andrew Laing, the Hon. Sir Schom-
berg McDonnell, Sir William Ramsay, Prof. W.
Ripper, and Sir W. H. White. They were asked to
advise as to the educational and other purposes which
the collections could best serve in the national interests,
the lines on which the .collections should be arranged
and developed, and as to the new buildings to be
erected in order to house and exhibit them suitably.
The report therefore deals with the work and fune-
tions of the museums, and does not discuss the form
of control most suitable for their administration.
Here the Committee makes definite recommendations
on many sections of the collections, and wherever
these connect with other national institutions it
insists upon the importance of co-operation, besides
commenting upon any cases where overlapping may
possibly occur. Thus there already exists a definite
scheme governing the relation of these museums to
the Natural History Museum, the Museum at Kew,
the Imperial Institute. and the map collection of the
Royal Geogravhical Society; and, but for the war,
its results would doubtless by now have been apparent.
In concluding its report the Committee notes with
satisfaction the arrangement for providing accom-
modation for the Museum of Practical Geology at
South Kensington contiguous to the Natural History
Museum and the Science Museum as contributing
materially to that co-operation which it had recom.
mended. .
The whole report well repavs careful studv bv all
interested in museum organisation. F.R.S.
The Magnetic Storm
Phenomena.
A VIOLENT magnetic storm occurred on March 22-23. .
It had an S.C. (‘sudden commencement”) about
gh. tom. on March 22. This was not Peles ton
except that the initial increase in H was immediately
followed by a _ reverse movement, bringing the
element below its normal value for the next two
hours. The normal value was sensibly exceeded from
123h. to 14h., and again most of the time from 16$h.
to 19h. The maximum occurred just after 17h.
the course of twenty-five minutes, from about
16h. 50m. to 17h. 15m., H rose 280y and fell 360y-.
The trace was off the sheet on the negative side for
about six minutes near th., eight minutes near
th. 30om., and thirteen minutes shortly after 4h. It
was rising rapidly after each reappearance, so that
the range shown on the trace, 810y, was probably
considerably exceeded. The largest movements were
from 163h. to 19h. on March 22, and from oh. to 6h.
on March 23. There was a comparatively quiet inter-
lude from r193h. to 23h. on March 22. The times of
greatest disturbance in declination synchronised fairly
with those in H. The extreme westerly position was
recorded about 17h. 8m. on March 22, and the
extreme easterly position near 1h. 4om. on March 23,
when the trace was off the sheet for twelve minutes.
There were several exceptionally large rapid move-
of March 22-23 and Associated
In|
i
ee er ee ee a ee
APRIL 1, 1920]
NATURE
137
ats. In the course of about five minutes from
. 8m. to 17h. 13m. there was a swing of 1° 35’
e east, immediately following a somewhat less
swing of 44’ to the west. In the course of about
fe minutes from th. gm. to rh. 21m. on March 23
were swings of 76’ to west and 59’ to east, and
a minute’s pause the latter swing continued, so
declination at 1h. 28m., when the trace went off
‘sheet, was 1° 35’ less westerly than it had been
minutes before. The range actually shown on
eet, 2° 1’, has seldom been equalled at Kew,
‘as the trace was off the sheet for twelve minutes
is probably sensibly exceeded. '
» Vertical -force trace was complete, the range
disturbance being about 820y. The disturbance in
sment was fairly normal, the value being en-
ad on the afternoon of March 22 from 13h. to
-and correspondingly depressed on the morning
arch 23 from oh. 30m. to 7h. The times of
mum and minimum were respectively about
20m. on March 22 and 4h. rom. on March 23.
‘The outstanding features of the disturbance were
he size and rapidity of the largest movements, and
- separation of two very highly disturbed periods
“a comparatively quiet interlude lasting several
s. The disturbance was preceded twenty-seven
‘before (February 24) by a considerable, but much
er, disturbance, which was in some respects the
nesis of the later one. It lasted only about ten
, and the largest movements occurred in the
‘se of the first three hours. C. CHREE.
we atory.
Is storm was one of exceptional violence. It
nmenced suddenly at 9h. 6m. G.M.T. on March 22.
H.F. magnet experienced a sharp positive move-
of 37y, followed immediately by a decrease in
of 41y (1y=10-° C.G.S. unit). Similarly, the
ignet swung sharply to the west and then to the
being 8’ of arc.
ree oscillations on the negative side of the
a steady rise of value commenced in the
‘magnet at toh. 36m., which lasted until
tom., when the spot of light began to fall steadily
ds the normal value of the force. The general
racter of the movement was that of one long wave
th oscillations superposed upon it, the storm being
ost violent between 16h. and 19h. tom. During this
the spot of light passed beyond the limits of
stration in a series of rapid oscillations between
24m. and 16h. 30m., 16h. 46m. and 17h. 12m.,
54m. and 18h. 14m., 18h. 41m. and 18h. 47m.,
18h. 47m. and 18h. 51m. The oscillations be-
» less violent and rapid after 19h. 37m. At
5m. the spot of light had fallen to a value close
that of the base line, so that the extreme range in
s sweep of the curve was from a value greater
han 5507 to 52y.
At 23h. 16m. a rapid oscillatory recovery and in-
ase of value took place, which attained a maxi-
of 376y at 23h. 36m. The spot of light then
it off the recording drum on the negative edge,
ssing the base line on March 23 at oh. 24m. During
/ next four hours it was several times beyond the
its of registration on the negative side in a series of
id oscillations, in which the greatest range exceeded
ra
_ The extreme range in H.F. during the storm was
reater than 7ooy.. This value may be compared with
he range on the quiet days during January and
ry, which had a mean value of 18y.
_At 4h. 20m. the spot of light returned to a positive
alue, when a series of very rapid shiverings of the
needle took place, similar to those which terminated
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
the violent magnetic storm of August 11-12, 1919.
These oscillations had a range of about r130y, and
lasted until 8h. 50m. This may be regarded as the
end of the violent storm, though the needle continued
to be disturbed moderately until midnight of March 25.
The general character of a sinuous S-like curve is
well shown on the trace from the vertical force
magnet. It crossed the base line at oh. 44m. on
March 23. There was a very rapid oscillation of the
needle at th. om. The spot of light remained below
the base line until 6h. om., when it gradually rose,
with a shivering movement of small amplitude, to its
normal value. On the negative side the spot of light
was off the recording drum from th. 20m. to 2h. 4om.
and from 2h. 4om. to 4h. om. The extreme range
was greater than gooy, and the greatest positive value
was 642y.
Corresponding to the gradual increase in force in
the H.F. and V.F. elements, the declination magnet
gradually swung to the west. The maximum disturb-
ance consisted of some rapid swings of the needle
between 16h. 24m. and 18h. 48m. The greatest of
these was at 17h. om., the range being go’ of arc.
A very remarkable rapid double swing of the needle
occurred on March 23 at th, 12m. The range of this
oscillation was 130’. This corresponds to rapid
oscillations in the force elements. The spot of light
was now, on .the whole, below the base line until
4h. om., when there was a rapid movement east and
then west between 4h. 15m. and sh. om., with a
range of 120’. A _ series of shivering oscillatory
movements then supervened until the end of the
storm. The greatest total range in D. during the
storm was 160’.
Judging from the three elements, the general move-
ments both in force and in direction were rising with
reference to the base line during the daylight hours
and falling during the night hours.
The storm: was coincident with the appearance of a
very great sun-spot group on the sun’s disc which
appeared between March 16 and 29, and was passing
the central meridian on March 22-23. Its mean helio-
graphic latitude was —6°, and it extended from longi-
tude 114° to longitude 150°. It was the biggest group
of sun-spots observed since August, 1917, and its disc
area, in units 1/500oth of the visible disc, was 34 on
March 22.
It was a revival of a similar extended group of spots
of large area observed from January 21 to February 3.
At the next rotation, February 17-27, this group ap-
peared as an insignificant small spot and dots amidst
extensive facule. But the magnetic elements began
to be disturbed during this second rotation of the spot-
group on February 16-17.
Through the kindness of Lt.-Col. Penny, R.A.M.C.,
the O.C. Queen Mary’s Military Hospital, Whalley,
in the immediate neighbourhood of Stonyhurst Col-
lege, I have received the following account of the
aurora borealis observed by him in the early morning
of March 23 :—
“On going out of doors at about 3.15 a.m. I
noticed this display, but I do not know how long
it had been visible. It was a clear, starlight night at
the time. The aurora was exceedingly fine when I
first saw it, the best I have ever seen. It consisted
of about eight broad beams of light, most of which,
except the extreme west and north ones, extended to
within 5°-10° of the zenith. The lights extended over
about 90°-100° from approximately north-north-east to
west by north.
‘“The beams became pale and brilliant again several
times, besides constant slighter variations in intensity.
On two or three occasions, within about twenty
minutes, most of the beams, more than three-quarters,
138
NATURE
[APRIL I, 1926
disappeared, leaving one or two longish ones. The
colour was mostly white, but sometimes reddish in
parts, especially nearly due north.
‘‘A curious feature was an oblique band of light,
which came and went across near the summits of the
vertical beams. I do not think this was a belt of
illuminated cirrus, as its brightness seemed to vary
independently of the vertical beams, but it is possible
it may have been. The lights had diminished con-
siderably by about 3.45 a.m., but had brightened
again, though slightly, when I looked out a few
minutes later. I do not know what time the display
ended.”’ L. Cortir.
Stonyhurst College Observatory, March 29.
Some Methods of Approximate Integration and of
Computing Areas.
Tue formule which Mr. Percival gives in NATURE
for March 18 for approximate integration are well
known, but there are one or two points in connection
with them which are frequently overlooked, especially
by writers of books on mathematics for engineers.
(1) The areas bounded by curves the equations of
which are of the form
yratbxt cx + 2). . +hae
can be obtained from the values of 2m+1 equi-
distant ordinates, not only when n=2m, but also
when n=2m+1. That this is so is seen most easily
by taking the origin at the centre of the range of
integration and noting that
Cth
| an ldx=o.
For example, Simpson’s first, or three-ordinate,
rule gives the area of the cubic
y=at+bx+cx? +dx°
with perfect accuracy, and for this purpose his second,
or four-ordinate, rule is in no way superior.
(2) By a very small change in one of the coefficients
Weddle threw the seven-ordinate formula (No. 6 in
Mr. Percival’s letter) into the very convenient form
h
A= ly, HY3+IV5t+I7 + 5(72 +6) + 6y, |
The loss of accuracy which the change. involves is
exceedingly small.
(3) Formule based upon the assumption that the
boundary curve can be represented by an equation of
the form above stated give unsatisfactory results
when the actual boundary has tangents at right angles
to the x-axis. This is really the reason why none of
the results obtained by Mr. Percival in applying his
formulz to the quadrature of a circle possess a
higher degree of accuracy than that represented by
the admission of errors of the order of 1 per cent.
If we suppose the curve to cut the axis of x at
right angles at the origin, it is better to assume that
it can be represented by y=axi+bx in the neigh-
bourhood of that point.
If y,, v2. be the ordinates at x=h, x=2h, the area
bounded by the curve, the axis of x and the ordinate
y. is given by
A= av arity |
The much higher degree of accuracy resulting from
the employment of this formula may be illustrated by
applying it to Mr. Percival’s example of the quadrant
of a circle.
The seven ordinates are :—
Yo=rO 4 4=0°9428090
Yi =0°5527708° V.=0:9860133
Y2=0°7453560 — Yo=I
Vy, =0°8660254
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
Using the above formula to find the area between
the ordinates y, and y., and Simpson’s first formula
for the part between y, and y,, we obtain the value
0°7853871. The true value is 0-7853982; hence the
percentage error is only o-0014, which compares very
favourably with the errors ranging from 08 to 134
per cent. obtained by using the usual formule for
the whole range.
Mr. Percival’s example clearly shows that when the
curve has a tangent at right angles to the axis, no
material reduction in error is attained by using
formule with a larger number of ordinates. The use
of Simpson’s formula over ordinary ranges and of the
formula given above in the neighbourhood of such
tangents will prove much less laborious and far more
accurate. J. B. Date.
King’s College, Strand, March 22.
In Nature of March 18 Mr. A. S. Percival gives
an example (the quadrant of a circle) in which Simp-
son’s rule (sometimes called his first rule) is more
accurate than the ‘‘three-eighths’’ rule, and he
remarks: ‘This result is curious, and shows that a
small arc of a circle approaches more nearly to a
small arc of a parabola than to a small are of any
cubic curve.”” Permit me to point out that this infer-
ence is not valid, and is based on the almost universal
illusion that Simpson’s rule is correct to the second
order only, i.e. for the parabola
y=a+bx+cx’.
It is easy to show by simple integration that Simp-
son’s rule holds to the third order, i.e. for all cubics
of the form ;
y=a+bx+cx’*+dx’,
passing through the three chosen points. It is thus
precisely accurate, not only for the parabola, but also
for a singly infinite number of curves passing through
the three points, even if an inflexion occurs.
One would therefore expect (which I believe to be
the case) that where both rules can be applied (eg. if
there are seven ordinates) Simpson’s rule would be
more accurate than the ‘‘three-eighths”’ rule, which
is precisely true only for a single curve passing
through four consecutive points.
In some cases, when the gradient is not rapid,
Simpson’s rule is highly accurate. Dr. Lamb
(‘‘Infinitesimal Calculus,’”? p. 278) gives an example
in the evalution of m to six decimal places from the
| eae
ol+s? 4
by taking ten equidistant values for x, but he does
not notice the illusion to which I refer. I am sur-
prised that such a simple and easily tested truth
should so long have escaped the notice of many expert
mathematicians. R. A ROGERS.
Trinity College, Dublin, March 20.
equation
Gravitational Deflection of High-speed Particles. ~
THe result mentioned by Mr. Leigh Page and
verified by Prof. Eddington (NaturE, March 11, p. 37),
that the gravitational effect on a particle travelling
radially is a repulsion if the speed exceeds 1/3 times
the light-velocity, is given by Hilbert in the G6ttinger
Nachrichten for 1917. The same paper contains in-
teresting remarks on the path of a particle or light-
pulse moving spirally round the gravitation centre.
Hymers College, Hull. H. G. Forper.
NATURE
139
view of the fact that many of Nature’s most
striking colour effects are produced as the
of harmonious groupings of highly coloured
life, and that it is to the various plant pig-
s that these fine tints owe their origin, it is
surprising that chemists have striven, from
early days of the science, to elucidate the
structure of these colouring matters, and
lists to discover their relationship to the vital
ties of plant life.
ing recent years our knowledge concerning
nt pigments has been rapidly and greatly
‘ged, and observations have been made that
-of great significance to chemist and botanist
ce, whilst the horticultural possibilities which
they seem to indicate should be of interest to even
‘the most casual lover of Nature’s beauties.
_ When referring to plant colouring matters it
‘must be borne in mind that it is necessary to
inguish between the plastid pigments (chloro-
phyll, carotin, etc.) and the water-soluble , sap-
pigments. The present article will deal only with
the latter group—sap-pigments—but it must not
be imagined that this indicates that progress has
mot been made in the researches upon plastic
_ pigments; indeed, much knowledge concerning
_ them has resulted from the extended and intricate
work of Willstatter and others.
a+ The: igments may be divided into two main
N:
i) Derivatives of flavone or of flavonol
_—sometimes called anthoxanthines—which are
_ pale yellow or colourless when in faintly acid solu-
tion, but bright yellow when dissolved in alkalis ;
and (ii) the anthocyans, which are red when in
acid solution, violet to red-violet when neutral,
and of varying tints from dull red, or red-brown,
s bth and pure blue when in solution in the
_ form of alkali salts. In both groups the individual
_ pigments differ from each other in the amount of
_ oxygen which they contain in the form of phenolic
_ hydroxyl groups and the arrangement of these
_ groups in the molecule.
__ We owe most of our knowledge of the distribu-
_ tion in Nature of the yellow sap-pigments—which
usually occur in plant life in chemical combina-
tion with various sugars—to the work of A. G.
Perkin, whilst the actual synthetic production of
a number of these colouring matters by Kostanecki
_has confirmed our ideas concerning their chemical
structure. How widely these pigments are dis-
tributed in Nature will be gathered from the fact
that members of this group have been isolated
from the following sources: Heather, wallflower,
clover flowers, cotton flowers, delphinium flowers,
onion skins, violas, poplar buds, parsley, etc.
Although yellow sap-pigments derived from
_ flavone have been isolated from a large number of
plants and flowers, it is quite certain that pig-
_ ments of this group are present in a very much
_ larger number of plants than those from which
- have up to the present been isolated.
5 en we turn to consider the pigments of the
__ anthocyan class—the purples, reds, and blues of
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
i
Colouring Matters ‘of Plants.
plant life—the fact of their extremely wide dis-
tribution is obvious to everyone. Their presence
in petals or leaves is noticeable even where only
a small fraction of 1 per cent. of the pigment
exists in the flower. That this is so will be fully
realised when the fact is considered that the blue
cornflower contains only about 0-75 per cent. of its
dry weight of the blue pigment cyanin. In con-
trast with this is the case which has come to light
in recent investigations, where as much as 25 per
cent. of the flower’s dry weight of a yellow sap-
pigment was present in a yellow viola, yet this
large quantity was completely masked by a mere
fraction of 1 per cent. of a plastid carotin colour
that was present in the same flower.
The great beauty of the anthocyan pigments
has given rise to very numerous attempts to obtain
an accurate knowledge of their chemical structure
and also of their function in plant life. The name
“anthocyan” dates back to 1835, and appears to
have been introduced by Marquart. Despite the
very numerous attempts that were made to isolate
these pigments in a pure condition, it was not until
1903 that an anthocyan pigment (the colour of the
pelargonium) was obtained in a crystalline con-
dition by Griffiths. In 19173 Willstatter and
Everest described their investigation of the pig-
ment of the blue cornflower-——which they called
cyanin—and laid the foundation of the fuller
investigation of the anthocyan pigments that has
been developed since that date. It is to Will-
statter, to his collaborators, and to Everest that
we owe most of our knowledge of these pigments.
The identity of a considerable number of the
anthocyans has now been established, and pig-
ments of this group have been prepared synthetic-
ally. Among others, the colouring matters of the
cornflower, rose, pelargonium, viola, peony, holly-
hock, cherry, and grape have been obtained in a
pure condition and investigated. In almost every
case these pigments occur in Nature chemically
combined with sugars.
As the result of these chemical investigations
the relationship that exists between the yellow
sap-pigments derived from flavone and the antho-
cyan colouring matters has been made clear. This
relationship has been the subject of much study
by botanists, particularly by Keeble, Armstrong
and Jones, and Wheldale, and it is interesting to
note that, whilst botanical work appeared to point
to the anthocyan colours being oxidation products
of the yellow sap-pigments of the flavone series,
chemical investigations have proved that the rela-
tionship is the reverse of this—the anthocyans are
reduction products of the yellow sap-pigments.
Very interesting in connection with the function
of these sap-pigments in plant life is the fact that,
whilst chemical investigations have made it clear
that the anthocyan pigments are reduction pro-
ducts of the yellow sap-pigments, botanical work
strongly points to the conclusion that these very
anthocyan pigments occur in plant life in positions
that are the seat of oxidising influences.
140
NATURE
[| APRIL I, 1920
It has been noticed by many who have investi-
gated the anthocyan pigments that there is always
at least a trace of yellow sap-pigment present
alongside the red, purple, or blue of the antho-
cyan. From this has arisen the belief that the
anthocyans are produced in Nature via the yellow
sap-pigments, and recent work has shown that
there is very considerable ground for thinking
that this belief may prove to be correct,
To even the most uninitiated, the chemical
formule representing a typical anthocyan [e.g.
delphinidin (I.)] and the corresponding yellow
sap-pigment [myricetin (II.)] make it obvious
that a relationship exists between them—
Cl
oil NG Far
Of NCL? SOW HO farce On
Pe rg Ot oe ee
pre Coa SW sane
BK OH 6 ¢ OH
H | H |i
(I.) (II.)
Naturally, to the horticulturist the interrela-
tionship of the various sap-pigments to one
another is of great interest; also the effect of
these colours upon the tints produced by the
plastid pigments that occur with them in plants
and flowers. The proof, by chemical investiga-
tion, that the blue cornflower owes its colour to
the same pigment as the red rose is of the greatest
interest, for does it not raise hopes of success in
the endeavour to produce a pure blue rose? In
the rose the colour is red because the sap is acid,
whereas the cell-sap in the cornflower is in such
a condition that the pigment can take up enough
alkali to form its blue alkali salt. Can the latter
condition be reproduced in the rose?
It is often erroneously stated that the yellow
sap-pigments are responsible for the yellow tints
in flowers and berries, but in reality the bright
yellows are almost exclusively due to plastid
colours related to carotin, whilst the orange and
brown tints are produced by combinations of these
colours with those produced by pigments of the
anthocyan group. In some few instances, how-
ever, it is probable that sap-pigments give rise to
fairly strong yellows, but, in general, members
of this class of compound produce pale yellow
tints such as the colour of the primrose, or are
present in an almost colourless condition in the
acid cell-sap of white- or cream-coloured flowers.
It is exceedingly difficult, even for one who has
studied the pigments minutely, to be certain by
mere observation which of the anthocyan pigments
is present in any flower that may be examined.
Chemical work has shown that plants of the same
botanical group may produce different pigments,
and, indeed, that more than one anthocyan, or
yellow sap-pigment, may be present in the same
flower.
Very naturally the clothing of Nature in such
beautiful tints, as the result of the presence of
these colours, led to the desire on the part of
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
‘countries.
‘used in Bavaria for dyeing purposes.
recently these colours have been more fully investi- —
man to use them for the colouring of garments
and other textile materials. Many of the members
of the yellow sap-pigments are capable of indus-
trial use as mordant dyes, and were largely so
used before the synthetic colours became available.
Some of them—e.g.
in considerable quantities even in European
In the East quite a number remain
Concerning the dyeing properties of the
anthocyan pigments, much doubt seems to
have existed, but it appears certain that in
1850-60 the colour of the hollyhock was largely
Quite
in use.
gated in respect of their dyeing properties, and
it has been found not only that they dye wool, but
also that they are capable of giving very fine
shades when used on cotton with a tanning mor-
dant. Although they have considerable tinetorial
power, and the dyeings produced by them are fast
to light, they do not stand washing sufficiently to
make it possible for them to hold their own
against synthetic colours.
Apart from the two main groups of sap-pig-
ments, with which the above remarks have been
concerned, there are quite a considerable number
of coloured compounds that exist in plants in some
soluble form—usually as glucosides. It should be
noted that, whilst flavone or flavonol derivatives
are very widely distributed, and the anthocyan |
pigments almost equally so, the remaining colours
are much more restricted in their distribution.
What 7véle the flavones, either alone or accom-
panied by anthocyans, play in plant life, other
than that of decoration, has not yet been dis-
covered.
commercial importance as regards plant colouring
matters, and some colours that are by no means
widely distributed are of considerable importance.
Furthermore, the question of plant colouring
matters does not end with the considera-
tion of those colours that exist ready-formed in
the plant. Indigo, the most important of all plant
colouring matters, exists in plant life as a soluble,
colourless glucoside called indican, which produces
indigo only when it loses the sugar with which
it is chemically combined, and is oxidised by con-
tact with air or other oxidising medium. The
archil or cudbear group constitutes another class
of colours that were formerly of commercial
importance, and are produced from _ soluble
colourless products present in various lichens.
In conclusion, the important dye alizarine
should not be omitted; this product was formerly
obtained exclusively from plant sources—chiefly
madder-root, in which it occurs partly as the
glucoside ruberythric acid—whereas almost all the
alizarine that is now used is prepared synthetically
from the coal-tar product anthracene. It would
appear that the time is not far distant when all
plant pigments that are used for technical purposes |
will be displaced by synthetic products, but the
recent shortage of synthetic dyes has certainly
somewhat prolonged the commercial life of the
various natural colouring matters. )
fustic—are still employed
Wide distribution is no indication of —
Se gt ae ae ee
APRIL 1, 1920]
NATURE
141
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
has Jong had in progress an arc of primary
ulation along the 98th meridian of longitude.
c¢ was completed to the north, up to the
an boundary, in 1907. To the ‘south there
nilar arc along the same meridian through
originally surveyed by the ‘‘ Commission
Jésique Mexicaine ” between 1906 and 1gI!0,
nating to the north at the international
ry on the Rio Grande and extending south-
to the Pacific Ocean. |
was obviously desirable that these two arcs
be connected, and it was accordingly
d to make the connection in 1913, when
- section of the work in the United States
e. The internal condition of Mexico, how-
did not permit any joint operations at that
, and a postponement was necessary. Oppor-
y was taken of the improved condition of the
y in 1915 to revive the question. The
gements proceeded without hitch and the
final observations were successfully made in May,
a p16. The publication under review gives an
count of the southern end of this arc in Texas,
surveyed in 1913, the junction with the Mexican
are in 1916, and a general summary of the pro-
eee ante of the lines of first order triangulation
oo nited States.
i the Coast and Geodetic Survey has
‘its work to a common datum and
= rak geen and azimuths upon Clarke’s
These, both datum and spheroid,
1 accepted, on one hand by the Cana-
and on the other by the Mexican, Geodetic
‘ mag so that they are now common to the
__ whole of North America. An inspection of the
_ index map of the triangulation lines in the
_ United States. computed to these data shows, how-
ever, that there is still a considerable block of
E triangulation in the Eastern States not yet re-
gy When this readjustment is made and
_ when certain lines in the Central and Western
_ States, now in progress, have been completed, the
_ network over the whole area will be so close that
no point will be situated at a greater distance from
_ a main triangulation line than about 170 miles.
In fact, even this distance will be rarely attained,
and over almost the whole area the maximum
~ distance will be under 150 miles.
Such a network of absolutely first-class work is
amply sufficient to satisfy the most ! exacting
-geodesist and is, of course, more than a sufficient
basis for any possible map upon any practical
scale. We may, therefore, congratulate the
_ U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey upon the now not
distant completion of one of the main sections of
‘its great task.
have Bee
1 a of Commerce, U.S. Coast and Gendetic Survey. Geodesy.
Serial No. 97. epet ¢ on the Connection of the Arcs of Primary Triangu-
lation “em the Ninety-eishth Meridian in the United States and in
ig n7?_on Triangulation in Southern Texas. Ry William Rowie.
; (Special Publication No. 51.) Pp. 93. (Washington : Government Printing
Office, 1919.) Price 10 cents.
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
Geodetic Survey in North America.)
The execution of the small section of triangula-
tion under review was marked by no special tech-
nical advances; but as exhibiting a high level of
technical efficiency and as being of possible use
for future guidance in similar work that may be
planned in British territories, we may briefly advert
to one or two practical points. One question of
considerable importance is to decide whether it is
desirable to restrict observations to the night
or whether day observations should be included.
The U.S. Survey adopts the principle of allowing
only night observations, for the stated reason that
experience has shown that there is less deviation
in the geodetic azimuths of the lines when this
restriction is enforced than when the observing is
done by day or is a combination of day and night
work, In other words, the atmospheric conditions
are more stable at night and observations of
angles, therefore, more accurate. This is in ac-
cordance with general experience and practice.
It has, however, been argued, not without a
certain show of plausibility, that though undoubt-
edly the apparent errors are thus reduced, this may
be at the risk of introducing systematic errors,
due, let us say, to unsymmetrical atmospheric
refraction operating only ‘when observations are
made upon a falling temperature, which might
be eliminated if observations under different
atmospheric conditions were combined. Though
plausible, this argument is, we think, not tenable,
or, perhaps more correctly, not applicable to the
case of a triangulation.
The ultimate test as to whether, in deriving the
most probable mean of any set of observations,
systematic errors are likely to be diminished by
the inclusion of observations of an inferior degree
of accuracy but differing in their conditions can
be decided only by experience. Now in this case
the ‘‘ experience ’’ is immediately available, being,
in fact, implicitly contained in the figure express-
ing the closing error of the triangle. Any method
of observation and any system of combining the
results of the observations into a mean value which
reduce this closing error ipso facto increase the
probable accuracy of the finally derived figures of
position and azimuth. Night observations, pre-
ferably. between, say, three hours after sunset and
one hour before sunrise, fulfil this condition and
are therefore rightly accepted as ideal.
The U.S. Survey, operating over a huge area
with a necessarily limited budget, has perforce to
pay attention to the question of cost. Survey is,
in fact, on exactly the same basis as other en-
gineering operations. The problem is to get the
maximum output of work of a strictly defined
and practicable degree of precision at the mini-
mum cost, and not, as has sometimes been
assumed, to reach the highest attainable precision
regardless of cost.
The standard for first order work in the United
States is an average triangular error of one second
of arc and a maximum error of under three
year.
142
NATURE
[APRIL I, 1920
seconds. This already high degree of precision
was, however, surpassed in the particular section
under notice. Thus over a total of, sixty-eight
triangles the average closing error was 0°63” and
the maximum error of any one triangle 1°86”.
This pitch of excellence was moreover attained
without any increase of time spent at the stations ;
indeed, it is claimed, we think with justice, that
the arc establishes a ‘‘ record,”’ both technically
and financially. The average cost per point occu-
pied was, in fact, lower than has been attained
with any previous work of the same class, and
as, Owing to the nature of the country, high and
expensive signal scaffolds were necessary, it seems
that the reduction made in the cost of the actual
observing was even more notable than appears on
first inspection.
This conveys a lesson which may be taken to
heart by those responsible for future survey opera-
tions. It seems clear that the difference in method
of execution between what we are accustomed to
call first order or primary triangulation (i.e. tri-
angular error under 1”) and secondary work
(triangular error under 3”) lies mainly in the nature
of the signals. If lamps only are used it is a
matter of indifference as regards rate of progress,
and hence as regards cost, whether a large in-
strument capable of first order precision or a
smaller one capable only of second order is used.
In either case one observer can complete the ob-
servations at a station in one night, and no
reduction in size of instrument, in number of rounds
taken, or in order of accuracy will enable him to
do more. The difference in cost of transport
between the two instruments is in most cases
negligible. The only extra cost involved is that
caused by the necessity of providing five lamp-
men or lamp parties and moving them from point
to point. In rough country this might undoubt-
edly prove a formidable addition, but in the case
of future boundary commissions or land surveys
in Africa it is anyhow worth serious consideration
whether a backbone or net of primary triangulation,
planned so as to fit in with a comprehensive
geodetic scheme, cannot be undertaken without a
prohibitive increase in expenditure.
This is the sort of question for which the co-
ordinated experience and authority of a etic
institute would prove invaluable, and it is to be
hoped that it will not be long before such an
institution, long overdue, is established in Engiand
for the British Empire. E. oie
Science and Research in the Air Service.
Ga Air Estimates for the year 1920-21,
recently presented to Parliament, show a
total estimated expenditure of 21 million pounds
compared with 54 million pounds in the previous
The apparent saving in cost is 33. millions,
but it is really greater, for in the year 1919-20
the cost of the experimental and research services
was borne jointly by the Admiralty and the
Ministry of Munitions, and is now wholly included
in the Air Ministry vote.
As regards the Royal Air Force, the number
of officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned
officers, airmen, and boys provided on the estab-
lishment (exclusive of those serving in India) has
fallen from 150,000 in 1919-20 to rather less than
30,000 in 1920-21—a striking reduction. The
21 million pounds for the new financial year
includes rather under a million for civil aviation
and two and a half millions for experiment and
research. This latter sum would have been more
than three millions (3,177,000l.) had not an
“appropriation in aid,” due to the sale of certain
airships for 600,000l., come to the relief of the
vote. The actual figures are as follows :—
4
Liquidation of war liabilities ... 1,334,000
Works, buildings, and lands ... 140,000
Aeronautical inspection see de 80,300
Airship constructional establishment... 315,000
R.A.E., Farnborough ... Sea ws» 401,200
Technical equipment and materials... 844,390
Salaries and wages : 48,800
Miscellaneous 13,850
3,177,540
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
An expenditure of more than three millions
for research alone in a single year would appear to
be a generous provision, but an examination of the
foregoing figures shows that much of the expendi-
ture will not be employed for this purpose.
The air vote for meteorological services has
risen from 12,o00l. in 1919-20 to 77,6291, in
1920-21, and part of this will doubtless be used
in research work of some kind, though these
services are not part of the research directorate,
but come under the civil aviation side of the Air
Ministry. The sum of 77,629l. includes the pro-
vision of only 3581. for ‘‘ experimental stations,”’
which is such a very modest amount that we as-
sume experimental research in meteorology is
provided for by other aid. In any event, the
amount cannot represent the degree to which at-
tention is given to research, since in meteorology
there is ample scope for original work based upon
the observations from what may be termed routine
stations.
The printed Estimates convey the intention of
the Government to make liberal provision for
research in aeronautics, but it is impossible to
determine precisely what sum of money is thereby
devoted solely to “experiment and research,”
since such work is sometimes carried on at the
ordinary air stations. Moreover, 40,0001, for the
National Physical Laboratory is not borne on the
Air Estimates at all, but on those for the Civil
Service. The Estimates do, however, include the
sum of 20,3401. for research “grants to scientific
bodies,” and 600,o001. as an encouragement to
invention.
a APRIL I, 1920]
NATURE
143
THE long life of Mr. Sedley Taylor,
i =6who died recently at the age of
ighty-five years, nearly all of which were
pent in public activities at Cambridge, was
1 many ways notable. Theology, mathematics,
physical science, practical economics, and pre-
eminently music, occupied his attention. His
withdrawal from active theological pursuits (in
363 he was ordained to a curacy near Birming-
1m) was not merely a personal event; it was also
aked up with the movement for greater academic
2€ at Cambridge. About the same time
Henry Sidgwick (1869) and Leslie Stephen (1862)
_ gave up their fellowships. So early as 1862 ap-
_ peared the first edition of Helmholtz’s classical
treatise on the sensations of tone. A translation
into English, published by A. J. Ellis in 1875,
increased its reaction in this country both on the
physical theory of sound and on the esthetic prin-
ciples of music, which it for the first time brought
_ into detailed, reasoned connection. Its influence
_ was much forwarded by Sedley Taylor’s book,
4 _.“Sound and Music,” which appéared in 1873, and
_ was the earliest general exposition in short com-
__ pass by a writer competent on both sides of the
Bre j An event which his characteristic energy
rendered prominent was his invention of an
_ apparatus which he named the phoneidoscope. It
consisted essentially of a resonant cavity, with
__ an aperture over which a soap-film was stretched :
_ when the operator sang to it a note nearly in
_ unison with the cavity, the aerial vibrations re-
_ vealed themselves visibly in whirling movement
_ of the coloured striations of the liquid film.
In these days perhaps such phenomena, now
more fully understood, would be regarded as bear-
_ ing more closely on the properties of the very
a
_ remarkable structure exhibited by bubbles, being
_ too com to reveal direct knowledge of the
constitution of sound waves.! But Sedley Taylor’s
si was infectious. As a testimony to
his zeal in connecting up music with acoustics, |
and also to the relevant state of things in Cam-
___ bridge at this period, an extract from Clerk Max-
___well’s Rede Lecture of 1878 on the telephone (then
___ newly discovered) is worth quoting :—
_. Helmbholtz, by a series of daring strides, has effected
__ a passage for himself over that untrodden wild
_ between acoustics and music—that Serbonian bog
where whole armies of scientific musicians and
_ musical men of science have sunk without filling it up.
_ We may not be able even yet to plant our feet in
his tracks and follow him right across—that would
re the seven-league boots of the German
ossus; but to help us in Cambridge we have the
_ Board of Musical Studies vindicating for music its
ancient place in a liberal education. On the physical
_ side we have Lord Rayleigh laying our foundation
ee and strong in ‘Theory of Sound.’? On the
gi tic side we have the University Musical Society
1 The writer is indebted to Sir Joseph Larmor for assistance on thi-
7 NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
Obituary.
Mr. SEDLEY TaYLor.
doing the practical work, and, in the space between,
those conferences of Mr. Sedley Taylor; where the
wail of the Siren draws musician and mathematician
together down into the depths of their sensational
being, and where the gorgeous hues of the Phoneido-
scope are seen to seethe and twine and coil like the
‘Dragon boughts and elvish emblemings”’
on the gates of that city where
‘‘An ye heard a music, like enow
They are building still, seeing the city is built
To music, therefore never built at all
And therefore built for ever.”
The special educational value of this combined
study of music and acoustics is that, more than
almost any other study, it involves a continual appeal
to what we must observe for ourselves.
The facts are things which must be felt; they can-
not be learned from any description of them.
The economic side of Sedley Taylor’s work
can be illustrated by a conversation with a
younger friend of his who was accustomed to
see him in his rooms in Trinity College during his
last years of feeble health. The talk turned upon
profit-sharing, which was introduced by a question
about a French statuette on the mantelpiece. To
his surprise the younger man, who had to probe
for his information, found that Sedley Taylor had
been a pioneer, had even been the inventor of
that term, and had written a book on the subject,
for which he had been decorated for his services
towards industrial co-partnership by the French
Government, which was at the time closely in-
terested in such matters.
Sedley Taylor was a pioneer in at least two
other directions. One of them was the higher
education of women. He promoted the founda-
tion of Girton College, and was afterwards its
constant benefactor. Towards the end of his life,
in 1911, he received the honour of the freedom
of the borough of Cambridge for establishing and
endowing the first dental clinic that was founded
in England. His musical activities pervaded
Cambridge, and are too widespread to be dis-
cussed here. His generosity, kindliness, and
humour endeared him to a wide circle, and in
particular to many generations of musical under-
graduates. Cyrit ROOTHAM.
WE regret to note that the death of MR.
Antuony GEORGE LysTER is announced in Engin-
eering for» March 19 as having taken place on
March 17 at sixty-eight years of age. Mr.
Anthony Lyster was the second son of Mr. G. F.
Lyster, of Liverpool, and father and son between
them were responsible for the greater part of the
port developments on the Mersey over a period
exceeding fifty years. Mr. Lyster was educated
at Harrow, and served his pupilage under his
father. After holding the position of assistant
engineer to the Mersey Dock Board for some
time, during which he was responsible for the
144 NATURE
[APRIL I, 1920
construction of important new works, he succeeded
to the position of acting engineer-in-chief, and
became engineer-in-chief in 1898. He resigned this
post in 1913, and then became a partner in the
firm of Sir J.. Wolfe Barry and Partners, but
remained consulting engineer to the Mersey Dock
Board until the time of his death. Mr. Lyster
became a member of the Institution of Civil
Engineers in 1882, and was president in 1914.
He served as a member of the International Tech-
nical Commission for the Suez Canal, and was
consulted with regard to improvements of the
harbours at New York, Bombay, Port Elizabeth,
Shanghai, etc. He was also a member of the
Admiralty Committee on Naval Works at Doon
and Rosyth, and associate professor of engineering
at Liverpool University.
By the death of Mr. W. A. E. Ussuer, which
occurred on March 19, many British geologists
will lose an old friend who, whether in his usual
mood of breezy optimism, or ina rarer phase of
boisterous pessimism, was always good company.
Mr. Ussher joined the Geological Survey in 1868
and was engaged in the mapping of various parts
of England, but his name will always be associated
with the Devonian, Carboniferous, and New Red
rocks of Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset, where
he spent most of his official career. His principal
contributions to the literature of these formations
appear in the Memoirs of the Geological Survey,
in the Journal of the Geological Society, and in
the Transactions of the Devonshire Association.
In his study of the West Country rocks it was
his constant endeavour to secure correlation with
their European equivalents, and’ thus he was
brought into close association with many Con-
tinental geologists of note. In 1914 he was
awarded the Murchison medal of the Geological
Society in recognition of his labours. Mr. Ussher
retired from the Survey .in 1909; unfortunately,
ill-health since then kept him in almost complete
retirement.
By the comparatively early death of Dr. R. C.
MACcLavRIN on January 15 last, the United States
have lost an accomplished and energetic immi-
_ grant. Dr. Maclaurin was born at Lindean, Scot-
land, in 1870, and in 1897 was placed in the first
division of the first class of the advanced part
of the Mathematical Tripos. It was an unusually
good year, the candidates including Grace and
Bromwich. Dr. Maclaurin was also equal for
the second Smith’s prize. After graduating, he
at first turned his attention to law, but before very
long became professor of mathematics in the
University of New Zealand. This ‘post he left in
1907 to occupy the chair of mathematical physics
at Columbia, N.Y., and two years later became
president of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology. He published one legal treatise, and two
on the theory of light; besides this, he contributed
various papers to the Philosophical Transactions
and other periodicals.
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
scientific spirit.
Notes.
A ust of 5604 promotions in and appointments
to the Civil Division of the Order of the British
Empire ‘‘for services in connection with the war”
was published on March 30 as a supplement to the
London Gazette. We notice the following names of
men of science and other workers known in scientific
circles :—Knight Grand Cross (G.B.E.): Dr. A. E.
Shipley, F.R.S., Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge Univer-
sity. Knights Commanders (K.B.E.): Prof. I. Bayley
Balfour, F.R.S., University of Edinburgh; Prof.
W. H. Bragg, F.R.S., University College, London;
Dr. S. F. Harmer, F.R.S., Director of Natural His-
tory Departments, and Keeper of Zoology, British
Museum; and Dr. J. E. Petavel, F.R.S., Director of
the National Physical Laboratory. Commanders
(C.B.E.): Prof. H. L. Callendar, F.R.S., Imperial
College of Science, London; Dr. C. C. Carpenter,
chairman, South Metropolitan Gas Co.; Mr. F. H.
Carr, Chief Chemist, Messrs. Boots Pure Drug
Stores; Prof. F. G. Donnan, F.R.S., University
College, London; Mr. W. P. Elderton; Mr. A. P. M.
Fleming; Prof. P. F. Frankland, F.R.S., University
of Birmingham; Dr. F. W. Edridge-Green; Prof.
W. A. Herdman, F.R.S., University of Liverpool; -
Prof. J. C. Irvine, F.R.S., University of St. Andrews ;_
Mr. J. G. Lawn; Prof. T. M. Lowry, F.R.S.; Mr.)
W. Macnab; Dr. R. A. O’Brien, Director, Wellcome
Physiological Research Laboratories; Mr. J. E. Sears, .
National Physical Laboratory; Mr. F. J. Selby,
National Physical Laboratory; Dr. T. E. Stanton,
F.R.S., National Physical Laboratory; Mr. G. Stubbs,
Government Laboratory; Lieut. J. R. F. Wild,
member of Sir E. Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition ;
and Dr. Dawson Williams, editor, British Medical
Journal. me) é
THE impending retirement of Sir Napier Shaw, who
has been the Director of the Meteorological Office
since 1905, and as president of the International
Meteorological Committee occupies a unique position,
marks an epoch in the history of British meteorology.
Trained primarily as a physicist, Sir Napier has
been able to approach meteorological problems in a
His academic experience brought
him into contact with younger men, and by the en-
couragement he extended to them he raised the level
of his subject. As a consequence, there are at the
present moment a greater number of men in the
British Empire capable of dealing with intricate’
meteorological problems than in any other part of
the world. A heavy responsibility rests on the
authorities on whom the duty of nominating Sir
Napier’s successor falls. When the Meteorological
Office was taken over by the Air Ministry last year
the change was looked upon with grave misgivings. |
The near future will show whether the anxiety then
felt regarding the wisdom of a step that was taken
against the advice of all competent authorities is to
be relieved or intensified.
calamity if administrative rather than scientific
qualifications were to determine the choice. Unless
the whole future of British meteorology is to be
It would be an irretrievable -
I =."
7 _I, 1920]
NATURE
145
d, the Director of the Office must be a
f high scientific standing who will maintain
ng place which the Office now takes among
of the world. For the credit of the nation
interests of science we trust that the new
will ‘be a worthy successor of the one who
n so much scientific honour to the post.
‘C. E. Groves, F.R.S., for some years lecturer
mistry at Guy’s Hospital, consulting chemist to
‘onservators of the River Thames, and _ vice-
t of the Chemical Society from 1899-1902,
ied on February 1, left estate of the gross value
+,.0f which amount 20,000l. is left in trust
sisters for life, and on the death of the
of them 10,000l. to the Royal Institution for
es Endowment Fund for the promotion of
ic research.
h larships, each of the annual value of 3o0l.,
ffered by the Grocers’ Company, the object
promotion of original research in sanitary
e. In addition to the sum named, there will be
»Wance to meet the cost of apparatus and other
e§ in connection with the work. The scholar-
w be tenable for one year, but may be ex-
for a second or third year under certain condi-
ie elections will take place in June next,
tions have to be made, on a special form
before May 1 to the Clerk of the Grocers’
ny, Grocers’ Hall, Princes Street, E.C.2.
. of the fact that no regulations have been
oncerning standard time in Finland, Helsing-
e (th. gom. fast on Greenwich time) has
most generally adopted in the country. The
following a time which differs from
zone system based upon Greenwich
e principal cause of a proposal, made last
by the Geographical Society of Finland, to
‘h time +2h. as the standard time of the
correspondent, ‘‘H.°R.,” informs us that
the President arrived at a decision ip
h this proposal. The new standard
will be adopted by the railways from
and the calendars for 1921 will intro-
e beginning of the year. The question
‘the twenty-four-hour day is under dis-
‘zs Council Bill has now passed into law
__ It provides for the formation of a works
every works having at least twenty em-
tives and office staff). Representation
bro rata up to a works employing any
| male and female workers from the age
een who are in possession of citizen rights are
to vote. Among the various provisions of
mention may be made of the obligation of the
1 ‘in assisting the management by advice with
) view of obtaining the greatest economy in carry-
f out manufacturing operations. They must also
erate in the application of new methods and in
nting disputes, and assist in the welfare work,
These provisions ‘presuppose considerable
| position can be found.
members of the council—which, it may be added,
must not exceed thirty in any one establishment.
At the annual general meeting of the Chemical
Society, held at Burlington House on. March 25, the
following were elected officers’ and council for the
ensuing year:—President: Sir James J. Dobbie.
Vice-Presidents: Prof. J. B. Cohen, Prof. F. G.
Donnan, Dr. H. J. H. Fenton, Prof. S. Smiles, Prof.
J. Walker, and Prof. W. P. Wynne. Treasurer:
Dr. M. O. Forster. Secretaries: Dr. J. C. Philip
and Dr. H. R. Le Sueur. Foreign Secretary: Dr.
A. W. Crossley. Ordinary Members of Council:
Prof. A. J. Allmand, Dr. E. F. Armstrong, Julian L.
Baker, Francis H. Carr, Prof. A. Findlay, Prof.
F. E. Francis, J. A. Gardner, Prof. J. C. Irvine, Dr.
C. A. Keane, Sir Robert Robertson, Prof. J. M.
Thomson, and E. W. Voelcker. It was announced
that, the supplementary charter now having been
granted, an extraordinary. general meeting of the
fellows would be held at Burlington House on April 29
at 5 p-m. to consider the alterations in the by-laws
proposed by the council.
WE have on several recent occasions referred to the
advances which were made during the war in wireless
telephony to and from aeroplanes. There is also
another important use to which electric waves have
been put in connection with aerial navigation, in the
wireless direction-finding apparatus, which has like-
wise been brought to a considerable degree of perfec-
tion. An interesting demonstration of both these
applications was given under the auspices of the
Marconi Co. on a Hardley Page machine on March 25,
when conversations were held with the Marconi estab-
lishment at Chelmsford, and messages were picked up
and transmitted to the Times office in London. The
direction-finding apparatus, which was also demon-
strated, is apparently a development of the “wireless
compass "’ used at sea, founded on the radio-goniometer
of Bellini and Tosi, in which the angular relation ‘of
two coils connected’ respectively to two independent
aerial systems at right angles is varied. By rotating
a pointer carrying one of these coils a position is
found where the signals received reach a maximum
loudness and the direction of the incoming waves is
ascertained. By plotting cross-bearings of two
Stations obtained in this way on a chart, the true
The Marconi form of the
apparatus has a working range of 200 to 300 miles
when used in conjunction with low-power coast. wire-
less stations. The converse process was used during
the war for finding the position of enemy craft from
more than one home station, and it is well known
that the Zeppelins used a wireless position-finder ex-
tensively for navigation during raids. The principle
on which this worked is, however, believed to have
been somewhat different.
THE report of the Royal Commission on Decimal
Coinage has just been issued. The majority report,
which represents the views of about two-thirds of
the members of the Commission, is not in favour of
making any change in the denomination of the cur-
al and industrial knowledge on the part of the
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
rency and money of account in order to place them
~-
146
NATURE
[APRIL 1, 1920
on a decimal basis. It maintains that this decision
is justified by the following considerations :—(1) In
any scheme for reducing the existing system to a
decimal basis the pound should be retained. (2) The
pound and mil scheme is the only strongly supported
scheme which complies with this condition. (3) The
advantage to be gained by a change to the pound and
mil scheme as regards keeping accounts is in no way
commensurate with the loss of the convenience of the
existing system for other purposes. (4) Grave diffi-
culties will be created by any alteration of the penny.
(5) The scheme cannot be tried as an experiment or
on a voluntary basis. There are two minority reports
in favour respectively of the decimalisation proposals
of Lord Southwark and Lord Leverhulme. The in-
vestigation makes it clear that many of the difficulties
now regarded as insuperable would disappear if our
system of weights and measures were such as to
familiarise the general body of the community with
decimal calculation. This fact will, no doubt,
stimulate the advocates of the metric system to
renewed efforts to bring about this useful and neces-
sary reform.
Dr. R. C. SmitH states in the Scientific Monthly
for February that there is in the popular mind a sur-
prisingly large amount of misinformation and mis-
conception concerning many forms of natural history,
and this is not confined to exotic, but extends to well-
known plants and animals. As instances he quotes
the belief that the beaver uses its tail like a trowel;
that the porcupine shoots its quills at enemies; that
certain squirrels and fish fly; that snakes swallow
their young in times of danger; that cats suck the
breath of babies, and so on. _ The prevalence of these
beliefs is due largely to the fact that a considerable
portion of the people do little or no reading, or it is
confined to trashy literature. These misconceptions
are due to various causes—to hasty acceptance of the
opinions of others, to mistaken observation and mis-
interpretation of the facts involved, but mostly to the
fertility of imagination. All this points to the neces-
sity of serious and efficient Nature-teaching in schools,
by the agency of which misinformation about well-
known objects of natural history can be corrected.
WE congratulate the Hunterian Museum at
Glasgow University on its year’s record of steady
progress. In the Reports on the Hunterian Collec-
tions for the Year 1918-19 just received we note
especially the growth of the collections of insects of
economic and sanitary importance, through the en-
thusiastic work of Mr. R. A. Staig. The long list of
acquisitions in this department bears witness both to
Mr. Staig’s energy and to the admirable lines upon
which he is developing the collection. The geological
collections have received a valuable acquisition
through the purchase of the balance of the important
Leeds collections of fossil reptiles and fishes from the
Oxford Clay. The honorary curator of the coin
cabinet reports that the resumption of international
communication has been responsible for a consider-
able increase in the number of requests for casts from
workers abroad, and the list of consignments dis-
patched is eloquent at once of the world-wide fame
NO, 2631, VOL. 105]
‘tribution.
of this museum and of what the war has eae |
research workers at home and abroad.
AMONG early palzolithic flint implements found i
the river gravels of the South of England there ar
certain specimens with the point slightly turned
one side. These are regarded as intermediate betweer
the still older rostro-carinate flints and the ordinary
palzoliths by Mr. J. Reid Moir, who describes se .
examples in detail and discusses them in a recently
published part of the Philosophical Transactions
(vol. ccix., B, pp. 329-50, pls. 51-57). According t
this explanation, the makers of the rostro-carinat
implements eventually began to increase the efficiency
of their tools by extending the ridge of the a
progressively further towards the butt end, while they
chipped the edges of the great flat face until it als
became a longitudinal ridge similarly extended.
rostro-carinate implement, triangular in cross-section,
thus passed into the palzolithic implement of t
‘‘river-drift type,’ rhombic in cross-section; the tv
opposite flat faces of the former having been chipped
away, and the two opposed great surfaces of the latter
being in planes at right angles to them. As the cross-
section of a rostro-carinate resembles that of a dog
fish, while the cross-section of an ordinary paleolith
corresponds with that of a plaice, Sir Ray Lankester
suggests that the latter should be described as platessi
form. Other early palzoliths in which one face is
flat may have originated from the rostro-carinate type
simply by the extension of the ridge of the beak anc
the simultaneous thinning of the flint, thus resulting
in a skate-like or batiform shape.
In the Philippine Journal of Science (vol. xiv..
No. 4) Mr. E. D. Merrill continues his work on new
or noteworthy Philippine plants. The present con:
tribution contains descriptions of one hundred new
or presumably new species, and eighteen new records
for. the islands. Of the nine genera which are for
the first time recorded as Philippine, two are of special
interest from the point of view of geographical dis-
One, Cloezia, a genus of Myrtacez, has
hitherto been known only from New Caledonia, where
it is represented by six species. The discovery of a
representative in Mindanao, in forest at an altitude of
1700 metres, adds another genus to the remarkabl
list of genera that are known only from the Philip
pines and the islands to the south and south-eas
of the archipelago. The second, Citriobalus, is
small Australian genus of Pittosporez, _ with on¢
species from Java, the range of which is now extendec
to Luzon. Another Australian species, Ipomoea poly.
morpha, previously known only from Australia and
Formosa, has also been found in Luzon.
Asstracts of scientific papers, when giving full
bibliographical details and fully indexed, are evidently
of greater utility than mere catalogues. An excellen
series of abstracts has for many years been preparet
by the Chemical Society, and Science Abstracts, issues
by the Institution of Electrical Engineers and th
Physical Society, is a well-known publication. Th
abridgments of the Patent Office point to the ©
of abstracts for purposes of search. Within the
5. Apri I, 1920}
NATURE,
147
years the question of abstracting and cataloguing
ntific literature has been much discussed, and has
yecome acute. The Mineralogical Society has, on its
wn m initiative, made a start in this direction, and has
ntly issued the first number of a series of
fineralogical Abstracts. This will give notices of
apers and books dealing with purely scientific
miner logy and crystallography, and will also direct
attention to matters of mineralogical interest in
ginal papers bearing more on petrology, ore-
sits, and economics. The work of abstracting is
5 ed on by voluntary helpers, but even with
help it is evident that the cost of printing will
more than a small society can bear. It is hoped,
eae venture proves to be of some general use, that
HH attention has been given in recent years to
estion of manufacturing alcohol within the
for use as motor spirit. In the current
of the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute the
of utilising the mowra flowers of India
‘the purpose is discussed. These flowers possess
k, juicy petals rich in sugar. They are used by
the natives as a foodstuff, and especially for the pre-
_ paration by fermentation of an alcoholic liquor called
ru or mohwa spirit. A single tree will yield as
much as 200-300 |b. of flowers in a year. The tree
_ also pro oduces a valuable oil-seed, which is exported
in fairl large quantities to Europe. During the war
the flowers were used in India for the production of
acetone, the yield being said to be ten times as much
as that obtained by distilling wood, which is the
Way anal jource | of this substance. The demand for
f e in India in peace times, however, is not great,
and large quantities of the flowers would be avail-
able for the manufacture of alcohol, and would appear
to be an exceptionally cheap source of this material,
field is high compared with that from potatoes
materials commonly used, about go gallons
cent. alcohol being obtainable from one
flowers. It has been estimated that in
bh ad State alone there are already sufficient
4 abiion & for the production of 700,000 gallons of
_ proof spirit per annum, in addition to that necessary
for the local liquor requirements.
es the Weekly Service for February 21, issued by
the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, there
9 S$ some interesting information on the prospec-
_ tive yields of cereals for the season 1919-20. From
this information, obtained from the International
Agricultural Institute of Rome, it seems that the
world is faced with a considerable feduction’ in its
_ wheat supply. In Australia the yield of wheat for
"1919-20 is estimated at 54-4 per cent. of the previous
_ year’s production, and this is only 38-3 per cent. of
_ the average of the five preceding years. Similarly,
the estimated wheat yield is much lower than last
year’s average in the Union of South Africa, the
ie United States of America, Rumania, and Argentina.
F Before the war the average exports of wheat from
_ Russia and India were together equal to the quantity
imported into the United Kingdom from all sources,
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
¥
but it will be some time before India can recover
from the famine conditions of 1919, while it is highly
probable that Russia will not rank as a _ wheat-
exporting country for the next few years. There is,
therefore, a vital need for an increased wheat production
in the United Kingdom. Not only for this reason, but
also because the scheme is thoroughly sound from the
practical point of view, the Ministry advises the sowing
of spring wheat, and gives practical advice as to
varieties, soils, etc.
Tue Journal of the Royal Statistical Society for
January contains an interesting summary of the
growth of Canada (1867-1917), ‘Fifty Years of
Canadian Progress,’’ by Mr. Ernest H. Godfrey, of
the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Ottawa. While
Prince Edward Island and the North-West Territories
show an absolute decline in population in the period
1871-1911, the total population was nearly doubled,
and that of Manitoba increased from 25,228 to 455,614.
More than a third of a million immigrants entered
Canada in each of the three years 1912-13-14. The
acreage and yield of wheat were more than doubled
in the decade 1900-10, those of oats increased by two-
thirds, and these rates of development were main-
tained until 1917. In 1870 Ontario produced 85 per
cent. of the wheat, 82 per cent. of the barley, and
52 per cent. of the oats of the Dominion; since 1900
the main farm crops have been obtained further west,
Saskatchewan producing in 1917 56 per cent. of the
wheat, 28 per cent. of the barley, and 34 per cent.
of the oats. While the numbers of sheep have steadily
declined (1871-1911), those of horses have doubled
and of cattle have increased by 50 per cent. Canadian
cheese factories produced annually from 1} to nearly
2 million cwt. (1893-1917), nearly all of which was
exported to the United Kingdom. In 1867 there were
2288 miles of railway line; in 1881, 7331; and in
1917, 38,604. The mineral census of 1911 was of so
different a character from those of earlier years that
it is not possible to quote details of the progress in
mineral wealth. The paper is worthy of close atten-
tion by all who are interested in Canada.
GEOGRAPHERS are not likely to overlook the con-
tinuous exploration and illustration of Alaska by the
officers of the United States Geological Survey,
further evidence of which is seen in Bulletins 683
and 687, dated 1918 and 1919 respectively. The
former contains a number of new maps, where much
still remains a blank, of country stretching in from
the coast north and west of the Lower Yukon River.
The latter provides excellent photographic views,
notably plates v. and vii., of the Kantishna region,
north of Mount McKinley, where the only population
consists of some forty whites engaged in mining.
Ir is a pleasure in these times to handle and read
so well printed a report as that which inaugurates the
Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin
Islands” (vol. i., part 1, issued by the New York
Academy of Sciences, 1919). The origin of the survey
of this outpost-island of the United States is given
by Mr. N. L. Britton, and Mr. C. P. Berkey. fur-
nishes an introduction to the general geology. The
148
NATURE
[APRIL I, 1920
rocks of Porto Rico divide themselves into an older
series, mainly volcanic, which is regarded as Cre-
taceous or a little earlier, and a sedimentary Cainozoic
group, determined by marine fossils to be of Eocene,
Oligocene, and Miocene age, Oligocene beds largely
'predominating. Though it is not mentioned on the
cover of the part, a good map of the island, by Messrs.
Reeds and Briesemeister, faces p. 30. The scale is
1: 950,400, and red contours are sketched at 100 ft.,
500 ft., tooo ft., and 1500 ft. In his detailed account
of the geology of the San Juan district Mr. Douglas R.
Semmes describes the very interesting and very annoy-
ing topography of the Tertiary limestone sao where
“pepinos® ‘we prefer this term, meaning ‘cucum-
bers,’ to Mr. Berkey’s ‘‘haystack hills’’ adopted
in the paper—give rise to a remarkably broken country.
This topography is due to the irregular falling-in of
waterways in the Cainozoic limestone, complicated by
the occurrence of beds of shale. In the petrographic
section we welcome the appearance of Vogelsang’s
term ‘‘vitrophyre’’; but the German spelling that is
retained, even in a plural, which is written ‘‘ vitro-
phyrs,’’ makes us fear that this useful word is here
limited as Rosenbusch desired. |
AERIAL navigation has become of such vast import-
ance that any aid which meteorology can afford is
welcomed, while, on the other hand, the meteorologist
looks with much expectation to the airman for ob-
servations which may advance our knowledge of the
general movements of the atmosphere. The Meteoro-
logical Office has just issued ‘‘An Analysis of Cloud
Distribution at Aberdeen during the Years 1916-18”
(Professional Notes No. 9, price 4d. net). The
analysis is by Mr. G. A. Clarke, assistant at Aberdeen
Observatory. It is practically a first effort at averag-
ing the number of days in each month on which cer-
tain cloud characteristics are predominant, and from
this deducing by the estimated average height of the
cloud the occasions when air was cloud-free felow
certain heights. The number of occasions upon which
flying would have been handicapped on account of the
lowness of the cloud is 31 per cent. of the total, and
of the remainder rather more than one-third show no
cloud below 7ooo ft. The weakness of the analysis
is that the cloud-heights have been worked on average
results deduced from altogether different observations.
It is recognised by meteorologists not only that the
heights of clouds may vary at different stations, but
also that they are subject to diurnal and seasonal
variations.
IN a paper on operating a by-product producer-gas
plant for power and heating, read recently at the
Institution of Electrical Engineers, Mr. W: H. Patchell
gives particulars of the running of a plant belonging
to the Hoffmann Manufacturing Co., Ltd. The gas
plant is on the Lymn system, and the power units
consist of four-cylinder horizontal Premier engines of
about s00 brake-horse-power at 190 revs. per min.
Each gas engine is fitted with an exhaust boiler, and
the boilers were installed with water-heaters. The
dynamos were supplied by Messrs. Crompton, and
are open type direct-current shunt-wound _interpole
360-kw. machines running at 190 revs. per min. ; the
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
_and a thermal efficiency of 18 per cent.
and fitting the bearings.
first two machines work at 110 volts, and in the
second instalment of plant, machines working at ©
220 volts are used. The figures obtained for a period.
of six months’ running show a consumption of 1-51 Ib.
of coal per kw.-hour, and a thermal efficiency of
19-9 per cent. on the units delivered to the feeders.
The best figure quoted by. Mr. David Wilson —
(Technical Adviser to the Controller of Coal Mine i 4
electric power stations in the South of England 3
consumption of 2-32 lb. of coal per unit and a thermal .
efficiency of 13-05 per cent.
Northumberland district gave 1-80 lb. of coal per unit —
Mr. Patchell
considers that the large-cylinder high-power gas.
engine will be developed in this country as it has —
been abroad—an opinion in which he appears to differ
from some other gas-engine. authorities.
A papPER read to the North-East Coast Institution
-of Engineers and Shipbuilders on March 19 by Dr.
W. H. Hatfield, of the Brown-Firth Laboratories, and
Mr. H. M. Duncan, of Messrs. C, A. Parsons and —
Co.’s Research Laboratory, deals with the mechanical ~
properties of turbine’ steels. Unfortunately, the
‘authors were unable to obtain specimens of turbine
steel which had done good service in severely stressed
parts, and a standard with which they could compare
other steels was therefore lacking, but the conclusion —
is reached that design has probably more to do with —
the life of turbine parts than the quality of the steel. —
One disc which failed in practice, however, proved to —
be weak when tested in a radial direction, and the
defects of structure. are illustrated by means of photo-
micrographs. The paper contains a number of tests
by different methods, the conclusions as to the relative
value of impact, bending, hardness, and tensile tests:
being, in the main, the same as those reached ‘by
Dr. Hatfield in his paper read before the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers. An investigation of the
Sankey test is included, the relation between the
length, diameter, and resistance of the test piece being
examined. A formula is given which yields a rough
approximation to the values which would be obtained
under standard conditions. Formule are also given
for the Stanton repeated impact test, and the data
collected should, be of interest to engineers who are
concerned with testing.
Some interesting particulars regarding the use of
mechanical reduction gears between the turbines and
the propeller in the Royal Navy were given in a paper
read at the recent meeting of the Institution of Naval
Architects by Eng.-Comdr. H. B. Tostevin. By 1916 —
it was considered that enough progress had been made
to warrant a complete change-over to this type of
driving, and at present there are installed or on
order 612 sets of gears of a total horse-power. of
7,828,000. The largest set transmits 36,000 shaft-
horse-power, and there are four sets on this ship,
totalling 144,000 h.p. In all naval work the turbine
spindles, pinions, and gear-wheels are supported on
rigid bearings, and the alignment is determined by
accurate machine work in boring the gear housings
In general, a gearing ratio
The best station in the 5
APRIL I, 1920]
NATURE
149
of 8 or 9 to 1 is not exceeded in naval practice of
moderate and high power. Of. the 556 sets. in ser-
ce, some extending up to nearly six years, it has
only been necessary to remove three for refit due to
‘misalignment; no actual breakdown occurred, and the
gears, after dressing up, were afterwards re-utilised.
fi Two cases of fractured teeth occurred; the broken or
cracked portions were removed and the damaged teeth
were smoothed up. There is a great saving in the
bladi of the turbine by the adoption of mechanical
ring, amounting in the case of a destroyer to
ft. of blading in a direct drive, against 7720 ft.
e geared drive. The increase in efficiency. is
, 17, and 20 per cent. respectively for light
ers, flotilla leaders, and torpedo-boat destroyers
at full power; at one-fifth power the increases in
4 efficiency are 16:5, 20, and 20 per cent. respectively.
_ Messrs. Tuomas Mursy and Co. are publishing
ortly two books likely to interest geological readers,
“An Introduction to Paleontology,’? by Dr.
Morley Davies, and ‘‘Petrographic Methods and
sale lations,’ by Dr. A. Holmes. [In the first-named
< the “type-system’’ of Huxley is ‘applied. A
‘number of fossil species are described in
the relation of the structure to the animal’s
2’? is representative. The volume will contain
ces dealing with rules of nomenclature and
ods of extracting and preserving fossils.
ir. Holmes’s volume the following subjects
attention: Specific gravity and porosity of
éxamination of crushed rocks and loose sedi-
7 nineral analyses by heavy liquid, magnetic,
- sands—preparation of thin sections and their examina-
staining, micro-chemical, and other. methods
1 analyses of rocks and their interpretation
a?
= resentation of analyses by diagrams—suggestions
_ for the description of rocks.
Messrs. W. Herrer anv Sons, Lrp., Cambridge,
have just circulated a miscellaneous catalogue (No. 186)
of secondhand books which will -doubtless be of
service to many readers of Nature. The more strictly
_ Scientific portion contains 100 items ranging over
most of the branches of scientific knowledge; a
lengthier section gives particulars of works on folk-
lore, mythology, psychical research, . comparative
religions, etc. The Sanskrit collection of the late
_ Dr. A. F. R. Hoernle, comprising about 400 volumes,
is also listed. The catalogue may be had upon
_ application. _ oa
_ Reapers of Nature interested in biography and
desirous of obtaining books relating to this subject
at ‘small cost ‘should obtain a copy of Catalogue
_ No. 400 just issued by Mr. F. Edwards, 83 High
a Street, Marylebone, W.1. The list is not particularly
strong in science, but it contains lives of Charles
- Darwin, Sir Joseph Banks, J. J. Audubon, Thomas
Bewick, Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff, and others. There
is'also a section of works on genéalogy and family
history. The catalogue will be sent on request.
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
ae
.renders it a non-predictive feature.
_known cometary parentage.
2 of life being pointed out, as well as the effects.
sssilisation. Each such description is followed.
general account of the group of which the.
'two plates.
from the other lines.
dark lines give —19 excluding Hg, or — 33 including it,
ctrostatic methods—mechanical analysis of’
Our Astronomical Column.
Apri, Metrors.—Of April generally and its special
meteoric display it can scarcely be said that they often
possess features of striking interest from a spectator’s
point of view. The fact is that the spring. months
are usually all deficient in abnormal phenomena of
this kind, and observers are sometimes sadly dis-
appointed with the result of their observations; for if
meteors from Lyra are absent or few, there is little
else to engage the student, as meteors may fall not
more abundantly than three or four in an hour.
There are periodic returns of grandeur attached to
the Lyrids, but the uncertainty of the periodic time
Hence the ob-
server must needs take up his stand with a very
doubtful prospect before him.
But the stream of Lyrid meteors has important
historical associations, and the shower can boast of a
These facts, combined
with the possibility of a bright and abundant display
in any year, lure observers to look for it with an
interest and anticipation sometimes amply justified.
SPECTRUM OF 1ArGOs.—As Mr. Baxandall and
Miss Cannon suspected changes in the spectrum of
this interesting star, Dr. Joseph Lunt took two photo-
graphs in February and April, Ig19. Each was ex-
posed on three nights with a total exposure of nine
hours. The spectrum consists mainly of bright lines;
there are dark lines, but they cannot be identified
with known lines, and may be merely interspaces
between bright bands. The results for radial motion
differ according to the lines employed. The enhanced
iron lines give —30-7 and —28:2 km./sec. from the
The chromium lines are in fair agree-
ment with this, but the hydrogen bright lines give
+46-5 and +48-7 km./sec., a difference of 77 km./sec,
On the other hand, hydrogen
Dr. Lunt suggests in explanation the settling down
of an extensive outer hydrogen atmosphere on to the
central body. He refers to Mr. Innes’s discovery of
_a faint companion, and notes that hitherto no certain
sign of variable radial velocity has been detected.
He emphasises the importance of keeping the star
under constant watch, both visual and spectroscopic,
as the light curve gives expectation of another
brightening about the present time. The star is a
curious link between nove and variables, Miss
Cannon noting a strong resemblance between its
bright-line spectrum and that of Nova Aurige on
1892 February 17 (Monthly Notices, vol. Ixxix.).
|. INFRA-RED SPECTRA OF NEBUL&.—Investigations are
being carried out at the Lick Observatory by Dr. K.
Burns with the object of securing photographic plates
of great sensitivity to infra-red radiations, and some
plates prepared by him have been utilised by Mr.
W. H. Wright for exploring the, spectra of nebulz
in this region. In the Publications of the Astro-
nomical Society of the Pacific, No. 185, Mr. Wright
. gives an account of his preliminary attempts in this
direction, with the results obtained in the case of the
planetary nebula N.G.C. 7027. The 36-in. refractor
of the. Lick Observatory was. used with a single-
prism spectrograph giving the rather small dispersion
of 1 mm. to about 600 A.U. on the plate. The. focus
was not good in the, region required, but fair defini-
tion was. obtained between 26700 and A 8500, and
his photographs show. four lines in the extreme. red
not previously reported. The corrected wave-lengths
are given as approximately 7009, 7065, 7138, and,
7325, and in addition to these lines there are others at
4 6678 and \ 6730 which have been measured previously
with other apparatus.
150
NATURE °*
[APRIL I, 1920.
Hydrographical Studies.t
J] YPROGRAPHY is a backward science, and the
very ocean, scientifically speaking, is a neg-
lected field. Mr. J. Y. Buchanan, an oceanographer
himself, tells us so in his new book of ‘* Accounts
Rendered’’:—‘‘It seems almost incredible that the
men of all nations, burning with scientific and ex-
ploring zeal, should have entirely overlooked, and
apparently despised, this large portion of the world.”
Our Challenger Expedition had two faults: it cost a
great deal of money, and it was done too well. It
has led two generations of Englishmen to believe
that the thing was done and need not be repeated,
and must on no account be asked for again. Yet, in
spite of this great old expedition of ours, and the
various scientific exploring voyages of the Travailleur,
the Gauss, the Siboga, the Albatross, the Thor, and
all the rest which have followed it (in other hands
than ours), we know perfectly well that our know-
ledge of the ocean, both physical and biological, is
in its merest infancy. Its fauna we know as we
knew that of the shore fifty years ago, a handful
here, a handful there; of its physical and physico-
chemical phenomena we know a great deal less.
Nor is this true only of the wide oceans. Twenty
years ago we knew, to all intents and purposes,
absolutely nothing of the hydrography of the North
Sea itself with the one exception of its tides. Its
temperatures and densities had never been mapped,
their seasonal fluctuations (save at a few shore-
stations) were unknown. Even in regard to the
tides, and in spite of the great men who have
devoted themselves to this favourite subject, we
know that we have still a vast deal to learn
in theory, and that’ in practice our tide-tables
fall short of the accuracy which modern conditions
demand. Things are beginning to mend. The Uni-
versity of Liverpool has established, not only a chair
of oceanography, but also a special institute for the
studv of the tides; and, under the stimulus of inter-
national co-operation, a certain aspect of hydrography
has come to be an intrinsic part of the scientific work
of our fishery departments.
All this is to the good, though not yet nearly
enough. The fishery departments are working on
imperfect material, with inadequate staffs and still
more inadequate laboratories; . but better davs
are coming. Even in these hard times the
work will go on, and _ under much better
conditions than before, but we shall scarcelv he
satisfied! For the phvsical study of the sea is a
very great thing indeed. Of its problems many are
scarcely formulated, many others doubtless are still
unforeseen. There is no end to them; they range, let
us say, from the study of the tides to that of
hvdroxvl-ion concentrations, from the movements of
the great ocean currents to the coefficients of absorp-
tion of the sun’s rays in the surface-waters of the
sea—nay more, they may involve the most funda-
mental questions of chemical physiology, in relation
to the life and the nutrition of one grade of organisms
after another. Thev call, or ought to call, for the
widest phvsical and chemical knowledge and high
mathematical skill. Not only must the officials of a
department do their daily task, but still wiser and
more learned heads must play their part.
There is not one of these problems which has not
its practical side—its influence, direct or indirect, on
the lives of fish and the lives of men. But the prac-
1 Roard of Agriculture and Fisheries: Fishery Investigations. Ser. ITT.
Hydregraphy. Vol. i., *' The English Channel,” Part ii. ; Vol. ii., “f Light-
ship Observations.” Part i.; Vol. iii, “The At'antic Oc-an,” Part i. Rv
Dr. Edwin C. Jee Hydrographer on the Staff of the Board. (H.M.
Stationery Office, 19109.)
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
tical outcome of our knowledge lies, for the most
part, a good long way off. The tanner, the dyer, or
the brewer, the maker of soap or of glass, even the
farmer and the gold-digger, come straight to the
chemist with their troubles, for they have learned at
last that it is worth their while; yet even now when
they do so, as often as not the questions they put
only suggest a new line of investigation, instead of
finding an answer to hand. And chemistry is all but
the oldest of the sciences, while hydrography is a
thing of yesterday—or rather of to-morrow.
But I have left myself no room, after all, to discuss
as they deserve those of Dr. Jee’s papers published
by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
They form a diligent and meritorious contribution to
the necessary statistics of hydrography. They set
forth fully and clearly (1) the variations of tempera-
ture and of salinity during a considerable number of
years at the Seven Stones Lighthouse, a station of
verv obvious importance in the neighbourhood of the
Scilly Isles; (2) the same phenomena on a _ cross-
section of the English Channel, from the Isle of
Wisht to St. Malo; and (3) the same again for the
surface-waters of the North Atlantic, in a particular
area where warm currents appear to branch off for
the ultimate supply of the southern and the northern
portions of the North Sea. The data, which are very
numerous, are furnished by captains of ships and
the keepers of the lighthouse; and Dr. Jee’s business
has been to reduce to order, to analyse, and. above all,
to discuss this large mass of observations. The pheno-
mena so elucidated, and the deductions drawn from
them, are too numerous to be discussed here. _
On one curious point, and one only, we may sav
a word. Dr. Jee pays a good deal of attention to a
favourite theory of certain meteorologists (Dr. Otto
Pettersson among them) that there is a marked
alternation of temperatures between the “odd”? and
the ‘“‘even”’ years; that there is at least a tendency
for the vears of even number to be warmer than the
odd. Dr. Jee finds considerable support for this
theorv in the surface-waters of the sea, but subject
He tells us that ‘tit is a fact
of undoubted significance that, for a very wide stretch
to curious limitations.
of the Atlantic extending from the coast of Cornwall
at least as far as 35° W., the November means are
in the aggregate of substantially higher value in the
vears of even number, and that this value culminates
in the area of maximal temperature. . . . This
periodicity is a general feature of the waters of the
Atlantic east of 35° W., and the persistence of its
occurrence is amply demonstrated by the zonal means,
which regularly alternate high in the November of
an even vear and low in the year following.”
There is here, in short, some definite evidence ad-
duced bearing on the important question of a regular
two-year ‘‘pulse”’ of the Gulf Stream. But during
other parts of the vear exceptions become perplexingly
numerous,. and Dr. Jee himself tells us that
‘‘examination of the monthly means . . . shows that
only in November do they exhibit anv appreciable con-
formability to the odd and even rule.” Even if the
phenomenon were only clearly manifested in Novem-
ber (in this particular region), it might still be of
great importance, and we should like to know a
great deal more about it. The fact that we are left
without a firm hold of the thing is not Dr. Jee’s fault
at all, but depends on the fact that he is_still only
able to deal in detail with a particular and limited
area. A similarly detailed account of the surround-
ing areas would soon, I imagine, convince us whether
we were dealing with a real phenomenon or not,
and if it confirmed would begin to helo to explain it.
D’Arcy W. THOMPSON.
APRIL I, 1920}
NATURE
151
som Public Health and Welfare.
A HE forty-eighth Annual Report of the Local
a2 Government Board, containing the report of the
Medical Department for 1918-19, is noteworthy in
many respects. It is the last of what may justly
_ be called a famous series; it is addressed, not, like its
vee aenwald to the President of the Board, but to
_ the Minister of Health, and its introduction is written
P Bees First Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health.
_ Its contents are noteworthy too, dealing with matters
_ that no one probably even ten years ago would have
2 of seeing referred to in the Board’s report,
and with subjects that the early Medical Officers of
_ the Board never thought of in relation to the work
of the Board.
_ The introduction, written by Sir George Newman,
takes the form of an interesting little historical note
on the origin and growth of the Medical Department
of the Local Government Board. To Sir John Simon,
who was the first Medical Officer, to Dr. Seaton, who
sur ed him, to Sir George Buchanan, to. Sir
ee Ri chard Thorne Thorne, to Sir William Power, and
© Sir Arthur Newsholme, the last of the famous line,
he pays due tribute. They were all great men in the
syes of the Public Health Service, but Sir John Simon
yas the greatest of them all. As the English Parlia-
ment is the mother of Parliaments, so English public
health is the mother of all public health, and this is
= almost entirely to Sir John Simon. That the
English public health organisation is what it is to-day,
ne finest in the world and adopted as the model by
ery civilised nation, is largely thanks to him. This
r George Newman acknowledges. He recognises
so the greatness of the task before the new Ministry,
id idaenits, though many hard things have been said
f it, that the Local Government Board did work of
mendous value to the country and the people, and,
“with all its limitations of machinery, proved itself
a body in search of truth and having humanitarian
Ee | OS ee a
.” One precious possession it gave was the gift
method—‘‘a method formulated by practice and
srience, which consists of a combination of
ientific work and common-sense administration, both
associated with a wide and comprehensive vision.”
As to the future medical plans of the Ministry Sir
_ George Newman has little to say except that steps
ment been taken to reorganise the medical arrange-
fu
‘9
nents by enlarging the staff and differentiating its
netions. For the report itself Dr. G. S. Buchanan,
. R. J. Reece, and the Medical Inspectors of the
_ Board are responsible, the first-named providing a
_ general survey, as well as dealing, like each of his
colleagues, with certain of the special conditions or
subjects he was called upon to investigate during the
r
The bulk of the articles included relate to epidemic
_ disease, and the outstanding feature of the year in
_ this connection having been the pandemic of influenza,
not unnaturally much space is devoted to this disease,
the duty of reporting upon it being imposed upon Dr.
_ Carnwath, who acted as secretary of the special com-
_ mittee set up to investigate the subject. This report
contains an admirable and concise description of the
outbreaks experienced here, and contains much most
useful information with regard to the natural historv
of the disease. Reference is made to a number of
investigations, bacteriological and epidemiolosical,
carried out in various parts of the country during the
epidemic. So far as the former’ are concerned, it
cannot, as Dr. Carnwath states, “‘yet be stated that
unequivocal conclusions have been reached.’ Serious
doubt, however, was cast upon the claims of the
bacillus of Pfeiffer, which for years had been held to
be the causative organism, to continue to be so
NO. 2631, VOL. 105] ¢
regarded. So far as _ epidemiological investigations
were concerned, attention is directed to those carried
out in Leicester by Dr. Arnold, one of the Medical
Inspectors, and in certain public schools by Dr. Mac-
ewen, also a Medical Inspector. In Leicester Dr.
Arnold made more or less of a general inquiry with
the view of eliciting information as to age incidence,
while in the schools Dr. Macewen went into the
question of immunity in influenza. Neither inves-
tigator appeared to succeed in obtaining any informa-
tion of practical value.
For a section of the report dealing with epidemic
diseases associated specially with war conditions Dr.
Buchanan is responsible; while Dr. Reece and Dr.
MacNalty treat of encephalitis lethargica, the condi-
tion which the Press at first insisted upon regarding
as botulism, and now persistently and, for some reason
or other, jocularly refers to as ‘sleeping sickness.”’
Of the war-diseases those specially dealt with are
typhus and trench fever, malaria and dysentery.
The fact that the first two are louse-borne diseases is
stressed, and in regard to malaria it is pointed out
that, though a few cases of indigenous origin have been
brought to light, only in Kent was there any consider-
able spread of the disease. In the report on encephalitis
lethargica Dr. Reece deals with prevalence, and Dr.
MacNalty with the general features, of the disease.
By both observers a number of references are made
to instances of multiple cases in families and institu-
tions, but both quite definitely hesitate to class the
condition as infective. Dr. MacNalty’s explanation of
the sporadic distribution, that it belongs to the group
of maladies, including such conditions as cerebro-
spinal fever (spotted fever) and acute poliomyelitis
(infantile paralysis), in which the agent is present
commonly in the body and inactive until immunity
breaks down, is one likely to be generally accepted.
Apart from reports upon diseases, there are some
others dealing with more general matters. Of.these,
two calling for special reference are that by Dr.
Wheaton on maternity and child welfare, and that on
the work of the inspectors of food by Dr. MacFadden.
Both chronicle advances and improvements. Dr.
Wheaton shows that there is a steady increase in
enthusiasm for welfare work amongst local authorities,
as evidenced by the appointment of more and more
health visitors and by the establishment of more and
more centres; consultations, créches, and day nurseries.
The work of the food inspectors on behalf of the Army
and the people, Dr. MacFadden states, was carried out
with great activity, and, if it did nothing more,
showed many openings for reforms. Of two im-
portant, long-overdue reforms, one has relation to the
inspection of home-killed meat, which is inadequately
done, because only just over a hundred local authori-
ties have established public abattoirs, and much
slaughtering is still done in private slaughterhouses.
The other matter calling for attention is the super-
vision of places where food is prepared or stored. In
most districts there are many places in which food is
dealt with where the conditions are undoubtedlv very
bad. From time to time such places are discovered
and efforts made to deal with them, but, as Dr.
MacFadden shows, proper supervision is impossible
for the reason that the powers granted by the Health
Acts are inadequate and unsuitable for controlling
them, and, more important still, the local inspectors
are too few in number and too much overloaded with
work of other kinds.
The whole report is exceedingly interesting, and in
no sense inferior to those of former years. As it was
the last of the series, no doubt those responsible for
it desired to see it maintain the high level of excel-
| lence already attained, and they have succeeded.
152
NATURE
[APRIL I, 1920
Education of Engineers.
fe HE report on the education and training of elec-
trical engineers is. a_ really important and
instructive pronouncement. The industry is a com-
paratively new one, and the committee has
been able to formulate recommendations in advance
of the prejudices and customs of older branches
of engineering. An attempt is made to lay down a
uniform system for manual and technical workers of
various grades, and it is pointed out that industry
should be represented on all committees concerned
with primary, higher, and technical education and
with after-care and juvenile employment. The com-
mittee recognises four classes of apprentices, namely :
(1) Trade Apprentices, who enter works between
fourteen and sixteen and are to be trained to become
skilled workmen. They should be selected at an inter-
view and given a trial period. The committee sug-
gests that they should be placed under the super-
vision of a trained officer responsible for their selec-
tion, who should keep records of their progress.
(2) Engineering Apprentices, who enter works
between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, chiefly
from the higher secondary schools. These should be
trained by practical experience and technical educa-
tion, up to the age of twenty-one, for junior staff posi-
tions. Before entering works they should have
attained a standard equivalent to that of a university
matriculation examination. They should be selected
after an interview and examination of school records,
and appointed for a probationary period. Their prac-
tical training should be directed not so much to
making them skilled workmen as to giving them a
knowledge of various manufacturing processes and of
design, testing, and workshop organisation. Their
technical education should be continued during appren-
ticeship by part-time courses.
(3) Student Apprentices, preferably graduates in
engineering, who enter the -works between the
ages of nineteen and twenty-two, and should be
definitely trained for senior positions on the staff.
The committee has reached the conclusion that the
need for attracting men of ability makes it imperative,
not only to abolish the premium system, but also to
give during apprenticeship a maintenance allowance.
Student apprentices should, if possible, have graduated
in honours in engineering, and be taken. systerhatically
through a group of related departments.
(4) Research Apprentices.—Research is now . an
essential factor in industrial progress, and it is neces-
sary to make definite provision for the training of
research workers. University graduates who have
shown special aptitude for scientific investigation
should be selected, preferably from those who enter as
student apprentices. In the last year of apprenticeship
they should devote attention to investigations arising
in practice, and then return to the university for a
year of post-graduate work or obtain equivalent
experience in a works laboratory.
The report concludes with a discussion of the need
for more scholarships from primary to junior technical
and secondary schools, and from these to the techno-
logical faculties of the universities; also for post-
graduate research.
The report of the Institution of Naval Architects is
briefer and less systematic. So far as it goes, it is
on the same lines as the electrical report. It states
1 “Education and Training for the Electrical and Allied Industries.”
Being a Report ofa Comm'ttee of the British Electrical and Allied Manu-
facturers’ Association. 64 pp. (London: Fdward Arnold.)
Institution of Naval Architects. Report of the Comittee on the Educa-
tion and Training of Apprentices in Shipyards and Marine Engineering
Works.
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
that an apprenticeship, or at least a clear understand-
ing binding on both sides between employer and lads
entering works, is desirable. It suggests’ selection on
results of school work and the need for a supervisor
af lads learning their business.
information obtained from the principal shipbuilding
firms as to the opportunities afforded by them to lads
entering the works, and especially as to the induce-
ments held out to them, to improve their educational
equipment. An interesting part of the report i$ an
account of the admirable system of training estab-
lished by the Admiralty in H.M. Dockyards.
W, Ca
Tropical Control of Australian Rainfall. !
ig would appear probable that the Australian con-
tinent, extending well within the tropical belt, of
approximately symmetrical shape, and free from dis-
turbance by large land masses, especially to the east
and west,
mechanism of tropical rain control. Certainly such
a control, if proved and reduced to a system, shoul
very greatly assist the forecasting of the all-important
Australian rainfall. Bulletin No. 15 of the Common-
wealth Bureau of Meteorology is devoted to a study
of this subject by Mr. E. T. Quayle, Supervising
Meteorologist of the Melbourne ae ic
It must be admitted that the period dealt with,
largely confined to the six years 1911-16, seems to
demand very strong evidence to justify a general con-
clusion. This objection is partly met by an addendum
dealing to some extent with 4
inclined to wait for confirmation of the great im-
provement in rain-forecasting claimed by Mr. Quae:
His chosen ‘‘argument”’ is the minimum temperature
in the tropical regions of Australia. If this is high,
it may be attributed to cloudiness, extra humidity, or
north-east wind, and of these three the second is
suggested as the most important. In any case, the
idea is that this high minimum, which is usually
persistent for a few weeks at a time, causes such a
flow of air to the southern parts of the continent
that the approaching cyclonic ‘‘lows’’ are compelled to
part with rain.
The stations on which Mr. Quayle lays most stress
for his prediction are Darwin and Mein, the latter
being on the north-east coast of Queensland. The
influence does not travel directly southward, but Mein
corresponds more closely with the Darling district of
New South Wales and North Victoria; while Darwin
corresponds with South Australia and, to a much less
extent, with Western Australia.. Inasmuch as the
Darwin temperatures. are inclined to follow those of
Mein after about three days, the inference is that a
longer forecast can be made from the Mein figures,
or possibly from figures further eastwards in New
Guinea.
Mr. Quayle gives figures to show that the average
daily rainfall over the southern inland areas during
the’ months April to October (the wheat-growing
period) is more than twice as great during periods of
hich minimum at Darwin as during periods of low
minimum. He considers that the slowness of the
changes at Darwin justifies forecasts twenty days
ahead. He discredits barometer readings as quite un- ©
trustworthy for this purpose. The behaviour of the
lines of influence is not the same in dry years, but is
nearly north to south in wet years. The exceptional
years 1914 and 1916 happen to be included in the
short period under consideration, and these certainly
,
An appendix contains —
is the very best place to study the
onger periods—up to
twenty-four years in one instance—but one would be
LL
APRIL I, 1920]
NATURE
153
show up in the diagrams connecting tropical tem-
peratures with rainfall in New South Wales, South
Australia, and the Upper Darling. Tinted diagrams
are given showing for the whole continent the monthly
departures from mean minimum temperature and
mean rainfall, except for the summer months when
rain is inappreciable. W. W. BL”
_ Prehistoric Man and Racial Characters.
5 aS annual meeting of the Prehistoric Society of
-* East Anglia was held on March 23 at the rooms
of the Geological Society, the members of the Pre-
historic Society being the guests of the Royal Anthro-
bg ical Institute. The chair. was taken by Prof.
J. E. Marr, who delivered his presidential address.
His subject was “‘The Relationship of the Various
Periods of Prehistoric Man to the Great Ice Age.”’
He regarded the existence of Pliocene man in East
Anglia as proved, and also accepted Mr. Reid Moir’s
views that the ‘‘ Mid-Glacial’’ implements of Ipswich
were of Lower Palzolithic age, and that Lower Mous-
_ terian implements were incorporated -in the Chalky
Boulder Clay. He brought forward confirmatory evi-
dence of this from the drainage area of the Great
- Ouse basin, and regarded the Chelles-Archeul period
as intermediate between the two glaciations marked
by the Cromer Till and Chalky Boulder Clay respec-
tively. After the formation of the latter clay there
seemed to be a recession of ice followed by a re-
-. advance in Magdalenian times, but, as O. Holst
argues, this need not indicate an inter-glacial period.
If there was a Pliocene glaciation in this country,
the evidence seems to point to two succeeding glacia-
tions in Pleistocene times, the last being marked by
a period of ice-recession in Aurignac-Solutré times, in
which case Lower Palzolithic man lived between the
second and third glaciations, and the men of the
periods from Mousterian to Magdalenian inclusive
_ during the period of the third glaciation, with its
interval of temporary ice-retreat. The questions of
earth movements and diversions of river drainage
during the periods under consideration were briefly
_ considered.
__ The presidential address was followed by a paper
by Mr. H. Dewey entitled ‘‘ Flat-based Celts from
Kent, Hampshire, and Dorset,’’ dealing with a group
of implements that were found lying on the surface in
various parts of those counties. They differ in out-
line from one another, but agree in possessing flat
- Some of the bases were produced bv the
removal of a single flake, and retain the terminal cone
of percussion. Others resulted from the removal of a
number of flakes from the sides of the implement.
with the obvious intention of making the base level
and flat. Most of them are pointed at one end, and
hhave a horizontal chisel-edge at the opposite ex-
tremity. In their general form they resemble fat
slugs or caterpillars. Sir John Evans. figures some
examples. Their age is unknown, but would by
‘most archeologists be assigned to the Neolithic period.
The discovery, however, in gravels of similar forms
renders hasty classification hazardous.
. very fine collection of stone implements from
Grime’s Graves was exhibited by Dr. A. E. Peake.
In the evening, at a joint meeting of the Royal
Anthropological Institute and the Prehistoric Society
of East Anglia, Sir Everard im Thurn in the chair,
Prof. Arthur Keith gave an address entitled ‘‘ How
Far can Osteological Characters Help in Fixing the
Antiquity of Human Remains?’’ Certain characters
of the nose, orbit, palate, and lower jaw have never
been seen in British skulls belonging to any period
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
older than the Roman occupation, and become in-
creasingly frequent as we approach the present time.
These characters. consist of (1) the ‘‘margination ’’ or
flanging of the lower border of the nasal opening;
(2) the retreat of the incisor part of the alveolus of
the upper jaw, leaving the nasal spine and lower
margin of the nose as an overhanging jib and ledge;
(3) the reduction in size of the malar bone, leading to
the lower margin of the orbit being depressed in a
downward and outward direction; (4) the arching of
the upper margin of the orbit; and (5) a reduction in
the development of the angular part of the lower jaw.
If these characters are found in a British skull, the
conclusion may be drawn with certainty that it is of
a Roman or post-Roman date. Contraction of the
palate was also a character unknown in Britain until
a Late Celtic date. The rounded type of head found
in graves of the beaker period in Britain were not
known in England before Late Neolithic ‘times, but
pure representations of this type of skull are still to
be seen in our modern population. A tvpe of skull
was found in the deeper deposits of the Thames bed
which were identical with the skulls found under the
Neolithic pile-dwellings of the Swiss lakes. So far as
our knowledge of Neanderthal man will take us, we’,
are justified in regarding him as confined to the
Mousterian period of European culture. If any
characteristic part of the skull or skeleton of this race
were discovered in an undisturbed deposit, that deposit
may be safely assigned to the period of the Mous-
terian culture.
A College of Tropical Agriculture.’
EOE RONG Committee was appointed in August
‘&% last to report to the Secretary of State for the
Colonies upon the desirability of establishing a tropical
agricultural college in the West Indies and upon
matters connected therewith. Its report has just
appeared, and is one which may be fraught with
important results for the future of agriculture in our
extensive tropical Dependencies, more especially in the
West Indies, where, thanks to the work of the
Imperial Department of Agriculture, general agricul-
tural prosperity has in the last two decades been placed
upon a much sounder footing. It is significant of
the trend of modern practice that a Committee like
this, composed of planters, commercial magnates, and
scientific men, as well as administrative officials,
should have reported unanimously in favour of the
establishment of such a cae.
The selection of a site affords much ground for
discussion, and after careful consideration Trinidad
was chosen as being near to the headquarters of the
Imperial Department, and having good communica-
tions with the other islands, besides a great variety
of crops in cultivation. Incidentally, in view of the
growing importance of oil in that colony, a sub-
sidiary school of oil technology is proposed. A post-
script to the report, however, suggests that the last
word may not yet have been said on the subject, of
location.
A governing body of about twenty-three, represent, |
ing all the different interests involved, is proposed,
and a staff of ten professors (agriculture, mycology,
entomology, agricultural chemistry, organic chemistry,
agricultural bacteriology, agricultural and _physio-
logical botany, genetics, sugar technology, and agri-
cultural engineering and physics), besides lecturers in
stock and veterinary science and in bookkeeping.
Considerable interest attaches to a curriculum sug-
1 West Indies. Report of the Tropical Agricultural College Committee.
(H.M. Stationery Office, 1920.) Price 2d. ;
(154
NATURE
[APRIL 1, 1920
gested by Sir Francis Watts, the Imperial Commis-
sioner of Agriculture for the West Indies, with which
the Committee expresses itself as in general agree-
ment. It includes (a) a junior course of two or three
years, suitable for boys leaving the Colonial secondary
schools and intending to follow ordinary agricultural
pursuits, usually in the colonies from which they
have come; (b) a senior course of similar instruction
of not less than four years; (c) a two years’
course, practically the same as the last two years of
the previous course, for students who have already
undergone a training in agriculture in a university
or agricultural college, and thus intended to meet the
case of students going out from Europe to work at
agriculture in the tropics, whether on their own
account or as officials; and (d) post-graduate study of
special agricultural subjects, such as mycology or
genetics, or the study of special crops such as sugar
or cacao. It is incidentally recommended that a
special school for the study of sugar should be estab-
lished.
This is a very interesting and practical programme,
and it is to be hoped that it’ mav soon be translated
into reality. The only criticism that occurs to one is
to ask whether it is not just a trifle too ambitious for
a commencement and too great a change from the
customary methods of learning the work of tropical
agriculture, and whether it may not tend to make
the tropical student at least, and especially him who
must work under seniors trained in the old way, a
trifle unpractical. Great care will have to be exer-
cised to make the instruction as practical as possible,
and for this reason we note with pleasure the insist-
ence upon making the new college work as much as
possible in connection with the Imperial Department.
Finally, it is suggested that a fund of at least
50,0001. be raised by private subscription for the estab-
lishment of the college, and that for maintenance
annual contributions be invited from the various
Colonial Governments, and also from the Imperial
Government, to which the proper development of the
great tropical lands of the Empire is of such para-
mount importance.
Duplex Wireless Telephony.
ANOTHER of the interesting series of papers on
wireless developments connected with the war
before the Wireless Section of the Institution of Elec-
trical Engineers was' that of Capt. P. P. Eckersley,
read on March 17, describing experiments by Major
Whiddington and himself on the application of duplex
wireless telephony to aircraft. The advantages of
being able to converse freely and simultaneously both
ways, as is done in a true duplex system, over
using a change-over switch are obvious, but the elec-
trical difficulties in the way of its successful accom-
plishment are considerable. The main problem lies in
devising a form of circuit which wil! protect the re-
ceiver, without detriment to its efficiency, from the
effects of the relatively powerful high-frequency alter-
nating currents generated by the transmitter.
Two general principles have been. adopted. In one,
two separate aerials with different frequencies for
transmission and reception are placed at right angles
and spaced more than a quarter of a wave-length
apart. In the. other, which may employ a single
aerial, the ‘‘earth’’ connection is split, and the
branches are tuned so that the transmitter current
passes through one and the receiver current through
the other. Both these systems present difficulties, and
have been used only to a limited extent. A compro-
mise system, in which the transmitter oscillates onlv
when the operator is actually speaking, with what is
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
called a ‘‘quiescent aerial’? was also experimented
with, but the speech was found to be much improved
by allowing a small permanent oscillation, increased
sympathetically with the voice. Such an arrangement,
called an ‘‘augmented oscillation transmitter,’’ has
certain practical advantages, as well as incidentally
presenting some interesting theoretical points, but
forms only a “partial duplex’’ system, as an interrup-
tion during speaking cannot be heard. The author’s
experiments have progressed well on the way towards
the evolution of a practical and trustworthy system
of duplex wireless telephony for aircraft, and form a
valuable groundwork for future development.
University and Educational Intelligence.
ABERDEEN.—At the spring graduation ceremony
Principal Sir George Adam Smith announced a gift of
20,0001. from Sir Thomas Jaffrey, head of the Aber-
deen Savings Bank, for the establishment of a chair
in political economy in the University. There has
been a lectureship in this subject for a number of
years.
The University has just conferred on Sir Jagadis
Chandra Bose the. honorary degree of LL.D.
BirmMincHaM.—Mr. Arthur R. Ling, consultant in
applied chemistry and lecturer in brewing at the Sir
John Cass Institute, London, has been appointed to
the Adrian Brown chair of brewing.
A bronze memorial tablet in memory of the late
Prof. Adrian Brown has been erected in the Brewing
School by past students.
A gift has been received from the Asiatic Petroleum
Co. of a model drilling equipment, which will be
exhibited at the forthcoming Petroleum Exhibition at
the Crystal Palace. Hs
Mr. Frank Shaw has been appointed assistant lec-
turer in electrical engineering, and Mr. Raymond B. H.
Wyatt lecturer in bacteriology. eee
CampBripGE.—Mr. G. E. Briggs, St. John’s College
formerly University Frank Smart student in botany,
has been elected to the Allen scholarship.
The new Statute of the University which gives the
degree of Ph.D. to research students in the Univer-
sity is the result of the work of a syndicate appointed
in December, 1917, ‘‘to consider the means of pro-
moting educational collaboration with the universities
of the Empire and foreign universities.’ The chief
points of interest in the proposed regulations for
working the Statute are as follows :—Research
students, who must be at least twenty-one years of
age on admission, must have graduated at some uni-
versity (Cambridge itself included), or must satisfy
the University as to their general educational qualifica-
tions. Before admission their proposed course of re-
search must have been approved, and they must show
that they are qualified to enter upon the course pro-
posed. Students must pursue research for three years
before submitting for a degree the dissertations em-
bodying the results of their research. Those who are
graduates of Cambridge need only spend one of the
three years at Cambridge; others must spend at least
two years at Cambridge. The remainder of the time
must be spent at some place or places of study ap-
proved by the University. Research students who are
candidates for degrees at other universities and who
spend at least two terms in Cambridge may receive
certificates of regular study and industry to cover the
time spent in Cambridge. A Board of Research
Studies is to be formed to supervise the carrying out
of the new scheme. The proposals show a welcome
movement away from the old spirit of ‘‘ splendid isola-
® Apri 1, 1920]
NATURE
155
a tion ’’ which has in the past too often been attributed
to Cambridge University.
_ Lonpon.—Mr. William Neilson-Jones has been
appointed as from May 1 next to the University chair
of botany tenable at Bedford College. Mr. Neilson-
Jones was foundation scholar of Emmanuel College,
Cambridge, and obtained a first class in part i. of
the Natural Sciences Tripos and a second class in
_ part ii.(Botany). He has carried out research work at
_ Cambridge and for the Health of Munition Workers
_ Committee of the Medical Research Committee. In
1909 Mr. Neilson-Jones was appointed lecturer in
_ botany at University College, Reading, and in 1913
-_ assistant lecturer in botany at Bedford College; since
- 1916 he has been head of the department at this
college.
It has been resolved by the Senate that the fol-
__ lowing posts should be established in connection with
_ ‘the recent benefaction of 150,000l. made by the Sir
___ Ernest Cassel Trustees :—(1) Sir Ernest Cassel chairs
___ of accountancy and business methods, of commercial
and industrial law, and of banking and currency;
Bt lig Sir Ernest Cassel readerships in commerce,
dealing specially with (a) foreign trade, (b) the
‘organisation of industry and trade in the United
a ey and (c) the influence of tariffs and taxa-
tion respectively; and (3) three University lecture-
_ ships in commerce, with special reference to com-
‘mercial geography, business methods, and transport
respectively. ‘
Bk it offer from the Worshipful @ompany of Vintners
to provide, for a period of five years in the first
instance, two scholarships, each of the annual value
of 15ol., for studénts for the degree in commerce has
_ been accepted by the Senate with thanks. The thanks
of the Senate have also been accorded to the relatives
of the late Capt. G. D. Harvey-Webb, formerly of
_ University College, for their gift of his collection of
shells for the department of zoology at that college;
and to Prof. Graham Wallas for his gift of another
collection of shells for the same department to
if et that of Capt. Harvey-Webb.
_ The following doctorates have been conferred :—-
_D.Se.: Mr. F. J. North, an external student, for a
thesis entitled ‘On Syringothyris, Winchell, and
Certain Carboniferous Brachiopoda referred to Spiri-
ferina, d’Orbigny.’’ D.Sc. (Economics): The Rev.
A. W. Parry, an external student, for a thesis entitled
“Education in England in the Middle Ages.”’
____- Keddey Fletcher-Warr studentships, each of the
value of 3ool. a year for three years, have been
awarded to Dr. Agnes Arber, for post-graduate
__ research in botany, and to. Miss Margaret McFarlane,
for post-graduate research in psychology. These
studentships were established under the benefaction
_ founded by Mrs. du Puy Fletcher.
_ The annual report of University College has just
been issued. The total number of students for the
session 1918-19 was 2048, an increase of 977 on the
previous year. This increase took place after the
armistice, and mainly in January, 1919, and con-
sisted almost exclusively of ex-Service men. The
. total revenue of the college for the year 1918-19 was
495,7811., of which 26,3041. was from fees. The total
expenditure was 77,824l., causing a deficit of 2210l.
_ This deficit arises from the increase in salaries that
_ has become necessary, and generally from the in-
__ereased cost of running the college. The report con-
tains a summary of the main work of the year. The
new departments of Scandinavian studies and of
oe Dutch studies have already made a good start. The new
____ school of librarianship, which has been instituted with
__ money provided by the Carnegie Trust, and of which
NO. 2631, VOL. 105]
Sir Frederic Kenyon is the honorary visitor, began
with an enrolment of eighty-eight students. The
student body included 253 post-graduate and research
workers. The fifth appendix of the report gives
a list of the papers and publications issued by
them during the past year. Nine new fellows are
elected to the college biennially. The list for this year
is remarkable in that it includes the first Chinaman
to be elected to the fellowship and two distinguished
members of the Slade Schogl of Fine Art. The full
list of fellows is as follows :—F. J. Fitzmaurice Bar-
rington, W. C. Clinton, Ethel M. Elderton, Brig.-
Gen. Sir Alexander Gibb, his Excellency Yuen Hsu,
Augustus E. John, Major Sir William Orpen, Dr.
T. H. C. Stevenson, and Dr. Ethel N. Thomas.
MANCHESTER.—In connection with the Ellis Llwyd
Jones lectureship for training teachers of the deaf
recently established at the University through the
benefaction of Sir James E. Jones, the Carnegie
United Kingdom Trust has granted- to the Univer-
sity the sum of 2s500l, for the foundation and main-
tenance of a library for deaf education. It is intended
to make this library as comprehensive as possible, and
to include in it works dealing with the various systems
of teaching the deaf, speech training, psychology of
speech and of hearing, phonetics, acoustics, anatomy,
physiology, and diseases of the ear. The books are
to be available to all individuals, societies, and institu-
tions throughout the United Kingdom interested or
concerned in the education and training of the deaf,
and they will be ready for consultation and borrowing
immediately after Easter. No charge beyond the cost
of carriage is to be made for the loan of books, but
“intending borrowers will be required to fill in a form
of application to be obtained from the Librarian,
Feri for Deaf Education, The University, Man-
chester.
OxrorD.—The Romanes lecture for 1920 will be
delivered by the Very Rev. W Inge, honorary
fellow of Hertford College, Dean of St. Paul’s, on
Thursday, May 27. The subject will be ‘‘The Idea
of Progress.’’
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Aristotelian Society, March 8.—Prof. Wildon Carr in
the chair.—M. Ginsberg: Is there a general will?
The term “general will’? has been used in many
different senses. Especially important are the view
of Wundt based on an analysis of the mutual im-
plications of presentation and will, and leading to a
theory of a series of will-unities of varied complexity,
and the doctrine of a ‘real’? will worked out by
Prof. Bosanquet and other idealists. All the theories,
in varying degrees, involve a confusion between the
‘act of willing, which must always be individual, and
the object of will, which may be common. Prof.
Bosanquet’s view in particular is based upon a hypo-
statisation of contents, and a tendency to deny the
reality of acts, of experience. Generally, in so far as
the psychological forces operative in society are
general they are not will, and in so far as there is
present self-conscious volition it is not general. The
State and other associations exhibit a kind of unity,
but this unity is a relation based on community of
ideals and purposes, and must not be spoken of as a
person or will. For the purpose of social theory, what
is required is not a common self, but a common
good. The latter is an ideal and not an existent, and
must not be identified with a general will.
156 :
NALURE
[APRIL I, 1920
Mineralogical Society, March 16.—Sir William P.
Beale, Bart., president, in the chair.—A. Russell: The
occurrence of cotunnite, anglesite, leadhillite, and
galena on fused lead from the wreck of the fireship
Firebrand, Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall. The speci-
mens were obtained in 1846 from the wreck of the
fireship Firebrand, which was burnt in Falmouth
Harbour about the year 1780. They were found under
the lead pump, most. of which appeared to have been
melted and mixed with charcoal, and consist of slag-
like masses of lead, which has evidently been fused,
and upon the surface and interstices of which are
numerous well-defined and brilliant crystals of cotun-
nite and anglesite, and more rarely small crystals of
leadhillite and galena. The cotunnite crystals, which
are colourless and transparent, with brilliant faces,
are nearly always elongated in the direction of the
a axis, and attain a length of 3 mm. The habit is
somewhat variable owing to the very unequal develop-
ment of the faces. The forms observed were ato,
OI, O21, OII, O12, 101, 111, and 112. The anglesite
crystals are of rectangular habit, and exhibit the
forms 100, O01, I10, 102, 122, and 113. The lead-
hillite crystals, thin six-sided plates in shape, are of a
brown colour, and show the forms Io1, 201, Tor, 201,
112, 111, 112, and T11. The galena occurs in minute
cubo-octahedra. An occurrence of cotunnite formed
under almost exactly similar conditions has been
‘described by A. Lacroix. Similar occurrences of lead
oxychlorides at Laurium and of Jeadhillite in Roman
slags from the Mendip Hills were referred to.—
W. Campbell Smith: Riebeckite-rhyolite from North
Kordofan, Sudan. A rock found by Dr. C. G. Selig-
man at the base of Jebel Katul, 350 miles south-west
of the Bayuda volcanic field, was described.—Dr. G. T.
Prior; The meteoric iron of Mount Ayliff, Griqualand
East, South Africa. This meteoric iron, found about
1907, is a coarse octahedrite similar in character to
Wichita. County (Brazos River) and Magura (Arva).
On polished and etched surfaces it shows nodules of
graphite and troilite, and abundant cohenite crystals
arranged parallel to the octahedral bands. It con-
tains about 7 per cent. of nickel.
Books Received.
British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913. Meteoro-
logy, vol. i., Discussion, by Dr. G. C. Simpson.
Pp. x+326+v plates. Vol. ii., Weather Maps and
Pressure Curves, by Dr. G. C. Simpson. Pp. 138+
23 plates. (Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, and Co.)
The Theory of Determinants in the Historical
Order of Development. By Sir Thomas Muir.
Vol. iii.: The Period 1861 to 1880. Pp. xxvi+503.
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 35s.. net.
Inbreeding and Outbreeding : Their Genetics and
Sociological Significance. By Drs. E. M. East and
D. F. Jones. Pp. 285. (Philadelphia and London:
J. B. Lippincott Co.) 10s. 6d. net.
The Physical Basis of Heredity. By Prof. T. H.
Morgan. Pp. 305. (Philadelphia and London: J. B.
Lippincott Co.) tos. 6d. net.
Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist.
By Prof. J. B. Watson. Pp. xiii+429. (Philadelphia
and London: J. B. Lippincott Co.) tos. 6d. net.
The Theory and Practice of Aeroplane Design. By
S. T. G. Andrews and S. Benson. Pp. xii+454.
(London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 15s. 6d. net.
Science and Theology: Their Common Aims and
Methods. By F. W. Westaway. Pp. xiii+346.
(London: Blackie and Son, Ltd.) 15s. net.
Monarch: The Big Bear of Tallac. By E.
Thompson Seton. Pp. 215. (London: Constable
and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net.
NO. 2631, VOL. 105 |
Animal Heroes. By E. Thompson Seton. Pp. 363.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. .
Farm Management. By J. H. Arnold. Pp. viit+
243. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London:
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net.
Cement. By B. Blount. Assisted by W. H. Wood-
cock and H. J. Gillett. Pp. xii+284. (London:
Longmans and Co.) 18s. net.
Diary of Societies.
TUESDAY, Apriv 6.
R6NTGEN Sociery (at Medical Society of London), at 8.15.
WEDNESDAY, Arrit 7.
poeey Unitep Servicr InsTiruTion, at bash 8 Ww. S. King-Hall :
he Submarine and Future Naval Warfare.
Soptepy OF Puspiic ANALYSTS AND OTHER ANALYTICAL Cuemists (at
Chemical Society), at 8.
THURSDAY, APRIL 8." ;
Optica SocigTy, at 7.30.
INSTITUTION OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERS (Graduates Section), (at 28,
Victoria Street), at 8.—W. D. Pile: ‘the Use of Benzol.
FRIDAY, APRIL 9.
Royat ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.
ConcrRETE INSTITUTE, at 6. pt, J. Clark : The Uses of Concrete.
Mauaco.ocicat Society or Lonpon (at Linnean Society), at 6. i
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS (Informal Meeting), at 7.—
C. H. Woodfield and Others: Discussion on Cranes : Their Use and Abuse.
CONTENTS.
The Anti-dumping Bill. . |... .... ( ,eiae 125
Science and Scholasticism. By Dr. Charles sie 12
Ancient Camps in Gloucestershire. ....... 128
Principles of Glass-making .......... . 128
Physical Chemistry. . ....,.. sss 4) see 129
Soils and’ Manures.”: By C..C.' | .° 7. Se + 130
Our Bookshelf ... 2 ale x
Letters to the Editor:—
Science and the New Army.—Prof. L. N. G,
Filon, F.R.S.; Prof. R. Whiddington ; Lt.-
Col, E. Gold, F.R.S.; Dr, Charles S. Myers,
BRB oui 6. cs et 133
Knowledge and Power.—L. Bairstow, F.R.S. !
Museums and the State. —““F.R.S.” . 1... 136
The Magnetic Storm of March 22-23 and ip rs
Phenomena,—Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S. Rev. ,
A. L.'Cortie, SJ... > ae 136
Some Methods of Approximate Beeps and ot pide
Computing Areas.—Prof, J. Dale; R. A. P.
Rogers... 138
Gravitational Deflection of High- speed Patticles—=
Forder 2.0) 5s ce 2 a 138
Colouring Matters of Plants . 139
Geodetic Survey in North Amerign, By E. H. H, 141
Science and Research in the Air Service . . * 142
Obituary: Mr. Bewley (Ayia By Dr. Cyril Rootham 143
Notes 8.0 6 wie A ee 144
Our Astronomical Column :—
April Meteors: cso Ne ie ° 149
Spectrum. of 7 Argis ©. 5. ys (so ee 149
Infra-red Spectra of Nebulae . .... 149
Hydrographical Studies. rf Prof. D'Arcy. Ww.
Thompson, C.B.,.FIRIS: 2.5 (22. 150
Public Health and Welfare... ........4— 151
Education of Engineers. By W.C.U....... 152
Tropical Control of Australian Rainfall, By W.W.B. 152
Prehistoric Man and Racial Characters ..... 153
A College of Tropical Agriculture ........ 153
Duplex. Wireless Telephony 3 '+ 3.) 44.3) ee 154
University and Educational Intelligence. .... 154
Sociéties ahd Academies (0005. 3", 52.0) a ee 155
Books Received... 3)" 0.0 See ee ee 156
Diary. of Societies «:.0 3). (3a ie. oe eee 156
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the
Publishers.
Editorial]. Communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, Lonpon.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
'¥.
: NATURE
1 3 / ——
1920:
_ THURSDAY, APRIL 8,
_ The Universities and the Army.
» RE than a year ago—on February 20,
. / Igtg—an article on ‘‘ Education in the
” was published in these columns in which
t reasons were advanced for a new policy.
‘Durir the intervening period, numerous contribu-
n have been made to various newspapers and
reviews on the same subject, and book has suc-
d book animadverting on the educational
. of the Army organisation as revealed by
ir. Great disappointment will be felt that
neere representations have so far produced
- useful result than the Memorandum on
Estimates of 1919-20, recently published
‘War Office “in amplification of the speech
Secretary of State in introducing the Esti-
3 That speech, delivered by Mr. Churchill
yruary 23, was able and serious within
at exiguous limits, but it contributed
= to the question of educational reform’ in
t aspects. We are forced, therefore,
1 to the amplifying Memorandum in the
s hope of finding the question discussed
lines and in a scientific spirit. It proves
a Mother Hubbard cupboard containing
schoolboy essay freely embellished with
taphors. Thus :
One of the important lessons of the war has
the extent’ to which the Army is cependent
niyersities. Great strides were made in
ion before the war, with the result that
ersities responded to the call for help in
did manner.”
belated recognition of the valuable work
eer oraitics in connection with the war is
ntee to the British public, whose ears
attuned to the sad diapason of the war’s
ad. The fact that the Secretary: of State, in
Dect, found the subject unworthy of even
assing reference is surely disconcerting.
Ve . pointed out recently that the Memorandum
ves to be commended for the proof it affords
e recognition by the Army of the import-
: of scientific research conducted both under
ges. Every science and every scientific
NO. ). 2632, VOL, 105 |
worker can make some contribution to national
‘defence.
To give Mr. Churchill his due, he appears to
realise the economy of men and money which
may result from new applications of science. He
quoted in his speech, as an example of the possi-
bilities of. the Air Force, the case of the recent
Somaliland campaign, which, at.a cost of 30,000l.,
achieved much more than an expedition before
the war which cost 2,500,000l. ; and he described
a new form of tank, which, so far from damaging
the roads, actually improved them, and possessed
an engine which, instead of overheating the
interior, exercised a_ refrigerating effect. But
what we ask, and what we shall insist on- know-
ing, is whether this new spirit is to permeate the
whole Army, or whether, when the wounds of
war are healed and its bitter memories pass into
subconsciousness, the Army will revert to its old
traditions.
Fortunately for the Army and for the nation!
one of the root causes by which these traditions
were fed has been effectively removed. Before
the war, officers were not paid a living wage,
and that system was deliberately pérpetuated in
order to maintain the tradition of the officer as
a gentleman of means and leisure who did half
a day’s work for half a day’s pay. As a writer in
the New Statesman observed (January 25, 1919):
“Tt is no use pretending now that the system
gave us an efficient Army. One does not gather
grapes from thorns. The ablest boys in the
country’s schools went almost invariably into
other callings. Some. few officers, with the
German menace before their eyes, did indeed work
with most praiseworthy, unpaid energy in the
years immediately preceding the war. But no
gratitude to the ‘ Old Contemptibles ’ should blind
us to the fact that, however devoted their
officers were, they were clearly outclassed as pro-
fessional men, both by their German opponents
and by their French Allies; and that in spite
of the unique opportunities afforded by Colonial
and Indian war experience.
Under the revised rates of pay of Army officers,
a junior subaltern receives pay and allowances
amounting to 3201, a year if unmarried, or 394]. if
married, and is able to look forward to generous
increments on promotion and to an adequate
pension. It will be a breach of trust if, under
these conditions, the Army Council does not pro-
pose far-reaching reforms as regards standards
of education and training for the commissioned
ranks.
G
158
NATURE
[ApRIL 8, 1920
‘There is no reason why a standard of pro-
fessional training at least equal to that required
by other professions, such as medicine and en-
gineering, should not be required by the Army,
and the only imaginable obstacle to this reform
are the protests of old ‘Regular officers, who
think that the system which produced them must
be the best possible. That particular obstacle
has been overcome more than once in the history
of the British Army, and it should not deter Mr.
Churchill if ‘he will devote to this reform some of
the energy which he expends so generously on
more forlorn objects.
To pass from destructive to constructive
criticism, we would urge that the standard of
‘education represented by three years’ study at
a University should, as a_ general rule, be
demanded of all Army officers; in other words,
‘that the raw material for the commissioned ranks
should be University graduates rather than public-
‘school boys. The military colleges at Woolwich
and Sandhurst should no longer be used as
‘seminaries for the elementary education of
adolescents.
A great economy of public money would be
effected by this simple reform. According to the
Estimates for 1919-20, Sandhurst for 700 cadets
will cost a gross amount of 195,350l., being
279l. 1s. 5d. per cadet per annum, while Wool-
wich for 280 cadets will cost 86,850l., or
31ol. 3s. 7d. per cadet per annum. It is “pure”
education which these young men chiefly require ;
they should obtain it in the Universities, which
can offer a wide variety of curriculum and abun-
dant facilities for social intercourse with all types
of student. The University contingents of the
Officers Training Corps are admirably adapted for
providing elementary military training, which
could be supplemented within the Army before
and after the student takes his commission. Inci-
dentally, the Army would be able to select for its
commissioned ranks mature men possessing a
livelier sense of vocation than can be expected
from schoolboys.
If the quality of the raw material were improved
in the way suggested, there should be no ground
for nervousness as to the finished product.
Methods could easily be devised of advancing and
specialising the military training of these young
_University graduates. In time a corps d’élite
would be formed able to study the art of war
in all its aspects and to apply new scientific ideas
and discoveries to national defence.
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
Woods and Water Supply:
Forests, Woods, and Trees in Relation’ to
Hygiene. By Prof. Augustine Henry. (The
Chadwick Library.) Pp. xii+ 314. (London:
Constable and Co., Ltd., 1919.) Price 18s. net.
ROF. HENRY writes of forests, woods, and
trees with an enthusiastic appreciation Of
the beneficent part they play in the economy of
Nature and in the service of man. He has devoted
great energy to the study of his subject, and
collected data of much value which will prove
very useful to those engaged in projects of
afforestation in this country. The importance of
the subject is, we believe, fully realised by the
Government, and Prof. Henry adduces so many
instances of local authorities which have begun
to move in the matter that we may hope to see
the restoration of the woods on waste lands
making steady progress year by year.
The book before us is an amplification of the
Chadwick Lectures delivered by Prof. Henry at
the Royal Society of Arts in 1917, and the author
no doubt looks upon it in large measure as propa-
ganda in the cause of tree-planting on a national
scale. The first three chapters, however, deal
with matters of profound scientific importance—
the influence of forests on climate, the sanitary
influence of forests, and forests as sites for sana-.
toria. These are difficult matters, as Prof. Henry
fully realises, and some of them have agitated
students of physical geography for generations.
The difficulty of the question of the influence of
forests on climate arises in great measure from
the fact that climate has a great influence on
forests, so that in wooded areas the interplay of
cause and effect becomes extremely complicated.
Prof. Henry has read up the subject widely, but
the nature of his book makes it impossible for
him to focus the results sharply enough. : He
abundantly justifies the thesis that an increase
of forest growth is of national importance for
improving the hygiene and the economic condition
of this country; but he scarcely attempts a scien-
tific demonstration of the mechanism by which
the beneficial effects are produced. He does,
indeed, direct the attention of his readers to many
recent investigations which it is most useful to.
have brought together, and for this guidance the
student who wishes to go farther should be
sincerely grateful.
We cannot, however, accept the results of some
of the series of observations refcrred to without
a more Critical discussion of the methods employed
and the data recorded in different pa~ts of the
world. In particular we agree with Prot. Henry
in his opinion that the effect of afforestation in
Aprit 8, 1920] ,
NATURE
159
asing ~the general rainfall is probably
gible in the British Isles.
e greater part of the volume is devoted to
‘question of national importance—the afforesta-
on: of water-catchment areas, with particulars
f the extent to which the work has already pro-
dj. This is timely, for the whole question of
Wi ater resources of the country is now under
vi ation by a Committee appointed by the
es of the Board of Trade and the Minister
alth. Prof. Henry shows clearly that the
ering grounds for the reservoirs of water
» by gravitation are well fitted in almost
y ease for planting with timber-trees up to
ce to show that covering a certain pro-
of the surface with forest growth, so
being detrimental to the yield of the
s, is even helpful. Curiously enough, he does
efer to the important influence of high vegeta-
and especially of trees, in precipitating
ure from mist, a phenomenon which is shown
strikingly when one is traversing a road
gh a wood in a thick mist. The road
s perfectly dry, while the drip of water
the branches on either side gives out the
d of abundance of rain, and the ground be-
oa trees soon becomes saturated. As Dr.
Marloth proved on Table Mountain many years
1x0, even such inconspicuous growths as a bed of
/can draw pe streams from a cloud drift-
on a bare stretch of soil or rock. No
a certain amount of water is in this way
d to a forest-covered catchment area without
* recorded in properly exposed rain-gauges.
the other hand, if, as certain experiments
e in Germany and ganted on p. 3 seem to
est, the transpiration of forest trees is greater
the evaporation from an exposed water
s e, the net result may be to reduce the
amount of water reaching a reservoir, and this
t be a serious matter in a dry summer. Even
we admit that afforestation does not appreciably
ase the available run-off, it seems unlikely
it can seriously diminish it, and the balance
probability is that planting a water-catchment
‘is beneficial. A wide belt of woodland sur-
ding a reservoir must reduce the wash of
rface material into the streams, and so retard
‘silting up of the reservoir. But, what is
more important, the value of the forests when
ce established will justify the acquisition of the
nole drainage area of their water supply by
authorities which could not otherwise justify the
expense of such a step; and it is only on gow
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
which is the property of the water authorities that
it is possible to keep the area free of population
or of farm stock, and so secure the water abso-
lutely from all sources of pollution.
This is scarcely the place to criticise the list of
catchment areas for water supply in the United
Kingdom, which fills 135 pages, and appears to
be based on official figures; but one cannot help
regretting that the data quoted are not more
homogeneous. Rainfall figures, for instance, are
given only in some cases, and even then they are
often misleading from the lack of information
as to how the average was computed. The
‘responsibility for this is on the local authorities
themselves, and we can only thank Prof. Henry
for his diligence in bringing so many facts
together that the room for improvement in the
‘form of statement stares one in the face. , No
remedy for these ill-assorted statistics can be
found until some central water authority comes
into existence which can co-ordinate all the local
efforts in accordance with one national and scien-
tific system. One slip, however, should be
corrected—the allocation of Haweswater to the
supply of Penrith on p. 175 and on the map on
p. 173. This should be Hayeswater, a small
tarn lying between Haweswater and Ullswater.
Hucu RospertT MILt.
The Wilds of South America.
(1) In the Wilds of South America: Six Years of
Exploration. in Colombia, Venezuela, British
Guiana, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay,
and Brazil. By Leo E, Miller. Pp. xiv+428.
(London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., 1919.) Price
21s. net.
(2) University of Pennsylvania. The University
Museum Anthropological Publications. Vol. ix.,
The Central Arawaks. By William Curtis
Farabee. Pp. 288+xxxvi plates. (Philadelphia :
The University Museum, 1918.)
(1) M*: MILLER’S well-illustrated book is the
attractively written personal narrative
of seven exploring expeditions to South America,
all but one sent out by the American Museum of
Natural History, mainly to collect mammals. and
birds.
There are few wild countries left which have
not been ransacked with the hope that the
amassed specimens may include some _ species
“new to science,” but there are still fewer the
fauna and flora of which have been correlated
intelligently with scientific observation of the pre-
vailing environmental conditions. Several Ameri-
can museums stand in the front’rank of such
160
NATURE
[Aprit 8, 1920
enterprises, well planned, with, perhaps, restricted
but intense purpose. Mr. Miller, of the American
Museum of Natural History, was a member, or
the leader, of these expeditions, which from the
spring of 1911 to the beginning of 1916 covered
an enormous amount of ground: Colombia, in
which faunistic paradise alone he spent nearly two
years; Venezuela and British Guiana; Bolivia
and Argentina; and Roosevelt’s famous journey.
It is worth noting that our active author finished
this book in an aviation concentration camp pre-
paring to ‘do his bit.” »
This narrative contains no tedious itineraries.
It is a condensed account of, in the aggregate,
five years’ travelling, with many hundreds. of
episodes, observations, and reflections, which cover
a very wide field, from old churches to local
industries, Stone and scenery, plants and
creatures, just as he happened to come across
them. There are no _ blood-curdling incidents,
although he had his fair share of danger. Since
we are taken through steaming-hot tropical low-
land forests, over rivers by raft, canoe, or steam
launch, across desert plateaux on to snow-covered
mountains, to wild natives and modern towns,
a few bare samples or headings must suffice to
indicate the range of the work :
A successful search in the highlands of Colombia
for the “Cock-of-the-Rock,” of which beautiful
bird’s home life, nest, and egg's little was known.
Humming-birds becoming intoxicated with the sap
of some tree tapped by woodpeckers. A study of
the different modes of feeding of various birds
as observed side by side: the parrots climbing
to the tip of the fruit-laden branch; the large-billed
toucans are enabled to reach a long distance for
the coveted morsel, whilst the trogons, with short
neck, delicate feet and bill, hover about the fruit.
Whilst one river was muddy and potable, another,
close by, had clear red water, unfit for drinking,
and it contained only a few kinds of fish, but no
crocodiles, sandflies, or mosquitoes were about.
Mr. Miller suggests that monkeys may keep the
malaria infection alive in districts which, because
of this plague, are practically uninhabited by
human beings.
In some parts of Bolivia vampires were so
common and so little shy that the author was able
not only to watch their biting and sucking, but
also to sweep them off the mule with a butterfly-
net—a feat which frightened the suffering beast so
much that it sank to the ground with a groan.
The Sirioné tribe in the same country use bows
so powerful that the hunter has to lie down, to
grasp it with the feet, and to draw the cord with
both hands. They are fierce savages, not ‘“ Indios
reducidos ”—i.e. not yet broken and cowed—and
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
no wonder. They had fixed some protégés of
a mission station to trees by means of numerous
long thorns. The padre in turn had seven cap-
tives tied to posts, and after four of them had
died from starvation and sullenness, the priest
took pity upon the remaining three and released
them. z
As usual, the Indian’s: mind is rathvan perplex-
ing. A woman asked the exorbitant price of
4 pesos for a fowl, which she said was a first-
class game-cock; when told that the bird was
wanted for food only, she at once parted with it
for 60 centavos.
On a_ sandstone plateau, at an ebeidailelt of
13,400 ft., was growing the gigantic “ Puya,” one
of the Bromelia family, and humming-birds (Pata-
gona gigas) hovered over its numerous flowers.
Monstrous lies grow sometimes from a grain
of truth, and so do colossal horned snakes in
Brazil. Their size at least is proved by a cunning”
mixture of circumstantial evidence and further re-
flection: for instance, the discovery by trust-
worthy hunters that the so-called horned snakes.
are really not horned creatures, but such as have
swallowed an ox tail foremost, the spreading”
horns ultimately lodging crosswise in the corners.
of the mouth—quite a sufficient explanation in
countries. where anacondas are said to grow to
40 metres in length. But there are also very many
observations and valuable reflections by the author
himself, frequently concerning the supposed work-
ing of natural selection. For example, if the
struggle for existence is as keen as is often
thought, how can the female insectivorous bat,
encumbered with her baby fully three-quarters as.
large as herself, compete successfully with the
unhampered males?
There is also an important account of the cow-
bird’s (Molothrus) parasitic habits, compared with
which those of our own cuckoo seem insignificant,
dozens of eggs being dropped into a single nest
of the Owen-bird (Furnarius), so that the latter
deserts it.—That human curse of the tropics, the
plume-hunters, in Paraguay and elsewhere, now
scatter poisoned fish over the egret’s feeding-
grounds during the breeding season.
(2) Mr. Farabee’s work oa the Arawaks is one-
of the volumes containing the results of an ex-
pedition, from 1913-16, sent to South America
by the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.
It deals in detail with the Arawak tribes, their
somatic characters, mode of life, traditions and
beliefs, ornaments, weapons and other imple-
ments. One hundred pages are devoted to the-
language.
The general account is most interesting reading
but the book is really intended for the specialist..
- a
_ Apri 8, 1920]
NATURE
161
are, however, no fewer than thirty-six plates
" excellent photographs, notably those which
sent the people and their mode of life.
1e greater number of Arawaks inhabit the savan-
sof southern British Guiana and the neighbour-
: parts of Brazil. The largest of the tribes is
of the Wapisianas, and they number only
1200. Others amount to fewer than one
ed each, all rapidly decreasing.
Mr. “Melville, magistrate and protector of
Indians; has lived amongst them for twenty-five
a ears, guarding them from the unscrupulous ex-
oite “No traders or missionaries have yet
ished themselves amongst them, hence their
al honesty, their simple purity, and their
nitive religious ideas have not been destroyed.”
The author says that the coincidence between
yur classical and the Wapisiana interpretation of
he zodiacal and other constellations is not to be
ondered at. To call Orion the warrior is obvi-
us ‘enough. But the Pleiades are “the turtle’s
ne it full of eggs and father of the rains,” the be-
ginning of the June wet season. Spica is the corn-
planter; Scorpio, the anaconda; and Antares, the
ion’s heart, a red macaw swallowed by. the°
<e. a Cygni is the kingfisher.
i are a hunter with his wife.
a and B Cen-
Life and Temperature.
n de la Chaleur et du Froid sur l’Activité
Vivants. By Georges Matisse.
ii+556. (Paris: Emile Larose, 1919.)
f G. MATISSE has brought together in book
form researches made by him on the
rence of cold and heat on living organisms.
reminds us of the famous experiments of the
bé Spallanzani, prince of biologists, who
1 that dry rotifers could be submitted to
eratures far below zero and up to 62'5° C.,
yet return to active life on wetting. Pouchet
of the strange views which were mooted con-
ling the death and resurrection of these
als and others experimented upon by Spallan-
, and how Fontana, for fear of the Inquisition,
perimented in secrecy, while the Abbé fear-
sly published his results and _ speculations.
yallanzani crushed frozen eggs of insects with
\e er and found that small drops of liquid
of the colloids and electrolytes of proto-
m, the water freezing out. He found seven-
wh the greatest number of freezings and
thawings which any rotifers, Tardigrades, or
Anguillula withstood. Gradual thawing is essen-
_ tial for the preservation of life. Pictet successfully
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
froze and thawed frogs and fish. Spallanzani was
the first to sterilise infusions by heat.
M. Matisse recalls Ehrenberg’s observations on
oscillaria, infusoria, and rotifers living in hot
springs in Ischia at 81-85° C.; life in similar
conditions, he says, is found in the Yellowstone
Park, Wyoming, U.S.A.
We now know that spores of bacteria with-
stand roo° C. more than sixteen hours, 115° C.
from thirty to sixty minutes, and 140° C. one
minute. Not only does temperature count, but
also time. Claude Bernard found that pigeons
and guinea-pigs died in six minutes when put in a
dry oven at go-100° C., rabbits in nine minutes,
and dog's in eighteen to thirty minutes. A woman
stayed twelve minutes in an oven at 132° C. with-
out being strongly incommoded. Pouchet men-
tions a man who, at the old Cremorne. gardens,
walked through a perforated metal tunnel which
was surrounded with burning brushwood.
Adaptation to temperature is of considerable
interest. Paul Bert found that fish, raised quickly
from 12° to 28° C., died, but that, raised slowly
° C. a day, they survived up to 33° C. Tadpoles,
kept a month at 15° C., died at 40-3° C.; others,
kept at 25° C., died at 43-5° C. (Davenport and
Castle). Snails survive exposure to —110° to
— 120° C. for weeks. Spallanzani showed that their
respiratory exchange and circulation cease entirely
in the cold. Protozoa survive — 200° C. ; bacteria,
—250° C, for ten hours (MacFadyean).
Seasonal polymorphism depending on tempera-
ture is of interest—e.g. aphis is wingless, and
reproduces parthenogenetically in the summer; it
becomes winged, and male and female in form,
with sexual reproduction, in the autumn. Papilio
Vanessa porosa—levana has spring and summer
forms. Salamanders, on the high Alps, are small
and black, and have only two young, which are
born without branchiz; those on the plains are
large, blotched with yellow, and have many young
born with branchiz. Inversion of the climatic con-
ditions reverses the characteristics of these two
forms (Kammerer). Tower submitted Coleoptera
(Leptinotarsa decemlineata) at the time of forma-
tion and maturation of sex elements to 35° C. and
dry conditions. The eggs hatched in normal con-
ditions showed eighty-four mutations in the ninety-
eight individuals which reached adult age.
A gasteropod, Lymnea stagnalis, reproduces its
kind in water cooler than 12° C., but the progeny
are small. In water at 15~18° C. the progeny are
larger. The character of smallness becomes fixed;
small individuals transported from cold to warmer
water continue to have small progeny (Semper).
The main part of Matisse’s book deals with the
consideration of the law of van’t Hoff and
162
NATURE
[AprIL 8, 1920
Arrhenius concerning the acceleration by tem-
perature of the velocity of chemical reactions, and
the relation of this law to biological functions.
The author has carried out a large amount of
experimental work and correlated it with that of
others.
There is an increase, an optimum, and a
decrease of many biological functions with tem-
perature, and in several cases the increase over
‘a certain range is comparable with that of a
chemical reaction—e.g. the segmentation of an
ovum, the beat of the heart, or ferment action.
‘The. reactions of the living animal are, however,
too complicated to come. under any simple law..
i,
A University Course in Botany.
Botanical Memoirs. No. 4: Elementary Notes on
- Structural Botany. By A. H. Church. Pp. 27.
No. 5: Elementary Notes on the Reproduction
of a ngsasperms. By A. H. Church. Pp. 24.
(London: Oxford University Press, 1919.)
Price 2s. net each.
ONSIDERABLE interest has been shown
during the past two years in the reconstruc-
tion of botanical teaching at the universities, and
it seems opportune, therefore, that one of the
older universities should publish in some detail
the plan on which its instruction in botany is
based in so far as it relates to the elementary
courses in this subject. We gather from the con-
cluding note of Memoir 4 that the notes have
been written as schedules to accompany, and not
to replace, lectures, it being assumed tlfat the
lecturer can add explanatory emendations and
enlargements on special points. No doubt every
teacher will have his own views as to the arrange-
ment of the subject-matter of an elementary
course, and will desire to give special emphasis
to certain aspects, which he will do by the pro-
minence assigned to such parts of the subject. A
somewhat general feeling has been expressed in
the recent correspondence on botanical teaching
in the pages of the New Phytologist that
physiological botany has not always received
‘adequate attention or treatment in botanical
‘teaching.
From that point of view it will be noted with
interest that the Oxford course of instruction
begins and ends in biological features, and is well
permeated with physiological considerations. On
the whole, however, it may be considered a
morphological treatment of the subject, as, indeed,
the title “Structural Botany” indicates, though
it is apparent that, as in most elementary courses,
structure is considered in the light of the functions
NO, 2632, VOL. 105 |
|
|
|
“J
which the various organs have to perform, Occa-
sionally this mode of treatment might be more
closely adhered to. On p. 6, for instance, in
dealing with the stem of Helianthus, it is men-
tioned that the endodermis is “in this stem curi-
ously the only layer with starch,” and no reason
for this phenomenon is advanced or even _sug-
gested at this stage, though much later in the
course (p. 24) “falling starch” is referred to as
popular since 1900 as_ hypothesis of statocyte
nature. ;
In connection with the palisade mesophyll no
allusion is made to the function of this tissue, nor
are any special reasons adduced for the shape
and arrangement of its cells. The same criticism
applies to the paragraph dealing with the spongy
mesophyll. The main criticism, however, which
anyone familiar with the difficulties of instructing
students within a severely limited time will level
against the course is that it attempts too much
within the period indicated by the author as avail-
able. Considerably shortened, the course might
gain in thoroughness of treatment what it would
lose in extensiveness. Interesting and enlighten-
ing, for example, as are the leaves of Ficus and
Nymphea, the structure and function of a leaf
may be learnt from the cherry laurel alone. Simi-
larly in Memoir 5, some of the seeds mentioned,
like those of Aucuba, A®sculus, Juglams, and
Hedera, are not essential to the proper under-
standing of the structure of a seed in addition to
the two or three more common types. These are
only a few of many passages which might be
curtailed. No doubt the better plan would be to
retain the ‘fuller course and to demand a
longer period for instruction, and we heartily
sympathise with the author’s difficulties when re-
quired to supply what he calls “minimum
botany” for his students. Possibly under the
new régime at Oxford this may be remedied. If
the facts are as stated in the concluding paragraph
of Memoir 5, it is, as the author says, remarkable
that in a university. of primary importance the
teaching of plant biology should be of such a
meagre description. We fully share the author’s
conviction that a knowledge of life in some form
should be part of the mental equipment of every
educated person.
Recent Mathematical Text-books. _
(1) Unified Mathematics. By Prof. L. C. Kar-
pinski, Prof. Harry Y. Benedict, and Prof.
John W. Calhoun. Pp. viii+522. (Boston,
New York, and Chicago: D. C. Heath and
Co. ; London: George G. Harrap and Cte: Ltd.,
1918.) Price ros. 6d. net.
NATURE
163
[;. Hidaicry doles By C. H. P. Mayo.
answers. ) Pp. xx+ 345 + xxxix. (Lon-
uration for Matine and Mechanical
eers. (Second and First Class Board of
Examinations.) By John W. Angles.
xxvii+162. (London: Longmans, Green,
10., 1919.) Price 5s. net.
hool Mechanics. Part 1. School Statics. By
G. Borchardt. (Without answers.) Pp. viiit+
_ (London: Rivingtons, 1919.) Price 6s.
THIS text-book by three American authors
is best described as an elementary
matical mélange. It ranges over a variety
ics, but does not deal explicitly with the
though the fundamental process of the
used. Great pains have obviously been
d on the compilation, but it can scarcely
cribed as an inspiring volume, and is not
to find favour in British schools and col-
. The authors state in the preface that they
to emphasise the fact that mathematics
be artificially divided into compartments
the essential unity, harmony, and interplay
tween the two great fields into which mathe-
may properly be divided—namely, analysis
nd geometry. It is to be feared that those who
e to become competent mathematicians must
ue to study the subject in compartments,
i on, of course, several sections simul-
sly, leaving familiarity and time to show
ter-relationship. None but the finished
- can fully appreciate and realise the inter-
x of the branches. Only those who reach
|-tops see the harmony of the landscape and
€ trend of the watercourses. There are several
diagrams and historical references,
also a number of good examples. The
ie is well got up and printed.
(2) Mr. Mayo’s well-printed and finished book is
meant for beginners, for general use in schools,
© be within the capacity of the average boy, and
to meet the first requirements of those who
id to specialise in mathematics. That the
will realise all these aspirations is unlikely.
early as p. 6 it presents the beginner with the
ssion L* ae te 2,
a azar *-T
etical approximations and negligible quantities.
e introduction to the subject is of that kind
ich always leaves the student with the uneasy
ng that the calculus is not quite all right, and
s results just a little out. It is the belief and
perience of the reviewer that the opening peda-
ics of the calculus must be simple and not
esting
and discusses _arith-
separate labels, and that they aim at show- |
gradients of chords of curves of the system y=x”
and of deducing therefrom the gradients of: the
tangents are about all that the average boy
can grapple with for a considerable time. The
notation can be explained concurrently, and a few
easy steps lead on to simple integration and easy
applications. Geometry and intuition must be
relied on to give the start. The philosophy of
the limit is beyond the ordinary pupil. From the
school point of view the book covers a fairly wide
range, including triple integrals, singular points,
partial differentiation, and differential equations.
There are many good examples in it, derived from
geometry, physics, mechanics, etc., all likely to
stimulate a smart boy. In fact, it will probably
succeed much better as a second than as a first
course.
(3) This is a book on mensuration intended for
the use of engineering students of various kinds,
as, for example, marine engineers preparing for
the First and Second Class Board of Trade Exam-
inations and for the Extra First Class Examina-
tion. It deals in a thorough way with the ordinary
elementary areas and volumes, such as those of
the rectangle, circle, ellipse, sphere, cone, and
cuboid, refers to the planimeter, explains Simp-
son’s Rule, and discusses valves, specific gravity,
flow of water, etc. It includes also some calculus
and the theorems of Pappus. There is an abun-
dance of good examples in the book, both worked
and to be worked, so that any student who goes
through it conscientiously should conclude his
examinations successfully.
(4) Mr. Borchardt’s book is part 1 of a School
Mechanics, and deals with statics. It is intended
for the use of pupils preparing for the higher
mathematics, for entrance to Woolwich and
Sandhurst, and for the Senior Cambridge Local
Examination. The matter is arranged under the
following heads, according to the sequence given:
the lever, the parallelogram of forces, friction,
work and machines, centres of gravity, couples,
and general equilibrium. Then follow laboratory
problems and test papers. There are plenty of
illustrative examples in the text, and a copious
supply for the exercise of the student, mostly of
a numerical type. If the treatment of the subject
presents no fresh or original features, the book
is one which can safely be used. J. M.
Our Bookshelf.
The Romantic Roussillon: Inthe French Pyrenees.
By Isabel Savory. Pp. xii+214+xxvi plates
by M. Landseer Mackenzie. (London :
T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., 1919). Price 25s. net.
Tue author of this excellently printed work will
not mind our saying at the outset that one of its
chief charms is the series of pencil drawings by
164
NATURE
;
j
|
M. Landseer Mackenzie. In architecture they
give exactly what the trained eye would have us
see; in landscape, as in “The Harbour at Cal-
lioure,”’ an exquisite sense of atmosphere is con-
veyed—and, unfortunately, this is the only land-
scape in the book. The travellers had no high
aim in art, history, or geography. They went
to this inlet of the eastern Pyrenees because it
appeared romantic at a distance. They found it
less romantic, but full of charm, the charm that
is rarely absent in provincial France. They
wandered on foot, and made a spirited ascent of
Canigou; but their real interest lay in the old-
world villages, the hospitable reception at inns
that treat the visitor as a friend, and the general
air of remoteness in a land where Catalan is
common speech. In history the Roussillon has
had no special voice as to whether it should belong
to France or Spain, To-day it may well be proud
that its lot has lain with France. Was not
Marshal Joffre, le grand-pére, born at Rivesaltes,
where the wind blows in across a great lagoon
upon the frontier, a relic of the Pliocene sea that
once stretched up among the hills? From Rous-
sillon also came Commandant Raynal, the hero of
the Fort de Vaux at Verdun, and many a stout
defender of the northern lines.
The author, however, is not concerned with such
modernities. We gather that her pleasant pil-
grimage was made before the war turned all
minds to other fields in France; but now the land
lies once more open to adventure, and conditions
of travel, as we are assured by high authority,
are already settling down on their old attractive
lines. Naturalists are also artists, and they may
well practise their art among the eastern spurs
of the Pyrenees. Gas.
The Journal of the Institute of Metals. Vol. xxii.
No. 2. 1919. Edited by G. Shaw Scott.
Pp. xii+ 428+ 31 plates. (London: The Institute
of Metals, 1919.) Price 31s. 6d. net.
THE new volume of this journal opens with a
report of the May lecture delivered by Prof. Soddy
dealing with the subject of radio-activity. The
remainder consists of the papers read at the
Sheffield meeting of the institute. Of these the
most discussed was one by Dr. Hatfield and Capt.
Thirkell on season-cracking, in which a different
view is taken from that recently put forward by
Rosenhain and Archbutt, and experiments are
made to determine the intensity of the internal
stress in the case of cold-worked brass. The con-
clusion is drawn that such stresses approach
very closely to the maximum stress which the
material is capable of resisting. The mercury salt
method has been found very: useful for revealing
the presence of internal stress. Some very
remarkable alloys are described by Dr. Stead.
Alloys of tin, antimony, and arsenic, within certain
limits of composition, have the habit of forming
spherical segments of striking regularity. Dr.
L. J. Spencer gives a summary of the information
as to the occurrence of strongly curved crystals
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
in minerals, but no satisfactory explanation mS
yet been given of the conditions under which such
curved growth takes place.
The second report to the Beilby Committee on
the solidification of metals describes the isolati
of crystal grains from certain metals, and a com-
parison of their form with that of foam cells, —
facts pointing to the importance of the share taken
by surface tension in determining the grain bound-
aries. The remaining papers deal with the early
history of electro-plating, the properties of
standard silver, and the structure of bearing
metal, Britannia metal, nickel silver, and dur-
alumin, and the characteristics of moulding sands
for non-ferrous work. Gc. Hae,
Applied Botany. By G.S. M. Ellis. Pp. viii+ 248.
(London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1919.)
Price 4s. 6d. net.
Tuis book is one of a “New Teaching Series ”
of which the publishers state: “The Series has
been written by Teachers possessing valuable
practical experience and gifted with the inspira-
tion of the hour’s occasion.” The “secrets of
plant life” are said to be “the substance of this
extraordinarily interesting volume.” On p. 84 the
author informs us that “clover is liable to clover-
sickness. Turnips suffer from the finger-and-toe
disease. These diseases are caused by bacteria ” ;
and later we learn that Desmids and Conjugate
Plants are without chlorophyll. Treating of the
enemies of plants, the author writes: “ Bacteria
turn the living tissue to a slimy and often smell-
ing pulp.
The problems of potato blight have apparently
been solved, for we are told that the hyphz
[Aprit 8, 1920" |
The effect is very similar to decay.”
“penetrate the stem and reach the tubers,” and
“during the winter resting spores of the fungus
remain in the ground and attack the next season’s ~
crop.” Wart disease is a simple matter, infected
soil merely being “treated with sulphur and gas
lime.” Potato-leaf curl is still due to Macro-
sporium solani, and winter rot to Nectria solani.
These are but a few of the “secrets of plant
life” which are “the substance of this extra-
ordinarily interesting volume.” In addition, how-
ever, there are many sentences such as the follow-
ing: “Free-swimming plants, like Chlamydo-
monas, must have water in which to swim”; and
it is with a sorrowful interest that we read: “Very
attractive and useful work may be'done by study-
ing the development of fruit, and how the seed is
in the end successfully disseminated. The student
who undertakes this kind of inquiry becomes at
last a worthy biologist.” The rest of us must
learn to bear our cross with resignation.
W. B. BRIERLEY.
Ricklaufige Differenzierung und Entwicklung.
By Adolf Cohen-Kysper. Pp. 85. (Leipzig:
Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1918.) Price 3 marks.
Tuis book is a further attempt to reduce all life
phenomena to mechanical principles. It announces
an “ontogenetic law” worded as follows: ‘The
part returns to a phase from which the whole is
developed anew.”
Apri 8, 1920]
NATURE
165
h a
ol
Letters to the Editor.
"he Editor does not hold himself responsible for
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
ag Knowledge and Power.
THE question raised in the leading article on
nowledge and Power’’ in Nature of March 25 is
great interest and importance. It is nothing more
less than the question of using experience as a
: to action, which is the whole purpose of educa-
~The suggestion that its solution requires a
ndamental change in the organisation of the Civil
vices in order that the best advantage may be
uined for the country from the special knowledge
training of the expert brings to a focus the
tial difficulty of the subject. I suppose that the
function of any Department of the Services, civil
tary, is to carry out the policy of the Govern-
as formulated or approved by the responsible
inister; and the staff of the Department is recruited
| such a way as to secure that object. The know-
in the light of which the Minister’s policy is
ned is another matter. It maybe taken for granted
if it is well advised, the Government will utilise
1 the best technical knowledge available. A Minister
ay find it in special sections of his own Department,
he may try to acquire it from outside. No doubt
is largely guided by his chief permanent officers,
id they in turn must use their own knowledge and
that of their subordinates or obtain what they can get
n outside. How effectively to provide a Minister
all the pertinent experience about technical
blems is not an easy question. It is made still
sr by the fact that even for experts the recognition
the value of new knowledge is not necessarily auto-
tic.. The reception that was given to Thomas
Young’s theory of light is a reminder for all time
that new ideas require favourable environment for
milation. Consequently, some knowledge of what
world is made of is necessary for all executive
rities. But that, as Kipling says, is another
Ye
we picture to ourselves the difference
tween a youth’s progress in the Civil Service and
the career of an expert in science. The Civil
vant is selected by open competition in subjects
ch may include literature or science; but from
_ the time of his joining the Service the pursuit of
sd ceases to be a part of his working life, though
_ either may be followed as a hobby. He must leave
even his political opinions at home and begin to learn
e art of giving expression to the policy of the
_ Department which he joins. He learns from his
immediate superiors how things are done. Why they
re done does not concern him. He learns also the
discipline of a public office and the art of formulating
uments for his superior to sign. His opportunity
to make himself so loyal and so efficient in carrying
t the policy that any chance of promotion that
s his way is not lost. If he has lofty ambitions
end. his own steps in the Service, he must post-
pone them until he reaches a position in which he
an gain the Minister’s ear. Up to that time his life
3 a life of self-effacement.
. The history of the expert is altogether different.
His training leads him to begin his career in research,
and if he is successful he attains the unspeakable
Satisfaction of having discovered for himself some-
thing of real importance. Thereafter he has always
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
OCU!)
>
5
ideas of his own which he strives to realise, and as
his experience grows he forms lines of policy for him-
self, and is not very tolerant of others. His career
is one of continuous self-assertion from the beginning.
He may derive his ideas from instruction or inspira-
tion, but the expression of them is his own; and what
may be only the natural expression of his genius may
look like disloyalty to his superiors in the world of red
tape.
The positions of the two types with regard to
finance are’ equally diverse. The Civil Servant has
no difficulty in establishing the position that as the
Minister wants things done he will, of course, be pre-
pared to provide adequate remuneration for those who
carry out his wishes. Money is therefore forthcoming.
But the expert has to convince the Minister, or per-
suade someone else to do so, that his projects are
worth trying in the public interest and can be justified
in Parliament. He has to ask for permission and
facilities for research, the results of which are, ex
hypothesi, unknown; to ask for pay in addition is to
invite refusal of everything.
Moreover, the discipline of a body of experts is
quite different from that of a public office. What is
wanted from an expert is his own spontaneous
opinion as a guide to action—a something which a
Civil. Servant is not expected to possess. It seems
to follow that experts and Civil Servants are as
different as oil and vinegar, and the endeavour to
mix them promiscuously in one organisation will not
work. They belong to different atmospheres; what
stifles one gives buoyancy to the other.
Somehow or other an advisory side for formulating
policy ought to be organised on different lines from
those of the administrative side which carries out the
policy. But if there is a separate organisation on
the technical side it ought to have direct access to
the Minister finally responsible, and not be fenced off
from him by a secretariat trained on different —
lines. There are sure to be misunderstandings
and ultimate despair if all the work of a pro-
fessional technical staff has to pass upwards and
downwards through the refracting and distorting
medium of an inexpert secretariat. The scheme of
organisation must be in sectors reaching continuously
from the Ministerial centre to the circle of recruit-
ment. The technical staff itself will want the assist-
ance of ‘civil servants’? content to follow out the
policy which is indicated. The mischief begins when
the Civil Service forms a complete belt in the inner
regions of the organisation. In that case an inexpert
Minister is completely surrounded by inexpert advisers,
and then power is cut off from knowledge.
Tue vast conflagration of the late war rendered
conspicuous many truths that were little suspected
by the majority, and not the least of these was the
importance, the necessity, of organised and accurate
scientific knowledge and research for national success.
Unfortunately, this is already in danger of being
forgotten while we are engaged in the strenuous
task of preserving for our country its due and fitting
place in the industries and activities of the world,
and the leading article in Nature of March 25 has
sounded a very necessary note of warning. It rightly
emphasises the need that the ultimate administrative
authority should be vested in men with technical
knowledge and experience, and not in Civil Service
officials appointed originally, for the most part, on the
basis of purely literary attainments. This authority
will, however, never be conceded to the man of science
until the scale of his remuneration corresponds to
the importance of his work. It was_ repeatedly
166
NATURE
[ApriL 8, 1920
demonstrated during the war that scientific men who
from motives of patriotism accepted a low scale of
salary for their services in Government Departments
were accorded an equally modest official status.
The ultimate basis on which an adequate recogni-
tion of the importance of the scientific technical expert
must rest will be the estimation in which science and
scientific research are held by the great mass of
intelligent men and women. It must be realised, in
the first place, that a training in science on the right
lines and under the right men will be as efficient in
broadening the outlook on the world and stimulating
the imagination of the student as a detailed study
of the vicissitudes of ancient wars or the eccentricities
of Greek and Latin irregular verbs. It must also be
recognised that no course of science can be con-
sidered complete unless it has included a session at
least spent in scientific research, humble though it
may be and directed by more experienced workers.
But it must be genuine research, not merely a
‘heuristic ’? imitation of the real thing.
The more science graduates who have learnt to
understand what research means there are scattered
about the country—in factories, in counting-houses, in
Government offices, in educational establishments of
every kind, and, most important of all, in municipali-
ties and legislative bodies—the wider will be the
recognition of the value of science.
Unfortunately, scientific studies are seriously handi-
capped in the competition for university students by
the fact that the fees are, as a rule, distinctly higher
than those for arts. There is, therefore, a strong
pecuniary inducement for parents to select an arts
rather than a science curriculum for their children.
Such a handicap is obviously opposed to the national
interest, and should not be allowed to continue.
In view of the urgent reasons for associating
research with higher scientific education, it is to be
regretted that the general tendency of Government
policy should be to divorce industrial research from
the universities and to place it in the hands of asso-
ciations of commercial firms. The discoveries that
open up new lines of development in great manufac-
turing industries are arrived at by processes essentially
similar to those that lead to advances in pure science,
and if we are to get the best results it will be by the
co-operation of the vigorous university life which
has sprung up in recent years at so many centres in
busy industrial districts with the commercial enter-
prise in its vicinity.
Finally, if we are to secure to science its full weight
in the councils and policy of the country, we must not
confine our propaganda to the ‘governing ”’ or upper
classes, or to the ranks of professional workers, or
to those engaged in commercial pursuits, but we must
develop by all the means in our power a love of
science in the great army of the manual operatives,
whom it would seem that in a not distant future we
shall, willingly or unwillingly, have to acknowledge
as our masters. With their increased leisure there
should be no difficulty in enlisting a large contingent
of men and women who will be interested in science,
either for its own sake or for its value in enabling
them to understand the meaning of the work in which
they are engaged. Some of them will in all probability
definitely embrace a scientific career, and in this they
should receive every assistance and encouragement,
while others will render no less service as amateurs
and as missionaries of science among their fellows.
Already, I am told, a great deal is being done in this
direction in connection with University College, Not-
tingham, and no doubt much is being accomplished
on similar lines at the Midland and Northern uni-
versities. At present the operations of the Workers’
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
- needs still to be extended much further, a consi L
amount of exact knowledge of individual lines is
Educational Association are largely confined to the
somewhat restricted domains of constitutional law and
history and political ecenomy, but a few years may
see a
attractive studies in the broad realms of science.
March 31. Joun W. Evans. |
The Secondary Spectrum of Hydrogen.
THE recent investigation by Dr. Merton of the effect
of an admixture of helium on the intensity distribu-
tion in the hydrogen spectrum appears to have given
a very strong clue towards the elucidation of that
spectrum. On the photographs taken by Dr. Merton
(reproduced in part in Proc. Roy. Soc., October,
1919) the- spectra appear completely different in
the cases of pure hydrogen and of hydrogen mixed
with helium. Many lines, in the first case quite
strong, are totally absent in the second; others remain
practically unaltered in intensity; while a third set
appears in the second case, though practically or
completely invisible in the first. Such results seem, at
first sight, to point to the existence of at least three
classes of lines which are mutually independent, one
class being unaffected by helium and the others
affected in opposite senses.
A somewhat exhaustive investigation which I have
made recently in regard to these photographs, kindly
lent to me by Dr. Merton, and the previously pub-
lished tables of the spectrum has convinced me, how-
ever, that this interpretation is not the correct one.
It was known already that the secondary pling
of hydrogen contained two sets of lines, one showing,
and the other not showing, the Zeeman effect. A third
and doubtful set were abnormal in regard to the
Zeeman effect. Dufour examined many of the strong
lines in the spectrum, and, although his investi son
able
available.
Fuleher also had previously investigated the low-
potential discharge in hydrogen, and isolated two band
spectra peculiar to this discharge, which spectra we
may call the Fulcher bands.
and their most important part is in each case a set
of triplets which recur towards the red end. Although
they do not readily fit the Deslandres type of formula,
I have been able to establish a mathematical relation- -
ship between the two bands, from which it appears
that they must be considered jointly as one band.
In addition to the triplets there are many associated
sets of single lines, which Fulcher considered, on
experimental grounds, to belong to the same band
system.
Dr. Merton’s results have made a valuable con-
tribution which enables us to isolate these Fulcher
bands completely from the rest of the spectrum.
The conclusions at which I have already arrived
mav be summarised as follows :—
The secondary spectrum of hydrogen consists of a
set of band spectra—how far divided into sets which
are mutually independent in the mathematical sense
is uncertain, but at least partially so divided—
together with a superposed spectrum of single lines.
The band lines are those which show no Zeeman
effect, and the lines of the superposed spectrum all
show the Zeeman effect. This general statement still
requires considerable experimental work to establish
its complete truth, but the evidence so far available
is sufficient to leave little doubt in the matter. —
Dr. Merton’s spectra, taken in the presence of
helium, preserve what I ‘have cafled the superposed
great development of more stimulating and
They differ from more .
ordinary bands in their large component separations, ©
ee ee oe eee
Apri 8, 1920]
NATURE
167
2
=
m without much change of intensity, and it is
oubtedly due, on all grounds, to a different atomic
- molecular mechanism from that producing the
is. This superposed spectrum exhibits very pro-
ced ‘constant frequency difference ’’ effects, and
e is good reason to believe that sets of series
stra of the ordinary Rydberg type may be included
it and form the basis of the constant differences of
ve-number. The series spectra of hydrogen would
1 be no longer confined to the Balmer series.
n the photographs the behaviour of the ‘band ”’
} is peculiar. The ‘“head”—a word not used in
ordinary sense, but as denoting the strongest line
e band and the one most remote from the red
; preserved in intensity in helium, or even
d, while all the other members disappear. A
in pure hydrogen may be weak, but if it is really
nd-head in this sense, it is prominent in the
nce of helium—the head is not always the
st line in a band in pure hydrogen. This con-
tion is the real clue to the interpretation of the
aphs, and it has been found possible to isolate
tire Fulcher band, which is of a remarkable
ure and accounts for the great majority of lines
Ha and Hg, in part of which region the
is Measures have been very incomplete and
ling. Other strong bands of similar character
eur in other regions, and it is already clear that
complete analysis involves only a few such indi-
vidual bands showing no Zeeman effect, together with
line spectrum showing Zeeman effect, and ap-
tly capable of arrangement in constant frequency
ces
1c
view of the importance this spectrum has now
ssumed in relation to atomic structure a preliminary
atement of its nature appears to be desirable.
BS J. W. NicHotson.
‘University of London, King’s College,
his March 21.
International Council for Fishery Investigations.
\ PERUSAL of the programme of the International
uncil for Fishery Investigations, as outlined in
TURE of March 18, substantiates the criticisms pub-
hed 1g02 and 1903, as well as later. In the
ts of the fisheries and of the public in these
times it is imperative to direct attention once
e to the position. In the original programme of
_ about twenty years ago the Council were to discover
whether the yield of the sea-fisheries was increasing
diminishing, and cially to demonstrate the
poverishment of the sea (as if the myriads of ova
on the fishmongers’ slabs every year afforded no
lesson); to show to what extent fishing-grounus could
be depleted without danger; to point out what fishing
atus was destructive; to investigate the small
1 grounds; to make discoveries of practical import-
to the fisheries; to publish annual results; and
i" aod to produce data (even within two years) on
wi British and foreign legislation could be based.
ow, after sixteen to twenty years’ labour and a
at expenditure of public money (for salaries went
during the war), it is found that the impoverish-
ent plea is dropped, along with most of the heads
_ just mentioned as requiring solution. The new
scheme, to take the heads in the order in which
hey appear (see Nature, March 18, p. 84),
includes an inquiry into the result of ‘tthe most
gantic scientific experiment ever made in respect to
e closure of areas.’’ It is unlikely that the fisheries
f the North Sea will be to any extent altered by the
partial closure caused through the operations of the
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
investigations will shortly be published, but
Grand Fleet. The ways of Nature are not so simple.
Then comes the old phantom of the diminishing plaice
and the protection of the race by a size-limit, an
impracticable idea so far as the security of the younger
plaice goes. The larval, post-larval, and smaller forms
are in prodigious numbers, and are safe. Nor is con-
fidence in the Council increased when the ten years’
work of the Scottish Fishery Board’s ship, Garland,
in the closed areas is now regarded as ineffective, and
the subject not sufficiently studied! In other words,
the deliberate conclusions of the Scottish Board, so
resolutely upheld, and on which the closure of the
Moray Firth and other areas was based, are null and
void. That is one way of escaping from an untenable
position. The Council may well spare the “intensive
study ’’ of the plaice so far as’the prosperity of the
British fisheries is concerned, and so with further
experiments on plaice-marking and drift-bottles, as
well as on the food of the young. Nothing important
on these heads can result from continued expenditure.
The lemon-dab requires little attention, for, like other
doomed fishes of the kind, it has re-asserted itself.
There is no urgent need for studies on the herring,
though this was supposed to be one of the diminishing
fishes not long ago. Yet a word must said in
favour of the Danish exploration of the North Atlantic,
where, and in the Mediterranean, Dr. Johs. Schmidt
carried out such excellent work on the life-history of
the eel.
The hydrographical and plankton work of the
Council has hitherto borne little fruit in the matter
of the fisheries, and it is unlikely that, after twenty
years’ probation, more will be accomplished.
The revival of the bathybius-myth in the form of
the supposed ‘‘vitamines’’ in sea-water may give
point to a sentence, thus: “‘ The searcher for economic
results in fisheries must have the basal theory and
knowledge . . . as the foundation on which he has to
build,” but that is vox et praeterea nihil unless a prac-
tical acquaintance with the whole details of the life-
history of the sea-fishes is possessed by him. Mere
collation of statistics without such a check is of little
avail inthe complex problem of the sea-fisheries, which,
however, now as heretofore, hold their own against the
combined attacks of their own kind, as well as of
man, seals, whales, birds, and invertebrates. Marine
animals have been kept in pure sea water without
food for years, yet the suggested application of the
‘“‘ vitamine ’? theory to the oyster and mussel does not
offer much scope. THe best. parcs for, fattening
the oysters have much more than “ vitamines,”’ and
even the ejectamenta, etc., of the mussels in the
estuaries will by and by raise mounds several feet
above sea-level.
Four French names are given as members of the
Council, but they are less familiar than those of
Fabre-Domergue, Canu, Cligny, Raveret-Wattel, and
Pellegrin. Again, one British name is conspicuous by
its absence, viz. that of Dr. A. T. Masterman, a
highly trained and talented fisheries expert. It is to
be hoped that no interference by officialdom, as dealt
with in the leading article in Nature of March 25, is
connected with his retirement. Those who remember
the case of Sir Joseph Hooker and Mr. Ayrton have
reason to be jealous of the official status of experienced
men of science in carrying out their researches for the
benefit of the country. gl
Finally, there can be little doubt that Britain would
be better and more economically served by competent
workers in its marine laboratories, where, moreover,
young zoologists. could acquire a competent know-
ledge of the marine fisheries.
W. C. McINTOsH.
168
NATURE
[APRIL 8, 1920
The Plumage Bill and Bird Protection.
Tue protection of beautiful and interesting birds is
the object of Col. Yate’s and Lord Aberdeen’s Bill now
before Parliament. The chief end is to close Great
Britain (and presumably all parts of the British
Empire controlled from London) as a market in which
the plumage of wild birds (excepting eider down and
ostrich feathers) may be bought and sold. The reasons
for excepting the down of the eider duck and the
plumes of the ostrich need scarcely be explained. The
eider duck strips herself of the downy feathers she
develops during the breeding season and lines her nest
with them. This down can be obtained without injur-
ing the bird, or even without depriving her nestlings,
who leave the downy nest soon after birth. Such a
large proportion of ostrich plumes is obtained from
tame birds (and the wild ostrich chicks are so easily
domesticated) that it is scarcely worth while pursuing
the wild bird for its feathers. Moreover, the plumes
can be removed from the tame birds painlessly.
The Bill is drawn so as to protect wild birds
from persecution by closing to the trade in ‘their
feathers the very important British market, which,
together with the “Strong action of the United States
and Canada, will go far towards extirpating this ecom-
merce. We should protect beautiful, useful, interest-
ing, and harmless birds—adjectives which include all
the avian class except, perhaps, the, house-sparrow,
the tree-sparrow, and the wood-pigeon, because :—
(1) They are beautiful in shape, in plumage, in
their manner of life, or in their voice, and they always
add to the zsthetic charm of a landscape.
(2) The majority of birds feed upon insects, ticks,
land mollusca, small fodents, or carrion. They
are our principal allies in keeping the insect hosts at
bay and destroying the sources and disseminators of
germs which breed disease in man, beast, and plant.
They save our food crops and our timber-trees from
destruction by insects, snails, and slugs; they attack
snakes; and they assist to maintain the balance of
creation in favour of man.
(3) Sea-birds—especially gulls, aulss, petrels, gannets,
frigate-birds, cormorants, and penguins—are the pro-
ducers of guano useful in agriculture and horticulture.
(4) Many fruit-eating birds are great distributors of
the seeds, stones, and nuts of valuable timber-trees
or trees producing spices, dyes, drugs, or fruits of
value to humanity.
Ergo, all birds, save the sparrows and the European
wood-pigeon (which is very destructive to crops, and
is believed to spread the germs of diphtheria), should
be protected from attacks which are not necessitated
by some real human need. What would be such a
need? The preservation of the bulk of a food crop,
or the necessity for the bird’s flesh, or the requiring
of its under-plumage as a material for warding off
cold. The last-named requirement does not affect the
tropics or sub-tropics. Most insect-eating or guano-
producing birds are unfit for food, and are disliked
from that point of view by the savage quite as much
as by the white man. Penguins and a few other sea-
birds yield a valuable oil, but there is no reason why
penguin rookeries should not be established for that
purpose provided the species is properly preserved
from serious diminution. Yet the amount of oil thus
obtained is trifling in comparison with the yield from
whales, porpoises, seals, and fish; and these in-
habitants of the seas and oceans are more protected
by their habitat from devastating attacks than are
birds resorting to a terrestrial life during the breeding
season. At anv rate, the extermination of marine
mammals or of fish is not such a loss to landscape
beauty or to the economics of human life as is the
destruction of sea-birds.
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
What is the offset against this argument for wild- —
bird preservation? What quality do beautiful and
interesting wild birds possess that they should be —
attacked, pursued, and destroyed until in many cases
they become extinct? They produce feathers and
plumes of great beauty in colour or of exquisite out-
line or texture which are desired as a personal adorn-
ment by certain European—not Asiatic, American, or
African—women, who stick these trophies in head-
coverings or as a trimming on their corsage. There is
also in about half a dozen instances a further use of
wild birds’ plumage in the making of artificial flies
used by anglers. Sr
All that European women of anglers can in
reason require in the way of plumes, wings,
tails, or skins of birds for their decoration or
other purposes can be obtained without cruelty
from the domesticated or preserved birds that
are killed for food or kept for egg production—
ostricnes, the domestic fowl in a hundred varieties,
the common pheasant and other pheasants bred
in aviaries, pea-fowl, turkeys, guinea-fowl, pigeons,
grouse, partridges, ducks, geese, certain kinds of wild
duck sufficiently preserved to be in no danger of dying
out, and so forth. Trade in such feathers is in no
way restricted by the Plumage Bill. It is not right
that rare and beautiful or exceedingly useful wild
birds of the tropics and sub-tropics should be
destroyed, eliminated from the landscapes for the sole
purpose of decorating the persons of European women.
We are told that the disuse of this practice would
throw out of employment four or five thousand persons
in England, France, and Holland; but surely they
could find work in dealing with the feathers of
domesticated birds. H. H. JOuNstTon.
St. John’s Priory, Poling, Arundel. ery
Ir is desirable in a discussion on the Plumage Bill
to ensure that knowledge is not controlled by senti-
ment, and that the solid facts of the matter are borne ~
Supporters of the Bill give three ©
definitely in mind.
main reasons for it. They claim that the Bill will
stop (1) the extinction of rare birds; (2) cruelty in that
it will stop the killing of breeding birds, an
serve their
slaughter of
statements that
these points (in that it has no action in the places
where the birds occur); that
deal of perfectly harmless and legitimate trade; and
that the real protection of birds must be an inter-
national matter, which was being quite easily brought
about by voluntary effort, which effort will be killed
by the Bill.
The important points are to consider (1) whether
there is cruelty, (2) whether birds are being made
extinct owing to the plumage trade, (3) whether the
present Bill will prevent cruelty and extinction, and
(4) whether any alternative proposal can be suggested.
In regard to cruelty, it is extremely difficult to
secure real evidence apart from unsupported state-
ments. In a letter to the Times a few days ago Mr.
H. J. Massingham produced a private letter detailing
horrible cruelty in China with getting egret plumage.
There is an American bulletin that details the killing
so pre-
irds at all. Against the Bill are the
of 150,000 or 300,000 “‘ albatrosses and noddies.” One
may admit the first as “\crueltv,’”? but scarcely the
second so long as hunting and shooting are carried on
in England. The Right Hon. Sir C. E. H. Hobhouse
in the House of Commons referred to an auction of
75,000 herons, and to another of 77,000 herons, 22,000
crowned pigeons, 25,000 humming-birds, and 162,000
Smyrnian kingfishers. But is this wrong? No one
could say that this trade was making any bird extinct.
oung; and (3) cruelty in the actual ©
it effects nothing in regard to
it stops a great .
NATURE
169
2 trade wants them in thousands, and would not
FF bird so rare that it was available only in
idreds.
think there is no evidence of any bird being
de extinct by acts of the plumage dealers, whose
erest lies in birds being abundant, but the Bill
the scientific collector to bring in the rarest
um In this connection some persons emphasise
‘the destruction of insectivorous birds as being a pity;
‘an insectivorous bird may itself destroy beneficial
ects—say, dragon-flies, which themselves feed on
t
mage.
Ir. C. W. Mason and I have published a very
eful analysis of the food of birds in India, and
decided that herons were injurious (see Memoirs
the Agricultural Department of India, vol. iii.,
1). I have before me three such memoirs, all by
omologists, relating to England, Australia, and
lia; and it is necessary to distinguish very clearly
at the value of a bird is. Apart from this, no
1e interested in Nature could desire the extinction
any species of bird or other life at all, and we
ee
1 not restrict our precautions solely to beneficial
fhe third point is whether the proposed Bill will
tect the birds. It will not, because it simply pro-
s importation into England of all plumage except
ch and “gag unless it is wre or is per-
_ property. e plumage goes just the same to
ari: fost > bird P psi | at all. The same
mount of plumage will come to England, only it will
all up in Paris.
The fourth point is: What can be offered in its
place? I suggest the Bill should prohibit the import
of scheduled birds, and that if evidence is brought of
uelty or of approaching extinction,’ the importation
f the bird from that locality should be prohibited by
y adding it and its locality to the schedule. There
ht well be a Standing Committee attached to the
Board of Trade to hear representations and to vary
schedule.
The t is greatly mentioned. It is said to be
stroyed for its plumes while the young birds are
helpless in the nest; but I have photographs
of an egret farm in Sind, and there are hundreds of
such farms. The egrets’ plumes are taken without
uelty, and the birds are not killed. Why, then,
idiscriminately forbid egret plumes and destroy an
industry in India? Why not exclude Chinese egret,
and represent the matter to the Chinese Govern-
nent? Why bar also the possibilities of farming emu,
1, marabou, lyre-birds, pheasants, etc. ?
The Committee for the Economic Preservation of
Birds up to August, 1914, endeavoured to put this
matter right. It is a fact that this Committee had
secured the co-operation of the plumage trade
f Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and London, and that the
whole trade voluntarily stopped the import and use of
the plumage of a number of birds which were thought
to be in danger of extinction or to be beneficial. This
was the only effort to secure the real remedy, inter-
ational co-operation; and the present Bill completely
wipes out that possibility.
Perhaps the present discussion will produce the
solid evidence (apart from opinion) on which the
‘supporters of the Bill rest; up to the present there
has been little other than sentiment.
One last point that has a scientific bearing is that
the Bill allows the importation of plumage for
‘scientific purposes and for museums. The scientific
collector specialises on rarities which the museums
need, and it is exactly this tvpe of collector who
needs to be stopped; but the Plumage Bill is backed
precisely by the ornithologists who want rare skins,
and so can get them.
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
1 think the Bill needs a great deal of recon-
sideration, that a reasonable Bill can be drafted
which will protect birds, and that the present one
allows for tne collection of the nearly extinct birds
and does nothing to protect the cases where there is
cruelty. H. M. Lerroy.
Ir I were still in Parliament 1 should give as
cordial support to the Importation of Plumage (Pro-
hibition) Bill as I would have done to the late Lord
Avebury’s Bill had I been in the House of Lords when
he introduced it. But I recognise that if the measure
is to receive support from men of science, it must
be based mainly on scientific rather than on humani-
tarian or sentimental grounds.
I notice that Prof. H. M. Lefroy, in a recent letter
to the Times, seems to assume that the advocates of
prohibition are actuated by sentiment only. He asks
whether they consider it less cruel to kill spring
chickens for their flesh than pretty birds for their
plumage. If this is meant for argument, it seems
particularly feeble, unless the whole question of
the ethics of consuming. animal food is to be raised.
If it were as easy to rear egrets, birds of paradise,
rifle-birds, etc., for the sake of their plumage as it is
to rear cattle, sheep, and domestic fowls for their
flesh, probably none but extreme humanitarians would
raise serious objections, even if the birds had to be
killed, which is not necessary in ostrich-farming.
From a scientific point of view, the matter seems to
resolve itself into the question whether the extinction
or drastic reduction of the most beautifully clad birds
can be viewed with indifference. I cannot speak at
first hand about the extent to which reduction has
been carried, but the evidence on this subject has
proved sufficient to convince the Legislature of the
United States that restriction of the plumage trade
was necessary if some of the choicest species were
to be saved from extinction.
I cannot but hold the conviction that the true
functions of naturalists are not limited to the mere
work of collecting, recording, and classifying, and
that it is incumbent upon them to aid in resistance to
the extermination of such existing species as do not
interfere with the welfare of human beings. But,
after all, I can claim no higher standing than that
of a field-naturalist, setting more store on a bird in
the bush than two in a glass case or on a lady’s hat!
HERBERT MAXWELL.
Monreith.
THE subject of the Importation of Plumage (Pro-
hibition) Bill now before Parliament is one in which
all zoologists, and, indeed, all lovers of Nature, should
take a lively interest. It seems almost certain that
much cruelty is involved in the operations of plume-
hunters, and it is difficult to see how it could be
otherwise, especially when the plumes are collected
during the breeding season. This question, however,
I leave to others who have the necessary evidence at
hand, together with the important problem of the part
played by the birds in the destruction of noxious
insects.
The point I wish to emphasise is the irreparable
loss, not only to science, but also to mankind in general,
which will result from the extermination of many of
the most interesting and beautiful creatures that exist.
Unfortunately, there appears to be no limit to the
lust of personal gain. Were it possible to pluck a
star from the heavens and sell it for the decoration
of a lady’s headdress, star-hunters would doubtless be
as active as plume-hunters in destroying man’s rich
inheritance.
It is clearly our duty to preserve for future genera-
tions, as well as for our own enjoyment and edifica-
/
170 NATURE
[ApRIL 8, 1920
tion, the wonderful products of Nature by which we
are still surrounded.. The destruction of a work of
art would be condemned as vandalism by all educated
people, and it is difficult to believe that any intelligent
woman would willingly be a party to the destruction
of some of Nature’s finest masterpieces. It has taken
many millions of years to produce a humming-bird
or a bird of paradise, and what work of art can com-
pare with these living gems? Their destruction, once
accomplished, would be irrevocable, and future genera-
tions of zoologists, with all their science of genetics,
might strive in vain to produce anything to replace
them.
Should such wantonness be permitted merely to
satisfy the greed and vanity of a few human beings?
I think not, and therefore I hope the Plumage Bill
now before Parliament will be passed, and that other
nations will follow our example in endeavouring to put
a stop to a practice which is a dark blot on civilisation.
Possibly an even more hopeful method of accom-
plishing this aim would be by the formation of
women’s societies for the express purpose of discoun-
tenancing the fashion of wearing plumage derived
from wild birds, except in the case of those the
destruction of which is demanded for other and
sufficient reasons. Such societies might do much
useful work in enlightening the ignorant and thought-
less and in fostering a wholesome public opinion.
Possibly they exist already; if so, now is their oppor-
tunity. ARTHUR DeENDy.
The Magnetic Storm of March 22-23 and Associated
. Phenomena.
THE magnetic storm of March 22-23 was one of
the most considerable recorded at Eskdalemuir during
the last nine years throughout which continuous
records have been obtained. It began with the abrupt
disturbance. known as a “sudden commencement”’ at
gh. 12m. G.M.T. on March 22, the rapidity of the
change in the horizontal components at that time
being so’ great that the photographic impression of
the moving light-spot was too faint to enable its
details to be traced. The main features, however,
began to develop immediately afterwards. On the
traces recording the changes in declination and the
westerly component there were no very large motions
in the interval between the sudden commencement
and 143h., but there occurred the intense agitation
due to oscillations of short period. At the same time
the northerly component of force gradually rose,
having superposed upon it several large, slow motions
as well as numerous short-period oscillations.
The larger motions of both horizontal components
began soon after 16h., and by 17h. the declination
trace had passed beyond the edge of the recording
sheet. At this time, when the extreme westerly
declination was reached, its value must have been
at least. 1° 43’ beyond its undisturbed value. The
north component trace was similarly off the sheet
upwards (i.e. with increased value) from 16h. to 2oh.
From 20h, until midnight the disturbance in the
horizontal field was on a lesser scale, but during the
four hours after oh. 30m. there occurred a series of
large and rapid oscillations. For example, in six
minutes from rth. 20m. to th. 26m. the declination
shifted eastwards through 23°. The northerly com-
ponent fell rapidly in value after midnight, and the
trace was off the sheet downwards several times
between oh. and 4h. The total range of this com-
ponent must, therefore, have exceeded 7ooy—an un-
usually high value. From 4h. to toh. on March 23
the motions were smaller, but extremely rapid, the
period averaging about four minutes. After toh. no
further considerable disturbance occurred, but a
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
notable sudden change, in a direction north-east- ~
downwards, took place with its maximum at igh, 17m,
The vertical force magnetogram for the storm is
of more than usual interest.
ponent is concerned, the ordinary course of events
during a magnetic storm which begins before mid-
night includes a gradual increase in downwards force
towards a maximum which is reached before mid-
night, followed by a fall for an hour or more; then
a check, followed by a further fall, and a gradual
recovery to nearly normal value, which may be
reached about 8h. In the present case four pro-
minent maxima are shown _ before . midnight—at
14h. 27m., 17h. 24m., 20h. 1om., and 23h, 49m.
range of disturbance between the second and highest
maximum and the second minimum (at 1gh, 6m.) was
565y- Soon after midnight there occurred an ex-
tremely rapid fall in value which sent the trace off
the sheet for nearly six hours. _ The subsequent
recovery was characterised by well-marked pulsations
the period of which was irregular, but averaged about
five minutes, and were of unusually large amplitude.
The occurrence of these pulsations in vertical force
at the end of a storm is a feature requiring attention
in any theory attempting to explain magnetic storms.
The disturbance was accompanied by an auroral
display, including the ‘‘curtain” form at a consider-
able altitude, and extending, at oh. 50m. on March 23,
to within 30° of the southern horizon. There was
little cloud at the time, but low mist made observa-
tion of details difficult. : '
A. CRICHTON MITCHELL.
Eskdalemuir Observatory, March 26.
Science and the New Army.
NaturE of March 25 publishes a leading article —
‘Knowledge and Power,” a letter from Col. E. H.
Hills, and a paragraph in the “ University and
Educational Intelligence,’’ all dealing with related
subjects. A sentence in the last-named paragraph
throws light on the other communications. It reads:
‘Every officer in command of a company will be held
responsible for the instruction of his men.’ The
paragraph neglects to state, however, that the majority
of these officers entered Sandhurst or Woolwich at an
immature age, probably without competition, and are
almost as ignorant as the men whose education they
are to supervise. :
During the war the lack of scientific knowledge
and of habits of exact thought of these officers was
shown not only by their persistent attempts to prevent —
the use of scientific means, but also by their child-
like faith in a formula or. parrot-cry. “Follow the
barrage,” ‘‘ Counter-attack,” ‘‘ Defence in depth,”’ are
some that come to mind—formule passed down
through the official channels to be applied without
thought to all possible situations.
In this country war is still looked upon as an art,
whereas it is rapidly becoming an exact science.
The firing of millions of projectiles, involving an
enormous expenditure of energy, not only in lives,
but, what counts almost as much in the long run, also
of labour, is a matter for exact calculation if the
maximum probable results are to be obtained. At
the present time such problems are solved by intuitive
methods, and will be so whilst the present. system of
officering the Army obtains.
All hope of any real progress must be abandoned
until a change is made; then, perhaps, we shall no
longer see directors of research absolutely ignorant
of, the problems that are being solved or await solu-
tion. A. R. RiIcHARDSON.
Imperial College of Science, South
Kensington, S.W.7, March 31.
So far as this com- —
sete
\ RIL 8, 1920]
NATURE
171
_ An Electronic Theory of Isomerism.
VE read with considerable interest the sugges-
Dr. H. S. Allen in Nature for March 18 that
angmuir atom could be applied with advantage
study of organic compounds. Dr. Allen is, how-
, doubtful if the “ cubical atom” of Langmuir wiil
the existence of isomerides of the type of the
malic acids, the glutaconic acids, the cinnamic
, B-, and y-sugars, etc.; and it is certainly
to give formulz for the triple linkage on the
atom. These difficulties disappear with the
hr atom (Nature, February 19, p. 661) and the
ification of the Langmuir atom proposed by Major
.. E. Oxley (ibid., March 25, p. 105). With both
ories n and s valenciés are obtained, and, so far as
tative examination of valency in organic
ry is concerned, it is difficult to decide between
o models. Major Oxley has, however, shown
his theory can give an adequate explanation of
magnetic properties of organic compounds, and
Il success may be obtained with a theory of optical
‘crucial test appears to lie in the calculation of
tical activity of substances in the crystal form,
is probable that in the liquid condition a large
r of isomeric forms exist.
alterations in optical activity which occur with
ange of solvent and the phenomena of muta-
otation and of racemisation appear to be connected
vith changes in the direction ie of electrons.
‘hese changes could, perhaps, be more easily ex-
ined by the small orbital motions demanded by the
Langmuir theory than by the larger orbital motions
in the theory of Bohr. W. E. Garner.
niversity College, London.
. view of Dr. A. E. Oxley’s remarks in Nature
of March 25, I should like to point out that the
abject of my letter was to inquire whether the sup-
_ The difficulty of explaining diamagnetism on the
theory of the astronomical atom is well known. Possibly
2 difficulty may disappear when the nucleus is better
derstood. If electrons are considered as_point-
ses, supposition that they revolve in very
{ nali orbits without any constraining force seems
arbitrary. Dr. Allen’s theory of ring electrons is
ferable, and undoubtedly removes certain difficul-
ties. Ita rs, however, that to account for spectral
; the diameter of the orbits must be comparable
that of the atom, which implies that the electrons
‘olve round the nucleus.
Since the structure of the atom is still uncertain,
ould it not be preferable to avoid, if possible, in a
c ical theory a statement as to the immobility of
the electrons? S. C. Braprorp.
_ Science Museum, South Kensington, S.W.7.
a Percussion-Figures.
C. V. Baman describes in Nature of October 9,
19, percussion figures in isotropic solids. These
ures are known in geology, and are found on
nded boulders of compact, homogeneous rocks,
h as flint and quartzite. Albert Heim?’ described
1871 the ‘‘ percussion-cones ’’ (Schlagconus) brought
artificially on pieces of flint by a powerful short
Vierteljahrsch~ift der Naturf. Gesellschaft in Ziirich, 1871, p. 140.
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
‘The measurements were taken at
blow with a hammer. FF. Miihlberg,? of Aarau
(Switzerland) was perhaps the first geologist who
described the percussion-figures (Schlagfiguren) on
rounded boulders (1885). On some of the quartz-
boulders from the River Aar, near Aarau, he found
from hundreds to thousands of circular cracks, which
he explained by the abrasion of boulders which for-
merly received coniform cracks through the numerous
impacts during their transport through the river-bed.
hese percussion-figures must be intersecting figures
of cones and the surface of the boulder, and, there-
fore, will form, on sufficiently great boulders, nearly
circles, ellipses, and parabolas. Miihlberg described
thus percussion-figures arising from torrent-action,
whereas A. Bigot * (1907) emphasised that the “ figures
de percussion ’’ arise from wave-action.. He noticed
them on the beaches of Basse-Normandie, particu-
larly on quartzite boulders. Finally, P. N. Peach *
(1912) gave a very fine picture of the ‘bulbs of per-
cussion” found on a rounded stone (chalk flint)
dredged by the Michel Sars about 230 miles south-
west of Mizen Head, Ireland. He pointed out that
these figures indicate that ‘‘ the stones had originally
been dashed. against each other by torrent- or wave-
action.”’
Besides the term above-mentioned, Peach also uses
the term ‘chatter marks,’? which seems to me less
commendable, because this expression is also used by
T. C. Chamberlin * for a special type of glacial striz
on the rock-bed. These curved figures were also
described by Hagenbach in 1883, and afterwards called
*‘arcs de Hagenbach”’ by L. Rollier.*
Batavia, Java, February 11. B. G. Escuer.
A Peculiar Halo.
On March 16 I observed a peculiar halo here; its
form is best shown by a rough sketch. The angles
were taken with a pocket slide-rule held at arm’s
length, and are, therefore, only approximations, but
the relative values are probably fairly correct. The
halo was brightest at the point above the sun, and
faded off somewhat on each side; it ended rather
abruptly at the points shown in the sketch. The
colours, with red nearest the sun, were not very pure,
but they were purer in the arms than in the centre.
The phenomenon was visible from 14.45 to 15.40,
with intervals of disappearance when a sheet of alto-
stratus became so thick that nothing could be seen
through it but the glare of the sun. It was not
possible to see any higher layer of cloud, but the halo
probably had its origin in a layer of cirro-stratus.
15.40; a few
minutes later the halo disappeared for the last time.
C. J. P. Cave.
Sherwood, Newton St. Cyres, Devon,
March 20.
ra had,
2 Programm der Aarg hen , Aarau, 1885; Dre
heutigen und fritheren Verhiltnisse der Aare bei Aarau, p. 4.
3 Bull tin de lx Soc. géol. de France. 4e série, tome iv. (1904), p. 98.
4 Proc Roy. Soc. Edin., 1912; also Musrey and Hjort, ‘‘The Depth of
the Ocean,” p. 205.
5 7th Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol. Survey, p. 218.
6 Bulletin de la Soc. Belfortaine d’ Emulation, No. 27, 1908.
17 2
NATURE
[AprIL 8, 1920
Sea-birds: Their Relation to the Fisheries and Agriculture.
By Dr. WALTER E. COLLINGE.
1 Achaea the past few years there has been
a growing opinion on the part of the general
public and those connected with our fisheries that
the enormous number of sea-birds on our coasts
are inimical to the fisheries and to a less extent
to agriculture. This view has been fostered to
a large degree by the public expression of
irresponsible statements and by the fact that we
do not possess any exact and trustworthy know-
ledge of the nature of the food of these birds.
Even amongst ornithologists and other students
of wild-bird life widely divergent views are held.
Hitherto no investigation sufficiently compre-
hensive has been made, and in those cases where
the birds of a restricted area have been studied,
or where an insufficient number of specimens has
been examined, the results have proved incon-
clusive, and, owing to the methods employed, ‘to
some extent misleading.
About two and a half years ago, under the
auspices of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities
of Scotland, an investigation was commenced in
which it was proposed to examine large series of
each species from numerous localities during
each month of the year, and to estimate the food
by the volumetric method. Although this research
is not yet complete, sufficient data are in hand to
warrant an expression of opinion upon _ this
subject, and it is felt that such is highly desirable
at the present time, when so many erroneous
views are being circulated.
Up to the present, fourteen species have been
examined, represented by upwards of three thou-
sand specimens. The species are cormorant,
shag, common gull, herring gull, great black-
backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, black-
headed gull, kittiwake, common tern, razorbill,
guillemot, little auk, puffin, and great northern
diver. Whilst it is not possible here to reproduce
the numerous percentage tables showing the
nature of the food for each species during the
various months of the year, or those illustrating
the seasonal variations or the percentages of the
different species of fish destroyed, it is possible
to make a general statement which we believe
future work will more fully amplify and confirm.
First, we would point out that the importance
and amount of fish that has been generally
regarded as forming the diet of most of these
birds are not borne out by an actual examination
of their crop and stomach contents. Fish does
not (with such exceptions mentioned later) con-
stitute the bulk of their food or anything like the
major portion of it. Indeed, one has only to watch
carefully such species as the black-backed gull, the
herring gull, and the lesser black-backed gull on
the shore after the ebb of the tide to realise how
essentially these birds are the scavengers of the
shore. If they turn landwards, then injurious
insects, earthworms, frogs, and carrion are
greedily fed upon. Further, if one confines one’s
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
observations to birds drowned in the fishermen’s
nets, entirely misleading ideas are obtained, for
these few birds constitute but the merest fraction
of the huge bird population frequenting our coasts.
The above-mentioned fourteen species may be
divided into three classes, viz.: (i) Purely fish
feeders; (ii) largely fish feeders, but most of the
fish are not utilised by man as food; (iii) fish
feeders to less than 20 per cent. of the total bulk
of their food. Most of the species fall into —
In class (i) is placed the cormorant —
and shag, for, so far as observations go, their
class (iii).
food consists entirely of fish, and chiefly of food
fishes. In class (ii) is placed the common tern.
The remaining eleven species must all be placed
in class (iii).
From information obtained from various
sources, there is a general consensus of opinion
that the cormorant and the shag do an enormous
amount of harm to the fisheries.
advanced in their favour, though it is open to
question whether our fish supply would show any
increase even were these birds exterminated.
Respecting the common tern, sand eels constitute
fully 50 per cent. of its fish diet; the gunnel or
butter fish, gobies, young gurnard, herring, and
haddock are also taken. ie
It is not possible here to give the details of
the analyses for all the remaining species; we
shall therefore select one, the black-headed gull.
More than five hundred specimens of this species
have been examined, obtained from various
localities and during each month of the year.
This species is selected because it has increased
enormously during the last twenty years, and is
now generally regarded as one of the most
injurious both to the fisheries and to agriculture.
Of the total bulk of food consumed in a year,
96 per cent. consists of animal matter, and 4 per
cent. of vegetable matter. Of the former the
actual amount of food fishes found was 11-5 per
cent., and of other fishes (not utilised by man as
food) 9 per cent., or a total fish diet of 20-5 per
cent. Edible crustacea are present to the extent
of 4 per cent., and other forms, non-edible, to
that of 10 per cent. Marine worms constitute
18-5 per cent., molluscs 4 per cent., echinoderms
2-5 per cent., injurious insects 22 per cent., other
insects 1-5 per cent., earthworms 10 per cent., and
miscellaneous animal matter 3 per cent. Of the
vegetable matter, 2-5 per cent. consists of cereals,
and 1-5 per cent. of miscellaneous matter (Fig. 1).
If the huge bulk of food from which these
figures have been obtained means anything at all,
it indicates clearly and definitely that this species
is a highly beneficial one. By no reasonable deduc-
tion can it be shown to be otherwise, for nearly
two-thirds of its food is of a neutral nature, viz.
60 per cent. (38 per cent. of which consists of
shore refuse.) Only 18 per cent. is injurious,
and 22 per cent. is highly beneficial. We
-
?
7
Nothing can be ©
os
“fs
_ Aprit 8, 1920]
NATURE
173
el certain that no one who has had experience
n work of this character will for a moment ques-
on whether this percentage of food, which is con-
ring a benefit upon agriculture, balances the
ury that is inflicted upon an inexhaustible and
r-increasing fish supply.
Very similar figures might be advanced for the
‘maining species, none of which are taking more
in 20 per cent. of tish per annum of their total
ik of food. Is the sea so impoverished that we
nnot afford these birds this amount of fish-food
a exchange for their beneficial action in destroying
re than 20 per cent. of injurious insects (of
hich 7-2 per cent. consist of wireworms in the
ise of the black-headed gull) ?
erect h
ris |
oy |
fil inourious
/ Alii) INSECTS.
4 22-0
: RL NON-EDIBLE 50
A eae 3 3.10 CRUSTACEA
a aM 10-0
3 fo! | MARINE
ee ki fae °
“a he /s | WORMS.
ve o
ae 1S: AJ)
i. f 8-5
.. ©
. z)
_ Fic. 1.—Diagrammatic representaticn of the percentage of food of the
48 % oe gull. The portions shaded by lon ‘tudinal lines represent
food that it is beneficial the birds should eat ; those stippled, food that
4 it is injurious they should eat, and the blank portions food of a neutral
_ Mature,
__ The records, both individually and collectively,
show that the bulk of the food of these birds is
not fish, but animal matter of a neutral nature.
_ Of course, if one classes all annelids, non-edible
-crustacea, and molluscs as fish food, then very
different figures may be obtained; but those who
are acquainted with the abundance and the nature
of the marine life cast up on the shore will agree
with us in regarding these as a neutral factor.
__ If the figures are summarised for all the species
in class (iii) (so far as our investigation has gone),
the verdict is certainly in favour of these birds.
It is very easy to condemn a species because at
some particular season of the year or in some
district a certain number have been found to be
feeding upon food fishes; but, as has been fre-
quently pointed out, such partial records do not
give a true estimate of the food as a whole. It
must not for one moment be thought that we are
endeavouring to explain away the injuries inflicted,
but we contend that it is unfair to judge any
_ species of wild bird upon a local or partial record ;
the nature of the food generally throughout the
United Kingdom and over the whole year is what
we have endeavoured to learn.
Very interesting results have been obtained as to
the seasonal changes of food and the variations
in different localities. Sex and age also influence
the quantity of food taken, and although the
figures are yet incomplete, they point to the fact
that the males take a larger quantity of food than
the females, and the young birds more than
the old.
It is not within the province of this inquiry to
| discuss the question of the impoverishment of the
_ sea, but it will be impossible to conclude it without
taking cognisance of the leading views on the
subject and their bearing upon this question.
Finally, all the work goes to show that with a few
exceptions—e.g. the cormorant and the shag—
_ the food of each species is partly beneficial, and,
_ even if for the moment we admit that the per-
centage of the fish destroyed is an injury, we
must take into consideration the benefits derived
by reason of the nature of the remaining food.
This varies in different seasons of the year and
according to the nature of the locality, but if an
average is taken of the eleven species in
class (iii), we find that the total percentage of
injuries is less than that of the benefits, and that
the bulk of the food is of a neutral nature.
It is obvious that, after examining upwards of
three thousand specimens, with the _ results
obtained, the question of the food of our com-
moner sea-birds and their effect upon the fisheries
and agriculture can no longer remain where it
was; and, whilst not advocating any special pro-
tection, except in one or two cases, any agitation
for their destruction cannot be condemned too
forcibly, for, altogether apart from sentimental
reasons, it is extremely unlikely that our fisheries
would benefit or show any marked improvement,
even were hundreds of thousands of these birds
destroyed annually, whilst agriculture would
certainly be the sufferer by such a loss.
a The Imperial College of
THE Chancellor of the Exchequer, speaking in
XZ the House of Commons on March 16,
expressed concern at the extraordinary expansion
of business in the promotion of companies, and
_ said he was convinced that the time had come
when part of the money thus called for only |
creates increased competition for the limited /
-—*NO. 2632, VoL. 105]
Science and Technology.
supplies of labour and material which are all that
are available. Few of us can doubt that this
concern of the Chancellor is more than justified,
but it is not only for purely industrial enterprise
that appeals to the public at large are being made
daily for large sums of money. Owing to the
universal rise in prices, educational institutions
174
NATURE
[APRIL 8, 1920
find themselves seriously handicapped in their
endeavours to fulfil the functions assigned to
them. In the case of such educational institutions
as the schools and colleges maintained wholly,
or almost wholly, from rates and taxes, the solu-
tion is less difficult, and may be found in an
increased education rate combined with an
increased Government grant. For the universities
which have to depend largely upon fees and endow-
ment, and can rely only partly on Government
grants, the difficulties created are very serious.
It should, however, be borne in mind that money
expended on education is one of the most pro-
ductive forms of national expenditure, and, what-
ever may be the dangers of the inflation of indus-
trial capital, the nation is not yet within remote
danger of educational inflation. Rather is it
suffering grievous detriment from the semi-starva-
tion of its higher educational institutions.
Among the higher educational institutions which
are in need of financial help, the Imperial College
of Science and Technology holds a_ prominent
place, and an appeal issued some months ago by
the governing body makes clear the magnitude
and urgency of this want. The Imperial College
of Science and Technology was_ incorporated
under Royal Charter in July, 1907, and was
established “to give the highest specialised instruc-
tion and to provide the fullest equipment for the
most advanced training and research in various
branches of science, especially in its application
to industry.” The governing body was also
required to carry on the work of the Royal
College of Science, the Royal School of Mines,
and the City and Guilds (Engineering) College,
institutions previously existing, but which in 1907
became associated as integral parts of the new
institution.
The Imperial College is thus an association or
federation of colleges, deliberately charged by the
terms of its charter to afford facilities for the
highest work in pure and applied science, espe-
cially in its application to industry. As an indica-
tion of the magnitude of its work, it may be
noted that in the year 1907-8 there were 665
students, including 20 engaged on __ post-
graduate work, and the annual expenditure on
maintenance approximated to 50,0001. In the
year 1913-14—the year before the war—the
number of students was 943, including 185
engaged on post-graduate work, and the annual
expenditure on maintenance approximated to
g0,oool, During the war the numbers of
students were reduced by about two-thirds, but in
May last year there were 841, including 110 post-
graduates, and as the numbers are rapidly increas-
ing there is every indication that the college will
soon be busier than ever before. On the basis
only of the pre-war annual expenditure, the
Imperial College is as large as Manchester Uni-
versity, larger than Liverpool University, and
twice as large as Bristol University. Its rank in
science and technology, whether viewed from the
range and standard of its teaching and research,
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
or from its equipment, is at least-as high as that
of any existing university in Great Britain. ;
In order that the college may rise to the height
of its responsibilities and fulfil the functions
assigned to it by its charter, the governing body
estimates that for new buildings and equipment
at least 600,000l. is required, and for the adequate
development of the work of the college a further
annual income approximating to 100,000. The
capitalised value of the total additional require- -
ment has been put in round figures at more than
2,000,0001. It is large, but much less than the
amount required for a modern battleship, and is
not incommensurate with the importance to the
nation and the Empire of the work which the —
college has to do. a
From a quarter to one-fifth of the total number
of students are carrying on original investigations
under the direction of their respective professors,
and this, together with the research work of the
staff, results in considerable additions to know-
ledge annually. The investigations range over a
wide area of science, especially in its application
to industry. The contributions thus made to
increased industrial efficiency are no mean factor
in the national development and prosperity. At
the same time, in the course of these investigations
the relevant researches in pure science are not
neglected, and thus much is done continually to
widen the bounds of knowledge as knowledge. —
The teaching work carried on in the college
may be divided into (a) associateship and (b) post-
associateship. The former consists of courses,
approximately of honours graduate standard, lead-
ing respectively to associateships of the Royal
College of Science (A.R.C.S.), the Royal School
of Mines (A.R.S.M.), and the City and Guilds
Institute (A.C.G.I.); and the latter of courses of
study and of research, comparable in standard
with M.Sc. and D.Sc. work, leading to the
diploma of membership of the Imperial College
ADC
Styled “Imperial ” from the first, the college has
constantly to bear in mind the growing industrial
needs not only of the Kingdom, but also of the
Empire, and to do this it must possess a flexi-
bility and an adaptability suitable to the ever-
changing conditions of industry. To take one
example, the war disclosed, as in a flash, the peril-
ous condition of the optical glass and optical
instrument industry in this country through the
dependence for many years on foreign supplies,
particularly from Germany. A new department of
technical optics has been established by the
governors of the Imperial College, which, by
research, by the supply of trained technologists in
this field, and by the education of the users of
optical instruments, must go far to second the
efforts of the manufacturers to build up and
stabilise this important and essential national
industry. At no time was the need for an
intensive and extensive development of science,
both pure and applied, more needed than at the
present time of national reconstruction after five
' .
. _ APRIL 8, 1920]
NATURE
175
years of a devastating world war, and in this task
of extending our knowledge of pure science and
application to the whole field of industry the
perial College is called upon to play a vital and
dominant part.
The recognition of how great and important are
2 responsibilities thus cast upon the Imperial
lege has led to a movement for obtaining for
e college the status of a university with the
ver to confer degrees in its own subjects or
ulties. The movement is backed by the unani-
us support of the rector and professors of the
Imperial College, and it is supported, so far as
can be ascertained in any organised way, by the
overwhelming majority of the past and present
students of the college. The issue raises, no
doubt, questions that are novel and complicated
in relation to university education in general and
to the University of London in particular. Nothing
but good can come from a free and frank examina-
tion of the proposition in all its bearings, undis-
turbed and unprejudiced by lesser interests than
that of increasing the efficiency of university
education and especially of scientific education.
HE research described in the report before us
Bo was undertaken at the instigation of the Iron
_ Ores Committee of the Conjoint Board of Scien-
til © Societies. Certain lines and centres of mag-
disturbance had been noted in Britain so
if ago as 1890 by Riicker and Thorpe, and a
mew magnetic survey by Mr. G. W. Walker in
the years 1914 and 1915 confirmed the existence
of these disturbed areas. It is well known that
iron is the only element which gives rise to mag-
_ hetic effects of considerable intensity, and it was
therefore of importance to determine ‘whether any
_ relationship could be established between the loca-
tion of these disturbances and the distribution of
_ iron ores.
q The detailed magnetic survey of (1) the proved
sheet of iron ore, mainly in the state of ferrous
carbonate, round Irthlingborough, and (2) the
known areas of magnetic disturbance about
_ Melton Mowbray, was therefore undertaken by
_ Mr. Walker. At the same time, Dr. Cox reviewed
the geology of the areas and collected specimens
of rocks which promised to afford evidence in the
; matter, while the magnetic susceptibilities of
| Wilso materials were determined by Prof. Ernest
fh n.
_ The results of the magnetic and petrological
q examination of the rocks confirm the opinion that
the magnetic susceptibility of rocks depends
scarcely at all upon the percentage of metallic
iron they contain, but upon the condition—i.e.
f #tate of oxidation—of that iron; and _ that,
_ although rocks composed of ferrous compounds
_ show higher susceptibilities than those constituted
_ of fully oxidised ferric compounds, only those
rocks in which the iron occurs as the mineral
_ magnetite have notable magnetic susceptibility.
It was shown that parts of the granite of Mount
Sorrel have a susceptibility more than four times
as great as that of the most magnetic of the local
urassic iron ores, and ten to fifteen times as
yreat as certain basic igneous rocks, which,
though high in iron, contain no appreciable
amount of magnetite.
Another point of some interest is the variability
of magnetic properties shown by samples taken
from one continuous rock mass.
eng to ies Geological Structure.” yD
» Series A, vol. ccxix., pp. Sense ; :
NO. 5 eas. VOL. 105]
Magnetic Disturbances and Geological Structure.!
of the dolerite sill proved in the Owthorpe borehole
was a fine-grained rock having a glassy base; its
iron ore occurs as magnetite, and the magnetic
susceptibility of the specimen examined was
472 x 10-5 C.G.S. units. The coarse-grained rock
from the centre of the intrusion, however, in
which the iron ores crystallised as ilmenite, gave
a susceptibility of only 10-3x 10-5 C.G.S. units.
A like low susceptibility was noted also in the
basalt from the Southwell borehole.
The magnetic phenomena of the Irthlingborough
district are adequately explained by the presence
of such a large, flat-lying sheet of feebly magnetic
rock as the Bajocian iron-ore bed, but in the
Melton Mowbray district the proved limits of the
marlstone iron-ore bed bear no relation to the
observed magnetic phenomena. Moreover, the
consideration of the magnetic irregularities
obtained in the Melton Mowbray district shows
that the source of the disturbance cannot be less
than 3000 ft., and may be as much as 10,000 ft.
beneath the surface. The only rocks in this
region which have the requisite magnetic suscept-
ibility and may be expected to occur at these
depths are dolerites, such as are found intrusive
,into the Coal Measures throughout the Midland
“coalfield area, or possibly granites like those
which have invaded the old pre-Carboniferous
rocks in Charnwood Forest.
Mr. Walker’s observations show that, near to
Melton Mowbray, there are two main magnetic
disturbances, and that the line joining them
ranges north of west and south of east from
Melton Mowbray towards Rempstone, passing a
little south of the latter place. This line agrees
with that of a known fault of small throw which
cuts the Mesozoic rocks, and may be expected to
have a much larger throw in the Paleozoic and
older strata underground. Similar magnetic dis-
turbances are noted near certain large faults in
the Nottingham district. Riicker and Thorpe
showed that magnetic disturbances are always to
be expected where a sill or dyke of highly
susceptible rock is displaced by a fault, and that,
if any rock containing magnetite is intruded as
a dyke among non- -susceptible rocks, similar
magnetic disturbances must occur. It is known
that in many districts the place of intrusions has
been determined by faulting, and it is pointed out
by Dr. Cox that the concealed coalfield of Notting-
176
NATURE
{APRIL 8, 1920
hamshire should end off at an anticline, probably
faulted, in the region about Melton Mowbray.
Such an anticline has an east-and-west trend, and
carries round the strike of the Coal Measures from
its general north-east-and-south-west to an east-
and-west direction. The Rempstone-Melton Mow-
bray magnetic disturbances, therefore, are inter-
preted as additional evidence of the existence of
a fault which in the underlying Paleozoic rocks
may have a considerable throw; and it is
regarded as probable that a sill of dolerite is dis-
placed by this fault, or that an irregular mass of
dolerite is intruded along it.
The hope is expressed by the author that a
like method of attack may prove to be of use as
a guide to the divining of the position of faults
beneath a cover of unconformable strata in other
districts—e.g. in concealed coalfields, where
dolerites or other rocks containing a high propor-
tion of magnetite are present. Unfortunately,
however, or fortunately from the point of view of
the coal miner, dolerites are not an invariable con-
comitant of coal seams, and it therefore follows
that the use of the method in determining the
limits of concealed coalfields would appear to be
somewhat restricted.
British Crop >
Production.,*
By Dr. Epwarp J. Russg.i, F.R.S.
(SOF production in Britain is carried on in the
hope of gain, and thus differs fundamentally
from gardening, which is commonly practised without
regard to profit and loss accounts. Many poets from
times of old down to our own days have sung of the
pleasures to be derived from gardening. But only
once in the history of literature have the pleasures of
farming been sung, and that was nearly two thousand
years ago.
Ah! too fortunate the husbandmen, did they but know it, on whom, far
from the clash of arms, earth their most just mistress lavishes from the soil
a plenteous subsistence.—‘‘ Georgics,” Bk. II., i., 458 e¢ seg.
“Did they but know it”! Even then there seem
to have been worries!
This seeking for profit imposes an important condi-
tion on British agriculture: maximum _ production
must be secured at the minimum of cost. This condi-
tion is best fulfilled by utilising to the full all the.
natural advantages and obviating so far as possible.
all the natural disadvantages of the farm—in other
words, by growing crops specially adapted to the local
conditions, and avoiding any not particularly well
suited to them.
From the scientific point of view the problem thus
becomes a study in adaptation, and we shall find a
considerable interplay of factors, inasmuch as both
natural conditions and’ crop can be somewhat, altered
so as the better to suit each other. °
It is not my province to discuss the methods by
which plant-breeders alter plants; it is sufficient to
know that this can be done within limits which no
one would yet attempt to define. The natural condi-
tions are determined broadly by climate and by soil.
The climate may be regarded as_ uncontrollable.
“What can’t be cured must be endured.’? The
scheme of crop production must, therefore, be adapted
to the climate, and especially to the rainfall.
The rainfall map shows that the eastern half of
England is, on the whole, drier than the western half.
In agricultural experience, wheat flourishes best in
dry conditions and grass in wet conditions; the vegeta-
tion maps show that wheat tends to be grown in the
eastern and grass in the western part. The strict
relationship is that seed production is appropriate to
the drier, and leaf production to the wetter, districts.
The great soil belts of England south of the Trent
run in a south-westerly direction; north of the Trent,
however, they run north and south. A heavy soil, like
a wet climate, favours grass production; a light soil,
like a dry climate, is suitable for arable crops. The
great influence of climate is modified, but not over-
ridden, by the soil factor.
The arable farmer grows three kinds of crops:
corn, clover or seeds hay, and fodder crops for his
1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, February 20.
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
animals or potatoes for human beings. The same
general principles underlie all, and as corn crops are
of the most general interest (though not necessarily
of the greatest importance), they will serve to illus-
trate all the points it is necessary to bring out. We
have seen that wheat is cultivated more in the eastern
than in the western portion of the country. The
figures for consumption and production are as
follows :—
Millions of Tons per Annum.
Production in England Production in United
er and Wales Kingdom
United 4 ft yt ee 57
® Before Before .
Kingdom war 2914 1918 2989.) eae 1984 1918 = rg19
Wheat .. 7°40 1°60 2°3 1°83 pis | 20 2°0
Barley ... 1 96 I*2 1*2 11 1'6 1'5 1°3
Oats... 4 30 1'4 2'0 1°6 3'0 4°5 4°2
During the war very serious attention was paid to
the problem of reducing the gap between consumption
and production. A working solution was found by
lowering the milling standard, retaining more of the
offal, and introducing other cereals and potatoes; a
very considerable proportion of the resulting bread
was thus produced at home. But the war-bread did
not commend itself, and disappeared soon after the
armistice; since then the consumption of wheat has
gone up, and the divergence between consumption and
production has again become marked. There is no
hope of reducing consumption; we must, therefore,
increase production. Additional production may be
obtained in two ways: by increasing the yield per
acre, and by increasing the number of acres devoted
to the crop.
The yield per acre is shown in the following table :—
Measured Bushels per Acre.”
(1908-17)
Average yield
per acre :
England A good fi High -
JEUGn, Scotand “SSS eae Eas
Wheat iat BIO 39°9 40 to 50 96
Barley oe BEG 354 40to60 ~- 80
Oats cn 98S 38-9 60 to 80 121
The average results include bad farmers and bad
seasons; the good farmer expects to do considerably
2 Unfortunately the terms ‘‘ bushel” and ‘“‘quarter” (8 bushels) lack
definiteness, being used officially in three different senses and ig in
several others also. The following are some of the definitions of a bushel :—
Official Statistics. Corn Returns Grain Prices Frequent,
A definite Act. Order. Practice.
volume having Volume occu- Volume occu- Volume occu-
the following pied by follow- pied by follow- pied by follow-
average weight ing weight ing weight ing weight
Ib. lb. lb, Ib.
Wheat ... 61°9 60 63 63
Barley ... 53°7 5° 55 56
Oats Pee | 39 42 i 42
it 8, £9.20}
NATURE —
177
but he has many things in his favour: superior
ge, greater command of capital, and posses-
of good land; he will, therefore, always stand
the average. Even his results can be improved ;
recorded. yields show what can be done
resent varieties and present methods in
ally favourable circumstances. ‘The figures
‘measure of the scientific problem, which is
er what changes would be necessary in order
the enormous gap between the average and
. In three directions progress is possible; we
iodify the plant or the soil, or we may miti-
he effects of unfavourable climate.
f the soil can be brought into cultivation at
is necessary to carry out certain major opera-
—draini ing enclosing, etc.—which have to
aintained in full order. These lie outside our
nt discussion; we must assume that they are
operly carried out, which is by no means always
e case. Given adequate drainage, soil conditions
srofoundly modified by cultivation, which has
yped into a fine art in England and Scotland,
is, indeed, far better practised here than in most
countries. But it is an art, and not yet a
e; the husbandman achieves the results, but no
1 yet state in exact terms precisely what has
ed. A beginning has been made, and a labora-
the study of soil physics has been instituted
xthamsted and placed under Mr. B. A. Keen,
we hope gradually to develop a science of
on. For the present cultivation remains an
further, it is essentially a modern art. The
al implements, as shown ‘in the Tiberius MS.
th century) and the Luttrell Psalter (fourteenth
), were crude, and left the ground in an ex-
rough condition. Great advances were made
ighout the nineteenth century. Robert Ransome,
ipswich, took out his first patent in 1785 to
e the plough; he was followed in 1812
rd, of Bedford, and later by Crosskill,
gga sicatbine and et ey rae
ritish | ment-makers famous throughout
d. Given time and sufficient labour, the good
farmer using modern implements can accom.
vonders in the way of cultivation.
unately, neither time nor labour is always
. Ploughing is possible only under certain
conditions, and there are many days in our
when it cannot be carried out. Unless, there-
arge staff of men and horses is kept, the
often cannot be done in time to allow of sowing
er the best conditions.
The early days of the sports a plant play almost
important a part in its subsequent hist as they
in the case of a child. Illustrations ce ake too
merous of the adverse effect of being just too late
good soil conditions. One from our own fields
as follows :—
Just-in time .... Nov. 24, 1915 26-
ust too late ... Feb. 17, 1916 193
The farm-horse will not be speeded up, but main-
Ss an even pace of 2} miles per hour. According
the old ploughman’s song still surviving in our
ges, an acre a day is the proper rate :—
We ve all ploughed an arre, I'll swear and I'll vow,
; For we’re all jolly fellows that follow the plough.
ut under modern conditions it is impossible to
more than three-quarters of an acre a day ploughed
heavy land, and the scarcity of teams threatened
bring arable husbandry into a hopeless impasse.
‘tunately for agriculture, the internal-combustion
ine appeared on the farm at a critical moment in
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
Yield ot wheat
Seed sown 1916.
Bushels per acre
the shape of the tractor, and has brought the promise
of a way-out.
The tractor has two important advantages over the
horse. First of all, it works more quickly. Its pace
is 34 miles per hour instead of 2} miles. It turns
three furrows at a time instead of one only; on our
land it ploughs an acre in four hours instead of taking
nearly a day and a half, as required by horses. There
is no limit to the work it can do; even an acre an
hour is no wild dream, but may yet be accomplished.
It therefore enables the farmer to get well forward
with his ploughing during the fine weather in late
summer and early autumn, and thus to obtain the
great advantages of a partial fallow and of freedom
to sow at any desired time. On our own land our
experience has been as follows :—
Dates of Completion of Sowings of Wheat and Oats.
Year Wheat Oats
1916 | February 17 October 16
1917, March 16 3 17 | Horse only
1918 January 26 ee ee
1919 November 26 is 5 Tractor
Further, if the plough is correctly designed and °
properly used, the tractor does the work fully as
well as horses—even the horse-ploughman admits that.
It: therefore increases considerably the efficiency of
the labourer, which, as we shall see later on, might
advantageously be raised: The cost of working is
apparently less, though it is difficult to decide this
until one knows what the repairs bill will be. In our
case the cost is:— —
Cost of Ploughing per. Acre, Autumn, 1919.
-By tractor - By horses
Se he ; aa
_ Labour ~ ise Io 2
Maintenance ... _ 22 6
Oil and petrol oP AE —
Depreciation and repairs ... 6 3 _-
“at. 6 32 8
Time taken ... 4 hours 14 days
*. The internal-combustion engine is only just at the
beginning of its career on the farm, and no one can
yet. foresee its developments. It is. being used at
present simply like a horse, and is attached to imple-
ments evolved to suit the horse.. But it is not a horse;
its proper purpose is to cause rotation while it is
being used to pull, and in some cases, indeed, this
pull is reconverted into rotary motion.
The second oe method of improving soil condi-
tions is to add manures and fertilisers. Farmyard
manure is more effective than any other single sub-
stance; it is likely to remain the most. important
manure, and if available in sufficient quantity it would
generally meet the case. Realising its importance,
Lord Elveden generously provided funds for extended
investigations at Rothamsted into the conditions to be
observed in making and storing it. This work is
still going on, and is leading to some highly important
developments.
Farmyard .manure, however, is not available in
sufficient quantities to meet all requirements. The
chemist has long since come to the aid of the farmer ;
he has discovered the precise substances needed for
the nutrition of the plant, and prepared them on
a large scale. Like cultivation, this is largely a
British development; it was in London that the
first artificial manure factory was established in 1842,
and for many vears the industry was centred in
this country. The fertilisers now available are as
follows :—
178
NATURE:
[Aprit 8, 1920 —
Nitrogenous—Nitrate of soda, nitrate of lime, sul-
phate of ammonia, and cyanamide (nitrolim).
Phosphatic—Superphosphate, basic slag,
phosphate, guano, and bones.
_ Potassic—Sulphate of potash, muriate of potash,
and kainit. -
gricultusel chemists have worked out the proper
combinations for particular crops, and obtained many
striking results.
Without using any farmyard manure they have
maintained, and even increased, the yield of corn
crops, fodder crops, and hay ; and in the two latter
cases there has been an increase, not only in yield,
but also in feeding value per ton. In spite of seventy
years’ experience there ‘is still much to be learned
about the proper use of artificial fertilisers, and they
may still bring about even fuller yields from the land.
The. yield of corn crops can be increased by
artificial fertilisers, but not indefinitely; the limit is
set by the strength of the straw. As the plant
becomes bigger and bigger, so the strain on the
straw increases, until finally, when the plant is some
5 ft. high, it cannot stand up against the wind, but
is blown down.
Little is. known about the strength of straw. It is
a property inherent in the plant itself, and differs in
the different. varieties. It is affected by the season,
being greater in some years than in others. It is
affected also by soil conditions. At present the
strength of the straw is the wall against which the
agricultural improver is pulled up. The problem can
undoubtedly be solved, and the plant-breeder and soil-
investigator between ‘them may reasonably hope to
find the solution.
Another great effect of artificial fertilisers which
has not vet been fully exploited is to mitigate the ill-
effects of adverse climatic conditions.
help to counteract the harmful influence of cold, wet
weather; potassic fertilisers help the plant in dry
conditions. The combination of a suitable variety
with an appropriate scheme of manuring is capable
of bringing about considerable improvement in crop
production.
A demonstration with the oat crop on these lines
was arranged last year in a wet moorland district,
and the crops when seen in August were as follows:
Estimated crop
mineral
Bushels. ‘
Local variety, local treatment... 27 Harvest late
< phosphatic manuring 45-54 » earlier
earlier,
Special variety Be cay ~~ 66 {
_phatic manuring... ... 54 stands up well
The potato crop is governed by the same general
principles as corn crops. It furnishes more food per
acre than any other crop, but it is much more expen-
sive to produce, and therefore is grown chiefly in
districts where the conditions are particularly well
suited to it: the Fens, Lincolnshire, the plains of
Lancashire, and the Lothians, though "smaller quanti-
ties are grown in almost every part of the country.
The production and consumption are as follows :—
Potatoes: Annual Production and Consumption.
* Production
In England and Wales
ae United Kingdom
Consumption Pre-war ror8 zones Pre-war 1918 1029
6°5 30 42 2°7 £5 9°2 6°3
Millions of acres 0°46 0°63 o'748 1°20 I'5r. 1°22
We are thus self-supporting in the matter of
potatoes. We do, however, import about half a
million tons per annum of early and other potatoes;
we also export seed potatoes and some for food—in
all, about one million tons per annum.
(To be continued.)
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
Phosphates .
Notes.
WE regret to announce the death, on April 35 at
eighty-four years of age, of Capt. E. W. Creak, C.B.,
F.R.S., formerly Superintendent of Coma
Hydrographic Department, Admiralty. eee
¥
“Tue following names were inadvertently omitted
from the list of Commanders of the Order of the
British Empire (C.B.E.) announced in last week’s
issue of NaturE :—Mr. C. E. Fagan, secretary, British
Museum (Natural History); Sir W. H. Hadow, Vice-
Chancellor of the University of Sheffield; and Mr.
A. R. Hinks, F.R.S., secretary of the Royal Geo-
graphical Society. .
Lorp SupDELEY has given notice of the following
motion which he proposes to bring before the House
of Lords on April 21:—‘To call attention to the
decision of his Majesty’s Government to discontinue
the appointment of an official guide at Kew Royal
Botanical Gardens; and to move to resolve, That the
Government be requested to carry out at these gardens
the system of free popular guide-lectures on the same
plan as adopted with marked success in the Govern-
ment museum and picture galleries of the Metropolis,
and to take such further steps as after inquiry may
be found desirable for developing the resources of
these gardens to the fullest extent in the interests of
scientific and popular educaiam together with a”
recreation of the public.’’
THE Ricut Hon. F. D. Acranp recently chen in
the House of Commons whether the Lord President
of the Council ‘tis aware that dissatisfaction is being
expressed by scientific workers with the appointment
of a man without scientific qualifications as director
of research to the Glass Research Association;
whether, as the Department of Scientific and Indus-
trial Research provides four-fifths of the funds of the ©
association, the Department was consulted before the
appointment was made; and does he approve of the
appointment as giving a guarantee that State funds
devoted to scientific research will be wisely expended ? ee
Mr. Fisher replied to the question, and his answer
included the following statements :—{1) The successful
candidate has a wide and successful experience of
scientific research into the problems of the glass
industry, and is considered by the association to be
the man best suited for organising and directing the
research needed by it. (2) The responsibility for the
selection of a director of research rests in each case
with the research association concerned, and not with
the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research,
which has no power to approve or disapprove the
appointment of any individual. (3) The Department
guarantees three-quarters of the expenditure of the
research association up to a certain limit, but payment
of the grant is conditional, among other things, on
the approval by the Department of the programme of
research and of the estimate of expenditure thereon.
(4) The Advisory Council of the Department, after
considering all the relevant circumstances with great
care, recommended the approval of the expenditure
involved in this director’s appointment.
a
Apriz 8, 1920]
NATURE
179
Mr. B. D. Porritr has been appointed director of
research by the Research Association of British
Rubber and Tyre Manufacturers.
THE annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute
ill be held at the Institution of Civil Engineers,
Westminster, on Thursday and Friday, May 6 and 7,
will be adjourned from May 7 to May 14, when
final session will be held at the Mappin Hall,
effield. On the opening day the retiring president,
. Eugéne Schneider, will induct into the chair the
president-elect, Dr. J. E. Stead, the Bessemer gold
‘medal: for 1920 will be presented to Mr. Harry
Brearley, and the president will deliver his inaugural
address. The autumn meeting of the institute will
‘open at Cardiff on September 22.
Tue World Trade Club, of San Francisco, which is
‘conducting an active propaganda in favour of the com-
pulsory adoption of the metric system of weights and
‘measures, both in this country and in the United States,
has issued under the title ‘‘ Metric Literature Clues” a
list of references to books, pamphlets, documents, and
‘magazine articles on standardisation in terms of metric
units. Although ‘far from being a complete biblio-
graphy of the metric system, it includes most of the
full list of the publications of the United States Govern-
_ the title of a book or article is followed by a brief sum-
mary of its contents, sufficient to indicate to those in-
___ terested in weights and measures whether it is worth
_ while consulting the work in question. This is the
most practical and useful publication of the World
Trade Club with regard to the metric system that has
yet come to our notice.
AT a meeting of the Association of Economic Biolo-
gists held on March 24 the following papers were
_ read: (1) Mr. D. W. Cutler, “The Relation of Pro-
- tozoa to Soil Problems ”’; (2) Mr. J. F. Martley, ‘‘ The
Resin-Galls of the Wood of the Sitka Spruce (Picea
__sitchensis)”; (3) Dr. W. Lawrence Balls, ‘The Nature
and Scope of Botanical Research in the Cotton In-
dustry ’’; (4) Dr. M. C. Rayner, “The Calcifuge Habit
in Ling (Calluna vulgaris) and other Ericaceous
_ Plants”; (5) Dr. H. Wormald, ‘‘ Shoot Wilt of Plum
_ Trees.” Perhaps the outstanding feature of the
_ meeting, emphasised alike in papers and discussion,
was the necessity of pure research as a basis for all
economic applications of biology. Not only is it im-
_ possible to conduct investigations into any applied
aspect of a biological problem in which at the same
time equal attention is not given to the more funda-
_ mental considerations, but more usually it is also not
possible to separate the economic from the pure issues.
A further point of importance, arising particularly in
_ the discussion on Dr. Balls’s paper, is the great shortage
_ in this country of young botanists competent to under-
take research on industrial problems. With the ex-
pected development of research associations and the
partial recognition by manufacturers of the vital place
of the botanist in industry, this factor will become
increasingly apparent and be a serious menace to
progress.
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
best-known works on the subject, and contains a fairly
ment and of the Bureau of Standards. In. some cases
Tue Port Erin Biological, Station will be occupied
during the Easter vacation (March 20 to April 20) by
nine or ten professors, each with a group of senior
students, including Profs. Doncaster, Harvey-Gibson,
Johnstone, and Herdman (Liverpool), Prof, Gamble
(Birmingham), Dr. Tattersall (Manchester), Mr, Douglas
Laurie (Aberystwyth), Prof. Benjamin Moore (London),
Prof. Cole (Reading), Prof. Stephenson (Lahore), and
Prof. Dakin (Western Australia), There are also
groups of other post-graduate workers and senior
students from Cambridge, Nottingham, Liverpool, and
other centres, as well as a large botany class in the
earlier part of the vacation, to .be followed by a
zoology class later. The laboratory accommodation is
strained to the utmost capacity, and additions to both
building and staff are urgently required. The usual
excursions for shore-collecting and plankton work and
dredging are being arranged, and the fish-hatching is
in full swing. The season is an early one at sea.
The phyto-plankton has consisted for the last ten days
of March mainly of Coscinodiscus and Biddulphia,
and the plaice in the spawning-pond have produced
fertilised eggs at least a month earlier than usual—
the first hatched larvae were noticed on February 9—
and herring are being caught each night in the bay.
The Bill transferring the biological station and fish
hatchery from the Manx Government to the Oceano-
graphy Department of the University of Liverpool
has now passed through the House of Keys, and ‘the
University takes over the control of the institution
and the work as from April 1 last. The director
wishes it to be known that this makes no change in
the use of the biological station by researchers from
other universities. .
THE Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries last year
purchased an estate of more than 1500 acres of typical
heath-land at Methwold, in Norfolk. This estate is
to be a National Demonstration Farm, and one of
the chief objects for its existence is to show what
can be obtained from poor heath-land by the adoption
of good husbandry methods. The Weekly Service for
March 20 from the Ministry of Agriculture gives a
short account of the work to be undertaken at this
farm. Two hundred acres of the estate have been
reclaimed from bracken land, so that at the present
time 1043 acres are under arable cultivation, 43 acres
under grass, and 441 acres are waste heath. The
chief part of the scheme will be the building up and -
improvement of the land by chalking and by the
addition of organic matter. Tobacco-growing on a
comparatively large scale will also be a feature of the
cultivation. By encouraging the growing of this crop
the Ministry hope to supplement the experimental
work carried out during the past six years by the
British Tobacco Growers’ Society, Ltd., and also to
assist those smallholders in the neighbourhood who
may be inclined to try tobacco-growing when there is
a central station at hand to supply the necessary
information and to provide for the treatment of the
crop. The scheme also includes stock-rearing, poultry-
keeping, and pig breeding and rearing on the open-air
system. The result should prove very valuable both for
large-scale farmers and for smallholders, since the
180
NATURE
[Apri 8, 1920
fields are of a good size and well adapted to the use
of implements of a large, up-to-date form, while the
light and early character of the land should render it
specially suitable for small arable dairy holdings.
Tue revival of Oriental research is happily marked
by the reappearance of Prof. Flinders Petrie’s admir-
able journal, Ancient Egypt. Great changes have oc-
curred since the outbreak of hostilities. In Egypt the
main actors are gone—Sir Gaston Maspero, his son
Jean Maspero, Legrain, and Barsanti. On the English
side the losses have been equally severe—Sir A. Ruffer,
H. Thompson, I. Dixon, and K. T. Frost, all victims
of the war; and at home the early death of Prof.
Leonard King has left history and archzology crippled.
But, so far as was possible, work has gone on, par-
ticularly under the new conditions in Palestine, where
a school of archzology, under the superintendence of
Prof. Garstang, is being founded. The.British School
in Egypt is starting work with a large staff, and in
the United States, under Prof. Breasted, the Oriental
Institute of the Chicago University has been opened.
But funds are badly wanted botn in Egypt and in
Palestine, and though this is an unfavourable time
.for such an appeal, there is good hope that British
archeologists will provide the necessary assistance.
In the Museum Journal (vol. x., No. 3, September,
1919) Mr. H. V. Hall discusses the question of African
art. So much has been said, Mr. Hall remarks, about
the uniformity of African culture that the variety
which exists tends sometimes to be overlooked. The
people of eastern and southern Africa are chiefly
interested in the products of the animal, those of
central and western Africa in the products of the
vegetable, kingdom. Speaking broadly, the region east
of the lakes and south of the Zambezi-Congo water-
shed is the home of pastoral tribes, and the Congo
and the Lower Niger races practise agriculture.
Hence ‘the latter have more leisure to devote to art-
work. The question of foreign influence on the negro
is of great importance. There are at least four routes
from the north and north-west by which the dark
heart of the continent can be reached. A growing
mass of evidence points to the conclusion that, even
in historic times, these routes have never been quite
barred to civilising influences; especially in the expan-
sion of old Egypt the solution’ of many problems of
culture apparently indigenous in Central Africa must
be sought.
A COMMITTEE appointed by the Royal Anthropological
Institute is engaged in collecting information regard-
ing megalithic monuments. As an example of the
scientific method of conducting such a survey, Messrs.
J. S. Wilson and G. A. Garfitt, in,the March issue of
Man, supply a map of the Eyam Moor circle in Derby-
shire. This. work is important in connection with
Sir Norman Lockyer’s investigations. ‘‘ In the survey
of the Eyam Moor circle several large stones were
noted on the near horizon towards the N.E. and E.
The path of the sun at sunrise for the latitude of
the circle, after making allowances for refraction, was
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
calculated for different declinations of the sun and
plotted on the chart. It will be seen that the position —
of prominent stones.plotted on the diagram: appears to”
mark the position of sunrise at midsummer and at
the equinox. On the diagram the position of sunrise
is shown for the present obliquity of the ecliptic, or
sun’s apparent declination of 23° 27’, also for an
obliquity of 23° 57’, which, according to the estimates
of astronomers, would have been correct 2000 years
before the Christian era. The small difference in the
position of the sun indicates the difficulty of fixing the
age of a monument by this means.”
Tue Department of Agriculture, Federated Malay
States, in view of the necessity for an increased local
production of foodstuffs, has issued a special Bulletin
(No.. 30) on ‘Food Production in Malaya,” compiled
by Mr. F. G. Spring and Mr. J. N. Milsum. The
booklet contains 112 pages and 12 plates, costs one
dollar, and brings together a large amount of useful
information. It includes sections on seasons and
rainfall, types of land (whether coastal or inland),
soils, tillage, agricultural machinery, rotation of.
crops, manures, and insect pests and other diseases.
Suitable cereal, pulse, and root crops are described,
and their cultivation, harvesting, yield, and economic —
uses considered in some detail. The principal cereals
are ragi (Eleusine coracana) and rice; various
millets and sorghum form subsidiary crops; the chief
pulses are green and black gram, cow-pea, and the
ground-nut; and the chief root-crops sweet ena
yams, and manihot (tapioca).
A SYSTEMATIC enumeration of the palms of the,
Philippines is given by Dr. O. Beccari in the Philip-
pine Journal of Science (vol. xiv., No. 3). One
hundred and twenty species are at present known to
be indigenous, which, with the exception of about a
dozen species of relatively wide geographic distribu-.
tion, are endemic forms. .4n discussing the relation-
ships of the palm-flora, Dr. Beccari concludes that
the Philippine species have in great measure
originated in the archipelago, but their phylogeny
may be traced to species growing chiefly in Borneo,
Celebes, the Moluccas, and Indo-China, excluding
about a dozen species whieb: possessing adaptations
for easy dissemination, have a rather wide distribu-
tion. A small Polynesian element is represented by
Adonidia, the only genus peculiar to the archipelago,
and Heterospathe. In the Philippines a few large
genera have given rise to numerous species, whereas
in Polynesia monotypic or oligotypic genera are
numerous, and no genus contains a great number of
species.
Tue Meteorological. Magazine for March gives a
short notice of the work of the International Meteoro-_
logical Conference held in Paris in October last,
taken from the account of the conference published in |
Paris by the Bureau Central Météorologique. Further
details will be welcomed when they are published by
the meteorological authorities in our own country.
The preceding meeting of the body was held at
Innsbruck in 1905, so that much advance in the
L 8, 1920]
NATURE
182
» had to be reported and new methods of working
1 for, especially with regard to aviation. The
contains a reproduction of a photograph of
s of the conference.
Meteorological Office chart of the North Atlan-
an for February contains some notes on the
and distribution of ice in these waters, and some
t of the ice patrol of the United States Govern-
ich was resumed in 1919 after several years’
ion during the war. Two coastguard cutters
sen detailed for the purpose of locating icebergs
ck-ice in the vicinity of trans-Atlantic steamship
_ During the months of April, May, and June
two vessels alternate on patrol, each taking
n days in the ice region, exclusive of the time
in going to and from Boston for coal and sup-
Movements of ice are reported by wireless at
hours daily. At 6 p.m. (75th meridian time) ice
ation is sent broadcast with a 600-metre wave-
The message is repeated three times. At
. the same information is sent out, using a
wave-length. At 4 a.m. a message defining
e and southern limits of the ice is sent to the
York Hydrographic Office. Ice information is
t at any hour to any ship with which the patrol
can communicate. It will be recalled that this
work which was initiated by the Scotia subse-
to the loss of the Titanic. The chart also bears
interesting map showing the drifts on the east coast
Greenland, in Baffin Bay, and in Davis Strait of
various ships that have been imprisoned in the ice, and
castaway crews during the last hundred years. The
rch chart gives an account of the relation of the
rth Atlantic ice to currents and fogs.
Currrapunyr, in the Khasi Hills in India, is often
ted as -having the greatest known annual rainfall.
ng to the Indian Meteorological Department,
mean: annual rainfall there is 426 in. The greatest
ition is said to have occurred in 1861, when
of go5 in. was recorded, though doubt has
been expressed as to the accuracy of this record. It
, however, that the Cherrapunji rainfall is sur-
by records on the mountains in the Hawaian
Is. Thus Mount Waialeale is the peak (5080 ft.)
‘sland of Kauai, but is inaccessible except to
ost expert mountaineers. On this account it
very difficult to maintain the station, and the
has finally had to be discontinued. According
the Monthly Weather Review (U.S. Dept. of Agric.),
. xIvii., No. 5, during the periods August 2, 1911-
arch 26, 1914 and May 31, 1915-August 13, 1917,
total of 1782 days, there was recorded on Mount
Waialeale a total precipitation of 2325 in., or an
average of 1-3047 in. per day. In a 365-day year this
Id amount to an annual precipitation of about
6 in. No records were obtained during the years
‘4 and 1918, but these years were considered the
ttest since the local Weather Bureau Office was
plished in the Hawaian islands. Comparative
‘iimates from. trustworthy records obtained at near-
by stations indicated that the rainfall at Waialeale
nust have exceeded 600 in. From May 21, 1915-
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
May 30; 1916, the recorded rainfall of Mount Waia-
leale was 561 in. The Hawaian islands are known
for other very damp spots. Thus Puu Kukui, 5000 ft.,
on the Island of Maui, had. a seven-year average of
369 in. (maximum 562 in. in 1918), On the Island
of Hawaii, at a certain spot of 4000-ft. elevation, the
rainfall in 1914 amounted to 504 in. At at least a
dozen other spots, all more than 1000-ft. elevation, the
rainfall in each of the years 1914 and 1918 exceeded’
350 in,
TECHNOLOGIC Paper No. 123, by Mr. D. W. Kessler,
of the Bureau of Standards, Washington, is devoted
to the tests of the physical and chemical properties.
of fifty of the commercial marbles of the United
States. Marble has been selected as the first stone:
to be tested, but the whole of the deposits of stone:
in the country are to come under test in course of
time in order to provide the knowledge required by
architects in designing structures. The tests are of
tensile and compression strengths, specific gravity,
porosity, absorption of water, effect of freezing,
chemical composition, electrical resistivity, expansiorm
with heat, and liability to warping. The trade name
and origin of each sample are given, and the tabulated’
results of the tests fill twenty pages.. The properties.
of the samples differ widely, although the specific
gravities do not differ more than about 5 per cent.
from each other. On heating, each sample expands,
and on afterwards cooling fails to regain its original
dimensions. In consequence of this, marble sub-
jected to frequent heating and cooling is liable to
warp.
ScienTiFic Paper 352 of the Bureau of Standards,
Washington, gives the results of the measurements of
the expansion of forty samples of porcelain, about the
same number of samples of bakelite and similar mate-
rials, and about a dozen samples of marble and lime-
stone, made by Messrs. W. H. Souder and P. Hidnert,
of the Bureau. The samples were in the form of rods
30 cm. long and 1 cm. square section, and were heated
in a horizontal electric furnace. The expansions were
measured by a pair of microscopes mounted on a bar
of invar. For the porcelain samples the coefficients
per degree Centigrade between 0° C. and 200° C. vary
from 2 to 20 millionths, according to the composition, —
and between 200° C. and 400° C. from 3 to 11 mil-
lionths. - Beryl porcelains haye the smallest coeffi-
cients. For bakelite and similar materials-no values
can be given, as there is so much contraction on again
bringing the material to its original temperature. The
marbles up to 100° C. have coefficients between 5 and
15x10-*, and at higher temperatures larger values.
On cooling to their original temperature they show a
permanent expansion. When cooled to —80° C. marble
expands to nearly the same extent as when heated to
80° C., so that it has its maximum density in the
neighbourhood of 0° C.
Tue Science Reports of the University of Sendai,
Japan, for December, 1919, contain a paper by Mr. S.
Konno on the heat conductivities of metals below and
above their melting points. The metals were tested in
182 NATURE {APRIL 8, 1920
the form of, circular discs about 2 cm. thick and | to make sensational discoveries, and there is so far
25 cm. in diameter enclosed in a porcelain tube between
iron cylinders of the same diameter. In the upper iron
cylinder heat was generated by a measured electric
current. The fall of temperature through the disc
was determined by means of thermo-couples. For tin,
lead, zinc, and aluminium the heat conductivity de-
creases gradually up to the*melting point. At the
melting point the conductivity decreases abruptly, but
in the liquid state its rate of decrease with increase of
temperature is slight. Bismuth increases in conduc-
tivity on melting, but change of temperature has little
effect on the conductivity in either the liquid or the
solid state. Antimony has its maximum conductivity
at the melting point. In all cases the electrical and
heat conductivities change in the same direction on
melting, but neither above nor below the melting
point does their quotient agree with electronic theories.
Tue trouble of working gelatine plates under tropi-
cal conditions seems at last to have been overcome. In
the Journal of the Royal Photographic Society for
March, Mr. A, P. Agnew, of Messrs. Ilford, Ltd.,
describes the “Ilford tropical hardener ’’ that is now
supplied by Messrs. Johnson and Sons. Mr. penew
found that a ‘‘quite weak solution of formalin”
became very effective when certain salts were dissolved
in the solution. Many sodium salts were found useful,
while potassium and magnesium salts are not so effec-
‘tive, and ammonium salts are unsuitable. Some salts
have no effect, while chlorides, bromides, and nitrates
in general have an opposite action—that is, they soften
the egelatine. The exposed plate is put into the suit-
ably diluted hardening solution for three minutes, then
rinsed and developed, etc., as usual. Plates so treated
at pe tac varying from 100° to more than
140° F., then fixed in a plain hypo solution at 40° F.,
and finally washed for two hours at more than 100° F,
remained firm and did not even show signs of reticula-
tion. Such trying conditions as these would never
occur in practical work.
A PHOTOGRAPHIC developing agent must be able to
reduce silver bromide that has been changed into the
developable condition, as by exposure to light, while
under the same conditions it is unable to reduce silver
bromide that has not been so changed. There are
many reducing agents that make no distinction
between these two states of silver bromide. Some
twenty years ago Messrs. A. and L, Lumiére found
certain details of chemical constitution that appear to
confer developing power, and since then they and
others have extended the investigation. In the British
Journal of Photography for March 26 there appears
a translation of a paper by Dr. Seyewetz (of Lumiére’s)
in which the author summarises our present know-
ledge of this matter. Knowing the necessary con-
stitution, a very large number of developers have
been introduced and actually put upon the market,
but the greater number have commercially disappeared,
because in some -way or other they were incon-
venient to use. Dr. Seyewetz says that it is improb-
able that new developers will displace those now in
common use. As in the case of dyes, it seems difficult
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
no indication of the direction in which to seek for
new developers that would prove acceptable, as, for
example, by permitting a reduction in the period
of exposure.
Besipes the paper on H.M.S. Hood, read at the
recent meeting of the Institution of Naval Architects
by Sir Eustace d’Eyncourt, there are important articles
in the Engineer and Engineering for March 26 dealing
with this ship. The building was commenced - in
April, 1916, at the Clydebank yard of Messrs. John
Brown and Co., Ltd., the first of the main belt
‘armour-plates (32 tons each) reached the yard in June,
1918, the ship was launched on August 22, 1918,
and the fitting out was completed in January of this
year, when the huge ship passed down the Clyde to
the open sea. On the trial trips the turbines developed
157,000 shaft-horse-power, the speed attained being
32 knots. The overall length is 860 ft., the extreme
breadth 104 ft., the mean load draught 28-5 ft.,
and the displacement at load draught 41,200 tons.
The hull is fitted with a bulge or blister for securing
the ship against effective attack by torpedo. The
armour ranges from 12 in. thick amidships to 5 in. aft.
The deck over the magazines is 3 in. thick. There
are eight 15-in. guns, all on the middle line, each
pair being mounted in an armoured barbette. The
secondary armament consists of twelve 5-5-in. guns,
and there are four 4-in. anti-aircraft guns mounted
on the superstructure. The ship is fitted with six |
torpedo tubes for 21-in. torpedoes. There are eight
electric generators, four of which are driven by re-
ciprocating engines, two by geared high-speed impulse
turbines, and two by eight-cylinder Diesel oil engines.
About 360 electromotors are installed, Wepinsts. from
% to 140 brake-horse-power.
Sir ALFRED Ewing is bringing out alse imme-
diately, through the Cambridge University Press, a
treatise on ‘‘ Thermodynamics for Engineers,” in which
the author aims at making readers familiar with the
physical bearing of the fundamental ideas of the subject
by means of an elementary introduction and by dealing
with practical problems in the theory of heat-engines
and of refrigeration. A more mathematical treatment
of general thermodynamic relations follows. There
will also be an appendix sketching in outline the
molecular theory of gases, with special reference to
internal energy and specific heat. Another book on
the list of the Cambridge University Press is by Prof.
A. S. Eddington, entitled “Space, Time, and Gravita-
tion.’ It is promised for the coming summer.
A FORTHCOMING addition to Sir Edward Thorpe’s
series of Monographs on Industrial Chemistry is of
current interest, seeing that it will treat of “The
Manufacture of Sugar from the Cane and Beet.”’ It
will be by T. H. P. Heriot, of the Royal Technical
College, Glasgow, and’ give special attention to the
principles underlying factory operations,
Erratum.—On p. 138 of Nature of April 1, col. 1,
line 15 from the bottom of the page, bx should be
éxi in the equation y=axi+bx!. The fractional index
was broken during paging of the issue.
“Apnn 8, 1920]
NATURE 183
‘
es Our Astronomical Column.
.—A knowledge of the parallax of Capella
of special interest owing to the close resemblance
of this star’s spectrum to that of the sun and the fact
that it is a spectroscopic binary with a period of
104} days. Prof. F, Schlesinger and Mr. Z. Daniel
» made a new determination at the Allegheny
srvatory (Astr. Journ., No. 765). They observed
1 the principal star and Furuhjelm’s distant com-
ion. The weighted mean parallax (absolute) is
"+0006". Earlier results are: Elkin, 0-079";
ost, 0-051"; and Adams and Joy, 0-105”.
The star B.D.+61° 2068, the proper motion of which
‘is 7", was also measured for parallax at Allegheny,
the large value 0-139”+0-007" (absolute) being found.
The corresponding absolute magnitude is 9-3 visual
and 10-5 photographic.
Attempts were made some twenty years ago to
detect the duplicity of Capella telescopically. It was
con for a time that the 28-in. equatorial at
Greenwich gave an elongated image, but, in view of
the failure of the great American refractors, little
_ reliance was placed on this. A letter from Prof. Hale
dated January 6 last (Observatory, March) announces
that success has been obtained by interferometer
‘methods with the 1oo-in. reflector. It was deduced
‘that the separation on December 30, 1919, was 0-042",
and the position angle 148° or 328°. It is hoped that
a continued series of such observations will give a
_ determination of the inclination of the orbit, and
hence of the masses of the components. There is
even a prospect that the diameters of such giant
stars as Sirius, Antares, and Betelgeux may be deter-
_minable with the interferometer.
ae
Cape OBSERVATIONS OF THE SuN, MERCURY, AND
_ Venus.—The Cape observations of these bodies, made
_ with the new transit circle and the travelling-wire
micrometer during the five years 1907-11, have just
been distributed, together with a discussion of results.
_ The corrections to the equinox derived from the three
‘bodies are in good accord, and indicate that New-
_comb’s system of right ascensions needs the constant
-eorrection —o-05s. The corrections to Newcomb’s
longitudes of perihelia of Mercury, Venus, and the
earth are —o-78", +68”, and —7-4" respectively.
_ These are of interest in relation to the Einstein con-
_ troversy. Newcomb applied the corrections to the
centennial motion of the perihelia given by the
_ Asaph Hall hypothesis, according to which gravita-
- tion varies as 71-7°°°°*, This formula gives
s +4337", +16-98", and +10-45" for Mercury, Venus,
and the earth, whereas Einstein’s' formula gives
_ +42-9", +8-6", and +3-8”". It will be seen that the
adoption of Einstein’s law of gravitation bv the
Nautical Almanac would mean a movement towards
_ Newton’s law, not a departure from it.
_ The following semi-diameters of Mercury and Venus
eats er
a he
tions :—Mercury (latitude observations) 3-36"+0-03",
4 oman 3°79" +0-17"; Venus (latitude) Roortoos"”
(longitude) 8-97"+0-04”". The tabular values
— 3:34” and 8-40".
extent on obsérvations made during transits, they
are likely to be somewhat too small.
The Cape results may be too large owing to irradia-
tion, but, since all the observations were made in
_ daylight, this is not likely to be excessive. But as the
are
_-mass of Venus is only five-sixths that of. the earth,
it is probable that its diameter is also smaller, whereas
__» the Cape figures make it equal to the earth.
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
at distance unity were deduced from the observa-
As these depend to a considerable
Basic Slag and its Uses in Agriculture.
es important discussion on basic slag and its uses
in agriculture, organised by the Faraday Society,
at which a number of leading representatives of the
steel makers and of agriculturists were present, was
held in the rooms of the Chemical Society on
March 23. Prof. F. G. Donnan presided over the
meeting.
The discussion was opened by Dr. E. J. Russell,
who gave a general survey of the subject and indi-
cated the nature of the problems concerned. The basic
slag produced by the basic Bessemer process had
earned a high reputation as a potent agent in the
improvement of poor pastures. The effect is indirect,
and results from a stimulation of the white clover—
whether the action of the phosphate is on the clover
plant or on the nodule organism is not yet certain.
But whatever the reason, the effect on pasture land
is very marked, and British agriculturists could absorb
some 300,000 or 400,000 tons a year if this could be
produced.” Unfortunately for agriculturists, however,
the Bessemer process is in danger of supersession, and
the basic open-hearth process is taking its place.. This
new process gives two kinds of slag, both poorer than
the Bessemer slag in phosphates,
One of these slags is made by the use of calcium
fluoride, and in consequence is less soluble than the
other. The great problem before the investigator at
the present time is to enrich the low-grade slags so
as to make them better worth grinding and transport
than they now are.
Open-hearth slag made without fluorspar has
hitherto proved practically as effective as the old
Bessemer slag when compared on the basis of equal
amounts of phosphorus. Fluorspar slag has proved to
be of less value, although considerably better than
was at first thought.
It is usually assumed, though by no means proved,
that the phosphate is the only effective constituent in
the slag. At various times it has been suggested that
lime, manganese, or iron might be useful; it is also
possible that slag contains a silico-phosphate which
might have more value than the ordinary phosphate.
The enrichment of the slag cannot apparently be
brought about by any change in the pig iron, owing
to the great disparity in price between steel and slag;
fractionation is, however, possible, or the addition of
ground mineral phosphate to the molten slag. Further
experiments would be necessary before any decision
can be made.
Sir Thomas Middleton gave an account of the place
of basic slag in the agricultural system of this country.
British farmers tend more and more to produce animal
rather than human food. The two main human food-
crops—wheat and potatoes—occupied no more than
3,000,000 acres before the war, while 36,000,000 acres
were devoted to the crop requirements of cattle and
sheep. The value of the wheat and potatoes was
about 27,000,000l., while the live stock brought in
some 125,000,000l. The supreme importance of basic
slag arises from the fact that it helps to produce
animal food; it is essentially a pasture fertiliser. In
the Cockle Park experiments the untreated pasture
yielded about 20 Ib. of lean meat per acre per annum;
after treatment with basic slag the yield rose to 105 Ib.
of meat per acre. The results of many other experi-
ments show that on thousands of acres in this country
the yield of meat might be increased by the use of
basic slag. Nor are the advantages of slag confined
to grass land. By ploughing up more grass, valuable
additions could be made to the tillage land, and if the
remaining grass were treated with basic slag there
184
NATURE
[ArriL 8, 1920
would be no falling off in total yield, in spite of the
diminished area.
Mr. Bainbridge gave an account of the experiments
by Dr. Stead and Mr. Jackson on the solubility of
basic slag in citric and carbonic acids. The reason
why fluorspar makes the phosphoric acid in slag
insoluble is that a reaction occurs between fluoride
and phosphate, producing an artificial apatite, which,
as regards insolubility, resembles natural fluorapatite.
Even the most soluble phosphatic slags undergo this
change and become insoluble on melting with fluor-
spar. Carbonic acid, after long-continued attack,
generally dissolves out more phosphoric acid than a
single attack by the standard citric acid.
Mr. G. Scott Robertson gave details of the field tests:
made to compare the effect of various types of open-
hearth basic slags on grassland. These experiments
were made in Essex on London clay, Boulder clay, and
chalk. They show that all the phosphatic slags are
effective fertilisers; but there are important differences
in the agricultural effects, which are not connected
with solubility according to the citric acid test; indeed,
this test affords no indication of the fertilising value
of open-hearth slags. Details of the botanical exam-
| removed in the middle of the process. By this method
ination of the plots showed the striking effect of the |
basic slags in reducing the amount of bare space and
in increasing the amount of clover.
Mr. Daniel Sillars made an important contribution
from the metallurgical side, discussing the formation
of basic slag in the manufacture of steel. The phos-
phide of iron, Fe,P, in which state of combination
phosphorus exists in molten iron, is oxidised by
reactions of the type—
-5Fe,0,+2P=15FeO+ P.O,
5Fe,0,+ 8P=15Fe+ 4P.0,.
The P,O,; formed may combine with FeO to form
Fe,(PO,)., which, however, is unstable in the pres-
ence of a large excess of iron, and a reaction such as
Fe,(PO,),+11Fe=8FeO+2Fe,P results, and it is in
consequence of this reaction that the acid process of
steel-making is unable to remove phosphorus. In the
basic process the presence of lime affords an oppor-
tunity to the phosphoric acid to form a stable body by
the reaction—
Fe,(PO,), + 4CaO =Ca,P,0,+ 3FeO.
The calcium phosphate formed is only _feebly
attacked and decomposed by the metallic iron, but
manganese and carbon attack it more vigorously and
cause the phosphoric acid to be reduced and the metal
to be re-phosphorised. These reactions are, of course,
proceeding concurrently, and it is necessary to main-
tain a certain concentration of ferrous oxide in the
slag to minimise, so far as possible, the tendency to
re-phosphorisation. | Re-phosphorisation is probably
due to the reaction between ferrous phosphate and
lime being slightly reversible, whereby a small con-
centration of ferrous phosphate is always present,
which is reduced by the carbon unless a source of
oxygen is. supplied by ferrous oxide in the slag.
In ordinary practice the open-hearth process is
carried out by allowing the slag formed by the oxida-
tion of the silicon, phosphorus, and manganese to flow
over shutes made in the fore-plates into slag-pots
under the furnaces, and no attempt is usually made
to remove more slag than that which flows out natur-
ally when the level of the slag in the furnace is higher
than the level of the fore-plate. The slag left behind
is carried on, and forms part of the finishing slag,
which latter is therefore much greater in volume, and
therefore lower in phosphoric acid, than the slag
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
of operation the time spent in tapping the furnace for
separation of the slag and for the formation of a new
slag is saved, but the slag is inferior both in richness
and in citrate solubility if that still forms a criterion
of excellence to the agriculturist.
Mr. Ridsdale took part in the discussion, and
exhibited specimens of slags examined in the classic
investigations by Stead and Ridsdale; and Mr. W. S.-
Jones contributed a paper on the improvement of
low-grade basic slags.
As a result of the discussion it was decided to ask
the Ministry of Agriculture to form a Committee
which should study possible practical steps to effect
improvement in quality and in quantity of the phos-
phatic slags.
Verification of Screw Gauges for Munitions
of War. ae:
HE Bulletin de la Société d’Encouragement pour
l’Industrie Nationale (November—December, 1919,
No. 6) contains an article by M. Cellerier, of the
Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, on the verification
'of screw gauges, with particular reference to the
| Ministry of Munitions.
methods advocated by Mr. Bingham Powell, who was
engaged in the United States during the war as
Inspector of Gauges and Standards for the British
These methods related chiefly
'to the measurement of the full, effective, and core
diameters; the verification of pitch was neglected
until quite a late period of the war, owing to the
lack of instruments possessing the requisite precision
and rapidity. eee Bet
Extreme accuracy is of the highest importance in
measurements of pitch, as any error in the
of this error if the gauge is to be accepted as correct.
Where the permissible deviations are very small,
an error in pitch of a few ten-thousandths of an inch
may thus completely annihilate the tolerance on effec-—
tive diameter. Inaccuracies of pitch are often
regarded as essentially progressive; but this is not
_ always the case, as deformations due to hardening
may introduce variable errors of quite appreciable
magnitude. The method frequently adopted of
verifving the pitch by measurements made on a
length comprising a number of threads is accordingly
much less trustworthy than the practice, long in
vogue in France, of testing separately a number of
consecutive threads. ,
For the latter process measuring machines of the
pattern used at the National Physical Laboratory are
narticularly suitable, but at the time when the demand
for extreme accuracy in screw gauges for war-work
first became pressing it was impossible to obtain one
of these machines in America without considerable
delay, and accordingly Mr. Powell found it necessary
to devise an instrument on the spot. He dispensed
with the optical contrivance which forms an essential
feature of the laboratory machine, and substituted for
the spherical contacts a lever terminating in a small _
sphere which rests freely in the screw and can be —
guided conveniently in the axial plane from one thread
to another. The lever consists of a very light needle,
arranged in such a way that the apparatus can also
be used for testing internal screws or nuts by means
of appropriate casts taken by an ingénious and
delicate method, but only a small segment of the
internal thread can be obtained in this way for testing -
purposes.
pitch
makes it necessary for the maximum limit of effec-
tive diameter to be reduced by double the amount ~
+
L 8, 1920]
“NATURE
regards the measurement of diameters, although
dinary micrometer will suffice’ for ‘the external
sion, it is not suitable for determining either
ective or the core diameter. Before testing the
e diameters it is necessary to know the errors
pitch, in order that the appropriate reductions
made in the maximum limit of tolerance. A
er with point contacts should never be used
or the effective diameter, as it bears only on
¢ parts, and, further, the points wear down
Even when new, its contacts for screw-
rarely have the correct angle. It is, however,
1 check on results obtained by the aid of wire
s, especially for investigating anomalies which
apparent in these results. bi
Powell has made a special study of wire con-
for testing effective diameters. He employs
natically two series of wires for each pitch of
few. One series is such that the wire bears exactly
the theoretical effective diameter of a_ perfect
; in the other series the wire bears on the sides
-serew not far from the outer edge, but so as
id the rounded-off part in Whitworth threads.
correct diameters for the series are calculated
simple formula. The wires, which are finished
inding, must be perfectly cylindrical, and_ their
have to be ascertained to an accuracy of
in.; any error in the diameter. of the wire
ied threefold in the result obtained for the
They are made of hardened steel,
about 2 in. in length, or longer for very large
; but their exact adjustment is only necessary
about half an inch in the centre of the lensth.
verification of internal screws may be effected
by emoloving either an external screw having
correct dimensions for external, effective, and
> diameters, or a screw correct for maximum and
diameters, but slightly small for core dia-
A plug is also used in this case for verifying
minimum diameter of the internal screw. If
> gauges enter the nut, the test is regarded as
anit
as the external screw may appear to give a good
even if it bears on only one diameter of the
while the other diameters may be far outside the
tolerance. A large number of different gauges
in order to verify separately every
er of an internal screw. :
- Powell has drawn up a list of equipment
lired in the verification of screw gauges. ‘This
udes a pitch-measuring machine, an apparatus for
casts of internal screws, a projecting ar-
-, an instrument for measuring the three
eristic diameters of external screws, a collec-
suitable wire contacts, small triangular prisms
- verifying core diameters, standardised micro-
neters, Johansson gauges, anda complete set of
_ standards for measuring diameters, pitch, and form
of eet threads.
__ A theoretical explanation of the principles of the
; ods employed would have been of interest. In
sence some doubts arise, for example, as to the
eal value of profiles of screw-threads projected
screens. Again, the contacts of small cylindrical
s on the helicoidal surfaces of threads cannot be
rded as the same as that of a circle and two
tersecting straight lines, although the formule
emploved, which are stated without proof, apnear to
= founded on a consideration of this kind. In con-
on, Mr. Powell’s methods are by no means
tirely novel, but they were verv successful during
war, and will no doubt be found instructive by
I'those engaged in the manufacture and verification
screw gauges.
‘NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
; but, in reality, this is not alwavs the
185
The Composition of Salvarsan.
WHEN salvarsan was first introduced for use in
: medicine the German manufacturers stated that
it contained ‘‘ about 34 per cent. of arsenic,’’ which is
the percentage calculated for a pure dihydroxydiamino-
arsenobenzene dihydrochloride, C,,H,,O,N,As,,2HCl.
This statement was afterwards altered to ‘‘ the arsenic
content of the preparation corresponds to the formula
C,.H,,0,N.As.,2HC1,2H,O as a result of Gaebel’s
observation that the drug loses 7-6 per cent. by weight
on drying, and contains only 31-5 per cent. of arsenic.”
Last year Kober, in the United States, ventured the
opinion that the combined solvent in salvarsan is not
water, but methyl alcohol, and suggested that the
latter might be the cause of variable toxicity in sal-
varsan—a suggestion which is rather far-fetched in
view of the fact that, even on Kober’s assumption, a
maximum normal dose of salvarsan could contain only
0-04 gram of methyl alcohol.
This and other questions connected with the com-
position of salvarsan have been investigated in the
Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories, and in a
paper contributed to the meeting of the Chemical
Society on March 18 Messrs. Fargher and Pyman
showed that the combined solvent in salvarsan is
water; and though small quantities of methyl alcohol
may also be present, due to the use of this alcohol in the
liquid from which the drug is precipitated, the amount
never exceeds 1-4 per cent., and is frequently nil, It
was also found that the sulphur always present in
commercial salvarsan as a result of the use of sodium
hyposulphite' as a reducing agent in its preparation,
occurs in at least two forms: (1) as a sulphaminic
acid, probably ‘salvarsan’? monosulphaminic acid
hydrochloride, and (2) attached directly to arsenic;
whilst a third portion may be in physical association
with salvarsan, which has certain colloidal properties.
These results support the conclusion expressed in the
recent Special Report (No. 44) of the Medical Research
Committee, that though salvarsan is not a chemically
pure substance, there is no known chemical impurity
with the presence or proportion of which its varying
toxicity can be brought into relation. In this con-
nection it is interesting to note that a specially pure
salvarsan free from sulphur, prepared by Messrs.
Fargher and Pyman, was tested by the Medical
Research Committee and shown to be more than
normally toxic. Chemical testing alone is, therefore,
insufficient to determine whether any particular batch
of salvarsan is suitable for medical use, and it is on
this account ‘that the Medical Research Committee
has elaborated the system of biological testing,
described in the Special Report already referred to;
to control the issue of salvarsan in this country. It
is satisfactory that the Committee is able to report
that, from the point of view of permanence of effect,
the British and French salvarsan preparations are
therapeutically as good as the German.
University and Educational Intelligence.
“THE governors of the Huddersfield Technical Col-
lege have received a gift of 20001. from Mrs. Mary
Blamires, widow of Alderman Joseph Blamires, in
memory of her late husband, himself a former
student, and afterwards a governor, of the college.
The scholarship is to be used for the promotion of
research in chemistry.
Tue headquarters of the Yorkshire Summer School
of Geography, now being organised by the University
| of Leeds, will this year be the County School, Whitby,
186
NATURE
r ,
(APRIL 8, 1920
the school buildings having been kindly lent by the
governors for this purpose. The object of the
Summer School is to provide theoretical and practical
instruction in the methods of geography and to furnish
opportunities for the discussion and elucidation of
problems connected with the woop f of the subject.
The course will consist of lectures, laboratory work,
field work, and demonstrations. Lectures will begin
on Morning morning, August 2, and the course will
end on Saturday, August 21. Among the lecturers
will be Prof. Kendall (professor of geology in the
University of Leeds), Dr. A. Gilligan (lecturer in
economic geology), Mr. C. B. Fawcett (lecturer in
geography), Dr. W. G. Smith (lecturer in agricultural
botany at the Edinburgh and East of Scotland Insti-
tute), and Mr. W. P. Welpton (lecturer in education
and master of method in the University of Leeds).
Applications for tickets should be made to the Secre-
tary of the Yorkshire Summer School of Geography,
The University, Leeds.
BeprorD College for Women, a constituent college
of the University of London, and the largest and
oldest university college for women in England, has
issued an appeal for funds. At the moment, when
there is an overwhelming demand by women for
higher education and training, the college must either
refuse admission to highly suitable students and
starve or close down certain departments, or it must
enlarge its buildings and increase its endowments.
Seven hundred students now crowd into buildings
adapted for four hundred and fifty, with the result that
in many cases classes have to be triplicated and class-
rooms and apparatus shared between different depart-
ments. A sum of
lecture-rooms and laboratories. A second 100,000l. is
required for endowment, notably for scholarships, the
various departments of science, the department of
social studies, and the training department. A third
100,0001. is badly needed for a hostel. An opportunity
for acquiring an admirable site just outside Regent’s
Park has presented itself. Whether the college can
take advantage of this must depend on the generosity
of the public. It should, perhaps, be emphasised that,
apart from such developments, the income of the col-
lege is by no means sufficient for its present needs
in view of the enormously increased cost of mainten-
ance and the necessity for raising all salaries. The
work of universities in the past could never have been
done had there not lived generous men and women
who believed thev could render no greater public ser-
vice than by endowing colleges and thus furnishing
opportunities for rich and poor to acquire sound
learning. May we hope that a like generosity and a
like belief exists to-day? The Queen’s interest in the
college is well known, and has taken the practical
form of giving a donation. Subscriptions should be
sent to Viscountess Elveden, hon. treasurer of the
Bedford College Endowment and Extension Fund,
Bedford College, Regent’s Park, N.W.1.
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Royal Society, March 18.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair.—W. B. Brierley: A form of Botrytis
cinerea with colourless sclerotia. A form of. Botrytis
cinerea with colourless sclerotia is described. This
was obtained by the isolation and growth of a colour-
less sclerotium, which was formed in a culture of a
normal strain derived from a single spore. The
' primary. origin of the change resulting in the albino
form is located in the hyphal mother-cell from which’
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
100,0001. is needed for additional’
the initial colourless sclerotium arose. Lotsy’s dictum
that ‘“‘certainty of purity is a conditio sine qua non
to obtain proof of the existence of mutation in living
beings” is accepted, and it is shown that such a state
is possibly not realisable in the fungi. It is suggested
that somatic fusions resulting in a change of genotypic
values are the mechanism whereby evolution in the
fungi has taken place.—R. R, Gates: A preliminary
account of the meiotic phenomena in the pollen
mother-cells and tapetum of. lettuce (Lactuca sativa).
In a preliminary study of meiosis in the pollen
development of lettuce, several points have appeared
which have a general bearing on cytological concep-
tions and the problems of genetics. The exceptional
condition has been found in lettuce, in which every
‘intergrade occurs between pollen mother-cells and
tapetal cells. Even synapsis has been observed in
binucleate tapetal cells, which emphasises the physio-
logical aspects of the synaptic contraction. The
tapetal cells are peculiar in being often very much
elongated and lying lengthwise of the anther.
Ultimately they break down and form a plasmodium
surrounding the pollen-grains. | Cytomyxis also
occurs, though rarely, during the stage of synapsis
in the pollen mother-cells. ;
March 25.—Sir J. J. Thomson, president, in the
chair.—A. R. Forsyth: Note on the central differential
equation in the relativity theory of gravitation. The
critical equation in Prof. Einstein’s theory is—
2 2
(#) + 18= "+25 ut om,
(35) = (uw —a) Sa (u—y),
where a, 8, y are proved to be real and positive for
the known planetary bodies in the solar system, and
are arranged so that a>f>y.
There is no need for initial approximation. The
equation can be integrated exactly, in terms of elliptic
functions. The integral is— |
a _., I-+en {(b6—2)/p}
u=y+(B—y) r+dn (oom Nie}
where ¢=a at perihelion; the modulus of the elliptic
functions is given by—
so that
?
#=8-7 and p={2m (a—y)}—%
a-y :
Further, the advance of the perihelion in one revolu-
tion is— CNONY ae
4pK—2z, ae ee
where K is the complete first elliptic integral with the
modulus k. These expressions are accurate (and not
approximate) in relation to the initial equation. For
approximations in connection with the known members
of the solar system, k? is small, so that K is slightly
greater than 37, and p is slightly greater than unity.
The advance of the perihelion is 27.3m7/X?; and the
value of u is— ou
“4 {1 +e cos (p =o) +8 alle i,
+3% ¢(-@) sin (-a)}.
—R. D. Oldham: The frequency of. earthquakes in
Italy in the years 1896 to 1914. paper is an
attempt to discover whether there is any variation in
the frequency of earthquakes which can be attributed
to the stresses set up by the gravitational attraction
of the sun and the moon. In addition to some small
and more or less doubtful variations, there was found
to be a very marked maximum frequency about the
time of the new moon, when the declinations of the
sun and moon were of the same sign and at the full
NATURE
187
1 they were opposite, together with an equally
ed minimum frequency at the full when the
ions were the same, and at the new when
were opposite. At the quarters the frequency is
“average ; at the times of minimum the frequency
t one-third, and at the maximum about five-
of the average.
‘that it is continuously rec
a: nisable through-
record, shows that the variation is a real one,
it is difficult to find any other cause than the
ect of the stresses set up by the gravitational attrac-
oF the sun and the moon.—A. F, Dufton: A new
atus for drawing conic curves.
x. nst ains a pen to trace the locus of the pole of a
erved values of the partial and total correlations
ooo samples of 30 each. The three attributes of
sampled (artificial) population are uncorrelated, so
at observed values of the correlations are departures
m the true value, which is zero in.each case. The
groups of 1000 total correlations observed are
own to be nearly Gaussian in form, and to be in
_ very close accord with the distributions predicted in
4 iggeey form by R. A. Fisher, and evaluated in detail
in an important co-operative study described in
_ Biometrika. The distribution of partial correla-
tions is compared with the Gaussian, the Pearson
Type II., and the theoretical distribution of total
It is found to be
_ closely fitted by the latter, and not to show signi-
ficantly higher dispersion than is indicated. by the usual
_ expression for the standard deviation of total correla-
_ tions, viz. 1~p?/¥n—1. Some important practical
_ bearings of the result are indicated.
correlations referred to above.
? es Paris.
__ Academy of Sciences, March 1.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—G. Humbert: The number of classes of
_ positive quadratic forms of Hermite, of given dis-
_ ¢riminant, in an imaginary quadratic body.—Em.
__ Bourquelot and M. Bridel: A new glucoside capable of
___ hydrolysis by emulsin, scabiosine. This glucoside was
_ extracted from the root of Scabiosa succisa (devil’s
_ bit scabious). Details of its isolation and hydrolysis
__ by dilute sulphuric acid and by emulsin are given.—
_ A. Ratean : flight altitude which corresponds to a
minimum consumption of petrol per kilometre, and
_ the calculation of the best propeller for a given aero-
_ plane.—A. Righi: The experimental bases of the
Eth of relativity—A. Mesnager was elected a
_ member of the section of mechanics in succession to
_ the late Marcel Deprez, and A. Fowler a correspondant
_ for the section of astronomy in succession to the late
_ Edmund Weiss.—N.. E. Nérlund: The convergence of
certain series.—A. Rosenblatt: A theorem of A.
~ Liapounoff.—M. T. Huber: A rational theory. of
_ pugging in reinforced concrete, considered as thin
plates.—Ch. Fremont: The resistance of steels to
cutting by tools. . It is well known that steels pos-
sing the same resistance to fracture by tension
ay differ greatly in the ease with which they can
cut by tools. Instead of the usual calculation,
imum load divided by initial cross-section, the
ithor proposes the term “final resistance,’”’ obtained
i dividing the maximum load by the actual cross-
1
Section of the broken test piece.—J. Guyot and L. J.
NO. 2632, VOL. 105]
The magnitude, no less than .
“be without effect.
Simon: The combustion of methyl esters. with a
mixture of sulphuric and chromic acids. Analytical
figures are given for the wet combustion of sixteen
methyl compounds of different types, and the carbon
dioxide produced is shown to be practically theoretical.—
A. Mailhe and F. de Godon: The preparation of fatty
acids by the catalytic oxidation of the primary alcohols.
With reduced copper as catalyst, and at temperatures
between 260° C. and 270° C., the primary alcohols
with air give substantial yields of the corresponding
acids. Aldehydes are always produced at the same
time, and in some cases more aldehyde than acid is
produced.—C. Schlumberger: Attempts at the electrical
prospecting of the subsoil—Mme. Z. Gruzewska:
Contribution to the study of laminarine from
Laminaria flexicaulis. Laminarine cannot be con-
sidered as belonging to the dextrin group, having
regard to its lzvorotatory power and its resistance to
the action of acids and alkalis. Its digestibility by
the plant diastases shows it to be a reserve material
in the marine algz.—A. Sartory: A new fungus of
the genus Aspergillus isolated from a _ case, of
onychomycosis.—H. Piéron: The variation of energy
as a function of the time of stimulation for foveal
vision.—A. Vernes and R. Douris: The action of
certain precipitates on the solution of the red blood
corpuscles.—R. Anthony: The exorchidia of Meso-
plodon and the re-ascent of the testicles in the course
of the phylogeny of the Cetaceans.—J. L. Lichten-
| stein: The parasitism of Aphiochaeta (Phora) fasciata.
—E. F. Galiano: Some histological details of the
arterial heart of Sepia officinalis.—G. Riquoir: Col-
loidal complexes and sera. A preliminary injection of
a colloid, followed after an interval by an injection of
a curative serum, may produce beneficial effects in
cases where the serum injection alone has proved to
Several examples are detailed.—
A. Trillat: The influence of the variation of the
barometric pressure on the microbial droplets in sus-
pension in the atmosphere.
Books Received.
A Geographical Bibliography of British Ornithology.
By W. H. Mullens, H. Kirke Swann, and Rey.
F. C. R. Jourdain. Part iii. Pp. 193-288. (London:
Witherby and Co.) 6s. net.
Aristotle. By Dr. A. E. Taylor. Revised edition.
Pp. 126. (London and Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C.
Jack, Ltd.). 1s. 3d. net.
Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony. By H. M.
Dowsett. Pp xxxi+331. (London: The Wireless
Press, Ltd.) gs. ;
Wireless Transmission of Photographs.
Martin. Second edition. Pp. xv+143.
The Wireless Press, Ltd.) 5s.
Selected Studies in Elementary Physics. By E.
Blake. Pp. viiit+176. (London: The Wireless Press,
Ltd.) 5s.
Volumetric Analysis. By J. B. Coppock. Revised
and enlarged edition. Pp. too. (London: Sir I.
Pitman and Sons, Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net.
A Map of the World (on Mercator’s Projection),
having Special Reference to Forest Regions and the
Geographical Distribution of Timber Trees. Prepared
by J. H. Davies. (Edinburgh: W. and A. K. John-
ston, Ltd.;. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 8s.
net.
A Foundation Course in Chemistry. By J. W.
Dodgson and J. A. Murray. Second edition. Pp. xii+
240+ Answers. (London: Hodder and Stoughton,
Ltd.) 6s. 6d. net.
By .M.. J.
(London :
188
NATURE
[ApriL 8, 1920
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, Apriv 8.
INSTITUTION oF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERS (Graduates’ Section) (at. 28
Victoria Street), at 8.—W. D. Pile: ‘lhe Use of Benzol.
RoyaL*Soctety or Mepicine (Obstetrics and Gynecology Section),
at
FRIDAY, Apri 9.
Rovat ASTRONOMICAL Society, at 5.—E. E.’ Barnard: Naked-eye Ob-
servations of Nova Aquile 111.—Col. E. H. Hills? The Suspended
Zenith Telescope ‘of Durham Observatory; Part I.—Rev. A. L. Cortie:
The Great Sun-spot Groups and the Magnetic Storm, 1920 March 22-23.
ConcCrETE Institute, at 6.—T. J. Clark: The Uses of Concrete.
Mavaco.LocicaL Socrery or Lonpon (at Linnean Society), at 6.
AnsriTuTION OF MecHANICAL ENGINEERS (Informal Meeting), at 7.— |
C. H. Woodfield and Others : Discussion on pepe Their Use and Abuse.
Junior: Institution |\or \ ENGINEERS, at 7.30.—A. H. The
Development and Manufacture of the T scodinede Valve.
Rovat Society oF Mepicine (Anesthetics, Section), at 8,15.—(Annual
owe:
General Meeting), at 8.30.—Mrs. D. Berry and ‘Others: Discussion on -
Anzsthésia in Operations on the Thyroid Gland.
MONDAY, Apri. 12.
a eh 8 InctTiTuTE (at the, Central Hall, Westminster), ‘at 4.30.—Rev-
Dr. J, F. H. Thomson: The -Pentateuch of the Samaritans : When They
_ Got It, end Wherice,
Rovat Grocraruicar Society (at Lowther Lodge), at 5.—Col. Sir Sidney
Burrard: ‘A Brief Review.of the Evidence upon which the Theory of
‘Isostasy is Based.
Rovat INSTITUTION OF GREAT Britarn (General Meeting), ‘at 5.
Soctery or Encrnegrs: (at-'Geological Society), at §.30.—Prof.' E. R.
Matthews: (1) Flood Prevention Works at Troon, Ayrshire; (2) The
_ Action of Sea Water on Concrete.
Surveyors’ InstiruTIoNn\(Jtinior Meeting), at 7.
Roya InsTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS, at ‘8.
ARISTOTELIAN Soctety (at 74 Grosvenor pee at 8. ~j.W agar Dr.
. Moore, Prof. H. Wildon Garr, ‘and Prof. G. Dawes Hicks : Sym-
posium on Is the ‘‘Concrete Univetsal” the True Type of Universality?
Roya Socizay or Arts, at 8,—Dr. W. Rosenhain: Aluminium and. its
Alloys (Cantor Lecture).
Society or Cnemicat Inpdustry (at ‘Chemical Society), at 8.—Dr.
Winifred E. Brenchley and:E. H: Richards: The Fertilising Value of
ewage Sludges.—Dr. E. P. Perman: A New Test for Incorporation. —
rof. T. M. Lowry and L. P. McHatton: Experiments on Decrepitation.
‘Institution ‘op Evecrricat '“EnGingers (Students’ Meeting) «(at
Institution of Mechanical Engineers), at 8.—Joint Discussion with the
‘Graduates’ Association of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on The
“Sixthour shears Day and its Effect on Industry. -
TUESDAY, Aprit 13
Rovai. Horticutturat Society, at 3.—Dr. A. B. Rendle: Plants of
Interest in the Day’s Exhibition.
Roya. INSTITUTION QF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3. _—Major G. W. C. Kaye:
Recent Advances in X-ray Work.
INSTITUTION oF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—Lt.-Col, J. K. Robertson:
Richborough Military Transportation Depét.—Major F. O. Stanford:
The War Department Cross-Channel Train-Ferry.
ZOOLOGICAL Society oF LONDON, at 5.30.—Arthur Willey: An Apodous
Amia calva —H. A, Baylis and Dr. Clayton Lane: A Revision of the
Nematode Family Gnathostomide.—Dr, . Dakin: The Onychophora
of Western Australia.—A. M. Altson : ‘The Life-history and Habits of Two
- Parasites of the Blowfly,
“RovaL , PHOTOGRAPHIC. Sotliry OF Great Britatn (Scientific. and
‘Technical Group), at 7.—A. C. Banfield: Prisms.—A. unro:
Machinéry used in the Manufacture of Photographic Plates.
QuEKETT MicroscopicaL C1 us (at 20 Hanover, Square), at 7.30.
Royat ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15 O. ‘Neville:
Western ‘Australian Aborigines: : Their Treatment t anil Care.
WEDNESDAY, Apri I4.
Royat Unirep Service Institution, at 3.—Lt.-Col. J. Shakespear :
‘Recent Events on the Assam Frontier.
Roya. Sociery or ARTS, at 4.30.—J. Thorp: The Fundamental Basis of
Good Printing.
BritisH PsycHoLocicat Society (Education Section) (at London Day
Training College), at 6.— C. A. Claremont : The Functioning of the Will:
A Suggested Application of Herrington’s Work on Reflexes.
RoyaL AERONAUTICAL SociETY (at Royal Society of Arts), at 8:—Capt.
P. D. Acland: Trans-continental Flying.
INSTITUTION OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERS (at Institution of Mechanical
’ Engineers), at 8—Dr. W. H. Hatfield: The Most Suitable Steels
«3for Automobile Parts.
‘Society oF Pustic ANALYSTS AND OTHER ANaxyticat CueEmists (at
Chemical Society), at 8.—A. E. Parkes: The Turbidity Temperature of
Fats, Oils, and Fatty Acids, Part I.—Dr..G. W Monier-Williams: The
Interpretation of Milk Records—Dr. A. F. Joseph and G. A. Freak:
The Loxs of Free Ammonia from Drinking-Water Samples. +E. Sinkinson :
A Decanting and Filter-W ashing Machine.
t THURSDAY, Apri. 15.
PR, INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3. —S. Skinner:
and Evaporation.
'Royvat Society or Arts (Indian Section), at 4.30.—Sir George
Buchanan: The Ports of India: Their Administration and Develo poche
Linnean Society, at 5.—Capt. F. Kingdon Ward :.Natural History
Exploration on the “North-east Frontier of Burma.—R. Paulson:
Exhibition of Lantern-slides illustrating Definite Stages in the Sporulation
and Gonidia within the Thallus of the Lichen Zvernia prunastri, Ach.
Roya Society or MEDICINE (Dermatology Section), at 5.
INSTITUTION OF MiIn1ING AND METALLURGY (Annual General Meeting)
(at Geological Society), at, 5.30
.Cuitp-Stupy Socréry (at Royal Sanitary erperg: at 6.—Prof. W.
Ripman « Spelling Reform. Y
The
Ebullition
NO. 2632, VOL. 105 |
INSTITUTION OF ELEcTrRICAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil
Engineers), at 6.—Dr. C. V. Drysdale: Modern Marine Problems
(Kelvin Lecture).
t I 1 College of Science and Tochnoiay)s
ke Sorrel nen e Unaided Eye, Part II1.—K. R.
Walls The Rock Crystal of Brazil.
Cuemicart Socimry, at 8. Baveu ways"
FRIDAY, Aprit 16.
Concrete InsTITUTE, at 6.—E. Fiander Etchells : : Sabin oan
to Local Authorities.
InstrruTion or ELecrricaL ENGINEERs (Students' Meeting) ry ota
House), at 7.—J. Scott-Taggart +, The Vacuum ‘Tube as tter
‘and Receiver of Continuous Waves.
5 Hh en or MeEcHANICAL ENGINEERS (Informal Meetig), at |
E. Baty and Others: Discussion on Planing v. Milling. | :
TECHNICAL INSPECTION AssocIATION (at Royal Society of Ants) at at 2 30.
—F. R. Wade: Labour Unrest—Its Causes and ae ‘
Rovat Society or Mepicine (Electro-Therapeutics S:
Sir Ernest Rutherford : Development of Radiology eckagtt
oa i
Memorial Lecture).
Rovav InstituTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 9-~Ptoks J. a Bi
Ions ahd Nuclei. siTee pa ee
PRIL 17.
Rovat InsTiTuTION OF GREAT Brirain, at st Ww. a. Dor
The Thermionic Vacuum Tube as Detector, in tr and Gerierator of
Electrical Oscillations. a aiae
"CONTENTS. i ea
The Universities and the Army . 157
Woods and Water Supply. i! Dr. Hugh Revert
Mill Pa ee” er or de 6.
The Wilds of ‘South America. whe ee. va % iis! te ESD
Life and Temperature ; «ote Vereen
A University Course in Botany Z oa, abe
Recent Mathematical Text-books. By I. ‘M. rave
Our Bookshelf .. . i oi 4 ta ee
Letters to the Editor:— —
Knowledge and Power.—* F.O,1. ”; Dr, John Wee:
Evans, F.R ieee ee eS
The Secondary Spectrum of "‘Hydrogen.—Prof. J. Ww. a
Nicholson, F.R.S. . . 166
International Council for Fishery Investigations, — aan
Prof, W. C. McIntosh, F.R.S. . i867
The Plumage Bill and Bird Protection, —Sir H ae
Johnston, G.C:m.G., K.C.B. ;
Lefroy ; Right Hon. Sir Herbert Be AN)
Bart., F. R.S.; Prof. Arthur Dendy, F.R.S.. 168
The Magnetic Storm of March 22-23 and Associated —
Phenomena.—Dr, A. Crichton Mitchell . 170
Science and the New Army.—Prof. A. R. Richard- a
son. . 170
An Electronic Theory of Isomerism. __W.E. ‘Garner;
S.C..Bradford .. gta laee relied 2
Percussion-Figutes.—Dr. BL G. ‘Escher . Aa eS hi
A Peculiar Halo. (With Diagram,)—Capt. c,. J. PL ies
Cave I
Sea-birds: Their "Relation to the “Fisheries” and
Agriculture. (With Diagram.) By Dr. Walter Bere
Collinge . mas hy 1/423
The Imperial ‘College “of Sc'ence and Technology 173
Magnetic Disturbances and Geological Structure 175
British ren. Production. bid Dr. Edward J.
Russell, F.R.S.. . ‘ era Gee eo
Notes f ree ee
Our Astronomical Column :- — vada ;
Capel iis. ao . 183
Cape Observations of the ‘Sun, Mercury, and Venus . 183
Basic Slag and its Uses in Agriculture. ... 183
Verification of Screw Gauges for Munitions of War 184
The Composition of Salvarsan. . . . eee ees
University and Educational Intelligence - ee ees
Societies and Academies: ........4.++. + 186
Books Received |. i) ba v4d ss ee
Diary of Societies - eee 88
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN AND. CO., Etp:;*
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters to be add‘eanee to the
. Publishers. -
Editorial Communications to the Editor,
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON.
Télephone Number: GERRARD 88g0:.' ©: 14 5h
_ THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1920.
ce of research workers are available from
and much valuable work is being
0. '*
ous | sources,
; or other substantial money grants could be
a e for scientific discoveries of an epoch-making
Ras aracter, somewhat in the manner of the award
oO the Nobel prizes. We referred a few weeks
oa » (March 4, p. 18) to a deputation which waited
upon Mr. Balfour, Lord President of the
_ Council, to urge that a sum of about 20,0001.
_ should be set aside annually for this purpose; and
7 we trust that this modest provision for the en-
_ couragement of genius will be forthcoming.
The January number of the Journal of the
> British Science Guild contains a_ carefully
Re wtetiared report on the subject of awards of
this nature, with particular reference to medi-
eal discovery. The committee which presented
the report consisted of eleven men of scientific
-distinction—five representing the British Medical
Association and six the British Science Guild;
_and the members of it formed the deputation to
‘ q Mr. Balfour, with the addition of several members
of the House of Commons. Two cardinal pro-
- posals were made—first, that medical discoveries,
_ even when made accidentally and not as a result
_ of designed investigation, should be encouraged
by” direct pecuniary reward; secondly, that for
losses or outlays incurred by private investigators
powee! in medical discovery the State should
recognise the principle of compensation.
_. These two proposals rest on the fundamental
E ae that, owing to the peculiar nature of medical
service and the necessity for carefully adjusted
_ ethical sanctions, the individual medical investi-
_ gator has often to sacrifice the welfare of himself
and his family, although his investigation may
i have the highest social value. The capacity for
i ccotery, including invention, is very unevenly
_ distributed, but in every field of science rewards,
both Siaiiotel and honorary, act as _ powerful
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
4
“=
i
+
=
ii,
.
NATURE
‘evocatives of faculty. In any ache except edie
cine, an invention or a discovery has at least a
“business” chance of bringing a direct reward,
‘for the investigator can patent his invention or
protect himself in some other way. In medicine
he cannot patent a new microbe of a new method.
The attempts to patent or protect serums or
similar products are usually failures, and may end
in the removal of a name from the register “for
infamous conduct in a _ professional respect.’’
Probably in this matter the medical profession
is too exacting, but there are obvious good
reasons for maintaining on the highest ethical
level the sanctions of a profession that touch so
nearly the private life of the subject. These sanc-
tions, therefore, must continue to be a serious
handicap to the medical investigator, who cannot
employ the ordinary business methods to secure
for himself any profit from his invention, or dis-
covery, or new method of treatment.
If medical discovery is thus shut out from
normal commercial reward, there is good ground
‘for the view that the State should establish a
system of compensation: To a certain extent,
medical research is itself a career, and in the
future development of medicine research will offer
more and more openings for talent. But mean-
while it is certain that the medical inventor or
discoverer has much less chance of making even
a respectable living than the clinical medical prac-
titioner. Of this it would be easy to give suffi-
cient proof, but it is not seriously disputed.
Within the medical schools there are many
forms of award, such as honorary degrees, money
prizes, and the like; but their distribution
is largely accidental. Further, the inventor or
discoverer has so to specialise his energies that
he may positively disqualify himself for the more
lucrative administrative or clinical posts. This
is more or less true of every branch of applied
‘science, not to speak of pure science; it is over-
whelmingly true of medical scientific investigation,
The joint committee and the deputation. have
uncovered an important scientific area where the
State might well recognise a duty to compensate.
How profoundly the economic motive operates to
‘increase the production of inventions the Courts
for the war awards have abundantly shown. It
would be to the ultimate advantage of the State
to pay for medical and other scientific discoveries
which bring no financial gain to the men who
| made them: the method of payment is a detail
‘and need offer no more difficulty than that involved
in making other awards. - The principle is so
sound that it ought at once to be conceded.
H
190.
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920
English Cytology.
An Introduction to the Study of Cytology. By
Prof. L. Doncaster. Pp. xiv+ 280+ xxiv plates.
(Cambridge: At the University Press, 1920.)
Price 21s. net.
HE publication of this volume is to be
regarded as an event in the progress of
cytology. Prof. Doncaster’s new book is not
intended to serve as a text-book on cytology,
though it contains a wealth of facts; but its aim
is to interest the senior student in the subject by
pointing out the way in which cytology is related
to the great fundamental problems at the root of
all biological research. Quite recently Paul
Buchner, of Munich, published a new “ Hand-
buch” of cytology, and it is with pride that we
compare the work before us with its German
prototype. A great deal of the material in Prof.
Doncaster’s book is new, and the work is as
strictly up-to-date as is possible when one is deal-
ing with a vast and changing subject such as
cytology. . ;
' The author’s conception of the cell is very
broad; he recognises the important part played
by the nucleus, but pays due attention to the Golgi
apparatus and mitochondria, which he considers
may be of special importance in the life of the
cell; useful discussions on the structure of proto-
plasm, such as are illustrated by Hardy’s work,
and on Hertwig’s conceptions of the ‘“karyo-
plasmatic ratio,” are added to this part of the
book. The question of the origin and relationships
of the centrosome has been treated in a masterly
way, and the author shows how J. W. Jenkinson’s
work on the fertilisation of the Axolotl can pro-
vide a middle way between the divergent views—
that centrosomes arise from pre-existing centro-
somes, and that they may be formed de novo in
the cytoplasm.
Prof. Doncaster steers a careful course through
the troubled waters surrounding the various ques-
tions with regard to astral rays, spindle fibres, and
“mitokinetism.” He gives a fair and lucid exposé
of the various ingenious hypotheses ‘brought for-
ward to explain mitotic division, but concludes that,
at present at least, no really satisfactory explana-
tion of the phenomenon of mitosis has been given.
Students of cytology are often turned away from
entering into the various problems associated with
the behaviour of the chromosomes in the germ-
cell cycle by the fact that the whole question is
obscured by a multitude of ill-digested descrip-
tions, theories, and hypotheses. Prof. Doncaster
has written an exceptionally clear and able
‘NO..2633, VOL. 105 |
account of the typical behaviour of the chromo-
somes. Never polemical, he gives a_ straight-
forward account which includes on a broad basis
all the most modern work on the chromosomes.
His first description of maturation is written with
an eye to his later accounts of the chromosomes im
sex and Mendelism, but he is careful not to con-
fuse his preliminary survey by bringing in
debatable matter. Here the student will find a
conveniently introduced résumé of the Chias-
matypy hypothesis of Janssens, which has em
such prominence among Mendelians.
The modern work on the behaviour of the cyto-
plasmic inclusions during spermatogenesis has
been the subject of careful descriptions. Prof.
Doncaster has treated the matter in an able
manner, and the worker unacquainted with the
Golgi apparatus and mitochondria will find in this
book a readable and accurate account of the
present state of our knowledge. The various
questions surrounding the formation of egg yolk
are not treated at length, and should be included ~
in a future edition; we refer especially to the
work of Weigl, Hirschler,
The author exhibits a commendable scepticism
with regard to the specificity of the so-called
‘chromatin ” dyes, and points out in several parts
of the book that cytoplasmic bodies unrelated to
chromatin may stain basophil, and yet not be true
chromatin.
In his chapter on segmentation Prof. Doncaanee
succeeds in bringing out the fact that we have
really proceeded a very short distance in the
elucidation of the great problems surrounding even
the first stages of animal development. In a later
part of the book the author discusses some of
these problems.
The subject of parthenogenesis is treated at
length, and the author draws freely from his own
researches on this fascinating subject. He recog-
nises four main sections with regard to the
behaviour of the chromosomes in naturally parthe-
nogenetic animals. We are sorry to see that he
has not adopted Sir Ray Lankester’s suggestions.
as to the nomenclature of parthenogenesis. In
his treatment of the subject of artificial partheno-
genesis Prof. Doncaster points out that there are
numbers of problems which are still unsolved with
reference especially to the determination: of ‘sex.
The question of the restitution of a diploid chromo-
some number in some artificially parthenogenetic
animals is also peculiar, and its mechanism ill-
understood. A special chapter on the chromo-
somes in sex-determination has been. added,
somewhat on the lines of the author’s ‘ Deter—
-
atta SS A 2 en ene le tir ig eye FT
Rio Hortega, etc.
Apri 15, 1920|
NATURE
191
ination of Sex.” The peculiar position of Lepi-
yptera and Aves with regard to these matters
phasised.
welcome section on “Germ-cell Determin-
gives clearly the main facts which have
scertained. The author is commendably
in his discussion of this interesting
and recognises that “although these
are evidently strictly correlated with the.
cells, there is no absolute certainty that they
ie cause of the differentiation of germ-cells
body-cells.”
ost cytologists will concur with Prof. Don-
‘in his view that the weight of evidence is
our of the main theory of the individuality
f the chromosomes; the author emphasises the
ict that the chromosome itself is in all probability
risible into smaller units, which may have an
uality more fundamental than the chromo-
ome as a whole, and he suggests that the
adin Siping theory should be extended so as to
a d these granules (microsomes) as the funda-
units.
aa ‘he chapter on the mechanism of hereditary
ransmission introduces a discussion on the most
recent work on Drosophila and Abraxas. Prof.
Joncaster is here dealing with a subject which he
as himself studied specially, and though he treats
eg with impartiality, he comes to the
usion that not only does. the behaviour of
e chromosomes in the maturation divisions of
© germ-eel provide the mechanism required for
lelian segregation of characters, but also that
“work of Morgan on Drosophila carries us a
p farther and gives us some idea how the
s of characters may be related to special
romosomes. The author recognises the diffi-
ties with regard to our full acceptance of the
“aon and written as it is, this book is
‘logy. . By pointing out the perfections and defects
of our present-day basic cytological theories and
ypotheses, the author has succeeded in empha-
-sising the lines along which fruitful research may
al followed. We hope that this book will mark
the beginning of greater activity among English
_cytologists. Prof. Doncaster is to be congratu-
lated warmly on this excellent work. J. B. G.
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
es of Morgan and his colleagues relating to’
certain to stir up interest in the subject of cyto-_
Matrices,
University of Calcutta: Readership Lectures:
Matrices and Determinoids, By Prof. C. E.
Cullis. Vol. ii. Pp. xxiii+555. (Cambridge:
At the University Press, 1918.) Price 42s, net.
HE history of the mathematical term
“matrix” is likely to be very interesting.
Its original meaning was an array of. symbols
(Qmn) forming a rectangle of m rows and n
columns, out of which determinants were selected
by picking out columns (or rows) of the array.
A square matrix gives only one associated deter-
minant, but a square matrix is not the same thing
as a determinant.
When we change from one set of variables to
another by linear relations yey
bres. 2 ({=1,2,... 3 J=1,2,... mM),
we have an associated matrix (@mn), or A, which
is square only when the number of variables is
the same in each set. In practice this is the most
usua! case, and it will be simpler to confine our-
selves to this for the present. If we take a new
set of variables 2; such that
35= VhiViy
t
we have a matrix B=(bn,), and by eliminating the
symbols y; we deduce
i
SF WyXiy
where the symbols ¢j are derived from A, B by
a process of “composition,” and form a new
matrix C. We write C=AB symbolically, and
thus start the theory of the multiplication of
matrices. There are many analogies with the
theory of groups; for instance, BA must be dis-
tinguished from AB, multiplication is associative,
and so on.
Cayley seéms to have been the first to develop
the theory of square matrices from this point of
view (Phil. Trans., vols. cxlviii., clvi., and else-
where); other English mathematicians, such as
Sylvester, Buchheim, and Tait, took up the subject
later on. It may be specially noted that H. Smith’s
memoir on linear indeterminate equations and con-
gruences contains a great deal of the fundamental
theory of matrices, both square and rectangular.
In particular, there is a complete and, we believe,
original statement of the existence and properties
of the elementary factors of a determinant the
elements of which are ordinary integers. Weier-
strass, Kronecker, and Frobenius, especially the
last-named, have made important contributions to
the subject.
It will be seen that a matrix is now not ere a
'| scheme of symbols used to specify a set of deter-
192
NATURE
{APRIL 15, 1920
—~ ©
minants, but a kind of entity of a very abstract
and comprehensive type. A large part of group-
theory and many complex linear algebras can be
expressed in terms of matrices, and this absorp-
tive property of matrix-theory will probably
become more evident in course of time. Matrices
‘occupy a special section in the International
‘Schedule, and the Royal Society Index contains
about sixty titles under that heading. Papers
under other headings (especially determinants)
have also more or less bearing on the subject.
Prof. Baker’s works on Abelian functions show
the importance of matrices in the general theory
of theta functions. Some knowledge of the subject
is becoming essential in connection with various
branches of pure mathematics,
Prof. Cullis’s second volume, if we understand
the author aright, seems to be a continuation
rather different from that which he originally
planned. This is not to be regretted,
because in this portion we have statements
and proofs of well-known and_ important
theorems in the author’s own notation, and
a large number of illustrative examples. Among
the subjects treated are ranks of matrix
products and factors, equigradient transforma-
tions, certain matrix equations of the second
degree, and various properties of a pair of matrices
(‘“paratomy,” “orthotomy,” and so on). Much of
the argument is put into a quasi-geometrical form.
The: outstanding feature of the work, which the
author properly emphasises, is the detailed dis-
cussion of rectangular, as distinguished from
square, matrices. For this reason alone the work
ought to give a great stimulus to the subject, and
we hope that the publication of the whole treatise
will not be long delayed. Until it is finished, it
will be difficult, if not impossible, to give a proper
appreciation of it, especially as the author intro-
duces so many new symbols and technical terms.
One thing, however, is certain: we now have the
outlines of a calculus of matrices in which the
operations of addition, subtraction, and multiplica-
tion are definite. It may be conjectured that some
of the most important. applications will be to
problems connected with a compound modulus,
arithmetical or algebraical as the case may be.
As a matter of curiosity it may. be noted that
one or. two of the very first problems in the theory
ef rectangular. matrices occur in Gauss’s . “ Dis-
quisitiones Arithmetice ” ; for instance, in connec-
tion with the theory of composition of. quadratic |
forms, we haye the problem, of finding .a matrix
(ay,4) the six determinants of which are to be six
<ere integers, subject to a certain relation.
Cee: ope” &
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
}
y
) the whole, brought well up to date.
=
The Chemistry of Animal Products. —
The Essentials of Chemical Physiology: For the
Use of Students. By Prof. W. D. Halliburton.
Tenth edition. Pp. xi+324. (London: Long-
mans, Green, and Co., 1919.) Price 7s. 6d.
net. a
HE fact that this well-known and appreciated
text-book has reached its tenth edition is
sufficient evidence that it satisfies adequately the
need for a short practical course in the chemistry
of the substances found in and produced by the
activity of living tissues. This object is excellently
attained. It is not to be expected that a detailed
account of the chemical processes occurring during
the life and functional action of the organs of the
body is to be found therein. Indeed, it would be
impossible to separate the chemical from the
physical aspects of any of these physiological pro-
cesses. Such a separation appears to be an un-
fortunate necessity in a great part of the teaching
of the subject, but a more intimate union between
the chemical side and what is sometimes called
the “experimental” side of the student’s work is
very desirable, and might be arranged without
much difficulty.
There are some important questions which are
apt to fall out in the present arrangement; such
are those of permeability,
hydrogen-ion concentration, and the properties of
colloidal solutions. In a future edition Prof.
Halliburton might find it possible to include a
few simple exercises in these problems. An intelli-
gent grasp of the principles involved is not to be —
attained by the mere reading of statements about
them, while even a small number of experiments
have great value. On account of its importance
in physiological phenomena,
showing the synthetic aspect of the action of
enzymes might well be inserted.
A general criticism which applies to most text-
books on practical chemistry, especially to those
on biological chemistry, is that a number of the
tests given suggest cookery recipes rather than
scientific experiments. A student is very little the
better for performing Molisch’s sugar test if he
is ignorant of what the result is due to. And
how many. understand, when they make the tests,
why some sugars reduce copper salts, while others.
do not; or why tartrates are added to Fehling’s
solution? : I¢,svould often be better to curtail the
recital of what is to be found in general text-books
in order to. explain the reasons for the results of
the actual experiments made.
. In the book before us the theoretical part is, on
In view of
Soe et a a ee eS eR I Ne
osmotic pressure, ©
some experiment
NATURE
193
€ ipork, cause, the statements with respect
y anti-enzymes might well have been more
cal. Some of us might demur to the state-
: 1p. 83 that margarine-makers have learned
| this fat palatable. W. M. B.
hysics: Theoretical and Practical.
Handbook of Physics Measurements. By
vin S. Ferry, in collaboration with O. W.
ey, G. W. Sherman, jun., and D. C. Duncan.
J iy Fundamental Measurements, A gpl
of Matter and Optics. Pp. ix+251. Vol.
il ra ory Motion, Sound, Heat, Electricity rae
mnetism. Pp. x+233. (New York: John
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman
Hall, Ltd., 1918). Price 9s. 6d. net
vol.
tes on Magnetism: For the Use of Students
Electrical Engineering. By C. G, Lamb.
. vili +94. (Cambridge : At the University
Press, 1919.) Price 5s. net.
) TN the two volumes forming “A Handbook of
4 Physics Measurements” are given the
‘-y and manipulation of those experiments
hich experience has shown to be most important
4 oat and applied science. The work is
lesiened for college and industrial laboratories,
4 forms a self-contained manual. Each chapter
sists of two parts; the first includes definitions,
| de cription of the apparatus, and the general
cory of the methods, while in the second each
rmination is described in detail, the more
rtant sources of error are pointed out,
means are indicated by which these
may be minimised or accounted for.
of the experiments require no mathematics |
ond trigonometry and algebra, but the authors
rightly decided to employ the calculus
hods wherever these would result in economy
> volumes. Other students, after performing
. necessary experiments on the properties of
tter, would limit themselves to the groups bear-
- directly upon their principal study. Thus the
emist would do the work on indices of refrac-
idle Pulfrich, ‘the Zeiss, the Abbe, the Féry,. or:
the more recent instrument designed by Dawes. |
‘He would also make use of spectroscopes; and
_ ‘spectrophotometers, and learn that “spectro-—
_ colorimetry ”’—the estimation of the concentration
-of solutions by. means of the intensity of the
absorption bands of their spectra—is a method ,
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
re ties.)
‘| (3) Tin Ores.
e | (4) Manganese Ores.
using various forms of refractometer, such || |
which may be both more speedy and more precise
than chemical analysis. The electrical engineer
would do the work on damped vibration and har-
monic analysis, in addition to the usual experi-
ments on the determination of resistances, capa-
cities, or inductances. The mechanical engineer
will be interested in the methods for the deter-
mination of the economy effected by steam-pipe
coverings and of the thermal value of both coal
and gas. The work as a whole is to be recom-
mended as giving a thoroughly up-to-date account
of most of the important physical instruments and
experimental methods.
(2) For the use of students in the engineering
laboratory, Cambridge, Mr. Lamb has drawn up
a convenient set of notes dealing with the essential
parts of the subject of magnetism. Starting with
fundamental facts and principles, such portions of
magnetic theory are outlined as are required in
order to read the ordinary technical text-books
with intelligence. The work has been well done,
and the latter part of the book, dealing with mag-
netic hysteresis and alternating-current tests, will
be of special service to both students and teachers,
who will welcome the admirable diagrams and the
lucid descriptions. H..S. A.
Minerals and Metals.
(1) Zinc and its Alloys. By Dr. T. E. Lones.
(Pitman’s Common Commodities and Indus-
tries. Pp. ix+127, (London: Sir Isaac
Pitman. and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) Price 2s, 6d.
net.
(2) Asbestos and the Asbestos Industry: The
World’s Most Wonderful Mineral and other
Fireproof Materials. By A. Leonard Summers.
(Pitman’s. Common Commodities and Indus-
Pp. ix+ 107. (London: Sir Isaac
Pitman and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) Price 2s. -6d.
net.
By G. M. Davies. Pp. x+111, |
By A. H. Curtis. Pp. x+
118. (Imperial Institute: Monographs on
Mineral Resources, with Special Reference to
the British Empire.) (London: John May
1919.) Price 3s. 6d. net each.
HE first two of these little books are two of
a the volumes in a series issued with the
object of giving general readers an account, in
language as untechnical as possible, of the origin,
mode of production, and uses of a number of the
essential: articles employed in industries. The
object is an excellent one, for it is knowledge of a
-kind'-that the user and even the merchant of
‘these materials rarely possess, though the advan-
; ,
}
;
194
NATURE
[Aprit 15, 1920
‘tage of having such information is sufficiently
“obvious.
(1) The volume on zinc is an excellent example
of what such books ought to be; it gives, first,
a brief history of the metal, then a description of
the various ores from which it is extracted, and
of the processes employed in dressing these ores
or rendering them marketable, including, it may
‘be noted, a very fair summary of the modern
flotation processes. The next chapters give a
good and quite up-to-date account of the methods
employed in smelting the metal or extracting it
from the ores, and a final chapter is devoted to
the alloys of which it forms an important con-
stituent. It is a pity that the author did not keep
clear altogether of chemical equations, which he
might easily have done in a purely popular
treatise, as he has been somewhat unfortunate in
their use; it is difficult to understand how he ever
came to write such an equation as
2ZnS + 20,= Zny+ 2SO,,
for the context shows that he knows well enough
that no such reaction ever takes place. Again,
he would have done better to omit the
equation 2ZnO + 2CO = Zn, + 2CO,, because
although oxide of zinc can be reduced by carbonic
oxide, the reaction can take place normally only
in the presence of excess of carbon, which at once
again reduces the carbonic anhydride to carbonic
oxide. The author’s equation would suggest that
carbonic anhydride is evolved in the process of
zinc smelting, whereas, in fact, the evolved gases
consist almost entirely of carbonic oxide. In a
future edition the author might with advantage
devote a little space to the galvanising of iron,
‘seeing that about half the world’s production of
zinc is used for this process.
(2) The volume on “ Asbestos” decidedly suffers
by comparison with its companion volume, as the
author does not take care to avoid a number of
errors, which, though common enough in the
trade, ought not to find their way into a book of
this description. He does not by any means make
it clear, as he should have done at the outset,
that the trade name “asbestos” is applied to
several different minerals; the name was appar-
ently given originally to tremolite, actinolite, and
other varieties of amphibole, but it is also applied
to fibrous forms of pyroxene, to the very different
mineral crocidolite, distinguished by the large
proportion of ferrous iron that it contains, and,
Jastly, to chrysolite, a fibrous variety of serpen-
tine, which differs from all the foregoing in that
it is a hydrated silicate, whereas all the others are
anhydrous. Again, no serious work should con-
tain such statements as: ‘‘ Next to coal, asbestos
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
is now undoubtedly the most important of the non-
metallic mineral products of the world,” or “older
than anything in the animal or vegetable king-
dom”; surely the author cannot suppose that
asbestos is of more importance than salt, for
example, and surely he would not question the
inclusion of, say, Silurian trilobites in the animal
kingdom. His statement that the works of the
United Asbestos Co., Ltd., at Harefield, Middle-
sex, are alongside a coal-pit is unintelligible;
there are certainly no collieries in that part of
England. When he deals with the manufacture
of asbestos into cloth, yarn, packing, boiler cover-
ings, and the numerous patented materials of
which it forms an essential constituent, he is on
safer ground, and supplies much useful informa-
tion in a convenient form.
(3) and (4) The Imperial Institute is doing ex-
cellent service in issuing the handy monographs
on the mineral resources of the British Empire,
two of which have recently appeared. There is,
of course, nothing new in either of these works,
they being careful compilations of well-known in-
formation and statistics; this does not imply that
the production of such compilations is at all an
easy task, or that the compiler has not done good
service in carrying it out. On the contrary, the
collection of the large mass of material which has
here been brought together requires a laborious
and painstaking search through many and various
sources of information, not all of which are
readily accessible to the general reader, as a glance
at the very useful bibliographies appended to both
volumes will at once show. In one respect the
two mineral substances discussed in the respective
volumes show a marked contrast: workable tin
ores occur in relatively few localities, whilst ores
of manganese are very widely distributed, and
to be found in most parts of the world, although
it is true that large deposits of manganese
ores are far from plentiful; but in other re-
spects the tasks of the authors have been yery
similar.
The general scheme of both books is identical.
The first chapter is devoted to the uses and appli-
cations of the metal and its compounds, and to the
nature and general characters of the ores; the
second deals in some detail with the occur-
rences of the ores within the British Empire;
and the third reviews briefly the main sources
of supply in other parts of the world. In
both cases the work has been carefully and
thoroughly done, and the handbooks may be
looked upon as giving trustworthy information
upon the subjects treated in a compact and con-
venient form.
NATURE
195
‘ “ApRIL 15, 1920]
Our Bookshelf.
Engines of the Human Body: Being the
ubstance of Christmas Lectures Given at the
oyal Institution of Great Britain, Christmas,
16-1917. By Prof. Arthur Keith. Pp.
i+284+ii plates. (London: Williams and
Yorgate, 1919.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
KS on physiology commonly appeal either to
esa types of student, or else to those engaged
ching or research work. The work before
aims to appeal in the first place to the general
er “who desires to know what modern medical
md
human machine.” The title of the book, with
le foregoing quotation, indicates the spirit in
lich the author has approached the subject.
between the various functions of the organs
m one hand, and divers mechanisms of human
gn on the other, and he certainly never
ns at a loss for them. In so far as*the general
eader has no previous knowledge of the subject,
> method of treatment by analogy alone seems
salculated to give rise to an abundant harvest of
fesque misconceptions, as all those who have
ht elementary physiology are well aware;
the book should be truly welcome to a teacher
who, while having some acquaintance with the
‘Subject, is yet lacking in the knowledge or
imag ination necessary to evolve. instructive
analogies to help to fasten in the pupil’s mind
v vhat he wishes to impart.
_ Many of the mechanical analogies are quite
néw and should be worth adopting, but others
em superfluous or misleading; for example,
ie comparison of muscular tissue with an
ally recognised conception, up to a certain point;
but to refer to tendons as “piston cords,” or to
arteries and veins as supply and exhaust pipes,
pushing a good analogy to the point of whim-
sicality. For the first thirteen chapters, however,
in spite of this, the reader should go along
smoothly enough, but after this point, when
_ analogies fall thick as autumn leaves, the general
_ reader is likely to lose sight of the track. There
_ are some inexactitudes in the book which do not
_ fall in the category of bad analogies; for example,
_ the statement that the velocity of the nerve impulse
_ pulsating,” and that nerves are subject to fatigue
te 263). The historical fragments which are fre-
_ quently introduced are of considerable merit,
5 y on account of the relief experienced by the
__ reader in meeting plain, unveiled fact, but chiefly
_ because they are exceedingly well chosen.
oe C.-L. E.
7. 4 Clast:book of Organic Chemistry. By Prof.
_ «J. B. Cohen. Vol. ii. : For Second-Year Medical
“Students and Others. Pp. vii+156. (London:
__. .Maemillan and Co., Ltd., 1919.), Price 4s. 6d.
= THE average medical student is inclined to regard
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
ernal-combustion engine is a sound and gener-
is four miles a second, that nerves are “living and
chemistry as a subject which has to be studied in
order to pass certain examinations, and having
passed these, he dismisses the subject from his
mind. This is in large measure due to the fact
that the text-book he has come across has failed
to stimulate his interest, and the probability is that
he will get rid of the book at the earliest oppor-
tunity.
The little volume under review, however, is
one that we venture to think the student will not
be likely to part with, as it gives a very clear,
concise, and readable account of the subject,
which may stand him in good stead in his future
studies; it is divided into ten chapters, as
follows: Synthesis, The Oils and Fats, The
Carbohydrates, Some Natural Organic Bases,
The Pyrimidine and Purine Groups, The
Proteins, Fermentation and Enzyme ° Action,
The Essential Oils, The Alkaloids, and Syn-
thetic Drugs. Each of the sections is
thoroughly up-to-date, and we know of no
book which, within so small a compass, deals
with such varied subjects as, for example, the
(Grignard reaction, ~ the synthesis of disac-
charides, the origin of uric acid in the animal
organism, and the theory of alcoholic fermenta-
tion, besides giving the constitutional formule,
so far as they are known, of yeast-nucleic acid,
hemin, etiophyllin, and the more important
alkaloids, such as strychnine and morphine, The
last chapter, in addition to giving the constitution
of many of the better-known synthetic drugs,
contains a short account of the more recent anti-
septics, such as chloramine-T, and the dyestuffs
malachite green, acriflavine, etc., as well as a
brief. sketch of the trypanocidal action of the
organic arsenic compounds.
The first volume, published in 1917, was meant
to serve as an introduction to organic chemistry,
and the two volumes together can be thoroughly
recommended as a most excellent and handy little
compendium, which should find great favour
among students and teachers alike.
Examples in Electrical Engineering. By J. F.
- Gill and F..J. Teago. Pp. 173. (London:
Edward Arnold, 1920.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
A BooK of this kind, which consists of a collec-
tion of model examination papers, followed by
model replies, should be not without its uses to
those who are obliged to study the art of passing”
examinations, as. well as the principles of elec-
trical engineering, ..as. a careful perusal of its
contents will enable the student not only to
practise his knowledge of the various parts’ of
the subject, but also to form good habits in the
way of presentation of the solution of the problems
in a clean form and logical sequence. The drawing
of good diagrams and the frequent use of
graphical methods are very rightly insisted on, and
admirable conciseness is observed:' The papers
cover both “intermediate” - and “advanced”
standards, and relate on the whole to practical
applications rather than to theory,
!
196
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
Opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
_ this or any other part of NaturE. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
The Plumage Bill and Bird Protection.
At the present time there is a measure before the
House of Commons known as the Importation of
Plumage (Prohibition) Bill, the object of which is ‘‘ to
prohibit the importation of the plumage of birds and
the sale or possession of plumage illegally imported,”
excepting the plumage of ostriches and eider ducks,
but ‘the prohibition or importation imposed by the
Act shall not apply to any plumage imported in the
baggage or as part of the wearing apparel of a pas-
senger.’’ The Bill further provides for the granting
of a licence, subject to certain conditions and regula-
tions, authorising the importation of plumage for
natural history museums, for the purpose of scientific
research, or for any other special purpose.
In connection with this measure numerous conflict-
ing interests are threatened and grave misunder-
standings exist, due very largely to lack of knowledge
of the actual facts. Whilst yielding to no one in my
love of wild birds and all the zsthetic interests asso-
ciated with wild-bird life, I cannot shut my eyes to
the fact that a considerable amount of sentimentalism,
misrepresentation, and exaggeration has been put
forth by supporters or well-wishers of this measure,
and similarly by the opposers respecting trade losses,
the extent of the employment the trade ensures, the
absence of cruelty involved in the trade, etc. Neither
of these views helps us to understand the situation or
calmly and dispassionately to form an_ unbiassed
opinion, for both of them are far from the actual
truth.
There is now ample evidence to show that a-con-
siderable trade is done in the plumage and skins of
wild birds which are largely utilised for the decoration
of women’s hats, etc. In different centres, such as
London, Manchester, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and else-
where, this trade affords employment to a number
of workers. The ‘horrors and barbarities of the
traffic’? have been luridly described by one set of
writers and denied by another. Without accepting
either of these sets of exaggerated ‘statements,
information in my possession shows that gross cruelty
is frequently committed. Prof. E. H. Forbush states
that brutal savagery is characteristic of this phase
of bird destruction, and points out that this “‘has been
well illustrated in the extermination of the egrets of
the United States.’ No unprejudiced mind can
exonerate or satisfactorily explain away this highly
objectionable side of the question.
Of the species of birds sought after, we are con-
stantly being assured that they are injurious, that
they are ‘‘as common as rooks,’”’ or that we do not
possess any exact information as to the effect this
trade has had upon their numbers. The fact is that
the majority of the species are beneficial so far as
agriculture or horticulture is concerned, and only a
very few injurious. There is exact and incontro-
vertible evidence that where thirty-five or forty vears
ago millions of birds existed, they are now practically
extirpated. A single ‘‘rookery’’ of egrets was esti-
mated by a well-known ornithologist to contain three
million birds in 1878; in 1888 they were rare, and in
¥go8 almost extinct.. aie
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]:
It is pointed out by supporters of this Bill that
prohibition laws exist in America, Australia, India,
and elsewhere, but it is not mentioned that, in the -
opinion of many competent judges, in consequence of
such laws certain beneficial species of birds have
suffered and injurious ones unduly increased.
Again, it has been suggested that such birds as
egrets might be cultivated in natural reserves, and
their plumes or ‘‘aigrettes’’ collected as the birds
moult. The most perfect of such feathers, so we are
informed, fetch as much as 2l, apiece. That the
farming of these birds is a practicable scheme is
proved by the fact that the National Association
of Audubon Societies in the United States has
established such a colony on a small island in the
Stono River, near Charleston, and in 1917 it was
tenanted by more than four hundred birds. aoe
on Avery Island, Louisiana, U.S.A., there is a
‘‘rookery’’ of snowy egrets which in 1916 was care-
fully examined by Prof. J. S. Huxley, and reported
to contain between eight and nine hundred nests. It
may be well, perhaps, to remind the advocates of
such schemes that, like all members of the family
Ardeidz, herons and egrets subsist very largely upon
fish, and there is little doubt that the establish-
ment of a series of large rookeries would have a
disastrous effect upon fresh-water fisheries.
Whilst in no manner advocating opposition to this
Bill, we must face the question: Supposing that it is
placed upon the Statute-book, shall we have done
anything to stop the trade in the skins and plumage
of wild birds? Personally, I have graye doubts
whether the object desired can be obtained by this
measure. As an Act of Parliament its example and
influence may be for good, but it will certainly not
put a stop to the plumage trade. It must be realised
that if we prohibit this trade in London, it will still
flourish in Paris, Berlin, and elsewhere.
simply move the venue of the market; it will not
bring about a smaller demand. To put an end to
this we must educate the public, not by giving cur-
rency to wild and often inaccurate statements, but by
teaching the rising generation ‘‘to view the question
of the preservation of wild-bird life from a higher and
much truer standpoint than heretofore. That wild
birds have a utilitarian value no one can deny, but
they also have an esthetic value far outweighing all
others. . . . Surely the general public have some
rights where beautiful natural objects are concerned.
. . Posterity will undoubtedly regard us—and who
shall say not rightly ?—as stupid people, dull of appre-
hension and procrastinating in nature, in that we
have permitted various species of wild birds, one after
another, to disappear from our land; and our children’s
children will rise up and ask why we did not secure
to them the natural pleasures which their forefathers
could have enjoyed had they had eyes to see with
and minds tuned beyond the din and bustle of the
highways and byways of commerce’? (National
Review, 1920, p. 95).
Whilst the decoration of the person with wings
and feathers may be regarded as the vulgar and.
depraved fancy of a day, the fact cannot escape us
that there is a large section of-the general public who
are willing to pay high prices for these goods; and
so long as this demand continues, so long will a
supply be forthcoming. ¥
By making the Plumage Bill a law of the land we
can sav that in this country we will have nothing to.
do with the trade and that it shall be prohibitory to
carry on the trade in the United Kingdom. That it
will have any effect on the destruction of wild-bird life,
however, is certainly most unlikely. A plentiful supply
r are SoRehtes 2
O get) Sg Ne
bt.
The Bill will |
aisonnd fo! tere
_ APRIL 15, 1920]
NATURE
197
of the sees will be forthcoming so long as a demand)
exists, but once it is regarded as offensive—or shall we|
ay indicative of a lack of good taste?—to wear such’
gs as the wings, heads, feathers, or bodies of,
ds, the demand will cease and the trade, so’
as this country is concerned, disappear. Herein,!
ink, lies a remedy far more effective than any,
ict of Parliament. Watter E. CoLtince.
The University, St. Andrews, March 27. ;
The Physiology of Migrations in the Sea.
flat-fishes of Northumberland in the immature
dition migrate more or less inshore in summer
d offshore in winter. Flounders are relatively static,
migrate offshore to the north-east and dabs to
south-east. The migration is not, as a rule, con-
cuous, and, so far as the young stages are con-
erned, might be regarded as not taking place.
With approaching maturity, however, ‘these three
cies migrate far to the north. The flounders for
he most part reach the coast of Fife, and the plaice
per water off the Forth and the Scottish coast to
e north. The dabs do not appear to migrate so far
9 the north as the plaice, but we have a record of
that migrated so far as St. Andrews Bay. Fulton
as shown that the Moray Firth plaice migrate to the
north, and even to the Atlantic.
_ The migrations may be said, therefore, to be a
ee of seasonal inshore and offshore movements,
ollowed by a marked contranatant journey for spawn-
ing. After spawning the spent fish resume the
seasonal em, and become then, more obviously,
summer inshore migrants. .
We have thus plainly two factors at work: one
ernal, which may be associated with temperature,
the other internal, which we at once conclude to
be due to the action of an internal secretion. The
seasonal migrations are obviously independent of the
spawning migration, and may be said to be produced
_hydrographical conditions and the contranatant
lity of the fish. Under the influence of the spawn-
ing impulse fish migrate usually to a great, and some-
times to an immense, distance. The effect is strong
enough to force the eel to descend from fresh
water to the sea, and thence to mid-ocean, and to
impel the salmon from the sea to the river, and, in
Spite of difficulties, to the spawning-ground.
_ The spawning migration is not always so plainly
marked, but these considerations go to show that ail
fish migrations are of a similar character, a general
“seasonal series of movements affecting ‘all, and a
yc ee aton under the dominating influence of
_ an internal secretion or hormone, which, proceeding
the developing gonad, is carried by the blood to
_ the nervous system. With reference to the species
referred to above, it can be said that the hormone
be
tome
1C
7 :
to exert its influence about autumn or the later
of the year, and continues its effect during
the whole period of ripening. It is periodic in its
_ manifestations, and the call, when it comes, is im-
__-—perative. Only in special circumstances, as lack of
_ Water, say, in the river, can the spawning migration
be said to be modified by hydrographical or other
aig conditions. The distinction between the two
nds of migration must be clearly kept in view if
we are to understand and appreciate the results of
marking experiments. From, say, November to the
spawning season mature plaice are contranatant
migrants; after spawning they are denatant, or
usually so, until the winter. The large number
D:
e
ae
of records which have been accumulated, resulting
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
from the investigations of past years, should be re-
considered with this in mind.
It is interesting to observe that the only invertebrate
of the migration of which we have direct proof
behaves almost exactly like the plaice and the flounder.
The common edible crab (Cancer pagurus) migrates
inshore in summer and offshore in winter with the
greatest regularity. Maturity impels the female to
become a contranatant migrant. The females migrate
from the Northumberland coast to the southern coast
of the Firth of Forth, some of them still further to
the north, even to the Moray Firth, the general results
indicating a direct relationship between size and dis-
tance.. The hormone is therefore secreted in the crab
by the developing ovary, and it reacts in exactly the
same way as that of the fish. The experiments have
clearly proved that the migration does not occur until
the winter before the season of spawning, and in this
respect the crustacean and the fish are in agreement. .
It takes place during the offshore winter migration
and in deep water, but the effect is differential, the
male not migrating. It is not necessary for the male
to migrate, as the migration takes place after pairing,
even a year or two years after. This appears to indicate
that the internal secretion is under control or may
be withheld in response to evolutionary necessity.
Dr. Gurley, in the American Journal of Psychology
(1902 and 1909), brought under review the indications
of the intoxication of the central nervous system by
internal secretions as explaining the spawning migra-
tions of fresh-water fish in North America; so that the
point is not new. We do not know very much about
the internal secretions, but we know enough to be
able to say that they act directly and quickly as an
intercommunication between organs with or without
reference to the nervous system. In the sea the
effects are indicated by migration in the case of, such
animals as are capable of making migrations, but it
is obvious that in many cases the internal secretions
derived from the gonad have somatogenetic as well
as mental effects, as in the development of secondary
sexual characters.
The developing gonads of fish and the crab offer
interesting material for the investigation of internal
secretions by a biochemist. My main object, however,
is to indicate that we already know the general facts
and laws of migration, that marking must be
done intelligently and the results read with due con-
sideration of the laws, and more especially that the
spawning migration is due to an intoxication of the
central nervous system, and brings about a migratory
result independent of temperature, salinity, and every
other hydrographical condition. :
ALEXANDER MEEK.
Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
March 30.
Muscular Efficiency.
~Wuen muscular force is exerted, power is expended
and fatigue is produced, even when the muscle
remains stationary. Again, when no external force
opposes the contraction of the muscle, physiological
causes set a limit to the speed at which contraction
can take place. In both cases the whole power ex-
pended is lost in so far as the production of useful
work is concerned. When there is no. velocity the
power is used in maintaining the stress, and when
there is no resistance, in maintaining a constant
velocity.’
_ In all ordinary muscular operations both these
sources of power leakage act simultaneously but in
1 This loss is independent of any power lost in the aceeleration of the parts.
198
WATURE
[APRIL 15. 1920
different degrees, and it becomes a definite problem
to determine for any muscle or combination of muscles
the relation between the speed of muscular contraction
and the muscular force which will yield the greatest
external power. The problem may be solved by means
of the diagram in Fig. 1.
It is assumed that the muscular machine has a con-
stant output of power which is represented by the
product xy (x pressure, y velocity) of the co-ordinates
of the hyperbola AB. Also, that the pressure avail-
able for producing exterior power is less than x by
some quantity +0) depending on the velocity, and
represented in the figure by the abscissa of the curve
DD’, the effective velocity in the same way being less
A
Y
Xx
Fic. 1.—X,Y, co-ordinates of hyperbola AB. (x), ordinates of CC’.
wy), abscissa of DD’.
than y by some quantity (x) depending on the pres-
sure, and represented by the ordinate of the curve CC’.
The useful power is evidently (x-W(yv) )(v-(2)),
and the loss of power is p(x) +yh(v) — h(x)W(y).
If the co-ordinates for x+dx and y+dy are drawn
as in the figure, it is plain that the loss is a minimum
(and the useful power, therefore, a maximum) when
(4— wv) able) +(v— (x) avy) = y) dy + b(x) dx.
I know of no experiments which would determine
the form of the functions @ and w—that is, what
power is lost in sustaining a load or in keeping a
uniform speed. Both these subjects are worthy of
investigation, and, with the facilities offered by some
Velocity [,| Resistance _ | Velocity B External Force
>|A<—« —'|Bi<—<«
y ¥ (y) _ ¥- PONS X-¥Y
Leakage | P(x)
y
Fic. 2.
of the modern laboratories, ought not to present any
great difficulties.
If (x) and w(y) were simply proportional to x
and y, the most economical speed would make, if
p(x)=ax and W(y)=dy. y/x=b/a; and if a=é, the most
economical speed would be the mean between that where
¥(y)=* and g(x) =y.
In reality, however, ¥(y) is, I believe, much less
than (x), but this remains for experimental deter-
mination. It may be noticed that as w(v)/o(x) de-
creases, the most economical speed increases.
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
A close analogy to the conditions of the problem
may be found in a fluid contained between two pistons -
A and B (Fig. 2), between which there is a leak
governed by the fluid pressure. A constant power
urges A towards B, and A itself is subject to a fric-
tional resistance depending on its speed. The useful
work is represented by the velocity of B against an
exterior force, while the leak stands for ole) and the
frictional resistance of A for wWfy).
A. MALLock. —
A Dynamical Specification of the Motion of Mercury.
Ir we assume that the modified Lagrangean func-
tion for two mobile and massive particles is of the
form
L=dmj (x2 +y,2 +212) + hotter? + 792+ 25°)
4a + oi ((, — Xo)® + (I, —Yo)*®+(% -2°} |
where the symbols have the usual meaning, C being
the velocity of light and A a pure number, then the
principle of least action 8/Ld¢=o leads to the following
conclusions :
(1) The motion of the centre of mass is constant.
(2) The orbits of the two particles about their centre
of mass are similar and. similarly described plane
curves, and independent of the motion of the centre
of mass. ote
(3) For the orbital motion the modified Lagrangean
function is:
11 MMe {5 4 200, +M)AY) 9, apg , YMs
L ice rr ar [72+ 7°08) + -
Hence the equations :
{14 2d ea a4 apn) MEM once
— _ Ym +ms)
a
) : |
and { t+ eet const. =
Writing r=1/u, we have:
du\? 2y( 2, + Mts I 2( #2, + ty) yu
(B) +42= ¥( 3 nwa} {r+ Cnt Mye\
From this we may deduce
au e { ae 4h ym, + mt ym +iy){ hy (my im)
Cc oe Ee
or the solution in the form
u=- {1 +e cos (nO-+n)}
Bs.
where pesi— a a
These equations are exact.
In applying this argument to the observed apsidal
progress of the planet Mercury, it is to be noted that
the interpretation of a and h differs slightly from what
it would be if A were zero; but to a sufficient degree of
APRIL 15, 1920]
NATURE
199
ximation we find that the apsidal progress per
lution is -
4mdy? (m7, + Mg)"
Ch?
observed value requires that A should be nearly
ad if 3/2 is taken, we get the result obtained by
Einstein by his new specification and principles.
may be observed that the above specification by
Lagrangean function could be generalised for any
iber of particles, and that it involves no departure
| recognised dynamics or the normal views of space
time. It does, however, involve the conclusion that
interaction of bodies through the zther, vaguely
ed “‘gravitation,’’ is to a very slight degree not
in accordance with Newton’s specification.
her such conclusion is really necessary seems still
tter of doubt.
have not seen any discussion of the problem of
bodies on Prof. Einstein’s specification, but it
pears to me that an exact determination of the
‘lative orbit when m, and m, are comparable quanti-
»s is very desirable. Grorce W. WALKER.
smouth, March 29. —
Given Electric Current.
CCORDING to Ampére’s theorem, the magnetic field
to an electric current flowing in any circuit is
‘alent at external points to that due to a simple
etic shell the bounding edge of which coincides
to the strength of the current.
‘circuit as its boundary will serve as the surface
an equivalent magnetic shell, and the fact that
- is a restriction on the nature of the surface
s not eee generally to be recognised.
12) we find the following :—‘‘Conceive any sur-
bounded by the circuit and not passing through
point P”; while further on he says: “It is
nanifest that the action of the circuit is independent
the form of the surface S, which was drawn in a
fectly arbitrary manner so as to fill it up.”
_T pre to show by means of a simple example
that the surface is not drawn in a “perfectly
rbitrary ’? manner.
Consider a narrow, rectangular strip of paper the
opposite edges of which we shall denote bv a and b,
its opposite faces by A and B, and its two ends by
and 2. We shall represent the ends of the edges
by @,, b,, a., b., where the suffixes refer to the corre-
wp ends of the strip. Now let one end of the
_ paper be turned round through an angle « and joined
on to the other end, so that.a, is joined to b, and
_ Then, since a, is joined to b,, the edges a and b
form one continuous line, and, since b, is joined to a,,
ric, forms a closed circuit.
_ Thus we may bend a wire into the form of the
edge, and can imagine an electric current to flow
in it.
_ Although the electric circuit has the form of the
edge, yet we could not have a simple magnetic shell
_.the surface of which was that of the paper.
_ This is easily seen, for since, in addition to the
edges, the faces A and B have also become continuous
one with the other, we can no longer distinguish
one as positive and the other as negative. The same
thing is seen if we try to imagine the surface divided
up into elementary portions, in the manner conceived
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
~ ae
;
the conductor, and the strength of which is —
§ generally understood that any surface having ©
of by Ampére, with a current equal in strength to the
given current flowing round the boundary of each.
It is easily seen that Ampére’s construction fails
for such a surface, which is known to mathematicians
as a Mdbius sheet.
Although the surface we have described would not
serve as the surface of a simple magnetic shell equiva-
lent to an electric current flowing round its boundary,
‘yet it is possible to construct other surfaces having
this boundary which would serve as surfaces of
equivalent magnetic shells.
If we have one suitable surface we can obtain any
number of others from it by continuous deformation
while the oc remains fixed.
It is, therefore, desirable to give a general method
of constructing a magnetic shell equivalent to a given
electric circuit. The following appears to give a sur-
face having the required property :—
Let O be a fixed point exieraak to the circuit, and
let P be a variable point. Let P travel once com-
pletely round the circuit, so that the radius vector OP
traces out some conical surface.
The portion of. this conical surface containing O
and bounded by the circuit might then be taken as
the surface of the equivalent magnetic shell.
In the particular case of the circuit we have con-
sidered (as well as in many others) the surface will
cut itself, but will, nevertheless, have two distinct
faces, one of which may be taken as positive and the
other as negative. It thus appears to satisfy the
necessary conditions. A. A. Ross.
. March 30.
_ Volcanic Rocks in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
In connection with Prof. J. W. Gregory’s reference
in Nature of February 19, p. 667, to the discovery
of the Bayuda volcanic field, and Mr. Campbell
Smith’s record of a_riebeckite-rhyolite which con-
: > stituted a number of stone implements found at
example, in Maxwell’s treatise (vol. ii., —
Jebel Katul, in Northern Kordofan (ibid., February 26,
p. 693), some further notes may be of interest.
The rock collected by Sir Herbert Jackson at Merowe
is a basaltic scoria, and the specimens either float or
just sink in water. A few crystals of olivine are visible
to the eye, and, urder the microscope, a regular
basaltic ground-mass, including felspar, iron ores, and
probably glass, can be recognised in the powdered
rock. The specimens have evidently been transported
by a stream system which drains from the south-east
ahd debouches on the river at the spot where they were
found. Save for the neighbourhoods of the river and
a few routes by which travellers avoid the long journey
around the Abu Hamed bend of the Nile, the maps
of the Bayuda Desert are almost blank. Near one of
‘the routes a surveyor has recorded ‘“‘Hosh Eddalam,
crater,” and the name means a dark enclosure. Some
of the older travellers mistook ironstone concretions
for voleanic bombs, and as the surfaces of many rocks
are darkened in the desert such a record of a crater
; did not call for particular note until evidence of ex-
trusive rocks appeared. It is situated in latitude
18° 20’ N., longitude 32° 31’ E., and consequently
lies to the west of the route taken by Dr. Chalmers
Mitchell. ‘The volcanic field seen from the air probably
does not lie on the established routes, as it would
certainly have been referred to in reports, even if it
were not described. Presumably there can be no doubt
about the existence of craters seen by an observer such
as Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, but the results of an
examination on the ground will be of interest, even if
onlv to know the tvpes of rocks involved.
Mr. Stanley C. Dunn records the presence of rhyo-
lites and felsites near Jakdul, and these are doubtless
200
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920
similar. to those of the Sixth Cataract, about forty
miles north of Khartum, where the volcanic rocks are
certainly older than the Nubian Sandstone. In the
northern parts of Dongola basalt intrusions occur in
the Nubian Sandstone, and there -is a hot spring at
Akasha, about eighty miles south-west of Halfa.
Turning to more distant regions, one of the solitary
landmarks on the White Nile is Jebel Ahmed Aga, in
latitude 11° N., consisting of the remains. of a vol-
canic cone formed of basaltic scoria and evidently of
comparatively recent age. Towards the east there are
the plateau basalts of Abyssinia, with outliers extend-
ing into the Sudan. Along the Langeb Valley, north
of Kassala, there is an interesting suite of acid and
intermediate volcanic rocks, but we are still in doubt
about their age. Similar rhyolites certainly occur
farther north among the Red Sea hills. The western
parts of Kordofan have been traversed geologically
without revealing the existence of volcanic rocks on
the continuation of the line referred to by Mr. Camp-
bell Smith. Farther west Darfur appears to be full
of recent volcanic rocks, principally of scoriaceous
types.
The N.E.-S.W. features seen by Dr. Chalmers
Mitchell may have been to some extent due to erosion
by sand driven from the N.N.E. by the prevalent
wind. The direction of strike among the meta-
morphic rocks is another factor to be borne in mind.
It is not constant over these large areas, but it is
very often N.E.-S.W., and would then account for
some of the features seen from the air. In these
circumstances caution appears desirable in basing wide
structural theories on rather scanty data.
G. W. GRaBHAM.
Box 178, Khartum, March 2s.
The FitzGerald-Lorentz Contraction Theory.
In the discussion on relativity at the Royal Society
on February 5 (Nature, February 12), Mr. Jeans stated
that the FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction theory pre-
sented grave difficulties in the case of a wheel rotating
about a fixed axle, so that the circumference would
contract while the radius would not. Surely these
difficulties are not so grave as would appear at first
sight? Let us adopt the point of view of the old-
fashioned non-relativist ‘to whom space is rigid and
Euclidean, even though his measuring instruments may
change and so introduce errors in his measurements.
A scale is not a rigid invariable unit of length. Its
length, even if its orientation is unchanged, depends
on its temperature and the tensile or compression
stresses to which it is subjected. If we change its
temperature, keeping the stresses constant, its length
(as measured by a standard scale at fixed temperature)
varies. But we may by suitable means prevent the
variation of length, in which case the change of tem-
perature will cause a change of stress. Similarly, on
the FitzGerald-Lorentz theory, turning the scale to a
different orientation relative to the supposed ether
stream causes a change in the electric forces to which
the cohesion of the molecules is ultimately due, ‘so
that if the temperature and the external stresses
remain constant, the length changes. In*this case,
however, we cannot detect the change directly, as it
would be necessary to turn our standard scale also,
and it, too, would change. If for any reason the
change of length is prevented, the FitzGerald-Lorentz
effect causes a change of stress. me
Now in the case of the rotating wheel the ratio of
the. circumference to the radius must remain xon-
stant, so that any. tendency of one to change its dimen-
sions will affect the other, with the result that both
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
circumferential and radial stresses will be set up, —
and any changes of length caused must be compatible ~
with the constancy of x. These stresses would in any
actual case be almost vanishingly small compared
with those due to centrifugal force, so that the only
effect of the FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction would be
to alter the latter stresses to an utterly negligible
extent. Horace H, Poore.
Physical Laboratory, Trinity College, ,
Dublin, March 19.
Moseley Memorial.
Tue fund founded in the University of Manchester
for the provision of a memorial to the late H. G. J.
Moseley (killed in action at Gallipoli, 1915), and
originally proposed as a private memorial from
Moseley’s personal friends and fellow-workers in
Manchester, has now been extended in order to give
other scientific bodies, both ip England and abroad,
an opportunity of participating. This extension has
been made at the request of a number’ of scientific
men interested in Moseley’s work, but not personally
connected with him, and it is in order to reach this
wider public that you are asked to publish this letter.
The scheme of memorial proposed is (1) the provi-
sion of a memorial tablet in the physical laboratory
and (2) the foundation of a Moseley prize or medal for
physics in the University of Manchester.
The fund is administered by a committee consisting
of Sir Henry A. Miers (chairman), Profs. W. L.
Bragg and H. B. Dixon, Sir E. Rutherford, and Dr.
E. J. Evans.
Subscriptions, which should be made payable to the
‘*Moseley Memorial Fund,” and crossed ‘ Williams
Deacon’s Bank, Ltd.,’? may be sent to either of the
hon. secretaries, Mr. C. G. Darwin, Christ’s College,
Cambridge, or Dr. H. Robinson, Physical Laboratory,
University of Manchester. :
About 17ol. has already been received, comprising
donations from Great Britain, Canada, the United
States, and France (including contributions from the
Société Francaise de Physique and the Société de
Chimie-Physique).
It is desired to close the fund in July of this year.
Henry A. Mirrs,
Chairman.
C. G. Darwin,
H. Rostnson,
Hon. Secretaries.
The Aurora of March 22-23.
I HAD a fine view of this superb display at Working-
ton between midnight and 1 o’clock a.m., in a clear
and bright starlit sky. The whole sky was filled with
the light except a small area in the south-east. I
could detect no colour except creamy-white, the general
intensity being, to my mind, at times equal to full
moonlight. Curtains of light surrounded a point just
east of the zenith, which seemed to mark the “hub”
of the display. The bright star (a) in Canes Venatici
almost exactly marked this point, and filmy sheets of
light seemed to dash upwards from the south-west
and north-east horizons and merge together at this
star. The only display I have ever seen to equal
this was on 1907 February 14 at Motherwell, in the
previous sun-spot maximum period. It was the fact
that I could see the great sun-spot train on March 22
without telescopic aid that made me expect and look
out for the aurora that night. be
_. W.._B. Housman.
Seaton Cottage, Workington, April 9.
anal ee on oT
APRIL 15, 1920]
NATURE
201
» is surely high time that we, as a nation,
were more fully alive to the necessity of a
ste investigation of the recovery of by-
ducts, and that not merely in connection with
xen products. There is still too much of
ng—one comes across it quite frequently
so-called waste products form a recognised
any process. The investigation of the
eatment of any waste product is not looked
pon as the work of the person engaged in the
cific manufacture from which that waste pro-
is obtained. Competition becomes keener
years pass, and if our position is to be
d by-products must be recovered in all
where such recovery can’ be economically
sd. A waste product may even become the
x point of a new industry. The detailed
gation of the position as regards nitrogen
oducts manufacture comes as a_ very
yme record and as a much-needed indicator
> forward path.
world’s. ammonia production, in terms of
ulphate, advanced between the years 1903 and
13 from 540,200 long tons to 1,389,790, an
ease of more than 150 per cent. The chief
ducers were Germany, the United Kingdom,
‘the United States, who were respectively re-
ble in 1913 for 39, 31, and 124 per cent. of
total production. The essential sources are
-works, coke-ovens, gas-producers, shale-
ks, iron-works, and bone, etc., carbonising
og
~
‘the years 1911 and 1913 the coke-oven
try was responsible for 84 and 86 per cent.
tively of the German production, in 1913
78 per cent. of the United States production,
jm 1911 and 1913 for 27 and 30 per cent. of
United Kingdom production. The United
_ Kingdom production rose from 233,664 long tons
in 1903 to 432,618 in 1913, of which, in 1903,
-works provided 149,489 long tons, or 64 per
t. of the total, which steadily increased to
_ 182,180, or 42 per cent. of the total. Coke-ovens
in the United Kingdom provided in 1903 only
17,438 tons, or barely 74 per cent., but con-
tinual increase brought up the amount by 1913
to 133,816 tons, practically 31 per cent. of the
production of the country. Iron-works during this
period retained a steady output of 19,000° to
,000 tons, shale-works production increased
gradually from 37,353 to 63,061 tons, and that of
producer-gas, bone, etc., carbonising works from
_ 10,265 to 33,605 tons. ran
_. These are illuminating figures which deserve
_ of the by-product industry up to the commence-
_ ment of the war period.
_ In addition to supplying home demands for
ammonia nitrogen, there was an average yearly
_ Nitrogen Products Committee. Final Report.” Pp. vi+3<7.
_ H.M Stationery Office, 1919.) Cmd. 482. Price 4s. ne’. Seg
_ January 22 and 29.
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
1 “ Ministry of Munitions of War. Munitions Inventions Rondon:
ATURE,
3 consideration and show plainly the development
|
{
The Nitrogen Problem: By-products.!
_export of ammonia, ammonia salts, and products
made therefrom during the years 1911 to 1913
equivalent to 82 per cent. of the total home pro-
duction. This would have been more than suffi-
cient to provide the nitrate and nitric nitrogen
required for all purposes had the means of con-
version been available, which they were not, so
that we were dependent on imported nitrates for
various purposes, including agriculture, the manu-
facture of sulphuric acid, nitric acid, explosives,
and other products.
Passing on to the war period, estimates for the
year 1917 indicate a by-product ammonia increase
of 130 per cent. in the United States, 27 per cent.
in Germany, and only 6 per cent. in the United
Kingdom; but Japan has in the meantime taken a
considerable step’ forward and increased her output
more than sixfold—from 8000 tons in 1913 to 50,000
tons in 1917. The production of sulphate from
_ coke-ovens in the United States had increased by
1916 to 83 per cent. of the total output, and in
the United Kingdom to more than 36 per cent.
of the total. Even during 1915 and 1916 con-
siderably more than half our production of
ammonia nitrogen was exported, and we were
using large quantities of imported nitrate, all of
which might be produced economically by
ammonia oxidation or by synthetic processes,
details of which are fully discussed in the report.
We have now arrived at the stage where synthetic
manufacture begins to complicate the ammonia
problem and the economics of the various pro-
cesses require the closest attention.
With regard to post-war conditions, it is certain
that agricultural demands will be much greater
than formerly: many lessons were learnt during
the war, not the least being that of the need for in-
creased food production at home. The consump-
tion of combined nitrogen practically doubled
during the ten years preceding the war, and there
is little doubt that the increase will continue,
nitrogenous fertilisers being more and more in
demand, especially now that much more land is
under cultivation than in pre-war days; in fact,
our own agricultural demand for fixed nitrogen
in the form of sulphate of ammonia and nitrates
was more than doubled during the war period
only. Moreover, nitric nitrogen will be needed
in increased quantities owing to the extension of
chemical manufactures, such as dyes and drugs,
which hitherto have been too much neglected;
and with. this will be involved the oxidation of
by-product ammonia.
It would appear likely that the world’s produc-
tive capacity should now be able to provide some
30 to 4o per cent. more combined nitrogen than
in 1914, and this does not appear to be greater
than would have been the case under normal con-
ditions had the ordinary rate of growth in con-
sumption in the pre-war period been maintained
during the four years under consideration.
Now, if food production in this country is to
202
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920
be rendered independent of imported nitrogenous
fertilisers, as is surely desirable—and recent con-
ditions have shown that it may at any time
become even absolutely necessary—and if this is
to be coupled with a continued large export trade
in nitrogen products, we must have a considerably
increased production of ammonia nitrogen.
So far, practically all the by-product nitrogen
has come from the manufacture of coal-gas, pro-
ducer-gas, coke, and. shale-oil; two _ possible
sources have been practically untouched, viz.
peat and sewage, though from the latter,
owing to our position, perhaps little may be ex-
pected—certainly so unless some simple method
should be discovered for recovering the soluble
nitrogen from very dilute material. At the same
time, it may be pointed out that the estimated
annual amount of nitrogen in the sewage of the
United Kingdom is 234,900 metric tons, 86 per
cent. of which is in urine.
Power cost is, of course, the great factor in
the question of by-product recovery versus syn-
thetic manufacture, and this is affected by coal
cost: the problem is fully discussed in the report.
But questions of the first importance to the by-
products industries, which must strive to increase
production, are such questions as the efficiency
of work on existing processes, the modification
and further development of such processes, and
the introduction of new methods.
Reviewing the gas industry, it is seen that,
with existing methods, an increase in the amount
|
t
|
_ sulphate.
this point is strongly indicated in the report. In
| dealing with concentrated ammonia liquor, the
_ losses are apt to be particularly heavy. It is con-
sidered that several thousand tons of sulphate
might be added yearly to the gas industry ammonia
_ recovery by attention to such matters as these.
_ Moreover, it will be necessary to produce a some-
_ what higher grade and at the same time a neutral
But a question that demands perhaps
even more attention is the introduction of new
methods whereby the sulphur content of the gas
itself would be made available, and so transport
and use of sulphuric acid avoided. The Burk-
heiser and Feld processes. still require to be
worked out satisfactorily, and quite recently
comes the proposal of Cobb to use sulphate of
zinc as a_ starting material. These methods
are perhaps all the more worthy of careful investi-
gation owing to modern developments in the
manufacture of coal-gas; the increase in the
vertical retort method of carbonisation, coupled
with steaming, has given rise to increased quan-
tities of liquor of decreased strength.
In the metallurgical coke industry many of the
bee-hive plants have disappeared in recent years,
and this has, of course, had its effect on the
ammonia production. There is now no longer any
question as to the relative merits of bee-hive and
_ by-product oven coke, and proper treatment might
_lead to an increase of 10 per cent. or more on
_ the present total production of ammonia from all
_ sources.
of sulphate of ammonia recovered should certainly |
be expected. Many small gas-works run to waste
the ammonia liquor, chiefly owing to their isolated
position; a proposal is made in the report to
‘work up liquors at small works in travelling
sulphate plants, but this has been attempted in
several instances and afterwards abandoned.
One would remark, however, that some small
works might well adopt the direct system of re-
covery, which has in some cases served very
well, and a local demand for the sulphate pro-
duced would obviate cost of transport. A general
consideration of the direct method of recovery
demands more attention than has been given to
it; much has been done and published in recent
years by the Chief Alkali Inspector. Storage of
ammoniacal liquor still needs attention; there are
in use inefficient methods of running ammoniacal
liquor into imperfectly covered wells and tanks:
In the producer-gas industry, again, there is
_ scope for investigation; scarcely sufficient stress
appears to be laid on producer-gas practice as
regards steaming and liming. Hydrated lime
certainly has a quite appreciable effect on
ammonia production, and it would seem, more-
over, to admit of greater latitude in the choice of -
the coal used.
It is unfortunate that peat has not received
more attention in this country; apart from nitro-
_ genous by-products, some of the by-products from
| and Toatece:
| ever,
peat gasification appear to have quite a special
value, judging from results obtained in Scotland
Moisture and transport are, how-
difficulties, yet schemes for the utilisation
of peat on the spot might well be considered’ from
| a power point of view, even though the addition
to the by-product nitrogen production would not
be by any means of the first order.
A Survey of National Physique.*
NE of the more valuable after-results of the
great wars in the last century was the
increased interest aroused in regard to national
physique, leading to various measures directed
towards its improvement. After the Napoleonic
wars there arose the great gymnastic clubs of
' Ministry of National Service 1or7-19. Report, vol. i., upon the
Physical Examinat'on of Men of Military Age by National Service Medical
Boards from November 1, 1917-October 3r, 1918 Pp. iv+159+charts.
(London: H.M. S:ationery Office, 1920.) Price 6s. net.
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
|
|
Central Europe and Scandinavia, whieh laid the
foundations of physical education on a wide scale.
The Civil War in America led to the first great
demographic survey, the data of which were ren-
dered public in the report of the Surgeon-General _
of the Federal armies on the statistics of the
_ recruiting bureaux. The War of 1870 was followed
by surveys of the population in Germany, and on
a smaller scale in France, which to a large extent
Aprit 15, 1920]
NATURE
203
d the basis of our ethnographic knowledge
‘the present time. The South African War
‘the Commission on Physical Deterioration
land and Wales, and to a similar Com-
mn on Physical Education in Scotland, from
jours of which resulted the introduction of
_ inspection and treatment of school
en, and perhaps in part also the National
th Insurance Act.
» Report of the Ministry of National Service
1e - Physical Examination of Men of Military
by National Service Boards contains a survey
in extent, in wealth of demographic detail,
n narration of the associations of inferiority
ique surpasses all previous efforts in this
ry, and is approached elsewhere, as yet, only
> report of the American Surgeon-General’s
‘tment mentioned above. If similar data
_bave been collected from all examina-
complete survey would have been available
2 use of future social hygienists. It is prob-
that the earlier figures are irrecoverable,
my. mean that while we shall in the future
ui with a knowledge of the nature and
ss of physical failure, we shall have fewer
as to the measure of physical fitness among
better-endowed members of the community.
anthropologist will thus derive rather less
1 the report than the social economist and
> first volume of the report, which is all that
as yet, issued, contains a brief introduction;
ms on grading as a criterion of health, the
arison of grading results, the relation of
ation and health, the causes of low
' and rejection; and regional reports
the district Commissioners. Under each
there is a series of statistics chiefly
n from special areas, but an analysis of all
a ble observations on physique and disabilities
for the second volume, which is stated
t 2) in active preparation, and will present
peemrlets survey of the conditions in Great
‘it The data available are taken from nearly
: and a half million examinations, on a carefully
standardised uniform system, the subjects being
- classified into four grades. Owing to re-examina-
- tions, the actual numbers of individuals would be
| slightly smaller save in the case of those rejected
_ as totally unfit for service.
_ Grade 1 consists of those who attain to the
_ full normal standard of health and strength, and
are re age of enduring physical exertion suitable
ie age. They have no progressive organic
se or serious disability or deformity. These
; constituted 36 per cent. of the total.
_ Grade 2.—Those who fall short of Grade 1 by
Eas of partial disabilities amounted to between
22 and 23 per cent. _
_ Grade 3.—Those who. presented. such marked
a physical Tisabilities or such evidence of past
disease as to be deemed unfit to undergo the
_ degree of physical exertion required for the
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
-
former, but including those fit only for clerical or
sedentary work, amounted to 31-32 per cent.
Grade 4. —Those permanently and totally unfit
for any form of military service numbered 10 per
cent. &
The proportions found in the different grades
varied from-time to time and from place to place
according to whether the numbers coming up for
examination consisted largely of older categories
and those who had been rejected previously, or of
those just attaining military age and _ those
just combed out from previously protected occupa-
tions. In the main the distribution is in accord-
ance with probabilities, with the average, how-
ever, not, as might have been hoped, among the
fit, but among those with partial disabilities.
Prof. Keith submitted a comment on the earlier
reports of the boards showing that on the basis
of the average man being fit 70 per cent. ought
to be in Grade 1, 20 per cent. in Grade 2, 74 per
cent. in Grade 3, and 24 per cent. in Grade 4.
In practice there is a grave deficit from this,
though the results of examinations of certain
groups, as of miners from the western part of the
Welsh coalfield and of miners and agriculturists
from Yorkshire during the period of the combing,
showed that this theoretical standard was attained
by the best of the community. Bearing in mind
the physique of many who went to military
service in the earlier years, and of many who
remained to the end in protected occupations, the
total deficit of the country is probably less than
would appear from the figures in this report, yet
enough is shown to indicate the need for ameliora-
tive measures.
Prof. Keith points out that from every area, or
at least from numerous and representative sample
districts, there should be not only the full return
of grading, but also frequency tables of stature,
weight, and chest dimensions, so that anomalies
in grading may be manifest and the nature of the
deterioration in physique detected. He suggests
that indices of fitness should be determined and
shown on maps, which could then be compared
with maps of other physical and social data. The
indices he suggests are an index of efficient fitness
or the percentage of Grade 1 men, and an index
of average fitness to be derived by assigning
I unit to each Grade 1 man, unit to each
Grade 2, 4 unit to each Grade 3, and } unit. to
each Grade 4, the whole being then added and
expressed as a percentage of the total number of
men examined. Many such data are given for
isolated areas, so it is to be hoped that the maps
may appear in vol. ii., when they will carry more
conviction than tables or diagrams. Graphs of the
frequency of the different gradings are given
month by month for the areas, with, in the re-
gional reports, some commentary on the classes
examined. The total results show a relative
inferiority in the southern part of the country.
The measurements recorded in this volume show
an average for Grade 1 of 5 ft. 6 in. stature,
130 lb. weight, and 34 in, chest girth. The
204
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920
general averages vary from area to area, but
show, on the whole, a close similarity to those
obtained by Roberts and by the Anthropometric
Committee for the artisan classes some forty
years back, though in this volume there are not
enough data to enable the different areas to be-
contrasted on an ethnographic basis.
LONDON & SOUTH r
Sotientekey WEST EASTERN| |W-MiDLaNp] | €-CENTRAL
D4 Index
a8 Funes 7 716 > 7A 1
% }----=--] L RN er i EAE phe? daca
Re ecg es wal re, aad 1S clinela tra ednd het al” cetrtedeten'caghs
+ Oe pst Bo arp pe uy donee we :
32 =¥- 22 " aA FR ee ep Nie fa are
s neal q iat pi 5 “Q- aRes yea zy fs
4. et £ ve 4 4 GY ct
2 Bray: pe 4 8Y-1t-18 8G
> ary: +84 F reget PE HA
Bit seer tle ese cle HH =
2 11Y-Bt-+-844 ~=-} 24764 kids vase
S 4/4 ue = Se
8 4 -B- - ode gat ts — Wy a
3 a -Y-8-- 3 a+ £ rom 8 ia
TR! F +e Yaw C
UMBER F3 i $ iY Ay 3 i FY
Fe esc i 3 3 3 3 & KR 5
213]4 1[2]314 2[3]4 i[2[3|4 2[3]|4
No.of Exams |43 2400 188.146 216012 231.835 [388475
SCOTLAND] | WALES | | GREAT
7a7 76°3
i ee eel eee ae
be Ss 4 --420
Ble eecnc ft eeest as
1
’
r
‘
it
| aS
Z
2
2.425.18->
78 | 171931
Fic. 1.—Graphical representation of physical fitness in each region of Great
Britain. The di
percentage for each grade, as well as the index of fitness. They
provide, th pom i means of comparing the relative
physical condition of the respective populations.
Physique and general fitness fall off with
advancing years, and it is noted from several
areas that after the age of fifty practically no
recruits of military value are to be obtained. One
Commissioner generalises the observations by
pointing out that while the physical standard of
early manhood was determined by inheritance
modified by environment, above the age of forty,
iagrams show for each region the actual numbers and .
the determining factor was how a man had lived
his earlier life.
The variation in physique with different occu-
pations is very marked, as can be seen from the
respective indices of fitness of groups, though it
would perhaps be well to defer detailed com-
parison until full figures are available. The follow-
ing may serve as illustrations :—
Index of Per cent.
Occupation fitness in Grader -
Munition workers and colliers,
St. Helens a we G28 818
Colliers, Wigan gl-7 774
Colliers, West Wales 90°5 760
Agriculturists, Yorks ... 89:9 74:8
Engineers, Yorks 85:9 60:9
Iron and steel workers 85-7 60:2
Lace workers ... j 77°4 45:0
Woollen trade 75°7 37°5
Tailors sa seb + 695 33°9
Cotton operatives, Stockport 57-9 19°6
This is also seen by comparison of towns—
e.g. in March, 1918, Sheffield showed an index
of 83-3 with 61 per cent. in Grade 1, and Leeds
an index of 62 with 14-5 per cent. in Grader. It
is evident that the men of good physique are
found in the heavier occupations. Among the
causes of low grading, heart disease and tuber-
culosis’ take a high place, while in some areas
there is a prevalence of infantile paralysis. Con-
trary to expectations raised by the recent cam-
paign on public morals, the incidence of venereal
disease as a cause of low grading is nearly
negligible. A special series of charts shows the
full data obtained as to the relation between
occupation grading and disease in the London
area. Sedentary occupations show the worst
results, and it is a question whether in part it is
not as much that those of inferior physique gravi-
tate to sedentary work as that this in itself is
harmful. Heart and circulatory disease, and to a
less extent congenital or acquired deformities,
constitute the chief causes of deficiency.
The information available in this volume is such
as to require almost a separate description for each
section, and the Ministry is to be congratulated
on a volume which should be on the shelves of
every social worker and reformer.
The Doctor of Philosophy in England.
Bed neglect on the part of the English uni-
versities in not recognising a special faculty
of philosophy has been remarkable, but this singu-
lar circumstance is of rare interest to the student
of the history of universities. It is a curious fact
indeed that the title of doctor itself dates, though
with some uncertainty, to the first half of the
twelfth century at Bologna, and to the middle of
that century at Paris. About a century later the
doctorate in law and divinity came into use in
England, and in the fourteenth century followed
that of medicine. In the fifteenth the English uni-
versities took the lead in conferring the degree of
doctor of music. Yet doctorates in grammar,
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
that of doctor.
logic, and philosophy were given in Germany so
early as the thirteenth century. Until compara-
tively recently the M.A. in England ranked above
the Mus. Doc.
To those acquainted with the history and
the evolution of degrees, that of master of arts
must carry the greatest respect, if not venera-
tion, from the point of view of antiquity, for it
conveys with it the first traditions of the spread
of learning in Europe, being as it is by far the
oldest of degrees. The earliest teachers bore the
titles of lord, master, and judge (dominus, magis-
ter, judex), which were in common use long before
In fact, to this day the German
«nace
NATURE
205
APRIL 15, 1920]
is primarily a master of arts, the degree
properly Magister Artium et Doctor Philo-
e, and is given for research, just as the
idge research M.A. is to-day. Whether the
bridge research student who has already taken
.A. will be qualified before long to add Ph.D.
is mame remains, however, to be seen.
, in his “Europe in the Middle
” ridicules the practice now becoming
nt in England of giving the master’s and
or’s degrees in the same faculty; as, for
nee, the LL.M. and LL.D. at Cambridge.
1e¢ in his. In fact; the terms master, pro-
r, and doctor were in the Middle Ages almost
eal; and until Cambridge introduced the
tronism of the LL.M. in the nineteenth cen-
the master had always been regarded as
alent to the doctor in his own special faculty.
the fusion of the two in Germany in the Ph.D.
in strict accordance with tradition, and per-
correct. |
may be recalled that in England in the
liddle Ages, as in Paris, teachers of law were
yled doctors, and those of theology masters.
doctor of divinity, on the other hand, was
racteristic of Bologna, and the jealousy exist-
ng between the universities tended for some time
to keep these features distinct. |
‘In recent times, however, the doctorate has
ned a higher rank than the masterate. The
sity of Yale in 1860 first conferred the
e of Ph.D. after the German style, and this
; followed by other universities in the United
tes. The commercial aspect of the question
of importance, there has been a strong
cy in recent years to recognise the disad-
ses imposed upon students of research in
country, as compared with their rivals from
‘Germany and the United States. For some time
past—in fact, since 1895—-Cambridge has given
a Certificate for Research with the B.A. and
M.A.—a distinction which is understood to rank
with a first class in Part II. of the Tripos. This
certificate testifies the candidate’s dissertation to
be ‘“‘a work of importance and distinction as a
record of original research.’’ It is about the
same standard as the German Ph.D. But the
general public, being little acquainted with these
innovations, continued to regard the Ph.D. as
the hall-mark of respectability for all research
rkers, even in this country. ;
During the last year or two, however, Oxford,
ceiving the need, has instituted the degree of
D.Phil. for the benefit of those (a) who have
attained the status of advanced student in the
university, by having been placed in the first or
second class in the Final Honours School, or in the
first class in an Honours School of the First Public
Examination, and passed all. necessary exam-
in ations for the degree of B.A.; (b) students from
other ‘universities who have attained a similar
‘standard, and can produce evidence of fitness to
| NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
engage in research, having pursued a course of
study at one or more universities extending over
four years at least. After two years at Oxford,
such students may, as a rule, apply for the
D.Phil. by presenting a dissertation, which
must constitute an original contribution to know-
ledge, set forth in such a manner as to be fit
for publication in extenso, being, in the opinion
of the examiners, of sufficient merit to qualify for
the degree.
The example of Oxford has been followed by
Cambridge. A new statute authorising the
degree of doctor of philosophy for research has
been approved by the Privy Council, and the
regulations will be put before the Senate at the
first Congregation in the Easter term. The statute
will rescind the old regulations relating to research
students. As in the case of Oxford, the status
of an advanced student, known now at Cam-
bridge as research student, must be attained,
whether by graduates of Cambridge or by students
from other universities. (a) A student, being a
graduate of Cambridge, who has from the time of
his admission as a research student pursued in
the university, or in some other recognised place
of study, a course of research for not less than
three years, one year of which has been spent at
Cambridge, and two either at Cambridge or at
some other recognised place of study, may, not
earlier than the ninth, and not later than the
twelfth, term from his admission as a research
student, submit a dissertation embodying the re-
sults of his research. (b) A student who, not being
a graduate of the university, has kept by residence
not less than six terms in a course of research,
and pursued research for not less than three
years, two of which have been at Cambridge, and
one either at Cambridge or elsewhere recognised
by the authorities, may, not earlier than his ninth,
and not later than his twelfth, term as a research
student, submit a dissertation embodying the
results of his research. It is not quite clear
whether, and if so what, provisions are made for
those research students who have already taken
the research M.A. having worked for the pre-
scribed period at Cambridge or elsewhere.
At present a master of arts of five years’ stand-
ing—that is, twelve years from matriculation—
may apply for the Sc.D. The fee varies from
twenty-five guineas to nearly sol., according to
the college. But very few ever proceed to this,
since by the time the necessary status is reached
most men consider that they have had sufficient
patronage and paid enough for their education to
trouble about it. They are usually by that time
tired of examinations and of submitting themselves
to the criticism of examiners, some of whom,
having remained at the university, holding small
teaching appointments, may not have attained
quite the same status in the outer world.
‘It is a matter of importance that examiners
for such degrees should have the confidence of the
candidates, as well as of the university authori-
ties, as being at least their equals, if not superiors,
206
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920
in the knowledge of the special subjects of the
dissertations; for at some universities professors
who have never published anything whatever are
asked, as professors, to examine, for the doctorate,
candidates with a European reputation! An in-
stance of this nature has recently occurred in one
of the universities in this country, the professors
being almost unknown outside its walls. But no
_ doubt Oxford and Cambridge may be trusted to
stand above rendering such an injustice to those
who seek their recognition and come from afar for
the benefits they bestow.
British Crop Production.
J. Russge.., F.R.S.
By Dr. Epwarp
ROU and hay crops play a more important part
than cereals in the economy of the farm, because
they are the raw materials for a highly important part
of the farmer’s business—the production of meat,
milk, or butter. They are too bulky to transport in
any quantity, and farmers use only as much as they
themselves grow. The output of meat and dairy pro-
duce is, therefore, limited by the quantities of these
crops at the farmer’s disposal. The quantities pro-
duced just before the war and in 1918 were :—
Production of Fodder and Hay Crops.
Yield per acre Acreage.
1908-17 Millions ot acres
—_— rc # —~ Total
England United England and United produce,
and ing- ales Kingdom Millions of
Wales dom ——, tons
tons tons 1914 1918 1914 1918 914 19:8
Sw edes -- 1370 146 1°04 O'91 1°75 1°60 24'2 22°8
Mangolds 19°5 19'5 0°43 O41 O51 O'50 Q°5 1053
cwt. cwt.
Hay (temporary) 29°1 32°2 1°55 1°45 2°90 2°80 4'2 4°4
Permanent grass 22°6 27:9 4°79 4°30 6°49 5°95 2 7°9
Like cereals and potatoes, these crops are greatly
affected by artificial fertilisers, especially by phos-
phates, which increase not only the yield, but also
the feeding value per ton. This is strikingly shown
in the case of swedes and turnips, which receive a
large part of the superphosphate made in this country.
Mangolds respond remarkably well to potassic fer-
tilisers and to salt. There is much to be learned
from a systematic study of the influence of artificial
manures on the composition and feeding value of
these crops under the varied conditions of this
country.
A further reason for the important part played by
these crops in the economy of the farm is that they
profoundly affect the fertility of the soil. They do
not remove from the soil all the fertilising constituents
which must be added to secure maximum growth;
some of these constituents are left behind in the soil
to benefit the next crop—a rare instance of double
effectiveness for which the farmer ought to be pro-
foundly thankful. In the second place, even the fer-
tilising constituents which are absorbed by the crop
are not entirely retained by the animal; considerable
quantities are excreted and pass into the manure, and
again are added to the soil. There is, therefore, the
possibility of constant improvement of the soil;
larger fodder crops enable more livestock to be kept,
more livestock make more manure, and more manure
gives still larger crops. It is sometimes argued that
meat or milk production is in some way opposed to
corn production, but on this method there is no
antagonism; on the contrary, each helps the other.
The production of more meat is consistent with, and
indeed involves, the production of more corn.
The simplest way of utilising animal excretions
without loss is to allow the animals to consume the
crop on the land where it grows, and this is frequently
1 Discourse de'ivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, February 20.
Continued from p. 178.
NO. 2633. VOL. 105]
- become very unpleasant in wet weather.
as to
ep are
done excepting where the soil is so stick
i)
the best animals for the
penned in by light hurdles,
each portion of the field is cleared; this folding is a
common occurrence on the chalky and sandy soils of
the Southern and Eastern Counties.
Bullocks are less tractable, and cannot be enclosed
by light hurdles; they are, therefore, generally kept
in yards, roofed in if possible, but oftentimes open.
Sufficient straw is added to provide them with
bedding and to soak up the excretions. In this wav
the fertilising constituents of the straw as well as of
the food are returned to the soil. ;
In the case of dairy cows the treatment is rather
different; they have to be housed properly in quarters
which are sometimes palatial, and for hygienic reasons
purpose, as they are easily —
these being moved as —
they are allowed but little bedding. Their manure -
is removed once daily—sometimes oftener—the
primary object being to get it away without con-
taminating the milk. The investigations already
referred to for which Lord Elveden provides. the
funds are now being extended to the dairy farm to
see how far it is possible to save the manure without
prejudice to the purity of the milk. !
In the old days, when farmyard manure was the
ee ee oe ee ee es ae ee ee
only manure and: the old type of implements alone —
were available, farmers had to arrange their crops
on a definite plan in order to get through their worl:
and maintain permanently the productiveness of the
land. There thus grew up a system known as the
rotation of crops, which contributed very largely to
the agricultural developments of the ‘sixties, and
ultimately became a rigid rule of husbandry strictly
enforced over large parts of the country. Modern
cultivation implements and_ fertilisers justify much
more latitude, however, and no ¢g farmer ought
to be restricted in his cropping, provided, of course,
— se
that he maintains the fertility of his land. It is
sometimes a convenience on the dairy farm to grow
the same crop year after year on the same land, and
the Rothamsted experiments show that this can be
done, excepting only in the case of clover. With this
exception there is no more need to have a rotation of
crops than there is to have a rotation of tenants in a
house. It is essential, however, that the land should
be kept free from other competitors and from disease
germs. Freedom from competition means the exclusion
of weeds.
periodical bare fallows. Nowadays a different course
is possible; modern cultivation implements worked
by a tractor allow great scope for the suppression of
weeds. There is, however, one crop that must be
grown periodically to ensure the best results—clover
or a mixture of clover and grass. Clover affords valu-
able food for cattle during winter, and it also en-
riches the soil in highly valuable nitrogenous organic
matter. Much of this is the work of the plant itself,
and could equally well be done by grass; but the
enrichment in nitrogen is the work of bacteria residing
In the old davs this had to be effected by
en
NATURE
207
the nodules in the clover-roots, and is unique
ong the phenomena of the farm.
_ Unfortunately, clover, unlike other crops, cannot be
grown frequently on the same land, and, consequently,
farmer is unable to make as much use of it as
ould like. Investigators have for many years
ing to increase the effectiveness of the clover
ism, but without result. Inoculation of the soil
| virulent strains has been tried, but it. was un-
‘successful in this country, although results are claimed
‘in the United States. The problem has recently been
taken up at Rothamsted, and one reason found for the
ous failure. The organism has several stages
its life-history, one of which is a period of rest;
conditions favour a long rest, others a shorter
ind Mr. H. G. Thornton is endeavouring to find
how to increase the
+o Oia
:
activity of the organism in
ntion is being devoted also to the causes of failure
The clover crop furnishes some of the
nt problems in arable farming before us.
most importa
ean meantime, a working solution lies in growing
an admixture of grasses with the clover. This reduces
the risk of failure while considerably benefiting both
soil and farmer.
B) rygwery arable district is thus a busy region in
which both farmers and workers are kept constantly
t The crops claim attention all through the
year, and particularly in summer, while in winter
the animals need attention. Four or more men can
be regularly employed per 100 acres. An organised
village life has developed, having distinctive charac-
istics of its own and presenting endless scope for the
ligent social worker. :
Grass farming, on the other hand, stands out in
sharp contrast with all this. The grass farmer puts
his animals into the fields, and Nature does the rest;
nm they are fat he sells them to the butcher. It
ally summer work; the winters are left
_ As no man can long remain idle, there has
an extensive development of hunting and its
idant occupation, horse-breeding, in the English
iss regions. While the grass farmer’s life is not
Hic joy,
worry and uncertainty of arable farming, and it
ngs in sufficient money to ensure a modest com-
tence. One can quite understand the reluctance of
the farmer to quit this path of safety.
__ If one could accept the doctrine that a man could
‘ eae Be liked with his land, the grass farmer could
left alone and reckoned among Virgil’s too happy
andmen. But this doctrine is now somewhat
of court, and the needs of the community have
> to be taken into account. From this point of
A de husbandry, in spite of its safeness for the
Indi farmer, is not so good for the community
as arable farming, since it is less productive per acre
ground. This was realised before the war, and
was cut to “uy notice of farmers bv Sir
Thomas eton, who drew up the followin
Number of Persons who could be Supplied with Energy
__ for One Year from the Promise or 100 Acres of es
Poor pasture converted into meat
a?
STUDIEG
it is, at any rate, free from much of
, >. be Be
_ Medium pasture ditto Bags
Rich pasture ditto 25-50
Arable land producing corn and meat 100-110
_ The area of rich pasture is very restricted. An im-
provement can often be made in poor and medium
pasture by the use of basic slag, by drainage, and in
ways, but the results could probably never sur-
Da ose now obtained on rich pasture. None of
_ them approach the results obtained on arable land.
NO. 2623, VOL. 105]
OTD
o.4
soil and ensure that its work shall be done.’
During the war, therefore, the policy of the Food
Production Department was to convert grassland
into arable, and much was done; but now that the
element of compulsion has disappeared some of the
arable is going back to grass. It is not that the
farmer is trying to avoid work; he is impressed by
the greater risk of arable farming,’ and, above all,
he desires to keep to the well-established principle
that his system of husbandry must suit the local
conditions. This is strikingly shown by the following
returns from a large number of farms :—
Collected by the Agricultural Costings Committee.
Income per Expenditure Profit 3 Capital
‘ acre r acre per acre per acre
England and Wales— 4 s. da. vo PW Bt eB hea de
Mixed farms Oskar 00) Sashes Roos PEGS ©
Dairy farms 1a) 47) B23 128 Se Fe 19h 8
Com and.sheep, 7 7 1. 7° 410' 1.14.2 1210 9
Largesheepfarm 1 4 3 017 60-8 § 1 710
All scottish OO OR RE Ge A 9 Oe
The profit per acre from the large sheep farm is
small in itself, but it is large in proportion to the
capital and the expenditure, and, given a sufficient
acreage, the farm is more lucrative than the more
risky mixed or dairy farms. The risk of corn pro-
duction can, and probably will, have to be met by
some system of insurance or guarantee; but the need
to conform to local conditions will always remain.
The problem therefore arises: Can a system of
husbandry be devised which suits the natural condi-
tions as well as grass, and is as productive of
total wealth as arable crops? I believe this can be
done. Grass is not the only crop adapted to moist
conditions or heavy soils, and appropriate for the pro-
duction of. meat and milk. Many other leaf or root
crops serve as well, some of which yield much more
food per acre than does grass. Vetches, rape, man-
golds, kale, and marrow-stem kale can all be used
direct, and there are various mixtures of oats with
peas, tares, vetches, etc., that can be fed green and
made into hay or silage as the farmer may wish. The
use of these crops in the place of grass for the feeding
of livestock is Cow as the soiling system.
We are only just beginning to discover the com-
binations of crops best suited to particular conditions.
An interesting experiment is in progress at the Harper
Adams Agricultural College, which, however, should
be repeated elsewhere. Each crop is governed by the
same general laws as hold for cereals. In each case
the yield and feeding value can both be increased by
the proper use of artificial fertilisers, and there is the
further possibility of great improvement by the plant-
breeder.
It is in this direction that I think British agricul-
ture will develop in the future. The system is strictly
in accordance with the laws of science, and therefore
it needs a minimum amount of artificial support. It
gives the farmer abundant scope for the production
of livestock, which he has always regarded as his
sheet anchor, and the community an abundant pro-
duction of food per acre. Most important of all, while
2 On our ordinary farm at Rothamsted (distinct from the experimental
land) the expenditure on arable !and is continuously increasing, while that
on the grassland is much less. The figures are :—
1913-14 1917-18 1918-19
4 Ss. Ss. a.
Wheat ... ie he 5 7 10 14 ™4 0
Oats , ea “is 6 4 9 7 4 §
Roots ... wee Pl 8990 20 18 36 0
Potatoes ite wires GSH ON ie 37 11 46 0
Grass (hay) . 3.12 4 16 60°
5 (grazing) 215 2 4 3 0
Direct wage payments account for about 40 per cent. of the expenditure on
arable land, but for less than 15 per cent. of that on grassland.
3 Including change in valuation.
208
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920
retaining the best features of our present arable and
grass systems, it allows of considerable further
development.
I shall not venture any opinion as to how far we
could go in feeding ourselves. The accompanying table
shows what we did before the war, and what, on our
present technical knowledge, we could do now, assum-
ing that the insurance problem of covering the extra
risks of arable farming were solved, and assuming
also a reasonable increase in the efficiency of labour.
In this country we can certainly hope to find the
solution of the insurance problem, and I hope and
believe of the labour problem also. Our output per
acre of the arable crops is distinctly above that of
many other countries, though we no longer lead as
we did in the ’sixties,
is not particularly good, and is open to considerable
improvement. -Those who know the agricultural
labourer best have the fullest faith that his sterling
qualities will enable him to rise to the new levels of
industrial capacity which the man of science and the
engineer have opened out for British agriculture.
There are anxious days ahead, but with wise and
sympathetic treatment the difficulties can be solved
and our future assured.
Our output per man, however, .
Consumption and Production of Human Food in the
United Kingdom. Million Tons per Annum,
i Home production
Consumption —
(1909-13) Pre-
wi
ar . 7979* attainable
Wheat, barley, and oat 13°4 6°5 70 10°0
Other cereals ... ay 3°55 — — —
Potatoes oy 5°55 4'8 63 70
Dairy produce ... 5°2 4°7 50
Meat S.: Ss 30°08 2°5
4 Mr. McCurdy gives the following details for 1919 (see Times, 1
February 18, 1920) :— f
Consumption and Production of Food in the United Kingdom, 1919.
Proportion of home-grown and
Estimated total imported produce included
consumption - —
Commodity Home-grown Imported
~Tons Per cent. Percent.
Wheat 75395;000 27 73
Barley 1,950,000 64 36
Oats ... et 4)297,000 92 8
Beef and veal i 995,000 66 34
Mutton and lamb ... 368,000 57 43
Bacon and hams .., 447,000 19. 8r
Butter 180,000 58 42,
Cheese 145,000 Jo
Estimated _
Notes.—Cereals : The quantities are given after deduction for seed,and —
Bacon : The quantities given are for
in the cases of wheat for tailings also.
bacon as smoked or dried. :
Obituary.
HE death of M. Lucien Poincarf, Vice-Rec-
tor of the University of Paris, on.March 9,
at fifty-eight years of age, will be felt as a great
loss, not only to higher education in France, but
also to the entente between the universities of that
country and those of Great Britain. Only a fort-
night before M. Poincaré came to England,
accompanied by Mme. Poincaré, to open the
British branch of the Office National des Uni-
versités et Ecoles francaises, housed with our own
Universities of the Empire Bureau in Russell
Square. His speeches on February 23, at the
Bureau, and on February 24, at the University of
London, where he was given a special reception,
and at the Lyceum Club, left on his hearers a
deep impression of charm, of width of knowledge,
of sound judgment, and of sympathy. M. Lucien
Poincaré, like his brother. Raymond, former Presi-
dent of the French Republic, and his cousin
Henri, the great mathematician, came from
Lorraine. He was a physicist by training, and took
his doctor’s degree with a thesis on the resistance
of fused electrolytes. Like most French physicists,
he began his teaching career in secondary educa-
tion, and was a master first at the Lycée of Mar-
seilles, and then at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in
Paris. For a time he was chargé-de-cours at the
Paris Faculty of Sciences; later he entered on an
administrative career and held successively the
posts of Rector of the Académie of Chambéry, of
Inspector-General and then Director of Secondary
Education, and of Director of Higher Education at
the Ministry of Public Instruction. In October,
1917, M. Poincaré was appointed official head of
the University of Paris (the most distinguished
post in French university administration) in succes-
sion to the veteran M. Liard.
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
‘
THE death is announced, at sixty-four years of
_age, of Pror. Hector TReEuB, the eminent pro-
fessor of gynzcology in the University of Am-
sterdam.
—_—
Tue death of Mr. H. S. B. BRINDLEY is re-
corded in Engineering for April 9 as having
occurred on March 28, only three days before his
name appeared on the list of newly created
Knights Commanders of the British Empire. Mr.
Brindley was born in
the Tokio Engineering College, where his father
1867, and educated at —
was an instructor. He had wide experience with —
several engineering firms, and will be remembered
chiefly by his energetic development during the
war of a disused artificial stone factory at Pon-
ders End into a shell and gun factory employing
more than five thousand hands, a task which could
have been accomplished only by a very exceptional
man, .
By the death, lately announced, of Mr. ‘W. J.
Rarnsow, the Australian Museum of Sydney,
New South Wales, has lost the services of an
entomologist who for twenty-four years laboured
with assiduity and success to make the collection
of insects and Arachnida in that institution worthy —
of a great colony, and has thereby laid all students
of those classes under a lasting obligation. Mr.
Rainbow’s published works include treatises on —
certain groups of Lepidoptera and Diptera; but his
main attention was given to the study, and especi-
ally the life-history, of spiders and scorpions. His
papers on Arachnida are sixty-seven in number,
one of the latest. being devoted to a description
and classification of the Araneide brought from
Macquarie Island by the expedition under Sir
Douglas ‘Mawson. ei 3
ApRIL 18, 1920]
NATURE
209
Notes.
Pror. C. J. Martin, F.R.S., director of the Lister
te of Preventive Medicine; Sir William Orpen,
t.; and Sir J. E. Petavel, K.B.E., F.R.S.,
' of the National Physical Laboratory, have
elected members of the Atheneum Club under
visions of the rule of the club which empowers
nual election by the committee of a certain
of persons ‘“‘of distinguished eminence in
, literature, the arts, or for public service.”’
Royal Danish Society of Science has elected
Ernest Rutherford and Sir Joseph Thomson as
‘s in the physical and mathematical class, and
George Grierson and Prof. W. M. Lindsay fellows
historical and philosophical class.
_ A. McWirt1am, formerly assistant professor of
rgy in the University of Sheffield, and now a
tant metallurgist in that city, was invested by
King with the Order of C.B.E. on March 20.
s honour was conferred upon him for his general
war work in India, principally in connection with the
supply of steel for war purposes.
\s already announced, the Geological Survey and
» Museum of Practical Geology were transferred
the Board of Education to the Department of
ntific and Industrial Research on November 1 last.
ford President has now appointed a Geological
y Board for the management of the work of
ul and museum, and to submit from time
6 recommendations on developments that appear
necessary as the work progresses. The Board,
present constituted, consists of Sir Francis G.
chairman), Prof. W. S. Boulton, Prof. J. W.
Dr. John Horne, Prof. J. E. Marr, Mr.
Merricks, and Mr. W. Russell.
Henry Howorrn has presented to the Geo-
Department of the British Museum (Natural
collection of mammalian and other
r ns obtained by Mr. W. J. Lewis Abbott from
a fissure. near Ightham, Kent. This collection is
especic pereeent on account of the care with which
The ordinary larger specimens belong to
rhinoceros, mammoth, reindeer, stag, roe-
horse, and hyena, and show that the greater
of the fauna at least dates back to the latter
Ag the Pleistocene period. All the circumstances
the discovery were discussed by Messrs. Abbott and
-T. Newton in the Geological Society’s Quarterly
urnal in 1894.
Dr. Cartos AMEGHINO, director of the Argentine
disco the oldest known remains of man at
Miramar, near Mar del Plata, on the coast of the
rovince of Buenos Aires. Human remains were
und in the same district several years ago in asso-
‘ with stone implements and with bones of the
- the observations of Dr. AleS Hrdlitka and Dr.
Willis (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
sprays announces that he has recently |
tinct Toxodon and ground-sloths; but aecording —
American Ethnology, Bulletin 52, 1912), they are of
no great’ antiquity, and probably represent a modern
South American race. All. the supposed discoveries
of early man in America have hitherto proved un-
satisfactory, and Dr. Ameghino’s detailed report on
the latest find will be awaited with interest.
Cart. VAUGHAN-WILLIAMS, who is excavating the
supposed site of Edward the Confessor’s palace in
Windsor Great Park, has discovered what is believed
to be the dedication-stone of a Saxon place of worship.
Upon the stone:are the marks of a cross and what
looks like Saxon lettering. Among other discoveries
are the remains of a kitchen and banqueting-hall and
the traces of what seem to be Roman baths. This
confirms the statement of Mr. Forestier that the palace
of the Saxon king was built upon the site of a Roman
villa, which was provided, as usual, with a series of
baths. The remains of the chapel indicate that it was
40 ft. long, and, according to Bishop Browne, who
recently inspected it, it contained an altar for the
worship of God, and one smaller for the worship of
devils.
NINETEEN years ago the splendid survivor of the
Great Trilithon at Stonehenge was in a very dangerous
condition, but it was set upright again, and now the
Office of Works, in association with the Society of
Antiquaries, is engaged in restoring to a position of
safety other stones that are in danger. A question of
interest has been raised during the work now in pro-
gress. Just inside the Ditch a circle of holes has been
discovered in the chalk, which mark the site of an
outer circle of stones. In these holes have been found
charred human bones, bits of burnt animals’ bones, or
only a single tine of a stag’s horn. Aubrey’s map,
made in 1666, showed in approximately the position of
these newly found holes a series of depressions in the
turf which have since then disappeared. In one was
shown a_ stone which has since been removed. The
detached stone, well known as the ‘‘Slaughtering
Stone,’’ which lies in line with the ‘Hele Stone,”
appears to fit almost exactly into place in this new
circle. Whether it is the last survivor of an outer
circle of stones, and whether this outer ring was
coeval with Avebury and made before Stonehenge
itself existed—these are questions which cannot now
be answered until further excavations help to solve
the. problem.
Tue James Forrest lecture for the present year will
be delivered at the Institution of Civil Engineers by
Sir Dugald Clerk at 5.30 on Tuesday, April 20. The
subject will be ‘‘Fuel Conservation in the United
Kingdom.”’
Tue fourth Guthrie lecture of the Physical Society
of London will be delivered on Friday, April 23, at
5 o’clock, by M. C. E. Guillaume, who will take as
his subject ‘‘The Anomaly of the Nickel-Iron Alloys :
Its Causes and its Applications.’’
Sir GzorGE NEwMan will deliver the Lady Priestley
memorial lecture of the National Health Society on
_ Thursday, April 22, at the Royal Society of Medicine.
{ .
210
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920
His subject will be ‘Preventive Medicine: The
Importance of an Educated Public Opinion.”’
Tue Wilbur Wright lecture of the Royal Aero-
nautical Society for the present year will be delivered
on Tuesday, June 22, at the Central Hall, West-
minster, by Comdr. J. C. Hunsaker, U.S.N., who
will take as his subject ‘‘ Naval Architecture in Aero-
nautics.”’
UnperR the auspices of the National Union of
Scientific Workers a public meeting, presided over by
Mr. H. G. Wells, is to be held at 8 o’clock on
Wednesday, April 28, in the lecture-theatre of Birk-
beck College, Breams Buildings, E.C.4, addressed by
Prof. F. Soddy on ‘‘The Public Support of Scientific
Research.’ The address will be followed by a
discussion.
Tue Scottish Shale Oil Scientific and Industrial
Research Association has been approved by the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research as
complying with the conditions laid down in the
Government scheme for the encouragement of indus-
trial research. The association may be approached
through Mr. W. Fraser, C.B.E., Scottish Oils, Ltd.,
135 Buchanan Street, Glasgow.
A COMMUNICATION has been received from the
Decimal Association criticising the recent report of
the Royal Commission on Decimal Coinage. The
association maintains that the report cannot be
accepted as final for the following reasons, among
others :—The Commission ignores the fact that eleven
of our Colonies or Dependencies have already adopted
decimal coinage, and that our non-decimal Dominions
have repeatedly advocated the establishment of the
decimal principle in currency. Further, the report
exaggerates the difficulties which would be caused by
the abolition of the penny, and takes no account of
the altered and daily decreasing purchasing power of
that coin. The Decimal Association considers that
the first minority report represents the actual opinion
of the community, and that the decision given in the
main report is short-sighted and unpopular. For
these reasons the association intends to persist with
its active propaganda in favour of the reform.
In Ancient Egypt (part i., 1920) Prof. Flinders Petrie
describes the hoard of personal ornaments found some
ten years ago at Antinoe, in Upper Egypt. Unfor-
tunately, the hoard was not preserved intact, and the
valuables are now scattered in London, Berlin, Detroit,
and the Pierpont Morgan collection, The greater part
of the treasure, now described by Dr. Dennison, is
dated by coins to the time between Justinian and
Mauricius Tiberius, the latter half of the sixth century.
The finest object is a great necklet with fourteen
inserted coins from Theodosius to Justinian, and a
barbaric imitation of a gold coin of Valentinian ITI. as
a centre-piece, the taste for making imitations of coins
for ornament being familiar in North Europe. Prof.
Petrie attributes the dispersal of the collection to the
present Egyptian law of treasure-trove. If the Govern-
ment would pay, as dealers do, the local prices,
collections could be purchased much below the value
NO. 2633, VOL. 105}
in Europe, and the profit would go to the State, not
to the dealer.
TuE probability of the Norse discovery of Spits-
bergen before the voyage of Barents in 1596 is the
subject of an article by Dr. F. Nansen in Naturen
for January-February, 1920. It has long been a
matter for discussion whether the Svalbard of the
Icelandic annals was Spitsbergen, and the weight of
evidence favours the belief that it was. Dr. Nansen
reproduces an Icelandic map published in the sixteenth
century, before Barents’s discovery, which certainly
suggests that Svalbard was the coast of Spitsbergen.
At the same time, it does not preclude the possibility
of its identification with north-eastern Greenland; but.
this explanation is improbable, in view of the courses.
given for reaching Svalbard from Iceland. Dr. Nansen
believes that the Norsemen found Svalbard by chance,
some vessel having been driven out of its course by a
gale. He thinks that the greater attraction of the
fisheries on the coast of Norway, particularly the
Lofoten Islands, diverted attention from Svalbard,
which was eventually forgotten. There is no evidence
whatever that Barents made any use of Norwegian”
knowledge in his voyage in 1596. The article contains
a good reproduction of the map known as Barents’s
chart, published in 1599 by Cornelius Claesz.
A WELL-KNOWN and much-advertised institute of
mind-training has sent us particulars of a laboratory
of applied psychology which it has organised and
equipped, For a specified fee the laboratory, it is
stated, ‘‘ will enable those who need vocational guid-
ance to discover with scientific accuracy their strong
and weak points, and to obtain expert advice on the.
choice of a career. . . . Those living at a distance
can have tests forwarded by post.’? Vocational
psychology is the youngest branch of the youngest of
the sciences; it is not ten years since the publication
of the well-known books by Taylor and by Miinster-
berg upon industrial psychology and so-called scientific
management. Many, therefore, will doubt whether
any laboratory can yet state the vocational qualifica-
tions of a given individual “ with scientific accuracy”
either by post or otherwise, much less whether an
institute organised for profit is the proper place for
such investigations. At the same time the new ven-
ture is a striking testimony to the advance made
by psychology, both during and since the war,
into fields of practical application; and, clearly and
ably written as they are, the two pamphlets issued.
by the new laboratory, on ‘*Choosing a Vocation’”
and on ‘*Choosing Employees,’”? may do useful ser-
vice in acquainting both employers ‘and applicants
for employment with the possibility of scientific
method in vocational “guidance, and with the prob-
ability that, when established by disinterested research,
such methods will be as superior to the current
methods of personal preference or of phrenological-
advice as the prescriptions of a properly qualified
medical’ specialist are superior to the pills of a wise
grandmother or the potions of a local herbalist.
WE have on several occasions referred to articles im
the Cologne Post—a daily paper published by the
bs ited a ys —-
~~ To ey ere ee oe
ea ees ee
eh a, — Nal 1
_ApRIL 15, 1920] °
NATURE
211
: Rreny, of the Rhine—on educational institutions and
work connected with the Army of Occupation. The
first number appeared on March 31, 1919, and a copy
_of the anniversary issue reached us a few days ago.
_ The journal has been most successful, and is exerting
a very valuable influence in revealing British thought
and spirit to Germany. It has a large circle of
_ German readers, and is used in many schools for
reading: lessons and the study of English. ‘*Here,”’
_ Says an editorial article in the anniversary number,
“in this great German city we bide, facing a
wonderful land torn with dissensions. after the
_ mightiest conflict of all time; we of the Cologne
__ Post—a little band of soldier scribes—and, never for-
getting the ravaged west which lies behind us, we
_ are facing east, where the sun rises.’’ To the staff
_ which is thus promoting a better understanding
_ between two peoples we offer our most cordial con-
gratulations upon the success of their faithful and
intelligent work. It is particularly appropriate that
___we should associate ourselves with other good wishers
in this expression, because Capt. W. E. Rolston, the
_ editor and manager of the Cologne Post, was, before
i ‘the war, a constant contributor to our columns. He
. was formerly an assistant to Sir Norman Lockyer in
_ the Solar Physics Observatory at South Kensington,
and when the observatory was transferred to Cam-
bridge he went with it. For several years he wrote
the whole of the notes in Our Astronomical Column,
and also contributed numerous articles and reviews.
x ‘Capt. Rolston provides another example of the value
of a scientific training to business management and
titerary balance, and his devoted attention to what
df is really a unique newspaper merits the fullest official
eee
€ In a study of the colour and markings of pedigree
Wiveretord cattle (Journal of Genetics, vol. ix., No. 3)
a ‘Miss F. Pitt finds that the breed arose by selection
_ from the nondescript cattle of the county during the
_ seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. All sorts
of colours and markings prevailed, but among them
the red with white face, which is still characteristic
_ of the breed, was most common. This pattern prob-
ably originated through a mutation which appeared in
a dark herd in 1750, and was kept and bred from as a
curiosity. The white face is a dominant condition,
while excessive white in modern Herefords is found to
be recessive to the typical pigmentation. Variations
from type which now occur in the breed are due to the
outcrop of recessive characters inherited from the time
before pattern selection was practised.
r
Powe
r ‘CONSIDERABLE foliage injury is reported in Michigan
q ‘owing to the substitution of calcium and magnesium
arsenates for lead arsenate for spraying purposes.
The Quarterly Bulletin of the Michigan Agricultural
_ College Experiment Station (vol. ii., No. 2, November,
1919) reports interesting tests carried out to discover
the reasons for this injury. Plants in respiring give
t considerable quantities of carbon dioxide, with
which the film of moisture on the leaves is presum-
© l ably charged. The tests show that calcium and
“Magnesium arsenates are very much more soluble
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
in carbonated water than in pure water, while for
lead arsenate the reverse is true. It seems, therefore,
that this solubility of calcium and magnesium
“arsenates’ in carbon dioxide is the cause of the foliage
injury occurring in fruit-trees sprayed with these
materials. It is suggested that the addition of lime
to the spray mixture may prevent the injury, but this
suggestion awaits proof.
As the result of comprehensive tests carried out by
the New South Wales Department of Agriculture on
two of their experimental farms, it is claimed that a
more satisfactory method has been found of treating
seed-wheat for bunt than by pickling in a bluestone
solution. According to Science and Industry (Aus-
tralia), carbonate of copper gives the best results, as
has been shown after many years of experimenting
with other substances. The method which the inves-
tigators recommend. is to dust dry copper carbonate
through the grain at the rate of 2 oz. of the fungicide
to one bushel of wheat. Substantial increases in the
yield per acre were obtained in comparison with
pickled seed, while other advantages which the new
process possesses over established practice are said
to be that (1) no water is necessary; (2) no injurious
effect is caused to either the grain or the young plant,
as is the case with bluestone pickling ; (3) seed-wheat
can be treated weeks before it is sown; (4) no
damage is done to the grain if it should lie in a dry
seed-bed for weeks without germinating; (5) better
germination is obtained; and (6) the process is
quicker and less laborious than wet pickling.
An Official Guide has been issued: (143 pages, price
2s.) to the Museum of British Forestry (Museum
No. 4) at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This
museum, which was opened in 1910, occupies Cam-
bridge Cottage, formerly the residence of the Duke
of Cambridge. The term ‘forestry ’’ is more cor-
rectly used as synonymous with sylviculture—that is,
for trees and shrubs that are grown for commercial
purposes—the term ‘‘arboriculture’’ being used for
trees and shrubs that are grown as specimen plants
or for purely ornamental work. The objects in view
in the production of the two types of trees are
very different, and the mature specimens differ
in appearance. The scope of the museum is at
present limited to collections of timber, fruits and
seeds of trees, dried specimens of a few types of hardy
trees and shrubs, photographs of isolated trees and
plantations, the fungus- and insect-diseases of trees,
articles manufactured from British-grown timber, and
tools and machinery used in sylvicultural and arbori-
cultural operations. In most instances the specimens
shown have been grown, manufactured, or collected
in the British Isles. Room No. 3 contains a series
of special interest to the student, and illustrates the
trees and shrubs. native to or planted in Great Britain,
with a brief account of their economic uses; the
arrangement is according to the natural families.
Injuries to trees caused by various agencies—animals,
parasitic or climbing plants, fungi, and insects—are
also illustrated in detail. Apart from its service as a
guide to the museum, the booklet contains much
212
NATURE s
{ApRIL 15, 1920
useful information on our British-grown trees and
their economic value.
ATTENTION tay be usefully directed to the high grade
of Indian bauxites now under development, as repre-
sented by analyses given by Dr. L. L. Fermor in his
article on ‘‘The Mineral. Resources of the Central
Provinces ’’ (Rec. Geol. Surv. India, vol. 1., p. 273,
1919).
Dr. HoLrepaHL’s interesting maps and discussion
of the distribution of land. and water in the North
Atlantic region in Palaeozoic times (see NATURE,
vol. ciii., p. 433) have been reproduced for readers
of English in the American Journal of Science for
January (vol. xlix., p. 1). Some corrections have
been noted in the separate copies sent out by the
author, the most important being the accidental
exchange of the titles of Figs. 9 and 11, which should
be rectified by those who may use them in their re-
issued form.
In a paper on “‘ Old Age and Extinction in Fossils’’
(Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. xxx., p. 102, 1919) Dr. W. D.
Lang directs attention to the reluctance—perhaps
better called indifference—of the female to the recep-
tion of the male animal, as exhibited, for instance, by
mosquitoes, as a possible cause of extinction of a
group. He applies this possibility to the ammonites ;
but his main thesis is that extinction may result from
exaggeration of a structure on the removal of an
inhibiting influence. Environment may thus be effec-
tive, but the tendency in the organism is, on the
whole, superior to external influences in affecting
evolution and decadence. The increase in deposition
of calcium carbonate in the Cretaceous cheilostomata,
and the ‘‘exhaustion of their ancestral potentialities ”’
in the case of the rugose corals, are utilised as
examples in a discussion that would obviously bear
expansion.
ScIENTIFIc Paper No. 363 of the Bureau of Standards
(Washington) just to hand deals with the manner
of preparation and determination of the spectral
reflective properties of certain alloys of aluminium
with magnesium and with zinc by R. G. Waltenberg
and W. W. Coblentz. The investigators found that
_all these alloys tarnish in tinte, and hence are not
suitable for mirrors where permanency is of the first
importance. The compound of aluminium and
magnesium, Al,Mg,, deteriorates less rapidly: than
any of the other alloys examined, and could be used
in apparatus where a highly reflecting mirror is desired:
-for a short time.
was obtained with
A reflectivity of 92 per cent. at o-7u
this compound. The
a similar reflectivity minimum at o-Ip.
In a paper on ‘‘ The Development of the Atomic’
Theory,” by A. N. Meldrum, of the Bombay Univer-,
sity, . published by the Oxford University Press, a
plea is put forward that historical questions should
be made the subject of serious investigation and dis-
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
zinc-,
aluminium alloy has a minimum reflectivity at o-gu.,
An examination of the reflectivity of pure zinc revealed’
cussion, and should be taught in the universities by
those who have given special attention to them. The
paper is devoted very largely to vindicating the view
that the atomic theory was not originated as a pure
novelty by Dalton, but was a legitimate develop-
ment of Newton’s views. Attention is directed
to the importance of Newton’s theory of the
repulsion of gaseous particles in the theoretical
views of Bryan Higgins, William Higgins, and
Dalton. Thus Brvan Higgins suggested that am-
monia and hydrogen chloride must unite particle with
particle, and in no other way, since if two particles
of ammonia attempted to combine with a single par-
ticle of acid, one of them would be driven away from |
the acid by the mutual repulsion of the two particies
of ammonia. William Higgins, for the same reason,
assumed that, since like atoms repel one another, the
most stable combination of dissimilar atoms is in the
ratio 1:1, then 2:1, and then 3:1. This view did
not attract so much attention as it deserved, but was
identical with the method used by Dalton in deducing
the formule of compounds. It is suggested © that
Dalton did not necessarily borrow his views from
Higgins, but that both workers, starting from
Newton’s doctrine of an elastic fluid composed of
mutually repulsive particles, followed much the same
train of thought and reached essentially the same
conclusions.
Pror. Arm& Wirz, professor of physics at Lille
University, contributes a well-reasoned article on heat
economy to the issue of the Revue générale des
Sciences for March 15. He reviews in turn the merits
of steam-engine and turbine plants, internal-combus-
tion engines, and electric power distribution from the
point of view of thermodynamic efficiency. As regards
the reciprocating steam engine, he counsels caution
in the replacement of this method of heat utilisation
by turbo-electric plants in small works, and cites
figures to show that the generic efficiency of the
former may be extremely favourable under certain
conditions. Much progress has been effected in recent
years in the design of exhaust steam turbines, and
in certain cases it may be very desirable to run a
low-pressure turbine off the large cylinder of a
multiple expansion steam engine of the reciprocating
type, and thus effect a better yield per pound of steam
expended. On the wider (national) question the
author devotes considerable ‘space to the subject of
the gasification of coal at the place of production and
its direct utilisation for power purposes, with the
recovery of by-products, the gas generated being used
for running large gas-engines, and the heavy residual
oils for internal-combustion engines of the Diesel
type. In this connection he gives some figures show-
ing the very satisfactory results obtained at certain
mines in France from installations run from coke-
oven gas, supplemented by steam units, for power
purposes. Finally, he reviews the claims for a
national electric network, comprising a number of
single and self-governing units combined to meet all
-the possible demands of industry. The paper is well
worthy of study by. all who are interested in the
better utilisation of our fuel resources.
|
Ta a ae
“ApRit. 15, 1920]
NATURE
213
? °
ich other; the actual distance at 4 a.m.
55’, Jupiter being on the north side of Neptune.
will set at 2.37 a.m. The motion of the two
ects is so slow that in the earlier hours of the
ht of April 19 their relative positions will be but
htly different from that at the time of conjunction on
20 at4a.m. Neptune will be situated in Cancer
22° east-south-east of the star cluster called
epe and 13° east of the star 8Cancri. Neptune
be easily picked up in a good telescope, but is
brighter than about eighth magnitude. To identify
faint object if the small stars north of Jupiter
unknown requires that the observer should make
gram of the objects in the field of the telescope
compare it with later observations in a few weeks’
me. At the period of conjunction Neptune will be
Nova 1n a Sprrat Nesura.—Ast. Nach., 5038,
‘contains a note by Prof. Wolf on the discovery of a
ova in the faint spiral nebula N.G.C. 2608 (position
- 1860, R.A. 8h. 26-7m., N. decl. 28° 56’). The
nebula is shaped like the letter S; the star is near
left-hand point of the upper curve. There are two
ei, of which the north preceding is the brighter. The
va is 18-6” from this nucleus, in P.A. 280°. It was
overed on a plate taken on February 8 last, and
afterwards found to be registered faintly on plates
n on January 25 (near edge of plate, bad image)
d February 7. Plates taken in previous years were
ined, and showed no trace of the star; a small
r condensation was, however, visible in the
nbourhood. The latest available plate was taken
1918 February 5.
ort exposures were secured of the nebula on
uary 11 and 12; the nova appeared brighter
ly on the former date.
magnitude was 10-7. A sketch-map of the
given in Ast. Nach., with magnitudes of com-
1 stars. It is important to obtain good light-
e
:
;
clue to the absolute magnitude of the star, and
of the distance of the spiral. The region will
i » for the next two months.
_ Observations on March 10 gave the magnitude of
a > nova as I1+5.
Tue Maprip Opservatory.—The ‘“‘Anuario del
yvatorio de Madrid para 1920,” in addition to the
‘almanac information, particulars of the sun-
s and prominences in 1918, and meteorological
bservations, contains a useful article by Sefior C
1ente on methods of determining time and latitude
means of portable instruments in the field. Special
sned by Nui and Frit, of Prague, which consists
~ small horizontal telescope which can be rotated
azimuth. A silvered prism with vertical angle a
mounted outside the object-glass; the upper face
ts light from a star of: altitude 180°—a, .the
face light from the same star after reflection
_very small mercury trough. Coincidence of the
images is observed in the telescope, and gives the
tant when the star’s altitude is 180°—a. There are
me advantages in making this angle equal to the
ude, but this is not essential. Tables are given
cilitating the construction of working catalogues.
servations of several known stars make it possible
deduce both time and latitude. The instrument is
r to the almucantar, in theory, but far more
ortable and easier to work with. The absence of
all webs and screws is a decided advantage. .
NO. 2633, VOL.. 105 | |
»
_t
tg
Our Astronomical Column, ©
NJUNCTION OF JUPITER AND NEPTUNE.—On. the
On the latter its photo-—
; of these nove in spirals, as they sometimes”
ion. is directed to the circumzenithal telescope -
National Education.
ap HE fiftieth annual meeting of the National Union
of Teachers, founded in 1870, at which some
2000 delegates were present, representing a
membership of 113,000 as compared with 400 on its
formation, was held during Easter week at Margate.
The proceedings were opened by a well-timed and
thoughtful address on the part of the new president,
Miss J. F. Wood, of the Fielden School, Manchester
(herself a pioneer in the endeavour to bring oppor-
tunities of advanced secondary education within the
reach of children leaving school during their fourteenth
or fifteenth year), in which she _ reviewed the
history of popular education since the Act of 1870,
recounting its onward progress and making clear the
objects still to be achieved, to ensure which all the
various classes of teachers should make a common
effort and present a united front. The Act of 1918,
with which the name of Mr. Fisher will be linked in
honour for all time, provides for fuller opportunities of
education for elder children in elementary schools, for
their easier transfer to higher schools by means of
maintenance grants, for closer attention to conditions
of physical health and education, and especially for
the continued part-time education up to eighteen years
of age of adolescents entering industrial life at
fourteen.
The president pleaded for a more unified conception
of education if these objects are to be attained and
the full value of education to the nation is to be
realised. Every child capable of profiting by advanced
courses of education and training, whether given in
higher or special schools or in the universities, should
be afforded the fullest facilities. Wherever possible
the elementary school should be enlarged in scope, with
fréedom to develop its own ‘‘top,’’ and so obviate the
necessity for the establishment of the central school
with its futile two-year*course. The further education
of adolescent workers should have careful considera-
‘tion, and, having regard to the mechanical nature of
much of their work, also have in view the claims
of leisure. With the purpose of fitting the primarv
teacher for all branches of education service, includ-
ing the administrative, he should in all cases, in
addition to appropriate professional training, be also
required to take a university degree. The claim of
women to be afforded equal opportunities with men
to aim at the highest in the career they enter and with
the same reward was firmly stressed. The future pro-
gress of education depends not onlv upon more suit-
able buildings, adequate playgrounds and equipment,
and smaller classes, but also upon the supply of able and
well-educated teachers, who must be attracted first by
the nature of the work, and then by adequate pay, status,
and prospects. There should be ensured also the full
co-operation of the Board of Education, the local
education authorities, and the teachers with the view of
securing full partnership in administration, and, above
all, of winning for all children a free and liberal
education.
Among the many important topics discussed during
the conference, reference may be made to that dealing
with a national system of education, which received
the full assent of the conference, and embodied pro-
posals for (1) free education for all to the fullest
extent of their capacity to profit by it; (2) the pro-
vision of maintenance grants where necessary; (3) the
due co-ordination of schools, so that graduation from
one to another of higher type shall be easy; (4) uni-
form regulations for all schools in respect of size of
classes, adequacy of staff, floor- and air-space,
playing grounds and fields, and swimming’ baths;
(5) medical examinations, and treatment where neces-
214
~NATURE :
[APRIL 15, 1920
sary; (6) the right of any qualified teacher to teach
in any capacity in any State-aided school; (7) no class
in any type of school to exceed thirty on the roll, and
each class to have its own qualified teacher; and
(8) the curriculum of the primary school should
be liberal and non-vocational, with the aim of pro-
moting true citizenship and high personal character.
It was also suggested that the attention of public
opinion and of organisations representing parents of
elementary-school children should be directed to the
powers now possessed by persons interested in educa-
tion to secure substantial improvements in the educa-
tional facilities provided in their localities by means of
representations on the schemes prepared by local
education authorities under the Act of 1918, where
such schemes fail to attain the standard set up in the
foregoing proposals, and that county and local teachers’
associations should stimulate the demand for. the full
benefits of the Act of 1918 in each locality.
A further important topic discussed at the confer-
ence was ‘‘The Supply and Training of Teachers.”’’
The scheme submitted was approved by the con-
ference, and included the following main require-
ments: (1) All intending candidates should have com-
pleted a satisfactory course of higher education, and
show by adequate tests their fitness for the profes-
sion; (2) the admission to the graduate course should
be the standard of matriculation ; (3) the course of study
should include ‘‘Education’’ as a principal subject
for the degree, and the course be followed in asso-
ciation with other students entering for other pro-
fessions; (4) a period of one year should, as a rule,
be devoted to the acquisition of skill in teaching,
the existing training colleges (which should be recog-
nised as colleges of the universitv) being utilised
for this purpose alone, whilst education research
work should be a distinct feature of the college staff
and students; (5) on the completion of the academic
and professional training the teacher should be eligible
for recognition by the Board of Education: for service
in any anproved school; and (6) the teachers of special
subjects should be required to take a course of higher
education and of professional training.
Aeronautics at the Imperial College.
IR RICHARD GLAZEBROOK, the occupant of
the Zaharoff chair of aeronautics at the Imperial
College of Science and Technology, completed on
‘March 24 the series of five lectures which initiate
the new course of study. It will be remembered
that Sir Basil Zaharoff founded similar chairs
in Paris and in Petrograd. The London chair has
been chosen by the Government as the nucleus
around which to organise a central school of aero-
nautics—a scheme in which the new professor’s long
experience as Director of the National Physical
Laboratory, chairman of the Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics, and, latterly, chairman of the Govern. _
ment Committee on Education and Research in Aero-
nautics, will be of immense help. In the vears to
come the courses of instruction so provided will doubt-
less prove of service to officers of the Royal Air Force
selected by the Air Ministry for higher technical train-
ing, in addition to such numbers of other students as
the then position of civil aviation may inspire to join
this new and adventurous profession.
The attendance at this initial course of lectures
must have been encouraging to the lecturer, if only
as an indication of a widespread general interest in
the subject. In the circumstances, the lectures were,
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
naturally .and rightly, of a simple character, only the
last one, on air-screws, being at all technical.
Sir Richard Glazebrook in his first lecture paid a
tribute to the munificence of the founder of his
chair, and proceeded to a description of the experi-
mental wind-channels and of full-scale experiments
on aircraft. He was able to show how, on Lord
Rayleigh’s law of similarity, the measurements made
by the one method could be compared with the other.
The agreement in most cases was reasonably satis-
factory, though enough anomalies had been found to
provide an ample field for future research work.
This was followed by a lecture on the principles of
automatic and inherent stability. The former is
achieved by the use of auxiliary apparatus, whether
mechanical or aerodynamic, to operate the controls
of the machine; and the latter by providing, in the
original design, such -sizes and positions for the
aerodynamic surfaces that any departure of the
machine from its normal position brings into play
forces which tend to restore it to that position, and
create a ‘‘damping’’ couple sufficient to prevent
the continuance of such oscillations. Inherent
stability can, as experience has amply shown, be
provided for by careful design, so that automatic
apparatus for the purpose is quite unnecessary. Com-
mercial machines should be decidedly stable, fighting
machines only just stable. Sir Richard Glazebrook
was able to show (with Mr. Nayler’s assistance) a
number of mica models in flight, and so to illustrate
the various forms and degrees of stability and in-
stability.
The third lecture was concerned with the instru-
ments essential to flight, and included the air-speed
indicator, the engine-revolution indicator, the alti-
meter, the clinometer (to indicate side slip), the stato-
scope (to show the rate of climb), and the turn
indicator. The statoscope measures the rate of air
leakage through a small hole in a vessel kept at a con- —
stant temperature. Turn indicators are of two forms,
the static head type and the precessional gyro tfpe; _
these are later inventions than the other instruments
mentioned.
Among the most important measurements made on
an aeroplane are the determinations of oscillation in
yaw, roll, and pitch; for such experiments use can
conveniently be made of the sun as a fixed point, since
the motion of a shadow of some part of an aero-
plane on the rest of the machine can be employed
to obtain a photographic trace of the oscillations.
This work, however, is really only just beginning.
In view of the enormous inertia forces which come
on a machine when ‘stunting,’ it is essential to
obtain a continuous record of their amount during
all parts of the flight-path concerned. For this pur-
pose a stiff fibre acted as an acceleration index, and
some most valuable records were obtained. On
occasion the force on the wings of the machine might
be three, or even four, times the weight of the aero-
plane.
‘This naturally led in the fourth lecture to a con- i
sideration of the strength of the wing structure and to
statements of the load factors necessary in design.
The load factor is the ratio of the breaking load to
the normal load corresponding to horizontal straight
flight at the designed speed. Another important co-
efficient is the factor of safety, and this is the ratio
of the breaking load to the loading incurred during.
some specified operation, e.g. a vertical nose-dive.
The load factor needs to be fixed at a higher figure
for machines which, like fighting machines, have to
“ stunt.”
Sir Richard Glazebrook’s fifth and last lecture
was of special interest. The subject, ‘‘Air-Screws,”
/
ES _ ApRIL 15, 1920]
NATURE
215
is intricate, and not one in which it is easy
excite interest in a general audience. It is,
erefore, much to the lecturer’s credit that he suc-
din making the subject not only intelligible, but
also interesting. He discussed first Froude’s theory of
the screw, and then showed how the various factors in
_ the resulting equations had been checked by experi-
mental em J both’ in the wind-channel and on the
“rotating arm ”’ apparatus. Incidentally, he referred
to the flapping flight of birds, showed how difficult
it would be to imitate this, and doubted whether true
_ progress lay in this direction. Mankind had made
- much use of the wheel in mechanism; evolution had
_ led to the introduction of no such element in animal
life, in spite of its proved efficiency in its many
_ human applications. This afforded an argument
_ that man had here beaten uninstructed Nature. The
only flying animal which approached the aeroplane
_ in design was perhaps the beetle, which possibly used
_ its horny wing-covers as stationary planes and _ its
“Wings as a means of propulsion.
4 The Parallaxes of Globular Clusters and
g Spiral Nebule.
ca: may be remembered that Dr. Charlier expressed
4 doubt as to the correctness of the enormous dis-
tances for globular clusters announced by Dr. Harlow
Shapley. Mr. Knut Lundmark, of Upsala Observa-
tory, undertook a re-examination of the question,
taking different lines of evidence from those used by
: Shidpley. His work is published in Kungl, Svenska
vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar, Band 60, No. 8.
dis data are avowedly of a much less precise character
ian those used by Dr. Shapley, but they lead to
Its of the same order of magnitude :—
(1) The discussion of the proper motion of those
clusters for which data are available indicates a value
“not exceeding 1” per century. Accepting this maxi-
mum value, and combining it with the mean radial
velocity of clusters found by Prof. Slipher, Mr. Lund-
mark finds the distance 3000 parsecs, one-fifth of Dr.
Shapley’s value.
aS Use is made of Kapteyn’s luminosity law. Van
Schouten has already applied this method to the
clusters M3, 5, 11, and 13, obtaining distances that
are, in the mean, twenty-eight times those of
“Dr. Charlier and one-eighth of those of Dr.
Shapley. His work is here revised, estimation being
‘made of the spectral type of the stars from Dr.
‘Shapley’s observed colour-indices. The mean of
veral independent estimations gives 6000 parsecs for
the distance of M3 and M13.
(3) A rough estimate of distance is made from the
ed mean absolute magnitudes of stars of
different spectral types. Various assumptions are
made as regards the mean spectral type of the stars
x oyed. In the mean the distances found are about
e times those of Dr. Charlier, or one-third of
those of Dr. Shapley.
(4) Holetschek has investigated the apparent magni-
t of several clusters regarded as single objects.
Mr. Lundmark shows that his values are about
43 magnitudes brighter than Dr. Shapley’s mean
values of the twenty-five brightest stars in the
respective clusters, this difference being. very nearly
constant.
It follows that the assumption that the absolute
‘magnitude of a cluster is constant will lead to relative
distances of the different clusters proportional to those
deduced by Dr. Shapley. ~ :
_ The four lines of evidence outlined above, though
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
i 5
{
-
|
|
individually weak, have cumulative force, and tend to
mtg confidence in the accuracy of Dr. Shapley’s
work.
Mr. Lundmark uses Prof. Slipher’s radial velocities
of clusters to determine the sun’s motion with regard
to them. He finds that its velocity. is 381 km./sec.
towards R.A. 320°, N. decl. 74°. He notes that both
the R.A. and declination of the solar apex as deter-
mined from stars tend to increase as fainter stars are
_used. This is explained by a larger proportion of the
stars being outside the local cluster. He suggests
that his value is the limit to which the others are
tending.
Mr. Lundmark passes on to consider the parallaxes
of the spiral nebule.
(1) Beginning with the Andromeda nebula, he
quotes all the directly observed measures of its
parallax. They are discordant, but their mean is near
zero.
(2) The star density increases towards the middle
of the Andromeda nebula, in spite of the nebulosity
tending to veil them. It is concluded that the nebula
is more distant than the non-nebular faint stars in
the region. A combination of the results of many
workers indicates a distance of 3000 parsecs for these
faint stars.
(3) A combination of measured angular rotation of
spirals with the values of the linear rotational speed
given by the spectroscope has led to estimates of
distance somewhat greater than the last, say 4000
parsecs. It is further shown that the mass necessary
to control the rotation is 10°xsun, of the same order
as the estimated mass of the stellar system.
(4) Making the rather doubtful assumption that the
dark curves in various nebulz have the same absolute
dimensions as the similar dark regions in the galaxy,
Wolf finds distances for various spirals ranging from
10,000 tO 200,000 parsecs.
(5) Comparisons of the light curves of nove in
spirals with those in the galaxy, while they involve
several rather doubtful assumptions, give very large
distances for the spirals, 200,000 parsecs being found
for the Andromeda nebula. Bullialdus noted that the
Andromeda nebula was exceptionally bright in the
year 1664. It is conjectured that a nova of
magnitude 5 or 6 may have appeared in it at that
time.
From the above and other considerations Mr. Lund-
mark locates the spiral nebulz far beyond the galactic
limits, but inclines to the view that they are the star-
producing mechanisms of Mr. Jeans’s theory rather
than counterparts of the galaxy. Their linear dimen-
sions appear to be much inferior to the latter, of
which our ideas have lately been enlarged by Dr.
Shapley’s and other researches.
The Forestry Commission.
E are informed that the Forestry Commissioners
who were appointed on November 29 last at
once proceeded with the planting programme for
1919-20. The shortage of forest-tree seed has been
met to a great extent by purchases in Austria and
elsewhere and by gifts from the United States and
Canada. About 34,000 acres of afforestable land are
in course of acquisition by purchase or on lease, in
some cases below the market value and in others as
free gifts from landowners. Rather more than 10,000
acres are in England, of which 3500 are in Suffolk,
2760 in Devon, 1150 in Cumberland, and 1800 in
Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire. More than
5000 acres are in Ireland, of which 2000 are in Tyrone,
1500 in County Galway, 1500 in King’s County, and
216
NATURE
[APRIL 153 1920
the remainder in County Cork. The remaining
18,000 acres under acquisition are in Scotland.
Planting is proceeding at thirteen centres—six in
England and Wales, six in Scotland, and one in
Ireland. Statistical work is being carried out and
preliminary surveys are being undertaken.
The scheme for advances under the Forestry Act
will be published “after the consultative committees
which have just been set up have considered the
proposals,
Forest apprentices are receiving a two-year course
in the Forest of Dean, the New Forest, and in Chop-
well Woods, near Newcastle, and additional schools
will be opened during the year. A special course for
men with previous forestry experience is being con-_
ducted at Marischal College, Aberdeen.
An Imperial Conference to consider the forest re-
sources and policy of the Empire is being organised
for July, when a number of persons interested in
forestry are expected in this country for the British
Empire Timber Exhibition. The conference is ex-
pected to lead to the establishment of an Imperial
Bureau of Forestry Information.
The Commission has published Bulletin No. 1,
“Collection of Data as to the Rate of Growth of
Timber” (which can be obtained post free for 43d. on
application at the headquarters of the Commission,
22 Grosvenor Gardens, London, S.W.1); also Leaflet
No. 1, ‘Pine Weevils ”’ (free). Other publications will
follow at an early date.
The four consultative committees under the Forestry
Act have been appointed, and consist of the following
members :—
England.—Lt.-Col. G. L. Courthope (chairman),
Col. M. J. Wilson (vice-chairman), Sir J. Ball, Lord
Henry C. Bentinck, E. Callaway, the Earl of
Chichester, M. C. Duchesne, J. H. Green, W. A.
Haviland, Sir Edward Holt, Bart., E. C. Horton,
A. FF. Luttrell, W. Peacock, Major Harold
Pearson, Col. B. J. Petre, Thomas Roberts, Sir
William Schlich, W. R. Smith. Charles Stewart, Sir
Lawrence Weaver, Col. J. W. Weston, and Leslie S.
Wood.
Wales.—The Lord Kenyon (chairman), Col. F. D. W.
Drummond _ (vice-chairman), . B.. Bovill, Major
David Davies, Alderman T. W. David, Col. J. R.
Davidson, Capt. J. D. D. Evans, Col. W. Forrest,
Vernon Hartshorn, G. A. Humphreys, C. Bryner
Tones, J. Jones, Lt.-Col. W. N. Jones. Col. C. V.
Llewellyn, F. J. Matthews, the Earl of Powis, L. R.
Pym. D. C. Roberts, J. Roberts, Major-Gen. A. TE.
Sandbach, J. I. Storrar, the Lord Tredegar, H. C.
Vincent, P. Wilkinson, and Col. Sir H. L. Watkin-
Williams-Wynn, Bart.
Scotland.—Sir Hugh Shaw-Stewart, Bart. (chair-
man), Gen. Stirling of Keir (vice-chairman), the Right
Hon. William Adamson, Sir Isaac Bavley Balfour,
F. R. S. Balfour, Wm. Black, Gilbert Brown, J. C.
Calder, Sir Isaac Connell, J. A. Duthie, G. Fraser,
R. Galloway, S. J. Gammell, Sir Robert Greig, J. H.
Milne Home, G. Leven, Sir Robert Lorimer, H. L.
Macdonald, Sir Kenneth J. Mackenzie, Bart., J. T.
McLaren, J. Matson, D. Munro, Major W. Murray,
J. Scott, and J. Wight.
Ireland.—T. B. Ponsonby (chairman), H. De F.
Montgomery (vice-chairman), E. M. Archdale, J. Bag-
well, the Lord Osborne Beauclerk, R. Bell, R.
Bradley, S. Brown, J. R. Campbell, St. Clair M.
Dobbs. Sir Henry Doran, J. Everett, V. C. Le Fanu,
Win. Field, A. C. Forbes. J. Calvin, the Earl of:
Granard, Prof. Augustine Henry, Wm. Kirkpatrick,
A. E. Moran. the Viscount Powerscourt, the Viscount
de Vesci, A. Vincent, Capt. R. H. Prior Wandesforde,
and the Right Hon. F. S. Wrench.
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
Recent Fishery Investigations."
PRE years ago the pivot round which fishery inves-
tigation turned was the question of the produc- —
tivity of the North Sea grounds. It was agreed that
the enormous development of catching power since the —
last third of the nineteenth century had produced no ~
apparent change in the abundance of herring, had- —
dock, whiting, and possibly some other species, but —
that, on the other hand, plaice, sole, turbot, and some ~
other edible fishes had been affected. In January, 1913,
the Plaice Committee of the International Fishery —
Council stated that it then had evidence that large —
plaice were becoming scarcer in the North Sea, and —
that small plaice were becoming more abundant, and —
this was taken to be proof that there was ‘‘impoverish- —
ment,’’? or excessive exploitation of a natural resource. —
The conclusion is not free from ambiguity, for, on the —
whole, the total quantity of fish landed increased up to —
1913; what had happened, it appears, was a reduction ~
in the average expectation of life of a plaice living in
the North Sea. Now if that change was a result of
‘intensive ’’ fishing up to 1914, what has been the
result of the very great decrease in fishing during the
years 1915-18? Drs. A. C. Johansen and Kirstine
Smith seek to answer this question by discussing
measurements of plaice landed from a Danish North
~~
.
Sea area which was tolerably free from military restric-
ticns during the period of war. They find that the
pre-war tendency has been reversed; that large plaice
are now relatively much more abundant than they
were, but that their rate of growth has decreased—a .
curious result. We were justified, they say, in conclud-
ing that intensive fishing could reduce a natural stock
of fish, and we are also justified in expecting that a
slackening of this intensity of fishing, even for a rela-
tively short period, will have the opposite effect.
The method by which the latter conclusion is made
is indirect, and one is scarcely convinced that it is”
beyond doubt. It seems easy to show whether or not a
natural fishery is stationary or declining. It would —
be easy and the conclusions certain if the —
systems of collecting statistics were uate and
well planned and if there were good scientific investi- —
gations that enabled one to interpret the statistical.
data. But the statistics are not adequate, and the
scientific investigations have been neither well planned
nor properly supported, and therefore the methods are —
roundabout ones and the conclusions do not carry
absolute conviction. We do not know, for instance,
that there is not a natural periodicity of abundance
and that the results noticed do not simply repre-
sent phases in a cyclic change. It is quite likely that
they do.
The last report of the Dove Marine Laboratory (at
Cullercoats, Northumberland) contains an account (by
Mrs. Dorothy Cowan and Mr. B. Storrow) of investi-
gations into the local herring fishery. This and former
reports contain a very rich series of data with regard
to the biology of the herring on the North East coast, |
and apparently not all the results obtained have been —
published—the present report, for instance, deals only —
with age-determinations (by means of “scale-read-
ings”), while biometric measurements made as part
of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries scheme of
racial investigations have also been accumulated. Prof.
Meek, in editing the report, points out that extensive
accumulations of data have not yet been analysed, and —
that such treatment is advisable before further investi-'
gations are planned. His discussion of some of Mr.
Storrow’s results gives point to an expression of dis-
1 “ Meddelelser fra Kommissionen for Havunder sozelser ; Ser Fiskeri,”
Bd. v., Nr. 9.. (Copenhagen, 1919. ee PY ;
f
eae
RIL 15, 1920]
NATURE
217
ntment that the numerous inquiries and confer-
held during the past year have not yet had any
Local investigation with regard to the move-
of herring shoals is insufficient. In this case
als leave Northumbrian waters and appear later
i the Firth of Forth, where, apparently, they are
or investigated. It is therefore regret-
Prof. Meck suggests, that reconstruction should
been a departmental rather than a national affair.
Flora of the Hawaian Islands.
E natural history of the Hawaian Islands has
been well worked as regards both the flora and
una. Generally speaking, there is an extraordinary
of endemism in the plants and animals, asso-
with a strong Southern Pacific or Australasian
ndo-Malayan affinity and a weak Northern
or American affinity. The islands are ex-
ely isolated, being further removed from any con-
tal area than is any other region of equal size
pon the globe. The nearest continent is North
_ America, two thousand miles away, and the nearest
is of any importance, ‘the Marquesas, are
1860 miles distant. Within forty miles of the shores
ocean exceeds 10,000 ft. in depth, and between
islands and the American coast reaches in places
than 20,000 ft. The most commonly accepted
_of the origin of the archipelago is that the
ds, which are entirely volcanic, were raised by
nic activity, and that they have always been
tely isolated. .
paper entitled ‘‘The Derivation of the Flora
waii’’ (Leland Stanford Junior University Pub-
ns, University Series, 1919) Prof. D. H. Camp-
2s a résumé of the composition of the flora
relations to American and Southern Pacific
nerally, and criticises unfavourably Guppy’s
its origin and distribution. Guppy accepts
that the archipelago has always been com-
solated, and that air-currents and birds have
fe agents concerned in its population. The pre-
<
suggests, introduced largely by birds, especially
ng pigeons, but Prof. Campbell finds a
objection in the absence of such birds from
can migratorv shore-birds, practically all
demic. Prof. Campbell strongly sunports
w taken by Mr. H. A. Pilsbry, based on the
the molluscan fauna. The land-snails are all
types the modern representatives of which are
confined to. Polynesia, and they represent, it
ntended, an ancient fauna which has survived
a time when Hawaii was part of a continental
connected to the south-west with that of Poly-
_A study of the insects leads to a similar general
clusion, namely, that while the ancestors of some
species may have been introduced through the
gen of wind- or ocean-currents or by migratorv
irds, there are many more species of both plants and
Is the presence of which can best be exnlained
former more or less direct land-connection
een Hawaii and the Indo-Malavan region.
1e. multitude of islands constituting Polvnesia. are,
in this hypothesis; the remains of a once extensive
ind-mass, either a single continent or several large
ontinental islands like Australia. This great area
has been subsiding since Early Tertiarv times. and
the existing islands are the tons of mountain masses.
often. volcanic, superimnosed upon this submerged
continental area. A serious objection to this theory
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
tly Australasian and Indo-Malayan element.
fauna, as, apart from a number of
is.the absence in Hawaii of certain types of vegetation
characteristic of Southern Pacific regions, such as the
conifers, aroids, and figs, and it is suggested that
these forms became extinct after the isolation of the
islands. Similar examples of such disappearance of
plants are ‘afforded by Sequoia, Liriodendron, and other
genera, which had once a wide distribution, but are
beet represented in many regions only by Tertiary
ossils.
University and Educational Intelligence.
Dr. J. B. CLeLanp, of the Health Department of
New South Wales, has been appointed to fill the
newly constituted chair of pathology in the Univer-
sity of Adelaide, South Australia.
APPLICATIONS for grants from the Dixon Fund, of
the University of London, for assisting scientific
investigations, are receivable by the Academic
Registrar, University of London, South Kensington,
S.W.7, until May 14-next. They must be accom-
panied by the names and addresses of two referees.
THE MarQuEss OF CREWE, chairman of the govern-
ing body of the Imperial College of Science and
Technology, and Sir Alfred Keogh, Rector of the
college, will attend the annual dinner of the Old
Students Association of the Royal College of Science,
to be held at the Café Monico on Saturday, April 24.
Other distinguished guests will be Prof. W. H.
Bragg, Dr. W. Garnett, Sir Richard Glazebrook, Mr.
W. McDermott, and Sir Ronald Ross. Tickets (price
tos. 6d.) may be obtained from Mr. C. S. Garland,
acting secretary, Old Students Association, Royal
College of Science, South Kensington, London, S.W.7.
At a general meeting of old students held recently
at King’s College, Strand, it was decided to form a
King’s College, London, Old Students’ Association for
the purpose of promoting social intercourse and of
keeping the members in touch with their old college.
The association hopes to include students from all
faculties, and the subscription of tos. 6d. per annum
will include the King’s College Review, published
once a term, and a list of members with their
addresses (and possibly the work on which they are
engaged). Further particulars and forms of applica-
tion for membership may be obtained from Miss
M. A. V. Fairlie, hon. secretary, 3 St. Julian’s Farm
Road, West Norwood, S.E.27.
Societies and Academies.
Faraday Society, March 1.—Dr. T. Martin Lowry
and F. C. Hemmings: The properties of powders.
The caking of salts is, in general, dependent on the
presence of a solvent, usually water. The following
cases have been studied: Nitrates, other anhydrous
compounds, hydrated salts, loss of sulphur dioxide
during caking, and. contraction during caking of
copper sulphate.—Dr. T. Martin Lowry and S. Wilding :
The setting of dental cements. Phenomena of caking
or setting may be divided into five classes :—(1) Re-
crystallisation of anhydrous or hydrated salt without
change of chemical composition. (2) Formation of
hydrates. (3) The hydrolysis of complex salts by
water. (4) The formation of new salts, such as the
magnesium oxy-cements and the zinc oxy-phosphate
cements used in dentistry, and ‘silicate ’’ cements.
(5) Amalgams in which mercury takes the place of
water.
Zoological Society, March
Bride, vice-president, in the chair.—R. I.
16.—Prof. E. W. : Mac-
Pocock :
218
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920
External characters of the South American monkeys.
The paper showed the variations in the range of
structure of the ears, nose, hands, feet, and external
genitalia—Dr. C. fF. Sonntag: The comparative
anatomy of the tongues of the mammalia. Having
first outlined the plan which would be followed in his
series of comparative studies, the author proceeded to
describe the different divisions of the tongue and the
physical characters of each. He demonstrated by
diagrams and lantern-slides the different forms which
the papilla and openings of Wharton’s ducts can
assume among the mammalia, and exhibited speci-
mens illustrating the shapes and colours of the tongue
and the arrangements for cleaning the teeth.
March 30.—Dr. A. Smith Woodward, vice-president,
in the chair.—Dr. C. F. Sonntag: Abnormalities of
the abdominal arteries of a young panda.—aA.
Loveridge ; East African lizards collected in 1915-10,
with description of a new genus and species of
skink and a new sub-species of gecko.
Royal Meteorological Society, March 17.—Mr. R. H.
Hooker, president, in the chair.—Capt. C. K. M.
Douglas ; Clouds as seen from an aeroplane. A large
number of photographs of clouds taken from an aero-
plane were shown, nearly all of which were taken by
the lecturer while flying in co-operation with the
Meteorological Section, R.E., in France in 1918-19.
The primary object of the flights was to obtain the
temperature in the upper air tor the artillery and for
forecasting, and advantage was taken of the oppor-
tunity to study cloud-structure and its relation to the
upper-air temperature and humidity and to the general
meteorological conditions. The observations were
made at Berck, on the French coast, twenty miles
south of Boulogne, which lies close to the most
important aerial routes. The photographs showed a
large variety of cloud-forms, and also some changes
which took place in short periods. A number of the
photographs showed’ thunderclouds. Thunderstorms
are caused by powerful ascending currents, and the
tops of the clouds grow up to a great height, fre-
quently exceeding 20,000 ft. Often when the weather
is overcast and gloomy there is brilliant sunshine
within one or two miles of the ground, and the clouds
viewed from above present a splendid spectacle.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, March 8.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—G. Humbert: An extension of the
modular group in an imaginary quadratic body.—
F. E, Fournier: Forms of hull of least resistance to
‘their translation in free air at all velocities.—
C. Guichard: A characteristic property of congruences
belonging to a linear complex.—P. Vuillemin ; Remarks
on a fungus attributed by M. Loubiére to the genus
Trichosporium.—Sir James Dewar was elected a cor-
respondant for the section of general physics in suc-
cession to the late Prof. Blaserna.—J. Villey: The
adaptation of internal-combustion motors to high
altitudes.—B. Gambier: Surfaces of translation ap-
plicable to each other.—M. Fréchet : A complete family
derived from the family of ensembles ‘‘ bien définis.”—
P. Humbert: Functions of the parabolic hypercylinder.
—M. Renaux: A problem of iteration.—J. K. de
Feriet: An application of generalised differentials to
the formation and integration of certain linear
differential equations.—L. de Pesloiian: The extension
of the rule of L’Hdnital to certain arithmetical quanti-
ties.—J. Chazy: The impossible singularities of the
problem of n bodies.—H. Blondel: Application of the
method of Lagrange to the orbit of the planet dis-
covered by M. Comas Sola, January 13, 1920.—E.
Belot: A new form of the law of distances of planets
and satellites resulting from the spiral formation of
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
the planetary system, and the cause of rotation of
the planets.—J. Guillaume: Observations of the sun
made at the Observatory of Lyons during the third
quarter of 1919. Observations taken on eighty-nine
days are summarised in three tables showing the
number of spots, their distribution in latitude, and
the distribution of the facule in latitude.—L. de
Broglie: The calculation of the limiting frequencies of
K and L absorption of the heavy elements. A com-
parison of the numbers deduced from Bohr’s theory
and from Végard’s formula with the average experi-
mental data derived from the experiments of Végard,
Siegbahn, and de Broglie. The results for the
L bands for tungsten, platinum, gold, lead, bismuth,
thorium, and uranium are clearly in favour- of
Végard’s formula.—M,.Rennesson; The loss of energy —
in the dielectric of commercial cables. Two sets of
experiments are described: in the first the frequency
and temperature were maintained constant, and the
voltage varied; and in the second the temperature
was the variable, voltage and frequency being con-
stant. In the latter case the energy losses in the
dielectric showed a minimum at 30° C.; the
losses at 30° C. were about half those found at
12° C. or at 55° C.—A. Caillas: The search for inver-
tin in pure honey.
two analyses of a sample of honey made at different
times may give different results for the sugars present.
—J. Martinet and O. Dornier; The azo-compounds of
indoxyl.—Ch. Boulin and L. J. Simon; The prepara-
tion of methyl chloride and bromide starting from
dimethyl sulphate. The interaction of concentrated
hydrochloric acid and methyl sulvhate gives pure
methyl chloride ;
similar manner by substituting a solution of an
alkaline bromide acidified with dilute sulphuric acid
for the hydrochloric acid.—M. Zeil: The ascensional
The presence of invertin in pure —
honey was definitely proved, and this explains why ~
methyl bromide is obtained in a |
movements of the earth’s crust and the anomalies of —
gravitv.—G. Denizet: The lower peneplain of the
Paris basin.—R. Abrard: A layer of eruptive rocks
at Souk el Arbéa du R’Arb (Western Morocco).-—
V. Bjerknes: The relation between the movements
and temperatures of the upper layers of the atmo-
sphere.—L. Besson : The primitive form of atmospheric
ice.—C. E. Brazier: The variation of the indications
of the Robinson and Richard anemometers as a func-
tion of the inclination of the wind.—A. Guilliermond ;
The figured elements of the cytonlasm.—J. D.
d’Oliveira: The transmission of fasciation and
dichotomy as a result of the grafting of two Portu-
guese vines.—J. Magrou: The immunity of annual
plants towards symbiotic fungi.—J. E. Abelous and
L. C. Soula: The cholesterinogenic function of the
spleen.—J. L. Dantan: Oyster beds: their develop-
ment,. classification, and exploitation. ;
March 15.—M. Henri Deslandres in the chair.—G.
Humbert : The groups of M. Bianchi.—Em. Bourquelot
and M. Bridel: The detection and characterisation of
glucose in plants by a new biochemical method. The
production of methyl glucoside by the action of
emulsin forms the basis of the new method proposed.
—MM. d’Arsonval, Bordas, and Touplain: The electrical
purification of air.—G. Gouv: Gaseous currents in the
interior of the sun.—Ch. Nvvolle, A. Cuénod, and G.
Blanc: The experimental reproduction of trachoma
(granular conjunctivitis) in the rabbit—-M. Léon
Lindet was elected a member of the section of rural —
economy in succession to the late Th. Schleesing,
and Sir Joseph Larmor a correspondant for the
section of geometry in succession to the late M.
Tiapounoff.—_R. Gambier: . Apvlicable surfaces.—
Ch. Rabut: The group of plane transformations in
which all right lines remain right.—A. Chatelet:
.
Dy
.
_ApRIL 15, 1920]
NATURE
219
lian bodies of the first degree.—H. Villat: The
ible movement of an indefinite fluid with stream-
in presence of a solid body.—R. Thiry: A
roblem of hydrodynamics admitting an infinity of
ions.—E. Belot: Dichotomic classification of all
with the hypothesis of their formation by cosmic
hock.—Ad. Braly: A new, simple, and rapid method
collecting and characterising the sublimates pro-
iced by metalloids and metals volatilised by the
e. Two flames are used, alcohol and paraffin,
re different temperatures of volatilisation, and
ublimates are received on clear mica sheets.—
relations with two Glacial periods.—H. Hubert :
in these measurements;
instrument corresponded to about 0-5 metre varia-
in height. The greatest wave-heights were
ed on January 28, 1910, and gave numerous
es between 4 and 5 metres, fortv above
metres, twenty above 7 metres, nine above 8 metres,
above g metres, and one of 10-5 metres.
Waves of a greater height than 10 metres are rare
in the Atlantic and the southern seas.—P. Bugnon:
_ The origin of the transverse liberoligneous bundles
- forming a network at the nodes of the Graminez.—
-F. Morvillez : The liberoligneous apparatus of the leaves
por | Betulaceze, Corylacew, and Castaneaceze.—L.
_ Blaringhem: The production by traumatism of a new
_ form of maize, Zea Mays. var. polysperma.—J. Barlot :
he determination of poisonous varieties of Amanita
wy colour reactions. The colour reactions of numerous
ungi with sulphuric acid and potash solution are
led. Three very poisonous varieties give a posi-
“hemo-reaction ’? with a mixture of fresh blood
Epes
me
.
potassium ferricyanide.—R. Cambier: The puri-
on of sewage by activated sludge.
Books Received.
‘Text-book of Inorganic Chemistry. Vol. ix.
i. By Dr. T. Newton Friend. Pp. xvii+367.
(London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd.) 18s.
Grundziige der systematischen Petrographie auf
genetischer Grundlage. By Dr. W. Hommel. Erster
3and: Das System. Pp. xiit+174+5 Tafel. (Berlin:
briider Borntraeger.) 22 marks.
Mrs. Warren’s Daughter. By Sir Harry Johnston.
. xi+402. (London: Chatto and Windus.) 4s. 6d.
eric
Recent Developments in Euronean Thought. Edited
by F. S. Marvin. Pp. 306. (London: Oxford Uni-
_ versity Press.) 12s. 6d. net.
__ A Junior Course of Practical Zoology. Bvy the late
_ Prof. A. M. Marshall and Dr. C. H. Hurst. Ninth
edition. Revised by Prof. F. W. Gamble. Pp.
-xxxvit+517. (London: J. Murray.) 12s. net.
Lectures on the Theory of Plane Curves. . By
§. Ganguli. Parti. Pp. x+138. Part ii. Pp. xiii+
- 139-350+-di@grams. (Calcutta: University of Cal-
cutta.)
_ Applied Aerodynamics, By G. P. Thomson. Pp.
_ xx+292. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd.)
42s. net.
_ On the Interpretation of Phenomena of Phyllotaxis.
_ (Botanical Memoirs. No.6.) BvA.H.Church. Pp. 58.
_ (London: Oxford University Press.) 3s. 6d. net.
__ Half-oast Twelve: Dinner Hour Studies for the
_ Odd Half-Hours. By G. W. Gough. Pp. vi+77.
_ (London: Sells. Ltd.) 1s.
Utilisation des Algues Marines. By Prof. C.
NO. 2633, VOL. 105]
Sauvageau.
3.50 francs.
Results of Meridian Observations of Stars made at
the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, in the
Pp. vi+394. (Paris: O. Doin.)
Years 1909-1911. Ppp.xx+206. (London: H.M.S.O.)
20s. net.
Fundamental Catalogue of 1293 Stars for the
Equinox 1900 from Observations made at the Royal
Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, during the Years.
1905-1911, Pp. xlvi+27. (Edinburgh: H.M.S.O.) 5s.
Cape Astrographic Zones. Vol. iii. Catalogue of
Rectangular Co-ordinates and Diameters of Star-
Images derived from Photographs taken at the Royal
Observatory, Cave of Good Hope. Zone 43°. Pp.
Xxxvii+443 (Edinburgh: H.M.S.O.) 15s.
Annals of the Cape Observatory. Vol. viii. Part iv.
Results of Meridian Observations of the Sun, Mer-
cury, and Venus made at the Royal Observatory, Cape
of Good Hope, in the Years 1907 to 1914. Pp. 93.
(Edinburgh: H.M.S.O.) 3s.
The Use of Low-Grade and Waste Fuels for Power
Generation. By J. B. C. Kershaw. Pp. x+202.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 17s. net.
Colloids in Biology and Medicine. By Prof. H.
Bechhold. Translated, with Notes and. Emendations,
by Prof. J. G. M. Bullowa. Pp. xiv+464. (London:
Constable and Co., Ltd.) 31s. 6d. net.
Bygone Beliefs: Being a Series of Excursions in
the Byways of Thought. By H. S. Redgrove. Pp.
xvi+205+32 plates. (London: W. Rider and Son,
Ltd.) 10s. 6d. net.
Macmillan’s Graphic Geographies: The British
Empire. By B. C. Wallis. Pp. 32. (London: Mac-
millan and Co., Ltd.) 1s. 6d.
The Nursery-Manual: A Complete Guide to the
Multiplication of Plants. By L. H. Bailey. Pp. xi+
456+xii plates. (New York: The Macmillan Co. ;
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 13s. net.
A Theory of the Mechanism of Survival: The
Fourth Dimension and its Applications. By W. W.
Smith. Pp. 196. (London: Kegan Paul and Co.,
Ltd.) 5s. net.
Roses: Their History, Development, and Cultiva-
tion. By Rev. JT. H. Pemberton. Second edition.
Pp. xxiv+334. (London: Longmans and Co.) 15s.
net.
A Short Course in College Mathematics. By Prof.
R. E. Moritz. Po. ix+226. (New York: The Mac-
millan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.)
tos. 6d, net.
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, Apri. 15. ty
Rovat. Institution oF Great Brirain, at 3.—S. Skinner: Ebullition
and Evaporation.
Rovat Society or Arts (Indian Section), at 4.30.—Sir George C.
Buchanan: The Ports of India: Their Administration and Development.
Linnean Society, at 5.—Capt. F. Kingdon Ward: Natural History
Exploration on the North-east Frontier of Burma.—R. Paulson:
Exhibition of Lantern-slides illustrating Definite Stages in the Sporulation
and Gonidia within the Thallus of the Lichen Zvern’a prunastri, Ach.
Royvat Socirry or Mepicine (Dermatology Section), at 5. :
InstituTION OF Mrixinc AND Meratcurcy (Annual General Meeting)
(at Geological Society), at 5.30.—F. Merricks: The Mineral Production
of the Fmpire (Presidential Address).
Cuitp-Stupy Society (at Royal Sanitary Institute), at 6.—Prof. W.
Ripman : Spelling Reform. nae Be
InstiruTION oF ELEcrrRicat. ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil
Engineers), at €.—Dr. C. V. Drysdale: Modern Marine Problems
(Kelvin Lecture).
Optica, Society (at Imperial College of Science and Technology),
at 7.30—J. Weir French: The Unaided Eye, Part III.—R.
Walls: ‘The Rock Crystal of Brazil. Ee ee
Cuemicar. Socirty, at 8.—I. Massonand R. McCall: The Viscosity o
Nitrocellulose in Mixtures of Acetone and Water.—S. S. Bhatnagar :
Studiesin Emulsion. Part I. A New Method for Determining Inversion.
—W. H. Gibson and R. McCall: (1) The Influence of Nitroglycerine on
the Viscosity of Solutions of Nitrocellulose in Ether-alcohol. (2) The
Viscosity of Solutions of Nitrocellulose in Ether-alcohol.—W. K. Slater :
Experiments on the Preparation of Isoni derivati S. Salmon:
Direct Experimental Determination of the Concentration of Potassium and
Sodium Ions in Soap Solutions and Gels. —W. C. McC. Lewis: Studies
ves.
220
NATURE
[APRIL 15, 1920.
‘in Catalysis.“ Part XIII. Contact Potentials and ‘Dielectric Capacities:
of Metals, in relation to the Occlusion of Hydrogen, and Hydrogenation,
—C. S. Garnett: Colouring Matters of Red and Blue Fluorspar.—Miss
P..V;, “Mekie: Determination of Nitroform by Potassium Permanganate.
—J. L. Simonsen : (1) The Constituents of Indian Turpentine from Pinus.
longijolia, Part I. (2) Note on the Constituents of Morinda citrtfolia.
(3) Syntheses with the aid of Monochlorométhyl t:ther. Part IV. The
Condensation of Ethyl Benzyl Sodiomalonate and Monochloromethyl
Ether.
FRIDAY, Aprit 16.
Roya Society oF MeptctneE (Clinical Section), at
Concrete Institute, at 6.—E. Fiander Etchells:
to Local Authorities.
INSTITUTION OF EL&cCTRICAL ENGINEERS (Students’ Meeting) (at Faraday
House), at 7.—J. Scott-laggart : The Vacuum Tube as a Transmitter
and Receiver of Continuous Waves.
InstiTuTION OF MEcHANICAL ENGINEERS (Informal Meeting), at 7.—
J. E. Baty and Others: Discussion on Planing wv. Milling.
TECHNICAL INSPECTION ASSOCIATION (at Royal ‘Society: of Arts), at 7.30.
Wade: Labour Unrest—Its Causes and its Cure.
Rovat Society OF Mepicine (Electro-Therapeutics Section), at 8.30.—
Sir Ernest Rutherford : Development of Radiology (Mackenzie Davidson
Memorial Lecture).
Rovat INstiTUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 9.—Prof. H. Maxwell Lefroy:
The Menace of Man's Dispersal of Insect Pests,
SATURDAY, Apriv 17.
Roya. InstiruTiOon OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Prof. W. H. Eccles:
The Thermionic Vacuum Tube as Letector, Amplifier, and Generator of
’ Electrical Oscillations.
30.
a ientadion of Plans
MONDAY, Aprit 19.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (Informal Meeting) (at Chartered
, jnasitute of Patent Agents), at 7,—G. H. Ayres: Group versus Individual
riving
Roya Society or Arts, at 8.—Dr. W. Rosenhain: Aluminium and its
Alloys (Cantor Lecture),
Surveyors’ InstiruTion, at 8.—C. B. Fisher:
with Agricultural Policy.
Rovat GroGrapHicaL Society (at Molian Hall), at 8.30.—Flight-Com-
mander G. M. Dyott: An Air-Route Reconnaissance from the Pacific to
_ the Amazon.
Some Problems connected
TUESDAY, Apri 20.
Roya InstTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Major G. W. C. Kaye:
Recent Advances in X-ray Work.
Roya STaTIsTICAL SOCIETY, at 5.15.—Dr. T. H.C. Stevenson: The
Fertility of various Social Classes in England and Wales from the Middle
of the Nineteenth Century to rgrr.
InsTiruTION’ oF Crvit ENGINEERS, at 5.30,—Sir Dugald Clerk: Fuel
Conservation in the United Kingdom (James Forrest Lecture).
INSriTUTION OF PRTROLEUM TECHNOLOGISTS (at Royal Society of Arts),
eA 5 30.—G. F. Robertshaw: Methods of Examination of Lubricating
ils.
Roya. PuHoroGcrapuic Society OF GREAT Britain (Technical Meeting),
~ at 7.—Dr.C. E. K. Mees and A. H. Nietz: The Theory of Development.
ILLUMINATING Nees ere Socigry (at Royal Society of Arts), at 8.—
J. Darch and Others: Discusston on the Lighting of ee
Roya, ANTHROPOLOGICAL, INSTITUTE, at 8.15.— . Brown?
Races of the Chindwin, Upper Burma.
Royat Sociery oF MEDICINE. (Pathology Section), at 8.30.—Annua
General Meeting.
> p WEDNESDAY, Aprit 21.
Beaver Wiewat SERVICE INSTITUTION, at 3.—Rev. Father B. Vaughan
Modern Patriotism.
RoyaL Sociery or Arts, at 4.30.—Air-Commodore E. Maitland: The
Commercial Future of Airships.
RoyaL Society or Mepicine (History of Medicine Section), at 5.—
Dr. A. Chaplin: The History of Medical Education at the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge.—Mme. Panayotatou: Baths and Bathing in
Ancient Greece.
Royat METEOROLOGICAL SoctrTy, at 5.—Royal Observatory, Green-
wich: Polar Night-Sky Kecorder.—Lieut. N. L. Silvester: Local
Weather Conditions at Mullion, Cornwall.—J. E. Clark: The Surrey
Hailstorm.of July 16, 1918.
G01 0GICAL Society oF Lonpon, at 5-30 —J. W. D. Robinson: The
Devonian of Ferques (Bas-Boulonnais).—«. S. Cobbold: The Cambrian
Horizons of Comley (Shropshire) and their Bra:hiopoda, Pteropoda,
Gasteropoda, etc.
Royat MicroscoricaAL Society, in conjunction with the OprTicaL
Society and the Farapay Soctgry (at the Royal Microscopical Society),
7 to 1o.—General Discussion on The Mechanical Design and Optics of
the Microscope.—Prof. J.. Eyre: Opening Remarks.—J. E, Barnard:
A Genera! Survey. me The Mechanical Design of the Microscope.
(a). General, Prof. F. J. Cheshire: The Mechanical Design of Micro-
" scopes.x—C. Beck? The Standard Microscope.—F. W. Watson Baker:
Progress in Microscopy from a Manufacturer's Point of View.—P. Swift :
A New Microscope.—() Metallurgical. Dr. W. Rosenhain: The Metal-
lurgical Microscope.—Prof. C. H. Desch: The Construction and Design
of Metallurgical Microscopes.—E. F. Law : The Microscope in Metal-
lurgical Research.—H. M. Sayers: Llumination in Micro-metallography.
—(c Petrological. Dr. J. W. Evans: The Requirements of a Petrological
Microscope.—B. The Optics of the Microsccpfe. Prof. A. E. Conrady:
Microscopical Optics.—Dr. H. Hartridge: An Accurate Method of
Objective Testing.—H. S. Ryland: The Manufacture and Testing of
Microscope Objectives.—F. Twyman: Interferometric Methods.
THURSDAY, Apri 22.
Roya. InstTiTuTION oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—S. Skinner: The Tensile
Strength of Liquids.
Roya. Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers.—Prof. W.E. Dalby: Re-
searches on the Elastic Properties and the Plastic Extension of Metals.—
NO. 2633, VOL. 105 |
The
British Crop Production.
H. W. Hilliar:. Experiments on the Pressure Wave thrown out by
Submarine Explosions.—E. F, Armstrong and T, P. Hilditch: A Stady
of the Catalytic Action at Solid Surfaces. IL{I. The Hydrogenation of
Acetaldelivde and the Dehydrogenation of Ethyl Alcohol in the Presence
of Finely Divided Metals. 1V. The Interaction of Carbon Monoxide
and Steam as conditioned by Tron Oxide and. by Copper.—Dr. T. R.
Merton: The Structure of the Balmer Series of Hydrogen Linge
H. A. Wilson: Diamagnetism due to Free Electrons. :
FRIDAY, Apri 23. ;
PuysicaLt Socirty, at 5.—M.C.E. Guillaume: The Anomaly of the
Nickel-Iron Alloys : Its Causes and its Applications (Guthrie Taceam ;
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—The late W. J. n:
(1) The Hardening of Screw-Gauges with the least Di in . tch
(referring to Water, Hardening). (2) The Hardening of Screw-Gauges
with the least Distortion in Pitch (referring to Oil Hardening). -
Roya. InstiruTion, oF Great RRITAIN, at 9.—Sir Israel Gollance:
Shakespeare’s Shvlock and Scott’s Isaac of York.
SATURDAY, Aprit 24.
Rovat InsriruTION oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Prof. W. H. Eccles: The
Thermionic Vacuum Tube as Detector, Amplifier, and Generator of
Electrical Oscillations.
4
CONTENTS. PAGE
The Encouragement of Pn ae oly yee ea ea
English bib 2% “fhe B.S: eg tk |
Matrices, By G. B as.)
The Chemistry of dca Products. By W. M. - 192
Physics: Theoretical and Practical. By H. S. 193
Minerals and Metals’... .’. .. 4/4) 0),
Our Bookshelf . . me eo
Letters to the Editor:— ee
The Plumage Billand Bird Protection. —Dr, Walter E. %
‘Collinge:, ).2:..-. 196
The Physiology of Migrations in the Sea. Prof: +i;
Alexander Meek 197
Muscular Efficiency. (W7th Diagrams. cde “Mallock,
F.R.S.
A ‘Dyiemica Specification of the Motion of Mercury.
—veorge W. Walker, F.R.S. 198
The Construction of a Magnetic Shell Equivalent t to a :
Given Electric Current.—Dr. A. A, Robb . . .
bres i Rocks in the _— Egyptian Sudan.—Dr.
. W: Grabham ‘ : _ 199
The FitzGerald-Lorentz " Contraction ” Theory.—
Horace H. Poole .
Moseley Memorial.—Sir Henry A. Miers, F.R. s.,
C. G. Darwin, and Dr. H. Robinson. . + 200
The Aurora of March 22-23.—_W. B. Housman . are
The Nitrogen Problem: By-products ; 201
A Survey of National Physique. (W7th Diagram.)
The Doctor of Philosophy in England. .
(Continued. ) By Dr.
Edward J. Russell, FE: RIS. 24 2 eve 206
Obituary ..... “31 oo
Notes : a es
Our Astronomical Column :- — Se
Conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune. / . . .. . . 213
A-Nova ina Spirgl Nebulaj.<'.-.. <<. . 5S) (gee
The Madrid Observatory. .°. 2... )s9s a
National Education . . os) 5. aie eae, Oe
Aeronautics at the Impebial College - «6 ean alee ie en
The Parallaxes of Globular Clusters and Spiral
Nebule .. q : Pia waiNaane yy «4
The Forestry Commission : Nenreaes ar PN
Recent Fishery Investigations. "By J. * oe eae eee
Flora of the Hawaian Islands . . Mee) 2
University and Educational Intelligence Ren st (ne og
Societies and Academies 30-2.) a
Books Received: 2.6. esi ie ee
Diary of Societies ow eo aaa
{INDEX)
Editorial and Publishing Offices :
MACMILLAN. AND CO., Ltp., .
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.z2.
Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the
Publishers.
Editovial] Communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address :.Puusis, ‘Lonpon.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
bah » THURSDAY, APRIL» 22,
1920.
th and watch with some apprehension the
eas to bring original investigators within
I system. . F raricis Bacon supposed that
to the: ‘particular Besor sing to a prescribed
of rules, and gave in his ‘‘ New Atlantis ’’ ‘‘a
dell or description of a_ college, instituted for
e interpreting of Nature, and the Sigg of
on 's s method, and all other assumedly infallible
' systems for. creating knowledge, fail to furnish
a formula for scientific discovery. New truths
eau themselves in unexpected places, and the
1 to be the most. promising. Knowing that
is $0, and cherishing the freedom of action
1 any ‘schemes for systematising research
ch h may deprive them of. their birthright. They
by Pike encouragement of genius; wherefore they
e rarely considered when research systems are
1 by the Bacons of our day.
/ was pointed out by Prof. Soddy in NaTuRE
of February 26. that the position is different in
nedical science, because in this case the pro-
its members, and to insist, therefore, upon
inistrative and other cy oop ins which they
y smmittee as the Medical Research Council is
t very notable event in this connection. After its
‘years’ work under the: National Health
nsurance ‘Départment, the Committee -has been
nsferred to’ its new position ’as the Medical
Research Council, under the direction of a small
Committee Of the ‘Privy ‘Council’ consisting of the
Lord President,’ the Minister*of Health (England |
and Wales); the Secretary for Scotland, and the |
Chief ‘Sectetary fdr'Ireland for the time being. ‘The
: Council has’ been incorporated with a. perpetual |
succession by Royal charter, with powers to hold '
NO. 2634, VOL. 105]
subject of the organisation of scientific re-
ay NATURE
y
|
son was then Parliamentary Secretary.
225
and use not ae moneys. ‘and ‘land joni from
Parliament, but also property or trusts vested in
it by private persons or bodies, It is not merely
an Advisory Council, but is in charge of its own
executive. These main features sufficiently mark
the interest and importance of the new step now
taken towards solving that difficult problem in
the art of government—the preservation of the
freedom and self-government of scientific research
work as to both initiative and execution, with
due regard to a just responsibility to Parliament
in respect of State endowment.
The appointment of the Development Commis-
sion in 1911 marked the first modern step towards
a solution of this problem of the State endowment
of research. For the first time an organisation
independent of the administrative Departments
was set up to initiate and direct scientific research
work in particular directions. The constitutional
position of the Commission was anomalous, ‘its
functions were too various in kind, and the pér-
sonnel selected for it suffered in quality, perhaps,
because it depended too much upon the repre-
sentative principle. But the work of the Commis-
sion, especially in relation to agricultural research,
was in charge from the first of scientific men,
and in effect, if not in form, the Commission bibs
executive as well as advisory powers.
The next landmark in this development was the
formation of the Medical Research Committee in
1913 in connection with the National Health In-
surance Department. This was attached directly
to an administrative Department, but it was given
a singularly free constitution. The Committee
was composed of scientific men appointed for
their quality as counsellors without subservience
to any representative principle ; it was empowered
to appoint and dismiss its own servants, and it had
full executive authority within the widest limits of
research schemes of its own initiation when these
had received general Ministerial approval.
The outbreak of war brought home to the
Government the grave rational need for a wider
and more liberal State endowment of research.
In 1915 a scheme for public expenditure upon
scientific and industrial research was developed
under the Board of Education, where Dr. Addi-
‘It was
natural that this should be modelled in its early
stages upon the system ‘of the Medical Research
Committee, of the working of which «there had
already been two years of useful experience; ‘but
the :new organisation soon departed from that
model -in some essential points. It was early and
I
222.
NATURE ©
| APRIL 22, 1920
rightly transferred to the Privy Council, where
it had independence from any one administrative
Department, and could serve all Departments alike.
But the council of scientific men became a purely
advisory body, as it now is, and the Committee
of Privy Council under which the work was to
be done was not purely Ministerial and formal,
but received the addition of other personally ap-
pointed lay members in a position constitutionally
superior to that of the scientific members of the
Advisory Council. A strong staff of lay officers
was progressively appointed upon the executive
side as a Department under the Privy Council
Committee, not under the direct control of the
scientific members of the Advisory Council, and
neither appointed nor removable by them.
When the Ministry of Health for England and
Wales was constituted in 1919, with correspond-
ing Boards of Health in Scotland and Ireland,
the disbanding of the four National Health
Insurance Commissions made a new _ con-
stitution necessary for the Medical Research Com-
mittee, the work of which in science has no
national boundaries. It could not properly be
attached to the Ministry of Health, because, alto-
gether apart from the general arguments against
placing a system of free research work under a
strong administrative Departrment, a Committee
serving the whole of the United Kingdom could
not fittingly be attached to a Ministry responsible
only for England and Wales. The obviously
right course was to bring the medical research
service under the Privy Council, the range of
which not only covers the United Kingdom, but
also allows easy constitutional relationship with
systems of research work throughout the Empire.
The problem was to bring the Medical Research
Committee into close relationship with the scien-
tific-and industrial research system already under
Privy Council direction, and equally with other
systems that may hereafter be placed there, so as
to allow the greatest - possibility of co-operation
along the innumerable boundary lines of scientific
without sacrificing any of the freedom which the
Committee had already enjoyed in its first con-
stitution, or had worked out in experience and
established in its traditions.
The solution of this was given when the new |
Committee of Privy Council for the work of the
Committee—now the Medical Research Council— |
was established by Order in Councilon March | 11
NO, 2634, VOL. 105]
last. This Committee provides the. formal -Minis-
terial responsibility, for moneys provided by_Par-
liament, and at the same time it represents, and
brings together the interests of all the four parts
of the Kingdom. In the absence of the Lord
President, the Minister of Health will act as
Vice-President of the Committee. The Secretary
appointed by the Medical Research Council for its
own scientific and administrative purposes: is to
be ipso facto Secretary of this Privy Council Com-
mittee, so that the chief executive officer of the
Research Council will have direct access to the
Minister in charge, without the intervention of
lay officials either now or in the future. .
The Medical Research Council itself has been
incorporated: by Royal charter in perpetual ‘suc-
cession with legal powers to hold money or other
personal property, whether voted by Parliament
or derived from other sources, and to accept trusts
for the furtherance of medical research. It has
licence to purchase and hold land or to receive
it by gift or bequest up to an annual value of
50,000l., determined at the time of acquisition.
The personal constitution of the Medical Re-
_ search Committee upon becoming the new Council
is little changed. At least two of its members must
always be Members of Parliament, one each in the
House of Lords and the House of Commons.
Lord Astor and Dr. Addison, holding office
in the Ministry of Health, retired from’ the
Committee before the change was effected, and
one additional scientific member was appointed,
-to bring the total number from nine to ten. The
constitution of the final Medical Research Com-
‘mittee and of the new Medical Research Council
is as follows:—The Viscount Goschen; Mr.
William Graham, M.P.; the Hon. Edward Wood,
M.P.; C. J. Bond, C.M.G., E.R:.CiS.5) 2 eee
Bulloch, F.R.S.; Dr.. T. R. Elhott) fatie.;
Dr. Henry Head, F.R.S.; Prof. F. Gowland
- Hopkins, F.R.S.; Major-Gen. Sir William
Leishman, K.C.M. G., F.R.S.; and Prof. D. ar
“Paton, F.R.S.
work; at the same time it’ was necessary to do this |
It is laid down that three of these members shall
retire on September 30, 1921, and thereafter three
-at intervals of two years. Vacancies so caused or
arising casually are to be filled by appointment
by the Committee of Privy Council, but only after
consultation with the President for the time being
of the Royal Society and, with the Medical Re-
search Council. This provision will bring into
effective bearing upon the constitution of ithe.
NATURE
223
i the channel of the Royal Society, which
okey to ‘be all the more effective because it
il Society Council among other business, and
ives direct access by the President to the re-
ansible Ministers. A further important pro-
* is that the charter itself may receive
mdment or addition, if’majority votes of the
, Eee stated conditions be. pptained and
t adomtific:’ men thembelyes’ should ‘decide upon
\sceaatey -of funds for ao is done
for. ree Raeheines: of Wibaiiied faekeGgition:
Friction and misunderstanding always arise when
these functions are performed by official adminis-
_ trators unfamiliar with such.a sensitive plant
as scientific genius and unable to judge the
promise of incipient. inquiry. The remedy for
such difficulties is always to ensure that the men
odo the work are the masters of the adminis-
ve machine and have confidence in the direc-
n of it by specially qualified colleagues—to pro-
20te, in fact, the same spirit. of common interest
ween director and. worker that is desired be-
sen capital and labour. The Medical, Research
uncil seems , to. fulfil these conditions in every
pect, and its incorporation marks a noteworthy
age in scientific development. The Council can
determine its own policy, has complete control
its funds, is in direct touch with progressive
_ science by association. with the Royal Society,
and, above all, its Secretary, Sir Walter Fletcher,
as the full confidence of medical research
workers. He knows well enough the truth of
the adage Poeta nascitur, non fit as applied to
scientific genius, and may therefore be trusted to
‘secure. the most favourable conditions for the de-
velopment of this rare fruit when it appears.
_ During its existence the Medical Research Com-
mittee brought together a brotherhood of research
workers whose scientific investigations have been of
the. highest national value, and it did _ this
without limiting the freedom ‘of. action which is
their heritage. We confidently look to the new
q Council to. encourage the independent investigator
jae as well as to create a reserve of research workers,
d and thus consolidate the organisation of scientific
effort in the service of medicine so well begun by
the Committee which it supersedes.
‘NO. 2634, VOL. 105]
Rie
A Study in Palzogeography.
The Environment of Vertebrate Life in the Late
Paleozoic in North America: A Paleogeographic
Study. By Prof. E. C. Case. (Publication
No. 283.) Pp. vi+273. (Washington: Car-
negie Institution of Washington, 1919.) Price
3 dollars.
HE following passage from Suess’s “Face of
the Earth” might be taken as an appropriate
text for the work under consideration :—“It is the
organic remains, no doubt, which afford us our
first and most important aid in the elucidation of
the past. But the goal of investigation must still
remain the recognition of those great physical
changes in comparison with which the ‘changes in
the organic world only appear as phenomena of
the second order, as. simple consequences.”’ ., Prof.
Case’s volume may be described as an attempt
both to provide an up-to-date corpus of material,
often presented in the form of lengthy quotations
from the writings of American geologists, bearing
upon the history of the later Paleozoic period, and
to utilise the data as evidence in an inquiry into
the physical and climatic conditions under’ which
organisms lived, migrated, or became extinct’ in
different regions of the North American con-
tinent.
_ The author has essayed a difficult but attractive
task, and though: his own conclusions’ ‘and
generalisations are to some extent: overwhelmed
by the superabundance of citations from’ published
sources, he has succeeded in making a waluable
contribution to a neglected branch, of. geological
history. -He takes a broad view of the conception
of. environment; it represents ‘“‘the sum of all the
contacts .which any organism or group . of
organisms, establishes with the. forces and matter
of its surroundings, either organic: or inorganic.”
The difficulty is that we have comparatively little
knowledge of the nature of the interaction of exist-
ing organisms and their environment ; but it is
none the less praiseworthy to extend ‘ecological
inquiry to a remote era in the. hope that in this
line of research, as in others, a knowledge of
the past may help us to solve the problems of
the present.
‘In the first chapter Prof. Case discusses the
different: categories of facts which ‘it is’ essential
to consider in connection with paleogeographical
questions, the nature of the sedimentary deposits,
the. source of the sediments, the history of the
flora and fauna—whether they were evolyed;where
they were preserved, or. had migrated, from
another locality—the influence of, environment
reflected in the morphological characters of
animals and plants, and other factors. He empha-
224
“NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
sises the importance of close_co-operation between
paleontologists and geologists in all matters
relating to past geographies, and deprecates the
over-readiness of the former class of workers to
assume the existence of land-barriers. -In illustra-
tion he refers to the continent of Gondwanaland,
the existence of which “depends more definitely
upon biological evidence and awaits full confirma-
tion.” Gondwanaland is, however, by no méans
the creation of paleontologists alone; its founda-
tions are also geological. Succeeding chapters
are devoted to the description of different pro-
vinces of North America in the latter part of the
Paleozoic era, and the author summarises the
results of an intensive study of Upper Pennsyl-
vanian and Permo-Carboniferous rocks in certain
areas. “It is difficult for a reader not conversant
with American stratigraphy to interpret the forma-
tions mentioned in terms‘of European classifica-
tion, and-one feels the lack of more helpful
correlation-tables than those provided.
°» One of ‘the most valuable features of the book
is the emphasis laid on the necessity for regarding
‘fdssils as once living things, and for considering
‘their ‘distribution in the strata in relatizn to the
problems presented to them by their environment.
The chapter on the climatology of the later
‘Paleozoic is a particularly useful mine of informa-
'tion. - In the concluding chapter the author dis-
‘cusses’ the development and fate of vertebrate life
in the Permo-Carboniferous period in relation to
physical conditions. During Early Pennsylvanian
time the conditions were singularly uniform over
‘large’ areas, and the climate was equable and
humid; a monotonous environment implies a limit
‘to the number of genera and species in a flora or
fauna; older ‘and simpler types would persist
because the variants, which were possibly being
constantly produced, would not have a chance to
develop. This idea is elaborated, though not so
clearly as one could wish. It is suggested that the
Upper Pennsylvanian fauna, though hampered in
its further progress by the monotony of the envi-
ronment, was accumulating force preparatory to a
great radiation which would find expression when
the limitations were removed. Prof. Case adds:
“The fauna, long restrained from any expression
of its evolutionary tendencies, full fed, and in the
vigour of its youth, responded at once to the
change, and new forms appeared so suddenly as
to be unheralded in the preserved remains.” This
and similar passages illustrate the more imagina-
tive side of the author’s work.
The palzobotanical data are largely taken from
the ‘contributions of Mr.
researches are well known.
NO. 2634, VOL. 105]
David White, whose |
The American Coal .
Measures have unfortunately yielded scarcely’ any
petrified material comparable with that from
England and.a few other European countries, and
although there is a wealth of plant impressions,
anatomical criteria. of climatic conditions are not
available. A. C, SEWARD.
Wheat and Wheat-growing. Y
Essays on Wheat. By Prof. A. H. R. Buller.
Pp. xv + 339.
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
2.50 dollars. ae
ROF.: BULLER’S “ Essays - on Wheat ” yevare
among the most interesting things we have
seen for a. long time. . As professor of botany in
the University of Manitoba, he has unrivalled
opportunities of studying the ramifications of the
wheat industry, for in no city in the world. is
1919.) Price
wheat so important.as in Winnipeg. He is singu- —
larly fortunate in his subject, and he tells his story
remarkably well, giving the wealth of detail, the
figures, and the references needed by the man of
science, without sacrificing interest or BiSreRy
form.
The first essay deals with the early hiseee) ‘of
wheat growing in Manitoba, It is a story in
which Parkman would have revelled. The first
attempt was made in 1812 by a little band of
pioneers sent out from Scotland by Lord Selkirk —
to colonise the 116,000 sq. miles of territory
granted to him by the Hudson Bay Co.; they
settled at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine
rivers where Winnipeg now stands.
crop failed, as also did the second. The failure
is scarcely surprising. “‘ There was not a plow in
the whole colony, ,the one harrow was incomplete
and could not be used, and all the labour of break-
ing up and working: over the tough sod had to be —
done with. the hoe.’’ The Indians were amazed,
and nicknamed the colonists “jardiniers.” For-
tunately for the settlers, potatoes and turnips did
well, or they must have had two very bitter
winters. The. third crop succeeded. But the
troubles were by no means at an end. Birds were
a great nuisance, especially the now extinct pas-
senger pigeon. In the fourth year the adherents
of the North-West Company and their half-breeds
made serious trouble and caused no little blood-
shed, and, to crown all, in the sixth year, just as
the settlers were about to reap their second good
harvest, there came a great plague of locusts
which stripped the fields and gardens bare. It
was more than even these brave men could stand;
the old record says: “The unfortunate emigrants,
looking up to heaven, wept.” .It speaks volumes
for their good Scottish upbringing if they did no
(New York: The Macmillan Co. 5
Pe a ee ee ee ae
The first —
—————— errs meee
“NATURE
it’ damage, and not ‘until 1830 did prosperity
‘come; from that time on, however, the tale is one
steady and increasing progress.
Space doés not allow of quotations from Prof.
iller’s description of modern wheat growing in
Canada, but this-is less necessary since
is more generally known than the earlier
. While it has less human interest, the
e is still a fascinating record of what can be
hieved by intelligent organisation.
‘Another essay is devoted to the Red Fife and
M is wheats. Red Fife’ was introduced into
iMesnade some sixty years ago, and by reason of its
rling merit and great suitability to Canadian
“4 - conditions it spread far and wide, doing. much
_ to make Canada’s reputation as a wheat-producing
country. The farmer is rarely a writer, and David
_ Fife, who raised the first crop about the year 1842,
_ has himself left no record of how he did it. But,
_ though written contemporary records are lacking,
oral traditions are abundant; some of them are
__ reproduced by Prof. Buller, and they can almost
_ be graded in point of time by their respective
wealth of picturesque detail. The earliest written
record is in the Canadian Agriculturist for March,
1861. ‘It is there related that David. Fife, of
in Glasgow a quantity of wheat drawn from a
argo coming direct from Danzig. The wheat
with ; it failed to ripen, excepting only three heads,
hic! oy sprang from a single grain.
: ‘The Csitinental origin of Red Fife was 4 definitely
_ established’ by Dr. Charles Saunders in 1904,
when he proved its complete identity with a
_ ‘Galician spring wheat.
Dr. William Saunders, the revered first organ-
iser of the experimental stations in Canada, whose
courtly bearing and distinguished kindliness will
hte be remembered by those who knew him,
_ began soon after 1886 to make crosses between
‘Red Fife and other varieties with a view to im-
x Pavoveinent: One of the crosses actually made by
. he son Arthur in 1892 was between Red Fife as
‘male and an early ripening Indian wheat, ‘Hard
Red Calcutta, as female. Unfortunately, the
Indian wheat is a mixture, and the precise ‘variety
Riise’ cannot now be determined. When Dr.
‘Saunders’s second son Charles: became Dominion
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
progeny. of. this cross, and selected from the mass
of material one ‘strain of outstanding excellence,
which he called “Marquis,” and which, from a
single head in 1903, has spread over Canada and
the United States, until in 1918 it was sown on
20,000,000 acres of land and yielded some
300,000,000 bushels of grain. So wonderful a
rate of growth can scarcely have occurred before
in the whole history of the world.
It is not often that-a reviewer wishes a book
had been longer, but that is decidedly one’s feeling
in closing this volume. One can only hope that
Prof. Buller will find time to give us more of
these delightful essays. E. J. Russe...
The Fertilisation of the Ovum.
Problems of Fertilization. By Prof. Frank
Rattray Lillie. (The University of Chicago
Science Series.) Pp. xii+278. (Chicago, Til. :
The University of Chicago Press; London : The
Cambridge University Press, hi a Price
1.75 dollars net.
Bi problem of fertilisation, of what Weitly
happens when the spermatozoon meets the
ovum, and of how the latter is incited to begin the
long series of rhythmical cleavages that finally
result in a new organism, is one of the most
interesting and at the same time one of the most
complex in biologital science. From the time of
Aristotle, who held that “the female always
supplies the matter, the male the power of crea-
tion,” the problem has engaged the attention of
biological philosophers, and no doubt it will con-
’ | tinue to do so for generations to come, for the
‘more it is investigated the more
‘becomes, and each new theory, evolved under the
intricate — it
influence of new experimental methods, is dis-
carded in turn as our knowledge of facts increases.
Not the least interesting part of Prof. Lillie’s
book is the historical survey with which it opens.
The discovery of the spermatozoon by Leeuwen-
hoek and Hamm in 1677 was epoch-making’ for
biological science, and, of course, was rendered
possible only by the duvet of the compound
microscope. Like all other great discoveries, it
was Cevpoeginnoraped followed by sensational nonsense,
and we find “a certain Dr. Dalen Patius” claim-
ing that the human body is actually visible in
perfect miniature within the spermatozoon! This
grotesque view, however, was but an’ extreme
form of that held by the spermatist school. in
general, which maintained that the ovum plays no
other part in the production of the young animal
than that of furnishing the germ contained in the
spermatozoon with nourishment.
/ " ,
226
‘NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
“The elaboration of microscopicaltechnique in
the nineteenth century, leading to the discovery of
the’ cell,’ with its nucleus and chromosomes,
afforded conclusive -evidence that ovum . and
spermatozoon contribute more or less equally to
the organisation of the new individual, and placed
upon a_ secure foundation the fundamental
generalisation that both -are cell-units. . Exactly
how ‘they co-operate in initiating development: is
the problem discussed by Prof. Lillie, in the light
both ‘of: his own observations and of those of a
small army of fellow-workers in the same field,
pre-eminent amongst’ whom stand out the names
of Hertwig, ho) Boveri, pelser, Loeb, and E. B.
Wilson.
‘There’ is one fact of fundamental importance
about which all observers seem now to be agreed,
and:that:is the twofold character of the process of
normal.fertilisation ; not only does it stimulate the
egg: to develop, it-also results in the combination of
maternal and paternal chromosomes in the zygote
nucleus: -This combination .is of the most far-
reaching significance for the theory of heredity,
but'it appears.to have. little or nothing to do with
the«:/‘activation”” of the ovum which leads to
development, and is. only incidentally referred to
in the'voluime before us.
» KS to how the activation is effected, there seem
tobe /almost as many views as there are observers.
It:is well-known, however, that activation.can take
place without the aid of a spermatozoon, and that
artificial; parthenogenesis may be brought about
by,.a great variety. of methods, involving .the
application of chemical or physical stimuli. The
problem -is one of. physiological chemistry, and
apparently. many factors may be.concerned in the
process. ;The-secretion of a substance by the egg.
which causes the spermatozoa ,to agglutinate and
adhere. .to the. surface, appears to be. one of the
-most;important,. The formation of the so-called
“fertilisation-membrane” as a result of the. im-
pact,.of: the spermatozoon and the consequent
cortical. changes that take place in the ovum are
fully. discussed, and. the hypothesis is put forward
that a.substance (“fertilizin ”) exists in the cortex
which exerts.a ferment-like action as it penetrates
into,the egg, or is carried in by the spermatozoon,
and-it-is suggested that the spermatozoon itself
requires to be “fertilised ” by passing through the
cortex , before it can play, its proper part in the
eyents | which . take viAce internally and lead..to
development. t;
_,_The. book, contains, a vast amount of information
as. to, _recent,, discoveries and theories, and will
Serve asa very, useful guide to those who wish to
follow up this most, intricate subject, as D.
NO. 2634, VOL, 105]
‘Wisdom of Life and Existence.
A Gentle, Cynic: Being a Translation of the Book
of Koheleth, commonly known as Ecclesiastes,
stripped of Later Additions; also its. Origin,
Growth, and Interpretation.. By Prof. Morris
Jastrow, jun. Pp. 255. (Philadelphia and
London: J. B. Lippincott Co., rot9 Ii Price
gs. net.
ROF. MORRIS JASTROW, _jun., = hee
University of Pennsylvania, is. well:.known
among: scholars. as ‘one of the best . equipped
analysts and interpreters, of Biblical lore... In
this: volume ‘he has, taken the: Book of Koheleth
in its. origin, growth, and’ interpretation, and
thrown a: good deal of fresh ici on the
subject. ce aa Cae Pee
In a foreword of twenty pages: i is given: a very
able sketch of. the. main _ principles ,of Biblical
criticism and of the enormous gain which-accrues
from a knowledge and acceptation.of them. . By
such means only are we able: to :pass. from the
realm of confusion .to that. of clearness. In, our
generation alone has the religious portion-of man-
kind come to realise this necessity, and even
to-day the realisation is but a portion of a small
minority. Yet only by.the adoption of scientific
methods can the past be illumined in the realm
of religion, as it has been illumined in every. other
field.
The author passes on to examine the origin
and ‘structure of the Book of Kohéleth. Heére he
arrives at the conclusion that: the«book, as we
possess it to-day, -
rendering of an earlier version, which, when: it is
viewed without the accretions, presents ‘a: gentle
criticism of human life and. existence.. .The
version knows nothing of what: lies. behind or
before us. It really deals with man’s passage
through life, and emphasises the present infinitely
more than: either the past or the future. Man
is. asked to make the most’ of the good things
that Nature brings to him; ‘he is warned not to
worry about speculative things, such as his own
final goal or the destiny of the universe. In spite
of much that: is hidden; life ‘has a meaning here
and now; it has enjoyments which seine it worth
while to live.
Now, itis evident: that. such: an cmplied
Epicurean view..of life. would never do as a
religious interpretation of the universe or of life
itself. As it, stood originally, the Book of: Koheleth
had no chance of entering into the sacred books.
It is therefore edited, added to, and polished so as
to furnish here . and there pious. injunctions of
rewards and punishments in. order. that the. life
is an expanded and -edited —
oe eee is
APRIL ‘22, 1920]
NATURE
227
@. of the. present may, be lived in accordance
with < ideal ends.” ° God and the future are
: q brouglit in as the norms to which life has’ to
conform.
s This portion of the book is a brilliant piece of
4 ‘work,’ ‘and the author has brought to bear upon
it not only great learning, but also a lightness
: a of touch which really borders.on something like
In the hands of men such as Prof.
originality.
| 4 4 ccow, the. Bible can again become a work of
‘ = Bienerise: significance.
_ The next part of the book presents us with the
Be words of Koheleth in their original form, stripped
of later’ interpolations, sayings, and comments.
The translation of Koheleth is excellent, and in
& reading it we seem to be brought face to face
i with a book published yesterday, because it looks
upon the world of Nature and of life from a point
of view which cannot be neglected. Of course,
_ such aspects do not exclude: others, but it is
always well to make the best use of each point
of view, and not to try to form a composite so
e that no meaning can be extracted from it.
No doubt Prof. Jastrow had something like this
- in mind when he undertook the preparation of
_ this volume, and we sincerely hope he will deal
__with other composite books of the Old Testament
as he has done so splendidly with the Pom of
_ Koheleth.
New Books on Industrial Chemistry.
i (2) Applied Chemistry: A Practical Handbook for
_ Students of Household Science and Public
Health. By Dr. C. Kenneth Tinkler and Helen
Masters. Vol. i., Water, Detergents, Textiles,
_ Fuels, etc. ‘Pp. xii+292. (London: Crosby
Lockwood and Son, 1920.) Price 125, =
met.
(2) Chemistry from the Industrial Standpoint. By
_ P. C. L. Thorne. (New Teaching Series.)
Pp. xvi+244. (London: Hodder and Stoughton,
1919.) Price 4s. 6d. net.
_ (3) Fuel, Water, and Gas Analysis for Steam
Users. By John B. C, Kershaw. Second
_ edition, revised and enlarged. Pp. xii+ 201.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1919.)
Price 12s. 6d. net.
(4). Popular Chemical Dictionary. By C. T.
Kingzett. Pp. vi+368. (London: Bailliére,
Tindall, and Cox, 1920.) Price 15s. net.
(rt) IS work is mainly intended for students
in their third year who are Preparing
for Sistocras 1 in household and social science, and
for diplomas and degrees in public. health: of the
various universities. There is no work known
NO. 2634, VOL. 105]
=e
_ business man.
to the .reviewer that covers the ground im’ the
same manner as this. The book is clearly,.and
attractively written, and forms a most, useful
addition, not only to, the academic. student, but
also to the. works chemist,..who must,.often
adjudicate upon matters such as are dealt with
in this work.
The book does not deal with manufacturing
operations, but gives a clear and. practical. exposi-
tion (with the necessary theoretical explanations)
of the methods employed in analysing and apprais-
ing the value of water, water softening pro-
cesses, soap, textile fibres, bleaching agents, . dry
cleaning, air analysis, gaseous fuels, liquid. and
solid fuels, materials used in the protection of
wood, metallic and other surfaces, etc. Although
the authors themselves make no claim to origin-
ality, many of the subjects are treated in a
manner very different from. that. prevailing
in most of the existing works on. the ‘sub-
ject. Every. technical chemist should . possess
a copy of this work for reference, as there: is
collected together here in one volume a large .
mass of material which is usually scattered piece-
meal throughout a number of expensive treatises.
Altogether this is a book to be thoroughly recom-
mended, and it should command a. wide.sale.. '’
(2) Mr. Thorne has written an interesting little
book on a very large subject, which is clearly
and attractively explained, and the volume marks
a considerable departure from the older style
of text-book. Not very long ago a book. of this
type would have enjoyed no sale, but: would
have been coldly received in scientific circles, and
the advent of such a work shows what.a revolu-
tion has been wrought in the chemical-“world
within the last few years. The reviewer cannot
help thinking, however, that Dr. Briscoe’s excel-
lent introduction is somewhat hard upon ‘the
His own experience is’ that’ the
business world is very much alive to scientific
possibilities, whereas the purely professional
university-trained chemist of the past was not
only largely unpractical, but also held himself aloof
from the problems: of the business man, ‘and the
latter’s caution. was founded in many cases upon
heavy losses. attained by contact with the semi-
scientific “‘expert,”” who regards the business’ man
as his natural prey.
-For the earnest technical student or the trained
works chemist the book naturally is not of great
use, as it cannot go into exact detail. For a
young chemist, however, entering works for ‘the
first time, it gives an excellent summary of the
main operations involved: im. chemical ‘industry,
and is well up-to-date as regards modern develop
2.28
NATURE |
[APRIL 22,1920.
ments, as witness the references to rotary filters,
catalytic action, hydrogenation of fats, etc.
The ordinary business man engaged in dealing
with the products of chemical industry will
undoubtedly derive ‘considerable benefit from the
perusal of this volume. The style is clear enough
to be intelligible even to the non-technical
reader.
- (3) Fuel and water are such important subjects
industrially that any book dealing -with them is
bound fo receive serious attention from every
works chemist and steam user. The présent work
(now in ‘its second edition) meets a ‘well-defined
want in that it gives trustworthy and up-to-date
technical’ methods of sa Sey fuel, water, and
gas.
Part 1. idedié with fuel; fuel sampling, analysis
of fuel, thermal’ values of fuel, etc., and is excel-
lent. Part ii. ‘deals with “water ais applied to
technical purposes; miethods’ of sampling and
analysing: it, of softening, and of calculating: the
amount of softening materials to be added, are
given in full. Here, in: a’concise form, are the
materials upon which ‘a ‘practical opinion can be
formed. as to the best méthods of dealing: with
any given type of water. The subject of part iii.
is waste gases, their sampling, analysis, ‘and valua-
tion. : tre esha
“The work ‘is written'by an-authority: wiht is in
_ practical touch with the *numerous ‘and difficult
problems'relating to fuel and water which’ every
works) chemist has to handle.’ It can be recom-
mnended * ‘to! every: industrial chemist.
(4), The author has achieved his aim of produc-
: ay a* popular 3 dictionary ‘of chemistry, and the
work; so far as it goes, is Very complete, almost
évery well-known chemical’or piece of chemical
apparatus ‘being “briefly ' mentioned. It is very
difficult ‘to see, however, for what class of reader
sucha work’is intended. For: purposes of strict
reference the volume is’ far ‘too ‘ Sse mre For
example, on looking up the word “ pyridine,”
We' are informed that’ it is’ ‘a nitrogenous base
present in bone oil, and in tar obtained from
Shale’ and.coal.” No méntion’ is ‘made of its boil-
ing point, specific gravity, constitutional formula,
solubilities, etc., which’ the average: reader would
féquire.'” This is typical of ‘the work. ‘ In the
reviewer’s experience, no one: looks up chemical
terms": for ~ amusethent.' ‘Definite. quantitative
information: is what the user of a dictionary
requires in ninety-nine casés ‘ot’ of ‘a hundred,
afid itis these quantitative: data'‘which are ‘so con-
Spituously Jacking in the present volume. ' The
egastants Of most’ of the’ materials should have |
» usés;" vibe Peg names, ‘ete! - ’ There: ate: ‘also ‘papers
been giveti'in a work ‘of'this'kind. -“* G.'M. >
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
Our Bookshelf. se
The Theory of Heat. By Prof. Thomas Preston.
Third edition. Edited by J. Rogerson Cotter.
Pp. xix +840. (Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1919.)
Price 25s. net.
Ir is pleasant to ‘meet an old friend still ‘oing
strong in spite of years and changing fashions.
In these days of rapid progress a quarter of a
century is a long: period in the life of a book
dealing with a living science. The secret of the
continued popularity of Preston’s’ work is no
doubt ‘to be found in the fact that the book was
written as a labour of love in the interests of true
scientific education, instead of .being merely com-
piled to suit an arbitrary standard or syllabus,
adapted to a particular type of Student? ‘or a
special limit of mathematical attainment. The
object has been to give a comprehensive survey
of the development of the theory of heat from an
| historical point of view, which possesses many,
advantages in the exposition of a_ scientific
subject.
The historical order of evolution,
theory and in experiment, generally follows the
natural processes of reasoning of the human mind/
and introduces fresh ideas in a regular sequence
in. which they are: readily assimilated. - The -de-
ductive method, starting with a general law or
formula, may frequently provide a. more direct
means of arriving at any particular _ result. or
practical application, but it tends to obscure the
essential foundation on experiment, and to rob
the subject of human interest. From the point
of view of the general reader, as distinguished
from. -the” ‘special student, there can be no com-
parison ;between the two. methods. . There is an
illusion of. finality. in the deductive method. which
‘both — in
appeals to the mathematical mind, but the his-
torical methdd, when illustrated, as in Preston,
by a critical discussion of typical experiments, is
the. more suggestive, inspiring the student to
think. for himself and.to make further advances.
The book is so well known that it only. remains
to add that Mr. Cotter has. shown=himself to be
a most sympathetic and capable editor in both
pruning and grafting. .The important, additions,
6n recent advances in the theory of radiation and
specific heat, and on the kinetic theory gases,
are admirable summaries, Conbentea ‘and carried
out in the-spirit of the original. ee ee ‘C.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: “Bulletin of Mis-
cellaneous Information, IQIQ. Pp. iv + 459+ 39.
(London: H.M.S.O., 1919.)° Price 4s. 6d. net.
Tus volume coatee the ten numbers -of. the
Kew Bulletin - which were © ‘ published © at in-
tervals from “April to December, 1919.:: The thirty-
three articles include .papers and. miscellaneous,
notes of .both economic and: , Strictly, - - botanical
interest. _ Mr. Fe H. Holland contributes. a useful
pcr c e ?
ta * B i ea Prat
-
a ee ee es
a eee ke a
a
—
APRIL 22, 1920]
NATURE
. 2229
on “ The Drie Mahoganies,”* by Mr. R. A. Rolfe,
and ‘‘ The Jerusalem Artichoke,’’ by Mr..C. C.
Lacaita ; the latter is an exhaustive discussion on
introduction of this vegetable to the Old
orld and the origin of its popular name. An
account is given of Lord Ventry’s experiments
on gtowing New Zealand flax in Ireland; the evi-
goes far to show that the possibility of
“growing it in South-West Ireland as a commercial
undertaking is an established fact. ‘ Silver-leaf
Disease” and * ‘The Skin-spot Disease of Potato-
tubers ’’ are the titles of two important con-
tributions on plant-diseases by Messrs J. Bintner
and M. Nest Owen respectively. Results of
botanical exploration are embodied in Dr. Hems-
Tey’s account of the flora. of Aldabra and adjacent
ands and in Mr. Turrill’s résumé of the botani-
cal results of Swedish South American and Ant-
“arctic expeditions.
‘The more purely botanical ‘papers include a
Burkill, of the identity of the plant, or plants,
‘known under the name Dioscorea sativa; and a
revision by Mr. W. B. Grove of the species of the
fungus genus Phoma. There is also an historical
_ account of the botanic garden of Pamplemousses,
Mauritius; and the new flagstaff at Kew and its
erection are described in detail. The obituary
“notices include those of Prof. J. W. H. Trail
of Aberdeen and Prof. W. G. Farlow of Harvard.
‘The Story. of Milk. By di. D. Frederiksen.
_ Pp. xx+ 188. (New York: The Macmillan
; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1919.)
’ Price Qs. net.
author tells his story in a clear and interest-
manner, and the general reader, as well as
» student of domestic science or dairying, will
w the contents of the book with pleasure and
ofit. The subject-matter is sound, and the
concise, practical directions will be valuable to
-anybody who is acquainted with the general
methods of butter-making and cheese-making.
There are sections dealing with the composition
pis properties of milk, the testing of milk, the part
played by enzymes and bacteria, and the methods
BY. which organisms are utilised or controlled.
— Milk supply and butter-making and the manu-
facture of ice cream are the chief subjects of
Br scotice section. As the book is written for
‘American readers, the sixteen pages devoted to
recipes for ice cream are perhaps not excessive,
and: they will not fail to raise in the English mind
a feeling of envy that such delectable things as
‘parfaits and mousses are not more general.
'. Cheese-making is well dealt with, and working
details are supplied, whilst the methods adopted in
the manufacture of condensed milk, ‘milk powder,
and casein are briefly sketched: —
Z ‘Very rightly the food value of milk is given a
prominent. place, and the recipes for dishes in
_ which milk or cheese forms an important part are
re attractive, and should be found very useley to
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
careful examination, by Sir David Prain and Mr.
many. A certain. amount.of. historical informa-
tion is given, and the names and labours of notable
workers in the various branches of dairying are
also to be found in the book.
A First Year Physics for Junior Technical Schools.
By G. W. Farmer. With an Introduction by
S. C. Laws. Pp. x+183. (London: Long-
mans, Green, and Co., i920.) Price 4s. 6d,
Tuts book is intended for: use by. boys: of be-
tween twelve and fourteen-years of age who have
just completed the elementary-school course and
are passing to a more advanced curriculum such
as is provided in the junior technical, central, or
continuation school. It may suit the courses in
‘some of these institutions, but if this is to be the
only kind of instruction in physics during the first
year of study, the diet cannot be said to be too
stimulating. The work is concerned almost entirely
with the use of simple measuring instruments.
The description of three methods of verifying “ Py-
thagoras,’’ of four ways of. measuring the weight:
of a cubic centimetre of water, and of no fewer than
eleven experiments to show that air exerts. pres-
sure indicates too much devotion to completeness
of detail at the expense of time which could. be
‘spent more profitably in giving the pupils glimpses
‘at the marvels of Nature by which they are sur-
rounded.
The Struggle in the Air, 1914-18. By. Major
Charles C. Turner. Pp. viii + 288., (Lonsian::
Edward Arnold, 1919.) Price 15s. net.
Major TurNER gives an extremely instructive and
readable account of the development of aircraft
from 1914 to 1918. With the work of ‘a’ genera-
tion compressed into. four years of war, itis not
‘surprising that the developments and events -nar-
rated crowd upon each other in bewildering’. suc-
cession. The psychology of flying and. the official
requirements as regards details of machines for
war purposes form exceptionally valuable chapters
of the book.
Calculation of Electric.Conductors. By William T.
Taylor. Pp. 34. (London: Constable and. Co.,
Ltd., 1919.)- Price 1os. 6d. net.
A CHART supplied with the book enables the elec-
trical engineer to determine the size of a con-
ductor required to convey a current of a given
value when the voltage drop and length of cable
‘are given, or to find any of these quantities when
the three others are given. With the help of the
explanatory text all the ordinary cables and
systems can be thus dealt with.
Revision Arithmetic, Logarithms, Slide Rule, Men-
suration,. Specific .Gravity, and Density. By
‘Terry Thomas. Second edition, — revised.
Pp. 62: (London: Crosby Lockwood ‘and Son,
‘1920.) Price 2s. 6d.
NUMERICAL examples and answers are given, The
standard is that of the Army and Navy Entrance
Examinations.
230
NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
Opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
The Separation of the Element Ghlorine into Normal
Chlorine and Meta-Chlorine, and the Positive
Electron.
THE very important letter of Dr. Aston in NaturE
of December 18, 1919, gives much evidence in
favour of a theory of the structure and composition
of the nuclei of complex atoms as published by me five
years ago and in a number of more recent papers.
This theory led me to the idea, as published at that
time (Journal of the American Chemical Society,
XXXvii., pp. 1367-96, especially pp. 1390, 1391, and 1387),
that among the light elements magnesium, silicon,
and chlorine, in addition to neon (as found by Thom.
son), are mixtures of isotopes. The atomic weights of
the normal isotopes were given as 24 for magnesium,
28 for silicon, and 35 for chlorine. It was also stated
that nickel, copper, zinc, and practically all the other
elements between atomic numbers 28 and 80, the
latter being mercury, are mixtures of isotopes; while
radio-active evidence shows that elements 81 (thallium)
to 92 (uranium) exist in isotopic forms. This theory
was recently summarised in. a paper sent to the
Physical Review in May and November, 1919. This
paper, as well as the others, should be consulted for
the details of'the theory.
In February, 1916, I announced that we were work-
ing in this laboratory upon the separation of chlorine
into isotopes by diffusion (ibid., xxxviii., p. 221,
1916). Early in 1917 Mr. W. D. Turner, my research
assistant, found slight differences in density between
the heavy and light fractions obtained by diffusing
chlorine, but, since small amounts of impurities were
very difficult to exclude, this did not seem at all con-
clusive. Since if there are two isotopes of chlorine
there are three molecular forms of the substance, a
separation may be made more easily by: the use of
‘hydrogen chloride gas, and this has been used in
nearly all our work for the last three years, though
practically nothing was done during the period of the
war. ~
The diffusion of this gas, as carried out on a
moderately large scale by Mr. C Broeker and
myself, seems now, judging by our preliminary
analyses, to be resulting:in a definite separation of
the gas into a heavier and a lighter fraction. The
separation, while extremely slow, seems from our
preliminary results on the heavy fraction to be of about
the order to be expected by the Rayleigh diffusion
theory, provided the atomic weights of the isotopes
are 35 and 37; so the work is in good agreement
with that of Dr. Aston. These results may be
modified somewhat when our precise atomic weight
determinations are made, since at the present time
all our determinations are made by rapid methods.
Our results suggest, but are not of a sufficient pre-
cision really to indicate, the possibility that a third
isotope of higher atomic weight may exist, but since
the separation is extremely slow, and the positive
ray method as worked out by Dr. Aston gives results
very quickly, he should be able to test this suggestion
much more rapidly than ourselves.
_ Since 1916 we have diffused about 19,000 litres of
hydrogen chloride gas as measured under standard
conditions. The apparatus now in use will diffuse
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
about 400 litres per day, and we hope soon to raise
the capacity to 1000 litres. These numbers refer to
the fresh or ordinary gas introduced into the apparatus,
and not to that which is rediffused in smaller units.
The total number of units now in operation is five,
and the method may be described as a_ fractional
diffusion.
While the idea that the hydrogen nucleus may be
the positive electron is a very general one, the only
evidence I have found in print which gives real
support to this idea, and explains the facts which
seem opposed to the idea, is to be found in papers
by my associates and myself as cited above, and
in my other papers listed at the end of this letter.
The hydrogen nucleus or the positive electron has,
according to these papers, a weight, and presumably
a mass, of 1-000, on the basis of oxygen as 16-000,
whenever the positive electron is combined in a com-
plex atom. The atomic weight of ordinary hydrogen
is 1-0077. The difference between 1-0077 and 1-000
is due either to the existence of meta-hydrogen of
atomic weight 300 and composition (4,8,)+e- in
ordinary hydrogen, or else to an_ electromagnetic
packing (possibly to both), the latter as assumed by
Sir Ernest Rutherford and by myself, but the details
of which are to be found in my papers. In these
formula 7+ is the positive electron, B- the negative
electron when it is contained in the nucleus, and e-
when it is a non-nuclear or planetary electron.
The nuclei of atoms are built almost entirely from®
the following particles * :—
is
Alpha particle or helium nucleus — (a+ +)=(tB>)+* 4°00
Nu particle or meta-hydrogen nucleus (vt) =(n$B>)*+ 3°00
Mu particle (#) =(nt8;) et ad
Of these the a particle forms the greater part of all
complex atoms; one v particle is found in most
atoms of odd atomic number, at least among the
light atoms; and the » particle, which has no net
charge, is responsible for the existence of one of the
two known classes of isotopes. The other class of
isotopes is due to the presence of the group 7t;,
which consists of an a particle, together with two
cementing electrons. It is these cementing electrons
which are shot off in f disintegrations of radio-
atoms, and they always escape in pairs—that is, one
directly after the other, or one just before and one
just after the escape of an a particle. The number
of negative electrons in the nucleus of an atom is
almost always even, whether the nuclear charge is
odd or even, but the number of positive electrons is
nearly always odd in a nucleus of odd charge. How-
ever, the nuclei which contain an even number of
positive electrons, and are therefore built up either
of a particles alone or of @ particles and negative
electrons, are, on the whole, much more stable than
those with an odd number; so the even-numbered
elements are much the more abundant, and make up
98-7 per cent. of the meteorites and the greater part
of the material of the earth. Furthermore, all
the seven most abundant elements in the meteorites
have an even atomic number, as is indicated in Fig. 1.
In the exceptional case of nitrogen the group 7,8 is
present, and in beryllium the group 78. A suggested
structure for the @ particle is given in Fig. 2, where
the large circles represent negative, and the small
ones positive, electrons. The v group probably has
a similar structure, but with three positive electrons
at the corners of a triangle; while the lithium nucleus
1 The negative electrons in these particles may be called 4inding electrons,
while t’ ose which attach extra a particles are called cementing electrons.
ee ee
Apri 22, 1920]
NATURE
23!
is assumed to consist of one a and one v group,
with a symmetrical arrangement of the seven positive
‘electrons. Two a particles do not seem to combine,
‘but from three to eight, and also ten, a particles
combine without the inclusion of any cementing
electrons; but when more than ten unite, two or a
: 0
% | ABUNDANCE OF THE ELEMENTS
50
Sy
Mc FE
10
m |
“|
: : Mr
< > NM >
Cc oe Ty CR
e 8 721416 al \..
2 multiple of two negative electrons are used in cement-
_ ing on extra a particles—that is, a particles which do
ot contribute to the positive charge on the nucleus.
Argon and calcium have isomeric atoms, the formula
ae Fic. 2. F
of the former being a,.8.e’,, and that of the latter
Gie’rs@2, SO both have the general formula a,,¢y9-
_ The formule given below represent a few charac-
teristic atoms :—
Even Nuclear Charge
» Nucla
A? 10°6
Fe aj ,foe'sg¢s
Odd Nuclear Charge
N agnoBe'oes
ave" oe
Cl AgVe’ 967 and gy me’ yoy
Co a 4rBye 189
Thorium Series Uranium Series
a Th 05 gBo¢¢' so’ U A594 Boge’ gate
TAX ag Baye’ ge¢e Ra Ogu Bose’ 66
.. PH(Th) a598o9¢"n9¢4 Pb(Ra). a5,4Bao?"79¢4
Here e represents a valency electron, e’ a non-nuclear
_ électron in one of the inner shells, and 8 a cementing
_ electron in the nucleus. The evidence for. these
_ formulz is good, but cannot be presented here. ~~
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
in my letter in Narure of March 4.
It will be seen that this hydrogen-helium-meta-
hydrogen theory of atom-building is based upon the
atomic weight and atomic number relations; the
Rutherford atom; the rule of Soddy, Fajans, and
Russell .for radio-active changes ; and the atomic
weight relations discovered by Rydberg about thirty
years ago; and is dependent for its validity upon the
existence of chlorine, magnesium, silicon, and_ the
heavy atoms in isotopic forms. It is a resurrection
and an extension of the hypothesis of Prout.
References.—J. Am. Chem. Soc., xxxvii., pp. 1367-
96 (1915); Xxxix., pp. 856-79 (1917); Phil. Mag.,
XXX., Pp. 723-34 (1915); Science, N.S., xlvi., pp. 419-
27, 443-48 (1917); Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences, i., p. 276
(1915); ii, pp. 216-24 (1916); Physical Review,
February, 1920, in press.
WitutiaM D. Harkins.
Department of Chemistry, University of
Chicago, March 8.
I wave read Prof. Harkins’s letter with great
interest. If Prof. Harkins has succeeded in separating
the isotopic hydrochloric acids he is certainly to be
congratulated. The yery meagye positive results from
my work with neon described at the British Associa-
tion meeting in 1913 convinced me of the ‘extreme_
difficulty and labour of such diffusion experiments.
In the case of neon I had only to grapple with a
twentieth root in the diffusion equation, whereas with
HCI it is the thirty-sixth root which is involved. In
connection with the possibility of a third isotope of
chlorine in the full account of my recent analysis of
this element, now in the press, I have described a
faint line at 39 which may be this. - SE PEE ave
More experimental results will be required befote the
time is ripe for the formulation of a comprehensive
theory of atomic structure.- I do not propose, there-
fore, to discuss the one put forward by Prof. Harkins,
but would like to point out that his basal assumptiqn
that the positive electron has a weight 1000 “is
definitely contradicted by experimental_results quoted
F. W. Aston.”
Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, April 20. ;
On Atomic and Molecular Structure.
Tue statement of Mr. S. C. Bradford in.the second
paragraph of his letter to Nature of April 8, that J,
suppose the electrons to revolve in small circles with-
out any constraining force, is erroneous. The fact
that I reserved an opinion as to the nature of the con-
straining force does not imply, as he suggests, that
I deny its existence. Thus (cf. Science Progress,
April, 1920, and Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., vol. ccxx,,
p. 247, 1920) an electron moving with — speed
v perpendicular to a magnetic field of intensity H
(which may originate in the nucleus) describes a
circular orbit of radius p=mv/He, and the frequency
of the electron is v=He/2mm, which (and this is an
advantage in the case of a radiating orbit) is inde-
pendent of the speed with which the electron describes
the orbit. At present we know little about the actual
value of v. If H is of the order 10’ gauss, the value
ascribed to the molecular field from magnetic con-
siderations, the frequency is that of infra-red radia-
tion, and the ‘correlation of the elastic properties of
the medium (which are determined by this molecular
field) with the infra-red vibrations, as_ originally
pointed out by Debye, is apparent. Within an atom
the controlling field may be of the order 10* gauss,
which gives rise to vibrations of optical frequency.
Closer to the nucleus a field of 10° gauss gives rise
to frequencies comparable with those of a K series.
Finally. it should be nointed out that the ring
electron theory, which Mr. Bradford attributes to
232
NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
Dr. H. S. Allen, was originally expounded by Mr.
A. L.- Parson (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections,
vol. Ixv., p. 1, 1915). The advantages: of: sucha
theory were ably expressed recently by Dr. Allen in
an opening address before the Physical Society of
London. . A. E. OXLEy.
The British Cotton Industry Research
Association, 108 Deansgate, Man-
chester.
Aquarium Cultures for Biological Teaching.
THE increase in the number of students in biology
during the last few years has created a demand for
large quantities of such animal types as Ameba,
Actinospherium, brown Hydra, and Daphnia. It is
often very difficult to obtain to time vast numbers of
these types; for in. Nature the supply is exceedingly
precarious, depending as it does on conditions which
are constantly fluctuating. In endeavouring to secure
a continuous and plentiful supply of Amoeba proteus,
I have accumulated a certain amount of experience in
aquarium-keeping on a large scale, the results of
which will be useful to others who, like myself, have
to deal with large numbers of students.
Information with regard to Amoeba culture has
already been given in ‘Notes on the Collection and
Culture of Amoeba proteus for Class Purposes ’’ (Proc.
Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin., vol. xx., part 4, p. 179).
Since the publication of that note, however, I have
tried, as an alternative plan for procuring the material
necessary to inoculate a culture, a modification . of
the respective methods described by J. B. Parker (‘A
Method of Obtaining a Supply of Protozoa,’ Science,
N.S., vol. xlii., No. 1og0, p. 727, 1915), Libbie Hyman
(Journ. Exp. Zool., vol. xxiv., No. 1), and Asa A.
Shaeffer (ibid., vol. xx., No. 4), and with success.
Water from such places as the drainage-cuttings in
birch, alder, and willow woods, or from the margins
of ordinary pools and ponds, together with the fila-
mentous alge and the brown scum and_ included
diatoms overlying the. dead leaves. and the other
decaying organic matter forming the floor of such
places, is gathered in autumn or in early spring.
This is allowed to stand in tap-water for some time,
until a rich brown scum appears on the top. The
top water with the scum is poured off into another
‘glass vessel, and wheat is added (1 gram to a litre of
water). In February minute Amoebe begin to thake
their appearance; these become fully grown in May
and June, and will then divide rapidly, forming a
luxuriant culture until the late autumn, when encyst-
ment of most individuals again takes place.
Once started, Amoeba cultures require no further
attention than a supply of water to compensate for
evaporation, and the addition of wheat from time to
time.
I am indebted to Prof. Bourne, of Oxford, for
information that boiled rain-water can be used in
those districts, e.g. Oxford, where the tap-water con-
tains much mineral matter.
Actinosphaerium.—My principal difficulty in the
culture of Actinosphwria has been in main-
taining for them a sufficient food-supply. Stentors
and vorticelloids, their favourite food, appear to
require running water, and therefore quickly die
off when introduced into the laboratory (except
the green stentor, which thrives well when once
established, and a small. vorticelloid which appears
in infusions of certain pond-weeds).. The common
rotifer is an excellent food, and this can be ob-
tained from rubbish left over from pond-gatherings
by means of wheat or hay infusion. Members of the
familv Cathypnadze (especially Monostyla, which is of
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
frequent occurrence in Amoeba cultures, and there- _
fore easily grown in wheat-water) are the most useful
_of the above-mentioned foods.
Since Actinosphzria disappear very quickly when
their food is exhausted, and since, on the other hand,
they grow and multiply very rapidly when the food-
supply is good, and very quickly exhaust this food-
supply, it is necessary to give the Rotifer culture a
good start before irtroducing the Actinospheria into
it. In practice I have several Monostyla cultures in
readiness, and then, about three months before requir-
ing large numbers of Actinosphzria, I inoculate one
or more of the Monostyla cultures with a few Actino-
spheria and set the jar aside. These latter soon
multiply and appear in myriads.
-Hydra.—Large brown Hydra showing buds and
reproductive organs can be obtained in considerable
‘numbers and very quickly in laboratory cultures
(especially in rooms with a fairly uniform temperature
of 60° F.) if they are systematically fed on a generous
diet of Crustaceans, which latter can be obtained by
the culture gf Daphnia. The Daphnia should be
strained off by means of a small net, and a concen-
trated mass of them in a small quantity of water
should be added periodically to the jar containing the
Hydra. Several hundreds of Hydra by this means
can be obtained from one or two individuals in a
few weeks.
Interesting colour-changes, varying from dingy
brown to a bright pink, can easily be effected in
brown Hydra by varying the Crustacean diet.
Daphnia.—I am indebted to Mr. P. Jamieson for
the discovery of the value of small pieces of earth-
worm for the cultivation of Daphnia. If an infusion
of dead earthworms in water be allowed to stand in a
‘warm place (i.e. near the radiators in the laboratory)
it is quickly converted into a rich food, which can be
added to the Daphnia cultures. as required. A few
Daphnia introduced into a large wide-mouthed glass
bottle or beaker of water, to which the worm-water ©
Several
is regularly added, very quickly. multiply.
of these cultures should be kept going if the cultiva-
tion of Hydra is very intensive, as they must be
allowed to recuperate after they have been depleted
by use.
A variety of other Protozoa, Crustaceans, Oligo-—
cheetes, etc., make their appearance in the above-
mentioned cultures, commonly sufficient to supply
abundant material for demonstration purposes.
Monica Taytor, S.N.D.
Convent of Notre Dame, Glasgow.
lonisation in the Solar Chromosphere.
Ir is well known that the spectrum of the upper
layers of the solar chromosphere is chiefly composed of
those lines which are relatively more strengthened in
the spark than in the arc, and which Sir Norman
Lockyer originally styled enhanced lines. The best-
known examples are the calcium H and K and the
strontium pair (4216, 4077). According to modern
theories of spectral emission, these lines are due to an
atom which has lost one electron. The principal line
due to the normal atom of calcium is the g-line 4227,
and the corresponding Sr line is 4607, both of which
occur at much lower levels. According to modern
theories, therefore, Ca, Sr, and Ba atoms are more
and more ionised as we approach the upper layers of |
the solar atmosphere, while in the lower layers both
normal and ionised atoms occur.
If we assume that ionisation is a sort of reversible —
chemical process taking place according to the scheme
Ca—Cat+e-U, where e is the electron, Ca* is a
positively charged Ca atom, and U is the energy of —
4
ee ee
NATURE
233
sation, we can apply Nernst’s theorem of the
iction-isobar ’’ to calculate the amount of ionisa-
under any given thermal stimulus. The. method
upon a remark of Nernst in his book, ‘‘ Der
_ Warmesatz...” (p. 154), that the electron
_be regarded as a monatomic gas of molecular
tsyg, and that its chemical. constant can be
ited according to the Tetrode-Sackur relation
C= log emi
recently been applied by Eggert (Ver. d. D.
Gesell., December 15, 1919) for the calculation
he degree of ionic dissociation in the interior of a
‘, aS supposed es Eddington in his theory of stellar
ures. But Eggert calculates U in a_ rather
al manner for iron from assumed atomic
msions and structures of the iron atom.
e can, however, calculate U directly from the
= of the ionisation potential as experimentally
ined by Franck and Hertz, MacLennan, and
, or from the quantum relation
es a
é
the value of U determined in this way for
um, barium, strontium, hydrogen, and helium,
: following remarkable results appear : ;
i) About 30-40 per cent. of the Ca atoms are ionised
over the photosphere; in the chromosphere, when
pressure falls to 10-* atms., almost all the Ca
are ionised. The same conclusion holds to a
g degree for Ba and Sr.
Hydrogen and helium are not ionised anywhere
olar atmosphere. (This is due to their high
n potential. V is 13-6 for H and 20-5 for He,
Ca, Sr, and Ba the figures are 6-12, 5-7, and
Helium can become ionised only in stars of
e temperature exceeds 16,000 K.
ssure has a great influence on ionisation, a
in pressure causing great enhancement of
=
ore appears that the ionisation in the upper
of the solar atmosphere, as revealed by the
ced lines of Ca, Sr, and Ba, and probably also of
1 Sc, is due to reduced pressure and the
yn potentials of these elements, and not
_temperature. ts
| theory has been worked out in a paper
ated to the Phil. Mag. M. N. Sana.
sity College of Science, Calcutta,
March 8.
ee!
r —— —--——
ational Deflection of High-speed Particles.
letter published in Nature of March 11 Prof.
ton has shown that the statement made by me
earlier letter to the effect that Einstein’s law
al particle moving with the velocity of light is
ot accord with the exact equation of the orbit
itained in his report to the Physical Society, and
ggests that my approximations were not sufficiently
ose to warrant my conclusion. The line element
m which Prof. Eddington derives the equation of
orbit is expressed in co-ordinates which make the
ocity of light different in different directions at any
le point, whereas the one used by me requires that
2 velocity of light should be a function of position
and not of direction. In terms of my co-
ites the equation of the orbit of a particle
ng with the velocity of light is
mn 1 mM
ie um 2het a (1-22) cos 6,
NO. 2634, VOL. 105]
tion seems to lead to a zero deflection for a
Ww
which leads to the same deflection 45 for a material
particle moving with the velocity of light as for a
light-ray. Hence it is clear that my previous con-
clusion was based on an insufficiently close approxima-
‘tion, and therefore erroneous.
I am glad to see that Prof. Eddington has verified
the other principal conclusion of my letter.
Leicu Pace,
Sloane Laboratory, Yale University, New
Haven, Connecticut, March 29.
Science and the New Army.
Ir requires some courage to offer any opposition to
the chorus of approval which has greeted the sug-
gestion that a proportion of officers endowed with the
scientific spirit should be included in the General Staff,
but I venture to think that it is by no means so easy
to give effect to this proposal as some correspondents
in NaTURE seem to suppose. No doubt it would be
delightful if we could have Staff officers who knew
all about everything, but in actual practice the man
who does useful work in the world is a specialist in
one particular subject or in one particular branch
of work.
A good regimental officer requires a particular kind
of training and possesses a certain set of qualifica-
tions. Similarly, a good Staff officer requires a
different training and possesses a different set of
qualifications. A man of science, again, is different
from either of the other two.
The proportion of officers in the Army as a
whole. who possess any _ scientific training is
comparatively small: .There are a certain number
of specialists whose ordinary duties are of a technical
nature, and there are a few officers who take up
some branch of science as a hobby, but the work of
the average officer is not such as to bring him into
touch with scientific thought and scientific methods.
Men are to be found who are good Staff or regimental
officers and also scientific workers, but they: are
exceptions, and it seems to me that a system which
demands a regular supply of exceptional men ‘is not
one which is likely to work in practice.
There is also a further difficulty. Granting,
for the sake of argument, that there are sufficient
officers in the Army who possess both the scientific
spirit and the- qualities necessary for potential Staff
officers, it is still necessary to devise a méthdd ‘of
selecting them from their more ordinary fellows.
Two methods are in common use, namely, examina-
tion and nomination. - ;
- An examination-is a good method of testing that
form of knowledge which is acauired by study, but it
will be generally agreed that it is not a sood method
for detecting the scientific spirit. The difficulty in the
case of nomination is that the candidates must be
selected by ordinary regimental officers who can alone
be acquainted with the qualifications of the individual
candidates. The average regimental officer, however,
is not himself a man of science, and I cannot see that
he can ever become a judge of another officer’s
scientific attainments.
_ Without arguing, therefore, against the desirability
of a General Staff containing an appreciable propor-
tion of scientific officers, I suggest that the ideal is
_unattainable excépt in so far as specialists are attached
‘to the Staff for their own particular work, and I
think the object in view must be attained by some
other means. It might be done by raising the general
‘| standard of education in scientific matters throughout
‘the country, but this is a very large question, and
not a very easy one.
234
NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
Probably the best hope of. an. immediate improve-
ment in the relations between science and the Army
lies in the’direction suggested by Prof. Filon ‘in his
letter in Nature of April 1, in which he says :—‘‘I
would suggest... that what is most urgently
needed for General Staff officers is a course of
scientific classification and organisation, where they
would be taught the real meaning of scientific quali-
fications and the names of living authorities in
various subjects.”
The position of the Signal Service is a case in point.
I think I am correct in saying that a few years before
the war there was scarcely an officer outside the Signal
Service itself who knew what that Service was. It
was generally recognised among the officers of the
Signal Service that one of their chief duties would
be to advise and instruct the staff in the possibilities
and limitations of the Service, and that this duty
would not be less important than the supervision of
the technical duties of the Service itself. This prin-
ciple was applied both in manceuvres and during the
war, and I think that the correctness of the views
held was fully borne out by experience. The ordinary
Staff officer eventually learnt that battles could not be
fought without signals, and that it was necessary to
take the senior signal officer into his confidence if the
best results were to be obtained. |
I suggest that men of science in general might well
follow this example. They should realise that the
Staff officer is a specialist in his own particular busi-
ness and that he cannot know everything, and they
should themselves advise him how science can be
used and what are its limitations.
Technical and scientific societies might themselves
select small committees which would be prepared to
advise the War Office or other Government Depart-
ments on technical matters. The committees might
also be prepared.to nominate gentlemen who could
visit the Staff College and other military centres and
give lectures on their own special subjects. The
lectures would not deal with technical matters to any
great extent, but their purpose would be to show what
had been done by the particular science or industry
during the war, and to indicate in what directions
assistance might be expected in future.
One further suggestion I should like to make.
Certain sums are allotted from time to time in con-
nection with experiments on the design of militarv
equipment, and these funds are devoted to work which
is carried out almost entirely by. military officers
acting under the instructions of War Office Com-
mittees. The funds now allotted. are small, but J
suggest that additional sums might be given for
research work on military subjects which might be
allotted by the War Office Committees to technical
or scientific institutions outside the Army. Periodical
discussions between the War Office Committees and
the technical institutions with regard to these re-
searches would tend to keep the War Office Staff in
touch with leading scientific and technical workers
outside, and it would. permit of those personal
exchanges of oninion which are worth all the official
letters which were ever written.
; K. E. EpGEwortn.
Crowborough, April 1r.
The Universities and the Army. —
THE proposals contained in the.leading article in
Nature of April 8, that the raw material for the com-
missioned ranks should be university graduates rather
than. public-school boys, may be ideal, -but it would
have been more. practicable in-1914. than it is at the
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
present day. Under the existing pressure on the uni-
versities there is rather a risk of the Army. candidate
being squeezed out; there is not accommodation for
all candidates for commissions to enter freely. For
the moment we shall have to be content with a-
measure by which selected officers can be accepted at
universities for specialised training not readily avail-
able elsewhere.
contact with living science which is so essential
for them, and has been so often lacking in the
past. This will require supplementing by courses
within the fighting Services if proper preparation is
to be, made for the scientific aspects of the next war.
-At least at the various Staff colleges trained scientific
workers must lecture, while selected officers should be
sent to work in university laboratories. The present
state of friendly co-operation must not be allowed to
disappear.
The practice of farming out research problems to
scientific institutions may have favourable results if
pursued in a long-sighted manner and supported by
adequate grants oe where necessary, by field or
marine trials). Given close co-operation, it should
lead to many problems of defence and offence being
foreseen and solved in advance. The man of science
should have his chance of pointing out to those who
must listen (and who have the power of decisive
action) what key industries are vital to the country’s
safety, and cannot be allowed to pass entirely to other
lands. The necessary mobilisation of science at the
next emergency should be quicker and more practical,
and the man of science should have a better sense of
the nature of the problems that are likely to be sprung
upon him to solve.
One word by way of conclusion. The fighting Ser-
vices are not the only national Services that would
gain by a wide infusion of scientific knowledge and
method. .
J. M. Stratton.
F.
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
Early Hawthorn Blossom.
THE first sound of the cuckoo and the first flowers
of the hawthorn have come this year about the same
time, which is surely a remarkable occurrence.
It is not unusual for hawthorn blossom to appear
well after the beginning of May, and it has been
suggested that the discontinuance of May Day festivi-
ties was due in part to the change in the calendar
introduced into this country in 1752, The change
made May Day eleven days earlier by the sun, and
so reduced the chance of obtaining whitethorn
blossom, which was the proper ornament for the top
of the maypole and for the crown of the May Queen.
Gilbert White’s ‘‘Naturalist’s Calendar”’ gives
April 20 as the earliest date for the unfolding of the
hawthorn blossom, but the Rev. C. A. Johns in his
book, ‘‘The Forest Trees of Britain,’ states that
hawthorn blossom was gathered in Cornwall on
April 18, 1846. This year it was seen on April 16
at Northwood, Middlesex.
JENNY Rose.
The Doctor of Philosophy in England.’
REFERRING to the article in Nature of April 15 on
this subject, I may perhaps recall to the recollection
of the writer that in the University of Aberdeen the
degree which is primarily that of. Master of Arts
confers specifically Magister Artium et Doctor Philo-
sophiae, ive ly
Henry O. Fores.
5 Ilchester Gardens, Bayswater.
Thus the Services can obtain that
APRIL 22, 1920]
NATURE
2355
aa
> Egle association between the Royal Navy and
4 the Institute of Metals has always been
‘close. The first president was the late Sir
William White, for many years the chief naval
constructor, while the fourth to hold office was
Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Oram, late Engineer-in-
Chief of the Navy. The institute has now elected
Vice-Admiral Sir George Goodwin as its new presi-
Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet as its chief executive
officer.
_ The valuable address delivered by Sir George
Goodwin on assuming office dealt very appropri-
ately with progress in naval engineering, and the
ther aided by metallurgical research. As he pointed
in the world of the principal non-ferrous metals,
such as copper, zinc, lead, aluminium, nickel, tin,
have always been high, and to be on the Admiralty
_ been regarded by manufacturers as a_ valuable
asset. :
_ _-Sir George Goodwin remarked that the standing
problem for naval designing engineers for the last
_ thirty years or more has been the reduction of
machinery weight and fuel consumption with
_ inereased durability and trustworthiness. There
were days, however, when speed was not con-
_ sidered in the Navy to be of great importance, and
when steam power was used chiefly for auxiliary
_ purposes in getting in or out of harbour and in
calms. . In those days the machinery of warships
was of very much the same type as that fitted
_ in contemporary merchant ships. Pressure for
advancement began when speed was recognised as
an essential condition of naval warfare, and the
_ never-ceasing demand since then for higher speeds
has resulted not only in the enormously increased
_ power of machinery for the swift war vessels of
_ to-day, but also in a greatly reduced weight of
_ machinery and an increased degree of trustworthi-
me Mess. - ;
__ The present-day problem, as outlined by Sir
_ George Goodwin, deserves to be stated in his own
_ language, and is as follows :— .
_._In_warship seeign offensive and defensive powers,
__ speed, and radius of action are all tactical factors which
_ must be taken into account. Their relative importance
_ varies accordingly with the type of vessel and her
_ intended service, but in all designs, once the separate
values are allocated to these features, it is essential
_ that the weight and space required for the propelling
_ machine
_ with maintaining the desired power and degree of
_ reliability and durability. Anything that can be saved
in this direction will react on the design of the vessel |
a as a whole, and lead to a smaller displacement and a
___ higher speed, or, alternatively, to reduced engine power
and lower fuel consumption for the same speed; or,
should be as small as possible consistent |
“eres io ar h terials hi 1 | : Stata
yt ee Meterials: has always _ we passed through a stage of intense reduction in
|
again, on the same displacement greater offensive or |
defensive powers or a larger radius of action will be |
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
|
|
dent, and thus for the second time chosen the —
way in which this has been, and may be, still fur- —
out, the British Navy is the largest individual user —
and their numerous alloys. The standards set by ©
the Admiralty for most of the metals required by it |
Progress in Naval Engineering.
rendered possible. The machinery weight is, more-
over, closely allied with the steam consumption of the
engines at full power, and. any reduction in this
respect is reflected in the weight of the boiler and
condenser installation with their auxiliaries.
The position reached as a result of cumulative
endeavour along these lines is that in the latest
British battle-cruiser it is hoped to obtain
144,000 shaft-horse-power on a total machinery
weight (including water) of 4750 tons—i.e. at the
rate of 74 lb. per shaft-horse-power; while our
most recent destroyers have frequently developed
more than 28,000 shaft-horse-power on a weight
of 32 lb. per shaft-horse-power.
The new president then briefly reviewed the
successive steps which have led to this position.
He first directed attention to the application of
forced draft to naval boilers, which led by suc-
cessive stages to the water-tube boiler, and pointed
out that this was a time of trial with worries and
troubles which have rarely had an equal. Event-
ually, however, the difficulties were overcome.
Simultaneously with this development in boilers,
engine weight by increasing the speed of revolu-
tion of the reciprocating engine. Following upon
this came the splendid realisation of Sir Charles
Parsons’s endeavours for many years in the pro-
duction of the steam turbine, which marked an
epoch in naval engineering. It was quickly turned
to account, and gave us a lead which has ever
- since been maintained. Another direction of pro-
gress was in respect of the fuel used for power
development. For many years naval engineers had
directed their attention to the utilisation of oil, but
only as an auxiliary to coal. The experience
obtained, however, and particularly the progress
made in burning appliances, were such that it was
demonstrated that oil could be used as the sole fuel
when security of supply could be ensured. This
done, the combination of oil fuel, water-tube
boiler, and turbine became the definite policy for
the Navy, and finally determined the superiority
which we obtained. The British Navy was the
first in the field, and its designs have been adopted
in principle by other navies. The most conspicu-
ous instance of the successful performance of the
above combination was afforded by the expedition
of the Invincible and the Inflexible to the Falk-
lands in the late war and its satisfactory result. |
In the second half of his address Sir George
Goodwin dealt with the ways in which the work
of the institute could be made to serve. the
advance of naval engineering, and considered
briefly. the problems and difficulties which centre
round the use of condenser tubes, turbine blading,
propeller-blade materials, bearing metals, and
fast-running heavy oil engines.
Condenser tubes constitute the most important
instance of the use of non-ferrous materials in the
Navy. Anyone who desires to become acquainted
with the perplexities of Lord Jellicoe during
the late war caused by the corrosion of condenser
236
NATURE
¢
[APRIL 22, 1920.
tubes has only to study his book’entitled ‘The *
Grand Fleet.’’ The alloy used is a tin-brass con-
taining 1 per cent. of tin, 70 per cent. of copper,
and 29 per cent. of zinc. Nearly ten years ago
the institute took up this very problem with the
view of solving it, and has been assisted since its
inception by Sir Henry Oram and Sir George
Goodwin at the Admiralty. As a result, tests are
‘now being carried out, in one of his Majesty’s
vessels, of a process devised by the committee’s
investigators, which, it is hoped, will go a long
way towards solving this particular difficulty. In
its work the committee has had no better friend
than Sir George Goodwin, and there is a singular
appropriateness about his choice as president of
the Institute of Metals. H. Co Hae
The Investigation
a a : By Dr. A.
EW lines of biological research at the present
time are of greater moment than those which
are likely to contribute towards the maintenance
of our food supply. Information comes from
trustworthy sources that there is a considerable
reduction in the available wheat of the world,
and it is therefore more than ever incumbent upon
us to reduce any preventable losses to a minimum.
The damage sustained by stored grain through
the inroads of insect. pests is heavy, and we
welcome a further series of the Royal Society
reports! which are directly concerned with
problems connected therewith. Prof. Dendy and,
his colleague, Mr. Elkington, have carried out
much-needed observations of a more exact nature
than has hitherto been attempted. Embodied in
their reports is a good deal of both biologically
and,.economically valuable information relating to
some .of our most destructive grain pests. In
dealing with the phenomenon known to the trade
as “webbing,” they point out that it is due to
the wandering of great numbers of larve of the
moth Ephestia elutella over the surface of heaped
grain in warehouses. Each larva trails behind
itself a silken thread and, when very abundant,
the whole surface of the grain may become
infested with a reticulum of these threads. The
superficial 12 in. of the grain are affected, and
become fouled by fecal and other larval débris.
Actual injury to the grain itself does not appear
to be serious, and it is probable that much of the
contamination would be effectually removed
during the cleaning processes to which the grain
is subjected. It is, however, scarcely likely that
any advantage can be derived from allowing these
webs to remain, on the strength of a suggestion
that weevils are destroyed through getting en-
tangled therein. |The safest and surest method
is to eliminate the pest as the authors advocate,
and it is noteworthy that a wide range of other
food products is susceptible to the attacks of this
species.
In the same report (No. 4) Prof. Dendy also
deals. with the occurrence of live insects in pre-
1 Royal Society. Reports of the Grain Pests (War) Committee. No.4:
**On the Phenomenon known as ‘ Webbing’ in Stored Grain.” By Arthur
Derdy and H. D. Elkington. ‘‘ Note on the Occurrence of Live Insects
in Tins spposed to be Hermetically Sealed.” By Arthur Dendy. No. s,
1919: ‘On the Prevention of ''eading in Wheat by means of Air-tight
Storage.” ‘By Arthur Dendy and H D. Elkington. No. 6, 1920: ‘‘ Xeport
on the Effect. of Air-tight Storage upon Grain Insects,” Partiii, By Arthur
Dendy and H. D. Elkington. No. 7, 1920: ‘‘ Report on the Vitality and
Rate of Multiplicati n of certain Grain Pests under Various Conditions of
‘Temper.ture and Moisture.” By Arthur Dendy and H. D. Elkington.
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
of Grain Pests.
D. Inns.
sumably sealed tins. His observations show that
it is an evident fallacy to conclude that they can
survive indefinitely when once the original oxygen
is completely used up. The main point is to
ensure that the sealing of the tins has been really
efficiently carried out before the latter are rele-
gated to the store. Directly connected with air-
tight storage is the question of “heating.” Two
experiments conducted by Prof. Dendy indicate
that this process, which is due to fermentation,
is prevented when the grain is stored in hermetic-
ally sealed vessels. Whether anaerobic fermenta-
tion is a factor likely to occur does not appear
to have been studied. In connection with the
investigations, it was noted that when a vessel is
only half filled with grain attacked by Calandra
oryzae, all the insects may become perfectly
motionless in twenty-four hours. When 273'5 c.c.
of air are present to 100 grains of wheat, only
three insects remained alive out. of thirty-nine
(including all stages) at the end of fourteen days —
at 30°=31° At room temperature. nineteen —
insects out of forty-three remained alive after
thirty-two days. In both experiments the per-
centage of carbon dioxide had gone up to between. —
18 and 19, and the oxygen diminished to less than
2; and the authors express themselves as being
quite certain that the insects would have suc-
cumbed soon afterwards. Cea
It is evident from these experiments that
further research under varied conditions and de-
grees of infestation is still desirable. If airtight
storage provides ready sterilisation, without pre-
vious application of heat, we have a fact of first-
rate economic significance. An important factor
is the moisture content of the wheat. Above a
certain point the production of carbon dioxide by
wheat increases very greatly. This critical point
varies with the temperature, and in the cases in-
vestigated it lies between 13-25 and 16'95 per cent.
Above this critical point of moisture content wheat
in airtight storage speedily renders itself immune
to insect attack ; below it a longer time elapses. It
is noteworthy that pure (moist) carbon dioxide acts
almost instantaneously as a narcotic to Calandra,
but is less fatal in its effects than when mixed
with a small quantity of oxygen. Ao
The seventh report deals with points in the bio-
nomics of Calandra oryzae and granaria, and also
of Rhizopertha dominica, which are three of the
most serious grain pests. It was found that the
.
APRIL 22, 1920]
NATURE
237
- optimum temperature for the breeding of Calandra
‘is about 82° F., but somewhat higher for Rhizo-
_ pertha. C. oryzae may increase 7oo-fold in
_ sixteen weeks, which makes it a more dangerous
pest than granaria, which has a slower rate of
multiplication. On the other hand, adults of the
latter species were found to survive the winter in
this country at ordinary room temperature,
whereas nearly all those of oryzae were killed off.
Rhizopertha succumbs after three minutes’
exposure at about 146° F., while 120°-130°F.
the lethal temperature for both species of
Calandra.
As the consequence of information accumulated
the laboratory, tests along commercial lines
need to be carried out in order to ascertain the
practicability or otherwise of the knowledge thus
obtained. We strongly urge that large-scale
tests should be inaugurated with as little delay
as possible. If such tests confirm the conclusion
that the most satisfactory method for the storage
of grain in bulk, over lengthy periods, is in air-
tight silos or granaries, the Grain Pests Com-
mittee is to be congratulated upon a_ notable
achievement. The construction of such receptacles
would involve a high initial cost, but probably
not excessive when the annual loss from weeviling
is recounted. As the authors point out, by such
‘a method of storage we should be provided with
a means of maintaining a reserve of cereals in
the event of war or crop failure, and, we may
add, of economic or financial difficulties.
rf I, an address to the Physics Section of the
American Association for the Advancement of
_ Science, delivered at the St. Louis meeting in
December last and published in Science for
March 5, Prof. Gordon F. Hull describes the work
_ done by a number of American mathematicians and
physicists in elucidating the various problems that
arose during the war in connection with. long-
range and anti-aircraft gunnery. It may be of
interest,
number. of British men of science, made at a much
earlier date during the war, on which (and on
the work of the French) the developments of
American scientific gunnery as described by Prof.
Hull were largely based.
___ Up to the spring of 1916 the developments of
_ British ballistic science had come largely through
_ the Ordnance Committee at Woolwich, which dur-
ing the war was fortunate in having an officer of
_ considerable mathematical attainments as head of
_ the ballistic office. The mass of work, however,
_ and the extraordinary variety and difficulty of the
a problems that arose, especially in connection with
; new science of anti-aircraft gunnery, made it
necessary for the Ordnance Committee to seek help
from outside; and from 1916 onwards the investi-
_ gation of problems in ‘‘ external ballistics ’’ de-
_ volved largely on the Anti-aircraft Experimental
_ Section of the Munitions Inventions Department.
_ The A.A.E.S., as it was called, consisted of a
number of mathematicians and other men of
science, mainly fellows and scholars of Cambridge
_ colleges, some from the Patent Office, one from
_ Oxford, and three fellows of the Royal Society—
some in military, some in naval, and some in
civilian clothes.
_ The work of this group was undertaken at
_ H.M.S. Excellent, Portsmouth, at Rochford Aero-
_ drome, at the National Physical Laboratory, at
University College, London, and at a variety of
other places. It consisted largely of trials with
anti-aircraft guns, shells, and fuses, recording the
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
therefore, to record the efforts of a_
Some Applications of Physics to War Problems.
positions of shell-bursts at heights up to 33,000 ft.,
observing and calculating the effects of winds and
of pressure and temperature abnormalities, develop-
ing the mathematical theory of ballistic calcula-
tions, and investigating the behaviour or the causes
of failure and irregularity of fuses. In addition to
this, work of considerable mathematical and physi-
cal interest was done, some of which will be pub-
lished, on the general dynamics. of shell flight
(such problems as the stability of shells, the effects
of rotation of the earth, ‘‘ drift,’? the “twisted
trajectory of the shot, Pt Otte, ), and on the
pressure distribution on the head of a_ shell
in flight. The solution of some of these
problems, undertaken originally in connection
with anti-aircraft gunnery, had, in the end,
a considerable bearing upon the theory of gunnery
in general.
The A.A.E.S., in addition to its main work in
investigating the problems of gunnery, did a large
amount of routine computing of range tables in
conjunction with the staff of the Galton Labora-
tory, and performed a number of interesting and
important trials on time-fuses in co-operation with
the Engineering Department of University College,
London. It carried out far-reaching experiments
on the use of sound-locators for the detection of air-
craft, and in conjunction with the R.E. and the
Air Force on the co-operation between such sound-
locators and searchlights; the military equipment
and methods finally adopted were based directly
on these experiments. It tested both the theory
and the use of a number of instruments required
for anti-aircraft work, such, for example, as range-
finders, height-finders, and ‘ ‘predictors ”” (instru-
ments for predicting the “future position ’’ of the
target at the moment the shell bursts) ; and finally
it had what was known familiarly as a “travelling
circus,’’ which moved about in Great Britain. and
France recording the results of practice anti-air-
craft shoots, and investigating the performance of
guns and instruments.
2.38
NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
The. work terminated in April, 1919, and an
interesting body of scientific workers was. disem-
bodied, disbanded, or demobilised. The more
important practical results of their work are being
recorded for the use of the military authorities :
the methods adopted, however, and many of the
observations, calculations, and speculations, the
personalities of the men themselves, their various —
homes and adventures, the help (and the hindrance)
they received from various people and officials,
would provide material for a fascinating history of
some “applications of pl:ysics to war problems ”’
—a history, however, which will probably never be
written.
Obituary.
Pror. J. A. McCLeiianp, F.R.S. .
OHN ALEXANDER McCLELLAND was born | of Faraday. Although, unlike Faraday, he had a
at Coleraine in 1870, Leaving the High School, |
he studied in University (then Queen’s) College,
Galway, and after a distinguished course he
obtained a junior fellowship of the Royal Univer-
sity. Proceeding to Trinity College, Cambridge,
he worked under Sir J. J. Thomson, and was one
of the brilliant band of investigators who made
history in those days in the Cavendish Laboratory,
being:.contemporary with Sir Ernest Rutherford,.
Prof. Townsend, and others. In succession to the
late Prof. Preston he became professor of experi-
mental physics in University College, Dublin, and
quickly began his famous researches on secondary
radio-activity.
‘Shortly after becoming a fellow of the Royal
Society, the National University was founded, and
McClelland was appointed a member of the senate
and of the governing body of University College,
_ Dublin, positions which he held until his death.
He at. once devoted himself to the planning of
the physical laboratory of the college. His efforts
were highly successful, and a _ very efficient
research department, quickly sprang up, which
accomplished wonders, considering the resources
at its disposal. The number of students in the
college in the beginning was 550, and at the
present moment it is 1350, and the task of keeping
pace with such rapid growth might easily have
absorbed all the time of a lesser man; but
McClelland had many other spheres of activity—
secretary to the Royal Irish Academy, member of
the Board of National Education, member of the
council of the Royal Dublin Society, and governor
of St. Andrew’s College—yet he undertook a still
more onerous task. He became a member of the
Privy Council Committee on Scientific and Indus-
trial Research, which necessitated frequent
journeys from Dublin to London, and this during
the war, when, apart from the great discomforts
of travelling in those times, every crossing of the
Irish Sea was a gamble with death. The constant
strain was too much for him, and oftentimes his
friends urged him to take a long rest. His sense
of duty, however, prevented him from paying
attention to his bodily weakness, and when at
last the college authorities persuaded him to take
a six months’ rest, it was too late.
As a man of science the outlook of McClelland
and his method of exposition had all the clarity
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
impossible to fill.
sound mathematical training, his mind worked in
the direction of a “common-sense ’’ explanation of
the most complicated phenomena. This made him
especially valuable as a teacher, whether for
advanced or elementary work. It has been the
privilege of the writer to sit with him on many
boards, and this same faculty of cutting away the
unessentials of a question, and presenting it in
its reality, rendered him a valued colleague in
many matters far removed from the world of
science. A Presbyterian in religion, he was fol-
lowed to his grave by men of every shade of
thought. It is a commonplace almost devoid of
meaning to speak of a loss as irreparable, but in
his college and in the wider public life of Ireland
everyone who knew him feels that a man has
gone from amongst us whose place it will be
een
W. C.
Dr. J. G. BARTHOLOMEW.
GEOGRAPHERS throughout the world will recog-
nise that scientific geography has sustained a
grave loss through the death suddenly at Cintra
about midnight on April 13 of Dr. Bartholomew,
the head of the cartographical firm which has
been known since 1889 as the Edinburgh Geo-
graphical Institute.
Dr. Bartholomew was a native of Edinburgh,
where he was born on March 22, 1860, and where
he was educated at the High School and the
University. As a young man he entered the busi-
ness founded by his grandfather. From the age
of twenty-two he took an active part in its
management, and at twenty-nine he succeeded his
father in the supreme control. By this time he
had devised the method of representing topo-
graphical features by the system known as layer-
ing, which has made the Edinburgh Geographical
Institute celebrated throughout the world, and is
now copied in all other cartographical establish-
ments. Like many other novel ideas, it may seem
very obvious once it has been introduced. It
merely consists in the spreading of distinctive
colours, tints, or shades between successive con-
tours on a contoured map. It accordingly gives
no information as to the physical features addi-
_ tional to that furnished by the contours; but it
a a a ae
APRIL 22, 1920]
NATURE
239
_ makes that information available at a glance, and
hence, simple as the device is, its introduction had
_ a revolutionary effect in cartography, all the more
_ So because it is found capable, like contouring
generally, of being combined with other methods
of representing physical features.
_ The first important work issued by the institute
illustrating this new system was “The Survey
tlas of Scotland,” first published in 1895, which
_ was followed in 1903 by a similar atlas of England
and Wales. Previously to that Dr. Bartholomew
had published (1899) “‘ The Atlas of Meteorology,”
a work of immense labour with several original
tures, which shows even more strikingly his zeal
for scientific geography, and amply justifies the
_ motto he had adopted, “ Amore et labore.” It came
- out as vol. iii. of a great atlas of physical geo-
rraphy which he had designed, but of which only
other volume appeared during his life, “The
Atlas of Zoogeography,” published in 1og1t.
_ Much of the most devoted work of his latter years
_ was given to the preparation of the atlas (reviewed
_ in these columns a few weeks ago) now being
_ published under the title of “The Times Survey
_ Atlas of the World,” by which he hoped to out-
_ rival the best works of the kind published in
other countries.
_ But the Geographical Institute was far from
engrossing all Dr. Bartholomew’s interests. He
_ was a member of council of the Royal Society
a Edinburgh from 1909 to 1912, but in Edin-
_ burgh he was, above all, known through his inti-
mate association with the Royal Scottish Geo-
_ graphical Society, of which he might with little
exaggeration be called the founder. From him,
_ at any rate, came the first suggestion of such a
_ society, and he was among the most eager of
_ that small body of men who in 1884 spent without
stint time, energy, and enthusiasm in getting it
established. He was an honorary secretary of
_ the society from the first, and remained so until
s death. By the council of that society he was
_ generally regarded as its mainstay and chief
_ directing spirit, and nowhere outside his family
ae. ts loss-be more keenly felt than on that
a Dr. Bartholomew was an honorary member of
many foreign geographical societies. The Vic-
_ toria Research Medal, a medal not awarded regu-
larly every year, but only when there is a fit
recipient, was conferred upon him by the Royal
_ Geographical Society in 1905 “for his successful
_ efforts to raise the standard of cartography ” ; and
_ in 1918 the Helen Culver gold medal was awarded
_ to him on like grounds by the Geographic Society
_ of Chicago. In 1909 he received from his own
_ university the honorary degree of LL.D. In
"private life he was held by all who knew him in
_ the highest esteem, and as revealing his nature
_ nothing, perhaps, could be mentioned more char-
\ acteristic than that, in spite of the fact that he
_ lost a son in the war, he was able to speak even
_ of enemy countries with rare magnanimity.
3 Gro. G, CHISHOLM.
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
WE much regret to announce the death on
April 18, in his seventy-third year, of Dr.
Rupotpu MeEssgeL, F.R.S., president of the Society
of Chemical Industry and past vice-president of the
Chemical Society.
WE notice with regret the announcement of
the death, very suddenly, on April 17, of PRor.
A. K. Huntincton, emeritus professor of metal-
lurgy at King’s College, London.
WE regret to record the death on April 18 of
Pror. L. T. O’Suea, professor of applied chemis-
try in the University of Sheffield and honorary
secretary of the Institution of Mining Engineers.
Mr. James GayLey, whose death was recently
announced, was the first vice-president of the »
United States Steel Corporation and made many
important contributions to the progress of metal-
lurgical industry. He was president in 1904-6
of the American Institute of Mining and Metal-
lurgy and had been a member of the Iron and
Steel Institute since 1888. The honorary degree
of B.Sc. was conferred on him in 1912 by the-
University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University ;
in 1906 he was awarded the Elliott Cresson medal,
and in 1913 the Perkin medal, by the Franklin
Institute. 7
Mr. Witson Worspett, whose death on
April 14 is recorded in the Engineer, was born
at Crewe in 1850, was educated at Ackworth, and
served a pupilage in the Altoona Locomotive
Works of the Pennsylvania Railroad. On return-
ing to this country Mr. Worsdell took up an ap-
pointment with the London and North-Western
Railway, and in 1883 became assistant locomotive
superintendent to the North-Eastern Railway 5 in
1890 he was appointed chief mechanical engineer
of the same railway. Up to the time of his re-
tirement in 1910 he supervised the construction of
more than 1000 engines for the North-Eastern
Railway.
Tue death of Sir Cuartes ALLEN on April 13
is recorded in Engineering. Sir Charles was
born in 1851 and educated at Halifax and at a
technical college in Germany. In 1872 he
entered the Bessemer works at Sheffield, of
which his father, who was a brother-in-law of Sir
Henry Bessemer, became chairman in 1889. He
succeeded to the chairmanship on the death of
his father in 1899, and the remarkable success of
the company, especially in later years, 1s due
largely to his ability. Sir Charles recognised fully
the value. of metallurgical research, and gave
every encouragement in the developments of this
branch; he was closely identified with the founda-
tion of the Bessemer laboratory at the Imperial
| College of Science and Technology.
240
. NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
Notes.
....Ngws, of Capt. Roald Amundsen’s Arctic Expedition
has...unexpectedly been received from Siberia via
Alaska. The Maud left Norway in June, 1918, and
, was. last heard of some months later from Dickson
Island, at the mouth of the Yenisei. According to the
telegram published in the Times, two men left the
Ship in October, 1918, in the vicinity of Cape
Chelyuskin. Nothing has been heard of these men,
although they presumably made for the fishing settle-
ments of the Lower Yenisei, a distance of some six
or seven hundred miles across the barren tundra.
‘There seems to be little hope that the two men are
alive. The Maud appears to have spent jast winter in
the neighbourhood of Aion Island, at the mouth of
Chaun Bay, in north-eastern Siberia, within six
hundred miles of Bering Strait. Aion Island is noted
for its reindeer pasture. The coast in the vicinity is
visited by native and occasional American traders in
summer. The distance to the nearest wireless station
at the mouth of the Anadir is about 450 miles across
rough country. Until further news arrives it would
be rash to suppose that Amundsen has abandoned his
trans-polar drift. It is quite possible that he intends
to push into the Arctic basin north of Bering Strait in
order to ensure the drift taking him to a high latitude.
‘On the other hand, the loss of two men, even sup-
‘posing his messengers to the Anadir return, will
Seriously weaken his expedition. Capt. Amundsen
always maintained that his aims were scientific, and
that he had no desire merely to reach the North Pole.
It is not, therefore, probable that he will return this
year, since the coast of Siberia along which the Maud
has sailed has been explored in recent years by Rus-
sian expeditions. The Maud is provisioned for another
three vears. ; :
. THE United States National Research Council has
appointed a committee on eugenics, under the Division
of Biology and Agriculture, consisting of the following
members :—L. F. Barker, A. G. Bell, E. A. Hooton,
Daniel W. LaRue, Stewart Paton, Raymond Pearl,
R. M. Yerkes, H. S. Jennings, and C. B. Davenport
(chairman). The committee met on Saturday,
March 20, and decided to hold the second International
Eugenics Congress in New York City on .Septem-
ber 22-28, 1921, inclusive. Dr. Alexander Graham
Bell was elected honorary president, Dr. Henry F.
‘Osborn president, Mr. Madison Grant treasurer, and
Mrs.’ Sybil Gotto, secretary of the Eugenics
Education Society, in view of her activity in organis-
ing the first Eugenics Congress, was nominated
honorary secretary of the second Eugenics Congress.
The national consultative eugenics bodies in the
various countries will be informed of the action of
the seugenics committee of the National Research
Council and invited to send representatives. A general
invitation will be sent to universities in different
American countries and in the countries of Europe.
-TuHE president, vice-president, and council of the
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland have elected
Prof. G. Elliot Smith to the Mary- Louisa Prentice
Montgomery lectureship in ophthalmology. The sub-
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
-various periods.
ject of Prof. Smith’s first lecture will be “The if
Influence of Stereoscopic Vision on the Evolution of —
Man.” The: lecture will be delivered in October next.
AN extraordinary general meeting of the fellows of
the Chemical Society will be held at Burlington
House on Thursday, April 29, at 5 p.m., to consider
the alterations in the by-laws proposed by the council.
THE reorganisation and co-operation of research
departments contemplated at the Middlesex Hospital
promise to be of great value. In particular the co-
operation of such distinguished investigators as Profs.
Swale Vincent and McIntosh with Prof. Russ and
‘Dr. Lazarus-Barlow may be expected to direct the
investigations of cancer on the broad and general lines
so necessary at the present time in this subject. We
wish the new arrangements every success.
Tue Report of the Salisbury Public Library for
Ig1g-20 describes the arrangements for advancing
adult education by means of a series of public lectures.
A course of eight lectures was delivered by Mr. F.
Stevens on the history of the neighbourhood at
The lectures fell into two groups of __
four each, prehistoric and early historic, and were
illustrated from the collections in the city museum by
an inspection of the actual objects and by some five
hundred photographs. The course, of which a syllabus
that a ‘substantial balance
financially successful
remains, which is being expended in strengthening
the existing collection in the library of books on Wilt-
shire. The committee may be congratulated on this
result, and other public libraries throughout’ the
country may use the report as a. suggestion for
similar arrangements.
Dr. Feuix Oswatp and Mr. T. D. Price announce
for publication at an early date a book entitled “An
‘Introduction to the Study of Terra Sigillata, Treated
from a Chronological Standpoint.’? During their
excavations at the Roman station of Margidunum, in .
Nottinghamshire, the authors were impressed by the
difficulties inherent in the study of Terra Sigillata, the
so-called Samian ware, and especially by the necessity
for collecting the many scattered references to the sub-
‘ject in many languages besides English. The import-
ance of the study lies in ‘the historical evidence fur-
nished by this ware, for, apart from inscriptions, no
relic of the Imperial age is more important for
chronological’ purposes. Ample materials -for the
investigation are provided at sités such as Haltern,
Hofheim, Newstead, and Niederbieber, which can be
dated by historical evidence and from the names of
the potters inscribed on their work. As the Gaulish
Sigillata is a development of the Italian or Arretine
fabric, a short account of this is supplied. The book
promises to be valuable for the study of the Roman
period in Western Europe. SES Sis =
In an account of the Apalaii Indians of the Amazon
(Museum Journal, vol. x., No. 3, September, 1919)
Mr. W..C. Farabee describes a remarkable form: of
puberty ordeal... A frame in the shape of a jaguar,
possibly an indication of totemism, is made of wicker-
is appended, attracted good audiences, and was so ;
oT uta ee BE
ae ee ee a,
ea
ye
’ Apri 22, 1920]
NATURE
241
Deak: and about a hundred wasps or ants are passed
the interstices. The youths, exhausted by a
dance which is kept up all day, present themselves
before the medicine-man, who applies the wasp-frame
to their chests, backs, arms, and legs. Those who
_ scréam or show signs of suffering when they are stung
are not ‘allowed to continue the ordeal. Those who
the test are invested with a headdress and flute,
deemed fit for marriage. But more than this
Ppecquired: The youth must give proof that he ‘is
_ able to support a family by passing the target test of
throwing cassava pellets at a circle drawn on a piece
of wood, and of shooting arrows from a rapidly
moving boat. Girls undergo the ordeal of fasting in
seclusion, and their bodies are scarified with the sharp
teeth ofan. animal or fish. They are then dressed in
aprons, and use charms to stimulate affection in
‘= aerehip, in which they take the initiative.
Dr. A M. Bracxman discusses in the Journal ‘of
a ‘Manchester’ Egyptian and Oriental Society for
1918-19, recently issued, ‘‘The House of the Morn.
” in Egyptian ritual. The Heliopolitan sun-god
Re-Atum, Was represented by his priests as re-born
—, morning as the result of his undergoing lustra-
tion, which was supposed to be performed by the sun-
himself, assisted by other divinities. The king
"Heliopolis, high priest of the sun-god, was
52 as his son and embodiment. The lustral
ing of the king-priest took place before he
- officiated in the'sun temple, and as a result of it he
_ was .thought to be. re-born like his divine prototype.
om His purification. was completed by fumigating him
vith incense and .presenting him with balls of natron
chew. “By being washed or sprinkled with
ly water and fumigated with incense, and by the
‘ing of natron, the king was mysteriously re-
_ born,. brought into contact with divinities, and imbued
with their unearthly qualities, and his mouth made
it ‘to. -chant the sun-god’s praises and recite the
formule which accompanied the enactment of the
arious episodes popresice the foams ery service in the
sun temple.”
Tr is well cians that in ancient tt India, as described
in the Institutions of Manu, the law-giver, marriage
_ Was permitted between members of different castes—a
system which was forbidden by later Brahmanical
_ legislation. | -Mr. Patel, one of the advanced Indian
q members of the Viceroy’s Council, recently introduced
a Bill providing that marriages between Hindus of
_ different: castes shall be valid. More conservative
Eemeaibore opposed the Bill on the grounds that it would
_ undérmine the present social system, and that it was
“opposed to Hindu. custom, the potent force which
sontrols Hindu society. It was also pointed out that
F ee! ‘enactment of ‘such a law raised the wide’ questions
connected with succession, adoption, and legitimacy,
which -no, legislation was provided in the Bill.
ae Government representative, Sir W. ‘Vincent,
di Ic ted a neutral attitude, admitting that the ques-
tion should be decided by . public. opinion | carefully
- devoted. ‘to .its consideration.. If the Bill is finally
passed | it will be a serious blow to caste, but it: is
NO. 2634, VOL. 105]
a
significant of the general feeling that the Moham-
medan members refused to sit on the Special
Committee appointed to consider it on the grounds
that the question was one for Hindus, and that the
latter had: been: obstructive on the grant of communal
representation for Dacca University.
Tue history of science is rapidly acquiring its own
periodical literature. Dr. Sarton in a recent issue of
Isis set forth a bibliography of reviews and collec-
tions on this subject, of which he recognised sixty-
two. Most of these deal with special sciences, among
which mathematics and medicine take first place.
Several journals are, however, devoted to.the history
of science as a whole. The earliest was the Archiv
fiir Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, which has
appeared since 1908. Next came Isis, the publication
of which was interrupted by the war; it has now re-
commenced, and will in future be in English and
under the joint editorship of Dr. Sarton and. Dr.
Singer. The Italians have now also. started a
quarterly, Archivio di. Storia della Scienza. It is
édited by Prof, Aldo Mieli, who has long devoted
himself exclusively to the history of science, and has
printed the first volume of a monumental work on
the subject. It is encouraging to historians of. science
that his enthusiasm has overcome the economic and
social difficulties that prevail in his country, and that
the publication of the Archivio, begun in March, 1919,
is now being continued. In addition to original
articles on every aspect of the history of science, it
will contain reviews, a bibliography of Italian works
on the subject, and notices on activities in connection
with’ it, which are very pronounced in Italian uni-
versities. The annual subscription to the Archivio is
35 lire, and it should be sent to Attilio Nardecchia,
Via dell’ Umilta 14, Roma 19. Information concern-
ing Isis can be had from Dr. George Sarton, Carnegie
Institution, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., or from Dr.
Charles Singer, Westbury Lodge, Norham Road,
Oxford.
Misses BrackLock and Carter contribute: to the’
Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (vol. xiii.,
No. 4, March, 1920) papers on a mosquito, Anopheles
plumbeus. The bionomics of this species are probably
less known than those of any European Anopheline
mosquito. The species is widely distributed, being met
with in the British Isles, in nearly ‘all European
countries, and in the Western Himalayas, and is
essentially a tree-hole breeder. Experimental evidence
is produced for the first time that A. plumbeus is
capable of becoming infected with a malaria parasite,
and may therefore transmit malaria:
A suacEsTIVE review of the pathology and symp-
fomatology of beri-beri is contributed by Dr. F. M. R.
Walshe to Medical Science: Abstracts and Reviews
(vol. ii., No. 1, April, 1920). The current hypothesis
of the nature. of beri-beri (a disease particularly of the
East characterised by the development of neuritis) is
that it is a ‘deficiency disease,’’ due ‘to the lack of
certain elements or ‘“ vitamines ” from ‘the food. Dr,
Walshe points out that the neuritis of’ beri-beri is
similar to that produced by Certain poisons, ‘such as
}
242
“om A Ee ANA RS I CoO at homens Smee meena emetny athe
WATURE
[Apri 22, 1920
alcohol’ and the ‘diphtheria poison, and that neuro-
‘logically we are dealing with ‘no negative or defect
disease, but with a definite, positive reaction of the
nervous system to some unknown poison. ‘‘We know
nothing of what happens in the body from the -eating
of a vitamine-free diet to the moment when the
symptoms of beri-beri appear, and we cannot exclude
the possibility that such a poison has been produced
in the body.’? Dr. Walshe seems to agree with
Eijkman that the ultimate. cause of beri-beri may yet
prove to be a nerve poison produced by a disordered
metabolism arising out of vitamine deprivation.
. A‘ Fora of the District of Columbia and Vicinity,”
by A.S. Hitchcock and P.C. Standley, with the assist-
ance of other Washington botanists, has been issued
-as vol. xxi. of Contributions from the United States
National Herbarium (329 pp., 42 plates). It will
replace Lester Ward’s ‘Guide to the Flora of
Washington and Vicinity,’? published in 1881, to
which there have been six supplements. The area
included “is approximately a circle of fifteen miles
radius; with the Capitol: as the centre. The list
includes: all indigenous plants and all introduced ones
that have become established; chance introductions
are mentioned in notes appended to an allied species
or genus. It is interesting to note that parts of this
area are still almost wholly unexplored botanically,
and the publication of the flora will afford an excel-
lent opportunity for local botanists to supply the gaps.
The arrangement is in the form of keys to the
families, genera, and species, which have been care-
fully worked out, and also tested in the field during
one collecting season; and the text is clear. An effort
has been made to use common words so far as
possible as substitutes for technical terms, and so-
called popular names are provided for most species in
the manner familiar to British botanists in Bentham’s
‘“Handbook,’”? The Old World botanist will find some
familiar plants hidden under strange names, as, for
instance, Dicentra and Negundo (box-elder),. which
appear as Bikukulla and Rulac. The plates are a
series of good photographic reproductions of aspects
of the vegetation and of some of the commoner species.
Unfortunately, the size of the book, large octavo,
militates against its use as a pocket companion for
the field botanist.
Mr: J. 'F. N. GREEN (Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. xxx.,
p. 153, 1919) has treated in his presidential address
to the Geologists’ Association the vulcanicity of the
Lake: District from ‘a natural history point of view.
He illustrates: the use of petrographic details as a
means of realising the conditions of intrusion and
eruption, as when he pictures the scoria-cones of
Borrowdale age rising above the sea and contributing
their materials to the sediments by ordinary processes
of erosion. He urges that the chemical analysis of
an igneous rock is by itself of little value, since it
cannot take into account the evanescent constituents
of the magma.
FORAMINIFERA as a group always have their feasion.
tion owing’ to their irresolvable simplicity of organic
structure and. ‘their: apparent: powers of selection in
the up-building of their coverings.
NO. 2634, VOL. 105]
-man (Proc.
-marine climatic conditions. Mr.
Mr. J. A: Cush-'}
U.S.) Nat. Museum, -vol. Ivi.,: p.. 593+
1919) describes ‘‘Recent Foraminifera’ from off New:
' Zealand,’’! including..a new: species of Technitella; a
genus’ that forms its test of neatly arranged acicular
sponge-spicules.
logical Survey the same author describes Pliocene and
Miocene species from the coastal plain of the United
States, and shows how they help to indicate former.
Cushman’s wi
knowledge of recent Atlantic forms renders even-brief
notes of this kind suggestive to the geologist.
REFERENCE has been made in Nature (vol. x¢v.,
p- 216) to the replacement of quartz by pyrite. A
very remarkable case is now put forward by Mr.
W. H. Collins in the Summary Report of the
Canadian Geological Survey for 1918 (part E, p: 20,
1919) from the Michipicoten district of Ontario. The
basement beds of stratified sands and gravels belong-
ing to the- Pleistocene drift, and resting on the
Keewatin iron-bearing series, have apparently been
replaced by ‘‘snow-white granular silica” (presum-
ably quartz) with a devosit of loose pyrite grains
below resembling ordinary sand, and sometimes 5 ft.
thick. Mr. Carus-Wilson, it may be remembered,
has cited a case of the replacement by pyrite of the
carbonaceous cement of an Eocene sandstone (NATURE,
vol. Ixviii., p. 436); but in the Canadian instance the
sand-grains themselves have disappeared under the
influence of solutions.draining along the unconform-
able junction from the adjacent iron range.
THE Summary Report of the Mines Branch of the
Department of Mines of Canada for the year 1918 has
| just been issued, and contains an. interesting record.
The fuel-testing station has
of the year’s activities.
been engaged, in addition to its regular routine work,
upon an
wick oil shale in a novel type of retort—the Wallace
retort. The methods adopted in Canada may be
studied with advantage by those engaged in the study
_of carbonisation problems in this country. Good
work is also being done in the ore-dressing divi-
sion; until the middle of the year this had been en-
gaged on the production of molybdenite concentrates
on a working scale in view of the Empire’s require-
ments of ferro-molybdenum for war purposes; after-
wards, however, the normal working of the division
was resumed and a variety of ores was tested and
reported upon, the methods used being not only the.
ordinary ‘wet-dressing methods, but also: flotation (in
a Callow cell), magnetic separation, electrostatic:
separation, and cyanidation. The Mines Branch may
fairly be congratulated upon an.excellent year’s work,
| which must form a powerful factor in the develop-
ment of the mineral resources of the Dominion.
In the March issue of the Decimal Educator, a
quarterly publication of the Decimal Association,
there is an interesting. historical account of the Inter-
-national Bureau of Weights and Measures at Sévres,
the establishment at which the international proto-
types of the metre and the kilogram are preserved.
In Bulletin: 676 of the U.S. Geo=
investigation on the carbonisation and
briquetting of lignite, which promises to yield im-
portant results, as also does a test of New Bruns-
OIE Cl TR EN PO: rane
Apri. 22, 1920]
NATURE 243
P. ‘It is pointed out that the investigations at the Bureau | of not very experienced observers the monocular
have led: to.a vast improvement in the constancy and | requires to have a magnification of 6.27 in order to
trustworthiness of thermometers and in the measure- | give the same results as a binocular of the usual
i ‘ment of atmospheric pressure, and it is proposed to magnification of 60. As regards rapidity of produc-
describe in future issues the instrumental equip- | tion and adjustment, cost, weight, portability, and
‘ment of the Bureau and the metrological work
undertaken there: A good portrait is given of Dr.
_ Guillaume, the director of the Bureau, who is to
deliver the Guthrie lecture to the Physical Society
_ to-morrow, April 23. In an article on the metric
system it.is urged that, in addition to teaching the
: Sian in schools, the Government. should set a lead
adopting it in Departments such as the ‘Post
fice, the Ministry of Health, and the Royal Air
4 gong thus familiarising the public | with metric
_ measures ‘and preparing the way for a change which
is inevitable. Another feature ‘of the number is an
explanation of the advantages of decimal coinage:
rt 5 Sees a a Ni
fe: vA SUMMARY of the weather for. the year 1919 has
ig recently been issued by the Meteorological Office. It
deals very fully with the annual results of the several
elements. for numerous representative stations for the
several districts of the British Isles. The year was
generally dry, and was noteworthy for the heavy
‘snowstorm on April 27-28, and for the ap ea
‘cold March and November. - October, which -
normally the wettest month ,of the year, was in
-many .places the driest. -The mean temperature for
_ the. year was. below the normal in all districts, the
1 deficiency ranging from 1-6° F. in East Scotland to
0-4° F. in the south of Ireland. The earth tempera-
tures were also below the normal, both at 1 ft. and
4 ft. below the surface. Rainfall was in excess in the
eastern districts and deficient in the western districts.
_ Sunshine was: mostly in excess of the normal except
in ‘some:of the eastern districts. Data are given
_ showing the warmest day and warmest night, also
the coldest day and coldest night, for the several
stations of the different districts, and there are
similar details for the several. months: . Monthly
_ frequencies of sunshine for selected stations -are
‘ Steers Days in the year with rainfall-between: fixed
limits are given for selected stations, and ‘the
number of days in the year with certain maximum
and minimum temperatures. Many and _ various
particulars of anemograph observations: are. given,
with the frequency of hours with average wind
; speed, also with a maximum hourly speed. A table
_ shows the frequency of winds of? various strengths
from different directions for several stations in different
. _ Parts of the British Isles. Much of the data is in
a form which .will be available for aviation require-
os 3
Tue February and “March issues of the Seva of
the Franklin Institute contain the report’ of the com-
_mittee—consisting of Messrs. E. P. Hyde, P. W.
, ‘Cobb, H. M. Johnson, and W. Weniger—of the Nela
Research, Laboratory which undertook the: investiga-
-field-glasses under Service conditions. ‘The tests are
_ not yet completed, but already afford a large amount
. of y. valuable information. The. principal conclusions of
‘NO. 2634, VOL. 105]
tion of the relative merits of monocular and bingcular.
the eighty pages of the report are that in the hands.
ease in use, the monocular is far ahead, of | the
binocular. The report deserves careful eonsideration
by optical-instrument makers in this country.
In an article in the April. issue of Science Progress
Major A. E. Oxley summarises his work on‘ the
magnetic properties of about forty organic compounds
between —180° and 200° C., and shows that atomic
theories of the Rutherford-Bohr type, which neglect
magnetic forces, are incapable of. accounting «for
many of the magnetic’ properties of matter.’ How
these theories are to be modified he is: not yet: in a
position to say, but his diagram of two atoms held
together by electromagnetic forces. shows these ‘forces
to. be due to a pair of oppositely directed: .cireular
currents in each atom outside the positive nucleus: and
rotating electrons. This idea is on the same fines as
those. put forward recently by Parsons:: (1915) and
Langmuir (1919):*. The author points ‘out finally. that
an adequate theory must account for the molecular
structure. of crystals, and, the relations . between: that
structure and their behaviour in the- magnetic field
must agree with stereochemistry, give '.the :additive
property of diamagnetics, and» show | no: dielectric
hysteresis. It is to- be hoped ‘that ‘the: fortheoming
discussion on the subject of atomic':structure vat thé
Royal Society will throw some: light on: diegish or
ties of present theories. et MICE His
AN important paper on the magnetic. characieristits
of the iron core of a transformer or of an induction él
by the late Prof. B. Osgood Peirce is published’ i in ‘the’
Proceedings of the American Academy of ig and
Sciences .(vol. 1., No. 7, p. 149). Sixty _y 489.
Helmholtz verified the predictions of the ‘mathematial
theory of a transformer. The verification, howeve
was limited to’ the case when the indiictances” OF the
two coils were constant. With an’ iron cbre—thie
case considered by the author—this' assumption’ ‘is
not justified. He first tried the ‘loading’ Coils
which are used’ in long-distance telephony. ‘The. cores
of these coils’ are made of iron wire oily orie-tenth df
a millimetre in diameter. The eddy currerits induced
in the core are therefore negligibly: small. “Assuming
merely the.connection between the ampere-turns,; and.
the magnetisation and Faraday’s law for-the'electro-'
motive force induced. by a change in the: magnetic!
induction, Prof. Peirce found that the experimental
results agreed with those deduced from. theory to within.
about the tenth part of 1 per cent.; i.e, to within: the:
limits of experimental error. Even with the: ordinary
closed iron circuit commercial transformer: he::found
that the predictions of theory were verified:te: high
accuracy when the eddy currents in the-core: could be
neglected... It was concluded that a good approxima.
tion to the shape of the current curves,sto::the:rate
of growth of the excitation, and to, the, flux, of,.the
magnetic induction in the core of .a transformer. can
ibe obtained when, an accurate statical., hysteresis
‘diagram of the core over the given range is, ayailable,,
1244
NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
Our Astronomical Column.
OCCULTATION OF A STAR BY SATURN.—Bad weather
prevailed generally in Europe on March 14, when
Saturn occulted-the star Leipzig I 4091, mag. 7-6. A’
few observations were, however, secured, some of
‘them being published in Astr. Nach., 5042. Prof.
.Plassmann+ observed the disappearance at. Miinster,
noting that at 7h. 30m. G.M.T. the star was still
separated from the limb, at 7h. 5-1m. it was in con-
tact with it, while at 7h. 5.9m. the star had dis-
appeared.
Messrs. K. Novak and V.- Rolcik, observing at
Smichow, long. oh. 57m. 38s. E. Gr., lat. 50° 4’ 42” N.,
noted the reappearance at 8h. 39m. gos. G.M.T..
Dr. Bernewitz, at Berlin‘Babelsberg Observatory,
first saw the star at 8h. 39m. 34s. G.M.T. He noted
that at 8h. 39m. 51s..)it. appeared of full brightness,
and at: 8h. 40m. 5s: the. centre of its disc was. dis-
tinctly separated from the limb... He states that the
marked red colour of the star made it easy to dis-
tinguish its light from that ‘of the planet. He made
the only observation so'far to'hand of the appulse of
Titan’ to the star, which occurred’ some four hours |
after emersion from the planet. He states that Titan
did not:occult it, but passed 1”. or 2”,tq.the north of it. |
The extreme accuracy of Mr, Burnet’s prediction is
noteworthy. He gave 7h. 5m. for the, disappearance,
and 8h. 4om. for the reappearance. Owing to the
slowness of Saturn’s motion, hé thought it likely that
these times would be in error by séveral minutes.
- Tue Ernstern DispLacEMENT OF SpEcTRAL: LINEs.—
The Observatory for April contains communications on
_ this subject: by’ Messrs. J. Evershed and .C. E. St.
-John.,. The. former gives reasons for thinking that the
_pressure.in the, photosphere is extremely low, so that
pressure may be eliminated as a disturbing factor.
Using forty-two.iron lines, selected as not subject to
pole effect, he obtains a shift equivalent to a recession
of 0:643 km./sec. at the sun’s centre and 1-000 at the
’ limb. . But observations of Venus at various elonga-
tions support the idea that this is not an Einstein
effect, but a shift of all regions of the sun away from
the earth. It is remarked that it is difficult to accept
this as a physical reality, but no other explanation
has yet been found. He notes that some of the
carbon lines give an-effect similar to the iron ones,
but somewhat smaller. The effect seems to vary for
different substances, and even for different lines of the
same substance, so that some modifying influence is
at work.
Mr. St. John recapitulates his well-known investiga-
tion. in which he used certain lines of the cyanogen
band; he then describes his recent work on mag-
nesium and iron lines.. He finds from their weighted
mean a displacement of the same sign as the Einstein
prediction, but of only one-third or one-fourth of its
‘amount. Mr. St. Tohn notes, however, that the dis-
placement varies with the intensity of the lines, beins
greatest for lines either of verv great or very small
intensity. As the majority of the lines measured are
of medium intensity, the weighted mean is reduced.
He also notes that no lines have been used which
seemed unsuitable for the purpose, owing either to
their proximity to others or to their instability in the
arc spectrum,
' STELLAR SPECTROSCOPY AT THE DETROIT ORSERVA-
ToRY.—Vol. ii. of the Publications of this observatory,
belonging to the University. of Michigan, has lately
been distributed, and contains a sreat. number of
‘interesting studies of stellar spectra. Two may be
instanced in particular: the study of variable. stars;
of Class Md, by Mr. Paul ‘W. ‘Merrill, traces the |
changes of spectra that-accompany the change of
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
‘variation,
light, and discusses various suggestions. of. the: cause
of. variability. The one favoured by the: author; is
somewhat analogous to the “geyser” theory, but,
instead of imagining a solid or viscous crust imprison-
ing the gases within, he substitutes a smoke-veil com-
posed of condensing gases (calcium is especially sug-
-gested) in the upper regions of the stellar atmosphere.
This would act as a screen confining the heat of the
photosphere, until the accumulation of heat sufficed
to vaporise the screen. When the solid-crust.
was propounded these stars were thought to be near
the end of their careers as suns, but from the small-
ness of their proper motions it now appears that they
are mostly giants. rs aber
' The other paper, by Mr. Laurence Hadley, deals
with the elements. of ( Ursz Majoris, the» first
spectroscopic binary discovered. The orbit is fully
discussed from several series of observations.
period is 20:53644 days, the eccentricity is 0518, and
the masses of the componentsxsin*i are respectively
1:83 and 1-79 in terms of the sun. It is noted, that
Prof.. Joel Stebbins finds no evidence of light
Meteorology at Hong - Kong. sa Z
M ONTHLY Meteorological Bulletins for the Royal
- Observatory at Hong-Kong for a considerable
period to August, 1919, have recently been received.
They contain detailed results of observations made at
the observatory and the daily weather reports from
various stations in the Far East, prepared under the
direction of Mr. F. Claxton. For Hong-Kong
hourly values are given of- barometric pressure, tem-
perature of the air and evaporation, . direction .and
velocity of wind, amount of rainfall, and duration of
sunshine. All. the hourly observations are measured
from the self-registering records. Three-hourly ob-
servations are made of the character and direction of
motion of the clouds. Daily values are also given of
the several meteorological elements. The normals used
for comparison with the means are for the years. 1884
to 1918, a period of thirty-five years. From 1916. the
daily and mean hourly values of the principal meteoro-
logical records have been published in both C.G.S. and
British units, and with the January Bulletins tables
are given for the conversion of the several elements to
the respective units. Information is also supplied for
the reduction and correction of the instrumental ob-
servations. The December Bulletins give tracks of
typhoons and depressions in the Far East for the
year, and the divergence in the several months is well
shown. With the Daily Weather Reports, which contain
observations from forty-five stations in the Far East,
notices are given of the warning to coast ports, which
commonly state the position of typhoons when such
are in progress, and forecasts are given daily for the
twenty-four hours ending at noon. oa des
The annual report for.1917 contains, a comparison
of the Beckley anemograph with the Dines instrument,
extending over eight years; the differences are remark-
ably consistent until the summer of 1917; when for
some unexplained reason, although noticed, the -differ-
ences vary. A Richard dry- and wet-bulb thermo-
‘graph has been set up to replace the Kew phe en.
thermograph. In section ix. reference is: made
sympiesometer observations, and hourly observations
are said to have been made for upwards of a year to
test the popular belief in the sympiesometer as a
weather forecaster. The remarks scarcely seem to
refer to a sympiesometer, which was essentially. a
sailor’s barometer in the first half’ of the nineteen
‘century. It seems rather that ‘the instrument test
' ’ AAS
{ .
rt es
‘APRIL. 22,1920]
MATORE
245
_ jis a camphor glass or chemical weather: glass, long
_ acknowledged to be of-no real scientific value. The
_ report for 1918 deals with the corrections to be applied
_ to the readings of an unaspirated wet-bulb thermo-
_ meter in an “‘ Indian”’ shelter to reduce them to those
_ of an aspirated thermometer at definite wind velocities
_ and for different depressions of the wet bulb. With
_ the lighter wind velocities, of 1-5 m.p.h., and for the
ger depressions of the wet bulb, say amounting to
_ ‘wet bulb amounts to 1° or slightly more.
on nd three hundred. and seventy-five observations
_ have been dealt with, but as yet no definite scheme
has been decided upon. The matter has been con-
o in correspondence with the British Meteoro-
a : Milk Production of Ayrshire Cattle.
a 8 Made critical genetic study of a character such as
rs Bitly at of milk production in cattle, which is
be needy out effectively until a fairly comprehensive
knowledge of the normal variation of the character
has been acquired. To this end Prof. Raymond Pearl
and Mr. J. R. Miner have carried out a biometrical
_ analysis of the normal individual variation in the
milk flow and the fat content of the milk of Ayrshire
_ eattle, the results of which are summarised in a con-
tribution to the Journal of Agricultural Research
(vol. xvii., No. 6). Their study is based on the records
of Ayrshire cattle for the years 1908 and 1909 pub-
_ lished in the reports of the Ayrshire Cattle Milk
_ Records Committee of Scotland, more than three
_ thousand records in each year being used for the
i . Amongst the many important conclusions
‘ arrived at mention may be made of the indications
_ that about one-half of the observed variation in milk-
_ production results from the varying genotypic indi-
_ viduality of the animals with respect to this character,
_ the remainder resulting from varying environmental
_ influences. The udder as a secreting organ is com-
_ pared with the oviduct of a hen, and it is shown that
_ the latter operates with somewhat less variability than
_ the former, having regard to the absolute weight of
the product in the two cases.
The change in mean weekly yield of milk with
_ advancing age is found to be represented by a
_ logarithmic curve, the absolute amount of milk pro-
_ duced per unit of time increasing, though at a decreas-
ing rate, with the age of the cow to a maximum,
_ found to decline with advancing age until the tenth
ey
The Ignition Points of Liquid Fuels.
N a paper read before the Institution of Petroleum
2 Technologists on January 20, Mr. Harold
Moore described a number of determinations of
the ignition point of commercial fuels which are, or
_ might be, used in internal-combustion engines. His
signe meter, somewhat similar in principle to that
_ from below, in the upper surface of which a hollow
eats. The air or oxygen suppl
_ is given by a resistance thermometer placed in a hole
_ drilled in the block near the crucible. A
NO. 2624. VOL. 10]
_ 6°=-10°, the subtractive correction to the unaspirated ,
Three
subject to environmental influences, cannot be .
_ which was found to be when the cow is ten to eleven |
: mans old. The mean fat percentage of the milk was
oh ot the cow’s life, after which it remains about ©
constant. :
_ designed by Holm, consists of a steel block, heated
is made to take a crucible of platinum, nickel, or
| passes through a_
_ hole in the block before entering the crucible, so as to.
goa it to the temperature of the crucible, which |
cover to-
protect the crucible from draughts is screwed on to
the block, and a. drop of the liquid fuel is introduced
through a-hole in :this cover and falls on to’ the
bottom of the crucible. After an interval, more or less
prolonged, an explosion is heard and a flame seen if
the temperature is above the ignition point. This
interval may be as long as thirty seconds or more, ard
there is no doubt that quiet combustion takes place
during this period, and such combustion is’. very
marked in the case of ether. On the other hand,-the
evaporation of the drops of liquid must produce local
cooling, and, unless the fuel is quite homogeneous, ‘the
ignition point found must in many cases be ‘that of
the last portion to evaporate. 3
But, in spite of certain inherent defects, the method
gives-a valuable comparative test of different fuels—a
tést which is quick and easy to apply.
Mr. Moore recommends the use of ordinary: com-
pressed oxygen instead of air as giving more con-
cordant results and as having a concentration: at
atmospheric pressures more nearly like that used: in
motor engines. Most hydrocarbon liquids tested: invair
gave ignition points from 100° C: to 200° C. higher
than in oxygen; but, curiously’ enough, Mr.: Moore
found that in an atmosphere containing 70 per cent.
of carbon dioxide and 30 per cent. of oxygen the igni-
tion point of kerosene was almost the same as in pure
oxygen. A few ignition points from Mr. Moore’s lists
may be quoted: ny
Ignition Point.
Fuel In oxygen ip aie
Taxibus spirit (Anglo-American
Oil Co.) %.. ee ny ey o 396
Anglo-Persian oil ... 254 408
Anglo-Mexican oil 259 417
Normal hexane 287 —
Benzene is ote 620 =
Ethyl alcohol us 395 518
Ether (methylated) 190 347.
: In silica
crucible
Hydrogen» e630 0 — .. 678
In the case of mixtures of two liquids of. very
different ignition points the addition of about 20 per
cent. of the more easily inflammable liquid. suffices
to reduce the temperature substantially to that‘ of the
lower constituent; for instance, the addition of 20 per
cent. of ether (ignition point 206°) to xylol (ignition
point §55°) reduced the ignition point of the: mixture
to 2 ;
Naval Research and Experiment, .
oe ensure that the full benefits of science shall be
secured to the Naval Service, a Department of
Scientific Research and Experiment has been set up
under the Third Sea Lord and Controller. As the
Scientific Adviser of the Admiralty, and in charge of
this Department, Mr. F. E. Smith, F.R.S., has been
appointed with the title of Director of Scientific
Research. It is the duty of the Department to keep
the Navy in touch with outside scientific establish-
ments and to ensure that the work at the vatious
naval experimental establishments proceeds with full
cognisance of scientific progress and methods. The
Director of Scientific Research will work in close
association with the Naval Staff, thus ensuring that
naval policy is framed with due consideration of the
possible practical applications of scientific progress
in relation to naval needs, and enabling requirements
as to types and weapons to be formulated ‘with ‘a
knowledge of the latest scientific possibilities.
246
NATURE
[ApRIL* 22, 1920
Consultations with outside scientific institutions will
be resorted to, both to ensure against overlapping and
with the view of utilising such of their researches
and experiments as appear likely to prove of value
to the Naval Service.
At present there exists under the Department a
naval research laboratory at Shandon. This estab-
lishment was set up during the war with the primary
object of investigating methods of counteracting the
enemy’s submarine menace. It has performed, and
is performing, good service; but Shandon is a great
distance from the experimental schools, the various
scientific institutions, and the Admiralty, and it has
therefore been decided that, so soon as_ suitable
accommodation can be provided elsewhere, such of
the work as requires sea environment, together with
the. scientific personnel associated with . it, will be
removed to a suitable existing naval establishment,
and the remainder, which does not in its early stages
require a sea environment, will be transferred to a
naval research institute. This institute, under the
Director of Scientific Research. will adjoin the
National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. It will
be, entirely controlled. by the Admiralty, but its close
association with the National Physical Laboratory will
offer, exceptional facilities for co-operation, and the
staff of the research institute will have the advantage
of personal acquaintance with the work being carried
out at the laboratory. The Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research will be consulted in all cases
when, the results of investigations are likely to be of
use to the general community.
To ensure effective co-operation and contact with
naval thought, naval officers will frequently visit the
research institute, and the scientific staff will work
for lengthy periods at naval establishments, and at
times .go to sea
itt
$
Education and Science in the. Civil Service
na Estimates for 1920-21. .
PHE Estimates for Civil Services for the year
“ending March 31, 1921 (Class IV.: Education,
Science, and Art), have now been published. Among
the increased grants compared with ‘those of last -year
aré’:-Board of Education,’ 12,983,094l.; British
Museum, 74,519l.; Scientific Investigation, etc.,
81,4421. ; Scientific and Industrial Research, 246,845]. ;
Public Education (Scotland), 2,200, oool. ; Public
Education (Ireland), 185,735l.; and Science and Art
(freland), 20,9171. As the Geological Museum and
Geological Survey are now under the Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research, their grants of
7560l.: and 30,0431. respectively represent part of the
increase of 246,845]. to that Department. The grant
for scholarships, exhibitions, and other allowances to
students in technical schools and colleges is increased
from 17,460l. to. 34,3501. In addition, there are new
grants of 15,000l. for scholarships tenable at universi-
ties, and expenses incidental to them, and 250,o00l.
to local education authorities for maintenance allow-
ances at places of higher education. The_ total
amount of the grants in aid of universities, colleges,
medical schools, and like institutions in the United
Kingdom is, about 1,000,000. ; there is also a special
grant -o 196, oool.. for extraordinary expenditure. . The
grant’ for assistance ‘towards the higher education : of
ex-officers and men of, like. standing is. 3,000,0001.,
compared. with: 2,000,000. for. 1919-20.,.. The grant
undér the Royal Society shows | an. increase of: gogol.,
and includes 2000l. for subscriptions to international
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
research associations.
details are extracted from the Estimates :—
SyNopsIs.
United Kingdom and England.
Board of Education ... scan
British Museum odie ie oe 204,233
National Gallery Keb von eet 29,95
National Portrait Gallery “9,824
Wallace Collection 15,953
London Museum . 5412
Imperial War Museum 50,000
Scientific Investigation, etc. : 208,416
Scientific and Industrial Research — 518,208
Universities and Colleges, United Ring. ba Desd
dom, and Intermediate spe ee!
“Wales a 7 +s" "" 945,'700
Universities, etc. 4 Special Grants .: | | 196,000
Serbian Relief Fund (maintenance and °
education of Lineal Serbians in this :
‘ country) ‘ 25,000
Scotland, ag,
Public Education ... Wee
National Galleries 000 2. 1. aS ete
Ireland.
Public Education 8,371
Intermediate Education af 3398.97
Endowed Schools Commissioners | : 1,042
National Gallery Bs V a as 4,650
Science and Art ee : ; | 211415
Universities and Colleges “86,000
3 Bison
DETAILs.
Scientific Investigation, etc.
Royal Society : : Faerie eee:
Fe ay s%.-
(i) ‘Grant in’ aid of :— ? yee
Scientific investigations under- ig
taken with the sanction of
a Committee appointed for
the purpose (including non-
recurrent grant of 5o000l.) ...11,000
Scientific publications +++ 1,000
Subscriptions to international
research associations . 2,000
14,6
(ii) Grant in aid of salaries and other
expenses of the erie Oye mr ne
at Eskdalemuir 1,000
Total for Royal Soctuty | na 15,000
Royal Geographical Society eh 1,250
Marine Biological Association ‘of the seen
United Kingdom ... fe oy 1,000
Royal Society of Edinburgh - Wee ee Hho G00
Scottish Meteorological Society... Peace. - 100
Royal Irish Academy cen anes 1,600
Royal Irish Academy of Music i. se 300
Royal Zoological Society of Ireland ~... 500
Royal Hibernian Academy ys 300
British School’ at Athens .... ... A uate 500
British School at Rome. Wenig 500
Royal Scottish Geographical. Society. sk 200.
National. Library of Wales Bip 12,000
National- Museum of Wales). ss. .+y. 253500
Solar: pie Observatory, +. soc. cgcjeane feet *GaOO9
North Séa ‘Fisheries. Investigation vee“ © 1,250
Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau , ... ., - 104750
The subjoined summary _ 08
APRIL. 22, 1920]
QWATURE 247
a
it &
demy of Music... - «.. cada 500
¥ oan Nady (AG Sits ar ARES AL eee a 506
_ Medical Research Council . bee 125,000
- British Institute of Industrial Art : 5,500
Edinburgh Observatory... Mice) Sed 2,506
f ries, wages, and allowances 29,235
_ Travelling and incidental expenses 1,950
_ Grants for Investigation and Research :
) Investigations carried out by learned |
and scientific societies, etc. ... 13,800
emeeerieations: directly controlled by
_ the Department of Scientific and In-
dustrial Research 40,928
(3) Students and other persons ¢ engaged
in research 38,300
(4), Expenses of Research Boards for co-
ordination of Government research . 200,000
"3 Total 293,028
_ Fuel Research Station 40,882
_ Geological Museum ... 7,5
_ Geological Survey of Great Britain. 30,043
; wscmnaed Physical pewwreais! 203,000
jations in Aid :—
tions of co-operating bodies ... 1,550
erat of unexpended balance of grants = ——-300
i Testing fees at Fuel Research Station .. 1,000
| gs of x oxmmaed at Fuel Research
7 _ Station 2,500
ay | Testing fees at the National Physical
___ Laboratory, charges for special inves-
4 tions, and yments by the Road
a rd, India Office, etc., for services
rendered by the National ws
t Laboratory 55,000
e- Balance of accrued interest at March 31,
_ ‘1g21, on the Fund of the Imperial
‘Trust for the encouragement of
scientific and industrial research, for»
which 1,000, was voted’ ins
1917-18 aS ae Ng 27,050
Total for Appropriations in Aid 87,400
Universities and Colleges, United Kingdom.
“Birmin BUMEMIEY. axe, ded es aes 35,000
re Gg rene bes sad yee 17,000
Bristol Merchant Venturers’ Technical . °
© 2,000
: “Cambridge University, Medical Depart.
ment ... +500
Durham University -. NUE et ae 2,000
Durham, Armstron College sie eRe as COS
Durham College of Medicine... «1. - 3,800
= University | sya Wageieas 33,000
1 01 University beeen ¢ 40,000
Lon niversi Sade ae 8,000
in, Bedford College aie 13,000
Be, aig East London College... 11,000
es Imperial College of Science and
echnology 52,000
5 King’s College, Household and :
Bo, Science Department... 4,000
x King’s College, including King’ s
College for Women _... ir 25,000
1 Services rendered without payment for other Government on
( estimated as follows Admiralty, 7,5007. ; a Baw ail
:Z alpen, 7,0002, ; War Office, 2,150. ; ;H.M tee of Works:
1. s00/. ; -of Trade, 1, cool. ; Works undertaken at te - edeel of the
| ae 8,000/. |
% NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
London, School’ of Economics ‘ robes
* School of Oriental Studies 4,000
Fe University College : ae 39,000
“y, | Westfield College ... 3,000
ea Charing Cross Hospital “Medical
’ ~ School é ; 1,000
oe King’s College Hospital Medical -
School 3 700
re London Hospital Medical College 6,000
MB Middlesex Hospital Medical
+3 School .. 2,000
4 Royal Dental Hospital, School of
Dental Surgery ... 1,000
oF (Royal Free Hospital), School of
Medicine for Women ... 4,000
Pe St. Bartholomew’s Hospital
Medical School ... 5,000
Pe St. George’s Hospital “Medical
Schoo: ="... 700
4 St. Mary’s Hospital “Medical
School rep T,900°
i St. Thomas’s Hospital “Medical
School __... at ‘4,500
43 School of Tropical "Medicine beac EOS
“ University ~ College akg sa b fet
Medical School ... 4,000
a Westminster Tear “Medical
School as ; aa ‘300
Manchester University 40,000
Manchester College of Technology. 7,000
Nottin a a University College I1¥,000
Oxford University Engineering Depart
ment ... = ; ‘500
Reading University College 12,000
Sheffield University ... 21,000
Southampton University College 5,000
Total England 461,000
University of Wales ... Oe Be 6,500
Aberystwyth University College 14,000
Bangor University College 14,000
Cardiff University College ... 18,000
Total Wales 52,500
Edinburgh University 53,000
Glasgow University .. ave 48,000
Glasgow Royal Technical College 3,000
Aberdeen University .. 32,000
St. Andrews University, including Dundee ee
University College .. eS div poe 29,000
Total Scotland? 165,000
Belfast, Queen’s University 8,000
Cork University College 6,000
Dublin University College 10,000
Galway University College 3,000
Total Ireland * jae me 27,000
Universities and Colleges; United King-
dom, unallocated grant i hs 210,500
Total for Universities and ~
Colleges, United Bit,
Grant in Aid * ; 916,000
2 This sum includes 42,000/. payable to Scottish Universities under
Section 25 of the Universities (Scotland) Act, 1889. and is in addition to an
annual sum of 30,000/. payable to these Universities from the Local
Taxation (Scotland) Account under Section 2(2) of the Education and Local
Taxation Account (Scotland) Act, 1892.
3 In addition to 84.000/. provided in’ Class IV., 18
4 This sum, together with 84,000/ provided in Class IV., 18, is intended
to raise to 1,000,000/. the total eg of the grants paid out of. the
Exchequer during the year 1920-21 for ses maintenance red University:
Anstitutions in the United’ Kingdom,
s
548
[APRIL 22, 1920
The Native Tribes of Western Australia.
A? a meeting of the Royal Anthropological Institute
on April 13, Sir Everard im ‘Churn, president,
in the chair, Mr. G. O. Neville read a paper on ‘‘ The
Aborigines of Western Australia: Their Treatment
and Care.’’ In introducing the speaker, the president
laid stress upon the importance of papers dealing
with the practical side of native questions. It was
often said that the Government did not assist scientific
societies enough, but he was sometimes in doubt
whether scientific societies on their side gave sufficient
assistance to the Government. ;
Mr. Neville said that the aborigines of Western
Australia were most numerous in the north, diminish-
ing as they came nearer civilisation, until almost extinct
where the’ white man has lived since the early days of
occupation. By nature a nomadic race, they live by
hunting alone and cultivate nothing. . They com-
municate with each other by means of a cipher, intel-
ligible only to themselves, cut upon message sticks, or
Bambarro, the bearer of which is granted a safe
passage through hostile tribes. Numbers of crude
figures, representations of beasts, birds, or reptiles,
are to be found drawn in coloured pigments upon’ flat
rocks or inside caves in the far north. The gradual
disappearance of the natives continues unceasingly, in
spite of constant effort. This is due to change of
- food, their hunting-grounds being occupied by the
squatter, and the necessity: for their having to clothe
themselves and live more or less under shelter. The
aborigines do not believe that any person dies a
natural death, but suopose the deceased to have been
boulyaed (bewitched) by some member. of another
tribe,, and it becomes the duty of -a near relative,
generally a brother of the dead person, selected by
the Bulyas or medicine-men, to avenge his death by
killing. the supposed murderer-or. another one of the
tribe to which the murderer is supposed to belong.
One of the-most remarkable means of disposing of
the ‘dead, known as the stone system, occurs in the
north: There the body of the dead person is elevated
to'a platform of sticks built in a tree, a layer of large
stones’ being placed immediately beneath the body.
‘The* stones. represent individuals who might have
caused the death of the victim;. and if the fat from
the body, evaporating in the heat of the sun, falls
upon any stone, the individual represented by that
‘stone is the one unon whom vengeance will sooner or
later fall at the hands of the near relatives of the
‘deceased person. If no fat falls, a near relative will,
-after the removal of the body to an adjacent ant-heap,
where only the bones are soon remaining, sleep upon
‘the pile, and it will be revealed to him in a dream
‘which is the selected stone.
‘No. native can be employed except under a permit
issued by a Protector. Generally speaking, the treat-
ment of Western Australian natives at the hands of
their employers leaves little to he desired. The
Aborigines Act provides the necessary machinerv for
bringing offenders to book. The Chief Protector being
constituted by law the. legal guardian: of every
aboriginal and half-casté child until the age of sixteen,
it is possible to remove any child from undesirable
surroundings. Some eighty Protectors,
. Chief Protector, are resident in various parts of the
‘State where there are. natives.. Seventy Government
relief “stations provide assistance’ for indigent and
‘destitute natives. .The Devartment owns cattle settle-
‘ments in Kimberley, and two farming and industrial
‘settlements have been established recently in the south
‘for the reception of indigent.and aged people, with
‘$nécial provision for’ the care: and training«of orphan —
‘children. The reserves uvon which these settlemerits
NO. 2634, VOL. 105]
under the.
are established are for the natives only, and whites, —
other than the staff employed, are rigidly excluded by
law. The provision of medical attendance has been the
special care of the State; all natives receive free
advice, medicine, and hospital treatment in ‘case of
sickness. The nine mission stations’ in Western Aus-
tralia, nearly all subsidised by the State, have done
useful work, especially in the care and rescue of
children. Though the people are dwindling away, the
work of the Department must go on, in the hope that
the last days of a dying race can be made the easier.
and happier. i ema
In declaring the subject open for discussion, the
president said that the cause of the decrease in a native
population when it came into contact with civilisation
was its failure to adapt its psychological constitution
to changed circumstances. \
Dr. Corney said that as a result of his experience
in dealing with immigrant labour—male only—in Fiji,
he had arrived at the conclusion that the type of soil
had an important effect on certain groups; for
instance, an alluvial soil was fatal to Gilbert Islanders
and Solomon Islanders, although the former throve
on sandy soil, such as that of the islands on which
coconuts were grown, and the latter made excellent,
sailors. It was also evident that all were peculiarly.
susceptible to. the attacks of micro-organisms from
which the European population was to some extent
immune, as shown by the virulence of the epidemics
of measles and influenza. .
Mr. N. W. Thomas pointed out that Pater Schmidt
has shown that in the north mode of burial and lan-
guage coincide in distribution, and asked whether the
distribution of drawings also coincided with platform
burial and language. hs Be
Prof. Arthur Keith said that if we were placed
in the Australian desert and asked to live the life of
the aborigines, he doubted whether we would survive.
Would we not rather die as they die in our environ-
ment? When they were brought into contact with
our civilisation we asked them to make a jump of
perhaps two thousand generations within a lifetime;
to change at once from the life of a prince to that of
civilisation, the life of a horse in a mill. The govern-
ing factor in deciding the fate of native populations
lav in the domain of psychology. Here the man of
science came into touch with the. practical problem,
for he was trying to understand the back of the black
man’s mind. ea teeae
_ Miss Freire-Marreco compared the measures adopted
in Western Australia with those which had been fol-
lowed in the United States of America, especially in
relation to the dying out of the native races. Until
about ten vears ago the native races there had
diminished ranidly. Since then, however, the Indian
population had been on the uv-grade, owing largely to
the attention paid by the Central Government to the
food-supply and the checking of tuberculosis and other
diseases by isolation and the inculcation of sanitary
and hygienic rules: area :
t
- University and Educational Intelligence.
_ Mr. F. A. Heron has given to Queen’s University,
Belfast, the sum of soool. to provide the necessary
equipment for teaching physical chemistry, and toool.
towards the provision ‘of accommodation for the —
department. £° Came ee: ee, 7.
' In: connection: with the: faculty of .medicine. of the
University of Birmingham, a’ course of ten weekly
lectures. (free, to. medical .men). on ..‘ Principles © of
Psychotherapy”? is to be given =by *Dr.<W,
€
“APRIL: 22, 1920]
“NATURE
249
Jougall;, F.R.S:, in the medical school buildings
the University, beginning on Friday, April 30.
Tue subject’ for the Jacksonian prize of the Royal
ge of Surgeons of England for 1921 is ‘The
logy, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Tuberculous
of the Spinal Column with its Complica-
APpLicaTions for not more. than three Ramsay
emo. fellowships for chemical research will be
idered by the trustees at the end of June, next.
must be received by, at latest, June 15. by Dr.
'. Seton, organising secretary, Ramsay Memorial
d, University College, Gower Street, W.C.1.
e fellowships will each. be of the annual value of
. with, pe, a grant of not more than 5ol.
a or expenses, and.tenable for two years,
th the possible extension of a year. :
Dr. J. H. Anprew has been appointed to the chair
metallurgy in the Royal Technical College, -Glas-
_ gow, vacant by the transfer of Dr. Desch to the Uni-
oat
if
. es ane wa am class honours — in
am. ye listry. After research work in metallurgy, he
_ received the M.Sc. degree in 1908, and was RE
the Dalton scholarship. He continued metallurgical
‘investigations in the University laboratories until
_ 1914, Was appointed research fellow and. demon-
_ strator in 1910, and Carnegie scholar of the Iron and
_ Steel Institute. He received the degree of D.Sc. in
1915. Since June, 1914, Dr. Andrew has been chief of
_ the Metallurgical Research Department of Sir W. G.
_ Armstrong, itworth, and Co., Ltd., Manchester,
ind has gained a wide experience in the metallurgical
industry, having had unlimited scope for studying
practice and for research. -His publications include a
_-number of important papers presented to the leading
. Metallurgical societies. - . ser
me hit 5 : iy
toaar
Societies
and Academies.
__. Royal Microscopical Society, .March 17.—Prof. John
_ Eyre, president, in the chair.—T. E.. Wallis : The Lyco-
_ podium method of quantitative. microscopy. Various
_ methods have. been devised by. different workers in an
_ attempt to find a satisfactory method of making. deter-
_ minations of percentage composition by means of the
mi Be, most trustworthy of these require
_ specially constructed apparatus and are applicable in
certain instances only.. The, Lycopodium method is
simple in principle, and with slight modifications may
_ be used for all kinds of problems.. The only apparatus
-needed is such as is used. in ordinary. microscopical
_ work. The results are correct to within 10 per cent.
_ of the amount to be determined; they can therefore. be
utilised with the same confidence as is the case with
_ results obtained by many well-known chemical opera-
tions having a similar range of error.—C. Da Fano:
_ Method for the demonstration of the Golgi apparatus
in nervous and other tissues. The author has’ been
-able to obtain a fairly constant staining of this
' peculiar intracellular formation by substituting cobalt
_for uranium nitrate in a formula originally proposed
for
4 he ‘Spanish biologist, S.-Ramon y Cajal. - Da
_-Fano’s modification can be easily applied to all sorts
& of tissues, as proved by an interesting series of quite
demonstrative microscopic preparations: and © lantern
_ slides shown at the meeting. Another step has thus
_ been taken in the study of. the “internal apparatus”’
discovered by Golgi in 1898, the functions of. which,
_ however, ‘still remain quite. mysterious to biologists
_.and physiologists. eae att 9 balasht a4
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
‘a
_ versity: of Sheffield. Dr. Andrew graduated in Man- |
Linnean Society, March, 18.—Dr.._A. Smith Wood.
| ward, president, in the chair.—-Prof. J. Small: ~The
chemical reversal of geotropic response in roots and
stems. .It was stated that when roots are placed hori-
zontally in a moist atmosphere rendered very faintly
alkaline. by ammonia vapour they tend to grow
upwards. When stems are treated in a similar way
with acetic acid vapour they tend to grow downwards.
These experiments form preliminary confirmation of
a theory of geotropic curvature which has been
elaborated as a correlation of previous work on the
electrical conductivity of roots with data accumulated
by other investigators. ; ; :
Aristotelian Society, March 22.—Prof. Wildon Carr in
the ‘chair.—Clement C. J. Webb: Obligation, auto-
nomy, and the common good. . It was contended that
the notion of obligation in which Kant rightly found
the essential feature of our moral consciousness cannot
be directly derived (as Green seems to suppose) from
the notion of a ‘“‘common good’’; that, on. the. con-
trary, the notion of a ‘‘common. good,’ and the
closely connected notion. of a “‘ general will,’’ derives
its significance for ethics, and eventually for. politics
also, from its connection with the notion of obliga-
tion; and that this makes it necessary for any. truly
ethical conception of the State to retain the idea. of
‘‘authority,’’ as ascertained, indeed, through the
general will, because only thus can it be recognised
as authority—viz. the community for itself; not, how-
ever, as in itself merely the result of the general. will,
but as the expression of.an absolute factor | therein,
which perhaps may be best described as. the. sove-
reignty of God. .To the thought expressed in, Kant’s
choice of the word ‘‘autonomy”’ to express the status
of the good will may be traced along one. line..of
‘descent the ‘anti-authoritarian tendency in ‘:contem-
porary ethics and politics. ue hf CPE QF
_ Geological Society, March 24.—Mr. R. D. Oldham,
president, in the chair—Mrs. Eleanor M. Reid : Two
pre-Glacial floras from Castle Eden (County’ Durham).
The seeds examined were obtained by Dr. C. T
Trechmann from pre-Glacial clays, found in fissures of
the Magnesian Limestone at Castle Eden:':: The clays
-were carried by the Scandinavian ice from the area
now covered by the North Sea. The ‘study proved ‘the
presence of two seed-bearing clays of different -ages,
the earlier being undoubtedly Pliocene. The Pliocene
age is confirmed by M. P. Lesne, who determined the
inséct remains found intermingled with the seeds.
While the’ work was in progréss material ‘from’ the
base of the Pliocéne of Pont de Gail (Cantal) gave
knowledge for the first time ‘of a seed flora of known
age, low down in the ‘Pliocene; ‘it showed that the
rate of change in the character of the West European
Pliocene flora was slower than had been suggested
‘by Clement Reid and the author. A critical’ compari-
son was made between the Cromerian,:Teglian,
Castle Eden, Reuverian, and Pont de Gail floras: on
the bases of the percentages of all exotics, and. of
Chinese-North American exotics—that is, plants now
inhabiting the Fat East of Asia or North America, but
-not Western Europe—in each flora. The result proved
‘the Reuverian to be Lower Pliocene, not ton of the
Middle Pliocene (as formerly susgested),- and the
Castle Eden flora to be Middle: Pliocene. «: Therefore
‘a-study of fossil’ seeds had made it possible. to -dis-
criminate between strata intimately mixed in-situ, and
to determine their geological age when unknown.-—
‘Mrs. Eleanor M. Reid: A comparative review. of
| Pliocene floras, based on the study of fossil seeds." By
_ plotting as a curve the percentages of all exotiés, and
~of Chinese-North American exotics, froth the five
i floras (see above paper), it was found that all lay
(2 50
NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
Ziskun
along a smooth curve, part of which indicated changes
in the:Pliocene‘and part in the Miocene... From this curve
certain deductions are drawn, namely: (1) The study
of living and’ fossil seeds can lead to accurate specific
determinations. (2): The study of fossil seeds is as
accurate a method of determining geological age as is
palzontology, and the age indicated for the Reuverian
and Castle . Eden: floras is approximately correct.
(3) The destruction and supplanting of the Chinese-
North American exotic flora began about the Middle
Miocene, at the time when the great European and
Asiatic Alpine ranges attained their maximum uplift;
but it was to these trans-continental barriers that
Clement Reid and the author attributed the exter-
mination of this flora. Therefore, the curve gives
strong and independent confirmation of the truth of
their theory, and is in accord with the findings of
stratigraphy and palzontology. (4) The curve indi-
cates an incoming flora—the present flora of Western
Europe and, in part, of Central and Southern Europe
—which first appeared in the Miocene. Of this the
aquatic element is now chiefly circumpolar in distribu-
tion, whereas the drv-soil element mainly centres in
the Himalayas. (5) The incoming flora only in part
survived in Western Eurove; the destruction became
greater after the Middle Pliocene; the cause of this
is unknown. ‘
CAMBRIDGE.
Philosophical Society, February 23.—Mr. C. T. R.
Wilson, president, in the chair.—Prof. Seward: : The
origin of the vegetation of the land. A brief con-
‘sideration of questions raised by Dr. A. H. Church
in a recent memoir on ‘‘ Thalassiophyta and the Sub-
aerial Transmigration ’’ (Oxford, 1919). ‘The be-
ginnings of botany are in the sea.’’ Life evolved
from the ionised water of a continuous world-ocean
two miles in depth. The plankton epoch; unicellular.
free-floating plants. The Benthic epoch was initiated
when portions of the earth’s crust rose to within the
reach of light and plants were able to establish them-
selves on the ocean-floor. Development during the
Benthic epoch of complex anchored marine plants.
The epoch of the land flora began with the emergence
of areas of land and the transference of plants from
the hydrosphere to the-.atmosphere::
MANCHESTER.
Literary and Philosophical Society, March - 2.—Sir
Henry A. Miers, president, in the chair.—W. J.
Perry: The search for gold and pearls in Neolithic
times. Further research on the distributions of early
sites of civilisation and of the sources of gold and
pearls has produced a mass of evidence to substantiate
and enlarge the thesis of an earlier paper bv the
author on ‘‘ Megalithic Monuments and Ancient Mines.”’
The evidence now suggests that not only megalithic
monuments, but also early sites in general. marked the
settlements of seekers after gold and pearls, amber and
purple having also played their part in attracting
strangers. These settlements are mostly localised in
the basins of rivers containing gold or pearl-bearing
mussels, and the distribution man shows that the
early seekers for these objects did not allow much
to escape them. Further inquiry will be necessary in
order to determine the precise age when this search
began:—C. L. Barnes: Ejinstein’s theory of space and
time.
EDINBURGH.
Royal Society, March 1.—Prof. F. O. Bower,
president. in the. chair.—Prof. J. C. Ewart: The
nestling’ feathers of birds. -This paper embodied cer-
tain facts:of observation in regard to the development :
of nestling feathers which did not’ harmonise with |
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 |
the view generally taken that feathers were originally : :
developed out of scales. Three facts of fundamental
importance should be borne in mind: (1) The geo-
logical record has hitherto told us nothing about the
evolution of feathers; (2) the embryological record
affords no evidence in support of the view that scales
grew longer and lighter and, after much spreading
and splitting, became feathers; and (3) the true
feathers of modern birds are, as a rule, derived from
small umbels consisting at the outset of barbs, which
result from the splitting of the intermediate layer of
cells of a simple dermic papilla similar to the papillz
of the tongue of ducks. A study of simple nestling
feathers (prepenne) leads one to believe that the
plumage of primeval birds consisted of umbels
(protoptiles) which differed but little from the bundles
of hair found in the jerboa and. certain other
mammals, or of umbels consisting of barbs armed
with barbules, as in the feathers forming the first
nestling coat of penguins, or of feathers with prac-
tically all the structures now associated with true
feathers. In course of ‘time feathers of a ‘different
tvpe were evolved, which, as they grew, pushed from
the skin, and for a time carried on their tips the
feathers of the first generation. The second kind of
feathers (mesoptiles) are now well represented in
penguins and in the emu, and a remnant is still
found in ducks and geese; whether the body of
Archzeoptervx was clothed with protoptiles or with
mesoptiles or with plumose feathers it is impossible
to say. When all the facts recently established by a
study of the development of feathers are duly con-
sidered, there is no escape from the conclusion that
the wing-quills are only highly specialised nestling
feathers, and that it is inconceivable that the first
nestling feathers were formed out of scales.—Dr.
J. M‘Lean' Thompson: New stelar facts and their
bearing on stelar theories for the ferns. In order to
know how the complicated vascular system of adult
ferns came into existence, knowledge of individual
development was necessary. This has now been
traced by sections in a number of specially chosen
cases, and the results reconstructed into diagrams
showing the individual advance. This involves ‘the
formation of a pith, inner phloém, inner endodermis,
and. frequently, in the early stages of development,
pockets of outer endodermis. These tissues are new
creations within the vascular system formed by a static
change of quality of the elements from the growing
point. The solenostele and other higher forms of the
vascular svstem arise by further modification of the
structures thus acauired. This involves the formation
of gaps in the vascular system, through which the
pith and cortex, originallv distinct. unite to form one
continuous tissue. The ferns dealt with range from
the nrimitive Schizwacez to the advanced Pterideze.—
Sir Thos. Muir: Note on Pfaffians with polynomial
elements.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, March 22.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—A. Lacroix: The eruptive rocks of the
Pyrenees Cretaceous and the nomenclature of the
modified eruptive rocks.—G. Bigourdan: The pupils of
the Observatory of the Collége de France. The
observatories of the Military School.—F. E. Fournier :
General expressions for the resistance of water to the
passage of ships floating in open air and for the wave-
length of their satellite surge.—A. Haller and R.
Cornubert: The constitution of the dimethylevelo-
hexanone obtained by methylation of the sodium
derivative of-a-methvlcvclohexanone. From a study of
the condensation - products. with benzaldehvde it is
concluded that the dimethylcyclohexanone is unsym-
ay
t
“APRIL 22, 1920]
NATURE
251
‘a rey
_ metrical—H. Lecomte: The tier-like structure of cer-
tain woods.—P. A. Dangeard: The structure of. the
' plant-cell and its metabolism. A critical discussion of
1 views of Guilliermond.—M. Maxime Laubeuf was
ected a member of the division of the applications
Science to industry.—N. E. Nérlund: A theorem of
auchy.—Ch. Fremont: Work done in sawing metals
hand. <A diagram and description of a pendulum
: and guide for a hack-saw. There ‘is an
onomy of about one-third of the labour.—J. Vallot :
le calibration in calories of two actinometers adapted
studies in heliotherapy and agricultural climatology.
j. Guillaume: Observations of the sun made at the
»servatory of Lyons during the fourth quarter of
- _ Observations were possible on sixty-six days
ring the quarter, and the results are tabulated,
owing the spots, their distribution in latitude, and
distribution of the facule in latitude—M.. de
_ Broglie: The K absorption bands of the rare earths
for the X-rays.—P. Boucherot: Electrical resonance in
a circuit the self-inductance of which contains iron.—
Cy Ché and R. Audubert: A nephelometer:—P.
Job: The constitution of two cobaltammines.—J.
Guyot and L. J. Simon: The combustion by mixtures
of sulphuric and chromic acids of organic bodies con-
_ taining chlorine. Whilst the combustion of hydro-
carbons by the wet method is nearly always incomplete,
out of nine chlorinated hydrocarbons seven gave correct
. figures for carbon and only two, pentachloroethane and
_hexachloroethane, gave low results.—C. A. Kténas : The
hydrocarbon zone of Western Greece. Sixteen points
are marked on a®map of Western Greece where in-
dications of oil, bituminous schists, or asphalt have
been found.—P. Fallot: Observations on drift pheno-
mena in the centre of the Sierra of Majorca.—C.
_ Stormer: The absorption of the penetrating corpus-
cular rays in the earth’s atmosphere following non-
rectilinear trajectories.—G. Reboul and L. Dunoyer :
The utilisation of cirrus clouds for weather predic-
tion. Rules are given for weather forecasts based on
_ the appearance of cirrus clouds, their displacement and
amount. Results of the application of these rules to
W predictions are compared with the observed
_ weather.—V. Bjerknes: The temperature of the upper
layers of the atmosphere.—G. Nicolas: The respiration
of plants carrying parasitic fungi—H. Coupin: The
time taken by cholorophvll to develop its maximum
intensity in the light.—P. Portier: Modifications of
_ the testicle of birds under the influence. of a diet free
_ from vitamines.—J. Athanasiu: The supposed dynamo-
genic power of alcohol. There is no evidence of in-
_ crease of muscular power at any period of time after
ingestion of alcohol. The experiments described afford
a further proof that alcohol is not a food utilisable by
the organism.—J. E. Abelous and L. C. Soula: The
action of secretin upon metabolism.—F. Diénert: The
formation of activated sludge.—A. Fernbach and M.
“Schoen: New observations on the biochemical pro-
duction of pyruvic acid. During the fermentation of
sugar by yeast in a solution maintained neutral by
Ik an appreciable quantitv of pyruvic acid is
formed.—]. Legendre: The réle of domestic animals
‘in the defence against malaria.
RoE,
_ Accademia dei Lincei, Class of Physical, Mathe-
matical, and Natural Sciences, January 18.~—Prof. A,
Roiti, vice-president, in. the chair.—O. M.: Corbino :
A laboratory method for the production of continuous
and constant electric currents of high: tension:—G.
oe and C, Ravenna: Influence of ‘some organic
substances upon the development of plants (iv.).—
_A. Angeli and C. Lutri: Chemical researches on the
_ melanins of pyrrole—Q. Majorana ; ‘Gravitation (vi.).
| NO. 2634, VOL. 105] |
A continuation of previous researches (1918): on ja
rather sensational subject, namely, the screening: off
of gravitation by a massive spherical sheet: (in prac-
tice, about 100 kg. of mercury placed between two
concentric spheres). Last May the author found,
or at least believed he had found, a positive effect,
e.g. a just discernible diminution of the weight of a
sphere of lead placed within the cavity of the said
sheet; but later he found a slight increase in the
weight instead. In the present note the author gives
some further details about the improvement of his
apparatus, and discusses possible perturbations of
thermal and mechanical origin. The net results of
his search for a gravitational screening effect. are
so far inconclusive.—F. Bottazzi: Researches on the
posterior salivary gland of Cephalopodes (iii.). This
note deals with the independence of secretive activity
of the presence of free oxygen.—E. Bompiani: Metrical
invariants and covariants with respect to surface de-
formations of higher order (species) (iii.).—-A. Rosen-
blatt: A theorem of Liapounoff (to be published in the
next issue of .the Atti).—L. Tonelli: Primitive func-
tions. An old mathematical subject re-inaugurated
about twenty years ago by Lebesgue and others.—
E. Zavattiero: Relation between the resistance and
stress in bismuth.—C. Ravenna: Preliminary note
on the synthesis of a peptide from aspartic acid with
vegetable enzymes.—G. Sani: Arbusterine and its
derivatives.—L. Bernardini: Nicotine in tobacco. . A
contribution to the study of the genesis and the func-
tions of alkaloids.—E. Pantanelli: Influence of nutri-
tion and radical activity upon collapse produced by
cold.-—A. Trotter: The supposed parthenocarpy of the
hazel-nut and its possible characters (ii.). Results of
observation and experiments are aetes
SILBERSTEIN. |
Books Received.
An Introductory Course in Quantitative Chemical
Analysis. By Prof. G. McPhail Smith. Pp. x+206,
(New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Mac~
millan and Co., Ltd.) gs. net. ye 2, 3
New Zealand Plants and their Story. By Dr. L.
Cockayne. Second edition. Pp. xv+248-! (Welling-
ton, N.Z.: Dominion Museum.) 7s. 6d.
The Buzzard at Home. By A. Brook. Pp. 15+
12 plates. - (London: Witherby and Co.) °3s. 6d.-net.
A Synoptical List of the Accipitres (Diurnal Birds
of Prey). By H. Kirke Swann. Part iv. - Pp. vi+
115-64. (London: J. Wheldon and Co.) 4s. 9°"!
'Trattato di Chimica Generale ed Applicata all’
Industria. By Prof. E. Molinari. Vol. ii.‘ Chimica
Organica. Parte prima. Terza edizione.. Pp. xix+
624. ' (Milano: U. Hoepli.) 28 lire.
‘The Principles of Ante-natal and Post-natal Child
Physiology, Pure and Applied. By W. M. Feldman.
Pp. xxvii+694+6 plates. (London: Longmans and
Co.) 3os. net.
Calcutta University Commission, 1917-19. . Report.
Vol. xiii. Evidence and Documents. Statistics
relating to Colleges. Pp. xii+221. (Calcutta: Supt.
Government Printing, India.) 1.8 rupees. tH
Year-book of the Royal Society of London, | 1920.
Pp. iv+236. (London: Harrison and Sons.) _ 7s.) 6d.
Hydration and Growth. By Dr. D.'T. MacDougal.
Pp. vi+176. Fluorescence of the Uranyl Salts. By
E. L. Nichols, H. L. Howes, and others. Pp. 241+
1 plate. Experiments in the Breeding. of Cerions.
By P. Bartsch. Pp. 55+59 plates. , Contributions to
Embryology. Vol. ix. Nos..27 to 46.. A Memorial
to.Franklin Paine Mall. Pp. v+s54+plates.. (Wash-
ington.;. Carnegie Institution,.of Washington.),.... .
t
252
NATURE
[APRIL 22, 1920
vet
Butter and Cheese. By C. W. Walker Tisdale ag
J. Jones.. Pp. ix+142. (London: Sir Isaac Pitman
and Sons, Ltd.) 2s, 6d. net.
Panchromatism. Second edition.
(Ilford: Ilford, Ltd.) 6d.
Photography and its Applications. By W. Gamble.
Pp} xii+ 132. (London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons,
Ltd:) ' 2s. 6d. -net.
Pp. 32+x plates..
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, Apri 22.
Roya Institution or GREAT BriTAatn, at 3.—S. Skinner ;
Strength of Liquids. ;
Royat Society, at 4.30.—Prof. W. E. Dalby: Researches on the
Elastic Properties and the Plastic Extension of Metals:—H.
Hilliar : Experiments on the Pressure Wave thrown out by Sub-
marine Explosions.—E. F. Armstrong and T. P. Hilditch: A Stady
of the Catalytic Action at Solid Surfaces. I{I. The Hydrogenation of
Acetaldehyde and the Dehydrogenation of Ethyl Alcohol in the Presence
of Finely Divided Metals. IV. The Interaction of Carbon Monoxide
and Steam as conditioned by Iron Oxide and by Copper.—Dr. T.
Merton : The Structure’of the Balmer Series of Hydrogen Lines. —Prof.
. A. Wilson: Diamagnetism due to Free Electrons.
Lonpon MATHEMATICAL Society, at 5.—G. T. Bennett: The Three-bar
Sentit Curve.—S. Chapman and G. H: Livens ; The Influence of Diffusion
on the Propagation of Sound Waves in Air.—W. ilne an G.
The Tensile
at The Relation between Apolarity and the ih gs Sop
Syzygy.—G. Hardy and J. E. Littlewood: Some Problems of
_ Diophantine Approximation; The ' Lattice-points-of a Right-angled
riangle
InsTiTuTION oF Civit ENGINEERS (Students’ Section), at 6.—C. M. Brain:
san RANT Refrigeration,
FRIDAY, Aprit 23.
Rovat Saeed or Mepicine (Study of Disease in Children Section), at
4.30.—Dr. D. H. Paterson: Three Cases of Renal Dwarfism. —Dr. Parkes
Weber : Remarkable Example of Suprarenal ‘Tumour in a Child, of the
Robert Hutchison Sad (2).—(Epidemiology and State Medicine Section),
at 8.30.—Dr. FE. oodall: Typhus in Poland, 1916-19.
PHYSICAL Society, at 5.—M.C.E. Guillaume: The Anomaly of the
Nickel-Iron Alloys : Its Causes and its Applications (Guthrie Lectin)
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—The late W. J-Lineham :
(1) The Hardening of Screw-Gauges with the Least Distortion in Pitch
(referring to Water Hardening). (2) The Hardening of Screw-Gauges
~ with the Least Distortion in Pitch (referring to Oil Hardening).
Junior InstiruTion oF ENGINEERS, at 7.30.—R. S$. Fox: Modern
Developments in Motor-car Design.
Rovat InsviTuTION oF Great BRITAIN, at 9.—Sir Israel Gollancz:
_ Shakespeare’ s Shylock and Scott’s Isaac of York.
SATURDAY, APRIL 24.
Royat InstiTuTION oF GREAT ERITAI, at 3:—Prof. W. H. Eccles: The
Thermionic Vacuum Tube. as. Detector, Amplifier, and Generator of
Electrical Oscillations.
MONDAY, Aprit 26.
VicrorIa Insinrpore (at the Central Hall, Westminster), at 4.30.—Dr.
T. G. Pinches: Babylon in the Days of Nebuchadnezzar.
ARISTOTELIAN Soctety (at 74 Grosvenor Street), at 8.—Dr. W.-M.
jae The Development of Buddhistic Metaphysics in China and
apan
Roya. Society oF ‘Arts, at 8,—Dr. W. Rosenhain: Aluminium and its
Alloys (Cantor Lecture). -
Roya Society oF MEDICINE (Odontology Section): at 8.—SG. B. Ash:
A Factor in the Pathology of Pyorrhoea.—H. Stobie : The Problem of
Infection about'the Apex of the Tooth.
TUESDAY, Aprit 27.
Rowks. Horricutturat Socigry,: at 3.—P.C. M. Veitch: Magnolias.
RoyAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Prof. A. Keith: British
Ethnology: The Invaders of England.
INSTITUTION oF Civit) ENGINEERS (Annual General Meeting), at 5.30.
ZooLocicaL Society oF Lonpon, at 5.30.—F.°F. Laidlaw : Contributions
to a Study of the Dragonfly Fauna of Borneo. Part 1V. A List of the
Species known.to occur in the Island.—Dr. R. Broom: Some new
' Therocephalian Reptiles from the Karroo Beds-of South Africa.
Roya PHoroerapuic Society oF GreaT Britain (Lantern Meeting),
at 7.—Capt. C. W. R. Knight: Wild Life in the Tree Tops. :
; WEDNESDAY, Apri 28..
Rovat Sociery oF ARTS, at 4.30.—Brig-Gen. c Hs Sherrill : Ancient
Stained ‘Glass.
Rovat AERONAUTICAL. SOCIETY (at Royal Society of Arts), at 8.—Maj.-
Gen. Sir S. Brancker: Aerial Transport from the Business Point of View.
. THURSDAY, Apri 20. :
Rovat InsTItUTION. or Great Britain, at 3-—R. Campbell Picupson =
The Origins of the Dwellers in Mesopotamia.
RovAL Society; at -4.30:—Probable Paper s.—Prof. J. W. Gregory: The
Irish Eskers.—Miss, K. M. Curtis: The’ Life-History .and Cytology of
Synchytrina pik (Schilb ) Perc.. the ogre of Wart’ Disease in
A resp . Sahni: The Strnetuire and A py le Pancheri’
Ber. oe as :
ZO@LOGICAL Society. OF Lonpon, At 4. $i 2-Apoiial Generai Meeting.
HEMICAL OclETY, at.5.—Extfaordinary General Meeting to consider the: He:
Alterations‘in the*By-laws proposed by the Cou Bit es =
Cuitp-Srupy Socrery (at Royal Sanitary Institute), at ‘E-Sir A. E.
Shipley: Biting Insects and Children.
NO. 2634, VOL. 105 | '
Tivenorsn OF Bistnincis ENGINEERS (at Institution ‘ok Civil Regie
at *. McColl: Automatic ~Protective Devices for Altemaae
Current Systems.
Optica. Society (at Imperial College of Science and Technology) at 7:30.
C. E. Kenneth Mees: ‘lhe Reaction of the Eye to Li ig ht.
FRIDAY, Aprit 30.
WIrELtss Society or LONDON (at eg semis of Civil Bainceny ab.
Major B. Binyon: -A Wireless ‘‘ Call.” Device.
' —Dr,
| InsTirurion oF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS her sr Meeting). (at: Paaday
House), at 7.—J. E. Holmstrom: Tidal Power.
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS (Informal Meeting), at 7.—
A. P. Bale and Others: Discussion on Suggested Means of improving
and Increasing the Services of the Institution to Members...
Rovav InstiTUTION of GREAT BRITAIN, at 9.—Prof. F. O. ae The
Earliest-known Land Flora. ;
SATURDAY, May x.
Rovat InstiruTion OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Dr. cidagkicia
The Private Character of Queen Elizabeth ; at 5.—Annual l aheetine’
CONTENTS. PAGE
The Promotion of Medical Research. . ST!
A Study in Mee tk de By Prof. A. C.
Seward, F.R.S. 223
Wheat and Wheat- -growing. By Dr. E. 5: Russell,
F. . oo .
The Fertilisation of the Ovum. By ASD Ries
Wisdom of Life and Existence . .
New Books on Industrial Chemistry, By G. M. . 1
Our: Bookshelf ... «1 <b 1s fig tet ene
Letters to the Editor :—
The Separation of the Element Chlorine into | ormal
Chlorine and Meta-Chlorine, and the Positive Elec-
tron. (With Diagrams.)—Prof. William ne
Harkins; Dr. F. W. Aston...
On Atomic and Molecular. Structure. —Dr. A. EL
Oxley ®
Aquarium Cultures for Biological "‘Teaching.- —Dr.
Monica Taylor, S.N.D.
Ionisation in the Solar Chromosphere.—M. N. Saha
Gravitational Deflection of High-speed Particles. —
Leigh Page ..
Science and the. New Army. ok. E. Edgeworth . f
The Universities and the Army.—F. J. M Stratton e
Early Hawthorn Blossom.—Lady Rose . . rat
The Doctor of Philosophy in Bhgland. Dr. Henty 0, 3
_ Forbes . .
Progress in Naval Engineering. ‘By H.oH. at
The Investigation of Grain Pests. By Dr. A. D>
Imms
Some Applications of Physics to War Problems.
Obituary: Prof. J. A. McClelland, F/R.S, By ~
A. W. C.—Dr. J. G. Bartholomew. ee stn As:
Chisholm. .. : oak ole pda tae
Notes. . sya ella hieeeaiamas
Our Astronomical Column :— ' ‘
Occultation of a Star by Saturn. . Haare
The Einstein Displacement of Specteal ‘Lines - :
Stellar Spectroscopy at the Detroit Observatory. . .
Meteorology at Hong-Kong . Ape ast ares 760"
Milk Production of Ayrshire Cattle 7... .. . 245
Pi aay
The Ignition Points of Liquid Fuels... ... . 245
Naval Research and Experiment... / 245
Education ‘and Science in the Civil Service Esti- Ree
mates for 1920-21 Bs Ry 246
| The Native Tribes of Western “Australia Lee one
University and Educational intelligence gavage 15248
Societies and Academies RPO rr er oS
Books Received .:. gece e's is donhitisea ee lait: meciwanea it
Diary of Societies > ¢(.... us) a) os emerge es eee nel
.. . Editorial.and Publishing Offices: .
...°| MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., :
; ST» MARTIN’S ‘STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements dnd business letters to be. alee to the
: ’ Publishers. ae oe iat
os \ Editorial Communications to' the Rastor.
5 he apie Address: Prusts,” Loxvox, wer Id as
““ Telephone Number: Gprrarp 8830. y
oe
-
MS, ye
336,
OO ——,
i
&
—_s
i
‘a
y
~
eine
ce NATURE
733
1920.
ei
THURSDAY, APRIL 20,
Chemical Industries of German
& Bhiae Rhineland.
9 16, as a result of war conditions, British
ical manufacturers formed an association
view of strengthening and consolidating
ion by mutual help and co-operation.
e declaration of the armistice the associa-
atched a Mission to Germany, under the
of the Department of Overseas Trade,
y y the present position of German chemical
‘The Mission consisted of twenty mem-
of ‘the association, representing various
es of chemical manufacture, and it was
yanied by a military representative and by
of the Department of Overseas Trade,
1 of Trade, the Local Government Board,
nadian interests. Thirty-nine works were
ed, all of them in German Rhineland and in
eet by the Allies from north of Cologne
———— a
y , of the ES of the following sections of
hemical industry, as developed in Germany, viz.
0 ie chemicals ; : coal-tar products, inter-
with | here. We are concerned rather with
ral purport and with the lessons and warn-
conveys. These are given in the summary
report which the association has caused to
nted and published.! We trust it will be
' circulated and read. The moral it incul-
is summed up in this one brief sentence :
‘Germar chemical industry has been one stu-
endo organisation for effecting and promoting
he @ application of science to industry ”—a_ state-
ent which, we agree with the writer of the sum-
, “should be displayed, not only in every
ffice, but in every educational institution in the
4 xd om,” as well as “in all Government
Departments.”
oe
% ¢ :
a pronouncement. It has been the burthen
9 innumerable articles and public addressés during
e last half-century ; and we see their effect in the
actories in the- pied Area of Germany.
tish Chemical Manufacturers, 166 Piccadilly, W.1.)
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
(As,ociation of
ois, however, too technical to be.
the same time, there’ is nothing very new
A Sunmary, of the -Report of the British Chemical Mission on
multiplication a our ss aibaciol universities and
the creation of our various technical colleges and
schools. Anyone at all familiar with the history
of these institutions knows that their creation has
been entirely due to the action of a few public-
spirited: men who have laboured, in season
and out of season, and often under sore
discouragement, to effect their éstablishment. In
no single instance have they been due to the spon-
taneous impulse of a whole community,. prompt
to recognise and to appreciate the value of science
to industry. Even when established, there was,
as a rule, no very widespread desire, at all events
at the outset, to take advantage of the oppor-
tunities they afforded. In most of them their day
of small things was a fairly long period.
But the coming of the war brought a great
awakening. The national importance of science
was recognised as never before. We then realised
we were confronted with a nation that had sedu-
lously cultivated science in its application to prac-
tically every att and every industry of peace, as
well as of war, and we. were amazed’ and dis-
quieted at our own shortcomings and our supine
neglect. The new Education Act is a measure of
the degree to which the country has been roused.
The ease and practical unanimity with which it
was passed are the»clearest proofs of- the: public
conviction of its necessity.
The document before us, emanating frog a
body of experts eminently qualified to express an
authoritative opinion, will serve to strengthen that
conviction. It deals, of course, mainly with only
one branch of applied science; but, as it happens,
it has been a branch which has rendered extra-
ordinary service to the country at one of the
most critical periods of its history. It was not so
much our knowledge of chemistry that helped us,
or the facilities we possessed of applying it. In
these respects we were lamentably behind our
chief enemy, and that enemy knew it. But she
reckoned without the national characteristics
which ultimately saved the situation, and, luckily
for us and the world, her lightning stroke missed
its aim, and she was compelled by circumstances
. to give us time to develop and apply them. But
‘it is safe to say that, had we been capable of
taking up the position before the war that we
were in at its close, its duration would: have been
greatly curtailed, and it is conceivable, indeed,
that it would never have been begun. . © .
The summary of the report, concise as it is,
covers more ground than can be dealt with in a
single article. We must therefore confine our-
K
254
NATURE
[APRIL 29, 1920
selves toa brief statement of the general impres-
sions which the members of the Mission gained
concerning the present development of chemical
industry in Germany, and its potential future as
affected by the war.
To begin with, the Mission was_ strongly
impressed with the evidence of scientific method
which appertained to everything relating to the
industry, not only to the laboratory and the factory,
but also to accountancy, buying and_ selling,
and the management of labour—in fact, to every
side of business activity. This result had been
achieved by an efficient combination of experts.
“The Germans, in fact, have learnt how to use
their leaders with utmost effect.” It has been
the fashion to disparage the originality of the
Germans and to point to their lack of inventive
power. Whatever may be their failings in these
respects, there is no question that it is through
their willingness to co-ordinate their efforts that
much of their striking success is to be attributed.
Moreover, as is pointed out, the chemical industry
occupies a high position in Germany, and it can
command the services of the best brains in the
country. The status of the chemist is such that it
is now, at least in the higher positions, one of the
best paid of the professions in Germany—far more
so than the Law and the Church. How this has
been brought about is clearly stated :
_“During generations past, unlimited facilities
have existed for providing those who wish to
become chemists with an education which is
nowhere excelled, so that not only is the status
of the chemist high, but the man himself, in
virtue of his thorough training, is fitted to main-
tain the high position in which he is placed.
Everywhere the chemist is to the fore, and not
only are chemists found in the chief administra-
tive positions of the large chemical undertakings,
but they frequently control the great organisations
characteristic of German industry generally.”
The author of the summary has a very definite
opinion as to the influence of the German educa-
tional system in the universities and the poly-
technics in reaching this result, and he contrasts
it with our own system of scholarships and bur--
saries, which he evidently disparages :
“As German education has been carried on
without money bribes in the form of scholarships
and fellowships, and without competitive examina-
tions, the system has been one of almost complete
Lernfreiheit. Although it has often been adversely
criticised by those unacquainted with its workings,
the results belie all such criticism. At least, the
student has always worked with a forward out-
look; his effort has been to solve a problem, not
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
merely to acquire knowledge. The system has
been as far removed as possible from that pursued
in this country, especially at Oxford; there can
be little doubt that it has been a factor of great
importance in the development of industry on a
scientific basis in Germany.”
Now, while there is much that is unguenene
ably true in this statement, in his desire to decry
our own educational system the writer has shown
either that he himself is not wholly acquainted
with the later development of the German system,
‘so far as it is concerned with chemistry and its
industrial application, or that he is guilty of a
suppressio veri. The German leaders of chemical
industry some time ago determined to attract
promising chemical students by that very system
of “money bribes” which he deprecates, and to
endow what are practically fellowships to be held
in connection with German university laboratories.
In principle there was nothing in this essentially |
different from our own procedure—except that the
aims of the German manufacturers were not quite
so altruistic as those of the “pious founders of
our own universities.
The writer of the summary pays a well-
deserved compliment to the enterprise, skill, and
courage of the men who controlled these vast
industrial concerns—their breadth of view and
keenness of outlook; their tireless efforts and
unfailing perseverance in attacking problems need-
ing years for solution, and for which no early
return for the large expenditure involved could be
anticipated. Nothing, we are told, appeared to
have struck the Mission more than the lavish
monetary outlay on laboratories, libraries, and
technical staffs. As an example, an account is
given of the leading features of the great Bayer
works at Leverkusen, one of the most highly
organised of the Rhineland factories. We have
also a brief statement describing the rapid
development of power stations in the Rhine
district, especially during the war; and some
account of the working of the Interessen Gemein-
schaft (I.G.), by which the leading chemical firms
co-operate so as to secure community of interests.
But limits of space preclude any detailed account
of the several matters of interest covered by the
report. Enough, however, has been written to
indicate its importance. Whilst we cannot wholly
subscribe to every statement of the writer of the
‘summary, who has been allowed, possibly, too
free a hand in interpreting the findings of the
report, we can at least testify that he has the
courage of his convictions and little hesitation in
giving utterance to them.
Poe
“APRIL 29, 1920]
NATURE
255
Man: Past and Present.
east and Present. By A. H. Keane. Re-
vised and largely re-written, by A. Hings-
ton Quiggin and A. C. Haddon. Pp. xi+
+xvi plates. (Cambridge: At the Univer-
» Press, 1920.) Price 36s. net.
is scarcely necessary to extol the virtues of
. of data a ras the races of mankind and
r customs (see NaTuRE, June 8, 1899, p. 121),
it has been the vade mecum of almost every
king ethnologist for more than twenty years.
the authors of the new edition had a task of
sptional difficulty in practically re-writing a
ork of so encyclopedic a nature they also had
great opportunity. Moreover, Mrs. Hingston
uiggin and Dr. Haddon had exceptional, if not
unique, qualifications for making the most of their
chance. But they have contented themselves with
pouring their new wine into Keane’s old bottles.
_ Even so glaring an anachronism as Keane’s classi-
fication of the races of mankind and the use of
the unpardonable term ‘‘ Caucasian,’’ with many
its unfortunate implications, have been retained.
sy have made a digest of the modern litera-
2 of ethnology that will be extremely useful to
th ee who knows what to select and what to
reject, but utterly bewildering to the student and
general reader, who expect some sort of con-
cy and some leading idea to bind together
vast masses of data as are presented to
n in this book. Instead of this they will find
excellent series of extracts from a host of
rs without any serious attempt to create a
tent story or to explain the wide discrep-
s in their interpretations of the facts.
€ eh the authors direct attention (pp. 351-
; to the fact that fatal objections have been
m: ide to the fashionable speculation of the in-
dependent origin of cultures, throughout the rest
0 “the book they ignore this warning and adopt
in extreme attitude in flagrant opposition to the
rine of diffusion. Take, for example, the dog-
statement on p. 23:—‘‘In fact, we know
certain that such an independent Copper Age
developed not only in the region of the Great
s of North America, but also amongst the
tu peoples of Katanga and other parts of Cen-
I Africa’’: the researches of one of Dr.
ddon’s own pupils, Mr. W. J. Perry, have
ywn this claim to be totally unfounded. Copper
s not used in either of these places until im-
zrants who had already become acquainted with
the economic value of the metal elsewhere had
_ made their way into these territories and dis-
covered the new sources of supply.
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
4th e
This sort of fallacy runs through the whole
book, and will be a repeated source of confusion
to the thoughtful student. What, for example,
will he think of the statement on p. 465: “The
idea of an independent evolution of Western
[European] culture is steadily gaining ground,”’
after reading a hundred pages earlier that the
opposite tendency is now strongly asserting itself?
The late Prof. Keane was a strong supporter
of the speculation of the independent origin of cul-
ture, and at times became almost fanatical in giv-
ing expression to his devotion to the fashionable
craze. But the authors of the present edition, in
spite of their pretence of impartiality, go further
than the original author. The latter was not
always consistent. While he poured scorn upon
the whole theory of the diffusion of culture and
quoted with child-like gusto the worst extrava-
gances of Brinton’s and J. W. Powell’s denials
of the possibility of such a spread of civilisation
as everyone knows to be happening at the present
time, he frankly and fully adopted it as the
explanation of the ancient Rhodesian monuments
at Zimbabwe. But the authors of the present
edition: reject Keane’s solution of the Zimbabwe
problem, and adopt Dr. Randall-Maclver’s dis-
credited speculations. Thus we are told that
“exploration in 1905 dispelled the romance
hitherto connected with the ‘temples’ and pro-
duced evidence to show that they were not earlier
in date than the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries
[sic], and were of native construction ’’ (p. 89). Dr.
Haddon does not enlighten his readers as to how
the discovery of a piece of medieval Chinese pot-
tery in one of the altogether subsidiary buildings
at Zimbabwe can prove that the great buildings
were built by negroes not earlier than the four-
teenth century. The discovery of a piece of
willow-pattern plate in the foundation of a house
at, say, Bristol would not prove that the Roman
buildings at Bath were erected by Englishmen in
the nineteenth century! Yet this is the sort of
argument which is naively borrowed by Dr.
Haddon, who is well aware of the multitude of
data entirely fatal to it.
The authors, in fact, seem to have accepted
- without discrimination anything that has recently
appeared in print, and not tested it in the light
of their own knowledge. Thus they have repro-
duced without comment or criticism some of the
least excusable fallacies of current ethnological
literature. For example, in their discussion of
the origin of Chinese civilisation (p; 207) they
confuse race and culture. They are giving the
reasons for not deriving the people of China from
south-western Asia, when they are really discuss-
ing the origin of Chinese civilisation. Writers
256
NATURE
[APRIL 29, 1920
who had compiled the vast mass of data in this
book should have had no hesitation in dismissing
once for all any suggestion that ‘‘ the present
inhabitants of China are late intruders of south-
western Asia” (p. 207). At the same time, they
should not have been blind to the fact that there
‘is ample evidence to demonstrate how most of
the Chinese customs and beliefs were inspired by
events that were occurring in Elam, Sumer, and
Turkestan early in the third millennium, the influ-
ence of which was gradually transmitted to
Shensi by prospectors searching for gold, fresh-
water pearls, and jade in the heart of Asia.
But the writers have not understood the mean-
ing of these facts. Nowhere in the book is there
so much confusion as in the sections relating to
Turkestan. On p. 257 they qualify their accept-
ance of Prof. Ellsworth Huntington’s views by
quoting Dr. Peisker’s _ wise warning that
“(change of] climate was not the sole or even
the main factor” in causing the desolation of
Turkestan and Central Asia; yet on p. 263 they
seem to forget the need for caution, and attempt
to explain the origin of Sumerian civilisation as
one of the results of a period of drought in Central
Asia. To those who are acquainted with the scien-
tific results of M. de Morgan’s “Mission en
Perse ” it will come as a surprise to be told that
“recent archeological discoveries [by which the
writers refer to Huntington’s desiccation hypo-
thesis] make Sumerian origins a little clearer” !
On the contrary, M. Edmond Pottier’s report on
the earliest painted pottery found by M. de
Morgan in Susa proves conclusively that the
earliest ceramic ware from Turkestan was
directly inspired by Elam. So far from the origin
of Sumerian civilisation being explained by dis-
coveries in Turkestan, we now know that the
culture of the latter area was derived from the
neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf.
These examples serve to illustrate the weakness
of the book. While making an encyclopedic com-
pilation of extracts from the most recent writers,
the authors have made little attempt to assimilate
and co-ordinate the collection of facts. Nor has
any attempt been made to link together the data
by means of any general idea or principle. The
book has been compiled at a time when the facts
of ethnology. are being illuminated by the brilliant
light of a new theory which explains how and
why the elements of our common civilisation were
spread abroad in ancient times by prospectors
searching for pearls and the precious metals. This
revolutionary idea in ethnology was propounded
by one of Dr. Haddon’s pupils, Mr. W. J. Perry.
But it is clear from this book that Dr. Haddon mas !
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
utterly failed to appreciate the new vision im
ethnology which his own school has effected,
There is no reference to the Talgai skull, and
Sir Baldwin Spencer’s assumption that ‘the Tas-
manians must have crossed Bass Strait on dry
land is accepted without comment. Why people
whose ancestors ‘had already crossed Wallace’s.
line by ‘boat could not also have ferried across.
‘Bass Strait is not apparent!
The lack of maps and diagrams is a serious
defect, and many of ‘the illustrations at the end
of the book are far from satisfactory. I think
it unfortunate that a book of this character should
have been issued at the present moment, for it
will give the world outside Cambridge an alto-
gether misleading idea of the nature and quality
of the excellent training which the Cambridge
School of Anthropology is now providing. _
G. — SMITH. '
Critical Mathematics,
Les Principes de l’Analyse Mathématique : "apoke
Historique et Critique. By Prof. Pierre Bou-
troux. Tome second. _ Pp. iv+512. (Paris:
Librairie Scientifique A. Hermann - et Fils,
1919.) Price 20 francs.
HIS second volume of Prof. Boutroux’s ‘work
contains the outlines of analytical plane and
solid geometry, projective geometry, the theory —
of ordinary complex quantities, infinite series and —
products, infinitesimal calculus, analytical func-
tions. There are also very brief notices of deter-
minants, groups, aggregates, vectors, elliptic,
abelian and fuchsian functions.
On the whole, the volume may be descrited as
a varied and stimulating course likely to interest
a competent university student and induce him
to follow up one or more of the numerous
branches of mathematics to which his attention is
directed. Owing to the variety of topics intro-
duced, much of the didactic part of the course is
very fragmentary; at the same time, it is elegant
and suggestive.
To the teacher, the most interesting part of the
volume is the critical and historical matter. The
historical sections seem to be admirable in every
way—judicious, impartial, and in proper perspec-
tive and proportion. Among other things, atten-
tion is directed to Fermat’s contributions to
analytical geometry, some of which, in a. measure,
anticipated Descartes. At the same time, it is
pointed out that, whereas Descartes had in view
the ousting of pure geometry by analysis, Fermat,
like Newton, remained faithful to the old methods,
regarding analysis mainly as an auxiliary. Prof.
Apri 29, 1920]
NATURE
257
outroux properly directs attention to the fact that
of Apollonius’s ‘“Conics” is essentially
alytical, though, of course, there is no algebra,
rictly so called. In the sections on function-
.) h due reference is made to Méray, who shares
at measure with Weierstrass the credit of
= the foundations of. a sound theory of
tical functions. It is fortunate that the great
larity of the work of these two mathematicians
Phas give rise to bitter polemic; there was at
st as much material for it as in the famous
wton-Leibniz controversy..
The author’s critical remarks, we fancy, will
ee t meet with such unqualified acceptance. To
ike one example, he says of Peano’s symbolism :
Disfortunately, it is not everyone who can read
_ with facility these combinations of signs, which
are often grotesque and repulsive, and unaccom-
Te anied by a single word of the vulgar tongue.
Moreover, M. Peano’s symbolism cannot claim to
have made any contribution to the progress of
mathematics ; it remains a remarkable method of
scientific shorthand.” As a criticism of the work
___ of Peano and his school, this is distinctly unfair.
__ Anyone who has the patience to become moder-
ately familiar with the notation is bound, we
believe, to admit that the alternative is either to
produce a text full of ambiguities and_ tacit
sumptions, or else one of intolerable prolixity.
present reviewer has come to this conclusion
with very great reluctance; even the Cambridge
ress has not succeeded in making the “ Principia
fathematica” attractive to the eye; and it is to
be feared that the first impression it is likely to
produce i is that it is the work of a drunken com-
positor. Probably its use will be mainly, if not
wholly, confined to the logical foundations of
mathematics ; for this purpose we think its value
is indisputable. There are other controversial
_ statements scattered about the text; they all
deserve careful attention, even if the reader is
Peon to disagree with them.
_ ‘There is one point, of frequent occurrence,
against which we feel bound to protest. Prof.
_ Boutroux repeatedly says that such an equation
_ as x*+y?=o represents a point. This is abso-
__ lutely- untrue; it may be said to represent a point-
circle (circle of zero radius), or a pair of isotropic
lines, according as we exclude or include complex
elements. But no single equation in point-
co-ordinates can represent a point; moreover, it
is fatal to ignore the degree of the equation.
Oddly enough, Halphen makes the same mistake
in his memoir on characteristics; he repeatedly
gives the name of “a single line” to what is, as
a degenerate quadratic locus, a double line with
two special points (or, exceptionally, one special
NO. 2635, VOL. 105]
to native proteins.
double point) upon it. Fortunately, this does not
affect Halphen’s conclusions, the reason (appar-
ently) being that he discusses point-equations and
line-equations simultaneously,
We hope that this work will have a good
circulation in England; its virtues are precisely:
those in which our text-books still leave some-
thing to be desired: elegance, breadth of view,
choice of topics, and regard to historical perspec-
tive. G. B. M.
The eras,
The Physical Chemistry of the Proteins.
Prof. T. Brailsford Robertson. Pp. xv+483-
(London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1918.)
Price 25s. net.
HIS is not a new book. It first appeared in
the form of an edition in German published
at Dresden in 1912. The second edition, in
English, has, however, been so completely re-
written as to make it practically a new account of
the subject.
There are four parts, of which the fe deals
with the mode of preparation and estimation and
the chemical constitution of proteins; the second
with their electro-chemistry; the third with the
physical properties of their :solutions,, such as
viscosity, refractive indices, etc.; and: the last
with what the author calls the chemical dynamics
of protein systems, by which, broadly, he means
their reactions with catalysts. It will be seen that
a complete survey of the subject has been
attempted, and it may be said at once that, as an
introduction to the literature, already extensive,
the book can be commended.
It is now agreed that the proteins are chemically
a homogeneous group the molecules of .which are
built up by the synthesis of amino-acids. The size
of the molecules so formed is still open to doubt.
Emil Fischer, than whom no one could speak with
more authority, refused to accept the molecular
weights of 15,000 to 20,000 commonly ascribed
The molecular weight, indeed,
varies widely from the 16,000 of hemoglobin, or
the 17,000 of edestin, to the values reckoned in
hundreds of the polypeptides. It certainly lies in
the thousands for native proteins, and is large
enough to upset the simpler siaintiomestical
relations,
Consider, for example, the reaction with acids
and alkalis. Proteins, like amino-acids, are
amphoteric—that is to say, they will form salts
with either an acid or a base—but, according to
the author, when their combining equivalents are
determined by known methods, their combining
capacity is found to be much in excess of the
By
258 NATURE
| APRIL 29, 1920
possible number of terminal peer or —COOH
groups.
For example, casein, according to the author,
behaves as a 16-base acid. To provide sixteen
terminal carboxyl groups, the molecule would
have to be either a branched chain, or chains
radiating from a centre where carbon atoms are
directly linked one to another. Such a _ mole-
cular structure, however, would render the de-
composition of the casein molecule on hydrolysis
into its constituent amino-acids unintelligible.
Moreover, the form of the molecule of the poly-
peptides which have been prepared synthetically
is not open to doubt, and it is not radial, but a
chain, the constituent amino-acids being joined
end to end.
The amino-acids of the chain are united by a
CONH linkage, which may have a keto- or enol-
form, and it is here the author supposes that the
reaction with acids or bases takes place.
_ Consider the simplest case—that of a dipeptide.
If ‘combination with an acid or a base takes place
at the middle of the chain where the CONH link-
age is situated, and the salt ionises in solution,
the dipeptide molecule will form two protein ions.
Salts of proteins, therefore, should yield, not a
protein ion and a simple ion such as Na’ or Cl’,
but two oppositely charged protein ions.
This hypothesis is the central feature of the
book, which, indeed, is devoted to following out
its consequences. Its validity has been challenged,
but, whether true or false, no worker or student
will be the worse for learning what it leads to.
Obviously, one consequence is that when a solu-
tion of the salt of a protein is electrolysed, the
protein should migrate to both cathode and anode.
But, as a matter of fact, as Hardy’s observations
show, the protein migrates only in one direction
and in quite a normal way. The author recognises
this difficulty and attempts to meet it, but, owing
to a slip in the reasoning, his argument would
appear to upset his own theory.
Science and Engineering,
Engineering Education: Essays for English.
Selected and edited by Prof. Ray Palmer Baker.
Pp. ix+185. (New York: John Wiley and
Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.,
1919.) Price 6s. net.
HIS is an interesting small book containing
addresses or portions of addresses by dis-
tinguished professors and consulting engineers
bearing on the importance of a knowledge of
science to engineers. Dr. Steinmetz, of the
General Electric Co., urges the need of a broad
culture, and especially of the study of Greek and
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
Latin classics, for engineers.
of Princeton University, advocates a three- or
four-year course of literary and scientific studies,
followed by a two-year technical course. Mr.
J. L. Harrington, a well-known engineer and
bridge designer, points out the necessity for a
thorough knowledge of English.
“Tt is notorious that a technist is sede a
good business man. This is partly because of the
‘exaggerated importance he gives to technical
matters, but very largely because his thought is
clumsily expressed and awkwardly ordered.”
Mr. Harrington remarks on the frequent
obscurity of specifications, and tells of a con-
tractor who never completed a contract without
a lawsuit to determine the meaning of a speci-
fication, and who had never lost a lawsuit. Sir
W. H. White and Prof. Ranum, of Cornell Uni-
versity, write on the value of mathematics. There
are addresses on chemistry and physics, and a
distinguished consulting engineer, the inventor of
the obelisk dam at Niagara, built on-end on the
shore and then toppled into the river, writes on
the importance of imagination.
It strikes a reader that these addresses, each
advocating the claim of some one branch of
science, interesting as they are, would have been
more useful if there had been a recognition of the ©
distinction between what should be included in
the school course preceding the technical course,
in the technical course itself necessarily restricted,
and what extra academic self-education should be.
expected to accompany and follow it. It may be
surmised that engineering students in the United
States do not enter on the technical course as
well prepared as they should be, and this is cer-
tainly to some extent the case here. But preachers
on education might remember what Stevenson
says of Sainte-Beyve, that he regarded all experi-
ence as a single great book in which to study
for a few years before we go hence; and it seemed
all one to him whether you read in chap. xx.,
which is the differential calculus, or in
chap. xxxix., which is hearing the band play in
the gardens.
There is also an admirable address by Sir J. J.
Thomson, delivered before the Junior Institution
of Engineers, on the relation of pure science to
engineering. Sir Joseph remarks that the scientific
spirit has not diffused through and influenced the
bulk of our industries to the extent it has done
in one or two other countries. He traces the
evil to the fault of the secondary school, the
inefficiency of which causes the technical course
to be overloaded.
“The curriculum is founded on the truly British
idea that our boys are not expected to learn any-
Prof. McClenahan, —
\ \) RE en a
a
i i APRIL 29, 1920]
NATURE
259
‘beg a school. Most of the work in the courses
_ for students in their first year, and some of that
the second, in all the’engineering schools with
which I am acquainted, is of a kind that a boy
xht well be expected to do at school. There
_ calibre which would justify his becoming an
; , should not have a good working know-
of the calculus and the elementary parts of
ial equations, and have read a consider-
able gongs of dynamics.
, be done without undue specialisation, and
Back: depriving the boy of the literary training
which is essential, if he is to keep his sympathies
de and his mind receptive.”
Baia. W. C. U.
Health and the Teacher.
A Text-book of Hygiene for Training Colleges.
By Margaret Avery. Pp. xv+324. (London:
_ Methuen andCo., Ltd., 1919.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
HIS book is intended to cover the subject-
-matter of the Board of Education Certificate
Examination for Training Colleges in England.
It includes the usual anatomico-physiological
“properties ” long familiar in books of this order
since the days of MHuxley’s “Physiology”:
_ elementary ideas about structure of tissues, the
; skeleton, the muscular system, the circulatory
System, the digestive system, etc. But the exposi-
tion is kept well within the technicalities suited
. : | BS the students concerned. There are chapters on
food, clothing, cleanliness, mental dullness and
¥ ~ Ueficiency, fatigue, infectious diseases, temper-
e cance, school building, medical inspection and
_ treatment, special schools, welfare of infants and
young children, legislation affecting school
_ children, and eugenics.
_ This is a very large programme for so small a
_ book, but the expositions, which, incidentally,
retain a good deal of the somewhat loose notes-
_ for-lecture style, are, on the whole, relevant and
practical. The author has kept close touch with
Official memoranda, reports, and standard books.
qi The result is that the volume, all through, con-
__ tains good informational material which has obvi-
4 2 ously stood the test of experience in the class-
It is difficult to say how much medical informa-
__ tion proper should be included in a book like this,
_ but to untrained lay persons it is of no value to
state that, in anemia, “a little iron often has
excellent results” (p. 42). Again, as to the cause
of rickets, something more is wanted than that
“the cause is wrong food, chiefly lack of fat, a
lack existing in all patent foods” (p. 88). This
kind of information may fulfil the terms of a
NO. 2635, VOL. 105]
#)
is no reason why a boy of eighteen, of the mental |
This could, I am con-.
syllabus, but it is of no value whatever to the
student, though, usually, in a practical curriculum,
there are many opportunities of supplementing
these generalities by demonstrations of cases.
The chapter on “First Aid” relies on accepted
instrictions, but Schafer’s method for recovery
from drowning should. have a place. The
chapters on legislation affecting children and on
eugenics are judiciously proportioned, but the
remarks on the causes of pauperism as implying
“a want of grit and independence ” (p. 305), and
on feeble-mindedness and heredity, show that the
author has accepted somewhat too uncritically the
theoretical deductions of “experts.” The book
will, however, serve as a good text-book for the
practical teacher.
Our Bookshelf.
The Mineralogy of the Rarer Metals :.A Handbook
for Prospectors. By Edward Cahen and
William Ord Wootton. With a foreword by
F. W. Harbord. Second edition, revised by
Edward Cahen. Pp. xxxii+246. (London:
Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price
10s. 6d.
Tuts book is neatly bound, and is of handy size
for the pocket. The mineral descriptions are con-
veniently treated in a general way in the alpha-
betical order of the metals. The alkali metals come
first; then follow beryllium, cerium, and so on to
zirconium. Under each metal the properties,
preparation, industrial application, and ores are
first considered; following this an account of the
chemical methods for its detection, and a list of
the minerals containing the metal, are given.
Much care appears to have been taken in describ-
ing the chemical and: physical character of the
minerals and the tests available for purposes of
identification. Separate sections at the end of
the book deal with the geographical distribution
of rare metals and methods of analysis.
To the critical reader of the book many of its
features suggest questions and scope for i improve-
ment. Is it permissible to regard titanium as a
rare metal? Ilmenite is certainly not a rare
mineral, and it is incorrect to refer to this mineral
as “a chief constituent of monazite from Travan-
core and Ceylon” (p. 130). It would be more
correct to say that the chief producer of rutile is
Virginia, U.S.A., than to imply, as the author
does, that the chief producer is Norway (p. 131).
Under tungsten no mention is made of the wolf-
ramite deposits in China, which has recently been
the leading producer (p. 141). Zircon is men-
tioned as occurring in “Scotland and Ireland,”
but no mention is made of its universal distribu-
tion in sands and gravels such as those of Hamp-
stead Heath (pp. 182, 189).
The section dealing with geographical distribu-
tion has been revised, but it might with advantage
be amplified to include such countries as Spain,
260
NATURE
[APRIL 29, 1920
Portugal, and France, where there are’ many
occurrences of greater importance than some that
receive mention in this book. TiC.
A Text-book on Machine Drawing for Electrical
‘Engineers. By E, Blythe. (The Cambridge
Technical Series.) Pp. vii+81. (Cambridge :
At the University Press, 1920.) Price 20s. net.
ALL teachers of electrical engineering are aware
of the need for a text-book on the drawing
and construction of electrical apparatus. This
attempt, however, to supply the need is disap-
pointing. Apparently the author intends the book
to serve for a complete course of machine drawing
for electrical students, for he commences with the
laws of projection and gives several very simple
examples in illustration of them. He proceeds
then to. fastenings, cable sockets, junction-boxes,
switches, and dynamos. The subject-matter is
confined entirely to such apparatus as is found in
small continuous-current power stations (but
instruments are not included); consequently the
alternator, induction motor, oil-switch, and other
important pieces of electrical apparatus are notably
absent. Several complete plates are devoted to
non-dimensioned sketches showing types of ap-
paratus, é@.g. one on brush-holders; a few such
examples are undoubtedly useful for practice in
sketching, but here too much space is occupied
in this way. The drawings are clear and very
well arranged, but the descriptive matter is un-
necessarily prolix. The examples given do not
always represent good practice; for instance, in
several places a single-piece armature disc is
shown with a dove-tailed key, while a bearing is
shown on p.°73 which would be destroyed by a
little end-thrust. The book is well got up and has
been prepared carefully; but the ground covered is
insufhicient—at the price.
Mathematics for Engineers. Part i. By W. N.
Rose. (The Directly Useful Technical Series.)
Pp. xiv+419. (London: Chapman and Hall,
Ltd., 1920.) Price 13s. 6d. net.
ParT ii. of this book is devoted principally to
the differential and integral calculus, and includes
chapters on spherical trigonometry and mathemati-
cal. probability. The book is intended for en-
gineers, most of whom are not called upon in
their -profession to show capacity for high
mathematical flights, but are expected to com-
prehend clearly such fundamental principles as
enter into their work, and to be ready successfully
to. apply. them to practical problems. . Examining
the book from this point of view, we believe that
it will find favour with most engineers and students
of engineering. If we include also the matter com-
prised in Part i. the volumes contain practically
everything in the way of mathematical principles
which the engineer is likely to require. The treat-
ment is clear and of a kind which appeals to
engineers,’ and a very large number of practical
applications are given. Many of these are
fully worked’ out to the arithmetical result, and
there are very féw which can. be,said to; be of, an
NO? 26355 VOELTOS Pe! veal to amisio S74
oueitot
academical nature only. These examples cover a’
wide field, having been drawn from all branches
of engineeering, and represent a large amount of ©
labour for which engineers will be grateful. We
can heartily recommend this volume, as well as its
predecessor, to all students of engineering.
The Manufacture of Intermediate Products for
Dyes. By Dr. J. C. Cain. Second edition.
Pp. xi+273. (London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd.; 1919.) Price ros. net.
PROBABLY no one in this country is more com-
petent to write on intermediate products than
Dr. Cain, and the fact that a new edition of this’
book has been called for within a year is the best
testimony to its success. The opportunity has
been taken to improve certain sections and to_
incorporate new work, most of which, it is of
interest to note, originates now in America. It
is gradually being realised that intermediates are
the crux of the dye situation, and the wisdom of
the policy adopted in this direction by British
Dyes, Ltd., in building their new factory at Hud-
dersfield is becoming apparent. Given the inter=
mediates, the manufacture of the several dyes is
usually a fairly straightforward problem, but there
is still much leeway to make up in connection with.
intermediates, which will require the most ample.
resources, alike in capital, plant, and technical
experience. This will take considerable time to”
fructify, and some form of closer co-operation
with the heavy chemical trade would appear most —
desirable. katy j ie oes
The British colour industry is receiving some ~
adverse criticism from the users of the rarer,
colours for which the demand, at the most, is but.
small, but it has a more important task at the ~
moment than to fritter away its energies in
making these colours. The colour. industry is’
based on intermediates; it is the manufacture of:
these by the best methods, with the largest yields,
and of satisfactory purity which must be studied
in the laboratory and in the works. This is being
done, and Dr. Cain, through his book, in which.
the available information is clearly presented, is
helping to do it. Ri ay ee @
Solutions of the Examples in a Treatise on Differ-
ential Equations. By Prof. A. R. Forsyth.
Pp. 249. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
1918.) Price 1os. net. ne nde:
EveEN from the point of view of an undergraduate,
the subject of differential equations is very differ-
ent from what it was fifty years ago. But in a
large and miscellaneous collection of examples
like this there are a number of survivals which
remind us of De Morgan’s application of the
proverb: “Those that hide know where to find.”
Teachers and solitary. students (if such there be»
nowadays) will be grateful to Prof. Forsyth for
providing them with a key. It is one more
example of the author’s untiring’ industry’ and, _
so far as. we have tested it, of: his acu in,
cet f
details of, analysis..
‘ * 3 : ee CO 2 th: Waris ey Fikes y Ty She rey ae
NATURE
261
Letters to the Editor.
Editor does not hold himself responsible for
inions expressed by his correspondents. Neither
undertake to return, or to correspond with
riters of, rejected manuscripts intended for
any other part of Nature. No notice is
n of anonymous communications.)
Theories of Atomic Structure.
a letter to- Nature (March 11, p. 41) S. C. Brad-
stated: ‘‘The great objection to Langmuir’s
and the Molecule ’’ (Journ. Amer. Chem. Soc.,
«, Pp. 762, April, 1916), so it is scarcely fair to
s to refer to the theory as ‘‘ Langmuir’s theory.”’
though Lewis frankly implied that the electrons
ns are stationary, his theory of valency did not
pon such an assumption. The chemical data
nation in regard to the geometry of atoms,
particular, tell us of the kinds of symmetry
ey possess. From the chemical point of view
present a matter of comparative indifference
motions of the electrons may so long as
4m to the required conditions.of symmetry.
son I was careful to state in my first
. Franklin Inst., clxxxvii., p. 359, March,
Journ. Amer. Chem. Soc., xli., p. 932, 1919)
electrons in atoms are either stationary or
yolve, or oscillate about definite positions in
” It was, perhaps, not sufficiently em-
ms may be regarded as the centres of their
sometimes thought that the success of Bohr’s
furnishes reason for believing that all the
in atoms are rotating in coplanar orbits
nucleus. There is little justification for this
The remarkable results yielded by Bohr’s
ticularly in the hands of Sommerfeld, for
the hydrogen atom and the helium ion
to prove beyond question that in an atom con-
1g only one electron this electron actually revolves
circular or elliptical orbit about the nucleus.
9ugh Bohr’s theory has had some applications to
atoms, these are, for the most part, of a very
nature, such as those which relate to the com-
principle. The theory does not give a satis-
mode! even for such simple structures as the
en molecule or helium atom (see, for example,
erfeld’s recent book, ‘“‘Atombau und Spectral-
_ the chemical point of view Bohr’s theory is
ly unsatisfactory when applied to atoms contain-
nore than one electron. Thus, according to Bohr’s
lculations (Phil. Mag., xxvi., p. 492, 1913), a lithium
nucleus surrounded by three equidistant electrons
ter stability) than one in which one electron is
ther from the nucleus than the other two. Bohr’s
theory thus gives no reason for the contrast between
1€ properties of lithium and helium.
The two theories are not mutually incompatible if
we consider that, in general, the electrons do not
revolve about the nucleus, but about definite positions
symmetrically distributed in three dimensions with
respect to the nucleus. It is interesting to note that
Born and Landé (Verh. deut. physik. Ges., xx.,
Pp- 210, 230, 1918), starting out from Bohr’s theory
nd without knowledge of Lewis’s work, were led to
theory of the cubical atom by a study of the com-
Ssibilities of the alkali halides. They conclude that
1 electron orbits do not lie in a plane, but are
arranged in space with cubic symmetry. Sommerfeld
a MO, 2635, VOL. 105 |
at the positions of the electrons shown in.
_ should have less potential energy (and, therefore,
in his book suggests that this conception-may~hélp-to
solve some of the outstanding difficulties, and evidently
does not consider it inconsistent with Bohr’s theory.
in the case of atoms which do not share electrons
with other atoms, it is logical to assume that each
electron in the outer shell has its own orbit. Thus
the atoms Ne, Na+, Mg++, F-, and: the S atom: if?
SF, should have cubic symmetry, the eight’ outer elec:
trons revolving about positions located at the corners
of a cube. But where a pair of electrons is. held. in:
common between two atoms, the chemical evidence’
indicates that the pair acts as a unit. When an ‘atom
shares four pairs of electrons with its neighbours, ’ it:
thus has tetrahedral rather than cubic symmetry. : So
far as the chemical evidence is concerned, it would be
satisfactory to adopt Bohr’s model for the hydrogen
molecule to represent the pair of electrons which con-
stitutes the chemical bond. We may thus picture the
chemical bond asa pair of electrons revolving ina
single orbit about the line connecting the centres of
the two atoms. . al
Bohr in his 1913 paper (Phil. Mag,, xxvi., p. 874)
states: ‘‘ The configuration suggested by the theory for
a molecule of CH, is of the ordinary tetrahedron type;
the carbon nucleus surrounded by a very small ring of
two electrons being sityated in the centre, and a
hydrogen nucleus in every corner. The chemical bonds
are represented by four rings of two electrons each
rotating round the lines connecting the centre and
the corners.’’? This structure is quite consistent. with
the octet theory. Bohr did not, in general, identify a
pair of electrons with a valency bond. !
hen we consider; however, that Bohr’s theory in
its present form does not furnish an explanation of the
stability of the pair of electrons in the helium atom
and in the bond between atoms, it is evident that the
model -described: above can scarcely be regarded as
satisfactory. It seems as though some factor of vital
importance is still missing in Bohr’s theory. . The
chemical data suggest that the ultimate theory will be
extremely simple, but perhaps more radical than any-
thing yet proposed.
I am in full agreement with the views put forward
by Dr. H. S. Allen in Nature for March 18, p. 71.
IRVING LANGMUIR...
Research Laboratory, General Electric Co.,
' Schenectady, New York, April 12.
Decimal Coinage.
In Nature of April 1, p. 145, reference is made to
the unfavourable report of the Royal Commission
appointed to inquire into the above subject. It would
appear from a close study of the findings of the
Commission that the failure to solve this century-old
problem was due more to differences between the
advocates than to opposition to the principle.
Although fifteen of the twenty Commissioners would
prefer to decimalise the existing £ sterling rather
than to create a new monetary unit equal to roo half-
pence, it is significant that only four of them could
agree that the advantages to be secured by the
decimalisation of the £ would outweigh the incon-
venience arising from the change. This is tantamount
to an admission that the method of dealing with the
penny difficulty as proposed in Lord Southwark’s Bill
(4—1mil) was unduly complicated. (No exact equiva-
lent of the penny was provided, the choice of a 4-mil
and 5-mil piece being alternatively offered.)
_ Retaining the £ as the unit, there are three possible
values for the penny, viz. :
4. mils=the present penny less 4 per cent.
5 mils=the present penny plus 20 per cent.
‘ak mils=the present penny exactly.
The claims of these denominations may be.summed
up as follows:
NAFURE
The.,.4-mil , Penny.—As. the. denomination: ..4.. repre+,
sents, neither..a decimal multiple of .1: nor .a ‘binary -
division. of. 10, a 4-mil_ coin could have no permanent
262 re) im
\
| APRIL 29,1920)
would be taken: by: the established “‘ penny’ interests, ©»
such ‘as ‘insurance and tramway authorities, eter, to — A ai
bring themselves into line with the new mil system, ' it
place in any decimal coinage system. As a transitional | whereas many of these interests are already agitating
value, it, would: also..be unattractive,.because it would | for legislative authority ‘to abandon the penny ‘basis, “ae
still further, reduce the purchasing power of the penny: |: which has proved inadequate to cover ‘operating costs..'
at a time, when: .an increase is needed, and its tem- | Many of the old fixed penny charges, such as the —
porary adoption. would involve two adjustments of | penny stamp, penny-a-mile, etc., have. already dis- --
existing, pennyworths,, thus doubling, instead of remov- | appeared, and the retention of the coin itself is noc
ing, the, difficulty, For these and. other reasons a 4-mil
penny may be safely dismissed.from our consideration.
reasons. in its favour, viz: »
(1). In.a decimal. coinage system prices are normally
arranged in steps, of 5, e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, etc., and
the value, of < mils.would.fall conveniently between
that of the unduly high.5 American cents and the un-
necessarily low 5 centimes of the Latin Union.
(2) The reduction of. the present high prices would
be hastened by the provision of a penny of this value.
The price of a pre-war pennyworth, now sold at three-
halfpence, could obviously be reduced to 5 mils long
before it could be restored, if ever, to the original
penny, ..;.
(3) The’ prevailing shortage of copper coins would
be relieved by thus increasing the token values of all
the .penny and halfpenny coins now -in circulation.
Two. copper coins are now employed in countless
- transactions where formerly one sufficed, and this fact
alone, quite apart from decimalisation, demands a
penny: of higher value.
(4) The simple relationship of 10 pence to the
shilling would be readily grasped by the uneducated,
and the deservedly popular single-coin payments would
be restored. Retail shopkeepets could, if so desired,
continue to keep their accounts in £ s. d. instead of
f. m., the 23, 5, 10, and 25 mil coins being in that
case entered as 4, 1, 2, and 5 pence, all the higher
value coins retaining their present descriptions as
I, 2, 5, and to shillings respectively.
Note.—The majority Commissioners apparently
feared that 5 mils would always be charged in place
of the present penny. If they had said in place of
the present three-halfpence, they would have been just
as near the truth, which possibly lies between these
two views. Probably everyone would now be very
glad to pay 5 mils for a pre-war pennyworth of any-
thing—the trouble is we are charged three-halfpence
or more. When introducing this year’s Budget the
Chancellor of the Exchequer (referring to his pro-
posal to raise the receipt duties from 1d. to 2d.) said:
“This change is no more than reflecting the altered
value of the penny.’’
The 4%-mil Penny.—lf there are insuperable difficul-
ties in the way of raising the values of the existing
penny and halfpenny coins to make them serve as
tokens for 5. mils and 2} mils respectively, they could
remain in circulation at their present values side by
side with new 5-mil nickel coins, in which event their
values in mils could be expressed as 4-2 and 2-1
respectively, the latter figure representing twelfths of
a mil. (These expressions would be no worse than
our present use of 4/2 to represent four shillings and
two-twelfths. )
The present penny could thus be preserved in-
definitely. for the continued exact payment of all
statutory -pennyworths, but the competition of. the
smaller, lighter, and cleaner 5-mil nickel coin, repre-
senting. a. value in closer harmony with present-day
needs, would rapidly drive the bronze penny out of
popular favour. for the countless single-coin payments
of daily life. In. concluding that this method might
involve the dual circulation of. pence and, mils -‘‘ for
seventy-five years or more,’’ ‘the majority Commis-
sioners have unwarrantably assumed that no steps
NO. 2635, VOL. 105]
The. 5-mil Penny.—There are: at least four good:
longer a matter of vital importance. eis
The £ sterling could thus be decimalised either
without altering the penny or by raising its value to’
5 mils‘ (either instantaneously or praduele and so’
securing substantial benefits over and above those
normally arising from decimalisation. Pee ee
Having very truly said: ‘‘It is necessary to distin--
guish between the coins in circulation and the reckon--
‘ing of money of account,’’ and having properly.
referred to the human habit of halving quantities, the::
Commissioners failed to realise that it is quite prac-
ticable to combine the advantages of decimal accounts
and binary coins. Such a composite scheme would: —
provide decimal multiples and binary divisions thus : i‘
Goins In accounts Equivalent >
Gold or Note: 4 fom | fie
Pound ... ok Pe ssa 1 0 00 tiie
Half-pound Ass ey 5 00.) ieee
Quarter-pound (crown) ... 2 50 Bs :
Szlver :
Florin... “ee ae re I 00 0 aS 5
Half-florin (shilling)... ee 50 O55)
Quarter-florin... vnc a 25 6
Nickel: Hoe
Dime (10-mil piece)... ae fe) Filed bs
Bronze: eit .
Half-dime (penny) NS see 5 1'2
Quarter-dime (halfpenny) ay 24 aR a
Mil Ss Sy dig os Don 0°24
~ The above sroposal achieves the complete decimalisa-
tion of the é by means of a smaller number of coins
and in a simpler manner than by the method described
in Lord Southwark’s Bill. No decimal point would
be needed, the number of figures would be reduced,
and no new coins would be immediately required.
Harry ALLCOCK.
Trafford Park, Manchester, April 21.
International Council for Fishery Investigations.
As the writer of the article on the above subject
in Nature of March 18, I should be disposed to allow
Prof. McIntosh’s letter in the issue of April 8 based
on it to pass without comment if that letter had not
been quoted extensively elsewhere. I merely remark
that the professor’s claim to maintain the same posi-
tion as he tools up in his published criticisms in 1902
and 1903 is fully substantiated. I seenoreference in my
article to the Moray Firth, which, indeed, had nothing.
to do with the International Council, and which
must leave Prof. McIntosh to settle with his fishery
colleagues in Scotland. His criticism of the repre-
sentatives of France is out of place, in that repre-
sentatives of all countries are appointed: by their
Governments. gly
Prof. McIntosh confuses the programme. adopted —
with the general discussion which took place first:
Commodore Drechsel and others, spoke of. “‘the. —
closure of. the greater patt of the North.Sea as the —
most gigantic scientific experiment. ever. made. [will
NALURE\.
, scientific man contest’ this’ view ?] in. respect to
closure of -areas.’’ This is stated. by Prof.
McIntosh to be the first item in the scheme of
stigations, whereas no such general scientific
ve tion ‘is recommended. Whether or not the
the clesure consequent on the war no’ one knows,
certainly trawlers have been experiencing the
ate benefit of the closure since the armistice.
to which the North Sea is covered by the
tions of trawlers is evidently not understood.
‘he work of Masterman, Heincke, and others results
| the estimate that 1500 million plaice of more than
2 cm. live in the North Sea, of which one-third are
ht annually, 200 million being put on the market
1 300 million being destroyed in the process of
n, Prof. McIntosh refers to one part only of the
osal for the protection of plaice, viz. that by a
ze limit, whereas the permanent closure of certain
areas “‘to provide a reserve from which the young
aice mi spread so as to restock the open
unds*’ is definitely mentioned in my article. Prof.
[ntosh arently does not realise that the repre-
tives of at least three of the four countries that are
larly interested in the plaice stock of the North
are convinced that the evidence shows that the
e stock is, under normal conditions, being so
iously depleted by man that international legisla-
action is essential. In view of such action, the
osed year’s intensive plaice investigation is fully
d. We wonder whether Prof. McIntosh has
ned the statistics that have been published in
to the plaice and other flat-fishes year by year?
McIntosh scoffs at the basal researches on
he hemical conditions of sea-water in respect
the life in the sea as likely to be of any import-
_He selects in particular ‘‘vitamines.’’ His
<s should be read in connection with my para-
to which he refers. It is self-evident that even
argest quantity of food can be of no use to a
> animal unless that animal has the requisite
to build up that food into its own living matter.
understanding of this at every age of the animals
question—and of animal life in general—is the
+t of these researches. There seems to be no
74
z : =e t
__ Prof.
may not be generally known that an almost
ial committee appointed by the Development
ymmission is at present sitting on the question of
hery research. There is no member of that com-
‘mittee employed in fishery research, and, equally,
‘there is no member of the committee who is in-
capable, by training or otherwise, of understanding
any parts of the problems to be investigated. The
port of that committee should shortly be issued.
will doubtless be an authoritative pronouncement
on the whole question as to the utility or non-
y of fishery investigations as proposed by the
ternational Council and as undertaken by the
herv Departments of England, Sr oene, and
_-'The Plumage Bill and Bird Protection.
Nature is doing a service to science, as well as to
art, in having opened its pages to the discussion of
e Plumage (Prohibition) Bill. For in the end the
il should be drafted in harmony with the scientific
facts concerning the bird-life it is designed to protect,
spews also with due regard for the zsthetic and decora-
needs of mankind. There is’ one aspect of the
* .
; .
No. 2635, vor: tos}
vestig: domestication -of other plumage birds.
sheries of the North Sea will be permanently altered |
thing as ‘‘ pure sea-water ”’ without “‘vitamines.”
- subject which has hitherto been only lightly touched
upon, but which, if unfettered, is sure to become of |
great-importanee inthe future,-namely, the domestica-
tion of plumage’ birds. Impressed’ with the ‘success!
of its ostrich, industry,’ South Africa has for some’ ”™
time turned. its attention to’ the possibility of the ~
Experiments” ’’
have already demonstrated that the marabou ‘stork’
can be controlled in captivity and, in all probability,
induced to breed. Attention has also been directed to
the gregarious weaver-birds and other brightly coloured
species; but the advent of war turned men’s thoughts:
away from the arts ‘of peace.
In all the considerations no~ biological difficulty
presented itself which a thorough study of the nature
and habits of the bird could not be expected to over:
come; the chief problems were economic, namely, '
how profitably to produce the plumage in sufficient
quantity to comply with trade requirements, so admir-
ably met in the case of the ostrich. On the authority —
of Prof. Lefroy we learn that there are many egret.
farms in India, and the plumes are procured without
cruelty ; domestication of the same bird has also been
considered in parts of Africa. With the encourage-
ment which ornithologists could give, there is every
likelihood that in the future great developments will
take place in the production of domesticated plumage,
procured in harmony with the highest humane senti-*
ments and to the exclusion of plumage from the wild
bird—a realisation which would be peculiarly accept-
able to the trade as well as to zoologists.
Now if the Plumage Bill were passed in its present
form it would close the door on all efforts of this
kind, at any’ rate so far as importation into England
is concerned. Sir Harry Johnston indicates that, as
a compensation, plumage might be procured from a
dozen or more kinds of our domestic birds; but surely,
in these days of Empire considerations, he would not |
wish us to isolate ourselves in prejudice from’ the
Dominions overseas, as well as from the products of
other countries?—a result which would follow from
the carrying out of his suggestion. ;
Nor is this necessary. A study of the situation
reveals that all the reasonable requirements of the
supporters of the Bill can be met, and at the same
time the avenue be left open for the development
within the Empire of a trade in domesticated plumage.
Instead of asking for a prohibition of import of every
kind of. plumage (except ostrich and eider-down), let
the prohibitionists and others interested in the pre-
servation of bird-life agree upon a list of birds the pro-
tection of which is desirable from any point of view,
and then have the list appended to the Bill as a schedule
of prohibitions. The carrying out of the intent of
the Bill on these lines would be a simple matter, and
additions to, and removals from, the schedule could
be made as circumstances demanded. Passed in this
form, the Bill would become a real stimulus to the
activities of the Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds and an effective measure for the inculcation of
humane principles and regard for bird-life generally.
As Prof. Lefroy has shown, the trade has no con-
cern in avian rarities, but is prepared to work with
bird-lovers in the direction of their preservation and
in the discouragement of every kind of cruelty.
Before the war a list of prgqhibited plumage had been
agreed upon by the trade representatives in the lead-
ing European capitals. When the matter of bird-
protection is discussed in) a calm manner, with full
knowledge of the facts involved, it is seen that the
interests of the bird-lover and of the plumage trade
are alike, and the simple modification of the Bill sug-
gested above would méect’ the needs of all. '
es i J.-E. DUurRDEN: *
Roval Colonial Institute,
Northumberland Avenue.
264
ANWATURE
_ [APRIL 29), 1920
The Standard of Atomic Weights.
“Ir is with considerable surprise, as a chemist, that
I see in Nature of April 22, p. 230, arguments as to
thé structure of atoms based on the deviations of the
atomic weights of elements from whole numbers on
the, standard O=16-.00 The reasons for the use of
this. arbitraty. and inconvenient standard are now
matters of ancient history, and the values of Stas,
which were regarded as fundamental at the time when
the ‘Standard was adopted, have now been shown by
many independent lines of experiment to be inexact.
At'is almost pathetic to observe modern experimenters
‘who have determined equivalents by: the accurate
analysis of hydrogen compounds, such as hydrogen
chloride, methane, hydrogen bromide, ammonia, etc., .
all. of which are more easily obtained in a state of
purity, and analysed, than oxygen compounds, com-
pelled: to multiply their results by 1-008 in order to
bring them into line with the standard of O=16-00.
A glance at the International Table of Atomic
Weights will show that very few of the elements form
oxygen compounds suitable for analysis, and the state-
ment to the contrary, found in most elementary text-
books, is clearly inaccurate. A great number of
equivalents,.on the contrary, have been referred to
‘Ag=107:88.. This number can be brought into ratio
with oxygen only through the intermediate link of
nitrogen, the atomic weight of which has been most
aecurately determined by’ the analysis of ammonia.
The latter involves the ratio 1-008 to get the ratio to
O= 16-00. But the atomic weight of chlorine has been
most, accurately determined directly to H=1-00, and
the ratio Ag: Cl is also very accurately known. From
hydrogen to chlorine, from chlorine to silver, and from
silver to a large number of other elements seems to
be the most natural proceeding. Oxygen then comes
in from the ratio H :O found. by Morley, Scott, and
Burt and Edgar. This is now probably one of the
most accurately known atomic weights. The above is
one instance only. of the extraordinary branch-chain
methods now necessary in order to get the experi-
mental numbers referred to oxygen.
-.On the. theoretical side the advantages of the
hydrogen standard are self-evident. No one has ever
pretender that the adoption of oxygen as the unit
as any theoretical significance; the retention of the
number O=16-00 alone is sufficient to prove this. The
accumulating evidence on the physical side, such as
atomic numbers, the structure of atomic nuclei, the
periodic law, and the like, all points unmistakably to
the mass of the hydrogen atom as the natural
standard. It is no longer correct to say, as is still
done in elementary books, and even in other quarters,
that the standard of atomic weights is a matter of
indifference, and that, apart from experimental
reasons, one element is as good as another. We have
almost certain evidence that the hydrogen nucleus is
a fundamental constituent of all atoms. Prout’s
hypothesis being thus reinstated, there can be no
doubt as to the suitable standard of atomic weights,
-and Dalton’s choice has had a most remarkable vin-
‘dication.
When, therefore, arguments are advanced based on
‘the standard O=16-00, it seems time to suggest that
some steps should be taken to put an end to the pre-
vailing confusion. Physicists have never taken
kindly to the oxygen standard, and there is no
longer any reason why chemists should be given need-
less trouble. JI have, in my elementary lectures,
made a practice of using the hydrogen standard, and
thus avoiding all the confusion in connection with
vapour densities, etc., which comes in with the other
system, eee
There is one, other point, which. seems. tome. of
NO. 2635, VOL. 105]
importance. On the oxygen scale.the atomic wees d
unit
of a number of elements differ by, about half
from whole numbers. It has been conjectured that
these elements are mixtures of isotopes, with atomic ©
weights which are whole numbers. But if there: is
anything in the theory of isotopes to justify this, it
can only rest on. the hydrogen nucleus, and the atomic
weight of hydrogen should be taken as unity. If this 4
is-done, it is found that the suspected elements are
replaced by those not at present under any clouds of
suspicion, The following table will illustrate this
Re Atomic Weight Atomic We'ght :
Element =16'co H=1'00 nk
Chlorine :. 35-45 3518 -
Magnesium 24-32 ay ig *:
Silicon 28-3 Bghe
Zinc 65°37 64:88
Copper 63°57 63:10
It may be that there is some real pea
for taking O=16-00, and then supposing that, if some
elements deviate from the whole number on this
basis, they must be mixtures of isotopes, bu
reason has so far escaped my attention. " = _
There seems to me to be a good case for the Com-
mittee on Atomic Weights to consider whether the
t this
unit O=16-00, adopted largely on account of the oom
sistence of Ostwald, is any longer necessary. At best
it was a temporary decision, and all the reasons which
were advanced in its favour. have now lost their force. —
I am convinced that the arguments in favour of a
return to Dalton’s unit are so cogent that, once they —
are clearly realised, they will be- admitted. “
: _ J. R. PartTINGTON.
East London College (University of London),
April 23. 1 epee
Mortlakes | as a Gause of River-windings.
MortLakE on the Thames has a place-name which
not only accords with the natural history of the place,
~ cen tra adnate tame tase ire eld eens and
but. also supplies a word which might conveniently Re
be brought into common use to signify a process
which plays an important part in the development at
of every river system, just as the River Meander sup-
plies a word to signify the windings of any river.
The area between Barnes and_ the
MORTLAKE
Fic. 1.
division of the stream into a northern and a southern
arm reunited at the down-stream ends. The southern
arm is now incomplete; the part of it remaining is
included in the line of the Beverley Brook, which,
having come from the south, turns to the east round
a bold curve and joins the Thames. This leaves a
gap between the convexity of the curve and the river
at the point where it previously divided. This ga
now forms the isthmus of a peninsula into whic
the island has been converted by the partial efface-
ment of the southern arm of the divided river. Here
Mortlake stands. It is on or near to the former line
of the stream which has been in part effaced. This
part has become a dead stream—a mortlake, the word
“lake” having been used in'the Middle English sense
bobeke p andi¥
CG ae ere: Re ew ee
pdOF IOV .AEOS OF
Thames was —
formerly an island in the river (Fig. 1), formed by a_
RIL 29, 1920]
NATURE
7 a
ifying a stream. Leland the Chronicler wrote
there runneth a praty lake out of Sudeley
, ola the Castle and runneth into Esse-
Brook at the south syde of Winchcombe.”
: “I passed over 2. or 3. small lakes
Chiltinham and Gloucester and they resort
.”’ The word is still used in some places
s a stream; children on the Severn banks
of the moon as claiming to guide the ship
ce.
t Lord Avebury, in writing of meanders
f England’’), mentions, as one of the results,
9op often remains as a dead river-channel or
’ Such loop-lakes are known in America as
_ There is, however, a great difference. In
an “oxbow ”’ the loop, formed by a lateral
of the river, has been entirely cut off from
‘stream. A mortlake may be defined as the
-a closed part of one of the two sections of a
(previously divided so as to surround an island
stream), the other channel remaining open and
a single channel for the river.
he two sections of a river enclosing an island,
them at least must have a curved line. Two
lines cannot enclose a space. If, then, the
part of the stream in one of the sections
the remaining section, now forming the
2 river, must have a more or less curved
t be a river-winding. The form and the
will, of course, depend on the shape and
of the former island. Thus a result of
tion of a mortlake may be one of those
or river-windings which are a familiar and
feature in the landscape. The explanation
has been a puzzle from classic times until
sent. The subject was discussed at length by
ributors to NaTuRE in November and December,
come to the conclusion that the conversion
: ds into areas bounded by single streams,
r less curved, is part of the ordinary course of
elopment. This, in my view, may be briefly
thus: A newly exposed part of the earth’s sur-
ves the rainfall on every square inch of it,
‘water will not flow away in the form of a
inute runnels form, and these will not be in
it lines parallel to each other. I cannot imagine
_ “primary consequent streams’ as they are
s depicted. Even slight obstructions would
1 aside so that they would meet and coalesce,
forming a miniature network of streams, each of
meshes enclosing an islet. Then the water on the
sam side of every islet will have alternative
; before it. These routes may, for a time, be
easy, but they will not continue to be so;
them wiil be preferred, and this may not be
most direct. The stream which continues may
the one which meets with the least obstruction, or
it may be the one most necessary for continuance as
having to receive longer or more numerous tributaries.
channel no longer needed will cease to be used; it
| silt up. Then the islet will become continuous
an adjoining islet. This process being many
speated, islands of increasing size—which may
darge and, possibly, of very great extent—will result.
Ultimately, they will all cease to be islands, in the
absence. of need’ for two channels. The development, .
x = do, not, wish, :to smurigest..fhat the q format
seven years ago I pointed out (in a paper read before
a local society, and printed at the time) the influence of
tributaries as one cause; and I recognise others. But
the same laws govern the development of all rivers.
Although Herodotus found the rivers of Egypt to be
different from other rivers, I, in imagination, see the
life-history of the Nile as very strikingly depicted in
its present course. I have elsewhere shown (‘* The
Lower Severn,’’ Proceedings of the Cotteswold
Naturalists’ Field Club, xvi., 1909) an outline picture
of a thousand miles of the Nile below Khartum com-
pared with one of ten miles of the Severn below
Gloucester. The resemblance is so close as to lead
to the remark that it almost seemed as if the one
figure had been drawn in ink on the second page of a
sheet of paper and the other by pressing the ink
before it was dry against the opposite page. The
size of the two rivers and the character of the rock
formations being so very different, it is at least
remarkable that the course of the two should be so
very much alike. In the Times of a recent date
(March 15) is a report from Dr. Chalmers Mitchell
of his view from an aeroplane in passing above the
railway between Wady Halfa and Abu Hamed. He
saw ‘huge cliff-lines submerged at intervals by
desert,’? which suggested the ‘‘proper bed” of the
Nile. It is really a relic of the time when the area,
now partly enclosed by the great sickle-shaped curve
of the Nile, was a huge river-island two hundred miles
wide and five hundred miles long. That which Dr.
Chalmers Mitchell saw was the line of the eastern
arm of the Nile; it is now the line of a long mort-
lake. Pes EALLIS.
59 Park Road, Gloucester.
Eiffel Tower Wireless Time-Signals. .
_ It may interest a number of readers of NATURE’ to
know that the Eiffel Tower is at present sending ‘out
two additional sets of ‘‘scientific’’’ time-signals. The
scientific signals are arranged as a_ time-vernier,
gaining about one beat in fifty. They have’ hitherto
been sent at 11.30 p.m. G.M.T., followed at rr4s,
after the ordinary time-signal is concluded, ah
numbers which give the moment of the first and ‘the
last signal of the set, according to the standard clock
of the Observatory of Paris. A comparison can thus
be made with the introduction of.a véry small error,
often not exceeding one-fiftieth of a second. .. These
valuable signals have suffered from two awkward
features: In summer time they are inconveniently
late, and the purring or snoring note (ronflée) “on
which they are sent is much obscured by atmos pei
when the latter are bad, so that sometimes one failéd
to pick up the identification bréaks which occur atthe
end of every sixty beats. REN
In addition to the old series, which remain. un-
changed, two new series are now being sent; _these
are on wave-length 2600 metres and a. high
musical note that cannot be confused with. atmo-
spherics. Otherwise they are the same as the orien!
—300 dots, the 6oth, 120th, 180th, and 240th being
suppressed. Thev are sent: (1) at: 19.30 a.m.
G.M.T., the comparison numbers giving Paris time
following’ after completion of the 10.45' ordinary
signal; and (2) at 11 p.m. G.M.T., the’ com-
parison numbers being sent after the 11.45 ordinar
signal, along with those which refer to the old’ f1.:
sienal, the two references being distinguished. wy’ the
- letters’ ML (musicale) and RF {ronflée) respectively.
The. new series are beaitifully clear, and’ ought fo be’
of great service to those who require acetate ye:
SAMPSON.
© Royal Observatory, Bathbiitgh, Aprit 3
ipo) Oy .2f08 oF
“Stari OS Ese LAS IL
<M IE ale
_. [APRIL 29, 1920
i
‘Some Tests of the 100-in. Hooker Telescope.
By Dr. Grorce E. Hate, For.Mem.R.S., Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory.
ate construction of a telescope of very mae
_* aperture is necessarily an experiment
final success of which can be determined only by
the results of astronomical observations.
the mechanical and optical difficulties have been
overcome, there remain those disturbances of the
atmosphere which are of little importance with
small apertures and low magnifying powers, but
become more and more serious as the diameter
of the objective and the scale of the image are .
multiplied. Thus in undertaking the construction
of a reflecting telescope of 100-in. aperture, while
we had the advantage of experience with the 60-in.
Mount: Wilson ‘reflector,
that the outcome must remain in question until
the completion of tests made under customary
atmospheric conditions.
the |
After —
visual measurement of the components of very
close binary stars, which cannot be‘separated by
the smaller instrument, not merely because of the
overlapping of their images during periods of
poor seeing, but also because of their inherent
_ irresolvability due to the wave- length of light
'
we frankly recognised ©
itself.
In spite of the fact that most of the tests shave
been applied under the comparatively poor at-
mospheric conditions of the winter séason, the
early results are very satisfactory.
possible to include in our regular spectrographic
programme stars one magnitude below those
studied with the 60-in., so that the radial veloci-
ties and spectroscopic parallaxes of stars down
As contrasted with the 60-in. ‘reflector, the full
measure of advantage attainable under perfect
atmospheric conditions would be as follows:
Light Scale of
collécting focal | Resolving
4 ; ; power . image power
60-in. reflector I I I
100-in, <5; 28 1°7 17
| our investigations on the structure and Ae of
Similarly, an important ad- |
This means that either in direct photography or |
in spectrographic work with a given dispersion the
larger instrument should bring within range stars
about one magnitude beyond the. reach of the |
60-in.
portant, as two illustrations,
The advantage thus gained would be im- |
out of many that |
might be given, will suffice to show. Only two or |
three of the brightest stars can be studied with ©
the most powerful spectrograph of the 60-in. tele-
scope, which is not much inferior in dispersion to
the instrument used by Rowland in his work on
the solar spectrum. The same high dispersion,
if employed with the 1oo-in. reflector, could be
applied to several times as many stars, represent-
ing most of the principal stages of stellar evolu-
tion.
the 100-in. telescope should be able to record
photographically many millions of stars too faint
to be reached by the 60-in.
In the second place, the increased scale of the
focal image, whether in the principal focus of
_ the large mirror or at the Cassegrain focus, where
the. 100-in. telescope has an equivalent focal
At the other end of the magnitude scale, |
length of 134 ft., should separate more widely the |
crowded stars at the centre of globular star
clusters, thus permitting them to be studied with-_
out confusion with one another; it should increase |
the precision of measurement in such difficult
work, for example, as that involved in‘detecting |
the. very small changes in the configuration of
spiral nebule caused by their internal motions;
and, to give no other illustrations, it should permit
minute details, not previously photographed, to
moon.:
Finally, the increased theoretical
power, if realisable in practice, should permit the
NO. 2635, VOL. 105]
‘
|
be recorded on. negatives of such objects as the |
to the tenth magnitude are being measured in
large numbers by Dr. Adams and his assoc
This involves a notable extension of the 1
of
the stellar universe.
vance in our researches on stellar evolution has
_ also been rendered possible, bringing to light new
and curious types of stellar spectra and interest-
ing phenomena in the spectra of variable stars at
minimum brightness. The spectra of the long-
period red variables of the Md class, most of which
were too faint for satisfactory observation with
It has become |
(> ES: AS SON
the 60-in., are now being systematically photo- | |
graphed by Dr. Merrill with the Hooker telescope.
One of these stars has been found to show the
peculiar interest because of the fact that these lines
have previously been observed only in nebule and.
in temporary stars. With, low dispersion, » the
spectra of stars of the fourteenth magnitude have.
_ been photographed by Dr. Shapley with moderate
exposures at the centre of globular clusters.
‘chief nebular lines in its spectrum, a matter of
The preliminary results of the photography of |
nebule have also been very satisfactory, both at
the principal (Newtonian) focus of the 100-in.
mirror and at the 134-ft. Cassegrain focus. The
photographs indicate an important advance over
the 60-in. telescope, and leave no doubt that the
desired increase in the precision of measurement,
rendered possible by the larger scale of the images,
will aid materially in the study of the internal. and
proper motions of spiral nebula. A striking
feature of these negatives, as compared with those
taken with the 60-in., is the increased contrast of
the minute nuclei in spiral nebule, which are
brought into greater: prominence by the larger
aperture. This will render available for measure-
ment a large number of sharply defined symmetri-
cal points.
The character of the images may be judged from
the aceompany reproduction of a photograph of
the moon (Fig. 1), taken by Mr. Francis G. Pease
at the 134-ft. Cassegrain focus on September 15,
1919. This negative, like others obtained by Mr.
_ Pease with the Hooket telescope, shows smaller
resolving ©
details of structure than we have previously been
able to photograph.
a eee ee en we OT
>
\
{TUR
a,
A
APRIL 29, 1920]
Observatory
Wilson
voker telescope of the Mount
=: about oo miles.
Scale: r in.
Pease,
.
¥
Photographed with the H
September 15, 1919, by Mr. F. C€
1.—North central portion of the moon at last quarter.
Fic.
5]
I0§5
NO. 2635, VOL.
268
NATURE
[APRIL 29; 4920
* dye boi
Perhaps the most interesting application of the
100-in, telescope hitherto made is that rendered
possible by the utilisation of Michelson’s inter-
ference method for the measurement of the spec-.
troscopic binary star Capella. The method con-
sists in completely covering the 100-in. mirror
by a screen in which are two slits, which can
be placed at any desired distance apart. Light
coming from a point source, such as a single star
at a very great distance from the earth, passes
through the two slits and is brought to focus by
the large mirror. A system of interference fringes
may then be seen under a telescopic power of
about 5000 diameters, which are sharply defined
even on a night of poor seeing. If the star is
single, the fringes remain visible even when the
slits are separated by the full diameter of the
100-in. mirror. But if the star is a very close
double, the fringes will disappear (assuming the
members of the pair to be nearly equal in bright-
ness) when the slits, set by observation at the
proper position angle, are moved apart to a
distance that depends upon se angular distance
between the star’s components.! _
The following measures of Capella, made by
Dr. Anderson, indicate the possibilities of the
method :
Sa Position angle Distance
--,, 1919, December 30 148'0 00418
1920, February 13 50 00458
ees 14 10 o°0451
, ” 15 3564 0°0443
‘yy March 15 2428 0°0505
, giving the same result with
11n p° actice, a. somewhat d
higher precision, is employed ; Dr. Fe watt
When plotted,
an ellipse. The method, which has’ been”
experimentally in the laboratory, not only allows
binaries that cannot be resolved by other ‘means
to be measured with very high precision, but—
permits twice the theoretical resolving power of
the Hooker telescope to be. attained in practice,
even when the seeing is poor.
This application of the nef aa ae
gested by Prof. Michelson many year
used by him in the measurement of the. iameter ¢ of |
Jupiter’s satellites at the Lick Observatory | in
1891. The possibility of seeing the fringes under
ordinary atmospheric conditions with the full
aperture of the Hooker telescope was demon-
strated by Prof. Michelson during a visit to
Mount Wilson last September. The method will
have many applications, and should be utilised
by observers with instruments of moderate aper-
ture who wish to resolve close doubles and to
increase greatly the precision of their measures.2 ~
From this record of the preliminary tests of the
Hooker telescope it will be seen that in light-
collecting power, in the increased scale and im-
proved photographic definition, and in the added
possibilities of optical resolution attained through |
the application of Michelson’s method, the new
instrument has not disappointed our hopes. We.
must now endeavour to utilise these advantages _
‘in the extension and development of our re-
these points, fall accurately on ay
searches on stellar evolution and the struigene 4
of the universe.
rates lerengs Methods to Astronomical! Measurenients,” P/7/,
1090
2 For an account of this method, see Michelson, ‘‘ On the stron .
oy .
Artillery
By Sir GEORGE
HE religious attachment of the officer of
artillery to the practice of his predeces-
’?' “was described by Benjamin Robins about
1740, and: his attachment persisted with un-
impaired devotion right up to the war. There he
found, himself outclassed at the outset, out-gunned
and. out-gunnered; the little artillery ‘he took out
was. small and puny, and not of the right sort re-
quired—“ pas de celle qu’il faut.” Our Artillery
ebony cannot be said to have understood what
It, the word “‘ artillery.”
ee the assumption of our politicians that this
country. was -never going to war again, an
interdict: had been laid on England of seven lean
Years ;, and when they were up, the lean years got
an extension leading right up into the war.
A; well-disciplined Army. Council had _ been
formed, sobsequious to the Minister, with instruc-
tions. to; resist all suggestions of military progress
—housed i in.a magnificent new palace in hitehall,
“ qT"
sors
the. barracks, of an army of War Office clerks, pro-,
vided. out, of, a, reduction of the Regular s Idiers,
Temple of Victory it cannot be called. The
stone slab over the portal is still blank, ready to |
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
GREENHILL, F.R.S.
Boe
Science. Beer eae
receive the appropriate motto, with no derange-
ment in the epitaph : Lees oN
PACEM PARA BELLUM SI aoe Petey,
igus &
Ss So
The mentality of the Army Council can oe
glimpsed in its attitude to Flight in warfare. The
Wright brothers framed on their
wall the.
egregious answer of the Secretary in the official
jargon:
to you.
“T have nothing to add to my last letter
The War Office is not disposed to enter
into relations with any manufacturers of airs
planes.”
This was in March,
year we were running the risk of our whole Army
1913, and only the next.
being completely surrounded, with no airmen to
scout for us.
The evil name “ Maubeuge ” would
have been written on our history as indelibly as
“Jena” and “Sedan” were on others. No
wonder the German squadrons could fly all over
England and London with impunity, in the face of
all our air defence.
The. belated arrival, in the, ‘war of the Beale is
another similar story. ilitary prejudice pre-
ferred to muddle along in a’ stalemate of ‘trench
WATURE
269
_ APRIL, 29, 1920]
waste and slaughter, before it could. be per-
to take up this: new revolutionary. idea.
rman advance walked over our trench war-
system in the spring of 1918, and took all
inically bold as a lion, our military soul
ellectually a very timid bird, and shuddered
- suggestion of novelty and progress.
ver 1 asked an artillery officer: ‘‘ What
learn as a cadet at the Royal Military
ny?” the answer came in the invariable
+ “I learnt nothing when I was at the
‘ca’ canny ’’ slogan would carry. And yet we
this nickname, full of meaning and con-
uous, is countenanced by authority, from
vernor downward, as a surrender of all
It should be made a crime of a military
er to use such a derisory, contemptu-
too descriptive of the obsolete, decadent
of the place. |
1y List gives a whole page to the cata-
the staff of the Royal Military Academy,
h, full of official Army titles. Low down
‘Sc a line is to be seen, and under it a
a dozen names, the civilian instructors
0 should carry out the real work of the
thing was ever so Prussian, not even in
But the line has a more sinister mean-
it emphasises one of. the important
f the Cardwell scheme, and excludes all
‘appearing under it from retiring allowance,
ile every Civil Service clerk is pukka, subsidised
covenanted, on the strength of a Civil Service
examination, medical or otherwise. A sailor would
compare the Academy to a boat trimming too
auch by the stern, with too many cocked hats in
ern sheets.
s the only source of supply of our artillery
not run clear; it commissions him with
id of second class, with all the mental
90k implied of indolence and apathy. _
| Officers among them deplore the
ent, and are beginning to confess to
their deficiency of all artillery science in the war;
but, with military docility, they are afraid to say
much, and formerly, before the war, would bring
yn themselves the scowl of the senior officer,
d the disparaging epithet of “scientific.”
he old school aimed at being as close an imita-
of cavalry as possible, and a stable boy was
the noblest gunner of them all, prepared to carry
out a gallop of a few seconds over Woolwich
Common, with a little gun on wheels behind.
The idea was deprecated of firing off his gun,
1 imitation of the practice exacted in real war-
are, as likely to wear the gun out, and so pro-
ided a good excuse. Cir
_ But here is a Disadvantage of Durability, espe-
cially in artillery, and most of all in its traditions.
2, at a cost of two years’ delay, of intoler-°
to afford.
Wags BO- 2635, VOL. 105]... Satin: O* ope it
Our guns, were always obsolete when they , were
most. wanted.
So this gunner preferred to seek the: seclusion
of his stable before the guns. began to.shoot;. he
was encouraged to be gun-shy,.and to.despise any
sort of artillery that could. not go. at a. gallop
behind horses. His favourite arm was this corps
d élite, the plaything of the. I.R.C...(Idle. Rich
Class), very expensive to maintain in. peace, and
of little proved utility in war. commensurate with
the cost.
But motor artillery has come to stay as the real
artillery, unless “bilked ” by the old school... This
was the sort required. in the war, and in peace, it
is not eating its head off, like horses in.a. stable,
and is never tired on the march. De Wet was run
to earth very soon by a squadron of .motor-cars
never giving his horses any rest: what..our old
cavalry tactics never could effect. be sali
The civilian has grasped the paramount;.im-
portance in modern warfare of heavy long-range
artillery; and he must be careful that.the lesson
has not been lost on the regular gunner, or. allow.
him to return to his ancient, worn-out traditions,,
Such long-range fire was declared officially of no
military value, until our poor fellows came under
the accurate fire of the long-range German,
howitzer, with no protection from our own
side.
German science could always astonish’ ‘our
sleepy regular gunner, in providing a gun
that could bombard Paris, and London too, when
it could be brought up as near as Calais. How
much longer would the war have lasted then?
although the fire was declared of no military im-
portance by those who did not suffer under it.
This advanced German artillery science, as well
as of the chemical and aeronautical science, was
the outcome and product of the Military Technical
Academy in Berlin, a magnificent institution such
as our Ministers thought England was too poor
Sixty officers were under instruction
there in a three years’ course more thorough than
exacted to-day for honours in the university. No
wonder our feeble amateur military science went
down before such superior training. «+ .
I was once privileged to visit the Berlin Academy,
under the guidance of Prof. Cranz, and to inspect
the instruction in all branches—ballistics, aero-
nautics, and electricity. There, for one thing, I
remember seeing the electrical class occupied in
making the antenne of wireless telegraphy. This
was ten years ago, when aeronautical science and
flight were derided by our War Office authority,
and opposed on the score of economy. We shall
not feel safe in England until we set up a rival
institution, but it must be as far apart as pos-
sible from the Woolwich tradition. South Ken-
sington would be an ideal site, say in the building
of the old School of Mines and Naval Architecture
and alongside the Imperial College of Science, as
the Berlin Academy is a neighbour of the Char-
lottenburg Technical High School, with the same
a
OFA
r
-f*
270: ws
NASHEED
| «[ApRn, 29,,1926. ,
advaceesie pe ‘sae. hae’ use. vy poksioniew and.
Our, artillery will
special. professorial- lectures.
then. be able to thraw off the badge of second class
and .claim,to take the rank of first class again.
A cadet military college can only carry on the
initial stage of the education of the artillery officer,
and for;that it is better for him not to be isolated
too ‘early,,from the other military branches. Many
a scheme,for the amalgamation of the military
colleges will be found pigeon-holed in the War
Office, awaiting the pressure required to be
exerted, onthe opportunist. The artillery could
then. make.its selection from the whole list of
Army-candidates, and with proper prestige secure
the pick of the bunch, It would not then have to
submit,,.as at present, to put up with the leavings
of the: Royal Engineers, and to be branded as
second class. .
The. pick of the officers,
service, would be selected for a further course
at our, equivalent of the Berlin Military Technical
Academy, where neither indolerice nor apathy was
tolerated, but stigmatised as bad form, so I was
informed. Here they would find a standard of uni-
after some military —
versity, rank, in a centre. of keen intellectual
activity.
But the atmosphere of all Woolwich is dose
and ill-ventilated. Throw open the window, and
let in-air and. light ! The Royal Military —
Academy there is ° unhealthy,
well as mentally, seated on the safety-valve
of the main drainage of all South London.
The buildings are antiquated and worn-out,
fit only to be mined and blown .up at the —
moon, and then a more healthy atmosphere,
physical and intellectual, might be formed. With
the solidarity of any other trade union, Woolwich
strongly opposed dilution. But Dilution proved
the best material, and carried the war to a suc-
cessful conclusion, and so the insidious efforts at
his elimination in peace must be watched care-
fully, and countered by a plentiful entry of
university candidates from the outside. | ;
The country will never cease to shiver at ithe
recollection of our narrow escape from defeat and
utter ruin, and will listen to no specious political
views of opportunist economy likely to place | ‘M8
again in a state of military inferiority. yg
Obituary,
Dr. RupoLtpeH MeEsseEL, F.R.S.
R. R. MESSEL died on Sunday, April 18, in
his seventy-third year. Death came to him
as a happy release but to a large circle of friends
familiar with his social qualities and many acts of
unostentatious generosity the loss is severe and
will be deeply mourned. He had long been one of
the most notable of our chemical manufacturers as
pioneer founder of a most important industry, for
he was the first to produce sulphuric anhydride
from its elements on a large scale.
_ Messel was born in Darmstadt and came to this
country, at the conclusion of his university career,
shortly before the Franco-Prussian War; when
this broke out he returned to Germany and volun-
teered for service but owing to a physical dis-
ability, I believe, he was drafted into the
Army Service Corps and was wounded while
on ambulance duty. He lost no time in return-
ing to England and became assistant to the
late, Dr. Squire, a mah _ of _ considerable
ability and originality. Messel had qualified at
Tiibingen as a chemist under Strecker, who natur-
ally took an interest in the then infant alizarin
industry, as he had worked with alizarin. Strecker
foresaw the important part that fuming sulphuric
acid was to play in the industry and directed
Messel’s attention to the fact, suggesting that he
might well seek to supply the want. Messel,
therefore, was fully conversant with what had
been done and when Squire, possessed of the
same idea as Strecker, suggested to his assistant
that he. should set to wine on the subject, he was
soon. ready with a process, having at.once resorted
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
to the use of platinum as a casa in ordae to
bring about the interaction of sulphur dioxide
with atmospheric oxygen.
A patent. was taken out by Squire in ‘P75 bed’.
he and Messel described their process in a paper
read to the Chemical Society early in 1876; but
this was not published. Their works were erected
at Silvertown, on the Thames; the manufactur-
ing process was_ rapidly developed through |
Messel’s skill and intense devotion to his task.
Not alone were English wants soon met but a
considerable quantity of the acid was supplied to
the German colour-makers. The Badische Anilin-
& Soda-Fabrik was led largely to develop the
manufacture of the acid in connection with the
production of synthetic indigotin; but the
splash” this firm made in 1g00, when it pub-
lished the results of its experiments in consider-
able detail, was unwarranted. Practically every- —
thing essential then put forward had long been
a matter of everyday practice with Messel. Had
not commercial considerations prevailed, he might
well have upset the patents; but he was ever a
man of peace, as well as a modest man, so he
made no attempt to claim the credit that was kis
due. He acquired the German patents at a
peppercorn price but his former countrymen never
had the honesty to do him public justice.
The writer was a frequent visitor at Silvertown
in early days and was always impressed by the
remarkably systematic manner in which the works
were operated. Messel was ever on the look-out
for improvements and ever ready to. make ‘them. |
His chief trial in later years was the’ difficulty. he
experienced in persuading his. ‘conservative, Benes
‘i
fe
i
physically — as i 7
a
NATURES
27%
’ He long lived on the works in the most
st quarters and his all-seeing eyes were
here. In Germany the success of the great
works has been mainly due to the effec-
operation of a variety of workers, repre-
ng the different sides of the business, sup-
ted by a small army of highly disciplined,
d scientific assistants; but Messel did
hing himself: his versatility was astound-
was not only chemist but also engineer,
ee man; he had no
staff but only an assistant or two.
‘Though a German but a German fited with
sd English methods. Aided only by the most
ddest resources, he long held his place success-
against his rivals in Germany. Probably much
early success was due to his sympathetic
fitude towards his workmen, by whom he was
merally beloved; but Messel was not only a
orker, he also played hard. In great social
quest, he knew everyone: Gilbert was one of
Ss great friends. Of late years Messel had been
ne of os a familiar and popular figures at the
ssel’s eminent scientific services to industry
— in 1912 by his election into the
Society. No other compliment could have
him greater satisfaction. Though a manu-
turer, he lived for science and in the atmo-
phere of science and not the least of his merits
5 the example he has thus set. PE. Ae
=)
"> Pror. A. K. Huntincton.
_ By the regretted death, on April 17, at sixty-four
fears of age, of Prof. Alfred Kirby Huntington
30 shortly after relinquishing the chair of metal-
lurgy at King’s College, University of London,
which he had occupied since 1879, British tech-
al science loses one of its old guard, and both
netallurgy and aviation are the poorer by the loss
9 an indefatigable worker and an outstanding
sonality. i
_ Though it be admitted that Prof. Huntington's
name is linked with no spectacular discovery, his
work, beyond: its professional duties, was con-
uous, scholarly, and of marked originality. In
both respects he therefore exercised a determinative
moulding influence upon the two generations of
men he trained in this rapidly widening field of
Pee on
LLL)
ong
we ‘May justly regard as the Renaissance of non-
ferrous metallurgy. For nearly forty years he
_ was invariably abreast, more usually in the fore-
front, of the many new departures which have
marked it. A physicist as well as a chemist, his
researches on the micro-structure of metals and
on “corrosion” have added essentially to our
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
imagination, Messel appreciated and prac-
“Science. His career, indeed, coincided with what.
metallographic knowledge; his paper on “The
‘Concentration of Metalliferous Sulphides by Plot")
”
tion,” read before'the Faraday Society’ in 196590"
broke ground which has been gratefully cultivated >"
by others, and provided the starting-point -‘for>”
fresh researches; whilst in the disclission of such
‘diverse technics as those of’ copper‘smelting, |)
cyanidation, nickel metallurgy, etc., matiy have»:
owed essential enlightenment to his'suggestions and»
criticisms, imparted with a kindly, if somewhat
gruff, sententiousness. © 393
- Prof. Huntington rendered yeoman service .in'''\'
the earlier development of several of our now ’
important technical associations; thus one recalls
his two papers (upon “The Mexican Amalgama- ''’
tion Process” and ‘The Metallurgy of Nickel’and ©
Cobalt ”) which were read at the first annual meet=
ing of the Society of Chemical Industry in’ 1882.
Later he was actively interested in the formation
of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy,’
becoming its second president’ in 1894, and’
remaining an honoured member of ‘council until
his death. The mere enumeration of his con-
tributions to its Transactions occupies a whole’
page of index. In 1913 he succeeded to the presi+ ~
dential chair of the Institute of Metals, and to
that society he gave of his energy and experience
with equal freedom. .During the war his special-
ised knowledge of high explosives was placed at
the disposal of, and fully utilised by, the
Admiralty. Sea
A marked characteristic of Prof. Huntington’s
metallurgical outlook was its practicality and its
constant insistence upon the economic aspect of
the problem under consideration. His motto
might seem to have been: “First write your equa-
tion in economics, and the remaining 20 per cent,
of technics will be easily and better supplied
thereafter ”"—though it must be admitted that he
could be unsparing if that balance appeared faulty !
Prof. Huntington’s intense practical interest in
aeronautics, which advancing years were power-
less to quench (since, in addition to his exploits
in ballooning, he was until quite recently his own
pilot and flew his own ’plane), made him famous
to a wide circle; but it is to his services to modern
metallurgy that special tribute is due. ;
Dr. A. J. CHALMERS.
Tue death of Dr. A. J. Chalmers in Calcutta on
April 5 causes a gap in the ranks of British
workers in tropical medicine, and: will also be
deeply regretted’ by his many friends in this
country, as well as in the various Colonies in which
he held important posts. The son of a Wesleyan
minister, Dr. Chalmers was born in London in
1870, but began his career at University College,
Liverpool, which at that time formed part of
Victoria University. His career in the Medical
School during his student days was brilliant, and
it was soon apparent that he had a bright future
before him. He gained the Holt fellowship of’
his college in 1890 and r1891,. and. obtained
honours on taking his degree as M.D. Soon afte: ’
272
NATURE
[APRIL 29, 1920
taking his F.R.C.S. (England), he had a great
desire to travel, the tropics especially having an
attraction for him, and he joined the ‘West -Afri-
can Medical Service in 1897. He served as-a
‘medical officer with the: Ashanti Field Force in
1900, and was with the British troops that were
besieged in Kumasi, who, after some time, gal-
lantly broke through the native hordes and re-
gained the coast. Dr: Chalmers attended to the
sick.and wounded with great energy and devotion
and was mentioned in despatches by the com-
manding, officer, and received the medal with a
clasp. In 1901 he accepted a post under the
Ceylon Government as registrar of the Ceylon
Medical College. Here his capabilities as adminis-
trator and organiser: were brought into full play.
He soon - developed. this institution into an ex-
gellent medical school,..the licence of which is now
recognised by the General Medical Council.
While in Ceylon Dr. Chalmers first turned his
attention to the tropical diseases that came under
his notice, and never spared himself in working
among the resident Europeans and natives who
came to him. Resigning his position in Ceylon
in 1902, so that he might devote more time to the
study of tropical diseases and parasitology, he
returned fo England. It was then that he con-
ceived the idea of writing a much-needed manual
on tropical medicine; and in collaboration with.
his colleague, Dr. Castellani, in Ceylon, he began
the work which will remain a monument to his
memory. The preparation of ‘‘The Manual of
Tropical Medicine,’’ which has now reached its
third edition, cost him a great amount of time and
labour. . He was an ardent worker in many fields,
and carried on research not only in pathology and
bacteriology, but also in parasitology, especially in
connection with diseases of the tropics. His work
on the Mycetoma will always be connected with
his name.
From 1912 Dr. Chalmers devoted more than a
year to the study of the cause of pellagra, and
in company with Dr. Sambon visited Italy and
Rumania. On his return he carried on researches
in this country, with the result that cases of pel-
lagra, a disease unknown to be endemic in Great
Britain, were found in Hertfordshire and Scot-
land. Later he visited Egypt and travelled up
the Nile with the same object, and accumulated. |
much valuable data in connection with the study
of pellagra and other diseases such as endemic -
hematuria. hea ges ; .
On his return to England Dr. Chalmers
gave some time to the study of the history
of medicine, and became an_ enthusiastic
lover of ancient literature—especially that
dealing with the medical art. After some
time he felt again the call. of the East, and
often expressed a wish to return there. In 1913
he accepted a post as director of the Wellcome
Research Laboratories at Khartum, which he
filled with conspicuous success. He became a
- member of the Central Sanitary Board, and also of
the Sleeping Sickness Commission of the Sudan.
NO. 2635, VOL. 105]
Dr. Chalmers continued there until a short time —
ago, when he left the Sudan, accompanied by his
wife, with the object of returning home via India, —
_Japany-and America, and when in Calcutta was |
unfortunately seized with his fatal illness. —
Pror. L. T. O’SHea.
Lucius Trant O’SHEA, professor of applied —
chemistry in the University of Sheffield,
who died suddenly from cerebral hzemor-
rhage on April 18 at sixty-two years of
age, was. educated at the Grammar School
and at Owens College, Manchester, ard.
went to Sheffield in 1880 as assistant lecturer and,
demonstrator in chemistry at Firth College. In,
1890 he became lecturer in mining chemistry, and
in 1905 professor of applied chemistry, in the
university. For the past twenty years he had.
specialised in the study of explosives as applied to
mining operations, and of the coking of coal in ©
retort ovens.
of ‘coal dust. on explosions in mines. He was a
fellow of the Chemical Society, a member of the
Society of Chemical Industry, and hon, secretary
of the Institute of Mining Engineers. .
Prof, O’Shea published ‘‘A Contribution to the
History of the Constitution of Bleaching Powder,”
He also did much work on the
safety of coal mines, particularly with regard to —
the effect of the gases given off by the coal and —
|
and “The Retention of Lead by Filter Paper,” —
about the time of the lead-poisoning epidemic in
Sheffield more than thirty years ago, and some
years later, with Dr. W. M. Hicks, he produced —
electro-iron of almost perfect purity, which the
present writer had the privilege of using for experi- —
ments when helping to lay the foundations of —
theoretical steel metallurgy, for which pure iron
was required as a basis for study. He also pub- —
lished “A Note on the Woolwich Testing Station,”
“A Testing Station for Mining Explosives,” and
“The Safety of High Explosives, with Special —
Reference to Methods of Testing.”
In 1901 Prof. O’Shea went out to the South
African War in command of a detachment of the
1st West Yorks Royal Engineer Volunteers,
remained until the declaration of peace, and was
given the Queen’s medal with five clasps. In
1914 he was made O.C. of the O.T.C., Sheffield
University, with the rank of captain in the unat-—
tached Territorial Force, and he was an energetic
and inspiring leader.
Prof. O’Shea was not able to devote a large —
proportion of his time to research, but. he will be |
greatly missed for the painstaking work he did in __
the training of students in chemistry as applied
to mining and-to the coking of coal, and in the
general preparation of fuel for industry.
A. McW.
A man who had great influence in the applica-
tions of science to the use and convenience of
man has passed away in Mr. THEopore N. VAIL,
well known to many in England, as wellas in
\rit:29, 1920] |
NATURE 273
is homeland across the Atlantic. Mr. Vail’s life-
otk was the development of the “Bell” tele-
» system in the United States, and it ‘is to
ersonal initiative that the enormous growth
American Telephone and Telegraph Co., of
| he was for many years the president, is
y due. He was a rare combination of the
S man, quick to see opportunities and far-
rl his policy, and the patient, scientific
It is not too much to say that the
of the American telephone system, cul-
in the achievement of speech from New
to. San Francisco, is mainly due to the
mitting attention that he gave to the organ-
on and prosecution of research, and the tech-
laboratories that he initiated are the finest
industrial undertaking. It is pleasant to
] k that, unlike many workers on parallel lines,
Vail lived to behold the fruit of his labours.
= death is announced, at the age of eighty
rs, sot Dr. Joun A. BRASHEAR, the founder of
eeerown American firm of makers of astro-
nical and physical instruments. In his youth,
hile. working as a machinist, Dr. Brashear
votec himself to the study of astronomy, and
e his first telescope while pursuing this hobby
sr his working hours: . With this instrument
e many observations, as a result of which
tributed articles to the daily Press on
, etc. These attracted the attention of
Malo: Shaw, whose offer to build and
for, him a good shop for the production of
al instruments was accepted. This
mately developed into the works of the John A.
ashear Co. at Pittsburgh, which turns out
truments that are used in observatories all over
e world. Dr. Brashear received the honorary
c from. Pittsburgh and other universities,
F tecen gor to 1904 was acting chancellor of
e Western University of Pennsylvania, now the
n’ ma, of Pittsburgh. He was a member of
ican and foreign scientific. societies,
jas a recognised authority on solar: pheno-
unar erasers, and other See
Mr. James Metcatre, who died on. Aepeil: £2,
as born in 1847, and was locomotive supet-
ndent of the Manchester and Milford Railway
‘om 1867 to I He was afterwards managing.
ir tor of the Patent Exhaust Steam Injector Co.,
cs gh de are extensively used in locomo-
re Metcalfe was elected a member of the
stitution of Mechanical Engineers in 1906. ~
est was born in 1860, and was chiefly interested
etwas, waterworks, and road and sewerage
vork ks. He took a great interest in aeronautics,
nd at. -the time of his death he was chairman of
:
)
}
cE . ST as having taken place on. April 14. . Mr.
;
Me
ca 2635, VOL. 105 |
A HE death is announced of Mr. FRANK Epwarp, tested’ adequately by direct chemical means.
-members of the Committee are:—Sir Mackenzie.
srs. A. V. Roe aiid Co,, Ltd. He was elected |
nine of: the Mistitution. of ‘Civil Engineers in|
Notes,
- FURTHER news from Capt. Roald Amundsen fails to
explain his movements.. According to the Times of
April 23, a message has been received in Norway from
the wireless station on the Anadir to the effect that the
expedition will arrive at Nome,. Alaska, at the end of
July. Nome is the port. Amundsen reached on his
accoinplishment .of the North-West Passage in the
Gjoa in 1905. Possibly -his ambitions include the
North-West Passage before starting on his North
Polar journey. These two difficult journeys, in addi-
tion to the discovery of the South Pole and the not
improbable attainment of the North Pole, would be a
remarkable record for one man. A start on the polar
drift from Bering Strait or Point Barrow entails a
longer route than Amundsen had originally intended,
so that he may be calling at Nome for extra stores.
News of the arrival of Amundsen himself at Anadir
needs confirmation.
Now that political and social conditions are more
favourable in the Near East, a certain recrudescence
of archzological activity is evident. The recent dis-
coveries of M. Hatzidakis at Mallia, in Crete, have
been. followed by a further discovery west of Candia.
M. Xanthoudides has excavated a Cretan palace,
which appears to date for the most part from the end
of the Middle Minoan period to the end of the first
Late ‘Minoan period. The most important discovery.
made in the palace was-a series of colossal bronze
double-axes, measuring several feet in length in some
cases. No such axes of this size have yet been found
on Cretan. sites, and their purpose is. for the present
obscure. Another excavation by M. + Xanthoudides
near Candia brought to light some pottery of Early
Minoan date of a peculiar type. Similar pottery has ~
been found only at. one other site in Crete, and it.
does not appear to be typically Cretan. In shape the
vases found resemble the so-called Minyan ware. In~
technique they have. no parallel in Cretan wares.
The detailed publication of both these excavations \
will be awaited. with: the greatest. interest.
Apprications for grants in aid of scientific investiga-. .
tions bearing on agriculture are receivable by the
Ministry of Agriculture’ and Fisheries not later than
May 15. They must be made upon Form A. 230/1, ;
copies of which are obtainable upon application to the:
General Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture
Fisheries, 72 Victoria Street, S.W.1.
and
. THE Minister of Health has sopnlited a Cotte?
to consider and advise on the legislative and adminis-
trative measures to be taken for the effective control
of the quality and authenticity of such therapeutic sub-
stances. offered for: sale to the public as eannot be
“The -
Chalmers (chairman), Dr. H. H. Dale, Dr. G. F.
McCleary, Mr. A. B. -Maclachlan, ‘and’ Dr. af .
Martin.’ The secretary is Dr. E. W.. Adams, of the.
Ministry ‘of ‘Health.
Tue. following, have besa, anced nfinehs and couitxtils:t /
| of the Society of Antiquaries, of London pr ftresigent :
‘ ye cereeny -
274
NATURE
LAPEIL- 29) ee
Sir C. Hercules Read. Treasurer: Mr. W. Minet.
Director :: Sir Edward W. Brabrook. Secretary: Mr.
C. R. Peers. Council: Sir W. Martin Conway, Mr.
V. B,. Crowther-Beynon, Mr. H. R. H. Hall, Mr.
W. J: Hemp, Mr, A. F. Hill, Mr. C. H. Jenkinson, .
Sir Matthew I. Joyce, Mr. C. L. Kingsford, Lt.-Col.
G. B. Croft Lyons, Prof. J. L. Myres, Lord North-
bourne, Prof. E. Prior, Mr. J. E. Pritchard, Mr. H. W.
Sandars, Major G. T. Harley Thomas, Mr. R. Camp-
bell Thompson, and Mr. W. H. Aymer Vallance.
THREE important scientific appointments will shortly
be made by the British Cotton Industry Research
Association, and the council of the association invites
applications from qualified candidates. The posts tobe
filled are those of the heads of the departments of
colloid chemistry and physics, organic chemistry, and
botany. The minimum salary offered in each case is
1oool. per annum. Applications, accompanied by the
names of two referees, must be received not later
than Saturday, May 22. Forms of application and
any further information may be obtained from the
Director, British Cotton Industry Research Associa-
tion, 108 Deansgate, Manchester.
INFLUENZA is abating somewhat in its severity,
_ according to the latest weekly returns of the Registrar-
General. The deaths from the disease for the week
ending April 17 numbered only 306 for the ninety-six
great towns of England and Wales, whilst for the
three preceding weeks the deaths were 392, 379, and 332.
A similar decrease is shown in the deaths for London,
which for the week ending April 17 numbered 1o1, and
for the three preceding weeks the deaths were 131, 124,
and 105. The returns also show a decrease in the deaths
from pneumonia and bronchitis. The age incidence of
the present influenza epidemic resembles somewhat the
character of the attacks in 1918 and 1919, which were
entirely different, so far as age incidence goes, from
previous attacks since 1890. ‘There seems, however, now
a tendency to revert somewhat to the former age inci-
dence. In the present epidemic the deaths in London
during the last twenty-six weeks numbered 1056, and
of these 16 per cent. occurred between the ages of
o and 20, 36 per cent. between 20 and 45, and 48 per
cent. at ages above 45 years. In the virulent attacks
of 1918 and 1919 the deaths were about 24 per cent.
between the ages of o and 20, 46 per cent. from 20 to
45, and 30 per cent. above 45 years, the able-bodied
being attacked most severely. The maximum number
of deaths in any week in London during the present
epidemic was 131, whilst in the summer epidemic of
1918 the deaths in one week numbered 287, and in the
autumn of 1918 the deaths from influenza for two
successive weeks, November 2 and 9, amounted to
2458 and 2433. For the ninety-six great towns the
deaths for the same two weeks in November were
respectively 7412 and 7557, against 392 in the week
ending March 27 in the present epidemic.
In Man for April Sir W. Ridgeway describes two
wooden Maori daggers, part of a collection brought
home by the late Col. Honner after the first Maori
war in 1840-41. It was at first suggested that these
implements were Potuki, or “ flax-beaters,’? and it
NO. 2635, VOL. 105]
was doubted whether the Maori did use daggers.
But Mr. Henry Balfour has described a bone dagger
from tthe Chatham Islands, and some cultural simi-
larities indicate a link between those islands and
New Zealand, especially the Otago district. It is now
certain that the Maori did use daggers made of wood
and bone. As regards the Potuki, there is a class
of beautifully carved examples which can never have
been put to any practical use. Their exact function
has not been recorded, but they were, perhaps, signs
of dignity in the tribe. Sir W. Ridgeway remarks
that the paper mulberry, from which tapa cloth was
made, was brought to New Zealand by Maori immi-
grants. But it did-not thrive, and the tapa-beater, so
important in the social life of Polynesia, would thus
fall out of practical use. ‘My suggestion is that it
retained only a ceremonial significance, and that its
parallel straight grooves conditioned the type of
decoration which the Maoris subsequently applied
to it.”
In the Journal of the Manchester Egyptian and
Oriental Society for 1918-19, recently published, Mr.
W. J. Perry discusses the significance of the search
for amber in antiquity in connection with the mega-
lithic problem. He supposes that the amber uséd for
decorative purposes in the Mycenzan age may have
been found in the Adriatic. It is not easy, however,
to see why it should have been so readily adopted as.
a form of wealth, as it does not possess the attractive-
ness of gold and pearls. Mr. Perry suggests as an
explanation of its value that amber, a solidified resin,
may have been associated with the productions of cer-
tain trees venerated in Egypt as the source of resinous
substances used in mummification and other death-
ee ee
rites. As a further explanation he refers to the
Chinese use of jade and gold, supposed to convey
vitality to those who consumed them. “In the case
of the Chinese, whose civilisation can be accounted for
on the hypothesis of a cultural movement across Asia
from goldfield to goldfield, the desire for life, health,
and immortality has played an important part in the |
production of philosophical systems, and thus it is _
possible that their civilisation itself owes its existence _
to that instinctive process.’? The theory is certainly
ingenious, but the evidence in its support is still
scanty, and the analogy of Chinese or Egyptian beliefs
with the search for amber in Europe must be accepted
with some caution. ; ats
THE trade routes of the British Empire in Africa
is the subject of a paper by Mr. G. F. Scott Elliott
in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts for April 2
(vol. Ixviii., No. 3515). Mr. Scott Elliott approaches
the problem of future rail and steamer routes from )
a geographical point of view. He emphasises the
location of the plateau regions in Central Africa, each
of which above 5000 ft. is a possible centre for
European settlement, civilisation, and trade. The
problem as he sees it is to link these interior regions
with British seaports by lines through British terri-
tory. He discusses at length the possible routes for
railways linking Lakes Nyassa, Tanganyika, Victoria,
Edward, and Albert. These lines, with the construc-
tion of a railway from Kashitu, on the Bulawayo-
a
= 29, 1920]
NATURE
275
nga. line, would complete a Cape-to-Cairo route
British territory.
annual report on the Nile gauges and ‘rainfall
Nile Valley ceased publication during the war,
last number being that for 1912, published in
The work has now been transferred from the
Department to the Ministry of Public Works,
publishes the records of the gauges for 1913 to
| Physical Department Paper No. 1. In order
ice the number of data, five-day means are
for twenty representative gauges between the
barrage and Entebbe, on Lake Victoria. Tables
e also given of monthly means for each of the six
ars, and the actual discharges on certain days at
il stations on the main Nile and Blue Nile.
ese discharges were measured by the current meter,
| Mr. H. E. Hurst, the author of the report,
iiculates has a probable error of not more than about
Two papers published recently by, the Ministry of
riculture and Fisheries (Series II., Sea Fisheries,
piv... ‘Nos. 1 and 2) deal with the method of deter-
ning the age of fishes by inspection of the scales.
‘well known that the material of the latter
ures is laid down in more or less regular layers,
d that there are differences between the substance
ited in the warmer, and that laid down in the
e of the age of the fish can be made. The
is ‘not applicable to all scale-bearing fishes,
there has been much discussion as to its trust-
sss. In the first of the papers to which refer-
is here made Mr. R. E. Savage describes the
ire of various scales as elucidated by special
s and studied under polarised light. In the
Miss R. M. Lee has made a critical
" ‘most - of the important memoirs dealing
1 scale-markings, and subjected selected series
Se cisebents to mathematical tests. Her general
onclusions are that, with certain precautions, the
nethod is trustworthy.
Tue climate and weather of the Falkland Islands
id South Georgia is the subject of a memoir com-
iled by Mr. C. E. P. Brooks, and published by the
‘eteorological Office as Geophysical Memoir No. 15.
he Falkland Islands observations are all from Cape
nbroke lighthouse with the exception of a few
iscon ntinuous series from Port Stanley. The Cape
embroke records date from the visit of the Scotia in
035 when Dr. W. S. Bruce and Mr. R. C. Mossman
arted observations there in connection with their
cor ds in the Weddell Sea. The scanty South
eorgia records are the result partly of various
> pry expeditions, but are mainly due to the enter-
2 of the Argentine Fishery Co. in Cumberland Bay.
Se ies of all available data, including those
sly published, are given in the memoir.. —
‘TH 4Z Danish Meteorological Institute has published
e for 1919 on the state of the ice in Arctic
hs usual, the publication is in both Danish
English and is well ‘illustrated - with charts.
rmation was scarce from the Beaufort and Bering
, Baffin Bay, and the western part of Davis
NO. 2635, VOL. 105]
‘J. Hewitt’s
, months. By counting these rings, then, an.
Strait. In Spitsbergen seas the state of ice was about
normal; the pack-ice off the west coast in April and
May disappeared in June, and did not return through-
out the summer. The ice in the fjords did not break
up until May, which is later than usual and two
months later than this year. The coasts of Iceland
were singularly free from ice throughout the year
except for a few days on the north-east in spring, and
again in summer. Icebergs on the Newfoundland
banks were normal in number and distribution. The
Kara Sea, as usual, was navigable in the south and
east in September, but there is no information for
earlier summer months.
THE attention of
Arachnida may
systematic students of the
advantageously be directed to
“Survey of the Solifuge of South
Africa’? (Ann. Transvaal Mus., vol. vii., part 1,
1919), in which clear generic and specific diagnoses
are illustrated by structural drawings and by a series
of excellently reproduced photographs. E. A.
McGregor’s paper on the ‘‘red spiders’ (Tetranychi)
of America (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. lvi., 1919) is
another recent arachnological publication of import-
ance.
A CONTRIBUTION of importance to Cetacean embryo-
logy has been made by Dr. F. E. Beddard, who
describes (Ann. Durban Mus., vol. ii., part 4, 1919)
two embryos of the sperm whale of an earlier stage
than has hitherto been observed. The smaller,
measuring only 114 mm, in length, has the relatively
short head flexed ventralwards, so that its long axis
is almost at right angles to that of the body, while
the lower jaw projects beyond the upper; the tail-fin
is narrow and ovate in form.
In a memoir on ‘The Theoretical Determination
of the Longitudinal Seiches of Lake Geneva ’’ (Edin.
Roy. Soc. Trans., vol. lii., 1920, pp. 629-42), Messrs.
Doodson, Carey, and Baldwin have applied Proud-
man’s general solution (Lond. Math. Soc. Proc.,
vol. xiv., p. 240) to the particular case of Lake
Geneva. The dimensions of the lake along thirty-
one sections being obtained from Hornlimann and
Delebecque’s map, the durations of the first three
periods were found to be 74-45, 35:1, and 28 minutes.
According to Forel’s observations (with a slightly
different zero-plane), the period of the uninodal
oscillation is 73-5 minutes, and of the binodal oscilla-
tions 35:5 minutes. The positions of the nodes of
the uninodal and binodal oscillations are also deter-
mined theoretically, and agree approximately with
those found experimentally, although, as the authors
remark, the exact determination of nodes by observa-
tion is very difficult. Would it not be possible to
test the latter by observing the reflections of the
setting sun from the east end of the lake? Three
definite reflections were once seen from such a posi-
tion by the writer of this note.
Tue Journal of the Queckett Microscopical Club
(vol. xiv., November, 1919) contains an interesting
contribution by Dr. Hamilton Hartridge on micro-
scopic illumination, in which the question of the
supposed advantages of so-called critical illumination
(which consists in accurately focussing an image of
276 NATURE [APRIL 29, 1920
the actual source of light upon the object under : i
examination). is carefully - eomined, The well- Our, Astronbpyical Congas “ee,
arranged and conclusive experiments. described. by the Eclipse OF THE Moon.—There will be a total
author lead to an unconditionally negative answer | Clipse of the moon on the night of May 2-3. The
which will not surprise those who are familiar with following: ,are’, thi Greenwich ome we te eating!
: oat sey # stages :— .
the theory of microscopic image-formation, but the ges
; ay Moon enters penumbra | ae May 2 isan m. -
result m m ’ . p.m. :
sults, being experimental, may put an end to the Moon enters shadow ... : as 12.0 mid.
barren discussions on this. subject by practical micro- Beginning of total eclipse a 1-39. hee
scopists. A very neat and compact arrangement for { End of total eclipse ... wee 459 2.27 -
the efficient and perfectly controlled illumination of | Moon leaves shadow see 3-41
objects in accordance with the results of the inves- | Moon leaves penumbra coe yg) | eee
tigation is described. Some of the theoretical views At Greenwich the moon rises on May 2 at 7.5 p.m.
in the first part of the paper are not acceptable. | and sets on May 3 at 4.34 a.m. The whole of the
Whilst it is true that the usual methods of illumina- Poe ~ Pignctan si ripe a Pres satellite f
ea do si strictly Tealise the ‘assumptions under- has remained fairly bright while at chien has 4
ying Abbe’s theory, it is surely not open to question | heen scarcely visible. If atmospheric conditions are _
that: the theoretical work and the rare theoretical | favourable, observations of ‘the character of the
‘calculations of images have always been carried out | shadow on this occasion might be made and, possibly, —
in accordance with the theory. The statement that | photographs taken. During the lunar eclipse of
if the ideals of critical illumination were realised, then | July 4, 1917, observations made at the Bordeaux-
rresclation cael | he destroyed, is quite untenable, Floriac Observatory showed that throughout totality
for as that ideal is to make the object behave as if ns oo edge of the moon seemed brighter than ;
it were self-luminous, the statement amounts to "a; ; jee | le
~claiming that a self-luminous object—say a white-hot |, Mars anp WireLEss SicNats.—It is regrettable that —
one—could not give a distinct image, which is absurd. | 19 these days, when results of great interest concern-
- ae ing solar and stellar physics are continually being
WE have received the fourth report (for 1916) of the | reached, the public should have its attention concen-~
‘seismological observations at De Bilt, Holland trated upon sensational assertions, such as the Porta r
(Konink. Nederl: Meteor. Inst., No. ‘108, 1918, planetary scare last December and the suggestion of ©
pp. 1-102), in which are given full details of the wireless signals to or from Mars which is mow andes §
bak sed: Schon duaetoctekal Chinas” ested umlictie discussion in the daily Press, Leaving aside the |
records ol gasseoiie Sein aad Hon seismographs | physical difficulties of such communication—which, —
of Galitzin and Wiechert and a pair of Bosch hori- | though considerable, are perhaps not insuperable—a
zontal pendulums, as well as a summary of the | very little consideration suffices to show the utter im-
results from other observatories of the more important | probability, closely approaching to impossibility, that
earthquakes. From’ this report we learn that the | the idea of signalling should be mooted simultaneously
munitions explosion at*Faversham on April 2, 1916 | 07 the pes ena On any view as to the develop-
(see Naturz, vol. xcix., 1917, p. 250), was registered | Ment of the planetary system, the periods when Mars
rer et Ah ee make and the earth pass through corresponding stages
.by the Wiechert and Galitzin pendulums at De Bae ||’ anid be likely to be separated by millions of years.
The effects of the air-waves of this explosion were |.The suggestion that the Martians have kept up the
widely manifested in Holland, especially in the | practice of signalling at every opposition through ©
western districts, by the shaking of doors, windows, | such a period as this, in the patient hope that they —
and pictures, as if by a slight earthquake. might one day be answered, makes too strong a
; demand upon our credulity.
One of the strongest earthquakes felt in Porto Rico | . ‘ ey e
since the European occupation occurred on October 11, THe Aprit Mrrror SHower.—The weather was
1918, the official Report of the Earthquake Investiga- | Moderately fine at the time the Lyrids were expected,
: so Hage os and a fair number of them were visible. The best
tion Commission (Washington, 1919), by Prof. H. F. night seems to have been that of April 21, when the
Reid and Mr. S. Taber, having recently been pub- | sky was generally clear and the maximum abundance |
lished. The approximate position of the epicentre is | occurred near midnight. The phenomenon was ob-
given as 18° 30’ N. lat., 67° 20’ W. long., in the | served by Miss A. Grace Cook at Stowmarket, Mr.
north-east portion of Mona Passage, and the time | S. B. Mattey at Plumstead, S.E., Mr. C. P. Adamson
of occurrence, within a very few seconds, at | 2t Wimborne, Mr. W. F. Denning at Bristol, and
h. 14m. 38s. p.m. (Greenwich mean time). The others. The.Lyrid meteors formed about ‘one-half of |
% 4 3 P j the total number visible on the nights of April 19, 20,
earthquake was followed after a few minutes by a | and 21, and nearly all of them left streaks. They
sea-wave which reached a height of about 43 metres | moved with moderate velocity, being decidedly slower
above mean sea-level along the north-west coast of Porto | than either the Leonids or the Perseids. As regards
Rico, the first movement of the water, wherever seen, | brightness they were much above the average, and
being one of withdrawal. The epicentre lies along a | SOME fine ones were recorded on the dates mentioned.
‘deep submarine valley, the slopes of which are so THE WASTING OF STELLAR SuBsTaNnce.—This is. the
steep that they must’ be regarded as the result of | title of a paper by Prof. F. W. Very in Scientia for
: : il. i membered that Prof. Eddington
faulting. During the last half-century the north-west April. It will be remem uC
coast of the island has been noticeably subsiding, and rats the suggestion in the Observatory last Septem-
; er that the immense duration of the radiation from
the authors attribute the earthquake and sea-wave | the stars might be explained by the annihilation of
to a vertical displacement near the head or on one | some of their component atoms through collision, and
side of the submarine valley. the consequent liberation of their stores of energy.
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
yi a
Apri 29, 1920]
Be
NATURE
277
' Prof. Very states that he made a similar suggestion
any years ago. He conjectures that great gaseous
ula, such as that in Orion, are the synthetic
tories where matter is being built up; he applies
idea to the Russell sequence of giant and dwarf
supposing that the loss of mass (contrary to
Eddington’s suggestion) is a large fraction of
whole initial mass, so that the dwarfs, on his view,
‘stars not merely of smaller diameter and greater
densation, but also of small mass. The increase
velocity with advance of spectral type would thus
an explanation. © ; baw
: - Map-making in India.
“HE Report for the year 1915-16 (vol. x.) of the
_ Records of the Survey of India (printed at the
ce of the Trigonometrical Survey, Dehra Dun,
4), which has lately come to hand, is somewhat
ted. price of it alone would indicate this,
. “four rupees or 5s. 4d.’’?; which does no justice
the present value of the rupee. It is in other
ects a new departure. There is no preface, and
ok in vain. for the usual summing-up of the
tific results of the year’s work by the Surveyor-
eral, Sir Sidney Burrard, who, for that matter,
‘ceased to direct the Department and retired
_ well-earned rest. On the whole, it is a dry
€ useful progress in the work of map-making,
upplemented by long tables of the results of scientific
observation, which surely, if they are of any use at
should be published in such an up-to-date form
; to compare readily with the work of other observers
elsewhere whose researches may lead them into the
ame ‘scientific fields. There is no narrative or
explanation showing how the results recorded
been -attained; no excursions into the realms of
9graphy to lend a flavour of romance to the volume;
no new ies or startling discoveries to save
it from the familiar atmosphere of dry official dull-
ness. It is, of course, not meant to be amusing, but
it might easily be made more interesting. One unusual
-and redeem feature it does indeed contain. There
are seven most excellent photogravure portraits of
_ those gallant officers of the Department who fell in the
service of their country. They are so good that one
cannot but hope that they exist otherwise than in this
Official environment, and have already become a per-
manent and honourable feature in’ the ‘headquarters’
offices of the Indian Survey.
+The actual progress of mapping for military pur-
poses under the difficult conditions of the war period,
_ when so many men were absent on duty in the fields
of France, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere, appears to
_ have been most satisfactory during that busy time.
_ .The Punjab surveys extended into Kashmir, and
included a great deal of revision on the one-inch
_ seale as well as certain areas on four inches to the
_ mile. This feature of variety in the scale of mapping
is common to all the topographical parties, and is a
_ most encouraging sign that the scale is now adapted
_ to the quality of the district surveyed far more freely
_ than used to be the case. Formerly, there is no
_ “doubt, much money was wasted over unnecessarily
‘large scale work in districts which had no possible
military significance and not much geographical im-
_ portance in any sense. Practically the topographical
_ surveys are scattered all over India, from the Punjab
_ to Madras and Burma: An examination of cost rates
_ is interesting, for it does not indicate that the cost
_ has ‘greatly altered during the last twenty vears.
_ Here again evervthing depends on the physical charac.
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
“«
a t.
‘3
ve
‘an earthquake shock.
teristics of the district. From 7-6 rupees per square
mile in the Punjab (almost entirely revision) to
50-7 rupees in Burma is certainly a most reasonable
outlay for the work of the one-inch class, especially
when compared with the enormous costs of European
mapping on the same scale. The two-inch-per-mile
surveys were a trifle more costly (when compared with
previous years) than usual, but the surveyors had to
face special difficulties in the shape of large areas of
dense forest growth.
There is no record of any extension of first-class
triangulation, and the scientific branch of the Survey
Department seems to have been directed towards
the completion of ‘fore and back double levelling of
precision” in the Punjab and the United Provinces,
together. with the usual programme of tidal and mag-
netic observations. It is interesting to note the
generally increasing accuracy of tidal predictions,
although certain errors seem to require explanation.
_For instance, there were five predictions at Moulmein
which were more than thirty minutes wrong. Why?
The tabulated magnetic results show that great dis-
turbances occurred in 1915, particularly in the month of
June; and on August 29, 1916, the seismograph was
dislocated by the violence of its action in recording
The report, however, says
nothing as to: the ‘probable location of that shocic.
It would be interesting to know: more about it. An
ingenious instrument for calculating attractions, which
the designer, Mr. J. de Graaff Hunter} ¢alls an
“integrator,” is illustrated by photogravure in the
report, and this is indeed the one new feature in it
which will probably attract most attention from ‘men
of science. : j
‘The final record of publications by the’ Survey of
-India can be -best studied by an examination of the
index charts which form the appendix. Progress with
the 1/M-(one-millionth) Maps of the World Series is
very Satisfactory. It is this class of geographical
mapping which has formed the basis for the Peace
Conference boundary delimitations, ‘and in their pre-
paration India is working hand-in-hand with the
Royal Geographical Society and the Geographical
‘Section of the War Office. *
Vol. xiii. of the Survey of India Records, which is
issued a§ supplementary to the general: report of
1917-18, brings the topogtaphical records of the
Department to a later date than the above. | It deals
with the same distribution of parties working on
original, revision, or supplementary surveys in much
the same fields, and denotes good progress at reason-
able rates, but for purposes of comparison a more
detailed summary is wanted of the amount’ of survey
completed in each class and a few notes on its
character and cost by the Officiating Surveyor-General,
Col. Ryder, R.E. The geodesic and scientific opera-
tions are summarised in part ii., and in the appen-
dices will be found useful reprints from the Journal
of the Royal Geographical Society (March ‘and
October, 1918) on the problem of the Himalayan and
Gangetic troughs, containing the views of such
scientific experts as Sir Sidney Burrard and Mr.
R. D. Oldham on this most interesting subject.
A feature in the report which attracts attention is
the distribution of Survey detachments (with the con-
.sequent weakening of field parties) amongst ‘artillery
practice camps, presumably for the same purpose of
range determination as that which absorbed ‘such a
large and expensive staff of surveyors under R.E.
direction during the later vears of the war. ‘This
leads one to ask whether the gunners could not be
trained to carry out such special surveys for them-
THOR:
selves.
278
NATURE
[APRIL 29, 1920
Melanism in British Lepidoptera.
MEELANISM has long been a subject of special
interest to British entomologists owing to the
rise and spread of melanic varieties in many British
species of moths and butterflies, such groups as the
Geometride showing many examples. Records of
melanism go back at least to 1850, when the dark
variety Doubledayaria of Amphidasys betularia ap-
peared near Manchester. It afterwards spread until
it became the prevalent or exclusive form in Lanca-
shire and the Midland Counties, extending also to the
Continent in later years. The earlier naturalists’
point of view (as represented by the writings of Tutt
and of Porritt) concerning its causation, related it to
the progressive darkening of the background in the
neighbourhood of cities as a result of industrialisation.
When this explanation was found to be inadequate,
moisture was added as a cause of melanism; and
Tutt concluded that moisture would darken the sur-
faces of rocks in rural districts just as smoke darkens
surfaces in urban areas, natural selection progressively
favouring darker forms which habitually rested on
such darkened backgrounds.
In a recent consideration (Journal of Genetics,
vol. ix., No. of melanism, based on extended
observations and breeding experiments in Yorkshire,
Mr. J. W. H. Harrison discards the older hypothesis
and proposes a new one. This is based on a modifica-
tion of the insect’s metabolism by its feeding upon
substances more or less impregnated with chemicals
derived from the smoke. It is pointed out that certain
melanic areas, such as the vicinity of Middlesbrough,
Neweastle-upon-Tyne, and Moray Firth, are meet? the
driest in the country, having a rainfall of 25-28 in. Also,
in such species as Boarmia repandata and Oporabia
dilutata the melanic varieties are confined to the
towns, while the type occurs in the surrounding
country. The melanic forms of different districts,
moreover, differ from each other, showing that they
have originated locally and irrespective of each other.
Observations showed that an increase in melanism
was accompanied by a striking decadence of crypto-
gamic_ plants, especially mosses, liverworts, and
lichens, many species having quite disappeared from
affected areas owing to smoke contamination. This
effect.on vegetation, and also the degree of melanism,
is found to diminish as one leaves the town.
Mr.: Harrison compares melanism to such a condi-
tion as alkaptonuria in man. ‘The latter condition is
known to be inherited, and may be considered a
chemical mutation in which the alkapton is not de-
composed owing to the absence of a certain enzyme.
He ‘suggests that the taking in with the food of small
quantities of such salts as KCl, NaCl, and MnSO,
present on the foliage in urban areas would lead to
an increase in the amount of tyrosinase present, and
so to an increased deposition of melanin, since the
activity of various enzymes is increased by the
‘presence of small quantities of these salts. The same
interpretation is extended to melanic forms on coasts
and islands, where the vegetation is impregnated with
similar salts from the sea spray.
’ It is known that in many ‘cases melanic varieties
behave in inheritance as simple Mendelian dominants
to the type (e.g. Onslow, Journal of Genetics, vol. ix.,
No. 1, on the melanic variety of Boarmia (Tephrosia)
consonaria). In crosses with species of Oporabia,
however, the author obtained a blend which remained
true for two generations, and is interpreted as a
-gametié blend, the melanism being’ of a perfectly
continuous type. Also, when the hybrids between
O. autumnata and O. filigrammaria were crossed
back with the parent forms, a blend resulted. In the
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
} :
F, of the cross, however, a ‘ pseudo-segregation ”
was observed, which is likened to the behaviour in
Oenothera Lamarckiana. Many writers have sug-
gested such a relation between hybridisation and
mutation. set
In this interesting’ and manifold study the author
has discarded an original anti-Lamarckian bias, and
concludes that various cases, such as the food instincts
of O. filigrammaria and the period of emergence in
a pinewood race of O. autumnata, are only explicable
as true Lamarckian effects. Natural selection is
believed to lead to the genesis of local races, “limiting
the range of variation by the elimination of genetical
strains less protected in any given habitat.”
The haploid chromosome numbers are determined
for O. dilutata, autumnata, and filigrammaria as 30,
38, and 37 respectively, and the behaviour of the
chromosomes in meiosis furnishes a basis for a further
interpretation of the hereditary phenomena. .
University Developments at Manchester.
the comparatively small sum of 500,000l. in
order to enable it to maintain its present activities
effectively and to develop new features. em-
brace not only additional buildings and equipment
urgently required for the extension of the School of
Medicine, especially in the departments of pharmaco-
logy and pathology, and for advanced scientific study
and research in other important spheres of the
University’s many-sided work, but also a large
increase in the professorial. staff, including new pro-
fessorships in social and political science, physiological
chemistry, law, mathematical physics, and French.
The present Department of Commerce, established in
1904, is stated to be hopelessly inadequate to the needs
of a great commercial centre such as that of south-
east Lancashire, and demands, if it is to serve its
purpose worthily, a considerable strengthening of its
teaching staff. The University has recently estab-
lished a new degree, namely, the doctorate in philo-
-sophy (the Ph.D. degree), granted upon a course of
advanced study and research, which will necessarily
involve a large expenditure in staff and equipment.
The University is committed to an expenditure of
a sum of 171,000l. in respect, among other items,
of the building and equipment of the new arts build-
ing, where it is intended to house the subjects of
languages, literature, history, and philosophy, the
endowment of new chairs, the reconstruction and
equipment of scientific departments, and the provision
of women’s hostels. It is further contemplated to
set up a wide extension of extra-mural teaching so as
in touch throughout its wide area with the needs
and aspirations of working people by means of exten-
sion lectures and systematic three-year evening courses
of tutorial classes.
Already in response to the appeal of the University
a ‘sum of about’ 160,o00l. has been raised, and it
ought not, having regard to the population ‘and
wealth of the area the University serves, to be difficult
to secure the desired sum, and éven more. With the
view of inducing a large number of people of small
means to participate in the effort to raise the money
required, a novel’ scheme Has been launched in the
form of a prospectus, such as that issued on behalf
of limited liability’ companies, ‘entitled ‘* Lancashire
Development, “Unlimited, ‘The University of Man-
‘chester,’’? inviting subscriptions for new capital to the
extent of 500,0001., divided into 425,000° cumulative
participating bonds of rl. each and 1,500,000 people’s
THE University of Manchester is appealing for
es! ry
to bring the influence of the University more closely
APRIL 29, 1920]
NATURE
279
bonds of-1s. each, the interest upon which will be
found in the enrichment of the whole life of the
“people served by the work of the University. .The
faculty. of technology carried on in the Municipal
1 of Technology is also issuing an appeal for
,oool., more than half of which has already been
ibed, for the extension of its building and for
y equipment. The great and lasting benefit of the
work of the University ought to rouse the active sym-
pathy of the numerous municipalities and district
wuncils, together with that of the County Council
fteelf, and to induce these bodies to levy a rate which,
as low as 3d. in the pound, would annually produce
sum equal to the interest upon the half-million it
to raise.
- Courses on the History of Science.
*ERMAN and American universities long ago recog-
nised the importance of the history of science
a subject of academic study. In British universi-
_ ties the subject is only just beginning to receive atten-
tion. In the University of London last year the
Faculty of Arts passed a resolution in favour of in-
_ cluding the history of science among the subjects for
_ the B.A. degree, and, although the Senate has not
_ yet dealt with the question, the inclusion of the sub-
ject in the curriculum for the new diploma in
journalism has helped to advance matters. Univer-
sity Saat, undertook to provide the necessary
_ courses. During the first and second terms of the
session 1919-20 Dr. Wolf delivered a course of
_ elementary lectures on the general history and develop-
ment of science until the end of the eighteenth cen-
_ tury. During the present (summer) term Sir W. H.
_ Bragg and others will deal with the history of physical
science during the nineteenth century, and Dr. Singer
_ will lecture on the history of medicine. A more
_ elaborate programme will be provided next session.
Sir W. H. Bragg and Dr. Wolf will repeat their
courses, Prof. J. P. Hill. and Dr. Singer will deal
with the history of the biological and medical sciences,
Prof.. Filon will lecture on the history of astronomy,
and Mr. Wren on the history of mathematics. The
history of other sciences will also be dealt with as
op
oka d offers.
primary aim of the elementary courses on the
_ the history of culture. The modern treatment of
_ history is marked by the attention paid to the daily
life and habits of the people, as well as to the romance
of Court life and the adventures of warriors. The
kind of houses which our forefathers inhabited, the
_ kind of dress they wore, and similar matters are
receiving due attention in order to fill in the historic
_ picture. All this is as it should be, but the picture
can scarcely be complete without the realisation
m the mental make-up of the ages, especially
so in view of the important réle played by
scientific ideas in carrying forward the torch of
civilisation.
Over and above its value as an essential part of
human history, a course on the history of science
_ should also have the moral and disciplinary value of
inculeating a scientific frame of mind—the kind of
attitude on which the future of mankind will depend
more than ever now that the age of faith seems to
_ be a thing of the long ago.
Such are some of the benefits that may be expected
even by those who are not, and do not intend to be,
scientific workers, to say nothing of the scientific —
' knowledge which even such students are bound to
acquire in following an elementary course on the
© No. 2635, vot. 105]
history of science is to provide an essential part of.
history of science. .More advanced courses. for .
scientific. students can scarcely fail to confer the addi-
tional advantage of illuminating the methods and
results of the makers of science, and so stimulating
the latent originality of the student of science.
Marine Biological Structures and Functions.
Y OL. XIII. of Papers from the Department of Marine
Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washing.
ton, which has lately reached us, contains some’ con-
tributions of considerable interest. Dealing with
gland-cells of internal secretion in the spinal cord of
the skates, C. C. Speidel describes large irregular cells
of peculiar structure present to the number of some
hundreds in the anterior horn. The nucleus is
lobular and branched, and the cytoplasm of. the
resting cell is homogeneous, but in active stages
granules of a protein substance are formed in it and
discharged into the tissues of the spinal cord, where
they persist for some time. These cells develop from
neuroblast tissue, and cells homologous with them
have been found in various other fishes. The author
discusses their function, and concludes that they are
gland-cells of internal secretion. He is unable to find
that they are necessary to the life of the skate, or
to show what their function may be. In a paper on
the spermatophores of Octopus americana, G. A.
Drew shows that these structures, while they are
built on a similar plan to those of the squid, are
adapted to act quite differently, being less com-
plicated, under less tension, and suited for less rapid
service, in correspondence with the less active life of
the species. H. L. Clark finds in the distribution of
littoral Echinoderms of the West Indies evidence of
a much closer relationship between that region’ and
the western coast of tropical America than between it
and the Mediterranean, while the fauna of Tobago
contains an e'tement derived from the Brazilian
coast. Studies on the chemistry of light production
in luminous ce aecoar by E. N. Harvey reveal that
the substance formerly called photophelein by that
author includes two bodies, one—luciferin—oxidisable
by luciferase with production of light and formation
of oxyluciferin, which can again be reduced to luci-
ferin, the other—protophelein proper—assisting in the
promotion of the luciferin-luciferase reaction. E. W.
Gudger describes the ovary of Felichthys felis, the
gaff-topsail catfish, the male of which carries the eggs
and larvz in his mouth.
The Propagation of Flame in Gaseous
Mixtures.
At HOUGH the large-scale experiments for which
the Home Office Experimental Station at
Eskmeals was designed have been discontinued since
the outbreak of the war, the laboratories have con-
tinued to do good work under the direction of Dr.
R. V. Wheeler, the chief chemist. In addition to
Dr. Wheeler’s own researches on the initiation of
flame and its propagation through gaseous mixtures,
Mr. W. Payman, a member of his staff, has recently
published in the Journal of the Chemical Society a
series of papers on the propagation of flame in com-
plex gaseous mixtures (vols, cxv, and cxvii.).
Mr, Payman has determined the upper and lower
“limits ”? of methane that will just propagate a flame
along a horizontal glass tube 2-5 cm. in diameter when
mixed with an atmosphere containing oxygen and
nitrogen in which the oxygen varies from 13-7 to
too per cent. He finds the speed of such flames
280
NATURE
[APRIL 29, 1920 |
almost identical, on the’ average 20 cm. per: sec., the.
highest speed being measured when the oxygen was
21 per cent. as in air. The same speed was found for
the ‘‘lower-limit’’ mixture of all the other paraffin
vapours up to pentane when mixed with air.
‘The ‘‘lower-limit’’ speed of carbon monoxide is also
the same, but with hydrogen and air the speed at the
lower limit is much slower (10 cm. per sec.), probably
on account of the small size of the flame, which does
not nearly fill the tube, though it travels to the-end.
~Mr. Payman next measured the speed of the uniform
rate of the hydrocarbons from methane to pentane
(when added in different proportions to air) along the
same horizontal glass tube. The fastest uniform rate
for methane was given by the mixture containing
952 per cent. of methane, viz. 66:6 cm./sec. For
propane, butane, and pentane the fastest rate was in
each case ‘between 82 cm. and 83 cm. per sec.
Then, by mixing together mixtures of the several
paraffins which had the same speed, it was shown
that all the mixtures had the same speed except just
near the maximum or the extinction point, and this:
gives us a simple means of calculating the values for
any combination of paraffins in air.
In a third paper the speeds of the uniform move-
ment in mixtures of carbon monoxide and air are
recorded. The rate increased as the amount of water-
vapour rose, @.g. when a mixture in equal volumes
was -Saturated with steam at 10° C. The rate
was 60 cm./sec., and when saturated at 17° C.
79 ‘cm./sec. The mixture in equal volumes also
gave the quickest speed at constant temperature,
although the percentage for complete combustion is
only 29-5 per cent. The uniform speeds for different
mixtures of carbon monoxide with hydrogen and with
methane were also determined and compared with the
calculated speeds. |
In the concluding paper Mr. Payman describes his
experiments on the uniform rate of flame in mixtures
of methane and of hydrogen with atmospheres richer
in oxygen than ordinary air. When methane is mixed
with puré oxygen the mixture which gives the fastest
initial rate is the theoretical mixture for complete
combustion with 33 per cent. of methane to 66 per
cent. of oxygen; whereas in the propagation of the
explosion-wave the fastest mixture is that in which
the gases are in eaual volumes. Although the uniform
movement of flame in the mixture containing 33 per
cent. of methane is faster than that in a mixture con-
taining more methane, the author’s photographs show
that the explosion-wave is more quickly set up in the
latter. The abrupt physical change in the mode of
propagation seems to be accompanied by an abrupt
change in the chemical reaction.
These papers form an interesting contribution to our
knowledge of the propagation of flame by ‘“con-
duction.’’ . : :
University and Educational Intelligence.
EpDINBURGH.—His Majesty the King has graciously
consénted to lay the foundation-stone of the University
buildings on the new’ site of 115 acres at Craigmillar
on the oécasion of the Royal visit to Edinburgh in
July next.
Acting on the recommendation of a special com-
mittee gecently appointed to consider: the question of
the German chair, the University Court has resolved
that no person be appointed professor of German who
is not of British nationality and British parentage,
and that, in view of the special circumstances of the
case, no appcintment to the chair be made at présent,
but that the present lecturer be retained. ;
Dr. G. L. Malcolm: Smith thas been appointed as
NO. 2635, VOL. 105]
“women.
whole-time assistant: in clinical. medicine, and Mr.
John Anderson as lecturer in logic and metaphysics. .
Dr. Robert Kidston. has presented to the gcclog
‘he
department a collection of Mesozoic fossil plants. —
forestry department has received from the Director of.
the Royal Scottish Museum, on loan, a collection of
forestry exhibits,
Officer of the Federated Malay States and the Chief
Conservator of Forests, Dominion of Canada, prepared
samples of commiercial woods peculiar to these
countries, as
Pror. H.
College of South Wales, Cardiff, has been appointed
to the principalship of Exeter University College in
succession to Mr. A. W. Clayden, resigned. — :
Novrice is given by the Royal College of Physicians
of London that the next examination for the Charles
Murchison scholarship in clinical medicine will be held.
on Monday, June 14, and following days. The scholar-
ship is of the value of twenty guineas, and tenable
for one year.’ Intending candidates must send their
names and other specified particulars by June 1 to the
Registrar of the College, Pall Mall East, S.W.1.
Wane
At the request of the Ministry of Labour, and. with.
the co-operation of the Rubber Growers’ Association, _
a six months’ course of training in the appropriate
sciences has been arranged at Birkbeck College to
enable ex-Service men to obtain the requisite know-
ledge to fit them for positions on the great rubber and
tea plantations.
chemistry, botany, geology, entomology, and simple
mechanics, with’ some knowledge of the care of
machinery and book-keeping. eel
Tue League of Nations Union is organising a
summer school, to be held at Kempsey School, near
Worcester, from Saturday, July 31, to Saturday,
August. 7. The school is open. to both men and
ingham Gate, S.W.1, by June 15.
of the summer school is to train those likely to make
efficient leaders of study circles. Pie
Tue London County Council will shortly
the appointment of. the principals of its first group
of twenty-two compulsory day continuation schools to
be established under the Education Act, 1918. These
appointments will be the first of their kind in London, |
and will be of more than ordinary interest. The type,
of pupil to be dealt with is one that hitherto has, for
the most part, failed to’ take advantage of educational
‘facilities after leaving the elementary schools. ~ The.
Act makes great demands on the commercial and
industrial world, and it will devolve on the principals.
of these schools to cultivate close relations with busi-
ness then ‘and: émployers, and to secure their cordial
‘co-opération. The success of this great new. experi-
ment in national education depends in considerable
“measure on the sympathy.and. assistance: of the busi-
ness world: The’ position of-principal will require of
its holder administrative ability, good scholastic attain:
ments, and marked personality.’
that,
of the individuals, but also of the’ community. The
work should make a strong: appeal to’ those interested .-
in the social welfare side of education. -Advertise-
ments inviting applications for these positions are: now |
appearing in the public Press, and forms of: applica-.
and from the Forest Research -
J. W. HETHERINGTON, of the University
The course includes training in-
Applications for admission, which will be
considered in the order in ‘which they are. received,
must reach the League of Nations Union, 22 Buck.
The main object’
oceed to
The outside-school
activities will have to be fostered in every way, So.
with ‘shorter hours’: of labour,- the increased.
leisure may be utilised to the fullest. profit, not only:
ts
7a) ee Se a
Apri 29, 1920]
NATURE
231
n can be obtained from the Education Officer (1/3),
2.C. Education Offices, Victoria .Embankment,
ARQUESS OF CREWE, ‘chairman of 'the govern-
of the Imperial College of Science and
» Was.
the ninth annual dinner of old students
Royal ‘College of Science on Saturday last,
24. Sir Richard Gregory, president of the Old
s’ Association, who occupied the chair, in
osing the toast of the governing body, said that
time had come for a national survey of the condi-
s and requirements of university and higher
cal education in’ this country, so that a com-
msive view could be taken of the problem
whole, existing deficiencies discovered, and
e educational facilities provided in all areas.
nperial College would take an important place
national scheme which might result from such
‘vey. Lord Crewe, in responding to the toast,
that the college’ was not content to be merely
ol of any university, however distinguished.
. there was in this country no precedent for a
al university, there was, on the other hand,
for a_ lation of eight millions, which was
ation of Greater London, with but one uni-
to serve all purposes. The problem of the
ation of the University of London was quite
in itself, without involving .the infinitely
difficult task of trying to combine in some way
activities of the University and of the Imperial
lege in one entirely unprecedented unit. At any
te, the governors of the Imperial College had made
‘up their minds that the problem had to be’ solved ‘in
“ag igs assured their practical independence. Sir
.. H. Bragg spoke of the increased interest, due
le war, now taken in scientific studies,
ting in oyerfilled laboratories in university institu-
} and insufficient instructors: Mr: Herbért Wright
2 instances of purely scientific investigations at
college which had proved of: great practical value,
Prof. J. C. Philip referred to the steps being
. i to old
2
ODU
ents. H. E, Armstrong, proposing the
t of ‘The Guests,’’ paid a tribute to the men of
ience whose work contributed so largely to success
_in the war; and Sir Richard Glazebrook; in’ respond-
ing, referred particularly to the work of Mr.
Bairstow, Dr. G. W. C. Kaye, and Mr. F. E. Smith,
af students of the college, at the National Physical
rete Bist
ORE ‘ ak
_ Societies and Academies.
Ae Siig'¢ -* .- LONDON. - Bs}
_. Linnean Society, April 15.—Dr, A. Smith Woodward,
% hairy in the chair—Capt. F: Kingdon Ward:
_ Natural history exploration on the north-east frontier
of Burma.—R. Paulson: Stages in the sporulation of
idia within the. thallus of the lichen, Evernia
t og Ach. a ra ag ate raints time been
generally accepted that the bright-green. spherical
_ gonidium which is common to many Echense sean is
_ referred to in the literature of the subject as Cysto-
_ . eoceus, Protococcus, or Pleurococcus, multiplies vegeta-
tively only, while it remains the algal constituent of
the lichen thallus. Famintzin (1868), Baranetzkki
Woronin - (1872), Bornet (1873), and Chodat
1913) state that the gonidia (Cystococcus?) of certain
hens produce zoospores after being isolated from the
gonidial layer and afterwards cultivated in, or on,
different media. The author has not. been able to find
that the gonidia of Evernia prunastri, and of twenty-
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
present, with other distinguished |
ie
~-
‘and Kadus.
_ become mutually » unintelligible.
now almost extinct in this area, was once: the
three other .species of lichens, representing. eleven
genera, divide vegetatively within the thallus, but in
all these ,cases the reproduction of gonidia was found
to be the result of the successive bipartition of the
original protoplast of the cell into four, eight, or six-
teen separate masses, each of which rapidly develops
a cell-wall of its own while within the casted gall
These daughter gonidia (suppressed zoospores?) ulti-
mately escape as the mother cell-wall becomes diffluent.
They exhibit all the characteristics of the parent cell
. before they .are set free.
Royal Anthropological Institute, April 20.—Sir Everard
im Thurn, president, in the chair.—R. Grant Browne :
The races of the Chindwin, Upper Burma. The basin
of the Chindwin, in the north-west: of Burma, is of
exceptional interest to ethnologists on account of the
medley of peoples inhabiting it—peoples distinguished
from each other by their language and customs ‘rather
than by their physical characteristics. They include
Burmans, Shans, ‘TTamans, Chins, Nagas, Kachins,
These..terms denote communities rather
than races, for the inhabitants may change from. one
group to another in the course.of a few years, The
people of Maukkalauk, for instance, are now regarded
_as Kachirs, ‘but have learnt Shan, and will, no doubt,
‘become "’ Shans like their neighbours, and eventually
‘ Burmans; but their -head-man says they left Assam,
-where they wore white clothes: and spoke some lan-
guage, of which they, have forgotten.even. the: name,
when ‘his father -was..a boy. .In.,contrast to this
‘process. of assimilation’ there’ are »mountain_,tribes
living -a’ few. miles apart from -each other . whose
dialects have been differentiated: until. they have
The more. civilised
communities owe their language and-customs. toa
succession of dominant races. ‘The . Burmese. came
last.. Before them were the Shans, and before, these
probably the Kadus. There are signs. that, Kadu,
prevail-
ing language of the riverine tracts. : “y
_. Royal Meteorological Society, April -21.—Mr. R. H.
Hooker, president, in the chair.—Royal . Observatory,
Greenwich; A. night sky recorder.. The object of the
instrument is to supplement the daily sunshine record
in so far as it- gives an indication of the, amount. of
cloud.. The instrument consists of a small.camera in
a fixed position -pointing to the pole of the. heavens.
The lens is.a single component of.a doublet of 8-in.
focal. length and o:4-in. aperture, working at f/20.
It is found that the aperture,. in conjunction with
plates of ‘‘ordinary’’.speed, will give a oe record
even at. full moon. Measurements are made by means
of a .photographic .scale.—Lieut. N. L, Silvester :
Local weather conditions at. Mullion, Cornwall.. The
auilior gave a. detailed analysis. of, the local meteoro-
logical elements in the order of their impartance rela-
tive to airship navigation, but remarked, that the
period under review (approximately one, year) was too
short to deduce much information of climatological
| value, though during most of this period the observa-
tions were as full and as frequent as the changes of
the Service in war-time would permit. . Ratios of
gradient to surface wind had. been .computed and
analysed, from the results of .more than 400, pilot-
balloon ascents by the one-theodolite method, There
was evidence of the marked friction and turbulence
affecting the wind near the surface in the vicinity of
large buildings, such as airship-sheds, Much useful
information relating to the local occurrence of fogs
and of unusual visibility had been tabulated; whilst
another feature was the collection in tabular form of
local signs of approaching bad weather, which should
prove of value to the local forecaster.—J. E. Clark :
The Surrey hailstorm of July 16, 1018. This. storm
differed from other similar British visitations by the
282
NATURE
[Apri 29, 1920
fortunate absence of much wind and by coming after
midnight. The track of serious damage rarely ex-
ceeded 3 mile in width and was 16} miles long, the
hail beginning at 1.55 a.m. west of Holmwood Station
and ending near North Bromley Station, twenty-two
miles to the north-east, at about 2.30 a.m. (true time).
EDINBURGH.
Royal Society, March 15.—Prof. F. O. Bower,
' president, in. the chair.—Capt. T. Bedford Franklin ;
The effect of weather changes on soil temperatures.
In comparison with the variations of surface tem-
‘perature, the regular pulsations of temperature in
the soil follow well-known laws for amplitude
and retardation according to depth, but in these
regular pulsations there are fluctuations which
occur according to the weather and the state
‘of the soil. If the ratio of the ranges of tem-
‘perature at the 4-in. depth and the surface be
taken as the standard for measuring the heat transfer
“in the soil, it is found that in a light loam soil this
range-ratio varies between o-19 and 0-42 when active
percolation is not taking place in the soil, and between
0-42 and o-85 when rain is actually falling or during
‘ those long-period weather changes associated with the
passage of depressions north of these islands, whether
rain falls or not. Heat transfer in soil is thus carried
out by. both conduction and percolation, and a sandy
- soil that allows free percolation, with consequent high
values of the range-ratio, will heat up quicker in
spring than a clay soil which takes up and parts with
water only sluggishly. Apart from percolation, the
, high values of the range-ratio in the south-westerly
cyclonic. type of weather are particularly valuable in
causing rapid rises of soil temperature in spring. A
surface layer of frozen soil protects the lower depths
‘from rapid changes of temperature; an average sur-
‘face temperature of —10° C.: would be necessary to
freeze ordinary soil to a depth of 4 in. in one night.
Snow is an even more efficient protection; in Novem-
ber, 1919, the air temperature above 4 in. of snow fell
to —15° C. without freezing the soil surface or caus-
ing any appreciable fluctuation in the temperature
4 in, beneath the surface of the soil_—D. Ferguson :
Geological observations in the South Shetlands, the
Palmer Archipelago, and the Danco coast, Graham-
‘land.—G. W. Tyrrell: A contribution to the petro-
graphy of the South Shetlands, the Palmer Archi-
pelago, and the Danco coast, Grahamland.—H. H.
Thomas: Petrographical notes on rocks from Decep-
tion Island and Roberts Island (South Shetlands), the
Danco coast, and adjacent islands, Grahamland.
These papers contained a great many new facts re-
garding the geology and petrography of the rocks in
the islands named lying tothe south of South America.
In a broad sense, the geological arrangement might be
described as a mirror reflection of the arrangement
-on the South American coast, and it was probable
that the two sets of strata were connected by an arc
passing east, and then bending round to the south and
to the west, but there was no evidence in support of
Suess’s theory that this arc extended far to the east
so as to include the South Georgian group.—Miss
C. W. N. Sherriff: A class of graduation formule.—
Prof. L, Becker: The daily temperature curve. In
this paper the author. developed a new mathematical
method of treating the variation of temperature, and
illustrated it by a discussion of a forty years’ photo-
graphic record of temperature in Glasgow.
DUBLIN.
Royal Dublin Society, March 23.—Dr. F. E. Hackett
in the chair.—Prof. James Wilson: The application of
the food-unit system to the fattening of sheep. A
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
six food units.
summary of experiments in fattening sheep was pub-
lished by Mr. Herbert Ingle in the Transactions of the
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland for
Ig10 and 1911. From this it is evident that the sheep
differs from the bullock by being better able to con-
sume roots, and, therefore, less dependent upon hay
and straw. The sheep is also considerably more econo-
mical as a producer of human food; for, while the
well-fed bullock of average size—say 9 cwt.—needs
from six to seven food units to produce a pound of
beef—a food unit is the quantity of any other food
which would have the same producing capacity as a
pound of barley—a well-fed sheep of average size—
say 120 lb.—produces a pound of mutton on five to
Royal Irish Academy, April 12,—Mr. W. G, Strick-
land, vice-president, in the chair.—E, Heron-Allen and
A. Earland; An experimental study of the Foramini-
feral species Verneuilina polystropha, Reuss, and some
others, being a contribution to a discussion on “ The
Origin, Evolution, and Transmission of Biological
Characters.’’ In this paper the authors describe
normal and monstrous forms of Verneuilina poly-
stropha. The species exhibits characteristic di-
morphism in a long, tapering test which is megalo-
spheric, and a short test which is microspheric, but
in the dwarf variety, pusilla, the tapering test is
microspheric. Observations on the selection by Ver-
neuilina of fragments of heavy minerals, by mixin
crushed gemis with the sand in the experimenta
tanks with which the authors worked, are described.
Variation in the shells of Massilina secans is also
described ity detail, one of the most remarkable
‘“monsters’’ being a perfectly twinned specimen which
had added a curved tube at the junction of the shells
to form a common aperture; the whole of this
abnormal shell was chitinous. In another case a shell
was entirely chitinous except the terminal chamber,
c~ "TARO oe
which was perfectly arid normally calcareous. Further
instances of shells combining the characters of two
distinct genera—such as have been recorded in former —
apers by these authors—are given, and the opinion
is expressed that the accepted systems of classification
of the Foraminifera, founded as they are on the shape
and material of the test, must be regarded as largely
artificial and unscientific. oat
Paris. e
- Academy of Sciences, March 29.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—G. Bigourdan: The observatory of J. S.
Bailly at the Louvre.—Prince Albert de Monaco:
Stray mines in the North Atlantic. A chart is given
showing the positions of sixty-eight mines located
between November 7, 1918, and February 9, 1920.
The predictions by the author in two earlier com-
munications have been fully confirmed.—A, Rateau :
Some considerations on flight at very high altitudes
and on the use of a turbo-compressor. An adverse
criticism of a recent communication on the same sub-.
ject by M. Villey.—P. Vuillemin: The growth of fungi
discovered in the human nail by Louis Jannin.—
G. Julia: Families of functions of several variables.—
H. Mineur: Discontinuous solutions of a class of
functional equations.—B. de Fontviolant ; The strength
of circular arches.—F. Kromm: A star with a large
proper motion. The star B.D.+9-2636°, 9:1 magni-
tude, has an annual proper motion of nearly a second
of arc.—G. Sagnac: Newtonian light radiation and
the zones of silence in damped wireless telegraphy
signals.—M. Pauthenier: The ratio of the absolute
retardations in Kerr’s phenomenon.—M. Lemarchands ;
Study of the reactions of the metallurgy of zine.
APRIL 29, 1920]
NATURE
283
ane oxide is reduced by carbon in absence of oxygen
atmosphere of nitrogen) ‘at temperatures between
9” C. and 1100° C. The amounts of carbon used in
reduction of zinc oxide in ordinary metallurgical
ce are excessive.—P, Nicolardot, A. Réglade, and
: The volumetric estimation of manganese.
of the errors of Knorr’s method.—F. Gros :
ements relating to the commercial production
es of nitrogen in arc furnaces. The improve-
described are the use of dried gases, increasing
ount of oxygen to 50 per cent., and the replace-
the alkaline absorption towers by a physical
, the — of the nitrogen peroxide by
The latter can be readily converted into
> acid of any strength.—A. Mailhe: A new method
nation of nitriles by catalysis. Methyl benzoate
ethylamine, passed over alumina heated to 480°
i a gave benzonitrile. Paratoluic nitrile, isoamyl
_and isobutyonitrile were prepared in a similar
er.—L,. Joleaud: The presence of a Tomistoma
= fresh-water Pliocene of Ethiopia.—F. Baldet :
diurnal variation of the atmospheric, potential at
giers Observatory. A discussion of five years’
ations. The diurnal variation is represented by
ble oscillation having a constant minimum about
and a maximum variable with the season.
bservations confirm the law of M. Chauveau.—
», Girard and V. Morax: Liquid exchanges by. elec-
cal osmosis through living tissues.—J. Chaine: The
n of the paramastoid apophysis and of the tem-
‘al in mammals.—A, Krempf: The oro-aboral meta-
risation of the larva of Pocillopora cespitosa and
Seri ra subulata.
ril -6.—M. mores Lemoine © i the Py ord
undos: Increasing functions and entire functions.
P. Humbert: A new application of the function
kum (x, y)—L. E. Z. Brouwer: Enumeration of
classes of transformations of the projective plane.
\ : Extension of conservative systems and
alisation of a theorem of M. Painlevé.—Ch.
femont: Cause of the undulatory wear of rails.—
|. Lecornu: Observations on the preceding com-
_ munication.—J. Villey and A, Volmerange: Hovering
(a fee by a horizontal wind of invariable direction and
velocity.—M. Girousse: The distribution in the soil of
_ currents from electric traction lines.—P. Job and G.
_ Urbain: The detection of masked sulphuric ions in
_ complex compounds. The benzidine method of esti-
_™mating sulphate ions is shown experimentally to
iy } eins vantages over the barium method.
_ Examples are given of analyses of cobaltammine sul-
_ phates.—Ch. Boulin and L. J. Simon: The action of
_ water on dichloroethyl sulphide. Using an excess of
_ water at its boiling point, dichloroethyl sulphide can
_ be completely decomposed, giving hydrochloric acid
__and thiodiglycol; the reaction is reversible.—P, Fallot :
_ An extension of the phenomena of drift in the Sierra
_ of Majorca.—G. Dubois: The Quaternary fauna of
‘the base of the Ergeron at
_actinometers of Arago and Bellani. Details of the
_ precautions necessary in the accurate use of these
_ two instruments.—A. Piutti: The action of chloro-
_ picrin on the parasites of wheat and on rats. Large-
_ scale experiments have proved the efficacy of chloro-
4 pers in destroying wheat parasites, and it has also
_ been demonstrated that the treated wheat is inoffensive
_ and preserves its nutritive power. Chloropicrin has
also successfully employed in the destruction of
rats in ships.—V. Galippe: Researches on the resist-
ance of the microzymas to the action of time and their
_ survival in amber.—G. Bertrand: The action of chloro-
vicrin upon the higher plants. Under suitable condi-
ons it is possible to use chloropicrin to free a plant
om all its leaf parasites without killing the plant.
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
Cambrai.—L. Besson: The —
RoME.
Accademia dei Lincei, February 1.—A, Roiti, vice.
president, in the chair.—G. Fubini: Affine differential
invariants of a surface.—Q. Majorana: Gravitation.
This is the seventh note on the author’s experimental
attempts to detect the screening off of gravitation by
massive sheets of matter (see Nature for April 22,
P- 251). The whole note is devoted to the search
after, and the discussion of, “causes of error” or
disturbing effects. These troublesome effects are now
all estimated numerically, but, notwithstanding this,
the author closes the present note, postponing the com-
putation of the corrected value of the effect sought for
to the next (viii.) note-—V. Amato: Kronecker’s
method for the decomposition of an integral rational
function in an amplifield field of rationality.—P.
Scatizzi: Abelian differential equations reducible to
uadratures.—L, Tonelli: Primitive functions (ii.).—
lara di Capua: Investigations on alloys of Au and
Si.—C. Gorini: A microbiological investigation of the
behaviour of Bacterium coli in mitk.
L. SILBERSTEIN.
Books Received.
Life of Lord Kitchener. By Sir George Arthur.
3 vols. Vol. i., pp. xxvi+326; vol..ii., pp. xi+346;
vol. iii., pp. xit+413. (London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd.) 21. 12s. 6d. net '
Grain and Chaff from an English Manor. | A. Ae
Savory. Pp. viiit+311. (Oxford: B. Blackwell.) 21s.
net.
The Works of Aristotle. Translated into English.
Economica. By E. S. Forster. Atheniensium Res-
publica. By Sir Frederic G. Kenyon. Unpaged.
(Oxford: At the Clarendon Press.) ‘5s. net.
The Geography of Plants. By Dr. M. E, Hardy.
Pp. xii+327. (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press.)
7s..6d. net. © ;
The Ways of Life: A Study in Ethics. By S. Ward.
(London: Oxford University Press.) 6s. 6d. net.
Tungsten Ores. By R. H. Rastall and W..H.
Wilcockson. Pp. ix+81. (London: John Murray.)
3s. 6d. net.
Microscopy :
of the Microscope. By E. J. Spitta.
Pp. xxvilit+537+xxviii plates. (London :
Murray.) 25s. net.
College Text-book of Chemistry. By W. A. Noyes.
Pp. viiit+370. (New York: H. Holt and Co.)
The Construction, Theory, and Use
Third edition.
John
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, APRIL 20.
OPHTHALMOL1GICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNITED KinGpom (at Royal Society
of Medicine), at 10 a.m.—J. B. Story: Presidential Address.—C. H.
Usher: Enlarged Cornez in Goldfish.—E, Treacher Collins: Megalo-
cornea and Micro-cornea,—J. Rowan: Are not some Cases of Glaucoma
Better Treated without Operation, and, if so, what are the Indications ?—
A. Zorab: Later Notes on Aqueoplasty.—T. Harrison Butler: Notes on
Infection after Operations for Cataract.—G. H. Pooley: Abnormalities
of the Lacrymal Apparatus and their Treatment.—G. Harvey. Goldsmith :
A Case of Double-Traumatic Dislocation of the Lens.—G. F. Alexander :
(rt) A Position of the Head Favourable to the Operation for Cataract ;
a An Operation for Advancement in Strabismus.
Royar Institution oF Great Britatn, at 3.—R. Campbell Thompson :
The Origins of the Dwellers in Mesopotamia. rie
Rovat. Sociery, at 4.30.—Prof. J.’ W. Gregory: The Irish’ Eskers,—'
Miss K. M. Curtis: The Life-History and Cytology of Synchytrium
endoboticum (Schilb ) Perc., the Cause of Wart Disease in Potato.—
B. Sahni: The Structure and Affinities of Acmofpyle pancheri, Pilger.
ZooLocicat Society or Lonvon, at 4.30.—Annual General Meeting.
CuemicaL Society, at 5.—Extraordinary General Meeting to consider the
Alterations in the By-laws proposed by the Council. }
Cuit.p-Stuby Society (at Royal Sanitary Institute), at 6.—Sir A. E.
Shipley : Biting Insects and Children. ees iG ‘
INSTITUTION OF ELecTRICAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil Engineers),
at 6.—A E. McColl: Automatic Protective Devices for Alternating
Current Systems. i }
Opricat Society (at Imperial College of Science and Tec hnology), at 7.30
—Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees: ‘The Reaction of the Eye to Light.
284
NATURE
FRIDAY, Apri 30.
OPHTHALMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNITED KinGnom (at Royal Society
of Medicine), at 1oa.m:—Sir Archibald Garrod, R. Foster Moore, and
Others: Discussion on Diabetes in Relation to Diseases of the Eye.—At 8.—
H. M. Traquair: Anatomically Separate Anterior Commissure at the
Chiasma in a Case of Pituitary Tumour with Acromegaly.—Dr. er
Holmes: Tumours Involving the Optic Nerves and Chiasma.—M.
Hine: Primary Epithelioma of the Ciliary Body.—E. Clarke: A Parise
Note on the Accommodation of the Eye.—H. Neame: Cysts of the
Retina.—W. Wallace: A Glyptic Method for Representing Certain Con-
ditions of the Fundus in Disease. —A. W. Stirling: A Case of Melanoma
of the Iris.
‘WirELtSs Society oF LonpDon. ‘(at Institution of Civil Engineers), at 6. —
Major B. Binyon: A Wireless ‘‘ Call ” Device.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (Students Meeting) (at Faraday
House), at 7.—J. E. Holmstrom: Tidal P,
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL Eilchvenes Carona Meeting), at 7.—
Bale and Others: Discussion on Suggested Means of Improving
and Increasing the Services of the Institution to Members.
Rovat -InstiruTION OF Great Briain, at 9.—Prof. F. O. Bower: The
Earliest-known Land Flora.
SATURDAY, May «.
OPuTHALMOLOGICAL ‘SOCIETY OF THE UNITED KriNnGpoo (at St. Margaret’ s
‘Hospital, Leighton Road, Kentish Town), at 10 a.m.—Dr. G. Fitzgibbon,
‘ ayou, and Others: Discussion on the Prevention and Treatment
of Ophthalmia Neonatorum.
RovAL InstiruUTIon oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Dr. F. Chamberlin:
The Private Character of Queen Elizabeth.—At 5.—Annual Meeting.
MONDAY, May 3.
Rovyat InstTi1tuTION oF GREAT Britain (General Meeting), at 5.
SURVEYORS’ INSTITUTION (Junior Meeting) (Annual General Meeting),
at 7.
ova. INsTITUTE OF BriTisH ARCHITECTS (Annual General Meeting),
at.8,)
Rovat SocieTy oF Arts, at 8.—A. T. Bolton: The Decoration and
Architecture-of Robert. Adam and Sir John Sloane, 1758-1837 (Cantor
Lecture).
Society or CHEMICAL InpusTRY (at Chemical Society) (Annual Meeting).
at .8.
Roevat. GkoGrapHicat Society (at Aolian Hall), at 8.30. < ne
Philby 3 Across Arabia : from the Persian Gulf to the RARE
TUESDAY, May 4.
Rovyav Instirution or Great Britain, at 3.—Prof. A. Keith: British
Ethnology: The Invaders of England.
Rovat Socigty or MeEp cINE (Orthopedics:
-Annital Gerleral Meeting.
Roya. PHotocrapuic Society oF -GRRatT Brivatn (Technical . Meeting),
at-7.—Dr. C. E. ‘Kenneth | Mees and L. A. Jones: The Theory of Tone
Reproduction.
R6NTGEN Society (at Medical Society of L. ondon), at 8.15.—Prof. S: Russ :
Some Problems in the Action of Radiation upon Tissues.—Prof. A, O.
Rankine;, The Transmission of Speech. by Light.—Dr. H. A. _ Eecles : :
New Portable Viewing Lantern (Demonstrations).
WEDNESDAY, May 5s.
Roya. Socigry or ArTSat 4.30.— Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees :
‘Research Laboratory.
GrotocicaL Society or Lonpon, at 5.30.—S. Hazz'edine Warren: A
Natural ‘‘ Eolith’’ Factory beneath the Thanet >and. °
KRoyat Sociery or MeEpicingE (Surgery Section), ‘at 5.30.—Annual
General Meeting.
Society oF Pusptic ANALYSTS AND OTHER ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS (at
Chemic:1 Society), at 8.—C. A. Mitchell: Estimation of the Ageof Ink
in Writing.—E. R. Dovey: The Estimation of Chinese Crude Camphor.—
H. D. Richmond and L..R. Ellison: Studies in- Steam. Distillation,
Part VIL.: The Volatility of Isomers.
InstiruTION OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERS (at Institution of Mechanical
Engineers), at 8.—Major B. H. Thomas: The Electro-Deposition of Iron
,as applied to Motor Vehicle Repair Work.
THURSDAY, May 6.
iron AND STEEL INsTITUTE (at Institution of Civil Engineers) (General
Meeting), at ro am.—Dr J. E. Stead: Inaugural Address.—
Lewis: Iron Portland Cement.—At 2.30.—F, Clements: British Blast-
Furnace Practice. —H. E. Wright: Chemical and Thermal Cond tions in
Blast-Furnace Practice.—C. H. Ridsdale :
Iron-making Material.—J; A. Heskett:
Jron Ore in New Zealand. .
Roya. Society:or MeEpicine (Obstetrics and Gynaecology Section, con-
jointly with the North of England and Micland Obstetrical and Gyne-
cological Societies), at 10.30 a.m.— Dr. H. Tweedy and Others: Discussion
on The Treatment of Antepartum Hemorrhage. —At 2.—Dr, E. Holland
and Others: Discu-sion on Rupture of Czesarean Section Scarin Subse-
quent Pregnancy or Labour.
Rova Institution OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—R. Campbell Thompson :
The Legends of the Babylonians.
RovaL Society, at 4.30:—Probable Papers: R. H. Fowler, F. C. Gallop,
€.N. Hi Lock, ani H. W. Richmond: The Aerodynamics of a Spinning
Shell.—Prof. W..-E. Dalby: Researches on the Elastic Properties and
the Plastic Extension of Metals.—C.. T. ilson : Investigations on
‘Lightning Discharges and on the Electric. Field of Thunderstorms, —
L. F. Richardson: ‘lhe Supply of Energy to Atmospheric Eddies.
LinNEAN Socrtety OF Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. G. P. Bidder: Notes on the
Physiology of Sponges. Pandorina soongiarum, a New Species of Alga
found in a Sponge.—E. J. Bedford : The British Marsh Orchids and their
Varieties, Illustrated by Coloured Drawings and Lantern Slides.
Cuemicat. Society, at 8.—G. M. Bennett: The Mustard Gas Problem.—
C. K. Ingold: (A New Methol of Preparing Muconic Acid.—J. W.
Cook and O. L. Brady: The Dinitration of 2-Acetotoluidide.—yY.
Venkataramayya and M. V. Narasimhaswamy: A ew Ozoniser.—
G. T. Morgah and H. D. K. Drew: Orthochlorodinitrotoluenes. Part I.
NO. 2635, VOL. 105 |
Sub-Section), at 5.—
A Photographic
The Valuation of Ores and
The Utilisation of Titaniferous
en
[APRIL 29, 1920
FRIDAY, May 7. «he
IRON AND STEEL alge (at Institution of Civil’Engineers) (General
Three —
Meeting), at ro a.m.— Ablett :. Direct Current Nar iy wes with
Phase Current for Driving: Steel Works Plant.—J. F. Wilson: Notes
Slag Conditions i in Open-hearth Basic S'eelmaking Practice.—B.
and G. A. Wood: The Reduction of Silicon from the Slag in the Acid
Open-hearth Crave —At 2.30. a E. Hughes: Some Defects in Electro-
deposited Iron.—T. Baker and I. R. Russell: Note on the Ball Test.— ~
J. H.Whiteley: The Distribution ‘of Phosphorus in Steel between Points:
Act and Ac3.—G. F. Preston: Practical Notes on the Desiga and -
Treatment of Steel Castings.
Royvart Society or Mepicine (Laryngology Section), at 4-~Annual
General Meeting.
Roya: AsrronomicaL Soctgety. (Geophysical Discussion), at 5-—Prof.
R, A. Sampson and Others :.The Use of Wireless Telegraphy i in the Deter- mi
mination of Longitude,
Royat INstTiTuTION oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 9. —Lord a Rayleigh The {
Blue Sky and the Optical Properties,of Air.
SATUR DAY, May 8. See
Roya InsriruTion.oF GREAT.BRITAIN, at 3.—Dr. KF Chambesins The
Private Character of Queen Elizabeth.
—Dr. E. W. :
Conditions. —
BritisH PsycwoLoGicaL SOCIETY (at Bedford College), at 3.
Scripture: Speech Inscriptions in Normal and Abnor.
. Klein : Camouflage in Land weer ’ ; re Se
CONTENTS. PAGE |
The ‘Chemical Industries of German Rhineland =y 41253.
Man; Past and Present... By Prof. G. Elliot Smith, |
F.R.S. ereeir er ae
Critical Mathematics. By G. BL ‘M. pear
The Proteins. . :
Science and Engineering. By w: c. U.
Health and the Teacher ; ; 2x, ea
Our Bookshelf .. . ry) a Ta eves
Letters to the’ Editor:—
, Theories of Atomic” Structure. 2; lege Langmuir “261.
Decimal Coinage. —Harry Allcotk-» \...:4/.5m genes be:
International Council for Feb Lovestigalionienn yo
.
The Plumage ‘Bill ‘aud Bird Protection. Prof, RS tee
. Duerden .. ey
. The Standard of Atomic. Weights. Prof, ve ®
Partington (264.
Mortlakes as a Cause of River-windings. ‘(With
Dizyrim.)—T. 8. Ellis" “DEA 264 -
Eiffel Tower Wireless _Time- signals, Prof. RL tAans
Sampson, F.R.S. . . 2 on R65
Some Tests of the 100-in. Hooker Pelcaomout (LMlus+*
trated.) By Dr. George E, Hale, For.Mem.R.S;, a
Artillery Science. By Sir George Greenhill, F. RS, 26
Obituary :—
Dr. Rudolph Messel, F.R.S.. By H. ae
Prof, A. K. Huntington... . via
Dr, A, J. Chalmers .
Prof. L. T. O’Shea. By A. Mew.
Notes ‘ :
Our Astronomical Column :— aa
Eclipse of the Moon Sg oak er
Mars and Wireless Signals . . . 2. se.
The April Meteor Shower ¥ Heee van Nee
The Wasting of Stellar Substance.» wisltiodee a
Map-making in India, By T. H, H. .. . : wafer
Melanism in British Lepidoptera... :
University, Developments at Manchester .
Courses on the History of Science.
Marine Biological Structures and Functions . 279.
The Propagation of Flame in Gaseous Mixtures 279
University and Educational pany. . Se eae
Societies and Academies. .... | BN a a ee 8
Books Recéived 3..°. Gi vei 44) Oa
Diary of Societies .... 2 ee een
Editorial and Publishing Offices: i
MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LOnROM W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters to -be addecssed od the.
Publishers.
Editorial Cantentumaries: to the Edttor. ;
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. ioe 133
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8839.
ae ee
* peer,
Abad WF eiaty
NATURE
285
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1920.
_ The Cost of Scientific Publications.
YE have had before us recently the annual
¥ reports of the councils of a number of scien-
> societies, and it is evident from all of them
the burden of the cost of publications of
se societies has become so heavy that it cannot
borne any longer without additional support.
great increase in printers’ charges, and the
igh cost of paper, make the expenses of publica-
so considerable that the slender funds at the
posal of most scientific societies, particularly
st > devoted to subjects having no direct asso-
yn with profitable industry, will often not
mit the substantial expenditure now required
the printing and distribution of papers pre-
ented at meetings. Few scientific societies have
ty other source of income than that provided
cier tly harassed by the problem of their private
otis with salaries little above the pre-war
and ‘telatively far below it on account of
the tise i in prices, that increased subscriptions
‘ethical level than that occupied by members
7 profession. The first object of their
3] y Eset her secrets. Nothing must be
cag from the narrative of the discoverer,
out into the same fields to secure like riches for
ota Rieesting: the results ef his labour to the
> al race without receiving any personal pay-
| = ‘ment for it, the science worker occupies a unique
position. Genius in art, or literature, or music
_ may sometimes be neglected, but usually it secures
generous reward, and its products have always
a marketable Gale bint or low—whereas
Scientific discovery rarely brings direct gain to the
_ ~ genius who makes it. Plutocrats will pay high
prices for the pictures they want, and popular
: NO. 2626. VoL. 105]
call ie gih, may enjoy them and be able to go |
authors and Piel composers may amass. riches
from royalties on their works; but the science
worker is deprived of any such rewards for his
discoveries, though all the world may benefit by
them. Not only does he bring his rich argosies
into port, but he also describes his. cargoes fully,
and himself pays for the publication of the cata-
logue of gifts which he is prepared to bestow
freely upon all who care to receive them. Such
pure altruism is almost inconceivable to the
ordinary business mind, yet it represents the
common standard of scientific endeavour and
achievement. Altered circumstances, however,
make it necessary to reconsider this position, and
we urge that it is time the community, through
its rich citizens or the Government, provided
reasonable contributions towards the expenses of
publications which bring honour to them as well
as add to the sum of human knowledge.
There is, indeed, no more difficult problem
before our learned societies at the present time
than that of the maintenance of their scientific
publications. With a limited circulation which
cannot be increased by the ordinary methods of
enterprising journalism, the additional cost of
production can be met only by a higher subscrip-
tion. The societies which provide a library of
their special subject already find most of their
normal income absorbed by the increased estab-
lishment charges. As we have said, a very large
proportion of the members of these societies are
professional men whose incomes have not risen
in proportion to the prices of the ordinary com-
modities.of life. Any additional subscription to
provide for an adequate record of thé societies’
activities under present conditions thus proves to
be a hardship, sometimes an impossibility.
It may perhaps be admitted that, in the past,
scientific publications have sometimes been pro-
duced in a rather extravagant style. Some
societies have never completely emancipated them-
selves from this idea, and although a large format
may sometimes be needed both for drawings of
natural history and engineering, and for extensive
mathematical formule, there has been less strict
regard to such necessities than should have been
exercised. Moreoyer, during the years before the
war, with cheap printing, there was an increasing
tendency in some departments of science to pour
forth the undigested contents of notebooks rather
than carefully considered results.
_ After all reasonable reform and economy, how-
ever, it still remains impossible to continue the
s@sial publications of science with the means that
Ti
286
NATURE
[May 6, 1920
have hitherto been at its disposal.
arises, therefore, whether help from some public
source may not reasonably be expected. There
is doubtless a very general popular feeling that
ordinary scientific research is as much a recreative
amusement to its devotees as are games and sport
to the majority, and that those who indulge their
whims should bear the additional cost like any
other section of the community. But it must not
be forgotten that there are various degrees of
games and sports suited to the several means of
those who pursue them, whereas ability and
inclination to make and record scientific dis-
coveries are in no way proportional to the
resources of those who possess them. It must
also be emphatically maintained that there is no
basis for such a comparison. Science is undoubt-
edly an absorbing source of gratification to those
who study its problems; but even the most
abstract research, however far removed from the
. affairs of everyday life, is an asset of which no
man can estimate the value.
In some directions the public has already become
accustomed to the scientific spirit. It has begun,
for example, to understand the value of pre-
ventive medicine. It no longer reserves its grati-
tude for those who discover remedies for disease;
it realises the still greater importance of the work
of those who try to learn the origin of disease and
the influence of the environment upon the exciting
cause. It should now be led to understand its
debt to those who make advances in this and
other branches of purely scientific work. The
germs of all material progress and comfort are
contained in our scientific serials and the publica-
tions of our scientific societies, and to allow a
limitation of their scope is a hindrance to the
public welfare.
The Government has already aided a few of the
older and more important societies with a partial
or complete grant of premises, and it entrusts an
annual sum of money, given in the Estimates of
1920-21 as 11,000l., to the Royal Society, to be
distributed for scientific investigations by a
committee appointed for that purpose, as well as
roool, annually towards the cost of scientific pub-
lications. It has also established the important
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.
We would now urge that a further step should be
taken, and some direct endowment provided for
those purely scientific publications which have for
sO many years been maintained by voluntary effort,
both to the honour of the country and to the
welfare of mankind.
NO. 2626. vot. toc]
The question
Useful Physiology:
Physiology and National Needs. Edited by Prof.
W. D. Halliburton. Pp. vii+ 162.
Constable and Co., Ltd., 1919.) Price 8s. 6d.
net.
ROF. HALLIBURTON and his fellow-lec-
turers have made out a good case for
physiology having done its bit in the great war.
The editor leads off with an account of the activi-
ties of the Royal Society and other committees in
food control in general, and gives more particular
details of the inquiries made in his own laboratory
on the value of margarines and fatty acids. Vita-
mines occupy the whole of Prof. Hopkins’ s dis-
course, and Prof. Harden returns to them again
with a summary of the work done on scurvy at
the Lister Institute. But Prof. Harden is surely
in error in saying that Lind held that scurvy was
caused by abstinence from fresh vegetable food.
That astute observer knew 150 years ago that
scurvy could be cured by fresh vegetables, but he
thought it, was caused by living in confined, damp
quarters, arguing that no one would say that ague
was caused by abstinence from bark because it
could be cured by giving bark.
Prof. Paton’s essay on physiology in the study
of disease is much less satisfactory. He is under
a complete misapprehension of the aim and
objects of medicine—a mistake shared in part by
Prof. Halliburton—and medical men who read
his solemn castigation of their empirical methods
may not unreasonably retort that his discovery.
that tetany is due to the liberation of guanidin,
controlled ‘‘‘somehow ”’ by the parathyroids, has
left medicine just about where it was. Prof.
Paton seems to think that the object and business
of medicine is to study disease.
medicine in reality is to prevent people feeling
ill, and to make those who do feel ill feel better,
and its success is to be measured by the product
of the degree of betterment and its duration.
‘* What the physician has to find out in every
‘case,’’ he says, ‘‘ is simply what has gone wrong,
and why it has gone wrong, before he attempts
to put it right.’’ So that if I have a headache
and send for my physician, he is to engage with
the hitherto insoluble problem of the nature and
cause of the common megrinous headache (which
is one of the great causes of human inefficiency,
and no trivial matter) and solve it before he cures
me by exhibiting 10 grains of aspirin: it might be
good physiology, but it would be thoroughly bad
medicine. The ‘‘ practical man’’ is of course
very wicked from our point of view, but. he has ~
been belaboured pretty freely these last few years;
and, after all, he does a lot of practical good in
(London :
The object of
a
— eos
a ae ane ae mee
May 6, 1920]
‘NATURE
287
his blundering way. Gerris, as Mr. Belloc says,
ould sink if he stopped to meditate about the sur-
ce film, and he might get no nearer the truth
n Prof. Paton does when he affirms that phos-
ne yields chlorine in the lungs. Knowledge
9s practice truly enough, but to ask that prac-
shall stand still while a particular sort of
itolerant knowledge gropes to a rationale will
neet no national need whatever.
of. Dendy’s interesting account of the ravages
eevils in stored grain and the means of pre-
‘ing them tells, on the other hand, an excellent
it up in air-tight receptacles in which the meta-
of the seeds soon replaced most of the
< is ty of experiments that air-tight storage is the
practical method which is wanted: which appears
to have been known from time immemorial and
- is expressed in the habit of Indians, Maltese, and
_ others in storing their harvested grain closely in
_ covered underground pits in face of the opinion
at it was ‘‘ absurd to hold that weevils require
free play of air or that free access of air is
urable to their existence,’ given by the ento-
sgical expert—doubtless a mere morpho-
_ Natural man, indeed, as Dr. Pembrey argues
s breezy plea for the wild life, is apt to go
t: “A sturdy growth of children is not to be
ined by the intelligent selection of the quality
quantity of their diet, but by the natural pro-
of muscular activity in the open air, the
tite with its likes and dislikes acting as the
: in questions of food ’’ (p. 158), which is not
2 what the editor seems to say (p. 23). But
le discrepancy is only on the surface: Sussex is
Ze Marylebone Road, and it is when civilisa-
1 interferes that trouble comes. Western re-
én =a ents in rice polishing gave the East beri-
. ” be a world trade in wheat gave the weevils
chance; mean and restricted lives brought
ib physical exercises instead of games. The truly
iological procedure, says Dr. Pembrey, is to
t people where they can live a natural life by
mulated experience and to let them live it.
Bread and cheese ’’ off the hedges is an older
‘remedy than orange juice, and even scientific
nion has been taught by Prof. Leonard Hill
t there is something to be said for our primi-
ive open fires. |
_ The book as a whole is extraordinarily interest-
ing from many different aspects, as much perhaps
_ for the questions it asks as for those it answers.
- = ~ NO. 2636, VoL. 105]
>
** Physiology ’’ is conceived in no narrow spirit;
it is hygiene, pathology, bacteriology, and phar-
macology, as well as itself. And in this generous
field everyone will find a good many things worth
thinking about. A. EF. B.
Service Chemistry.
Service Chemistry: Being a Short Manual of
Chemistry and Metallurgy and their Applica-
tion in the Naval and Military Services. By
the late Prof. Vivian B. Lewes and Prof.
J. S. S. Brame. Fifth edition. Pp. xvi+576+
vii plates. (London: Edward Arnold, 1920.)
Price 21s. net.
HE late Prof. Vivian Lewes, of the Royal
Naval College, Greenwich, an _ excellent
teacher and an admirable lecturer, conferred a
great benefit on the Service of which he was a
member by the compilation of this manual. In
the early days of the history of the college, the
relation and importance of physical science to the
business of the naval officer were but dimly appre-
ciated by the authorities at Whitehall, and the
scheme of instruction at Greenwich went but little
beyond the standard of a public school which
sought to develop its modern side. Prof. Debus,
the first professor of chemistry, although a sound
and remarkably well-informed chemist, carried
with him to the college merely the traditions and
methods of Clifton. The scope of his instruction
of the naval lieutenant was practically that which
had served him for years past in the several public
schools to which he had been attached. He con-
tinued to teach chemistry simply as a branch of
a liberal education, with no very direct reference
to the life-work of those whom he addressed. It
may be that at the outset of the career of the
college no other course was open to him. The
preliminary education of a naval officer at that
period afforded no opportunity for him to acquire
even the most elementary knowledge of science,
and hence his teacher had of necessity to restrict
himself to the kind of instruction which a well-
ordered school system ought to have supplied.
Prof. Debus exercised a very salutary influence
at the Royal Naval College. He was personally
popular, and, in spite of certain little mannerisms,
his quiet dignity and personal bearing enabled
him to keep an effective control over a class of
young men whose sense of humour is proverbially
always acute and occasionally irrepressible. But
to the budding Nelson, keen on his job, there must
have been much in the professor’s teaching that
made no appeal. It probably seemed to him to
have no possible relevance to the work of his pro-
288
NATURE:
[May 6, 1920
fession. Prof. Lewes, who acted as chief assistant
to Prof. Debus for some years and eventually
succeeded to his chair, was no doubt fully
conscious of this‘fact. At all events, his intimate
association with the young officers in the labora-
tory must have afforded him abundant opportuni-
ties of learning it. When his turn came he entirely
remodelled the course of chemical teaching.
During the years of his assistantship he had been
brought into frequent contact with Service and
dockyard problems, in which his chemical know-
ledge and practical aptitudes could be turned to
account. Prof. Debus was essentially the philo-
sophic student; Prof. Lewes, with no pretensions
to the academic attainments of his predecessor,
was more a man of affairs, with a keen apprecia-
tion of the value of science to practice, and he
could bring his experience to bear upon the char-
acter and style of his teaching.
The book before us was written ‘to aid and
supplement Prof. Lewes’s instruction. It was
unique of its kind. It bore directly upon what he
conceived to be the true function of his chair. In
one sense it is more restricted in scope than the
ordinary text-book of pure chemistry, which seeks
to cover more or less fully every department of
the science, with no special reference to its prac-
tical application; in another sense it is wider,
inasmuch as its subject-matter is intended to lead
up to the far-reaching problems with which
modern Service conditions deal.
A book based upon such principles can con-
tinue to be of value only so long as it has regard
to the constant changes and increasing complexity
of these conditions. Each successive edition bears
witness that such regard has been held. The four
previous editions of the work were issued under
the direction of the original author, the fourth
having appeared in the year before the outbreak
of the war.
The present edition—the fifth—is due to Prof.
Brame, Prof. Lewes’s successor at the Royal
Naval College. The plan of the work has not
been altered in any essential particular. But the
text has been carefully revised, and certain new
features have been introduced. Greater attention
has been paid to the applications of organic
chemistry, especially in relation to fuels, ex-
plosives, and oils, mineral and vegetable. Also,
the sections on boiler waters, corrosion, pigments,
etc., have undergone considerable alteration.
It has become a truism to say that the great
war through which Europe has recently passed
was a chemist’s war. Whether that is wholly
true is a matter of opinion. But it is at least uni-
versally acknowledged that chemistry entered more
largely into it than into any previous war. That
NO. 2636, VOL. 105]
fact alone adds interest and value to a book of —
this kind. Both arms of the Service now recog-
nise that the operations of modern warfare are
largely dependent upon chemical principles.
dependence is bound to increase in the future, and
should therefore lead to a wider recognition of the
importance of chemical instruction to all who may
be concerned in the conduct of war, whether
afloat or ashore. The book before us makes
mention of many chemical applications and
adaptations which the war originated; but the
complete story has yet to be told, and in the
present unsettled state of the world some time
must elapse before it can be published. When,
however, it is made generally known, it will con-
stitute a triumph for the knowledge, skill, and
resourcefulness of British chemists. That fact is
already appreciated in the Naval Service, and by
no section more warmly than by those who owe
their chemical knowledge to the instruction they
have reccived at the Royal Naval College.
Tee seis
Euclid’s Elements.
Euclid in Greek. Book I. With Introduction
and Notes. By Sir Thomas L. Heath.
Pp. ix+239. (Cambridge: At the Coe
Press, 1920.) Price ios. net.
HE editor of this text expresses the hope that
it may be read by boys in the higher forms
of schools. We hope so too, although the price
of the book is rather prohibitive. At any rate, a
copy should be obtained for the school library. —
The text is accompanied by an introduction and ©
a set of explanatory and critical notes; each of
these is a model of its kind. In the introduction
we have a summary of the contents of the
elements, all the facts known about Euclid’s life
and works, and a full account of the principal
translations and editions of the elements. The
notes ‘are extremely valuable in various ways. In
the first place, the author is both a competent
Greek scholar, and also a student imbued with
the unadulterated spirit of Greek geometry. This
makes his translations of technical terms emin-
ently apt and trustworthy. As an example of his
critical ability, we may take his discussion of the
very -difficult phrase in Euclid’s defini-
tion of a straight line.
é€ icov
to express that if any point on the (indefinite)
line be taken, what we may call the aspect of
the line therefrom is an
have an attempt at expressing in abstract terms
the Platonic test—that a straight viewed “end
That |
He shows, we think con-_
clusively, that the intention of the definition is |
“indifferent ” one, with —
no bending one way or the other; in fact, we
May 6, 1920]
NATURE
289
The editor keeps the time-
ied rendering “evenly ”—we should prefer
ib! r “indifferently”; but this is of little
mportance, because, whatever term is used, it
ill have to be carefully explained. In any case,
1son’s definition is a gross misrepresentation of
who evidently, however obscurely, states
ty of a straight line in relation to all the
is a point.
butions made to geometry by Euclid’s
s. Naturally, we should like to know
and how far they were arithmetical or
trical respectively. A still greater satis-
would be to know how far the Greek
) a crowning triumph of Greek mathe-
3 it is So near absolute perfection that no
part introducing what is known as the axiom
Archimedes. The question is, How far, if in
-* are interested in Greek henuaca!
nt swould be grateful for a similar edition
1c id’s arithmetical books, especially the
an exhaustive discussion of a particular
f irrationals. Another boon would be an
like this of some of the books of Apol-
's ““Conics,” especially those which virtu-
ve the equations of conics referred to a
il diameter and the tangent at a vertex.
is one point on which we venture, with
deference, to disagree with the editor. On
175 and elsewhere he translates woAA@ peilov
much greater.” The Greek idiom is peculiar,
unless we are to make it absurd we must
t mod\AG by “all the more,” or some such
remark in conclusion. Forty or fifty years
when a blind idolatry of Simson’s “Euclid”
still the vogue, Euclid’s fifth book was never
and its theorems were assumed on the basis
odhunter’s “Algebra.” In other words, the
test achievement of Greek mathematics was
absolutely*ignored. It is a great mistake to
assume that all who are in favour of modern
thods of teaching are wholly out of sympathy
“ith the classic exponents of their subject. On
NO. 2636, VOL. 105]
the contrary, those of them who are sane psycho-
logists will always bear in mind that the progress
of the individual is, in a way, a condensed image
of the progress of ‘the race, and they will be the
last to ignore the historical development of theit
subject, whether it be mathematics, or philosophy,
or chemistry, or anything else. G, B, M.
The Earliest Flint Implements.
Pre-Palaeolithic Man. By J. Reid Moir.
67+29 plates. (Ipswich: W. E. Harrison;
London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent,
and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 7s. 6d.
N this little volume Mr. Reid Moir treats of
the various forms of flaked flints found in
Pp.
. | deposits older than those in which ordinary
palzolithic implements occur. He also describes
the experiments in flint-fracture which have con-
vinced him that the specimens in question are
examples of human workmanship. Most of the
matter has already appeared in various papers
by the author, and many of the illustrations are
from these papers, but the whole is a useful
summary which the general reader will be glad
to have in so convenient a form.
Among flints like the so-called eoliths, which
are very little shaped by chipping, it must natur-
ally be difficult to decide which have been flaked
by man for his own use, but Mr. Reid Moir con-
siders that they can be distinguished by the
shape and appearance of the flake-scars. Accord-
ing to his experiments, the scar left by fortuitous
percussion is comparatively wide and truncated,
and often marked by concentric lines, while that
made by human flaking is longer than it is wide,
tapering at the far end, and not marked by con-
centric lines. If this criterion be trustworthy, it is
evident that man’s earliest handiwork can be
recognised, for when he first began to use stone
he must have selected pieces which were already
of the needed shape, and he merely trimmed
certain edges for greater effectiveness.
Man’s first efforts to shape a real implement
are supposed to have resulted in the rostro-
carinate type, and this by further chipping gradu-
ally passed into the familiar paleolith. Mr. Reid
Moir describes the process of change, as further
discussed in his memoir in the Philosophical
Transactions which was noticed in Nature for
April 1, p. 146. He also, as in the memoir just
mentioned, expresses the opinion that the Acheu-
lean and the Mousterian forms of palzoliths have
been derived from the rostro-carinates in some-
what different ways. The speculation is interest-
290
NATURE
i
[May 6, 192
ing, and the argument is easily followed with the
aid of the many accompanying illustrations.
Mr. Reid Moir’s final chapter on “ Pre-Palzo-
lithic Man in England” is more discursive, and
suggests that we should turn to England rather
than to Asia for the earliest traces of man. The
detritus-bed at the base of the Pliocene Red Crag
near Ipswich is described as yielding rostro-
carinate and other worked flints. The age of the
Piltdown skull is also discussed, and it is regarded
as Pliocene. The conclusion is that English
“pre-paleolithic’ deposits should be more. care-
fully studied than they have been hitherto, and
the little book before us cannot fail to stimulate
such study.
The Heat Treatment of Cast Iron,
Malleable Cast Iron. By S. Jones Parsons.
Second edition, revised. Pp. xi+175. (London:
Constable and Co., Ltd., 1919.) Price 14s. net.
HE first edition of Mr. Parsons’s book on
malleable-iron founding was published in
1908. A second edition has now been issued. It
differs principally from the first in that it contains
two new chapters, one dealing with mixing by
analysis, the other with the measurement of tem-
perature. There is also a brief addendum on
what is called “malleable cast steel.’’ _
The high percentage of ‘“waster’’ castings
formerly produced in malleable-iron foundries has
undoubtedly been reduced in the interval which
has elapsed between the appearance of the two
editions by adopting a more scientific method of
making up mixtures according to chemical
standards; but this alone is not sufficient to en-
sure a continuous output of good malleable cast-
ings. There has always been an undue amount
of wastage in the annealing process, chiefly owing
to irregularities in the temperature of the ovens.
This is inevitable when there is no means provided
for measuring the temperature. In the best
foundries the hopelessness of relying on the purely
human element has long been recognised, and it
has now been proved by the use of suitable pyro-
meters that a considerable saving in fuel may be
effected and the percentage of waster castings
due to imperfect annealing almost entirely elimin-
ated. The chapter on temperature measurement
gives a brief account of optical and thermo-couple
pyrometers and the methods of using them in this
industry.
It is somewhat surprising that in a book which
is evidently designed to assist the malleable-iron
industry to more scientific methods of production
there is no mention of the light thrown by the
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
microscope on the structural changes which occur
in the malleablising process; nor is there any re-
ference to the mechanical properties of the various
types of iron produced. It is the microscope which
has shown what the essential difference is between
European malleable iron, which dates back to the
time of Réaumur, and the modern“ Black Heart ”’
variety, which is an American product. This
instrument affords a valuable means of controlling
the extent of the malleablising action of the an-
nealing process.
A valuable account of these two aspects of the
scientific control of malleable iron is to be found
in Dr. Hatfield’s book “ Cast Iron in the Light
of Recent Research.’’ If a third edition of Mr.
Parsons’s book is called for he would be well
advised to include a reference to these additional
methods of control.
Our Bookshelf.
The Running and Maintenance of the Marine
Diesel Engine. By John Lamb. Pp. xii+231+
4 plates. (London: Charles Griffin and Co.,
Ltd., 1920.) Price 8s. 6d.
TuIs book opens with’ brief descriptions of
the properties of oil fuels, combustion, the modes
of working of four-cycle and two-cycle engines,
and the general arrangement of the marine Diesel
engine on board ship. The remainder of the book
is taken up with descriptions of details and the
manner in which these operate; sections are in-
cluded dealing with high-speed Diesel engines for
driving dynamos and fans, steering-gears, running
troubles, and lists of stores which should be
carried. The book is profusely illustrated with
diagrams showing the construction of details; as
the author’s object has been merely to explain the
mode of working, many of these diagrams have
not been drawn to scale; detailed descriptions of
parts which are common to all classes of engines,
e.g. connecting-rods and crank-shafts, are not in-
cluded.
The book will appeal to and be found useful
by a large class of engineers whose experience has
been confined to the steam engine, both by reason
of the clearness of the matter included and by the
many useful hints which the author’s four years’
sea-going experience in motor ships has enabled
him to give. For example: ‘‘ In the same vessel
the scavenging valves would intermittently fail
to close, frequently to such an extent that the
escape valves on the scavenging air pipe would
lift. The scavenging pumps drew the air through
a ventilator passing up through the deck. It was
afterwards found that scale from the inside of the
ventilator was the cause of the valves failing to
close. The air was then taken from the engine-
room, when no further trouble was experienced.’’
Obviously hints of this kind are of service not only
to the engineer on board ship, but also to the
So i
May 6, 1920]
NATURE
291
_ designer. We can recommend the book to all
engineers desirous of obtaining information on the
ning of Diesel engines.
Course of Practical Chemistry for Agricultural
“Students. Vol. i. By L. F. Newman and
Prof. H. A. D. Neville. Pp. 235. (Cambridge:
the University Press, 1920.) Price ros. 6d.
. NEwman AnD Pror. NEVILLE have brought
> three volumes details of a practical course of
cultural chemistry designed for students tak-
degrees in agricultural science; the present
: e deals with the chemistry and physics of
1e soil. Much of the book is concerned with pure
mistry and pure physics (physical properties
gases, density, specific heat, etc.), and has
‘special connection with agriculture as distinct
m any other branch of science; only about
hird is devoted to soils and manures.
_ The exercises appear to be well chosen, but one
cannot help wishing that the authors had used
one of the many books already published on pure
_ chemistry, and given more space to agricultural
problems.
The exercises on soils and manures are mainly
analytical; they are on the usual lines, and
intended obviously for elementary students, for
whom the instructions should be found sufficient.
Had there been more space available, some more
inspiring exercises might well have been given,
Reepecially in the direction of pot and plot experi-
ents. Many of the properties of soil are more
y demonstrated out of doors than indoors,
in any case the principles of soil fertility
not be elucidated entirely by purely laboratory
‘k. Numerous experiments have been devised,
they are scattered about over a number of
-books and have never been collected.
Within the limits they have set themselves, the
uthors have produced a useful book which will
be helpful to teachers, especially in these busy
es, when classes are large and demonstrators
very hard-worked.
e Mason-Wasps. By J. Henri Fabre. Trans-
lated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. Pp.
_ vi+318. (London: Hodder and Stoughton,
n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
Tue writings of few open-air naturalists have
equalled, or even approached, in ease and attrac-
iveness of style the “Souvenirs entomologiques ”’
J. H. Fabre, the veteran observer of Sérignan.
Much of the charm of these essays has been
| abs in the skilful translations by A. T. de
attos, of which the present work is an example
in no way inferior, either in interest or in wealth of
_ accurate observation, to the other volumes of the
series. In it are recorded the results of a minute
and careful study of the life-history of wasps
belonging to the genera Eumenes, Odynerus,
Pelopceus, Agenia, and Vespa, related with the
utmost simplicity and vividness, and illuminated
by the lively and charming personality of the
_ author. a
No. 2636, VoL. 105 |
Leaving the domain of pure observation and
experiment, and entering on that of bionomic
speculation, we find Fabre a less satisfactory
guide. It is well known that no theories of evo-
lution appealed to him in the least degree, and the
naiveté with which he touches and dismisses the
problems of mimicry and protective resemblance
in the volume before us gives a key to the reasons
of his failure to appreciate the greatest advances
in biological science of his time. On the other
hand, his views on the subject of instinct, forti-
fied by ingenious experiments on the mud-building
and spider-storing habit of Pelopceus and on the
cocoon-weaving procedure of Saturnia, are sound
enough. But it is difficult to follow him in the
distinction that he draws between “instinct ’’ and
“discernment ’’; nor can one take seriously his
playful remarks on the mental processes involved
in insect activities. BP. AscD,
The Handbook of Cyprus. Eighth issue. Edited
by Harry Charles Luke and Douglas James
Jardine. Pp. xii+300. (London: Macmillan
and Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price 12s. net.
To every Englishman—and by that we mean every
English-speaking citizen of our Commonwealth—
Cyprus suggests, not the succession of love-cults,
but that one great lovers’ meeting when Othello
came to land. ‘Once more well met in Cyprus.”
This new issue of the official handbook assures
us that the island is now a Crown colony of
Britain. Let us trust that its authors, who are
both administrators of empire, in reviewing their
work among its mixed inhabitants, may record
that they “have found great love amongst them.”
It is rare to find a publication that in its essence
is economic and statistical allowing also for the
taste of visitors in archeology and natural history.
Enough is here given in a small compass to lead
the reader on to the works enumerated on
Pp. 93-95 and in the sections on geology and
zoology. It would have been well if the treatment
of the geology had been connected with the brief
geographical section which occurs some two
hundred pages earlier. The comparatively recent
origin of the islands of the Levant, consequent on
the breaking up of the A%gean land, is the real
basis for the history of merchant fleets. The
dwarf elephant and hippopotamus, so well
included under Natural History on p. 246, are
effective links in the romance. We find so much
in this invitation to the isle that we should like
to arrange it more in sequence, so as to produce
the true geographical effect. Perhaps - each
reader will do this for himself as he journeys
eastward, sure of welcome. Gy A. FC,
An Introduction to Social Psychology. By Dr. W.
McDougall. Fourteenth edition. Pp. xxiv+
459. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1919.)
Price 7s, 6d. net.
In this edition, among other changes, the prin-
ciple is elaborated that all emotion is the affective
aspect of instinctive process.
292
NATURE
[May 6, 1920
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.)
Organisation of Scientific Work.
I HAVE only recently seen the article in Nature of
February 19 and the correspondence so unanimously
supporting the view that the present decentralised
system of team work by experts in different branches
of science in agricultural, forestry, and medical re-
search institutes is greatly superior to the proposed
centralisation in-distant Simla of each separate science
—chemistry, botany, etc.—under directors of research
with autocratic powers to decide what each original
worker in his branch throughout India shall investi-
gate and publish; for it is clearly impossible in these
days for one man to be sufficiently conversant with
each special division of his science adequately to fulfil
such a stupendous task. I desire to associate myself
with that view, which may be illustrated by my
experience in organising the Calcutta School of
Tropical Medicine, shortly to be opened, for which I
have just obtained endowments from two successful
European and Parsi business men for a whole-time
biochemist, in addition to two other chemists for the
analysis of indigenous drugs and of food and water
respectively, all three of whom will aid nine medical
research investigators in team work at important
medical problems under a medical director. Could
anyone contend that these very specialised chemists
would be better controlled by a purely chemical
director a thousand miles away in Simla, who could
know nothing of the medical problems they will
investigate ?
On the other hand, if the Government of India is
to provide the large sums urgently required for the
further development of scientific research in India,
it will require some organisation to co-ordinate and
report on the work it will be financing. May it
not learn a lesson from the Medical Research Com-
mittee of eminent medical men of science, which is
wisely utilising the large sums supplied by the British
Government in assisting the investigations of univer-
sity and medical-school workers with established
reputations and with a minimum amount of inter-
ference? A very similar and successful organisation
was set up in India when the late Sir Pardey Lukis
persuaded the Government of India to hand over five
lakhs (some 50,000l.) a year to the Indian Research
Association, administered by a governing body on
which the medical members, through their special
knowledge of the subject, exercise a preponderating
influence; while I have recently obtained a purely
medical governing body to administer the endowments
of the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine with an
income of some 11,0001. a year, which I have been
fortunate enough to raise to provide both men and
apparatus without the long delays, usually of several
years’ duration, involved in obtaining the sanction of
the Government of India and of the Secretary of
State for new posts.
This plan has thus already proved its value and is
capable of extension, while boards composed of a
number of men of science of high standing will com-
mand much greater confidence than an autocratic
director of research. The nucleus of such a body
already exists in the Board of Scientific Control, which
meets twice a year in Delhi and Simla, and might
with greater advantage holJ its principal meeting
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
Delhi in December, 1918, 1 advocated, in place of an
autocratic director of medical research, that an in-
spector of research might be appointed, who would
not attempt the invidious task of laying down what
each research worker should investigate and publish,
but would visit different research laboratories and
consult with their respective directors or councils
regarding the financial and other needs of the insti-
tutes, and help to co-ordinate the work in different
parts of India to prevent waste through over
The recent correspondence in NATURE confirms me ii
that solution of the difficulty, and I venture to think
that in some such ways as I have suggested the
established advantages of the present decentralised
system may be retained and strengthened by greater
and more elastic financial aid, and be better co-
ordinated, without introducing the highly
able autocratic and distant centralised control of
proposals now before the Indian Government to w
you have directed such timely attention.
; LEONARD
South Devon, April 29.
The Small Islands of Almost-Atolls. =
sive - 3 Aare elt a ree
Tue familiar inductive series of fringing reefs,
barrier reefs, and atolls may be further subdivi
as to contain six members:
so.
Normal fringing reefs,
offshore fringing reefs, narrow-lagoon barrier reefs,
broad-lagoon barrier reefs, almost-atolls, and atolls.
Almost-atolls, or atoll-like reefs encircling lagoons in
which one or several small islands rise, are of interest
as affording a critical test of certain competing coral-
of out-.
growing reefs around still standing islands explains a
completed atoll by supposing that the original volcanic
island is slowly worn down as the encircling reef —
reef theories, as follows: Murray’s theory
grows outward and the lagoon is excavated behind —
the growing reef by solution, the degraded central ©
island eventually disappearing in a way not clearly
explained, perhaps by outwash of its detritus from the
lagoon by currents which are fed by the influx of surf ~
over the windward reef and discharged by outflow
through passes in the leeward reef. Under this
oe
theory thé small island of an almost-atoll would be a
nearly worn-down central island, which would exhibit
rolling hills of low relief surrounded by delta flats; —
or in a later stage, after the delta deposits had been —
swept away, the low hills of the vanishing island
would be encroached upon by the lagoon waves and
cut back in low bluffs fronted by low-tide rock plat-
forms that gradually deepen into the lagoon. ;
According to Daly’s Glacial-control theory, atoll
reefs are built up from the margin of platforms
abraded by the waves of the lowered Glacial ocean
across still standing islands that had been previously
worn down to low relief by long-continued normal
erosion, the reefs being built up as the ocean rises
in post-Glacial time. Under this theory an almost
destroyed central island would have a surface of -
rolling hills, cut back by cliffs which would now—
except for fringing reefs that may border them—
plunge -into the lagoon waters to a depth of twenty
or more fathoms. This inference is well supported by
the occurrence of strongly clift islands surmounting
submarine banks of moderate depth in the extra- —
tropical seas. According to Darwin’s theory of up-
growing reefs on intermittently subsiding foundations —
than |
—submergence by subsidence being faster
erosional degradation—atolls are produced when the ©
central island of an up-growing barrier reef has sunk
out of sight. Under this theory the lagoon of an
| coincidently with the Indian Science Congress in one
of the large centres of research. At a meeting in-
apes
CPST I Tee eT ale 2 ie ae in ee
x 6, 1920]
NATURE
293
lands of mountainous or mountain-top form.
aracteristics of the small islands of hypo-
Imost-atolls, as thus deduced from several
of coral reefs, may be confronted with the
te facts as represented in five actual almost-
he Hermit Islands, in the Admiralty group
ew Guinea; Truk or Hogoleu, in the
slands; Budd Reef, in north-eastern Fiji;
t Astrolabe Reef, in south-western Fiji; and
eva or the Gambier Islands, south of the
The Hermit Islands are enclosed by a
t 12 miles in diameter; the largest of the
3 miles long and more than 3000 ft. in
The encircling reef of Truk is about 30 miles
meter, and encloses some twenty small islands;
st measures 6 by 3 miles, and several of the
nes are from rooo ft. to 1300 ft. high; the
‘ones rise from 20 ft. to 300 ft. Budd Reef
$ 12 miles in its longest diameter; three small
ds, each less than a mile across, rise from 280 ft.
. near the lagoon centre; a small horseshoe
ind, a mile in diameter and 590 ft. high,
north-eastern angle of the enclosing reef,
. be of much more recent origin than its
s, and does not bear on the problem here
. The Great Astrolabe Reef makes an oval
iles wide by 10 miles long, around a lagoon
ining nine smail islands; it is not properly an
atoll reef, for on the south it continues a long
around the four-mile island of Ono and the
ile island of Kandavu. However, the small
ar space defined by three of the islands, a
of from 17 to 20 fathoms that prevails between the
nds and the barrier reef; and this is beyond
planation by the Glacial-control theory. Gambier
is from 12 to 15 miles across; the enclosed
; are eight in number, and the largest of them
4 by 2 miles and has a height of 1300 ft.
ate of the larger of these islands: ‘‘ The
res of the coast—the deep indentations—are
vidence of subsidence to one who has
e character of the Pacific islands; for these
ions correspond to valleys or gorges formed
ation during a long period while the island
ove the sea”’ (‘On Coral Reefs and Islands,”
s). Within the polygon defined by several of
ands two soundings give depths of 38 fathoms,
e lagoon outside the polygon has no depths
ese almost-atoll islands are of mountainous
tain-top form; they appear to be residuals of
y larger islands, much reduced by sub-aerial
and now isolated by* submergence. The
- Ones are mere summits, too small to show
yed valleys; the larger ones have somewhat em-
shore-lines, which would, according to the best
ts that I can gather, be more strongly embayed
deltas that now partly occupy the bavs were
joved. None of the islands are described as
frongly clift, like those of the extra-tropical seas,
hough some headlands are a little cut back in
1 bluffs fronted by low-tide rock platforms, evi-
tly the work of the lagoon waves at present sea-
- It thus appears. that the small islands of actual
st-atolls are excellent counterparts of the moun-
ous or mountain-top islands of hypothetical almost-
NO. 2636, VoL. 105]
Ons
oll would contain one or several nearly sub- |
atolls deduced as the necessary consequences of
Darwin’s theory, but such islands cannot be accounted
for by either Murray’s or Daly’s theory.
The attention of European men of science has been
so largely withdrawn from the study of coral reefs
during the last thirty years that the coral-reef problem
now has scarcely a hearing among them. It is to be
hoped that, with the acquisition of the numerous
islands and reefs of northern and eastern New Guinea
with the neighbouring reef-encircled islands by Aus-
tralia, the old problem may be taken up again by the
explorers and investigators of that remarkable region.
The Louisiade group in particular deserves attention.
The present communication suggests some of the
newer aspects of coral-reef study, which, along with
the embayments of: reef-encircled islands and the uncon-
formable contacts of fringing and elevated reefs with
their foundations (see ‘‘The Geological Aspects of
the Coral-reef Problem,” Science Progress, xiii.,
1919, pp. 420-44), must be taken into account for the
future. All considered together, these newer aspects
go far towards restoring confidence in Darwin’s
theory, which between 1880 and 1910 was so un-
reasonably discarded by many writers. The theory
needs subordinate modification by the addition of
changes of ocean-level during the Glacial period, to
which Daly has so justly directed attention; but those
changes acting alone would, whenever they occurred,
produce emergences or submergences everywhere alike
in their moderate amount, their slow rate, and their
Pleistocene date; while all the reef-encircled islands
that have yet been studied—as, for example, in
Foye’s ‘Geological Observations in Fiji” (Proc.
Amer. Acad. of Arts and Sci., liv., 1918, pp. 1-145)—
testify to submergences and emergences at dates that
are frequently unlike from place to place, and of
amounts that are frequently much in excess of the
most liberal estimates of Glacial changes in ocean-
level. Such submergences and emergences are, there-
fore, to be explained by local movements of subsidence
or upheaval in the islands concerned. As reef-growth
has been associated chiefly with the various move-
ments of .subsidence, reinforced recently by rise of
ocean-level, Darwin’s theory ee a modified
is thereby supported. . M. Davis.
‘Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.,
March.
Scientific Apparatus from Abroad.
THERE is one aspect of the proposed “‘ anti-dumping "”
legislation to which I should like to direct attention.
While there is much scientific apparatus made in
the British Isles of a quality at least as good as that
imported, it is, unfortunately, very costly. But there
are also many articles which our manufacturers have
not yet learned to produce in anything like a satisfac-
tory quality. The result of restricting the import of
good articles by a heavy duty would be to compel
scientific workers to use home-made goods. There
would be no hardship if these goods were satisfactory.
But such is by no means always the case, and we are
then penalised by waste of time and frequent loss of
experimental results. Moreover, if inferior goods
obtain a sale by methods of this kind, no inducement
is given to the makers to improve the quality.
I am aware that I may be called a doctrinaire Free
Trader, but it seems to me to be a far more reason-
able procedure to allow free import of such apparatus
until equally good material is to be had nig. eA at
home. In the meantime, our manufacturers should,
294
NATURE
if necessary, receive State aid to enable them to perfect
their processes. When they can show that they have
attained success, an import duty might be imposed
temporarily on the foreign substitute to ensure the
sale of the British article and to introduce it to the
market. If the product is satisfactory, there would be
no need to retain the duty for any great length of
time.
Owing to the present poor rate of pay of free
scientific workers, it is only just to give them generous
grants if they are compelled to buy the costly home-
made goods of the first category referred to above.
It will surely be admitted that the desirable state of
affairs is that each country should produce what it is
best fitted to do, and that there should be no necessity
for protective duties. But if the League of Nations
is believed to be ineffective, and if we must be pre-
pared to be self-supporting in case of another great
war, it behoves those who advocate measures to bring
this about to see that the nation does not lose more
than it is likely to gain.
I have confined my remarks to the case of scientific
appliances, bur similar considerations apply to many
industrial processes. Inferior material and machinery
would have to be put up with for the sake of sup-
porting some other industry. If the foreign goods are
superior they should be freely imported, and the British
makers subventioned until they can produce equally
good material, if it is thought essential that they
should do so. W. M. Baytiss.
University College, London.
The Gost of Laboratory Fittings.
In all directions we have at the present time evi-
dence of a growing enthusiasm for education in the
field of natural science. Students are being turned
away from our schools and universities for lack of
accommodation, and the new Education Act has given
great encouragement to science teaching. Our war
experiences seem to have aroused the nation to the
necessity for vastly extending the facilities for these
studies, and at the same time the need for financial
economy is pressing in all directions.
The material requirements of science teaching are
expensive, and, though heavy outlay is in the main
inevitable, it seems probable that if costs cannot be
reduced the very necessary expansion of science in
our schools may in many cases have to be deferred or
abandoned, and, possibly, curtailed in our higher:
institutions. The character of the fixed fittings in our
laboratories has altered but little for many years, and
it seems pertinent to inquire whether something could
not be done by the use of alternative materials or by
standardisation to reduce their cost.
I recently brought this matter to the notice of one
of our learned societies, and received a very cordial
reply from its council, which has referred the question
to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Re-
search ;. and I have reason to believe that this Depart-
ment is proposing to take some action, in which event
I have arranged that the Science Standing Committee
of one of our Royal institutes shall be represented at
any deliberations. Tnings, however, move slowly and
time is passing, which must be my excuse for troubling
you with this letter in the hope that the subject may
raise some interest, and possibly lead to some con-
structive suggestions.
There are several obvious directions in which re-
search on this subject, which should be neither par-
ticularly lengthy nor expensive, seem likely to be
_ fruitful, but I must not encroach further by elabora-
tion. Avan E. Mounpsy.
9g Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn, W.C.z2.
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
| May 6, 1920
The Standard of Atomic Weights.
In reply to the letter of Prof. J. R. Partington
appearing in Nature of April 29, it has already been
announced in your columns that Dr. Aston has shown
neon and chlorine to be each mixtures of two isot
with atomic weights which are whole numbers, and
I have suggested that the atomic weights of all the
elements with low atomic weights are very approxi-
mately of the form 2x+a, where x is ¢he atomic
number and a a small integer, and there are indica-
tions tending to show that a is independent of the
chemical properties of the element (see NaTuRE,
February 26, p. 704). For the lower atomic weights the
calculation is not greatly affected whether the atomic
weight of hydrogen or of oxygen is taken as the
.Standard. With the exception of hydrogen, no atomic
weight is less than 2x, if the atomic weight of oxygen
is taken as the standard. There is, accordingly, some
justification for treating the atomic weights of helium,
boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine as
normal and that of hydrogen as abnormal. If, as
appears to be the case, the atomic weights are not
only variable, e.g. lead, neon, etc., but also contain a
quantity independent of the chemical properties of the
element, the determination of the relative atomic
weights of two elements to a high degree of accuracy -
others :
will in many cases be impossible, and in some
futile. oA
In some respects it might be convenient to take
helium as the standard for atomic weights, this ele-
ment certainly assisting in a few instances to build up
the atomic weight, and as helium can now be prepared
in large quantity the accurate determination of its
density will not be so difficult as heretofore.
STEPHEN MIALL.
28 Belsize Grove, N.W.3. et
The Mole Gricket.
On ty one British species of mole cricket is known,
Gryllotalpa vulgaris. It is now becoming very rare
in England. It is largely carnivorous, and by bur-
rowing underground with its powerful fore-legs, which
by a shear-like action cut through roots, it causes a
certain amount of damage. It is by the peculiar
Fic. 1.—Mole Cricket.
structure of these fore-legs that the mole cricket is
readily recognised and distinguished from all other
insects. These legs are thicker, but shorter, than the
hind-legs, each of the very short tibiz ending below
in four claws spread out like the fingers of a hand.
The specimen represented in the illustration was
caught at Send, near Woking, in Surrey, on: March 15
last. Sales iki VD
=e S
eee
3 laa
: \ - May 6, 1920]
NATURE
295
: HE type-reading optophone, an_ instrument
designed to enable blind people to read
! print, was described in NATURE in 1914
. xCiv., p. 4). At the British Scientific Pro-
_ Exhibition of 1918 some public reading
nstrations were given with a somewhat
d apparatus exhibited by the writer and
. W. Forster Brown (see Nature, vol. cii.,
y Reabtember 5, 1918). These demonstrations
sd to show that all the essential problems
BP thes cx had been solved, but the instru-
then exhibited had certain defects which
ated against its prolonged and convenient use
y bl nd persons. Thus, the displacement along
» line of type was effected by turning a handle,
fhich no blind person would care to use by the
' The construction of the apparatus generally
; not sufficiently solid and substantial, in view
the fact that it had to be put into the ‘hands of
necessarily somewhat clumsy operator.
After the close of the exhibition the construc-
of the instrument was undertaken by Messrs.
r and Stroud, Ltd., of Glasgow, the well-
wn makers of range-finders and fire-control
yparatus for the British and foreign navies. A
A‘ Breat deal of thought and care has been bestowed
upon the instrument by Dr. Archibald Barr, and
0 inesult has been a thoroughly sound, compact,
nd practical instrument, such as was shown by
arr in his lecture to the Royal Philosophical
of Glasgow on March 24 last.
} “The rae principle of the apparatus is shown
by Fig. A siren disc, D, is run at about
30 gieeiutions a second by means of the small
magneto-electric motor shown. It contains five
circles of square perforations, the innermost circle
having twenty-four perforations, the outermost
forty-two, the other circles being intermediate
and corresponding to the relative frequencies of
; certain notes of the diatonic scale. A line of
_ light in a radial direction is provided by the
Biome lamp L, and the image of the filament of
_ this lamp is thrown upon the print by a system
of three lenses on the other side of the selenium
F tablet S. The.axis of the concavo-convex lens C
a is” slightly tilted out of the axis of the other lenses
for a purpose which is specified below. The
- general result of the optical system is to give a
line of luminous dots on the print, each dot having
a different musical frequency. The light con-
‘Stituting these dots is diffusely reflected back on
to the selenium, which is put in circuit with a
battery and a high-resistance telephone receiver.
Those dots which fall on white paper produce a
‘note of their own musical frequency in the tele-
_ phone, while those which fall on black are extin-
By, guished. We thus: get what may be called a
_ _“white-sounding ” optophone, in which the black
letters are read by the notes omitted from “he
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
_ are all mounted in the swinging “
. The Optophone: An Instrument for Reading by Ear.
i By Dr. E. E. Fournier D’ALBE.
scale rather than by the notes which remain sound-
ing. All the reading demonstrations hitherto
undertaken have been given with a “ white-sound-
ing” optophone.
A modification of this principle, introduced by
Messrs. Barr and Stroud in consultation with the
writer, is the provision of a second selenium
preparation in the form of a cylindrical rod, the
top of which can be seen at B (Fig. 1). This rod
receives the light reflected by the concave surface
of the lens C, which produces a real image of the
line of dots on a generator of the cylindrical rod,
and by turning this rod about its axis the image
can be made more or less effective as desired.
By balancing the effect on B against the effect
on S, when white paper alone is exposed, a silence
can be produced in the telephone, and the effect
of the passage of a black letter is to make a sound
which varies in accordance with the formation of
the letter. This is the principle of what may be
called a ‘“black-sounding” optophone, and
Fic, 1.—Skeleton apparatus showing the principle of the optophone.
although its advantage over the white-sounding .
type has yet to be proved, there is little doubt
that the learning of the alphabet sounded on the
new principle will be easier, though in the writer's
opinion the ultimate speed acquired by either black-
sounding or white-sounding will be approximately
the same. It is interesting in this connection to
note that Miss Mary Jameson, the blind girl who
gave the demonstrations at the 1918 Exhibition,
now reads habitually at a speed of about twenty-
five words a minute with a “white-sounding ”
optophone made by Messrs. Barr and Stroud, and
finds, indeed, that when the instrument is adjusted
for a lesser speed reading becomes more difficult.
The present construction adopted by Messrs.
Barr and Stroud is shown in Fig. 2. The disc,
lamp, lenses, and selenium, as well as the motor,
tracer,” which
296
NATURE
[May 6, 1920
can be brought over to the right by means cf
the reading-handle H. It then returns to the lett
with a slow, silent, and steady motion regulated
by the worm gearing W, which drives a small
paddle inserted in a viscous liquid. This paddle
can be inserted more or less deeply into the liquid
by the regulating nut R, and such is the range
Fic. 2.—The optophone with book-rest removed.
of adjustment possible that a line can be read in
anything from five seconds to five minutes, accord-
ing to the proficiency of the reader. When the
line is read, the next line is brought into focus by
the change-bar C, which works a friction grip
inside the bar on which the “tracer” is pivoted,
and can be adjusted for any desired line space
Fic. 3.—The optophone complete with book-rest.
by means of the screw attached to the change-bar.
A lever attached to the “tracer” enables the
operator to reverse this motion or to release the
whole “tracer” from the friction gear, so that it
may be quickly brought to the top of a page.
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
The festoon lamp is inserted at L, where it is”
held by a spring clip, and whence it can easily be
removed for renewal even by a blind operator.
The balancer is inserted at B, and can be adjusted
for silence by means of the small handle shown.
Fig. 3 shows’ the apparatus from the top page
end and with telephone and flex connections
attached, as well as the book-rest R- holding a
book. The adapters of these flex connections are
all of different sizes, and fit into different-sized
holes in such a manner that they cannot be
wrongly inserted—an important consideration ‘with
blind operators.
The various connections with their witli are
for the motor, the lamp, and the two selenium
circuits respectively. When the adapters are
removed, a cover can be placed over the whole
instrument, which clips on to the aluminium base,
and the. optophone ‘can thereupon be carried about
like a typewriter.
Fig. 4 shows the manner in which the instru-
ment is manipulated by a blind person.
Fic. 4.—Line-changing with the optophone.
Special mention ought to be made of a con-
trivance for adjusting for various sizes of type.
The middle lens of the three shown in Fig. 1 is
mounted in a nut which can be screwed up and
down within the “tracer” by means of two gaps
cut in the upper cylindrical portion at T (Fig. 2).
The nut is provided with six nicks across the rim,
which enable a blind operator to count the number
of turns of the nut, and thus to adjust for any
definite size of type. This ingenious contrivance
is, I believe, due to Dr. Stroud.
In practice it is found that, with the new
apparatus, the various adjustments for size of
type, length of line, and line interval are quite
easily made by blind persons, and that the instru-
ment, with all its delicate adjustments, can remain
in use for a long time without anything getting
out of order. It is therefore safe to say that the
problem of opening the world’s literature to the
blind is now definitely solved.
*
Se Se oe
ee
et
4
NATURE
29/
The Kalahari
By Pror. E.
Setebe and Ovamboland belong physio-
yh y to one and the same province ; the
a region of red sand and the latter of
ad. The whole area, some 350,000 square
s blocked by an encircling ring of hard
ached on the east by the Victoria Falls,
e south by the Aughrabies Falls on the
nge River, and on the west by the great
* es ft. high) on the Cunene River. The
tence of this peculiarity is that the whole
and Ovamboland.
H, L. ScuHwarz.
300 miles long by 100 miles broad; part of the
breadth in the northern half is occupied by sand
dunes, so that the effective area is now less than
that of Victoria Nyanza; but before it was tapped
by the Zambezi it must have been a little larger.
The Zambezi enters the depression at the Mam-
bove Falls, follows the northern boundary, and
leaves the old lake at Kasungula. It is not certain
when the Zambezi first breached the wall and let
out the waters of the lake; the Portuguese maps
TvNvisO
yev?
a | yaw
>
=
Dy
y~
-e
: ‘
‘
: ‘ . ;
‘ . ‘
* Xx §
% . ‘
, Li 7
i ‘ 4 . ~
i ;
| ‘ sf :
. . ‘ é ; gic
. ene 5 Z red i :
‘ ‘
\ : tae } H Lee : ;
‘ Hy zy , ‘ ge ; ,
‘ -
t a of Boa ale ‘ ‘
> - 7 ae fey Se ‘ ’
* . ‘a : ‘ ’
AY f “ eV: ‘ ,
o Fa ” # ; v
° awe , a
-
-
eo
c:
oa
. 2
. 3
x
>
CLAIMED By
ii te)
EAMeawenn am Ya
Sy AMARONE
yy
“ny, £ *OKAUKWEYO
= se OvamBoLand ror LAKE
es —_ pwecrtrppel ings
Bere < : A
fe © © 2 30 50 60 i ot* MS OF THE UGAB re
Ea » - i
Cat he - a ale Stat “at : { midis "6 ’
>
dé iz
¢ a
ee %
MED ORTUC DUANGARYS” , in
J*OrIM POLO FoNTEIK ts
: KURING KURY 4
ion is flat and the rivers have scarcely any fall,
; floods seeping rather than flowing along the
jy river-beds and blocking up the channels
1 Bats made of branches, reeds, and other
bbish, so that there has been a constant chang-
x in the distribution of the water.
On the west there are two great depressions,
Makarikari and the greater Ngami. Living-
ong obtained the impression that the two formed
the bed of one enormous lake, but the map of
fassarge shows the two very clearly defined. The
greet Ngami is a depression elongated in a
uth-westerly direction, with parallel sides, and
NO. 2636, Vor. 105]
Fic.
bat
before Pivineticne’s s time showed the river begin-
ning not so very far above Zumbo, and we know
that the Portuguese had a very good idea of the
country so far back as the sixteenth century. The
Falls cannot be of very great age, because the
gradient below them is more than 15 ft. to the
mile, and a great river like the Zambezi would
have flattened out the gradient if it had been
of any considerable age. The recent earthquake
at New Langenburg, at the head of the Loangwa
River, shows that the area is one of great seismic
activity, so that the original idea of Livingstone
and Murchison, that the crack was formed by
298
NATURE
[May 6, 1920
such agency, is worth reconsidering. | Certainly
the idea that the river has worked back along
joints requires some modification, because the
depth of the crack, reckoning from the top of
the Falls to the bottom of the gorge, is more than
1100 ft., and joints do not penetrate so deep.
Two rivers fan out on the floor of the depréssion
of the greater Ngami, in the same way that the
Rusisi does on the plain on the north of Tangan-
yika, which has been exposed since the Lukuga
tapped the lake and drew off the water; this last
case, according to Arab accounts, has occurred
within the last 500 years or less. The Ngami
feeders are the Okavango and Chobe rivers. The
Chobe flowed south in Chapman’s time (1852), but
the channel became blocked with reeds and rubbish
below the Mababe swamp, and it now goes
straight into the Zambezi. The Okavango until
quite recently also flowed south into the Ngami
of Livingstone, but a_ branch,
Kalahari is to the S.S.W., so that there was
nothing to prevent the original river taking
the course indicated; when the water was
diverted to the Zambezi the area became a waste
of sand. The French in the western Sahara have
_ similarly shown that the ergs or sand deserts oc-
cupy the basins of former river systems. »
Ovamboland is just a great level river plain,
the ideal peneplain. Every part of it is covered
_ with shallow depressions, sometimes connected;
forming rivers; at others they are in parallel
series of disconnected hollows, elongated in the
direction of the nearest river. In between are
sandy tracts covered with forest. In this there
are a number of wide, open tracts, which form
the main habitable areas, and each of these open-
ings is occupied by a separate tribe of Ovambos.
On the north there are the Cunene and Okavango
rivers, which have built themselves above the
the Selinda, has developed
which takes the water into the
Chobe and so into the Zam-
bezi, and Ngami is now dry.
When the Chobe and Oka-
vango rivers flowed south to
Lake Ngami the water over-
flowed from that lake into the
Botletle, which breached the
eastern wall of the depression,
and so made its way to the
Makarikari. This depression
has an area of 15,000 square
miles and two “floors”; the
Soa:and Ntwetwe Pans form
the lowest levels, while around
are immense grass flats. We
know fairly definitely that this
dried up about 1820, thirty
years before Chapman was
there, and the Bushmen de-
scribed to him how the whole
expanse owas then covered
with dead hippopotamus and fish.
Now the Botletle very seldom
reaches the Makarikari, though the floors may
' fill for a few weeks from drainage from the east.
When the waters of the upper Zambezi were
impounded in the Ngami depression, the water
flowed south from the Makarikari into the Letwayo
or Okwa, and found its way into the Molopo and
so to the Orange River. According to traders
who have crossed this part many times, the old
channel can still be traced; certainly the lower
Molopo has a bed far greater than would have
been cut had it only carried the waters from the
tributaries now shown to connect with it. The
region between the Makarikari and the bend of
the Molopo is the ‘‘ Great Thirst’’; the main
routes through the Kalahari are now fairly safe
and the Government has put down bore-holes for
the accommodation of travellers; but it is still
exceedingly difficult to explore away from the main
tracks. The natural slope of the plain of the
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
Fic, 2.—Rucana Cleft, Cunene River.
plain, and in flood-time they overflow their banks
and send the water down spillways which, in
former years, filled up all the depressions and
converted the country into a swamp; something
like a third of the plain was then submerged. As
the flood subsides, the crops, which are planted on
series of little sand-hillocks, rapidly come to
maturity in the damp, steaming atmosphere, the
palms and morula-trees yield wine, and the lot of
the Ovambo was then a pleasant one.
The spillways from the Okavango still carry
water out from the river southwards, but not in
sufficient quantity to reach any distance; and those
from the Cunene are quickly diminishing. The
rapid lowering of the beds of the main rivers
by erosion has resulted in the desiccation of the
country, and at no very distant date Ovamboland
will become a land of the “Great Thirst ’’ like
the Kalahari. The conversion of an area of
ee a ae
“May 6, 1920]
NATURE 269
70,000 square miles from the condition of a
tropical swamp, similar t6 the Bahr-el-Ghazal, into
‘a wilderness of dead trees and withered grass has
‘had a very bad effect on the climate of South
‘Africa, and the consequences are noticeable north
as well’as south of the Zambezi; the completion
of the process is a matter of a Yi years only.
What has happened in Ovamboland occurred in
‘the Makarikari a hundred years ago, and in the
central Kalahari not so very long before that; so,
“section by section, this great area has lost its
" water-supply, and between 300,000 and 400,000
square miles of country have become desert within
_ comparatively recent times.
| The spillways from the Cunene on one side, and
” those from the Okavango on the other, connect in
ithe great depression to the south, the Etosha. Pan.
_ This is a “floor,’’ like the Soa and Ntwetwe Pans,
.
oa
3. 3-—-Cambele Ca aract, Cunene River.
covered with a dark green film due to microscopic
' plants which turn a yellowish-green when moist-
) ened with water from a thunderstorm. Very little
) water finds its way into the pan down the river
“channels nowadays. The grass flats round the
"pan are some 5 ft. above the level of the floor,
‘and are often black with zebras, wildebeests,
gemsbok, koodoos, and springbok, with the at-
tendant lions. The late Mr. J. W. F. Breijer was
"game ranger at the time of my visit, and it is
due to his tireless efforts to suppress poaching
that the game has returned to the district; to him
» also I owe the tracing of the Lion River, a spill-
‘way from the Okavango to the Etosha, thus
completing the through connection of the Cunene
» and Okavango rivers.
» the restoration of the Kalahari and Ovambo-
land plains by weiring up the outlets on the north
_ and turning the waters of the Cunene on one hand,
‘and of the Okavango and Chobe rivers on the
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
only here there is no trace of brak, the level pan being |
other, would convert these countries into habitable
regions once more. Both rivers are necessary, for
the one reinforces the other. Ovamboland would
be converted into a swamp, a condition of affairs
which the natives are accustomed to and thrive on;
as it is, they are always on the verge of starvation,
and in 1915-16 thousands did die of starvation, and
their bones are strewn for 200 miles along the
road from Ondongua to Tsumeb, the terminus of
the railway, where they had expected to get food
and work. Ovamboland is not suitable for white
settlement, but from the evaporation from this
vast swamp the rivers, like the Zambezi and Oka-
vango, would be reinforced at their sources, and
their diminishing volume converted into an in-
creasing one. The Kalahari, on the other hand,
is eminently suited for white settlement; with
water anything will grow; cotton is indigenous
and would form the summer crop as in Egypt;
wheat grows as a winter crop,
and mealies (maize) as an autumn
one. Away from the actual irri-
gation furrows the ranching pos-
sibilities are enormous. ‘The
country is now nominally under
Beehuana chiefs ; but, while every
consideration can be paid to their
wants, a meagre population of
150,000 natives cannot indefin-
itely hold up a country of 300,000
square miles. White settlement
could proceed without interfering
in any way with the natives, as
there is room enough for all.
The effect on the climate of
South Africa is another matter.
We know that hippopotamus
swarmed all over the Karroo
in not very distant times, for
‘their bones are dug up. all
over it in the dry river-beds.
Before the Makarikari went
dry in 1820, Barrow, Lichten-
stein, and Le Vaillant described
finding hippopotamus in enormous quantities
in typical Karroo country like Cookhouse, and
the banks of the rivers were clothed with sub-
tropical forest, in which roamed rhinoceros, ele-
phant, eland, etc. The Karroo within the last
120 years, in the eastern portion, was a country
similar in flora and fauna to British East Africa.
Would the restoration of the Kalahari affect the
Karroo? The lost lakes formed the end of the
series of great lakes in Central Africa, and the
function of these latter is to provide moisture for
the inland regions. The central areas of Africa
lie so high that moisture blown in from the sea is
dropped on the edge by the diminution of pressure,
and very little is left for the centre from these
sources. With the Kalahari lakes restored and the
vegetation once more established, it seems reason-
able to suppose that the effect will be the same as
that produced by the great northern lakes on their
neighbouring regions.
300
NATURE
[May 6, 1920
The Royal
VERY critic of the Royal Academy finds
material for praise or for condemnation
from whatever point of view he regards the works
exhibited, and the scientific visitor is no exception
to this rule. Indeed, it is impossible that among
so large a number of works all should be of the
same high order of merit as are the few produced
by master hands. From the scientific point of
view it is not difficult to divide the sheep from the
goats—the true representations of Nature from
the grotesquely unreal. It may be presumed that
the perpetrators of the latter type of work visit.
the Academy and there study the pictures of their
fellow-artists. If this be so, it is astonishing that
they should continue from year to year to produce
unreal caricatures of natural objects, when often
in close contiguity to their pictures are to be seen
beautiful representations of the same type of
scenes, truthful to life in every particular, and
gaining immeasurably thereby. The fact that
both obtain admittance to Burlington House must
be taken to demonstrate that both are of artistic
merit, but there the similarity ends.
An example of this contrast in methods of
dealing with a subject may be found in this year’s
exhibition by comparing “Off the Land” (38)
with “Sunset at Sea” (347). Both show sea and
sky scenes. The former gives a perfectly natural
representation of light from the sky reflected in
the sea, while in the latter an intensely red sunset
sky meets at the horizon an intensely blue sea,
a condition unlikely to obtain while water pos-
sesses its normal powers of reflection. The effect
is so entirely unnatural that it is difficult to
believe, without reference to the title, that the
lower part of the picture is meant to represent
water at all. In Gallery No. III., on either side
of the chief centre piece, with which the scientific
critic 1s not concerned, are two pictures of yacht
Academy.
racing which form an interesting contrast. When
looked at from near-by the one is wholly delight-
ful, while the other is spoilt by its crude sky.
able distance, the two pictures appear of more
equal merit. The contrast between the two
methods of treatment is brought out strikingly
by the juxtaposition of the pictures, be it
accidental or otherwise. fie
A feature of the present exhibition which will
strike the visitor is the extraordinary sea-colour-
ing in several of the works, though examination
of the catalogue shows that for this a single artist —
is largely responsible. One case has already been —
cited. To mention one other from among several
examples, it would be very surprising to meet in
' When, however, a view is taken from a consider- —
Nature with the contrasts in colouring depicted —
in “The Sunken Reef ” (177).
had any opportunity of studying dazzle-painted
ships in their natural surroundings, but if in
the work “In the Narrow Seas” (200) Mr.
Norman Wilkinson has given a correct representa-_
tion of the effect produced—and there seems no
reason to doubt that this is the case—it is well
brought home to the landsman how baffling the
effect must have been to the commanders of
enemy submarines. ‘In “The
Leonardo da Vinci is seen showing a model of his
and his Court,
amused, and for this the modern airman will find
little difficulty in forgiving them. Several of
Leader’s beautiful scenes are exhibited. In study-
Forerunner ”
"flying machine to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, —
Some of the spectators look —
The writer has not |
a 5 5 Oe a Se ener Cs PE
ing “An Autumn Evening” (139) one wonders —
what object outside the picture casts a shadow —
over the lower part of the trees, while the upper —
part is illuminated with an evening glow; but
there is no temptation to doubt the truthfulness
of the portrayal. Bees: be) D.
s
Obituary.
Capt. E. W. Crea, C.B., F.R.S.
Put ETTRICK WILLIAM CREAK, who
died in his sleep on April 3, was the |
son of the late Commander William Creak,
of Norfolk,
lock, of Lucknow fame. He joined the Navy
in the navigating branch of that Service
about the year 1849, and served in various ships
afloat until he was selected in 1868 to serve as an
assistant in the compass department of the Admir-
alty. His service afloat was distinguished not
only by his nautical acquirements and the remarks
he sent from time to time to the Hydrographer,
for which he was specially thanked in 1866, but
also by his knowledge of French and music,
rather rare acquirements in those days. He was
able to add to our knowledge of some unsurveyed
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
and a nephew of Sir H. Have- |
localities by his study of surveying operations,
particularly by a plan of Ngaloa Bay, in the Fiji
Islands, when serving in H.M.S. Esk about 1866.
About this time Capt. Creak turned his attention —
to the errors of the compass on board certain ©
ships which had traversed a great range of mag-
netic latitude, which inquiry was embodied in a —
report to the Admiralty and published by the.
This marked him out as a suit- —
able officer to be employed in the investigation of —
Board of Trade.
compass errors in H.M. ships, which were being
increasingly constructed of iron and steel, For
his services in the compass department and
Paar oe)
pas.
ee Cd
his magnetic reports he was made a fellow of the —
Royal Society in 1885, and he became superintend- —
ent of the Admiralty compass department in 1887. —
Capt. Creak took an active part in the deter-
mination and control of the constants required for
a ee Cn
eS
May 6, 1920]
NATURE
301
reduction of the magnetic observations made
y the Challenger expedition, 1872~76, during
ich €xpedition it was discovered that the coral
ands of Bermuda lay. over a magnetic field in
the variation of the compass differed as
; 6°, viz. from 4° W. to nearly 10° W.,
Variation of the needle being 7° W.; this
rtained by swinging the Challenger on
bint in deep water close to the islands,
$ process was. continued on board that
in many other parts of the world, where
le variation was affected by local attraction
re, so that the results of the shore observa-
were not trustworthy; but the Challenger
a wooden vessel, although not entirely free
ym iron in her construction, better results were
tained by swinging her in deep water near the
_ The results of the Challenger observations
published in vol. ii. of the official narration
> voyage, and in vol. ii. of the reports on
1ysics and chemistry of the expedition, where
lans, constructed by Creak, are given of the
magnetism observed at the Bermuda Islands, and
also charts of the variation, inclination, horizontal
ree, and vertical force for the epoch 1880, con-
ted mainly from the Challenger observations,
ined with all other observations available to
date of publication. —
‘
“
, a
. Ji}
tions that at certain 2 sane in the world
netic shoals exist which affect the compasses
vessels sailing over those shoals. One such
near Cossack, in North Australia, was
ie he H.M. surveying vessel Meda, in a
i of 8 fathoms, with two shore objects
sit, and the compass needle was deflected 30°
At
it one mile.
unafuti, another coral atoll in the Pacific, in
8° 30! S., long. 179° 12/ E., another magnetic
id exists, where the variation changes nearly
and the dip 1°, in different localities, as shown
_ the magnetic survey of the atoll made by
Admiral Sir A. Mostyn Field in H.M.S, Penguin
n 1896, the results being investigated by Capt.
Sreak, and published by the Royal Society in
go4. Capt. Creak also instructed the officers
engaged in the Arctic expedition of 1875~-76 under
_ Capt. G. S. Nares, R.N., and prepared the direc-
_ tions and magnetic charts for the “ Arctic Manual,”
_ 1875. He also prepared the magnetic instruc-
tions for the Antarctic expedition of 1901. When,
_ owing to his having reached the age of fifty-five,
he had to retire from active service afloat in 1890,
and to his not having served the number of years
afloat to entitle him to be retired with the rank of
captain, a special Order in Council was issued
giving him that rank, so that his important
services in the compass department should not
‘deprive him of the honour he would have received
had he served the requisite number of years at
sea.
During Capt. Creak’s service in the compass
_ department the late Lord Kelvin invented a com-
pass superior to that then in use in H.M.
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
pt. Creak pointed out in his magnetic .con-
.their specific affinities.
ships, which was adopted by the Admiralty; but,
owing to the increase in the size of the gtins in
H.M. ships, this compass was eventually dis-
carded for a liquid compass brought out by Capt.
Creak, which is now the standard instrument
afloat, and is furnished with a special azimuth
circle for use in torpedo-boats, destroyers, etc., all
other compasses having failed to stand the vibra-
tion and motion and the gunfire in these vessels.
He also brought out a simple form of instrument
for correcting by magnets the heeling errors, and
invented the Lloyd-Creak dip and intensity appara-
tus, originally meant for observations afloat, but
which has been found very useful also on shore.
This instrument was fully described in Terrestrial
Magnetism for October, 1901.
In 1903 Capt. Creak was president of the geo-
graphical section of the British Association, and
in his presidential address at Southport in that
year gave an interesting account of the progress
of our knowledge of magnetism both afloat and
ashore up to that time, which was published in the
Proceedings of the British Association, and also
in the Geographical Journal, vol. xxii., 1903. He
was made a C.B. in tgo1, in which year he was
retired from the compass department at the age
of sixty-six. Capt. Creak also assisted the late
Sir Frederick Evans and Mr. Archibald Smith in
preparing and publishing the “ Elementary Manual
for the Deviations of the Compass in Iron Ships ”
in 1870, and after the death of Sir F. Evans later
editions of that manual were entirely prepared and
published by Capt. Creak. In the ninth edition
prepared by him in 1895 the question of heeling
error and its correction was specially discussed,
and tables were given to assist in the correction
of quadrantal deviation and the application of
the Flinders bar, etc. gee» He. sf
Sir Epmunp Gites Loper, Bart.
Tue death of Sir Edmund Loder at the age of
seventy removes from the ranks of English
country gentlemen one of the cultivated members
of that class. Possessed of ample means and
abundant leisure, Sir Edmund devoted his youth
and middle age to field sport and travel in many
lands. In the pursuit of big game in four
continents his fine marksmanship enabled him to
make the very large collection of horned and
other trophies now preserved at Leonardslee. He
was among the last of British sportsmen to take
toll of the dwindling herds of bison in North-west
America, and the first European to obtain a
specimen of the little desert antelope, named after
him, Gazella Loderi, which inhabits the Sahara
contentedly without access to water.
Were that all, it would scarcely serve to raise
Sir Edmund Loder above the common ruck of big-
game shooter and globe-trotter; but he possessed
and exercised the gift of accurate observation,
enabling him to acquire much sound knowledge of
the habits of wild animals, and to distinguish
Unfortunately, he had
302
NATURE
not the knack of recording his experience. Not
only was he destitute of all turn for literature,
but the mere act of putting pen to paper was
intolerably irksome to him. This is the more to
be regretted, because the few. papers on zoology
and. botany which he contributed to scientific
journals contained sound, and sometimes import-
ant, information. bens
Sir Edmund’s: indolence in this respect had no
counterpart in his botanical work, for he took
infinite personal pains in the delicate operation of
hybridising ~~ rhododendrons. His crowning
achievement in that line has been the magnificent
cross between R. Griffithianum and R. Fortunei
which appropriately bears the name R. Loderi,
and is generally admitted to be the grandest
hardy hybrid hitherto raised in that genus. The
collection of conifers:-which he formed and grew
at Leonardslee contained more species than. any
other in the United Kingdom.
Only a few weeks before Sir Edmund’s death
the present writer spent an afternoon with him in
the wonderful landscape he had created at
Leonardslee.:. The early Asiatic rhododendross
were already ablaze; there was no warning in that
fair scene; but now comes Horace’s dirge
irresistibly to mind :—
Linquenda tellus et domus et placens
Uxor,- neque harum quas colis arborum
Te, praeter invisas cupressus, -
Ulla brevem dominum sequetur.
HERBERT MAXWELL.
- Pror. WILHELM PFEFFER, For.MEm.R.S.
W. PFEFFER, who died on January 31 last at
Leipzig, was born in 1845 near Cassel, the son
of an Apotheker; he studied at a number of
German universities, his Ph.D. being taken. at
Géttingen. He was first a Privatdozent at Marburg,
then assistant-professor at Bonn, and later full
professor at Basel; in Switzerland. In 1878 he
went to the University of Tibingen, and in 1887
to the University of Leipzig, where he remained
for the rest of his life. He was elected a foreign
member of the Royal Society in 1897. Pfeffer
may be associated with Sachs as the founder of
modern plant physiology. He and the late Prof.
Strasburger, of Bonn, were for a long time the |
two best-known German botanists, and for many
years they drew to their respective laboratories
numerous foreign workers, particularly from the
United States. Pfeffer was the author of many
scientific papers, but he is perhaps best known for
his “Pflanzenphysiologie,’? of which the first
edition appeared in 1880, and the last part of the
second edition in 1904; the second edition was
translated into English. This handbook was a
truly monumental work, in which a wealth of
material was dealt with with great critical insight ;
hence it was for many years the standard and
invaluable reference book on the subject. Pfeffer’s
work in 1877 on osmotic pressure, which laid the ,
foundation of our more exact knowledge of that
phenomenon, must also be referred to. With his
NO. 2636, VOL. 105]
[May 6, 1920.
death the three outstanding figures of the older
} German botany—Sachs, Strasburger, and Pfeffer _
| —-have all passed away. — . B.
~_—_—— rR Tt
It is with much regret we leatn of the death,
on February 20, of Mr. Maxwe.t Hatt, Govern-
ment ‘Meteorologist of Jamaica. Mr. Maxwell
Hall was a barrister-at-law and resident magis-
trate for the district of Hanover. His interest in
meteorology has placed the knowledge of the
weather of Jamaica on a_ better. basis than
that of any other West Indian island. He
succeeded in establishing a weather service in
Jamaica in 1880, the objects being to encourage
the recording of rainfall and to foretell the
approach of hurricanes. In 1911 rainfall records
were available from 194 stations, with observa-
tions at each for at least ten years. It is hoped
that this fine record of work will not be inter-
rupted by the death of its originator. For upwards
of thirty years Mr. Maxwell Hall was a fellow of
the Royal Meteorological Society. Oh
Tue death is announced of Lorp GuTurig, one
of the senators of the College of Justice in Scot-
land, at seventy-one years of age.
Guthrie was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates
in 1875, and, after a successful career at the Bar,
was appointed a Judge in the Court of Session
in 1907. Lord Guthrie was for a time president
of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and
chairman of the Early Scottish Text Society. His
interest in antiquities led to his election as
member of the councils of the Antiquarian and
Scottish History Societies. He was joint author
of the memoirs of his father, the Rev. T. Guthrie,
D.D., founder of the Ragged Schools and editor
of the Sunday Magazine.
ture he will be best.remembered as a friend in
youth of Robert Louis Stevenson, of whose nurse,
“Cummy,” he published-an appreciation in 1914.”
Memsers of the British Association who have
attended any meeting for many years past will
learn with regret of the death of Mr. H. C.
STEWARDSON, the chief clerk and. assistant
treasurer. Mr. Stewardson’s record of devoted
work was particularly notable. He entered the
service of the association in 1873, being en-
couraged to do so by William Spottiswoode,
president of the association in 1878, to whom he
was apprenticed. in the printing business. The
annual reports of the association owe much to
his careful reading and indexing, and he was
also specially concerned with the work of the
Corresponding Societies Committee, and compiled
its valuable annual catalogue of communications
to local scientific societies. Mr. Stewardson was
a member of the Stationers’ Company. y
Tue Ricut Hon. Sir Tuomas W. RussgLt,
Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture
and Technical Instruction for Ireland from 1907
to 1918, died on May 2 in his eightieth year.
Charles John
In the world of litera- :
NATURE Ne
re)
! be held in the rooms of the society at Bur-
one on Wednesday evening next, May 12.
R meeting of the Institution of Naval
will be held in Liverpool on July 6-8.
for the reading of papers will beheld, and
its will be made to visit some of the
ai and other works in Liverpool
Ry A. Miers, Vice-Chancellor of the Vic-
srsity of Manchester, has been re-elected
ent of the Manchester Literary and Philo-
ical Society for the session 1920-21. Dr. H. F.
id and Prof. C. A. Edwards have been elected
} secretaries.
meeting, arranged by the National Union
Workers, will be held on Tuesday next,
at 8.30 p.m., at the Imperial College Union,
nsort Road, South Kensington, for the dis.
of “The Economic Position of Scientific
” The chairman will be Dr. H. M. Atkin-
the subject will be introduced es Prof, J. B.
d:Dr. J. W. Evans.
NRY -BircHEnoucH has been appointed chair-
¢ British Dyes Corporation in succession to
Moulton, whose resignation is announced. Sir
yas ‘chairman of the Royal Commission on
; of the’ Committee on Cotton-growing i in
97s and of the Advisory Council to’ ‘the
struction, 1918.
: of fellows of the. _ Royal Sousty and
of the University of Cambridge has been
- the purpose of collecting funds for a
to be erected in Westminster Abbey to the
. Rayleigh in recognition of his eminent ser-
to- science. Lord Rayleigh was both president
yal Society and Chancellor of the University,
appeal has been issued by the society and the
. It is thought, however, that there may be
who may wish to show their appreciation of
of the fund, Sir Richard Glazebrook
Arthur Schuster, at 63 Grange Road,
uncil of the Institution of Civil Engineers
le the following awards for papers read and
1 during the session 1919-20 :—Telford gold
and Telford premiums to Mr. David Lyell,
Robertson, and Major-Gen. Sir Gerard M.
a George Stephenson gold medal and a
‘d premium to Mr. Maurice F. Wilson; a Watt
medal and a Telford premium to Mr. P. M.
waite; and Telford premiums to Major E. O.
rici, Sir Francis J. E.- Spring, Mr. F. O. Stan-
; Mr. J. Mitchell, Mr. J W. — and
A. R. eau a
4 Cot. SIR Tsonaab Rocers, I.M. S., ies
rect ently. returned from India on a year’s leave on.
| No. 2636, VoL. 105]
en of science unconnected with either of these
h’s work. Donations may be sent to the |
| medical certificate, on the expiry of ‘which: he will
have only a short period of Indian. service remaining
before being ‘retired under the age rules. As he has
completed the organisation of the Calcutta School of
Tropical Medicine for opening next autumn with a full
staff, he does not propose to return to’India, but to
devote himself to continuing his researches on the
treatment of tuberculosis, which have already yielded
some promising results in India, and have arisen out
of his successful method of treating leprosy by injec-
tions of soluble preparations of the unsaturated fatty
acids of various oils.
AT ‘the annual general meeting of the Marine Bio-
logical Association, held in London on April 28, Sir
E. Ray Lankester was re-elected president of the
association, and Sir Arthur Shipley chairman of
council." The Rt. Hon. Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen
was added to the list of vice-presidents, and Messrs.
T. H. Riches and Julian S. Huxley became members
of. council for the first time. The council re-
ported that donations amounting to 1770]. had. been
promised towards the erection of new laboratories and
the equipment .of a department of. general physiology.
Scientific work at Plymouth during the year had been.
specially directed to. a comparison of the condition of
the trawling grounds with that which. had been
observed before the war, to the continued study of the
distribution of post-larval and young adult stages of
fishes and the food eaten by fishes when in these
stages, and to observations | on the invertebrate fauna,
particularly on the ” rate of growth of various
organisms.
_Tuat the Plumage Bill. was “talked out” in the
House. of Commons last Friday is probably due to the
fact. that it did not come before the House until the
day was far spent. As a private members’ Bill, its
chances of. success, should the debate be resumed on
some future Friday, are not great. The Hon. E. S.
‘Montagu spoke briefly, and to the point, in its favour,
remarking that the Government was extremely anxious
to-see the Bill passed into law. He did not believe,
he said, that the passing of the measure would destroy
any legitimate trade. Lord Aberdeen’s Bill, which
is on its way to the Commons, affords yet another
chance, though a slender one, for necessary legislative
action.. It does not seem to be realised, even by
zoologists, that the matter is one of real urgency, not
merely for ornithologists, or for those who desire. to
protect birds for their own sake, but for all who are
concerned with problems of economic zoology and pure
science. It is therefore devoutly to be hoped that this
matter will at once be taken up by men of science in
all seriousness. ‘[heir considered opinion is necessary
if any Bill restricting the import of plumage of wild
birds is to become law before extermination has set
its seal upon a number of species which are well
within the * danger-zone.”’
Tue need has long been felt for a corporate body
analogous to the Institute of Chemistry which would
represent the profession and strengthen the position of
-workers engaged in physics, and would also form a
bond between the various societies interested. The
304
NATURE
[May 6, 1920
Institute of Physics has beén founded for this pur-
pose by the co-operation in the first instance of the
Faraday Society, the Optical Society, and the Physical
Society of London; and the first board is constituted
from representatives appointed by the councils of these
societies. It is hoped that in the course of time other
societies will associate themselves with the institute.
There will be three classes of members: Ordinary
members, associates (A.Inst.P.), and fellows
(F.Inst.P.). Only the two latter classes, membership
of which will require full professional qualifications,
will be corporate members. The institute has already
' received promises of support from leading physicists,
and the initial expenses are covered by a guarantee
fund amounting to more than 1200l.
dent of the institute is Sir Richard Glazebrook, Sir
Robert Hadfield is treasurer, and Prof. A. W. Porter
honorary secretary.. The other members of. the board
are :—Dr. H. S. Allen, Inst.-Commander T. Y. Baker,
R.N., Prof. F. J. Cheshire, Dr. R. S. Clay, Mr.
W. R. Cooper, Prof. W. H. Eccles, Major E. O.
Henrici, Dr. C. H. Lees, Mr. C. C. Paterson, Major
C. E. S. Phillips, Dr. E. H. Rayner, Mr. T. Smith,
and Mr. R. S. Whipple. Mr. F. S. Spiers has been
‘appointed secretary to the institute, and further par-
ticulars and forms of application for membership may
be obtained from him at to Essex Street, Strand,
W.C.2.
DurING the last ten years important research work
on the corrosion of metals, and particularly on con-
denser tubes, has been carried on by the Corrosion
Research Committee, which was founded under the
auspices.of the Institute of Metals. Very considerable
progress in the study of this difficult subject has been
made by the investigators acting under the direction
of the committee, and the five reports which have been
issued contain most valuable information, both as to
the factors which influence corrosion and as to the
methods of preventing corrosion, especially in the case
of marine condenser tubes. The financial support of
the investigations has been provided partly by the
Institute of Metals and partly by the makers of tubes
and of condensers. More recently a grant has been
received from the Department of Scientific and Indus-
trial Research. The cost of the investigations is, how-
ever, considerable, and the committee now makes an
appeal for further funds from the users of tubes and
condensers, who are equally interested in the question
with the manufacturers. The continuance of a
Government grant is contingent on a sufficient sum
being provided by persons interested in the research.
The persons affected by the work include shipbuilders
and shipowners and also the insurers of ships, and it
is hoped that a sum of something like t1oool. per
annum can be raised from this source. Particulars of
the work may be obtained from the secretary of the
Institute of Metals, 36 Victoria Street, Westminster,
London.
Ar the annual general meeting of the Institution
of Civil Engineers held on Tuesday, April 27, the
result of the ballot for the election of officers for the
year 1920-21 was. declared as follows :—President :
‘NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
The first presi- ~
Mr. J. A. Brodie. Vice-Presidents: Mr. W. B.
Worthington, Dr. W.°H. Maw, Mr. C. L. Morgan,
and Mr. Basil Mott. Other Members of Couneil-
Mr. E. A. S. Bell, Dr. C. C. Carpenter, Col. R. E. Be
Crompton, Mr. M. Deacon, Sir Archibald Denny,
Bart., Sir William H. Ellis, Mr. A. Gordon, Mr.
W. W. Grierson, Sir Robert A.. Hadfield, Bart., Sir
Brodie H. Henderson, Mr. E. P. Hill, Mr. G. W.
Humphreys, Mr. Summers Hunter, Mr. H. G.
Kelley,.Mr. C. R. S. Kirkpatrick, Mr. J. March-
banks, Mr. H. H. G. Mitchell, Sir Henry J. Oram,
Mr. F. Palmer, Capt. H. Riall Sankey, Sir John
F, C. Snell, Mr. W. A. P. Tait, Mr. A. M. Tippett,
Mr. E. F. C. Trench, Prof. W. H. Warren, and Sir
Alfred F. Yarrow, Bart.
on the first Tuesday in November next.
THE annual meeting of the members of the Royal
Institution was held on May 1, Sir James Crichton
Browne, treasurer and vice-president, in the chair.
The annual report of the Committees of Visitors for
the year 1919, testifying to the continued prosperity
and efficient management of the institution, was read
and adopted, and the report of the Davy Faraday |
This council will tales Office |
Research Laboratory Committee was dlso read. —
Sixty-four new members were elected during the year, —
and sixty-two lectures. and nineteen evening dis-
courses were delivered. The following “gentlemen
were unanimously elected as officers. for the ensuing
year :—President: The Duke of Northumberland.
Treasurer: Sir James Crichton Browne. Secretary:
es E, H. Hills. Managers; Dr. Horace T. Brown, —
J..H. Balfour Browne, Mr. J. Y. Buchanan,
Me Burdett-Coutts, Sir James J. Dobbie, Dr. J.
Dundas Grant, Dr. Donald W. C. Hood, the Right
Hon. Earl Iveagh, Mr.
Moon, the Hon. Sir Charles Parsons, Sir James Reid,
Bart., Sir Ernest Rutherford,. the Right Hon. C.
Scott-Dickson, and Sir Henry Wood. Visitors: Sir
Hugh Bell, Bart., Sir William H. Bennett, Mr.
W. R. Bousfield, Mr. J. G. Bristow, Dr. Frank
Clowes, Mr. Montague Ellis, Mr. W. E. Lawson
Johnston, Mr. J. R. Leeson, Mr. T. B. Lightfoot,
Mr. F. K. McClean, Mr. W. S. Norman, Mr. H. M.
Ross, Mr. J. Shaw, Mr: T. H. Sewerage Sir
Almroth Wright. — a Ae
Ar the anniversary dinner of the Royal Acidansy ‘of
Arts, held on May 1, the president, Sir Aston Webb,
in proposing the toast of ‘‘ Science,” remarked that to
science and scientific research in medicine and surgery
they were indebted for the marvellous record of free-
dom from disease and saving of life which was
one of the most wonderful and gratifying chapters in
the war. To the physicist and engineer were due
much of the work done in connection with aircraft,
tanks, submarines, and guns, the wonderful work
done in sound-ranging for submarines, the location of
aircraft and guns by sound; but it was impossible to
give any list of all that was done, and still less the
names of the men of science who thus helped their
country in its time of urgent need. The president
coupled the toast with the name of Sir Joseph Thom-.
son, who, in replying, said that the qualities of mind
—
> Se
-H. R. Kemps, Sir Ernest
5, 1920]
NATURE
305
scalded into play by the artist were in many
identical: with those used by. the man of
_ Imagination and observation were vital to
discovery. The artist and the man of science
rned with the same subject—the study of
various aspects. While it was vital for
ygzress of this country that the application of
to. -industry should receive every encourage-
id assistance, yet they ought not to neglect
0, forsaking the trade routes of the great
_ steered their little ships to uncharted seas
g pack to us the golden fleece.
pis Bosr gave a very interesting lecture
University of London Club on Thursday even-
ril 29, on his well-known experiments on
its in plants. He has applied the methods
nental physics to the study of tropic plant
s, and, beginning with methods which
| the growth one hundred times, has finally,
is high magnification crescograph, reached
ations of more than ten million. This in-
t uses the principle of a fine magnetised lever
$ a magnetic needle and so demonstrating
the movement of an attached mirror. By
method very delicate growth responses of the
could be shown, and its relative sensitivity
yeeoet conditions compared. . One of the
most general conclusions was that indirect
; causes | ‘an increase of growth, while direct
lus of a plant organ causes a decrease of growth
ontraction. In this way positive, negative, and
responses to gravitation or light on the part
organ were explained as the result of various
s of response to direct and indirect
Sir Jagadis Bose’s crescograph is so re-
‘sensitive that doubt was recently expressed
reality of its indications as regards plant
‘and the suggestion was made that the effects
it were due to physical changes. A demon-
it University College, London, on April 23,
rer, led Lord Rayleigh and Profs. Bayliss,
Blackman, A. J. Clark, W. C. Clinton, and
Donnan to state, in the Times of May 4: ‘We
ed that the growth of plant tissues is
; recorded by this instrument and at a imag
1 of from one to ten million times.” Sir
. Bragg and Prof. F. W. Oliver, who have
aettler demonstrations elsewhere, give like testi-
that the crescograph shows actual response of
plant tissues to stimulus.
‘Furrner news from Capt. Roald PRONE con-
s the belief expressed in Nature of April 22 and
that he had not abandoned his North Polar
ew, and to receive mails. A long despatch pub-
hed in the Times of May 1 gives some details of
» fortunes of the expedition and explains the change
plans. The Maud left her winter quarters in the
; late as September 12, 1919. It was necessary to
NO. 2636, VOL. 105]
mey. His object in calling at Nome, Alaska, in
ta ‘evidently to secure more supplies, add to his
ordenskjéld archipelago west of Cape Chelyuskin
blast a channel through about one and a half miles -
of solid floe six to nine feet thick; . Until the Taimir
peninsula was cleared pack offered some obstruction,
but to the eastward the sea proved to, be fairly open,
The lateness of the season was in Amundsen’s favour
in this part of his journey, and he was no doubt
trusting to former accounts of-open water in Sep-
tember. The Maud sailed east through Laptev Strait
between the New Siberia Islands and the mainland
and then turned north-east for Jeannette Island, but
was stopped by tight pack in lat. 73°.N. Amundsen
made fast to the floes, intending to begin his drift,
| but on finding that the pack was nearing south he had
to abandon his attempt. He decided. to winter on the
coast of Siberia, and after a passage rendered dan-
gerous by ice and. darkness. reached Aion Island,
Chaun Bay. One member of the expedition spent
the winter with the Chukchee, who inhabit the in-
terior of this part of north-eastern Siberia, in order
to study their customs. Two men sent overland to
the small trading village of Nizhne-Kolimsk with
despatches for home turned back at Sukharnoe, a
village at the mouth of the Kolima, with news that
all communications with Europe were cut off.
Amundsen hopes to reach Nome in July or August,
and, if not too late in the season, to return north and
enter the ice about gl adie Island for his five years’
drift.
WirH reference to the note in Nature of April 15,
p- 210, upon the laboratory of applied psychology
connected with a well-known institute of mind-train-
ing, the director informs us that the fees charged
are very considerably less than the cost of the tests
performed or the scientific advice given, and that the
laboratory is projecting the publication of research
papers giving details of the work done, so that the
world of science in general will be able to examine
the methods adopted and the results obtained.
WirTH the return to peace the increased cost of
production has made it necessary to devise a new
scheme for the publication of the ‘‘ Victoria History
of the Counties of England.’’? Hitherto no order for
fewer than ten volumes relating to a single county has ©
been accepted, but it has been found by experience
that there is a considerable demand for separate
articles on special subjects. It has therefore been
decided to issue the -History, both that portion
which has already been published and the remainder
which is in preparation, in separate parts. Each part
will include a single hundred, wapentake, or borough,
and persons interested in the history, archzeology, or
economics of a special area will be able to procure
what they require within a single cover. The new
arrangements seem well adapted to popularise a work
which has already taken the rank of a standard
authority on the subjects with which it deals.
Sir THomas Murr, the well-known mathematician,
and until lately Superintendent-General of Education
in Cape Colony, has recently made a splendid gift to
the South African Public Library, Cape Town. It con-
sists of about 2500 books and pamphlets, collected by
the donor in the course of many years, and it includes
a number of serials, sets of which are now almost un-
306
NATURE
[May 6, 1920
procurable. As might be expected, there is an un-
usually complete group of works on determinants and
allied topics. The gift is of special interest because it
is made to a public library. Several of our college
and university libraries have been enriched by similar
donations (e.g. there is the Graves collection at Uni-
versity College, London). The time has come when
we may hope that the reference departments of our
rate-supported town libraries will be strengthened in
a similar. way. Of course, mathematics is not the
only subject deserving attention; natural science,
history, archeology, economics, etc., all have a claim
to be considered. Anyone who cares to examine the
present record of public research libraries will be con- °
vinced that such gifts as that of Sir Thomas Muir are
not likely to be wasted.
he : .
THE meeting of the Physical Society of London on
March 26 took the form of a discussion on Einstein’s
theory of relativity. Prof. A. S, Eddington opened
with an explanatory lecture. Prof. A. O. Rankine
described experiments undertaken in collaboration
with Dr. Silberstein on the influence of a gravita-
tional field on the velocity of light polarised in a
plane parallel to the field; the results of the experi-
ment were in accord with the theory. Sir Joseph
Larmor contributed a paper in the course of which
he remarked that ‘‘the unresolvable essence of rela-
tivity appears to be that we cannot get on without
some foundation to which phenomena are referred,
and with respect to which they are ordered to the
degree that is necessary for our reasonings.’’ Refer-
ence was made also to the close relation between the
theory and the fundamental principle of least action.
That principle furnishes the most concise and elegant
means of comprehending Einstein’s theory. Here
Helmholtz was a pioneer, not only in his grasp of
physical principles, but also in his appreciation of the
true nature of geometry. The searching question was
asked: ‘‘ How is it that astronomers since Newton’s
time have persisted in one special and very precise
illusion about the distribution of gravitation, whereas
really an unlimited choice is open?’ Several
speakers raised questions about the interpretation of
the Michelson-Morley experiment, indicating that the
explanations offered both by Lorentz and by Einstein
still remain unconvincing to many physicists.
THERE are many chemists, and doubtless other
scientific workers, who, busy with their everyday
duties, have not been able to follow closely the pro-
gress made during the last few years in the study
of atomic structure, and would welcome a _ con-
nected survey of recent experiments and present
. views. Hence attention may be directed to an address
by Prof. A. Berthoud on ‘The Structure of Atoms,”
a translation of which appears in the Chemical News
of April 9 and 16. This gives, in simple language,
a very readable account of the matter. It shows the
connections which have been traced between the
phenomena of radio-activity, isotopy, atomic numbers,
Moseley’s law, Bohr’s theory, and the spectra of the
elements; and it indicates to what extent the funda-
mental characters of atomic structure may now be
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
regarded as known, however much of detail may still
be waiting for the sagacity of the investigator to
fill in.
Messrs. ILForD, Ltp., in issuing a second edition
of their well-known booklet on ‘‘ Panchromatism,’’
have taken the opportunity of revising it and making
some important additions.
sections explains the nature of three-colour photo-
graphy, in which is demonstrated the fact that in
three-colour half-tone’ prints, granting the use of satis-
factory inks, the result is the same whether the dots
are side by side or superposed. The variability of so-
called ‘“‘white light”. is treated of, the table of
the multiplying. factors of colour-filters is greatly |
extended, and a considerable number of new filters
are described. The most novel and interesting of
these last are the ‘‘photographic-vision” filters,
which have transmissions that correspond with the —
sensitiveness of an orthochromatic or panchromatic
plate, and therefore, when looked through, give the
object or landscape the appearance that it will have
when photographed on the plate that it matches, |
The effect of any colour-filter on the photograph is.
seen at once by putting the filter together with the
‘‘photographic-vision ”’ filter in front of the eye. The
pricé of the booklet is 6d., or post free od.
Messrs. A. GALLENKAMP AND Co., Lrp., have for-
warded us a copy of their list (No. 72) of graduated ~
instruments for volumetric analysis. These include
burettes, pipettes, graduated cylinders, and various
kinds of measuring flasks for use in the chemical and
physical laboratory; we do not, however, notice
pyknometers in the list. The instruments are made
in three qualities, depending upon the degree of
accuracy required. Those intended for research and
The largest of the new
as. LT ae ee
special work (Grade A) are graduated according to
the regulations laid down by the International Con-
gress of 1909. Apparatus of the next quality
(Grade B) is intended for specially accurate com-
mercial analysis; and that in Grade C is suitable for
ordinary technical determinations and general school-
work. It is satisfactory to know that our makers
of scientific glassware are endeavouring to meet the
requirements of all users, including those of research
workers. Whilst writing on this subject we may
note that, from a report appearing in the Journal
of the Society of Glass Technologists (December,
1919), there is a movement in Germany to restrict
and standardise the shapes and sizes of glass vessels
such as beakers, flasks, retorts, cylinders, and crystal- —
lising dishes in order to eliminate unnecessary diver- _
sity and facilitate replacement. The proposed
standard dimensions are quoted at length.
Messrs. H. K. Lewis anp Co., Lrp., 136 Gower
Street, W.C.1, have just issued a list (dated April) of
new books and new editions added to their medical
and scientific circulating library during January,
February, and March of the present year. Being very
comprehensive and carefully classified, it should be
useful to all who wish to keep abreast of current
scientific literature. Copies can be obtained free of
charge upon application to the publishers. _
re eer ee: ey ad
————————
“May 6, 1920]
NATURE 307
Our Astronomical Column.
Tue Lunar Ecuirse.—On the whole this eclipse
seen under favourable weather conditions, though
a time there was drifting cloud. The eclipsed
rtion was easily visible, being at first of a greenish
and later assuming the familiar coppery hue.
_ Burnet had prepared a list of stars occulted
¢ totality; they were few, and faint, and only
| these phenomena was observed at Greenwich.
will not be another total lunar eclipse visible
mdon with the moon at a considerable altitude
November 7, 1938, which is a much longer
al than usual.
© NaTuRE OF PHoroGrRapHic ImaGEs.—Dr. Ken-
director of the Research Institute of the
nan Kodak Co., New York, gave an address at
meeting of the British Astronomical Association
April 28 on the nature of photographic images.
Ous points were raised that are of importance in
application of photography to astrophysics. Thus
the extra-focal determination of stellar magnitudes
demonstrated that stars of different colours
it have their magnitudes arranged in a different
*, according to the exposures given and the
per employed.
ified sections of films were thrown on the
luminous object caused an elevation of the film, but
other developers a depression. In either case the
in the neighbourhood suffers strain (sometimes
the point of cracking), so that images of faint stars
ar a bright one are subject to displacement. Prof.
imner noted some time ago an apparent displace-
ent of a star near a réseau line which was prob-
ably due to this cause. It is possible to minimise the
effect by a judicious choice of developer. ‘The address
contained many other hints of a practical nature; it
will be publis in the B.A.A. Journal for April.
The Astronomer-Royal, proposing a vote of thanks,
said that photography was the only way of obtaining
‘information about the fainter stars in bulk. While
some of the phenomena described by the lecturer were
a little disquieting, the careful analysis of their origin
and effects could not fail to be of great value.
_ Tue Binary Krurcer 60.—This system is of par-
-
ticular intérest as being one of our nearest neigh-
Fy
found for any star. Astronomical Journal, No. 767,
contains researches on the parallax, proper motion,
and orbit made at the Leander McCormick Observa-
tory by S. A. Mitchell and C. P. Olivier. They find
for the relative parallax 0-266"+0-009". Combining
this with the determinations of Barnard, Schlesinger,
and Russell, and adding 0-005" as the estimated value
_ for the comparison stars, the absolute value 0-261” +
0-006" results.
____ Their orbit makes the period nearly fifty years, a being
2:68", or 10 astronomical units. Hence the combined
‘mass is 0-42 in terms of the sun. The ratio of masses
of the two components is still uncertain; three esti-
mates are 0:35, 0°53, and 0:83. Taking it as o5, the
faint component is 1/7th of the sun in mass, while
it is only 1/2500th of it in luminosity. Prof. Eddington
considered that the minimum mass necessary for the
attainment of a stellar state may not be much below
_1/7th of the sun. ;
It is pointed out that the photographs of the close
_ pair give as good results as visual measures, while for
the distant optical component, observed for the purpose
of deducing the relative masses, they are more
accurate. Comparisons continued for another twenty-
_ five years should give a satisfactory determination
both of the orbit and the mass-ratio.
ae NO. 2636, VOL. 105]
a
en, showing that with some developers the image _
bours, and since the comes has the smallest mass yet.
Leonardo da Vinci.!
By Epwarp McCurpy.
AMONG the greater names in the history of Italian
art some are found to be pivotal by reason of
the influence of their work upon that of other artists.
Giotto and Masaccio are the most conspicuous
instances. among the earlier masters. Giotto created
the scientific basis of the naturalism of the art of
the Renaissance by contrast with the decorative
symbolism of the earlier art of Byzantium. Masaccio
reinforced these tenets with noteworthy access of
realism in the frescoes in the Church of the Carmine
in Florence. The names of Antonio Pollaiuolo and
Andrea Verrocchio serve to indicate how in Florentine
art of the Quattrocento the study of structure gained
new scientific precision from anatomical research.
Piero de’ Franceschi reveals a deeper knowledge of
the various problems of perspective, arrangement, and
light and shade in his works at Arezzo than was pos-
sessed by any of his contemporaries, but the influence
which his work would naturally exert was restricted
by reason of its remoteness from the greater centres
of art training. ;
The divergent aims of this small band, who may
be termed the upholders of the scientific tradition in’
Italian art, are realised with singular completeness
in the work of Leonardo da Vinci. Born in the year
1452, the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary,
descended from a long line of Florentine notaries,
having shown, according to Vasari, marvellous talent
as a boy in the art of design, he was placed by his
father in the studio of Andrea Verrocchio, who is
described by the same writer as at once goldsmith,
master of perspective, sculptor, inlayer of woods,
painter, and musician. It was apparently a sort of
clearing-house for ideas for the art world of Florence,
and there Leonardo became acquainted with Botti-
celli and Perugino. His apprenticeship had ceased in
1472, for in that year his name occurs in the Red
Book of the Guild of Painters of Florence.
In the year 1483 Leonardo, being then in his thirty-
second year, left Florence and went to Milan, where
he entered the service of Ludovic Sforza. Making
all possible allowance for what may have been lost,
the sum total of his work in art up to this time is
astonishingly small as covering the period from his
apprenticeship to his thirty-second year. Already in
his few pictures the detailed treatment of the herbage,
the gradation of the light, the presentment of muscle
and tendon, all reveal the scientific study of the laws
which. defined their structure. The inference is irre-
sistible that while still at Florence he had com-
menced those studies of natural and applied science
the rumour of which, superimposed upon the fame
of his artistic work, caused his name to be endowed
among his contemporaries with a half-legendary uni-
versality. Some of the forms of this nascent activity
are enumerated by Vasari. I quote from the transla-
tion by Mr. Herbert Horne :—
“In architecture he made many drawings, both of
plans as of other projections of buildings; and he
was the first, although a mere youth, that put forward
the project of reducing the River Arno to a navigable
channel from Pisa to Florence. He. made designs for
flour-mills, fulling-mills, and machines which might
be driven by the force of water... .
“And he was for ever making models and designs
to enable men to remove mountains with facilitv, and
to bore them in order to pass from one level to
another; and by means of levers, and cranes, and
screws he showed how great weights could be lifted
and drawn; together with methods of emptying
1 From a discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, March 19-
308
NATURE:
harbours and pumps for drawing up water from low
places, all which his brain never ceased from
inventing.’”’
In the famous draft of a letter to Ludovic Sforza,
in the Codice Atlantico, written presumably imme-
diately on his arrival in Milan, Leonardo offers his
services in the capacity of military or naval engineer,
detailing the various inventions of which he possesses
the secret, and offering to make trial of any, either
in the ducal park or in whatsoever place might please
his Excellency, in case any of the said inventions
should seem to be _ impossible. If natural in-
credulity, which the writer of the letter apparently
expected to meet with, by reason of the scope and
variety of the inventions, which comprise pontoons,
scaling-ladders, cannon or bombards, mines, covered
chariots, catapults, mengonels, and smoke-powders,
should dispose any to look on the list merely as a
piece of rodomontade, it may be observed that the
contents of Leonardo’s manuscripts at Paris and Milan
fully substantiate every claim contained in the letter.
The position which Leonardo desired to occupy
under Ludovic Sforza was not very unlike that of
military engineer and inspector of fortresses which he
occupied at a later period in the service of Ceasar
Borgia.
The concluding paragraphs of the letter to Ludovic
Sforza refer to Leonardo’s readiness to be employed
in the arts of peace—in architecture as a designer
of both public and private buildings, in the construc-
tion of watercourses, in painting, and in sculpture,
whether of marble, bronze, or clay, and especially in
the execution of the equestrian statue of Francesco
Sforza, upon which he laboured intermittently for
sixteen years. The extent and fervency of the re-
searches that he considered necessary, which com-
prised studies of various antique equestrian statues,
and numerous notes on the proportions of particular
horses, as well as a treatise on the anatomy of the
horse, were such that the very desire of perfection
prevented the execution of the work. As Vasari says,
quoting Petrarch’s line: ‘‘L’opera fosse ritardata
dal desio.’”? The monk, Sabba da Castiglione, who
was present when the French entered Milan in
1499, records the fact of the destruction of the
clay model under the arrows of the Gascon _bow-
men. The statue ranked with Donatello’s Gatta-
melata at Padua and Verrocchio’s Bartolommeo Col-
leone at Venice as one of the three great examples:
of equestrian statues of the Italian Renaissance. So
far as it is possible to form an opinion from the very
numerous studies in the Royal Collection at Windsor,
it would seem to have been in advance of both the
others in freedom and vigour of movement. The
sequence of studies shows a change of purpose from
the attitude of the horse galloping to that of it
walking. Leonardo says in a note in one of his
manuscripts, ‘‘The trot is almost the nature of the
free horse.” : f
Few paintings are now in existence the execution
of which can be connected with Leonardo’s first
period of residence in Milan. The most im-
portant of these is the haunting ruin of the Last
Supper.. The paucity of the list, even allowing for
the inevitable mischances of time, confirms the testi-
mony of Sabba da Castiglione, who says that,
besides the Last Supper, few other works in painting
by Leonardo were to be seen at Milan in the middle
of. the sixteenth century, ‘‘ because when he ought to
have attended to painting, in which without doubt he
would have proved a new Apelles, he gave himself
entirely to geometry, architecture, and anatomy.”
The external history of ‘his life is sharply divided
by circumstances into three periods. First the early
years at Florence. Then: his life at Milan under
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
[May 6, 1920
Ludovic Sforza. The third period was that of the
Odyssey of wanderings commenced on his leavin,
Milan with Fra Luca Paciolo two months after the
flight of Ludovic Sforza, and extended for the
remaining twenty years of his life. 1 AG aa ie
At Venice, as Leonardo’s manuscripts* show, he |
studied the tides of the Adriatic, and apparently pre- ch
pared a scheme for flooding part of the Veneto in —
order to stem the Turkish invasion, and also an
apparatus by which it would be possible to approach —
the Turkish galleys under water. A note in the
Codice Atlantico tells of his hurried departure from
Florence to travel in the Romagna as architect and
military engineer in the service of Czsar Borgia.
His manuscripts refer to works planned at Urbino,
Cesena, and Porto Cesenatico. But the office ended
with the rebellion of the Duchy, and in March, 1503, _
Leonardo was once more back in Florence. There
he was employed to divert the channel of the Arno, —
in connection with the war with Pisa. He painted at
this time the portrait of Madonna Lisa del Giocondo,
the world-famous Mona Lisa, and also the cartoon
for the Battle of Anghiari. His work on this com-
position was interrupted by an invitation to Milan, —
and this led to his entering the service of
French. Louis XII. refers to him in a letter to the
Signoria as ‘‘our painter and engineer in ordinary.’’
He consulted him as to the conduit in the ga
the Chateau of Blois, and employed him on hydr: ;
work in Lombardy. It was probably in May, 1509, —
when Louis XII. made a triumphal entry into Milan
after the victory of Agnadello, that Leonardo con-
structed as part of the pageant an automatic lion
which walked a few paces and then, opening its breast,
revealed it full of lilies. There was much study of
anatomy with Marc Antonio della Torre at this period,
and his intercourse with French artists is shown by
a note to inquire from Jean de Paris the method of
painting in tempera, but he did not engage in any
great artistic work. By aot Fane |
In the year 1512 the French lost Milan, and after
the re-entry of the Sforzas, in the person of the young
Maximilian, there is no record of Leonardo’s further °
|
>
- ~ =F
ic c 2 Seg
employment. On September 24 in the following year —
he set out from Milan to Rome with his assistants, —
and was there lodged in the Belvedere of the Vatican.
According to Vasari, the Pope gave him a commis-
sion, and then was indignant because he began by
experimenting with the varnish. The practice of
painting, however, had no more than a secondary
interest for him. His manuscripts reveal him as
engaged in studies in optics, acoustics, and geometry,
studying geology in the Campagna, improving the
method of coining at the Mint at Rome, busy with
engineering work at Civita Vecchia, and in studying ~
anatomy at the hospital, for which last-named pursuit
he was denounced to the Pope by one of his appren-
tices. He seems to have gone with the Papal army ~
to Bologna, where in December, 1515, the Concordat
was held between the Pope and Francis I., and a
month later he accompanied the king on his return
to France with the office of “his painter and |
engineer,’ being given as a residence the Chateau of A
Cloux, near Amboise, where he died on May 2, 1519.
A record of a visit paid to him at Cloux by the —
Cardinal of Aragon on October 10, 1517, makes
special mention of the anatomical drawings, and the —
diarist states that Leonardo told the visitors that in —
preparation for these he had dissected more than thirty
bodies. They saw also his treatise on the nature of
water, and others on various machines, there, being,
as it appeared, ‘‘an endless number of volumes, all
in the vulgar tongue, which if they. be published will
be profitable and very delectable.”’ pai ¥
The activities of Leonardo’s mind. fall naturally into
4
4
NATURE
399
found expression, either mainly or in part, in|
work and ¢hose revealed only in his.
The first category comprises painting,
architecture, and engineering. In painting
to instance the fresco of the Last Supper >
trait of Mona Lisa, each of its type.
s all works of the Renaissance, and
ver to appraise in its union of technical
the inevitability of supreme art. In
forza statue, the master-work of his)
, lives only in the drawings which
faint index of its power.
is no outstanding memorial.
ore Cook, in his elaborate study of spiral
*The Curves of Life,’’? has collected a
ray of evidence in favour of attributing
the design for the open spiral staircase in |
of Blois. The documentary evidence is
t the date of construction is known to
between the years 1516 and 1519, and
was then living a few miles distant in the
2 of Cloux, near Amboise. A spiral stair-
‘-s in one of Leonardo’s drawings for a
ver, and he made many studies of spiral
urring in Nature, in shells, in smoke,
The staircase at Blois is
ntly modelled on Voluta vespertilio, a shell
m on the coast of northern Italy. The theory
s attractions. It supplies an example of a
architecture emanating from the brain of
and this a work of supreme distinction.
of his api & as an engineer are con-
schemes of canalisation in Florence,
| with the diversion of the Arno
a war measure; and in Friuli, in
ances, he devised movable sluices
nt the advance of the Turks across
Je made canals in Lombardy for pur-
, and also aqueducts to improve the
Milan; and the canal of Romorantin,
hh he made plans when in France, was
© connect the waters of the Loire and the
al list of Leonardo’s activities in the con- |
struments of warfare figures in the letter
forza. He says there: “I can make
as safe and immune from attack which
ssage through the enemy with their
owever great the multitude of the
they will be able to break through.
the infantry will be able to follow
and without hindrance.”
d wagon is seen ready for action in
the British Museum. It is moved on
a sketch of the lower half shows the
y, but it is not possible to discern
the motive power. The use of the
ym in order to open up a passage
enemy, as described above, is identical
‘of the tank in the late war. The manu-
‘a strangely prophetic insight in regard
developments of recent warfare, namely,
nd submarining.
do contemplated the use of poisonous gas
ers in naval warfare for the purpose of
ng the enemy, and told how to make a simple
e mask. He also contemplated the con-
—as happened on occasions in Flanders—of
verse wind causing the poison to recoil upon
sers. The passage, which occurs in MS. B
Paris manuscripts, is entitled “How to throw
in the form of powder upon ships.”
“By means of catapults,’’ he says, “a mixture of
dered quicklime, arsenic, and verdigris may be !
No. 2636, VOL. 105] 2
thrown upon the ships of the enemy, and all who
inhale the powder will die.
“But take care that the wind is favourable, lest it
blow the powder back upon you, and be sure you
have a fine piece of damp cloth to cover the nose and
mouth in order that the powder may not enter.”’
In the Leicester manuscript (folio 22b) he foretells
the horrors of submarine warfare, and refuses to
impart any information as to the machine which he
has constructed lest it should serve to bring them
_ about :
In architec- .
‘How by means of a certain machine many people
may stay some time under water. How and why I
do not describe my method of remaining under water,
or how long I can remain without eating; and I do
not publish or divulge this because of the evil nature
of men. who would use them as means of destruction
at the bottom of the sea by smashing the ships in the
keel and sinking them together with the men in them. |
But I will impart others which are not dangerous,
because the mouth of the tube by which you breathe
appears above the water supported on leather bottles
or corks.’’
In connection with this passage reference may be
made to one in MS. B of the Paris manuscripts
entitled ‘‘A Way of Escaping in a Tempest or Ship-
wreck at Sea,’’ in which Leonardo tells how to con-
struct a coat of leather of double thickness which will
be capable of being inflated when necessary, and thus
of serving as a life-saving jacket in case of emergency.
Senatore Luca Beltrami associates the former of
these passages with the Turkish war. Leonardo, as
a reference to his manuscript shows, had been em-
ployed in the construction of a movable dam which
should enable the line of the Isonzo to be flooded in
the defence of the Veneto against the Turkish in-
vasion. The reference is to the construction of sub-
marine boats in order to sink the Turkish galleys in ,
the Gulf of Venice ‘‘by smashing the ships in the
keel and sinking them together with the men in
them.’”? Leonardo considers this to be justifiable,
because it is an act of defence ‘for the safety of our
Italian lands" (‘‘delli nostre parti italiche’’); but he
will not give any details of the construction of his
submarine craft in which it would be possible to
remain under water for four hours, because he is
fearful of the evil use to which it might be put in
future times.
(To be continued.)
Public Support of Scientific Research.
cy! Wednesday, April 28, a public meeting was
held at Birkbeck College to hear an address
from Prof. F. Soddy on ‘“‘The Public Support of
Scientific Research.” Mr. H. G. Wells, who took
the chair, claimed that everything in which the world
of to-day differed from that of years ago was due to
science and the scientific worker. Prof. Soddy ex-
pressed his regret that the greater encouragement
of scientific research during the war had not resulted
in any appreciable improvement in the position of
pure science, which was the tree of which applied—
industrial and trade—science were the fruits. He
deprecated the exploitation of science by financiers
and commercial men and its employment to increase
the indebtedness to them of those who had done the
creative work of the world. The scheme framed by
the Govérnment to foster scientific research en-
‘deavoured to place the man of science who was to
do the work under the same type of men—often the
same men—as had thwarted progress in the past.
The change from gross inefficiency in- the medical
310
NATURE
| May 6, i920
*
services in the Boer War to singular efficiency in. the
late war was due to change in the status of the
Army medical officers and to their liberation from
the misdirection of unqualified superiors. This was
possible only because of the great strength of the
professional union of medical men. A similar strong
professional union comprising every qualified man_ of
science was necessary before science ceased to be
misdirected and used to the hurt rather than to the
good of the community.
Not a single chemist was included in the direc-
torate of the national scheme for the manufacture of
British dyes when it was announced, although the
taxpayer contributed 2,000,000/., a portion of which
was to be expended in research. The cause of the
success of the German industry was that it was under
scientific direction from end to end. Prof. Soddy
complained that the benefaction of Mr. Carnegie to
foster scientific study and research at the Scottish
universities had been diverted to the general main-
tenance of the universities. At one time none of the
trustees were men of science, and the secretary was
now the administrative chairman of the Government
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.
That Department allocated a million to industrial
research associations in the form of a capital grant,
over which Parliament was powerless, whereas
researches in the fields of pure science, from which
directly flowed all the useful applications, were put
on the yearly Parliamentary Estimates. The research
associations were becoming water-tight concerns to
eliminate competitors, and the interests neither of the
public nor of the scientific worker were protected.
Representatives both of trained scientific workers
and of organised labour should be included in the coun-
cils and executive committees of the research associa-
tions. At the same time, Prof. Soddy urged that
representatives of democratically constituted associa-
tions of scientific workers should be placed on the
Council of the Department, of which it should be
the governing body. He declared his belief that
co-operation would replace ‘competition; but this co-
operation depended upon a dominance of individuals
of intellect and knowledge—not over men, but over
Nature; for the struggle of man against Nature was,
in the first instance, a duel fought by lonely men in
the furthest outposts of knowledge, finding a path
where all before had turned back beaten and
befogged.
In the discussion which followed Sir William Bragg
urged that as science slowly established its position
and men of science reached a condition of greater
equity, responsibility came with it, and they must
work and learn to handle greater and greater things,
so that they might take their part in everything that
was done in the State. He expressed his apprecia-
tion of the assistance he had received from the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.
| American Agricultural Research.
RECENT numbers of the Journal of Agricultural
Research (vol. xviii., Nos. and 8) contain
several articles dealing with plant physiology and with
insect pests. Plants grown in water-culture are not
' able to withstand such high concentrations of nutrient
salts without showing toxic effects as are plants grown
in. sand or soil. In the latter case the presence of
solid particles, which cause a considerable amount of
absorption, has much to do with this reduction of
toxicity, but J. A. Le Clerc and J. F. Breazeale
have shown that the effect is also partly due to
certain soluble substances which are sometimes present
NO. 2636, VOL, 105 |
¢
in very small quantities. Traces of calcium oxide and
calcium sulphate do much to overcome the toxicity
of sodium chloride and sédium sulphate, but the
various other salts tested had no ameliorating action. —
The lime, however, does not seem to prevent the
entrance of the sodium chloride or sulphate into the
plant-cells, and therefore its antagonistic action would
appear to be due to some undetermined cause rather
than to its effect upon the permeability of the cells.
The question of the physiological balance of the
salts necessary for plant nutrition is many-sided, and
J. W. Shive approaches it from the point of view of
the relation of the moisture in solid substrata to the
physiological salt-balance and to the relative plant-—
producing value of various salt proportions. nder
his experimental conditions the physiological value of
salt solutions was not affected by the degree of mois-_
ture present, and that which was best with the lowest
moisture-content was also the best with the medium
and the highest degrees of moisture... Nevertheless, —
an optimum moisture-content is necessary to produce
maximum growth, and the actual plant-producing
value of any fertiliser treatment is largely determined —
by the moisture conditions of the substratum. ~
It is customary to subject cereal seeds to treatment
by hot water or various chemicals in order to control
plant diseases when their presence on the seed is
known or suspected. Such treatments are not effec-
tive in every case, as measures that are sufficiently
drastic to cut out the disease often result in destroying
the viability of the seed. D. Atanasoff and A. G.
Johnson find that these difficulties may be largely
overcome by the use of dry heat for disinfection, as
such cereals as barley, wheat, rye, and oats are able
to withstand protracted exposures to dry heat at com-—
paratively high temperatures, especially if the seed is
of good quality and well dried. The method has
proved successful in the elimination of seed infection
from bacterial blight of barley pai en translucens)
and bacterial blight of oats (Pseudonomas avenae),
and a number of seed-borne fungus diseases, such as
wheat-scab, spot-blotch of barley, stripe disease, and
smut, are either practically eliminated or much —
reduced. The dry heat treatment seems to offer
possibilities which should be followed up.
Natural enemies must be regarded as a great asset :
in the control of insect pests, but the value of fungal —
parasites in this respect is often overlooked. A.
Speare describes experiments on Sorosporella. uvella,
an entomogenous fungus which attacks Noctuid larvae, —
aI
and is recorded for the first time in America. The
practical interest of the investigation lies in the fact —
that quite a number of Noctuid larve, including such
pests as cutworms, have proved to be susceptible to
the disease, and other Lepidopterous larve can also
be infected by special methods. The disease caused
by the organism is readily transmitted to healthy
insects, and in laboratory experiments a mortality of
from 60 to go per cent. may be obtained. Control by
means of parasitism has proved of great value in
reducing the Mediterranean fruit-fly in Hawaii.
developing in fruits about Honolulu (H. F. Willard).
The ravages of the broad-bean weevil (Bruchus
rufimanus, Boh) in California have led to the abandon-
ment of a considerable acreage, especiallv since weevil-
infested beans have been classed as adulterated food. _
R
E. Campbell (Bull. 807, Professional Paper,
U.S.A. Dept. Agric.) gives an account of the dis- )
tribution and life-history of the pest and discusses
various measures of control. The only practicable
means is to plant seed which contains no live weevils,
Four —
larval parasites of this pest have been introduced and —
established since 1913, and their value as destrovers |
increased until in 1918 they caused the destruction of ~
considerably more than half of all -the friuit-flies —
.
ied
]
\ AY 6, 1920] °
NATURE 311
re]
3 the application of poisons or deterrents in the
{ is useless. Dry heat is unsatisfactory, as tem-
uf is unsuccessful, but fumigation of well-
ed and sa § seeds with carbon bisulphide gives
results. amp seeds should not be treated.
y to expectation, it was found that fumigating
the insects were in the larval stage was less
ive than if done in the adult stage, as the gas
penetrate into the interior of the bean to the
grown larvz as easily as it can reach the full-
wn larvae, pupz, or adults directly under the
d-coat. W. E. B.
_ Canadian Water-Power Development.
A*® interesting article in the Engineer of April 9
*% by Mr. Leo. G. Dennis, Hydro-electric Engineer
‘of the Canadian Commission of Conservation, reviews
the situation in regard to Canadian water-power
_ development. From it we have gathered the fol-
_ lowing particulars indicating the remarkable growth
ice the commencement of the century.
n 1900 less than 200,000 h.p. was utilised, as com-
sg with 2,383,240 h.p. now available, according to
e most recent returns, subdivided as follows :—
2
Province. Horse-power.
Ontario if 1,000,000
‘ ting mae fats 900,000
F British Columbia 310,000
4 Manitoba tes 78,600
ff Alberta... 32,500
4 Nova Scotia it 30,000
: New Brunswick 17,000
j Yukon __... at age 13,400
4 _ Prince Edward Island 1,700
: Saskatchewan ... : 40
Of the total electric central station installation of
_ 2,107,743 h.p., no less than 1,806,618 h.p., or more
than 85 per cent., is in hydro-electric stations, and these
are remarkable for their large size. Forty per cent.
is in plants of 100,000 h.p. and more, and another
¥ per cent. in plants between 10,000 and 100,000 h.p.
_ Particularly worthy of note are two large hydro-
electric systems in Eastern Canada. The Niagara
system is supplied mainly from plant of 211,300 h.p.,
and transmits to some 150 municipal distribution
centres. The Shawinigan system is fed from plants
with a total capacity of 270,000 h.p., and, directly or
indirectly, supplies some 85 distributing systems.
__Water-power is an important factor in many
_ Canadian industries, but in none so essentially as in
_ the case of ue and paper manufacture. Of a total
of 525,000 h.p. installed for this purpose, at least
_ 475,000 h.p. is derived from hydraulic sources. From
an economic point of view it is probable that if water-
power had not been available, pulp in many cases
could not be manufactured at all.
Canada’s potential water-power resources are placed
recent estimates at 18,832,000 h.p., subdivided
_ provincially as follows :
: - Province. Horse-power.
«Quebec 6,000,000
Berth Ontario ... ies 5,800,000
. British Columbia «++ 3,000,000
. Manitoba a) «+s. 2,797,000
ie Alberta ee 462,000
be New Brunswick 300,000
‘. Saskatchewan 220,000.
® Nova Scotia 100,000
ieee. Yukon... sate zak 100,000
+». North-West Territories 50,000
Prince Edward Island _ 3,000
NO. 2636, VOL. 105]
es that destroy the weevils kill the seeds also; .
In Ontario, the Niagara and St. Lawrence powers
are the outstanding features, although the figures’ in
regard to the former have been at times exaggerated.
Bearing in mind that it is an international source,
the theoretical total available for Canada is about
2,300,000 h.p. But only about one-third of that
quantity is at present available for exploitation. The
large power plants installed below the Falls have not
so far utilised the descent in the river below the
cataract, but this mistake is not being repeated by
the Chippawa-Queenston project, which will add
200,000 h.p. to the total installation. It will embrace
the maximum possible head of 316 ft. The St.
Lawrence powers are also partly international, and
are estimated as follows:
Available
low-water
horse- power.
Province or
tate.
Ontario 387,500
New York 387,500
Quebec 1,375,000
2,150,000
Besides its share of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa
River powers, Quebec has other important possibili-
ties, notably on the St. Maurice River and in the
Sagaway basin. The present capacity of plants ‘at
Shawinigan and Grand’mére in the Upper St. Maurice
is 330,000 h.p., and there is expectation of this figure
being doubled at no distant date.
The Solar Eclipse of May, 1919.
*
PSOE . L. A. BAUER contributes an article on this
eclipse to a recent issue of Science. He notes the
new interest which eclipses have recently acquired,
first from their effect on terrestrial magnetism, and
secondly from the gravitational deflection of light.
The Carnegie Institution of Washington sent two
parties to stations inside the zone of totality; Prof.
Bauer himself occupied Cape Palmas, Liberia, while
Messrs. Wise and Thomson went to Sobral, Brazil.
There were three other stations outside the zone, and
most of the magnetic observatories co-operated in a
scheme of observations. The detailed results are not
yet available.
Cape Palmas has a bad weather record, but this
was of little importance for the magnetic work. The
sun was very high, and the duration of. totality,
6m. 33s., was probably the longest that a scientific
party has ever enjoyed. As it turned out, the sky was
clear, and small-scale photographs of the corona were
secured. These were, however, subsidia to the
‘main work, of which Prof. Bauer says: ‘‘ There were
clear indications of a magnetic effect. ... As the
station was nearly on the magnetic equator, the effect
was specially noticeable . . . upon the magnetic dip.’’
He notes that the darkness was not nearly so great as
at the much shorter eclipse of 1918, perhaps owing to
the greater brightness of the corona. The fall of tem-
perature was nearly 3° F., the minimum being some
twenty-four minutes after totality; the maximum of
humidity synchronised with this minimum. Shadow
bands were not seen here, but they were observed at
Sobral by Mr. Thomson.
Dr. Abbot and Mr. Moore observed the eclipse from
La Paz, Bolivia, where the sun’s altitude was only
5°, but their altitude of 14,000 ft. compensated for
this. ‘‘Taking into account the great length and
beauty of the coronal streamers, the splendid crimson
prominence . .. the snow-covered mountains as a
background, it seemed to the observers the grandest
eclipse that thev had seen.” Besides photographing
the corona, their special work was the measurement
312
NATURE
[May 6, 1920
of sky and solar radiation at different stages of the
eclipse. Curves of these are given, which indicate
that the sky radiation varies proportionally to the
amount of sunlight.
Prof. Bauer then discusses the British expeditions
and the observed deflection of light. As these have
already been dealt with in Nature (November 13,
1919, and elsewhere), it will suffice to mention one
point. After noting that the Sobral results indicated
larger deflection than those deduced from Einstein’s
_law, and that the excess was greater in R.A, than
in declination, Prof. Bauer made the suggestion that
the excess might arise from the passage of the light
through a rare outer atmosphere of the sun, which,
like the corona, might be more extended in the
equatorial regions. The residuals are too small to
lay very much stress on this, unless future eclipses
should indicate the same effect.
The Manufacture of Synthetic Ammonia
and Production of Nitrates.
Tk Ministry of Munitions announces. that Lord
Inverforth has arranged for the sale of H.M.
Nitrate, Factory at Billingham-on-Tees to Messrs.
Brunner, Mond, and Co., Ltd. The purchasers will
form a company to take over the factory, and will be
responsible for all outstanding § liabilities of the
Ministry in connection with the project. This factory,
the erection of which was commenced early in 1918
by the Department of Explosives Supply, was designed
for the manufacture of synthetic ammonia and for
the production of 60,000 to 70,000 tons of ammonium
nitrate annually.
Soon after the appointment of the Nitrogen Products
Committee, the monumental report of which was pub-
lished in January last, the Government decided to
install one or other of the processes for the fixation of
nitrogen. The Committee, after thorough investiga-
tion of the problem, recommended the cyanamide pro-
cess as the one best suited for this purpose in the
circumstances, since the working details were well
understood. This advice was at first adopted, and a
contract was on the point of being negotiated, but,
for reasons which are not stated, the recommendation
was not acted upon.
During 1916 the Nitrogen Products Committee had
established a laboratory in premises placed at its dis-
posal in the new Ramsay building of University
College, London, and the Committee’s research staff,
under the direction of Dr. J. A. Harker, was engaged
‘in an experimental investigation of a number of
problems relating to nitrogen fixation. Although it
was not anticipated that there would be any shortage
of supplies of ammonia, yet it was deemed desirable,
in view of the special suitability of the synthetic
ammonia process for the needs of this country, that
an experimental study of it should be made forthwith,
so that the required information should be available
if necessary.
After a year’s experimental work, the progress made
was considered so encouraging that the Committee
decided to establish. a moderate-sized technical trial
unit, and funds for the purpose were allocated by the
Treasury. It was hoped, by means of this plant, that
a study of. the chemical engineering problems could
follow. upon that already made of the pure chemistry
of the reactions invalved, but the Committee did not
suggest .the establishment of the process as a war
measure .upon an industrial scale. _In 1917, however,
the Explosives Supply Department considered that the
position reached. in the experiments justified it in
recommending the erection of .a large works, in sub-
stitution for the Committee’s cyanamide project, and
NO. 2636, VOL. 105]
popular edition has contours in orange at
a site at Billingham, some 260 acres in extent, was |
ultimately chosen for this purpose. But a number of
difliculties supervened, and construction was slow,
and at the time of the Armistice only a few permanent
buildings and a number of temporary structures had
been erected, though a large amount of plant had
been ordered. .
The purchasers of the factory now undertake to com-
plete the scheme by providing the additional buildings
and plant required for the synthesis of ammonia and
its oxidation to nitric acid and nitrates suitable for the
manufacture of explosives and fertilisers.
It is understood that the company has acquired a
large amount ot additional land and that it intends to
develop the project on a very large scale. The factory
has been re-designed on a peace as distinet from its
former war basis, and in many particulars the new —
plant will represent a substantial advance, both in the
ammonia and nitric acid sections, on anything pre-
viously used in Germany.
New Ordnance Survey Maps.
HE new edition of the one-inch and -inch
Ordnance Survey maps is descri with
specimen sheets, by Lt.-Col. W. J. Johnston in the
Geographical Journal for March (vol. lv., No. 3: <i
Three types of one-inch map are to be published: t
popular, the district tourist, and the po na The
. ver-
tical interval in place of the 1o0-ft. and 250-ft. interval
on the former one-inch maps. A new classification of
roads, which divides them into ten categories, makes
the main roads, coloured red, stand out inently.
Rivers and streams are shown in solid blue. Parish
boundaries, which caused much confusion with foot-
paths, are omitted, but county boundaries are retained.
Woods are coloured green. The outline edition is the
present one-inch map, which in future will be printed
from stone on stout paper. The tourist edition entails
a combination of sheets to cover convenientl
map certain areas frequented by holiday-makers. It
is hoped to have at least eight of the tourist sheets
ready before the summer. ‘The contours are at 1oo-ft.
and 250-ft. intervals, and the representation of relief
is made more striking by the use of hachures and
transparent colour layers; rivers are in solid blue and
woods in green. The black printing will be the same
as in the popular edition. The quarter-inch map is
being issued with contours and layer colours in place
of hill shading, red colour for main roads only, solid
blue for streams, and no green wood symbol. The
sample sections of the popular. one-inch and the
quarter-inch maps accompanying Col. Johnston’s paper
are beautiful specimens of cartography, and a great
improvement on the old editions, good as they were.
The tourist one-inch will be useful mainly by reason
of the combination of sheets which it offers. We
understand that arrangements have been made to
popularise these maps by having them on sale at all
booksellers’ and bookstalls. i
University and Educational Intelligence.
CaMBRIDGE.—Gifts totalling 15001. are announced
in one -
towards the partially endowed Hopkinson professor- _
ship in thermodynamics. Bekok
The Linacre lecture will be delivered to-day, May 6,
by Dr. Henry Head on ‘‘Aphasia and Kindred : Dis-
orders of the Speech.” tats
In connection with the installation of the Chancellor,
it is proposed to present honorary degrees to the Prime ©
Minister, Mr. Bonar Law, and several other prominent —
politicians. The following are amongst those selected
for honorary degrees on.the same occasion : Sir Joseph
NATURE
343
on, Sir Joseph Larmor, Sir J. G. Frazer, Prof.
Ward, Mr. C. M. Doughty, and Prof. Bergson.
he Sheepshanks exhibition in astronomy has been
‘ded to E. S. Pearson, scholar of Trinity College.
‘The first examination for the diploma in medical
liology and electrology will be held on July 27
-Hamshaw Thomas has been re-appointed
f the Botanical Museum.
v.—A course of eight lectures on “ Nutri-
' Prof. E. Mellanby, at King’s College for
Campden Hill Road, Kensington, W.8,
in on Monday, May 3, and will be con-
‘5 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, May to,
and 31 and june 1. Another course of
es on “‘ The Biochemistry of Sterols ’’ will
by Mr. J. A. Gardner in the Physiological
y of the University, South Kensington,
it 5 p.m., on ‘Tuesdays, May 18 and 25,
, 15, 22, and 29, and July 6. The lectures
essed to advanced students of the University
4 interested in the subject. Admission is
without ticket.
niversity College, on Wednesday next,
at 5.30, Dr. Charles Singer will deliver a
sural lecture, as lecturer in the history of
on “Greek Science and Modern Science :
son and a Contrast.’”’ The chair will be
Sir Robert Hadfield, Bart.
».—On. May 4 Convocation passed a decree
poet poise the offer of Mr. Edward Whitley,
College; of a sum of 10,0001. towards the
of a professorship of biochemistry, and
that the first appointment of a professor
made by Mr. Whitley, subject to the approval
Chancellor and the professors of medicine,
_ chemistry, and pharmacology.
- decree Convocation expressed its thanks
‘itish Dyestuffs Corporation for its muni-
ation of 5oool. towards the cost of extending
lic chemical laboratory. |
gifts to the University are most timely and
. The opportunity thus afforded for the study
mportant subject of biochemistry in the Uni-
likely to have far-reaching results; while
accommodation for the department of
chemistry has for some time past been
needed. ei
#2
irman and directors of the Cunard Steam-
iy have decided to contribute 10,000l. to
oller and Auditor-General of Cape Colony, who
year ago, bequeathed 15,o00l. to the Master
vs of St. Peter’s (Peterhouse) College, Cam-
for the advancement education and
ad to learn that the appeal of the College
nology, Manchester, for 150,o00l. for the ex-
ion of its buildings is meeting with a satisfactory
e. The total amount subscribed for the
tension of university education in Manchester in-
es the subscriptions to. this fund as well as the
oool. or thereabouts subscribed in nse to the
appeal for 500,000l. for faculties other than technology.
in botany. The scholarship, value 36l.
, for one year, is open to graduates of any
ty on the understanding that the successful
ndidate undertakes research work in botany in the
sity. Applications must be made on or before
May 22 to the registrar of the University of Bristol.
NO, 2636, VoL. 105]
WHEN the University of Bristol was established in
1gog the city possessed one of the _best-equipped
engineering faculties in the United Kingdom; but
since then great improvements have taken place in
many other universities, and the time has come when,
in order to hold its own, the Bristol engineering
faculty needs further equipment. The Merchant Ven-
turers, in whose college the faculty is provided and
maintained, have decided, therefore, to undertake con-
siderable extensions. The total cost of the alterations
and additions will amount to about 11,000l., and it is
hoped that a considerable part of the extensions will
be available for use during next session, when the
number of advanced students in the faculty will be
very greatly increased. Last term there were 1340
students in the faculty of engineering—271 in the day-
time and 1069 in the evening.
Tue scientific and efficient use of steel and other
metals, both in mechanical and structural engineering,
depends on the collaboration of the metallurgist and
the engineer. The examination of metals under a
microscope is, perhaps, a matter for the metallurgist
rather than the engineer, but this branch of testing of
materials has now become of such importance that it
_is essential that the engineer should be able to follow
the methods employed and to judge something of the
properties of a material from photomicrographs. Most
engineers have some detailed knowledge of the
mechanical tests which should be carried out before a
particular material is used in construction, but there
are large numbers who are not in touch with modern
work on metallography. We have pleasure, therefore, —
in directing attention to six lectures on * Metallography
for Engineers,” by Dr. W. Rosenhain, which have
been arranged to be given at King’s College, Strand,
W.C.2, on Thursdays at 6 o’clock, commencing on
Thursday, May 13. The lectures form part of the post-
graduate work of the engineering department 0 the
college. They are, however, open to all students and
engineers. The post-graduate courses for engineers at
King’s College deserve to be widely known. During
this session the lectures have included courses on
“Metrology and Engineering Standardisation,” by
Mr. J. E. Sears; ‘* Central Station Practice,” by Mr.
Cc. H. Wordingham ; and ‘Irrigation,’ by Mr.
N. F. Mackenzie. Arrangements have already been
made for similar courses next session, and full par-
ticulars of these can be obtained from the secretary
of the college.
ae Pets F .
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Royal Society, April 22.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair—H. W. Hilliar: Experiments on
the pressure-wave thrown out by submarine explo-
sions. A method is described for sagas vat it
time-pressure curve at a given point in water in the
Halphbout hood of an exploded charge. The method
depends, in principle, on measuring the growing
velocity of a short steel piston exposed at one end to
pressure in water. This method was applied in a
comprehensive deep-water investigation of pressure-
waves springing from a_ great variety of charges.
Comparisons were made between various kinds of
explosive, including gunpowder, which gives results
remarkably different from those yielded by high-
explosives. The general behaviour of the pressure-
wave was found to approximate closely to that of a
sound-wave. Its velocity was measured directly and
found not to differ sensibly from that of sound in
sea-water (4900 ft. sec.). The pressure falls off in
314
NATURE
[May 6, 1920
approximately simple proportion to distance from
the charge. The influence which the water surface
exercises On pressure at a _ given point can be
accounted for by supposing that the pressure-wave
is reflected from the surface as a tension-wave. The
first part of the pressure-wave arrives at the point
in question entirely unaffected by proximity of sur-
face; but after a certain interval, determined by the
difference in length of direct and reflected paths, the
remaining pressure is obliterated by the arrival of
the tension-wave.—E. F. Armstrong and T. P.
Hilditch: A study of the catalytic action at solid
surfaces (iii.). The hydrogenation of acetaldehyde
and the dehydrogenation of ethyl alcohol in the
presence of finely divided metals. Hydrogenation of
Aldehyde.
by passing the vapour together with hydrogen over
either copper or nickel (Sabatier); but in presence of
the latter metal, probably owing to the special affinity
of nickel for the carbonyl group, the aldehyde is
prone to undergo decomposition into carbon monoxide
and methane. Copper at 200-220° effects reduction
of aldehyde to alcohol smoothly, but at 300° about
50 per cent. of the aldehyde disappears and but little
reduction is effected, the recovered aldehyde and
alcohol being in about equal amounts. Dehydrogena-
tion of Alcohol.—The yield of aldehyde obtained from
alcohol as dehydrogenated in the presence of nickel
is only 35 per cent., whereas, in the case of copper,
not only is the ratio of aldehyde to hydrogen close to
_that calculated, but the unchanged alcohol may also be
recovered almost quantitatively, the yield of aldehyde
being about 90-95 per cent. of that to be expected
from the amount of alcohol used. There is a striking
absence of the secondary products observed when
aldehyde together with an excess of hydrogen is
passed over the metal at the same temperature.—
E. F. Armstrong and T. P. Hilditch: A study of the
catalytic action at solid surfaces (iv.). The inter-
action of carbon monoxide and steam as conditioned
by iron oxide and by copper. It is shown that, like
certain forms of iron oxide, prepared copper is able
to effect considerable transformation of carbon mon-
oxide and steam into carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Whereas, however, iron oxide at a suitable tempera-
ture causes the action to proceed almost as far as
the equilibrium constant permits, copper does not at
its optimum temperature effect more than 50-70 per
cent. of the possible amount of chemical change; the
exact proportion is to some extent a function of the
composition of the original gas employed. The
action of copper commences at a little more than
200° C., and up to 300° is greater than that of an iron
oxide catalyst, the latter being without appreciable
effect below 250° C. The difference in behaviour is
explained by the hypothesis that copper effects a de-
composition of formic acid (momentarily produced
from carbon monoxide and steam) into carbon dioxide
and. hydrogen from 190° C. upwards, whereas the
iron oxide alternately oxidises carbon monoxide, and
is in turn in its reduced form reoxidised by the action
of steam. These results are of interest, from the
point of view of the general theory of catalysis which
the authors have lately put forward, as illustrating the
specific action of two different types of catalyst, which
produce ultimately the same change (CO+H,O=
CO,+H,), but by an entirely different mechanism,
involving production of intermediate systems of quite
distinct kinds.—T. R. Merton: The structure of
the Balmer series of hydrogen lines. In a previous
investigation with Prof. J. W. Nicholson it was found
that the separation of the components of the lines
Ha and HB suggested that the series should be
regarded as a principal series. It is now found that
NO. 2636, VOL. 105 |
Aldehyde may be converted into alcohol -
the structure of these lines is not invariable, but is —
altered by the presence of impurities, notably helium,
in vacuum tubes containing hydrogen.
is entirely different. Measurements have been made
of the separations of the components under the opti-
mum conditions of resolution with the aid of an
échelon diffraction grating, and the physical widths
of the lines and the relative intensities of the com-
ponents .have been deduced from the measurements.
It is suggested that the structure of the lines is com-
plex, the relative intensities of the components being ©
variable under different conditions; the structure
suggested would appear to be consistent with
Sommerfeld’s theoretical investigations and with the
results of experiment.—H. A. Wilson: Diamagnetism
due to free electrons.
Zoological Society, April 13.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-
ward, vice-president, in the chair.—Prof.. A. Willey :
An apodous Amia calva.—H. A. Baylis and Lt.-Col.
Clayton Lane: A revision of the Nematode family
Gnathostomidz.—A. M. Altson: The life-history and —
habits of two parasites of blowflies. “
Geological Society, April 21—Mr. R. D. Oldham,
president, in the chair.—J. W. D. Robinson; The —
In the —
Lower Boulonnais, between Calais and Boulogne, ©
Devonian of Ferques (Lower Boulonnais).
lies a small tract of Devonian rocks. They form a
link between the Devonian beds in Belgium, France,
and Germany, and those of England geographically, —
and also geologically, since they appear to have been
formed in a narrow strait which joined the open seas
extending towards the Atlantic and over nany
and Russia.—E. S. Cobbold: The Cambrian Horizons
of Comley (Shropshire), and their Brachi a,
Pteropoda, Gasteropoda, etc.
Comley Cambrian fossils proceeded, it became
apparent that the several faunas, sketched out in
1911 on the evidence of the trilobites (Q.J.G.S.,
vol. Ixvii., pp. 282 et seqqg.), and their order of
appearance may prove to be of more local
interest. The author consequently proposes names
for the horizons, based on their fossil contents, to
replace those used in his previous publications, which
were often clumsy and only of local origin, though
necessary until the fossils were better known.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, April
Deslandres in the chair.—A. Lacroix; The erup-
tion of Katla (Iceland) in 1918. This volcano,
quiescent since 1860, entered in violent eruption
in October, 1918. The eruption was explosive,
and there was no lava flow.—G. Bigourdan :
The instruments and observations of Bailly at the
Louvre. The Observatory of the Abbey of Sainte-
Genevieve, at Paris.—E. Ariés: The equation of state
of ether. The formulz deduced from the equation of
state given in earlier communications require modi-
fication for ether. The results of the modified formula
are compared with Young’s experimental figures.—
G. Julia: Families of functions of several variables.—
L. Bianchi: Pairs of surfaces with lines of associated
curvature.—C. Camichel: The permanent régime in
water-chambers. An account of an experimental study
of the water velocities by a photographic method.—
C. Zenghelis: The action of finely divided gases.—
A. Gascard: The melissic alcohol of Brodie. Myricic
The optimum |
conditions of sharpness were found in hydrogen mixed —
with an excess of helium and cooled to the tempera- |
ture of liquid air, and under these conditions the |
separations of the components approximate to those ~
appropriate to a diffuse or sharp series. The a r- |
ance of the lines in the purest obtainable hydrogen —
As the study of the —
12.—M. Henri |
6, 1920] NATURE 315
discovered by Brodie in beeswax, and named | Action of Sea-water. First Report of the C i
melissic alcohol. By analysis of the alcohol | Edited by P. M. Pohwalte and G. R. Rederave
tt possible to distinguish between C;,.H.,O | Pp. 301+33 pilates. (London: Institution of Civil
) and C,,H,,O, but analysis of the iodide shows | Engineers). 30s. net.
he true eomposition is the latter. This has been The Columbian Tradition on the Discovery of
aed by the preparation of the hydrocarbon | America and of the Part Played Therein by the
co ge other reactions.—Ph. Glangeaud: The | Astronomer Toscanelli. By H. Vignaud. Pp. 62.
a artres d’Artiéres (Puy-de-Dome). In | (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press.) 3s. 6d. net.
co ees power of the geysers is steam; | Silver: Its Intimate Association with the Daily Life
Ley Ph “deals he to be carbon | of Man. By B. White. Pp. xi+144. (London: Sir
gel yey of erat of ter- | Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net.
chalk While inie scussion of the views Spanish Prose and Poetry: Old and New, with
en of the is ate og Sp echtiee a iho Translated Specimens. By I. Farnell. Pp. 185.
ee th be ane 4 b peat ine . . (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press.) tos. 6d. net.
, and are not in all cases A pet bi ming ere ene. ny te. Te. Bear
See ts Poulett Scrope.—Hi Wahete pe Admiral Sir W. J. L. Wharton. Fourth edition,
= The fi eee . and | revised and enlarged, by Admiral Sir Mostyn Field.
igs 1 ie Stages in rg eerels ment of the Pp. xii+570. (London: John Murray.) 30s. net.
1 glomerule in man.—A, Krempf: Extension Psychology and Folk-lore. By Dr. R. R. Marett.
tion of oro-aboral metamerism to the internal 4
of the larva of the hexacorals (Pocillopora Pp, ix+275. (London: Methuen and Be, ay
and Serioto oO eee F 7S. 6d. net.
The o¢ eegeamipee dan 39 s5 egy a The Atlas Geographies. Part iii. Senior Geo-
sewage and of ordinary water.—R. Legroux graphy. No. 2: Europe. Pp. iv+148. seen
Mesnard: Vitamines for the culture of bacteria. W. and A. K. Johnston, Ltd.; London: Macmillan
it view that the growth of bacteria in a cul- and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. :
im stops owing to the inhibiting action of de- A Handbook of British Mosquitoes. By Dr. W. D.
1s substances is held by the author to be incor- Lang. Pp. viit125+5 plates. (London: British
ost media derived from animal or plant tissues Museum (Natural History).) 20s.
ntain more or less substances (hormones) favourin Flora of Jamaica. Vol. iv. By W. Fawcett and
cterial growth.—A. Paillot: The polymorphism o Dr. A. B. Rendle. Pp. xv+360. (London: British
cteria._S. Giaya: Zinc in the human organism. | Museum (Natural History).) 255. :
presence of zinc in the body is proved, the Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalanz in the
1 increasing with the age of the subject. British Museum. Supplement. Vol. ii. By Sir
G. F. Hampson. Pp. xxiii+619. (London: British
Museum (Natural bapa Oe aes nas ae
: Arithmetic. Part 2. By F. W. Dobbs an hs
Books Received. Marsden. Pp. xii+163+xi. (Answers.) (London:
rate Paleontology. By H. L. Hawkins. George Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 3s. 6d.
226+ xvi plates. i ae ag Methuen and Co., Elementary Algebra. Part 1. By C. V. Durell
6s. . net. i . and G. W. Palmer. Pp. viiit+256+viii. (Answers.)
l Fertilizers and Parasiticides. By S. H. | (London: George Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 3s. 6d
Pp. xii+273. (London: Bailliére, Tindall, Le Parc National Suisse. By S. Brunies. Traduit
“tos. 6d. net. par S. Aubert. Pp. 274. (Bale: B. Schwabe et Cie.)
Tube: Its Scientific Applications, | 12 francs.
By H. Pilon. ‘Translated. Die Gliederung der Australischen Sprachen. By ~
ailligre, Tindall, and Cox.) | P. W. Schmidt. Pp. xvit209. (St. Gabriel-
z Médling, bei Wien: ‘ Anthropos.’’)
as a g. By A. P. Terhune. Pp. 309. An Introduction to Sociology. By Profs jeu:
don: J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd.) 6s. net. Findlay. Pp. xi+304. (Manchester: At the Univer-
i Administration. By A. E. Berriman and | sity Press; London: Longmans and Co.) 6s. net.
y. C. Frederick. Pp. 527. 4 eee
outledge and Sons, Ltd.) 12s. ea. ae Diary of Societies.
; THURSDAY, May 6.
H. G. T. Cannons. Pp. viii+ 167. _— ahi STEEL bea ag Pisa. Ed Civil Kasiaeers) (Comey
eeting), at 10 a.m.—Dr. J. E. Stead: Inaugura ress.—E. H.
and Sons, Ltd.) los. 6d. net. Lewis: {ron Portland Cement.—At 2.30.—F. Clements: British Blast-
FAUUSE ts Life-History and _ Practical Furnace Practice. —H. E. Wright: Chemical and Thermal Conditions in
for its Suppression. By Major E. E. Austen og cae A a 8 EA . Ridsdale uae velvelie Ores and
sas ; “ ron-making Material.—J..A. Heskett: e Utilisation of Titanif
ritish Museum (Natural History).) Iron Ore in New Zealand.
er AN: net. l bes oe ery 4 gan ae paar a be gesny
tee i j jointly with the North of England and idland stetrical and Gynz-
ie Seationa 5 Stem of ce Pp. 78. (Man- colo: ie Societies), at 10.30 a.m.— Dr. H. Tweedy and Others: Discussion
niversity Fress; London : Longmans on The Treatment of Antepartum Hemorrhage.—At 2.—Dr. E. Holland
pier css, tet. and oe: ago are on Rupture of Caesarean Section Scar in Subse-
. : * quent Pregnancy or Labour.
raphy. By Prof. R. D, sag ld Third Rovat Institution or Great Britain, at 3.—R. Campbell Thompson -
. XV+676+26 plates. (New York: Henry The Legends of the Babylonians.
Rovat Society, at 4.30.—R. H. Fowler, E. C. Gallop, C. N. H. Lock, and
and Gynecology Section, con-
t 0.
: ; * . ozs H. W. Richmond: The Aerodynamics ofa Spinning Shell.—Prof. W. E.
Early a pees pa aie ink By Dre G. sg Researches on the Elastic Properties and the Paste ae
Singer. . é ndon : ce) i j of Metals.—C. T. R. Wilson: Investigations on Lightning Discharges
net P 34 ( sat University Press.) and on the Electric Field of Thunderstorms.—L. F. Richardson: ‘he
- - Supply of Energy to Atmospheric Eddies.
Committee of the Institution of Civil Engineers 5 ime porary oF onan at 5.—Dr. G. P. sea : Notes ion. Ge
’ + 5 * ysiology of Sponges. Pandorina spongiarum, a New pecies o ga
nted to Investigate the Deterioration of Struc- | — found ina Sponge.—E. J. Bedford: The British Marsh Orchids and their
tures of Timber, Metal, and Concrete exposed to the Varieties, Illustrated by Coloured Drawings and Lantern Slides.
NO. 2636, VOL. 105]
‘b
316
NATURE
[May 6, =
Cuemicat Society, at 8.—G. M. Bennett: The Mustard Gas Problem. —
C.K. tngold A New Methol of Preparing Muconic Acid.—J.
Cook and O. L. Brady: The Dinitration of s#-Acetotoluidide. oe.
bg gt daisy and M. V. Narasimaswamy : A New Ozoniser.—
. T. Morgan and H. D. K. Drew: Orthochloi art
act ‘OF ANTIQUARIES, «at 8,30.
FRIDAY, May 7.
IRON AND STREL INsTITUTE (at Institution of Civil Engineers) (General
Meeting), at r1oa.m.—C. A. Ablett : Direct Current compared with Three-
Phase Current for Driving Steel Works Plant.—J. F. Wilson: Notes on
Slag ag age ey in Open-hearth Basic S eelmaking Practice.—B. Yaneske
and G, ood: The Reduction of Silicon from the Slag in the Acid
recheck Process.—At 2.30.—W. E. Hughes: Some Defects in Flectro-
deposited Iron.—T. Baker and ‘I’. R. Russell: Note on the Ball Test.—
J. H.Whiteley: The Distribution of Phosphorus in Steel between Points
Act and Ac3.—G. F. Preston: Practical Notes on the Design and
Treatment of Steel Castings.
RovaL Soctety oF Mepicing (Laryngology Section), at 4.45.—Annual
General Meeting.
Rovat Astronomicat Soctety (Geophysical Discussion), at 5.—Prof. ©
R. A. Sampson and Others: The Use of Wire'ess Telegraphy in the Deter-
mination of Longitude,
Cuina Society (at School of Oriental Studies), at 5.30.—G. S. Boulger:
The History of Silk.
Junior Instirution oF ENGINEERS, 7-30.—J. G. McBryde:
Pulverised Fuel.
PHILOLOGICAL Sociery (at University College), at 8.—Anniversary.
Royat InstiruTion oF Great BRITAIN, at 9.—Lord soreet: The
Blue Sky and the Optical Properties of Air. :
SATURDAY, May 8.
Royat InsriruTion oF GREAT ERITAIN, at 3.—Dr. F. Chamberlin : The
Private Character of Queen Elizabeth.
BRITISH PsyCHOLOGICAL Socrery (at Bedford College), at 3.30.—Dr. E. W.
Scripture: Speech Inscriptions in Normal and Abnormal Conditions.—
A. Klein: Camouflaze in Land Warfare.
MONDA Y, May 1o.
Roya po agericatabo Society (at Lowther Lodge, Kensington Gore),
at 5.—G. Dobson: Instruments for the Navigation of Aircraft.
BriocHEMICAL Society (at Chemical Department, St. Bartholomew’s
Hospital), at Fy -39.—-T. S. Hele: The Synthesis of Mercapturic Acids
in the Dog.—R. L. Mackenzie Wallis and Archer : Improved
Methods of Analysis of the Gastric Juice.—G. Graham : The Source of
the Uric Acid txcreted in the Urine after Atophan.
Roya. Socrevy or Mepicine (War Section), at 5.30.—Annual General
Meeting.—Surg.-Capt. Bassett-Smith: Scurvy, with Special Reference
to Prophylixis in the Royal Navy.
ARISTOTELIAN Society (at 74 Grosvenor Street), at 8. —Prof, H. Wildon
Carr and Others : Discussion on Bergson’s ‘‘ Mind-Energy.”
Royat Society or Arts, at 8.—A. T, Bolton: The Decoration and
Architecture of Robert Adam and Sir John Soane, 1758-1837 (Cantor
Lecture).
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL Encineras {Graduates Association), at 8.
. B. W. Maitland: Chemistry as applied to Boilers.
Mepicat cpg or Lonpon (General Meeting), at 8.—At 9.—Sir D’Arcy
Power: v. John Ward and Med cine (Annual Oration).
SURVEYORS’ Snivewnen at 8.—S. A. Smith : Rent Problems.
_ TUESDAY, May 11.
Rovat HorricuctTurat Society, at 3.—Sir Daniel Morris:
Relative Value of Trees in Great Britain.
Roya INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Prof. A.. Keith: British
Ethnology: The Invaders of England.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF Lonpon, at 5.30.—Dr. W. J. Dakin: Fauna
of Western Australia. II. Further. Contributions to the Study of the
Onychophora.—C. Forster-Cooper : Chalicotheroidea from Baluchistan. —
Dr. T. Calman: Notes on Marine Wood- boring Animals. I. The
Shipworms (Teredinidz)
Rovat PuHorocrapuic Society oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 7 auc Papt. A.
Findlay : Some Properties of Colloidal Matter and their Applications in
Photography (Second Biennial Hurter and Driffield Memorial Lecture).
QuEKET?r MicroscopicaL Ctus (at 20 Hanover Square), at 7 30.
ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SOCIETry (at Royal Society of Arts), at 8 15.—
Annual Meeting.—Capt. J. W. Barber: Recent Developments in
Portable Types of Cinema Outfits.
WEDNESDAY, May 12.
Royat Sociery or Arts, at 4.30.—G. Hewitt: Rolls of Honour.
Royat AERONAUTICAL Society (at Royal Society of Arts), at 8.—Major
L. Hope: Some Notes on Flying-boats.
BritisH PsycHoLocicat Sociery (Education Section) (at London Day
at
The Use and
Training College), at 8.—H. Gordon: Left-handedness and Mental
Deficiency.
; THURSDAY, May 13.
Rovav InstrruTion oF GREAT BriTaltn, at 3.-—A. P. Graves: Welsh
and Irish Folk Song.
Royat Socrery, at 4.—Election of Fellows. —Probable Papers.—Dr.
A. D. Waller: Demonstration of the Apparent * Growth eit: } Plants
(and of Inanimate Materials) and of their Apparent “‘Contractility.”—
. N. F., Woodland: The ‘Renal Portal’”” System (Renal Venous
Meshwork) and Kidney Excretion in Vertebrata.
Lonvon MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil
Engineers), at 6.—S. Evershed: Permanent Magnets in Theory and
Practice.
OPpricaL SOCIETY, at 7.30.
INSTITUTION OF ‘ AUTOMOBILE EncGineers (Graduates’ Section) (at 28
Victoria Street). at °8.—W. E. Benbow: The Chemical and Physical
Properties of Iron and Steel.
a
Rovat Sociery or MEDICINE (Neurology Section), at 8.30.—Annual |
General Meeting. --Dr.'S. A. K. Wilson:
and the Occurrence of. ‘Tonic Fits.
NO. 2636, VOL. 105]
Decerebrate Rigidity in Man,
|
te aa May 14.
RoYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, @
aren Society oF MEvICINE (Clinical Section), at 5.—Annual General
eeting.
PuysicaL Society oF Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. F. Lloyd Hopwood : ‘Demon-
stration of Experiments on the Thermionic digs of Hot
Filaments.—G. D. We-t: A Modified Theory of the Cr rometer. —
A. Campbell: The Magnetic Properties of Silconinon (Stalloy) in
Alternating Fields of Low Value.—T. Smith: Tracing Rays. through
an Optical System.
MALACcoLoGicaL SocieTY oF Loypon (at Linnean Society), at 6. 4
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (Students’ Meeting a King’s
College), at 7.—E. G. Humfress: Electrical Motor Control Devices.—
The Meeting will be preceded by the Annual General Meeting. _
Rovat InstiruTion OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 9.—Prof. Karl Pearson:
Sidelights on the Evolution of Man.
SATURDAY, May 15.
Rovat Institution oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3. —Frederic Harrison:
A Philosophical Synthesis as proposed by Auguste =
‘
CONTENTS.
The Cost of Scientific Publications ......
Useful Paysiology. By A. E. B.
Service Chemistry. By Sir oe ‘Thorpe,
| Secs Ce Bi Se a 22 A oe
Euclid’s Elements, By G. B Mc. ee
The Earliest Flint Implements ......
The Heat TreatmentofCastIron.....
Our Bookshelf . guts i. ee
Letters to the Editor:—
Organisation of Scientific Work.—Sir
Rogers,
The Small Islands of Almost- ‘Atolls.—Prof, w.
Dav s
Scientific Apparatus from Abroad.—Prof, W:
Bayliss, F.R.S.,
The Cost of Laboratory Fittings. —Alan E. iauobs:
The Standard of Atomic bib: —Dr. hii ici
Miall . sie
The Mole Cricket. (Illustrated.)— “FV. Bee 204
The Op ophone: An Instrument for Reading by
Ear. (lllustrated.) By Dr. E, E, Fournier d’Albe 295
The Kalahari and Ovamboland. Ca By > fre
Prof. E. H. L. Schwarz: os > 297
The Royal Academy. By J. S. A RRR <j 300
Obituary :— : L’
Capt. E. W. Creak, C.B., F.R.S. By T. ii spo
Sir Edmund Giles Loder, "Batt. By Right Han, big ae
Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bait., F.Ri6., ee SOE
Prof. Wilhelm Pfeffer, For,Mem.R.S.. By a
VV. B. ‘ ebay + 4) + tei ee
Notes. ee
Our Astronomical Column :— ap tee
The Lunar Eclipse . . . See ee oe ee
The Nature of Photographic Images PEIN er Sie see
The Binary Krueger 60. ol ene eg
Leonardo da Vinci. By Edward McCurdy ERS
Public Support of Scientific Research ......
American Agricultural Research, By W. E. Bis
Canadian Water-Power Development . 2 ee E
The Solar Eclipse of May, 1919. . © )g11
The Manufacture of ma SG Ammonia and Pro-
duction of Nitrates . . i Pew ey ee
New Ordnance Survey Maps = phot dis BEe |
University and Educational Intelligence . oo by ee ey
Societies and Academies... . . «4. + + t+ « 313)
Books Received . , . js. 60s pon eee
Diary of Sosieties.. . 6.) 65 eqs ee
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.z2.
Advertisements and haitacte letters to be addressed to ‘the
_ Publishers. ; be aaee oS
Editorial] Communications to the Editor. -
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8839,
NATURE
317
THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1920.
The Federation of Science.
» referred last week to the harassed con-
. dition in which many scientific societies
4 hod themselves in consequence of the greatly
. increased cost of publication of papers communi-
b. ~ cated to them, and other additional expenses
F involved in the rise in prices. While the incomes
_ remain much the same as they were before the
_ war, the essential expenditure has become so
_ much greater in proportion to them that. the
outlook is depressing to contemplate. Any
_ increases in subscriptions which would prevent
‘the younger scientific workers from joining
learned societies, or cause a number of present
_ members to resign would be detrimental not only
_ to British science, but also to the extension of
_ natural knowledge and to the welfare of mankind.
The fields are ripe, and more labourers are now
‘being trained to work in them than ever before,
‘but if advantage is to be taken of the harvest,
machinery for carrying it must be provided, and
‘granaries built in which it can be stored. As
‘is cut by voluntary workers, and they are
perplexed because they cannot see how they
“are: to pay for the construction of a building
3 in to store’ it for the benefit. of the
4 ‘aeetrmsnity.
‘We are painfully wiincnited of this association of
. tiga: motive with restricted effectiveness by the
_ “third annual report, which reached us a few days
_ -ago’ and is summarised on another page, of the
_ -Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies. The Board
_ was constituted in 1916 for the purpose of “ pro-
_ -moting the co-operation of those interested in
4 ‘pure or applied science; supplying a means by
: ‘which the scientific opinion of the country may,
on matters relating to science, industry, and
_ ‘education, find effective expression; taking such
_ action as may be necessary to promote. the
_ application of science to our industries and to the
service of the nation; and discussing. scientific
_ questions in which. international co-operation
_ seems desirable.” In the main, these objects are
much the same as those of the British Science
_ Guild, founded by Sir Norman Lockyer in 1905,
but the constitutions of the two bodies are dif-
aoaonae Whereas the British Science Guild aims
at securing the active interest and support of all
-members of the public who desire to promote the
application of science and scientific method to
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
things are at present, most of the scientific grain
‘plate the future with serious misgiving.
national and provincial affairs of every kind,
membership of the Conjoint Board is limited to
representatives nominated by scientific and tech-
nical societies.
The total number of constituent societies now
represented on the Board is fifty-seven, and it
includes practically all the leading British societies
concerned with the advancement: of science and
technology. The Royal Society sends four repre-
sentatives, and the other societies one or two, the
total number being eighty-seven, and including
leaders in all departments of science and techno-
logy. We have, therefore, in the Board a federa-
tion or union which can faithfully represent joint
opinion upon any scientific or technical matter of
national importance submitted to it. The organ-
isation is thus admirable for its purposes, but, as
in all like British institutions, it has not the means
to carry out its aims and objects. The funds of
the Board are derived from contributions from the
constituent societies, and these amounted last year
to about Gool. Three societies have intimated that
they are unable to make a contribution this year,
owing apparently to the necessity for limiting in
every possible direction the claims upon their
incomes, so that this splendid organisation not
only finds its activities hampered through a miser-
ably inadequate income, but must also contem-
For
though British science may organise itself, it has
not the means to provide the motive power for
the machinery it has created.
How different the conditions are in the United
States may be judged from the article upon the
National Research Council printed elsewhere in
this issue. Like the Conjoint Board—or Federa-
tion, as it should have been called, to prevent
confusion with the medical Conjoint Board—the
National Research Council was started by men of
science themselves, and represents their efforts to
mobilise the whole strength of American science
for the promotion of national well-being and the
advance of science itself.. While recognised by the
United States Government, the Council was not
organised by it, and is not supported by it. The
Council’s funds are derived from private sources,
and the Carnegie Corporation alone has con-
tributed no less than one million pounds, which
is the amount given by our Government in 1916
in establishing the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research “for the conduct of research
for the benefit of the national industries on a
co-operative basis.’’ The Council has permanent
headquarters at Washington, with an executive
; M
318
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
staff of men of science giving their whole time
to the work of their respective positions. While
it favours well-planned co-operation and organised
effort in connection with the solution of particular
problems, it is opposed to all attempts at central
control of research, and to any action which may
hamper the individual investigator or hinder
personal initiative.
The National Research Council has thus like
functions to those of our Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research, but its constitution is
different, and approaches more closely that of
the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies. It is
not financed by the U.S. Government, and is,
therefore, not a Government bureau, but a federa-
tion of the principal research agencies in the
United States concerned with the fields of science
and technology. Men of science in America are
fortunate in securing the generous support of
private benefactors for the work of their National
Council. They are in consequence perfectly free
to determine their own policy and to shape their
own destiny, untrammelled by any of the con-
ditions laid down by administrators unfamiliar
with their spirit or their service.
Much of the misunderstanding which exists
among many of our men of science concerning the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
would be avoided if the constitution of the Depart-
ment were on the democratic lines of the National
Research Council. We do not wish to depreciate
the work of the Department in the slightest—-
indeed, its very important activities in some direc-
tions have often been commented upon in our
columns—but we think the work could be
extended and made more effective if the suspicion
of bureaucratic control could be removed com-
pletely by placing responsibility for it more defin-
itely upon the body of scientific opinion. The men
who administer the grants in aid made by the
Royal Society, British Association, and other
scientific societies represent the fellows or mem-
bers of these societies, and are not appointed by
other persons or bodies. This is the case also in
the National Research Council, and we suggest
that our Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research might relieve itself of the criticism to
which it is sometimes subjected by making its
Advisory Council similarly representative of scien-
tific opinion.
Even if this change of constitution cannot be
readily made, we have in the Conjoint Board a
means at hand of removing existing objections.
The Department might make the Board a part of
NO. 2627. voL. 1o<]
its administrative machinery and pay it an annual
retaining fee for service in a consultative capacity,
without giving it any executive functions. The
Board would thus serve as liaison officer between
the: Department and scientific societies, and science
workers as a body would share responsibility
with the Department in the selection of subjects.
for investigation which should be supported,
and of, societies to which these might suitably
be entrusted. If our rich citizens and corpora-
tions were as generously disposed towards science
and education as those of the United States, the
Conjoint Board would be able to carry on its work
as effectively as the National Research Council,
without connection with a Department of Govern-
ment. There is, however, little hope that such
aid will be forthcoming, and in its absence the
Department could with advantage use an organ- —
isation very similar in constitution to the National
Research Council, but, unfortunately, without “
funds to do like service for science.
Though the Conjoint Board was associated
with the establishment of the Department of Scien- _
tific and Industrial Research, it has hitherto
received little aid from the Department, and has
had to carry on its very useful work mainly
through its own slender resources. Among the
important subjects dealt with by committees of
the Board are the application of science to agri-
culture, national instruction in technical optics,
the possible relation between magnetic anomalies.
and the presence of iron ores, water-power of the
British Empire, timber for aeroplane construction,
glue and other adhesives, Patent Laws, and the
need for a joint building for scientific and tech-
nical societies. In New York there is a splendid
building of this kind, and the National Research
Council proposes to expend 200,000l. on its head-
quarters. Here there is nothing to compare with
such accommodation for joint housing and meet-
ings of scientific and technical workers. Science
has organised itself in the Board as well as shown
directions in which organised effort may profitably
move. What is wanted now is what scientific —
workers are unable themselves to provide, namely,
sufficient funds to enable the Board to continue —
and extend its operations on a firm financial basis. —
We hope the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research will be able to afford some aid —
of this kind, while we pray that private bene-
factors will arise who will place the Board in the —
same independent and strong scientific position —
as is enjoyed by the National Research Council _
of the United States.
oes 1S ree Sed
May 73, 1920]
| a
NATURE
319
Lord Kitchener as a Scientific Worker.
Life of Lord Kitchener. By Sir George Arthur.
In three volumes. Vol. i. Pp. xxvi+326.
‘Vol. ii. Pp. xi+346. Vol. iii. Pp. xi+413.
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,. 1920.)
Price 21. 12s. 6d. net.
XIR GEORGE ARTHUR'S account of the work
J of the eminent soldier and administrator who
the subject of his three volumes is impressive
not only on account of the series of successes
lich Lord Kitchener obtained in different and
ssimilar fields, but also because of the methods
by which so much was attained, for the biography
_ is presented with such vividness that the careful
reader can discern the man apart from his work.
_ It is true that many of the episodes in the career
_ of Lord Kitchener are mentioned with scarcely a
comment,
desirable.
where expansion would have been
Nevertheless, there is sufficient for
2 interest and instruction in the mere relation of the
Pa
4 part. To have dealt with them in detail would
_ perhaps have unduly expanded the volumes.
_. Kitchener possessed a variety of qualities and
Stirring events in which he played so prominent a
astes obvious only to his intimates. Those not
in intimate official relation with him in his work
cannot readily form a conception of his methods.
ow much of his inflexibility he owed to his never
ving been cast in the public-school mould it is
"impossible to say, but to his early scientific train-
_ ing and his scientific tastes he no doubt owed the
ision and accuracy which he required from
_ those about him and to which he subjected *him-
self. He was a quick thinker, readily grasping
_ the conceptions of others, rapid in his decisions,
*
‘rejecting or accepting proposals with astonishing
_ celerity. The initiative always lay with him. It
‘was he who gave scientific form to all his own
_ projects. The spirit was his. It is the personality
‘of the man which interests us as we pass from
_ work to work. :
_ ~ His methods were not those of the orthodox
administrator, and: we cannot conceive Kitchener
_ Sheltering himself behind committees, though
he frequently summoned conferences.
_ Salisbury, in his preface to the book, describes
_ him as a man of sentiment, and pre-eminently as a
man of imagination.
_ but it would be a mistake to suppose that, “bold
_ and independent” as was his mind, he under-
_ valued the opinions of experts who ventured to
_ question his conclusions.
.
Al
o
Lord
Nothing can be more true;
If he never argued, he
_ ‘was ready to listen, and the latitude which he
_ Save to a subordinate in devising means to an
was the measure of that confidence he reposed
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
in his staff which was his marked. characteristic.
His conclusions were ever his own, and were
irrevocable. Although to him the end was every-
thing, he was less impatient of detail than is
generally supposed. For precedent, of course, he
cared nothing.
The truth appears to be that Kitchener’s early
scientific training profoundly influenced him in his
subsequent career. That earnestness which he
displayed in the solution of engineering under-
takings was as evident in his readiness to adapt
new knowledge in any branch of science to the
solution of his administrative problems, and
experts could readily discern the scientific method
by which he reached his conclusions, for he
reasoned from facts. As Sir George Arthur
alludes only very briefly to the influence which
Kitchener, as Commander-in-Chief in India,
exerted on the reduction of disease and invaliding
incidence in the Army of India, this influence is
likely to be overlooked. In the history of this
branch of Army administration the work of the
Commander-in-Chief must always occupy a pro-
minent place. Here he left a permanent monu-
ment to himself. It would have been strange
had it been otherwise, for by his previous train-
ing and experience problems of public health were
certain to appeal'to him by reason of their bear-
ing upon Army efficiency, and so we read :—
“Recent discoveries in bacteriology facilitated
a systematic investigation which Kitchener, after
the conference of 1905, instituted into the causation
and origin of these maladies: a campaign against
the house-fly, with its nidus in the night-soil
accumulated near cantonments, and the mosquito
—the recognised agents of the two diseases—
resulted in a most significant drop of nearly one-
half in the death and sickness rates. Stringent
preventive regulations were issued as to sanita-
tion, inoculation for malaris [sic], the purification
of water, and the preservation of all food and
drink from contamination; and it was perempt-
orily ordered that all persons—British or Native
—before being employed in the preparation of any
sort of eatables intended for the troops, should
undergo a medical examination. Depots were
also established in the hills for enteric convales-
cents, often carriers, who had hitherto not been
sufficiently recognised as a source of danger to
their comrades; and technical training in hygiene
was provided for selected N.C.O.’s and men, each
of these sanitary sections being supervised by a
medical officer.”
Similarly we see in other incidents the influence
of Kitchener’s early training and his scientific
sympathies in many of his _ epoch-making
measures. He was a lover of learning, and had
that delight in it which we are told he endeavoured
to inculcate in the students of the Staff College
320
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
at Quetta. His foundation of this college and
his establishment of the’ institution at Khartum
are evidence sufficient of his interest in education.
Indeed, in his knowledge of science and in his
appreciation of its utility Kitchener may be said
to stand alone amongst great military adminis-
trators.
We get some clue to the Kitchener method if
we bear these facts in mind, and we are enabled
to see how, forsaking the practice of a scientific
profession for the more ambitious sphere of civil
administration and diplomacy, varying these with
intervals of command of armies in peace and war,
ending as an organiser of victory, he accomplished
his ends with such extraordinary success.
No account of the life and work of this man
will ever be complete which neglects a considera-
tion of the influence exerted upon him by his early
education. Kitchener understood the language of
men of science. Consciously or unconsciously he
adopted their methods. He was never out of date.
We get a clue to his dislike of the bureaucrat,
to his hatred of red tape, and to his contempt for
precedent and of War Office methods, if we bear
these in mind. We are not surprised when we
hear that he “would rather sweep a crossing”
than go to the War Office, for freedom to work
on new lines—“ always a learner,”’as his biographer
tells us—was the very essence of. the Kitchener
method. When Lord Curzon and Lord Haldane
characterised his organisation of the Army in India
as “scientific” they were nearer the mark than
perhaps even they recognised; for in the widest
acceptation of the term Kitchener was a man of
science, and Sir George Arthur’s record of his
remarkable career will find many appreciative
readers in the scientific world.
The Nation’s Food.
Food Supplies in Peace and War. By Sir R.
Henry Rew. Pp. vii+183. (London: Long-
mans, Green, and Co., 1920.) Price 6s. 6d.
net.
IR HENRY REW has the happy and unusual
faculty of making statistics interesting; in-
deed, the. only time when he is less interesting
than usual is when he is quoting fewer figures. In
this little book he has brought together the vital
statistics of British food supplies and set them
out: they tell their own tale so plainly that even
the ordinary non-statistical person can under-
stand. ;
The book was badly needed, for it is highly im-
portant that the average man should realise the
facts. Unfortunately, agricultural policy is a
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
matter for politics and emotions, and political con~
siderations have sometimes been more in evidence
than facts or business principles. Recently a
bishop wrote to the Times making the aston-
ishing statement that he thought the bread
subsidy was paid to farmers to encourage corn
production. If such amazing. lack of knowledge
can occur in high places, what must be the state
of the ordinary voter’s mind? Sir Henry Rew’s
book will supply the facts for those who “> take
the trouble to read it. 3
In the first chapter he deals with the a ll a
as it was before the war, when we had a con-
siderable balance of money due from abroad which
we could take either in food or in other com-
modities. The general result is shone in- ane
ronemnne. table :—
Weigh in metric tons used in the :
nited Kingdom per annum.t
pate Imported. Total.
Cereals 1,010,000 | 3,855,000 | 4,865,000
Meat 1,615,000 | 1,070,C00 | 2,685,000
Poultry, eggs, game and
rabbits... : 170,000 161,000 331,000
Fish . 715,500 | 132,900 | 848,400
Dairy " produce (including
lard and margarine) 4,704,000 | 527,800 | 5,231,800
Fruit ; 341,000 | 930,000 oc
Potatoes and other vege-
tables 4,788,000 | 694,000 5,482, 000
Sugar (including cocoa and
chocolate) wu be — 1,657,000 | I 657,000
1 A certain amount of cottage and farm produce is not included in the
above fable. ;
About one-fifth of the cereals, more than half
the meat, and nine-tenths of the dairy produce —
and of the potatoes were home-grown. The total
amount of foodstuffs, home-grown and imported,
was considerable, and the nation was amply sup-
plied with food. In 1913 the main sources of
supply outside the United Kingdom were, in order
of value of shipments, the United States, Argen-
tina, Denmark, Canada, India, Australia, Russia,
the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Austria-
Hungary, France, Spain, and Ceylon.
‘The second section of the book deals with ik
time conditions. The outbreak of the war came,
no doubt deliberately, at the time when the
harvest of Central Europe was practically all
gathered in, and when, therefore, there were
ample stocks of food for a year.
wheat crop in the United States was good, and
although in Canada it was short, the total North —
American supply was well above the average. The
year 1915 opened -badly, as the Russian supplies
were cut off in February. The situation was saved,
we ee
On our side the |
if bP
_ May 33, 1920]
NATURE
321
er, by the heavy crops in India and Argen-
. Australia considerably increased her wheat
as did also the United States and Canada;
, during the first year of the war the wheat
ea of the world was extended by more than
,00 9,000 acres. In the later years of the war the
aly ; a great effort was therefore made after the
ot 1916 to increase food production in the
ted Kingdom. The methods 2nd results have
1 discussed from time to time in these columns :
eke result was a steady increase in pro-
right up to 1918, the figures for the
ted seetom being in thousands :-—
Poche manures were scarce and implements difficult
to repair, and when most of the skilled men were
gone, their places being taken by old people,
ey women, and children. But these substitutes
worked with a will, and amply made up in en-
; m what they lacked in skill. Even the
hi; zh Saigon of 1918 was not the maximum
ossible, and had the conditions persisted, even
sher results could have been obtained.
e last section of the book deals with post-
‘ ‘conditions. Serious fears had been enter-
tained as to the food supplies of the world;
tunately, these have not been realised, and
alt pongh food is undoubtedly scarce and will re-
“main so there is no reason to fear famine, and
in the main the people of Europe, thourh still
suffering privation, are better fed than they were
in 1918. It is difficult to say what the position
is likely to be in the near future, but the redeem-
3 ‘ing feature is the rapidity with which agriculture
has been restarted in the devastated areas of France
and Belgium. Of the 4,000,000 acres. damaged
_by the war, nearly a quarter were handed back
to the cultivators before a year had elapsed.
On the other hand, agriculturists in our own coun-
try are not producing so much as they did. The
~ withdrawal of the women from the land and their
~ replacement by men coincided with a considerable
fall in production, which is distinctly unfortunate.
A further fall is anticipated as a result of the
"shortened hours of labour.
Other countries, however, are in a worse pre-
‘ NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
y was one of transport rather than of total
dicament. Russia, formerly one of the chief
wheat-producing countries of the world, is unlikely
to have any exportable surplus, and the position
in Central Europe is still very obscure. Sir
Henry Rew is not greatly perturbed, but thinks
that if the social and political conditions of Europe
became settled, its food production would rise to
pre-war level in the course of two or three years.
He is also quite hopeful about the position in this
country. No student of British agriculture can
ever give up hope of the future, and Sir Henry
Rew is one of the leaders of the helpful band of
optimists. E. J. RusseELL.
Differential Geometry.
The Elementary Differential Geometry of Plane
Curves. By R. H. Fowler. (Cambridge Tracts
in Mathematics and Mathematical Physics.
No. 20.) Pp. vii+105. (Cambridge: At the
University Press, 1920.) Price 6s. net.
IFFERENTIAL geometry is a fascinating
D subject, because it gives us vivid and pic-
turesque embodiments of theorems obtained by
the combination of several branches of pure
analysis, such as algebra, function-theory, and the
infinitesimal calculus. It presents us with prob-
lems of all degrees of difficulty, from the compara-
tively simple theory of curvature and torsion to
the provokingly difficult question of geodesics.
The present tract is just what its title indicates,
except that there are a few digressions on twisted
curves and on surfaces. The work has two con-
spicuous merits; in applying the differential cal-
culus, the assumptions made are explicitly pointed
out, and proper attention is paid to the deter-
mination of sign. The latter point is particularly
important, not only because an error in sign is
the one most frequently committed in computation,
but also because, if a consistent determination of
sign is not. strictly adhered to, the formule of
analytical and even of pure geometry cease to
have general validity. Even now our text-books,
especially in analytical geometry, pay so little
attention to this matter that a university teacher
has to spend much valuable time on this topic with
intermediate students, and too frequently finds, to
his disgust, that even an honours student is not so
careful as he should be in the matter of sign.
Mr. Fowler’s chapters on tangents and normals,
curvature, contact and envelopes, leave little, if
anything, to be desired. The chapter on envelopes
is the most thorough-going, and suggests a couple
of remarks. The elimination of a from the equa-
tions f(x,y,a)=0,0//®a=0 leads to a definite locus
322
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
which may break up into a number of. distinct,
irreducible curves. How far any one of these
curves should be considered to form a part of the
envelope proper depends upon our definition of
“envelope.” For instance, in the author’s
example (p. 61)—
(y—a)?—x8—o0,
the a-eliminant is x80, which is a cusp-locus:
Mr. Fowler refuses to regard this as an envelope,
but if we regard the cusps as limiting forms of
nodes, we may fairly regard x=o as the limit of
an envelope. However, this is a matter of slight
importance, because each case that occurs can
be treated independently.
On p. 60 we have the example—
a*f + (2a+1)h=o,
where the a-eliminant is h(h—f)=o, and neither
h=o nor h—f=o is an envelope. If we put
(2a+1)/a2—=8, the family of curves is f+Bh=o,
and the f-eliminant is h=o. It seems worth
while to direct attention to this apparent dis-
crepancy, because similar cases occur in problems
of maxima and minima, etc. If, starting with
f+Bh=o, we replace B by (2a+1)/a2, we obtain,
by variation of a, the same pencil of curves; but,
generally speaking, each curve occurs twice, and,
as a rule, for different values of a. If B= —1,
(a+1)?=0, and the curve f—h=o counts twice
for the double value a= —r1, and hence f-h=o
occurs in the a-eliminant, though it does
not appear in the B-eliminant. Similar results, of
a more complicated kind, occur if in f+ Bho we
put B= ¢(a)/Y(a), where ¢(a), Y(a) are any poly-
nomials in a.
In his last two chapters we think Mr. Fowler
has rather lost his sense of proportion. In the
eight pages devoted to the singular points of
plane curves, scarcely anything more is attempted
than a discussion of ordinary nodes and cusps;
on the other hand, fourteen pages are filled with
the theory of rectilinear and curvilinear asymptotes,
and many of the results may fairly be said to
be more interesting in function-theory than in
geometry proper.
The author has conscientiously given references
to the text-books which he has more or less fol-
lowed in his exposition; but there is no biblio-
graphy of original papers, such as add greatly
to the value of other tracts in this series. We
hope that in future editions this want will be
supplied; reference should at least be made to
Puiseux, Weierstrass, Smith, and Halphen in con-
nection with singular points. .G. B. M.
NO. 2637, VOL. 105]
A Garden in the Dunes.
Arcachon, Ville de Santé: Monographie Scien-
tifique et Médicale. By Dr. F. Lalesque.
Pp. vilit+ 798. (Paris: Masson et Cie, 1919.)
Price 25 francs net.
lina handsome volume is mainly a justification
of Arcachon as a health-resort, and it should
appeal to those who feel the attractions of a life
in France, and yet shrink from the crowd and
cosmopolitan gaiety of the Mediterranean Riviera.
The author is not content, however, with giving
climatic temperature-charts, records of rainfall,
and views of exercises on the shore and of yach
on the broad sea-basin. He has made a “regional
survey” of his district, and the details of the
natural history will provide matter of much
interest to those who sojourn in the town. The
modern “town” is a veritable garden city,
especially developed in the last twenty years
in accordance with Dr. Lalesque’s scheme for la
cure libre, and the separate villas provided in the
ville d’hiver among the woods offer the patient the
cheerful encouragements of family life in place
of the more formal control of the sanatorium.
The sand-dunes have been captured, as it were,
and converted into shelters, while the fishing
village on the open northern strand has been
enlarged as a place for summer bathing.
Arcachon, indeed, began its career of usefulness
when Francois Legallais, a retired sea-captain,
imported from India to its desolate sand-hills the
idea of the bungalow in 1823. Dr. Lalesque gives
us, in a few brief lines, a sketch of this rather
captivating incident in human settlement and
geography. His range of vision is wide. He
interests us equally in the wind-worn grains of
magnetite brought northward from the great fan-
deltas of the Adour system; in the “alios,” a
ferruginous conglomerate formed as an iron-pan
in the subsoil, the permeability of which has now
been triumphantly established; in the health of
the oyster, an inoffensive creature, infected with
typhoid germs entirely by the carelessness of man;
and in the diatoms that flourish in the Lac de
Cazeaux, to the actual benefit, it appears, of the
water-supply of Arcachon. Dr, Lalesque in 1890
made an independent investigation of the irritating
power on the human skin of the processionary
caterpillar, the larva of Bombyx pityocampa,
which inhabits the pine-trees of the coast, and he —
concludes that the hairs which cause urticaria are
scattered from the nests of the insect by the wind.
Even this affection seems trivial at Arcachon; we
can imagine a visitor, temporarily inclined to
irritation, being calmed by Dr. Lalesque’s
a
May 13, 1920]
NATURE
323
€ a husiasm and by his introduction to the fascinat-
ing work of Fabre.
_ The: author shows us Arcachon, not as a
_ modern creation on a promontory in a featureless
_ lagoon, but as the product of great natural forces,
conspiring for the health of man. The winds
_ blow over it fraught with warmth from tropic
“waters; the sands are kept from wandering by
3 growth of aromatic pines; and the subsoils
E that can be traced southward across the vast
‘Pliocene estuary of the Landes represent for the
aturalist the spoils of the Central Plateau and
1 ~Pyrenees. Like Prof. Tornquist in East
Prussia (Nature, vol. Ixxxv., p. 468), but with a
— little more professional formality, Dr. Lalesque
__ has conquered in a field that offered little promise
to the unobservant eye. G.'A. J. C.
Our Bookshelf.
q Iron Bacteria. By Dr, David Ellis. Pp. xix+
- -179+v plates. (London: Methuen and Co.,
_ _ Ltd., 1919.) Price ros. 6d. net.
_ In this book Dr. David Ellis has compiled a
monograph on a subject which he has largely
made his own, and on which he can speak with
first-hand knowledge. The group of micro-
_ organisms discussed is important, and one
_ of the makers of geological history, for many
of the bog iron ores owe their formation largely
to the activities of iron bacteria, and other iron
_ ores may be due to the same cause. In modern
_ life these organisms are of importance to the
_ ‘water engineer in relation to water reservoirs,
_ the corrosion of conduit pipes, and the general
appearance and clarity of water supplies.
_ The iron bacteria are a heterogeneous group
__ of organisms, scarcely bacteria in the’strict sense,
_ belonging to several genera—Leptothrix, Clado-
_ thrix, Crenothrix, and others. The iron is col-
lected from the water in which they live, and
_ stored in a concentrated state as ferric hydroxide
_ in the mucilaginous sheaths which surround their
bodies. The ferruginous deposit in the membrane
is often so great that it exceeds the volume of
organism itself, and the iron-impregnated
membrane may persist for long after the dissolu-
tion of the organism.
Some of these organisms may occasionally
multiply in a very short time to such an extent
as in the course of a few weeks to change entirely
the character of the water in which they are
eg as was the case at Cheltenham in 1896.
ey may also cause encrustations in the pipes,
and the group is therefore of considerable
economic importance. Six species are fully
described, and methods of treatment to retard
their activities in water supplies are detailed. The
book is well produced and illustrated, and forms
a standard work on the subject.
ie A 2
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
Meteorology for All: ‘hitless some Weather Prob-
lems Explained. By Donald W. Horner. With
an Introduction by M. de Carle S. Salter.
Pp. xvit+184+ vii plates. (London: Witherby
and Co., 1919.) Price 6s. net.
THE science of the weather may well make a
wider appeal than any other branch of science,
and the opening for a book which is not only
scientifically accurate, but also simple and easily
comprehended, is therefore very great. The
author of the present work has realised that the
opening exists, and has endeavoured to fill it, but
his attempt can scarcely be considered successful.
A few quotations will illustrate the nature of the
book. In estimating cloud amounts on the scale
o-10 we are told that “if there is one cloud upon
the horizon or in any part of the sky we put: ee?
For obtaining’ true bearings from a compass, “the
magnetic variation in the British Isles is now
14° W.’”’ Again: ‘‘ There is no more sure pre-
cursor of a gale than the ‘ wind-dog,’ or coloured
parhelion ’’ (p. 2), which may possess some degree
of truth, but scarcely seems compatible with:
“When these halos are coloured and accompanied
by parhelia or mock suns, they generally precede
very dry weather” (p. 110). Even in such a
simple matter as giving the equivalent velocities
of the Beaufort numbers, the author falls into
error. Some chapters are better than others, but
the book can certainly not be recommended as a
safe guide to put into the hands of the non-techni-
cal reader without previous knowledge of meteor-
ology. Fess) ae
The Psychology of the Future. (“L’Avenir des
- Sciences Psychiques.”) By Emile Boirac.
Translated and edited with an introduction by
W. de Kerlor. Pp. xiii+322. (London:
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, and Co., Ltd.,
n.d.) Price 1os. 6d. net.
THE author deals with the more debatable classes
of psychical phenomena discussed at the Paris
Congresses of Experimental Psychology of 1911
and 1913, and defined as “the phenomena which,
produced in animate beingss or as an effect of their
action, do not seem to be entirely explicable by
the laws and forces of nature already known.”
They are classified as: Hypnoidal, including dis-
sociation of personality and “cryptopsychism”
(subconscious action) ; magnetoidal, which are sup-
posed to comprise mesmerism, telepathy, and
“‘hyloscopic ” phenomena (unexplained actions of
inanimate objects on animate beings); and spirit-
oidal, which imply agents of a_ psychological
nature more or less analogous to human intelli-
gence. The author proposes the term “bi-
actinism ” (bio-actinism?) for any phenomena in
which a radiating influence is apparently exerted
at a distance over other animate beings. For
“clairvoyance,” or knowledge obtained by certain
individuals apparently independently of the
normal , Senses, he prefers the term “meta-
gnomy.” On the question of the spiritistic hypo-
thesis the author maintains a non-committal atti-
tude.
324
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex-
pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to
return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu-
scripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]
The Indian Ghemical Service.
Ir would, perhaps, have been better if the writer of the
leading article entitled ‘‘The Organisation of Scientific
Work in India,’’ published in Nature of February 19,
had held his hand until he had obtained further in-
formation concerning the proposed organisation. The
report of the Indian Industrial Commission dealt only
with the general question, and left the elaboration of
any scheme, if such were considered desirable, to
special committees which were to be appointed at a
later date. The special committees were to be given
a free hand, and were left to approach the problem
from an unbiassed point of view.
I was not a member of the Indian Industrial Com-
mission, but there is nothing in the report which
indicates that the Commission was in favour of a
centralised system of scientific services under Govern-
ment control such as that which is condemned in the
article, and still more emphatically condemned by
those who have contributed to the ensuing correspond-
ence. As a matter of fact, if the Industrial Commis-
sion had recommended such a course, it would not
have been supported for one moment by the Chemical
Services Committee, over which I had the honour to
preside. Indeed, my colleagues and I, as old inves-
tigators, would have been fully alive to the absurdity
of any such proposal.
I should like to make my position clear by referring
to the conditions we found to prevail in India and to
the remedies which we considered necessary in order
that the great natural resources of the country might
be developed, but I should preface my remarks by
saying that I speak for chemistry alone. Other
sciences must formulate their own schemes in a
manner best suited to their particular requirements.
The problem presented was twofold: First, the
position of the chemists in India, and, secondly, the
position of the Indian chemical industry. The posi-
tion of chemists we found to be exceedingly unsatis-
factory. There are in all about fifty chemists in India,
and most of them are attached to established Govern-
ment Services, such as forestry, agriculture, medicine,
geology, ordnance, and education. In the main,
the chemists, although working in the Services, were
not attached to them—that is to say, they were in
the position of hirelings without any claim to the
advantages attaching to Service membership and with-
out the possession of the esprit de corps which charac-
terises such membership. They were, moreover, for
the most part working in isolated positions in the
different provinces, and were without any means by
which they could press their claims on the official lay
mind. In consequence, they were in many cases
receiving totally inadequate salaries, and were, in
fact, often regarded as some kind of freak druggist—
a point of view which is even more prevalent in
India than in England. It was clear that the only
way by which the chemist in India could be brought
to occupy a financial and social position which his
education and training demanded was to place him
on an equality with members of other Government
Services.
The problem of the chemist was therefore a straight-
forward one, and was, in our opinion, open to one
answer only. The other point, that of the Indian
chemical industry, is perhaps rather more complex.
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
_ In the first place, there can be no question, I think,
that research in chemistry must be divided into pure
research and industrial research. It is true that there
is no sharp line of division, but in their extreme forms
pure research is carried out entirely for the advance-
ment of knowledge, and is without obvious practical
bearing, whereas industrial research is done for the
advancement and development of industry. The
Chemical Services Committee has recomme that
pure chemical research should be left to the universi-
ties and university institutions, the obvious duty of
which is to carry it out.
chemists attached to university institutions should be
normally members of the Service, but it is asked that
the universities and university colleges should under-
‘take to train men for recruitment into the Service in
the manner recommended by the Committee. _
The Committee considers that recruits should have
the following training :— ae
(1) An honours degree in chemistry in the first or
second class or its equivalent. gh
(2) Training in engineering (machine drawing and
workshop practice) where such training has not formed
part of the course under (1).
(3) One or two years’ training in the methods of
chemical research under someone competent to train
in research.
It is not proposed to institute any system of training
within the Service, excepting, of course, such practical
training as will normally accrue during the working of
the Service, and it is asked that the universities and
university institutions should give the necessary train-
ing under (3) above. For this purpose it is recom-
mended that maintenance and: equipment grants
should be given to promising students to enable them
to undergo this training subsequent to graduation.
The Committee considered that, provided the trainer
were a man of recognised ability, the question of the
subject in which the student should be trained could
be safely left to him. It agreed that instruction in
the methods of chemical research, received after a
course such as that given above, was the best train- _
ing a man could have to develop any initiative and
enthusiasm which he might possess,. and that a man
‘so trained ought to be able to turn his hand to any-
thing chemical.
In the case of industrial research it must be remem-
bered that chemistry in one form or another under-
lies most industries, and that in India the following
conditions are present: (a) Great natural resources;
(b) lack of scientific chemical help to develop these
resources; and (c) a public very shy to risk capital
without some real assurance of the value of the process
it is proposed to finance.
Obviously, the best means for advancing chemical
industry is for the firms or combination of firms
engaged in the industry to establish research labora-
tories and to work out their own problems by the
aid of their own chemists. This is an ideal which
the Indian Chemical Service will be formed to foster.
It will, for example, help any member of the Service
who wishes to pass out into the industry, and it will
second members of the Service for temporary employ-
ment to firms who wish to investigate any particular
problem. But at the present time there are few manu- —
facturers who employ chemists, and it is evident that
some steps are necessary not only to demonstrate to
the manufacturer the value of research in connection
with his manufacture, but also to demonstrate the
possibilities of any particular process to anyone wish-
ing to invest capital and start a new industry.
Who is to do this? There is, we think, only one
answer, namely, that, as it is to the interest of the
State as well as of the manufacturer to develop
It is not proposed that the
,.
voip pees { aeemmteet I tei eke Bl
Veo,
Sh Sot
Ne aL
a
a
May 13, 1920]
NATURE
375.
ustry, it is the duty of the State to convince the
rer of the value and necessity of research in
mection with his work.
e Indian Chemical Service will have research
itutes in the centres of industry of every province.
® will be in close touch with the works and with
S conditions, and deal with questions of
diate agian importance submitted by manu-
turers. hey will also carry out research work in
nection with the establishment of new industries,
| develop a process as far as the unit factory
e. In some cases it will be necessary, in order to
strate the value of a process, to erect pioneer
ss and work them on the complete commercial
Each institute will be under a director of
central Imperial institute will be located at Dehra
_ It will be under the Director-General of the
vical Service, and contain laboratories for
nic and physical chemistry, organic chemistry,
eal chemistry, and metallurgical chemistry,
‘controlled by a deputy-director. Questions in-
ag fundamental research arising out of the work
provincial institutes will be dealt with here, as
as the initial work in connection with the estab-
ent of new industries. Research work of an All-
ia character, such as investigations on the utilisa-
of forest products, will also be done.
“h , Which should reach England during the
rse of the next fortnight, should be consulted for
ther details. It may be added, however, that there
no Official control; the Service will be worked by
chemists for chemists. Chemists seconded for service
with other Departments will retain their lien on the
Chemical Service, but be under the control of the
a artment to which they have been seconded.
hi vincial institutes will not be under the con-
of the central institute, which will act towards
them in an advi capacity only.
Et aaiticion, 1 ehonkd id that I have discussed
' pre scheme with eminent Indian men of
ence and prominent business men in different parts
the Empire, and they have told me that thev are
pared to give it their whole-hearted support. More-
, Sir P. C. Ray, the distinguished professor of
mistry in the College of Science, Calcutta, who
was a member of the Committee and attended all its
meetings, while stating at the outset that he was
o pposed in principle to Government Services generally,
evertheless agreed to each paragraph of the report
it was passed in its final form. He signed the
ort subject to a separate note in which he expresses
is general approval of the scheme in the following
ots : ‘In conclusion, I desire to state that, although
consider that the days of Government Services are
‘over and that the development of industries by the
agency of a Government Service is not the most
suitable way of dealing with the problem, vet I agree
_ that, if a Government Service is constituted, the pro-
posals of the Committee represent the best method
. constituting and carrying on such a service. It is
or this reason that I have attached my signature to
with the major portion of which I am in
bstantial agreement.”
Jocetyn THORPE.
I wave followed with keen interest the leading
article on ‘‘The Organisation of. Scientific Work in
India” in Nature of February 19, and the correspond-
___ ence thereon by Profs. Soddy and Bateson, Sir Ronald
Ross, and others. The note of warning has been sounded
“not a moment too soon. To me it appears that the
Industrial Commission has not been able to make out
NO. 2627, VOL. 105]
a very convincing case for the creation of a highly
expensive All-India Chemical Service—an elaborate
and ordered hierarchy under the almost absolute con-
trol of a number of highly paid bureaucrats. The Ser-
vices degenerate in India, the land of caste, into so
many rigid and watertight compartments unamenable
to healthy external influence.
The manner in which the work of the Service is to
be carried on appears to me to be extremely objec-
tionable. There is to be a Director-General of
Research at the Imperial Chemical Institute, with five
or six directors at different provincial centres. These
officers are to have almost absolute power over the
rank and file—the real workers; for not only are
the directors to dictate what particular piece of re-
search a worker is to take up, but even the publica-
tion of the work is to be subject to the consent of
the Board of Control.
For the scheme to be successful the directors must
be men who are conversant with almost all the
different branches of chemistry, and keep in touch
with the most up-to-date advances in their science.
Moreover, their minds are to be occupied with swarms
of problems awaiting their day to be delivered to the
care of the researchers. Lastly, they are to do justice,
with the impartiality of a Privy Council Judge, to
each individual worker according to his work and
accomplishments. Even the greatest chemists of the
age would hesitate to acknowledge that they are
supermen of this description.
I am afraid that the proposed Service will simply
be an asylum for a few officials in favour with the
Government who find administrative work much more
suited to the taste than bottle-washing and other
humdrum work of the laboratory, and want to
legalise the exploitation of the brain and labour of
the young men just coming out of the universities
full of new ideas and enthusiasm for work. . We shall
have a number of chemists working under a_peri-
patetic director whose claims to the post will be his
seniority, which in India often goes hand in hand with
incompetence. I am afraid that the so-called research
work will lapse into dull, mechanical, routine out-
turn, and will kill all enthusiasm and initiative on the
part of the actual workers. They are even, as Prof.
Soddy remarks, ‘‘ to be deprived of what little satisfac-
tion and independence genuine scientific work for its
own sake affords,’? and in many cases will have to
renounce their own work for the propitiation of the
directors.
It seems to be supposed that since there is a
Viceroy over governors, a governor over a number of
magistrates, and a magistrate over a number of
petty officials, so there must be an Imperial chemist
over a number of provincial directors, directors
over deputy-directors, deputy-directors over sub-
deputy-directors, and so on. But in the republic of
science the idea of such ordered gradation is absurd.
Each branch of science, notably chemistry, has now
grown so vast that a particular worker, however
highly gifted, can honestly tackle and follow intel-
ligently the developments of only a minute fraction
of his subject. In the quest after truth and in the
exploration of new paths of knowledge every worker
has to find out his own wav, and it not infrequently
happens that a young and unknown worker -may
achieve much more brilliant results than men who
have grown grey in the service of science. What is
wanted is co-operation, provision for more ample
facilities, and the opening up of better prospects for
the earnest-minded and enthusiastic workers.
In India at the present state of her scientific
development, the institution of the Chemical Service
on the proposed lines will be not simply a blunder, but
326
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
a crime. There is not a single technical teaching
institute in the whole of India. In the universities
and Government colleges there is very meagre pro-
vision for research work. The universities are. just
trying to emerge from mere examining bodies into
centres of education, and the demand for State aid
for founding chairs in experimental and industrial
subjects is very great. In Bengal, the most advanced
province in India, there are, technically speaking, no-
endowed chairs at all (except one or two founded by
the generosity of patriotic citizens). Altogether we
have five or six high posts in the Government col-
leges, but the occupiers of these posts are required
only to teach, and not to do any research work. The
number of research scholarships is only three or four.
But the man who has done good original work, and
has the good fortune to be taken into the Service,
has no better prospects before him than the man who
has nothing to his credit except his original degree
in the university; for under the Service system pro-
motion is by favour and seniority, not by work and
efficiency.
It appears to me that the most pressing needs for
India at the present moment are: f) The foundation
by the Government of a number of chairs in various
branches of pure and applied chemistry in the uni-
versities, and also a large number of readerships,
assistant professorships, and research scholarships.
(2) The establishment of a number of technical insti-
tutes and the strengthening of the laboratories and
scientific libraries. (3) The organisation of the posts
so created and of the posts already existent on a
professional rather than on a Service basis. (4) The
replacement of the director by boards of recrujtment
composed chiefly of university professors, one official,
and one or two non-official representatives of the
public. (5) The encouragement of the foundation of
scientific societies.
There should be no watertight separation between
those who are engaged in special tvpes of work in
Government research institutes and those working in
the university laboratories. The officials in the re-
search institutes should be asked to maintain a life-
long connection with the university in some shape or
other; and the researchers in the universities mav be
invited, when an occasion arises, to avail themselves
of the opportunities afforded in the research institutes.
PraFULLA CHANDRA RaAy.
University College of Science, 92 Upper
Circular Road, Calcutta.
The Cost of Scientific Publications.
In the timely leading article in Nature of May 6
on the cost of scientific publications a note is struck
which goes deep to the heart of many scientific
workers—editors, secretaries, and members of councils
on one hand, struggling to make inadequate funds
meet the greatly increased expenses, and on the other
the young investigators whose papers on the results
of research are being held up by the impossibility of
paying for publication. It is difficult to see the
remedy at the moment.
agree with you that increased subscriptions to the
publishing societies, on any adequate scale, would be
a hardship to many,. and probably defeat the
end in view by choking off members. My experience
as an officer of the British Association and of several
scientific societies has shown me that it is. difficult
enough for our younger scientific workers, such as the
demonstrator class at the -universities, to afford the
necessary expense of joining such societies and attend-
ing the meetings. Recognising the great pleasure and
advantage that one enjoyed in seeing-and hearing the
NO. 2637, VOL. 105] —
Most of us will, I think,.
senior men in the subject at the first scientific meet-—
ings. one attended (British Association and Linnean
Society), it would be deplorable that anything should
be done to render it still more difficult than it is. for
the younger men of to-day to attend and take part in
such gatherings.
You suggest that we may have been unduly extrava-
gant in the past in the production of our scientific
publications. This may have been so to some slight
extent in a few cases, but I am by no means ¢on-
vinced that it is general, or material, and I would
deprecate any drastic change. A judicious and kindly
editor, secretary, referee, or communicator of a paper
may usefully do something to moderate the exuberance
of a youthful author and to keep note-book details
within reasonable bounds; but the scientific value of a
paper may be spoilt by ruthless excision. It is not
enough, in many cases, to give end-results unless con-
clusions are to be accepted uncritically like text-box
statements. To be of value to workers on the subje
in the future, the details of experiments and the
statistics of observations are essential. I see there-
fore no remedy except the provision of considerably
increased funds for publication, not from the members
of the publishing societies, but from outside sources—
either private benefactors or the State.
-We already have certain endowments and certain
annual grants for the promotion of scientific research,
but I would urge the emphatic opinion that adequate
publication is an essential part—the necessary com-
pletion—of any important and successful research.
Some administrators of scientific funds—for example,
the trustees of the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund—
have acted on that view, and so far as their limited
resources allow they try to see through to complete
publication the researches which they have supported ;
but, of course, this limits to some extent their activi-
ties in subsidising further research. =
The provision of a considerable endowment from
which grants might be given in aid of the publication
of worthy papers by the principal scientific societies
would be a noble benefaction which would doubtless
have an effect upon the advancement of knowledge
second only to the endowment of the research itself.
W. A. HERDMAN. —
The University, Liverpool, May 9..
I HEARTILY agree with the opinion expressed
in the leading article in Nature of May —
that a Government subsidy is necessary at the
present time to lessen the sudden shock ‘of
war. conditions to our scientific societies, especially.
in the matter of printing. The case was
well put by Sir Joseph Larmor in a letter to the Times.
some months ago: the blow strikes at the very roots
of scientific advance, and the risk of vital damage is
thus the greater because roots are apt to be buried
out of sight. If the mischief be not remedied in time,
it will become clearly manifest only when the fruits
begin to fail.
In societies with which I am connected, and py
ally in the British Association, anxious study has
made of all possible economies in printing, and any-
thing which could be regarded as a luxury is being
rigidly excluded; but the printing bill will still be
heavv—much heavier than before—and the excess will —
inevitably be subtracted from funds formerly devoted
to research. Moreover, we cannot be quite easy about
the omission of the items regarded as luxuries. It is.
a common experience that life-long influences ma
hang on trifles,. and the natural accretions whic
gather round an old-established association like the
British Association are peculiarly liable to contain just.
LER
NATURE
327
» trifles which may decide events. The scientific
_can scarcely be cast too wide.
H. H. Turner.
University Observatory, Oxford, May 8.
‘ ’
appearance of the leading article in Nature of
y 6 is extremely opportune. The question is one in
ch the scientific world is seriously concerned, and
bility of the high cost of production stifling
gress of science must lead us to consider, what
can be found to obviate so disastrous a
ty. It is unnecessary to quote evidence of the
bus increase in the cost of printing and publica-
it the present time—that is well known—but the
ion is accentuated by many indications that the
will go higher in the near future.
2 ogyd undesirable that such increased charge
the funds of scientific societies should be met
; raising subscriptions. No deterrent to join vocie-
ties should be advocated, for science is advanced more
y individuals than by the extent of their published
2 question turns upon the limitations which the
ent state of affairs must exercise upon publica-
It is quite certain that some curtailment is
ssary to avoid insolvency. It is patent to all that
papers are characterised by diffuseness and
ndancy, as if the value of a paper was to be
by its length. No one who wishes to keep
fait with current work has time to read such—
ment of scientific papers are the desiderata.
_ During the war we were rationed in our food
_ for the body, with good rather than harm to ourselves.
It is now necessary that the food for our minds should
be rationed. The only possible way to carry on until
things are easier is to limit publication to condensa-
tion or abstracts of papers, except in special cases.
‘It is not an easy task to make abstracts of papers so
as to retain all that is essential, and with some
writers it is extremely difficult to condense their
diffuse pig ne The ys ae ape be met by
putting the responsibility upon authors and limiting
them fo a definite number of pages, according to the
character of the paper.
lication has resulted in great economy without loss.
__ A few years ago the volume of Greenwich Observa-
_ tions extended to as many as 1400 pages. The Board
of Visitors decided that it was not necessary to pub-
- ‘lish a considerable mass of observations, as these
could always be supplied from the Royal Observatory
to anyone who wanted them, and by this means the
volume was at once cut down to less than 600 pages.
Be ideo E. B. Knose.
_ 32 Tavistock Square, W.C.1, May 8.
_ Tue leading article in Nature of May 6 comes home
to those of us who are concerned in carrying on the
work of scientific societies. We are making socliass
efforts to prune down diffuse contributions, and also
endeavouring to increase our income by attracting new
_ members. Many of us regard an increase in sub-
scription rates as a device only to be contemplated as
a last resort, and are in complete agreement with
your article.
a The Royal Meteorological Society is directly con-
cerned with the question of accommodation, as well
__as of increasing costs of publication, and we should
we any possibility of joining the privileged
___—s societies that are housed by Government.
_ cash subvention for the one purpose, is it possible to
NO. 2637, VOL. 105]
ss and economy of expression in the treat-
Let me give an instance where curtailment in pub--
ailing a
urge the Government to’ do something for us in .the
other direction? I should like to press for the
removal of the Civil Service Commission from Bur-
lington Gardens. Examinations might well be ‘held
in university rooms at South Kensington or else-
where. I do not know how many societies could find
adequate room in the building if it were thus set
free; but it seems to me that assistance of this kind
would be, at any rate for those of us who secured it,
better than a subvention towards printing expenses,
and possibly easier to obtain from the Government.
* WaLTER W. BryAnrtT,
Hon. Sec., Royal Meteorological Society.
Royal Observatory, Greenwich, S.E., May 8.
Atomic and Molecular Forces and Crystal Structure.
One of the most difficult problems in the theory of
chemical valency is to form a clear picture of the
attractive forces between similar atoms. Lewis and
Langmuir, in their theory of the cubical atom, have
each attributed the single valency bond to the mutual
action between a pair of electrons, and Langmuir has
recently pointed out (NaTuRE, April 29, p. 261) that, as
regards chemical considerations, such a pair of elec-
trons may be regarded as revolving in the same orbit.
This idea is closely allied to Bohr’s construction for
the hydrogen molecule. It should, however, be
pointed out that such a construction leads to a strong
paramagnetic property for molecular hydrogen, unless.
the electron motions are compensated by rotation of
the nuclear charges. Such compensation is scarcely
likely, since the magnetic moment depends on the
area of the orbit described, and evidence up to date
points to a nuclear radius of small order compared
with that of the electron orbit, even though the latter
be small compared with the conventional radius of
the atom.
PES Ty Be A Slt A
s iB“ Z x
“ aes “ ~*~
/ V \
/ ;
‘ A a B °
H eo ‘1
\ x ‘
\ /
\ A 4
\ “en /
N Peat. a:
. 4 ag -
bak vid ones. Pes oa o”
Model of hydrogen molecule.
Suppose X and Y are two exactly similar hydrogen
atoms. Their nuclei are shown at A and B, and the
negative electron orbits at a and b. The nucleus A
may control the orbit a electrostatically and mag-
netically, while B controls b. As shown, there will
be magnetic attraction between a and b, and possibly
also a certain amount of electrostatic repulsion if each
electron is not completely bound to its own nucleus.
Equilibrium may be established for some such dis-
position. of the charges as that indicated. We thus
get a sort of fusion of the two hydrogen atoms which
corresponds to the fusion of the electron orbits in
Bohr’s theory of the hydrogen molecule. In the
ent case, however, the fusion is controlled mag-
netically, whereas in Bohr’s theory it is purely electro-
static.
The system depicted above gives a diamagnetic.
Bak yn molecule as required.
With more complicated systems, we can see, in a
general way, how the small circular orbits will dis-
pose themselves in pairs (Lewis and Langmuir)
primarily under their mutual magnetic influences.-_ ,
328
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
We might further expect that the crystallographic
symmetry would be determined in a similar way by the.
magnetic forces due to the electrons in each atomic
kernel. These electrons are drawn by mutual mag-
netic forces into a space-pattern, characteristic for
each molecule, and the symmetry of this pattern is
reflected in the crystalline symmetry. Thus the
rigidity of the crystalline medium in different directions
and the orientations of the planes of cleavage are
defined in terms of the local magnetic forces (cf.
Science Progress, No. 56, March, 1920, p. 588; Phil.
Trans. Roy. Soc., vol. ccxx., A, p. 247, 1920, par-
ticularly conclusion xii., p. 289; vol. ccxv., A, p. 79,
1915; vol. ccxiv., A, p. 109, 1914). The close con-
nection between the deportment of crystals in a mag-
netic field and the disposition of the planes of cleavage,
as observed by Tyndall, may then be explained.
Possibly each of the electron orbits shown in the
above diagram may be identified with the ring-elec-
tron of A. L. Parson (Smithsonian Miscellaneous
Collections, vol. Ixv., p. 1, 1915). The con-
ception of the hydrogen molecule and the line of
argument leading up to it, as indicated by the above
papers, are, however, quite distinct from those
described by Parson.
A, E. Oxiey.
The British Cotton Industry Research Asso-
ciation, 108 Deansgate, Manchester, May I.
Wasps.
If glory be known to insects; if solid glory be measured among then, as
among us, by the difficulties surmounted, the female wasp is a heroine to
whom the queen bee is in no way comparable.—REAUMUR.
HavING spent some time in observing wasps during
the past eight years, a few notes descriptive of the
results may possibly have an interest at this season
when the queen wasps are searching for suitable
positions in which to found new colonies. The queens
usually appear in the third or fourth week of April,
and about a fortnight later than the humble bees.
They spend a few days in feeding, and then fly about
grassy banks and hedgerows, looking for a mouse’s
hole or some fissure or opening in the ground likely
to prove desirable habitations. They are _ very
fastidious in making a selection.
constructed. places for them, but hundreds of queens
have declined the invitation. In twenty-seven cases,
however, the queens took up residence, and the
average date was May 6. The young wasps begin to
show themselves in twenty-nine or thirty days, and
then a few days later the queen remains at home.
During the month elapsing before the small working
wasps appear the queen works hard, and performs
about 1136 completed journeys to procure material for
constructing cells and obtaining food for herself and
young. The number given is the mean derived from
eight nests.
When a queen finds herself a proper site in which
to build, it by no means follows that she will succeed
in rearing a colony. Only one in three have overcome
the difficulties (i.e. nine out of twenty-seven) in my
garden, for trouble was occasioned by marauding
intruders such as ants, earwigs, beetles, woodlice,
etc. Besides, every man’s hand is turned against the
wasp, and numbers of queens are destroyed every
spring before the embryo nests have developed.
As to the number of wasps composing a nest, this
varies greatly. The strength is pretty fairly indicated
by the number flying to and fro, and I have generally
kept a record of the horary rate. In regard to three
strong nests, the following were the figures on different
dates, a wasp flying out being counted .as one, and
one going in as one, so that completed journeys would
be half the figures given : .
NO. 2637, VOL, 105]
I have specially ©
Two nests One strong
Date in rgr5. nest in 1918,
per hour per hour
June 25 oat knee) Re 742
July 5 dopa? vas 350 1,750
15 aoe. nase ae 4,800
25 on. iene 75230
Aug. 4 ina ie ;.| nasa 3,400
14 609 aon), SOO 11,150
24 Serie eS 12,060
Sept. 3 See? bas 15,780
: 13 yas: 5 Sy ie e 6,360
23 2,150 3,030
Oct. 3 1,250 1,620
13 650 2
23 250 very few
In September, 1918, I recorded an abnormal rainfall
of 10-47 in., and this occasioned the virtual swamping
of the nest I kept under observation in that yeats iii.
With regard to young queens, they begin to leave
the nests at different times. In 1913 I noticed them
first on August 21, in 1916 on August 19, and in 1918
on September 22. Two nests not at all abundant
yielded in one case ggo queens and drones, and in the
other 1400. A strong nest in 1915 yielded in all
1118 queens and 995 drones. There were ten tiers of
cells in another nest, and six of the largest measured
1oX8 in. These included 12,900 cells at least, and if
each cell produced three generations this means an
aggregate of nearly 40,000 wasps.
,__ The most prevalent species of wasp in this locality
is Vespa germanica, in the proportion of 3 to 1 of
other varieties, Of twenty-seven nests, I had 1 V.
rufa, 7 V. vulgaris, and 19 V. germanica. The latest
colony I have seen
November 5.
Wasps kill an enormous number of flies of all kinds
I found that the members of a moderately small nest
of V. germanica in 1913 brought home at least two
thousand flies per day. A very strong nest would
account for twelve times as many. Man often mis-
apprehends the benefits derived from certain forms of
animate Nature. Birds are destroyed and noxious
insects enabled to multiply.
made to exterminate the wasp, and _ hordes
pestiferous flies naturally become the bane of our
summers.
In spite of the popular belief, wasps are not nearly
so bad-tempered and dangerous as they are sup-
posed to be.
quiet and harmless enough, and may be watched
with entertainment. They are most industrious.
Sir John Lubbock (later the first Lord Avebury) said :
‘‘T have been much struck by the industry of wasps "’;
and ‘‘On the whole, wasps seem to be more clever in
finding their way than bees.” Mr. T. A. Preston
in the Phenological Report for 1887 (Royal Met. Soc.
Journal, vol. xiv., p. 56), speaking of the wasp,
stated: ‘‘It seems far superior in intelligence to the
bee.” : W. F. DENNING. |
Dr. J. G. Bartholomew and the Layer System of
Contour Colouring.
To prevent misapprehension, it would have been
better if, in the sixteenth line of the obituary notice
which appears on p. 238 of Nature for April 22, the
word “‘introduced,’? used by Dr. Bartholomew him-
self in ‘‘Who’s Who,” had been employed instead of
‘‘devised.’? Dr, Bartholomew made no claim to be
the originator of the idea of indicating differences of
altitude by differences of colour, but he was the first to
apply this method to topographical maps.
Gro. G. CuIsHoOLM.
Mf *
ih METS
in great activity was on
Efforts are ever ss
If not obstructed or attacked they are
May 13, 1920]
NATURE
= -
apN the process of measuring the places of stars
+ on the celestial sphere, or in the converse
process of using these measured places to fix
the position of the observer upon the earth’s
surface, the astronomer has at his disposal two
systems of reference lines or circles upon which
_ to base his measurements. These are respectively
the vertical great circles through his zenith and
he small circles parallel to his horizon, the circles
of equal altitude or equal zenith distance. Using
the first system, his method is to time the transit
of a star across a vertical circle, almost invariably
the meridian circle passing through the north and
south points. If, in addition to timing the transit,
he measures the altitude, he gets a complete
determination of the position of the star observed,
and uses both sets of reference circles, the vertical
circle for fixing’ the time of transit, and hence the
right ascension of the star, and the horizontal
circle for fixing the altitude of transit, and hence
_ the star’s declination. This is the ordinary
__ observation carried out in the observatory with
___ the transit circle or by the surveyor in the field with
the theodolite. Another method of observation
which ‘gives the same quantities, though not in
the same direct form, is by the use of an instru-
ment adapted for the recording of transits across
a horizontal circle of constant altitude. An instru-
ment of this class is the almucantar, in which
horizontality is secured by the device of floating
the whole in a mercury bath, it being easily seen
that if either the instrument or the bath is moved
round, the telescope will maintain a constant angle
with the horizontal, and the line of vision will
therefore always intersect an almucantar or circle
of equal altitude.
Another instrument of the same fundamental
type, but of an entirely different form, is the
prismatic astrolabe devised about twelve years
ago MM. Claude and Driencourt. This
appears to possess great merits for survey work
in the field, and has ‘earned quite enthusiastic
praise from those who have used it. The one
objection to its more extensive employment, the
arduous labour involved in preparing observing
lists of stars, has now been removed by the pub-
- lication of Messrs. Ball and Knox Shaw’s ‘ Hand-
book ’’ and “Diagram.’’ We will revert to this
point later, but we must first give a short descrip-
tion of the principles of this interesting instrument.
It consists essentially of a telescope with a 60°
prism in front of the object glass, and a mercury
trough placed so as to reflect the star on to the
lower face of the prism.
_ The prism can be placed in either of the two
positions shown in Fig. 1, from which it will be
1 “Description et Usage de l’Astrolabe a Prisme.”
(Paris : Gauthier-Villars, 1910.)
“ Bestimmung fundamentaler Sternédrter aus Héhendurchgangsbeobach-
tungen.” By R. Triimpler. Nachrichten der K. G. der Wissenschaften.
© GBitingen, for) :
ee andbook of the Prismatic Astrolabe.” By John Ball and H. Knox
Shaw. (Cairo : Government Press, 1919
- “Astrolabe Diagram.” By John Ball.
1919.)
By Claude et Drien-
(Cairo: Government Press,
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
The Prismatic Astrolabe.
obvious that in both cases, on looking through
the telescope at a star which is approaching and
near to the altitude of 60°, two images of the star
will be seen moving towards each other, and that
these images will coalesce into one when the
apparent altitude of the star is equal to the angle
of the prism. In arrangement A the reflection is
from the two outside surfaces of the prism, which
must therefore be silvered; in B we get a total
reflection from the two inside surfaces. It is
further obvious that with outside reflection the
angle of the prism can be given any value; the
two star images will always coincide when the
ar
Oe ae ae
\
Fic. r.—Principle of construction of the prismatic astrolabe.
altitude is equal to this angle, whereas if the rays
traverse the glass they must enter and leave
normal to the faces; the prism must therefore be
equilateral, and stars can be observed only at the
fixed altitude of 60°. The observation consists in
the timing of the moment of coincidence of the
two images. To allow them actually to coincide
would, however, render accurate timing difficult,
and far greater precision is obtained by giving the
telescope a very small lateral displacement, so
that the images pass close to, but not exactly over,
36”
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
each other; what is observed is, then, the transit |
of the two images over the same line of a
horizontal graticule. ues
There is no appreciable difference in precision
between the two prism arrangements. B has the
apparent disadvantage that a closer adjustment of
the telescope is required, the line of collimation
must be perpendicular to the prism base, and the
latter must be truly vertical, whereas with A the
horizontality of the telescope and the symmetrical
inclination of the prism faces are immaterial. On
the other hand, from the practical surveyor’s point
of view, the use of the easily damaged silvered
faces is inexpedient, and the method of internal
reflection preferable. The disadvantages attach-
ing to the necessity of more careful adjustment of
telescope and prism are, moreover, more apparent
than real. It must be remembered that while the
actual observation involves no reading of gradu-
ated circle or micrometer, a horizontal circle is
required for the purpose of directing the line of
sight, so that the desired star will cross the field.
The telescope and circle must therefore be levelled
and adjusted as with a theodolite, and the extra
labour involved in the setting of the prism is a
very small matter.
As already stated, the preparation of an observ-
ing programme involves somewhat lengthy com-
putations. These have now been made, and are
available for the use of observers within a wide
range of latitude. The “ Handbook of the Pris-
matic Astrolabe ’’ gives a succinct description of
the smaller survey form of the instrument, its
construction and method of use, and contains
tables of all the Nautical Almanac stars down to
the fourth magnitude which cross the altitude
circle at azimuths suitable for observation for
each degree of latitude between 55° S. and 55°N.
This list gives sufficient stars for all field work
except geodetic survey of the first. order, for
which more and fainter stars would be wanted.
For these, reference must be made to the “ Astro-
labe Diagram,” giving, for the same limits of
latitude, a series of graphs from which the azimuth
and time of any star crossing the altitude circle
can be plotted. A comparison of the relative
accuracy of the astrolabe and other survey instru-
ments seems to indicate that it is
theodolite. of similar telescopic power; and there
is no doubt that in it we have a valuable addition
to the resources of the surveyor. It ‘cannot, how-
ever, take the place of the theodolite, being cap-
able of determining only latitude and time, not
azimuths or angles. It has therefore been urged
as an objection to its more extended use that as
a survey party must in any case carry theodolites
the astrolabe could be taken only when the added
labour of transport is unimportant. Apart from
the fact that the addition of thirty pounds to the
baggage of a survey expedition would be found
burdensome only in quite exceptional cases, this
objection does not appear to have any validity.
A theodolite is capable of conversion into an astro-
labe by the addition of the prism and mercury
trough, and it would be easy to design these so
that they could be clamped on to the front of the
telescope, and:the prism levelled in a minute or
two. The extra weight would then not exceed
a few ounces. anh
. An attempt.has been made, not, however, yet
carried very far, to develop the use of this instru-
ment for the astronomical problem of the deter-
mination of star places of high-order precision.
It is very doubtful if it presents any real advan-
tages for this work. The difficulty of making true
plane surfaces is well known, and in an instru-
ment of large aperture and high magnification the
inclusion of flat reflectors in the optical system is
undesirable. Furthermore, the two star images
are not symmetrical, each being formed by only
half the object glass, and the results show a
magnitude equation, or variation with the bright-
ness of the stars observed. This has not been
specially studied in the portable survey patterns, ‘
but would probably be found even with them.
Trimpler (loc. cit.), using an aperture of only
4°7 cm. and a focal length of 50 cm., found it
conspicuously. _ It would increase rapidly with
increase of aperture.
capable in his hands of useful service, and leave
any possible application to observatory work for
further investigation. ea f
The Heart of a Continent.!
By DouGLas CARRUTHERS.
“(*ENTRAL ASIA” used to conjure up in the
imagination thoughts of lonely and mys-
terious ' frontiers between three great Asiatic
Empires, .of ‘strange doings in unheard-of valleys
on the Pamirs, of long-dead conquerors, and of
strange capitals at:the back of the world. Even
now, in 1920, the heart of Asia is a storm centre,
for it forms the meeting-place of the civilisations
of the remote past—China; of the present—Great
Britain; and of the future ?—Bolshevism. ee
‘Great happenings have been in middle. Asia—
1 ‘Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia:”. By Miss Ella Sykes and
Brig.-Gen, Sir Percy Sykes. .Pp. xii+340. (London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd, 2920.) Price ars: net, Riss A Tees
NO. 2637, VOL, 105 |
unheard-of movements, unimagined miseries—
during the past six years, when all men’s thoughts
have been concentrated on Europe and the Middle
East. The remote highlands and deserts of Asia
did not escape the turmoil. The most secluded
and most apathetic native races felt the ripples
of the storm in Europe. The confines of China,
India, Russia, and Afghanistan have returned, by
a strange coincidence, to their former place as,
what may well be, the centre of a prolonged
struggle, not between East and West, but between
right and wrong.
Chinese Turkestan,
probably
capable of somewhat greater precision than a
ef FAP ERE
samneanament
| For the present we must
regard the astrolabe as a surveyor’s instrument,
or Kashgaria, is that:
May 13, 1920]
NATURE
331
part of middle Asia which forms the most
westerly province of the Chinese Empire, under
the title of Hsin-Chiang, or the New Province,
for it is of comparatively recent occupation (since
Keen-Lung, 1758). Although an integral part of
the Celestial Empire, it is actually Central Asian
in physical features, character, and inhabitants.
This desert plain is girt on three sides by great
" mountain walls, yet these barriers seem to be
ae
A ler ia SE
S a!
a a Sis
SENET ee a Ngee nae ar ae a
less of a hindrance to man than is the endless
desert zone which cuts it off from China proper.
The Chinese rule, but the natives
look to Mecca, not to Pekin, and
trade with Moscow and Peshawar
rather than with the cities of
China. The oases belong to the
group which extends from Kho-
tan, in the east, to Bokhara, in Sa
the west.
Chinese Turkestan, then, is a
colony where mild and unwarlike
farmers, probably the most
phlegmatic of all peoples in the
world, are ruled by a handful of
Chinese officials. On the north
and west was a great and virile
Russian Empire ever ready to
overflow still further eastwards
and southwards, while on the
south great mountain walls arose
behind which ruled the Emperor
of India. Kashgar, the capital,
was the only place in Central Asia
where Great Britain maintained
a representative. From the Cau-
casus to Siberia, and from
Siberia to China proper, we had
no official residents. It was to
this far-off city that the authors
went in 1915, Sir Percy Sykes to
act for Sir George Macartney,
the Consul-General, on leave.
We have a general account of
the journey out, by way of Nor-
way, Sweden, and_ Finland,
Petrograd, Moscow, Tashkent,
and Osh, followed by chapters on
life at the British Consulate,
around Kashgar, and trips to the
Russian Pamirs and to the great
oases of Yarkand and Khotan.
These chapters, by Miss Ella
Sykes, are ably supplemented by
her brother’s (Sir Percy Sykes)
section, which deals with the geography, govern-
ment, and commerce of the district, and also gives
us an historical sketch which is admirable in
its brevity and conciseness, for it covers
in three short chapters a period from some-
where about the third century B.c. up to
1915! It should be realised that Turkestan his-
tory was shaped by Hun, Chinese, Turk, Arab,
and Mongol, while the romantic names of Kutayba,
Jenghiz, Tamerlane, Amursana, and Yakub Beg
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
|
3 ¥ P ng,
; ¥. ; =
Fic. 1.—A hunting eagle.
figure largely. Sir Percy Sykes traces the story
right up to the year of his visit, and by no means
the least interesting part. is that which deals with
the modern period. His final sentence contains
much of import: “The future of Chinese Turkes-
tan is not finally settled, but the World War,
which has temporarily broken up the Russian
Empire, will undoubtedly stimulate China to move
along the path of progress. If so, there is hope
that the condition of this outlying province of her
Empire may benefit, more especially by improved
bs, 1,
> | .
i
¢ 4
. od
a
co
From ‘‘ Lhrcugh Deserts and Oases of Central Asia.”
communications. At the same time, there are
many parts of Asia which have reason to envy
the peace and plenty enjoyed by the inhabitants of
Chinese Turkestan.” The chapter on “The
Kashgar Farmer’’ is noteworthy; it shows the
difference between this desert land and others.
Whereas other arid regions are dependent on
scanty and uncertain rainfalls, the great oases
| of the low, hot plains of Turkestan live by a sure
and abundant water supply brought down from
33?
NATURE
| May 13, 1920
the giant glaciers and snowfields which wall them
in on north, south, and west. A certain liveli-
hood, an ample and cheap food supply, and com-
plete safety have produced a contented race,
devoid of ambition and easily ruled. The towns-
folk are much the same. Kashgar and Yarkand
are still great trade centres. Since Marco Polo’s
day, “from this country many merchants go forth
about the world on trading journeys.” The old
Pamiis, while Sir Aurel Stein crossed the plateau
from east to west, and penetrated to the amaz-
ingly interesting regions of Roshan and Darwaz.
The chief interest of this book lies in the fact
that it recounts the impressions of a resident in
a country which has so far been described only —
by the passer-by. Even a glimpse of life in the
only city of Central Asia where the British Empire
retains a representative should commend it to the
Fic, 2.—Cart used in the Osh district. From ‘‘ Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia.’
silk route ran the length of the country. All trade
between China and Western Asia passed through
Kashgar.
The volume ends with an account of a visit to
the Russian Pamirs. For a long time the “ Roof
of the World” has been a forbidden land to the |
English hunter, but the war proved that Russian
designs on India were a bogey. The author was
permitted to travel and shoot in the heart of the
reader. For years the post has been held by Sir —
George Macartney. Far removed from the nearest
Englishman, cut off from India, isolated and
alone, he’ has upheld the honour of the Empire,
using prestige instead of Cossacks, and relying’
on his unrivalled knowledge of the East. Sir Percy’
Sykes had his work cut out to fill the gap satis- |
factorily,. but his life experience in Asia served him —
well, and he has allowed us to see something of it.
The United States National Research Council.
By Pror. VERNON KELLOGG.
HE National Research Council is a co-opera-
tive organisation of men of science in
America for the special purpose of promoting
fundamental research in the physical and natural
sciences, the application of scientific knowledge
in the industries, and the training of research
workers, all for the sake of the general advance-
ment of science and the’ increase of the national
strength and well-being. It was organised in 1916,
under the auspices of the National Academy of
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
)
problems involving scientific investigation.
Sciences, especially to help make the scientific —
resources of the country available to the Govern-—
ment in the solution of pressing war-time
As
now reorganised on a permanent peace-time foot-
ing, its membership of about 250 is largely com-
posed of duly appointed representatives of about
forty major scientific and technical societies of
America, with a group of administrative officers
* . . ROE R ions
and necessary office staffs, resident in Washing-
-
YA
saad BLK
May 13, 1920]
NATURE
333
a. These officers are appointed for but one year
a time, and it is expected that most of the
ces (chairmen of divisions, etc.) will be filled
——* by men drawn from the. scientific
of the universities, the staffs of large
intz ‘ined by the industries.
Although during the war the Council was largely
ted by the Government, it is now entirely
ted by private funds. A gift of 5,000,000
s has recently been made to it by the Car-
Corporation. Part of this money, perhaps
ion dollars, will be used to erect a building
GasKineton for the offices, conference rooms,
te., of the.Council and the National Academy of
iences, and the remainder will constitute a per-
nent endowment for the Council. This endow-
nt will provide for the administrative expenses
the organisation, leaving the funds necessary
aid in the support of the large co-operative
atific projects of research, which the Council
es to stimulate or establish, to be found, as
-needs require, from wealthy men or philan-
foundations interested in the promotion of
investigation of the fundamentals of science
| from the industries interested in promoting
- extension of scientific applications.
iad Council as at present organised includes
een divisions, seven representing the various
jor lines of science and technology, and six
_ representing general relations. The first seven are
“divisions of the physical sciences, engineering,
ee nistry and chemical technology, geology and
raphy, the medical sciences, biology and
iculture, and anthropology and_ psychology.
general relations group includes a division of
eign relations, a Government division (including
sentatives of each of the major scientific
reaux included in the Government Departments
‘of War, Navy, Commerce, Labour, Agriculture,
_ State, and Treasury), a division of States rela-
tions, one of educational relations interested espe-
cially in the-research conditions and activities in
the colleges and universities of the country, a
division of research extension especially devoted
to the extension of research to the industries, and
a research information service intended to act as
_ a general national clearing-house for information
~ concerning the scientific personnel and scattered
Peas work of the country.
Affiliated with these various divisions are many
special committees and sub-committees which con-
cern themselves with various special phases and.
specific projects of scientific investigation. The
Phy number of these committees approximates
There is also a special Research Fellowship
period from May 1, 1919, to June 30, 1925, the
sum of 500,000 dollars, appropriated by the Rocke.
feller Foundation for the Maintenance of National
Research Fellowships in Physics and Chemistry.
Thirteen of these fellowships have so far been
instituted.
The National Research Council is thus neither
a great operating scientific laboratory nor an
organisation possessing large funds from which
to make direct gifts to individual scientific
investigators or scientific laboratories, but an in-
Stitution for the purposes of stimulating and
organising scientific research in America, and of
promoting international scientific relations in all
possible ways. It is specially interested in organ-
ising scientific effort along co-ordinated co-opera-
tive lines. “It hopes to encourage vigorous attack
on major problems too large and many-sided for
the individual investigator working alone, and
often requiring the co-operation of numerous in-
vestigators and laboratories representing several
different but allied lines of science. _ In the applica-
tions of science it is especially interested in such
problems as bear directly on the promotion of the
national strength and well-being.
Among the many projects now in course of
organisation or actual development are an exten-
sive study of food and nutrition in charge of a
committee including many of the leading American
physiological chemists and experts in human and
animal nutrition; a study of high explosives,
begun during the war; the preparation of critical
compendia of physical and chemical constants; a
study of the fundamental scientific problems of
baking, of ceramics, of steel alloys, of synthetic
drugs, of the chemistry of colloids, of sewage dis-
posal, of forestry, of fertilisers, etc. An extensive
investigation of tropical biology, including espe-
cially tropical medicine, is in course of organisa-
tion. A detailed survey of the research conditions
in all the colleges. and universities of the
country, in which research work is now being done
or probably can be done in the near future, is in
active progress. A committee on mental measure-
ments has recently completed an elaborate series
of trials of group tests on several thousand chil-
dren, and has prepared, and is about to publish,
a set of recommended tests for use for classifica-
tion and grading in the common schools of the
country. These tests are adapted from the sets
developed: by the Council’s special psychological
committee on Army tests during the war. Alto-
gether, the Council is getting under way a good
deal of important research work, and promises
to be an organisation of much influence in. the
promotion of American activity in the advance-
| Board, which has at its disposal. through the | ment of science.
a ; ais eer
| a Obituary.
MARLBOROUGH R. Pryor.
SoM fifty years ago Marlborough Robert
; Pryor, who died at Weston Park, Stevenage,
on April 3, was well known in scientific circles at
_ Cambridge, and seemed likely to rise to a high
a, NO. 2637, VOL. 105]
position in those studies. He was a man of many
interests and great adaptability of mind, who,
though he was rather early diverted to executive
business, never lost his interest in those parts of
it which were connected with science. Educated
334
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
at Eton, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge,
taking his degree as B.A. in 1870, and that of
M.A. three years later. It is rather remarkable
that he.did not “go in for honours,” for he was
then so conspicuous a student of natural science
as to obtain successively a scholarship and a fel-
lowship by examination in those subjects, being
in each case the first elected to these distinctions
in Trinity College.
In Pryor’s days natural science was beginning
to look up in Cambridge, though it did not yet
lead directly to a degree, for its first Tripos exam-
ination, when the list was headed by Prof.
Liveing, was in 1858, four men being in the first
class, and two in the second. Until 1869 the
total number in all the classes rarely exceeded
ten, and sometimes sank down to four, and on
three occasions no one was in the first class.
Things have changed since then, for in the days
immediately before the war there would be some
120 or more in the three classes, as there doubt-
less will be again. But from 1870, when Pryor’s
name would have appeared had he gone in for
the examination, the names of men who have
since won distinction are more often found in the
lists—such as H. Darwin (now Sir Horace);
W. M. Hicks, of Sidney, who turned from science
to theology and became Bishop of Bloemfontein ;
Garrod and Lydekker, Teall, . Martin, Frank
Balfour, M. Hartog, and Sollas, now professor
of geology at Oxford, not to mention others.
Pryor, however, so far as I know, wrote no
papers of importance on strictly scientific matters.
I do not find his name in the earlier volumes of
NaTuRE, which began to appear in November,
1869, nor is it in my catalogue of collected papers
on scientific matters, which goes back to a still
earlier date. Yet he won distinction at Cambridge,
not only by his academic successes at Trinity,
but also from all who met him there in scientific
society. One could not be long with him without
getting the impression that one was talking with
a clear-headed man of strong intellect, who looked
at things all round before he spoke of them, and
expressed his views quietly and deliberately. He
had a large store of knowledge and was a keen
critic, yet never anything but kindly. He took a
special interest in ornithology, and was a frequent
member of that circle of young men of science
which the late Prof. Alfred Newton delighted to
gather round him on Sunday evenings after dinner
in his rooms at Magdalene, where much tobacco
was consumed and any amount of natural history
was talked. These gatherings indirectly extended
the interest felt in that subject in Cambridge, and
perhaps were an even greater incentive to its
study than any formal teaching by the professor.
Soon after taking his degree Pryor: left Cam-
bridge and entered on a business career in London,
settling down near Stevenage, where he inherited
from an uncle ‘an estate called Weston Park. At
first he joined a firm of*South American mer-
chants, and became a director of some important
joint-stock companies. The two with which he
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
was most closely and permanently connected—
and they were businesses requiring especially a
clear head and a sound judgment—were the Sun
Insurance Office and the Sun Life Assurance
Society, to each of which he became chairman,
holding those offices until 1918. The prosperity
of these institutions was the chief work of his
later life, and he carefully studied the problems
of insurance in all its branches. It is said that
his views were strong and his business ideals
high, and that nothing short of the strictest
practice would ever satisfy him. But he was
‘regarded with real affection by the other members
of the boards, and to the younger of them his
great store of knowledge on all sorts of subjects
Still, he kept |
up his connection with his college and his uni- —
was a constant cause of wonder.
versity, for he frequently came up to be present
at special social gatherings in the former, and in
later years took an active part in the endeavour —
to collect funds to advance teaching in the latter,
which was gratefully acknowledged in a resolu- neh
tion passed the other day.
Besides all this, he
was a good Spanish scholar, and had paid much ~
attention to church architecture, especially in
Hertfordshire. He married Miss Alice Solly, of
Serge Hill, in that county, and has left six
daughters and one son, Col. Pryor, D.S.O., who
served in France and Italy.
So, to the regret of many friends, Marlborough
Pryor is gone.
in the scientific annals of his generation, as once
seemed probable, but no one can say that his life
was wasted, because, while some men can serve
science the better by taking a prominent lead in
this or that branch of it, others can do it by the
catholicity of their knowledge and interests. Marl-
borough Pryor was among the latter, and each
has his work to do; each is helpful to his genera-
tion; for the one raises the towers; the other, as
he did, builds the walls.
T. G. BONNEY. ~
Mr. J. A. Port, who died recently at the age
of fifty-five, was a scholar whose importance as
a moving force in his generation cannot be esti- —
mated by the popularity of his work during his
lifetime. As an archeologist he contributed to the
Antiquary for 1904 two articles on Neolithic and
other remains found near Harlyn Bay, Cornwall.
He made the first translation into English of two
important treatises of Thomas a Kempis, entitled
“The Founders of the New Devotion,” and the
“Chronicle of the Canons Regular of Mount St.
Agnes.”
graceful renderings of poems from the Greek
Anthology. Just before his premature death, due
to overwork in recruiting during the war, he had
completed a verse and prose translation of the
Epigrams of Martial, which will shortly be pub- —
A fine scholar and man of letters, Mr.
lished.
Pott exercised an inspiring influence over a large
group of friends drawn from circles largely differ-
He has left no conspicuous record |
These were followed by two series of
a ae
a ee ee ee ee oe
AY 13, 1920]
NATURE
335
ng both socially and intellectually. The charm
his personality depended on the fact that, happy
s he was himself in living, he was still happier
x his life a blessing to others.
En w
_H. Hiorns, who died on April 17, was
years head of the metallurgical depart-
the Birmingham Municipal Technical
He commenced teaching metallurgy about
branch evening classes under the auspices
Birmingham and Midland Institute. Later
transferred to the central school, and was
sful as a teacher that he was granted
absence in 1882 and 1883 to study at
Kensington under Sir W. Roberts-Austen.
return to Birmingham he organised a new
: department at the Birmingham and
‘Institute. As the work expanded, it was
ansferred to the Birmingham Municipal Tech-
al School, where the enthusiasm and geniality
. Hiorns gathered an_ ever-increasing
of students. Mr. Hiorns contributed
on metallurgical subjects to various scien-
societies, but was best known as the author of
umber -of students’ text-books, which have
a wide circulation, and include “Practical
etallurgy and Assaying,” ‘Metallography,”
“Metal Colouring,” “Iron and Steel,” Mixed
fletals,” etc. He retired from teaching some
t years ago, and the latter part of his life was
it chiefly in rural pursuits. —
Par ess: fe
-T. W. Bacxnouse, of West Hendon
Observatory, Sunderland, who died on
n 13 in his seventy-eighth year, devoted a
4 Bight his life to scientific pursuits, and
rried on for more than sixty years a series of
eteorological and astronomical observations. He
as a frequent contributor to our correspondence
lumns, and a most successful student of those
ite differences in the appearance of the sky
of the atmosphere that escape, untrained
servers, who prefer to consult the barometer
ther than natural phenomena. Four volumes of
iblications were issued by him from _ his
bservatory, and the last, in 1915, summed up the
ulated records, extending over fifty years,
of his skill and vigilance as an observer. In 1912
Mr. Backhouse published a valuable new cata-
logue of 9842 stars, containing all stars conspicu-
ous to the naked eye. The catalogue was designed
specially to afford assistance in the observation of
meteors, to which Mr. Backhouse himself gave
much attention; but it has been found useful by
many other astronomers. His last communica-
tion was on the subject of the January meteors
_ (Quadrantids) of 1917 (Nature, vol. c., p. 313).
_ Mr. Backhouse became a fellow of the Royal
_ Astronomical Society in 1873, arid of the Royal
_ Meteorological Society in 1892. i |
‘NO. 26327, VOL. 105]
oF a
CCUIT
Notes.
THE Prince or WaLEs having graciously consented
to be nominated as an honorary fellow of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, the nomination was made at
the last ordinary meeting on May 3, and the election
will be carried out, according to regulation, at the
ordinary meeting to be held on June 7.
Tue Croonian lecture of the Royal Society will be
delivered by Prof. W. Bateson on June 17 upon the
subject of “Genetic Segregation.”
Mr. J. H. Lester has been elected chairman of the
chemical section of the Manchester Literary and Philo-
sophical Society for the session 1920-21.
Notice is given by the Chemical Society that
applications for grants from the society’s research
fund must be made, on forms supplied, to the assistant
secretary, Chemical Society, Burlington House, W.1,
on or before June 1.
Mr. WILFRED H. Parker has been appointed direc-
tor of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany.
The institute, including the Official Seed-testing
Station for England and Wales (the director of which
is Mr. Saunders), will be housed at Cambridge in a
large building which will be completed by next
summer. Meanwhile the temporary office of the in-
stitute is at 72 Victoria Street, London, S.W.1.
Tue Salters’ Institute of Industrial Chemistry in-
vites applications for fellowships of the annual value
of 250l. from those who in October next will have
completed three years’ training in chemistry and
desire ultimately to enter upon an industrial career.
The applications, including particulars of the candi-
dates’ training and war service, must be sent to the
director of the institute, Salters’ Hall, St. Swithin’s
Lane, E.C.4, by, at latest, July 1.
A report by Dr. A. Mearns Fraser, Medical Officer
of Health for Portsmouth, upon the prevention of
venereal diseases was noticed in Nature of March 25
(p. 114). The Society for the Prevention of Venereal
Disease now informs us that the Portsmouth Borough
Council has decided that steps shall be taken to
educate the male inhabitants of the borough in the
facts put forward by Dr. Fraser as to methods of
prevention by immediate self-disinfection.
ScIENTIFIC visitors to the Royal Academy’s exhibi-
tion this year will be much interested in the fine
presentation portrait of Sir Clifford Allbutt painted by
Sir William Orpen. The picture hangs in the first
gallery and bears the inscription: “Sir Clifford All-
butt, K.C.B., M.D., F.R.S., Regius Professor of
Physic in the University of Cambridge; President of
the British Medical Association. Presented to him by
his Profession, 1920." A proof of the mezzotint en-
graving of the portrait is exhibited in the room
devoted to engravings, drawings, and etchings.
Tue Department of Scientific and ~ Industrial
Research announces that the third Conference of
Research Organisations will be held to-morrow,
336
NATURE
| May 13, 1920
May 14, at 3 p.m. in the lecture theatre of the
Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street,
Westminster. An introductory address will be given
by the Marquess of Crewe, who will be chairman of
the conference, and it will be followed by papers on
“The Relation of Research Associations to Existing
Institutions for Research,’”’ by Dr. A. W. Crossley,
and on “The Staffing of Research Associations :
Salaries and Superannuation,’ by Mr. J. W.
Williamson.
In an article in the Times for May 3 Mrs. Ayrton |
presents what must appear to be a formidable indict-
ment of the War Office for neglect in regard to the.
use of the anti-gas fan. It is stated not only that
there was great difficulty in getting the device con-
sidered, but also that, after its efficacy had been
demonstrated, its adoption was delayed. Further, it
is alleged that the supply of fans was never adequate,
that the method of using them was never properly
taught, and that to the last less efficacious measures
were adopted in preference to the fan. It is suggested
that this neglect on the partof the War Office entailed
death to numbers and untold suffering to countless
others.. Many charges of grave neglect have been levelled
against the War Office. The present one, however, is
peculiar in being a charge, not against the military
_ element, but rather against the experts who were
associated with the Gas Service. It is well known
that the Anti-Gas Service of the Army was, in the
field, in the research laboratory, and on the instruc-
tional side, in most of the chief appointments, staffed
by well-accredited men of science, and that both at
the central laboratory in France and in London com-
petent men were keenly on the alert to test and
improve defensive measures. In view of this, it
appears scarcely likely that Mrs. Ayrton’s allegations
will be accepted without question, and it is much to
be desired that some plain statement of the facts
should come from the men of science whose intel-
ligence and humanity are implicity assailed in her
article.
On the occasion of a luncheon given by the Times
last week to'celebrate the first attempt to fly from
Cairo to the Cape, Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, who
accompanied Capts. S. Cockerell and F. C. Broome as
scientific observer, made some interesting remarks on
the value of aviation in scientific exploration. The
aviator has an opportunity denied to the explorer on
land of seeing the general lie of the country and the
broad features of its topography. The view of a large
tract of country makes it possible to appreciate and
explain features which would be puzzling when seen
piecemeal or partially by the surface traveller. This
applies particularly in a country such as Africa, where
much detailed exploration has been done in places
before the broader: features are understood. Dr.
Chalmers Mitchell believes that geographical and
geological exploration will benefit widely by the use
of aeroplanes. Another interesting point he empha-
sised was the unexpected number of natural aero-
dromes which the flight revealed. Several times when
the machine was forced to make unexpected descents,
suitable places were found. Dr. Chalmers Mitchell
NO. 2637, VOL. 105]
pointed out that a re-survey of the Cairo-Cape route
from the air made in order to locate these natural
aerodromes would save the cost of many intermediate
stations that are being planned.
Tue trustees of the British Museum have arranged 7
to purchase the whole of the collection of Lower
Paleozoic fossils made in the Girvan district by Mrs. —
Robert Gray, of Edinburgh. The number of specimens —
Fossils from these rocks are —
scarcely represented at all in the British Museum, and —
is more than 38,000.
very meagrely even in the Scottish museums. Apart
from the specimens collected some fifty years ago by
Mr. Robert. Gray and now in the Hunterian Museum,
Glasgow, there is little worth considering outside the
present Gray collection. Mrs. Gray has diligently con-
tinued the work begun by her late husband, so that
the whole series is admirably represented in her collec-
tion.
of memoirs. Noteworthy among these are the well-
known work by Nicholson and Etheridge on “The
Silurian Fossils of the Girvan District” (1878-80), the
Palzontographical Society’s monographs by Cowper —
Reed, W. K. Spencer, and Ida Slater, and the large
memoirs in the Transactions of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh by Reed and by Bather. In spite of these
She has also taken pains to get her material — E
described, and it forms the foundation of a long series ©
we
publications, the collection is known to contain un- —
described material scarcely less in extent and import-
ance. The situation of the rocks near the northern
limit of the Ordovician and Silurian sea, and the rich- ~
ness of certain beds of a facies different from their
representatives elsewhere, have led to the inclusion of
a number of rare forms in the fauna. Among these
are a new and strange cystid, Cothurnocystis; star-
fishes carrying back to the Ordovician plans of struc-
ture previously regarded as Devonian; echinoids among
the oldest known and of a type hitherto unrecognised _
before the Upper Silurian; a remarkable edrioasteroid,
Pyrgocystis; beautiful examples of the supposed cirri-
pede, Turrilepas; and two new species of the very rare
Helminthochiton,
Tue thirty-first annual Conference of the Museums
Association will be held in Winchester on July 5-8,
under the presidency of Sir Martin Conway, Director-
General of the Imperial War Museum, The meeting
this year is a joint conference with the French ~
Museums Association, and among those who have
signified their eee of attending are M. Hughes
Leroux (senator), M. le Prof. Louis Roule (Paris
Museum),
French Museums Association), M. Fernand Guey
(treasurer of the French Museums Association and
director of the Museum of Fine Arts at Quimper),
M. le Prof. Vayssiére (president of the ©
Dr. A. Loir (secretary of the French Museums Asso- |
ciation), and a delegate from the French Association
for the Advancement of Science.
and discussion of papers, and the afternoons to visits
to places of special interest to museum workers. The
subjects for discussion at the conference are: (1) The
Public Libraries Act of 1919, and its effect on the
future policy of museums; (2) the status and re-
muneration of museum curators and their staffs; and
The mornings
during the conference will be devoted to the reading —
ee ee ee
[ay 13, 1920]
NATURE
337
e desirability of.a diploma for museum curators
the necessary course of training. In addition, the
¢ papers have been promised: (1) “The
ting of Picture Galleries and Museums,” by Mr.
Seager, vice-president of the New Zealand
ite of Architects; (2) ‘‘The Selection of Pic-
; me E.
Galleries,” by Dr. F. A. Bather. Mr. R. W.
, Earlescroft, St. Giles’s Hill, Winchester, has
2n the duties of local secretary, and a small
ee under the chairmanship of the Rev. S. A.
Il, Winchester College, has been formed to
e the programme of local visits.
E next informal meeting of the Chemical Society
be held at Burlington House on Thursday,
20, after the conclusion of the formal business
ordinary scientific meeting. An exhibit demon-
g the methods of controlling soil organisms now
$ investigated at the Rothamsted Experimental
on will be shown by Mr. and Mrs. D. J.
Matthews. This exhibit will include specimens of the
| eieacpamagiad and the cultivation of these on artificial
The effect of toxic substances on organisms
of the relationship of chemical composition to
‘y, with specimens illustrating effective doses of
ain typical substances with a given quantity of soil,
: also be shown. Dr. Marie Stopes will exhibit
and microscopic slides of fusain, durain,
Uiseiaisisous coal. Mr. E. R. Thomas will show
1¢ experiments illustrating the influence of tem-
ture, concentration, solvent, constitution, and
yst on the rate of chemical change.
HORT article in our issue of March 11, p. 56,
cribing a magnetic disturbance which occurred on
irch 4-5, mentioned that aurora had been observed
; i: Aberdear on March 4, but considerably earlier than
* commencement of the disturbance, and so pre-
“sumably not directly connected with it. This seems
have been the only observation of aurora in this
country on either March 4 or 5. A letter, however,
which we have received from Prof. A. S. Eve, of
Montreal, mentions a brilliant aurora as having been
‘observed there between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. G.M.T. on
pares 5, and so synchronous with the magnetic
storm. Commencing with isolated patches, the aurora
appeared for a short time in the form of an arc, and
ended in a curtain display. This incident leads Prof.
‘Eve ‘to inquire whether there is in existence ‘‘an
for recording, with accurate timing,
‘aurore in both northern and southern hemispheres,
_ and, if so, where can the records be obtained?” So
_ far as we are aware, no such records exist. The
question seems to merit the consideration of the
ently instituted Section of Terrestrial Magnetism
sical Union.
Shoe Marlborough College Natural History Society,
which has been in existence for fifty-six years, is a
otable example of the good work which an associa-
tion of schoolboys can perform under competent guid-
= NO. 2637, VOL. 105]
oe vitrain, the four main constituents of.
eeerticity of the International Geodetic and Geo-:
ance. The report of the society for 1919 announces
the retirement from the post of president of Mr.
J. C,. Alsop, who carried on the work with success
during the period of the war. In botany 205 species,
in ornithology 85, and in entomology 223 have been
recorded. Lichenology shows a good record, though
the subject has been little worked in this country,
but the monograph on British species recently pub-
lished by the British Museum and edited by Miss
A. L. Smith may stimulate interest. A good course
of lectures delivered by eminent specialists and
numerous papers read by members during the year
form an interesting feature of the report, which is
carefully prepared, and furnishes a good example for
the authorities of other schools in Great Britain.
Dr. CHARLES SINGER has reprinted an address
delivered before the British Academy (Proceedings,
vol. ix.) on ‘Early English Magic and. Medicine.”
the history of medicine is sharply divided into the
Dark Age period and that which followed the arrival
of the Arabian learning, the remnant of Greek science
which survived in the Moslem world. Dr. Singer
deals only with the pre-Arabian material. In England
the latter has survived from two channels, manu-
scripts and folk-lore. Greek medicine reached the
barbarian peoples of the West at a time when the
scientific system of Greece was in complete decay,
and it came through Latin channels. In dealing with
magic Dr. Singer remarks that ecclesiastical elements
are found throughout the whole corpus of Anglo-Saxon
medicine and magic. Native Teutonic magic and
medicine may be distinguished from imported elements
of classical, ecclesiastical, or Salernitan origin by the
presence of four characteristic elements: the doctrine
of specific venoms, the doctrine of the Nines, the doc-
trine of the worm as a cause of disease, and, lastly,
the doctrine of the elf-shot—all of which are fully
described. ‘‘The Celtic influence in the Anglo-Saxon
material is elusive and yet pervasive, but the difficulty
of tracing it may be a result of the common heritage
of the two cultures and the common external
influences to which they were both subjected.”
Messrs. SuTTON AND Sons, Reading, have pub-
lished, an interesting contribution to the literature on
seed electrification. This bulletin (No. 11) presents
the results of a number of germination and field tests
carried out in 1919 with seeds of carrot, swede, cab-
bage, and mangold. The best-known process of seed
electrification, viz. the Wolfryn process, consists in
immersing the seeds in a solution either of common
salt and water or of calcium chloride and water,
through which an electric current is then passed.’
After this treatment the seeds are dried at a tem-
perature of 100° F., and they are then ready for
sowing. Obviously two processes are here involved,
seed immersion and seed electrification, and the
Reading experiments were designed primarily to test
the value of the Wolfryn process, and secondarily, if
there are advantages, to decide whether they are due
to the immersion, to the electrification, or to both
agents combined. Tests were made with untreated
seeds, with seeds electrified by the Wolfryn process,
with seeds soaked in a solution of sulphate of am-
338
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
monia, and with seeds soaked in a solution of salt
and water, the strength of the solution being the
same as that used in the Wolfryn process. After
immersion the seeds were dried at 100° F . and then
sown. Regarding the tests as a whole, they do not
reveal any advantage from seed electrification, the
only possible exception occurring in the case of man-
golds, where the germination of the electrified seed
was 94 per cent., compared: with 82 per cent. for the
untreated seed and 86 per cent. for the seed soaked
in the salt solution, while in the field tests the elec-
trified mangold seed yielded 62 Ib. per pole more than
the untreated seed.
trified seed gave a lower yield than the seeds treated
in other ways, or the increase following electrification
was so small as to be negligible.
Tue Government of India is now considering the
principles under which the census of I92I is to be
undertaken synchronously with those of the nations
of civilised Europe. Hitherto the reports have in-
cluded much valuable anthropological material, but
this is found to be in practice of little value to the
bureaucracy. The time, it is said, has come for a
scientific demographic census, one which collects such
Statistical details as will throw light on all the
problems of population, such as the causes which
increase or decrease peoples or sections of peoples in .
numbers, by sexes, in efficiency and capacity for
progress. More, we want to know the real causes
why the Moslem population increases at a faster rate
than the Hindu, and the causes of the excess of male
births, of the variability of sex mortality, and of poly-
gyny and polyandry. To carry out such a scheme it
will be necessary to work in close collaboration with
European experts. In former census reports the mass
of anthropological material made them a happy hunting-
ground for European workers. If future reports are
to be confined to inquiries of a sociological kind, we
trust that efforts will at once be made to continue
the ethnological survey on wider lines. The scheme
initiated by Lord Curzon has led to little result;
and while Madras, the Central Provinces, Burma, and
the Punjab have issued some important publications,
practically nothing seems to have been done after
twenty years’ incubation in Bombay, Bengal, and the
United Provinces.
TueE Meteorological Magazine for April contains an
article on ‘‘Climates of the British Empire Suitable
for the Cultivation of Cotton,” by Mr. C. E. P.
Brooks. Details with respect to rainfall and tem-
perature of a cotton-growing climate are given for
various British Possessions and Colonies. It is stated
that the essential features are: (1) The mean annual
temperature should not be below 60° F. (2) The
mean temperature of the warmest month should
exceed 80° F., or the mean of the three warmest
months should exceed 77° F. to get the best results;
this condition, however, is not so important as the
first. (3) The interval between killing frosts (or
droughts) should be at least 200 days. (4) The annual
rainfall should not exceed about 60 in. for good crops,
though cotton of a poorer quality can be grown in
much wetter climates; unless irrigation is possible,
the annual fall should not be less than 23 in.
NO. 2637, VOL, 105]
In all other cases either the elec...
: ; {
(5) There must be plenty of bright sunshine. A dulf
and humid atmosphere is particularly unfavourable to
the cotton plant. .
Mr. G. W. Lampiucu’s address as president of the
Geological Society of London appears in the Quarterly |
Journal of that Society, vol. Ixxy.,. part 1, published
in January, 1920, Its theme is that studies of the
thicknesses of English sedimentary series show that |
an anticlinal uplift is*the sequel to deposition in a ~
gradually deepening trough. Hence the ‘greatest
thicknesses of strata are now found near the escarp-_
ments, from which the beds thin away towards the
margins of the former trough.
The Weald, the |
Jurassic uplands, the Trias, and most of our Car-
boniferous rocks are cited as examples. The Jurassic
beds beneath the Weald still retain the synclinal
structure; but the ‘partial recovery” of the trough
is marked as we pass upwards through the Wealden i
series to the Chalk. The sections
material for thought.
Tue latest addition to the series of Special Reports
given provide much
on the Mineral Resources of Great Britain, issued
by the Geological Survey, is vol. xv. on “Arsenic
and Antimony Ores,’ by Henry Dewey. As
neither of these substances is produced in any very
important quantities in this country, the report is
necessarily a brief one, though the subjects are
treated quite thoroughly. In the case of each metal
there is given a general account of the mode of
occurrence and of the distribution of its ores, followed
by a detailed description of all the mines that have
produced any noteworthy quantity. There is prac-
tically no antimony at all produced in Great Britain,
but Cornwall and Devon still rank as relatively im-
portant contributors to the world’s output of arsenic, —
much of this being obtained as a by-product from
Cornish tin-mines. As has been pointed out by Sir
Aubrey Strahan, the main value of this report lies
in the fact that it has brought together in a con-
venient and readily accessible form a quantity of —
information previously scattered through a number —
of publications, which is thus rendered readily avail-
able to those interested in the various industries which
make use of the metals here discussed or of their
compounds. '
Tue April issue of the Journal of the Institution
of Electrical Engineers contains the paper read by
Mr. R. S. Whipple at the joint meeting of the institu-
tion and the electro-therapeutics section of the Royal
Society of Medicine on electrical methods of measur-
ing body temperatures. After describing the modern
resistance thermometer and the thermo-electric couple
methods of measuring temperature, he comes to the
conclusion that for ordinary work records of body
temperature and its variation can best be obtained by
means of a resistance thermometer placed in the
rectum. For more accurate work a thermo-electric
couple with a photographic recorder must be used,
especially if rapid or minute variations of tempera-
ture are to be detected. The resistance thermometer
may be made of platinum wire of about 1/20 mm. —
diameter, have a resistance of about 140 ohms, and be:
used with a moving-coil galvanometer in a resistance’
[ay 13, 1920]
NATURE
339
idge with arms ‘of about the same resistance. A
litable thermo-electric couple is provided by copper
id constantan,.an alloy of about 60 per cent. copper
d 40 per cent. nickel. A moving-coil galvanometer
coil pommranice 10 ohms or less is suitable, with a
cing resistance placed in series to give a con-
ited deflection.
a sign of the spirit which we have so long
to encourage, to find on opening last month’s
of Beama, the excellently produced journal of
itish Electrical and Allied Manufacturers’ Asso-
n, an. article by Mr. E. B. Wedmore urging the im-
nee of co-operative scientific research. Mr. Wed-
points out how the war has taught us the value
ry in view of the present shortage of scien-
y trained technical men. Among articles which
, indicating some of the enormous industrial
tructure: already raised on foundations of scientific
adeavour, is one by Mr. W. E. Hughes sketching the
nany uses to which the electro-deposition of metals has
been put. An interesting example is the building up
worn engine parts, such as crankshafts, by de-
osits of iron—a practice developed by the Royal Air
> in face of some difficulty during the war. The
thor, however, points out how the serious lack of
lucational facilities has hampered British progress
these branches of electro-metallurgy. Another
esting article by Mr. A. B. Searle deals with
‘preparation of tungsten and its important uses in
the filaments of modern incandescent lamps and of
the three-electrode ionic valves upon which many of
the recent developments in wireless telegraphy are
based. Notwithstanding the large amount of research
‘that has led up to the present processes, the author
characterises them as ‘making the best of a bad job.”
If means could be found for melting the purified
‘tungsten economically, the quality of the filaments
would be greatly improved. Unfortunately, however,
‘this cannot be done at present, he concludes, owing
_to the extraordinarily high melting point of the metal
(more than 3000° C.) and the difficulty of heating it
Es this temperature out of contact with carbon.
_ Tuar “small things often very considerably affect
the destinies of great ones’’ is the appropriate motto
chosen to introduce a paper on lubricants read by
Mr. G. F. Robertshaw at a meeting of the Institu-
tion of Petroleum Technologists on April 19. One
object of the paper was to urge a plea for uniformity
in the methods of examining lubricating oils. At
Present there is a diversity of practice which is liable
to produce confusion and uncertainty in judging
Reon from the physical and chemical data
_ obtained in testing them. For instance, there are
half a dozen kinds of instruments used for deter-
mining the viscosity of oils, and the results. are
erred | in different terms, depending upon the par-
ticular | viscometer employed. Hence an appeal is
- made that the. absolute viscosity, or some convenient
EY _ multiple or sub-multiple of it, should uniformly be
used as the standard method of expression. The
_ paper also, it may be noted, affords a convenient
NO. 2637, VOL. 105]
sources of
reference to the somewhat extensive literature upon
lubrication.’ Without compiling a complete biblio-
graphy, the author directs attention to many useful
information, historical, scientific, and
practical. On the question of “oiliness’’—a property
possessed by good lubricants which at present cannot
be specified in definite terms—it is remarked that this
property is not necessarily proportional to viscosity.
Whilst the late Sir Boverton Redwood’s dictum is
still true, that viscosity is our most valuable test of
lubricating quality, there yet remains the fact that
for the same viscosity the fixed vegetable and animal
oils have usually a greater ‘‘oiliness’’ than mineral
oils,
A NEW view of the nascent state is put forward by
C. Zenghelis in the Comptes rendus of the Paris
Academy of Sciences for April 12. Experiments are
described which show that the chemical activity of
such gases as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, or carbon
monoxide is increased by bringing them in contact
with solutions in very minute bubbles. This fine state
of division is obtained by forcing the gas through
cartridges of paper, the pressure inside the cartridge
being so adjusted that the gas does not bubble
through, but reacts with the dissolved body in the
pores of the paper. Before each experiment a blank
was made with each cartridge alone to prove that
the paper had no action on the solution. Under
these conditions hydrogen was proved to reduce mer-
curic chloride to calomel, potassium nitrate to nitrite,
carbon dioxide to formaldehyde, and substances giving
a sugar reaction. With oxygen gas ammonia was
oxidised to nitrous acid, and methyl alcohol to
formaldehyde. With nitrogen and hydrogen sufficient
ammonia was produced in half an hour to give a
reaction with Nessler solution. Carbon monoxide
reduced iodic acid and sodium molybdate. All these
reactions took place at ordinary temperatures. Fuller
details of the experiments will be published later.
Pror. A. N. WHITEHEAD is publishing almost imme.
diately through the Cambridge University Press the
Tarner lectures delivered by him in November last.
The volume will be entitled ‘‘ The Concept of Nature,’’
and form a companion to the same author’s “‘ Enquiry
Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge.”’
It will, however, be less mathematical than the earlier
work,
Tue Cambridge University Press announces the pub-
lication in June of ‘‘ The Influence of Man on Animal
Life in Scotland: A Study in Faunal Evolution,’’ by
J. Ritchie.. As the title implies, the book will deal
with the bearing of man upon the character and
composition of the fauna of Scotland. It will be fully
illustrated and contain eight maps.
Tue latest catalogue (No. 401) of Mr. Francis
Edwards, 83 High Street, Marylebone, W.1, gives
particulars of 757 books on the Far East—China,
Japan, and the Malay Archipelago; also of the Far
North-East of Asia, including Siberia and Kam-
tchatka. Many of the works are scarce, but the
majority are listed at. greatly reduced prices. The
- catalogue will be sent free upon request.
340
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
Our Astronomical Column.
CONJUNCTION OF Mars witH Spica.—lInteresting,
though not extremely close, approaches of Mars to
the bright star Spica Virginis will occur on May 22,
when Mars will be situated 2} degrees north of the
star. On that night the planet will pass the meridian
at 9.21 G.M.T. at an altitude of about 30 degrees.
On succeeding nights Mars will be observed to the
N.N.W. of the star, but on June 2 will become
stationary, and thereafter move slowly eastwards. On
June 12 he will again be in conjunction with Spica
Virginis, and about 1°37’ N. of the star. Mars will
cross the S. meridian 10 minutes before sunset on
the latter night, and a good view will not be obtain-
able of the planet and star until 9 p.m. G.M.T. and -
afterwards. Mars will be much the brighter of the
pair, and visible at an earlier time than the star. The
two conjunctions will form attractive’ and striking
configurations.
Tue Dup.icity or v GEMINORUM.—There is an article
on this star by Dr. Bernewitz in Astr. Nach., 5041.
The orbit as a spectroscopic binary was investigated
in the Publications of Ottawa Observatory (vol. iv.,
No. 19). . The period is 96 years, and the value of
asini is 1,400,000,000 km. This large value suggested
that it might not be impossible to detect the duplicity
visually. It has been examined with the 65-cm.
refractor at Berlin-Babelsberg Observatory by Dr.
Bernewitz, Dr. Bottlinger, Prof. Guthnick, and Mr.
F. Pavel. All agree that the image is distinctly
elongated. Neighbouring stars of similar magnitude
appeared perfectly round, so that it is concluded that
the effect is not instrumental. On examining
vGeminorum through increasing thicknesses of a dark
wedge it was found that before it disappeared it
became round; they conclude from this that the com-
panion is about 1 magnitude fainter than the primary.
This difference removes uncertainty as to the quadrant.
Dr. Bernewitz and Mr. Pavel each measured the pair
on five nights, and their respective results are :
Date P.A. Distance.
1920-208 116-2 O-14
1920-205 124°3 0-16
They state that the spectroscopic results indicate that
the star is now near elongation. If measures can be
obtained over a sufficient arc of the orbit, it will be
possible to deduce the parallax and mass. The spec-
tral type is Bs5, so that a mass-determination would
be of particular interest.
KopaIKANAL OBSERVATIONS OF PROMINENCES.—V ol. i.,
part 2, of the Memoirs of Kodaikanal Observatory
has lately been distributed. It contains a full descrip-
tion, with numerous photographs, of the prominence
observations made by Mr. and Mrs. Evershed, and a
discussion of their distribution and motion. Their
preponderance at the sun’s eastern limb, which many
observers have noticed, is difficult to explain except
as an earth effect. It will be remembered that Mr.
Evershed has recently noticed another sign of an
earth effect in the distribution of line-of-sight velocities
in the photosphere.
It is pointed out: that besides the principal promin-
ence zones, which coincide with those of sunspots,
there are also high-latitude zones. The prominences
in these are less active than the equatorial ones; they
frequently appear as pyramids, or rows of round
patches. Their wave of activity begins in latitude 50°,
soon after sunspot maximum; it travels poleward,
reaching the pole about the next maximum and dying
out there. It is suggested that the change in the
corona round the poles, which takes place in the
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
sunspot cycle, may be connected with this prominence —
fluctuation. :
The rotation of the prominences has been studied
at Kodaikanal; it is found to be more rapid than that
of the photosphere. Line-of-sight velocities and dise
observations of long-lived prominences agree in sup-—
porting this. It is concluded that the prominences are
so tenuous that the free path of the atoms is infinite.
Their luminosity ‘“‘is due to the internal energy of the
atoms, perhaps derived mainly from absorption of the
intense solar radiation.” ‘
Leonardo da Vinci.*
By Epwarp McCurpy.
W "th the list of war inventions may be numbered _
He pursued —
Leonardo’s researches in aviation.
this subject for many years. His studies range from
the consideration of the primary causes of flight in birds
and other winged creatures to the invention of a screw
propeller and the consideration of its applicability to
aerial navigation. He also made an actual attempt.
Jerome Cardan, the physician who made a horoscope
for Edward VI., in his work ‘‘De Subtilitate ’’ refers
to an unsuccessful attempt at flight made by Leonardo
da Vinci, and adds somewhat dryly, “‘He was a great
painter.’? A sentence on the cover of Leonard
manuscript, ‘‘Sul Volo degli Uccelli,”’ written in 1505,
has been interpreted as referring to this attempt.
“The great bird,’ it runs, “will take its first flight
upon the back of the great swan, filling the whole
world with amazement, and filling all records with
its fame; and it will bring eternal glory to the nest
where it was born.”’’
This enigmatic utterance may be somewhat more
comprehensible if it is remembered that cecero is the
Italian word for swan, and ‘“‘the back of the great
swan ’’ may therefore be interpreted as a reference to
Monte Ceceri, a hill to the south-west of Fiesole, from
which it is believed the flight took place.
From the meagre records of the attempt we pass to
researches in theory and construction. .
The material falls naturally. into two groups, the
first being a series of investigations of the laws which
govern the power of flight as manifested in Nature by
birds and other winged creatures, the second consisting
of deductions from these principles in the construction
of a mechanism which should be capable of sustaining
and being worked by man. The interdependence of
the two parts of the inquiry is stated with great
succinctness in a passage in the Codice Atlantico:
‘‘A bird is an instrument working according to
mathematical law, which instrument it is within the
capacity of man to reproduce with all its movements,
but not with a corresponding degree of strength,
though it is deficient only in the power of maintaining
equilibrium. We may therefore say that such an
instrument constructed by man is lacking in nothing
except the life of the bird, and this life must needs
be supplied from that of man.
“The life which resides in the bird’s members will,
without doubt, better conform to their needs than will
that of man, which is separated from them, and
especially in the almost imperceptible movements
which preserve equilibrium. :
‘But since we see that the bird is equipped for
many obvious varieties of movements. we are able
from this experience to deduce that the most rudi-.
mentarv of these movements will be capable of being
comprehended by man’s understanding; and that. he
will to a great extent be able to provide against the
1 From a discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, March 19.
Continued from p. 309. :
o's °f
Ee ee, ee ee an
May 13, 1920]
NATURE
341
truction of that instrument of which he has him-
‘become the living principle and the propeller.’’
1 the analogy thus drawn from Nature to the
blem before him, Leonardo has anticipated the
of modern research.
his construction of the instrument he finally
npted to combine the type of the lark soaring
wings open with that of the bat as it
s. He does this by the introduction of sportelli
-doors or shutters) in the surface of the wings,
ereby, as he says, ‘‘the wing is full of holes as it
and closes up when it falls.’’ The shutters
ould have rims of cane and be covered with starched
to render them airtight. Perhaps it was after
Monte Ceceri attempt that he wrote on a page of
. B of the Paris manuscripts, ‘“‘Try the actual
instrument in the water, so that if you fall you will
not do yourself any harm.’’ It may also have been
failure of this attempt that caused him to search
w a fresh source of motive power to take the place
of that exerted by the muscles of a man. On 83 verso,
id aris manuscripts, there is a drawing
of large screw constructed to revolve round a vertical
, and a note explains its intended use: ‘‘If this
strument made with a screw is well made—that is to
‘say, made of linen of which the pores are stopped up
with starch—and is turned swiftly, the said screw
will make its spiral in the air, and it will rise high.”
Leonardo adds that a small model may be made of
_eardboard, with the axis formed of fine steel wire
bent by force, and that this when released will turn
the screw. To his drawing of this instrument the
architect Luca nasa hase me, as it seems,
_ justly—applied the word ‘aeroplane.
hatter page in the Codice Atlantico (311 v. 4.)
_ of unique interest contains three studies of artificial
pie S, a name, and a note that the machine is to be
made, not with sportelli—that is, shutters—but united.
The natural interpretation is that the note refers to a
- commission for the construction of a machine for flight,
- with regard to which the patron, Gian Antonio de
Mariolo, has expressed a desire that the wings should
be such that no wind would be able to pass through
them as it would if they had shutters, i.e. should be
like the wings of the bat.
- _Leonardo’s researches in natural and applied science
cover so wide a field, and specialisation in these days
has so divided knowledge into watertight compart-
ments, that properly to gauge the value of his con-
tributions to scientific research would require a com-
bination of many trained intelligences. But it is not
possible to devote a number of years to the close
study of all that concerns Leonardo without becoming
- imbued with the conviction of the complete oneness
of his work and method. The dominant purpose
which animates him, whatever the nature of the
problem, is to investigate, to examine, and to define
primary causes. His pen reinforces his practice.
“Nature,” he says, ‘“‘is constrained by the order of
her own law, which lives and works within her.’’
Again, “‘There is no result in Nature without a
cause; understand the cause, and you will have no
need of the experiment’’; and ‘Nature is full of
infinite causes which were never set forth in
7 ”?
ee. ; 3
: ith Leonardo the latter end of this search forgot
the beginning. His intellectual curiosity into the
origins and causes of all created things is revealed. in
- infinite variety in the thousands of pages of his manu-
scripts, compact, as has been said, ‘of observation,
_ of prophecy, of achievement,” and in his triple legacy
_ forming a record probably unequalled, certainly un-
_ surpassed, by that of any other man in the history of
the world. For consider what he was! Painter,
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
LUGE
sculptor, engineer, architect—all these to the wonder
of his contemporaries. His manuscripts reveal that
he was no less distinguished as physicist, biologist,
and philosopher. But in the field of science he was
essentially a forerunner. The results that he achieved
must be reckoned as small compared with his grasp of
basic principles, with the vistas that he opened up,
and with the unerring instinct which he displayed in
choosing the true method of investigation. ‘
All Leonardo’s writings connected with science seem,
as it were, fragments of a larger purpose, charted,
defined, explored, but never fulfilled, of which his
researches in anatomy, zoology, physiology, embryo-
logy, and biology are the allied and component parts.
Discerning the essential unity of man and the animals
—‘‘because,’”? as he says, “all land animals have
similar members—that is to say, muscles, nerves, and
bones—and these members do not vary at all except
in length and thickness ’’ (MS. G, 5 verso)—he may
be said to have founded comparative anatomy. Draw-
ings now at Windsor show the gradations of the
human type merging into that of various animals.
Leonardo tracks the mystery of life from the concep-
tion and the foetus through growth to maturity, and
so to the gradual wasting of the tendons and all the
physical phenomena of death.
**I have dissected,’’ he says, ‘more than ten human
bodies, destroying all the various members, and remov-
ing even the very smallest particles of the flesh which
surrounded these veins without causing any effusion
of blood other than the imperceptible bleeding of the
capillary veins. And, as one single body did not suffice
for so long a time, it was necessary to proceed by
stages with so many bodies as would render my know-
ledge complete; and this I repeated twice over in
order to discover the differences.’’
The drawings made in the course of these investiga-
tions, now in the Royal Collection at Windsor, were
examined in the time of George III. by the famous
surgeon William Hunter, who, approaching them with
natural professional distrust, thus made the amende
honorable :—
“IT expected,’’ he says, “to see little more than such
designs in anatomy as might be useful to a painter
in his own profession. But I saw, and indeed with
astonishment, that Leonardo had been a general and
deep student. When I consider what pains he has
taken upon every part of the body, the superiority of
his universal genius, his particular excellence in
mechanics and hydraulics, and the attention with
which such a man would examine and see objects
which he has to draw, I am fully persuaded that
Leonardo was the best anatomist at that time in the
world.’”’ Although he does not fully explain its
mechanism, he evidently knew of the circulation of
the blood a hundred years before Harvey gave the
knowledge to the world. ‘‘ The heart,’ he wrote, “is
a muscle of great strength; the blood which returns
when the heart opens again is not the same as that
which closes the valve.’’
The depth and variety of his researches in other
branches of natural science may be inferred from the
citation of a few instances in which he anticipated the
results of investigations associated with other names.
Either before, or at latest during such time as
Copernicus was laying the foundations of his helio-
centric theory by study at Bologna and Padua—a
theory afterwards brought to completion and published
in his work, “* De Revolutionibus Orbium Ccelestium,”
in 4543—Leonardo had enunciated the ruling principle
of it in a line in the manuscripts now at Windsor,
“Tl sole non si muove”’ (‘‘ The sun does not move’).
A hundred years before Maestlin, who is credited
with the discovery, he had defined the obscure light of
342:
NATURE
[May 13, 1920
the unilluminated part of the moon as due to reflection
from the earth’s surface.
In the search for hidden laws and causes the
scientific problem followed hard upon the artistic
problem. ‘The study of perspective led to that of light
and shade, and so of optics—the study of the structure
and functions of the eye, as being the instrument by
which a and shade are perceived. He made a
model of its parts, and showed how an image is
formed on the retina, thus refuting the currently
accepted belief of the eye throwing out rays which
touch the object it desires to examine. He described
also the principle of the camera obscura ninety years
before Porta developed the idea in practice.
In mechanics he enunciated the theory of inertia,
afterwards demonstrated by Galileo, and relegated the
theory of perpetual motion then current to the same
category as astrology and necromancy. He refound
the wisdom of Archimedes, and demonstrated his
theory of oblique forces applied to the arm of the .
lever, afterwards associated with the name of Galileo.
Following on Archimedes’s conception of the pressure
of fluids, he showed—a century and a half before
Pascal—that liquids stand at the same level in com-
municating vessels, while if the two arms are filled
by different liquids the heights will vary inversely as
their densities.
Leonardo is at once artist and man of science in
his treatment of, and interest in, water. He studies
its properties and power of movement under condi-
tions varying from the action of the tides of the
ocean to the laws which regulate the movement of
water in siphons—a subject on which he notes his
intention of writing a treatise. He follows its trans-
formation into vapour, rain, dew, snow, and ice. It
winds mysteriously in wonder-working coils through
the landscape backgrounds of his pictures. He traces
the infinite shapes it assumes, falling in violence of
movement in spirals and eddies, circling like the loop
of a swallow’s flight, something of the artist’s sheer
delight in the creation of ‘beauty of form mingling
with the purpose of the man of science to wrest from
this variety its underlying principle. Or again, as
engineer he harnesses its power, studying to divert
its channels either in menace of war or for purposes
of commerce or irrigation. ;
In considering a geological problem his method is
entirely deductive. “ Since,’’ as he says, ‘‘things are
far more ancient than letters,’’ he turns from authority
to the testimony of things themselves. ‘“Why,”’ he
asks, ‘‘do we find the bones of great fishes and oysters
and corals and various other shells and sea-shells on
the high summits of mountains by the sea just as we
find them in low seas?” The fact that the cockles
were living at the time when they became embedded
in the strata—this being evident from the shells being
found in a row in pairs, while in other places the dead
are found separated from their shells and all cast up
together by the waves—is cited as proof that water
formerly covered parts of the earth which are now far
above the level of the sea, and that this condition
continued for a period of more than the forty days
of the Deluge, because, as the cockle travels along a
furrow at the rate of three or four braccia daily, it
could. not in forty days have proceeded from the
Adriatic to Monferrato in Lombardy, a distance of
250 miles. By an investigation of the cuttings formed
by the Arno in the successive strata of which the
shells are found, he shows the gradual changes in the
crust of the earth, and, following on the track of this
knowledge, he essays the construction of the map of
Italy in days remote beyond record, but of which the
earth remains a living witness.
His special interest in botanical study may be traced
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
back to the earliest period of his artistic work.
Vasari tells of a cartoon, intended for tapestry, of the
sin of Adam and Eve in Paradise, where was a
meadow with innumerable plants and’ animals, ‘of
which in truth one could say that for diligence and
truth to Nature divine wit’ could not make the like.”
He mentions a fig-tree as of special excellence for
the foreshortening of the leaves and the disposition
of the branches, and also a palm in which the round-
ness of the fan-like leaves was shown with marvellous
art. His description suggests minute attention to
detail on the part of the artist based upon a profound
study of Nature, and these are the characteristics
which find expression in Leonardo’s many exquisite
studies of plants and flowers, and in the treatment of
the herbage in the Virgin of the Rocks in the Louvre.
His study of botany was in inception an integral part —
of his treatise on painting, botany being as necessary
as anatomy, in order that the painter might have the
requisite knowledge of form and structure. But here
also the artist’s power of observation of the varied
beauty of earth’s raiment of plants and flowers is
merged imperceptibly in the mood of the man of
science who saw in Nature not only form and colour,
but, above all, light, which St. Augustine called ‘the
queen of colours,’’ and uses Nature’s profusion as a
background whereon to’ study the incidence of light
and shade..
Leonardo’s researches in structure are so exact and
so scientific in method as to anticipate the results of
subsequent inquiry, as, for instance, in the knowledge
his writings reveal of phyllotaxis—the law of quin-
cuncial arrangement of the leaves on the stem—pro-
mulgated in 1658 by Sir Thomas Browne in his
‘Garden of Cyrus.’’ In like manner the discovery
that the age of a tree may be told from the number
of concentric rings visible in a section of its trunk,
with which more than a century later the names of
Nathaniel Grew and Marcello Malpighi are associated,
is contained in a passage in Leonardo’s “Treatise on
Painting ’’ (Ludvig, 829). Leonardo also states in the
same passage that these rings vary in thickness
according to the greater or less amount of humidity of
each year. . on
I have attempted here to summarise a few of the
results attained in the course of this investigation.
The breadth and variety of their scope may serve to
recall the remark of Francis I., who is recorded by
Benvenuto Cellini to have said that “he did not
believe that any other man had come into the world
who had attained so great knowledge as Leonardo.”
Aeronautical Research. :
THE announcement by the Air Ministry of the
future arrangements for aeronautical research —
and education marks an important stage in the his-
tory of the subject.
in a White Paper, noticed in Nature of March 4,
p- 14, containing the report of a Committee on
Education and Research in Aeronautics. The chair-
man of that Committee, Sir Richard Glazebrook, is
now. head of the new Aeronautical Research Com-
mittee and Zaharoff professor at London University.
He was for twelve years chairman of the late Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics under the. presidency of.
the late Lord Rayleigh, and it may fairly be claimed
that the new advance in the direction of the co-
ordination of research in a large subject is a conse-
quence of the success of the work of the earlier body.
The Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had the
assistance of such eminent men of science as Sir
Horace Darwin, Sir Joseph Petavel, Sir Dugald Clerk,
The course followed was indicated .
ee | On ne ee ol
May 13, 1920]
NATURE 343
‘Sir Napier Shaw, Mr. F. W. Lanchester, and Sir
orge Greenhill. The new Committee differs con-
bly from the older one in its personnel, and
jicates an apparent break in continuity. This is
: wholly the case, for many of the new. members of
‘4 rch Committee have for some time been
mbers of sub-committees of the Advisory Com-
ttee. It was inevitable that the end of a strenuous
i, such as that which brought the war to a close,
uld be taken as a suitable time for the withdrawal
the older members from some of their activities,
id this has happened to a great degree in the case
the members of the Advisory Committee for Aero-
nautics. The place of such members is taken by
cialists in aeronautics together with one or two
of science of wide experience.
was recommended, in the report referred to, that
nds should be provided for a school of aeronautics
the Imperial College of Science, South Kensington,
which a the Zaharoff chair of aviation was
attached. T reasury has approved of the neces-
= funds being provided, and steps have now been
for the formation of the necessary educational
aff. The Committee’s scheme recommended that
staff should include, in addition to the Zaharoff
professor, whole-time professors of aerodynamics and
airship construction, together with part-time teachers
on design, materials, aero-engines, meteorology, navi-
tion, and airships, and a whole-time junior staff.
Mr. L. Bairstow, a former student of the college, has
_ been appointed to the chair of aerodynamics. His
_ work at the National Physical Laboratory on the
_ stability of aircraft is well known and constitutes an
_ important advance in aeronautical engineering. Mr.
_ Bairstow is a member of the new Aeronautical
Research Committee, and this dual position—like that
of Sir Richard Glazebrook—should afford ample
facility to enable the Research Committee to supervise
the ational work of the new school.
____In general the scheme proposed attempts to provide
a common meeting-ground for everybody connected
_ with aeronautics. As a central body responsible for
advice and criticism and for the broad lines of policy
in research, the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
proved to be of the greatest value. It had no direct
executive powers, although the National Physical
solely for carrying out the wishes of the Com-
. mittee.
The experience gained is apparently considered by
the Air Ministry to have justified an extension of
powers, and, in particular, the contact with full-scale
research at Farnborough and elsewhere is made of the
same character as that previously holding for the
model work at the National Physical Laboratory. In
addition, the Committee has intimate relations with
the Imperial College for educational needs. The
terms of reference to the Committee and the delimita-
tions of the respective responsibilities of the Air
_ Ministry and the Devartment of Scientific and’ Indus-
trial Research give some indication of the very com-
plex arrangements contemplated. Control in all
directions is divided, and it is some consolation in
these troubled times to find the whole of the essential
elements of aeronautics combining to give a fair and
generous trial to a scheme without definite rules,
i.e. to a scheme which assumes helpful co-operation
as the basis of success. Whatever difficulties may
__ appear in this direction can only be known later, but
it may be hoped that ‘the new Committee will be a
__ worthy successor to the Advisory Committee for Aero-
nautics and so help to confirm a healthy precedent in
the relations of industry and research to the Depart-
ments of State.
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
Laboratory had devartments in aeronautics provided
Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies.
‘F HE report for the year 1919 gives evidence that
the Board continues to discharge useful work.
During the year there was a danger that supplies of
casein and glue would fall short, and that aeroplane
manufacture would suffer thereby. The Board came
to an arrangement with the Air Group of the Ministry
of Munitions, and carried out a research into the
nature, functions, and manufacture of adhesives. This
resulted in the discovery of two new adhesives, one
possessing very remarkable properties, and the other
prepared from a waste product of which there was a
large supply in the country throughout the war. In
addition to this, Dr. Schryver and his colleagues
devised improvements in the manufacture of casein
which effect a considerable saving in material and an
improvement in its quality. ;
The Committee on the Water-power of the Empire,
with Sir Dugald Clerk as chairman and Prof. A. H.
Gibson as secretary, drew up a second report, in which
it is able to claim that it has stimulated in-
terest in water-power investigations in many parts of
the Empire. In India, Ceylon, British Guiana, Aus-
tralia, the Union of Scuth Africa, and the East Africa
Protectorate steps are being taken by the appointment
of commissions or committees, or by preliminary in-
vestigation and survey, to estimate the water-power
supplies which will be available, and in several
instances the committee has been asked to give guid-
ance and assistance. Much new development is taking
place in New Zealand. A proposal has been put
forward to hold an Imperial Water-power Conference
in London. Attention is directed to the general lack
of facilities in universities and technical institutes for
the. specialised training of young men in hydro-electric
engineering.
The committee of which Sir Robert Hadfield is
chairman has sent deputations to interview Sir Alfred
Mond and Mr. Stanley Baldwin (on behalf of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer) in order to put forward
its opinion that there is a great need for better and
more centralised accommodation for the technological
and scientific societies.
The Patent Laws Committee drew up a series of
recommendations, which were adopted by the Board
and transmitted to the Federation of British Industries
for use in its endeavour to introduce modifications into
the new Patent Laws.
An elaborate report on the advisability or otherwise
of the compulsory adoption of the metric system,
drawn up by a committee with Mr. Wilson-Fox as
chairman and Mr. A. R. Hinks as secretary, was dis-
cussed at a special meeting of the Board called for
the purpose. The report, which envisages boldly the
actual practical difficulties which would confront com-
pulsory adoption, especially during the war, is shortly
to be published on the authority of the committee,
accompanied by a series of criticisms on the part of
the scientific and technical societies to which it has
been submitted.
Other pieces of work summarised in the report
relate to such subjects as the supply of timber for
aeroplanes, the establishment of geophysical and petro-
physical institutes, and the place of science in warfare.
The Board has also taken its share in the discus-
sion of the formation of national and international
research councils, and in advocating the publication
of a work devoted to the mineral resources of the
Empire. The Bulletin, which is printed and issued to
the conjoint societies and the members of the Board,
gives in a comprehensive form a forecast of the meet-
ings of the societies and an early announcement of the
papers to be read thereat.
344
NATURE
[ May 13, 1920
Agricultural ‘Development in the West
Indies.
HOSE interested in tropical agriculture will
find much worthy of attention in a _ paper
on “Tropical Departments of Agriculture, with
Special Reference to the West Indies,’’ written
by Sir Francis Watts, Imperial Commissioner of
Agriculture for the West Indies, and _ published
in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
(February 20). The paper contains a very interesting
account of the evolution of tropical Departments of
Agriculture, pointing out that these Departments had
their origin in the botanical gardens which were
started in the larger islands in the eighteenth century,
and also in the mission gardens which the early mis-
sionaries cultivated around their stations. The author
traces the decline of the British West Indian sugar
industry, and the efforts to revive it and to stimulate
agriculture by the formation of botanical departments
in the smaller islands. Economic conditions, however,
became worse, and in 1896 the West Indian Royal
Commission was appointed, and its report marks a
period in West Indian history. As an outcome of
this report the Imperial Department of Agriculture
Was constituted, the expense of which was met by
Imperial funds. The policy of the Department was
to revive, extend, and improve the already existing
botanic gardens. This action so fostered agricultural
development that, at the end of ten years, the Colonial
finances had so improved that it was decided to
diminish progressively the Imperial grants to the various
stations, until in 1912-13 these grants ceased. Sugar
production is still a highly important industry; it has
been very much improved; the pests and diseases of
the sugar-cane are understood, and, what is more im-
portant, the growers know how to control the pests;
also, the sugar produced by the factories is now a
much more valuable product than the old muscovado
sugar. The cacao and lime industries have been
studied and improved; some minor industries, e.g.
onion-growing, have also been studied to the advan-
tage of the growers; while encouragement has been
given to the production of such crops as maize for
home consumption. The latter activity is especially
important at the present time, when a wheat shortage
is threatened,
A Simple Viscometer.
PARTICULARS of a remarkably simple viscometer
devised by Mr. A. G. M. Michell, of Melbourne,
are. given in Engineering for April 16. The instru-
ment is intended for workshop use, and gives rapid
determinations of viscosity in absolute measure with-
out requiring extraordinary care or skill. It consists
of a cup fitted with a handle and a ball of the same
curvature as the cup. Contact of these surfaces is
prevented by three symmetrically disposed projections
in the cup, raised a mil or two above its surface.
The cup is held by its handle, and a few drops of
the oil to be tested are placed in it. The ball is then
placed in the cup and pressed firmly into it for five
or ten seconds. This drives some of the oil out, which
collects in a channel; enough oil must be provided in
the first instance to ensure that the channel is filled.
The instrument is then inverted, and the time taken
for the ball to drop clear noted. This time in
seconds divided by the constant of the instrument is
equal to the absolute viscosity of the oil. The action
depends upon the rate at which the oil-film between
the cup and the ball thickens under the force of
gravity exerted by the ball. This flow of oil is
NO. 2637, VOL. 105 |
is suspended from the arm of a balance.
resisted by its viscosity, and the time taken for the
ball to fall clear is accordingly directly proportional to
the viscosity. The above method is sufficiently
accurate for workshop use. To obtain accurate
results, the ball is placed at the bottom of a vessel
containing a considerable quantity of the liquid. The
cup is then lowered over the ball, taking care to
exclude air. After pressing the two together as before,
they are lifted until the ball clears the bottom of the
vessel, and the time it takes to drop clear is noted as
before. Mr. W. Ramsay, of Messrs. Cammell and
Laird, has made as many as 120 most concordant
readings in two hours, and the results plotted quite
regularly. With liquids of very low viscosity, the ball
By adjust-
ing the weights, the force tending to separate the
ball from the cup can be diminished to, say, one-
twentieth of the normal. This increases twentyfold
the time needed to effect the separation. manu-
facture in this country has been undertaken by Messrs:
atts Bearings, Ltd., 3 Central Buildings, London,
.W.1.
The Chemical Society and its New
By-laws.
Tt is not surprising in these days, when the gld
political order has been. challenged in so man
quarters, that even the scientific societies should be,
moved to recast their constitution and government in
a democratic sense. The Chemical Society is the
latest to complete this process of revision, and a
record of the chief points in which changes have been
made is of public interest.
As a preliminary to any fundamental alterations, a
supplemental charter was found to be necessary.
The original charter of 1848 included many hampering
restrictions, prescribing, for example, the maximum
size of the council and the manner of its election.
Such provisions, devised for the conduct of a small
society associated mainly with London and the imme-
diate districts, are quite unsuitable now that the society.
numbers more than 3500 fellows, and when probably
about two-thirds of these reside beyond the metro-
politan area.
There has been some doubt also whether, under the
original charter, it was permissible to elect women
as fellows of the society. Uncertainty on this point
has now been removed by the supplemental charter,
which provides that fellows may be of either sex.
Another important feature of the new by-laws
based on the supplemental charter is the attempt to
secure for provincial fellows a greater share in the
conduct of the society. Hitherto every important
matter affecting the society, including the election of
officers and council, has been determined at a general
meeting by a majority of the fellows present and
voting... Under the supplemental charter the society
has power to elect the officers and council by a postal
vote, and further, in certain cases, to take a poll of
all fellows resident in the United Kingdom. These
powers have been incorporated in the new by-laws. —
Another important aspect of these is that there has
been kept in view the contingency of combined action
with kindred societies concerned in the development
of chemical science, as, for example, in the possible
acquisition of common premises, or in the publication
of joint abstracts. Under the new provisions there
will be greater liberty to deal with such a situation
if and when it arises, and it may be that, these par-
ticular modifications of the by-laws will prove to be
amongst the most important that have been made.
AP ie Pe ee
FOF ea
we ae
| NATURE
345
_ May 13, 1920]
niversity and Educational Intelligence.
_CamBrIDGE.—The syndicate appointed to consider
ae relation of women students to the University has
nted a double report. One-half of its members
é in favour of admitting women to full membership
the University with a few limitations affecting
al posts. They specifically exclude in their pro-
Statute the recognition by the University of
zen students at the men’s colleges, but. they throw
a University lectures, examinations, degrees, offices,
emoluments to women on the same terms as to
_ The legislation they propose will give degrees
past: students of Girton and Newnham.
he report of the second half of the syndicate con-
3 a long discussion of the question. “Their actual
posal boils down, however, to a recommendation
that the Senate should express itself in favour of a
W university being formed from Girton and Newn-
h Be oeges, the intention being to preserve for their
Students the facilities at present extended to. them
_the University of Cambridge. The advantages
ing to women students under this proposal would
the awarding of degrees and official consultations
between the men’s and the women’s universities on
examination schedules. There is ‘a controversy ahead
ending in a contest to which the outside voter will
mubtless be summoned by both parties.
Sir Geoffrey Butler, Corpus Christi College, has
been appointed secretary of the Board of Research
_ Studies; correspondence in connection with students
_ desiring to come to Cambridge to work for the Ph.D.
ee should be addressed to him.
_ Mr. H. F. Gadow has been appointed reader in the
_ morphology of vertebrates; Dr. H. Scott curator in
_ entomology; Mr. G
4 _€ngineering workshops; and Mr. L. P.
4 Bee) ePetintendent of the engineering drawing
j rer s
.
2
- Mr. T. Harrison Hucues has made the generous
gift of 50,0001. to the University of Liverpool as a
contribution to the appeal for funds.
_A pwustic lecture on ‘The Life-movements of
Plants” will be delivered at University College,
London, by Sir Jagadis C. Bose on Monday, May 17,
_ A HOLIDay course in geology will be held at the
School of Metalliferous Mining, Camborne, Corn-
_ wall, from July 12 to August 23. The course will
consist of lectures, laboratory work, and field work,
and occupy five days. a week. lectures will
deal with the geology of West Cornwall, with special
__ reference to the economic side.
4 A LIMITED number of free places, tenable at the
_ Imperial College of Science and Technology, South
Kensington, are being offered by the London County
Council to candidates who can show that they are
qualified to enter on the fourth, or post-graduate, year
of the course of studv selected. Applications must be
made upon Form T2/255 A., obtainable from the
_ Education Officer, L.C.C., Victoria Embankment,
_ W.C., and sent in by, at latest, June 5.
i THE council of the London (Royal Free Hospital)
_ School of Medicine for Women will award,.in June
- mext, the Dr. Edith Pechey Phipson post-graduate
__ scholarship of the annual value of rool. and tenable
_ for three years. The scholarship is open to all
_ medical women, preferably coming from India or
a :
going to work there, for assistance in post-graduate
NO. 2637, VOL. 105]
F. C. Gordon superintendent of.
work. Applications are receivable by the warden and
secretary of the school, 8 Hunter Street, Brunswick
Square, until May 31.
Durinc the period immediately following the Armis-
tice it was necessary to adopt temporary measures to
fill vacancies in Civil Departments otherwise than by
open competitive written examination. The scheme,
authorised by Order in Council and under regulations
of the Civil Service Commission, has been known as
the Reconstruction Scheme. Under that scheme, men
who have served in his Majesty’s Forces have been
chosen to fill positions in the Civil Service by inter-
view before a selection board, following a qualifying
examination. The scheme, which has been applied to
the Home Civil Service (Class I.), the Indian Civil
Service, the Colonial Civil Service, junior or inter-
mediate appointments, and officerships of Customs
and Excise, is now coming to an end; and the Civil
Service Commissioners announce that the last day for
the receipt of applications under it (which must be on
the prescribed form) is June 30, 1920, and that no
application received after that date can be considered.
This announcement does not apply to appointments in
the Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service or in the
Consular Service, which it is intended to make on the
Reconstruction Scheme until the end of the year 1921.
THE various associations of teachers in Lancashire
and Cheshire engaged in different ‘spheres and
branches of education, ranging from the Private
Schools Association to the Universities of Liverpool
and Manchester, and including all grades and phases
of education, have formed themselves into a federal
council comprised of two or more representatives from
each association or branch with the purpose of con-
sidering the further co-ordination of education in
Lancashire and Cheshire, and of bringing into closet
association teachers who are engaged in different
branches of educational work. The council comprises
thirty-two representatives, with Principal J. C. M.
Garnett as chairman, from fourteen different teachers’
associations, and the federal council thus constituted
met in Manchester on October 26, 1918. At a later
meeting the council appointed special committees to
investigate the following matters:—(a) The inter-
relation of the various types of schools and the age of
transfer, together with a national scholarship system;
{b) the curricula of the several types of schools;
(c) the training and supply of teachers; and (d) the
means and methods whereby teachers may secure a
more effective voice in the administrative control of
education. The recommendations of these committees
are set forth in a statement of some seventy pages, ~
published at 1s. by the Manchester University Press,
entitled ‘‘A National System of Education: Some
Recommendations for Establishing it in England
during the Decade Ending Ten Years Hence.”? The
statement includes an introduction, being a lecture
delivered by Principal Garnett in January last,
which is accompanied by an elaborate coloured
diagram setting forth the various grades of educa-
tion for different classes of children according to their
opportunities and capacities and their probable future
in life. The pamphlet describes nine types of educa-
tional institutions and sixteen different types of educa-
tion, but whether these could not with much advan-
tage be seriously reduced in number is a matter for
the grave consideration of educators. It is suggested
that there should be established upon the lines of this
federal council a provincial joint committee for each
of some eight or ten provinces into which England
and’ Wales ‘should be divided for the purposes of
education.
346
NATURE
| May 13, 1920
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Royal Society, April 29.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Prof. J. W. Gregory: The Irish
eskers. Eskers are banks of sand and gravel, typically
occurring as ridges on the central plain of Ireland,
where they were deposited during the recession of the
ice at the close of the Glacial period, They have been
generally attributed to deposition along glacial rivers,
like Swedish osar. Their structure and composition
indicate that the most important Irish eskers were
formed along the margin of the receding ice-sheets
by floods of water, due to the melting of the ice.
Irish eskers formed along glacial rivers are relatively
small and exceptional. The accumulation of the
materials into ridges, and their restriction between
about 150 ft. and 300 ft. above sea-level, are attributed
to the formation of the eskers where the ice entered
into a sheet of water, which was probably the sea,
since marine fossils are widely distributed in the
adjacent drifts, and there are no embankments to
maintain glacial lakes at the required level. It is
proposed that the term ‘‘esker ’’ should be continued for
Irish ridges and mounds of sand and gravel, but that
in glacial geology the term “osar” should be used for
ridges formed along the course of glacial rivers, and
“kame” for ridges deposited by water along the
margin of an ice-sheet.—Miss K. M. Curtis :The life-
history and cytology of Synchytrium endobioticum
(Schilb.), Perc., the cause of wart disease in potato.
The life-history and cytology of the organism have been
followed through all’ their Stages. In the course of
the investigation the following important points have
been determined: (1) A sexual process has been dis-
covered and followed in all its details; (2) the nature
of the difference between the resting (or winter)
sporangia and the sori (or summer sporangia) has been
established ; (3) the infection of the host-tissue by the
zoospores and zygotes has been traced; and (4) the
peculiarities in the behaviour of the nucleus of the
parasite have been investigated.—_B. Sahni: The
Structure and affinities of Acmopyle pancheri, Pilger.
Acmopyle, a monotypic New Caledonian Podocarp, is
the most specialised member of the Podocarpinee,
and closely allied to the genus Podocarpus, which it
resembles in the vegetative anatomy, drupaceous seed,
megaspore membrane, -young embryo, structure of
male cone, microsporophyll, pollen-grain, and probably
male gametophyte. It differs from Podocarpus in (1)
the nearly erect seed; (2) the complete fusion of the
epimatium to the integument, even in the region of
the micropyle, in the formation of which it takes part;
and’ (3) the much ‘greater development of the vascular
system of the seed, which forms a ‘nearly continuous
cup-like tracheal investment covering the basal two-
thirds of the stone. (a) The Taxinez are structurally
so distinct from the remaining conifers as to justify
their ‘being placed in a separate phylum, Taxales,
equivalent in rank, and related to, the Ginkgoales and
the Coniferales as here defined. The Cordaitalean
affinities of the Taxales are emphasised. (b) Con-
cerning the ovuliferous scale of the conifers, the con-
clusion is in favour of the brachyblast theory, support
for this view being derived from the structure of the
megastrobilus of Acmopyle.’ (c) No definite opinion is
expressed on the question whether the conifers arose
ultimately from microphyllous or megaphyllous :an-
cestors, for the origin of the Cordaitales themselves
is still regarded as sub judice. us
Zoological Society, April 27.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-
ward, vice-president, in the chair.—F. F, Laidlaw:
Contributions to a study of the dragon-fly fauna of |
NO. 2637, VOL. 105]
‘line ring.—Prof. A.
- successive single ones.
Borneo. Part iv.: A. list of the species known to
occur in the island.—Dr. R. Broom; Some new Thero.
cephalian reptiles from the Karroo beds of South
Atrica. '
MANCHESTER,
Literary and Philosophical Society, March 16.—Mr.
William Thomson, vice-president, in the chair.—Prof.
R, Robinson: Note on the mechanism of the produc-
tion of kynurenic acid in the dog. The formation of
kynurenic acid from tryptophane is susceptible of a
very simple representation involving normal reactions.
The process appears to be primarily one of oxidation
followed by decomposition of a carbamic acid deriva-
tive, and a probably spontaneous closing of the quino-
Lapworth: Latent polarities of
atoms and mechanism of reaction, with special refer-
ence to carbonyl compounds. A consideration of the
properties of carbonyl compounds shows that divalent
oxygen and tervalent nitrogen tend to cause a latent
polarisation in the molecules of carbon compounds.
When this occurs in a molecule, the other atoms in
the neighbourhood show induced latent polarities
which the writer indicates by attaching — and +
signs to the atoms in alternating order, beginning
with the “‘key atoms,’’ arriving at schemes like those
adopted by Fry and others. The induced polarity of
an atom or group is not interpreted as necessarily
signifying an electric charge, but only as an en-
hanced or diminished tendency to attract or repel
other atoms (or electrons) with definite polar character,
and that only at the moment of chemical change (or
ionisation, when this occurs). A condition which
appears necessary for the full extension of the induc-
tive effect is the occurrence of double bonds (conjuga-
tion?), though it may survive the intervention of two
While divalent oxygen and
tervalent nitrogen (and especially the former) seem
more effective than any other atoms, it would appear
that halogen (—), hydrogen (+), and metals (+) can
act as ‘‘key atoms’? to a smaller extent; carbon
appears almost indifferent. This principle includes
Markownikoff’s rule of addition, the rules of substitu-
tion in the benzene series, the rules of reaction of
saturated and unsaturated ketones, nitriles, and carb-
oxylic acids, as well as of their halogen derivatives.
The influence of hydrogen as a ‘‘key atom” is per-
ceptible in the cresols, of which the relative acidities
can be foreseen from a consideration of the influence
of the hydrogen atom in the methyl groups on the
latent polarities-of the atoms ,in hydroxyl groups.—
Prof. R. Robinson; The conjugation of partial valen-
cies. The author deals with the mechanism-of chemical
processes on the basis of a hypothesis of divisible
valency, assuming that activation of molecules is due .
to a partial dissociation or splitting of valencies, and
that only molecules so polarised take part in re-
actions. This accounts for the well-recognised effect
of polar atoms on alternate atoms in a chain, and
the theory is extended to include cases such as the
addition of hvdrogen bromide to allvl bromide, where
the conjugation of ethvlene linkage and bromine atom
is relatively weak. Conjugated decompositions and
the problem of molecular rearrangement are dealt with.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, April 19.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—G. A. Boulenger: The fossil Gavialis of
Omo.—A. Vayssiére: The marine fauna of the western
coast of the Gulf of Marseilles.—G. Julia : New pro-
perties of certain very general classes: of integral or
meromorphic functions.—W, Sierpinski : Functions of
the first class.—Fr. Lange-Nielsen: A generalisation
of Rolle’s theorem.—J. Villey: Flight at high alti-
pean | Coe ae
May 13, 1920]
NATURE
347
ides. Reply to some criticisms of M. Rateau on an
earlier communication.—E,. Brylinski: The transport
‘of electrical energy to great distances. A mathe-
matical discussion of the properties of a half-wave
—S. Posternak : The variations of the composition
ammonium phosphomolybdate. An account of: the
tions in the composition of the precipitate pro-
_by the presence of ammonium nitrate or sul-
te in the liquid in which the precipitate is formed.
Bourion: The analysis of commercial chloro-
renes by distillation. The substances present in
commercial product are benzene, monochloro-
ene, and higher chlorination products boiling at
C., 130° C., and 172° C. or above. A scheme for
stematic fractional distillation is given, with results
r synthetic mixtures. ‘The method is a lengthy
_ one, a single sample requiring three and a haJjf days
analysis.—G. Mignonac: The ketimines. Forma-
by the catalytic reduction of the oximes. The
action was carried out with nickel (reduced from its
oxide at 300° C.) in absolute alcohol at ordinary atmo-
me pressure at a temperature of about 16° C.
The oxime of cyclohexanone gave N-cyclohexyl-
_ ketimine, a.substance not previously isolated, and the
SO ing ketimines were isolated from the reduc-
tion products of the oximes of acetophenone, propio-
phenone, benzophenone, and phenyl-a-naphthyl ketone.
_ —Mile. S. Veil: Alloys of oxides. Mixtures of the
_ oxides of chromium and cerium were compressed and
_ heated, and measurements made of the electrical con-
_ ductivity and magnetisation coefficient of the products.
_ Diagrams are given showing the results for varying
‘tions of the two oxides.—C, Matignon and J. A.
mu: The reversible oxidation of arsenious acid.
From the thermochemical data it should be possible
directly to oxidise arsenic trioxide to the pentoxide, and
experiments were carried out at temperatures between
400° C. and 450° C., the pressures of the oxygen being
og 127, and 138 atmospheres. The production of
pentoxide was proved, but the oxidation of the
arsenic trioxide was not complete.—Ch. Gorceix : The
formation of the first ocean.—R. Sonéges: The
embryogeny of the GEnotheracee. Development of the
embryo in Oecenothera biennis.—M. Mboilliard: The
influence of a small quantity of potassium on the
ysiological characters of Sterigmatocystis nigra.
otassium has a marked specific action on the develop-
ment of this mould. Deficiency of potassium causes
the glucose in the culture fluid to disappear more
rapidly than the levulose; conidia and black pigment
do not appear as usual; a golden-yellow pigment
a sin the fluid, and a soluble substance stained
+
tions which may modify the activity of chloropicrin
towards the higher plants. The effects of chloropicrin
are nearly proportional to the concentration of the
vapour and the time of action. Moisture and light,
eee, Sect sunlight, are without influence.—M.
ud : An anatomical measurement permitting the
diagnosis of sex in the human skull.—L. Boutan:;
~ Comparative’ yields: of pelagic: apparatus.—P. Wintre-
bert: The propagation of the undulating movement of
the muscles of the skeleton in advanced embryos of
_ Seylliorhinus canicula after section or partial re-
section of the spinal cord.—P. Portier: The rabbit
deprived of its cecal appendix regenerates this organ
3 cd differentiation of the extremity of the caecum.
hen the rabbit’s appendix is removed the terminal
portion of the,czecum is modified, becomes infiltrated
with Ivymphocytes, and regenerates a new appendix
possessing the essential histological and physiological
characters of the normal appendix. This is a proof of
= a. * oe hes
| ind a oe,
Ch. Porcher: Lacteal retention.—M. Doyon : The anti-
NO. 2627. vol. toc!
Fifth edition.
blue by iodine is formed.—G. Bertrand: The condi-:
the important function of this organ’ in the rabbit.— |
coagulating ‘and hzmolysing action of sodium
nucleinate.—P. Courmont and A. Rochain: The action
of the micro-organisms of sewage effluents purified
by the activated-sludge method on albuminoid
materials, urea, and nitrates.—E. Aubel: The
sterilising power of acids.
Books Received.
School Dynamics. By W. G. Borchardt. Part i.
(with Answers.) Pp. vii+286+xix. (London: Riving-
tons.) 3s. 6d.
Space and Time in Contemporary Physics. By
Prof. M. Schlick. Rendered into English by H. L.
Brose. Pp. xi+89. (Oxford: At the Clarendon
Press.) 6s, 6d. net.
Zodlogy: A Text-book for Colleges and Universi-
ties. By Prof. Cockerell. Pp. xi+558.
(Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York: World Book Co.)
3 dollars.
An Introduction to Paleontology. By Dr. A. M.
Davies. Pp. xi+414. (London: T. Murby and Co.)
12s. 6d. net.
Practical Plant Biochemistry. By M. W. Onslow.
Pp. vii+178. (Cambridge: At the University Press.)
15s. net. ;
Wild Fruits and How to Know Them. By Dr.
S. C. Johnson. Pp. xi+132. (London: Holden and
Hardingham, Ltd.) 1s, net.
Aluminium: Its Manufacture, Manipulation, and
Marketing. By G. Mortimer. (London: Sir Isaac
Pitman and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net. ,
Cotton Spinning. By W. Scott Taggart. Vol. iii.
Pp. xxviiit+490. (London: Macmillan
and Co., Ltd.) os. net.
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, May 13.
Rovat. InstiruTION oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—A. P. Graves: Welsh
and Irish Folk Song.
Royat Society, at 4.—Election of Fellows.—4.30.—Dr. A. D.
Waller: Demonstration of the Apparent ‘‘Growth” of — Plants
fand of Inanimate Materials) and of their Apparent ‘‘Contractility.”—
W. N. F. Woodland: The ‘Renal Portal” System (Renal Venous
Meshwork) and Kidney Fxcretion in Vertebrata. _ sone
Lonvon MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—H. W. Richmond : (1) Historical
Note on some Canonical Forms quoted by Mr. Wakeford. (2) Historical
Note on Cayley’s Theorems on the Intersections of Algebraic Curves.—
T. Stuart: e Lowest Parametric Solutions of a Dimorph Sextan
Eauation in the Rational, Irrational, and Complex Fields.—A. E.
Jolliffe : The Pascal Lines of a Hexagon. Mik Le
INsTITUTION: oF .ELEcTRICAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil
Engineers), at 6.—S. Evershed: Permanent Magnets in Theory and
tice.
InstITUTE oF INvENTORS (at Royal Society of Arts), at 7.30.—D.
Leechman and Others: Discussion on The Kelations of the Inventor to
the State.
Optica Soctrry, at 7.30. :
InstituTION oF AvTomopILE EnaGinerrs (Graduates’ Section) (at 28
Victoria Street). at 8.—W. E. Benbow: The Chemical and Physical
Properties of Iron and Steel. :
Roya Society or Mepicinr (Neurology Section), at 8.30.—Annual
General. Meeting.—Dr. S. A. K. Wilson: Decerebrate Rigidity in Man,
and the Occurrence of Tonic Fits.
FRIDAY, May 14.
Department oF ScrentiFic AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH. Conference
of Research Organisations (at Institution of Civil Engineers), at Sy
Marquess of Crewe: Introductory Address.—Dr. A. W. Crossley : e
Relation of Research Associations to Existing Institutions for Research.
—J. W. Williamson: The Staffing of Research Associations : Salaries and
. Superannuation. f
OYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. at 5.
PuHysicaL Eee oF Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. F. Lloyd Hopwood : Demon-
stration of Experiments on the Thermionic_ Properties of Hot
Filaments.—G. D. West : A Modified Theory of the Crookes Radiometer. —
A. Campbell: The Magnetic Properties of Silicon-Iron (Stalloy) in
Alternating Fields of Low Value.—T. Smith: Tracing Rays through
an Optical System.
348
NATURE
[| May 13, 1920.
Petite: Society or Mepicine (Clinical Section), at 5.30.—Annual General
eeting.
Mavaco.ocicat Society or Lonpon (at Linnean Society), at 6.
InsTiTUTION oF ELEcTRICAL EncIngrrs (Students’ Meeting) (at King’s
College), at 7.—E. G. Humfress: Electrical Motor Control Devices.—
The Meeting will be preceded by the Annual ~~ Meeting.
Junior INSTITUTION OF NGINEERS, at 7.30.—Hon. H. Fletcher
teen and Others: Discussion on The Business Aspect of the Peace
reaty.
Society or Tropica Mepicine ann HycGiene (at 11 Chandes Street,
W.1), at 8.30.—Dr. E. J. Wood: A Consideration of Pellagra from the
Standpoint of a ‘‘ Deficiency Disease.”
Roya. InstiruTion oF Great BRITAIN, at 9.—Prof. Karl Pearson:
. Sidelights on the Evolution of Man.
SATURDAY, May 15.
at 3.—Frederic Harrison:
te INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, 3
A Philosophical Synthesis as proposed by Auguste Comte.
MONDAY, May 17.
Vicrorta InstiTuTE (at Central Hall, Westminster), at 4.30.— Bishop G-
Forrest Browne: Monumental Art in me England, Caledonia, Find
- Ireland. -
Rovat INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS, at 8.—B. J. Lubschez: The
Two Great Railway Stations of New York.
Royat Socirrry or Arts, at 8.—A. T. Bolton: The Decoration and
Architecture of Robert Adam and Sir John Soane, 1758-1837 (Cantor
Lectures).
Royat GrocrRapHicaL Society (at A®olian Hall), at 8.30.—Capt. F.
Kingdon Ward: The Valleys of Kham.
TUESDAY, May 18.
Roya INstITuTION oF GREAT BritTatn, at 3.—Prof. A. Keith: British
Ethnology: The Invaders-of England.
Rovat SocieETy oF MeEpIcInE, at wi Gehed Meeting.
Royat_ Statistica Society, at 5.15.—Y. B. Guild: Variations in
the Numbers of Livestock and in the Production of Meat in the United
Kingdom during the War.
INSTITUTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGISTS (at Roval Society of Arts),
at 5.30.—R. Stirling: Air Lift System of Pumping Oil Wells.
Rovat Puorocrapuic Society or Great Britain (Lantern Meeting),
at 7.—A.'C.’ Vowles: Wanderings in Mesopotamia (Babvlon).
Rovat ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 815.—Sir Henry Howorth:
Buddhism in the Pacific.
WEDNESDAY, May 10.
Socrety oF Grass TecHNno.ocy (at Institute of Chemistrv), at 2.—C. J. |
Discussion on The Physical Properties of Glass.—
Peddle and Others :
C. J. Peddle: The Development of Various Types of Glass. Part i.
The Interaction of Silica with the Oxides of Sodium and Potassium.
Part ii.: The Interaction of Silica, Lime, and Sodium Oxide. Part i iii.
The Interaction of Silica, Lime, and Potassium Oxide. Part iv. : The
Interaction of Silica, Lime, and the Oxides of Sodium and Potassium.
art v.: A Comparison of the Soda-Lime-Silica and the Potash-Lime-Silica
Glasses. —Dr. M. W. Travers : A Surface Effect in Glass, Probably Caused
by Re-heating. —s. English and Dr. W. E. S. Turner: The ermal
Expansion of Magnesia-containing Glasses.—J. R. Clarke and Dr. W. E. S.
urner: The Optical Properties of Some Lime-Soda Glasses.—
S. English and Dr. W. E. S. Turner: The prone Temperatures of
Soda-Lime and Soda-Magnesia M8 —J. D. Cauwood, J. R. Clarke,
Miss C. M. M. Muirhead, and Dr. W. E. S. Turner : The Durability of
Lime-Soda Glasses. —Jj. R. Clarke and Dr. W. B.S. Turner: The. In-
fluence of Lime on the Value of i Kaeo to Modulus of Elasticity for the
Lime-Soda Glasses.—S. English and Dr. W. E. S. Turner: The Density
* Soda-Magnesia Glasses and a Comparison with that of the Soda-Lime
asses,
Roya Society oF ARTs, at 4.30.—J. S. Highfield, Dr. W. R. Ormandy,
D. Northall-Laurie: The Commercial Applications of Electrical
smosis.
Roya Society or Mepicine (History of Medicine Section), at 5.—
Annual General Meeting.—Dr., Withington: The Medical Terms in
Liddell and Scott.
Royat MrreorotocicaL Society, at 5.—Dr. Griffith Taylor:
cultural Climatology of Australia.—J. E. Clark and H. B. A
Report on the Phenological Observations for 1919.
Grotocicat Sociery oF Lonpon, at 5-30.—Dr. H. H. Thomas: Certain
Xenolithic Tertiary. Minor Intrusions in the Island of Mull (Argyllshire).
eg ra ICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY, at 8.—Annual Exhibition of Microscopic
ond Life.
Agri-
ames :
THURSDAY, May 20.
‘Rovat InstiTuTion oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—A. P. Graves: Welsh and
Irish Folk Song. :
Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers. —Prof. J. N. Collie: Some
Notes on Krypton and Xenon.—Sih Ling Ting: Experiments on Electron
Emission from Hot Bodies, with a Preface by Prof. O. W. Richardson.—
Dr. ‘L. Silberstein: The ee By an Theory Applied to the
Balmer Series of Hydrogen.—Nr, T. E. Stanton, Miss D. Marshall, and
Mrs. C.'N. Bryant: The Conditions at the Boundary of a Fluid in
Turbulent Motion.
Rovat Society or Arts (Indian’ Section), at 4.30.—Brig.-Gen. Lord
Montagu of Beaulieu : Roads and Transport in India.
Roya. Soctery oF MEDICINE (Dermatology Section), at 5.—Annual
General Meeting.
INSTITUTION OF MINING AND Niet buxidnot (at Geological Society), at
5.30.—G. Rigg: Roasting and Lead-Smelting Practice at the Port Pirie
is. A.) Plant of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary,
Ltd.—Capt. Tatham: Tunnelling in the Sand Dunes of - the
Belgian Coast.
NO. 263/, VOL, 105]
InsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil Engineers),
at 5.30 (Annual General Meeting). : .
OrticaL SocteTy, at 7.30.—B. K. Johnson: The No. 7 Dial Sight,
Mk, 11.—Lt.-Col. Gifford : A Short High Power Telescope.
Cuemicat Society (Ordinary and Informal Meeting), at 8.
FRIDAY, May 21. j
sate Society or Mepicrne (Otology Section), at oe Genera
eeting.
Wireess Society or Lonpon (at Institution of Civil Engineers
ass
P. Coursey: Some Methods of Eliminating Atmospherics in
Reception,
Royat Society oF MEDICINE (Electro-Therapeutics Section), at 8.30.—
Annual General Meeting.
— INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, aa bepnie 4, ~ Fleming :
he Thermionic Valve in Wireless Telegraphy a
SATURDAY, May 22.
Rovat InstiruTion OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Frederic Harrison: The
Re-action and the Critics of the Positivist School of
CONTENTS. —
The Federation of Science |...) i. «4° 0) see
Lord Kitchener as a Scientific Worker ......
The Nation’s Food. By Dr. E. J. Russell, F.R.S. .
Differential Geometry. ByG.B.M,. .... -. . 321
A Gardeninthe Dunes. By G.A.J.C....... 322
Our Bookshelf... .. 2... 6 is) 3) 9
Letters to the Editor:—
The Indian Chemical Service. — Prof, Jocelyn
Thorpe, F.R.S. ; Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray . 324
The Cost of Scientific Publications.—Prof, W. A.
Herdman, F.R.S.; Prof. H. H. Turner,
F.R.S. ; E. B. Knobel ; Walter W. Bryant 326
Atomic and Molecular Forces and Crystal Structure.
(With Diagram.)—Dr. A. E, Oxley... .. . 327
Wasps.—W. F. Denning . 328
Dr. J. G. Bartholomew and the Layer System of
Contour Colouring. —Geo. G. Chisholm . . 328
The Prismatic Astrolabe. res: Diagrams.) “By Bet
ee ee. 329
The Heart of a ‘Continent. (ustrated.) ‘By
Douglas Carruthers. . 330
The United States National ‘Research Council. | By .
Prof. Vernon Faas, 3 ba i ee
Obituary :— \
Marlborough R. Pryor. By Prof. T. G. Bonney,
BRR Se a ee
Notes .... ght ose PURE ee
Our Astronomical Column: i
Conjunction of Mars with Spica .....+.- - 340
The Duplicity of » Geminorum. . . s+ +,2 + 340
Kodaikanal Observations of Prominences. . . . . 340
Leonardo da Vinci. II. By Edward pat - + 340
Aeronautical Research . ...:.., +s. s+» g42
Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies Weer tha 6"
Agricultural Development in the West Indies. . . 344
A Simple Viscometer yee meee
The Chemical Society and its New By-laws: os gad
University and Educational Intelligence .... . 345
Societies and Academies. .........+.+. + 346
Books Received 9.0605 3s er eo en
Diary of Societies..." eo eee ee
Editorial and Publishing Offices :
MACMILLAN AND CO., Lrtp.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the
Publishers.
rt
_ Editorial Communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. .
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
—
_ THURSDAY, MAY 20,
1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
a MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
_ ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
"Advertisements ied business letters should’ be
addressed to the Publishers.
‘Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
: _ Universities.
Na leading article on “The Universities and the
4 ' Army, ”’ in Nature for April 8, we referred to
“the Memorandum on the Army Estimates for
4 1920-21 published by the War Office, and quoted
_ the words: “One of the important lessons of the
‘war. has been the extent to which the Army is de-
) ‘pendent on the Universities.” Of these lessons one
especially was emphasised, viz. the necessity for
the reorganisation of the Army on its educational
side. We were told again and again, both during
and after hostilities, that the war was primarily
a " scientific war—laboratory against laboratory,
j machine shop against machine shop, trained_in-
- telligence against trained intelligence—and it. is
4 gratifying to know that the War Office recognises
that “the Universities responded to the call for
| help in a splendid manner.”” That they did so
' is an indisputable fact. Thousands of under-
: graduates and hundreds of their teachers, from
_ junior assistant to full-fledged professor, switched
off from classics, history, philosophy, natural
- science, and what not, to gunnery, engineering,
_ motor transport, and so on. Chemical laboratories
Substituted investigations on explosives, anti- gas
protectives, and smoke screens for routine qualita-
_ tive and quantitative analysis; engineering labora-
: tories concentrated their energies on the invention
_ of depth charges, shell-gauges, and submarine
engines; and the geologist relinquished the study
of stratigraphy and paleontology to discover new
- sources of sand from which to manufacture glass.
_ All this work was novel to the Universities, and,
as many would add, foreign to their purpose and
traditions ; yet should another war of similar mag-
_ nitude ever arise, can it be doubted that the
Universities will again be called upon .to play .an
ven greater part in it than they did in the Great
Le | War of 1914-18?
5 NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
‘The ‘Officers Training Corps and the
eaters)
NATURE
ae
If this be so, and if the dowel be egrets asa
profession, should its officers not receive a pro-
fessional training, and where more appropriately
and effectively than in the Universities? One of
the most enlightened features of Army reorganisa-
tion introduced by Lord Haldane in 1907 was the
institution of the Officers Training Corps in con-
nection with the Universities. Had this tentative
scheme of professional training for future Army
officers received proper encouragement and been
developed on suitable and elastic lines, the War
Office might have had at its disposal in the autumn
of 1914 a large reserve of trained ‘officers who
had passed through a properly devised University
curriculum,
The military’ education committees of the
various British universities and university colleges
were recently sounded as to their views on the
future of the Officers Training Corps, and from
the replies received it would appear that most of
them are unwilling to commit themselves to any
plan of action until the attitude of the Army
Council in reference to the Corps has been ascer-
tained. What that attitude may be we have at
present no means of finding out. We are informed
that one of the largest Universities in the Kingdom
answered the inquiry in the following terms:
“The Military Education Committee are not of the
opinion that it is desirable to take any further
action at the present time until the Army Council
have made a definite statement with regard to the
future position of the Officers Training Corps, or
to take any steps in regard to the creation of a
Department of Military Studies until this official
statement is issued.”” Several other Universities
replied in similarly non-committal terms, and out
of twelve, only one expressed any enthusiasm on
the subject.
If the Army Council sincerely desires to make
use of the Universities in the training of officers,
let it say so in clear and unmistakable language,
and indicate at the same time how and to what
extent it is prepared to aid the Universities in
earrying out its ideas. Some progress might be
made, for example, if the Army Council would
appoint a committee representing all departments
concerned with Officers Training Corps, with
power to act and not merely to hear and repori, to
meet and confer with representatives of the Uni- |
versities, who on their side could submit the
special needs of the Universities regarding
Officers Training Corps. We cannot get rid of
the suspicion that the War Office authorities are
unaware of the work and organisation of the
N
350
NATURE
newer Universities, and that they are still con-
vinced that Great Britain has only two institutions
worthy of the title. Have they any adequate con-
ception, for example, of the extent and capacities
for teaching and research of the faculties and
departments of metallurgy, engineering, chem-
istry, and applied electricity at Sheffield, Leeds,
Manchester, and Liverpool, to mention only one
group of provincial Universities, and how it might
be possible, in connection with a properly organ-
ised training corps, to provide instruction for.
cadets in those branches of specialised military
work for which a particular University had special
facilities and equipment, involving the application
of science to war? “
The Regulations governing the O.T.C. are dated
1912, but we have learnt much since then, and it
is essential before these Regulations are revised
and re-issued that the Army Council should take
the Universities into its confidence, and, in con-
sultation with their representatives, produce a
scheme of training that shall conform to Univer-
sity practice and be within the range of University
capacity, while at the same time meeting the
requirements of the Army Council in its effort
to obtain suitably trained men to command the
various units of the Army of the future.
Relativity and Geometry.
The Foundations of Einstein’s Theory of Gravita-
tion. By Erwin Freundlich. Authorised English
translation by Henry L. Brose. Preface by
Albert Einstein. Introduction by Prof. H. H.
Turner. Pp. xvi+61. (Cambridge: At the
University Press, 1920.) Price 5s. net.
URELY mathematical workers have often found
occasion to remark on the prophetic vision
of Riemann. He possessed that special genius
which catches glimpses of truth, of no special
significance to a contemporary, which one day
are found to have an importance greater
even than the seer himself had dreamed. Certainly
this has proved so with much of Riemann’s work.
His famous Habilitationsschrift, ‘On the Hypo-
theses which lie at the Bases of Geometry,’’ was
presented to the faculty of philosophy at Gét-
tingen in 1854, and, in an English translation by
Clifford, was brought to the notice of the British
‘ public in the columns of Nature (vol. viii.,
Nos. 183-84, pp. 14-17, 36, 37). It may be per-
missible to quote one or two prophetic phrases :
“It seems that the empirical notions on which
the metrical determinations of space are founded,
the notion of a solid body and of a ray of light,
NO. 2638, VOL, 105]
and we ought in fact to suppose it,
thereby obtain a simpler
phenomena.’”’
It is worthy of note that. Riemann nev
speaks of space itself as being non-Euclidean
He carefully refers always: to the metric or
measured relations. The “ground 7 aye thegetl
metric relations is to be sought in the nature of |
the reality underlying space. Is that reality a
discrete manifoldness, or is it continuous? If thal
latter, then the “ground of the metric relations ’”
must be sought in the properties of that reality,
or, as he says,
it.’? Could anything be more prophetic of Ein-
stein’s conception of gravitation? Then, as if to
anticipate the conservative and the scoffer of
to-day, he continues :
‘‘The answer to these ues can only be
got by starting from the conception of phenomena
which has hitherto been justified by experience,
and which Newton assumed as a foundation, and
by making in this conception the successive
changes required by facts which it cannot ex-
plain. Researches starting from general notions,
like the investigation we have just made, can
only be useful in preventing this work from being
hampered by too narrow views, and progress im
knowledge of the interdependence of thing's from
being checked by traditional prejudices.”
With this open mind, and the work of Gauss,
explanation of "
‘in binding forces which act upon —
~ ,
Lobatchevsky, and Bolyai on the geometry of —
figures on curved surfaces to provoke thought,
Riemann faces the possibility that the geo- —
metry of three dimensions of actual materiaf —
bodies may not be so simple as Euclid’s
system suggests. Geometry in the ordinary sense
is, in fact, eliminated; the metrical relations of —
bodies are “studied in abstract notions of diets
; the results of calculation may afterwards —
Indeed, what —
tity ’’
be expressed in geometric form.
is meant by the “length of a line,’’ or a “line |
+
element,’’ becomes far from clear from the geo- — %
metrical point of view. It is merely some quantity
which serves to distinguish one point from
another. The question is asked: What type of
magnitude may be constructed out of the quantities —
that serve to define two special points in a
material body, which may conveniently be taken ~
eS
as a measure of their distinctness one from the
other, first from a purely mathematical point of — |
view, but afterwards by an empirical test of its
Riemann is led to use the general —
quadratic differential form as the imp possible —
abiding value.
expression.
|
se
Mi,
cae
a
a
ie
=
|AY 20, 1920]
NATURE 351
is easy for one writing now to see the organic
ni _ between Riemann’s thought and the
ade by Einstein in passing from the special
ciple of relativity propounded in 1905 to the
era Sthesry now established. The recognition
‘relative nature of time measurement had
y been made in the special principle, and
yski quickly perceived that our separate
ts of space and time were thereby brought
unity. It seems now but a short step to
iemann’s analysis to this four-dimensional
the universe.
uestions still linger; the romance of re-
, its sweeping comprehensiveness, leave
hless. When Dr. Freundlich tells us
space is banished out of physical laws alto-
: just as ether was eliminated out of the
‘of electrodynamics by the special theory of
” we must pause and ask ourselves if
sm is not going too far. Dr. Freundlich
finds the mainspring of Einstein’s method
fundamental postulates: (i) that of con-
n things as lie within the realm of observa-
It was the craving for continuity that gave
_Faraday’s conception of tubes of forcé,
ping gradually into the electromagnetic
_ It is the instinctive faith in the second
ate that leads the timid to distrust the
able array of differential equations between
: of variables that represent the gravita-
field in Einstein’s theory.
physical theory has the power to forbid the
to use the firm scaffolding of Euclidean
on which to build its own representation
universe. True, it may be that the repre-
| is not so simple as we had thought;
d exactly to a measured interval in a
But the work of the exponents of
, is not finished until an added clearness is
them to the picture of how natural
mena are related. The ether must not be
‘the scrap-heap, but must be rehabilitated.
2 must not be spoken of as warped, for that
ave far behind the essential nature of space
of apprehension. The only true con-
is pepet which the mind conceives. Matter
bea singularity in mental space; it can
ul é a singularity in the picture drawn upon
at background. Matter is one and minds are
So many minds, so many pictures of
. The correspondences between the pictures
he grounds of our intellectual intercourse, the
evidence of the external world which we
ee No. 2638, VOL. 105]
(ii) that of causal relationship between”
To turn over the pages of this pamphlet is to
encounter many questions; nevertheless the reader
will have nothing but thanks to offer to the author,
and especially to Mr. Brose, who, while yet a
prisoner in an enemy country, found solace in
truth that transcends racial strife, and translated
it for our enjoyment. E. CuNNINGHAM.
Colloidal Therapy.
The Use of Colloids in Health and Disease.
Alfred B. Searle. With foreword by Sir
Malcolm Morris. (The Chadwick Library.)
Pp. vii+120. (London: Constable and Co.,
Ltd., 1920.) Price 8s. net.
By
ASED on a lecture delivered at the request of
the Chadwick Trustees, this volume provides
in compact form an account of the principal facts
which are known at the present time regarding
matter in its colloidal form, with special reference
to the utilisation of colloids in the normal animal
organism and in the treatment of disease.
We find a lucid account of the physical proper-
ties of colloidal matter and of its reactions in the
presence of ionising currents, of electrolytes, of
radiations, etc. There is explained in simple
scientific language the colloidal nature of cellular
protoplasm and the selective permeability of cell
membranes for salts and colloids.
The importance of the relatively high content
of the protective colloid, lactalbumin, in human
milk in relation to its digestibility is emphasised,
and the means are stated by which cow’s milk
may be rendered more suitable for human con-
sumption. In discussing the colloidal nature of
the blood, reference is made to the adsorption
theory of the conveyance of blood gases and to
the phenomena of hemolysis; an isotonic saline
solution is, however, 0o’9 per cent. sodium chloride.
The modern processes for precipitating colloidal
matter in sewage and drinking water, and the use
of soap as a detergent, are also briefly reviewed.
The author suggests that the hygienic effect of
sea-air is due to the presence in it of particles
positively charged by the beating of the waves on
the shore, which particles precipitate negatively
charged bacterial and other colloids; and in
regard to the invasion of the body by micro-
organisms, he considers that disturbance of the
normal colloidal condition of the body-cells or
fluids by undesirable electrolytes, salts, or colloids
of the “opposite” sign is an etiological factor.
The author has devoted considerable space to
accounts of the preparation of colloidal sols and
of their use in therapeutics. In the latter respect
he has digested the bulk of the recent and rele-
352
-NATURE
[May 20, 1920 2
vant medical literature on the colloidal remedies
now in the market. The relative value of colloidal
drugs in treatment is still sub judice, and we
can only hope that the author’s optimism regard-
ing their effects as therapeutic agents may be
justified in the future. In this section we note
several misprints, such as “epiditymitis,”
“granulama pupendi,” and ‘“leishmonnoris,” to
mention only a few, and the assertion that the
colloidal state is the ideal one for the administra-
tion of alkaloids is contrary to the evidence
afforded of the inefficacy of ‘colloidal quinine and
cocaine. In ‘the course of the work the author
makes many speculations on the réle of colloids
in physiology and on their possibilities in treat-
ment, speculations which form food for reflection
if one is unable to assimilate them all as truths.
The volume, to which Sir Malcolm Morris,
whose pioneer work with colloids in skin diseases
is well known, contributes an interesting and
hopeful foreword, forms a helpful introduction to
the subject of colloids in their relation to physio-
logy, pharmacology, and therapeutics, and may
be found useful by medical practitioners and
others who desire to have a general and not too
scientific account of the subject.
Nature Pictures.
Twenty-four Nature Pictures. By E. J. Detmold.
(London: J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., n.d.)
Price 5 guineas net.
ce re important works have recently been
published portraying and describing the birds
and mammals of the British Islands. Some of
these publications are expensive, others appeal to
a slender purse; but, whether the lover of such
books is able or willing to spend much or only
a little on animal pictures, he is foriunate in
having a good deal of scope for choice, many of
the works that we have seen of late being excel-
lent in every way, combining artistic merit with
scientific accuracy.
In introducing a new work on_ the higher
animals to the British public, therefore, it behoves
its author to show that it possesses some out-
standing feature of merit which may serve as its
raison d’étre. The work under consideration
cannot be regarded as serving any zoo-
logical purpose, since the subjects are so
few in number. Hence any merit it may lay claim
to must be sought from its purely artistic side.
But such pictures, to be satisfactory, should be
accurate in form and colour, so that, while appeal-
ing to the artistic sense, they do not at the same
time offend the scientific eye; and herein the
NO. 2638, VOL. 105]
nature-studies of Mr. Detmold are decidedly
faulty. ma ae
In a series of fetes ‘four plates the artist ors
birds, a fish, a crab, and a lobster. Zoologically
speaking, the two crustaceans bey in our opinion, -
the most successful portraits. in the series. The
majority of mammal and bird studies are distinctiy®
disappointing, and lead one to fear that they have —
been drawn from specimens supplied by some un-_
skilful taxidermist. They seem to lack the subtle —
and delicate curves of beauty we are accustomed to
associate with the living and healthy animal, while
in some cases the colouring is faulty. The pro-
portions, too, between the parts of the body
are sometimes incorrect, even allowing for the
effects of foreshiortening: In the painting of
plumage and pelage there are a peculiar “Jumpi-—
ness”’ of surface and angularity of outline which
are foreign to our ideas of animal form and beauty.
Whether the artist has allowed himself to be
carried away by the licence proverbial to his pro-
fession, or is endeavouring to formulate a new —
style of composition and portraiture, we cannot —
say, but the effect, at least from a zoological point
of view, is disappointing and at times irritating.
The surroundings of the various subjects are
certainly artistic and original, but in some plates
the environment is overloaded with detail, while
in others its artificiality is oppressive, and suggests
tapestry or wallpaper: rather than a background
7
for a “nature-picture.” W. E. C.
Our Bookshelf. if
General Science: First Course. « By L. Elhuff- |
Pp. vii+435. (London: G. G. Harrap and “vies
Ltd.) Price 5s. net.
Tuat a pupil’s first view of science should be a —
broad one has been more generally recognised in
the United States than in this country. The —
routine of measurements and weighings, which —
is all that so many of our children know as science, —
fails to arouse enthusiasm except as a relief from
work which is still more dull. Teachers who are F:
breaking away from this system have been helped — =
by more than one recent American publication.
Their attention is confidently directed: to =a
volume now under review.
In its general outlines the book does not dhe &
widely from some of the best of its kind, but it —
is exceptional in that stress is laid in the ‘earliest _
chapters on the value and the means of maintain-
ing health, To the question “Why study
science? ’’ the answer is given: “To learn how
to live.’’ That is kept constantly in view through- ~
out the book. In his preface the author puts
the following first among the results which he
hopes may be achieved: “A desire to grow strong
¢h
¥ 20, 1920] .
NATURE
353
—
y and mind and to remain free from disease.
uccessful work on the part of many boys
s is dependent upon this desire becoming
enough to rule the body.’’ So it is not
ie to read as an exercise to be set to
“Notice what effects tobacco, alcohol,
etc., have upon those who use them.’’
her, “‘Observe whether tea and’ coffee
health and ‘ temper ’ of parents,’’ makes
onder whether tactless observation might
ve even more effect than the stimulants !
sre it follows lines which are already be-
r conventional in America the book is good ;
ore novel parts it is even better.
Geographical Bibliography of British Ornitho-
wy from the Earliest Times to the End of
918. By W. H. Mullens, H. Kirke Swann,
d Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain. Part 1. Pp. 96.
ndon: Witherby and Co., 1919.) Price 6s.
3. MULLENS AND SwaANN have already made
ogists their debtors by compiling a “ Bio-
al Bibliography of British Ornithology ”
red in 1917). Of this the present work
plement or continuation, the books and
being now arranged under counties. The
-C. R. Jourdain has shared the labour.
aim of the authors has been to give an
punt; as complete as possible, of the literature
records relating to the avifauna of each
ty. This will be of great value to local
rs, and there is good sense in Gilbert
remark, quoted on the title-page: ‘“ Men
ertake only one district are much more
advance natural knowledge than those
sp at more than they can possibly be
nted with; every kingdom, every province,
have its own monographer.”” The labour
ing this bibliography must have been very
has extended over six years, and has
the consultation and analysis of a huge
literature. There are to be six parts, and
ich have appeared represent arduous and
k well executed. :
losophy of Conflict: and Other Essays in
"ime. By Havelock Ellis. Second series.
299. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.,
.) Price 6s. 6d. net. |
essays. His social studies turn on sex-
ms, often shrewdly handled. His literary
thropological studies are dominated by his
of the picturesque. He is arrested by the
re-making metaphors of Conrad, and by the
‘esque theories of Sollas in prehistoric
ithropology. In his essays in this last group
eminds us of his own portrait of Jung, wander-
¢ “with random, untrained steps, throwing out
int suggestions here and there.” But in the
7 in which this portrait occurs he is on his
ground, and justifiably dwells on his part. in
ducing to English readers the picturesque
chology of Freud. teat Bastia at stole
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
s is likely to find readers for ike eplteee’
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible fer Opinions ex-
pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to
- return, ov to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu-
scripts intended for this or any other part of NatuRE.
No nctice is taken of anonymous communications]
The Cost of Scientific Publications.
May I add a word to this most interesting dis-
cussion from the point of view of the society with
which I am most concerned ?
The London Mathematical Society was founded by
De Morgan and others in 1865, and has steadily
improved its position until it is admittedly the leading
mathematical society in the country. It is a com-
paratively small society, and its activities are almost
entirely concentrated on the publication of its Pro-
ceedings, to which purpose practically its whole
income is devoted. It has no paid staff of any kind.
Before the war the society was able to publish
annually about 500 pages of original research, at a
cost of some 300l. to 3501. Now a volume of 400
pages only, costs some 6ool., and such slight increase
of income as there has been is entirely insufficient to
meet the new situation. Most of the members are
life-compounders, and it is exceedingly difficult to
raise the membership beyond a certain point; it was
290 in 1918, and is now about 340. A committee is
considering what is possible in: the way of economy or
increase of charges, but every increase of charges
makes it harder to secure new members, and the
only substantial economy possible lies in a further
limitation of output.
If the society is to maintain the position won by
years of effort before the war, it. must at all costs
keep up both the quality and the size of its Proceed-
ings. In particular it must continue. to attract the best
work of young mathematicians; and it cannot do this
if it has to hamper them at every turn by incessant
demands for condensation. A considerable part of
the volumes must always be occupied by the work of
men of established reputation, and if they are to be
further curtailed it is the younger men who will in
the first instance be likely to suffer.
The society has during the last year been able to
obtain some aid from the fund under the control. of
the Royal Society, but it is plain that the demands
on the fund are likely to multiply, and all possible
pressure should be brought to bear on the proper
authorities to augment it.
G. H. Harpy,
Hon. Sec. London Math. Soc.
New College, Oxford, May 15.
In the leading article in Nature of May 6 on the
cost of scientific publications, reference is made to
the critical financial position of those of our scien-
tific societies which have no popular means of adding
to their income. The position is serious. The scien-
tific worker, upon whom, to a great extent, a scien-
tific society depends for maintenance, is rarely in a
position to add to his financial obligations, and the
interested person from whom the society also receives
Sai eeable support is often in a similar position. If
a society is to be efficient, the library must be kept
up, the standard of publications be maintained,
and its salaried staff receive at least a_ living
wage. How is this to. be done?, Apart from external
aid, there are only two ways—by exercise of rigid
economy, and by increased contributions from the
members. It is not economy to starve the library,
and economy in publication must be employed with
354
NATURE
[May 20, 1920 —
great discretion. The dignified quarto which supplies
a link with the early days of the society may be
suspended, illustrations reduced to the absolute mini-
mum, communications condensed or reduced, and
every conceivable means adopted to avoid expense;
but with a diminished sum available for printing,
and printing costs trebled, it is obvious that the effi-
ciency of the society as a means of publication must
be seriously reduced.
This result bears heavily on oversea members
The member within reach of town has all the advan-
tages of the society; he can attend the meetings,
consult the library, and meet his colleagues at the
society’s rooms; the country member is less favour-
ably situated, but he has at least the privilege of
borrowing from the library. The only material
advantage received by the oversea member is the
scientific publications of the society. The oversea
members are an important part of the society, w hich,
though ‘‘of London” in style, is world-wide in in-
terest and membership. Our colleagues oversea,
though in many cases supporting their own local
society, consider it an honour to belong to the
mother society at home, and the aim of the mother
society is to strengthen the bond and to show the
worker oversea that he is both welcome and neces-
sary. Any step, therefore, which tends to lessen the
advantages reaped by the oversea nyeriber must be
avoided.
Apart from external aid there remains only the
increased contribution from the individual member.
An increase in the subscription will fall hard on many
members; but the claims of a society which repre-
sents one’s work or the scientific interest of one’s
leisure will not easily be set aside. A man or woman
does not join a scientific society in a commercial
spirit, but because a congenial atmosphere is there
found, or, in the highest motive, because it is an
obligation and an honour to help forward the societv
which represents one’s own branch of science. If each
member will consider seriously the position of his
society, the claim for external aid, amply justified bv
the value to the community of the scientific work of
the society, will come with increased power.
A. B. RENDLE.
THE leading article in Nature of May 6 has so
admirably stated the case for assistance towards the
publications of scientific societies that it is almost
needless to add further arguments. Nevertheless,
there is one point which seems to require attention,
namely, that during the last two years, when the
pressure of enhanced prices in the printing trade has
made itself felt, there has been an attempt on the
part of societies subject to this burden to palliate it
by means. which threaten to change. the character of
the meetings. To avoid the heavy cost of papers
embodying recent research, there has developed a
marked tendency to arrange for lectures and demon-
strations of a kind which do not require publication
in detail, to the disadvantage of original memoirs
which demand illustration and extensive text. Should
this procedure continue, it is plain that research will
suffer, investigators will not be ready to produce
the results of their work in the meetings, and the
value of the societies’ issues will be diminished.
If assistance of the kind advocated can be secured,
former methods can be resumed; if that assistance
is denied, it is to be feared that, in svite of stringent
economy or increased subscriptions on the part of the
societies, the publications will suffer; for the main-
tenance charges must first be met before the balance
of income is available for printing memoirs.
B. Daypon Jackson.
NO. 2638, VOL. 105]
I, po not suppose that there is a single editor of @
scientific journal who will not read with sympathy and.
gratitude of your effort to obtain financial support for
such publications in view of the enormously increased
cost of paper and printing. In the case of the British
Journal of Psychology, with which I am
Bey 4
connected, the subscription is being raised fo : a
second time since the war, whilst no class has
suffered more as regards income than that from which
the subscribers to scientific journals are drawn.
-CHARLES S, MYERs. |
30 Montagu Square, W.1, May to.
The Indian Ghemical Service. :
Sir P. C. RAy’s objections to the proposal to form
an Indian Chemical Service are based upon the fact
that the Education Department of India has failed to ©
realise the importance of research in connection with
university teaching. However, I feel sure that he
would not advocate the abolition of that Department,
much less would he wish to .see the Indian Education
Service a mere adjunct to some other branch of the
public services, without even provincial directors to
look after“the interests of himself and his colleagues.
Every member of a Service knows that, in the event
of a difference arising between himself and a member
of another Service, he will have the support of a
senior member of his own Service. at each sta untif
the matter is perhaps settled by the Viceroy himself.
Even directors-general and members of council are
human, and inclined to support members of their own
Department against the world.
Prof. Thorpe does not dwell at any length on the
personal aspect of the problem, but I gather from his
letter that he appreciates the importance of it. I do
not doubt that he has grasped the fact that, while the
members of such units as the Geological Survey of
India or the Indian Medical Service are contented
with the conditions of their service, grave discontent ©
prevails amongst the numerous scientific men attached —
to, but not members of, organised Services. The fact
that many men holding such positions have thrown
up their appointments and come home disgusted has
added considerably to the difficulty in recruiting
scientific men, and particularly chemists, for service in
India. There is no alternative to the bureaucratic
system of government for India, and the proposed
scheme provides for its inherent defects.
It is, of course, essential that the director-generaf
and the directors of provincial institutes should be
chemists who have proved their capacity for research.
The Geological, Botanical, and Zoological Survevs of
India seem to get on fairly well under directors-
general who are scientific experts, and I do not see
the necessity for assuming that the head and sub-
‘heads of the Chemical Service will be any less com-
petent than those who have done distinguished service
for India in other branches of science.
Knowing something of India, I believe that the
proposed scheme is sound, and I wish it every success.
. W. TRAVERS.
Beacon Hall, Priory Gardens, Highgate,
May 15.
A New Method for Approximate Evaluation of
Baie Integrals between Finite Limits. —
1. If. f(x)=a+bx+cx? + dx3+ gat + he? + 7x8 + hx +
1x84 io the value of 3[ /(q5)+/ (io) +4 Go) fas) is
@+0°50006 + 0°3350¢-+0°2525a+ 0'2028¢ + 016961 +
0°14557 +0°1270k+0°1120/+0 bi cant
which is approximately identical with
¥J
PIE
NS
be
4
i
Fe
e
ig
Le
NATURE
355
00% + 0°3333¢-+.0'2500d + 0°2000¢-+ 0°16674 +
0°14297+0'1250%+0°1111/+0' 1000/2,
AF s) + FG's) + F's) + F(s%0)].
The following table shows for several functions
2 of the integral. and the approximate evalua-
by this four-ordinate rule and by two seven-
te rules in common use, viz. :—
pson’s rule :—
c= y's F(Q) + F(G) +2(F (2) + F(4)} + 44F (3) +
oa F(3) + F(§)}], approx.
5F(3) + F(4)], approx.
[Foods | Newrule | Simpson | Weddle
0
5 70'3927| 0'3949 | 0°3815 0°3835
470 7854) 0°7868 | 0°7775') 0°7789
Ayes
as 5 = '228 1231 | 1217 | 1219
| 2log 2—1=0°3863) 0°3859 0°3863 0°3863
@-1=1°718 | 1720 | 1°718 1°718
log 2=0°6931| 0°6937 0 6932 | 0°6931
‘log $=0'4055, 04056 04055 04055
_|t—cos “"°. =0°4597/ 074593 | 0°4597 | 0°4597
The approximation is convenient for the practical
nation of the area of a closed curve, such as
cator diagram. The arithmetical mean of the
ites at one-tenth, four-tenths, six-tenths, and
tenths of the range is the mean ordinate for the
"he decimal division of therange, the use of only
ir ordinates, the extremely simple arithmetic in-
ed, and the degree of accuracy attained should
ce the rule of practical value.
Trinity College, Cambridge,
es April 30.
A. F. Durron.
tis and Metric Systems of Weights and Measures.
Are not those who discuss the relative claims of
mils and mils as the substitute for the penny in
ma
ise the disadvantages of what must in any case
rgely in the facilities that it. offers for the division
of a sum or quantity into equal parts. In this respect
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
ivision of the pound merely trying to.
a change for the worse? It seems that the advan-
of any given system of weights or measures lies |
any decimal system is deficient by the absence of the
factor 3, and by the frequency of the factor 5, which
is of,much less use than 4 for’ practical purposes.
The reductio ad absurdum of the metric system
seemed to be reached in the issue in Portugal some
years ago of a 24 reis postage stamp (they now call
it Z-cent). A rei is one-thousandth part of a milrei
or dollar, about eaual to one-twentieth of a penny—
surely a small enough unit for any purpose, and vet
it is found necessary to halve it!
The following comparison seems instructiye :—
No. of farthings in one pound=960=2° x 3 x 5.
This has 11 factors between 1 and 20,
20 factors between 1 and 100.
No. of inches in one mile=63,360=27 x 37x 5x II.
This has 14 factors between 1 and 20,
34 factors between 1 and too.
No. of ounces in one ton=35,840=2"° x 5 x7.
This has 9g factors between 1 and 20, ©
17 factors between 1 and Ioo,
No. of grains in one lb. troy=5760=27 x 3? x 5.
This has 13 factors between 1 and 20,
. 26 factors between 1 and roo.
No. of seconds in one day=86,400=27 x 3° x 57.
This has 13 factors between 1 and 20,
32 factors between 1 and roo,
Contrast with these :—
No. of millimetres in one kilometre, or of grammes
in one metric tonne=1,000,000=2° x 5°,
which has only 7 factors between 1 and 20,
14 factors between 1 and roo,
If all the above five English systems be taken to-
gether, it will be found that :—
The factor 2 occurs 37 times
” ” 4 ” 17 ”
45 ne a
The factors 3, 6, and 12
” » 5, 10, 16, and 20 ” 6 ”
The factor 15 occurs 5 ,,
The factors g and 18 occur 3 4,
And the factors 7, 11, and 14 ,, once each.
Now, though it cannot be contended that the man
who wants to divide 1ool. into seven parts is helped by
the fact that there are 28 lb. in a quarter, or he who
would divide a ton into eleven parts by the number
of yards in a furlong, yet it seems worthy of note
that in our admittedly heterogeneous system all the
numbers below 20, except 13, 17, and 19, should be
represented as factors, and that to an extent so nearly
proportional to their probable utility.
M. E. YEATMAN.
Parliament Mansions, May 7.
Scientific Apparatus and Laboratory Fittings.
I am surprised to see that Prof. W. M. Bayliss,
who writes in Nature of May 6 on the proposed
Anti-Dumping Biil, has misunderstood the Bill so far
as it relates to scientific instruments. This Bill does
not propose a tariff, but prohibition, except under
licence.
The British Optical Instrument -Manufacturers’
Association has urged the Government to act by
prohibition except under licence rather than by tariff,
and this is what the Bill proposes. It has always
considered that the effect of a tariff might, as Prof.
Bayliss suggests, give ‘‘no inducement to the makers
to improve the quality’; and it has urged that
licences should ‘always be freely granted where
articles were not being made in the required quantity
or up to the standard of quality of goods that could
be imported from abroad. ~ ,
356
NATURE
[May 20, 1920
Prof. Bayliss’s desire for ‘‘ free import of such
apparatus until equally good material is to be had
cheaply at home” is provided for by the Bill with
the exception of the one word ‘‘cheaply,’’ and I sug-
gest that he has, perhaps unintentionally, given the
impression that a tariff on goods which either are not
or cannot be made in this country has been proposed.
The whole question appears to be: Are scientific
men prepared to pay more for British-made scientific
instruments of approved quality to meet higher wages
or the depreciation of foreign currency rather than
have the Whole industry extinguished in this country ?
With the mark at something like one-tenth its pre-
war value, it is obvious that no instrument can be
produced in this country to compete as regards price
with those made in Germany. The Government,
through the British Scientific Instrument Research
Association, is giving State aid as regards perfecting
processes. Sir Herbert Jackson (who is director
of the association) is already producing most
valuable results; but if financial considerations make
it impossible to sell the articles so produced, it does
not meet the case.
Quite apart from the danger to the State which
will ensue in case of another war if the scientific
industry does not exist, surely it must be evident that
science cannot develop properly in any country that
cannot produce at least the majority of its own
scientific instruments.
A much closer combination between ‘scientific and
practical men than existed before the war is required.
It has already commenced, and I desire to take this
opportunity of explaining that the association of
which I am president has a technical committee the
members of which place their services at the disposal
of the scientific world to discuss all questions the
solution of which depends on the production or
development of scientific instruments.
ConraD BEcK,
President of the British Optical Instrument
Manufacturers’ Association.
2-3 Duke Street, St. James’s, West-
minster, S.W.1, May Io.
Pror. Bayiss’s letter in Nature of May 6 raises
a subject which is of the greatest interest to manu-
facturers, as well as to users of all classes of scientific
apparatus. We.do not think that anyone will dispute
the contention that scientific workers should have the
very best apparatus which is available, and wherever
British apparatus is not up to the standard of foreign
competitors there is no doubt that the importation of
the foreign articles should be allowed. It is, how-
ever, quite a different matter when orders are placed
by scientific workers, hospitals, etc., with foreign
firms on account of the latter being able to quote
lower prices than the English manufacturers can do at
the present time.
It has recently come to our knowledge that an
important hospital supported chiefly by voluntary con-
tributions has placed a large order for X-ray equip-
ment abroad on account of the-lower price quoted,
not because the staff was of the opinion that better
apparatus could be obtained from this source, as, in
fact, we were definitely assured that, except for price,
our models were preferred. We would ask the com-
mittee which was. responsible for placing that order
whether it had carefully considered the effect of
its act, especially should it be repeated to any con-
siderable extent. It is generally acknowledged that,
prior to the war, the British manufacturers
were not giving to the medical world the very best
service, and both medical men and manufacturers
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
have often asked the reason why. It is too large a
question to go into the fundamental reasons, and
opinion would no doubt differ as to these; but there
is no doubt that in the year 1914 there did not exist
a sufficient demand for British X-ray apparatus to
allow manufacturers to work on a large enough scale
to ensure satisfactory service and economical produc-
tion. During the war the cutting off of foreign sup-
plies and the increased demand for apparatus enabled
the firms concerned to venture on a bolder policy, until
by the end of the war there were established in the
country adequate manufacturing facilities.
armistice the Government orders dropped to zero, but
the demands for up-to-date equipment from private
hospitals, and from foreign quarters which had been
starved during the war, were sufficient to fill the gap
and to enable various firms to carry on their manu-
facturing programme without undue alarm for the
immediate future. eee
The past year has been one of great difficulty in the
manufacturing world, and, with the publication and
issuing of catalogues and price lists scarcely yet com-
plete, a great deal of the heart will be taken out of
British manufacturers if they find that, owing to a
circumstance over which they have no control, y are
going to lose a large part of their home trade. The
circumstance to which we refer is that of the rate of
foreign exchange, against which tariffs, unless ex-
tremely heavy, are of no value whatsoever. It is
very difficult to obtain trustworthy information
as to the prices at which German and Austrian
goods can really be delivered in this country, but in
one specific instance we ourselves are being offered
one of our staple articles of manufacture at a price
which is very considerably below the actual cost of the
raw material which we use in the manufacture. ;
to the war the articles were not made in this country
at all, and it was only by the employment of consider-
able research and a heavy initial expenditure that
their production was assured and perfected. We do
not think that some scientific workers, medical
men, and others quite realise that under present con-
ditions high prices are essential in connection with
scientific apparatus as with all other commodities,
and that if they wish to obtain really good service
from British manufacturing firms it is mecessary
that the amount of apparatus purchased from them
should be considerable. Then when our Colonial and
foreign friends come to this country for instruction
and advice, and find that instruments of British manu-
facture are employed by the doyens of the scientific
world, our foreign trade will develop, and in
production will then lead to lower prices with better
quality. ‘
B. H. Morpuy, Man. Director,
The Cox-Cavendish Electrical Co., Ltd.
Twyford Abbey Works,
Acton Lane, Harlesden, N.W.1o.
May 12.
REFERRING to’ Prof. Bayliss’s letter on scientific
apparatus from abroad, we cannot quite agree with
his view that the instruments made in this country
are more costly than those purchased from the Con-
tinent. We think that when conditions in this country -
are more settled Prof. Bayliss will find that foreign
prices are equal to, if not in excess of, those
ruling on this side, owing to the considerable increase
in wages and raw materials. At the moment the rate
of exchange makes the prices seem low as compared —
with those in this country, but can Prof. Bayliss
obtain delivery at the low prices? 7
If manufacturers in this country do not receive the
After the.
Prior
- May 20, 1920]
NATURE 357
ort of the public, they cannot be expected to
produce scientific instruments to compete with the
Ar of excellence obtained on the Continent—for
eral reasons, amongst which the following are
le most important where microscopes are concerned.
number of skilled lens-workers capable of
cing + gel objectives is very small, and to
rain suitable labour for, say, making 1/12-in. oil
mmersion objectives of the ordinary achromatic series
uld not be accomplished in less than three or four
. A dozen or so of these skilled workers could
given employment immediately.
he profit on microscopes is not very remunerative,
Sahlens some protection such as importation unde:
é is established, no fresh capital is likely to be
ing; and even if it is, some years will elapse
e those investing their money will see any
return, on account of the time required to train
labour for this highly skilled occupation.
If some protection is granted to the trade, the
\ufacturers must set a higher standard of excel-
ice on their goods than they did before the war,
otherwise they cannot expect support from the public;
‘but if support is forthcoming we feel sure manufac-
turers will reciprocate by turning out goods not only
a lower price, but also of a better quality.
Tt was chiefly on account of the excellent standard
ai that Continental manufacturers obtained the
lead before the war. Individual pieces of apparatus
hhave been made in England equal to any produced on
e Continent, but, unfortunately, only a very small
aes e of the supplies ever reached the standard.
if English manufacturers will only pay more
attention to inspection, and set a much_ higher
_ standard of quality than they did before the war,
“eg there is no reason why the purchasing public should
_ buy foreign-made instruments. There is also no
reason why any instrument previously manufactured
on the Continent should not be produced here.
2"
ee; C. Baker.
«244 -_High Holborn, London, W.C.1.
ee hr: May 14.
e
o
me
a
7
iy
Pe
ol
he,
“We do not think Prof. Bayliss and Mr, Munby
will find that the prices of British-miade laboratory
apparatus have increased to the same extent as have
of some other manufactured articles—for
example, leather or metal goods, soap, stationery, etc.
Last week a catalogue reached us from a well-
known German firm specialising in certain optical
_ goods. The pre-war prices are subject to an advance
' of 200 per cent., the basis of payment being
20 marks=1/., and cash to the value of 50 per cent.
of the order is required at the time of placing it.
_ Thus such imported goods are three times as costly
as before the war.
} At present the prices of our instruments are from
5, to 120 per cent. above pre-war German prices for
instruments which are now admittedly more con-
venient and efficient. This is particularly the case
- in regard to one instrument, which for forty years
_ prior to the war had been built by a German firm
practically upside down. .
__ Again, we supply certain optical testing instruments
___ which are set at the National Physical Laboratory to
am accuracy six times greater than was found in the
standard instrument of German origin.
It would seem essential that the manufacture of
____ scientific apparatus in this country should be encouraged
to the fullest possible extent in order that trained
workers may be available in emergency; for even
NO. 2638, voL. 105]
aa
oy
Bey.
supposing war to be impossible in the future, if such
manufactures become the monopoly of another country
we shall, sooner or later, be paying still higher prices
by reason of that monopoly.
As no specific kind of apparatus is mentioned by
Prof. Bayliss or Mr. Munby, we have replied as
makers of two particular classes of optical testing
instruments. These instruments are entirely British
as regards optical and mechanical design, as no pro-
gress is to be made by adopting and copying designs
which have easily demonstrable shortcomings.
BELLINGHAM AND STANLEY, Ltp.
71 Hornsey Rise, London, N.19, May 1o.
WitH regard to the letters by Prof. Bayliss and
Mr. Munby in Nature of May 6, we would say that,
generally, we are in agreement with the report of
the Branch Committee on Scientific Apparatus, of
which I was chairman, an abstract of which is pub-
lished in the report of the Engineering Trades (New
Industries) Committee of the Ministry of Recon-
struction.
We have very little sympathy with those who would
bolster up our industry by levying heavy duties on
imports, and, generally, we think that the result of
such a policy would be to increase the cost of home-
made goods without improving their quality; but
there is a good deal to be said for preventing goods
made abroad being dumped in this country at prices
lower than those prevailing in the country of their
origin. The inevitable result of permitting this is to
discourage or kill our own industry, and this is well
exemplified in the case of our watch industry.
Scientific men cannot, however, have dumped and,
consequently, cheap scientific apparatus from abroad
and at the same time a flourishing apparatus industry
at home producing goods of the highest quality at
the lowest prices.
Ws. TAayLor.
(Taylor, Taylor, and Hobson, Ltd.)
Leicester, May 11.
Wir reference to Prof. Bayliss’s letter in NATURE
of May 6, members of this association are in com-
plete agreement that scientific workers should be able
to obtain the very best quality apparatus.
I quote the wording of our communication to the
Board of Trade (Scientific Instrument Branch) in
connection with the proposal to form a _ special
Licensing Committee on which scientific authorities
would be represented: ‘‘They would have power to
allow the imports of all apparatus which. cannot be
produced of efficient quality or in sufficient quantities
in this country to meet the demands.”’
But the menace to British manufacturers is the
abnormal rate of exchange with Germany, which en-
ables apparatus to be brought in at anything from
one-fifth to one-tenth of the normal value.
No workshop organisation or economy can possibly
compete with such values, and it is during this un-
precedented and abnormal state of international
finance that British manufacturers are asking for tem-
porary prohibition of imported apparatus at purely
artificial prices.
H. W. ASHFIELD,
Secretary, British Lampblown Scientific Glass-
ware Manufacturers’ Association, Ltd.
2-3 Duke Street, St. James’s, London, S.W.1,
May It.
Naturally Fractured Eocene Flints.
At a meeting of the Geological Society of London,
held on May 5, Mr. S. Hazzledine Warren read a
paper entitled ‘‘A Natural ‘ Eolith’ Factory beneath
the Thanet Sand.’’ The discovery of flints fractured
by natural pressure at the base of the Eocene is not,
however, a novel experience, as, in 1910, M. 1l’Abbé
H. Breuil described (‘‘Sur la présence d’Eolithes A la
base de 1’Eocéne Parisien,"’ L’Anthropologie, t. xxi.,
1910, pp. 385-408) in great detail, and by means of
no fewer than seventy-six excellent illustrations, a
series of flaked specimens of the same kind as those
now put forward by Mr. Warren. Also, in 1914, I
published an account of the flaked flints occurring in
the Lower Eocene ‘“ Bull-head” bed at Bramford,
near Ipswich (Proc. P.S.E.A., vol. i., part 4, pp. 397—
404), and gave a full account of this peculiar deposit
and the nature of the fractures exhibited by some of
the contained flints. It will thus be seen that this
question has been fully discussed and threshed out
for many years past.
Through Mr. Warren’s courtesy I was_ enabled,
before the meeting at the Geological Society’s rooms,
to examine his material, and I at once recognised that
the flake-scars to be seen upon the specimens showed
every characteristic of those produced by pressure.
Though of interest as corroborating earlier finds, Mr.
Warren’s flints have no bearing upon the specimens
discovered by me in the Sub-Red Crag detritus-bed
and other ancient deposits. The flaked flints which
I have collected and claimed as humanly fashioned
exhibit flake-scars produced by intelligently directed
blows, as is clear to anyone examining them and
familiar with the obvious and fundamental differences
between pressure and percussion flaking. Further,
it is also clear that these pressure-fractured Eocene
flints are not comparable with the specimens first
found by Mr. Benjamin Harrison, which have been
known by that much misused term ‘“ eoliths.’’
J. Rei Morr.
Ipswich, May 7.
International Council for Fishery Investigations.
Tue writer (X. Y. Z.) on this subject in Nature of
April 29 seems to beat the air. There is no confusion
of the general discussion with the deliberate state-
ment of the council that ‘“‘the study of the effect
of the war in having closed great areas would
materially assist the council in arriving at the most
practical results.” The closure of certain areas, for
ten years or more, by the Scottish Fishery Board has
already shown that such is without material effect on
Nattire’s ways. Further, it is just the consideration
of the almost valueless mass of certain statistics that,
amongst other things, has led to the view that, judged
by its promises and performances, the ‘‘ International
Council for the Investigation of the Sea,” so far as
the welfare of the British fisheries is concerned, is
a serious waste of public money. The Development
Commission’s ‘‘almost judicial committee” cannot
alter that conclusion. W. C. McIntosu.
2: Abbotsford. Crescent, St. Andrews,
May 7.
Sea and Sky at Sunset.
In a note on the Royal Academy in Nature of
May 6 “J. S. D.” expresses disbelief in the possi-
bility that.a red. sunset can give rise to a pure blue
colour in the sea.
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
NATURE
[May 20, 1920
Last summer and autumn I occupied a small house
on the French coast near Boulogne, and I had the
good fortune to witness some of the most wonderful
sunsets I have ever seen. The sun used to set across
the Channel immediately in front of our windows,
and the light of ‘the setting sun was reflected not
only in the sea itself, but also in the pools left by the
tide along the seashore. \:
On several occasions when the setting sun was a
deep crimson in a purple sky the sea was an intense
blue, while the reflection on the water suggested
molten gold. The contrast between the purple and
crimson of the sky and the blue and gold of the sea
was very beautiful, andthe effect is. not one which
I shall readily forget.
_As the sea is never free from ripples, it is possib
that some of the light reaching the eye is transmitted
through the water, but whatever may be the explana-
tion there is no doubt about the reality of the
effect.
K. E. EpGreworrn.
Crowborough, May 9. me
READERS of Nature will welcome Col. Edgeworth’s
description of what a sunset over the sea can be like,
but those who have had an opportunity of studying
the picture in this year’s Academy to which reference
was made will not find any difficulty in distinguishing
between the reality as. described by him and the artist’s
conception of the reality as seen at Burlington
House.
As to Col. Edgeworth’s description of sunsets seen
over the English Channel, few who have spent holi-
days on a western sea-coast, or even on the reaches of.
a winding river like the Thames, can be unfamiliar
with the pillar of gold seen in the water through the
reflection of the sun’s disc on the rippled surface.
The golden reflection beneath the sun and the dark
blue reflection beneath the sky may give rise to
oo contrasts, but there is nothing unnatural in
these.
The sun is not visible, but the whole sky is red,
and where reflected light would cause innumerable
spots of red upon the crests of the ripples no colour
but blue is shown. ;
)..9:. Ane
Scientific Research.
In common with other subscribers to the Scientific
Research Association, I recently received an intimation
from the acting secretary and the treasurer that the
support accorded to it was not sufficient to justify the
establishment of the proposed organisation. There
can, however, be no question of the importance of the
aim the association had set itself—the promotion of
research, irrespective of the economic advantages. it
may bring with it; and it may be some satisfaction
to those who feel this to know that the National Union
of Scientific Workers has formed a research council to
promote the interests of research for its own sake.
It is desired to make this council as representative as
possible of every branch of scientific investigation.
Communications from all who have the success of
such a movement at heart should be addressed to the
secretary of the National Union,
19 Tothill Street, S.W.1, or to myself.
Joun W. Evans. .
Imperial College of Science and Technology,
: South Kensington, May to.
In the picture referred to it is far otherwise. |
Major Church,
May 20, 1920]
NATURE
359
eee NT long-distance flights have shown that |
. aerial navigation is a practical means of |
_ quick transport between distant lands. The long |
_ time occupied on the first flight to Australia is no |
criterion of the possibilities of the future, when
the route is better surveyed. and adequate aero-
-dromes replete with all facilities are established.
Sir Ross Smith recently spoke of six stages, each
occupying a day, as.a reasonable journey from
- London to Sydney. Air routes promise to forge
a new link in Imperial unity, and to modify to a
__- great extent the geographical relationships of the
various parts of the Empire. Until now the |
c)
Imperial ‘Air Routes.
Sykes described some of the most important of
the probable Imperial air routes, and showed how
they naturally centre on Egypt. The flight from
Egypt’ to India was accomplished in November,
1918, and this route is one of the first which Sir
Frederic Sykes advocates developing. From
Kantara to Karachi a flight should occupy
36 hours, compared with the 9 days’ steamer
journey from Port Said to Bombay. Baghdad
would gain more, being a 12 hours’ flight from
Kantara, and by the present mail route 3 weeks
by sea from Port Said.
In this connection it is important to realise
fs
a
/
300 pe
n } Sirte
1 i.
" 4 i
> ty >
ONDON
9 Ross-Smiths Flight
Alternative Routes
PARIS
Lyons
Tripoli RIG
Scale 1/25.000.000 or 25M ‘~>\ Ben Ghazi
fe) 300 \. =
yor
a ; \
im \Z AIRO
Sollum
Fic. 1,—Air routes: London to Cairo.
ocean has been the link between the home country,
the Indian Empire, the self-governing Dominions,
and other oversea possessions. In that respect the
British Isles are centrally situated as regards
routes throughout the Empire; but for flying, the
position of the home country is less favourable.
An uncertain climate characterised by rapid
changes of weather and much fog militates against
successful aviation. Moreover, land connections
in provision of aerodromes are an essential in air
routes.
In a recent lecture before the Royal Geo-
graphical Society! Maj.-Gen. Sir Frederic H.
1 Geographical Journal, vol lv., No. 4, April, 1920.
NO. 2638, VOL. 105]
;
oe Fd
\
From the Geographical Journal.
that air traffic must pay its way if air routes are
to become an established feature. Owing to the
limitations in the weight that an aeroplane can
carry, mails are the most suitable load. In their
case also saving of time is a valuable considera-
tion, and a return freight is ensured. Sir Geoffrey
Salmond points out that the maintenance of a
twin-engined machine, providing for a commercial
rate of interest, works out on any route at about
ros. a ton per mile. An aeroplane carrying a ton,
which is a fair cargo, must therefore earn 5ool.
on a 1000-mile flight, or about 12501. on a flight
from Egypt to Karachi. Little but mails could
bear this cost, and, their carriage being a Govern-
360
NATURE
| May 20, 1920
4
ment monopoly, could in cases of advantage be
partly transferred to air routes. Speed may in
time be increased in two ways—first, by the
improvement of ground organisation, so as to,
permit night flying with a relay system; and
secondly, by improvement of the engine.
Sir Frederic Sykes quotes some remarkable
figures to show the comparatively small risk in
flying. During the last eight months of 1919 the
total mileage flown by the principal firms engaged
in civil aviation was 593,000, and the passengers
Fic. 2.—Canea from the east.
carried totalled 64,416. During this period only
four pilots and one passenger were killed, and six
pilots and ten passengers injured. This small
proportion of casualties will no doubt be reduced
as machines are perfected, ground organisation
improved, and air surveys carried out. The close
association of the Meteorological Office with the
Department of Civil Aviation is a happy augury
for the future, and the International Air Conven-
tion, to which most of the Allies, and several
neutrals, have subscribed, should help to
co-ordinate efforts in civil aviation.
The consideration of good landing-places to a
From the Geographical Journal.
large extent controls the course of air routes.
From -Egypt the route to India is direct from
Kantara to Damascus and Baghdad, thence to
Basra, Bushire, and along the shores of the
Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea to Karachi.
Through India two routes to Calcutta are sug-
gested—a northern one via Delhi, Cawnpore, and
Allahabad, which is part of the route to Australia ;
and a southern one by Ahmadabad, Bombay, and
Nagpur. On both routes aerodromes are already
built or under construction, and there is now an
aerial postal service
between Karachi and
Bombay. The Australian
route from Calcutta
goes via Akyab to Ran-
goon, whence a stretch of
hazardous flying over
mountainous country leads
to Bangkok. The route
continues via Singapore,
Java, and Dutch Timor
to Port Darwin. The
latter stages of the journey
offer difficulties in suit-
able landing-places.
Alternative routes are
proposed, and have been
partly surveyed, and
is even suggested that the
use of Dutch territory
might be avoided by a
route from Singapore to
Australia via Christmas
Island. This would entail
two stages of 810 and
g50 miles respectively, to
say nothing of the pos-
sible difficulties of aero-
drome construction on
Christmas Island.
Routes from Egypt to Cape Town, and from
England to St. John’s (Newfoundland), Toronto,
Winnipeg, and Vancouver are also suggested
by Sir Frederick Sykes. The route from
England to Egypt, although flown numerous
times, presents difficulties, especially in Italy
and the eastern Mediterranean. An _ alterna-
tive, but longer, route is tentatively sug-
gested from Naples via Sicily, Malta, Tripoli,
and the northern coast of Africa. The chief
problem seems to be in ‘the provision of a
suitable aerodrome at Malta, for, once the African
coast is reached, favourable conditions are found.
Helium: Its Discovery and Applications.
By Dr. Wirt1AM J. S. Lockyer.
HE year 1868 is rendered memorable in the
advancement of solar physics by the fact
that the spectroscope was first used on an eclipsed
sun. Up to that time the composition of the pro-
minences and corona was unknown, although both
these phenomena were then proved to be truly
NO. 2638, VOL. 105]
|
|
|
solar, the result of diligent systematic application
of photography to eclipse problems since the year
1860.
On August 18, 1868, a total solar eclipse
occurred in the Indian -and Malayan peninsulas,
lasting for about five minutes and_ thirty-eight
G
Max 20, 1920]
NATURE
361
onds. This event afforded astronomers an
portunity of applying the spectroscope, in con-
tion with the telescope, to determine what
prominences were really made of. On this
sion not only were all the expeditions suc-
ul, but an almost identical discovery was
made by the numerous observers.
was observed that the prominences gave
tra of bright lines, and, with the means of
nition available at the few moments of
ty, the red, green, and blue lines which were
were attributed to the gas hydrogen, while
strong, bright yellow line was stated to be
due to the luminous emission of sodium.
During this eclipse the distinguished French
ronomer, Janssen, was so struck with the bril-
iancy of the prominence lines in his spectroscope
t he considered it certain he would be able to
“Fic.
he did during the following seventeen days which
_ he spent at the eclipse station, observing the
'_ prominences on the limb of the sun.
_ The achievement of Janssen was based upon
eg principles which in 1866 had been placed before
_ the scientific world by Sir Norman Lockyer.
_ Owing, however, to regrettable delays in the
_ delivery of the instrument which was ordered in
- the beginning of the year 1867, and being specially
-_ made for him from funds supplied from the
_ Government Grant Committee, Lockyer did not
- receive it until October 16, 1868. He first used it
on October 20, observing the bright lines which
had been recorded in the August eclipse.
Both Janssen and Lockyer communicated the
results of their diftoveries to the Paris Academy
of Sciences, and these despatches arrived a few
_ minutes of each other on the same day. In honour
_ of the joint discovery the French Government
_ struck a special medal (Fig. 1).
es NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
|
It is interesting as a matter of history to refer
here to the first communication which Lockyer
made to the Royal Society with reference to his
first successful observation.
October 20, 1868.
Sir,—I beg to anticipate a more detailed com-
munication by informing you that, after a number of
failures, which made the attempt seem hopeless, |
have this morning perfectly succeeded in obtaining
and observing part of the, spectrum of a solar
prominence.
As a result I have established the existence of three
| bright lines in the following positions :—
(i) Absolutely coincident with C.
(ii) Nearly coincident with F.
(iit) Near. D.
The third line (the one near D) is more refrangible
than the more refrangible of the two darkest lines by
eight or ‘nine degrees: of Kirchhoff’s scale. . 1 cannot
speak with sa as this part of the spectrum
requires re-mapping.
a
t.—Medal struck by the French Government in honour of the joint discovery of the composition of the prominences by Janssen and
ockyer in the. year 18€8.
From the above it will be noticed that Lockyer
gives the position of the bright yellow line «as
near D, and not coincident with D, D being the
lines of emission of sodium previously referred to.
With regard to’ the behaviour of this line, ke
states in a later communication (November 14,
1868) :—
There is a line in the yellow, most probably pro-
ceeding from the substance which gives off the light
at C and F, as the length of this line, as far as the
later observations with the more correctly adjusted
instrument go, is the same as that of those in C
and F
This statement shows that the yellow line
behaved like the lines of hydrogen, and the view
put forward then was that probably this line
might be due to hydrogen also. The line was
called D, to differentiate it from the double line
of sodium D, and Dg.
A considerable amount of work was now done
362
NATURE
[May 20, 1920
with regard to Dg, for no substance was found in
the laboratory which could produce this line.
By studying the behaviour of Dg in relation to
thé hydrogen lines, throwing the image of the
sun’s limb on to the slit of a spectroscope, Lockyer
found that the lines were distorted—i.e. there
were changes of wave-length due to movements
of the material in the sun.. The orange line was,
however, observed to behave quite differently
from either of the hydrogen lines, showing that
a different substance was in question.
Hence [as Lockyer remarks] we had to do with
an element which we could not get in our laboratories,
and therefore I took upon myself the responsibility of
coining the word helium, in the first instance for
laboratory use. At the time I gave the name I did
not know whether the substance which gave us the
D, was a metal like calcium or a gas like hydrogen,
but I did know that. it behaved like hydrogen, and
that hydrogen, as Dumas had stated, behaved as a
metal (‘‘Sun’s Placein Nature,’’ p. 33).
In| the following years numerous other lines in
the sun and stars were found associated with the
yellow line, but the origins of these were all
unknown and designated as such.
It. was not until the year 1895 that the terres-
trial equivalent of this well-known yellow and
other lines. was discovered. “In the course of
investigations on argon,” so wrote Sir William
Ramsay in a communication ‘to the Royal Society
(Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. Iviii., p. 65) on March 26,
1895, “some clue was sought for which would
lead. to the selection of one out of almost innumer-
_ able compounds with which chemists are
acquainted with which to attempt to induce
.. argon to, combine.”
_ Acting on a suggestion by Sir Henry Miers,
who directed attention to the work of Dr. Hille-
brand in 1888 on the occurrence of nitrogen in
uraninite, etc., Sir William Ramsay employed
the mineral cléveite, essentially a uranate of lead
containing rare earths. He treated this mineral,
_and from it extracted a small quantity of gas,
which he subjected to spectroscopic examination.
To use his own words, as printed in the above-
mentioned communication :—
Several vacuum tubes were filled with this gas and
the spectrum was examined, the spectrum of argon
being thrown. simultaneously into the spectroscope.
It was at. once evident that a new gas was present
along with argon.
Fortunately, the argon tube was one which had been
made to try whether magnesium poles would free the
argon from all traces of nitrogen. This it did; but
hydrogen was evolved from the magnesium, so that
its spectrum was distinctly visible. Moreover, mag-
nesium usually contains sodium, and the D line was
also visible, though faintly, in the argon tube. The
gas from cléveite also showed hydrogen lines dimly,
probably through not having been filled with com-
pletely dried gas.
On comparing the two spectra, I noticed at once
that while the hydrogen and argon lines in both tubes
accurately coincided, a brilliant line in the yellow, in
the cléveite gas, was nearly, but not quite, coincident
with the sodium line D of the argon tube. Mr.
Crookes was so kind as to measure the wave-length
‘of this remarkably brilliant yellow line. It is 587-49
NO. 2638, VOL. 105]
millionths of a millimetre, and is exactly coincident
with the line D, in the solar chromosphere, attributed
to the solar element which has been named helium.
Thus was the terrestrial equivalent of the
helium line discovered after an interval of twenty-
seven years.
Solar observations had shown that this line was.
observed high in the chromosphere, indicating
that the density of the gas should be very low.
Special interest, therefore, attached to the deter-
mination of this important property. In a pre-
liminary experiment Sir William Ramsay
obtained 3-9 as a maximum number for the density
of helium, oxygen being 16, thus showing that
the surmise was correct. Soon after this dis-
covery Lockyer prepared some of the gas from
bréggerite, and established the fact that numerous.
lines, designated “unknown,” in the spectra of
the chromosphere, nebule, and stars, were due
to this gas.
Thus from an observation of the sun a new
terrestrial gas was discovered, and from this
terrestrial gas the origins of a host of unknown
lines in the spectra of the heavenly bodies were
explained.
Like hydrogen, helium has a wide diffusion in
space, for not only is it in strong evidence in
the hot stars, but it also must occur in such
cooler stars as Arcturus, since this star is at
about the same temperature as our sun, in which
we know helium is present. In ‘our atmosphere
helium is one of the rarer constituents, being
present in the proportion of about one volume in
250,000, ec
Up to the last few years the amount of helium
which has been collected has been small, owing
to the costly process of obtaining it, but during
the war a demand for it in large quantities arose
because of its lightness and non-inflammable
nature. Helium is the lightest gas known next to.
hydrogen, of which it has about 92 per cent. of
the buoyancy or lifting power. It was intended to
supply a fleet of airships with this gas, and great
fractionating plants were laid down in the United
States of America capable of separating helium
from natural gas at a very moderate cost. It was
due to the above-mentioned demand that helium
became more widely known, and attention was at
once paid to bring together all the informa-
tion that had been published about it as an aid
to that enterprise.
The U.S. Department of Commerce took the
matter in hand, and under Dr. S. W. Stratton,
the director of the Bureau of Standards, a biblio-
graphy of scientific literature relating to helium
was compiled. The information (more than 400
references) thus brought together has since
(September 10, 1919) been published in pamphlet
form in a Circular of the Bureau of Standards
(No. 81), and will be found a very valuable source
of reference.
The importance of helium to-day may be briefly
summarised from the following extract from the
introduction to this circular :—
Helium has probably been the most interesting of
“May 20, 1920]
* NATURE
363
| the elements to the theoretical scientist on account
f the romantic history of its discovery, its occurrence
in a remarkable condition of solid solution in many
minerals, its formation as a product of the disintegra-
~ tion of the radio-active elements, its liquefaction after
a decade of unsuccessful attempts by some of the
; use of temperatures below those at which the resist-
world’s greatest experimenters, the attainment by its —
ances of pure metals vanish, its many unique physical
Properties, and the many important theoretical con-
clusions which have been drawn from its behaviour.
All of these points of interest have been the subjects
of very thorough investigation. The important
developments of the future will probably be along the
line of the applications of helium, many of which
have already been suggested, :
‘THE results of Dr. Henry Head’s clinical in-
_ + - vestigations! are exceptionally interesting
from the philosophical point of view, for they are
utterly incompatible with the older ideas of the
- introspective psychologists. In fact, his work is
‘a complete scientific refutation of all psychologi-
eal theories which build up knowledge out of ori-
ginal sense-material ’’ (NATURE, November 6, 1919,
2 i 267). Dr. Head has demolished the old psycho-
and created a new conception, in accordance
which “sensations depend neither for their
existence nor for their psychical quality on the
__ cerebral cortex, which has a purely interpretative
___ function in regard to them.”
he function of the cerebral cortex in sensa-
tion is to endow it with spatial relationships, with
the power of responding in a graduated manner to
stimuli of different intensities, and with those
qualities by which we recognise the similarity or
difference of objects brought into contact with the
body. The old psychologists held that there was
something in the external universe correspond-
__ ing to primary sensations, which they regarded as
_ being combined into the elements of perception.
In accordance with such views the changes at the
; periphery were simple and became more complex
_ the nearer they approached the highest centres in
‘tthe brain. By submitting himself to a surgical
operation in 1905 Dr. Head was able to demon-
strate the complexity of the peripheral changes
and the diffuseness of the impressions received.
_ Moreover, by his clinical studies—monuments of
patient research and marvellous insight—he has
shown how these multitudes of diffuse peripheral
changes gradually become integrated and ren-
_ dered more specific in quality, space, and time as
_. they approach the highest physiological levels in
the central nervous system. The recognition of
these facts gives an indication of the mode by
- which evolution has brought into existence such a
nervous system as that of man. Lower, more
impulsive, and less specific reactions become domi-
“nated by those that admit of choice. This con-
ception turns orthodox psychology upside down.
Man’s conceptions of space, time, and material
rest ultimately on the nature of the spatial and
temporal elements in sensation. These in turn
are founded on complex physioiogical activities,
many of which may never disturb consciousness
directly; although they do not enter into the
province of introspective psychology, they are re-
a sponsible for much that is usually attributed to
1 “Sensation and the Cerebral Cortex,” Avainz, vol. xli., part ii., 1918.
- NO. 2638, VoL. 105]
age eee rece L
| cerebral cortex.
terpret the meaning of this arrangement.
7
New Conceptions of Psychology.
the action of the mind. Dr. Head’s work on the
cerebral cortex represents the culmination of an
intensive investigation of the sensory system upon
which he has been engaged for more than a
quarter of a century. In 1893 he was studying the
phenomena of the localisation of the pain asso-
ciated with visceral disturbances and incidentally
mapping out the distribution of the sensory
nerves. Then he began the analysis of’ the com-
ponents of the sensory nerves; and to test the
problems that called for solution he invited Mr.
James Sherren to cut one of the main ‘sensory
nerves of his (Head’s) arm, and with the help
of Dr. Rivers he studied the process of the re-
storation of function in the severed nerve.’ By
this means he was able to differentiate between
the three kinds of sensory nerves distributed to
his arm :— ‘
(a) The deep afferent system supplying the con-
nective-tissues, muscles, joints, and tendons, in
virtue of which is conferred the power of recog-
nising movement and appreciating the position
of any part of the limb, as well as of localising
pressure and responding to certain aspects of
pain ;
(b) A punctate afferent mechanism in the skin,
which Dr. Head has called ‘‘protopathic,’’ the
primitive nature of which is shown by the early
restoration to activity (a little more than six
weeks in Dr. Head’s arm) of its end-organs after
the nerve has been reunited, by the specific nature
of the response of each set of end-organs, and
by the diffuse ‘‘ all-or-nothing ’’ nature of the re-
sponse, i.e. the absence of any graduation corre-
sponding to the intensity of the stimulus; and
(c) Superimposed over this older mechanism
another cutaneous system of later development
and higher functions, which Dr. Head calls ‘‘ epi-
critic.’’ Epicritic sensibility is not restored for
many months after the reappearance of proto-
pathic sensibility, the diffuse reaction of which is
then checked and controlled; and the effects of
stimulation are modulated according to the in-
tensity and locality of the exciting agent. It is
concerned with the finer degrees of tactile and
thermal discrimination and is opposed to, and
controls, the diffuse “all-or-nothing” reaction of
protopathic sensibility.
It has long been known that the sensory paths
in the central nervous system had a_ twofold
terminus, represented by the thalamus and the
It remained for Dr. Head to in-
He
364
NATURE
| May 20, 1920
showed that the thalamus is concerned with the
affective side of consciousness, and deals with
crude awareness to contact, heat, cold, and pain;
while the sensory cortex exercises the réle of dis-
crimination and endows the basic functions of the
thalamus with spatial qualities, intensity and re-
lativity.
The war afforded Dr. Head the opportunity for
testing his theories as to the functions ofethe
sensory cortex on a large scale. He made an
intensive studyof fifty men with strictly localised
bullet wounds of the post-central convolution and
the areas adjoining it in front and behind: as the
result he has revolutionised our conceptions of
the nature of the work of the cerebral cortex.
‘Destruction of the sensory cortex causes a dis-
sociation between the spatial and the qualitative
aspects of sensation. The patient loses the power
of recognising movements or the posture of the
affected parts: he can no longer localise the posi-
tion of the stimulus, or respond adequately to
variations in its intensity: he has no idea of the
size, shape, weight, or texture of an object in
contact with his body. Yet he can appreciate
the tactile, painful, and thermal’ aspects of the
impressions it evokes,
Thus it is possible to recognise the qualitative
aspects of a sensation without of necessity obtain-
ing any information concerning the stimulating
object, as a constituent of the external world.
Sensory qualities, and the affective states with
which they are associated, are in themselves dis- |
continuous.
They are relative to ourselves, and _
appear and disappear in consciousness, without —
leaving any connective factor in the activities of
the mind.
On the other hand, the projected aspects of
sensation relate these qualities, not to ourselves,
but to the external world. An
be defined as a complex of projected sensory re-
sponses.
only responsible for sensory projection in space,
but also ensure recognition of sequence in time.
The power of recognising serial movements
in both space and time seems to be based on the
same physiological processes. They give us a
direct appreciation of succession: this is trans-
lated into sensations of serial movement in either
space or time, according to the nature of the.s con-
comitant sensory impulses.
These physiological responses, which are so
clearly bound up with the activities of the sen-
sory cortex, are characterised by a strict depend-
ence on past events. All projected sensations
leave behind them a coherent train of physiological
dispositions: thus a movement occurring at one
moment is measured against the consequences: of
those which have preceded ih
It is difficult to estimate the magnitude of the |
vast revolution in our conception of the functions
of the cerebral cortex that we are witnessing.
Moreover, Dr. Head’s work lays the foundation of
a new and true psychology and illuminates the age-
long problem of the relationship of body and mind.
It is a matter for just pride that we owe this new
vision to an Englishman.
Obituary.
PrINcIPAL R. M. Burrows.
kK ING’S COLLEGE and the whole University of |
{>
_ writer, and a teacher of untiring drive and wide
London have suffered grievous loss by the |
death of Dr. Ronald Burrows. Born on August 16,
1867, Dr. Burrows went from Charterhouse to
Christ Church, Oxford, with a scholarship, and
took his degree i in 1890 with first class honours in
Classical Moderations and Literae Humaniores.
After five years as assistant to Prof. Gilbert
Murray, who then held the Greek chair at Glasgow,
he was appointed professor of Greek at Cardiff in
1898, and rejoined his Cardiff colleague, Dr. R. S.
Conway, as Greek professor in Manchester in
1908. By travel, during these years, in the Medi-
terranean, he had gained valuable experience of
topography and excavation, and also that first-
hand knowledge of the modern politics of Greece
and the Balkan States which served him so well
in later years. His. published work, mainly about
Greek battlefields, ancient sites in Beeotia (where
he conducted most instructive excavations at
Rhitsona and the Delion), and the newly revealed
Minoan civilisation, gained him the degree of
D.Litt. in the. University of Oxford in 1910, and >
his ‘‘ Discoveries in -Crete,” published in
went into a third edition.
An excellent scholar, a vigorous and fluent
NO. 2638, VOL. 105]
1907,
|
humanity, Dr. Burrows contributed much to “save
Greek ” during’ a difficult period by the simple and
characteristic method of making -his pupils in-
terested in it, and infecting them with his own
keenness ;
ous and successful work for the Cardiff University
Settlement and for the Ardwick Lads’ Club at
Manchester, were for him all of a piece with the
“humanities ” of which his Greek studies should be
the crown. He enjoyed life and enjoyed people,
and his sunny temper and good fellowship were the
happy counterpart of his learning and judgment.
' Dr. Burrows moved from Manchester to King’s
College as principal in 1913, at a time of crisis and
manifold difficulty. Apart from other qualifica-
tions, he had, as was said,
family’* than had all the other candidates put
together, and more: experience, too, than most
of other “happy families ”
arts could “live and let live.” His width of in-
terests and sympathies, enabling him to bring
in new subjects to restore the balance between
them and the old; his ready speech and de-
bating skill; and his real grasp of principles and
policies, gave him a position which-experience con- |
‘‘ object ’’? might
These functions of the cortex are not
a ee he a ee
and this did not stop “out of school.” —
His lifelong interest in young lads, and his strenu-
“more bishops in his -
where sciences and _
Ltn a 62 nk
May 20, 1920]
NATURE
305
. The college organisation for modern lan-
es, literatures, and national histories, which
commemorates him, was conceived and
ed just in time for the war, which so fully
sed his foresight and amplified his oppor-
es, less perhaps among the Romance lan-
s than in the Slavonic and modern Greek
tments which lay nearest to his personal
sts. Knowing as intimately as he did the
ms and the possibilities of the city-state
of ancient Greece, he was able in an excep-
way to interpret here the ideals, no less than
ailures, of the Balkan peoples, whom he
stood and impressed like the naughtier boys
‘settlement clubs. Honours conferred by the
k and Serbian Governments, and the close
al relations which he maintained with
s such as M. Venizelos and President
yk—the latter one of his professors until his
country claimed him—are testimony enough
this side, and he just lived to see in the act of
sation much for which he had long striven.
1 a man would not spare himself, and he would
h help and encouragement along the whole
dth of his interests at times when only the
est prudence could have preserved his health;
00 he avert to live.
We Tegret to announce the death. in London on
ay 6 of Dr. J. Hamitton Futiarton, so long
ssociated with scientific fishery research in Scot-
land. Dr. Fullarton was born at Brodick, Arran,
1856. He had a distinguished career as a
student at Glasgow University, taking many
; *s and bursaries, and graduated M.A., with
_ the highest honours in natural science, in ” 1881,
and D.Sc. ten years later. After acting for some
years as assistant to the professor of natural
_ history in his alma mater, Dr. Fullarton entered
_ the service of the Fishery Board for Scotland as
a naturalist on the scientific staff in 1889, a post
_ which he held for eight years. On quitting the
ey ‘ishery Board service, Dr. Fullarton studied medi-
cine with a view to a medical career, and re-
ceived the qualifications of L.R.C.P. and
_L.R.C.S.(Edin.). After serving for a_ short
. medical officer on an _ Atlantic
pod as
liner, he settled in London as a consultant,
‘and gradually built up-a considerable. prac-
tice. Prior to this, on the initiation of the
international fishery investigations, Dr. Fullarton
re-entered the service of the Fishery Board, and
did valuable work for a year .in the supervision
of the scientific investigations. on board the re-
search steamer Goldseeker. It is as an expert
on fisheries that he will be chiefly remembered in
scientific circles. He devoted himself in particular
_ to the study of shellfish, such as the common edible
- mussel, the oyster, the cockle, and the “clam,”
% and wrote numerous papers on their cultivation
and natural history. In connection with this
_ branch of his fishery work Dr. Fullarton on more
than one occasion visited the districts in France
and Holland where oyster-culture and mussel-
_ eulture are principally carried on. He also made
NO. 2638, VOL. 105] ©
a useful series of researches on the breeding and
development of the European lobster.
Tue death is announced at Copenhagen of the
well-known Danish philologist, Pror. L. F. A.
WIMMER, at eighty-one years of age. Prof.
Wimmer was the author of an important book
on the Runic alphabet, “ Runeskriftens oprindelse
og udvikling i Norden,” published in 1874, in
which he suggested that the Runes were really
Latin letters adapted for carving in wood, and
of four volumes on Runic inscriptions in Den-
mark. In several of the Sagas it is recorded that
Runes were inscribed on round pieces of wood,
called Kefli, or Runic sticks. It has been sug-
gested that the Eddas were recorded in this way,
but the evidence is not quite satisfactory.
THE bearer of a name highly esteemed in
botanical circles has just passed away in the person
of AuGusTIN Pyramus DE CANDOLLE, who died at
Vallon, near Geneva, on May 9, at the age of
fifty-one, surviving his father only eighteen
months. The family is of French origin, but for
four generations it has been settled at Geneva,
adopting the local fashion of employing a capital
letter for De. Born in England in 1869, the late
botanist visited our shores on many occasions;
in 1889 he came to London to receive the Linnean
gold medal awarded to his grandfather by the
Linnean Society of London, and in 1904 he
attended the British Association meeting at Cam-
bridge.. He published but little, only about a
dozen short memoirs on systematic descriptions
of new plants from Madagascar and Tonquin, on
parthenogenesis, and on the influence of electricity
on the germination of seeds. He filled the office of
president of the Société’ Botanique de Genéve in
1905. The brilliancy of the line was shown in the
great-grandfather, A. P. De Candolle (1778-1841) ;
grandfather, Alphonse De Candolle (1806-93) ;
and father, Casimir De Candolle (1836-1918).
‘By the death, on February 27, of ALFRED J.
Moses, professor of mineralogy at Columbia Uni-
versity, the science of mineralogy has lost (says
““H. P. W.” in Science) one of its most eminent
and valued exponents. Prof. Moses’s work as a
teacher, as a writer, and as a scientific investi-
gator can scarcely be too highly esteemed, and his
loss to all branches of his profession is most
keenly felt. His text-book on “Mineralogy,
Crystallography, and Blowpipe Analysis ” will for
many years remain the standard in a large
majority of the universities in which courses in
these subjects are given. His work on “The
Characters of Crystals,” published in 1899, is the
first treatise published in America upon physical
crystallography, a branch of crystallography which
was early recognised by him as of primary import-
ance to chemists, geologists, and mineralogists,
arid has within very recent years assumed a
scope and developed practical applications which
have more than justified his early visions of its
future.
366
\NATURE
[May 20, 1920
Notes.
THE general meeting of the Linnean Society on
June 17 will be devoted to a celebration of the cen-
tenary of Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) with essays
on various aspects of his life-work, and an exhibition.
Dr. H. D. Curtis, astronomer at the Lick Ob-
servatory, has been appointed director of the Allegheny
Observatory in succession to Dr. Frank Schlesinger,
who assumed charge of the Yale Observatory on
April 1.
Tue Linnean Society has elected the following as
foreign members:—Prof. Gaston Bonnier, Prof.
Victor Ferdinand Brotherus, Prof. Giovanni Battista -
de Toni, Prof. Louis Dollo, Prof. Paul Marchal, and
Prof. Roland Thaxter.
THE Natural History Museum Staff Association
has arranged a special scientific reunion to be held at
the museum (by permission of the Trustees) on
Thursday, June 3, at 3.30 p.m., in connection with
‘the Imperial Entomological Conference. The exhibits
which will be shown will illustrate some of the
problems of economic interest, or arising out of the
war, which have been studied at the museum during
the past few years.
Tue motion for the second reading of the Importa-
tion of. Plumage (Prohibition) Bill was carried in the
‘House: of Commons on May 14. Lt.-Col. Archer-
Shee. expressed a wish to propose that it be an
instruction to the Standing Committee by which the
Bill will be considered to insert a schedule of the
birds the.plumage of which should be prohibited from
importation, but the Speaker pointed out that it
would be out of order to give a mandatory instruction
_to a Standing Committee, which could, if it wished,
take such action without any instruction.
A notice from the Department of Anatomy, Johns
Hopkins» Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland,
informs us that the Ellen Richards research prize
offered by an association of American college women,
hitherto known as the Naples Table Association, is
available for the year 1921. This is the tenth prize
offered. _The prize has been awarded four times,
twice to American women and twice to English-
women: The competition is open to any woman in
the world who presents a thesis written in English.
The thesis must represent new observations and new
conclusions based upon laboratory research.
THE medal of the Society of Chemical Industry for
1920 has been awarded to M. Paul Kestner in recogni-
tion of his distinguished services to chemical industry.
The medal is awarded biennially, and among the
recipients in recent years have been the Right Hon.
Sir Henry Roscoe (1914), Mr. C. F. Cross (1916), and
Sir James Dewar (1918). M. Kestner was born in
Alsace prior to the German occupation in 1871; he
was one of the chief founders and the first president
of the Société de Chimie Industrielle in France, which
was established in 1917. He has been connected with
engineering as applied to chemical industry through-
out his career, and among his more notable -achieve-
NO. 2638, VOL, 105 |
'
ments are the use of forced draught in acid towers,
automatic acid elevators, the climbing film evaporator,
the scaleless water-tube boiler, and several inventions
in connection with beet-sugar manufacture.
AN invitation from the Mayor and Corporation of —
Barrow-in-Furness to hold the annual autumn meeting —
of the Institute of Metals in that town on Wednesday
and Thursday, September 15 and 16 next, has been ~
accepted by the council of the institute. Particulars
of the meeting can be obtained from the secretary,
Mr. G. Shaw Scott, 36 Victoria Street, S.W.1, who
will also be glad to forward tickets for the tenth F
annual May lecture, which will be delivered by Prof.
C. A. F. Benedicks, of Stockholm, at 8 p.m., om
June 10, at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, —
Westminster, the subject of the lecture being “‘ The
Recent Progress in Thermo-Electricity.”’
dent, Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir George Goodwin,
K.C.B., will preside.
A sHorT account of the Department of Scientific —
Research and Experiment, which the Admiralty has.
set up under the Third Sea Lord, was given in
Nature of April 22, p. 245. A vote for 302,0001. for
scientific services under the Navy Estimates was —
agreed to in Committee of the House of Com-
mons on May 17. Mr. Long, in reply to points raised ©
concerning this vote, said that after an investigation
into the conditions the Government decided to ask
the Lord President of the Council, who was specially ~
charged with the care of all scientific work in the
country, to set up a Committee to inquire into the —
whole of the work done in the Government Depart-—
ments in order to prevent overlapping, and to
prevent two Departments doing the same work. The
Admiralty had appointed a Director of Scientific Re-
search at Teddington, where they were going to con-_
centrate on naval scientific research. When it came
The presi- —
ee eee
to sea-water research they proposed that that should —
be carried out at the sea-ports.
carried on this year, but they hoped that before
Teddington would be —
the end of that time they would have the benefit —
of the report of the Lord President’s Committee, and
they would then be in a position to avoid overlapping
and duplication of work. The Admiralty would not
hesitate to ask Parliament for such money as they
thought necessary to give the fullest effect to scien-
tific research and the development of the results of
that research. The sum of 430,3001. was voted. for ;
educational, services, and Mr. Long said in connec-
tion with it that the departure, taken only recently,
under which reception was secured at the University —
of Cambridge for a certain number of naval officers
as undergraduates, had abundantly justified itself. He
assured the Committee that the Government is ex- —
tremely sympathetic to this scheme, and hopes to
increase the number of officer undergraduates.
AN interesting conference on ‘‘ The Relations of the
Inventor to the State,’’ organised by the Institute of
Inventors, was held at the rooms of the Royal Society
of Arts on May 13. The discussion was opened by
Mr. D. Leechman, who gave a good résumé of the
present state of the patent law in the light of the
new Patent Act. It was remarkable that in a meeting
[ay 20, 1920]
NATURE
367
of this kind the whole of the speakers were unanimous
in condemning the present attitude in official circles
towards inventors. It was stated by more than one
cer that those who came forward during the war
ideas and inventions that had made our success
ble had not only received no reward, but had in
al cases been deprived even of the merit of their
_by officials who were themselves devoid of the
sary technical or scientific knowledge. The
thairman, Mr. Walter F. Reid, stated that the work-
ig of the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors
»plied abundant evidence of the difficulty experi-
by inventors in obtaining any recognition.
gh large sums were now being devoted to re-
1, he pointed out that such work was only
raw material for the development of industry; it
the application of that raw material by the in-
tor which resulted in the advance of industrial
cesses. The mass of facts as ascertained by re-
h was already enormous; what is now required
inventive genius to make use of those facts, which
. Reid compared to the bricks and stones with
ch an architect might produce a building, but
| by themselves were of little practical use.
=
for the week ending May 1, continues greatly
the decline over the whole country, the deaths for
ninety-six great towns numbering only 202 and in
idon 45. For the twenty-eight weeks from
ber 25, 1919, to May 1, 1920, during which in-
1enza was practically epidemic, the deaths from the
_ disease in London were 1160, and the deaths from all
_ auses 35,276. Deaths from influenza were 3 per
cent. of the total deaths, whilst the deaths from pneu-
monia were 11 per cent, and from bronchitis 10 per
t. Between the ages o and 20 the deaths from
fluenza were 15 per cent. of the total, 20 to 45 years
36 per cent., 45 to 65 years 28 per cent., and above
_ 65 years 21 per cent. The age-incidence of the deaths
calculated on the total deaths for the several ages was
respectively 4 per cent. for 5 to 20,8 per cent. for 20 to
45, and 4 per cent. for 45 to 65. The insignificance of
this is shown when compared with the deaths during
the virulent epidemic of 1918-19, in which during
thirty-one weeks from October 19, 1918, to May 10,
Ig19, the deaths from influenza were 47 per cent. for
ages 5 to 20 of those for the corresponding ages from
causes, 52 per cent. for 20 to 45, and 22 per cent.
or ages 45 to 65. During the three weeks ending
April 10, the worst stage of the present epidemic, the
_ deaths between 20 and 45, the ages attacked most
_ severely, were only 21 per cent. of the total deaths
from all causes, whilst in the epidemic of
1918-19 the deaths for ages 20 to 45 in the three weeks
ending November 16, 1918, were 73 per cent. of the
_ total at the corresponding ages from all causes. In
_ the present epidemic deaths were most numerous
_ during a spell of exceptionally mild weather.
ts A BRIEF, but very interesting, study of the pygmies
_ of Central Africa by Mr. Herbert Lang appears in
_ Natural History, the journal of the American Museum
4 of Natural History (vol. xix.), and its value is further
_ enhanced by a number of most excellent photographs.
4 Anthropologists will welcome this contribution, since
NO. 2638, VOL. 105]
met
NFLUENZA, according to the Registrar-General’s
it summarises the results of a prolonged study of
these people made during the American Museum
Congo Expedition (1909-15). During that time more
than a hundred life-masks, representing sixteen
different tribes of Central African races, were taken.
Some extremely useful observations on the physical
characteristics of the pygmies are made, as well as
on their mode of life, customs, and language. By
way of a supplement, perhaps, to Mr. Lang’s paper,
this number also contains an essay on ‘‘The Pygmy
Races of Man,’’ by Mr. Louis R. Sullivan, of the
Anthropological Department of the American Museum,
illustrated by a number of useful tables and diagrams,
Tue eighteenth annual report of the Rhodesia
Museum, Bulawayo, affords instructive reading. It
is evident that but for the assistance the museum is
able to afford the mining industry it would cease to
exist. The public generally seems to regard the
institution, at most, with but a mild interest. Hence,
from lack of funds, every aspect of its work is ham-
pered. The building is all too small to house its col-
lections, and the provision made for the storage and
exhibition of specimens is utterly inadequate. It is
more than probable that if a better display could be
made enthusiasm might be kindled. This state of
affairs is lamentable, for, as matters stand, it is im-
possible to secure that record of the fauna and’ flora
of this important area of Africa which is so essential
in a country being rapidly transformed by the march
of civilisation. Dr. G. Arnold, the curator, is» evi-
dently having an uphill fight; but, in the interests of
science, it is to be hoped that the tremendous possibili-
ties of a well-organised museum will soon be realised.
Tur Pueblo stage of culture in south-western
Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, the
domain of the cliff-dwellers, has naturally. attracted
much attention. ‘The material for studying it is wide
and scattered, and it is well that a competent archzo-
logist, Mr. J. W. Fewkes, has prepared a monograph
on the subject, entitled ‘‘ Prehistoric Villages, Castles,
‘and Towers of South-Western Colorado,” published
as Bulletin No. 70 of the Bureau of American Ethno-
logy. The general conclusions at which Mr. Fewkes.
has arrived are: The buildings express the communal
thought of the builders, since they were constructed
by groups of people rather than by individuals. The
view that either the Pueblo people were derived from
Mexican tribes or, as it was customary in the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries to suppose, their de-
scendants had made their way south and developed
into the more advanced culture of the Aztecs, is not
supported by. architectural data observed among these
two peoples; it is preferable to assume that the cus-
tom of building stone houses was not derived from
any locality not now included in the Pueblo area, but
that it developed as a local growth, the earliest stages,
as well as the most complex forms, being of locaf
origin, That the buildings antedate the coming. of the
white men is shown by the absence of mention of
them in. any history; no European objects have been
found at the Pueblos, and the buildings and pottery
have no affinity with any villages inhabited when the
Spanish entered the south-west.
368
NATURE
EXPERIMENTS with the Amphipod Gammarus chev-
reuxi by E. J. Allen and E. W. Sexton at the Plymouth
Marine Biological Laboratory (Journal of Genetics,
vol. ix., No. 4) have disclosed several mutations in
eye-colour. In the wild animal the retinal pigment
is black. A single individual with red eyes appeared
in the second generation from animals brought into
the laboratory, and the new character was inherited
as a simple recessive. An. albino-eyed type also
appeared, in which the eyes differed in many struc-
tural features from the normal type. Another muta-
tion, by no means’ uncommon, consists in the loss
of the white pigment normally present between the
ommatidea of the eye. This may appear suddenly
or gradually, or may develop in the animals as they
grow older. White-spotting also occurs on the bodies
of these animals occasionally, but the rules of its
inheritance show complications, and a pure spotted
race has not been obtained.
In March of 1917 the Board of Agriculture and.
Fisheries appointed a Committee to consider the fresh-
water fisheries. Attention was directed to the use of
coarse fish as food, to the development of the eel
fisheries, and latterly to the improvement of the
salmon fisheries. Two interim reports were issued,
and as a result of these the Board made an Order in
March, 1918, extending, as a war emergency measure,
the season of capture of coarse fish by one month.
This Order was revoked in the spring of 1919. A
further Order removing restrictions on eel-fishing and
abolishing the close season for pike was made in
April, 1918, and revoked in October, 1919. Dealing
with the eel fisheries, the Committee recommended
that the factory on the Severn owned by ee German
Fisheries Union should be taken over, and, ‘‘ after pro-
longed negotiations,”’ this was done. The factory ex-
ported some five millions of elvers annually to Germany
before the war. Arrangements were made to carry
jt on, and in 1918 and 1919 about 23 millions of
elvers were distributed throughout this country. The
Committee hopes this work may be continued regu-
larly. In its final report, now published, practical
methods of eel cultivation are dealt with, and the
necessity for investigation into the biology of fresh-
water fishes in general is discussed. Recommenda-
tions are made with regard to the pollution of rivers,
improvements of the latter as breeding-grounds, and
the consolidation of the law as to fresh-water fisheries.
Practical suggestions for the cultivation of carp are
given in’ an appendix.
Mr. W. B. Wricut, of the Geological Survey of
Treland, has made ‘“‘An Analysis of the Palzozoic
Floor of North-East Ireland, with Predictions as to
Concealed Coalfields’? (Sci. Proc. R. Dublin Soc.,
vol, xv., No. 45, 1919, price 1s. 6d.). Mr. Wright
accompanies his careful reasoning as to the synclines
and anticlines produced by the Armorican and later
foldings by a coloured geological map showing the
intersections of: two systems of folds, and therefore the
probable domes -and basins. He relies much on the
repetition of similar fold-features in the same’ area
during successive geological periods—that is, on the
NO. 2638, VOL, 105]
[May 20, 1920
principle of posthumous folding on which R. A. C.
Godwin-Austen based his prediction of the Dover —
coalfield. It is no secret that the deep boring put
down recently by the Ministry of Munitions on the
west shore of Lough Neagh in accordance with the
arguments of Mr. Wright has more than proved his
main contention, the Carboniferous rocks, on the line
of the Armorican syncline of Central Scotland, having
been carried down by Cainozoic sinking to depths com-
pletely unexpected. ;
THE issue of the Revue scientifique for Feteudiy 14
contains Prof. G. Friedel’s opening address on his
installation in the chair of mineralogy at the Uni-
versity of Strasbourg. Prof. Friedel, himself an
Alsatian by birth, looks forward to the development
of research in a university that will never become
the slave of politics or the mere servant of industrial
ideals. He says finely: ‘‘La science n’est pas la
servante de 1l’industrie, elle en est la mére.” His
address deals with the insight given by the use of
X-rays into crystalline and molecular structure, and
he describes the work inspired by Laue, of Munich, —
in 1912 as “‘la plus belle assurément et la plus riche _
en promesses de la cristallographie récente.” In the
developments made by Sir W. H. and Prof.W. L. Bragg
he perceives the end of our conception of the existence
of molecules as such within a crystal, and a realisa-
tion of the crystal as one enormous molecule, in which
the grouping of the atoms does not permit of a division
into similarly constituted particles correspaOtiam nee
the molecules of the chemist. :
WE have received rae Koninklijk Magnetisch en
Meteorologisch Observatorium, Batavia, the volumes
of rainfall records in the Dutch East Indies for ge
years 1915, 1916, and 1917 (Regenwaarnemingen n
Nederlandsch-Indié). The records are pak
complete, and comprise data from several thousand |
stations scattered throughout- the islands. There is
no discussion of the data, but the volume for 1915
gives the-mean of more than three hundred stations
for the period 1879 to 1915. The same volume gives
useful notes on the position and equipment of the
various stations.
Tur Koninklijk Nederlandsch Meteorologisch In-
stituut has published the first part of an oceano-
graphical and meteorological folio atlas of the Atlantic
Ocean under the editorshin of Dr. E. van Everdingen, —
director of the institute. The present part covers the
months of December, January, and February, and is
It follows |
based: on observations from 1870 to 1914.
the lines of the previous work on the Indian Ocean,
and utilises mainly the observations of Dutch vessels,
but these are supplemented by data from the Meteoro-
logical Office, London, and the Deutsche Seewarte.
Maps for each month show the distribution of wind, -
cloudiness, and —.
currents, sea- and air-temperature,
floating ice. The volume of data which was to
accompany the atlas-has been delayed in publication.
Tue current (April) part of the Proceedings of the
London Mathematical Society is of. melancholy
Rit a ee ee fen crtns SeacnaiTa
ee, Ce ee ey eee PR na Per a
De eRey yim ero ems
hal ode MG
|
s
S
nen
penn,
May 20, 1920]
NATURE 369
; interest because it contains the conclusion of the
‘late E. K. Wakeford’s paper on canonical forms.
The” paper is remarkable for its generality and the
_ simplicity which it gains by the use of the theory of
i ity. Moreover, certain results follow almost
a - intuitively from known geometrical facts, e.g. the
; general: ‘ternary quartic cannot ‘be expressed as the
sum of five fourth powers, because the square of the
3 conic ‘through five points may be regarded, in this
_ connection, as a quartic with double points at all of
them. This example is interesting _ historically,
_ because the original (and different) proof of the
F theorem in question was one of the first to show the
_ untrustworthiness of the method of counting constants.
! _ Wakeford’s premature death will be deplored by all
who can appreciate the brilliance and originality of
_ Tue April issue of the Journal of the Réntgen
_ Society contains the communication made to the
society at a recent meeting by Prof. E. T. Jones on
the action of the induction coil. By means of an
electrostatic oscillograph Prof. Jones has investigated
the effects on the potential of the’ secondary of the
at both on open circuit and when connected to an
_ X-ray tube, of changes in the capacity of the con-
denser shunting the break, and in the degree
of coupling between the primary and secondary of
the coil. He finds that the effects correspond closely
with those to be anticipated on the theory that in the
secondary on open circuit the potential after break
consists of two component waves, which begin in
«pposite phase and have amplitudes inversely propor-
tional to their frequencies. He considers that induc-
tion coils can be further improved by investigating
and reducing the losses in the iron cores of the coils,
by introducing interrupters which will break stronger
currents without such large capacities in parallel with
them, and by determining the best method of adjust-
ing the coupling between the primary and secondary,
either by alteration of their relative lengths or widths
or by other means.
_ A very interesting example of the progress which
has taken place during recent years in electric power
supply is presented in a paper by Mr. J. S. Watson
_ read on April 30 before the North-East Coast Institute
of Engineers and Shipbuilders, in which he gave a
brief historical sketch of the development of the
generating stations of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Elec-
tric Supply Co., the principal pioneer of electric power
supply on a large scale in this county: Dividing
the twenty-nine years of this company’s activity into
stages, Mr. Watson traced the progress from a small
station with 2400 kw. in 200-kw. units to the latest
addition, the Carville ‘‘B’’ station, with its five
x0,000-kw. turbo-generators. Among the many im-
portant features referred to is the gradual decrease in
steam consumption per kw.-hour from 28-5 Ib. to ro Ib,
An equally interesting comparison lies in the plant
capacity per square foot of floor-space occupied, which
is 15 kw. as against o-3 kw., and other figures show-
_ ing gain in economy are those of kilowatt capacity per
Se en ee
man employed in the station—633 kw. and 141 kw..
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 | |
respectively. These improvements are attributable
mainly to increases in boiler pressure, steam tempera-
ture, speed of revolution and size of unit, and to more
complete utilisation of labour-saving appliances. Another
no less important feature of the scheme is the running
in parallel with the steam-driven stations of ‘t waste-
heat ’’ generating plants at various points on the net-
work utilising on a considerable scale by-product
energy from coke-ovens and blast-furnaces.
IN a paper on the economics of the petroleum
industry read recently by Mr. R. S. Dickie at the
Imperial College of Science and Technology, there
appears a series of well-justified criticisms relative to
the geological, chemical, and engineering procedure
of the producing companies. Such subjects as the
proper spacing of well-sites, the economical utilisation
of fuel by the provision of heat and cold inter-
changers, the preposterous waste in the current use
of boiler-stills, the insufficiency of our present know-
ledge of lubrication and lubricating oils, the need for
research on blended motor-fuel, and the possibilities of
recovering valuable components from the crude oil by
methods other than distillation were briefly touched
upon. Among the more interesting statements
made is the following: The greatest producing
well is No. 4 Potrero del Llano (Mexican Eagle Co.),
which ran wild for ninety days, flowing at the rate of
100,000 barrels per day. In the eight years of its life
it produced 100,000,000 barrels of oil (1 barrel — about
45 English or 50 U.S.A. gallons).
WE have received from Messrs. A. Hilger, Ltd.,
754 Camden Road, N.W.1, an attractive catalogue of
their well-known wave-length spectrometer with high
resolving power accessories, including the Lummer-
Gehrcke parallel plate, the Fabry and Perot etalon,
and the Michelson echelon diffraction grating. At a
time when the structure of spectra is receiving so
much attention from physicists it is good to know that
a British firm can still assist in supplying the very
necessary “munitions” in the form of efficient
scientific apparatus. As is well known, this firm has
been able very largely to control the effects of lack
of homogeneity in glass by interferometer methods,
which should considerably improve the performance
of such instruments.
Reapers of Nature in search of book bargains
should obtain and consult Catalogue No. 187 just
issued by Messrs. W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., Cam-
bridge, in which some 331 books in new and perfect
condition are listed at greatly reduced prices. Among
the works relating to science we notice the “ Scientific
Papers’’ of Prof. J. C. Adams; sets in different
bindings of ‘Biologia Centrali-Americana,’’ also
separate sections of the work; Prof. J. Stanley
Gardiner’s ‘‘The Fauna and Geography of the
Maldive and Laccadive Archipelagoes’’; Hagen’s
** Atlas Stellarum Variabilium ’’; Hewitson’s ‘ Exotic
Butterflies’ and ‘Illustrations of Diurnal Lepido-
ptera”’; Leech’s ‘‘ Butterflies from China, Japan, and
Corea’; and a set of ‘‘The British Bird Book,”
edited by F. B. Kirkman.
37°
NATURE
| May 20, 1920
Our Astronomical Column.
A Bricut Frirepatt.—A splendid meteor was seen
on May 9, 9h. 1om. G.M.1., from Bristol, Cardiff,
London, +Weston-super-Mare, and _ other places.
Special interest attaches to the object, for it appears
to have descended to very near the earth’s surface,
if, indeed, it did not actually fall to the ground. ‘The
meteor traversed a path of about 60 miles in 53
seconds, and fell from a height of 54 to 12 miles.
Combustion occurred over Radnor Forest, and the
meteor apparently disappeared over a point 10 miles
east of Barmouth. If the object was enabled. to
travel in a compact form about 15 miles further, it
must have alighted on the ground in the region some
ten miles south of Bangor, Carnarvonshire, but no
intimation has yet been received that a meteorite has
been found, or was seen to fall, there.
CONJUNCTION OF MERCURY WITH ¢€ GEMINORUM.—
Mr. A. Burnet, of Oxford University Observatory,
makes a special study of occultations of stars by
planets. He now points out a close approach of
Mercury to the third-magnitude star e Geminorum
on June 11. The position of the star is R.A.
6h. 39m. 1-73s., N. decl. 25° 12’ 33-8". Mercury is
in the same R.A. at gh. 7m. G.M.T., 14” south. The
semi-diameter and parallax are .2-9"” and 7-7", so that
an occultation will not happen at any part of the
earth. The hourly motion of Mercury is +19'4s.,
S.55°8”. Hence conjunction in declination occurs at
8h. 52m. Micrometer measures of the differences of
R.A. and declination of planet and star will be of value,
especially as Mercury is a difficult object to observe
on the meridian. The sun sets in London at 8h. 14m.,
and Mercury at gh. 50m. The times throughout are
given in G.M.T., not summer time. It is rather un-
fortunate that the date coincides with that of the
Royal Astronomical Society’s meeting, as that will
prevent some astronomers from observing it.
LONGITUDE BY WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.—This sub-
ject was discussed at the geophysical meeting at the
Royal Astronomical Society on May 7. Prot. Samp-
son, Astronomer-Royal for Scotland, pointed out that
wireless telegraphy supplied the long-sought desidera-
tum of signals that could be received simultaneously
over the greater part of the earth’s surface; in the
past eclipses of the moon or Jupiter’s satellites, lunar
distances and occultations had been employed, but
the new method gave far higher accuracy. He
formulated a scheme in which three observatories at
longitudes some 120° apart, or, if preferred, four
observatories 90° apart, should each receive the signals
of suitably placed wireless stations and note their
local time in the usual manner by meridian observa-
tions. The method would determine both the longi-
tudes of the stations and the periodic errors in the
assumed clock-star places, since different clock-stars
would be on the meridian of each observatory at the
time of each signal. No extreme accuracy is called
for in the time of sending out the signal, since the
method is wholly a differential one. Interchange of
observers is not contemplated; this has hitherto been
the practice in longitude determinations, but the new
method contemplates using the ordinary observations
with the standard instrument of each observatory for
a considerable period. There will thus be several
observers, and if the travelling-wire method is adopted
very little error will be introduced by personal equa-
tion. Plans are already far advanced for connecting
Greenwich with Sydney in this manner.
A demonstration was given of the method of record-
ing the wireless signals on a chronograph by the use
of a Fleming valve. The ticks of a chronometer,
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
transmitted by a microphone attached to the glass,
were’ simultaneously recorded. ‘The chief difficulty
was stated to be not the weakness of the transmitted
wireless signal, but the frequent confusion produced
by atmospherics.
Periodicity in Weather and Crops,
[? is generally understood that the principal source
of terrestrial weather changes is to be found in
solar radiation. Inasmuch, therefore, as the yield of
crops depends very largely on the weather, it is quite
natural to assume that any periodicity in the: solar
radiation is likely to be reflected in the world-
harvests and the price of food. Many investigations
have had for their object the testing of a direct cor-
relation between solar activity, as evidenced by sun-
spots, and such terrestrial phenomena as the Indian
monsoon in regard to drought and famine. The
mechanism of world-weather is exceedingly complex,
but progress is steadily being made in elucidating the
cause of the numerous departures from obedience to
any simple general law.
The next step, after comparing terrestrial pheno-
mena with the known sun-spot period, was to analyse
various sets of data in search of unknown periodicities, —
and Prof. Turner, for example, goes so far as to
connect what he calls ‘‘chapters’’ of meteorological
history with the movement of the earth’s pole that
produces latitude variation. There is, however, one
very great difficulty in fixing any period the physical
basis of which is unknown, and that is the incom-
mensurability of all the suggested periods with that
of the earth’s revolution round the sun. It is obvious.
that a dry period occurring exactly at sun-spot maxi-
mum, for example, if such a phenorhenon should be
persistent, and if, which is another difficulty, the
sun-spot maximum were an exact predictable moment,
would have a totally different influence on the har-
vest according to the time of year at which the
drought occurred. :
different in different parts of the world, notably on
the two sides of the equator. es
On Wednesday, May 12, Sir William Beveridge,
Director of the London School of Economics and
Political Science, delivered a lecture on the subject of
a hitherto unrecognised periodicity in the weather and
the crops. From the Times report of the lecture we
gather that he rather discredits the ‘‘sun-spot”’’ in-
fluence, at least in the form advanced by Prof. Jevons
nearly half a century ago, and produces ostensibly
consistent evidence in favour of a period of 15% years
during the past three centuries. The argument rests
upon historic records of poor harvests, of Indian
famines, of tropical droughts and equally disastrous
wet summers in higher latitudes, and also to a great
extent upon official statistics of food prices.
There is no indication in the report that attention
was paid to such obvious matters as war and plague, ~
which would have an enormous effect on prices. The
meteorologists of the next century will not, we hope,
attribute the high prices under which we are now
suffering to a periodic meteorological influence. Sir
William Beveridge has succeeded in setting forth a
list of dates at approximately equal intervals, and
claims that every one corresponds to a period of high
prices. .He admits that there were other times of
similar conditions not belonging to the series he
claims to have discovered, and he also allows an
occasional uncertainty of something less than five
years, but he warns us to expect most unseasonable
weather, bad harvests, and high prices, with possible
famines, in one or more of the years 1924, 1925, and
1926.
The effect would also be quite |
May 20, 1920]
NATURE
371
rom the summary of the evidence produced it is
possible to extract some comfort. Sir William
eridge’s appeal to the barometer makes it clear
- he regards a low mean annual pressure as a
ct indication of bad harvests, and points to. the
1878, 1893, and 1909 as the three years of
est pressure in a forty-year period over the greater
the habitable globe. It is, on the face of it,
ally impossible that the pressure over the whole
: ild vary from year to year; so perhaps we
to assume a higher selective pressure over the
m areas in such years.. In any event, we were
y fortunate in this country in 1893 with a glorious
mer, shared also by France, in spite of the world-
conditions. There is another aspect which must not
| Acting and that is the physical basis on which
the period depends. The lecturer contented himself
with suggestions of a.combination of periods of
shorter length, hinting that 15} years is a sort of
least common multiple of two or more of these. The
actual figures given are, however, singularly uncon-
-vincing. Sir William Beveridge mentions a meteoro-
logical period of just over five years, without any
de in support of it, and couples this with ‘the
m 2}-year cycle.’’ Is this a period in itself,
or is it merely one of the harmonics of the 11-year
_ sun-spot period? He says eleven of these make two
of his |
ae
154-year periods; so if the 23-year period is
‘“important,’’ his new one should be 303 years.
What is apparently important, as we remarked before,
is the 12-month period, and this would indicate
_ 46 years as a super-period, but there is no indication
of any specially bad harvests at every third period
in his table.
_ Sir William Beveridge’s forecast for 1924-5-6 is
_ given with some diffidence, showing that he is not too
confident of the reality of the period, and it is not
likely that he has made much impression on the
_ devotees of the sun-spot period, which has. been
_ elaimed to show direct correlation with such different
_ phenomena as the price of wheat and the number of
fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society.
_ One last question we might raise is: Does fine
weather necessarily mean lower food prices, con-
_ sidered in the light of the suggestion that strikes and
_ labour unrest are generally regarded as fine-weather
_ phenomena ? W. W. B.
The National Food Supply.
IR DANIEL HALL, in the first of his three recent
| Chadwick public lectures on “Gardening and
Food Production,’ dealt with the national food supply
_ and the possibility of self-support. According to the
_ values obtained by a committee of the Royal Society
_ for the five-year period prior to the war, only 42 per
cent. of the total food supply consumed in the United
_ Kingdom was produced at home. At the beginning
_ of the nineteenth century the country was practically
_ self-supporting, but since that time the population has
pre increased, while the productivity has decreased.
_ In 1872 there were 14 million acres under the plough
in England and Wales, but by 1914 nearly 4 million
acres of this land had been put down to grass. Grass
land is comparatively unproductive of food as com-
ee with arable land, for, according to Sir Thomas
iddleton’s calculation, 100 acres of arable land in
_ this country normally produce food that will main-
tain eighty-four persons, whereas the same Ioo acres
_ under grass will maintain only fifteen to twenty per-
sons. The great difficulty is that arable land requires
much more labour than grass land, and farmers
naturally refrain from ploughing up their land when
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
the cost of labour has risen very much more than have
the prices of the produce. In 1917-18 another 2}
million acres were added to the acreage already under
the plough, but the food crisis is not yet over. It is
essential that we should increase our productivity, and
to attain this end we must agree to pay the prices ne-
cessary to. make arable farming reasonably profitable
to the farmer. Moreover, the population will have to
change its habits and eat more bread, potatoes, etc.,
than meat, while pork will have increasingly to re-
place the more expensive animal foods.
The second lecture was concerned with the develop-
ment and uses of allotments. The history of allot-
ments appears to go back to a very early date; for
from the time of Henry III. onwards there are
statutes dealing with pieces of cultivated land of the
allotment type. The first period of active growth of
the allotment scheme was in the nineteenth century,
when the industrial system and the large towns
developed. A noteworthy example is the still flourish-
ing group of allotments started by the late Sir John
Lawes on his Rothamsted estate, in connection with
which a club-house for the use of the allotment-
holders was built as early as 1857. Without doubt the
greatest extension of the allotment movement occurred
during the years 1916 onwards, when the country was
threatened with a serious food shortage. At the
present time it is estimated that about one million
allotments are in use. The typical allotment of one-
sixteenth of an acre is rarely capable of providing all
the potatoes and vegetables needed by an ordinary
small household, but when a million of such allot-
ments are considered, it is clear that they do bring
about a marked saving in the national food bill.
Unfortunately, the typical allotment is not always
cropped to the best advantage, but it is hoped that
this will be improved through the publication of a
detailed scheme for allotments by the Ministry of
Agriculture. In dealing with fertilisers the lecturer
pointed out that many allotments are deficient in’
humus, and must be supplied with stable manure in
addition to artificial fertilisers. Town-dwellers are
faced with further difficulties over the tenure of their
allotments, but it is hoped that all building schemes
in the future will provide for a reasonable amount of
allotment land.
“Social and Hygienic Conditions Respecting
Gardens and Allotments ’’ provided the subject for
the third of Sir Daniel Hall’s lectures. Under this
heading was discussed the extreme importance of
“*vitamines,’’ of which three at least have been found
to be present in food. These vitamines occur mostly
in living plants, although they are found also ‘in
certain animal foods. They are essential for the
healthy development of human beings. In this con-
nection appears cne of the great values of allot-
ments, for by their means a large number of people
are provided with fresh vegetables containing the all-
important vitamines, without which various diseases
are liable to occur. The lecturer next dealt with the
social value of allotments. Passive amusements, such
as picture palaces, etc., fail to satisfy completely one’s
need for amusement, but there is enormous satisfac-
tion in growing things; moreover, some of our best
varieties of flowers and vegetables are the result of
the efforts of working-men, who found much_ to
interest them in the allotments which provided a
welcome diversion from work that was often mono-
tonous and carried out under unpromising conditions.
The growth of the allotment movement will surely
put men on a sounder economic basis, in addition to
providing an active interest in life and to ensuring
the better health of their families.
RY
NATURE
[May 20, 1920
The Research Associations.
OTHING could be more satisfactory than the
account that Dr. A. W. Crossley gave on Friday
last to the Conference of Research Associations of
the constitution and methods of the British Cotton
Industry Research Association, of which he is director.
It embraces every activity that contributes to the
production and utilisation of cotton, and represents
more than 95 per cent. of the firms engaged inthe
industry. Among its members are some of the Labour
leaders, and these take the keenest interest in its
work. It aims to obtain, in the first place, more
exact knowledge of the chemical and physical pro-
perties of the fibre and the scientific facts which lie
at the base of the processes employed; for it is con-
sidered that it is only in this way that the true solu-
tion of the problems which present themselves can be
assured. It is to be hoped that the same broad and
scientific spirit may animate all the associations that
have been formed under the Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research.
It appeared to be generally agreed that one of the
most important conditions of the success of the move-
ment was its close association with the universities
and colleges where scientific research has hitherto been
mainly carried out. It is to them that research asso-
ciations and the research departments of private firms
must look for their supply of science workers, and
it is obviously important that those who are engaged
in preparing men and women for the task of indus-
trial research should be acquainted with the lines on
which it is carried on. It is for this reason to be
desired that the scientific staffs of these institutions
should take their share in the technical research
required by our industries, and it is a matter of con-
gratulation that the Imperial College of Science and
Technology has already led the way in this direction.
Lord Crewe, who presided, referred in this. connection
to the ‘industrial fellowships ’’ established at Pitts-
burgh and elsewhere in the United States to facilitate
the investigation of technical problems. The work
is carried out in close co-operation with the universi-
ties, and at the joint expense of the manufacturers
concerned and of the endowment.
The question of the publication of the results of
industrial research presents serious difficulties. As
Dr. Crossley remarked, those employed upon it must
keep in close touch with those engaged in pure re-
search, on whose conclusions their work is based,
but they cannot be always taking without giving
something in return. He urged that a large propor-
tion of the work carried out should ultimately be
published even if for commercial reasons it had to be
held back for several years;.and Dr. Lawrence Balls
reminded the conference that the stimulus of the
prospect of future publication was required to secure
the accurate record of the data obtained in the course
of a research.
Not less important are the closely allied questions
of the remuneration and superannuation of the
scientific workers employed by the associations. This
was discussed by Mr. J. W. Williamson in an in-
teresting paper. He came to the conclusion that
under present conditions 4ool. per annum is the mini-
mum that should be offered to a science graduate who
has already had two or three years’ training in re-
search. He pointed out that a post under a research
association did not afford the same securitv of tenure
as one at a university. The desirability of extending
to the staffs of research associations the federated
superannuation system for universities was acknow-
ledged on all sides. J]. W. E
No. 2638, vor. 105 |
Solid Lubricants. |
Atiteven the report of the Lubrication Com-
mittee has not yet been issued, a ‘‘ Memorand
on Solid Lubricants,’’ prepared for the Committee by
one of its members, Mr. T. C. Thomsen, has recently
been published (Bulletin No. 4 of. the Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research Advisory Council).
This pamphlet of twenty-eight pages contains a digest
of the existing knowledge in this branch of the sub-
ject, and will be found most useful to all engineers
and users of machinery. The solid lubricants referred
to are natural and artificial graphite (which are by
far the most important), talc, mica, and such sub-
stances as flowers of sulphur, white lead, etc., whfch
are occasionally used for curing hot bearings.
greater part of the bulletin is concerned with graphite,
and although there is not much matter which is new,
there is a great deal of information which will be
of interest to many users of lubricants. The action of
solid lubricants and the conditions under which they
can be usefully employed are clearly explained.
The natural graphite used for lubrication is usually ~
of the flake variety, and varies in the size of its
particles from 1/10 in. to less than 1/200 in.
lubricating graphite produced artificially is amorphous.
It is ground even finer than the natural sah and
by chemical treatment is further reduced to particles
of colloidal dimensions and sold under the trade-
names of ‘‘ Aquadag’’ and “ Hydrosol’’ when in ad-
mixture with water, and ‘‘Oildag,”’ ‘“ Oleosol,” and
‘Kollag ’? when in admixture with oil. Analyses of
the different varieties of lubricating
given in the pamphlet, and it is seen that some are
almost chemically pure carbon, whilst others contain —
mineral matter in variable proportion. Solid lubricants —
are applied dry in cases where for special reasons it
is inadvisable or impossible to use liquid or semi-
solid lubricants, but they are usually employed in
admixture with oil or as an ingredient of greases. When
mixed with oil ordinary graphite settles out, owing to
its high specific gravity. Colloidal graphite does not ©
settle so long as the vehicle remains neutral, and is
carried with oil through the finest orifices, even through
worsted trimmings, but it has the disadvantage of
being easily caused to coagulate in presence of acid or
alkali.
“Oildag’’ and ‘‘Aquadag”’ have been on the
market for a number of years, and the experiences
of users of these and other forms of graphite which
Mr. Thomsen has collected for general information
will be found of considerable value. Perhaps the
most interesting experience is that of Mr. E. W.
Johnston, who has successfully employed “ Aquadag”
as a cylinder lubricant and eliminated all the trouble
caused by the presence of oil im condensed steam.
Experiments made at the National Physical Labora-
tory showed that the addition of “ Oildag ”’ to mineral
lubricating oi! was advantageous where solid friction
occurred, as in worm gear, but quite as good results
were obtained with natural flake graphite, so that the
lubricating value of graphite seems to depend upon
its chemical purity, and the special advantage of the
colloidal graphite is due to its property of remaining
naturally suspended in the liquid medium without
requiring to be stirred constantly bv artificial means.
The remarks on the use of graphite in internal-
combustion engines, in the lubrication of ropes and
chains, and in metal-cutting and wire-drawing will
be found of great interest and practical use.
All who are interested in lubricants should obtain a
copy of this pamphlet, which can be purchase
through any bookseller for sixpence. L. A.
The
raphites are ©
The |
“May 20, 1920]
NATURE
373°
originally a department of Greek philosophy.
_ divorce between our science and philosophy had many
advantages, but also some drawbacks.
portant difference between Greek and modern science
is to be found in the method of record. The Greeks
exception in this respect.
a} NTIL 1908 the life-history of the common peri-
that year Dr.
ee Oe ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee a a re
“tin” hat, the eggs occupying the crown.
Greek Science and Philosophy.
his inaugural address as lecturer in the history
“medicine at University College, London. Sir
pert Hadfield presided over a large and distin-
hed audience. After alluding to the neglect of the
ory of science in this country, Dr. Singer referred
the organised effort now being made by Dr. Wolf
i others to remedy it at University College. The in-
ution in which Augustus De Morgan spent the
le of his active life was a peculiarly appropriate
» for such an experiment. The history of science
was a necessary element in any curriculum that sought
© give a view of the mental history of the human
race. Turning to the various stages through which
‘science has passed, Dr. Singer made some interesting
comparisons between the science of the ancient Easi,
the science of Greece, and modern science. Among
the characteristics which distinguished Greek science
_ from Oriental science and allied it to ours were the
individuality and eponymity of its discoveries, as dis-
: Soe sedi from the anonymous thought of preceding
ea)
‘than as an individual product. Another and more im-
portant feature of Greek thought was the conviction
of the reign of law, the idea that order rules in
tions, which always appeared as a social rather
re. is belief, almost an article of faith with
_ the Greeks, has been justified more and more with
_ the advance of natural knowledge.
hand, Greek science differed from ours in various
‘ways. The most obvious difference was the intimate
On the other
relation between Greek: science and Greek philosophy.
This was due to the fact that Greek science moe
e
Another im-
were interested in results rather than in methods, and
almost always neglected to give an account of their
methods. As a consequence, their results cannot be
relied upon, and, except by hard research, we can
get no glimpse of their methods of working. The
mathematical group of sciences, however, formed an
In these the Greeks re-
corded their methods as well as their results.
_ Life-history of the Periwinkle.
~winkle, Littorina littorea, L., was unknown. In
W. M. Tattersall published a brief
announcement of some investigations made that
included the discovery of its ova. He reserved a more
sd account until further observations and re-
‘searches could be carried out, but this proved im-
practicable, and Dr. Tattersall has now issued the
notes of his work so far as it went (Department of
Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland
. veries Branch), Scientific Investigations, 1920,
‘Oo. I,
pp. 11, 1 plate), being largely instigated
thereto by the publication in 1911 of a paper on the
‘same subject by MM. Caullery and Pelseneer.
From
Dr. Tattersall’s account it appears that the breeding
season lasts from the middle of January to June, and
the pink eggs are enclosed singly or in pairs (some-
times three and exceptionally four) in small, curiously
shaped, transparent capsules resembling a_ soldier’s
These
les are unattached, and vary from 0-6 to og mm.
in diameter, the eggs being from or5 to 0-16 mm,
NO. 2638, VOL. 105]
N Wednesday, May 12, Dr. C. Singer delivered
)
Segmentation is completed during the first day, and at
the third day the circumoral ring of cilia is complete
and the embryo begins to rotate. At the sixth day
the embryo breaks out from the capsule and swims
freely about in the water. The chief food of Littorina
littorea appears to be the hyphal hairs of Fucus ser-
ratus and allied seaweeds, and the animal swallows
indiscriminately the diatoms and other microscopic
organisms clinging to the seaweed. The climbing
habits of these molluscs suggested to the author the
possibility of establishing ‘‘farms’’ for their more
easy collection for the market. Experiments were
made by erecting stakes in their intertidal haunts,
but, though the snails of all ages would ascend, they
seemed incapable of retaining their hold save in calm
weather, hence the farming had to be abandoned. In
conclusion, the author advocates the grading of the
winkles into sizes before dispatching them to market,
using two sieves of 2 in. and § in. respectively, and
rejecting all that pass through the smaller as un-
marketable.
The Royal Society Conversazione.
HE first of the two annual conversaziones of the
Royal Society was held at Burlington House on
Wednesday, May 12, when the president, Sir Joseph
Thomson, received a large company of fellows of
the society and other workers of distinction in the
scientific world. As is usual upon such occasions,
many exhibits of recent methods and results of in-
vestigation were displayed, and much interest was
taken in them. Mr. A. A. Campbell Swinton gave
a most successful demonstration and exposition of
wireless telephony with apparatus supplied by the
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co., Ltd. Gramophone
records and musical instruments played at the com-
pany’s works at Chelmsford were loudly reproduced
in the meeting-room of the society. The apparatus
used consisted of an amplifying detector and note
magnifier, to which was connected a loud-speaking
telephone enabling speech to be heard distinctly over
the whole ground floor. The aerial consisted simply
of a frame 3 ft. square, wound with a few turns of
wire, and placed on the lecture-table in the meeting-
room. The subjoined descriptions of most of the ex-
hibits, arranged so far as possible in related subjects
from man to machine, are abridged from the official
catalogue :—
Mr. M. C. Burkitt: (1) Tracings of prehistoric
rock engravings from the shores of Lake Onega, North
Russia, the only site in Russia west of the Urals
where prehistoric engravings occur. (2) Palzolithic
stone implements from North Africa, showing that
there is a series comparable in general form with the
regular sequence in France and Britain.
Mr. S. H. Warren: Specimens from a factory of
Neolithic stone axes at Graig-lwyd, Penmaenmawr.
The axes were made from the scree which fell down
the mountain-side from a line of crags formed of. the
fine-grained (chilled) margin of the Penmaenmawr
intrusion. Axes are found in every stage of manu-
facture, discarded on account of breakage or unsatis-
factory shape, the most freauent fault being excessive
thickness of blade. Palzolithic resemblances are
abundant and striking.
Mr. L. Treacher: A large Palzolithic implement
from the Gravel at Furze Platt, near Maidenhead.
The gravel in which this implement was found has
also vielded a verv large number of palzoliths, mostly
belonging to the Chellean type, although a few Mous-
terian flakes have been found. The surface level is
374
NATURE
[May 20, 1920
about 140 O.D.,- being 20 ft. lower than that of the
Boyn Hill terrace in the neighbourhood.
Mr. Herbert Bolton: Enlarged photographs of fossil
insects from the British Coal Measures. ‘The first
recorded fossil palzeozoic insect from any country was
discovered in the Coal Measures of Coalbrookdale in
the early part of last century. In 1908 only twelve
additional types from Great Britain had been made
known. Mr. Bolton’s researches during the last ten
years have revealed the fact that at least fifty dis-
tinct types had lain unrecognised in various museums
and private collections. ‘The photographs exhibited
were made by Mr. J. W. Tutcher.
Dr..W. K. Spencer: Paleozoic starfish and their
habits. Recent work by the Danish Fisheries Board
upon the habits of recent forms throws considerable
light on the mode of life of the fossil starfish. Recent
starfish can be divided into (1) starfish, carnivores,
and (2) brittle starfish, detritus feeders living on vege-
table remains in the mud on the sea-bottom or on
very young marine animals. Both these series of
forms are modified for their respective mode of life.
The exhibit showed that both classes of forms were
present in the palzozoic rocks, and that some of the
forms from the very old rocks were strikingly similar
in mode of life to those of the present day. Forms
which are transitional in structure between the two
series were also shown.
Dr. F,. A. Bather: Stalked Echinoderms with a
horizontal habit of growth. In a normal stalked
Echinoderm the stalk, body, and five arms are sym-
metrical about the long axis, which is vertical, and
the waste products are carried away from the vent
at the upper. end. But all the Cystids found in the
Upper Ordovician starfish bed of Girvan, Ayrshire,
have a body. flattened in the plane of the stalk, and
this shows that the long axis was stretched hori-
zontally. Extreme modification for this mode of life
is reached in three different ways by three genera of
diverse origin: Dendrocystis, which floated, with its
stalk attached probably to seaweed; Pleurocystis,
which was possibly attached, but rested its body on
the sea-floor; and Cothurnocystis, probably free, with
its body resting on the sand by short legs. Cothurno-
cystis had no arms, but from thirteen to forty-two
mouth-slits.
Mr. R. D. Oldham: Model to illustrate an hypo-
thesis of the origin of mountains. If the variation
in density, and consequently in bulk, of the matter
underlying mountain ranges is also the cause of the
surface elevation, and if the outer crust is possessed
of a considerable degree of strength and _ stiffness,
resting on material of a more yielding character, sys-
tematic departures from complete equivalence of sur-
face elevation and compensation would result. The
model is intended to visualise this.
Mr. A. V. Hill: Thermopiles for investigating the
thermal or the thermo-elastic properties of muscles.
When a muscle is stimulated, heat is produced in
four separate stages: (a) in the development, (b) in
the maintenance and (c) in the disappearance of the
mechanical. response, and (d) in the processes of
oxidative recovery. This heat-production is recorded
by employing delicate insulated thermopiles and a
sensitive galvanometer' with photographic recording.
Prof. E. Mellanby: The effect of an accessory food
factor (vitamine) on: (1) The production of rickets
in puppies. Soft bones and other signs of rickets
are produced in puppies (five to eight weeks. old)
when fed on diets unbalanced in that they contain
too little of an accessory food factor (vitamine)—
probably. fat-soluble A. (2) The development of
the teeth in puppies. Diets deficient in a vitamine,
possibly fat-soluble A, produce teeth defectively cal-
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
cified and more or less irregularly placed in soft
jaws. .
Mr. Julian Huxley and. Mr. Lancelot T. Hogben:
The relation of the thyroid to metamorphosis. The
exhibits illustrated (1) acceleration of frog’s meta-
morphosis by thyroid-feeding; (2) hi
changes in the axolotl induced by 4
(3) metamorphosis of Amblystoma by thyroid-feeding
with a control. | eae
Prof. R. Newstead: Samples of mite-infested flour.
Flour which is heavily invested with mutes (chiefly
Aleurobius farinae) is certainly ruined. !¢ has a most
unpleasant odour, and in the early stages becomes
discoloured owing to the quantities of excrement with
which it is charged. Prevention from attack may be
secured by storing flour with a low moisture content,
i.e. below 11 per cent. in the temperate zone and
from 6-7 per cent. in the tropics. tages 1,
Prefs Gyo Nuttall and) Dr. D. Keilin:
Hermaphroditism in Pediculus humanus. ‘The
microscopic specimens illustrated hermaphrodites of
intersexual type and included a complete series of
forms from those of male type to those of female
type, the co-existing characters of both sexes being
present to a varying degree. The intersexual forms
which occur among Pediculi in Nature are derived —
from the crossing of the races of P. humanus, i.e.
capitis and corporis. Some of these crosses yield up
to 20 per cent. of hermaphrodites. — '
Mr. J. E. Barnard: Photcmicrographs obtained by
means of ultra-violet light. It is well known that
resolving power in the microscope is. dependent on
the N.A. of the objective and the wave-length of the
light used. Decrease of wave-length results in pro-
portionate increase of resolution, and this method
opens up a promising field of investigation. There is
the further advantage that biological preparations,
particularly bacteria and other micro-organisms, are
sufficiently opaque to ultra-violet light of suitable
wave-length to render staining unnecessary. The result
is that they can be photographed in the living state.
Dr. J. C. Mottram and Dr. E. A. Cockayne:
Demonstration of fluorescence in Lepidoptera by
ultra-violet radiation.
is produced by means of a quartz mercury vapour
lamp in a box with a window of the glass invented
by Prof. Wood. This is transparent to radiation of
wave-lengths lying between 3900 and 3100 A.V., but
opaque to light. Only a small proportion of the
Lepidoptera examined have proved to be fluorescent,
and all of these are whitish or yellow in colour.
The Botany Department, Imperial College of
Science and Technology: Recording porometer. This
instrument records the rate at which air, under
slightly reduced pressure, is drawn through the stomata
(pores) into a glass cup fixed on the under-surface of
the leaf. It thus gives a measure of the size of these
pores. Every time a bubble of the air so drawn in
escapes from the lower tube it momentarily makes
contact between the mercury and a platinum wire;
the current passing then moves the recording pen on
the surface of the revolving drum.
The Cambridge and Paul Instrument Co., Ltd.:
A new microtome. This instrument is designed on
similar lines to the well-known Cambridge ‘rocking ”
microtome, but the object is in a much more con-
venient position for observation and orientation, and
the microtome cuts plane sections in either paraffin
or celloidin, and the design is suitable for freezing
obiects by ethyl chloride spray.
The Roval Geographical Society:
mounting panoramic views of wide angle.
A photo-
graphic panorama of wide angle, made up from a -
number of separate pictures, gives a false impression
.
The beam of ultra-violet rays
Method of.
375
_ of the country if shown flat. The pictures should be
- enle to an equivalent focal length greater than
e distance of distinct vision, and mounted in a
_ polygon circumscribing a circle of radius equal to the
ocal length.
_ The Meteorological Office: New instruments and
: s: (1) Land aneroid and sea aneroid.
Barometer with micrometric adjustment. (3) Two
ar synchronous charts and the weather of the
owing fifteen days. (4) Normal weather on the
oF: to Cape route. (5) Charts of the average dis-
tribution of rainfall, cloudiness, and temperature over
the northern and southern hemispheres in January
_ and July. (6) Map of the annual rainfall in the
_ English Lake District. (7) Records of the magnetic
_ disturbance of March. 23-24, 1920, and photographs
of aurora for height-mezsurements. (8) Frequency of
_. thunderstorms on the route between England and
_ Australia and at selected stations in Africa and South
America. (9) The flow of air over Kew Observatory,
Richmond, during the last three years,
Air Ministry Laboratory: Apparatus for air naviga-
tion. (1) Four alternative methods for the quick
solution of spherical triangles necessary for the ob-
taining of position lines from astronomical observa-
tions taken from aircraft: (a) The d’Ocagne nomo-
ram. (b) A slide-rule based thereon. (c) The Veater
Gaeta. (d) The Bygrave slide-rule. (2) Wimperis
_ wind-gauge bearing plate, to enable the velocity and
_ direction of the wind to be measured whilst in flight,
(i) by flying on two courses and noting the drift
angles, and (ii) by flying on one course and using a
chronometer. (3) Capt. Weir’s (Littrow projection)
diagram applied to the purpose of obtaining position
lines from W/T bearings.
The Admiralty Compass Department: (1) Two
__ standard types of aircraft compasses. (2) Examples of
_ aperiodic compasses for use in ships and aircraft.
‘he aperiodic system adopted in these compasses is
a result of the investigations of Mr. G. T. Bennett
and the late Lt.-Comdr. C. Campbell.
Mr. E. A. Reeves: Apparatus for showing the exist-
ence of a true north and south directive force in the
electricity of the atmosphere. ‘This apparatus con-
sists of a large glass bottle with an india-rubber
stopper, from which is suspended by a fibre of un-
spun silk a gold-leaf paper indicator. The inner side
of the stopper is covered with paraffin wax, and the
bottle is coated inside and out with shellac varnish.
The whole is mounted on a tripod stand. On a calm,
clear day, when the apparatus is set up in a high
open space and screened from the direct rays of the
sun, it is found that after the paper is electrified by
touching it with vulcanite rubbed on dry cloth, and
left for some time, it will oscillate about evenly on
either side of the true north and south line, or come
to rest approximately in that direction.
- Mr. C. V. Boys: (1) Noon reflector. The noon
reflector is a very simple form of transit instrument
intended to be set on a window-sill facing south and
producing a pinhole-reflected image of the sun on the
ceiling or opposite wall, from which the time may be
obtained with an accuracy of about one second.
(2) Azimuth declination time-chart. The azimuth
declination time-chart is a graphic representation of
the hour angle of the sun for all declinations at a
particular latitude and azimuth from which the hour
angle may be read with an accuracy of one-tenth of
a second of time. This is for use with the noon
reflector when set at some azimuth other than south.
The National Physical Laboratory: Oriented lustre
of etched crystalline surfaces. The etched crystalline
surface of metal is covered with a number of minute
plane facets the orientation of which is uniform
throughout each individual crystal, but varies from
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 ‘
NATURE
one crystal to the next. A beam of oblique light fall-
ing on such a surface is selectively reflected by these
facets in such a way that the area of certain crystals
appears uniformly and brightly illuminated, while
other crystals remain dark. By illuminating such a
surface by means of three separate beams of coloured
light falling upon the crystals at various angles of
incidence a striking effect is produced. Each crystal
reflects into the eye of the observer a portion of one of
the beams falling upon it at a suitable angle, and the
various crystals consequently appear of different
colours (Dr. W. Rosenhain and Mr. J. H. Haughton).
Messrs. Adam Hilger, Ltd.: Vacuum grating
spectrograph for the extreme ultra-violet. A concave
| grating spectrograph, specially designed for the
investigation of the Schumann and Lyman regions
of the spectrum. No refraetive substance (e.g.
quartz or fluorite) is introduced, but the whole spec-
trum is obtained with one setting of the grating by
the use of two slits. These are disposed in the end
plate of the instrument, just above the plate-holder,
which is cylindrical in form and provided with a plate
for sealing purposes,
The Osmosis Co., Ltd.: Clays treated by electro-
osmosis: Photomicrographs and specimens of articles
made with osmosed clay. The phenomena of elec-
trical osmosis, whereby matter in a very finely divided
state is capable of being influenced by an electrical
potential, have an important practical use in the puri-
fication of clays. | Low-grade and discoloured china
clays become usable as paper clays and pottery clays,
and all china clays are improved in colour as a result
of treatment.
Messrs. J. Crosfield and Sons, Ltd.: Synthetic pro-
ducts for perfumery. Synthetic perfumes of British
manufacture were shown, most of which were for-
merly produced entirely in foreign countries. The
manufacture was undertaken owing to the difficulty,
in some cases impossibility, of obtaining such products
during the war.
Mr. A. Mallock: Apparatus used in the determina-
tion of the variation of rigidity with temperature.
The specimen to be tested forms part of a torsion
balance, in which the restitutive couple is supplied by
the torsion of a long thin wire, together with that of
the specimen, the latter being in the form of a short
wire or narrow strip about 2 in. long. The specimen
and lower part of the balance can be immersed in a
tube of fluid kept at any desired temperature. The
periods of oscillation are automatically recorded for
various temperatures, and the ratio of these periods
furnishes the necessary data for determining the ratio
of the rigidities. In making an experiment the oscil-
lations are maintained continuously, the specimen
being immersed successively in water at 100°, at
room-temperature, in carbonic acid, in alcohol, and
in liquid air.
Mr. C. R. Gibson for Mr. Joseph Goold: Experi-
ments in rotational dynamics. The exhibit illustrated
is a new development of Mr. Goold’s earlier experi-
ments in vibrating bars, the most remarkable of these
being the vortex phenomenon demonstrated about a
quarter of a century ago. The new experiments
showed a rotational effect which is independent of
the vortex phenomenon. A light clamp is fitted across
the steel bar carrving an upright needle or rod. upon
the free end of which is supported a light metal vane
or “‘spinner.’? On setting the plate in vibration the
spinner rotates with considerable energy. This rota-
tion results from the interplay of two systems of vibra-
tion acting at right angles to each other. The fol-
lowing explanation is suggested by Mr. Gibson, who
gave the demonstration: In one of the systems the
bar vibrates between nodal lines which cross the
width of the bar; this is termed a normal system.
376
NATURE
In the other system of vibration the bar has a nodal
line running along the longitudinal centre of the bar,
while cross-nodes are also present; this class of vibra-
tion is termed a dual system.
may picture the sections of the bar on opposite sides
of the central line to be out of phase with each
other, so that one section is going upwards at the
moment the other section is going downwards. This
will give a slight rocking motion to the clamp, causing
the free end of the needle to move to and fro in
direction across the bar. Similarly, the bar is
vibrating between the cross-nodes, so we may picture
the sections divided by these to be upwards on one
side of the cross-node and downwards on the other,
thus giving a rocking motion to the needle in a
direction lengthwise with the bar. These two motions
(dual) combine to give the free end of the needle an
elliptical motion; hence the rotation of the spinner.
The Hon. Sir Charles Parsons: Water-hammer
cone demonstrating the destructive effect of col-
lapsing vortex cavities. The apparatus consists of a
hollow cone. At the small end is fitted a die-cap
through which passes a hole of the same diameter as
the small end of the cone. _ Between this cap and the
cone thin metal plates are inserted. The cone is
placed in water in the tank, allowed to fill with
water, and then thrust quickly downwards, its mouth
striking on to a rubber block at the bottom. The
sudden arrest by the rubber block gives a high rate
of relative acceleration of the water in the cone, pro-
ducing momentarily a cavity at the apex, which, how-
ever, immediately closes again with a_ perceptible
metallic hammering sound, and with sufficient pres-
sure, due to the concentrated energy ofthe closing
cavity at the apex, to puncture metal plates above
.0-03 in. in thickness, indicating a pressure of 140 tons
per square inch.
Mr. Edwin Edser: The concentration of minerals
and coal by froth flotation. Many valuable minerals,
particularly metallic sulphides, can be concentrated
from low-grade ores by crushing these to a fine
powder, mixing them with water, adding a small
quantity of a suitable reagent, and agitating the mix-
ture so that air is entrained in the form of fine
bubbles. On allowing the mixture to come to rest,
the bubbles carrying the mineral particles rise to the
surface, and find a mineralised froth which can be
removed. The barren rock (gangue) is not floated.
Demonstrations were given of (1) the recovery of
galena (lead sulphide) and blende (zinc sulphide) as
separate products from Broken Hill ore; (2) the
recovery of coal from waste dumps.
Sir Robert Robertson: Instrument for determining
the pressure developed by detonators by Hopkinson’s
oo This instrument, which was designed by
r. H. Quinney at the Research Department, Wool-
wich, illustrated the quantitative measurement of the
pressure of the blow delivered by a detonator accord-
ing to the principle enunciated by Hopkinson. This
principle depends on the separation of momentum into
pressure and time. When the blow is applied to one
end of a steel bar, a short length of the bar, attached
by means of a faced joint to the other end, is thrown
off as a result of the application of the pressure of
the blow. The momentum of this short length (the
‘‘ timepiece ’’) is measured by catching it-up in a ball-
istic pendulum. As the rate of transmission of the im-
pulse in steel is known, the time taken for the pres-
sure-wave to pass twice the length of the ‘timepiece ”’
is also known, and so the pressure can be deduced.
Prof. F. W. Burstall: Optic indicator for internal-
combustion engines. An instrument for obtaining
the power and the pressure in internal-combustion
engines. The objects aimed at are to obtain accurate
readings of the pressures up to 600 lb. per square
inch and speeds up to 2500 revolutions per minute.
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
In the latter we
[May 20, 1920
University and Educational Intelligence.
CaMBRIDGE.—Mr. E, A. Milne, fellow of Trinity
College, has been appointed assistant-director of the
Solar Physics Observatory.
The new professorship of physical chemistry is
declared vacant.
It is proposed to make it possible for students to
take the first M.B. examination before coming into
residence on account of the greater facilities now
provided in schools for the teaching of chemistry,
physics, and biology.
The discussion on the syndicate’s report on the
relation of women to the University is fixed for
‘October 14.
The Local Lectures Summer Meeting will be held
from. July 29 to August 18. The main subject of
study will be the history, literature, and art of
Spain, but courses in physical science (historical and
biographical) and in elementary astronomy are being
arranged in co-operation with the Association of
Science Teachers. Further information can be ob-
tained from the Rev. Dr. Cranage, Syndicate
Buildings, Cambridge. ales
LiverPpoot.—Dr. Charles Walker has been ap-
pointed associate-professor in cytology and lecturer in
histology.
Mr. J. Wemyss Anderson, dean of the faculty of
engineering, and associate-professor of engineering in
the University, has been appointed to the recently
established John William Hughes chair of engineering-
refrigeration.
Messrs. Alfred Holt and Co., Ltd., of Liverpool,
have contributed 15,o00l. to the University Appeal
Fund. The Association of West African Merchants
and the African Section of the Chamber of Commerce,
Liverpool, have decided to raise 12,0001. by voluntary
contributions from their members to provide a chair of
Colonial commerce, administration, and history at the
University and to increase the endowments of the
School of Tropical Medicine. :
Lonpon.—The following courses of advanced lec-.
tures will begin shortly:—Three lectures on ‘“ The
Early Civilisation of Malta,’ by Prof. Th. Zammit
(of the University of Malta), at University College,
at 5.30 p.m., on May 20, 27, and 28; four public
lectures on ‘‘ High-frequency Alternators for Radio-
Telegraphy,’’ at the Institution of Civil Engineers,
S.W.1, by M. Marius Latour (of Paris), at 5.30 p.m.,
on May 26, 27, 28, and 31; and four lectures (in
French) on ‘‘ Divers Modes de Dynamisme des Erup-
tions Volcaniques et les Phénoménes de Latéritisa-
tion,” at the Imperial College (Royal School of
Mines), by Prof. A. Lacroix, at 5 p.m., on June 14,
15, 16, and 17. Admission to the courses is free,
without ticket.
ANNOUNCEMENT is made of the impending retirement
of Mr. T. P. Gill, who has been Secretary of the
Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction
for Ireland since it was established.
Tue Regional Association, in co-operation with the
‘Civic Education League, proposes to hold a meeting
at Glastonbury from August 21 to September 11.
The purpose of the meeting will be (1) to make a
regional survey, rural and civic, of Glastonbury and
its surroundings, and (2) to proceed, from the material
so obtained, to a critical study of social life and
institutions. Particulars may be obtained from Mrs.
Fraser-Davis, hon. secretary of the Regional Associa-
tion. 1a Lancaster Place, Belsize. Place,
65 Belgrave Road, S.W.z1.
N.W:3, or
.
—— -— eae
oe
May 20, 1920]
ay
NATURE
377
_ Tue Sorby research fellowship has been awarded to
Dr. F. C.- Thompson, of the department of applied
ences of the University of Sheffield, for research
| the constitution of the alloy steels. The fellow-
, Which is tenable for five years, is awarded by a
mittee appointed by the council of the Royal
ety and the University of Sheffield from a fund
gueathed by the late Dr.-H. C. . Sorby.
Thompson holds the degrees of Doctor of Metal-
jy (Sheffield) and Bachelor of Science (London).
e was a Carnegie research scholar of the Iron and
eel Institute, is a member of many
rned with physical and metallurgical matters, and
s published a number of papers on metallography
allied subjects.
Tue Dr. Jessie Macgregor prize for medical science,
of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, is to
be awarded in July to the applicant who presents the
best record of original work in the science of medi-
cine, published or unpublished, but must not have
2n published earlier than three years prior to the
date of award of the prize. The prize, which is of the
value of 75]., is open to women medical graduates of
_ the University of Edinburgh, or to those who have
_ taken the triple qualification and before being qualified
_ studied medicine for at least a year in Edinburgh. Ap-
_ plications for the prize, with a record of the work of
_ the competitor, must be sent to reach the Convener of
_ the Trustees, Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh,
by, at latest, June 1. ;
Tue Bureau of Education in India has issued a
. aly we by Mr. R. K. Sorabji entitled ‘‘ Facilities
_ for Indian Students in America and Japan.’’ Mr.
_ Sorabji warns students that it is unwise for anyone
to visit the United States on an allowance of 50 or
_ 60 rupees per mensem, even though the student may
_ make some money in the vacations; he requires from
1501. to 200l. a year, of which he may earn 50l. The
facilities for technical education and the cheapness
of it may attract the student to Japan, but the candi-
dates for admission to the colleges exceed the accom.
modation, and when a system of competitive examina-
tion is introduced, the youth trained in a Japanese
thool possesses greater advantages, than the Indian.
As is the case in the United States, the student will
require an allowance of from rool. to 150l. per annum,
and as the teaching is given in Japanese he must
acquire that language before he can derive any
advantages from Japanese institutions. ©
s » ; ,
_. Societies and Academies.
iiwad a LONDON.
Royal Society, May 6.—Sir J. J. Thomson, president,
in the chair.—R. H. Fowler, E. C. Gallop, C. N. H.
Lock, and H. W. Richmond: The aerodynamics of a
1 amet shell. This paper deals with the motion
through a gas or a body with an axis of symmetry
and a spin about that axis. The range of velocities
: - includes the velocity of sound in the gas. It has
. ial reference to the motion of an ordinary shell
gh air under gravity. The problem is approached
_ from the aerodynamical viewpoint. The force system
__ imposed by the gas is analysed into its most important
constituents by help of the theory of dimensions and
___ by detailed wind-channel experiments. The general
_ equations of motion are obtained in a vector notation,
and reduced to tractable approximate forms in certain
important special cases; in particular, when the axis
of symmetry and the direction of motion of the centre
of gravity nearly coincide. An approximate formal
solution of these last eauations is obtained, and the
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
bodies con-,
errors in the equations themselves and their solutions
are shown to be negligible. The solutions obtained are
submitted to the test of experiment, and the. magni-
tude of the more important members of the force
system determined numerically as functions of the
velocity of the shell up to twice the velocity of sound:
At the same time the main assumptions made in the
analysis are verified. The experimental method used
is to fire the shell through a series of cards. The
shape of the. holes left in the cards determines
accurately the angular motion of the axis of the shell.
From this the values of the chief. components of the
force system are deduced. One of the principal results
is to determine accurately the spin required to render
the shell stable at any velocity. The behaviour of
the force components as functions of the velocity
appears to be of, scientific interest, and of obvious
importance in technical ballistics.—Prof. .W. E.
Dalby: Researches on the elastic properties and the
plastic extension of metals. This paper relates to a
‘new type of load-extension diagram recorded auto-
matically by an adaptation of an instrument already
described to the society. The extension of the test
piece is multiplied 150 times by the instrument. With
this magnification, about 7% extension is shown on
the negative, and the elastic line appears at a slope
of about 60°. The shape of the elastic line can there-
fore be studied and the process of extension can be
watched, so that stretching can be stopped at an
assigned value and the load removed and then. re-
applied. The removal and re-application of the load
produce a loop on the diagram, and several such
loops can be described on each negative. Looped
diagrams taken from metals commonly used were
shown. Comparisons of these looped diagrams show
that each metal is characterised by its elastic line and
loops. A succession of plates was taken from a test
piece of high carbon steel stretched almost to break-
ing. These plates set end to end give a procession
of loops, and show that the Joop area tends to a
maximum. The questions of time-interval between
the taking of loops and heat treatment between the
taking of loops are examined in relation to loop area.
It is shown that in the high carbon steel and alloy
steel lapse of time has little or no effect in restoring
elasticity. nor is the elasticity restored by boiling in
water. New data relating tothe strengthof materials
are given by these diagrams, viz. : (1) The area of the
loop. (2) The rate of increase of the area of the loop.
(3) The maximum area.—C. T. R. Wilson: Investiga-
tions on lightning discharges and on the electric field
of thunderstorms. The investigations were carried
out at the Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge, by
methods already described (Proceedings, 1916). Ap-
paratus has been. added to secure a photographic
record of the readings of the capillarv electrometer
used in the measurements. Changes in the electric
field which occupv less than a tenth of a second are
recorded. The sudden changes produced in the poten-
tial gradient by the passage of lightning discharges
recorded in 1017 were positive in 432 cases and nega-
tive in 279. The mean value of the electric moment
20H (Q being the quantitv. discharged and H the
vertical height through which this charge is dis-
placed) of a lightning discharge is about 3x 10"
€.s.u.xcem. or 100 coulomb-kilometres. |The mean
quantity discharged is of the order of 20 coulombs,
The magnitude of the potentials attained in thunder-
clouds is of the order of 10° volts. The rate of vertical
separation of charges in a-thundercloud may amount
to some coulombs per second, i.e. the vertical current
through the cloud is of the order of some amperes.
A thundercloud or showercloud mav be regarded as
an electric generator, capable of maintaining between
378
NATURE
| May 20, 1920
its poles an electromotive force of the order of 10°
volts. It tends to. maintain an electric current from
the earth. to'the conducting layers of the upper atmo-
sphere or in the reverse direction, according as its
polarity is + or —. The difference which must exist
im the conductivity of the air above showerclouds of
+ and of — polarity respectively, owing to the large
difference between the mobilities of the negative and
positive ions dragged out of the conducting layer by
the field of the cloud, furnishes a possible explanation
of the normal positive potential gradient at a distance’
from showerclouds. lt is also shown that it will
account for the prevailing negative sign of the poten-
tial gradients associated with showerclouds and_ for
the preponderance of positively charged rain and posi-
tive lightning discharges, i.e. discharges which pro-
duce a positive change of potential gradient.—L. F.
Richardson: The supply of energy to atmospheric
eddies. Osborne Reynolds investigated the energy of
eddies as a balance between income and expenditure.
The income was the activity of the eddy stresses
upon the corresponding rates of mean strain; the
expenditure was by way of molecular viscosity... His
theory refers to an incompressible liquid, but it is
shown in the present paper that the same applies to
an elastic fluid. In a gravitating atmosphere there
is an additional channel for gain or loss, because the
eddies act as thermo-dynamic engines, either produc-
ing or decreasing inequalities of temperature. They
are, however, imverfect engines. It is shown that
the activity contributed by the eddies by this pro-
cess is
£ Aro er volume
yp an
where g is the acceleration of gravity, yp the thermal
capacity per mass, c the eddy-conductivity, o the
entropy per mass, and h the height. In the actual
atmosphere this activity is ordinarily an expenditure
by the eddies. By balancing it against their income a
criterion of turbulence is obtained. Some observations
of the quiescence of wind on a clear evening tend to
confirm the theory.
Geological Society, May 5.—Mr. G. W. Lamplugh,
vice-president, in -the chair.—S. H. Warren: <A
natural ‘‘eolith’’ factory .beneath the ‘Thanet Sand.
The paper describes a section in the Bullhead
Bed at Grays, where the conditions have been favour-
able for the chipping of the flints by subsoil pressure.
There is evidence of extensive solution of the chalk
beneath the Tertiary deposits, and the differential
movements thus brought about have occasioned much
slickensiding, and remarkable effects in the chipping
of the flints. In the author’s opinion the section
affords the most complete and conclusive evidence
hitherto obtained in support of the theory of the origin
of the supposed eolithic implements by purely natural
agencies. _ There are not only the simpler Kentish
types, such as notches, bowscrapers, and the like, but
also the larger and more advanced forms of rostro-
carinates, which are characteristic of the sub-Crag
detritus-bed. Careful digging enables the pressure-
points of one stone against another and the resultant
chipping effects to be studied in detail; and in many
instances the flakes removed can be recovered and re-
placed. A few examples are more than merely eolithic
in character. If such exceptional examples were re-
moved from their associates, and also from the evi-
dences of the geological forces to which they have
been exposed, no investigator could be blamed for ac-
cepting them without question as of Mousterian work-
manship. Individual specimens mav. often deceive : in
order ‘to distinguish a, geolosical deposit of chipped
NO. 2638, VOL, 105 |
flints from the débris of a prehistoric chipping-floor, it
is necessary to base one’s judgment upon fairly repre-
sentative groups, and also to take into consideration _
the circumstances in which they have been discovered.
CAMBRIDGE,
Philosophical Society, March 8.—Mr. C. T. R.
Wilson, president, in the chair.—H. H. Brindley :
Further’ notes on the food-plants of the common
earwig (Forficula auricularia). The observations on
the food-plants of the common earwig made on a
small scale in 1917 (Proceedings, xix., part 4, 1918,
p- 171) were continued in the summers of 1918 and
IgIg on earwigs kept in captivity in connection with
a statistical inquiry on’ variation. Altogether about
ninety species of common plants, chiefly garden
varieties, were used. Among the most favourite foods
were the leaves of Jerusalem artichoke, beetroot, pink
begonia, garden cabbage, centaurea, delphinium,
leek, Malvus sylvestris, vegetable marrow, mignonette,
white pyrethrum, scarlet runner, seakale, and tomato;
and the petals of blue Anchusa, China aster, pink
begonia, blackberry, different varieties of campanula,
white clematis, dandelion, Gesneria, white marguerite,
mint, corn parsley, white phlox, yellow Cé£nothera,
rose, tomato, red valerian, blue verbena, and varieties —
of vetches. Among fruits green fig, honeysuckle, and
plum were well attacked, while apple was neglected
until the skin’ was removed, and then eaten com-
paratively little. Potato and artichoke tubers, save
dormant buds on the latter, escaped attack in their
skins. but when sliced they were thoroughly devoured.
The hairy undersides of the. leaves of raspberry and
blue verbena and the curled edges of Scotch kale
leaves are very-attractive to earwigs for hiding in in
the day-time, and onion inflorescences, poppy cap-
sules, buds of hollyhock, petals of garden chrysanthe-
mums and snapdragon are also popular refuges. The
last two and Scotch kale leaves were also nibbled
moderately, but the conclusion formed in 1917 that
the actual damage done to chrysanthemums by ear-
wigs is usually exaggerated was confirmed by the
later observations.—Miss Maud D. Haviland: Pre-
liminary note on antennal variation in an Aphid
(Myzus ribis, Linn.). The red currant Aphis (Mysus
ribis, Linn.) shows variation of the antennz in the
winged females, according to whether they are fed
upon healthy leaves or upon leaves blistered by the
sucking of previous generations. In forms from the
blisters the large sense-organs, situated upon an-
tennal joints v. and vi., are nlaced nearer the articula-
tion of these joints than in forms from healthy leaves.
Experiments on transference of blister-fed descendants
of a single ancestor to healthy leaves showed but
slight change in the first two or three generations.
Subsequent generations, however, showed marked
increase above the ancestral mean, though identical
generations, fed only upon blistered leaves, had a
mean similar to that of their ancestors.—Dr. Fenton
and A. J. Berry: Studies on Cellulose acetate. The
authors gave a short account of certain observations
of general chemical interest obtained in the course
of an investigation on aeroplane doves.—G. T.
Bennett: The rotation of a non-spinning svrostat,
and its effect in the aeroplane compass. ‘‘A sym-
metrical wheel free to rotate about its axle is moved
from rest in anv position by means of the axle, and
is finallv restored to a position in which the axle
again noints in. the same direction as formerly. Show
that the wheel, again at rest. will have rotated
through a nlane angle equal to the solid angle of the
cone. described bv the varving directions of the axle”’
(College Examination Problem Paper, 1898). ‘The
kinematics of the angular motion of the wheel is
May 20,- 1920]
NATURE
379
represented by the rolling of the plane of the wheel
on a fixed cone of arbitrary form. ‘The surface-angle
of the cone differs from four right angles by the final
g displacement of the wheel. ‘Che same angle
rotation is also measured by the solid angle of the
iprocal cone described by the axis of the wheel.
is movement is not yet among those that are
niliarly recognised, though it has important prac-
al applications. Bodies suspended from a point on
ar of symmetry behave in the same way and
r the same reason when swung about by move-
_ ments of the point of support. Aeroplane compass-
_ eards in particular (found to keep practically parallel
_ to the banked floor of the aeroplane under the action
of gravity and lateral acceleration during a turn)
sources of control or disturbance, turn with the
, from inertia alone, and apart from all other
the movement of the aeroplane.—C. G. Darwin :
gian methods for high-speed motion. The
form of the kinetic potential is found for any
r of electrically charged particles moving in
any field of electric and magnetic force, allowing for
_ the variability of mass with. velocity and for the
_“retardation’’ of the forces of interaction of the
_ particles. The result is applied to the ‘‘ problem of
_ two bodies.’’ The relative orbit is a distorted ellipse
with moving apse, and there is no simply definable
a of mass for the system. The finiteness of
mass of the hydrogen nucleus is found to have abso-
aac
_ the hydrogen spectrum.—H. Waran: The effect
of a magnetic field on the intensity of spectral lines.
The paper discusses the changes observed in the
_ general spectrum and in the intensity of the lines
_ when the source is placed in a magnetic field. In
_ the case of mercury the field brings out a few lines
_ previously faint or absent, and the abnormal behaviour
of the line 6152, which is very prominently brought
_ out, is discussed.. In the spectrum of the monatomic
_ gases helium and neon mixed with the diatomic gases
oxygen and hydrogen, only the monatomic lines are
enhanced very much in brightness, and on this view
the fact of the lines getting enhanced in the magnetic
field is attributed to atomic radiation. The differences
in the degrees of enhancement are said to depend on
the series to which the lines belong, and the enhanced
lines in the sun-spot spectrum are attributed to this
effect of the magnetic field known to exist there.—
C. V. H. Rao and Prof. Baker: Generation of sets
of four tetrahedra mutually inscribed and circum-
scribed. This paper shows how the figure is obtain-
able by a generalised process of inversion from a
_ single tetrahedron, and applies the same method to
a certain configuration. in four dimensions.—S.
Pollard: The term-by-term integration of an infinite
series over an infinite range, and the inversion of the
order of integration in repeated infinite integrals.—
S. R. U. Savoor: Rotating liauid cvlinders. This
paper applies the method followed by Liapounoff, for
the case of ellipsoids, to the consideration of the
stability of the so-called pear-shaped cylinder.
DUBLIN.
‘Royal Dublin Society, April 27.—Dr. F. E. Hackett
in the chair.—Prof. W. E. Adeney and H. G. Becker :
The rate of solution of atmospheric nitrogen and
- oxygen by water (Part iii.). This paper: deals with
experiments made with bodies of quiescent water, the
results of which show that under ordinary conditions
mixing of the water takes place to such an extent
that a modification of the formula previously deduced
__ ean be used to intérpret the process. The effect of the
humidity of the air above the surface of the water is
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
soil no effect on the separation of the doublets in
also dealt with and its influence on the rate of solu-
tion indicated.—Dr. J. Reilly and W. J. Hickinbottom :
(1) The influence of electrolytic dissociation on the
distillation in steam of the volatile fatty acids.
Changes in the distillation constants of the fatty acids
are fully accounted for by introducing a correction for
electrolytic dissociation. Observations are given on
the influence of salts. (2) Some applications of the
method of distillation in steam. A survey of the
method, discussing. its theoretical and industrial
applications, especially in the analysis of butter and
other edible fats and oils.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, April 26.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—A. Haller and R. Cornubert: The con-
stitution of. the methylethylcyclohexanone prepared by
the ethylation of a-methylcyclohexanone. This com-
pound is shown to possess an unsymmetrical struc-
ture, both the alkyl groups being attached to the
same carbon atom in the ring.—H. Douvillé; The
origin of the Orbitoids.—A. Blondel; Theorems on
the transmission of energy by alternating current
analogous with those of Siemens on transmission by
continuous current. Criticism of these theorems.—
E. Maillet ;: Some properties of transcendental numbers.
—C, Camichel ; The permanent state in water reservoirs.
—A, Perot: The variation with pressure of the wave-
length of the lines of the cyanogen band.—F. Bourion :
A method of physico-chemical analysis of commercial
chlorobenzenes. By fractional distillation the speci-
men is divided into portions each containing only two
constituents; measurements of density serve to deter-
mine the composition of each fraction. The accuracy
obtained is illustrated by examples.—A. Kling and
D.. Florentin: The. differentiation of masked and
apparent sulphuric ions in complex salts. The use of
benzidine as a reagent, suggested in a recent paper
by P. Job and G. Urbain, was anticipated by the
authors in 1914 in a study of solutions of the green
chromium sulphate.—V. Auger: The salts of nitroso-
phenylhydroxylamine (cupferron): uranous salts.
Uranic salts are not precipitated by cupferron, and
vanadium can be quantitatively precipitated by cup-
ferron in the presence of uranium, as was shown by
Turner in 1916. If, however, by zinc reduction the
uranic salts are converted into uranous compounds,
the uranium: can be precipitated also by cupferron,
and under these conditions vanadium and uranium
can be successively determined by means of the cup-
ferron.—G. Deniges: Iodic acid as a microchemical
reagent for calcium. strontium, and barium. A
ro per cent. solution of iodic acid forms a good reagent
for the microchemical identification of calcium, stron-
tium, and barium salts, soluble or insoluble. One
milligram of material is sufficient for the purpose.—
Ch. Mauguin and L. J. Simon: The action of chlorine,
hypochlorous acid, and cyanogen on cvanamide and
its derivatives.—P. Bertrand: Value of the primary
centrinetal metaxvlem of old or primitive plants.—
M. Guilliermond: The evolution of the chondriome
during the formation of the pollen-grains of Lilium
candidum.—H. Devaux and H. Bouygues: The useful-
ness of sodium fluoride employed as an antiseptic for
the preservation of railway-sleepers. The scarcity of
creosote has led railwav companies to trv other anti-
-septies for the preservation of wooden sleepers, and,
among others, sodium fluoride has been extensivelv
used. While there is no doubt as to the efficiency of
sodium fluoride as an antiseptic, on account of the
ease with which it is extracted by water, it is useless
for the preservation of wood exposed to rain. and
especially for the case of railway-sleepers.—A. Desgrez
380
NATURE
[ May 20, Before
and M. Polonowski: Determination of the total non-
amino organic acids of the urine.—H. Colin: The
diastatic hydrolysis of inulin., An account of some
unsuccessful attempts to. isolate products of hydroly-
sis intermediate between inulin and the reducing
sugars.—J. E. Abelous and J. Aloy: Digestive hydro-
lyses_ by mechanical ionisation of water. Violent
agitation is sufficient to determine a partial hydrolysis
of solutions of starch, lactose, neutral fats, and fibrin.
The effects’ increase with rise of temperature.—J.
Chaine ; Considerations on the paramastoid apophysis
of man.—A, Krempf: Observations on the develop-
ment of Pocillopora cespitosa and Seriatopora subu-
lata. Discovery of primitive stages revealing the
scyphostrobiliary origin of the Anthozoa.—MM. Wein-
berg and Nasta: Réle of the hzmolysins in microbial
intoxication and the therapeutic properties of normal
sera.—A. Marie, C. Levaditi, and G. Banu: Experi-
mental transmission of the triponeme of general para-
lysis (virus neurotrope) by sexual contact.
Books § Received.
The Idea of Progress: An Inquiry into its Origin
and Growth. By Prof. J. B. Bury. Pp. xv+377.
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 14s. net,
Nauka Polska. Tom ii. Pop. ix+676. (Warszawa.)
Cena M.P: 25.
Dumbartonshire. By Dr. F. Mort. Pp. viiit+155.
(Cambridge: At the University Press.) 4s. 6d. net.
F. Moodie and
(Cambridge: At
Orkney and Shetland. By 5 Bi o4
H. and T. Mainland. Pp. xii+ 167.
the University Press.) 4s. 6d. net.
Report on the Quantum Theory of Spectra.. By
Dr. L. Silberstein. Pp. iv+42. (London: Adam
Hilger, Ltd.) 5s. net.
Problems of Population and Parenthood: Being
the Second Report of and the Chief Evidence taken
by the National Birth-Rate Commission, 1918-20.
Pp. clxvi+423. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.)
25s. net.
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, May 20:
Rovat InsriTUuTION oF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—A. P. Graves: Welsh and
Trish Folk Song.
Royat Society at 4.30.—Prof. J. N. Collie: Some Notes on
Krypton and Xenon.—Sih Lirg Ting: Experiments on Electron
Emission from Hot Bovlies, with a Preface ee Prof. O. .W. Richardson.—
Dr. L. Silberstein: The Aspherical Nucleus Theory Applied to the
Balmer Series of Hydrogen.—!‘r. T. E. Stanton, Miss D. Marshall, and
Mrs C. N. Bryant: The Conditions at the Boundary of a Fluid in
Turbulent Motion.
Rovat. Socrety or Arts (Indian Section), at 4.30.—Brig.-Gen. Lord
Montagu of Beaulieu : Roads and Transport in India
Royat Socirry or MEDICINE (Dermatology Section), at 5.—Annual
General Meeting. i
Sent oF MrninG anp' METALLURGY (at Geological Society), at
s.30.—G. Rigg: Roasting and Lead-Smelting Practice at the Port Pirie
(S.A.) Pla of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary,
Ltd.—Capt. H. Tatham: Tunnelling in the Sand Dunes of the
+ Belgian Coast.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Civil Engineers),
’ at 5.30.—(Annual General Meeting. )
Numismatic Society, - 6.
Opticat Society, at -7.30.—B. K. tohusan: The No. 7 Dial Sight,
"Mk 11.—Lt.-t ol. Gifford: ‘A Short High Power Telescope.
Cuemicar Society (Ordinary Meeting; Informal Musting), at 8.—D. J.
and Mrs. Matthews: Exhibit demonstrating the Methods of Controlling
Soil Organisms now being Investigated at the Rothamsted Experimental
Station.—Dr. Marie Stopes: Fxhibit Specimens and Microscopic Slides
of Fusain, Durain, Clarain, and Vitrain, the Four Main Constituents of
Banded Bituminous Coal.— homas : Experiments Illustrating the
Influence of | emperature, Concentration, Solvent, Constitution, and
Catalyst on the’ Rate of Chemical Change. .
Society oF ANTIQUARIES, at 8.30.
FRIDAY, May 21
pee Society or Mropicine (Otology Section), at a aeeey General
eeting.
Wiretrss Society of Lonpon (at Institution of Civil Engineers), at 6.—
P. Coursey: Some Methods of Eliminating Atmospherics in Wireless
Reception.
Royat Society or Mepicine (Electro-Therapeutics Section), at :8.30.—
Annual General Meeting.
NO. 2638, VOL. 105 |
‘Roya IwnstiruTion oF GREAT | BRITAIN, -at
9.—Prof. J. A. Fleming: of
The Thermionic Valve in Wireless Telegraphy and i Tdacene
SATURDAY, May 22.
Rovat Institution oF Great Rrrrain, at 3.—Frederic Harrison: The
Re-action and the Critics of the Positivist School of Thought.
TUESDAY, May 25.
Roya InstiruTION OF GREAT Britain, at 3.—Major C. E. Inglis:
‘Lhe Evolution of Large Bridge Construction.
WEDNESDAY, May 26.
Royat AERONAUTICAL Society (at Royal Society of Arts), at 8.—Sir
Richard T. Glazebrook: Some Points of Importance in the Work of the
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. :
THURSDAY, May 27. ;
Royat InstiTuTION of GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—William Archer: Dreams,
with Special Reference to Psycho-Analysis
LINNEAN SOCIETY eaiag Meeting), at 3.
Roya Sociery, at 4.
. Concrete INSTITUTE Ee General Meeting, followed by an Qnilinary
Meeting), at 7.30.
FRIDAY, May 28.
Royat Society or Arts (Indian and Colonial Sections, Joint Meeting),
at 4.30.—Prof. W. A. Bone: Lignite.
Royat Society oF MeEpicinE (Study of Disease in Children), at 4.30.—
(Annual General Meeting.)
PuysicaL Society or Lonpon, at 5.—Sir W. H. Bragg and Others «
Discussion on X ray Spectra.
Rovat INsTiItuTION oF GREAT BRITAIN, at* 9.—Prof. W, L. Bragg:
Crystal Structure.
SATURDAY, May 29.
Rovat Institution or GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Dr. J. H. Jeans: The
Theory of Relativity (Tyndall Lectures).
i
CONTENTS. PAGE
The Officers Training Corps and the Universities . 349
Relativity and Geometry. By E. Cunningham . - 350
Colloidal Therapy .... : 9 2 Logi eae ee
Nature Pictures. By W. E.C... . (ge
Our Bookshelf wg a mah eee ee
Letters to the Editor:— 4
The Cost of Scientific Publications.—Prof. G. H.
' Hardy, F.R.S.; Dr. A. B. Rendle, F.R.S. ;
Dr. B. Daydon Jackson; Dr. Charles S. |
Myers, F.R.S 353
The Indian Chemical Service. —Dr, M. W. Travers, Pet
.S. 354
A New Method for ’ Approximate Evaluation of »
Definite Integrals between Finite Limits.—A. F.
Dufton. - ; » 354.
British and Metric Sosteine of Weights ‘and Measures. :
. Yeatman “355:
Scientific Apparatus and Laboratory ’ Fittings. —
Conrad Beck; B. H. Morphy; C. Saker;
Bellingham and Stanley, Ltd. ; wm. Taylor;
H. W. Ashfield. . . 355
Naturally Fractured’ Eocene Flints me Reid Moir. 358
International Council for. Fishery Investigations.—
Prof. W. C. McIntosh, F.R S. 358:
Sea and Sky at Sunset. —Lt. -Col. K. ‘E. Edge- :
worth; J.S.D... . Lith. a ee
Scientific "Research. ee John Ww. Evans, FURS. 358.
Imperial Air Routes... (Illustrated.) . . . ity et:
Helium; Its Discovery and Applications, ” (Zllus- oe:
trated.) By Dr, William J. S. Lockyer .... .. 360
New Conceptions of Psychology ......... 363,
Obituary :—
Principal R. M. Burrows ........... 364
Notes . se — 366
Our Astronomical Column :— aii
A Bright Fireball . : 2 GeO
Conjunction of Mercury with e - Geminorum . 5 370
Longitude by Wireless Telegraphy . os Hehe Ree
Periodicity in Weather and Crops. By W. W.B.. 370.
The National Food Supply . . silie cin Sadie < aoe
The Research Association. By J. WBS Bet 372
Solid Lubricants.) ‘By Lb. Av 2s) ea eee
Greek Science and Philosophy ......... 373
Life-history of the Periwinkle.). . .. 2. 6). % 3) 373
The Royal Society Conversazione ....... . 373
University and Educational Intelligence . sia la ae
Societies and Academies .... s+. .«++ + 377;
Books Received | i450 sc iw <6 atte) +: =o: © 0 Re
Diary ‘of Societies.) i... sti) eo ans
an NATURE
381
| THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1920.
| Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
“The University of London: A Great
Opportunity. .
AST week there was made public the details,
1 printed elsewhere in this issue, of the offer
by the Government of a site for the University of
_ London. The Government proposes to give to
he University about 114 acres behind the British
useum as a site for the University headquarters
id for colleges and institutions connected with
it, including King’s Céllege, the premises of
which in the Strand have long been insufficient
for the needs of the college. The Senate has
referred the question to a committee the report
_ of which will doubtless shortly be forthcoming.
_- None of Mr. Fisher’s labours in the cause of
_ university education—and they are many—will
redound more to his credit than the attempt to
provide the University of London with a home
worthy of itself and of the capital city of the
Empire. Since the reconstitution of the University
as a teaching body in 1900, a great deal has been
done in the organisation of university teaching
and research in London. The professors and
_ teachers of the University include many most
. distinguished men of science and scholars, and
in the number of students it easily takes the lead
_ in Great Britain. In recent years the University
has drawn students from all parts of the world,
attracted by the unique advantages which London
can offer by reason of the resources of its
libraries and museums. The establishment in the
heart of the City of the School of Oriental
_ Studies, and the association of business men with
the foundation of the scheme of degrees of com-
merce, show also that the University can, by
recognising the needs of the commercial interests
_ of the City, obtain their active assistance and
_ Support.
It cannot be gainsaid, however, that, in spite
i
NO. 2639, VOL, 105 |
of all that has been done, the iaivernity has as
yet failed to justify the hopes of those who looked
forward at its reconstitution to the creation of a
great teaching university. We need not enter
into a discussion of all the causes which have pre-
vented or hindered the fulfilment of these hopes.
Among them are the heterogeneous nature of the -
institutions—varying from colleges of the type of
University and King’s Colleges to polytechnic
institutions—in which the teaching and research
work are carried on, and the intricacy of its exist-
ing constitution.
But unquestionably the chief cause of the
failure of the University to take the great place
assigned to it has been the discrete nature of its
component parts, the inaccessibility of its ad-
ministrative headquarters, and the lack of a home
or a quarter of its own to which one could point
as the University. It is a commonplace that
bricks and mortar do not make a university,. but
it is undoubtedly true that without a tangible
symbol there can be no appeal to the sympathies
or imagination. of the public, and it is the absence
of such a symbol which more than anything else
has militated against an understanding of the
work that the University has done and is doing.
Until the University possesses a building indis-
putably its own and designed for its own purpose,
and until the great incorporated colleges are
brought together, there can be no hope of im-
pressing the greatness of the University upon the
public, or of overcoming the dissipation of energy
which is now such a hindrance to its work. ©
The question is, of course, not a new one. Its
importance has been appreciated for some time,
and before the war there were negotiations in the
air for the acquirement of a site in Bloomsbury.
For various reasons these negotiations did not
fructify, and it may be that the site then under
consideration was inadequate and in other ways
unsuitable. The objections offered to it are not,
however, valid in the present case.
The site now offered is excellent in every
respect. By reason of its proximity to Bedford
College for Women and to University College,
it is already the nucleus of the “University
Quarter” desiderated by the Haldane Commis-
sion. It is sufficient in extent not only for the
administrative headquarters, the University
library, and King’s College, but also for other
colleges of the University which are outgrowing
their accommodation; and it is capable of ex-
tension if still further accommodation is required.
O
382
NATURE
[May 27, 1920
It is, what South Kensington is not, an easily
accessible place, and yet is not too noisy for the
purpose, and it will have the additional advan-
tage of the near presence of our greatest library
and museum. It is safe to say that there is at
present no site in London comparable with it, and
none so suitable is likely to be available for many
years.
The only objection possessing any validity to
the acceptance of the Government’s offer is the
financial one.
tion, and it would be foolish to minimise its
importance. Hitherto both the University head-
quarters and King’s College have been housed
free by the Government. This arrangement will
now come to an end, and it is obvious that the
cost of covering the site with buildings that shall
be worthy of London’s University will be con-
siderable. Mr. Fisher feels that in this the Uni-
versity can look with confidence to the generosity
and public spirit which have always marked the
citizens of London. We think he is right. We
are convinced that, if proper efforts are made,
enough and more than enough money will be
forthcoming for the purpose.- The results of the
present Vice-Chancellor’s appeal to the City in
connection with the degrees of commerce of the
University afford an index of the support that
would be forthcoming from the City Companies
and the great commercial houses if the sym-
pathies and the co-operation of the commercial
community were enlisted in the greater cause of
the University as a whole. Private benefactors
would be attracted to a bold and well-conceived
plan of creating a great university quarter, and
Londoners, if there were some outward and visible
sign of the greatness of their University, would
not be found wanting either in the civic pride or
in the willingness to pay which is found in the
provinces or in Continental cities.
We hope the University authorities will take
their courage in both hands and go forward
boldly. The reasons which forbid the Government
from giving further assistance in these days may
be regrettable, but they are easily intelligible.
We are sure that if the University rises to the
occasion neither this nor any future Government
will be allowed to leave it to struggle unaided.
We are equally sure that if counsels of timidity
are allowed to prevail and this opportunity is lost
the University will have forfeited irrevocably any
claim on the public or the Government for support
in the future.
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
This is, we admit, a serious ques- }.
- Manuals on Applied Chemistry.
(1) Practical Leather Chemistry: A Handbook of
Laboratory Notes and Methods for the Use of
Students and Works Chemists. By Arthur
Harvey. Pp. vilit+207.. (London: Crosby
Lockwood and Son, 1920.) Price 15s. net.
(2) Chemistry for Textile Students: A Manual
Suitable’ for Technical Students in the Textile
and Dyeing Industries. By Barker North, as-
sisted by Norman Bland. (Cambridge Technical
Series.) Pp. viiit+379. (Cambridge: At the
University Press, 1920.) Price 30s. net.
(3) The Chemistry of Coal. By John Braithwaite
Robertson. (Chemical Monographs.) Pp. viii+
96. (London: Gurney and Jackson, 1919.) Price
35. Od. net.
(1) R. HARVEY’S handbook is intended
for the use of the works chemist in
charge of the analytical and testing department —
of a tannery. It is an eminently practical work,
well and clearly written with due regard to
modern methods, and evidently based upon con-
siderable personal experience. It presupposes that
the user of the book has had not only a pre- ©
liminary course of instruction in theoretical
chemistry, but also the opportunity of a labora-.
tory training in manipulation in qualitative and
quantitative analysis. In these circumstances the
book can be thoroughly recommended as an ex-
cellent vade mecum to the work of the chemical
laboratory of a tannery, or to the student who
intends ultimately to specialise on leather
chemistry. It will be found to cover practically
every problem that the works chemist of a
tannery may have to face. The analytical methods
described have been thoroughly tested, and are
well adapted to practical conditions. _
(2) The manual by Mr. Barker North and Mr.
Norman Bland is a work of a very different class.
It is essentially a text-book cf the elementary
chemistry of certain of the non-metallic elements
and their compounds, together with a somewhat
bald account of the chemistry of a few carbon
derivatives. The section devoted to technical
chemistry as applied to the textile industries oc- —
cupies only some ‘twenty-eight of the 379 —
pages of which the book consists. The authors —
are lecturers in chemistry to the evening classes of
the Technical Colleges of Bradford and Hudders-
field respectively, both important centres of the
textile and dyeing-industries, and their object, no .
doubt, is to attract students who are, or
may be, engaged in these industries. In their
preface they point out that whilst the cotton and
woollen industries occupy most important positions
oh 27, 1920]
NATURE 383
Ar ong the nine leading industries of the country, |
; t is only within recent years that even enlightened
pyers have begun to realise that “chemistry
physics play a most important part in the
ous operations used in the production of yarns
finished pieces.”’
ll this may be very true. But it is equally
» that the hard-headed Yorkshire manufacturer
) turns over the pages of this well-printed and
dsomely illustrated book will be slow to per-
wherein it bears directly upon his industry.
will be apt to think that the kinetic theory
and Avogadro's hypothesis have as little to do
with woollens and worsteds as the binomial
theorem has with the common pump. There is
‘ot the slightest intention to minimise the import-
ce of a knowledge of the principles upon which
smistry as a science is based, or to depreciate
value when applied to industry. It is admitted,
course, that no technologist is adequately
ned who is wholly ignorant of the science.
in compiling a text-book which would seem to
: “mainly directed to the work of their classes
= authors have attempted too much. They have
mixed up purely elementary doctrinal chemistry
with applications involving a very different
kind of knowledge. The problems of textile
chemistry are far more recondite than their asso-
ciation with rudimentary chemistry, as in this
book, would seem to imply. We have no fault
to find with the book as a text-book to accom-
7 ‘pany an experimental course of evening lectures
_ such as the authors are engaged in giving, except
_ that its price will probably be beyond the means
_ of the ordinary evening-class student.
_ The course as set out in the book is well arranged,
and it is intended that the pupils shall themselves
‘perform many of the elementary experiments de-
_ scribed, presumably in a laboratory class. There
is no doubt that if they work through the list
under competent direction they will acquire a
considerable amount of information, and gain
some proficiency in chemical manipulation. No
‘ ial experiments are described in the section
voted to the systematic study of the non-metals
s nd their important compounds, or in that con-
‘ce ned with the chemistry of the hydro-carbons
% d their derivatives, but the student is directed
“pick out the portions which are suitable for
_ €xperimental illustration with the apparatus at
his command ’’—a direction which, it may be
hoped, will strengthen any latent power of original
investigation that he may possess.
The scope of the teaching has presumably been
limited to what has been found to be practicable in
such courses of evening-class instruction as are
_ possible in the institutions with which the authors
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
are connected, and there can be no doubt that if
the beginner faithfully follows the teaching and
supplements it by reading the ‘“‘ larger and more
specialised works” to which he is referred, and
which, it is to be hoped, he will find in the libraries
of the schools to which he may be attached, he
will have acquired a very fair acquaintance with
the elements of chemistry. But as he pursues his
reading, and enters upon the perusal of the more
specialised works on the chemistry of textiles, he
will realise that he has got no further than the
alphabet of the subject. After all, a knowledge of
the alphabet is an essential step, and it may be
that the authors, pace the title of their book, have
aimed no higher. The time will come when our
technical schools will not mix up elementary with
applied teaching, but make each section inde-
pendent. Applied chemistry must of course be
based on elementary and theoretical chemistry,
but there are no short cuts to proficiency in any
one branch, and it is a bad system of instruction
which fosters the idea that there can be. —
(3) In about ninety small octavo pages Mr. J. B.
Robertson, lecturer in chemistry at the South
African School of Mines and_ Technology,
Johannesburg, has sought to give an account of
the chemistry of coal. His title may be held to
imply more than his little monograph actually
covers, as he confines himself to a very limited
portion of what in reality is a very wide field,
and has very little to say respecting the chemical
derivatives of coal, except to the extent that
they may be supposed to throw light on the nature
of the proximate constituents of coal. In five short
chapters, or sections, Mr. Robertson discusses
the mode of occurrence of coal, its origin, and
the various methods of classifying it; the action
of solvents, e.g. benzene and pyridine, etc., upon
the coal substance; its oxidation and destructive
distillation. The summaries are exceedingly
short, but they are accurate and fairly up-to-date,
and at least serve to show how much remains to
be done before the real chemical nature of coal is
elucidated. Practically all that we know at
present is that coal consists of a variable and
indefinite mixture of at least two constituents,
one of which appears to be a degradation product
of cellulose, and the other a resinoid substance
which can be extracted by appropriate solvents;
and that it is upon the relative proportion of these
constituents that the technical value and indus-
trial applications of coal largely depend. But
the precise nature of these constituents is as yet
very imperfectly defined, and the suggestions that
have been made as to their origin are little more
than surmises.
The most detailed sections of the book relate
384
NATURE
| May 27, 1920
to the analysis of coal, proximate and ultimate ;
these, compared with the preceding sections, are
remarkably full and evidently based upon
personal experience. It would have added to the
comprehensiveness of the account if a description
of the methods of determining arsenic had been
given. Owing to legislation arising out of the
arsenic-in-beer scare the value of coal, especially
anthracite, for kilning purposes is greatly affected
by the presence of even small quantities of
arsenic. The method of determining the calorific
value of coal would have been rendered more in-
telligible if the description had been accompanied
by an illustration of the calorimeter. Lastly, we
deprecate the practice of placing the bibliographical
references in the text at the end of the book. This
method, at least as regards chemical literature,
seems to have originated in Germany. We fail
to perceive that it has a single redeeming feature.
On the contrary, it produces the maximum
amount of inconvenience. It involves constant
turning backwards and forwards, which is apt
to become tiresome and to lead to error. — It is
far preferable to embody the references in the
text, or at least to place them as foot-notes to the
pages on which they occur.
A Standard Book on Soils.
The Soil: An Introduction to the Scientific Study
of the Growth of Crops. By Sir A. D. Hall.
Third edition, revised and enlarged. Pp. xv+
352. cngens John Murray, 1920.) Price
7s. 6d. net.
T is pleasant to see that Sir Daniel Hall’s book
on the soil has now reached a third edition.
It will have a permanent place in British agricul-_
tural literature as the first book on the subject in
the modern period. Its distinguishing feature,
which marked it off from its predecessors, is its
clear recognition of the complexity of the soil
problem, emphasised in the opening words and
maintained throughout: ‘In the scientific study
of soils, chemical, physical, and biological con-
siderations are involved.’’ Successive generations
of earlier workers had regarded soil fertility as
essentially chemical, physical, or bacteriological.
This book was the first to show British readers
that all these different views had a basis of truth,
but that each by itself was too narrow. The study
of the soii, in short, cuts across the conventional
divisions of science and brings together such
apparently diverse workers as the physicist and
the protozoologist, the mathematician and the
plant physiologist, and others who in an ordinary
scientific laboratory would be supposed to have
nothing in common.:
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
To. write an adequate review of the book, com-=
paring it with the preceding editions, would be to
write a history of the development of modern
soil science, and could not be done in a short
notice. The leading advances have been in our
knowledge of the constitution of the soil and of the
population inhabiting it. In both directions recent
investigations have revealed greater complexity
and emphasised still further the need for “team ’”
work to supplement the indispensable, but limited,
individual work.
Ten years ago there was only one soil biologist
at Rothamsted; now there are nine, and others, it
is hoped, will soon be added. Bacteria were at
first supposed to be the only organisms con-
cerned; now it is realised that fungi, actino-
mycetes, alge, and protozoa are all present in the
soil, and probably all concerned in some way in
the great changes going on.
Sir Daniel stimulates a living interest in Tallp
subject and makes constant reference to the ex-
perience of farmers, gardeners, and others in soil
management and‘in the behaviour of plants in
different soil. conditions. These serve to show
the student how much remains to be done in spite
of all the advances of recent years; in this way
also the book acts as a valuable corrective to the |
tendency showing itself in certain modern text-
books of regarding the soil as a physico-chemical
system the properties of which are expressible in
mathematical terms.
have their uses, but they would become dangerous.
if they were allowed ‘to obscure the complexity ne
the problem.
There is a valuable section on soil types con-
taining much information of interest to the ecolo-
gist as well as to the agriculturist. The section
on land reclamation is of particular interest at the
present time and has a breadth of view and a free-
dom from extravagent anticipations rarely found
in discussing this important subject. Altogether
the book keeps up its reputation and will prove
invaluable to the serious student of the subject.
E. Ji R.
Savages of the Far Past.
An Introduction to Anthropology:
Survey of the Early History of the Human Race..
By the Rev. E. O, James. Pp. ix+259. ‘(Lon-
don: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
7s. 6d. net.
R. JAMES aims at introducing the student
not so much to anthropology in general as
to prehistoric archeology interpreted in the light
of the study of primitive man, modern as well as
ancient. After an introductory chapter outlining;
These analytical methods:
A General —
1919.) Price —
qa emia 27, 1920]
NATURE
385
2 scope of anthropology conceived as the study of
n in evolution, he proceeds to sketch the evi-
s relating to the side of somatology. Con-
g the limitations of space, his account seems
complete. A few slips occur. Trogon-
m will scarcely do as the name of a kind of
hant. Rhinoceri reminds us of octopi. More
yrtant, it is a pity to adopt Klaatsch’s term
ignacian man” to describe a physical type
be Capelle), seeing that to do so is to
elate a race with a cultural type which may or
ay not have been confined to that race—nay,
obably was not. Next, the characteristic forms
industry are described. | We note that Mr.
mes is inclined to accept the Sub-Crag flints as
view that the Mousterian industry is inferior
the Acheulean, representing a set-back in culture
¢ ot an advance as effected by a labour-saving
vice. Mr. James is entitled to judge at first
, inasmuch as he has worked on a Mousterian
site (Jersey), where material was plentiful. Per-
; he does not sufficiently allow for the fact that,
ely wrought pieces were but as one in every
d fragments forming the workshop refuse,
masterpieces were of a very high quality,
metrical in outline and smoothly and deli-
- cately finished off.
The book then goes on to try to construct some
picture of the social organisation and magico-
religious: beliefs prevailing during the prehistoric
f oii and especially among the later cave-men.
ecessarily the treatment is somewhat speculative,
_ but the analogies provided by modern savages
are put forward without dogmatism and so as to
ite the student of archeology to equip himself
Sr, his special task by acquiring the elements of
_ anthropology as a whole. Mr. James has already
written on the subject of primitive religion, with
_ special reference to the Australian aborigines. The
latter, then, naturally provide him with most of his
clues, but here he has the support of most writers
on this branch of the subject, from M. Salomon
_ Reinach onwards. Certainly it is hard to resist
the impression that the drawings found in the
deep recesses of caverns, as at Niaux, served a
magico-religious purpose; art for art’s sake would
ely have craved a good light. What, then,
e natural than to compare the Muitxalion
_intichiuma ceremony with its rock-drawings demon-
strably designed to further the multiplication of
animals and plants fit for human consumption ?
It does not follow, of course, that every institution
of the Australians can therefore be fathered on
_ the men of Pleistocene Europe. Totemism is more
doubtful than intichiuma ; delineations of embryonic
_ Spirits (inapertwa) are more doubtful than either ;
NO. 2639, VOL, 105]
while churingas and Azilian coloured pebbles are
not to be identified offhand. Mr. James, however,
steers his way warily among these tempting’ possi-
bilities, and the result is a manual which will
make the student think without professing to
supply the thought ready-made. R. R. M.
The Problem of Clean and Safe Milk.
The Modern Milk Problem in Sanitation,
Economics, and Agriculture. By J. Scott
MacNutt. Pp. xi+258+16 plates. (New
York: The Macmillan Co. ; London: Macmillan
and Co., Ltd., 1917.)- Price 1os. 6d. net.
HE purpose of the author of this volume is
T to provide a convenient survey of the prac-
tical, economic, and sanitary factors of the milk
problem, so as to meet the needs. not only of
health officers and milk inspectors, but also of
dairymen, city milk dealers, agricultural authori-
ties, consumers, physicians, and all others who
are interested in the problem.
This survey is almost entirely based upon the
experience gained in the United States as set
forth in official reports or publications which have
appeared in America, mostly since 1910.
The author knows that the milk question has
also received the attention of some European
workers, and refers in a few words (p. 66) to the
communication made by Mr. Ernest Hart at the
International Medical Congress held in 1881, in
which mention is made of sixty-nine epidemics of
disease attributable to milk. The only other
English writer specifically mentioned in the text
is Smollett (p. 32); the very realistic description of
the milk consumed in London introduced by that
author in a letter of Mr. Bramble to Dr. Lewis
(“The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker ’”’) is cer-
tainly very interesting, for it shows that the milk
problem already exercised the minds of thinking
men some 150 years ago.
Although European observers haye little to
learn from their American colleagues regarding
the causes of the deplorable state of the milk
consumed in large and other towns, and its seri-
ous consequences, it must be acknowledged that
greater enterprise has been shown in the United
States in the devising of methods and regulations
having for their object the improvement of tie
mill supplies.
It is specially on that account that the book will
prove useful to British readers, who will find in it
a comprehensive and critical summary of many of
the results obtained in America by sanitary and
agricultural authorities, as well as by various
386
NATURE
| May 27, 1920
committees, associations, and individual observers.
The author shows not. only that much progress
has been made towards the solution of the prob-
lem, but also that some of the methods which
have been tried, such as the score-card method of
inspection, are by no means so useful as some
enthusiasts on this side of the Atlantic have pro-
claimed.
The author is justly impressed by the merits of
the North system (p. 78), the object of which is
to prevent contamination of the milk at the time
of milking by simple but essential precautions
which can be taught to any farmer, the part of
the work which cannot safely and economically
be carried out at an ordinary farm being under-
taken at well-equipped stations.
The quality of the milk is determined by the
amount of butter-fat and the number of bacteria.
A premium is paid for milk containing less than
10,000 bacteria per c.c., and also when the butter-
fat exceeds a certain standard—say, 3-7 per cent.
Notwithstanding many repetitions, the book is
interesting from beginning to end, and is written
in a clear and popular style, which to an English
reader derives a certain quaintness from _ its
Americanisms. SHERIDAN DELEPINE.
Our Bookshelf.
The Whole Truth about Alcohol. By George Elliot
Flint. With an introduction by Dr. Abraham
Jacobi. Pp. xii+294. (New York: The Mac-
millan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
1919.) Price 6s. net.
THE writer of this book is an uncompromising
anti-prohibitionist, and a whole-hearted supporter
of St. Paul’s dictum with regard to the use of
alcohol. He considers that alcohol has been
greatly maligned, that many of the vicious attacks
upon its use have no basis of real evidence, of
reason, or of common sense, and that its influence
for evil and as a deteriorator of the human race
has been, at least, greatly exaggerated. He dis-
cusses seriatim the many statements that have
been advanced regarding the deleterious action
of alcohol, even in the most moderate doses, and
the better state of total abstinence, and he adduces
many arguments and some facts contravening
these.
On the whole, the tenor of the book is reason-
able, and the conclusion is that moderation never
hurt anyone, and in some respects is better than
total abstinence. With many of the author’s
views we are in sympathy, and we fully agree that
prohibition is not the best route to temperance.
Like him, we doubt if the moderate use of alcohol
is in any sense deleterious; but the difficulty is
to define what is moderation, and we are sure
that many who take alcohol in what they regard
as strict moderation are exceeding the harmless
NO. 2639, VOL. 105]
faunistic census-taking. °
dose. For anyone who desires the anti-prohibition
view the book will furnish a wealth of matter,
but it is written largely from the American point
of view.
Dr. Jacobi contributes a brief but interesting
introduction, in which he states that in the worst
cases of sepsis and toxemia—e.g. in diphtheria
and puerperal fever—alcohol in the largest doses.
furnishes the only salvation. With this view we
largely agree; but the use of alcohol in disease is.
of course on a very different footing from the
general use of alcoholic beverages in health.
Mae shies «
The Geography of Plants. By Dr. M. E. Bia,
Pp. xii+ 327. (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press,
1920.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
THE present volume is a continuation of the
introduction to plant geography by the same
author issued in 1913 as one of the series of the
Oxford geographies designed by the late Prof.
and Mrs. Herbertson. It may be regarded as an.
expansion of part ili. of the earlier work; the
slight survey of the continents given there has
served as the plan for the new book, which em-.
bodies a discussion of the conditions in which
plants flourish, and their distribution in the great
geographical divisions of the earth. The great
continents are considered in successive chapters
—Asia, North America, South America, Australia,
Africa, and Europe—and each chapter gives a
concise account of the physical features and
climate, the bearing of these upon the extent and
character of the vegetation, and their relation to
the support and development of mankind. The
"
f
iM
book is profusely illustrated with maps and a well- ;
selected number of photographic reproductions of
aspects of vegetation. There is a geographical
index, and also one of plant names, in which the
scientific and popular names of the plants referred.
to are arranged under the different continents..
The little volume should interest alike students of
geography and botany, and botanists especially —
will welcome it as filling a gap in then series of
text-books.
A Handbook to the Vertebrate Fauna of North
Wales. By H. E. Forrest. | Pp. v+ 106.3
(London: Witherby and Co., 1919) Price 6s.
net.
Mr. Forrest, the author of
this shorter “handbook,”
naturalists and interested visitors:
28 prehistoric mammals,
convenient
:
}
™
-
,
d
4
i
“The Vertebrate "
Fauna of North Wales ” (1907), has now published’ | |
fora
It deals with ©
8 mammals extinct ©
during the historic period, 43 existing mammals, —
227 birds, 5 reptiles, 6 amphibians, and 151 fishes.
Under each species is a brief summary showing:
its status and distribution in the area. Trust-
and the whole work is marked by
an indispensable quality in: —
observers,
careful precision,
’
worthy information has been collected from many —
May 27, 1920]
NATURE
387
Letters to the Editor.
ditor does not hold himself responsible for
expressed by his correspondents. Neither
vat undertake to return, or to correspond with
S$ of, rejected manuscripts intended for
or any other part of Nature. No notice is
of anonymous communications. ]
Scientific Work: Its Spirit and Reward.
true incentive of the scientific worker is his
Through his work he expresses the creative
within him, which he feels to be his highest
S expression must through its very nature
otherwise he becomes a slave in the worst
in that the free exercise of intelligence is
ause this freedom is sacred to the scientific
he sometimes has to sacrifice income and the
lity of family life to retain it, but this is a mere
tune, not in any sense a necessary concomitant
entific ability. The sentimentalist and the ex-
have promulgated the idea that the scientific
being exalted above the need for norma)
oys and amenities, works best on the smallest
income; or, having found that this does not
work out in practice because it tends to reduce
tput of useful results, as the reduction of rations
per day led to the unfortunate demise of
se, the opposite line is taken, and it is supposed
enee remuneration the valuable work looked
be ht.
ner the one nor the other point of view is
The scientific worker if he is normal needs
sans to enable him to have a happy, care-free
life, and to educate his children in such a way
they in turn may be free as he would be. There-
to starve him is to eliminate the normal and con-
tly intelligent worker in favour of the eccentric.
it be clearly stated, the highest intelligence is
supremely sane. The idea of a scientific worker
armless lunatic is by no means confined to sen-
il fiction, although it might as well be imagined
every long-haired user of a piano is a Paderewski,
every loose-tied splasher of paint on canvas a
the other hand, to believe that creative thought
be purchased with money is to repeat the mistake
mon Magus. Imitative thought in all its mani-
festations can be obtained for an adequate remunera-
tion, because it can be produced by outward drill,
scipline, and experience. So experts in the orderly
itine dear to the official mind can be turned out
y mass-production like cheap crockery, and are simi-
y useful and indispensable.
ere is, however, no means of estimating the value
one reallv original thought either in pure or in so-
applied science. Certainly the possession of
ling like its value in money would often be an
assment to the scientific worker through whom
p: ssed. He also would be the first to disclaim
absolute or exclusive right to it.
sis, humanly speaking, there is no such thing
1 absolutely original idea, and it is seldom that
single individual can claim undivided credit for
iging a new idea to birth. :
‘On the other hand, to divide its money-value, if it
® any, in such a way that little or nothing comes
< to the immediate originator is simply unjust, and
efore ultimatelv disastrous.
__ A certain type of person sniffs at Lord Kelvin for
ns become part owner of numerous important
;
fiers
rO
i
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
In the last.
a scientific worker; that he was also a business man
merely means that his gifts were more readily applied
to the good of humanity. ,
That a scientific worker should be debarred from
any reward or protection by patents embodying his
discoveries, because of his occupying either a public
or private salaried position, is not only unjust, but
also often unbusinesslike and against the public in-
terest. The equitable: adjustment of rights and
returns as between public or private capital and the
actual inyentor is often the only way to prevent
exploitation by purely selfish private interests.
To repeat, the true incentive of the scientific worker
is his work. Salary, kudos, position, esprit de corps—
these are incentives to good and useful people, but
they are not the true incentives of the real scientific
worker. To obtain the best from him, he must before
all things have freedom, and, if possible, also a
reasonable measure of justice.
“The bearings of this obserwation,” as Capt.
Bunsby in ‘‘Dombey and Son” remarked, “lays in
the application on it.”
GILBERT J. FowLer.
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
Applied Science and Industrial Research.
At a meeting held at the Birkbeck College on
April 28, organised by the National Union of Scientific
Workers to urge more public support of scientific
research, Prof. Soddy, the principal speaker after
Mr. H. G. Wells, who occupied the chair, made a
strong attack on the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research and the industrial research
associations which have been, and are _ being,
established under its zgis (see Nature for May 6,
p- 309). As much of Prof. Soddy’s criticism seems to
lend colour to current misconceptions of industrial
research and of the functions of the research associa-
tions fathered by the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research, I beg the hospitality of your
space for the following observations.
No one disputes the vital and urgent need for in-
creasing the facilities for scientific study and scientific
research. All those who know the facts will echo
Mr. H. G. Wells’s just indignation at the national
neglect of science and the half contemptuous treat-
ment by the State of our great men of science. I
go further and agree with Prof. Soddv that in the
extension and intensification of scientific study and
research the claims of pure science must be primary
and paramount. But I deny emphatically that this
involves a similarly short-sighted and contemptuous
attitude towards the needs of applied science and
industrial research. If English industry has suffered
too long from the dominance of mere rule-of-thumb
methods; if our manufacturers have, through ignor-
ance, underrated the value of science, the fault has
not been wholly and exclusively theirs. The academic
people who have contemned applied science and in-
dustrial technology as something little better than a
crude empiricism must bear some share of the blame.
The manufacturer may have kept his feet too much
in the mud; the academician has too often kept his
head entirely in the clouds. If one has been too dis-
dainful of scientific methods that did not ensure or
promise immediate dividends in cash, the other has
talked at times as though the mere prospect of a
utilitarian issue to a specific research were enough
to defile it and make it unworthy of his serious atten-
tion. . We all know the tvne of academic science
worker to whom an investigation of the internal struc-
patents. No one will denv Lord Kelvin’s position as | ture of the atom is a noble and purifying pursuit, and
388
NATURE
[May 27, 1920
a research on soap an ignoble and degrading occupa-
tion; as though atoms per se were inherently dignified
and only became disreputable when associated with
other atoms to form the molecules of a useful, if
homely, commodity. There are many forms of snob-
bery. Pure science itself has had to put up with a
good deal of classical snobbery, as Mr. Wells has more
than once testified. I doubt whether matters will be
mended by a development of such a form of scientific
snobbery as seems often to be the inspiration of the
disparagement, in academic circles, of applied science
and industrial research.
Fortunately this attempt to erect an arbitrary and
artificial barrier between pure and applied science is
becoming progressively discredited as the nature of
industrial research and its dependence on pure science
are becoming better known. Every research in applied
science, if it is to be thorough, involves some research
in pure science. An industrial problem may be, and
often is, the starting-point of a research that may
widen the bounds of knowledge as much as any re-
search born of a conception in pure science. Applied
science and industrial research have been developed
more widely in America than in any other country,. if
we except Germany. How does American experience
confirm the view that to foster industrial research is
to starve pure research? In the paper on “ Industrial
Research in the United States of America”? by Mr.
A. P. M. Fleming, published for the Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research, there is abundant
testimony to the recognition, by firms and institutions
engaged in industrial research, of the importance of
pure science research. Such an industrial leader as
Dr. J. J. Carty, vice-president of the American Tele-
phone and Telegraph Co., in his presidential
address to the Institute of Electrical Engineers in
1916, emphasised this view: “‘ By every means in our
power, therefore, let us show our appreciation of pure
science, and let us forward the work of the pure
scientists, for they are the advance guard of civilisa-
tion. They point the way which we must follow.”
Mr. Elihu Root, chairman of the board of trustees
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in a paper
on the need for organisation in scientific research,
makes the same point : ‘‘ While the solution of specific
industrial problems and the attainment of specific
industrial objects will be of immense value, the whole
system will dry up and fail unless research in pure
science be included within its scope.’ Mr. W. A.
Harmor, assistant director of the Mellon Institute of
Industrial Research, University of Pittsburgh, bears
similar testimony to the needs of pure science: ‘‘ The
wide view is now taken that, in considering the needs
of industry, pure science investigation has as essential
a contributory function as that specifically devoted to
the attainment of some technologic objective.”” One
could multiply almost indefinitely such tributes to the
primary and paramount necessity of investigations in
pure science from men and organisations concerned
mainly with industrial research. Prof. Soddy’s argu-
ment that for the million of money which the Govern-
ment has expended or earmarked for scientific re-
search pure science has ‘got little or nothing is, there-
fore, based on a misconception of the nature of
industrial research, and is directly contradicted by
past experience and present knowledge. :
The assumed antagonism between pure and applied
science is baseless in fact and mischievous in tendency.
As Mr. Harmor has well said: ‘“‘Both. pure and
applied research are of the same order of importance
and each has its own related field.” The alleged
inferior character of applied research as compared
with pure research has no better foundation in fact
than the alleged inferiority of scientific studies, as
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
instruments of intellectual training, to classical studies.
As Mr. A. W. Mellon, president of the Mellon
National Bank of Pittsburgh, in an article on the
value of industrial research, aptly expressed the
matter; ‘‘The fundamental differences between pure
research and industrial research are, indeed, trace-
able to the differences in the poise and personality
of the representatives of each type of scientific in-
vestigation. Success in genuine industrial research
presupposes all the qualities which are applicable to
success in pure science, and, in addition, other quali-
ties, executive and personal, more or less unessential
in the pure research laboratory.” i
It would be strange if it were not in line with other
-experience that every time an attempt is made to
extend and foster applied science and industrial re-
search someone raises the cry that pure science is
thereby being neglected and starved. This is to argue
as though the total fund, both of money and energy,
available for the purposes of scientific education and
research were a fixed fund, so limited that anv
amount devoted mainly to the purposes of lied
science must thereby lessen the sum available for
pure science. It is a fallacy on a par with the trade-
union notion that increased production by the indi-
vidual worker will increase unemployment, and, b
augmenting the profits of the employers, diminis
the wages of the employees; and it is a proof, if
proof were needed, that academic trade unionism can
be as selfish and short-sighted as anv other kind.
Yet, just as the present condition of Europe affords
a plain proof of the economic truth that the weakness
of one nation impairs the strength of all, so will the
cause of pure science not be bettered, but rather
worsened, by attempts to crab the progress of indus-
trial research. ey
The Department of Scientific and Industrial Re-
search, as.Sir Frank Heath has well said, is engaged
on a great adventure. Thanks largely to its efforts,
already the spirit of science is stirring among the
dry bones of industries to which it was previously
little known. The research associations formed and
to be formed, which will cover a wide and diversified —
area of British industry, are attracting, and are
destined to attract, scientific workers of the highest
distinction and widest outlook, among them, no doubt,
many of the members of the National Union of
Scientific Workers, under whose auspices Prof, Soddy
made his attack on the Department and the research
associations. I submit that the cause of pure science
is not well served by inconsiderate attacks on this
industrial research movement, which is admittedly a
novel. experiment, beset by unforeseen, because un-
precedented, difficulties, but the success of which
must react to benefit pure science as well as to redeem
British industry. | - J. W. WILLIAMSON
26 Russell Square, W.C.1, May 6.
A Rainbow Inside Out.
In February last Mr. P. H. Hepburn directed my
attention to some surprising light-bows he had
observed on several occasions on the surface of one
of the ponds on Hampstead Heath. On February 24.
we examined them together. A footpath lighted by
three electric street-lamps runs along the southern ~
edge of the pond. As one passed along this path —
bright bows of strange forms cast by the lamps were
The night. was.
seen to spring out from the edge.
dark, the air still and slightly fogsv, and the water
smooth and covered with a film of scum extending
as far as we could see in the dim light.
no frost.
There was
The bows were judged to be on the surface:
- May 27, 1920]
NATURE
389
the water, which was only about a foot below the
of our feet. ioe
he form of the bows is shown in Fig. 1, which
s taken from a rough sketch made by the writer
1 memory after returning home and before any
anation of the phenomenon had suggested itself.
re O is the observer in three positions, 1., ., and
and the bows seen from these positions are
mbered correspondingly. The twin bows seen in
tion 1. and the double curvatures at a in positions
and mi. struck us as remarkable. As the observer
ed from the first position to the second, the nearer
nch of 1. sank into the bank of the pond and the
¢ Edge of pond. o
beet rer : Lamp
Fic, 1.—Ot, O™, Ox!, three positions of the observer's eye ; 1., Il, 111.
. the ‘bows seen in these positions ; a, points of double curvature.
further branch sprang out in a somewhat startling
manner until it attained the size roughly shown at 1.
__ The observer proceeding towards m1., the apex of the
bow, became lost in the distance.
The bows were colourless except for a tinge of red
on the inside and of light of shorter wave-length on
the outside. They formed the limiting inner edge of
faint, diffuse luminosity extending over the general
surface of the pond, and within the bows was dark-
ness. In posi m. a ghost of an inner bow was
seen within the principal bow, roughly as shown in
_ the figure. No colour could be distinguished in this
ig Fic. 2.—S, source of light ; O, eye of observer; 1,02, angles ofminimum
and deviation for primary and secondary bows respectively.
me
In the first position the surface of the water was
only about 5 ft. below the eye, and around the shadow
of the observer’s head—on the fog as we thought at
the time, but on the water-surface as we now believe
-—the diffuse light was brighter, forming an aureole
a few inches in breadth. When the head was
turned slightly, so that a ray of light from the lamp
_ to the water could pass close to the eye, the aureole
at the edge of the shadow near this eye became
brighter, suggesting that a ray reflected directly back
on itself was of considerable intensity. :
On subsequent nights we returned to the spot in
the hope of again seeing the phenomenon, but, doubt-
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
less owing to a change in the weather conditions, we
saw nothing. We took measurements, however, and
from these data Figs. 3 and 4 were calculated.
The explanation of the phenomenon appears to be
as follows :—In certain weather conditions globules of
water are deposited from the fog upon the scum on
the surface of the water, and the bows are formed in
a way similar to those cast by the sun upon a bedewed
field—with this difference: that here the source of
light is near the observer. The bows, indeed, are
rainbows.
In order that a drop of water shall be so placed as
6S Rng cnneihons Digits a a nanansncae — ~ SHADOW OF GROUND
GME 4S FI ABOVE WATER LEVEL
Edge of pond.
Fic. 3.—Primary bow, position 1., as calculated.
to return to the eye a maximum amount of light in
the manner that obtains in the rainbow, it is necessary
that the line joining the source to the eye shall sub-
tend an angle a at the drop, where a is the angle of
minimum deviation. The locus of such suitable posi-
tions for the drop is the surface of revolution of 2
circle, of which the line joining the source to the
eye is a chord, about this chord (see Fig. 2). The
locus, then, is a toroidal figure like a flattened apple.
The locus for the secondary bow is such a toroidal
Fic. 4.—Primary and secondary bows, position 11., as calculated.
figure within that for the primary bow, When the source
_of light is at infinity, as in the case of the sun, these
figures become resolved into two co-axial conical
surfaces having the eye at their common apex. In
the present case the drops were confined to the plane
surface of the water, and the bows seen were plane
sections of these figures.
In order to test the soundness of this explanation,
the writer has calculated the form of the bows from
the equation of the section of the toroidal figure made
by the water-surface, using as data the measurements
taken of the positions 1, m., and m., and giving a
the values 42° and 53° for the primary and secondary
390
NATURE
| May 27, 1920
bows respectively. The results for 1. anda. are shown
in Figs. 3 and 4. It is unquestionable that these
curves faithfully represent the phenomenon as we ob-
served it, the portions shown with thicker lines being
those within the limits of the water, which alone we
were able to see. ‘lhe calculated curve for m1. (not
shown) is equally corroborative. The aureole seen
round the shadow of the observer’s head is consistent
with the attribution of the phenomenon to water
globules upon a surface (see J. M. Pernter, ‘‘ Meteoro-
logische Optik,’’ 1910, p. 424).
It is of interest to note that the closed curve is a
rainbow inside out, and with the secondary bow
within the primary.
Since writing the above we once again found the
bows visible, and a .careful examination of them
seemed to confirm the conclusions arrived at on every
point. On this occasion the film was broken by
spaces of clear water, and at these spaces the bows
were interrupted. The space within the inner bow
was filled with faint, diffuse luminosity, and a marked
feature was the blackness of the zone between the
inner and outer bows. C. O. BartRum.
32 Willoughby Road, Hampstead.
** All-or-None ’’ in the Auditory Nerve.
Pror. D. C. Miter (‘The Science of Musical
Sounds,’’ 1916, p. 184) admits the reality of beat-
tones, but says that they are purely subjective, having
no physical existence. This seems unsatisfactory.
To begin with beats, it is wrong to say that it is
the places of maximum intensity which are properly
called beats. This is an illusion, due to too familiar
diagrams. The maximum of intensity occurs at no
place, but at a point of time which, at its own
instant, the maximum not being absolute, is not
impressive. At any point of time the next vibration
of a sound may be of greater amplitude or it may
not, and the listening ear, being unable to foretell,
cannot tell us in the present when the maximum is
attained. The perception of a maximum is bound to
arrive, in fact, the day after the fair, when the sound
is on the wane. On the contrary, it is the minimum
of intensity which gives the effect of the beat.’ This
is clear if the two primary tones are of equal ampli-
tude and there is a phase of silence, when the’ differ-
ence of sensation is a difference, not of degree, but
of kind. It has been shown that if a musical note
is suddenly reduced to silence, the interruption of the
series of vibrations restores the last of the series of
periodic impulses to its isolated value; the note ends
with a kind of shock or tap, comparable to one of a
series of hard beats. If periodic beats are rapid
enough, the final impulses at the interruptions form
a fresh series, and are free to evoke in the sensorium
a sensation of tone of the same frequency as the
beats, a beat-tone; and this is best observed when
the beats are not too violent.
Beat-tones are, therefore, no more subjective and
have no less physical existence—although they may
have been invisible hitherto in tracings and photo-
graphs—than any other real tone; and since both
beat-tones, p-q and 2q-p, are best heard, at least with
intervals less than an octave, when the primaries are
not powerful, there never has been a good reason for
rejecting Young’s view of their origin, nor for ascrib-
ing to Koenig the discovery of those ‘‘upper”’ beat-
tones which were discussed by Young before the
Royal Society in 1800. (In Faraday’s copy of the 1807
quarto there is a book-mark at p. 544 of vol. ii.,
perhaps indicating that the chapter on the coalescence
of musical sounds has more than an historical in-
terest.)
But beats are produced bv primaries of unequal
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
enced have been extremely — great,
amplitude, and in such cases there is no phase of
silence, and apparently no absolute minimum of
intensity. Here we have something comparable to
the first d in ‘“‘ would do ”’ rather than the first ¢ in
“not too,’’ to a voiced rather than a voiceless occlu-
sive. If in the physiology of hearing we assume
similarity of character in the nervous impulse to that
which is established for motor nerves, the contribution
of a single nerve-fibre, not being greater than the
faintest sound audible in a sound-proof room, is in
ordinary circumstances imperceptible; ,in the fluctua-
ting intensity of a beating note many fibres will be
implicated at the maximum; at the minimum, rela-
tively few. At a minimum of intensity which is not
absolute some fibres will continue to conduct the
series of impulses of the note, while others will at
this instant discontinue, and the impulse preceding
the interruption may evoke the displeasing sensation
of a noise, whereas with slow beats, where the dis-
continuity in many fibres is spread over a longer time,
the effect is not so, but pleasant. Hence with two
primaries of nearly the same frequency we may hear
at the same time beats and the beating: note. When
the interval between the primaries is sufficient for
the frequency of the beats to be that of a real tone,
we may in the same manner hear at the same time
the separate primaries and either the beats or the
beat-tone, or both the beats and “the beat-tone.
Further application of this principle will be found to
offer a solution of other obscure problems in hearing.
W. PERRETT.
University College, Gower Street, May 20.
British and. Foreign Scientific Apparatus.
My attention has been directed to a_ letter ap-
pearing in the issue of Nature for May 6 dealing ~
with the subject of scientific apparatus. Your cor-
respondents are extremely moderate in tone, but they
do not state the class of apparatus to which they
are referring.
' Members of the association of which I have the
honour .to be chairman manufacture a large number
of scientific apparatus, not only in glass and porce-
lain, but also other goods as well. Some of these
were manufacturers in this country before the war,
and proved by the quality of their products that they
were able to stand against foreign competition; other
members have entered the scientific trade only since
the outbreak of the war, mainly at the request of
the Government. The difficulties they have experi-
but they can
prove that the quality of most glassware articles
turned out is equal in many respects to that of
articles previously imported from abroad.
Certain complaints have reached us; these have
been most carefully investigated, and in many cases
we found that the complaint dealt with glassware
which was not manufactured by our members, but
had been sold without any mark or badge of the
manufacturer. Our members will be only too
pleased to co-operate in every possible way with
scientific workers, and look to them for the help’
necessary in establishing this ‘‘key” industry and
placing it on a thoroughly sound basis.
As regards State aid, we do not want this in the
form suggested, but rather we desire the creation of
some method by means of prohibition whereby the
industry will be enabled to establish itself, and at
the same time the customer will not be penalised by
being unable to get his material or the quantity of
apparatus he desires. Under the form of prohibition
which has been suggested, all orders for apparatus from
abroad would have to come before a Special Com-
mittee of the Board of Trade. This Committee would
ey oe eee oe ee i a aad s ‘a ide
SS es a a re
May 27, 1920]
NATURE 391
a
- issue licences for all articles which were not cada |
in this country either in sufficient quantity or of ap-
proved quality. At the present moment the rate of
_ exchange is such that British manufacturers cannot
compete even under the most up-to-date methods of
manufacture, and it must always be borne in mind
_ that this is a new industry which has not had time
to establish itself or to get over the experimental
Stages of glass as an industry.
; Dovucias H. Bairp,
Chairman.
The British Chemical Ware Manufacturers’
Association, Ltd., 51 Lincoln’s Inn Fields,
London, W.C.2, May 18.
Mortlakes as a Gause of River-windings.
Mr. T. S. Exxis asks us in Nature of April 29,
Pp. 264, to believe that the curves of a meandering
river, instead of being wholly secondary features, are
to a large extent primary, arising from the simplifica-
tion of a ‘complicated network of channels.’’ He
admits, however, that such a network does not occur
in existing rivers, and it will require more than deduc-
tive reasoning as to what should happen on a newly
exposed land surface to prove that it belongs to any
age of their evolution.
m our sandy and muddy shores we have abundant
opportunities for studying inductively the genesis of new
stream-systems; and the general resemblance between
these transient formations and the river-systems
which we regard as youthful lends strong support to
existing theory. In these primitive streamlets islands
are not uncommon, but they are almost always of
narrow lenticular form, with the lens-angles pointing
up- and down-stream, and the lateral curves moderate.
Save, perhaps, in a few exceptional cases, nothing
approaching the sweeping curves of a meandering river
is ever seen, and a whole volume of inductive reason-
ing goes to show that such curves belong to the stages
of maturity and old age. How far the ‘primary con-
sequent streams ’’ approach and how far they deviate
from straight lines depends largely upon the angle of
slope: and this again, on our shores, is often condi-
tioned, quite apart from the coarseness of material,
by the rapidity of the tidal movements; for example,
the drainage of the mud-flats of Poole Harbour is
quite distinct from that of the mud-banks of the Wye
near Chepstow; but there is surely sufficient ground
for believing that regional uplift has sometimes been
comparatively rapid, and in such circumstances
straight consequent streams would be the rule.
Even in Mr. Ellis’s special case of Mortlake his
conclusions are by no means free from objection. In
the first place, admitting the former existence of an
island, Mortlake would lie at the head of it, and
therefore quite outside the area of the ‘‘ mort-lake”’
(as defined by Mr. Ellis) now represented by the
Beverley Brook. Secondly, it is surely unreasonable
to attempt to evolve primary laws from such obviously
secondary conditions as we find on the flood-plain of
the Thames.
Lastly, I should like to point out that, even when
‘islands occur, their secondary nature is frequently
obvious, and that there are many cases in which one
of their limiting channels is due, not to the main
river. but to a tributary captured bv it. Jumiéges, on
the Seine. affords a fine example of such capture, but
the island has become an isthmus. Between Datchet
and Old Windsor the island and backwater (‘‘ mort-
lake ’’) are retained. I am not in a position to say
whether the Beverley Brook has been similarly cap-
tured and then set free again, but such a double
change is not impossible. Henry Bury.
Mayfield House, Farnham, Surrey, May 1.
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
Science and the New Army.
THE two letters on this subject in Nature of
April 22 raise some points of considerable interest.
It seems clear that any attempt to train the main
body of Army officers thoroughly in science and in
scientific methods will be fruitless under present con-
ditions, while it is even more certain that any attempt
to train General Staff officers as scientific experts is
extremely undesirable. It is, in fact, the duty of the
General Staff to rely on its technical corps for
advice, and it is unsound in principle and in practice
for the General Staff to include within itself a separate
body of experts.
On the other hand, the General Staff should possess
a wholesome regard for the results which can be
achieved by scientific methods, and this regard is all
that is necessary to the General Staff, though the
technical corps should be strengthened by the addition
of scientific experts.
There appear to be three totally different Army
requirements, namely :—
1. An organisation permitting the utilisation, so
far as possible, of the services of scientific and tech-
nical men in time of war: (a) in the Army, through
the Territorial Force and Officers Training Corps;
and (b) outside the Army, as advisers in a. civilian
capacity.
2. An organisation which in peace time will keep
the technical corps in close touch with the progress of
science. This organisation would preferably be asso-
ciated with the Research Department or Departments
of the War Office.
3. Training of the general body of Army officers
and the General Staff in scientific methods.
No attempt should be made to convert General Staff
officers into scientific experts, for the reasons given
above; in the nature of things, the General Staff
officer must not be a specialist.
There seems to be every desire on the part of men
of science to assist the War Office to the best of their
ability; it rests with the War Office to prove that
it has a sincere desire to avail itself of the oppor-
tunities offered.
C. S. Wricut.
1 Royston Road, Richmond, Surrey, May 5.
Waage’s Phytochemical Synthesis of Phloroglucin from
Glucose.
It is generally stated that phloroglucin is formed by
floating leaves in sugar solutions when exposed to
sunlight. This phytochemical conversion of an ali-
phatic chain into an aromatic ring-compound is based
on observations published by Waage in 1890 (Berichte
der deutschen botanischen Gesellschaft, vol. viii.,
p- 250), which have found their way into nearly every
text-book on the subject (compare, for example, M.
Wheldale Onslow, ‘‘ Practical Plant Biochemistry,’’
p. 7, which has just been published). The fascination
of this simple experiment and its general importance
to plant chemistry have made me repeat it every
summer for the last fifteen years, but not in a single
case, out of nearly eighty experiments, did I succeed
in detecting even the slightest trace of phloroglucin.
For the detection of phloroglucin I used the pine-wood
test, as recommended by Waage, and also the
bromine-water test after extraction with ether.
“It seems to me, therefore, desirable that this very
important experiment of Waage’s should also be re-
investigated by others interésted in this question with
the view of either definitely confirming or contra-
dicting it. M. NIERENSTEIN.
University of Bristol, May 8.
393:
NATURE
[May 27, 1920.
The Development of
if may be claimed for Lord Cranworth’s volume
that in a large measure it fulfils the author’s
main object of placing before intending settlers
in British East Africa information and points of
view which should be helpful to them.: To this
end the chapters dealing with agricultural and
industrial prospects, primarily in the highlands of
the Protectorate, furnish detailed information such
as the most suitable areas as to soil and climate;
the cost of land, labour, equipment, etc.; the
requisite capital for various enterprises; and the
return which may be anticipated.
There is one serious omission,
however, in
An ox being hyperimmunised to rinderpest.
that no reference is made to the financial diffi-
culty resulting from the enhanced exchange value
of the rupee. This serious handicap to new
settlers had not arisen when the author wrote
“A Colony in the Making,” from which he pro-
duced the book now under review as a revised
edition; but, since the later volume was not pub-
lished until 1919, it is surprising that the currency
question was not dealt with as a new chapter, or
at any rate referred to in the’ author’s preface.
Lord Cranworth points out that the book is not
an erudite work, but gives a few plain facts and
suggestions for the guidance of those without.
experience of British East Africa. The usefulness
1 Profit and Sport in are East Africa.”
Revised and Enlarged, of ‘‘A Colony in the Making.” By Capt. The
Lord Cranworth. Pp. xvi+s503.. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
1919.) Price 21s. net.
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
Teing a Second Fdition,
From ‘Profit and Sport in British Kast Africa,
|
British East Africa.’ brea
of the book is enhanced by Lady ean! ~ colle’ se
tribution of a chapter giving: not only hints on’
equipment for women, but also a description of”
the life in the highlands of East Africa, with its
varied interests for women, and advice as’ to the
suitability of the climatic and other conditions’ to”
The author himself devotes ©
women and children..
>
a chapter to the educational facilities at Nairobi —
and other centres, which should be helpful to
intending settlers who are married.
A short history of East Africa, together with
some notes on the native races ‘and the effects of
immigration from India, Arabia, and Somaliland,
”
forms an interesting basis to the general descrip-
tion of PHErRDEST developments and future
prospects.
Several chapters deal with big game and with
sport and games of many kinds; those on big
game furnish information as to the localities where |
various species are to be found, and how their
presence _ affects the settler, while a chapter
is devoted to beasts which the author. would
his picture of animal life on the Loieta Plains are
included in the illustrations.
To those interested in stock-raising an appendix
giving notes on remedial measures against stock
Place in a black list as having many un-
desirable proclivities and nothing which may |
serve to counterbalance their disadvantages. Re- |
productions of Mr. J. G. Millais’s “ Buffalo” and
_ May 27; 1920]
NATURE
393
_ diseases, compiled by the Chief Veterinary Officer
of the Protectorate, should be read in conjunction
_ with the author’s chapter on cattle. With refer-
_ nce to measures adopted to combat the spread of
_ inderpest, there is an_ interesting illustration
_ showing the method of hyperimmunising cattle.
__.. The book concludes with a chapter detailing
_ the assistance furnished by British East Africa
and the sacrifices made by both Europeans and
_ natives in furtherance of the military operations
which. resulted ultimately in the conquest of what
is now, known as Tanganyika Territory.
Those who, like. Lord Cranworth, have the
interests of British East Africa at heart will
welcome this volume, with its purpose of bringing
to the Protectorate an influx of recruits of the
right standard requisite to further the develop-
ment of its resources, particularly in view of the
existing demand for the raw materials required
in the reconstruction of the Empire’s industries.
_ ‘J °HE interest in weather notes from old diaries
A lies in the fact that they may throw some
light on the vexed question whether meteorological
_ conditions in Western Europe are changing. The
diaries of Evelyn and Pepys have been quoted
by both believers and unbelievers in changing
eonditions, and it must regretfully be admitted
_ that the question is, as yet, by no means easy
to answer. Evelyn’s diary extends from 1620
.to 1706, but during this long period there
are, on the average, only about eight weather
notes to every three years. As a rule, we find only
very outstanding phenomena recorded, such as
serious droughts, great storms, or hard frosts.
Evelyn’s diary has, however, never been published
in full, and it is quite possible that the complete
Se ee ee Re, ne ee ee
on the subject. Pepys’s diary extends only from
1660 to 1669, and is, therefore, too short to
enable us to draw any safe conclusions. His
- weather notes are, however, far more numerous
than Evelyn’s, there being remarks bearing on
the weather on an average of sixty-two days a
year. Like Evelyn, he mentions outstanding
features, but he also frequently mentions the
weather as it affected his movements or his health,
so that we get a much better record for the few
years during which Pepys kept a diary than we
do for the Ser period from Evelyn. Neither
writer is by any means infallible in his recollection
of past weather, and both can be confuted
_ from their own writings regarding events that
_ they describe as unprecedented in their memories.
d The most significant facts from which to gauge
weather conditions, in times before instrumental
readings, are hot summers, droughts, wet spells,
and cold winters. So far as hot summers are
concerned, we have little to go on. Both writers
complain of the heat at times, but the only really
exceptionally hot summer seems to have been that
of 1698, mentioned by Evelyn. Nor do we get
very much ground to go on in droughts and wet
s. We are, therefore, restricted to cold
winters, and especially to the freezing of the
Thames, for evidence of any change in climate
' between the seventeenth century and the present
time. The evidence was discussed by several
writers in Symons’s Meteorological Magazine in
1911 and 1912, and different writers came to
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
ree ee) we ee ee
diary may contain a great deal more information .
Weather Notes of Evelyn, Pepys, and Swift in Relation to British Climate.
By Capt. C. J. P. Cave.
diametrically opposite conclusions. Mr. Walter
Sedgwick maintained that the intensity of falls of
_ snow was likely to be exaggerated by the seven-
_ teenth-century diarists,
normally bad, traffic would have been far more
for when roads were
seriously affected by snow than it is to-day. Mr.
W. H. Dines, on the other hand, contended that
_when roads were always bad during the winter,
“it was a matter of indifference whether roads
were blocked by snowdrifts.”” It is also said that
the number of references to snow in Evelyn’s
diary are very few, but it is quite certain that we
do not find zeferences to snow on nearly all the
occasions when it occurred. In December, 1648,
Evelyn says: “This was a most exceeding wet
year—nieither frost nor snow all the winter for
more than six days in all”; but none of these six
days are otherwise mentioned in the published
diary. The winter of 1657-58 was extremely cold,
and it is almost certain that there must have been
snow ; but none is specifically mentioned.
It is certain that the Thames in London froze
more often in the seventeenth than in the nine-
teenth centuiy, but some hold that this was due
to the fact that the river was not embanked, and
that Old London Bridge offered such an obstruc-
tion that the water above the bridge froze more
easily than it does to-day. The Thames in London
is recorded to have been frozen, or nearly frozen,
on seven occasions during the period over which
Evelyn kept his diary, and it is almost certain
that it must have been frozen also in 1658. It is
noticeable that the freezing in November, 1662,
is mentioned by Evelyn, but not by Pepys, while
the freezings of December, 1665, and January,
1667, are mentioned by Pepys, but not in the pub-
lished diary cf Evelyn. It seems as though the
freezing of the Thames was not looked on as such
a very out-ot the-way event, while slight frosts or
small falls of snow might pass unnoticed. There
were, of course, winters when there was little or
no frost or snow, but they were looked on as
very exceptional, and caused much apprehension
as likely to “threaten a plague,” and fasts were
ordered by Parliament to pray for “more season-
able weather.”
From the evidence in Pepys’s diary the present
writer thought at first that “there seems no reason
to suppose that the weather” in the seventeenth
394
NA TURE
[May 27, 1920
century “differed much from that to-day,” ‘but a
further consideration of Pepys’s notes, taken in
conjunction with those of Evelyn, has led ‘him to
modify his views, and he now thinks that, on the
whole, there is a good case for supposing that the
winters in the seventeenth century were more
severe than they are to-day. Sir John Moore, it
is true, maintained in a paper, “Is our Climate
Changing? ” read before the British Association
(Section A) in 1908, that the British climate is not
changing; his evidence is based mainly on ob-
servations during the nineteenth century, with
some from the eighteenth; but the constancy of
the climate during the nineteenth century does
not seem to preclude a change having occurred
since the seventeenth, nor does it follow that a
change should be progressive. fe
There must, however, be a good deal more
evidence in scattered letters or diaries that will
in time throw more light on this important point.
In Swift’s “Journal to Stella,” which extends only
from 1710 to 1713, there are weather references
on seventy-eight days a year. The period is
short, but I think it bears out the contention that
winters with little frost or snow were exceptional.
On December 27, 1710, Swift writes: “Did you
ever see so open a winter in England? We have
not had two frosty days.” This was probably a
1 Qua‘t. Journ. Roy. Met. Soc., vol. xlvi., p- 68.
fagon de ‘parler, for at least two frosts are men-
tioned previously, and one fall of snow. By a
frosty day it must be supposed that the diarists
meant more than a slight morning frost of one
or two degrees in the screen. If this is so, the
warmth of the early winter in 1710 was not very
exceptional, judged by present-day. standards.
December 27, it must be remembered, corresponds
to January 8 new style, but in the last fifteen
years during which the writer has kept climat-
ological records there have been. four, if not five,
winters when there has been no frost worth speak-
ing about until .after the middle of January, in
Hanipshire at any rate, and these were probably
as “open” as the winter of 1710.
Swift, on the whole, takes rather more interest
in the weather for its own sake ‘than does Pepys.
_ He compares notes with “ Stella” on the difference
between the weather in Ireland and in London,
but, of course, most of the references concern the
weather as it affected him personally. There are
many complaints of cold, wet, and heat, and Swift
seems to have had a constitution that was much -
affected by hot weather. It is curious to find
that bad weather is frequently made an excuse
for dining with Mrs. Vanhomrigh at the time
when Swift was beginning that acquaintance with
her daughter “ Vanessa” which was fraught with
so much tragedy. 1
Optical Instruments in Industry.
PTICAL instruments, which proved their
worth in war, are now being more and more
utilised in developing the arts of peace.
account of some of the chief applications of these
instruments to industrial requirements, especially
the more recent uses, may therefore be not without
interest at the present time.
Passing over the microscope -with a_ brief
reminder of. its modern use, in metallurgy, for
showing. the structure of iron and other metals,
one. of the first.instruments to note is the refracto-
meter.. In many chemical works this, in one form
or another, is invaluable as.a means of controlling
the» various .operations, by reason. of. the- sim-
plicity ofits. manipulation and the rapidity with
which the results, are. obtained. . The refractive
index suffices in numerous instances to determine
the strength of chemical solutions. It is ascer-
tained in.a few. minutes, and only a drop or two
of. liquid. is required for the purpose if an instru-
4ment.of the Abbe type is employed. No weighing
are involved, and no calculations if the tempera-
ture is suitably controlled, so that liability to
error is greatly minimised. The instrument is thus
almost an ideal one for the control of works
operations where the degree of strength or purity
of a product is required to be ascertained by means
of rapid tests, or where a process has to be
stopped when the product has reached a’ certain
stage. Specific gravity determinations or simple
chemical titrations are often used in such cases,
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
A short |
but the refraction method is always quicker, is
generally more accurate, and sometimes possesses
other marked advantages. Thus the strength of
an aqueous solution of nicotine can readily be
obtained, correct within about o-1 per cent., by
the refractometer, whereas the specific gravity
method is of no value in this instance, and titra-
tion results are vitiated if other basic substances, ©
such as ammonia, are present. Bd
Acetic acid, acetone, ammonia, ammonium
sulphate, carbolic acid, cream of tartar, glycerin,
and saltpetre may be mentioned as products, made
on a large: scale, for. which the instrument is
useful. In the brewing industry the determina-
tion of alcohol, extract, and original. gravity of
beer is readily made by means of the refracto-
meter. In the fats and oils industries, in the
fractionation of petroleum products, in the: dis-
tillation of tar oils, and in the manufacture of
many pharmaceutical articles, the refractive index
is a valuable aid for controlling the purity of the
materials and finished products. It is useful also
in the manufacture of various viscous mixtures or
semi-solid pastes, in order to determine whether
the constituents have been adequately mixed, and
thus to obviate local excess or deficiency of th
active ingredients. . é
The polarimeter is an instrument constantly in
use for the evaluation of essential oils, whilst
makers of starch products, tartaric acid, and
alkaloids frequently have recourse to it, and a
i a i i iN i a i el
May 27, 1920]
NATURE 495
specialised form of the appliance, the sacchari-
meter, is practically indispensable in the sugar
factory.
‘Mention must also be made of the simple polar-
iscope in its application to the glass industry,
where it is employed for detecting strains in glass-
ware due to faulty annealing. Not infrequently
glass articles, imperfectly annealed, are destroyed
on the cutting-wheel after a good deal of time
Fic. 1.—Twyman’s apparatus for the determination of annealing
has been spent on their partial decoration. Use
of the polariscope to detect strains is not new;
makers of optical glass have, naturally, long
availed themselves of it; but as regards ordinary
glassware the method has been brought more
prominently under notice as a result of war con-
ditions, and the “strain viewer ” is now becoming
more generally known in glass works. The prin-
ciple involved is merely that of the well-known
transmission of polarised light through crossed
Nicol prisms when
crystalline or semi-
crystalline material is
placed between them.
Well-annealed — glass
leaves the field of the
instrument practically
uniformly dark;
strained glass _ pro-
duces patches or bands
of light, the intensity
and. colour of which
give some idea of the
amount of strain.
In this connection it
may also be men-
tioned that certain
other faults in glass Middle strip, sample of commercial tin.
can readily be de- the two copper lines at 3247 and 3274.
tected by means of
X-rays. This discovery has proved very useful in
making the best qualities of optical glass, by
preventing the use of material in which “air-
blows ” had formed.
‘Twyman’s apparatus may also be noted here.
It is used for determining the annealing tempera-
ture of glass (Fig. 1). The method evolved for
this purpose is applicable also to metal objects, so
far, at least, as the removal of stress is concerned.
Trouble during the machining of metals such as
manganese-bronze, owing to distortion through
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
|
" 1 temperatures,
system; C, electrical furnace; D, pyrometer; E, temperature recorder.
Fic. 2.—Print from negative taken on spectrograph with wave-length scale. Top strip, sample of reputed “pure
i ” :
| stress, might often be obviated by proper anneal-
ing of the articles.
Among recent developments, perhaps the most
notable is the fact that the spectroscope, in one
adaptation or another, is beginning to take a
definite place as an adjunct to industry. This
follows upon the progress which has been made
in fitting the instrument ‘to quantitative work. In
fact, it is the spectrometer, rather than the spec-
troscope proper, which is prov-
ing its value to the manufac-
‘turer. Hartley’s work on
quantitative spectrum analysis,
dating from the eighties of last
century, may be regarded as
the pioneer investigation. He
showed that the ratios of the
intensities of lines in the spec-
trum of an element do not re-
main constant whilst the quan-
tity of that element is de-
creased, and he introduced the
term “persistency ” to indicate
whether a particular line appears at a definite
concentration of the substance emitting . it—
e.g. I per cent., o-r per cent., and. so. on,
of the total material under examination. This
work of Hartley’s was followed by that of
Pollock and Leonard in Dublin, and_ of
Gramont in France—to mention only three names
out of many. Meanwhile, the earlier torms of
spectroscope have given rise to the more perfect
“constant deviation” wave-length spectrometer
A, B, F, G, optical
Bottom strip, short exposure of copper spectrum. The
presence of copp:r in the commercial tin is shown by the presence in the corresponding spectrum strip of
A trace of copper is present in the ‘‘ pure” tin.
and the quartz spectrograph, with the result that
it is now practicable even to carry out quantitative
analyses of metals by means of their spark spectra
(Fig. 2).
Gramont uses two types of sparking apparatus
(see Comptes rendus, 1918, clxvi., 95). In one of
these the substance under examination is contained
in a crater formed in one pole of the apparatus;
in the second type the substance is fused in a
platinum vessel, a spark being passed from a
thin rod into the fused material.
396
NATURE
This method has been used by M. Nicolardot
in the chemical laboratory of the Technical Section,
French Artillery, and according to Gramont. it
gives very satisfactory results in. the control of
chemical analyses. The spectrograph has also
[May 27, 1920
spectrographic method ‘is, indeed, stated to be
more trustworthy than chemical analysis,
Another analytical method for metals has been
described, depending upon:a difference in volatility
of the elements present. The authors (Hill and
Luckey) use the “arc” discharge, and measure
the time required for a given line to disappear
when a known weight of the material is burned
in the crater of the arc. Though this process is
of limited application, it can be used for the
estimation of lead in copper, within a range of
0°004 to 0'216 per cent., with the accuracy neces-
sary for the work of a copper refinery.
The spectrophotometer, too, is now finding
technical application, especially in connection with
dyes. As the study of absorption-spectra has pro-
gressed, means for making the observations more
strictly quantitative have developed also. The
possibility of measuring the absorption of a sub-
stance for light of each wave-length is, in fact,
an important addition to .the resources of the
organic chemist in dealing with certain technical _
problems.
The apparatus employed is a spectrograph or
spectrometer combined with a suitable photometer
such as the “Nutting” instrument. It is used in
the control and analysis of dyes, the chemical
testing of which is often a difficult matter. In
pre-war days purchasers of dyes were very much
at the mercy of foreign dye-makers as regards the
quality and strength of dyes sent to them.
Spectrophotometry can now be employed to safe-
guard the interests of the user in this respect.
For example, a solution of known strength can
be prepared from a trustworthy specimen of dye,
and its colour-density determined for a series of
wave-lengths by the spectrophotometer; a curve
plotted from the results can then be kept as a
permanent reference with which future supplies
can be compared... Similarly the colour-producing
value of a dye with various illuminants may be
assessed by means of the instrument. Dyeing tests
can be quantitatively controlled by comparing the
intensity of reflected light from the dyestuff in
each part of the spectrum with that of light
reflected from a white surface. |
The proportion of diluent substance added to a
dye, or of two dyes in a mixture, may also be de-
termined by reference to standard curves. Thus in
' the subjoined diagram (Fig. 3), A and B denote
such curves for known strengths of eosin and ery-
throsin respectively, and C is a curve given
by a mixture of the two substances, in un-
9 od ag
\
i A
iY \
of L \
L NA
w 7 | \ \ |
aa 7 oie Ni
Sty 1.4 \
a wt \\
i A :
t IL
: 510 5to 530
haben
my
Fic. 3.—Curves plotted from results obtained in examining, dyes with
spectrophotometer.
been for sometime in use at the Bureau of
Standards, Washington, for- determining. small
quantities of impurities in tin and in the analysis
of steel, especially. as regards chromium and
titanium. For estimating small quantities of
elements such as niobium and molybdenum, the
NO. 2639, VOL. 105]
known proportions. By taking ordinates
for two suitable wave-lengths, two equations
can be formulated, from which the propor-
the tions of the two dyestuffs in the mixture
are calculated. From these examples
the value, actual. and potential, of. the instru-
ment to the dyeing industry. will readily be
understood. ; i .
Of other technical uses to which special instru-
ments are applied, a brief mention must suffice.
Thus in the iron and steel industry certain rapid
_ May 27, 1920]
NATURE
397
sorting-out tests can be. made with the grating ; An important development, too, is the use of
spectrometer and with the quartz spectrograph, | radiography’ in the examination of metals; but
whilst the projection: comparator is a valuable
aid, in engineering, for the ready optical gauging
of interchangeable parts, such as screw-threads.
this need not be dealt with here, as it was referred
to in an article on “‘ Industrial and Medical Radio-
logy ” in NATURE of February 26.
The British Sea. Fisheries.’
HE latest book on the sea fisheries comes
most opportunely at a time when everyone
interested in these matters is looking for a policy.
For the last two years a multitude of committees
and conferences have been considering a situation
of fish might be utilised, cost of new construction,
labour troubles, etc.—these are the matters that
immediately and personally concern those engaged
in the industry. The conditions are very different
from those that obtained half a dozen years ago.
4
py
OES 1 had a be
} ‘
|
Yl ’
* ae*
‘
i* J
The herring fleet in Fraserburgh Harbour.
that has become acute as the result of war con-
ditions, but which was rapidly developing even in
1913. There was then a great recrudescence of
interest in the longshore and inshore fishermen ;
there were the perennial questions of the
impoverishment of the fishing-grounds and of how
this might be averted; and there were indications,
even then, of troublesome problems relating to
the distribution and marketing of the fish caught.
There is no doubt at all that it is these
latter difficulties that have been accentuated
by the circumstances of the last two years.
Such things as. landing facilities, railroad
and motor transport, market accommodation,
cold storage and curing in order that gluts
1‘*The Sea Fisheries.” By Dr.
(London : Constable and Co., Ltd., 1920.)
NO. 2639, VOL. 105|
T. Jenkins.
Price 24s. net.
Pp. xxxi+ag99.
Bide)
oa “y “3.3
|
Hg Viet hs Pr,
: a , =}
| ees a ad iG Fe ae au ae
From ‘ The Sea Fisheries.’
Then there was practically no control; but one
Government Department now has to do with rail-
way facilities; another fixes wholesale and retail
prices; while others again have to do with regula-
tions of many kinds. The result is, for the
is
present at all events, a confusion which
apparent to almost everyone.
Under our economic conditions the — profit-
The
factor in industry is still the dominant one.
bulk of the fish landed are caught in order that
they may be sold so as to yield a “return” on
the capital invested; otherwise no fish would be
landed except the small fraction taken by individu-
ally owned boats and longshoremen who work for
a living and sell their fish for whatever it will
bring. How is the deep-sea fishing industry to
be carried on so as to yield a sufficient profit?
398
NATURE
[May 27, 1920.
Long ago we should have left that question. to
the trade itself, but it is now clear that a policy
of laissez-faire is no longer possible. The people
must have food. The State has already taken
partial control, and the logical development. of
such conditions seems to be the public organ-
isation of the means of distribution and, if so, the
wa of profits as well as of prices.
. Jenkins does not deal with these ‘latter-
ae economic questions. The conditions are
transient, and it is quite impossible for any
man to get trustworthy information tending to
elucidate them. Probably no administrator or
office is big enough to deal adequately with the
difficulties of the moment, and the situation must
be left to resolve itself in the near future. On
the other hand, it would be hopeless to attempt
to study it without reference to the other funda-
mental questions which we have indicated. Is
there really an impoverishment of the fishing-
grounds, and, if so, what restrictions are neces-
sary that this may be avoided? Regulation being
necessary, what is the best form of administra-
tion? What is industrial efficiency as applied to
the fisheries? Judged by the ratio of fish caught
to the man-power employed, the inshore and long-
shore. fishermen are inefficient, and their methods
wasteful. But, that being so, is it in the
national interest that ‘a prolific, hardy, and ver-
satile stock should be allowed to decline? What,
above all, are the nature and value of the informa-
tion which we use in order to decide upon these
matters ?
Even in present circumstances, then, there are
fundamental problems that must be considered
before we tackle those of the moment, and it is
these with which the author deals. He
gives a summary of the methods of sea-fishing
employed in Great Britain, and an_ historical
sketch of the development of the trawl- and
herring-fisheries. This is based on prolonged
literary research and is very well done. There are
a summary of the legislation applicable to the—
industry, a short account of the British and foreign
administrations, and a résumé of the chief results
of the fishery commissions of the strictly modern
period. A well-selected bibliography should enable
the reader to follow the various discussions in
greater detail than that which falls within the scope
of the book. It is very proper that considerable
weight should be given to the scientific side of
the subject, and in his introduction the author
deals most conveniently with the situation of the
industry at the close of the war period, especially
with regard to the reconstruction of the national
administrations and the development of an ade-
quate machinery for scientific and economic
investigation. Altogether, the work is one that
must be considered quite essential to anyone who
seeks to discover, beneath the confusion of the
moment, the natural conditions upon which the
continued development of the national sea
fisheries, as a whole, must necessarily depend.
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
Notes.
Tun annual meeting of the British Science Guild
will be. held at the Goldsmiths’ Hall on Tuesday,.
June 8, at 3 p.m. Lord Sydenham, president of
the Guild, will deliver an address on ‘Science and
the Nation,’’ and the president-elect, Lord Montagu
of Beaulieu, will speak on ‘‘ Some National Aspects _
of Transport.”” The adoption of the report on the
Guild’s work since the last annual meeting will be.
moved by Lord Bledisloe, and seconded by Sir Gilbert
Parker. The Guild is extending its activities in
several directions, and all who believe in the appli-
cation of scientific knowledge and method to national
affairs of every kind should give it support. Tickets
of admission to the annual meeting may be obtained
upon application to the Secretary, British Science
Guild, 6 John Street, Adelphi, London, W.C.2.
At the Imperial Entomological Conference to be
held in London ‘on June 1-11, the subjects to be
discussed, although mainly relating to agriculture, are
not the less on that account of great general interest,
and ought to make a wide appeal. Mr. H. A. Ballou,
just returned from an investigation of them in-Egypt,
will read a paper on ‘‘ Cotton Pests,’’ a subject which
he has long studied in other parts of the Empire. Dr.
R. S. MacDougall will read one on ‘‘ Insects in Rela-
tion to Afforestation,’’ which is a subject greatly need-
ing attention in our own country at the present day.
There will also be read important papers on the special
insect pests of tea and other crops, as weil as on the
local insect pests of various places within the Empire;
and amongst other subjects for discussion “‘ The Edu-
cation of Economic Entomologists’’ should prove
attractive, the more so as Profs. Maxwell Lefroy and
Sydney J. Hickson have promised to give their views
upon it. The meetings are all to be held at the rooms
of the Linnean Society, Burlington House, and visits —
have been arranged to Oxford, Cambridge, and the
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden. ‘ The
Work and Finances of the Imperial Bureau of Ento-
mology ’’ will be considered at the business meeting
on the first day, when, doubtless, there will be nothing
but greatly deserved praise for the work, and very
serious consideration in regard to the finances. It
is.to be hoped that as an outcome the Bureau will be
enabled to carry on, unhampered and unimpaired, the
extremely valuable work it has done during the seven
years of its existence.
A Pan-Paciric Scientific Congress has been organ-
_ised to meet at Honolulu on August 2-20. The pro-
gramme of the congress is directed by the Committee
on Pacific Exploration of the U.S. National Research
Council, and the chairman is Mr. Herbert E. Gregory, |
director of the Bishop Museum at Honolulu. The
papers to be read will deal with the present status
of knowledge of anthropology, biology, geology, -
geography, and related sciences so far. as they refer
to the Pacific Ocean, and will place emphasis on the
*research work which it is desirable to inaugurate. —
The significance and bearing of the research work on
other fields of study will be dealt with in considerable
detail. It is suggested that in the- working out of
May 27, 1920]
NATURE
399
the problems only the ability and interest of the
scientific workers should be taken into account,
onality and institutional rivalry being submerged
this purpose. Co-operation would eliminate un-
s duplication of money and energy, and point
‘way to the best use of funds now available and
he utilisation of further endowments. The director
f the museum is also organising a party consisting
ie onologist, archzeologist, botanist, and necessary
» Which will be stationed in 1920-21 at the Mar-
Austral, Tongan, and Hawaian Islands to
te standards of the physical form, material cul-
traditions, and languages of the Polynesians
h may serve as a basis for the determination of
significance of changes produced by the overlapping
other races. A similar expedition is projected for
21-22 westward to the Caroline Islands, to deter-
ne through what place or places the Polynesians
reached their present settlements. Funds sufficient
for one year’s work, contributed by Bayard Dominic
Yale University, have been placed at the disposal
the museum ‘trustees. The urgent need for a
tific study of the fast-changing Pacific is plain.
has been recognised in Australia, where a com-
mittee, appointed by the Universities of Melbourne
and Sydney, has reported in favour of the establish-
ment of fellowships in Pacific studies. If America
studies eastern Polynesia, Australia still has Papua
and the Western Islands.
s Tue preliminary programme of the annual meeting
of the British Association for the Advancement of
__ Science to be held at Cardiff on August 24-28, has
_ been issued from the offices at Burlington House. The
; _ previous meeting in that city was held in 1891, and
4 there has been no meeting of the association in Wales
q since that date. The present president, Sir Charles
_ Parsons, will hand over his office to Prof. W. A. Herd-
man, professor of natural history in the University of
_ Liverpool, who will give in his presidential address a
_ general survey of oceanography, and deal in detail with
- certain special problems and recent investigations, with
_ particular reference to sea-fisheries, a topic not only of
_ prime interest in connection with the food supply of
a the country, but also of special concern to the ports
_ of the Bristol Channel. The programme announces
a discourse at one of the general evening meetings
i: by Sir Daniel Hall, of the Ministry of Agriculture, on
_ A Grain of Wheat from the Field to the Table,”’
Bogner pregnant subject at the present time. Sir
Richard Glazebrook, lately Director of. the National
| Physical Laboratory, will also deliver a discourse.
_A scientific exhibition in connection with the meeting
ste announced to be given in the museum exhibition
q room at the Cardiff City Hall, where the general re-
_ ception room for the meeting will also be established.
The sections will meet mostly’ in the University
_ College and the Technical College, which, with the
City Hall, belong to the fine range of public buildings
__ which surround Cathays Park. Scientific excursions
will be organised in connection with the work of
several of the sections. A civic reception by the Lord
‘Mayor is announced, as is also a garden party for
members, given by Lord Treowen, president of the
NO. 2639, VOL. 105]
National Museum of Wales (which has its headquarters
at Cardiff). Among other fixtures is a special service
in St. John’s Church, Cardiff, on the Sunday after
the meeting, at which Dr. Barnes, Canon, of West-
minster, wil] preach.
Prince ALBERT will preside at the Royal Aeronau-
tical Society’s Wilbur Wright lecture, which will be
delivered at the Central Hall, Westminster; on
June 22, at 8.30 p.m., by Commander Hunsaker,
upon the subject of ‘‘ Naval Architecture in Aero-
nautics.”’
Tue Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
has conferred the Hayden memorial medal for 1920
on Prof. T. Chrowder Chamberlin, professor emeri-
tus of the University of Chicago, in recognition of
his distinguished services to geological science. This
medal is presented every three years for distinguished
accomplishments in geology or palzontology.
Tue twenty-fifth annual congress of the South-
Eastern Union of Scientific Societies will be held at
Eastbourne on June 2-5.. On the evening of Wed-
nesday, June 2, the president-elect, Sir Edward
Brabrook, will deliver his presidential address. Other
items in the programme are :—The Glaciation of the -
South Downs, E. A. Martin; First Steps in a Local
Survey, C. C. Fagg; Recent Discoveries in. Insect .
Mimicry, Prof. E. B. Poulton; Report of Mosquito
Investigation Committee; and Migrate of ee
ptera, R. Adkin. ;
Tue possibilities of cotton-growing in South
America are discussed at length by Mr. G. McC. '
McBride in the Geographical Review for January
(vol. ix., No. 1). Up to the present South America
has produced annually scarcely 2 per cent. of the
world’s total output. Mr. McBride shows reasons
for believing this could be greatly increased. The
principal increase must come from the eastern high-
lands of Brazil. In the Sao Paulo region it is already
competing with coffee, which suffers more than cotton
from frosts. Labour and transport are the factors
which limit its growth at present, but as these are
gradually overcome Brazil will be able to export
cotton on a considerable scale. Other possible cotton
lands occur in the plains of northern Argentina and
Paraguay, and in the coastal valleys of Peru.
Towarps the end of March last a meeting was held
in Brussels of the scientific committee of the Solvay
International Institute of Physics, and it was resolved,
upon the recommendation of the executive committee,
to resume the work of the institute, which had been
interrupted by the war. New physical councils will
be summoned from time to time, similar to those
formed in 1911 and 1913. The president referred to
the debt which the scientific committee owed to Dr.
R. B. Goldschmidt, of Brussels, for the services
rendered by him to the institute during the early .
years of its foundation. The members of the com-
mittee were Prof. H. A. Lorentz (president), Haar-
lem; Mme. Curie, Paris; Sir W. H. Bragg, London;
M. Brillouin, Paris; Prof. H. Kamerlingh Onnes,
‘Leyden; Prof. Knudsen, Copenhagen ; Prof... A.
Righi, Bologna; Sir Ernest Rutherford, Cambridge;
and Prof. E. Van Aubel, Ghent.
400
NATURE
=
| May 27, 1920
_ Majors McKenprick AND Morison have investigated
Statistically the occurrence of cases of influenza. on
shipboard, from which they deduce a mean incubation
period in this disease of 32-7 hours, some go per cent.
of the cases having an incubation’ period within two
days (Indian Journal of Medical Research, vol. vii.,
No. 2, p. 364).
In a general review of influenza in Medical Science:
Abstracts and Reviews: (vol. ii., No. 2) the influenza
epidemic of 1918-19 in Switzerland is surveyed. It
is estimated that there were 2} million cases. The
case mortality was 1-1 per cent.; 65 per cent. of. the
cases occurred between fifteen dind forty-nine years
of age, and only 5 per cent. in persons of fifty and
more, The total deaths were 17,575, a much heavier
death-roll than that caused by other epidemic diseases.
ATTENTION is directed in a paper by Mr. Mottram
and Mr. Clarke (Archives of Radiology and
Electrotherapy, No. 237, April,’ 1920) to the reduction
in the number of the white blood corpuscles in those
handling radium for curative purposes, a reduction
amounting to $$ of the normal number. They
estimate that the physician-in-charge receives daily
about 1-4 per cent. of the total radiation received by
a patient during a course of ‘treatment for cancer,
and in ten weeks the same quantity of radiation as
the patient.
THE Committee on Food and Nutrition of the
National Research Council, Washington, U.S.A., has
just issued a report on meat and milk in the food
supply of the nation which gives some interesting
facts on the relative values of these two important
dietary substances in comparison with the value of
the food required to produce them. The Committee
supports the British estimates on the same subject,
viz. that the good milch cow returns 20 per.cent., the
poor milch cow 12 per cent., and the good beef steer
only 6 per cent. of the energy-value of the food con-
sumed. Crops grown on a given area may be ex-
pected to yield four to five times as much protein and
energy for human consumption when fed to dairy
cows as when used for beef production.
An address on the work of the Medical Research
Committee was delivered by its secretary, Sir Walter
Fletcher, to Members of Parliament at the House
of Commons on March g, and has been published
in pamphlet form by the Research Defence Society.
The history of the committee was first briefly
sketched. Some 50,0001. a year has hitherto been
devoted to the advancement of medical research, but
the Treasury has announced that in the immediate
future 125,o00l. per annum is to be allocated for
this purpose. Sir Walter Fletcher then described
some of the researches that have been prosecuted
by means of these funds. A disease, bilharziasis, due
to a parasitic worm, is very prevalent in Egypt. Its
life-history was unknown, and Dr. Leiper, of the
London School of Tropical Medicine, was sent out
to investigate. He found that the bilharzia worm
passes part of its life-cycle in certain fresh-water
snails, from which larval forms hatch out; and these
constitute the infective agents. They soon die, how-
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
bilharziasis.
where between 2cool. and 3000l.,
ever, unless they enter the human host, so that water
kept for twenty-four hours is safe. This work cost
less than 5ool., but bids fair in time to eradicate
| _ Trench nephritis, a kidney disease, was
very prevalent during the war. Investigations into
its causation indicated that it is. probably.of an infec. -
tive nature.. Means were devised by which the effi-
ciency of the kidney could be gauged, and it was
possible to decide which of the thousands of cases
at the base hospitals’ were likely to grow worse
and should be sent home, and which could probably
soon go back to duty. The same tests have been
employed since in judging claims for pensions based
upon supposed damage to the kidneys. By this |
means it is estimated that the Pensions Ministry has, .
saved, during the first year, no less than 150,000l. ;
yet the total cost of this piece of work was some-
Sir Walter Fletcher
put in a plea for the better remuneration of scientific .
research, and the address was followed by an Jee
ing discussion,
In the British’ Journal of © Psychology ie: Paks,
March) Mrs. S. Brierley discusses the present atti-
tude of employees to industrial psychology. She
finds, in talking to working-men, much opposition to
the suggested introduction of psychological methods
into industry—an opposition which cannot be dis-
missed as characteristic of the more ignorant and
less skilled workman. Several reasons for this atti-
tude of mind are considered, of which the most vital
seems to be the not unreasonable fear that the
introduction of these methods will inevitably lead to
an increase of monotony and a diminution in the
possibility for initiative or creative work on the part
of the individual worker; some of these so-called
scientific methods do seem to imply that the manager
is to be the brains of the machine, and the worker
merely the muscles. It is unfortunately only too true
that some. enthusiastic exponents of these methods
have allowed their enthusiasm to limit their point. of
view to. increased. production, and in so doing they
have lost sight of the effect on the individual worker.
The problems of monotony, mechanisation, specialisa-
tion, and self-government must be considered not only
as bearing on increased output, but also as affecting
the whole development of the worker; work must
offer an outlet for the healthy satisfaction of the crea-
tive impulse. The author raises many problems con-
nected with present-day industry and shows what
psychology as applied to industry has to face before
it can win the whole-hearted support of the workers.
The paper should prove interesting to all whose
scientific work brings them into contact with in-
dividual workers in industry. —
SincE the early experiments of Cuénet, Castle, Miss
Durham, Little, and others on the inheritance of coat-
colour in mice, these animals have been a favourite sub-
ject for the study of spotting as well as of self-colour.
In a recent paper by S6 and Imai (Journal of
Genetics, vol. ix., No. 4) the authors distinguish two
factors coiidansie in spotting, one of which (D) is
epistatic to self-colour, which it modifies to the
‘Kasuri’’ pattern characterised by~ fine “ Silvered
NATURE
401
ies BS. “When the recessive spotting allelomorph (S’)
_oapind (S) is present with the epistatic factor, a
al with dark eyes known as ‘‘ Daruma”’
a a) is produced. Mice which are homozygous
il to develop whether S or S’ is present in
1. D is, therefore, a lethal factor, and can
‘ap in. the heterozygous condition, as is well
r | to. be the case with yellow mice. — By this
: it is shown that a varied and apparently
‘series. of stages from dark-eyed white
spotting to pett-celoie depends upon two
factors. — ;
ir W. VaucHan furnishes a comprehensive
‘of the American Tertiary, Pleistocene, and
osha in Bulletin 103 of the U.S. National
eu 189-524, 1919, as the fore-part of a
describing fossil corals en the zone of the
“include the geologist who strives to under-
past—can afford to overlook this important
ary of recent work. Some readers may be
aban statement that “the theoretic possibility
and later into an atoll, according to the
a hypothesis, may not be denied, but no
oj such a transformation has as yet been
red.” But the author again and again em-
upward growth of coral-reefs in keeping
with the apes’ ae of the platforms on which
h. sae theory of solution to account
lagoon depths is regarded as ‘‘entirely disproved,”
and every credit is given to Dr. Guppy and Admiral
Sir ty Wharton for their views on the relation of
‘ fs to submarine platforms. The corals that result
in barrier-reefs flourish, as Guppy urged, at some
¢ from a shore, because they are there removed
4 deleterious sediments; the reef thickens, as
aay perceived, by submergence of its base. In
ation of its Reports of the Aeronautics Experi-
Ee raciatton (Rendiconti dell’ Istituto speri-
ntale aeronautico). No. 1 of the new series just
to hand contains an exhaustive article on the treat-
it and preservation of wood. The first part of
important monograph deals with the botanical
aspect of the subject; the second part with the
theory of timber preservation, including drying and
ng; the third part with the practical side of
er seasoning and impregnation with preserva-
tives; while part iv. is devoted to methods of rae
| ” oth .- physical and mechanical).
"Measures are being taken to reorganise and ex-
Priced’ various scientific services in’ French Indo-China.
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
M. Aug. Chevalier,’ writing in La Géographie for
April (vol. xxxiii., No. 4), gives some account of the
plans. The agriculiiral, forest, and survey depart-
ments had fallen into neglect when the present
governor-general in 1917 took steps to revive them.
Several experimental agricultural stations and agri-
cultural schools have been founded, and this year
‘work was begun on the building of a central scien-
tific institute at Saigon, to which the agricultural
service of Indo-China and the botanic gardens at
Saigon are to be attached. The institute will con-
duct experiments in the growth of rubber, coffee,
tea, and rice; study the flora and products generally
of Indo-China; and conduct researches on plant
diseases. It is also proposed to start a marine
station. The Government has provided funds for
a scientific library and the issue of a ‘spately, agri-
cultural bulletin.
No. 23 of the Proceedings of the Dutch Meteoro-
logical Institute is devoted to three papers by Miss
A. van Vleuten on the possibility of accounting for
the daily variations of the earth’s magnetic field-by a
system of electric currents external to the earth and
the currents within the earth’s surface induced by them.
In 1889 Schuster concluded that such was the case.
Since that date both Fritsche and Steiner have
examined the data available, and concluded that it
did not support the hypothesis. In view of this
difference of opinion Miss van Vleuten has again
analysed the daily variation of the field, and _ re-
solved it into an external and an_ internal part.
The two show that the principal terms of the Gauss
expansion do not support the hypothesis, although the
higher and less important terms are in agreement with
it. In a further paper the author, by comparing the
terms of the potential calculated, first, from the north
component, and, secondly, from the east component
of the field, shows that the daily variation of the
field does not possess a potential, although it is, of
course, always possible to deduce part of it from a
potential.
Tue physiological aspect of flying at high altitudes
engages the attention of Dr. Guglielminetti in Génie
Civil for March 20. The experiences of mountaineers,
balloonists, and airmen who have flown to great
heights are reviewed in turn. From tests carried out
in the laboratory, and from the experience of Mosso
and Agazotti (of Turin), Dr. Guglielminetti is in-
clined to the opinion that the physiological disturb-
ances caused at altitudes below 8000 metres are due
' to anoxyphemia, and above 8000 metres to acapnia.
While the use of respirators having suitable reducing-
valves controlled automatically by the varying pressure
at different altitudes would no doubt afford a fairly
satisfactory solution, the better way lies in the design
of suitable closed cabins in which the air-pressure is
maintained constant by compressing the air taken in
from outside. M. Louis Breguet has already sug-
gested a design of aeroplane in which the pilot and
passengers would be so enclosed. The excess of air
necessary for the engine at high altitudes would prob-
ably be supplied by a turbine driven by the exhaust
gases, such as has been suggested by Prof. Rateau.
402
NATURE
[May 27, 1920
THE report of the Council of the Illuminating En-
gineering Society, presented at the annual meeting on
May 11, contains an interesting record of the past
session’s work. Papers and discussions dealing with
photometry, camouflage, colour-matching, motor-car
head-lights, and lighting conditions in mines have been
arranged, the last in co-operation with the Council .
of British Ophthalmologists and the Royal Society
of Medicine. The various committees working under
the society, notably that conducting an inquiry into
eyestrain in kinemas, afford evidence. of similar co-
operative effort. Special attention has been devoted
to industrial lighting in relation to health and safety,
and it is hoped that before long general statutory pro-
vision for adequate lighting will be introduced into
the Factory Acts. The society hopes now to be able
to resume its participation in the international treat-
ment of illumination, and is represented in the person
of its hon. secretary at the congress of the Royal
Institute of Public Health taking place this month
in Brussels. Following the presentation of the annual
report, a paper on portable kinema outfits was read
by Capt. J. W. Barber, several novel forms of ap-
paratus being shown.
TuHeE work of Willstatter and his collaborators has
imparted considerable interest to that branch of bio-
chemistry which includes the formation of antho-
cyanins in plants. A suggestive paper on the subject
is contributed to the April issue of the Biochemical
Journal by O. Rosenheim. This. author has isolated
in a crystalline form the red pigment of the young
leaves of the grape-vine, and has shown that it is
most probably identical with oenidin, the non-sugar
component of the pigment of the purple grape. This
is the first instance on record in which the red pig-
ment of leaves consists of free anthocyanidin. The
vine-leaves have been shown to contain also a colour-
less modification of the pigment, possibly in com-
bination with a carbohydrate or other complex. For
this compound the general name “‘leuco-anthocyanin ”’
is suggested; it is converted into anthocyanidin by
strong acids. The only representative of the family
Vitis characterised by the production of free antho-
cyanidin is the European species, Vitis vinifera, and
it is pointed out that this biochemical test may
prove useful in the investigation of genetic
problems.
An interesting paper by Eiichi: Yamasaki on ‘‘ The
Chemical Kinetics of Catalase’? has recently ap-
peared in the Science Reports of the Téhoku Imperial
University (vof. ix., No. 1). The property formerly
attributed to all enzymes of accelerating the decom-
position of hydrogen peroxide is really a specific pro-
perty of catalase, which is contained as an impurity
in most enzyme preparations.
Yamasaki was obtained from the edible sprout of a
certain bamboo, Phyllostachys mitis, Riv. The
velocity of decomposition of hydrogen peroxide by
catalase is, in general, proportional to the concen-
tration of the enzyme and of hydrogen peroxide, but
The catalase used by >
the reaction. “As to the cause of this decrease in
activity, the author can only conclude that it is due
to the substrate and product of reaction, hydrogen
peroxide and oxygen; and the rate of decrease is
approximately proportional to the principal reaction.
The decrease in activity is not to be attributed to
change in concentration of hydrogen ions. It has
already been found that in a very dilute solution of
hydrogen peroxide and a comparatively concentrated
solution of catalase the relative activity increases in
the first stage and then decreases gradually. This
behaviour may be attributed to the facts (1) that the
ordinary reaction would be carried out at a rate some-
what higher than that which is calculated according
to a first-order reaction; (2) that the rate is retarded
with hydrogen peroxide and oxygen in ordinary cases ;
(3) that such effects are observed only in the course of
reaction in very diluted solutions, because the con-
centration of both the substrate and the product are
very small, i.e. the velocity constant has a maximum —
value; and (4) that the retardation proceeds with the
measurable velocity, which is approximately propor-—
tional to the principal reaction. 3
Tue Rotary Club of London, composed of about
three hundred members, each representing a different —
trade or profession, and connected with twenty-five
other rotary clubs in other parts of the British Isles, ©
has undestaken the urgent and important work of —
endeavouring to find posts for demobilised men out of —
employment. We are asked to direct attention to
this most praiseworthy task and have much pleasure
in doing so. Thousands of capable officers and men
who were on active service during the war are
now seeking employment, and particulars of
vacancies of any kind may usefully be sent to Mr.
Edward Unwin, jun., at the ‘Rotary Room,”
Horrex’s Hotel, Norfolk Street, Strand, London,
W.C.2. :
Mr. H. Martin Leake, Director of Agriculture,
United Provinces, India, is publishing through
Messrs. W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., ‘‘The Bases of
Agricultural Practice and Economics in the United
Provinces, India,” in which the history of agriculture
is traced; the fundamental facts of agricultural prac-
tice and economics are described; the lines upon which.
agricultural practice is likely to develop are brought
out, and emphasis is laid upon the fact that recent
advances in scientific knowledge have made it possible
for directed, as opposed to undirected or empirical,
methods to be employed. It further indicates the
weaknesses of the present economic system, and.
develops the idea of co-partnership in the land between:
landlord, tenant, and Government.
Messrs. Dutau aNnD Co., Ltp., 34 Margaret Street,
W.1, have just issued a catalogue (No. 82) of an
important botanical library recently purchased by
them, the volumes in which are now offered separately.
The works listed number 593, and many are scarce.
The catalogue is one likely to interest all students:
of botany, and copies may be had of Messrs. Dulau:
the activity of the catalase decreases in the course of upon application.
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
May 27, 1920]
NATURE
403
Our Astronomical Column.
RONOMICAL ANNOUNCEMENTS By WIRELESS TELE-
ty.—Prof. Kobold, editor of Astr. Nachrichten,
irector of the Centralstelle, delegated the ‘latter
k& to Prof. Strémgren, Copenhagen, during the
t has now resumed it, and announces in
ach., 5044, that arrangements have been made
distribution of astronomical information by
ee aed from the Nauen station. Such
will bear the signature ‘‘Obs.,”’ and it is
ed that institutions that wish to receive them
make arrangements with the wireless station
to them that receives Nauen messages. It
that they will make a contribution to the
the service. The idea of using wireless in this
r is certainly a good one, and might be of
service in the case of such unexpected pheno-
as the outburst of nove, where early observa-
are of special value.
_ ASTROGRAPHIC CaTaLoGuE.—This great under-
king, 6 a third of a_century ago, is still far
completion, many of the observatories that
ook to collaborate having dropped out, from
neial or other reasons. Their zones were after-
ds allotted elsewhere, and one of the new ob-
tories (Hyderabad) may be mentioned in par-
lar for its praiseworthy energy. The late director,
r. R. J. Pocock, unhappily died without seeing the
« completed; but thanks to the Nizam’s gener-
T. P. Bhaskaran, who has just published vol. iii.,
containing measures of rectangular co-ordinates of
$8,745 star-images on plates with centres in decl.— 19°.
~The form of publication is similar to that in the
Greenwich and Oxford catalogues.
_.Tmat Friction aND THE LuNaR AND SOLAR
SELERATIONS.—Dr. H. Jeffreys has a paper on this
‘subject in the Monthly Notices for January, in which
ve quotes- Major G. I. Taylor’s result in Phil.
Trans., A, ccxx., that tidal friction in the Irish
‘Sea accounts for 1/56th of the required dissipation
of energy, assuming that the moon’s secular accelera-
tion “eet 8 _ century, which is 4-4" above the
amount calculated from planetary action on the
-earth’s orbit. The accelerations are here measured,
_as is customary, by the space gained at the end of a
century. Dr. Jeffreys uses the more strictly logical
system of the velocity gained, and, consequently,
doubles the value of the acceleration. He gives a
list of the seas that seem likely to contribute to the
tidal effect, and. concludes that they are capable of
producing the whole of it. The tidal acceleration of
the moon is the difference of two terms: (1) the
apparent acceleration due to the slackening of the
rth’s rotation, and (2) the actual retardation due
increase of distance. In the case of the sun only
1) is present, though there may be further accelera-
tion if the earth is travelling in a resisting medium.
Dr. Jeffreys finds for the solar acceleration 1-56" on his
stem—that is, 0-78” on the usual system.
Dr. Fotheringham has rediscussed the accelerations
rom all available ancient observations. He finds 10}
or. the moon, and 1”, or somewhat more, for the sun.
The corresponding period for the large empirical
lunar term is 260 years. Prof. Turner finds that this
riod agrees well with the periods deduced from
Chinese earthquake records and from those of Nile
floods. He also confirms it by statistics of tree-
growth, derived from a study of their annual rings.
He suggests that the earth is pulsating in this period
with consequent alteration in its rotation, which pro-
duces an apparent fluctuation in the moon’s motion,
and smaller ones in that of the sun and planets.
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
the work is continuing under his successor, Mr. °
The Iron and Steel Institute.
a HE annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute,
held in London on May 6-7, was rendered
noteworthy by the fact that the incoming
president was Dr. J. E.. Stead. It is somewhat re-
markable that Dr. Stead has not been elected to
this office before. He has been engaged in metallur-
gical work for fifty years, has reached the age of
seventy, and no metallurgist in this country holds a
higher international reputation. He has carried out a
considerable number of researches of first-rate import-
ance which are remarkable for their suggestiveness
and technique, and he possesses in a striking degree
the confidence and respect of those engaged in the
industry. The explanation, however, is forthcoming
in the opening sentences of his address, from which
it is clear that he was invited to fill this office some
years ago, but refused as he did not consider he was
qualified, to use his own words, ‘‘to accept such an
exalted position.’’ It is quite safe to say that this mis-
giving has never been shared by anyone else. Dr.
Stead finally yielded to the strong representations of
his fellow-members on the council, and his acceptance
of the office of president has been received with wide-
spread gratification by the institute.
His presidential address is an attempt to pass in
review the progress made in the ferrous industries
during the past fifty years. This proved to be a
gigantic piece of work, and it isnot surprising to learn
that Dr. Stead found more trouble in condensing than
in collecting the voluminous data so as to bring them
within the limits of an address. Even so, it turned
out that he was not able to read more than one-third,
of it. The address is divided into a series of sections ©
which deal successively with the blast-furnace, the
puddling process, science in the foundry, the basic
Bessemer and basic open-hearth processes, electric
furnaces, the production of sound ingots, the recog-
nition of science, the advent and progress of metallo-
graphy, the application of science to the ferrous in-
dustries, the encouragement of science, and technical
education. Within the limits of this article it is only
possible to touch briefly on the subject-matter of three
of these sections.
(1) Blast-furnace Practice.—It appears from the
accumulated experience of this branch of
the industry that no object is gained by in-
creasing the capacity of the furnace above 30,000
cubic feet, and that its working is best controlled by
having a separate blowing engine for each furnace.
Increased output per furnace can be achieved by
widening the diameter of the hearth and increasing
the volume of the air blown in. The gases issuing
from the furnace-top should be conserved by the
adoption of the double bell or some similar system.
The maximum proportion of their calorific value
should be used by freeing them from dust, controlling
the proportion of air for their combustion, and main-
taining a low exit temperature. Coke-ovens should
be close to furnaces and the coke handled as little
as possible after it leaves them so as to avoid the
production of ‘‘ fines,’’ and should be sufficiently hard
to resist crushing. Fine coke disorganises the regular
working of the furnace and reduces the output of pig-
iron. It should, therefore, be sieved off and either
used for other purposes or briquetted, if the process
be not too costly, and then charged into the furnace.
Dr. Stead concludes that there is sufficient evidence
to show that given efficient gas-engines it is advisable
to use them in preference to steam-engines. One of
the still unsolved problems is the utilisation of the
heat carried out of the furnaces in the slag. Inas-
much as the gas and the heat obtained from the
404
NATURE
[May 27, 1920
blast-furnaces and coke-ovens exceed the require-
ments of the blast-furnaces, he regards it as probable
that in cases where coke-ovens, blast-furnaces, and
steelworks are grouped together sufficient gas will
be available to do all the heating at the steelworks
without using any raw coal.
(2) Electric Furnaces.—The electro-thermal steel fur-
nace, which up to 1914 had produced only a very
small proportion even of the higher grades of steel,
was developed with great rapidity in this country
during the war. Germany led in this branch of the
industry, and most of the German electric steel was
made by refining basic Bessemer steel. Furnaces of
30 tons capacity were used for this purpose. The
U.S.A., Italy, and France were all ahead of England
in production. To-day the U.S.A. leads, followed by
Germany and England. It is stated, however, that
the actual number of furnaces and the amount of power
used are greater in England than in Germany. By the
end of 1918 no fewer than about 140 furnaces of all
types were in use in this country, with a production of
150,000 tons per annum. During the war the output
in these furnaces was principally used for making
steel for bullet-proof plates, aeroplanes, motor-cars,
armour-piercing shells, and steel helmets. Stainless
steel is being made in increasing quantities, as are
also nickel-chromium and other alloy steels. The
significant statement is made that on the Tyne electro.
thermal steel is being manufactured at a price which
can compete with the acid open-hearth steel, since cheap
power is available from coke-oven gas. A great ad-
vance is foreshadowed in Dr. Stead’s reference to
the melting of steel in vacuo. Mr. Albert Hiorth, of
Christiania, has designed an induction furnace of
this type in which the steel is melted and then cooled.
Afterwards it is removed and cut up into sections
for forgings. It is stated that in this wav steel free
from honeycomb and gases is obtained. While it is
probable that this process is likely to be, for the pre-
sent, applied only to the highest qualities of steel, ex-
perience may indicate tke desirability of its extension
to other varieties later on.
(3) Technical Education.—Dr. Stead finally puts in a
powerful plea for the better education of the technical
staffs and workmen engaged in the industry. He
mentions that many vears ago he discussed and for-
mulated a scheme with the late Mr. Andrew Carnegie
whereby there was to be established in every indus-
trial centre an institute which could be used as the
headquarters of local technical societies, consisting
of metallurgists, engineers, electricians, chemists,
and others. At this centre proceedings of technical
societies and all technical publications were to be
assembled. Indexes of subject-matter would be pre-
pared by a competent staff, and supplied to the
general managers of the various industries. After
many years’ discussion a step in this direction has
been taken in the Middlesbrough district. Suitable
premises have been obtained, which are being re-
constructed to meet local requirements. The sum of
about 10,0001. has been subscribed, and there are
promises of annual subscriptions. This, however, is
only a beginning, and Dr. Stead, who has nothing
if not vision, contemplates an annual contribution
from the iron and steel industry for the purpose of
making the scheme adequate. He suggests a con-
tribution of o-1 per cent. on the capital invested, or
I per cent. on the actual dividends. Taking the
former at, roughly, about 250,000,000l., the annual
charge would be 250,000l. A fund of this magnitude
should be sufficient in his opinion to enable technical
institutes to be established and maintained in the
eight principal iron- and steel-making districts and in
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
‘bring it to fruition.
London, and to carry on their work with a “ fair |
degree of efficiency.’’ It is to be hoped that this
suggestion of Dr. Stead’s will be vigorously taken
up by his council, and a serious attempt made to
H. C. H. Carpenter.
The University of London.
GOVERNMENT OFFER OF A SITE.
A? a meeting of the Senate of the University of |
London, held on May 18, the Vice-Chancellor, —
Dr. Russell Wells, reported that the Chancellor, the
Earl of Rosebery, had received from the President —
of the Board of Education, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, —
a communication in the following terms, dated
April 7 :— : i
‘““The Government have watched with sympathetic —
interest the efforts which the universities have been
making to fit themselves for the task that the period _
imposes on them, and to ‘take —
of reconstruction
advantage of the opportunities for extending their
usefulness which are offered by the steadily growing
public recognition of the national importance of a
Nowhere are —
good system of university education.
the opportunities more favourable than in London;
ee,
ia BS
for as the capital city of the Empire, with the un- —
matched facilities for many branches of study and
research which its great national collections, hospitals, —
and public institutions provide, London has always
attracted a large number of students, not only from :
all parts of the United Kingdom, but also from over- .
seas. The war has deepened the general sense of —
Imperial and international solidarity and has spread —
more widely an understanding of the mutual benefits —
d
which the different peoples derive from drawing closer —
the relations between their educational systems; and —
it is accordingly to be anticipated that in the near
future many more university students will be coming
to London from our Dominions and Colonies and
from foreign countries. This will inevitably place a
very serious strain upon the teaching resources of
‘
the University of London and will add considerably 4
to the alreadv grave difficulties of organisation by
which the University has long been confronted. The
Government have, during the past vear, sanctioned
large increases in the grant to the teaching institu-
tions included in the University of London, as in
the grants 'to the other universities and colleges
throughout the country, and no doubt these addi-
tional grants should go some way towards enabling
the University to meet its increased responsibilities.
The mere increase of the grants to individual colleges
will not, however, by itself dispose of the special
problem which London University has to solve, and
the Government are accordingly prepared to take a
further step which thev consider likely to prove of ©
verv material assistance to the University at this
critical stage of its development. re
“Tt has seemed to the Government that this is a —
suitable. time at which to make an offer which thev _
have long had under consideration and which they —
think should helo to remove a good many of the
administrative difficulties involved in the housing
of the University headquarters in the Imperial
Institute at South Kensington.
now in a position to acquire a site of about 114 acres
behind the British Museum, and they offer to devote —
it gratis and in perpetuity to the provision of a site —
for new headquarters of the University and for colleges —
and institutions connected with it, including King’s —
College, whose premises in the Strand are now
The Government are —
:
4 ae
a en ee te ee
Bene 27; 1920]
NATURE
405
_ inadequate for its needs. It would be out of place
for me to enlarge on the advantages to be expected
from securing the concentration of the headquarters
University and its two incorporated colleges
single site, in a quiet residential quarter close
ur greatest National Library and Museum, and
ible of expansion in the future as the need may
se. The merits of this site, as of other alternative
2s which have from time to time been suggested,
, I know, been the subject of -much discussion
the friends of university education in London,
I have no doubt that the University is fully
ised of the considerations which need to be
ighed. I have no desire to persuade the University
inst its will. No one recognises more fully than
estinies and shape their own policies. The responsi-
lity for accepting or declining the Government’s
: er must rest wholly with the University, which
_ alone is in a position to estimate how far the proposal
| communicate to you is likely to advance what it
ei to be its true interests. The view of the
Government is, I think, sufficiently indicated by their
willingness to provide for the University a site of
great value in the heart of London, at a time when
there is’no temptation to incur expenditure upon any
_ but objects of first-rate urgency and importance.
“Tt had at one time been my hope that the Govern-
ment would be able to offer not only the site of which
I have spoken, but also the buildings for the new
_ University headquarters: the Government have, how-
ever, reluctantly come to the conclusion that, while
_they are prepared to make such provision as will
secure the University from loss in respect of main-
_ tenance charges on the new University headquarters,
___ the state of the national finances did not justify their
_ undertaking to provide the cost of the buildings them-
selves from public funds. They feel that in a matter
_ _ in which the honour and dignity of the City of London
_. are so nearly concerned, the University can look with
_ confidence to the generosity and public spirit which
have abways marked the citizens of London: it can
_ do this with the greater assurance that recent years
have shown an increasing readiness upon the part of
_ the great business. community to respond to appeals
for University purposes.
“JT am aware that a matter of such importance to
the University needs to be fully discussed, and that I
cannot fairly expect an immediate answer to the
__ Government’s offer. At the same time the University
__will understand that the Government are naturally
_ anxious to know as soon as possible whether their
__ Offer will be accepted or not, since, if it should be
declined, they propose to make early use of the site
for other purposes. I have, therefore, to ask that
the University’s answer may not be unduly delayed.”
as matter was referred to a special committee
____ for consideration and report as speedily as possible.
- * Genetic Studies of Drosophila.
N2 single animal has provided such a rich field for
discovery in genetics as the little fruit-fly Droso-
_phila (usually known as D. ampelophila, but now
called D. melanogaster), and in this large and hand-
__ somely illustrated volume Prof. Morgan and his col-
_ laborators bring together the results of some of their
__—_« Contributions to the Genetics of Drosophila melanogaster. 1. “The
Origin of Gynandromorphs.” By T. H. Morgan and 'C. B. Bridges.
_* IL. ** The Second Chromosome Group of Mutant Characters.” By C. B.
Bridges and T. H. Morgan. UII. “Inherited Linkage Variations in the
_ Second Chromosome.” By A. H. Sturtevant. IV. ‘“*A Demonstration of
_ Genes Modifying the Character ‘Notch,.’” By T. H.-Morgan: Pp. v+
& 388+12 plates. Publication No. 278. (Washington: Carnegie Institution
Washington, 1919.)
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
do the right of universities to control their own .
recent work upon it. Of the four parts into which
the book is divided, the most interesting is the first,
dealing with the gynandromorphic specimens that have
appeared in Prof. Morgan’s and Dr. Bridges’s experi-
ments, and including a most valuable summary and
discussion of gynandromorphism in other animals. In
Drosophila it appears that about one individual in
every 2200 is gynandromorphic, but these gynandro-
morphs are most varied in their combination of male
and female characters. A considerable proportion of
those described are bilateral, with male secondary sex-
characters on one side and female on the other; a
smaller number are ‘‘fore and aft’’; while the
majority are irregular mosaics, most often with a
preponderance of female characters. It is a remark-
able fact, however, that in Drosophila, contrary to
what is usual in animals of other groups, the two
gonads are always of the same sex—doubtless, as the
authors point out, in consequence of the very early
separation of the primitive germ-cells in the Diptera.
As a result of this, it may happen that a fly is
externally almost entirely of one sex while containing
germ-cells of the other sex, so that Nature here con-
firms the conclusion reached by Meisenheimer and by
Kopeé from transplantation experiments, that the sex
of the gonad in insects has no influence on the
secondary sexual characters. Flies externally chiefly
male, but having ovaries instead of testes, court
normal females, but attract males.
The authors believe that in all but very exceptional
cases gynandromorphs of Drosophila are derived from
fertilised eggs which would normally produce females,
i.e. from eggs containing two X-chromosomes, and
that the male portions arise from cells in which one
X-chromosome has been lost through an abnormal
mitosis in one of the early segmentation divisions.
The evidence for this conclusion is that in almost every
instance the sex-linked factors borne (according to
the chromosome hypothesis) by the two X-chromo-
somes introduced from the parents are distributed as
might be expected between the male and female por-
tions of the fly. For example, a wild-type female
(heterozygous for eosin eye and miniature wing) was
crossed with an eosin-miniature male. A gynandro-
morph among the offspring was female on the left
side, with red eyes and long wing, while the right
side was male with eosin eye and miniature wing.
The explanation offered is that elimination of the
| maternal X-chromosome on the right side allowed the
recessive eosin-miniature characters borne by the
remaining X-chromosome to appear. Morgan’s earlier
hypothesis of the production of gynandromorphs by
the entrance of two spermatozoa into the egg, and
Boveri’s of the division of the egg-nucleus before con-
jugation with the sperm-nucleus, are excluded by the
fact that the non-sex-linked characters borne by the
two parents are not divided between the parts showing
different sexes. In respect of these characters, all
parts of the gynandromorph, whether male or female,
bear the dominant characters, whether they are intro.
duced by the male or female parent. The analysis of
these gynandromorphs thus gives important confirma-
tion to the theory of chromosomes as bearers of
hereditary characters. It is remarkable, in this con-
nection, that although elimination of the paternal and
maternal X-chromosome is equally common, evidence
for the elimination of other chromosomes, which would
give mosaics in characters unconnected with sex, is
very rarely obtained.
Analysis of the records of gynandromorphs in other
groups of animals shows that most are susceptible of
the same explanation. In a few cases some other
hypothesis, such as that of a binucleate egg, must be
invoked. It should be noted that in part i. there
406
NATURE
[May 27, 1920
are several slips and misprints; on plate ii., Figs. 4
and 5 are transposed, according to the description;
on p. 28 the word ‘‘visible’’ appears to be a mis-
print for “‘recessive’’; and on p. 86, 1. 26, ‘‘ female”
is printed for ‘‘male,” etc. But apart from’ these
slips and the rather inconvenient arrangement of the
subject-matter, the work is the most valuable on the
subject of gynandromorphism with which we are
acquainted.
Space does not allow of more than a brief reference
to the other three parts. Part ii. discusses in detail
all the mutant characters that have occurred in ‘‘ the
second chromosome,” i.e. those characters belonging
to the second linked group which are not sex-limited
(sex-linked) in inheritance. Full data of crossing-
over ratios are given, and on the basis of these a
map of the chromosome is constructed, like those
previously published for the X-chromosome. Part iii.
deals with inherited linkage variations in the same
group, and it is concluded that two factors, the posi-
tion of which in the series is determinable by their
linkage relations, reduce the amount of crossing-over
between certain factors without altering their sequence
in the series. Part iv. describes the isolation by
selection of a factor which affects the extent of
development of the character ‘‘notch’’ in the wing,
and proves that change -resulting from selection is
due, not to an alteration in the factor for ‘‘notch,”’
but to the presence of a distinct modifying factor.
It is also shown that Castle’s hypothesis of con-
tamination by heterozygosis is untenable.
Finally, it is impossible to read the facts presented
in this volume without being impressed by the great
strength of the evidence for Morgan’s theory that
Mendelian factors are borne by chromosomes and
arranged in definite sequence within them. Difficul-
ties remain, but a theory which enables predictions
to be made and verified cannot lightlv be disregarded.
L. DONCASTER.
The Conservation of Fuel.
fe view of the importance of national economy in
our fuel reserves, it is not surprising to find that
Sir Dugald Clerk selected the subject of the con-
servation of fuel in the United Kingdom for the James
Forrest lecture which he delivered at the Institution
of Civil Engineers on April 20. The coal raised in
1913 was about 287-4 million tons, of which 189
million tons were retained and consumed here. The
total coal reserves at 2 per cent. per annum increase
will be exhausted in about 250 years, but fuel will
be so expensive long before that time has elapsed that
we shall be hard pressed to maintain the existing
population. A return to the agricultural civilisation
of 1750 would reauire the reduction of our population
to one-third. It is of the utmost importance to study
the engineering problems arising.
A great part of the lecture was taken up in criticis-
ing the figures given by the Coal Conservation Com-
mittee. It will be remembered that this Committee
advocated the establishment of large turbo-electric
stations at about sixteen centres, and the covering of
the country with a network of mains capable of
supplying our whole power needs by electric motors. By
this scheme the Committee expected to save 55 million
tons of coal on power alone. Many competent elec-
tricians and capable motive-power engineers have the
gravest doubts as to the accuracy of the data pre-
sented, and as to the outcome of the ambitious scheme
advocated. The Committee adonted the figure of
5 Ib. of coal ver horse-power-hour as the present
consumption; Sir Dugald gave estimations arrived at
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
by two different methods: one of 3-9 Ib. per b-h.p.-
hour and another of 4-05 lb. per bhp how ‘the
first value is based on a census of production data
corrected by allowing for steam production other than
for motive power, and for an error in total h.p.-
hours as determined by the Committee. The second
value of 4-05 lb. is estimated by considering the
average of many typical steam engines. Taking the
whole of the facts into consideration, and assuming
electricity in the’ future to be used for the generation
of power and light only, then a reduction to 1°56 lb.
of coal per b.h.p.-hour would give a possible saving
of not more than 373 million tons of coal per annum.
The saving of 55 million tons expected by the Com-
mittee is, in Sir Dugald Clerk’s opinion, based on
fallacious reasoning.
The Committee in its report clearly intends also
to generate heat, and expects to do so with economy
superior to the existing systems of coal and gas com-
bustion. Sir Dugald went into the question of the
comparison of gas with electricity for domestic heat-
ing, and arrived at the figure of 43-6 per cent. of the
heat used at the gasworks as the proportion which
the, consumer receives at his premises; taking the
efficiency of the gas at 42 per cent., the final efficiency,
referred to the heat consumption at the gasworks, is
43°6X0-42=18-3 per cent. In electric heating the con-
sumer receives 11-7 per cent. of the heat consumed in
the thermodynamic transformation at the super-station,
and using this with an efficiency of 59 per cent., the
consumer obtains in his apparatus 11-7 x 0-59=6-9 per
cent. of the heat units consumed at the generating
station. Assuming the gasworks to be abolished, and —
electric generating stations to be expanded so as to
supply current for heat supply. at the same generating
efficiency as for power, and taking all facts into con-
sideration,
million tons of coal per annum will be consumed
instead of 67-5; he therefore considers that the super-
stations will not justify their existence, that the
Government scheme is wrong, and that the sweeping
conclusions arrived at by the Coal ‘Conservation
Committee are unjustifiable.
Sir Dugald gives some methods of saving fuel which
are immediately applicable. Great changes are now
in operation throughout the gas industry due to the
adoption of the thermal unit standard for sale.
few years the majority of gasworks will deliver to
the consumer in the form of gas 75 per cent. of the
whole heat of the coal, and the improvements in gas
apparatus, etc., are so great that the efficiency of use
of. the gas will rise from 42 to 55 per cent. He
estimates that a saving of 4-8 million tons of coal on
the present consumption will result from these
changes. On the assumption of the complete displace-
“ment of coal in households by gas, we should use
only 17-5 million tons instead of 35 millions.
Mr. D. Brownlie’s figures for coal consumed in
boiler furnaces were quoted. If boiler attendants be
better trained, and masters take some pride in obtain-
ing best efficiencies, a saving of 4 million tons per
annum would result. Collieries consume about 17
million tons per annum in boiler furnaces at an
average efficiency of 55-5 per cent. If this be raised
to 75 per cent., the saving on this item would be
44 million tons per annum.
The notion of the great gain to be expected from
very large steam turbines is held to be quite erroneous.
Even with the most modern plant an increase in
power per turbine from 10,000 to 100,000 kilowatts
only reduces the steam consumption from 9 to 8-5 Ib.
per kilowatt-hour. A recent examination by Sir
Sir Dugald estimates that the whole
assumed saving on power will be lost, and that 68-6
In a
Pe ee ee ee ee ee ee ery
eh
May 27, 1920]
as
NATURE
407
_ Dugald of the limits of thermal efficiency of gas and
_ oil engines shows that 45 per cent. b.h.p. may be
_ obtained in the near future. Sir Charles Parsons at
the same time prepared an estimate of the limiting
efficiency of the steam turbine as 28 per cent. Steam,
‘internal-combusion, and gas engineers welcome the
competition with electricity supply, but consider
it any attempt to crush out the smaller power units
‘a great Government scheme will act against the
interests of the country as to both coal conserva-
tion and economy in cost.
_ Sir Dugald also referred to the principle of heating
wns by utilising the exhaust steam from steam tur-
bines if central stations, and to Lord Kelvin’s proposal
to heat rooms by means of reversed Carnot cycle
engines. By making full use of our water-power,
three million horse-power could be added to the work
of the country without consuming any additional coal
Buddhism in the Pacific.
A? a meeting of the Royal Anthropological Insti-
_ 4+ tute on Tuesday, May 18, Sir Everard im
_ Thurn, president, in the chair, Sir Henry Howorth
read a paper on ‘Buddhism in the Pacific.’’ The
; paper discussed the disintegrated distribution of the
_ Polynesian race, and the occurrence, especially in the
_ Hawaian archipelago and that of New Zealand, of
two of its factors which are separated by the whole
of the Pacific Ocean, one occurring in the
extreme north and the other in the extreme south,
and separated by an intervening area occupied largely
_ by Melanesians. The two factors in question agree
__yery closely in language, while they differ materially
* in the art and form of the objects which they use.
Inasmuch as the Maoris almost certainly migrated to
_ their nt quarters at the beginning of the
E fifteenth century, this is the only way to account for
_ the virtual identity of their speech with that of the
Hawaians, and the general character of their orna-
mental work with that of the Melanesians. The
Hawaians, on the other hand, present us with a series
of objects, i.e. helmets and cloaks, made of feathers
which, in their form and colour, differ entirely from
those made by other members of the Polynesian race.
They agree in an extraordinary way in colour and
form with those of the Reformed Lamaists of Tibet,
_awho, like other Buddhists, were great travellers and
evangelists at a time when Chinese and Japanese
vessels, as has been so completely proved in recent
“years, were traversing the Indian Ocean and visiting
the whole of the eastern archipelago at least as far
as New Guinea, and apparently even reaching New
Zealand. where many vears ago a very interesting
bronze figure was found.
B. Sir Henry Howorth quoted instances of the drift-
ing and wreckage of Chinese and Japanese vessels
on the central and eastern Pacific during the time
which has elapsed since Euroveans first visited that
ocean, and also the tradition of the Sandwich
Islanders that several Japanese and Chinese ships
had been wrecked among them in early times.
; It was not wonderful, therefore, that we should
_ find their kings and gods adopting the stately dress
used by the Lamas, the colours of which they imi-
tated in feathers. All the details of the helmets
exactly equate, while the cloaks are ornamented with
patches of red on yellow or yellow on red, just as
the Lamaist cloaks are. in the latter case in pursuance
of the injunction of their founder that their cloaks
. must be ragged and patched.
a In the interesting discussion which followed the
reading of the paper, Dr. Glanvill Corney cited
examples, some of which had come under his own
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
obsetvation, of the drifting of boats with native
crews for long distances in the Pacific, and pointed
out that the Polynesians were always ready to put
out to sea. The Chinese had it ‘on record that
Buddhists visited Mexico at a very early date. The
similarity shown by the helmets and cloaks of Hawaii
and Tibet was very striking, and the explanation
offered by Sir Henry Howorth was most probable.
Mr. Ray said that he himself for some years had
been of the opinion that certain elements had been
carried into Polynesia at least from Malaya, if not
from farther—possibly Japan. The characteristic of the
Polynesian was that he was very prone to imitate
anything which took his fancy, as, for instance, Euro-
pean hats had been imitated. The Cambridge Ex-
pedition to the Torres Straits had found a club which
“was clearly an imitation of a Loyalty Islands club.
Mr. Hocart said that in dealing with the wander-
ings of the Polynesians too much stress had been laid
on drifting, but deliberate purpose should be more
emphasised. There was among the Polynesians a
distinct passion for finding out new lands.
Dr. Forbes adduced as evidence of early movement
Chinese objects which he had seen taken from Peru-
vian graves which were certainly pre-Inca in date.
Sir Everard im Thurn, in bringing the discussion
to a close, said that Buddhist monks might well have
accompanied the early voyagers in the Pacific. His
attention had recently been directed to the question
of the Hawaian helmets, and he wished to point
out that the native peoples of the Pacific were very
fond of making head-coverings for use on ceremonial
occasions. They vaid great attention to the orna-
mental dressing of their hair, and if their hair were
not suitable for this purpose they made artificial hair
out of grass seed. He himself had brought back
from Fiji an example of a native wig used in a cere-
monial dance, which was now in the Pitt Rivers
Museum at Oxford. It was probable, therefore, in
view of this particular tendency, that the Hawaians
would take readily to copying the head-dress of the
Buddhists. This particular form of head-dress or
helmet was not confined to Hawaii; objects orna-
mented with men’s heads wearing head-dresses like
those of Hawaii occurred in Hermit Island, near
New Ireland.
Astronomy at Oxford during the War.
WE have recently ‘received from Prof. H. H.
Turner, of the Oxford University Observatory,
a collection of papers published during the years
1914-19. These for the most part are reprints from
the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society, and represent researches carried out during
this period by Prof. Turner and various members of
his staff, including several volunteer workers who
have rendered some valuable assistance. It is, of
course, impossible adequately to discuss a miscel-
laneous collection of papers such as this in any detail,
but there are several outstanding features of interest
which call for special remark.
In the first place, a considerable number of the
papers is devoted to an important research of Prof.
Turner’s on ‘‘A Proposal for the Comparison of the
Stellar Magnitude Scales of the Different Observa-
tories taking Part in the Astrographic Catalogue.’’
This was first outlined at Paris in 1909, the proposal
being: ‘‘That the number of images recorded under
each unit of the magnitude scale be counted and
tabulated.’’ The chief objects in view were to detect
systematic errors of scale at the various collaborating
observatories, and to test Prof. Kapteyn’s con-
‘clusion that the Galaxy is relatively richer in faint
408
NATURE
[May 27, 1920
‘stars than the remaining parts of the sky—a theory
upon which some doubt had been cast by earlier work
of this nature. The method, although of extreme
simplicity, has certainly proved efficient for the first
of these objects, and various systematic errors of scale
have been clearly exhibited. With regard to the second
object, an examination of the ratio of the number of
faint stars to bright in the various regions investigated
appeared at first to negative Prof. Kapteyn’s .con-
clusion; but, although this ratio was not found to
vary with galactic latitude, certain changes were
detected in different parts of the sky. Prof. Turner
has thus been led to the interesting conclusion that
regions of ‘*‘ obscuration "’ exist which tend to obliterate
the fainter stars, and these regions appear to form a
‘spiral in the heavens, the central line of which is
approximately given by the equation
a+ 3:668= 247°,
where a denotes right ascension and 6 declination.
‘There appears to be a fairly sharp boundary to this
‘spiral of obscuration ’’ on the side of smaller R.A.
in the northern hemisphere, and on the side of
greater R.A. in the southern hemisphere.
Another very valuable piece of work is represented
by a series of papers on ‘‘ Baxendell’s Observations
-of Variable Stars,’’ edited by Prof. Turner and Miss
-M. A. Blagg. <A very considerable amount of pains-
taking work must have been expended on this task
‘of revising and’ editing Baxendell’s observations of
-some twenty-three long-period variables. The greater
part of the work appears to have been done by Miss
Blagg, and the result as a whole is certainly a most
~valuable contribution to the study of this particular
branch of astronomy. In connection with this sub-
_ject we may also mention two papers by Prof. Turner
“On the Classification of Long-period Variables,’’ in
~which the alternative classifications of the author and
-of the Rev. T. E. R. Phillips are discussed and com-
pared at some length. Both methods are considered
to be useful, and a suggestion is made that some
stars might pass from one of Phillips’s groups to the
- other during the course of their evolution. This latter
‘idea is more fully discussed in the particular case of
W Cygni, which appears to be changing from
_Phillips’s Group I. to Group II.
There are many other shorter papers of consider-
able interest, but these are too numerous to be noted
here individually. The whole collection pays ample
tribute to the energy and resource with which work
has been carried out at the observatory during the
trying period of the last few years. Apart from the
many difficulties directly resulting from the war, there
have been other troubles with which the staff has had
to contend. In particular, we regret to note the
decease of the caretaker, Mr. J. Mullis, who had been
with the observatory since its erection in 1874. There
is at present no second assistant or resident com-
puter, and Prof. Turner and his staff must certainly
be congratulated on the way in which the work has
been carried on in the face of these and numerous
other difficulties. D. L. E.
The Alligator Pear.
“as cultivation of the Avocado or alligator pear
is the subject of articles by Mr. W. G. Freeman
and others in the Bulletin of the Department of Agri-
culture, Trinidad and Tobago (vol. xviii., part 3).
‘The Avocado (Persea gratissima), a member of the
family Lauracez, is a pear-shaped fruit with a large
central stone, the amount of covering flesh varying
-considerably according as the kind is good or poor.
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
' It is one of the most important of the fruits which
have become widely distributed since the discovery
of the New World. It is probably a native of tropical
America, and was introduced at an early date into the
West Indies, where it is now naturalised. Sir Hans
Sloane, in his ‘‘ History of Jamaica ’’ (1707-25), gives
a.long description of the tree and its fruit, and Dr.
Patrick Browne (1756) is eloquent on the flavour of
the latter and the esteem in which it is held. The
edible portion of the fruit varies from a little under
one-half to more than three-quarters of the weight
of the whole, according to the thickness of the rind
and the relative size of the seed. Its food-value is
mainly due to its high -fat content, which in some
varieties approaches that of the olive, and is especially
high in the fruit grown in Florida and California.
Although so long cultivated in the West Indies, yet
little attention has been given until recently to the
selection and propagation of good varieties. It is an
extremely variable plant, and the method of selecting
seeds from trees bearing the best fruit and of high
productiveness gives uncertain results, as the varieties
do not come true from seed. But by budding or
grafting from good varieties these may be fixed, and
by this means poor trees will be converted into good
varieties. Mr. Freeman suggests the probability of a
seedless Avocado being obtained, as occasional seed-
less fruits have been reported from the United States
and Honolulu. The Avocado needs no very special
care in cultivation, and does very well on the poor
soil of parts of the northern range in Trinidad.
Budding has been practised at the St. Clair Experi-
ment- Station for the last four years, and the curator,
Mr. R. O. Williams, gives details of the operation.
The method is the same as that generally adopted for
roses and citrus. The full-grown tree is fairly free
from insect pests, but the plant is more susceptible in
early stages and when recently budded. Mr. F. W
Urich describes the various insect pests and means
for combating them. A more serious disease which
attacks the fruit is the so-called anthracnose, very
closely related to the fungus which causes anthracnose
of the mango. In the case of fruits packed for i a
this disease causes complete rotting of the whole
consignment. Repeated sprayings with Bordeaux
mixture are necessary to prevent its development.
The Improvement of Grassland.!
j? is too often the case that grassland is left to
take care of itself, and that no steps are taken
for its improvement. Even where manuring is carried
out it is usually confined to occasional dressings of —
farmyard manure; little or no use is made of artificial
fertilisers, and the beneficial effects of lime upon the
herbage are far less widely known than they should
be. The consequence is that much of the finest
pasture and meadow land in the country is carryin
only a second- or third-rate herbage simply from lac
of knowledge of the most effective treatments to bring
about improvement. For the education of public
opinion in this respect nothing is more useful than
demonstration plots, and the Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries has issued a most valuable and com-
prehensive pamphlet outlining schemes of experi-
ments suitable for this purpose. The schemes in-
tended for farmers are simple in character and direct
and practical in their object, while those drawn up
for the agricultural colleges and institutes deal with
experiments requiring considerable attention and
supervision.
1 ‘The Improvement of Grassland : Suggestions for Demonstrations and
Experiments.” Miscellaneous Publications No. 25. Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries. : }
: May 27, 1920]
NATURE
409
—
As a preliminary, the necessary tables are given to
nable the manures used to be standardised to ensure
iformity of treatment so far as possible, and the
10d of noting and reporting the results is clearly
utlined. It is recommended that the attention of
mers should be devoted to the improvement of the
ious classes of grassland on different types of soil,
particulars are given for the manuring of meadow
, seeds’ or rotation hay, and pastures of different
grades. Emphasis is laid on the value of liming
periments, which should be carried on at the same
time as the manurial tests.
bys attention of agricultural colleges and institutes
is directed to the need for various experiments other
_ than manurial trials. Grazing trials properly carried
out would provide valuable Eanetion as to the best
_ methods of dealing with pasture land, and mechanical
operations are suggested to show the effect of mole-
: dr aining, cultivation, breaking, and reseeding. In
_ addition, it is suggested that a good deal of attention
might profitably be directed to a consideration of the
_ seeds used for sowing down, with regard to the per-
-manence of different varieties, the most suitable mix-
_ tures for leys and for renovating permanent grass, and
_ to the possibility of harvesting supplies of seed.
‘The pamphlet is so suggestive and so broad in its
goobe that it should find its way into the hands of all
interested in grassland, and it is much to be hoped
_ that the official nature of the publication will not
__- prevent it from reaching the general farming public.
Sedat; . E. BRENCHLEY.
os powrae Levelling Errors.
A DEPARTMENTAL paper lately published by the
{x Survey of Egypt contains an interesting inves-
tigation of a systematic error which has been found
to occur in the levelling carried out in Egypt and in
the Sudan. The effect of this error, which has the
same sign over all kinds of ground, acts in the direc-
_ tion of making the backstaff reading systematically
_ too small and the forestaff reading too great. Move-
ment of the staves or level and other sources of
that with hotter air near the ground setting up con-
vection currents, unsteadiness of the staff-image sets
in, _preventing further work. In the afternoon the
ground cools very slowly, so that the eng in the
temperature lapse-rate, and consequently in the refrac-
tion, is then very gradual.
change in refraction during the early morning hours,
of which the effect is noticeable in observations taken
at a few minutes’ interval. To eliminate it, all
staff readings are now taken with as little delay as.
staff first and the forestaff first—a procedure which
has very materially reduced the systematic error, not
only in precise levelling, but to a much greater degree
in. second-order levelling, where the time taken
between successive readings is much longer.
1-“Svstematic Error-in Spirit Levelling.” By.J. H. Cole.
Egypt Departmental Paper No. 35. (Cairo, 1919.)
NO. 2639, VOL. 105]
j
3
3 _ possible, and the observer reads alternately the back-
a
Survey of
error is, therefore, traced to the very rapid
It has been recognised for some time that a sys--
tematic error may be caused by such a temperature
inversion when levelling over sloping ground, but in
the present report the rapid change of the temperature
lapse-rate from a maximum value to zero is indicated
as a cause which may be expected to operate even
on level ground in any region where hot days follow
clear, cold nights with effective radiation. In the
last annual report of the Ordnance Survey such a
systematic error, almost invariably of one sign, is
referred to as being still unexplained. It would seem
that here also local temperature inversions near the
ground may be concerned to some extent.
~
University and Educational Intelligence.
BirMINGHAM.—Sir John Cadman is resigning his
post as professor of mining at the end of the current
session.
CaMBRIDGE.—On, May 19 the degree of Doctor of
Law honoris causa was conferred upon Lord Ply-
mouth, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Jellicoe, Field-
Marshal Lord Haig, Rear-Admiral Sir W. R. Hall,
M.P., the Abbé Henri Breuil, Institute of Human
Paizontology, Paris, and Sir John Sandys, Orator
Emeritus,
' Leeps.—At a meeting of the University Council
held on May 19, it was resolved that a chair. of
physica] chemistry should be instituted, and Dr.
| H
. M. Dawson was selected to be the first occupant
of the chair. Since 1905 Dr. Dawson has been lec-
turer in physical chemistry at the University, and has
carried out extensive researches in various branches
of physical chemistry—in, particular, investigations.
bearing on the constitution of solutions and on the
mechanism of chemical change.
Lonpon.—The degree of D.Sc. (Engineering) has
been conferred on Mr. B. Laws, an external
student, for a thesis entitled ‘‘ Elasticity and Dis-
tribution of Stress in Thin Steel Plates,’’ and other
papers. Yor e
From the report of the Principal Officer (Sir Cooper
Perry) for 1919-20, it appears that the University can
look forward to a period of unprecedented develop-
ment. Admissions by all channels in 1919-20 amounted
to 12,608, almost double the corresponding number for
1913-14. Candidates for first degrees were 936, com-
paring with 1636, reflecting the diminished numbers
of those who matriculated ‘‘during the lean—the
honourably lean—years of the war.’’ It is of in-
terest to note that of the 1086 candidates for all
degrees, 613 were internal and 473 external. This
is gratifying evidence that the ‘‘ private ’’ student is
tending to disappear, or, rather, to study under more
favourable conditions. The list of benefactions to the
University and its colleges is most encouraging. The
outstanding gift is from the trustees of the Sir Ernest
Cassel Educational Trust of 150,000!., and 4oool. a
year for five years. New University chairs have been
established in aeronautics, modern Greek, Portu-
guese, Imperial historv, Dutch, bacteriology, phy-
siology, pathology. and physics. The question of
hostel accommodation is being considered by a special
committee. The report concludes on ‘‘a justified note
of congratulation.”” The duty of the universities is
plain; their province, though extensive and varied, is
defined; their wav is illuminated; “into the univer-
sities the nation looks in a uniaue degree for hearts
and minds fitted to enrich the blood of the race—
for the constant supply of men and women of trained
insight and enlarged sympathies, apt for the higher
offices of citizenship. This is our peculiar duty—to
410
NATURE
[May 27, 1920
conduct the Lampadephoria of the inspiration of
humanity, and to guard and develop the most precious
and enduring aspects of the most comprehensive of
all the arts—the art of Life itself.’’
THE new building of the Department of Applied
Statistics and Eugenics (including the Galton and
Biometric Laboratories) at University College,
London, will be opened by Dr. Addison, Minister of
Health, on Friday, June 4. The Vice-Chancellor of
the University will preside.
Two lectures on Factors in the Froth-flotation of
Minerals will be given at the Sir John Cass Technical
Institute, Aldgate, E.C. 3, by Mr. H. Livingstone Sul-
man, on Wednesdays, June 2 and 9g, at 5.30 p.m.
The chair at the opening lecture will be taken by Mr.
F. Merricks, president of the Institution of Mining
and Metallurgy.
THE Glasgow Technical College is preparing for
its entrance hall a monument in bronze and marble
to the 612 students and members of its staff who gave
their lives in the war. To show the quality and
quantity of the war work of the 3218 members,
students, and past students of the college who served
in the Army or Navy, or on special national duty, the
college has issued, in a volume of 211 pages, a list of
their names and services. The preface, by Sir George .
Beilby and Mr. Stockdale, the director, summarises
the contributions of the college to research on fuels
and explosives, the testing of war materials, and the
training of munition workers. The normal classes
had to be maintained for the thousands of evening
students as well as for the many foreigners and
refugees, for whom ‘most of the day classes had to
be continued in spite of the reduction in the staff.
The successes enumerated include three awards of the
Victoria Cross and 336 orders and crosses. Amongst
the ranks, attained, one student becamle colonel,
fiftgaen were lieutenant-colonels, and seventy-seven
majors. The letters quoted from the Government
Departments express high appreciation of the re-
search work conducted at the college. Of its con-
tributions, both of men and mind, to the national
strength, the college and science may well be proud.
THE recently issued report on the war work of the
College of Technology, Manchester (faculty of tech-
nology in Manchester University), gives an interesting
account of the services rendered by members of the
college in his Majesty’s Forces—particularly in con-
nection with the Royal Engineers and the technical
branches of the Royal Navy—and in the many fields
of scientific research opened up by the war. The
greater part of the report is concerned with college
war work other than that of supplying men. It ap-
pears that before the war was over the college was
by no means large enough to undertake all the work
which the military authorities—including the Air
Board as well as the Admiralty and the War Office—
were anxious to entrust to it.. The mechanical and
electrical engineering departments of the college were
intimately concerned with the work of the Lancashire
Anti-Submarine Committee, which +had its head-
quarters in the college, and produced and de-
veloped several instruments, including, in particular, a
deep-sea hydrophone for detecting ‘and combating
enemy submarines. The same departments helved to
solve certain problems relating to the fitting of wire-
less apparatus to aeroplanes; for instance, a high fre-
quency alternator, designed and manufactured in the
college. was largely adopted for both naval and mifi-
tary ‘planes. A new type of gas furnace designed in
the college led to important improvements in the heat
treatment of machine tools, involving an increase of
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
30 per cent. in the speed of the machining of shells
and other munitions. The same research enabled the
college to supply the Admiralty with special blades for
cutting mine mooring cables, and when the demand
for these blades was greater than the college could
supply, the Admiralty required its manufacturers to
employ the method of heat treatment devised in the
College of Technology. An improved cast iron of high
tensile strength, produced. under the direction of the
metallurgical department of the college, was usefully
employed in the manufacture of gas shells. The col-
lege departments of applied chemistry and textiles car-
ried out a number of investigations upon fabrics used
in aircraft manufacture. A thorough investigation of
the structure and scouring of airshiv fabrics led to the
development of a process which was afterwards ap-
plied to all R.N.A.S. fabrics. The giant airships R33
and R34 were treated with a special done produced at
the college before starting on their long-distance
flights. The chemical laboratories were also engaged
during the war in investigating processes for the
manufaeture of explosives, pharmaceutical products,
dyestuffs, rubber derivatives, and foodstuffs.
Societies and Academies.
LONDON. ars
Royal Society, May 13.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Dr. A. D. Waller: Demonstration
of the apparent “‘ growth”’ of plants (and of inanimate
materials) and of their apparent ‘‘ contractility.’’ In
Sir J. C. Bose’s original demonstration an amputated
leaf was fixed up in connection with a crescograph, at
a magnification stated to be x10’, and the indicator
was shown to be moving in a direction and at a speed
that were stated as representing the growth of the
petiole. Alternating currents were now sent through the
leaf, causing a sudden reversal of the movement of the
indicator, e.g. in the demonstration that the present
author witnessed at the Royal Society of Medicine the
indicator (a spot of reflected light) moved to the right at
what he judged to be something like 1 metre per sec.
in the direction of elongation (by growth?), and flew
off scale in the opposite direction, at least ten times
as fast, as soon as the buzz of the exciting coil was >
heard (‘‘ degrowth ’’). The demonstration was, in Dr.
Waller’s opinion, illusory. The movement to the right
(indicating an elongation of petiole=o-1 m. per sec.)
was indeed consistent with ‘‘ growth,’’ although its
rate was surprisingly high under the conditions of
experiment. The elongation might, however, have
been due to, or modified by, many accidental varia-
tions of conditions—heat, moisture, handling of plant
during preparation, etc.—and was precisely similar to
the gradual elongation that takes place in a damp
fiddle-string under similar conditions. The second part
of the experiment, when the ‘‘ excited ’’ plant shortened.
and caused the indicator to flv off to the left, is held to
afford conclusive proof of fallacy. The fact belonged
to the familiar phenomena of heat contraction aroused
by electrical currents in all kinds of (doubly refracting)
moist conductors, whether living or dead, to the study
of which attention was directed by Engelmann in his
Croonian Lecture of 1895. These .are demonstrable
with a low-power crescograph (x 10°), and play a part
in masking or simulating phvsiological changes when
a high power (x 10’) is employed.—W. N. F. Woeod-
land: The ‘renal portal’? svstem (renal venous
meshwork) and kidney excretion in vertebrata. The
first three narts of this memoir contain, in the first
place, proof that the assumption, commonly made in
physiological literature, that the venous blood _sup-
plied ” to the kidneys of lower vertebrata mixes with
_ bromine.
2 a ee
_G. Chaudron:
May 27, 1920]
NATURE
All
arterial blood and traverses the system of channels
known in mammals: as the intertubular plexus, is
_€rroneous—the renal
afferent vein-blood does not
pply the kidney tubules. The renal artery-blood
traverses the intertubular plexus proper, and the renal
erent vein-blood a system of wide sinusoids (renal
yenous meshwork), which has no connection with the
intertubular plexus, save that the latter opens into the
‘mer where the venous blood flows into the renal
efferent veins. In the second place, much experimental!
and otherevidence is provided to prove that the “renal
_ portal ”” system is devoid of function so far as kidney
secretion is concerned. Evidence is also adduced to
shew that the urine is solely secreted by the renal
_ tubules, tne glomeruli taking no part. The glomeruli
_ {as will be explained in the forthcoming Part iv.) are
_ solely*to be regarded as retia mirabilia and function
as such. This is the tubule-cum-rete theory of kidney
secretion. ,
Zoological Society, May 11.—Prof. J. P. Hill, vice-
ae president, in the chair._Dr. W. J. Dakin: Fauna of
Western Australia. III. Further contributions to the
study of the Onychovhora.—C. Forster-Cooper : Chali-
cotheroidea from Baluchistan.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, May 3.—M. Henri Deslandres.
in the chair.—C. Moureu and J. C. Bongrand : New re-
searches on carbon sub-nitride. The action of the
halogens, haloid acids, and alcohols. Numerous
attempts to prepare the compound CN—C =C—CN in
quantity proved unsuccessful, and hence experiments
on this substance had to be confined to those requir-
ing little material. The sub-nitride combines with
) Hydrobromic acid gives bromobutene di-
nitrile, CN—CH=CBr—CN, and hydriodic acid fur-
nishes the corresponding iodine compound. Hvdro-
chlorie acid acts differently, addition and partial hy-
drolysis taking place simultaneously, giving chloro-
_butene nitrile amide,
CN—CFE =CCI—CONH..
Ethyl alcohol forms an addition product, probably
ethoxybutene-dinitrile-—]. Constantin: The fossil
challk Siphonez of Munier-Chalmas.—A. Blondel :
Best conditions to be fulfilled by long-distance electric
cables for energy transmission. Practical solutions.—
A. de Gramont: The spectrographic detection | of
metals, especially zinc, in animal organisms. Details
of the application of the spectrograph to the detection
of zinc in the ash from snake poison—G. Julia:
Families of functions of several variables.—B.
Jekhowsky : Differential equations of the second order
verified by Bessel’s functions of several variables.—J.
Kampé de Fériet: The use of generalised differentials
for the formation and integration of certain linear
differential equations.—MM. Descolas and Prétet: The
macrographic study of the propagation of cooling in
the interior of a steel ingot starting from its sclidi-
fication. The method is based on the appearance of
_ the specimen after etching with dilute sulphuric acid
(77 in 5).—D. Wondros: The integration of the La-
place eauation between two non-concentric spheres.—
M. Broglie: The properties of reinforcing
screens with respect to X-ray spectra and on a split-
ting of the 8 line of the K spectrum of tungsten.—
Reversible reactions of water on
tungsten and the oxides of tungsten.
K =A0) has been studied at temperatures between
2
600° C. and 1000° C: The results are given in both
numerical and graphical forms.—C. Zenghelis and B.
Papaconstantinou : Colloidal rhodium. Sodium rhodio-
chloride was reduced in presence of sodium protal-
binate by various reducing agents, hydrazine sulphate,
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
The. constant |
hydrogen gas, and formaldehyde, the last of which
gave the best preparation. After dialysis and drying
in a vacuum, brilliant scales are obtained which are
very stable. Solutions have remained unchanged for
two years. The crystals contain 33 per cent. of
rhodium. Colloidal rhodium absorbs about 2700
times its volume of hydrogen, and from 300 to 1800
times its volume of carbon monoxide, according to the
conditions.—O. Bailly: The action of neutral
methyl and ethyl sulphates on alkaline phosphates in
aqueous solution.—J. B. Semderens and J. Aboulenc ;
The catalytic decomposition of the fatty acids by
carbon. ‘The vapours of the fatty acids, from
acetic to isovaleric, give no gas at 460° C. in the
absence of a catalyst; but in presence of purified
animal charcoal decomposition takes place at 360° to
380° C. The products of the reaction include carbon
monoxide and dioxide, unsaturated hydrocarbons,
hydrogen and methane, a_ liquid containing
water, and traces of ketones and aldehydes. Sugar _
carbon is less active as a catalyst, and a much higher
temperature is required to effect the decomposition.—
P. Guérin and A. Goris: A new plant containing
coumarin, Melettis melissophyllum. The presence of
coumarin in this labiate has been proved: it probably
occurs as a glucoside hydrolysable by emulsin.—Ad.
Davy de Virville: Note on the comparative geogra-
phical distribution of Primula officinalis, P. grandi-
flora, and P. elatior in the weste of France.
P. grandiflora grows best in damp, shady spots,
whilst P. officinalis prefers dry soil and positions ex-
posed to sun; hence, although hybrids of these two
species are readily formed, they rarely occur in Nature.
In railway cuttings the conditions favourable to each
species may occur in close proximity, and hence the
hybrid is particularly abundant along railway lines.
It is suggested that P. elatior may have originated as
a hybrid between the two species above-mentioned.—
H. Coupin: Seedlings which turn green in_ the
dark. The green colouring matter of pine seedlings
grown in thé absence of light is not identical with
that of pine seedlings grown in daylight. The differ-
ences are marked in Pinus sylvestris, less marked in
P. pinea, and slight in P. maritima.—A. Mayer:
The mode of action of the ovoison_ gases
utilised during the war —J. Nageotte: Formation and
structure of blood-clots.—H. Violle: Mill and hamo-
lysis. Normal milk does not produce hamolysis of
red blood corpuscles, not even when mixed with 30
per cent. of its volume of water. Any milk producing
hemolysis after this addition of water is abnormal.—
M. Marage: The limits of debility and pretuberculosis.
—P. Wintrebert : Medullary conduction in Scyllorhinus
canicula, and the supposed function of the transitory
dorsal giant cells of Rohon-Beard.—M. Leécaillon :
Eggs intermediate between the summer and winter
eegs produced in the cocoon of the silkworm.—L.
Hudelo, A. Sartory, and H. Montlour: Eczematoid
enidemiomycosis due to a _ parasite of the genus
Endomyces.—F. Diénert, F. Wandenbulke, and Mlle.
M. Launey: The action of activated sludges.
Books Received.
The Social Diseases: Tuberculosis, Syphilis,
Alcoholism, Sterility. By Dr. J. Héricourt. Trans-
lated, with a final chapter, by B. Miall. Pp. x+246.
(London: George Routledge and Sons, Ltd.) 7s. 6d.
net,
Animal and Vegetable Oils, Fats, and Waxes:
Their Manufacture, Refining, and Analysis, including
the Manufacture of Candles, Margarine, and Butter.
By Dr. G. Martin. Pp. x+218. (London: Crosby
Lockwood and Son.) 12s. 6d. net.
412
NATURE
[May 27, 1920 _
Department of . Statistics, India. Agricultural
Statistics of India, 1917-18. Vol. i... Pp. xvi+ 321.
(Calcutta: Superintendent, 'Government Printing,
India.) 2 rupees.
Geology of the Mid-Continent Oilfields, Kansas,
Oklahoma, and North: Texas. By Dr. T. O. Bos-
worth. Pp. xv+314. (New York: The Macmillan
Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 3 dollars.
Chemical Services Committee, 1920, Report.
Pp. xii+121. (Simla: Supt., Government Central
Press.)
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, May 27
Roya InsTiITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 3. Toritliaen Archer: Dreams,
with Special Reference to Psycho-Analysis.
Linnean Society (Anniversary Meeting), at 3.
Roya Socirry, at 4.30.
Concrete Instirutre (Annual General Meeting, followed by an Ordinary
Meeting), at 7.30.—Major H. Best : The Mystery Port, Richborough.
Rovat Society oF MEDICINE (Urology Section), at 8.30.—Sir Peter
‘Freyer: Modern Progress in Urinary Surgery.
FRIDAY, May 28.
Royat Society oF Mepicine (Study of Disease in Children Section)
at. 4.30.--(Annual General Meeting.)
PuysicaL Soctrty oF Lonpon, at 5.—Sir W. H. Bragg and Others:
Discussion on X-ray Spectra.
Junior INsTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, at 7.30.—A. Arnold: Two Years as
an Engineer in the Grand Fleet.
Roya Society or MeEpicineE (Epidemiology and State mone eres
(Annual General Meeting), at 8.30.—Dr. P. Hartley and Prof. C.
Martin: The Apparent Rate of Disappearence of Diphtheria Bacilli from
the Throat = Mis $4 Attack of the Disease.
Roya INSTITUTION OF Great Britain, at 9.—Prof. W. L. Bragg:
‘The Packing of Atoms in Crystals.
SATURDAY, May 29.
Roya InstiruTion or GREAT BRITAIN, at 3.—Dr. J. H. Jeans: The
Theory of Relativity (Tyndall Lectures).
MONDAY, May 31.
Roya Socrery or Arts (Indian Section), at 4.30.—A. Howard: ‘The
Improvement of Crop Production tn India.
Vicroria InstiTuTE (at Central Buildings, Westminster), at 4.30.—Rev.
S. McDowall: The Meaning of the Asthetic Impulse.
Surveyors’ INsTITUTION, at 5.—(Annual General Meeting.)
Rovat GroGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (at Aolian Hall), at 5.30.—(Anniversary
Meeting.)
Royat Society or MeEp'cinE (Odontology Section) (Annual General
Meeting), at 8.—C. A. Clark: Relation of Teeth to the Floor of the
Antrum.
TUESDAY, June t.
InsTITUTION or Gas Encinerrs (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers),
at 10.30a.m.—Sir Dugald Clerk: Presidential Address. —Report_of
Refractory Materials Research Committee: (a) Tke Casting of Gas
» Retorts; (4) Some Comparative Tests of Machine-made and Hand-made
Silica Bricks ; (c) The Specific Heats of Refractory Materials at High
Temperatures.—Report of the Life of Gas Meters Research Committee:
The Internal Corrosion of Mains, Services, and Meters.—Dr. S. F.
Dufton and Prof. J. W. Cobb: Report of Institution Gas Research
Fellowship: Some High Temperature Reactions of Toluene and Benzene.
Rovat HorricuLTuRAL Society (at Royal Gardens, Chelsea), at~3.—
Dr. E. J. Russell: Some Modern Aspects of Manuring.
Baral INSTITUTION OF GREAT. BRITAIN, at 3.—Major C. E. Inglis.:
The Evolution of Large Bridge Construction.
ZooLoGICAL SoOcIETY OF LONDON, at 5.30.—Dr. G. M. Vevers: Report
on the Entozoa Collected from Ane, which Died in the Gardens
during the Past Nine Months.—Prof. BR. ‘I. Leiper: Exhibition: Experi-
- mental Transmission of Some Helminth UP cant —Dr. W.T. Calman:
Notes om Marine Wood-boring Animals, 1. The Shipworms (Teredinidz).
—Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell: Notes on an African Trip, .with Lantern
Illustrations.
Rovat PHoroGcraPHic Socirty of Great Britain (Technical Meeting),
at 7.—C. P. Crowther: Japanese J/élange, including Photographs and
Examples of Japanese Crafts.
RovaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Dr. B.
The Economic Pursuits of the Trobriand Islands. -
R6ONTGEN Society (at Medical Society of London), at 8.15.—(Annual
General Meeting.)
Rovat Society oF Mropicine (Psychiatry Section) (Annual General
Meeting), at 8.30.—Dr. D. Forsyth; The Psycho-Analysis of a Case of
Early Paranoid Dementia.
WEDNESDAY, June 2.
INSTITUTION OF GAS ENGINEERS (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers),
at 16 a.m.— Third Report of the Gas Investigation Committee.
RovaL Sig dg te Sociery (at Royal Gardens, Chelsea), at 3-—
Dr: A. - Rendle : Plants of Interest in the Exhibition.
SociETY >t Pusriic ANALYSTS AND OTHER ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS (at
Chemical Society), at 8.-—R. Leitch Morris: Perchlorate Method for
Potash.—H. Droop Richmond: Estimation for Nitroglycerine.—E. R.
Dovey: Apparatus for Evolution Methods of cas “is An Improved
Form of U-tube. \ 4
THURSDAY, June 3.
INSTITUTION OF Gas ENGINEERS (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers),
at 10 a.m.—Society of British Gas Industries: .Carbonisation.—H. f.
NO. 2639, VOL. 105 |
Malinowski:
Hodsman and Prof. J.W. Cobb : Oxygen in Gas Production.—J. Fisher:
Electricity Supply by Gas Companies.—G. Warburton: Contemplations
on the Report of the Fuel Research Board.
Royat HorticutTurat Society (at Royal Gardens, Chelsea), at 3.—
Capt. H. J. Page: Green Manuring—Its Possibilities in Horticulture.
Royvat Institution oF GreaT Brita, at 3. —William Archer : Dreams
with Special Reference to Psycho-Analysis.
Roya Socigrty, at 4.30.—Sir Ernest Rutherford : The Nuclear Constitu~
tion of the Atom (Bakerian Lecture).
Linnean Society oF LONDON, at 5.—R. Swainson-Hall: Exhibition of
50 Drawings of the Oil-Palm, Zlae/s guineensis.—A. Whitehead : Objects
Observed near Basra during the War.—Prof. W. J. Dakin: Whaling in
the Southern Ocean.— Dr. R. R. Gates : Demonstration of Chromosomes
in the Pollen Development of Lettuce.
CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.
Roya Society oF Mepicine (Obstetrics and Gynecology Section), at
8.—Dr. P. Turner : Traumatic Rupture of the Pedicle ofa Sub-Perito-
neal Fibroid.—Dr. F. Anderson: A Case of Rupture of the Uterus.—Dr.
F. Shaw and Dr. Burrows: Radical Cure of Advanced Carcinoma of the
Cervix, made Possible by the Application of Radium.—G, Ley: The
Pathology of Ante-Partum Hzmorrhage.
FRIDAY, June 4.
Rovat Socrery or Arts (Indian and ‘Colonial Sections, Joint Meeting),
: 4.30.—Prof. Sir John Cadman: The Oil Resources of the British
mpire.
Roya INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 9.—Sir Ronald Ross: Science
and Poetry.
SATURDAY, June
Roya INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at aia J. H. Jeans : The
‘eet of Quanta.
CONTENTS. PAGE
The University of London: A Great Opportunity . 381
Manuals on Applied Chemistry . . , Mera iv dy irate ¥. 44
A Standard Book on Soils. By E. PE R. 2 hy ed
Savages of the Far Past. By R. R. M. “2 384
The Problem of Clean oak Safe Milk, By Prof.
Sheridan Delépine .... 2 els eile eee
Our Bookshelf . Sh 386
Letters to the Editor:—
Scientific Work: Its Spirit and Reward.—Dr,
Gilbert J. Fowler . 387
Applied Science and Industrial Research. eo w.
Williamson. . 387
A Rainbow Inside Out. ‘(With Diagrams. \—C--0.
Bartram 085 ens ey
‘* All-or-None” in the Auditory Nerve.—Dr. w.
Perrett . | 390
British and Foreign Scientific “Apparatus. Douglas es
H. Baird. 390
Mortlakes as a Cause of ‘River- windings Henry *
Bury . Tn ue ee
Science and the New Army. Oe Wright | a ee
Waage’s Bmp Synthesis of Phloroglucin
' from Glucose. —Dr. M. Nierenstein . 391
The Development of British East Africa. (Wus-
trated.) . 392
Weather Notes of Evelyn, Pepys, and Swift in
Relation to British Climate. By Capt. C. J. P.
Cave . oieyv'e( RCPS SS
Optical Instruments in Industry, (Ilustrated.) + 394
The British Sea Fisheries. (instead By = - 397
Notes F ~ 398
Our Astronomical Column: :—
Astronomical Announcements by Wireless Telegraphy 403
The Astrographic Catalogue 403
Tidal Friciion and the Lunar and Solar Accelerations 403
The Iron and Steel Institute. By Prof. H. C. H.
Carpenter, F.R.S... 403
The University of London: Government Offer of a )
Site .. 404
Genetic Studies of ‘Drosophila. " By Prof, is Ks
Doncaster, F.R.S. . ws cone paa ba ana
The Conservation of Fuel - Fae eerie sy
Buddhism in the Pacific . 8 ois ene ee
Astronomy at Oxford during the War. By D.L. E. 407.
The Alligator Pear . 408
The eng Hg of Grassland. " By Dr. Wik a
Brenchley yk se 04 3 3g ea
Levelling Errors. By H. G re oy oes as Pee
University and Educational Intelligence: oo hay eee
Societies and Academies. . .:. . 2... «4% 4 ) « 410
Books Received 25. sn. ee Sen es 6 ec
Diary of Societies ~ 6 jos i hicaeechbates a sce eee
THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices :
is MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
‘Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
; Present State of the Dye Industry.
May 21 Sir Henry Birchenough, who has suc-
_ ceeded Lord Moulton as chairman of the company,
_ emphasised the importance of a great dye-making
the occasion of the annual general meeting
of the British Dyestuffs Corporation held on
industry as an instrument of national defence,
. pointing out that practically the whole of the
poison gases used by the German Army in the
eNweks Cy
‘war were made
- doubt be greatly extended,
_ the chairman explained,
trades of this country constitute the most striking
and important single group of allied industries in
and “the magnitude and very
existence of a very large part of our export trade
in textiles depend absolutely upon there being
_... a sufficient supply of dyestuffs available.”
© the civilised world,”
in the establishments of the
German dye manufacturers, as well as large quan-
tities of high explosives and synthetic nitric acid.
Chemical warfare, in any future conflict, will no
: and its successful
prosecution will depend on the equipment, skill,
and experience of the dyestuff industry.
Searcely less important is it in peace, for, as
“the group of textile
What is being done to establish a great dye-
y stuff industry in this country? There is no doubt
ever, admittedly limited, and,
that progress has been very considerable, and it
_ is a remarkable fact that the output of dyes ‘in
_ this country (given by the Board of Trade as
_ 25,000 tons annually) exceeds the total consump-
tion before the war.
_ The range and variety of these dyes are, how-
indeed, Mr. A.
Hoegger, chairman of the British Cotton and
Wool Dyers’ Association, at the annual meeting
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
NATURE
‘require comment here.
cially is this true of enamelled appliances.
413
held on the same in as the above,. stated rads,
had it not been for the importation of certain
Swiss dyes during the war, and the arrival recently
of certain “reparation” colours: from Germany,
some of the branches of the association would
have been seriously embarrassed.
There are two rather important points that
Sir Henry -Birchenough
stated that “an unprecedented demand for finished
dyestuffs prevents the creation of stocks, and
thereby places difficulties in the way of the main-
tenance of uniformity in our products.’ This is
no doubt a reply to complaints as to lack of uni-
formity in the dyes supplied. There are two ways
in which this can occur, viz. as regards shade
and as regards strength.
If the. preparation of a dye has been properly
worked out in the laboratory and in the small-
scale plant (such as exists at Huddersfield), the
large-scale manufacture should present few diffi-
culties. Granted that the first few batches may
leave something to be desired, succeeding batches
made under careful scientific control should cer-
tainly be very close to the standard required, and
the stock necessary to allow this difference to be
adjusted should not be more than three or four
batches—say a ton at the utmost. With regard
to the strength of the dye sent out, Mr. Hoegger
states that a great proportion of the 25,000 tons is
not so highly concentrated as were pre-war
German colours. Almost every dye coming from
the drying chamber is stronger than the standard,
even taking as standard the German pre-war dye,
and it is exceedingly bad policy to reduce the
strength below it. This cannot be other than
deliberate, and is very objectionable, as the quality
of the dye is thereby depreciated in the mind of
the user, and in this connection there is evidence
that the Canadians are not altogether satisfied
with the quality of the dyes imported from this
country.
“Why,” it will be asked, ‘cannot we make
here those dyes which are being imported from
Switzerland and vicariously obtained from Ger-
many?” The answer to this question is: First,
lack of plant; and secondly, lack of raw material.
The former is referred to by Sir Henry Birch-
enough, who points out the great delay in delivery
of plant owing largely to the moulders’ strike.
The provision of thé multitudinous variety of pans,
autoclaves, and acid-resisting vessels required by
the industry is proceeding only slowly, and espe-
Even
P
414
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920
the refuse of the engineering shops, iron borings,
was no longer forthcoming during this strike,
with the consequence that the manufacture of
aniline was seriously retarded.
How the lack of special plant prevents the
supply of certain dyes is well illustrated in the
case of rhodamine. The intermediate products
required for this are diethyl-m-aminophenol and
phthalic anhydride. The former is prepared from
diethylaniline, for which, unlike dimethylaniline,
enamelled autoclaves are required, and the latter
requires special plant for the oxidation of naph-
thalene by means of a mercury catalyst. Although
indigotin is no longer prepared by the Badische
process from phthalic anhydride, the importance
of this intermediate is still great, and as the
English rights of the new process of the American
Bureau of Chemistry, oxidation in the vapour
phase in the presence of a catalyst, have already
been purchased, it may be expected that this pro-
duct will soon be manufactured here at a compara-
tively very low cost. It will readily be understood
that, in view of the necessity of installing two
special plants for the intermediates required,
manufacturers both in England and in America
have not succeeded in placing ee but i insig-
nificant amounts on the market.
With regard to the provision of other inter-
mediate products there is still much to do, and
at the present time the demands for such element-
ary materials as aniline and 8-naphthol greatly
exceed the supply. The latter is required for the
manufacture of such important intermediates as
y acid and J acid, and when it is considered
that B-naphthol was not made in England at the
outbreak of war, it will be realised that it is neces-
sarily a slow operation to produce these acids,
involving as it does three distinct plants.
It must not, however, be concluded that British
manufacturers have confined themselves to the
dyes which are made with least trouble. The
Solway Dyes Co., in particular, was first in the
field with a range of important vat dyes, and this
firm, as well as the British Dyestuffs Corporation
and others, has placed a useful series of fast dyes
on the market. The erection of a large works in
Trafford Park, Manchester, by the British Ali-
zarine Co. must lead to a greatly increased output
of alizarine dyes, and there is little doubt that
slow but steady progress is being made. The time
should not be far distant when British manu-
facturers will not only supply all requirements for
the home market, but also make their products
known all over the world.
NO. 2640, VOL, 105]
Poetry and Medicine.
Philosophies. By Sir Ronald Ross. Pp. viii+56.
(London: John Murray, 1911.) Price 2s, net.
Psychologies. 69 pp. (Same author and pub-
lisher, 1919.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
HESE slender volumes, by Sir Ronald Ross,
deserve to be read with sympathetic interest
for more reasons than one—not least because they
reflect the mind, and throw light on the spirit
which has guided the work, of a man whose
services to medical science are great indeed. In
the long history of medicine and of poetry we can
call to mind many a physician who has been also
a poet. No great physician has ever likewise
been that rare and wonderful thing, a great poet,
for the toilsome life of the one is not to be com-
bined with the fine freedom, the careless rapture
of the other. But there is a certain excellence
which, though it fall far short of supreme per-
fection, is still a very fine and splendid thing, and
to such excellence I think Sir Ronald Ross has
certainly attained.
The poet-physicians whose names first cross our
minds are men attached by but a slender link, a
titular claim, to the profession of medicine; never-
theless, the proféssion is proud to have had
enrolled among its brotherhood Dr. Oliver Gold- —
smith and the great apothecary whom a foolish
critic bade “go back to his gallipots.” In Gold-
smith’s footsteps follows Crabbe, bringing us his
“Village” and his “ Parish Register,” bidding us,
in lines scarcely less finished and less memorable
than Goldsmith’s own, “Behold the Cot, where
thrives th’ industrious swain, Source of his pride,
his pleasure and his gain... ”; or, moving
quickly to sadder themes, “‘When the sad tenant
weeps from door to door, And begs a poor pro-
tection from the poor.” A little shred of Keats’
great mantle (and more perhaps of Shelley’s) fell
upon that fine poet, and not unlearned physician,
Thomas Lovell Beddoes, the friend of Blumenbach
and Schoenlien and Frey—Beddoes of “The
Bride’s Tragedy.” ‘Death is more a jest than
life; you see Contempt grows quick from
familiarity. I owe this wisdom to Anatomy ’’—so
he wrote from Géttingen while he was a student
of medicine there; and the same contemptuous
familiarity lasted him to the end, when he used ©
his physiological knowledge of a new and terrible.
drug—curare—to “creep into his worm-hole,” to
introduce him to that grim pageantry of Death
which his verse: had described with a fearful —
reality. ‘‘The power of the man,” said Browning, —
“was incontestable and immense”; and in his
happy hours he had written very lovely and most
_ June 3, 1920]
NATURE
415
sical | things. The song about “How many
es do I love thee, dear?” is not to be for-
ten; nor do those who have read it ever forget
exquisite “‘Dream-pedlary ’—“If there were
ams to sell, What would you buy?”
o another order of poets belongs a little cluster
seventeenth- and eighteenth-century physicians,
3 and Akenside and John Armstrong and
‘Erasmus Darwin. They are of that quiet, humour-
less, didactic school for which we have lost our
relish, and for which Dr. Johnson (apart from his
jitter quarrel with the last, the Lichfield,
sician) had all too kindly a word.
We no longer read Garth’s “Dispensary,” any
“more than we read his once celebrated Harveian
ore tion, although the poem was “on the side of
charity against the intrigues of interest, and of
regular learning against licentious usurpation of
medical authority.” In other words, it was a
: tic account of a quarrel between the College
bce Physicians and the Society of Apothecaries. “It
_ appears,” says Johnson, “to want something of
_ poetical ardour, and something of general delecta-
_tion”’—a fair and honest verdict, which we might
illustrate and support by any stray line or two—
3 by those, for instance, where the poet describes
wey: bilious juice a golden light puts on, And
floods of chyle in silver currents run; How the
dim speck of entity began T’ expand its recent
form and stretch to Man.”
___ Akenside was a much better poet, and seems
_ also to have been a more learned physician. His
“Discourse on the Dysentery” “entitled him to
the same height of place among the scholars as he
_ possessed before among the wits”; and “The
Pleasures of the Imagination” is still worth our
hile to read, if it be only for some few noble
nd exalted passages. We may lay it down, as
Pope did, with the feeling that “this is no every-
- day writer!” There runs through it a sincere and
_ almost prophetic belief in the value of research
. and the progress of science—in “Science herself
Z _.. . the substitute Of God’s own wisdom in this
Finisome world, The Providence of Man.” Of
Armstrong, who contributed some “medical
fe stanzas” to “The G@astle of Indolence,” and wrote
his “Art of Pursuing Health” in indolent Thom-
_ somian verse, we need scarcely speak. He was
_ admired in an age by no means devoid of polished
- culture, but content to read and even eager to
_ buy such dreary, sluggish blank verse as “ Hail
_ sacred flood, May still thy hospitable swains be
_ blessed In rural innocence,” and so on, to the
end of the quarto volume.
Erasmus Darwin’s ‘Botanic Garden ’ ” and
“Loves of the Plants” have merits of their own,
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
”
and an historic interest not to be gainsaid; but
in his poetry there is a je ne sais quoi qui manque,
though it was wont at one time to be spoken of
in the same breath with Cowper’s “Task,” and
even with “Paradise Lost.” They are the most
didactic of didactic poems. The good doctor |
revels in facts, in the communication of know-
ledge, or rather of information. The world is ran-
sacked for objects of wonder and contemplation.
As his biographer, Miss Anna Seward, tells us,
“the operations of the weather-glass and _ air-
pump are described with philosophic accuracy and
poetic elegance.” There is “a grahd picture,
though of somewhat forced introduction,” of the
crocodile bursting from its egg on the banks of
the Nile. The embryo plant is introduced to us
by “Lo! on each seed, within the tender rind,
Life’s golden threads in endless circles wind, etc.”
We turn the page and come to “where the
humming-bird, in Chili’s bowers, On fluttering
pinions robs the pendent flowers; Seeks where
fine pores their dulcet balms distil, And sucks the
treasures with proboscis bill.”” The sinuous track
of the serpent glides, with no apparent reluctance,
into “So, with-strong arm, immortal Brindley
leads His long canals, and parts the velvet
meads.” Yet the simple mind of this old poet-
physician, utterly destitute of humour or romance,
had (as we all know) a vast deal of wisdom com-
mingled with its simplicity.
In our own day, or within our immediate
recollection, there have been many members of
the medical profession who could put on their
singing robes once in a way, and write creditable
verse or sing still better convivial songs. There
was a whole brotherhood of them in Edinburgh
a generation ago, with such men as Douglas
Maclagan and Andrew Wood and James Sidey
and J. D. Gillespie and John Smith, who touched
art with the humour, and now and then with the
pathos, of their post-prandial lyrics. But we had
better not pause over the “Nuge Canore
Medice,” or ‘“Mistura Curiosa,” or “Alter
Ejusdem ’—certainly not over that triumphant
outburst of ‘old Sidey’s” hilarious conviviality,
“The Cat’s got the measles and it’s deid, puir
thing!” scarcely even over the soft lowland accent
and the tender lilt of ““The burnie that wins to
the sea ’—“ Up near the scaur where the hoodie-
craw bides, Up near the foot of the keelie-craig
hie, Deep in the hidie-heugh, riv’d frae its sides,
Rises the burnie that wins to the sea.” In the
same town of Edinburgh we had very lately the
Cornishman, Ricardo Stephens, another poet-
physician, writer of strange ballads and dreamer
of rich, imaginative dreams. It was he who
416
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920
wrote “The Piper of Hell ’’—‘‘O have ye heard
of Angus Blair, Who lived long since in black
Auchmair?” and a more terrible and cruel ballad
still—‘‘ Who hath not met Witch,Margaret? Red
gold her rippling hair... . Come up and you
shall see her yet, Before she groweth still; Before
her cloak of flame and smoke The winter air
shall fill; For they must burn Witch Margaret
Upon the Castle Hill.”
Together with these Edinburgh worthies we
may say a passing word of two Dublin physicians
of the last generation, George Sigerson and John
Todhunter. They were both of them fervid
writers of Celtic poetry, and have a notable place
in their country’s undoubted literary renaissance.
Irish patriotism inspired them both, in a-way that
we little understand—as when Todhunter cries
out “O thou Swan among the nations,
enchanted long, so long That the story of thy
glory is a half-forgotten song.” He was a power-
ful and influential singer, a true Irish Tyrtzus;
for it was he who wrote “There’s a spirit in
the air, Says the Shan Van Vocht”; just as
another learned brother-scholar and fellow of
Trinity College, Dublin (not a physician, how-
ever), boldly sang : ‘“‘ Who fears to speak of ’98? ™
and sang it to only too receptive ears.
But I have gone farther afield than I ever
meant to go, and I have left myself all too little
room to write of Sir Ronald Ross, the last of
our poet-physicians. Most of his poetry was
written in India, in Madras or Burma or the
Andamans, while he was engrossed in the study
of the pathology of malaria, and during earlier
years when he began to think and dream over
the eternal problems of the East. Sir Ronald’s
love and reverence for science, and his admiration
for those who have shown and followed the way
of discovery, are deeper because far more experi-
enced than Akenside’s: “Tho’ we may never
reach the peak, God gave this great command-
ment, Seek.”
It is not the wealth and splendour of the East
that touch his imagination; but, looking with the
physician’s charitable eyes, he broods over the
decadence, the misery, the widespread sickness
of its people: ‘The leprous beggars totter
trembling past, The baser sultans sleep.” A
famine-stricken girl is suckling her three-year-
old: ‘‘‘I am too poor,’ she said, ‘ To feed him
otherwise,’ and with a kiss Fell back and died.”
It is all a gloomy picture. But if its blackness
be somewhat overdrawn (and I hope and think
it is) its pessimism is inspired and redeemed by
charity and pity, by resolution to understand, and
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
by ambition to relieve. Sir Ronald’s second
volume, though tragic enough, is in a happier
strain. . ‘
Only a few days ago, lecturing to my class
of some eighty young men and women newly
entered a week before upon their medical course,
I tried to tell them what the Protozoa meant to
our fathers, and what (thanks*to Pasteur and
Grassi and Manson and Bruce and Ross and many
another) they have come to mean to us. In my
student-days, an Ameceba, a bell or slipper animal-
cule, a little ooze from the Atlantic, a few pretty
radiolarian or foraminiferal shells, gave us our
outline-concept of the Protozoa. To-day a new
world is opened, in which we hear of tiny things
with strange life-histories, of momentous chains
of cause and consequence wherein rat and louse
and gadfly and mosquito play their insidious part,
bringing fever to the swamp and murrain to the
plain; we are told at last of mysterious maladies
explained, of epidemics held at bay, of territories
and peoples emancipated from disease. And then,
as an example of the spirit of the scientific
physician, of aims conceived, of dreams come
true, I ventured to read them a couple of Ronald
Ross’s early verses, written before he and his
fellow-workers had brought their hopes to
fruition :-—
In this, O Nature, yield, I pray, to me.
I pace and pace, and think and think, and take
The fever’d hands, and note down all I see,
That some dim, distant light may haply break.
The painful faces ask, Can we not cure?
We answer, No, not yet; we seek the laws.
O God, reveal thro’ all this thing obscure
The unseen, small, but million-murdering cause.
My students listened and went quietly away,
and I could see by their faces that they had heard
the words of the poet and the physician as though
he were speaking straight to them.
| D’Arcy W. Tuompson.
Movements of Plants.
Transactions of the Bose Research Institute, |
Calcutta. Vol. ii., Life Movements in
Plants. By Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose.
Pp. v+xiv+253-597. (Calcutta: The Bose
Research Institute, 1919.) Price 1os. 6d.
N this the second volume of the Transactions
of the Bose Institute, Sir Jagadis Bose con-
tinues to pour out his almost overwhelming wealth
of observations. The first chapter of the volume
deals\with a piece of apparatus to be used with
June 3, 1920]
a=” | sation, Tae
NATU RE
417
he “high magnification crescograph ” which mag-
ifies the rate of growth up to ten million times.
a s, even with much lower magnifications, the
oo of light or point of the lever would soon
move off the scale or recording surface, the
has devised a method of balance different
the optical method originally used. In this
ew method the plant-holder is connected with a
ies of gear-wheels driven by a falling weight
|controlled by a fan governor. By this means
ne plant-holder can be made to fall at various
rates, and thus the growth of the plant is com-
pensated, and we have what is termed the
“balanced erescograph.” When the rate of growth
_ is exactly balanced the record will show a hori-
_ zontal line, and any increase or decrease in the
_ rate will be indicated by a rise or fall in the curve.
_ By this means it is claimed that a change in the
rate of growth of only 1 part in 27,000 can be
_ detected. The method is one of great delicacy,
_ it'is clear, but, in view of the fact that the control
of the speed of movement is in part frictional
resistance, and also of the effect of grit and of
inequality in the cutting of the gear-wheels, one
_ would have liked to see the inclusion of a record
which would demonstrate that a speed of 0-5 u
per sec. was kept constant to 1 part in 25,000
for many hours.
The volume contains thirty chapters on various
plant reactions which exhibit themselves either
by movements or by electrical response. Of these
perhaps the most striking is the interesting con-
tribution which the author makes to the problem
_ of the mechanism of geotropic response. In the
_ statolith theory of geotropism one link in the chain
of reactions which bring about geotropic curva-
ture is the shifting, under the influence of gravity,
of comparatively large starch grains in a tissue
such as the endodermis of the stem. This theory is
upheld by the author as a result of the explora-
tion of the plant by means of his “electric probe.”
The probe consists of a fine glass tube (0-15 mm.
diam.) with a still finer platinum wire fused into,
and projecting just beyond, it. The probe can
be pushed into the tissues of a stem, while the
other end of the platinum wire is connected with
one terminal of a galvanometer, the other terminal
being connected with some other part of the plant,
e.g. a leaf, which is always kept horizontal.
The probe is first placed on the surface of the
organ, and the deflection is observed when the
stem is placed horizontal; the stem is then re-
turned to the vertical position, the probe advanced
a little into the tissues, the stem again
placed horizontal and the deflection observed. It
is found that as the probe penetrates the deflec-
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
tion rises to a maximum and then falls to a mini-
mum at about the centre of the stem. The point
of the probe in the position of maximum deflec-
tion is found to lie in the endodermis. If the
probe is carried forward towards the other side of
the stem, a new maximum is found when the point
reaches the endodermal layer on the other side,
but the deflection is in the opposite direction.
This observation does not, of course, prove that
the endodermis is the geo-perceptive layer, but it
provides circumstantial evidence in favour: of
that view, since it demonstrates that the endo-
dermis is the only tissue exhibiting a marked elec-
trical reaction to geotropic stimulus. In one
case where the angle of the stem was gradually
increased there was no deflection until a critical
angle of about 33° was reached, but above this
there was a marked electrical response. There
appears to be some frictional resistance to the
displacement of the starch grains, which is not
overcome until the critical angle is passed. By
comparing the electrical response (which can, of
course, be observed without the use of the
“probe ”) of organs placed at angles of go° and
45°, respectively, with the vertical, evidence is
obtained in support of the view that the geotropic
response is proportional to the sine of the
angle.
The marked effect of temperature on the degree
of geotropic response, which leads to decided
diurnal movements of many stems, is a thesis
which is further elaborated in this volume, as is
also the difference between “direct” and “in-
direct” stimulation, The volume is filled with
numerous and often stimulating observations
carried out with the author’s well-known mastery
of the technique of experimentation. One must
be grateful for the new weapons which he has
forged and for the new fields of work which he
has opened up, but, like Sir J. C. Bose’s previous
volumes, the present one is often sadly lacking
on the oplant-physiological side. The work
done is never properly related to that of
previous investigators, the author confining
himself to the quotation of text-books, which
are often of no very recent date; in deal-
ing with phototropism the work even of Blaauw
is not mentioned. Again, Sir J. C. Bose seems
sO anxious to add to his collection of “plant-
records” that he passes rapidly from observation
to observation and from problem to problem,
shedding on the way a beam of light into some
of the dark places of plant physiology, but never
satisfying us with a problem fully envisaged and
| worked out.
V. 24,3,
418
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920
Applications of Electricity.
(1) Telephonic Transmission:
Applied. By J. G. Hill. (Manuals of Tele-
graph and Telephone Engineering.) Pp. xvi+
398. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co.,
1920.) Price 21s, net.
(2) The Principles of Electrical Engineering and
Theoretical and
their Application, By G. Kapp. Vol. ii., Appli-
cation. Pp. viii+388. (London: Edward
_ Arnold, 1919.) Price 18s. net.
(1) HE applications of electricity in the tele-
graph and telephone services are now so
numerous and so highly specialised that no one can
claim to have an expert knowledge of every branch.
It has been decided, therefore, to produce a series
of handbooks which will cover the whole of the
ground involved. The editor of the series is Sir
William Slingo, late engineer-in-chief of the Post
Office, and most of the authors are on the staff
of the Engineering Department. Judging from
the present volume and from the names of the
authors preparing the other volumes of the series,
we shall soon have a very complete and thorough
account of English telegraphic and telephonic
practice.
This book is written for experts engaged in the
practical applications of telephony, and must be
judged from this point of view. It is now ancient
history how the early telephonists did their best
to diminish the capacity and resistance of their
lines with the object of securing good communi-
cation. In 1887 Oliver Heaviside pointed out
that this rule was quite fallacious. The two
qualities of the line which it is necessary to study
are the attenuation of the signals-and the velocity
with which they are propagated. Heaviside
stated this clearly and showed that his “‘ dis-
tortionless ’’ circuit gave.the complete solution of
the problem. In 1900 Prof. Pupin showed
how a distortionless circuit might be secured very
approximately by putting inductance coils at cer-
tain intervals in the line. | When the distance
between the coils is small there will be little re-
flection of the waves by them, and in this case
the practical working will be satisfactory.
- There are many engineers employed in telephone
work who have great difficulty in following the
advanced . mathematical reasoning of Heaviside
and Pupin, and yet. they have to evaluate their
complicated formule in everyday work. For
their benefit the author introduces additional
chapters describing the transmission of direct
currents along a leaky line and getting the equi-
valent circuits. This should give those engineers
confidence to attack the complete mathematical
problem which is given in appendices.
NO. 2640, VOL, 105 |
The symbols and general arrangement: of the
| formule are mostly those. used by Kennelly and
Fleming, whose work is much appreciated by the
British Post Office. To the general man of science
most of the book will appear to be endless varia-
tions of complicated formulz, involving complex
variables, deduced from comparatively simple
differential equations. But a study of the book will
show him how laborious it is to get numerical solu-
tions, and how ingenious are some of the methods
employed to get the constants of the line. The
chapter on “ the human voice in telephony ”’ iis
illustrated by excellent oscillograms of the alter-_
nating currents produced by certain words. There
is also a chapter on the thermionic valve as a
telephonic relay which is of great interest. Very
instructive characteristic curves of the valve are
shown. A curve is also given which proves the
enormous variation of magnification with input.
The use of these telephonic relays is most promis-
ing, and great developments may shortly take.
place.
The book will be of great value to the telephonic
engineers for whom it is written. We were much
interested in the electrical constants of many of
the cables used in practice which have been cal-
culated by the author. They prove conclusively —
the great value of advanced mathematical theory _
in telegraphy and telephony. .
(2) As a pioneer of the applications of electricity
Prof. Kapp has had the pleasure of seeing many
of his theorems become incorporated in the
routine teaching of technical colleges and many
of his methods widely adopted in everyday prac-
tice. The technical student, therefore, will find
much that is familiar in this volume; but he will
also find that the proofs given in many cases
have been appreciably simplified. The author in-
variably keeps practical considerations in the fore-
ground and rarely, if ever, digresses on points of
abstruse theory. In discussing the running of
machines he makes little endeavour to elaborate
the theory, but gives, in most cases, a clear
first approximate solution. . The book, therefore,
will be welcomed by the engineer and the student.
The former will. gain a clearer view of the prin-
ciples on which his machines work, and the latter
will find that many long mathematical solutions
can be much shortened by elementary graphical
methods.
In the earlier chapters direct-current machinery
is described. The treatment of the critical speed
of: turbo-dynamos_ is. very neat, and _ the results
agree with experiment. Little space is given to
losses which, are relatively unimportant—bearing
friction, for instance. The methods of .coupling
dynamos for parallel running are fully described.
3 Joye oF 1920]
NATURE
A clear description of the Thury system of direct-
rent high-tension transmission is given. There
ms to be little chance, however, of this system
ng adopted on a large scale in this country.
». v. describes the uses of a storage battery
1 connection with a dynamo. Brief descriptions
« f the various types of booster used in this con-
nection are given and will be helpful to the
ai) In bhp. vii. a brief reference is made to
_ Fourier’s theorem. The coefficients are obtained
_ by drawing the graphs of curves the equations of
“soem are of the form
y = f(x) cos (2mnx/X),
‘td then getting their area by the planimeter.
_ Although theoretically correct, we think that the
_ method would prove laborious in practice. We
think also that the error for high harmonics would
Biciebably be large, as the planimeter reading gives
the difference between many areas.
_ The author suggests that large choking coils
should be constructed in the form of a toroid,
_ the diameter of the circular cross-section of which
~ equals 0.311D, where D is the mean diameter of
the toroid. This is Maxwell’s solution for the
‘most economical coil; and the author has found
practically that the expression 9-35n?D gives its
_ inductance, where n is the number of turns. This
is in good agreement with Maxwell’s formula,
3mn*D—i.e. 9-43n?D. It has to be remembered,
however, that Maxwell’s formula is only a rough
approximation. If we use Rayleigh’s formula we
- get 9-69n?D for the inductance. The 4 per cent.
difference between theory and experiment is prob-
ably due to the assumption that the current is
uniform all over the cross-section of the toroid.
Tf we use Rayleigh’s formula it will be found that
we get very appreciably different dimensions for
_ the most economical choking coil.
The discussions of parallel running, trans-
formers, converters, and induction and commuta-
__ tor motors are all instructive and suggestive, The
last chapter, on phase advancers, is a strong and
: convincing plea for their more general adoption
in practice. Considerable economies can be effected
_ by their use. A. RUSSELL.
British Iron Ores.
_ The Iron Ores of Scotland. By M. Macgregor, »
_ Dr. G. W. Lee, and G. V. Wilson. With con-
tributions by T. Robertson and J.’ S. Filett.
' (Memoirs of the Geological Survey, Scotland :
Special Reports on the Mineral Resources of
Great Britain: Vol. xi. Iron Ores (continued).)
"NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
419
Pp. vii+240. (Edinburgh: H.M.S.O.; South-
ampton: Ordnance Survey Office.) Price ros.
net.
HE present volume forms a continuation of the
important series of memoirs on the iron ores
of Great Britain which the Geological Survey has
been issuing for some time past. Unlike some of
the previous ones, the subject here discussed
affords little scope for original geological investi-
gations, the principal deposits of iron ore being
very well known and having often been described.
As is, however, very truly remarked by Sir Aubrey
Strahan, the information concerning them is
scattered throughout a large number of publica-
tions, and it is a great advantage to the student
of the subject to have it all brought together in
one volume. The authors have done their work
carefully and painstakingly, and the result of their
labours has been to render available a. very. com-
plete and minutely accurate record of the known
Scottish iron-ore deposits.
The book is divided into seven chapters. The
first gives an introductory and historical account
of the subject, containing much interesting matter ;
attention should, however, be directed to a mis-
take as-to the nature of the old Catalan furnace.
The author writes: “These furnaces were of the
Catalan type, . . . and castings were apparently
made direct from the furnace itself.’”’ These two
statements are incompatible, for the essential
feature of the Catalan process was that it produced
malleable iron, and not cast iron, direct from the
ore.
The next four chapters are devoted to th=
bedded iron ores of Carboniferous age, these being
subdivided mainly according to their geographical
distribution. In a sixth chapter the bedded
Raasay ironstone of Jurassic age is described,
and in the last chapter a number of minor occur-
rences, which are grouped together under the
heading ‘‘ Hematite in Veins and Beds ’’—a-some-
what infelicitous title, seeing that true haematite
is conspicuous by its absence.
As in the previous volumes of the series, the
least satisfactory portion of the present one is that
relating to the estimated tonnage of ore reserves.
It ought to be made thoroughly clear that the
tonnage of ore as estimated by a geologist repre-
sents a quantity many times greater than that
which the miner can hope to recover in actual
practice. The iron industry of Scotland requires
some 24 million tons of ore annually, about. one-
fifth of which is obtained from native Scottish de-
posits, and it is poor consolation to the Scottish
ironmaster, who for a good many years past has
420:
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920
been in the greatest difficulty to know whence to
draw his ore supplies, to. be informed officially
that the probable reserves are more than 94 million
and the possible reserves more than 435 million
tons, he meanwhile knowing but too well thai
only a very small fraction of even the smaller
figure is ever likely to find its way to his
furnaces. H. Louts.
Our Bookshelf.
Practical Pharmacology: For the Use of Students
of Medicine. By Prof. W. E. Dixon. Pp.
vili+ 88. (Cambridge: At the University Press,
1920.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
WE welcome the appearance of Prof. Dixon’s
manual; it is certainly the most practical and use-
ful guide to students of experimental pharmacology
which we know. The experiments are extremely
well chosen to illustrate the underlying principles
of therapeutics, and the text, with its illustrations
and tables, is so clear and logical that a student
can at no time be in doubt as to the methods for
performing the experiments, or fail to appreciate
their bearing on the practical application of the
drugs in disease.
The experiments, some seventy-eight in number,
are classified to explain the action of drugs on
the various systems of the body, and while use
is made mainly of the pithed frog, suitable experi-
ments with mammalian tissues are introduced.
Experiments with decerebrated mammals are not
described, the author considering that their use
in large classes is impracticable and that they
may be replaced by suitable demonstrations under
Certificate C. A chapter is devoted to a descrip-
tion of the essential physical properties of import-
ant drugs, and there is appended a useful table
of the doses required to produce typical pharma-
cological effects in animals.
We have no hesitation in recommending this
book as an excellent guide to the study of practical
pharmacology. It is one which will be extremely
useful to students of medicine, whether they are
receiving experimental tuition in the laboratory
or not, and it will also be read with much profit
by medical men who have not had the advantages
of a practical training in the action of drugs.
The Teaching of Science in the Elementary
School. By Gilbert H. Trafton. (Riverside
Text-books in Education.) Pp. x+293. (New
York: Houghton Mifflin Co.; London: Con-
stable and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 6s. 6d. net.
In a brief introduction Prof. Cubberley states
that the author’s aim was ‘‘ to construct a simple
and helpful volume for the teacher who is called
upon to teach elementary science lessons, and yet
has neither scientific training nor apparatus for
the work.’’ The statement prepares the reader
for the limitations of the book. Mr. Trafton’s
scheme includes practically no chemistry, and the
physics is both exiguous and scrappy; by far the
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
greatest part consists of simple observational
work upon plants and animals. Within these limi-
tations, however, there is much that is both attrac-
tive and useful, and the limitations themselves
correspond to those of most rural elementary
schools in this country. ey
Mr. Trafton classifies his subject-matter under the
headings of biological, agricultural, physical, and
hygienic science, and rightly insists that, however
rudimentary the work along these lines may be,
it should be done in the genuine scientific spirit.
In his introductory chapters he gives a good
deal of sound and practical advice with regard to ~
the choice of subject-matter and the methods of
teaching, and the bulk of the book consists of
sections in which typical parts of the curriculum
he recommends are worked out in detail. The
curriculum is, of course, chosen with reference to
American conditions, but the English teacher
should be able to profit by Mr. Trafton’s sugges-
tions. There is a carefully compiled bibliography,
covering practically the whole field treated in the
book, but consisting entirely of American titles.
Peoples of the Philippines. By Prof. A. L.
Kroeber. (American Museum of Natural
History’: Handbook Series No. 8.) Pp. 224.
(New York: American Museum of Natural
History, 1919.)
THE interest of the Philippine Islands to the
ethnographer lies in the fact that they are the
|
largest of the possessions of the United States,
and the only one of importance in the Eastern
hemisphere; that they form a considerable and
growing nationality; and that they display in an
unusually complete manner the stratification of
races and cultures.
identified in the present population,
may be arranged in the probable order of their
arrival—the Negritos of the interior, a short,
black people with an elementary type of religion
and culture; the Indonesians, of the Mongoloid
family, but presenting fewer specific Mongoloid
features than the third race, the Malayans,
occupying the coastal areas. As regards culture,
the remarkable fact is the predominance of Indian
influence as compared with that of China, which
provided little more than certain manufactured
products. India did not furnish the Filipinos
with a definitely crystallised religious cult, or, if
so, this cult had already disappeared before the
Europeans appeared on the scene. But there
came from the Indian races, probably by Malay
intervention, a mass of religious practices, ideas,
and names, a considerable body of Sanskrit words,
a system of writing, the art of metallurgy, a vast
amount of ‘mechanical and industrial knowledge,
and unquestionably a much higher degree of
civilisation than their predecessors had acquired.
These facts are clearly brought out in the present
handbook, which provides in small space much
information, and is furnished with good maps
and illustrations.
Three types of race can be
|
|
/
and_ these -
NATURE
421
_ Jone 3, 1920]
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
— opini expressed by his correspondents. Neither
can be undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
a The Flight of Flying-fish.
Ir is disputed whether the flight of flying-fish is a
tuine flight or simply a leap and a glide. The
uestion is referred to in the section devoted to flying-
sh in the Natural History Museum, South Kensing-
_ ton. Recently I have had ample opportunity to study
_ these fish in the tropical waters of the Atlantic and
fic Oceans. ‘
The observations which I have made and the con-
lusions at which | have arrived are corroborated by
the officers of the R.M.S. Victoria. Many of these
ees were surprised to hear that there was any
_ doubt on the matter. That the flight is a genuine
one is proved by the following facts :—
__ (1) During flight these fish are able to turn at right
' angles, and even at a very acute angle. More than
_ once I have seen a fish turn with great rapidity at
an acute angle and come back in a direction opposite
_ to the direction in which it set out. A mere glide will
not enable any animal to do this.
(2) Standing at the bow of the ship directly above
_ some flying-fish which were in a hurry to get out of
_ the way, I saw the wings flap as distinctly as the
wings of any frightened bird.
4 (3) Some of these fish fly for a distance of from
_ 150 to 200 yards without rising more than a
couple of feet above the surface. ey rise over the
crests of the waves and sink into the Littewe.
could not do this by a mere leap and a glide.
(4) Besides flying low over the surface of the
_ waters, they are also able to rise to a considerable
height, and not infrequently come on board large
steamers. When they fall on deck their wings can be
seen, as well as heard, flapping. It is true that they
are unable to rise from the deck, but the same is true
of many sea-birds. :
adap in full flight the outlines of the wings are
in and blurred in contrast with the clear out-
line of the body. This can only be due.to the very
movement, as in the case of hovering flies and
humming-birds. J. McNamara.
_ 3 Holland Road, Kensington, W.
;
ia
An Experiment on the Spectrum.
In school and college courses little experimental
work is done on the infra-red and _ ultra-violet
parts of the spectrum. The student is, of course,
__- told about these regions, and how they can be de-
tected respectively by the heating and actinic pro-
__ perties of their rays. But he is not allowed to in-
a igate these rays himself, nor are their properties
demonstrated before him. This is on account of the
. elaborate nature of the apparatus necessary; the infra-
p red region requires a thermopile or bolometer, to-
gether with an expensive galvanometer, and the ultra-
violet requires photographic methods and a spectro-
graph. So maiseh apparatus ‘cannot be afforded for one
experiment, and besides is apt to distract the student’s
attention from the simple nature of the facts involved.
: ' If, however, a very intense spectrum is used, the
infra-red can be mapped roughly with an ordinary
| thermometer, and the ultra-violet with a photographic
exposure-meter. Neither galvanometer nor 0-
graph is necessary. The thermometer I have used is
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
They }
| a Fahrenheit one, range 0° to 220°, the bulb of which
is blackened by dipping it into lamp-black shaken up
with methylated spirits; the bulb is 5 mm. in dia-
meter. The exposure-meter is the Imperial exposure-
meter for dull light and interiors, which costs 1s, 6d.
together with a refill. In this instrument a piece of
sensitive paper is exposed to the light, and the time
noted that it takes to darken to a standard tint.
The sensitive paper supplied darkens two or three
times as fast as ordinary P.O.P. As source of light
I have used a little 5-ampere arc lamp, which is run
off the lighting circuit through a rheostat. The anode
is horizontal and the cathode vertical; they are both
enclosed in a glass cylinder which restricts the supply
of oxygen, and so lengthens the life of the carbons.
Lamps of this pattern burn very steadily, and have
come into wide use during the past ten years. It is
because so many laboratories have these lamps that
I describe this experiment here. An arc of this pat-
tern is absolutely necessary; a pointolite or half-watt
lamp is of no use for the purpose.
As lens I have used a spectacle lens of 25 cm. focal
, length, and as prism a single equilateral dense flint
1z in. high. The spectrum and are are equidistant
from the lens. As slit I have used the crater of the
| arc, which measures about 3 mm. in diameter, since the
, carbons in this type of lamp are only 5 mm. thick. If
the rays of light from the anode fell squarely on the
lens we should have a point image of a point source,
andthe spectrum would be only 3 mm. high, but
by setting the lens obliquely, rotating it through
30°, an astigmatic line image is formed, and we get
a reasonablv sharp spectrum 12 mm, high. Stray
light is excluded by enclosing the arc in a box.
The following table gives a set of results taken in
somewhat less than an hour :
} Seale Céleur Rise of Photographic
: temperature action
cm. ad ih
70 — fox) —
rab — 08 ae
80 86 3°4 eo:
8°5 5! 54 oe
9'0 Infra-red 3°4 _
9°5 Red 2'0 a
10°0 Yellow 0's 0°5
10°5 Green — 27
II‘o Blue a I'5
11°5 Violet — 2°4
I2'0 . End of visible _ 50
12°5 . . Ultra-violet — 5°0
13°0 fer a 0°57
The ends of the visible spectrum were at 9-2 and
12 cm. The first column gives the readings on a
centimetre scale placed along the spectrum, ‘the second
column the name of the colour, the third the rise of
temperature experienced by the thermometer in three
minutes, and the fourth the reciprocal of the time
in minutes taken by the paper to darken to the
standard tint.: In the case of the last two readings ,
the exposure-meter was illuminated by stray. light:
It is possible to go further into the ultra-violet if a
crown glass prism is used. The infra-red) measured
goes to 2-24 or thereabouts. If a piece of P.O.P.
is exposed to the spectrum for a. couple of minutes,
it shows bands—one from 10-11 cm., another from
Ing-11-7 cm., and a third from 11-8-12-7'cm., the
positions all ‘being measured on the centimetre scale
above referred to. : <i She
It is interesting to remember that. when Sir William
Herschel : discovered ‘the heat spectrum in 1800 he
used thermométers. - The source of light>was the
sun, -and’ the arrangement’ was similar to Newton’s
original’ one—ttie prism: was placed close up to a slit
at a window, no lenses were used, and-the spectrum
422
NATURE
‘|
was consequently very impure. Three thermometers
were placed apparently at a distance of about 4 ft. or
5 ft. from the prism—one in the spectrum, and the
other two in the shadow beside it—and the difference
of temperature produced by the rays was noted. The
bulbs of the thermometers were blackened; one of
them measured } in. in diameter, but the others were
smaller. One and a half inches beyond the red there
was a rise of 34° in 10 min., 1 in. beyond the red 54°
in 13 min., and } in. beyond the red 63° in 10 min.
In the violet there was a rise of 1° in 15 min. The
spectrum was about 3 in. long, and the heat rays
could be detected a distance of 2} in. into the infra-
red. ‘ R. A. Houstoun.
Dniversity of Glasgow, May 10.
Anti-Gas Fans.
IN a note in Nature for May 13 you intimated
that my ‘‘allegations’’ concerning the treatment of
my anti-gas fans by the War Office and the sufferin
and loss of life thereby entailed could not be accepte
without question, and you called upon the ‘“ well-
accredited men. of science,” who, you say, largely
staffed the Anti-Gas Service, to make a ‘plain state-
ment of the facts.’’ I waited to see if such a state-
ment would be forthcoming, though I judged it
scarcely likely; and now, since it has not appeared,
I ask you, in’ fairness, to grant me space for a few
remarks on your note.
You suggest that such an indictment as I have
brought against the War Office, reinforced as it is
with their own letters, reports, and pamphlets, can be
refuted by the bare word of certain ‘‘ well-accredited
men of ‘science.’’ I pass over the implied slur on
myself of being less well-accredited than they, my
word of smaller value than theirs. No unprejudiced
person who has read that indictment and that evi-
dence with any care will agree with you that they can
be thus easily disposed of.
In my dealings with the War Office I had to do
with innumerable officials, some of them men of
science, most not. From their behaviour I judged
the larger number (and the exceptions were not, I
regret to say, men of science) to be mere puppets,
acting under the direction of some leading spirits
behind. Who those leading spirits were I had no
means of knowing; I was carefully kept in the dark.
You, sir, intimate that they were ‘ well-accredited
men of science.’’ If this was indeed so, then surely
you will agree with me that, for the sake of science
even more than in the interests of the nation at large,
it is essential that this matter should not be hushed up,
but that a public inquiry should be instituted. I am
not only willing, but‘also most anxious to submit my
case to some impartial tribunal. Will the men of
Science whom you have asked to speak, but who do
not answer, come out into the open and join with me
in demanding such an inquiry? If not, both the
world of science and the general public will know
what to think. HertHa AyRTON.
41 Norfolk Square, Hyde Park, W., May 23.
[We did not express an opinion upon the charges
made‘by Mrs. Avrton, but limited ourselves to a state-
ment of the indictment, and pointed out that it was
really directed against the men of science associated
with the Gas Service of the Army. Possibly. these
officers are not free to enter into a discussion of
reasons for the neglect of the use of the fans, ‘and
nothing short of a public inauiry will elicit the whole
of the facts in regard’to them.—Ep. Nature.] ~~
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
‘taken as (a+bx+cx’?+dx*+ ex‘).
[JUNE 3, 1920 |
4
A New Method for Approximate Evaluation of Definite
: Integrals between Finite Limits. ey
THE. subject has a particular interest for naval
architects, inasmuch as the majority of calculati
relative to displacement, stability, strength, etc., o
ships involve the finding of areas and volumes
bounded by curved lines and surfaces. Ha
The particular rule enunciated by Mr. A. F. Dufton
in Nature of May 20 has been in use at this college
for some years, and gives very accurate results in
obtaining areas and volumes, and also, by a further
application, the positions of their centres of gravity.
The method of its derivation was from one of
Tchebycheff’s rules. f(x) in this particular case is
It can readily be
shown that the value of
J y (x)dx=3 f(r) +S (2) +r) t/ (eh a
where e
24, =2, xr,?=4, == 5 27r,=4,
whence, %,=0-1027, %,=0-4062, X3=0'5938, and
x,=0-8973. The approximation to one-tenth, four-
tenths, six-tenths, and nine-tenths was obvious, and
all the more welcome because it is our usual practice
to divide the ship’s half-length into ten sections. No
special sections have to be drawn, calculations being
readily made with the aid of the existing drawings.
This rule was briefly referred to by Mr. W. J.
Luke at a meeting of the Institution of Naval Archi-
tects in 1915 (Trans. I.N.A., vol. lvii., p. 210).
The application of Simpson’s ordinary rule to find
the area of a quadrant or semicircle, as quoted,
manifestly shows Simpson’s rule at its worst, owing
to the wide divergence of the curve from the assumed
curve from which the rule is derived. Where curves
approximate to these forms, as in many sections of a
ship, it is common practice in the use of this rule to
interpose intermediate ordinates where the curve is
‘steep ’”’—relative to the base line—to get greater
accuracy. Bi
An interesting paper dealing with this subject and.
giving a great variety of rules for approximate integra-_
tion was read at the Institution of Naval Architects
in 1908 (Trans. I.N.A., vol. 1.) by Sir W. S. Abell
entitled ‘‘Two Notes on Ship Calculations.”
C. F. MercHantT.
Royal Naval College, Greenwich, S.E.,
May 27. Nes
oo ee
Applied Science and Industrial Research.
Your correspondent Mr. J. W. Williamson says
in Nature of May 27 that much of my criticism of
the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
‘“seems to lend colour” to current misconceptions of
industrial research, which he proceeds to construct
out of his own imagination, having first fathered
them on me, and then submits that the cause of
pure science is not well served by inconsiderate attacks
on the industrial research movement, such as he would
have it believed I made. I judge from this that he
was not present:at the meeting, and I therefore wish
it to be known thatthe full text of my address to the
National Union of Scientific Workers can be obtained
by forwarding a stamped addressed foolscap cover to
the General Secretary, 19 Tothill Street, Westminster,
S.W.1. If Mr. Williamson will have the goodness to
read it and the full report of the meeting published in
the current issue of the Scientific Worker, the official
organ of the union, and then say, if he still desires,
what he objects to, it would help rather than confuse
the issue. are - FREDERICK. SODDY. |
Jone 3, 1920]
NATURE
423
_ Mr. Wittiamson’s letter in Nature of May 27, in
which he criticises the attitude of Prof. Soddy and
‘that of the National Union of Scientific Workers
towards the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research and the struggling research associations,
com the issue. To attack the Department. or
sociation entrusted with industrial research is
tantamount neither to attacking industrial research
‘nor to making invidious distinctions. between pure and
a d research.
the minds of the members of this union there
; no belief in the superiority of pure science over
istrial research; it has always been our expressed
lion that there is no difference in their scientific
ue. In one of our explanatory pamphlets this view
expressed : ‘It [the union] aims at including within
angle scheme both academic and technical members.
_, . The separation of science and industry has been
a principal cause of our disastrous neglect of science
in the past, and if continued will remain harmful
to both in future. The present organisation, by en-
suring the intercourse of the two sides, is therefore
desirable on both national and scientific grounds.”’
mbodied in our rules we have as avowed objects:
1) To advance the interests of science, pure and
lied, as an essential element in the national life.
(2) To promote and encourage scientific research in all
_its branches. .
— Our criticism is that in any scheme put forward by
the Devartment inadequate facilities are given to that
_ type of research which, though it has less immediate
application, is probably of greater ultimate importance
through leading to the better understanding of more
phenomena. It would be quite unfair to expect par-
ticular industrial research associations to contribute
more than others to the prosecution of research which
might have a common application to industry or to
some aspect of the national life. Obviously this type
of work is best carried out at the universities or at
__ institutions such as the National Physical Laboratory.
Yet how is this research fostered at the universities?
According to the last report of the Department, sixty-
eight research workers and their assistants and thirty-
5 five students in training received allowances and grants
for equipment amounting to 14,170l.; this is at_the
_ rate of 53s. a week, and includes equipment. Con-
trast this grant with the salary of 4oool. a vear for
the director of the Glass Research Association—an
appointment which is an affront to all scientific
workers. Millions have gone into State-protected
industries to the accompaniment of an astounding
jation in the value of the shares held by indi-
piiale in the State-aided industry. But the uni-
versities are begging for funds to provide decent bench
: ‘accommodation and instructors for their science
students. Speaking at Liverpool on May 28, Dr.
Adami is reported to have said that if the university
raised the salaries of its demonstrators to a proper
standard it would lead to bankruptcy.
--——s ‘Tt is unfair to suggest that we are criticising the
Department for the starvation of pure scientific re-
search because industrial research is fostered; on the
__ contrary, we are anxious for the advancement of both.
We are of the opinion that neither branch, of science
is receiving adequate support, but that research
carried out in the general interest is in the more
unfavourable position.
it is because we honestly believe it is for the. better-
ment of research—a- maximum of. efficiency in . the
administration of the funds available which. must
inevitably tend: towards. the better appreciation . of
science. SG + ‘ ee.
At the conference of research associations. held
‘under the auspices of the Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research on May 14, I heard several
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
~
ree ee
~~ —
If-we .attack the Department
representatives express opinions
with those of the National Union of Scientific
Workers; suggestions were made and questions
asked which are provoked by Prof. Soddy’s address.
Mr. Williamson himself dealt with the economic pdsi-
tion of the research workers, and made suggestions
for improvement which might have been those of a
member of. the executive of this union.
We entirely concur with Sir Frank Heath
that the Department of Scientific and Industriat
Research is embarked on a_ great adventure.
Mr. Williamson will agree that it is our concern
to work for the safety, honour, and welfare of
the adventurous ‘scientific workers. So far we have
heard too much of the rights of the financial interests
concerned to work out their own salvation with money
provided largely by the State, but very little of the
rights of the scientific workers to safeguard their own
interests. We wish to be assured that the leading
spirit in the adventure is sufficiently well advised to
guide him in his choice of officers for this armv of
truth-seekers, and that his army is not defeated by
ignorance, mishandled by an unsympathetic staff, or
starved to feed the parasites of science.
A. G. CuurcH,
Secretary.
National Union of Scientific Workers,
19 Tothill Street, Westminster, Lon-
don, S.W.1, May 31.
almost identical
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter.
Wuen this remarkable object came into striking
prominence and attracted general observation in 1878,
the rate of its rotation period was slightly increasing,
and it continued to increase until the end of the cen-
tury. Then in the early part of 1901 a large irregular
spot appeared in the south tropical zone of Jupiter. This
new feature, moving swifter than the red spot to the
extent of about 23 seconds per rotation, soon affected
the motion of the latter by accelerating its rate as it
overtook it, and this influence has been repeated prior
to the seven occasions on which the two objects have
been in conjunction during the last twenty years.
The rate of rotation indicated by the red spot has,
in fact, been a very variable feature in recent times,
and the marking named has exhibited an increased
velocity and a shortening period. In the years from
1894 to 1901 the mean period was gh. 55m. 41-3s-, but
in the last eight years it has been gh. 55m. 35:7s.
I have shown the annual differences in Fig. 1, and
the rate of rotation determined each year I have also
tabulated for inspection and comparison :
te. My) 8 h m &
1878 9 55 33°7 1899 ++ 9 55 416
1879 341 1900 4t-4
1880 35:2 IgOL 40°7
1881 36:3 1902, 39°6*
1882 37°3 1903 40:2
1883 38-2 1904 39°7*
1884 39°0 1905 41-2
see 39°6 1906 39°5*
I 39°9 1907 40°9
1887 4orl 1908 39°6*
1888 40-2 1909 40'3 |
1889 40-4 1910 . 374
1890 . 40°5 IgIt aes
1891 40-6 FOU hi ae or ie 37:2
1892 40:8 1913 be 34:8*
1893 40'9 1914 a4 35°'5
1894 41:0 1915 37°5
1895 aul 1916 36-4
1896 413 IQI7 _ 345
1897 415, 1918 ae Bw pal
1898 41-7 IgIQ Sed 35'5
{ ‘
|
A424 NATURE [JUNE 3, 1920
The values are smoothed up to 1goo, but not in later | Phillips and Mr. F. Sargent, and I take this oppor-
years. tunity of acknowledging their kindness in furnishing
I have placed an asterisk in the table and diagram
to those years in which a conjunction occurred
between the red spot and the south tropical spot. In
every case it will be seen that the red spot moved at
a more rapid rate in those years when conjunctions
were observed.
The south tropical spot or disturbance is a totally
different object both in form and nature, and probably
in origin, from the great red spot. The latter has pre-
served its symmetrical oval form since it was ob-
served by Dawes in 1857, but the former has varied
enormously in its length and detail. In 1901 it was
scarcely. more than 20° long, in 1902 July 87°, in
1903 48°, in 1905 44° to 60°, in i911 115°, in
1912 65°, in 1913 March 140°, and-in 1918 180°, so
that in the last-mentioned year it extended half-way
round the vast diameter of Jupiter.
This. marking exhibited undue faintness in 1918
and the early part of 1919, and it appeared to be on
the eve of disappearing, like the hollow in the great
the necessary materials. abstention from
planetary work has been practically enforced, but,
amid the regret caused thereby, I feel great satisfac.
tion in the fact that others are pursuing it with much
ability and energy. W. F. DENNING. ©
Bristol, May 11. )
British and Foreign Scientific Apparatus.
Now that we are living in an age of “trusts”
there is no need to fear foreign competition in
respect to prices. The only points our home manu-
facturers should lay stress upon are quality and
quantity, and should these be maintained at a high
_level they can hold their ground against foreign manu-
facturers; that is, so long as the manufacturers
throughout the world have confidence in their respec-
tive associations. Whenever these commercial asso-
ciations begin to fall asunder we may ex com-
petition in prices to operate, and then it will mean
south equatorial belt where the red spot lies. How- | a commercial war, not between nations, but between
individual manufacturers in Europe
and America. The result will mean
[fal | LES financial. benefit to the users of
- 54 scientific apparatus, just as the
recent slump in prices of the neces-
Be ) z,| saries of life may soon prove to be
ted y “| advantageous to consumers generally
| ATAU TTY throughout the world.
0 bid Scientific apparatus is as neces-
ft] t sary to the maintenance of healthy
39 t +39 life as are hygenic clothing and
} wholesome food; and if protection
38 7 38 for British manufacturers is requ
_| in the form of prohibition except
37 t f\ 34 under licence to induce them to im-
i prove the quality and the output,
36 t \ 36| with the ultimate object of deve i
t ‘] ing an optical industry within
35 vA 35, Empire of such importance that
"| : there would be less danger to the
3¢ 134, State in the event of another war,
why should. the users of scientific.
Me 33 radar be xp to bear vl
Ree Se SE a a ae ee ee es ae ee a rdships in regard to poorer quali
*$ 2 8 $8 @ 8 $8 & 8 8 2 2 8 @ and Si ener Be even for Y beat
Fic. 1.—Rates of rotation of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.
ever, there has recently been some intensification in
the material forming the south tropical spot, so that
observations are being made to trace its position and
developments. It is satisfactory also to know that
the red spot itself continues to retain its definite
form, and is sufficiently distinct to be within easy
recognition when a steady air conduces to good seeing.
This spot seemed to be breaking up or wearing out
early in 1919, but it has recovered something of its
old-time aspect, and is well within reach of the tele-
scopes usually in the hands of amateurs.
Since Schwabe first saw the hollow on the south
side of the great south equatorial belt of Jupiter in
1831 September 5, the planet has rotated more than
78,000 times. There is every reason to conclude that
the object he saw is the same as that which has
been so prominently visible in recent years in close
contiguity to the red spot. The two features appear
to have participated in one and the same fluctuating
rate of rotation, a mean of which was gh. 55m. 36-8s.
during the 88} years included in the observations. .
Thé observations upon which my deductions for
recent years are based were made by the Rev. T. E.R.
NO. 2640, VOL. 105] »
orar riod? Surely it is a ques-
ore es the Goperanae to decide
. as to what amount of State aid is
required to develop a key industry that the whole
nation may be called upon to bear the expense instead
of an extremely small minority of the population.
In pre-war days our principal foreign competitor
was Germany, not so much in price as in quality,
and if German manufacturers were able to develop
an industry of very considerable importance without
State aid, why cannot British manufacturers do
likewise ? .
There was one person in Germany who was more
responsible than all other makers together in lowering
prices, viz. Leitz of Wetzlar. He always appeared
satisfied with a comparatively small profit, and aimed
at a very large output; and, I believe, he was the first
to sell 1/12-in. oil immersion objectives at 5]., and
curiously this ultimately became a uniform price
throughout the trade in Europe and America. The
same maker sold students’ microscope stands at 55s.,
which, with suitable optical equipment, was a service-
able instrument with highest magnifications. The
prices of these articles to-day are ol. and 8l. 5s.—
higher than the British equivalents. .
Since. the armistice German manufacturers have
UNE 3, 1920]
VATURE
425
n obliged to adjust their prices in accordance with
rate of exchange for each country to which they
ort, and for our country their prices are at present
per cent. on average above pre-war English prices,
wages in the German optical industry have in-
ased more than 4oo per cent., and are likely to
‘still higher. Opticians and mechanics earning the
ivalent of 1s. per hour before the war now receive
are living in a state of semi-starvation, passing
an experience at present much worse than any-
we endured in the war, and unless foodstuffs are
from England and America the Germans may
forced to conditions similar to those experienced
them during the last two years of war, until the
t harvest provides better supplies. The low value
German money makes it exceedingly difficult for
nufacturers to import raw materials. Many iron
steel works are closed for want of coal, and most
the coal delivered from the mines is what our
ers call ‘‘dust.’’ The French take the coal and
e the rubbish, ‘‘which is good enough for the
Germans.” Motor lorries are standing idle for want
of petrol or benzol; and, for transport, horses are
employed instead. Manufacturers do not pay a per-
on excess profits, but have to deliver up the
vhole of these profits to the State.
I fully appreciate the question which Mr. Baker
lises in his letter appearing in Nature of May 20:
The rate of exchange makes the prices seem low
gc puatti with those in this country, but can
rof. Bayliss obtain delivery at the low prices?”
L
Having spent sjx weeks recently in the German
interior and purchased a considerable quantity of
optical apparatus, I found it impossible to get the
goods exported to England at the rate of exchange,
- but had to pay English prices in English money;
also it was necessary to obtain licences from the
Ge n Government before goods could be exported.
_ The foregoing statements indicate briefly some of
the conditions prevailing in the scientific apparatus
rade in Germany, and there is evidence of their
having to continue for a very considerable period.
J believe our manufacturers have had the oppor-
tunity of a lifetime since the armistice, and there
is still time to reorganise British workshops to com-
‘successfully with foreigners without State aid,
a a with courage, capital, and enterprise. .
_* The proposed Anti-dumping Bill is a. misnomer.
our country, and never has been any. We could pro-
duce quality equal to or better than that of any other
nation if we set ourselves to the task. One example
during the war—the best aerial photographic lenses
were made by an English firm. Germany came
second. The tests were made by disinterested officials
in the Royal Air Force. J. W. Octrvy.
Hill View, Westerham Hill, Kent, May 25. ,
ae
Tue letters from manufacturers on the subject of
the supply of scientific instruments are interesting and
fairly unanimous, but appear to me to miss the whole
__ point of the situation. That is, that after five years’
_ freedom from competition our manufacturers cannot
_. in many classes of scientific instruments compete suc-
cessfully with German firms.
4 If the rate of exchange is the cause of the importa-
_ __ tion of German instruments, what is the cause of
hundreds of American microscopes and lenses being
sold during and after the war with the rate of exchange
adverse to us? The Germans are selling their goods
in England at current English rates and above. vet
find a ready sale. At first, it is true, some individuals
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
. and have a working week of forty-eight hours..
-Ioo per cent. advance, namely, ul.
There is no dumping done in scientific apparatus in.
smuggled in German instruments at mark rates, but
as soon as the extent of the demand was realised,
German firms put up their export rates to 60-100 per
cent. above pre-war rates, to be paid in English
money, and by some firms payment in advance is
insisted upon. This is more than confirmed by
Messrs. Bellingham and Stanley in their letter. What
more do our manufacturers want?
The German goods are sold simply.because they are
superior to similar goods produced at reasonable
prices in Britain. Mr. B. H. Morphy and Mr. C. Baker
state that this was the case before the war, and most
scientific workers will tell them that it is so still.
One firm complains of a voluntary hospital buying
apparatus cheaper abroad, and thinks that an English
firm should have been given the contract at higher
rates. Whose money is to do this? I hope that the
voluntary subscribers would protest against ‘their
money being paid to subsidise British manufacturers.
A small concrete example of what actually occurs
may not be out of place. A German diamond object
marker before the war cost 10 marks. ‘Early this year
I sent to a leading firm of British opticians for one. It
arrived, but was absolutely useless, having no ‘spring
safety device and no means of screw adjustment, both
present in the German one. It cost 11. tos. Months
later, with considerable trouble, I procured from
Messrs. Leitz, of Germany, the pre-war article at
The German
article was bought because it was superior, not
because it was cheaper. ;
It should be borne in mind that some scientific
articles, e.g. photographic plates, can be produced
well arid cheaply here, and need not fear German
competition. If, as Mr. Baker states, the profit
on other classes of goods is too small, why not allow
them to be imported from Germany ?
Glasgow, May 21. J. S. DuNKERLY.
Gost of Scientific Publications.
Like other societies which exist mainly for the
publication of the results of scientific research, the
Royal Society of Edinburgh finds ‘its activities greatly
hampered by the present cost of publication, The
statements contained in the leader in NaturE of May6
and in the correspondence which has followed it are
fully borne out by the experience of this socigty.
Taking into account all present sources of income and
all necessary expenses, it may safely be said that;the
output of scientific literature must be cut down to
fully one-third of what it was in pre-war days. —
The point to be emphasised is that publication of
scientific results is absolutely necessary for the true
development of science. ‘A year and a half ago the
council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, on realising
the seriousness of the situation, appealed to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer for an increase in the
annual grant solely in the interest of scientific pub-
lication. The appeal was unsuccessful, but in reply
the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that “*he would
‘be ready to reconsider the question along with other
similar claims when the financial situation is more
favourable.’’
It certainly seems necessary that suffering societies
which publish original memoirs should take steps to
press on the attention of the nation and on the con-
science of the Government this consideration in the
interest of scientific investigation, viz. the provision
of adequate funds for the publication of the’ results
of research, C. G. Knorr, :
General Secretary.
Royal Societv of Edinburgh,
22 George Street, May 31.
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920
Natural History Studies in Canada.!
(r) REVISED edition of Mr. Ernest Thomp-
son Seton’s “Arctic Prairies ” (first pub-
lished in 1911) is very welcome. It is a well-told
story of a canoe journey of 2000 miles in search
Fic. 1.—The sandhill crane. From ‘‘ Wild Life in Canada.
of the caribou (a kind of reindeer), and it dis-
closes a cheerful picture of the abundance of wild
1 (x) ‘* The Arctic Prairies: A Canoe-Journey of 2000 Miles in Search of |
|
|
|
'
the Caribou. Being the Account of a Voyage to the Region North of
Aylmer Lake.” By Ernest Thompson Seton. Pp. xii+308. (London:
Constable and Co., Lid., 1920.) Price 8s. 6d. net.
(2) ‘‘ Wild Life in Canada.” By Capt. A. Buchanan.
London: J. Murray, 1920.) i Price 15s. net.
NO. 2640, VOL, 105 |
Pp. xx+264.
|
|
life (in 1907) in the Far North-west of America.
“T have lived in the mighty boreal forest, with
its Red-men, its Buffalo, its Moose, and _ its
Wolves; I have seen the Great Lone Land with
its endless plains and prairies that
do not know the face of man or
the crack of a rifle; I have been
with its countless lakes that re-
echo nothing but the wail and
yodel of the Loons, or the mourn-
ful music of the Arctic Wolf. I
have wandered on the plains of
the Musk-ox, the home of the
Snowbird and the Caribou.”
The ‘author has fine things to
tell us of—such’as the love-song
of Richardson’s owl, sung on the
wing, “like the slow tolling of a
soft but high-pitched bell”; a
herd of wild buffalo amid a great
bed of spring anemones; a troop
of caribou, about 500 strong,
charging at full trot through the
taint of man; and the wealth of
flowers in the so-called “Barren
Grounds.” There are grim pic-
tures too—of the malignancy of
the mosquitoes which for two and
a half months make a hell of a land
which for half the year might be
an earthly paradise; of the epi-
demics that periodically wipe out
the all too prolific rabbits
(billions in the Mackenzie
River valley in 1903-4, and
none to be seen in 1907); of
the Canadian lynx that “lives
on rabbits, follows the rabbits,
thinks rabbits, tastes like rab-
bits, increases with them, and
on their failure dies of starva-
tion in the unrabbited woods ”’;
of the aged dwarf spruces
which testify to the rigour of
the environmental conditions,
for one which was at least
300 years old ‘was only 8 ft.
high and 12 in. through. Mr.
Seton’s skill as a descriptive
naturalist needs no _ praising,
and his narrative is full of
human interest as well. The
book is generously illustrated
with pen-and-ink drawings and
photographs. The reference in
the preface to the scientific
| appendices might have been judiciously omitted,
for appendices there are none.
(2) Capt. Buchanan tells of his wanderings in
“the great unpeopled North, which even to-day
comprises more than half of the large Dominion
of Canada.” He explored the country between
June 3, 1920]
=:
eee
NATURE
427
the Saskatchewan River and the Arctic “ Barren
Grounds,” and his collection of birds from the area
_ drained by the Churchill River was the first to be
_ made fromi that remote region.
Of this collection
a list is given at the end of the book, and birds
predominate throughout the pages of what is
__ really a naturalist’s journal—unvarnished, graphic,
_ and with a strong personal note.
A chapter is
_ given to the rare sandhill crane, which he saw
and heard and stalked. He found the nest and
saw the eggs through the field-glass, but, having
‘waited overnight in the hope of the parents return-
ward migration, so it is leisurely ; moreover, many
of the does are with young. The southward
movement of great herds in the fall is largely con-
ditioned by the absence of trees, for an icy crust,
difficult to break, forms over the snow. “As the
thermometer drops in the Far North and food
and shelter become difficult to find, the animals
will band together and grow restive, and pause
from time to time to sniff the wind from the south
with question on their countenance. And one day,’
with proud heads up and anxious eyes, they will
commence their long travel through sheltering
-r
ee eS ee
a,
_ favourite one.
Fic. 2.—Caribou travelling in typical Indian file. From ‘‘ Wild Life in Canada.’
ing, he was baulked in the end, for the nest was
empty in the morning. ;
A fine picture is given of Reindeer Lake, a vast
sheet of water stretching 140 miles north and
south, and 40 miles across at its widest. Its
shores form the favoured winter-haunt of the
barren-ground caribou (Rangifer arcticus), which
digs through the snow to get at the white moss
and marsh grass. Early in the year the does and
yearling fawns begin to move northward, and the
bucks follow later.
There is no weather-change urging the north-
forests where snows are soft and food is plentiful
beneath its yielding surface.”
The picture that the author gives of the caribou
is a fine piece of work. Another chapter deals
with the admirable sled-dogs, which will gamely
do their best, for two or three days on end, in
bitter weather and without food, to save an
anxious situation. Very good reading, too, is
Capt. Buchanan’s appreciation of the Cree and
Chipewyan Indians, “quaintly friendly and
unselfish in their hospitality,” “resourceful, mag-
nificent fellow-travellers on the trail.”
Tidal
HE idea of utilising the rise and fall of the
tides for power purposes has long been a
Up to the present, however, no
power development of this kind, of any
appreciable size, has been carried out. The com-
paratively recent arousing of interest in water-
power development in general, and the great
advance in the cost of fuel, have been accompanied.
by a corresponding interest in_ tidal-power
schemes, and their commercial possibility is at
the moment the subject of serious investigation
in this country and in France.
The power which may be developed from a
tidal basin of given area depends on the square
of the tidal range, and since the cost per horse-
power of the necessary turbines and generating
machinery increases rapidly as the working head
is diminished, the cost per horse-power of a tidal-
power installation, other things being equal, will
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
Power.
be smallest where the tidal range is greatest. It
is for this reason that the western, and especially
the south-western, coasts of Great Britain, and
the western coast of France, are particularly well
adapted for such developments, since the tidal
range here is greater than in any other part of
the world, with the possible exception of the Bay
of Fundy, Hudson’s Bay, and Port Gallelos, in
Patagonia.
In Great Britain the highest tides are found
in the estuary of the Severn, the mean range of
the spring tides at Chepstow being 42 ft., and
of the neap tides 21 ft. In France the maximum
‘range occurs at St. Malo, where it amounts to
42-5 ft. at spring tides, and about 18 ft. at neap
tides. The tidal range in the Dee is 26 ft. at
springs, and 12 ft. at neaps, while the mean
range of spring tides around the coast of Great
Britain is 16-4 ft., and of neap tides 8°6 ft.
428
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920
Many schemes of tidal-power development have
been suggested from time to time. Briefly out-
lined, the more promising of these are as
follows : —
(a) A single tidal basin is used, divided from
the sea by a dam or barrage, in which are placed
the turbines. The basin is filled through sluices
during the rising tide. At high tide the sluices
are closed. When the tide has fallen through a
height the magnitude of which depends on the
working head to be adopted, the turbine-gates
are opened, and the turbines operate on a more
or less constant head until low tide. The maxi-
mum output from a given area of basin is
Fig.
obtained when the working head is approximately
one-half the tidal range, and the cycle of
operations under these conditions, and with a
constant rate of fall in the tidal basin, is shown
in Fig. 1. Here the dotted sine curve represents
the level of the sea on a time base. The working
period extends from A to B.
(b) A single tidal basin is used, with the tur-
bines operating on both rising and falling tides.
The cycle of operations is now indicated in Fig. 2.
The working period per complete tide extends
from A to B and from C to D. Slightly before
low water, at B, the basin is emptied through
sluice-gates, and at D, a little before high water,
the basin is filled through the sluice-gates. With
a working head equal to one-half the tidal
range, the period of operation*is approximately
50 per cent. greater than in system (a), and the
work done per complete tide is approximately
50 per cent. greater.
(c) A single tidal basin is used with the turbines
operating on both rising and falling tides. Instead
of filling and emptying the tidal basin through
sluice-gates at high and low water; and working
under an approximately constant head, the water
is allowed to flow through the turbines and to
NO. 2640, VOL, 105 |
will operate.
adjust its own level. Under these conditions the
rise and fall inside the basin are cyclical, with the
same period as the tide, but with a smaller rise
and fall and with a certain time-lag. The range
in the basin and the time-lag depend on the ratio
of the surface area of the basin and of the effective
discharge area of the turbines. The working
head during each tide varies from zero to a maxi-
mum. The cycle of operations-is shown i in Fig. 3.
The working period is from A to B and from
C to D, where the head at the points A, B, C,
and D is the minimum under which the turbines
The total working period per tide
is greater than with either of the preceding
Fig.>.
systems, and the possible output is coat
greater. On the other hand, the variation of head
during any one tide is very large.
(a) Two tidal basins of approximately equal
areas are used, with turbines in the dividing wall.
Each basin communicates with the sea through
suitable sluice-gates. In one of these basins,
called the upper, the water-level is never allowed
to fall below one-third of the tidal range, while ~
in the lower basin the level is not allowed to rise
above one-third of the tidal range. The working
head then varies from 0-53 H to o80 H, and
operation is continuous, as indicated in Fig. 4,
which shows the cycle of operations. The upper
Bas,
basin is filled from the sea through the appro-
-priate sluice-gates from A to B, and the lower
basin discharges into the sea from C'to D.. For
a given total basin area and a given tidal range
the output is only about one-half that obtained in
system (a), and one-third that obtained in systems.
(b) and (c), so that, except where the physical
configuration of the site is particularly favour-
able, the cost per horse-power is likely to prove
very high.
(e) Two tidal basins of approximately equal
size are used. Turbines are installed in the walls
dividing the sea from each basin. Fig. 5 shows
NATURE
429
discharges through its turbines into the
From B to E the sea enters the lower basin
‘its turbines. The upper basin is filled
the sea through its sluice-gates between
TD, and the lower basin is emptied through
e-gates from F to G. The head varies
1 0125 H to 0-62 H, and the output is some
cent. greater than in system (d), but the
nber of turbines required is much greater than
- is possible, at the expense of additional com-
ication, to arrange in each of these systems
‘the head shall be maintained constant during
one working period, but since this means that
e working head must then be the minimum
ining during the period, a loss of energy is
‘olved, with a great additional cost of construc-
tion and complication in manipulation, and with
little compensating advantage.
The great difficulty in developing a tidal scheme
as compared with an orthodox low head water-
fluctuations in head. In any scheme in which the
working head is a definite fraction of the tidal
range, the working head at spring tides is much
_A BASIN
ater than at neap tides. In the case of the
Severn, for example, the working head at springs
would be twice as great as at neaps, and the
energy output per tide would be four times as
reat at springs as at neaps, while at St. Malo
as at neaps.
Not only is the installation subject to this
_eyclical fluctuation of head, but in any simple
scheme the turbines also cease to operate for a
more or less extended period on each tide; and as
this idle period depends on the time of ebb or flood
tide it gradually works around the clock, and
will, at regular intervals, be included in the
normal industrial working day. It is true that
_ schemes of operation such as have been indicated
_are feasible in which this idle period may be
eliminated and continuous operation ensured, but
only at a considerable reduction of output per
square mile of tidal basin area. Even in such
schemes, unless the working head is fixed with
reference to the tidal range at neap tides, the
variation of head between springs and neaps
causes the output to be very variable.
In any installation, then, designed for an
ordinary industrial load, unless the output is cut
down to that obtainable under the minimum head
NO. 2640. VOL. 105 |
power scheme arises from the relatively great
available at the worst period of a neap tide, in
which case only a very. small fraction of the total
available energy is utilised and the cost of the
necessary engineering works per horse-power will,
except in exceptionally favourable circum-
stances, be prohibitive, some form of storage
system forms an essential feature of the scheme.
Various storage systems have: been suggested.
Electrical accumulators must be ruled out, if only
on account of the cost, and the same applies to
all systems making use of compressed air. The
only feasible system appears to consist of a stor-
age reservoir above the level of the tidal basin.
Whenever the output of the primary turbines
exceeds the industrial demand, the excess energy
is utilised to pump water into the reservoir, and
when the demand exceeds the output from the
primary turbines it is supplied by a series of
generators driven by a battery of secondary tur-
bines operated by the water from the storage
reservoir.
Evidently this method is available only when
the physical configuration of the district affords
‘a suitable reservoir site within a reasonable
- distance of the tidal basin.
Unfortunately also,
considerable losses are inevitable in the process,
and the energy available at the switchboard of this
secondary station is only about 50 per cent. of
the energy of the water utilised by the primary
turbines. Where two tidal schemes at some
distance apart differ sufficiently in phase, it is
possible, by working the two in conjunction, to
reduce or eliminate the idle period between tides,
‘and thus to reduce the necessary storage some-
what; but this does not affect the necessity of
storage as between spring and neap tides. +
Since storage reduces the available output by
one-half, and at the same time complicates the
system, besides adding considerably to the first
cost and maintenance charges, the prospects of
tidal-power schemes would be much more promis-
ing if the whole of the output could be utilised
as it is generated. By feeding into a distributing
main in conjunction with a large steam station
and/or inland water-power scheme, and delivering
to an industrial district capable of absorbing a
comparatively large night load, such a state of
affairs might be realised, at all events approxi-
mately. There is also the possibility that the
intermittent operation of certain electro-chemical
processes may be developed so as to enable any
surplus power to be absorbed as and when avail-
able, and, if so, power developed tidally will
probably prove cheaper in this country than that
developed from any other source.
Owing to the relatively large variations in
working head in any simple scheme, and to the
small working heads, the design of hydraulic
turbines capable of giving constant speed with
reasonable efficiencies, and of moderately high
speeds of rotation, is a matter of considerable
difficulty. Modern’ developments, however,
promise much better results in both these
respects than would have appeared possible only
a few years ago, and turbines are in existence
430
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 192¢
which are capable of operating under a variation
of head equal to 50 per cent. on each side of the
mean, with efficiencies which do not fall below
70 per cent. over this range, and with reasonably
high speeds of rotation under the heads available.
Even with such turbines, the number of
technical problems to be solved before a tidal
scheme of any magnitude can be embarked upon
with confidence is large. The questions of single-
versus double-way operation, of storage, of the
effect of sudden changes of water-level due to
strong winds, of wave effects, of silting in the
tidal basin and of scour on the down-stream side
of the sluices, of the best form of turbine and of
generator, and of their regulation and of that of
the sluice-gates, are probably the most important,
though not the only, subjects to consider.
On, the other hand, the possibilities of tidal
power, if it can be developed commercially, are
very great. Assuming a mean tidal range of only
20 ft. at springs, and 1o ft. at neaps, and adopt-
ing the single-basin method of development with
operation on both rising and falling tides, each —
square mile of basin area would be capable, with-
out storage, of giving an average daily output
of approximately 110,000 horse-power-hours. In
such an estuary as the Severn, where an area of
20 square miles could readily be utilised with a ~
spring tidal range of 42 ft., the average daily.
output, without storage, would be approximately
10,000,000 horse-power-hours.
At the present time it is difficult to obtain an
even rough estimate of the total cost of such a
scheme, owing to the uncertainty regarding many
of the factors involved. The whole question
would appear to merit investigation, espe-
cially on matters of detail, by a technical committee
with funds available for experimental work. As
a result of such an investigation, it is at least
possible that a definite working scheme could be
formulated capable of generating power at a cost
at least as small as, and possibly much smaller
than, that of power generated from any coal-fired
installation,
Obituary.
Pror. C. A. TimiriazerF, For.Mem.R.S.
THE death is announced of Clement Arkadie-
vitch Timiriazeff, emeritus professor of botany
in the University of Moscow. Timiriazeff was the
only Russian botanist who was at all a familiar
figure in England. In earlier days he came to
England and saw Charles Darwin, while his last
visit was made as a delegate to the Darwin cele-
bration in Cambridge in 1909. His earliest pub-
lication appeared in 1863—a Russian book on
“Darwin and his Theory,” which ran through five
editions. | Here he made his mark as an attractive
expounder of science for the general reader, and he
followed this work with books on “The General
Problems of Modern Science,” ‘Agriculture and
Plant Physiology,” and “The Life of the Plant.”
The last was in great demand, there being seven
Russian editions between 1878 and 1908, while in
1912 it was translated into English, and is widely
read to the present day. Its characteristic note is
an exposition of plant structure and function based
on the chemical and physical processes at work in
the living plant. Without comparison of the early
editions we cannot tell at what date this book took
the form in which it appeared in English, but it
looks as if Timiriazeff was one of the earliest
writers to take up this essentially modern outlook.
His attitude was no doubt an expression of his
early training under chemists and physicists. Born
in 1843, he studied. under Bunsen, Kirchhoff,
Helmholtz, and Berthelot before working with
Boussingault.
Timiriazeff made himself famous by work on
one single problem—the participation of the dif-
ferent rays of the visible spectrum in the photo-
synthetic activity of the green leaf. The tech-
nique which he brought to the attack on this
problem seems almost an exact expression of the
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
combined influence of his teachers: good methods
of gas-analysis, pure spectral illumination, and
experimentation on isolated leaves; combined with
the sound conception that rays utilised for work in
the chloroplast must be rays abundantly absorbed ©
by the pigment chlorophyll. Working with a
micro-eudiometer, concentrated sunlight, and a
narrow spectroscope slit, he was able to disprove
the accepted view that the yellow region, which
is so bright to the eye, is the most effective region
of the solar spectrum, and to locate the efficiency |
in the red region where absorption by chlorophyll
is greater. Afterwards he demonstrated the
secondary maximum of photosynthetic effect in the
blue region, where also absorption is great.
This work was published in different forms, at
various dates, in scientific journals of most Euro-
pean countries, the final presentation being the
Croonian lecture to the Royal Society in 1903. The
actual experimental work seems to have been all
done between 1868 and 1883. ‘There is no evi-
dence that he published research work on any
other subject, so that we have in Timiriazeff the
remarkable case of a man who, having achieved
fame by one important line of research at forty,
was content to devote the remaining half of his
life to teaching and exposition.
THE announcement of a new book, “A Nation’s
Heritage,” by HarpwickE DRUMMOND RAWNSLEY,
sadly coincides with the record of its author’s
death. Born on September 28, 1851, the distin-
guished canon died on May 28, to the last pur-
suing the self-imposed task of persuading his
fellow-countrymen to take care of their own
treasures. His mother was a niece of Sir John
Franklin, the Arctic explorer. In education Canon
Rawnsley had the good fortune to be at Upping-
Jone 3, 1920]
NATURE
431
ham under Edward Thring, and at Balliol under
_ Benjamin Jowett, with fellow-undergraduates who
_ in various ways became men of light and leading.
_ As a poet and preacher, and in general a quick-
_ ener of life and energy wherever demands were
_ made upon his active genius, he met with well-
| deserved appreciation. As the obituary notice
_ in the Times observes, ‘perhaps his chief work
- was the founding of the National Trust for the
_ Preservation of Places of Historic Interest and
_ Natural Beauty.” For the qualifying word “ per-
o haps”. it would be better to substitute
_ the word “undoubtedly.” Men like Canon
Rawnsley, by setting a courageous example, often
_ accomplish much more than their immediate
object.
By the death, at fifty-eight years of age, of
Dr. GeorGe Ernest Morrison, “Morrison of
Peking,” as he was familiarly known, the Empire
has lost a great explorer and expert in the politics
of the Far+East. An Australian by birth, Dr.
Morrison began by explorations in that continent,
New Guinea, and the South Sea Islands, his most
_ notable exploit being his famous crossing from the
_ Gulf of Carpentaria to Melbourne in 1882, when
he marched 2043 miles on foot in 123 days.
Coming to Europe, he took his degree of M.D.
at Edinburgh, and wandered in the United States,
Spain, and Morocco. Reaching China, he crossed
to Rangoon and explored Siam. His life-work
really began in 1897, when he was appointed
Rs cores ondent of the Times at Peking. Here he
d from day to day with the prescience of
a Ceaiesman and the accuracy of a historian the
momentous struggle which resulted from the
_ German occupation of Kiao-chao, and he took an
active part in the defence of the Peking Legations
during the Boxer rising of 1900. In 1907 Dr.
Morrison crossed China from Peking to Tonquin,
and in 1910 he rode from Honan City to Andijan
in Russian Turkestan. Two years later he re-
signed his post as correspondent of the Times,
and became political adviser to the first President
of the Chinese Republic. During his stay in
Peking he collected one of the most comprehensive
libraries of Chinese literature. His contributions
to the study of the Far East, except his well-
known book, “An Australian in China,” slit
consist of newspaper articles.
WE much regret to announce the death, on
May 28, in his forty-third year, of Pror. LEONARD
Doncaster, F.R.S., fellow of King’s College,
Cambridge, and Derby professor of zoology in
the University of Liverpool.
WE notice with regret the announcement in the
Times of the death in India, at the early age of
thirty-two years, of PRor, SrinrvASA RAMANUJAN,
F.R.S., fellow of Trinity College. Cambridge, and
distinguished by his brilliant mathematical _re-
searches.
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
Notes,
THE Romanes lecture at Oxford was delivered on
| May 27 by Dr. Inge, Dean of St. Paul’s, before a
| large audience, by whom the lecturer’s brilliant
epigrams and trenchant criticism of conventional
catchwords were evidently much appreciated. Deal-
ing with the “idea of progress,’’ the Dean made it
clear that he had no belief in any natural law of
continued progress in the sphere of morals or intel-
lect, or even of physical organisation. The concep-
tion of such a law was, in fact, of comparatively
recent growth, and had no foundation in the thought
of antiquity or of the Middle Ages. At the same
time he wouid not deny a temporary improvement
of the race in fulfilment of a finite purpose, though
he found little or no evidence of any advance during
the historical period in either physical organisation
or morals. The results of accumulated experience
must not be confounded with a real progress in
human nature. Dean Inge would scarcely be con-
cerned to deny that the emergence of rational
humanity from previous non-human conditions de-
served in some sort the name of “progress,’’ but he
saw no warrant for the belief that such “ progress”
would be continued indefinitely under the domain of
natural law. Huxley had pointed out in a previous
Romanes lecture that ethical improvement ran: counter
to the process of cosmic evolution. Progress was a
task for humanity, not a law of Nature. « Civilisation
was a disease that had hitherto been invariably fatal.
The ancient civilisations had fallen by the attacks of
outer barbarians; ‘‘we breed our own barbarians.”’
But progress was possible for the individual, if not
for the race, and hope was not only a virtue, but also
a solid fact.
On May 17 Mr. H. Morris, of Lewes, read a paper
to the Oxford University Archzological Society on
the evolution of Wealden flint culture from _pre-
Paleolithic times, including that of Piltdown Man.
He exhibited many flints, which he claimed as inter-
mediate between the early Harrison types of the
North Downs plateau and the recognised Palzolithic
types, representing man’s transition from the stage
in which he subsisted on a vegetable diet to the
hunting stage. The earliest spear-head accompanies
the Piltdown skull and marks the beginning of man
the hunter. The flints are confined to a_ limited
number of patches, and many prolific “river gravel”
areas fail to produce anything resembling them; the
proportions in which the various types appear are
found to agree closely in all the patches. When the
cortex of the flint did not interfere with the design
of the implement, it has been cleverly and intentionally
preserved; many of the fractures are of thermal
origin, but man utilised these natural fracture-surfaces
in the same way as he utilised cortex. It is signi-
ficant that signs of man’s work appear only in the
places where it is essential for the attainment of the
required form. Sir Arthur Evans, Prof. Sollas, Dr.
Marett, Mr. Henry Balfour, Mr. Reid Moir, and others
discussed Mr. Morris’s paper, and hesitated to accept
his conclusions.
432
“NATURE
[June 3, 1920
A SUDDEN. flood swept through the Lincolnshire
town of Louth on Saturday afternoon, May 29, caus-
ing immense havoc in its path. The torrent took the
course of the small stream known as the River Lud,
which runs through the town, and rose 15 ft. in half
an hour. The disaster, which occurred shortly before
5 o'clock, is described as a huge wall of water
sweeping down upon the town and carrying away
bridges and buildings opposed to its course. The
River Lud in normal times is a stream from 12 ft.
to 15 ft. wide, and about 2 ft. or 3 ft. deep. The
flood is said nowhere to have been less than 8 ft.
to to ft. high and fully 200 yards wide. It was
apparently accompanied by no warning sound, and
the torrent of water is said to have exceeded the
rate of 4o miles an hour. The loss of life is
reported to be from 25 to 40 persons, and the damage
to property is roughly estimated at 250,000l. to
500,000l, A heavy thunderstorm had raged for two
hours in the afternoon. The disaster was, without
doubt, due to intense thunderstorm rains swelling
the river far beyond the capacity of its channel.
The ‘Meteorological Glossary” published by the
Meteorological Office describes a ‘‘cloud-burst’’ as a
term commonly used for very heavy thunder-rain,
and in.this sense the term seems applicable to the
cause of the Louth disaster.
THE new by-laws of the Chemical Society came
into force on June 1, and women are now eligible for
fellowship of the society.
THE annual visitation of the Royal Observatory,
Greenwich, will be held on Saturday next, June 5.
The observatory will be open for inspection by invited
visitors at 3.30 p.m.
Dr. FREDERICK G. CoTTRELL has been nominated
by President Wilson as Director of the U.S. Bureau
of Mines, Department of the Interior, in succession
to Dr. Van. H. Manning, resigned.
Tue Stewart prize of the British Medical Asso¢iation
has been awarded by the council to Dr. Harriette
Chick, who has been an assistant in the department
of experimental pathology at the Lister Institute since
1906, and has published numerous papers on bacterio-
logy and physical chemistry.
By the courtesy of the council of the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers, the next ordinary scientific
meeting of the Chemical Society on June 17 at 8 p.m. |
will be held in the lecture-hall of the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers, Storey’s Gate, Westminster,
S.W.1, when Prof. J. C. McLennan, of Toronto Uni-
versity, will deliver a lecture on ‘‘ Helium.”
A JOINT meeting of the Association of Economic
Biologists and the Imperial Entomological Conference
will be held at the Rothamsted Experimental Station,
Harpenden, on June 4. The party will leave St.
Pancras Station by the 10 a.m. train and, on arrival
at Harpenden, proceed direct to the park, where the
experimental plots will be demonstrated by Dr. W. E.
Brenchley. P
Sir Wititam J. Pope has accepted the nomination
of the council of the Society of Chemical Industry to
be president for the year 1920-21. Prof. H. Louis has
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
_ Early
been elected foreign secretary in succession to the late
Dr. Messel, and Dr. C. C. Carpenter has been ap-
pointed the society’s representative on the governing
body of the Imperial College of Science and Techno-
logy.
At the meeting of the Franklin Institute, Philadel-
phia, on May 19, the Franklin medal awarded to
the Hon. Sir Charles A. Parsons was received by
Sir Auckland Geddes, British Ambassador; and Mr.
W. A, F. Ekengren, Swedish Minister, also received
a Franklin medal for Prof. Svante A. Arrhenius.
Papers were presented on ‘‘Some Reminiscences of
Days of Turbine Development’? by Sir
Charles A. Parsons, and on ‘The World’s Energy
Supply ’’ by Prof. Arrhenius.
THE national memorial to the late Capt. F. C.
Selous at the Natural History Museum, Cromwell
Road, South Kensington, will be unveiled by the
Right Hon. Viscount Grey of Fallodon, K.G., on
Thursday next, June 10, at 3.30 p.m. The presenta-
tion will be made by the Right Hon. E. S. Montagu,
M.P., chairman of the committee. The granite of
the bas-relief which forms the memorial is from the ~
Matoppo Hills, the burial-place of Cecil Rhodes and
Sir Starr Jameson, and was presented to the Selous
Memorial Committee by the Government of the Union
of South Africa.
Tue Imperial Entomological Conference was opened
in London on Tuesday, June 1, by Lord Harcourt.
The official delegates to the conference are :—Canada,
South Africa, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, and Swazi-
land, Mr. C. P. Lounsbury; Australia, Prof. R. D.
Watt; New Zealand, Dr. R. J. Tillyard; India, Mr.
C. F. C. Beeson; Queensland, Mr. F. Balfour
‘Browne; British Guiana, Mr. G..E. Bodkin; Ceylon,
Mr. F. A.. Stockdale; East Africa Protectorate, Mr.
T. J. Anderson; Federated Malay States, Mr. P. B.
Richards; Gold Coast,. Mr. W. H. Patterson; Im-
perial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies
and Leeward Islands, Mr. H. A. Ballou; Mauritius,
Mr. G. G. Auchinleck; Northern Rhodesia, Dr.
Aylmer May; Southern. Rhodesia, Mr. R. W. Jack;
Seychelles, Dr. J. B. Addison; Sierra Leone, Mr. H.
Waterland; Straits Settlements, Mr. P. B. Richards;
Sudan, Mr. H..H. King; Trinidad, Mr. F. W. Urich;
and Uganda, Mr. C. C. Gomory:
‘In the May-issue of the Fortnightly Review Mr.
Edward Clodd gives an account of the prevalence of
occultism at the present day. This results from the
fact that though man calls himself Homo sapiens,
his instincts and elemental passions and émotions
remain primitive. Prof. Elliot Smith in a recent
paper on ‘Primitive Man’’ remarks that, ‘‘so far
as one can judge, there has been no far-reaching and
progressive modification of the instincts and emotions
since man came into existence beyond the acquisition
of the necessary innate power of using more cert
cerebral apparatus which he has to employ.’’ Plus
ca change, plus c’est la méme chose.
on the hopes and fears of crowds of dupes of all
classes of society, are strongly reprobated. “ Its
-exponents lack the harmlessness of the cranky theory-
The influence
of the present movement, and the mischievous play
Presence.”
_ men who died on the battlefield, are ‘‘danced’’ by
JUNE 3, 1920]
NATURE
433
4 tS mongers who, if they have wasted our time in the
pamphlets they thrust upon us, at least in some
degree condone this nuisance by the amusement which
4 they supply.’’
Sir W. Ripceway anp Dr. L. D. Barnetr have
reprinted a paper read by them before the Cambridge
Philological Society on ‘‘The Origin of the Hindu
. Drama: Additional Evidence.’’ The theory that this
type of drama had its origin in dances connected with
the cult of the dead is supported by a new series of
_ facts. Krishna, whether he be regarded as a deity
& from all time or merely a vegetation abstraction, was,
_as was suggested by S. Lévi in 1892, the chief element
_ in the Hindu drama. The defeat of the Asura demons
_ by Indra took a dramatic form, in which the god’s
flagstaff became the emblem of the stage, recalling
_ the pole known to the Japanese as Mitegura, ‘ Lordly-
Cloth-seat,” and to the Chinese Gohei, ‘ Imperial
In the same way the Vir, or spirits of
the Mahrattas. Other evidence to the same effect
has been collected from other parts or India, and the
writers sum up the discussion by remarking that
“there can therefore be no longer any doubt that
Hindu serious drama arose in the worship of the
dead.”
In the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries
of Ireland (vol. xlix., part 2, December, 1919) Mr.
R. J. Kelly, K.C., discusses the question of the
famous Donnybrook Fair. On the authority of the
great Irish scholar, Dr. Todd, the name seems to be
derived from Domhnach broc, “the Church of Broc,”’
a saint who seems to have flourished before the
eighth century. By a charter of Prince John, bearing
date 1192, the city of Dublin was authorised to estab-
lish a fair ‘‘at Doniburn annually to continue for
eight days on the Feast of the Invention of the Holy
Cross,” and this was confirmed by a charter, 26th
of Henry III., dated 1241. The rude merriment,
crime, and degradation which occurred during the
fair finally led to its abolition in 1855, after it had
lasted nearly six and a half centuries. Mr. Kelly’s
article contains an excellent collection of extracts
from contemporary writers describing the famous fair.
Further details are given in the same issue of the
journal in an article by Mr. H. Bantry White on
**An Old House at Donnybrook.”’
Miss Anne L. Massy gives (Sc. Proc. Roy. Dublin
Soc., vol. xvi., No. 4, April, 1920) a revised list of
the twenty-five species of MHolothurioidea (‘‘sea-
cucumbers”) of the coasts of Ireland. Since the pub-
lication in 1905 of Mr. Kemp’s paper on the Echino-~
derms of the west coast of Ireland, the naturalists
of the Fisheries Branch of the Department of Agri-
culture have taken three species of Holothurians
which are new to the British and Irish area, namely,
Stichopus regalis, Mesothuria Verrilli, and Benthogone
rosea, The first of these occurs in the Mediterranean,
and is known as far south as the Canaries, but has
not hitherto been observed north of the Bay of Biscay.
The other two appear to inhabit the warmer parts
of the Atlantic, and probably reach their northern |
limit at about 52° N.
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
Dr. H. A. Pirssry’s “‘ Review of the Land Mollusks
of the Belgian Congo, chiefly based on the Collections
of the American Museum Congo Expedition, 1909-
1915’ (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural
History, vol. xl., art. 1, 1919), is a very important
contribution to our knowledge of the African fauna.
The collections on which it is based are very exten-
sive, comprising more than 6000 specimens represent-
ing 214 species and subspecies, and a complete record
of all the land molluscs hitherto known from the
region (compiled by Dr. J. Bequaert) is included.
Large numbers of carefully preserved spirit-specimens
were available, and Dr. Pilsbry was able to study
the anatomy of the soft parts with important results.
In the case of the Helicide, of which the tropical
African representatives have hitherto been known by
the shells alone, he has been able to show that their
affinities are not, as had been supposed, with the
European genera of the family, but with the Asiatic.
The field notes are contributed by Mr. Herbert Lang,
whose account of the bionomics, economic uses, and
folk-lore of the giant Achatinide is of particular
interest. His remarks on the dispersal of certain
species over large areas by the agency of man are
worthy of note as having possibly a wider application.
The memoir is very fully illustrated, and some of the
coloured plates are of exceptional beauty.
We seem to have much to learn about even the
commonest of marine organisms, and the exceedingly
abundant and almost cosmopolitan protozoon Nocti-
luca—a frequent cause of luminescence in the sea—
has just received at the hands of Prof. C. A. Kofoid,
of the University of California, a new interpretation
which, if accepted, will necessitate a change in classi-
fication involving the removal of that supposed
Cystoflagellate from its accustomed position and
its incorporation in» another group of the Flagel-
lata (‘‘Noctiluca,’’ Univ. of Cal. Publicns. in
Zool., vol. xix., No. 10, February, 1920). Prof.
Kofoid is the recognised authority on the groups in
question, and no one is more competent to express
an opinion on the matter. In describing several new
and remarkable genera of the Dinoflagellata from the
Pacific related to Gymnodinium, he points out that
Noctiluca may have its essential morphological
characters homologised with those of various new
highly specialised tentacle-bearing forms, such as
Pavillardia tentaculifera. Noctiluca, then, according
to these new investigations, is not exceptional amongst
Dinoflagellates in bearing a tentacle, and may be inter-
preted as having a girdle, a sulcus, and two flagella
like any other more ordinary Peridinian. The state-
ment, however, that the ‘‘tooth” or prehensile organ
represents the degenerate transverse flagellum may
possibly be regarded as open to doubt. The accept-
ance of this work means that the order Cystoflagel-
lata, established by Haeckel in 1878 for the reception
of Noctiluca, and adopted by most writers since,
should be either suppressed or emended. Noctiluca
is no longer its type for text-book and lecture.
A CONCISE record of botanical exploration in Chile
‘and Argentina is given in the Kew Bulletin (1920,
No. 2) by W. B. Turrill. Among the earliest explorers
434
~NATURE
were the French botanist, Philibert Commerson, who
was surgeon and naturalist to: Bougainville’s expedi-
tion (1767-68), and Sir Joseph Banks, who with
Daniel Solander accompanied Cook on his first voyage
round the world (1768-71), and brought home exten-
sive botanical collections from the southern hemi-
sphere. The collections of the Spanish naturalists,
Ruiz and Pavon, at the close of the eighteenth cen-
tury were the foundation of an important work on the
flora of Peru and Chile. John Miers spent several
years in La Plata and Chile, accumulated a large
herbarium (now at the British Museum), and pub-
lished monographs of various South American families
of plants. Charles Darwin visited Argentina, Chile,
and Patagonia, and Sir Joseph Hooker in his work
on the Antarctic flora contributed largely to our know-
ledge of the botany of the Magellanic area. Valuable
botanical exploration was also carried out by collectors
sent out by the firm of Veitch—William Lobb and
Richard Pearce.- The Philippis, father and son,
worked for nearly fifty years, collecting and publishing
extensively on the flora of Chile.. These are a few
only of the long list of botanists and collectors
chronicled by Mr. Turrill, who, in conclusion, points
out that there is still scope for botanical exploration,
especially on the Argentine side of the Andes.
In view of the present high prices of sugar, con-
siderable interest is being taken in the question of
the possibilities of sugar-beet production in England.
The Weekly Service for April 3 from the Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries contains some useful in-
formation on this point. Even apart from the pro-
duction of sugar, sugar-beet is a useful crop to grow.
The food for stock would not be materially reduced
by substituting sugar-beet for roots in the rotation,
while both leaves and by-products make excellent
cattle food. To ensure good crops the land has to be
very thoroughly cultivated—a process which reacts
favourably on’:subsequent crops—and there is the
further. advantage that the crop gives a_ direct
monetary return. Extensive trials were made’ before
the war, and these showed that many parts of the
country are suitable for large-scale production of
sugar-beet for the manufacture of sugar; but it must
be clearly understood that, owing to the bulky nature
of the crop and the consequent difficulties of transport,
it:is advisable to grow beet for sugar production only
when the land is within reasonable transport distance
of a factory.
Srupents of the continental deposits of the Old
Red Sandstone and Triassic days may well take note
of the illustrative matter provided in South Africa
and. described, concisely by Mr.. Wm. Torrance
(‘“ Observations. on Soil Erosion,’ Union of S, Africa,
Dept. of Agric., Bull. 4, 1919, price 3d.). The
numerous photographs are small; but some, like that
of the. infilled vlei_ at Grootfontein, are highly sug-
gestive... ;
AMONG” the many
Papers ‘of the United States Geological Survey which
havé reached’us are several dealing’ particularly with ,
the: surface water-supply for the year ending Septem- .
Work of this nature was begun many
1916.
NO. a4 VOL. 105 |
ber 30,
well-produced Water-Supply .
[JUNE 3, fe:
STE
years ago in connection ‘ with studies of inigae
problems in arid areas, but a particular effort was
made in 1915-16 to obtain synchronous observations
of the flow of streams. The data supplied for each
gauging station in the area covered by each report
include a description of the station and tables giving
the daily, monthly, and yearly discharge. Illustra-
tions of current meters and water-stage recorders are
given.
TuE reclamation of salt soils is an important agri-
cultural problem in India. Without a soil survey it
is impossible to say what area is affected, but in
Sind, and to a less extent in the Punjab and the
United Provinces, it must be considerable. These so-
called alkali lands are either uncultivable or injurious
to the growth of crops. ‘“Notes on Practical Salt-
Land Reclamation ”’ is the title of a paper published
as Bulletin No. g1 by the Agricultural Research Insti-
tute, Pusa. Mr. G. S. Henderson, the author of the
paper, examines the methods employed in Egypt in
the reclamation of Lake Aboukir in the Nile delta,
and draws some useful conclusions as to comparable
work in India.
of washing the salt into the subsoil is the only effec-
tive way of dealing with the problem. Periodical
surface washing is unsatisfactory. It is Pointed out,
however, that until the Indus barrage is completed
there is not enough water in Sind for this purpose,
all the available supply being required for irrigation.
Tue Germans during the war, when materials were
short, gave a certain amount of attention to the
utilisation of blast-furnace slags, and succeeded in
obtaining a satisfactory cement after many experi-
ments. A new use for slag is foreshadowed in an
article in Stahl und Eisen (March 4), viz. for the
manufacture of light bricks for building purposes, By
passing molten slag horizontally through water, the
steam generated blows out or extrudes the slag jet,
and forms what the Germans term ‘“spume” slag or
artificial pumice-stone. This material has’ been
patented under the name of “ thermosite,”’ ‘owing to
its excellent heat-insulating properties. The patentee
has also invented a press for pressing bricks formed
of small pieces of this artificial pumice and a mixture
of slag, sand, and slaked lime which is used as a
binder. The bricks thus formed are strong and light,
and resemble in their properties the alluvial (tuff)
stone obtained in the neighbourhood of Andernach.
As, in addition, they can be pressed to large dimen-
sions, less, mortar will be required in building opera-
tions. The German authorities have approved of the
new type of brick. for house-building.
In the Revue générale des Sciences for April
M. Florentin gives.an interesting account of the
French experience of .German. gas. warfare, with
full. chronological details of its development and
an account. of the properties of the substances
used, aswell, as.of their mode of manufac-
ture. The. section of. the French Gas
under M. Kling, director of the Paris Municipal
Laboratory, examined about 2400, samples of material,
of :wwhich half. were: shells ‘and projectiles, _M.
Grignard devoting himself specially to the detection
he
He insists that the Egyptian method |
Service ~
_ JUNE 3, 1920]
NATURE
435
impurities which might reveal the modes of manu-
e. Reference is made to the Central Laboratory
British at Hesdin under the late Prof. Watson,
i: ne great rapidity with which new enemy materials
we -detected is attributed to the excellent camara-
erie which always prevailed between the French and
tish Gas Services. The article also contains a
_ summary of the report of the French Mission on
chemical works in the area of occupation, includ-
Statistics of the output. In conclusion, M.
rentin expresses the hope that the war has demon-
sd the inseparability of chemistry and national
ce and the importance of developing the
scientific and industrial research which was initiated
in France by gas warfare.
VE have received from Messrs. Wood Bros. Glass
, Ltd., of Barnsley, a copy of their catalogue of
English chemical glassware. The list of apparatus is
comprehensive one, well-arranged and neatly illus-
Judging by the particulars given, chemists
} should have no difficulty in obtaining any of the usual
"page beakers, burettes, gas pipettes, absorption tubes,
_ or other glass instruments employed in the laboratory
_ from the selection offered; and as regards any special
s in glass that experimenters may want the
a neers invite inquiry. Messrs. Wood are old-estab-
_ lished glass manufacturers who took up the making of
f, 1 glassware in 1915, and they claim that, fol-
¥ lowing the indications given by Sir Herbert Jackson’s
_ work on the composition of various special kinds of
_ glass, supplemented by the investigations of their own
stad, they are able to produce ware superior to the
best Jena glass in its resistance to the action of strong
_ chemicals. It does not withstand sudden extreme
ema of temperature quite so well, but will, it is
_ claimed, stand being plunged whilst at a temperature
of 150° C. into cold water, and this is more than
sufficient for all ordinary requirements. The shapes
© d. designs of ware adopted are those approved by
the Glass Research Committee of the Institute of
_ Chemistry, and it would appear generally that the
7 aim of the makers is the praiseworthy one of pro-
ducing apparatus of high quality in close relation to
_ scientific needs. A feature is made of standard volu-
4 metric apparatus verified and stamped by the National
a Physical Laboratory.
‘Mr. S. Eversuep read a paper on permanent mag-
nets in theory and practice to. the Institution of
_ Electrical Engineers on May 13. He practically
e adopts Ampére’s theory that the molecules of iron
ina magnet are equivalent to electric circuits of no
Fs _ resistance in which electric currents are always flow-
Trek On this hypothesis, and adopting Hopkinson’s
_ formula ‘connecting magneto-motive force, reluctance,
and flux, he discusses the design and predetermina-
tion’ of permanent magnets. He points out: that
a!
| aince in practice the demagnetisation curve of the |
_ steel is known, the problem that has to be solved
is to find the shape of the minimum volume - of
: steel’ required to produce a given quantity of external
i aenemetic energy.
the’ reluctance of the paths of ‘the magnetic
j tux. Mr. Evershed proves that the performance
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
By ‘making assumptions: as to.
of a permanent magnet can be predicted in certain
cases with accuracy. We are not sure, however,
whether this is due to the fact that the errors made
in. his assumptions cancel out one another. We
fail to understand his formula for the magnetic con-
ductance between two spherical poles. It would be
true if they were at an infinite distance apart, but
appreciable errors come in when the distance be-
tween them is less than a hundred times the radius
of either. It is easy to show that the magnetic con-
ductance between two spherical poles equals 47 times
the electrostatic capacity between their surfaces.
Hence, as the electrostatic capacities have been tabu-
lated, the magnetic conductances could be written
down at once with high accuracy. From the en-
gineering point of view the paper is valuable, as the
subject is of practical importance to manufacturers.
Pror. W. W. Warts, lecturing ‘to the South
Kensington Branch of the National Union of Scientific
Workers on May 27 on ‘The Evolution of the
Bicycle,” showed that the development of this, as. of
any mechanical apparatus, took a similar course to
that observed in biological evolution. It was largely
a process of trial and error; advance was usually in
small details of specialisation, and, as in the case of
the high bicycle, development was apt to take place
in a “blind lead ’’ by following out a wrong principle.
The lecture will be reported in the next issue of the
Scientific Worker, copies of which can be obtained
from the Secretary, N.U.S.W., 19 Tothill Street,
S.W.1, by sending a stamped addressed envelope.
Kopak, Ltp. (Wratten division), have just issued a
new series of nine circular light-filters to facilitate
visual. work with the microscope. They are 35 mm.
in diameter, and so fit the standard turn-out ring
usually available in sub-stage fittings. Six are for
increasing the contrast in stained or coloured: pre-
parations, one is blue and serves for getting ‘the
highest resolving power, one a neutral tint for
modulating the intensity of the illumination, and the
ninth converts the light from metal filament vacuum
lamps into the equivalent daylight. This last is also
of service with other light sources, such as the new
thorium pastille gas lamp and the usual paraffin
lamps. Its use gives the same colour values as day-
light, and so reduces or eliminates eye-strain when
observations are long continued.
’
IN a small leaflet entitled “‘ Radium Facts,” received
from Messrs. Watson and Sons, are collected
numerous data relating to radio-active substances
useful to intending purchasers. From it we learn
that, whereas the total production of radium to date
by the Standard Chemical Co., of Pittsburgh, was
50 grams of radium element, its present output is
at the rate of 18 grams of the element’ per annum.
We understand that this output could be increased to
50 grams of radium element yearly if the demand for
such a quantity should arise—a very considerable
national asset. It is interesting to observe that. the
present total available supply of high-grade purity
radium in the world is. estimated to be about
120 grams.
436
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920
Our Astronomical Column.
RETURN OF TEMPEL’s CoMET.—Tempel’s second
periodic comet, discovered in 1873, was detected by
Mr. Kudara at Kyoto, Japan, on May 25d. 7h. 10m.
G.M.T., in R.A. 20h. 55m. 7s., S. decl. 4° 53’. The
approximate time of perihelion passage is 1920 July
10:36. The other elements are approximately as
follows :—w 186° 38’ 43", 9) 120° 37’ 59", i 12° 45’ 17",
@ 33° 54° 21", w 685-881". The following ephemeris
has been computed for midnight :
‘ R.A, S. Decl. Log x LozA
age «Peete pS
June 4 2128 0 4 34 0-1402 9:8077
12 215428 441 01330 97739
20 22 21 44 LW | 0°1274 9°7440
28 22 48 40 558 0°1236 9°7166
July 6 23 15.20 4, Ti 01216 9:6950
The comet is probably faint, but as it is approaching
both sun and earth its brightness should increase per-
ceptibly. It rises half an hour before midnight, and
is fairly well placed for observation just before dawn.
DousLeE Stars.—Since its erection in 1894, the 28-in,
equatorial at Greenwich has been mainly used for the
observation of double stars; the list included many
of special difficulty owing to faintness or close
proximity. Mr. J. Jackson has discussed the observa-
tions made at Greenwich and elsewhere in Monthly
Notices for March, and publishes twenty revised
orbits. One of the stars is Struve 2525, for which very
discordant values of the period have been found.
The new value, 354-9 years, is larger than those
previously found, which range from 138 to 307 years.
The semi-axis major is 1-1” and the eccentricity 0-93,
so that at the time of periastron, 1887-3, the star could
not be separated.
The star Struve 2055 had given much trouble to
computers; two observations by Sir William Herschel
in 1783 and 1802 were mutually inconsistent. Mr.
Jackson has unearthed a note that the micrometer
reading was not written down at the time, and that
the reading entered may be wrong. The quadrant
noted is shown to have been correct, and Jlerschel’s
other observation in 1802 is well satisfied. The period
assigned is 110 years and the eccentricity 0-86.
With respect to notation, he directs attention to
diversity in the method of reckoning the angle w, and
recommends the general adoption of the system used
by Campbell, Aitken, and Hussey, in which it is
measured in the direction of motion in the orbit plane.
DIFFRACTION IMAGE OF A Disc.—Mr. H. Nagaoka
contributes a useful article on this subject to the
Astrophysical Journal for March. Diagrams of
the ‘‘isophotes ’’ are given, and it is shown that the
results explain the black drop observed in transits of
Venus, and the projection of bright stars upon the
moon’s disc that has often been observed in occulta-
tions at the illuminated limb. A striking case of this
phenomenon has lately been noted in the reappearance
of the star Leipzig I 4091 from behind Saturn on
March 22 last. Messrs. Reid, Dutton, and McIntyre,
observing in South Africa, saw the star reappear within
the limb of the planet, its conspicuous orange colour
facilitating its detection. They give the explanation
that the outer portion of Saturn is composed: of trans-
parent clouds, but it would seem that the expansion of
the disc by diffraction is sufficient to account for it.
(B.A.A. Journal, April.)_
It is of interest to note that in South Africa the
star at disappearance passed behind the ring, while
in Europe, owing to parallax, it did not. It
was clearly visible through the-ring, showing that the
separate particles composing the ring are not very
densely massed.
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
‘
‘Monument to Charles Gerhardt. #
N OW that Alsace is once. more united to France,
- it is peculiarly fitting that Strasbourg, his native
place and where he lies buried, should be the site
of the long-delayed monument it is proposed to erect
to the memory of Charles Gerhardt. British chemists
who are at. all familiar with the history of their
science scarcely need to be reminded of the part
played by Gerhardt in. its development, or of the |
influence which his writings exercised in the search
for methods of elucidating the structure and con-
stitution of chemical compounds.
_ His “Traité de Chimie organique” may be said to
mark an epoch; it was a significant feature of a
movement which characterises the middle of the
nineteenth century, and which the book itself greatly
accelerated. Although much of its teaching, as the
systematised expression of the facts of organic
chemistry, is obsolete, the work is, and will remain,
a classic, for it forms the basis upon which the super-
structure of modern chemistry is erected. Gerhardt,
however, was not only a speculative philosopher of
the highest type; he was also an experimentalist of
uncommon power and insight who framed his
theoretical conceptions in the light of his own ascer-
tained facts, and tested them by further investigations
designed either to substantiate or to disprove them.
His name is associated with the discovery of, many
new. substances, some of which, like the acid
anhydrides, are of the greatest theoretical and prac-
tical importance. It may be claimed for him that,
together with Dalton and Berzelius, he was one of
the principal founders of the atomic theory and the
originator of the notation which immediately flows
from it.
An influential committee has now. been formed to
discharge the debt—long overdue—which the chemical
world owes to Gerhardt’s memory. It comprises the
names of some of the most eminent of French men of
science and of those of Allied countries, under the presi-
dency of M. Armand Gautier, member of the Institute,
with an executive consisting of M. Haller, member
of the Institute, as chairman; M. Chenal, treasurer
of the French Chemical Society, as treasurer;. and
M. Tiffeneau, assistant professor of the Faculty of
Medicine, as secretary. The object is well worthy
of the consideration of British chemists, and may
be specially commended to the notice of the Chemical
Society and the Society of Chemical Industry if these’
bodies have not already resnonded to the avpeal.’.
T. E. THORPE.
Biological Papers from Bengal.
Th publications of the Asiatic Society of Bengal
during the years 1916 to 1919, which we have
lately received for review, contain a large number of
contributions to biology, showing an activity in this
department that has not been surpassed before. If
we consider also the publications issued by the Indian
Museum, the Calcutta Botanic Gardens, and _ the
flourishing Bombay Natural History Society, we have
reason to rejoice over the prosperous state of this
branch of knowledge in our Indian Empire. -Allusion
should be made also to the enterprise of Dr. N.
Annandale, who, alone or with other members of the
Zoological Survey of India, of which he is the direc-
tor, has in the last seven years investigated the
1 Acircular signed by Sir James J. Dobbie, president of theChemical
Society, has just been issued inviting fellows of the society to contribute to
the memorial fund. Such contributions should be sent to the Treasurer,
Chemical Society, Burlington House, London, W.1.—Ep. NATURE.
‘NATURE 437
Jun 3, 1920]
macroscopic fauna of various Asiatic lakes, with
results that are of the greatest. interest.
_ The Asiatic Society of Bengal issues Memoirs in
jarto, and Journal and Proceedings in octavo. In the
nore, parts ii. to v. of Dr. Annandale’s ** Zoo-
Results of a Tour in the Far East’’ further
testify to the author’s wonderful activity and versa-
tility, which are known to all zoologists. ‘In these
parts he deals himself with the Hydrozoa and Cteno-
_ phora, the Batrachia, the Sponges, and the Mollusca,
_ together with additions to ethnography; whilst other
‘oups have been entrusted to C. A. Paiva (aquatic
emiptera), Col. J. Stephenson (aquatic Oligocheeta),
. Asajiro Oka (Hirudinea), Sir Charles Eliot (Mol-
lusca Nudibranchiata), Tokéi Kaburaki (brackish-
water Polyclads), and Stanley Kemp (Crustacea Deca-
g and Stomatopoda). Numerous text-figures and
_ five plates illustrate these contributions.
_ Dr. Annandale’s paper on the Hydrozoa and Cteno-
ol ee is one of special interest, our knowledge of the
_ Oriental fresh-water forms of these two groups bein
_ of rather recent date and, as the author observes, still
very imperfect. A new Medusa is described under the
_ name of Asenathia piscatoris, g. et sp. nn., from the
_ tidal creeks containing water of low but extremely
_ variable salinity in the vicinity of Port Canning, in
_ the Gangetic Delta. It is referred to the family
_ Olindiadidze of Mayer (order Trachymedusz), and is
_ regarded as not improbably the sexual generation of
the hydroid Annulella gemmata, Ritchie.
____In the part devoted to the Batrachians, Dr. Annan-
dale deals chiefly with the Oriental frogs of the groups
of Rana tigrina, R. limnocharis, and R. Liebigii, as
well as with the species clustering round R. Tytleri
: and R. erythraea; also with various tadpoles from
_ Japan, China, the Malay Peninsula, Burma, . and
i Ceylon. The author’s views on R. tigrina have since
been a subject of discussion between him and Mr.
oule r in the Records of the Indian Museum,
4 and further differences of opinion between the two
_ authorities will shortly appear in a monograph of the
_ Oriental species of Rana to be published by the Indian
Museum
__ The two marine Sponges (Reniera implexa, Schmidt,
and Amorphinopsis excavans, Carter, var. n. Robin-
geen by Dr. Annandale were found growing
on the wooden piers of a landing-stage at Port Weld
in Perak, Malay Peninsula, and their chief ethological
interest lies in the fact that they grew immediately
below high-tide level, and were, therefore, exposed
_ daily for a considerable time to the air and. to the
heat of a tropical sun. Several new fresh-water
sula are described, and a list of the Spongillidze of
Asia, with synonyms, is appended.
Among the Mollusca the hybrid name Pseudovivi-
para for a new genus is a regrettable choice.
_ A paper in French is a revision of the fungi of the
_ genus Nocandia, Toni and Trevisan, by Capt. Froilano
de Mello and Dr. St. .Antonio Fernandez, of the
Portuguese India Bacteriological Service.
The Memoirs contain also a revision of the lizards
of the genus Tachydromus, with two plates, by Mr.
G. A. anieniger, in which this genus is shown to be
very closely connected with Lacerta, instead of
occupying a quite isolated position in the family to
which it belongs, as hitherto believed. Two new
genera are proposed under the names of Platyplacopus
and Apeltonotus. ee eee ‘Sah
In the Journal and Proceedings we have a paper by
Baini Parshad on the seasonal conditions governing the
nd-life in the Punjab. There are three ‘papers’ on
Secthisea : two by E Vredenburg on the occurrence
of Cypraea nivosa in the Mergui Archipelago, the only
previously recorded habitat of this species being
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
plane record has rapidly advanced.
metres.
from Japan, China, and the Malay Penin-'|
petus to the development of the aeroplane, and since
Mauritius, and of Dolium variegatum at Mascat and
Karachi, a species hitherto regarded as special to the
living fauna of Australia, but recorded from the
Pliocene of Java; and one by Dr. Annandale and
B. Parshad on the taxonomic position of the genus
Camptoceras and of Lithotis japonica. W. H. Phelps
describes the weaving habits of the spider Cyrtophora
citricola, and Maude L. Cleghorn has experiments on
the vitality and longevity of silkworm moths during
the cold and rainy seasons in Bengal.
Botany is represented by four contributions: Notes
on the flora of the Anaimaly Hills, by C. Fisher;
‘on the pollination of flowers, by I. K. Burkill; on
the Burmese sesamum varieties, their variation and
growth, by A, McKerral; observations and experi-
ments on the rust of Launaea asplenifolia, commonly
known as Jangli Gobi, by Karm Chand Mehta; and
on the constituents of the bark of Hymenodactyon
excelsum, by C. L. Gibson and J. L. Simonsen.
Attainment of High Levels in the
Atmosphere.
SS ULENCE for March 19 has an article by Prof.
Alexander McAdie, of Blue Hill Observatory, on
“The Attainment of High Levels in the Atmosphere.’
A. period of 135 years is dealt with, during which
various methods and agencies have been employed
for exploring the high levels of the atmosphere. Dr.
John Jeffries crossed the English Channel in January,
1785, and attained a height of about 2012 metres, and
in the following twenty years heights of more than
4000 metres were attained. In September, 1862,
Glaisher and Coxwell reached a height of 11,200
metres. Three other noteworthy records by manned
balloons are mentioned. Tissandier, Spinetti, and
Sivel, acting for the French Academy, attained a
height of 8530 metres in April, 1875; Dr. A. Berson
reached 9600 metres in December, 1894; and Berson
and Siiring in r1gor attained a known elevation of
10,500 metres, and probably 10,800 metres, both men
being unconscious at the higher level. Dealing with
other than manned balloons, the extreme elevations
noted are :—By kites, 7044 metres in 1907; by rigid
dirigibles, 6200 metres in 1917; by sounding balloons,
37,000 metres in 1912; and by pilot balloons, height
determined by theodolite, 39,000 metres. The aero-
In 1909 Latham
161 metres, and Drexel in 1910 made 1829
Prior to 1914 the maximum height attained,
according to Prof. McAdie, was 6000 metres by
Perreyon in March, 1913. The war gave a great im-
made
the war, in February, 1920, Major R. W. Schroeder,
chief test pilot at Dayton, U.S.A., is stated to have
attained 10,979 metres ; in this ascent the oxygen-supply
was exhausted. The 10-km. level is the bottom of the
stratosphere or isothermal region, and the top of the
troposphere or. convectional region—an_ exceedingly
important elevation to meteorologists. . Schroeder’s
thermograph indicated a minimum temperature of
—55° C., or 99° below. the freezing point.on the
Fahrenheit scale. «:
In Science for April 9 Dr. J. G. Coffin, director of
aeronautical research of the Curtiss Aeronautical and
Motor Corporation, suggests that Prof. A. McAdie
has sometimes accepted too readily, unauthorised state-
ments made in the Press as to altitudes reached. A
criticism is made of. expressing results without air-
temperature correction, which is not only unsatisfac-
tory, but also scientifically incorrect. The correction
is the larger the colder the air encountered in the
flight. It is pointed out that it is esseritial so far as
possible for all concerned to work on the same un-
438
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920.
biased scientific basis. Dr. Coffin, to bring out the
importance of the air-temperature correction, assumes
two cases, both with identically perfect barographs,
with no instrumental errors, one ascent in summer
and the other in winter to an altitude that both read
8 in. of mercury as the minimum pressure. He
assumes that in the summer case the average tem-
perature of the air is 10° C., and in the winter
—30° C., which values correspond closely to actually
observed figures. The true altitudes of these are
33,475 ft. (10,203 m.) for the summer instance and
30,929 ft. (9427 m.) for the winter, although the alti-
tude uncorrected for air temperature is 36,020 ft.
(10,979 m.) for both. Dr. Coffin states that the flight
made by Roland Rohlfs, the test pilot of the Curtiss
Engineering Corporation, on September 18, 1919,
attained an altitude of 34,910 ft. (10,640 m.), partially
corrected, but uncorrected for the average temperature
of the air column; the true altitude was 32,450 ft.
(9890 m.) corrected for air temperature. The altitude
attained by Major Schroeder, similarly corrected for
temperature, is 30,751 ft. (9373 m.).
In Science of April 30, Prof. McAdie gives as ap-
proximate values, corrected for mean air column tem-
perature, vapour pressure, gravity, altitude, and lati-
tude: Rohlfs, 32,418 ft. (q880-5 m.), and Schroeder,
31,184 ft. (9505 m.).
The Meteorological Magazine for March, in an
article ‘‘The Highest Aeroplane Ascent,’’ mentions
Major Schroeder’s ascent on February . 27 last
referred to above, and expresses the hope that
it will be authenticated in due course. The record
of Berson and Siiring, who, it is stated, reached
25,400 ft. (10,789 m.) in a balloon on July 31, 1901,
is mentioned as being generally accepted as the
greatest height hitherto attained by aeronauts. The
‘article seems to throw some doubt on the lowest tem-
perature observed in the ascent by Glaisher and
Coxwell.
Physical Problems in Soil Cultivation.?
‘-P. to the: outbreak of the war the farmer could
generally rely upon an adequate supply of cheap
labour. He had no. great necessity to introduce
labour-saving machinery into the routine of the farm.
But the increasing demands of the Army for men
and the menace of the submarine campaign brought
him face to face with the difficult problem of growing
more food with a greatly reduced staff. In such
conditions the employment of machinery was the only
solution, and although at the time it was introduced
mainly as a temporary measure, it is now quite
evident that economic conditions will cause it to be
retained permanently. During the war the rate of
progress in the industry of agriculture was necessarily
forced above the normal, and the urgent need at the
present time is to take stock of the position, so that
future developments may be guided along the right
lines. In this connection the report of the Depart-
mental Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture
on Agricultural Machinery appears at an opportune
moment. The report deals. with ‘‘the. further steps
which should be taken to. promote the development
of agricultural machinery,’’ and, so far as tillage
implements are concerned, falls naturally into two
‘sections, dealing with (1) fundamental research’ on
the physical properties of soil as affected by cultiva-
tion operations, and (2) the application of the know-
ledge thus gained to the design of new implements
and the improvement. of old ones.
1 Report of the Departmental Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture
on Agr.cultural Machinery. (H.M. Stationery Office.) Price. rs. net.
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
Taking the second section first, the Committee lays
great ‘stress on the fact that all development in the
design of machinery has proceeded on empirical lines.
‘Although searching questions were addressed: to
several witnesses, we could not discover that any
real attempt had been made in the past to determine
the principles which underlie the design of the variety
of implements in use in modern farming.” As &
result an enormous number of patterns of the same
implement are made, one manufacturer alone having
more than two hundred and fifty patterns of plough.
The Committee considers that much of this over apping
and wasted effort will be avoided when the Minis
of Agriculture sets up its projected Research Insti-
tute in Agricultural Machinery. ‘
The first section—research into the physical pro-
perties of soil—is regarded, rightly, as of pringary
importance. ‘Progress in research as regards tillage
implements must depend largely upon the results of
investigations into soil physics and the problem
of tilth.’’ It is clearly pointed out that this research
must not be pursued with the immediate object of
obtaining ‘‘practical’’ results. A sound theory of
the interesting but complicated physical phenomena
shown by soil must first be built up. Once this is
achieved, the practical deductions will follow almost
automatically. The very nature of this work precludes
the possibility of forcing the pace, but it is suggested
that, as the work has been in progress for some time
at Rothamsted, it should be further developed by the
appointment of additional scientific assistants.
If this were done it would be possible to pay more
attention to those physical problems concerned with
the soil tilth than is practicable at present. Tilth is
related to. the production of compound particles or —
aggregates in the soil, and to the factors causing
plasticity, cohesion, etc. At the same time a study
of the mechanical action of the plough could. be
started having as its aim the specification of the
design of mould-board to meet different soil condi-
tions. This is an unsurveyed field and full of
promise. :
The report also deals with the educational and
research work which should be carried out at the pro-
jected Research Institute in Agricultural Machinery,
especially from the engineering point of view. It
also advocates the appointment of an Advisory Com-
mittee, composed of representatives from the research
institutions, implement-makers, and agriculturists, to
co-ordinate the whole of the work. ae
In the present article attention has been confined
mainly to the sections dealing with the physical ques-
tions involved. The report covers a much wider field.
It is closely reasoned and convincing, and can be
cordially recommended to all concerned in the industry
of agriculture. B. A. Keren.
The Anomaly of the Nickel Iron Alloys:
Its Causes and its Applications.*
HE lecturer began by a reference to the work of
John Hopkinson, and to his own early work on
the perfecting of standards of length. His first experi-
ments were on. nickel, which had two great advantages
over brass for metrological work, viz. its smaller co-
efficient of expansion and its greater freedom from cor-
rosion. He would probably not have. looked, further
but for the difficulty at the time of getting large bars
of, the material ,free from flaws. In investigating the
1 Abstract of the Fourth Guthrie Lecture delivered before’ the Phys’cal
Society on April 23 by Dr. C.-E. Guillaume.
ar
‘oe
*
=
June 2. 1920]
439
NATURE
_ ferro-nickel alloys, his first experiments were on. their
_ Magnetic properties, as these were easier to investigate
‘than the coefficients of. expansion. Dr. Guillaume
showed and explained curves representing the varia-
tion of magnetic properties, and of the coefficients a
and £ in the expansion equation 1=1,(1+a6+ 86°) for
in both the irreversible and reversible categories,
and showed from the curves how it was possible to
‘obtain alloys with any desired coefficient. The
anomalous magnetic behaviour of some of the alloys
‘was illustrated by demonstration experiments of the
e produced on the magnetic condition of bars
the materials by dipping in hot water or liquid air.
The lecturer then dealt with the properties of ternary
alloys containing iron, nickel, and a third element.
Manganese alloys were those most. extensively used.
‘He exhibited a cardboard model of Guthrie’s three-
eee on agra for ternary alloys. The addition
of the third element raised the minimum expansion.
In the case of carbon and chromium the elastic con-
stant is raised. The. curve ving Young’s
modulus with the percentage of nickel in ferro-nickel
alloys also showed an anomaly in the same region
as the expansion.
The chief weakness of the alloys from the point
of view of the metrologist’ was instability. If a piece
of invar was cooled from a high temperature in air
at 100° C. its length reached a steady value in about
too hours. If it was then cooled to 50° C. its length
would increase to another steady value, reached in
about 1000 hours or so. If it were then cooled. to
zero it would still further lengthen, a steady state
not being reached for a very long time. If the tem-
_ perature were then raised again to 100°, the length
g g
would diminish to its initial value for 100°. The total
change of this character between 0° and _ 100°
amounted to about 30 millionths of the length.
With increasing carbon content the instability very
rapidly increased. It was possible from the amount
of the instability to estimate the carbon to 1/100th pet
ity
cent. Moreover, the curve connecting the instabi
and the carbon content passed through zero, showing
that the instability was due to the carbon. It was
therefore possible to get an invar of perfect stability.
Among the applications to which invar had been
put, the lecturer instanced pendulum rods, leading in
wires for electric lamps (an alloy being chosen from
the curves so as to have the required coefficient of
_expansion), wire standards for base measurements
in surveying, etc., and showed curves of the variation
of height of the Eiffel Tower with temperature, as
measured relatively to invar wires.
‘Another important application of these alloys was
in’ chronometer construction. The temperature co-
efficient of the rate of a watch was due to variation
of the elasticity of the ‘hair-spring. This was cor-
rected in the Graham compensation bv a variation of
angular momentum of the balance wheel, depending
on the difference in expansion of two metals; but it
was possible to choose for the spring a nickel steel
having a temperature coefficient of elasticity nearly
zero. If chosen to give the same rate at 0° and 30°,
there would be a secondary error of. only 20 seconds
per day at 15°. But a more important chronometric
application was the correction’ of the secondary error
of 2 seconds in Graham’s compensation. ‘This error,
discovered’ by Dent in 1832, is due to the fact, that
the variation of ‘elasticity of the: hair-spring ‘is not
a lineat function of the temperature, whereas. the
_ variation of angular momienttm ‘of ‘the balance wheel
‘is. If, however, for one component:of the bimetallic
compensator a nickel. steel of negative B be chosen,
it is possible to get a curve connecting the momentum ,
NO. 2640, VOL. .105 |
with temperature which exactly compensates. the
elasticity variation over the whole range.
Reverting to the curves for Young’s modulus, the
lecturer predicted that an alloy would short!v be pro-
duced having a practically constant modulus over
a range of 200°C,
Technical Education and Mind Training.
Be Rhone proceedings of the annual conference of the
Association ot Teachers in Technical Institutions,
which was held in the Polytechnic, Regent Street,
London, on Whit-Monday, were full of interest. The
president, Mr. E. L. Rhead, of Manchester, gave a
stimulating address, in the course of which he reviewed
unfavourably the attitude of the Workers’ Educational
Association towards technical education as tending to
narrow the workers’ educational outlook, and as
merely serving to create a human tool better calculated
to promote the interests of employers and the sordid
aims of industry. He claimed, on the contrary, that,
rightly presented, technical education has in it. all the
elements of mind training and of a wide view of life
and its problems. It may, in short, be, properly inter-
preted, constituted as the pivot of a liberal education.
He deprecated the exclusive devotion of much of
modern higher education to dead languages, dead his-
tory, and ancient philosophy, but that is surely to
ignore a prime element in the evolution of mankind—
the progress of man in his endeavour to search into
and to solve the phenomena of Nature. Mr. Rhead went
on to consider the status of the technical teacher as
compared with that of the secondary-school teacher,
and contended that the former should be at least as
liberally considered as the latter, not only by reason
of his long and arduous practical training in the pro-
cesses of industry, but also in respect of the claims of
industry itself upon his services. He urged the desir-
ability of transfer from lower to higher schools at
different periods in the course of the educational life
of the capable pupil, and especially dwelt upon the
value of the junior technical school, which he would
in no wise desire to convert into a trades school, and
pleaded that restrictions on their present aims and
curricula should be removed. A far more liberal
system of scholarships, including maintenance, should
be established in co-operation with widely extended
administrative educational areas, which should have
_regard not only to the pupils in day institutions, but
also to the equally urgent requirements of the pro-
mising evening students, enabling them to devote
themselves to whole-time study in their special voca-
tion. There should likewise be an efficient repre-
sentation of teachers on all education authorities,
so that the present and future problems of technical
education should be better considered. Resolutions
were nassed urging a large increase in salaries for the
several grades of technical teachers; that all works
continuation schools should ultimately be vrovided by
the local education authorities and the present
schools be open to insvection by the local. and central
authorities: and that a national Whitley council. for
teachers should be set up. '
University and Educational Intelligence.
.. Campripce.—Prof. J. T. Wilson, professor of
anatomy in the University of Sydney, has been elected
.to the chair of anatomy rendered vacant by the death
of, Prof. A. Macalister.
. We are informed by the secretary of the Cam-
‘bridge Philosophical Society that the adjudicators of
oe
es
440
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920
the Hopkins prize have made the following awards :—
For the period 1903-6 to Dr. W. Burnside, of Pem-
broke College, for investigations in mathematical
science; for the period 1906-9 to Prof. G. H. Bryan,
of Peterhouse, for investigations in mathematical
physics, including aerodynamic stability; and for the
period 1909-12 to Mr. C. T. R. Wilson, of Sidney
Sussex College, for investigations in physics, including
the paths of radio-active particles.
Dr. T. G. Adami, Vice-Chancellor of the Univer-
sity of Liverpool, has been elected to an honorary
fellowship at Christ’s College.
An offer of 30,o00l. has been made to the Univer-
sity by the Committee of Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research for the erection, equipment, and
maintenance at Cambridge of a low-temperature
station for research in biochemistry and biophysics.
The proposal emanates from the Research Board of
the Department charged with the co-ordination of
researches related to the scientific problems arising
out of the preservation and handling of food. It is
desired to erect the new station close to the existing |
biological laboratories, where a large proportion of
the researches initiated by the Board have been
earried out. It is proposed to vest the management
of the station in a committee of the Senate contain-
ing some members nominated by the Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research. The director of
the station would be appointed by the Lord President
of the Council after consideration of a report by the
committee. -
LivERPOOL.—A Congregation of the University was
held in St. George’s Hall on Friday, May 28, when
honorary degrees were conferred. Mr. J. W. Alsop,
Pro-Chancellor of the University and chairman of
the Liverpool Education Committee; Sir Alfred Booth,
chairman of the Cunard Steamship Line; Sir Alfred
Dale, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University;
‘Mr. John Rankin, a leading citizen and merchant of
Liverpool; and Sir Michael Sadler, Vice-Chancellor of
the University of Leeds, received the degree of Doctor
of Laws. Sir Reginald Blomfield, a member of the
Royal Academy and past-president of the Royal Insti-
tute of British Architects, and Mr. Frederick Powicke,
professor of medieval history in the University of
Manchester, received the degree of Doctor of Letters.
The degree of Doctor of Science was conferred on
Prof. F. G. Donnan, formerly professor of physical
chemistry in the University, and now professor of
chemistry in University College, London, and on
Prof. W. A. Herdman, formerly Derby professor
of natural history, and now professor of oceanography,
in the University. Mr. Henry Martin, chairman: of the
St. Helens Higher Education Committee, and repre-
sentative of the borough on the Court of the Univer-
sity, and Father Thomas J. Walshe, a distinguished
scholar, and formerly chaplain and lecturer at the
Notre Dame College in Liverpool, were given the
degree of Master of Arts. Mr. Joseph Gibson, a
leading engineer and president of the Liverpool
Engineering Society, received the degree of Master
of Engineering. i.
Lonpon.—Two lectures, entitled ‘‘Emploi des
métaux ammoniums en Chimie Organique’’ and
“L’CEuvre Scientifique d’Henri Moissan,’’ will be
given at King’s College, Strand, W.C., by Prof. P.
Lebeau, professeur 4 1’Ecole Supérieure de Phar-
macie, Université de Paris, at 5 p.m. on Monday,
June 28, and Wednesday, June 30. The lectures,
which will be delivered in French, are addressed to
advanced students of the University and to others
interested in the subject. Admission is free, without
ticket, 1
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
Oxrorp.—The honorary degree of Doctor of Letters —
has been conferred on Dr. Temistocle Zammit, pro-
fessor of chemistry in the University of Malta and
curator of the Valetta Museum.
It was resolved by Convocation on June 1 to
confer the title of professor on Dr. T. R. Merton,
Balliol College, so long as he continues to hold the
office of reader in spectroscopy.
St, ANDREwWs.—The Senatus Academicus will confer
the following honorary degrees at the public gradua-
tion ceremonial to be held on July 2 a Lee Sir
Dugald Clerk; Dr.’ Léon Frédericq, for nearly forty
years professor of pathology in the University of
Liége, Belgium; Mr. R. A. Herman, fellow and lec-
turer of Trinity College, Cambridge; Mr. W. J.
Matheson, New York, U.S.A.; Dr. N. K. Smith,
professor of logic and metaphysics in the University
of Edinburgh; and Dr. N. Walker, his Majesty’s
Inspector of Anatomy for Scotland. ie
THE medal of honour of the University of Brussels
was presented by the Vice-Chancellor on May 22 to
Lord Dawson of*Penn, Sir Leslie Mackenzie, and
Prof. Sir William Smith.
Pror. E. F. Nicuots has resigned the chair of
physics held by him at Yale University to take up
the post of director of pure science in the Nela Re-
search Laboratories of the National Lamp Works of
the General Electric Co. at Cleveland, Ohio.
In connection with the London County Council’s
lectures for teachers on recent developments in science,
a lecture on ‘‘The World-Problem of Nitrogen” will
be given by Prof. F. G. Donnan at University College,
Gower Street, W.C.1, on Monday next, June 7, at
6 p.m. The chair will be taken by Lord Moulton,
A. PUBLIC. meeting in support of the claim of the
Imperial College of Science and Technology for
degree-conferring power and university status will be
held at the Central Hall, Westminster, to-morrow,
June 4, at 5 p.m. Lord Morris will preside, and will
be supported by Sir Arthur Acland, Bart., Sir Alfred
Keogh, Col. Sir Pierre van Ryneveld, Mr. H. G.
Wells, Mr. J. A. Spender, and. others.
Tue foundation-stone of the new wing of the London >
School of Economics was laid by the King on Satur-
day last, May 29. His Majesty was accompanied by
the Queen and Princess Mary, and the Royal party
was received by Dr. Russell Wells, Vice-Chancellor
of the University of London. In an address Dr. Wells
referred to the meeting held at the Mansion House
in 1918, when it was determined to institute London
degrees in commerce, and to collect funds in order
to found and endow in the University what it is hoped
would ultimately become the greatest school of com-
merce in the world. As a result of the response to
the appeal of the University by the bankers, shippers,
and merchants of London, and the substantial con-
tribution of Sir Ernest Cassel, through the Cassel
Trustees, the sum of more than 300,0001. was ob-
tained towards the founding and endowing of the
scheme for commercial education. In the course of
his reply the King said :—‘‘I am fully sensible of the
patriotic work which has been accomplished by the
universities during the war, of their instinctive and
immediate response to the call of duty, of their heavy
burden of sorrow and loss, of their varied and bril-
liant contributions to the science of modern warfare,
and of the extent to which their normal activities have
been suspended or deflected by five years of national
peril. It is for this reason the more gratifying to
me to note that the University of London, which has
grudged nothing of its youth and valour to our armies
in the field, has been planning the development of
a ale ll
ee et, «eee? om
JUNE 2. 1920}
NATURE
441
new spheres of usefulness in the furtherance of the |
frui arts of peace. Three centuries ago Francis
Bacon censured the universities of his own age as the
homes of ignorant dogma and sterile disputation. The
bad and narrow tradition which was then attacked
has long since disappeared, and the circle of academic
studies has been steadily enlarged by the pressure of
scientific ideas and of practical needs without injury
to the claims of a broad and humane education.
When estate management, horticulture, and commerce
are included in the curriculum, a university can no
longer be described as a place in which nothing useful
is taught. It is right and fitting that the new faculty
of commerce should be linked to the London School
of Economics, which has for many years enjoyed the
reputation of being one of the principal centres of
economic inquiry in my Empire, and I regard it as
no less appropriate that a university situated at the
very heart of our commercial system should now
resolve to turn the dispassionate and illuminating eye
et science upon the facts and principles of commercial
$
i>
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Royal Society, May 20.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Prof. J. N. Collie: Some notes
on krypton and xenon. In the paper the measure-
ments of a considerable number of new spectroscopic
lines at the red end'of the spectrum are given; also
a curious property of xenon has been noted. In tubes
containing xenon, when a ue current from an
induction coil is passed, much splashing of the elec-
trodes occurs, and the xenon disappears as a gas.
What becomes of the xenon is not clear, as it does
not seem to be liberated again, either by strongly
heating the metallic splash or | dissolving up the
splash in suitable solvents.—Sih Ling Ting: Experi-
ments on electron emission from hot bodies. Experi-
ments on the electron currents from a platinum disc
in a uniform field made by Prof. Richardson in 1907-9
showed that under the conditions of these experiments
the distribution of velocity among the emitted elec-
trons was very close to the requirements of Maxwell’s
law for a gas of equal molecular weight and tempera-
ture, but it was noted at the time that rough tests
made on the liquid alloy of sodium and potassium,
on platinum coated with lime, and on- platinum
saturated with hydrogen indicated an exceptional
behaviour. The further investigation of these sub-
stances was postponed owing to technical difficulties
and to the pressure of other problems. In 1914
Schottky investigated the electrons emitted from
tungsten and carbon, and found a distribution of
energy in close accordance with Maxwell’s law, except
that the mean energy varied between 2 per cent. and
25 per cent. in excess of that calculated from the
filament temperatures. Errors in the estimation of
these temperatures and in other directions might,
however, have accounted for these discrepancies. The
present experiments show that deviations from Max-
well’s law, if not general, are at any rate quite
common. With tungsten and platinum in a _ well-
exhausted enclosure a common distribution is one
which satisfies the requirements of Maxwell’s law,
except that the average electron energy is in excess
of (frequently about twice as great as) that corre-
sponding to the temperature of the source. Other
cases have been recorded> in
distribution’ has’ a_ different functional form.—L.
Silberstein: The aspherical nucleus theory applied to
NO. 2640, VOL. 105]
which: the velocity | containing dark particles.
.
the Balmer series of hydrogen. The general formule
for spectrum emission by atomic systems containing
an aspherical nucleus, given by the author in a
previous paper (Phil, Mag., vol. xxxix., p. 76), are
now applied to hydrogen atoms the nuclei of which
are treated as axially symmetrical charged distribu-
tions. The asphericity and the value of the Rydberg
factor are determined from Mr. Curtis’s observations
of Ha up to Hy. The series formula thus resulting
(and containing but two constants) is shown to agree
well with the six observations, The value of the
asphericity coefficient is then used to determine the
fine structure of the members or groups of the Balmer
series, more especially of the groups Ha and Hf,
which are discussed in some detail_—T. E. Stanton,
Miss D. Marshall, and Mrs. C. N. Bryant: The condi-
tions at the boundary of a fluid in turbulent motion.
Observations were made on air flowing through long
pipes of circular cross-section at mean rates of flow
covering as wide a range as possible below and above
the critical speed. Dimensions of pipes used were
0-269, 0-714, and 12:7 cm. in diameter. Range in
experimental conditions varied from vd/v=460 to
vd/v=325,000, where v is mean speed of flow,
d diameter of pipe, and v kinematic viscosity of air.
Estimation of velocity of fluid in neighbourhood of
boundary was made from observations of difference
in pressure existing in a small Pitot tube facing the
direction of flow, and that in a hole in the wall of the
pipe. The Pitot was of rectangular section, external
dimensions at orifice being o-1xXo-8 mm. and internal
dimensions 0-05 x0-75 mm. By this means observa-
tions could be made up to a distance of 0-05 mm.
from the wall. For distances less than this, by a
special device the wall of the Pitot nearest the wall
of the pipe was cut away and its place taken by the
wall of the pipe. By this means observations could
be taken at a distance of oor mm. from the walls.
From a comparison of the curves of velocity distribu-
tion near the boundary, obtained from observations
with the Pitot and the composite tube, it was found
that in the case of the former the interference with
the flow near the orifice by side of tube adjacent to
boundary was considerable. Velocity curves obtained
from the composite tube, when further corrected for
interference, were found to tend to a definite slope at
boundary, which was identical with that which would
exist in a layer of fluid in laminar motion and having
the same surface friction as that actually measured.
Linnean Society, May 6.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-
ward, president, in the chair—Dr. G. P. Bidder :
Sponges. (1) The fragrance of calcinean sponges.
Clathrinidz have a noticeable aromatic scent, probably
due to the excretory granules which give their bright
colours. These granules especially surround the pores.
May this be to attract the spermatozoa? The author
has not seen the fine-lashed spermatozoa of Poléjaeff,
but in Sycon has observed a stiff-tailed organism—pos-
sibly the result of curious gregarine-like objects pro-
duced in cells resembling gonocytes. (2) Syncerypta
spongiarum, (wrongly assigned to Pandorina in his
MS.) the author gives as a name to the “‘ alga ”’ above-
‘mentioned. He suggests that it is a dangerous para-
site, against which Grantia compressa has a successful
phagocytosis, but that certain other sponges are hosts
for its Palmella stage. (3) Notes on the physiology
of sponges. (a) Cercids, proposed as a name for
the ‘‘minute wandering cells.’? (b) Cessation of the
current in sponges. (c) Differences between Calcinea
and Calcaronea in their porocytal granules and odour.
(d) The excreta of collar-cells are gelatinous globules
Probably Dendv is right in
comparing these to the ‘‘spermatozoon-heads ”’ of Polé-
jaeff, which may be the ultimate residue of victorious
4.42
NATURE
[JUNE 3,.1920
phagocytosis. ._(e) Origin of sponges. Archzeocytes
may. have been differentiated into external excretory
cells and. internal reproductive cells; the former en-
gulfed cercids, but only. to. pass them on.to the latter.
By abbreviation of this process the excretory cells may
have. become self-perforating porocytes, which were
then adapted to supply water to flagellate cells in the
centre of a Protospongia-like colony, thus converting it
into an elementary Olynthus.
Royal Meteorological Society, May 19.—Mr. R. H.
Hooker, president, in the chair.—Dr. Griffith Taylor ;
Agricultural climatology of Australia, The author,
after indicating briefly the diversity of climates in
Australia, pointed out the extreme importance of the
rainfall, more so than in most other countries, as the
controlling factor in the settlement of the country;
also that the\season at which rain falls and the
certainty of its occurrence (its ‘‘ reliability ’’) were as
important as the total amount. The greater propor-
tion of the wheat-lands: lay in regions receiving less
than 20 in. of rain per annum, while the crop can
be grown with as little as 7 in. if it falls at the right
time. Sugar-cane is confined to the eastern coast,
where the rainfall exceeds 40 in. and the temperature
68° F. The hay crop is also important, and in dry
seasons when the grain fails includes a large bulk of
cereals. Ninety per cent. of the sheep are in the
south-eastern third of the continent; a rainfall of
at least 10 in. and a temperature below 77° are required
for them. Cattle are reared more in the north-east.
The great variability of the rainfall frequency results
in serious droughts and conséquent failure of the
cereal crops and reduction of flocks and herds; but it
is hoped that these recurrent losses will become less
serious in time with the progress of irrigation, though
Dr. Taylor is not sanguine that irrigation will open
up to settlement the enormous areas that seem to be
anticipated by some writers.—J. E. Clark and H. B.
Adames: Report on the phenological observations for
the year 1919. The dominant factors in 1919 were
the excessive wetness until April and drought in May
and early June, lasting or reappearing until October
or later. The abnormally warm December of 1918 was
followed by four months universally cold, closing with
heavy snow in the last week of April. Then hot summer
weather in May and early June. preceded a detrimental
six weeks or more of abnormal cold. Cold recurred
after August, culminating in a November deficiency
beyond most records. In consequence, summer-
growing garden crops (such as celery and cauliflower)
were poor and most field crops short, though fairly
good, especially potatoes. Of tree-fruits only plums
and apples cropped heavily, the latter ripening and
colouring to a degree rarely known, and excelled only
by the wonderful autumn tints—both, no doubt, due
to the drv and sunny autumn. As to the tables, the
four earliest flowers were nine days late, but the
effect of May was to make the last four decidedly
-early. The early migrants were late, especially the
nightingale. The 1919 isophenes were seven days
further south than in 1918. The number of observers
has been further reduced from war effects, barely
exceeding 100, but 1920 prospects are such that at
least a 100 per cent. increase is probable. The areas
worst represented are Wales,. the south-west of
Ireland, and the north-west of Scctland. Observers
from these parts will be most welcome.
MANCHESTER.
Literary and Philosophical Society, April 20.—Sir
Henry A. Miers, president, in the chair.—W. J. Perry:
The origin of warlike States. In previous papers the
author has put forward the theory that, speaking
generally, warlike States are those with an hereditary
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
military: aristocracy, In an examination of the. ruling
groups of the chief historical peoples, Teutonic,Turko-
Tartar, Semitic, the facts suggest their’ beginning as
small.groups claiming divine descent. These groups
seem to be of ‘‘matriarchal’’ origin, and the chief
religious feature was the cult of the Great Mother. '
Just after the new groups of rulers had been formed,
the institutions became patrilineal, ‘and the Great
Mother was replaced by gods. Study of the practice
of heraldry verifies the author’s theory. This law of
‘* dynastic continuity,’ if true, leads to the conclusion
that all ruling classes in the world are derived from
one original group; and this result harmonises with
Prof, Elliot ‘Smith’s claim that all civilisation origi-
nated in the AZgypto-Sumerian region.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, May 10.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—C. Guichard ; Networks and congruences
conjugated with respect to a linear complex.—Prof.
W. H. Perkin was elected a correspondant for the
section of chemistry in succession to M. Ciamician,
elected foreign associate.—P. Boutroux; A family of
multiform functions defined by differential equations
of the first order.—M. Janet: Systems of equations
of derived partials —G. Cerf: The analysis of anti-
symmetrical tensors and the symbolic forms of dif-
ferentials.—C. Camichel: Application of the principle
of images to water-vessels.—Th, De Donder and
H. Vanderlinden: New fundamental equations in
generalised co-ordinates.—J. Carvallo : A new universal
method of measuring and compensating instrumental
astigmatism.—A. Kling and A. Lassieur: The separa-
tion of tin and antimony. The estimation of tin by
cupferron.. The antimony is separated as sulphide in-
hydrofluoric acid solution, boric acid added to the
filtrate to convert the hydrofluoric acid into fluoboric
acid, and the tin precipitated by cupferron.—F. —
Bourion and Ch. Courtois: A method of modified en-
richment in the analysis of commercial chlorobenzenes,
Some refinements. on a method described in an earlier
communication.—G. Tanret: Pelletierine and methyl-
pelletierine. Hess and Eichel were unable to isolate —
the optically active alkaloid pelletierine, and could ~
only obtain the inactive, isomer isopelletierine; hence
they propose that the name isopelletierine should be
dropped. In the present paper experimental confirma-
tion of the work of Ch. Tanret on the optically active
alkaloid is given.—A. Mailhe: A new preparation of
amines by catalysis. The hydrazines obtained from
acetaldehyde, isobutyraldehyde, and from valeraldehyde
heated with hydrogen in presence of nickel give mix-
tures of primary, secondary, and tertiary amines.—
A. Guébhard: The planet Mars and “igneous sedi-
mentation.’’—R. Souéges: The embryogeny of the
Solanacez. Development of the embryo in Nicotiana.
Nine diagrams are given showing the principal steps
in the development of the embryo. The statement of
Hanstein, that the embryo of Nicotiana develops
according to laws comparable with those observed in
Capsella, is shown to be inexact.—A. Chevalier :
Researches on the Amygdalacez and the apple-trees
of the cooler parts of Indo-China and of the south
of China.—A. Piedallu, P. Malvezin, and L. Grand-
champ: The treatment of the blue casse of wines.
Oxygen gas in very minute bubbles, produced by
forcing the gas under pressure through the walls of
a porous porcelain filter, can rapidly convert. the
errous salts into ferric salts. The wines clarify
readily, and are reduced to a normal state.—L, Bertin :
Remarks on the buccal and feeding apparatus in some
Coleoptera.—P. Courmont and A. Rochaix : The action
of the microbial flora of sewage effluents purified by
the activated-sludge method on carbohydrates.
‘new problems of the mechanics of regulation.
spiral compensator of M. Guillaume, obtained by
NATURE
443
__ May 17.—M. Henri Deslandres in the chair.—G.
_Bigourdan: Lechevalier at the Observatory of Saint-
_ Genevieve.
‘M. Hamy:.A particular case of diffraction of the
- images of circular stars of large diameter.—L. E.
_ Dickson was elected a correspondant for the section
_ of geometry in succession to M. Cosserat, elected
The co-ordinates of this observatory.—-
non-resident member.—P. Humbert; The general
_ solution of the system which satisfies the function W
(x, y).—N. Pipping: A criterion for real algebraical
numbers, based on a direct generalisation of Euclid’s
algorithm.—J. Drach: The spiral compensator and
The
addition of a third or a fourth metal to an iron-
nickel alloy, is the first example of a solid the elas-
ticity of which increases with.the temperature. The
= papa -of this to the control of chronometer
nce-springs is discussed, and reasons are given
.for supposing that the chronometer will equal the
astronomical clock in accuracy.—Ch. Frémont: The
genesis of cracks in certain axles.—P. Morin: The
study of flow over a weir with the aid of chrono-
ography.—M. Battestini: The optimum magnifica-
tion of a telescope. The magnification of a reading
telescope should be reduced proportionally. to the
me ose re root of the illumination of the — field.—L.
Thielemans : Calculations and diagrams of lines carry-
ing energy to great distances.—G. Bruhat: The pro-
perties of fluids in the neighbourhood of the critical
oc and the characteristic equations.—J. Villey :
discussion of Michelson’s experiment.—C.
Zeng and B. Papaconstantinos: The acceleration
of the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide by colloidal
ium. - From measurements of the velocity con-
stants the reaction is shown to be unimolecular. If
the solution of colloidal rhodium ‘is treated with a
current of hydrogen or carbon monoxide the reaction
is accelerated.—F. Bourion: The impurities of the
ne extracted from commercial chlorobenzenes.
Normal hexane and heptane have been isolated, and
also chloroform, from benzene extracted from com-
mercial chlorobenzene.—C. Matignon and Mlle.
Marchal: The prolonged action of carbon dioxide on
silicates and quartz. Six minerals and glass were
submitted to the action of a solution of carbon dioxide
in water under a pressure of 10 atmospheres for a
period of ten vears and three months. The quantities
of silica in solution were estimated, and the minerals
after this exposure examined microscopically for
evidence of attack. Quartz, wollastonite, mica, talc,
dioptase, and asbestos showed signs of corrosion.
. With glass the corrosion was scarcely perceptible.—
J. Bougault and J. Perrier: The action of hydro-
eyanic acid on glucose: Kiliani’s reaction. In solu-
tions faintly acid, even as weak as hundredth normal,
the combination between hydrocyanic acid and glucose
does not take place, and this would also appear to
be the case in neutral solution. A slight -alkalinity,
even as small as that derived from the glass con-
taining vessel, determines the reaction, which is there-
fore probably between glucose and alkaline cyanide. |
The reaction between potassium cyanide and glucose
was quantitatively studied, and proved to be bimole-
cular.—L. Cayeux:. The Hettangian iron minerals of
Burgundy. The iron mineral at Beauregard is not
oolitic, but the whole of the oxide of iron is a sub-
stitution product for calcium carbonate.—Ph. Négris :
The alternatives of the Glacial and inter-Glacial epochs
during: the Quaternary period.—G, Ferronniére: An
Eifel laver of the Basse-Loire synclinal.—A. Boutaric :
The intensity of nocturnal radiation at high altitudes.
—E. Rothé: A new electrical anemometer. For
observations of wind velocities at high altitudes the
anemometer is carried in a small captive balloon, and
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
-and-their Applications.
the anemometer vane serves as an interrupter, which
at each contact puts in action a small electrical oscil-
lator. At the base of the cable holding the balloon
is a small receiving apparatus for detecting wireless
signals. The indications of several instruments fixed
at different heights up the cable can be received
simultaneously.—G. André: The exosmosis of the acid
principles and sugars of the orange.—P. Bugnon:
The structure of certain fibro-vascular bundles in the
stems of the Graminaceze.—H. Piéron: The variation
of the energy as a function of the time of stimulation
for peripheral vision.—A. Mayer, H. Magne, and
L. Plantefol: The reflexes provoked. by. irritation of
the. respiratory passages. Action of the general
exchanges. of the organism. The irritation of the
terminations. of the trigeminal nerve in. certain
mammals has the effect of causing, for more than
half an hour, a reflex diminution of the general
exchanges of the organism. These may be lowered
to a value very small compared with the normal.—
A. Desgrez_ and H. Bierry: Nitrogen equilibrium and
lack of vitamines.—R. Hovasse: The number of
chromosomes in parthenogenetic tadpoles.—M.
Delage : Remarks on the preceding communication.—
J. Legendre: The food régime of Carassius auratus
in ‘Madagascar. :
Books Received.
The Story of a Cuckoo’s Egg. By H. Terras. Pp.
g5. (London: The Swarthmore Press, Ltd.) 6s. net.
A Primer of Air. Navigation. By H. E. Wimperis.
Pp. xiv+128. (London: Constable and. Co., Ltd.)
8s. 6d. net ;
The Identification of Organic Compounds. By the
late Dr. G. B. Neave and Prof. I. M. Heilbron.
Second edition. Pp. viii+88. (London: Constable
and Co., Ltd.) 4s. 6d. net.
The Blind: Their Condition and the Work being
done for them in the United States. By Dr. H. Best.
Pp. xxviiit+763. (New York: The Macmillan Co. ;
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 21s. net. —— -
Australian Meteorology: A Text-book, including
Sections on Aviation and Climatology. By Dr.
Griffith Taylor. Pp. xi+312. (Oxford: At. the
Clarendon Press.) 12s. 6d. net.
Keys. to the Orders of Insects. By F. Balfour-
Browne. Pp. vii+s58. (Cambridge: At the Univer-
sity Press.) 7s. 6d. net.
Beauty and the Beast: An Essay in Evolutionary
Asthetic. By S. A. McDowall. Pp. vii+93. (Cam-
bridge: At the University Press.) 7s. 6d. net.
Thermodynamics for Engineers. By Sir bh
Ewing. Pp. xiii+383. (Cambridge: At the Uni-
versity Press.) 30s. net.
_ A Text-book of Physiology. By Prof. R. Burton-
Opitz. Pp. 1185. (Philadelphia and London: W. B.
Saunders Co.) 32s. 6d. net. :
Intermediate Text-book of Chemistry. By A.
Smith. Pp. vit+520. (London: G. Bell and Sons,
Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. : :
An Elementary Treatise on Differential Equations
z By Prof. H. T. H. Piaggio.
Pp. xvi+216+xxv. (London: G. Bell and. Sons,
Ltd.) 12s.. net. ;
Problems in Physical Chemistry: With Practical
Applications. By Dr. E. B. R. Prideaux. Second
edition. Pp. xii+294. (London: Constable and Co.,
Ltd.) 18s. net.
La mort et son mystére: Avant la Mort. . By
C. Flammarion. Pp. 401. (Paris: E. Flammarion.)
6.50 francs net.
‘An Introduction to Entomology. By Prof. J. H.
444
NATURE
[JUNE 3, 1920
Second edition. Pp. xviii+220.
Comstock Publishing Co.)
Comstock. Part i.
(Ithaca, N.Y.: The
2.50 dollars. net. \
Plant Indicators: The
munities to Process and Practice.
Relation of Plant Com-
By F. E. Clements.
Pp. xvi+388+92 plates. (Washington: Carnegie
Institution of Washington.)
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Year Book
No. 18, 1919. Pp. xvi+380+plate. (Washington:
Carnegie Institution of Washington.)
Egyptological Researches. Vol. iii.
Miller. Pp. 88+40 plates. (Washington: Carnegie
Institution of Washington.) .
Elementary Agricultural Chemistry. By H. Ingle.
Third edition. Pp. ix+250. (London: C. Griffin and
Co., ue 5s. .
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, June 3.
INSTITUTION OF Gas ENGINEERS (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers),
at ro a.m.—Society of British Gas Industries : Carbonisation.—
Hodsman and Prof. J.W. Cobb: Oxygen in Gas Production.—J. Fisher :
Electricity Supply by Gas Companies.— G. Warburton: Contemplations
on the Report of the Fuel Research Board.
Royat Horricutturat Society (at Royal Gardens, Chelsea), at 3.—
Capt. H. J. Page: Green Manuring—Its Possibilities in Horticulture.
Roya Institution oF GreaT BriTAIn, at 3.—William Archer : Dreams
with Special Reference to Psycho-Analysis.
Roya Society. at 4.30.—Sir Ernest Rutherford : The Nuclear Constitu-
' tion of the Atom (Bakerian Lecture).
Linnean Society of Lonpon, at 5.—R. Swainson-Hall: Exhibition of
50 Drawings of the Oil-Palm, Zlae’s guineensis.—A, Whitehead : Objects
Observed near Basra during the War.—Prof. W. J. Dakin: Whaling in
the Southern Ocean.—Dr. R. R. Gates: Demonstration of Chromosomes
in the Pollen Development ia Lettuce.
Cuemicat Society, at 8.—M. O. Forster and W. B. Saville: Studies in
the Camphane Series. Part XXXVIII. The C yanohydrazone of
‘ Camphorquinone.—R. G. Fargher: Arsenic Acids derived from Guaiacol
and Veratrole.—G. T. Morgan and 'D. C. Vining: Diphenylarsenious
Chloride and Cyanide. (Diphenylchloroarsine and Diphenylcyanoarsine. )
—F. Challenger and A. E. Géddard: Organo-derivatives of Bismuth.
. Part III. The Preparation of Derivatives of Quinquevalent Bismuth.—
N. Ray: Modification and Extension of Friedel-Crafts’ Reaction.
Part: I,+F, Arnall: The Determination of the Relative Strengths of some
Nitrogen Bases of the Aromatic Series and of some Alkaloids.—J. C.
Ghosh: ‘The Electrical Conductivity of Pure Salts in the Solid and Fused
States ; Determination of the Activity Coefficients of Ions in Solid Salts.
= W. - Sanderson and W. J. Jones: Anethole as Solvent in the Cryo-
scopic Method of Determining Molecular Weight.
Rovat Society or MeEpicinE (Obstetrics and Gynecology Section), at
8.—Dr. P. Turner: Traumatic Rupture of the Pedicle ofa Sub-Perito-
neal Fibroid.—Dr. F. Anderson: A Case of Rupture of the Uterus.—Dr.
. F. Shaw and Dr. Burrowes: Radical Cure of Advanced Carcinoma of the
Cervix, made Possible by the Application of Radium.—G. Ley: The
Pathology of Accidental Hzmorrhage.
FRIDAY, June 4.
Association of Economic BioLoctsts AND IMPERTAL ENTOMOLOGICAL
Concress.—Joint Meeting (at the Rothamsted Experiment Station),
St. Pancras Station to a.m. train.
Royat Society or Arts (Indian and Colonial Sections, Joint Meeting),
“3 4-30.—Prof. Sir John Cadman: The Oil Resources of the British
mpire.
Roya INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 9.—Sir Ronald Ross: Science
and Poetry.
SATURDAY, Jone 5.
Roya INsTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at oe. J. H. Jeans:
Theory of Quanta.
MONDAY, June 7.
INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5. —(Annual General Meeting.)
RoyaL InsTiITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 5.—(General Meeting.)
Society or CuHemicaL INnpustry. (at Institute of Chemistry), at 8.—
Informal Meeting.)
Roya. INnsTITUTE OF. BRITISH ARCHITECTS, at 8.—(Election of Council.)
Royat Society or ARTs, at 8.—Dr. W. Rosenhain : Aluminium and its
Alloys (Cantor Lecture. y
RoyaL GroGRAPHICcAL Society (at Holian Hall), at 8.30.—Prof. G. A. F.
Molengraff: Ocean Research in the Dutch. East Indies.
: TUESDAY, June 8,
eis: Pporognarvic SoclETY OF GREAT BriTAIN, at 7.—Dr. Wek.
Mills and Sir Wm. J. Pope: Studies on Photographic Sensitisers.
Part II. (Sensitisers of the Type of Pinacyanol or Sensitol Red.)—
G. I. Higson: A Simple Form of Non-intermittent Exposure Machine.—
Mr. Offer: Examples of Photographs in Colour taken during Theatrical
Performances.—(Lectures under the Control of the Scientific and
Technical Group.)
WEDNESDAY, June 9.
GEOLOGICAL Society oF LonpDoN, at 5. 30.—Dr. ro 'G. Knott:
Waves and the Elasticity of the Earth.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS (Wireless en rated (at Institution
of Mechanical Engineers), at 6.—M. Latour: High Frequency Machines.
British PsycuHo.ocicat Society (Education Section) (at College of
‘- +» Peeceptors), at 6.—W. H. Winch: Equal Additions versus Decom-
- position in Teaching Subtraction: An Experimental Research.
NO. 2640, VOL. 105 |
The
Earthquake
By W. Max
THURSDAY, as Io. f
INSTITUTION OF MINING ENGINEERS (at Geological Society), from rx a.m. t®
5-—(General Meeting. )--Prof. H. Louis: Compensation for Subsidences-
—W. Maurice: The Fleissner Singing-flame Lamp.— aurice: The
Wolf-Pokorny and Wiede Acetylene Safety-lamps.— G. Oldham: The
‘*Oldham” Cap Type Miner’s. Electric Safety. -lamp. —Discussion on
First Ropes of the Committee on ‘‘ The Control of Atmospheric Conditions
‘inJ Hot atid Deep Miries.”"—D. S. Newey: A New Method of Working
a acta oo Coal at Batgeutige Colliery, —T. G. Bocking: Protractors.
G. Bocking: Magnetic; Meridian Observations; A Method of
| SUlitsing the Kew Observatory Records.
Rovat: Society, at’ 4.30:-—Probable: Papers. —A. V. Hilland W. Hartree:
_ The Thermo-Elastic Properties of Muscle.—Sir James Dobbie and J. J:
Fox: The Absorption of Light by Elements in the State of Va
(1) Selenium and Tellurium ; (2) Mercury, Cadmium, Zinc, Phosp! es,
Arsenic, Antimony.— ae ‘annon: Production and Weir of an
_ Environmental Effect in "Simecephalus vetulus.—E. C, The
Enzymes of B. coli communis which are Concerned in the ecoatgadliien
of Glucose and Mannitol. Part IV. The Fermentation of Glucose in the
Presence. of Formic Acid.—L. T. Hogben: Studies on Synapsis. II.
Parallel Conjugation and the Prophase Complex in Periplaneta, with
’ Special Reference to the Premeiotic Telophase.
Lonpon MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.
Royat Cor_kce or Puysicians of Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. A. F. Hurst:
The Psychology of the Special Senses and their Hysterical Disorders‘
(Croonian Lecture).
Opticat Society, at’ 7.30.—Miss A. B. Dale: Accuracy of setae.
Dr. J. S. Anderson: A New Method of Immersion Refractome
INSTITUTE #4 Meta ts (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers), vat 8.
rof. C. Benedicks: ‘The Recent Progress in Thermo Electricity
(Annual May Lecture).
FRIDAY, June 11,
INSTITUTION OF Mininc EnGINEgRs (at Geological Society), from rz a.m.
O 5.
Roya ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.
PuysicaL Society oF Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. T. Barratt and A. J. Scott:
Radiation and Convection from Heated Surleeieae Ss. G. oe
An Electrical Hot-Wire Inclinometer.—L. F. Richardson: Convective
Cooling and the Theory of Dimensions.—J. W. T. Walsh: The Radiation
froma Perfectly Diffusing Circolar Disc.
PAGE
413
CONTENTS.
Present State of the Dye Industry. . eg
Poetry and Medicine. By Prof. Darcy’ w.
Thompson, C.B., F.R.S. . eee cia
Movements of Plants. By V. H. B. :
Applications of Electricity. By Dr. A. Russell .
British Iron Ores. By Prof. H. Louis. .....
Our Bookshelf . Pee
Letters to the Editor:— ‘
The Flight of Flying-fish.—_ Dr. J. McNamara . .
An Experiment on the Speen een RR, Ag»
Houstoun . Ce etal pret
Anti-Gas Fans.—Mrs. Hertha Ayrton . ee
A New Method for Approximate Evaluation of
Definite Integrals between Finite Limits.—C, F.
Merchant
Applied Science ‘and_ Tadiuatehel " Research. ” Prof
Frederick Soddy, F.R.S.; Major A. G. Church
The ag Soreat Red Spot on Jupiter. (With Die
. F. Denning. .
British and Foreign Scientific Apparatus.—J. w.
Ogilvy; J. S. bunkerly ... is
Cost of Scientific Publications. —Dr. ‘c. G. Knott
Natural History Studies in Canada. Naseecicrse ;
Tidal Power. (With Diagrams.) 2” bid eine Reena
Obituary :-— " ;
Prof. C. A. Timiriazeff, For. Mem. R;S).5%
Notes... . Gath é
Our Astronomical Column :— |
Recen of Teepe s Same wise: Sioa ts eed a
Double Stars. -. eer rer ke
Diffraction Image ofa Disc. phe eats epee
Monument to. yas: Gerhardt, By Sir T. E.
Thorpe, C.B., F.R 9 eel Ge Nea
Biological Papers resi Bengal .
Attainment of High Levels in the ‘Ackeguatee)
Physical Problems in Soil Cultivation, By B. A.
Keen.
The Anomaly of the Nickel Iron Alloys: Its Causes
and its Applications §. . Wie 5:3
Technical Education and Mind Training aus
University and. Educational Intelligence. . . . .
Societies and Acacenies ... 2... s+ suis alee
Books Received. . ee a eh cer
Diary of. Sacietiaa 855 See ee es es
NATURE
445
_ THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1920. |
- the colleges permits. :
_ little outside his séa life—a life astonishingly wide
Editorial and Publishing Offices :
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers,
ences communications to the Editor.
pti: Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
3 Naval Education.
E discussion in the House of Commons on
May 17 on the vote for educational services
in the Navy Estimates raised several points of
interest. We note a general wish to open more
widely the door from the lower deck to the com-
missioned ranks. At present the most promising
of the younger seamen can rise, through the inter-
mediate rank of mate, to that of lieutenant at
an age which does not shut them out from further
Several members expressed a hope
se
that it might be possible to promote ships’ boys
th The First Lord is
reported in the Times to have replied that the
Admiralty “could do no more than place at the
disposal of these lads the very excellent educa-
tional facilities now open to the lower deck, but
- would approach the question with a_ steadfast
determination to remove every possible obstacle
which appeared likely to prevent these lads attain-
ing their object.”
Lieutenants whose training at Dartmouth was
curtailed during the war are now sent to Cam-
bridge for a supplementary course. The special
situation which led to this arrangement will pass
away, but it is “intended to make the Cambridge
course a permanent feature of the education of
25 per cent. of the officers, if accommodation at
The young naval officer sees
in some ways, and equally narrow in others—and
intercourse at Cambridge. with. other young men
will broaden his ideas.
Osborne is to be closed in May, 1921. Cadets
will go straight to Dartmouth at the age of
thirteen and a half and stay there until the age
of seventeen; then to sea. The First Lord spoke
» with regret of the necessity of closing Osborne,
total number of cadets under training on>shore
will be not more than 440, as against. 1000 before
the war, and it’ would be incompatible with
economy to retain a special college for the younger
cadets with these reduced numbers. | If one of the
colleges is to go, clearly it must be Osborne,
where the buildings are for the most part tem-
porary structures, whereas Dartmouth is a sump-
tuous edifice of brick and stone, which will house.
the whole number.
In an explanatory memorandum issued with the
Estimates it was stated that changes were to be
made in the curriculum. These are of some im-
portance, and cannot be properly appreciated with-
out some knowledge of the history of the matter.
Lord Selborne’s scheme of training (1903)
provided for the common entry of executive and
engineer officers; all were to enter Osborne to-
gether, and to receive an_ identical. training
between the ages of thirteen and twenty-two.
Having reached the rank of lieutenant at twenty-
two, they were to select the branch to which they
would afterwards devote themselves—gunnery,
torpedo, navigation, engineering, or non-special-
ist. The most difficult problem was the training
of the engineer. Up to twenty-two he would not
have a more intensive engineering training than
all other officers ; from twenty-two he wWoiild devote
himself entirely to engineering. Many conse-
quences followed this decision; in particular, it |
was necessary to assign one-third or one-fourth of
the instructional time from thirteen to twenty-two
to engineering. The engineer officers (Lieutenants
E) trained under these conditions are understood
to be doing well, but the time left for general
education at the colleges was restricted rather
severely, and in the case of the executive officers
this restriction seemed to be a mistake. How
could this defect be remedied without impairing
the technical training of the engineers? It
emerges from the Admiralty memorandum that
the following solution is to be tried. The engin-
eering time at the colleges (thirteen and a half to
seventeen) is to be greatly reduced, and the time
saved to be spent in enriching the cadets’ literary
education. At the same time, the age of special-
isation for engineers is to be lowered from twenty-
two to eighteen.
It may be surmised that this increased sense of
the value of early general education is not un-
connected’ with comparisons made ‘during the
war between the midshipmen from Dartmouth
and the “direct entry’ midshipmen who entered
which. has done good work in education; but the | from the ordinary schools of the country at
NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
Q
446
NATURE
[JUNE 10, 1920
eighteen. The latter are understood to have
justified their selection, and in the opinion of
some officers were superior to the Dartmouth
entry in certain respects. One reason for such
a superiority, if it really exists, is so dominant
that it is unnecessary to look further. The
“direct entry” midshipmen finished their educa-
tion uninterruptedly at the schools, carrying it
on to the age of seventeen and a half or eighteen.
The Dartmouth boys were sent to sea prema-
turely, many of them at fifteen and a half instead
of at the normal age of seventeen. They were an
unfinished product, and from an educational point
of view it is satisfactory that this curtailment of
general education should have had sucha marked
effect on efficiency at sea that many officers were
led to make the comparison referred to above.
For the reason stated, the comparison could not
be fair, but it was made, and it set naval officers
thinking.
Not so many years ago it was axiomatic in
the Navy that sailors “must be caught young,” at
a‘tender age, and not when they leave a public
school. It is no longer axiomatic. There is
acute division of opinion among naval officers on
this subject. So long as it was considered neces-
sary that cadets of thirteen and upwards should
spend one-quarter of their time in engineering,
it was impossible to look to the schools of the
_ country for the secondary education of naval
officers. But the amount of engineering to be
learnt in future between thirteen and eighteen is
not. more than could be taught at any well-
equipped school. The problem is therefore open
whether the Navy is to continue to undertake
the secondary education of its officers, or to leave
the task to the schools. The First Lord stated
that the Admiralty had no intention of abolishing
Dartmouth as well as Osborne, and referred to
advantages which could be conferred at a naval
college on the sons of needy naval officers. But
he believed the public-school system of entry—the
“direct entry’ system—to be thoroughly good,
and fifteen midshipmen are to be entered annually
from the schools, as against 120 through Dart-
mouth.
In favour of maintaining a naval college for
cadets is urged the advantage of early acquaint-
ance with Navy habits and discipline, the doubt
whether the numbers required—very moderate
numbers. now—could be recruited at the age of
eighteen, the present overcrowded state of the
public schools, and the special consideration. re-
ferred to by Mr. Long in his speech. In favour
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
of relying entirely on the schools of the country,
many naval officers argue that a boy’s outlook is
narrowed by association from so early an age
with none but those of his own profession; that
there is nothing at a naval college which quite
makes up for the influence exerted by a good
public-school house master; that “direct entry ”
saves heavy expense to the Exchequer; and that
it is more difficult to, select at the age of thirteen
than at eighteen. .
_ The debate, therefore, has. begun, and the out-
come will probably be determined by the eventual
balance of opinion within the Service.
The Ultimate Data of Physics.
An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Natural
Knowledge. By Prof. A. N. Whitehead.
Pp. xii+200. (Cambridge: At the University
Press, 1919.) Price 12s. 6d, net. si
HYSICISTS and_ philosophers can unite
unreservedly in an expression of gratitude
to the author of this most acute and original
work. At the present time, when it is generally
recognised that the ultimate concepts of physics
require reinterpretation, it is a piece of great
good fortune that the task should be undertaker
by a thinker who is not only one of the foremost
of living mathematicians, but also a metaphysician |
who sees clearly the wider issues that are involved.
As Prof. Whitehead remarks, the incoherent
character of the traditional concepts of specula-
tive physics has long been a commonplace in philo-.
sophical treatments of the subject. Instantaneous
moments, geometrical points, unextended parti-
cles, etc.—these may be convenient, and even
essential, notions for the purposes of physical
investigation, but, if taken to indicate existént
entities, are quite unworkable notions. On such
a basis the fact, for example, of change in all its
forms would become not merely incomprehensible,
but contradictory; to be intelligible, “change
must,’ as Lotze put it, “find its way into the
inside of being.”” In other words, change as mere
sequence, as mere alternation, is an impossible
thought. .Change means, if it means anything,
continuous modification in that which preserves a
certain identity or unity, without, however, imply-
ing that the latter ingredient is something
separate from the former. Nothing which is
characteristic of force, velocity, energy, and life
can exhibit itself at a durationless instant. The
slightest functioning of a living organism obvi-
ously takes time, but so also does that of a mole-
cule of iron. In Aristotelian language, it may be
asserted that the true nature of any real existent
4
JUNE 10, 1920]
NATURE
447
cage
#58 never that which can be present all at once,
hee that which is being realised in the totality of
_ phases through which the existent thing in
Bt eon passes.
— —_=
Since the appearance of his well-known paper
m in the Phil. Trans. of 1906, Prof. Whitehead has
A ‘been wrestling with the problem which considera-
tions’ such as these occasion, and he has now
__ worked out a positive theory of the structure and
_ diversification of Nature, upon the basis of which
a rationale can be furnished of the concepts indis-
pensable in mathematical physics. The aim, then,
: of the present volumé@ fay be said to be twofold :
_ (1) To determine by analysis of what is offered in
_ perceptual experience the ultimate data of science _
and their relations; and (2) to show how the
concepts of mathematical physics and _ their
relations can be exhibited as functions of the
former.
Nature, so I understand Prof. Whitehead to
mean, must be regarded as in its totality a con-
tinuous stream of process, of becoming, of
creative advance. Within this whole there call to
be distinguished two essentially different, yet
intimately connected, types of entity—events and
objects. Employing, again, Aristotelian phrase-
ology (and in many ways Prof. Whitehead’s
scheme of Nature more nearly resembles the Aris-
totelian scheme than any other), events constitute
the tAy and objects the «ides of things. Events
are either durations or bits of a duration, and a
“duration” is a “slab of Nature,” limited tem-
_porally, but unlimited spatially, which is con-
_temporaneous with the specious present of any
percipient. The fundamental relation of events
is that of extending over each other, and this
relation of “extending over” is the common root
from which both temporal extension and spatial
extension take their origin. Strictly speaking,
events themselves do not change; they pass into
other events, and in passing become parts of
larger events, the passage of events being exten-
‘sion in the making. Moreover, some of the
events that are parts of durations (e.g. a specific
‘state of perceiving) have a relation of cogredience
to a certain duration—that is to say, they are
temporally coextensive with it, and they cccupy
in it a fixed spatial position. Furthermore, events
are the “situations” of objects—an object is
located in an event as that event’s characteristic
or quality. Like Aristotle’s «os, an object is
permanent. When we speak of its change we
really mean its diverse relationships to diverse
events. Precisely the same object can characterise
two or more events. The continuity of Nature is
to be found in events. The atomic properties of
Nature reside in objects. There is, in short, a
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
structure of events (an “ether of events” rather
than a material ether), and it provides the frame-
work of the externality of Nature within which
objects have their subsistence. This structure is
capable of being analysed in a number of different
ways, and by adopting different modes of analysis
we human beings can get at the various kinds of
events which are “situations” of different types
of objects. The more important of these types
are: (a) Sense-objects—e.g. definite sense-data ;
(b) perceptual objects—i.e. the so-called “things ”
of ordinary experience ; and (c) scientific objects—
i.e. the characteristics (electrons, etc.) of events
as active conditions. With the exception of those
perceptual objects that are delusive, all these types
of objects are equally real. Their esse is neither
percipi nor intellegi.
For the mathematician the detailed working out
of the way in which the concepts of point, instant,
particle, etc., may be brought into connection with
the data just indicated will probably be the most
valuable part of the treatise; but I must be con-
tent to record that it is accomplished through
persistent applications of what is named _ the
method of extensive abstraction. This method,
it is explained, is that which in its own sphere
(the sphere, namely, of geometry and mechanics)
follows the procedure of the differential calculus
in the region of numerical calculation. It converts
a process of approximation into an instrument of
exact thought. By its means, as Dr. Broad has
neatly expressed it, the convenience in these
concepts is retained, while the fiction in them is
eliminated.
With the main principles of Prof. Whitehead’s
philosophy, yielding, as they do, a view of Nature
strikingly antithetical to that of the logical
atomism developed by Mr. Russell, the present
reviewer is in close agreement. One would like
to press, indeed, for a fuller elaboration of the
notions of “duration,” “event,” and “passage of
events ” than is here attempted. For one has an
uneasy feeling that a host of embarrassing prob-
lems lies concealed in those notions. And _ then,
again, one is uncertain about the mode in which
events are supposed to be apprehended. While
objects are recognised, events, we are told, are
“lived through,” by which apparently we
are to understand that not only the “per-
cipient event” (i.e. the actual phase of ex-
periencing), but also the whole duration with
which it is cogredient is “lived through.”
Yet obviously it is mot meant that the
countless other events, some cogredient and
others not with that duration, are in like
manner ‘‘lived through,’’ and one fails to. see
how there can be any unique process of appre-
448
NATURE
[JUNE 10, 1920
hending them. Once more, one would be prepared
to question whether ‘‘ sense-objects ’’ are primary
as compared with “perceptual objects ’’—primary,
that is, in the sense that the recognition of them
is precedent to the recognition of the latter. But
the last two of these criticisms turn upon matters
of detail, and the first amounts to a large order.
When all this is said, the fact remains that in the
volume before us we have a really great effort of
constructive thinking. Prof. Whitehead modestly
observes that his book “ raises more difficulties
than it professes to settle.’’ He adds, however,
with true insight, that “‘ to’ settle the right sort
of difficulties and to raise the right sort of ulterior
questions ’’ is to accomplish one step further into
Nature’s background of mystery.
G. Dawes Hicks.
Life and Letters of Silvanus P. Thompson.
Silvanus Phillips Thompson, D.Sc., LL.D.,
F.R.S.*Fiis Life and Letters. By J. S. and
H. G.' Thompson. Pp. ix+ 372. (London:
T. Fisher-Unwin, Ltd., 1920.) Price 11. 1s. net.
F this biography of the late Silvanus P.
Thompson, written by his wife and daughter,
is perhaps a little wanting in the detached
criticism that could have come only from someone
outside the family circle, it gives, from an inside
and intimate point of view, a good idea of the
extent to which its subject appreciated the gospel
of work, and how he applied himself, with all
his might, to the many varied and interesting
things that he found for his hand to do.
The book commences with some account of
Thompson’s Quaker ancestry and his early train-
ing at Bootham School, York, and at the Quaker
Training College at Pontefract. Later, Thompson
returned to Bootham School as a junior master,
and it was during this time that he made the first
of many visits to the, Continent, which he
evidently greatly enjoyed, and which did so much
both to widen his outlook and to increase the large
number of his foreign scientific friends. His
appointment as lecturer on physics at Bristol was
the first step in his scientific career, and at Bristol
he remained, lecturing to his students and
also, farther afield, to various popular scientific
societies, attending meetings of the British Asso-
ciation, and making many contributions to elec-
trical science, until his appointment as principal
of the Technical College at Finsbury, which was
the chief scene of his labours for the remaining
thirty-one years of his life.
Essentially fitted by Nature to be a teacher and
an exponent, and endowed with habits of industry
NO. 2641, VOL, 105]
to a rare degree, Thompson touched little that he ~
did not to some extent adorn, and while in an age
of specialism, by reason, no doubt, of a certain
diffuseness of his interests, he never concentrated
sufficiently upon any one branch of scientific re-
search for his name to be associated with any
first-class discovery, there can be no doubt as to
the considerable extent that, by his books, his
lectures, and his teaching, he forwarded the pro-
gress of science, and especially of its applications,
during many years of activity. We learn that
| with remarkable industry he was the author of no
fewer than seventeen published books, besides.
eleven others that were privately printed, while his
addresses and communications to societies during
the forty years from 1876 down to the date of his
death number 177. Electricity, magnetism, optics,
and acoustics were his principal subjects, but he
also wrote on educational, religious, and other
questions, while not least amongst his writings
will be considered his biographies of Kelvin and of
Faraday, and his notes on the lives of Peter
Peregrinus, the soldier of fortune who penned his
treatise on the magnet as early as the thirteenth
century; Gilbert, the Elizabethan physician, who
also wrote on the magnet; Sturgeon, the inventor
of the electro-magnet; and Phillip Reis, whose
apparatus, if it was not sufficiently developed to
become of practical utility, was, at any rate, the
forerunner of that wonderful instrument of sublime
simplicity, the speaking telephone of Alexander
Graham Bell. "iad
Thompson, too, at an early stage in his career,
tried his hand at practical telephonic invention,
but his ingenious valve telephone was held by the
courts to be an infringement of the Bell-Edison
patents, and its sale was prohibited. Only on one
other occasion do we find him coming out as an
inventor, this time in connection with submarine
cables for telephonic and high-speed telegraphic
purposes. Here, though his particular arrange-
ment of inductive leaks never came into practical
use, it led the way to the Pupin loading coil, with
which much has been accomplished.
It is recorded that, as a young man, Thompson
cared little for games; but that this did not mean
any lack of appreciation of the lighter aspects of
life is evidenced by the vein of humour in many
of his letters, and by the prominent part he took
in connection with the “Red Lion ” dinners of the
British Association, and with such clubs as the .
Gilbert Club and the Sette of Odd Volumes, in
which latter he bore the appellation of Brother
Magnetizer.
which were not scientific, as, for instance, music,
poetry, and painting’, while as an artist himself
he held no mean place, and occasionally exhibited
He also had many hobbies, some of —
i | wey
ee Oe ee Oe
__- JUNE 10, 1920]
NATURE
449
at the Royal Academy. An exhibition of his
_ sketches held after his death comprised more than
‘ * hundred separate pictures.
__ Himself probably the most eloquent of scientific
ay Baiionents since Tyndall, it is interesting to learn
that Thompson fully realised, as has many
* another, the difficulties pertaining to the giving
of a Royal Institution discourse, where it is not
unusual for some few of the audience to know
_ quite as much as, if not more than, the lecturer,
__ while the majority can fully understand but little
__ of what they hear. Of interest also is the account
of the slender beginnings of his library, which
his proclivities as a collector and as a learned
bibliophile led him to accumulate, until, enriched
__ as it was by many ancient works and a whole host
of rare pamphlets, it developed into one of the
_ most complete and valuable existing collections of
electrical publications.
It is satisfactory to know that the skill and
labour expended in making this collection will not
be thrown away, as the whole library is to be
preserved intact at the Institution of Electrical
_ Engineers, where it will form a worthy monument
to Thompson’s industry and discernment.
iid A. A. CAMPBELL SWINTON.
b _ Academic Research and Industrial
Application.
The Chemistry and Technology of the Diazo-Com-
pounds. By Dr. J. C. Cain. Second edition.
Pp. xiit+199. (London: E. Arnold, 1920.)
Price 12s. 6d. net.
HE important chapter in organic chemistry
_ which is summarised so admirably by the
author of the treatise under review affords a strik-
ing illustration of the difficulty of explaining the
details of a chemical synthesis to a non-chemical,
although scientific, audience.
The element carbon furnishes the framework
or skeleton of all organic compounds, but much of
the chemical liveliness appertaining to the more
reactive of these substances is due to nitrogen, an
element endowed with a dual personality. » In the
free state inert and loath to enter into chemical
combination, when combined it becomes extremely
active. Everything living that grows contains
nitrogen, and this element is also present in all
organic explosives and in the physiologically active
alkaloids. It is, therefore, not surprising that the
study of organic nitrogenous substances has
always had a great fascination for chemists, who
have never grown tired of speculating on the
molecular structure of these compounds. It was
from this academic point of view that about
NO. 2641, VOL, 105 |
sixty years ago Prof. Kolbe, of Marburg,
set his pupils to work on the action of nitrous
acid on various aromatic amines, nitrogenous
compounds of the ammonia type derived from the
aromatic hydrocarbon, benzene. One of these
workers was Johann Peter Griess, who, on treating
picramic acid with nitrous acid, discovered the
first diazo-compound, so called because its mole-
cule contained a very reactive group, N,, consist-
ing of two atoms of nitrogen or azote.
Purely as a matter of scientific curiosity and
without any thought of possible applications,
Griess proceeded to generalise this reaction and
succeeded in showing that the common primary
aromatic amines yielded diazo-compounds. These
diazo-derivatives, he found, were very reactive
compounds, and he tried their action on all pos-
sible substances. He was thus led to make a dis-
covery of the utmost technical importance,
namely, the synthesis of the azo-colouring matters.
The diazo-reaction itself was discovered in 1858,
and Griess obtained the first azo-colour in the
years 1861-62. This dye was first manufactured
in 1865 by Caro, a German chemist then employed
by Messrs. Roberts, Dale, and Co., of Manchester.
The greater part of Griess’s work was carried out
in England, first in London in Hofmann’s labora-
tory, and afterwards while engaged with Messrs.
Allsopp, of Burton-on-Trent.
From those early days to the present time the
diazo-reaction has gone on becoming increasingly
useful both in technical and in academic chemistry.
The azo-colours produced a revolution in the art
of dyeing because a large and important group
was found to have the valuable property of dye-
ing cotton directly without the intervention of a
mordant. Other azo-dyes have found useful ap-
plication as extremely fast mordant dyes on wool.
A third group, the azo-pigments or ingrain dyes,
are formed within the textile fibre by impregnating
this material successively with the components of
the azo-coupling. All students of organic
chemistry are familiar with the Sandmeyer and
Gattermann reactions, by means of which diazo-
compounds become synthetic agents useful in elu-
cidating the constitution of aromatic or benzenoid
derivatives. The diazo-reaction has been of
service in the. production of synthetic drugs,
notably those of the salvarsan group. _ It
was employed during the war in the manu-
facture of sternutatory materials for chemical war-
fare. These synthetic developments are all duly
noted in Dr. Cain’s treatise, which includes many
references to original literature. To the student
of historical chemistry not the least interesting
chapters will be those on the theories of the con-
stitution of diazo-compounds. This discussion
450
NATURE
[JUNE 10, 1920
deals fully with the celebrated Hantzsch-Bam-
berger controversy, which was maintained for
several years. The author has himself formulated
a theory of the constitution of diazonium salts
which, with a modification suggested by the re-
' viewer, is sufficiently elastic to account for the
properties of aromatic diazo-compounds and also
for’ the existence of a rapidly increasing group
of heterocyclic and non-aromatic diazo-derivatives.
A new chapter on the latter group has been added
to this second edition of a unique monograph.
G.. Toa
Ancestral Studies of Composite.
The Origin and Development of the Compositae:
Thesis approved for the Degree of Doctor of
Science in the University of London. By Dr.
James Small. (New Phytologist Reprint,
No. 11.) Pp. xi+334+6 plates. (London:
William Wesley and Son, 1919.) Price 15s.
net.
HERE is perhaps a tendency among system-
atic botanists to fight shy of the Composite,
on account largely of the enormous size of the
family and the difficulties of properly classifying
its members. Those, however, who once succeed
in passing these lions in the path soon become
enthusiastic students of the group, and Dr. Small
is no exception to this rule. His contribution to
the investigation of the origin and development
of the family is by far the most important that
has appeared for many years.
_ After a general discussion of previous literature,
in which the most important names are those of
Cassini and Bentham, the author goes on to deal
with the various morphological and_ ecological
features of the family one by one, considering,
for example, the pollen-presentation mechanism,
the corolla, the pappus, the involucre, the recep-
tacle, the phyllotaxis, and the fruit dispersal From
all of these, similar general conclusions are
drawn, to the effect that the Senecionee are the
most primitive type of the family, and that from
them, directly or indirectly, and.ultimately from
Senecio itself, as the basal genus from which the
Senecionez arose, there sprang all the other
tribes and genera of the family. This is then
very strikingly confirmed by a study of the geo-
graphical distribution, which shows what would
be expected upon this theory of mutational origin,
and upon the hypothesis of age and area, which
is likewise adopted. It is shown that the dis-
tribution of Senecio (the oldest genus) is the
widest of all, and that of other tribes and genera
less and less in proportion to their lesser age.
NO. 2641, VOL, 105 |
Senecio is supposed (and the evidence is fairly
clear) to have arisen from the Siphocampylus-
group of Lobelioidez, and probably in the Bolivian.
highlands after the upheaval in the Cretaceous
period had provided available land above the
limit of trees. Once formed, its pappus fruit
and the great area of open land available in the
mountain chains which with few breaks run all
round the world enabled it to spread rapidly over
America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
In the final chapter an interesting skort is.
given of an hypothetical eyolution of the Com-
posite from Senecio, based upon the various con-
clusions drawn in the course of the work, summed
up largely in a diagram on p. 297, which illus-
trates this evolution in time and space. The
second great genus to evolve is supposed to have
been Gnaphalium (from which the Inulee are
descended), then Spilanthes (Helianthez), Solid-
ago (Eupatoriee and Asteree), and so on. The
whole is a striking and interesting illustration of
the way in which our whole outlook upon phylo-
geny has been altered by the acceptance of the
modern theories of evolution and geographical —
distribution.
In the course of the work many minor points
are further elucidated, such as irritability in the
pollen-presentation mechanism. Good reasons are
brought forward for supposing the pappus to be
of trichome nature, and by an _ ingenious
mechanism the dispersal of the seed was studied,.
and it was shown that a very slight wind was
sufficient to keep the seeds aloft in sufficiently dry
air, so that there is no need for land bridges to
explain the distribution. Many other points are
also dealt with, for which reference must be made
to the original.
Our Bookshelf.
Monarch: The Big Bear of Tallac. By Ernest
Thompson Seton. Pp. 215. (London: Con-
stable and Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
THIS is a sjmpbate picture of a grizzly bear,.
or, more exactly, the personality of one remark-
able bear still living in prison has been credited.
with the adventures of several of his kind. Begin-
ning with the growth and education of the cub,
the book tells the story of many ups and downs,
such as the first sheep-stealing, the escape from
the forest fire, the circumvention of the hunters;
the affair of the ten-gallon empty sugar-keg with
the delicious: smell, into which the bear thrust
his head; and the final capture (by means of
drugged honey) of an adventurer with many
aliases. Mr. Thompson Seton is a fine raconteur,.
but we wish he had put a little more stuffing into
the book; and his literary facility sometimes gets-
- forever—in vain.”
June 10, 1920]
NATURE
451
the better of his judgment. “And still he lives,
‘but pacing—pacing—pacing—you may see him,
scanning not the crowds, but something beyond
the crowds, breaking down at times into petulant
rages, but recovering anon his ponderous dignity,
‘jooking—waiting—watching—held ever by that
Hope, that unknown Hope, that came.” Through-
out the book we get glimpses of a river that does
“not reach the sea, and a poetic parallelism is
“sustained between river and bear—both ending in
~ imprisonment. “The river, born in high Sierra’s
flank, that lived and rolled and grew, through
- mountain pines, o’erleaping man-made barriers,
- then to reach with growing power the plains and
bring its mighty flood at last to the Bay of Bays,
a prisoner there to lie, the prisoner of the Golden
_ Gate, seeking forever Freedom’s Blue, seeking
and raging—raging and seeking—back and forth,
AS So with the bear. The book
is delightfully printed and got up, and many of
the thumb-nail drawings are very graphic. We
are told on what pages they occur and on what
pages the chapters begin and end, but there is
‘no pagination !
Religion and Culture: A Critical Survey of
Methods of Approach to Religious Phenomena.
By Dr. Frederick Schleiter. Pp. x+206. (New
York: Columbia University Press; London:
Humphrey Milford, 1919.) Price 8s. 6d. net.
Ir is well to be reminded by such an acute critic
as Dr. Schleiter that anthropology, one of the
youngest of the sciences, is still in search of the
one scientific method of analysing and co-ordinat-
ing the enormous mass of material which has
been, and is still being, collected. The object of
this book is to review the methods in use at
present and to point out certain difficulties which
éach involves. Though in his preface the author
tells us that he has in some degree modified his
iconoclastic attitude towards the comparative
method, his criticism still remains sufficiently
drastic. Thus he remarks that “in his immensely
voluminous works” Sir James Frazer has em-
bodied “several mutually irreconcilable types of
research.” Again, the method of intensive study
tralian culture, for instance—“ bristles with fal-
lacies and insupportable pre-suppositions.” In
dealing with Mana, Dr. Marett “appears to have
expressed bewildering varieties of opinion on this
subject.” Sir E. Tylor postulates “a single co-
herent and systematic view of the world, or what
he repeatedly refers to as a ‘philosophy of
nature.’” But “all ethnological evidence tends
to show that no such universal systematisation of
experiences has ever taken place.” In_ short,
“ethnographical literature, as a whole, presents
to us little more than groups of classifications
carried out from mutually irreconcilable points of
view—the advocates of the separate principles
being gathered into schools which profoundly dis-
trust each other’s résults.” . /
Dr. Schleiter, though an acute critic, is not a
lucid writer, and his work is critical rather than
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
of a limited group of cultural facts—the Aus-
constructive. He supplies a bibliography, but,
strange to say, no index. We can do no more at
present than indicate the scope of this important
review of methodology applied to ethnography.
Manuel Pratique de Météorologie. By J. Rouch.
Pp. viii+145+xiv plates. (Paris: Masson et
Cie, 1919.) Price 6.50 francs net.
Tus book, the outcome of war experience espe-
cially with aviators, is designed to give those
who receive weather forecasts: some knowledge
of the principles on which they are based. The
greatest measure of success is likely if the recipi-
ents have this knowledge, and are also in personal
contact with the forecaster.
The construction of weather charts, the inter-
pretation of their broader features, and the travel
of large weather systems are dealt with in the
first. eight chapters. The greatest danger, how-
ever, often attends the passage of smaller travel-
ling systems. Accordingly; chap. ix. discusses in
great detail secondary phenomena, line squalls,
thunderstorms, etc. Fog has a separate chapter,
and an account is given of the main results of
recent upper-air research. A useful feature is a
list of the chief barometric situations of the year
1917 to serve as examples supplementary to those
given in the book. The published daily charts
of the Bureau Central Météorologique may be
obtained for this purpose.
Detail is not lacking, and physical explanations
are given of many phenomena. The book should
appeal to meteorologists, as well as to “those
who, without being meteorologists, wish to know
what the weather will do.” M. A. G.
Wireless Transmission of Photographs. By
Marcus J. Martin. Second edition, revised and
enlarged. Pp. xv+143. (London: The Wire-
less Press, Ltd., 1919.) Price 5s.
A CERTAIN amount of experimenting has been done
from time to time on the transmission of sketches,
photographs, etc., electrically along ordinary
telegraph circuits, but in the case of long lines
‘success has been limited by the difficulty of
obtaining sufficiently sharp current impulses owing
to the capacity effects in the line. This difficulty
disappears with wireless transmission, and it is
chiefly for this reason that the author anticipates
greater success, as well as greater convenience,
in the apparently more delicate methods which it
is his purpose to describe. In his own system
a bichromate print made on a metal film is rotated
on a drum at the same time fed axially, and a
stylus is caused by the presence of the picture to
make intermittent contact and to send a series
of impulses from an ordinary’ wireless transmitting
set. A synchronised drum at the receiving end
carries a photographic film, and.a beam is directed
on to it, which is made intermittent by the move-
ment of a small shutter controlled by the receiv-
ing apparatus. Considerable ingenuity has been
exerted to overcome the many practical difficulties
encountered. The additions to this the second
edition relate chiefly to optical and photographical
matters.
452
NATURE
[ JUNE 10, 1920
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither
can be undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
The Organisation of Scientific Work in India.
As Nature waited for more than a year to criticise
the Indian Industrial Commission’s” Keport which
was published in October, 1918, it wiil probably
tolerate this additional delay ot a few weeks (due to
my absence in India) in attempting, on behalf of my
colleagues, to demonstrate that the impressions con-
veyed by the leading article in the issue of February 19,
and by the letters which followed in three later issues,
bear little resemblance to the Commission’s proposals
for *‘the organisation of scientific work in India.”
We are well aware out here that the writer of the
article borrowed many of his expressions, and that
the correspondents who furnished the subsequent
applause obtained their impressions of the Industrial
Commission’s scheme from a memorandum which
was privately composed and circulated among a few
scientific men in England after the departure of the
only two members of the Commission who were at
home last year on leave. If I had seen the private
memorandum only, 1, too, should have added my
vote to the others in condemning a scheme apparently
designed to tamper with the form of liberty that is
essential to scientific research; and I doubt if I
should have shown the canny wisdom of a distin-
guished chemist who, in reply to the author of the
memorandum, cautiously commented on ‘* proposals
said to have been set forth in the report of the Indian
Industrial Commission.’? That most of your distin-
guished correspondents had not read the Commis-
sion’s report. itself is obvious enough from their
letters, though only one of them frankly says so.
One writer, for example, states that ‘under the cen-
tralisation scheme the. work of an investigator would
depend on the previous sanction of the head of the
Service, who would probably not be of any scientific
eminence, or might even be without scientific qualifica-
tion.’’. The one obvious and plainly stated object of
the Commission’s scheme is to release isolated
scientific research workers from control .by non-
scientific officials, and it is so designed that even the
scientific officer. suggested for the head of each Ser-
vice cannot do more than criticise and advise without
interfering.
According to the privately circulated memorandum,
“two policies are at present in the field: (a) absolute
centralisation with the formation of distinct, water-
tight, graded departments of science (botany, zoology,
chemistry, etc.) being controlled by a separate depart-
mental, head.’’ This is intended to represent the
policy of the Industrial Commission, and the literal
agreement between the statement in the leading
article of February 19 and three-quarters of this
quotation is as important to notice as the additions
made by the .writer of the article. Both, like vour
correspondents, have confused the wholly distinct
terms ‘‘services’?’ and ‘‘departments,’’ which are
clearly distinguished in the Commission’s renvort; but
the writer of the article has also gratuitously added
a statement. which neither the Industrial Commission
nor any other responsible body here has ever sug-
gested, namely, the placing of ‘botanists, zoologists,
and so on,’’ under the proposed Imperial Depart-
ment of Industries.
Your correspondents, out of the fullness of their
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
successful experience, reproduce many well-worn B,
platitudes on the freedom necessary for iain
rs
they overlook the fact that many young scienti
officers are employed for such accessory routine duties
as analyses and identifications, which may be dull, but
are essential to the operations of agriculture, forestry,
and mineral development. They forget, too, that
most of the so-called research work of many others is.
purely descriptive, which is equally essential in a
country stocked with raw materials of unknown
nature. Unless their work comes to the notice of a
senior authority of their own caste, young scientific
officers so employed in departments or institutions
controlled by non-scientific officials would rarely get
a chance of showing their worth or of justifying their
desire for research opportu ities; unless they are
members of: some ‘service,"’) and thus come auto-
matically to the notice of their scientific chief, they
must either remain low-paid ‘‘hewers of wood” or
refuse to renew their agreements and quit. _ 2
. Then among those who already enjoy opportunities
for research there are some who need the support of
an independent senior authority in their desire to
obtain the necessary freedom and funds from the
local authorities in control; and it matters little
whether the ‘‘ constituted authority” be a committee,
a board, a hidebound official, or our most senior ¢
scientific councils, which Prof. Soddy regards as the
obsolete product of inbreeding, for all have learnt the
danger of taking unchecked the average man’s
estimate of his own worth. There are some, too,
among our isolated scientific workers who have not
sufficient confidence in themselvés to close their
inquiries for publication; they need the « tallisin,
influence of a senior worker who has the right to ask
them how they are getting on with that piece of
research which was in progress last year; there are
others who, distracted by the abundance of their rs ig
and the wealth of available raw material, pass from
one inquiry to another without finishing any; there
are some who, in their isolation, unwittingly waste
time in pursuing lines already more completely
developed but not yet published elsewhere. Then
there are isolated workers. who, for want of a pace- —
maker, grow weary in well-doing; and, finally, there.
is the inevitable residue who, through uncontrolled
freedom, become charlatans. But although all these
well-known species of scientific men are represented
in India, I doubt if we have any here who have yet
attained such experience and dexterity in the use of
“scientific method’? as to justify their criticising a
report that they have never seen. ae
Your leading article of February 19, after referrin
to the research work done in existing institutions o
various sorts, asserts that ‘‘the present system has
proved successful in practice.’? It would not be fair,
nor would you find space, to describe the painfully
numerous exceptions; but if the situation must be
summed up in only a few words, the following two
statements are sufficient: (1) During its tours the
Industrial Commission received complaints nearly
everywhere of the disabilities that handicap scientific
workers under the present ‘‘ system’; and (2) the most
conspicuous success is also the most centralised in-
stitution of all, namely, the Geological Survey, which
is a Department as well as a Service.
We cannot hope to provide for other scientific
workers the amenities now secured by the geologist;
he inherits the results of the forethought of a dis-
tinguished scientific worker who had also a genius for
administration—Dr. Thomas Oldham. But it was
the hope of the Industrial Commission to devise a
scheme which (taking into account established vested
interests, the tendency towards provincial autonomy,
’
JUNE 10; 1920]
~~ NATURE
453
d the transfer of some provincial scientific institu-
to the control of popular representatives neces-
' anxious for visible results) would retain for
of their own caste. Our scheme is not an
t to impose arbitrary control, but a_ simple
se to a general petition from scientific workers
wrotection and support.
‘cannot be applied, however, without suitable
cation to fit established interests and institu-
_ Thete are, for example, forest botanists who
orest officers first and botanists after; their bond
the Forest Service is closer -than with the
ical Survey, and both should be developed as
slementary, not coitipeting, Services. There are
Itural chemists whose community of interests
th the rest of the Agricultural Service forms a
service link than their affinities to other
amists; they might more appropriately be termed
mical agriculturists, and, having one of their own,
need not form part of the suggested Chemical
ae
To find out whether the general principles suggested
_ by the Commission are applicable at all to each of
_ the major sciences, and, if so, to adjust the scheme
_ to established conditions, requires examination. by
special committees. One such committee for
_ chemistry under Prof. J. F. Thorpe has just pub-
_ lished its report, from which it will be seen that a
- committee composed of six chemists and one adminis-
trative officer, after examination of witnesses and
_ institutions in various parts of India, accepts for
_ chemists the scheme which your correspondents,
_ rashly believing a privately concocted memorandum,
label as “servitude undisguised,’’ a ‘“‘means of en-
zing mediocrity,’’ “bureaucratic centralisation,”
and other epithets.
_ To those of your readers who do not know the
_ motive of the private memorandum referred to above,
the special reasons for delaying the date for its dis-
ribution to every member of the Royal Society’s
_ Indian Advisory Committee—except myself, its chair-
_man—and the selection of “the solid ground of
_ Nature” as the point d’appui, this ‘‘mass attack”
se on the Industrial Commission’s scheme has doubtless
all the appearance of spontaneity and honest con-
By an official accident. not foreseen by the author
of the private memorandum, I have now before me
_ (1) a proposal from a committee of botanists for the
enlargement of the Botanical Survey, and (2) the un-
sought advice of a forest botanist who. through com-
_ mendable but -over-jealous regard for his own institu-
tion, submits opinions collected from ingenuous
scientific men and the correspondence in NaTuRE in
‘support of his proposal. not for the expansion, but for
_ the limitation of the Botanical Survey to one crypto-
gamic botanist and three specialists in medicinal
plants. And this in a. tropical and semi-tropical
country covering 1,750,000 square miles! Fortunately,
there is enough evidence available to justify further
support for, and the indenendent maintenance of, both
botanical institutions: but the petty jealousies of those
who suffer from this form of mental astigmatism
searcely reinforce one’s efforts to secure for isolated
unorganised workers in other sciences the benefits now
enjoved by the geologist. or to secure for all scientific
workers in Tndia the nrivileges and recognition long
a a re
of the Indian Civil Service.
Tuomas H. Hotranp,
President, Indian Industrial Commission.
Simla, May s. ,
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
aso accorded to engineers, doctors, and the members.
[The leading article to. which Sir Thomas Holland
refers described the proposals of the Indian Industrial
Commission and discussed the policy of centralisation
and the creation of graded scientific Services in com-
parison with the present system under which research
is carried on in India. In the correspondence which
followed attention was given chiefly to the general”
principles of ‘‘ Organisation of Scientific Work,’ and
it was not necessary to be familiar with the Report
of the Commission in order to express opinions upon
these, or to urge that creative investigators produce
their best results when they are given perfect freedom
of action. The proposed scientific Services of India
may, as regards their aims, be compared with the
Industrial Research Associations at home, and are
similarly capable of promoting progress in both pure
and applied science. But the work carried on at
universities and research institutes by men outside
official Services has even greater need of financial
support, because its value is not so readily understood.
This is the aspect of productive research with which
we are particularly concerned, and for which we ask
full consideration.—Ep. Narture.]
Anti-Gas. Fans.
I- HAVE.read Mrs. Ayrton’s letter in Nature of
June 3, after, unfortunately, missing the note in the
issue of May 13, as well as the Times correspondence
referred to. I have no intention of entering into a
controversy, polemical or otherwise, with Mrs. Ayrton,
but should like to put my views before. your readers,
as I believe them to be shared generally not only by
Headquarters Gas Service officers, but also by regi-
mental soldiers of all ranks, including Gas personnel.
The crux of the matter is this: The. problems
involved in gas defence after July, 1917, when the
enemy commenced using ‘‘mustard gas,’’ were of a
totally different nature from those which had to be
faced before that date. Then, apart from small
quantities of the annoying, but otherwise practically
inniocuous, “tear gas,’’ we had to deal with moderate
quantities of lethal gas shell, containing the volatile.
‘‘ diphosgene,’’ and, very occasionally, with waves of
cloud gas. Under those conditions the gas, except in
very cold weather, disappeared quickly (a matter of
minutes) from the open, or even from trenches of
average depth, but was liable to collect and. remain
in shelters for hours, or even days. When such
shelters had been once cleared they were: habitable,
as no ‘“‘gas” remained outside in the neighbourhood
to contaminate them further. For this purpose the
Ayrton fan was found to be useful, and large numbers
were issued as trench stores. Later the more simple, and
quite as efficacious, method was introduced of merely
lighting a small fire in the shelter, and thus causing a
throuch draught. This was found to be distinctly
superior for deev shelters, such as those in the chalk
country of the Somme battlefield, and, moreover, was
far less fatiguing to the men employed. Working an
Ayrton fan, even in the most approved fashion, when
wearing a gas-mask on a hot day. is a tiring task.
After the date mentioned we had essentiallv to deal
with a relativelv non-volatile shell-filling, which pro-
duced its well-known effects at concentrations far
below those at which the volatile fillings became
innocuous, and was used by the enemv in verv large
quantities. This gave little warning of its presence
to the uninitiated, soaked much of the sround and
pervaded the whole atmosphere in the shelled area for
davs afterwards. made great demands on the endur-
ance and discipline of the soldier, and called’ for auite
new measures. This is not the place to discuss these
measures, but it is clear that the use of either fire or
454
NATURE
[JUNE 10, 1920
fan to remove gas from shelters could really be
effectual only after first dealing with the area round
the shelter. That is one reason for the relative decline
in the fortunes of the Ayrton fan. I say relative, as
large numbers of such fans were issued even during
the winter of 1917-18, and, for all I can remember,
still later. Other reasons were the natural and rooted
objections of the regimental officer and soldier respec-
tively to be responsible for, or to load himself with,
stores of (to him) problematical value, and the growing
favour shown to the alternative fire method. (It was
said, perhaps not without malice, that Ayrton fans
Bet) often used for clearing shelters from gas—by
fire !
However that may be, there was no demand by
troops for the fans towards the end of the war; on the
contrary, we were besought to withdraw them. I
know this myself from many personal interviews with
regimental officers and from reports furnished by Gas
personnel of every type of unit and formation. There
were, of course, up to the end of the war gas casual-
ties caused by men sleeping in shelters which might
have been successfully cleared of gas either by the
fan or by fire. They were, however, owing to the
particular properties of ‘‘mustard gas,’’ a small pro-
portion of the whole; and fatigue and ignorance and
the exigencies of the battle were their causes.
I must, therefore, characterise as quite unfounded
the view that much suffering and loss of life could
have been avoided by increasing the provision of Mrs.
Ayrton’s fan. Regimental and Gas Services personnel
were both far too anxious to reduce gas casualties
in every way practicable. It was ultimately the
fighting soldier who decided, after weighing all the
facts of the situation, that the fan, useful in sound
and well-established trenches, was scarcely ‘‘ worth
while ’’ during the advances and _ retirements of
1917-18 or in the mud and pill-boxes of the Ypres
salient—this apart from the question of ‘‘ mustard
gas.’’? Mrs. Ayrton is very obviously sincere. but, like
another distinguished civilian who has recently written
on camouflage, is not quite au fait with the realities
of the battlefield. Exaggerated attacks of this nature
on the War Office are liable to defeat their own ends,
and also to neutralise the efforts of others who are
trying to ensure the application of scientific methods
to military problems in a more systematic manner
than has been the case in the past.
A. J. ALLMAND.
(Late Chemical Adviser to Fourth and -to
Second Army Headquarters.)
King’s College, W.C.2, June 7..
Attainment of High Levels in the Atmosphere.
I must confess that I am very sceptical as to a
sounding balloon having reached 37,000 metres or a
pilot balloon 39,000 metres, as mentioned in NaTurRE
for June 3, p. 437, although such heights would be
possible if sufficiently large balloons were employed.
A sounding balloon as commonly used is a small
india-rubber balloon expanded by hydrogen to
about’ twice its natural diameter, and_ then
securely tied up. The rubber -stretches as the
balloon ascends, until finally it can stretch no further
and the balloon bursts. Under the supposition that
the pressure and temperature of the gas inside are
the same as those of the air outside, and under
average conditions of temperature ‘for Europe, the
following rules hold: The. starting diameter is
doubled at a little more than 16 km., trebled at a little
more than 24 km., and quadrupled at 30 km. Since
the starting diameter is about double the natural
diameter, this means that at 30 km. the rubber has
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
stretched eightfold linearly and its thickness been
reduced sixty-fourfold. I do not think any-rubber that
will stand this treatment can be found.
On the other hand, a precise calculation of a great
height is in practice impossible. We can only measure
the pressure, and when the air pressure is greatly
reduced a very small error in the pressure makes a
large error in the height, ‘
For a pilot balloon, if the balloon is near the zenith
and the base line for the theodolites a long one, there
is not so much risk of error; but if, as is usually
the case, the balloon has drifted a Jong way,
particularly if it has drifted in the direction towards
which the base line points, then a small error in the
setting of the theodolites or in reading the angles will
make a great error in the height.
It is desirable that when,the recorded height has
reached an abnormal value the computer should give
full details and state his reasons for. believing it to be
genuine, otherwise one is apt to think some mistake
has crept in. W. H. Dings.
Benson, Wallingford, Berks, June 4.
Central Wireless Station for Astronomy. —
In the ‘‘Astronomical Column’’ of Nature of
May 27 it is stated that ‘‘ Prof. Kobold, editor of
Astr. Nachrichten, and director of the Central-
stelle, delegated the latter work to Prof. Strémgren,
Copenhagen, during the war, but has now resumed
it, and announces in Astr.. Nach., 5044, that
arrangements have been made for the distribution of
astronomical information by wireless telegraphy from |
the Nauen station.’’ ae
It will be remembered that, in pursuance of resolu-
tions adopted by the International Scientific Academies
at London and Paris in 1918, there was established
at an international conference held at Brussels in
July, 1919, among other Commissions, a Commission
of Astronomical Telegrams, with a central bureau
at the Royal Observatory of Belgium (Uccle), to re-
place Kiel, for the purpose of receiving, centralising,
and dispatching information concerning astronomical
discoveries, observations, and calculations, either by
telegram or post, to the various institutions or. private
persons subscribing to it. ;
Surely with such an organisation in full working
order this Commission should undertake the dispatch
by .wireless of astronomical information of great
urgency, such as the appearance of a new star, etc.,
if such information is going to be distributed by wire-
less at all! .
Practically every observatory in Western Europe now
takes in the time and weather signals from the Eiffel
Tower, and any news of an astronomical nature could
be easily transmitted to that station from the central
bureau at Uccle (or Brussels) and re-transmitted from
the Eiffel Tower at, say, 10.ooh. and 16.00h., the
standard times of transmission of the time and weather
signals. ‘Ss
Before the war the Central Bureau of Astronomical
Telegrams was located at Kiel, but this organisation
has ceased to exist from.an international point of
view, There seems no object, therefore, in reviving
it at Nauen (near Berlin) purelv for the sake of this
wireléss astronomical information, when this mode
of dispatch can be as easily adopted in Western Europe
for this purpose.
Prof. Kobold seems not only to ignore the existence
of the new International Central Bureau in Belgium,
but also assumes that the war has made ‘‘no differ-
ence.” j WitiiaM J. S. Lockyer.
Hill Observatory, Sidmouth, S. Devon,
May 28.
ee ee
Ae ea
E 10, 1920}
NATURE
455
: The ‘‘ Flight'’ of. Flying-fish.
_] Have on frequent occasions (in the Mediterranean,
ed Sea, and the Indian Ocean) carefully observed
a sek me (x8) the supposed ‘flight ’’ of
-fish, and have always concluded that the ‘leap
lide’? theory is the correct one, with one or two
cations. Dr. J. McNamara, in Nature for
- 421, cites five facts in support of the theory
pent, but I may point out that all these five
n be otherwise interpreted. Flying-fish un-
y leap out of the water and gain their initial
by tail action, and when out of the water
oral fins serve as planes. While gliding the
an not only renew its impetus to a limited
by an occasional flick of its tail against the
st of a wave, but, a$/your correspondent says, can
change the direction’ of its glide. I have, how-
*, never observed a fish ‘“‘come back in a direc-
N opposite to the direction in which it set out,’’
I am tolerably: certain that it could not do this
ut re-immersion in the water, unless perhaps a
‘ong wind were blowing in this opposite direction.
ving-fish can certainly rise and fall during the glide,
this, as well as change of direction, can be easily
lained by assuming inclinations of the planes of
fins—a very different process from actual ‘wing "-
§ sufficient to cause flight. The fins can, like
of most fishes, move on their bases, but I fail
understand how, in the absence of the required
isculature, it can possibly be supvosed that the fins
“rapid movement, as in the case of hovering
" and humming-birds.”’ If seagulls can glide for
hundreds of yards, rise and fall, and change direction
without wing-flapning, why not flying-fish? In glid-
the outlines of the pectoral fins naturally appear
be indistinct, because. compared with the rest of
body, the fins are thin and irregular in outline on
ir posterior edge.
ranting that the bodv can gain fresh impetus by
occasional flick of the tail against a wave-crest
nd this can be easily seen to occur. and is certainly
‘difficult to understand than the initial tail action
+h enables the fish not only to emerse from the
ter, but also to acquire an impetus which carries it
the greater nart of its slide), and that the planes of the
; can be inclined, all the movements of flying-
which I have observed are fully intelligible.
an W. N. F. Wooptanp.
“Kismet,” Lock Mead, Maidenhead, June 4.
_ As another observer of Nature at sea I must beg
. differ entirely from Dr. McNamara’s conclusions on
“flight” of the flying-fish.
(1) Turning at an acute angle can be brought about
_by an extra puff of wind, and indicates no power on
the part of the fish.
- (2) It is impossible for a flying-fish to flap its pec-
toral fins as a bird does its wings.
_ (3) The rise and “fall over waves are due to the
_ forcing up or lowering of the air immediately over the
surface of the water. ;
(4) The impetus is quite sufficient to send flying-fish
‘up to a height of 50 ft. or even more, and to extend
the They naturally flop about on
%
us a soar to 300 yards.
_ deck until dead. ;
___ (5) It is quite possible (though I have never seen it)
for the tips of the fins to be vibrated by the wind
‘during flight. *
- The matter has been dealt with more fully in
“Nature Notes for Ocean Voyagers,’’ by Capt. Alfred
_ Carpenter and myself, and also in the Nautical Maga-
sine for May, 1894. and in the Shipping World for
April, 1901. The late Capt. Cromie, at my request,
£ NO. 2641, VOL. 105 | ge a
made a series of very careful observations from
torpedo-boat destroyers and submarines, and was most
emphatic that they did not ‘fly.’
As in many other interesting problems, -the help of a
super-kinema camera fitted with a telephoto lens would
be of great service. Davip WILSON-BaRKER.
Fellow-Workers.
In Nature for June 3, p. 416, Prof. D’Arcy Thomp-
son refers to me and to my “ fellow-workers ’? who
helped me to bring our ‘‘hopes to fruition ’’ in con-
nection with the old malaria-mosquito business. .My
own memories remind me of seven vears’ almost con-
tinuous solitary labour, during which time my
numerous “ fellow-workers ’’ had many opportunities,
as good as mine or better, for doing the same work,
but, oddly enough, did not use them; and it was not
until I had solved the vroblem that they arrived on
the scene in a body, fully armed with paper, pens, and
cameras, and resolved ‘‘to join the victory group ’’ at
any cost. Prof. Thompson puts one of these gentlemen
in the place of honour next to Pasteur—who, by the
way, had little to do with the develooment of animal
parasitology. The-true history of the subject is given
in my ‘Prevention of Malaria’? (Murray), and _ still
more trenchantly in Robert Koch’s letter to me, dated
Februarv 10, tg01, and published in Science Progress
for April, 1917.
But this is a detail: and I should like tq thank
Prof. Thompson for his kindly references to my
medical verses, and for his interestins conspectus of
the medical poets. Oddly enough, the dav after it
avpeared. in Nature T lectured at the Roval Institu-
tion on ‘‘ Science and Poetry.’’ and upheld the thesis
that a higher view of both will show how frequently
and how closelv thev are connected. . But honesty
compels me to add that my own interest in medical
matters is quite secondary, and a matter of duty
rather than of predilection. Ronatp Ross.
36 Harlev House, London, N.W.1, June>4:-
The Apvroximate Evaluation of Definite Integrals
between Finite Limits.
(1) Tue four-ordinate rule given in my letter pub-
lished in Nature of May 20, p. 354, Viz.
[Feeder = UF Go) + F Gs) + FG) + Ft
is obtained by dividing the range into two and to
each half applying the simple two-ordinate rule,
1
[Fayde= FQ) + FO),
oO
the parabolic or cubic approximation for two ordinates
being
Frinaenifa( p34 2]
= }{F(0'2113)+F(0'7887)]. . . (a)
(2) Closer approximations may be obtained by
dividing the range into a greater number of parts and
applying this rule to each, thus:
/ F(x)dr= f F(x) + | Fades | Fade
nif (rors fee fale)
= MF ()s) + F (4s) + Fas) + F's) + FG) + FAD}
The following table shows for several functions the
value of the integral and the approximate evaluations
from two, four, six, and eight ordinates :
456 NATURE | JUNE 10, 1920
aN
F(x) | Yi Kx) 72x | Number of ordinates used. The First Act of a Young Thrush.
ioe 4 6 8 SINCE observations of the first acts of wild birds
Pmt ITE grants {0 : ; i immediately after hatching are very difficult, the
Semicircle (x — x?) 0°3927 | 0°4000 0°3949 0°3939 0°3934 following may be worth recording. Last week I
Quadrant (1 —x*)! | 0.7854 0°7898 0°7868 0'7862 0°7859 | went to look at a thrush’s nest which I had found a
Parabola x* _ 0°3353 | 0°3400 0°3350 0 3341 0°3327 | fortnight before, with four eggs in it. Two s
sin x 0°4597 | 0 4580 0°4593 0°4596 0°4595 | were hatched and two were not. As I was watching
log (1 +2) | 0°3863, 0°3850 0 3859 0°3861 0°3862 | the young birds, one of the two remaining ‘eggs
vai 1°7183 | E7854. 3 DAE 17187 1°7186 | cracked right across, and I saw the bird wriggle out
ss 0°693€ | 0'6945 0°6937 0 6934 0°6933 | and toss the two halves of the shell out of the nest
I+% | by a .convulsive movement of its back; but the
(3) If Fv)=a+dr+ex*+ dx,
/ F(ede=a[ F(2= 4) +F(3)+ F(2 ae
= 3[F(0°1464) + F($)+ F(0°8536)]. . (4)
A simple three-ordinate rule is therefore
| Fedae=iFQ)+FQ)+FO))
In practice. this is not quite so convenient as the
application of the two-ordinate rule.
A. F. Durton.
Trinity College, Cambridge, May 20.
P.S.—I thank Mr. C. F. Merchant for pointing out
‘in. Nature of June 3 that the four-ordinate rule is
already in-use, and for giving a reference to Tcheby-
‘cheff’s; rules, with which I was unacquainted. The
‘positions of Tchebycheff’s ordinates, as in (a) and (b)
‘above, are inconvenient, and the rules obtained by
taking neighbouring ordinates attain simplicity with-
out great loss of accuracy. A.B yD:
a June 5." ; ae
The Cost of Laboratory Fittings.
It is evident from the correspondence which. has
followed the publication of the. letter. from me. on
the subject of laboratory fittings that I must again
ask leave to trespass on your space in order to explain
that my remarks referred solely to fixed fittings, as
stated, embracing working benches, lecture tables, and
the like. | have no doubt that quéstions of actual
instruments and: apparatus are of much-greater im-
portance, but of these. I have no. right to speak. .
Perhaps I may be allowed to make myself clear
by reference to one or two specific directions in
which research on fixed fittings might possibly prove
useful: The present price of teak as bought in bulk
from:a merchant is 30s. per cubic foot, and if impreg-
nated soft wood could be substituted for bench and
table tops much saving would result. This impreg-
nation might be effected by precipitation, electrolysis,
oxidation (oils), or evaporation (e.g. silica solutions).
Again, bituminous materials with perhaps barytes
rolled into them might be investigated for use as a
thin layer on wood or concrete.. Soapstone is much
used in America and lave émaillée in France, but not
as yet in this country. There are, further, certain
hard flooring plasters which should be very inert
chemically. An investigation is much needed into the
proper composition of bituminous materials for coat-
ing laboratory drains. Drains executed in wood thus
coated are in many cases much cheaper than glazed
ware drains.
For repetition work such as locker doors and even
drawers pulped and stamped material might prove
economical if some standard could be agreed upon. It
should not be a very expensive matter to set on foot
some researches of this nature, and any effective re-
sults would, [. imagine, be very welcome to institutions
at present ,faced with additions to their material
equipment.’ Avan E. Munpy.
9 Old Squate, Lincoin’s Inn, W.C.2. nee
NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
curious thing was that, before the bird was properly
free from the shell, it opened its beak—as if for
food. I dug up a worm near by and offered it to
the bird, which swallowed..it eagerly. I purposely
dug for the worm in a place’ from which I could see
the nest, and I feel sure that the parent bird did not
come and feed the nestling meanwhile. A few minutes
later the other egg hatched, and the bird behaved
just as in the former case, opening its beak before
it was out of the shell.
Now the question is: Was the opening of the bird’s
beak a reflex or an ‘‘instinctive” act? If it were
reflex, it would presumably have been induced by
sudden exposure to the. new environment of open
air; and, obviously, such a reflex. act would serve
the purpose of an ‘‘instinctive’? one in this case. ~
Moreover, is it not a question whether any ‘ instinc-
tive’ act at-so early a stage can be anything more
than a reflex act thus adaptable to survival purposes
—by natural selection if need be? vt ae
Honor M. M. Prrrycoste.
Polperro, Cornwall, May 30. ts ;
Marat and the Deflection of Li apt
CaRLYLE’s vivid portraiture of Marat as “ horse-
leech’ and savage revolutionist has rather obscured
the fact that this ‘‘ friend of the people” was a learned
doctor of medicine, a physicist, and a physiologist.
It is true that Carlyle refers to him as ‘‘ Renovator
of Human Science, Lecturer on Optics,’’ but the -mis-
take about the ‘‘ horse-leech”’ is repeated in the same
passage. '
In Marat’s ‘‘ Notions élémentaires d’optique ”’ (1784),
p. 16, the following statement is made:
“Tl est hors de doute, que -les rayons de lumiére
changent toujours de direction dans le méme milieu,
lorsqu’ils passent a certaine distance d’un corps. Se
trouvent-ils dans la sohére d’attraction? ils se réplient
jusqu’a certain point a sa circonférence, et se pro-
longent ensuite en droite ligne.’’
This at first glance may appear a remarkable
anticipation of recent discoveries in physics, but in
reality the conclusion is° based on wholly false
premises, as further reading of the pamphlet will
disclose. W. A. OSBORNE.
University of Melbourne, April 22. ;
British and Metric Systems of Weights and Measures.
On p. 355 of Nature of May 20 Mr. M. E. Yeat-
man in a letter on the above subject says: “It seems
that the advantage of any given system of weights or
measures lies largely in the facilities that it offers for the
division of a sum or quantity into equal parts”; and
I have seen ‘‘ facility of factorisation ’’ claimed before
as one of the merits of the British system. As an
engineer who ‘figures frequently,” I fail to appre-
ciate this fetish of factorisation. One uses a slide-
rule and logs, and never worries about factors. Will
Mr. Yeatman, or someone else, demonstrate the use
of factors in practical calculations, bearing in mind
the use of slide-rules, calculating machines, and logs?
The metric system seems to be gaining ground in
spite of the lack of factors disclaimed for it.
‘ALFRED S. E. ACKERMANN.
'
_ JUNE 10, 1920]
NATURE
the war possesses great potentialities as an
instrument of scientific research. The value of
the aeroplane in geographical and geological
exploration has already been emphasised in these
s, and its employment in the reconnaissance
of little-known countries need not be further men-
_ tioned; but if aeroplane exploration is valuable,
its worth
_ photographic work. For, while a trained observer
it is quite impossible for |
is greatly enhanced by systematic
notices many features,
him to observe and note more than the salient
points seen from a swiftly flying machine, while
the camera instantly records every feature in the
field of view. Again, from a safe height of, say,
10,000 ft. only the larger elevations or depres-
sions are visible to the human eye, but if paired
photographs are taken for the purpose of stereo-
scopic examination with a wide base of, perhaps,
500 yards, then the whole of the ground relief
becomes visible in a most striking manner. But
not only do photographs provide a means of
obtaining and recording information; they also
show the relative positions of objects, and, if
taken on an organised system, provide a
topographical survey for use in map construction.!
In addition, I was frequently struck with the
value for scientific purposes of material obtained
in the course of the R.A.F. work in Egypt and
Palestine, and the purpose of this article is to
indicate some types of information which may
be furnished.
Air photographs may serve either as useful
illustrations of known scientific facts, or as a
means of discovering new facts, and while they
are mainly of geographical or geological interest,
they may also assist the botanist, archeologist,
and meteorologist.
Geography and Geology.—As examples of the
illustration of known facts, we may mention the
remarkable photographs of Vesuvius taken by
Group Capt. A. E. Borton, C.M.G. One of
these has already been published in the Press,
and it would not be easy to find a more striking
demonstration of the structure of a volcanic -cone.
Among the photographs taken in Palestine we
had many good illustrations of erosion and river
development. The soft lake-beds of the Jordan
valley were shown in the process of weathering
out to form what the Americans term ‘bad-land
topography.”’ In this region marls and clays
which have been baked by the hot, rainless
summer are denuded at a great rate by the heavy |
winter rains, and give rise to a complex system
of steep-sided wadis spreading back from the
main drainage channels. The sides of these wadis
are bare of vegetation, but their bottoms: become
filled with scrub when reduced to the base level
of erosion.
1 See Geographical Journa?, May, 1920.
NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
Aircraft Photography in the Service of Science.
Per - » By:H. Hamsuaw Tuomas.
AIRCRAFT photography as developed during
The contrast between the wadi forms produced
in these lacustrine or alluvial deposits and those
carved out of the adjacent Cretaceous rocks is
very noticeable, and we have also illustrations of
the different erosion forms produced on steep or
gentle slopes. :
The River Jordan, which had never been very
accurately surveyed before the war, has now
been photographed over a considerable distance,
and furnishes striking examples of some of the
phenomena of river development. In.its lower
part it has cut down a distinct and well-marked
meander-belt below the level of the surface of the
lake-beds of the old valley. The river is con-
stantly changing its course in this belt (see Fig. 1),
which in most places is well covered with vegeta-
Fic. 1.—Meander belt of the River Jordan north of Jericho, showing the
forniation of an ‘‘ox-bow ” and the cusp-shaped terraces. The’ dark
area near the stream is the belt.of willow scrub.
tion, and the old courses of the stream are often
plainly visible where the vegetation has not yet
had time to colonise the former river-bed. We see
‘“‘ox-bows ” and loops of the river in all stages of
development, while sometimes a heavy spring
flood appears to have resulted in the stream taking
an entirely new course. At the sides of the flood-
plain cusp-like terraces often show the stages
in the cutting down of the gorge, while the
presence of hard beds may produce nodes in the
series of meanders.
The illustrations of such features as have been
mentioned are often so striking and. convincing
that they would be valuable .to teachers and
students if they could be made available.
But by the study of photographs and the maps
458
NATURE
[JUNE 10, 1920 —
made from them we may observe other features
of research interest. The story of the earth
movements in the Jordan rift is not yet clear,
while there has been much discussion about the
climate of the region during recent and prehistoric
times. In some of the photographs taken, we
have good evidence of very recent faulting, and
we may distinguish a fault scarp in the lake-beds
(Late Tertiary). We find that the trough faulting
has resulted in the incision of many of the tribu-
tary streams, and in several places in cafion forma-
tion. When we look at the drainage system from
the point of view of climatic change we find evi-
dence of a former period of abundant precipita-
tion, during which much of the present surface
sculpture of the Judean hills was effected; but
this period was a remote one, and preceded the
drying up of the Jordan lake to give the present
valley. Passing up to the north of Palestine, we
have good evidence from a dry gorge, terraced
valleys and drainage forms, that at a former
period the River Jordan originated in Central
Syria; but afterwards the Syrian portion
of the river was captured by the Litani.
This capture was largely the result of a general
uplift of the country, and several of the oblique
air views of the coastal plain of Palestine, espe-
cially near Mount Carmel, show very well the
‘plain of marine denudation stretching from the
‘present shore to the foot of the hills.
It is in the portrayal of the geographical
features in the most complete and detailed
fashion, so that their developmental ‘story can ‘be
studied and deciphered, that aeroplane ‘photo-
graphy excels. If the whole of the Palestine
material could be carefully studied by the physical
geologist, a great deal of information would
result, for the above-mentioned deductions have
been made from the study of ‘a few small sets of
photographs which had been chosen at random
for other purposes.
__ The investigator of solid geology has naturally
little to learn from photographs, but in ‘some
places, where the climate is arid and the ground
almost devoid of soil, the boundaries of some
of the harder beds may become visible, while in
other cases the bedding is clearly seen, and the
underlying structure may be brought out by
surface weathering. A photograph taken during
the first flight ever made from Egypt to India
showed an interesting locality in western Persia,
where a well-marked anticline had been laid bare
by surface erosion.
Botany.—The student of vegetation who may
be sufficiently fortunate to obtain aerial photo-
graphs of the ground is at once in possession of
the basis of an ideal vegetation map. Different
types of vegetation show up very clearly, and also,
of course, the transition from desert to open and
closed plant associations (see Fig. 2). Itis naturally
necessary to go over the ground with the photo-
graphs, but after a short time the characteristic
tones and appearance of different vegetation types
can be readily picked out. Even among crops
it is possible to distinguish barley, wheat, and
NO. 2641, VOL. 105|
maize, besides other plants, like cotton, which
have a distinct habit and growth period. Prac-
tical use of these facts was made in Mesopotamia
for ascertaining the acreage under wheat cultiva-
tion, and trials have been made in India with the
view of carrying out crop-surveys by aeroplane
photography. ;
I have not had the opportunity of making many
observations on this subject, but it may be of
interest to mention a small point observed in
connection with the distribution of the willow and
tamarisk scrub of the Jordan valley. This vegeta-
tion is limited by the water supply from the river,
and succeeds in following the stream right down to
the Dead Sea. Here, at the mouth of the Jordan,
although surrounded by salt lagoons, a narrow
belt of vegetation manages to survive as a fringe
to the river with its rapidly flowing stream of
fresh water. A Spon sc ae
Archaeology.—The utility of aerial photography —
to the archeologist was strikingly illustrated in
| ake pe are ; i ee soe —
iad Bi
. % *
ee es We
Fig. 2,—Photograph showing the distribution of vegetation in the Sinai
desert. The partial colonisation of sand-hills by dwart scrub vegetation
—the black spots—is well shown, also some small groups of date palms:
the case of the ninth-century city of Samarra,?
in Mesopotamia, where views taken from above
the apparently formless heaps of earth and
rubble give the outlines and plan of streets
and buildings. It may be only rarely that similar |
cases may arise, but experience shows that if
ruins or remains exist in any regular form, their
arrangement will be well depicted by the aero-
plane camera. We may by this means be able
to locate interesting sites which have been more
or less obscured by superimposed material. A
feature which was brought to light in Palestine
as the result of air survey was the ancient irriga-
tion system in the south-eastern part of the Jordan
valley. An extensive series of old connected
channels, now filled with scrub vegetation, was
seen; this must be a relic of the days when the
Jordan valley was under general cultivation,
2 See Lt.-Col. G. A. Beazley, Geographical Journal, vol. liii., p. 330,
1919.
‘ruins,
JUNE 10, 1920]
NATURE
459
_ and very different from the desert condition which
_ it possesses to-day. While nothing was found
_ in Palestine of the same type as the Samarra
the ancient Greco-Roman temples of
_ Jupiter and Bacchus at Baalbek, in Central Syria,
Fic. 3.—Temples of Jupiter and Bacchus at Baalbek in Central Syria,
showing the ground plan and some remains of later Saracenic building.
furnished some interesting photographs. A ver-
tical view from about 3000 ft. gives a remarkably
good ground plan of the present state of these
beautiful remains (see Fig. 3).
Meteorology.—The study of clouds by the,
photography from aeroplanes of their forms and
features has been recently discussed by meteor-
ologists, and need not be further mentioned.
It would be outside the scope of the present
article to deal with the methods of obtaining,
using, and interpreting the aerial pictures which
have been referred to. It may be seldom possible
for a scientific expedition to employ aeroplanes,
owing to their expense; but, when it can be done,
useful knowledge is bound to accrue. In other
cases, however, as in Palestine, photographs may
be taken for mapping or other purposes, which
will also yield important scientific material to
those who can make use of it; and possibly
photographs taken for the purpose of training
airmen may become of great value, even in this
country, if certain areas are included. Sometimes
the evidence furnished is clear and unmistakable,
but in other cases the photographs have to be
examined by a trained and experienced worker.
The general public has not been very fully
informed of the work of the R.A.F. photo-
graphers during the war, and to most people the
air photograph is a curiosity which seems to
have little value in times of peace. Though in
some countries ‘the civil importance of aerial
photographic survey is realised, in England air
photography is in a somewhat languishing con-
dition. In these circumstances it is well to
remember that, though the aerial camera has not
been extensively employed apart from military
work, it nevertheless appears to have no incon-
siderable value in the domain of pure science.
The Dynamics
By R. H.
ae object of this article is to give a short
account of some features of the motion of
a spinning shell through air.. Our knowledge of
this phenomenon has been somewhat increased
by war-time researches. To determine the
motion of a ‘shell from the equations of rigid
dynamics, we require to know the complete force
system which represents the reaction of the air
on the moving shell; but, just as in the case of
an aeroplane, the components of this reaction
are utterly unknown a priori. The problem that
arises, therefore, is that of determining these
components by observation and analysis of the
actual initial motion of shells. Once they have
thus been determined, they can be applied, pro-
vided the essential conditions remain similar, to
the calculation of the complete motion of a shell
along its trajectory.
In the simplest case of al] this procedure is
classical. The air resistance to a shell, moving
so that the directions of its axis and the velocity
of its centre of gravity coincide, has long been
determined thus as a function of the velocity, and
trajectories have been computed assuming that this
coincidence subsists throughout the motion.
Under this assumption the problem is merely one |
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
of Shell Flight.
FOWLER.
of particle dynamics, of which the solution may
be regarded as completely known. The com-
parison of calculations and observations shows
good agreement in range and height when the
shells are suitable and the total angle turned
through by the tangent to the trajectory is less
than, say, 50°. The calculated trajectory, how-
ever, is a curve lying in the vertical plane con-
taining the original direction of projection, while
the observed positions of the shells do not lie in
this plane, but appreciably to the right of it when
their axial spin is right-handed. This well-known
departure from the original vertical plane is called
drift, and converts the trajectory into a twisted
curve. It cannot be accounted for on the original
assumption. ;
It is with these cases, in which particle
dynamics fails to explain the observations—such
as the drift, trajectories of large total curvature,
and (as we shall see) initial motions—that we are
mainly concerned here. For their study we must
abandon the assumption that the direction of
motion of the centre of gravity and the direction
of the axis of symmetry coincide, and study the
whole motion as a problem in rigid dynamics.
In order to do this we must, first of all, deter-
460
NATURE
[ JUNE 10, 1920
mine experimentally the complete reaction of the
air on the moving shell when the directions of its
axis and the motion of its centre of gravity no
longer coincide. In such a case the angle between
these two directions is called the yaw. . Until
recently the reaction on a yawed shell had never
been studied experimentally. The necessary data,
however, can be obtained by observation and
analysis of the initial motion of the shell in the
first few hundred feet after leaving the muzzle
of the gun, for in this interval the axis of a shell
oscillates periodically over an appreciable range
of yaw.! The motion is a little complicated, and
its interpretation is not yet completely worked out
in terms of the reaction of the air. Moreover, a
really satisfactory experimental method has not
yet been devised. But a start has been made on
the problem, and approximate values of the more
important components have been determined.?
_ The somewhat crude experimental method so
far used consists in firing a shell through a series
of cardboard screens. The shape of the hole in
the card. determines the size and direction of the
yaw at the instant of passing through the card.
From such observations the motion of the axis
can be plotted out against the time (if the velocity
of the shell is known), and the period of its oscil-
lations determined. The disturbing effect of the
cards themselves can be determined by suitable
control experiments and roughly estimated. Two
specimen observed curves.® traced out by a point
on the axis of the shell relative to the centre of
gravity are shown. in Figs. 1 and 2. These
two paths are strictly comparative, as the only
difference between their circumstances is an altera-
tion of the axial spin. The slowly spinning shell
(Fig. 1) has oscillations of comparatively long
period and large amplitude. These curves are
closely analogous to the curves which represent
the oscillations of a spinning top near its vertical
position.. They differ only in showing slight damp-
ing and variation of period.
Let us consider further this analogy between
a shell and an ideal spinning top. The centre of
gravity of the shell and the point of support of
the top are analogous ; so are the moments of
inertia about these points and the axial spins.
To the direction of motion in the case of the shell
corresponds the vertical in the case of the top;
to the disturbing couple due to the reaction of the
air on a yawed shell corresponds the gravity
couple on a displaced top. The analogy so far
is practically exact; it is modified by the following
facts :—
(1) That.the centre of gravity is not a fixed
point like the point of a top, for its velocity varies
both in magnitude and in direction under the
reaction of the air; it describes a helical curve,
thus modifying the couple.
1 Such/experiments are described in a forthmemink pene in the Royal
how? Transactions by Fowler, E. G. Gallop, C. N. H. Lock, and
2 The forces on a raddél shell at rest in a steady current of ‘air of low
velocity can also be measured directly in a wind channel ; the results are
probably applicable to a shell moving at velocities up to 700 f.s.
The observations were made for the Ordnance Committee at H.M.S.
Excellent, Portsmouth.
NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
(2 2) That | an appreciable frictional couple exists
which, in conjunction with the helical motion of
the centre of gravity, serves to damp out the axial
oscillations completely.
(3) That, in addition to.(1) above, the magni-
4 Vertical.
Radial Scale ct
Degrees of Yaw.
Fic. 1.—Observed path of the nose of a shell, muzzle velocity :
1565 f.s. Rifling x turn in 40 diameters of the bore, Total
time taken to describe curve shown 0.38 sec.
tude and direction of the velocity of the shell. are
steadily altered by gravity.
Experiments so far carried out have détecniined
approximately the values of the couple analogous
to the gravity couple for velocities from goo f.s.
f Vertical
Scale of
Darren of Yaw.
Fic. 2.—Observed path of the nose of a shell,
muzzle velocity 1563 f.s. ‘ Rifling 1 turn
in 30 diameters of the bore. Total time’
taken to describe curve shown 0.20 sec. _
{The scale of Fig. 2 is three times that of © |
Fig. 1.] ‘
to 2200 f.s. . for two different shapes of shell, when |
the yaw is not too large. By determining thes
| couples. for. various different. positions.-of~ i
centre of gravity, rough values of the resulting
sideways thrust on a yawed shell were deduced.
a a a,
_ JUNE 10, 1920]
NATURE
461
The study of initial motions is intimately con-
ed with the question of the stability of a spin-
op) is said to be stable if a small disturbance
y produces a small maximum displacement
the position of symmetry, proportional to
disturbance. The condition of stability for
‘disturbances is the same in the two cases;
must be fulfilled in order that the shell may
vel along its trajectory approximately at zero
yaw as desired. A knowledge of the disturbing
couple enables us to lay down how much spin is
uired to allow a reasonable margin of stability.
_ We have said that the usual approximation of
motion at zero yaw is inadequate in the case of
trajectories of large total curvature. The com-
theory indicates that, under the effect of
_ gravity (see (3) above), the yaw tends to attain a
sort of equilibrium value which increases along
the trajectory, and may reach 20° or more at the
end of a sufficiently long arc. A study of initial
motions with slightly unstable shells in which such
_ values of the yaw can be realised experimentally
_ will provide the material required for the proper
_ discussion of such trajectories.
4 The following approximate theory accounting
for the drift of a shell has long been known.
_ Owing to the change of direction of motion due
to gravity (see (3) above), a shell cannot continue
_ to move steadily at zero yaw. The proper equi-
librium state of affairs is attained when the yaw
is just such as will enable the axis to keep pace
x shell at zero yaw. The motion of a shell (or |
| with the changing direction - of metion by . pre-
_ cession about it. This equilibrium value of the
yaw depends on the above-mentioned disturbing
couple due to the reaction of the air, which may
be determined by a study of the initial oscilla-
tions. The resulting yaw in ordinary cases is too
small to alter seriously the range at any given
time, and does not affect the height because the
equilibrium position of the yawed axis lies in a
_ Plane which is always very nearly at right angles
to the vertical plane containing the original direc-
tion of projection. It produces, however, the
lateral deviation known as drift. This approxi-
mate theory leads to a formula for the drift de-
pending on the ratio of the sideways thrust to the
disturbing couple. With the values of this ratio
recently roughly determined, the. drift has been
calculated by this classical theory, and compared
with direct observations of the drift of similar
shells. The observed and calculated values are in
fair agreement, and there is no doubt that the
classical theory is substantially correct.
In conclusion, it is perhaps worth mentioning
that the interest in such investigations mainly
arises from the fact that we can thus study the
phenomena of motion through a compressible
fluid at velocities both greater and less than the
velocity of sound in the fluid. The investigation,
however, has scarcely begun, and much work
will be required before it is possible to
describe adequately the complete reaction on a
| shell of given shape moving through air. © -
Obituary.
Re Pror. L. Doncaster, F.R.S.
EONARD DONCASTER’S death from sar-
4 coma at the age of forty-two has stopped a
__ career of exceptional distinction. When I lately saw
___ him, apparently in his usual health, presiding over
his laboratory as the newly elected Derby professor
of zoology at Liverpool, I had comfort in the
_ thought that by his appointment a fresh centre
of genetics was safely begun. Doncaster was a
natural investigator. From his student days there
Was never a doubt as to the purpose of his life.
The problems of biology were always in his mind.
For him the materials were everywhere. Though
circumstances led him into academic zoology, he
was an excellent field entomologist and botanist,
with a fair knowledge also of the domesticated
forms. Latterly he became more and more drawn
towards cytological methods, but he always kept
in touch with the other lines, knowing that the
next advance may begin anywhere.
Doncaster started at Naples with experiments on
hybridisation of Echinoderm larve, which pro-
duced evidence of value as to the effects of tempeéra-
ture in modifying dominance ; but many aspects of
that. vexed question remained, and still remain,
when the early struggles of Mendelism were acute.
Though constitutionally predisposed to caution, he
NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
obscure. He returned to England at the moment |
knew enough of the general course of variation
and heredity to be in no doubt of the essential
truth of the new doctrines, and undoubtedly his
adhesion did much to spread confidence among his
contemporaries. He at once joined in breeding
work, and at various times experimented with
many forms, particularly rats, cats, and pigeons.
With insects of several orders he was especially
successful. The seemingly more fundamental
nature of microscopical work made it very con-
genial to him, and he always had a mass of cyto-
logical material on hand. These studies enabled
him to take a prominent part in that compre-
hensive codification by which the confused and
contradictory observations as to the sexes of
parthenogenetic and other forms in the Hymeno-
ptera and Hemiptera were ultimately reduced to
order.
In the history of biology Doncaster’s discovery
as to the determination of sex in the currant moth
(Abraxas grossulariata) will have; a permanent
place. From the Rey. G. H. Raynor, a fancier
of the species, he learnt facts which suggested
that the variety lacticolor was;what*we now. call
“ sex-linked,” being predominantly associated with
females, as colour-blindness in man is with malés.
After verification and extension this mass’ of facts
provided (1906) the first clear genetic proof of
462
NATURE
[June 10, 1920 |
sex-determination in the gamete, a discovery of
astonishing novelty at that time, though now so
familiar to us all that we have forgotten how hard
it was to achieve. Being greatly struck with
Wilson’s cytological proof that many male insects
are heterozygous for sex, and having himself
proved that in Abraxas the female is in this con-
dition, Doncaster devised a scheme in which both
sexes are thus represented, dominance being
attributed to the female gamete; but he after-
wards accepted a simplifying emendation in which
the male is taken to be homozygous. After this,
finding a curious strain in which half the females
produce daughters almost exclusively, Doncaster
showed that these females generally had only
fifty-five chromosomes instead of the normal fifty-
six. By reasoning analogous to that afterwards
used by Bridges in his famous paper on “non-
disjunction,” he attempted a cytological interpreta-
‘tion, though, as he admitted, the solution was
imperfect, and the case is still mysterious.
Progress was also made with the paradox of
tortoiseshell cats, known by fanciers to be almost
exclusively females. Doncaster proved that tor-
toiseshell is the female heterozygote of orange and
black, the corresponding male being orange; and
in the course of wide inquiries he discovered the
-new fact that the rare tortoiseshell tom is often
sterile. In his last paper he conjectured, not with-
' out probability, that, in view of Lillie’s extra-
ordinary discovery as to the free-martins of cattle,
fhese males may owe their peculiarities to the
intra-uterine influence of other embryos. Most of
these subjects are discussed .in his text-book,
“The Determination of Sex,” 1914. Just before
his death Doncaster published an admirable “ In-
troduction to the Study of Cytology,” in which he
declared himself with reservation a convert to the
views of Morgan—a judgment which, from so
critical an observer, must carry great weight.
His death will be cruelly felt. At a time
when cytology is becoming a subject of primary
importance, the loss first of R. P. Gregory and
now of Doncaster leaves us bereft indeed.
Doncaster was one of the clearest-headed men
I have known, and, being full of both enthusiasm
and knowledge, he taught extraordinarily well.
In Cambridge he served in various capacities, and
was for four years in the University of Birming-
ham. As Prof. Herdman has written, his death
is “nothing less than a calamity to Liverpool
University.” Doncaster was slight in figure and
of a nervous temperament, feeling and thinking
of everything with intensity, though nevertheless
a fluent speaker. He came of a Quaker family,
being the son of Samuel Doncaster, manufacturer,
of Sheffield, in whose beautiful garden he
developed his love of plants. Educated at the
Friends’ School at Leighton Park, Reading, he
went up as a scholar to King’s College, Cam-
bridge, of which he afterwards became a fellow.
He married in 1908 Dora, daughter of Walter
Priestman, of Birmingham, and leaves three
children. as
NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
We did not speak of such matters, but it was
known to his friends that Doncaster had religious
instincts strongly developed. The years of the
war were to him more hateful even than to most
thoughtful men. He held the Friends’ attitude of
the unlawfulness of war, but, feeling that alterna-
tive service was a duty, he gave up his researches
and qualified as a bacteriologist, working in the —
1st Eastern Hospital, Cambridge, and afterwards
in the Friends’ Ambulance Unit at Dunkirk. |
W. BaTEson.
Mr. Joun W. Hyatt, of Newark, New Jersey,
whose death is reported at the age of eighty-two,
was the inventor of celluloid. He was a printer
by trade, and was using collodion in the course’
of his work when he accidentally overturned a
bottle, and the idea of celluloid came to him from
watching the collodion solidify. He took out 250
patents in all, a large majority of which had an
important bearing on manufactures. They in-
cluded a billiard-ball composition, a roller bearing,
a system of purifying water for domestic use, a
sewing machine capable of sewing fifty rows of
lock-stitches at once, a machine for extracting
juice from sugar cane, and a new method of solidi-
fying American hardwoods. In 1914 Mr. Hyatt
was awarded the Perkin medal of the New York
Society of Chemical Industry.
WE much regret to see the announcement in
the Times that Pror. Aucusto Ricut, For. Mem.
R.S., died suddenly at Bologna on June 8 at
seventy years of age. . |
2
Notes.
Tue list of honours conferred in celebration of the
King’s Birthday includes the following names of men
associated with scientific work :—Irish Privy Coun-
cillor: Mr. H. T. Barrie, Vice-President, Irish Depart-
ment of Agriculture. K.C.B.: Sir A. W. Watson,
president of the Institute-of Actuaries. C.B.: Mr.
A. W. Flux, Assistant Secretary, Board of Trade.
Baronet: Mr. P. J. Mackie, who financed the Mackie
Anthropological Expedition to Uganda and other
expeditions. Knights: Prof. F. W. Andrewes, F.R.S.,
pathologist at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital; Capt. D.
Wilson-Barker, captain-superintendent of the training-
ship Worcester, and ,past-president of the Royal
Meteorological Society; Dr. J. C. Beattie, Principal ©
of the University of the Cape of Good Hope; Mr.
W. B. M. Bird, founder of the Salters’ Institute of
Industrial Chemistry; Dr. H. H. Hayden, Director
of the Geological Survey of India; and Prof. J. B.
Henderson, professor of applied mechanics, Royal
C. OM.
Hutchinson, Imperial Agricultural Bacteriologist, and —
Naval College, Greenwich. C.J.E.: Mr.
Mr. R. S. Pearson, Forest Economist, Research Insti-
tute, Dehra Dun.
eminent aural specialist; Dr. J. C. Stamp, distin-
guished economist; and Col. W. Taylor, ex-president
of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Com-
panions of the Imperial Service Order: Mr. R. B.
K.B.E.: Dr. J. Dundas-Grant,
NE 10, 1920]
NATURE
463
1, assistant in the Department of Geology,
Museum (Natural History); Dr. W. Eagle
keeper of Natural History Department, Royal
h Museum, Edinburgh; and Mr. R. Duncan,
Officer, Veterinary Branch, Department of Agri-
and Technical Instruction, Ireland.
following decorations have been conferred upon
© workers in recognition of valuable services
during the war, and the King has granted
ion to wear them :—Conferred by the King of
—Order of the Crown of Italy: Chevalier: Mr.
. Roberts, director of Public Library, Museums,
ne Art Galleries, Brighton. Order of St.
ce and St, Lazarus: Officer: Sir Douglas
on, Dr. T. M. Lowry, F.R.S., and Prof. P. F.
dand, F.R.S. Conferred by the King of the
ins—Order of the Crown: Grand Officer: Sir
Sharpe. Commander: Prof. W. Somerville.
: Dr. E. J. Russell, F.R.S. Chevalier: Mr.
Fagan, Mr. A. R. Hinks, F.R.S., secretary of
oyal Geographical Society, and Mr T. McRow.
of Leopold IIl.: Commander: Dr. W. R.
, F.R.S., director of the Imperial Institute,
rof. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S. ‘
Tr is announced in Science that the U.S. National
cademy of Sciences has recently elected the following
m associates :—Frank Dawson Adams, McGill
niversity; Marie Ennemond Camille Jordan, Col-
de France; Francois Antoine Alfred Lacroix,
d@’Histoire Naturelle, Paris; Heike Kamerlingh
University of Leyden; Sir David Prain, Royal
ic Gardens, Kew; and Santiago Ramon y Cajal,
sity of Madrid.
O. F. Brown, assistant inspector of wireless
aphy in the Post Office, has been appointed
_ Technical Officer to the Radio Research Board, which
has been formed recently under the chairmanship of
dmiral Sir Henry Jackson, in connection with the
artment of Scientific and Industrial Research.
: Sir W. J. Porr, F.R.S., was elected an associate
of the section for the mathematical and physical
lu neces of the Académie Royale de Belgique on
Ji fs Ci !
Cor. H. G, Lyons has been appointed director and
ecretary to the Science Museum, South Kensington,
succession to Sir Francis Ogilvie, who has been
ansferred to the Department of Scientific and Indus-
trial Research.
Pror. Fiinpers Perrie in Ancient Egypt (1920,
art ii.) describes a remarkable statue of ebony 27 in.
. ‘The pose of the standing position is more
own back than in the Old Kingdom, from the waist
yward. The head has had inlaid eyes, now missing.
le expression is marvellously vigorous and full of
vitality, and it differs from other Egyptian figures not
_ only thus, but also in the type. The very wide jaw,
short chin, and high cheek-bone have hardly a parallel
in other statues. It is. clearly one of the great master-
ig and of a rare style of work.’’ It is stated to
lave come from the Eleventh Dynasty temple at Deir-
_ el-Bahri, and may represent one of the Mentuhetep
_ kings, but the provenance is so uncertain that it is
NO. 2641, VoL. tas]
difficult to identify it. ‘‘When workmen are not well
rewarded for the objects found, much is taken away
without any record of the ‘original place and connec-
tion. If we knew the position to which the figure
belonged, the burial chamber, the royal shrine, the
family shrines, or elsewhere, we might have fixed
the historic value of one of the most striking portraits
known from Egypt.”
Mr. J. Bronté Gatensy, whose papers on the cyto-
plasmic inclusions of the germ-cells have formed such
a conspicuous feature of the Quarterly Journal of
Microscopical Science during the last few years, con-
tributes to the last number of that journal (vol. Ixiv.,
part 3) a valuable account of the modern technique of
cytology, which, taken in conjunction with his recently
published paper on ‘‘ The Identification of Intra-cellu-
lar Elements”? (Journal of the Royal Microscopical
Society, 1919), should prove of great use to students of
microscopical zoology. These papers will place within
reach of all many of the numerous modern refine-
ments of technique which are indispensable to future
progress, and the use of which bids fair to increase
to a very great extent our knowledge of cell morpho-
logy and development. We are glad to learn that the
author has also undertaken to edit a new edition of
that .classical and widely appreciated ,work, Bolles
Lee’s ‘‘ Microtomist’s Vade Mecum.”’
In sending the Report of the Curator of the
Somerset County Museum, Taunton Castle, for the
year ended Séptember 30, 1919, Mr. H. St. George
Gray directs our attention to three graphs showing
(1) the annual increase in membership of the Somer-
setshire Archeological and Natural History Society
since 1880; (2) receipts from entrance fees to the
museum for the years of this century; (3) fluctua-
tions in the number of visitors during the same period.
We are not prepared to admit offhand that this is
the first application of graphic curves to society and
museum statistics, but the results are undoubtedly
illuminating, and, in this case, raise interesting
questions for the consideration of those directing the
policy of the museum. If such charts, with more
frequent time-intervals, were prepared on a con-
sistent plan by all institutions of the kind, their com-
parison would bring new light to social and economic
studies.
Tur Museums Journal for April-May prints a
weighty report on the relation of museums to the
advanced student, presented to a British’ Association
Committee by a strong sub-committee. It is claimed
that the interests of the serious student should not
be sacrificed to those of the general visitor. The needs
of the researcher, university student, private student,
and collector are considered, and practical recom-
mendations are based on experience. In view of the
proposed site of London University, it is interesting
to find the report urging closer co-operation between
universities and museums. ‘‘ The student may fairly
be asked to help by doing some curatorial work.
. . . The museum will profit by the improved arrange-
ment of the objects, and the student will learn how
to utilise specimens and how to discover the relevant
- literaturé.’”? The student should be supported by “a
464
NATURE
[ JUNE 10, 1920
system of scholarships, held on.the double condition
of carrying out in the museum research. work and
curatorial work satisfactory to the professor and the
curator respectively.’’
AN interesting addition to the literature on the
subject of the relationship between light and plant-
growth appeared recently in the Journal of Agricul-
tural Research (vol. xviii., No. 11, March, 1920). In
this paper W. W. Garner and H. A. Allard discuss
the effect of the relative length of day and night, and
of other environmental factors, on growth and repro-
duction. Their results show that the relative length
of the day is a factor of the first importance in plant
growth, particularly with’ respect to sexual repro-
duction. The effect on sexual reproduction of en-
vironmental factors such as temperature, water-supply,
etc., seems to be simply one of acceleration or retarda-
tion so long as these factors are within a normal
range. The seasonal length of day, however, may
actually initiate the reproductive processes or inhibit
them, according as to whether the given length of
day is favourable or unfavourable for the particular
species. If the length of day is unfavourable to sexual
reproduction, but favourable to growth, then vegeta-
tive development is continued indefinitely; but if the
length of day*is favourable to both reproduction and
growth, then the period of sexual reproduction is
extended. The seasonal range in the length of. day
is therefore an important factor in plant distribution,
and, moreover, the relation between length of day and
reproduction emphasises the great necessity. for
seeding crops at the proper time.
In Publication No. 295 of the Carnegie Institution
of Washington, entitled ‘‘A New Type of Hereditary
Brachyphalangy in Man,’’ Messrs. Otto L. Mohr and
Chr. Wriedt illustrate the heritability of a trivial
character for six generations. The character is a
symmetrical shortening of the second joint of the
second fingers and toes which recurred without any
break for six generations within a Norwegian family,
some members of which emigrated to America. With-
out exception the peculiarity was restricted to the
particular phalanx mentioned, the hands and feet
being in other respects quite normal. There was no
associated shortness ‘of stature. The anomaly mani-
fests itself under two distinctly different somatic
types, one ‘‘slightly ’’ shortened and generally over-
looked by the affected individuals, the other ‘‘ much”
shortened and very striking. No case of an inter-
mediate condition was observed. The brachyphalangy is
inherited as a dominant, not as a sex-linked, character.
The numerical ratio between the affected and un-
affected individuals in the offspring of brachy-
phalangous members of the family is in accordance
with the theoretical Mendelian expectation. All the
brachyphalangous individuals are heterozygous for the
gene in question, with one possible exception. The
material includes a case of identical twins, -both
showing the same type of brachyphalangy. A genetic
explanation of the occurrence of the ‘‘slightly”
shortened and the ‘“‘much”’ shortened types is sug-
gested. The authors are to be congratulated on their
careful working out of an interesting case. -
NO, 2641, VOL. 105 |
On ‘Friday, June 4, the Association of. Economie
Biologists and the Imperial Entomological Conference
held a joint meeting at.the Rothamsted Experimental!
Station, Harpenden. The greater part of the day was
devoted to an examination of the field experiments
which were demonstrated by Dr. E. J. Russell and
Dr. Winifred E. Brenchley.. The park grass plots
have been under grass for some centuries; it is not
known that seed has ever been sown, and at the
beginning of the experiments (1856) the herbage on
all the plots was apparently uniform. The twenty-
three plots are each manured differently, the same
treatment being maintained year after year, and the
southern half of each plot is limed. The difference in
the vegetation on the several plots is mow most
remarkable, and, quite apart from the great and im-
mediate practical valuc of the experiments, they are
an ecological demonstration of the very first import-
ance. The Broadbalk wheat field is perhaps the most
famous single field in the world. Here wheat has
been grown continuously since 1843, the eighteen plots
receiving different manurial treatment which has been
maintained year after year. The knowledge already
yielded by Broadbalk has served almost to revolu-
tionise the earlier ideas concerning the growth and
needs of the wheat-plant and the nature of the soil,
and, the attention now being concentrated upon it by.
physicist, chemist, statistician, protozoologist, entomo-
logist, mycologist, and algologist should continue the
good work begun by Lawes and Gilbert, and so ably
sustained by Sir Daniel Hall and the present director.
After tea Dr. A. D. Imms opened a discussion on
‘Tropisms,’’ giving a brief account of his own inves-
tigations on chemotrepism, and relating these to the
general theory of tropisms formulated by Loeb. A
paper specially contributed by the latter author was
read, and Dr. Tillyard, of New Zealand, Mr. E. E.
Green, Dr. Williams, Sir J. C. Bose, Mr. W. B.
Brierley, and Prof. Neilson Jones took part in the
discussion that followed.
AN interesting case of extreme dificeeiManae of
types of igneous rock, in which the whole series is
accounted for by gravitational separation, is described
concisely by Mr. H. C, Cooke in ‘‘The Gabbros of
East Sooke ’’ (Canada Geol. Survey, Museum Bull.
No. 30, 1919). In view of the use of the mineral
name ‘‘anorthose”’ for soda-microcline, objection may
be taken to the term
felspar akin to anorthite.
Pror. G. CrsARo sends us a paper on minerals —
from Monte Somma and. Vesuvius, which is of interest |
as having been prepared for issue in the Bulletin
de la Classe des Sciences of the Académie royale de
Belgique i in 1914, and actually circulated by its author
in 1919. Prof. Cesaro has meanwhile, by. the stress
of war, become personally known to a circle of British
mineralogists,, who will maintain -cordial relations
with him despite his return to his own country. As
an appendix to the paper Prof. Cesaro describes an
apatite from Cornwall as. having a low birefringence, —
and therefore a high fluorine content, and in dealing
with similar apatite from Vesuvius he quotes from
his previous work the relations between the fluorine
present and certain angles of the crystals.
ee
‘‘anorthosite’’? for rocks with ©
Cie. eee] Ve ae Tee oe ce Cen a tee eee eee es
eee | ae
NATURE
405
BULLETIN No. 22, part i., of the Geological Survey
New Zealand, on the limestone resources of the
try, by Mr. P. G. Morgan, is really a treatise on
es and its uses, illustrated from occurrences
It is thus exactly suited to local
ements; but both it and its successor on the
sp) ates will be welcomed in a much wider field.
Eiosthne on the land. The literature to be
d is wide, but we note that all the papers
-as of a general character are of American
We thus miss the work of Messrs. Hutchin-
and MacLennan at Rothamsted, published in the
al of Agricultural Science in 1915. Mr. J. A.
y’s account of his experiments with various
; in Yorkshire (Journ. Soc. Chem. Indust., 1918)
probably too recent for inclusion, since communica-
ions have been disturbed by war; but for some years
there have been dications that authors and
blis! ling bodies in the United States have been
more mjndful than ourselves of libraries in the Pacific
region. This should be a reminder for Britons, who
the true begetters of the enterprising island folk.
HE Executive Committee of the Advisory Council
of Science and Industry of the Commonwealth of
Australia has issued the third and concluding part
an exhaustive report by Dr. F. L. Stillwell upon
factors influencing gold deposition in the Bendigo
i Id. As is well known, the mode of occurrence
have given rise to much discussion, so
the thorough investigation here presented should
f great interest to all students of mineral deposits.
The general conclusions arrived at are that the form
f the reefs is due primarily to that of the original
acture through which the depositing solutions have
reolated; that all the large and important reefs
been in some way associated with faults, the
r being generally contemporaneous and connected
itl “the folding of the rocks, the faults having given
» to a network of fractures which afforded a pas-
to the mineralising solutions; and that the
ion of the gold from these solutions has been
it about in three ways: (1) Precipitation from
§ auriferous solution; (2) crystallisation from a
"supersaturated solution ; ‘and (3) crystallisation from
solutions the supersaturation of which is due to de-
creasing temperature after the main portion of the
has been precipitated. The first of these is the
most important method of deposition, and appears
) be closely connected with the presence of car-
maceous matter.
Bet iw his address to the Royal Scavasiad Society
at the anniversary meeting on May 31, Lt.-Col. Sir
_ Francis Younghusband pleaded for a wider outlook
' in geography and freedom from a strictly utilitarian
4 pint. A knowledge of the beauty of the earth
may be legitimately included within the scope of geo-
graphical science. Beauty of scenery in many
instances is the most noteworthy characteristic of a
country and its most valuable asset. Advertisements
_ of tourist organisations, railway and steamship com-
panies, and even emigration departments, bear con-
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 | we
Se eee
the gold reefs in this field is quite unique, and its.
stant witness to the importance of this aspect. ~More-
over, natural beauty is inexhaustible; while mineral
wealth is limited and agricultural productivity not
unbounded. Sir Francis Younghusband contended
that the geographical knowledge of a country was
incomplete without a knowledge of its beauty, and that
-by this means. alone can the geographer gain a sense
of the earth ‘‘as live, supple, sensitive, and active.’’
Continuing, he pointed out that there should be less
hesitation in accepting this principle when it is
realised that natural beauty affects the movements of
man, and that man is having an increasing effect on
natural beauty, often, but not always, with disastrous
results. This relationship between man and the beauty
of the earth is one of which geography should take
as much cognisance as it does of the relationship
between man and the productivity of the earth. The
knowledge of beauty must be carefully gathered.
Careless snapshots and shallow rhapsodies in guide-
book style are unsatisfactory. We require the best
photographs as well as paintings and. accurate
descriptions of literary merit. ‘The artist both in
pencil and in words is essential in seogiaphical work.
In the Meteorological Magazine for May . a notice
is given of the circulation of forecasts by. Wwire-
less telegraphy from _ collective weather reports
for London and_ south-east England.. Hourly
reports of meteorological information .prepared by
the Forecast Service of the Meteorological, Office
are sent out from the wireless station at the
Air Ministry. The message is given in a code form,
which is practically the same as that prescribed in
Annex G of the “Convention relating to International
Air Navigation,’’ Paris, 1919. The forecasts, which
are being issued eight times a day, are based on
observations taken about half an hour before the time
of issue. Detailed explanation of the code can be
obtained on application at the Meteorological Office.
A new device is also mentioned for making the
meteorological reports rapidly available to the public.
A large weather map is exhibited daily at the Air
Ministry in one of the front windows on the ground
floor of Empire House, Kingsway. All the principal
reporting stations in the British Isles, as. well as a
few neighbouring Continental ones, are marked on
the chart, which is on the Mercator projection, and
is 10 ft. high and 6 ft. wide. The information on the
chart is changed at about 3h., 8h. 30m., and r4h. 30m,
G.M.T., the data exhibited referring to observations
made at th., 7h., and 13h. G.M.T. The exceptionally
wet character of April is well shown im the Thames
Valley Rainfall Map, where upwards of 5 in., and in
places more than 6 in., of rain occurred during the
month over the .western portion of the valley.. Dis-
tricts with less than z in. are rare, and almost entirely
confined to the neighbourhood extending from London
to the mouth of the Thames. In England and Wales
the general rainfall for April was 204 per cent. of -
average.
For many years the utilisation of the water-power
of the Rhone has attracted attention in France., The
shortage of coal has renewed interest in the problem,
NOU: PaO OI jeLn, We ae
466 NATURE
[JUNE 10, 1920 |
which is now on the road to solution. The Chamber
of Deputies has taken the matter in hand, and agreed
to proposals which now await consent by the Senate.
According to an article by M. M. Fourniols pub-
lished in the Revue générale des Sciences for May 15,
the plan is to divide the river into six sections, to be
managed separately or preferably by a single body.
Concessions are to be for seventy-five years’ duration,
and will be helped by State loans. Besides the utilisa-
tion of water-power, the project embraces the im-
provement of navigation, the creation of river ports,
and the construction of irrigation works. At present
the conditions are not favourable for navigation, but
the recently opened canal from Marseilles to Arles
opens a new vista of possibilities in cheap river con-
nections with the sea. It is proposed to erect a
number of power stations between Genissiat, near
the Swiss frontier, and Comps, near Tarascon. Genis-
siat with 200,000 h.p. will be the largest, and will
probably supply power to Paris. Other important
stations will be near Lyons, Valence, Montelimar, and
Mondragon. A form of dam and locks is projected
which will interfere as little as possible with
navigation.
In an article in the Revue Scientifique for May 22
M.-A. de Gramont de Guiche, president of the
council of the Institute of Optics of France, describes
the arrangements made for the first session of the
institute, April to July, of the present year. The
institute is divided into three sections: (1) A school
of higher studies intended to provide the training
requisite for the specialists in the subject; (2) a
laboratory for research and practical instruction; and
(3) a school for the training of the workmen and
craftsmen both in glass- and in instrument-making.
At the opening of the course on April 12 M. Jobin,
one of the members of the council, described in detail
the objects of the institute and the steps that were
being taken to carry out those objects, and Dr. Dunoyer
gave the first lecture of a course on optical instru-
ments. Other lecture courses are provided on ‘‘ The
Calculation of Optical Systems,’’ ‘‘ Spectroscopy,”
‘“Glass: Its Nature and its Applications,’ ** The
Applications of Polarised Light,’’ ‘‘ The Microscope,”’
and ‘‘The Properties of X- and y-Rays.”” The fee
for the session is 150 francs, and, although no one is
excluded, it is pointed out that to profit as much as
possible from the course students should have a fair
knowledge of mathematics.
In a paper published in the Mathematical Gazette
for 1919-20 Dr. S. Brodetsky, reader in applied mathe-
matics in the University of Leeds, brings forward a
graphical treatment of differential equations as of
special value in certain cases which are not soluble
by the usual analytical methods and as of general
value for purposes of instruction. There is justice in
his view that the average student of mathematics
regards the usual methods of solution as a series of
tricks which he learns to apply with more or less
success to such equations as are presented to him.
A graphical treatment cannot fail to be of great value
in teaching the meaning of differential equations and
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
‘of acetic acid. During the period of the increase of
: nf
in giving the student confidence in their use. The
paper contains numerous examples, and illustrates the,
meaning of singular solutions, cusp loci, ete. Not
the least interesting example is the solution of the
equation 3 :
EY eg ean
ax y (x +y ) ’
which occurred in discussing the motion of a plane
lamina moving in air under the earth’s attraction—
one of the simple types of aeroplane motion. The
equation was insoluble by any of the standard
methods, but easily soluble graphically. :
DurinG the war considerable quantities of acetone
were prepared by the fermentation of starchy material. —
Hitherto, however, no investigation of the mechanism
of this fermentation has been described, and Messrs.
J. Reilly, W. J. Higginbottom, F. R. Henley, and
A. C. Thaysen publish in the April issue of the
Biochemical Journal an account of a quantitative
examination of the process. These authors find that
the fermented mash contains varying proportions of
acetic and butyric acids, the ratio of the latter to the
former increasing with the increase (during fermenta-—
tion) in the acidity of the mash and reaching a maxi-
mum at the stage of greatest acidity. Not until the
latter stage is reached are appreciable quantities of
acetone and n-butyl alcohol produced. With the pro-
duction of ‘‘oil’’ the ratio of butyric to acetic acid
diminishes, and finally the mash contains an excess
acidity, of the mash the rate of gas evolution rises’
steadily for some time, then becomes constant; and
as the acidity falls the rate of gas evolution rises
quickly to a maximum, and then falls rapidly until ©
the end of the fermentation. The gas consists of —
hydrogen and carbon dioxide in a proportion varying
from 3:1 at first to 2:3 at the latter part of the
fermentation. It is extremely probable that acetic
and butyric acids are not the only acids formed, and
evidence is given of the presence of an acid less
volatile in steam. Lactic acid results from the type
of infection most frequently observed. If the fer-
mentation is carried out in the presence of calcium
carbonate it proceeds as far as the point of maximum
acidity, but the production of acetone and n-butyl
alcohol is almost entirely suppressed.
In the Wiener Denkschriften (Math.-Naturwiss. K1.,
Bd. 96, pp. 671-750, 1919) Dr. A. Defant continues
his important researches on tides in landlocked and —
border seas, bays, and channels. After a theoretical _
discussion of the influence of friction against the
ocean-bed in channels, he deduces an average value —
of the coefficient of skin friction from a considera-
tion of the tides in the Gulf of Suez and in certain
lakes which exhibit seiches. He then enters upon a
careful detailed study of the tides in the English
Channel, using a step-by-step numerical method for —
the solution of the differential equations of the tides _
between successive cross-sections of the Channel. He
:
es tee ae
thus succeeds in demonstrating the truth of a con-
jecture made long ago by Airy to the effect that the —
complicated tides of the Channel are governed mainly —
* “NATURE
467
he North Sea at the two ends of the Channel;
‘view had been contested by Borgen, but the
of the view were misinterpreted by the
t Dr. Defant shows that not only the co-tidal
nes and tidal ranges, but also the phase and speed
tidal currents in the Channel, can be explained
basis of Airy’s ideas, taking surface friction at
hannel-bed into account, and also the rotation
e earth. He finds that the latter affords an ex-
ation of why the tidal range on the French coast of
1e Channel is greater than that on the English coast.
‘or the‘ sections of the Channel near the east opening
to the North Sea the calculations cannot be executed
the accuracy elsewhere obtained, owing to the
cimation of the ocean-tidal period to the free
of lateral oscillation across this broad part of
hannel. But even here the chief features can be
1 by interpolation, and throughout the remainder
ne Channel all the important features of the com-
lannel tides receive satisfactory theoretical
ion.
Pence
paper read by Gen. Squier to the U.S. National
y on April 27 on ‘‘ Multiplex Telephony and
aphy over Open-circuit Bare Wires Laid in
> Earth or Sea”’ has excited great interest amongst
o-telegraphists, who find it difficult to make out
whether we are on the eve of important developments
not. Gen. Squier has established communication
distance of three-quarters of a mile over the
aac River by means of a bare No. 12 phosphor-
wire laid directly in the water. © The*trans-
- consisted of an electron tube oscillator, which
da current of about 270 milliamperes at a
y of 600,000. At the receiving end of the
in electron tube and a six-stage amplifier were
without any earth connection. With this
ent good tuning could be obtained at either
the line, and satisfactory telegraphic and tele-
transmissions secured by means of:the bare
immersed in fresh-water. In another experi-
telegraphic and telephonic transmission were
ined between two stations three-quarters of a
apart by means of a No. 16 copper wire buried
n the earth to a depth of about 8 in. It will be
sen that if the method develops satisfactorily it will,
commercial possibilities. The best Atlantic
cannot operate at a frequency greater than 10 per
cond, and 80 volts is the highest voltage that can
ear plied to work it. There is scope, therefore, for
pment in submarine telegraphy. Gen. Squier
sts that experiments should be made with bare
ss in sea-water to determine what arrangement
“ill give the best results. He points out that with
method there will be no distortion of the signals,
so there is no limit to the distance of trans-
sion, and the receiving apparatus will be com-
ly simple. It is also possible to transmit
eously several signals, both telephonic and
legraphic, over the same wire by using different
frequencies. The method is an attractive one, and
’ s to have arrived at the stage where commercial
research can usefully be started.
NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
Our Astronomical Column.
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BRoRSEN-MetTcaLF ComMET.—
The Astrophysical Journal for March contains some
photographs of this comet taken by Prof. Barnard on
Igig October 5, 6, 20, and 22. The tail is shown as
fully 6° long, composed of several narrow straight
streamers forming a fan. They radiate from a point
somewhat behind the centre of ‘the head. About
October 20 the comet discarded its tail, and formed a
new one inclined 12° to the old. Prof. Barnard notes
that similar: phenomena have been observed in
Borrelly’s comet, 1903 July 24, in Morehouse’s comet
on several dates in 1908, and in Halley’s comet on
Ig10 June 6 (probably also in April). ~
In each case the new tail appears to move out
faster than the rear portion of the old tail. Prof.
Barnard conjectures that the latter is formed of larger
particles, the motion of which would be slower.
_ He has combined successive cometary photographs
in the stereoscope in the endeavour to determine the
configuration of the tail in three dimensions. Care is,
of course, required to distinguish true stereoscopic
effects. from spurious ones. It is stated that the
tail of Morehouse’s comet on October 15, 1908, re-
peers “part of an open sack, or a partly opened.
scroll.
THe Pranerary Famities oF Comets,—The report
of the nineteenth meeting of the American Astro-
nomical Society contains a paper on this subject by
Prof. H. N. Russell. He notes that the orbits of the
six comets of the Neptune group all pass considerably
closer to the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn than they
do to that of Neptune. His first conclusion was that
these comets had been captured not by Neptune, but
by Jupiter. He analysed the orbits of the periodic
comets with the following result :—
Thirty-six comets on his list have periods of less
than ten years. The orbits of all these, except
Encke’s, pass within 0-65 of Jupiter’s orbit, while
seventeen of them pass within o-15 of it.
Thirty-one comets: have periods between ten and
one thousand years. Of these, seven pass within 0-5
of Jupiter’s orbit, five within the same distance from
Saturn’s orbit, and two within this distance from
Uranus’s orbit, the nearest approach to Neptune’s
orbit being 1-22.
Prof. Russell has calculated the proportion of the
thirty-one comets that would pass within o-5 of each
orbit on the hypothesis of chance approach, and finds
that it is six for Jupiter, three for Saturn, one and a
half for Uranus, and one for Neptune. Hence he
concludes that the observed figures give little evidence
of capture by any of the planets.
There is, however, a point not noticed by Prof.
Russell, which is that the periods under a century
range themselves into four definite groups, the mean
period of each group being about o-4 of that of one
of the giant planets. This gives strong ground for
postulating a connection with these planets. Since
Halley’s comet has been observed for more than two
thousand years, there is no difficulty in assigning to
it a life dating back to the time when its orbit
intersected that of Neptune. The longer the period
of a comet the less frequent are the occasions when
it is subject to serious disruptive influences, and con-
sequently its disintegration is likely to be less rapid.
It appears to the writer of this note that Proctor’s
suggestion that the periodic comets are the products
of eruptions from the giant planets deserves more
attention than it has generally received. :
468
.
SIENA RORE
~..- [JUNE Lo, 1920
The Thunderstorms of May 29 and th
‘ Louth Disaster.
HE last week of May was marked by hot weather
all over the country and by numerous thunder- -
storms, which culminatea in the notable downpours of
rain which occurred on Saturday, May 29. ‘The
highest temperatures were reported on ‘Luesday,
May 25, when 82° F. was reached in London and
the Thames Valley. In London the magnificent
cumulus clouds made a fine spectacle, but it was
further north, in the neighbourhood of Luton, that
thunderstorms occurred. Paris suffered from a severe
storm on the same day.
On Wednesday, May 26, when an area of com-
paratively low pressure extended across England and
Ireland, there were thunderstorms in London and in
other parts of the country during the afternoon. The
rainfall in the west of London was exceptionally
heavy. The area affected was somewhat sharply
outlined on the west. At Hammersmith the roads were
flooded and wood pavements burst up by the water,
but at the Meteorological Office, a couple of miles
away, only 2 mm. of rain fell. At Uxbridge 33 mm.
fell in half an hour. ;
The distribution of pressure remained irregular, but
lower over the British Isles than over neighbouring
countries, and on Friday evening a ‘‘low,’’? which
appears to have originated over the South of France,
began to deepen and to move northward. The map for
7h. G.M.T. on Saturday, May 29, indicates the depres-
sion by the isobar 1012-5 mb. over the Bristol Channel.
At 13h, pressure was below 1012 mb. over the Mid-
lands. By 18h. it had fallen to 1009 mb. in the same
region. On Sunday morning the depression was over
the North Sea, and by the evening, when it had
deepened to 1004 mb., it was centred at the Shetlands.
The rainfall on May 29 was insignificant in the
South of England, but falls of half an inch or more
were general from Nottingham northwards. The
exceptional falls in Lincolnshire and Lancashire
occurred before the northward passage of the trough
of lowest pressure. As to the downpour in Lincoln-
shire, to which the damage and loss of life at Louth
are to be attributed, records are available from Hal-
lington, in the valley west-south-west of the town,
and from Elkington Hall, on the hills to the north-
west. In each case the measurement was about
120 mm. in two hours, giving a mean rate of fall of
I mm. per minute. According to newspaper reports,
1oo mm. fell at Horncastle, twelve miles south-south-
west of Louth. :
The area with an exceptionally heavy rainfall
included Bucknall, sixteen miles south-west of Louth,
with a total fall of 54.mm.; at Lincoln, twentv-four
miles away, the fall was 52 mm.; and at Spurn Head,
to the north, it was 35 mm. The boundary of the
area of heavy rain is marked by 34 mm. at Cranwell
and 12 mm. at Fulbeck. these places being about four
miles apart on either side of the Ermine Street, south
of Lincoln. At Skegness only 12. mm. fell. There
were. two thunderstorms in the afternoon, both carried
westward by the wind on the north side of the cvclone.
One was at Skegness at 13.15 G.M.T., and at Lincoln
at 14.30. The other, which was the more severe.
moved more slowlv, passing Skegness at 16h. and
Lincoln between 18.30 and 19h.
The. Louth disaster seems to have been associated.
with the former. storm. .From the evidence at the
inquest of a witness from Benniworth, a village on
the far side of the Wolds. in the Bain Valley, it
appears that after a little rain between rth. and 14.15
the weather cleared. but that at 14.30 the rain sud-
denly poured so fast that the house-pipe could not
NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
carry it. ‘‘In a moment the fields were at least 8 in. —
deep in water. I saw a huge cloud in the shape of —
an egg which kept twisting round. There were three
flashes of lightning, very vivid and very shocking.
One seemed to pierce through the cloud, and imme-
diately afterwards the cloud seemed to come earth-
ward.”’
Examination of the ground by the deputy coroner
indicated that the heavier rainfall had been on the
north side of the line from Louth to Lincoln, and
that it was more severe higher up the valley than at
Hallington, where the rain-gauge, which measured
120 mm., was situated. It is likely that the 120 mm.
is a fair average for the fall over the basin of the
Lud above Louth. This basin contains three or four
brooks which unite above the town and drain an area
of about 20,000 acres. The Wolds are chalk hills,
however, and no doubt the greater part of the normal
drainage is underground. This may account for the
absence of any provision for the passage of flood-
water, but much of the ground slopes at about
too ft. to the mile, so that water would run off
rapidly. Rainfall at the rate of 1 mm. per minute
over an area of 80 sq. km. would feed a stream
5 metres deep and 100 metres wide rushing along at
160 metres a minute, and the Lud does not appear
to have reached such a magnitude as this. The town
seems to have been singularly fortunate in escaping
floods in the past, as a rainfall of even one-quarter of
that on the present occasion could scarcely have found
its way through the narrow bridges of the town. —
With regard to the heavy falls in Lancashire, we
are so fortunate as to have the autographic record
from the rain-gauge at Leyland, to the south of
Preston. The total fall for the twenty-four hours,
gh.-oh. May 30-31, is about 80 mm., ‘the like of
which the proverbial oldest inhabitant cannot remem-
ber.”? *The heaviest downpours were from 16.30 to
17h. and- from 17.55 to 18.15. In the latter interval
of twenty minutes no less than 4o mm. were recorded.
The more dramatic exploits of the flood-water due
to this storm appear to have been to the north of
Preston, where the main line of the London and
North-Western Railway was
destruction of the embankment near the crossing of
the River Brock. In snite of the long duration of the
rain at Preston. the fall at Blackpool, fifteen miles to
i west, amounted to only 5 mm. in the twenty-four
ours. ;
Annual Meeting of the British Science
Guild.
“THE annual meeting of the British Science Guild
was held in the Goldsmiths’ Hall on Tuesday,
June 8, the chair being taken by Lord Sydenham, —
president of the guild.
In his address on “Science and the Nation”? the be
president referred to the strike evil as one of the great _
industrial problems of the day. The moulders’ strike
had seriously affected many industries; loss in coal
had reached 50,000,000 tons a year as compared with
1913, With serious consequences to the export trade.
The evil was due partly to an abnormal state of mind
arising from the war, but was originally fostered by
the industrial changes of the last century, namely, |
the general use of machinery, rendering labour |
skill of the craftsman,. and the formation of large
companies, whereby the personal touch between master
and man was lost.
few hands might lead to. tyranny.
This country
needed a wider distribution of capital.
interrupted by the —
monotonous and leaving less room for the individual
Capital unduly concentrated in a 3
Labour and
capital must be reconciled, and science must find an —
UNE 10, 1920]
NATURE
469
idote for the deadening influence of the machine.
the latter portion of his address Lord Sydenham
asised the importance of a more general know-
of science, especially amongst members of the
ment and the Civil Sérvice, and alluded to the
made by the Guild in the dissemination of
ific knowledge and methods. He concluded by
ng Goethe’s saying that ‘there is no more
dful sight than ignorance in action.”’
ord Sydenham then introduced the president-elect,
| Montagu of Beaulieu, who delivered an address
“Some National Aspects of Transport,’ and after-
ards occupied the chair. Lord Montagu remarked
n the growing. difficulties of railways, which,
though subsidised by the State, were working with
1 diminishing margin of profit owing to the vast
reases in cost of materials and in wages. Some
the largest tramway systems, such as the L.C.C.
in London, were incurring actual loss, and a general
_ increase in fares and rates seemed inevitable. Some
economies might be achieved by more scientific
methods of handling traffic and the elimination of
competition, but the saving from this source appeared
relatively small. The possibilities of road transport,
_ therefore, assumed importance. Already the compara-
tive cheapness of short-distance road-borne traffic had
deprived the railways of much revenue. Existing
_ roads, however, were unfitted to bear very heavy
_ mechanical traffic. On a tar-macadam road the trac-
_ tive force was 40-45 lb. per ton, three times the force
on rails, and on bad roads up to 100 Ib. per ton may
__ be needed. In the pre-railway period roads carrving
metal tracks 2 ft. wide were constructed for carts
carrying coal, minerals. etc. It might be feasible to
lay such a plateway from London to Birmingham
with a tractive force of only 20 Ib. per ton. The
cost of a double track would be about the same as
for a single line of railway, as gradients up to 30:1
cot e used. The cost of operation would be on a
smaller scale than on railways, and goods could be
: Seltvered direct from door to door. The idea could
_ be extended to other large towns, and it was con-
_ ceivable that overhead roadways, for the exclusive use
of fast-running vehicles, might be made from the
suburbs. The creation of such routes would lead to
a material increase in the value of property through
which they passed, and part of the cost might be met
by a local transport benefit tax, applied in such cases.
Lord Montagu also referred briefly to other possible
developments, such as the use of the airship for long
distances and aeroplanes for shorter services, and the
possible use of gas suction plant for propelling loco-
_ motives, motor-lorries, and shivs, and of ,benzol and
alcohol in the internal-combustion engine.
In view of the national importance of these
3 lems, the creation of a chair of transport at one
of the leading universities would be a deserving obiect
for private beneficence. The two Institutions of Civil
_ Engineers and Mechanical Engineers should be more
frequently consulted by the Government in regard to
_ road transport. and the National Physical Laboratory
had done excellent work. The problem, however, was
so vast as to demand continuous research at a special
establishment.
The adoption of the annual report of the Execu-
tive Committee was proposed by Lord Bledisloe,
and seconded by Sir Gilbert Parker, both of whom
are vice-presidents of the Guild. A cordial tribute was
paid to the valuable services T ord Sydenham had
rendered to the Guild during his tenure of office, and
both sveakers expressed. the general appreciation of
Lord Montagu’s acceptance of office as the new
president. —
She report, aimmatieed by Lord Bledisloe, dealt
with various aspects of the work of the Guild. The
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
eh
'
=]
3
Coe ee
ee a Le eee
———
second British Scientific Products Exhibition, held in
1919, was honoured by a visit from both King George
and Queen Mary, accompanied by Prince Henry and
Princess Mary, and demonstrated the growing appre-
ciation by British manufacturers of the value of
applied science. During the present year it is hoped
to arrange a conference on science and labour in asso-
ciation with the Labour arty. <A representative
committee is being set up to collect full data on the
utilisation of science, not only in the Civil Services,
but also in all Government Departments, and the Par-
liamentary Committee, which has already intervened
with good effect in the Forestry Bill, will watch all
prospective legislation involving scientific and technical
issues. The Education Committee of the Guild is still
pressing for a real survey of the existing provision
of university and higher technical education in the
country, considéring that the new Standing Committee
on University Grants, acting under the Board of
Education, is inadequate as regards composition and
reference. The revised svecifications of the Technical
Optics Committee in regard to microscopes have
already been adopted by two British firms.
The adoption of the report having been carried
unanimously, the proceedings were terminated by a
vote of thanks to the Master and Wardens of the
Goldsmiths’ Company for permission to hold the
meeting in their hall.
Annual Visitation of the Royal Observatory,
Greenwich.
URING the war this annual function was
restricted to the official visit of the members
of the Board. It has now returned to the conditions
that prevailed many years ago, a large and repre-
sentative gathering of astronomers and their friends
being present, on Saturday, June 5, to take part in
the inspection of the observatory and instruments.
The return of many members of the staff who had
been at the Front has naturally brought about a large
increase in the number of observations. Those made
with the transit circle exceed eight thousand in each
element. In addition to the customary observations
of sun, moon, planets, and clock-stars, the observing
list now includes the stars selected by Packlund and
Hough as secondary standards distributed with fair
uniformity over the sky. Observations for this cata
logue will be completed at the end of 1921.
The error of the moon’s place in longitude for 1919,
as predicted in the Nautical Almanac, was — 12-26",
showing a notable diminution of nearly 2” from the
value for the three preceding years. The Astronomer
Royal explains that this change is due to the omis-
sion in Hansen’s tables of several sensible planetary
terms. In view of the imperfections of these tables,
it is satisfactory to note that Brown’s new lunar
tables have now: been printed and are used in the
Nautical Almanac, starting with the year 1923.
Two of the equatorials are now out of use. The
28-in., the mounting of which dates from 1851,
requires renewal of the upver pivot; this work has
been entrusted to Messrs. T. Cooke and Sons. The
driving clock of the astrographic equatorial was sent
to Sir H. Grubb for repairs, which are still in pro-
gress. The observations of double-stars made with
the 28-in. since its erection have been discussed’ by
Mr. Jackson, who has published more than twenty
new orbits in the. Monthly Notices for March and
April last. Fuller details of these and other svstems
will be printed in the Greenwich annual volumes.
There are many systems for which orbits cannot yet
be deduced, but where relative motion is shown ; hypo-
470
NATURE
| JUNE 10, 1920
thetical parallaxes are being deduced in these cases,
recent research having proved that such parallaxes
are of considerable value for statistical purposes;
they are, indeed, as trustworthy as those directly
measured when the latter are of the order of 0-02".
The photographic determination of parallaxes with
the 26-in. photographic equatorial has been resumed,
and twenty new parallaxes have been determined with
an average probable error of 0-008". It is anticipated
that in future forty new parallaxes will be determined
annually. The plan adopted for the measurement of
the star images on the eclipse plates (that is, the pre-
paration of a key plate with reversed images, which is
placed film to film with the plates to be measured) is
now being adopted for the parallax plates. Instead of
producing the key plate by photography, short lines —
will be ruled on a glass plate in a north-and-south
direction corresponding with the positions of the stars
on each set of parallax plates.
A few photometry plates of the Kapteyn selected
areas in N. decl. 30° have also been taken.
Two Star Catalogues are in process of being printed,
viz. the zone catalogue of stars down to the goth
magnitude in N. decl. 24° to 32°, and the proper-
motion catalogue of stars near the North Pole (vol. iii.
of the Greenwich Astrogravhic Catalogue).
The proper motions of the stars in both these
catalogues have already been discussed in several
papers in the Monthly Notices. .
The reduction of the solar photographs fell into
arrears owing to the impossibility of transmitting plates
from India and the Cape to fill the gaps in the Green-
wich series. Work is now being pushed on as rapidly
as possible, and has been brought up to the middle
of 1917. There were considerable solar outbursts. in
August and March last, both accompanied by mag-
netic storms, but the general spot activity is now on
the decline.
The Astronomer Royal makes allusion in his report
to the successful result of the eclipse expeditions of
191g. Transparencies from the plates secured then
were on view, and showed both the star images and
the splendid prominence 300,000 miles in length which
was on the sun’s eastern limb.
It is proposed to repeat the investigation of the star-
shift at the eclipse of 1922 September 20. According
to present plans, Messrs. Jones and Melotte will
observe it from Christmas Island, Indian Ocean.
They will use the astrographic, mounted equatorially,
discarding the ccelostat, which is a source of trouble
in work where great refinement is needed. Plans
have been mooted for utilising the vresence of the
instrument in low latitudes to take a series of plates
with the view of linking together the northern and
southern magnitude scales.
The mean magnetic declination for 1919 is 14° 18-2’;
it is diminishing about 9-6’ annually, so that it should
reach zero about the end of the century.
As regards the weather of the twelve months ended
on April 30 last, it is interesting to note that the
period October-November was the coldest for eighty
years, while the period December-April was the
warmest for eighty years. This accounts for the
exceptionally early appearance of the blossoms, which
was three weeks in advance of the average.
The daily sunshine register has been supplemented
since last January by a small fixed camera pointing
to the pole, which records trails of circumpolar stars
throughout the night, forming a gauge of the clearness
of the sky.
The reception of wireless time-signals from Paris,
Nauen, Lyons, and Annapolis now forms part of the
daily routine. The times of their reception will be
printed in the Greenwich volumes, and will be avail-
able for longitude determinations. It has lately been
NO, 2641, VOL. 105 |
announced that the Lyons signals can be read at Ade-
laide, so that it is hoped that improved values of the
Australian longitudes will shortly be available. ;
The Astronomer Royal notes the loss that the
observatory has sustained in the recent retirement of —
Messrs. Maunder, Thackeray, and Hollis, and ex-
presses warm appreciation of their long and zealous
services,
Applied Statistics.
bag is only twenty-five years since Prof. Karl Pearson
gave at University College, London, his first
course of lectures on the mathematical theory of —
statistics, and the opening at University College,
London, on Friday, June 4, of the handsome building
provided by the generosity of Sir Herbert Bartlett,
Bart., for the Department of Applied Statistics,
including the Galton Laboratory and the Drapers’
Company Biometric Laboratory, marks another stage
in the progress of what is more than a new branch of
science, for there is scarcely a single field of scientific
work in which the fundamental importance of the
methods of research which have been developed by
Prof. Pearson and his pupils has not been recognised.
The Drapers’ Company in tg02 was the first to
provide funds to carry on research work in what was
then known as the Biometric Laboratory, and is now
appropriately called the Drapers’ Company Labora-
tory, and its annual grants have been continued up
to the present time; while nine years later Sir Francis -
Galton bequeathed the residue of his estate to the Uni-
versity of London for the establishment of the Galton
professorship of eugenics. Sir Francis expressed the!
wish, however, that so far as possible the capital of
the endowment should be preserved intact, and the
University accordingly issued an apneal for the build-
ing and equipment of a Francis Galton laboratory.
Immediately afterwards Sir Herbert Bartlett offered
to provide a building for both the Galton and Bio-.
metric Laboratories.
The building was nearly ready for occupation when,
on the outbreak of war, not only had it to be given, up
for use as‘a military hospital, but also the voluntary
services of the staff of the laboratories were offered
to and accepted by the Government. In the early
days of the war hundreds of diagrams were prepared —
weekly of the extent of unemployment in all the
important towns of Great Britain, and when unem-
ployment ceased to be a serious problem the labora-
tories were engaged in statistical inquiries into the —
seasonal use of shipping and rates of exchange and
in investigations into aeroplane propeller stresses and
ballistics. The computation of sights for various
tvpes of machine-suns to be used against low-flying
German aeroplanes was carried out by very strenuous
and continuous labour in six weeks. hi
One result of the delay in completing the equip- ye:
ment of the building is that funds which were in-
sufficient in 1014 are now wholly inadequate, and this
splendid building can only be partly used. Equally —
essential is the provision of funds for the salaries of —
the. staff, and it is estimated that to complete and
maintain the equipment of the new building and to
carry on.and develop the work of the laboratories
in accordance with the intentions of its founders there
is required an additional income of soool. a year. The —
Senate of the University of London has accordingly ‘4
authorised an appeal for this endowment. Sy
At the opening ceremony, at which Dr. Russell
Wells, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of —
London, presided, Dr. Addison, Minister of Health.
said that his work in the ‘Ministry of Munitions had
—~ = Si een
ae
eles 52 -
ei Uteelas >
ett | parse
fo
ee ent ee ee
NATURE
471
ndered by the constant strugg!es to find out
we had and what we wanted, and it was only
they obtained the services of trustworthy statis-
s that the Department got into clear order. In
d of public health trustworthy statistics were
ul importance, and he therefore recommended
public the appeal which had been made for
nal funds, and promised to do all he could to
De Hi.
— | the work ot the laboratories. H
The Imperial College.
CLaimm to University Status.
MEETING in support of the claim of the Im-
perial College of Science and Technology for
er to confer degrees and for university status was
d at the Central Hall, Westminster, on Friday,
» 4. Lord Morris, who presided, stated that the
ng was not called in hostility to any university
overnment Department, or in disparagement of
atmosphere created by the universities. The
1g body, the professorial staff, and the
» now numbering 1300, were unanimous in
‘t of the claim of the Imperial College for power
onfer degrees in its own subjects or faculties.
students were seriously handicapped by having to
to an external body for a degree, because of the
rrent preference in the industrial and professional
ds for a degree to a diploma. Lord Morris
a resolution urging the Prime Minister, the
1 President of the Council, and the President of
Board of Education to take the matter into serious
leration. resolution also declared that any
ner delay would cause a growing sense of in-
_W. W. Watts.- who seconded the motion,
fe out that the rerort of the Departmental Com-
mittee, the rec dations of which in 1906 led
c y to the establishment of the Imperial College,
Db on a vision of a vast technological and
rial institution, not confined to mere technical
‘ruction, but devoted to the highest education and
se research in both pure science and techno-
_ The Devartmental Committee had stated clearly
} reasons against incorporating the’ Imperial Col-
» in the University of London, pointing out that
f the college was to be able to adapt itself to the ever-
_ changing conditions of industry it must be free from
1e academic trammels of an education regulated, and
ntly regulated, by other aims.
. H. G. Wells, speaking in suvport of the motion.
1ed the meeting that in approaching the Lord
ident of the Council and the President of the
rd of Education the delegates would have to com-
| the suspicion that their proposal involved a system
education and training likely to turn out men and
omen of narrow culture, mere technical experts
out broad views. The curse of education in
had been the grandiose ideas of people who
d not distinguish between the Universities of
wd and Cambridse and the university conditions
sondon. It was almost impossible to conceive the
dely separated college units in London co-operating
successfully to form a single efficient university.
Sir Ernest Rutherford, sneaking as a renresentative
_ on the governing body of the Imperial College of the
Dominion of New Zealand, said it was not generally
recognised how much energy is spent in developing
the pure science side of the Imperial College. Tt was
only right and. proper that the students, and _par-
ticularly the oversea students, should have a degree
_ Where degree-work had been done, and the degree
should be conferred by the teachers, and not by any
‘NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
outside body. Surely we might broaden our ideas of
university education in general. We had never before
had an institution teaching technology on such a vast
scale and to such a high standard as the Imperial
College does. There was no precedent for the col-
lege, and therefore there could be no precedent against
its claim to confer its own degrees. Subsequent
speakers included Mr. J. A. Spender, Sir Richard
Redmayne, and the Rector of the Imperial College,
Sir Alfred Keogh. The resolution, modified slightly
in accordance with suggestions made by Mr. H. G.
Wells and others, was carried with one dissentient.
The Smoke Nuisance.
% HE Manchester City Council is one of the few
local authorities which have gone out of their
Way not only to put the smoke clauses of the old
Public Health Act into force, but also to investigate
the cost to the community of the smoke nuisance.
With true wisdom it has realised that the zsthetic
sense of the average man is controlled by his pocket,
and that the direct road to reform is to make him
understand how much he might save by a clean
atmosphere.
We have received from the Air Pollution Advisory
Board of the Manchester City Council a pamphlet
entitled ‘The Black Smoke Tax,” and although it
deals mainly with an elaborate investigation into the
relative cost in fuel, soap, and starch in an industrial
and a residential centre, there is an introduction which
reviews in brief but expressive language other causes
of loss and damage which follow in the train of black
smoke. The Board says :—‘‘The damage is both
zsthetic and economic. The look of things suffers.
The value of things suffers. Everybody suffers and,
since everybody suffers, it-is a long time before any-
body protests. If the damage were done suddenly
there would be a general outcry, but it is done gradu-
ally. Thousands of Manchester people live their lives
from start to finish in the midst of black smoke and
have come to regard it as a normal condition of life.
It is only in modern times that we have realised that
the nuisance is preventable and that public economy,
public health, and hanpiness alike call for its preven-
tion.’’
_ The investigation has been conducted on the lines
adopted in Pittsburgh, U.S.A., which showed an
annual loss amounting to 4l. a head of the popu-
lation. A large number of different classes of houses
in Manchester (industrial) and Harrogate (residential)
were personally visited and the weekly washing bill -
as nearly as possible ascertained. The net result was
an additional expenditure in Manchester of more than
242,000l, annually on this item alone. The committee
employed on this investigation concludes its report as
follows: ‘‘As a result of years of patient investiga-
tion, coupled with strict rejection of all doubtful
evidence, thev can state emphatically that it would
well repay Manchester to expend a large amount of
thought and money on any measures that would help
to reduce its enormous yearly smoke tax of at least
three-quarters of a million pounds per annum.”’
The Ministry of Health has now taken the matter
in hand and appointed a Smoke Abatement Com-
mittee to consider wavs and means of abolishing
smoke. The report of this committee will no doubt
contain recommendations which will give local authori-
ties greater facilities and stronger inducements ‘for
dealing with this pest of industrial towns. Coal
smoke is. ovposed to everv princinle of economy.
health, comfort. and cleanliness. It is a national
scourge which has been too long tolerated.
ip C.
472
NATURE
The Molecular Energy in Gases.
pees request of the council of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, an address on ‘“‘ Molecular Energy in
Gases’ was delivered on May 3 by Principal Sir
Alfred Ewing, who began by referring to a series of
papers on the foundations of the kinetic theory which
were communicated to the society thirty years ago
by a great teacher and a great master of the subject,
Prof. Tait. Since those days the kinetic theory had
received what might be called ocular demonstration
through Perrin’s investigation of the Brownian move-
ments, which exhibited the buffeting of visible bodies
by the blows of the molecules. Much had come to be
known regarding the probable structure of the atom.
There had been substantial advances in the study of
specific heats of gases and of their absorption and
emission of heat in the form of infra-red rays. But
the difficulty referred to by Tait of reconciling the
known facts about specific heat with the theory of the
equipartition of energy, as developed by Maxwell and
Boltzmann, still remained, and had led to various
applications or extensions of Planck’s quantum
theory, not only to the vibrations of gaseous mole-
cules, but also to their rotations.
Some of these applications of the quantum theory
appeared to the lecturer to be highly artificial, and
also unnecessary. He proceeded to discuss the corre-
spondence between the observed values of the specific
heats and those that might be expected by applying
ordinary dynamics to the translations and rotations
of the molecules of a gas, and pointed out that the
results presented a consistent scheme, which had,
however, to be supplemented by taking account of
the energy of vibration, especially at high tempera-
tures. Vibratory energy became developed in a
manner which was clearly not consistent with the
principle of equipartition. It was now known that in
all except monatomic gases the specific heat became
notably increased at high temperatures, when the
vibrations within the molecules began to be an im-
portant part of the whole energy. The experimental
facts as to this increase were no doubt well expressed
by means of Planck’s quantum formula, but the type
of curve which it gave was one that was found in
other departments of physics. It was therefore open
to question whether, if the nature of the constraints
were understood, the development of vibratory energy
in the molecules might not be interpreted in terms of
other ideas than those of quanta, and without dis-
turbing the old-fashioned principles of Newtonian
dynamics.
University and Educational Intelligence.
BIRMINGHAM:-—In common with other universities,
that of: Birmingham has been overcrowded with
students during the past session, and, in order that
the necessary arrangements may be made to accom-
modate the maximum number for the ensuing year,
public notice has been given that intending students
should make application for entry not later than June 30.
Already, temporary buildings are being erected to cope
with the certain increase in number of second-vear
students. The problem of adapting the number to
be admitted to the available accommodation is un-
doubtedly difficult, but any method of restriction
adopted will be devised with the object of securing
admission to the fittest.
CamBRIDGE.—Announcement.is made in the Times
that the directors of the Commercial Union Assurance
Co. have allotted the sum of 165,o00l. for a building
of biochemistry, on a site provided by the University,
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
‘weeks.
for the provision of adequate incomes for the pro-
fessor and his. staff and for the endowment of re-
search, :
LivERPOOL.—At a meeting of the Senate of the
University held on June 2 the following resolution
was passed: ‘The Senate records with profound
regret the death of Prof. Leonard Doncaster, F.R.S.,
Derby professor of zoology in the University. But a
short time in Liverpool, Prof. Doncaster had taken a
prominent place in the University, serving on the
University Council as representative of his faculty,
and had added to the reputation of the University
by his contributions to science, and notably by his
text-book upon cytology, published within the last few
As colleague and friend he will be mourned
by all members of the University. To Mrs. Don-
caster and the members of his family the Senate
~
would offer its most sincere sympathy.”
Tue Ramsay Memorial Trustees will proceed to.
the election of not more than three fellows at the end
of this month. Applications must be received not
later than June 15. Application forms, containing full
[JUNE 10, 1920 © 4
particulars of the award, can be obtained from the |
Organising Secretary of the Ramsay Memorial Fund,
University College, London. The fellowships are of
the value of 300l. a year each, and tenable for two
years. They are for the advancement of chemical
research,
THE annual vacation course in Snowdonia for field-
work in geography, geology, botany, map-making,
and regional survey methods is being held under the
auspices of the Geographical Association on August 7-
21, with Llanberis as a centre. Particulars of the
arrangements may be obtained by sending a stamped
addressed envelope to Mr. H. Valentine Davis,
‘“ Noddfa,’’ Wistaston, Crewe. The course is primarily
intended for teachers of geography in public and other
secondary schools. ,
Lorp ERNLE presided at a meeting held last week
at Chelsea House, Cadogan Square, to establish the |
training of women as skilled scientific cultivators on
a national basis. In recognition of the magnificent
work achieved, especially during the war, by Swanley
Horticultural College in increasing every class of
home-grown foods, and also in food preservation, the
Ministry of Agriculture proposes to allot a Treasury
grant of 1o0,oool. for the re-equipment and further
development of this unique training college, provided
the public contributes an equal sum. Never has the
national need for scientific food production on one
hand, and for remunerative and healthy employment
for educated women on the other, been greater.
Swanley has full capacities for carrying out both these
works of national importance once the ravages of five —
years of war-shortages have been repaired, and the
urgently. needed new laboratories,
agriculture and horticulture is proved by the fact that
the applications from employers for Swanley students
rose from 130 in go14 to 648 in 1918. Prof.
Keeble, of Oxford University, pointed out that the
future cultivation of England would become more and.
more intensive, and that this intensive cultivation is _
now of the greatest national value, significance, and
economic. justification. Plans for the new science
buildings at Swanley are now ready and the site is
selected.
10,0001. required to secure the Treasury grant for this
urgent work of national utility. The appeal recently
issued is signed by Lord Ernle, late President of t
_Board,of Agriculture and Fisheries ; Lord Lambourne,
It only remains for the public to provide the
lecture-rooms,
library, and students’ hostels have been erected and
equipped. The great demand for women workers in
eee ee
A hii cs bn ie th ate
June 10, 1920]
NATURE
473
esident of the Royal Horticultural Society; Prof.
Bretland Farmer; Prof. Keeble; Lady Northcliffe;
id Viscountess Falmouth, chairman of the governing
¥, Swanley College. Donations may be sent to
srs. Child and Co., 1 Fleet Street, London, E.C.4.
ousand pounds is needed at once, and 50,o000l.
complete installation of the science depart-
‘and for the reconstruction of the college and of
ntensive training grounds.
__-~‘Societies and Academies.
se Lonpon.
Physical Society, May 14.—Sir W. H. Bragg, presi-
nt, in the chair.—Dr. F. Lloyd Hopwood; Experi-
nts on the thermionic properties of hot filaments.
he experiments shown were some of those described
* Dr. Hopwood in the Philosophical Magazine for
March, 1915, p. 362, in which the glowing tilament of
a carbon lamp and glowing filaments of nichrome
and platinum in air are made to move under the
Srought, of positively and negatively charged rods
brought into or withdrawn from their vicinity, the
character of the effects observed being such as to give
a qualitative indication of the thermionic emission
from the filaments. In addition, he showed a type of
tilted electroscope in which the gold-leaf was re-
_ placed by a narrow loop of Wollaston wire. When a
_ current is passed through the wire so as to make it
ae ata forms an electroscope of different sensitivity
_ for +ve and —ve charges.—G. D. West: A modified
_ theory of the Crookes radiometer. The paper gives a
_ short account of a theory of the Crookes radiometer
£ worked out by Sutherland in 1896, but, unfortunately,
much neglected. The theory as it stands will not
plain many radiometric phenomena, but it is shown
at when modifications depending on the modern
knowledge of thermal surface conditions are made,
such explanations become possible. Radiometer
* action, especially at the higher gas pressures, would
_ appear to depend essentially on the formation of gas
_ currents near the radiometer vane. These currents
are distinct from convection currents, but are closely
associated with the phenomena of thermal transpira-
. iaaisk Campbell ; The magnetic properties of silicon
iron (stalloy) in alternating magnetic fields of low
value. Measurements are described of the hysteresis
losses in silicon iron sheet and wires in very low
alternating magnetic fields at low and_ telephonic
frequencies, using an alternating-current method
described in a former paver. The equations giving
the hysteresis losses as a function of B,,... are deduced
in the case of the sheet material at low frequencies for
ranges of H,,,.. from 0-0002 to 0-02. Comparisons are
_ made between sheet material and wires of different
_ diameters, and curves are given showing the great
improvement in the permeability of wires when thev
are annealed. The behaviour of the material is studied,
both by ballistic tests and at telephonic frequencies,
as regards the alternating field when direct-current
fields of various values are apvlied at the same time.—
7. Smith; Tracins rays through an optical system.
_ Equations for tracing rays in an axial plane through
an optical svstem have the normal refraction terms
E
:
ie
ee ae ee ee ee
separated from those representing aberrations. By
expressing the latter as a fraction with the first-order
aberration as the numerator and a correcting factor,
which may take various forms, as the denominator,
_ fays may be traced exactly through the system, using
a short table of cosines in terms of sines in place of
the extensive tables, giving sines in terms of angles
generally employed. A considerable saving of time is
effected in the calculations, and the estimation, without
_aleulation, of: the aberrations of other rays is
facilitated. .
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
Geological Society, May 19.—Mr. R. D. Oldham,
president, in the chair.—Dr. H. H. Thomas, with
chemical analyses by E. G. Radley: Certain
xenolithic Tertiary minor intrusions in the Island
of Mull (Argyllshire). The. .paper deals with a
series of minor intrusions, generally tholeiitic but
occasionally composite in character, which are well
represented in the western peninsula of, Mull, lying
between Loch Scridain and Loch Buie, and are
remarkable for the number and ‘mineralogical pecu-
liarities of the xenoliths that they contain. Xenoliths
of a highly siliceous nature (quartzites, sandstones,
etc.) are met with, but more commonly the inclusions
are of a type rich in alumina (shales and clays).
Cognate xenoliths of noritic and gabbroic affinities
occur in several of the intrusions, and these, together
with the accidental siliceous xenoliths, are briefly
described; but the communication deals more par-
ticularly with the aluminous inclusions which are
crowded together in. most of the intrusions, range up
to several feet in diameter, and are characterised by
well-crystallised minerals such as sapvhire, spinel,
sillimanite, cordierite, and anorthite. These xenoliths
offer the clearest evidence of the modification of a
more or less pure aluminous sediment by permeation
of magmatic matter, more particularly by the diffusion
of lime, ferrous iron, and magnesia. It is held from
the evidence afforded by the xenoliths that the meta-
morphism is of a deenv-seated character, and has been
effected by a tholeiitic magma on the walls of its
basin, which were composed mainly of aluminous
sedimentary rocks.
CAMBRIDGE.
Philosophical Society, May 3.—Sir Ernest Ruther-
ford, vice-president, in the chair.—W. J. Harrison :
Notes on the theory of vibrations. (1) Vibrations of
finite amplitude. (2) A theorem due to Routh. Ray-
leigh determined, in trigonometric form, the approxi-
mate effect of small terms varying as the square and
cube of the displacement in the equation of simple
harmonic motion. In the former of these notes exact
Fourier series are determined by the theory. of ellip-
tic functions, and tables are computed. , The latter
note relates to the theorem that an increase of inertia
of any part of a vibrating system increases all the
periods in such a way that the new periods are
separated by the original periods. If the effect of
the increased inertia be represented by an addition to
the kinetic energy of the square of a linear function
of the velocities, it is pointed out that the theorem does
not hold unless this linear function involves all the
velocities —W. Burnside: On _ cyclical octosection.
The complete solution of the oroblem of cyclical
quartisection was first given by V. A. Le Besgue in
Comptes rendus, vol. li., 1860, without proof; he
forms the quartic equation satisfied by the sum of
3(p-1) distinct primitive pth roots of unity, being a
prime number of the form 4n+1. If p=L’+4M’,
where L=1 (mod. 4), the equation involves p and L,
being
p—1
{y?+p[2(-1) * —1}}?=4h{y- Li’,
where y is one more than four times the sum in ques-
tion. The only proof as yet published appears un-
necessarily long. The present paper deals with the
case when *# is a prime of the form 8n+1; it forms
and solves the equation satisfied by the sum of 3(p—1)
distinct primitive # roots of unity, which is capable
of eight values, by a method capable of extended ap-
plication. Expressing p in both the forms a +b’,
a?+2b", this equation involves ». a, and a’.—Dr.
G. F. C. Searle : (1) A bifilar method of measuring the
rigidity of wires. The uvper ends A, C of two equal
474
Wal ORE :
[ JUNE 10, 1920
wires are attached to two torsion heads, and the lower
ends B, D to a bar loaded with a considerable mass.
When the wires are free from torsion, they are in a
vertical plane. The distances AC=2a,, BD=2a,, are
nearly equal. If the torsion heads are turned through
» from: their zeros, the bar will turn through 6 in
the same direction, until the bifilar couple balances
the couple due to the torsion of the wires. Then
sin @=C(@-6), where C is, for practical purposes, inde-
pendent of @ and 6. By observing @ and 9, C is found.
Then, if r is the mean radius of the wires and M the
load supported by them, the rigidity, n, is given by
F7AAs
n=F N° MC.
wrt
A damping device is provided so that steady readings
can be obtained in a room subject to vibration. Bends
in the wires near the upper ends have the same effect
as if the points A, C described small horizontal circles.
Errors due to this cause are eliminated by a rough
harmonic analysis. (2) An experiment on a piece of
common string. When a mass M is suspended by a
piece of common string from a fixed support, it be-
gins, when set free, to rotate about the axis of the
string. The string, therefore, exerts a couple, G, on
the body, and the relation of this couple to M is
studied in the experiment.
body makes n revolutions in time t, the angular ac-
celeration a, assumed constant, is given by jat?=27n.
If K is the moment of inertia of the body, G=Ka.
If the length of the string is of the orde1 cf 2 metres,
the angular acceleration is approximately uniform for
at least the first 10 or 20 revolutions. The load is
supplied in the form of a number of equal inertia
bars which can be threaded on a light rod carried by
the string. Then K is practically proportional to M.
It is found that the time for, say, 10 revolutions from
rest is nearly constant. Hence G is nearly propor-
tional to M. (3) Experiments with a plane diffraction
grating, using convergent light. A lens forms a real
image B of a vertical slit S illuminated by sodium light.
A plane diffraction grating, with its rulings vertical,
is placed between the lens and B, so that the vertical
central plane of the beam, which cuts the grating in
O, makes an angle 6 with the normal to the grating.
and BO=u. If C is one of the ‘‘real’’ diffracted
images of order p, and if CO or v makes an angle
# with the normal, then
msec’ Oe usee@ ogo. (1)
If the grating interval is d, the wave-length is given by
pr=d(sing—sin®@). .. .. . ..- (2)
In the experiment the relation (1) is tested, and
the wave-length is founé by (2). The images
are received on a glass. scale moving along
an optical bench, the length of the scale being
horizontal and perpendicular to the bench.—Major
P. A. MacMahon: Congruences with respect to com-
posite moduli. This paper deals with the primitive
roots of the binomial congruence the exponent of which
is any divisor of the totient of a composite modulus.
Numbers being divided into categories according to
the number of their different prime divisors, tables of
primitive roots are given for the cases of the second
and third categories.—A. Kienast: Equivalence of
different mean values. This is a continuation of a
former paper bv the author, and deals with the equi-
valence of conditions for the existence of the limit
of the mean sum of a continually increasing number
of terms.—Prof. H. F. Baker: Construction of the
ninth intersection of two cubic curves passing through
eight given coplanar points. Let A. B, C, M, N and
P, QO, R be the given points; take T external to their
plane; let TP, TO, TR meet a quadric containing
NO. 2641, VOL. 105 |
“Major T. Cherry;
If, starting from rest, the -
A, B, C and the lines TM, TN, in further points
P’, QO’, R’; let the twisted cubic curve through T, A, P’,
Q’, Rk’ which has BC for chord meet the quadric again i ‘i!
in O’; then TO passes through the required ninth —
point.—W. E. H. Berwick: Quintic transformations
and singular invariants. This paver deals with the
arithmetical solution of a certain sextic equation aris-
ing in the theory of modular functions, thé co-
efficients of which are functions of a certain algebraical
number. The arithmetical character of the number of
fields which arise igs determined in detail.
MANCHESTER.
Literary and Philosophical Society, May 4.—Mr.
William Thomson, vice-president, in the chair.—
The origin of agriculture. The
annual flood-cycle of the Nile provided perfect condi-
tions for the growth of cereals. Since none other of
the great rivers on the banks of which civilisation
first appeared afforded such natural possibilities for
the growth of cereals, it was claimed that man must
have learned in Egypt irrigation and the cultivation
of cereals. The author, in discussing the origins of
wheat and barley, claimed that the originals of our
cultivated barley probably evolved in the Nile Valley,
and those of our wheat on one of the islands of the
fEgean Archipelago.
Literary and Philosophical Society (Chemical Section),
April 30.—Mr. J. H. Lester, chairman, in the chair.—
Dr. J. A. R. Henderson: Alchemy and chemistry
among the Chinese. The early obiects of the
alchemists were discussed, and their discoveries in
metallurgy, mineralogy, and botany detailed. The
latter included the manufacture of vigments, lacquers,
porcelain, paper, and the early discovery of the ex-
plosive properties of gunvowder. ‘The exploitation of
vast coal devosits and of iron and other metallic ores,
and the production of oils and medicinal substances,
are taking place.
May 14.—Mr. J. H. Lester, chairman, in the chair.
—Prof. F. L. Pyman: The relation between chemical
constitution and physiological action. oes
DvuBLIN.
Royal Irish Academy, May 10.—The Most Rey. the
Right Hon. J. H. Bernard, president, in the chair.—
J. N. Halbert: Acarina of the Intertidal Zone. The
various forms, several of which are new to science, |
were studied in their relation to the well-known
zones, or belts, of the orange lichen, Pelvelia, and
Fucus usually present, where there is sufficient foot-
hold for them, on the sea-shore. Excluding the
families Halacarida and Hydrachnidz, the spécies are
distributed in the four terrestrial families as follows :
Gamaside 28, Oribatide 17, Tyroglyphidz 2, and
Trombidiida 18.—Miss Jane Stephens: The fresh-
water sponges of Ireland. The fresh-water sponges
of Ireland number only five species. Their habitat,
mode of growth,
Among the points of interest are the following: It
has been found that the sponges do not occur in —
mountain streams, unless there is a lake, however
small, in the course of the stream. and that, on the
other hand, they occur most luxuriantly in a stream
just below its exit from a lake. One svecies avoids
the limestone areas.
is illustrated by numerous drawings of spicules and
bv mans showing the distribution of the species—T. A.
Stephenson ; The genus Corallimorohus.
bv Moseley in 1870, and later by Hertwig in 1882 and
1888. There are two specimens of C. rigidus in the
collection of anemones made by the Fisheries Branch
and distribution are discussed. ©
OR as PT Pee | Pam
The variations of the com-
moner species are traced at some length. ~The paper
Corallimor-.
vhus is a genus of deen-sea Actiniaria, first described |
fice tala nee
JUNE 10, 1920]
NATURE
475
the Department of Agriculture and Technical In-
tion for Ireland from 1899 to 1913. These speci-
are described externally and anatomically in the
+, and compared with the eight other specimens
cribed by Moseley and Hertwig. The possibility of
these specimens belonging to one species is sug-
d and discussed, with the conclusion that it is
te likely that the genus contains one variable
cies only. On the other hand, further material is
uired for a final decision, and if the three species,
C. rigidus, profundus, and obtectus, should prove valid,
the Irish specimens would probably require a fourth
species. It is further pointed out that the thick and
Heid b ly of the anemones in question seems to be
correlated with deep-sea life, and that although the
snus has sometimes been regarded as a primitive
_ one, it has a number of characteristics which it would
seem can be considered only as specialisations or
_ advanced features.
of oat Paris.
__ Academy of Sciences, May 25.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—E. Goursat: Some transformations of
partial differential eauations of the second order.—
G. Bigourdan: The instruments and work of the
Sainte-Geneviéve Observatory. Historical account of
the work of Pingré and of Lechevalier done between
1755 and 1836.—]. Bossert: Catalogue of the proper
motion of 5671 stars, annotated and published by
L. Schulhof.—J. Baillaud: The method of the scale of
tints in photographic photometry.—C. Guichard : Con-
-gruences belonging to a linear complex such that the
lines of curvature correspond on the two focal sur-
faces.—G. Julia: Families of functions of several
variables.—M. Janet: Systems of partial differential
eae and systems of algebraic forms.—G. Sagnac :
he real relativity of the energy of the elements of
radiation and the motion of waves in the wther.—
F, Viés: Ultra-violet spectrophotometry of the nitro-
phenols. Seventeen nitro-derivatives were examined
and the spectra found to be, in general, constituted
of three elements: a constant band, due to the NO,
; a band related to the presence of the benzene
ring; and a third band the origin of which is doubt-
ful—M. de Broglie: The fine structure of X-ray
spectra. Details of a doublet given by rhodium... and
' comparison with the K spectrum of tungsten.—J. L.
Pech: Phenomena of antagonism between various
radiations (ultra-violet, visible spectrum. and_ infra-
red).—L. Thielemans: Regulation of cables for the
transport of electrical energy to long distances.—
_P. Bunet: The transport of energy to great distances.
Remarks on a recent commmnication by M. Brvlinski
on the same subject.—M. Toporescu: The lime and
magnesia carried down bv precipitates of ferric oxide.
Varving weights of ferric oxide were precipitated in
nesium salts, and the proportions of lime and mag-
nesia carried down were determined. A second pre-
cipitation of the ferric oxide is sufficient to remove
‘calcium salts, but this is not the case with magnesia.
—L. Guillet and M. Gasnier: The nlatine with nickel
of aluminium and its alloys.. The aluminium. or
alloy is cleaned and roughened bv sand-blasting, and
then takes a satisfactorv. deposit of nickel. The
influence of the size of the sand grains and the time
élapsed between the sand-hlasting and the dennsit have
been examined, and results are given.—A. C, Vour-
b BARes : A new series of complex combinations: the
antimony oxviodides. The mercurv compound may be
taken as a tvne of these substances; it has the com-
; pesition HgfShTO.).—R. Cornubert : The constitution
of some dialkvicyclohexanones. <A’ studv of the
ketones obtained bv treatine cvclohexanone with
sodium and then with alkvl halides.—C. Dufraisse ;
NO. 2641, VOL. 105]
presence of constant quantities of calcium and mag- |
The .stereo-isomeric forms of benzoylphenylacetylene
di-iodide.. The conditions under which either of the
two isomers can be isolated are given.—A, Mailhe ;
The catalytic hydrogenation of the . ketazines.—L.
Moret: The tectonic of the eastern bank of Lake
Annecy.—<A. Brives: Some results of a new journey
in Morocco. A completion of geological work com-
menced in igig.—P. Bonnet; The Permo-Triassic
limit in the Himalayan-Armenian geosynclinal.—
L. Dunoyer and G. Reboul: The prediction of the
weather.—G, Truffaut. and H. Bezssonoff; The in-
fluence of partial sterilisation on the composition of
the microbial flora of the soil.—R. Souéges: The
embryogeny of the Solanacez. Development of the
embryo in Hyoscyamus and Atropa.—P. Bertrand -
The constitution of the vascular system in ferns,
in Pteridosperms, and in all ancient Phanerogams.—
L. Blaringhem: The stability and fertility of the
hybrid Geum urbanum x G. rivale. From the morpho-
logical point of view the descent of this hybrid
is uniform and regularly fertile. Its mixed characters
are sufficiently distinct from those of its parents to
give a precise diagnosis, and as it propagates without
variation in the wild state it can be described as a
good systematic species.—J. Feytaud: The kings and
aueens of Leucotermes lucifugus.—A. Mayer, A.
Guieysse, and E. Fauré-Fremiet: Pulmonary lesions
determined by suffocating gases.—A. Trillat and M.
Mallein: The projection of micro-organisms into the
air. The influence of humidity.
Books Received.
Calcutta University Commission, 1917-19. Report.
Vol. vi.. Appendices and Index. Pp. vii+341+plates.
(Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing,
India.) 1 rupee or 1s. 6d. :
A Monograph of the British Orthoptera. By W. J.
Lucas. Pp. xii+264+xxv plates. (London: The Ray
Society.) 11. 5s. net.
The British Charophyta. By J. Groves and Canon
G. R. Bullock-Webster. Vol. i. Nitellew. Pp. xiv+
141+xx plates. (London: The Ray Society.) 11. 5s.
net.
Ozone. By Prof. E. K. Rideal. Pp. ix+ 198.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 12s. net.
Thomas Henry Huxley. By Dr. L. Huxley. Pp.
vii+120. (London: Watts and Co.) 3s. 6d. net. —
Auguste Comte. By F. J. Gould. Pp. v+122.
(London: Watts and Co.) 3s. 6d. net.
Is Spiritualism Based on Fraud? By J. McCabe-
Pp. vii+160. (London: Watts and Co.) 3s. net.
The Systematic Treatment of Gonorrhoea in the
Male. By N. Lumb. Second edition. Pp. viii+ 123.
(London: H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. —
Optical Projection. By Lewis Wright. Fifth edition.
Rewritten and brought up to date by R. S. Wright.
In two parts. Part i.: The Projection of Lantern-
Slides. Pn. viii+87. (London: Longmans and Co.)
4s. 6d net.
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, June 10.
INSTITUTION OF MINING ENGINERRS (at Geological Society), from rr a.m. to
s.—(General Meeting.)--Prof. H. Louis: Compensation for Subsidences.
—W. Maurice: ‘he Fleissner Singing-flame Lamp.—W. Maurice: The
Wolf-Pokorny and Wiede Acetylene Safety-lamps.—G. Oldham: ‘Ihe
‘*Oldham” Cap Type Miner's Electric Safety-lamp.—Discussion on
First Report of the Committee on “ The Control of Atmospheric ( onditions
in Hot and Deep Mines.”— D. S. Newey: A New Method of Working
Thick Seams of Coal at Raggeridge Colliery.—T. G. Bocking: Protractors.
—T. G. Bocking: Magnetic * pane ne Observations; A Method of
tilising the Kew Observatory Records.
ha oo apollo at 4.30.—Prof. A. V. Hill and W. Hartree: The Thermo-
Elastic Properties of Muscle.—Sir James Dobbie and J. J. Fox : The
Absorption of Light by Elements in the State of Vapour: (1) Selenium and
476
NATURE
Tellurium n 3 (2) Mercury, Cadmium, Zinc, Phosphorus, Arsenic, Antimony-
; . A. E. H. Tutton : Monoclinic Double oe thay) the Copper Group.
“ila te A baat Production and Transmission ofan K/nvironmental Effect
in Simocephalus vetulus.—E, C. Grey: The Enzymes of B. coli
communis “which are Concerned in the Decomposition of Glucose and
Manitol.. Part IV. The Fermentation of Glucose in the Presence of
Formic Acid.—L. T. Hogben: Studies on Synapsis. IL. Parallel Con-
jugation and the Prophase Complex in Periplaneta, with Special
Reference to the Premeiotic Telophase.
Lonpon MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—G. I. Taylor: (x) Tidal
Oscillations in Gulfs ae Rectangular Bax (2) Diffusion by Con-
tinuous Movements.—H. . Darling : Proofs of certain Identities and
Congruences enunciated a Mr. S. Kamanujan.—M. J. M. Hill: The
“etary ad of the Solution f an Algebraic Differential Equation.—F. B.
dduck: Functions of Limiting Matrices.— Milne: The Relation
barwaln Apolarity and a certain Porism of the Cubic Curve.
Rovat CoL_kGE oF Puysicrans OF LONDON, at 5.—Dr. A. F. Hurst:
The Psychology of the Special Senses and their Hysterical Disorders
(Croonian Lecture).
COncRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30—E. L. Joseph: Ventilation and Air- Purifi-
cation as applied to Modern Concrete Buildings.
OpticaL Society, at 7.30.—Miss A. B. Dale: Accuracy of Setting. —
Dr. J. S. Anderson: A New Method of [mmersion Refractometry.
InsTITUTE OF METALs (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers), at 8,—
Prof. C. A. F. Benedicks: Recent Progress in Thermo-Electricity
(Annual May Lecture).
SociETy oF ANTIQUARIES, at 8.30.
FRIDAY, June 11.
INSTITUTION oF Muninc ENGINEERS (at Geological Society), from 11 a.m:
to 5.
Roya ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5-—E. E. Barnard: Nova Persei
No. 2 (Anderson).—A. S. Eddington : Radiation-pressure in Solar Pheno-
mena.—R, A. Sampson: Geophysical Discussions, 1920 May 7: De-
termination of Longitude by Wireless Telegraphy.—Gén. Ferrié:
Note sur les procédés actuels d’emploi de la télégraphie sans fil dans la
détermination des Longitudes.—R. A. Fisher: A Mathematical Kxam-
ination of the Methods of Determining the Accuracy of an Observation by
the Mean Error and by the Square Mean Error.—H. S. Plaskett: The
Intensity Distribution in the Continuous Spectrum and the Intensity of
the Hydrogen Lines in y Cassiopeia.—J. Lunt: The Spectra of Nova
Aquilez No. 3. Third Paper. ;
PuysicaL Society oF Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. T. Barratt and A. J. Scott:
Radiation and Convection from Heated Surfaces.—J. S. G. Thomas:
An Electrical Hot-Wire Inclinometer.—L. F. Richardson: Convective
Cooling and the Theory of Dimensions.—J. W. T. Walsh: The Radiation
from a Perfectly Diffusing Circular Disc.
MALACcOoLoGICcAL SociETY OF LONDON (at Linnean Society), at 6.
MONDAY, June 14.
Vicroria INnsTITUTE (at Central Hall, Westminster), at 4.30.—Very
Rev. Dean Inge: Freedom and Discipline (Annual Address).
Society’ or CHEMICAL INpuUsTRY (London Section) (at Central House,
Finsbury Square), at 5.—(Annual Meeting.)
Sociery oF ENGINEERS (at Geological Society), Special Summer Meeting,
at 5.30.—E. ‘ ressy : Great Engineering Adventures.
FarRapAy Society (at Chemical Society), at 8.—Dr.A. Fleck and T. Wallace:
Conduction of Electricity through Fused Sodium Hydrate.—Dr. H. F.
Haworth: The og rg, en of Electrolytic Resistance using Alter-
nating Currents.—J. Haughton: The Measurement of Pet Brey
Conductivity in Basal and Alloys at High Temperatures.—N, V. 5.
Knibbs and H. Palfreeman: The Theory of El ctrochemical Chlorate
and Perchlorate Formation.—J. B. Firth: The Sorption of Iodine by
Carbon.—F. effery: The Electrolysis of Solutions of Sodium
Nitrate using a Copper Anode.—l)r. A. M. Williams: The Pressure
Variation of the Equilbrium Constant in Dilute Solution. — Miss
Nina Hosali: Description of Models illustrating Crystalline Form and
Symmetry.
TUESDAY, June 15.
Royat HorTicutturat Society, at 3.—Dr. A. B. Rendle: Plants of
Interest in the Day’s Exhibition.
Roya CoLLtece OF Puysicians oF LoNpON, at s:—Dr. A. F. Hurst:
The Psychology of the. Special Senses and their Hysterical Disorders
(Croonian |.ecture).
Rovar STATISTICAL SOCIETY, at\5.15.—G. F. Shirras: Some Effects of the
War on Gold and Silver.
Mrineratocicat Society (at Geological Society), at 5.30—W. A.
. Richardson: The Fibrous Gypsum of Nottinghamshire. oe ?. Mennell :
Rare Zinc-Copper Minerals: from the Rhodesian Broken Hill Mine,
Northern Rhodesia.—-Prof. R. Ohashi: The Plumbiferous Barytes from
Shibukuro, Prefecture of Akita, Japan.—W. A. Richardson: A New
. Model Rotating Stage Petrological Microscope.
Zoo.tocicat Society oF Lonpon, at 5.30.—Dr. P. Chalmess Mitchell:
Report on the Additions to the Society’s Menag -rie during the Month of
ay, 1920.—Prof. J. . Duerden: Exhibition of, and Remark on,
Ostrich Eggs.—Miss Joan B. Procter: (1) A Collectin of Tailless
Ratrachians from East Africa made by Mr. A. Loveridge in the Years
1914-19. (2) The Type-specimen of aa -holsti, Bou.enger.—R.. I.
Pocock : The External and Cranial Characters of the European Badger
(Meles) and the Amer.can Badger (Taxidea).—Dr. «x. J. Tillyard : The
Life-history of the Dragon-fly.
Roya, ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Prof. F. G. Parsons:
Distribution of Hair and Eye Colour in the British Isles.
WEDNESDAY, June 16.
Roya METEOROLOGICAL | ‘SocitTy (at tve Royal Astronomical
Society), at 5.—W. H. Dines: The Ether Differential Radiome:er.—
Prof. S. Chapman and E. A. Milne : The Composition, lonisation, and
Vi-cosity of the Atmosphere at Great Heights.
InsT:TUTION OF ELecrricAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Mechanical
Engineers), at 6.—Discussion on paper read by Sir Dugald Clerk before
the Royal Society of Arts, entitled Distribution of Heat, Light, and
Motive Power by Gas and Electricity.—Sir Dugald Clerk, Prof. A.
Smithells, and Prof. J..W. Cobb: The Report on the Coal-Gas and
Electrical Supply Industries of the United Kingdom to the President of
the Institution of Gas Engineers.
NO, 2641, VOL. 105 |
[JUNE 10, 1920
Royat Microscopicat Society, at 8.—Sir Horace Darwin and W 6
Collins: A Universal Microtome.—L.° Hogben : The Problem of
Synapsis.
THURSDAY, June 17.
By ph Society, at 4.30.—Prof. W. Bateson : Genetic Segregation (oases
ecture
LINNEAN ‘SocieTy, at). 5. —Celebratign of the Centenary of Sir Joseph
Banks, Bart. A tian —Dr. Daydon Jackson: Banks a» a Tra-
veller.—Dr. A. B. Rendle: Banks as a Patron of Science.—J. Britten :
Banks as a Botanist.
Roya CoLiLeGE OF Puysictans or Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. A. F. Hurst : The
pbcpet of the Special Senses and their Hysterical Disorders(Croonian
ecture
CuEmIcAL Society (at patipation, of Mechanical Engineers), at 8.— Prof
J. C. McLennan : Heliu
FRI DAY, June 18. }
Rovat Society or Arts (Indian Section), at 4.30.—Sir Valentine Chirol :
The Enduring Power of Hinduism (Sir George Birdwood Memorial
Lecture),
GEOPHYSICAL ConmrrrEe (at Royal Astronomical Society), at 5.—Com-
mander Warburg, Prof. H. mb, Dr. roudman, ie.
Dodson, Major A; J. Wolff, and H. L. P. Jolly: ’ Discussion on Tides.
SATURDAY, Jone 19.
British PsycHo.ocicaL Sociery (at University College, Gower not)
at 3.30.—Dr, J. Drever : The Emotional Phases of Affective Experien
Puysio.ecicaL Society (at Physiological Laboratory, Varraaey of
London, South-Kensington), at 4.30.—G. Aurepand C. Lovatt Evans : The
Mode of Action of Vaso-dilator. Nerves. —C. Lovatt Evans: The Lactic
Acid Content of Plain Muscle.’
CONTENTS.
By Prof. G. Dawes
PAGE
Naval Education. . 445
The Ultimate Data of Physics.
Hicks’. ep
Life and Letters of Silvanus P. Thompson. By
A. A. Campbell Swinton, F.R.S.
Academic Research and Industrial Application.
. By G. T. M. «| Sg Reamer
Ptr sey Studies ‘of Composite «5/2 Seen ee
Our Bookshelf _ . 7 ar
Letters to the Editor :—
The Organisation of Scientific Work i in India.—Sir
Thomas H. Holland, K.C.LE.,F.R.S. ...
Anti-Gas Fans.—Prof. A. E Allmand Tig ;
ees of High Levels in the "Atmosphere.—
TW, a. ees, ERG. 7
Central Wireless Station for Astronomy. |—Major
William J. S. Lockyer
The ‘‘Flight” of Flying-fish. _?rof. W. N. F.
Woodland; Sir David Wilson-Barker . . 455
Fellow- Workers. — Sir. Ronald ‘Ross, K.C. a5
F.R.S.
KS, 455
The Approximate Evaluation of. Definite Integrals oar
between Finite Limits.—A. F. Dufton 455
The Cost of Laboratory Fittings.—Alan E. Munby 456
The First Act of a Young Thrush.—Honor M.
_ ,Perrycoste . 456
Marat and the Deflection of Light. Prof. W. A.
Osborne 456
British and Metric Systems of Weights and Measures. he
—Alfred S. E, Ackermann , 456
Aircraft Photography in the Service of "Science. '
(Illustrated.) By H. Hamshaw Thomas. 457
The Dynamics of Shell re (ee ‘Diagrains.)
‘By RH; Bowler: \...'«%. ‘ ‘ a1 oT See ae ee SD
Obituary :— | ?
Prot, . 1. Daneeiien. F.RS. By Prof. w.
-Bateson, F.R.S. 23. 43. ee eee
Notes f wales, pk oe is ag en i
Our Astronomical Column :— :
Photographs of the Brorsen-Metcalf Comet. . . . . 467
The Planetary Families of Comets —. 467
The Thunderstorms of may 29 and the ‘Louth ;
’ Disaster . . oo oges
Annual Meeting of the British Science Guild . . 468
Annual Visitation of the Royer ae ie rites
Greenwich §.°. : Eee eee ee
Applied Statistics. - By D. Hy. 470
The Imperial College : Y Claim to Univerdiey Status. 471
The Smoke Nuisance. ByJ. B.C. .....-..... 471
The Molecular Energy in Gases . . tia eae 472:
University and Educational Intelligence 4 Nay ae re
Societies and Academies ....... ..+,. +++ 473
Books Received . . op oe ete ee
Diary of Societies . 2... 2 0 ee ee we te 475
446
a een nine — >
ase Silny
:
_ THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
a ae MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
___ ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
PHUSIS, LONDON.
GERRARD 8830.
; _ Telegraphic Address:
Telephone Number :
University Stipends and Pensions.
JO one disputes that “there is no organised
intellectual unit higher or more compre-
Sidive than a University,” and few, on reflection,
would differ from Sir John Seeley in affirming that
the education in England is what the Universities
choose to make it. Not only are the Universities
and institutions of University rank the highest
product of our educational system, but they also
have the power of influencing the trend of thought
and ideals in education to an incalculable degree.
To a large extent, therefore, the advance to a
higher plane of civilisation is dependent upon
their free and untrammelled development. In
pursuit of truth, whether in philosophy, or science,
or technology, independent of. material considera-
tions, they are pioneers of research, blazing the
trail for industry, commerce, and those human
efforts which add to the sum of life’s happiness.
Anything which acts as an impediment or hind-
Tance to this development cannot be viewed simply
as an injury to the institutions themselves; it is
an injury to the community, to the nation, and to
civilisation. If this be true, one or two facts of
capital importance require to be considered in the
light of.a few principles.
‘ever, let us examine the broad relations of the
State to the University.
The State can no more dispense with the co-
operation of the Universities than the Universities
with the co-operation and assistance of the State.
Their interests are mutual and their services re-
ciprocal. The influence of the University ramifies
through the whole of the administration of the
country, its great Departments of State and its two
legislative Houses, its local governing bodies and
its courts of justice. Obviously the State cannot
‘afford to see the Universities or the University
colleges wilt under economic pressure. Now this
is precisely what will happen if it does not take
a clearer. view of its responsibilities. and their
NO. 2642, VOL. 105]
For the moment, how- |
NATURE — 477
teigical implications. The University grant,
demonstrably insufficient in pre-war, times, is
absurdly inadequate now. - Not merely have money
values changed to an extraordinary extent, but
the demands upon the Universities in regard to
accommodation, equipment, and facilities for re-
search have increased to an almost equal degree.
If to these be added the necessary adjustments in
salaries of the staffs, the inadequacy is still more
apparent.
The State will have to recognise these facts
and, if for no other reason than that of enlight-
ened self-interest, to assume heavier financial re-
sponsibilities. As matters stand at present, those
borne by the State are altogether dispropor-
tionate to the services rendered by the Universities
to the nation. In consequence, the statement is
as true to-day as it was when made ten years ago
that our newer Universities are “a composite
figure in which progress and poverty are the pre-
vailing hues.” But such increased financial re-
sponsibility should not absolve the State from pre-
serving in its traditional integrity that freedom
which is the life-blood of an institution coeval in
origin with Parliament itself. It is platitudinous
to say that no one wishes to see the Universities,
new or old, in any sort of intellectual subjection.
Unfortunately, however, intellectual subjection is
too often the outcome of material subjection. A
wise State will show its wisdom in preserving in
all its integrity that from which it derives, in-
directly though it be, its vital energy, and through
which it renews its spiritual life from generation
to generation.
On broad and general grounds we have argued
that the State has responsibilities to the institu-
tions of higher learning of which it cannot divest
itself, and that these responsibilities are such as
can be fulfilled only by ‘much more generous
financial support than is given at present. It is
necessary, therefore, to indicate how seriously
these institutions are affected by the lack of this
support. The. question of stipends and pensions
alone will be considered. Too often a university
is conceived in terms of stone and mortar; essen-
tially, however, it is a corporation, a society of
human beings, a body of teachers and students.
To say that an efficient and highly qualified staff
is fundamental is simply to express a truism.
Such a staff is the product of many years of
patient and unremitting study. If by any mis-
chance or lack of vision the flow of able and
gifted students to this higher teaching is checked,
the loss will be irreparable. That such a result
R
‘
ON 9
478
NATURE
[Jone 17, 1920
is not a remote possibility is becoming sufficiently
obvious to those who: are: watching the present
trend of University affairs. A teacher does not
enter on his career in the hope of amassing riches.
With such an ambition the teaching profession is
among the last to which he would resort. De-
barred from the financial prizes possible to a busi-
ness career, he has the right to expect emolu-
ments which will enable him to live decently and
to move in a social circle to which his education
and training entitle him. This is especially true of
the University teacher.
Now, as a matter of fact, the stipends of Uni-
versity teachers in this country at the present time,
particularly, in the non-professorial staff, do not
conform to, this standard, but fall miserably short
of it. .A large proportion of assistant lecturers
and demonstrators, full-time teachers, receive no
more, and some much less, than 250l. a year-—a
salary. or. wage which, under present conditions,
_ would;;be accepted by. no self-respecting mason or
miner. The grade of lecturer, comprising as it
does-a'great number of men and women who can
never ‘hope to attain professorial rank, however
well. qualified for it by ability and experience, fares
little better. The average salary of this: class
ranks somewhere néar 4ool. a year, and one may
take it that the pre-war value of this sum is
approximately equal to 200l. a year. If the aver-
‘age rate of remuneration of such posts remains
at these figures, it requires no gift of prophecy to
predict that the flow of talent to the teaching
staffs of the Universities and University colleges
will inevitably be checked.
The’ question of the remuneration of the non-
professorial element is most important. The num-
bers are great, the aggregate hardships intoler-
able. But the stipends of professors as a whole
also show little relation to the emoluments in
corresponding, positions outside the University.
A large;number of professors receive less than
8ool..a year, and considerably more than 80 per
cent, less than the professorial salary indicated by
the Association of University Teachers as a mini-
mum—viz. 11ool, a year. . Obviously, again, the
gift of prophecy need not be conjured up to pre-
dict the result. Already the professorial ranks have
been, and‘are being, depleted by the superior in-
ducements offered in industrial, scientific, and com-
mercial business organisations. It is futile to
argue that public benefactions should make good
these pressing needs. One cannot dragoon public
benefactions.
“NO. 2642, VOL. 105]
‘ Act,
It is too much to expect the local
authorities and the students to make good the
deficiencies. Generally speaking, both conte
reasonable proportions.
affair, and the State must implement to the. full its
responsibilities.
The present position regarding superannuation:
is very unsatisfactory. As a general principle, it
may be laid down that anything which restricts.
the field from which the University recruits its
staff is inimical to University interests, and hence,
in the long run, to education in general. Now the
effect of the School Teachers (Superannuation)
1918, is to restrict this field. Any school
teacher eligible for its benefits cannot accept an
appointment in a University without sacrificing
pension rights, in whole or in part. Thus it inter-
poses a barrier—in some cases insurmountable—
between the University on one hand, and the
technical colleges, the training colleges outside
the University, and the schools on the other. The
free transfer of teachers to the University is ham-
pered. Already cases are on record of candidates
refusing University appointments on finding that
acceptance would entail a loss of pension benefits
‘accruing from the Act.
It would be most unfor-
tunate if service in schools—a most useful experi-
ence for a future University teacher—is to be a
bar to later service in the University.
Another effect of the Act is to draw an invidious
distinction between existing University teachers
and other teachers.
pension benefits incomparably superior to any
previous teachers’ scheme; while 5 per cent., the
University teachers, are excluded, and excluded
without any compensation. The position is
illogical, unjustifiable, and detrimental to educa-
tion. One or two illustrations will make this clear.
In the University of London some schools of the
University come within the provisions of the Act;
the rest do not. Thus transfers from one school
to another within the same University are made
difficult or even impossible. The principal of the
Government School of Art attached to a certain
University college is said to be the only principal
of such a school who is not qualified under the —
Act—this solely because his school forms part of
the University college. In other districts neigh-
bouring institutions engaged in the training of
teachers are distinguished from one another in the 3
matter of superannuation, because one forms a —
department of a University and the other does
not. This is in spite of the fact that the two
institutions are doing the same ‘kind of work, for —
the same purpose, under the same authority (the —
The matter is a State
Ninety-five per cent. of the ©
whole teaching profession are now eligible” for
Se as resp
would be highly diverting were their conse-
es not so serious.
‘his anomalous state of affairs has provoked
ch criticism in University circles. What com-
ates matters is the fact that there exists a con-
tory pension scheme in the Universities—the
ted superannuation scheme—which is
ght by some to be superior to the Teachers
Act in certain respects, such as in cases of death
during service and of retirement before the age of
<ty, and in the form of benefit on retiral. As
against these the Teachers Act is non-contributory,
is retrospective, and its benefits are calculated
ipon the average salary in the last five years of
_ service. The whole question has been considered
_ by a conference of representatives from the Uni-
-versities of England and Wales, at which it was
unanimously resolved to lay the case before the
Chancellor of the Exchequer in terms of the follow-
ng resolutions :—
__ “(1) That this Conference is of opinion that the
_ interests of English and Welsh education as a
_ whole demand the institution of a scheme of
_ superannuation for University teachers and
_ administrative officials conferring benefits not
inferi to those granted under the School
_ Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 1918, and of a
_ like retrospective character ; (2) that such a scheme
a should make due provision (a) for the super-
_ annuation of persons who enter the service of a
University or University college so late in life
as to be unable to acquire the service qualification
-hecessary under the School Teachers Act; (b) for
_ meeting the case of persons who retire before the
_ normal age of retirement; and (c) for meeting the
_ ase of persons who die on service. (3) That any
_ scheme of superannuation for University teachers
and administrative officials should be of such a
ature as to allow (without loss in respect of
_ Superannuation). the transfer of a person employed
_ at a University or University college to another
_ approved educational or scientific institution in
_ Great Britain or vice versa.” : “2
The term “institution,” of course, includes
_ schools. These resolutions have been accepted by
the Association of University Teachers. Whatever
be the result, it is a great step forward to have
secured unanimity on essentials. The resolutions
have clearly demonstrated the present absolute
inadequacy of the federated superannuation
System and the difficulty of patching up _ its
deficiencies as regards retrospective benefits, inter- .
changeability of teachers, and the amount of
retiral allowances or annuities.
NO. 2642, VOL. 105]
Jone 17, 1920] NATURE 479
rd of Education), and that their students do ‘
teaching practice in the same kind of schools Aerography.
ler the same local education authority. These | The Principles of Aérography. By Prof A.
McAdie. Pp. xii+ 318. (London: G. G. Harrap
and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 21s. net.
ROM time to time it has been‘a subject of
remark by the learned that a book on
meteorology has to be a collection of essays,
because the available material does not lend itself
to exposition in a connected treatise. The sub-
stitution of the new name aerography for the
older meteorology has not changed the leopard’s
spots. Indeed, Prof. McAdie has made the
peculiarities of the subject more remarkable by
presenting a work which is partly a collection of
meteorological essays, and partly the note-book of
a physicist interested in the study of the atmo-
sphere.
Out of eighteen chapters, the first four are a
recitation of the physical meteorologist’s “credo,”
which includes absolute units as a’ theme: with
variations, preceded by a brief history. There
follow nine chapters, which are partly note-book
and partly essay; then the essay gradually. extends
its claim in chapters on atmospheric electricity,
precipitation, floods, and notable storms,.until it
fully asserts itself in a chapter on frosts... Finally,
a couple of pages of solar influences lead us to an
appendix of conversion-tables and an_ excellent
index.
It is the characteristic of the note-book which
will appeal most to the reader. We find a sum-
mary of references to the results of modern aero-
logical research which are frequently wanted and
not elsewhere at hand. Very useful information
about investigations with kites, pilot balloons,
and sounding balloons is put in an attractive
form. It includes, on p. 19, a table of ex-
treme elevations reached by various means, and
much other information of like character. The
whole is well illustrated by photographs, maps,
and diagrams. It is rather discursive. ‘It begins
with the troposphere and stratosphere; winds
follow the “major circulation” and the “ minor
circulation.” Ocean currents get a “look in”
with the major circulation.
The “credo” is interesting; it shows how care-
ful one has to be in choosing words to: express
one’s meaning. The student has to think when
he reads: “The gas constant for the air is .not
constant. It varies... owing to the. non-
adiabatic character of the atmosphere.” . “It
should be remembered that a gram of ice is. by
weight a little more than a cubic centimetre, and
if pure ice is used only 73 calories are needed ”
(for liquefaction). Very little unorthodoxy is
480
NATURE
[June 17, 1920
allowed: to escape through the meshes of the
author’s critical net, but he“is: apparently not con-
cerned with the prevalent yet distracting use of the
word “gradient” to mean rate of loss: per unit
length either in the vertical or horizontal direction
when speaking of temperature. In this country we
_are becoming accustomed to confine the word
“gradient ”’ to what is commonly understood when
it is used with pressure, and to use “lapse” for
vertical changes, which are normally losses, with
increasing height. -
As readers of Nature already know, it is part
of Prof. McAdie’s “credo” that pressure should
be expressed in “kilobars,” which are now: com-
monly known as “ millibars,” and that temperature
should be expressed in new absolute units of which
1000 go to 273 degrees of the Centigrade scale.
In the ‘reviewer’s experience of units the whole
world is divided into three very unequal: parts.
By far the largest part is made up of persons who
think that absolute units for practical concerns are
obviously impossible because the man in the street
does not “understand” them at all; the next
largest of those who think that absolute units
in practice are quite unnecessary because any
competent man of science fully understands them
and can:make the transition whenever he requires
them; and the third is a small body of persons
who are devoted to their use because the scientific
future of meteorology lies that way. To change
once-more the already changed in order to remove
“an apparent historical inconsistency conveys no
promise of ranging the well-informed minority on
the side of progressive action, but would hand
us over helpless to the judgment of the great
majority who do not “understand,” and who are
obsessed with the idea that scientific results are
naught if they cannot be used without thinking.
Among: the excellent illustrations of the book
are some photographs of cloud-forms. Its author
is very insistent that Luke Howard’s classifica-
tion of cloud-forms on the basis of appearance,
as extended by the international conferences, is
wrong in principle. He thinks they should be
classified according to origin. Unfortunately, the
appearance is all that an observer can record, and
to ask.the ordinary observer to differentiate between
similar appearances according to some general
instruction as to origin would add materially to
the difficulties of the student. . What is most
wanted is some effective means for the individual
_observer to ascertain the height of the cloud which
he sees. Some simple form of range-finder for
clouds suitable for the chief observatories ought
not to be beyond the limit of possibility.
The book comes from Blue Hill Observatory,
now a part of Harvard University, and contains
NO. 2642, VOL, 105]
much incidental information as to the great
services which that establishment has rendered
to meteorology.
in this country will welcome the attempt of its
present chief to sét out the leading principles of
aerography which the observatory has dong: so
much to elucidate. * ’
Paper-making and its Machinery. _
Paper-making and its Machinery: Including
Chapters on the Tub-sizing of Paper, the
Coating and Finishing of Art Paper, and the
Coating of Photographic Paper. By T. W.
Chalmers. (The Engineer Series.) Pp. xi+
178+vi plates. (London: Constable and ee
Ltd., 1920.) Price 26s. net.
HE author in his preface has rightly stated
Ll that the chemist interested in paper-making
finds ample technical literature at his disposal,
whereas the engineer is not provided with any
books dealing with the peculiar mechanical prob-
lems of. his industry. Since the publication of
Hofmann’s treatise on “The Manufacture of
Paper ’’ in 1873 no serious attempt has been made
to supply the paper-maker with an intelligent. and
comprehensive text-book devoted to a study of
the economic and efficient control of the machinery
peculiar to the manufacture of paper.
Mr. Chalmers’s effort in this direction, admir-
able as it is, regarded in its proper aspect as a
pioneer to some such technical treatise, falls far
short of our expectations in this direction. It
is. doubtful whether a really practical and useful
text-book on the engineering problems of the paper
industry will ever be written. The utility of the
book we have in mind will depend on a free and’
frank exposé, by an engineer thoroughly ac-
quainted with the art and practice of paper-
making, of.conditions, methods, economics, power
costs, capacities, output, means for overcoming
difficulties, and the hundred “wrinkles” born of
long apprenticeship. The description of paper-
machines and subsidiary appliances, essential as
it certainly is, constitutes only one part, and that
the minor part, of an ideal manual.
The causes which have contributed to this lack
of information may: be traced to the somewhat
natural reluctance on the part of a practical en-
gineer to ‘“‘ give away’’ his knowledge. Every
engineer fondly believes he has a monopoly of a
this kind, and the difficulty of shaking him from
such an idea may fully account for the absence of
a text-book which would be gladly welcomed by
the trade. We may therefore reasonably hope that
the present work will inspire some _Paper-maker_ :
to write a supplement.
Its many friends and admirers oh
eres
~
eo
oi
§
a
3
BS
3
Jee 17, 1920]
WATURE
481
that. the - “processes involved .are. so, many. as to
tions of the special machinery.
_ After a-brief introductory chapter dealing- seish
‘sundry historical. facts the author proceeds to
_ elassify the machinery and apparatus under the
several processes of. manufacture, beginning with
i _rag-choppers and dusters, as required for cleaning
_ material preparatory to chemical treatment. The
& “well-known types of cutters and dusters are
BY clearly illustrated.
The section devoted to the boiling of fibrous
A EP ibeteriel is incomplete owing to the omission of
= cekaiete evaporators,. the rotary incinerator
_ furnace, causticising pans, and the plant necessary.
. for the recovery and causticising of spent ae
_ This is to be regretted.
The processes for washing, breaking, and
- bleaching the boiled materials are next described,
. being accompanied by drawings of machinery in
common use. Masson and Scott’s bleaching-
_ tower system is shown as dependent for its effici-
ow on the continual circulation of bleached
_ stock. Experience has proved that intermittent
circulation gives good results with economy in
_ power. Plant used for pulping is well represented
by the Kollergang and various kneading
machines.
The important and difficult subject of beating is
_ fairly handled, the temptation to describe “freak ”’
beating engines being avoided. The merits of
_ beaters with separate circulating devices are dis-
- cussed, and the special functions of refiners clearly
described. The value of this section of the book
would have been greatly enhanced by the inclu-
sion of precise details as to power consumption,
capacity, output, and costs of maintenance. The
. author appears to have confined his attention to
the description and illustrations of the machinery.
Chaps. vii. to xi. are devoted to the production
of an endless sheet of paper, and give an ex-
‘cellent account of the Fourdrinier machine used
for this purpose. The illustrations are mainly
Daily Telegraph paper-mills, Dartford.
__ The wear-and-tear of the machine wire is amply:
shown by the statement that the load on a 100-in.
machine wire may be 14 tons, due to the vacuum
at the suction-boxes. No reference is made to the
much-advertised ‘suction-roll which came into
prominence some years.ago.
The importance of, a, stuff-catcher, or econo-.
miser, for saving. the fine fibres and loadings in.-the
backwater is referred ta, and Filner’ Ss. save-all. |
stands as the typical. machine. for the purpose.:
This appliance is now almost entirely superseded
NO. 2642, VOL. 105]
ones nae
“Mr. Chalmers-has done, good. service in iehowing
justify the issue of a book giving detailed descrip-: |
produced from the machine in operation at the |
Ley the * vat- mouid type of save-all with large,
hollow cylinder and endless felt.!°<"* 9.
“The many. ‘designs: of pulp-strainers: are fully
illustrated, from the .original flat type. of early
days to the circular, oscillating forms of modern
times. The finishing». processes. of paper-making
are illustrated by tub-sizing machines; calenders,
and cutters.
Chap. xiv. is devoted to a.description of wood-
pulp and _ its manufacture, necessarily brief be-
cause very little wood-pulp is made in this country.
Only one or two mills are seriously occupied with
its manufacture.
The two most interesting chapters in the book
are those dealing with “The Coating of Art
Paper’’ and “ The Coating of Photographic
Paper.’’ The author is probably correct, so far
as Our memory serves us, in saying that the in-
formation given in this connection is in many
respects quite new, and.much fuller than any
previously published.
A full description of a plant for coating art
paper, manufactured by Messrs. Mather ahd Platt,
Ltd., is illustrated with excellent drawings and
diagrams. It is, of course, well known to
our readers that the paper when coated is formed
up into long loops, or festoons, which are carried
along on endless chains, being gradually
dried by warm air. A long room is used for
the purpose. In some cases the trackway has
to be made longer by bending, so that the festoons
can be carried.to and fro in a short room. This
is effected by the use of “bends ’’ in the trackway,
and a complete lay-out of an installation of this
kind made by Messrs. Masson, Scott, and Co. is
given in the text.
We should not be surprised if many readers
interested in paper-making were to obtain a copy
of this book on account of the last sections,
devoted to the coating of photographic paper. The
author rightly emphasises the absolute importance
| of the body paper, its cleanliness and freedom
-from iron and metallic particles. The use of
baryta, or barium sulphate, is described, and also
the special machinery for imparting the sensitised
emulsion.
‘Taking the book asa whole, we are glad to
recommend it to those associated with the paper
-industry. The average engineer of experience
may not find much with which he is not already
familiar, but to a large class of readers a, book
‘of this type must be welcome. * It is copiously
| illustrated by drawings and diagrams, most of
‘ which have been supplied or lent by two Scottish
engineering. firms who understand the value of
| being obliging and. courteous.
if R. W. SInDAtt.
es
:
482
NATURE
[June 17, 1920
The Structure of the Nucleus.
Cytology: With Special Reference. to. the Meta-
goan Nucleus. By Prof. W.. E. Agar::
Pp. xii+ 224. (London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd:,‘1920.) Price 12s. ‘net.
YTOLOGY as a science is of relatively recent
growth, and its development was made pos-
sible only by improvements in the microscope. Yet
the study of the details of cell structure and
activity is now fundamental to almost every phase
of biology. , Nevertheless, biologists are too fre-
quently content with a superficial or second-hand
acquaintance with this fascinating field.
Previous. to 1900 the process of mitosis had
been ‘investigated, the general constancy, of the
chromésomes from one cell generation to another
was recognised, and their relations to fertilisation
and ''redtiction were understood in a general way,
through the, studies particularly of Strasburger and
Hertwig :. the foundations of the present cytology
were -Jaid. . Synapsis had been recognised by
Moore:asa unique phase of the nucleus, and this
led ‘to: a'decade of active research by Farmer,
Moore, ‘Wilson, Strasburger, Grégoire, and a host
of StRer plant: and animal cytologists to elucidate
the intricate course of events during the meiotic
or reduction, period.
But.it, is during the present century that im-
provements: in method and increasing accuracy
of observation have made possible the remarkable
series of discoveries which have led to the present
outlook on cytological problems. Particularly
noteworthy has been the intimate linking up of the
chromosomes with the- problems of heredity, sex,
mutation, and morphogenesis. This era of work
began with the discovery of Montgomery in 1901.
that the chromosomes in the nuclei of certain
animals were in pairs, the members of which are
respectively of maternal and paternal origin.
Sutton in 1903 clearly established this relationship
in an insect in which the chromosomes were of
different sizes, and it is now a commonplace of
observation in a large number of animals and
plants. Several writers had already, shortly before
the Mendelian phenomena became known, pointed
out the theoretical possibilities for heredity which
lie in the reduction division where the pairs of
chromosomes are separated to enter different germ-
cells.
the chain of evidence connecting the chromosomes
with heredity and also with variation has drawn
ever closer, until now the relationship must be
regarded as definitely established.
One of the earlier stages in this proof was ‘the.
discovery of the sex chromosomes in insects and
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
In the following two decades of research,,.
afterwards in other animals.
gestion of McClung, linking a particular chromo-
some with sex, was followed by notable discoveries -
by Wilson, Morgan, Doncaster, and a host of
other investigators. Then a constant’ relationship
between chromosome numbers -and~ external
characters was shown in the case of the (Enothera’
mutations; and still more recently the work of'
Morgan and Bridges on the non-disjunction a
chromosomes and its relation to inheritance ~
‘Drosophila, combined with an enormous peace
porary accumulation of collateral evidence of | many
kinds, has added the final link in the chee of
evidence.
Recent work tends more and more not et to
analyse the chromosomes themselves into their
visible microscopic elements, but also to show the
relationships which these bear to the hereditary
Mendelian units. The chromatin morphology in
related species is also being: compared, and even
chromosome phylogeny is no longer’ a visionary ’
hypothesis.
All these and other pecbnt developments in the
field of cytology are admirably set forth in the
work before us by Prof. Agar, who has thereby :
placed all biologists in his debt. The book will be
chiefly useful to cytologists as a summary of the
facts and the literature connected with a particular
field—the nucleus in animals above the Protozoa.
Within this purview are discussed many of the
The,
problems connected with nuclear structure,
author deals with mitosis and meiosis, syngamy.
and parthenogenesis, with a detailed discussion of —
these phenomena in various animal forms. He
points out that the fundamental fact of meiosis is
the segregation of the members of each pair of
homologous chromosomes, and compares the
parasynaptic and telosynaptic methods of meiotic
pairing. We cannot agree with him that the
telosynaptic method has been definitely disposed
of, as it is still the best authenticated account in
a number of plants and animals.
any difficulty i in the belief that both methods may
exist in different organisms, a view first expressed
ten years ago.
The account of meiosis in parthenogenetic eggs
is welcome, but the discussion of the germ track
in animals might have included a greater variety
of forms.
The later chapters give a useful account of the.
sex chromosomes, theories of chromosome
individuality and structure, and variations in
chromosome number. An interesting chapter on
heredity and morphogenesis considers the chromo-_
some behaviour and sterility in hybrids, the cyto-
logical basis of mutation, and general questions
The _ initial: ie 4
Nor can we find
a
eS ee a ne
wr
} % Jost 17,-1920]
ee duced.
circle of readers, it will be of great service to all
those who wish to be informed concerning the
3 results arising out of the work of the last twenty
years on this subject.
_ indispensable for reference, and biologists gener-
ally will turn to it. for the more recent work
short account of the chondriosomes,
NATURE
483...
ating to the réle of the nucleus and the chromo-
omes in development. Another section gives a
while the
final chapter is concerned with the nucleus in the
q Protista and the nuclear relationships, in plants.
The book is well illustrated and excellently pro-
While it can scarcely appeal to a wide
The cytologist will find it
_ relating to these problems. R. Ro Ge
} Our Bookshelf. |
Aircraft in Peace and the. Law. By Dr. J. M.
Pp. viii+233. (London: Macmillan
Spaight.
_~ and Co., Ltd., 1919.) Price 8s. 6d. net.
_ Tuis is a useful attempt to put before the public
the main issues of international law relating to
the air. In every new development of modern
invention, law-making authorities are faced with
the difficult task of applying old. principles to
developments not contemplated when those prin-
ciples were formulated, and with such a revolu-
tionary departure as the modern aircraft there is
a grave risk of deception by a false analogy. The
British method has been to apply as far as pos-
sible the principles of the Merchant Shipping Acts
to aircraft. The idea is lacking in boldness and
imagination, for there is little parallel between
the two forms of navigation in relation either to
the problems of the navigators themselves, or to
the viphts and liabilities of the public at large.
Generally speaking, however, a wise caution has
been exercised by those who framed the Inter-
national Convention. From another point of view
the fundamental issue in aerial navigation is the
sovereignty of the air, and on this England re-
served her opinion. Continental Powers, with-
_ out exception, clearly realising the serious mili-
tary problems before them if all comers. were
allowed unrestricted flight above their territories,
maintained in full their dominion in the air above
their lands and ‘territofial waters.
the other hand, had a different problem to face.
No aerial ‘highway of any importance crosses her:
frontiers in any part of the. world, but.nearly: all
the aerial routes which link. up her scattered
dominions | do almost invariably cross the terri-
tories of other nations; she ought, therefore, her
aerial sighed maintained, to hold out for free
fi t.
t would seem that this view: exaggerated the
difficulties. put in the way, of innocent: traffic by.
the. maintenance.. of sovereignty, .and minimised.
We. must not.
the dangers, of. sudden Anyasion.
forget that the economic, interests of Great Britain
are just as dependent on ‘military’ security as they |
NO. 2642, VOL. 105] °
‘England, on’
; superficial.
are on theoretical freedom of transport, and
therefore Dr. Spaight would. seem to. be" quite
correct in urging the maintenance of the doctrine
of the sovereignty of the air. Popular panic is
a disaster only less serious than actual ‘assault.
The book is well arranged and indexed; while the
writer’s comments on what is as yet ‘almost: an
untested department of law of exceptional diffi-.
culty, are acute, unprejudiced, and well-informed.
W. B:'F.
Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony: First. Prin-
ciples, Present Practice, and Testing. | By
H, M. Dowsett. Pp. xxxi+331. (London:
- The Wireless Press, Ltd., 1920.) Price 95.
THE object of this work is to provide a connect-
ing link between the various elementary text-
books, intended for those taking up the study of
wireless telegraphy, and advanced treatises ‘deal-:
ing with particular aspects or branches. of. the
subject. It does not aim at completeness, but
usefully develops certain parts of the theory and,
practice involved. The author insists upon an
adequate appreciation of the structure of the atom
and the part played by its constituents for a clear
understanding of the phenomena met with “in
wireless working, and puts forward conceptions
which, if not presenting a perfectly true scale
model of the atom, at any rate are helpful in
fixing the ideas. Another theoretical chapter leads
up to explanations of some of the methods used
in spark and continuous-wave transmission ; and
perhaps the most important sections of the book
deal with the thermo-ionic valve and the modern
methods of its employment for both reception and
transmission, upon which so much of the recent.
advances depends. Other developments dealt, with
are high-speed automatic transmission and direc-
tion finding. A considerable portion of the book
is devoted to systems of measurement of ‘electrical
quantities adapted to wireless telegraph’ testing.
The author concerns himself only with up-to-date:
methods, and historical matter does not form part
of his scheme. — .
Chimica delle
Michele Giua.
Hoepli, 1919.)
Sostanze Esplosive. By Prof.
Pp. xvi+'557. ' (Milano: ‘Utrico
Price 28 lire. af
TuIs treatise is written from the point of view
of the laboratory chemist, and contains a) very.
full account of the chemistry.-of .explosive: eom-
pounds. .. The author bases his work .on»that. of,
Berthelot, and _develops.the theoretical, treatment.
bf. explosive reactions. on. thermochemical. lines.
When dealing with the propagation of explosions
through | gases, the work. of British investigators
is practically unnoticed, and although afew refer-
ences to papers do indeed appear. in’ a table, they
are omitted: from the index. ‘The’ treatment) of!
this part of the subject.thus appears to,be,rsather,
The. explosive .compounds, are, de- .
scribed fully, and_brief,, but. clear, accounts _ are
given | of the plant used in their manufacture. “This
section, with its numerous references tothe litera
; .) Vis
‘
C298 OM
484
NATURE
[JUNE 17, 1920
ture, should prove of value to the organic chemist,
but there is little attempt to compare the relative
advantages of the compounds so described as con-
stituents of technical explosives, and a compre-
hensive review of the whole subject is lacking.
A later section contains «he compositions of a
large number of explosive mixtures, drawn mainly
from the patent literature. It may be noted that,
whilst many complex mixtures containing: am-
monium nitrate as their principal constituent ‘are
cited, there is no mention of the simple amatol
mixtures which were so extensively employed
during the war. The closing chapter describes
the usual.methods of testing explosives, and of
performing the analysis of the raw materials and
finished products. The illustrations include
numerous photomicrographs of: crystalline com-
pounds, nitrated fibres, and prepared mixtures.
CoH. Dd:
Lad: A Dog. By .Albert Payson Terhune.
Pp. 309. (London and Toronto: J. M. Dent
and Sons, Ltd., 1920.) Price 6s. net.
TuoseE who like dogs will find this tribute very
interesting, and will, we think, be able to confirm
much of it from personal experience. Those who
begin the book with a prejudice in the other
direction are, we think, likely to change their
position. The story is told enthusiastically, but
there is no nonsense about it, and the anthropo-
morphism is restrained. Some comparative
psychologists of the severer sort have said that
the fatal thing is a personal interest in the
creature observed, and the danger of mingling
emotion with inference, and inference with
observation, is well known. We might admit
this, and yet hold that. comparative psychology
is likely to be advanced by intimate studies such
as Mr. Terhune has given us of “Lad.” There
may be glimpses of reality to be got in this way
which the analytic method does not reveal. In
any case,.the author has told, in a very delightful
way, the story of a charming companion endowed
with considerable complexity of character which
nurture enhanced. For “Lad” was a “real” dog,
and the chief happenings in nearly all the stories
about him are “absolutely true.” He lived out
a full span of sixteen years, and his epitaph reads
“Thoroughbred in Body and Soul.”
A Theory of the Mechanism of Survival: The
Fourth Dimension and its Applications. By
W. Whately Smith. Pp. xi+196. (London:
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, and Co., Ltd. ;
New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1920.)
Price 5s. net.
THERE is nothing striking or new in this argu-
ment, neither is there anything extravagant in
its application. The author expounds in a clear
and easy manner the familiar notions of flatland
and of a possible fourth dimension, and suggests
that a hypothesis is necessary to explain the
somewhat doubtful phenomena with which
psychical research deals. These- notions, he
thinks, afford the basis of a hypothesis.
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for |
opinions expressed by his correspondents, Nei
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.] et
London University Site and Needs.
I HAVE been surprised that no word of protest has
been raised against the scheme of locating the Uni-
versity of London on a limited plot of land in the
centre of the city. If the site were for administration
purposes alone, combined, perhaps, with lecture-rooms
for those subjects‘ which require no practical instruc-
tion, the area offered might: be adequate, but could
only be rendered suitable for its purpose at such an
enormous cost for site, removal of existing buildings,
and erection of new edifices, that nothing but the
most urgent necessity could justify; nor would the
new position be one whit better or more convenient
than South Kensington. It is, however, understo
that the buildings to be erected are not only’ for —
administration purposes and lectures, but also to meet
all requirements of the scientific departments.
Now it can be easily shown that provision for
scientific subjects will require a far greater area of
land than the amount suggested in the Government’s
offer. For the population of London one thousand
would be a moderate estimate for the number of
students who might be expected to need instruction in
any one of the great departments of science, of which
not fewer than twenty would need to be provided-
Taking into consideration passages, staircases, pre-
paration rooms, and assistants’ rooms, for every
working place in any practical department a floor
area of at least ten square yards is wanted. Therefore,
for each of the twenty subjects. not. less than
ten thousand square yards of flcor-space would be
necessary. In addition to this, each will require
lecture theatres, demonstration rooms, and research
rooms; and for this, on a moderate estimate, we
must add 50 per cent. to the above figure. This gives
a total requirement for the twenty practical depart-
ments of not less than fifty acres of floor-space,
in addition to the area wanted for administration
purposes, . libraries, museums, and for the sub-
jects which do not need accommodation for prac-
tical work. Unless, therefore, the ‘skyscraper’
system isto be utilised for university buildings, the
11g-acre plot proposed to be given up for the purposes
of the University of London is absurdly inadequate,
especially since not more than 8 acres of such a site
could possibly be covered by actual buildings.
The problem is, however, much more complex than
is represented by a mere computation of floor area.
Anyone who has experience of a practical department
knows the supreme importance of placing it in an
entirely separate, self-contained building or institute,
thereby allowing abundance of light for all rooms and -_
furnishing space for any necessary future extension.
Such institutes cannot be erected on a limited site.
They require. far more land than can ever be provided
in the centre of a town. It is, therefore, certain that
a single university adequate for the needs of London
cannot be established in the situation proposed by the ~
Government; and it is not too much to assert that
its purchase and the cost of erecting buildings upon
it would be a most wasteful expenditure, involving —
at the lowest estimate a total of five millions sterling !
The alternative is to decentralise the teaching by
placing several university centres—say four to begin
®
. =
‘
=
PEROT Sere ae
Shel bing
: ‘i June 17, 1920]
NATURE
485
_ ‘with—on the outskirts of London in places where each
- ould be furnished with at least one hundred acres
of land at a total cost of no more than is asked for
the 11} acres now proffered.
_ The advantages of such outlying centres would be:
1) The students could live in the neighbourhood of
_ the institution, either at home or in hostels, and would
not be compelled to take a long journey twice a day.
' (2) There would be abundance of room for all pur-
; 2 nget including recreation. (3) Each subject would
be able to have its own area of -ground for the erec-
of a suitable institute, and for permitting
_ future extension. (4) Temporary buildings might be
put up until experience has shown what character of
permanent buildings ought tobe erected. (5) The
_ classes would not be of an unwieldy size ; for we might
assume for each of the four centres two hundred and
_ fifty students, instead of the one thousand assumed
_ for the central institute, i.e. for each practical subject.
_ American experience has shown that one hundred
acres is not too much land to provide for the buildings
of a modern university, and a scheme which assumes
that a single university for a city the size of London
can be accommodated in a space of ten, or even
twenty, acres is self-condemned at the outset.
a E. SHarPey SCHAFER.
' University New Buildings, Edinburgh, June 7.
High Rates of Ascent of Pilot-Balloons.
ABNORMAL rates of ascent shown by pilot-balloons
have in recent years aroused considerable interest
amongst aerologists. These digressions were mostly
-_ ascribed to the occurrence of vertical air-currents, but
_ three years ago Wenger (Annalen der Hydrographie,
es 7h haga Hamburg) suggested’ that, for the greater part,
‘t
tion. He advanced the theory that these abnormal
rates were chiefly caused by increased turbulence of
Fs the air, and he stated, making use of the Linden-
berg material, that the rates observed depended on
__ different conditions of the air, as wind, friction, etc.,
_ which, no doubt, must have a notable influence on its
turbulence.
In the same journal, however, it was shown that
i 208 number of observations made at Sofia (Bul-
ak gave strong evidence that actually large ver-
tical air-currents had occurred, and that the high and
— * Jow rate should, without doubt, be ascribed to
_ upward and downward movements of the air.
Between 1912 and 1917 much material regarding
‘these rates was gathered by the Batavia Ob-
_ servatory, and peculiar circumstances make this
material of critical value, for it consists of three series
taken in three localities differing in character, the
ascents being made at various hours during the day
and night.
The first series was taken at Batavia during the dry,
sunny season, when land-. and sea-breezes are
- developed strongly; and the second at Bandung, a
town situated on a plateau 700 m. above sea-level,
‘surrounded by mountains. Insolation in the latter
case did not differ much from that at Batavia; the
mountain- and valley-breezes were only slight.
The third series was taken by Dr. Boerema on a
small coral islet in the Java Sea at the end of the
west monsoon. There the influence of insolation and
of land- and sea-breezes is practically nothing.
Most of the balloons were observed from two points;
also, up to 1 or 14 km., half-minute readings were
‘taken between the usual observations made every
minute. Balloons of different weight and pattern were
used; those for the night carried a second balloon
}
% 1k
i
i a nl, 7 -
1 Jt came under my notice only a few months ago.
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
e observations did not permit of such an explana-—
filled with acetylene and a burner. For each kind I
calculated the average rate observed at the level of
3 or 4 km., and derived from it the rate for the layers
beneath by applying the formula
v=ad-t (d=air density).
For the light balloons there remained, of course, a
change of rate with height, which, however, I was
unable to calculate, but I surmise was small.
The accompanying diagram (Fig..1) gives for the
lowest layers up to 3 km. the departures of the mean
rates observed from those at 3 or 4 km. Evidently .
it displays the contrast between the land and the sea
influence, i.e. on land the rates are increased by day,
but are normal by night, while at sea there is no
distinct increase in the average rate.
- At Batavia the positive digression runs parallel with
the strength of the sea-breeze and with the change of
y
03"
p-my
60-
50-
40-| ;
30-| is 6"
20 ee
10- fe Pe %
O-]“-~.0- = ——
-t0- se Be ap oath
20-
.
10- m
4D AEN RS oes AMMAN 5
40- Doak Sait diet , pm
-20- eT Semterer oor”
By a R
Pd 1.
Gon ie eee tees L-- bapa
Bandung “S, Thousand Islands
Fic. 1.
wind velocity caused by the -Espy-K6ppen effect. At
Bandung also this parallelism seems to exist.
Consequently, at first sight, the explanation proposed
by Wenger might be given: During the day tur-
bulence is enhanced on land by increase of wind velo-
city, by friction with the surface, and by insolation ;
at sea, on the contrary, these causes are not present.
However, on more detailed examination this explana-
tion is not confirmed. Thus the rate of ascent did
not prove to depend on wind velocity, as the following
figures clearly show:
Batavia,
9 a.m.-noon Noon-3 p.m. 3-6 p.m.
dS Rateof Wind A Rate of Wind A Rate of Wind
ascent velocity ascent velocity ascent velocity
m.p. min. m,.p. sec. mp. min. m, B sec, m. p. min.) M./p. sec.
3 38 “th 7 4 8*o
63 4:0 — 64 7°5 56 56
_ — 136 6°4 133 6'9
NATURE
[June 17, 1920
486
Bandung.
. 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
4 wate of Wind
ascent velocity
m. p. min m. p. sec
10 2°9
39 37
103 2°3
Also, ‘the wind velocity scarcely ever reached the
values (>15 m. per sec.) at which, accordirig. to
Wenger,, the influence of wind velocity begins to
increase turbulence, so that a notable increase in the
rate of ascent is to be expected.
Moreover, insolation is. strongest between g a.m.
and noon; afterwards, clouds mostly weaken, it or
prevent further increase. .On the other hand, the rate
of. ascent at Batavia between noon and 3 p.m. con-
siderably exceeds that between 9 a.m. and noon.
Thus an explanation of the observed rates by
Wenger’s ‘theory practically fails; on the contrary,
the supposition of vertical air movement is tenable.
For some years I supposed that the air had to rise
in columns, and, the surrounding air being sucked in,
the balloon..in most cases would also be sucked in,
and afterwards would not leave the ascending air-
columns.: Later I read that J. S. Dines. was inclined
to this conception. The criticism of this view offered
by Wenger’ must be accepted; but why should not
both causes co-operate in the lowest strata ?
Indeed, I have found that my results and those of
Wenger coincide regarding the change of rate of
ascent when, passing upwards, gag velocity varies.
Denoting this change by 10? 2 _ ” (v=wind velocity in
m. pér sec., and z=height in m.), I found:
Batavia. Thousand Islands.
12” 4 Rateof No. of ; roe” 4 Rateof No. of
- az. -ascent cases az ascent cases
, m. p. sec m. p. sec
12 Or 22 o'7 LT3 28
-I'! —1'0 42 | -0'%4 oh Oe
—2'2 -0°6 20
As these values show, the change of rate with wind
velocity is not developed strongly, the percentage of
cases in which dv/dz and A rate were of the same
sign being respectively for Batavia and the Thousand
Islands 63 and 68 only.
Finally, we are obliged to accept the view that in
the sea-breeze the air must rise as the breeze dies out
at a moderate distance from the coast. Also, the air
seems to rise no higher than. the sea-breeze itself, the
rate of, rise, diminishing with its horizontal velocity.
Moreover, I think the material collected on and near
Java: is "not: favourable to the idea of such a pre-
ponderating: influence of turbulence as Wenger accepts ;
on the contrary, it corroborates the assumption of
ascending” columns.
- The formation of the finecwenthier cumuli, to be
observed’ évery sunny’ day in the tropics, is clear
evidence of the. general occurrence of these ascending
air columns. 'W: VAN’ BEMMELEN.
A On boi Pit 1 jisondari, Pacific.
A New Method for Aneeosdaiite ‘Evaluation of Definite
. Integrals between Finite Limits.
5 GAves:! “I “believe,
between finite limits.. His formule are all based, like
Tehebycheff’s rules,, on the assumption: that . the
integrand’ iis “expressible approximately .by a finite
number of terms of the series a+ bx+cx%+-dx® +
His plan was to -use.a minimpm, number of Siably
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
gave ‘avery large number. of
térriis for’ approximate evaluation: Of definite integrals .
weighted ordinates to give him the exact value of the .
integral for a specified number of terms.
Taking the range of integration to be from —1 to
+1, which can be done without any loss of coneralligg
his ’ simplest iit is
[- ferae=f- 2) fei
where ©
41 = VF
This formula. with two ordinates gives exact values
for
[s (a+bx+cx*?+dx)\dx,
and is in that redblact on a par with Sivnpaone
formula, which has three ordinates weighted in’ the
proportions 1, 4, 1, and situated at the ends and
middle of the’ range.» — ;
The next Gauss formula’ is ie eo
| [Upeae= Vel — 2) +8/(0)+ sad),
=4+/3. es e
This is exact up to. aa including the term. in ee
in the series: Put in the same form as Mr. Merchant’ s
formula (which is also exact up to the x* term) in
NaTturE of June 3, it becomes +a
['Aadae=ielsflo)+ 8/0) + 51ep
where
where
4, =0'1127,
The third formula is
+1 I :
[opear= cael =) + By) + Byla) +ArC) |
where S 5
A =}- he
east Hy VP ae =
Transferred ‘ the other form, Rs ees :
is f
| ; K2)dx =0°17397(%) +0°3261f(4y) +0" 32617(%5)
+0°17397( +4)
Xp=0'S, 43 0°8873 .
where
%1=0°0694, %2=0°3300, 73=0°6700, 174=0'9306.
This formula is exact up to and including the term
in x’. ;
It may be noticed that although the weight factors _
are now incommensurate, they can be. written ig a
very close degree of approximation as x and }%,
and the integral then takes. the form
[perder eel8/een) + 15/l) + 15fa) + 8a)
Possibly Mr. Merchant might find that this form
would be useful in ship design. The positions of the
ordinates is not sufficiently close to even tenths to
permit of such further modifications being made, but
if the ship’s half:length ' were -divided’ into fifteen
sections, the ordinates would come: very near the’ first,
fifth, ‘tenth, and ‘fourteenth. “Some of ‘the higher
Gauss integrals might be: found! to’ -fit in even more
conveniently. * : - Twos. Y. BAKER. :
; . Admiralty Compass Observatory, tr
Bucks, June. To.”
- The ‘Royal Military. Academy.
SIR GEORGE GREENHILL in an article in ‘NATURE ‘of
April 29, entitled, “* Artillery Science,’’ passes severe
strictures on’ theRoyal Military » "Academy—‘*The
Shop.” ‘ These ‘réflect ‘on ‘the whole staff, especially
the military Staff, and as the ‘officers are not Pieter
aA te 24LA
i ka a
wey Salle oasis es
Se tie 2,
Raa ind fCY
_ mission as a civilian to sa
_ War is the best test. o
_teries or field companies.
_ were also given to an equal number of officers, n.c.o.’s,
the same was reported ‘in. other subjects.
‘no reason to believe that the German schools were any
better. wn
- responsible for mathematics and science.
JUNE 17, 1920 |
NATURE 484
to defend themselves in public journals, I ask per-
a few words in defence.
a military establishment.
During the war the R.M.A,. worked continuously, and
turned out more than two thousand young officers
who were able to
proceed, either direct or after a
short additional course, straight to the battlefields
and take their full share of. the work with their bat-
Courses in field telephony
and men of the new armies at a critical period when
there were few instructors elsewhere. There were
many other activities. Owing to the seclusion in
which the Academy works, there were few except
those immediately connected with it who had any
idea of the great amount of work actually done.
Science was encouraged by all three of the Com-
mandants during this period, and dealt with all mili-
tary applications up to date. The teaching of wireless
was commenced in the R.M.A. eighteen years ago,
and that it was not used at a much earlier period of
the war was certainly no fault of the R.M.A. During
the war an opportunity. was given for the study in
detail of the course given to French artillery officers.
In science there was nothing to be learnt from it, and
There is
The R.M.A. has been submitted to inquiry from
- outside three times in the past twenty years: First,
by Lord Esher’s Committee shortly after the Boer
War; next, in 1911, an inspection by specialists from
the Board of Education; and thirdly, an inspection by
the Board of Education in February last. The first
‘two reports were entirely favourable, and no doubt
can still be obtained. The latest, which is not vet
permitted to be published, gives a fair picture of the
place and its work. It also contains criticisms and
~ recommendations which, if adopted by the War Office,
would improve the establishment, and consequently
the Army. I understood from the inspectors that they
had come to the same conclusion as those on a former
oceasion, viz. ‘‘ The Academy is very efficient.”
The academy is not perfect, but its improvement,
not its abolition, is what is desirable. Merely to move
it to a new situation while retaining the old system
would do ng good; and to amalgamate it with Sand-
hurst would, in my opinion, in these specialising days,
be a mistake. : :
Improvements must commence at Whitehall, for it
- is at the War Office that all decisions as to courses of
study, staffs, etc., are made. Scientific advisers from
the learned societies would help, for it is scarcely to
be expected that the officers there can be in touch
with scientific progress. There are still some who do
not yet believe in the importance of science, and are
under the impression that any R.E. officer can teach
all that is necessary. 5
“The half-dozen civilians mentioned in the article are
They must
now be almost alone amongst those engaged in educa-
tion in the public service in having no_ security of
tenure and no retiring allowance. Their numbers,
now reduced below pre-war level, might be increased
with advantage, but I understand that it has been
decided to dispense with civilians in science altogether
in a year or so, and no doubt the mathematical staff
will follow. Their places will be filled by officers. I
think that most of those who have an intimate know-
ledge of these subjects will agree that this is a retro-
grade step.
Mathematics and. science should have adequate
civilian staffs of properly trained ‘men. Appointments
should be permanent and emoluments correspond. to
those of the military staff, with retiring allowances on
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
the Civil Service scale. Members of the civilian staff
could then, without anxiety, devote themselves to the
work, which necessarily takes a different direction
from that at a civil institution, and even the best
civilians require a considerable time before becoming
familiar with military requirements and _ military
apparatus.
Accommodation for research by the staff should be
provided. _ Officer instructors, in science at least,
should be students as much as instructors, so that at
the end of their appointments they would rejoin’ the
Army reasonably up-to-date in their subjects. Cadets
with a special bent should be given opportunities so
far as possible to do extra work, to assist’ themy in
deciding on their future course.and to prepare them
for it. The present two years’ course is too short to
do much in any direction, as it has to be. divided
between many subjects.. An increase of length would
be an advantage.
The R.M.A. is a cadet school, and aims at producing
the useful regimental officer, but it cannot «produce
experts. For the artillery there should be:a: further
selection of young officers, who should: receive: addi-
tional training at the Ordnance College, which should
be, a genuine artillery university, and not merely:a
training place for officers desirous of semi-civil appoint-
ments. -It should be the function of this, establish-
ment to turn out the artillery. expert, and..if,it, were
not done the blame would lie there: .The R-E.-would
probably require a similar establishment or an. ¢xten-
sion of the ‘tSchool of Military Engineering.’ . Co-
operation between the various military schools is advis-
able, but, above all, there should be some system
‘established for the regular distribution of information
on military matters amongst the departments con-
cerned. At present it is exceedingly difficult for those
engaged in one department or school to find out what
is happening elsewhere. ;
The equalisation of pay will now enable cadets to
make a free choice between the R.A. and the R.E.,
but those scientifically inclined will still probably
- choose the latter.
I do not believe much is to be gained by imitating
foreign institutions. In the four years and a half of
the war we succeeded in overtaking the German in
every direction. in spite of his long preparation. Our
aim now should be to avoid retrogression: for that is
our chief danger. J. Youne. :
Science Department, Royal Military Academy,
Woolwich, S.E.18, June 3.
The Separation of the Isotopes of Chlorine.
On certain plausible assumptions concerning the
nature of chemical equilibria and the properties of
isotopes, it should be possible to separate the oa se
varieties of an element like chlorine by means of a
reversible chemical change in the gaseous state, pro-
vided that the number of atoms of chlorine in the
reacting compound is unequal to the number of atoms
in the resulting compound.
Thus, for the sake of argument, assume that
chlorine contains two isotopes the atoms of which can
be represented by Cl and Cl’, then there would be
-three classes of molecules, nantely, Cl,, ° €1,/,; and
CICY, of which the corresponding liquids and solids
would have the very nearly same vapour pressure at
the same temperature. . Accordingly, if it may be
‘assumed that 2.mols. of CIC!’ can be converted into
1 mol. of Cl,, and 1 mol. of Cl,’ in the liquid
forms at the same temperature. without the expendi-
ture of work,
(CLYCJ=(CICrPR, . -.. +. Ge)
488
“NATURE
\
[JUNE 17, 1920
where the square, bracket has the usual, significance |
of. concentration.
*. “Now, in Deacon’s process, which is represented, by |
the chemical equation
4HCl1+0,=2H,0+2Cl.,,
we should have
(ii)
be ROT sa TCH.)
Taking [act as 3, [cl]
temperature and concentration of the oxygen are
selected so that the concentration of the chlorine is
small at equilibrium.
But the ratio of the atoms of the two varieties. of
chlorine is given by :
[ch] +3{CICr)]
- [Cly]+3{C1Cl') .,
105
and this, by equations (i.) and (ii.), is equal to oa
is 9, provided that the
which differs appreciably from 3. plate
Deacon’s process is selected merely. for-the purpose
of illustration.: ; : ;
If the isotopic varieties of chlorine are inseparable
by the method above indicated, itis clear that
[Cl] +3[CICI']_ [HCI] _ [Cl]
- [Cly}+3fC1c!'] [HC] (Cl;
“ACKMCWB=[Cler]. 2. Gv.)
Now consider two. solids composed entirely of Cl,
and Cl,’ molecules respectively. The vapour pressures
of the two solids will. be very- nearly (if not exactly)
the same—say p—at the same temperature-t, .
Evaporate a gram-molecule of both the solids.
Reduce the pressure of the Cl, isotope to p,, and that
of the Cl,’ isotope to p,, and then introduce both
unsaturated. vapours: into a van’t- Hoff’s equilibrium
.box. The total work done in these operation is
(iii.)
whence
he
_ .Relog, 22.
Gutar ts |
Now remove 2 grani-molecules' of the CICI’
variety (which from equation (iv.) will- obviously be
at the pressure 2/p,p.) from the equilibrium box.
Increase the pressure to p, and finally condense at
this pressure to the solid form. The work done
during this series of operations will be
RZ loge APs
Therefore the total work performed -in effecting the
change represented by the equation.
Cl, (solid) + Cl,’ (solid) =2CICl (solid)
is Rtlogg=A. 2 Poa ry
- But it is difficult to understand how the free energy
A could differ appreciably from zero if the molecular
heats of.the three varieties of cHlorine are nearly the
same-as. they are generally supposed to be—and if
the ‘entropy of the reactants Cl, and Cl,’ is equal to
that of the resultant 2CICl’ at the absolute zero tem-
perature, as Nernst postulates in his heat theorem.
An. attempt is being made in the Jesus College
Laboratory to separate the isotopes of chlorine by a
method‘similar to that given“above, A negative result
would be’ difficult to: reconcile with Nernst’s theorem
that Sins ‘at ‘the absolute zero: °
Pen Fis. Os CHapMaNn. ~
Jesus College, Oxford.
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
A Note on Telephotography.
Havinc examined a number of. formule ;
circle of illumination in telephotography, and found
them all to be inapplicable in certain cases, J
propose the following, which seem reasonable and
are applicable in all cases. These formule are par-
is at present developing.
Let C,=Full circle of illumination.
C, =Circle of equal me
Cy = Mean circle of rs
M = Magnification.
J; =Focus of positive lens.
= YS, negative ,,
-6 =Diameter of positive lens.
c= * negative ,,
Then A ; :
aes (08 _M*fc+fe) — Mie @)-
Mf{-A)t+h -
c, = Mc +M fo (2)
MA —S2) +S Barer oe
M*fe nga
C= Petit sb bist 76S . . ee a
"MC AltA m
is also the accurate value for the circle when the aper-
ture (b) of the positive lens is small.
employed. The second (2) gives the circle that is
equally illuminated. If it is possible to make the
aperture (b) of the. positive lens equal to the dia-
meter (c) of the negative lens, this formula becomes
the simplest. das’ ieee!
: C. = Met
I have received an opinion on ‘the above from a
of the opinion that it is necessary to add that certain
assumptions have been made in deciding these for-
mulz. These assumptions are (a) that the lenses are
definite quantities.
_(a) Photographic positive lenses are usually not
thin. Negative telephoto lenses, except some’ high-
power lenses, are always thin. With a thick lens the
“equivalent planes’? for the two sides (the ‘‘ object
measurements in the above formule are made from
negative lens, no confusion can arise between the
equivalent planes. f
(8) The aberrations of a photographic lens are
negligible. ES yi beaonae ayy
(y) The positions. of the equivalent planes of the
negative lens move over a small space with a change
of: magnification. ‘This quantity is negligible in
deciding the circle of illumination, which does not
need to be known exactly. . a
The position of the equivalent plane of the whole
veries ‘ereatly with a change of distance of object.
This can be completely corrected bv substituting the
“back conjugate focus” of the positive lens for the
distance, in place of the ‘‘ principal ’’ focus (f,) in the
above formule. In telephotography. the object is
usually ‘tat infinity,” and this correction. is not
necessary... Oh EONS Toei rt, ASATROS 9 USE alien
. In a short: note it is not possible to do more than
indicate the conditions in which these formulz. may
| be used. Consult Lan-Davis on ‘ Telephotography ’’
and Beck. and. Andrews’s ‘*A Simple Treatise on
hy
| Photographic Lenses”? (Appendix) for “equivalent
planes.” Spe ee Be os = iu Lh ce iS 2 A, Bi
a. e i oe
é
fei the :
ticularly vital,in the line along which telephotography 4
The last formula (3) is not only the simplest, but it
It is the mean
between the’ full (1) circle and the evenly illuminated -
(2) circle. The first (1) is the most usually used. It —
gives the diagonal of the largest plate that can be
distinguished authority upon geometric optics. He is
thin, (8) that the aberrations may be neglected, and —
(y) that the focal lengths of both lenses, f, and f,, are
space’’.and the ‘‘image space ’’) are different. As all —
the back of the positive lens and the front of the
JUNE 17,1920]
NATURE
489
Recent Researches on Nebulz.!
By Major Wixt1am J. S. Lockyer.
° Sees latest volume (No. xiii.) in the series of
Publications of the Lick’ Observatory, situ-
ated on Mount Hamilton, California, is completely
devoted to a series of well-laid-out investigations
of the study of the forms, distribution, velocities,
and spectra of the nebula. The volume is one of
extreme interest and importance, and will become
a Classic for a considerable time on those interest-
ing objects scattered throughout the heavens.
In these days, when the study of the evolution
of the stars is occupying a position in the front
rank, the more detailed information of the nebulae,
their composition, structure, and movements, is
of fundamental importance, for these bodies are
criteria in the evolutionary stages of stars.
Considerations of space will not permit here
more than an outline of the contents of this sub-
stantial volume, which includes six separate con-
tributions, each devoted to a special research, and
a large number of beautifully reproduced plates.
Part i. is contributed by Mr. H. D. Curtis
(pp. 11-42), and deals with the descriptions of
762 nebule and clusters photographed with the
Crossley reflector. It comprises all photographs
of these objects which have been taken with this
instrument since the year 1898, when systematic
work was commenced, forming, therefore, a
valuable homogeneous research.
It is interesting to note the types of the 762
entries, which Mr. Curtis divides as follows:
513 spiral, 56 diffuse, 36 globular, 24 sparse,
78 planetary, 8 dark, and 47 unclassified. Mr.
Curtis is led to believe that all the many thou-
sands of nebulz not definitely to be classed as
diffuse or planetary are true spirals, and that “the
very minute spiral nebulze appear as textureless
discs or ovals solely because of their size.”
In estimating the probable total number of the
spiral nebula, Mr. Curtis concludes that at least
700,000, and very probably 1,000,000, small spirals
are within the reach of large reflecting telescopes.
A chart showing the distribution of regions on
which small nebule were counted indicates also
the position of the galactic plane, and the paper
concludes with reproductions of a few typical
nebulz.
The second part. by the same author, is devoted
to a study of occulting matter in the spiral nebule
(pp. 45-54), and its object is to show that the
occurrence of such dark bands running down the
length of spiral nebule seen edgewise is a rela-
tively common feature. While a description of
these appearances is not necessarily satisfactory
to those who have not had occasion to observe
them or to see the original photographs, Mr.
Curtis includes seventy-seven reproductions, By
the kindness of Prof. W. W. Campbell, repro-
1 University of California Publications, Publications of the Lick Ob-
servatory. Vol. xiii. Pp. 268+50 plates. (Berkeley: University of Cali-
fornia Press, 1918.)
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
ductions of some of these spirals are here given
(Figs. 1, 2, and 3).
References are made to other evidences of
occulting matter in the sky, such as the cutting
off in the number of stars round a nebula, “coal
sacks’’ or starless regions, dark nebule, etc.
(see Fig. 4). The fact that many spectroscopic
binaries indicate a constant radial velocity for the
H and K lines, different from the periodic shift of
the other lines in the spectrum, suggests, according
to the author, the interposition between us and the
binary of a cloud of non-luminous matter, though,
as he says, there are some difficulties in this hypo-
thesis. The subject of the peculiar grouping of the
N.G.C,
7814
4565
5866
4594
5746
Fic. 1.— Spiral nebulz seen almost exactly edgewise and show-
ing indubitable evidence of dark lanes. (H.D. Curtis.)
spiral nebule about the galactic poles is also
mentioned.
Part iii. is entitled “The Planetary Nebule,”
and in it Mr. Curtis brings together the results
of a research on a series of photographs of all
the planetary nebule north of 34° S. declination.
Seventy-eight of these objects are dealt with, and
they are all reproduced either by photographs or
by drawings (with scale). Drawings were resorted
to only when the objects were so small that
they could not be reproduced by the process of
photo-engraving, or when great differences. in
brightness. between the central and_ the
faint outlying portions were encountered, which
490
NATURE
[JUNE 17, 1920
prevented an adequate representation of all the
details of the nebula (Fig. 5). This col-
lection of illustrations, showing the forms
assumed by the planetary nebule, will throw
considerable light upon the structure and _life-
history of these bodies. An important addition
to the illustrations is that the exposure for record-
ing a selected portion of the Orion nebula has
been used as a standard, and the time necessary
for recording the brightest portion of a planetary
nebula is given in relation to that standard. Thus
4282
678
169
3556
4631
3623
2683
Fic. 2.—Spiral nebulz seen almost, but not exactly, edgewise,
and some the planes of which make a small but appreciable
angle with .the line of ‘sight,’ showing clear evidence of
dark lanes. (H. D. Curtis.)
an approximation to the relative brightness of the
planetary nebulz is secured.
With regard to the distribution of these nebulez
in space, an interesting diagram of which is given,
Mr. Curtis finds that the smallest objects are
almost invariably in, or very close to, the Milky
Way, while the larger planetaries, “the giants of
the class,’’ somewhat more frequent in the
vicinity of the galactic plane, are, “‘on the whole,
fairly uniformly distributed over the entire sky.”
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
It is concluded, therefore, that these giants may
be in-the Galaxy, but the nearest to us, and,
therefore, would only appear outside, and he
suggests their inclusion in parallax programmes,
as many of them have central stars sufficiently
bright for that purpose.
Further reference cannot be made here to this
interesting paper except to add that the author
classifies the planetary nebulz according to their
appearances, and then: discusses these forms in
relation to homogeneous oblate spheroidal or
N.G.C.
4826
7537.
5°35
2903
4212
3389 »
Fic. 3.—Spiral nebula making a much greater angle with the :
line of sight, showing clear-cut dark lanes (2903, 4212), anda
lane absolutely black and. cutting’ across. a’ whorl at the '
right end (4826). (H..D. Curtis.)
homogeneous truncated spheroidal shells. under
various conditions.
Prof. W. W. Campbell and Mr. J. H. Moore
are the authors of part iv., which is devoted to
the spectrographic velocities of the bright-line
nebule (pp. 77-183). The observations are a
combination of those made with the 36-in..
JUNE 17, 1920]
NATURE
491
refractor at Mount Hamilton and with the 37-in.
Mills reflector at Santiago, Chile, and they were
commenced in the year 1913. The list includes 138
Fic. 4.—A “‘dark nebula” (17h. 57m., — 27°50’) visible through its projection upon the
background of stars, and not considered to be “‘a hole” in the Milky Way.
the circular protuberance at the south-west corner, as clear-cut as an ink-drop and
perfectly dark. (H. D. Curtis.)
nebulz with bright lines in their spectra. In the
earlier part details are given with respect to the
spectroscopes employed, the probable errors of
the results, and a description of the observations
made at the two stations.
The detailed results of. each object are. then
given in the order of right ascension. Attention
may be directed to the fact that the lengths of
the slits of the’spectroscopes employed were in
most cases more than sufficient to cover the width
of the images of the objects photographed, so
that the spectra of the central and outlying por-
tions of the nebule should both be recorded.
In a further table the final deduced radial veloci-
ties of each object observed are given. The
observations recordéd are evidence of most
extensive and arduous work, and the numerous
observations of each object considerably emphasise
Fic. 5.—On the left a photograph of N.G.C. 2392, a double-ring planetary
nebula; and on the right a composite drawing of the same made from
several photographs to show details of the structure not attainable from
any single photograph. (H. D. Curtis.)
this fact. The accompanying illustration (Fig. 6)
shows a photograph of the chief nebular line in
N.G.C. 2392, and exhibits the kind of structure
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
|
displayed from which the internal motion of
nebula was deduced.
The average magnitudes of the derived values
for the velocities are as follows: Calling
the nebulz less than 5 secs. in diameter
“stellar,” and those greater than 5 secs.
“non-stellar,” the mean velocity for
thirty-one “stellar” nebule is 28 km.
per sec., and for sixty-five non-stellar
nebule 31 km. per sec. with reference
to the stellar system. For evidence of
rotation or internal motion in the
planetary nebule, the lines in the
spectra of forty-six such objects have
been examined in detail and are here
discussed. Of these, twenty-five gave
evidence of internal effects, while nine-
teen, and possibly two more, indicated
rotations about axes roughly perpen-
dicular to the line of sight. It is worthy
of note that the most elongated plane-
tary nebule showed the highest rota-
tional speeds.
The study of the radial velocities of
numerous parts of the Orion nebula
shows a range in_ velocities from
+97 km. to +249 km., and, as the
authors state, the results do not favour
the hypothesis of a rotation as a whole, but the
observed differences appear to be local or regional
in character.
Mr. R. E. Wilson
contributes part v.
of this volume
(pp. 187-90), which
deals with the radial
the
’
Note
velocity of the
greater Magellanic
cloud. In 1914 it
was pointed out that
several gaseous
nebulz in this region
exhibited very large
and approximately
equal radial velo-
cities, so Mr.
Wilson presents the
results of his study
of the cloud as a
whole. The author
upholds this view
after his survey, for
he finds that, observ-
ing seventeen planet-
ary nebule in this
region, the radial
velocities lie between
251 km. and
Papo km... an aver Pe, os eG sae the
age of + 279 km. slit of the spectroscope was placed
along the major axis of the nebula.
7 (W. W. Campbell and J. H. Moore.)
for solar motion,
the mean velocity is +261 km. per sec. This
average, compared with the mean velocity deduced
in part iv. for other planetary nebule, points to
Correcting this mean
492
NATURE
[JUNE 17, 1920
exceptional conditions in this region.
refers to the spiral appearance of this great
cloud and to the high velocities observed in spiral
nebulz, nebulae which may be considered as
isolated island universes similar to our Milky Way
system, suggesting that the great cloud may
afford an opportunity for the study of detailed
characteristics of spiral nebule.
Part vi., the last of the series of the important
contents of this volume, is contributed by Mr.
W. H. Wright, and deals with the subject of the
wave-lengths of the nebular lines and general
observations of the spectra of the gaseous nebulze
(pp. 193-268). The matter falls under three head-
ings: (1) The measurement of wave-lengths and
the intensities of the nebular lines; (2) the study of
the nebular nuclei; and (3) the investigation of
the distribution of nebular radiations throughout
the nebulze; and is accompanied by a series of
plates, which demonstrate, more than text can
do, the fine definition and great scale of the photo-
graphs of the spectra of the nebule which served
as his data. Fig. 7 is an illustration of the
3859
3426 3727
Mr. Wilson |
career increasing in temperature, reaching a maxi-
mum of development and temperature, and after-
wards cooling until the invisible stage is reached.
In the light of these hypotheses Mr. Wright, as
the result of his research, expresses his view as
follows :—
There are at present two general conception$ as to
the nature of stellar evolution, one of which assumes
a falling temperature throughout the period of a star’s
development, while the other predicates a rise to
maximum and a subsequent decline; both of these
views assume the nebula as the primordial state: As
‘between these two hypotheses, the present observa-
tions undoubtedly favour the first, since they add to
the proof that the gaseous nebulz are associated only
with the hot stars.
While the above is one of the main conclusions
derived by Mr. Wright from this research, there
are many other points of particular interest to
which limitations of space forbid reference in this
article. me:
It is interesting to compare a direct photo-
graph of a nebula with its.spectrum taken with
a slitless spectrograph. | Nebule when photo-
Hy
4686 Ni—2
Fic. 7.—The spectrum of N.G.C. 6818, which records images of a variety of shapes and sizes, most of them having the appearance of a horse-shoe, the open
end of the shoe lying to the north. Some of the images show mottlings or condensations scattered along the shoe or ring. (W. H. Wright.)
spectrum of N.G.C; 6818, taken with the slitless
spectrograph with an exposure of four hours. It
does not seem that the statement could be con-
tradicted that the wave-lengths and intensities of
the nebular lines’ deduced will be used as a
standard in this branch of physical astronomy for
some time.
. This research is very opportune, because more
detailed facts were required to help in the unravel-
ling of the relationships between nebulz as such,
nuclei of nebule, and bright-line stars such as
Wolf-Rayet stars. As the whole problem of the
nature of stellar evolution is that of the solution
of the relationship between nebulz and stars, the
study of the question is of vital importance. The
idea of a falling temperature continuing through-
out the whole life-history of a star has more
recently given place to the hypothesis, appar-
ently a very natural one, of a star in its early
graphed with the latter instrument present
remarkable varieties of form and size corre-
sponding to different nebular lines in the
spectrum, while the direct photograph shows only
a form resulting from the integration or the fitting
together of the component images of the different
forms and sizes. The prismatic images afford a
means, therefore, of detecting the differences in
distribution of the component gases of the nebula,
and indicate that the view of a nebula in a tele-
scope or on a direct photograph is not the best
means of studying the complex structure of these
bodies.
In conclusion, it may be stated that this addi-
tion to the University of California Publications is
a valuable contribution, and sustains the high
standard of the researches which emanate from the
Lick Observatory under the able directorship of |
Prof. W. W.-Campbell. :
The Importance of Meteorology in Gunnery.
By Dr. E. M.
T the commencement of the war the know-
ledge of the effect of wind and of the
density of the air on the flight of a shell was
elementary. It was assumed by the gunners that
the wind was of the same direction and strength
at all heights reached by the projectile, and that
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
WEDDERBURN.
the density of the air decreased with altitude
according to an artificial convention.
rections for wind and density which the gunner
_ was taught to apply were supposed to be refer-
able to the meteorological conditions observed by
him at the battery, but he was not taught how
eee ee
The cor- —
a
ae ee
June 17, 1920]
NATURE
493
_ these conditions should be observed, nor that the
observation of surface air temperature was an
_ exceedingly difficult matter.
_ When an Army Meteorological Service was
established in 1915 it was a small unit which had
to justify its existence, and in the course of ex-
_ ploring fields of usefulness it found the artillery
_ ready and anxious for improved meteorological
_ information. The shell from a high-velocity gun
_ may rise to a height of 20,000 ft. or more, and
"surface conditions may be a very misleading
| guide. But to ask the gunner to use detailed
observations of wind and of atmospheric pressure
and temperature at different heights up to
20,000 ft. under active service conditions, and
without previous training, was useless. The
meteorologist, having found a sphere of useful-
ness, had to put his information in a form in
which it could be used with the existing artil-
lery organisation. It is already suggested in some
quarters that the meteorological service adequately
met the artillery’s requirements during the war
without any peace-time organisation, and that
therefore it is unnecessary now to keep any close
liaison between the gunner and the meteorologist.
_ In the writer’s view this is a great mistake. The
meteorological service was able to help the gunner
_ by doing work which the gunner could have done
if he had received the proper training, and it
is necessary that he should do this work for
himself in order to make the best use for his
particular gun of data supplied to him by the
:
meteorologist.
_ The artillery organisation for meteorological
corrections consisted in the supply to gunners of
tables of variations in line and range produced by
winds constant in velocity and direction at all
heights and of variations in range produced by
changes in surface temperature and pressure,
based on the assumption that the ratio between
the actual air density and that assumed in the
construction of the range table was the same at
all heights. It was a fairly obvious first step to
suggest that the gunner should be supplied with
a fictitious wind such that, when used with the
usual table of variations, the proper correction
was applied for the cumulative effect on the pro-
_ jectile before reaching the target of a wind vary-
ing with height. Such a wind came to be called
the equivalent constant wind, or the ballistic
wind, and methods of estimating it were investi-
gated simultaneously by the Meteorological
ion, R.E., and the Anti-Aircraft Experimental
Section (A.A.E.S.) of the Munitions Inventions
Department (M.I.D.). At first the investigations
were entirely independent and from different points
of view, but later they were continued in close co-
operation under the sympathetic guidance of the
Ordnance Committee.
An initial difficulty of great importance was
that the ballistic wind is not the same for any two
trajectories, even for the same wind distribution.
But, fortunately, the height to which a projectile
rises when fired on the flat is nearly the same for
NO. 2642, VOL. 105]
all projectiles which have the same time of flight,
and also the length of time which such projectiles
spend in any particular stratum of the atmosphere
is nearly the same. Thus, though the range of
a high-velocity gun may be double that of a
howitzer for the same time of flight, yet the pro-
jectiles in each case rise to nearly the same height,
and are affected by the same winds for nearly the
same length of time. To a first approximation,
therefore, the ballistic wind is the same for every
projectile having the same time of flight, and if
a selection of such winds for different times of
flight is given to the gunner, he can choose the
one most nearly suited to the conditions under
which a shoot is taking place.
As a first approximation, in the calculation of
the ballistic wind it was assumed that the atmo-
sphere was stratified into several layers, and that
in each layer the wind was constant in velocity
and direction, though varying from layer to layer.
It was further assumed that the effect of the wind
in any layer on a projectile was proportional to
the time spent by the projectile in that layer and
to the density of the air. “ Weighting factors”
for the portion of the total displacement of the
projectile caused by unit wind in any layer were
thus determined. Subsequent mathematical
analysis showed that the ‘weighting factors”
varied materially for each different trajectory, and
also differed for winds across and along the line
of fire. Considerable refinements were introduced
for the analysis of experimental shoots on which
the construction of range tables was based. The
researches of the A.A.E.S., M.I.D., though prin-
cipally directed towards anti-aircraft gunnery, in-
cluded careful and detailed discussions of varia-
tions in the trajectory of a shell produced by vary-
ing wind and density, and made the careful
analysis of such experimental shoots possible. For
a considerable period, however, the facilities
afforded by the field meteorological service in the
different theatres of war made possible much
greater accuracy of correction than had been
aimed at in the experimental shoots from which
range tables were compiled. Ultimately average
weighting factors, deduced from _ theoretical
factors computed in a large number of cases, were
adopted for different times of flight, and the
method of constructing the ballistic wind for use
in the field became standardised.
The second step was the introduction of the
idea of ballistic density—a fictitious density such
that when used with the usual tables of variations
the proper correction is applied for the effect of
an abnormal vertical distribution of density. For-
tunately, the pressure and temperature which
practically determine the air’s density may be
considered separately. If it is assumed that the
vertical temperature distribution is known and
remains unchanged while changes in pressure are
registered at the surface of the earth, it is easily
shown that there are proportional changes in
pressure, and therefore in density, at all heights.
Thus the surface barometer reading affords a real,
494
NATURE
[JUNE 17, 1920.
though partial, index of the density of the air at
any height. From this the third step followed—
the idea of a ballistic temperature such that when
used in conjunction with surface pressure the bal-
listic ‘density was arrived at. Methods of com-
puting density weighting factors were developed
by the A.A.E.S., M.I.D., and by using these
factors temperature weighting factors were com-
puted (which allowed for the variations in the
vertical pressure distribution comsequent on any
variation in the temperature distribution). Here,
again, the factors vary for each trajectory, but
the differences between trajectories are consider-
ably less than in the case of winds, and there
was little difficulty in arriving at the best average
factors to employ for field use.
By the employment of wind and temperature
weighting factors, very numerous meteorological
observations were made available for the use of
gunners in the most convenient form. Ballistic
winds and temperatures for several selected times
of flight were telegraphed to the batteries at
frequent intervals, and the information given in
the meteorological telegrams, in conjunction with
the barometric pressure measured at the battery,
gave the gunner data which required no reduction,
but could be used directly for applying cor-
rections from the range table. It is, of course,
essential that the results of meteorological ob-
servations should be provided “red hot” to the
gunners, and methods of computation were so
perfected, and so high a degree of skill was at-
tained, that the calculation ‘of ballistic winds
from pilot-balloon observations kept pace
with the observation of the balloon itself, and
no time was lost in putting the information in
the form in which it was readily usable by the
gunner.
A single concrete example may suffice to illus-
trate the importance of the methods which were
introduced by the meteorologists.
If a projectile were fired due south, with a time
of flight of 50 sec. (t.e. rising to a height of about
10,000 ft.), under the following weather condi-
tions, viz. :—
‘ Wind
Height in ft. iow ets Direction bees + ior Barometer
-S. oF, }
Surface 8 110 50
2,000 40 175 40 sa
4,000 45 185 30 gE
6,000 50 Igo 19 By
8,000 45 190 8 24
10,000 60 185 -2
Then, if surface conditions are used for arriving
at the appropriate corrections to apply, we have
for a certain gun that the wind will reduce the
range of the gun by 13 yards and deflect the pro-
jectile towards the west 60 yards. The surface
temperature being 10° F. below the range table
normal of 60° F., the range will be further reduced
by 42 yards—a total loss in range of 55 yards.
But the ballistic wind for the above conditions
is a wind of 44 f.s. from direction 185°, and the
ballistic temperature is 36° F. For the same gun
and projectile this wind would produce a deflection
towards the east of 35 yards, a decrease in range
due to wind of 600 yards and to abnormal
temperature (and density) of 407 yards—in all
more than 1ooo yards. Thus the corrections
applied by pre-war methods would have entailed
in this case an error in range of about 1000 yards,
and in line of about 100 yards. .
.
Instead of anti-aircraft gunnery being con-
sidered as a special department of gunnery, it is
more logical to consider fire on the flat as a
specially simple case of the more general science
of gunnery. . In a very real way the development
of the science was due to the researches of the
A.A.E.S., M.I.D., and to the methods employed
by that department in the analysis of fuse trials
and in the calibration of guns. For anti-aircraft
fire under active service conditions the application
of meteorological corrections did not reach the |
same degree of organisation as for fire on the flat, —
for the application of corrections is a much simpler
problem in the latter case. But in experimental
work full account was taken of all the meteor-
ological information available.
and the investigation of many ballistic problems
made possible.
Obituary.
S: Ramanujan, F.R.S.
S RINIVASA RAMANUJAN, whose death was
announced in NATuRE of June 3, was born in
1888, in the neighbourhood of Madras, the son of
poor parents, and a Brahmin by caste. I know
very little of his early history or education, but
he became a student in Madras University, and
passed certain examinations, though he did not
complete the course for a degree. Later he was
employed by the Madras Port Trust as a clerk
at a salary equivalent to about 25]. a year. By
this time, however, reports of his unusual abilities
had begun to spread, and, I believe owing to the
intervention of Dr, G. T. Walker, he obtained a
small scholarship which relieved him from the
NO. 2642, VOL. 105]
necessity of office work and set him free for
research.
I first heard of Ramanujan in 1913. The first
letter which he sent me was certainly the most
remarkable that I have ever received. There was
a short personal introduction written, as he told
me later, by a friend. The body of the letter con-
sisted of the enunciations of a hundred or more
mathematical theorems. Some of the formule
were familiar, and others seemed scarcely possible
to believe. A few (concerning the distribution of
primes) could be said to be definitely false. There
were no proofs, and the explanations were often
inadequate. In many cases, too, some curious
specialisation of a constant or a parameter made
Thus one of the
main sources of errors in shooting was eliminated,
Vece
Sg OS CAN OES rey fae A ae A
5
P
F
i
a
%
i
¥q
f
ee
anien
Jone 17, 1920]
NATURE
495
the real meaning of a formula difficult to grasp.
It was natural enough that Ramanujan should
eel a little hesitation in giving away his secrets
a mathematician of an alien race. Whatever
_ reservations had to be made, one thing was obvi-
is, that the writer was a mathematician of the
ghest quality, a man of altogether exceptional
ginality and power.
It seemed plain, too, that Ramanujan ought to
me to England. There was no difficulty in
curing the necessary funds, his own University
and Trinity College, Cambridge, meeting an un-
usual situation with admirable generosity and
imagination. The difficulties of caste and religion
were more serious; but, owing to the enterprise of
Prof. E. H. Neville, who happened fortunately
_ to be lecturing in Madras in the winter of 1913-14,
these difficulties were ultimately overcome, and
_ Ramanujan arrived in England in April, 1914.
The experiment has ended in disaster, for after
three years in England Ramanujan contracted the
illness from which he never recovered. But for
_ these three years it was a triumphant success. In
_ a really comfortable position for the first time in
his life, with complete leisure assured to him, and
- in contact with mathematicians of the modern
school, Ramanujan developed rapidly. He pub-
lished some twenty papers, which, even in war-
_ time, attracted wide attention. In the spring of
1918 he became the first Indian fellow of the Royal
_ Society, and in the autumn the first Indian fellow
of Trinity. Madras University endowed him with
a research studentship in addition, and early in
1919, still unwell, but apparently considerably
better, he returned to India. It was difficult to
_ get news from him, but I heard at intervals. He
appeared to be working actively again, and I was
_ quite unprepared for the news of his death.
~Ramanujan’s activities lay primarily in fields
_ known only to a small minority even among pure
_ mathematicians—the applications of elliptic func-
tions to the theory of numbers, the theory of con-
tinued fractions, and perhaps above all the theory
_ of partitions. His insight into formule was quite
amazing, and altogether beyond anything I have
_ met with in any European mathematician. It is
_ perhaps useless to speculate as to his history
had he been introduced to modern ideas
and methods at sixteen instead of at twenty-six.
It is not extravagant to suppose that he might
have become the greatest mathematician of his
time. What he did actually is wonderful enough.
‘Twenty years hence, when the researches which
his work has suggested have been completed, it
will probably seem a good deal more wonderful
than it does to-day. G. H. Harpy.
a ee ee, |) i ne
PrINcIPAL Str JoHN HerkieEss, D.D., LL.D.
- Sir Joun HERKLEsS, whose death we regret to
announce, was the son of an engineer in Glasgow;
he was born on August 9, 1855, and educated in
the High School before entering the University
of his native city. His career as a student was
varied, and his fellow-students did not think it
outstanding. He not only studied arts, but also at-
tended medical classes. Like some men who have
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
afterwards made their mark in life, he disliked
mathematics, but was fond of philosophy, and
finally he decided to study for the Ministry, and
was duly licensed, though he obtained no degree
from his Alma Mater. For a short time he lectured
on English literature at Queen Margaret College,
then became an assistant-minister until 1883,
when he was appointed to the parish of Tanna-
dice in Forfarshire.
The death of the eloquent Principal Cunning-
ham made a vacancy in St. Mary’s College, St.
Andrews, and it was rumoured that Dr. Herkless
would be appointed to the post (divinity), Prof.
Mitchell, however, resigned his chair of Church
history, and he was appointed, whilst Prof.
Stewart, of Aberdeen, was made principal. About
this time the strained relations with Dundee in
regard to the medical school, and the claims of
St. Leonard’s Parish in connection with the
College Chapel, gave the forceful new professor
of Church history an ample field for polemics.: He
took the side of Dundee, and opposed the parish.
Besides stray papers, he afterwards published two
books, viz. “ Francis and Dominic ” and “ Richard
Cameron,” whilst, along with Mr. (now Prof.)
R. K. Hannay, he edited a volume of documents
pertaining to St. Leonard’s College, and four
volumes on the archbishops of St. Andrews. He
was chairman of the St. Andrews School for Girls’
Company. ‘He was appointed principal of the
University by Mr. Asquith on the death of the
distinguished educationist, Sir James Donaldson.
Though not a man of original cast of intellect,
Sir John Herkless had great versatility and
shrewdness, and was not devoid of ambition (as
he himself stated), his main field for advancement
being politics. He was diligent in his duties as
principal, but he had little time to make note-
worthy advances. His lamented death on June 11
occurred after an operation, and whilst he was in
the midst of plans for the improvement of the
University.
Tue death of Mr. Cuartes E. RHODES is an-
nounced in Engineering for June 11, and will be
regretted by a large circle who knew him through
his activity in colliery developments. Mr. Rhodes
was born in 1849, and died on June 7 last. Since
December, 1873, he held the position of engineer-
ing manager for Messrs. John Brown and Co.,
Ltd., for whom he sank several shafts and de-
veloped a number of pits. He became a member
of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1890, and
at various times was president of different institu-
tions connected with mining. He was appointed
a member of the Standing Committee on Mining
in 1916, and joined the Coal Conservation Com-
mittee in the same year.
WE regret to note that the death of Mr.
Wituiam SHELDON is recorded in Engineering for
June 11 as having occurred on May 20. Mr.
Sheldon was in his sixty-ninth year, and had been
connected with the steam plough works belonging
to Messrs. Fowler since 1879. He was. president
of the Leeds Association of Engineers in 1898-99
496
NATURE
[June 17, 1920 | 2
Notes.
Tue Linnean Society will be engaged to-day, June 17,
in célebrating the centenary of Sir Joseph Banks,
Bart., who died on June 19, 1820. On the death of
Carl von Linné in 1778, Banks endeavoured to buy his
herbarium, but that was acquired by Linné’s son for
the remainder of his short life. Five years later, when
the herbarium was again for disposal upon the death
of the younger Linné, Banks had changed his mind,
for when the collections were offered he passed the
offer to Dr. J. E. Smith, recommending the purchase,
as it would be of great value to him as a young
naturalist. On getting the herbarium Smith spent
the winter of 1784-85 in collating his new acquisition
with the Banksian collection, with the invaluable help
of Jonas Dryander, Banks’s factotum; then, after a
tour abroad, Smith took counsel with hig friends, and
the Linnean Society came into being. Banks was
chosen as honorary member immediately, and re-
tained that position until his death. Besides con-
tinual gifts of books, the cast from Inlander’s relief
of Linné, which was the model for Wedgewood’s
plaque, and objects of natural history, he paid for the
entire cost of illustration for the first volume of the
Transactions. It is well that such liberal actions
should be recalled to the memory of the present
generation.
WE‘ have: received from the ae Eth of the Rubber
Growers’ Association particulars of a competition
which has been organised by the association with the
‘ view of éxtending the industrial uses of rubber. A
sum of soool. is offered for ideas and suggestions in
this connection, the amount to be divided into the
following awards, viz. one prize of toool., three prizes
of 500l, each; ten prizes of tool. each, and a sum not
exceeding 15001. to be divided amongst the remaining
competitors whose suggestions are considered to be
practical, according to the relative value of the pro-
posals. Among the conditions of the competition it
is noted that special value will be attached-to ideas
of a thoroughly practical nature, supported by
detailed information likely to make them effective;
and that the relative value of the suggestions which
are deemed practical will depend upon the quantity
of raw rubber which their adoption would absorb,
special consideration being given to proposals likely to
utilise rubber in large quantities. The most important
cendition, however, is that relating to the protection
by letters patent of any process, method, or apparatus
submitted by competitors; this regulation is too long
td quote in detail here. Full particulars of the com-
petition may be obtained from the Rubber Growers’
Association (Department C), 38 Eastcheap, E.C.3; the
closing date of the competition is December 31 next.
Tue Albert medal of the Royal Society of Arts for
1920 has been awarded to Prof. A. A. Michelson,
For.Mem.R.S., professor of physics in the University
of Chicago, and Nobel laureate for physics in 1907.
Tue. enterprise of the Royal Horticultural Society in
holding .a three-days’ show at Cardiff on July 6-8
marks a new departure in the society’s history. Not
in the present generation has it held such a meeting
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
in the provinces, and it has now taken this--step~ to ,
foster the interest in gardening and the production of
home-grown produce that it did so much to develop
during the war period. The scientific section will
contain exhibits showing how to identify and over-
come the various garden pests, as well as displays of
the various appliances used in repelling their attacks.
Tue David Syme prize, with medal, for the year
1920 has been awarded to Mr. Frederick Chapman,.
paleontologist to the National Museum and lecturer
in paleontology in the University of Melbourne. Mr.
Chapman, before his first appointment in Australia,
was known to a wide circle in London through his
work under Prof. Judd and his association with Prof.
T. Rupert Jones in the investigation of fossil
Foraminifera. Foraminifera have always remained
his special object of research, but he has published a
large number of papers in all branches of palzonto-
logy, including a revision of the fossil fish-remains | of
New Zealand. Few men have rendered the results.
of their observations available with such zeal and
regularity, and Mr. Chapman, from the date of his |
earliest papers, when he described the preparation | of
thin sections of minute objects. for the microscope,
has brought to his painstaking studies the enjoyment
of an artist in his work.
Ar the anniversary meeting of the Linnean ssicieth
on May 27, the following officers and members of
council were elected :—President: Dr. A. Smith Wood-
Secretaries :
ward. Treasurer: Mr. H. W. Monckton. :
Dr. B. Daydon Jackson, Prof. E. S. Goodrich, and
Dr. A. B. Rendle. Council:
Stanley Edwards, Prof. J. B. Farmer,
Rt. Hon. Lionel Walter, Baron Rothschild, Dr. E. J.
Salisbury, Mr. C. E. Salmon, Miss A. Lorrain Smith,
Lt.-Col. J. H. Tull Walsh, and Dr. A. Smith Wood- —
appointed Mr. E. Ty
Browne, Prof. J. B. Farmer, Mr. H. W. Monckton,
ward. The president has
and Mr. R. I. Pocock vice-presidents. Dame Helen
Gwynne-Vaughan was presented at the anniversary
meeting with the Trail award and medal, and Sir Ray
Lankester with the Linnean medal.
A SUCCESSFUL meeting of the British Lampblown
Scientific Glassware Manufacturers’ Association, Ltd.,
was held on June 8 at the Abercorn Rooms, Great
Eastern Hotel. Mr. Douglas Baird, vice-president of
the association, who occupied the chair, in proposing © s
the toast of ‘The B.L.S.G.M.A.,” gave a short history
of the formation of the association. The manufacturers
who were members of the association were engaged in
work which could be truly designated a “‘master-key —
industry,’’ because there was no trade or profession
that could be successfully carried on without the aid
of one or other of the instruments manufactured by
The association was formed during the
its members.
war because it was found by the Government. that
there was a great demand for all kinds of instruments i :
for the fighting forces which previous to hostilities “
had been introduced into this country from abroad,
Mr. E. G. Baker, Mr. H.
Bury, Prof. Margaret Benson, Mr. E. T. Browne, Mr.
‘Prof. Be" S."
Goodrich, Capt. A. W. Hill, Dr. B. Daydon Jackson, ©
Mr. C. C. Lacaita, Mr. G. W. E. Loder, Mr. H. W. —
Monckton, Mr. R. I. Pocock, Dr. A. B. Rendle, the
Lg
;
+a
iZ
"te
2
y
June. 17, 1920]
NALURE
497
= SS
and more particularly from Germany. The Govern-
ent experienced great difficulty in getting in touch
with manufacturers, and it was at the suggestion of
_ the Ministry of Munitions that the B.L.S.G.M.A, was
- formed. Mr. Baird emphasised the necessity of each
member in the association uniting to their utmost in
jmoting and fostering the industry. He pointed
- out that it was only by united effort to. turn out
" instruments of the highest class of manufacture that
; “the country could hope to keep out. the ee of
; ign glassware.
F — Sir C. H. Reap, in his presidential address de-
- livered before the Society of Antiquaries, does not
{ take an optimistic view of the prospects of archzeo-
P logical research. While’ the late German Govern-
ment lavished treasures on the Berlin museums, the
k ‘British Museum, our one institution archeological in
regulations against the export of specimens from
countries under our control have proved to be in-
effective. For example, specimens found in Cyprus
are smuggled to any other art centre rather than
- to London, and the silver treasures from that island
passed easily into the Pierpont Morgan galleries in
New York. The same result of Government action
is anticipated in India. The president is, however,
; cee, fair in his strictures on the Indian Govern-
5 Why, he asks, are the Indian museums filled
[ ah etionsy of the Buddhist age ?—things which he
believes are hated by Mussulmans and almost equally
disliked by Hindus. He forgets that many of the
Indian Mussulmans, being converts from Hinduism,
have in a measure lost that hatred for repre-
‘sentations of the human form which survives in
orthodox cities like Cairo. Hindus have recognised
Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu, and the ignorant
Hindu villager often worships a figure of the Master
as a representation of some local deity, male or even
female. But Sir Hercules Read is well justified in
pleading for the development of excavation in
- Bapylonia and in Egypt, in which latter country Prof.
Flinders Petrie has done admirable work with very
limited resources. He also wisely lays stress on the
fact that, while our galleries abound in examples of art
in its highest forms, we have comparatively little to
illustrate the everyday social life of the populations
which . -are now subject to our control.
Tue tenth International Cotton Congress was held
in Zurich on June 9-11. In_ the course of its pro-
ceedings a highly suggestive paper. was’ read by Dr.
_ W. Lawrence Balls, scientific expert and adviser to
_ the’ Fine Cotton.Spinners’ Association, Ltd., Man-
chester, on “The Nature, Scope, and Difficulties of
_ Research,’” in which he dealt ‘with the foundation of
research, the past. and present scope of the research
on cotton, the British organisation, of cotton re-
searches, and international research. The demand for
- scientific research, with the: view of enlarging the
possibilities of the industry, embracing not only, the
cultivation of the. plant, but .also ,every subsequent
process in its» utilisation,
various. changes in recent years.
vast accumulation of experience in
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
Pee eee cin
es
OS Tha We,
RR re See
Pe a ORT Pk PO oe
There is a
the cotton
its aims, is hampered by lack of funds. Again, the .
has -been, induced by
‘induStry,- together with a sail nie in-trade of
generdl knowledge. Most of the .work.of tke first
deeade undertaken by the scientific workers will have
to be spent in defining what the spinner knows, and
then in réducing the incoherent mass’ of details to a
small number of generalisations easy .to grasp. . The
question of the method of utilisation of the results
of research which may be condensed under the title
of publication is summed up in a'line: To ascertain
the’ true facts, to conceal nothing known, and to take
personal responsibility. ' Theré must be individualism
in effort and communism in knowledge, which is put
forward as the code of the pure scientific worker. | With
respect to a code of research for industry, the author
insists on the need for individual effort, but also that
after five years the industrial research worker and his
employer-colleague shall miake known the true facts
ascertained, which, whilst giving full advantage to the
business concerned, shall yet give fair and full assist-
ance to the general advance of man’s power over hie
environment.
In Man for May Mrs. M. E. Cunnington describes
a curious stone mould found on the Worms’. Head,
Glamorganshire. It is made of two pieces of fine-
grained red ‘sandstone about an inch thick. On the
corresponding sides of the two stones are matrices for
casting four objects: a large ring ornamented with a
raised pattern of S-like scrolls enclosed by two narrow
rows of irregular chevrons or waved lines, a ring with
seven star-like rays, a second ring, and another
smaller with a raised pattern of waved lines or loops
with seven points. It is suggested that this orna-
mentation has been designed with some reference to
sun-worship, the disc, the rayed star, and the S scrolls
being all well-known solar symbols derived from the
wheel. From the objects found in association with
these moulds it may be inferred that they belong to
the Early Iron age. This part of the coast, though
difficult of access by land, was easily reached by sea
from other parts of Britain and from the Continent.
The moulds may thus possibly have been introduced
from abroad,
Tue Oxford University Press has issued a revised
edition of its General Catalogue, which was first
produced in 1916. It is not only an excellent descrip-
tion of the varied activities of this great publishing
institution, but it is also valuable as a fine example
of scientific bibliography, and forms very interesting
reading. The Press offers this valuable service to
science and literature that the profits derived from
school books and other more’ or less popular, works
are devoted to the publication of expensive volumes
of permanent value which the ordinary publisher
may hesitate to produce. One book, Woide’s Coptic
New Testament, published in 1799, is still on. sale.
There is an account of the ‘Dictionary of National
Biography,’’ the copyright of which was presented to
the University by- the family of its founder, the late
George M. Smith. . Preliminary work , under... the
direction of Mr. H. W. Carless Davis ‘is .now»in
progress with the view of maintaining and,extending
its usefulness. . A history, of course, is given of what is
now called the ‘‘ Oxford Dictionary,’*, which since the
498
NATURE
oe
Hee of Sir fae aan in 1915 has been controlled by
Dr. H. Bradley and Messrs. W. A. Craigie and C. T.
Onions. Nine of the ‘ten volumes are complete, and
as steady progress in the tenth volume is being made
we may soon look forward to the completion’ of this
monumental work.
‘In the Annual Report of the Director of the Field
Museum of Natural History, Chicago, for 1919,
perhaps the most novel pages are those dealing with
the: work of the botanical laboratories established: by
Mrs. ‘Stanley Field. Their main object is to make —
reproductions of living plants for exhibition in the
museum. To accomplish this the plants are studied
jn’ the field; wherever they are best to’be seen. “Thus
the first four and a half months of the year were
spent in Florida, at a station of the U.S, Department
of Agriculture, to secure studies and material for
such" plants’ as the coconut palm, the banana, the
pineapple, and the Florida cycad. The most perish-
able parts were cast and coloured, and plaster
moulds were made of other parts, formalin material
packed and sent to the museum, and photographs,
colour sketches, and detail studies secured for use
after return. Reproductions were made of many
other. plants cultivated in the garden of the station.
A set of tomatoes attacked by various fungi, then
under investigation at the station, was reproduced,
and pure cultures of the fungi were obtained with the
view of making an enlarged model of each fungus
for exhibition alongside the infected fruit.
i Few works of the same size have had so wide an
Pet on geological thought as R. Liesegang’s
‘“Geologische Diffusionen,’’ published in 1913. Ap-
plications of the author’s views on zonal deposition
are to be found, with excellent illustrations, in Pro-
fessional Papers 107 (p. 156) and 104 (p. 45) of the
U.S. Geological Survey. In the former case banded
jasper-rock is- considered; in the latter, the very
common occurrence of bands of iron hydroxide.
Messrs. Bastin and Laney, in Paper 104, have made
useful experiments with interfusing solutions of
ferrous sulphate and sodium hydroxide.
A cOLOURED geological map of Western Australia,
called a sketch-map, but none the less valuable to
libraries, accompanies the Annual Progress Report
of the. Geological Survey of that State for 1918 (pub-
lished i919). Its scale, 1 in. to 50 miles, or about
I): 3,000,000, is large enough to enable us to appre-
ciate the immense extent of Nullagine (Late Pre-
Cambrian?) beds in the north-west, with their auri-
ferous conglomerates; the Jurassic fringe on the west
coast; and the Cretaceous overflow on Palzozoic strata
in the south-east. An interesting case of serviceable
limestone formed by capillary action in sand-dunes is
described on p. 14 of the report.
A summary of the weather for the spring season,
comprised by the thirteen weeks ending May 29, is
given in the Weekly Weather Report issued by the
Meteorological Office. Mean air temperature for the
period was above the average in all districts of the
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
‘Channel,
_at the temperature of liquid air.
British’ Isles, the largest excess being © 3:2° Fin in
England E. and 2-9° F. in England S:E. In Ireland —
the excess was not more than 3° F.,’and in Scotland —
it was only about 1°.’ At the close of the season thé —
sheltered thermometer exceeded 80° F. in most of the —
English districts. The day-degrees above 42° F. were —
largely in excess of the normal over the whole king-
dom, especially in England E. and in the English ,
whilst the day-degrees below 42° F. were
largely deficient everywhere, especially in the Midland ~
Counties and in England E. and N:E. Rainfall was —
everywhere in excess of the normal, the greatest excess _
being’ 5°67 in. in England N.W. In the English —
Channel the excess was.only 0-59 in., and in England ©
S.E. and E. 0-63 in. and 0-67 in. respectively. The —
duration of bright sunshine was normal in Scotland N., —
but deficient in all other parts of the British Isles. In
Scotland W. the deficiency was 109. hours, and in
England N.W. and Ireland S. 91 hours.
THE second part of the current volume of the
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy consists of
a paper by the. late Prof. J. A. McClelland and Mr.
A. Gilmour on the electric charge on rain. The ~
observations were made in a small quadrangle at
the back of University College, Dublin, between
January 1 and August 31 last year. The results.
for non-thunderstorm rain are that 73 per cent. “of it
was charged positively, and 84 per cent. of the elec-
tricity brought down was positive. The average
charges brought down by the rain were 0-21 electrostatic
unit positive and o-o8 negative per c.c. of water. —
The average vertical currents were 1-6 x 10-*® amperes —
per sq. cm. positive and o5x10-** negative. Drops —
below 0-08 x 10-* c.c. were always negatively charged, —
but there appeared to be no relation between the size —
of the drop and the magnitude of its charge. Thunder- f
storm rain was more highly charged than ordinary —
rain and about equally positive and negative. Snow —
was more often negative than positive, small hail
always negative, and large hail always positive, the —
charges per c.c. exceeding those on ordinary rain ©
and often those on thunderstorm rain. am
ors
i.
In Publication No. 298 of the Carnegie Institution —
of Washington (1919) Messrs. E. L. Nichols and ©
H. L. Howes, with the collaboration of Messrs. E.
Merritt and D. T. Wilber and Miss F. G. Wick, give
the results of a very exhaustive investigation of the —
fluorescence and absorption spectra of uranyl salts. —
The authors have examined a large number of simple —
and double salts, the influence of water of crystal-
lisation. and of crystalline form, and the polarised —
fluorescence of crystals at ordinary temperatures and
The results obtained —
at low temperatures are of particular interest, for —
under these conditions both the absorption and —
fluorescence bands, which at ordinary temperatures —
are so diffuse that it is difficult even to locate the ©
positions of the maxima with great precision, are —
resolved into a number of comparatively sharp com-
ponents the homologous members of which can be-
arranged in series having constant wave-number
a
a a
ay Ki
a 48
NATURE
499
the existence of regular crystalline structure; as an
example of this, the broad bands observed in uranium
_ glass are not further resolved on cooling to the tem-
perature of liquid air. It is shown that many of the
P apparent shifts of the bands with change of tempera-
_ ture are to be referred to the relative enhancement
or. diminution of the components of the bands. A
«discussion of different types of <a ae is
q included as an appendix.
arg?
’ Tur May lecture of the Institute of Metals on.
_ **Recent Progress in Thermo-Electricity ’’ was de-
livered by Prof. C. A. F. Benedicks, of Stockholm
_ University, on June 10, Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir
_ George Goodwin, president, in the chair. Prof.
_ Benedicks first gave a short summary of his
- theoretical views upon the metallic conduction of
electricity. A consequence of this theory was
that one has to conclude that even in a single
homogeneous metal thermo-electric currents do
eccur, and not only when two different metals
. wre present. Prof. Benedicks gave a_ concise
_ demonstration of the most important experimental
evidence of the truth of this conclusion, utilising for
this purpose various metals. In liquid mercury it had
been possible for him definitely to prove the existence
= ‘of thermo-electric currents, thus disproving the nega-
_ tive results of previous workers. A consequence of
what the lecturer termed his ‘‘ homogeneous thermo-
_ electric effect ’’ was that there must exist the reverse
effect, the ‘homogeneous electro-thermic effect,” in-
cluding as a special case the well-known Thomson
effect. The reality of this effect was duly made clear.
A ‘specially’ interesting demonstration was of a new
rotating thermo-electric apparatus made entirely of
copper and rotating in a magnetic field, the driving
-* force originating solely from unequal heating (by
means of a tiny gas jet) of thin strips of copper. The
_ point at which the new knowledge brought forward
_ by Prof. Benedicks might have some practical interest
lay in the possibility of reducing the thermal con-
ductivity of metals by insulated subdivision into fine
wires without impairing the electrical conductivity.
‘The demonstrations were carried out with the aid of
a galvanometer kindly ‘provided by the Cambridge and
aeer ppcrument te
LOSE PTE ae Ee
*
Drs. A. HarDEN AND S. fa ZILVA, continuing, their
work on accessory food substances, publish in the
Biochemical Journal for April a paper entitled, ‘‘ The
§ mrsssanone Requirements of. the Monkey,” The
authors point out that as the. clinical symptoms of
scurvy induced in the ‘monkey are similar to those:
_ occurring in human. subjects suffering from, § a similar
_ disease, the monkey has been more, and more, exten-
sively employed’ ‘as an experimental animal. On the
; other’ hand, comparative scarcity, high price, and
~ gieater uration of experiment rénder the mdiike
sais
into
NO, "2642, VOL. fost
at resolution of the bands on cooling sem oe
| healthy.
terms of the other Drs. Harden and Zilva -have
attempted to establish a quantitative relatiqnship,.as
regards dose and time, between them. -In the .werk
described five monkeys fed on a_ scorbutic: diet of
rice, wheat. germ, salt mixture, and butter received
respectively 0-5 ¢.c., 0°75 C.C., I C.C., 2 €.C., and-5 -c.e,
respectively of orange juice daily. The animals re-
ceiving only 0-5 c.c. or 0:75 c.c. developed scurvy with
fatal results, whilst the one receiving 1 c.c. only
suffered from ‘a: mild attack, and in-:the’ cases:-of
2 c.c. and 5 c.c., doses the animals remained quite
The authors conclude that the» minimurh
daily dose of fresh orange juice for a monkey. (weigh-
ing 2-3 kilos.) is 1-2 c.c., which is approximately
the amount required by a guinea-pig weighing. 300-400
grams. Whilst, however, the minimum dose | of
antiscorbutic required by the two animals is.-of, the
same order, the disease develops in the guinea-pig
in three weeks, but only after two months: in i She
monkey. ie
In pursuance of his campaign for recognition , as a
pioneer inventor of oil engine cycles, we have received .
a number of documents from Mr. Herbert Akroyd
Stuart, formerly an assistant at Finsbury Technical
College and now of Claremont, in Western Australia.
One type of Mr. Stuart’s engines has been manufac-
tured on a large scale by Messrs. Hornsby, of Gran-
tham. The cycle in this engine is carried out in a
cylinder fitted with a hot bulb, the walls of which are
kept hot during ordinary working by the heat de-
veloped during explosion. Air is drawn into the cylin-
der through a side-port in front of the bulb, and oil
fuel injected into the bulb during the, suction stroke.
Ccmpression follows, and at the end of this stroke
ignition takes place due to the temperature developed
by the hot walls and by the compression. Mr. Stuart’s
other cycle kas not been worked commercially to any
extent. It also is carried out in a hot-bulb cylinder,
and consists in drawing in air only during. the ,suc-
tion stroke, compression of this air, and injection, of oi]
fuel into the bulb during the early part of the working
stroke, the temperature being then sufficient to: cause
the oil to burn readily. Both these cycles were. in-
vented in 1890. Mr. Stuart objects, and rightly so, to the
name “ semi-Diesel ’’ being applied to engines working
on these cycles. He has first claim as the inventor of
hot-bulb engines, and the term ‘‘ Akroyd cycle”
would be suitable. The Diesel engine proper’ has no
hot bulb; air alone is compressed to a very: high’ pres-
sure (500 ib. per sq. in.), and the temperature due to
compression alone is sufficierit to ignite the ‘oil ‘fuel
which is injected during the early part of thé’ working
stroke. The term ‘“‘ Diesel engine ’’ might ‘continue’ to
be used for such engines. The high pressures ‘used in
the Diesel engine and ‘the éxtensive use of thé engine
for marine purposes gave rise to a demand! for~ an
engine working with lower pressures,’ and ‘the * past
few years have seen a great development ip hot-bulb
engines. “Someone acquainted with Diesel engines and
probably | unaware of Mr. Stuart’s prior work, named
these “‘ semi- Diesel, eg term which .may very: well. ‘be
dropped in fayour of. Akroyd engines, if only for. the
sake of historical accuracy. : >
’ " eh ae
500
NATURE
[JUNE 17, 1920
Our Astronomical Column.
Tue Masses OF THE Stars.—The mass of a star
‘is perhaps its most important element, but it is one
‘that can be ascertained only in exceptional cases.
Prof. H. N. Russell, in a paper read at the twenty-
first meeting of the American Astronomical Society,
gathered together all the evidence, direct and indirect,
on the subject, grouping the results by spectral type.
Method I. is the usual one for visual binaries the
orbits and parallaxes. of which are known; Method IT.
is similar, where the parallax and relative motion,
but not the orbit, are known; Method III. is from
spectroscopic binaries where both spectra are shown,
a mean inclination being assumed; and Method IV., |.
the vaguest of all, derives the parallaxes of binaries
from their proper motions.
The resulting mean masses for the pairs of stars
are :—
; Spectrum 8 Il. lft. VV.
B-B,.... —- 10-4 17°5 71
Bir Ags cas ve 9 3:0 qo 8-4
cm. | sent fo
Rea 3°5 3°4 ee 2:5
F,-K, ; dwarf 18 1-4 —- oF
s7 J 0-7 1-0 — —
, The sun’s mass is taken as 1.
The following formule are given for the hypo-
thetical parallax (h) of systems of mean distance a,
_and period P: h=fs; 3 or where s is the apparent’
distance and w the apparent relative motion, in
seconds of arc per annum, h=o-4oofsiw4.
The constant f bas the value o-50 for all giant stars,
0:58 for dwarfs of spectrum A, 0-72 spectrum F, 0-86
spectrum G, 1-00 spectrum K, and 1-14 spectrum M.
The probable error is given as 12 per cent. where the
first formula can be used, and as 22 per cent. in other
cases, |
Tue PLANET JupirER.—The Rev. T. E. R. Phillips,
director of the Jupiter section of the British Astro-
nomical Association, contributes an interesting article
on the planet to the June number of Scientia. After
giving a résumé of Jovian phenomena during the last
twenty years, including the red spot and the south
tropical disturbance, Mr. Phillips notes the startling
change in the aspect of the planet which took place
early in 1919; the disturbance and the red-spot hollow
both practically disappeared, though the spot itself
survived. Discussing the physical condition of
Jupiter, he notes the similarity to the sun in density,
in varying rotation periods according to latitude, and
in the dark belts which are comparable with the spot
zones. He suggests that the red spot may indicate a
vast cyclonic movement in the atmosphere, noting
that this view would explain the rapid passage of the
dark matter of the tropical disturbance round the
spot when the two are in conjunction. He notes, .in
conclusion, the importance of Jovian study from the
point of view of cosmogony, since it illustrates a stage
intermediate between the solar condition and the
earliest geological periods.
PaRALLAX WoRK AT THE SPROUL OBSERVATORY.—The
list of stars with known parallaxes is being rapidly
extended, thanks to the extensive organised campaign
carried on by many observatories which possess large
equatorials. Dr. Miller, of the Sproul Observatory,
has published a useful list of fifty observed parallaxes
(Proc. Amer. Phil..Soc., vol. lix., No. 2). Five stars
on the list have parallaxes above o-1", viz. W.B. (1) V.
592=0-146", 9 Argus=o-121", i Persei=o-120", Lalande
17161=0-104", and W.B.(1)IV. 1189+0-103". The
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
regarding the masses.of binaries. / ;
‘values found for y' and y* Andromedz are 0-021" and
0-005"; those for the preceding and following com-—
ponents of the wide pair 16 Cygni are +0-037" and
+o-018". In each of these systems the true parallaxes.
of the components are presumably the same. The
discordances .are a measure of the probable errors,
which in.each case are of the order of oor”.
An interesting feature is the closeness with which
the new figures verify many of Prof. H. N. Russell’s —
hypothetical parallaxes, deduced from assumptions
_
Nuclear Constitution of Atoms.
By Sir Ernest RuTHERFORD, F.R.S.
T° HE idea of the nuclear constitution of atoms was —
developed from an examination of the scattering —
of swift a-particles in passing through matter, and —
the advance afterwards made was due to the proof —
by Moseley of the close connection between the atomic —
number of an element and the nuclear charge. The
accurate determination of the nuclear charge is of
prime importance. Recent unpublished experiments.
by Mr. Chadwick. in the Cavendish Laboratory
indicate that the nuclear charge on an atom in funda-
mental units is equal to the atomic number within —
an accuracy of about 1 per cent. It follows that
there is a region surrounding the nucleus where the
law of the inverse square holds accurately. The
problem of the constitution of the atom divides itself —
naturally into two parts: one the arrangement of —
the external electrons on which the ordinary chemical —
and physical properties of the atom depend, and the —
other the constitution of the nucleus on which depend —
the mass of the element, the possibility of isotopes,
and radio-activity. The nucleus is composed of posi- —
tively charged units. and negative electrons in very —
close combination, and estimates of its dimensions —
are possible from a study of the collision of a-particles —
with light atoms. Close to the nucleus there is a
rapid change in the magnitude and direction of the
forces, probably in part connected with the deforma- —
tion of the nucleus structure under the intense forces —
which arise in a close collision. a
Unless the nuclei are very stable, it is to be antici- —
pated that they would be deformed, and possibly —
broken up, as a result of a direct collision with swift
a-particles. In previous experiments evidence was —
given that long-range particles resembling hydrogen
atoms were liberated by the passage of a-particles —
through pure nitrogen. New experiments have been —
made to determine by a modified method the nature
of these particles by bending them in a magnetic”
field. The amount of deflection of the particles
liberated from the nitrogen of the air was shown to ~
be the same as for H atoms arising from a mixture -
of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. This showed ~
definitely that hydrogen is one of the products of the
disintegration of the nitrogen atom, and is one of th
original components of the nitrogen nucleus. The ~
possibility that the long-range particles are atoms of ©
mass 2, 3, or 4 carrying a single charge may be ~
definitely excluded. —
The deflection in a magnetic field of the short-range
particles which are liberated from nitrogen and
oxygen, and were originally assumed to be reco:
atoms of these elements, is not only much grea
than that to. be. expected for such recoil atoms,
is also greater than the a-particle but less than
H atoms liberated from a mixture of hydrogen
carbon dioxide. ‘ ‘
1 Synopsis of the Bakerian Lecture delivered before the Royal Society on
June 3. : z 5
Oe ih 5 3 seme SO
tae
‘June 17, 1920] eS
NATURE
501
There is evidence that these particles are atoms of
about 3, carrying two charges. Consequently
atom of nitrogen can be disintegrated in two ways
‘collision with a-particles: one by the escapne of
H atom, and the other-by the expulsion of mass 3,
‘both processes occur independently. Atoms of
3 are also released from oxygen atoms, but
| atoms cannot be detected.
_ It may be concluded, therefore, that atoms of
“mass 3, Carrying two positive charges, are components
the nuclei of nitrogen and oxygen.
This new atom is to be regarded as an isotope of
elium, and should give nearly the same spectrum.
en of motion of the atom of mass 3 expelled
_ from nitrogen and oxygen is about 8 per cent. greater
_ than the original energy of the a-particle, showing
_ that energy is liberated as a result of the disintegra-
_ tion. The atoms of mass 3 probably consist of three
ByRbogen nuclei with one binding electron, and ‘atoms
of helium of four hydrogen nuclei and two electrons.
_ Apart from hydrogen itself, these atoms are important
_ secondary units in the building up of atomic nuclei.
In the light of the new experimental evidence,
. exa are given of the possible modes of forma-
_ tion of isotopes and possible structures of nitrogen.
and oxygen nuclei are considered.
_ that close combinations may exist of H nuclei and
electrons, giving rise to atoms of zero nuclear charge,
_ evolution of the heavy elements.
_ The Rockefeller Gift to Medical Science.
sy? was announced in the Daily Mail of June 11,
_ «*% the Rockefeller Foundation for Medical Research
__ has made the generous gift of a sum of 1,205,000l. for
_ the advancement of teaching and research in the
Medical School of University College and Hospital.
_ Owing to the inconsiderate and premature manner in
which the statement was made public, it is natural
lat some mistakes should have been made and the
ybjects of the gift in certain respects misunderstood.
_ The reason for the delay in making a public an-
_ nouncement is
ur that the Senate of the University of
London has as yet had no opportunity of formally
* eens the gift. When this had been done it was
_ the intention to make it public through appropriate
_ channels and in such a way that the people of England
might appreciate the intention of the donors to give a
_ manifest proof of the friendliness of. their feelings
_ towards the work that we are doing here. and their
2 sug og of its value. We have reason to believe
_ that they particularly wish this aspect. to be em-
_ phasised. It should be remembered that the object of
_ the Rockefeller Foundation is ‘the welfare of man-
_ kind,’’ so that its benefits were not intended to. be
_ confined to the United States. The members of the
_ Foundation desire it to be regarded as entrusted to
_ them for this purpose, and the present endowment is
_ not meant in any way as a charitable gift. In view
_ of statements to the contrary, it is necessary to make
_ it plain that no conditions are attached, and that the
_ recipients are left free in a very wide sense to make
_ the best use of the money for the benefit of medical
_ Science, and especially as to the details of its applica-
tion. It will naturally be understood that the manner
of its use has been the subject of much discussion
_ between representatives of the Rockefeller Founda-
tion and the institutions receiving the gift.
With regard to the objects to which it is proposed
to devote the endowment, a few words on the history
of the negotiations may be of interest. Towards the
end of last year two representatives of the Rockefeller
It is pointed out’:
and that such a conception is needed to explain the
the International Health Board) and Dr. Pearce
(Adviser in Medical Education to the Foundation),
arrivedin London. Before proceeding further they called
at University College. In the absence of Prof. Starling,
they were received by. the present writer, whom
they gave to understand that they had come to make
inquiries into the conditions of medical education. in
London. They were accordingly informed of. the
recent creation of medical and surgical “ units,’’ of
their situations and the names of various gentlemen
associated with these units from whom they. might
obtain further information. This they proceeded to
do. Early in the present year they made another visit
to University College with definite pronosals, and
were seen by Prof. Starling and Prof. Elliot Smith,
who showed them what was necessary to be done for
the adeauate provision of instruction and research in
the fundamental sciences of anatomy,. physiology, and
pharmacology. It was clear to them that the most
pressing need, was the building of a new anatomical
institute, although the medical ‘sciences themselves
naturally required the larger proportion of any pro-
posed gift.
In April four representatives of University College
and Medical School visited the’ United States for the
purpose of further conference. These were the
Provost (Sir Gregory Foster), Dr. Blacker (Dean of
the Medical School), Prof. T. R. Elliott (professor of
medicine), and Prof. Elliot Smith (professor of
anatomy). .On their return they brought back the
definite offer of this extremely generous gift, and
speak with the greatest appréciation of the friendli-
ness of the manner in which they were received, the
spirit in which the offer was made, and in which it
was impressed upon them that it should be accepted.
Owing to the premature publication of the scheme
it was necessary to call a general college meeting on
Friday last, at which the Provost made a statement
of its actual terms. In the words of the Rockefeller
Executive Committee, they are as follows: ‘‘(1) An
institute of anatomy. (2) Increase of clinical facili-
ties. (3) Clinical laboratories planned. (4) Increased
maintenance costs. (5) Closely unified administra-
tion.’’ The Medical School will receive 835,o00l. and
the College 370,000l. Further details of the ways in
which it is proposed to utilise the money will be duly
announced. At this meeting Prof. Elliot’ Smith
pointed out that anatomy is to be understood as in-
cluding in its purview the microscopic structure of the
tissues, embryology, and a study of the factors govern-
ing the development of form. It is further to be hoped
that the working of the scheme will involve a much
closer co-operation between the College ‘and the
medical departments, to the advantage of both. —
It is perhaps advisable to direct attention to the
fact that the gift is for the purpose of improving
medical education and research. At the same time
the hospital, as an institution for the cure of patients,
will benefit indirectly, although doubtless its working
expenses will be ingreased owing to the enlargement
proposed. W. M.-Baytiss.
The Permanent Value of University
Benefactions.
a account of the opening of the new building of
the Department of Applied Statistics and
Eugenics at University College, London, presented by
Sir Herbert Bartlett, was given in last week’s
Nature. The speech made by Prof. Karl Pearson in
seconding the vote of thanks to the donor contains
certain truths which have a wider application than to
Foundation, Dr. Wickliffe Rose (General Director of | the immediate audience, and we therefore reproduce it
NO. 2642, VOL. 105]
502:
NATURE
in. the hope that it will help to force the present
difficult situation of the universities upon the attention
of’ the! public. as
Henry.V1., 1422-61. ,. You probably all think of him
asa weakling, the monarch whose forces were cleared
out of the best part of France: by Joan.of Arc—a
man ‘naturally: almost imbecile, and dominated by his
Queen .and a succession of dukes, and finally deposed
bythe. victorious House of York. -I feel otherwise
towards him. For forty-five years. I) have worked
under his.image in a niche of my library. On my
rare. visits’ to Cambridge I would raise my hat to his
statue -on the front lawn of the college he founded.
He may have been a poor King, but | owe the six
most useful years of my life to the freedom his
benefaction. gave me to travel and to study. Despised
as. a King, ‘there: are many of us who respect our
Royal benefactor as a scholar and a gentleman.
The.spirit in which the members of old Cambridge
colleges regard their founders and benefactors is one
that should take deeper root in our new universities.
‘It is not merely the recognition of the name, but the
insight: that shall appreciate what the benefactor
desired us to achieve, and the determination of suc-
cessive generations that the purpose of the benefaction
shall be carried out.
There are only too many ways of disposing of
money! In 1441 it might be done by wars in France,
by endowing monasteries to expedite the, passage of
your soul through purgatory, but those who founded
or extended great centres of learning have remained
in men’s affection for all time. Nowadays you can
dispose of your money to party funds or to charities;
your name will survive just as long as your money is
unspent or: you have more to give.. But the man who
gives generously to a great academic institute will,
if he choosés wisely, be certain of an ever-green
memory.
-In this institute we have had a number of bene-
factors, but three stand out for special mention on
such an occasion as the present. The Worshipful
Company of Drapers, who. from 1903 onwards have
assisted. one section of our: enterprise. Sir Francis
Galton, who came of a family which has founded no
fewer than three academic chairs, the Sedleian, the
Savilian, and my own chair. Under his inspiration
we work, and we are more than pleased to be better
able to keep his. memory fresh in our new buildings
here than has been possible in the past in our cramped
and: temporary homes:
Lastly, we come to the benefactor whose bénefac-
tion is the: subject of our gathering to-day. To him
not only I, but every member of my “staff feel. daily
gratitude for providing us with a-more fitting, and,
I. willsadd, sa: more healthy environment, than we
ever. imagined would: be ours, and I trust that the
tradition will remain long after I have ceased - to.
share the: comfort of this building and the possibilities
for the studious life it provides. » .
Those who have. gone round this laboratory. will
have noted that we try to. keep, before-us not only. the
portraits of great leaders of thought, but the por-
traits’ of ‘the: men. who have.madé. our work possible,.
and: in. this:respect I should hope to be:.pardoned if
I reminded::Sir Herbert Bartlett of how. deeply, we
should) al. appreciate the: addition of such..a.memorial
of:his-gift, so.that we may have .his form .as well as
his good works :heforé:usis: 9 ss) i a
\ The: wari has left all academic ‘enterprise stranded-
In: tg14:we could have.equipped and -fitted:.this .build-.
Our. contracts were.
ing from basement. to top. storys
réscinded,and for five years this laboratory. was- used’
as a military hospital.
Sir Herbert Bartlett has provided lie to a large extent
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
At present.the fine buildings
unoccupied.
extension of old and the founding of new universities
a. first claim on their war indemnities. In 1920 we.
hear no suggestion. that from our universities a new,
national life has to spring, and that if they are to-
accomplish their task. it can. only .be if the..State-
and private friends come to their help in the present
critical state of affairs. In this respect .we can only.
trust that others will be.as wise both for the present
and for the future as Sir Herbert Bartlett has. been.
‘The winning of the war has been attributed in suc-
cession to many causes. .One factor is rarely referred -
to, namely, the unselfish way in which. the academic
staff of university after university gave up their
academic repose, broke through all their scholarly
studies and their scientific researches, and, where they
could not sacrifice their lives, at. least sacrificed many
of. their .best years of work for national service.
Voluntary, and unpaid, and unpayable gifts. for.
national welfare! It is absurd that the universities
should have to prate of such labours; but here is the
fact, regard it in what aspect you like, that with a.
greater task than ever before them, they are left with
far less power to carry it out than they had before the
war, and-it is that knowledge which makes us_ the
more deeply grateful to the snecial- benefactor whom
we wish to honour in this vote of thanks. He saw
our necessity and responded to it. Ree ts
a
af
The Imperial Entomological Conference: ;
HE Committee of the Imperial Bureau of
Entomology may be congratulated on the
success of the Entomological Conference which met
on June 1-11 in the Linnean Society’s rooms, Bur-
lington House, London. The conference was attended
by twenty official delegates representing most of the
British Dominions, Colonies, and Protectorates, as
well as by members of the committee of the Bureau,
while a number of entomologists were invited to the
meetings and discussions which occupied most of the
appointed days. At the opening of the conference
the delegates were received by Viscount Harcourt,
chairman of the committee, and business meetings
were held on the first and final days. On Friday,
June 4, the conference visited the Rothamsted Agri-
cultural Experiment Station in conjunction with a
meeting of the Association of Economic Biologists;
an account of this interesting day appeared in
last week’s Nature (p. 464). On Tuesday, June 8,
the members journeyed to Oxford, and on Thursday,
June 10, to Cambridge. Prof. E. B. Poulton acted
as host on the former, and Sir Arthur Shipley on the
latter occasion. While the entomological collections
in the University museums were the chief objects of
interest, time was found for brief inspection of some
features of the historic cities; for example, after enter-
taining the conference to lunch in Christ’s . College,
Sir Arthur Shipley took the Overseas delegates into —
the rooms occupied
ninety years ago. by Charles
Darwin, aay
Of the. meetings held on the other five days of the —
conference it may :be said that several subjects - of
much -importance and:.of general interest were well
- and: earnestly discussed... On the.morning of June 2,
under the. presidency, of Dr. R. Stewart MacDougall
» (Edinburgh),.Mr:.C. P. Lounsbury (Entomologist, to
the Union of South. Africa) spoke on_‘‘ Legislation in~
| Regard.to Plant: Pests in.the-British Empire,” insist-—
ing that the official entomologist should have authority
to draft-and enforce. regulations against the introduc- —
tion of plants, which might harbour harmful insects; —
| he. advocated. ‘the drastic exclusion .of such plants —
except. in certain. Special cases,..and, expressed the —
laced on —
opinion that little or no reliance can -be
[JUNE 17, 1920...
In 1871 the German nation made: the a
—
US YA Oe) elegy at AP ae Sey Bee
ars
i
¥
% in a i
sites entomological work could be profitably
NATURE
503
_ JUNE 17, 1920]
_certi s of freedom from pests—a view afterwards
‘supported ‘by several others who took part in the dis-
cussion. . Mr. H. J. Elwes, however, remarked. that
along experience in cultivation had convinced’ him
that. - interference with freedom of import
had sometimes been exercised by the authorities.
On the chairman’s suggestion, a sub-committee
_ Was’ appointed to consider the establishment of an
“
_ Empire Convention on the subject.
“The Education of Economic Entomologists,’’ the
q subject for discussion at the next morning meeting
Stage over by Prof. Poulton, was introduced by
f. H. Maxwell Lefroy (Imperial College of
Science).. Prof. Lefroy advocated the establishment
of entomology as a subject independent of general
zoology, arid, describing the courses in his own college,
emphasised the necessity of a broad scientific training
Sics, chemistry, and biology before the
taken up; men with exceptional aptitude, however,
tudy. The discussion was continued by Dr: R. J:
Villyard (Nelson, N.Z.), Dr. R. Stewart MacDougall
haga 1), Mr. F. Balfour Browne (Cambridge),
‘of. R. Newstead (Liverpool), .Prof.'G. H. Carpenter
al Coll of Science,*Dublin), Prof. R. D. Watt
ney, N:S.W.), and Mr.*F. V. Theobald (Wye).
ile some doubt was, expressed as to the advisability
of divorcing entomology from general zoological study,
there was general agreement as to the need-of a
sound and comprehensive. scientific training, and
sy: The die direct to advanced entomological
_. several of the speakers insisted further that all entomo-
logists in direct contact with cultivators ought to have
practical knowledge of farm or garden work. —
Qn Monday morning, June 7, Sir Daniel Morris in
the chair, Mr. H. A. Ballou (Entomologist to the
pa labs of Agriculture for the West Indies) opened
a discussion on ‘The Resistance of Plants to Insect
Attacks.”’ He believed that in many cases pérfectly
healthy plants do not afford the best possible condi-
. for the life of sucking insects, while the food
supply derived from weak or diseased plants may
stimulate insects to abnormally quick growth ‘and
prolific reproduction. This view was supported by the
infestation of thrips on cocoa-trees in the West Indies.
Prof. R. D. Watt emphasised the possibility of find-
ing strains of cultivated plants immune from insect
attack, analogous to those now well known in certain
cases as immune from fungus pests. . Mr. C. C. Gowdey
z (Uganda) considered good cultural methods as of great
°
importance in maintaining the resistant conditions.
A cognate subject, ‘Artificial versus Natural
Methods of Control of Insect Pests,’’ occupied the
conference on Wednesday morning, June 9, when Prof.
R. Newstead presided. Mr. F.. W. Urich (Trinidad)
opened the discussion with an account of various
measures adopted in the, West Indies, of which the
distribution by means of spraying machines of fungus
spores for the destruction of cercopids on sugar-cane
was the most remarkable. Dr. Tillyard regarded
spraying with insecticides as an imperfect palliative,
and looked hopefully. for results in poisoning aphids
and scale-insects from the inoculation of trees with
such substances as copper sulphate. Mr. F. Balfour
Browne uttered a warning against the possible danger
of introducing parasitic insects: into new countries in
order that they may prey upon previously introduced
plant-feeding insects, but Prof. H. Maxwell Lefrov
and Dr. A. D. Imms regarded any danger from this
now-established practice as remote.
Several interesting papers on more special subjects
were read. On the afternoon of Monday, June 7, Mr.
G. E. Bodkin save his exnerience of the insect pests
of British Guiana, and dwelt on the difficulty of ‘con-
NO. 2642, VOL. 105]
' provident fund for the Bureau staff.
trolling sugar-cane insects because of their habits ‘of
migration. On the same occasion’ Mr. F.’W. Urith
described the insect pests of Trinidad, and ‘Mr..H: A;
Ballou contributed a general review of conditions in
the West Indies. On the afternoon of June “g Dr.
MacDougall: lectured’ on ‘Insects in Relation to
Afforestation,’’ with lantern illustrations, pointing out
the bearing of the feeding habits of common British
timber- and bark-beetles upon practical questions ‘of
forest management. A discussion involving the uni-
formity of habit among insects of the same species
in all parts of its range was carried on by Mr. C. F.C.
Beeson (India) and Dr. Munro (Board of Forestry);
the latter expressed regret that the Scottish and
English Scolytidz follow the rules laid down in the
classical German text-books of forest entomology.
Mr. F. A. Stockdale (Ceylon) followed with an account
of the insect pests of tea in that island. On the after-
-noon of Wednesday, June 2, when Sir David Prain
took the chair, Mr. H. H. Ballou read a’ paper: on
‘Cotton Pests,’? dwelling particularly:on the —boll
weevil and the pink bollworm,: the latter’ of ‘which’
caused a loss of 10,000,0001; in Egypt in the year 1917.
Cotton insects are controlled by destroying at. the end
of the season all material in the field in’ which ‘the
species might survive until the next season. Mr.
H. H. King described the organisation of. entomo
logical work in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and’ stated
that nine field- laboratories under the charge of trained
entomologists would be necessary for the proper
working of the area. aH She)
Of the special questions discussed the most note-
worthy was the tsetse-fly problem, considered at~the
meeting on Saturday morning, June 5, appropriately
presided over by Sir David Bruce. Several entomo-
logists from Africa spoke, including Messrs. R::W.
Jack (South Rhodesia), Dr. A. May (North Rhodesia),
and Mr. Li. Lloyd and Dr. G. D. H.. Carpenter:
(Uganda). An experiment as to. the effect on the fly
of the clearance of ‘‘big game’’ from a district in
Rhodesia is now being tried. The opinion was ex~
pressed that the result of this will be disappointing,
as mammalian blood forms,.as a rule, only a small
proportion of the food-supply of Glossina. Dr. Car-
penter informed the meeting of the success which had
followed the erection of inclined screens, under which
hundreds of puparia are found; this means of ‘control
was suggested by an observation of the large number
of puparia present in the shelter of a blown-down tree.
The conference concluded. on Friday, June 11, with
a business meeting, at which several resolutions were
passed; these may be briefly summarised. (1) A con-
ference should be held in London every five years.
(2) The Imperial Bureau of Entomology should be
established permanently; the cessation or curtailment
of its work would be deplorable. (3) The Governments
contributing to the expenses of the Bureau should be
urged to guarantee their contributions. (4) The funds
at present contributed for the upkeep of the Bureau
are inadequate; they should be increased so as to pro-
vide an income of at least 13,0001. a year. (5) The
Colonial Secretary should be requested to establish a
(6) The director
and committee of the Bureau should have full power
to exercise their discretion as to the scope and contents
of the publications and the expenditure involved.
(7) The director should encourage members of the
staff to pay attention to particular groups of insects,
especially those for the identification of which no
specialist is available. (8) The provision of an
adequate number of trained men to carry into effect
existing plant-import legislation is of more immediate
importance than the revision or’ extension of «such
legislation.
504,
NALORE
[JUNE 17, 1920
Members of the conference. had the privilege of
attending .méetings of the Linnean,, Zoological; and
Entomological Societies,
versazione at the N: tural History Museum, ‘These
gatherings, in addition to the three whole-day excur-
as, well as the Staff Con-
AS STE
|
|
sions to Rothamsted, Oxford, and Cambridge, gave |
welcome opportunity for informal discussion and
pleasant social intercourse. Much gratification was,
felt and expressed at the presence for the first two
days of Dr. L. O. Howard, Entomologist of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. His brief, pointed remarks
at some of the discussions were much appreciated ;
he deplored some recent attempts:to destroy ‘‘ entomo-
logy” as a specific economic subject by dividing its
subject-matter between ‘‘ parasitology ’’ and ‘‘ phyto-
pathology.’’ All who participated
appreciated the untiring efforts of Dr. G.. A. K.
Marshall and Dr. Neave, of the Imperial
Bureau, who before and during the meetings did
their utmost for the success of the gathering.
On the evening of the closing day the members of
the conference were entertained to dinner at Lan-
caster House by H.M. Government, Viscount Har-
court presiding. Thus was pleasantly and fittingly
demonstrated. the increasing recognition of the im-
portance of the study and practice of science in rela-
tion to the interests and industries of the Empire.
G. H.
The Selous Memorial at the Natural
History Museum.
HE movement started in 1917 to perpetuate the
memory of the late Capt. F. C. Selous, D.S.O.
by a national memorial achieved its aim on Thursday,
June to, when Mr. Edward North Buxton, vice-chair-
man of the Memorial Committee, himself a great
hunter in his day, in the unavoidable absence of the
chairman, the Right Hon. E. S. Montagu, M.P., un-
veiled) at the Natural History Museum, South
Kensington, a bronze bust of Selous—the work of
Mr. W. R. Colton, R.A.—before a distinguished and
representative gathering.
The bust is mounted in a niche of grey granite from
the Matoppo Hills, the burial-place of Cecil Rhodes
and Sir Starr Jameson, and is the gift of the Union
Government of South Africa. It was brought to this
country by the Union Castle Line free of all charges.
Below the bust is a bas-relief, also in bronze, depict-
ing a lion and lioness, and in the distance an
elephant, a situtunga, and other big-game animals,
symbolical of the interests of the great sportsman
and explorer. The granite bears the inscription :
‘Captain Frederick C. Selous, D:S.O., hunter,
explorer, and naturalist. Born 1853: Killed in action
at Bého-Beho, German East Africa, 4. i. 1917.’’
Mr. Buxton in ‘his speech referred to the qualities
of Selous’ which had endeared him to so many
friends; and Summarised thesé when: he said that
“Selous was a great hunter; and a still. greater
gentleman.’ ‘On' behalf of the committee hé asked
Viscourit Grey of Fallodon, ‘K.G., and the « other
trustees of the mtiseum ‘to accept’ the memorial and
to’ preserve it in the museum for all posterity.
‘In ‘his reply Lord Grey ‘stated that in the museum,
which - was’’'a’-nationat ‘institution, this” national
memorial would be kept ‘and honoured as a memorial
to oné Who was a 'grédt explorér, a ‘great ‘traveller, -a
great hunter, and, besides’ that, ‘a most brave and
single-minded’ and. attractive: character.’
The King sent a message’ to the effect’ that he’ felt
that no mote appropriate ‘place than ‘the Natural°
History Museum could be selected for a memorial ‘to’
Capt. F. C. Selous.
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
in the conference —
the
it 4s indeed. in htness. of. things . ‘that “this
memorial should have found .a.permanent, place in
the museum; for; next to his.own home, there was
no place in England which more attracted Selous than
the museum, and when he was. in this country he
seldom kept away from it for more than a week;
sometimes he was a daily visitor.
A guard of honour composed of officers and men
of the Legion of Frontiersmen, many of whom. had
served with Selous in East Africa, and a detachment
of the Kensington Division of Boy Scouts were
present.
The response to the committee’s appeal for funds
for the memorial has been so widespread and generous
that they have been able to provide. a sum of money
for the foundation of a substantial. Selous scholarship
at his old school, Rugby, on the basis that preference
will be given at each election to the sons of officers
who have fallen in the war, and in this connection
The Selous Memorial Bust in the Natural History. Museum. On the right
hand side of the memorial, not shown here, is the following inscrip-
. tion :-—‘* Captain Frederick C. Selous, D.S.O., hunter, explorer. and
naturalist. Born _1853, Killed in action at Beho- Beho, German East
Africa, 4.i.1917.”
it is with uc satisfaction that we learn that in
the examination for the scholarship a love and know-
ledge of natural history on the part of the candidate
will be the deciding : factor.
A few words may be said respecting Mrs. Salous’s
gift to the nation of her husband’s splendid collection
of big-game ttophies‘and ‘of birds’ eggs,: a: gift for
which Viscount ‘Grey, on behalf of the trustees, con-
veyed ‘to: the donor his. warm thanks, and at. the
same -time expressed ‘his high sabia tie of -its,
value and importance.
‘The col'ections have now:been cena at the Natural
History Museurh; and the big-game specimens are
; in course’ of being catalogued by Mr. Guy Dollman.
We understand ‘that ‘it “is ‘the ‘intention: of the: trustees,
to publish this catalogue, , a work which cannot fail’
| Jone 17, 1920]
“NATURE
iso
be of abiding interest to naturalists and sports-
_ The collection consists of 550 specimens—the
‘part from South and East Africa—of splendid
_ It also includes nineteen magnificent lion-
and a skull of the South African white rhino-
-an extinct species—with exceptionally ~ fine
1 collection of birds’ eggs consists of 7o10 speci-
s§ obtained in Great Britain,, Europe, and Asia
or. The great feature of the collection is that
me S personally took every egg from the nest
f. He would never accept any egg or clutch
gs offered to him by a friend, nor would he
one from a dealer.
| neatness and methodical cate with which it
inged, to say nothing of (its comprehensive
collection is,a particularly, valuable one.
i
Peas ATER Geek ph eked. a EMS Yh ONG ioe
and Educational Intelligence:
—On the advice of Sir John Cadman,
ointment as a: technical adviser to the
on matters relating to coal and petroleum
ed, the department of mining is to be re-
‘and extended. - In addition to the new. pro-
ining there is to be an assistant-professor
technology. It is honed that Sir John
Il still retain some connection with the
nce. pS: ‘Baise Nit ae
W. Burstall has been elected dean of the
cience, to succeed Sir John Cadman. _
As briefly announced: last week, a
or endowing a school of biochemistry has
roved by the High Court of Justice, and has
‘submitted to the University by Sir Jeremiah
rt.,.on behalf of the trustees of the late
m Dunn, Bart. The residuary estate of Sir
Dunn was left in trust for cértain charitable
3, including the alleviation of human suffering.
istees - propose, with- that object in ‘view, to
e and endow with thé substantial sum of
thestudy of biochemistry, one of the funda-
‘sciences of medicine, the progiess of which is
fal to the advance of medical knowledge.
ng regard to the fact that the study of bio-
ry in this country had its first beginnings in‘ Cam-
_ bridge, and is at present being carried on there without
endowment under Prof. Gowland Hopkins, the trustees
_ offer the University 165,o00l. to found the Sir’ William
_ Dunn School of Biochemistry. Of this sum they allot
25,0001. to endow a professorship and to,o00l. to
endow a readership in biochemistry, the balance to be
a
used in erecting and equipping ‘an institute of “bio-
istry and in providing funds for its maintenance
and upkeep and an endowment for research work.
- This munificent benefaction is a most “pleasing
eer to the work of Prof. Hopkins and his col-
versity, has been elected honorary fellow of Jesus
College. rah it a hi
Mr. J. E. Littlewood, Trinity College, has been
appointed Cayley lecturer in mathematics, and Mr.
J. H. Grace, Peterhouse, has been’ re-appointed
University lecturer in mathematics. bits
Special Board for Mathematics has ‘recom:
for
mended the substitution 6f thermodynamics
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
At the summons of a friend announcing the dis-
agues.
_ Dr. TG. Adami, Vice-Charcellor 6f Liverpool’ Uni-
elementary: optics in Schedule A of Part Il.
Mathematical ‘Tripos. .
In. conhection with the: coming: meeting of’ the
British Medical Association at Cambridge, ‘honorary
degrees are proposed for the Master of Pembroke,
Sir T. Clifford Allbutt, Jules Bordet, A. Calmette,
H. Cushing, S. Flexner, Piero Giacosa,- Major-Gen.
Gorgas, Sir George Makins, Sir Patrick Manson; and
Sir Norman Moore. vi bees
of’ the
LivERPOOL.—The council of the University. has
appointed Mr. T. R. Wilton as lecturer in dock and
harbour engineering, with the title of associate-
professor. Mr. Wilton is closely connected with the
Liverpool Engineering Society, and has done valuable
work, for that body as hon, secretary—a position he
has held ‘since 1907. He has been for some. years
special lecturer in dock and harbour construction at
the, University, has carried out. important inves-
tigations on the movement of sand and currents, and
.has also taken observations of ‘a practical nature’ on
the Mersey. ;
Mr. H. Ricuarpson, of the. Municipal College of
Technology, Manchester, has been appointed principal
of the Bradford Technical College in’ suécession to
Prof. W. M. Gardner. ;
Tue Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is open
to receive until July 15 nominations for a limited
number .of research scholarshivs. in — agricultural
science, each tenable for.two years, and of the annual
value of 20ol.- Candidates must: be graduates with
honours in science of British universities, with evi-
dence of high proficiency in subjects having a direct
bearing on agriculture, and be nominated by a pro-
fessor or lecturer of a university or college. Nomina-
tion forms are obtainable from the General Secretary
of the Ministry, 72 Victoria Street, S.W.r1.
Tue Library Association Record for May contains a
paper on ‘‘Technical Libraries and Intelligence’ by
Major W. E. Simnet, and also an article on “‘ The
Technical Library’’ by Mr. R. Borlase Matthews.
Mr. Matthews lays stress on the necessity for making
the most recent publications immediately available for
reference, and discusses the various ways in which a
technical library can be made: accessible to readers.
Major Simnet, taking the subject of ret as an
example, points out that there are at present in London
several libraries containing books and_ periodicals
relating to engineering, and that this involves much
overlapping which might be avoided-by amalgamation.
He also refers to the Transvort Library to be formed .
by the Ministry of’ Transport. Such a library would
be devoted to all aspects and methods of transporta-
tion. The importance of an index of technical litera-
ture, possibly on the lines of the International Cata-
logue of Scientific Literature, is carefully explained by
Major Simnet, who recommends a combination ‘of
indexing and abstracting. At the same time he finds
that papers on technical subjects become out of date
much sooner than papers on purely scientific topics, ‘so
that it is less necessaty to’ preserve all titles of
technical papers in a permanent index. Major Simnet
gives an account of the Technical Review, established
since the’ armisti¢e to continue’ the work of: ‘the
Technical Supplement, published in 1918 under the
auspices of the War Office. As a further contribution
to the indexing of technology, the Library Assacia-
tion Record for Mav, 1920, contains a subject-index
to papers published in 1917-19 on fuel, including gas
and petroleum. The list is prepated by the éditors of
the ‘*Subject Indéx of Periodicals,’ and is an exaniple
of the thoroughness which their work always exhibits.
ra
NATURE
[June 17, 1920
OnE ot the problems at present confronting the
Ministry of Agriculture is the provision of advice and
supervision for the smallholder. This problem has
become more acute now that so many of the men
settling on the land are lacking, either partly or alto.
gether, in knowledge of the theory and practice of
horticulture. When the question arose of appointing
organisers to instruct these men and to look after
their. interests, it was found that the number of candi-
dates qualified to fill such posts was extremely limited.
A man who is to organise the horticultural instruction
of a county should have a knowledge of the scientific
side of the subject as well as of its practical side.
Quite apart from this question of supplying instruc-
tion for smallholders, it is obviously desirable, in view |
of the rapidly increasing importance of horticulture in
this country, that the prospective fruit-farmer or
market-gardener should be able to obtain instruction in
his subject as scientific and comprehensive as that
which can be so readily obtained nowadays by the
prospective agriculturist. In order that such instruc-e
tion may be available, the Ministry of Agriculture has
made it possible for the University of Cambridge to
establish a degree in horticulture and a post-graduate
diploma. The course for the degree will extend over
three years, and will consist of instruction in the
theory and practice of commercial fruit- and vegetable-
growing, the practical side of the subject being treated
no less fully than its theoretical aspect. It is hoped
that the course for the diploma will provide
men qualified for research work in horticulture.
Hitherto there has been a dearth of such men
owing to difficulty in obtaining suitable training, and
research work in connection with an important in-
dustry has therefore been greatly hampered. The
courses will commence in October next, and informa-
tion concerning them can be obtained from the Secre-
tary, School of Agriculture, Cambridge.
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Zoological Society, June 1.—Sir Sidney F. Harmer,
vice-president, in the chair.—Dr. G. M._ Vevers:
Report on the Entozoa collected from animals which
had died’in the society’s menagerie during the past
nine. months.—Dr. W. T. Calman: Notes on marine
wood-boring animals. I.: The shipworms (Tere-
dinidz).
CAMBRIDGE.
Philosophical Society, May 17.—Mr. C. T. R. Wilson,
president, in the chair.—Dr. F. W. Aston: The
atomic nature of matter in the light of modern
physics,
MANCHESTER.
Literary and Philosophical Society, May 18.—Mr. R. L.
Taylor, vice-president, in the chair.—W. Thomson and
H. S. Newman: Further notes on the filamentous
growths from aluminium. amalgams. Experiments to
determine the ratio of the mercury to i1oo parts of
alumina were detailed, and descriptions of erratic
growths given. The action of mercury on zinc
was compared with its action on aluminium.—Prof.
Svdney Chapman: The effects of lunar tides on the
earth’s atmosphere. The barometric: pressure shows
a very minute tidal variation with the period of half a
lunar day. This variation can be determined only by
a difficult process of averaging out other regular and
irregular variations from ‘long series of hourly
barometric -observations. so that data from very few
stations are available. The author described and dis-
cussed their theoretical significance. Many questions
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
suggested by the data have as yet received no satis. 4a}
factory answer, but their elucidation, as further data
accumulate, should add to our knowledge of the atmo- _ j
sphere in some important respects.—Dr. R. S.
Willows: Transverse section of cotton fibre illustrating
Balls’s daily growth rings. :
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, May 31.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—G. A, Boulenger: Remarks on the note
of M. Ad. Davy de Virville concerning the species
Primula elatior, acauwlis, and officinalis.—Ch. Gautier ;
A sundial giving legal time throughout the year with
a sufficient approximation for ordinary purposes, as
well as the approximate date. The dial described
and illustrated gives the legal time within about one
minute. At the equinoxes it gives the exact date,
but at the solstices only an approximation to the date.
—Alex. Véronnet : The equilibrium figures of a liquid
in rotation. Order of succession of the critical figures
of bifurcation.—M.. T. Huber: The generalisation of
a theorem of M. Mesnager concerning the sense of
the displacements of a rectangular plate.—J. Fallow:
The expansion caused by Joule’s effect at the contact
of two solids. Two metals in contact when heated
electrically’ expand proportionally to the square of the
current or to the heat developed by the Joule effect.—
A, Guillet: An auto-ballistic astronomical pendulum.
An attempt to realise the conditions laid down by
Lippmann and B. Baillaud, the impulses bein
supplied by induced currents.—M. Girousse: The cal-
culation of currents causing electrolysis in metallic
masses near an electric traction line—F. Vlés: Con-
tribution .to the study of absorption based on the
properties of the nitrophenols. By the application of
formule given in a previous communication it is
shown how the absorption spectrum of a compound
can be calculated from its composition.—F. Bourion ;
Kinetic study of the chlorination of benzene. The
effects of rate of supply of chlorine, concentration of
the benzene in chlorobenzene, and of temperature
upon the reaction velocity were examined separately.
—L. Vignon: The resistance of tissues to light and
ultra-violet rays. Linen and silk tissues were e
to sunlight and to ultra-violet rays (Heraeiis quartz
and the —
changes in the strength, as measured by the breaking ©
load, determined. The silk fabric showed greater
lamp) under dry and moist conditions,
resistance than the linen to the effects of exposure.—
E. E. Blaise: The action of hydrazine on the 1:4
acyclic diketones. Details are given of the products
of the reactions between hydrazine and acetonylacetone
and hydrazine and dipropionylethane.—A. Gascard :
Ceryl alcohol and cerotic acid from China wax. The
wax, after a preliminary purification, was saponified
by potash in alcohol-benzene solution. the cerotic acid
precipitated as calcium. salt, and. the ceryl alcohol
recovered from the filtrate. Brodie’s formula for the
alcohol was confirmed by preparation and analysis of
ceryl iodide, C,-H,.T, and for cerotic acid by oxida-
tion of the alcohol and bv its acidity figure.—A.
Guilliermond ; Observations on the living chondriome
of one of the Saprolegniaceze.—L. Daniel: A new race
of Asphodelus obtained by the action of a marine —
climate. A description of the changes in type pro-
duced in Asphodelus luteus by twentv years’ cultiva-
tion on the sea-coast.
only be reproduced by subdivision of the roots, but
also by growing from seed.—P. Ammann: The great
richness in nitrogenous matter of certain maniocs
from Cambodge.—A. Chevalier: Researches on pear- —
trees, walnuts, and chestnuts of the cooler parts of
Indo-China and the south of China.—E. Fotx:
Necrosis of the stem of the potato attacked by the
The modified plant can not —
J
§
eae ee
— >
ee ene eee
Oe oN
Om eg se Ma eae oT
a
NATURE
isease potato, leaf-roll,—P. Portier: Regeneration of
the . testicle in the pigeon deprived of: vitamines.—
Pm... Hollande: Q:nocytoids and teracytes in the
a od of caterpillars.—E. Fauré-Fremiet: The action
of different chemical compounds on the pulmonary
- epithelial cell.—A. Mayer, H. Magne, and L. Plantefol :
_ Reflex action produced by the irritation of the deeper
_ respiratory tracts. The antagonism of this reflex with
that caused by the irritation, of the upper respiratory
peeeeees C- Bertrand and Mme. Rosenblatt: The
action of chloropicrin upon yeast. and Saccharomyces
#. A concentration of 1 milligram of chloropicrin
r litre is sufficient to slow down fermentation by
yeast, and 5 to 6 milligrams ger litre completely
arrests the production of alcohol. Saccharomyces vini
is even more sensitive, growth being, stopped by
ok milligram of chloropicrin per litre.
*" Pe
Care Town.
tt
gt Royal Society of South Africa, April 21.—Dr.J.D.F.
Gilchrist, president, in the chair.—L. Péringuey : Note
_ ‘on the whales frequenting South African waters. The
° author describes the various whales which are known
to frequent the coasts of South Africa. The number
_ of these is still under discussion. The fact is now
‘specifically . identical with the Southern whales, and
exception of Balaenoptera Brydei, is a well-established
. _ animals we ic
well established. that certain Northern whales are.
are the kinds of: whales found on the South African |
senting That they are migrants, perhaps with the |
fact, but what is probably less known is that the.
to warmer equatorial waters to breed or .
they are intercepted on their way there |
fon the Antarctic or on their return:the multiplica-_
f
: Overgrowths on diamond. In this paper the
author discusses in detail overgrowths of calcite, bort
of various kinds, graphite; and diamond on diamond.
why certain diamonds from yellow ground are not
a ee ey a
‘tion of the species will be greatly hindered, to say the |
_ least. People interested in the whaling industry admit |
_ that some measure of protection is nectessary.—J. R.
‘Experiments were made with the object of determining |
‘separated from the concentrates on the grease tables, .
the conclusion: being reached that carbonate of. lime |
sator gravel. A clear diamond is readily wetted
a solution of carbonate of soda, but not by pure
. pater: Overgrowths of graphite and of black bort
are common, and define per saltum stages of crystal-
lisation. Thirteen specimens of ‘“‘hailstone ’’- struc-
forms ‘a coating on a diamond surface, causing |
“the diamond to behave like a common mineral in the |
ture are described. Laminated diamonds appear to.
be examples of overgrowth of diamond on diamond
_ with interposing planes of colouring matter.—J. R..
Sutton: Some statistics of thunder and lightning at
_ Kimberley.
The author gives tables of the results of |
eye and ear observations of thunder and lightning |
‘made at Kimberley during the twenty-three ‘years
1897 to 1919, and classifies the storms according to.
‘the ‘classification given by Ley. A phenomenon of
interest is the ‘‘smell’’ of a thunderstorm. The
author observed this only once strongly in Kimberley. |
Europe
and eighteenth centuries has many allusions to the
“sulphureous smell’’ of lightning.—S. H. Skaife :
Notes on some South African Entomophthoracee.
The material used by the author was collected at
‘Cedara, Natal, in 1919 and 1920. The great majority
of the family are parasitic on insects. The author
déscribes and figures South African ‘species of Ento-
-mophthoraceze and his experiments of cultivating
them from dead and dying flies and grasshoppers and
of infecting insects from the cultures.
NO. 2642, VOL. 105] |
an meteorological literature of the seventeenth |
‘U.S. Army.
nvm
Books Received.
Banff and District. By A: E. Mahood.’ Edited by
‘Dr. E. I.’ Spriggs. Pp. xvi+388. (Banff: Banft-
shire Journal, Ltd.)
The Glow-worm and Other Beetles. By J. H.
Fabre. Translated by A. T. de’ Mattos. Pp. viii+
488. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd.) 8s. 6d.
net.
A Geographical Bibliography of British Ornithology
‘from the Earliest Times to the End of 1918. By
W. H. Mullens, H. Kirke Swann, and Rev. F. C. R.
Jourdain. Part 4. Pp. 289-384. "(London : Witherby
and Co.) ‘6s. net. :
The Ascent of Man. Pp. 74. (London: The
Horniman Museum.) 6d.
Airplane Photography. By Major H. E. Ives,
Pp. 422.
J. B. Lippincott Co.) 18s. net.
The Nation’s Food: A _ Statistical Study of a
Physiological and Social Problem. By Prof. Raymond
Pearl. Pp. 274. (Philadelphia and London : W:; B.
Saunders Co.) 16s. net.
Co-Education and its Part in a Complete “Educa-
(Philadelphia and’ London :
tion. By J. H. Badley. Pp. 39. (Cambridge : LW.
Heffer and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. net.
The Year-Book of the Scientific and‘ Learned
Societies of Great Britain and Ireland. Thirty-sixth
‘Annual Issue. Pp. vii+336. (London: C. Griffin and
Co., Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net.
The Organisation of Industrial Scientific” Research.
By Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees. Pp. ix+175. _ (New
York and London : McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.) 12s.
Memoirs of the Geological Survey, Scotland : The
Economic Geology of the Central Coalfield of Scot-
land. Description of Area VII. By the late Dr. C. T.
Clough and others. Pp. viit144. (Edinburgh :
H.M.S.O.) 7s. 6d. net.
Memoirs of the Geological Survey. Special Reports
on the Mineral Resources of Great Britain. Vol. vi.
Second edition. Pp. vit241. (London: H.M.S.O.)
7s. 6d. net.
Contributions from the Jefferson Physical Labora-
tory and from the Cruft High-tension’ Electrical
Laboratory of Harvard University for the Years 1916,
1917, and 1o18. Vol. xiii. (Cambridge, Mass.)
A Naturalist on the Amazons. By H.W. Bates.
Abridged and edited for schools by Dr. F. A. Bruton.
Pp. xix+182. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.)
2s. 6d.
Tables of the Motion of the Moon. By Prof. E. W.
Brown, with the assistance of H. B. Hedrick, , Sec-
tions i. and ii. Pp. xiii + 140+39. Section iii. Pp.
223. Sections iv., v., and vi. Pp. 99+56+102. (New
Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press; London:
Oxford University Press.) 4 guineas net.
Outlines of the Geology of Brazil. to accompany
the Geologic Mav of Brazil. By J. ©. Branner.
Second edition. Pp. 189-338+plates. (N.Y. City:
Geological Society of America.) 3.35 dollars.
War against Tropical Disease. By Dr. A. Balfour.
(London: — Bailliére, Tindall, and Cox.)
12s. 6d. net.
The New Psychology and its Relation to Life. By
A. G. Tansley. Pp. 283. (London: George Allen and
Unwin, Ltd.) tos. 6d. net.
A Guide to the Old Observatories at, Delhi. Tafpur,
Ujjain, Benares. Bv G. R. Kaye. Po. vii+ 108+
xv nlates. (Calcutta: Sunt. Govt. Printing, India.)
‘BS: 6d.
A Guide to the Identification of our more Useful
Timbers. Bv H. Stone. Pp. viiits2+7 plates.
(Cambridge: At the University Press.) 7s: ‘6d: net.
508
NATURE
[ JUNE 7
For the General Reader.
Elgie’s Weather Book :
(London: The Wire-
By J. H. Elgie. Pp. xii+251.
bade Press, Ltd:)- 5s. net.
Structural and Field Geology. By Dr. J. Geikie.
Fourth ‘edition. Pp. xxiv+454+1xix plates. (Edin-
burgh: Oliver and Boyd; London: Gurney and
Jackson.) 24s. net.
The Evolution of a Coast-Line : Barrow to Aberyst-
wyth and the Isle of Man, with Notes on Lost Towns,
Submarine Discoveries, etc. By W. Ashton. Pp.
xvi+302. (London: Edward Stanford, Ltd.) ros.
net.
~ Allgemeine Erkenntnislehre. By M. Schlick. Pp.
x+346. (Berlin: J. Springer.) 18 marks.
Letters of Travel. By Rudyard Kipling. Pp. vit+_
284. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net.
The Revels of Orsera: A Medieval Romance. By
Sir Ronald Ross. Pp. vi+393. (London: John
Murray.) 7s. net.
The Grouv Mind. By W. McDougall. Pp. xvi+
304. (London: Cambridge University. Press.) 215.
net.
Malaria at Home and Abroad. By “Drege. 2,
James. Pp. xi+234.. (London: John Bale, Ltd.)
25s. net,
The End of the World. By J. McCabe. Pp. vii+
267. (London: G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.) 6s.
net.
ee Capen By Dr. D. Cow. Pp.. viiit+ 132.
(London: J. and A. Churchill.) 7s. 6d. net.
. Oil-Finding.
Second edition.
Edward Arnold.) 16s.. net.
' Forest Management. By Prof. A. B. Recknagel
and Prof. J. Bentlev, Jr. Pp. xiiit+269+ iii plates.
(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London:
Chapman.and Hall,..Ltd.) . 13s. 6d. net, a
Aeronautics. By Prof. E. B. Wilson. Pp. vii+
265. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London :
Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 22s. net.
ig,
By .E. . H.. Cunningham Craig.
Po. xi+ 324+ xiii plates. (London :
Diary of Societies.
| THURSDAY, Jone 17
Roya Society, at 4.30.—Prof. W. Bateson : Genetic Segregation (Croonian
Lecture).
Linnean Society, at 5.—Celebration ei the Centenary of Sir Joseph
Banks, Bart. (1743-1820).—Dr. aydon Jackson: Banks as a-Tra-
veller.—Dr, A. B. Rendle: Banks as a Patron of Science.—J. Britten :
Banks as a Botanist.
Roya CoLLeGe oF Paysictans or Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. A. F. ‘Hurst : The
Loan of the Special Senses and their Hysterical Disorders(Croonian
ecture
Rovat Society oF Mepicine (Dermatology Section), at. 5.
CueEmIcAL Society (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers), at 8.—Prof.
J. C. McLennan: Helium.
Harveian Society or Lonpon (at Medical Society), at 8.30.—Dr. E. G.
Little: Differential Diagnosis of some Common Skin Eruptions.
Society oF ANTIQUARIES, at 8.30.
i _ FRIDAY, June 38.
AINSTITUTION OF : SANITARY ENGINEERS (at #ulhor Restaurant), at
' 1x-30a.m.—The President: The Institution and its Future.—A. J.
Martin: Sanitary Socialism. At 2.30:—T. Robertson: Poured Concrete
Construction.—G. W. Chilvers: Health, Wealth, and Housing.—A. P. I.
Cotterell: A Glimpse at Domestic Engineering in some of the Eastern
States of America.
Roya Society or-Arts (Indian Section), at 4.30.—Sir Valentine Chirol :
The Enduring, Power of Hinduism (Sir George Birdwood Memoria!
Lecture).
GroPpHysICAL CoMMITTEE (at Royal Astronomical Society), at’ 5. ae
-mander-H. D, Warburg, -Prof..H. Lamb, Dr. J. Proudman, Dr. A.
Doodson, Major A. J. Wolff, and H. L. P. Jolly: Discussion on Tides,
‘Society or Tropica, Mepicine AND Hycieng (Annual General Meeting),
at 8.30.—Dr. F. H. Stewart : Recent Work.on Round-worm Infection.
SATURDAY, June 19. :
British 'Psycuorocicat Sociery (at University College, Gower Street),
at 3.30.—Dr. J. Drever : The Emotional Phases of Affective Experience.
PuysioLocicaL Society (at Physiological Laboratory, University of
London, South: Kensington), at 4.30.—G. Aurepand C, Lovatt Evans.: The
Mode of Action of Vaso-dilator Nerves.—C. Lovatt Evans’: The Lactic
Acid Content of Plain Muscle.
MONDAY, Jone 21.
Rovar GEOGRAPHICAL Soctery (at Eolian ‘Hall), at 8.3 +30. saalaine L. FSI.
Athill: Through South-west Abyssinia to the Nile.
NO. 2642, VOL. 105 |
Roya INSTITUTE or Bririsu ARCHITECTS, at 8.3
ARISTOTELIAN SOcteETy (at 74 Grosvenor tena at 3§.—Miss besitos
Edgell : Memory and Conation, it.
‘TUESDAY, iene 22.
seins CouLEGE.or PHYSICTANS OF ._LONDON, at ‘ical: A. F. Hurst:
The. Psychology of the Special, Senses and their Hysterical Disorders sles
(Croonian Lecture).
Roya AERONAUTICAL Soctery (at Central. Hall,: Westminster), at —
Comdr. unsaker: Naval Architecture in Aeronautics (Wilkar
Wright Lecture).
WEDNESDAY June 2
Geoxocicat Socirty or Lonpon, at thet Holtedahl: The Scandi-
navian ‘f Mountain Problem.”
INSTITUTION OF EL&CTRICAL ENGINEERS Ned devi Section). (at Institu-
tion of Mechanical Engineers), at 6.—B. S. Gossling : The Development
of Lhermionic Valves for Naval Uses.
THURSDAY, Junk 24.
Royat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers. —Sir Ray Laake Some
Rostro-carinate Flint [implements and Allied Forms.—Lord Ray —.
A Re-examination of the Light scattered by Gases in r
Polarisation. xperiments on the Common Gases.—A, oped
Note on the Influence of ‘Temperature on the Rigidity of Metals.—
Drs. E. F. rane and T. P. Hilditch: A Study of eg boed Actions
at Solid Surfaces. Tne Rate of Change condition ickel
Catalyst and its cde on the Law of Mass Action.—Dr. Somreys : \
Tidal Friction in Shallow Seas.—Other Papers.
LINNEAN Society oF LONDON, at 5.—Dr. She - Skottsberg: Recent
' “Researches on the Antarctic Flora.—Dr. R ‘Villyard : —"
Institute, New Zealand, and its Biological Function,
Oi AND Cotour Cuemists’ Associa TION (at Food R lub, 2,
Furnival Street), at 7.30.—A. E. Bawtill: (1) A Hy decomatee te
Determinations of Pastes and Viscous Materials; (2 A Vi which
iscometer
Combines Increased Efficiency with the Power of "Measuring “Stickiness”
Independently of Viscosity.
FRIDAY, Jue 25.
Puysicat Society or Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. J. H. Vincent: His aig ot
the Elements.—W. H. Wilsonand Miss T. D. Epps: The
of Thermo-couples by Electro-deposition.—J. Guild: The Use of
Vacuum Ares for Interferometry.—-S. Butterworth: The Maintenance of
a Vibrating System by Means of a Triode Valve.
CONTENTS.
University Stipends and Pensions ........- 477
Aerography . gis
Paper-making and its "Machinery.
‘Sindall ...
The Structure of the ‘Nucleus. - By 1 Sa ee ee a
Our Bookshelf’. 0) 2 0. 3 eee 483
‘Letters to the Editor :—
London University Site and Needs. —Sir E. ~—
Schafer, F.R/S.
High Rates of Ascent of Pilot- Ballepi "(With j
Dingram.)—Dr. W. van Bemmelin . — . . 485
A New Method for Approximate Evaluation of \
Definite Integrals between Finite Limits. —Com-
0" ee
mander Thos, Y. Baker’ . . ee or)
The Royal Military Academy.—J. Young. ... . 486
The Separation of the Isotopes of Chior e 2
Chapman, F.R.S.. + ee ate eee
A Note on Telephotography. fins) 488
Recent Researches on Nebulae. * iiteSteatéay ‘By x
Major William J. S. Lockyer... 489
The Importance of Meteorology in Gunnery. By
Dr. E. M. Wedderburn .°..¢ . 3) oe eee ee
Obituary :—
Ss. Reannes F.R.S.—Prof, G. H. ae
F. R.S e's 494
Principal Sir John Herkless, 'D. .D., Li, D. eivine AOS
Notes. 5.5: - (jag aa he epee
Our Astronomical Column :— ee ten ue
, The, Masses. of the Stars: «0: 5). ge) Sau aun OO 4
. The Planet Jupiter . .. =. We Cet Te
Parallax Work at the Sproul ‘Observatory | Sar pee ede OO
The Nuclear Constitution of Atoms. By Sir
Ernest Rutherford, F.R.S. . oe eepet OO
The Rockefeller Gift to Medical "Science, "By Prof.
W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S. jae AOI
The Permanent Value of University Benefactions . 501
The Imperial eerie. Conference, ‘By -
‘G: H.C, » 502
The Selous Memorial at “the Natural. History,
Museum.: (Illustrated.) . : wh eee
University and’ Educational Intelligence . higates ae
‘Societies and Academies. .
Books‘ Received... «+. 5 «be eye = wove eed
Diary of Societies, 5. ta ses oe 8 te
Peat eee pi Spit!
‘ . ow
eer,
fw
S THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
oes MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’s STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Mdvcztisemnents and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
_ University and Higher Technical
. Education.
“9N 1881 Mr. Mundella, then Vice-President
| of the Council, and consequently respon-
sible for the policy of the Board of Educa-
tion, with full knowledge as a manufacturer
of the great growth, since the Franco-
“German war of 1870, of manufacturing industry
‘in all parts of Germany, and sensible of the in-
creasing unrest in British industry caused thereby,
‘induced the Government of the day to appoint a
‘Royal Commission “to inquire into the instruc-
‘tion of the industrial classes of certain foreign
countries in technical and other subjects for the
purpose of comparison with that of the corre-
‘sponding classes in this country, and into the
‘influence of such instruction on manufacturing and
‘other industries at home and abroad.” The
‘members of the Commission were chosen from
representatives of important industries and others
engaged in scientific education. They undertook
an extensive and exhaustive inquiry into the con-
‘ditions and range of the teaching of pure and
‘applied science in the chief European countries
and in the United States, and visited also the
Universities and colleges and some of the chief
‘schools and workshops of the United Kingdom.
“After three years’ investigation they produced in
‘1884 an exceedingly full and valuable report,
- which was widely circulated in this and other
countries.
. The report laid bare our serious deficiency as
aikcaired with the great facilities afforded by
foreign Governments, especially those of Ger-
many, Switzerland, and the United States, and it
aroused a widespread interest in industrial and
‘educational circles, leading, after a considerable
lapse of time, to the passing of the Technical
Instruction Acts.of 1889.and ‘1890, which’ egsulted
NO. 2643, VOL. 105 |
a NATURE
in the iabiah vsti of many important ee
schools throughout the kingdom.
We have undoubtedly made great progress in
science and in its industrial applications during
the past generation, but not less marked has been
the advance of German industry, which in some
spheres of manufacture, notably those of dyes and
fine chemicals, in optical glass, and in certain
branches of electrical engineering, easily held the
first place. The events of the war have demon-
strated the resourcefulness of British men of
science, inventors, and manufacturers, who to a
surprising extent, as shown by the exhibitions
held, under the auspices of the British Science
Guild, at King’s College, London, in 1918, and
at the Central Hall, Westminster, in t919, met the
extraordinary demand made upon their know-
ledge, ingenuity, skill, and adaptability. The time
is now again ripe for inquiry as to the means and
resources of the kingdom, especially from the
point of view of a due supply of adequately
educated and equipped men of science to be
engaged in industry and commerce, to meet the
inevitable industrial and commercial competition
which will arise on the resumption of normal con-
ditions and of free intercourse between nation and
nation.
The strength of this competition may be illus-
trated in the instance of a highly specialised pro-
duct. The balance sheets for 1919 of three of the
principal aniline dye companies of Germany are
now available. At the nominal rate of exchange,
F. Bayer and Co. show a net profit of 1,450,000l.,
against 654,000l. in 1918; Meister, Lucius and Co.,
1,210,000l., as compared with 750,o00l. in 1918;
whilst the Berlin Colour Works declare a divi-
dend of 18 per cent., as against 12 per cent. in
1918. On the other hand, the sum available for
dividend in the British Dyestuffs Corporation is
only 172,505]. The report of this company states
that there is an unprecedented demand upon it
for dyestuffs in both quantity and variety, to meet
which requires increased efforts in the direction
of production and research. It is recognised that
it is of paramount importance to have a depart-
ment where research work can be carried out
along the most modern and scientific lines, and
“to encourage those engaged on the scientific and
research side of the industry.
The production of dyes of high quality in an end-
less variety of shades, in which the German firms
have excelled because of their unlimited com-
mand of high-class scientific and technical ability,
Oy eke Mae an. F
510
NATURE
[JUNE 24, 1920
the fruit of Germany’s technical high schools and
universities, is, like some other imported products,
essentially a ‘“‘key” industry, and therefore a
dominant factor in the manufacture of finished
textiles, which to a very large extent are exported
by us to foreign markets, there to meet in com-
petition the goods of other countries. Having
regard to’ the prime necessity of increasing the
supply of competent graduates for scientific indus-
trial research, the British Science Guild carefully
investigated the subject, and last year issued a
report (which has been widely distributed to mem-
bers of the Government, to the Universities, and
to many leaders of industry and commerce) on
industrial research and the supply of trained scien-
tific workers. It was shown that in 1914 the
number of full-time students of University stand-
ard and of students of science and technology in
the United Kingdom was relatively small as com-
pared with the number of similar students in the
United States and in Germany; and further, that
the financial resources of Universities in the
British. Isles are very much below those of the
other countries. Two of the provincial Universi-
ties—namely, Manchester and Liverpool—are now
engaged’ in the endeavour to raise the sum of
650,000l. and 1,000,000l. respectively to enable
them to extend their operations so as to meet in
some measure the demands made upon them, espe-
cially in the departments of science and techno-
logy. Leeds and other centres of higher educa-
tion are also appealing for monetary aid.
There should be, as in 1881-84, a systematic
national survey of the conditions now existing
and of the requirements necessary to ensure the
satisfactory progress of industry and commerce
in the United Kingdom. The circumstances aris-
ing out of the war have brought about an entire
and welcome change of outlook on the part of
British manufacturers engaged in the chief indus-
tries of the country, evidence of which is to be
found <n the list issued in April last of nineteen
research associations representing various indus-
tries which have been approved by the Depart-
ment of Scientific and Industrial Research, whilst
several other industries have submitted, or are
engaged in preparing, memoranda and articles
of association for approval.
» The growing appreciation on the part of the
community generally of the advantages of second-
ary education, together with the requirements. of
the Education. Act of -1918, will: of necessity in-
crease the demand for highly qualified teachers,
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
for whose training the: Universities and the chief
technical institutions will be responsible; neces-
sarily entailing upon them a large additional ex-
penditure. It is, moreover, increasingly recog-
nised that the nation does not. take adequate
advantage of the best brains in the poorer classes.
of the community. A broad highway must be
established along which they may travel from the
elementary school to the University, but this can
be accomplished only by the institution of a large
number of national maintenance scholarships oper-
ating uniformly all over the country, as local
scholarships do not, and so providing the means.
whereby the capable youth may advance from
stage to stage from his twelfth year. This would
entail a large expenditure, but the nation would
be well repaid in the rich harvest it woe reap
of highly capable men and women.
These considerations lead to the necessity of
largely increased State grants in support of Uni-
versity and higher technical education, which
should be closely related to the appointment of
a consultative committee mainly composed of
representatives of industry and commerce and
of universities and technical institutions to
advise the Board of Education on matters
relating to science and technology and _ their
bearing upon the requirements of industry,
and also to the division of the country into
provinces roughly corresponding to. the areas
served by the respective Universities, governed by
a council composed of existing local authorities,
with the addition of members representative of
the Universities and of industry and commerce. —
If this were done it would be possible to corre-
late effectively all forms of education, to prevent
overlapping, and to equalise the burden of
administration and cost, whilst giving equality
of opportunity, without distinction of class,
to all residing within the province so created.
For these reasons the British Science Guild
strongly urges the Board of Education to
set up a Departmental Committee to make an
exhaustive inquiry into the present provision of
University and higher technical education through-
out the kingdom, with power to suggest how it
could -best be arranged and developed according
to the needs of each area, whether industrial,
commercial, or agricultural i in character, Such an
inquiry could not fail to be. fruitful in its
results, and would-greatly stimulate the interest
of all.concerned -in the conditions making vee :
national. well-being ‘in’ all<its we maces
a
E
$ 4
NATURE
511
$ Jone 24. 1920]
Mathematics of Elasticity.
_ A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of Elas-
ticity. By Prof. A. E. H. Love. Third edition.
Pp. xviii+624. (Cambridge: At the University
Press, 1920.) Price 37s. 6d. net.
HIS is the third edition of the classical
a “treatise in the English language upon the
theory of elasticity, and all students of the subject
will be grateful to Prof. Love for having brought
his masterly exposition of this difficult but fascin-
ating branch of mathematical science up to date.
The book is now thoroughly well established as
part of the education of such mathematicians as
have to deal with the engineering or physical
applications of elasticity; indeed, it needs some
hardihood, even for a specialist, to criticise it;
every fresh perusal convinces the careful reader
of the inadequacy of his own knowledge.
‘The changes made in this edition have been
slight in appearance, but attention to details will
reveal many improvements in both form and
_ matter. The numbering of the sections has not
been changed, which is of great help to those
‘students who have learnt to use the second
edition. New sections have been interpolated here
and there, and these have been distinguished by
a letter—e.g. 79a.
As previously, a great many references are
Ziven to the experimental side of the subject, and
very rightly, for in many ways the mathematical
theory of elasticity is more closely verified by
experience (where verification has been seriously
attempted) than the cognate theory of hydro-
dynamics. Where discrepancies have occurred
they can usually be traced either to the inherent
difficulty of obtaining an exact mathematical solu-
tion of the problem, or to. unintelligent experi-
menting. Far too much experimental work, for
example, has been done with systematic disregard
of the elastic limits, or without due precautions,
in anticipation of 5 per cent. accuracy. For
various reasons, the engineer does not find it con-
venient to isolate effects, and he rarely carries
out experiments for the express purpose of testing
a mathematical theory. Thus what may be called
the physics of elasticity has advanced compara-
_ tively little. The methods of photo-elasticity, first
used by Clerk. Maxwell, who applied the effect of
stress on polarised light ‘(discovered by Brewster)
to the investigation of stress-distributions, and
recently developed as a working engineering
method by Prof. Coker, promise to do much to
remove this reproach and to get rid of the diffi-
culty mentioned by Prof: Love that “the com-
ponents of stress or of strain within a solid body
NO, 2643, VOL. 105]
Scan never, from the nature of the case, be
measured directly ” (p. 94).
New sections have been added in chap. iv. on
the results of Hopkinson and Sears concerning
stresses maintained for a very short time, and
also on elastic hysteresis. The term “ perfect elas-
ticity’ to denote that condition in which the
stress-strain diagram is closed, althourh the load-
ing and unloading graphs do not coincide, seems
unfortunate, as elasticity can scarcely be called
perfect when elastic energy is being dissipated.
“Perfect recovery ” might denote this case, “ per-
fect elasticity ” being reserved for the condition in
which loading and unloading graphs. coincide.
“Linear elasticity ’’ explains itself, but surely the
statement on p. 113, given on the authority of
Bauschinger, that the limits of linear elasticity
are higher than those of perfect recovery, can
scarcely be right, since the former condition should
imply the latter. An important appendix has been
added at the end of chap. ix. on Volterra’s theory
of dislocations in the case of multiply connected
bodies. A simpler proof of Weingarten’s theorem
that the discontinuities in the displacements: on
crossing a ‘“‘barrier” correspond to a’ rigid body
displacement can, however, be given.:' For. if
Uy, Vyy Wo be one value of the displacement -at
a point P, and u,, v1, w, the displacement at. the
same point P after describing an. irreducible
circuit, u;—Up, V;—Vp, W,— Wy are solutions, of the
equations of elasticity which necessarily (since the
strains are supposed one-valued) correspond. to
zero strain everywhere, and such displacements
must be rigid-body displacements. In_ this con-
nection it would make things clearer for the be-
ginner if in the proof of the uniqueness. theorem
given in § 118 the limitations as to the nature of
the functions and the simply connected, quality of
the space were stated. Todhunter and Pearson
have pointed out that the existence of more than
one solution for a multiply connected body is
immediately evident to anyone who turns a short
piece of indiarubber tubing inside out. The real-
isation of this fact is apt to shake the student’s
faith if warning has not been given.
In the chapter on the sphere a very valuable
new section gives the alternative method
developed by the author in his essay on “Some
Problems in Geodynamics,” and: another section
gives a number of new and important references
to work on geophysical problems, a branch of
elasticity which is assuming nowadays an increas-
ing importance. The work of Lamb and of G. W.
Walker in connection with seismology :is. noticed
on p. 314. | URES
§§ 226a and 2268 deal with the torsion of a
512
NATURE
[June 24, 1920
bar of varying, cross-section and with end-effects
in torsion.
-In the chapter dealing with the elastica, the
section (265) which gives the computation of the
strain energy of the strut has been practically re-
written and much improved. It might be useful,
in dealing with buckling, to dispose of a fallacy
common among engineers that Euler’s limit
implies failure of the strut, whereas all that occurs
is passage from one type of stable equilibrium to
another.
Southwell’s method of dealing with problems of
elastic stability comes in, naturally, for consider-
able notice. The buckling of a strut (§ 267a), of
a rectangular plate (§ 332), and of a tube (§ 341)
are discussed as examples of this theory.
An entirely. new chapter (xxiv. aA) has _ been
added, dealing very exhaustively with the equi-
librium of thin shells in the shape of surfaces of
revolution, including in particular a discussion of
Meissner’s work on the spherical and conical
shells.
A feature of this edition (as of the previous
ones) is the extraordinarily complete and careful
set of references to all the original papers and
memoirs dealing with the subject. Needless to
say, these references, which have been most
thoroughly brought up to date, are invaluable
to the reader who takes up the book as a guide
to research. The example set by such a master
as Prof. Love might well be commended to the
younger generation of scientific writers. Too
often nowadays, especially in papers dealing with
applied science, one comes across a statement of
references which betrays the author’s ignorance of
the literature of his subject, both by the omission
of work (sometimes of fundamental importance)
done by his predecessors, and by the undue prom-
inence accorded to the minor efforts of contem-
poraries in his own circle. LN. GF,
Behaviourism.
Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist.
By Prof. John B. Watson. (Lippincott’s Col-
lege Texts.) Pp. xiii+.429. (Philadelphia and
London: J. B. imate Co., tare) Price
ros. 6d. net..
HERE has been a great deal of controversy,
fe especially ‘in the’ philosophical journals of
America, concerning the theory of behaviourism.
Prof. Watson is,’ we believe, the originator of the
term .and ‘the ‘recognised leader in its application
as a method’ in psychology. The book before us
is not an exposition of the theory; it takes it as
accepted, and puts forward’ an elémentary, but
NO. 2643, VOL. 105 |
nevertheless complete, schematic outline of the
science of psychology, its scope and its method,
regarded from this point of view.
better than any detailed exposition, sets before us
the advantages and the disadvantages, the limita-
tions and inclusions and exclusions, of psycho
as the behaviourist conceives it.
It therefore, .
Behaviourism is a theory of the science of
psychology based on two postulates.
The first is .
that the only thing the psychologist can study
scientifically is behaviour.
there is nothing else in psychology to study but
behaviour.
dividual’s behaviour is exhausted there
The second is that.
When the description of an in-.
is no.
remainder, no psyche, left out of the account. The
first postulate is explicit, the second implicit.
It is clear at once, however, that the second is
fundamental. Analyse the response of an organ-
ised material being to the stimulus of a situation,
and you have exhausted psychology. Not only
have you gone as far as you can go, but there i 1s
also no farther to go.
When you have simplified your science to this
extent, the difficulty is to justify it at all.
se
is the subject-matter of psychology which
demands a_ special method? This is Prof.
Watson’s difficulty. Physiology is already in the
field; it has accomplished a vast amount of this.
very behaviour study. What is there left over
for psychology ?
there to which the physiologist can be, and is,
completely indifferent, and which fall under the
class-heading, psychological? The further we
What sort of responses are
read in this book, the more intensely does this
inquiry present itself as the crucial question. |
| Three chapters of the book (no inconsiderable
portion of the whole) are acknowledged to be
pure physiology, and not psychology, and the
reader is told in the preface that he may skip
these if he likes, and that if he does so he need .
be at no disadvantage from his point of view as.
psychologist.
easily excised.
emotion he has to apologise for the impossibility
of avoiding physiological terms. How much, one
‘wonders, would be left of the book if. all the
physiology were taken out and: only pure psycho-
logy left? The present writer, at least, as he
reads the book finds himself in continual expecta-
tion that now he is coming to the end of the
physiology and the beginning of the psychology,
but is continually disappointed, and the reason is
clear enough when- Prof. Watson gives at last
his definition of the distinction of the two
sciences. Whenever, he tells us, we are study-
ing the response of a part of the organism to a
But the physiology is not all so’
When Prof. Watson defines an
aw oo ee — #
parts from the science of the whole?
- parts mean anything in abstraction from the
“Jose 24, 19201
‘NATURE
513
‘situation we are in, physiology; only when we
study the response of the whole organism to a
situation are we in psychology.
So then it is like this—there are two sciences,
let us say, of a motor-car, one in which we study
‘the structure and function of the carburettor, the
gear-box, the magneto, etc., and another and
different science, in which we study the behaviour
of the complete car on the road, its hill-climbing
power and its responses to the varying situations
consequent on the control of the traffic. No
doubt there are people who can drive a car in
absolute ignorance of the mechanism they are
_controlling, and in like manner there may be
psychologists with complete knowledge of the
responses of the individual, though ignorant of
the mechanism of the reflexes on which those
responses depend. Neither is to be commended ;
but can we rest satisfied with such a distinction ?
Is it not false science to separate the science of the
Can the
whole, or the whole mean anything in abstraction
from the parts? This, however, seems to be the
Aehaviourist’s idea of the subject-matter and
“scope and method of psychology and of its rela-
tion to physiology.
If your interest is in psychology, surely what
you want to study is the subject of experience in
its living, conscious, self-active subjectivity.
You can, easily enough, regard such subjects of
experience as objects, accurately describe their
behaviour in varying situations, and formulate
fairly useful scientific laws in regard to them,
just as you may study the behaviour of a magnet
in the neighbourhood of different substances and
formulate magnetic laws. But is either scientific?
Shall we, in the first case, discover by such a
method the nature of imagery, conceptual thinking,
apperception, perception of reality and unreality,
ideality, rationality, and all the complex products
of mental life, any more than in the case of the
magnet statistical observations will lead us to
discover the electro-magnetic constitution of
matter? The essence of behaviourism is to trans-
late the mental into terms. of bodily integration
and leave it there, satisfied that the work of
psychology is now done. There is nothing beyond
or different in its nature.
Behaviourism is not condemned. by. anything
positive which it recommends, but by its absurdly
extravagant claim that in restricting research to
‘methods of observation and description it is
actually making science all- inclusive.
for. example,
experimental methods, and may inspire, and will
NO. 2643, VOL. 105 |
This book, -
indicates numerous most useful.
direct, the student to practical researches of the
highest interest to the advance of science. To
this extent every psychologist will welcome it. It
is difficult to find anything in its principle to
disagree with, save only its limitation and nega-
tion. It is only when the behaviourist turns to
us and says this is all there is—‘‘ Thought is the
action of language mechanisms”’—that we see
that from his point of view there is no psychology.
H. WILpon Carr.
The World’s Supply of Animal Foodstuffs.
Animal Foodstuffs: Their Production and Con-
sumption, with a Special Reference to the British
Empire. A Study in Economic Geography and
Agricultural Economics. By Dr..E. W. Shana-
han. (Studies in Economics and _ Political
Science.) Pp. viii+331. (London: George
Routledge and Sons, Ltd.; New York: E, P.
Dutton and Co., 1920.) Price ros. 6d. net.
HIS book provides a comprehensive and very
interesting survey of the production and
consumption of animal foodstuffs, considered
especially from the economic point of view. An
interesting historical survey is included, which
starts with the use made of animal foodstuffs by
earlier generations and traces the gradually in-
creasing demand for, and consequent development
of, the supplies of these materials. Part i. of the
book gives a detailed survey of the production of
the various animal foodstuffs in the more im-
portant countries of the world.
With regard to animal foodstuffs the author
states that the following countries show a
definite net surplus when the balance of imports
and exports is taken by values, namely, the
United States, Russia (with Siberia), Sweden,
Denmark, Holland, and Italy. When, further,
the net imports or exports of animal feedstuffs
are considered in conjunction with those of animal
foodstuffs, the following results are observed:
The surplus position of the United States, Argen-
tina, Uruguay, Canada, and Russia (with Siberia)
becomes intensified, while the deficiency position
of Great Britain, Germany, and Belgium becomes,
similarly, more marked; at the same time the sur-
plus position of Denmark, Holland, Sweden, and
Ireland suffers reduction, The author discusses
fully the influence on production of such factors as
agricultural machinery, cost of labour, co-operation
of farmers, etc. Part ii. deals with the consump-
tion of animal foodstuffs, the rate of consumption,
and the economic and other factors influencing
that rate.
There has been a rapid increase in the meat-
514
NATURE
[JUNE 24, 1920
consuming population of the world during the last
fifty years. This increase amounts apparently to
more than go per cent., and some further allowance
should also, in the author’s. opinion, be made for
the rise in the standard of living not only in
Europe, but also in Asiatic and tropical countries.
One of the chief causes for this increase appears
to be the less frequent occurrence of devastating
wars as compared with earlier times. Also the
opening up of vast new regions of agricultural
productiveness encouraged the growth of the meat-
consuming population outside Europe, while the
development of cheap transport, enabling the sur-
plus foodstuffs and feedstuffs of these new coun-
tries to be carried to other regions where local
supplies were deficient, had a great effect in mak-
ing possible the increase of the industrial popula-
tions in Europe. From a study of the production
and consumption of animal foodstuffs it becomes
clear that the supply of these is likely to
be considerably less than the demand. The author
states that this is due to three causes: Owing to
the comparative lack of undeveloped - fertile
regions, the rate of expansion in the surplus pro-
duction of pasture-fed meat animals and of con-
centtated feedstuffs from the new _ overseas
countries is slowing down; the white meat-
consuming population has increased; with the
general improvements in the financial status of
industrial and agricultural workers in Europe,
their per capita consumption of animal foodstuffs
tends to rise.
Part iii. of the book is concerned with the above
problems as they affect the British Empire. The
study of the Empire’s deficiencies, both in animal
foodstuffs and feedstuffs, points throughout to its
lack of widespread intensive systems of agricul-
ture, for, though land resources are abundant,
they remain more or less undeveloped in large
areas. The author emphasises the fact that
throughout those parts of the Empire inhabited
by white people only a relatively small proportion
are engaged in agriculture, and they work on the
extensive instead of the intensive system. His
conclusion is :—
“ The Empire, as a whole, requires to
have an enormously increased area under
cultivation for the production of feedstuffs,
not only to make good its deficiency in this direc-
tion, but also to provide for the maintenance of
food-producing animals and of poultry in much
larger numbers than at present, if it is to cover in
a more satisfactory way its deficiency in meat,
dairy produce, and eggs.”’
A valuable feature of the book lies in the
summaries which occur at the end of nearly
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
every chapter in Part iii.,
and ii. the author gives a full summary of
the conclusions to be drawn from the general
study of the question of food production. and
consumption.
Life and Lore of Birds.
The Heron of Castle Creek and Other Sketches
of Bird Life. By A. W. Rees. With a memoir
of the author by J. K. Hudson. Pp. xi+218.
(London: John Murray, 1920.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
MELANCHOLY interest is attached to this
volume, inasmuch as its gifted author
selected the articles, which had previously ap-
peared in various serial publications, for re-issue
in book form, but did not live to complete their
final revision for the press. This task was under-
taken by his literary executor and successfully
carried through with so satisfactory a result that
“we are glad to know that sufficient of Mr. Rees’s
writings still remain to form another of these’
delightful volumes.
Most of the essays in the series now before us
are devoted to bird-life, the various phases of
which are graphically described from the personal
observations of the author, who did not trust to
books for his knowledge, but gleaned his informa-
tion at first hand from the creatures he loved.
The engaging style of writing and the accuracy
of the author’s notes on the lives and loves of the
birds and beasts he watched disarm criticism and
form engrossing reading.
out any particular essay as of outstanding in-
terest, but the account of the parent kingfishers
teaching their brood to dive for minnows ‘is
original, amusing, and_ instructive, while the
observations on the dipper, the efforts of the
author to find its nest, and the affection shown
by these birds for their mates, entirely captivate
the reader. When a cock offered his tribute of a
large worm to his lady-love, the author felt, as
he watched its antics, that he “could recognise
a sentiment subtly different from mere animal
passion,” and goes on to say :—
“In those rare brief periods of outdoor study
when, to my surprise and delight, I have caught
a glimpse of what, for want of a better phrase,
might be termed the humanity of Nature, I have
not merely imagined, but have felt sure, that
many of the finest feelings of man—pity, sym-
pathy, devotion, unselfish comradeship—are
shared in no small measure by creatures con-
sidered to be far beneath our plane of life.”
Five essays are given on the life of the part-
ridge at various periods of the year, and these
while for ‘Parts i.
It is difficult to single
\
}
America.
“JUNE 24, 1920]
NATURE
515
‘ are so graphically penned that one fancies one-
self at the author’s side, watching intently the
behaviour of these attractive birds, and sharing
- with them the hopes, fears, and passions inci-
dental to all stages of their brief career in the
open, fraught as it is with constant danger from
hawk, weasel, fox, or sportsman, and yet alle-
viated by the intense joys inseparable from the
sharing with a mate the important duties of found-
ing a home and rearing a brood of tiny fledg-
lings. The book is not without its humorous side
too, as the reader will discover when smiling over
the “Misadventures of Bird-watching.” While
the author is endeavouring to identify a pair of
warblers and to find their nest, he is himself
closely watched, in the first place, by a puzzled
keeper, who suspects him of poaching, and,
secondly, by an angry bull in unpleasant prox-
imity, to escape the unwelcome attentions of
which the enthusiastic naturalist has perforce to
bring into action his fullest powers of strategy.
This well-printed and unusually attractive
volume can be recommended to the notice of all
lovers of Nature and Nature-lore, and the ap-
pearance of a further series of posthumous essays
will be very welcome.
Our Bookshelf.
Engineering Descriptive Geometry and Drawing.
_ By Capt. Frank W. Bartlett and Prof.
Theodore W. Johnson. Part i. Pp. vii+ 206.
Part ii. Pp. v+207-374. Part ili, Pp. v+
an eh ae plates. (New York: John Wiley
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall,
Ltd., 1919.). Price 27s. 6d. net.
Tuts book gives in full detail the elementary
courses of engineering drawing as taught to young
midshipmen in the Navy of the United States of
The instruction is arranged on the
assumption that the student is quite without know-
ledge or experience in the handling of drawing
instruments. Part i., occupying about a third
of the volume, treats of line drawing in pencil and
in ink, lettering, the use and care of instruments
and scales, and describes in the minutest detail
all the “tricks of the tool’s true play” as wit-
nessed in the practice of the draughtsman’s art.
In these pages the learner has virtually at his
elbow, for constant reference, the skilled crafts-
man and the experienced teacher. His progress
should be sure and rapid, even without much help
‘from an instructor.
In part ii. the principles of projection and de-
scriptive geometry are unfolded in close relation
to the special needs of engineers.
Part iii. is perhaps the most important section,
and the fourteen plates at the end give standard
dimensions of such things as bolts, nuts, rivets,
NO. 2643, VOL. 105}
pipes, rolled sections, etc., as adopted by the
bureaux of the U.S. Navy Department. We
have in this part a finely graduated scheme of
work in which the student executes finished
drawings of machine details from his own di-
mensioned hand sketches of the actual parts;
becomes familiar with the tables of standards;
is trained in the reading of drawings, etc.
Although the instructions are again minute
and full, almost sufficient for self-tuition,
there is no suspicion of spoon-feeding, and the
student is left more and more to his own resources
as he becomes fit. There are chapters on ships’
lines and on structural steel and iron work.
The treatment of the subject has been evolved
gradually and embodies the results of much ex-
perience in class work. It is characterised by
thoroughness, and the text-book is a model of
what such a book should be. The volume ought
to be in the library of every technical school
and drawing class in this country. Teachers as
well as students could learn much from it.
Intermediate Text-book of Magnetism and Elec-
tricity. By R. W. Hutchinson. Pp. viii+620.
(London: W. B. Clive; University Tutorial
Press, Ltd., 1920.) Price 8s. 6d.
Tue writer of a book such as this is a little
handiéapped by having to work in accordance
with schemes laid down by boards of examiners,
and has not quite a free hand in the arrangement
and development of his material. Covering the
subject up to the “Intermediate” standard, the
work is suitable more to the science student than
to the future electrical engineer, and in view of
the vastness of the field the author has been
obliged to cut down the practical parts of the
subject in order to provide space for the more
academical sections. It is not his fault that the
pith ball is made as important as the dynamo.
Nevertheless, we would urge that it is as essential
for the science student as for the engineer to
“think in volts and amperes” before he attempts
to grasp subtler refinements, and we should have
liked to see Ohm’s law and the conception of
resistance introduced earlier than p. 304. In the
author’s treatment of magnetism, on the other
hand, with which he commences his volume, he
boldly brings his reader face to face with the
equation B=4m7I1+H as early as p. 31, adopting
‘an introductory elementary treatment to acquaint
the reader with the general meaning of the terms
in use,” and giving the fuller treatment in its
proper place later. The idea is excellent, and
a similar scheme might have been applied to elec-
tric currents with advantage.
Taken all round, the work is painstaking and
is skilfully compiled. Special attention should be
directed to the three concluding chapters on elec-
trical oscillations, passage of electricity through
gases, and radio-activity respectively, which form
admirable introductions to the portions of the
subject founded on the more modern researches
in physics.
516,
NATURE
[JUNE 24, 1920
A Junior Course of Practical Zoology. By the
late Prof. A. Milnes Marshall and the late
Dr. C. Herbert Hurst. Ninth edition, revised
by Prof. F. W. Gamble. Pp. xxxvi+517.
(London: John Murray, 1920.) Price 12s. net.
Tue principal change in the new edition of this
admirable and well-established text-book is the
substitution of Dipylidium caninum for Tzenia as
an example of a tapeworm. This change has no
doubt been determined largely by the common
occurrence of Dipylidium and the consequent
facility in obtaining sufficient material—especially
scolices—for class purposes. The account is illus-
trated by a page of good figures, but there is an
error in the magnification given for Fig. 3. From
the point of view of the organs of the segment,
Dipylidium—with two sets of reproductive organs
in each segment, and the uterus subdivided into
capsules in the mature segment—is not so good
as Tenia as a type for study by junior students,
and for the convenience, of those teachers who
prefer the latter type a brief description of the
organs of the segment of Tenia might be added
at the end of the account, together with Figs. 4
and 6 on p. 47 of the previous edition.
In spite of the care with which the book has
been edited, a few slips have escaped attention—
e.g. on p. 12 “Monocystis belongs to . .. the
Sporozoa or Gregarines,” as if these two terms
—one relating to a class, and the other to an
order in the class—were synonymous; there is
the loose statement on p. 33 that in Obelia some
of the buds “have no mouth and_ become
meduse ”; and the amount of acid given in the
formula for acid alcohol is incorrect owing to
the omission of a decimal point.
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
The Separation of the Isotopes of Chlorine.
Mr. CHAPMAN’s conclusion (NaTuRE, June 17,
p. 487) that the isotopes of chlorine should on certain
assumptions be capable of separation by chemical
means, is clearly wrong, unless there is something
not stated in the reasoning to prevent it being applied
to the case of a “pure’’ element, such as, for
example, according to the results of Aston, fluorine
actually is. Denoting an entirely imaginary difference
between two kinds of fluorine atoms by F and F’,
the reasoning seems to lead in this case to the
obviously absurd result that these two kinds of iden-
tical atoms with a purely imaginary difference must
be capable of separation by chemical means.
The error appears to be in the equilibrium equa-
tion (i)
[Cl,][Cl’,]=[C1.Cr’P.
Mr. Chapman does not show how. he deduces this,
and it is of interest to know whether the-error is due
to a slip in the application of the theory of chemical
equilibria to the case or to a fundamental flaw in
that theory. In the present case, if the isotopes are
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
assumed. to be chemically identical and the distribu- —
tion of the two kinds of atoms in the molecules due
to pure chance, then if n is the fraction of Cl atoms —
and (1—n) that of the Cl’ atoms, the fraction of ©
Cl, molecules is n’, of the Cl’, molecules (1—m)’, and —
of the CI.Cl’ molecules 2n(1—n). This gives
[C1,][Cl’,]=3[C1.Cl’P,
which is in accord with the ratio 9 to 1 to 6, stated _
by Merton and Hartley for the case n=0-75 (NATURE,
March 25, p. 104), and with Mr. Chapman’s own.
equation (iv) deduced from the assumption that the
isotopes are non-separable. FREDERICK SODDY.
A Possible Gause for the Diamagnetism of Bohr’s
Paramagnetic Hydrogen Atom. =
OnE of the difficulties which confronts Bohr’s.
structure of the hydrogen atom is the fact that
hydrogen, on his hypothesis, should be paramagnetic,
whereas it is, like the majority of the simple gases,
diamagnetic. Experiments on the magnetism of gases ~
have, however, always been made above absolute zero,
and the atoms must therefore be in motion; and if —
this motion involves. vibrations and rotations of the
atom as well as translatory movements, then it is
possible for the atom to appear diamagnetic, although
it may be inherently paramagnetic.
‘“The Mean Magnetic Moment and Mean Ener
Vibrating Magnet’? (Mems. Manchester Lit. an
ofa
Phil.
Soc., vol. Ivii., 1913, No. 4) I considered in a simple >
case how such an effect Ry 28 arise if a magnet _
ree from the influence ~~
\e
were in a uniform field and
of neighbouring magnets. In these circumstances,
when the vibrations exceed 130° on either side of —
the position of rest, or if the vibrations pass into ~
rotations, then the magnet will appear to be dia-
magnetic, because the average time during which the
positive and negative poles are in the diamagnetic
position is ca ed than the average time during which
they are in the paramagnetic position. :
Honda (Phys. Rev., Ser. 2, xiii., 1919) has recently
examined at length the effect of all the possible rota-
tional movements of a magnet in his kinetic theory
of magnetism, and, with certain assumptions as to
the shape of the atom, comes to the same conclusion.
Applying this result to a paramagnetic atom, it is
possible that such an atom, in virtue of its motion,
may appear to be diamagnetic, and the fact that
hydrogen is diamagnetic may be quite consistent with —
Bohr’s Baramagnetic model of the atom.
The kind of diamagnetism here considered, which
may be called pseudo-diamagnetism, differs from that
due to induced electric currents in the atom, which
may be regarded as true diamagnetism. Pseudo-
diamagnetism will be subject to variation with
changes of temperature and with the state of aggrega-
tion of the atoms, while true diamagnetism is probably
independent of these.
If the diamagnetism of hydrogen should be found
to change at a very low temperature and in a very
strong field, it would show that the diamagnetism of —
this gas was probably an effect of the motion of its
atoms, and such a result would indirectly help to
confirm Bohr’s view of the structure of the atom by
removing a difficulty. J. R. AsHwortnH.
Rochdale, June 8.
A Stalked Parapineal Vesicle in the Ostrich.
THE ostrich chick on hatching displays an oval, —
dark-coloured, bare patch towards the hind part of the.
head. Later, it tends to be hidden by the thick
growth of hair-like feathers which cover the head
In a paper on |
i
| _ Jone 24, 1920]
a
NATURE
517
| generally, but even in the adult it can always be
_ recognised by turning the feathers aside. Its position
x gests that it is in some way associated with the
pineal body, and dissection reveals a large pineal
_ gland directly beneath, though wholly cut off by the
_ skull. Early stages in the developing chick disclose a
_ yet more remarkable formation in the same region,
__ which leaves no doubt that the bare patch is really a
brow t or pineal spot, the ostrich being the only
_ bird in. which a permanent structure of this kind has
Ostrich embryos of about twenty-six days’ incuba-
_ tion—the full period being forty-two days—display a
Fic. 1.
large pedunculate vesicle projecting from the middle
of the bare patch, surrounded by developing feathers
& (Fig. 1). The stalk is thick, deeply pigmented, and
4 rounded above, but irregular in outline below, while
the vesicle is thin-walled and almost transparent, the
_ whole structure strongly suggesting a stalked eye.
The outgrowth persists for a few days only, but all
ostrich chi from about twenty to thirty days’ in-
__ eubation reveal one stage or another in its develop-
. ment or retrogression.
kg oscopic sections through the fully developed
organ reveal the condition represented in Fig. 2. The
_*
Fic. 2.
stalk is solid and broad below, with a thick epidermis
produced into small, irregular fimbriations and deeply
pigmented, while the vesicle is extremely thin-walled
and filled with a coagulable fluid. The underlying
dermal tissue is continued unchanged into. the stalk,
but below it has undergone a peculiar sclerose modi-
fication. The whole structure is thus tegumental and
destitute of any special nervous or sensory elements.
Beneath it, but not represented in. the figure, is the
well-developed pineal gland resting upon the pouch-
like dorsal sac. Before the vesicle is fully formed,
sections reveal that the basal part of the stalk is
double, as if two stalks have become fused, but only
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
one has elongated, and ends in the vesicle. At a late
stage in retrogression the two components are quite
distinct.
A pedunculate vesicle, arising from the middle of
the head, renders the ostrich unique among birds as
well as among the entire vertebrate. series. Its
general association, however, leaves no doubt that it
is a part of the pineal complex. The latter has, there-
fore, been investigated from the earliest chick stage,
and many significant. features have been disclosed.
The primary pineal vesicle or epiphysis appears about
the third day of incubation as a simple, globular,
median outgrowth of the roof of the thalamen-
cephalon; later, it forms a dense follicular system,
and communication with the third ventricle is lost.
At the time of its formation a small, solid upgrowth
takes place just anterior to it, and situated on the
right side, afterwards becoming tubular and detached,
and extending upwards and forwards over the left
cerebral hemisphere. All the evidence points to this as
a vestigeal parapineal organ, arising in close associa-
tion with the pineal organ, but detached from it. It
disappears about the tenth day of incubation. <A para-
physial upgrowth arises in front of the velum trans-
versum, but persists for a few days only, and a dorsal
sac situated immediately under the pineal gland is
strongly developed.
It is submitted that the vesicle is the embryonic,
persistent, integumental covering of a stalked parietal
eye which was present in the ancestors of the ostrich.
The sensory part of cerebral origin has degenerated,
as in all birds, but the protective corneal covering of
transparent epidermis and dermis which would
envelop it as it pushed its way upwards.still reappears
in the embryo, remains for a very brief period, and
then retrogresses, the pineal patch being all that per-
sists in later life. The unique stalked character of the
eve is ‘manifestly a peculiarity to be correlated with
the presence of a covering of feathers in birds.
; J. E. DuerRpDeEN.
The Alligator Pear.
THE important notice of Persea gratissima in
NaTuRE of May 27 may be usefully supplemented
from Madeira, where, during the last sixty years, from
ten or a dozen examples, the tree has become familiar
in every garden enclosure on the lower soo ft. of our
mountain-sides—cultivated for its attractive form and
autumnal yield of valuable fruit.
The revival of the short voyage from Madeira, three
days and a half, to Southampton has restored the
alligator pear to its former importance in the London
market, for no other locality can offer equal facility
for presenting this valuable esculent in condition to
satisfy the educated palate of those who know the
flavour of the fresh fruit.
Grown from seed, P. gratissima begins to bear
fruit in from seven to ten years, attaining full
maturity in twenty years, when it has grown into a
spreading tree 30 ft. high or more, with dense light
green foliage, maturing an abundant crop in Septem-
ber and October.
A single tree in full bearing will yield a market
value of from 8/. to 151., and the rich nutty-flavoured
fruit is in growing demand.
In Madeira no serious efforts have been directed to
the improvement of the alligator pear, either by selec-
tion or grafting, and the large central seed still
remains as a reproach to us; but the stimulus of
increasing commercial value is at hand, and prefer-
ence will be given to increased food value. Some
years ago I suggested that the tree might be usefully
' grafted. on to Persea indica, one of the four Madeiran
laurels, much hardier and with greater range, hoping
518
“WATURE
[June .24, 1920
thus to spread the pear-tree beyond its present limits,
and to obtain from a more robust stock an increased
thickness of edible flesh, and perhaps improvement in
flavour; and parcels of P. indica seed. were sent to
the southern United States to test this means of fruit
development. But the wild Persea is fast disappear-
ing from our forests through sheer improvidence, and
its priceless pink-tinted mahogany will soon be extinct.
The alligator pear—the ‘‘midshipman’s butter’ of
other days—is mainly eaten in Madeira as a break fast-
table fruit, generally with pepper and salt, and is
especially to be commended as a sapid adjunct to a
well-made salad, garnished with segments .of the
‘fruit as with hard-boiled egg, and sprinkled with the
edible flowers of Cercis siltquastrum when available.
The Portuguese authorities will some day realise
that the fertile valleys into which these mountain-
slopes are cloven may be more profitably occupied
than with sugar-cane by the custard apple, alligator
pear, and other plants the perishable product of which
Madeira only, from its situation, can supply in per-
fection to the European markets; and our perennial
green peas, Cape gooseberries, February strawberries,
hognuts, and broad beans will then be available in
profusion while the Northern markets still wear their
wintry aspect. MICHAEL GRABHAM.
Madeira, June 7.
a ae Eye-Colour in Bees. a
Every biologist is now familiar with the colour-
variation in the eyes of Drosophila, and the remark-
able contributions to biological theory which this
variation has made possible. It is not so well known
that among the Anthophorid bees there are striking
differences in eye-colour, which must have arisen in
a manner analogous to those of Drosophila. These
differences usually characterise species; thus in the
genus Centris one form has the eyes crimson, another
green, another grey. In Anthophora two closely
related species from New Mexico differ, one having
the eyes green, while in the other they are dark
purplish. There are other differences, and the species
are quite distinct. I have just obtained evidence of
mutation in eye-colour within the species. Antho-
phora porterae, Ckll., is a large species with clear
green (olive-green or pea-green) eyes. The varieties
Watsoni and semiflava agree with the typical form
of the species in this respect. However, on May 23
of this year, at White Rocks, near Boulder, Colorado,
Miss Marie Chandler found a male with the eyes
dark bluish-green (sea-green). This may be called
mut. Thalassina. On drying, after death, the eyes
became grey marbled with black.
T. D. A. CockEREL.
University of Colorado, Boulder. .
British and Foreign Scientific Apparatus.
Ir may be said at once with emphasis that British
scientific instruments cannot be made in factories at
the present wage-rates and under prevailing labour
conditions at twice the. pre-war prices if identical in
quality and construction. Mr. Ogilvy discloses. the
same fact with regard to German instruments when
he states in NaturE of June 3 that the wages rates of
Germany are 400 per cent. higher than in 1914, and
that working conditions are difficult in every way.
The only reason that German firms can sell in
English money at from. 60 per cent. to 100. per cent.
above. pre-war rates is on account of the benefit, they
have under to-dav’s rate of exchange, which values the.
mark at 13d. only. It is obvious that German firms
are doing remarkably well for themselves by selling
insEngland at about twice the pre-war price.
The question is not one of free trade, prohibition,.
NO. 2643, VOL. 105 |
or import under licence, but whether the scientific
instrument manufacturing of this country is to con-
tinue or not. It is recognised that scjentitic apparatus
is a necessity to the nation, and should properly be
maintained as a ‘‘key industry.’?. The manutacturers
have the courage and the enterprise, and have been
making preparations for production by new methods
on a large scale for many months under exceedingl
difficult conditions, but with the assurance that some
degree of protection would be given to them. ~~
I have before me as I write an offer of 11,935 prism
binoculars lying in London by leading German
makers, all at the same. price and far below the cost
at which similar binoculars can be made in this
country at the present time. This, surely, is a case
of ‘‘dumping.’’ .
It must never be forgotten that the scientific instru-
ment makers in this country were among the foremost
in the production of precise instruments for the war.
Works were enlarged and plant increased to make
instruments of which the Government had never
encouraged the manufacture in this country, pre-
ferring to buy from Germany in times of peace; and
the more effectually a comparatively small firm did
its work in war-time, the more it is handic
now. Several firms are laden with premises and plant,
and have excess profits liabilities which are difficult to
meet in cash, while capitalists will not. put money
into scientific instrument manufacturing businesses
under present conditions.
Production would be hastened on a scale com-
mensurate with the needs not only of this country,
but also of the world, if these facts were faced and
met; and it is the opinion of scientific instrument
makers that some degree of protection should be
afforded during the period that the mark and the
franc have such a depreciated value. ;
severe competition between all manufacturers.
British manufacturers have never been slow in
throwing open their works for the inspection of those
who are interested. and if your correspondents and
readers could be induced to pay a visit to some of the -
works in this country and see exactly what is going
on and the possibilities that exist, thev might be led
to take a view of the subject which would offer
encouragement to the hardly pressed, but still
optimistic, British scientific instrument maker.
If any readers of Nature should wish to visit
optical works, and would send a note to the secretary
of the British Optical Instrument Manufacturers’
Association, Ltd., 2-3 Duke Street, St. James’s,
arrangements would quickly be made.
F. W. Watson Baker.
(W. Watson and Sons, Ltd.)
313 High Holborn, London, W.C. ake:
Applied Science and Industrial Research.
Pror. Soppy and Major A. G. Church both say in
Nature of June 3 that my letter published on May 27
confuses the issue. It mav be so; I have never
known a controversy in which each side did not,
sincerely, accuse the other of the sins of irrelevancy
and confusion. I have no desire to enter on a detailed
discussion of personal views. My sole aim was to
raise certain princinles that seemed to me in danger
of being overlooked. I think Prof. Soddy’s sugges-
tion will meet the case:, that readers of NATURE who
are interested should obtain a copy of the full report
of his address. Thev can then judge for themselves
how much or how little occasion there was to ‘justify
my letter. . W. WILLIAMSON.
3 Canterbury Mansions, N/W.6,;*June 12, 9
There are no “trusts” in the British optical world,
as a correspondent in NAaTuRE suggests; there is
ieee Oat e Fe
June 24, 1920],
WARY AE
i
Wireless Telephony. we
By Pror. W. H. Ecc es.
Ape gapatapa telephony has made such rapid
progress during the past six or seven years
_ that it must now be looked upon as a possible
_ rival to wireless telegraphy for communication
over distances up to a thousand miles. Although
telephonic communication demands on normal
occasions the expenditure of more power than
does communication by Morse signs, yet the
superior rapidity with which thought can be con-
veyed by voice transmission is a weighty advan-
tage; and, besides, telephony oftén proves more
successful ‘than telegraphy when strays and analo-
gous disturbances are bad, partly because the ear
is so skilful in followine the voice in the midst of
other noises, and partly because the context
greatly assists comprehension.
recent improvements by which the present position
in wireless telephony has been reached are due to
the development of the thermionic vacuum valve
with three electrodes—called, for short, the triode.
The essential difference between wireless tele-
phony and wireless telegraphy is that the voice
is used instead of the Morse key to produce
alterations in the radiated electric waves. In
continuous-wave wireless telegraphy the Morse
key, and in wireless telephony the voice, may be
applied in two ways: (1) for altering the wave-
nh, and (2) for altering the amplitude, of the
oscillations in the antenna. A distant receiving
station capable of sharp response to the normal
wave-length of the sending station picks up less
energy from the altered waves passing over it,
whichever type of alteration is in use at the send-
end; for if the amplitude at the sender is
altered, ‘the amplitude of the electric and mag-
netic fields produced at the receiver is changed
correspondingly, while if the wave-length at the
sender is altered, the receiving station responds
less, because the’ incoming waves are out of tune
with it. In many telegraph and telephone systems
both types of alteration occur together.
Once the source of continuous waves is avail-
able, the main problem in wireless telephony is
to provide means of exciting the transmitting
antenna in accordance with acoustic vibrations
produced by the voice. The process of moulding
the oscillatory currents by means of the voice
has come to be called “modulation,” and the
apparatus used, if distinct from the rest of the
transmitting apparatus. is called the “ modulator.”
,The obvious method of modulating a given
high-frequency alternating current is to use the
familiar apparatus of ordinary line telephony. In
our ordinary line telephone services direct current
is passed through a carbon microphone, and is
constant in value so long as the granules in the
microphone are quiescent, but when the granules
are made to vibrate by the voice, the current is
correspondingly modulated. and may be made to:
produce sound by the familiar telephone receiver
consisting of an electromagnet and an iron dia-
NO, 2643, VOL. 105]
Many of the.
phragm or reed. In wireless telephony the micro-
phone may be used in a precisely analogous way
by being placed in the antenna as shown in Fig. 1,
or in an earlier circuit as shown in Fig. 2. In
the apparatus of these diagrams the oscillatory
current may come from an arc, an alternator, or
a triode.
A different method of modulating a given source
of supply was advocated, especially by R. A.
Fessenden in America, early i in the history of wire-
less telephony. The essence of this method was
the employment of a condenser of which one
surface could be moved relatively to the other by
the voice, and this was usually associated with the
antenna of the sender. Alterations of the electrical
capacity of the condenser produce departures from
resonance, and therefore alter the amplitude ex-
cited in the antenna by the source of oscillations.
On the other hand, the condenser may be used
in the circuit generating the oscillations, especially
when the source is an arc or a triode, and in this
case the frequency of the oscillations supplied to
the antenna is modulated by the voice, and conse-
High Frequency
Source
Fic. Xe
Fis. 2.
quently both amplitude and frequency of the oscil-
lations in the antenna are modulated. The con-
denser has to be of special construction in order
that its capacity shall be variable at a frequency
of 1000 per second. In the recorded experiments
it has consisted of a thin diaphragm placed very
close to a fixed parallel plate, and the diaphragm
has been acted upon either directly by the voice
or indirectly by means of some magnified micro-
phone currents passing through an electromagnet.
The above two methods accomplish modula-
tion by variation of the resistance and of the
capacity respectively of one or other of the oscil-
latory circuits. It is natural to consider the possi-
bility of varying the remaining electrical magni-
tude—namely, the inductance, self or mutual.
The variation of self-inductance has been employed
by both German and American experimenters, but
perhaps the most successful is that due to
E. F. W. Alexanderson, of the General Electric Co.
of America. In a broad sense this experimenter
takes advantage of the dependence of the permea-
. bility. of iron upon the intensity of the magnetic
520
_
NATURE
[JUNE 24, 1920
ne
field peed to it,, Upon the same core of finely
laminated*iron there is a winding to carry high-
frequency current and one for the microphone
current. The microphone current as it varies
takes the iron to different magnetic states, alters
the permeability accordingly, and therefore varies
the self-inductance of the high-frequency coils.
Many matters of detail have had to be worked
out in perfecting the apparatus; an important one
A D
va.
Boe POU Th
wee oe
Fic. 3.
may be explained by aid of Fig. 3. Here A, B
are the terminals of the high-frequency circuit,
and C, D those of the direct-current or microphone
circuit. The iron core seen in the figure is part
of a closed magnetic circuit; it is in two portions,
each of which carries half of the high-frequency
winding; the microphone winding encircles both
portions of the core. Since the high- frequency
windings are wound to exert opposite magneto-
motive forces on the halves of the core, they in-
duce negligible high-frequency electromotive
forces in the microphone coil.
" Ph
ae
C3
C
Fic. 4.
The connections of the apparatus to the
alternator, the antenna, and the microphone
are shown in Fig. 4, which also introduces
further details, namely, the four condensers.
For simplicity the windings are represented
without their cores, though it must be re-
membered that the operation of. the device
depends entirely upon the magnetic properties of
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
Wilson
reaching the magnetic controller after passing
“New Brunswick wireless
_ be explained pitinta: die —
iron,
chief function the prevention of the flow of un-
desired acoustic currents in the high-frequency
windings. The condenser Cg tends to annul some
of the non-varying inductance in the circuit com-
prising the magnetic controller and the alternator,
and the condenser C, appears to have been intro-
duced for phase adjustment, and enhances the
sensitiveness of the whole arrangement to changes
of microphone current. The performance of the
device is excellent; it is stated that a variation
of 0.2 ampere in the direct current through the
microphone has been made to alter the power
given to the antenna from about 6 kw. to 43 kw.
It was by aid of this device that Ministers
in Washington conversed with President
in mid- Atlantic, the voice currents
over land wires from Washington to the
station.
noticed that in_ this
element of the complete antenna circuit the varia-
tion is not effected directly by the voice, and in
this respect the method is unlike the former two
methods.
A related class of methods of modulating the
oscillations of the antenna is that in which a
voice-varied mutual inductance is employed to
transfer the high-frequency energy from the
source to the antenna. Perhaps the nearest
approach to such a method is that of Kihn, of
the Telefunken Co. of Germany, though in his
method the self-inductance of the circuits is varied
also. The method has not worked out so success-
fully as that of Alexanderson, and need not be
described here.
A third class of methods of modulation aims.
at varying the activity of the source of high-.
this is in contrast with the
frequency current;
preceding methods, in which the functioning of
the source is not directly controlled. In the
methods to be described the point of application
of the control is, so to speak, behind the source,
the antenna being supposed to be in front. For
example, the direct current that creates the mag-
netic field of a high-frequency alternator, or the
direct current or voltage supplied to one of the
circuits of a triode oscillator—that is, an oscil-
latory circuit sustained in oscillation by means
of a three-electrode vacuum valve—might be
varied by the voice, and the high-frequency output
to the antenna be varied accordingly. Many very
miscellaneous schemes have been described; the
difficulty is to make a representative selection.
The triode oscillator especially lends itself to a
multitude of ingenious designs.
In Fig. 5 the circuits of a simple form of oscil-
lator are sketched. The coil marked L is con-
nected at one end to the anode, at the other to
the grid, of a triode, the filament being connected
to a tapping in the coil.
coil and the electrical capacity C of the condenser
constitute the circuit in which oscillations are to
be maintained. The action of the circuits may
Suppose an oscillatory
The condensers C, and C, have as their
It will be
method of varying an
The inductance L of the
3
JUNE 24, 1920]
_ possible.
tion by the transmitting triode R, in a manner
similar to that of Fig. 5; the modulator tube R,
NATURE.
528
_ eurrent to be flowing in L and C, and that we
choose an instant when the grid is, say, at a posi-
tive potential relative to the filament and rising in
walue; in accordance with the properties of these
tubes the electromotive force transferred from the
grid to the anode circuit of the tube will be from
_ filament to anode outside the tube and rising in
value. Thus the electromotive force acting on the
‘portion of the coil in the anode circuit is in phase
with the potential difference postulated to exist
throughout the coil in virtue of the oscillating
current in it, and therefore the electrical motion
tends to be maintained.
In such an oscillator the frequency of the oscil-
lations is mainly determined by the inductance
and capacity, but every other circumstance of the
circuits has its influence. Moreover, the ampli-
tude of the oscillations often varies whén the
frequency does. Thus if acoustic variations be
imposed upon the current employed for heating
the filament. or upon the electromotive force in
the anode circuit, or upon a source of electro-
motive force between grid and filament, the high-
frequency output of the assemblage varies corre-
spondingly. An ordinary microphone will, it
need scarcely be said, be used for converting
the voice-made air vibrations into current varia-
Fic. 5.
tions, and transformers will be used when of
advantage for introducing the current variations
into the various circuits mentioned above.
One of the most interesting of these methods
was described by Major Prince in a_ paper
read recently before the Wireless Section of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers, the apparatus
being that finally adopted by the R.A.F. for aero-
plane work.
The principles employed may be seen from
Fig. 6, which is drawn as free from detail as
The antenna A is maintained in oscilla-
magnifies: the voltages applied to its grid by the
microphone currents in the primary of the trans-
former T. The high voltage for the anode circuits
of each tube is supplied by the battery E, which is
in series with a large ehoking coil y. When the
microphone is quiescent the full voltage of E acts
steadily on the anode of R,, but when the micro-
phone produces variable electromotive forces on
the grid of R, these are multiplied, transferred
to the anode circuit of Ry, and if the choking’ coil
is large enough to be effective, and the condenser
C not too large, they reach the anode circuit of |
R,.- .In consequence the amplitude of the oscilla-
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
tions generated by R, is varied in correspondence
with the microphone current variations, and to a
small extent the frequency is changed also. This
set of apparatus is styled a 20-watt set.
When the normal ‘range of transmission must
attain 100 miles, the problem of modulating the
necessary .power becomes formidable, chiefly on
account of the limitations affecting the micro-
phone. It is obvious that direct modulation by
means of ordinary microphones is impossible
except for small currents, say not exceeding
2 amperes; in consequence, in the endeavour to
achieve long-range telephony, special microphones
—some of them employing liquid conductors—
have been devised, and sometimes many micro-
phones have been used in parallel. At this stage
the three-electrode vacuum valve comes to our
assistance in various ways, some of which
must now be explained. In the first place the
triode may be employed as an amplifier of the
variable currents or electromotive forces leaving:
the microphone, and these may be applied to the
YY,
Fic. 6.
modulation of larger high-frequency currents than
was before possible; the tube is then the actual
modulator. An instance of this appears in Fig. 6.
In the second place the triode may be utilised as
a by-pass to deflect high-frequency current. from
the antenna to itself or to other apparatus capable
of dissipating the necessary amount of energy—a
subtraction method that has proved very success-
ful. The tube may serve in either or both of
these functions as modulator of the high-frequency
current from arcs, alternators, or other sources
of oscillations, not omitting the triode oscillator
itself. Evidently the fact that these three-elec-
trode valves can perform the distinct offices of
generator of oscillations, magnifier of high and
low frequencies, and modulator, and in each
office may be associated with a remarkable variety
of circuits, may be expected to lead, and:is lead-
ing, to endless permutations and, combinations in
the circuits proposed for. medium- and long-range
wireless telephony.
There is space for brief descriptions of only
two examples of large power plants,,.-In..1914
522.5
NATURE
[JUNE 24, 1920
the Western Electric Co. conducted a great ex-
periment from the American naval station at
Arlington, near Washington, and succeeded in
speaking to the Eiffel Tower (3700 km.), and
exceptionally to Honolulu (8000 km.). Triodes
were used as_ oscillators, modulators, and
magnifiers. The chain of apparatus was as fol-
lows: First came a triode oscillator of small
power, which was coupled by means of a high-
frequency transformer to the grid circuit of a
medium-sized tube. This grid circuit contained
also the secondary winding of a transformer, the ©
primary of which carried the currents from the
microphone. The anode circuit of this medium
triode therefore contained magnified modulated
current of the high frequency dictated by
type. A diagram of the chief parts appears
in Fig. 7, from which are omitted all details
regarding the heating currents for the filaments
and concerning the rectifying of the high-voltage
current for the anode circuits. The oscillations
are generated in the circuit LC by a bank of six —
large three-electrode valves in parallel marked O,,
and transferred to the antenna by the coupling k.
The absorption tubes are three in number, and
are shown at Ag; their three anodes are large
enough to dissipate all the energy normally given
to the antenna. These absorption triodes are
controlled by applying to their grids the speech
electromotive forces after these have been magni-
fied by the successive tricdes M, and My. The
total consumption of power is 20 kw., including
all that necessary for
heating the filaments, the
height of the aerial is
400 ft., and the wave-
length 2750 metres.
It will be noticed that
the above are all one-
say, the two _ persons
using two stations for
- conversation must speak
in turn, and the listener
must wait for the
speaker to finish before
he switches over from
his listening circuit to
Source of
High Voltage
ae
it cence
Fic. 7. ae
the small triode oscillator. The current was
next transferred by means of a transformer from
this anode circuit to the grid circuit of a bank
of medium-sized amplifying tubes connected in
parallel, and was again magnified, and finally it
was transformed. once more into a circuit con-
taining the grids of more than 500 parallel con-
nected tubes. It ought to be remarked that great
progress has been made since 1914 in the manu-
facture of power bulbs, and that the experiment
can now be carried out on a larger power scale
with a far smaller array of tubes.
The remaining example to be cited is the re-
cently erected 20-kw. plant of the Marconi Co.
During the past few weeks ‘it has transmitted
good quality speech to a distance of 1500 miles.
In principle it is of the subtraction or absorption
his speaking circuit.
This falls far short of
perfection. For perfect
telephony it is essential
that both persons shall
be able to speak and hear simultaneously if they —
so desire, as in ordinary line telephony. For in-
formation about the most modern attempts at —
duplex telephony a paper read recently before the
Institution of Electrical Engineers by Mr. P. P.
Eckersley should be consulted. Until a com-
plete duplex method is devised and proved,
wireless telephony must remain a somewhat irk-
some mode of communication for public use. The —
ideal method will be such that a wireless station —
on this side of. the Atlantic could be connected —
over land lines to, say, London, and a station on ~
the other side connected by land lines to New —
York, and the persons using the apparatus would —
be unable to tell that wireless telephony across —
the ocean had been an agency in the transmission —
of their voices.
The Meteorology of the Temperate Zone and the General Atmospheric Circulation.
poke} By Pror. V.
qs Norway, since the year 1918, an attempt |
has been made to base forecasts of weather |
on the application of a very close network of |
meteorological stations. _The study of the corre- |
sponding very detailed synoptic charts has led to
interesting results even for large-scale meteor- |
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
BJERKNES.
ology. These are due especially to three young F
meteorologists, J. Bjerknes, H. Solberg, and
T. Bergeron, who have been attached to this —
service, and will return to the subject in detailed —
papers. —
A very short summary’ of some of the main
way methods—that is to
i
Es rey
— EE ee a ee ee ee ae ee ee -s
June 24, 1920] NATURE 523
results will be given here. These will be seen to | current of cold air (Fig. 1). The whole system
give, to some extent, both verifications and further | moves with the east-bound current, and the
developments of ideas, which, although advanced
by leading theoretical meteorologists, have not
yet exerted any noticeable influence upon the
development of meteorology.!
Fic. 1.—Cyclone.
-Great changes in the weather in our latitudes
have been found to depend upon the passage of
a line of discontinuity which marks the frontier
_ between masses of air of different origin. A line
of this kind was first found to exist in every
cyclonic centre with the lowest pressure is in the
region where the cyclonic track touches the border
of the tongue. The front border, before this
point, is curved like a reversed “S”; the rear
border, behind this point, has a uniform concave
curvature. Along the front border warm air from
the tongue ascends the barrier formed by the cold
air, which, in return, passes round the tongue in
order to penetrate below the warm air along the
rear border. Two bands of rain are thus formed
—a broad one in front of the tongue, where the
warm air spontaneously surmounts the cold, and
a narrow one, generally called the squall line,
along the rear border, where the advancing cold
air violently lifts the warm air of the tongue.”
It has been found by use of the detailed maps
that the line of discontinuity exists even out-
side the cyclone, passing from one cyclone to the
other; they follow each other along a common line
of discontinuity, like pearls on a string.
When one has become acquainted with all the
signs—direct and indirect—which are seen to
indicate the position of a line of discontinuity on
the very detailed maps, it proves possible to dis-
cover them even on less detailed maps. Fig. 2
shows roughly the course of such a line, on
January 1, 1907, as it may be drawn upon the
Hoffmeyer maps of the Atlantic Ocean for that
day. When similar charts are drawn from day to
day, as accurately as circumstances allow, a series
of large-scale results very distinctly presents itself.
Though we have been able to draw the line only
half round the pole, there can be no doubt that
Gy
“4,
%
Y
Fic, 2.—Line of demarcation between polar and equatorial air, January 1, 1907.
cyclone which is not perfectly stationary. It here
borders a tongue of warm air, which from an
east-bound current penetrates into a west-bound
1 Dove: ‘‘ Das Gesetz der Stiirme,” Vierte Auflage (Berlin, 1873).
Helmholtz: ‘‘ Ueber atmosphirische Bewegungen,” Sitzungsberichte der
uss. Akad, der Wissenschaften 1888, Meteorologische Zeitschrift,
1888. Brillouin: ‘‘ Vents Contigus et Nuages,” Amnales du Bureau
Central Météorologique, 1898. Margules: ‘‘ Energie der Stiirme,” Jahrbuch
der K. K, Centralanstalt fiir Meteorologie, 1903, Anhang.
NO. 2643, VOL. 105 |
it surrounds the polar regions as a closed circuit.
On the northern side of this line all signs indicate
air of polar origin; it has a low temperature for
the latitude, shows great dryness, distinguishes
itself by great visibility, and has a prevailing
2 Cf. W. N. Shaw: “ Forecasting Weather,"’ p. 212 (London, ror).
. Bjerknes: ‘‘On the Structure of Moving Cyclones,” Geofysiske Publi-
ationer (Kristiania, 1919).
524
NATURE
[JUNE 24, 1920
motion from east and north. On the southern
side of the line the tropical origin of the air is
recognised by the corresponding signs—its gener-
ally higher temperature, its greater humidity, its
haziness, and its prevailing motion from west and
south. There can then be no doubt concerning
the origin of the line. Heavy, cold air flows out
along the ground from the polar regions, It is
separated from the overlying warmer air by a
surface of discontinuity, the height of which above
the ground decreases very slowly until it cuts the
ground along our line of discontinuity. Thus this
line shows how far the cold air has succeeded in
penetrating ; it is a kind of polar front line.
Along the whole of this front line we have the
conditions, especially the contrasts, from which
atmospheric events originate—the strongest
winds, the most violent shifts of wind, and the
greatest contrasts in temperature and humidity.
Along the whole of the line formation of fog,
clouds and precipitation is going on, fog prevail- .
ing where the line is stationary, clouds and pre-
cipitation where it is moving.
The line has a wavy form, and is in a continu-
ous undulating motion, thereby sweeping over
the whole of what is called the temperate zone.
The wavy form comes from alternately cold and
warm tongues of air, which extend themselves
towards the equator or the pole. The whole
system is moving from west to east, while
the line, at the same time, changes its form,
especially when great masses of accumulated cold
air are expelled from the central polar regions.
The more wavy the form of the line, the more
tempestuous and variable is the weather. At the
northern ends of the warm tongues the air motion
which characterises cyclones is recognised, and
the corresponding areas of rain are seen so far as
it has been possible to mark them from the few
observations; these are the places of great storms
and low barometric pressure. The broad tongues
of polar air, on the other hand, bring the clearing
up between the successive storms and the corre-
sponding higher barometric pressure.
Two expanding tongues of cold air may occa-
sionally cut off from its base an interjacent tongue
of warm air. Then the storm at the polar end
is no longer supplied by warm air, and soon
loses its power; this is the death of a cyclone.
A tongue of polar air which has extended itself
too much towards the tropics may be cut off in | —oceanic as well as continental.
a similar way; or, as the consequence of a new
outbreak of polar air, a more retired front may |
be formed behind one too far advanced. In
this way great isolated isles of polar air are
formed in lower latitudes ; this gives the formation
of great anticyclones, which generally bring
settled, good weather. Thus anticyclones are born
as cyclones die. Cyclone and anticyclone and all
meteorological events of the temperate zone are
in the most intimate way related to the polar front
and its motion.
This expulsion of great masses of polar air,
which leads to the formation of anticyclones, also
enters as an essential element into the great atmo-
spheric circulation. There is a practically continu-
ous flow of warm air along the ground from the
“highs ” of the sub-tropic calms towards the polar
regions. This flow concentrates itself in the warm
tongues, and continues into the polar regions in
upper levels. Here the air is cooled, and eventu-
ally reaches lower levels. Thus increasing masses
of cooled air are accumulated behind the polar
front. This must continuously advance, with the
effect that the tracks of the corresponding cyclones
are always. moved further towards the south.
Finally, at the place of least resistance, great
masses of cold air break through and are expelled
in the direction of the tropics. The polar front
performs a corresponding retreat, the cyclonic
tracks are again displaced to the north, and the
type of weather is changed. Then the same action
repeats itself.: This intermittent form of the
great atmospheric circulation is especially pro-
nounced in the winter. During the summer the
polar front is far back, and the high temperature
of the continents exerts a considerable influence ;
then occasionally a continuous return of polar air
may be established along the west coast of the
continents, leading direct into the trade winds.
These results cannot fail to exert a considerable
influence upon the methods of weather forecast-
ing. All meteorological events of the temperate
zone, great and small, are derived from the general
atmospheric circulation described above, as we
know it from the motions of the polar front. If
we succeed in watching it effectively it should be
possible not only to give short-range forecasts a
hitherto unattained accuracy, but also to com-
plete them by long-range forecasts giving
the general character of the weather perhaps for
weeks ahead. These two kinds of forecast could
_ be extended to all regions of the temperate zone
The required
survey of the polar front is merely a question of
organisation.
The Cardiff Meeting of the British Association.
Po REPARATIONS are going steadily forward
' in Cardiff for the forthcoming meeting of the
British Association from Tuesday, August 24, to
Saturday, August 28 inclusive. Owing to the
crowded state of the town, the question of accom-
modation is causing difficulties, but these will, it
is expected, be satisfactorily overcome. ‘A list of
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
hotels and lodgings will be issued at the end of
the present week.
The Marquis of Bute has generously offered to
| give a garden party at the Castle on the Wed-
nesday afternoon, and the invitation has been
gratefully accepted by the Lord Mayor on behalf
of the local executive committee. Owing to the
JUNE 24, 1920}
NATURE
525
=e
difficulties of transport, it has been necessary to
_ give up the proposed reception by Lord ‘rreowen
on that afternoon, but it is hoped that arrange-
ments can be made for a visit to be paid to Llan-
over in connection with one or more of the Satur-
day excursions.
_ A long list of works, factories, and other indus-
trial undertakings has been compiled, some of
_ which are sure to be of interest to the various
__ members of the association.
_ Exhibitions will be a great feature of the meet-
_ ing. The National Museum of Wales is arranging
_ to display some of its treasures. There will be
an exhibition of pictures and charts for school
“decoration arranged by a committee of the asso-
ciation in connection with the educational section.
The botanical section is arranging a special ex-
hibit, whilst collections illustrating the work of the
various corresponding societies are being arranged
in conjunction with the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society.
A reception, specially intended for the members
of Section I, will probably be given by Prof.
J. Berry Haycraft in the new physiological labora-
tories of the medical school.
The list of foreign guests who have accepted
the invitation to be present includes the names of
MM. Bruno and Brioux, representing the French
Department of Agriculture; Profs. Cayeux,
Laplae, Fauvel, and Yves-Guyot, from France;
Prof. Gilson, from Brussels; Profs. Chamberlin,
Graham Lusk, and Kofoid, from the United
States; Prof. Chodat, from Geneva; Profs.
Hasselsbalch and Ostenfeld, from Denmark; and
Don. G. J. de Osma, from Madrid. .
Pror. J. R. RypBerc, For.MEm.R.S.
Saye J. R. RYDBERG, who died in December
- last after a long illness, made an enduring
contribution to science by his investigations of the
arrangement of lines in the spectra of the elements.
Rydberg was one of the earliest workers on this
subject, and he entered upon it with a full realisa-
tion of its significance in relation to the structure
of atoms and molecules. His classical memoir,
“Recherches sur la Constitution des Spectres
d’Emission des Eléments Chimiques,” was pre-
sented to the Swedish Academy in 1889, but he
appears to have arrived at his well-known general
formula before the announcement by Balmer, in
1885, of the formula connecting the lines of
r
tables then at his disposal, Rydberg discovered
most of the infportant properties of series spectra,
including the relation between corresponding
series in the spectra of related elements, and fore-
shadowed discoveries which were made later,
_ when experimental work had sufficiently ad-
: vanced. Some of the features noted by Rydberg
: were observed about the same time by Kayser
and Runge, but his work had the special merit
of connecting different series in the spectrum of
the same element into one system, which could be
represented by a set of simple formule having but
few adjustable constants. He especially insisted
that the hydrogen constant, now generally called
the “Rydberg constant,” should appear in the
formule for all series, and, apart from slight
variations from element to element suggested by
the theoretical work of Bohr, nearly all subse-
quent attempts to improve the representation of
series have involved this supposition, and have
had Rydberg’s formula as a basis.
Other valuable contributions to the subject were
made by Rydberg, but the memoir above men-
tioned is the most comprehensive of his published
papers ; it is a perfect model of a scientific investi-
gation, and may still be read with advantage by
all students of physics.
Much attention was also given by him to the
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
Notwithstanding the imperfect spectroscopic
Obituary.
chemical and physical properties of the elements
in relation to the periodic system, and in 1913 he
published his suggestive memoir, “ Untersuch-
ungen iiber das System der Grundstoffe.” His
later work in this connection was seriously inter-
rupted by ill-health.
Rydberg was born at Halmstad, in Sweden, on
November 8, 1854, and entered the University of
Lund in 1873. He obtained the doctor’s degree
in mathematics six years later, and after holding
appointments in the departments of mathematics
and physics, was appointed professor of physics
in the University in 1901. About a month before
his death he had retired from his professorship
on reaching the age-limit of sixty-five years. He
was elected a foreign member of the Royal Society .
_in 1919.
Tue death is announced of Pror. A. A.
INOSTRANSEFF, who was for many years professor
of geology in the University of Petrograd. Ino-
stranseff was bornin 1843, and began his geological
researches in Germany, where he was led to devote
special attention to petrology. His first paper, on
the microscopic structure of some Vesuvian lava,
was published at Halle in 1872. On his return
to Russia he made important observations on the
opaque minerals in crystalline rocks and on the
metamorphic rocks of the Government of Olenez.
He also did much geological surveying in. the
Caucasus in connection with projected railways.
His interests gradually widened, and in 1882 he
published a volume (unfortunately in the Russian
language) on man in the Stone Age round Lake
Ladoga. He had much success as a teacher, and
among other researches which he encouraged may
be particularly mentioned those of his pupil, the
late Prof. Amalitsky, on the Permian deposits of
northern Russia. The Permian theriodont reptile
Inostransevia commemorates his name.
WE regret to announce the death, on June 19, of
Dr. F. A. Tarleton, senior fellow of Trinity College,
Dublin, a former professor of natural philosophy,
and president in 1906 of the Royal Irish Academy.
526
NATURE
[JUNE 24, 1920
Notes.
By the gracious command of the King, the Society
of Tropica] Medicine and Hygiene, which was founded
in June, 1907, will henceforth be known as ‘‘ The
Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.”’
WE recorded last week that at the anniversary
meeting of the Linnean Society on May 27 the gold
medal of the society was handed by the president to
Sir Ray Lankester, to whom it had been awarded
by the president and council. The president’s anni-
versary address was devoted to an account of our
present knowledge of the earliest known fossil fishes
—the Ostracoderma—in the investigation of which
Sir Ray Lankester was a pioneer, his monograph on
Cephalaspis and Pteraspis having been published by
the Palzontographical Society in 1870.
Tue first gold medal ever given by the Institution
of Sanitary Engineers was presented at the annual
summer meeting of the institution last week to Major
A. J. Martin “for his services in originating Health
Week and in the development of civil and military
sanitation before and during the war.”’
Mr. Marcont, who has just returned from Italy by
sea, has favoured us with the following appreciative
reference to the late Prof. Righi :—‘t Although I never
had, as is often stated, the privilege of being a pupil
of Prof. Righi, I have always had, as is well known,
a very deep admiration for him and for his great and
far-reaching work in connection with physics, and
particularly electric waves. Prof. Righi, whom I
knew well personally, was a man of singularly un-
assuming character, and by his death not only has
Italy lost one of her foremost scientific men, but the
world also loses a brilliant and original worker in
the field of electrotechnics.”’ -
Dr. F. G. Cotrretrt, Director of the U.S. Bureat.
of Mines, has been awarded the Willard Gibbs medal
of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical
Society.
THE annual summer meeting of the Anatomical
Society of Great Britain and Ireland is to be held
at Cambridge on July 2 and 3. Papers on the
morphology and development of the central nervous
system have been promised, and there will be dis-
cussions on the structure of the earliest land verte-
brates. the partial transposition of the mesogastric
viscera, and avian structure as bearing upon problems
of bird migration.
WE are informed by the Secretary of the Depart-
ment of Scientific and Industrial Research that the
Research Association for the British Motor Cycle
and Cycle Car Industry has been approved by the
Department as complying with the conditions laid
down in the Government scheme for the encourage-
ment of industrial research. As the association is to
be registered. as a non-profit-sharing company, the
promoters have applied to the Board of Trade for the
issue of a licence under Section 20 of the Companies
(Consolidation) Act of 1908. The secretary of the
committee engaged in the establishment of this asso-
ciation is Major H. R. Watling, ‘‘The Towers,”
Warwick Road, Coventry.
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
At the eighty-sixth annual general meeting of the
Royal Statistical Society, held on June 15, the fol-
lowing elections took place :—President : Sir R. Henry
Rew. Treasurer: Mr. R. Holland-Martin. Honorary
Secretaries: Mr. A. W. Flux, Mr. M. Greenwood, and
Sir J. C. Stamp. Honorary Foreign Secretary: Mr.
R. Dudfield. Council: Mr. W. M. Acworth, Dr. J.
Bonar, Dr. A. L. Bowley, Miss Clara E. Collet, Major
L. Darwin, Mr. G. Drage, Mr. R. Dudfield, Mr.
A. W. Flux, Sir D. Drummond Fraser, Mr. ¢: H.
Gorvin, Mr. M. Greenwood, Sir Robert Hadfield, Bart.,
Sir Edgar J. Harper, Mr. R. G. Hawtrey, Sir H. E.
Haward, Mr. R. Holland-Martin, Dr. L. Isserlis, the
Right Hon. F. Huth Jackson, Mr. A. W. W. King,
Mr. H. W. Macrosty, Mr. E. R. P. Moon, Sir
Shirley F. Murphy, Mr. H. V. Reade, Mr. C. P
Sanger, Dr. E. C. Snow, Mr. J. C. Spensley, Sir
J. C. Stamp, Sir A. D. Steel-Maitland, Bart., Mr.
T. H. C. Stevenson, and Mr. H. Withers. It was
announced that the Guy medal in gold had been
awarded to Dr. T. H. C. Stevenson.
Mr. JULIAN Baker has been re-elected chairman of
the London Section of the Society of Chemical
Industry, and Dr. Monier Williams is to take the
place of Dr. S. Miall as honorary secretary, Dr. Miall
having resigned the position. The new, members of
the committee are Mr. A. Chaston Chapman, Mr. J.
Conner, Mr. A. H. Dewar, Dr. B. Dyer, and Pret.
W. R. E. Hodgkinson.
Tue U.S. National Research Council, a co-operative
organisation of leading scientific and technical men
of the country for the promotion of scientific research
and the application and dissemination of scientific
knowledge for the benefit of the national welfare, has
elected the following officers for the year beginning
July 1:—Chairman: H. A. Bumstead, professor
of physics and director of the Sloane Physical
Laboratory, Yale University. First Vice-Chairman:
C. D. Walcott, president of the National Academy
of Sciences and secretary of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion. Second Vice-Chairman: Gano Dunn, president
of the J. G. White Engineering Corporation, New
York. Third Vice-Chairman: R. A. Millikan, pro-
fessor of physics, University of Chicago. Permanent
Secretary: Vernon Kellogg, professor of biology,
Stanford University. Treasurer: F. L. Ransome,
treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences. The
Council was organised in 1916 under the auspices of
the National Academy of Sciences to mobilise the —
scientific resources of America for work on war
problems, and re-organised in 1918 by an executive
order of the President on a permanent peace-time
basis. Although co-operating with various Govern-
ment scientific bureaux, it is not controlled or sup- —
ported by the Government. It has recently received
an endowment of five million dollars from the Car- —
negie Corporation, part of which is,to be expended
for the erection of a suitable building in Washington
for the joint use of the Council and the National
Academy of Sciences. Other gifts have been made to
it for the carrying out of specific scientific researches
under its direction. :
JUNE 24, 1920]
NATURE
527
Dr. R. S. Morrett has been elected president of
the Oil and Colour Chemists’ Association in succes-
‘sion to Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin.
Dr. V. H. Mannine, lately director of the U.S.
Bureau of Mines, has been appointed director of re-
search in the American Petroleum Institute.
Dr. J. R. ANGELL, chairman of the U.S. National
Research Council and professor of psychology in the
University of Chicago, has been elected president of
2 the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Mr. E. C. R. Armstrone describes in the June
- issue of Man an interesting acquisition by the Royal
Irish Academy of two penannular rings with cup-
shaped ends, two bracelets, and an_ elaborately
decorated disc—all of gold—found last year in a bog
in Co. Cavan. The gold disc is of special value. The
ornamentation, which was probably made by pressing
the gold plate into a bronze matrix, is so fine that it
is scarcely going too far to describe it as the most
delicately decorated gold object belonging to the
Bronze age that has up to the present been acquired
by the Irish National Collection. The use of these
discs has been a matter of doubt, but we have a
parallel in a bronze specimen found at Trundholm
Moss, in the north of Zeeland, and another of Irish.
origin in the British Museum. The ornamentation is
probably connected with sun worship, but the Cavan
discovery is of additional importance in that now
for the first time a gold disc has been found in
Ireland associated with objects, such as the gold
rings and bracelets, which can be dated in the later
portion of the Bronze age.
In the same journal Mr. J. Reid Moir describes the
discovery of an early Neolithic ‘‘ floor’ in the neigh-
‘bourhood of Ipswich. On the surface of the gravel
underlying a stratum of peat a flint implement of
grey material, not rolled or patinated, representing
a well-recognised type of an early Neolithic axe of
the chipped and polished variety, was unearthed. In
association with this, flakes, apparently of the Mous-
terian order, almost certainly more ancient than the
Neolithic axe, were discovered. The mammalian
bones associated with the “find’’ were examined by
Prof. Arthur Keith, who identifies two varieties of
the horse, large and small, of oxen, red deer, a wolf
or large dog, pigs, and sheep. The horse-bones had
been smashed up, apparently for the extraction of
_ marrow. ;
In Sudan Notes and Records (vol. iii., No. 2, April,
1920) the Rev. D. S. Oyler describes the Shilluks’
belief in medicine men. They undergo a rite of
initiation. A fact of interest connected with them is
that ‘“‘many of the medicine men have physical
defects, their children are usually rickety, and many
of them are deformed. The natives say that this is
caused by the fact that the shades of his victims
bring a curse on the medicine man, and also on his
family.’? Few- Shilluks will admit. that they believe
in his powers, but they seek him constantly, and their
‘whole manner of life is influenced by the witch
doctor. “So long as the Shilluks are dominated by
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
the medicine men they will make very slight advance-
ment in their mode of thought and their manner of
living.’’
THE twenty-sixth Report of the Danish Biological
Station to the Board of Agriculture (Copenhagen,
1919) contains two valuable memoirs. The first, by
Mr. P. Boysen Jensen (‘‘ Valuation of the Limfjord,
I.: Studies on the Fish-food in the Limfjord, 1909-
1917’’), summarises the work of several years based
on valuations of the bottom invertebrate fauna with
its special significance as fish-food. The study of the
amount of food present in each year, its variation,
rate of growth, and connection with the plaice fishery,
shows interesting results. The fauna varies from
year to year in both amount and kind, and the
breeding seasons of the most important species differ,
some breeding yearly, others apparently only once in
several years. A careful comparison of the annual
production and consumption shows that in certain
areas the food is not sufficient to support an unlimited
transplantation of plaice, and that the years which
were specially bad for fishing were those in which there
was an unusually small amount of food available.
Prof. C. G. J. Petersen, in the second memoir (‘* Our
Gobies (Gobiidz) from the Egg to the Adult Stages”’),
adds much to our knowledge of the young stages of
these little fishes, so numerous in our seas and so
difficult to identify in their early life. We note with
satisfaction that he finally allows the specific value
of Gobius minutus and G.-microps, hitherto usually
regarded as distinct forms of one species, and shows
that they can be distinguished throughout their life
by skeletal features and by pigment. The very beauti-
ful plates, both coloured and plain, illustrating the
various stages in the life-history of the Danish gobies
add much to the value of this work.
In part iii. of their remarkable series of memoirs on
Old Red Sandstone plants from the Rhynie chert-bed
of Aberdeenshire (not younger than Middle Devonian)
Dr. Kidston and Prof. Lang give a full and abun-
dantly illustrated: account of a third generic type,
Asteroxylon Mackiei, of vascular Cryptogams dis-
covered by Dr. Mackie, who figured a single trans-
verse section of the stem. Like Rhynia and Hornea,
Asteroxylon was a terrestrial plant which grew in a
peaty soil. The subterranean portion of the plant
consisted of slender rhizomes, 1-6 mm. in diameter,
without absorbent hairs, having a broad cortex dif-
ferentiated into an outer and an inner zone, and a
simple vascular strand of spiral tracheids surrounded
by a cylinder of phloém. Branches of the rhizome
passed through a transitional region characterised by
the presence of scale-leaves into aerial foliage shoots
1 cm. to 1 mm. in diameter, bearing numerous
spirally disposed small leaves; and it is probable that
certain slender. leafless branches occasionally associated
with them represent fertile shoots which bore pear-
shaped terminal sporangia without an annulus, and
dehiscing at the broad free end. No actual connec-
tion between the leafless axes and sporangia or
between either and the shoots of Asteroxylon has
been demonstrated, but there is little doubt that. they
were parts of one plant. The vascular cylinder of the
528
“ NATURE
[ JUNE ‘24, T1920
leafy shoots had a stellate stele, and from the en-
larged ends of the ‘arms’ small concentric leaf-traces
were given off, which passed to the base of each leaf
but never entered the free lamina. In habit Aster-
oxylon agrees closely with the well-known older
Devonian plant, Psilophyton princeps, and to a rather
less extent with Psilotum. It throws light on the
morphology of certain Devonian plants known only
as impressions, and raises many questions of theoretical
interest which are discussed by the authors.
NEw light on several problems of Arabian geo-
graphy has resulted from the war. In the Geo-
graphical Journal for June (vol. lv., No. 6) Dr. D.G.
. Hogarth deals with certain discoveries in the Hejaz.
It has now been found that the watershed between
drainage west to the Red Sea and north-east to the
Persian Gulf lies further east than was previously
supposed. Its exact course has still to be traced, but
it certainly lies some distance back from the coast
and runs through the Kheibar harra east of the
Hejaz railway. Further south in Asir it comes nearer
the Red Sea. Much material has been collected for
the mapping of the Hejaz, especially in the north,
against the Gulf of Akaba, and further south between
Wejh and Rabugh. The intervening’ block, except
for the littoral, is most imperfectly known. Con-
siderable additions have also been made to our know-
ledge of the coast-line between Akaba and Aden. Dr.
Hogarth concludes his paper by summarising some
new information about Medina, of which a Turkish
plan and several photographs have now been obtained.
A British aeroplane which flew over the city secured
a photograph of the railway station and’ immediate
surroundings, but strict injunctions were given not
to photograph the Haram or Great Mosque which
contains the Tomb of the Prophet. The photograph
secured on this occasion is reproduced, among others,
with the paper.
THERE seems now to be evidence that so far back
as the beginning of the Cambrian period conditions in
the sea round the South Pole were not very favour-
able to life. In a piece of Lower Cambrian limestone
dredged by the Scottish Antarctic Expedition from
the bed of the Weddell Sea, and in other fragments of
the same rock from the moraine of the Beardmore
glacier on the opposite side of the South Pole,
numerous remains of the sponge-like Archzocyathinz
have been found closely similar to those discovered in
a corresponding formation in South Australia. All
the Antarctic forms, however, are comparatively
dwarfed, and show various thickenings and irregular
additions to the skeleton which denote a struggle with
adverse conditions. The specimens are described in
great detail, with excellent illustrations, by Dr. W. T.
Gordon in the Transactions of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh (vol. lii., part iv.), but they do not throw
any new light on the affinities of these remarkable
fossils. They are associated with ordinary spicules of
sponges, fragments of shells and trilobites, and a con-
siderable growth of calcareous alge.
THE Museums Journal for June welcomes the chance
of increased co-operation between the University and
the British Museum that would be afforded by the
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
new site offered to London University, but points out
that concentration is not altogether to the advantage
of students arriving from the various residential dis-
tricts, and that concentration in a restricted area will
check the inevitable expansion of both University and
Museum. This enforces, from another aspect, the
argument put forward by Sir E. Sharpey Schafer in
Nature for June vy. . We ae ;
_ THE advances made in wireless telegraphy and tele-
phony during the war were enormous, and in all the
three fighting Services it has established itself as
indispensable. A large section of the Signals experi-
mental establishment at Woolwich is now devoted to y
the development of equipment to meet the requirements
of the Army, which differ in several respects from
those of the Navy or Air Force. Much of the ap-
paratus has to be specially compact and mobile, and
for the circumstances of modern warfare the quantity
of messages to be dealt with in a short time renders
high speed of transmission essential. The adaptation
of the Wheatstone automatic transmitter, working
from a previously punched paper strip, to wireless
working enables speeds of transmission from 450 to
even 1000 words per minute to be attained, The small
currents through the contacts which are sufficient for
wireless apparatus render the conditions particularly
favourable for high speeds. Particular attention is
given to thé linking-up of line with wireless systems.
High-speed messages come in over the wire in the
ordinary way, and are automatically handed over to
the wireless apparatus without loss of time in re
transmission. Another recent development of wire-
less working, finding particularly useful application in
the Army, is direction-finding, and very compact sets
for this purpose with a range up to 250 miles are now
being standardised at Woolwich. A point to which
special experiment is being directed is the ‘obtaining
of .a high degree of selectivity by which extraneous
waves from near and far can be ‘‘tuned out ’? and the
feeblest messages of the required frequency amplified
to the extent necessary for satisfactory, reception. —
THE Deutsche Seewarte is resuming its activity in
the direction of publications. We have received a
report for the five years 1914-18, thirty-seventh to
forty-first year of the institution, and with it an
overdue report published in 1914 of a survey voyage
_of S.M.S. Méwe in 1911 to the West Coast of Africa.
The course was from Wilhelmshaven to Ferrol,
Cadiz, Teneriffe, Dakar, Freetown, Lome, Lagos,
Lome, Accra, Lome, Duala, Banana, Boma, Swakop-
mund, and Liideritzbucht, the last being reached on
October 7, 1911. The expedition went up the Congo
as far as Boma. Observations were taken of the
depth of the sea and of the currents, temperature,
density, and salinity at different depths down to
2000 metres. This oceanography, divided into the
three sections, North-West, Equatorial, and South-
West Africa, was directed by Drs. G. Schott and
B. Schultz. A meteorological log was kept by Dr. P.
Perlewitz, including some kite observations. The
regular observations were taken at intervals of four
hours, whether in harbour or on voyage, and the ele-.,
ments tabulated, in addition to the latitude and longi-.
tude, are direction and force of the wind, barometer, .
ss,
7 |
Ser ee Oy:
salinity, temperature, and density separately.
salinity seems to decrease southwards, and also
generally with increasing depth.
FO pS Oe
JUNE 24, 1920]
NATURE
529.
a Fae and wet-bulb temperature, relative humidity,
_ cloudiness, sea-surface temperature, strength of cur-
rent, and rainfall, with notes of any unusual pheno-
mena, including the appearance of albatrosses and
schools of dolphins or flying-fish. The charts included
with the publication show the salinity and tempera-
ture in depth sections, the one for Mogador giving
The
Tue March number of Terrestrial Magnetism and
Atmospheric Electricity contains a summary, by Mr.
J. P. Ault, of the results of the magnetic survey of the
Atlantic made by the Carnegie during her voyage
from Washington to Dakar, West Africa, and Buenos
Aires during the autumn and winter. While the
values found for the magnetic dip differ often by two
or three degrees from those given in the last Admir-
alty Charts 3598, 3603, and 3775, the values of the
observed deviation of the compass to the west differ
by more than a few tenths of a degree from the
farted values in certain limited regions only. Thus
in the region between the Gold Coast and the Island
of Ascension the Admiralty Chart gives the deviation
to the west about one degree tdo large, and between
Trinidad and Buenos Aires there is a considerable
area in which the deviation is given too small by
the same amourt.
Owrne to the decrease in research at Harvard oa
ing the war, vol. xiii. of Contributions from the Jeffer-
son Physical Laboratory covers the three years
1916-7-8, and at least a third of the volume is devoted
to Dr. P. W. Bridgman’s work on the effects of pres-
sure on the electrical resistance and thermo-electric
properties of more than twenty metals. The pressures
used reach 12,000 kilograms per sq. cm., and the tem-
perature ranges between 0° C. and 160° C. With the
exception of wires of bismuth and antimony, the
resistances of metallic wires subjected to hydrostatic
__ pressure decrease with the pressure, following a linear
law approximately, and at 10,000 kilograms per sq. cm.
have values about. 99 per cent. of- their values at
atmospheric pressure in the case of cobalt and tung-
sten down to about 90 per cent. in the case of lead,
tin, and cadmium. The temperature-coefficient of
resistance remains almost unchanged. The effect of
pressure on the thermo-electric properties is much
more variable. The normal effect is to increase the
thermo-electric power of the metal, but in three out of
the twenty metals tried this is not the case. In most
cases both the Peltier and the Kelvin effects are in-
creased, but there are many exceptions. The author
considers that the electron theory is quite incapable of
explaining these results.
WE have received from Messrs. C. Baker, High
Holborn, W-C., their classified list (No. 69) of
second-hand scientific instruments. The list. includes
microscopes and accessories, telescopes and _field-
glasses, spectroscopes, surveying, astronomical, pro-'
jection and physical apparatus, and contains particu-
lars of more than 2000 pieces of apparatus. In these
days of high prices intending purchasers would be
well advised in the first place to consult Messrs.
Baker’s catalogue.
NO, 2643, VOL. 105 |
Our Astronomical Column.
MERCURY AN EVENING Star.—The greatest elonga-
tion of Mercury (E. 25° 41’) occurs on June 29. On
June 24 the planet will set at 9.54 G.M.T., or th. 34m.
after the sun, and. may possibly be detected close to
the W.N.W. horizon by anyone with a good eye. A
field-glass should render the planet distinctly Visible
about an hour after sunset.
THE ZEEMAN EFFECT IN FuRNACE SpectTRA.—In con-
tinuation of his well-known researches on furnace
spectra, Mr. A. S. King has recently been investi-
gating the Zeeman effect for iron and vanadium in
the electric furnace. Observations of the effect of a
magnetic field on spectra have up to the present been
chiefly confined to spark spectra, so that it is inter-
esting to compare the effects when different sources
are used. The electric furnace possesses, in addition,
certain advantages over spark spectra for this pur-
pose, since most of the low temperature lines are
much more readily examined: Also, the inverse
effect for absorption spectra is easily obtained by
introducing a graphite plug to give a ‘backeroutid of
continuous spectrum. A description of the apparatus
and results is given in the Astrophysical Journal for
March. The furnace tube was placed parallel to
the lines of force in a field varying from 6500 gauss
in the centre to gooo gauss near the ends, and obser-
vations were made of one hundred iron lines and
ninety vanadium lines. The results of these pre-
liminary observations seem to show that the effect is.
independent of the source used, since the observed
separations agree both in character and tagnitude
with those of corresponding spark lines.
THE LuNAR PARALLAX AND RELATED CONSTANTS.—
There is a set of quantities (the radius and figure of
the earth, the intensity of gravity, the moon’s paral-
lax and the motion of her perigee and node) which
are so intimately related that an alteration in one.
compels corresponding alterations throughout. Prof.
W. de Sitter has endeavoured to obtain a mutually
consistent series of values, and gives the results in
vol. xvii. of the Proc. of the Royal Academy of
Science, Amsterdam. It is impossible in a brief note
to do more than give his conclusions.
Mean radius of earth—i.e. radius in geogr. lat.
the sine of which is {4}3=6,371,237 metres.
Value of gravity at that latitude (unaffected by
centrifugal force), 982014.
x'=sine moon’s parallax/sine 1”=3422-544".
Compression of earth, 1/296-0.
Constant of precession, 50-250"; luni-solar © pre-
cession, 50-373". Mass of moon, 1/81-50
~<—**=0'0032775 ; where C, A are the principal
moments of inertia of the earth.
Also, if A’, B’, C’ are the three principal moments
of inertia for the moon, and
CB’ B= fag 8 A’ _ B’-A’
y AR fis Oe 720 + area a ee
B is found to be 0°000626, and f=5=0 92.
a=
This value of f is much oar than those previously
found, which ranged from o-49 to o-75. In other
words, the present. paper makes the moon’s equator
less elongated towards the earth than previous deter-—
minations.
Prof. de Sitter’s investigation reminds us of the
late Prof. Harkness’s ‘‘solar parallax and related
constants."’ By a combination of all available evi-
dence he diced nearly thirty years ago, a value of
the solar parallax practically identical with that now
accepted,
932
[JUNE 24, 1920
The Centenary of Sir Joseph Banks, Bart.
HE, commemoration of the centenary of Sir
Joseph Banks, Bart., who died on June 19,
1820, was celebrated by the Linnean Society on
Thursday last, as mentioned on p. 406 of NaTURE
for June 17. After the usual formal business, Dr.
B. Daydon Jackson read the first communication on
‘Banks as a ‘Traveller,’ speaking of his four overseas
voyages—first, the visit to Newfoundland in H.M.S.
Niger, on board which his _ friend Constantine
Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, was a lieutenant;
next, the adventurous voyage of the Endeavour, Lieut.
Cook commander, when Banks so amply proved his
value in many untoward events; third, the voyage
to Iceland; and fourth, his trip to Rotterdam in 1773,
when he was still eager for an expedition to the
North. The second paper, by Dr. A. .B. Rendle,
was entitled ‘‘Banks as a Patron of Science.’’
Banks’s life from his return to England in 1771
until its close in 1820 was that of an enthusiastic,
liberal, and generally far-sighted patron of science. A
friendship began with King George, which steadily
increased, and Banks was consulted on important
matters of very various kinds. He became botanical
adviser to the King in relation to the Royal Gardens
at Kew, which developed under Banks’s guidance,
becoming the repository of plants of economic and
ornamental value from all parts of the world. Banks
initiated or encouraged voyages of exploration, and
kept up an extensive correspondence with men
interested in science overseas. His house in Soho
Square was the rendezvous of students and men of
all classes interested in schemes of philanthropy or
science; his magnificent library and herbarium were
at the service of other workers, and after his death
were bequeathed to the British Museum. For forty-
two years he was president of the Royal Society. He
was very closely, though indirectly, associated with
the origin of the Linnean Society. Mr. James
Britten, in the third paper, began by remarking that
much of his paper was based upon the daily use of
Banksian specimens for nearly half a century in the
British Museum. The author showed that the popular
belief that Banks left all his botanic work to his
secretaries and curators, Solander and Dryander, was
a mistaken one, and that Banks displayed great
botanic acquirements.
The president remarked that official records of the
British Museum testified to the active interest taken
by Banks in all matters connected with its advance-
ment. and that keepers and trustees alike referred to
him for his advice and decision.
Certain objects closely connected with Banks were
exhibited.
South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies.
f bee twenty-fifth annual congress of the Union was
held at Eastbourne on June 2-6, under the presi-
dency of Sir Edward Brabrook, who in his presidential
address dealt with progress in anthropology and
economics during the past quarter of a century. In
regard to the latter, he expressed the opinion that the
war seemed to have dismissed all economic orthodoxy
into thin air, with unrestricted paper currency, reck-
less extravagance, trading by Government, and mani-
pulation of markets, all of which had been borne
with patience during war-time, but were intolerable
in time of peace. Science had done what it could to
provide sound instruction by the issue of standard
works.
The second day’s business hegan with a paper by
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
‘NATURE
Comdr. E, A. Martin on ‘‘ The Glaciation of the South. ‘a:
Downs,’’
chalk hills received their final’ curving by ice-agency,
and attributed much of the ‘ clay-with-flints ”” deposits
in which he endeavoured to show that the
and ‘the chalk rubble of the Gry valleys to the agency
of glaciers, having their rise on the Downs when they
were at a greater height, with greater precipitation,
and a low snow-line. He had mapped out the blocks
of sandstones, ironstones, and sarsens, and concluded.
that short rivers could not have transported them to
where they ‘are now found. He compared the iron-
stones with similar deposits which have been found
at Lenham, on the North Downs, to be of Pliocene
age. He referred the rounded contours of the chall<x
hills to the grinding action of ice, resulting in their
appearance now as huge roches-moutonnées. Stria-
tions were not, as a rule, found, because the rocks
were such as would rather crumble and perish under
the pressure necessary to produce them. One sarsen
at Stanmer was found, however, distinctly to be
striated. The author thought that there had beem
two clear periods of glaciation : one before the deposi-
tion of the temperate marine muds at Selsea, at the
base of which were the famous Selsea erratics, refer-
able to the glaciation at the close of the Acheulian
period, and a later one which gave rise to the Rubble-
Drift, after the development of the Mousterian
culture. In a brief discussion which followed, the
Sieciaden theory was®opposed by Mr. T. Sheppard,
oO ull. ;
Mr. C. C, Fagg read a paper on “‘First Steps in a
Local Regional Survey,’’ in continuation of the efforts
which he has made for some years to stimulate
the regional survey movement.
Prof. Boulger, in the
absence through illness of Miss G. Lister, read a paper
on ‘*The Eastern Extension of the Lusitanian Flora,’”
‘with special reference to the locality.
Prof. E. B. Poulton delivered a public lecture on —
“‘Mimicry and Migrations of Insects,’’? and this was —
attended by invitation by numerous boys’ and girls”
schools in the town. A paper was read by Mr. R
Adkin on “Migrations of Butterflies and Moths in |
regard to the British Islands.’’ Mr. Adkin dealt with
flights of migrating Lepidoptera and movements of
larve by the agency of the wind, and discussed the
{
oS
question of whether such occurrences are to be con-—
sidered as chance happenings or as the result of
voluntary action on the part of the migrants. Some
account was given of observed immigrations on the —
coast near Eastbourne, and further evidence was
asked for. Mr. Adkin showed how the seographical
position of the British Islands rendered them sin-
gularly suitable for the observation of such pheno-.
mena. and suggested the lines of movement by which
such immigrants would be likely to reach our coasts.
The paner was illustrated by mans and diagrams and
by exhibits of the insects referred to.
The matter of the enclosing of so much of the
Downs during the last year or two by barbed-wire
fences was discussed. and a resolution was carried
with much enthusiasm asking that joint steos should
be taken bv several influential bodies to carry throush
a scheme for the protection of rights of wav over the
Downs. and for the acquisition for public use of
typical stretches: of them.
A large collection of wild flowers was on exhibition
during the congress: Phytewma sbicatum was sid
to be growing in large quantities in East Sussex this
vear, and orchids were found in profusion in and
about Beachy Head. Excursions to Pevensey, Alfris-
ton. East Dean, Old Eastbourne, and other places”
added interest to a very successful congress. ee
After one of the excursions the partv returned to
‘‘ Hodeslea ”’ to tea. Huxley spent the later years of
yy) =~
MSS - 0ST peer aoe eee
PP 26, 1620)
“~—-
G
4
‘NATURE
531
his life in Eastbourne, and occupied ‘‘ Hodeslea,”’
_ which is now the residence of the Union’s treasurer.
The house was built-by Huxley in 1890 and he lived
there until 1895. whilst his widow remained there
until her death in 1914. Mr. Adkin has recently
eri a bronze tablet on the house relating these
teenager ;
Genetic Segregation,’
By W. Bateson, F.R.S.
‘J ATER developments of genetics have been, in’ the
/ main, attempts to discover the nature and scope
of segregation. Mendel proved that certain characters
are determined by unit-factors. Their integrity is
maintained by segregation, the capacity, namely, to
separate unimpaired after combination with their
ites. We have been trying, first, to ascertain
specifically what characters behave in this way,
whether there is any limit to the scope of segregation
or any classes of characters otherwise transmitted.
Among characters known to be subject to segregation
are illustrations of most of the features by which
plants and animals are distinguished. In regard to
two classes of characters the evidence for segregation
is, nevertheless, rather noticeably imperfect. No quite
' clear proof exists that differences in’ number—meristic
characters in the strict sense—are governed by
factors comparable with those that control, for
ag , colour. The extra toe of the fowl and
the single leaflet of the monophyllous strawberry are
perhaps the best examples, but reservations may be
entertained. Also, though segregation can be demon-
strated in regard to quantitative characters, parental
‘thus distinguished often fail to re-appear, and the
tance is subject to’ special complications.
Groups or complexes of factors are now recognised
as sometimes segregating whole. Were it not that on
occasion elements of the complex become independent,
the group would pass for one unit-factor. The sex-
complex is an obvious example. Intermediate flower-
colours, like those of modern sweet peas, probably
arise by this process. The plausible suggestion that
the new terms are only rare cross-overs in a closely
linked series does not fit the evidence. A striking
illustration appears in CEnothera, in which, as Renner
lately showed, several groups of characters normally
segregate as single factors. These complexes are in
several forms not borne equally by the two sexes of
the plant, and most of them cannot exist in the
homozygous state. By these discoveries the Ginothera
problem is greatly elucidated.
The second question is to determine when in the
life-cycles segregation can occur. Admittedly it is a
phenomenon of cell-division. If we knew the animals
only we might confidently adopt the view of Morgan
that normal segregation happens during the matura-
‘tion process at the stage of synapsis, when the
maternal and paternal chromosomes are believed to
conjugate in pairs. Most of the tacts of linkage may
be thus well represented, but the absence of crossing-
over in the sex-heterozygote (Drosophila and_ silk-
worm) is not readily explicable, nor is there as yet
extensive evidence that the number of linkage-systems
agrees with that of the chromosomes—a primary
postulate of Morgan’s theory. The evidence for an
orderly anastomosis, or even of any exchange of
materials between chromosomes, is weak; and the
visible features of chromosomes are scarcely sugges-
tive of the prodigious heterogeneity requisite.
the linkage-systems correspond with the chromosomes,
-1 Abstract of the Croonian Lecture delivered before the Royal Society
on June 17.
NO. 2643, VOL. 105 |
‘to crossing-over.
Even if’
‘which is -a*most attractive conjecture, exchange’ of
material between chromosomes need not be essential
It may be doubted, however,
whether the general course of cytological evidence
does not point to the réle of the chromosomes being
rather passive than active.
That in plants segregation even in its normal
course is not limited to the reduction-division is now
certain. In Matthiola, Campanula, Begonia, and
(Enothera the genetic composition: of the male and
female organs may be normally different, and segrega-
tion cannot have happened later than the constitution
of these organs. This kind of segregation must
result in Campanula carpatica (experiments of
C. Pellew) and in Begonia Davisii from the peculiar
genetic properties of the female complex, for it re-
appears in offspring derived from the female side for
several generations at least, but not among those
derived from the male side. Collins’s evidence from
Funaria proves further that sex-segregation may
happen during the growth of a haploid form.
Periclinal chimzras and the production of distinct
types from adventitious buds prove that segregation
may take place during somatic development,
whether in the differentiation of the layers or of the
root. In the genetic properties of the tare-like rogues
of peas there are features which not only illustrate
the occurrence of gradational change in genetic pro-
perties. following somatic differentiation, but also
show that this gradation affects the male and female
organs differently. From these facts it must. be con-
cluded that normal and orderly segregation (apart
from chance sporting) can occur at various .cell-
divisions, and not exclusively at reduction. . Not im-
possibly these somatic segregations may be accom-
panied by some visible cvtological differentiation, but
that question must not be prejudged. BE
Having regard to the fundamental distinctions
between the morphological relations of the germ-cells
to the soma in animals and in the flowering plants,
it is not surprising that the processes of segregation
should be differently effected in these two groups of
organisms.
Colour Index of the British Isles.
AY a meeting of the Royal Anthropological Insti-
tute held on June 15, Prof. Arthur Keith, ex-
president, in the chair, Prof. F. G. Parsons read a
paper on ‘The Colour Index of the British Isles.”’
He first reviewed the different ways of constructing
an index of nigrescence, and directed attention to what
he considered their weak points. Prof. Parsons pro-
posed as a simple and workable index that the per-
centage in any group of individuals with dark brown
and black hair should be added to the vercentage with
eyes in which any brown pigment is present, and the
result divided by two. For practical purposes he
found it better to record the percentages of dark hair
and dark eyes separately. He then procéeded to
examine the large mass of statistics collected by Dr.
Beddoe in the middle of the last century, and pointed
out that the first deduction was that women are in
the mass darker than men, and that where. the people
are fairest the difference between the sexes is greatest,
as the following table shows:
Index
No. of records Diff.
en Women
4 Northern Counties 1767 26-2 335 7%
3 Eastern #5 1563 34°4 38:2 38
2 Western bs 4057 45°5 46-7 1-2
’ Tt therefore became necessary to exclude those
» had mixed most freely with the Nordic.
132
NATURE
[JUNE 24, 1920
records of Beddoe in which the sexes had not been
kept separate. Fortunately, however, nearly fifteen
thousand records on males alone remained available.
In the Northern and Eastern Counties, in the low-
lands of Scotland, and again in Sussex and Hamp-
shire, the correspondence of the tracks of the hair and
eye indices was most marked, whilst in the Western
and West-Central Counties, in Wales, and in the
Highlands of Scotland the darkness of the hair was
very much greater than that of the eyes. It was
pointed out that those regions in which the hair and
eyes correspond in lightness were historically regarded
as the sites of the purest Nordic blood in these islands,
while those parts in which the hair track was much
higher than that of the eyes were the sites in which
we have every reason to believe the Mediterranean blood
Where the
two races had mixed it appeared that the light Nordic
eyes and the dark Mediterranean hair were the
dominant factors. Except in Wales, a percentage of
more than 50 dark eyes is unknown in the British
Isles.
On comparing town and country dwellers it was
noticed that the towns were darker than the country,
except in those parts where the nigrescence was very
high, when the reverse was the case. It was sug-
gested that one reason for this might be that the
town dwellers were more migratory than those of the
country, though probably this did not account for’ all
the. difference.
The distribution of red hair was worked out and
found to be greatest in Scotland and the North of
England, where the nigrescence was least. It was
also pointed out that the evidence available showed
that it was more prevalent among the upper than the
lower classes, and that this probably coincided with a
lower index of nigrescence in the upper than in the
lower classes:
In opening thé discussion, Prof. Keith said that
Prof. Parsons’s paper was of supreme importance to
all who were interested in the origin of the peoples of
this country. In his opinion, pigmentation was
probably the key to the problem, and Prof. Parsons’s
new method of estimating nigrescence was a real
contribution to the study of the subject. His index
was, however, in a sense, an average, and must
therefore be used with caution. In referring to the
lack of correspondence between hair and eye colour,
he instanced the dark hair found in conjunction with
grey eyes in Wales, Ireland, and West Scotland—a
conjunction also occurring in Scandinavia. After
thirty years of observation, however, he himself was
still in doubt as to the difference between a Celt and
a Saxon, and felt it impossible to distinguish between
individuals from, say, Suffolk and Connaught. In
his view the basis of the population of these islands
was predominantly Nordic.
Dr. Brownlea said that he considered the results
based upon the distinction of sex were not quite trust-
worthy. He held that six distinct races went to make
up the population of these islands, one of these being
a distinct red-haired race.
Mr. H. Peake, while agreeing with Prof. Keith
that averages were untrustworthy, said that Prof.
Parsons’s index was not quite an average, and in any
case it was the best method of dealing with observa-
tions which had been advanced so far. The conjunc-
tion of dark hair and light eyes was a puzzle. Was
it due to a tendency in the Mediterranean race towards
light eyes, or was it due to a fusion between the
Nordic and Mediterranean types? Certain characters
seemed to follow sex, and in cases where there had
been an immigrant male population intermarrying
with the females of the country, the dominant
character of the male reappeared in the male line.
NO. 2643, VOL. 105 |
Prof. Parsons’s results pointed to this, in that where —
there was a considerable Nordic influence there were _
wide sex differences; where Nordic influence was ©
small there was little difference between. the sexes. —
He pointed out that not all red-haired people were
alike in shape and colour. It had been suggested that
red was a variant of fair hair, e.g. in Scandinavia.
The older theory was that it was a border-line colour
between fair and black. In Ireland, Wales, and Scot-
land it might arise from a crossing of Nordic and
Mediterranean types. On the other hand, in the
North of England it might be a variant of fair hair,
as in Scandinavia. But even Scandinavia, he pointed
out, was not homogeneous; light and dark —
occurred, and therefore in that country also red hair
might be due to contact.
Dr. Shrubsall said that in his investigations of the
incidence of dark hair in town populations he had
found that the longer the town history of a family,
the darker the hair. He pointed out that the occur-
rence of red hair in the March country of Ireland,
Wales, and Scotland supported the view that it was
due to contact of light and dark ‘types.
Dr. Stannus said that while investigating albinism
in Africa he had found a large number of red-haired
individuals, but in these cases the pigment was always .
found in solution. The problem was biochemical, —
and, in his opinion, microscopical examination was
essential to show whether individual cases were cases
of black hair in which the pigment had not been
thrown out in granular form.
The chairman, in bringing the meeting to a close
after Prof. Parsons had briefly revlied. said that the
discussion had shown the desirabilitv of a much wider
survey of the peovle than had hitherto been made.
The results would have an imvortant bearins upon
such questions as the relation between health and
race. He hoped that the Government might be
induced to help in this great undertaking.
Army Hygiene and its Lessons.’
By Lr.-Gey. ,Sir Tuomas Goopwin, K.C.B.
EG fine quite recent years it has never been
sufficiently recognised that a very large pro-
portion of Army medical effort should be directed
towards the prevention of disease. The fact that in
all wars in the past more men died from disease
than from enemy action appears to have been accepted
more or less with resignation, and regarded as
inevitable. During the later years of the nineteenth
century the increasing advances in science and
our more exact knowledge regarding the ztiology and
transmission of infective diseases led many medical
officers to attempt to create barriers against the spread
of disease by known paths, but there was a lamentable
lack of co-ordinated effort.
Towards the close of the eighteenth century we
begin to glean something in the nature ‘of figures. _
regarding sickness in armies in the field. , In 1792 °
the allied Austrian and Russian armies were in Cham- —
pagne; they commenced their retreat on September 30,
and by the end of October had evacuated France, and
during that short month, without any considerable.
fighting, they lost 25,000 men, or more than one-
fourth of their number, every village being filled with —
dead and dying. BE IEK at
Accurate figures are unobtainable regarding Napo-
leon’s campaign in 1812, but’ we learn that in June,
1812, he crossed the Niemen with a magnificent army)
1 i i on March 8, 15, and 22
entitled 9 de tees onto tatthe. wee ** Army Lipgiene during
the Great War,” and ‘‘ Army Hygiene in the Future.’ alt
June 24, 1920 |
NATURE
533
| 400,000 men; he reached Moscow on September 14,
retreat ip an on October 19, and on December mi
e Niemen, and of his great army. more
a fourfths had melted away. *
Mbably one of our most disastrous campaigns,
2 Bygionic point of view, was the Walcheren
of 1809, where our mortality from disease
inted to 346-9 per thousand of strength of troops.
arding the Crimean campaign in 1854 I shall
_ little we have all read of the trials and
ps of the troops in that campaign, in which
_ mortality from disease amounted to 230 per
id of the strength.
In. the Afghanistan War of 1878-80 the mortality
S 93:7 per thousand, which appeared to be an im-
provement compared with the terrible figures which
ve Stave just considered.
ye as these figures are, yet those of other nations
even more unfavourable ; for example, in the
French Sudanese campaign of 1888-89 the mortality
from disease amounted to 280 per thousand—worse
figures than those of our own Army in the Crimean
nia: thirty-five years previously.
Eeapoicn ‘that perhaps the most striking example of
the havoc which may be wrought by disease on an
ei in the field is that furnished by- the French
my in Madagascar in 1895, where the mortality from
e amounted to 300 per thousand of strength.
is A posinie al eeeicoign 7 men were killed by the enemy
while the deaths from disease num-
r+
pre The actual admissions for sickness
tenia to more than 15,000, or 85 per cent. of the
; whe force.
fe The evils’ in the past were mainly due to lack
of. tion and of real knowledge on which
Scomterted: action could be based. Nevertheless, ad-
vances were made, and, as an example of the steady,
progressive improvement in the health conditions of
the soldier and the increased success in disease pre-
vention, it is interesting to note that in India during
the five years 1878-82 the following were our sickness
‘and mortality rates per thousand of men serving
mong European troops :
4 Constantly sick Deaths Malaria Dysentery Cholera
g 1878-82 - 68° 1 20°5 569 "42" ‘8 5°7 (4°2 deaths)
__ Compare these figures with those for 1912:
1912 -28°8 4°6 82 52 0°3 (0'2 deaths)
i As _ regards conditions in the civil community,
I ‘the first really important step towards an
. ved condition of affairs in England dates from
¢ oe ssing of the Public Health Act in 1875. Two
| years ago the annual death-rate in London
‘was 80 per thousand; I think it is now about 18 per
thousand.
_ Military hygiene differs little in theory from that
relating to the public health of a civil community,
a, we times of peace is closely allied to that
carried out in all branches of the Public
oe aa
4 ibe are, however, certain considerable advantages
in military hygiene which find no counterpart in civil
life. The measures which the sanitary officer recom-
mends, when accepted, are carried out with all the
power of military organisation and discipline behind
them, and insanitary conditions and disease are sub-
ject to a far greater control than can usually be
_ obtained with a civil population; so that, before the
South African War, great advances had been made in
the status and training of the Medical Service
B senenatly, but there were still many defects, the chief
_ of which were lack of organisation in the Sanitary
_ Service, deficient education and training in hygiene
fh of the officers and men of all branches of the Service,
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
and lack of co-ordination between the Medical Service
and the rest of the Army.
- Now let us consider the South African War. From
what I have said you will realise that we entered on
that war fairly equipped with knowledge, but with a
deficiency of organisation as regards the hygienic
requirements of an army in the field. It is true that
affairs improved very considerably during the course
of the war, but the unpreparedness at the outset bore
its inevitable harvest. During this campaign some
14,000 men died from disease as compared with about
7000 killed. As regards enteric fever, we had 57,684
cases with 8022 deaths. Dysentery alone accounted
for 86 admissions per thousand of the strength, and
from all diseases we suffered 843 admissions with
24 deaths per thousand of the strength; while wounds
in action accounted for 48 admissions with slightly
less than 3 deaths per thousand.
South Africa saw the dawn of the organised
scientific study of disease as regards its actual in-
cidence in the field. Much of the success achieved
by field hygiene and sanitation in the recent war
may be traced to experience gained in the war in
South Africa.
The Army Medical Service emerged from the South
African War convinced of the absolute necessity for
improving the sanitary organisation on _ certain
definite lines. It was, in fact, at last generally
realised throughout the Army that in war nothing is
so costly as disease. The main requirements were,
first, the education of the troops themselves—officers,
non-commissioned officers, and men—in the aims and
methods of hygiene. The second necessity indicated
was the allocation of certain officers and personnel
for sanitary work alone, and for their special training,
in addition to the continued training of all medical
officers, in the very latest scientific work. The third,
and perhaps the most important, requisite was
organisation for war.
This organisation was so arranged as to compass
a thorough sanitary control of the lines of communica-
tion in order to filter off unfit men suffering from
contagious or infective disease, and at the same time
to maintain a freedom from disease of all personnel
passing through the various channels and fixed estab-
lishments comprising the lines of communication. In
France, for example, during the past war, it may be
said that, beyond an outbreak of dysentery at one
training centre, clearly traced to an influx of
“carriers” from the East, the lines of communication
during the whole period were maintained almost free
from outbreaks of epidemic disease of any serious or
extensive nature.
How very different were the conditions under which
the Army took the field in 1914 from those of former
wars! The scientific investigations of the preceding
years had stabilised to a very large extent the hygienic
environment of the soldier. Careful work on his food-
stuffs as regards quantity, variety, and quality assured
him a sound basis on which to wage war.
Undoubtedly much of the low incidence of infectious
diseases enjoyed by the troops in the field during the
whole war was due to a high resistance maintained
by the ample and excellent condition of the food-
supply. In the same way the equipment, clothing,
and personal hygiene of the troops’ had all been en-
visaged on the soundest lines; while the method and
practice of sterilising water-supplies and safeguarding |
foodstuffs, as well as the disposal of waste products,
had been carefully thought out and generally in-
culcated,
Now let us consider the three main essentials to
life, namely, food, water, and air. The food of the
troops and its intimate relation to that important organ.
534
NATURE
‘on which”’ (we are informed by high authority) ‘‘ the
army ' marches’’ likewise gave cause for the most
caretul study and preparation. In the past the mili-
tary ration had been arranged upon more or less
empirical lines after actual test marches. During the
war, however, the menace of a national shortage of
food and the importance of avoiding waste led to more
exact studies of the needs of the troops by a detailed
assessment of their actual energy output by the
method of indirect calorimetry. Simultaneously with
these studies, the assessment of the needs of the civil
population by the Royal Society (War) Committee
furnished information of incalculable value both for
the future and, indeed, for the present time of world.
shortage.
It was a matter of no little difficulty to provide
the: many varied rations required by different peoples in
different theatres at differing seasons and under varied
military conditions; but, speaking generally, the Army
of eight and a half millions had throughout been fed
in such a manner as to enable it to fight effectively, to
provide the energy and heat required, and to avoid
outbreaks of disease traceable to the diet, with the
exception of minor outbreaks of neuritis and scorbutic
cases in those most distant areas—Mesopotamia and
‘ North Russia. In these localities the difficulty of at
oncé’ arranging for local produce in severe climatic
extremes and the dependence on preserved supplies
from home were accountable for the outbreaks in
question. Steps were quickly taken, however, to
provide the necessary accessory food factors, at first
by germinating pulses and by yeast, later by the
intensive cultivation locally of fresh foodstuffs—
measures which proved of great value both to the
native inhabitants and to the troops.
~The ‘question of water-supply is one of the first
importance. During the few years before the war
experimental work on the various physical and
chemical means of sterilisation—or at least of purifica-
tion—of ‘water had been carried out in several direc-
tions. Just prior to the war dependence had largely
been placed on the use of filter-candles, but they were
found to be unsuitable for active service conditions,
and were replaced in every case by chlorination. The
net result of war experience was the undoubted value
for sterilisation purposes of. chloride of lime in the
form of bleaching powder. This substance, as is
generally known, contains from 30 to 33 per cent. of
available chlorine, which in turn liberates nascent
- oxygen in water, and this is effectively lethal to micro-
organisms. Chloride of lime was used throughout the
war as the means of dealing with all water-supply,
either in bulk, as in the big ‘‘ water-points,’’ or regi-
mentally in water-carts, pakhals, or containers of
different shapes and sizes. As the war proceeded the
need -for the provision to advancing troops of properly
treated water in large quantities led to the develop-
ment of special Water-tank Companies. These units
—first recommended in France by our own sanitary
advisers—are capable of collecting, filtering under
pressure through sand, sterilising by chlorine gas (by
means of an ingenious regulator), and transporting
large quantities of water wherever the motor-lorry
(which was their basis) could move. In the same
way barges for use along the waterways of the
various theatres of war were developed. As an
example, it may be mentioned that the ordinary barge
of Northern France would deal with—and deliver—
5000 gallons of pure, sterile, and tasteless water per
hour; any suggestion of flavour of chlorine was
removed by a ‘‘dechlorinating ’’ process with sulphur
dioxide gas. : re
These new water units proved of immense value; and
are effective against mineral poisons as well as against '
NO. 2643, VOL. 105 |
bacterial or protozoal contamination. ‘To: meet the —
varying requirements of the different waters utilised
in, e.g., France: or Egypt or Murmansk, different
amounts of ‘‘bieach’’ were needed. ‘The estimation
of the required. quantity would have been a
matter of some difficulty but for the provision of a
special test in the form of the ‘‘ Horrock’s Test
Case,”’ the action of which is: based on the known
fact that, generally speaking, 1 part per million of
free chlorine suffices to ensure bacterial sterilisation
in water, and that before this amount of free chlorine
is available a certain. varying amount will be used up
indirectly in the oxidation of organic matter and the
ordinary non-pathogenic or saprophytic organisms.
Similarly, in view of the possibility of mineral poisons,
[JUNE 24, 1920
medical officers were supplied with test cases to detect
arsenic and the other commoner metallic poisons. Of
the detail of the water organisation there is barely time
to speak here. It is perhaps enough to say that,
despite the variety of the theatres of war and the
possible contaminations in these various areas, there
was no outbreak of those water-borne diseases which
have been so destructive to armies in the past. In
this connection it may be of interest to add that the
success of water chlorination in the field led to its
adoption in certain major schemes at Boul
Rouen, where, for example, we were enabled to
undertake chlorination of the municipal water-
supplies, and so ‘satisfactory was this that laboratory
tests showed the tap-water of Boulogne, drawn at
random some few weeks after the scheme was
initiated, to be absolutely sterile. It is interesting
to note that the American Forces adopted a similar
scheme in a number of the larger towns in France
occupied by their troops with equally good results.
It is necessary to say how much of the excellence of
the water arrangements was due to the high
technical skill of the Royal Engineers in their very
difficult task of providing the huge quantities required. —
In many cases this necessitated the actual boring of —
wells and the pumping forward to large ‘* water-
points,’’ even in some cases to the trenches, by means
of rapidly laid pipe-lines. During the offensive in the
—
summer of 1918 the Third Army advanced through a
waterless zone having a frontage of 12 miles and a
depth of 20 miles; water was obtained by means of
6-in. bore-holes sunk by the Royal Engineers in the
chalk, which yielded gooo gallons per hour. Alto-
gether, 500,000 gallons were obtained daily from the
bore-holes and distributed to the troops by the Water-
tank Companies. This method was continued until
the enemy’s water system was available.
I would now briefly touch on the question of air
and ventilation. At an early date after the Crimea it
was recognised that ‘‘ spacing out ’’ of men in barracks
was essential, and the Army Regulations were framed
to give every man a space of 600 cub. ft., or, assuming
a to ft. high room, 60 sq. ft. of floor-space. This very
excellent .decision was in itself sufficient to reduce
markedly the sick-rate and death-rate from tubercular
and other respiratory diseases; and, in view of latter-
day knowledge, was a remarkable piece of foresight.
One need scarcely recall Pfliiger’s experiments on
droplet infection, and how he showed the range of
such infection from mouth to mouth to be somewhere
within’ 13 metres—in other words, that that range
should represent the minimum proximity of men’s
heads in barracks or, beds. The importance of that
knowledge had not, perhaps, been fully realised, or,
at any rate, had been submerged by reason of national
necessity. Two instances have, however, recently
shown that the principle involved—now known as ~
“ spacing-out —cannot ‘be disregarded. These were
(1) the cerébro-spinal meningitis outbreak, starting in
ne and -
este poe ap eee ee a
_
Ce ee ye EE ae Ee | oe ND en ee TD
JUNE 24, 19207
“WATURE
535
" 1915, and (2) the influenza outbreak of 1918. In both
_ these instances a populace, largely non-immune, was
- unavoidably—by military and national necessities—
‘concentrated, with a resultant reduction in the
“spacing-out, and an opportunity arose for “‘ mouth-to-
mouth’? or ‘“droplet’’ infection. It is scarcely
conta to say that the pressure of hygienic advice
was sufficient to represent the needs of the problem
_ in each case. In the cerebro-spinal meningitis out-
_ break immediate spacing-out of the affected troops
Ep ced a rapid fall in the case and ‘‘carrier’’
_ incidence; in the same way, strong representations as
_ to the need for drastic reductions in the number of
troops carried in confined areas, such as ships, or of
_ the methods of slinging hammocks in respect of the
head positions, were latterly effective in reducing the
unfortunately high incidence of influenza on its last
oy loan as a pandemic. ;
t may be of interest to note thatthe experience of
_ the war had led to a reconsideration, and still further
enlargement, of the cubic space allowed the troops,
_ particularly overseas; and also of the correlated ques-
_ tions of pharyngeal and pulmonary disinfection. The
im ce of the former point—pharyngeal disinfec-
tion—was early recognised, and all transports were
_ provided with means for dealing with the personnel
aboard in special inhalation chambers. It is intended
that these shall be a permanent feature.of transports
- in the future, and it is of interest in this connection
to note the recent encouraging reports from indus-
trial works of the value of certain gases, inhaled in
insensible but definite amounts, in inhibiting the
incidence of influenza and allied respiratory disorders.
So much, then, for questions affecting all the
troops. Now we come to the more special problems
‘affecting particular groups of soldiery, and perhaps
the most important is the control of outbreaks of
infectious disease.
Epidemic disease, with the exception of the influenza
pandemic, was noticeably absent, and the care taken
to filter off ‘‘unfits’? on the lines of communication
went far to explain the remarkable freedom from
disease of the men in the line. In respect of the
excremental diseases, with their evil record of
‘morbidity in past wars, and particularly of Enterica,
the problem was approached in two ways: First,
by the general inoculation of the troops so as to
provide a relatively high immunity, and, secondly,
by the careful disposal of all infected matter—in other
words, by good conservancy methods. Inoculation
during the early part of the war was carried out with
typhoid vaccine, and a very large proportion of the
troops was protected in this way. Later, in 1915, a
triple vaccine was used—* T.A.B."—while troops pro-
ceeding East were provided also with cholera vaccine.
_ The sanitary sections were chiefly responsible for
the constructional, advisory, and inspectorial duties
involved in providing fly-proof field latrines of the
_ deep-pit type, food larders, and safes for units other-
_ wise unprovided, for the continued and varying
_ problems connected with the reduction of the fly
population, and for the supervision of large water
: schemes. The fly question, especially in Eastern
theatres, is a vast and difficult one in view of the
quantity of horse-litter inevitably associated with the
Army, and frequently of the tactical or climatic im-
possibility of burning such fertile breeding matter.
The Army was fortunate in being able to utilise expert
advice on the problems raised from prominent ento-
mologists, and in having officers and men who set
themselves enthusiastically to carry. out the methods
adopted or ‘tested.
- But while the more serious diseases were largely
defeated, it was found that there was a very con-
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
ee ee a ae Se Te Ce Se ©
siderable wastage in all theatres of war from ‘insect-
borne diseases of different types. In France a very
great deal of the minor sickness of the troops was
traceable. to louse infestation, either as the cause of
various septic skin conditions or from trench fever,
which was early recognised as a new clinical entity,
and has now been clearly proved to be a_louse-
borne disease. This question of the infestation of
troops with lice is one of the most difficult problems
of the sanitary officer, particularly in the case of
troops crowded together or living under unnatural
trench conditions. To this question the energies of a
very considerable personnel were directed, and to it
all the support of the military authorities was lent.
The sufferings of our Allies the Serbs, and since
then of a majority of the population of Eastern
Europe, from another louse-borne infection, typhus
fever, also emphasised the necessity for a vigorous
campaign of disinfestation. The problem was met
largely by the simultaneous provision of facilities for
bathing at intervals not exceeding a week or ten days,
and by the increase in facilities for disinfecting per-
sonal clothing and blankets at one and the same
time.
At this point it appears suitable to mention the
development in methods of disinfection by steam. In
the early days the troops in the field were dependent
on the few box-disinfectors available, while the rear-
ward units were supplied with Thresh disinfectors.
With the provision of divisional sanitary sections,
portable Thresh machines were also supplied to each
division. It was soon apparent, however, that for
the regular treatment of clothing required by the anti-
louse campaign this was not sufficient. The ultimate
development which resuited was the Foden-Thresh
apparatus, comprising two large Thresh disinfecting
chambers mounted on, and operated under slight pres-
sure by, a Foden steam lorry. In this way the ap-
paratus could be rapidly moved to any area in which
it was required, at once commence operations by
turning the steam into the chambers, and then be
driven to a fresh centre for operations.
The disinfestation centres were of immense value,
but were often inadequate to eradicate the louse
plague entirely owing to the escape of certain
individuals or articles. To meet the needs of men
in such circumstances, general issues were made of
certain repellent substances of proved value, but more
reliance was placed on the regular treatment of
clothing and blankets; and the experience gained in
this connection will be of lasting value, for there has
developed, as one profoundly valuable result, the use
of hot air as a practical method of disinfestation—a
method even simvler, cheaper, and more rapid than
steam, and one destined, it is hoped and anticipated,
to hold a permanent place in the larger schemes of
control of insect infections of the future. It is of
interest to note that flour-millers in Canada are now
utilising this method for the destruction of moths in
preference to the older and more dangerous “ H.C.N.”
method. The latest ‘‘Orr hot-air huts ’’ are models
of efficient disinfectors. The subject, however,
remains one for further study and _ co-operative
methods of control. The problem to be met during
the demobilisation of 20,000 men daily from France
(and of smaller numbers from elsewhere), was no
easv one, but of the utmost importance in order to
avoid the dissemination of infective disease among
the civil community. Careful personal inspection
was, of course, required in every case, combined with
bathing, disinfection. and the issue of fresh clothing,
and this colossal undertaking was carried out to com-
plete satisfaction at a series of stations—at' base ports
in France each capable of dealing with no fewer than
+53!
“NATURE
[June 24, 1920 _
3000 men. per day prior to their embarkation.. The
absence in the community. at. home of any noticeable
incidence of trench, relapsing, or typhus fevers goes
to show the. justification of the claim to success, of
the sanitary officers and personnel concerned in these
works..,
There. were other insect-borne infections to
be guarded against in different parts of the world
where, the military situation required our troops to
serve. In some of these cases hygienic control. was
necessarily subservient to military urgency, and out-
breaks of sickness occurred, the more readily so,
perhaps, in the light of the unprepared soil which
our young troops offered on first entry into tropical .
and sub-tropical, zones. There is not time to detail
the various minor hygienic campaigns, but the vast
amount of anti-malaria work carried on in the various
overseas war zones justifies notice. Being carried out,
often with most complete success, from the point of
view of mosquito elimination, there were at the same
time areas where enemy action almost entirely forbade
active measures of drainage, canalisation, or oiling.
Even in these circumstances, however, it was not un-
common for certain of our officers, accompanied by a
guard of two or three men, to push out into No Man’s
Land to oil certain stagnant waters known to be
mosquito-breeding places. As to the extent of work
carried out in draining, ditching, filling-in, etc., exact
figures are scarcely procurable, but in the aggregate
the efforts made must rank among the major schemes
of the world, and be of incalculable. value both by the
improvement made and as an example to the in-
habitants of the various areas concerned—Egypt and
Palestine, Macedonia, Lower Mesopotamia, etc. In
addition, however, to these offensive measures, defen-
sive action against malaria was generally and
thoroughly carried out by means of the provision of
quinine, of netting of different forms, of special
clothing, gloves, head-nets, etc., and of repellent sub-
stances, as also by the treatment of infected natives
and various schemes for the isolation and removal of
infected men. who would otherwise act as foci for
fresh cases.
From another aspect altogether the sanitary sec-
tions rendered valuable service; refer to the
economies effected. These economies were both direct
and indirect. In the latter category may be placed
the saving effected by the adoption of destruction of
excremental matter by unit incineration which other-
wise had to be disposed of with considerable expense
by contract removal. Even of greater interest, how-
ever, was the direct saving resulting from the adop-
tion of improved sanitary technique. In this category
may be mentioned, first of all, the saving of fat.
One of the most difficult waste-matters to get rid of
in a cleanly way is greasy water—wash-up water,
kitchen swill, etc. In seeking for better methods of
disposal of this sullage the special cold-water grease-
trap. was devised, and soon pointed the way to an
obvious. economy. By the careful collection of all
such wash-up fat, and of the scrap-fat and bone-fat
rendered in cookhouses, a bulk of crude fat was
obtainable which proved of immense use in aiding
the national resources. A campaign of fat-saving was
first initiated by the sanitary sections, and later
developed and organised by the Quartermaster-
General’s Department. It was so successful that
many of the war zones were able to make all their
own soap locally. and, furthermore, to send home
many: tons of fat for making glycerine, then so neces-
sary for the manufacture of munitions. | As an
instance, the saving of an average battalion was
some ‘60 Ib. of fat per day at a time when fat fetched
at least 4ol. per ton.
NO. 2643, VOL. 105,|
but rather a perfection I i
mortality may be decreased, by which the production.
a)
Another very useful economy was the. collection of
the solder from the sealing of the myriad. tins used
as food-containers. .Nothing could be more. striking
than the picture presented by an up-to-date unit
destructor consuming in cleanly fashion all the
waste matter from a large camp, and at the same
time melting out from improvised receptacles streams
of solder, .which dripped into. cold-water receivers,
while the heat of the furnace was utilised to heat
large tanks of water, of value both for ablution and
for the various washing-up processes’ so constantly
required.
During the war many scientific investigations were
carried out, both at. home and in the actual theatres
of war, for the elucidation of disease and the deter-
mining of the best modes of prevention. In some
cases this necessitated the investigation of certain
diseases which were either unknown in former
campaigns or had been little studied in the past.
Very valuable aid was given by the labours of the
Trench-fever Committees at home and in France, and
also by the War Nephritis Committee and Medical
Research Committee in France. It haying been
clearly established that trench fever is conveyed by
the louse, and diagnosis having been made possible,
a great impetus was given to general measures of
personal hygiene in the field, and also to improve-
ment in methods of bathing and disinfestation.
Trench fever was made notifiable in consequence, and
a very great improvement resulted from the increased
attention to precautionary measures. At the ter-
mination of the war the diseases had greatly declined, —
and no infection was conveyed to England on
demobilisation. 4
By the labours, in short, of the united profession,
all doing that work which was required of them and
which local authority considered most immediately
necessary, the troops were served as few armies have
ever before been served.
In France, for instance, in 1918, out of a mean
strength of 1,250,000 men of all races, the typhoid
admission rate amounted to only 0-2 per thousand
per annum, whereas in: the case of the war in South
Africa the admission rate reached the high figure of
130 per thousand.
In the case of dysentery the total number of deaths
from this disease in France during the whole war was
fewer than 200. These figures in themselves are a
sufficient and lasting tribute to that branch of the
Army to which so many of our profession have
belonged, and from which we hope they have taken
something in exchange for the much they brought
to it.
An inevitable result of the war has been the recogni-
tion by everyone engaged of the value of ‘ preventive
medicine.’’ This has led, on one hand, to. the definite
recognition of the Sanitary Service in the Army as
an organised department, and has aroused, on the |
other, an increased . interest among thoughtful
members of the civil community into their own state |
—an interest which. provoked the demand for an
organised national effort, and ultimately led to the —
formation of the Ministry of Health.
In summing up my views, I would say that, in my
opinion, the future prosperity and success of our —
nation depend to an incalculable extent on the im-
provement of the physical and mental standard of all
members of the community; it must not merely ‘be
—as I am afraid it has been to a considerable extent
in the past—a case of the ‘survival of. the fittest,”
I of every method by ‘which
of ‘‘unfits’? may be diminished, and by which the
ei Se
JUNE 24, 1920]
NATURE
537.
dard of fitness as regards man, woman, and child
To attain this result we must all work together.
“the words of Pope:
By mutual confidence and mutual aid
_ Great deeds are done and great discoveries made.
_ University and Educational Intelligence.
_ Campripce.—Dr. Adrian has been appointed Uni-
versity lecturer in physiology, and Mr. F. A. Potts,
_ of Trinity Hall, has been appointed University lecturer
__ The Harkness scholarship has been awarded to
_E. W. Ravenshear, of Clare, and the Frank Smart
4 sree in botany and zoology to R. E. Holthum, of St.
eB me saa G. T. Henderson, of Gonville and Caius,
ectively. ’
A second ad interim grant of 30,0001. has been
Gr sages the Government to the University pending
_ the result of the inquiries of the Royal Commission.
‘An important report has been made by the Local
_ Examinations and Lectures Syndicate, urging an
extension of the provision of both money and men
- for extra-mura] teaching.
__ The Board of Agricultural Studies has received a
_ donation of toool., collected by Sir Arthur Shipley,
_ for the provision of lectures on tropical agriculture
_ for five years. Dr, C. A. Barber, of Christ’s, late of
_ the Imperial Department of Agriculture, West Indies,
and of the Indian Agricultural Service, has been
_ appointed lecturer in tropical agriculture for five
years. _
_ Miss B. A. Clough has been appointed principal of
Newnham College in succession to Miss K. Stephen.
_ EprypurGu.—The University Court has appointed
Mr.’ E. P. Stebbing, lecturer in forestry, to the
recently instituted chair of forestry. The Court has
also appointed Mr. John Petrie Dunn, a former Bucher
scholar of the University, who at the outbreak of the
war was Vice-Principal of the Kiel Conservatoire, as
a part-time lecturer in the department of music..
The late Dr. 1. G. Bartholomew has bequeathed to
the University the sum of scol., to be applied towards
' the foundation of a chair in geography.
+ Lgeps.—Dr. W. E. S. Turner has ‘been’ appointed
professor of glass technology, Mr. J. Husband pro-
fessor of civil engineering. and Dr. Mellanby professor
of pharmacology. Mr. R.. E. Pleasance has been
appointed demonstrator in pathology. :
- Liverpoot.—Dr. W. J. Dakin, professor of biologv
in the Universitv of Western Australia, has -
appointed to the Derby chair of zoology in succession
to the late Prof. Leonard Doncaster. Dr. I. M.
Heilbron. professor of organic chemistry at the Royal
Technical College. Glasgow, has been anvointed to
the chair of organic chemistrv. .
_Oxrorp.—Dr. Benjamin Moore, of the Research
Staff, Department: of Aovplied Physiology, Medical
Research Committee, has been appointed to the. new
chair. of biochemistry. The Halley lecture
delivered by Prof. R. A. Sampson.
—
ee aa
OR Re Baie
“>
2 eee alee Ee SY,
en ee
7
Teachers for. the: ensuing year. ;
"Dr. W: N. Hawortn has been’ appointed to the
been elected president of the Association of University
chair of organic chemistry at Armstrong. College,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in succession to Prof. §
Ske See ceca pon reruanee
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
been |
is to be
“Pror. J. StRoNG, of the University of Leeds, has
Dr. V. J. HaRDING, associate-professor of biological
and physiological chemistry. at McGill. University, has!
been appointed professor of pathological chemistry in
the University of Toronto. ;
Mr. J. W. Scorr, lecturer in moral phildsophy in‘
the University of Glasgow, has been appointed pro- ’
fessor of logic and philosophy in the University Col-
lege of South Wales and Monmouthshire. ° ° 4
A SUMMER school of librarianship is to be held at
Bristol from August 30 to September 11, under the
auspices of the University of London School of
Librarianship. Some twenty-five papers have been
promised for delivery.
Tue Report of the Librarian of Congress for the
year ending June 30, 1919, shows that the work of the
principal library in the United States was carried
on with success during the war in spite of great
difficulties. Members of the staff died in the war and \
others have not returned, or have resigned on finding
more lucrative work elsewhere. The work has also
been hindered by a general rise in prices. The
number of printed books now in the library is about
2,700,000. The Library of Congress prints a card
catalogue of its books, which is justly valued for its
accuracy. By June 30, 1918, the number of different
titles in this card-index was 789,000. The average
stock of each card was 75 copies, making the total
number of cards in stock 60,000,000. The number of
subscribers to these cards is 2693, and the sale of
cards for the year produced 73,000 dollars. A large
number of Chinese books has recently. been purchased.
The Chinese section is a unique feature of the
library, and now contains no fewer than 887
Chinese official geographical gazetteers. These
gazetteers are of great value in the study of the
industry, art, agriculture, and geography of China.
The report invites executors or others who may
possess manuscript papers relating to persons of
national importance in politics, science, literature, or
art to submit these papers for examination. The
librarian undertakes to return papers of a strictly per-
sonal or family character, and to preserve any valu-
able material that might otherwise be lost or
destroved.
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Royal Society, June to.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair.—A. V. Hill and W. Hartree:
The thermo-elastic properties of muscle. The em-
ployment of a thermopile in a carefully closed-in
chamber, immersed in well-stirred water inside a
double-walled vacuum flask, together with photo-
graphic registering of the galvanometer response, has
made it possible to record the thermal consequences
of stretching a muscle (or a piece of indiarubber) or
of releasing a muscle already stretched. When a
muscle, alive or dead, is stretched, heat is liberated in
relatively large amount at first, but at a rapidly
diminishing rate. When a_ stretched muscle is
released, there is at first a rapid absorption of heat,
followed by a more prolonged evolution of heat. In
a complete cycle of lengthening and shortening the
net result is a production of heat. which is greater
the longer the interval between the two processes.
These thermo-elastic effects are large enough to afford
a notable complication in the measurement of the
heat-production of a live muscle excited to contract. .
Their explanation is as foilows :—(a) The muscle, like
a fiddle-string, shortens on being warmed ; conversely, °
according to the second law, it will warm on being
538
NATURE
[JuNE 24, 1920 |
stretched and cool on being released. This explains
the initial effects. (b) The muscle, like other colloidal
jellies, takes some time to reach an _ equilibrium
length on being stressed; consequently, on stretching
it more work is done, and on releasing it less work is
obtained than is accounted for by the elastic potential.
energy existing in it when it has reached its. full
equilibrium length. The balance in either case appears
as an irreversible production of heat. This accounts
for the secondary effects. The phenomena appear to
be of physical as well as of physiological interest.—
Sir James Dobbie and J. J. Fox: The absorption of
light by elements in the state of vapour: Selenium
and tellurium. In a previous communication (Proc.
A, 1919, vol. xcv., p. 484) it was shown that the absorp-
tion of light by sulphur vapour reaches a maximum
at a temperature of about 650° C., and that at this
temperature the vapour density corresponds with the
average molecular weight S;. Selenium and tellurium
behave much in the same way as sulphur, the absorp-
tion increasing up to a certain temperature, above
which it again diminishes. In the case of selenium
the maximum absorption occurs between 650° C. and
700° C., and vapour-density determinations show that
the ayerage molecular weight at this point corresponds
to Se,. With tellurium the maximum absorption is
found to occur about 1200° C. The vapour of this
element consists of, diatomic molecules at 1800° C.,
but nothing is known of its constitution at lower
temperatures. Its general similarity, however, to
sulphur and selenium. as regards absorption of light
renders it highly probable that at 1200° C., and below
this temperature, the vapour is much more complex
than at 1800°.C. The absorption spectra of selenium
and tellurium are marked by the presence of large
numbers.of sharp narrow bands, and that of tellurium
shows a. wide absorption band of which the centre is
approximately at 4 3800.—Sir James Dobbie and J. J.
Fox: The absorption of light by elements in the state
of yapour: .Mercury, cadmium, zinc, phosphorus,
arsenic, and antimony. These elements, unlike those
of the sulphur group, do not show channelled absorp-
tion spectra. when the Nernst filament is used-as the
source of light. Mercury, cadmium, and zinc, which
‘are monatomic, transmit practically the whole of the
light. at all temperatures. Cadmium, however, shows
a few ..narrow absorption bands, of which one at
A3261. is the most striking. In the cases of the
tetratomic elements, phosphorus, arsenic, and anti-
mony, general absorption occurs and increases regu-
larly with rise of temperature up to 1400° C. There is
no indication of a maximum followed by a diminu-
tion .of absorption. The peculiar absorption pheno-
mena of the elements of the sulphur group are in all
probability due to the breaking-down of complex into
simpler molecules, e.g. S, into S,, with the formation
of molecules of intermediate complexity. With
monatomic molecules no such dissociation can occur.
With the ‘tetratomic elements there is undoubted dis-
sociation; but the changes are much less complicated
than in the case of sulphur, the tetratomic molecules
simply splitting up into diatomic molecules. It is,
however,.to be. noted that the highest temperature at
which silica: tubes can be used is 1400° C. It is
possible that at still higher temperatures further dis-
sociation of the tetratomic elements would result,
«companied by absorption phenomena similar to
those observed in, the case of sulphur.—A. E. H.
Tutton: Monoclinic double selenates of the copper
group. This memoir deals with the four double
selenates, of the series R,M(SeO,),,6H.O,. in which
M is. copper and R is potassium, rubidium, cesium,
and.ammonium. A complete crystallographic and
physical investigation has been carried out; similar’to
the ‘work’ previously published concerning the ‘mag-
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
“do so in a specially notable manner.
nesium, zinc, iron, nickel, and cobalt groups, and to
that on the analogous double sulphates. ‘lhe results
confirm the conclusions derived trom all the groups
previously studied, and in a peculiarly valuable
manner; for the copper-containing group affords
crystals with morphological angles and elements and
physical constants which differ appreciably in their
absolute values from those afforded by the other
groups, in this respect resembling the double sulphates —
containing copper. Yet the relationships between the
values for the four salts ‘are precisely the same,
leading thus to: exactly the same general conclusions
as in the cases of those other groups. Every group
exhibits its own idiosyncrasies, and the copper groups
Yet the same
progression, according to the atomic weight and
atomic number of the alkali metal present, is exhibited
in the case of every property, whether morphological,
such as the crystal angles and the tonic axial ratios,
or physical,- such as the double refraction and the
molecular refraction; also the ammonium salt proves
to be practically isostructural with the rubidium salt.
The most recent work on the structure of the atom
and the further elaboration of Moseley’s law connect-
ing the atomic number with the atomic structure and
complexity has only strengthened. the conclusion that
the author’s results are a natural consequence of the
operation of Moseley’s law: the progression in the
crystal properties following the progression in the
complexity of the alkali-metallic atoms, which exert
so dominating an influence in determining the struc-
ture and properties of these crystals ——H. G. Cannon :
Production and transmission of an environmental
effect in Simocephalus vetulus. The experiments were
undertaken in order to reveat, if possible, Agar’s work
on the production and transmission of an abnormality.
in. Simocephalus vetulus; The magnitude of the
abnormality, which consisted in a change in the
curvature of the valves of the carapace, could be
teh ard
enh
measured by the length/width ratio L/W. The results —
indicate that the abnormality can ‘be produced’ by
feeding a culture containing ‘practically no other
protozoon than Chlamydomonas. The L/W ratio was
found to be too variable to allow of its measurement
with sufficient accuracy on which to base considera-
tions as to the existence or non-existence of a
‘reaction ’’? to the abnormality of such a magnitude
as that indicated by Agar. The experiments showed
that no antibody was nroduced to eliminate the cause
of the abnormality.—E. C. Grey: The enzymes of
B. coli communis, which are concerned in the decom-
position of glucose and mannitol. Part iv.: The
fermentation of glucose in the presence of formic
acid. By carrying out the fermentation of glucose by
bacteria in the presence of calcium formate the author
has been able to unset the normal balance which exists
between certain of the products. and thus to show
that they are in realitv formed’ bv senarate enzvme
actions. Hitherto an anvroximately constant relation-—
shin has -been found between the formic acid and
carhon dioxide on one hand. and the alcohol and acetic
acid on the other. This relationship is shown to be
rather accidentalethan essential. Tt results nrobablv
from the fact that the hydrogen which arises from the
decomposition of formic acid co-overates in the forma-
tion of alcohol, and thus the two reactions of alcohol
formation and carbon dioxide formation tend to keen
pace with one another. The addition of more formic
' acid at the outset of the fermentation tends. however,
to prevént the production of formic acid from glucose,
and to destroy the ratio'which normally exists between
this formic’ acid and the alcohol and atetic acid, thus
proving that these’ ‘products arise: by - at: least. two-
| separate enzyme’ actions.
Taken in conjunction: with
the author’s previous finding, that lactic: acid is formed
fet Bee es
dice aid fail saa
NATURE
539
= ;
Teeny epee SES
_ Sent three separate lines of cleavage of the glucose
_. molecule under the influence of the enzymes of the
r They involve in
either case the narallel conjugation in pairs of the full
hat the so-called “chromatin”? granules described bv
so many writers, as emitted during volk-formation in
_ the insect egg, are in reality products of the plasmo-
some. e is no evidence that in Periplaneta the
‘plasmosome is related in any way to the chromatin
organisation of the nucleus.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, June 7 M. Georges Lemoine
in the chajr.—C. Moureu and G. Mignonac : Acyl-
ketimines. Benzonitrile, magnesium, and an_allkyl
bromide give the product C,H;.CR:N.MgBr, and
with an acid chloride acylketimines are obtained of the
type C,H,.CR=N.CO.CH,. . Details of the general
method of preparation and the melting points of six
» acylketimines are given.—G, Bonnier; The changes in
° plant forms obtained experimentally. Full descriptions
of the changes brought about in seventeen species of
lants by change of altitude. The plants were grown
in similar soil in the plains and in the mountains,
and the observations extended for a period of from
six to thirty-four years.—A. Rateau: The theory of
aeria] and marine propulsive: helices and of aeroplanes
in rectilinear flight.—M.Kamerlingh Onnes was elected
a correspondant for the section of physics in succes-
sion to the late Sir William Crookes.—G. Julia :
Functions of two complex variables and limiting
functions of analytical himoslene. uniform or multi-
form, of one variable.—R. Thiry: The conformal
representation of, doubly connected. with rectilinear
contours.—H. Villat: The conformal representation of
doubly connected areas.—B. Gambier : The surfaces of
translation. of Sophus. Lie.—L,, Dunoyer.; Magnetic
induction in the soft iron compass correctors under
NO. 2643, VOL. 105]
. the influence of the needles.
-M. Dugit;
Modifications of a
formula given in an earlier communication required by
the. discovery of an error in sign.—L. Barbiilion and
: The rectilinear scale with equidistant
divisions applied to the measurement and division of
angles and measuring apparatus of constant sensibility.
—Mlle, Paule Collet; fhe reproduction of speech by
galena and sustained waves.—L. and E. Bloch; Pro-
duction of the band spectra of nitrogen by electrons
of low velocity. Earlier. experiments of this nature
have been made by the electrical method: the
examination of the angular points in the curve of the
current produced by the electrons. In the work here
described a quartz prism spectrograph was employed
and the nitrogen bands were directly observed. It was
found to be possible to get the nitrogen radiation at.a
critical potential of about 10 volts. Hence band
spectra, like line spectra, can be excited by. electron
ft) shock with a voltage clearly lower than the ionisation
potential (18 volts)—C. Benedicks: The electro-
thermic effect in a homogeneous conductor of constant
section.—C, Raveau: Variance and the means of pre-
suming the value of it without the aid of a formula.—
_P. Bary: The viscosity of colloidal solutions. A study
of the swelling of colloids in suspension’ based on
Einstein’s formula for the viscosity of liquids holding
solid matter in suspension.—M. Delépine and L. Ville :
The chloride of bromine: its combination with
ethylene. Forty years ago Maxwell, Simpson,
and James showed that ethylene chlorobromide,
CICH,.CH,Br, was the product of the reaction of
ethylene on ‘‘chloride of bromine ’’ in a solution: of
hydrochloric acid. Recent physico-chemical work, on
the other hand, goes to prove that chloride of bromine
does not exist, and that the substance passing under
that name is merely a mechanical mixture of bromine
and chlorine. The authors have examined the action
of ethylene on dry ‘chloride of bromine,’’ and find
that the compound C,H,CIBr is undoubtedly the main
product. From this work the conclusion is drawn
that, in some cases at least, physico-chemical data
cannot be relied upon to prove the non-existence of
a chemical compound.—H. Gault and R. Weick: A
case of isomerism in the series of the aromatic
a-ketonic acids. The existence of two isomeric phenyl-
pyruvic ethers is proved, and the conditions under
which one can be converted into the other determined.
—J. Bougault and J. Perrier: New researches relating
to the action of hydrocyanic acid on glucose. The fact
that in presefice of an excess of potassium cyanide: the
glucoses form cyanohydrins quantitatively suggested
that this reaction might be utilised for the exact
estimation of glucose, and the conditions for accurate
estimations are given. When the glucose is in excess
the cyanide is rapidly converted into the non-poisonous
cyanohydrin, and an experiment is cited in which
0-25 gram of potassium cyanide mixed with 6 ‘grams
of honey and 6 c.c. of water were given to a gurnea-
pig after the mixture had been allowed_ to’ stand
fourteen hours to complete the reaction. The animal
showed no signs of poisoning. The consequences of
these results from a toxicological point of view are ‘dis-
cussed.—G. Guilbert : The application of cirrus clouds
to the prediction of the weather.—H. Ricome* The
phenomenon of torsion comparable to the rolling-up
of tendrils produced experimentally.—F. Moreau :
The different aspects of lichen symbiosis in Ricasohe
herbacea and R. amplissima.—J. Stoklasa : The ‘action
of hydrocyanic acid on the organism of plants. The
spores of B. subtilis and B. mesentericus vulgatus
resist the toxic action of air containing 3 per cent. of
hydrocyanic acid by volume, but exposure of twenty,
four hours to 3-5 per cent. by volume arrests further
development. Mucor mucedo, M., stolonifer, and Peni-
cillium glaucum behaye . similarly, and. Aspergillus
540
NATURE
[June 24, 1920
glaucus requires a strength of 4 per cent. for destruc-
tion. Micro-organisms offer very great resistance to
the action of hydrocyanic acid. The conditions under
which seeds. can be exposed to hydrocyanic acid vapour
without damage have been worked -out, and experi-
-ments cited showing how this method-can be used for
the practical disinfection of seeds affected with para-.
sites—A. Krempfi: The blastodermic origin of the
enteroids and of the enteroido-pharyngeal complex in
the Anthozoa.—W. Kopaczewski, A.. H. Roffo, and
Mme. H. L. Roffo: Anzesthesia and anaphylaxy. The
authors have found that anzsthetics and analgesics
possess the well-marked property of diminishing the
surface tension of serum. On the other hand, it has
been proved that all the substances used for the pre-.
vention of anaphylactic phenomena, such as lecithin,
the alkalis, and soaps, also have the property of
lowering the surface tension. Experiments are given
on the suppression of anaphylactic shock by anzes-
thetics. The results obtained confirm the view that
it is not the nervous system which is mainly affected
by the anaphylactic shock, but a reaction of colloidal
flocculation leading to asphyxia from the obstruction
of the capillary networks.—A. G. Pellissier ; -Modifica-
tions and lesions of the pulmonary epithelial cells due
to suffocating gases.—G. Marinescu ; The modifications
of the oxydases during the evolution of the neurone.—
R. Cambier: The vurification of sewage effluents by
‘activated sludge.—H. Vallée and L. Bazy: Bacterio-
therapy bv A. Mayer, H. Magne,
and L. Plantefol: The mechanism of death in the case
of acute pulmonary cedema caused by the inspiration
of noxious vapours or gases.
Books Received.
Forest Products. By Prof. N. C. Brown. Pp. xix+
471. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London:
Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) .21s. net.
Practical Geometry, pp. xv+256; . Theoretical Geo-
metry, pp. xivt+i104. By C. Godfrey and A. W.
Siddons. (London: Cambridge University Press.)
Complete, 7s. net.
A Primer of Trigonometry for Engineers. By
W. G. Dunkley. Pp. viiit+171 (with Answers).
(London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd.) 5s. net.
Pyrometry. By C. R. Darling. Second edition.
Pp. xii+224. (London: E. and F. N.. Spon,- Ltd.)
‘Ios. 6d. net.
The Chemist’s Year Book, 1920.
Atack, assisted by L. Whinyates.
pp. vit422; vol. ii
and Manchester :
Phosphore, Arsenic, Antimoine.
and A; Raynaud: Pp. iii+417.
g-50 francs;
Traité de la Lumiere.
155. (Paris:
Edited by F. W.
2.vols, Vol. i.,
, Pp. Vii-vili+ 423-1136. (London
Sherratt and Hughes.).
By Dr. A. Boutaric
(Paris: O. Doin.)
By C. Huyghens. Pp. x+
Gauthier-Villars et Cie.) 3.60 francs.
Food Inspection and Analysis.. By A. E.. Leach.
Fourth edition. Pp. xix+1ogo+xli plates. (New
York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; Laon Chapman
cand Hall, Ltd.) : 45s. net.
Vertebrate Zoology. By Prof. H. H. Newman.
Pp. xiiit+432. (New York: ‘The Macmillan Co.;
London: Macmillan and Co.; Ltd.) 16s. net.
A Second Book-of School Celebrations. By Dr.
F. H. Hayward. Pp. 133. (London: P. S. King and
Sons, Ltd.) --5s. net.
Stories for the Nature. Four,
Skinner: and E, L.. Skinner. Pp. -253. . (London:
G. G. Harrap and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net.
Surveying. By W. -N. Thomas. Pp. vili+ 536 (with
Answers). (London: E. -Arnold.) 31s. 6d. net.
NO. 2643, VOL. 105 |
Compiled by A. M.
Diary of Societies. a
THURSDAY, Jun® 24.
Rovat Society oF MEeEpIcInE: (Laryngology Section), Annual Silbabes
Congress, at 2.30,—Papers on peg of the Throat, with Discussion,
Royat Society, at 4.30.—Sir Ray Lankester: Some Rostro-carinate
Flint. Implements and Allied Forms.—Lord Rayleigh: A Re-
examination of the Light scattered by Gases in respect
sation. I, Experiments on the Common Gases.—A, Mallock
hes = the Influence of Temperature on the Rigidity of Metals.—
. F. Armstrong and T. P. Hilditch: A Study of peer gets oe
ie Solid Surfaces. V. The Rate of Change conditioned b el
Catalyst and its Bearing on the Law of Mass Action.—Dr. i. J jeGieys :
Tidal Friction in Shallow Seas.—Other Papers.
Linnean Society or Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. C. J. F. Skottsberg : Recent
Researches on the.Antarctic Flora.—Dr. R. - Tillyard : The Cawth
Institute, New Zealand, and its Biological Function. »
Ot AND Cotour CHemists’ Associa TION (at Food Reform Club, 2,
Furnival Street), at 7:30.—A. E. Bawtree : (1) A Epdeenon for Accurate
Determinations of Pastes and Viscous Materials; (2) A Viscometer which
Combines I d Efficiency with the Power of” Measuring ‘‘ Stickiness”
Independently of Viscosity,
SociETY OF ANTIQUARIES, at 8.30,
FRIDAY, June 25
Rovat Society oF MEDICINE (Latyngology Section), Annual Summer
Congress, at 10 a.m.—Papers on Cancer of the Throat, with Discussion.
PuysicaL Society or Lonpon, at 5.—Dr. J. H. Menon The Origin of
the Elements.—W. H. Wilson and Miss T. D. Epps: The Construction
_ of Thermo-couples by Electro-deposition.—J. Guild: The Use of
Vacuum Arcs for Interferometry.—S. Butterworth: The Maintenance of
a Vibrating System by Means ofa Triode Valve:
West. Lonpon Mepico-CurrurcicaL Society (at Kensi
Hall), at 8.15.—Prof. C. S. Sherrington: Posture (Cavendish
TUESDAY, June 29.
gyn Horricutturat Society, at 3.—H. R. Darlington; Garden
oses.
RoyaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 3-7.—Sir C. Hercules, Read,
T. Allworthy, V. B. Crowther-Benyon, S. Fenton, G. W. Willis, and
others; Exhibition of Bronze Age Implements.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 30.
ei gs: Society or. Arts, at 4.—Annual General Meeting.
INSTITUTION OF ELEcTRICAL ENGINEERS (at Institution of Mechanical
Engiones ye at 6.—Sir Philip Dawson: Electric Railway Contact
ystems. :
Sawn
re).
CONTENTS.
University and Higher Technical Education . .. 509
Mathematics of Elasticity. By L. N.G.F..... 511
Behaviourism. By Prof. H. Wildon Carr... ... 512
The World’s Supply. of Animal Feoree ide ane. aS
Life.and Lore ‘of Birds... Sac) st oe
Our Bookshelf. . . eee ceva BES
Letters to the Editor :- —
The Separation of the Isotopes of Chioritie.—Piof. ~
Frederick Soddy, F.R.S. 516
‘' A Possible Cause for the Diamagnetism of ‘Bohr’s ~
Paramagnetic Hydrogen Atom.—J. R. Ashworth 516
A Stalked Parapineal Vesicle in the Ostrich. (Z//us- —
trated.)—Prof. J. E. Duerden ar a
The Alligator Pear.—Dr. Michael Grabham . . . 517
Eye-Colour in Bees.—Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell. . 518
British and Foreign Scientific Apparatus.—F, Ww.
Watson Baker...) 50). a eee 518
Applied Science and Industrial Research. wigs w.
Williamson - 0.0 Se ee 518
Wireless Telephony. (With Diagrams.) By Prof.
W. H. Eccles onesie BID
The Meteorology of the Temperate Zone and the
General Atmospheric Circulation. (Illustrated.) .
By Prof. V. Bjerknes wes 522 @
The Cardiff Meeting of the British. Association ces ee
Obituary :— .
Prof. J. R. Rydberg, For. Mem. RAS ge. es eee eS
BUG eo, 6 fei ip ee Ho bees a ne sgh tar vey 2O
Our Astronomical Column :—
Mercury an Evening Star PAE Pita cM NS 529
The Zeeman Effect in Furnace Spectra Peer ee Sl 8) yd
The Lunar Parallax and Related Constants. . . . . 529
The Centenary of Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. .... 530
South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies . 530
Genetic Segregation. By W. Bateson, F.R.S.. . 531
Colour Index of the British Isles... shin aes 531
Army Hygiene and its Lessons. By Lt.-Gen. Sir .
Thomas Goodwin, K.C.B. pita s. i7}
University and Educational Intelligence . Si) spt a ae
Societies and Academies. ....... a ets at oe Seta
Books Received . 0.0 6. ee yee ee ee ge ee 540
‘Diary of Societies Fe, Crea Se eos kes $1 6g ee ne
_ appointingly small.
NATURE
541
THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices >
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
’ Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
: Medical Research and the Practitioner.
N the interim report! issued recently by the Con-
sultative Council on Medical and Allied
Services, under the chairmanship of Lord Dawson
of Penn, the proportion given to research is dis-
Perhaps this was inevitable.
The medical organisation suggested includes
effective laboratory equipment at every stage from
_ the domiciliary work of the practitioner to the
conducting of prolonged researches by the Medical
Research Council; but the portions dealing with
research proper are very generalised. A docu-
ment like this should be a new charter for medi-
cine, and the scientific mind naturally expects to
see the scientific groundwork fully developed. For
increased and accelerated research is essential to
the continued expansion of scientific medicine. In
the report it is hoped
“that the scheme of services which we suggest
would facilitate enquiry into the causes of disease
and the possible remedies. The facts which indi-
cated the need for such enquiry might, we think,
often be brought together in the first instance by
the medical practitioners in a given locality.’’
It is difficult to justify the hesitating note of
these sentences. Medical practice bristles with
unsolved problems; but usually the practitioner is
inadequately trained to discover them. Sir James
_ Mackenzie shows what a general practitioner can
do when he has the interest and the capacity to
train himself. The war has unveiled many gaps
in scientific medicine. Even the war reports of
the Medical Research Council, not to refer to the
many others, prove that the science of medicine
will not advance merely by a re-shuffling of the
medical army, but by greater intensity of research
and discovery.
Medicine has to face the fact that, for practical
=sl Ministry of Health Consultative Council on Medical and Allied
Services. Interim Report on the Future Provision uf Medical and Allied
Services. Pp. 28. (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1920.) Cmd. 693.
Price rs. net.
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
purposes, it knows nothing about the cause of
measles, scarlet fever, mumps, influenza, rheu-
matic fever, cancer, or other forms of malignancy ;
nor is the knowledge of the causes of dead and
premature births more than elementary. These are
only a few illustrations taken from the Medical
Research Committee’s fifth annual report. It is
reasonable to expect that, in a scheme that brings
the medical profession into a unity, the clotted
masses of problems facing the general practitioner
and scientific worker alike would be sketched with
precision and force. The report does add that
“there are great and important opportunities for
research in preventive medicine, which at present
are scarcely dealt with by any organisation, and
mostly are not attempted by individuals. En-
couragement of research in the prevention of
disease should, we think, be developed, for the
materials are everywhere, and the results would
undoubtedly be valuable.”
From this the lay public would not readily.
gather that the future value of the general prac-
titioner to the State depends on the development
of research in at least the following sciences:
biology, physiology, bio-chemistry, pathology, and
experimental therapeutics. To the raw materials
of such researches the various classes of medical
practitioners can contribute; but they have little
stimulus to do so unless they keep more closely
in the currents of the scientific work of the
schools.
The report indicates that, for the purposes of
research into fundamental problems, ‘the pro-
fession would no doubt look to the Universities
and the Medical Research Council for guidance
and assistance.” When we reflect that the medical
profession has to deal with sanatoria for tuber-
culosis, recuperative centres, hospitals for curable
or incurable mental disease, institutions for the
feeble-minded, epileptic colonies, orthopedic
centres, hospitals for infectious diseases, not to
mention general hospitals and the innumerable
fresh points emerging in every man’s practice,
there is abundant occasion to look both for “ guid-
ance and assistance.”
What we miss here is a compact and well-
loaded presentment of the case for research from
the general practitioner’s point of view. At
present neither general practitioners nor consult-
ants have an adequate conviction that more and
more as time goes on the value of their work will
depend’ on the capacity to understand and to
prevent the beginnings of disease, and that, with-
out effective training in research at some stage of
their career, they can make little headway in pre-
é%
542 NATURE
[Jury 1, 1920
ventive medicine as now understood. The general
practitioner’s part in “field” and “team” re-
search might well form the subject of a special
reference to the Consultative Council on Medical
and Allied Services. If the world of general
practice does not realise that research is of vital
importance to every branch of medicine, such is
certainly not the case with the world of science.
Theory of Dioptric Instruments.
Ferraris’ “Dioptric Instruments”: Being an
Elementary Exposition of Gauss’ Theory «and
its Applications. Translated by Dr. Oscar
Faber from Prof. F. Lippich’s German trans-
lation of Prof. Galileo Ferraris’ Italian work
entitled ““The Fundamental Properties of Diop-
tric Instruments.” Pp. xxxi+214. (London:
H.M.S.O., 1919.) Price 4s. net.
HE original of this translation was published
by Prof. Galileo Ferraris, of Turin, in 1876.
As a copy of this original could apparently not
be procured, the English translation was made
from a German one by Lippich, which appeared
in 1879. At the time of its appearance the book
unquestionably marked a great advance in the
treatment of its subject, and well deserved the
extremely favourable review with which Abbe
honoured the German translation in the first
volume of the Zeitschrift fiir Instrumentenkunde.
Abbe himself, however, has to be credited with
far greater advances in the theory of image-
formation by optical instruments with which the
book before us deals, for his purely geometrical
treatment of the problem leads to the same
results without being limited to the infinitely con-
stricted “threadlike space around the optical
axis” which still plays so large a part in text-
books, although, with light of finite wave-length,
nothing of any optical interest can possibly happen
within it. On the other hand, Abbe was the first
to deal systematically with the actual course of
light through instruments in accordance with the
limitations imposed by restricted apertures and
by deliberately placed diaphragms, and inasmuch
as the great majority of actual instruments are
used only at fixed or nearly fixed conjugate dis-
tances, the actual course of the rays so deter-
mined is of far greater importance and value, both
in the designing of instruments and in the dis-
cussion of the effects produced by them, than
the rays referred to the Gaussian principle and
focal planes and points which form a corivenient
pons asinorum in the general theory of lens
systems.
Ferraris’ treatment of the Gaussian theory is,
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
however,. less open to the objections just alluded
to than that adopted in most books, and in deal-
ing with the Galilean telescope he comes remark-
ably close to the correct treatment of the problem
of its field of view, which is so easily obtained
now by Abbe’s theory of the entrance- and exit-
pupil of instruments. Beginners and users of
optical instruments desiring to acquire a general
knowledge of their elementary theory will also
welcome the numerous and frequently elegant
graphical solutions of the various problems which
are given throughout as alternatives to numerical
calculations by algebraical formule. The chief
and decidedly regrettable omission is that the
simple problem of achromatism is not dealt with
at all. It is, of course, not a part of the Gaussian
theory, and the omission is therefore justifiable;
but it is so closely bound up with the proper
explanation of the effects produced by compound
object-glasses and eyepieces that the book would
certainly have gained in value if the subject had
been included. .
The book is not so free from misprints as one
would wish, and there is a really bad muddle on
pp. 87-94, where the properties of thick lenses
are discussed. This is not a case of a simple
misprint or transposition of diagrams, but of |
actual errors by either the original author or one
of the translators. Thus on p. 87 a thick bicon-
vex lens is stated to be convergent if its thickness
is less than one-third of the sum of the radii (both
taken as positive, with »=1-5). This should be
three times instead of one-third. Then, on
p. 93 a meniscus with the shorter radius on its
concave face is stated to be always convergent;
and on p. 94 the meniscus with the shallower
curve on the concave face is credited with being
divergent, telescopic, or convergent according to
thickness. The actual facts are, of course, the
other way about. Immediately after this the
properties of a concentric lens are correctly
stated.
On p. 144 the strange conclusion is reached
that of two eyepieces of the same equivalent focal
length that one is to be preferred which has the
closer eye-point. This is directly contrary to the
experience of every observer.
In the calculations of the properties of the
human eye, or rather of its ‘“‘simplified model,”
the author sets a very bad example by starting
with data given with three significant figures and
undoubtedly uncertain even then in the third
figure, and calculating all the deduced figures with
six, and even seven, significant figures (pp. 71-75).
The idea of beginners that the percentage-
accuracy of observed data can be _ indefinitely
increased by’ putting them through the mathe-
nee Sn eS
JULy 1, 1920]
NATURE :
543
matical mill with an imposing number of figures
is sufficiently difficult to eradicate without such
examples by teachers!
Apart from a few blemishes of the kind alluded
to, the book may still, forty-four years after its
first appearance, be recommended as worthy of
careful study. A. E. C.
The International Research Council.
International Research Council: Constitutive
Assembly held at Brussels, July 18 to July 28,
1919. Reports of Proceedings. Edited by Sir
Arthur Schuster. Pp. iii+286. (London:
_ Harrison and Sons, 1920.) Price 1os. 6d.
" | ‘HE Constitutive Assembly of the International
Research Council, which met at Brussels on
July 18, 1919, established for certain subjects new
international organisations to replace those exist-
ing before the war, and in this volume we have
the official text of the statutes there adopted or
proposed, as well as the procés-verbaux of the
different meetings which were held.
It will be remembered that in October, 1918,
a conference of the scientific academies of the
Allied nations was held in London at the invita-
tion of the Royal Society to consider the action
which should be taken in regard to international
associations ; for some had lapsed during the war,
and others were unlikely to meet in their old form
for some years to come. The resolutions then
agreed to were carried further at a second confer-
ence which was held at Paris in November of the
same year, when the International Research
Council was formed, and an executive committee
appointed to prepare proposals to be submitted
to the Constitutive Assembly at Brussels. The
meeting at Brussels formed the third stage in the
formation of the new international organisation
which had been decided upon in London, and at
it the statutes of the International Research
Council and of the Unions for Astronomy, for
Geodesy and Geophysics, and for Pure and
Applied Chemistry were approved.
The legal domicile of the International Research
Council is at Brussels, where the general assem-
bly will meet from time to time; but this in no
Way restricts the Unions, the members of which
determine the places of their bureaux and of their
periodical meetings as they please. The countries
participating in the foundation of the International
Research Council are Belgium, Brazil, the United
States, France, the United Kingdom, Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Greece,
Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, and
Serbia, in addition to which the following neutral
countries were invited to join the Council: China,
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
Siam, the Argentine Republic, Chile, Denmark,
Spain, Mexico, the Principality of Monaco, Nor-
way, Holland, Sweden, Switzerland, and also
Czecho-Slovakia.
Besides the three Unions which were definitely
established at the Brussels meeting, proposals
were made that several others—mathematics,
physics, radiotelegraphy, geology, biology, geo-
graphy, and bibliography—should be formed, and
draft statutes for these were presented in order
that the executive committee might communicate
them to the National Research Councils of the dif-
ferent countries for the desirability of forming
such international unions to be considered.
The machinery therefore exists for constituting an
international organisation in any branch of science
where it will be of service. Several countries
have already formally signified their adherence to
the International Research Council, and some also
to the Unions which have already been formed.
It has been proposed that the draft statutes of
the Mathematical Union should be discussed at
an international meeting at Strasbourg this
autumn, and doubtless representatives of other
branches of science will hold similar meetings in
due course to consider the desirability of forming
unions of their own.
For all such meetings this volume of the pro-
ceedings and reports of the Brussels meeting will
be of great value, for the general organisation
differs from that of earlier associations, and may
at first sight seem to be somewhat cumbrous; but
a perusal of the documents now published will
show that each union can provide itself with the
constitution best suited to its own requirements,
while conforming at the same time to the essential
features of the International Research Council.
Problems of Population.
(1) Problems of Population and Parenthood.
(Being the Second Report of, and the Chief Evi-
dence taken by, the National Birth-rate Com-
mission, 1918-20.) Pp. clxvi+423. (London:
Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1920.) Price 25s. net.
(2) The Social Diseases: Tuberculosis, Syphilis,
Alcoholism, Sterility. By Dr. J. Héricourt. .
Translated, and with a final chapter, by Bernard
Miall... Pp. x+246. (London: George Rout-
ledge and Sons, Ltd. ; New York: E. P. Dutton
and Co., 1920.) Price 7s. 6d: net. :
(3) The Venereal Problem. By E. T. Burke.
Pp. 208. (London: Henry Kimpton, 1919.) .
Price 7s. 6d. net.
(1) R. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN set a pre-
/% cedent when he gave the name of
“Tariff Commission” to a body created by him-
544
NATURE
[JULY 1, 1920
self alone. Previously the word ‘Commission ”
had been generally applied only to bodies created
by Royal or Parliamentary authority, and having
power to call witnesses before them, to whom
each member of the Commission could put ques-
tions. Where bodies had been created for the
purpose of hearing evidence tendered by volun-
tary witnesses, as had been done with advantage
by the Charity Organisation Society, they were
usually called “special committees.” They are
now often called ‘Commissions ” in imitation of
Mr. Chamberlain’s action, and if it is clearly
understood that they have no compulsory powers,
there seems no harm in applying that term to
them as denoting their method of action rather than
the authority under which they act. In one respect
they are not unlike many Royal Commissions.
They consist largely of people who are known to
have formed strong opinions on one side or the
other, and accordingly their conclusions, if any sort
of unanimity can be arrived at, are often in the
nature of a feeble compromise, or, on the other
hand, if both parties stand to their guns, are split
into majority and minority reports. Even SO,
such reports may be useful as collections of facts
and.as presenting to the public materials for
forming its own judgment.
The test, therefore, is: Are the results obtained
of value? We think the report of the “National
Birth-rate Commission,” which has been pub-
lished under the title of “Problems of Population
and Parenthood,” very fairly answers this test.
It shows a Cdntaeus reduction in the birth-rate
in England and Wales from 24 per thousand of
the population in 1913 to 18 per thousand in
1918. For the further elucidation of the problems
arising out of this fact, the Commission unani-
mously passed resolutions’! in favour of the estab-
lishment of a permanent Anthropometric Depart-
ment under the Ministry of Health, and of a
General Register. The practice of restricting the
family has begun with educated and professional
persons, and is gradually spreading through the
whole community. That it should be so seems to
be regarded by the majority of the Commissioners
as inevitable, but they acknowledge the value of
the unrestricted family as a training in self-sacri-
fice, mutual help, and efficiency, conducing to a
better prospect of happiness than the restricted
family in general can afford. When the practice
of restriction of families is adopted, the tendency
is to limit the number to that which will not
restore the deficit caused by the loss of the
generation that is passing. We thus get a dimin-
ishing population, leading to what has been called
“race-suicide.”
The conditions in which an
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
all alike use.
increase of
| the population is not desirable do not exist
in the British Empire. So far as they exist
in Great Britain, emigration (as Sir Rider
Haggard suggests) seems to be the right means
of meeting them. The Commission reports that
there is no moral issue raised in respect of the
limitation of the family when there are good
reasons for such a course, but that the moral
difficulty arises as to the means which may be
used for that purpose. Ecclesiastical authorities
allow of a limitation of intercourse, which does
not afford a complete security, but not of any
other method. If, however, the rightfulness of
the limitation be admitted, the method by which
it is to be effected would seem to be a question
of physiology and perhaps of esthetics rather
than one of ethics. Some of the methods sug-
gested are repulsive, and it is to be hoped none
of them will become popular.
(2) Dr. Héricourt approaches the subject from
a different point of view in dealing with sterility
as one of the social diseases of France, where the
birth-rate has been steadily falling and depopula-
tion in progress for many years. He attri-
butes this to voluntary restriction, and shows
that the richer inhabitants are the less fruitful,
and the poorer the more fruitful. He proposes —
a variety of remedies, ranging from the moral
encouragement of large families to the taxation
of celibates and of small families. He rejects the
expedient of a direct bounty from the State to the
parent. He would use all legal means to suppress
publications in which the limitation of families is
recommended, and to prevent the sale of articles
designed to effect that object.
(3) The venereal problem is a subject common .
to all the three volumes under review, and it is
curious to note that it is only recently that it has
been possible to discuss it with the freedom that
This is in some degree due to the
war. Since the days when Alva brigaded his
“quatre cents courtesanes a cheval, belles et
braves comme princesses, et huit cents a pied,
bien a point aussi,” and long before, indiscriminate
sexual indulgence has been one of the incidents of
a time of warfare. The risk attaching to it may
be mitigated by suitable measures of military
discipline, but the effectual application of similar
measures to the civil population would be difficult,
if possible. The urgency of the problem lies in
the possibility of communicating the infection to
innocent persons and to unborn children, and in
the loss to the community arising from the destruc-
tion of life and efficiency caused by the disease.
In the face of these evils it is not necessary to
discuss the old view that syphilis was a disease
the risk of which was voluntarily incurred in the
JULY I, 1920]
NATURE
545
performance of an immoral act. If prostitution
could be abolished, venereal disease would prob-
ably in time become extinct, but no means have
yet been discovered by which, mankind being what
it is, prostitution can be abolished.
- All the authors alike urge propaganda. The
National Birth-rate Commission thinks that the
Ministry of Health should direct the attention of
the public to the urgent duties of citizens
in the matter. Dr. Héricourt says that we
must act upon the will of the individual by
persuasion through fear and through interest,
and mentions a work by Prof. Fournier
that has been circulated by the French Society
for Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis as well
calculated to effect the desired persuasion.
Mr. Miall, who adds a chapter of his own to his
translation of Dr. Héricourt’s work, urges that
proper instruction should be given in the dangers
of venereal disease. Mr. Burke, who has been
an acting lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Army
Medical Corps, argues forcibly that the public
must be made more acquainted with sexual
matters, increase its knowledge of the pre-
valence and dangers of venereal disease, and
be induced to appreciate and to assist actively
in the means to be provided for treating
and finally stamping out of existence those
disorders. The education, he says, must begin
with the child. The adult must be impressed with
the importance, the reality, and the dangers of
venereal disease. The medical profession must set
its teeth with determination to fight the menace
out of existence. Mr. Burke’s treatise, which is
illustrated by six diagrams, is likely to be of value
in effecting the common purpose of enlightening
the public on these important matters. E. B
The Elements of Hardy Fruit Culture.
- Practical Hardy Fruit Culture. By Richard
Staward. Pp. 216.. (London: The Swarth-
‘more Press, Ltd., 1920.) Price 6s. net.
- A LTHOUGH in many respects this ‘smal:
treatise on hardy fruit culture may be com-
mended to beginners as a clear, concise, and ele-
mentary guide on the subject as applied to garden
conditions, describing methods followed’ with
success by the author at Panshanger Gardens,
Hertford, it cannot be considered as __ having
achieved the main purpose for which it was
written. The author has set himself to provide a
useful book for those, forming a numerous class
at the present time, who are adopting hardy fruit
culture as a business and know little. or
nothing of such work. The methods - recom-
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
|
mended, however, are essentially those for the
private gardener, as distinct from the commercial
fruit-grower. Taking the case of distances for
planting trees as an example, it is advised that
bush or pyramid apples on free stocks should be
planted 12 ft. apart, and those on the Paradise
stock from 6 ft. to 9 ft. apart. For standard
apple-trees 12 ft. is mentioned as the dis-
tance, if space is limited. For commercial work
these distances should be at least doubled for
varieties of vigorous growth, where the trees are
to be treated as permanent and not as fillers. A
general criticism may also be made of the lists
of varieties recommended, which are almost in-
variably too long, and contain sorts which are of
at least doubtful commercial value.
The sections devoted to the diseases and pests
of the respective fruits make mention for the most
part of the more serious troubles, and of some
which are relatively trivial; but there are im-
portant omissions, such as silver-leaf of plums,
bitter-pit of apples, and reversion of black-currants.
The remedies proposed are typical garden methods
and are often inappropriate for commercial
plantation use. In some cases they would appear
to miss the mark entirely, as when, for instance,
the spraying of black-currants with lime-sulphur,
or, as the author describes it, “bisulphide of cal-
cium,’’ against big-bud-mite attack is advised after
the fruit has been gathered. By that time the
mites are safely within the cover of the newly
formed buds. It may also be questioned whether
the author has made the best use of the space at
his disposal by dealing with such fruits as out-
door grapes, mulberries, medlars, and apricots,
by description of methods of propagation which
are not adopted in general practice, and by de-
tailed accounts of the training of special forms of
trees which are never considered except for par-
ticular purposes in private gardens.
The illustrations are original, and some are of
interest.
Our Bookshelf.
Experiments in the Breeding of Cerions. By
Paul Bartsch. (Department of Marine Biology
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Vol. xiv.) (Publication No. 282.) Pp. 55+59
plates. (Washington : The Carnegie Institution
of Washington, 1920.) Price 3 dollars.
Cerions are land snails, well represented in the
Bahamas by five species. They occur on the
ground, under the edges of stones, among dead
leaves, on grass, and on bushes. - On an exposed
place they attach themselves to the support by a
thin epiphragm which also serves to prevent
546
NATURE
[JULY 1, 1920
desiccation. They can estivate for a considerable
time. In habit they are largely nocturnal; and
are most active on misty nights. They feed mainly
on fungi. They mate on the ground, and, though
hermaphrodite, one functions as a male and the
other as a female. The eggs are laid singly at the
base of tufts of grass and beneath the surface. It
takes between two and three years for an in-
dividual to reach full maturity.
For experimental purposes a number of Bahama
forms were introduced into the Florida Keys,
which present a considerable range in climatic
factors and vegetation. There is on many of the
Keys an indigenous species of Cerion, C. incanum,
Binney, but it is not nearly related to any of the
forms introduced; and one of the interesting
.results obtained by Dr. Bartsch was that the
cross-breeding of the native species with the intro-
duced C. viaregis brought about a state of flux.
Had the resulted colony been discovered by one
who did not know the history, a description would
have been given of a very variable species. The
inference is that similar complexes of unknown
origin are likewise the product of cross-breeding.
The case is peculiarly interesting because C. in-
canum and C. viaregis are very remotely related.
“The fact is, that it is very surprising that
organisms presenting such great differences in
organisation should be able to cross at all, and it
is still more remarkable that they should have
produced fertile crosses.” The author is inclined
to believe that the crossing has an “energising
effect’ on the new product, but recent work on
“hybrid vigour” leads one to think rather that
what occurs is a happy pooling of hereditary items
which corroborate one another. The general pic-
ture the author’s results leave in the mind is that
species separated for ages might be brought to-
gether by changes of level, so that crossing re-
sulted. There followed an efflorescence of new
forms which were later subjected to isola-
tion on islands and promontories where inbreeding
gradually eliminated diverse characters, eventually
resulting in the more or less homogeneous ex-
pression which now marks in the Bahamas a multi-
tude of insulated colonies.
Space and Time in Contemporary Physics: An
Introduction to the Theory of Relativity and
Gravitation. By Prof. Moritz Schlick. Ren-
dered into English by Henry L. Brose. With
an introduction by Prof. F. A. Lindemann.
Pp. xi+89. (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press,
1920.) Price 6s. 6d. net.
HERE is a readable book, excellently translated,
for which we have again to thank Mr. H. L.
Brose. Though it is called an introduction to the
theory of relativity and gravitation, it is more
strictly an essay on “The Inseparability of Geo-
metry and Physics in Experience,” to quote the
title of its fifth chapter. The main problem in
presenting the work of Einstein to the physicist
is to enable him to see how obstinately meta-
physical he is.
“Time and space can be dissociated from
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
physical things, and events only in abstraction.
The combination or oneness of space, time, and
thing's is alone reality ; each by itself is an abstrac-
tion.” Many will say such statements are meta-
physical in nature. In a sense, indeed, any state-
ment is metaphysical which is concerned with
logic. The real merit of Einstein’s theory is that
it does not trouble to ask what space and time
are, or how far they may be logically separated
from things. It does not attempt the separation.
It goes straight ahead, keeping them all together
until a result is arrived at which may be tested
without any doubt or dispute as to its logical
meaning, by the only method of exact observation,
the perception of complete coincidence. It renders
Newton’s highly metaphysical definitions of space
and time unnecessary; but while philosophers
pause to see how they have to re-model their —
definitions, the physicist may congratulate him-
self that history has again proved that the real
advances are made by those who, with open mind,
continue in their endeavour to order the direct
facts of experience in the most comprehensive
manner.
History of the Great War, based on Official
Documents. By Direction of the Historical
Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence:
Naval Operations. Vol. i. By Sir J. S.
Corbett. Pp. xiv+470+case of 18 maps. -
(London: Longmans, Green, and Co.,- 1920.)
Price 17s. 6d. net.
Tuis important volume, the first of a series which
is expected to run to four or five volumes, is
described on its cover as the “official history of
the war.” This description is modified within by
the explanation that, though it is based on official
documents inaccessible to the general public, its
views and opinions are those of its author alone,
for which the Admiralty accepts no responsibility.
This explanation unquestionably diminishes the
official nature of the publication; but, on the other
hand, it immensely increases its historic interest
and its scientific value. For Sir Julian Corbett
is a master of naval lore; he is deeply versed in
the strategy and the tactics of the great captains
of the old days. Consequently he has come to
the study and interpretation of the masses of in-
formation concerning the late war laid before him
by the Government with a splendid reserve of
knowledge and with a _ perfected apparatus of
criticism, and it is eminently satisfactory to be
assured that he has had a perfectly free hand in
dealing with his material and in drawing his con-
clusions.
The volume deals in a most illuminating manner
and with a wealth of new information with the
situation at the outbreak of the war, with the
problems which the Navy had to face and solve
during the critical months of 1914, and finally
with the thrilling battle of the Falkland Islands.
We await with eager anticipation the remaining
volumes of the series. The maps, it may be
added, are of the highest value and importance.
Jury 1, 1920]
NATURE
547
Letters to the Editor.
{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
Opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
The Constitution of the Elements.
In continuation of my letter in Nature of March 4,
further experiments on mass-spectra have been made,
the results of which may be briefly announced as
follows :
Boron (atomic weight 10-9) is a complex element.
Its isotopes are 10 and 11, satisfactorily confirmed by
second-order lines at 5 and 5-5. Fluorine (atomic
weight 19-00) is apparently simple, as its chemical
atomic weight would lead one to expect.
_The results obtained with silicon (atomic weight
28-3) are somewhat difficult to interpret, and lead to
the conclusion that this element has isotopes 28 and
29, with possibly another 30.
Bromine (atomic weight 79-92) is particularly in-
teresting, for, although its chemical atomic weight is
so nearly 80, it is actually composed of approximately
equal parts of isotopes 79 and 8r.
Sulphur (atomic weight 32-06) has a predominant
constituent 32. Owing to possible hydrogen com-
pounds the data are as yet insufficient to give a
decision as to the presence of small quantities of
isotopes of higher mass suggested by the atomic
weight.
Phosphorus (atomic weight 31-04) and arsenic
{atomic weight 74-96) are also apparently simple
elements of masses 31 and 75 respectively.
No line given by the above elements shows any
measurable divergence from the whole number rule.
' F. W. Aston.
_ Cavendish Laboratory, June 20.
_ Applied Science and Industrial Research.
In my reply to Mr. Williamson, published in Nature
of June 3, | stated that research workers and their
assistants, aided by the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research, during the year 1918-19 received
on the average 53s. weekly.
_ Sir Frank Heath has directed my attention to the
unwarranted inference | have drawn. I assumed that
the grants made were all annual grants, but I am
informed by the Department that this is not the case;
less than half the grants to research workers and
students were grants for twelve calendar months’
work; the sum of 14,170l. expended included nine
osha for apparatus and grants for casual labour.
ctually, eighty-five research workers and students
received rather less than 13,cool. I am informed
also that professors’ recommendations are followed in
making these grants, both with regard to recipients
and to the amounts allotted.
Without expressing any further opinion as to the
adequacy of grants to individuals, detailed information
not having been supplied, I should be glad if you
would afford me the opportunity of expressing my
regret that in criticising the grants I unwittingly mis-
‘construed the figures given on pp. 9 and 72 of the
Report of the Committee of the Privy Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research for the year 1918-19.
A. G. Cuurcu.
National Union of Scientific Workers,
196 Tothill Street, Westminster,
London, S.W.1, June 21.
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
Science and Scholasticism.
Dr. SINGER’s review of my book ‘‘ Medieval Medi-
cine’* in Nature of April 1 has only just come under
my notice. The mails separate us trom England more
than before the war; may that be my excuse for a
belated word? I have nothing to say for the book,
it is thoroughly documented and must speak for itself;
but may I say a word for poor Aristotle and Hugo da
Lucca, whom I have brought under the reviewer’s
strictures ?
Dr. Singer suggests that Aristotle has come into
appreciation again because we have found that he
made observations on animal life. Is not the reason
rather that now that we ourselves have come to think
through our observations to the principles beneath, we
have found that Aristotle was usually before us? As
Prof. Wundt said, after spending a lifetime at experi-
mental psychology: ‘It is only the animism of Aris-
totle which, by joining psychology to biology, pro-
vides a plausible metaphysical explanation for the data
furnished by experimental psychology.’’ In nearly
everything else where this generation has thought
deeply enough they have found Aristotle before them
whenever he had considered the subject. That is why
we have come to appreciate better the medieval
regard for him.
Hugo da Lucca must be allowed to rest on his own
work just like Aristotle. Any man who operated on
the skull, the thorax, and the abdomen seven hundred
years ago, using a metal tube to secure the patulous-
ness of the intestines while he was making an intes-
tinal anastomosis, who got union by first intention
and boasted of it, and whose cicatrices were ‘pretty
and linear, so that they could scarcely be seen,’’ may
be trusted to posterity in our time. How he could
have done such things without an anesthetic is im-
possible to understand, so therefore the hints that we
have of anesthesia at that time must be taken as
historic. We do not need to go to manuscripts for
this; there are dozens of text-books of professors of
surgery in the thirteenth century that were printed
in the Renaissance time. ‘The Renaissance printers
had marvellously good judgment, and the authors they
printed in their magnificent editions were worthy of
the time and labour they devoted to them. We have
no word from Hugo himself, but his son wrote a whole
volume with regard to him which surely Dr. Singer
must know, though it is very hard to understand the
position that he takes if he does know of it.
It is always amusing to note how the saying of
anything good about the Middle Ages arouses opposi-
tion. John Fiske’s declaration, ‘‘there is a sense in
which the most brilliant achievements of pagan
antiquity are dwarfed in comparison with these (of
the Middle Ages),’”’ must wait for acceptance. When
I ventured to say in a volume on ‘‘ The Thirteenth
the Greatest of Centuries,’’ that they had fine
technical schools and developed engineering, most
people shied; and yet we have their stained glass,
illuminated books, wonderful ironwork, carving, and
all the rest that we are founding technical schools to
secure, and the engineering of their bridges and
cathedrals is a marvel.
The modern man of science: balks at this. Here
in the United States the authors of ‘‘A Short History
of Science’? (New York, 1018), professors at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, treated the
science of the Middle Ages in a couple of paragraphs,
the most important part of which is: ‘“‘ In the thirteenth
century it becomes plain that a new spirit is arising
in Europe. .. . Thomas Aquinas writes his famous
‘Imitatio Christi.’ ”’ Jas. J.. WatsH.
110 West 74th Street, New York, May 26.
548 NATURE
[JuLy 1, 1920
Tue dialectical methods of the Middle Ages, admir-
ably adapted to the sharpening of wits and the enter-
tainment of audiences, have long been regarded by
men of science as an inferior: means of arriving at
truth. I have no wish to enter into controversy with
my friend Prof. Walsh as to the general merits of
Aristotle. Yet 1 will venture to sum up in a sentence
what I believe to be the conclusions of the over-
whelming majority of modern Aristotelian scholars
and of scientific men who have investigated the works
of the master: Aristotle’s physical science is almost
worthless from the modern point of view; it has
scarcely any serious basis of observation and none of
experiment; his biological works, on the other hand,
show him to have been an admirable and careful
observer of animal life. He was thus an_ excellent
naturalist but a very poor physicist. I will further
endeavour to epitomise the verdict of most scientific
students of the Middle Ages on his position in
medieval science. It was chiefly Aristotle’s physical
works that earned for him his scientific reputation in
the Middle Ages; his biological works exerted little
influence until the sixteenth century. Those who
assent to these propositions will not agree that ‘‘ we
have come to appreciate better medieval regard for
him.”’
As regards Hugh of Lucca, I_ am aware of the
existence of the ‘“‘Chirurgia’’ of Theodoric, and’ that
he was perhaps the son of Hugh, though, to my mind,
Prof. Walsh has greatly exaggerated the scientific
value of his work. But Theodoric’s treatise, though
certainly very interesting to us, was not greatly prized
by the Middle Ages. Hence copies of it are very rare,
and among the fifteen thousand or so medical MSS.
that have survived in this country only one (Ashmole
1427, fourteenth century) contains it. A treatise
possibly founded on it has survived in one English
codex of somewhat later date (Magd. Coll. Cambridge,
Pepys, 1661).+ Theodoric’s treatise was not printed
until 1498. I see nothing in it, or in what Prof.
Walsh now says of it, to justify a modification of my
criticism. The English reader who cares to learn
more of Theodoric will find a sympathetic account of
him in Sir Clifford Allbutt’s ‘‘ Historical Relations of
Medicine and Surgery,’? and a very full analysis of
his ‘‘Chirurgia’’ in Gurlt’s ‘‘Geschichte der
Chirurgie.’
The judgment of the Renaissance printers in their
selection of medical works is a matter of opinion.
The sixteenth century had run a quarter of its course
ere they made Hippocrates accessible (earliest Latin
edition, Rome, 1525; earliest Greek edition, Venice,
1526). By that time the ponderous *Kanun’’ of
Avicenna had already passed through at least twenty-
two editions (Editio princeps, Strassburg, 1472).
Those who rate. Hippocrates higher than Avicenna—
or than. Theodoric—will rate the judgment of the
Renaissance printers—and readers—accordingly.
Against Prof. Walsh’s suggestion that I am opposed
to any good being said of the Middle Ages | am
sufficiently protected by my published works. How-
ever these be estimated, they will yet, I hope, guard
me against the accusation of having neglected that
period. Under such protection as they may afford I
would add my regret to that of many of Prof. Walsh’s
other admirers that he does not use. his. great learn-
ing and literary gifts to portray medieval life as it
was instead of as that of a Civitas Dei, which it was
not. Whatever the scientific aspirations of the age,
the scientific achievement was very small. The ex-
planations of this failure are various, but in denying
the fact Prof. Walsh belongs to an exceedingly small
band of scholars whose conclusions. seem also, to
some of us, to be shaped by certain preconceived
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
ideas. But we shall not, on that account, value the
less any contribution to knowledge that he may make.
Oxford, June 12. CHARLES SINGER.
Commercial Parasitism in the Cotton Industry.
THE opinion of Sir George Watt in Nature of
February 23 that the report to the Board of Trade
of the Empire Cotton Growing Committee is “in-
geniously elaborated,’? but leaves a ‘‘confused im-
pression,’’ may justify a brief consideration of an
allied phase of the subject. Why ‘‘the whole history
of cotton improvement is most disheartening’? ma
be explained if an essential feature has been omitted.
The argument for research is ably presented in the
pamphlet issued at Manchester by the Provisional
Committee on Research and Education for the Cotton
Industry, but with no reflection of the actual state of
production.
_Not only should planters have industrial informa-
tion, as recognised in Sir George Watt’s proposal of
a central research institution at Manchester, but on
the part of manufacturers, financiers, economists, and
commercial leaders there is acute need of agricultural
information. Industrial interest in cotton improve-
ment must be made effective through the commercial
channels that lead back to the farmer. Problems of
agricultural application must be solved, in addition
to developing superior varieties, devising better cul-
tural methods, and controlling diseases or insect para-
sites. The elaboration of the cotton research pro-
gramme may bé entirely logical, but without an
effective tie-back to the farmer there can be no
prospect of a general application of the results of
technical investigation, either industrial or biological,
to purposes of production.
The central cotton institution at Manchester should.
be equipped for any elaboration of research that may
be necessary to determine and demonstrate to manu-
facturers the relation of the svstem of buying to the
improvement of production. The parasitic tendencies
of the present commercial system are not limited to
the speculative features that arg being restricted by
law or to the taking of undue profits, but lead to
enormous agricultural and industrial waste through
the production and manufacture of inferior. fibre,
passed on to the consumer in weaker and more perish-
able fabrics.
To expect manufacturers to be interested in the
cotton plant or in the details of farm operations in
the growing of cotton might be unreasonable, but at
least the financial aspects of cotton production would
receive attention if manufacturers knew how their
interests are prejudiced by the present commercial
system. Instead of serving as a conductor of interest
in improved production from the spinner to the farmer,
the commercial system has the manufacturers and the
growers fenced apart and misinformed regarding the
general needs of the industry.
Manufacturers are accustomed to pay more for good
cotton, and naturally suppose that the farmers who
raise better fibre receive higher prices for their crops,
but investigation will show that most of the profit is
absorbed by the buyers. The commercial idea of
improving cotton is by ‘‘classing ’’ the present mis-
cellaneous crop into the so-called “‘ even-running lots.”
Buyers like to get long-staple bales at short-staple
prices, but do not forgo present profits in order to
encourage the improvement of future crops that some-
body else may buy. The commercial system provides
no incentive for improved production.
The farmer is at. liberty, of course, to raise better —
cotton if he chooses, but extra care and expense must
be given, with no assurance of being able to sell at a
higher price. Instead’ of gaining an advantage or of
being encouraged to continue the planting of a better
a
:
fee Juny 1, 1920]
NATURE
549
variety, the progressive farmer at the end of the season
may tind himself making a forced contribution to an
unjust system. Naturally, he loses interest in raising
cotton of better quality, and goes back to ordinary
“ gin-run’’ seed or to the shortest and most inferior
variety that promises a large yield.
There is no agricultural reason why any part of the
American cotton belt should produce less than inch
staple, nor is it an advantage to any interest that the
production of inferior, short, and irregular staple
continue, but the inertia of the system must
be overcome. I1 longer and more uniform staples are
to be grown, they must sell at least as readily and
as profitably as short staples. Since the farmer makes
no use of cotton at home, but raises it only to sell,
the quality of the tibre is of interest to him only as
the price is affected. Better prices for better cotton
are the only inducements that the farmer should be
ed to consider. Preaching from any other text
is sure to fall on deaf ears.
The present scarcity of superior fibre could be met
most promptly and effectively by having more good
cotton grown instead of wasting the resources of pro-
duction by planting inferior cotton. The real ,obstacle
is a defective commercial system, which undoubtedly
could be changed without any great difficulty if the
manufacturers had sufficient understanding of the
conditions and needs. The problem, no doubt, is
much the same in other countries as in the United
States: to render production more efficient by im-
proving the quality of the crop.
After two de:ades of investigation of cotton-
ee Poems in the United States it is being
recognised that the production of the best and most
uniform fibre can be maintained only in communities
that limit their production to a single’ variety of
cotton, so that there shall be no mixing of different
kinds of seed at the public gins or crossing of
different kinds in the field. One-variety communities
have been maintained for several years in the Salt
River Valley of Arizona, where the practical advan-.
tages of the plan have been demonstrated and the
commercial obstacles more clearly revealed.
Community production of better cotton in other
regions might go forward rapidly if farmers were
assured of better markets for good cotton than for
short, mixed fibre. High prices may be expected to
affect the quantity of cotton to be grown, but the
quality will not be improved unless there is a distinct
advantage in raising better cotton. So long as manu-
facturers are willing to take the present commercial
system entirely for granted, and overlook its effect
‘upon production, no prompt or general improvement
is to be expected.
Lack of discrimination in buying from the growers
is the weak point of the present system, not to be
made good by paying all growers more for their
cotton, but by paying more for good cotton and less
for cotton. Discrimination in prices must be
applied in the primary markets instead of the present
careless and incompetent buying of ‘‘ hog-round ”’ lots
at ‘“flat’’ prices, which leads the farmer to produce
the worst fibre instead of the best, because varieties
with inferior lint often yield well or turn out high
percentages of lint at the gin, and do not need such
careful handling as the longer staples.
Not only the condition or ‘‘ grade” of the cotton,
but also the quality or “staple’’ need to be recognised
while the cotton is still in the hands of the farmer.
Outside of cotton markets it is seldom understood
that the grades used in buying cotton from farmers
have no relation to the essential textile qualities of
_ length, strength, and uniformity of fibre, but only to
incidental differences that result mostly from careless
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
picking or from exposure to the weather. The system
buys grades from the farmer, but sells staples to the
manufacturer, getting discounts from the farmer and
premiums from the manufacturer.
Discrimination could be applied honestly and to the
best advantage on the farm before the cotton is
picked, Uniformity of the fibre, which is an essential
factor of quality and value for textile purposes, can
be determined much more readily and definitely while
the cotton is still in the field than after it is brought
to the gin or passed into the bale. Field inspection
of the plants shows readily and easily whether the
stock represents a select, uniform variety or is mixed
with plants that yield only short, inferior fibre, as
most of the ‘off’ plants do when a good, variety is
allowed to deteriorate through admixture or neglect
of selection.
If the cotton is mixed and irregular in the field
there is no chance that the farmer will have high-
quality fibre to sell, although the average buyer could
not determine the admixture from the bale samples.
The careless farmer usually sells his cotton at the
same price as his more careful neighbours, to say
nothing of the dishonest farmer who deliberately
grows a mixed field with 20 per cent., or even so per
cent., of short cotton, but gets the long-staple price
for his crop.
The quality of the fibre is affected also by cultural
conditions of soil, season, and methods of handling
the crop. Even on the same farm or in the same
field inequalities of soil or treatment may result in
cotton of very different textile qualities, which would
be marketed in separate bales if adequate discrimina-
tion in buying made such precautions worth while to
the grower. The careful discrimination of quality
that should be applied in the field can be made good
only in part by the elaborate mill-tests by which the
manufacturers try to protect themselves against too
much waste and breakage in working the cotton.
Such losses, as well as costs of cleaning and combing
processes, undoubtedly could be reduced to a great
extent through more careful buying and the more
careful growing and handling of the crop which dis-
criminating treatment of farming communities would
secure.”
Field-inspection buying may be considered as a new
application of botanical knowledge, but the underlying
facts have been established, and there is no reason to
doubt that the talent applied in commercial sampling
from bales could be used more effectively for deter-
mination of the quality of fibre before the cotton is
harvested. Such a reform would give the commercial
system a positive, constructive relation to the industry
instead of the present negative, parasitic relation.
Farming communities would turn at once to the pro-
duction of fibre of better quality, to the general ad-
vantage of the cotton industry and the consuming
public. No doubt the relation of prices to production
has been overlooked because it is so simple and
obvious, but a new approach is open to manufac-
turers through the organisation of one-variety com-
munities. A strong department of commercial rela-
tions in the new Cotton Research Institute at Man-
chester would be a practical recognition of the principle
approved by Sir George Watt: ‘‘The cultivator’s
interests are paramount.”’ Cook.
Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington,
May 24
1 See United States Department of Agricu'ture Bulletins, ‘‘ The Relation
of Cotton Buving to Cotton Growing,” *‘Cotton Improvement on a Com-
munity Rasis,” ‘‘ Cotton Selection on the Farm by the Characters of the
Stalks, Leaves, and Bolls,” ‘‘ Extensidnof otton Production in California,”
2 7 arco of American Egyptian Cotton,” and ‘‘ Maintaining the Supply
999
NATURE
[JULY I, 1920
4
Fuel Research.
By Pror. JoHNn W. Coss.
ee rising cost of coal will help to focus atten-
tion upon all such potential relief work as
that of the Fuel Research Board, which has. now
issued its 1918-19 report over the signature of
its director, Sir George Beilby. The report is
of a comprehensive character, and gives evidence
both of care in preparation and of a desire and
competence to grapple in a scientific and effective
manner with some of the more important problems
with which the country is faced. The Board is
not only undertaking. experimental work at a
station established for the purpose at East Green-
wich, and conveniently placed near a works of the
South Metropolitan Gas Co., but is also concern-
ing itself with inquiries conducted elsewhere into
the thermal efficiency of open fires and cooking
ranges, the economic position of pulverised coal,
the cutting, winning, and utilisation of peat, and
the sources of raw material for the production of
power alcohol. The report also includes a
reasoned account of the proceedings of the Board
in the matter of the new gas standards which had
been wisely referred to it by the Board of Trade
and on which it has made recommendations. A
survey of the national coal resources from the
physical and chemical points of view is promised,
this work having been taken over from the Coal
Conservation Committee, which recognised the
importance of such a survey, but, being without a
staff, did not feel able to carry it out.
The equipment and lay-out of the experimental
station at East Greenwich are described at some
length. Stress is laid upon measures taken to
allow of striking a correct thermal balance for
each piece of plant employed, although it is no
doubt recognised that the smallness of each unit
would have to be taken into account in translating
results into terms of large-scale practice. It is
interesting to note that the position of water-gas
as a heating agent for such purposes as_.the
firing of the gas-retort installations is now so far
established that the Board has felt justified in
making blue-water-gas its standard fuel. Recent
experience has demonstrated that the traditional |
_ that low-temperature conditions are very unfayour-
| able for the production of ammonia.
restriction in the use of water-gas to operations
requiring intense local heat was unnecessary.
Apparently the first purpose to which the experi-
mental plant is to be put is the complete investiga- |
tion of low-temperature carbonisation, concerning |
which so many conflicting statements have been put |
forward. This is a very legitimate inquiry, and the |
report justifies it (if any justification is needed),
by insisting upon the wisdom of probing all
possible sources of supply for the fuel oil on which
the Navy and mercantile marine are becoming in-
creasingly dependent. It is plain that Sir George
Beilby approaches this process with some predis-
position in its favour. He has himself made pre-
liminary experiments upon it, and in an appendix
to the report there is reprinted a contribution
which he made to the discussion of the subject at
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
the British Association meeting in 1913. The
report displays a somewhat unfortunate tendency
‘to rule out the carbonisation processes of the gas
industry as being unlikely to produce larger quan-
tities of fuel oil, because “ present movement is all
in the direction of obtaining the highest possible
proportion of the total thermal units of the coal in
the form of gas with a smaller consumption of coal
per million thermal units distributed.” Such ruling
out is not justified, as a later qualifying clause
admits. The further technical success of the gas
industry would be expected to result in a large
replacement of coal as a domestic and industrial
fuel by gas, and although the thermal units
carried by the gas from a ton of coal would
increase, the margin for replacement is so con-
siderable that the total amount of coal gasified
would increase also. Moreover, it is unwise to
assume that such developing processes as the dis-
tillation in vertical retorts of a descending stream
of coal in an ascending stream of steam or other
gas cannot be made a most effective and econo-
mical means of securing the maximum yield of
volatile products, including tar oils if they are
wanted. Most of the favourable “non-destruc-
tive” conditions claimed for low-temperature car-
bonisation may quite probably be secured in this
way without the attendant disadvantages of that
process as it has so far been described and worked. |
| The whole matter is still sub judice.
The net commercial result of any carbonisation —
process is to a great extent dependent upon the
relative market values of products, which change ©
From a thermal point of view, —
however, the movement towards obtaining a large
from time to time.
proportion of the thermal units of the coal in gas
is justified by the high thermal efficiency of gas
in use, combined with the low thermal cost of
production which can be made to attach to it.
From the point of view of by-products, fuel oil
has, no doubt, its importance, but it would be a
mistake ‘if sulphate of ammonia were to be de-
posed from its pride of place without due con-
sideration, and it seems clearly to be established
It may be
that national safety will be held to demand the
working of a commercially unremunerative
process, but, if so, the decision should be made
with open eyes.
The results which Sir George Beilby, Prof.
Thomas Gray (chief of the laboratories), and their
staff are setting out to obtain in connection with
the low-temperature carbonisation process will be
of great interest to many who have been waiting
for trustworthy data concerning it. The com-
mercial success of low-temperature carbonisation
on an extended scale is bound up with the creation
of a demand for the soft coke or semi-coke which
would be one of its main products. As compared
with raw coal, this material; like ‘any other coke,
eT eT Me 5 er eae ee
y
pd ice
———
it
; :
| -
_ Jury 1, 1920]
NATURE
35!
"
would have the outstanding advantage of smoke-
less combustion, but its ash content would, of
necessity, be higher. It would have the great
disadvantage of crushing more easily than
ordinary coke in all the processes of transference
from. the retort to the consumer, but would be
correspondingly easier to ignite. Like both raw
coal and ordinary coke, it would deliver potential
heat units at a cheaper rate than they are supplied
in gas. The question of efficiency in use remains,
and the report deals benevolently with the effi-
ciency obtainable from coal and coke in the most
widely used domestic appliance—the open fire. It
is set out that with an open fire, which has
apparently a chance of regaining a lost reputation
if it will only consent to provide a market for
large quantities of soft coke, “probably 30 to 40
per cent. of the heat escapes completely, 60 to 70
per cent. being used in warming the room itself
and the general fabric of the building.”
On this point careful statement is advisable.
In view of the comparative unavailability of any
heat from the coal fire which is not given up to
the room, it would be quite wrong to take 60 to
70 per cent. as being the thermal efficiency of the
fire, just as it would be wrong in the other
- direction to take the radiant efficiency of such a
fire (about 25 per cent.) as the total efficiency.
Comparative tests are probably best made on
radiant efficiency, and it is not surprising to find
that the tests made by Dr. Fishenden and quoted
in the report are made on this basis. Dr. Fishen-
den’s tests on coal and coke fires have been carried
out at Manchester by the method worked out at
the University of Leeds for testing the radiant
efficiency of gas fires, with such modifications as
were found necessary. The work has undoubt-
edly been carried out with care and skill, but it
_ should be borne in mind that, on account of the
varying condition of a coal fire during the course
of a determination, the quantity and distribution
of radiation from it cannot be measured with any-
thing like the same degree of precision as with a
gas fire. Dr. Fishenden does seem to be satisfied,
however, that the radiant efficiency of the coke
‘fire is higher than that of the coal fire, and,
according to the report, “the radiant efficiency
of coal fires of different types varies from 19} to
25 per cent., while, with fires of low-temperature
coke in the same grate and burning under the
same conditions, this amounts to 31 to 34 per
cent.” It may be noted that the radiant efficiency
of a modern gas-fire is approximately 45 to 50 per
cent., but the report does not fail to point out
that the real thermal advantage of the gas fire is
much greater than would be indicated by any
such comparison, because it can be used almost
immediately at full efficiency for any period of
time, great or small, this, of course, apart from
any question of labour-saving and cleanliness.
Cooking ranges were brought under test by Mr.
A. H. Barker, and his reports are summarised in
an appendix. “Mr. Barker lays stress on the
extravagance in fuel involved by the necessity of
heating the whole apparatus in the use of only
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
one or possibly two of its appliances,” and points
out the further difficulty of obtaining high economy
under ordinary working conditions because of the
large excess of air employed.
It is plain that, whether coke or gas is used as
a means of replacing raw coal for domestic uses,
the smoke nuisance would be abated, and a section
of the report given under the head “Air Pollu-
tion” shows this aspect of the fuel problem to
be receiving attention from the Board. The
pioneer work of Prof. J. B. Cohen (which should
not be overlooked) was of great service in direct-
ing attention to the considerable quantity and evil
effects of smoke in our atmosphere, and observa-
tions have since been multiplied by the Atmo-
spheric Pollution Committee of the Meteorological
Office, Dr. J. S. Owens, Mr. William Thomson,
and others whose work is referred to in this report.
The appointment of properly trained inspectors
whose help and advice would be welcomed by in-
dustrial consumers of fuel is advocated, in addition
to the establishment in every large works of an
organised fuel control as the “only solid founda-
tion on which to build more revolutionary or
further-reaching methods of fuel economy.”
It is pointed out usefully that soot from the
burning of raw coal, ash and dust from the burn-
ing of coal or coke, and acid impurities derived
from the sulphur contained in coal, coke, and
unpurified gas, are all to be taken into account in
a consideration of atmospheric pollution resulting
from the use of fuel, and it may be emphasised
that the liability to pour out large quantities of
fine ash into the atmosphere is not to be over-
looked in considering the advantages and disad-
vantages of pulverised fuel. The use of pulverised
coal has not been developed in this country to
the same extent as in America, and, therefore,
although the Board is putting down a small plant
in order to make experiments at East Greenwich,
it has thought it advisable to secure full informa-
tion upon the subject through a report made by
Mr. Leonard Harvey after a special inquiry con-
ducted in America. Mr. Harvey visited © im-
portant installations and collected there the ex-
periences and views of the leading consumers of
pulverised coal. His report has already been
issued separately. “The advantages of the
method as an almost perfect means of burning coal
must be weighed against the cost of producing
and handling coal-dust and the difficulties which
may have to be overcome in dealing with its
ash.”
Another special inquiry has been directed to the
subject of peat. This work has been carried out
mainly in Ireland, and has undergone vicissitudes,
but a beginning seems to have been made, and
reference is made to a paper, read before the
Royal Dublin Society in March last, in which Prof.
Purcell gave an admirable summary of the peat
situation, not only in Ireland, but also in other
countries. It is interesting to note, as indicating
elasticity of method, that this paper will be printed
as one of the special reports of the Fuel Research
Board, and also that the help of the Department
55?
NATURE
[Jury 1, 1920 —
of Scientific and Industrial Research has appar-
ently been accorded for the production of an
English translation by Prof. Ryan of Hausding’s
“Handbook on the Winning and Utilisation of
Peat.”
As regards fuel alcohol, the position is sum-
marised thus: “It is obvious that until an estimate
has been made of the possible resources for the
production of alcohol within the Empire, and until
their probable amount and the cost of using them
have been ascertained, it would be useless to
embark upon research on any extended scale into
methods of production or utilisation.”
The report, under the head ‘Gas Standards,”
gives a summary of the steps taken by Sir George
Beilby and the Board from the time they
were asked to advise on the subject by the Board
of Trade, which recognised the complete inapplica-
bility to modern conditions of gas standards as
they had existed before the war. Conferences
were held with those interested in the matter in
different ways, and at a final conference resolu-
tions were put and adopted which were forwarded
to the Board of Trade, and constitute a new and
much more rational method of regulating gas
supply by statute. The central principle is that
the consumer shall be charged with the potential
thermal units supplied to him in the gas. The
permissible percentage of inert constituents is
limited by another resolution, although, of course,
the temptation to pull “inerts” into the ‘gas is
removed now that they have to be distributed at
the same cost as combustibles, but have not to be
paid for. The.gas undertaking can decide on the
calorific value of the gas it intends to deliver, a
power which should open the way for extensive
technical development of the industry, and allow
of the realisation of economies which have hitherto
been rendered impossible by useless and out-of-
date restrictions. The refusal of Sir George Beilby
and the Fuel Research Board to accept any re-
strictions in this regard, however pertinaciously
and dogmatically they were put forward, unless
they could be justified by some adequate reason,
has exemplified in a striking way the advantage
of referring a matter of this kind to a competent
technical authority. The choice of a new standard
is a new degree of freedom, but, the choice being
made, the gas undertaking is required to adhere
very closely to it. Recognition is here given to
the valid principle that unsatisfactory performance
of a gas-using appliance is far more likely to be
due to variations from the standard than to any
lowness (or highness) in the standard itself. It is
recognised that if the standard is materially
altered the burners in consumers’ appliances may
need alteration,'and the gas undertaking has to
make the adjustment. ‘‘The calorific value of the
gas is to be continuously measured and recorded
by a recording calorimeter of a standard type to
be passed by the London Gas Referees,” and by
this means it is hoped that the control of gas
quality can be made much more effective than it
has been hitherto.
Sir George Beilby has had under observation
for some time the Simmance recording gas calori-
meter with apparently satisfactory results, but the
strain will come when legal penalties are depend-
ent upon the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of this or
any other form of recording gas calorimeter. Pre-
sumably, however, the possibilities of error will
receive full investigation, and the successful work- —
ing of so promising a scheme for the regulation
of public gas supply will not be endangered by the
imposition of any rigid system of testing which —
is not one of fully proved trustworthiness.
Use of Sumner Lines in Navigation.’
By Capt. T. H: Tizarp; CB... Ks:
aak Sumner line as a means of aiding in the | or Jupiter if they cross the meridian at least
navigation of ships has been in use for
certainly seventy years, and is one of the best
methods of obtaining .the position of a ship at _
sea, for by its means both latitude and longitude ©
can be obtained simultaneously without difficulty,
and it has certain other advantages. In obtaining
both latitude and longitude simultaneously,
two and a half hours before or after noon, and
occasionally both sun and moon are available
during the day. In northern latitudes the pole
star is always available in clear weather, at twi-
light, for observations for latitude, and one or
' two other stars for longitude, but if neither the
pole star nor a heavenly object near, or on, the
observations” of more than one heavenly body are
required, and the Greenwich time must be known |
accurately, as well as the approximate latitude.
The altitudes of two or more heavenly bodies can |
be observed at twilight, both morning and even-
ing, when the weather is clear, the horizon dis-
tinctly visible, and the stars are yet to be seen
before the sky is lit up by the sun. It is possible,
too, even without using the Sumner line, to
observe in daylight meridian altitudes of Venus
1 “The Sumner Line or Line of Position as an Aid to Navigation.”
By G. C. Comstock. Pp. vit+70. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ;
London ; Chapman and Hall, Ltd.; 1919.) Price 6s. net.
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
meridian is available for obtaining the latitude,
Sumner’s method affords a means of doing so.
Sumner’s method briefly is as follows: If a
straight line be drawn from the centre of the
_ earth to any heavenly body, at the spot where
this line cuts the circumference of the earth, the
altitude of that heavenly body will be 90°, which
spot is named by Mr. Comstock the sub-polar
point; a more appropriate name would be the
zenith point—that is, the point on the earth’s
surface where the heavenly object observed would
be in the zenith; and if circles be drawn on
the earth’s surface round this spot, with it
a ean a ee ee ee
j
» JULY 1, 1920]
NATURE
553
as a centre, those circles are really circles
so that
when an observer takes an altitude of a heavenly
body he is on a circle of altitude, and his position
of altitude of the heavenly body;
be taken, and the resulting Sumner line should
coincide in cutting the other two lines in, or close
to, the spot already determined.
The second method of obtaining the Sumner
Mercator’ Projection.
30’ gio’ 5\0’ 145° 1\0’ 2\0’ 30’
30
Pog a
us
cat?
ine I 40
;
‘on 11°44'S. 1
145-4 £.
ae As
eS .
A
;
fo
= 12
a. ee | fae a eo
Fic. x.
on that circle can be obtained by taking simul-
taneous altitudes of two heavenly bodies, or, in
other words, of obtaining two circles of altitude
which cut each other at a suitable angle, and the
spot where they cut each other is the required
position of the observer. The circles of altitude
are of such a great radius that for short distances
they are practically straight lines. There are two
methods of obtaining the position of sections of
these circles of altitude, or Sumner lines. In
both it is necessary to know the exact Greenwich
time, the approximate latitude, and the exact
declination of the heavenly object. These are
always available in a ship provided with a chro-
nometer and a Nautical Almanac.
The first method is to assume two latitudes,
one, say, 10 miles north, and the other 1o miles
south, of the approximate position, and with
each latitude, combined with the altitude and
polar distance, to calculate the longitude, a pro-
cess familiar to all navigators; then plot the two
positions thus obtained and draw a line on the
chart joining them, and the observer must be
on that line. With observations of another
heavenly body, and using the same latitudes, go
through the same process, and the observer’s
position will be on the spot where the two lines
cross each other. If it is very important to avoid
error—as when sailing towards narrow channels
through coral reefs, such, for instance, as the
Raine Island passage through the Great Barrier
Reef in Australia—observations of a third star can
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
line is to use only one latitude, and to calculate
the longitude and the azimuth, or true bearing,
of the heavenly body; then, as the circle of alti-
tude, or Sumner line, is at right angles to the
true bearing, already calculated, by plotting the
Mercators Projection.
glo’
Fic. 2.
latitude and longitude and drawing lines at right
angles to the true bearing, the position of the
observer is where those lines cut each other.
The following examples illustrate the methods :
(1) On August 30, 1874, when H.M.S. Chal-
554
' NATURE
[JuLY 1, 1920
lenger was making for the Raine Island passage,
observations were taken at 5 a.m. of Aldebaran,
Sirius, and Canopus, ; and the latitude was assumed
to be 11° 4o! S. or 11 ° 50’ S. Using these latitudes,
the position of the Sumner lines was found to be
as shown in Fig. 1, and the position of the vessel
to be 11° 44’ S., 145° 4’ E.
(2) On June 13, 1874, observations were taken
at 6 a.m. (to fix the position of a deep-sea sound-
ing) of 8B Orionis, Canopus, and Saturn, the lati-
tude being assumed as 34° 12’ S., the resulting
longitude by 8 Orionis being 151° 56’ E., and its
azimuth S. 86° 26/ E., the Sumner line therefore
running N. 3° 34’ E. and S. 3° 34’ W. The longi-
tude by Canopus was 151° 50’ 45” E., and its
azimuth S. 39° 18/ E.,: its Sumner line running
N. 50° 42! E., S. 50° 42!’ W.; the longitude
by Saturn was 151° 54/ 15” E., and its azimuth
N. 73° W., and the Sumner line by it running
N. 17° E:, S. 17° W. These lines are shown in
Fig. 2,
lat.' 34°: 8! S., dong, 252°).66!B.
But the Sumner line has another advantaa
When only one heavenly body is visible, and,
therefore, the exact position of the observer
cannot be obtained, if with an assumed lati-
tude the longitude and azimuth be calculated, and
the resulting Sumner line be plotted on the chart,
if this line runs in the direction of the*port, or
point of land, towards which the ship is sailing,
by steering along the Sumner line the vessel will
reach her destination. For instance, if when
sailing towards the English Channel an observa-
tion of the sun be obtained in the forenoon, when
its azimuth, or true bearing, is somewhere
between south and east, the Sumner line will be
between east and north; and if this line runs
towards the Lizard or some other known point, by
steering along this Sumner line a good landfall
may be obtained.
Obituary.
Dr. F. A. TarLeTon.
RANCIS ALEXANDER TARLETON, who
died on June 20, was born in Co. Monaghan
in 1841. He was the youngest son of the late
Rev. J. R. Tarleton, of the Established Church in
Ireland, and received his earlier education from his
father. At the age of sixteen he entered Trinity
College, Dublin. He was in the same year as the
late Sir Robert Ball, whom he defeated at the
moderatorship examination in mathematics in
1861, taking also a junior moderatorship in logic
and ethics. Elected to fellowship in 1866, and
called to the Bar in 1868, he was for a time assist-
ant to the professor of applied chemistry, and pro-
fessor of natural philosophy from 1890 to 1901,
when he was co-opted a senior fellow. From that
time until a few days befare his death he sat as
an efficient member of the board of Trinity College.
Dr. Tarleton held several college offices, including
those of senior bursar, senior lecturer, and senior
dean, the last being a sinecure—for its statutory
duties have long since lapsed. As senior bursar he
showed his qualities as a first-class financier. He
was at one time president of the Royal Irish
Academy, and a member of the Board of Irish
Intermediate Education.
As professor of natural philosophy, Dr. Tarleton
followed the traditions of his distinguished pre-
decessors, Williamson, Townsend, and Jellett, in
treating the subject from a strictly mathematical
point of view. Although he had a considerable
practical acquaintance with experimental science,
he flatly ignored the judicial aphorisms of Francis
Bacon, and, instead of treating mathematics as
the handmaid of physics, he rather inverted the
order, and almost succeeded in reducing hydro-
dynamics, elasticity, magnetism, and electricity to
branches of pure mathematics.
The writer attended Dr.
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
Tarleton’s moderator-
ship and fellowship lectures about twenty years
ago in hydrodynamics, elasticity, and the electro-
magnetic theory of light, and was struck with
wonder at his extraordinary memory and
accuracy. For two and a half hours he
would write down long and intricate calcula-
tions without the aid of any notes. Some-
times a student at the end of an hour would
ask to be allowed to leave in order to attend a
lecture in experimental science or history or other
subject, and Dr. Tarleton would say with a snarl
and a grimace (covering a heart full of humour
and humanism): ‘Waal, if you prefer that
abominable subject to mathematics, you are wel-
come to leave, and we’re glad to get rid of you.’
The last time the writer spoke to him, Dr.
Tarleton expressed his intense dislike of Einstein’s
theory of relativity. He held that the Newtonian
and Kantian conceptions of space and time are
good enough to explain all possible phenomena,
if sufficient mathematical ingenuity is shown, and
he placed relativism in the same category as
Bolshevism.
Dr. Tarleton wrote the following papers :—‘ On
the Solid of Revolution having a Given Volume
which experiences the Least Resistance in Passing _
Through a Medium,” ‘Chemical Equilibrium,”
“Deductions from MacCullagh’s Lectures cn
Rotation,” ‘‘The Foundations of the Science of
Number,” “Notes on Crystallography,” “Geo-
metrical Proofs of Some Properties of Conics,”
“The Harmonic Determinant,” ‘Laplace’s Co-
efficients,” and ‘“‘A Problem in Vortex Motion.”
His two books ‘‘ Dynamics ”
tion with Williamson) and “‘ An Introduction to the
Mathematical Theory of Attractions” .are first-
class text-books of their kind. The latter contains
a chapter on Maxwell’s electro-magnetic theory
of light. R. A. P. Rocers.
and the position of the sounding was
(written in conjunc- _
F
born at Roxeth, near Harrow, in
- GeoLocists will
JvLy 1, 1920]
NATURE
555
learn that Dr.
Dr. Hind was
1860, and
regret to
WHEELTON Hinp died on June 21.
_ graduated in medicine and surgery in the Uni-
versity of London, also gaining the fellowship
of the Royal College of Surgeons.
practice at Stoke-on-Trent more than thirty
_ years ago, and soon occupied a prominent place
He began
the surgeons of North Staffordshire.
His recreation from the first was field-geolo
which suited both his athletic activity ‘and ie
eagerness for purely scientific work.
studies coincided with the movement initiated
by Lapworth and others for the more exact
correlation of stratified rocks by a very detailed
study of their contained fossils; and Dr.
proceeded to apply this new method of ‘
His early
Hind
‘zoning,”
as it was termed, to the Carboniferous rocks of
the neighbourhood in which he resided. His
success in discovering the regular order in which
the different assemblages of fossils occurred in
Staffordshire and Derbyshire gradually led him
further afield. He co-operated with members of
the Geological Survey, and after extended _re-
searches in Lancashire and Yorkshire he joined
_Mr. J. Allen Howe in 1go1 in contributing to the
~ colonel.
Geological Society of London in 1917.
Geological Society of London a fundamentally im-
portant memoir on the classification of the Lower
Carboniferous rocks of north-central England.
Dr. Hind also recognised that, for the purposes
of the stratigraphical geologist, the species of
Carboniferous Mollusca needéd more exact defini-
tion than had previously been attempted, and he
_ devoted much labour to adding two finely illus-
trated monographs on the subject to the series
published by the Paleontographical Society. Some
of the molluscs proved to be of value for recog-
nising the various seams of coal in the Stafford-
shire coalfield, and in*1903 Dr. Hind and Mr.
J. T. Stobbs prepared an illustrated wall-chart of
them for the use of the practical miner. On the
outbreak of war in 1914 Dr. Hind joined the
Army as a gunner, and took part in some engage-
ments in France; but he was afterwards employed
as surgeon, and attained the rank of lieutenant-
He received the Lyell medal from the
Tue death, at the age of seventy-eight, of Mr.
James KENNEDY is a serious loss to Oriental
studies. The son of an Indian missionary, Mr.
Kennedy was employed in the Civil Service of India
from 1863 to 1900. After his retirement he was a
leading figure in the Royal Asiatic Seciety, serving
as treasurer until illness compelled his resignation,
and winning the respect of his colleagues by his
learning, business capacity, and kindliness of
nature. He was one of those patient workers
who are always collecting materials, hoping for
new light on difficult problems, and thus he failed
to accomplish his projected task, a history of the
relations of Indian culture with those of Nearer
Asia. He contributed to the Proceedings of the
Royal Asiatic Society several valuable mono-
graphs, the most important being devoted to the
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
early trade intercourse of Babylonia with India,
the cults of Krishna, and the Aryans, the last
published only a few months before his death.
Though some of his ingenious speculations failed
to meet with general acceptance, it is much to be
regretted that he failed to accomplish the work
to which his life was devoted.
Last week there died in Paris, in his eighty-
second year, M: ADOLPHE CARNOT, a member of
the Academy of Sciences and of the Legion of
Honour. M. Carnot was the grandson of M.
Lazare Carnot and the son of M. Hippolyte Car-
not, the Minister of Public Instruction in the Pro-
visional Government of 1848. President Sadi
Carnot was his elder brother. For many years
M. A. Carnot held a professorship at the Ecole
Supérieure des Mines, and was afterwards its
honorary director, He was also Inspector-General
of Mines in France.
M. Carnot’s scientific reputation rests chiefly on
his contributions to analytical methods, and his
treatise on the analysis of mineral substances is
the standard French work on this subject. Jt
comprises a detailed account of the occurrence,
properties, reactions, methods of separation, and
analysis of all the metals, including the rare
metals, which are very fully described. The in-
formation given with reference to the rare metals
is based largely on his own original work. He
was a frequent contributor to the Annales des
Mines, and published papers on methods of deter-
mining phosphorus, silicon, potassium, iodine,
chlorine, bromine, vanadium, molybdenum,
chromium, etc. In 1900 there appeared his
important joint paper with Goutal on the veri-
fication of compounds existing in iron and steel
by using reagents with which to dissolve out
certain of the constituents. This paper is one of
the best that have appeared on this subject.
WE regret to have to record the death of Mr.
HAMMERSLEY HEENAN, which took place on
June 17. Mr. Heenan was born in 1847, and
had been a member of the Institution of Mechan-
ical Engineers since 1875, and of the Institution
of Civil Engineers since 1876. An account of
his career appears in Engineering for June 25.
At seventeen years of age he went to India and
spent about fifteen years in the Public Works
Department. Mr. Heenan returned to England
in 1880 and founded the firm of Heenan and
Froude, Ltd., of which he was chairman and
managing director until his retirement two years
ago. The firm is principally engaged on
bridges and structural work generally. Among
its undertakings is the Blackpool Tower.
During the war Mr. Heenan rendered great
service both in his personal capacity and in apply-
ing the resources of his works to the manufacture
of munitions.
THE death is announced of Dr. J. H. Hystop,
the founder of the American Society of Psychical
Research.
550
NATURE
[JULY i, 1920
Notes.
THE report of the Advisory Committee on Civil Avia-
tion (Cmd. 770, price 2d.), dealing with the question of
Government assistance for the development of civil
aviation, will be read with interest by those who are
concerned in the commercial future of the aeroplane.
The report considers at length the present position of
civil aviation and. the results which have been
achieved, and reaches the conclusion that as regards
both the progress of commercial flying and _ the
maintenance of a healthy aeronautical industry the
indirect assistance given in the past is insufficient.
Definite proposals for direct assistance are made. It
is suggested that such assistance should be limited
to a sum of 250,o0ol. within the two _ financial
years 1920-22, and calculated on a_ basis of
25 per cent. of the total revenue of the aviation
companies concerned, without differentiation as to the
nature of the load carried by the machines. ‘ Ap-
proved ’’ routes are suggested: (a) London to Paris,
with extensions; (b) London to Brussels, with ex-
tensions; and (c) a route such as England to Scan-
dinavia, giving opportunities for the development of
seaplane and ‘‘amphibious’’ machines. Air-Marshal
Sir Hugh M. Trenchard criticises this policy in a
minority report. He considers that the Committee is
not justified in its assertion that commercial aviation
has hitherto been a failure, and expresses the view
that there has not yet been sufficient time for the
advantages of aerial transport to be appreciated
widely and so to create the necessary demand. He
further considers the policy of subsidies to be funda-
mentally unsound, and thinks the money would be
better spent in encouraging the design of experimental
machines and in helping forward general research on
aeronautical questions—a view for which there is
much to be said. Assuming the subsidy to be granted,
however, Sir Hugh agrees with the mode of applica-
tion suggested by the majority report.
THERE has just appeared the second interim report
of the Water Power Resources Committee, which gives
effect to. the extended terms of reference it received
in October last, viz. to take into consideration the
steps necessary to ensure that the water resources of
the country are properly conserved and fully and sys-
tematically used for all purposes. The Committee
recommends that there should be established, by Act of
Parliament, a controlling Water Commission, having
jurisdiction over England and Wales, upon which
should be conferred certain statutory powers and
duties relative, inter alia, to the compilation of proper
records of the water resources and water require-
ments of the country, the allocation of these
resources, the adjustment of existing anomalies
and hardships, and the reconciliation of conflicting
interests. Such a body would assist Government
Departments concerned in the uses and_ con-
trol of water, would advise. Parliamentary Com-
mittees before which Water or Water Power Bills
may be heard, and generally would act as consultants
and technical specialists to the Government in regard
to questions within their purview. They would also
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
promote and initiate legislation for securing the ;
development of rivers as a whole from source to
mouth. The Committee recommends that further
powers should be conferred on the Ministry of Health
and other Government Departments to make orders
authorising uncontested schemés of improvement.
regards its primary investigation, the Committee
reports that there are several parts of Great Britain |
in which exist large sources of water power
capable of development, but that it will deal more
fully with this section of its inquiry in its final
report, as well as with amendments required in the
law in regard to pollution, underground water, and
kindred subjects.
Tue Department of Overseas Trade, in promoting
the Empire Timber Exhibition at the Holland Park
Skating Rink (July 5 to 17), has aimed at bringing
under the notice of the British timber trade the
various kinds of timber grown within the Empire.
The exhibition will be fully representative of the
As |
ee ee
timber-growing countries of the Empire, and acest
be of much interest and value.
THE annual meeting of the Somersetshire Archzeo-
logical and Natural History Society will take place
on July 20-22, and an interesting programme has been —
arranged. On the opening day, at Bridgwater, the
new president, Mr. A. H. Thompson, will deliver an
address on ‘‘ Medieval Building Documents, and What
We Learn from Them.”’ In the evening of the same
day Mr, A. F. Major will read a paper entitled “The —
Geography of the Lower Parrett in Early Times and ~
On July 21 a lecture will be ©
given by Mr. H. Corder on ‘‘Rambles round Bridg- ~
In addition, there will be many excursions
Further particulars of the
George —
the Position of Cruca.’’
water.”’
to places of interest.
meeting can be obtained from Mr.
Gray, Taunton Castle, Taunton.
ey ae
THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT on. Thursday last paid a 3
visit to the Royal College of Surgeons of England
and received the diploma.of an HOnERREY. fellow of the —
college.
Tue Ricut Hon. H. A. L. FisHer and Sir James G.
Frazer have been elected fellows of the Royal Society,
under the statute governing special elections, on the —
grounds of their having ‘rendered ote ser- 3
vice to the cause of science.”’
At the meeting of the Royal Society ae Edinburgh
the following were elected
on Monday, June 21,
foreign honorary fellows :—William Wallace Camp-
bell, director of the Lick Observatory; Yves Delage, —
Paris;
Hendrik Anton Lorentz, professor of physics, Leyden ~
University; Alfred Gabriel Nathorst, Stockholm; Ch. —
Academy of ©
Charles Richet, professor of physio-
logy, Faculty of Medicine, Paris; and Georg Ossian
professor of zoology, Faculty of Sciences,
Emile Picard, secretary,
Sciences, Paris;
perpetual
Sars, formerly professor of zoology, Christiania, and
Director of Norwegian Fisheries..
MeEDALs have been awarded to the following by the
Council of the Royal Society of Arts for papers read
before the society during the past session:—J. W.
res
BEAR gf:
peer
a a eet > ow a Pa
_ Jury 1, 1920]
NATURE
557
_ Pearson, ‘*‘ The Seed Crushing Industry ’’; S. Preston,
“English Canals and Inland Waterways”; Sir J.
_ urrie, “Industrial Training *’; Air-Commodore E.
‘Maitland, “The Commercial Future of Airships”;
‘Sir W. S. Meyer, ‘The Indian Currency System and
its Developments’; A. Howard, “The Improvement
of Crop Production in India’; Sir F. Watts,
“Tropical Departments of Agriculture, with Special
Reference to the West Indies’; and Sir J. Cadman,
“The Oil Resources of the British Empire.”
_ Tue Riberi prize of the Academy of Medicine of
_ Turin has been awarded to Dr. G. Vanghetti for his
researches on amputations and kinematic prostheses.
Major Kenetm Epccumse has been elected chair-
man of the National Illumination Committee of Great
Britain in succession to Mr. A. P. Trotter. A meeting
of the International Illumination Committee is to be
held in Paris next year to discuss technical subjects. ©
A MONUMENT to Wilbur Wright is to be dedicated
on July 18 at Le Mans, France, near which town he
carried out many of his aeronautical experiments.
THe annual meeting of the Research Defence
Society was held on June 23, when an admirable
address was given by Col. McCarrison on ‘‘ Vitamines
in their Relation to Health.’? Col. McCarrison spoke
with authority; he made clear the facts already
proved, and the intricacies of the study of vitamines.
"It is strange now to recall the old teaching about the
“constituents” of our food; the proteins and the fats
and the starches; the old South Kensington exhibits
of an apple or a mutton-chop analysed down to half
_ a dozen phials of chemicals, of water, and of ““ash’?;
_ but not a word said of these potent and subtle vita-
mines which “animate the whole” and safeguard us
_ against rickets and scurvy and beri-beri and epidemic
dropsy. After the meeting Dr. and Mrs. Mellanby
‘showed specimens of the results which they have
obtained in this field of- research, especially in the
relation of vitamines to the growth of the bones and
to the development of the teeth. The society’s annual
_ feport speaks of increased activity in good educational
work. The Jenner Society has become affiliated to
___ the Research Defence Society, and this is a move in
the right direction. The Research Defence Society
_-has lately published an address by Sir Walter Fletcher
on the work of the Medical Reséarch Council, and is
about to publish an essay by Sir David Bruce on
tetanus and the use of tetanus antitoxin.
Sir Cuartes Tomes has presented to the museum
of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
the entire collection of microscopical preparations
made by himself and also by his father, the late
Sir John Tomes, during their investigations into
the structure and comparative anatomy of the teeth.
In this important donation are included the prepara-
tions—many of great beauty as well as of scientific
worth—on which memoirs published in the Philo-
sophical Transactions and Transactions of the Odonto-
logical Society were based. The gift thus made is to
be known as the Tomes Collection, and will be acces-
sible to all who are making.a study of the comparative
anatomy and microscopical structure of the teeth of
vertebrate animals.
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
Amonc the worked flints collected from the ploughed
fields of Norfolk and Suffolk Miss Nina F. Layard
has lately observed several with well-defined finger-
grips, which she describes in the latest part of the
Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archeology
(vol. xvii., part i.). The implements are beautifully
illustrated by photographs, showing how they are
adapted by chipping for holding in the hand. They
include both scrapers and borers, and one seems to be
suitable for cutting hides. The age of the implements
is undetermined, and Miss Layard compares them
with certain scrapers obtained by the late Dr. Sturge
from Luxor, Egypt. She also points out that the
North Alaskan Eskimos at the present day carve
finger-grips in the wooden or bone handles in which
they fix their stone scrapers.
Tue problem how to make philology interesting has
been solved by Sir George Grierson in two papers on
the Indo-Aryan vernaculars reprinted from the Bul-
letin of the School of Oriental Studies. The Aryan
languages cover, roughly sveaking, the whole of the
northern plain of India, penetrating in the case of the
Pahari dialects into the lower ranges of the Hima-
layas, while closely related to them is another group
of tongues in the mountainous country lying south of
the Hindu-Kush, which are here styled the Dardic or
modern Pisacha languages. The most important result
of the Philological Survey is that the Indo-Aryan
vernaculars fall into three groups: the midland,
occupying the centre of the great northern plain; the
outer in a band on the west, south, and east; while
between these lies the intermediate group representing
the former shading into the latter. These groups of
tongues are obviously the result of successive inva-
sions or the peaceful introduction of foreign cultures.
The pressing problem at present is how to combine
the philological with the ethnological evidence, and
Sir G. Grierson’s papers are a valuable contribution
to the solution of it.
Mr. W. E. Heitvanp published in the Journal of
Roman Studies (vol. viii., part i.) an elaborate, fully:
documented article on the conditions of agriculture in
Italy in Imperial times. He specially deals with the
question whether Italy furnished a large number of
farmer emigrants to raise and maintain provincial
agriculture. He finds that the evidence does not
favour such an emigration. One of the most pressing
anxieties of the Emperors was to maintain a corn
supply from Egypt and other African regions. But
for the development of this industry native African
farmers would be best qualified. Therefore, while we
are entitled to assume that the Emperors were anxious
to protect their coloni from the oppression of dealers
with the connivance of corrupt officials, we ought not
to.base far-reaching theories of State-assisted emigra-
tion on the occurrence of a few Italian names in
provincial inscriptions, the authors of which may not
have been themselves coloni.
INFLUENZA was persistent this year in London for
seventeen weeks from February 7 to May 29, the
deaths from the disease, according to the returns of
the Registrar-General, numbering 20 or more each
week. For the previous fifteen weeks, from
558
NATURE
[JuLy 1, 1920
October 15, 1919, to January 31, the deaths in London
had ranged irregularly from 12 to 24. The return for
the week ending June 12 gives only 13 deaths in
London due to the disease, and in the preceding week
the deaths were only 19. For the seventeen weeks
ending May 29 the average deaths per week numbered
59, and in ten previous epidemics out of a total of
twenty-eight since 1890 this number was. exceeded,
the highest weekly average being 500 in the epidemic
of 1918-19, which lasted thirty-one weeks; the next
highest was 171 in the epidemic of 1891, and 162 in
1892. The maximum number of deaths in a single
week in the recent epidemic was 131, whilst in that
of 1918-19 the number was 2458, the next highest
maximum being 506 in 1892 and 473 in 1895. Of the
twenty-eight, epidemics since 1890 only two have em-
braced the summer months, those occurring in 1891
and 1918. The age incidence of the last three
epidemics has differed widely from all others inas-
much as the active and able-bodied, aged between
twenty and forty-five, have suffered most severely,
although the attack, which has apparently now abated,
was less marked in this respect than the two epidemics
of 1918 and 1918-19.
Medical Science: Abstracts and Reviews for June
(vol. ii., No. 3) contains among its articles a review
of the subject of tuberculosis, particularly in connec-
tion with the war. Tuberculosis only slightly in-
creased in France and England during the war, and
mainly among young women in industry, whereas, in
Belgium, Germany, and Austria, all classes of the
community suffered and to a rapidly increasing extent.
The principal causative factor for this difference
appeared to be that of food.
In recent years the development of genetics has
been marked by the establishing in various countries
of a number of new scientific journals dealing with
this rapidly growing subject. The latest addition to
this list is Hereditas, the first number of which we
have just received. It is issued by the Mendelian
Society of Lund, Sweden, the president of which,
‘Prof. H. Nilsson-Ehle, is well known for his breeding
experiments with wheat. The journal will appear
three times annually so far as possible, making a
volume containing about 350 pages. The contributions
are to be published in English, German, or French,
and the subscription is 25 Swedish crowns per volume.
The first number includes a study of the resistance of
wheat to the nematode Heterodera and its inherit-
ance, by Nilsson-Ehle; the hereditary transmission of
deaf-mutism, by Lundborg, and of hereditary tremor,
by E. Bergman; the rate of pollen-tube growth in
(Enothera and its possible effect on inheritance-ratios,
by Heribert-Nilsson, as well as studies of colour in-
heritance in peas and poppies, chlorophyll factors in
the onion, and bud-sports in wheat. The new journal,
which thus includes in its range the study of human
as well as plant and animal material, will be a wel-
come channel of publication for the growing Scan-
dinavian school of geneticists, and will take its place
among the standard journals on this subject.
In the Reports of the South African Museum for
1918 and 1919 Dr. L. Péringuey records some new
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
facts relating to the Strand-loopers. In a cave-shelter
a slab-painting was found above the kitchen-midden —
material and beneath a stalactitic column. Skulls in —
the midden were filled with gypsum. The geological
conditions indicate that these formations must have
taken a long time to produce—a longer lapse than is
usually accepted. ‘If we take into consideration the
conclusions of Shrubsall, that Strand-looper skulls
differ materially from the Hottentot or so-called Bush
races, I am justified, I think,’’ says Dr. Péringuey,
“in claiming for the Strand-looper branch of the
‘San’ that occupied at one time the southern littoral
of the former Cape Colony, not only a mode of culture
more primitive than that retained by any living human
race, but also a greater antiquity than for any other
living African race.’”? From the South-West Protec-
torate was obtained, and is figured in the Report, a
rock-graving on which hoofs of animals and reduced
representations of human feet had been produced by
picking. Such gravings may, -perhaps, denote places
where the Bush people had found game. These are
only a few of many interesting discoveries mentioned
in these Reports.
Tue Smithsonian Institution has a custom, which
we commend to the British Museum, of publishing
each year an illustrated account of its explorations
and field-work. The report for 1919, just to hand,
contains narratives and illustrations that might well -
stir the enthusiasm of the American public and_
lead to donations for similar purposes. Where so
much is of interest to astronomer, anthropologist, —
ethnographer, geologist, and zoologist, we should be
hard put to it to make a selection did we not find
some notes by Mr. C. M. Hoy on the extermination of
the Australian native fauna, to which the attention of
British naturalists should be directed.
agent working towards the extermination of the native
animals is the fox; next come the cattle and sheep
men, who distribute poison by the cartload in the
effort to reduce the rabbits. This has also caused or
helped to cause the extermination of some of the
ground-inhabiting birds. Another great agent is the
bush-fires which sweep over the country. These are
often lit intentionally in order to clear out the under-
growth and thus increase the grass. . . . The country
at Bulliac is a good example of what the cattleman
will do in a few years’ time in killing off and burning
the timber, and the consequent destruction of animal
life. . . . The extermination of the native mammals
has apparently gone much farther than is generally
thought. Many species that were plentiful only a few
years ago are now almost, if not altogether, extinct.
Diseases have also played a great part in the exter-
mination. The native bear died in thousands from a
disease which produced a great bony growth on their
heads. A mysterious disease also spread through the
ranks of the native cat, Dasyurus viverrinus; the
domestic cat also played a great part in their exter-
mination. Even adult specimens of Dasyurus were
often dragged in by the family cat. ... There are
very few game laws in Australia, and no one gives
any attention to the ones that are in order.”
“The greatest
_ JuLy 1, 1920]
tj
NATURE
559
THE greater part of a skeleton of the giant extinct
marsupial Nototherium- has lately been found in
Mowbray Swamp, Tasmania. The skull.and the limb-
bones of the left side are described as well preserved,
BS and are especially important for comparison with the
numerous scattered remains of the same animal dis-
covered in the Pleistocene deposits of Australia. The
skeleton of Nototherium is less satisfactorily known
than that of the allied Diprotodon, of which many
_ specimens were found in Lake Callabonna, South
_ Australia, about twenty-five years ago.
We have received a copy of vol. v. (1918-19) of the
_ Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of
Western Australia, from which we learn that this
society makes steady progress in membership and in
the value and importance of its publications. The
papers deal mainly with Western Australian problems.
Prof. W. G. Woolnough writes on the physiographic
elements of the Swan coastal plain, adding several
details that have been overlooked in more general
accounts. An important historical paper is one by
‘Mr. J. S. Battye on the early cofonisation of Western
Australia. Mr. W. A. Saw contributes a paper on
town-planning in Australia. His paper is noticeable
for a number of well-chosen illustrations showing
good and bad planning in various Australian towns.
M. Emme Betor, whose artificial volcanoes were
_ fecently mentioned in Nature, vol. civ., p. 575,
has published a work on “L’Origine des formes
de la Terre et des Planétes’” (Paris: Gauthier-
Villars, price 14.40 francs). While holding that the
earth and the moon developed from a state of
luminous vapour of nebular origin, the heat of this
vapour not being due to mere contraction, he points
out, on the analogy of nove, that the intensely heated
_ Stage may have lasted only a few months, while other
Successive changes, such as those when rains of
chlorides fell upon a warm surface, may have
occurred during the first few years of terrestrial evolu-
tion. We cannot here quote the figures by which
_ M. Belot argues that the first waters would condense
in the primitive atmosphere, owing to its high pres-
sure, at the temperature of 364°; it is sufficient to
mention that, on similar numerical reasoning, he
shortens the interval
The tectonics
views now popular will certainly encourage thought.
Amonc the handsome series of Professional Papers
issued by the U.S, Geological Survey in these years
of turmoil we may note one by Mr. E. de K. Leffing-
well (No. 109) on ‘‘The Canning River Region,
Northern Alaska.’’ Its description and illustrations
of soil and vegetation above permanently frozen
ground, or above a subsoil consisting almost entirely
of ice, are of wide interest in lands in which such
conditions once prevailed. The author uses the term
““ground ice’’ for bodies of ice in frozen ground,
which involves confusion with what has always been’
known as ground ice (‘‘anchor ice’’ is preferred by
NO. 2644, VOL. 105] )
between the first rainfall.
(Antarctic) and the middle. of the Carboniferous
‘period to less than ten million years.
of the crust are discussed with the aid of simple but
‘Suggestive diagrams, and the frequent reversal of
Mr. Leffingwell) in rivers or in shallow seas. In
most of the areas in which underground ice has been
recorded, the downward limit of seasonal thawing is
less than 7 ft., 3 ft. being the rule. The author
shows, however, that this ice is a product of surface-
thawing, water penetrating downwards and adding
to the frozen masses at the present day. Underground
ice will form wherever the. mean annual temperature
is some 4°-6° C. below freezing point. The author
makes a strong case for his view that very large
continuous ice-masses, with occasional inclusions of
earth, like those of the New Siberian Islands, may
arise from the growth year after year of ice-wedges
originating from surface-cracks.
On May 27 Mr. B. S. Gossling read an interesting
paper on ‘‘The Development of Thermionic Valves
for Naval Uses’’ to the Institution of Electrical
Engineers. He gives first a history of the introduc-
tion of the thermionic valve into naval radio-tele-
graphy, laying stress on the use of Langmuir’s
formule for the value of the electron current as a
guide to the numerical design of valves. To old-
fashioned electricians the formula, which are
numerous, are very uninviting. The physical dimen-
sions on both sides of the equations appear to be
quite different, and the continual introduction of the
voltage to the power 1-5 is very puzzling. We think
that the time has now come when the definitions of
the fundamental quantities should be made more
rigorous, and symbols should be used for the various
quantities which show their physical dimensions. In
the paper the successive stages of the approximations
which were adopted in the calculation of the charac-
teristics of valves are recorded. The final result shows
that the observed behaviour of a high vacuum valve
can to a first rough approximation be accounted for
in terms of known physical laws. Many ingenious
tests are described. The method adopted, for instance,
for estimating the vacuum in a valve while still on
the pump is to have a special vacuum tube attached
to the apparatus and measure the width of the
‘cathode dark space.’? The paper gives a good idea
of the immense amount of work done on the valve by
physicists and engineers during the war. The varia-
tions of the thermionic properties of the valves which
were so puzzling and annoying a few years ago have
now been brought within bounds, and a rough
standard specification for their production is given.
‘Unfortunately, sufficient information to enable rigid
life test clauses to be made is not yet available. It
is a great step forward, however, that even a rough
specification can be given.
BuLietIn No. 2 for 1920 of the Classe des Sciences
of the Royal Academy of Belgium contains a com-
munication from Messrs. J. E. Verschaffelt and R.
Crombez on the anomalous dispersion of methyl-violet,
fuchsine, and paranitrosodimethylaniline. The authors
use the method of Soret, which Wood also adopted, which
depends on the division of a glass trough with parallel
surfaces into two parts by a glass partition extending
from one corner to the opposite one. One of the
prismatic troughs thus formed is filled with a solution
of the material the dispersion of which is to be inves-
560
NATURE
[JuLy 1, 1920
tigated, and the other with the solvent alone.
to the opposing action of the two prisms the disper-
sion of the solvent is thus eliminated, and the
anomalous dispersion of the solute observed directly.
By this means the authors have determined the indices
of refraction of the materials as follows :—Methyl-
violet for wave-length 6712, 2:52; 6497, 2:43; 4455,
1-23; and 4227, 1-45. For fuchsine 6712, 2:21; 6497,
2°41; 6170, 2°63; 5857, 2°78; and 4227, 1-19. For para-
nitrosodimethylaniline 6497, 1-74; 6170, 1°78; 5857,
181; 5603, 1-85; and 5270, 1-93.
In the course of an article in Engineering for
June 18 on the Birkenhead shipyard and works of
Messrs. Cammell Laird and Co., Ltd., reference is
made to the original generating stations which sup-
plied the whole of the power for the works. The
original station was equipped entirely with gas engines
supplied from a Mond plant, which also supplied gas
to the furnaces in the platers’ and other shops. The
ten gas engines were of varying sizes, and had a total
capacity of 2500 kw. This gas station has done good
service, but the large number of comparatively small
gas-driven units has resulted in a considerable main-
tenance charge. There has also been difficulty at times
during the war in obtaining suitable fuel for the
producers. These conditions, combined with a‘ growing
demand for power, have resulted in a decision to shut
the gas station down altogether, and to transfer all
power generation to the new turbine station. The
matter is of some interest in view of the controversy
on fuel economy, and illustrates the fact that there
are points other than mere economy of fuel to be
taken into consideration by large power-users.
WE are asked to state that the Research Association
of British Rubber and Tyre Manufacturers has secured
laboratory accommodation in the Chemistry Depart-
ment of University College, Gower Street, W.C.1.
WE regret to learn from an inset announcement in
the current issue of the Scottish Naturalist that, not-
withstanding that all editorial work in connection
with the journal is rendered gratuitously, there was a
loss on the year’s working, which, however, has been
generously met, and that in consequence of the con-
tinued increasing cost of production there is a possibility
of the magazine ceasing to exist. We trust that this
contingency will be averted, for our contemporary has
performed valuabie services to Scottish natural history
for the lengthy period of fifty years. A largely in-
creased subscription list would probably save the situa-
tion, and the publishers, Messrs. Oliver and Boyd,
Edinburgh, will be glad to have the names of all who
will help in the way suggested to keep in circulation
this useful scientific periodical.
Tue latest catalogue (No. 188) of Messrs. W. Heffer
and Sons, Ltd., Cambridge, gives particulars of
upwards of 1900 second-hand books ranging over a
number of subjects. There are sections devoted to
science and mathematics; folk-lore and mythology;
archeology; India; Ceylon; China, Japan, and the
Far East; Turkey, etc. The catalogue, which will be
sent free upon request, is worthy of perusal.
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
Owing
‘May.
Our Astronomical Column.
TEMPEL’S SECOND PERiopic Comet.—The only addi-
tional information that has come to hand about this
comet is that it was of magnitude 11 at the end of
It should be of magnitude 9 or 10 in July, a
therefore visible in moderate instruments. Accurate
observations of position are badly needed, as very few
were obtained at the last apparition in 1915.
period of this comet (5} years) is the shortest known
except that of Encke. Observations were secured in
1873, 1878, 1894, 1899, 1904, 1915, and 1920. The
following approximate ephemeris is for Greenwich
midnight :
re R.A. S. Decl. Log ~ Log aA
eh ae eee
July 6 23 14 51 717 O1216 96962 —
eB tie x Pik, 8 59 0-1216 9:6791
222%, Q. 5 240!) Fee 0°1236 96685
30 © 22 24 1327 01274 96636
Aug. 7 0 38 50 16 1 01330 ©=—-g 6650
DENNING’s COMET OF 1881 AND A METEORIC SHOWER.
—The Rev. M. Davidson has recently made some
interesting computations of the dates and radiant
points of certain comets if they originate meteor
showers. Among these, Denning’s comet of 1881
indicates a radiant on August 4 at 303°—10° about
3° N. of a Capricorni._ For many years a prominent
shower of slow, bright meteors has been. visible from
this point at the end of July and the early part of
August, and it is quite possibly connected with the
comet named. It was well seen in 1900 and 1902,
as well as in 1908 and 1916. The comet probably
returned in 1899, 1907, and 1916, though it escaped
observation, and the next return should occur in 1925
if the computed period of about 8% years is correct.
There are, however, meteors every year from this.
shower in Capricornus, and it should be specially
looked for during the period from July 25 to August 8.
CapTurRE Orpits.—Text-books on astronomy fre-
quently contain a good deal of speculation on the
possibility of capture of comets and satellites; we
may quote as instances the Leonid meteors, supposed
to have been diverted by Uranus from a quasi-
parabolic orbit into an ellipse of short period, and the
numerous comets of the Jovian family, on which
Jupiter is presumed to have exerted a similar influence.
In these cases the perturbing planet made the capture,
not for itself, but for the sun. Capture of the former
sort, in which the planet retains the captured body as
_a Satellite, can apparently take place only with the
aid of a resisting medium, in which case we must date
the event in remote ages.
Little research of an accurate numerical character
has hitherto been carried out on the subject. Prof. L.
Becker contributes two papers to M.N. (vol. Ixxx.,
No. 6), in which he shows that a star approaching a
binary system may in certain cases suffer capture,
while one of the original pair may be expelled from
the system. He then points out that approaches
would be more frequent in the direction of relative
motion of the two star-streams, and by analvsis of
the distribution of the major axes of the orbits of
binaries obtains a result in fair conformity with the
theory. The research is made more difficult by the
fact that there are two possible positions of the plane
of a binary orbit. In a few cases (notably in the
systems of Sirius and a Centauri) the spectroscope
has decided which of these positions is the correct one.
There are probablv several other systems in which
the spectroscope is canable of giving a decision.
Observations of this kind are very desirable wherever
they are possible
} idealised model upon a small scale.
cern itself with the tragedies of undeveloped talent,
“y JULY 1, 1920]
ue
~ Oo gal
be ay
pe
NATURE
561
Education in the New Era.
yy addresses given in Leeds last February Mr. F. W.
Sanderson, headmaster of Oundle School, very
boldly faces the root of the evil in existing educational
or-6
Systems as it is felt in the school, and advocates
Pe reconstruction upon new lines.. His view is
that schools should be altruistic in their aims and
methods and be based on service and: co-operation
rather than on competition. They exist solely to
and enrich the life of the people. ‘Traditional
methods based upon public-schooi models accentuate
the anti-social spirit of competition and damp down
co-operation, whereas the schools of the country ought
to be the source from which the transfiguring and
transforming spirit of the age is breathed through the
thoughts of men. A school is a microcosm, and its
subject-matter is to be found, not in books, but in the
world around it, of which it itself should be an
It should con-
the slow decay of the faculties of masses of men
caused by their employment in industry, and the sullen
* mental stupor that, after the violent revolutionary
_ period of youth, brings peace on an animal level. For
the schools are concerned with similar
problems.
one elevation of the submerged, the bringing back
the stream of school-life of the weak, and the
raising of the general average are even more important
there than the provision of the fullest opportunity for
talent and ability. So is it in the national life. We
are presented with a vision of spacious halls and
galleries, workshops, laboratories, gardens and fields,
art-rooms, libraries, and museums for children to
learn in instead of in stuffy class-rooms, by doing,
the age
making, inquiring, and co-operating rather than by
the preparation for interminable examinations, which
suit better those of the possessive and dominating
order, of whom the world is growing so tired.
‘The policy of leaving dull, bread-winning drudgery
unredeemed in the state it is, and concentrating upon
the cultivation of the artistic and literary faculties of
the workers in enlarged periods of leisure, can only
| have the effect. of making the real work even more
le. In spite of the cold douche of authority,
we are told; in spite of the attitude of labour-leaders,
once bit twice shy; and in spite of the enthusiasm
ever seeking a new rallying ground for lost causes,
workers, when they are leit to themselves to plan
their own scheme of salvation, choose for their educa-
tion vocational and technical work. The . average
man glories in his daily work and trade so long as his
heart is kept in it by‘ his being treated as a human
being rather than as a machine. In the spirit of
_ craftsmanship, better than in medieval and drawing-
room studies, is to be found the remedy for the evils
of industrialism. : ; ;
‘Science, the gift of the age, notwithstanding its
-fepercussion upon the foundations of society, has
not yet penetrated appreciably into our institutions of
governance and education. It is the bed-rock upon
which all future educational ideals must be based,
and the new creative spirit it has reincarnated in the
‘world—its spirit of inquiry for the love of truth for
its own sake and its spirit of co-operation with
others engaged in the same work—is that by which
must outgrow the nightmare which the old
pirit has made of it and the world. Scientific
thought and research must be applied to creating new
wine-skins rather than more new wine until this is
put right. It has demolished’ the cobwebs of tradi-
tional economics and finance and substituted for them
fundamental conceptions of the laws by which men
live and move and have their being. It meets no
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
opposition, and scarcely even discussion, now from
the professional exponents of the merits of the exist-
ing régime. Were it not for private interests and the
ignorance of its ruling classes science would not
ie any difficulty in restarting the world on saner
ines.
What is especially remarkable about this is that it
is no vision of a dreamer, ‘ sicklied o’er with the
pale cast of poem, el but rather that of a practical
public-school headmaster, who has burst open the
prison-doors of the pedagogic strongholds of the past
and reclaimed for the schools the right and duty of
serving and studying their own age. If there were
ten such men, haply they might yet be in ‘time.
This picture from a schoolmaster of what could be
done in the school opens out broader visions of what
universities might accomplish. They are in the most
extraordinary case. They can claim that they have
given in the research ideal of science—the finding
out of the fundamentally new, not the mere redis-
covery of the old that has been lost—the creative
agency by which alone the modern world is great or
even distinguished. But it has been done in the teeth
of official apathy and discouragement. On the other
side of the balance sheet is the traditional education .
they continue to give to the ruling classes, training
them to be impervious to new knowledge and able
only to find in the old and dead past ideals for imita-
tion and reverence. These ideals and maxims have
set the producers of wealth of the modern world at
one another’s throats for the benefit of its wasters.
The code of laws remains as in olden time, though
its obvious result has been to turn to debt the increase
in the wealth of the community which the labours of
scientific investigators have made _ possible. The
world despises such results and wants something more
from its old universities than that they should be
beggars for their existence for crumbs from the tables
that its own. schools of science have loaded with gifts.
It looks to them for a clear enunciation of the first
right of the community to the produce of its own
labours, which the law allows by taxation, for the up-
bringing of its own youth and for the cultivation of its
creative institutions where knowledge is made and
disseminated. The claim of the usurer upon that
produce is secondary both by law and by common
sense. And, lest again the stability of the world be
endangered by its rulers being educated on myth and
verbal subtleties to the total exclusion of the laws
that appertain equally to Nature and to life, let them
in the spirit of Plato inscribe over their reformed
portals :— :
“Let no one enter who is destitute of science.”
if FREDERICK Soppy.
British Aeronautics.
"THE Report of the Advisory Committee for Aero-_
nautics for the year 1918-19 is an -interesting
record of work achieved, which acquires additional
interest by including a general review of progress
made since the beginning of the war. More than ever,
after reading it, one is impressed by the range and
extent of the demands which this new industry has
made upon existing knowledge; of the structural
engineer it requires that its stress calculations and
the testing of its materials shall be conducted with
an accuracy never contemplated before; of the
mechanical engineer, that its engines shall be
economical both of material and of fuel to a degree
which until very recently would have seemed almost
Report of the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics for
Pp. 77- (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1920.)
Price 4d. net.
1 * Aeronautics.”
the Year ror$-19.
Cmd. 488.
562
NATURE
[JULY 1, 1920
fantastic; and, above all, of its pilots, that with the growth, since the latter was probably dependent on
skill and technique peculiar to their craft they shall
combine a practical working knowledge of structure
and of machinery, of instruments and ‘ wireless,” of
meteorology and of navigation, which in other pro-
fessions would be the province of different specialists.
And this universality, as might be expected, is no less
characteristic of the appeal which aeronautics has
made to the man of science, who provides it with
fresh data; so that it is not surprising to find that the
single committee of pre-war days has been compelled
to adopt a policy of devolution, and that special sub-
committees have been formed -to deal with problems
of such different scope as “‘scale effect,’ the investiga-
tion of accidents, internal-combustion engines, light
alloys, meteorology, atmospheric electricity, and new
inventions.
The report abounds with indications of fields in
which further research is needed, and there seems
every reason to believe that this research will be
prosecuted with equal success under the auspices of
the newly constituted Aeronautical Research Com-
mittee. We learn with satisfaction that the demand
for the earlier technical reports has been vigorous
enough to justify the printing of a complete second
edition, since an opportunity is thus given for insert-
ing much more complete cross-references than were
possible when they first appeared. It is, perhaps, a
matter for some little regret that a more definite
lead has not been given in this direction by the present
report. We imagine that any reader whose interest
in the subject extends to the detailed reports of the
several sub-committees would wish to have such
references to individual papers and their authors as
will enable him to find additional information on any
special point; moreover, an account so detailed, and
yet empty of names and references, may fail to im-
press what we believe is the secret of British
supremacy in aeronautics: that our official Committee
has interpreted its functions as being advisory rather
than executive, and has endeavoured to assist, co-
ordinate, and encourage research rather than to
originate and control it.
No useful end would be served, and perspective
would be lost, by abstracting from these excellent and
thoroughly condensed reports.. Their range is very
wide, extending from complete investigations, on both
the practical and theoretical sides, of such complex
evolutions. as ‘‘spinning’’ to researches on the pro-
perties of light alloys, the transmission of heat from
rough and smooth surfaces to passing currents of air,
the conditions leading to discharge of atmospheric
electricity from kite-balloons and cables, and the best
shape for parachutes. Few, we believe, will read
these pages without discovering some points of con-
tact between aeronautical science and their own
particular field of investigation.
Mention should be made of the very interesting
table of comparative performarges of British aircraft
which is included as an appendix.
Climatic Cycles and Tree-growth.
pusLcsne No. 289 of the Carnegie Institu-
tion of Washington is devoted to Prof.
Douglass’s study of the annual rings of trees in
relation to climate and solar activity. When the late
Prof. Lowell was seeking an ideal climate for his
observatory, with the view of studying the planet
Mars, he chose the dry region of Flagstaff, Arizona,
on account of its low rainfall and high proportion of
clear skies. While Prof. Douglass was at the Lowell
Observatory it occurred to him that variations in solar
activity might have a ‘measurable effect on tree-
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
rainfall, and rainfall might very likely be affected by
solar activity. He began by studying the yellow pines
of those arid regions, arguing that a very dry climate
should be the best for such an investigation. He
soon found that the intimacy of the connection
between the width of the annual tree-rings and the
rainfall, when the latter was known, was far closer
than he had dared to hope, and he pushed further
afield, examining tree specimens and fossils in
European collections as well as in other districts of
America.
Considerable labour was involved in the interpreta-
tion of the various appearances of the rings, the red
tissue that denotes the close of a period of growth.
The year starts in the autumn. With normal winter
snow and spring and summer rainfall growth con-
tinues throughout until the autumn, and a ring of
normal width is produced. If winter snow is
deficient and spring rain also scanty, a narrow ring is
produced, closing prematurely without waiting for
summer rain. An intermediate condition is shown
when winter snow is deficient and the spring drought
is not so severe; red tissue begins to form, but
growth starts again, and the result is a double ring
for the year. z
The author considers that five trees in a group give
a trustworthy result in general, though in a very dry
district like Arizona two might suffice. The only dis-
trict where five trees failed to give a satisfactory cross-
identification was a rugged region near Christiania,
in Norway. d
The Flagstaff record is complete from A.D. 1385,
but among the sequoias of California stumps are in
existence dating back more than three thousand years.
Some of these sequoias grew on hillside slopes, and
others in basins where plenty of moisture is found at
all times. The latter are unsuitable for investigation, —
and the author calls them ‘complacent,’’ as they —
show practically no variation in the annual growth. —
The others he calls ‘‘sensitive,’? as they have to —
depend upon snow melting down the slope and upon ~
rain as it comes, not being provided with any storage —
such as that found in the basins. Some specimens, ~
including the oldest of all, showed signs of a change in ©
environment, ‘‘complacent’’ in later .growth but —
“sensitive? earlier. Prof. Huntington had previously —
investigated these sequoias in his search for evidence _
of climatic change, but his purpose was served with
much less detailed measurements, ten-year periods —
being short enough for his unit of time. His dates ©
agree fairly well with those of the present work. —
The analysis of the data for periodicities required con- —
siderable accuracy in the method employed, and ulti- —
mately led to the adoption of the “ automatic optical
periodograph,”’ of the construction and application of ©
which full details are given. 5
Practically all the groups of trees investigated show —
the sun-spot cycle or its multiples; the solar cycle
becomes more certain and accurate as the area of
homogeneous region increases or the time of a tree
record extends farther back; this suggests the possi-_
bility of determining the climatic and vegetational ©
reaction to the solar cycle in different parts of the
world. A most suggestive correlation exists in the
dates of maxima and minima found in tree-growth, —
rainfall, temperature, and solar phenomena, pointing
to a physical connection between solar activity and~
terrestrial weather. There is a, very important point ©
discussed under the title of ‘‘ Meteorological Districts.” —
It is essential to restrict any such district for this 4
purpose to one in which homogeneous weather condi-
tions are found. Clearly, if one set of conditions
makes one district wet and a neighbouring district
xe are
NATURE
563
dry, these cannot be lumped together for correlation
_ purposes, as the whole effect will be masked. We are
reminded of the sun-spot maximum of 1893, which
Was associated with great heat in England and
France, but was exceptionally cold in America and
other parts of the world. This limitation of districts
_ may not, as the author recognises, be the same for
short periods as for long ones, but he finds the major
characteristics in mountain regions very much alike
ever distances of fifty or sixty miles, and relies upon
the evidence of the trees themselves for the demarca-
tion of the districts.
| One other small difficulty Prof. Douglass has met
_ in an ingenious manner. It is often noticed that such
an element as rainfall, when expressed as departure
_ from the mean, as it must be in correlation problems,
_ is arithmetically lacking in symmetry, since the
_ defect can only be too per cent. at most, while excess
_ can be very much larger. Geometrically, this can be
avoided by using a logarithmic scale, but this flattens
_ the variation very much. Prof. Douglass’s device is
_ to leave the deficient amounts unaltered, but in the
_ case of excessive falls to invert the fraction and
’ measure upwards from the normal. Thus a rainfall
_ of twice the normal is indicated by a point just so far
_ above the normal line as the point indicating a rainfall
of half the normal is below it. The symmetry is not
_ perfect, as, of course, no possible wetness can give a
int corresponding to zero rainfall, but the method
is convenient in places where zero rainfall in the unit
period is unknown. W. W. B.
The Interferometer in Physical Measure-
Sete a) 2 dents?
A TOURTH volume describing the researches of
Prof. Carl Barus with interferometers has
recently been issued. The classical work of Fizeau,
who applied interference methods to the determina-
tion of expansion coefficients, directed attention many
"years ago to the possibility of the kind of work which
has been so well developed by Michelson and others,
and in the present series of papers Prof. Barus seeks
to develop the methods of application of the interfero-
meter to a somewhat wide range of physical measure-
ments. These include spherometer measurements,
elastic deformation of small bodies, elongations due
to magnetisation, pressure variation of specific heat
of liquids, and even electrodynamometry. The re-
‘aunlacier of the volume deals with various modifica-
tions of the interferometer methods and with certain
gravitational experiments.
- Doubtless such an investigation of methods will
be useful to workers in any of the foregoing fields, but
so far as a first impression is to be trusted it would
that the main interest has lain in the method
rather than in any results which have been attained.
In order to study the motion of a contact lever, it
may be made to carry two small mirrors reflecting
normally two beams which are afterwards caused to
interfere. Any rotation of the lever obviously causes
a difference of path, which appears in the shifting
of the easily recognisable and distinctive central
_ “achromatic’’ interferometer fringes, such motion
being measured by a plate micrometer or ‘“ graticule”’
in the observing telescope. .
The two mirrors form the limbs of a ‘‘T”’ piece,
which is pivoted aboyt a hinge at the end of the foot.
One limb ends in a contact pin which abuts against
the surface, the motion of which is to be measured.
In such circumstances Prof. Barus estimates the
oo.
= Displacement Interferometrv by the Aid of the Achromatic Fringes.”
Partiv. By Prof. Carl Barus. (Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1919.)
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
limiting sensitiveness to be 33x 10-° cm., or perhaps
even a third of this amount, but it should not be
forgotten that the very simple interferometer system
of an optical test-plate has a sensitiveness of about
a quarter wave-length, say 12x 10-* cm., and this
without a doubtful hinge and another contact. The
contact lever can, of course, deal with non-specular
surfaces, but to use it as a spherometer for a glass
lens seems quite needless. Naturally, an apparatus
of this nature is excellently adapted to such a problem
as that of investigating the changes of length of a
magnetised rod, and, although no very novel results
are obtained, the investigation has been compara-
tively easy, and the method is well adapted for
demonstration.
Suitable self-adjusting interferometers, such as are
described in chap. vii., ought to find an increasingly
useful place in the physical laboratory, and students
should be taught the practical use of such instruments
and their modifications. There is too great a tendency
to treat an interferometer as a piece of apparatus
sacred to one or two highly specialised purposes, but
with little more than a few pieces of good plane
parallel glass a set of instruments can be made up
which should be of the greatest use in teaching and
research.
One could wish, perhaps, that some one problem
had been attacked and solved thoroughly. The
curiously unfinished nature of the work is disappoint-
ing, but we must conclude that the method is the
chief object. As regards the text, the descriptions
are clear and praiseworthy, but the diagrams are
both inadequate and unsatisfactory. CoM.
Canvas-destroying Fungi.
YEN men again began to take to their tents at
, the outbreak of war, many noticed that dark
brown and black spots, frequently of a diamond shape,
were not uncommon on the canvas. Small, sur-
reptitiously acquired bits began to be scattered around
for information as to the identity of the moulds caus-
ing the rot. Now it is very surprising that so little
work has been done ‘on canvas-destroying fungi. That
canvas is liable to suffer from moulding seems generally
to be known, judging from the fact that any
material likely to get wetted is usually ‘‘cutched.”
Shortly before the war aircraft workers began to
interest themselves in the fungi concerned in the
damage, but it was not until war broke out that
one realised the extent of the destruction of sails,
tents, etc., by these organisms.
Major W. Broughton-Alcock, in the Journal of the
Royal Army Medical Corps for December last, gives
a short account of investigations carried out by him
in Malta, Italy, and (in conjunction with Miss A.
Lorrain Smith) at the Natural History Museum. In
Malta attention was soon attracted to the rapid
spotting and destruction of tentage—awnings last there
only about a vear. The investigators found that the
principal agents of destruction of cotton- and flax-
made canvas are Macrosporium and Stemphylium. The
latter is the more prevalent in Malta, and could be
isolated by exposing culture plates to the air. The
colours of the spots on canvas correspond to the
colours seen in cultures, being first brown and then
black. The variation in the colour of the spots,
especially noticed in flax-made and more resistant
canvas, was found to be due to other fungi in asso-
ciation with the above genera—Septoria, Alternaria,
Helminthosporium, Chatomium, Exosporium, Peni-
cilllum, Oospora, Torula, Saccharomyces, and yellow
pigment-forming and other air-borne bacteria. Though
564
NATURE
[JULY I, 1920
these fungi may assist in the destruction, no -proof
was obtained that this took place without the presence
of Macrosporium and Stemphylium. The fungi grew
well on Sabouraud’s medium and on ordinary agar.
According to the author, the first signs of fungoid
growth appear on the inner side of the roof portions
of tents and marquees. Often within three months
pressure on the spots made by the fungi leads to per-
foration, or a strong wind causes tearing.
Cotton and linen duck-canvases ready for tent-mak-
ing were examined, but, though the flax fibres were in
good condition, brown mycelium was found more or
less in abundance. It is suggested that the’ fungi
reach and begin growth during the retting of the
flax, though they may be present on the growing
plant. Mycelium was not found on new cotton-made
canvas, and ‘‘this is not surprising when its method
of preparation is studied.” It is not, however, prob-
able that the infection of linen canvas is restricted to
the period of retting. Guéguen (Nature, vol. xcix.,
1917, p. 206) was of the opinion that fungi from the
dead stems of the textile plant were introduced
amongst the fibres. This might account for their
absence from new cotton-made canvas, but there is
little doubt that both linen and cotton canvas often
become infected after having been made up.
Experiments showed that the Willesden (cupram-
monium) method and cutch treatment prevented the
growth of the fungi. A method suggested by Prof.
Pinoy (soft soap 1 in 5000 solution, followed by a
mixture of 1 per cent. of alum and CuSO,) greatly
inhibited the growth, and its extended employment in
Malta gave very satisfactory results. Mango-treated
canvas was in no way inhibitive.
No mention is made as to whether the ‘ cutch’”’ was
the ordinary commercial cutch (product of Acacia,
etc.) or whether it was sodium chromate, which was
used in certain areas. In Salonika this was found
the best preventive for ‘‘diamond spot’’ on com-
parison with Guéguen’s and Pinoy’s treatments, and
was at the same time a satisfactory camouflage.
J. Ramssottom.
The Economic Pursuits of the Trobriand
Islanders.
a a meeting of the Royal Anthropological Institute
held on Tuesday, June 1, Mr. S. H. Ray, vice-
president, in the chair, Dr. B. Malinowski read a paper
on ‘‘ The Economic Pursuits of the Trobriand Islanders.’
In his opening remarks Dr. Malinowski criticised the
methods usually followed by observers in dealing with
the economics of primitive peoples. _Whereas it was
usually held that such peoples were preoccupied solely
with obtaining an adequate individual food supply, he
had found that, at any rate among the peoples which
had come under his observation, there was a highly
complex economic organisation. In support of his
view he described the economic system of the natives
of Kiriwina or the Trobriand Islands, lying to the
north of easternmost New Guinea. These natives are
very efficient and industrious tillers of the soil. Agri-
cultural production is highly organised, being based
upon two social forces: the power of the chief and
the influence of magic. The chief is overlord of the
garden-land, and initiates in each season the allotment
of garden-plots to individuals and settles any disputes
about garden-land; he finances any communal work
to which the natives resort when clearing the bush,
planting the yams, and bringing to the gardens the
big, heavy poles used in connection with magical rites.
On the other hand, the traditional garden magician
controls the detailed proceedings of the work and
performs magical rites at each stage.
No. 2644, VOL. 105 |
_ There are several customary forms of communal
work. An interesting institution of ceremonial enter-
prise, called Kayasa, is applied to gardening, fishing, -
oversea expeditions, and industrial activities, as w
as to tribal sports, games, and dancing. Such a
period of communal work is announced by the chief,
who gives a big feast, which is followed during the
continuation of the work by periodical distributions of
food. Fishing, the building of houses and canoes, and
other economic activities are based upon organisations
similar to that of gardening. All are dependent upon
the social power of the chief and the influence of the
respective magician.
The distribution of the products is as highly
organised as the production. The producer receives
a certain portion, but a considerable part is used for
the financing of big tribal enterprises through the
chief, and another part is transformed into permanent
wealth. By various tributes, dues, and offerings the
chief collects about 30-50 per cent. of the tribal wealth,
and he is the only member of the community who is
allowed on a large scale to transform it into permanent
wealth. This he does by keeping a number of indus-
trial workers dependent on himself, who, for payment
in food, produce polished ‘ceremonial ’’? axe-blades,
neck-strings of red shell discs, and arm-shells made of
the conus shell, which are of very high value in the
eves of the natives, form the -foundation of certain
kinds of native trade, and are an indispensable feature
of the social organisation of the natives. Every im-
portant transaction, whether ceremony or magical rite,
birth, death, or marriage, has to be accompanied by
gift and counter-gift. These are arranged, as a rule. ~
so that while one party gives a substantial present of
food, the other offers one of the tokens of native
wealth, such as a ceremonial axe-blade, an arm-shell,
or a string of shell discs. The powers of the chief are
largely exercised through economic means. In inter- —
tribal affairs the chief backs up with gifts his summons —
to arms of his vassals, and the conclusion of peace
after hostilities; and the same method of remunera-
tion was followed when, in his narrower jurisdiction.
direct punishment was meted out by ordering a special —
henchman to kill the offender or by calling upon a
sorcerer to cast an evil spell on the victim. In both
cases pavment for the service was made in native
tokens of wealth. These tokens of wealth have some-
times been designated by the term ‘“‘money,”? but —
rather they represent stored-up wealth. Although a
basketful of yams, a set of four coconuts, or a bundle _
of taro is, to a great extent, the common measure of ~
value, there is no article among these peoples which, :
properly speaking, fulfils the function of a medium of
exchange. 4
Two of these tokens of wealth, the arm-shells and
the necklaces of shell beads, are used for a remark- —
able form of trade, called by the natives. Kula, which e
embraces a ring of islands and archipelagoes lying to
the east and north-east of British New Guinea, ineg
which these two articles circulate in opposite direc- —
tions. They are constantly being exchanged, scarcely —
>
he owns a great
As a result of this:
3
eee
4
4 Jury I, 1920]
NATURE
565
estigation it would appear that chieftainship, kin-
ip, and social organisation in general are intimately
up with the economic organisation.
In the discussion which followed the reading of the
r all the speakers emphasised the value and
iginality of the view of primitive culture which Dr.
Ma ski had formulated in his interesting com-
“munication. Prof. Seligman asked how far the
elaborate organisation of garden cultivation depended
upon the existence of the chieftainship. Among the
Southern Massim of New Guinea, for instance, there
were no chiefs, and the native social organisation was
‘based upon the hamlet.’ Had the elaborate garden
organisation been observed among such peoples?
_ Sir James Frazer agreed that the economic aspect
of primitive culture had not been adequately studied.
It was interesting to note how the tribal economics
were saturated with magic, and how the fallacy of
magic still persisted among people who had developed
a high system of agriculture. The mention of torches
dee y by the magician in the ceremonies led him to
compare the torches to which reference was made in
ee Greesk legends of Demeter’s search for Persephone.
_ Was it possible that these torches represented a sur-
vival of a use of torches in early Greek agricultural
_ ceremonies similar to that to which they were put in
_ the Trobriands?
_ Mrs. Routledge suggested that an analogous com-
_ plexity of economic organisation might be found
among the people of East Africa with whom: Mr.
R and herself had come into contact, where
ivory played an important part.
e. Me Ray said that Dr.
_ new view of ethnological investigation to the institute.
Some 6f the ceremonies described by him suggested
' ceremonies from the other end of Melanesia, namelv,
Loyalty Island and New Caledonia. where the agricul-
tural operations were directed by the chief, who pre-
scribed what ground should be put under cultivation,
the kind of crop, and the like, and received the first
and best of the produce. Was it possible that these
i “x economic svstems existed wherever there were
chiefs whose position, power, and prerogatives de-
4 upon the fact that they were of extraneous
: The lecturer in his replv stated that although garden
-magic was carried out by the Southern Massim at
s
Dobu. cultivation was not accompanied by such a
complex organisatiori for distribution.
| The Organisation of Scientific Work in
India.
4% HE Indian Industrial Commission during its tour
through India found that all was not well with
_the scientific worker, especially in connection with the
Ps eg of his work, to industrial development.
While stating specifically in its report that ‘“‘ we do not
propose to deal with the general problems of pure
‘scientific research,’’ it adds: ‘*We were impressed
by the value of the work which had already been done
in the organised laboratories, and by the absolutely
unanimous opinion which was expressed by ail
Gelentific officers as to. the inadequacy of the staffs in
point of numbers. Everywhere we were brought face
to face with unsolved problems, requiring scientific
investigation on an extended scale. On the one side,
We saw the results. accomplished by enthusiastic
Scientists, which, regarded from the purely economic
aspect of the question, have added enormously to the
productive capacity of India; on the other side, we
were told by forest officers, agriculturists and indigo
planters, ensineers, and manufacturers, of the limita-
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
alinowski had submitted a-
tions placed upon the development of their work and
the frequency with which they were brought to a
standstill by a lack of knowledge regarding matters
which could only be ascertained by systematic research
work.’’ It is clear from these and other passages that
the Industrial Commission desired to direct attention
to the necessity for the elaboration of some scheme by
which an organised attack might be made on the
large number of problems awaiting solution in con-
nection with the development of industry, and the
conclusion reached is that ‘‘the maintenance of a staff
of suitable technologists and scientific experts is essen-
tial to industrial development.”’
The Commission then gives its reasons for consider-
ing that it is the duty of the State to provide the
necessary facilities, and concludes: ‘‘We have thus
no hesitation in recommending a very substantial
increase in the scientific and technical services as .
essential to industrial development.’’ A general dis-
cussion follows as to the relative merits of a system
in which the science is the bond, and one in which
the bond is formed by the application of the sciences
dealt with. In the first case the Geological Survey is
given as an example, and the Agricultural and Forest
Departments are quoted as examples of the second.
But it is clear that the Commission was fully alive
to the difference between a service and a denartment,
and realised that the differentiation given above was
the same as that between a service and a department,
because it says: ‘‘The constitution of a certain
number of scientific services based on the assumption
that the science itself is a chief link between all
members does not prevent the formation of depart-
ments, either Imperial or provincial, where the applica-
tion of various sciences is the chief bond of union.”’
The essential difference between the two types of
organisation is clearlv indicated in subjoined extracts
from a despatch of the Government of India.
The Commission states that its proposals in the
case of chemistry will have to be submitted to a
special committee, and that it ‘hesitates to offer sug-
gestions in greater detail regarding the organisation
of the Imperial scientific services for bacteriology,
botany, and zoology, as we consider that the best plan
will be the appointment of special small committees
for the purpose of formulating proposals.’’ The first
of these, that for chemistry, has now reported, and
the report is open for discussion. As regards other
sciences, it would be best to await the reports of the
aha committees before offering any remarks upon
them.
The following extracts from the Government of
India’s dispatch dated June 4, 1919. place in a very
clear light the intentions which underlie the recom-
mendations of the Commission :-—
The Scientific Services.
One of the main proposals refers to the constitution
of scientific services and of an industrial service. The
Commission direct attention to the extreme import-
ance of research under modern industrial conditions,
and to the especial needs of India, in view of her vast
unexploited resources in raw material and of the
paucity of her scientific workers. They criticise the
complete lack of organisation among men of science
employed by the Government, and describe the diffi-
culties, both administrative and technical, to which
this gives rise. The Commission recommend as a
remedy the creation of a similar mechanism to that
through which the Central and Local Governments
have hitherto carried out almost all their most im-
portant activities, especially those requiring technical
knowledge, viz. all-India services; and they discuss
the basis on which these services should be con-
566
NATURE
[JuLy 1, 1920
stituted. The Commission propose the creation, not
of scientific departments, but of scientific services—
an essential distinction which has been clearly brought
out in the replies of Local Governments, though it
has not been so clearly apprehended by critics of the
proposal. The Commission contemplate the recruit-
ment of officers into separate scientific services, such
as a Chemical, Botanical, or Zoological Service, for
employment under Imperial and provincial depart-
ments, such as Forests and Agriculture, which deal
with the application of a number of separate sciences.
They propose that scientific officers in the employ. of
the Government, instead of being recruited in small
numbers or single units into the different services
which happen to require them, should be recruited as
experts in their several sciences into scientific ser-
vices, each with its appropriate conditions of qualifica-
tion, pay, pension, and promotion. Although the ser-
vices will be distinct entities for the above purposes,
yet the only members of those services that will not
be actually employed under the various departments
that require their services will consist of a central
staff, engaged under such officers, for instance, as
Deputy Chief Chemists, at research centres, in
scientific work. This central agency will also serve
as a reservoir to meet the demands that may be put
forward by other departments or by Local Govern-
ments for men to undertake temporary special inves-
tigations, to fill new posts or leave vacancies, or for
the replacement of existing officers.
The head of each scientific service would thus exer-
cise an influence over the members of his service in
matters scientific, by the check of scientific results,
and by the provision of advice and criticism on
scientific work, whether for Local Governments or for
research workers. It is not, we understand, pro-
sed by the Commission, nor do we ourselves con-
template, that he should actually control vesearch
work in the sense of ordering definite problems to
be taken up by officers serving under Local Govern-
ments, or should turn his department into a gang of
hack researchers. We rely on constant correspondence
between scientific officers of the same caste and
periodical conferences as sufficient to correlate research
programmes.
Local Governments and heads of Departments find
the greatest difficulty in forming an opinion of the
work done by men of science employed under them,
or of the probable value of lines of research proposed
by their officers. Should the administrative authority
consider the results obtained by a man of science un-
satisfactory, it is almost ‘impossible to obtain an
authoritative opinion on his work or qualifications ; or
to say whether he might not do better in another post ;
or to find such a post for him. The difficulties aris-
ing from the existence of isolated specialists in a
department are, in fact, notorious.
The impossibility of applying any common measure
in determining the respective claims to promotion of a
botanist, a chemist, an engineer, and a political
economist has been recognised in the existing services
bv the creation of separate posts on a time-scale. But
this does not get over the difficulties already indicated,
or supply the proper incentive to the research worker,
or afford scope or prospects for men of more than
average ability. The absence of such prospects is
bound to militate against our chances of obtaining
good recruits, to render our staff discontented, and
to prevent our securing the best work from the best
men.
Moreover, so long as students of a particular science
are recruited sporadically on ‘behalf of different
departments as vacancies occur, the Government will
have to accept the men that happen to be left over,
whatever their qualifications, after other and more
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
ee: =e
regular demands have been supplied. The pr
of regular annual recruitment will enable the Ge m-
ment of India to fill its future demands for men of —
science, as it has hitherto done for engineers, forest
officers, and medical men. en ae
The present system, under which the only chemists
employed by the State are scattered through numerous
departments without any organisation that can mar-
shal the chemical forces of the country to attack
problems of national importance, can give no help
towards an active Mdustrial policy. abana
We might quote as illustrating the inspiring value
of a central co-ordinating authority, the work under-
taken by the Munitions Board through its chemical
adviser. The report of the conference of chemists
at Lahore shows that even our isolated and scattered
chemists can be moulded into one team for the pur-
pose of suggesting new lines of research and means
for turning the results to practical account without
overlapping and consequent waste of effort. — ¢
This experience, in the light of the magnificent
results obtained in England by the Research Com-
mittee of the Privy Council, shows clearly how much |
may be expected from a system which provides a —
permanent organic connection between all chemists —
in Government employ. Se ee
The importance of a common system of recruit-
ment and of a common service has recently ~ q
recognised by the council of the Institute of!
try in the United Kingdom (vide Pr
Institute of Chemistry, 1918, part iv.,
representation submitted by them to all
;
nt
ri
~~ bh
state their opinion that “the time is opportune fe
grant-in-aid, whereas in India the
precisely the opposite, rel
primarily on State chemists. We therefore agree will
the Commission that the advancement of indus
in India must depend for scientific assistance almos
entirely on State-employed men, and these men wii
be far more concerned with the initiation of importan
new lines of development and research and far les
with merely routine work than is the case in Englanc
The need of organisation is the greater in that th
functions of Indian State chemists are more importan
to the country; while their greater isolation and tf
conseauent absence of a scientific atmosphere furnis
an additional argument. The case for a Stat
chemical service is thus even stronger in India tha
in England. : dg
We are much influenced by the prospects which f
proposed system affords of increasing the number
ah
ie
P
ey
ULY 1, 1920]
NATURE
507
ans in the scientific services. An Indian appointed
isolated post, or as an assistant to an isolated
sor in a country where the scientific atmosphere
-existent, or at the best exceedingly attenuated,
2 C >
it of scientific knowledge. His ambitions tend
some limited to the improvement of his pay and
ts rather than of his professional attainments.
embership of an all-India service, based on the
it of a common science, will increase the pres-
e of that science in his eyes and in those of the
idian public; the existence of the proposed Imperial
us of scientific workers under a distinguished
f will provide him with an incitement to excel
with assistance in his studies and with opportunity for
training if he desires it.
_ The Commission propose that, if the principle of
entific services is approved, committees should be
pointed to formulate proposals for the permanent
ganisation and the terms of employment of each
service, and for the location and equipment of
arch laboratories. We support this recommenda-
ion, subject to the condition that the terms of refer-
nce to each committee should include a direction to
report as to the advisability of constituting all-India
services for each well-defined: science.
_ Without anticipating the conclusions of the pro-
posed committees, we think it desirable, in view of
criticisms which have been expressed, to indicate
certain principles in the general administration of
_ these services which should govern the relations
between the members of the scientific services and
‘the heads of departments and provincial Govern-
ments, under whom many of them will be employed.
We do not think that members of scientific services
should be seconded by the method which the Com-
ssion propose, viz. by deputation for periods of five
rs at a time; but we consider that (as in the case
other services) an officer, when once placed per-
_manently under the orders of a local Government,
should remain with the Government for the rest of
his service, unless the Government under which he
‘serving itself desires his transfer, or unless his
' services are required in a higher post or in a post
_ requiring special qualifications outside the province, in
which case the local Government will recognise that
whi
the Imperial Government has a claim on them. This
is the system which exists at present in respect of all
Local Governments would have complete liberty to
appoint, after consulting the head of the service, to
ES Poe | . . . . .
any post in their industrial or scientific cadre, any
available member of the respective services; they
' would also be at liberty, in the special circumstances
arising during the initial stages, to appoint to such
posts men outside the service; but the subsequent
admission to the all-India service of men so appointed
would be entirely controlled by the Secretary of State.
» local Governments universally support the pro-
posed scheme of scientific serviges, and though the
Governments of the Punjab, the United Provinces,
and Bombay, and the officers and public bodies con-
_ sulted by them, put forward certain criticisms of the
_ scheme, especially with reference to the position of
men of science in the Education Department, these
"criticisms are, we think, fully met by the foregoing
explanation of the lines on which we think the pro-
posed services should be administered.
We desire, however, to add a few remarks with
“special reference to the case of science teachers. We
_fuilv recognise that much is required of a scientific
(| oeeae in a college, outside his scientific work.
_ He must look on himself as a member of the body
responsible for the tone of the college and for its
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
ce and the stimulus of his fellows in the.
general success. It will, therefore, we agree, be
most undesirable that such a man should continuously
have in mind the possibility of promotion outside his
own departament.. We think, however, that this’
difficulty will be obviated by the general principle laid
down.by us above, viz. that members of scientific ser-
vices serving under the Department of Education
should not be removed from that Department, unless
at the request of the educational authorities, or for
posts requiring high administrative capacity, or special
scientific qualifications.
The advantage to the Education Department of a
system of scientific services will still be very con-
siderable. In the first place, we consider that,
though university and college science workers should
be by no means entirely divorced from technical re-
search, their main sphere of activity should lie among
problems of pure science. The proposed central
scientific organisation should afford a means whereby
such problems arising in the course of technical re-
search can be referred to university and college
laboratories.
Such co-ordination, both in respect of pure science
problems and technical problems, can be most readily
effected in cases where the educational researchers
are themselves members of a scientific service. This
policy will doubtless stimulate the interest in research
work taken by students and professors. Officers who
have entered the educational service as teachers may
be in some cases expected to develop as research
workers. The existence of all-India scientific services
will afford a ready means for accommodating men
whose aims in life have thus been divérted from one
form of work to another. In the next place, the
present system of recruitment of men of science into
the Educational Service is capable of improvement,
and far better results could be obtained with the aid
and advice of watchful central agencies in India.
The absence of a scientific atmosphere, again, has
been particularly injurious to scientific officers in the
Educational Service, and has led to great stagnation
in respect of research work. This atmosphere will in
future reach individual officers by the numerous
channels of communication which will be created
between them and the central agency on_ technical
subjects, whether by way of correspondence, confer-
ences, and scientific publications, by the central staff’s
tours of inspection, or by officers spending some por-
tion of their vacations at research institutes. The
case of men of science at present employed under the
Department of Education will obviously require care-
ful treatment; such men should not be allowed to
join the scientific services as a matter of course, but
each case will have to be considered on its merits,
and there may still be classes of appointments for
which men will have to be recruited independently.
Further, the whole question, so far as it affects the
employment of officers with scientific qualifications in
colleges and universities, will have to be reviewed in
connection with the proposals of the Calcutta Uni-
versity Commission regarding .recruitment.
In addition to the opinions expressed in the letters
received from local Governments, two important con-
ferences of chemists have recently put forward their
views on the Commission’s proposals., A record of
their discussions is appended. A full meeting of the
Sectional Conference of Agricultural Chemists at Pusa
in February passed the following resolution :—
“That this Conference considers that, in view of
the intense local knowledge required for effective
work for agricultural improvement by _ chemical
methods, it is not desirable that the chemists in the
Agricultural Departments should be formed into a
service apart from the ordinary agricultural service,
568
NATURE
[JuLy 1, 1920 ©
in which the bond of union would be the science
rather than its application. On the other hand, in
addition to agricultural chemists attached to the Pro-
vincial Departments, this Conference is» definitely of
opinion that a strong central body of chemists should
be maintained by the Imperial Department of Agri-
culture from whom Provincial Departments could
draw for the investigation of special problems.”’
The main objection taken was, it will be observed,
based on the idea that men would usually be trans-
ferred after five-year’ periods. We have explained
already that such idea forms no part’ of the system
which we contemplate. It is also significant that the
same resolution declared the necessity of a strong —
central body of chemists for the Department of Agri-
culture; and, it may be added, the same meeting
pointed out the desirability of equipping the agricul-
tural research organisation to deal with certain indus-
trial problems arising out of agricultural research.
The sum of these conclusions seems to point to the
desirability of supplying some agency which can cor-
relate chemical research with agricultural and indus-
trial problems, and of avoiding the needless expense
of creating separate research nuclei for dealing with
each separate class of chemical problems.
A conference of chemists was convened in Lahore
in January, 1918, by the Indian Munitions Board.
It included not only Government officers, but also
chemists attached to missionary colleges and em-
ploved under. private firms. The conference passed
no formal resolution, but strongly supported the pro-
posed system of scientific services.
University and Educational Intelligence.
CaMBRIDGE.—As stated in our issue of June 24
(p. 537), a donation of 1oool. has been received for the
provision of lectures on tropical agriculture for five
years. Dr. C. A. Barber has been appointed as
lecturer in tropical agriculture.
Dr. F. W. Aston has been elected to a fellowship in
Trinity College.
In presenting Sir Joseph Thomson and Sir Joseph
Larmor for honorary degrees at Cambridge recently,
the Public Orator spoke as follows: ‘‘ Democritus,
philosophus ille antiquus, ut mundum explicaret,
atomos finxit, solida rerum primordia, non partium
conventu conciliata,
‘sed magis zterna pollentia simplicitate.’
Sed, ut discipulus illius ait, difficile est credere in rebus
esse quidquam solido corpore, quod demonstravit Pro-
fessor noster. Atomum enim ipsum ingressus, partes
discrevit, ordinavit, legibus subjecit. Immo ut Grzecus
ex atomo xéopor eduxit, Anglus in atomum xkécpor
introduxit. Et multa quidem ejusmodi investigavit,
quze dicere non concedit Latini sermonis egestas; hoc
saltem concedit exponere, quanta universorum letitia
collegio suo Magistrum a Rege impositum nuper
viderimus.’’ And: ‘‘Adest alter e burgensibus
nostris, idem rei physicze Professor, Isaaci Newton
et Georgii Gabrielis Stokes non indignus successor,
Societatis Regiz olim a_ secretis, qui scientias
innumeras provinciam sibi depoposcit et illustravit.
Ut carmen quoddam cenaticum discipulorum com-
memoremus
‘gthera materiemque electraque cogitat ille
somnia que possint mentes confringere nostras.’
Sed quem mundus ut virum sollertem ingeniosum
sapientem miratur, illum collegium suum amicum
diligit, providum modestum fidelem. Quem si
amplissimis honoribus hodie extollit Academia nostra,
hoc multe et apud nos et apud exteros facere
occupaverunt.’’
- NO, 2644, VOL. 105]
EpinsurGH.—Her Majesty the Queen has consented
to accept the honorary degree of LL.D. on the occa-
sion of the impending laying of the foundation-stone
of the new chemistry department. ee ete
Giascow.—The degree of. D.Sc. was conferred on
June 23 on the following :—P. A. Hillhouse, for his
thesis “Ship Stability and Trim,” with other papers,
and D. B. Meek, for his thesis ‘Cyclonic Storms in
the Bay of Bengal for a period of thirty years, from
1886 to 1915 inclusive, with special reference to their.
Location and Direction of Motion,” with other papers.
On the same occasion the following special class”
prizes were awarded :— Mathematics (Advanced
Honours Class): The Cunninghame gold medal to
J. M‘Kinnell. Natural Philosophy (Ordinary Class) :
The Cleland gold medal to D. H. Findlay. Political
Economy: The Alexander Smart memorial prize to
Stewart Mechie. Moral Philosophy (Honours Class) :
The Edward Caird medal to 1. W. Phillips. 3
On June 24 the degree of LL.D. was conferred on
Dr. J. MacIntyre and Sir Robert W. Philip. — ¥
Lonpon.—At a meeting of the Senate on June 23
Dr. S. Russell Wells was re-elected Vice-Chancellor
for the year 1920-21. Me as 4
Communications were received from the Uni a
College Committee and from the Dean of the Uni-_
versity College Hospital Medical School, setting forth
respectively the terms of the recently published offers”
made by the Rockefeller Foundation to present (a) to
the University, on behalf of University College, the —
sum of 370,000l., and (b) to University College Hos.
pital Medical School the sum of 835,000l., or the |
advancement of medical education and research.
Resolutions were adopted expressing the Senate’
grateful appreciation of the pat i
\
cent generosi
shown by the Trustees of the Foundation to the U
versity and to the Medical School of University CG
lege Hospital, and accepting the offer made for t
benefit of University College. . 4
Mr. A. E. Jolliffe, tutor in mathematics at Corpus _
Christi College, Oxford, was appointed to the
University chair of mathematics tenable at the Royal —
(professor
n Y
University chair of physiology tenable at St. M
Political Science; T. E. G. Gregory to the Sir
Ernest Cassel readership in commerce, with special
reference to foreign trade, tenable at the London
School of Economics and Political Science; Mr. D.
Knoop to the Sir Ernest Cassel: readership in com-
merce, with special reference to the organisation of
industry and trade in the United Kingdom,. tenable
at the London School of Economics and Political
Science; Mr. H. Dalton to the Sir Ernest Cassel’
readership in commerce, with special reference to
tariffs and taxation, tenable at the London School of
Economics and Political Science; Mr. Ll, Rodwell
Jones to the University lectureship in commerce, with
special reference to commercial geography, tenable at
the London School of Economics and Political Science ;
Mr. J. D. Smith to the University lectureship in com-
merce, with special reference to business organisation,
tenable at the London School of Economies and
Political Science; and Mr. T. A. Joynt to the Univer-
sity lectureship in commerce, with special reference t
transport and shipping, tenable at the London School
of Economics and Political Science. © --
Grants from the Dixon Fund for 1920-21 wert
ane |
Juty 1, 1920]
NATURE
569
made to Mr. A. S. E. Ackermann, for researches into
the physical properties of clay; Mr. J. T. Carter, for
resea 2s on the minute structure of the teeth of
fossil mammalia; Mr. L. T. Hogben, for researches
on the influence of ductless glands; Miss M. A.
Murray, for the study of anthropolgy in Egypt; Dr.
_ F. J. North, for preparing illustrations for work in
_ palzontology; Mr. A. K. Wells, for the conduct of
a geological survey of part of Merionethshire; and
_ Dr. C. West, for researches on the effect of environ-
_ ment factors on the growth of Helianthus.
__ The degree of Bachelor of Science in household and
- social science for internal students is to be instituted.
4 | Mr. -P. J. Hartoc, Academic Registrar of the
_ University of London, has been. appointed Vice-
_ Chancellor of the University of Dacca, Bengal.
Dr. R. E. M. Wueeter has been appointed keeper
of the department of archeology in the National
Museum of Wales, and lecturer in archeology in the
University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire.
- Win reference to the recent offer by the Govern-
ment of a site for the- University of London (see
yx YATURE, May 27, p. 404), a largely attended meeting
- of the council of the University of London Graduates’
_ Association was of the opinion that the ‘offer of
“land on the Duke of Bedford’s estate, accompanied
_ by an undefined maintenance grant now made by the
Government, is in no sense an equivalent for the
accommodation as at present guaranteed by the
Government, and does not comply with the stipula-
3 Rene laid down by the Senate.”
_ Tue following bequests, among others, of the late
Dr. Rudolf. Messel have recently been published :—
- 5000l, to Royal Institution of Great Britain; 1oool.
to the Chemical Society ; 20001. and his platinum still,
“in which I carried out with W. S. Squire my
ments in connection with the decomposition of
siliaiwicic acid,” to Mr. Squire, requesting him on his
death to leave it to the Society of Chemical Industry ;
his platinum crucible to the Society of Chemical Indus-
try; and his electric telephone by Reis to the Institu-
tion of Electrical Engineers. The residue of the property
is to be divided into five parts, four of which are to go to
the Royal Society and one to the Society of Chemical
Industry, the wish being expressed that the fund shall
be kept separate from the funds of the society, the
capital to be kept intact, and the whole of the income
exp in the furtherance of scientific research and
other scientific objects, and that no part thereof shall
be applied for charitable objects, as the granting of
pensions and the like.
_ Federation of University Women will be held at
Bedford College, London, on July 12-14. The federa-
tion has been formed to promote understanding and
' fellowship between educated women of different
nations, and to unite them into a league to further
_ their common interests and to strengthen the founda-
tions of international.sympathy which must form the
basis of the League of Nations. The practical means
by which the federation seeks to realise its aims are:
rganisation of a system of exchange of lecturers
olars of different universities. (2) Provision
of international scholarships and travelling fellowships,
i ly the endowment of post-graduate and. re-
search scholarships. (3) Establishment of. club-rooms
and hostels for international hospitality in the various
centres of university life. (4) Useful co-operation with
the National Bureaux of Education in the various
countries... Further information may be obtained from
the acting secretary, Miss T. Bosanquet, Universities
Bureau of the British Empire, 50. Russell Square,
London, W.C.r.
NO. 2644, VOL. 105] _
(1) 0
‘tents are occasioned by existent reality.
Tue first annual conference of the International .
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Aristotelian Society, June 7.—Prof. Wildon Carr,
vice-president, in the chair.—Rev. A. E, Davies:
Anselm’s problem of truth and existence. The famous
proof of the existence of God is not purely ontological,
but rather the verification of a specitic mode of experi-
ence termed ‘‘faith.’’ In Anselm’s words, it is ‘ faith
seeking understanding,’’ and by “faith’’ is meant a
mode of immediate apprehension, awareness of
God. Two stages are distinguishable in the reason-
ing. The first seeks to prove that we must think of
ultimate reality in terms of existence. Here the
appeal is to logical thought. In the second stage
Anselm proves that this ultimate reality is his per-
sonal God. Here the appeal is to experience. The
argument implies that truth and existence are two
ultimate forms of reality: existence is the reality of
things, truth the validity of thought-contents. Hence
truth must be sought in terms of validity. This is
the logical character of the ‘‘proof.’? We can “only
know as perfectly as possible.’? We know existent
reality only as our thinking is valid, and we cannot
think validly that God is non-existent. Between these
two ultimate forms of reality is presupposed a funda-
mental agreement, such that the relations of thought
validly represent the real relations of things. For
Anselm such agreement has its ground in God. A
second implication is that when thinking is valid it
starts from existence, in the same sense that its con-
So that
without experience we cannot know. The ethical
character of the basic conception of God proves it to
be no mere thought-product—that is, knowledge pre-
supposes a mode of reality dissimilar from itself.
Zoological Society, June 15.—Prof. E. W. MacBride,
vice-president, in the chair:—Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell ;
Report on the additions to the sdciety’s menagerie
during the month of May, 1920.—Prof. J. E. Duerden :
Exhibition of and remarks upon a series of ostrich
eggs.—Miss Joan B. Proctor: (1) A collection of tail-
less batrachians from East Africa made by Mr. A.
Loveridge in the years 1914-19. (2) The type-speci-
men of Rana Holsti, Boulenger.—R. I. Pocock: The
external and cranial characters of the European
badger (Meles) and the American badger (Taxidea).—
Dr. R. J. Tillyard: Life-history of the dragon-fly,
with special reference to Australasian forms.
Mineralogical Society, June 15.—Dr. A. E. H. Tutton,
past president, in the chair.—F. P. Mennell : Rare zinc-
copper minerals from the Rhodesian Broken Hill
Mine, Northern Rhodesia. Copper minerals, including
malachite, chessylite, copper-glance, and undetermined
phosphates, are of rare occurrence in the lead-zinc ore
of this locality. Still rarer are the copper-zinc minerals
aurichalcite and veszelyite; the latter forms minute
sky-blue monoclinic crystals (a:b: c=9-71:1:0-95),
and differs from the original mineral from Hungary
in its colour and in containing little or no arsenic.—
Prof. R. Ohashi: Note on the plumbiferous barytes
from Shibukuro, Prefecture of Akita, Japan. This
mineral, which is deposited as a white to brownish-
yellow crystalline crust in the fissures and near the
orifices of hot springs, is similar to the mineral
recently ‘called ‘‘hokutolite”” from Taiwan (=For-
mosa); it contains 4-69 to 17-78 per cent. of PbO, and
is radio-active—W. A. Richardson: The fibrous
gypsum of Nottinghamshire. The relation to the
nodular types of gypsum of the fibrous veins of the
mineral, which are associated with every other type
of gypsum deposit in the district and occur at levels
579
NATURE
[JULY I, 1920
where there is no other development of the mineral,
was considered. Most of these veins are regarded as
having been formed shortly after the nodular deposits.
The fibres grew upwards and downwards from a plane
in the marl, and were probably deposited by descend-
ing solutions, being precipitated at planes of tension
in a contracting medium. The veins of fibrous
calcium carbonate of ‘‘beef’’ described by Dr. Lang
show similar structure and field relations, and doubt-
less originated under similar conditions.—W. A.
Richardson: A new model rotating-stage petrological
microscope. This instrument is intended as a sub-
stitute for the larger pre-war models, which at the
present time could be manufactured only at very high
prices. It is provided with a mechanical stage inter-
changeable with a plane stage and a conventional sub-
stage, and provision is made for rapid change from
parallel to convergent polarised light. Owing to the
reduction in size, a rotation of 270° only can be pro-
vided for the rotating stage.—W. Barlow: Models
illustrating the atomic arrangement in potassium
chloride, ammonium chloride, and tartaric acid. In
the case of the chlorides the suggested structure recon-
ciles the X-ray phenomena with the crystalline sym-
metry. The arrangement proposed for tartaric acid
agrees with the graphical formula of the chemists, and
the molecular groups have the symmetry and relative
dimensions of the crystals.
Royal Meteorological Society, June 16.—Mr. R. H.
Hooker, president, in the chair.—W. H. Dines: The
ether differential radiometer. This instrument has
been designed to measure the radiation from the sky
after sunset. It consists of two glass test-tubes
containing air and a few drops
nected by a glass U-shaped tube containing ether to
serve as a pressure-gauge. Each test-tube is pro
vided with a movable shield, which protects it from
draughts and allows radiation from one direction only
to fall upon it. It is used by first directing radiation
from the sky upon one of the test-tubes, and then
radiation from a “black”? body at a known tempera-
ture. The known temperature is adjusted until the
change has no effect upon the pressure-gauge, and
when this is the case it may be assumed that the
radiant energy absorbed by the test-tube from the
sky is the same as that from the black body, whence
the radiation from the sky is found by a table. The
equivalent radiation temperature of the sky is often
below o° F., and a method is shown by which in
this case the skv radiation can be found without the
use of freezing mixtures. This is done by com-
pensating the small radiation from the sky by the
excess of radiation from a hot body, so that neutral
effect is obtained. The method of calculation and of
making up the results is given.—Prof. S. Chapman
and E. A. Milne: The composition, ionisation, and
viscosity of the atmosphere at great heights. In’ the
stratosphere, owing to the absence of large-scale
mixing, the different constituents of the atmosphere
must tend to separate out by. diffusion. so that the
composition varies with the height: in particular,
well-known calculations have shown that, on the usual
assumption of the presence of free hydrogen, the
atmosphere above 1-9 km. must consist almost en-
tirely of hydrogen. The authors criticise this assump-
tion; an examination of the evidence renders uncertain
the actual existence of this hvdrogen atmosphere,
and the authors accordingly recalculate the variation
of composition with height on the assumption that
hvdrogen is absent. Jn this case helium, the next
lightest element, is the predominating constituent
above too km. The results are then used to make
an estimate of the depth to which o-. B-, or y-radia-
tion arriving from an extra-terrestrial source would
NO. 2644, VOL. 105]
of ether con-
penetrate the atmosphere. It appears that the range
of a-particles would extend down to about 80 km.,
some 20 km. below the auroral zone. In the case of —
B- and y-radiation it is found that the maximum —
absorption, and consequently the maximum ionisation,
should occur at heights of about 50 km. and 25 km, ©
respectively. In each case the region of appreciable
ionisation would be confined to a layer of km,
thickness, and the unexpected result emerges that the -
layers would be comparatively sharply defined at their
under-surfaces, which practically coincide with the
positions of the maxima. ‘These estimates have an
interesting bearing on recent theories of the existence
of ionised layers in the atmosphere. Lastly, attention -
is directed to the fact that at great heights, though —
the coefficient of viscosity is little altered, the density
is so small that the effective viscosity is very high,
so that any large-scale motion must die down
immediately. as
Royal Microscopical Society, June 16.—Mr. A. N
Disney, vice-president, in the chair.—L. T. Hogben
The problem of synapsis. The data of Mendelian
for cor-
in many cases biparental, inheritance of ar
The theory of synapsis postulates the conjugatic
the meiotic phase of homologous chromosomes |
from alternate parents preparatory to their segre
in the reduction division, and thus affords <
pretation of gametic purity and allelomorphi
theory itself rests upon the assumption of —
sistent individuality of chromosomes and the
organisation of the nuclear reticulum. The
the meiotic phase raises three questions: (a) Is th
an actual-conjugation of chromosomes in the
phase? (8) If so, in what manner is it effected
(y) Do the chromosomes which pair in synap
separate in the reducing divisions? As regards ©
first, it is pointed out that the parasynaptic and telo-
synaptic interpretations for animals are mutua
exclusive; the early meiotic phenomena in plants 2
animals are probably very different. With respect
the second, the question of discovering a mechanis
for the interpretation of partial linkage arises. To t
last question it is impossible to provide a de
answer from the available data, hence the most val
able evidence on synapsis is inferred from the differe
sizes and shapes of chromosome pairs in premei
mitoses. It is submitted, therefore, that while
cytological phenomena of hybridisation and mutation
may yield significant facts, a clear recognition of th
relation of the mitotic chromosomes to the organi
tion of the interkinetic reticulum and a fuller know
ledge of the synaptic processes are the most pressings
needs for further development of the chromosom
hypothesis.—Sir Horace Darwin and W. G. Colli
A universal microtome. This instrument, which
designed on similar general principles to the Ca
bridge rocking microtome, cuts sections from ob
embedded in paraffin or celloidin or from frozen pre-
parations. It has the advantage over the rockin
microtome of cuttine flat sections. The plane of th
sections is horizontal, which facilitates examination
and the orientating object-holder is of a novel fort
and easy of adjustment. The rigidity of the frame an
object-holder, and the fact that the knife is rigidl
clamped at both ends, secures uniformity in the sé
tions. The microtome has no large working surface
which must be covered with oil. hence irregulariti
due to varving thickness of the oil-film are elimina te
SI
|
ae.
+ ;
By
“|
a r
tj _ Jury 1 1920]
NATURE
571
regularity of cutting is unaffected by wear. The
rigid connection between hand and object and the
smallness of the friction and inertia of the moving
3 ed make for convenience of manipulation. The
_ knife-holder is easily adjusted to give a slicing cut,
and can also be moved so that sections can be~ cut
with new parts of the knife as it becomes blunt or
damaged. A simple accessory also enables the clear-
ance angle of the knife to be adjusted.
ae
1 Paris.
| Academy of Sciences, June 14.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—The president announced the death of
| Prof. Auguste Righi, and gave a short account of his
| life-work.—A, Rateau: Maps of the network of elec-
tricity distribution in France. Work of the Technical
Committee of the Hydrotechnical Society of France.
_ An account of the work of the society since its estab-
_ lishment in 1912. Its object is the study of all ques-
tions relating to the regulation and utilisation of
~ waterfalls. map, on the scale of 1/200,000, will
consist of eighty-four sheets, seventy-eight of which
are now submitted to the Academy.—C. Guichard ;
_ Determination of the congruences C and the con-
i ge 20 which belong to a linear complex.—
Ch. Ed. Guillaume: The action of metallurgical addi-
tions on the anomaly of expansion of the nickel-steels.
_ Certain applications of nickel-steels render necessary
the addition of other elements—manganese, carbon,
chromium, tungsten, and vanadium. A detailed study
_of the action of additions of manganese, chromium,
and carbon has been made, and the results obtained
have been summarised in two diagrams.—J. Tilho:
The frequency of fogs in the Eastern Sahara. Detailed
_ observations of these dry dust fogs are necessary,
especially in the interest of aerial navigation. The
results of three years’ observations are given, classified
as thick, medium, and light, according to the month.
The fogs are relatively rare in the months be-
tween August and November.—M,. Ch. Riquier was
elected a correspondant for the section of geometry
in ‘succession to the late M. Zeuthen, and M. Pierre
Weiss correspondant for the section of general physics
in succession to Sir J. J. Thomson, elected foreign
associate.—E, Cartan: The projective deformation of
_surfaces.—J. Andrade: The special right lines of con-
tact of general helices.—S. Procopiu: The double
refraction and dichroism of the fumes of ammonium
chloride in the electric field. The double refraction
and dichroism of ammonium chloride fumes vary with
the time and differently. The double refraction varies
very nearly inversely as the square of the wave-length,
and the dichroism inversely as the third power. If
_the phenomenon predicted by Voigt exists, it is
masked.—MM. La Rosa and A. Sellerio: A galvano-
magnetic effect parallel to the lines of force and
‘normal to the current.—G. Le Bon: Certain
antagonistic properties of various regions of the
“spectrum. A screen of zinc sulphide placed behind a
‘trough containing a solution of sulphate of quinine
remains unaffected; if a trough of ammoniacal copper
sulphate solution is superimposed, the zinc sulphide
sereen phosphoresces. Similar phenomena were
utilised for signalling at night during the war.—J.
Meunier: The catalytic action of aluminium in the
preparation of the chlorobenzenes. Aluminium is
superior to the usual catalyst, iodine, in this prepara-
tion. A weight of aluminium equal to one-thousandth
of the benzene gives the best results. A detailed
example of the method is. given.—P. Landrieu: Re-
searches on the polyacid salts of the monobasic acids :
sodium tribenzoate.—R. Blanchard: The Durance
glacier at Sisteron.—L, Cayeux: The iron minerals
of the Longwy-Briey basin.—G.- Mangenot: The
NO. 2644, VOL, 105]
chondriome of the Vaucheria. Further experimental
evidence, both on the living plant and on fixed stained
sections, in support of the views put forward in an
earlier communication and adversely criticised by M.
Dangeard.—E, Saillard: The sugar-beet during the
war. The general conclusion is drawn that by using
little manure, and especially little nitrogenous
manures, the roots are richer in sugar and easier to
work. The total production of sugar per hectare is
alone affected by this abnormal culture. Similar
results have been obtained in Germany.—Ch. Porcher :
Want of food and the chemical composition of milk.
A criticism of the experiments of Lami, together
with additional work on the same subject. While
accepting the figures of Lami, the author gives them
another interpretation, and considers that the varia-
tions of chemical composition observed are dué to
the retention of milk and not to starvation.—P.
Mathias: The structure of the lips of fishes of the
genus Chondrostoma (family Cyprinidz).—M.
Piettre and A. Vila: The separation of the proteins
of the serum. The technique proposed differs con-
siderably from the classical methods studied by Hof-
meister, Starke, Michailoff, and J. Kauder, as large
quantities of mineral salts are not used. The serum
is exactly neutralised, precipitated by acetone, and the
albuminoids extracted with water, the last washings
being saturated with carbon dioxide. The insoluble
proteins free from albumin are left as a greyish-white
precipitate.—G. Bertrand and Mme. Rosenblatt: The
action of chloropicrin upon some bacterial fermenta-
tions. Details of experiments on the action of chloro-
picrin at different concentrations on the lactic fer-
ment, the ammoniacal ferment, and the sorbose bac-
terium. Chloropicrin was found to exert a strongly
toxic action’ upon all living cells, and is comparable,
in some. cases, with the most powerful known dis-
infectants.—A. Frouin ; Variations in the fatty matters
of the tubercle bacillus cultivated on definite media in
the presence of earths of the cerium group.—F.
Ladreyt : Trophic superactivity: giant cell and cancer.
—MM. Fauré-Fremiet, Guieysse, Magne, and A. Mayer:
Cutaneous lesions determined by certain vesicant
compounds.
Books Received.
Chemical Theory and Calculations. By Prof. F, J.
Wilson and Prof. I. M. Heilbron. Second edition.
Pp. vii+144. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.)
4s. 6d. net.
The Elements of Electro-Technics. By A. P.
Young. Pp. viiit348. (London: Sir Isaac Pitman
and Sons, Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net.
Historical Geography of Britain and the British
Empire. In two books. Book i.: The Making of -
England: The Making of Empire: The Establish-
ment of Empire, B.c. 55 to a.p. 1815. By T. Franklin.
Pp. viii+216. (Edinburgh: W. and A. K. Johnston,
Ltd. ; London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 2s. net.
Space, Time, and Deity. By Prof. S. Alexander.
2 vols. Vol. i., pp. xvi+347; vol. ii., pp. xiii+ 437.
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 36s. net.
Education for Self-Realisation and Social Service.
By F. Watts. Pp. xiit+275. (London: University of
London Press, Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net.
The Child Welfare Movement. By Dr. Janet E.
Lane-Clavpon. Pop. xi+341. (London: G. Bell and
Sons, Ltd.) 7s. net.
A Summer Tour (1ar1g) through the Textile District
of Canada and the United States. By Prof. A. F.
Barker. Pp. xi+197. (Leeds: Printed by Jowett
and Sowry, Ltd.).
572
NATURE
[Jury 1, 1920
The Cambridge British Flora. By Prof. C. E. Moss.
Assisted by specialists in certain genera. Vol. iii.
Pp. xvit+200; plates, pp. vit1g1. (Cambridge: At
the University Press.) Two parts. 61. 15s. net;
2 parts in 1 vol., 7l. net.
Memoirs of the. Geological Survey. The Geology
of Anglesey. Vol. i. Pp. x1 + 388+xxvi plates.
Vol. ii. Pp. 389-980+ plates xxvi B-Ix+ folding plates.
By E. Greenly. (Southampton: Ordnance Survey
Office; London: E. Stanford, Ltd.) 2 vols., 31. 3s.
net.
The Arithmetic of the Decimal System. By Dr. J.
Cusack. Pp. xvi+492. With Answers. (London:
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 6s. f
Medical Research Council and. Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research. Reports ofthe
Industrial Fatigue Research Board. No. 7: _ Indi-
vidual Differences in Output in the Cotton Industry.
(Textile Series, No. 1.) Pp. iiit+13. (London: H.M.
Stationery Office.) 6d. net.
Les Révélations du Dessin et de la Photographie A
la Guerre: Principes de Métrographie.. By Lt.-Col.
Andrieu. Pp. xiji+3112. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et
Cie.) 8 francs.
Elements of Radio-telegraphy.
Stone. Pp. vii+267+xxxiii plates.
Lockwood and Son.) 16s. 6d. net.
Grasses and Rushes, and How to Identifv Them.
By J. H. Crabtree. Pp. 64. (London: The Epworth
Press.) 1s. gd. net. :
Space, Time, and Gravitation: An Outline of the
General Relativity Theory. By Prof. A. S. Edding-
By Lieut. E. W.
(London : Crosby
ton. Pp. vii+218. (Cambridge: At the University
Press.) 15s. net.
Pasteur: The History of a Mind. By Prof. E.
Duclaux. Translated by E. F. Smith and F. Hedges.
Pp. xxxii+363. (Philadelphia and London: W. B,
Saunders Co.) 21s. net.
‘The Journal of the Institute of Metals. Edited bv
G. Shaw Scott. Vol. xxiii. No. 1, 1920. Pop. xii+
644+ xxx plates.
31s. 6d. net.
A History of English Philosophv.
Sorley. Pp. xvit+380. (Cambridge :
versity Press.) 20s. net.
The Mystery of Life as Interpreted by Science. By
R. D. Taylor. Pp. 176. (London and Felling-on-
Tyne: Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd.) 3s. 6d.
net.
_ Applied Eugenics. By P. Popenoe and Prof. R. H.
Johnson. (Social Science Text-Books.) Pop. xii+asq.
(New York: The Macmillan Co.; London : Macmillan
and Co., Ltd.) 14s. net.
Air Ministry. Meteorological Office, London. Pro-
fessional Notes, No. 8. Temperatures and Humidities
in the Upper Air: Conditions Favourable for
Thunderstorm Development, and Temperatures over
Land and. Sea. By Caot. C. K. M. Douglas.
Pp. t10o-139. (London: Meteorological Office, Air
Ministry.) 2s. net.
Air Ministry. Meteorological Office.
Memoirs, No. 16. Aids to Forecasting: Types of
Pressure Distribution. -With notes and tables for the
fourteen years 1905-18. By E. Gold. Pp. 147-74.
(London : Meteorological Office, Air Ministry.) 25. 6d.
net.
Notes on Chemical Research: An Account of Cer-
tain Conditions which Apply to Original Investiga-
tion. By W. P. Dreaper. (Text- Books of Chemical
Research and Engineering.) Second edition. Pp. xv+
19s. (London: J..and A. Churchill.) 7s. 6d. net.
The Concept of Nature. By Prof. A. N. White-
head. (Tarner Lectures delivered in Trinity College,
November, 1919.) Pp. ix+202. (Cambridge : At the
University Press.) 14s. net.
NO. 2644, VOL. 105 |
(London: Institute of Metals.)
By Prof. W. R.
At’ the Uni-
Geophysical
William Smith: His Maps and Memoirs.
Sheppard. Pp. iii+75-253+plates. (Hull:
and Sons, Ltd.)
Imperial Institute.
on Oil-Seeds. Pp.
6s. net.
Conifers and their Characteristics.
By r.
A. Brown
Indian Trade Inquiry. Reports —
ix+149. (London: J. Murray.) —
By C. Coltman- —
eee Pp. xiii+ 333. (London : J. Murray.) 21s.
ne
The Small Farm and its Management. By Prof. J.
Long. Second edition. Pp. 328. (London: J.
Murray.) 7s. 6d. net.
Anniversaries and other Poems.
By L. Huxley.
Pp. x+82. hic.
(London: J. Murray.) 5s. net.
Diary of Societies.
MONDAY, Jury 5.
Royat InsTiTUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, at 5.—General Meeti
ARISTOTELIAN SocteTy (at 74 Grosvenor Street), at 8.—Rev. Dr. W. F.
Geikie Cobb: Mysticism, True and False. f
WEDNESDAY, Jury 7. oe
InstiruTIon oF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGISTS (in Canada Build ‘bedava
Palace), at 6.—E. H. Cunningham Craig : Wild Catting (Free
ated
Lecture). :
SATURDAY, Jury 10..
Puystoi a Soctery (at Physiological Laboratory, University, Oxford)»:
at 4.—J. B. Leathes and H. C. Broadhurst : Excretion of
Te Sate ‘and F. J. Roughton: Diffusion Co-efficient of Lung.—S. P. a ‘
aeons and E. J. Cohn: Solubility of Globulin.—A. Krogh: oe ,
of Blcod Vessels to Local Stimuli.
CONTENTS.
Medical Research and the Practitioner ......
Theory of Dioptric Instruments. ae E.Cc. .
The International Research Council: in eae eh, eae
Problems of Population. By E.B...,..... - 543
The Elements of Hardy Fruit Culture ..... . 545
Our Bookshelf’. 22.2.0) saa Se tee eae eae 545
Letters to the Editor:—
The Constitution of the Elements.—Dr. F. w. ; E
ASton 260 eon ie co ie tek ee a 547
Applied Science and Industrial Reset ‘e
A; G. Church: 3.0. 4, 2.4 ove ee ee 547
Science and Scholasticism.—Prof, Jas. J. Walsh ;
Dr, Charles Singer: .. 4-228 » S42
Commercial Parasitism in the Cotton “Industry. — :
O2F “Cook. 0. ye ene era? See
Fuel Research. By Prof. John Ww. Cobb a arene oh 55°
Use of Sumner Lines in Navigation. (With ei
Diagrams.) By ai T. H. Tizard, C.B., F.R.S. 552.
Obituary :— r
«e» Dr. F. A. Tarleton.—R. x. P> Rogete sia 5% 554.
Notes .. so ob oboe at ie ae ee Sa
Our Astronomical: Column : i 4
Tempel’s Second Periodic Comet... . . + « - 560°
Denning’s Comet of 1881 and a Meteoric Shower . . 560.
‘Capture Orbits: .: ...). 0? soe poe eee ee 560
Education in the New Era. By Prof, Frederick |
Soddy, FoRiSe5 si'Si veo eee ‘ . 561 ,
British Aeronautics, 2... 5 wis wise ee ee » 561 |
Climatic Cycles and Tree- growth. By W. W. B. . 562
The Interferometer in FAyGiCe Measurements. ;
By Le C.3Me t. itpicg 8 8 ane 563
Canvas-destroying Fungi. By J. Ramsbottom . . 563
The Economic Pursuits of the Trobriand Islanders 564
The Organisation of Scientific Work in India .
University and Educational Intelligence ... .
Societies and Academies. ..... 2+ eee es
Books Received: (0.05.03 yi ese ea een eee
Diary of Societies
,
- Rockefeller
NATURE
THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1920.
Eaitorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
he ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
Medical Education.
URING the last thirty years the feeling has
become increasingly insistent, both in this
country and in America, that certain radical re-
forms were needed in the methods of education in
medicine. But our American colleagues . have
been fortunate in having the opportunity and the
means for building new schools of medicine to
meet the new circumstances and for making drastic
changes in their methods of teaching which a
variety of circumstances has hitherto prevented us
from attempting in Britain. Now that the
Foundation, by its magnificent
generosity, has made it possible for us to embark
upon the difficult sea of reform, it is particularly
interesting and instructive to study the policy
adopted in the more advanced schools of America
during the twenty-seven years since the Johns
Hopkins Medical School gave the study of
medicine in America a new aim and a higher ideal.
Though we are a quarter of a century behind our
American colleagues in making a start, our delay
has given us the advantage that we can profit by
the experiments made on the other side of the
Atlantic.
It is not generally recognised here how
thoroughly the leaders of medical education in
America explored every possible method of educa-
tion throughout the world, and how much devo-
tion and thought they have expended on experi-
ments to discover, by truly scientific methods,
how best to employ the few years that the medical
student can devote to the training for his pro-
fession. Those who want to understand some-
thing of the spirit and the high ideals that have
_ imspired the American leaders in this great reform
movement should read the account of their work
and aims in the volume ‘‘ Medical Research and
»”
Education,’’ issued by the Science Press in New
Balint
which chief insistence is placed are as follows:
The absolute necessity of (a) an adequate prelim-
inary education and a serious University training
in the basal sciences, physics, chemistry, and
biology, without which foundation it is impossible
for the student really to profit from his training
in medical science; and (b) a method of
practical teaching in all branches of professional
work, whereby the student can, so far as possible,
investigate for himself the facts and theories of
each subject under the direction of men who are
themselves engaged in research work, and not rely
mainly upon lectures and demonstrations to give
him merely the results of other people’s work. In
other words, the aim of the reform is to train the
student in scientific methods rather than to
‘“cram ’’ him with traditional lore.
So impressed were certain American teachers
with the evils of the lecture system of instruction
that the attempt was made to eliminate lectures
altogether. On this side of the Atlantic (and in
most American schools also) it is recognised that
some lectures are essential to give the student
guidance and a right perspective in his work, and
that demonstrations are an invaluable means of
instruction, provided the student can really see
the objects and appreciate the significance of the
experiments. No impartial observer will, how-
ever, refuse to admit that in most British schools
an altogether undue amount of the medical
student’s and his teacher’s time is wasted in the
attendance upon lectures and demonstrations of”
a useless or distracting kind. Several circum-
stances make it difficult to break with this vicious
system. The financial arrangements in most of
our schools are based upon payments for certain
courses of lectures or demonstrations : the require-
ments of most institutions and examining boards
are for attendance at so many lectures: and the
method of awarding the Board of Education
grants for some time helped still further to stereo-
type this system. In the American schools the
student pays for his instruction, and the teacher
is free to decide how best the required instruction
is provided; in other words, the method of admin-
istration of the department is so arranged that the
perpetuation of obsolete and vicious methods is
not made compulsory for a teacher who. has his
own ideas as to how to educate his students to the
best advantage.
The other great reform in American medical
educational practice has been to bring the methods
of teaching and research in the clinical subjects
York in 1913. Briefly expressed, the matters upon | into line with those of the intermediate subjects.
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
U
574.
NATURE
[JuLy- 8, 1920
The teachers of medigine, surgery, gynecology,
etc., used to be men practising their profession
who gave up a certain amount of time to teaching
medical students. Such men could bring to their
teaching the ripe experience gained not only in
the hospital wards, but also in contact with private
patients; and, in addition to teaching the science
and practice of medicine, were supposed to be able
to convey to the student something of the subtle
art popularly known as the ‘‘ bedside manner,’’
which is sometimes reputed to be more useful to
the practitioner than either knowledge or skill.
But. it has long been felt that such teachers, in the
course of their individual careers, would become
more and more strongly tempted to neglect teach-
ing and research as the demands of their practices
became more insistent, and that it was only the
exceptional man who would be sufficiently inter-
ested in investigation and teaching to make the
financial and social sacrifice which the cultivation
of his scientific interests would inevitably entail.
British medicine, both now and in the past, has
been extraordinarily fortunate in such ‘‘ excep-
tional ’’ physicians and: surgeons, who have de-
liberately set aside part of their time for scientific
research and teaching. But for their zeal, this
country could not have acquired or maintained
its deservedly high reputation for clinical research.
Nevertheless, the fact has to be faced that in some
of the hospitals attached to our schools of medicine
no real research of any kind is being carried on,
and the clinical teaching is of the most perfunctory
order. The obvious remedy for this disastrous ten-
dency is to appoint selected men to investigate the
problems of medicine and surgery and to direct
the education of students, who will devote the
whole of their time to this work, as the professors
of anatomy, physiology, pathology, and phar-
macology do at present. Such a development has,
' in fact, become inevitable, for now that a real
science of medicine is beginning to emerge the
investigation of its difficult problems and the direc-
tion of the students’ training demand the whole
time and energy of specially selected men with the
necessary technical training and self-denying devo-
tion to science to cope with such tasks.
This system has been tried in America with most
encouraging results. Acting on the advice of
Sir George Newman, the Board of Education last
autumn agreed to provide financial help to enable
certain medical schools to introduce the system of
full-time teachers of medicine and surgery in
England. Of the institutions that availed them-
selves of this offer, the University College Hospital
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
Medical School was. the only one which adopted
a really whole-time system; and it was this con-
sideration that focussed the interest of the Rocke-
feller Foundation upon the Gower Street School,
for in America the Rockefeller Foundation has
played a large part in encouraging the adoption of
the whole-time professorships of medicine and
surgery. Another factor that played some part in
determining its selection was the fact that
University College had made provision in its
Institutes of Physiology and Pharmacology for the
adequate training of students in those subjects, so
as to equip them to make the best use of the new
facilities for clinical study in the medical school;
and further that Prof. Starling had agreed to hand
over to the department of anatomy the sub-de-
partment of histology, which is vitally important :
for the full.development of teaching and research
in anatomy.
The great. devalopartle in’ the science oe
anatomy during the last thirty years has been due
mainly to the use of the microscope for the inves-
tigation of the structure of the body and for the
study of embryology. British anatomy has been
hampered by the lack of the facilities for teaching
these vital parts of the subject, and has suffered
enormously from the lack of stimulating daily
contact with them. In other countries, and especi-
ally in America, the cultivation of histology
and embryology has not only made anatomy one e
of the most active ‘branches of medical study and —
research, but also brought the work of the
department into close touch with physiology, bio-
chemistry, and pathology, to the mutual benefit of
all these subjects, and especially to the student
who has to integrate the information acquired in
the different departments. It was the radical re-
forms effected in the teaching of anatomy by the
late Prof. Franklin Mal) at the Johns Hopkins
Medical School in 1893 that played the chief part
in starting the great revolution in medical educa-
tion in America. The stimulating influence of the
abolition of the methods of medieval scholasticism _ :
in anatomy and the return to the study of Nature
and to the use of experiment brought about a
closer co-operation with other departments and a ~
general quickening of the students’ interest in the
real science of medicine.
The effects of these developments sonia to
other American schools, and the Rockefeller Foun- — |
dation came to their help and contributed part of
the cost of the vital reforms. In 1914 it helped
the Washington University at St. Louis to build
a new medical school and hospital, with full-time
ln
oe eT ee
Jury 8, 1920]
NATURE
‘ 575
professors of the clinical subjects, for the endow-
ment of which it gave 250,o00l., a quarter of
the cost. In t917 it gave the Chicago Uni-
versity 500,000!., and in ninety days the Univer-
sity collected a further 900,o00l. to complete the
endowment of full-time clinical chairs. In 1918
Yale University raised 650,000]. for the same
purpose, of which the Rockefeller Foundation con-
tributed one-quarter. In 1919 the Johns Hopkins
Hospital established a full-time teaching staff in
obstetrics and gynecology, with an endowment
of 250,0001., of which the Rockefeller Foundation
gave 100,000]. It is rumoured that the same
Foundation, which has also given such vast en-
dowments for medical education in Canada and
China, is about to excel all its former efforts by a
new scheme for further helping medical education
in the United States. With such examples of the
scale on which these things have to be done, surely
England can do more for medical education than
she is doing! .
The task of the reformer of medical education is
vastly more difficult in this country than in
America, because on every side there is the hamper-
ing influence of cast-iron conventions; but now that
the Rockefeller Foundation has helped us to begin
the urgent reform there can be no doubt as to the
ultimate result.
The Theory and Facts of Colour Vision.
(1) The Physiology of Vision, with Special Refer-
ence to Colour Blindness. Bw Dr. F. W.
‘Edridge-Green. Pp. xii+280. (London:
_ G, Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1920.) Price 12s. net.
(2) Card Test for Colour Blindness. By Dr. F. W.
Edridge-Green. 24 cards. (London: G. Bell
and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) Price 25s. net.
Ligh iy great importance of the subject-matter
of the volume under notice and of the card-
test which supplements it is beyond all question.
Interest in it is enhanced by the fact that the sub-
ject is admittedly full of difficulties. In every dis-
cussion of human sensations and of the organs
which serve as the receivers of stimuli, one is im-
pressed by the uncertainty of much which has been
put forward as assured truth. It is not long ago
that the mechanism of audition was. being ‘dis-
cussed anew, and even now, in spite of the re-
newed examination, the functions of various parts
of the ear are much in debate.
Yet in audition
we have to deal with purely mechanical stimuli
which we might have expected to have yielded up
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
the secrets of their operation long ago. In the
case of light the problem is clearly of a more
recondite order, and it is not so surprising that
little is actually known with certainty about the
functions of various parts of the eye, and that we
have therefore to fall back upon surmise.
The theory of vision most espoused by physi-
cists is the three-colour theory of Young and
Helmholtz, based upon the facts of colour mix-
ture. It is possible to reproduce any tint what-
ever by mixing together three selected tints in a
suitable proportion. This is accepted now by
every school, and it must be taken as the basis
of any theory of colour vision. The Young-
Helmholtz theory explains the fact by assuming
that there are three units in’ the sensitive ap-
paratus of the eye (either three sorts of nerves
or rods or cones), each of which responds
in a maximum degree to one of the three
primary tints, but also to a less degree to
all (or most) other tints. Red, green, and blue
of selected wave-lengths are taken (for reasons
which cannot be given here) as the primary tints.
A spectral yellow stimulates both red and green
sensations, so does a mixture of red and green
lights; hence a certain such mixture will produce
the same sensation as does a spectral yellow. In
this way the phenomena of colour mixture are
explained.
Unfortunately, there are difficulties in accept-
ing this theory. In the first place, there is no
histological evidence of the existence of these
three units. This objection, taken alone, is not
fatal. It is conceivable that anatomical differ-
ences exist which are beyond detection with the
microscope. But, in addition, there is a vast
number of phenomena to be explained besides
those of colour mixture, and many of these seem
to be directly in opposition to the theory. Dr.
Edridge-Green is well known as one who, after
prolonged study of the question, was compelled
to give up the trichromatic theory. The volume
under review summarises the conclusions to which
he has.come. We can cite only a few of: the
experimental facts.
In certain cases of defective colour perception
the yellow sensation is diminished, and in others
lost altogether, although the percipient ex-
periences three definite colour sensations (red,
green, and violet). Why do not the red and green
make yellow in such cases? If the eye be
fatigued with pure spectral yellow light, and be
then turned aside to view a spectrum, this will
appear to have lost its yellow; and though
yellowish-red or yellowish-green will appear less
yellow, the terminal red of the spectrum will not
be affected. According to the trichromatic theory,
576
NATURE
.
[JuLy 8, 1920
it should be reduced in intensity. Again, the eye
may be fatigued with red or green without alter-
ing the: hue of spectral. yellow.
If the image of a white object be suddenly
formed on a portion of the retina which. was pre-
viously occupied by the image of a black object,
this image is surrounded by a red border. I,
instead of white, a spectral greenish-yellow
illumination is used, the border is colourless; if
the same greenish-yellow be made up of red and
green, it appears red (Bidwell).
Many dichromics have a_ luminosity curve
similar to the normal, although their colour sensa-
tions are limited to red and blue at the ends of
the spectrum, with a neutral colour in between.
This would not be the case if their blindness were
due to the absence of one of the sensory units
(green).
The theory which Dr. Edridge-Green has de-
veloped may be outlined as follows :—
A ray of light impinging on the retina liberates
the visual purple from the rods, and a ‘“ photo-
graph ” is formed.
The ends of the cones are stimulated through
the photochemical decomposition of the visual
purple by light, and a visual impulse is set up
which is conveyed by the optic nerve to the brain.
Instead of analysing this impulse into three
components, Dr. Edridge-Green regards it as an
integral unit the shape of which depends vee the
nature of the light exciting it.
The physicist may be reminded that he himself
has already recognised that if the motions in the
zther corresponding to white light could be seen,
he would not be tempted to speak of them as
periodic, though they are capable of being re-
solved by Fourier’s theorem into monochromatic
components. The gist of Dr. Edridge-Green’s
theory is that he deals with the visual impulse as a
unit, but asserts (in effect) that if for convenience
_it is resolved into components, the number of
necessary components is usually large. We do not
mean that he says this in so -many words; but
this is, in physical language, what his statements
appear to us to imply. His theory is therefore
of greater generality than the restricted Young-
Helmholtz theory which it supplants.
(2) The card test, which is supplementary. to the
text-book, consists of twenty-four cards, each con-
taining a large number of irregular, coloured
patches or spots. The shapes of these are pre-
cisely the same on all the cards, so that the
examinee cannot be coached to discriminate by
the form alone. These patches are differently
coloured on all the cards. Each card contains a
number of patches of a selected . hue, different
from the other patches, arranged in the form of
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
a letter. The examinee is required to declare
the. letter on each card in turn.’ The colours are
so chosen‘as to enable the examiner to discrim-
inate between the different kinds of colour blind-
ness.
We have tested them on numerous individuals.
Card 8 is particularly useful in the quick detection
of weakness in the green. It contains a green
C and a brown S. To a normal individual the
C ig very prominent, while the S is a difficult
letter to detect. One examinee who was quite
unconscious that he was in any way defective
detected the S instantly, while he could not detect
the C even when his attention was directed to it.
We have not space to discuss either the book
or the card test fully. We congratulate Dr.
Edridge-Green on having brought together a
wealth of important and interesting material on
the physiology of vision. ;
Hydrographical Surveying.
Hydrographical Surveying: A Description of
Means and Methods Employed in Constructing
Marine Charts. By the late Rear-Admiral Sir
William J. L. Wharton. Fourth edition, revised
and enlarged by Admiral Sir Mostyn Field.
Pp. xii+570. (London: John Murray, 1920.)
Price 30s. net.
HE fourth edition of this work on hydro-
graphical surveying differs but slightly from —
its predecessor, the main text being practically —
untouched, and the only important changes being
the addition of several articles on newer surveying
methods and experimental devices which had been
introduced in the years immediately eithigeeas the
war.
Of these the description of a form oe ‘vacuum
tide-gauge,”” devised by Rear-Admiral H. E.
Purey-Cust, a former Hydrographer of the Navy,
is perhaps the most interesting, and it will cer-
‘tainly appeal to every nautical surveyor who has
had to fight against the difficulties of observing
the vertical movements of the tide in situations
where direct readings are almost impossible. The ij
addition of a trustworthy self-recorder to the in-
strument is obviously merely a question of time —
and experiment, and when it has been perfected
this form of tide-gauge will undoubtedly prove an
immense boon to nautical surveyors for use in
those parts of the world where the ordinary
methods of tide reading are impracticable.
It is to be regretted that no mention has been
made of the extremely useful and convenient form
of current meter known as the “Ekman.’’ This
instrument has been used with conspicuous success
4
.
.
Jury 8, 1920]
NATURE
577.
by the Admiralty and by the Ministry of Agri-
culture and Fisheries, and is the standard form of
current meter now used by both Departments.
~In the new chap. xx. the ‘“‘ Douglas-Schafer ”’
sounding traveller is described on pp. 434-36, but
as this is the official method of obtaining sound-
ings in H.M. surveying vessels, it would have
been more suitably placed at the commencement
of this chapter than among the _ miscel-
laneous collection of methods which are largely
experimental.
Several new methods connected with sweeping
are now described in the new material of the book,
and all have something to be said in. their favour ;
but it is much to be hoped that the results of
mine-sweeping, which developed into such a
gigantic and_ well-organised piece of war
machinery, will eventually assist in the devising
of some form of thoroughly effective sweep for
surveying purposes.
This last remark applies similarly to the im-
provement of surveying devices and methods
generally. During the war such enormous pro-
gress was made in so many directions affecting
scientific developments that many surveying
methods must of necessity be entirely, or at least
very drastically, altered to bring them up to date.
The remarks under the heading “ Recent Develop-
ments” on p. 470, which deal with this aspect,
are, however, distinctly on the conservative
side, as it is considered that the scrapping of
old systems must be adopted in a very wholesale
manner rather than that attempts should be made
at their modification to conform to the most
modern methods. It is perhaps somewhat difficult
to appreciate what an enormous saving of time,
and, therefore, of expense and labour, will even-
tually result from the introduction of many of
these methods into hydrographical surveying, but
a good example will be found in connection with
the use of hydrophones, by the aid of which accu-
rate positions afloat can be obtained in as many
hours instead of days or even weeks, which would
have formerly been required under the procedure
described under the heading ‘‘ Triangulation by
means of Floating Moored Beacons ’’ in the new
chap. xxi.
The war, in fact, has shown the necessity in
this, as in so many other directions, of revising
_the text-books which deal with technical subjects,
and this is the condition of affairs as regards |
hydrographical surveying. The work under
notice is undoubtedly the standard publication on
the subject, and has a well-deserved and world-
wide reputation; but it is considered that all such
standard works on technical matters, such as that
now under discussion, should be prepared and
NO, 2645, VOL. 105 |
published by the Government Department which
is directly concerned, and, therefore, in a position
to obtain the fullest information in every possible
direction; and lastly, but not least in importance,
which is also in a position to keep such an official
work always up to date by the periodical publica-
tion of supplements.
Forestry, Tree Diseases, and Timber,
(1) Our National Forests: A Short Popular
Account of the Work of the United States
Forest Service on the National Forests. By
Dr. Richard H. Douai Boerker. Pp. Ixix + 238.
(New York: The Macmillan Co.; London:
Macmillan and Co., Ltd. , 1918.) Price 12s. 6d..
net.
(2) Commercial Forestry in Britain: Its Decline
and Revival. By E. P. Stebbing. Pp. vi+ 186.
(London: John Murray, 1919.) Price 6s. net.
(3) National Afforestation. By A. D. Webster.
Pp. 160. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd.,
1919.) Price 6s. net.
(4) Manual of Tree Diseases. By Dr. W. Howard
Rankin. (The Rural Manuals.) Pp. xx+ 398.
(New York: The Macmillan Co.; London:
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 12s. 6d.
net. .
(5)-(8) A Map of the World (on Mercator’s
Projection), Having Special Reference to Forest
Regions and the Geographical Distribution of
Timber Trees: Timber Map, No. 1. North
America: Timber Map, No. 2. South America:
Timber Map, No. 3. Europe and Africa:
Timber Map, No. 4. All prepared by J. Hudson
Davies. Each on rollers, size 40 in. by 30 in.
(Edinburgh: W. and A. K. Johnston, Ltd. ;
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price
8s. net each.
(1) R. BOERKER’S book is a_ popular
account of the administration and pro-
tection of the national forests of the United States,
which now constitute about a third of the timber
lands in that country. The original forest area was
enormous, being estimated at 850,000,000 acres.
Nearly half of this has been cleared away, as the
land was needed for farms by settlers; but forest
fires, felling for timber, and grazing have shared
largely in the destruction. To-day the land under
timber trees is about 500,000,000 acres. Private
ownership: entailed disappearance of the forests,
as no steps were ever taken to provide for the
growth of a second crop of trees upon the ground.
State intervention became necessary, and nothing
in the political history of the United States is more
creditable than the legislation of late years enfore-
ing measures to preserve from fire and to manage
578
NATURE
[Juty: 8, 1920
on scientific principles as much of the primeval
woodlands as could be rescued from private owner-,
Boerker sketches the history: of this;
ship. Dr.
great movement.
The first effective step in conservation was the
passing of an Act in 1891, which empowered the
President to create forest reserves by proclama-
tion. The first to be proclaimed was the Yellow-
stone ‘Park, and others were added until ‘they
amounted to 100,000,000 acres in..1905.
year the Forest Service was constituted as it now
exists, with enlarged powers and increased appro-
priations from public funds. In 1907 the “forest
reserves” were re-named ‘national forests,” to
do away with the impression that the timber was
not to be used until some future time,
Dr. Boerker gives a list of the national forests,
arranged by States, and showing the acreage of
each and the headquarters of the Forest Super-
visor, The national forests are nearly all in the
west, comprising the higher parts of the Rocky
Mountains, the Cascades, the Pacific Coast ranges,
a part of the coast of Alaska, some of the hills in
the Dakotas, eastern Montana, Oklahoma and
Arkansas, and small areas in Minnesota, Michi-
gan,.and Florida. In March, 1915, there were
162 national forests in all, with a total area of
163,000,000 acres.
Besides the national forests, set aside out of the
public lands of the west, there are mountain
forests in the east, in the White Mountains and
southern Appalachians, which have been gradually
acquired by purchase under the Weeks law of
1911. These totalled nearly 2,000,000 acres in
1919. Under the same law the Federal Govern-
ment co-operates with the States in the protection
of forested watersheds, and much has been done
to stop the ravages caused by fire.
In 1910 the Forests Products Laboratory was
established at Madison (Wisconsin), and this great
research institute has since then made signal
advances in almost every phase of wood utilisation,
to the great gain of the nation in times of peace
and during the war. Researches have been made
in wood distillation, the testing and seasoning of
timber, the pulp and paper industries, tapping
pines for turpentine, using wood waste, the pro-
duction of artificial silk from sawdust, etc. In-
vestigations in the industrial uses of woods have
also been carried out. The attention paid to scien-
tific research has been a significant feature of the
U.S. Forest Service, as is well shown by the
abundant literature on forestry subjects which has
been published at Washington during the past ten
years.
“Dr. Boerker’s book . is well
‘illustrated,
“NO. 2645, VOL. 105] : |
and
In that)
contains interesting notes on the field work inthe
national forests, including*harvesting seed, modes.
of planting, diseases and insect attacks, fire pro-.
tection, the building’ of roads, trails, and telephone
lines, and the supervision of felling operations and.
grazing. The richness of details makes the book
valuable to foresters as well as to general readers.
, (2) The two small books by Mr. E. P. Stebbing:
and Mr. A. D. Webster narrate in a popular
manner the achievements and’ hopes of British
forestry, and are in strong contrast to the Ameri-
can treatise just noticed. Both authors fail
notably in their historical chapters. Mr. Stebbing
triés to-compress into a few pages the history of
the woodlands and forest policy of Great Britain
from the earliest times until 1885. He bases this
abstract on Nisbet’s disquisition on the subject in
his manual ‘‘The Forester.” The fact is that
the history of forestry in Britain cannot be written
and the public
until jit is taken up seriously,
records and other documents are studied and ene
use of.
’ Mr. Stebbing devotes a chapter to the various
Committees and Royal Commissions appointed in
the period 1885-1914 to inquire into and deal with
forestry in this country.
of the activities of the Development Commissioners
will meet with some criticism. This body did
useful work from 1909 to 1914 in encouraging
forestry education, but made no progress in Great
Britain in the “purchase and planting of land
found after inquiry suitable for afforestation,” one
of the main objects for which the Commissioners
were appointed. The next chapter treats of the
difficulties in timber supplies during the war
In the remaining chapters Mr, Stebbing
period.
is concerned with the future of British forestry,
and discusses various matters, such as the require-
ments of timber by Britain, what afforestation
will do for the people, the connection of forestry
and agriculture, the acquisition of land for plant-
ing by the State, the protection of afforested areas,
etc. He is not content with the recommendations
of the Reconstruction Committee for the planting
of 1,770,000 acres during the next eighty years.
However, we must be satisfied, in the present
state of public finance, with the immense progress
that has been made in the appointment last year
of the Forestry Commission with a definite income _
and an assured programme for the next ten years.
At the end of this period the problem can be
reconsidered in the light of the experience gained
in the meantime.
(3) Mr. Webster’ s_ small book begins ‘with i
‘ short chapter on the history of British woodlands,
which contains too little information to be of any
t
His favourable opinion
ee ee we ed
a ee ek
ie
<a
i
(Jury. 8, 1920]
NATURE
579
value. His remaining chapters deal briefly with
schemes of afforestation, financial returns, trees
for planting, the use of the unemployed in forestry
-work, the transport of timber, etc. There is
nothing novel, and a good deal that is debatable,
‘in his treatment of these subjects.
(4) Dr. Rankin’s ‘‘ Manual. of Tree. Diseases ” is
the first American text-book on the subject. In-
juries caused by insects or other animals are not
included. The first four chapters treat of general
diseases, such as many species are liable to, and
those affecting seedlings, leaves, stem and
‘branches, and roots are successively dealt with.
' The main part of the book describes the diseases
often different.
‘which attack various groups of trees, beginning
with alders and ending with willows. Chapters
on tree surgery and on spraying conclude the
-volume, which is fairly well illustrated.
Exact
and copious references to the literature of the
subject. are a useful feature. * This’ manual will
be.of.considerable use in Great. Britain, although
the diseases occurring here and in America are
The account (p. 90) of Keithia
.thujina, a dangerous fungus which has recently
‘appeared in England and Ireland on the valuable
interest.
forest tree, Thuya gigantea, is of considerable
In America it is essentially a disease
_ of seedlings, often killing large numbers of those
less than four years old.
Preliminary experi-
ments indicate that soap-Bordeaux mixture
applied every ten days in autumn will greatly
_ reduce the. infection.
(5)}-(8) These. four maps are attractive in
appearance, and will prove useful to: merchants
and teachers, as they show approximately the
districts. which yield the more important com-
mercial timbers. Their scientific value is
impaired by the fact that in a considerable
mumber of species the areas of distribution are
incorrect, and the names erroneous or confusing.
more information.
and Taxodium it would be easy to add the dis-.
For example, the small map of Old World larch
‘is incorrect. European larch does not occur, as
depicted, in the Pyrenees, Apennines, Serbia,
Bulgaria, etc. The Siberian larch is wrongly
styled Larix dahurica, whereas it is L. sibirica
which occupies northern Russia and Siberia west
of Lake Baikal. L. leptolepis, which is restricted
to Hondo, in Japan, is represented as existing on
Hokkaido, where there is no larch, and in Man-,
churia and Korea, where the finest L. dahurica
grows. The small maps might readily. convey
On the one showing Sequoia
tribution of important timber trees like Lawson
Dennett Thuya gigantea, and Western larch.
_ The author has. not tried to explain by notes
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
in the margin the peculiarities of popular nomen-
clature, such as the use of the term “boxwood ”
for the Venezuelan Casearia praecox (see Kew
Bulletin, 1914, p. 214); and the application of
the word “cedar” to trees so different as Cedrus,
Cedrela, and Juniperus. One must acknowledge
that the construction of correct maps of distribu-
tion is very difficult, as accurate information on
some of the tropical woods is difficult to obtain.
Our Bookshelf.
The Natural Wealth of Britain: Its Origin and
Exploitation. By S. J. Duly. (The New Teach-
ing Series.) Pp. x+319. (London: Hodder
and Stoughton, 1919.) Price 6s. net.
Tue general scheme of ‘this little book is de-
cidedly good; it is intended to teach young people
how the industries and commerce of Great Britain
are conditioned by the geology of our island,
both because the geological structure determines
the sources from which we derive the materials
upon which our national existence depends, and
because it has produced the surface» contours
and configuration that have decided the lines along
which our streams of commerce flow to-day. The
first portion of the book gives an outline of the
main principles of structural geology; then
follows a section on the fundamental industries
based on geological structure; and the third part
deals with the geographical and geological rela-
tions of some of our most important industrial
districts.
In view of the evident educational value of the
plan of the book, it is all the more to be re-
gretted that its execution is so defective. The
first requisite in a text-book for young people is
accuracy, and in this respect the author fails
lamentably. A few random examples will illus-
trate the slipshod nature of the work. Thus the
author, in describing granite, states that it con-
sists of three constituents—quartz, felspar, and
“the third constituent of granite comprises all the
various metallic compounds.” Again, a few pages
further on, he tells his readers that “sapphire,
ruby, aquamarine, and topaz are crystalline
forms of clay.”
The chapters devoted to mining are by far the
worst, and it is not too much to say that there
is scarcely a page that is not disfigured by some
inaccuracy of more or less importance. It is im-
possible to imagine anyone with any real know-
ledge of mining writing that “the foot-wall be-
neath the coal seam is cut ‘away .. . by pick-
axe ” (the italics are the reviewer’s), or that pillars
of coal “are sometimes left to support the roof.”
Were it not for the numerous inaccuracies of the
kind indicated, this would be a most useful text-
book for the general reader, but, as it is, it is
greatly to be feared that he is as likely to pick up
totally false impressions as to obtain useful in-
formation from its pages. .
H, LU.
580
NATURE
[Jury 8, 1920
Animal Heroes: Being the Histories of a Cat, a
Dog, a Pigeon, a Lynx, two Wolves, and a
Reindeer. By Ernest Thompson Seton.. Fourth
impression. Pp. 363. (London: Constable and
Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price 8s, 6d. net.
Tus lively and generously illustrated book begins
with the story of four of the lives of a “ Royal
Analostan ” cat—we were a little afraid that there
were to be nine—which, in virtue of considerable
worldly wisdom, got on well against heavy odds.
“But in spite of her prosperity, her social posi-
tion, her royal name and fake pedigree, the great-
est pleasure in her life is to slip out and go
a-slumming in the gloaming, for now, as in her
previous lives, she is at heart, and likely to be,
nothing but a dirty little Slum Cat.” The second
story tells of the ability of a homing pigeon and of
its successful education. “The hardest of all work
is over the sea, for there is no chance of aid from
landmarks; and the hardest of all times at sea is
in fog, for then even the sun is blotted out and
there is nothing whatever for guidance. With
memory, sight, and hearing unavailable, the
Homer has one thing left, and herein is his great
strength, the inborn sense of direction. There is
only one thing that can, destroy this, and that is
fear, hence the necessity of a stout little heart
between these noble wings.” This is a_ fair
sample of the more reflective passages in the book,
and it is too easy-going. There is a stronger note
in the two descriptive studies of wolves, for Mr.
Thompson Seton excels in proportion to the wild-
ness of the scenery and of the dramatis personae.
The other subjects are “The Boy and the Lynx,”
“The History of a Jack-Rabbit,” “The Story of
a Bull-Terrier,” and ‘‘ The White Reindeer.” The
author is an artist in reading the man into the
beast—a great art, but a dangerous one; and we
are afraid that some of the book is in the danger
zone. But those who recoil from “apsychic ”
biology will probably agree that Mr.. Thompson
Seton’s anthropomorphic faults lean to virtue’s
side.
The Year-book of the Scientific and Learned
Societies of Great Britain and Ireland. Thirty-
sixth Annual Issue. Pp. vili+ 336. (London:
C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1919.) Price 12s. 6d.
net.
As is well known, this invaluable year-book gives
official particulars and records of work not only
of scientific societies in the British Isles, but also
of such institutions as the Imperial Institute,
Meteorological Office, National Physical Labora-
tory, Rothamsted Experimental ‘Station, etc.
Titles are given of papers read during the session
1918-19, and twenty-six new societies have been
added to.the comprehensive list of those surveyed
in this volume. The work is one which we con-
tinually consult, and it is an essential volume for
the reference library of every newspaper, institu-
tion, college, or club which desires to provide its
staff or members with accurate particulars of the
officers and activities of scientific organisations
throughout the kingdom.
_NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
Opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond iwith
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. ‘No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.)
Weather Forecasts and Meteorology.
THE experience gained during. the last few years in
aerial navigation nas shown, among other things,
that weather forecasts, in these latitudes at any rate,
are trustworthy only tor a few hours in advance, and
not always that, ras
If weather forecasting were at all accurate for a
day or two ahead, it would be possible to make a
correct weather-chart for to-morrow from the infotma-
tion received to-day. ‘This has never yet been done,
and it seems unlikely that it ever can be done, for
the simple reason that in’ latitudes higher than 30° or
thereabouts the conditions of the tlow of the air are
those of the permagent instability which characterises
a stream ,exposed to the influence of surface friction
at a velocity greater than that compatible with
lamellar flow. 5 aes ee
The unstable motion referred to consists of eddying
motion superposed on a general drift, the eddies them-
selves being of all sizes and in all stages of growth
and decay—some showing actual rotation, others
being merely distinguishable by differences of velocity
and direction. Eddies, when formed, have a certain
individual life, generally of not many hours’ duration,
though in some cases there may be maintaining causes
‘which will prolong their existence for days.
deviations of their courses (i.e. the path of their
centres) from the average direction of the stream
depend chiefly on the state and intensity of the oe
eddies in the neighbourhood, and, within wide limits,
must be treated as a matter of pure chance.
Let anyone watch the motes of dust in the air.
illuminated by a beam of sunlight passing through a
slit.. They may all, on the whole, be drifting in some
one direction, but combined with the general drift
there will be irregular eddying motions, some quick,
some slow, but deviating largely from the average
for the whole. Much the same sort of thing’ on a
large scale takes place in the atmosphere, and a
weather forecast professes to determine from the
motion over a certain area and at a certain time,
together with the then existing variations, what the
future motions will be. a.
For a time so short that the eddying motions pre-
serve their respective characters this can be done, but
not for longer periods, the causes which alter. existing
eddies and develop new ones being incalculable.
If the weather prophet makes no observations what-
ever, but is content to say that ‘tto-morrow will be
like to-day,’’? he will be right rather more than sixty
times out of a hundred. With all the information
which can be obtained, by telegraph or otherwise,
he may add 10 or 15 per cent. to his. correct predictions
for twenty-four hours ahead. is
The Meteorological Office, I believe, claims rather -
a better average than this, but its forecasts are often
so vague (e.g. ‘‘Wind moderate, strong to a gale at
times in places. Fair, but with some cloud and rain.
Temperature moderate”’) that almost any sort of ~
weather might be said to fulfil the prediction.
The proper test of the value of forecasts for a day
in advance would be to prepare a chart for that day
and to publish it side by side with one formed from
Oo
"present ee tally nothing is known.
a Reet
torial regions.
ee ee oe ea
. are shown
j
#
Juty 8, 1920]
NATURE 581
_ the actual data when they come to hand. A com-
_ parison of the two would soon show that weather
_ prediction for more than a few hours ahead was im-
possible in present conditions.
_ While, however, long forecasts are, for the most
part, mere untrustworthy guesswork, there are many
meteorological subjects now neglected which might be
investigated with success, but concerning which at
Such are the
origin of the variation of electric potential in the air,
the origin of thunderstorms and lightning, the
coalescence or non-coalescence of cloud particles, the
origin of hail and the causes which determine the
shape and size of snow crystals or the volume of rain-
drops, the forms of clouds, and many others. Also
there are more general questions still to be answered
concerning trade winds and the circulation in equa-
All investigations on these subjects
should include the proper scales of comparison and
attempts to produce corresponding phenomena on a
small scale. A. MALLock.
New University Club, June 28.
The Rate of Ascent of Pilot-Balloons.
In Nature for June 17 Dr. van Bemmelen directs
attention to the excess rate of rising which _pilot-
balloons often show in the first few minutes of their
ascent, and refers to two explanations of this pheno-
menon which have been put forward. These are that
the rapid rising may be due (1) to turbulence in the
lower layers of air or (2) to the tendency of balloons
to be drawn into rising columns of air and thus to
partake of their upward motion. The curves repro-
duced by Dr. van Bemmelen, which indicate the rela-
tion between rising velocity and height under different
conditions, are of great interest, and show that the
effect is not found when working on a small island
in the Java Sea.
’ As double-theodolite observations over a sea exposure
are not numerous, it may be of interest to refer to
Metres per minute. |
bbos8s sea
ands
Sang \s
7
+10 :
ra) : : Po
-of ——T Scilly Islands ny
1000 Mm. 2000m 3000 Mm.
= RG, oa
the results obtained by Capt. C. J. P. Cave and the
present writer in some ascents made fromthe Scilly
Islands during two winter months, November and
mber, some years ago. Particulars have recently
been published by the Meteorological Office in
Geophysical Memoir No. 14. The mean rate of
ascent of the balloons used was found to be 160 metres
per minute. Mean departures from this’ value for
each minute of the ascent measured from’ the start
t in Fig. 1. Dr. van Bemmelen’s
diagrams for the Thousand Islands and~ Batavia
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
(o-3 p.m.) are also reproduced for comparison.
lt will be seen at once that the rate of ascent
at Scilly, like that at the Thousand Islands, shows
no excess above the normal in the first kilometre of
height; if anything, the effect is slightly the other
way.
Ascents in the Scilly Islands are of particular interest
in this connection. The area of the islands is so
small that no convection effects due to solar heating
would be expected, at .any.rate in the winter. On
the other hand, the group contains a great number of
small islands of a rocky and hilly nature, and these
are spread over an area of some ten miles by five.
They might naturally be expected to produce some
turbulence in the air passing over them, and such
turbulence is, in fact, shown by the records of
the pressure-tube anemometer on St. Mary’s, the
largest of the islands. If the excess rate of rising so
frequently noticed in the first kilometre over land is
due to turbulence, as suggested by Wenger, we should
expect to find it in the Scilly ascents; if it is
due to convection currents caused by solar heating,
we should not expect to find it. The evidence afforded
by this example seems clear. J. S. Dives.
66 Sydney Street, S.W.3, June 22.
Diamagnetism and the Structure of the Hydrogen
Molecule.
In a letter to Nature of June 24 (p. 516) Dr. J. R.
Ashworth has pointed out a possible origin of the
diamagnetism of hydrogen by Ssagysiel oscillations or
rotations of Bohr’s paramagnetic hydrogen atom or
molecule. Granted that such motions tend towards
a diamagnetic effect, it is important to exaiine the
plausibility’ of such a view in the light of recent
experimental data. We know that:
(1) The specific susceptibility (yx) of gaseous
hydrogen at 16° C. is —19:8(2)x 10-'+0°15 x 107-’,
with a mean error of 0-76 per cent. (Také Soné,
Science Reports, Tohoku, vol. viii., p. 115, 1919).
No variation of this, within the limits of experiment,
could be detected over a pressure range of 1 to 68
atmospheres.
(2) The value of yy for liquid hydrogen at a tem-
perature less than — 253° C. is —27x 10-" (Onnes and
Perrier, Proc. Amsterdam <Acad., vol. xiv., p. 121,
IgII).
(3) The value of x, for atomic hydrogen in various
types of chemical combination, as deduced from the
additive law of atomic diamagnetism for the hydro-
carbons, is: —30:5 x 10-" (Pascal, Ann. de Chim. et de
Phys., vol, xix., p. 5, 1910).
(4) There is no definite evidence that the diamag-
netic susceptibility varies simply with temperature
over a range —180° C. to 20° C. Such small varia-
tions as do occur never change the sign of yx (except
in the case of tin), and are attributable to changes of
molecular grouping, e.g. crystallisation or aggregation
(Ishiwara, Science Reports, Téhoku, vol. ili., p: 303,
1914; A, E. Oxley, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., vol. cexiv.,
A, Pp: 109, 1914). ;
(5) The theory of molecular rotation developed by
Honda and Okubo (Science Reports, Téhoku, vol. vii.,
P 141, 1918), which is similar to that proposed by
r. Ashworth, accounts for the diamagnetism of
hydrogen and helium only if we suppose molecular
rotations of angular velocity 654x10sec-' and
3°80 x 10°" sec —" respectively. In the case of the para-
magnetic oxygen molecule it is necessary to suppose
that there is no rotation whatsoever in order to obtain
‘582
NATURE
[JuLy 8, 1920
the hyperbolic susceptibility-temperature relationship
for gaseous oxygen (Také Soné, loc. cit.).
(6) If the diamagnetism of hydrogen is attributed to
thermal oscillations or rotations, we might expect that
xx for the gas at 16° C. would be greater than yx for
liquid hydrogen at —253° C. Precisely the reverse
holds, according. to the above data, and there is cer-
tainly no indication that at low temperature xq is
tending to change sign.
A variation of yx from —19-8x10-' to —27X10-'
for a temperature interval of 16° C. to —253° C.,
together with the fact that xx in different types of
organic compounds is constant and equal to
—30°5X10-', points to the conclusion that thermal
oscillations and rotations have little to do with the
origin of diamagnetism in molecular hydrogen, and
that the Bohr hydrogen molecule will not account
for it.
The present writer’s view ‘is that the free hydrogen
atom is probably paramagnetic, -but the structure. of
the hydrogen molecule must be such that by -com-
pensation it is, as a whole, diamagnetic.» A model of
the hydrogen molecule which ‘satisfies these conditions
was suggested in Nature of’ May 13, 1920. ‘In this
model the individuality. of. the hydrogen atom ‘is pre-
served, and this may.have some bearing on the origin
of the primary and secondary hydrogen spectra.
A: E. Oxtey.
The British Cotton Industry Research ...
Association, 108 Deansgate, Man-
chester, June 28.
University Stipends and Pensions,
ALL university teachers will thank you for the
leading article in Nature of June 17 pointing out the
injustice done:to them and to university education by
the exclusion of such teachers from the provisions of
the School Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 1918. “On
“one point, however, the article is misleading. It is
stated that ‘‘what complicates matters is the fact
-that there exists a contributory pension scheme in the
universities—the federated superannuation. scheme—
which is. thought by some to be superior to the
Teachers Act in certain respects.’’ It should be
made quite clear, however, that the governing bodies
of university colleges are at liberty to adopt the
federated scheme .or not, and that the governing
bodies of some colleges have refused to adopt it, with
the result that the staffs of these colleges have no
prospect of any pensions whatever. The position in
the University of London is, therefore, even more
anomalous than was suggested, since some schools
come within the provisions of the Act, some have con-
tributory pension schemes, and some have none. The
Northampton Polytechnic Institute and the Imperial
. College of Science and Technology have each an
engineering department the courses in which enable
their students to take the B.Sc, degree of London
University as internal students of the University.
The lecturers of each sit side by’ side on the Faculty
of Engineering and on the various Boards of Studies
of the University. The first-named institution is
included in the Teachers Act, but the last-named is:
excluded. Lecturers at the former retire at the age of
sixty with a non-contributory Government. pension,’
whilst their confréres at the Imperial College may;
- work as long as they are able with no prospect of
any pension whatever. G, W. 0. H.. |
d ee |
a
- TuerE is nothing in “.G. W. O. H.’s” letter toj
support his statemént that the article is misleading.
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
sure, a@’will require, an amount of available er
‘|. equal to-—RTlog4. 0 Cee one
- Now if the chemical and physical properties
It is true that no university or university college is —
compelled to join the federated scheme, but it is
equally true that such a scheme exists, and that most
universities and university colleges have adopted it.
The additional particulars which “G. W. O. H.” gives
were known to us, but obviously in a short on
every variety of illustration could not be included.—
Ep. NATURE, brea?
The Separation of the Isotepes of Chlorine.
In agreement with Prof. Soddy, I find myself un-
able to understand how it is possible to separate
isotopes by the method suggested by Mr. D. L.
Chapman in Nature of June 17. Nevertheless, a
certain paradox has been brought to light in con-
nection: with Nernst’s theorem the solution of whith
is not without interest. — 1s eri
The. paradox to which I refer is this: Consi
equilibrium in the gaseous reaction Cl,+Cl, 2
If the gases behave as perfect gases, and if Cl
Cl’ are identical or differonly very slightly, then it
is easy to show by probability considerations th:
equilibrium must -be- given by
ICRICG). <2) ee
From this it follows that to convert-a gre m.
of Cl, plus a gram-molecule of Cl’, into two.
molecules of CICI’-at the same temperature and pre:
hae ss ae
isotopes are truly identical, then from this and the
necessary equality of the vapour pressures it is réadily
shown that to convert a gram-molecule of solid Cl,
plus a gram-molecule of solid Cl’, into two gram-
molecules of solid CICI’ also requires —RTlog4 of —
available energy. Therefore the difference in the —
entropies of the two sets of solids is Rlog4, which, —
being independent of the temperature, must exist at
the absolute zero. Pea tas 3
It is, however, unjustifiable to say that this con- —
tradicts Nernst’s theorem, and to deduce from this
theorem that K for the gaseous reaction must be 1 —
in order to make the change in the entropy zero, For —
if there is a true identity, then this implies that there
are no forces to guide the atoms into any particular
configuration, so that! even down to the zero of tem-
perature no true reaction is possible, and what occurs
is really of the nature of mixing. That a difference of —
entropy occurs on mixing, even at the zero, is neces- _
sary, and in no way.contradicts Nernst’s theorem; in —
fact, the case of mixtures is explicitly excluded by —
Nernst. an 4
_ If, on the other hand, there is a real, but small, —
difference in the two isotopes, then, as before, K will —
very nearly equal 4. Now, in order to obtain the —
difference in the entropies between the solids near the
zero of temperature, let us carry out the cycle ~
described by Mr. Chapman, but in the neighbourhood
of the zero. Then, in spite of the fact that the isotopes.
differ very little, it is impossible to say that the vapour —
pressures remain equal. Thus it is impossible, so —
long as‘there is any. difference at all between the ~
isotopes, to argue that because K=4 for the gaseous —
reaction there must be a finite change in entropy at —
the absolute zero. © oh T it Oh ae eee
Peels 3 : Ancus F. Core. .
The University, Manchester, July'4.°° +
Ca oe Re SE Satis feet ce
sh
Nn
Lo 2)
G2,
: a Jury 8, 1920] NATURE
The Island of Stone Statues.!
ee By Sir Everarp 1m Tuurn, K.C.M.G., K.B.E.
; RS. ROUTLEDGE’S account deals with her , account of their experiences there. The story, if
most adventurous yachting cruise, with her | far from completely satisfying, at least supplies a
husband, to Easter Island, the easternmost— | very. great deal of material for home-staying
i.e. the nearest to the American coast—of that ethnologists to study. Moreover, Mrs. Routledge
great archipelago of : ; : 8
innumerable islands
which begins off the
Australiar® coast and
ends at this islet of
stone images. A con-
siderable number of
the pages of the book
are occupied by a vivid
and rather unusually
_ interesting travellers’ .
story of places visited
A
q
¥.
weer
on the outward and
_ homeward voyages,
_ ‘Patagonia and_ the
islands of Juan Fer-
- nandez and Pitcairn
among others; but it
js to the much fuller
account of Easter
Island itself, occupy-
ing one hundred and ’
seventy-six pages of
the middle of the
book, that we turn
most eagerly.
The mystery which
surrounds the history
of Easter Island, with
‘its great statues and
its unique, and per-
haps for ever inde-
cipherable, script, un-
paralleled elsewhere,
has from time to time
long attracted the at-
tention, though very
rarely the visits, of
ethnologists; but in
the absence of exact
data the mystery has
hitherto never been
even approximately
solved. .
_ Mr. and Mrs. Rout- : Pe a a on ip eg “
ledge, in search of |) > mM a ; pe ET ibe iy aig
new adventure, sailed [ Seen@ee\ihu/) 9% sii; =~ } "ih Mies 1 Arne oe NEON Me rur
in their own small
yacht, the Mana, to Ft. 1.—Exterior of Rano Raraku. Eastern portion of southern aspect. Diagrammatic sketch showing position of
statues. From ‘‘ The Mystery of Easter Island.”
the island, spent some
fifteen. months there (Mr. Routledge was away holds out hopes of ‘‘ another volume in prospect,
from the island during a considerable part.of the | with descriptions and dimensions of some two
time), and have now given us a somewhat full hundred and sixty burial places in the island, and
: 3 thousands of measurements of é
1 “The Mystery of Easter Island: The Story of an Bxpedition.” By. really absorbing matter = It apes ene
Mrs. Scoresby Routledge. Pp. xxi+4o4. (London: Sifton, Praed, ard
Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 315. 6d. net.” E hoped ‘that this further instalment*of exact data
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
584
NATURE
[Jury 8, 1920 ,
will be published before the great interest which |
has been aroused by the present foretaste has
evaporated.
The most interesting points brought out in the
present book are those which serve to throw
partial light on the great stone statues which are
so abundant in the island, and, in connection
with these, on the origin of the Easter Island
folk. It has hitherto generally been assumed
that these folk were of Polynesian race. But
recent research, by Prof, Keith and others, seems
Fic. 2.—A finished Hat at Ahu Hanga O Ornu; others in the distance. From ‘‘ The Mystery
of Easter Island,’’
to show that, in Easter Island, as in so many
of the South Sea Islands, several races with
other than Polynesian culture have from time
to time invaded this remote and isolated islet.
Mr. Henry Balfour (in Folklore for December,
1917) has suggested (modestly he disclaims to |
]
have done more) some of the main results to |
which Mr. and Mrs. Routledge’s experiences
seem to point, and chiefly to the probability that
at some long-distant time a strong wave of
Melanesian influence reached Easter Island.
Certain points of curiously strong resemblance
between Easter Island arts and customs
those found in certain of the Solomon Islands
serve to illustrate this.
Without throwing any doubt on this sugges-
tion, tentatively put forward by Mr. and Mrs.
Routledge, with the strong support of Mr. Balfour
and others, I again venture to put forward
the view that, while Easter Island cul-
ture is doubtless of very mixed origin, Poly-
nesian and Melanesian elements being most
strongly represented, there were probably also
other elements—e.g. some «influence,
_ sional, from the not
American shore lying to the east-
ward. For instance, the script (on
wooden plaques), the rock-carvings,
the featherwork, and the very pecu-
was used in Easter Island, all seem
to me to suggest an Eastern, rather
than a Western, origin.
One other suggestion may here be
put forward as a contribution to the
consideration of the Easter Island
mystery.
the well-known “‘ top-pieces ’’? which
are, or were, superimposed on the
statues as ‘‘ hats’’; and Mr. Balfour
but hair, and in the number of Folk-
those which were, and still to some extent are,
commonly used by Fijians—though whether by
those of Polynesian or Melanesian origin I cannot
now say. It would be interesting to know how far
such wigs were used in other parts of the Pacific,
It is satisfactory to know that a second edition
of Mrs. Routledge’s book is already in course of
preparation, and all ethnologists must hope that
the full scientific data will also soon be published.
The Blue Sky and the Optical Properties of Air.t
By the Richt Hon. Lorp Ray eicu, F.R.S.
Scattering by Small Particles. Polarisation.
“THE subject chosen for this evening is one
which specially interested my father through-
out his career. I shall try to put before you some
of his conclusions, and then pass on to more
recent developments, in which I have myself had
a share.
Let us begin with one of his experiments which
illustrates the accepted theory of the blue sky.
1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, May 7, r92c.
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
We have here a glass tank containing a dilute
solution of sodium thiosulphate. A condensed
beam from the electric arc traverses it and then
falls on a white screen, where it shows the usual
white colour. I now add a small quantity of acid,
which decomposes the solution with slow precipita-
tion of very finely divided particles of sulphur.
As soom as this precipitation begins you see that
light is scattered—that is to say, it is diverted
to every side out of the original direction of pro-
pagation. Moreover, you will observe that the
‘
and
possibly slight, and only very ocea-
far distant.
liar form of, tapa (bark cloth) which
Mrs. Routledge writes of.
suggests that these were very prob--
ably meant to represent not hats,
lore above quoted he works this out
in very ingenious detail. I venture to —
suggest a slight amendment to Mr.
Balfour’s proposition—i.e. that the stone cap-
pieces in question were meant to represent not.
actual growing human hair, but wigs, such as
Se ee ee eee
ee eee)
JULY 8, 1920]
NATURE 585
scattered light is blue. The transmitted beam is
robbed of its bluer constituents, and tends to
become yellower, as you may see on the screen.
_ The light scattered laterally is to be compared
to the blue sky; the yellow transmitted light to
the direct light of the setting sun when it has
traversed a great thickness of air.
As the precipitation goes on, the transmitted
light becomes orange, and even red. But the
particles of sulphur eventually get bigger, and
then give a less pure blue in the lateral direction.
We shall have more than enough to occupy us if
we confine our attention to the earlier stages,
when the particles are small compared with the
waves of light.
‘ A very important property of the scattered light
is its polarisation. The vibrations of the scattered
light as you have seen it, viewed laterally in the
horizontal plane, are almost wholly up and down.
No light is emitted which vibrates in the horizontal
plane. It is easy for individual observers to verify
this with a Nicol’s prism held to the eye, but
this direct method unfortunately does not lend
itself to public demonstration.
We may, however, use polarised light to begin
with, and you can then observe that if the polar-
ising Nicol is set so as to transmit up and down
vibrations, these are abundantly scattered towards
you by the small particles. As I turn the polar-
ising Nicol through. a right angle, you will see
that the light scattered towards you is extin-
guished.
The polarisation of light scattered by the
sulphur particles is one of the most conclusive
reasons for considering it to be an analogue of
the blue light of the sky, for the latter shows a
larisation of exactly the same kind when exam-
ined at right angles to the sun.
_A cloud of small particles of any kind is capable
of producing these effects, the essential condition
being that the individual particles should be of
small dimensions compared with the wave-length
of light, so that at a given moment the vibration
at a given particle may be regarded as having a
definite phase. In this case it was shown by my
father that the shorter (blue) waves are of neces-
sity more scattered than the longer ones (red);
thus the scattered light is bluer than the original.
This conclusion can be justified in detail whether
we adopt the elastic solid theory, or the electro-
magnetic theory of the nature of light, but it is
also deducible from the general theory of dimen-
sions, without erftering upon any details of the
nature of light beyond its characterisation by the
wave-length.
An alternative theory which still sometimes
shows its head attributes the colour of the sky to
a blueness of the air, regarded as an absorptive
medium. Such blueness is referred to the presence
of ozone, and appeal is made to the undoubted
fact that a sufficiently thick layer of ozone shows
a blue colour by absorption. This theory gives
no account of why the sky light is polarised, or
indeed of why there is any light in the clear sky
at all. Further, its fundamental postulate that the
NO. 2645, VOL. 105]
air is blue by transmission is contrary to observa-
tion. The setting sun is seen through a greater
thickness of air than the midday sun. According
to the theory under discussion, the setting sun
ought to be the bluer of the two, which everyone
knows it is not. No doubt the presence of ozone
tends to make the air blue by transmission. But
this effect is more than compensated by the lateral
leakage (scattering) of blue light from the beam,
which makes the transmitted light yellow.
Dusty Air and Pure Air.
If it be conceded that the blue sky is due to
scattering by small particles, we are confronted
with the question: Of what nature are these par-
ticles? At the time of my father’s early investiga-
tions (1871) this was left open, though they were
regarded as extraneous to the air itself. In 1899
he returned to the subject, and considered the
matter from the point of view of what was lost by
the original beam by lateral leakage (scattering),
which simulates the effect of absorption. He then
found that the air itself, regarded as an assem-
blage of small particles (molecules of oxygen and
nitrogen), would have an apparent absorbing
power not much less than that actually deduced
by observations of the sun at different altitudes.
The inference was that the air itself was capable |
of accounting for much, if not all, of the scatter-
ing which is observed in the blue sky; in fact, that
the molecules of air are the small particles in
question.
When a beam of sunlight enters a room through
a small aperture in the shutter, its course is
readily traced by the brightly illuminated motes
in the air. Prof. Tyndall, working in this institu-
tion, devoted much attention to the nature of these
motes, and the methods: by which they may be
got rid of. His results may be consulted in his
fascinating essay on “Floating Matter.” One
way of getting rid of the motes is to filter the air
through cotton-wool. We have here one of
Tyndall’s own experimental tubes. The electric
beam passes axially along it, and is concentrated
to a focus about the middle of its length. Its
track is conspicuous. If now we displace the air
originally in the tube by filtered air, you see that
the cone of light fades into invisibility.
Another of Tyndall’s experiments was merely
to place a spirit lamp or Bunsen burner under the
beam. Since most of the dust particles are com-
bustible, the gases rising from the flame are free
from them. As you now see, dark rifts appear in
the beam where the uprising stream of dust-free
gases traverses it.
Tyndall, on the strength of these experiments,
stated without qualification that dust-free air does
not scatter light, but my father’s views and theory
lead clearly to the conclusion that it does. But
when I asked him what he thought about the feasi-
bility of detecting it by a laboratory experiment,
he was not very sanguine of success. It seemed
worth while, however, to make the attempt, and
I came to the conclusion that the difficulty was not
586
NATURE
[JuLy 8, 1920
so much in the faintness of the effect to be looked
for as in the avoidance of stray light which came
into competition with it. The essential thing 1s
to get a perfectly black background against which
the beam (viewed transversely) can be observed.
We cannot get this with a vessel like Tyndall’s
tube just used. It is necessary to have what may
be called a black cave, and to view the beam as it
crosses in front of the mouth of the cave, the
latter forming the background. If the cave is
deep enough, there is no limit to the blackness
attainable. The great sensitiveness of the well-
rested eye, or the photographic plate, can then
be brought to bear, and the track of the beam
can be well seen, however carefully the dust is
removed.
Some persons have been inclined to question
whether the dust is removed completely in these
‘ experiments. As a matter of fact, this is not
where the difficulty lies at all. Dust so fine as to
be very difficult of filtration is an arm-chair con-
ception, not encountered in practical experiment-
ing. An enormous multiplication of the length
and tightness of the cotton-wool filter makes no
difference at all, a filtér of modest dimensions
doing all there is to do.
The dust particles which are originally present
in the air, near the ground or in a room, -are
large, being in some cases individually visible to
the naked eye; thus they do not fulfil the condition
for scattering a preponderance of blue light. The
molecules of air are, of course, amply small
enough, and the band of light seen stretching
across the mouth of the dark cave is, to my eyes
at least, of a full blue colour. In exhibiting the
effect to individual friends (and unfortunately it is
not bright enough to be shown to an audience), I
have been surprised and somewhat disconcerted
to find that they do not all see it blue as I do, but
some, for example, describe it as lavender. This
is undoubtedly due to a peculiarity of colour-vision
where faint lights are concerned. The ultimate
test is the spectroscope. Photographs of the
scattered light taken with this instrument clearly
show that the maximum of intensity is shifted
towards the blue, as compared with the original
exciting light.
Polarisation of Light Scattered by Pure Air.
A very important point to examine in connection
with the scattered light is its state of polarisation.
Visual examination with a Nicol’s prism soon
showed that the polarisation was very nearly com-
plete. For closer examination I had recourse to
photography. It may perhaps be thought an
easier and more effective plan to look at a pheno-
menon than to photograph it, and no doubt it is
so in many cases: not, however, where the light
is very faint, but admits of long exposure. It
has long been recognised that photographs of the
nebulee will show much more than can be detected
visually by the keenest and most discriminating
eye. In this work on the scattering of light, I
have found it positively less trouble to take a
photograph than to make a visual observation,
NO. 2645, VOL. 105]
even when the latter was feasible. The time
required to rest the eye in darkness and the effort _
of attention required in observing a faint effect
cost the experimenter more than the exposure
and development of a plate.
When the scattered beam in pure air is photo-
graphed, with a double image prism of Iceland
spar mounted over the photographic lens, it is
found that the polarisation is nearly complete,
but not absolutely so. However carefully the
instrumental adjustments are made and the
air filtered, I have found that there is a
slight residual polarisation indicating vibra-
tions parallel to the direction of the original beam.
The intensity of this residual polarisation, in what
may be called for convenience the wrong direction,
is about 4 per cent. of the whole. Now, as the —
theory shows, there are two causes to which
failure of complete polarisation may be attributed. —
One, which we may dismiss in this case, is that
the particles are not small enough. Another is
that they are not spherical—that is to say,
it is not a matter of indifference which way they
are presented to the primary beam. The latter
alternative may be illustrated by considering an
extreme case—namely, what we may call a needle-
like molecule, capable of vibrating only in one —
direction fixed within it. Evidently such a tnaleh:
cule when obliquely situated will have a com-
ponent vibration parallel to the direction of the
incident light. gee
From the experimental fact that there is such a
component we may. infer that the molecules of |
air are not in the optical sense spherical. Experi-
ments on various gases have shown a character-
istic departure from complete polarisation, differ- —
ent for each gas. Much effort has been spent on —
determining the exact amount for each, and it is ©
hoped that the numbers obtained will form valu- —
able material in the future for investigating the
structure of atoms and molecules.
Polarisation of the Night Sky. .
We have seen that the polarisation of the day--
light sky is one of the most conclusive proofs that
its light is due to scattering by small particles.
What of the sky at night? Some of you will
perhaps be inclined to reply that the sky at night
is dark, and that the question whether its light is
polarised does not arise. It is, however, by no
means the case that the sky on a clear night is
absolutely dark, as anyone may readily prove by
holding his hand with outstretched fingers against
the sky. The fingers will appear dark against the
sky as a luminous background.
The light is no doubt very faint, but I thought
it would be practicable to test whether it was
appreciably polarised or not. For this purpose
what is called a Savart polariscope was used.
Time will not allow us to consider the rather
complex theory of this apparatus; it must suffice
to say that if the light which falls upon it contains
even a small part which is polarised, bands alter-
nately bright and dark are produced, which
further show colour due to the composite nature
JuLy 8, 1920]
NATURE
587
of white light. These bands are clearest when the
incident light is completely polarised, as you now
see them projected on the screen. But they can
still be seen when the polarisation is but slight.
I will illustrate this by removing the polarising
Nicol which I have been using, and substituting
a single glass plate, through which the incident
light passes. If I incline this plate so as to
polarise a small fraction of the light, you see the
bands, faint but sufficiently distinct. In examin-
ing the light of the night sky, a photographic
plate is substituted for the paper screen I have
been using to-night, and the apparatus is designed
for the utmost economy of light. With two hours’
exposure a definite image of the sky was obtained,
with the stars superposed upon it. The Savart
bands could be seen, but they were very faint
compared with what. would have been observed
with an equally good image of the daylight sky.
The part of the sky examined was near the pole,
and therefore nearly at right angles to the sun.
If, as seemed possible, the night sky derived its
light from an attenuated atmosphere so high as
to be outside the earth’s shadow, we should expect
it to show the same polarisation as the day sky.
Since it does not do so, we must attribute the
light at night to some different origin.
I was fortunate in being able to interest Prof.
Hale in this matter while he was on a visit to
England, and as a result Mr. Babcock repeated
the observations in a modified form at the Mount
Wilson Observatory in California. The traces of
seyeruiniss which he obtained in that clear atmo-
phere were even less than what I got in England.
Ozone, and the Limit of the Solar Spectrum.
Although, as we have seen, the idea that the
blue colour of the sky is due to any action of ozone
cannot be admitted, yet there are points of great
optical interest connected with the presence of this
gas in the atmosphere. We may now turn to the
consideration of some of these.
It is of course well known that when the solar
spectrum is formed by a prism of quartz or by a
grating, the spectrum can be observed to extend
beyond its visible limit in the violet into the region
called ultra-violet. When, however, we examine
the spectrum of an electric arc (and for this
purpose an iron arc is particularly suitable), the
extension is observed to be very much greater
than in the solar spectrum. This is not because
the sun does not emit any rays of the kind in
question, but because the earth’s atmosphere will
not allow them to pass through so as to reach us
at the earth’s surface. There are many reasons
for feeling sure that this is the true explanation,
but one of the simplest will here suffice. When
the sun is near the horizon, so that the rays pass
obliquely through the earth’s atmosphere, and
consequently have to traverse a thicker absorbing
layer, the extent of the ultra-violet spectrum is
found to be even less than when the sun is high
and less air is traversed by the rays. This suffi-
ciently proves the point.
It has long been suspected that ozone in the
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
atmosphere is the effective cause of this absorption
of the ultra-violet rays. The most important con-
stituents of air, oxygen, and nitrogen do not
appreciably absorb at the point where the solar
spectrum ends, nor do the constituents of second-
ary importance, carbonic acid, water-vapour, and
argon. We must therefore look to some rare
constituent of air which is very opaque to this
region of the spectrum. Ozone possesses this
opacity, as I shall now show you. So far as I
know it has not been attempted to show this
before to an audience, but I think you will be able
to see it without difficulty. As a source of light an
iron arc is used, and the lenses and prism employed
in forming the spectrum are of quartz. I allow
the spectrum to fall on a piece of paper, and you
see the usual succession of colours, red, yellow,
green, blue, and violet, forming a comparatively
narrow rainbow-like band. Beyond the violet all
appears dark, the eye being insensitive to the
ultra-violet rays. If now I substitute for the
paper a screen of barium platinocyanide® (of the
kind used in X-ray work), we see an immense
extension of the spectrum beyond the violet. The
screen has the property of transforming the ultra-
violet rays, which the eye cannot detect, into
green rays which are readily visible. Thus beyond
the violet region we see green, which is, of course,
in no way to be confused with the original green
which was present in the source, and appears in
its normal position in the spectrum, on the other
side of the blue-violet. I interpose a thin sheet
of ordinary glass, and the greater part of this
extension of the spectrum which we get on the
fluorescent screen disappears. What I want
specially to show you, however, is that a thin
layer of ozone, much too thin to have any per-
ceptible colour, will have the same effect. There
is a glass tube, about 6 in. long and ? in. in
diameter, situated between the quartz lantern con-
denser and the slit, when the beam is parallel,
and the walls of the tube are projected as two
thin transverse lines on the slit, dividing the spec-
trum into thin horizontal strips, one over the
other. The light constituting the middle strip
has traversed the tube, but the light constituting
the upper and lower strip has traversed the open
air above and below the tube. A stream of oxygen
passes” through a Siemens ozone generator and
enters the middle of the observation tube, stream-
ing out at the two ends. While the ozone gener-
ator is not excited, the middle strip of the spec-
trum is similar to the comparison strips above and
below. If the induction coil is turned on so that
ozone passes into the tube, you see that in a few
seconds the greater part of the ultra-violet spec-
trum fades out from the middle strip, which con-
trasts sharply with the upper and lower ones.
When the coil is turned off, the ozone is rapidly
blown out by unozonised oxygen, and the original
state of things restored.
It must be remembered that the ¢ ozone used in
this experiment is extremely dilute, probably only
a fraction of 1 per cent. of the oxygen in the tube.
" 2 Kindly lent by Messrs. Watson.
588
NATURE
[JuLty 8, 1920
Yet it interposes an impassable obstacle to the |
ultra-violet rays, at least to those of shorter wave-
length than about 2900 angstroms. It cuts off
the iron spectrum at about the same point where
the solar spectrum ends. Speaking roughly and
generally, it may be said that glass is somewhat
more opaque than ozone—t.e. that with diminish-
ing wave-length the limit of transmission is
reached somewhat sooner. To make a statement
of this kind quite definite the thickness must of
course be specified.
Sir William Huggins devoted a great deal of
attention to the spectra of the sun and stars in
the extreme ultra-violet region, using for the pur-
pose a reflecting telescope, and prisms and lenses
made of quartz or Iceland spar. In this way the
absorption of a glass objective was avoided. He
noticed in 1890 that the spectrum of Sirius showed
a number of bands near the extreme limit of atmo-
spheric transmission, the bands tailing off into
complete absorption.
These bands were observed and discussed by
other authors, but no definite conclusion was
reached as to their origin until 1917, when the
matter was taken up by my colleague, Prof.
Fowler, and myself. Our interest was stimulated
by an excellent photograph of the bands, taken
at Edinburgh Observatory under Prof. Sampson’s
direction, which I show on the screen. We found
that the same bands were present in the solar
spectrum. It may seem strange that this had
not been observed long ago, considering how
closely the solar spectrum has been scrutinised
for more than a generation. As a matter of fact
this is one of the cases where a powerful instru-
ment is a positive disadvantage. The bands are
diffuse, and under high dispersion they are un-
recognisable. In any case, they are less con-
spicuous than in the spectrum of Sirius, because
in the sun numerous metallic lines are superposed
upon them and distract the eye.
Now the position and general aspect of these
bands suggested that they were connected with
the absorption which terminates the spectrum.
This led us to suspect that they were due to ozone,
and the suspicion was readily confirmed by experi-
ment. Burning magnesium ribbon gives a con-
venient source of continuous spectrum in the
ultra-violet region. Interposing a long tube con-
taining ozone between the burning magnesium and
the slit, a series of bands was photographed which
exactly corresponded to those photographed in the
solar spectrum with the same instrument, as you
will see in the slide shown.
Absence of Ozone near the Ground,
We are then driven to the conclusion that the
absence of short waves from the spectra of the
sun and stars is due to absorption by terrestrial
ozone. But it was not thought desirable to let
the matter rest there. It is true that many
attempts had been made to determine the (no
doubt very small) quantity of ozone in air by
chemical means, but with very conflicting results,
because other constituents of air, such as oxides
of nitrogen, are liable to produce reactions not
unlike those of ozone. It seemed more satisfactory
to test the absorbing power of air near the ground
for ultra-violet rays, to which ozone is so opaque.
I used for this purpose a mercury vapour lamp in
a quartz vessel, which is a powerful source of
ultra-violet rays, and observed its spectrum four
miles away, so that the mass of air intervening
was as great as that between the midday summer
sun and the top of the Peak of Teneriffe, from
which observations of the extent of the solar spec-
trum have been made. The result was to show
that the mercury lamp spectrum was by no means
stopped when the solar spectrum stops, but that
it extended to the region where ozone is most
opaque. There is a strong mercury line (wave-
length 2536) at about this point which was dis-
tinctly photographed. Its intensity was of course
a good deal reduced relative to the visible spec-
trum by atmospheric scattering. But there was
no evidence whatever of ozone absorption, =
What conclusion can we draw? Evidently that
the absorbent layer of ozone in the air is high up,
and that there is little or none near the ground.
It may seem at first sight that this thin and in-
accessible layer of ozone, which we have learned
of by a chain of reasoning not less conclusive than
direct observation, is a matter of little importance
to man and his welfare. There could be no greater
mistake. It acts as a screen to protect us from
the ultra-violet rays of the sun, which without
such a protection would probably be fatal to our
eyesight: at least if one may judge from the
painful results of even a short exposure to such
rays, which those who have experienced it are not
likely to forget. Rae
The Future of the Iron and Steel Industry in Lorraine.
By Pror. H. C. H. Carpenter, F.R.S.
EQERING the spring of last year two Commis-
sions were appointed by the Minister of
Munitions to visit and report upon certain steel-
producing areas in Western Europe. One of them
visited the steel works in Lorraine and certain
parts of the Saar Valley, the other journeying to
the occupied areas of Germany, Luxemburg, and
certain parts of France and Belgium. The
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
former was under the charge of Sir William
Jones, and included Messrs. Percy Cooper, Row-
land Harding, and Cosmo Johns, while the latter
was entrusted to Dr. F. H. Hatch, who had
with him Messrs. L. Ennis, James Henderson,
and Richard Mather. The Commissions were
absent about three weeks. The terms of reference
to them were the same and were to ascertain :—
ane eee OT a
a
now been made public.
_ tN i a
France’s ore reserves.
tons.
JuLy 8, 1920]
NATURE
589
(a) The character and extent of the technical and
other developments which had taken place during the
war, with special reference to the steps taken for the
development of munitions output.
3 The present conditien of plant and machinery.
c) The prospects of these areas either as com-
titors with or markets for British industries.
(d) The developments in fuel economy in the steel
trades of these areas.
_ The reports furnished by the Commissions were
printed in the first instance as confidential docu-
ments by the Ministry of Munitions, but have
That of the Commission
which visited Lorraine and the Saar Valley is the
more complete and interesting in that it throws
light on the possibilities of development of the
iron- and steel-producing area, which, as a result
of the war and the Peace Treaty, has passed from
_ German to French ownership.
The view of the Commission is that the acquisi-
tion by the French of these areas should be of
advantage to British industries on the whole, and
that while France may become a competitor with
Britain in so far as her surplus steel production is
concerned, taking the place of Germany to some
extent, it will not be until the destroyed works have
been reconstructed and full production has been
reached in a period which it estimates at from
three to five years. As a result of the war, France
has replaced Germany as the possessor of the
largest iron-ore supplies in Europe, her reserves
having been increased by more than 2,000,000,000
tons, making them now about four times those
of Germany. Before the war they were approxi-
mately the same.
Whereas France’s production of pig iron in
1913 was about 5,000,000 tons, with her new pos-
sessions in Lorraine and the Saar Valley she is
in a position to produce 11,000,000 tons annually.
Prior to the war German steel makers frequently
complained of the difficulty of obtaining adequate
supplies of foreign ores, and this is regarded by
many as one of the chief causes of the war, since
they hoped thereby to obtain possession of
The Commission states
whereas in 1913 Germany produced
that
_ 27,000,000, and France 21,000,000, tons of iron
ore, it estimates future production to be in the
ratio of Germany 7,000,000 to France 42,000,000
It would appear that outside France
Germany can expect to obtain ore only from
Sweden or Spain, but as both these countries
are actively developing their steel industries they
will probably not have very much to spare.
With regard to coal, however, France’s posi-
tion is by no means so satisfactory. Her pre-war
production was about 40,000,000 tons, and her
consumption 60,000,000 tons, the balance being
obtained from Great Britain, Belgium, and
Germany.
The control by France of the coal of the Saar
Valley area is estimated to enable her to produce
twice the tonnage obtained from the Valenciennes
district. This would mean an addition of
17,000,000 tons to the annual output, which nearly
NO. 2645, VOL. 105]
.
meets the deficit. The Commission states, how-
ever, that the ideal of the French iron and steel
makers in the Lorraine area at the present time
is that means should be devised whereby a re-
ciprocal business may be done with Great Britain
by their supplying basic pig iron in exchange for
furnace coke or coking coal. If the anticipated
output of oven coke in this country is realised
there should be some to spare, but the difficulties
of ‘transport, transhipment, etc., and the resultant
breakage are serious factors to be considered.
Possibly the solution of the present problem may
be found in the erection of coke ovens in Lorraine
close to the furnaces, and in the production of coke
on the spot from a mixture of Saar coal and
Durham coking coal. The supply of. the latter
cannot take place until better and cheaper means
of transport are available.
The Commission states that France dreads the
present position of dependence upon Germany
for coke supplies, since, although the Peace
Treaty gives her control of the Saar Valley coal-
field for, at any rate, fifteen years, the fact
‘remains that under existing conditions the works
must have coal or coke from Westphalia for their
blast furnaces. The coke obtained from Saar
coal is apparently unsatisfactory, so that so long
as this position continues French industry will
remain to a great extent at the mercy of the
Germans, a position the French are, naturally,
most anxious to avoid. It is true that Germany
will want iron ore from Lorraine, but she will not
be so entirely dependent upon this one source of
supply as the Lorraine works will be upon Ger:
many for coke, unless some means are provided
to enable them to obtain coke from elsewhere or
to produce what they need from Saar coal and
imported coking coal.
Various schemes for improved transport are
under contemplation by France. The construction
of a canal to Dunkirk from the Briey district
known as the ‘‘ Canal du Nord et de l’Est’’ has
been under consideration for a long time. This
would take at least five years to complete, and is
not generally favoured by the French steel makers
in Lorraine owing to the enormous cost of con-
struction and the great difficulties to be overcome
in cutting it through the densely populated indus-
trial areas of Northern France. The scheme most
favoured is that known as the canalisation of
the Moselle from Coblenz to Thionville and
thence to Metz, coupled with free navigation of
the Rhine to Rotterdam or by canal from the
Rhine to Antwerp via Maastricht. Either of these
schemes, it is considered, would be much cheaper
and more quickly operative than the canal to
Dunkirk. The estimate of the cost of the Moselle
Canal scheme would be between 15,000,000l. and
20,000,000l., and it is calculated that the con-
struction could be completed in three years. Plans
for this scheme are in the hands of the French
authorities. The strong feeling in favour of this
scheme to enable reciprocal business to be done
with Great Britain is accentuated by the treatment
590
NATURE
[Jury 8, 1920
accorded to the Lorraine steel works by Germany
in the matter of coke supplies, since the Germans
have failed to carry out their obligations under
the terms of the Peace Treaty, and have delivered
only about one-third of the tonnage promised, not-
withstanding the fact that there are large stores
of furnace coke in Westphalia. Since Great
Britain has been short of basic pig iron for a long
time, and there is every prospect of the shortage
continuing, some such reciprocal arrangement as
that put forward might be of advantage to both
countries.
The Commission states that there is no doubt
that economy in fuel. consumption is very fully
effected, owing to the absence of cheap and suit-
able fuel and the dependence of the works upon
Westphalian coke. All the waste heat is utilised
at every works. The blast-furnace gas is suitably
cleaned and fully absorbed. The works at Homé-
court may be cited as an instance. Before the
war they were producing gooo tons of pig iron
and 7000 tons of steel weekly, and they used only
280 tons of coal, all the remaining power being
produced from blast-furnace gas. This is quite
typical. The molten metal is taken from the blast
furnaces to the mixers in the adjacent steel works
and the sensible heat thus utilised.
A study of the report leaves the impression that
the development of the iron- and steel-producing
areas in Lorraine which have passed from German
to French management presents problems which
will call for patient consideration, dispassionate
counsel, and scientific treatment, ‘if they are to
be surmounted successfully. The "formidable posi-
tion which Germany had built up between 1871
and 1914 has been lost to her by the war. It
remains to be seen what France will make of
the heritage which has passed into her hands.
Obituary,
WE regret to note that the death of Mr.
Jouxn W. W. DryspaLE is recorded in the
Engineer for June 25 as having occurred on
June 21. Mr. Drysdale was in his seventy-second
year, and was one of the founders of the well-
known Glasgow firm of Drysdale and Co., Ltd.
He finished his education at Glasgow University
under Prof. Macquorn Rankine, and thereafter
started a small works in conjunction with a fellow-
student, Mr. Lewis J. Pirrie, son of Principal
Pirrie of Aberdeen. Centrifugal pumps formed
their outstanding speciality from the first, and the
firm has acquired a wide reputation for its pro-
ducts. Mr. Drysdale was a member of the In-
at ae of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scot-
and.
WE announce with great regret the death, at
the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank,
of SURGEON-GENERAL W. C. GorGas, of the U.S.
Army, so well known for his work in combating
yellow fever and malaria.
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
Notes.
Tue Lord Presidént of the Council, as president of
the Committee of Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research, has appointed Dr. J. S. Flett, at present
Assistant to the Director in Scotland, to be Director
of the Geological Survey and Museum. Dr.
succeeds Sir Aubrey Strahan, who retires this month.
Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, Assistant to the Director in
England, also retires.
Sir Joun Capman, Mr. W. B. Hardy, and Prof. S.
Young have been appointed by an Order in Council
members of the Advisory Council to the Committee
of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research.
Ir is announced that Sir T. Clifford Allbutt is to
be sworn a member of the Privy Council.
THE secretaryship of the Royal Irish Academy,
vacant through the death of Prof J. A. McClelland,
has been filled by the election of Prof. G. H.
Carpenter,
Tue Barnard medal of Columbia University has
been awarded to Prof. Einstein “in recognition of his
highly original and fruitful development of the funda-
mental cohperts of physics through the application of
mathematics.’
Dr. E. Sorvay has been elected an baaaeaeee
member of the American Chemical Society.
Tue Medical Research Council has recently estab-
lished at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine
a national collection of type cultures from which bio-
logists in general, and bacteriologists in particular,
may obtain authentic strains of recognised bacteria —
Flett |
Vdd Hs
and protozoa for use in scientific work. The scheme — _
is under the general direction of Dr. J. C. G. Leding- x
ham, while Dr. R. St. John Brooks has been appointed
to the post of curator of the collection and Miss
Mabel] Rhodes to that of assistant curator. It is
proposed to collect and maintain bacterial strains
- human,,
from all departments of bacteriology,
veterinary, and economic, and already considerable
work has been done towards the formation of a repre-
sentative collection on these lines. The efforts of
the staff are, however, at present particularly directed
towards the securing of fully authenticated strains
responsible for or associated with disease in man
and animals. The bureau proposes to supply cul-
tures on demand to all workers at home and abroad,
and, as a rule, a nominal charge per culture will be
made to defray postage and media.
identification and maintenance should be accompanied
by particulars as to source, date of isolation, etc. In
due course a catalogue will be prepared for publica- —
tion.
In Nature of January 1 last an account was given
of the Cawthron Institute of New Zealand, founded
for the furtherance of scientific research in relation to .
agriculture and other industries. The scope of the
institute has since been extended by the establish-
ment of a biological department, of which Dr. R. J.
Tillyard, the eminent Australian entomologist, hitherto
Strains sent for
*
j
=. -
y. Juty 8, 1920]
NATURE
591
| fellow of Sydney University, has been ap-
_ pointed chief. He will be assisted by Miss K. M. Curtis
__ as mycologist and Mr. A. Philpott as assistant entomo-
_ logist. We understand that members of the scientific
_ staff of the institute will have full freedom as to
_ research and publication.
€
_ A Committee, composed of the following members,
- has been appointed by the Ministry of Health to con-
_ sider and report on the legislative and administrative
measures necessary to secure adequate protection for
the health of the people in connection with the
slaughter of animals and the distribution of meat for
_ human consumption in England and Wales :—Sir
__H. C. Monro (chairman), Mr. W. G. R. Boys, Mr.
__R. B. Cross, Mr. J. Edwards, Dr. W. J. Howarth,
- Dr. A. W. J. MacFadden, Mr. T. Masheter, Mr.
_.A. W. Monro, Mr. T. Parker, Mr. R. J. Robinson,
and Mr. P. Taylor. Mr. H. F. O. Jerram is the
_ secretary of the Committee, and communications
_ should be addressed to him at the Ministry of Health,
_ Whitehall, S.W.r.
It was stated by Mr. Bonar Law in the House of
Commons on Monday last, with reference to the
question of scientific war inventions, that the Lord
President of the Council is about to appoint an
inter-Departmental Committee with the following
terms of reference :—(1) To consider the methods of
_ dealing with inventions made by workers aided or
_- Maintained from public funds, whether such workers
_ -be engaged (a) as research workers or (b) in some
_ other technical capacity, so as to give a fair reward
to the inventor and thus encourage further effort, to
_ secure the utilisation in industry of suitable inven-
_ tions, and to protect the national interest; and (2) to
_ outline a course of procedure in respect of inventions
arising out of State-aided or supported work, which
shall further these aims and be suitable for adoption
by all Government Departments concerned.
we he
RS
_ A SPECIAL meeting of the Réntgen Society is to be
held at University College, Gower Street, at 9 o’clock
‘on Thursday evening, July 15, when an address will
_ be delivered by Dr. W. D. Coolidge, of the Research
Laboratories of the General Electric Co., Schenectady,
_ New York. An invitation to the meeting is given to
the members of other scientific and medical societies.
_ A FREE public lecture on ‘Oil Storage, Transport,
and Distribution’’ is to be delivered by Mr. H.
_ Barringer at 6 o’clock on July 14 in the Canada
_ Building, Crystal Palace, under the auspices of the
Institution of Petroleum Technologists. The institu-
tion has also arranged for the delivery of four lec-
tures, as follow, in September, the actual dates for
which will be announced later: ‘Oil Prospecting,”
Mr. G. Howell; “Petroleum Refining,’ Dr. A. E.
Dunstan; “ Utilisation of Volatile Oils,’ Dr. W. R.
Ormanby, and “Utilisation of Heavy Oils,” Prof.
J. S. S. Brame. . 3
THE annual Oxford Ophthalmological Congress will
take place in the. Department of Human Anatomy in
the University Museum, Oxford, on July 15 and 16.
Among the promised communications are the follow-
ing: The Doyne memorial lecture, by F. R. Cross,
NO. 2645, VOL. 105] —
on ‘“‘The Nerve Paths and Centres concerned with
Sight”: A. S. Percival, ‘‘Light Sense”; Dr. Van
‘der Hoeve, ‘Eye Symptoms in Tuberose Sclerosis of
the Brain"’; Dr. L. C. Peter and others, ‘‘ Perimetric
Methods’’; M. Barton, ‘“‘Examination of the Eyes
of Pit Ponies, particularly with reference to Miners’
Nystagmus’’; A. H. Thompson, ‘ Physiological and
Glaucoma Cups’; R. D. Batten, ‘‘ Premonitory
Symptoms of Glaucoma’’; and Dr. L. Sambon,
“Ancient Eye Instruments.’’
Tue Research Association for the Silk Industry has
been approved by the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research as complying with the conditions
laid down in the Government scheme for the en-
couragement of industrial research. The.secretary of
the committee engaged in the establishment of this
association is Mr. A. B. Ball, the Silk Association
of Great Britain and Ireland, Kingsway House,
Kingsway, W.C.z2.
THE jubilee of the American Fisheries Society
will be celebrated at Ottawa on September 20-22
next. In connection with the meeting prizes will
be offered for papers on the following subjects:
Advance in practical fish cultural work; biological
work connected with fish problems in general; and the
solution of problems affecting commercial fisheries
work. The competitive essays should be received by,
at latest, August 20. Further information can be
obtained from the executive secretary, Prof. R. C.
Osburn, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
A PROPOSAL is on foot by the Swedish Linnean
Society to restore the old botanic garden at
Upsala, together with the house in it, the former
residence of Carl von Linné, and subscriptions towards
this object are solicited. Particulars of the suggested
memorial can be obtained from the General Secretary
of the Linnean Society of London, Burlington House,
W.1, and donations sent to him or direct to the
Swedish Linnean Society at Upsala.
ArcuirEcts, timber merchants, firms engaged in
the building and furniture trades, railway companies,
and, in fact, all users and consumers of wood, paper, and
other forest products, should visit the British Empire
Timber Exhibition, which is open to the public at the
Holland Park Skating Rink, London, until July 17.
The exhibition has been organised to display the forest
wealth of the British Empire. Before the war the
greater part of the immense importations of timber
into the United Kingdom, some _ 10,000,000 tons
annually, came from foreign countries, and many of
these were closed during the war. This necessitated
a considerable development of the sources of supply
within the Empire and a greater demand on our
home forests. The main object of the exhibition is
a patriotic one, namely, to show. that our timber
requirements can be met in great measure from our
Dominions and Colonies, thus extending Imperial
trade. The specimens of timber include very many
‘beautiful, valuable, and useful woods, of. which only
a few may be mentioned as examples, such as rose-
wood, satinwood, mahogany and its various sub-
stitutes, teak, greenheart, jarrah, ironwood, and the
592
NATURE
[JuLty 8, 1920
numerous cedar woods. There is also a complete set
of exhibits demonstrating the various uses to which
timbers are put, as floors, panelling, veneers, ply-
wood, furniture, and articles of everyday use. Many
decorative exhibits are of great interest. The pre-
paration of paper-pulp from bamboos is also shown.
An exhaustive catalogue of the exhibits has been pre-
pared. This gives both the botanical and trade names,
the countries of origin, and names of shippers and
importers. Each wood is fully described as regards
its general characteristics, tension strength, and other
useful data. The information in the catalogue has
been compiled by the various Forest Departments of
the Empire, and has a scientific as well as a com-
mercial value.
Tue half-yearly report of the Department of Civil
Aviation on the progress of civil aviation from
October, 1919, to March, 1920, contains many
features of general interest. A very detailed survey
of the results which have been achieved is given
with regard to activities both in the British
Empire and in foreign countries. Tabulated figures
concerning the operation of air services between
England and the Continent show that a_ slow
but definite progress has been made. The importance
of the International Air Convention is emphasised,
and it is satisfactory to note that this Convention
has now been signed by all the Allied Powers. The
record of activities in foreign countries shows that
many attempts are being made to develop commercial
flying for both inland and international trade. France
and Italy show the most promising results, and both
are making efforts to exploit the possibilities of com-
mercial aviation in Asia and South America. In late
enemy countries many aviation companies have been
formed to develop commercial flying, but no actual
results have yet been achieved owing to the economic
conditions prevailing. The first paragraph of the con-
clusion of the report is worthy of quotation as an apt
summary of the present position. The Controller-
General says :—'‘‘The discovery of a new method of
increasing the speed of inter-communication has in
the past generally indicated a fresh step in the march
of civilisation. In aviation a means of transport has
been obtained twice as fast as any other previously
existing. The majority of countries which are im-
bued with the spirit of progress appear to realise
that the future of aviation cannot be neglected, and
by various methods, such as the creation of aviation
departments, research, subsidies, and the conduct of
experimental SeeviC[; are striving to adapt aviation
to commerce,’”’ Progress may be somewhat slow
under the unsettled conditions which now prevail
throughout the world, but there is little doubt that as
the general economic situation improves, so will the
advance of civil aviation become more rapid.
In 1910 Dr. W. Max Miiller was enabled, through
the liberality of the Carnegie Institution of Washing-
ton, to visit the doomed island of Phila, and to glean
the epigraphic material left by the Berlin expedition.
His immediate purpose was the decipherment of the
famous bilingual inscriptions engraved on the walls
of the large court between the first and the second
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
pylons. This was exceedingly difficult, as the sonal,
shallow-engraved signs become distinctly visible: only ©
during the short time of the day when they receive —
strong light. The Carnegie Institution has now pub- —
lished in a suitable style the result of Dr. Max ~
Miiller’s labours. He gives complete facsimiles,
transliterations, and translations of the inscriptions,
and a learned introduction adequately reviews the
historical information thus collected. The work is in
every way creditable to the learned explorer and the
Carnegie Institution.
In the University of California Publications in |
American Archeology and Ethnology (vol. xvi., No. 6)
Miss Lucile Hooper gives a valuable account of
Shamanism among the Cahuilla Indians, one of the
largest surviving tribes in Southern California. At
one of their fiestas or annual rites the Shaman first.
took a dark substance from his breast; then ‘he
reached into the fire with his foot and kicked outa
few coals. One of these he picked up; it was about
the size of a dollar. He immediately put it into his
mouth. I was only a few feet away, and one of the —
sparks from his mouth, as he blew, fell on my hand,
so I can testify that they were hct. The glow from
the coal could be seen on the roof of his mouth. He
swallowed it in about a minute. He swallowed three
coals in this way.’’ The dancing and singing are
part of the rite. One man intended to eat the coals,
‘but his song had not gone right; he had forgotten —
part of it, no doubt due to some disturbing influence i
among those watching, or perhaps because of some
spirit preventing his success. Since his song did not —
go right, he could do nothing.’’ Other marvels of a ;
similar kind are reported. ‘* Another man saw a dove .
walking around; he raised his hands and clapped them
together. The ‘dove dropped as though dead, and —
blood flowed from its mouth. He then picked it up, ;
threw it into the air, and it flew off as though nothing —
had happened.’’ The report includes a full account —
of the religious and domestic rites practised by the —
tribe. Their pottery, which was of an interesting —
type, has now disappeared with the use of manufac.)
tured articles. :
AN interesting report, by Mr. R. S. White, on an
outbreak of pellagra amongst Armenian refugees at —
Port Said during 1916-17 has been published (Reports —
and Notes of the Public Health Laboratories, Cairo, —
No. 2, 1919). Much controversy has occurred with
regard to the nature of this disease. In the outbreak — ;
in question the weight of evidence points entirely to
a faulty diet as the causal factor, and the disease wale)
eradicated from the camp by correcting this, all other —
conditions remaining the same. The diet at the
time had an energy-value of about 2000 Calories only, —
which is’ very low, the protein amounting to but —
46-48 grams, of which some go per cent. was derived —
from vegetable sources and was of low biological
value. Maize had no direct causal. relation to the — |
disease. No protozoan or bacterial cause was dis-—
covered, nor could any connection with biting insects :
be found. The results of the inquiry are in accord-—
ance with the findings of Goldberger in the United :
States. ‘
| |
logical Album in three volumes.
the generous co-operation of the Belgian Government,
‘a selection of duplicate specimens will be sent to the
\
a i
: ;
‘ remarkable
trating anthropology. It
Jury 8, 1920]
NATURE
593
Mr. Francis Harper, the assistant biologist of the
United States Biological Survey, contributes to
_ Natural History, the journal of the American Museum
of Natural History, vol. xx., No. 1, an article of
interest on the Okefinokee Swamp,
which covers nearly seven hundred square miles of
the south-eastern part of the State of Georgia. ‘‘It
; has no counterpart anywhere in the world.” Drain-
age and the ‘“lumber-man”’ threaten its existence,
and unless, the hand of the destroyer can be stayed
it is certain that a considerable number of vanishing
pirds and beasts will be swept out of existence, this
swamp being their last stronghold. In 1918 a society
was formed for the purpose of securing the swamp
as an educational and scientific reservation, and it
is devoutly to be hoped that this aim will be secured;
for such areas are of immense value, not only to the
people of America, but also to the world of science at
large.
WE have received from the American Museum of
_ Natural History a brief preliminary report on the
‘zoological collections made under its direction in the
Belgian Congo territory during the years 1909-15.
Of mammals, birds, aid fishes respectively there. are
about 6000 specimens, of reptiles and batrachians
nearly 5000, and of invertebrates more than 100,000.
Material has been obtained for mounted groups of the
okapi and*, square-lipped rhinoceros in their natural
surroundings. There are also 3800 specimens illus-
is anticipated that the
scientific papers on the collection will occupy twelve
volumes of the Museum Bulletin, and a monograph
of the okapi is being prepared for the Memoirs. There
will also be a Narrative in two volumes and an Ethno-
In consideration of
c Congo Museum at Tervueren.
Tue Crocker Land Expedition to North-West Green-
Jand and Grinnell Land covered a district but little visited
previously by naturalists. The mollusca obtained on
_ the expedition by Dr. M. C. Tanquary and Mr. W. E.
Ekblaw have now been described by Mr. F. C. Baker
(Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. xli., 1919, pp. 479-
517, pls. 25-27). No new species are claimed, but the
number determined exceeds by four those obtained on
the Nares Expedition of 1875-76, when thirty-four
were enumerated by the late Mr. E. A. Smith. The
more important species of Astarte and Buccinum have
been figured, with the detailed sculpturing of the
shells of the latter, but the chief interest in the col-
lection is the number of species found in high latitudes
and the extension of the northward range of several
of the species. The same author (tom. cit., pp. 527-
39, figs.) also describes a number of fresh-water
mollusca obtained by Prof. Frank Smith from various
lakes in Colorado and Alberta. Fifteen species in all
are dealt with, of which three are believed to be new.
A PRELIMINARY account of the Tasmanian skeleton
of Nototherium, to which we referred in last week’s
issue (p. 559), was read before the Royal Society of
Tasmania on May 10 by Messrs. H. H. Scott and
NO. 2645, VOL. 105]
_ prophet.
Tertiary.
C. Lord. The authors assign the specimen to N.
Mitchelli, and consider that it was originally provided
with a horn on the nose. They regard the Noto-
theria as the marsupial analogues of the rhinoceroses,
some of them horned, others hornless.
THE atmosphere: that surrounds the Revue des
"questions scientifiques, which is published at Louvain
for the Société scientifique de Bruxelles, permits of
the most liberal agnosticism in regard to scientific
dogmas. Prof. Pierre Termier, in his address on
“Les grands énigmes de la Géologie,’’ delivered in
the welcome epoch of recovery at Louvain in 1919
(Revue, vol. xxvii., p. 53, 1920), responds with his
accustomed vigour to the invitation of his northern
colleagues. His splendid oratory rings through these
pages, in which he brings us face to face with the
sphinxes that rise in the domain of geological inquiry
and raise in the soul of the traveller “des pensées
vertigineuses et des réves sans fin.’”? In his desire
to show how much remains truly enigmatic, he makes
‘no mention of tentative or even probable explanations,
and his hesitating spirit before the evidences of
organic evolution seems the pose of the courteous
guest rather than the free expression of the
For Prof. Termier, in his mere use of
language, is a prophet and a power, and he hopes
yet to see some secrets wrested from the earth as
part of the general movement of humanity towards
light and truth.
On p. 149 of the same number of the
Revue M. P. Teilhard de Chardin, who was present
with the late Mr. Dawson at Piltdown, gives an excel-
lent account of the human remains that have excited
so much controversy, and he assures his readers that
when paleontologists come to an agreement it is
because they believe loyally and invincibly that their
judgment has been based on truth. It is evident that
these things still need saying, even in sociétés scien-
tifiques, though we may have advanced some way
from the scene so bitterly depicted by Barabino in
his ** Colombo deriso ’’ at the Council of Salamanca.
Tue New York Academy of Sciences has published
two more parts of the results of its scientific survey
of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands (vol. i., part 2,
and vol. iii., part 1). Porto Rico is largely and
essentially a heap of volcanic débris, and Mr. Edwin T.
Hodge attempts to unravel its geological history after
making a detailed study and map of the Coamo-
Guayama district. He also adds some useful notes on
its mineral resources and hot springs. The lime-
stones inter-stratified with the volcanic tuffs contain
numerous fossil shells, which are, unfortunately, pre-
served only as impressions, but clearly represent
several horizons between the Eocene and Miocene
The shells are déscribed in detail, with
beautiful illustrations, by Miss Carlotta J. Maury,
who makes some interesting remarks on their relation
to the molluscs of existing seas. She points out that
/most of them are represented by living species which
are evidently their descendants in the Antillean seas,
but that several of the Tertiary genera have now com-
‘pletely disappeared from the Caribbean region, and
exist only in the Pacific Ocean.
spread before the Isthmus of Panama arose, and it is
The latter must have
594
NATURE
[Jury 8, 1920
difficult to understand why they survived only on the
western side of this barrier of land.
Tue Meteorological Magazine for Jurte deals with
the recent disastrous flood at Louth as completely as
possible at the. time of going to press, and adds
somewhat to the account in Nature of June to
(p. 468). .The characteristic features are. given of the
hot weather experienced over England during the last
week of May, which occasioned the development of
numerous thunderstorms, A disturbance, centred over
the Bristol Channel on the. morning of May 29,
traversed the Midlands during the day. Little or no
rain fell on May 29 south of a line passing through
Plymouth, -Reading,. and -Lowestoft, and none was
observed over the centre and west of Scotland. There
was more than an inch of rain over the greater part
of Lancashire, the West Riding of Yorkshire, Lincoln-
shire, and the east of Nottinghamshire. In Lincoln-
shire the rainfall was very severe. At Louth the fall
was only 1-42 in., but at Elkington Hall, three miles
to the west, the fall was 4-69 in., and of this 4-59 in.
fell in three hours. At Hallington, about two miles
south, 4-10 in, fell in two hours, when the gauge over-
flowed and the exact total fall was lost. Ten miles
further south, at Horncastle, 3:95 in. fell in three
hours. The magazine states that, according to
the Borough Surveyor, the Lud stream, normally
3 ft. wide and 1 ft. deep, yas swollen to a
width of 52 yards and a depth -of 50 ft, It
appears that the stream was temporarily blocked
with débris, and the flood was the result of the sudden
breaking down of this obstacle. The periodical has a
very suggestive and useful article on the ventilation
of instrument shelters by the Director of Armagh
Observatory. ‘ The general rainfall for May in Eng-
land and Wales was 117 per cent. of the average,
in Scotland 164 per cent., and in Ireland 145 per cent.
4HE* report of. the Imperial! Wireless Telegraph
Committee (Cmd. 777, price 6d. net) contains an in-
teresting review of the capabilities of different
systems of wireless transmission for long-distance
working, and forms a striking vindication of the
powers of the thermionic valve, which it is proposed
to employ as the sole means of generating the waves
required for the chain of stations 2000 miles apart
which are recommended. We admire the courage of
the Committee in putting forward: a system which,
in its own words, ‘‘departs widely from the general
direction of contemporary practice.”’ It admits
that ‘‘the objects desired might perhaps be secured
by other and more conventional methods, but by none, |
in our opinion, not involving an immediate capital ex-
penditure and a heavy annual loss which the scientific
progress of a few years might well prove to have been
unnecessary.’’? Discussing the alternative systems, the
Committee dismisses even the latest developments, of
' the spark system. as obsolete. The, high-frequency
alternator system it; characterises as “‘costly,, difficult
to repair, and as. yet. insufficiently tested in pro-
longed operation.’’. The arc «system: is described
as ,“‘pre-eminent at. the : present . moment’: among
methods of long-range wireless transmission.’’...Arcs.,
of greater power. than: 250.,kw., ‘however, present.
elements of uncertainty, and apparently do not deliver
NO. 2645, VOL, 105 |
obtainable.
irequest.
_ .AnotHER. of the useful catalogues .(No..403) of Mr.
-F..Edwards, 83 High.Street; Marylebone, W.1, has. —
‘reached.us. ' It consists of descriptions of some seven’ —
‘hundred works relating toCentral.and South America,
and should be of interest, to, many. readers-of NATURE. —
to the .aerial a greater effective current than those
rated at lower powers. Although the valve system
cannot show the same degree of accomplished results _
as any of the preceding, the Committee has’ evi-
dence of such rapid advances now being made that
it’ recommends its adoption without hesitation. It
has already been found that a group of three glass
valves delivering 2} kw. into the aerial can effect
communication over two thousand miles. Silica
valves are now designed by means of which, with
suitable grouping, 120 kw. will, it is hoped, be
delivered into the aerial. Owing to the greater purity
of wave-form of valve-generated over are-generated
waves, this arrangement should be considerably more
effective than a 250-kw. arc, which does not really
deliver more than 120 kw. into the aerial. There are
several other advantages for valve working claimed
se the report which we have not the space to mention
ere, wa Oog
THE deposition of iron by electrolysis is a method
which has lately been employed to a_ considerable
extent for the purpose of “building up’? worn and
under-gauge parts of both aeroplanes and guns. The
work, however, has not been done under proper scien-
tific control; and not infrequently defects have mani-
fested themselves in use in the iron thus deposited. A
paper dealing with some of these was presented by Mr.
W. E, Hughes at the recent meeting of the Iron and
Steel Institute. In his capacity as chief research
‘chemist to the Electrometallurgical Committee of the
Ministry of Munitions, Mr. Hughes had opportunities
of making extended observations upon the structure of.
the electro-deposited metal: He found that it was
liable to contain pinholes, lumps, inclusions of foreign
matter, cracks, and ‘‘ quasi-cracks,’? and that a given
specimen might present very marked differences of
structure. He concludes that these defects may
render the iron dangerous and unsuitable for en-
gineering purposes, but that they arise from causes
which can be largely eliminated by efficient control of
the deposition process. It is generally assumed that
electrolytic: iron is a very pure product, but, as he
shows, this is by no means necessarily the case. Fur-
ther, it is usually assumed to be hard, and may indeed
be so, though not always. Whether the hardness, when
it occurs, is due to included hydrogen is a question
which has not yet been settled. Mr. Hughes’s investi-
gation has proceeded sufficiently far for him to enter-
tain decided doubts about this explanation. ped
Messrs. Durau AND Co., Lrp., 34 Margaret Street, —
important catalogue —
W.1, have just issued an
(No. 83) of secondhand books of science in the:
departments of ornithology, entomology, general
zoology, geology and paleontology, geography, travel,
and topography, botany and horticulture. Of the
1256 works listed many are out of print and not easily B
.The catalogue can be had free upon
Jury 8, 1920]
NATURE
595
Our Astronomical Column.
~ COMMENCEMENT OF THE GREAT PERSEID SHOWER OF
-Merrors.—The first Perseids probably appear-at the
end of June. They have certainly been observed in
the first week of July. -The earliest meteor of this
‘shower, which has been doubly observed and the real
path of which has been computed, was seen on July 8,
1918, by Mrs. Fiammetta Wilson and Miss A. Grace
Cook. This year the moon left the evening sky
about July 6, and the sky should be watched for
traces of oncoming Perseids. At this time of the year
meteors generally increase in numbers, and especially
‘after the middle of July. The Perseids gradually
become more abundant, and among the minor displays
the chief ones are:
8 Aquarids 338-11 | o Draconids ... 291+60
a Capricornids . 303—11| A Andromedids . 350+51
' @ Cygnids 292+52]| ¢ Pegasids 332 +10
a Perseids 48+44 | B Cepheids 333+71
a Cygnids 315 +48 Lacertids 334451
_. The radiant point of the Perseids moves N.N.E. as
_ follows : —
~ July ‘8 aid Seas bs Sige | 33455
Pie oO. .:.. 36+49 9 43 +573
et, 24 24+ 52 17 «+. 9 54+59
~ Tue Expanpine Disc or Nova ae: —Dr. Lunt
Eaidtuted a paper on this nova to the June meeting
of the Royal Astronomical Society which contains
'some interesting calculations on the rate of expan-
sion. It was written before the recent Lick measures,
which | indicate a mean annual rate of increase of
‘diameter of 1-9’, but he notes that Barnard’s measures
ave an increase of 2” in the first six months, so that
‘the rate may be diminishing,
_Assuming the displacements of the edges of the
- bands in the spectrum to be a measure of the rate of
_ expansion of the nova into a planetary nebula, Dr.
Lunt found a radial velocity of 1500 km./sec., which
would give a diameter of 1/100 light-year in a year,
-and would imply a distance of the nova of 1000 light-
"years.
ar sctin to Van ‘Massien s parallax of. the ring
nebula in Lyra (the largest nebula on his list), its
diameter is 0-16 light-year. The expanding nova
would attain this size in ‘sixteen years if the rate were
_ maintained.
_ Dr. Lunt notes that in the-nova spectrum there are
fine. dark lines close to:the normal positions of the
-H and K lines of calcium, which indicate a-motion
of approach to the sun of 17 km./sec., exactly the
“amount due to the sun’s own motion. A similar
‘feature has been noted in several other stars, and
we suggestion made that these lines arise ’ from,
of very tenuous calcium vapour at rest in
ace. On this view these lines exist in the spectra
& ‘most stars, but are hidden by the star’s own lines
“unless the latter are shifted by a large radial motion.
Tue New Minor Pranet GM.—It will be remem-
: there’ that last January Sefior Comas Sola, of Barce-
-lona, discovered a new minor planet which was much
brighter than most of those discovered in recent years,
and was taken for a comet by some observers.
object was very well observed for several months, SO.
that an accurate determination of the orbit is possible,
and there is not much fear of its being lost again, as
has happened to many of these little planets. -The
discoverer has now given it the name “ Alphonsina,”?
in double homage, as he says, to Alphonso X. of
_ Spain, who was known as ‘‘ the Savant, af ne to the
present king, Alphonso XIII.
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 | 3
‘the laboratory.
a part of the aluminium-magnesium-silicon
Annual Visitation of the National Physical
Laboratory.
N the occasion of the visitation of the National
Physical Laboratory by the General Board on
June 22, a large number of distinguished visitors
availed themselves of the opportunity of inspecting
‘The visitors were received by the
chairman of the board (Sir Joseph J. Thomson) in
the 7-ft. wind channel of the new aeronautics build-
ing, and afterwards, visited the various departments
of the laboratory, where exhibits illustrative of recent
work were on view,
The exhibit in the engineering department was
noticeable for the large number ot machines for test-
‘ing resistance to shock and to fatigue.
The day is
past when a simple test in tension is considered
to yield sufficient dat&a for structural material,
and many other forms of test are now in use. One
machine, designed by Dr. B. Haigh, subjects the
specimen, by means of an alternating magnetic flux,
to a maximum load of +075 ton reversed two
thousand times every minute. Another instrument,
designed and constructed in the department, tests the
endurance of stranded cables passing over pulleys.
Among the impact testing machines, many of which
were designed and made in the department, mention
may be made of one in which both hammer and. anvil
are’swung; by this means it is ey i to obtain a
striking velocity as high as ft. per second.
Machines for measuring t sities limits of materials
at high temperatures and for determining the efficiency
of chains, gears, etc., were also among the exhibits.
In the aeronautics department various wind channels
_ were operating, measurements of the performance of
air-screws, the effects of aeroplane bodies on screws,
and stability tests on bodies being carried out. Ap-
paratus for measuring the skin-friction of air passing
over thin plates was also exhibited.
Amongst the exhibits in the metallurgy ‘department
were a number of examples of failures. of steel and
alloy articles which had been sent in for investigation.
Photomicrographs illustrating sections from these, as
well as various sections under the microscope, were
_ shown,
The representation of the constitution of a series of
ternary alloys has never been an easy matter.
Three models were exhibited which are designed
to overcome this difficulty. They represent parts of
the “diagram” for copper-aluminium-zinc alloys and
“ dia-
ram.’
Considerable improvement has recently been intro-
duced into the manufacture of thin-walled refractory
tubing for thermo-couple protection and insulation ;
the apparatus with which it is made was shown in
| Operation...
Demonstrations of. the rolling of manganin, cast
at the laboratory, into rods prior to wire-drawing
were given in the rolling mill. Much valuable work
has been done, in conjunction with the electricity
department, on this metal,.and it is now possible
to produce manganin wire equal to the best pre-war
' material which was imported from Germany.
The |
. used for measuring the permeability of balloon fabric,
-was
A modified form of the Shakespeare katharometer,
in operation in the » aeronautical chemistry
division.
The exhibits in the Froude national tank can be
divided into three heads. The first dealt with tests
-on the trim, the longitudinal stability, and the resist-
ance of hulls of flying-boats. The second was.work
which was being carried out for Lloyd’s Register in
596
NATURE
[Jury 8, 1920
connection with the design of oil-tankers to determine
the stresses in the bulkheads of the oil compartments
when the ship is pitching. The effect of varying the
frequency of the pitch was studied. Thirdly, an
apparatus was shown for testing the effects of a
screw propeller working behind a ship. If we know
the thrust which the screw must develop, and the
velocity of the water behind the ship where the screw
is working, relative to the velocity of the ship, then
the ordinary data can be used to find the dimensions
of screw required for a particular service. The object
of the experiments is to find out these two factors.
The heat division of the physics department
exhibited, amongst other things, a method of measur-
ing humidity based on the property, shown by dry.
cotton, of absorbing moisture at a very high rate.
Two similar coils of cotton-covered wire, one of which
is coated with cellulose, are wound on to a single
bobbin and connected up to the two sides of a
Wheatstone bridge. They are dried by being inserted
into a tube containing P,O,, a current being passed
through them at the same time to ensure complete
drying. ° The coils are then drawn out of the drying
tube into the atmosphere the humidity of which is to
be measured; the cotton on the uncoated wire
absorbs moisture with extreme rapidity, which causes
a rise in temperature of the wire, thus upsetting the
balance of the bridge and deflecting the galvanometer.
Another exhibit consisted of a pointolite lamp for
calibrating optical pyrometers. The special feature
of this instrument is that the tungsten disc had a
tungsten-molybdenum couple fused into it, by means of
which it was possible to measure the temperature of
the disc,
In the optics division of the physics department
an apparatus was shown for measuring the coefficient
of expansion of short specimens. It has been used
lately for determining the coefficient of expansion of
various glasses, and has given very interesting results.
Interferometer tests and methods of measuring refrac-
tive indices were also shown.
One of the most interesting exhibits in the metro-
logy department was a machine which was con-
structed to measure accurately to one-millionth of an
inch. Slip-gauges are now made accurate to
1/100,000 in., and to test them it is advisable
to have a machine which can read to one-tenth
of this. The machine is used as a comparator, i.e. it
measures the difference between the standard gauge
and the one under test. The chief feature of the
instrument is the complete absence of a micrometer
head. The magnification is obtained partly mechani-
cally, but mainly by a tilting mirror, which moves
the image of a cross wire over a paper scale, giving
a magnification such that a movement of } in. over the
scale corresponds to a _ difference in
1/100,000 in.
Another machine, for comparing end standards
with line standards, can be used for lengths up to a
metre. An important point about this instrument is
that the two standards under comparison ‘are in the
same straight line.
A new type of micrometer for measuring the
diameter of small balls, rollers, etc., was also shown,
in which the readings are made on two parallel
circles, one of which drives the other through epi-
cyclic gearing; tenths and hundredths of an inch are
read on one circle, and thousandths, ten-thousandths,
and, by estimation, hundred-thousandths on the
other. Both sets of readings are in line with each
other, making the instrument very rapid to read. The
position of contact is found by means of a small
mirror moved by the tail-stock of the instrument.
The list of exhibits in the electricity department was
NO, 2645, VOL. 105 |
length of°
large and interesting, but there is only space for —
reference to a very few of them. A ‘considerable
number dealt with photometry. Others were con-
cerned with the temperature coefficient of manganin,
with the measurement of frequency, efficiency,
amplifying power, and characteristics of electric
valves, and with a selenium-cell current regulator.
The Carnegie Foundation and Teachers’
Pensions .. | sgh!
EACHERS’ pension controversies are not con-
fined to England. All our recent discussions of
this subject have their counterparts in the United
States, but there they are immensely complicated by
the lack of co-ordination between the different States
of the Union. Great diversity exists between the
school pension systems which have been adopted or
are under consideration, and no attempt seems to be
made to bring them into relation one with another.
The universities and colleges (or such of them as
are admitted into association), are the special provine
of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching, and the fourteenth report of this body con- .
tains evidence of work of great value. Begining in.
1905 with an initial benefaction of ten million dollars,
the endowment administered by the trustees has been
increased by later gifts and accumulated interest to
more than twenty millions. The object of the founder :
was to provide retiring pensions for teachers in uni-
versities, colleges, and technical schools in the United
States, Canada, and Newfoundland ‘‘ without regard
to race, sex, creed, or colour’’; but the granting of
pensions does not by any means represent the whole
of the activities of the trustees. To enable them to
discharge effectively the duty laid upon them, they
have felt compelled to conduct many inquiries and,
when necessary, to offer fearless criticisms,
these means they have undoubtedlv exercised a power-
ful influence on the quality of higher education in
America. |
During the vear 1918-19 the trustees disbursed.
in retiring and widows’ allowances a sum _ of
more than eight hundred thousand dollars. But
in that vear the old plan of granting such allowances
was definitely abandoned in favour of a scheme under
which the teacher himself is called uvon to contribute
towards the provision for his own retirement. It is
of special interest to observe that, at the time when
we in this country were adopting for school-teachers
a national pension system on a_ non-contributory
basis, which many university teachers wish to be
extended to themselves, the Carnegie Foundation had
come to the conclusion, as a result of thirteen years
experience, that a “free pension”? could not be a solu-
tion of the problem in a democratic country, but that
the system must be contractual and rest upon the co- —
operation of the teacher and his college. This method, ~
in the opinion of the trustees, is the only one that
is “just, feasible, and permanent.’ To this end they
organised a Teachers’ Insurance and Annuity Asso-
ciation, in the control of which the teachers them-
selves will have real representation, and invited the
universities and colleges to adopt pension schemes —
based on joint contributions by the teacher and his
institution and worked by means of policies issued —
by the new association. The trustees continue the
system of free pensions for those who were in the
service of associated institutions before a certain date, —
but for others will content themselves with the pro-
1 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Fourteenth
Annual Report of the Chairman and of the Treasurer. (New. York, 1919.)
—s
fo oe ea all “los
i Jury 8, 1920]
ee ee ae) ae eae
__-universit
almost
ments
of it.
essential unity of a great profession; by the latter
‘we tend to separate it into parts and hamper the free
interchange of teachers between one institution and
NATURE
597
vision of disablement allowances and the guarantee
of a certain rate of interest on policies issued by the
association.
We see, therefore, that, through the administration
of a great private benefaction, there has been evolved
in America a pension system which in general form
is not dissimilar from the Federated Superannuation
System for Universities and University Colleges
in this country. There are, however, important difier-
ences. Whereas our federated system’ is in all essen-
tials applied uniformly throughout the institutions
concerned, the rew system in America is subject to
a variety of conditions as to the rate of contribution,
the grades of staff admitted, and other qualifications
as to length of service and amount of salary. Also,
while some institutions make entrance to the scheme
compulsory on all members of certain grades of staff,
others leave it entirely to the option of the individuals.
So long as this lack of uniformity continues, the
simplicity of transfer from one institution to another,
so valuable a feature of the English system, can
scarcely be secured. It is further to be observed that
‘the rate of contribution of the American college is
never more than 5 per cent., as compared with the
Io per cent. now generally given by the English
; but against this must be put the fact that
policies issued by the American Teachers’ Associa-
tion are a little more generous in their terms than
‘those of the insurance companies in our federated
system.
__A particularly useful section of the fourteenth report
_of the Foundation is that which deals with current
sion problems both in America and in this country.
- is here that we are most impressed with the
chaotic condition of the pension arrange-
its in America as a result of the diversity of the
State systems; but we are bound, on the other hand,
to confess that our own Fisher scheme, while ad-
mitted to be generous, comes in for severe criticism,
especially on account of its non-contributory basis
and of the alleged weakness of the arguments used
_ to support the adoption of a scheme of that character.
‘Indeed, throughout the report the virtues of the
contributory plan are urged repeatedly and with great
insi , and we cannot dismiss lightly the opinions
of an authority occupying the unique position of the
Carnegie Foundation. ough perhaps not within
espes ll of immediate practical politics, it is legi-
timate to conjecture whether
would not result from a contributory system of pen-
‘sions applied to the whole of our teaching profession
greater advantage
ranted to a part
than from a non-contributory system
recognise the
By the former plan we shou
__ Those who are concerned in unravelling the knots
_ in our own pension systems will find much suggestive
material in this and previous reports of the Carnegie
_ Foundation.
But it is gratifying to feel that without
the colossal munificence of a Carnegie we have yet
reached a position which, with all its weaknesses, is
still in many ways far in advance of that occupied
by our Transatlantic cousins. Though we may
regret lost opportunities, we realise that in a com-
parative sense we are not so badly off as we
thought. and we are led to ask ourselves whether,
after all, the scheme insvired by Sir William M’Cor-
mick’s Committee and designed by our universities
in co-operation does not represent the best thing so
far done in the matter of teachers’ pensions.
In addition to its. achievements in the pensions
field, a valuable series of educational reports stands
to the credit of the Carnegie Foundation. Under this
NO. 2645, VOL. 105]
head the papers contained in the fourteenth report
on current tendencies in education, on legal educa-
tion, and on the training of teachers are worthy
of notice, though perhaps not so much for their dis-
covery of new ideas as for their clear exposition of
accepted principles and their straightforward descrip-
tion of the good and the bad in existing practice.
National Food Consumption in the United
States.
pSOF. RAYMOND PEARL has contributed to the
Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society (vol. lviii., 1919, p. 182) an instructive article
upon the consumption of foodstuffs in America from
Igit to 19138. He distinguishes between (1) primary
foods, such as plant materials directly consumable by
man, or animals not nourished upon primary food-
stuffs, and (2) secondary foods, which cover the edible
products of animals nourished upon primary food-
stuffs. The necessary deductions were made for loss
in storage, transit, etc., and for inedible refuse. The
Statistics are expressed in terms of metric tons of
proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, and also in terms
of Calories.
Broadly speaking, the salient feature of the analysis
is the uniformity of consumption from year to vear.
The greatest relative advance (relative, that is, to the
increase of population) was in the consumption of
fat, the least in the consumption of protein, but the
deviations from the line of increasing population are
small.
Turning to the sources, it appears that 47 per cent.
of the protein is derived from primary, and 53 per
cent. from secondary, foods. Of fats, 82 per cent.
are derived from secondary sources, while 95 per cent.
of the carbohydrates come from primary sources. In
terms of Calories, 61 per cent. of the intake is from
primary foodstuffs.
These figures are not greatly different from the
British returns analysed by the Food (War) Committee
of the Royal Society. We derived 42 per cent. of our
protein, 92 per cent. of our fat, and 35 per cent. of
our energy from secondary sources. Put otherwise,
we get fewer Calories and less protein, but more fat,
from animal sources (exclusive of fish, which comes
under primary sources in Prof. Pearl’s classification)
than the Americans. We should, perhaps, use the
past tense in this comparison, since the British data
do not refer to existing conditions.
Thirty-six per cent. of the American intake of pro-
tein is in the form of grain, 26 per cent. in meats, and
20 per went. in dairv products. Of fat, 51 per cent.
is furnished by meats, 27 per cent. by dairy products,
and 12 per cent. by vegetable oils and nuts. Of carbo-
hydrates, 56 per cent. is furnished by grains and
26 per cent. by sugars. Of total energy, 35 per cent.
comes from grains, 22 per cent. from meats, 15 per
cent. from dairy products, and 13 per cent. from
sugars. These four groups contribute 85 per cent. of
the total energy value.
The effects of the food economy campaign and the
food administration in 1917-18 are of interest. The
total consumption of food increased, but not in pro-
portion to the population; the consumption of meat
practically did not increase at all, and the consumption
of grain only 1 per cent. The great increases were in
the consumption of vegetables, of oils and nuts, and
of oleomargarine, amounting respectively to 30 per
cent., 29 per cent.,and 116 per cent over the averages
of the preceding six years. The increase in the two
former groups may have been due to the activity of
598
NATURE
[JuLy 8, 1920
the Food Administration in urging the consumption of
these commodities to relieve the pressure upon wheat }
and animal products. The increased consumption of
oleomargarine was no doubt due to a favourable price
in comparison with that of butter and lard.
Prof. Pearl provides a summary of. daily. consump-
stion per ‘“man,” which again brings out the uniformity
from year to year. The largest figure is 4361 Calories
in 1913-14, and the smallest 4211 in 1916-17. The
average figures are: 121 grams of protein, 169 grams
of fat, and 542 grams of carbohydrate, yielding 4290
Calories. Assuming that 5 per cent. of protein, 20 per
cent. of carbohydrate, and’25 per cent. of fat are lost
in the wastage of edible substances, the per capita
average of ingested food becomes :—Protein, 114
grams; fat, 127 grams; and carbohydrate, 433 grams,
yielding 3424 Calories. These final figures are in good
accord with the results of dietetic studies both in
America and in England, Prof. Pearl justly remarks
that ‘discussions of the minimum protein, fat, and
carbohydrate requirements of a nation are in a con-
siderable degree academic if they base themselves upon
net consumption rather than gross consumption. A
considerable excess over any agreed-upon minimum
physiological requirements must always be allowed,
because there will inevitably be, in fact, a margin
between actual gross consumption and net physio-
logical ingestion or utilisation.”’
The report is a useful contribution to knowledge.
It is to be feared that since the armistice little atten-
tion has been devoted to the study of national dietetics
in this country. During the war British physiologists
made valuable experimental and statistical contribu-
tions to the subject; on the statistical side the work
of the late Sir William Thompson, and on_ the
experimental side that of Prof. Cathcart and his
collaborators, deserve special mention. It is to be
regretted that there is little prospect of the founda-
tions then laid being. built upon; it will be long
indeed before the task of feeding the nation ceases
to cause anxiety and to merit sciennne plucliaoy:
Engineering Research in the U.S.A.
2 ates problem of co-ordinating the interests and
activities of the various engineering institutions
and societies has been subject to much discussion in
this country. In America this problem was largely
solved by: the establishment in 1904 of the United
Engineering Society, which combined the interests of
four founders’ societies, namely, the American Society
of Civil Engineers and the American Institutes of
Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, Mechanical
Engineers, and Electrical Engineers. The. United
Engineering Society now numbers some forty thousand
members, and its administration comprises three
principal departments, namely, the library board, the
engineering council, and the engineering foundation.
The last-named department is of particular interest,
and is directed to the furtherance of research in
science and engineering.
The engineering foundation was established as a
result of a gift of 200,000 dollars by Mr. Ambrose
Swasey, this sum being used as the nucleus of a fund
the income of which was to be devoted to research
or for the advancement in any other manner of the
profession of engineering and the good of mankind.
This first gift was made in 1914, and in September,
1918, Mr. Swasey added a further sum of 100,000
dollars to the endowment. ~
The donor is an engineer and manufacturer, and
president of. the Warner-Swasey Co., of Cleveland,
Ohio, a firm manufacturing fine tools and astro-
NO. 2645, VOL. 105 |
‘nature.
‘the heat
| nomical and other instruments of precision. Mr.
Swasey is a member of most of the American en-
gineering societies, and of several English scientific
societies, including the Royal Astronomical Society.
He is the author of a number of papers read before
American engineering societies. oe
_ For all practical purposes the engineering founda-
tion is a professional .trust organised along the lines
of the Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Sage foundations.
The facilities it provides have heretofore been devoted
principally to engineering research, and’ its most
notable work has been conducted through co-operation
with the National Research Council, which is an
organisation of men of science, engineers, and
educators brought into being by the National Academy
of Science at the request of President Wilson in 1916,
and employed largely in the conduct of scientific
investigations’ relating. to anti-submarine and other
war: problems. seks. + < EDT
When the National Research Council was formed
the administrators of the engineering foundation made
themselves responsible for its financial support for a
‘ 25
perio? of one year, and this brought into successful —
co-operation a body of engineering and ‘scientific men —
in a comprehensive and practical manner. ay
Since July, 1919, the research work undertaken by
the foundation has been of a very comprehensive
It ‘has included, for’ example, preliminar:
researches’ on such subjects as a mew hardness
testing machine, the elimination of casting: defects
from steel, the uses of cadmium, the uses of
alloy steels, Neumann bands in iron and _ steel,’
treatment of carbon’ steel, electrical
insulation, and substitute deoxidisers. A sum of
15,000 dollars'a year for a period of two years has
been voted for the conduct of research in the fatigue
phenomena of metals in the laboratories of the en-
gineering experiment station of the University of
Illinois. From approximately fifty suggested subjects,
the engineering foundation has also selected for in-
vestigation: (1) The wear of gears, (2) spray camou-
flage for ships, (3) the directive control of wireless —
communication, (4) weirs for the measurement of
water, (5) the establishment of a testing station. for
large water-wheels and other large hydraulic equip-
ment, and (6) the mental hygiene of industry. .
These investigations are now all in progress or
have been completed. Particular attention has been
given to research relating to mental hygiene in ~
industry, the objects of the research being to develop
or discover methods for adapting psychopathetic —
individuals to usefulness in industry.
Realising, further, that mental hygiene dealt with
only one of the many elements of the industrial fer-
sonnel problem, the foundation board, in association
with the National Research Council, arranged for —
the appointment of a committee representative of —
anthropology, psychology, educational relations, indus- —
trial relations, engineering, and medicine to consider —
means for furthering the study of the problems of —
industrial employment. Silty
Quite apart from such efforts, the engineering
foundation has interested itself-in an attempt to co-
ordinate the activities of many of the very numerous
societies and associations, some local, some national, —
having a bearing on engineering, and to harmonise _
their relations and aims. Up to the present, however, —
no active investigational work: along these lines has‘*3
been undertaken. ‘While the foundation maintains the —
closest relationship with the divisions of engineering
of the United Engineering Society and the National —
Research Council, it reserves the right to conduct
under its own immediate direction such researches as
‘may. commend ,themselves-to.its membership. |
io
nd
oe
; about the same hardness as that of spruce.
Juxny 8) 1920] |
NATURE
599
The administration of the engineering foundation .
is conducted by sixteen members elected by the United |
whom must be
Engineering . Society, thirteen _ of
I Although finally
members of the founder societies.
organised only in the early part of 1915, the founda-'
tion has become thoroughly established, and is
carrying on a most admirable work.
A. P. -M. FLEMING.
_ African Softwoods for Pulp Production.
. By A. H, Unwin,-
Late Senior Conservator of Forests, Nigeria.
me POUT the year 1907, at the instigation of the late
Sir Alfred Jones, an inquiry was addressed to the
West African Colonies with regard to the softwoods
suitable for paper or pulp production, As a result a
list was compiled for the Benin country, which
included some twenty species of whitewood. Since
that date little or nothing has been done towards the
solution of this problem. Nevertheless, much greater
knowledge has been obtained of the softwoods of the
_ West African Colonies—the Gambia, Sierra Leone,
Gold Coast, Nigeria—and of West Africa generally.
_ Although baobab (Andansonia digitata) has been
t
as suitable, it is usually found rather remote
from navigable waterways, and in such scattered
quantities that it is doubtful if its exploitation will
y. On the other hand, the wood of the cotton-tree,
riodendron anfractuosum and E, orientale, has
been adversely reported upon, but it does not appear
that very exhaustive experiments were made with
either of these species. The ease of its production,
the rapidity of its growth, and the softness of its
- wood would seem to commend the cotton-tree for pulp
production. The wood of Bombax buonopozense may
also be of use. © :
Perhaps a more suitable wood will be obtained from
| the African maple, Triplochiton Johnsonti and
The wood of both these. species is of
It is of
a similar colour, and the fibres are long. The tree is
very valent, its reproduction easy in the proper
localities, and its growth rapid. On average - soil
the trees reach pulp-wood size within ten years, and
nigericum,
‘there are many specimens even in seven years.
In certain localities the occurrence of Sterculia
Barteriti is such as’ to redden the hill-sides with
its flowers in March. The growth of the tree is very
rapid, and the wood is fibrous and porous. The tree
will attain pulp-wood size in five years. In suitable
localities the natural reproduction from mature trees
_ is rapidly filling the whole forest. —
aeO
r Sterculie, such as tomentosa, rhinopetala,
and tragacantha, might be used. Of these the last-
named appears to be the most suitable. It is also
very prevalent, and grows rapidly. The wood of
Sterculia rhinopetala may. prove to be a little. hard,
but with modern means of pulping it may be possible
to use all these species at the same time. | :
The quantity of bamboo on the West. Coast of
Africa is negligible, though the area of its, distribution,
is gradually widening. csi :
The Albizzias usually produce in their vounger stages
a whitish-yellow softwood. Most species grow very.
fast, and would. yield pulp-wood within ten years.
The wood shows long fibres. Owing to the prevalence
of the tree in the forests, there would be no difficulty’
as to the quantity. The wood of Terminalia superba’
should prove of value, though its brownish tinge mav
have to be removed in order to make the best-colouted) |
pulp. It is prevalent and its growth is rapid.
Another very common tree is Alstonia congensis,
NO. 2645, VOL. 105]
which is often found in the swamps as well as in the
moist forests. Its, growth is very rapid, and it would
yield pulp-wood in seven years. Owing to its pre-
valence, this softwood with its longish fibre should
prove of value. et
The wood of Ricinodendron Heudelotti appears to
, be suitable, though the colour is dull grey-brown.
The tree is very prevalent, and its natural regenera-
tion prolific. It reaches pulp-wood size within a
period of seven to ten years. Pycanthus kombo
is another tree which appears to yield a suitable
species of timber.. It is very prevalent, the wood
is soft’ and fibrous, and natural reproduction is great.
Even the muchdespised Musanga Smithii might on
occasion be used to supplement inadequate supplies: of
other pulp-wood timbers. Near. the rivers in some
districts there is a ‘common tree named Otu, which
is plarited by the natives. It yields a soft whitewood
which has a longish fibre.
With the great shortage of paper-pulp it appears
that the utilisation of these West African species of
trees should be undertaken as soon as_ possible.
Naturally, it will mean a good deal of experimental
work,, but with the experience already: gained in
Canada and, Norway and Sweden it should be possible
to produce pulp below existing cost. Although African
labour: is expensive as. compared with Indian or
Burman, it has proved itself thoroughly adaptable to
training in the use of complicated machinery such as
that employed in shipbuilding and in oil- and saw-mills.”
With a population of about sixteen millions of people
in Nigeria alone, it has been found possible gradually
to obtain sufficient men-for a new industry.
-Effect of Topography on Precipitation in
. Japan.
ONSIDERABLE #éattention has been directed
recently to the subject of the orographical dis-
tribution of rainfall, and results obtained in different
‘places are liable to lead to general deductions, not
only independent, if not quite contradictory, but also,
on the face of them, improbable, We may instance an
alleged connection between Indian monsoon intensity
and the extent of local water surfaces, and also
M. Mathias’ cartographical demonstration that the
increase of precipitation with altitude .is directly
dependent on the latitude, at any rate in France, Mr.
Carle Salter’s lecture to the Institution of Water
Engineers on the relation of rainfall to configuration
gave little ground for suspecting either of these possi-
bilities.
At first sight, Prof. Terada’s contribution in the
Journal of the College of Science, Tokyo Imperial
University (vol. xli., art. 5), appears to be only a
supplement te previous work of Profs. Nakamura and
Fujiwhara, but one or two comparatively fresh notes
are struck. Prof. Omori had previously found a cor-
relation between earthquake frequency in some dis-
tricts and precipitation in others. This is. now
described by Prof. Terada as a case more of
parallelism than of cause and effect, for. he prefers
to’ attribute both phenomena to barometric changes
rather than to associate the instability of the soil with
percolation. His main purpose, however, is ‘to study
the effect of the discontinuity of wind velocity ‘on
land and sea, and for this purpose he divides Japan
ipto six districts, three facing the ocean and three
8 Japan Sea, and. in each, district. chooses two or
three stations near the coast. : Mae: ae dee VaR i
The three‘ ocean’’ divisions show a marked intrease
in rainfall with decreasing Jatitude, but.on the ‘con-
600
NATURE
[Juty 8, 1920
tinental side the middle section is the wettest.. More-
over, taking the divisions in pairs, there is a marked
difference in the comparison. In the northern and
‘central. pairs the ‘‘continental ’’ section is the drier,
while in the remaining pair the difference is greater
and also reversed in sign. Prof. Terada connects this
anomaly with a possible ‘‘centre of action ’’ controlled
by the position of the Korean promontory, but it
seems to be quite possible that he has overlooked the
probable effect of the contour of the land itself. A
glance at the map will show that his southernmost
“ocean ’’ division is practically outside the main
island, which includes the northern and central divi-
sions and the greater part of the continental southern
division, so that we should naturally expect some sort
of anomaly in that region, apart from the fact that
the vertebral line of division, which is not far from
a meridian in the north, tends to become more nearly
a parallel in the south.
The author has adopted a good plan in using per-
centages instead of totals to prevent undue emphasis
being placed on the wettest periods and places. _
W. W. B.
Economic Entomology in the Philippines.’
Pe CONSIDERABLE portion of the Bulletin before
; us is the outcome of work undertaken with the
definitely economic object of procuring and trans-
porting to the battlefield natural enemies of the beetle
Anomala orientalis, which, by reason of the havoc
wrought in the larval stage on the roots of the sugar-
.cane, is a serious pest in the plantations, and was
causing heavy losses in the Island of Oahu, Hawaii.
It is gratifying to learn that the quest of the entomo-
logists was entirely successful, and that through their
labours the foe appears to have been vanquished, and
thereby all mankind benefited in the saving of. large
quantities of one of our most valuable articles of food.
The ally which thé entomological staff summoned to
the aid of the sugar-planters was the ‘‘ wasp ”’ Scolia
manilae. It is perhaps prudent here to indicate that
the term ‘‘wasp studies ’’ must not be understood to
apply solely to the true Diplopterous wasps, the
Vespide; it is used in this publication as a con-
venient term including many families of aculeate
Hymenoptera other than the bees. _
-Scolia manilae is a small black and yellow wasp
that occurs. abundantly in the Philippines. The
females possess the power of detecting the presence of
certain subterranean beetle grubs, and, having located
their victim, dig down. to it and deposit on its ventral
surface an egg from which there soon emerges a larva
that devours the beetle grub. The plan of campaign
was simple. At Los Bafios. quantities of females of
Scolia manilae were captured and placed in suitable
vessels in which had been placed beetle grubs of
appropriate age, and a sprig of foliage moistened with
water and honey for the personal benefit of the wasps.
Most of the grubs duly received an egg; those so
favoured were placed in clay cells which were packed
in soil in a tightly closed can, and then shipped to
Oahu. Here the Scolie of the next generation
emerged and were liberated. They established them-
selves with such success and increased so rapidly
that they are now more abundant near Honolulu than
at their native place, Los Bafios, while the pest
1 “ Philippine Wasp Studies.” Part i,, Description of New Species. Py
Part ii., Descriptions of New Species and Life-historv
Studies. By F. X. Williams. Report of Work of the Experiment Station
of the Hawaian Sugar Planters’ Association: | Entomolozical Series.
Bulletin No. 14. Pp. 186+106 figs. (Honolulu, December, 1919.)
NO. 2645, VOL. 105|
S. A. Rohwer.
Anomala orientalis is vanishing so satisfactorily as to
cause wonder how the wasp maintains itself. 4
The authors describe and figure twenty-six new
species belonging to several different families of
‘““wasps’’; and the bionomics of these and others are
narrated with great detail by Dr. Williams. His
observations show that many species of these “‘ wasps”
are of economic importance in keeping in check the
numbers of harmful insects, and suggest that an
important line of research is here open to the field-
naturalist. From the purely scientific point of view,
perhaps the most interesting feature of the Bulletin
is the frequency with which instincts and behaviour
that are characteristic of the most highly devele
social wasps manifest themselves sporadically at
an incipient fashion among these solitary species. So.
much is this the case that it becomes almost possible
to construct a gradually ascending series from the
simplest to the most highly svecialised. Commenc
with species that differ but little in habits from
Ichneumonide, stinging and’ only temporarily para-
lysing their victim in order the better to attach their
egg, but constructing no nest or burrow any
description, we may pass on to those that dig burrows
or build nests eithér unaided or in contain tale a
few other individuals, and reach the climax in the
elaborate domestic arrangements and architecture of
our familiar social wasns and hornets. O.H.L.
”
~ é
_ Climate of the Netherlands.
PELE 4)
‘Eee Royal Netherlands - Meteorological. Insti-
tute has recently issued, as publication
No. 102, “The Climate of the Netherlands with —
the
Respect to Air Temperature,” by Dr. Ch. M; A.
Hartman. Many years have
previous discussion of air
Netherlands was undertaken. The stations yield-
ing observations only for recent years have been
compared with the stations available for longer
elapsed since any
temperature in the-
periods, by which, together with the aid of stations |
affording hourly observations, special corrections have ~
been found for each month and for each station
required to secure the true temperature from observa-
tions at the hours of 8, 2, and 7. At Zwanenburg,
situated midway between Amsterdam and Haarlem, — i
there is a series of observations from 1743 to 1860,
and at De Bilt observations are available from 1849
to 1917.. The annual variation is given for twenty-four
years from 1894 to 1917 inclusive at twelve stations;
the range of temperature varies with latitude and with
an increased distance from the sea.’ Diurnal varia-
tion is much affected by the influence of the sea,
which suggests the difficulty of obtaining a true mean
temperature from a combination of, say, three hours,
8, 2, and 7, and of maintaining the same hours in
winter and in summer, but a change of hours is
recognised as not practicable. The highest tempera-
tures observed are 99° F. and 97° F. at Maestricht
respectively on August 4, 1857, and July 28, tart,
and g7° F. at Oudenbosch on June 8, 1915. The
lowest’ readings are —8° F. at Winterswijk on
February 7, 1895, and at
February 14, 1895.
tures is given for several stations and for all months,
and the occurrences of diurnal variations of tempera-
ture for each degree Centigrade are tabulated, also
the, diurnal range for each of the twenty-four hours. —
One of the many tables shows the temperatures which
occur ‘each month, with the different directions of —
the wind. °
Katwijk-on-Rhine on _ :
Frequency of different tempera-
x Jury 8, 1920]
NATURE
601
The Present Condition of the. Aborigines
& . of Central Australia.
NFORMATION lately received in this country dis-
closes an appalling condition of affairs among the
aborigines of the interior of Australia. The whole
population is thoroughly polluted with disease,
both tubercular and venereal, and the north-
eastern tribes are doomed. It is anticipated that
another ten years will see the last of such interesting
s as the Dieri, Yanntowanta, Ngameni, and
_ Nauroworka. This is largely due to contact with the
_ lower elements of European and immigrant Asiatic
civilisation. Misdirected kindness, however, is also,
‘to some extent, responsible. A liberal supply of Govern-
_ ment blankets has been distributed among the tribes;
___ they wear the blankets when working in the sun, and
_ then, when thoroughly overheated, sleep on the ground;
recently been aggravated by severe drought.
pneumonia follows as a natural consequence. Another
cause of their disappearance is due to the difficulties
attendant on food-supply. The game on which they
subsist is killed off or driven away. by the encroach-
ment of civilisation. Distress from this cause has
The
extent of the ravages arising from these various
causes may be gauged by the fact that half a century
it Was estimated that there were 12,000 rk Aig
within 180 miles north and 200 miles east of Adelaide,
__ and now there are not more than about 120 in that area.
in the early eighties of last century Gason stated that
4 steps were not taken, multiplication of the aborigines
would result in* the disappearance of the European
population, yet in this same area of which he wrote it
is now estimated that at the outside there are not
more than 2000.
The deplorable condition of the aboriginal populé-
_ tion was discovered owing to the fact that during the
_ War a number of,expeditions were sent out to Central
and Northern Australia in connection with the search
_ for minerals for use in munition work. Dr. Herbert
_ close contact with the tribes.
Taide at the end of the war he endeavoured to arouse
w, a Protector of Aborigines in the service of
the South Australian Government, who was a member
Of several of these expeditions, was then brought into
On his return to Ade-
the public conscience by a meeting in the Town Hall,
had seen.
at which he gave an undisguised account of what he
As a result sool. has been subscribed, and an
equal amount promised by the Government, for the
i provision of medical relief. This sum has enabled Dr.
__ Basedow to get together a small relief party. His first
expedition on this work followed the course of the
~ Strzelecki to Innamincka, thence along the Cooper,
_ across the boundary into Queensland. Recrossing the
rder, the party visited Cordillo, Cadelga, Ringa-
™murra, and Birdsville, thence following the Diaman-
tina to Hergott Springs. One of the severest droughts
on record was raging at the time; the heat was
terrific—the average temperature was 116°118° F,.—
and sand-storms blew for forty-eight hours at a time.
No fewer than seven horses were abandoned ex-
hhausted along the route from Diamantina to Hergott
ings. The condition of the aborigines alons the
route is described by Dr. Basedow as “ shocking.’’
Dr. Basedow has recently started on another exnedi-
tion. on which he pronoses to proceed along the head
of the Australian Bight as far as Eucla, along the
Nullarboi Plains to Port Augusta, thence northwards
‘to Oodnadatta. and across ‘the boundary to the
MeDonnel Ranges. ~ Sek ;
Valuable as is such provision of medical relief as is
possible by these expeditions, it is obviously onlv a
temporary palliative. One of the most effective of the
measures adovted for the assistance of the aborigines,
NO. 2645, VOL. 105]
whether directly under State protection or not, in the
neighbouring State of Western Australia has been the
establishment by the Government of a regular medical
service. Further, while undesirable Europeans and
Asiatics are permitted to mingle without control with
the natives, it is inevitable that diseases will continue
their ravages unchecked. A movement, which is
receiving influential.support, has been set on foot to
induce the Government of South Australia to proclaim
the north-west corner of the State, including the Mus-
grave, Mann, and Tomkinson Ranges, as an absolute
reservation. It is hoped that it may also be possible
to secure from the Commonwealth and the Western
Australian Governments the proclamation of the ad-
joining ranges of the Northern Territory and Western
Australia as strict reservations. This will probably be
the last chance of preserving the Central Australian
tribes from complete extinction. .
; E. N. FALvaize.
_ University and Educational Intelligence.
CaMBRIDGE.—Dr. Shillington Scales has been ap-
pointed University lecturer in medical radiology
and electrology, and Mr. F. Lavington, Emmanuel
College, Girdlers’ lecturer in economics. Mr. J.
Chadwick, Gonville and Caius College, has been
elected to the Clerk Maxwell scholarship in
experimental physics; Mr. H..F. Holden, St. John’s
College, to the Benn W. Levy research studentship
in biochemistry; and Mr. A. J. Beamish, of Corpus
Christi College, to the Wrenbury scholarship in
economics. :
The Marshall herbarium, comprising 23,000 sheets
of British plants contained in -dustproof oak cases, has
been bequeathed to the University by the late Rev. E. S.
Marshall, a keen and able field botanist, ‘‘ unsurpassed
as a collection of the critical flowering plants both in
point of the number of interesting things he found
and the care and industry he showed in selecting and
pressing specimens of them.”’ A
EDINBURGH.—The foundation-stone of the new
University buildings was laid by the King on Tuesday
last, and the Queen accepted the honorary degree of
ahiekd.
LivERPOOL.—The King, on the recommendation of
the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lan-
caster, has contributed 100 guineas to the appeal
fund.
SHEFFIELD.—Dr. W. E. S. Turner has been ap-
pointed professor of glass technology, Mr. J. Husband
professor of civil engineering, Dr. Mellanby professor
of pharmacology, and Mr. R. E. Pleasance demon-
strator in pathology.
By an inadvertence these appointments were given
in Nature of June 24 under the heading ‘ Leeds.”
Pror. F. Francis has been appointed Pro-Vice-
Chancellor of the University of Bristol in succession
to Prof. Lloyd Morgan, who is about to resign the
office. ;
Dr. O. C. Braptey, principal of the Royal (Diclx)
Veterinary College, Edinburgh, has been elected pre-
sident of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
in succession to Mr. J.. McKinna.
A scnHoo. of medicine, surgery, and dentistry in
connection with the University of Rochester, New
York, has received an endowment of 1,800,000l. from
the U.S. General Education Board and Mr. G. East-
man, of the Eastman Kodak Co. The contribution
of the Board is 1,000,000l., and that of Mr. Eastman
800,000.
602
WELORE.
[Jury 8, 1920 —
Tue Eugenics Education Society has arranged for
the holding of a summer school of eugenics and civics
at Herne Bay College on July 31-August 14. The
inaugural address will be delivered by Prof. A. Dendy
on ‘Evolution in Human Progress,’’ and there will
be lectures and discussions on heredity, biology,
eugenics, and sociology. The address of the society
is 11 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, W.C.2.
A SUMMER school of civics is to be held, under the
auspices of the Civic Education League, at the
Technical Institute, High Wycombe, Bucks, on
July 31 to August 14. There are to be lectures on
maternity and child welfare work, analytical psycho-
logy, and reconstruction problems; and courses on
civics, sex education, local and central government,
and anthropology have been arranged for. Further
particulars can be: obtained’ from the Secretary,
Summer School of Civics, Leplay House, 65 Belgrave
Road, S.W.1.
AN important American academic change is an-
nounced in the simultaneous resignations of Dr.
G. Stanley Hall as president of Clark University and
of Dr. Edmund C. Sanford as president of Clark Col-
lege, and the appointment of Dr. Wallace W. Atwood
as single head of both the University and the college.
Dr. Atwood has been professor of physiography at
Harvard since 1913, and is at present in the West in
charge of a field expedition for the U.S. Geological
Survey. In addition to his executive position, he will
occupy the chair of regional and physical geography at
Clark University. Dr. Stanley Hall is retiring in order
that-he may devote his whole time to the completion
of several books on psychology which he has had in
hand for a considerable period. Dr. Sanford will take
the chair of psychology at Clark University, which
Dr. Stanley Hall is vacating together with the
presidency.
WE learn from Science that the following appro-
priations have recently been made by the U.S. General
Education Board:—TIo the Washington University
Medical School, St. Louis: For endowment, 250,000. ;
for additional laboratory facilities and equipment,
14,0001. To Yale Medical School: For endowment
(towards a total of 600,000l.), 200,000l. To Harvard
Medical School: For improved facilities in obstetrics,
60,0001.; for the development of -teaching in
psychiatry, 70,oool. _ To Johns Hopkins Medical
School: For’development of a new department of
pathology (towards a total of 120,000l.), 800ol. From
the same source we learn that the Rockefeller Founda-
tion has made appropriations as follow:—To Dal-
housie University . Medical School, Halifax: For
buildings and equipment, 80,o00l.; for endowments,
20,0001. To the Medical Research Foundation of
Elisabeth, Queen of the Belgians, Brussels: For
general purposes of medical research, 1,000,000 francs.
Tue frontier between school and university has
recently been the subject of much discussion. The
Prime Minister’s Committee on Science recommended
that eighteen should be the normal age of entry from
secondary schools to the universities, and in making
that. recommendation it was supported. by all the
witnesses who gave evidence on the subject. The
Board of Education, by its efforts to standardise the
Second School Examinations, and by watching the
advanced courses given in schools, has done much to
direct the studies of those who really are in the post-
matriculation stage while at school; and the universi-
ties are faced, more than ever before, by the problem
of how to arrange for students who enter with wide
differences of attainment. There is but one solution :.
elasticity of organisation, both in the. matter of
examinations and
NO. 2645, VOL. 105]
in that of prescribed - courses. ,
During the past year a consultative council, on which
were representatives of seven universities and four
associations of school teachers, has ‘been formed by
the Association of Science Teachers in order to discuss
the overlapping of school and university training. As
a result, a resolution was sent to the various
universities urging them “to recognise the value of the
post-matriculation work in éfficient schools by acceptin
the passing in subjects in one of the approved Seco
School Examinations as exempting from the corre-
sponding subjects in the Intermediate Examination
and the first Medical: Examination of the University.”
The Association of Science Teachers is to be con-
gratulated on organising the discussions which have
led to this expression of opinion by a body well con-
stituted to view the situation from opposite sides.
. Societies and Academies.
Lonpon. ~ “ta
Faraday Society, June 14.—Prof. A. W. Porter, vice-
president, in the chair.—Dr. A. Fleck and T. Wallace :
Conduction .of electricity through fused sodium
hydrate. The resistance to the passage of current
through fused caustic soda and its rate of change with
temperature have been examined by a direct-current
method. In view of the difficulties of containing the
soda in a non-conducting non-porous vessel, the experi-
ments have been carried out in the centre of a large
mass of soda. The decomposition voltage has been
studied and found to be a _ variable quantity,
decreasing at the rate of 2:25 x10-* volts per degre
Centigrade rise in temperature. This figure differs
from the previously published figure of 2-95 x 10-*.
Kt has been found that when a current is passed
through fused sodium hydrate between two sodium
electrodes the current is always proportional to the
applied E.M.F.—Dr. H. F. Haworth: The measure-
ment of electrolytic resistances using alternating cur-
rents. An electrolytic cell’ acts like a capacity in
series with a resistance. - If this capacity and resist-
ance be measured at various frequencies, they will.
be found to vary with the frequency. If the imped-
ance of the cell is plotted vectorially with respect to
the resistance for various frequencies, the locus is a
straight line which cuts the resistance axis at infinite
frequency. ‘This gives the true resistance of the elec-
trolyte.—J. L, Haughton: The measurement of elec-
trical conductivity in metals and alloys at high tem-
peratures. The study of the electrical conductivity of
alloys has generally been carried out by measuring
the conductivity of the alloys at room-temperature and
plotting a curve connecting conductivity with com-
position, but much valuable information can be ob-
tained by plotting the curve connecting the composi-
tion and temperature and using a series of such curves
in the same \way’as the ordinary thermal curves. The
paper describes a method which can be employed for
this —N. V.. S. Knibbs and H. Palfreeman: The
theory of electro-chemical chlorate and perchlorate
formation. This paper is the outcome of a study of
the electrolytic: formation of chlorate and perchlorate
based on’ recent large-scale operations. It aims ata
presentation of the’ theory of the ‘mechanism of
‘chlorate and perchlorate formation and its application
to their’ technical production. A’ series of investiga-
tions was undertaken in order to elucidate a number
of doubtful points and to obtain data which were of —
importance in the technical control of the process.— ~
J. B> Firth: ‘Sorption ‘of iodine by carbon. The
sorption ‘of iodine by carbon was studied over a period
of five vears; the forms of carbon used were lamp- —
black, blood’ carbon, sugar carbon, animal carbon, 4
(cage) Ooa ee eae <i
Per een
ph MPPs eg ee Pn
Caine .
NATURE,
603
| _ Jury 8; 1920]
coconut carbon from shell, and coconut carbon from
fruit. The solvents used were chloroform and ben-
zene. The activity of the carbon was shown to depend
on its previous treatment. In all cases a rapid con-
densation takes place in the first few minutes, fol-
lowed by a much slower sorption, which may con-
tinue for several years. The influence of the size of
the carbon particles was also studied.—F. H. Jeffery :
Electrolysis of solutions of sodium nitrite using a
copper anode.—Dr. A. M. Williams: The pressure
variation of equilibrium constant in dilute solution.
The apparent discrepancy between the. expressions of
Planck and Rice rests on a misinterpretation of the
latter’s’ symbols. Another deduction is given.—Miss
_ Nina Hosali: Models illustrating crystalline form and
_) symmetry... -
Linnean Society, June 17.-Dr. A, Smith Woodward,
president, in the chair.—(The centenary of the death
of Sir Joseph Banks.)—Dr. B. Daydon Jackson ;
Banks as a traveller.—Dr. A. B. Rendle: Banks as a
patron of science.—J. Britten; Banks as a botanist.—
Dr. A. Smith Woodward: Banks as a trustee of the
British Museum of paramount power.
_ June 24.—Dr. A. Smith Woodward, president, in
_ the chair.—Dr. C. J. F. Skottsberg : Botanical features
of the Juan Fernandez group of islands.—Dr. R. J
Tillyard ; The Cawthron Institute. This institute is to
be situated in the city of Nelson, N.Z. An account was
sai of the early life and adventures of the founder,
showing how he rose from a low estate. to become
a very wealthy man, In his later years he busied
himself with philanthropic enterprises, and on his
death it was found that he had left the greater portion
of his fortune for the purpose of founding an institute
__ of scientific research. After all claims had been paid,
_ the Cawthron Trust was left with a ‘capital of about
_ 200,000l., which, wisely invested, would yield an: income
of about i1,000l. a year. Prof. T. H. Easterfield, of
Wellington, N.Z., has been appointed director and chief
of the chemical department, with Mr. T. H. Rigg,
late of Rothamsted, working under him as agricul-
tural chemist. In the biological department Miss
K. M. Curtis has been appointed mycologist, and Mr.
A. Philpott assistant entomologist. The library and
museum are under the care of the curator, Mr. W. C.
Davies. The activities ofthe institute will be directed
towards scientific research, both: pure and applied.
with the view of benefiting the primary industries of
New Zealand as a whole and of the Nelson Province
in particular. ;
Aristotelian Society, June 21.—Mr. A. F. Shand in
the chair.—Miss Edgell: Memory and conation. ‘The
views of three writers approaching the subject, from
_ the different viewpoints of. philosophical psychology,
biology, and psychiatry, viz. Prof. Ward, Dr. Semon,
and Dr. Freud, were examined with reference to the
question: Does memory reauire the recognition in
mental life of a snecific function, conation? Analysis
shows that for Prof. Ward the activity of the subject
of experience is essential both for the development of
memory and for many of its manifestations.- If the
activitv of the subiect be understood as implying cona-
tion, then the author’s theory of memory does involve
conation. Dr. Semon, following Hering and Butler,
regards memory as a function of all organic’ matter
and its laws as laws of organic life. Nevertheless. in
dealing with human memory Semon _ recognises
“vividness ”’ in imagery as essential for memory and
association. Vividness.is distinguished from intensitv
and made to denend on attention. The relation of
attention to the laws of organic life is still obscure,
and attention is treated as if it were an original force.
The réle of conation in the psvchology of Dr. Freud
NO. 2645, VOL. 105]
is all-important. It is the conation of unconscious
wish which is regarded as explanatory, if not of the
fact of memory itself, at least of many of the pheno-
/mena of remembering and forgetting in everyday life.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, June 21.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—The President announced the death of
Adolphe Carnot, free member.—L. Torres Quevedo
was elected correspondant for the section of mechanics
in succession to the late M. Boulvin.—P. Humbert :
Functions of the hyperparaboloid of revolution and
hyperspherical functions.—J. Villey: The choice of
the density of filling in the conception of aviation
explosion motors.—R. Jarry-Desloges: Different
phenomena observed on the planet Mars in the
present opposition. Nix Olimpica was discovered by
Schiaparelli in 1879, but no measurements have been
taken since that date. Searches without result were
made in 1881 by Schiaparelli, and in other observa-
tions between 1907 and i916. The concordance
between the measurements made at Milan in 1879
and those taken at Sétif in 1920 leave no room for
doubt that Nix Olimpica has reappeared.—Mme.'
Paule Collet: Two modes of rectification of currents
by galena.—E. Berger: Some reactions started by a
primer. The use of a primer to start a chemical
reaction instead of an external application of heat
was first used by Goldschmidt, a mixture of barium
peroxide and magnesium powder being employed to
start the reaction between ferric oxide and powdered
aluminium. The néw primer proposed by the author
consists of 60 per cent. potassium nitrate (or sodium
nitrate) and 40 per cent. commercial calcium silicide.
This burns with a very high temperature, and can be
lit with a match. A description is given of the
applications of this method to the production of
phosphorus and arsenic, the reduction of the sulphates
of the allaline earths by phosphorus, and the pre-
aration of the fluorides of silicon and boron.—A.
ecoura: The constitution of the grey lilac chromium
sulphate.—P. Jolibois and P. Bouvier: The precipita-
tion of mercuric salts by .sulphuretted hydrogen.
The authors have applied the apparatus described in
an earlier communication to the study of the reaction
between mercuric chloride and hydrogen sulphide, the
reaction being carried out with the two reagents in
varying proportions. With excess of sulphuretted
hydrogen the precipitate has the composition HgS;
with the mercuric. chloride in excess the precipitate
(white) has the composition 2HgS,HgCl,, and there
was no indication of the existence of any other inter-
mediate compound.—P. Chevenard: The thermal
change of the elastic properties of nickel-steels. The
results of experiments on twenty-eight alloys of iron
and nickel are given graphically in two diagrams.—
A.. de G. Rocasolano: The catalytic decomposition of
solutions of hvdrogen peroxide by colloidal platinum.
Bredig and his pupils concluded from their experi-
mental studies of this reaction that it was mono-
molecular. The author has used electrosols of
platinum as catalvst, and comes to the conclusion
that the reaction in this case is not monomolecular
or of the first order. During the reaction the catalvst
is changed. If some of this altered catalyst is added
to a fresh quantity of hydrogen peroxide, the ensuing
reaction is now monomolecular.—E. Hildt: The
hydrolvsis of the volysaccharides. Details of further
experiments on the use of a mixture of sulphuric
acid and sodium benzenesulphonate as a_ catalvst .
for the hydrolvsis of the sugars. Glucose and galac-
tose retain their rotatory and reducing powers .un-
changed under the action of. this catalvst; non-
levulosic sugars, such as lactose and maltose, are
604
NATURE
[Jury 8, 1920.
not hydrolysed at the ordinary temperature; whilst
with saccharose and raffinose the lavulose is. com-
pletely split off after sufficient time at the ordinary
temperature or after one hour-at 98° C.—L. Cayeux :
The secondary quartz and the rhombohedral quartz
im the iron minerals of the -Longwy-Briey basin.—
kt. Abrard: The existence of the Aalenian sté age in
the massif.of Zerhoun and at Djebel Tselfat (Western
ier So eae Russo: The alluvial terraces of Oum
Rbia_ (Western Morocco).—L,. Daniel : Antagonistic
ueene and the réle of the pad in’ grafted plants.—
A. .Guilliermond; The structure of the plant-cell.
Reply to. a recent communication’ of M. Dangeard.—
M, .Dangeard: Reply. to, the preceding note.—E.
Licent : ‘The use of mixtures of formal and chromium
compounds; as fixing agents. Three formule are
given for fixing reagents containing formal, chromic
acid, and acetic acid in different proportions. Al-
though the use in the same liquid of a powerful
oxidising agent and a_ reducing. substance would
appear. to be irrational, long experience has shown
that: such mixtures give excellent. results.—E.
Roubaud; The use of trioxymethylene in powder for
the destruction of the larve of. mosquitoes. Trioxy-
methylene exerts a specific toxic, action on.these larvze,
and has advantages .over petroleum’ and_ other re-
agents in use. Detailed instructions for the best
application. of the. trioxymethylene are given.—J.
Nageotte ; The toxicity of certain dead heterogeneous
gnafts.—A. Goris:, The chemical composition of the
tubercle bacillus. A. new substance has’ been obtained
from. tubercle bacilli. by. extraction with chloroform
and’ subsequent purification by precipitation from
chloroform solution with ethér, the fats remaining in
solution in the ether and ‘the new substance, .named
hyalinol, being precipitated. Seven grams. were ob-
tained from 1500 grams’ of the bacilli, An analysis
and some reactions of the -hyalinol. are. given.—R.
Ducloux; The formation. of asporogenic. races. of
Bacillus. anthracis. The - attenuation of its virulence.
-——MM.. A, . Trillat and Mallein ; Experiments. on. the
transmission of .an infectious disease in animals by
the intermediary of air. Influence ‘of the tempera-
ture._MM. A, Mayer, Guieysse, Plantefol, and Fauré-
Fremiet: Pulmonary lesions determined by blistering
compounds. . Studies on the pulmonary lesions caused
by the inhalation of. vaporised: or pulverised :dichloro-
ethyl sulphide: on .the dog, rabbit, ‘and guinea-pig. .
Books Received:
Techno-Chemical Receipt _Book. Compiled and
edited by W. T. Brannt and Dr. W. H. Wahl.
Pp. xxxiii+516. (London: Hodder and Stoughton,
Ltd.) 15s.-net.
Psychoneuroses of War and Peace. By Dr. M.
Culpin. Pp. viit127.. (Cambridge: At the Univer-
sity Press.) 1os. net.
_ Reports of the Department of Conservation and
Development, State of New Jersey. Annual Report
for the Year ending June 30, 1919. Pp. 115.
(Trenton, N.J.) ;
The Science Reports of the Tohoku Imperial Uni-
versity. © ee Series. (Mathematics, Physics, Chemis-
try.) “Vol. ix., Ne. 2, April. (Tokyo: Maruzen Gos,
Ltd.)
Meddelanden fran Lunds Astronomiska Observa-
torium. Serie ii., Nr. 22: A Study of the Stars of
. Spectral Type A. By H. G. _ Malmquist. Po. 69.
(Lund.)
The Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England. Vol, Ixxx. Practice with Science. Pp.
viii+ 438-£cli. (London : J. Murray.) — tos.
NO. 2645, VOL. 105,|
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, Jury 8.
Royat Society or Mepicine (Obstetrics and Gynecology Section),
‘at 8.—G. Ley: The Pathology of Accidental Hemorrhage. .
FRIDAY, Jory 9.
West Lonpon Mepico-CuirurGicat Society - (at the. Wesi London
Hospital), at 5. ~Annual General Meeting.
_ SATURDA ¥, Jury 10.
babii OGICAL Society (at Physiological Laboratory, University, Onford,
t4.—J. eathes and H. C. Broadhurst : Excretion of
y. Barcroft and F: J. Roughton : Diffusion Co-efficient of Lung.—S. SP. iL.
Sorensen and E. J. Cohn: potebitty of Globulin.—A. Kevame Reaction
ot Blood Vessels to Local Stimuli.
TUESDAY, Juty 13.
SociETY FOR THE StTupy oF INEBRIETY, (at. the. Medical _ of
London), at 4.—A. Evans and Others: Deeuee on Alcohol and
Alcoholism in relation to Venereal Disease. - a
i
ae ar hs
by tine
ous
6 Se eaten.
WEDNESDAY, Jury 14.
INsTITUTION oF . PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGISTS aa! Canad 4 _ Building,
Crystal Palace), at 6—H. Barringer: Oil Storage, Transport, —
Distribution (Free Public Lecture).
; THURSDAY, haa 15.
Rovat Sociery or MEDICINE (Dermatology Section), at at 5
R6NTGEN Society (at University College), at 9. —Dr. W. + D. “ gatluae :
Address i ce Open Meeting).
‘CONTENTS. "PAGE
Medical Education. - °).42.5429. eee
The Theory and Facts of Colour Vision } YON Oe eas
Hydrographical Surveying - ra alle! lee ree
Forestry, Tree o reage anil Timber . sti aed on
Our Bookshelf... ; eaters thas
Letters to the Editor :—
Weather. Forecasts and Meteorology. —A. Mallock, *:
F. ’
The Rate of Ascent of- Pilot- Balloons. With
Diagram.)—J.S. Dines . .. me
Diamagnetism and the - Stracture of. the eae!
Molecule.—Dr. A. E. Oxle
_ University Stipends and Pensions, —G. oi.
The Separation of the piso of Chlorine, —Angus
«579
. Core.
The Island of Stone Statues. (Ilustrated.) ‘By Sit
Everard im Thurn, K.C.M.G.; K.B:E.- 583
The Blue Sky and the Optical. Properties of: “Air, -
‘By The Right Hon, Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S: . . . 5384
The Future of the Iron, and Steel Industry in -
Lorraine. By. Prof. ‘H.C. H. Pee F.R.S... | 588
Obituary). 3500s. ses eben sol 3 oc Aer eee) 4°)
Notes. os hate ea ee unig - 590
Our Astronomical Column :—
Commencement of the Great Perseid Shower ot
Meteors Ze ei oo. ne We ae tens oe ate ie)
The Expanding Disc of Nova Aquilz oie t,o ete
The New Minor Planet GM . pero te
Annual Visitation of the National Physical
Laborarery: 5 See 59
The Carnegie Foundation and Teachers’ Pensions 59
National Food Consumption in the United States.
By M. G. 597
Engines Research in the U.S.A. “By A. P.M.
Fleming, .C: BE sw (03.0.5. Na ae ee 598
African Softwoods for Pulp Production. By A. H.
Unwit oi eet oe cole bo ee 599
Effect of Topography on Precipitation in Japan.
By W. W. B. re me
Economic Entomology in the Philippines. | By
0. Be Wa. ek Pa 600
Climate of the Netherlands... ....%... 600
The Present Condition of the Aborigines of dented
Australia. By E. N. Fallaize........ 31 7 5OOE
University and Educational Intelligence .... 601
Societies and Atadéemiés ; ...° 6 25 oe es ‘, 602
Books Received .. oh? Se, ; «6 a
Diary of Societies -.-.... Viti er oot ae
MATURE
605
THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers. *
Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
Medical Research.
: TEACHING hospital will not be content
solely with making the best possible pro-
vision for the treatment of injury and disease and
for imparting knowledge; it will recognise as one
of its most important functions also the increase
of knowledge.
- “The problems of disease presented by living
’ patients are the most difficult and complex in the
whole range of the physical and natural sciences.
Much light can be shed on them by investigations
conducted in physiological, chemical, pathological,
pharmacological, and bacteriological laboratories,
especially by experimentation on animals ; but it is
increasingly clear that the scientific study of many
of these problems can be undertaken with the
greatest advantage in well-equipped, special labo-
ratories connected with the hospital clinics and
in charge of investigators trained in chemical,
_ physical, and biological methods, with convenient
access to the material for study and in close touch
with the clinicians.
_ “The familiar analytical and statistical study of
cases of disease, based on simple clinical observa-
tions, and first extensively and fruitfully applied
by the great French clinicians of the early part of
the last century, has been of immense service to
medicine, and will continue to be of service. A
good clinical observation has precisely the same
‘scientific value as a fact demonstrated in the labo-
ratory, and, even if more difficult of interpreta-
tion, is often the safer guide for the action of the
physician.
“Tt is, however, from the special clinical labora-
tories that we may reasonably hope for a more
penetrating insight into the causes and nature of
many diseases, an insight which perhaps may arm
physicians with a saving power of prevention and
treatment of some of the organic diseases of ad-
vancing life comparable to the inestimable gifts
of bacteriological laboratories to the prevention
and treatment of infectious diseases. We must
welcome the establishment of such laboratories
and the new directions which they are giving to
medical research. When the purposes of such
laboratories are made clear, their foundation and
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
support should make an especially strong appeal
to public and private philanthropy.’”’
I have quoted these remarks made some thir-
teen years ago by the distinguished leader of
American medicine, Prof. William H. Welch, of
the Johns “Hopkins University, because they ex-
press so precisely the motive and the object of
the reforms to be effected at the University
College Hospital Medical School with the help of
the Rockefeller gift. Dr. Welch spoke not only
with deep insight and eloquence, but also with
the experience he had gained as the Father of the
Johns Hopkins Hospital and its famous Medical
School.
_The aim of the reforms of medical education
that were introduced at the Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity in 1893 was primarily to educate the
medical student rather than’ merely to prepare
him for examinations. In other words, every en-
couragement was given him to learn by personal
observation and experiment and to rely upon his
own judgment; and he was provided with every
facility in the way of properly equipped labora-
tories and ample material to carry out this scheme
of work. Above all, he was given the time, un-
disturbed by multitudes of didactic classes, in
which to cultivate his powers of observation and
acquire knowledge by his own efforts. In other
words, the ideal was to make every student and
member of the staff devote himself to original
research and the advancement of knowledge.
How fruitful such a method can become we know
from the history of our schools of physiology.
The influence of the great reforms introduced at
University College by Prof. Sharpey eighty years
ago was carried to Cambridge by Sir Michael
Foster, to Oxford by Sir J. Burdon Sanderson,
and to the Johns Hopkins University by Prof.
Newell Martin; and the result of these practical
‘methods of studying physiology has been to con-
vert almost every department of that subject into
an institute of research and a perennial source of
new knowledge.
The contrast presented by departments of
anatomy in the English-speaking world, before
1893 in America, but even now in this country, is
profound. The remarkable activity of physiology
has been one of the contributory causes; and the
very circumstance that Sharpey, the reformer of
physiological education, was primarily a professor
of anatomy was one of the factors in sterilising
the spirit of adventure in his own subject. This
paradoxical result was due to the fact that as a
professor of anatomy and physiology Sharpey was
x
606
NATURE
[JuLy 15, 1920
at liberty to take from the former subject the
more vital and interesting parts with which to
render attractive his own particular hobby,
practical physiology. When his disciples carried
the new physiological gospel to Cambridge and
Oxford (thence to English-speaking schools the
world over), histology and embryology were re-
garded as part of the work of the department of
physiology. This could not have happened if
anatomy during the last half-century had had any
men like Sharpey, Foster, Burdon Sanderson, or
Gaskell to claim their rights and obtain the neces-
sary laboratories and equipment for real research
in anatomy. Instead of this, while most of the
schools of anatomy fell into a condition of
inertia, the gospel taught in the one active and
dominant school was the complete repression of
the scientific imagination and the crushing of all
research that was not a mere record of facts.
Franklin Mall was able to do what he did in
America because he was not subject to this para-
lysing influence which was crippling British
anatomy.
It is necessary clearly to appreciate these
historical circumstances in order to understand
the present contrast between the attitude to-
wards research in anatomy in American and
British schools. In many of our departments
no attempt whatever is made to add _ to
knowledge; in fact, in certain of them there
is not merely apathy, but even active op-
position to original investigation. But, for the
historical reasons I have mentioned, there is no
adequate provision in any anatomical department
in this country of the means for carrying on re-
search, even when the staff and students are
anxious to'do so. Those anatomists who, in spite
of these obstacles, have been keen enough not to
be altogether discouraged by them have in many
cases done excellent research, but only to find, in
not a few instances, that their zeal was regarded
as an obstacle to their professional advancement.
Now that this unfortunate and not very credit-
able chapter in British anatomy is coming to a
close, it is important to get a clear idea of the
aims of such an Institute of Anatomy as the
Rockefeller Foundation’s gift will enable us to
build up in London.
The chief purpose of the new building will be
to provide ample room and equipment to permit
the staff, graduate students, and even under-
graduates, to investigate any aspect of the pro-
blems of man’s structure and development. There
will be dissecting-rooms and museums for the
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
study of macroscopic structure, and laboratories
and museums for the investigation of the mani-
fold problems of anthropology and man’s evolu-
tion; but there will also be laboratories for the
practical study of embryology, histology, and
neurology, both human and comparative, and ,
every necessary kind of equipment for work in
any of these subjects. Proper provision is to be
made for research in radiography, with special
reference to the light it throws upon the struc-
ture and functions of the living body and its de-
velopment. In other words, the new institute is.
intended to provide accommodation and equip-
ment for research in every aspect of anatomy and
anthropology; and the close association which is
to be established with the departments of physi-
ology and vertebrate anatomy and with the
hospital will help to widen the outlook of investi-
gators in anatomy and give them a clearer vision.
Special importance is attached to this integrating
aspect of our scheme of work, because it is pro-
posed to create in the institute a department for
the experimental study of the factors that in-
fluence growth and development and the causation °
of anomalies of structure and pathological mon-
strosities. Research in experimental embryology
has been one of the most fruitful and significant
fields of work in American anatomy departments
within recent years.
the importance of the work carried on at the
Carnegie Institute of Embryology by such men
as Drs. Streeter and Lewis and their collabora-
tors, by Dr. Ross Harrison at Yale, and by Dr.
Stockard at Cornell Medical School, to mention
only a few out of many.
In addition to these fields of investigation, many
of the schools of anatomy in America carry on
experiments in genetics, not so much for the
purpose of studying Mendelism as for correlat-
ing the results of breeding experiments with other
branches of work in anatomy and experimental
embryology. .
To carry out a programme of this sort it is our
aim to have a staff numerous enough to give
every member at least half his time free from
teaching to devote to research; for a teacher
who is not actually engaged in investigation is
merely a retailer of second-hand goods.
At a time when this serious attempt is being
made to provide proper facilities for carrying on
research in anatomy, it is particularly gratifying
to know that the University of Cambridge has
appointed to its chair of anatomy the most
learned British exponent of the technique of
It is difficult to exaggerate —
oe
_ research in this country.
Cambridge inspires the confidence that the dark
days of British anatomy are numbered.
JULY 15, 1920]
NATURE
607
anatomy and embryology. By his extensive and
exact knowledge of anatomy and his technical
skill, no less than by his personality and sound
judgment, Prof. J. T. Wilson will exert a great
influence in the encouragement of anatomical
His appointment to
G. Etuiot SMITH.
Intellectual Stock-taking.
{1) Science and Theology: Their Common Aims
and Methods. By F. W. Westaway. Pp.
xili+ 346. (London: Blackie and Son, Ltd.,
1920.) Price 15s. net.
(2) Recent Developments in European Thought.
Essays arranged and edited by F. S. Marvin.
(The Unity Series.) Pp. 306. (London:
Humphrey Milford; Oxford University Press,
1920.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
‘HERE seems to be a general disposition at
the present time to take stock of the
achievements of the human race in the generation
which lived before the great cataclysm of the
world-war. We feel, as mankind felt a hundred
years ago after the great upheaval of the French
Revolution and the succeeding Napoleonic
struggle, that we are at the beginning of a new
age. If we are to be effective in reconstructing
and directing the new life of‘ humanity, we must
know the nature and extent of the forces in hand
so far as they are under our control. The two
books before us attempt this task in a very dif-
ferent manner. The first is the effort of a single
worker to gather up and present, in a compact
form and without bias, the definite results of
recent scientific, religious, and philosophical re-
search, and where they are conflicting or anti-
thetical to state the case for each. The second
book is the joint production of several workers,
under the leadership of the author of ‘A Century
of Hope,” to express the characteristic features of
the philosophy, religion, science, art, and history
of the last half century, or more precisely of the
period which begins with the Franco-German War
of 1870 and ends with the outbreak of the great
war in 1914.
(1) Mr. Westaway’s work is primarily ad-
dressed to students of theology, and intended to
aid them in finding a philosophic basis for their
science. Before they can have this philosophic
basis, however, they must, he thinks, master the
main principles of mathematics, of science, and
of scientific method. If, the student is told, he
resorts to metaphysical arguments concerning
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
the infinite before he has made himself acquainted
with the nature of infinity in mathematics, he is
violating the first principles of common sense. The
same is true of physics, biology, and psychology.
The student, we are afraid, will think it a hard
saying, but then here is Mr. Westaway’s epitome
of the bases of all knowledge offered to him in
tabloid form, compact and neat as in a medicine
chest. Every theory that is held by anyone of
authority in the sciences and philosophies, or
which can be held, is set forth in abstract terms,
and each summary of results is supported by a
formidable list of books of reference. Thee theo-
logical student is left without excuse.
(2) A very different tone pervades the book
edited by Mr. Marvin, for in this the personality
of each of the twelve writers is given full ex-
pression. It makes the diversity more interesting
than the unity. Perhaps the most telling contrast
is between the positivistic tone of the general
survey with which Mr. Marvin introduces the
course, and the idealistic exuberance with which
Miss Melian Stawell closes it. But surely the
oddest contribution to the volume is Prof.
Taylor’s estimate of the philosophy of the last half
century. It begins with a mystifying line of
asterisks, and ends with a “note.” The note
is appended as an “apology ” for omitting Berg-
son, or, rather, for refusing to regard that philo-
sopher as other than a transient and spent force.
The reason given is that his earliest work in its
opening chapter contains “a couple of elementary
blunders,” and on these the whole of his philo-
sophy is based. The note is certainly necessary,
because the other essays in the volume might
easily lead the reader to imagine that the period
had been dominated by the philosophy of Bergson.
The meed of honour in philosophy is awarded
by Prof. Taylor to Mr. Bertrand Russell, mainly
on account of his joint work with Prof. Whitehead
in “Mathematica Principia.” He thus agrees
with Mr. Westaway in holding the mathematical
theory of infinity to be the basis on which philo-
sophy must build. There can be no doubt that
if the award is to be decided in the manner of
the Greeks after the battle of Salamis, Mr.
Russell must be acclaimed facile princeps, for
there is no living philosopher in regard to whom
such striking unanimity prevails. No one agrees
with him, but everyone is anxious to set forth
his reasons for disagreeing. Prof. Taylor is no
exception. He looks in vain for any recognition
by Mr. Russell of what he regards as the one
vital and absolute necessity of philosophy, the
attainment of knowledge about the soul and God.
For this he refers us to the two eminent Italian
608
NATURE
[JULY 15. 1920
professors, Varisco and Aliotta, and omits any
reference to their more celebrated contemporaries,
Croce and Gentile. His prayer is “for a Neo-
Thomist who is also a really qualified mathe-
matician.”
All the essays in the volume are interesting.
Principal Jevons writes of religion from the point
of view of folk-lore study; Mr. Gooch has given
an admirable review of the history of historical
research, the science which Croce names “storio-
grafia”; while Prof. Bragg treats of “atomic
theories,”’ but is only able to indicate in a note the
new interest aroused by the work of Einstein. Of
this it is too early to take stock. H. W. C.
Petroleum Geology.
Geology of the Mid-Continent Oilfields. Kansas,
Oklahoma, and North Texas. By Dr. T. O.
Bosworth. Pp. xv+314. (New York: The
Macmillan Co.; London:
Ltd., 1920.) Price 3 dollars.
N this the latest contribution to the geology
of the great Mid-Continent oilfields, Dr.
Bosworth has contented himself with summarising
the results of most of the recent work published
by American geologists in the Bulletins of the
United States Geological Survey, and in those of
the Oklahoma and Texas Surveys in particular.
His aim throughout has been to present the facts,
leaving deductions to the intelligence of the
reader, since, although he sets out with the
intention of reviewing those facts, he does not
succeed in attaining this end, for his final chapter,
devoted to general conclusions, mainly deduc-
tive, occupies only a little more than five pages
out of a total of 282 of text, and cannot be re-
garded as more than a somewhat hurried and non-
committal postscript to the preceding sections of
the book.
To any keen student of petroleum geology the
announcement of a new publication dealing with
one of the world’s greatest oilfields is to be
regarded with a certain degree of anticipation,
partly with reference to possible new theories of
oil accumulation and development, and partly (in
this case) from a curious desire to see how far the
teachings of the British geological school may be
affirmed or modified by association in their own
country with American oil technologists. This
dual anticipation, however, is doomed to disap-
pointment, because there is certainly nothing
strikingly new in Dr. Bosworth’s book, and one
further perceives in the work a strong under-
current of bias to prevalent American opinion.
It was to be hoped, for example, that new light
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
Macmillan and Co.,,
would. be thrown on the structure of the North
and Central Texas fields, which are of such recent
development and importance; but, beyond a brief
description of the local “closed dome,” “ nose,’
and “terrace” structures originally described by
Dorsey Hagar in his paper before the American
Institute of Mining Engineers (1917), little in-
formation is forthcoming.
Another point on which more information is
desirable is the possibility of the future develop-
ment of the fields to the west. The general west-
ward dip of the Paleozoic rocks tends to shift the
oil horizons of the Pennsylvanian beds deeper and
deeper in that direction, and further prospecting
must inevitably lead to deeper drilling, assuming
‘the structure to remain uniform. But it is by no
means certain that such is the case, and on this
point the author is unable to enlighten US. Nee
suggests certain possibilities in regard to locating
oil in the underlying Mississippian and in the over-
lying Permian “Red” beds; but in the former case
the great depth to which borings must necessarily
penetrate will tend to limit operations, whilst in
the latter the oil occurrences are probably ex-
tremely localised, the conditions obtaining in the
Healdton (Permian) field, which he quotes at some
length, being the exception rather than the rule.
It is only fair to add, however, that the short-
sighted policy of many of the oil companies in
prohibiting the publication of the results of .de-
tailed surveys prevents many workers from doing
full justice to their research, and science, in con-
sequence, must suffer accordingly.
- [t is interesting to note that in his codidisiaiens
the author regards the “ vegetable ”. hypothesis as
accounting for the origin of the hydrocarbons, and
he further recognises White’s laws of progressive
devolatilisation as applicable to the Mid-Continent
fields, an opinion which is in accordance with
American views.
For the rest, the book certainly contains some
useful features, the stratigraphy of the oilfields
and the relations of oil accumulation to strutture
in most of the important fields being treated very
concisely. The chemical side is by no means
neglected, and the general characteristics of the —
Mid-Continental oil and natural gas, and the pro-:
duction of gasoline from that gas, are dealt with
in some detail. Maps, plans, and photographs of
the fields are included, together with a biblio-
graphy of the more important works relative to the:
area. The volume will probably make its strongest:
appeal to those who wish to gain a broad idea of
the geology of the oilfields without having re-
course to survey and other technical publications.
H. B. MIvner.
OE
-_.
=
i
ditions in the fuel situation.
of fuel production and utilisation.”
JULY 15, 1920]
NATURE
609
Fuel Problems.
Fuel Production and Utilization. By Dr. H. S.
Taylor. (Industrial Chemistry Series.) Pp.
xiv+297. (London: Bailli¢re, Tindall, and
Cox, 1920.) Price ros. 6d. net.
HIS volume is intended more especially as
a post-graduate book which shall “sup-
plement academic training with the broad facts
The main
sources from which the author has drawn his
material are the valuable bulletins issued by the
United States Geological Survey and the Bureau
of Mines, supplemented by other American and
Canadian sources of information. Everyone
familiar with fuel problems realises the great
value of these publications, and although many
vf the author’s quotations from these and his
-wther sources are lengthy, his judicious selection
of material has enabled him to compile a volume
which cannot fail to be of value to a much wider
circle than post-graduate students.
A great change in the fuel problem has fol-
lowed from the enormous rise in the price of coal,
~ and it is difficult to see what the far-reaching
ultimate effect will be. Certain it is that man
will be driven to consider the utilisation of much
material which has hitherto received but little
attention, and to give closer attention to using the
‘last heat unit possible in every ton of coal.
While
coal was cheap economists preached to deaf ears;
“economic necessity will produce effects which
-years of preaching failed to accomplish.
-Taylor’s book should go a long way to help those
-who are prepared to take the serious view which
the situation demands of these problems, and it is
Dr.
of value not only as recording what has been done
in the near past, but also as indicating possibilities
in fuel utilisation in many directions.
One of the features of the book is the broad
outlook of the author on many of the problems
which, whilst at present of very minor importance,
bear evidence of becoming of considerable prac-
tical importance with the great alteration in con-
The utilisation of
the minor fuels—peat wood, coke for industrial
purposes, and pulverised coal—together with the
many problems associated with the low-tempera-
ture distillation schemes, are more adequately
dealt with by Dr. Taylor than by most writers
of general books on fuel, the considerable space
devoted to these problems being ey justified
by their potential importance.
From the scientific point of view “the “ syn-
thetic ” fuels are of considerable interest. In the
future some may become of great importance.
The merits of alcohol as a fuel are now very widely
NO. 2646, VOL, 105]
-high freezing point (64° C.).
recognised, and the author gives an excellent
account of this question. Closely connected—in-
deed, part of the problem—is acetylene as fuel,
either directly, for small motor vehicles have been
driven by this gas, or more specifically as a pos-
sible source of alcohol. Several processes for the
conversion are referred to, the steps usually in-
volving the formation of aldehyde by absorption in
acids, generally in the presence of mercury salts,
and the conversion of the aldehyde into alcohol
by reduction by Sabatier’s method with hydrogen
in the presence of nickel as a catalyst.
Of a similar character is the production of
hexahydrobenzene (hexamethylene) by the hydro-
genation of benzene. The author points out the
advantages of such a fuel of constant composition
and properties, but he does not refer to the one
great disadvantage of this compound, namely, its
He refers to it as
suitable for aeroplanes, but this high freezing
point obviously entails serious difficulties. In ad-
mixture the claim for homogeneous composition
is gone, and.even alone it is difficult to see what
advantages it possesses over benzene, which has
approximately the same freezing point, or even
over commercial “benzol,” which freezes below
o° C, and has no greatly varying degree of vola-
tility. J.-S. Bs
Hurter and Driffield.
A Memorial Volume containing an Account of the
Photographic Researches of Ferdinand Hurter
and Vero C. Driffield: Being a Reprint of their
Published Papers, together with a History of
their Early Work and a Bibliography of Later
Work on the Same Subject. Edited by W. B.
Ferguson. Pp. xii+374. (London: The Royal
Photographic Society of Great Britain, n.d.)
Price 25s.
D* HURTER died twenty-two years ago, and
Mr. Driffield afterwards did little or nothing
-more in connection with their joint labours than
complete and publish the work that was almost
finished. It is possible now, therefore, to regard
their work as a whole, and to see something of
the relationship that it bears to the general pro-
gress of photography from the scientific point of
view.
Hurter and Driffield did two very considerable
things. They devised the method of drawing what
they called, and what is now universally known as,
the “characteristic curve” of a developable sensi-
tive surface. This may at first appear'a very easy
thing to do, but it is often the things that are easy
_to do which are the most difficult to get at and of
610
NATURE
[JULY 15, 1920
the greatest fundamental importance. With the
curve are, of course, included the units that it
involves and the facts that it represents. As to
its advantages, it is enough to say that it was at
once adopted wherever photography was regarded
as a science, and no better method of expression
has since been suggested.
Their second notable achievement was _ that
they promulgated certain conclusions to which
they had come with an energy and assurance that
stand unique in connection with this, if not
with all scientific subjects. Their statements in
their communication of 1890 with regard to some
of the opinions and experiences of others as inter-
ested in the subject as they were, were put in such
vigorous language that they amounted to chal-
lenges. Of course, this led to discussion and to
further work; and discussion breeds discussion,
and work breeds work. Dr. Hurter and Mr.
Driffield either separately or jointly were always
ready to take any pains, by reading papers,
often travelling long distances to do so, by writ-
ing articles, or by personal correspondence, to
make clear and to uphold their views. They thus
administered a powerful stimulant to scientific
photography.
It is of very secondary interest what these views
were, because the whole subject has received since
then more attention than any two persons could
possibly devote to it; and, indeed, Hurter and
Driffield themselves, in their last important com-
munication on “The Latent Image and its De-
velopment,” demonstrate by further experiments
the necessity of largely, if not radically, modifying
the statements to which so much exception had
been taken.
It must not be supposed that Hurter and
Driffield set out with the intention of doing the
two things that we have endeavoured to describe.
To quote their own words: “Our object was to
discover a method of speed determination, and
it was not, as the [photographic] public seemed to
infer, to deal finally and exhaustively with the sub-
ject of development. This subject was purely inci-
dental. .. .”” As everyone knows, they did devise
a method for the estimation of sensitiveness, and,
as might be expected from such capable men, a
method wholly different from any other, but, like
all methods, it has its advantages and its disad-
vantages. The sensitiveness of a plate is not de-
finite except under definite conditions, and in prac-
tical work the conditions are not uniform.
It is but a short step from the courteous and
ever kindly Hurter and Driffield to the memorial
volume before us, because Mr. Ferguson has done
his. work well and with full sympathy. The
volume begins with Mr. Ferguson’s recent lecture
NO. 2646, VOL. 105]
on their early work, which is followed by a review
of Dr.’ Hurter’s mathematical work by Dr. H.
Stanley Allen, and by the patent specifications of
the early actinometer and the actinograph. Then
come reprints of all their important communica-
tions to societies and journals. Mr. Ferguson has
certainly not erred in the direction of making too
exclusive a selection, though he tells us that there
are many other publications of theirs, chiefly
polemical letters to the photographic Press, which,
if reproduced, would have filled two more volumes.
After this there are a bibliography of 717 items,
extending from 1881 (Hurter’s actinometer patent)
and 1888 (the actinograph patent) to 1918, and
name’and subject indexes. If there should exist
anyone interested in scientific photography who is
so saturated with the work of Hurter and Driffield
that the reprints do not appeal to him, even he
cannot fail to find the bibliography and indexes of
considerable use. Cah
Our Bookshelf.
Bygone Beliefs: Being a Series of Excursions in
the Byways of Thought. By H. Stanley Red-
grove. Pp. xvi+205+32 plates. (London:
William Rider and Son, Ltd., 1920.) Price
ros. 6d. net.
THIS series of fragmentary discussions extends
over a vast area: Pythagoras and his philosophy,
medicine and magic, bird superstitions, powder
of sympathy, talismans, ceremonial magic, archi-
tectural symbolism, the Philosopher’s Stone, the
phallic element in alchemical doctrine, Roger
Bacon, and the Cambridge Platonists. It is in-
evitable that a discussion of such varied subjects —
in a limited space is not likely to be fruitful, nor
will the author’s interpretations command uni-
versal acceptance. Thus we are told that “the
alchemists regarded the Philosopher’s Stone and
the transmutation of the base metals into gold as
the consummation of the proof of the doctrines of
mystical theology as applied to chemical pheno-
mena,” though some were influenced by more
material objects. The premises from which they
started were “the truth of mystical philosophy,
which asserts that the objects of Nature are
symbols of spiritual verities. There is, I think,.
abundant evidence to show that alchemy was a
more or less deliberate attempt to apply, accord-
ing to the principles of analogy, the doctrines of
religious mysticism to chemical and_ physical
phenomena.” Of course, it is generally admitted
that the idea of transmutation had a philosophical
basis such as it was, and that alchemy to some
extent unified and focussed chemical effort, but it
was, to use Liebig’s words, “never at any time
anything different from chemistry.”
While it is difficult to accept the author’s tran-
scendental interpretations of these and kindred
phenomena, he has collected much curious learn-
ing, for which he supplies adequate references,
JULy 15, 1920}
NATURE
611
and he gives us a number of curious illustrations,
one of which, however, may judiciously have been
omitted in a book which claims to be popular.
The Propagation of Electric Currents in Tele-
phone and Telegraph Conductors. By Prof.
_ J. A. Fleming. Third edition, revised and ex-
tended. Pp. xiv+ 370. (London: Constable
and Co., Ltd., 1919.) Price 21s. net.
In preparing *a new edition of his well-known
study of the propagation of telegraph and tele-
phone currents, Prof. Fleming has taken the
opportunity of bringing it in line with both the
latest theoretical and the latest practical work in
this field. The subject presents a very fine ex-
ample of mathematical investigation leading to
results of far-reaching practical utility, and the
author conducts his reader along a logically con-
tinuous path from the point where he introduces
him in the first chapter to hyperbolic functions of
_ complex angles, to the page near the end where
he pauses to show him a picture of a telephone
cable with loading coils being laid across the
Channel. Telegraph and telephone engineers owe
a great debt of gratitude to Prof. Fleming for
the way he has, at first in his lectures and then
in the volume now before us, brought together
so much valuable work in this complicated subject,
to which he himself has been no mean contributor.
Perhaps the most valuable feature of the treatment
is the way in which he has simplified, so far as
possible, the mathematical results of the original
investigators, while at the same time facilitating
the building of the bridge from the other end by
providing the material to extend the student’s
mathematical resources in the required direction.
Half-past Twelve: Dinner Hour Studies for the
Odd Half-Hours. By George W. Gough.
Pp. vi+77. (London: Sells, Ltd., n.d.) Price 1s.
THERE is abundant evidence that much of the
present-day industrial unrest arises from the ready
- acceptance of fallacious economic ideas by many
of those engaged in industry. The need for sound
teaching in the first principles of economics of a
character within the ready understanding of work-
ing men and women, and of all who help to form
public opinion, is acute, and Mr. Gough has
rendered a valuable service in helping to satisfy
this need.
This inexpensive little book is an attempt to
correct wrong economic ideas and a limited per-
spective by providing a series of talks on familiar
economic topics such as production, capital,
profits, wages, the mechanism of exchange, and
the principles of taxation. The author deals with
these in a brief but extremely lucid manner, and
his conclusions, while significantly orthodox, are
arrived at without bias or prejudice. His illustra-
tions are most apt, and will effectively secure the
interest of his readers. It is to be hoped that this
publication will be widely read not only by indus-
trial workers and students, but also by the public
generally. APM Bos
NO. 2646, VOL. 105]
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible rf opinions ex-
pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to
return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu-
scripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No nectice is taken of anonymous communications. ]
The Separation of the Isotopes of Chlorine.
_ Pror. Soppy (June 24) and Mr. Core (July 8) have
in their comments on my letter in Nature of June 17
raised several points of interest. The former asks
that all the assumptions from which the equation
[Cl’,][Cl,] = [CICY’]}?
was deduced may be given. The assumptions are :
(1) The differences between the vapour pressures of
the three varieties of chlorine are negligibly small.
(2) The vapours are almost perfect gases.
(3) The three varieties of gaseous chlorine are
separable by semi-permeable membranes or other
means, or the equivalent assumption that the thermo-
dynamic potential of a mixture of the three varieties
is the sum of the thermodynamic potentials of the
constituents.
(4) The work required to convert reversibly 1 mol.
of solid Cl’, and 1 mol. of solid Cl, into 2 mols. of
solid CICI’ is negligible. ;
The three last assumptions lead us to the formula
{C1Cl'}?
Ch jiCl’g}
where the bracket {} indicates concentration of
saturated vapour. Whence with the aid of assump-
tion (1) we deduce that K=1.
Assumption (4) follows from Nernst’s heat theorem
if it be postulated that the energy of the change
considered is almost zero. It would appear, there-
fore, that if isotopes are inseparable by processes
similar to that described in my first letter, one of the
assumptions made is not valid.
Prof. Soddy asks whether there is any step in my
argument to prevent its being applied to prove the
possibility of the separation of arbitrarily selected
atoms from a group of completely identical molecules
by chemical means; for, if there is not, then it
follows, as a reductio ad absurdum, that the equili-
brium equation
o=log, K +log,
[Cl’,][C1,} = [C1CI’]?
is wrong, and it is unnecessary to test its validity by
experiment. Concerning this query I am in doubt
whether it would be generally admitted that assump-
tion (3) could be made in such a case as that con-
templated by Prof. Soddy, and therefore I think it is
desirable that the question of the validity of the
equation should be submitted to the test of experi-
ment—so far as it is possible to do this.
Mr. Core assumes that the isotopes of chlorine are
inseparable by chemical means, but does not agree
with my conclusion that if such is the case
Nernst’s heat theorem will be difficult to defend.
He admits that at finite temperatures the dif-
ference in entropies of the solid reactants and re-
sultants is R log, 4, but he argues that it may become
zero at zero temperature owing to the effects of the
differences in properties of the three solids being more
pronounced at exceedingly low temperatures. But
even if it be admitted that. in the case of chlorine
the difference between the entropies of the reactants
and resultants can be nothing at zero temperature
and Rlog,4 at finite temperatures, it has still to be
explained how the same rise in: the difference of
entropies from zero to the constant value R log, 4
could occur for a change of the same type in the case
Gurea
NATURE
[JuLy 15, 1920
of another element which exists in the form of two
isotopes differing much less in their atomic weights
than those of chlorine. Furthermore, if we put
A=f(t), and if f(t) can be expanded in the analytical
series, ;
f(0)+4 SO+; (0) +; etc,
and f'(o) is zero as Nernst assumes, then it must be
explained how the series
2
flo) +f") + ete
can become almost equal to t.Rlog,4 between wide
limits of temperature. :
In fact, if the isotopes are inseparable by chemical
means, I think that the most natural conclusion to
draw is that the difference in the entropies of the
reactants and resultants of a chemical change taking
place at zero temperature is a finite quantity which
depends on the type of the change, and also, of
course, on the number of molecules transformed.
Jesus College, Oxford. D. L. CHAPMAN.
Anti-Gas Fans.
Owi1nc to my absence from home I did not see
Prof. Allmand’s letter in Narure of June to on my
indictment of the War Office until too late to reply
to it last week, but I hope you will now allow me to
put before your readers a few of the points he has
missed. ; ;
First, may I repeat that I had no personal interest
in the number of fans sent out, since I neither asked
for nor would accept payment or reward of any kind or
description for their use during the war. «I attributed
the suffering and loss of life, which I deplore and
Prof. Allmand denies, even more to the lack of
training, and consequent ignorance of what the fans
could do, than to their scarcity.
From this letter 1 gather that his own knowledge
concerning them is of the slightest. He seems never
to have heard of the clearing of trenches with them,
the purpose to which they were principally put; but
he allows that they were ‘‘ found useful”’ for clearing
shelters and dug-outs that would otherwise have
remained dangerous for ‘hours, or even days,”’ after
a gas attack. We have only to picture our men,
after hours of hard fighting, perhaps wounded or
already gassed, compelled to remain in the open,
whatever the weather, with the remains of gas still
there, to realise the vital importance of clearing every
space, dug-out, and shelter the moment it was
possible. Yet for a whole year (May, 1915, to May,
1916) the use of the fans with which it could always
have been done in a few minutes was held up by the
wilful obstruction of War Office officials. It must be
remembered, too, that at the beginning of that year
the respirators were still quite crude and untrust-
worthy, and that even by the end of it they were very
far from perfect. Is it too much to say, then, that
‘“much suffering and loss of life could have been
avoided’? had the fans been accepted, and the troops
properly trained to use them, nine months earlier, as
they could so well have been? On this point Prof.
' Allmand is silent. :
He says that, later, fires were found to be as
efficacious as, and less fatiguing than, fans. They
were not as efficacious, but they were certainly less
fatiguing, as I have said, when the materials were
ready to hand; and it was perfectly right to use them
when practicable. But each time a space was cleared
by fire, fresh dry wood and paper were required. Now
it is common knowledge that there were wide areas
which, over long periods, were so wet that dry wood
for even one clearing would have been hard to find,
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
let alone many.
avoided’ if those responsible had remembered this,
and had provided not only plenty of fans for every -
Is it an exaggeration to say that :
‘*much’ suffering and loss of life could have been
area, but also men trained to use them? On this —
point also Prof. Allmand is silent.
‘‘Working an Ayrton fan, even in the most approved
fashion ’’—my italics—he says, “*. . +
Prof. Allmand will, I am sure, be surprised to learn
that there are at least three approved fashions, and
that the efficiency of the fans depends almost more on
the ability of the officer in charge to choose the right
method for the particular space, and to place and
move his men properly, than on the skill of the
wielders; moreover, the approved methods are not
less fatiguing than the wrong ones, only infinitely
more efficient. This ignorance on the part of an
authority on anti-gas methods is not unique; it is
typical. Let me show how it arises, oo a
As soon as the fans were accepted I warned the
War Office that, if they were to be of any value
officers and men alike must have two or three days?
practical training in their use; and, at the request of
the Commander-in-Chief, my assistant went to France
to show how the training should be carried out. At
first, after he left, it may have been fairly well done;
but in time those who had seen for themselves what
the fans could do died or became scattered; and after
that the training degenerated at best into an hour or
two of exercise in the stroke for trench-clearing, and
at worst into the mere exhibition and naming of a
fan, while numbers of men never even saw one at all.
Major Gillespie, D.S.O., who practically saved his
battery by means of the fans, when a howitzer battery
within a hundred yards of it was wiped out, wrote to
the Times of May 4:
of the fans in limited quantities, I never met an
officer or man who had been properly instructed in |
is a tiring task.” |
‘‘Even after the introduction
their use.’”? This ignorance, for which the War Office —
is responsible, extended from the highest to the lowest |
officials in the Anti-Gas Service. The only men who
did not share it were those officers who were.
enough and interested enough to make out for them-—
Small —
selves what could be done with the fans.
wonder, then, that most officers regarded them simply
as ont te and that some of the men treated them
as fuel.
This same ignorance and: want of imagination led
to the idea that the fans were useless for dealing with
mustard gas. In describing the saving of his battery
Major Gillespie wrote:. ‘“‘ The
days afterwards, but by judicious flapping at frequent
intervals we kept our quarters fairly free from it.’’
This is the evidence of a ‘fighting soldier.”? It is
odd that those other fighting soldiers quoted by Prof.
Allmand should not have thought of this very simple
way of ridding themselves of a vapour that came off
slowly and took some time to reach a dangerous
concentration. Pu
Finally, is not Prof, Allmand in his last sentence
confusing scientific methods with the methods of
some scientific men? In directing attention to the
dire effects of the unscientific methods of the War
Office in connection with anti-gas fans, I was adding
my quota to the efforts of those who are trying to
‘ensure the application of scientific methods to mili-
tary problems.’’ The fact that it was scientific men
who were responsible for those unscientific methods
is surely no reason for condoning them, but rather for
censuring them the more severely.»
41 Norfolk Square, W.2,. June 22.:
Ar the risk of the accusation of shirking inquiry,
I repeat that I have no intention of entering into a
gas hung about for ©
Hertua AyRTON.
JULY 15, 1920]
NATURE
613
controversy with Mrs. Ayrton. It will suffice to say
that she is writing of things of which her knowledge
_is, naturally, second-hand, besides being clearly very
_ inadequate. This is apparent in at least eight separate
points in her letter, of which I will only refer to her
“mention of the successful use of the fans in what
-must obviously have been a very exceptional type of
-“mustard-gas”” bombardment. I assure Mrs. Ayrton
that she is mistaken if she imagines that she has in
this matter any considerable body of support amongst
th who-knew the facts, from whatever point of
view. I hope, in conclusion, that nothing I wrote has
led Mrs. Ayrton to suppose that I regard her advocacy
_of her fans to be influenced by questions of ‘‘ payment
_ or réward.’’ Nothing was further from my mind.
ee) A, J. ALLMAND.
= King’s College, W.C.2, June 30. Sk ee
____Pror. Attmanp, having read neither the specific
_ charges I have made against the War Office nor the
___- evidence, principally from official documents, with
which I have sustained them, attempts to counter
them with statemerits unsupported by evidence of any
kind. He finds me ignorant, for instance, on eight
points, of which the only one he names is obviously
no matter either of my knowledge or ignorance, since
it refers simply to a quotation from the letter of a
very able and gallant “fighting soldier.”” Had he
read the article he criticises he would have seen the
sit whole quotation.
a e I am ready to sustain those charges, and to produce
the evidence before any proper tribunal. I repeat
I accuse the War Office of having caused great loss
of life and much avoidable suffering by:
(1) Having refused for a whole year to make use
of anti-gas fans, which they were yet compelled
finally to adopt owing to their proved efficacy.
(2) Never having set up an efficient organisation
for training officers and men in their use, although
I had warned them that this was indispensable.
_ (3) Having thus deprived the troops of the know-
requisite for understanding what could be done
' with the fans, and having thereby induced the idea
that they were useless.
(4) Having trusted entirely to fires for clearing dug-
outs of gas, regardless of the fact that in many places
dry wood and paper were often unobtainable.
Ay Ranking sandbags and ground-sheets as of equal
efficacy with fans for clearing gas.
_ (6) Sending out an inadequate supply.
The scientific men implicated in these grave charges
have not even made the plain statement with regard
to’ them that the Editor of Nature considered so
desirable, much less produced any evidence in refuta-
tion of them. HertuHa AyrRTON.
July rr.
THE continuance of this correspondence in our
columns would not, we think, serve any useful pur-
pose. In a note in Nature of May 13 it was pointed
out that Mrs. Ayrton’s indictment of the War Office
was “not against the military element, but rather
against the experts who were associated with the Gas
Service.’’ It is easy to understand the reluctance of
these officers to express their views upon anti-gas
fans, even if they were free to do so; and though
Mrs. Ayrton is anxious to have all the facts judged
by a tribunal appointed for that purbose, we must
confess that the likelihood of a scientific body con-
stituting such a tribunal is verv remote. The inquiry
is one that the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies
could take up appropriately, but no satisfactory con-
clusion could be reached without examining a number
of witnesses, and the resources and powers of the
NO. 2646, VOL. 105]
Board are scarcely sufficient for such action. The only
practicable course, therefore, would seem to be for the
War Office to appoint a Committee to investigate
Mrs. Ayrton’s charges, and in the interests of scientific
truth and efficiency we hope this will be done.—Eb.
NATURE,
*
The Stretching of Rubber in Free Balloons.
In Nature of June 10, p. 454, in connection with
the attainment of high levels of the atmosphere by
sounding- or pilot-balloons, Mr. W. H. Dines con-
siders that such balloons would burst before reaching
great heights, as the rubber of which these balloons
are made would be stretched eightfold ‘linearly, and
he remarks that he does not think that any rubber
will stand this treatment.
Properly vulcanised soft rubber will, however,
stretch to more than ten times its original length if
in the form of a ring-shaped test-piece. Moreover,
the load increases more rapidly than the elongation
at the later stages. The remarkable tensile properties
of soft rubber are not always sufficiently recognised.
The breaking strain of a properly vulcanised sample
should be not less than 1500. grams per sq. mm. cross-
sectional area of the original test-piece. Allowing
for the stretching, which would reduce the cross-
sectional area to one-tenth, the breaking strain would
be 15,000 grams per sq. mm. cross-sectional area of
the sample when fully elongated, or nearly 10 tons per
sq. in. It would not, however, be safe to rely on these
figures, as the rubber of the balloon would tear at the
neck where it is tied together before the bursting pres-
sure was reached. Mr. Dines has also failed to take
into consideration the fact that part of the hydrogen
would be lost by diffusion during the ascent of the
balloon, which would reduce the pressure of the con-
tained gas. : Henry P. STEVENS.
15 Borough High Street, London
Bridge, S.E.1, June 29.
WitH reference, to Mr. Stevens’s interesting state-
ments about the stretching of rubber, I think he has
overlooked the fact that in a balloon the rubber is
stretched simultaneously in both directions, whereas
he refers apparently to one direction only.
have cut a strip half an inch wide from a balloon
used at Benson; it stretched sevenfold before break-
ing, but when extended sixfold its width was reduced
from o-50 in. to 0-22 in., instead of being extended
to 3-00 in., as would be the case in actual use. Its
unstretched thickness was 0-013 in., its thickness at
breaking greater than 0-004 in., but when extended
sixfold each way its thickness would only be
0-00036 in.
The loss of hydrogen by diffusion or leakage is
equivalent to not giving the balloon so large a free
lift at starting, and would alone increase the height,
but in practice it sometimes leads to the bursting
height not being reached at all because the free lift
has vanished before that noint is reached. It has
been found that within fairly avide limits the maxi-
mum height is only slightly dependent on the free lift
at starting. But diffusion of the hydrogen outwards
is accompanied by diffusion of air inwards, and this
increases the svecific gravity of the gas and lessens
the height.
I did not mention the effect of the tension of the
rubber on the pressure, and therefore on the specific
gravity, of the enclosed gas. Taking Mr. Stevens’s
figure of a breaking strain of 15,000 grams per
sq. mm. of unstretched section, this will raise the
internal pressure by quite an appreciable amount, and
thereby reduce the height at which the balloon bursts,
Benson. W. H. Dives.
014
NATURE
[JULY 15, 1920
Note on the Habits of the Tachinid Fly,
Sphexapata (Miltogramma) conica,
Fasre has given a graphic account of the patient
watch of this parasitic cuckoo-fly at the mouth of the
burrow of a species of Bembex, and of its cunning
in seizing the moment when the ‘* wasp ”’ is halt
within the burrow to deposit its tiny egg, pregnant
with disaster to the Bembex offspring, upon the body
of the insect victim intended tor the larder-nursery
wherein the mother Bembex’s hopes are laid. He
does not, however, appear to have witnessed in the
tragedy a phase that recently came under my notice,
and that is possibly restricted to, or perhaps only
easily observed, in cases where the foster-host carries
its prey along the surface of the ground, or at best
flies only just clear of the ground.
On the afternoon of June 22, when on one of the
heaths in this neighbourhood, I caught sight of a
black Fossor, Tachytes unicolor, carrying a paralysed
grasshopper. I followed, hoping to secure a photo-
graph of its operations at the burrow. Soon I
discovered that 1 was not the only follower, for at a
distance of about four inches there followed a small
Tachinid fly, which Mr. J. E. Collin has kindly identi-
fied as Sphexapata conica,. The fly followed the
““wasp ’’ with the utmost accuracy, maintaining its
distance with a precision that suggested a rigid con-
nection between the two insects; if the ‘‘ wasp ’”’ flew,
the fly flew; if the ‘‘ wasp ’’ crawled, or indeed took
but a single step, the fly did exactly the same; and
always keeping distance accurately. For more than
fourteen yards—and there may have been many more
before I came upon the scene—did the fly thus follow
in the wake of the ‘“‘ wasp,’ until at length the
burrow was reached. The ‘‘ wasp’’ at once entered,
leaving the grasshopper lying, belly upwards, at the
burrow’s mouth; but before the owner was out of
sight the fly darted upon the grasshopper, without a
moment’s delay deposited an egg on its thorax, and
flew off—into my net.
Fabre says nothing as to the distance at which the
fly stations itself when keeping watch at the mouth
of the burrow, nor of the interval between each in-
dividual when several ‘‘in a geometrical line’ are
awaiting the critical moment; but the constancy with
which the fly kept station in the journey across the
heath, and the precision with which every movement
of the ‘‘ wasp ’”’ was copied, suggested that at that
particular distance a clearer visual image was secured
than at any other. Be this as it may, the fact is
worth consideration in discussing insect vision.
To this note I may appropriately add an observa-
tion made last year while watching an Ammophila
sabulosa filling in its completely stocked burrow. On
a stone close by there sat a small fly absolutely
motionless, and apparently intently watching the pro-
ceedings. As soon as Ammophila had finished its
work and flown off, the fly leapt from its perch,
and at once began to scratch away the sand and small
stones in an endeavour to get at the larve in the
subterranean larder. Fortunately, Ammophila had
packed its burrow too well, and the fly flew off de-
feated. This fly closely resembled Sphexapata conica,
but may have been an allied species.
Sharp (‘‘Camb. Nat. Hist.,” vol. vii., p. 509) men-
tions the fact that Miltogramma follows Hymenoptera
carrying prey. Oswatp H. Latter.
Charterhouse, Godalming, July 4.
Temverature Variations at 10,900 ft.
A SERIES of 500 aeroplane observations in North-
East France in 1918-19 throws some light on the
problem of temperature variations in the upper air.
The correlation coefficient between pressure and tem-
NO. 2646, VOL. 105]
perature at 10,000 ft., taking all the observations
together, is 0-73. If the seasonal variations are
allowed for by taking the deviations from Mr. W. H.
Dines’s smoothed monthly means, the coefficient is
o-69. The former value is higher, as the annual
variations of temperature and pressure in the upper
air are in the same phase. Both figures are rather
lower than the value o-77 for 3 km, obtained by
Mr. Dines from balloon soundings, the observa-
tions being grouped in three-monthly periods. The
value o-69 implies that a proportion /1—0-69*, or
72 per cent., of the standard deviation is still un-
accounted for. The partial correlation coefficient
between the temperature and the southerly component
of the wind velocity at 10,000 ft. (allowing for the
pressure) is 0-44, so that the southerly component
accounts for 1o per cent. of the temperature varia-
tions which’ are independent of the pressure, or 7 per
cent. of the total variations. The effect of the west
component of the wind velocity is practically negligible
at all seasons.
There are strong grounds for believing that a large
proportion of the temperature variations depends upon
whether the air supply was drawn originally from
the polar basin or the equatorial belt. ‘This view is
supported by the humidity observations which were
made at the same time. as those for temperature.
For reasons set out in a paper which I hope
to publish, the original source of the air supply is
not very closely related to the wind velocity at the
place of observation, both polar and equatorial cur-
rents frequently following curved paths. This factor
of air supply operates in a very irregular manner, —
with the result that the correlation coefficients vary
greatly from month to month. The coefficient con-
necting pressure and temperature at 10,000 ft. for
the period January-February, 1919, based on fifty
observations, is as low as o-og. In the winter
especially there are large fluctuations of the lie sn
air temperature, the changes occasionally exceedi €
30° F. within forty-eight hours both at 10,000 ft. an
14,000 ft. : ay
Mr. Dines gives a value 0-86 to the pressure-
temperature correlation coefficient from 5 km. to
8 km., but this accounts for only half the temperature
variations. C. K. M. Douectas.
Meteorological Office, Air Ministry, W.C.z2, .
; ; July 8.
The Brent Valley Bird Sanctuary. _
SuNnDay next, July 18, is the two hundredth anni-
versary of the birth of Gilbert White of Selborne, who
did more than any other of our countrymen to create |
an interest in birds. The moment is therefore ripe
for an appeal upon their behalf, and for suggesting
how a fitting memorial to him may be established.
The work which the Selborne Society has done in
the Brent Valley Bird Sanctuary, in the way of pre-
serving birds and testing nesting-boxes for use else-
where, is well known and has some considerable
value. The owners of the freehold wish now to
develop their estate, and if the money necessary to
es the property is not forthcoming the sanctuary
will go. ,
Matters have been made as easy as possible for
us, and we have been asked only 4so0ol. for twenty-
two acres of building land which comes into the
London postal district.
May J, as chairman of the Bird Sanctuary Com.
mittee, invite the help particularly of those who are
fond of birds and of open spaces to save the wood?
Those who have been immediately interested in the
work have subscribed 300 guineas to start the fund.
WILFRED Mark WEpB.
The Hermitage, Hanwell, W.7, July 10.
a ee
Minute variations in the rate of growth.
second (Fig. 1).
JULY 15, 1920]
NATURE
615
Researches on Growth of Plants.
By Str Jacapis CHUNDER Bose, F.R.S.
I.—The High Magnification Crescograph.
[ NVESTIGATION on growth is a matter of
much practical importance, since the world’s
food supply is intimately dependent upon vegeta-
tive growth. The movements of stems, leaves, and
roots under the action of various forces, such as
ht, warmth, and gravity, are often due to
The
discovery of laws relating to the movement of
growing organs thus depends on the accurate
measurement of normal growth and its changes.
The great difficulty of the investigation arises
from the extraordinary slowness of growth, the
average value of which per second may be taken
aS zoo000 in-, or half the wave-length of sodium |
light. The “auxanometers” usually employed
produce a magnification of about twenty times.
Even here several hours must elapse before
growth becomes perceptible, but during this long
period the external conditions such as warmth
and light would necessarily change, thus vitiating
the results; moreover, autonomous variation of
growth appears during lengthy periods. The
elements of uncertainty can be removed only by
reducing the period of experiment to a few
minutes; but that would necessitate devising a
method of very high magnification and the auto-
matic record of the magnified rate of growth. I
have been successful in this by my device of the
High Magnification Crescograph, consisting of a
system of two levers; the first magnifies a
hundred times, and the second enlarges the first
a hundredfold, the total magnification being
10,000 times. The various difficulties connected
with the weight and friction at the bearing have
been fully overcome.! The further difficulty in
obtaining an accurate record of growth movement
arising from friction of continuous contact of the
writing point was removed by an oscillating
device by which the smoked glass plate moves to
and fro at regular intervals of time, say one
The record consists of a series
of dots, the distance between successive dots
representing magnified growth during a second
(Fig. 2a).
The records may be taken on a stationary plate,
first under normal, and then under changed, ex-
ternal conditions. The increase or diminution of
space between successive dots in the two series
demonstrates the stimulating or depressing nature
of the changed condition (Fig. 2d); or the record
may be taken on a plate moving at a uniform
rate. In the curve thus obtained the ordinate
represents growth-elongation, the abscissa the
1 For a fuller account see the author's ‘‘ Researches on Growth and Move-
ment in Plants by means of the High Magnification Crescograph,” Proc.
Roy. Soc., B, vol. cx., 1919. (The diagrams are reproduced with the kind
Kfesers‘Langmans,”Gresn, and Co." Response inthe Living and
Non-living” (1902); ‘‘ Plant Response”’ (1906);
: ow,
a “Comparative Electro-
; “Irritability of Plants
(1913); ‘* Life-movements in
NO. 2646, VOL. 105]
time. If a stimulating agent enhances the rate
of growth, this fact is exhibited by a flexure in
the curve upwards; a depressing agent, on the
other hand, lessens the slope of the curve
(Fig. 2b).
Precautions against Physical Disturbance.—The
effect of vibration may be neutralised by placing
india-rubber sponges under the legs of a heavy
table supporting the apparatus. It is preferable
to screw the supporting bracket on a wall. I
have, indeed, been able to secure a magnification
of ten million times with my Magnetic Cresco-
graph in public demonstrations in busy London,
|
Fic. 1.—The High Magnification Crescograph. P, plant; S, S',
micrometer screw for raising or lowering the plant; C, clock-
ar periodic oscillation of plate; K, crank ; W, rotating
wheel.
the indication of the instrument being quite un-
affected by the street traffic. In Fig. 2c is given
the record on a moving plate taken with the High
Magnification Crescograph. A dead twig had been
substituted for the growing plant, and a per-
fectly horizontal record demonstrated the absence
not only of growth, but also of all disturbance.
There is an element of physical change in experi-
ments on variation of the rate of growth under
artificially raised temperature. In order to deter-
mine its character and extent, a record was taken
with the dead twig of the effect of raising the
temperature of the plant-chamber through 10° C.
The record shows that there was an expansion
during rise of temperature, which, however,
616
NATURE
[JULY 15, 1920
reached a limit, the record becoming once more
horizontal. The obvious precaution to be taken
in the study of variation of growth under change
of temperature is to wait for several minutes for
the attainment of steady temperature. The
elongation caused by physical change abates in
a short time, whereas the physiological variation
in the rate of growth is persistent.
In Fig. 2a is given a record of growth of
Scirpus kysoor; the growth per second magnified
ten thousand times is 9-5 mm. ‘The absolute rate
of growth per second is therefore 0.00095 mm.,
or 0-954, where » or micron is 0-0oor1 mm.
Effect of Stimulus on Growth.—A _ generalisa-
tion was obtained that all forms of stimuli,
mechanical, electrical, or radiational, induce a re-
tardation of the rate of growth; under increasing
intensity or duration of stimulus this retardation
may culminate in an arrest of growth or even in |
actual contraction of the organ. As regards radia-
tion, all rays of the vast ethereal spectrum (with
Fic. 2.—Crescographic records. a, Successive records of growth at intervals of t second; X 10,000, with a stationary plate.
Effect of temperature : d, N, normal rate of growth ; C, retarded rate under cold ; H, enhanced rate under warmth ;
6, record ou moving plate where diminished slope of curve denotes retarded rate under cold ; c, horizontal record
showing absence of growth in dead branch; physical expansion on application of warmth at arrow followed by
horizontal record on attainment of steady temperature.
the exception of red and yellow rays which cause
photo-synthesis) are found to cause response by
modifying the rate of growth of the plant. I
have thus been able to obtain records of response
_ of plants to long ether waves employed in signal-
ling through space. (NATURE, October 30, 1919.)
Effect of Sub-minimal Stimulus.—A very unex-
pected result was obtained under the action of
sub-minimal stimulus, which induced an accelera-
tion of growth instead of retardation under
moderate intensity. This I find to be true of
stimulation as diverse as that caused by electric
shock, by light, and by chemical agents. A strik-
ingly practical result was obtained with certain
poisons which in normal doses killed the plant,
but which in quantities sufficiently minute acted
as an extraordinarily efficient agent for stimulat-
ing growth, the treated plants growing far more
vigorously and flowering much earlier. It is only
by the discovery of laws of growth that any
marked advance in scientific agriculture will be
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
rendered possible. We have been using a few
stimulating agents, whereas there are thousands
of the action of which we have no conception.
The rule-of-thumb methods often employed in the
application of a few chemical agents and of elec-
tricity have not been uniformly successful. The
cause of the anomaly is found in the discovery of
an important factor—namely, the dose of applica-
tion—which had not hitherto been taken suffi-
ciently into account.
The Balanced Crescograph.—The high sensi-
tiveness. already secured has been very greatly
enhanced by the employment of the Null Method
or the Method of Balance, where the rate of up-
movement of growing tip is exactly compensated
by the down-movement of the plant. A train of
revolving clock-wheels, actuated by the fall of a
weight, lowers the plant at the required rate. The
exact adjustment is obtained by the right- or left-
handed turning of a screw which regulates the
governor. In this way the rate of growth becomes
exactly compen-
sated, and the re-
corder now dots a
horizontal line in-
stead of the former
curve of ascent.
The turning of the
adjusting screw
also moves an index
against a circular
scale so graduated
that its reading at
once gives the rate
at which ‘the plant
is growing at the
moment. When
balanced, the re-
cording apparatus
is extremely sensi-
tive, the effect of
any change in the environment, however slight,
being at once indicated by the upset of balance
with the up or down movement of the indicator.
I have in this way been able to detect induced
variation in the rate of growth so exceedingly
minute aS sgo5000000 im. per second. An illus-
tration of the delicacy of the method will be
found in the record given in Fig. 3, on the
effect of carbonic acid gas on growth; there
is an immediate acceleration of growth (up-
record), which continues for two and a_ half
minutes; this is followed by retardation, as
shown by the down curve. With diluted
carbonic acid the acceleration may persist for a |
considerable time. As another instance of the
delicacy of the method of balance, I obtained a
decided response of the plant to the light so fleet-
ing as that of a single electric spark the duration
of which is of the order of zgg/555 Second.
The Magnetic Crescograph.—There is a limit
to the magnification obtained by a compound
JULY 15, 1920]
NATURE
617
system of levers; an additional lever increases the
weight and friction. For special research and for
public demonstration a still higher magnification
is necessary, and this I secured by the invention
of the Magnetic Crescograph, where a fine mag-
nétised lever causes by its movement ‘a rotation
Fic. 3.—Rectord showing the effect of carbonic acid gas.
Horizontal line at the beginning indicates balanced
growth. Application of carbonic acid gas induces en-
hancement of growth, shown by up-curve, followed by
depression, exhibited by down-curve.
at interva!'s of ten seconds.
Successive dots
of a suspended system of astatic needle with its
attached mirror. By graduated approach of the
suspended needle to the lever the magnification
may be continuously increased from a million to
ten million times. A concrete idea of the stupen-
dous magnification will be obtained if we imagine
the slow pace of the proverbial snail magnified ten
million times. The 15-in. gun of the Queen Eliza-
beth throws out a shell with a muzzle-velocity of
2360 ft. per sec., but the crescographic snail
would move twenty-four times faster than the
cannon shot. The magnification of ten million
times was obtained with a single lever, but a
double lever will enlarge it a hundredfold~—that
is to say, it will give a total magnification of a
thousand million times. The importance of this
device for research in other branches of science is
sufficiently obvious. For general purposes a mag-
nification of a million times is sufficient; with
ordinary precaution the apparatus may be ren-
dered free from mechanical disturbance, and the
zero-keeping quality of the indicating spot of light
is quite perfect.
The following account of an experiment
in demonstration of physiological response in a
growing plant will be found interesting. The
normal growth of the plant was indicated by the
excursion of the spot of light through 6 metres
in 10 secs. On introduction of chloroform vapour
to the plant-chamber there was an immediate en-
hancement of the rate of growth, the spot of light
moving three times faster. Continued action of
the vapour of chloroform caused, however,
a depression and arrest of growth; finally, there
was a sudden contraction, which proved to be the
spasm of death. Similar effects were produced by
various poisons like the solution of potassium
cyanide.
After this brief account of the very sensitive
methods for the detection and record of the effect
of stimulus on growth, I propose in another article
to describe results which will offer an explanatioa
of the tropic movements in plants induced by
various stimuli of the environment.
Isotopes and Atomic Weights.
By Dr. F. W. Aston.
— the atomic theory put forward by John Dalton
in 1801 the second postulate was: “ Atoms of
the same element are similar to one another and
equal in weight.” For more than a century this
was regarded by chemists and physicists alike as
an article of scientific faith. The only item among
the immense quantities of knowledge acquired
during that productive period which offered the
faintest suggestion against its validity was the
inexplicable mixture of order and disorder among
the elementary atomic weights. The general state
of opinion at the end of last century may be
gathered from the two following quotations from
Sir William Ramsay’s address to the British Asso-
ciation at Toronto in 1897 :—
There have been almost innumerable attempts to
reduce the differences. between atomic weights to
regularity by contriving some formula which will
express the numbers which represent the atomic
weights with all their irregularities. Needless to say,
such attempts have in no case been successful. Ap-
NO. 2646. VOL. 105 |
|
|
|
|
parent success is always attained at the expense of
accuracy, and the numbers reproduced are not those
accepted as the true atomic weights. Such attempts,
in my opinion, are futile. Still, the human mind does
not rest contented in merely chronicling such an
irregularity; it strives to understand why such an
irregularity should exist. . . . The idea . . . has been
advanced by Prof. Schutzenburger, and later by Mr.
Crookes, that what we term the atomic weight of an
element is a mean; that when we say the atomic
weight of oxygen is 16, we merely state that the
average atomic weight is 16; and it is not incon-
ceivable that a certain number of molecules have a
weight somewhat higher than 32, while a certain
number have a lower weight.
This idea was placed on an altogether different
footing some ten years later by the work of Sir
Ernest Rutherford and his colleagues on radio-
active transformations. The results of these led
inevitably to the conclusion that there must exist
| elements which have chemical properties identical
for all practical purposes, but the atoms of
618
NATURE
[Jury 15, 1920
which have different weights. This conclusion
has been recently confirmed in a most convincing
manner by the production in quantity of specimens
of lead from radio-active and other sources, which,
though perfectly pure and chemically indistin-
guishable, give atomic weights differing by
amounts quite outside the possible experimental
error. Elements differing in mass but chemically
identical and therefore occupying the same posi-
tion in the periodic table have been called “iso-
topes” by Prof. Soddy. »
At about the same period as the theory of iso-
topes was being developed by the radio chemists
at the heavy end of the periodic table an ex-
tremely interesting discovery was made by Sir
J. J. Thomson, which carried the attack into the
region of the lighter and _non-radio-active
elements. This was that, when positive rays from
gases containing the element neon were analysed
by electric and magnetic fields, results were ob-
tained which indicated atomic weights roughly zo
s, Ss, P+ ‘ad
2 Case we - - - ee,
image
. Fic. 1.—Diagram of positive-ray spectrograph.
and 22 respectively, the accepted atomic weight
being 20-2.
the weight 22 might possibly be due to other
causes, and the method of analysis did not give
sufficient accuracy to distinguish between 20-0 and
20-2 with certainty. Attempts were made to effect
partial separation first by fractionation over char-
coal cooled in liquid air, the results of which were
absolutely negative, and then by diffusion, which
in 1913 gave positive results, an apparent ‘change
in density of o-7 per cent. ‘between the lightest
and heaviest fractions being attained after many
thousands of operations. When the war inter-
rupted the research, it might be said that several
independent lines of reasoning pointed to the idea
that neon was a mixture of isotopes, but that
none of them could be said to carry the con-
viction necessary in such an important develop-
ment.
By the time work was ‘started again the isotope
theory had been generally accepted so far as the |
NO. 2646; VoL. 105]
This naturally led to the expectation .
_that neon might be a mixture of isotopes, but
_radio-active elements were concerned, and a g
deal of theoretical speculation had been mad
to its applicability to the elements generally.
separation by diffusion is at the best extreme
slow and laborious, attention was again tw
to positive rays in the hope of increasing
accuracy of measurements to the required d
This was done by means of the arrangé
illustrated in Fig. 1.
into an extremely thin ribbon by means of
slits S, Sg, and are then spread into ai
spectrum by means of the charged plat
A portion of this spectrum deflected th
angle @ is selected by the diaphragm D and
between the circular poles of a powerful fisco-
magnet O the field of which is such as to bend
than twice as great as 6. The result of is is
that rays having a constant mass (or n re. cor-
rectly constant m/e) will converge to a focus F,
and that if a photographic plate is placed a GF
as indicated, a spectrur
obtained. On accou
Se ee we ewe n 5
the instrument has be
a positive-ray speoteraa
and. the spectrum produced a
mass-spectrum.
Fig. 2 shows a number of
by this means. The number
above the lines indicates the
masses they correspond to on
the scale O=16. It will be
noticed that the displac ent
A mass is roughly linear.
Om median ee we wm meen Hh em ee
to lines the mass of which is
known. Such lines, due to
_ hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and their compounds,
two principal groups of these, reference lines
are the C, group due to C (12), CH (13), CH,
(14), CH, (15), CH, or O (16),
28 C,H, or CO. In spectrum i.
situated between these groups.
measurements show that these lines are 20-00,
22-00, with an accuracy of one-tenth per cent.,
which removes the last doubt as to the isotopic
nature of neon.
a line at 35-46, the accepted atomic weight. From
seems certain that chlorine is a complex element,
Positive rays are sorted ©
the rays back again through an angle @ more ~
de-
pendent on mass alone will be ~
of its
analogy to optical a ae
* typical mass-spectra obtained —
to the right with increasing —
The ©
‘measurements of mass made
are not absolute, but relative —
are generally present as impurities or purposely a
added, for pure gases are not suitable for the
"smooth working of the discharge tube. The —
_. The next element investigated was chlorine; this. a
_ is characterised by four strong lines 35, 36, 37, 38,
and fainter ones at 39, 40; there is no trace of —
reasoning which cannot be given here in detail it —
and consists of isotopes of atomic weights 35 and ~
on i
and the C, .
group 24-30 containing the very strong line ~
the presence —
of neon is indicated by the lines 20 and 22 ~
Comparative _
JuLy 15, 1920] :
NATURE
619
37; with possibly another at 39. The lines at
36, 38 are due to the corresponding HCl’s.
Particles with two, three, or. more electronic
i> _ charges will appear as though having half, a
‘third, etc., their real mass. The corresponding
_ dines are called lines of the second, third, or
- higher order. In spectrum ii. the lines of doubly
_ charged chlorine atoms appear at 17-5 and 18-5.
“Analyses of argon indicate that this element con-
sists almost entirely of atoms of weight 40, but a
_ faint component 36 is also visible. Spectra v. and
_ Wi. are taken with this gas present; the former
_ shows the interesting third order line at 13}.
_ Krypton and xenon give surprisingly complex
method (see Phil. Mag., May, 1920, p. 621), some
results of which are given in spectrum vii., hydro-
gen is found to be 1-008, which agrees with the
value accepted by chemists. This exception from
the whole number rule is not unexpected, as on
the Rutherford “nucleus” theory the hydrogen
atom is the only one not containing any negative
electricity in its nucleus.
The results which have so far been obtained
with eighteen elements make it highly probable
that the higher the atomic weight of an element,
the more complex it is likely to be, and that there
are more complex elements than simple. It must
| be noticed that, though: the whole number rule
°o
tal
Sy See
BOLL is Se
TT wee
Soh hs r,
A
oH
<
a
se,
Fic. 2.—Typical mass-spectra.
than six isotopes, the latter of five (spectra viii.
and ix.). Mercury is certainly a complex element
probably composed of five or six isotopes, two of
which have weights 202 and 204; its multiply
charged atoms give the imperfectly resolved
groups, which are indicated in several of the
spectra reproduced in Fig. 2.
By far the most important result obtained from
this work is the generalisation that, with the ex-
ception of hydrogen, all the atomic weights of all
elements so far measured are exactly whole
numbers on the scale O=16 to the accuracy of
experiment (1 in 1000). By means of a special
NO. 2646. VOL. 105]
results ; the former is found to consist of no fewer |
| asserts that a pure element must have a. whole
| number atomic weight, there is no reason to sup-
| pose that all elements having atomic weights closely
| approximating to integers are therefore pure.
| The very large number of different molecules
| possible when mixed elements unite to form com-
pounds would appear to make their theoretical
chemistry almost hopelessly complicated, but if,
as seems likely, the separation of isotopes on any
reasonable scale is to all intents impossible, their
practical chemistry will not be affected, while
the whole number rule introduces a very desir-
able simplification into the theoretical aspects of
mass.
620,
NATURE
[JuLy 15; 1920
Obituary.
” Major-Gen. Witt1am CRAWFORD GorGas,
K.C.M.G.
N St. Paul’s Cathedral on July 9 a very remark-
able’ tribute was paid to one who may fittingly
be termed a Napoleon of Hygiene. On that day
a military funeral was accorded to the remains
of Major-Gen. William Crawford Gorgas,
Surgeon-General of the United States Army and
president of the American Medical Association.
The impressive service was attended by a large
concourse, including the Director-General of the
Army Medical Department, who represented the
King, the Director-General of the Medical Depart-
ment of the Navy, the Presidents of the Royal
Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, the Presi-
dents of the Royal Society of Medicine and_ the
Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,
and representatives of other learned societies and
scientific institutions. Had the late Gen. Gorgas
been a British subject such a tribute to his life and
work would have been sufficiently noteworthy, but
that a citizen and soldier of the United States
should be honoured by these funeral rites is a
unique testimony, not only to the man who fought
and conquered yellow fever, but also to preventive
medicine generally.
It is right that it should be so, and to no one
could such an honour be more fittingly paid than to
the man who devoted himself heart and soul to
making the tropics healthy and habitable and,
above all others, translated the pioneer scientific
work of Laveran, Manson, Ross, Grassi, Finlay,
and others into action.
Gorgas’s life, one of ceaseless activity in the
cause of science and humanity, began on Oc-
tober 3, 1854, when he was born at Mobile, Ala-
bama, and terminated in the Queen Alexandra
Military Hospital, London, on July 3. Death over-
took him on his way to a new field of work, for
he was taken seriously ill in England when en
route to the West Coast of Africa with the view of
studying the yellow fever problem there, a problem
by no means solved and differing in some respects
from that which presented itself in the New
World.
Gorgas was a son of the South, his father being
Gen. Josiah Gorgas, of the Confederate States
Army, and his mother a member of a Southern
family. He received his medical training at the
Southern University, Tennessee, where he gradu-
ated A.B., and in 1879 he qualified M.D. at fhe
Bellevue Hospital Medical-College of New York
University, thereafter holding a house appointment
in the hospital.
In 1880 Gorgas joined the United States Army
as a surgeon and served in various parts of the
country, first coming into contact with yellow fever
in Western Texas and himself suffering from an
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
‘
attack of the disease. His promotion in the service
was rapid, and, his bent being towards the preven-
tive side of medicine, the year 1898 saw him
appointed Chief Sanitary Officer of Havana. At
that time Havana was a hot-bed of yellow fever,
and Surgeon-Major Gorgas found plenty of scope
for his energies. While his colleagues Reed,
Carroll, Agramonte, and Lazear established the
role of Stegomyia fasciata as the vector of the then
unknown parasite of yellow fever, Gorgas, as soon
as he was certain of the facts, embarked whole-
heartedly on an anti-mosquito campaign which in
a remarkably short space of time freed Havana
from the scourge of “ Yellow Jack.” It was then
that he first displayed to the full those qualities of
drive, tact, tenacity, firmness, and resolution which
eventually gained for him the proud titles of “a
Master-Administrator of tropical hygiene” and
of “a Hercules of modern hygiene.”
Gorgas had a wonderful way of getting at the
heart of things. He was essentially practical, and
this practicality, combined with enthusiasm and a
devotion almost religious in character, found a
still greater field in Panama. He was rewarded
for his labours at Havana by being promoted
Colonel and Assistant Surgeon-General in the
United States Army, and it was in 1904 that he
was sent to the famous isthmus to report upon the
sanitary condition of the Canal Zone and to be-
come ere long. Chief Health Officer of an area
which for centuries had been notorious for its un-—
healthiness, a region devastated by malaria pi
yellow fever and a veritable forcing-house for
tropical pathology. . \
At first Gorgas had many difficulties. He was
up against the Canal Commissioners; he was at
loggerheads with the engineers; he found himself
hampered by red-tape and restrictions of all kinds.
Fortunately, the reins of power were at that time
held in the United States by a man of very similar
calibre to himself, and Theodore Roosevelt, real-
ising all that depended on Gorgas’s work, and
having every sympathy with him and none for
hide-bound traditions, swept away the obstacles
from his path, and gave him a free hand and full
responsibility. This was all Gorgas wanted. He
knew, thanks to the work of Manson, Ross, and _
Finlay in the first place, and to the labours and
sacrifices of his colleagues at Havana in the
second, thdt he was on sure ground, and, backed
loyally by the governor of the Canal Zone, Judge
Magoon, he embarked with a worthy band of ~
helpers and abundant sinews of war upon a cam-
paign which speedily routed the forces of disease ~
and death, rendered the Canal Zone not only habit-
able, but also healthy, and which will stand for all
time as a monument to what can be done when
science and administrative hygiene are given
ample powers.
cage
tne
Ry fee ee Le Te is
i
‘Jury 15, 1920]
NATURE
621
_ The results achieved induced Gorgas to put
forward the theory, advanced also by Sambon and
Mthers, that if insanitary conditions are removed
: white man can not only live and labour in
e tropics, but also propagate his race there, and
- his descendants will be healthy and virile.
t is too early yet to say that this is wholly the
ise, but it is interesting to note what Gorgas
about this important question. Speaking of
work, he wrote :—
ve real scope of tropical sanitation, which has
almost entirely developed within the last fifteen
r twenty years, | believe, will extend far beyond our
york at Panama. Everywhere in the tropics to which
‘the United States has gone in the past fifteen years
has been shown that the white man can live and
in good health. This has occurred in the Philip-
es, in Cuba, and in Panama, but the demonstra-
_ tion has been most prominent and spectacular at
Sooo at and therefore has attracted there the greatest
yorld-wide attention. Here among our large force
f labourers we had for ten years some ten thousand
Americans—men, women, and children. Most of
these American men did hard manual labour, exposed
to the sun, rain, and weather conditions day in and
day out, yet during that time their health remained
perfectly good, just as good as if they were working
at home. The same remark as to health would apply
to the four thousand women and children who lived
2 tropics for a given amount of labour is so much
~ larger than that which can be produced in the tem- |
-perate zone by the same amount of labour that the
sect
é
small ys mogpey When the great valleys of the Amazon
and of
__ Panama made Gorgas famous; the Royal
_ Society awarded him its Buchanan medal; the
een of Oxford made him an_ honorary
_ D.Se.; the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
presented him with its Mary Kingsley medal; and
he was not forgotten in America. He did not,
however, rest upon his oars. In 1913 the Chamber
of Mines at Johannesburg sought his advice as
regards the prevention of pneumonia among
mative miners on the Rand, and he proceeded to
_ South Africa and carried out an investigation
_ which led to useful results. He then turned his
_- attention to South America, for the dream of his
_ life—and no vain dream—was to stamp yellow
_ fever out of the world. He made a survey of
the endemic foci in South America, and then
started to obliterate the worst of them at Guaya-
- quil, in Ecuador. Here, again, his efforts and
those of his assistants were crowned with success,
and it is a tribute to his tact and discretion that
so much could be accomplished in one of the
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
now produced in all the rest of the inhabited world. .
lands of mafiana, as some of the Spanish South
American republics may be not inaptly called.
As director of the International Health Board
of the Rockefeller Institute, a post to which he
was appointed on the completion of the Panama
Canal, Gorgas had excellent facilities for travel
and investigation, and he became an apostle, as
well as a priest, of the go&édess Hygeia. As
Surgeon-General of the United States Army, he
had to organise the medical service for the Great
War, and during the war he visited both France
and Serbia, retiring, however, from the United
States Army in 1918 under the age-rule.
Scarcely had hostilities ceased when his atten-
tion turned again to yellow fever, and along with
Surgeon-Gen. Noble and Dr. Guiteras, of
Havana, he was, as stated, on his way to the
African West Coast, when he was stricken down
by what proved to be a fatal illness. On his sick
bed he was visited by the King, who conferred
a K.C.M.G. upon him, and just before he took
ill, when he was in Brussels at the Congress of
the Royal Institute of Public Health, he was pre-
sented with the Harben gold medal, while at the
recent annual meeting of the British Medical
Association the University of Cambridge con-
ferred upon him its honorary LL.D.
Gorgas died full of honours, if not of years.
His work received its rightful recognition, and
if he died comparatively early it must be remem-
bered that his life was a very strenuous one, spent
to a large extent in hot climates, and that he
came very near to realising his lifelong ambition.
He was a man of resource and courage, but he
was also a man with a kindly heart and a gratify-
ing sense of humour. He knew how to handle
those serving under him, and how to get the best
out of them, while he gave credit where credit
was due.
It has been said of him, sometimes bluntly,
sometimes even rudely, that, in the strict sense
of the term, he was not a scientific worker, but
the fact remains that Gorgas worked ever on
strictly scientific lines, and that the moment a
scientific truth had been enunciated he was up
and doing in order to apply it for the welfare of
mankind. Without men of his stamp the labour
of the microscopists would to a large extent be
futile. His art was the natural corollary of the
laboratory, and no more efficient exponent of it
can be imagined.
As his coffin, shrouded by “Old Glory,” borne
by stalwart British Guardsmen, flanked by British
medical officers of high rank, and followed by his
widow and a distinguished company, passed up
the aisle of St. Paul’s, it was in keeping with his
life’s work that, amongst the wreaths waiting to
be placed upon it, was one sent as a token of
remembrance and esteem by his friend Sir Patrick
Manson. |
622
NATURE
[Jury 15, 1920
Notes. |
Tue exhibits of the Research Department, Wool-
wich, at the Imperial War Museum, Crystal Palace,
illustrate some of the work vital to the war which was
done there, and incidentally our unpreparedness, as
much of it might have been done before. Amongst
the specimens shown are the six isomers of T.N.T.,
isolated whilst devising’ new processes for the manu-
facture of the symmetrical variety, and for cheaply
eliminating the undesirable isomers—a problem not
yet fully solved. There are also specimens of amatol,
which has largely replaced T.N.T. as a shell-filling ;
tetranitromethyl aniline, which is of increasing use as
an initiator of detonation in others; trinitrobenzene,
which should have a future, and many others. The
exhibits of fragments of shells detonated by picric
acid, T.N.T., and amatol respectively show by the
relative numbers of the fragments that picric acid still
remains our most shattering shell explosive, and, by
the minuteness of most, how limited the killing range
-of such shells really is. The specimen of R.D.B.
cordite illustrates how, when through lack of fore-
sight our supply of acetone failed, our chemists and
distilleries saved the situation by providing soluble
nitrocellulose and alcohol-ether to gelatinise it. The
sections of gaines show how the problem of detonating
insensitive shell-fillings was solved during the war by
employing a series of explosives in the detonator, and
accomplishing in several steps what could not be done
with certainty in one. The specimens which display
the eroding effect of hot gases on gun-tubes present a
problem to chemists which will probably be solved
by the invention of a new alloy. An excellent series
of X-ray photographs shows that great progress has
been made in the penetration of metals. Internal
flaws in parts are revealed, and also the internal
structure of ammunition—an important matter when
captured ammunition has to be examined and dis-
sected. ° There are many other exhibits of interest.
THE appeal which the chairman of the Brent Valley
Bird Sanctuary makes in our correspondence columns
for funds with which to buy and endow the reserve
which the Selborne Society has maintained for
eighteen years will commend itself to most naturalists.
It is as important to rear two useful birds as it is
to make two ears of corn grow where there was but
‘one before, and the sanctuary has done more than
this. Not only has it enabled birds to build undisturbed
near London, but its example has been followed else-
where, and in thousands of gardens have birds been
brought up where there were no fledglings previously.
This is through the nesting-boxes which the com-
mittee has sent out. Such work should go on. A
permanent sanctuary within the London area would
be an excellent memorial to Gilbert White and crown
the efforts of the Selborne Society. Although. the
gift of the purchase money or some substantial con-
tributions would bring the endeavour to an earlier
completion, we imagine that the more subscribers
there are the better pleased would the committee be,
and small amounts would therefore be welcomed.
THE fifty-seventh annual general meeting of the
British Pharmaceutical Conference will be held at
NO. 2646, VOL. 105]
Liverpool on July 19-23 under the presidency of Mr.
C, A. Hill, managing director of The British Drug
Houses, Ltd., who will deliver his presidential
address at the Royal Institution, Liverpool, on
Tuesday, July 20. The British Pharmaceutical Con-
ference is an organisation established in 1863, and
during the fifty-six years of its existence it has made
at its annual meetings a total addition of more than
a thousand original researches to the common stock
of chemical and pharmaceutical knowledge. Among
the subjects of the scientific papers to be read at the
forthcoming meeting are: A New Method for the
Estimation of Cineole in Eucalyptus Oils; The Deter-
mination of Hydrocyanic Acid, of Nitrate in Bismuth
Carbonate, and of Free Acetic Acid in Acetylsalicylic
Acid; Aconite Alkaloids: An Improved Method for
their Estimation; and The Detection of Inorganic
Phosphate in Glycerophosphates. ng
WITH the view of obtaining further evidence as to
the relationship of the Early Mousterian palzolithic
flint implements to the Glacial Chalky Boulder Clay,
excavations will be carried out shortly at High Lodge,
Mildenhall, Suffolk, by Prof. J. E. Marr, Mr. J. Reid »
Moir, Mr. Reginald Smith, Mr. Henry Bury, and
Mr. M. C. Burkitt. The owner of the High Lodge
property, Sir Henry Bunbury, Bart., having given —
permission for the diggings to be conducted, it is hoped —
that it may be possible to ascertain with certainty
whether the well-known brick-earth of Mousterian
age occurring at this spot is younger or older
than the Boulder Clay with which it is intimately —
associated. A full account of the excavations and the
conclusions arising therefrom will be published in due
course,
t
Tue following elections in connection with the ©
Royal College of Surgeons of England are an- —
nounced :—President: Sir Anthony A. Bowlby. —
Hunterian Professors: Mr. C. W. G. Bryan, Mr. —
A. G. T. Fisher, Mr. W. S. Handley, Mr. W. G,
Howarth, Prof. A. Keith, and Mr. H. Platt. Arris
and Gale Lecturers: Mr. J. F. Dobson, Dr. F. W.
Edridge-Green, and Mr. J. H. Evans. Erasmus
Wilson Lecturer: Prof. S. G. Shattock. | Arnott
Demonstrator: Prof. A. Keith. Pathological Curator: —
Prof. S. G. Shattock. Physiological Curator: Mr. —
R. H. Burne. Honorary Curator of the Odontological
Collection: Sir Frank Colyer. Sir D’Arcy Power is
‘to deliver the next Thomas Vicary lecture.
THE Very Rev. Dr. W. R. Ince, Dean of St. —
Paul’s, is president for the new session of the —
Aristotelian Society which will open in November
next. ae
TuE Sir Alfred Jones Laboratories of the Liverpool.
School of Tropical Medicine will be officially opened
by Lord Leverhulme on Saturday, July 24, at 2.30. —
The presentation of Mary Kingsley memorial medals _
will also be made. pane
SiR Ropert Jones has been awarded the Cameron —
prize of the University of Edinburgh in recognition —
of his work in orthopedics. Earlier recipients of the
prize, which is of the value of about rsol., were
Pasteur, Lord Lister, and Sir Lauder Brunton.
Jury 15, 1920]
NATURE 623
Dr. Seymour Hapwen has resigned his position as
s ‘Chief Pathologist in charge of the Biological Labora-
_ tory, Health of Animals Branch, Canadian Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada, and become
hief Pathologist in the Reindeer Investigations of
Bureau of Biological Survey, U.S. Department
or Agriculture.
We are informed by the Dapartieat of Scientific
* and Industrial Research that the Research Association
for the cutlery industry has been approved by the
Department as complying with the conditions laid
down in the Government scheme for the encourage-
ment of industrial research. The secretary of the
Committee engaged in the establishment of this asso-
ciation is Mr. W. H. Bolton, P.O. Box 49, Sheffield.
_ Tue Royal Statistical Society has opened a register
_ of the names of persons eligible for statistical posts.
} ef It has from time to time been asked to recommend
qualified statisticians, and has taken this means of
_ bringing those who have appointments to offer into
touch with suitable applicants. A list of names and
& qualifications is now available, and the secretary
{9 Adelphi Terrace, W.C.2) will be ee to furnish
re eaten accordingly.
_ WE learn from Science that Prof. L. H. Bailey is
Aya ike the American Pomological Society, of
which he is president, and establishing junior branches
in a number of agricultural colleges in the United
‘States and Canada. It is proposed under the new
‘scheme that the society shall give consideration to
such national affairs as touch the growing of fruits,
_ @g. legislation, quarantine, export, transportation,
and standardising methods.
Carr. W. J. RurHerrorp has reprinted from ‘‘ The
oe History of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club ”’
by (vol. xxiv.) a paper on ‘‘A Border Myth: The Stand-
ing Stones at Duddo.’’ The local folklore accounts
_ for their origin by supposing that the stones are the
petrified bodies of a gang of field-workers who pro-
_ faned the Sabbath by going into a field singing and
_ thinning a crop of turnips, while the leader was
_ thrown on his back and lies prostrate to this day.
Capt. Rutherford compares the legend with that
attached to the ‘‘ Maidens” or ‘“‘ Merry Maidens ’’ and
_the “Hurlers’’ in Cornwall. The story is not un-
common, and it would not be difficult to quote other
ei peraliels.
_ Tue report of the Felsted School Scientific Society
for 1918 and 1919 is welcome evidence of the place
given to scientific pursuits in an up-to-date school.
The natural history notes, which predominate, reach
_a high standard and contain many interesting observa-
tions on the local appearance and movements of
migratory birds, while the photographs which have
been selected for reproduction say much for the skill
and patience of the young naturalists. The report
shows how greatly the progress of a school society
depends upon the guidance of an enthusiastic master.
It is gratifying to see from the balance-sheet that
the governors, by a generous contribution to the
funds of the society, give evidence of their belief in
the value of Nature-study, and their faith is well
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
founded, for the recording of detailed observations,
whether of rainfall or temperature or migration, is
a sowing of the seeds of the scientific habit and the
love of truth.
UNpDER the title ‘‘The Birds of Eastern Canada,”
the Canadian Department of Mines has issued a
memoir—No. 3 of its Biological Series—by P. A.
Tavener. This has been written ‘‘to awaken and,
where it already exists, to stimulate an interest, both
gesthetic and practical, in the study of Canadian birds
and to suggest the sentimental, scientific, and
economic value ef that study; to assist in the identi-
fication of native species; and to furnish the econo-
mist with a ready means of determining bird friend
from bird foe . . .; to present in a readily accessible
form reliable data upon which measures of protective
legislation may be based; to point out some of the
pitfalls that have caught the inexperienced in the past;
and to suggest methods for their future avoidance.’
To accomplish these desirable ends, the memoir
treats of all the species with which the ordinary ob-
server is likely to meet ‘‘ between the Atlantic coast
and the Prairies north of the International Boundary.”
It is prefaced by some general remarks on classification,
geographical distribution, migration, and protection,
and by an illustrated key to the characters of the
groups to which the various species belong. The main
portion of the work deals, with 766 selected birds, and
shortly describes their plumage, haunts, nesting,
economic status, and distribution in Eastern Canada :
many of them are depicted in the series of coloured
plates which forms the concluding portion of this
useful memoir.
In the interests of commerce itself it is becoming
increasingly plain that where the exploitation of wild
animals is concerned men of science, and not the
captains of industry, must determine the levy which
any given species can stand without endangering its
safety. The urgent need for the speedy recognition
of this fact is very emphatically shown in a series of
able essays published in the form of a bulletin by
the Scripps Institution for Biological Research of the
University of California (No. 9). Where all are of
such surpassing excellence it is difficult to select any
one of these essays for special mention. But since a
choice must be made, it shall fall upon that of Dr.
Evermann, who surveys the present position of the
Northern fur-seal. He throws a lurid light on the
attitude of the non-scientific legislator. Even Depart-
ments of State, he shows, for the sake of present
revenue, will adopt covertly hostile methods to sup-
press the findings of scientific men appointed for the
express purpose of investigating the conditions of the
sealing industry, if such findings seem to threaten
the earnings of that industry. The fact that, unless
wise methods of conservation are adopted, the industry
will presently extinguish itself seems entirely to be
lost sight of in the desire to secure immediate
revenue. ‘‘Take. the cash in hand and waive the
rest’? seems to be the motto pursued. Those in-
terested in the salmon fisheries contend that the seals
eat vast quantities of these fish, and are therefore
injurious to the fishing interests. Yet no attempt has so
far been made to discover what fish really constitutes
624
NATURE
[JuLY 15, 1920
the staple diet of the fur-seal. -This aspect of the
problem adds to its complexity, since it affects con-
flicting interests. At the same time it emphasises
the need for immediate action, not for academic dis-
cussion.
THE many friends of the veteran geologist, Mr.
Henry Keeping, who was born near Milton, on the
Hampshire coast, in 1827, will welcome his simple
and unaffected ‘‘Reminiscences,’? published as a
pamphlet by F: W. Talbot, Sussex Street, Cambridge
(price 1s. 6d. post free). A characteristic portrait
appears on the cover. Anecdotes of ‘Sedgwick and
of the early days of collecting in Devonshire and the
Isle of Wight form pleasant reading. The story of
the plump farmer in the Fenland who checked a
disaster by sitting in the gap of a broken dyke is
told with humorous appreciation.
Pror. PIERRE TERMIER, in a paper on ‘‘ Les Océans
a travers les Ages ’’ (Revue Scientifique, May 8, 1920),
emphasises the differences in structure of the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans, and regards the deep-water ring
around the central area of the latter as a _ per-
sistent feature of the crust, liable to disturbances, but
not to elevation as dry land. The Indian Ocean,
on the other hand, is post-Jurassic and the Atlantic is
post-Miocene. The narrowing of the continents south-
wards is not a primary feature of a tetrahedral earth,
but results from the widening of these comparatively
modern areas of subsidence as they approach the
south.
THE Geographical Review (New York) for March,
1920, contains two articles of especial interest to
British readers. The first is by Lieut. Leo Walmsley
on “The Recent Trans-African Flight,’ with several
photographic illustrations. The writer’s wide know-
ledge of Eastern Africa and his success as a scientific
observer even when fighting from his aeroplane fully
justify his remark that ‘Africa, as seen from the
air, is one of the most wonderful of all countries.
. A civilised country seen from the air is simply
a gigantic mosaic . . . the airscape of Central Africa
is as untamed and irregular as that of the
moon.’’? The second article is by Mr. C. R. Dryer
on *‘Mackinder’s ‘World Island’ and its American
‘ Satellite.’"" The author cleverly shows, on Moll-
weide’s projection, the American continents as a
“world ring’’ round about the ‘‘ world island,’’? and
pictures the people of that world ring, which has no
barbarous -heartland, as ready to come to the aid of
the coastal races that stand for Civilisation in the
world island.
StonyuHurst College Observatory has recently issued
the results of meteorological and magnetical observa-
tions for 1919 with a report and notes by the director,
the Rev. A. L. Cortie, S.J. The results with the
report occupy 55 pages, and details of the observa-
tions are given with great precision for the several
months and for the year. The observatory has long
since been associated with the Meteorological Office,
and the Monthly Weather Report publishes many of
the results. The monthly mean temperature’ is
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
obtained in two ways, from the mean of the highest
and lowest daily readings and from the mean of
readings at g a.m. and g p.m., both means being
corrected by Glaisher’s tables. The thermometers are
mounted 7 ft. above the ground in a Stevenson screen ;
why in this case should not the height above ground
be 4 ft., the normal height for uniformity? Taken
as a whole, 1919 was drier and colder than the normal,
and: every individual month was cold with the excép-
tion of May and December. Bright sunshine for the
year was 25 hours less than the normal.
nearly 6 in. deficient, although the rainy days were
only two fewer than usual. October was relatively
the driest month, rainfall being only about 50 per cent.
of the average. Magnetic observations and distgrbances
are popularly explained, and afford: considerable in-
formation for obtaining uniformity of results. Sun-spot
activity, which had steadily declined since August,»
1917, and throughout 1918, revived in 1919. The
seismograph, which for a time had been thrown. out
of action, is said to be now. working satisfactorily. :
Mr. J. I. GraHaM, research chemist at the Bentley
Collieries, Doncaster, has devised a very convenient
and portable apparatus for the estimation of. small
quantities of carbon. monoxide in the air of mines. It
consists of a vessel containing a known volume of
the sample, which can be introduced by running water
out of the vessel. By operating a three-way tap and
blowing water into the vessel the sample may be
passed into iodine pentoxide contained in a U-tube
heated to go°-1 50° C. In examining air in the mine
the temperature is maintained by hot oil contained
in a thermos flask which keeps the U-tube within —
The iodine liberated
these limits for several hours.
from the pentoxide is thus sublimed and driven into
a tube containing a solution of potassium iodide in
which the free iodine can be titrated and estimated uch
in the usual way. The inventor claims that an-
analysis can be completed in about five minutes with
an accuracy of 0-005 per cent. using 100 c.c. of air,
or of 0-005 per cent. with 1 litre. It is of special
value for estimating small quantities of carbon
monoxide in mine-air, since 0-2 per cent. is highly
dangerous, and even 0-02 per cent. produces after a
time unpleasant effects. As the quality of compressed
oxygen supplied in cylinders is important in life-
saving operations in mines, Mr. Graham _ has
introduced a simple piece of apparatus for deter- —
mining the amount of oxygen by absorbing a known
volume in alkaline pyrogallol. Both’ pieces of
apparatus can be purchased from Messrs.
and Branson, Ltd., Leeds.
In order to obviate the use of the high voltages
required in wireless telegraphy when a triode tube is
operated from a direct-current supply by means of a
mechanical ‘chopper’? which periodically breaks the |
of the Bureau of |
supply circuit, Mr. L. M. Hull,
Standards at Washington, has used with great success
an alternating supply from a 2-kw. machine giving _ i
500 cycles per second at 150 volts, and a short account ©
of his method and results is given in the Journal of —
the Washington Academy of Sciences for June 4. —
| The sending key is in the alternator circuit, and the —
Rainfall was
Reynolds s ;
a?
al
:
~ Jury 15, 1920]
NATURE
625
filament current and plate potential are both provided
by means of transformers. The author finds that,
operated in this way, the triode tube gives results
which compare favourably with those obtained with
_ the usual direct-current method, and that it has the
tage of not requiring a high-voltage generator
er battery, while over a limifed distance signals may
*
. be received with a non-oscillating detector.
- €ollege - of Technology,
A more
ete account of this work is to appear as a
‘Scientific Paper of the Bureau.
Mr. S. J. Peracuey, lecturer in chemistry at the
Manchester, claims to
have discovered a process for the cold vulcanisation
se
of rubber. This is applicable not only to rubber in
_ its solid forms, but also to solutions.
The final pro-
duct may be obtained containing no free sulphur.
| Leather waste, wood-meal, and starch cellulose may
be mixed with rubber so as to yield cheap, fully
_ vulcanised products with new properties and great
durability. Leather waste and rubber may be con-
_ verted into a product resembling leather, and at the
same time waterproof. No details of the process are
_ given beyond the fact that it employs “two gases
BS t.??
which are by-products of several chemical manufac-
turing processes, and are available at a very low
If these claims can -be substantiated, it
_ appears that the process should be one of very. great
- technical interest and importance.
ae Suscee of manipulation and precision in adjust-
ment are two prime features in X-ray tube stands.
They a - to have been carefully considered in the
models ark III. and Mark IV. which we find in
Bulletin 255 of Messrs. Watson and Sons, Ltd. In
the screen attachment to the latter model there is an
arrangement whereby the X-ray tube and the screen
move together during vertical examinations. We
would suggest that a valuable addition to the illus-
trations of these models would be the protective
devices to be employed with them. It is especially
necessary during screening examinations to avoid
stray radiation reaching the operator, and the adop-
tion of rigorous, protective measures would no doubt
‘become more general if publicity were given to this
ioe
a; In the course of an article on Pelton-wheel con-
struction by Mr. Percy Pitman, in Engineering for
June 25, the author describes the method adopted for
‘improving the jets, which were unsatisfactory in the
existing turbine. Experimental nozzles were made in
_ fluid-pressed bronze, and four rustless steel. blades,
_ 5 mm. thick, were dovetailed into them so as to lie
_ in axial planes. These blades were ground and highly
_ polished up to a thin knife-edge.
ment resulted ;
‘of useful information in this article;
A great improve-
the jets were of extraordinary solidity
and transparency, the water for about 2 ft. issuing
almost like a glass rod. Those interested in the
design of Pelton-wheel buckets will find a good deal
there is but
little of practical value in -text-books, and the author
gives the _complete lay-out of the new buckets, and
includes ‘copies of the working drawings.
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
Our Astronomical Column.
An Easy Meruop oF Finpinc $Latirupe.—The
Observatory for June contains an article by N. Liapin
on a method of finding latitude which is interesting
and a useful exercise tor astronomical students, and
requires no other instrument than a watch. The
method consists simply in observing the number of
seconds between first and last contacts of the sun
with the horizon at sunrise or sunset. The formula
for solution given by the author is cos’ latitude=
sin’(sun’s_ decl. )+4(sun’ s radius)*/(time interval)’,
where the radius and time interval must be expressed
in the same units. This formula does not take
account of the change of sun’s decl. in the interval;
a correction for this may readily be made.
Five actual determinations by this method are
given, the resulting latitude being 10’ from the truth.
While a sea horizon is preferable, any straight and
level. horizon will serve.
INCREASING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC POWER OF ‘TELE-
scopEs.—In the Proceedings of the U.S. National
Academy of Sciences for March Dr. Shapley describes
a method of increasing the photographic power of
large reflectors for the purpose of photographing
extremely faint objects. The faintest stars at present
reached by the 60-in. reflector are of magnitudes 20
to’ 21, and it is believed that the great Hooker tele-
scope will gain about one magnitude over this. Dr.
Shapley is of the opinion that this is bordering on
the limiting magnitudes in globular clusters, and if
one or two fainter magnitudes were available for
study, some most important information might be
obtained with regard to several questions of stellar
and galactic evolution. The method employed is
quite simple, consisting essentially in shortening the
effective focal length of the telescope by means of a
short focus lens placed between the mirror and the
plate. The brightness of the image is thus increased,
though, of course, a reduction of scale is inevitable.
This, however, is immaterial in many sidereal prob-
lems. A trial series of exposures with different inten-
sifiers seems to have yielded satisfactory results, and
questions relating to globular clusters, the limits of
the galactic system, and similar problems appear to
be more hopeful of solution.
A NEw SPECTROPYRHELIOMETER AND SOLAR MEASURE-
MENTS MADE WITH iT.—In No. 378 of the Scientific
Papers of the U.S. Bureau of Standards, recently
issued, Messrs. W. W. Coblentz and H. Kahler give an
account of a new spectropyrheliometer and measure-
ments of the component radiations from the sun and
from a quartz-mercury vapour lamp. The spectro-
pyrheliometer consists of a quartz spectrograph and
cylindrical condensing lens placed upon an equatorial
mounting, thus eliminating the ultra-violet absorption
produced in heliostat mirrors. The paper sums up
the data given on the relative components of infra-
red, visible, and ultra-violet radiation from the sun
and from a quartz-mercury arc lamp, also on
the gas-filled tungsten lamp, the iron arc, and the
carbort arc. In the first appendix methods are given
for excluding ultra-violet light from buildings, one of
these being the use of a kind of Venetian blind or
louvre of wide slats, painted buff to reflect the light into
the building, the buff or red paint absorbing the ultra-
violet, thus protecting the contents of the building
(balloon hangars, etc.) from photochemical action.
The second appendix suggests methods for protecting
projection lantern films from the heat of the lamp,
and a simple method put forward is to provide. the
water-cell with windows of Corning “ heat-absorbing ”
glass, which is very opnaiie | to infra-red radiation.
aq. NATURE
[JULY 15, 1920
British Association.
SUBJECTS FOR DiIscUSSION aT THE CARDIFF MEETING.
He sectional programmes for the British Associa-
tion meeting at Cardiff, August 24-28, are now
taking shape, and some of the principal scientific
subjects which will be discussed may be indicated.
The Mathematical and Physical Section, under the
presidency of Prof. A. S. Eddington, will be con-
cerned with the Einstein theory, and will receive a
paper on the shift of the Fraunhofer lines with refer-
ence to that theory. The Section will also discuss
the examination of materials by X-rays, the origin of
spectra, terrestrial magnetism, aurorz, solar disturb-
ance, and various phenomena of the upper atmosphere.
The Geological Section will, as usual, pay attention
to local geology, and will also, in joint session with
the Sections of Zoology and Botany, discuss Mendelism
and paleontology with reference to the Mendelian
interpretation of gradual changes, especially when
new characters appear late in the individual life-cycle.
The Zoological Section will also consider the need for
the scientific investigation of the ocean and of
fisheries—a subject in which not only the president of
the Section (Prof. J. Stanley Gardiner), but also Dr.
W. Herdman, president of the Association and
professor of oceanography at Liverpool University, are
leading authorities.
The president of the Geographical Section, Mr. J.
McFarlane, will deal in his address with geography
and nationality as factors in the formation of the
new Europe; the Section will also discuss the dis-
tribution of population in South Wales, the new
Ordnance Survey maps, the place of geography in a
reformed classical course, and various problems con-
nected with Abyssinia, Algeria, Tunisia, Asia Minor,
Finland, and other lands. The Engineering Section
is expecting papers from Sir Arthur Duckham on the
use of coal and from Mr. S. F. Edge on farm tractors,
and will also deal with a number of metallurgical and
mechanical topics. The Anthropological Section will
consider several subjects of Welsh interest, including
before it a number of practical subjects concerned with
crops and livestock. 38
In addition to general excursions, several Sections,
including those of Geology, Geography, Engineering,
Anthropology, Botany, and Education, will visit sites,
works, or institutions in Cardiff and the neighbour-
hood appropriate to their various interests.
The subjects of the evening discourses given at
general meetings will be ‘‘A Grain of Wheat from the
Field to the Table,’ by Sir Daniel Hall, of the Board
of Agriculture, and ‘‘Some Requirements of Modern
Aircraft,”” by Sir Richard Glazebrook, lately director
of the National Physical Laboratory. ¥
Museums Association Annual Conference.
THE thirty-first annual conference of the Museums
Association was held in Winchester on July 6-8,
under the presidency of Sir Martin Conway, Director-
General of the Imperial War Museum. There were
present about a hundred delegates from the various.
museums and art galleries of Great Britain and
Ireland, while Colonial and foreign institutions were
represented by Mr. Fitzroy Carrington, from the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Mr. E. C. Chubb,
from Durban Museum; and Dr. G. Johansson Karlin,
from the Kulturhistoriska Museet, Lund. —
The meeting marked an epoch in the history of the.
association, since it partook of the nature of a joint
conference with the Museums Association of France,
which was represented by Prof. Louis Roule, of the
Paris Museum, and Dr. Loir, secretary of the French
Museums Association.
In his presidential address Sir Martin Conway gave
an account of the formation of the Imperial War
Museum temporarily housed in the Crystal Palace.
He explained how the difficulties of the collection and
transport of specimens are being met, and dealt with
some of the problems of their storage, especially in
the case of war kinematograph films the preservation —
of which at present is both difficult and expensive.
Abergele, ‘‘hill-top’’? camps, especially in North | Owing to the vast mass of material collected and
Cardiganshire, and Welsh folk-music; in this Section | the large size of many of the exhibits, the president —
also, among other speakers, Prof. Flinders Petrie is | pointed out that their permanent home must of neces- —
expected to give an account of recent work in Egypt. | sity be spacious. He suggested that no more fitting —
The Physiological Section, jointly with its sub-section | war memorial could be raised than a stately museum
of Psychology, will deal with the subject of psycho- | on the Surrey bank of the Thames near the proposed —
logical medicine in the United States, while the | site of the new Charing Cross bridge. Here the ~
Section will also consider the place of physiology in | thousands of specimens connected with and illus- —
education, and will receive from Prof. A. D. Waller | trating the war period could be housed, and with them —
a demonstration of the ‘‘emotive response’? of the | a complete Roll of Honour, with biographical notes, ©
human subject. The erection of psychology into the | of every man and woman of the Empire who had ~
subject of a separate section will be brought forward. | fallen in the great struggle.
_ The Sections of Physiology and Botany jointly will Mr. E. N. Fallaize read a paper of great interest —
discuss biochemistry and systematic relationship. The | and utility to museum curators on ‘Suggestions for
Botanical Section, in addition to other joint meetings, | the Classification of the Subject-matter of Anthropo-
will join that of Agriculture in dealing with soil and | logy.’’ In consideration of the vast field covered by
plant survey work. In the Educational Section the | this subject, he pointed out the necessity for the forma-—
report of a committee will be received upon training | tion of a definite plan for its study, suggesting a
in citizenship, in connection with which Bishop | broad classification of the subject into two heads, one
Welldon, Sir R. Baden-Powell, and Lady Shaw are | dealing with man as an organism and the other
expected to speak. The Section, among other sub- | treating him as a rational being reacting to his en-
jects, will discuss the relation of schools to life, post- | vironment. For the first, a study of man’s structure
graduate international education, and the relation of | and the functions of his organs is needed, including
universities, public schools, training colleges, and | a study of the abnormal, both physical and mental.
higher technical schools to a national system. In | Having thus established a type, the second heading
connection with the last discussion it is hoped to | falls naturally into two groups: ethnology, a study
receive a communication on universities from the | of man in space, and what may be termed pala-
Right Hon. H. A. L. Fisher. A number of papers | anthropology, a study of man in time. In addition,
of psychological and educational interest will be | man’s nature as shown in the develooment and em
received in joint session with the sub-section of | plovment of specifically human faculties should
Psychology. The Agricultural Section will have | studied, not chronologically, but in a logical sequence
NO. 2646, VoL. 105]
Welsh ethnology, the Roman sites at Caerwent and.
‘
+
Jury 15, 1920]
NATURE
627
_ leading from primitive gratification of the senses to
- man’s relation to the unseen.
One of the outstanding problems which a museum
curator has to face is that of the lighting of his
building, and a paper given by Mr. Hurst Seeger on
“The Lighting of Museums and Art Galleries’? was
_ particularly instructive on this point. He dealt
especially with the question of reflection in the glass
_ of pictures and museum-cases, and pointed out those
inciples of construction whereby such reflections
could be avoided.
_ Mr. Lowe explained the Public Libraries Act of
Igig, stating that, in his opinion, it gave their charter
to the museums and art galleries of this country.
_ A discussion as to the desirability of a diploma for
Museum curators was opened by Dr. Hoyle, who
was of opinion that without some recognised diploma
the status of curators could not be assured. In the
course of the discussion Mr. Bailey outlined a scheme
suggested by Sir Cecil Harcourt-Smith for the train-
ing of museum curators at the Victoria and Albert.
_ Museum.
A paper on the museum and art gallery of Baroda,
dealing pe ccularly with the difficulty of preserving
pictur hot climates, was read by Mr. Dibden.
Mr. M. J. Rendall, Headmaster of Winchester
College, gave a paper, illustrated by lantern-slides, on
the teaching of art in local museums, emphasising the
i played in such teaching by good lantern-slides.
nstrated the vast difference made by the
quality of the slides used, and explained how and
where the best slides could be obtained.
Dr. A. Loir gave an account of the formation of an
Association of Curators of French Museums, and
a joint committee of English and French
curators for international co-operation. Papers were
read on ‘ Winchester City and Westgate
Museum,” by Mr. Hooley; ‘‘ The Winchester College
Museum,’’ by the Rev. S. A. McDowall; ‘‘ Selection
of Pictures for Municipal Art Galleries,’’ by Mr.
Howarth; “Biography of the Comte de Lacépéde,”’
by Prof. Louis Roule; ‘‘ The Child and the Mummy,”
by Mr. T. Peart; and ‘“‘ Suggestions for a Bureau of
Exchange through the Medium of the Museums
Journal,” by Mr. Allchin.
_A full account of all papers and discussions will be
oar in the September issue of the Museums
Journal.
The University of Edinburgh.
New Scrence BuILpincs.
HE foundation-stone of the new chemical labora-
tories of the University of Edinburgh, the first
of what will be known in future as the ‘King’s
Buildings’ of the University, was laid on July 6
by the ing, who was accompanied by the Queen and
Princess ary. These buildings are to be erected as
separate blocks on a site of 115 acres acquired by
the University in November, 1919, mainly for the use
of the scientific departments. They are situated on
the southern outskirts of the city, near the Royal
_ Observatory on Blackford Hill, and are about two
miles distant from the Old College. Thousands of
spectators assembled, notwithstanding the drenching
rain which fell before and throughout the ceremony.
The general lay-out of the chemical laboratories
_was planned by Prof. James Walker, who has worked
in collaboration with Mr. A. F. Balfour Paul, the
architect of the building. The building is rectangular
in plan, having’ a frontage of 220 ft. and a depth of
320 ft. Three corridors, one central and one on each
side, run backwards through the whole length, and
NO. 2646, VOL. 105]
are connected by a cross-corridor in the front portion.
This arrangement permits of indefinite extension by
increasing the depth of the building. Between the
central corridor and the side corridors are situated the
main laboratories with their stores- and service-rooms,
as well as the lecture department. Each main labora-
tory (of which there are five) measures 70 ft. by 45 ft.,
and receives north light from a saw-tooth roof.
Smaller rooms used in conjunction with the main
laboratories are situated across the outer corridors,
and are lit from the side. The whole building is of
one story, except the frontage block and the front
part of the east and west wings, which are two
stories in height. In these will be housed administra-
tion, library, special laboratories, and research-rooms.
When complete the department will provide places
for about four hundred students working simul-
taneously. It is estimated that the total cost of the
chemical laboratories with fittings and equipment will
be approximately 250,o000l.
His Majesty, in replying to the address of the Vice-
Chancellor, Sir Alfred Ewing, expressed the hope that
generous donors would be found able and willing to
complete the plan of extension which had been
sketched with so bold a hand. At the conclusion of
the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone the
degree of LL.D. was conferred on the Queen.
Lessons from the Smithsonian.
‘THE report of the secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution for the year ending June 30, 1919, is,
as always, full of interest, and it differs from similar
reports issued in this country in that the points of
interest are clearly brought out and not left to be
deduced by the reader from masses of undigested
detail. The institution controls the work of the
National Museum, the Bureau of American Ethnology,
the International Exchange Service, the National
Zoological Park, the Astrophysical Observatory, and
the United States contributions to the International
Catalogue of Scientific Literature. The Astrophysical
Observatory seems a little out of the picture, but the
association of the other bodies tends to co-operation
and the prevention of overlap.
The National Museum itself embraces every form of
museum activity and combines subjects which in London
are distributed among the two sections of the British
Museum, the Victoria.and Albert Museum, the Science
Museum, the Museum of Practical Geology, the
National Galleries of Art, and several other coins:
The Washington people are as well satisfied with their
system as we (to judge from perennial complaint) are
dissatisfied with ours. The single administration, it
is claimed, ‘‘not only ensures greater economy in
management, but permits of a more logical classifica-
tion and arrangement, the elimination of duplication,
and a consequent reduction in the relative amount of
space required.”
Those in this country who are advocating the co-
ordination of our museums and allied establishments
under a single board would be well advised to study
the conditions in Washington. The most obvious
danger of such a system is too great rigidity and un-
necessary red-tape. It is, however, clear that such
an objection does not apply to the Smithsonian
Institution. The constitution of the various bodies
permits of far more flexibility and enterprise than we
are accustomed to in some, at any rate, of the similar
bodies in this country. This, it seems to us, is because
the Smithsonian is not a Department of State run by
politicians or clerks without experience of the varied
628 NATURE
_ [Jury 15, 1920
activities. which they have to direct, but is, from
Secretary Walcott downwards, managed by men who
have received their training in the field or the labora-
tory or the museum; men who are familiar with the
needs and difficulties of their assistants; men who
combine high ideals with a clear appreciation of what
is practicable, and so carry out a consistent policy.
. A feature of the National Museum, as of other
American museums, is the large amount of exploration
undertaken. An expedition, including collectors and
kinematographers, is now at work in Africa. Mrs.
Purdy Bacon has bequeathed fifty thousand dollars to
establish a travelling scholarship for the study of faunas
outside the United States. Many other expeditions
are here reported on. But we would chiefly emphasise -
the policy of sending out the officers of the museum
to study and collect. The whole of the geological
staff was thus émployed during the field-season of
1918, filling gaps in the collections, obtaining speci-
mens needed for public exhibition, and taking photo-
graphs to illustrate the explanatory labels. Many of
the other departments also had members in the field.
Among other signs of life and growth, the report
records the inauguration of popular scientific lectures,
and the introduction of a Bill to provide 4 museum
of history and of the arts as a memorial to Theodore
Roosevelt. The building would afford much-needed
space for the rapidly extending National Gallery of
Art.
The Religion and Origin of the Hawaian
People.
is oe sixth volume of the Memoirs of the Bishop
Museum at Honolulu’ continues the publication
of Judge Fornander’s literary collections. The first
portion contains two important papers by native
writers on the religion of the Hawaians. One, by
Kamakau, contributed to the collection by Dr. W. D.
Alexander, describes certain ancient ceremonies of
which the principal are those connected with the pre-
natal development of the royal child, the direction of
services to the gods, the catching of the fish opelu,
and the feasts of the year. There are shorter notes
on heathen prayers and the ceremonial erection of
the heiau or god’s house. A much longer paper by
the Hawaian author, S. N. Haleole, deals with the
functions of the Kahuna, ‘‘the priesthood called the
Order of Sorcery.’”’ The word in varying forms
(tahuna, tahunga, tauna) is used throughout the
Eastern Pacific to denote persons possessed of varying
degrees of wisdom from priesthood to sorcery, but in
the west, in Tonga and Samoa, has become entirely
secularised, and there (in the form tufunga) means
nothing more than a carpenter or skilled workman.
The Kahunu in Hawaii was properly trained for his
office, and gave evidence of his powers by divination
from pebbles, clouds, shadows, and dreams, and by
his magical effects with the mawnai or cast-away por-
tions of nail, hair, tooth, or clothing. His services
were in request in times of war and threatened evils,
for house-building or loss of lands, in courtship and
medicine. The omens of agriculture, canoe-making,
and fishing, with descriptions of the occupations
themselves, are fully described.
The second part of this volume contains For-
nander’s speculations on the ‘‘Source and Migrations
of the. Polynesian Race.” This appears somewhat |
out of date in the present stage of linguistic study.
1 Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum of Polynesian Ethnology
and Natural History. Vol. vi., Nos. 1 and 2. “‘ Fornander Collection of _
Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-Lore.” Third Series. Parts 1, 2. Pp. 358. |
Honolulu : H. I. Bishop Museum Press, 1919.)
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
The author regards India as the original home of
the ‘Polynesian people, and supposes that the Poly-
nesian and Aryan language families separated before
the latter had developed their inflected form, and that
traces of Polynesians are found in the Malay Archi-
pelago. A majority of the immigrants are thought
to have passed through Torres Straits to the Loyalty
Islands, and thence to Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.
Fornander’s so-called evidence is very unsatisfactory.
It is based mainly on the casual resemblances of
certain Indian words to Polynesian, the Polynesian
meanings being read into the Indian word or vice
versa.
The theory of an Indian origin of Polynesian may
be seen to underlie the theories of Macmillan Brown,
Percy Smith, Christian, and Churchill, but certainly
lacks the support of sound linguistic evidence.
According to this view, everything east of India which
agrees with modern Polynesian is borrowed from an
ancient form of Polynesian speech, though the lan-
guages themselves prove that Polynesia has received
many of its words from primitive Indonesia, and
‘that not by one migration, from one place at one
time, but in severa! colonisations from various parts
of the archipelago at different times. Pilea
The final portion of part 2 contains other papers
by Fornander on Hawaian tradition, history, and
genealogy.
As all the native writings in the first part are in
the original Hawaian with translations, t form a
considerable body of text which will be useful to the
student of the language, quite apart from their value
in the exposition of Hawaian religion. The whole
work is very clearly and tastefully printed and a
credit to the Museum Press. Srpney H. Ray. |
€
Soil Temperatures...
‘THE paper by Messrs. West, Edlefsen, and Ewing
referred to below is an attempt to predict the
probable temperature of any hour of any day. If the
mean monthly temperatures of any place are known
from previous records, it is possible to represent them
by a Fourier series of the form Cyt on ea
T=a+b cos (6—c)+d cos 2(6—e)+f cos 3(@—g)+ . . .
where —T=temperature at time 6, a=mean annual
temperature, b, c, etc.=constants. It is also found for
normal days that the temperature at any given hour
is a certain percentage of the mean daily temperature, ©
and that this percentage is practically constant irre-
spective of ‘season. The Fourier series is used to
predict the mean daily temperature, which is then
multiplied by the appropriate percentage factor to
obtain the temperature at the given hour. An arith-
metical method, avoiding the use of the Fourier
series, is also described. The results are fairly trust-
worthy for arid regions, but not for humid areas
where storms, etc., are frequent. i
In Capt. Franklin’s third paper on soil temperatures
(see ‘‘ Forecasting Frosts,’? NATURE, January 1, 1920,|
p- 450) the variations in the ratio of temperature
ranges at the 4-in. depth and the surface, =) are
studied under a variety of weather conditions. The
values vary widely, from o-19 in a very dry soil to
0-85 during heavy rains. The most common value is
about 0-40. The influence of the soil-water on tem
1 “Determination of Normal Temperatures by Pine of the Loh ts i
of the Seasonal Temperature Variations, and a Mo ph
Record.” By F. L. West, N. E. Edlefsen, and S. Ewing. Journ. Agi
Res., vol. xviii. (1920), p. 499. Set Ee
‘*The Effect of Tioather Changes on Soil Temperatures,” By T. B
Franklin. Proce. Roy.:Soc. Edinburgh, vol. xl. (1920), p. 56. +
Jury 15, 1920]
NATURE
629
perature is very marked. The downward percolation
of warm or cold rain from the surface to the 4-in.
depth causes rapid changes in temperature, especially
in sandy soils, when percolation is rapid. After
drainage has ceased a rise in temperature may enable
to begin again, owing to the diminishing viscosity
Ww: ter with increasing temperature. The formation
of a dry surface-mulch reduces the value of (Fs)
wing to the low conductivity of dry soil. But the
stual temperature at the 4-in. depth is not greatly
iced by the poor conductivity of the dry soil. This
attributed to the dry surface layers reaching a
igher temperature owing to their lessened specific
it, and this counteracts the effect of decreased con-
activity. It is shown that a strong dry wind causes
_ the temperature of the surface soil to fall considerably
elow that of the air. The effect of frost is examined
id a formula given for depth of soil frozen in
_ terms of mean surface temperature and duration of
‘frost. A very close relation holds between the date
_ of flowering of coltsfoot and the number of frosts for
_ the two months previous to the date of flowering on
open soil not covered with deep snow. It is shown
also that strong warm west winds—associated with
syclonic depressions—rapidly raise the temperature of
h ¢ underground layers of soil in spring. B.A.K
.
Control of Insect Pests.
ENGusH tomato-growers in the Lea Valley are
~ threatened with an annual loss of from 5!.—10l.
_ per acre unless special remedial measures are adopted
the glasshouse tomato moth, Polia (Hadena)
oleracea. L. Lloyd (Monthly Circular of the
Lea_ Vall and District Nurserymen’s and
Growers’ Association, Ltd.) finds that spraying
with lead arsenate for the destruction of the pest
must be supplemented by trapping the caterpillars
and moths and by destruction of the pup. The cater-
illars can be trapped in old sacks, and ultimately
tilled by boiling water, while the moths are attracted
to wide-mouthed jars containing brown treacle and
__ ale mixed with 1 per cent. of sodium fluoride. Emphasis
is laid on the necessity for ascertaining that each
control measure is effective.
_ Several papers have recently been published dealing
_ with the control of various ‘borers ’’ that infest crop
_ trees. Attempts have been made to control the peach-
_ borer by means of toxic gases derived from poisonous
substances distributed on the soil round the base of
the trees, E. B. Blakeslee (Bull. 796, U.S.A. Depart.
_ Agric.) finds that the more usual toxic agents, viz.
carbon bisulphide, carbon tetrachloride, sodium
_eyanide, and naphthalene, are all unsuitable for
_ various reasons, but that para-dichlorobenzene offers
distinct possibilities for the purpose. The surface
crust about the collar of the tree is broken, the
_ required dose of poison (about 1 oz. per tree from
6-15 years old) distributed evenly about the trunk
in a band 1-2 in. wide, and a covering of earth
applied and moulded up. It is claimed that by this
~ method 94 per cent. of the larve can be destroyed.
Much damage is wrought in the United States by
the apple-tree borer, which usually takes two or three
years to pass through its life-cycle. It is difficult to
attack the larvae by means of poisonous sprays, and
“mechanical devices are necessarily resorted to. F. S.
Brooks (Farmers’ Bull. 675, U.S.A. Depart. Agric.)
maintains that the most effective method of control
is the old-fashioned practice of. ‘‘ worming” with a
knife and a piece of wire, but recommends the use
of carbon bisulphide when the burrows are obstructed
NO. 2646, VOL. 105]
and the larve cannot be reached by the wire. Egg-
laying can be prevented by a thick coat of paint
applied to the bark of the tree, or by means of wrap-
pings of cloth or newspapers applied close enough to
exclude the. adult female from the bark. The beetle
can be killed by spraying the trees with arsenate of
lead, as by this means their food is poisoned, but it
is doubtful if this is profitable as a general rule.
A most comprehensive account of the toon shoot
and fruit borer (Hypsipyla robusta, Moore) is given
by C. F. C. Beeson in the Indian Forest Records
(vol. vii., part vii.). The stages of the insect, its life-
history and habits, and studies of its seasonal history
are fully described, and from the information thus
gained the best methods of control are elucidated.
The toon borer passes through five generations in the
year; the first is spent in the flower, the second in
the developing fruits, and the last three in the young
shoots of the current season. The effect of this habit
is that the first and second broods cause great injury
to the seed crop, and in bad years may hinder seed-
formation entirely, whilst the three later broods may
completely nullify the season’s growth in young trees,
and, in any case, they cause great delay in the
development of the saplings. It is often of little use
to make young plantations in the neighbourhood of
old toon trees which are infested with the borer.
The young trees are subject to attack from _ their
second or third year onward, but may be somewhat
protected by banding the trees: breast-high with
sacking, and removing and destroying at intervals
all the larvz and cocoons found inside the sack-bands.
After the fruits are ripe it is advisable to cut out and
burn all shoots that are attacked, and in bad cases a
second pruning should be made during the cold
weather.
Scientific and Systematic Pomology.!
oe may be taken as a sign of the development of
research in fruit culture in this country, and of
the interest which has been aroused in connection
therewith among growers of fruit and progressive
horticulturists generally, that the well-known firm of
nurserymen, Messrs. George Bunyard and Co., Ltd.,
of Maidstone, has considered the time ripe for the
issue of a new quarterly journal devoted exclusively
to pomology. The editor, Mr. E. A. Bunyard, a
member of the firm named, is recognised both as a
practical grower of wide experience and as one
of the foremost authorities on systematic pomology
and pomological literature. Under his guidance the
Journal of Pomology should without difficulty estab-
lish itself as a publication of scientific value, meeting
the needs of a branch of horticulture which has ad-
vanced with rapid strides in its importance for the
country economically and physiologically since the day
when the late Mr. W. E. Gladstone advised farmers
to grow fruit for jam production as a remedy for
agricultural depression, and is at present none too
well catered for in this respect.
The contents of the first two numbers may appear
to suggest that there is scarcely occasion yet for a
periodical intended primarily to serve for scientific
and systematic pomology in this country, some of the
more important articles being reprints or abridgments
of papers previously published in other journals. Such
articles, however, as those by Miss Sutton on self-
sterility in plums, cherries, and apples, and by
Brooks and Bailey on silver-leaf disease, are of a
‘1 The Journal RA Pomology. Edited by Edward A. Bunyard. Vo
1. i.
Nos. 1 and 2. aidstone: Geo. Bunyard and Co., Ltd.) Published
Quarterly. Single Nes. 3s. 6¢.; Annual Subscription ros.
630
NATURE
[JuLY 15, 1920
degree of interest to pomologists which justifies
reproduction in a journal more likely to come under
their notice than those in which they originally ap-
peared. It is improbable, moreover, that with research
bearing on fruit culture in active progress at such
centres as Woburn, Long Ashton, and East Malling,
as well as at Cambridge and the John Innes Institu-
tion at Merton, there will be any dearth of material
on the scientific side for future numbers.
In addition to the articles mentioned, others of
particular interest which have already appeared in
the journal are those on ‘‘ Black Currant Varieties,”’
by R. G. Hatton; ‘Seedling Apples,’’ by the editor
and Edward Laxton; ‘‘Insect Visitors to Fruit
Blossom,’”’? by C. H. Hooper; and ‘‘The Recognition
of Fruits,’? by H. E. Durham.
Provided that the policy already adopted of the
inclusion of reviews and short summaries of recent
pomological research as well as of original papers
is maintained, those whose interests are mainly
centred on fruit culture should find this journal of
much .service in keeping them in touch with the
advance of knowledge in the subject—a matter which
has not been easy hitherto owing to the diversity of
the publications in which such work has appeared.
University and Educational Intelligence.
BirRMINGHAM.—At a Degree Congregation held on
July 10 the Vice-Chancellor (Sir Gilbert Barling,
Bart.) conferred the following degrees :—Doctor of
Science: Frederick Challenger, Arthur Hubert Cox,
Harold Ashley Daynes, and John Leslie Haughton.
Doctor of Medicine: Gladys Mary Cooksey. Philo-
sophiae Doctor (a degree new to this University) :
William Hulse, Frederick Joseph Meggitt, and
Leonard Johnston Wills. M.Sc. (Official): William
Cramp, Arthur Robert Ling, Gilbert ‘Thomas Morgan,
Samuel Walter Johnson Smith, and Richard Henry
Yapp. M.Sc. (Ordinary): F. H. Clews, H. J.
Collins, H. G. Evans, A. E. Goddard, F. B. Jenkins,
L. J. Lambourn, E. W. Mason, K. N. Moss, A. H.
Naylor, N. A. Nicholls, D. S. Newey, A. J. Nichol-
son, G. N. Scott, H. J. Thompson, E. Tyler, and
W. R. A. Weatherhead. Master of Surgery: B. T.
Rose.
In addition to these, 107 candidates were admitted
to the degree of B.Sc. and 16 to the degree of M.B.
The honorary degree of Master of Music was con-
ferred on Sir Thomas Beecham and Francis Donald
Tovey.
Bristot.—The resignation of Prof. F. Francis as
dean of the faculty of science is announced. Prof.
A. M. Tyndall is to succeed him in the office, with
Mr. P. Fraser as deputy dean.
Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, on relinquishing his chair,
has been appointed emeritus professor of psychology
and ethics.
Dr. C. D. Broad has been appointed to the chair
of philosophy.
CAMBRIDGE.—Dr. T. M. Lowry, C.B.E., has been
elected professor of physical chemistry in the Uni-
versity. This is a first appointment to. a newly
created chair.
LiverPooL.—Dr. W. Mason has been appointed
professor of engineering (strength of materials), Mr.
C. O. Bannister professor of metallurgy, and Mr.
W. H. Gilmour professor of dental surgery.
Lonpon.—The King has been pleased to approve
the appointment of Mr. Ernest Barker, fellow and
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
| other branches of science, and towards the publica-
tutor. of New College, Oxford, to the office of Prin- —
cipal of King’s College in succession to the late Dr.
R, M. Burrows, o
Applications are invited for the William Julius
Mickle fellowship, which is awarded annually to
the man or woman who, being resident in London
and a graduate of the University, has, in the opinion
of the Senate, done most to advance medical art or
science within the preceding five years and shown
conspicuous merit. The fellowship is of the value of
at least 2001. Applications must reach the Principal
Officer of the University by, at latest, the first post
on October 1 next.
MANCHESTER.—The King, on the recommendation
of the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lan-
caster, has contributed 100 guineas to the appeal fund.
The Manchester correspondent of the Times an-
nounces that Mr. Maxwell Garnett, Principal of the
College of Technology, has resigned, and is asking
to be relieved of his duties at the end of the summer
vacation. He adds:—‘tThere has for some time
past been acute controversy between the Principal
and the Education Committee regarding the former’s
policy of raising the educational status of the college,
which constitutes the Department of Technology in
Manchester University. The Education Committee
recently decided to limit the number of degree students
and to admit a certain number of senior technical-
school boys as whole-time students. In communi-
cating this decision to candidates for admission to the
degree courses, Mr. Garnett suggested the possibility
of its reversal by the City Council. The Education
Committee published its censure of this letter, and
both the policy of the committee, which was repre- —
sented in the debate as an emergency policy for a
single vear, and the censure were endorsed by the City
Council last week.’? Under Mr. Garnett’s guidance the
educational work of the college has developed greatly,
the number of matriculated students being now more —
than six times greater than it was when he became
Principal eight years ago. The demand for graduates —
from the college is far greater than the supply, and ~
there has been a ready response to the appeal for
funds for the purpose of extending its highest work.
Mr. W. M. Cummina, hitherto of the British Dye-
stuffs Corporation, Ltd., has been appointed senior
lecturer in organic chemistry at the Royal Technical
College, Glasgow. a
Two Frecheville research fellowships, each of the ©
yearly value of 300l., tenable for one year, and pos- —
sibly for a second year, are being offered by the ©
Imperial College of Science and Technology, South ©
Kensington. The fellowships are intended. to aid in —
carrying out any investigation or research connected —
with mining, mining geology, metallurgy, or the —
technology of oil considered by the selection com- —
mittee to be of sufficient use or promise. Applications, —
in writing, giving particulars of the proposed inves- —
tigations of candidates, should be made to the Secre- —
tary of the College by, at latest, August 31 next.
Tue following bequests, among others, were made
by the late Mr. T. W. Backhouse, whose death was
reported in Nature of May 13 (p. 335) :—5ol. to the -
British Association; 7ool. to his trustees upon trust, —
to apply the same as they in their absolute discretion
may consider expedient towards the carrying on of
the scientific calculations based upon observations and
notes made by him in astronomy, meteorology, or
| "Jury 15, 1920]
NATURE
631
_ tion of them, any sum remaining over being given
to the British Association; and all his astronomical
om and drawings of Jupiter and Mars to the
) tish Astronomical Association. His trustees are to
complete and publish the star maps for tracing meteor
_ paths now in process of completion under the care
and charge of Sir William Peck, of The Observatory,
Edinburgh.
_A SUMMER meeting of the Association of Technical
Institutions will be held at Cambridge on Friday and
_ Saturday, July 23-24. The proceedings will com-
mence on the Friday at 10 a.m., when the president,
_ the Marquess of Crewe, will take the chair. Papers
will be read on Friday morning by Principal J. C.
_ Maxwell Garnett on a national system of education
and by Principal C. Coles on the necessity for close
_ €0-operation between technical colleges and the uni-
versities. On Saturday morning Principal C. L.
Eclair-Heath will read a paper on the relations which
should exist between the day continuation schools and
_ the central technical college, and Principal L. Small
one on adult education in relation to the work of
technical schools. Resolutions dealing with adult
education will be submitted at the conclusion of the
reading of Principal Small’s paper.
_ WE are notified by the Board of Education that the
_ removal of the main offices of the Board from the
Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, to
King Charles Street, Whitehall, is in progress, and
will, it is hoped, be completed by the end of the
present month. On and after July 26 the official
_ address of the Board will be Whitehall, S.W.1. It
is requested that only urgent communications shall
be sent until after July 24, and that these shall be
marked ‘‘Urgent’’ on the outside wrapper. The
Medical Branch of the Board is: at Cleveland House,
19 St. James’s Square, S.W.1. The Pensions Branch
is at the Science Museum, Imperial Institute Road,
_ South Kensington, S.W.7. The Examinations Section
of the Board is housed at 49 Cromwell Road, South
ston, S.W.7. The office of Special Inquiries
and s and the Library will remain for the
present at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Visitors
whose business solely concerns these branches should
call at the addresses given above.
Tue activity of the scientific society of a school
may be taken as a measure of the interest aroused in
scientific subjects and a sign of progressive teaching.
‘Clifton College occupies a re i position, judged by
this standard, and its scientific society, founded so
long ago as 1869, continues to foster the inborn
aptitude of many young people for observation and
experiment. We have before us a list of exhibits at a
conversazione given by the society on July 8, and we
do not hesitate to say that the demonstrations,
apparatus, specimens, and collections shown would
do credit to any scientific society. The demonstrations
included wireless telegraphy and telephony, the arti-
ficial formation of clouds, the fixation of nitrogen, the
fractional distillation of petrol from crude petroleum,
and other subjects, and the exhibits illustrated many
interesting facts and phenomena of biological and
physical science. The conversazione was held to
show to parents and friends the work and resources
of the scientific society, and we are sure that the
eoreny must have been impressed by what was
_ displayed. Clifton College is renowned among the
public schools for its attention to science, and the
recent conversazione shows that it is able to main-
tain the high place gained for it by men like Wilson,
Shenstone, Worthington, and Rintoul.
“NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Royal Society, June 24.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Sir Ray Lankester: Some rostro-
carinate flint implements and allied forms. A series
of rostro-carinate flint implements is described and
figured in this paper from various localities, including
one from the Lower Paleolithic gravel of the valley
of the Oise (France). It is shown that the form
exhibited by ,the ‘‘ Norwich test specimen,’’ with .
ventral plane, dorsal plane or platform, anterior
rostrum, with dorsal carina or keel, is modified in
some of the specimens here figured by the “ flaking
away’’ of the ventral plane and by the hook-like
curvature of the rostrum. A large Sub-Crag example
is described, in which only one of the characteristic
features of the type, namely, the great ventral plane,
is retained, the implement serving as a very efficient
‘‘jack-plane.’? The evidence of the manufacture of
these implements by a-series of humanly directed
blows is indicated by the illustrative drawings.—Lord
Rayleigh; A re-examination of the light scattered by
gases in respect of polarisation. I.: Experiments on
the common gases. Re-determinations are given of
the relative intensity of the two polarisations in the
light scattered at right angles by pure gases. The
paper is chiefly concerned with developing. accurate
experimental methods. The values obtained are as
follows :
Gas He No Air Og CO», N2O
Intensity of weak com-
ponent polarisation ... | 4°51 | 4°74| 5°68 | 10°r | 12°4| 16°1
(Strong component=100.) |
—A, Mallock: Note on the influence of. temperature
on the rigidity of metals. The experiments here
described were carried out at the Davy Faraday
Laboratory as a continuation of a somewhat similar
set on the temperature-variations of Young’s modulus
(see Proc. R.S., A, vol. xcv.). The method adopted
in the present series depended on the determination
of the periods of a torsion balance the restitutive
couple of which was given by the rigidity of a speci-
men of the metal tested at various temperatures. The
coefficients of temperature-variation found for rigidity
agreed with those for Young’s modulus in so far
that in both cases the variation diminished as the
melting point of the metal increased. The chief
value, however, of the present experiments was in
showing that the natural plasticity or internal friction
of metals (which leads to what has sometimes been
called hysteresis) was even more affected by tem-
perature than were the coefficients of elasticity, and
that the value of “rigidity’’ obtained from the
observed periods was very appreciably affected by the
variation of plasticity. For this reason the numerical
results are not given in the paper, but the method of
experiment is described and the nature of the errors
introduced by the change of plasticity stated.—
E. F. Armstrong and T. P. Hilditch: A _ study of
catalytic actions at solid surfaces. V.: The rate of
change conditioned by a nickel catalyst and its bear-
ing on the law of mass-action. The hydrogenation
of selected simple organic compounds containing one
ethylenic linkage has been studied with reference to
the indications of a linear relation between the amount
of hydrogenation and time which were observed .in
the case of mixtures of unsaturated glycerides (part i.
of this series). It is now found that this relation, in
the case of methyl and ethyl cinnamates, safrol, or
anethol (when hydrogenated in the liquid state in
presence of nickel at 140° or 180° C.), takes a linear
632
NATURE
[ JULY 15, 1920
form for at least.60 per cent., and in most cases 80 to
go per cent., of the whole action. The interpretation
of the mechanism of the action which the authors
deduced from the work on unsaturated glycerides thus
receives experimental confirmation.—H. Jeffreys:
Tidal friction in shallow seas. In a recent paper
G. I. Taylor has shown that the friction of the tidal
currents in the Irish Sea over the bottom causes
enough dissipation of energy to account for about
one-fiftieth of the known empirical secular accelera-
tion of the moon. This suggests that other and
larger shallow areas within strong tidal currents will
contribute a still greater amount to the dissipation
of energy, and in the present paper the chief shallow
seas of the earth are treated separately. The greatest
dissipation is found to take place in the Bering Sea,
the Yellow Sea, and the Strait of Malacca. Alto-
gether, enough is found to account for about 80 per
cent, of the secular acceleration, leaving a balance
to be explained by currents in fjords and along the
open coast.—Prof. J. C. McLennan, J. F. T. Young,
and H. J. C. Ireton: Arc spectra in vacuo and spark
spectra in helium of various elements. (1) The
vacuum arc spectra of antimony, bismuth, calcium,
magnesium, silver, and copper, and the spark spectra
in helium of antimony, bismuth, aluminium,
cadmium, lead, magnesium, thallium, and tin, have
been investigated in the region below A=1850 A.U.
(2) The measurements of the arc spectra of antimony,
bismuth, calcium, and selenium, and the spark
spectra of antimony and lead, appear to be the first
recorded for these elements in this region. (3) The
work with the vacuum grating spectrograph has
resulted in the extension of the vacuum arc spectrum
of copper to about A=1216 A.U.—Prof. J. C.
McLennan and A. C. Lewis: Spark spectra of various
elements in helium in the extreme ultra-violet. In
this investigation the spark spectra in helium of the
elements silicon, tellurium, molybdenum, and zir-
conium have been determined for the spectral region
between A=1900 A.U. and A=1600 A.U.—K. H.
Kingdon: Low-voltage ionisation phenomena in
mercury vapour. (1) By the use of a magnetic field
experimental proof has been given that when
mercury-vapour atoms are bombarded with electrons
possessing volt-velocities greater than 4-9, the atoms
may be ionised by these collisions. (2) An attempt
has been made to explain the experimental results of
Davis and Goucher on the basis of the results ob-
tained. (3) Arguments are presented for showing
that the production of ions in mercury vapour at this
voltage is not so definitely at variance with the Bohr
theory as might at first be thought. (4) The experi-
ments go to show that the low-voltage ionisation is
not due to ionisation by successive impacts, but that
perhaps, in order that a 4-9-volt collision should pro-
duce ionisation, the velocity of the impinging electron
‘must bear some definite orientation with regard to
the orbit of the electron which is to be ejected from
the atom.—Sir George Greenhill: Electrification of
an insulated lens and allied problems treated by the
stream function.—C. Chree: Simultaneous values of
magnetic declination at different British stations. A
comparison is made of corresponding diurnal varia-
tions of magnetic declination at Eskdalemuir and
Kew observatories. Mean monthly, daily, and hourly
values of declination at Eskdalemuir, Stonyhurst,
Falmouth, and Kew are compared. The results are
also given of the measurements of a large number of
irregular declination changes at the several stations.
It is found that the. differences between different
stations increase with the amount of magnetic dis-
turbance, and that-if accurate information is desired
as to magnetic declination anywhere in the field,
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
observations taken on disturbed days should not be
relied on. It is thus important that observatory
records should be consulted before the results of field
observations are accepted. A number of results are
obtained as to the relative amplitudes of ir lar
declination changes at the several observatories.—
J. Mercer: Symmetrisable functions and their expan-
sion in terms of biorthogonal functions. The purpose
of this communication is to announce certain results
relative to the expansion of a symmetrisable function
x(s,t) in terms of a complete system of fundamental
functions corresponding to x«(s,t), regarded as the
kernel of a linear integral equation. An expansion
of the function of positive type by which x(s,t) is
symmetrisable is obtained and applied in two im-
portant cases.—W. F. Sheppard: Reduction of error
by linear compounding. The paper deals with the |
general problem of improving an observed quantity
which contains an unknown error by adding to it a
linear compound (linear function) of other observed
quantities, called auxiliaries, the coefficients in the
added portion being chosen so as to make the mean
square of error of the whole a minimum. This is a
generalisation of the special problem of finding the
improved value when the auxiliaries are the differ-
ences of sufficiently high order of a set of quantities.
The treatment of the problem is simplified bv a brief.
statement of general theorems, and by a theory of
coniugate sets of quantities. The object is to arrive
at formule suitable for numerical caleulation.—G. B.
Jeffery: Plane stress and plane strain in bipolar co-
ordinates. The solution is given for a flat, elastic
plate bounded bv two circles when under stresses
applied over its boundaries. Curvilinear co-ordinates
are employed, for which the co-ordinate curves form
a double set of orthogonal coaxial circles. Important
particular cases are: (1) A circular plate with an
eccentric circular hole: (2) a semi-infinite plate
bounded bv a straight edge with a circular hole: and
(2) an infinite plate containing two circular holes.
The differential equation of the stress function is
solved for these co-ordinates, the stress function
is obtained for given arbitrary stresses applied over
the boundaries, and expressions are deduced for the
stresses and displacements produced at any point of —
the plate.—R. O. Street:
Irish Sea: Its currents and its energy. Certain
general relations are obtained from the Laplacian
The tidal motion in the »
dynamical theory connecting the form of the tidal —
wave and the magnitude of the surface current on a
sea of limited extent rotating with the earth. In
continuation of a former paper, these are applied to
the recorded data for the Irish Sea, and the agree-
ment is found to be fairly satisfactory. A second
approximation to the hydrodynamical problem for a
rotating tidal basin is then effected, and by means of —
the relations thus obtained the mean rates of transfer
of water and of energy across certain vertical sec-
tions placed transverse to the direction of the flood-—
stream in the Irish Sea are computed from the exist-—
ing hydrographical data. The results show that
there is a residual flow of water northwards through —
this region of such magnitude that the Irish Sea ~
would empty itself through the North Channel about —
three times a year, while the tidal flow of energy
from all causes which takes place into this area is at —
the mean rate of about 6x 107" ergs per second.
result of this estimate of the flow of energy into the
area is in general agreement with an independent one—
made recently by Mr. G. I. Taylor (Phil. Trans., A,
vol. ccxx., I919, PP. 1-33).
this energy is all dissipated, the result would be about
250 times the viscous dissipation calculated directly
by the writer in a previous paper (Roy. Soc. Proc., A,
Tf we could assume that
Jury 15, 1920]
NATURE
633
vol. xciii., 1917, pp. 348-50), on the assumption of
_ smooth laminar tidal motion throughout the region,
—W. G. Palmer; The catalytic activity of copper.
a Part i. Simple apparatus is described for the
* measurements by chronograph records of the reaction
_ velocities at diiferent temperatures of a_ typical
| Catalytic action—that of the dehydrogenation of
alcohol by copper. Details are given of the methods
used in Preparing a reproducible contact material.
After oxidation and reduction a second time the
een that an activity of unchanged value. It
; n that copper prepared electrolytically is quite
m4 ive as a catalyst, in spite of great variation in
__ the conditions of its deposition. Copper reduced from
its oxide was active at temperatures above 200° C.,
‘but this activity depended on the temperature at
_ which the metal was reduced from its oxide.—S.
‘Barratt : The origin of the ‘cyanogen ’’ bands. (1) Ob-
; servations have been made of the spectra of the
of a number of gases containing carbon,
hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. (2) The cyanogen
bands are stron ly developed in the coal-gas-nitrous
_ oxide flame. (3) Evidence has been obtained that
are entirely absent from the hydrogen-nitrous
he flame if ail traces of carbon are excluded, and
b, $k: appears to follow that the presence of carbon is
essential to their production. (4) The appearance of
cyanogen bands is, under appropriate conditions,
a more delicate test for carbon than that of any of
the other bands associated with that element. “On
the other hand,
- developed when both carbon and nitrogen are present.
_ (5) The conclusion of Grotrian and Runge that the
anogen spectrum is to be attributed to nitrogen is
pt to rest on assumptions which are not con-
firmed in the present investigation. (6) The cyanogen
es oy provides a very delicate test for the presence
compounds of nitrogen when admitted in the form
of a ~s to hydrocarbon flames burning in air, since
nitrogen does not appear in ordinary
to. be effective in producing the
bands in such flames. (7) The intensity
of the cyanogen bands when carbon compounds are
to the hydrogen-nitrous oxide flame bears
no simple relation to the amount of carbon thus
a Horton and Ann C. Davies: The effects
of electron collisions with atmospheric neon. The
“critical velocities for electrons in neon were inves-
f+ Aaa by methods similar to those employed with
he and argon. It was found that neon differed
from these gases in showing more than one critical
both for radiation and for ionisation, these
critical velocities being detected under conditions such
as to preclude the possibility of any of them being
due to the displacement or removal of a second elec-
‘tron from the atom.—A. G. Bennett: The occurrence
of diatoms on the skin of whales. With an appendix
by E. W. Nelson. The author states that the skin of
certain fin whales and blue whales captured in sub-
Antarctic waters is discoloured by a superficial film
of a buff colour, resembling in tint the coloured
bands often observed on floating ice. Whales thus
affected are nearly always fat. Microscopic examina-
tion showed that this film consists of immense
numbers of diatoms. The fat individuals are probably
those which have spent some time in the far South,
where the supply of whale-food is very abundant
during the summer. There is reason to believe that
_ the thin individuals are recent arrivals from warmer
water. The skin of these thin specimens appears to
be free from any noticeable film of diatoms; their
light parts are thus white instead of having the yellow
tinge which has given rise to the name * sulphur-
bottom ’’ applied by the whalers to whales in which
the light parts are yellowish. The cutaneous film |
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
this spectrum is not necessarily.
of Antarctic ‘‘sulphur-bottoms’’ may be composed of
the same diatoms as those which form the coloured
bands on ice.—R. W. Wood: An extension of the
Balmer series of hydrogen and spectroscopic pheno-
mena of very long vacuum tubes.—F. W. Aston and
T. Kikuchi: Moving striations in neon and helium.
When an induction-coil spark is passed through a
spectrum tube containing neon, and the discharge
observed with a rotating mirror, it is seen to consist
of bright striations moving from the anode towards
the cathode. When first observed the velocity was
found to be roughly that of sound in the gas. Further
investigations now show that this is only a limiting
case of a very complex phenomenon. The velocity is
found to decrease with increase of pressure, and also
to depend on the bore of the tube. The effect of
change of temperature has been investigated, and
curves are given showing that at constant volume
the effect is much greater than the expansion co-
efficient. At constant pressure the temperature effect
comes in only at high temperatures, when it is
probably due to impurities liberated from the tube.
Helium is found to give much the.same sort of results
as neon. Experiments with mercury vapour and
other gases are also described. No satisfactory
theoretical conclusions have yet been arrived at, and
further experiments are in progress.
Geological Society, June 23.—Mr. R. D. Oldham,
president, in the chair.—O. Holtedahl: The Scan-
dinavian mountain problem. A brief account is given
of the history of research regarding the Scandinavian
mountain problem, which deals with the superposition
of highly metamorphosed, often gneissose, rocks
upon slightly altered fossiliferous Cambro-Silurian
sediments. From a consideration of the phenomena
in the mountain-belt of deformation it is inferred that
the age of the displaced materials depends upon the
angle of inclination of the thrust-planes and their
depth. Though the thrusts have extended downwards
for a considerable distance, they have not generally,
in the author’s opinion, reached below the level of
the pre-Cambrian plane of denudation, and no true
Archean rocks could, as a rule, have been tapped.
In support of these conclusions some of the tectonic
features of two districts are indicated : (1) Finmarken,
in Northern Norway, and (2) the southern part of
the Sparagmite area near Randsfjord, in South-
Central Scandinavia. Brief descriptions are given of
the rock-groups in Finmarken and their structural
relations, Special attention is directed to the struc-
ture of the Alten district, where the main tectonic
feature is a highly undulating thrust which does not
intersect the pre-Cambrian floor. Regarding the
Randsfjord district, the original order of succession
of the strata is indicated from the Holmia shale to
the close of the overlying Cambro-Silurian sediments.
Pressure from the north in Late Silurian time
developed imbricate $tructure in these sediments, but
such displacements are not supposed to have affected
the pre-Cambrian floor. As investigation proceeds it
seems to become increasingly evident (1) that the
highly metamorphic sedimentary rocks of the middle
and northern parts of the eastern mountain-belt are
mainly of earlier Ordovician age, while those west of
the Sparagmite region in the south-western mountain
district are chiefly of Silurian age, and (2) that the
igneous materials associated with these highly meta-
morphosed sediments are younger intrusive rocks.
Aristotelian Society, July 5.—Prof. Wildon Carr in
the chair.—Dr. W. F. Geikie-Cobb: Mysticism, true
and false. The application of the term ‘‘mystic’’ to
current psychic phenomena was unwarranted. True
mysticism was an immediate apprehension of the one
634
NATURE
[JULY 15, 1920-
as the good rather than the true; it possessed a posi-
tive, personal, unquestioning quality which is a neces-
sary feature of all moral valuation, and belonged to
the world of the ‘excessive,’ and therefore was, per
se, beyond logic. All attempts to communicate the
mystic experience were limited to the use of symbols,
and, therefore, by their very nature doomed to
partial failure. Those symbols, however, were not
selected arbitrarily by the conscious mind, but
drawn from the storehouse of the unconscious.
Mysticism differs from ‘‘extroversion’’ in that its
supreme interest is in the one who is at once another
and the ground of the mystic’s being. The truth of
mysticism is implied in the truth of the self as tran-
scendental, a truth without which the empirical self
loses most of its value. But mysticism is not
adequately defined as a form of feeling, and what has
led to its being so-defined is the fact that not thought,
but love, is the distinguishing function of all true
mystic experience. If an air of unreality surrounds
the utterances of mystics, it is only for those who are
strangers to love. He who loves eternal beauty holds
its transitory appearances as of lesser worth. Dante,
for example, at the height of his vision saw love
enthroned, and declared that it was love which moved
the sun and the other stars. Before this supreme
experience of love it would seem that all discursive
thought was foredoomed to silence as a worshipper in
the outer court of réality.
DUBLIN.
Royal Dublin Society, June 22.—Dr. F. E. Hackett
in the chair.—Prof. W. Brown and P. O’Callaghan :
The change in the rigidity of nickel wire with mag-
netic fields. Transverse magnetic fields, both direct
and alternating, have the reverse effect on the rigidity
of nickel that direct or alternating longitudinal mag-
netic fields have; that is, for the former there is an
increase, and for the latter a decrease.—Prof. G. H.
Carpenter; Injurious insects observed in Ireland durin
the years 1916-17-18. The paper contains records o
injury to apple fruitlets by capsid bugs, as recently
noticed in England, and also by beech weevils
(Orchestes fagi), as observed by Theobald in Devon-
shire in 1912. There are also accounts of the feeding
of Ptinus tectus in stores of casein and in carpets.—
A. G. G. Leonard and Agnes Browne: Some deriva-
tives of nitrotoluidine (4-nitro-2-amido- 1 -methyl-
benzene). ‘The following compounds obtained by the
diazotisation of nitrotoluidine [NH, : Me /NO,=1: 2:5]
and suitable couplings have been described: Nitro-
methylphenylazo-6-naphthol, bright red needles, m. p.
204° C.; nitromethylbenzenediazoamino - 0 - toluene,
yellow needles, m. p. 133° C.; nitromethylbenzene-
diazoamino-p-toluene, yellow hexagonal plates, m. p.
131° C.; nitromethylaminobenzene-p-sulphonic acid,
yellow amorphous substance, m. p. 129° C.; methyl-
nitrodiazoamino-p-nitrobenzene, yellow amorphous
powder, m. 118° C.; and 2-methyl-5-nitro-2’ : 4/-
dihydroxyazobenzene, yellow amorphous powder, m. p.
234° C.—The late Prof. McClelland and the Rev. H. V.
Gill: An investigation into the causes of the self-
ignition of ether-air mixtures. When a mixture of
ether and air is allowed to expand suddenly into an
evacuated tube 3 ft. long and of about 3 in. diameter,
it is found to ignite. This ignition is often followed
by an explosion which may shatter the tube. The
authors describe experiments made to determine the
temperatures at different parts of the tube when pure
air is used instead of the mixture. A thermo-couple
was employed. The increase of temperature fol-
lowing on the inrush of air was found to be a maxi-
mum near the closed end of the tube, and to decrease
in positions further from the end. The length of the
tube has an important effect on the rise of tempera-
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
ture. In the case of a tube 3 ft. long the temperature
reached was 193° C. From results arrived at by other
methods it appears that this temperature is sufficient —
to cause the ignition of ether-air mixtures. Theoretical
considerations were dwelt on. It is proposed to inves-
tigate further certain points of interest connected with
this effect.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, June 28.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—L. De Launay: The course of the Coal
Measures in the Central Massif and at its edges. An
attempt to deduce some general considerations upon
which experimental borings can be placed in the Paris
basin.—L. Maquenne and kK. Demoussy: A case favour-
able to the action of copper on vegetation. A study
of the influence of traces of copper salts on the water-
culture of lettuce, peas, and wheat.—Em, Bourquelot
and H. Heérissey: The presence in the melilot and
woodruff of glucosides furnishing coumarin under the
hydrolysing action of emulsin. The fresh plants
(Melilotus officinalis), extracted with boiling water,
gave a solution containing traces only of free
coumarin, but the same liquid after treatment with
dilute sulphuric acid gave crystals of coumarin on
distillation, proving that the coumarin was combined, .
probably as a glucoside. The plant was shown to
contain an enzyme also capable of hydrolysing the
glucoside. Similar results were obtained with
Asperula odorata,—A. Righi: Relativity and a scheme
for a decisive experiment.—Ch, Guillaume ;
Values of the expansions of standard nickel-steels.
In the preparation of nickel-steels certain amounts of
manganese and carbon are necessarily present. For
the standard of reference a nickel-steel containing 0-4 per
cent, manganese and o-1 per cent. carbon has been
chosen, and the effects of varying amounts of these
elements upon the expansion have been based on this
asatype. The results are condensed in two curves repre-
senting the values of the two coefficients, a.. and B,,
of the equation of expansion.—G. J. Rémoundos; The
modulus and zeroes of analytical functions.—J. Chazy :
The course of the movement in the problem of three
bodies when the time increases indefinitely.—E. Belot ;
The origin of solar and stellar heat.—A, Véronnet :
The temperature of formation of a star in an in-
definite homogeneous nebula._-_M. Gouineau; Verifica-
tion of the thermo-electricity of liquid mercury.
C. Benedicks has recently proved experimentally the
existence of a new thermo-electric effect produced in
a homogeneous metallic circuit by an asymmetrical
distribution of temperatures. The results verify and
complete those of M. Benedicks.—A. Sellerio: The ©
analysis of three galvanomagnetic effects. Confirma-
tion of a new effect.—M. Audant: Contribution to the
study of the critical state of ethyl ether. Studies on
the variations of the critical temperatures with the
tube-filling and on the critical -opalescence.—M.
Pauthenier: The ratio of the absolute retardations in
the Kerr phenomenon for different wave-lengths in the
case of nitrobenzene, Application of the method of |
instantaneous charges to carbon bisulphide. The ratio
of the absolute retardations in both carbon bisulphide
and nitrobenzene is —2 if the times of charge are
sufficiently short.—E, Damour: The application value —
(valeur d’usage) of combustibles. This value is in-—
versely proportional to the weights of two com-—
bustibles required to produce the same thermal effect”
in a given furnace. Since the efficiency depends on F
the nature of the fuel, the application value is not —
measured by the calorific value alone. The tempera-—
ture of combustion is an important factor in deter-_
mining the price of a fuel.—R. Dubrisay : The applica-_
tion of a new method of physico-chemical analysis to—
the study of double salts. The method is based on
¥; JULY 15, 1920]
2
;
a
;
NATURE
635
the’ measurement of miscibility temperatures with»
phenol. The miscibility temperatures of certain pairs
of salts follow very nearly an additive rule; other
salts show marked deviations, and for these the exist-
ence of double salts in solution appears probable.—
MM. Lespieau and Bourguel: The production of true
acetylene hydrocarbons starting from epidibromhydrin.
Compounds of the type CH,:CBr-CH,R are readily
_ obtained by the interaction of a-epidibromhydrin and
a magnesium allyl derivative, and from these by three
simple reactions good yields of substituted acetylenes,
HC:C-CH,R, are produced. Full details of the pre-
paration of normal pentine (n-propylacetylene) by this
method are given.—E. Chaput: Remarks on the réle
of dislocations in the tectonic of the Céte d’Or.—
P. Bonnet: The movements of the seas at the limit
of the Permian and the Trias in the geosynclinals
of Eurasia.—G. M. Stanoievitch: The aeroplane and
hail. Suggestions for the prevention of hailstorms by
aeroplanes.—M. Nobécourt: The anatomical structure
of the tubercles of the Ophrydew.—G. Mangenot : The
_ evolution of the chromatophores and the chondriome
in the Floridee.—P. Guérin and Ch, Lormand: The
ee rs action of a certain number of vapours.—
M. Lapicque and Brocq-Rousseu; Marine alge
as food for the horse. An account of an experiment
on two horses in full work. The oats in the ration
were gradually replaced by seaweed (Laminaria flexi-
eaulis), and the horses worked normally for twenty
days on food from which oats were absent. Then the
horses were put to extra heavy work for three days,
still on hay and seaweed, and their condition was as
_ good as that of horses doing the same work on the
usual food, hay, straw, and oats.—M. Gautiez: The
influence of the attitude of the body on respiration.—
A. @Arsonyval: Remarks on the preceding communica-
tion.—J. Amar: Attitudes of the body and respiration.
Walking on the front of the foot, head thrown back,
allows large and deep respirations. Walking on the
heels has a contrary effect, generally harmful to
the health.—_R. Wurmser: The action of chlorophyll
on radiations of different wave-lengths.—A. L. Herrera :
The imitation of cells, tissues, cell-division, and the
Structure of protoplasm with’ calcium fluosilicate.
Confirmation of the researches of MM. Gautier and
Clausmann on the biological importance of fluorine.
Calcium fluosilicate produced by the double decomposi-
tion of an alkaline silicate and potassium bifluoride in
presence of calcium chloride and water, if the
diffusion of the soluiions is very slow, gives remark-
able imitations of the structure of protoplasm, natural
cells, and their division. These imitations can be
studied, stained, and preserved by the usual histo-
Ive eee processes.—C. Pérez: A new type of Epicarid,
Rhopalione wuromyzon, sub-abdominal parasite of
Ostracotheres spondyli.—]. Dragoiu and M. Fauré-
et: Development of the aerial canals and the
histogenesis of the pulmonary epithelium in the sheep.
—W. R. Thompson: Cyrillia angustifrons, parasite of
a terrestrial Isopod, Metaponorthus pruinosus.—P.
Thomas and A. Chabas: The estimation of tyrosin and
the dibasic amino-acids in the proteids of yeast.—
A. Mayer, H. Magne, and L. Plantefol: The toxic
action of dichloroethyl sulphide.—A. Besredka: ‘An
attempt at the purification of therapeutic sera.—
F. Ladreyt: Histological polymorphism of certain
epithelial neoplasms and the relations between these
inflammatory neoformations to.cancerous tumours.
SYDNEY. ©
Linnean Society of New South Wales, April 28.—Mr.
J. J. Fletcher, president, in the chair.—G. H. Hardy:
Synonyms, notes, and descriptions of Australian flies
of the family Asilidz. As a result of work done since
NO. 2646, VOL. 105 |
|
the revision of Australian species of this family by
Miss Ricardo in 1912-13, it has become possible to
establish the identity of many of the species which
were not identified at the time. The present paper
deals almost entirely with the genus Neiotamus. Of
the forty-seven species usually placed in sub-genera of
this genus, twenty are dealt with and placed under
twelve species; two additional species are descriped as
new.—F. Muir: A new genus of Australian Delph-
acidze (Homoptera). Most, if not all, of the described
Australian Delphacide are from eastern States. Of
the fourteen genera recorded as Australian the author
considers only one as entogenic. The genus described
as new in this paper is from King George’s Sound,
South-West Australia, and is regarded as entogenic.—
Dr. C. P. Alexander: An undescribed species of Clyto-
cosmus, Skuse (Tipulidez, Diptera). The genus Clyto-
cosmus was proposed by Skuse in 1890, and has
remained monotypic until now, the type species being
C. Helmsi from Kosciusko. A second species is here
described as- new from Ulong, on the Dorrigo table-
land.
Books Received.
A Text-Book of Organic Chemistry.
By E. de B.
Barnett. Pp. xii+380. (London: J. and A. Churchill.)
15s. net.
Johnston’s New Era School Atlas. Pp. 40. (Edin-
burgh: W. and A. K. Johnston, Ltd.; London: Mac-
millan and Co., Ltd.) 1s. net. A
Orographical, Regional, Economic Atlas. Part i.:
British Isles. Pp. 32. (Edinburgh: W. and A. K.
Johnston, Ltd.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.)
Is. 6d. net. (
Notes on Dynamics: With Examples and Experi-
mental Work. By T. Thomas. Pp. 123. (London:
Crosby Lockwood and Son.) 6s. net.
The Nomenclature of Petrology. By Dr. A.
Holmes. Pp. v+284. (London: T. Murby and Co.)
12s. 6d, net.
The Botany of Iceland. Edited by Dr. L. K.
Rosenvinge and Dr. E. Warming. Vol. ii., part 1.
Pp. 248+5 plates. (Copenhagen: J. Frimodt;
London: J. Wheldon and Co.) ’
The Life and Work of Sir Jagadis C. Bose (an
Indian Pioneer of Science). By Prof. P. Geddes.
Pp. xii+259. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co.)
16s. net.
Meddelelser fra Kommissionen for Havundersggel-
ser. Serie Fiskeri. Bind 5, No. 9, 1919. Investiga-
tions as to the Effect of the Restriction on Fishing
during the War on the Plaice of the Eastern North
Sea. By Dr. A. C. Johansen and Dr. K. Smith.
Pp. 53. Serie Fiskeri. Bind 6, No. 1, 1920. On
the Occurrence of the Post-larval Stages of the
Herring and the ‘‘ Lodde ’’ (Clupea harengus, L., and
Mallotus villosus, O. F. M.) at Iceland and the
Faeroes. By P. Jespersen. Pp. 24. (Kobenhavn:
C. A. Reitzel.) ; ; :
Fisheries. England and Wales. Ministry of Agri-
culture and Fisheries. Fishery Investigations.
Series ii.: Sea Fisheries. Vol. iv., No. 3. Report
on the Scales of some Teleostean Fish, with special
reference to their Method of Growth. By G. W.
Paget. Pp. 24+4 plates. 3s. 6d. net. Series ili. :
Hydrography. Vol. i.: The English Channel.
Part 3: The Section from the Isle of Wight to Havre.
Review of the Physical and Chemical Properties of
the Surface Waters, and the Variations of these Pro-
perties from August, 1904, to December, 1918, in
Comparison with Corresponding Variations on the
Sections discussed in parts 1 and 2 of this volume.
636 NATURE [JuLy 15, 1920
By Dr. E. C. Jee. Pp. 24. 3s. net. Series iii. W. W. Westcott. Seventeenth edition. In 2 vols.
Hydrography. Vol. i.: The English Obensi Vol. i. Pp. xxxix+r115. (London: H. K. Lewis and
Part The Section from Newhaven to Caen. | Co., Ltd.) 27s. net.
Review of the Physical and Chemical Properties of British Museum (Natural History). Economic
the Surface Waters, and the Variations of these Pro- | Series, No. 1. The House-fly as a Danger to
perties from November, 1903, to May, 1912, in the | Health. By Major E. E. Austen. Pp. 20. 3d.
English Channel from Newhaven to the Bay of the
Seine _By Dr: Be: Ci ee. Pp. 262): 138, / net,
Series iii.: Hydrography. Vol. iv.: The North Sea.
Part 1: From the River Tyne towards the Naze of
Norway. Review of the Variations of the Physical
and Chemical Properties of the Waters of the North
Sea, together with Observations on the Dogger Bank.
By Dr. E. C. Jee. Pp. ror. 12s. net. (London:
H.M. Stationery Office.)
On Gravitation and Relativity :
Lecture delivered on June 12, 1920. By Dr. R. A.
Sampson. Pp, 24. (Oxford: At the Clarendon
Press.) 2s. net.
Caithness and Sutherland. By H. F. Campbell.
Pp, ix+168. (Cambridge: At the University Press.)
4s. 6d. net.
Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire. By W.
Learmonth. Pp. ix+149. (Cambridge: At the Uni-
versity Press.) 4s. 6d. net.
Creation: Viewed by the Light of Modern Science.
A Lecture given by W. Hackney, 1875. Pp. vi+29.
(London: N. G. Hackney.)
Heredity and Social Fitness : A Study of Differential
Mating in a Pennsylvania Family. By Dr. W
Key. Pp. 102. (Washington: Carnegie Institution.)
The Inscriptions at Copan. By S. G. Morley.
Pp. xii+643+33 plates. (Washington: Carnegie
Institution.)
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
Weather Bureau. Annual Report of the Weather
Bureau for the Year 1917. Part 3: Meteorological
Observations made at the Secondary Stations during
the Calendar Year 1917. Pp. 360. (Manila.)
Union of South Africa. Department of Mines and
Industries. Geological Survey. Memoir No. 13:
Mica in the Eastern Transvaal. By A. L. Hall.
Pp. 95+xviii plates. (Johannesburg.) 7s. 6d.
Type Ammonites. By S. Buckman. Part xxii.
Pp. 17-18+.16 plates. (London : W. Wesley and Son.)
Unconscious Memory. By S. Butler. Third edition.
Pp. xxxix+186. (London: A. C. Fifield.) 8s.
net.
Luck, or Cunning, as the Main Means of tie gan
Modification? An Attempt to Throw Additional Light
upon Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection. By S.
Butler. Second edition. Pp. 282. (London: A. C.
Fifield.) 8s. 6d. net.
The Assessment of Physical Fitness by Correlation
of Vital Capacity and Certain Measurements of the
Body. By Prof. G. Dreyer, in collaboration with
G. F. Hanson. Pp. xi+115. (London: Cassell and
Co., Ltd.) tos. net.
A Geographical Bibliography of British Ornithology
from the Earliest Times to the End of 1918. By
W. H. Mullens, H. Kirke Swann, and Rev. F. C. R.
Jourdain: Part v. Pp. 385-480. (London: Witherby
and Co.) 6s. net.
Department of the Interior. Bureau of Education.
Statistics of State School Systems, 1917-18. By H. R.
Bonner. Pp. 155. (Bulletin No. 11, 1920.) (Washing-
ton: Government Printing Office.)
, The Tides and Tidal Streams. By
Dawson. Pp, 43+ viii plates. (Ottawa:
of the Naval Service.)
Cocoa and Chocolate: Their History from Planta-
tion to Consumer. By A. Knapp. Pp. xii+210.
(London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net.
The Extra Pharmacopceia of Martindale and West-
cott. Revised by Dr. W. H. Martindale and Dr.
NO. 2646, VOL. 105]
Br WB.
Department
Being the Halley
6d. .
.
Economic Series, No. 3.
and Domestic Animals.
4d.
Fleas as a Menace to Man
By J. Waterston. Pp. 20,
Economic Series, No. 4. Mosquitoes and their
Relation to Disease. By F. W. Edwards. Second
edition. Pp. 19. 4d. Economic Series, No. 6.
Species of Arachnida and Myriopoda (Scorpions,
Spiders, Mites, Ticks, and Ceniipedes) Injurious to
Man. By S. Hirst. Second edition, Pp. 59+3 plates.
1s. Economic Series, No. 8. Rats and Mice as
Enemies of Mankind. By M. A. C. Hinton. Second
edition. Pp. x+67+2 plates. ts.
Museum (Natural History).)
Diary of Societies.
THURSDAY, Jory 15.
Roya Society or MEDICINE (Dermatology Section), at 5.
Cuapwick Pustic Lecture (in Surveyors’ Institution), at 5.r5.—Dr. N.
White: Health Conditions in Eastern Europe—Typhus a Serious
Menace.
ROnTGEN Society (at v Aetng College), at 9.—Dr. W. D. Coolidge?
Address (Special Open Meeting
CONTENTS. PAGE
Medical Research. By Prof. G. Elliot Smith,
FIRS. 0s. we ee . . 605
Intellectual Stock- ‘taking. By H. "WG ae OOF
Petroleum Geology. ye --Miloer. oo eee ee
Fuel Problems. By J. S. Bio a8 phe Oe
- Hurter and Driffield. By joe Ae ee,
Out Bookshelf 3.2 0-052 1930 «26: Pee Wao
Letters to the Editor:—
The Separation of the Isotopes of Chlorine. —D, L
Ss.
Chapman, F.R. gy 611
Anti-Gas Fans,—Hertha Ares 3 Prof. A.
Allmand 612
The Stretching of Rubber in Free Baie
Dr. Henry P. Stevens; W. H. Dines, F.R.S. 613
Notes on the Habits of the Tachinid Fly, pr
(Miltogramma) conica.—Oswald H. Latter . 614
- Temperature Variations at 10,000 ft.—C. K. M.
Douglas. 5.5 Pe ee ee 614
The Brent Valley ‘Bird Sanctuary. —Wilfred Mark
Webb (005.0. ee 614
Researches on Growth of Plants. faites oc:
By Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose, F. RS ee 615
Isotopes and Atomic Weights. (Illustrated.) By
Dr: W:; Aston... 0s Peete eet ee 617
Obituary :—
Major-Gen. William Crawford Coa M.G, 620
NOtGO vos ee ee ee Y
Our Astronomical Column :—
An Easy Method of Finding Latitude .... ... 625
Increasing the Photographic Power of Telescopes . . 625
A New Spectropyrheliometer and Solar Measurements
made: witht: i294 eke ees Ren ae en 625
British Association: “Subjects for Discussion at
the Cardiff Meeting <2.) ii owe tees O86
Museums Association Annual Conference Maps a fk)
The University of Ecipbarene New Science _
Buildings |... 5.5... 2.37 (5) 449 As ie ee 627
Lessons from the Smithsonian Mea 627
The Religion and Origin of the Hawaian Peopie. Ae
By Sidney Ai. Rayo ee ee ‘ 6
Soil Temperarineer By B. | is « Cape me 6 (iain eed eae
Control of Insect Pests ‘2 "? 29 ee . 629
Scientific and Systematic Pomology ..... - 629
University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . 630
Societies and ‘Academies... . i... <b «Js ess 631
Books Received 4.5.4 60355050 $s ents He ee
Diary of Societiok: <->. "y Wierae ae sae eae
(London: British
NATURE
oe
_ THURSDAY, JULY 22, 1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
Aerial Navigation and Meteorology.
ETEOROLOGY has been international ever
since it became a science. From the first
congress of directors of meteorological institutes
at Vienna in 1873, meteorologists have been en-
gaged in standardising methods of observation
and exposure of instruments, and in devising
codes for the transmission of observations
by telegraph in order to compress as much
valuable information as possible in the small space
available for transmission at moderate cost. So
the introduction of upper-air data, though strongly
recommended by those who wanted to substitute
calculation for “rule of thumb,” had to fight its
way against other useful and more easily acces-
sible information of the older kind. The last
international code, fixed at Rome in 1913 after
long correspondence and discussion, kept the
morning message at four groups of five figures,
and allotted only one figure to upper-air data—
direction of high cloud—in addition to the cus-
tomary figure for weather or state of the sky.
For the benefit of aerial navigation, the results
of pilot-balloon ascents were telegraphed by many
European observatories to the central station at
Lindenberg. Funds for the telegraphic distribution
of these data and of those of soundings of the
atmosphere by means of kites or cable balloons
were usually lacking.
The great war has changed all this; aerial
navigation demanded quick and detailed informa-
‘tion, especially about low cloud, visibility, and
wind velocity in free air. Many reporting stations
were erected and connected to central offices by
telephone or wireless. Meteorologists sprang up
from the ground, the observational hours were
anultiplied, and no one considered the cost.
The result lies before us in the form of
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
| Paris in October,
Annexe G of the Convention for the Regulation
of Aerial Navigation,! the object of which is to
substitute legal regulation for free international
co-operation. The prominent features are :—
(1) Regulation of the collection and dissemina-
tion of meteorological information—introduction of
four observational hours instead of two or three;
of short-period (three to four hours) and route
forecasts (six hours) on one hand, and of long-
period forecasts (two or three days) on the other,
besides the normal forecasts (twenty to eee
hours).
(2) Extension of the number of groups in the
reports from individual stations to a central office
from four to six for all stations, and from four to
any number between twelve and forty-four for
stations observing upper-air wind, temperature,
and humidity.
(3) Introduction of new codes for the new in-
formation and several of the customary data.
Annexe G has been discussed at a meeting in
London of members. of the pre-war International
Meteorological Committee, and again at the Con-
ference of Directors of Meteorological Institutes at
1919; but definite resolutions:
were postponed. We have reason to think, how-
ever, that the following remarks express the
opinion of a large majority of Continental meteor-
ologists and several of their British colleagues.
There is practically no difference of opinion
about the necessity of reorganisation and central-
isation of the collection and dissemination of
meteorological information. Standard observa-
tional hours, quick transmission of the reports to
the national centre, exchange of collective reports
between centres with a maximum distance of
1500 km. within an hour and a half of the
observation, followed by selections from these
reports sent out over world-wide ranges by
a few high-power wireless stations within
three hours of the observation, is a good, but
not altogether new, scheme. Its complete realisa-
tion will be hampered only by the unsatisfactory
state of communication by telegraph or telephone
in some countries. The proposed simultaneous
transmission of several of the national collective
reports may cause the receiving stations to. miss
part of them; successive transmission may take
more time than the convention grants; but these
are only technical details: the principle is all
right. Differentiation of forecasts also is neces-
sary, but it has to be adapted to local circum-
stances.
1 * Air Ministry.
Aérienne (13 Octobre, 1919). Convention
Navigation (October 13, 1919).” Pp. 48.
Office, 1920.) Cmd. 670. Price rs. net.
Convention portant Réglementation de la Navigation
ae the Regulation of Aerial
(London: H.M. ener
oe
638
NATURE
[JULY 22, 1920
Appendix III. mentions, in addition to the
observations of physical quantities like wind,
pressure, temperature, and humidity, no fewer
than seven kinds of weather phenomena (fog,
clouds, precipitation, visibility, etc.), and only
as additional and facultative do we find wind,
temperature, and humidity in the upper air, in
spite of the fact that knowledge of the latter
data is essential for a real prediction of weather
phenomena, whereas the most minute description
of present weather does not form a guarantee.
against sudden changes. Some years ago it might
have been urged that sufficiently recent upper-
air data were not available—we have shown, how-
ever, in Holland that the aeroplane is an excel-
lent substitute for the kite or the cable balloon in
almost any weather, and hence this excuse is no
longer permissible. In this respect Appendix III.
almost looks like a step backwards.
Certainly the multitude of codes introduced
by European meteorological institutes since the
war is a nuisance, but it may be taken as a
symptom of the general dislike of the codes
prescribed in Appendix IV. These include units,
like the millibar, unfamiliar to the majority of
Continental meteorologists (unless in purely
scientific work), and change codes for the trans-
mission of the usual elements without any real
gain for practical purposes, and they do not use
sufficient economy with the room available in the
telegrams. A few specimens may illustrate this.
Wind direction is given in two figures as usual,
but in a scale of 1 to 72 instead of 1 to 32; this
means that an accuracy of 5° is claimed. Every
meteorologist knows that such accuracy is
imaginary—the exposure of the anemometer, the
turbulence of the winds, etc., cause larger varia-
tions with space and time. No fewer than four
figures are allotted to past and present weather.
The result is that the observer is puzzled as to the
number he is to choose out of 50 or 100, five or
six numbers applying equally well, or he gets into
the habit of reporting some favourite. phenomenon
—the very slightest degree of haze, for instance.
The multitude of phenomena reported makes one
lose sight of the distribution of any particular
class.
In our view, Appendix IV. is a mistake, and
ought to be deleted as soon as possible; it
may prevent some States from joining the con-
vention, Article 34 of which allows a minority of
one-fourth or even less to prevent any modifica-
tion of the annexes. General rules ought to be
given in the convention, details being left
to a competent body like the “Comité Météor-
ologique International,” reconstituted at Paris in
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
|
October, 1919, which certainly is fully aware of
the need for reforms, and will choose the best way
to ensure general approval.
In the meantime, reforms are not being post-
poned; the majority of the Continental countries
have already their wireless collective reports, and
others will soon follow—special route reports for
flying purposes are being exchanged, for example,
between England, France, Belgium, and Holland.
Meteorologists are thankful for the stimulus
which aerial navigation has given to their weather
services; they admire the desire for organisation
and centralisation apparent in the convention;
but they cannot overlook the fact that meteor-
ology has other important applications. Theoretic-
ally it might be argued that these may look after
themselves; practically it is impossible to main-
tain an independent system of information, say
for agricultural purposes. In following up the
historical line, the Comité International will try.
to serve all purposes equally well.
E. vAN EVERDINGEN.
Child Physiology.
The Principles of Ante-Natal and Post-Natal
Child Physiology: Pure and Applied. By W. M.
Feldman. Pp. xxvii+694+6 plates. (London:
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1920.) Price 3os.
net. —
R. FELDMAN’S work is a notable addition
to the books which deal with physiology.
As in them, so in this volume, the reader is im-
pressed by the great change which the past decade
has wrought in the content of physiological
science, and especially in the predominance of
physics, of mathematics, and of chemistry which
is so noticeable. Here and there one comes upon
pages occupied almost entirely with mathematical
formule. Dr. Feldman’s book has all these char-
acters; but it has also another feature, which
is novel: it brings to the study of the physiology
of the child (up to puberty) a consideration of the
conditions of life which exist before birth, and an
evaluation of the effect which the process of birth
itself has upon these conditions.
a fructifying novelty. It sweeps into the scope
of child physiology not only the vital processes of
foetal life, which differ merely in details from
those which prevail after birth, but also those of .
embryonic life, which are so manifestly unlike
physiology that we commonly call them “ embryo-
logy,” as if they were something apart; and it
travels still further back towards the origins of
It has in this _
respect and for this reason what one might term
ane Ce eee
ee Oe
: " JULY 22, 1920]
_ neurogenic, in origin.
NATURE
639
i things and brings in the physiology of the germ
or heredity, which it requires an effort of the mind
to associate with physiology at all. With so
- novel an outlook and so enlarged a sphere, it
_ is impossible that everything should be exact and
_ beyond argument; much must remain for a time
uncertain, and theories will abound, and do
- abound, within the cover of this book. For
_ example, the statement that the normal new-born
infant is in a condition resembling acidosis is not
by any means secure against attack, as a research
by Sehom, made so recently as 1919, shows.
_ Dr. Feldman does not claim to carry over into
_ pathology the ideas which this widened outlook
_ of physiology suggests, and yet indirectly disease
and the abnormal are recognised as lying just
_ below the horizon in almost every part.
Thus
the peculiarities of the foetal circulation underlie
every statement which one can make regarding
congenital heart disease. And the converse is
also true, for the fact that the foetal heart beats
before and even at birth in a foetus possessing
neither brain nor spinal cord throws light upon
the physiology of cardiac action before birth, and
suggests that its rhythm is myogenic, and not
Interesting notions spring
up on every page, and the reader can scarcely
escape the stimulation to think out for himself
_ their application to all sorts of phenomena. One
is ‘well accustomed to apply physiology to the
clarification of the diseases of adult tissues and
organs; but a certain degree of novelty attaches
to the effort to look at the pathological occur-
rences in the new-born infant in the light supplied
by the special conditions of ante-natal physiology.
For example, the umbilicus is, so to say, the “one
portal” by which all things (food supplies, oxygen
_ for respiration, and the germs of disease and toxic
substances) reach the unborn infant—it lives
through its umbilicus, and it may die by its um-
bilicus—and after birth, whilst it is no longer
nourished by the navel, it may yet for a time be
infected through it, as in cases of septic mischief
round the root of the cord stump. Most text-
books speak with an uncertain sound regarding
the diseases peculiar to the new-born infant—the
neonatal maladies, as they are called; it will ere
long be found that much which is inexplicable in
their characters and causation is made plain by
the study of ante-natal physiology as it is affected
by the impact of birth-traumatism.
The book is abundantly illustrated and admir-
ably arranged, and the author is particularly
happy in his choice of the quotations with which
he ushers in each chapter.. For instance, what a
range of thought along novel lines is brought
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
before the reader’s mind by Samuel Butler’s para-
doxical truth with which the work begins: “ Birth
. is commonly considered as the point at
which we begin to live. More truly it is the
point at which we leave off knowing how to live.”
One is tempted to turn away from the thought as,
in a sense, mental somersaulting; but if one re-
sists this inclination and looks fairly and wholly
at it, one sees that Nature’s ante-natal provision
for the weil-being of the unborn child is as near
perfection as can be imagined. The foetus, so to
say, knows how to live. Birth comes as the jolt
due to the changing of the gearing, and it is some
time before the new-born infant, with all the aid
that doctor, nurse, and mother can give him, can
be said to be in harmony with his environment.
We should like to follow out other lines of
thought suggested by this volume, such as His’s
dictum: “The ultimate aim of embryology is the
mathematical derivation of the adult from the dis-
tribution of growth in the germ”; but enough
has been said to send the interested reader to the _
book itself, where he will find fertile fields for the
intellect to water and in due season to reap.
Je We
Forest Research.
The Fungal Diseases of the Common Larch, By
W. E. Hiley. Pp. xi+204. (Oxford: At the
Clarendon Press, 1919.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
HIS volume is the most important contribu-
tion to the scientific literature of forestry
that has been made for some years. Mr. Hiley
was well advised to select the larch as the subject
of his first investigation as Research Officer in the
School of Forestry in Oxford, for it is in many
respects the most important species of tree that
is cultivated in this country. Moreover, it is a
tree the health of which has given much concern ‘
to foresters and others for many years past.
After an introductory chapter on the general
relationships of host and parasite, and on the
morphology of the larch, Mr. Hiley proceeds to
deal with the larch disease, or larch canker in
the specific sense of the term. This is due to the
attack of a Discomycetous fungus, which is
usually known in this country under the name of
Dasyscypha calycina. The author does well to
‘remind us that M. J. Berkeley was the first to
recognise the fungal character of this disease,
although the work of Willkomm and of Robert
Hartig is more frequently cited. Hartig, followed
by Massee, believed that infection could take place
only through a wound, and it must be said that
there is much observational and experimental evi-
640
NATURE
[JuLy 22, 1920
dence in support of this contention. Probably the
most interesting section of Mr. Hiley’s volume is
that in which he supports and elaborates the view
that in the great majority of cases the stem of
a larch is infected by the mycelium of D. calycina
which is living saprophytically on the dead
branches. This theory is not new, but it has
never before been subjected to so. critical an
examination. It is a matter of common observa-
tion that a branch springs from the centre of a
canker, and it had generally been assumed that
death of the branch followed invasion of the stem.
But Mr. Hiley now produces evidence which seems
to prove beyond reasonable doubt’ that the branch
has always died before the canker has originated,
and, in fact, that the dead branch, serving as
food for the fungus living saprophytically, has
been the vehicle of infection. Such infection
always takes place between the end of one grow-
ing season and the beginning of the next, conse-
quently the last wood ring in the centre of a
canker spot on a_ stem is always completely
formed.
Another parasite of the larch which receives
exhaustive. treatment in the volume is Fomes
annosus, the common cause of heart-rot. Unlike
D. calycina, it is equally common on other coni-
fers, and in the aggregate does a great deal of
damage: The same may be said about Armillaria
mellea, perhaps the most destructive single fungus
species with which the forester has to contend.
- The more important leaf and seedling parasites
are also reviewed, the volume finishing with an
interesting general summary and with a useful
bibliography. More than seventy illustrations add
greatly to the value of the treatise, which is indis-
pensable alike to the mycologist and the forester.
The Absorption of Light by Organic
: Compounds.
Etudes de Photochimie. By Dr. Victor Henri.
Pp. vii+218. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et Cie,
1919.) ‘
HIS monograph is the first instalment. of a
: series in which are to be presented the
results of several years of work of the author and
his collaborators. From 1908 to the outbreak of
war Dr. Henri devoted his attention to the
experimental study of various. chemical aspects
of the interaction between radiation and matter,
dealing chiefly with the absorption of light in the
infra-red and ultra-violet regions, with dispersion
in the ultra-violet, with chemical reactions
brought about by light,, and with certain tech-
nical and. biological aspects of the subject.
NO. 2647, VOL, 105 |
| be of a high order,
In:
1915, he went to Russia to help in scientific work?
in connection with the war, and towards the end’
of 1917 began to work up the mass of data
accumulated in preceding years. Very few of his’
results had been published separately—papers by
Bielecki, Boll, and Wurmser will, however, be’
familiar to workers in this field.
The present volume essentially contains the
results of the author’s work on absorption and)
dispersion, and is of considerable interest. Em--
ploying a photographic method, carefully checked, |
and using a powerful source of ultra-violet light,
worked out by himself and giving a continuous
spectrum, he was able to measure quantitatively’
the exact form of the absorption curve in the’
ultra-violet for about 240 organic compounds. As:
he points out, this represents a very considerable’
advance, previous work being confined to the’
mere investigation! ef the positions of the bands. ’
To these measurements are added a series of de--
terminations of dispersion in the ultra-violet, em-
ploying a specially designed apparatus, and a
number of. absorption measurements in the infra--
red. The application of formule developed by’
Helmholtz and Ketteler, Drude, Lorentz, etc., has:
enabled him to draw sénchisioapy ie an the’ nature’
of the oscillators responsible for the absorption’
{
of light of different wave-lengths, the damping’
(usually very great) to which ane oscillators are’
subjected, ete.
The more important results are as folswers
(a) The oscillators absorbing in the infra-red are of’
molecular size, are atoms or fractions of atoms in’
the mean ultra-violet, and electrons in the exe
treme ultra-violet. (b) These different oscillator’
systems are closely bound up’ with one another,
and there exist simple numerical relations between:
the infra-red frequency due to a chromophore and!
the ultra-violet frequencies in molecules contain=
ing such a chromophore. This, of course, was’
previously discovered by Baly, to whose work
adequate reference is not made by the author.’
(c) By the application of simple rules, the absorp--
tion spectrum: of a compound can be calculated’
with considerable accuracy from its constitution’ —
and the characteristic infra-red frequencies of the
chromophores, two simple constants for each’
infra-red absorption band being necessary.
(d) The structure of a molecule is essentially
mobile. The existence of ultra-violet absorption’
bands is an index of a labile and reactive state.
This, again, is in agreement with Baly’s views.
Other more speculative conclusions’ are perhaps”
less justified. The experimental work appears to:
and the other volumes:
promised will be looked for with interest. = ~
othan in Great Britain.
_ thirty-two periodicals dealing more or less speci-
fically with industrial efficiency and factory man-
ie
NATURE
641
- Juny 22, 1920]
Our Bookshelf.
Bibliography of Industrial Efficiency and Factory
_ Management. (Books, Magazine Articles, etc.)
__ With many Annotations and Indexes of Authors
and of Subjects. By H. G. T. Cannons.
(Efficiency Books.) Pp. viii+167. (London:
me *. Routledge and Sons, Ltd. ; New York:
_ E. P. Dutton and Co., 1920.) Price ros, 6d. net.
‘Can this country pay the interest on the money
‘borrowed during the war without reducing
darge sections of the community to poverty? The
‘answer to this question appears to be that only
‘by increasing the annual production by at least
as much as corresponds to the necessary increase
in taxation can we provide enough for everybody.
_ Industrial efficiency is thus seen to be of vital
_ importance.
_ should therefore welcome any book which helps
Employers and employed alike
to improve methods of production. It will be
generally agreed that our manufacturers have still .
much to learn in this direction.
Mr. Cannons is to be congratulated on having
_ collected no fewer than 3500 references in this
bibliography. It would appear that more attention
‘has been given to the subject in the United States
For example, in a list of
‘agement, we notice that twenty-three are published
‘in America.
~The bibliography is divided into sixty-four sub-
sections. The titles of a few of these will serve to
‘andicate the scope of the book: ‘‘ Academic study
‘and teaching,’’ “Principles of industrial efh-
siency,’’ “Factory and workshop management,”’
“Scientific management applied to _ special
‘branches of industry,’’ “Fatigue study,’’ “ Hours
of labour,’’ “Personal factor in scientific manage-
ment,’’ and ‘Safety methods.”
We wish Mr. Cannons had done more to in-
dicate which among the articles referred to are
more likely to be worth careful study. Some help
in this direction is, however, given in brief notes
of the contents of many of the books and papers
indexed.
Aliments Sucrés.
fitures—Sucreries—Sucs et Réglisse. Par Dr.
E. Roux et Dr. C.-F. Muttelet. Pp. vi+474.
Paris and Liége: Ch. Béranger, 1914. Price
12 francs.
Tue manual of Drs. Roux and Muttelet on the
analysis of foodstuffs of which sugar is an im-
portant constituent is naturally of somewhat re-
stricted interest. The first part deals with the
general optical and chemical methods of deter-
mining sugars and various other substances, such
as dyes and antiseptics, used in confectionery, In
the second part these methods are applied to the
examination of commercial products such as
thoney, sugar, syrups, and preserves. The
French laws and regulations dealing with the
‘subject are given at some length together with
extracts from those of other countries.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
Sucres—Miels—Sirops—Con- |
Letters to the Editor.
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
Opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
British and Foreign Scientific Apparatus.
It may, perhaps, be useful if I attempt to sum up
the conclusioris that seem to me to be justified from
the somewhat divergent views that have been ex-
pressed by those who have written upon this question.
It is satisfactory to find that the makers are keenly
desirous of meeting the requirements of the scientific
worker. I think [ am correct in saying that the
majority of these prefer to obtain British rather than
foreign goods, even at a somewhat higher price, pro-
vided that the quality is sufficiently good. It is here that
the difficulty shows itself. It is significant ‘that most
of the makers who have written on the matter belong
to the optical industry, and it is in this case that
the state of affairs appears to be the least to be com-
plained about, except, perhaps, in the smaller acces-
sory apparatus, such as the object-marker referred to
by Mr. Dunkerly (Nature, June 3, p. 425). It
is chiefly with regard to glass, porcelain, and
chemicals that experience has been unfortunate. -
There has undoubtedly been improvement, but
the impression given is that the makers as a
whole have not altogether grasped the necessity
of putting some of their best men to the work, and
that there has been some carelessness in sending out
goods of inferior quality. I have been told of flasks
the necks of which drop off on the draining rack.
It is natural that the users should be critical, especi-
ally when a large expense in time and money may
be incurred by the breakage of a beaker in the final
stage of a process.
The exhibitions arranged by the British Science Guild
in 1918 and 1919 showed that excellent apparatus can
be produced, and the difficulty is presumably in the
main a matter of price. Glass and porcelain of quite
satisfactory quality are being made in this country,
and due credit should be given to the makers. The
Woreester porcelain works, for example, supply ex-
cellent crucibles. At the same time, consumers meet
with the experience that a large order cannot be relied
upon to be of uniform quality. It is unfortunate,
though perhaps unavoidable, that unsatisfactory
apparatus was put on the market in the early stages
‘of the supply of British glass, and'it was to enable a
greater perfection to be attained that I made the sug-
gestion of a subvention (NaTuRE, May 6, p. 293). It
is to be remembered that this is being done through
the research associations of the Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research, and it is in the
direction of more scientific investigations that progress
is to be looked for. In this connection, I may direct
attention to the statement in the leading article of
Nature for June 24 that the profit of some three or
four German dye-making firms in 1919 was more
than 3,000,000!., as compared with only 172,000l. by
the British Dyestuffs Corporation.
The manufacturers want prohibition of import of
foreign apparatus, at all events for a time, with the
granting of special licences to import. I think
it will be generally agreed that this would not meet
the case, owing to ¢he difficulty and delay that would
necessarily be involved. They do not wish for a tariff,
and the only alternative seems to be a grant in some
form. When British ‘goods have attained the neces-
642
NATURE
[Jury 22, 1920.
sary quality and are then put on the market, it appears
that there will not be any great risk of foreign com-
petition in the. matter of price. Indeed, according to
several correspondents, there is little to be feared at
the present time. But opinions are not in agreement.
There should be no objection to ‘* manutacturers’
associations,’’ provided that their object is to obtain
the advantage of more economical methods of manu-
facture, as by uniformity of standards and large-scale
production, rather than the maintenance of high
prices.
The cost of all research work, whether paid for by
Government grants or otherwise, is greatly increased
by inferior apparatus.
rials, a single biochemical preparation may cost 4l. or
51. or more. This may be lost by breakage at the
final stage. The. question naturally arises whether
economy would not be effected by allowing free im-
port, even at the cost of subventions to British makers.
With reference to Mr. Watson Baker’s statement
(NaTuURE, June 24, p. 518) that there are 12,000
German binoculars in London, I confess that I had
chiefly in mind the use of apparatus in teaching and
research. The sale for general use certainly raises a
difficulty. As to losses incurred by work done for
Government Departments during the war, so far as
my information goes payment for these did not. err
on the side of economy. Liability for excess-profit
duty surely implies that the profit has been made.
The statement by Mr. C. Baker (Naturr, May 20,
p- 356) that capitalists will not put money into the
business raises another question. It may well be
that British makers do not find it profitable to
undertake the supply of fine chemicals and special
apparatus used only in small amount, even apart from
foreign competition. If so, why not give up the trade
to those who make a profit on the sale?
The desire of the British industry for prohibition
of import appears to rest chiefly on the fear of com-
petition by Germany. I am not one of those who
imagine that because an instrument is of German
origin it is necessarily superior to all others. Indeed,
I have heard of instruments verified at Charlotten-
At the present prices of mate-.
any apparatus at any time the situation would be
different.
There seems to be much doubt as to whether it is
really possible to obtain foreign apparatus at a price
much lower than the British. Should this be the
case, the payment of a subsidy might be considered
where there is actual underselling. The test would
then become one of quality.
The importance of the subject may, I think, serve
as an excuse for this lengthy letter. Scientific workers
have every desire to assist the development of the
industry, but they feel that they are not justified in
wasting time and money where it could be avoided.
And if this correspondence has brought out the fact
that satisfaction has not yet been given in the matter
of quality, especially in the case of certain goods, it —
will have been of some value. It is possible that
users have not sufficiently made known their difficul-
ties to the makers, and have been sometimes tent
with the purchase of foreign material when further
inquiry and discussion might have enabled British
goods to be forthcoming. W. M. Bay iss.
University College, London.
The Separation of the Isotones of Chlorine. —
Mr. D. L. CuapMan’s argument appears essentially
to be similar to that already developed from a quite
different point of view by Lindemann (Phil. ee,
1919, vol. xxxvii., p. 523; vol. xxxviii., p. 173), that
because isotopes are (theoretically) separable by
physical means, they must also be chemically separ-
able according to thermo-dynamical reasquias ae
fact that the particular mode of separation by semi-
permeable membranes (assumption (3), NATURE,
July 15, p. 611) is highly fanciful need not obscure
the nature of the argument. Lindemann’s conclusion
that, though isotopes cannot be identical chemically, —
the difference may be reduced to an unmeasurable one
of the second order of magnitude by suitable assump-
tions as to the ‘‘ Nullpunktenergie,’’ seems to indicate —
the more hopeful line of advance. The chemical non-
separability of isotopes, of which there is an accumu-
lated mass of experimental evidence, seems to call for —
consequent adjustments in thermo-dynamic theory —
rather than the reverse. .
The following considerations may throw light on —
the matter. I have stated (NATURE, June 24, p. 516) —
that, on the assumption of the chemical identity of —
the isotopes, the distribution given by probability con- —
siderations of the two kinds of atoms among the —
three kinds of molecules is 2
Cl, : Cl’, : Cl.CV: : n?:(1—m)*?: 2n(t—m) . (i)
where n and (1—n) are the fractional proportions of —
the Cl and Cl’ atoms respectively. This leads to the ©
equilibrium condition : om
[C1,][Cl’,]=3[C1L.Cl]? . Xi tah MEY ;
Now if one applies in the conventional manner this:
result to the reversible reaction 4 1
Cl,+CV,=22CL.Cr, ;
burg being found inaccurate. It would certainly be
less obstructive than total prohibition if the restric-
tion applied to German goods only. But there are
other: considerations to be remembered here, such as
the importance of giving an opportunity to that country
to restore its credit. However this may be, the large
profits of their chemical industries referred to above
raise some doubt as to the real cause of the present
unsatisfactory conditions in Germany.
The point raised by Mr. Dunkerly that American
microscopes and lenses are being sold here, although
the rate of exchange is against us, suggests that the
source of the trouble is not the low value of the
German mark. This view is confirmed by other cor-
respondents. If it is correct, there would be no
real gain in a mere prohibition of import. Improve-
ments in modes of manufacture are needed, and we
come back again to the necessity for more scientific
research.
I note that the British ‘Optical Instrument | denoting by k, and k, the coefficients of velocity of the
Manufacturers’ Association (Nature, May 20, | direct and the inverse reactions, one gets
p- 355) considers that a tariff might have the
result of removing the inducement to improve quality, | 5,
but I foresee so many difficulties in the way of
convincing a Government official that a particular
piece of apparatus could not be obtained in England
that I am unable to accept the Suggestion of import
by permit as a satisfactory alter@ative. If, however,
it were possible for every scientific worker to obtain
without difficulty a general permit for the import of
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
k,n*(1—n)?=k,{2n(1—n)}?
k,=4k,.
This, to say the least, is unexpected, because if co-
efficients of velocity of reaction have any physical
significance at all, one would expect them to be the
same for substances assumed to be chemically iden-
tical. The result is clearly due to a loose method of
jULY 22, 1920]
NATURE
643
5 ; :
_ choosing the concentrations, for if we re-write the
reversible reaction
ied Cl,+Cl’,—Cl.Cl’+Cl.CY
it transpires that we have chosen for the concentration
of the resultants, because they are the same, the sum
of their individual concentrations, although for the
reactants, which also are chemically the same, the
- individual concentrations have been taken. It is clear
_ that it is the individual concentrations in both cases
_ that have to be taken, and therefore that one-half of
_ the CI.Cl’ concentration is involved. Then k,=k,.
_ So with any reaction of this type involving two mole-
cules, apart from the question of isotopes altogether,
_ the 4 that always appears in the conventional text-
book examples is merely a consequence of a loose and
_ physically unjustifiable mode of representing the con-
‘centrations. Writers of future text-books might
ponder a little over this. If the same change in the
choice of the concentrations is made in the thermo-
> pea argument, the difference of entropies,
R log, 4, reduces apparently to R log, r=o0.
I have now made some progress in the application
of probability considerations to the kinetics of the
reaction. The distribution already given (i) has refer-
ence merely to the manner in which the two kinds of
atoms will arrange themselves among the three kinds
of molecules, assuming promiscuous combination be-
_ tween the two kinds, the two kinds being identical.
_ But the particular distribution obtained does, I find,
depend upon the kind of recombination assumed. As
regards the dissociation of the molecules into atoms
prior to their recombination, the matter appears
So aay at least so far as I have got. Thus
whe one supposes that in a certain time a certain
fraction of collisions, the same on the average for
_ each kind of molecular collision, is fruitful in dis-
_ sociating the two molecules into four atoms, or one
_ regards the dissociation as monomolecular, as _ pre-
sumably it would be if light were the dissociating
agent, one arrives at the same result, that if x, y, and
_ # denote fractional proportions of Cl,,Cl’, and C1.Cl’
‘molecules respectively (x+y+z=1), the relative rate
of disa rance of each by dissociation is similarly
denoted. By equating this rate of disappearance to the
rate of formation for the three kinds of molecules, one
gets the equilibrium distribution. The distribution
given by (i) is got in this way, whether (1) all the
_atoms of the two kinds recombine promiscuously or
x (2) the four atoms formed in a single fruitful col-
fision recombine again only among themselves. If
a similar limitation be applied to a monomolecular
dissociation, obviously the reaction cannot affect the
distribution at all, which remains unchanged whatever
_ the initial distribution. But I also found by in-
_ advertently applying the law of promiscuous recom-
bination separately to each of the nine cases that have
_ to be taken into account on the collision view—since
_ there are three types of molecules which may collide
_ with any one of the three types—instead of to the
: sums of each of the two kinds of atoms produced,
_ that a very extraordinary equilibrium distribution
resulted, given by
Cl, : Cy: CLCY : : 4n(t+2n) : {(3-2n)(1—n) :4n(1—n),
which leads to the curious concentration equation
[C1,][Cl’,] =} { [C1.Cl’]?+ [C1.C1’] }.
This in the case n=o-5 ‘happens to reduce to Mr.
Chapman’s relation (i) (NATURE, June 17, p. 487).
case, of course, has no physical meaning, but
it may serve to show that the equilibrium distribution
is sensitive to the particular ‘assumptions made as to
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
the type of reaction which occurs. I do not imagine
I have exhausted the physical possibilities, but, so far
as I can see, my distribution relation (i) covers the
physically conceivable cases, and therefore the half,
not the whole, concentration of the substance under-
going a bimolecular reaction with itself ought to enter
into the equilibrium equation.
FREDERICK Soppy.
Science in Medical Education.
TuE discussion at the British Medical Association
on july 1 on the place of preliminary science in the
medical curriculum seemed to indicate practical
unanimity on some points, such as the need for a
higher minimum standard of general education, the
raising of the minimum age tor the registration of
medical students to seventeen years, and the. neces-
sity for the maintenance of a high standard of instruc-
‘tion in physics, chemistry, and biology. There was
no indication of the desire on the part of any one of
the speakers to reduce the present standard of require-
ments in any one of these three fundamental sciences,
and several suggestions were put forward for extend-
ing the courses of each of them into the later years
of medical study.
Particularly welcome to many of the science teachers
who were present were the remarks of Dr. Bracken-
bury, .who insisted that a high standard of scientific
education was just as necessary for the general prac-
titioner as it is in the case of any specialist, and that
consequently, in so far as the preliminary science
courses are concerned, there should be no division of
the courses into a higher and lower standard for
different classes of medical students.
On the question of the relegation of the science
courses to the school period of the student’s educa-
tion there were some minor points of difference of
opinion, and there is need for further consideration
of this matter and for the development of a common
plan of action. If by raising the age of registration
to seventeen years the school period is increased by
an ‘average of one year, there will be time for some
school instruction in the fundamental sciences after
the student has passed a matriculation examination
without science, and there can be no doubt that if
this time is profitably used, so that the student gains
some knowledge of the elementary facts and prin-
ciples of the sciences, the courses in the first year
of study at the universities can be so modified in form
as to bring home to the student much more forcibly
than the courses do at present the relation of pure to
applied science in medicine. The very prevalent idea
that a great deal of time is wasted in the first year
at the university in learning science that has no
application to medicine arises entirely from the fact
that the majority of the students come to the uni-
versity so ignorant of elementary science and so un-
trained in scientific thought that the time of the
university teachers is wasted in teaching the most
elementary principles that could and should be taught
at school. It seemed, however, to be the general
opinion of those who were present at the meeting
that the teaching of chemistrv, physics, and biology
should not cease at the end of the school period, but
be extended into the first year of university study in
a form which would be more general as regards prin-
ciples, and more specialised as regards its application
to the medical sciences. The suggestion made by Prof.
Lorrain Smith and other sneakers, that the teaching
of science should be extended into the later vears of
the medical curricylum so that the links that bind
the pure sciences to the medical sciences should be
continuously presented to the medical student, does
644
‘WATURE
[JuLy 22, 1920
ar
not seem to me really practical unless the time
required for a medical- qualification is increased.
The time-table of the later years of medical study
is already so overcrowded, there is such urgent
demand for more time for pathology, for instruction
and practice in the wards, for the study of special
medical subjects, and for some course of irstruction
in psychology, that it is difficult to see how any
more lectures on pure science subjects can be squeezed
in. It seems to me that the special need of medical
education at the present time is a carefully thought out
scheme of post-graduate studies, in which the teachers
of chemistry, physics, and biology would take part,
in all the large medical schools of the country.
Manchester. SypNEy J. Hickson.
The Mechanics of the Glacial Anticyclone Ilustrated
~ by Exweriment.
In various publications issued during the past
decade’ the present writer has treated the peculiar
air circulation which obtains above a continental
glacier. A number of well-known writers, among
them Sir John Murray and Buchan, had early pointed
out that essentially anticyclonic conditions obtained
over the Antarctic region as a region, but without
reference to any connection with the continental
glacier; while the late Admiral Peary was the first to
note the dominance of centrifugal surface-currents
over the Greenland continental glacier,*? which im-
portant observation was the starting point of the
writer’s studies,
In all my writings upon the glacial anticyclone I
have been at much pains to explain that the domed
surface of the ice is essential to the development both
of the anticyclone and of the alternating calms and
blizzards which record its strophic action. In my
“Characteristics of Existing Glaciers’? it is stated
(p; 149): ‘“‘It is due to the peculiar shield-like form
of this ice-mass that the heavier cooled bottom, laver
[of air] is able to slide off radially as would a film
of oil from a model of similar form. The centrifugal
nature of this motion tends to produce a vacuum
above the central area of the ice-mass, and the air
must be drawn down from the upper layers of the
atmosphere in order to supply the void. It is here
that is located the ‘eye’ of the anticyclone.”” Again
(p. 266): ‘‘This anticyclonic circulation of the air is
not determined in any sense by latitudes, but is the
consequence of air refrigeration through contact with
the elevated snow-ice dome, thus causing air to slide
off in all directions along the steepest gradients.”
In my monograph published in the Proceedings of
the American Philosophical ‘Society it is stated
(p. 188): “It is because the inland-ice masses have
a domed surface that they permit the air which is
cooled by contact to flow outward centrifugally, and
so develop at an ever-accelerating rate a vortex of
exceptional strength.”’
It is, of course, fully realised that a domed surface
is not the only one which theoretically might be con-
ceived to produce such an anticyclone, but it is the
only one of which we have examples in Nature
bringing about such results. Any sort of pyramid
would suffice; the essential thing is that the surface
1-““The Ice Masses on and about the Antarctic Continent,” Zedtsch. f
Gletscherk., vol. v., 1910, pp. 107-20. ** Characteristics of the Inland-ice of
the Arctic Regions,” Proc, Am. Philos, Soc., vol. xlix., 1910, PP. 96-109.
“Characteristics of Existing Glaciers” (Macmillan, rorr), chaps. ix. and
xvi. and Afterword. ‘‘ The Pleistocene Glaciation of North America Viewed
in the Light of our Knowledge of Existing Continental Glaciers,” Bull. Am.
Geogr. Soc., vol. xliii., rorz, pp. 641-59. ‘‘Earth Features and their
Meaning” ( illan, 1912), pp. 283-86. ‘‘The Ferrel Doctrine of Polar
Calms and 1's Disproofin Recent Observations,” Proc. Second Pan-American
Scientific Congress. vol. ii., Sec. IL., Washington, 1917, pp. 179-89.
2 Geographical Journal, vol. xi., 1808, pp. 233-34. d .
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
should have its convexity upwards rather than down-
wards. Either over a concave surface or about a flat
one the refrigerating engine cannot operate.
With the view of demonstrating the relation of the
air circulation above a continental glacier to the ice-
dome, I have prepared some simple devices for ex-
perimentation. In the first experiment water was
used as the fluid medium to represent air in an
apparatus (Fig. 1) which consists of a glass tank
12 in. by 6 in. by 6 in., containing at the bottom a
copper vessel of semi-elliptical cross-section to repre-
sent a portion of the domed surface of the glacier.
This copper vessel may be filled from below and quite
independent of the tank itself. When used for the
experiment the tank itself is filled with distilled
water at room-temperature, rendered slightly alkaline
by addition of sodium hydroxide. Phenolphthalein is
then sprinkled over the surface of the water in the
tank. It soon develops a dark-red cloudiness which
remains .near the surface. When ice-water is
introduced into the copper dome the adjacent layer
of water is cooled by contact and slides off to either
side, thus drawing down the coloured water from the
surface so as to simulate the vortex and the outflow
of a glacial anticyclone. If Victoria green is used to
Fic. 1.—A glacial anticyclone simulated in water currents (with use of
Victoria green as a colouring dye).
replace phenolphthalein as a dye, its crystals must
be supported by a container having a bottom of fine-
meshed screen, but in this case ordinary tap-water
may be employed, since it is not necessary to render
the water alkaline. ;
A similar experiment may be carried out using
air as the circulating medium and smoke as the
visible substance which betrays the currents. It is,
however, less suited to photographic representation
of the circulation, and the device only is therefore
represented in Fig. 2. The device consists of a glass
jar open at the top, such as is in common use for —
goldfish; within this jar is a metal dome to repre-
sent the domed surface of the glacier. This dome
when filled with ice-water at once develops’ strong
anticyclonic circulation of the air in the jar, and the ~
circulation can be made visible if a burning cigarette
is supported on a platform near the top of the jar
and near its central axis. The jar is covered by a
metal plate, the central portion of which is separate
and attached to the funnel through which the ice- |
water is admitted to the dome and on the stem of
which is the platform that supports the cigarette.
The funnel may almost equally well be dispensed with,
and the dome, already filled with ice-water, introduced —
into the jar with the hand.
o97-
1920]
‘ - Jeny
“ATURE
645
We are here dealing with the constrained motions
of falling bodies corresponding to those sliding on
inclined planes all joined at their highest points.
Such sliding motions are subject to the acceleration
, of gravity, and hence are slow in starting, but later
wire high velocities. Since the falling body is air
which is displacing warmer, and’ hence lighter, air-
layers, in the case of the glacier its motions are
further modified as a result of adiabatic changes,
_and,, since large quantities of moisture are involved,
important transformations of sensible and latent
at. The source of this moisture is believed to be
rgely the ice-needles of the cirri.
~The tendency to produce centrifugal surface-air
circulation above the glacier (anticyclonic movement)
_is promoted by quiet conditions of the atmosphere,
since the measure of contact cooling of the surface
c og of air over the ice is a direct function of time.
_ The halting of this circulation or the induction of
_-_+amy reverse centripetal movement of the surface air
(cyclonic movement) is an inverse function of the
time, since it is a direct function of the distance the
air currents descend vertically during their outward
ales ee
7 >
1
Fic. 2.—Device used to produce anticyclonic circulation
in ait above a cold dome,
‘movement. Each of these movements is, however,
modified by the transformations of sensible and latent
_ heats of fusion and evaporation of the water brought
_ im in the form of the ice-needles of the cirri.
, acceleration of gravity, is also retarded by the neces-
sity of fusing and vaporising the ice-needles high up
abstraction of heat and local displacements of air;
whereas heat is evolved: near the end of the blizzard,
when fresh snow is precipitated near the glacier sur-
face.
latent heat will operate so as to add their effect
rather than to counteract that due to cooling or to
adiabatic effect. They thus tend to cause blizzards to
develop gradually and to end suddenly. The halt—the
' end of the stroke of the refrigerating glacial engine—
comes about as soon as the rapid descent of the air
carried out by the blizzard has, through its adiabatic
effect, quite overcome the surface cooling due largely
to the earlier calm. The length of the blizzard, if it
NO. 2647. VOL. 105]
in the vortex of the forming anticyclone, which causes.
Both these transformations of sensible and.
precipitates fresh snow, should therefore be adjusted™=
in a measure to the expanse of the glacier surfacé—
over which the currents of air must slide beforé=
gaining the two miles of descent on the dome, in
addition to that which takes place in the ‘“‘eye” of
the anticyclone. Wan. H. Hopps._
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A., June 17.
The Diamagnetism of Hydrogen.
Tue fact quoted by Dr. Oxley in his letter to
Nature of July 8, that the diamagnetism of hydrogen
becomes less as the temperature is raised, seems to
be in favour of a kinetic hypothesis of the diamag-
netism of that gas rather than against it.
If a magnet starting from rest is made to oscillate
it remains paramagnetic until the oscillations on either
side of the position of rest become 130°, after which
it behaves as a diamagnetic body, the diamagnetism
increasing until rotations begin. But once in rotation
the diamagnetism diminishes as the rotational energy
increases; and when this energy is very great the
magnet is nearly indifferent to a magnetic field, and
it appears to be non-magnetic. If it is allowable to
treat temperature as a measure of this energy, then
this result means that the diamagnetism should
become less as the temperature is raised, and this is
what has been observed.
Since the paramagnetism of a rotating magnet is
found only for oscillations of less than 130°, the kinetic
energy must be comparatively small, and in the case
of hydrogen a change from diamagnetism to para-
magnetism can be expected to take place only when
the temperature is very near to the absolute’ zero.
Apart from the kinetic hypothesis, the fact that
there is any change at all of the diamagnetism of
hydrogen with temperature is opposed to the accepted
view which regards true diamagnetism as independent
of temperature. J. R. AsHwortu.
July 14.
Occurrence of Ozone in the Atmosphere.
WirtH reference to the lecture of Lord re ee
published in Nature of July 8 on ‘The Blue Sky
and the Optical Properties of Air,’’ the conflicting
results obtained by chemical methods in the estima-
tion of atmospheric ozone are recalled. I beg to
direct attention to my, paper on ‘‘The Occurrence of
Ozone in the Upper Atmosphere ’’ (Proc. Roy. Soc.,.
1914, A, vol. xc., p. 204), in which it is shown that
a reagent of potassium iodide solution can be made
to provide a basis for the distinction of ozone and
oxides of nitrogen at high dilutions and enable the
_approximate estimation of the former.
method it is shown that, in accordance with the con-
clusions of Lord Rayleigh, ozone is present in the
upper atmosphere, the amount present at an altitude
of 10,000 ft. being of the order of 5x10-° parts per
unit volume, Measurements made with sounding-
balloons up to altitudes of 20 km. also showed the
presence of definite amounts of ozone, but no detect-
able increase between 4 km. and 20 km. The view
/was put forward that this amount of ozone must. be
taken into account in considering the optical pro-
perties of the sky.
_ An extension of these measurements was made
with greater precision at the Mosso Laboratory on
Monte Rosa at an altitude of 15,000 ft., where an:
| average proportion of about 1x10~° parts per volume
| of ozone was found. J. N.’ Prine.
/ The Victoria, University of Manchester,
/ July 14.
By. this.
x
646
[JuLy 22, 1920
NATURE
Crystal Structure.
By Pror. W. L. Brace.
f ba’ arrangement of the atoms in many of the
simpler crystalline forms has now been
determined by X-ray analysis. In 1912 Laue
published his classical research on the diffraction
of X-rays by crystals, and the investigations thus
initiated have immensely increased our knowledge
of the nature of X-rays, of crystal structure, and
of the structure of the atom. Several methods
of analysing crystal structure have been used.
Laue passed a composite beam of X-rays, con-
sisting of radiations of all wave-lengths over a
continuous range, through a thin plate of crystal,
and he recorded the diffracted beams by allowing
them to fall on a photographic plate. The results
he obtained were too complex to admit of ready
interpretation, and a simpler method was realised
in the X-ray spectrometer devised by W. H.
Potassium chloride, KCl. Calcium carbonate, calcite, CaCO3.
Bragg, in which monochromatic X-rays are re-
flected from individual crystal faces. In the
course of a series of experiments in which the
author took part, the structures of a number of
crystals such as rock-salt, the diamond, fluor,
zincblende, pyrites, and calcite were determined.
New fields were opened up by the method of
analysis initiated bv Debye and Scherrer, in which
a beam of monochromatic X-rays is passed
through a mass of finely powdered crystalline
material, and the resulting “haloes” recorded
photographically. Hull has extended this work
to a number of substances unobtainable as large
single crystals such as must be used in the X-ray
spectrometer. By these methods a wide range of
crystal forms has been surveyed.
Some crystalline structures possess symmetry of
a high order,, examples being potassium chloride
and zincblende, models of which are shown in
Fig. 1. In such cases as these every atom occu-
pies a symmetrical position in the crystal struc-
1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, May 28.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
Zinc sulphide, zincblende, ZnS.
Fic. 1,
ture. In potassium chloride each potassium atom
is symmetrically surrounded by six chlorine atoms,
each chlorine atom by six potassium atoms. The
atoms cannot be displaced from their positions
without destroying the symmetry of the crystal
structure; they are therefore fixed by symmetry
alone. Such a crystal is analysed very simply. ©
We have only to choose between various alterna-
tive arrangements, each quite determinate, in
seeking an explanation of the observed diffraction
effects.
When the symmetry does not fix the exact posi-
tions of the atoms, the analysis is more difficult.
In such cases atoms may occupy any position
along some axis or in some plane of the crystal
structure, and yet be in accord with the symmetry
provided the other atoms of the same kind are
Aluminium oxide, ruby, AlgOg.
given corresponding positions. In the structure
of the ruby, Al,O, (Fig. 1), the unit of which the
structure is composed consists of a pair of
aluminium atoms surrounded symmetrically by
three oxygen atoms. The distance apart of the
aluminium atoms along the axis joining their
centres, and the distance of the oxygen atom from
this axis, are both indeterminate in so far as the
crystalline symmetry is concerned, and their exact.
values must be deduced by the X-ray analysis. It
is these indeterminate parameters which make a
crystalline structure complex.
The problem is simplified by regarding the
atoms in a crystal as a set of spheres packed
tightly together. This manner of regarding the
structure was proposed in 1907 by Barlow and
Pope, who assigned to the sphere representing an
atom a volume proportional to its valency, and
by packing these spheres together as closely as
possible they obtained structures which accounted
for crystal forms. We now know the structure
of the crystals dealt with by Barlow and Pope,
" *
i
f
2
3
;
:
_ Jury. 22,.1920]
NATURE
647
and we know ‘that’ it is-in-many~ cases” not that |
a by the “valency volume” law. The
law can be modified, however, so as to apply to
the majority of crystals so far analysed. It may
be shown that we can assign a definite diameter
to the sphere representing the atom, a diameter
characteristic of the element in question. :Some
“atoms appear to occupy a small domain in a
‘crystal structure, others a larger space. By find-
ing the distances between the atomic centres in
a number of crystals the diameters represented
in Fig. 2 have been calculated. This figure sum-
marises an empirical relation, which states that
the distance between neighbouring atomic centres
in a crystal structure is equal to the sum of two
constants, characteristic of the atoms concerned.
We can therefore picture the crystal structure as
a set of spheres packed tightly together, just as
Barlow and Pope did; but in this case the dimen-
‘arrangements, those of the inert: gases, are those
in which the outer shell has its full complement
of electrons. Such forms are very stable; they
are characterised by a weak external field. The
chemical properties of the other elements ré-re-
sent their tendency to revert to a more st: ble
electron system. .
The crystal of potassium chloride, on this point
of view, consists of alternate potassium and
chlorine ions. The potassium atom is surrounded
by nineteen electrons when electrically neutral.
Eighteen of. these electrons complete the three
electron shells, represented, for instance, by the
very stable arrangement of argon. The remain-
ing electron has no place in the stable system,
and there is therefore a tendency for the atom
to part with it and become’a positively charged
potassium ion, the nucleus with nineteen element-
ary charges being surrounded by eighteen elec-
sions of the spheres are those in Fig. 2, not those | trons. Chlorine similarly tends to gain an elec-
given by the valency volume law. tron. The KCl structure may therefore be re-
< SE aim]
§ e »
en | ‘ 43
| - Ry 2
x< a. \ mR aE iced Ba >
8 ] Sr Thi,
a eee $a
Sr” ga ts § Cd 5 mee Fags
i ey oe ne roe s Ti Fe Coy. Cuz, Po? 5 Sn Spe. ee SS
2 gis (errr B) fo]: cemal | | "5 se Br BV
BE Le S 3G \ 2
S 2 c .
be Be = NOF aie
“full ;
oLLLit | [ Litt itt tty LI Litt tt tty Litt,
2 ee 10 1S 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60
Atomic Numbers of the Elements .
Fic. 2.
The atoms in a crystal are thus packed together
as if they were inelastic spheres in contact. This
_ is merely a way of visualising the structure, and
must not be interpreted too literally. A ready
explanation of the form of the graph in Fig. 2 is
afforded by that conception of atomic structure
which Stark, Born, Landé, Lewis, and others
have helped to build up, and which has recently
been so brilliantly summarised in a series of
papers by Langmuir. Many independent lines cf
investigation have led to the conception of the
atom as a positive nucleus surrounded by an elec-
tron system, in which the electrons are fixed at,
or oscillate about, certain definite positions in the
atomic structure. This is a view which forms a
contrast to the Bohr atomic model, where the
electron orbits enclose the atomic nucleus. In
the “fixed electron” atom the electrons are
arranged in a series of shells surrounding the
nucleus, the numbers which complete the succes-
sive shells being 2, 8, 8, 18, 18, and 32. Certain
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
’
garded as an assemblage of argon shells, with
resultant positive and negative charges, which
are held together by their charges, and kept apart
by some force of repulsion which we must sup-
. pose to exist between the outer electron systems.
The result is the structure in Fig. 1 where every
ion is surrounded symmetrically by the greatest
possible number—six—of ions of the opposite
sign. :
In the case of two electro-negative elements
which are chemically combined, both atoms have
a smaller number of electrons than corresponds
to stability of the outer shell. Stability is attained
by their holding pairs of electrons in common.
In this way Langmuir has succeeded in the most
striking manner in explaining the complicated
valency of such elements as nitrogen and phos-
phorus.
The structure of calcite (Fig. 1) is an example
of both types of chemical combination. The cal-
cium atom, represented, by the large sphere, is
648
NATURE
[Jury 22, 1920
an. ion with a double positive charge, the ‘CO,
group an ion. with: a double negative charge.
These ions group themselves in the same way in
the calcite and potassium chloride structures, as
the models show, except that the form of the CO, |
group distorts the cube into a rhombohedron,.
The electro-negative atoms of carbon and oxygen |
hold electrons in common, and form a closely
knitted group, and from their distance apart we
can'iform an estimate of the dimensions of the
outer electron shell; it is the lower limit ‘to which
the diameters tend at the end of each period in
Fig. 2.
In this an explanation is found of the large
diameters assigned to the _ electro-positive
elements, and the small diameters assigned to
the electro-negative elements, in Fig. 2. The
electro-positive atoms never share electrons with
their neighbours; ‘they are therefore isolated in
the crystal structure, and appear to occupy a
dJarge domain. The electro-negative elements,
bound together by common electrons, have to
be represented by. small spheres.
Comparing two crystals such as sodium fluoride
and magnesium oxide, which have identical struc-
tures, we see that botle may be represented by
alternate electron groups of the Neon type. Jn
the case of magnesium oxide the ions carry a
charge twice as great as the sodium and fluorine
ions, and the consequence is that the MgO struc-
ture, though identical in form with the NaF struc-
ture, has its dimensions reduced. The side of
the elementary cube has a length of 4.22 x 10-8 cm.
in the case of MgO, a length of 4-78 x 10-8 em, in
the case of NaF.
In diamond every carbon atom is surrounded
symmetrically by four other carbon atoms ar-
ranged at the corners of a tetrahedron. The
carbon atom has four electrons in its outer shell,
and, in erder to complete the number eight re-
-quired for stability, it shares a pair of electrons
with each neighbouring atom. The whole crystal
is thus one continuous molecule, and the great
hardness .and density receive a simple explane-
tion.
A crystal of an electro-positive element cannot
be bound together by common electrons. .Here
we’ must suppose that the crystal consists of ions
and electrons, the ions representing the stable
electron systems, and the electrons being present
in sufficient numbers to make the whole assem-
blage electrically neutral. From the fact that
all crystals of electro-positive elements are con-
ductors of electricity we deduce that the electrons
have no fixed place in the system; they move
under the influence of an electromotive force. -
It has been possible only to indicate the manner
im -which -erystal structure helps to elucidate the
structure of the atom, and many generalisations
have been made to which there are exceptions. It
is hoped that this discussion will show the in-
terest of the study of crystals. In a crystal there
are countless atomic groupings oriented with per-
fect regularity. Individually their effect is too
small to observe,. but by illuminating the crystal
with X-rays, the wave-length of which is much
less than the distance separating the atoms, we
can make use of their concerted effect on the rays
to enable us to see into the intimate structure of
matter.’
‘Researches on Growth of Plants.:
By Sir JaGapis CHUNDER Bose, F.R.S.
Il.
~The General Principle Determining Tropic
Movements.
put movements in plants under the stimuli of
- the environment—the twining of tendrils, the
effect of temperature variation, the action of light
inducing movements sometimes towards and at
other times away from the stimulus, the diametric-
ally opposite responses of the shoot and the root
to the same stimulus of gravity, the night and ‘day
positions of organs of plants—present such
diversities that it must have appeared hopeless to
endeavour to discover any fundamental reaction
applicable in all cases. It has, therefore, been
customary to assume different sensibilities espe-
cially evolved for the advantage of the plant. But
teleological argument and the use of descriptive
phrases, like positive and negative tropism, offer
no real explanation of the phenomena. I propose
to describe experimental ‘results from which it will
1 Continued from p. 6r7.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
be possible to discover an underlying law which
determines the various tropic movements in plants.
Direct Effect of Stimulus.—In the motile pul-
vinus of Mimosa the excitation caused by stimulus
causes» a sudden ‘diminution. of, turgor and con-
traction of the cells. With regard’ to this fall of
turgor it is not definitély ‘known whether excita-
tion causes a sudden diminution in the osmotic
strength of cell sap or increase in the permeability
of the ectoplast. The state of excitation in a
vegetable tissue may, however, be detected, as I
have ‘shown elsewhere, by the following i
tions :) (1) diminution : of turgor; (2) contraction
and fall: of leaf of Mimosa; (3) electromotive
change of galvanometric negativity; (4) variation
of electric resistance; and (5) retardation of the
rate of growth. :
Continuity of Physiological Reaction in Growing
and Non-growing Organs.
In investigations on the effect of all modes _
of stimulation, mechanical, .electrical, or radia-
JuLy 22, 1920]
NATURE
649
tional, I find that they check growth or bring
about an “incipient ” contraction; when the in-
tensity of stimulus is increased, the effect cul-
minates in an actual contraction—
a result exactly parallel to the
contraction of the pulvinus under
direct stimulus. This would ex-
plain the similarity of tropic move-
ments in pulvinated and growing
organs.
Indirect Effect of Stimulus.—A
novel result was discovered under
indirect stimulation—that is to say,
when the stimulus was applied at
some distance from the responding
area, i.e. the pulvinus or the grow-
ing region. This caused an increase
of turgor, an expansion, an en-
hancement of the rate of growth,
and an erectile movement of the
leaf of Mimosa, and an electro-
motive variation of galvanometric
positivity. This effect is specially
exhibited in tissues which are semi-
conductors of excitation.2 The
contrasted effects of direct and
indirect stimulus are given in the
following tabular .statement :—
Taste I.—Direct and Indirect Effects of Stimulus.
a .
Direct Indirect
Increase of ex-
pansion.
Erection of the leaf.
Enhancement of the rate
Diminution — of turgor,
contraction.
Fall of leaf of Mimosa.
Diminution of the rate of
turgor,
growth. of growth, 3
Galvanometric nega- | Galvanometric posi-
tivity. tivitv.
In Fig. 4 is given a record which shows in
the same specimen (1) the acceleration of growth
under indirect, and (2) a retardation of growth
under direct, stimulation.
.
Fic. 4.—Effect of indirect and direct stimulation on growth : ({) shows application of
indirect stimulus with consequent acceleration of growth ; application of direct
rt d ;
_ stimulus at (X) induces contraction and subsequen
- We thus arrive at the law of effects of direct
and indirect stimulus :—
2 ** Plant Response,” p. 524.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
of growth
Direct stimulus induces contraction; indirect
stimulus causes the opposite effect of expansion.
The same law applies when stimulus acts on
ca) Spree | a
|
1 3 ee
Fic. 5.—Effects of direct and indirect stimulus: @, Stimulus applied directly at the growing region
inducing retardation of growth or contraction as represented by dotted line (stimulated
area in this and in following represented as shaded); 4, stimulus applied indirectly (at
some distance from growing region) gives rise to acceleration of growth and expansion}
c, stimulus applied at right side of organ causes contraction of that side and expansion of
the opposite side, thus giving rise to positive curvature towards stimulus; ¢, excitation
transmitted to the opposite side causes neutralisation; e, excitation caused by intense
stimulation js transmitted across and thus reverses the normal curvature to negative, ze.
away from stimulus.
one side of the organ. When stimulus of any
kind acts on the right side (Fig. 5c) the directly
stimulated right side contracts, and the indirectly
stimulated opposite, or left side, expands, the
result being a positive tropic-curvature towards
the stimulus. This explains the twining of
tendrils and positive heliotropism.
Negative Heliotropism.—When the light is very
strong and long continued, the over-excited plant-
organs may begin to turn away. How is this
effected? My experiments show that the strong
excitation percolates into and traverses the organ
and provokes contraction on the further side, thus
neutralising their former bending (Fig. 5d). The
organ now places itself at right angles to the
light, and this particular reaction has been
termed dia-heliotropism. In certain cases
the transverse conductivity of the organ is
considerable. The result of this is an
enhanced excitation and contraction of the
further side, while the contraction of the
near side is reduced on account of fatigue
caused by over-excitation. The organ thus
bends away from light or exhibits so-called
negative heliotropism (Fig. 5e). These
effects are accentuated when one side of the
organ is more excitable than the other.
Thus under the continued action of light the
response record shows first a movement
towards light, then neutralisation, and
finally a movement away from light. In
this way a continuity of reaction is demon-
strated proving that the assumption of
specific positive and negative heliotropic sensi-
bility is unjustified.
That the application of stimulus on the near
650
NATURE
[JuLy 22, 1920
side of the organ induces at first an increase of
turgor on the distal side and that this first effect
may be neutralised and reversed by transverse
conduction of excitation are seen strikingly ex-
hibited in the accompanying record (Fig. 6),
where a narrow beam of light was applied at a
point of the stem diametrically opposite to the
motile leaf which was to serve as the indicator of
the induced variation of turgor.under the unilateral
action of light. That this indirect stimulation
eaused an enhancement of turgor of the opposite
side was soon demonstrated by the erectile move-
ment of the leaf. When the stimulus is moderate
and of short duration, the response is only erectile
or positive. But when the stimulation is con-
tinued the excitatory impulse is conducted to the
distal side, giving rise to diminution of turgor,
contraction, and the fall of the leaf.
Fic. 6.—Increased turgor due to indirect stimulation inducing erection of Mimosa leaf:
a, diagram of experiment ; 4, erectile response (shown by down-curve) followed by rapid
fall (up-curve) due to transverse conduction of excitation.
TaBLeE II],—Showing Responsive Effects Common
to Pulvini and Growing Organs under Uni-
lateral Stimulation,
Effect of direct stimulation on ~
r Effect of indirect stimulation on
proximal side - i
distal side
Diminution. of turgor, Increase of turgor.
Contraction and _ con- | Expansion and convexity.
cavity.
Galvanometric nega- | Galvanometric posi-
tivity. tivity.
When stimulus is strong or long-continued, the
excitatory effect is conducted to the distal side,
neutralising or reversing the first response.
Space does not allow my entering into the ques-
tion of Nyctitropism, which will be found fully
explained in the ‘Life Movements in Plants,.”’
vol. il.
Geotropism.—No phenomenon of tropic re-
sponse appears to be so inexplicable as the oppo- °
site effects of stimulus of gravity on the root and
the shoot. As regards the mechanism of the up-
eurving of a horizontally laid shoot, it may be due
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
either to the expansion of the lower side or to an
active contraction of the other. In order to decide
the question I devised the method of geo-electric
response whereby the state of excitation (which is
attended by contraction) is independently detected
by the induced electromotive change of galvano-
metric negativity. Displacement of the shoot from
the vertical to the horizontal position is found to
be immediately followed by the clearest electric
indication that the upper is the excited side. The
electrical response is found to increase as the
sine of the angle of inclination. This excitation
of the upper side involves its contraction and the
‘resulting geotropic curvature upwards.
Localisation of Geo-perceptive Layer by Means
of the Electric Probe.—The new investigation was
carried out by means of my electric probe, which
consists of an exceedingly fine platinum wire en-
closed in a capillary glass tube, the
probe being thus electrically insulated
except at the extreme tip. When the
probe, suitably connected with a gal-
vanometer, is slowly thrust into the
stem, so that it enters one side and
comes out at the other, the galvano-
meter deflection shows by its indica-
tion the state of irritation of every
layer of cells throughout the organ.
When the stem is held in a vertical
position the probe during its passage
shows little or no electric sign of irrita-
tion. But when the stem is displaced
from the vertical to the horizontal
position, the geotropically sensitive
layer now perceives the stimulus and
becomes the focus of irritation, and
the probe on reaching this point gives
the maximum deflection of galvano-
metric negativity. This electric indication of irrita-
tion disappears as soon as the geotropic stimulus
is removed by restoration of the stem to a vertical
position. I was thus able to map out the contour
lines of physiological excitation inside a living
organ. The geo-perceptive layer was thus local-
ised at the endodermis.
In geotropic response the only anomaly that
remained was in regard to the response of the
root being opposite to that of the shoot. Every
cut portion of the growing region of the shoot
responds to the stimulus of gravity by bending
upwards. The growing region of the shoot is
therefore both sensitive to stimulus and responsive
to it. Hence geotropic stimulation of the shoot
is direct. But this is not the case with the root;
here it is the tip of the root which perceives the
stimulus, the geotropic bending taking place at
some distance from the tip. From the results of
electric investigation I find that the root tip be-
comes directly stimulated, while the responding
growing region some distance from it becomes
indirectly stimulated. Hence geotropic stimu-
lus acts indirectly in the responding region
of the root. I have shown that the effects of direct
and indirect stimulus on growth are antithetic; it
if
i.
aa
eye.
soon.
only a big man can play with success.
_ JuLy 22, 1929]
NATURE
651
therefore follows that the responses of shoot and
‘root to the direct and indirect stimulus. must be
_ of opposite signs.
_. The diverse movements of plants are thus
_ explained
of the
induces
establishment
direct stimulus
from the
general law that
*
a contraction and indirect stimulus an expan-
3 sion. ) . |
I. have shown, further, the extraordinary simi-
larity of physiological reaction in. the plant and
animal (Friday evening discourse, Royal Institu-
tion, May 29, 1914). The responsive phenomena
in plants must thus form an integral part of vari-
ous problems relating to irritability of all living
tissues, and without such study the investigation
must in future remain incomplete.
Popular Natural History.!
: (1) ae best popularisers, after all, are the
-masters—if they care to try; and Fabre’s
“Story Book of Science ”’ is a fine illustration. It
is very perfect—full of interesting . material,
vividly written, stimulating both observation and
reflection. He tells of ants, aphides, long-lived
ants and animals, procession caterpillars, bees,
spiders, shells, cotton, paper, silk, clouds, thunder,
rain, the sea, and more besides—all as _ if
‘it were a pleasure to him to talk, and just
the very easiest thing in the world. The book
must have been fashioned long ago, but so wisely
that there is little that requires changing; it was
meant for the children of more than a generation
ago, and it would be a joy of a reading-book in
_ schools to-day; it was written in French, and it
reads as if it had been composed in English. The
translator, Mr. A. T. De Mattos, has done his
work with great skill. We confess that we should
not call Hemerobius a dragon-fly, and there must
be something wrong in speaking of the ‘sharp
bones” in the silk-moth’s cornea, which Fabre
described as a rasper for filing at the silk threads
of the cocoon. But these are pin-pricks; the book
is past praising, and its pages are very pleasant
to read—pleasant both to the inner and the outer
(2) A translation of Fabre’s “Story Book of
Birds and Beasts ” is very welcome. The subjects
are for the most part familiar, but the handling
of them is masterly in its simplicity, grip, and
vividness. Fabre had a way of taking the reader
‘into his confidence, and making a sort of partner
of him in his observations. But it is a game that
We are
introduced to the cock and the hen, the egg and
the chicken, the duck and the goose and the
pigeon, the cat and the dog, the sheep and the
cow, the horse and the donkey, and we get inter-
1 (a) ‘The Story Book of Science.” By J. H. Fabre. Pp. 299.
¢ on: Hodder and Stoughton, n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
(2) ‘The Story Book of Birds and Beasts.” By J. H. Fabre. Pp. 315.
(London : Hodder and Stoughton, n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
(3) ‘Animal Life under Water.” By Dr. Francis Ward. Pp. x-+-178+
plates. (London: Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1910.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
(4) “Birds in Town and Village.” By W.H. Hudson. Pp. ix+274.
Illustrated. ndon and Toronto: J. M. Dent and Sons, Eta. ; New
York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1919.) Price ros. 6d. net.
(5) “The Book of a Naturalist.” By W. H. Hudson. Pp. viii+360.
on: Hodder and Reng Ng n.d.) Price ras. net.
(6) ‘‘ Wonders of Insect Life: Details of the Habits and Structure of
Insects.”’ Illustrated by the Camera and the Microscope. By J. H.
Cra’ . Pp. viiite2rr+32 plates. (London: George Routledge and
Sons, Ltd. ; New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., n.d.) Price 6s. net.
(7) ‘Just Look! or, How the Children Studied Nature.” By L.
Beatrice Thompson. Pp. viiit+2oq4+58 plates. (London: Gay and
Hancock, Ltd., n.d.) Price ss. net.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
We should be having a Fabre centenary
ested in them as if they were novelties. It is high
art. The stories should be used in schools.
The book is not without blemishes, of which
we venture to give some samples. We do not
know what to call the first part of a. hen’s
stomach, but we are sure that it cannot be called
“the succenturiate ventricle.” The story of the
making of the shell of the egg is misleading, and
it is not true to say that the hen must have car-
bonate of lime in her food. We are rather stag-
gered by some humming-birds “as small as our
large wasps.” The account given of “pigeon’s
milk” is erroneous. It should have been noted
that the passenger pigeon, in regard to which
Audubon’s account is quoted, has now ceased to
exist. For the translator’s work we have great
admiration; but it might have shown. wisdom as
well as piety to have got. an, editorial expert to
look into points such as we have illustrated. There
is no sense in perpetuating mistakes.
(3) Dr. Francis Ward’s book is in great, part
an attempt to take the point of view of the animal
under water.
Seen’ from below, the surface of the water would
appear as an extensive. mirror, with the river-bed
reflected upon it. Immediately. above the observer
_the reflecting surface is, broken by a circular: hole
or ‘“‘window.’’? Through the surface of the water, in
the area of this ‘‘ window,” the sky and objects im-
mediately overhead have their usual appearance, but
in addition surrounding objects above the water level
are also seen through the ‘‘ window” as dwarfed and
distorted images, suspended, as it were, in the air
above the circumference of the circular hole. .A ring
of iridescent colours separates the ‘‘ window” from
the surrounding reflecting surface.
Many of Dr. Ward’s observations have a direct
bearing on the concealment of aquatic animals,
and deserve careful attention from naturalists.
Let us illustrate. The size of the “window”
varies with the depth of the under-water observer ;
when birds and fishes on the surface slip out of
the “window ” they cease to be conspicuous (to
their enemies below) as silhouettes against the
sky. Protection under water may be afforded, as
in the case of brown trout, by reflection of the
surrounding coloration. White animals, such as
a white sea-anemone, take up a position where
the revealing top light is cut off. Black-plumaged
birds, like the water-hen, become mirrors under
the water owing to reflection from the air-bubbles
retained in their plumage.
After explaining the sub-aquatic conditions as
652
NATCGRE
[JULY 22, 1920
regards illumination, the author discusses the life
and behaviour of a number of types. In connec-
tion with diving birds, he suggests that the
“flashes” of reflected light from the moving body
may attract fishes. Under the water the back of
the Great Northern Diver ‘“‘simulates a shoal. of
small shining fish.” The inordinate appetite of
diving birds is emphasised; thus a small cor-
morant took. from Dr. Ward at one time twenty-
seven herrings of average size. It seems to us
that the author does not sufficiently appreciate
From ‘‘ Animal Life under Water.”
The otter alarmed.
the good these birds do from the fisherman’s
point of view in destroying species which devour
food-fishes. There are two sides to most indict-
ments of birds.
In addition to the contributions to the theory
of concealment of water animals from enemies
or from booty, the book contains many very
interesting natural history sketches—of the seal,
the heron, the kingfisher, various. kinds of gulls,
and, best of all, the otter.
the otter strikes us as the finest part of the book.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
Indeed, the story of ©
We are not sure that a popular book, especially
one with a definite and very interesting problem
to discuss—animal life under water—is the place
for weighing the beneficial and injurious effects
of the activities of particular birds. That should
be done in a severely scientific and critical way-
Dr. Ward describes, for instance, the contents
of the stomachs of thirty black-headed gulls,
which show that these birds were “certainly not
helping the farmer.” But it is easy to get expert
records of thirty cases which show the reverse.
The question is to which side the
balance inclines in a particular area
and through the year. This enter-
taining and breezy book is copiously
illustrated with very interesting
photographs. We appreciate these,
but we may hint at the injudicious-
ness of putting even a diagrammatic
penguin into a scene on a Highland
loch.
(4) Mr. Hudson’s “Birds in Town
and Village” is based on “Birds in
a Village’ (1893), his first book about
bird life, but much of it is new. It
is a continual delight—a succession of
fine pictures—and it is very gratifying
that the beautiful text should be so
successfully illustrated. Mr. E. J.
Detmold’s coloured drawings are alto-
gether charming. The time is past
for speaking of the author’s style, his
irresistible enthusiasm, his intimate
knowledge of birds, and his pas-
sion for them. If more _ people
read his books there would soon
be no need for a Plumage (Prohibi-
tion) Bill.
“The robin is greatly distinguished
in a sober-plumaged company by the
vivid tint on his breast. He is like
the autumn leaf that catches a ray of
sunlight on its surface, and shines
conspicuously among russet leaves.”’
“The kingfisher, speeding like
an arrow over a field of buttercups
so close that they were touching,
seemed, with the sunshine full on it,
to be entirely of a shining, splendid
green... . . Flying so low above the
flowery level that the swiftly vibrat-
ing wings must have touched the
yellow petals, he was like a waif from
some far tropical land. The bird was tropical,
but I doubt if there exists within the tropics
anything to compare with a field of buttercups—
such large and unbroken surfaces of the most bril-
liant colour in nature.” But we might as well
quote the whole book. The delightful “Birds of
a Village,” which forms about half the book, is
echoed at the end in a story of the birds in a
Cornish village, and between the, two there are
essays’ on exotic ‘birds for Britain (we confess
to regarding introductions with insular prejudice),
ind Seren ahs eee
Jury 22, 1920]
NATURE
653
moorhens_ in Hyde Park, the eagle and’ the
canary (concerning cages), chanticleer, and
the birds of an old garden. If the birds
a knew what Mr. Hudson has done for them, they
would sing all the year round.
- (5) It is difficult to imagine anything more
delightful than Mr. Hudson’s “ Book of a Natural-
ist,” and we wish he had called it vol. i. Why
should there not be many volumes, when it is so
easy to make one so good? So easy! for all
that is necessary is to have (1) an intimate per-
~~ sonal experience and a deep understanding of the
re
-
att Pate es =, rg, ameeae
life and conversation of animals as they live in
more or less wild Nature; (2) an artistic or poetic
sense which gives Blake’s “double vision”; and
(3) an ear for words that makes the pages of the
book sing. The same subjects are often treated
of by many painters, and likewise by many
naturalists. Ants and wasps, bats and foxes,
‘moles and earthworms, snakes and toads, pigs and
potatoes—these are fair samples of Mr. Hudson’s
stock in trade; but he is a magician-pedlar, and
the familiar things among his wares turn out to
shave most unexpectedly profound and subtle ex-
.cellences. Here science and art seem to meet in a
deepening of our appreciation of common things,
-and perhaps this is the biggest service that a man
who sees can do to his day and generation.
Mr. Hudson wished to call his book “ Diver-
sions of a Naturalist,” but Sir Ray Lankester was
ahead of him. We do not think he lost much,
for what he has given us are really ‘“ Apprecia-
tions,” as Sir Ray Lankester’s “diversions ”’ were
also. The expert biologists get down to the
depths of life in a way that is indispensable and
- fundamental, but the _ field-naturalists,
among
whom Mr. Hudson stands out as Saul among the
rophets, get at the heights of life in a way that
is indispensable and supreme. What is con-
tributed in these fascinating essays is a wealth
of first-hand observations, and to this, of course,
there are added the reflections of a highly gifted
intelligence. But we submit that there is more—
that feeling has a réle in the interpretation of
Nature, and that sympathetic insight (through
-gwsthetic emotion at one pole, and sheer sense of
kinship at the other) opens up one of the rights-
of-way to reality. This is too academic in its
phrasing, and unfair to Mr. Hudson, through
whose writings sunlight streams and _ breezes
blow; but we mean that this is the book of an
expert naturalist and of a man of feeling as well.
6) The entomologist is. always discovering new
wonders, and very frequently he has enthusiasm
enough to wish to share his pleasure with others.
Mr. Crabtree has the entomological enthusiasm
right enough, but we are not sure about all his
wonders. In the first place he is too much of
an anthropomorphist, for he says the study of
insect-life “provides a host of examples and illus-
trations of such noble aims as ‘living for a
purpose,’ ‘striving for the best,’ ‘helping one
another,’ ‘bearing each other’s burdens,’ and
“sympathy in sorrow.’” He _ has_ interesting
observations to describe, and he tells his story
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
fairly well; but again there is the false note: he
should not speak of his book selecting “repre-
sentative members of the principal species,” or
of “the Pulex family.” It is a pity that an author
who seems to have seen a lot of things for himself
should write like this: “‘The numerous family of
Lice that is parasitic on certain animals is classed
under the common term Hzemotopinus.” Why
do not publishers see to it, by utilising readily
available advice, that this sort of thing is not
printed? It is not good business, for it obscures
the book’s good qualities.
Many people see common insects like the lady-
bird, the devil’s coach-horse, the earwig, the frog-
hopper, the green-fly, the may-fly, and the wasp,
and would like to know more about them, espe-
cially if they can get the information not too
learnedly expressed. Mr. Crabtree’s book is well
adapted to meet this reasonable demand. It deals
pleasantly with about three dozen common insects,
and there is a generous supply of photographic
illustrations. But, again, Mr. Crabtree’s reach
too often exceeds his grasp; thus his story of
cuckoo-spit is far from correct; we do not like
to hear of female Aphides without ovaries, in
which “multiplication occurs by the process of
gemmation or budding on the individual Aphis.”
We are staggered by the crane-fly, the limbs of
which are merely hooked together,.so that. a cap-
tured part has only to be hooked off; and we do
not think that a wise approach to a very difficult
problem is made by saying: “It may be said with
sincerity. that the development of instinct in ants
is much akin toreason in higher mammals.” But,
forgiving a lapse in biological philosophy, we are
pulled up by errors in grammar, for our eyes have
fallen on more than one sentence like this: “To
the thorax, or chest, is attached the fly’s six
limbs.” Why should a scorpion be referred to
as “the dangerous arachnid of the South American
forests,” and why should an author go out of his
way to use an expression like “of. that ilk”? when
he does not know what the words mean? We
believe in popular natural history, but it should
have a high standard of accuracy, and it should
be written in English worthy of the subject. Mr.
Crabtree’s studies are interesting; they often
describe observations; they are certainly instruc-
tive; but we are bound to say that there are too
many flies in the ointment.. And many of these
flies are gratuitous.
(7) Miss Thompson tells in a pleasant way of
corals and seeds, of the work of water and ice,
of springs and seashore animals, and illustrates
her talks with very clever drawings. To those
who enjoy talks between a somewhat encyclopedic
Miss Marshall and a number of children who ask
extraordinarily appropriate and searching ques-
tions, the book will be welcome; our own impres-
sion, based on some experiments, is that neither
children nor adults care for the “Sandford and
Merton” mode of imparting instruction. The
author has a very skilful pencil and a power of
simple exposition; we wish she had chosen the
direct method. jr AoT:
654
NATURE
[JULY 22, 1920
Notes.
Mr. ALAN A. CAMPBELL SWINTON has been elected
chairman of the council of the Royal Society of Arts
for the ensuing year.
Dr. EpRIDGE-GREEN, C.B.E., fai been appointed a
special examiner in colour vision and eyesight by the
Board of Trade.
Tue Civil List Pensions granted during the year
ended March 31 are shown in a White Paper just
issued, and include the following :—Mrs. Howell, in
recognition of her late husband’s eminent public ser-
vice in the Geological Survey of Great Britain, 5ol.;
Miss Juliet Hepworth, in recognition of her late
brother’s services to meteorology and oceanography,
5ol.; Mrs. K. Macdonald Goring, in recognition of her
husband? s services to biometrical science, 85/.; and
Mrs. Leonard William King, in recognition of her
husband’s services to Assyrian and Babylonian study,
85].
At a public meeting held at the Mansion House in
October, 1912, the following proposals for com-
memorating the work of Lord Lister were adopted :—
The placing of a memorial in Westminster Abbey,
to take the form of a tablet with medallion and
inscription; the erection of a monument in a public
place in London; and the establishment of an Inter-
national Lister Memorial Fund for the advancement
of surgery, from which either grants in aid of re-
searches bearing on surgery or awards in recognition
of distinguished contributions to surgical science
should be made, irrespective of nationality. A meet-
ing of the general committee was held in the rooms
of the Royal Society on Monday, July 19, to receive
and adopt the report of the executive committee ap-
pointed in 1912. The chairman, Sir Archibald Geikie,
stated that the sums received in respect of subscrip-
tions from the British Empire and foreign countries
amounted to 11,8461. 5s. tod. A memorial tablet,
executed by Sir Thomas Brock, was unveiled in West-
minster Abbey on November 1, 1915, and steps are
being taken for the erection of a monument in a public
place in London. In order to carry out the scheme
for the establishment of the International Lister
Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Surgery, it
was resolved that :—(a) Out of the general fund a sum
of sool., together with a bronze medal, be awarded
every three years, irrespective of nationality, in
recognition of distinguished contributions to surgical
science, the recipient being required to give an address
in London under the auspices of the Royal College of
Surgeons of England. (b) The award be made by'a
committee constituted of members nominated by the
Royal Society, Royal College of Surgeons of England,
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of
Edinburgh, and University of Glasgow. (c) Any
surplus income of the general fund, after providing
for the erection of a monument and defrayving
administrative expenses, be either devoted to the
furtherance of surgical science by means of grants or
invested to increase the capital of the fund. The
to hecome. the frustees and administrators of the
. Lister, Fund and to carry out its objects, subject to
the above provisions of the scheme. The subscription
‘list is still open, and the hon. treasurer, of the fund
is Sir Watson Cheyne, Bart., to whom donations may
be addressed at the Royal Society, Burlington House,
London, W.1.
A MARBLE statue to the memory of Wilbur Wright
was unveiled on July 17 at Le Mans, where twelve
years ago this aviator accomplished a flight of nearly
a mile. We learn from the Times that the statue
| is the work of the sculptor Landowski, and typifies
the struggle of man to conquer the air. The nude
figure of a man is represented as having scaled a
rugged mountain peak and as stretching out his arms
to the hitherto unconquered element, air. The base
of the monument is carved with bas-relief figures of
Wilbur and Orville Wright and Léon Bollée, the
Frenchman who collaborated in the early experiments.
Tue thirty-ninth annual meeting of the Society of
Chemical Industry was held at Newcastle-upon-Tyne
on July 13-16. The gold medal of the society was
presented to M. Paul Kestner, president of the Society
of Chemical Industry of France, by Prof. Henry Louis,
who read the presidential address of Mr. John Gray.
Sir William J. Pope was elected president for the
ensuing year. An invitation to hold the next annual
general meeting at Montreal was accepted.
A Concress of Philosophy, in which members of
the Société Francaise de Philosophie are taking part,
and to which the American Philosophical Association
is sending delegates, is to take place at Oxford on
September 24-27. Two of the subjects of discussion _
are likely to be of especial scientific interest: one a .
symposium on the principle of relativity, to be opened
by Prof. Eddington, and the other a discussion to be
opened by Dr. Head on disorders of symbolic think-.
ing due to local lesions of the brain. The opening
meeting of the congress will be presided over by
Lord Haldane, and the inaugural address will be by
Prof. Bergson. Arrangements are under the direction
of Mr. A. H. Smith, New College, Oxford.
Tue Faraday Society and the Physical Society af
London are arranging to have a joint symposium and
general discussion in October next upon the
physics and chemistry of colloids and _ their
bearing on industrial questions. The subject will
be introduced by a brief survey of the present
position of colloidal physics and chemistry, and
there will then be discussion on the following. sub-
divisions of the subject :—Emulsions and emulsifica-
tion, physical properties of elastic gels, cataphoresis
and electro-endosmose, precipitation’ in disperse sys-
tems, .glass and pyrosols, and non-aqueous systems.
In spite of the importance of colloidal physics and —
chemistry in many branches of manufacture, and of _
the interest which the subject has aroused in recent
years, much light remains to be thrown on the nature
of the manufacturing process in which colloids play —
a part. It is hoped that the discussion will focus
attention on some of these problems, that its
Royal College of Surgeons of England has consented | result will be to indicate lines of advance and suggest
NO. 2647, VOL. 105] -
_ Suiy 22, 1920]
NATURE
655
_ further researches, and that it will be fruitful not
_ only in helping to a fuller understanding of the laws
_ of the colloidal state, but also in suggesting new
_ applications for colloids in the laboratory and in the
works. The exact date and place of meeting and
further particulars will be announced later. -In the
Meantime, anyone desirous of using the opportunity
_ of the discussion to bring forward experimental matter
0r theoretical considerations bearing on the above-
__mentioned branches of the subject is asked to com-
__municate as soon ‘as possible with the secretary of the
= joint committee, Mr. F. S. Spiers, 10 Essex Street,
____ London, W.C.2.
___ A sPEcia meeting of the Réntgen Society was held
on July 15 in the chemical theatre of University Col-
lege, London, by kind permission of the authorities.
The occasion was an address by Dr. W. D. Coolidge,
director of the research laboratories of the General
Electric Co., of Schenectady. An audience of more
than 250 people gathered to hear from the inventor
of the X-ray tube which bears his name a detailed
account of the processes involved in the manufacture
of the Coolidge tube—or rather we should say the
Coolidge tubes, for a number of different types of
tube, each suitable for different working conditions,
are the outcome of the investigations carried out under
Dr. Coolidge’s direction over a number of years. Dr.
Coolidge in his address laid considerable emphasis
upon the amount of investigation entailed in the use
of tungsten either as a hot filament or as the target
of an X-ray tube. The welding of this highly brittle
a metal and ‘its perfect annealing with copper are
____ technical triumphs, and the details of these processes
in their final stages were of very great interest.
While the effort is at present being made by the
_ General Electric Co. to standardise radiographic pro-
_ edure by combining a high-tension outfit which auto-
__ matically limits the quantity and quality of the X-rays
_ from the tube, it is recognised that no such procedure
is possible in radio-therapy at the present day. The
_ limitations imposed upon the production of very
short wave-length X-rays are largely technical ones,
___ and we look with confidence to their production in the
__ mear future, for both in medical work and in the
ate examination of metals and other materials they are
likely to prove of great value. If the production of
__ these more penetrating radiations involve new ideas
in the construction of the X-ray tubes, those who
heard Dr. Coolidge’s address will feel that such con-
_ siderations will not be allowed to delay what is
becoming a seriously felt want.
In a paper read before the Royal Statistical Society
in April (Journal, 1920, vol. Ixxxiii., part 3, pp. 1-44),
Dr. T. H. C. Stevenson presented the results of an
inquiry into the fertility of the various social classes
in England and Wales from the middle of the nine-
teenth century to 1911. Child mortality varies
directly and. very markedly with the number of
children born and the rapidity with which they
are born. It also varies with the age of. the mother
at birth. If allowance is made for the differences
of marrying age in different classes, fertility is found
to increase downwards throughout the social scale.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
The difference in fertility between the classes is,
broadly speaking, a new phenomenon, for it is small
for marriages before 1861, and rapidly increases to a
maximum for those of 1891-96. That the decline in
the birth-rate is due to the artificial restraint of fertility
is indicated by the following features: The gradual
spread of the decline throughout society, from above
downwards; the exceptionally low fertility of occupied
mothers; and the increase in the defect for the higher
social classes with increase of duration of marriage
up to twenty-five years. The lowest fertility rates are
returned for the most purely middle-class occupations
—the professions. The comparatively low child mor-
tality of the less fertile classes goes but a small way
numerically to compensate for their low fertility.
The classes which are least fertile when married are
likewise those that marry latest in life. Ante-nuptial
conception leads to great under-statement of the
number of marriages of less than twelve months’ dura-
tion. Such under-statement is the rule amongst all
classes where the wife’s marriage age is under twenty,
and becomes less frequent as the wife’s age increases.
At ages above twenty its frequency varies with the
social position, reaching its maximum amongst un-
skilled labourers.
Pror. E. W. MacBripe contributes to the latest
number of Scientia (vol. xxviii., No.. 99, 1920) a
trenchant article on ‘‘The Method of Evolution.’”? By
the ‘force of heredity,’’ he says, is meant the
tendency of the offspring to resemble the parent. It
is obvious that in some way this force must be
modified as time progresses, otherwise evolution could
not take place, and the manner and means of this
modification are just. what we mean by the phrase
““method of evolution.”? The Darwinian view that
large results may be reached by the selection of small
individual variations is seriously weakened by ‘pure
line’? experiments. The mutationist view of the im-
portance of ‘‘sport’’-variations exhibiting Mendelian
inheritance cannot be accepted as more than an acces-
sory theory, for most mutations are of the nature of
“‘cripples,’’ and utterly unlike the differentiating
characters which distinguish allied species. There
remains a third alternative: the inheritance of the
effects of use and. disuse. This is the method of
evolution, ‘‘the dominating influence which has
moulded the animal world from simple beginnings
into the great fabric of varied life which we see
around us.’’ If we ask for evidence of the trans-
mission of somatic modifications, we are referred by
Prof. MacBride to the researches of Kammerer. If
we submit that opinion is divided as to the validity of
these, we are told to repeat the experiments, which
is, of course, a fair enough answer. In the mean-
time, we are invited to consider how bacteria,
modified to perform feats in disruptive chemistry
of which their ancestors were incapable, hand on
their individually acquired new qualities to their
abundant progeny. And if we suggest that this is not
a test case, since bacteria have no soma and do not
multiply by germ-cells, we are told that the distinc-
tion between somatoplasm and germplasm is a
““Weismannian nightmare.’’ All this points clearly
to the need for fresh experiments.
056
NATURE
[Jury 22, 1920
Pror. STEPHENSON’s paper ‘* On a Collection of Oligo-
cheta from the Lesser-known Parts of India and from
Eastern Persia’? (Memoirs Indian Museum, vol. vii.)
is very informative. The known Oligocheta, about
150 before 1883, were about 1000 species in 1911. To
these Prof. Stephenson adds 24 species and 5 varieties,
modestly remarking: ‘‘It can scarcely be said, how-
ever, that the results of the present investigation
include anything of the first order of importance; it
is now too late to expect it.’”’ One of the new species,
Nais gwaliorensis, is about one-tenth of an inch long
and one-hundredth of an inch broad, yet in an earlier
paper the author shows this brevity far outdone by
Annandale’s Chaetogaster spongillae. Among _ very
much larger forms the systematist may note that Prof.
Stephenson here makes his Eutyphoeus Kempi a
synonym of Eutyphoeus chittagongianus, Michaelsen,
and that author’s bengalensis a synonym of his species
Waltoni in the same genus. So lately as 1893
‘‘absence of branchiz’’ was included in the defini-
tion of the Oligocheta. Now, not only does
Branchiura Sowerbyi, Beddard, have, as its generic
name implies, gills on the tail end, but Prof. Stephen-
son also finds a species of Branchiodrilus, ‘‘a Naid
worm with gills remarkably like those of Branchiura,
but on the anterior part of the body.’’
THE twenty-eighth Report, for the year 1919, on the
Lancashire Sea-Fisheries Laboratory contains a note
by Mr. A. Scott upon a midwinter invasion of the
Barrow Channel by an immense swarm of the
phosphorescent flagellate Noctiluca and the Cteno-
phores Pleurobrachia and Beroé. On December 16,
1919, Mr. Scott made one of his routine visits to the
sandy mud-flats between tide-marks, and found that
the area—5oo yards wide and 1000 yards long—be-
tween Roa Island and Foulney appeared as if it had
been thickly sprinkled with glass marbles. These were
the Pleurobrachia, many of them of large size (22 mm.
high), and mingled with them were stranded Beroé.
At the water’s edge was a brick-red, oily-looking zone
6 in, to 12 in. wide, and the water in the creeks was
covered by a similar oily layer, which on examination
proved to be composed of Noctiluca. Twenty-four
hours later the area was again examined, but only
one Pleurobrachia was found, and there was no Nocti-
luca in the plankton. It is quite unusual to find an
abundance of Noctiluca and Ctenophores in this area
in. midwinter. Noctiluca has been abundant on
former occasions along the coasts of North Wales
and Lancashire, but hitherto only in the period between
the beginning of August and the end of September.
THE ‘Reports for the Year 1919 on the Science
Museum and on the Geological Survey and the
Museum of Practical Geology’? (H.M. Stationery
Office, 1920, price 3d.) are accompanied by a map
showing the grouping of institutions devoted to educa-
tion and research in the great quadrangle between
Cromwell and Prince Consort Roads, South Kensing-
ton, The Science Museum has gone into temporary
occupation of part of the eastern block of new build-
ings while this block is being completed, the galleries
thus occupied being left in an unfinished state until
a second move onward can be made. The’ arrange-
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
ment is a testimony to the energetic and necessary _
expansion of the collections, which now include an
aeronautical division. The report on the Museum of
Practical Geology refers to the congestion of its col-
lections, which have been largely increased by the
groups of materials of economic importance brought
together in recent years. There is no reference, how-
ever, to any scheme of extended buildings. The pub-
lication of maps and memoirs has been maintained at
a high level, and it is interesting to note how the
public demand shows an enormous and intelligent pre-
ference for the ‘‘drift’’ series of colour-printed maps
as against those showing the ‘solid ’’ geology only. -
Tue Geological Survey of Scotland has issued the
fourth of its series of memoirs dealing with the de-
tailed economic geology of the central coalfield of
Scotland, the present volume being devoted to Area
VI., which forms a block near the centre of the field
eal’: includes the districts of Rutherglen, Hamilton,
and Wishaw. This is naturally an area of very great
economic importance, and comprises some of the most
productive portions of the Scottish coalfield. A valu-
able feature of the publication is the series of sections
obtained from borings and sinkings, which have been
printed on separate sheets; it may perhaps be regretted
that the scale selected is somewhat minute. It need
scarcely be said that the geological relationships of the
ccal seams and of the various economic minerals met
with in the field are described in full detail, and that
the memoir, together with the revised maps which it
is intended to accompany, will be of the greatest value
to mining engineers whose professional work lies” in
that area of the Scottish coalfield.
A REPORT on the weather experienced at Falmouth’
Observatory has recently been issued by the Observa-
tory Committee of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic
Society. The observatory is closely associated with
the Meteorological Office, and many of the records for
Falmouth appear in the several reports of the Office,
which probably is sufficient reason for the small
amount of work done actually at the observatory.
Funds available at the spot are clearly limited, and
the staff is, consequently, small. Pressure, tempera-
ture, and rainfall results in the report are compared
with the means of the forty-five years 1871 to 1915,
whilst in the Meteorological Office publications the
records are compared with the new normals for thirty-
five years, 1881 to 1915. Probably in course of time
general uniformity in this respect will be adopted.
The mean air temperature for November was a record
for cold, and its minimum, 26° F., was the coldest
for the year. The total rainfall for the first six months
of the year was 5-89 in. greater than for the last six
months, which is a reversal of the ordinary rule.
October was a record for dryness, rainfall measuring
1-62 in. Bright sunshine had an average record for
the year of 4:8 hours per day. October had 158-9
hours, which is a record for that month; the extreme ~
range of the totals for October is 77-6 hours, not
69:2 hours, as stated in the report, for which result
1919 was overlooked. The table of sea temperatures
from observations made in the harbour and the com- _
is of considerable _
interest, but the differences from the air of the maxi- —
parison with air temperatures
“Individual Differences
a _ researches made by
a %
conclusive in its nature,
* intensive
fury 22, 1920]
NATURE
- mum and minimum sea values scarcely seem satis-
factory, since the observations are not strictly for the
3 iapumne spesiods, ‘the sea tempenatanes being. for fewer
oueys.-
_ Tue Seventh Report of the Industrial Fatigue
q teeeesirch Board (Textile Series, No. 1), dealing with
s in Output. in the Cotton
iy Industry,” has just been issued. It is the result of
x Mr. S. Wyatt, Investigator
Be 80" the Board. The scope of the report repre-
an attempt to collect information on the
ae question of the relative importance of the human and
__. «mechanical factors in various branches of the cotton
industry. It is intended to be suggestive rather than
. to lead on to a careful
collection of facts and thence to more detailed and
investigations. There is great variety
in the conditions obtaining in various types of
‘cotton mills, some, for example, in which, as in the
' spinning of cotton, the output is almost entirely con-
trolled by the machine, whereby individual differences
in ability are reduced to a minimum; while in others,
such as in the process of drawing-in by hand, there
appears to be much more scope for the expression of
individual differences of ability, and therefore of out-
put, by the persons concerned. Thus it may be found
possible, where there exist large individual differences
of output—which implies that the mechanical
factor is subsidiary—so to modify the human condi-
tions of employment that increased efficiency, pros-
*perity, and comfort may result. The inquiry has of
-mecessity been of considerable difficulty, having
_ regard to the variability of the conditions prevailing
in the course of preparation and manufacture, yet
_ waluable, if inconclusive, results have been reached,
_ which at least show that the various processes in the
_ cotton industry can be classified and graded according
to the magnitude of the individual differences which
_ ‘they produce, wherein lies the relative importance of
‘the human and mechanical forces. Scarcely any
attempt has been made in the mills to determine
efficiency in the various processes, yet the collection
of statistical data would cause the employer and the
Manager to take a scientific interest in their work,
_ stimulate inquiry and investigation, and lead to im-
proved methods. We may reasonably ask why the
; workers should not be invited to participate in the
_ research, since it is in their interests also that the best
results should be secured.
_ ‘Tue International Institute of Agriculture at Rome
has issued the following information with regard to
the estimated yields of cereals throughout the world.
In the United States the area under winter wheat is
considerably smaller than that of ‘last year. More-
over, the-season has been somewhat unfavourable, so
that the coming crop is estimated at 13-2, million tons,
which is 66 per cent. of last year ’s yield and 86 per
eent. of the five previous years’ average. It is, how-
ever, probable that there are considerable stocks of
old wheat still to be exported, and these, together
with the reduced new crop, should make the ‘exports
for the coming season equal to those for the year
ending June, 1920. Drought. has considerably affected
the crops in Algeria and in southern Italy, and the
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
‘the introduction of new ideas.
outlook in Poland is unpromising, especially for rye.
In the other ‘countries of the northern hemisphere the
condition .of the winter cereal crops is normal, while
the recent wheat crop in British India shows an in-
crease of 30 per cent. over last year’s yield. The maize
crop in Argentina is estimated at 30,000,000 quarters,
which is 32 per cent. higher than the five previous
years’ average. This increased yield will probably be .
an important factor among the cereal resources of the
coming ‘season.
Tue ‘Journal of the British Science Guild for June
contains a special tribute to Lord Sydenham, the retir-
ing president, contributed by Sir O’Moore Creagh. A
series of six articles reviews the administrative activi-
ties of the Guild, of special interest being the account
of the reception by Mr. A. J. Balfour of the deputation
on State awards for scientific and medical discovery.
The deputation had a sympathetic reception, . the
justice of the principle being generally conceded, but
Mr. Balfour suggested as a difficulty the exact alloca-
tion of credit to the authors of scientific discoveries.
This problem, it is pointed out by Sir Ronald Ross,
has already been dealt with satisfactorily by the Royal
Society, the Nobel Prize Committee, and other authori-
ties. It is suggested that pensions and awards might
be -included in the Civil List. Lt.-Col. W. A. J.
O'Meara writes with experience of the need for the
utilisation of science in Government Departments.
An element of consequence is the concentration. of
power in the hands of the higher division clerks and
the permanent staff, which doubtless militates against
Memoranda .by the
Health Committee on the milk question raise a
number of important points in connection with the
purity of supply and the possibility of the com-
munication of diseases through milk. Sir .Thomas
H. J.-C. .Goodwin’s Chadwick lectures .on ‘‘ Army
Hygiene in the War and After ’’ (see Nature for
June 24, p. 532) and Mr. J. J. Robinson’s popular
lecture on ‘‘ Knowledge in National Reconstruction,”’
delivered before 1100 members of the Portsmouth
Brotherhood, are summarised. The issue is completed
by a list of the officers, fellows, and members of the
Guild.
Tue Ministry of Transport has stated that it <is
seriously. considering the organised electrification of the
railways, and the importance of this subject at the
present time can -scarcely be over-estimated. Sir
Philip Dawson’s paper. on ‘‘Electric Railway Contact
Systems,’’. which was read to the Institution of .Elec-
trical Engineers on June 30, is, therefore, of imme-
diate interest. Before a standard system of electrifica-
tion can be evolved the question of the relative merits
of collecting the current from an overhead system or
froma third-rail must be discussed. From the data
given in the paper.a strong case can be made out
for overhead collection. The flexible method of sus-
pending the overhead collecting wire on the Brighton
Railway has proved thoroughly satisfactory, and the
“‘double insulation’’ used throughout has reduced
breakdowns to a minimum. With third-rail systems
it is necessary to pay higher wages to the workmen
employed on the line owing to the increased danger.
The data given bring out the interesting fact that
658
NATURE
[Jury 22, 1920
Se
the wear of the trolley wire is proportional to the
current collected. When no current is taken the wear
is almost negligibly small. A curious anomaly in
the treatment of railways with and without Parlia-
mentary powers was pointed out. The former rail-
ways are not allowed to have more than a 7-volt
drop on their rails, whilst the latter have sometimes
more than a 1o0o0-volt drop for short periods. It seems
to us that a careful search should be made in neigh-
bouring pipes, etc., for electrolytic damage in the
latter case. If the damage should prove to be. in-
appreciable, then the iimit of 7 volts might be raised -
for all railways, as this would appreciably lower the
cost of electrification.
Messrs. NEWTON AND WriGuHt, Ltp., desiré it to
be known that their business will be carried on in
future. from their works address, 471-77 Hornsey
Road, N.19, which is now the head office of the com-
pany.’ In furtherance of their policy of restricting
themselves to’ a wholesale business, an arrangement
has been concluded with Messrs. Allen and Hanburys,
Ltd., by which this firm becomes selling agents in the
London area for Messrs. Newton and Wright, and
also in those parts of the United Kingdom where
the latter is not specially represented. Messrs. Allen
and -Hanburys are taking) over the electro-
medical showroom at 72 Wigmore Street, W.1, until
recently occupied by Messrs. Newton and Wright,
who will, however, have free access to these
showrooms, and one of their directors will always be
glad to meet country and other customers by appoint-
ment who may not have time to visit the head office
at Hornsey Road. The arrangements with Messrs.
Allen and Hanburys are so framed as not to preclude
Messrs. Newton and Wright doing business with
other trade houses, and the firm will be pleased to
continue supplying their specialities through whatever
trade house a customer may select.
THE special catalogues of Messrs. J. Wheldon and
Co., 38 Great Queen Street, W.C.2, are always of
interest and value, and the latest (New Series, No. go)
is no exception. It is a well-edited, classified list of
upwards of 1200 books and pamphlets on ornithology.
The sections are British Islands, Europe, Asia, Africa,
North America, Central and South America, Aus-
tralasia, General Systems, etc., Economic Ornithology,
Miscellanea, and Morphology. Many scarce works
are included. In addition, particulars are given of
many complete sets or long runs of scientific journals.
The catalogue should be of service to purchasers of
books of science.
Messrs. H. K. Lewis anp Co., Ltp., 136 Gower
Street, W.C.1, have just circulated the quarterly
catalogue of new books and new editions added to
their Medical and Scientific Circulating Library
during the months April-June. It is a useful classified
list of the works in science published in the period
named, and should be found useful even to non-
subscribers to the library. Messrs. Lewis have also
issued a list of second-hand and surplus library books
an agriculture, botany, chemistry, engineering, geo-
logy, physics, zoology, etc. Many of the volumes
are offered for sale at greatly reduced prices.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
Our Astronomical Column.
A NEw Comer.—The second cometary discovery of
the year was made at Nice by M. Schaumasse on ~
July 18 at 13h. 37-1m. G.M.T., in R.A. th, 47m. 52s.,
south decl. 1° 14’, daily motion +2m. 24s., S. 5’,
11th magnitude. :
The following positions have been deduced on the
assumption of uniform motion :
R.A. S. Decl.
| aaa We 5 pe
July 23 1 59 43 I 39
28 2 3/43 2
The comet is a morning star, rising at 1 a.m.
summer time. It is not very far from Tempel’s —
comet, discovered at Kyoto at the end of May, but of |
which no further observations have come to hand.
Later.—M. Schaumasse now finds that his new comet
is identical with Tempel’s second periodic comet, the
previous announcement by Mr. Kudara, of Kyoto,
being erroneous. The time of perihelion now becomes
1920 June 9:67, a month earlier than the time deduced
from Mr. Kudara’s announcement. 5%
The following is an approximate ephemeris for
Greenwich midnight : .
- Log x
‘ RAL >| Si Deck ' Log a
ee he Pegs es
Jag oe. Oe I 14 0-1402 9:9674
23.3... DB ae I 26 01488 — 9-9623
Sioa 2 1080 Oa eee 01585-99577
Aug. 8 2 30 52 2 36 0-1693 99522
16 2 42 32 4333 ©0:1805 9-9 467
24 25048 447 1920 99403
PUBLICATIONS OF THE DomINION ASTROPHYSICAL |
OBSERVATORY, Victoria, B.C., VoL. 1., No. 1.—This
volume contains a full account of the inception of the —
scheme of constructing the great 72-in. equatorial, and —
demonstrates the immense amount of careful thought _
and consultation of experts, both opticians and astro- —
nomers, that preceded the adoption of the designs.
Before the site was settled, Mr. W. E. Harver 4
tested the quality of seeing at a number of stations in —
different parts of Canada, using a 43-in. Cooke photo- —
visual telescope. Victoria was finally selected, owing —
to the excellent seeing at night, though there was less —
sunshine than at Ottawa; the small diurnal range
of temperature also favoured it. foo
The glass discs were cast at St. Gobain, the optical —
work was entrusted to the J. A. Brashear Co., and the ~
enna work and dome to the Warner and Swasey —
oO. 4
The ball-bearings, in dustproof cases, prove very
efficient, so that it is stated that when the clock is —
disconnected a 33-lb. weight on a 26-ft. arm suffices ©
to set the telescope in motion; a 4o0-lb. weight is —
found sufficient for the driving clock, which is wound —
automatically by an electric motor. The volume con- —
tains details of the zonal tests applied to the mirror, %
the results being very satisfactory. Temperature in-
sulation, consisting of cotton-felt, is used round the —
mirror, and with the small temperature changes tha
take ‘place at Victoria the definition will never be
appreciably affected by this cause. . a
The comfort and convenience of the observers are
studied, all the movements being carried out elec-—
trically. Details are also given of the powerful
spectrograph, which is surrounded by a temperature-—
case. It is possible to use the instrument visually
without removing the spectrograph, the image being”
displaced laterally by reflecting prisms.
Numerous large-scale photographs of the vari
parts make it easy to follow the descriptions...
Jury 22, 1920]
NATURE
659
Progress in Science and Pharmacy.
4 By Cuartes ALEXANDER HILL.
> *T WENTY-F OUR years have passed since the
f British Pharmaceutical Conference met in this
. a at city of Liverpool. On that occasion the late
Ca William Martindale in his presidential address dealt
_ with the use in medicine of “active principles’? in
_ substitution of the natural, i.e. naturally occurring,
_ drugs. At the same time he described the introduc-
_ tion of synthetic substances into medicine as a
novelty.
+ y it is fitting to reflect upon the changes in
_ pharmacy wrought by progress in science—progress in
_ chemistry and biochemistry, in physics, in physiology,
and in science and practice of medicine; next, to
: examine the extent to which active principles and
_ synthetics have replaced natural drugs; then tenta-
__ tively to survey the lines upon which future develop-
ment may be expected.
¢ Of the changes that have occurred the increased use
of synthetic drugs is the outstanding, though by no
means the only, feature. It is noteworthy that im-
portant discoveries of new vegetable drugs are prac-
tically unknown. The animal kingdom, on the other
hand, has furnished us with drugs of the first import-
ance; of these the products of the pituitary body, the
thyroid gland, and the suprarenal g and afford notable
examples. The importance of these discoveries is in
nowise diminished if the active principles have been
synthesised and can be produced artificially.
The use of synthetic remedies in medicine is some-
_ times said to date from the introduction of antipyrin
_ in 1884, but chloroform and chloral hydrate had long
been known and used, and synthetic salicylic acid
was freely used in 1877. Hypnone (acetophenone)
followed in 1885 and antifebrin (acetanilide) in 1886.
These were succeeded by phenacetin, sulphonal,
and trional, and since then there has been a steady
flow of new synthetic drugs. é
_ To-day the world’s annual consumption of phen-
-azone or antipyrin may be roughly estimated at
too tons, of phenacetin at 250 tons, and of medicinal
salicylates Goan salicylate, methyl salicylate,
aspirin, and salol) at no less than 2500 tons, and
are a few only out of the multitude of pure
chemical substances used in medicine. :
| Notwithstanding the remarkable extent to which
_ synthetic drugs have come into use, and despite the
_ increased employment of active principles according
_ as our knowledge of these progresses, the use of the
_ drugs themselves in the form of galenical prepara-
tions, whether ‘‘ standardised ’’ or not, continues to a
remarkable, and perhaps significant, extent. Further-
more, as we shall see, signs are not wanting of (a
growing recognition of the truth that many a drug
and many a food may contain valuable properties not
readily determined by chemical methods. It may be
only slowly that the full value of a drug discovered
empirically can be stated in scientific terms. Para-
doxical as it may seem, the tendency to-dav, with
advancing scientific knowledge, is to recognise the
failure of the active principle to replace the parent
drug.
When it happens, the replacement of a natural drug
by a synthetic substance may be conceived as pro-
ceeding ideally in four stages. First, the drug is
examined chemically, and from it is isolated a pure
substance, frequently an alkaloid or a glucoside, which
upon beings’ subjected to physiological tests is found
to have an effect similar to that of the parent drug;
‘*1 From the presidential address delivered at the Royal ‘Institution,
Tiiverpool, on July 20, at the fifty-seventh annual meeting of the British
Pharmaceutical Conference.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
such a substance is termed the “ active principle ”’ of
the drug. The second stage is to determine the
chemical constitution of the isolated active principle ;
this, in general, is a matter of extreme difficulty,
taxing the resources of our most brilliant organic
chemists, which, indeed, is equally true of the third
stage, which consists in effecting the synthesis of
the substance. Once the synthesis has been success-
fully accomplished we arrive at the fourth and last
“stage, which is the manufacture of the substance
upon a commercial scale. The case of suprarenal
gland and adrenalin affords an illustration.
It does not follow as: a matter of course that if
the synthesis of a substance be accomplished the
artificial or synthetic article will replace the naturally
Occurring one. Supposing quinine were to be syn-
thesised, it is by no means to be assumed that it
would be cheaper to produce it on a large scale in
the laboratory than to get Nature to conduct the
synthesis, and then to extract the alkaloid from
cinchona bark and afterwards purify it. It has been
amply illustrated in the case of cinchona bark that
it pays to subsidise Nature and to encourage her to
increase her yield. Intensive culture may be a better
business proposition than laboratory manufacture.
Synthetic Drugs.
By far the larger number of chemical substances
used in medicine are not the active principles of
natural drugs. It would lead me beyond the confines
of my address to attempt even a cursory survey of
what has been accomplished in the limitless field of
synthetic drugs, to the enormous consumption of
which I have already made reference, or to make
more than the barest mention of the fact that syn-
thetic organic substances are employed as antiseptics,
anesthetics, narcotics, hypnotics, “and antipyretics,
and in the treatment of diseases, notably those of
parasitic origin.
Nor need I remind you of the many attempts made
by chemico-physiologists to correlate chemical con-
stitution and physiological action. Much chemical and
physiological work has been done in this fascinating
field of research, and certain eneralisations have
resulted by deductive reasoning from very numerous
data, yet it has to be admitted that really very little
is known of this borderland subject. The physical
condition of the substance, its solubility, especially
its relative solubilities in different solvents (‘‘ partition
coefficient"), its adsorptive power, osmotic properties,
and other physical properties, have as much to do with
its physiological action as has its constitutional
formula,
It may indeed be that the purely chemical action
of a drug is destined to play a subordinate réle in
therapy, and that, in the past, the physical action has
not been sufficiently considered.
Chemotherapy shows us clearly that the physio-
logical action of a substance is not due to one con-
Stituent only of that compound, but that it also
depends largely upon the molecular orientation of the
compound and the ratio of adsorption which exists
between it and the protein colloidal particles through
which this or that constituent is going to act. Con-
sider arsenic, for example. In the treatment of
disease plain liquor arsenicalis is not so effective as
colloidal arsenic sulphide, nor is the latter so effective
as arsenophenylglycine, nor the last so effective as
diaminoarsenobenzene. They all contain arsenic, but
the last, in virtue of its amino-groups, is able to be
adsorbed in very large quantities by the protein col-
loidal particles; _ consequently, the greatest amount
possible of the element gets taken up. So far as can
be seen at present, the amino-groups are of great
660
NATURE
[JuLy: 22, 1920)
importance in a chemotherapeutic compound, especially
if they can be placed in the ortho-position to the
element one wishes to incorporate,
Of greater importance than the group is the mole-
cular orientation; one needs only to mention the
effect of introducing an acetyl group to illustrate this
point. Compare diorthoaminothiobenzene with its
acetyl derivative; the former is practically a specific
for metallic poisoning, while the latter is as inert as
plain colloidal or sublimed sulphur. Even dipara-
aminothiobenzene cannot compare with the ortho-
body. The addition of an acetyl group to salicylic
acid results in a new analgesic property, while at the
same time the undesirable after-effects of salicylates
are in some measure eliminated. A similar addition
to phenetidin gives us phenacetin with its valuable
antipyretic properties. On the other hand, the addition
of an acetyl group to parahydroxyphenylethylamine (an
active principle of ergot) results in a loss of activity.
The introduction of an acetyl group into the choline
molecule converts this comparatively inert substance
into a powerful heart poison. Highly interesting is
the case of aconitine. This intensely poisonous
alkaloid is the acetyl derivative of benzaconine, the
laffer substance being relatively non-toxic. Yet the
introduction of further acetyl groups into the aconi-
tine molecule does not increase, but diminishes, its
toxicity. : :
Recent Advances in: Biochemistry.
Theoretically, every ingredient of a drug or prepara-
tion.must have some effect, though it may be so small
as to be inappreciable by any known means; and
some drugs and foods have constituents minute in
quantity, and therefore long unknown, of the very
highest degree of importance. Indeed, recent advances
in biochemistry have proved the existence in drugs
and foods of physiologically active substances which
give a rational explanation of facts based upon experi-
ence and established empirically. :
Fresh in the memories of all of us is the discovery
of the cause and cure of beri-beri, constituting one of
the romances of medical science. Beri-beri is a
disease of a high mortality which ravaged tropical
countries and caused much misery. It had long been
connected in the minds of the investigators with the
rice which formed the staple food of the populations
affected by it, but it has only recently been discovered
that the disease is caused by the refinements of rice-
milling, brought about by the introduction of
machinery. It was observed by Eijkmann, the
medical officer to a prison in Java, that the poultry
of their establishment suffered from symptoms re-
markably like those of beri-beri, which was common
in his gaol, where the inmates were fed on a rice
diet. Investigations showed this observer that the
fowls could be quickly cured by adding to their diet
the pericarp and embryo of rice removed during the
process of milling. ; :
From this starting point there was established by
research a complete correlation between the occurrence
of beri-beri and the consumption of steam-milled rice.
In districts where rice is polished by hand the disease
does not frequently occur, because it rarely happens
that the whole of the pericarp and embryo are removed
by hand. Fowls fed on polished rice quickly suffered
from polyneuritis, and birds almost at the point of
death were quickly rescued, it was found, by the
administration of a watery extract of rice polishings.
Thus was beri-beri found to be caused by the absence
from the diet of a substance soluble in water and
present in rice polishings.
This water-soluble constituent belongs to a class
of accessory food substances which have been some-
what unfortunately named ‘‘vitamines.”? Work on
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
these. vitamines can scarcely be said to have a
chemical basis, since all: attempts to isolate them
have failed. At least three have been recognised :
(1) water-soluble B factor, which prevents beri-beri,.
occurs in the seeds of plants and the eggs of animals,
in yeast and liver and grain cereals. ig
Scorbutus or scurvy is a disease which in former
times caused high mortality. Sailors’ particularly
were subject to attack, this being due to the fact that
they were not obtaining another water-soluble vita-
mine, (2) the anti-scorbutic factor. The disease yields
Rage’ J to a diet of potatoes, cabbages, and most fresh
ruits.
Thirdly, there is a fat-soluble vitamine; this is
present in cream and butter and beef-fat, and affords.
us a rational explanation of our natural preference
for real butter over vegetable margarine. Cod-liver
oil, which may be regarded as intermediate between”
foods and drugs, has long enjoyed a deservedly great
reputation as possessing qualities superior to those-
of other oils. These qualities are due to the fact that
good cod-liver oil has a high vitamine content, and is
therefore important in the prevention. and cure of’
rickets. On the other hand, vegetable oils, such as
linseed, olive, cottonseed, coconut, and palm, contain:
only negligible amounts of, this vitamine.
Biochemistry. shows us the importance of other
accessory substances besides vitamines. Enzyme
action has been shown to be modified or stimulated
by the presence of other substances termed co-
enzymes. Parallel phenomena have been observed in
the digestive processes of mammals in the remarkable
activating nature of bodies termed hormones.
It would be. beyond the limits of my address to go
further than these somewhat brief indications that
naturally occurring drugs and foods contain substances ,
that long remained unsuspected and still longer un- —
revealed, but quite enough will have been said to
show how unsafe it is to substitute one thing for
another.
Research,
It is not easy to state concisely what is to be dis-
tinguished as pharmaceutical research. All will agree
that it means something more than an improvement
in processes for the exhibition of drugs in pharma-
ceutical preparations. Does it mean problems arising
out of the cultivation of drugs not hitherto grown
within the Empire, or the intensive cultivation of in-
digenous drugs with a view to increased activity, or the
chemical investigation of drugs for their active con-
stituents; or, again, does it mean research in organic
chemistry for the production of new synthetic
remedies, or does it mean pharmacological experi-
ments, or all of these things? I would submit to you
the following consideration: We have seen that —
pharmaceutical preparations of drugs continue to find
employment even after the active principles of those
drugs have been isolated, and are readily available —
in a pure state. We have seen that drugs and food- —
drugs are found to have valuable properties which —
cannot be stated in definite terms in the present state —
of our knowledge. Further than this, as our know- —
ledge of such bodies as vitamines, enzymes, and
hormones advances, so increases our respect for the —
natural source of such bodies—they may be glands or
they may be seeds—whether as a food or as a remedial —
agent. Such may be the fate of many an ‘old.
fashioned”’ remedy about which hard words have
been used merely because it was not fully understood. —
Here then, it seems to me, is presented a most fitting —
subject for pharmaceutical research: to determine
and control the conditions of collection and prepara-—
tion of the parent drug, the process of treatment and
manufacture and the conditions of storage, to 4
_. demands
so imperious and so obvious that there is a danger
_ pharmacy flourish.
f
JULY 22, 1920]
NATURE
661
cover characters and devise tests within the scope of
the skilled, trained pharmaceutical chemist without
involving experiments upon living animals, so that the
engine preparation exhibiting the drug shall
= both active and uniform.
The Future.
The annual meeting of the British Pharmaceutical
Conference affords
a great opportunity for all
pharmacists to meet each other on common ground
and consider their common interests. Is not the
____ present a period in pharmaceutical history at which it
is fitting that all of us whose lot is cast in pharmacy
should band together for our common welfare? The
. of the business side of pharmacy are to-day
of neglecting what, to my mind, is of primary import-
- ance if we are to persist. If I am asked what path
should be pointed out for pharmacists to pursue in
order that the present condition of affairs may be
improved and the outlook for the future made more
bright, then I say without doubt that the answer lies
in cultivating assiduously the scientific side of
acy; in the promotion, encouragement, and
assistance of pharmaceutical research; in the im-
provement of pharmaceutical products; and in keep-
ing pharmacy abreast of advances in chemistry,
physiology, bacteriology, vaccine-therapy, and other
i subjects.
Only by giving first place to the professional side
of pharmacy, keeping as distinct as possible the purely
business side and declining to mix with pharmacy
proper business in things so far removed from drugs
as to be derogatory to the calling of pharmacy—only
thus will it be possible to maintain and enhance the
esteem in which pharmacists are held by their fellow-
men, both medical men and laymen, as well as public
bodies and Government Departments.
The British Pharmaceutical Conference exists for
“the cultivation of pharmaceutical science ’’ and ‘to
maintain uncompromisingly the principle of purity in
-medicine.’’ Let pharmacists see to it that the con-
_ ference receive full and generous support, and that
_-no effort be spared to enable it to carry out these
worthy objects. Thus shall pharmacists prosper and
Medical Science and Education.
ie his wisely eloquent presidential address to the
British Medical Association meeting at Cam-
bridge Sir T. Clifford Allbutt struck many a nail on
the head. He began with the claim that the universi-
ties, ancient and modern, from Alexandria to Edin-
burgh, have made the professions, and stated the
university ambitions to be building up character,
- training in clear thinking, and imparting particular
knowledge and experience. He confessed, however,
that the new universities comvare ill with the old in
nourishing the imagination. There is need to learn
how to teach; there is need for simplification by
more blending of details into larger principles; and
there is need to beware of letting our teaching stiffen
into formulas. Another point, refreshingly illustrated,
was the debt of other sciences to medicine, for what
impulses have come from medical studies to cytology,
to organic chemistry, to bacteriology, and so on, up
to philosophy, as the address itself shows. In medical
research, as elsewhere, natural observation is yielding
more and more to artificial experiment as investiga-
tion penetrates from the more superficial to the deeper
processes. ‘The progress of medicine must in large
part be endogenous.’? ‘Mere observation—Nature’s
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
march past—will not count for much. now; and as te
family histories—well, they vary with each historian.”’
Once-more Sir Clifford Allbutt made a plea for the
study of the elements and phases of disease in animals
and plants—a comparative pathology that would stir
the imagination of young workers and save the world
from a wastage as unnecessary as it is incalculable.
‘Yet no one stirs, save to gyrate each in his own little
circle. There is no imagination, no organisation of
research, no cross-light from school to school, no
mutual enlightenment among investigators, no big
outlook. . .. How blind we are!’’ After a very
severe but timely criticism of psychotherapy—a
criticism which is not marked, however, by any
lack of appreciation of the fruitfulness of experi-
mental psychology—Sir Clifford Allbutt closed with
some discussion of the immediate problems of general
practice and preventive medicine. There is inspira-
tion in the whole address (see British Medjcal Journal,
No. 3105, pp. 1-8), not least in its final glimpse of
the possibilities before medicine as a social service
and international bond.
At the same meeting of the British Medical Associa-
tion there was an exceedingly important discussion on
the place of “preliminary science’’ in the medical
curriculum—a discussion which will lead, we hope, to
some highly desirable changes. In his introductory
address Sir George Newman indicated several reforms
—a quantitative lightening of the curriculum at. both
ends, a fresh orientation of the preliminary sciences in
relation to the training of medical students, but, above
all, more biology and more real biology. ‘It is the
biological outlook and spirit that is required, the
capacity ‘to see great truths that touch and handle
little ones’; for biology, pure and applied, is the
most educative, germinative, and dynamic subject in
the whole curriculum.’’ Prof. S. J. Hickson em-
phasised the value of biological studies in cultivating
habits of verification and precision, in preparing the
ground for subsequent anatomical and physiological
studies, and in introducing the student to practically
important sets of facts, either very concrete as in the
case of parasites and their carriers, or more
theoretical as in the case of heredity. He recom-
mended a reduction in the number of ‘“‘types ’’ so as
to make room for more important studies, better
orientation of what is taught, and more emphasis on
fundamental questions—admittedly difficult as it is
to handle them well in teaching beginners. Prof. A.
Keith urged that ‘‘anatomy could be made a living,
practical part of medicine if only the teacher would
ask himself : Could this fact help me in diagnosis and
treatment?’’ Sir Ernest Rutherford, speaking of
physics, insisted on the necessity for a sound training
in the fundamental methods and principles of the
science before the medical curriculum is begun, and
for a subsequent professional course oriented in a
judicious way to future studies in physiology and the
like. Prof. Lorrain Smith laid emphasis on the
fundamental value of the preliminary sciences as a
training in method and criticism, but maintained that
the general introduction at present supplied is waste-
ful in its discontinuity with what follows later. It
misses part of its aim because its bearings on more
professional studies are not made clear. Prof.
Smithells, speaking of chemistry, indicated some ways
in which more value could be got out of the present
opportunities if there were more adjustment to the
particular ends in view. In general, there seemed to
be agreement (see British Medical Journal, No. 3105,
pp. 8-21) on two points: (1) The need for making
sure of a firmer grasp of principles. and (2) the need
for a re-orientation of the class-teaching in relation to
the particular needs of the medical student.
662
NATURE
[JuLy 22, 1920
First Conference of the International
Federation of University Women.
HE International - Federation of University
Women held its first conference at Bedford
College, London, on July 12-14, and it has been
interesting to note how thoroughly the Federation
deserves its name. If Great Britain and the United
States were the most numerously represented, as they
are the founder nations, there were plenty of other
nationalities to meet them. France, Spain, Italy,
Holland, Belgium, the Scandinavian countries, Czecho-
Slovakia, India, and the Overseas Dominions of the
British Empire had all sent their delegates to par-
ticipate in the conference. The proceedings opened
on the evening of July 12, when a large audience
listened to speeches by Lord Grey of Fallodon, Prof.
Caroline Spurgeon (Bedford College), Dean Virginia
Gildersleeve (Barnard College, New York), and Prof.
Winifred Cullis (the London School of Medicine for
Women). Lord Grey emphasised the necessity for
intercourse between the peoples of the world, and the
women speakers outlined the means by which the
International Federation intends to promote this
mecessary contact between the women of the
universities of the world. Briefly, their aims are the
establishment of travelling fellowships and _inter-
national scholarships; the exchange of professors, lec-
‘turers, and students; the establishment of club-houses
and other centres of international hospitality; and
useful co-operation with the national bureaux of
education in the various countries. °
On the following days the foundations of the
.Federation were established. A constitution and
by-laws were freely discussed and _ considerably
amended before final adoption. The effect of these
will be to establish a central office in London for
general information, which will operate in connection
with Committees on International Relations set up
in each country which is a member of the Federa-.
tion. Officers have been elected for the ensuing two
years, the president being Prof. Spurgeon; the vice-
president, Mrs. R. F. McWilliams, of Winnipeg; the
treasurer, Mrs. Edgerton Parsons, of New York; and
tha secretary, Miss T. Bosanquet, ‘assistant secretary
to the Universities Bureau of the British Empire,
50 Russell Square, W.C.1.
Informal reports on the position of the higher
education of women in the various countries repre-
sented were read, and steps will be taken to correlate
the academic standards in the different universities.
The next meeting will be held in the summer of
1922. It is hoped that in the meantime each branch
association of the Federation will work actively to
further the aims of the Federation in its own country.
The British Federation of University Women is losing
no time in getting to work, and will initiate a cam-
paign for the programme of the International Federa-
tion in the autumn.
Insect Pests.
> connection with tropical agriculture, attention
has been directed to the question of the influence
of the condition of the host-plant on infestation with
sucking insects. It is believed that such pests as
thrips on cacao and froghopper blight on sugar-cane
can be held in check by increasing the resistance of
the plant by improving agricultural conditions. In
the Agricultural News (vol. xix., No. 464) it is claimed
that the ‘‘mosquito blight ’’ of tea (caused by a capsid
bug of the genus Helopeltis) is affected in a similar
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
way, and that the condition of individual tea-bushes —
determines the susceptibility to attack. The distribu-
tion of mosquito blight appears to. be connected with
soil conditions, and;analytical data indicate, that soils
on which the pest is prevalent show similarities in
the potash-phosphoric acid ratio, the addition of potash
having an appreciable, though irregular, action in
reducing the blight. Water-logging tends to encourage
infestation, probably because the vitality of bushes
grown on such areas is lowered; draining is the
remedy advised in such cases. Acidity and poverty of
soil are other factors which vitiate the health of the
tea-bushes, so rendering them more liable to attack.
_ The spread of prickly pear in Australia is so rapid
that large areas of land will continue to be thrown out
of cultivation year by year unless some effective
measure of control can be devised.
that the pest claims for its own 1,000,000 acres of
fresh land per annum. Various methods of eradica-
tion have been tried, but destruction by mechanical
or chemical means has proved too expensive for use on ©
a large scale. The pear cannot be fed off tostock, and
the manufacture of potash and paper from it has not
proved to be commercially successful. A fourth line
of attack—destruction by natural enemies—is now
being followed up (Science and Industry, vol. ii.,
No. 1). It is necessary to find some enemies of the
prickly pear that will not attack other vegetation,
as the introduction of ‘‘omnivorous vegetarians ”’
would probably result in serious injury to other forms
of plant-life. For this reason certain rodents, snails,
and insects which are known to feed on prickly pear
in America and Africa cannot be recommended for
introduction into Australia. One insect, however,
Coccus indicus, appears to. feed exclusively on one
form of pear, Opuntia monocantha, but unfortunately
it will not feed upon the chief: pest, O. inermis. It
is recommended that experiments should be carried on
to induce the insects to transfer their attention from
one species to the other, if necessary by means of
hybridising the pears. Other insects—bugs, ’ flies,
moths, and beetles—are known to feed upon one or
other species of prickly pear, and it is possible that
useful enemies might be introduced from Mexico and
South America.
The loss caused by the jointworm flies of the genus :
Harmolita (Isosoma) in the United States runs into
millions of dollars per annum, the wheat jointworm
(H. tritici) being the greatest devastator. W. J.
Phillips (Bull. 808, Professional Paper, U.S.A. Dept.
Agric.) has gathered together the available information
and classified the species into groups that attack grain
crops, cultivated grasses, and wild grasses. The two
first groups cause considerable loss by the injury they
entail to the crops. The members of the last group,
however, may possibly be beneficial in an economic
sense, as they provide intermediate hosts for the para-
sitic insects which prey upon the genus, the more
important parasites being common to the majority of
species of Harmolita. The life-histories of several
species are described, together with the way in which
injury is caused to the plants attacked. H. tritici
causes the most serious losses, reducing the yield of
wheat by as much as
being .somewhat small and shrivelled.. H. grandis
is also confined to wheat, and produces two genera-
tions in the year, but as it is easily controlled its
powers of destruction can be kept in check. Breed-
ing experiments indicate that each species is probably
confined to a single host, as it has proved impossible
to induce the more important’ forms to attack other
crops than that with which they are normally asso-
ciated. The jointworms are much subject to parasitic
attacks, and‘ for this reason do not often get’ quite
It is estimated _
50 per cent., the grains |
a *
3
a, ai
aay 3
_ fecessary to arrange the crop rotation so as to allow
_ Jury 22, 1920]
~ NATURE
663
out of hand and destroy an entire crop; but, even so,
_ they exact a toll of from 1 to 5 bushels per acre
_ unless control measures are adopted.
Experiments
seem to show that ploughing under the stubble is
the most effective remedy, as wholesale destruction
the insects is thus brought about. It would be
the wheat-stubble to be ploughed up, but if this could
be done it is estimated that millions of dollars could
_ be saved yearly.
Parasites such as lice and mites cause considerable
_ loss in the poultry industry by reducing egg-production
and injuring the quantity and quality of the flesh of
_ the birds. A cheap but effective remedy is therefore
much to be desired, and it is now claimed by F. C.
Bishop and H. P. Wood (Farmers’ Bulletin 8or1,
‘U.S.A. Dept. Agric.) that sodium fluoride fulfils these
conditions, and that, if properly used, one application
will completely destroy all the lice present on any
ird. The treatment can be carried out by dusting or
by dipping. In the former case pinches of the fluoride
are placed among the feathers close to the skin on
the parts most frequently attacked; dusting with a
. Shaker is less effective, and also causes more irritation
to the nose and throat of the operator. In the latter
case #1 oz. of commercial sodium fluoride is dis-
‘solved in a gallon of tepid water, and the birds are
then dipped for a few seconds. The lice die more
rapidly in this case than when the dry powder is used.
It is estimated that the cost of treatment works out
to about one farthing per bird, 1 lb. of sodium fluoride
sufficing for about a hundred hens.
Investigations of the Upper Air.!
‘THE interesting publications referred to below
deal with the investigation of the upper air,
‘the first two being written in German. Dr. Ever-
dingen, in Holland, has experienced the same diffi-
culty that has occurred in England and elsewhere in
eyins on the investigation owing to the scarcity
and ness of the necessary materials, on account
of which the mean height of the kite and captive-
balloon ascents, when compared with that of previous
years, was reduced considerably. The two years’
reports contain full particulars of each ascent made;
they are noteworthy as showing the increasing im-
portance of aeroplanes compared with the old method
of kites as a means of observation.
The third publication, Geophysical
No. 14, gives an account of the pilot-balloon ascents
made in November and December, 1911, by Capt.
Cave and Mr. J. S. Dines in the Scilly Isles. Plenty
of information about the relation of the wind to the
surface-pressure gradient up to a few kilometres |
height over land is available, but similar information
‘about the wind over the sea is very scarce. The
expedition to the Scilly Isles was planned and carried
out by Capt. Cave expressly to meet this want, and
the results, which contain a large and useful amount
of information, have at last been published.
The islands are noted for their fine formation of
rock, and they are exposed to the full force of the
Atlantic gales; in no part does the surface rise much
above the sea-level, and the whole land area is small,
thus the influence of the land on the air-currents
must also be small. Moreover, except to the south-
_west, readings of the barometer are available, and
hence the isobars on the daily weather charts can be
1 “ Koninklijk Nederlandsch Meteorologisch Institut,” No. 106.
_ Ergebnisse Aerologischer Beobachtungen,” parts by a and vi. (1917).
_. Air Ministrv. Meteorological Office. Geophysical Memoits, No. 14:
** Soundings with Pilot-balloons in the Isles of Scilly.”
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
Memoirs,
drawn in the neighbourhood ofthe. islands with fair
precision.
The balloons were mostly followed by two theodo-
lites at the ends of a base line of 5260 metres, but
on a few occasions, on account of the difficulty of
reaching the distant station, only one was used. The
period covered was from November 22 to December 8.
The weather was mostly rough and stormy with a
prevalence of clouds, so that the balloons could seldom
be followed to any great height, but the conditions
‘were very favourable for the purpose of the observa-
tions. The authors found, as they expected, that
the effect of surface-friction is far less at St. Mary’s
than inland, and they give the loss of velocity at the
anemometer head at Scilly as 20 per cent., against
35 to 50 per cent. at Ditcham Park.
The question of the rate of ascent of pilot balloons
is considered. The same kind of balloon was used
as at Ditcham Park and the same free lift given,
The mean rate of ascent was 160-6 metres per minute..
It has been found inland that balloons show a
tendency to rise faster in the first half kilometre,
but this was not the case at Scilly. The rate of
ascent varied considerably from minute to minute,
but no systematic difference was found, and hence
the authors conclude that the general results obtained
from single theodolites may be looked upon as quite
trustworthy
The last section deals with the type and height of
the clouds prevalent during each ascent, and some
evidence was found of the motion of the upper clouds
away from the centre of the depression which
dominated the weather at the time.
The whole memoir is very interesting and should be
read by every student of meteorology.
Bionomics of Glossina palpalis.
O. XVII. of the Reports of the Sleeping Sickness
Commission: of Royal Society (H.M.
Stationery Office, price 4s. net), which has recently
been issued, includes the third, fourth, and fifth
reports on the bionomics of Glossina palpalis on Lake
Victoria by Dr. G. D. Hale Carpenter, of the Uganda
Medical Service.
Interesting descriptions are given of the natural
features and of the fauna and flora of the thirty-
six islands visited. These should be consulted in the
original by those interested. From a study of the
conditions prevailing in these islands it was deduced
that the conditions for the prevalence of fly above
the average are (1) suitable breeding-grounds, viz.
dry sand or gravel ridges representing old lake-shore
levels; (2) abundant shade combined with open spaces
to permit of the movements of the fly; and (3) absence
of large spiders (? Nephila).
The characters of a suitable breeding-ground are
the following: (1) Loose soil, (2) dry soil, (3) well-
ventilated soil, (4) adequate shade, and (5) within
20-30 yards of water. Further research will probably
enable us to define these conditions still more precisely
and to decide whether they, as one would expect, are
also the optimum for the development of pupe.
The practical suggestion is made that fly may be
controlled by constructing artificial shelters with the
characters above defined which would be attractive
to the fly as breeding-grounds, and where the pup
would be regularly collected and destroyed. It might
be possible to add some chemical to the soil in these
shelters which would obviate the necessity of collec-
tion’ and destruction. The author has established the
fact that flies pupate in these shelters.
664
NATURE
‘| Juuy .22, 7920
The report. is an example of the value of the
methodical collection of data. Whether the destruc-
tion or control of Glossina, which seemed at first sight
an almost hopeless quest, can be achieved by this
method we shall no doubt soon learn.
J. W. W.S.
Dante and Trepidation.
N a note entitled ‘‘La trepidazione in Dante? ’”’
(Atti della R. Accad. di Torino, vol. lii., p. 353)
Signor O. Z. Bianco discusses the novel interpretation
given by Duhem (‘‘Le Systeme du monde,” t. iv.,
chap. x.) of a well-known passage in the ‘‘ Paradiso ”’
(xxvii., 142-48) : :
But ere that Jannary pass to spring
‘’hrough that small hundredth men neglect. below,
These higher spheres,shall with loud bellowings ring ;
The tempest fierce, that seemed to move so slow,
Shall whirl the poops where now the prows we see,
So that the fleet shall on its right course go ;
Anu following on tue flower, the true fruit be.
(Plumptre’s translation.)
The first two lines clearly allude to the difference
between the Julian year and the true value of the
tropical year, which Dante assumed equal to 1/100
day, the neglect of which was gradually making the
spring equinox occur earlier, and would (if the error
were not corrected) eventually make the spring begin
in January. Duhem suggested that the second half
of the passage alludes to the so-called trepidation of
the equinoxes. According to the theory formulated
by Tabit ben Korra in the ninth century, the equinoxes *
do not move uniformly from east to west, but alter-
nately advance and recede in a period of more than
four thousand years. This imaginary phenomenon is
not alluded to by Al Fargani, from whose text-book
Dante seems to have derived his astronomical know-
ledge. Signor Bianco rejects Duhem’s suggestion,
which is at variance with what Dante says elsewhere
4“ Convito,’’ ii.,6; “* Purgat.,’’ xi., 108) about the slow
‘motion of 1° in a:hundred years. It is surely much
more natural to suppose that the poet simply meant
that long before the spring equinox after some
thousands of years had moved back into January, great
upheavals would take place in Italy.
Japanese Botanical Work.
H Baie Journal of the College of Science of the
Imperial University of Tolkyo, vol. xliii., con-
tains (article 1) an admirably illustrated monograph
(in English) of the genus of brown seaweeds, Alaria, by
Prof. K. Yendo. ‘The author has studied the various
species on the west coast of Vancouver Island, along .
the coast of the Kurile Islands and of Kamtschatka
as well as in Japan, and also the material in some of
the important European ‘herbaria. The descriptive
portion is preceded by a general account of the
morphology, structure, and development. The vexed
question of the cryptostomata in the brown seaweeds
is discussed at some length, and the author concludes
that these tufts of hairs, at any rate in the Lamin-
arias, may be regarded as absorptive organs. A
résumé is also given of the differing views held as to
the life-history, especially as to evidence on the
manner of renewal of the blades; of Alaria, which,
the author considers, ‘‘may be either gradual or
sudden, according to the conditions of the place where
the plant grows.’’ As regards the economic uses of
Alaria, though A. esculenta was extensively used for
food in earlier times in North-West Europe, and this
and other species are still eaten in various sub-Arctic
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
areas, the author concludes that the genus has very —
little value as human food or for kelp-ash. For
manure it may be used equally «ell with other brown
seaweeds. The species inhabit the colder northern
seas, the greatest number being found within a range
from about 42° N. up to the Arctic Circle. Fifteen.
species are recognised. Of these full descriptions are
given, variations in form and synonymy are
cussed, and a list of localities is cited. The form
and structure of the species are illustrated in nineteen
excellent double-page plates.
The same volume contains a short paper (article 2)
by T. Matsushima describing investigations on the
‘transpiration of cut branches, and an ecological study
(article 3) by Y. Yoshii of the Ota dunes—both in
German.
In the ‘“Icones Plantarum Formosanarum,”
vol. viii., Bunzo Hayata continues his descriptive
work on the flora of the Island of Formosa, based
on the study of the collections of the Botanical Survey
of the Government of Formosa. The present volume
contains descriptions of species and varieties of
flowering plants in various families, and of ferns;
III new species and 17 varieties are included. The
total number of species of the flora is brought up to
3458, contained in 1174 genera representing 169 fami-
lies. The genus Citrus (orange, lemon, Pri is treated
at some length, as also are the figs, Ficus, of which
the author recognises 29 species in Formosa. In
addition to eighty-eight text-figures, the species are
illustrated by fifteen excellent full-page plates showing
habit and floral dissections. :
“
Researches on Egyptian Cotton.
THE newly appointed Cotton Research Board for
Egypt has issued a Preliminary Report, in
which a sketch is given of the general significance of
the Egyptian cotton crop and the formation and pro-
‘posed operations of the new Board are described.
Plans of the buildings under construction are shown,
and a few illuminating figures serve to bring home
to the reader the immense volume of detailed in- .
formation required in the modern study of crops. An
outline of the field of work to be undertaken by a
staff of eleven non-Egyptian scientific workers and
twenty Egyptians is given for the ‘botanical, entomo-~
logical, chemical, and physical sides, though the Board
is rightly careful not to bind itself to a definite
programme. . :
Those interested in cotton or in Egypt cannot fail
to be very glad that this Board has at last come into
existence, but the matter is of wider interest in that
a move has ‘here been made towards the separation
of administration from research. Both functions have
been hampered in the past history of many agricul-
tural services by mutual confusion, and we anticipate
that the step taken by Egypt in this matter will be
generally adopted.
The only criticism we would offer on this report is
upon the reason given for the establishment of the
Board, to wit: ‘*Past experience of... the dis-
advantages attaching to the investigation of cotton
problems from the point of view of any one branch
of science.” We would rather have judged that —
Egyptian cotton had been singularly fortunate in the
informal and voluntary co-operation of every branch
of science, the schools of medicine and engineering,
and the departments of survey and geology, as well
as the agricultural organisations, having given invalu-
able help in all directions. We would suggest that
past experience showed rather the need for a body ~
(such as this Cotton Research Board) which would
Juty 22, 1920]
NATURE
665
_ status and help to the scientific co-operation already
_ in existence. It is to be hoped that the Board‘ may
_ ultimately see its way so to extend its ranks as to
effect liaison with bodies outside the official Egyptian
‘Service. W. Lawrence BaLts.
; . University and Educational Intelligence.
____Campripce.—Applications are invited for the George
_ Henry Lewes studentship in physiology, value 245l.
_ Candidates must send their applications, with par-
___ ticulars of their qualifications and the subject of their
ba Sys d research, by July 31 to Prof. Langley at
a hy Be Physialocy School. f
A further gift of 60001. has been received from Mr.
and Mrs. P. A. Molteno to meet the increased cost of
Institute of Parasitology. This avoids the need to
reduce the accommodation originally proposed.
; been appointed assistant to the professor of chemistry.
4 _ Honorary degrees are being conferred on the Spanish
7 Ambassador, the President of Harvard University,
Prof. H. Cushing, and Prof. J. J.- Abel.
_ Grascow.—The following were among the degrees
_ conferred on July 19 :—Doctor of Medicine (M.D.):
(i) With Commendation: James Gordon. Wilson—
thesis, “‘A History of Influenza and its Variations.’’
(ii) Ordinary Degrees: Albert Barnes Hughes—
sis, ‘Puerperal Eclampsia’’; Donald MacKenzie
MacRae—thesis, ‘‘The Bechuanaland Protectorate :
Its People and Prevalent Diseases, with a special
consideration of the effects of tropical residence and
_ food’ in relation to health and disease”; and John
_ Young—thesis, ‘‘ Bacillary Dysentery.””
Lonpon.—Mr. Fisher, President of the Board of
Education, has stated, in reply to a question asked in
the House of Commons relating to the offer of the
Bloomsbury site to the University of London, that
when the time comes for King’s College to move from
the Strand to Bloomsbury, the Government is prepared
_ to seek authority to purchase, at a fair valuation, the
buildings at present occupied by King’s College in the
Strand, and the price so paid will be available towards
_ the cost of the new buildings to be erected for King’s
Gollege on the new site.
| SHEFFIELD.—Dr. R. B. Wheeler has been appointed
to the recently established chair in fuel technology,
and Mr. Douglas Knoop to that of economics.
. Str Jesse Boor has made a gift of 50,0001. to Uni-
versity College, Nottingham, in aid of the develop-
ment of the scheme for a University of Nottingham.
erat for the building fund and 20,0001. for the
} ion of a chair of chemistry.
_, Tue council of University College, Swansea, has
made the following appointments to headships of de-
! nts, viz. :—Professor of Metallurgy: Prof. C. A.
Budwards Professor of Chemistry: Dr. J. E. Coates.
rofessor of Physics: Dr. E. A, Evans. Professor of
Mathematics: Lt.-Col. A. R. Richardson. Lecturer
in Geology: Dr. A. E. Trueman. Lecturer in His-
tory: Mr. E. Ernest Hughes.
"Tue Trustees of the Beit Fellowships for Scientific
by Sir Otto Beit to promote the advancement of
NO. 2647, VOL. 105 |
cut across departmental boundaries, and ‘give official’
labour and material in the building of the Molteno
Mr. R. H. Vernon, Gonville and Caius College, has’
Research, which were founded and endowed in 1913,
science by means of research, have recently elected
Mr. M. A. Hogan to a fellowship. Mr. Hogan was
educated at the Catholic University School, Dublin,
1907-15, and has been a student at the University
College, Dublin. (National University of Ireland),
from 1915 to date. Mr. Hogan will carry out his
research at the Imperial College at South Kensington.
Tue Industrial Fellowship System for the promo-
tion of industrial research, originated by Prof. Robert
Kennedy Duncan, has been in successful operation in "
the University of Pittsburgh since September, 1911.
Full particulars of the system are given in a pamphlet
by Mr. T. Ll. Humberstone published by the Board
of Education. The seventh annual report of the
Mellon Institute, founded in the University in 1913,
states that the total funds contributed by industrial
firms for the nine years ending March 1, 1920, was
1,213,425 dollars, and that in the year 1919-20 the
number of fellowships was 47 and the number of
fellows 83, the fellowships being 35 for individuals and
12 for groups of workers. A list of fellowships in
operation at March 1, 1920, is published, which shows
the great diversity of subjects of industrial research.
to which the scheme has been applied. The fact that.
the resources of the institute are fully used, and that.
applications exceed the available accommodation, is
convincing evidence of the soundness of the principles
on which the ‘system is based. The institute is.
administered by the director, Dr. Raymond F. Bacon,,
assisted by an associate director and three assistant.
directors, who prepare schemes of research work,,
select the fellows, and supervise their investigations.
Tue foundation-stone of the new buildings of the
University College of Swansea was laid. by his
Majesty the King on Monday,.July 19. A magnificent’
site of forty-five acres in Singleton Park, on the
shores of Swansea Bay, has been presented to the’
college by the Corporation of Swansea, which has also
granted the temporary use of Singleton Abbey for
the housing of the faculty of arts and the administra-
tive offices.of the college. It should be a matter of
encouragement to the council of the college that the
main, features of its policy received marked approval.
and support in the terms. of. the King’s reply to the
address of welcome on Saturday last. It is the natural
ambition of Swansea to build up a strong School of
Applied Science, including a department of metallurgy
of the first rank. At.the-same time the educational
ideals of the Welsh people demand for the great popu-
lation of this industrial district the fullest provision for.
the study of the humanities. and for the advancement.
of learning in the widest sense. The authorities of
the college are fully alive to the magnitude of their
opportunities and the greatness of their trust. Un-
mistakable proofs have already been given by repre-
sentatives of. all classes of deep interest in the work
of the college and a determination to secure practical’
assistance. The wide publicity afforded by the Royal’
visit and the statesmanlike terms of the King’s address’
cannot but serve to widen and strengthen both
enthusiasm and practical support. The conclud-
ing terms of the King’s reply to the address of wel-
come were as follows :—‘ Efficiency is much, but it’
is not all. We must never forget that education is a’
preparation for life, and that its true aim is the en-
largement of the human spirit. It will be the task.
of your college to send out into the world men and
women fully equipped for the material work which
awaits them, and with minds attuned to high ideals,
opened to the rich and varied interests of modern life, ©
and steadfastly set towards the service of their
fellows.”’ :
666
NATURE
[JULY 22, 1920
Societies and Academies.
EDINBURGH.
Royal Society, June 7.—Prof. F. O. Bower, presi-
dent, in the chair.—D. Balsillie:; The intrusive rocks
of the Dundee district. These belong to two types,
viz. diabases and felsites. The former are generally
fine-grained dark masses that contain hypersthene
and free quartz, which minerals, along with mono-
clinic pyroxene and abundant plagioclase felspar
(60 per cent. anorthite), occur in a highly felspathic
ground mass. Hornblende, biotite, iron ores, and
apatite occur as accessories, the first-mentioned, how-
ever, only rarely." Occasionally free quartz disappears,
the place of hypersthene being then taken by olivine.
As a type of olivine diabase may be cited the large
intrusive mass near Newton, west from Auchterhouse
station. The hypersthene diabases are characterised
by the presence of acid segregation veins that often
show beautiful graphic intergrowth of quartz and
felspar. Nearly all these basic rocks are much
altered, the phenomenon ‘of albitisation being of
frequent occurrence, and typically displayed in the
diabases of Castle Huntly, west from Dundee. The
pink rocks would probably have been classed by the
older writers as mica oligoclase porphyrites, which
name still sufficiently describes them. Reference was
also made to an outcrop of highly solidified ash
occurring at Mill of -Mains, north of Dundee, that
probably marks the site of an old volcanic vent. In
discussing the age of the intrusions, the opinion was
put forward that these rocks of the Dundee district
should be regarded as belonging to the volcanic cycle
of Lower Old Red Sandstone times.—F. L. Hitchcock ;
An identical relation connecting seven vectors.
June 21.—Prof. Bower, president, in the
chair.—J. Goold: The musical scale. The author
described a new way of regarding the genesis of the
musical scale. Beginning with the four notes, or
with the three perfect fifth intervals determined by
the four notes F, C, G, and D, the author showed
that the group of four notes a major third above
these, and the third group of four notes a major third
below them, gave, when reduced to the range of one
octave, all the notes of the recognised chromatic
scale. Another point emphasised was that all the
notes of the scale had relative frequencies which
depended on powers and products of the numbers
3 and 5.—J. Marshall: A law of force giving stability
to the Rutherford atom. It was shown that if the
law of force between a positive nucleus and a nega-
tive electron were of the form
I : ae
re wy ye?
a value of m can be found which will preserve the
stability of a group of electrons not exceeding seven
in number. Since b is small compared to the radius
of an atom, this law is indistinguishable from the
inverse square law for distances large in comparison
with the radius of the atom. If in the case of an
atom built up of a series of rings of electrons the
tentative assumption be made that the inner rings
act on the individuals of the outer rings as if the
inner set were replaced by an equivalent charge at
the centre, the investigation may be generalised to
include such cases also; and it is found that for dis-
placements perpendicular to the plane of the orbit the
configuration is unstable when the number of elec-
trons in the outer ring exceeds seven. This would
seem to indicate that the atom could be built up of
a series of rings of seven electrons, and that we
should expect a periodicity in the chemical properties
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
of the atoms corresponding to Mendeléeff’s classifica-
tion, which was stated by Newlands in 1864 in t
form: ‘‘The eighth element starting from a given
element is a kind of repetition of the first.’’—Prof.
A. W. C. Menzies: The explanation of an outstand-
ing anomaly in the results of measurement of dis-
sociation pressures.—Prof. J. A, Gunn and Dr. D. G.
Marshall; The harmala alkaloids in malaria.
Paris.
‘Academy of Sciences, July 5.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair—A. Lacroix; An eruption of the
Karthala volcano at Grand Comore in August, 1918.
This eruption commenced with a quiet flow of lava;
a fortnight later explosions commenced, with emis-
sion of ashes reaching a great height. The explo-
sive emission is considered as being probably due to
the action of superficial water.—Em. Bourquelot and
M. Bridel: The biochemical preparation of cane-
sugar, starting with gentianose. Experiments made
in 1910 indicated the probability of cane-sugar being
one of the products of emulsin on gentianose, but the
sugar could not be isolated. In 1920, using emulsin
specially purified from traces of invertin, after separa-
tion of the glucose as $-methylglucoside, saccharose
was obtained in a pure state.—A. A. Michelson: The
application of interference methods to astronomical
measurements. A development of a method described
in the Philosophical Magazine in 1896. Measure-
ments on Capella made with the 250-cm. reflector at
Mount Wilson Observatory gave the parallax of this
star as slightly under o-o50", with an accuracy of
about 1/1oooth of a second of arc. Experiments at
Mount Wilson on a larger scale are contemplated.—
W. Kilian and P. Fallot: The existence of the facies
of various Jurassic layers in the province of Tarragon
(Catalonia).—A. Righi: Observations concerning a
recent note on Michelson’s experiment. An adverse
criticism of some calculations by M. Villey.—W.
Sierpinski: The measurable B ensembles.—E. Cartan ;
The projective applicability of surfaces.—E. Berger:
The production of chlorides with a primer.—M. _
Godchot; The oxidation of coal. The experiments
described afford no support to the view recently put
forward that the oxidation of coal results from the
action of bacteria pre-existing in the coal.—E. E.
Blaise: The action of substituted hydrazines upon
acyclic 1: 4-diketones. A study of the reaction
between dipropionylethane and phenylhydrazine. Sub-
stituted hydrazines give pyrrol derivatives with
1: 4-diketones.—M. Delépine: Ethylene sulphide,
C.H,S. Previous attempts to prepare the sulphur
analogue of ethylene oxide have been unsuccessful.
It can be obtained by the action of sodium sulphide
upon ethylene chlorothiocyanate, CH,Cl*-CH,*CNS,
and subsequent distillation in a current of steam.
Ethylene thiocyanate, CNS-CH,-*CH,*CNS, can re-
place the chlorothiocyanate in this preparation.—
J. Bougault and P. Robin: The iodoamidines.
Benzamidine with iodine and dilute soda solution
gives the compound C,H,N,I, in which the iodine is
attached to a nitrogen atom, since it is quantitatively
removed by potassium iodide in acid solution. The
reaction appears to be a general one for amidines.—
M. Guerbet: A reaction for benzoic acid based on its
diazotisation :-its application to toxicological detection
of atropine, cocaine, and stovaine.
based on the production of B-naphtholazobenzoic acid,
and will detect readily o-1 milligram of benzoic acid.—
P. Idrac: Convection currents in the atmosphere in
their relation to hovering flight and certain forms of
clouds.—P. Nottin :
for manganese.
treated with soil, manganese is fixed and some lime
The absorptive power of earth
The reaction is. |
When manganese solutions are —
JuLy 22, 1920]
NATURE >
667
_ is found in solution. Calcite was proved not to react
_ with manganese salts, but lime was dissolved from
aragonite and manganese retained—M. Gallaud: A
_ face of wallflowers with multiple and hereditary
_ anomatlies.—A. Marie and L. MacAuliffe: Study of
P.) 344 sies. An anthropometrical comparison with
the Frepch race.—E. Roubaud: The mode of action
4 of powdered trioxymethylene on the larve of Ano-
_ pheles. Further details of the best method of using
_ trioxymethylene for the destruction. of mosquito
_ larve.—J. Dufrenoy: The excretion of vital colouring
_ miatters and degenerescence in Ascidians.—E. Chatton :
_ A morphological and physiological xeno-parasitic
complex :- Neresheimeria catenata and Fritillarga pel-
___‘tucida.—R. Combier: The purification of sewage by
activated sludge.—A. Mayer, L. Plantefol, and A.
_ Tournay: The physiological action of symmetrical
dichlorodimethyl ether.
Care Town.
Royal Society of South Africa, May
Young in the chair—J. Moir: Colour and chemical
constitution. Part xi.: A systematic study of the
brominated phenolphthaleins regarding the relation
between position and colour. The spectra of twenty-
/ three bromine derivatives. of phenolphthalein are
4 described, these being selected from the 658 possible
th isomers so as to give clear evidence of the value of
‘3 each of the twelve possible positions for bromine as
regards change of colour. These values are tabu-
lated, whereby any of the uninvestigated isomers
should be calculable. Phenolphthalein differs from
benzaurine in not having a negative paraposition ;
hence the author concludes that the current chemical
formu for the former is incorrect, and suggests a
: new formulation.—J.- R. Sutton: The relationship
a between cloud and sunshine. A brief discussion of
7 the observations of sunshine and cloud made during
the twenty years 1900-19 at Kimberley.. In a general
way much sunshine postulates little cloud; but the
relation is not intimate, and a sunshine recorder
cannot be regarded as an automatic device for deter-
mining the cloudiness of the sky. August gets the
aes sunshine and February the most cloud.—Miss
Ethel M. Doidge:| The haustoria of the genera
-Meliola and Irene. The fungi belonging to the genus
Meliola are true parasites, .sending haustoria into
the cells of the host. The most common type is that
which has a fine filament penetrating the cuticle and
a small globular, thin-walled, uninucleate vesicle in
the epidermal cell. Certain species penetrate through
the epidermis, through sclerenchyma cells, if these
are present, into the first chlorophyll-containing cells
of the mesophyll. The haustoria cause a consider-
able disorganisation of the cells into which they
penetrate, and the mycelium completely blocks many
of the stomata. j
19.—Dr. A.
,
SYDNEY. ;
Linnean Society of New South Wales, May 26.—Mr.
- J. Fletcher, president, in the chair—Dr. R. J.
: The Neuropteroid insects of the Hot Springs
Region, New Zealand, in relation to the problem of
trout-food. Examination of the contents of trout-
stomachs showed that the most abundant foods were
the green manuka-beetle, Pyronota festiva, the larvee
of caddis-flies of the family Leptoceridz, and a small
mollusc, Potamopyrgus sp. Less abundant were
larve of dragonflies, mayflies, stoneflies,
families of caddis-flies, etc. Since the introduction of
the trout the insect fauna of the region has been very
greatly reduced, the percentage reduction being esti-
mated as follows: Mayflies, more than 50; stone-
flies, 80; and caddis-flies, 90. In the vicinitv of a few
streams to which the trout have no access insects are
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
ae en ee oe
other.
still comparatively very abundant. Suggestions for
improving the position are made along two lines:
(1) Improvement of the food-supply, and (2) reduction
in the number of trout.—Dr. R. J. Tillyard: The
Panorpoid complex. Additions to part 3. Additional
evidence is brought forward from the study of the
pupal .tracheation of Morova (Siculodes) subfasciata,
Walk., to support the conclusion that it is unlikely
that any existing Heteroneurous type represents even
a close approximation to the original archetype of the
Rhopalocera.
WasuHInctTon, D.C.
National Academy of Sciences (Proceedings, vol. vi.,
No, 1, January).—C. Barus: An example of torsional
viscous retrogression. Observations interesting in
their bearing on Maxwell’s theory of viscosity.—
C. M. Myers and C. Voegtlin: The chemical isolation
of vitamines. The method eliminates purines, hist-
idine, proteins, and albumoses, leaving a liquid that
can be crystallised; and probably contains histamine
or histamine-like substances. The physiological action
of the active fractions resembles that of extracts from
the mucosa of the small intestine when the intestinal
and yeast extracts are purified in the same manner.—
C. G. Abbot: A new method of determining the solar
constant of radiation. A method using the pyrano-
meter applicable on many more days than the old
-method, and having the advantage that several inde-
pendent observations of the solar constant may be
made on a single day.—F. G. Benedict: The basal
metabolism of boys from one to thirteen years of
age. A formula and a curve are given, and it is
shown that, although age and stature as well as body-
weight must be considered in pfedicting heat output
for adults, it is not necessary to consider more than
the body-weight in the case of boys—a fact probably
due to the close correlation between the changes in
age, weight, and stature for boys.—R. A. Dutcher ;
The nature and function of the antineuritic vitamine.
A general review of the theory, with numerous refer-
ences, is followed by a brief sketch of the author’s
work, suggesting that the hormone supply is depen-
dent upon the vitamine-content of the food.—H. F.
Osborn and C. Mook: Reconstruction of the
skeleton of the Sauropod Dinosaur Camarasaurus,
Cope (Morosaurus, Marsh); and W. K. Gregory:
Restoration of Camarasaurus and life-model. A
restoration both in the articulature and in the
musculature, with a brief statement of the essential
characteristics of each.—W. D. Matthew: Plato’s
Atlantis in palzogeography. It is suggested that the
present conformation of the Atlantic bottom dates
back, in part at least, to the Palzozoic era.—A. A.
Noyes and D. A. MaclInnes: The ionisation and
activity of largely ionised substances. A general dis-
cussion, with considerable bibliography, leading to
the conclusion that most of the largely ionised in-
organic substances at moderate concentration may
considered as completely ionised, and the decrease in
the conductance-ratio wholly attributed to the decrease
of ion mobility, and the change in activity-coefficient
entirely attributed to some unknown effect of a
physical nature.—A. C. Lunn: The commutativity of
one-parameter transformations in real variables. A
proof previously given by Lie and Engel applicable to
analytic functions is supplanted by a proof assuming
the existence of continuous first partial derivatives
only.—D. L. Webster: The intensities of .X-ravs of
the L series. II.: The critical potentials of the
platinum lines. After a discussion of the special
apparatus employed, a discussion of the lines observed
places six lines in L,, six in L,, three in L,. The
faint lines of Dershem and Overn are unassigned.
668
NATURE
ULY 22, 1920
[JuLy 22, 19
Critical points and intensity ratios are discussed.—
J. B. Murphy: The -effect of physical agents on the
resistance of mice to cancer. The evidence points to
the lymphoid tissue as an important agent in the
immunity reaction. of transplanting cancer of mice.—
H. C. Sherman: The protein requirement of mainten-
ance in man. For the maintenance of healthy men and
women an intake of not more than 35-45 grams of
protein per ‘“‘man” of 70 kg. per day is sufficient
even when the protein is not “especially selected, and
hence the ‘‘standard”’ allowance of 1 gram of protein
per kg. of body-weight per day provides an ample
margin of safety.—R. P. Cowles: The transplanting
of sea-anemones by hermit crabs. A _ study of
behaviour with the problems it presents in this par-
ticular case.—J. A. Anderson: Spectra of explosions.
Discussion of a new method for obtaining intense
spectra of short duration, the new source of light
being of the order of one hundred times the brilliancy
of the sun.—Report of the Autumn Meeting: The
report contains items of business, including the award
of medals, the distribution of research grants, and
the list of papers read before the Academy.
Books Received.
Gold: Its Place in the Economy of Mankind. By
B. White. Pp. xi+130. (London: Sir I. Pitman and
Sons, Ltd.) 3s. net. ;
British Museum (Natural History). Catalogue of
the Lepidoptera Phalanz in the British Museum.
Supplement, vol. ii. Catalogue of the Lithosiade
(Arctianze) and Phalzenoididz in the Collection of the
British Museum. By Sir George F. Hampson. Plates
xlii-lxxi. (London: British Museum (Natural His-
tory).) 32s. 6d.
Splendours of the Sky. By Isabel M.. Lewis.
Pp. viit+343. (London: J. Murray.) 8s. net.
The United States Forest Policy. By Prof. J. Ise.
Pp. 395. (New Haven: Yale University Press;
London: Oxford University Press.) 21s. net.
Lectures on Modern Idealism. By J. Royce.
Pp. xii+266. (New Haven: Yale University Press;
London: Oxford University Press.) 12s. 6d. net.
The Medizval Attitude towards Astrology, particu-
larly in England. (Yale Studies in English, No. Ix.)
By T. O. Wedel. Pp. viit+168. (New Haven: Yale
University Press; London: Oxford University Press.)
‘Ios. 6d. net.
Some Famous Problems of the Theory of Numbers,
and in particular Waring’s Problem. . An Inaugural
Lecture delivered before: the University of Oxford.
By Prof. G. H. Hardy. Pp. 34. (Oxford: At the
‘Clarendon Press.) 1s. 6d. net.
Anthropology and History. Being the twenty-second
Robert Boyle Lecture delivered before the Oxford
University Junior Scientific Club on June g, Ig2o.
By W. McDougall. Pp. 25. (London: Oxford Uni-
versity Press.) 2s. net.
Manuel de Topométrie.
et Calculs.. By J. Baillaud. Pp. vii+222.
H. Dunod.) 13 francs.
Bureau of Education, India. Indian Education in
1918-19. Pp. ii+86+plates. (Calcutta: Government
Printing Office.) 1.8 rupees.
Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt. Report on the
Maintenance and Improvement of the Quality of
Egyptian Cotton and the Increase of its Yield. By
H. Martin Leake. Pp. iv+38. (Cairo: ceria
Press,): 2.75 5
The National Physical Laboratory. Report for the
Year 1919. Pp. 152. (London:
Office.) 55. net.
NO. 2647, VOL. 105]
Opérations sur le Terrain
(Paris :
‘Investigations of sinh Upper ‘Ais $2 Sus) Ogee eel
H.M. Stationery
Dictionary | of
Explosives. By
EP. xiv+159. (London:
J. and A. Churchill.) 15s.
“The North of Scotland College of Agriculture.
Guide to Experiments at Craibstone, 1920. Pp, 44.
(Aberdeen: Milne and Hutchison.) ;
Ministry of Public. Works, Egypt. Report on
Psychrometer Formulz based on Observations in
Egypt and the Sudan. (Physical Department. Paper
No: 2.) By E. B. H. Wade. Pp. ii+45-72+2 plates.
(Cairo: ,Government Press.) P.T.
The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.
_ Vol. xlix., July to December, 1919. Pp. 181-370+ I2.
(London.) I5s. net.
An Ethno-Geographical Analysis of the Material
Culture of Two Indian Tribes in the Gran Chaco.
(Comparative Ethnographical Studies, i.) By E. Nor-
denskiéld. Pp. xi+295. The Changes in the
Material Culture of Two. Indian Tribes under the
Influence of New Surroundings. (Comparative Ethno-
graphical Studies, ii.) By E. Nordenskidld. Pp. xvi+
245. (London: Oxford University Press.) 20s. net,
2 vols. -
Ministry of the Interior, Egypt. Department of
Public Health. | Reports and Notes of the Public
Health Laboratories, Cairo. Egyptian Water Sup-
plies. Pp.. iit+105. (Cairo: Government Press.)
P.T.20.
CONTENTS. _ PAGE
Aerial Navigation and Meteorology. By Prof. E.
van Bwerdingen: \. :.. 3.3.2) ee . 637
Child Physiology. By J. W. iB, tc.) Va is . 638
Forest Reseatch . ...°), 4.) 84. - 639
The Absorption of Light by Organic coe 640
Our Bookshelf. ..... - 641
Letters to the Editor:—
British and pia 29 Seen tilts. Apparatus. —Prof. .
W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S “4
The Separation of the sae, of Chlorine. _Prof. i
Frederick Soddy, F.R.S. 642
Science in Medical Education. —Prof. ‘Sydney 7
Hickson, FUR. acca ieee 643
The Mechanics of the Glacial Anticyclone Illustrated
by Experiment. (Illustrated.)—Prof. W
Mebhbsio to ceiecne teen 644
The Wiicineceios of “Hydrogen. —Dr. J: R. Ash-
WHOLE 2505 45 a! bald line oe meee 645
Occurrence of Ozone in the Atmosphere. ee oa N.
PHO oo ee We eae 645
Crystal Structure. (Illustrated.) By Prof. w. oe :
Ara Roe ety 646
Researches on Growth of Plants. (Illustrated, )
By Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose, rRS 648
Popular Natural History. (IMustrated.) By x; A. 7. 651
Notes: 40M 2) STE AOR - 654
Our Astronomical Column :—
A New Comet %.) 20). Wieck Sates ee ee 658
Publications of the Dees Astrophysical Observa-
tory, Victoria, B.C., , No.2: 658
Progress in Science ge pilneeey By Charles ut
Alexander Hill) os) sc a 659
Medical Science and Education ...... 661
First Conference of the International Federation .
of University Women oo aloe./s: ee ieee 662
Insect:Pestesi i350). Gi Ay anleten 9 662.
Bionomics of 'Glossina palpalis.
Dante and Trepidation |<.) 004 44. c= seas Rig aaa
Japanese Botanical Work
Researches on Egyptian Cotton. By D W.
., Lawrence Balls os oe eg eee aoe eT tee
University and Educational Intelligence . Pee
Societies and Academies a Bi ery ko ‘
Books Received . . pares Sg oe atv
A. Marshall, 2
a.
a
669
«THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1920.
ie ae Editorial and Publishing Offices: -
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
A Chemical Service for India,
- * CHE constructive proposals put forward in the
ee A= Report of the Indian Industrial Commission,
1916-18, presided over by Sir Thomas Holland,
were dependent on the acceptance of two prin-
ciples: (1) That in future Government must play
an active part in the industrial development of
the country, with the aim of making India more
self-contained in respect of men and material;
___ 2) that it is impossible for Government to under-
take that part unless provided with adequate ad-
ministrative equipment and fore-armed with trust-
worthy scientific and technical advice.
The Report under consideration ! is the work of
a Committee which sat in Simla, from February 16
until February 28 of this year, after the president
with two members of the Committee had toured
through the provinces. The Committee was ap-
pointed “to formulate proposals for the organisa-
tion of a Chemical Service for India and for the
- location and equipment of research laboratories.”
Prof. J. F. Thorpe, professor of organic chem-
istry in the Imperial College of Science and Tech-
nology, London, was president of the Committee.
His associates were Dr. K. S. Caldwell, principal
of Patna College; Mr. R. W. Davies, district
and sessions judge, North Arcot, Madras Presi-
dency; Dr. W. Harrison, Imperial agricultural
chemist, Research Institute, Pusa; Sir P. C. Ray,
professor of chemistry, University College of
Science, Calcutta; Dr. J. L. Simonsen, forest
chemist, Forest Research Institute and College,
Dehra Dun; Dr. J. J. Sudborough, professor
of organic chemistry, Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore.
The terms of reference to the Committee were :
- (1) To consider whether an all-India Chemical
Service is the best and most suitable method of
‘1 Report of the Chemical Services Committee, 1920. (Simla: Govern-
ment Central Press.)
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
aa NATURE
overcoming the difficulties and deficiencies pointed
out by the Indian Industrial Commission.
(2) In the event of the Committee approving
the principle of an all-India service, to devise
terms of .recruitment, employment and organisa-
tion; to indicate the extent to which chemists
already in Government employ should be included
in that service; and to suggest what should be the
relations of the proposed organisation with the
public and with Departments of the Government
‘of India and of Local Governments.
_ (3) In particular to frame proposals for the loca-
tion, scope and organisation of institutions for
chemical research.
During his tour Prof. Thorpe became satisfied
that the development of the chemical industries of
India could be adequately realised only through
the agency of an efficient Government Chemical
Service.. Nowhere did he find an effective organ-
isation to co-ordinate the various efforts which
were being made; not one of the provinces had
even formulated a programme of its requirements
or decided what educational methods were neces-
sary to attain the desired ends. To achieve
success the proposed Chemical Service must be
recruited mainly from Indian sources: the ques-
tion of an adequate training in Indian universities
is therefore vital. This subject is specially dealt
with by Prof. Thorpe in an able introductory
note: the Committee expresses itself as in
agreement with his views.
The evidence put before the Committee was so
definitely in favour of a Chemical Service that it
came to the conclusion that question No. 1 of its
remit, quoted above, could be best answered by
the formation of a service having as its primary
objective the encouragement of industrial research
and development.
The Committee makes thirty-five recommenda-
tions of which the first twelve are as follows :—
(1) That a Chemical Service should be con-
stituted. -
(2) That the service should be called the Indian
Chemical Service.
(3) That the service should be controlled by a
Director-General. —
(4) That a Central Imperial Chemical Research
Institute should be erected at Dehra Dun under
the Director-General of the Chemical Service,
as Director, assisted by a’ number of Deputy
Directors.
(5) That each Deputy Director should be in
charge of a separate Department and that, in the
first instance, there should be four Departments,
(a) Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, (b) Organic
Chemistry, (c) Metallurgical Chemistry, (d) Ana-
lytical Chemistry.
(6) That a Provincial Research Institute under
Z
670
NATURE
[ JULY 29, 1920
the control of the Local Government should be
erected in each province near the chief seat of
industry in that province and. that each Pro-
vincial Research Institute should be under a
Director of Research.
(7) That the functions of the Central Imperial
Institute should be as follows :—
(1) to create new industries and to carry out the
development of new processes up to the
“semi-large ” scale or further if necessary,
to investigate those problems of a _ funda-
mental character, arising from the work of
the Provincial Institutes, which have been
transferred to the Central Institute by the
Local Director of Research in consultation
with the Director-General. Such problems
will be those which have no apparent im-
mediate practical importance but which, in
the opinion of the Director-General and the
Director of Research, are likely to lead to
discoveries of fundamental industrial import-
ance affecting 'the industries of the country
generally,
(iii) to assist in the co-ordination of the work in
_ progress in the provinces: both by means of
personal discussion between the officers of the
Central and Provincial Institutes during the
course of the tours made by the Director-
General and the Deputy Directors and by
means of periodical conferences of Provincial
and Imperial officers,
(iv) to carry out such analytical work as may be
required and to correlate the methods of
analysis in general use throughout the
country,
(v) to maintain a Bureau of Information and
Record Office,
(vi) to issue such publications as are considered
necessary.
) (8) That the functions of the Provincial Re-
search Institutes should be as follows :-—
(i) to maintain -close touch with the works
chemists and with the works generally and to
work out any problems which may be sub-
mitted to them,
(it) to develop and place on an industrial scale
' new industries which have been previously
worked out on the laboratory and “semi-
large ” scale by the Central Imperial Institute,
(iii) to carry out such other work as may be
_ necessary to establish and foster new indus-
tries peculiar to the province,
(iv) to carry out such analytical work of a
chemical character as may be required in the
province,
(v) to erect and control sub-stations in such
parts of the province as the development of
industry may require. .
(9) That, under (8) (i) above, arrangements
should be made by which a firm supplying a prob-
lem should have the use of the solution for an
agreed period of time prior to its publication,
(10) That members of the service should be
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
(ii
—
~~
lent to private firms as occasion demanded and
should during the period of their service be paid
an agreed sum by the firms. ies
(tr) That the Research Institutes should not
undertake manufacture in competition with private
enterprise but that chemical industries developed
in accordance with (8) (ii) above should be handed
over to private firms as soon as practicable.
(12) That, whenever necessary, experts should
be employed to establish chemical industries
based on known processes.
Among the other recommendations are that
agricultural chemists should not at present be
included in the service; that a Ministry of Science
should be created as soon as practicable; that a
Chemical Survey of India should be carried out
at the earliest possible moment; and that the
Government of India ‘should give maintenance:
and equipment grants to students, to enable them
to undergo the training in chemical .research re-
quired for recruitment. :
It is not a little remarkable that the only
member of the Committee to take exception to
the creation of an all-India Chemical Service is
the one Indian member, Sir P. C. Ray. A
separate note is appended to the Report in which
he forcibly states his objections. Sir P. C. Ray’s
opinion must carry great weight, not only on
account of his long experience and his distinction
as a teacher and investigator but ‘also because
of his:familiarity with industrial requirements and
possibilities, he having long been concerned with
the management of a chemical works which he —
was instrumental in establishing. The present
writer had the. opportunity. of visiting this works
when in Calcutta in November, 1914, and was
much struck by the ingenuity displayed in the
construction of the plant; various heavy chemi-
cals were being made, including sulphuric acid,
in substantial quantities. rae A
Although Sir P. C. Ray considers that tke
days of Government services are over and that
the development of industries by the agency of a
Government service is not the most suitable way
of dealing with the problem, yet he agrees that,
if a Government service be constituted, the pro-
posals of the Committee, represent the best
method of constituting and carrying on such a
service. His view is that better results would
be obtained by improving the teaching of chem- ia
istry in the Indian universities; by attracting —
brilliant young men by the offer of research
scholarships ; and by attaching technical institutes —
to each university. sn! ee
The circumstances of India are so entirely
4
t
nt 4
a
t
intinn al
ie
JULY 29, 1920}
NATURE 671
/
peculiar that it is impossible to judge the scheme
from an ordinary point of view. A number of
those who contributed to the recent correspond-
ence in NATURE appear to fear that the liberty
of the subject engaged in research work may
‘be improperly interfered with and curtailed by
the institution of a separate Chemical Service.
This should not be the case. It is to be supposed
that the studies undertaken will be strictly utili-
tarian in character—the primary objective being
the encouragement of “industrial research” and
to secure the co-operation of science and industry.
The fact is, the term “research” were better put
aside altogether in the present connection—it
now has so many meanings, if any meaning in
Particular: it should be confined to strictly
original inquiry and regarded as a word of
sacred import. Organised scientific inquiry into
industrial problems is what is aimed at by
the promoters of the scheme: therefore Central
Scientific Institute would be a better title than
‘Central Research Institute, “Research” being a
word unknown to the multitude and one for
which it never can have any feeling.
India is a country of vast size and is broken up
into an infinitude of small holdings: its problems
are more than numerous: the nature and extent
of its raw materials must be surveyed without
loss of time: very little has been done to develop
industries. The one crying need seems to be an
organisation of effort. A service is required if
only in protection of the workers.
Perhaps the chief objection to be taken to the
scheme is its magnitude and therefore its costli-
ness; it involves the simultaneous establish-
ment of so many district institutes, to satisfy the
desire of the several provinces to exércise ad-
ministrative control in their own areas. The real
difficulty will be to find men who are competent
to act as directors—men who are not only tech-
nically competent but also sufficiently imagina-
tive and broad in outlook, able to hold their own
Socially and to manage men. Such men have been
in constant demand here of late and too rarely
forthcoming. Indeed, the complaint is frequent
that, though those entering technical careers may
be chemists by training, they Jack initiative and
are unable to shoulder responsibility. Science
does not at present attract the right type of in-
telligence to its ranks. Do not let us delude our-
selves into thinking that we can repair our past
errors and become a scientific nation at will—by
admitting large numbers to the schools and creat-
ing numerous new posts: without acumen and
NO. 2648, VOL, 105]
worker.
experience, nothing can be done. The success
of the Indian scheme will depend largely on the
man first chosen to fill the post of Director of the
Central Institute: he must be gifted with a
liberal spirit and with ideas; his time must not
be unduly taken up in attending to administra-
tive details; he must himself be a skilled scientific
Only such a man will be able to assist
the work of the universities and be a generous
and capable critic of the men they educate for the
purposes of industry and the State service.
Sir P. C. Ray would in all cases start industries
by means of technical experts imported from
abroad and would not attempt to work them up
locally with the aid of the Research Institutes, as
proposed by the Committee. He is unquestion-
ably right in so far as large industries, well estab-
lished elsewhere, are concerned; and as a matter
of fact the Committee advises that this course
should be taken in all such cases. The proposals
of the Committee apply specially to small-scale
industries in which it is desirable to encourage
native activity; the work done by Sir Alfred
Chatterton in Madras in developing the use of
aluminium may be quoted in illustration. The
Indian is eminently conservative and is not
easily persuaded to do new things—but he can
often be led by ocular demonstrations; it will
be the function of the provincial institutes to
give these.
In its reference to the exploitation of forest
products, the Committee mentions match-making
as an industry which it understands the Forest
Department has under contemplation and seems
to give its approval. Here Sir P. C. Ray’s
criticism is to the point. Match-making is so
thoroughly understood that it seems undesirable
that academic workers should take it in hand:
in such a case, it were better at once to call in
the expert. The suitability of various fibres for
paper-making is quite another question: it is
clearly desirable that these should be first tested
on the spot, so that the many variations to which
the raw material would be subject could be
taken into account.
The great value of the Report lies in the
recommendation of an all-India scientific service
—the directions in which the service can be made
of most avail will be gradually discovered as the
service comes into operation. That the industrial
future of India can be secured only with the aid
of the scientific inquirer and by placing industry
on a scientific footing is beyond ail question.
Thanks are due to Prof. Thorpe and his col-
672
NATURE
[JuLy 29, 1920
leagues for the able way in which they have
dealt with their onerous task.
Mr. Howard, Imperial economic botanist to the —
Government of India, directed attention recently, |
to the future of |
economic botany in India and to the many com- |
plex problems awaiting solution : after asking what |
at the Royal Society of Arts,
is the best method of getting such work done—
whether we should rely on organisation or trust
to. the individual—he expressed the opinion that
individual action is to be preferred. But surely
the competent individual should be able to influ-
ence a receptive though unimaginative multitude.
Increase in knowledge is of little value if it do
not give us an increase of power to use our know-
ledge—we know that it does. During the war,
much organised team work was accomplished by
scientifically trained workers under the influence
of a few guiding minds. The men who are doing
research work in the various schools are for the
most part unconscious members of a service act-
ing under the inspiration of a few leaders: there
is no reason why the system should not be carried
from academic life into the public service. We
are alive to the faults by which a public system is
likely to be affected and should be able to guard
against them. Henry E. ARMSTRONG.
Tycho Brahe.
Tychonis Brahe Dani Opera Omnia. Edidit
PL... EL Dreyer: Tomus’ vi. Pp. oes 975:
(Haunie: Libraria Gyldendaliana, 1919.) Price
19 kr.
R. HAGEMANN, who is bearing the ex-
M pense, and Dr. Dreyer, who has under-
taken the labour of ‘editing the works of Tycho
Brahe, are alike to be congratulated on the ap-
pearance of this elegant edition of the first
book—the only one ever published—of the “ Epis-
tole Astronomice.’’ The frontispiece consists of
a handsome portrait of Tycho Brahe, dated 1586,
reproduced from the first edition, which appeared
in 1596. Here the portrait is enclosed in an arch
ornamented with sixteen coats-of-arms, either, we
may conjecture, his sixteen quarterings, or at
least the arms of his own and fifteen kindred
families. The English reader will note with
special interest the arms of Rosenkrans and Gul-
densteren, and we have not far to seek for bearers
of those arms. In Dr. Dreyer’s “Tycho Brahe ”
(1890) Jorgen Rosenkrands is frequently mentioned
as a patron of Tycho. He was Governor of Jut-
land, and in 1588 was made one of the Council
of Regency for the young King Christian IV. of
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
Axel Guldenstern appears in twee
Denmark.
| letters in the present volume dated 1592, where he ©
is described as a kinsman of Tycho and Governor
of Norway.
The letters contained in the present voles
range in date from 1585 to 1595. They comprise
the correspondence of Tycho Brahe with Wilhelm,
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, his son and successor
Moritz, and his “mathematicus ” Rothmann. The
letters are partly in Latin and partly in German,
‘but the German letters are always accompanied
by a Latin translation. Their contents are well
exploited in Dr. Dreyer’s “Tycho Brahe,” men-
tioned above, and in his “ History of the Planetary
Systems ” (1906). Perhaps the most generally
interesting part of the present collection is the
description of Tycho’s observatory at Hveen and
of his instruments, which occupies pp. 250-95 of
this volume. Tycho’s attitude to astronomy
and astronomers is well illustrated by the
selection of eight, whose portraits adorned the
crypt of his observatory—Timocharis, Hipparchus,
Ptolemy, Albategnius, Alfonso, Copernicus,
Tycho Brahe, and Tychonides, with the pithy
distichs in which Tycho sums up the LpOCLARRe
of each (pp. 274, 275). ‘
The correspondence with Rothmann will remain
famous for the clearness with which Rothmann.
grasped the implications of the Copernican system,
and maintained them against Tycho’s futile objec-
tions, which, to men brought up to believe in a.
stationary earth, appeared so cogent. It is some-
what pathetic that this record of the ancient con-
troversy should have appeared only a few weeks.
before the triumphant vindication of a new theory
which renders the difference between Copernicus
and Tycho meaningless.
Tycho was the first of dee astronomers to
make more than occasional observations, and it
was therefore natural that the work of the ancient
observers, particularly Timocharis, Hipparchus,
and Ptolemy, should possess a living interest for
him and ‘his correspondents instead of having, as
to nearly all modern astronomers, a purely anti-
quarian importance. Rothmann (p. 115) made one
unhappy suggestion about Ptolemy which can
scarcely have been intended for publication. Cer-
tainly the author can never have dreamed of the
way in which it was to be extended. The sug-
gestion is that the places of the fixed stars in
Ptolemy were not observed by him, "but merely
transcribed from Hipparchus. Rothmann shows,
quite correctly, that the latitude which Ptolemy
professes to have observed for Regulus is incon-
sistent with the longitude and declination which
he also professes to have observed; his own.
observations, he says, are not inconsistent wie
~ =o lh eee Oe
“ee i hy
~ a7 EL
_Juty 29, 1920]
_ of the Catalogue of Hipparchus,
_ Ptolemy’s epoch by means of a constant’ correction
_ to the star places.
NATURE
673
the accuracy of Ptolemy’s latitude and longitude ;
therefore it must be the declination that was in
error; this, he thinks, was extrapolated from the
declinations observed by Timocharis and Hippar-
ehus, and he concludes that Ptolemy observed no
declinations at all, but merely deduced them from
Timocharis and Hipparchus. This probably sug-
_ gested to Tycho Brahe the more sweeping charge,
__adumbrated in his “ Progymnasmata ”
ii., 151), and stated clearly in the introduction to
his Catalogue (‘“ Opera,” iii.,
tae Opera,”
335), that the whole
of Ptolemy’s Catalogue was merely a reproduction
reduced to
This charge has had a wide
currency, but has been refuted by Laplace and
Ideler, and finally by Dr. Dreyer in his paper,
~ “On the Origin of Ptolemy’s Catalogue of Stars,”
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society, Ixxviii. (1918), pp. 343-49. The absurdity
of Rothmann’s original charge may be shown by
a computation of the position of Regulus for the
epoch of Ptolemy’s tables. Ptolemy’s declination,
as it happens, is correct, but his latitude is in
error, and his longitude is greatly in error, doubt-
less because his tables gave a false longitude to
the sun, with which Regulus was compared.
J. K. FoTHEerincHam.
Psychological Tests in Industry.
Employment Psychology: The Application of
Scientific Methods to the Selection, Training,
and Grading of Employees. By Dr. Henry C.
Link. Pp. xii+440. (New York: The Mac-
-millan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
9r9.) Price 1os. 6d, net.
*XPERIMENTAL psychologists in this country
have always been keenly interested in re-
search into individual mental differences, but to
America we must turn for the first attempts to
apply psychological tests to vocational selection
and guidance. As might have been expected, an
alternative method has arisen which claims to
judge special abilities, aptitudes, and characters
by the methods of phrenology, the colour of
the hair and eyes, the texture of the skin, the
slope of the handwriting, the squareness or round-
ness of the face, the shape of the chin, etc. As
Dr. Link points out, attempts have been made
to transform this method into “a reliable and
scientific method of character analysis. . . . This
so-called science has received wide publicity and
has been accepted [both in America and in this
country] by many prominent and hard-headed
business men. It attempts to place observation
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
on a scientific basis by assuming that certain ob-
servable physical characteristics are identified with
certain definite mental qualities, and by asserting
as a corollary that a visual observation and
measurement of the physical characteristics enable
the observer to gauge a person’s mental, moral,
and emotional qualities. The smattering of scien-
tific phraseology in the presentation of this
method is just sufficient to impress those who have
only a superficial knowledge of the scientific facts
involved. . The fundamental assumption on
which the so-called science of observation rests
is an assumption entirely unwarranted by the
facts ” (pp. 240, 241).
Contrast with this the methods of industrial
psychology. The psychologist first “finds, by
means of an experimental process, what the rele-
vant activities in an occupation or an operation
are.” This he does by means of tests which are
tried out on workers whose ability is known and
with whose work success in the tests can be com-
pared and correlated. In this process he also dis-
covers the standard which ought to be reached in
the significant tests by those who wish to succeed
at the kind of work in question. He then stand-
ardises the manner in which these tests should be
used, so that every applicant for a particular kind
of work will be examined in exactly the same
way, and his ability determined according to the
same formula (p. 249).
As Prof. Thorndike indicates in his introduc-
tion, “Dr. Link’s book is important because it
gives an honest impartial account of the use of
psychological tests under working conditions in
a representative industry. He has the great merit
of writing as a man of science assessing his own
work, not as an enthusiast eager to make a
market for psychology with business men. In-
deed the story of his experiments is distinctly
conservative . . .” (p. x). They included the test-
ing of girls and men, of clerks, stenographers,
typists, and ‘“comptometrists,” of machine
operators, apprentice tool-makers, etc. They show
what a wealth of valuable information for voca-
tional guidance they can afford, and how excellent
a corrective they are to the vague, inaccurate know-
ledge too often possessed by the foreman of the
relative abilities of those who work under him.
The tests used are fully given in an appendix to
the book. The volume clearly indicates the im-
portance of employment psychology, alike to the
employer who “wishes to obtain the best pos-
sible kind of human material,” and to Labour if
it “wishes to carry out collective bargaining, if it
wishes to base its claims for individuals on the
sound basis of ability and training ” (p. 389).
674,
NATURE
| JULY 29, 1920 -
<ste
Cultivation of the Vine in America.
Manual of American Grape-growing. By U. P.
Hedrick. (The Rural Manuals.) Pp. xiii+
458+xxxii plates. (New Yotk: The Macmillan
Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1919.)
Price 15s. net.
HIS book is one of the series of rural manuals
edited by Prof. L. H. Bailey, and it should
prove of great use to both commercial and amateur
grape-growers. The opening chapter, dealing
with the “Domestication of the Grape,” is espe-
cially interesting. There are about fifty named
species of the grape, most of them found in tem-
perate countries. Of the Old World grapes only
one species, Vitis vinifera, is cultivated for fruit,
but of all grapes this is of greatest economic
importance. Vitis vinifera is the grape of ancient
and modern agriculture, and is the chief agri-
cultural crop of Southern Europe and of vast
regions in other parts of the world. The written |
records of its cultivation go back five or six thou-
sand years, while the ancient Egyptians are
known to’ have grown the vine for wine-making ;
the methods and processes of domestication,
however, are now unknown. The records of the
New World yield information on the cultivation
of wild species of grapes, and the author describes
the domestication process of the four species now
extensively cultivated.
The author states that “few other agricultural
iudustries are more. definitely determined by en-
vironment than the grape industry,” and he de-
scribes the grape regions of America, discussing
the factors which determine the suitability of a
region for grape-growing. Climate is the chief
of these factors, and is dealt with in detail. Other
factors treated of are soil, insects and fungi,
accessibility. to markets, etc.
Full information is given on propagation, fer-
tilisers, breeding, etc., as well as a chapter on
the various operations involved in transferring
the grapes from garden to market, together with
advice on the carrying out of these operations.
The important subject of grape pests and their
control is dealt with, the life-histories of the
several pests being given in so far as they bear
on the control methods.
A particularly interesting chapter is that on
“Stocks and Resistant Vines,’ where we are
given an account of the root-louse Phylloxera.
This pest made its appearance in France in 1861,
and increased so rapidly that by 1874 the whole
vine industry of Europe was threatened with ruin.
The situation was saved by the realisation of the
fact that American grapes did not suffer from
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
Phylloxera ‘attacks, hence the European vines.
tions and figures.
were saved by grafting them on the Phylloxeta+
resistant roots of American grapes. ee
The chapter on grape botany gives the general
botany of the vine and also includes a detailed
account of the American grape species, while in
the chapter on varieties of grapes descriptions are
given of a large number of different types with
their respective characteristics and advantages, the
varieties described being those which will appeal
to the amateur as well as to the commercial
grower. The book is well supplied with illustra-
V. G. JACKSON. _
Our Bookshelf. BSE hs
“Ministry of Public Works, Egypt: Zoological
_ Service. Hand-list of the Birds of Egypt. By
_M. J. Nicoll. (Publication No. 29.) Pp. xii+
119+31 plates. (Cairo: Government Press,
1919.) Price P.T.15 (3s. 6d.),
AN up-to-date treatise on the avifauna of Egypt
has for some time past been a desideratum in
ornithological literature. It is now forty-eight
years since the late Capt. Shelley’s well-known
book, hitherto the foremost on the subject, ap-
peared, and much has been added to the know-
ledge of the subject in the meantime. This want
is well supplied in’ an epitomised form by Mr.
Nicoll’s book. ak
The author, a well-known ornithologist, has
resided in the country for thirteen years, and
during the whole of this period ‘has specially
devoted himself to the study of its avifauna. The
result of his labours is highly to be commended
to the bird-loving visitor to Egypt, and to all
who are interested in Palearctic ornithology, to
whom, indeed, it is indispensable. The ornis of
the “Land of the Pharaohs” is not only rich in
its numbers—Mr. Nicoll treats of as many as
436 forms—but also of great interest, since its
native birds, though Palearctic in the main, com-
prise. a number of Ethiopian representatives.
Another notable feature is presented by the birds.
of passage, vast numbers of which bi-annually
traverse the country, especially the Nile valley,
en route to northern summer haunts in spring,
and again in autumn on their return to their
accustomed tropical, equatorial, and South African
winter quarters.
Among the native birds the ostrich became ex-
tinct seventy years ago, and it is sad to learn
that the characteristic and beautiful Egyptian
plover has practically ceased to exist. On the
other hand, several once declining species, among
them the buff-backed heron, are increasing in
numbers as the direct result of protection. In
addition to. giving the status of the species and
sub-species known to occur in Egypt, and par-.
ticulars on the dates of the coming and going of
the migrating birds, the author has furnished a
short and useful diagnosis of each bird.
JULY 29, 1920]
NATURE
975
_ The book is illustrated by a series of thirty-one
plates, eight of them in colour and devoted to
figures of the protected species, while the rest
are black-and-white figures showing the differ-
_ ences between the various species of chats, and
certain warblers and wagtails, occurring in the
b : country.
Investigations in the Theory of Hyperion.
‘Dr. J. Woltjer, jun. Pp. iii+71.
_ E, J. Brill, 1918.)
Tue motion of Hyperion, the seventh satellite of
Saturn, is of special interest from the commen-
_ surability of its period with that of Titan, the
_ two being in the ratio of 4 to 3. The late Prof.
Newcomb wrote an important paper, “On the
Motion of Hyperion: a New Case in Celestial
Mechanics.” The present work carries the in-
vestigation some steps further. The differential
equations are broken up into partial systems,
giving the inequalities proportional to the succes-
Sive powers of e! the eccentricity of Titan’s orbit.
Newcomb had regarded this development as im-
practicable, but the present work demonstrates
the contrary. The development is at present
carried only to the first power of e’, which suffices
to give a close approximation to the observed
inequalities. For example, the ratio of masses of
Saturn and Titan is deduced as 3986, which is
close to the values 4172, 4125 found by Eichel-
berger and Santer respectively. Incidentally, we
may note that the mass of Titan is about twice
that of the moon, and two-thirds that of Mercury.
Also the coefficient of the large inequality that
depends on Titan’s eccentricity is found as 12-96°,
not differing much from the value 14-0° found by
H. Struve from observation.
The researches made by Dr. Woltjer form a
useful step in the attainment of a complete theory
of Hyperion’s motion, and it is to be hoped that
he will himself continue the work, carrying it far
enough to include all sensible terms.
A. C. D. CRomMELin.
A Field and Laboratory Guide in Physical Nature-
study. By Prof. Elliot R. Downing. (The Uni-
versity of Chicago Nature-study Series.)
Pp. 109. (Chicago, Illinois: The University of
Chicago Press; London: The Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 1920.) Price 1 dollar net.
At first sight it is difficult to decide whether the
book was written for children or for adults—in
its assumption of previous knowledge it is hope-
lessly above the one; in its treatment it is far
beneath the other. The preface explains that it
is meant for pupil teachers. Directions are given
for the making of model aeroplanes, the spinning
of tops, etc. But if a youth has missed these
delights in his childhood, it is of little use for him
to try to find them later on. In training a student
to teach children there is no need to treat him as
a child himself. Nevertheless, the book is full of
good ideas, and many who would find it almost
intolerable to use as a laboratory manual. would
be well repaid for time spent in: reading it
through. .
NO. 2648,
By
(Leyden :
VOL, 108]
Letters to the Editor.
{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to
return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu-
scripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No
notice is taken of anonymous communications.] :
Genera and Species.
Wuen Linné introduced the practice of giving a
generic and specific name to each living organism
he probably did not anticipate that the number of
names required would run into millions, and with the
multiplication of genera and species now encouraged
by naturalists some other system of distinction seems
desirable.
Of the five or six thousand stars visible to the
naked eye only a few have been named, and the rest
have to be content with identification by their con-
stellations and by a letter or number.
Something of the same sort might be done for the
organic world. The conspicuous and typical examples
might retain their names, while both to these and to
the remainder a letter or number might be allotted.
If the numbers followed the chronological order in
which the species were discovered or first properly
described, a catalogue formed on these lines would in
itself convey valuable information.
Identification by number or symbol would act as a
check to the coining of many barbarous words, and also
to the annoying repetition of the same specific names
in different genera. All true classification should be
genealogical—that is, it should depend on the ancestry
of the organism classified. Existing knowledge is in-
sufficient to achieve such an ideal result, but any
system not founded on pedigree is open to the objec-
tion of not being ‘‘ natural.”’
There are often great doubts as to where varieties
end and species begin; and where such doubt exists
it would, in general, be safer to assume that differ-
ences are varietal until it has been found by trial that
continued interbreeding tends to produce sterility.
I am informed by authorities well acquainted with
the West Indies that this is what happens when half-
breed is crossed with half-breed, but not when half-
breed mates with white (or better, with black). So
far as this evidence goes, it points to something
approaching a specific difference between the white
and the negro, and many species have been deter-
mined on a worse foundation.
Books on special branches of natural history, while
giving some sort of description of the various genera
and species, do not (there are a few honourable excep-
tions) indicate, or indicate very imperfectly, the
grounds on which the generic or other distinctions
rest, and it is not uncommon to find differences
between admitted varieties of the same species ex-
ceeding those between species reputed to be separate.
To find the reasons for these apparent anomalies
by consulting the original papers involves the expendi-
ture of much time and trouble, but the information
might be compressed into a small space if properly
tabulated, A. Mattock.
9 Baring Crescent, Exeter, July 17.
The Gluster Pine.
Pinus pinaster was probably introduced into Madeira
about thirty years before the beginning of the nine-
teenth century—a hundred years too late to save from
wanton extinction the forests of mountain laurel,
Cerasus, Persea, juniper, and many a species exclu-
sively Madeiran.
There is a settled method of cultivation. The steep
‘| hillsides, ridge, and valley, after the yearly autumn
676
‘NATURE |
[JuLy 295 1920
rains, are made ready to receive the seed which in.
November and December is scattered broadcast,
mixed with wheat and lightly covered over atter heavy
rain. The green seedlings appear in a tew weeks,
but there is no tangible development until the wheat
is taken away and the decaying stalks have become
available as plant-food, and perhaps advantageously
helped by a thin ‘surface-dressing of sawdust.
A Pinaster plantation soon
yielding in the first years substantial bedding for
cattle and, mixed with dried gorse bushes, excellent
material for the ovens in the village bakehouses. In
four or five years the crop will yield abundantly
supporting stakes, 6-8 ft. long, for the climbing
beans on which the Madeira peasant so largely
depends for his winter food, and, yearly afterwards,
sturdy poles in ever-increasing dimensions for the con-
struction of the fascinating trellises in the famous
vineyards at a lower level. In twelve or fifteen years
the trees have attained the stage of firewood, and,
with the exception of a few selected” pines left for
timber, the ground is once more cleared for planting
afresh. The tree-stumps are mostly grubbed up, but
those left quickly decay in the ground, and’ the
Pinaster throws up no fresh shoots after cutting.
The young Pinaster has a distinct tap-root, but the
roots of the mature tree spread in a superficial mat,
twining fantastically along the surface among the
protruding rocks. In digging the foundations of a
lofty tower I met with no roots deeper than 4 ft.
No attempt has hitherto been made to deal with
the abundant store of turpentine and resin with which
in this region the Pinaster is endowed; and up to the
present time the plantations have not suffered from’
the blights and diseases to which the species is sub-
ject elsewhere.
Much Pinaster seed is imported from Portugal, as
less costly than collecting locally, but the full-bodied,
delicately winged seed from a mature tree is in every
way preferable, and to procure it a young, supple-
limbed mountaineer will not hesitate over the perilous
ascent of the huge trunk, bare of. branches 70-80 ft.
from the ground. A frail ladder made of ivy-stalk
serves his purpose, pegged by segments into the
crevices of the rough bark, and on reaching the first
horizontal branch the intrepid fellow will pass down
a string to a companion and draw up a long pine
sapling, and with this, clambering out upon the
branch, he will beat down the cone clusters with their
prolific crop. Once in three or four years sufficient
cones have developed to tempt the climber to this
giddy and blood-curdling enterprise, and the. seeds are
beaten out in a few days when the sunshine has
sufficiently opened the cones. The seeds then become
the property of the pine steeplejack, the handsome,
cinnamon-coloured cones, with the substantial resi-
duum of unextracted seeds, remaining with the land-
owner.
Pinaster timber of mature growth is. a handsome
and useful wood, though more difficult to work than
the imported deals from America and Norway. I
possess some substantial floors which show no signs
of decay after thirty years’ service.
For. general purposes Pinaster is far the most ser-
viceable conifer vet seen in Madeira, and its quick
growth, its prolific yield of cones and seeds, and its
hardy nature and easy cultivation have. given . the
species a popular pre-eminence which is well estab-
lished.
Thirty years ago I introduced Pinus insignis and
made important plantations. One or two of these
trees. now twenty-seven years old, stand more than
too ft. high, with a sturdy corresponding bulk, con-
stituting, with their longer, softer, light green, three- -
sheathed needles, a handsomer and more attractive
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
becomes productive, -
form than seen in'the Pinaster. But though of equally —
rapid growth, the cultivation requires more care than —
the Pinaster; neither is the tortuous-fibred wood
regarded with favour by the working carpenter. | ~
~ P. pinaster, P. canariensis, and P. insignis all hold
their cones for indefinite periods, but the Himalayan
P. longifolia sheds all its produce in September, leav-.
ing nothing but the embryonic promise of next year’s.
crop, the substantial development of the large cones.
with their resinous, club-ended bracts occupying only
seven months. a
I cannot close this account without a reference to
Cupressus macrocarpa and C. goveniana as recent
accessions of great promise to the Madeira show of
conifers; and some mention is also due to the
Douglas fir, Taxodium sempervirens, etc., stately
examples of which adorn our mountain-gardens.
Madeira, June 29. MiIcHAEL GRABHAM.
The Training of Practical Entomologists.
THE increasing demand for fully trained economic
entomologists was, I think, evident to all who followed
the proceedings of the recent Imperial Entomological
Conterence held in Burlington House. We are taced
with the difficulty of ensuring an adequate supply of
keen and experienced young men fitted for service in
India, the Soudan, and other of the British dominions
wherever the requirements may be greatest. The
solution of economic problems in entomology is far
more difficult than is commonly supposed, and only
men of the broadest biological training, coupled wi
the gift of imagination, are likely to achieve results
of lasting value to the community. Under present
conditions they are frequently called upon to take up
responsible positions after inadequate Ses and
with only a modicum of practical experience. In the
training of an economic entomologist two obvious
pitfalls have to be avoided: one is a too exclusively
academic or laboratory experience, while the other is
a too specialised training in economic entomology at
the expense of the necessary preliminary groundiag”
in general biology.
The majority of practical entomologists become ate
tached to an agricultural department, a smaller number
enter a forestry department, and it is evident, there-
fore, that they need to acquire some knowledge of
the principles and practice of either agriculture or
forestry. The time at a student’s disposal is an im-
portant factor, and the majority of men can usually
only devote four years to training prior to turning
out and earning their living. Let us take, for example,
the course of a student at Cambridge. If he possesses
good abilities, he should be able to take Part I. of
the Tripos at the end of the second year and obtain his
preliminary grounding in biology and chemistry, and I
would suggest that the remaining two years should be:
devoted to entomology plus agriculture. The diploma
course in agriculture might well be modified to suit.
such students, allowing them to devote as much time
as possible to entomology, and confining the agricul-
tural training, so far as may be feasible, to a know-
ledge of the soil and crop cultivation, omitting the
greater part of the course dealing with stock and
animal nutrition. In so far as entomology is con-
cerned, I would advocate the first year (or the stu-
dent’s third year) being devoted entirely to what may.
be termed the scientific side of the subject. The
second year (or the student’s last year) should be
given to as full a training as possible in economic
entomology with the necessary field work. He should
be given every opportunity for observing the common —
pests in the field and the methods of dealing with
I strongly advocate every student also being.
them. ;
given an independent piece of life-history work to
Jury 29, 1920],
677
follow out, in order to acquire methods of accurate
observation and technique. This work should be
written up and modelled in the form of’a scientific
paper, and illustrated so far as may be desirable. By
means of such an essay the student will become 'fami-
liar with the elementary procedure in research work,
he will acquire some power of independent observa-
tion, and learn how to deal with entomological litera-
ture, thus gaining some idea of the sources where he
will find first-hand information.
Furthermore, I would also insist upon the student
forming a small. but thoroughly representative. col-
lection of insects, so proving that he has had some
field practice in collecting, and is able to refer them
to their families and genera. By means of such a
course as I have outlined, it should be possible to train
good, all-round entomologists, capable of tackling a
problem unaided when out in the wilds of Africa or
the plains of India.
_ If the student can spare a fifth year, it would be all
to his advantage, and the time would be most profitably
Spent in prosecuting some line of independent entomo-
logical research. A. D. Is.
Institute of Plant Pathology, Rothamsted
Experimental Station, Harpenden.
The Separation of the Isotones of Chlorine.
In order to prevent confusion of issues, instead of
Cl and Cl’ let us write A and B. Then when we say
that A and B are identical, we mean that all the
properties of A and B are the same except that of
position occupied. Thus we are enabled to divide
the atoms into two groups, the A group and the B
group, in spite of their identity of properties. Then
it is quite certain that if the atoms exist as mole-
cules A,, B,, and AB, in equilibrium by the reversible
reaction A,+B,—~2AB, the equilibrium is given by
[ABFAAI(B)=K=4. |
_ The following considerations will, 1 think, meet
any difficulties that have been raised in reconciling
this reaction with Nernst’s heat theorem. In the case
of complete identity, if we convert the solids A, and
B, into the solid AB by evaporation to the gases
A,, B,, transformation into the gas AB, and con-
densation to the solid AB, we obtain an increase of
entropy of Rlog4. But this solid is really a solid
solution or mixture, since, as we assumed that the
vapour pressure over it is equal to the pressure over
the solids A, or B,, we must assume that the mole-
cules condense on its surface with ‘longitudinal in-
difference.’’ The solid, then, is a solution of the
molecules AB in BA.
Now the entropy of a body consists of two parts,
one depending on the distribution of velocities, the
other on the distribution of the co-ordinates of posi-
tion. The first term cannot give rise to any change
of entropy when the solids are transformed, irrespec-
tive i Nernst’s theorem, but the second term is a
constant, and accounts for the change of R log 4.
‘It may, in fact, be calculated directly by statistical
methods.
If we assume that the gas AB condenses to the
solid AB (or BA) instead of into the solid solution,
then we must take the pressure over this solid as
double that over A, or B,, and not equal to them;
because, consistently with the assumption of the
formation of the pure solid AB, we must assume that
the solid rejects half the molecules which strike its
surface; that is to say, the molecules AB condense
but not the molecules BA. .
_ This double vapour pressure will make the entropy
of the two gram-molecules of AB (or BA) equal to
the. entropy of one gram-molecule of A, plus one
gram-molecule of B,. et
No. 2648, VOL. 105]
NATURE
No essential difference in the argument is made
when A, differs slightly from B,.
’ Prof. -Soddy throws out a suggestion for the
removal of the term Rlog4 which surely must be
erroneous. He seems to agree to the distribution of
molecules given by [AB]’/[A.][B,]=4 (which must
result whatever kinetic process be assumed), but he
considers it wrong to write 4 as the equilibrium con-
stant of the reaction A,+B,—-2AB, as this gives for
the coefficients of the réaction velocities k,=4k,. He
therefore would write the reaction A,+B,=AB+AB,
and then, taking half the concentration of AB, write
[ZAB][ZAB]/[A,|[B,]=K=1. Therefore k,=k,.
To write this reaction in this form is unjustifiable.
In the first place, that k,=4k, in no way contradicts
the assumption of the identity of A and B. For the
velocity coefficients do not depend only on the pro-
perties of the atoms or molecules involved, but con-
tain a factor depending on the statistics of the re-
actions. In this respect the direct and .reverse re-
actions may be different. This is better seen by com-
paring the two reversible reactions 2A=A, and
B+C=BC, where A, B, and C are identical atoms.
The two reverse coefficients are equal, k,=k,’, but the
two direct coefficients are not equal, for k,=}k,’.
This is because n atoms B, together with n atoms c
give twice as many B—C collisions as » atoms of
A give A—A collisions. If we write the reaction
A+A=—A,, and take half the concentration of A, we
still do not find k,=k,’, but k,=2k,’.
In the second place, to write the reaction
A,+B,—AB+AB suggests that we can divide the
molecules AB into two equal sets, and that a signi-
ficant collision only occurs when an AB molecule from
the first set collides with an AB molecule from the
second set. Finally, the semi-permeable membrane
that may be used in calculating the change of entropy
due to the gaseous reaction must be assumed perme-
able to all or none of the molecules AB, thus giving
an entropy change Rlog4. So that by no con- -
siderations whatever are we justified in taking half
the concentration: of the AB molecules when cal- .
culating the change of entropy.. Ancus F. Core.
The University, Manchester, July 24.
Anticyclones.
Pror. Hosss in Nature for July 22 gives some
experimental reasons for contending that over large
ice-covered areas, such as exist in Greenland and the
Antarctic continent, the cooled lower layer of air
moves outwards in all directions from the centre of
the ice-covered area. Under the influence of the
earth’s rotation the air thus set in motion is regarded ,
as circulating as in normal anticyclones, and Prof.
Hobbs on that account speaks of such areas as being
anticyclonic. He remarks: ‘‘The centrifugal nature
of this motion tends to produce a vacuum above the
central area of the ice mass, and the air must be
drawn down from the upper layers of the atmosphere
in order to supply the void. It is here that is located
the ‘eye’ of the anticyclone.’’ He thus postulates an
anticyclone with a low-pressure centre.
With the physics of Prof. Hobbs’s theory there
need be little criticism. The point really seems to be:
Are the conditions described by him as existing over
an ice-cap anticyclonic? An anticyclone has a high-
pressure centre, and a cyclone a low-pressure centre,
the surface air moving outwards in the former and
inwards in the latter, whereas. the conditions
described by Prof. Hobbs are an outward flow and
a low-pressure centre. Would it not be well to
designate such conditions by some other word?
R. M. DEetey.
Tintagel, Kew Gardens Road, Surrey, July 23.
678
NATURE
[Jury 29, 1920
Solar Variation and the Weather.
By Dr. C. G. Assot, Director, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
IN Zerker a century ago three pioneers, Sir
John Herschel, Pouillet, and Forbes, laid the
foundations of the measurement of solar radiation.
Each devised an instrument for measuring the
heating effect of. the solar rays and used it dili-
gently.. Pouillet and Forbes availed themselves
of the law of extinction of light, which had been
independently discovered about 1760 by Bouguer
and Lambert, to calculate the intensity of the solar
rays, as. they would be outside our atmosphere.
Forbes’s researches in the Alps proved that this
law is not strictly applicable to the sun’s rays as
a whole, and he was led to believe that the value
of the so-called solar constant of radiation was as
high as 2-85 calories per sq. cm. per min.
Pouillet’s value, based on the assumed validity of
the Bouguer-Lambert law, was 1-76 calories.
As pointed out by Radau, the problem of esti-
mating the intensity of the solar heat outside our
atmosphere requires the study of the various ‘spec-
trum rays separately, because their transmission
through the atmosphere is unequal. Langley in-
vented the spectro-bolometer about 1880, and
immediately applied it to the problem as analysed
by Radau.. In the famous Mount Whitney ex-
pedition of 1881 Langley ‘carried on spectro-bolo-
metric and pyrheliometric measurements simul-
taneously at an altitude of 12,000 ft.
certain theoretical considerations, however, these
experiments seemed to him to yield the value 3-07
calories per sq. cm. per min. as the most probable
value of the solar constant of radiation. A correct
reduction, which he also gave in his report, yielded
2:22 calories. Later experiments made.on Mount
Whitney and on Teneriffe indicate that while the
spectro-bolometric work was good, Langley’s
pyrheliometric determinations were too high, so
that the true result should have been 1-9 calories.
Up to that time no fully satisfactory instrument
for measuring the intensity of solar heat at the
earth’s surface had been perfected. About 1893
Prof. Knut Angstrém’s highly ingenious electrical
compensation pyrheliometer fixed the scale of solar
radiation measurements. surely within 5 per cent.
In recent years the accuracy. of the
heliometer has reached to 2 per cent. or better.
Misled by
_in Washington to fix a standard procedure for
solar constant observations. Omitting minor
_ details, the process which resulted is as follows:
ngstr6m pyr- |
In 1913 three independent series of determinations |
at the Smithsonian Institution fixed the standard ©
scale of radiation measurements now generally
adopted. The.Angstrém scale as corrected. by
A. K. Angstrém lies 1-8 per cent, lower.
At. Washington, under Langley’s direction, the
spectro-bolometer, which at the time of the Mount
Whitney expedition was almost unmanageable,
was perfected in the decade 1890-1900 into a tract-
able, trustworthy instrument, and made to trace
photographically an autographic solar spectrum
energy curve extending from wave-length 0-3
micron to 3-0 microns within 10 minutes.
In the autumn of 1907 experiments were begun
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
the moon, for instance.
calories per square centimetre per minute comes
Beginning when the sun is near 15° above the
horizon, about six solar spectrum energy curves,
and simultaneously pyrheliometric measurements,
are made, ending when the sun’s altitude has
reached about 60°... These curves are measured
at about forty points corresponding to known
wave-lengths from far in the ultra-violet to far in
the infra-red. Taking each wave-length by itself,
these intensities on the six separate curves follow
the Bouguer-Lambert law of extinction. Hence
plotting the logarithms of measured intensities
as ordinates and corresponding values of the
secants of the solar zenith distances as abscisse,
each group of six points determines a straight
line. Producing this line to zero of abscisse—
that is, to the line corresponding to no atmosphere
at alli—we read there the logarithms of the in-
tensity for the various wave-lengths, as the energy
curve would be found outside our atmosphere—on
The scale of energy in
by comparing. the total area included under the
spectro-bolometric curves with pyrheliometer read-
ings taken simultaneously.
process.
Determinations were begun: at Washington in.
October, 1902. In the springtime of 1903 a large
drop amounting to nearly 10 per cent. was found
in the values after the end of March. The changed
values persisted so steadily that we were led to
entertain the hypothesis that the solar radiation
had actually diminished. A comparison was made
between solar heat and terrestrial temperatures.
It actually appeared that just after the apparent
drop in solar radiation there occurred .a general
drop in terrestrial temperatures for all available
stations of the north temperate zone. This led
us to the long campaign of solar radiation observa-
tions which I shall now describe. . ’
In 1905 we began sending yearly expeditions’
' to observe solar radiation at Mount Wilson, Cali-
fornia, also the seat of. the famous Mount Wilson’
Solar Observatory of the Carnegie Institution.
I am happy to acknowledge the great assistance
and enthusiastic interest which Dr. Hale and his
colleagues have at all times given our work there.
From the first the Mount Wilson values, though
far more accurate than Washington values, owing
to the clearer and more uniform sky conditions of
California, showed on their face a variability over.
an extreme range of 10 per cent. in the emission
of solar radiation. The sun appeared to be a
variable star having a twofold type of variation:
First, a fluctuation with the march of years attend-
ing changes in solar activity as indicated by sun-
spots, facule, prominences, etc. ; secondly, a fluc-
|: tuation running its courses in a few days, weeks,
Such, in brief, is the-
a ee sree
a) eB
aoa a), ew
correlation between their indica-
Juy 29, 1920]
» NATURE
679
Both types of variation are highly
The longer-period type appears to
or months.
irregular.
reach 4 per cent. for 100 Wolf sun-spot numbers.
The shorter-period, changes are larger, and
often amount to 3 or even 5 per cent. in a
week or a fortnight: Sometimes they reach
to per cent.’ otra : Me ;
In order to test the validity of these apparent
solar changes, we secured ‘nearly simultaneous
observations at’ Washington (sea-level) and Mount
Wilson (1730 metres). Also in 1909 and 1910 at
Mount Wilson and Mount Whitney (4440 metres)
close agreement of results was found. Then in
1911 and 1912 we observed nearly simultaneously
for several months at both Mount Wilson and
Bassour, Algeria (1160 metres). Both Mount
Wilson and Bassour indicated a range cf solar
variation of nearly 10 per cent. The coefficient of
4,
but our young men have observed the “solar con-
stant” there on about 75 per cent. of all days
* since ‘July 27, ‘1918. Comparisoris with Mount
Wilson in. 1918 gave a “probable error” for one
determination at a single station of o-o111 calorie,
or about o-6 per cent.. The Calama values have
ranged from 1-884 to 2-028 calories, or 7 per
cent. :
Mr. H. H. Clayton, chief forecaster of: the
Arventine Meteorological Service, has compared
all the Mount Wilson and Calama solar observa-
tions, 1905 to 1920 inclusive, with the tempera-
tures and rainfall of Argentina. He finds a high
degree of correlation between them. The sub-
joined table shows Clayton’s comparison of the
average marches of temperature in Buenos. Aires
for the years 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1918 (1916
and 1917 were not available to him), correspond-
tions in 1912, according to Mr.
Knox Shaw’s determination, is 7
+58+47-9percent. Thusourview JF }—
Fon
‘
of the sun’s short-period irregular ‘
variation was confirmed by the ‘
f l\
eM
agreement of these results from
two stations separated by one-
third of the earth’s circum-
my .
ference.
‘Since then we have confirmed
the solar variability in many
Ou
ways. Most convincing, perhaps,
is the variation we have found in
the distribution of radiation over
the sun’s disc attending changes
in the solar radiation. As is well
TURE Derarturss E
J
i
known, the sun’s centre is
brighter than its edges. We find
that the contrast of centre to edge
Crain
““o
Minor
A
changes from day to day and from
year to year. These twofold
changes run in opposite Senses
with respect to increased solar
radiation, and seem to indicate
that the cause of the solar varia- —
tion of long period is the hottes
sun attending increased circula-
tion at sun-spot maximum, while the short-interval
changes are caused by changes of transparency of
the sun’s outer layers.
In 1918 the Smithsonian Institution established
a station at Calama, Chile, supposed to be one
of the earth’s most cloudless regions. We have
been disappointed in the degree of cloudlessness,
2 4 6
ELAPSED AFTER SOLAR ORSERVAT ION
Fic 1.—The prolonged influence of solar changes on terrestrial temperatures. The three curves
show the average march of temperature cepertness at Buenos Aires, as published by Mr. H. H.
Clayton, for nineteen days next following
in the years 1913, 1914, 1915,
ol.servations were made by the
California, more than six thousand miles from Buenos Aires.
“Mean,” and ‘‘Min.” correspond respectively to mean values of the “‘ solar constant ” of 2°00,
1°95, and 1'go calories per square centimetre per minute.
L
RR
’
Bu. $0 Te. 16S NY ee
ays of maximum, mean, and minimum solar radiation
and 1918 for the months May to November. The solar
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at Mount Wilson,
he curves marked ‘* Max.,”
ing to all the occasions when the solar constant
values observed at Mount Wilson fell between
the stated limits. The deviations of temperature
are expressed in tenths of degrees Centigrade,
and range from +2-0° to —1-5° C. from the
normal. The extreme and mean results are given
also, translated into Fahrenheit, in Fig. 1.
Derivations from Normal Temperature in Buenos Aires following Different Intensities of Solar
Radiation (May to November).
Solar radiation
values in gram-
calories per cm.”
min. ° 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2°c0o#0'01I0 -12 '-7 -5 -8 -7 - 2 -2 3
rg8oto’oI0 - 1 -6, -2 -1. -8 fe) 6 9
1°960+0'010 2 9 4 o -2.-2 —-2 fe)
1°940+0'010 47-8 | aay, 9 2 2 °
Igz0¢0'010 "9 “oO +4 +4 -6 - 49 —S,
‘Pgoo#c’o1I0. 10 10 23°. 13 +g -10° ~10 —15°
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
Days following
9
to 3
16. 20 114 -: I 2 6 RUS yy oan fe 6
5 5 4 y petats > inset 2 6 ° 6
ae wg ahs EP Hg fork RK sie gs eg 5
mgr agi %, Sah $x t8- Hasse
oO 3 3 5 6 3. eS. aoe ee ee I
-§ -14 -5 I -3 2 -3 -13 -9I5 -19 -It
680
NATURE
[JuLy.29, 1920
It is very striking that the solar changes pro-
duce such large and prolonged temperature
effects. On the tenth and seventeenth days after
the event the average temperature following
solar constants of 2-00 calories differs by more
than 6° F. from that following solar constants
of 1-90 calories.
The temperatures following minimum “solar
constant” values are generally lower than the
normal from the third to the nineteenth day;
they are above the normal before the third day;
while those following high values are above the
normal from the sixth to the nineteenth day, they
are below the normal before the sixth day; and
those corresponding to mean “solar constant”
values differ by little from the normal through
the whole interval.
The latter state of affairs is probably decidedly
These reversals of solar variation effects with
the time of the year are paralleled by reversals
with geographical position, according to Clayton, —
who was at first led to regard these geographical
reversals as zonal. But it now seems more prob-
able to him, I think, as well as to Nansen, that
they are associated with the great atmospheric-
action centres rather than with the earth’s zones.
As these action centres change place from time
to time, it seems possible that the geographical
and secular reversals merge as effects of one
general cause. While it may seem extraordinary
at first sight that the past winter has been excep-
tionally severe (at least in Eastern United States), °
though solar constant values have been steadily
exceptionally high from early in October to Feb-
ruary, this may be compared with the known fact
that when there are many sun-spots high solar
radiation and low temperatures
also occur together. Unusual
cloudiness or prevailing polar
N
as
winds may well account for
low temperatures associated
with high radiation.
Clayton’s studies have led
him to a system of forecast-
ing in which telegraphic reports
Ni of daily solar constant values
as obtained by Smithsonian
CBE |
observers at Calama, Chile,
take a prominent part. He
claims decided and _ valuable
success for both temperature
-and precipitation forecasts.
If these pioneer results should
4 vi R be confirmed it seems _ highly
Dae cs Ee ohne {|-U-GENEBAL MAW v ARS [905-l2|| desirable to establish several
93 ye 1:9'39 other solar constant observa-
Te) tories in the most cloudless.
92 far-separated regions of the
! fyorg 1920 earth. By telegraphic commu-
7g UNE [JULY | AUG.|SEPT. | OCT. | NOV. | DEC. |JAN. | FEB.} MARA nication all their results would
Fic. 2.—Five-day means observed at Calama, Chile, 1919-29.
modified at other times of the year, for Mr.
‘Clayton finds the following correlation coefficients
‘connecting the temperature departures at Buenos
‘Aires eight to nine days after the event with the
solar radiation variations observed at Calama
‘from August, 1918, to May, rgrg.
. Jan. Feb, March April May June
— 0749 —0°20 +0'18 +0°23 +0°33 —
July_ Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
— +0°20 +0°26 —0°23 -— 0°29 — 0°33
Taking these figures with the figures given
above, we are to conclude that while on the
first three or four days after the event high
solar radiation tends to produce high tem-
peratures
February, the opposite tendency governs March
to September. __ oh
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
in Buenos Aires from October - to -
be available for daily forecasts
all over the world. The cost
.of such stations fully equipped
need not exceed 25,000 dollars for the most inac-
cessible. The yearly cost of maintenance need
not exceed 10,000 dollars. It is now merely the
complete lack of funds for the purpose which
withholds the Smithsonian Institution from estab-
lishing them.
Fig. 2 shows the march of “solar constant”
results from June 1, 1919, to March 24, 1920. In
no other period since 1903 has there been ob-
served three consecutive months of values so high
as those of the winter of 1919-20. The following
rapidly. falling values accompanied the extra-
ordinary solar and terrestrial phenomena of
March 22, 1920:—
Solar Radiation Values of March, 1920.
Mean
Date xrto17 18 19 20 2I 22
«BB 24
Value 1°968 1°954 1°940 17931 1°941 1°927 1°866 17905
Sete eo!
=
JuLy 29, 1920]
681
NATURE
The Earliest Known Land Flora.
By Pror. F. O.
is Ree vegetable kingdom is made up of plants
of most varied size, character, and habitat.
Comparing those various types, the view becomes
ever more insistent that dependence on water is
the master-factor determining their existence. As
we range their diverse forms according to prob-
able sequences of descent, those which we regard
as the most primitive according to their structure
and mode of reproduction are those which are
habitually the most dependent upon constant
water supply. It is the same with the animal
oy, Sa These broad results were summed up
by Weismann some forty years ago in the state-
ment that the birth-place of all animal and plant
life lay in the sea. If this be true, it follows that
all life on exposed land-surfaces has been second-
ary, and derivative.
Geologists tell us that from the remote past
land-surfaces have stood exposed above the level
of the ocean. The continents and islands may
have differed from time to time in their outline
and area from those of the present day. ‘But we
may believe that from a very early period land-
surfaces have had a continuous existence, so that
life upon land may itself have been continuous
from the time when living organisms first emerged
from their natal waters. Such beliefs throw back
to the very remote past the possible origin of
life upon dry land. But still the probability re-
mains that aquatic life antedated that event. These
considerations lead inevitably to the questions:
When was dry land first invaded from the water?
What were the first land-living plants and animals
like? And how did they rank as compared with
modern life?
Leaving zoologists to solve these questions for
their own branch, we botanists are to-day in a
better position than ever before to answer them
with regard to plants. Though still far from being
able to visualise the beginning of the story, recent
discoveries have made it possible to see clearly and
in detail the nature of the earliest known land
flora, which is that of a period older than the
Upper Devonian. During recent years fossil
plants of early Devonian age have _ been
found in Sweden and in Scotland in greater
profusion than ever before, while the Scot-
tish specimens are so well preserved that
they are now almost as well known in structural
detail as plants of the present day. Already in
this room repeated lectures have been given on
the Paleozoic flora. Many plants of the Carboni-
ferous Period have been described here in micro-
scopic detail, and they are. mostly referable to
affinity with such living types as ferns, club-mosses
and horsetails. Some, such as the Sphenophylls
and Pteridosperms, represent classes which have
since died out. But, speaking generally, the flora
of the coal is composed of plants comparable with
1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, April 30.
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
branched and creeping base.
Bower, F.R.S.
the lower vascular plants now living. They pos-
sessed stems, leaves, roots, and sporangia. Some
even produced seeds like modern Gymnosperms.
_ Passing back from the Carboniferous period to
the Upper Devonian, the flora, though more re-
stricted, may still be described in terms applicable
to the living vegetation. The plants include
among others the gigantic fern-like Archaeopteris
hibernica, from Kiltorkan, co. Kilkenny ; the large
Lycopod Bothrodendron, from the same source;
and the large-leaved Pseudobornia, from Bear
Island. Flat leaf-expansions are here seen, and
the plants named have been referred in their
general characters respectively to affinity with the
ferns, club-mosses, and horsetails. But between
the Upper Devonian and the strata that lie
below geologists tell us that a vast period
of time intervened. The evidence of the
‘plant-remains supports this. The earlier
Devonian fossils so far known are meagre
in number of forms. In their characters they
differ more markedly from the plants of the
present day than any of their successors. They
were rootless, and there appears to be a complete
absence of large, flattened leaf-expansions. It is
upon them: that the new discoveries have shed so
interesting a light. Conversely, that light is re-
flected back by comparison upon the more recent
forms. In fact, a new chapter has been opened
in plant-morphology, and a new class of vascular
plants, the Psilophytales, has been established to
receive these representatives of the oldest known
land flora. The study of them is leading to new
interpretations of the form shown by plants of
later periods, and ultimately of the present day.
Until 1913 the plants of the early Devonian
rocks were very imperfectly known. Their recog-
nised characters were chiefly negative. There was
no evidence of broad leaf-surfaces, nor was it
clear whether or not they bore leaves as distinct
from stems. The existence of true roots was also
doubtful. The best known plants were con-
structed of approximately cylindrical stalks bear-
ing lateral spines. These stalks arose from a
Some of them
showed crozier-like curves when young, and
sporangium-like bodies were sometimes found
upon them. The most distinctive of these plants
were grouped by Dawson in his genus Psilo-
phyton, and he published a reconstruction of the
species P. princeps. It was, however, the subject
of adverse criticism by his contemporaries, and
the validity of the genus was questioned.
It was upon a field so open as this that light
has now been shed. From fresh-water deposits
of early Devonian age round Lake Réragen,
on the frontier between Norway and Sweden, Dr.
Halle collected many specimens of fossil plants.
But they were mostly impressions, and showed
only imperfect preservation of their microscopic
682
NATURE
[ JULY 29, 1920
structure. He distinguished several genera of
plants with branched cylindrical stems bearing
small thorn-like appendages, and some of them
distal sporangia. Many of his specimens were
referred to Psilophyton princeps, and bore out
in the main the reconstruction of Dawson. Halle
was able to confirm the existence of a central
vascular strand in Psilophyton, consisting of
tracheides, a fact which ranks it with certainty
among vascular plants of the land. But the most
distinctive novelty which Halle discovered in the
Réragen beds was a fossil which he called Sporo-
gonites. It consisted of a simple stalk bearing
a terminal capsule. From its form, and the char-
acter of its contents, he held it to be a sporo-
gonium comparable with that of the Bryophytes;
but a generalised type, not referable to any exist-
the new observations of early Devonian plants
in Scotland was recorded. Dr. Mackie, of Elgin, —
found at Rhynie, in Aberdeenshire, certain iso-
lated blocks of chert containing plant remains.
A little later the source of these blocks was
traced to a bed of chert, older than the Upper
Devonian, found in situ by the Scottish Geo-
logical Survey. Its origin appears to have been
this. An exposed land-surface existed there in
Middle or Lower Devonian time, subject to in-
tervals of inundation. It became periodically
covered by vegetation. By decay of its stems and
underground parts a bed of peat would be formed.
The peat was then flooded, and loose sand de-
posited over it. Again the vegetation was re-
peated, and so successive bands were formed to
some 8 ft. in thickrfess’ Then followed water
with silica in solu-
tion, supplied from
some fumarole or
geyser. The _ peat-
bed was thus sealed
up, and the plants
preserved with as-
tonishing perfection.
From. this bed of
chert four distinct.
vascular plants have.
been recognised, and
described in the
minutest detail by
Dr- Kidston and
Prof. Lang. They
are all essentially
similar in _ type,
though _ sufficiently
different to be placed
in three genera,
named _ respectively.
Rhynia (two species),
Hornea, and Astero-.
xylon. Rhynia and
Hornea are leafless
and rootless, while
Asteroxylon is also
Photo]
Fic, 1.—Vertical section through the protocorm of Rhynia Lignieri with rhizoids, embedded in peat (x 14).
ing group of them. An alternative suggestion
was that Sporogonites may represent only the
upper part of a more highly developed sporo-
phyte, perhaps on the line of descent of the’
Pteridophytes. Thus the presence of Sporogonites
does not actually prove the existence of Bryo-
phytes as we now know them in the early
Devonian rocks. But nevertheless it has a
peculiar interest. Hitherto there has been no
certain record of the existence of any moss-like
type in the Paleozoic period. The demonstration
of so moss-like a sporangium as Sporogonites is
certainly the most thrilling of the facts brought
forward by Dr. Halle.
In 1913, three years before Dr. Halle’s publica-
tion of these discoveries at Réragen, the first of
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
rootless, but it bears
leaves of a simple
type. © The plants
thus clearly indicate
a primitive state prevalent at that period. They
conform in general features to the type of Psilo-
phyton as described by Dawson, and as recognised
in greater detail by Halle. But here in the Rhynie
chert the structural details are so well preserved
that these earliest of all known vascular plants can
be examined and described almost as well as any
modern living plants. Some have even. been
found standing erect as in life. Through untold
ages, like the legendary Knights of the Round
Table, they have thus. awaited the revivifying
touch of modern science.
Of the four plants so far described from the
Rhynie chert, Hornea Lignieri is relatively simple.
From a distended and. lobed protocormous base
rose the stems, which bifurcated. These bore
(Dr. Kidston.
JuLy 29, 1920]
NATURE
683
distal sporangia, which represent their trans-
formed tips. Sometimes the sporangia were them-
selves forked. The protocorm was bedded in the
peat, and parenchymatous, with many rhizoids
(Fig. 1). The cylindrical stems stood upright
from it, and were about 2.mm. in diameter. They
were traversed by a simple stele with a solid core
of tracheides, surrounded by phloem. The stele
forked at the dichotomies of the stem, but stopped
short at the base of the sterile columella, which
ran upwards into the flat-topped, and apparently
indehiscent, sporangium. The latter appears as
a transformation of the end of the stalk, which
is simply an ordinary branch of the plant. The
spores are tetrahedral, as they are in all of these
plants of the chert. The general aspect of Hornea
‘is such as to provoke comparison with the Bryo-
phytes, notwithstanding certain strongly diver-
gent characters.
This may have some real ‘sig-
Photo) [Dr. Kidston.
Fic. 2,—Aerial stem of Rhyniz major seen in transverse section (X20).
nificance in view of its small size, and relatively
simple structure.
Rhynia major is larger and better preserved,
but still it also is structurally simple. It had a
less distended rhizome, from which the robust
cylindrical stems arose. These consisted, as in
Hornea, of a central stele with solid xylem-core
and investing phloem, surrounded by a massive
cortex, of which the inner region appears to have
been photosynthetic. Outside was a well-marked
epidermis with stomata. These and the vascular
tissue prove the aerial habit of the plant (Fig. 2).
The stems ended in solitary massive sporangia, as
much as 12 mm. in length, without a columella,
and filled with tetrahedral spores (Fig. 3).
Neither of the species described bore any appen-
dages on. its stems. But Rhynia Gwynne-
Vaughani, though smaller than R. major, shows a
feature of morphological advance towards some-
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
|
;
‘
| thing in the nature of appendages.
The upright
stems bifurcate as before, bearing distal sporangia
similar to, but smaller than, those of R. major.
But near to their base there are “hemispherical
projections,” dpparently of superficial origin..
Some of these gave origin to tufts of hair, but
others produced adventitious branches, which,
having narrow bases, were easily detached, and
served as means of vegetative propagation.
Though these organs are not easily ranked with
those of living plants, they are something in ad-
vance of what is seen in Hornea and R. major.
The sporangia are relatively small, and there is
no clear evidence of their dehiscence.
The largest, as it is also the most complex, of
these plants is Asteroxylon Mackiet. Its base
(Dr. Kidston.
Fic. 3.—Sporangium of RAynia major filled with spores (X5})
Photo)
consisted of branched rhizomes, which burrowed
after the manner of Stigmarian rootlets, and each
was traversed by a vascular strand with undiffer-
entiated xylem; but curiously enough rhizoids are
absent. These rhizomes passed over into upright
aerial stems, which attained a diameter of as
much as a centimetre, and had a complex struc-
ture. They forked, and bore externally small and
simple leaves. The stele had a stellate xylem
very like some Lycopods. From its rays issued
strands passing to the bases of the leaves, but not
entering them. As in Lycopodium, more than one
vertical series of leaf-traces may issue from each
684
NATURE
[JuLy 29, 1920
ray of the stellate xylem, a fact that: confirms
cortex of stem and rhizome often contain fungal
the Lycopod comparison (Fig. 4). Longitudinal | hyphe. It is possible that in the rhizome these
Photo]
[Dr. Kidston.
Fic. 4.—Large stem of Asteroxylon cut transversely just below a dichotomy, and showing leaves attached externally (x about 10).
sections show the relations of epidermis, cortex,
phloem and xylem, and the way in which the inner
[Dr. Kidston.
Fic. 5.—Stoma of Asteroxylon Mackiei in surface view { X 210).
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
Photo)
may have been concerned in mycosliric nutrition.
Higher powers demonstrate the tracheides as
_ irregularly, or spirally, barred, but not scalari-
_ form.
An endodermis has been seen delimiting
the cylindrical stele, and mesarch protoxylem is
found in the xylem-rays. The leaves are paren-
chymatous, the vascular strands stopping short
at their bases. The epidermis has been found
to bear very perfect stomata (Fig. 5). The
essential points of structure of the plant are thus
fully known. eae
In certain blocks sporangia have been found
attached to profusely dichotomising stalks of
simpler structure than the main stems of Astero-
xylon, and not definitely attached to them. They
are associated, however, with stems of Astero-
xylon, while those of Hornea. and Rhynia, from
which they are structurally distinct, are absent
from the blocks. The association makes it prob-
able that these peculiarly forked branches and
sporangia really belong to Asteroxylon. The
sporangia are relatively small and pear-shaped, |
and they had .a distal dehiscence. . The whole |
plant of Asteroxylon was thus more. advanced in
various respects than any of the other three plants
of the chert. vs
(To be continued.)
he a ae
Pg rial
|
_ little known.”
JuLy 29, 1920]
NATURE
685
Obituary.
Dr. Rospert Munro.
WE regret to record the death, on July 18, of
| Dr. Robert Munro, the well-known Scottish
archeologist. Dr. Munro was born on July 21,
1835, and was thus within three days of complet-
ing his eighty-fifth year. By his death prehistoric
archeology loses one of its foremost exponents
in this country; but his work will not readily be
forgotten.
Munro was educated at Tain Royal Academy
and at Edinburgh University. After practising
medicine for some years at Kilmarnock, of which
. town his wife was a native, his increasing interest
in archeology led him to retire in 1886, in order
to devote himself entirely to research in this
branch of science. His name will always be asso-
ciated in particular with the study of prehistoric
lake and pile dwellings, a subject to which his
attention was first directed in 1878, while on a
visit to Zurich, when he took the opportunity of
examining the prehistoric lake dwellings in the
neighbourhood. Shortly after his return, the dis-
covery of two canoes and wrought wood by work-
men engaged in drainage work on the estate of
the Duke of Portland at Locklee, Tarbolton, Ayr-
shire, suggested the possibility of fruitful results
to be obtained from investigations on analogous
sites in Scotland.
At the instigation of Mr. R. W. Cochran-
Patrick, Munro undertook the _ exploration
of this site, and in the two following years he
investigated similar sites at Friar’s Carse, Loch-
spouts, and Buston, all in the south-west of
d. Accounts of these investigations were
published from time to time in the collections of
the Ayrshire and Wigtownshire Archeological
Association, and a report on the excavation of the
crannog at Friar’s Carse appeared in the Pro-
ceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scot-
land, of which body Munro had been elected a
fellow in 1879. The results were afterwards
embodied in ‘Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings,”
published in 1882, a book which, as the author
said in his preface, sought “to place before the
general reader a record of some remarkable dis-
coveries recently made in the south-west of
Scotland in a department of archeology hitherto
In addition to giving the results
of his own excavations, he summarised the some-
what scanty accounts of previous investigators in
this field in Scotland, and the work of Boyd
Dawkins and others in England.
After the appearance of this work, Munro’s
interest turned in an increasing degree to Conti-
nental prehistoric sites. Always a great lover of
travel—he considered it his only form of recrea-
tion—he visited most of the important sites in
Europe. Papers dealing with prehistoric remains
in Holland, Denmark, Italy, Carinthia, and else-
where appearing in the Proceedings of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and in other
publications in the early eighties, and a book
NO, 2648, VOL. 105 |
describing a journey in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and
Dalmatia published in 1895, bear witness to the
extent of his travels and investigations. The
publications of the earlier years were, however,
merely a by-product while he was collecting the
material for his most important work, “The Lake
Dwellings of Europe,” published in 1890, of which
the substance had been given in his Rhind
Lectures, delivered in 1888. In this book Munro
made a complete survey of the subject, dealing in
particular with the problems of the Swiss lake
dwellings and the terramare settlements of Italy.
In 1907, seventeen years after its publication,
M. Salomon Reinach, in a preface to Modestov’s
“Introduction a4 l’histoire romaine,” said of it:
“Tl n’y a qu’un livre récent sur les stations
lacustres et les terramares de I'Italie; il a été -
écrit en anglais par un Ecossais.’’ A French
edition appeared in 1908.
The results of subsequent discoveries, and in
particular. of discoveries on the terramare of
Emilia, were embodied in the second part of
“Paleolithic Man and Terramare_ Sites. of
Europe,” published in 1912. This matter had
formed the Dalrymple Lectures on Archeology
in the University of Glasgow in 1911; while the
first part, which summarised our knowledge of
paleolithic man at that date, had been delivered
as the Munro Lectures in Anthropology in 1912,
being the first course after the institution of the
lectureship by the University of Edinburgh. In
addition to the works already mentioned, Munro
was the author of several other books, including
“Prehistoric Problems” (1897), “Prehistoric
Scotland and its Place in European Civilisation ”
(1899), “Archeology and False Antiquities ”
(1905), “Prehistoric Britain” (1914), a popular
summary, and a number of papers which appeared
at various dates in the Proceedings of learned
societies and elsewhere.
In 1886 Munro’s freedom from professional
duties enabled him to undertake the secretaryship
of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, an
office which he held until 1899. In 1893 he was
president of the Anthropological Section of the
British Association for the Advancement of
Science, and in 1903 he delivered one of the
evening discourses at the meeting of the
association at Southport. This discourse was pub-
lished in 1904 under the title “Man as Artist and
Sportsman in the Paleolithic Period.” In 1894
he was appointed chairman of the research com-
mittee instituted in that year to conduct excava-
tions on the site of the lake village at Glastonbury,
other members of the committee being Sir John
Evans, Gen., Pitt-Rivers, and Prof. W. Boyd
Dawkins. More fortunate than two of his famous
colleagues, Munro lived to see the completion
of this important work in 1907, and continued to
act as chairman when the committee’s invéstiga-
tions were turned to the Meare lake village. He
was part author of the monograph describing the
686
“NATURE
[Jury 29, 1926
results of the investigations at Glastonbury, which
was published in 1911-12.
The importance of Munro’s researches was
widely recognised. He was a fellow of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, and an honorary member
of the Royal Irish Academy, of the Royal Society
of Antiquaries of Ireland, and of the more 1m-
portant anthropological and archzeological socie-
ties of the Continent.
Munro’s work as an archeologist was marked
by a cautious reserve and a great sanity in judg-
ment. Yet, on occasion, none could be quicker
than he in arriving at a conclusion, which further
investigation usually proved to be well within the
limits of accuracy. It was characteristic of him
that he rarely accepted the results of others
without personal investigation, and the great mass
of information which he digested and summarised
in his published works had been largely tested and
checked by his own observations. His thorough
mastery of his subject as a practical investigator
was suggested even in such a trifle as the way in
which he handled a stone implement.
E. N. FAavaize.
_—_
IrR1isH education has sustained a severe loss by
the death of the Rr. Hon. W. J. M. Srarkie,
Resident Commissioner of National Education.
For the past twenty-two years Dr. Starkie guided
the rather cranky ship of Irish primary education
through the troubled sea of clerical management.
After a brilliant school career, he obtained the
highest classical distinctions at Cambridge Uni-
versity and Trinity College, Dublin, including the
fellowship of the latter college. In 1897 he was
appointed president of Queen’s College, Galway,
but after a brief period of office became
Resident Commissioner and ex-officio chairman of
the Board of National Education. As a member
of the Viceregal Commission on manual and
practical instruction, he played an important part
in framing the scheme of reformation of the aims
and methods of Irish education, which later he
was called upon to administer. Upon his
shoulders rested in large measure the responsi-
bility of effecting the change from a mechanical
system of payment by results to an inspection
system with a broader view of the functions of
a school. Knowing the magnitude of the forces
opposed to change, he displayed conspicuous
courage in carrying far-reaching reforms to a
successful issue. His address on “Recent Re-
forms in Irish Education” at the Belfast meeting
of the British Association in 1902 was a strenuous
and courageous exposure of the weaknesses of
Irish education; it aroused much bitter criticism .
from the clerical managers.
Dr. Starkie was also chairman of the Board of
Intermediate Education, and thus occupied a
unique position in Irish education, which probably
owes more to him than to any one man during the
last half-century. He was a brilliant essayist and
one of the first Greek scholars of his time.
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
Notes.
AN important statement on the development of the ~
synthetic dye industry was made by the chairman of
the Colour Users’ Association at Manchester\/oh
July 20.
should be developed to the very utmost, one being
the real necessity that existed from the com-
mercial and industrial side, and the other the
necessity from the point of view of national
security. Only a country possessing a large dye-
making plant which could alternatively be used for
the production of:the various organic chemical sub-
stances employed in war could hope to be in a proper
position in any future struggle, for. the next war
would be essentially a chemists’ war, and start
on a very large scale. The Government has recog-
nised that for national security it is essential that
synthetic dye factories equal to those of any other
possible hostile nation shall be in existence, and to
further this object. the President of the Board of
Trade has stated that the pledge to the synthetic _
dye industry, that the importation of synthetic dyes
shall be permitted only under licence, will be given
effect to in legislation as quickly as _ possible.
Although the British output of dyes already exceeds
the pre-war importation from Germany, there are
several important dyes which are not yet manufac-
tured in this country, and a licensing scheme such
as is promised appears to be the only proper means
of fostering the industry and of encouraging manu-
facturers gradually to extend their range until the
country is absolutely self-contained as regards its”
production of dyes and the necessary intermediate
products.
Tue question of the universities and the excess
profits duty was the subject of debate in the House —
By the concession already pro-~
of Lords on July 21.
posed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer the position
is roughly this:—While the excess profits duty will
be charged at 60 per cent., the State, as a matter of
fact, will bear 12 per cent. of any charitable contribu-
tions made by a business firm. Earl Grey, however, in
the hope of inducing private benefactors to make larger
subscriptions, wished the Government to show more
liberality and to consider the total remission of the
duty so far as it affected the universities. On behalf
of the Government the Earl of Crawford could not
grant the further concession, but, in the course of
his reply, made an important announcement regarding
university grants-in-aid. He stated that the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer was prepared to submit to
Parliament an increase of the present vote of
1,000,000l. to 1,500,000l. in the Estimates for the
year 1921-22, and, in addition, to consider the
advisability of proposing to Parliament a further
non-recurrent sum to assist the universities in
meeting the grievance of those of their senior
members who were precluded from profiting to
the full by the benefits of the federated super-—
annuation scheme of the universities. No pledge was
given in either case, and both proposals are subject
to the overriding necessities of national finance.
t j ‘ é 4
Mr. Vernon Clay referred to two very —
urgent reasons why the dye industry in England »
ee ee ep See ae
=H
4 JuLy 29, 1920]
NATURE
687
Apparently the consideration of any supplementary
' grant within the present financial year is not con-
_ templated. While it is reassuring to find that the
i Chancellor of the Exchequer recognises the clamant
"needs of the universities, there will be no little dis-
_ appointment that provision more appropriate to the
oa present needs, especially in the matter of superannua-
tion, is not made.
On July 21 the King received at Buckingham
_ Palace the principal members of the British Empire
_ Forestry Conference, which sat in London during the
. _ preceding fortnight. The members included dele-
gates” from Great Britain and Ireland, India, and
_ the various Dominions and Colonies. Lord Lovat, presi-
dent of the conference and chairman of the Forestry
Commission of the United Kingdom, presented the
_ delegates separately to his Majesty; and Mr. H. R.
: zi Mackay, Forest Commissioner, Victoria, and repre-
i sentative of the Commonwealth of Australia, read an
_ address to the King, who in his reply congratulated
_ the Home Forest Authority on its joining hands so
_ soon -with foresters in other parts of the Empire. He
referred to the work of universities and colleges and to
the experience gained in the Crown woods and private
plantations as having laid a foundation on which it
is incumbent to build. The King pointed out the
peculiar difficulty of forestry work, which demands,
perhaps, more imagination, more patience, and more
foresight than any other industry, and considered it
an immense advantage that the experience of all
parts of the Empire should be brought into a common
stock and made available for all. Forestry, directed
as it is to checking reckless consumption of the world’s
supply of timber and to teaching and encouraging
thrifty use and prudent replacement, represents a
great work for the common good. The conference
will result both in practical improvements in the opera-
tions of the Forestry Services at home and overseas,
and in a truer and wider appreciation of their value
to the Empire at large.
Wirn the advice and assistance of the U.S. National
Research Council, a co-operative body of scientific
expérts on injurious insects and plant diseases and
of manufacturers of insecticides, fungicides, and
general chemicals and apparatus used in fighting the
enemies of field and orchard crops has just been
organised under the name of the Plant Protection
Institute. The purpose of the institute is to promote
the general welfare by supporting and directing
scientific research on the pests of crops, shade trees,
and ornamental plants and on the methods of their
control, and by furthering co-operation between the
scientific invéstigators and the manufacturers of
chemicals and appliances, especially for the sake of
effecting standardisation and economy in the produc-
tion and use of the means of fighting pests. Also it
expects to aid in the dissemination of scientifically
correct information regarding the control of injurious
insects and plant diseases. Much excellent work along
this line is now being done by Government and State
organisations, but a further advance can be made by
introducing a wider co-ordination and co-operation of.
the efforts of both the scientific men and the manu-
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
facturers of control devices. It is in this general
direction of co-operative work that the Plant Pro-
tection Institute expects to be most active.
Two general excursions, both on Saturday,
August 28, have been arranged in connection with
the Cardiff meeting of the British Association. One
party will drive through the Wye Valley to Tintern,
where lunch will be taken; thence to Llanover, where
they will be the guests of Lord Treowen for tea (price
of ticket 19s.). The other party will cross the Bristol
Channel to Weston-super-Mare, and drive to Cheddar,
Wells, and Glastonbury, returning to Cardiff by boat.
in the evening (price of ticket 21s.). Owing to the
difficulty of arranging transport, the local secretaries
will be much obliged if members intending to join
either of these excursions will kindly signify their
intention of doing so as soon as possible. Both these
are whole-day excursions, and it will be impossible
for members to be brought back to Cardiff until rather
late in the evening. Letters should be addressed to
the Local Secretaries, British Association, City Hall,
Cardiff.
Tue eighteenth annual meeting of the general com-
mittee of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, held
on July 22, of which we publish an account in another
column, shows that the Fund has returned to full
activity after the interruptions of the war. We are
glad to note that our premier organisation for cancer
research mainly concerns itself with the purely
scientific aspects of the problem. - The detailed study
of cell-metabolism now in progress, as foreshadowed
in the Director’s report, should, if energetically
pursued, lead to advances in general biology of ‘per-
manent value, apart from their application to the
special problems of cancer. It is gratifying to find
that the Fund is again playing its part as a central
organisation of international collaboration in cancer
research,
Tue one hundred and first annual meeting of the
Société Helvétique des Sciences Naturelles will be
held at Neuchatel on August 29-September 1. The
following are among the papers to be presented :—
‘Les aciers au nickel dans l’horlogerie,”” C. E. Guil-
laume; ‘Die Vegetation des Diluviums in der
Schweiz,”? Prof. H. Brockmann-Jerosch; ‘‘ Ueber das
Kropfproblem,” Prof. Hedinger; “Les fouilles de la
Grotte de Cotencher,’’? Prof. A. Dubois; and ‘Die
' Gesteinsassociationen und ihre Entstehung,’’ Prof. P.
Niggli. Particulars of the meeting may be obtained
from Prof. O. Fuhrmann, Université, Neuchatel, or
Prof. E. Piguet, rue de la Serre 2, Neuchatel.
Tue Rayleigh Memorial Committee has decided
that the memorial to the late Lord Rayleigh in West-
minster Abbey shall take the form of a mural tablet
to be erected near the memorials to Sir Humphry
Davy and Dr. Thomas Young. The execution of the
tablet will be entrusted to Mr. Derwent Wood. It
is expected that after all expenses are met there will
be a balance remaining, and this the committee pro-
poses shall be used to establish a library fund at the
Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, with which Lord
Rayleigh was closely associated.
688
NATURE
[JuLy 29, 1920
THE autumn meeting of the Iron and Steel Insti-
tute will be held at Cardiff on September 21-24, under
the presidency of Dr. J. E. Stead. An influential
reception committee, of which the Right Hon. the
Earl of Plymouth has consented to act as chairman,
_ Mr. E. Steer, vice-president of the South Wales Insti-
tute of Engineers, as deputy chairman, and Mr. D. E.
Roberts as honorary secretary, has been formed to
carry out the necessary arrangements.
Soon after the signing of the armistice in 1918 the
United States Government sent a Commission to
France to investigate the war developments in mining
and metallurgy and to observe the methods taken to
re-establish the collieries and steel works destroyed
by the enemy. Mr. G. S. Rice, chief mining engineer
of the Bureau of Mines, was a member of this Com-
mission, and a valuable account of his observations
was communicated to the Franklin Institute last
December, and is published in the June issue of the
Journal of the institute. The descriptions of the
mines and the methods adopted in working them are
confined mainly to the Pas-de-Calais district, and
many views of the destroyed surface works are given.
The author is of opinion that the most satisfactory
way of reconstructing the mines is to cut up and
remove the tangled ironwork at the top of the shafts,
which are almost all badly cratered by explosives,
and to reline the shafts themselves at those points
where they pass through water-bearing strata and
where they had in consequence been blasted by the
enemy in order to drown the mines. He believes
this method will be less costly than sinking new
shafts. He has every confidence in the ability of the
French engineers to deal successfully with the
problem.
In his report submitted to the joint session of the
Oriental Societies at Paris Sir George Grierson
describes the progress which has been made in the
Linguistic Survey of India. What may be called the
Cadastral Survey of these languages is now com-
plete except for the Deccan and for Burma, of which
a separate survey is in contemplation. The work so
far done includes 179 languages and 544 dialects.
The account of the so-called gipsy languages, many
of which are sécret dialects, is ready for the press.
That dealing with the Eranian languages contains
much interesting matter, particularly the account of
Ormuri, a tongue with Dardic affinities, spoken by
a small tribe settled in the heart of the Afghan
country. At present Sir George Grierson is engaged
upon a comparative vocabulary, representing 168
words—numerals, pronouns, common nouns, and
declensional and conjugational forms—giving all the
equivalents in all languages which have been studied
in the course of the Survey, with a few words in
some non-Indian languages, such as Japanese,
Chinese, Manchu, Turki, Arabic, Avesta, and Per-
sian. As a supplement to the Survey a number of
gramophone records illustrating the pronunciation of
various Indian languages is in course of preparation,
and these are being distributed to institutions where
they will be available for students. The progress
made in this great work is thus most important.
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
AN interesting series of lectures was delivered
recently at the London School of Economics and .-
Political Science by Dr. B. Malinowsky, a young Polish
anthropologist, who, as a member of the Robert
Mond Ethnographic Expedition, spent a considerable
time among the people of eastern New Guinea, in
particular in the Trobriand Archipelago. Dr. Mali-
nowsky’s investigations throw fresh and welcome
light on primitive economics. Trade is organised by
the influence of the chief, associated with a magician
in charge of each department of communal activity.
“Primitive economics, as exemplified by the Tro-
brianders, present a picture different from, and more
complex than, that usually assumed. National economy,
as a system of free exchange based on untrammelled
competition, where value is determined by the play of
supply and demand, does not exist. But a system of
production, exchange, and consumption does exist,
socially organised and subject to definite customary
rules. In addition to activities connected with the
quest for food, there are many others, such as circular
trading and ceremonial ‘enterprise, in which the
natives perform organised work, controlled by their
conceptions of wealth and value, and therefore dis-
tinctly economic. In all these activities there is an
interplay of chieftainship, kinship, and social organisa-
tion. Ceremonial life, magic, myth, and tribal law
control and are controlled by economic elements.”’
Anthropologists will await with interest a full account
of this remarkable economic and social organisation.
Part of the evidence is summarised in a paper by Dr.
Malinowsky, ‘“‘Kula: The Circulating Exchange of
Valuables in the Archipelagoes of Eastern New
Guinea,’’ published in the July issue of Man, —
Wuitst the Crocker Land Expedition explored to
the north-west of Greenland, the Canadian Arctic
Expedition of 1913-18 investigated the district lying
east and west of the Mackenzie River. The mollusca
the Canadians brought back have now been studied
and described by Dr. W. H. Dall (Report Canad.
Arctic Exped., 1913-18, vol. viii., part A, 1919, pp. 29,
3 plates). This collection is of special interest,
because, save for a partial exploration about 1863 by
Mr. R. Macfarlane, of the Hudson Bay Co., the
fauna to the eastward of the Mackenzie River delta
has remained entirely unknown. It was thought that
probably the great outpour of fresh water from the
river might have proved a barrier to the passage of
marine species from the western Arctic Ocean, and
that the eastward fauna would show a considerable
infusion of Greenlandic forms. The result of the
study of the collection proved otherwise, for of the
hundred Arctic species collected over the whole area
in question—a collection, therefore, far richer in
numbers than that of the Crockford Expedition (see
Natur for July 8, p. 593)—only five were characteris-
tically Eastern Arctic.
mollusca to colonise in the Bathurst region, while
the open sea to the west readily gives access to the
Western Arctic forms.
Apparently the narrow, tortuous,
ice-blocked passages which lead to the Greenland seas ©
are accountable for the failure of the Eastern Arctic ~
Only six new marine species —
are established, and these’ are fully described and
ti
Me
Jury 29, 1920]
NATURE
689
os
figured. A few fresh-water forms were met with,
including a new species of Physa, which is of interest
as being the most northern species of the genus.
Still, it should be noted that the closely allied Aplexia
hypnorum, of circumpolar distribution, occurs with it.
~The Limnzas proved extremely puzzling, and Dr.
_ Dall is inclined to consider that both the form known
as caperata, Say, and the vahli of Beck may be only
_ boreal mutations of the well-known Limnaea palus-
_ tris, Miller. Full lists of all the species collected at
_ the several stations and from Pleistocene deposits are
era included in this important paper.
Mr. W. Wysercu has brought forward evidence,
Maduding that of marine mollusca, to show that the
*y coastal. limestones of the Cape Province (Trans. Geol.
Soc. S. Africa, vol. xxii., p. 46, 1920) are by no
means entirely due to the cementation of recent dunes.
_ The well-known dune limestone seems to have been
_ formed over and against a more ordinary and shelly
marine limestone, which constitutes the true Bredas-
_ dorp formation, and is of late Pliocene or Pleistocene
age.
Papers on the Crown Colony of Sierra Leone are
comparatively rare. Mr. F. Dixey (Trans. Geol. Soc.
S. Africa, vol. xxii., p. 112, 1920) describes evidences
of Pleistocene movements of elevation, with the
formation of a coastal plain along nearly the whole
coast of the peninsula or Colony proper, merging on
the east into low ground that extends far into the
Protectorate. Parallel raised beaches show that the
uplift was intermittent. The highest beach is some
300 ft. above the sea. Four photographic views
accompany the paper.
ae oe ames: oe
gar we
Tue question of the persistence of genera is raised
by Dr. C. D. Walcott in describing a remarkable
series of floating cyanophyceous alge from the
‘Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia
(Smithsonian Miscell. Coll., vol. Ixvii., No. 5, 1919).
Morania, one of his new genera, so closely anticipates
the structure of the modern Nostoc that only a feeling
that they cannot have been fully identical leads the
author to propose a new generic name. The illus-
trations are presumably from photographs of speci-
mens coloured by hand before reproduction; but they
are, to say fhe least, surprising.
Mr. Louts Renour, of the Bute Museum, Rothesay,
writing in the Museums Journal for April-May on
various technical methods, including the mounting of
wet specimens under watch-glasses and petri dishes,
remarks on the difficulty of obtaining such glasses
with even edges, and nicely finished plates on which
to mount them. The difficulty led to the discovery
that there was “‘no glass-planing plant in the whole
of Great Britain.’’ If this be so, the discovery
accounts for a good deal that scientific workers have
had to contend with in obtaining glass apparatus (at
whatever price) from British firms,
“Tye Rainfall in the Island of Formosa ”’ has re-
cently been issued by the Government-General of For-
mosa, with a summary of meteorological observations
at Taihoku and five other observatories. Since the
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
meteorological service was established in 1896 rain-
fall stations have been added as available from
year to year. There were only 28 at the end of
1903, and there are now 135. Every 106 square miles
of Formosa has, 6n the average, one station. Most
of them are attached to various Government Depart-
ments. At 83 out of the 135 stations records are
available for ten years or more. The average annual
rainfall over the island is 2486 mm., the greatest
fall, 7176 mm., being at Kashoryo, situated on a
mountain slope at the head of a valley open to the
north-east a few miles south of Kelung; this spot is
said to be probably the most rainy in the Far East.
The minimum annual rainfall for Formosa is 1050 mm.
at Rochikuto, in Taichu, on the west coast. There are
two rainy seasons, one during winter along the extreme
north coast associated with the north-east monsoon, the
other in summer on the mountain districts in South
Formosa, largely due to typhoons and thunderstorms.
Typhoons occasion a considerable variation in the
rainfall according to their track and. proximity, the
track being usually from south-east to north-west.
The heaviest rainfall in twenty-four hours in
Formosa is given as 1034 mm. at Funkiko on
August 31, 1911, which is the same day as that of the
flood in Taihoku shown in the frontispiece of the
publication under notice. The heaviest of the exces-
sive rains in different parts of the world, quoted for
comparison, are Charra Ponjee, India, 1036 mm.,
June 14, 1876, and Baguio, Philippines, 1168 mm.,
July 14, 1911. Comprehensive tables and maps are
given showing the monthly and seasonal mean rain-
fall and the number of rainy days, also the five-day
mean rainfall at six observatories from the results for
twenty-two years, and the diurnal range, intensity?
and duration of rain. |
WE have received copies of the second biennial Hurter
and Driffield memorial lecture delivered by Prof. Alex.
Findlay before the Royal Photographic Society on
May 11, and the Hurter memorial lecture recently
delivered by Mr. F. F. Renwick before the Liverpool
Section of the Society of Chemical Industry. Prof.
Findlav discoursed on the properties of colloids in
general, and especially with reference to photographic
processes and materials. He says: ‘In the produc-
tion of the photographic plate, . from the
moment of mixing the solutions to the final stage of
ripening of the emulsion, we have a complex series of
changes taking place in a delicately balanced and
complex colloidal system, in which coagulation,
peptisation, solution, and adsorption doubtless all take
part. . In the production of the latent image
. it seems probable that we are again dealing
with phenomena of adsorption.’’ Mr. Renwick deals
with three characteristics of the latent image:
(1) The possibility of physically developing an image
on a fixed and washed plate; (2) the possibility of
transferring and subsequently developing (both
physically and chemically) latent images from the
silver salt in which they are formed to another, by
changing the former chemically into a less soluble
silver salt; and (3) the destructibility of the latent
image by the further action of light itself under
certain conditions.” He gives the details of some
é
690
“NATURE
[JULY 29, 1920 _ ]
very interesting experiments of his own, .and con-
cludes that in the ‘most highly sensitive photo-
graphic plates we are dealing with crystalline silver
bromide in ‘which, besides gelatine, some highly un-
stable form of colloidal silver exists in solid solution,
and that. it is this dissolved silver which first wnder-
goes change on exposure to light.”’ He finds a
reasonable explanation of solarisation “by assuming
a peptising action on the part of the later-formed
chemical products of light action (bromine, ' hydro-
bromic acid, etc.) with formation of a photohalide
relatively rich in dissolved silver, but almost un-
developable.’’
A new radio call signal used by the Post Office is
described by Major Shaughnessy in the Electrical
Review for July 16. Until recently one of the draw-
backs to radio reception was that it was always neces-
sary for an operator to be listening, as there was no
method of making the received signals operate a loud
calling device. There are many outlying small radio
stations in this country in islands and lightships the
number of calls on which is so small that it would
not justify the expense of having an operator always
in attendance. The Post Office, by using a simple
valve amplifier, a Turner thermionic relay, and a
retardation device in series, has successfully em-
ployed the weak radio currents to ring a bell. In
order to call the station a long ‘‘dash”’ of 15 seconds
duration is sent. During this time a condenser at
the receiving station is slowly charged through a
3-megohm resistance. After about twelve seconds
the condenser is practically fully charged, so that
when the signal ceases and the tongue of the relay
moves back to the spacing stop the discharge of the
condenser deflects a second relay, and this causes a
bell to ring. This condenser device has been used by
the Post Office for several years on land lines to call
the operators, and is found to be very efficient. Trials
of the set have proved that it is practically impossible
for ‘‘jamming’’ or atmospheric disturbances to
actuate the apparatus. It has been fitted on the
P.O. cable ship Monarch, and even with heavy
‘jamming ’’ has proved successful up to a hundred
miles. This calling device can be applied for sending
the distress signal at sea known as the S.O.S. signal.
It will obviously extend the use of radio communica-
tion to much smaller ships than at present, as the
saving of operators’ wages considerably reduces the
cost of maintenance.
Two recent articles in the Engineer (July 2 and 9)
describe at some length the hydro-electric power works
at the Great Lake, Tasmania, which is situated
approximately at the geographical centre of the island
at an altitude of 3350 ft. above sea-level. From the
southern end of the lake the River Shannon finds an
outlet some two miles west of the bed of the River
Ouse, and the two streams flow in fairly parallel
courses for some distance. But the fall of the River
Ouse is much more rapid than that of the River
Shannon, with the result that, while at a point
opposite the middle of the lake the Ouse has an
elevation of 120 ft. above it, a few miles south the
NO. 2648, VOL. 105 |
| Ouse has fallen to considerably more than 1000 fte
-has been placed on the market so that the inf
respeeren———— i.
below the ‘Shannon. ‘A short “Connection between the
two rivers at this point enables a very high head of
water to be obtained. ''For the initial installation only —
the water from the Great Lake catchment area has —
been utilised, but it is now in contemplation to divert —
the head-waters of the Ouse into the lake, and by
this means a total capacity of 70,000 h.p., will be
available at the turbine shafts. The dam across. the ©
southern end of the Great Lake, which at present
impounds the water to a height of r1 ft. above the —
sill, will be raised to give an effective height of 4o ft. a
The existing power station at Waddamana contains —
two 5000-h.p. and two 8oo00-h.p. turbines, all of
the Boving type; three more 8000-h.p. machines —
are under construction, and will shortly be installed. —
In order to develop the total fall a second station —
will be formed at a higher level, where a head of —
250 ft. is available and a serviceable capacity of —
12,000 h.p. is at present running to waste. —_—
WE notice that, in consequence of the continued
increased cost of production, the published price to
non-fellows of the society of the Journal of the Royal —
Society of Arts has been raised to 1s.
Messrs. R. anv J. Beck, Lrp., 68 Cornhill, London,
E.C.3, inform us that they have obtained a supply of
mounted specimens of the scales of the Test Podura
Lepidocyrtis curvicollis, which is recognised as being ©
one of the best tests of high-power microscope object- —
glasses. These scales have been for long unobtain-
able, and the new supply will be welcomed by many
microscopists. Be ie
Ba hee
- THE research on automobile steels carried out
the research committee of the Institution of Aut
mobile Engineers has now been brought to a s ccess-_
ful conclusion. It is hoped that the report, which
was approved at a meeting held on July 21, will
ready for issue by about the end of August, when a ~
further announcement in regard to price, etc., will ~
be made. iff |
Tue ‘Rough List ’’ (No. 359) of books on natur.
history just issued by Messrs. Bernard Quarit
Ltd., 11 Grafton Street, W.1, will be of inte
to collectors of first and rare editions, for among’
thousand or so volumes offered for sale are man
treasures. There is also a good sprinkling of ordi
editions listed at low prices. Practically the w
ground of natural history is covered by the
logue; there are, besides, sections on mathema
mineralogy, palzontology, and physics.
A BULLETIN issued by the Department of Indust
Madras, entitled ‘‘The Manufacture of Glue in
Tropics from Tannery Refuse,” was noticed
Nature of February 5 last, p. 611. The directo
the Department’ now informs us that the pan
tion contained in it may be widely known.
pamphlet is priced at 1 rupee, and copies can be
chased from the Superintendent, Government.
Mount Road Branch, Madras.. | Pd 5
NATURE
691
anachronism that our calendar
Our Astronomical Column.
* Tue Date. or Easter.—It- seems a curious
in the twentieth
century should still be largely influenced’ by the
lunar chronology which passed out of direct use
nearly two thousand years ago. That was the most
_ obvious system to employ at the dawn of astronomy,
the moon’s rapid motion and the ease of locating its
y position in the heavens making it far superior to the
Ay
sun as a time-measurer.
ir, and of having events like the equinoxes
in the
_ and solstices occurring on variable dates, caused the
LOE MMR Se
System to be abandoned and a purely solar calendar
substituted.
_ The Passover was, of course, on a fixed date of the
lunar calendar, the fourteenth day of the first month,
and, owing to the close association of this feast with
the events commemorated at Easter, an attempt has
been made to follow the ancient system of fixing its
_ date.
_ shown by the fact that Christmas and other feasts
That this is mainly the result of sentiment is
_ are kept on fixed days of the solar year; moreover,
_ the coincidence with the ancient method is not per-
_ fect, since Easter is tied to one day of the week,
_ which was not the case with the Passover.
This
fact alone may produce a deviation of six days, so
that it is obvious that no serious principle could be
involved in increasing the deviation to a fortnight or
_ thereabouts, which is all that a fixed date demands.
Many unofficial ecclesiastical pronouncements have
shown that there is no strong hostility to such a
change. Lord Desborough brought the matter
forward in a letter to the Times on July 20,
and in the House of Lords on the following
day, pointing out the inconvenience felt by the
a LF universities, law terms, etc., through the
variable date. The Earl of Onslow did not give
much hope of Government action, but this is clearly
a matter for international, not merely national, ar-
rangement. The Astronomical Union in its session
at Brussels last July appointed a Committee on
Calendar Reform, with Cardinal Mercier as chair-
man, and it is understood that the date of Easter
was one of the subjects of reference. The present
time, when so much is in the melting-pot, would
seem to be a particularly hopeful one for promoting
this and similar reforms.
_ASTRONOMY IN TOWN PLaNNiING.—It is a sign of
awakening public interest in astronomy that a paper
should be read before the. Ottawa. centre of the
R.A.S. of Canada on the importance of considering
practical questions of incidence of sunlight in planning
out new towns. The author, Mr. H Seymour,
refers to the action of sunlight on bacteria and to the
importance of letting all rooms get their share of
sunlight, which is best secured by making the corners
of the houses point to the four cardinal points, which
‘means that the streets should run from N.E. to
S.W. and from N.W. to S.E. He quotes Mr. Horace
Bushnell as having put forward the same idea in
1864; but, nevertheless, the tendency has been rather
to make the streets run N.-S, and E.-W., with the
result that northward walls get no sunshine at all
for more than half the year. In the planning of
garden cities, where the houses are not contiguous,
it is also important to place them so that the shadow
of one house may not fall on another, or at least to
minimise such incidence. The: heights: of buildings
should also be so regulated that those
are not in perpetual shadow.
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
But as time went on the’
_ inconvenience of having a variable number of months
opposite them
The Empire Timber Exhibition.
By ALEXANDER L. Howarp.
i Be Overseas Trade Department of the Board of
Trade some time ago ‘conceived the idea of
organising an exhibition which should be a representa-
tive collection of those timbers which form the forest’
wealth of the countries which constitute the British
Empire. ‘This excellent scheme, possibly the direct
outcome of the experiences of the war, was cordially
and unanimously supported by the representatives of
the Governments overseas.
Among the many lessons learned as a result of the
war none was of greater importance than the know-
ledge that was brought home to us of our great
dependence upon the products of the forest for the
making and building up of every possible kind of
offensive and defensive engine of warfare as well as for
the maintenance of the daily requirements of ordinary
life. From the time when the proposals of the Board
of Trade were first considered every effort was made
by the representatives of the different States of the
Empire and by the officials at home to see that not a
stone was left unturned to show conclusively what it
was possible to achieve in the matter of timber pro-
duction from every source. By a happy chance the
date for the exhibition was fixed to coincide with
that of the British Empire Forestry Conference, which
brought together representatives of the Forest Services
throughout the Empire, and there can be no doubt
that such an exhibition must form the best possible
opportunity for the forest man to gauge the value of
the work upon which he is engaged.
The countries of the world may be classed into
three grades: one which possesses a competent
scientific forest service with practical work in full
operation; a second which also possesses such a forest
system, but lacks the practical application of theory;
and a third which possesses neither scientific nor prac-
tical forestry. It is regrettable that until a very recent
date the United Kingdom must have been classed in
the last category, and, although much has been done
in the past few years to remedy the situation, it is
doubtful whether the great national importance of the
subject has yet been fully realised.
The Empire Timber Exhibition entailed an enormous
amount of continuous hard work and _ persistent
energy which eventually resulted in bringing together
a collection of many hundreds of timbers from every
part of the Empire, and certainly the majority of those
of any commercial importance. A collection of this
kind is not easy to gather together, and it is doubtful
whether such an opportunity is likely to be again
available for a very long time.
The following are a few of the more noteworthy of
the exhibits of the various countries :
British East Africa.—The considerable forest re-
sources of this country are practically unknown
and their exploitation is yet in its infancy. The
most important timber jis pencil cedar (Juniperus
procera), which is slightf
y harder and more brittle
than the American variety (J. virginiana). So far it
has not been much appreciated by British manufac-
turers, although its importance may be gauged from
the fact that in 1910 31,000 logs of this timber were
imported into Germany from what was then German
East Africa. As the majority of the lead pencils
used in this country before the war were of German
manufacture, the importance of this supply is obvious.
The Gold Coast.—Supplies of the timbers of the
Gold Coast have already been seen in this country,
but this exhibit showed many which are unknown
here, though, as with other countries, much confusion
692
“NATURE
[ JuLy. 29; 1920
arises fromthe varying vernacular names. The
various ‘species of Khaya, the African mahoganies,
play the most.important-part, for this. wood, which is
generally of fine texture and good quality, has been in
very large demand, and extraordinary prices have been
realised for it. Another valuable wood is that labelled
Odum (Chlorophora excelsa), which has also been
imported as Iroko, sometimes falsely termed African
teak. While it is in itself of great value, and likely
to be more so in the future, it possesses none of the
qualities of teak with the exception of a_ superficial
resemblance in colour. The wood labelled Kaku, also
called Karkoo (Lophira procera), is generally known —
in England as African oak; it possesses unique
qualities of strength and durability, and it is to be
regretted that supplies seem to be scarce.
Nigeria—From Nigeria also Lophira procera is
available, though here it is known as Eki; it is a_
strong wood, and is reported as being both termite-
and teredo-proof. Other heavy constructional woods
which resist the white ant and show good promise for
the future are Sasswood (Erythrophloeum guineense),
the gamboge-coloured Opepe (Sarcocephalus esculen-
tus), Agboin (Piptadenia africana), and Apa (Afzelia
africana). A particularly fine ebony of large size and
beautifully variegated colour is that known as
Kawraw (Diospyros mespiliformis). . First and fore-
most amongst the woods from this region, however,
are the mahoganies, which form the bulk of the
supplies. This exhibit was in charge of Mr. Lauchlan.
Western Australia.—The depletion of the forests in
the past has reduced the volume of the timber avail-
able, but their re-afforestation is now in the charge
of Mr. C. E. Lane-Poole, and supplies will probably
be assured for the future. One of the chief factors in
the great value of the timbers of Western Australia is
their durability. Jarrah (Eucalyptus diversicolor) and
karri (E. marginata) sleepers, for instance, 43 in.
by 9} in., on the Great Western Railway remained
sound in the ground for twenty years, and appear to
be good for another twenty years, while the trenail
has remained in position during the whole period.
It should be remembered also that a jarrah or karri
sleeper 4} in. by 93 in. is better than one 5 in. by io in.
of any other wood. Jarrah is also shown in the form
of flooring, and provides a smooth, hard-wearing sur-
facé equal to that of any other hardwood. Telegraph
arms in karri were exhibited; these have been exten-
sively. used and much appreciated by the G.P.O.
for many years. These hardwoods take premier place
for such work as piling, wharf-planking, and bridge-
building, and, though more costly in their initial
outlay than many timbers, prove the most economical
ultimately. As a furniture wood jarrah is also excel-
lent; the chairs, tables, and panelling which were
exhibited illustrate its value for this purpose.
Canada.—At the Canadian exhibit, which was in
charge of Mr. Stokes, were shown two interesting
models of wooden houses made of Douglas fir
(Pseudotsuga Douglasii). Some sixty-nine timbers
were shown, of which about twenty-five are of com-
mercial interest, the remainder forming a valuable
reserve for future use. Two of the outstanding
timbers are the Sitka or silver spruce (Picea
sitchensis), which might be called the aluminium of
timbers, and veneer of basswood (Tilia americana),
which is used in the making of safety matches.
The by-products of the Canadian forests include tur-
pentine, artificial silk and surgical cotton made from
sulphide pulp, and the ground-wood pulp which is
used in the manufacture of the paper on which the
Daily Mail is printed.
British Guiana.—The timbers produced from. this
country, the exhibit of which was in charge of Mr.
Herbert Stone, are of very great importance, and
~NO. 2648, VOL. TO5 |
provide a source of supply which has never yet been
properly realised. With the exception of greenheart
(Nectandra Rodioei), no import into the United King.
dom worth mentioning has occurred. This fact is.
evidence of the lack of enterprise which this country”
displays, because from Dutch Guiana (Surinam).
similar woods have been known and appreciated for
many years in Holland, France, and Germany.
Among the practically unknown timbers which should
be in demand are purpleheart (Copaifera pubiflora),
the rich and brilliant colour of which stands out
remarkably . even amongst the many brilliantly
coloured woods of South America; mora (Dimor-
phandra Mora), a wonderfully durable wood suitable
for constructional work and for sleepers; wana
(Nectandra Wana); brownheart (Andira inermis),
(this wood, which is called Surinam teak by the
Dutch, was named partridge wood by Laslett);
locust (Hymenoea courbaril); and crabwood (Carapa
guianensis). All these are fine durable woods suitable -
for construction in buildings which are required to
last for generations.
Indian Empire-——-The remarkable exhibit of the
timbers of the Indian Empire, both in the raw state.
and manufactured into furniture and so forth, was the
more noteworthy when it is remembered that prac-.
tically none of these timbers of India had ever before
been seen in this country. Even those who were —
acquainted with the forest wealth of India have not —
hitherto realised the extent of its commercial value
in Europe. Amongst the exhibits were two halls and. —
staircases made respectively in Indian silver grey-
wood and padauk (Pterocarpus dalberaiodede a |
dining-room panelled in gurjun (Dipterocarpus tur-
binatus) and furnished in laurel wood, a drawing-
room in sissoo (Dalbergia Sissoo), a bedroom in Indian |
black walnut with panels of walnut burr (Juglans
regia), and a_ billiard-room furnished entirely in
padauk and panelled in laurel wood. The great
possibilities of the Indian timbers were, perhaps,
most strikingly shown in the railway coach built by ©
the Great Eastern Railway Co. The constructional
portion was entirely of Indian wood, the decoration of —
the first-class carriage being in Indian silver greywood
and that of the third-class in padauk. These pre-
sented such an _ excellent appearance that their
increasing use in this direction is certain.
In addition to these larger exhibits were shown
chairs, mirrors, and numerous small articles. which.
serve to illustrate the many and varied uses to
which the woods may be put. No trouble has been
spared to demonstrate the fact that for every purpose —
for which wood is required the products of the Indian
forests can meet the demand. Some two hundred —
.small specimens showed the wide range of colour and —
texture which is available. Among this large ‘col-. —
lection of timbers the following are particularly
worthy of the most careful attention of those in- —
terested in timbers for decorative and constructional —
work. Gurjun (Dipterocarpus turbinatus), a pale —
brown-coloured wood with a delicate aromatic scent,
is an attractive medium for panelling, and one of
the best hardwoods for flooring which itis possible ~
to obtain. It is available in large sizes of superlative —
quality, and at a price which brings it within the ~
range of even the most economical kinds of uses. —
Padauk is a wood which is unique in its brilliant red —
to maroon colour. It is exceedingly firm and durable, —
stands well without shrinking or warping, and is
one of the strongest woods it is possible to obtain. —
During the war immense quantities of padauk — cs
used for saddle-trees and gun-carriages, for which ~
purposes it is difficult to find its equal. It was also
used for the felloes of some exceptionally large wheels
for heavy guns for use in Russia.. The produce of a ~
a
Jury 29, 1920],
NATURE
693,
mahogany, is likely to take an important place
— of Canarjum, which. hasbeen. termed Indian
in the future.
It is a smooth, even-grained wood
_ Haldu (Adina cordifolia) is a bright canary-coloured
wood notable for the smooth and even regularity of
the grain.
value. Perhaps the finest carving wood
hich it is possible to obtain, however, is Indian red
_ pear (Bursera serrata), which possesses the above
Sua. in a unique degree. Other woods which are
_ red zebra-wood (Melanorrhoea usitata), Indian prima-
_ vera, yellowheart (Fagraea fragrans), and the hand-
‘some striped and mottled ebony known as Andaman
marblewood (Diospyros Kurzii). It becomes abun-
dantly clear that the only thing necessary for these
timbers of India to take the important position which
_ their merits deserve is that the representatives of the
_ Government in India should continue to provide
_ regular and certain supplies, and to this end exten-
_ sive arrangements are now being made.
_ The United Kingdom.—About seventy varieties of
_ timbers grown in the United Kingdom were shown,
_ and these included such importations as the silver
_ wattle of Australia and the black walnut (Juglans
_ nigra) of America. Floorings in yew (Taxus baccata),
_ cherry (Prunus Avium), and beech (Fagus sylvatica),
_ amongst others, illustrated a little-known use for these
_ woods. The decorative effect of English brown oak
_ (Quercus Robur) was shown in various articles. Other
_ exhibits, such as the gondola of an aeroplane made in
: English ash (Fraxinus excelsior), called to mind the
_ large part played in the war by the native timbers.
. Other countries showing interesting exhibits, of
_ which space forbids mention, were British Honduras,
Ceylon, Fiji, Newfoundland, New South Wales, New
Zealand, Union of South Africa, Tasmania, and
Trinidad.
The Education Act, 1918.
Lonpon County Councit Drart SCHEME.
‘T BE Education Act of 1918, which among its pro-
visions requires that draft schemes for giving
effect to them shall be submitted by the local educa-
tion authorities, has resulted in a remarkably interest-
ing document just issued by the Education Committee
of the London County Council, in which is set forth
not only a scheme for the administration of the Act
within the county, but also a most informing sum-
mary of the history of education in London during the
nineteenth century and of the various legislative enact-
ments passed from time to time, notably those of 1870
and 1902, to increase the facilities and improve the
quality of education especially for the large population
immediately within its area, now amounting to up-
wards of 44 millions. The report further makes clear
; present activities of the Committee with its 951
separate elementary schools, in which 695,197 pupils
are enrolled, with an average attendance of 590,633,
from which figures it would appear that more than
100,000 children are constantly absent. The schools
are staffed by 20,000 teachers (less than one-third are
men), of whom only 300 are uncertificated. In addi-
tion to the ordinary. elementary schools there was
,. organised in 1910 a system of central schools to the
; number of 51, distributed more or less evenly through-
out the County of London, and filled with pupils
selected partly by means: of junior county scholarships
at about eleven years of age with a view to an ad-
vanced course of training of four years.
‘No. 2648, VOL. 105]
which will be available at a very reasonable price.
It is possible to carve it in any direction.
it splitting—a striking quality which gives it a.
notable for their decorative qualities are Indian ©
. The Council, as the local education..authority, is
concerned -not only with the mental well-being of the
‘child, but.also with its. physical and social welfare...
_Having. regard to the fact stated by Sir George New-
man in a recent report, that there were more than
one million children in attendance at public elementary
schools in England and Wales who were unable by
reason of physical or mental defects to take effective
advantage of the instruction offered, no feature of the
past and future work of the Council can be regarded
as of greater importance than the effort to raise and
maintain the standard of bodily health and intellectual.
vigour of the children of London. The_ statutory
medical inspection in the schools is carried out by
57 assistant medical officers and a staff of 208 nurses
under the Medical Officer of Health of the county.
The county is divided into five areas, each under a
divisional medical officer, a superintendent of nurses, a
treatment organiser, and a children’s work director.
During 1919 169,200 cases of various kinds were
treated, and for 1920-21 provision is to be made for
40,000 cases more. A fee of 1s. is required in each
case where the parents can afford it, otherwise the
treatment is free.
There is special provision for anamic and sub-
normal children, for those with speech defect, of
whom there are about 1200. in the schools who need
treatment, and for blind and deaf children, of whom
there are 317 and 693 of the elementary-school class
respectively, whilst there are also 659 partly blind
and 117 partly deaf London children.
All these measures denote a seriously important and
beneficial advance upon the almost entire neglect of
child-life in the nineteenth century. The provision of
higher education within the county includes 23 schools
provided and maintained by the authority and attended
by 8702 pupils, 31 schools with 11,808 pupils aided by
the authority, 47 other public secondary schools with
16,462 pupils, 40 schools conducted by religious bodies
with 5170 pupils, and, lastly, 421 private schools with
27,295 pupils. The last two groups are regarded as
preparatory rather than as secondary. There is thus
a total of 562 schools. in the county area with 68,807
pupils under instruction, much of which, it is not un-
reasonable to say in respect of the great majority of
the private schools, can scarcely be efficient either in
subject or in quality. The Council maintains five
training colleges for teachers, one of which is a
school of the University of London, and makes main-
tenance grants to three recognised training colleges
within its area for domestic-economy teachers.
The provision of technical education within the
county since the passing of the Technical Instruction
Acts of 1889 and 1891 comes under review, and is
marked by three periods of development. The first
covers the years 1889-1904, and embraces the work
of the Technical Education Board established in 1893;
the second from 1904 to 1909, which followed the
traditions and policy of the Board; and the third from
1909 to the present time, which has aimed at a pro-
gressive delimitation of the functions of rival institu-
tions and at a general endeavour to co-ordinate all
forms of ‘education.
In 1892 a general survey was made of the needs of
London as_a preliminary to the operations of the
Technical Education Board, and, as a result, the
Board made direct grants in aid of polytechnics and
other institutions for their maintenance and equip-
ment and for the extension of their work. There were
26 technical institutions so aided in 1903, some of
which were under the direct control of the Council,
and grants were also made to the extent of 33,0001,
in aid of science and language teaching in the
secondary schools. A system of scholarships was
694
NATURE
| JULY 29, 1920
established in. aid of boys and girls of ability to. obtain
an education beyond the primary stages, and to assist
adults in their studies in art, science, and technological
subjects in day and evening institutions; and _ the
Board, having regard_to the importance of educating
the future leaders of industry and commerce, not only
aided in the establishment of the London School of
Economics, but also made. grants of 17,000]. a year in
1903-4 to institutions and schools of the University
of London. This policy has been greatly developed
since 1904, when the Council became the local
authority for all. forms of education. Some measure
of the expansion of the work undertaken in the .
polytechnics may be seen on a comparison of the
student-hours worked in the departments of engineer-
ing, mathematics, physics, and chemistry in 1900-1
and in 1919 (November), from which it appears that
the hours in I9g00-1 were. 268,344 and in
795,000.
The growth of expenditure in polytechnics, technical
institutes, schools of art, science, art, and commercial
centres, and in ordinary evening classes is indicated
by the following. figures :—In 1904 the expenditure
was 369,400l., and in 1919-20 (estimated) 822,514l.
Twenty-six special institutions for art, technical, and
domestic subjects are now wholly maintained by the
Council, and twenty-nine others are aided by annual
grants.
annual subsidies ranging from 4ool. to 3500l., amount-
ing in the aggregate to 23,250l., whilst the block
grant made to ten polytechnics and colleges in 1911-12
of 86,3811. was increased in 1919-20 to 139,950l.,
exclusive of 60,oo0l. in respect of war bonus and
improved salary scales. In Igig-20 an equipment
grant was also made to these institutions of 13,g00l.
The Council in 1918 introduced a new scale of
salaries for principals and other teachers in technical
institutions, whereby the minimum salary for prin-
cipals in the lowest group was fixed at 44ol. and the
maximum in the highest group at 12501. The
salaries for heads of departments range from 44ol.
to 840l. (men) and from 3401. to 6401. (women), and
whole-time lecturers’ salaries are fixed from 2251. to
4gol. (men) and from 18o0l. to 3401. (women). The
Council works in close association with the University
of London, to which it gives annual grants-in-aid,
which at the present time amount to about 47,o00l.
This includes provision for nineteen professorial chairs
in languages and literature, mathematics, science,
education, and economics. The Council also main-
tains a school of the University, the London Day
Training College, at an annual cost of 10,o00l., and
is spending in 1919-20 about 13,o00l. in aid of. uni-
versity students, mainly in London, Oxford, and
Cambridge, which altogether brings up the annual
expenditure in support of university education to
about 70,0001. Capital grants have further been made
at various times in aid of certain schools of the Uni-
versity for the erection and improvement of buildings.
Thus grants were made to University College and to
Bedford College each of 30,0001. Land of the value
of 66,7001. was also assigned at a peppercorn rent for
the new building of the London School of Economics.
The grant to the Imperial College of Science and
Technology has been increased from: 5000l. in 1908-9
to 13,000]. in 1918-19.
Many of the reforms foreshadowed by the Educa-
tion Act, 1918, have already been anticipated, such,
for example, as the reduction in the size of classes,
the establishment of central schools, the promotion
of physical training, and the provision of maintenance
allowances. The raising of the school age to fourteen
plus and the reduction aforesaid will necessitate the
provision: of school-places for 120,000 children, 32;000 +
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
191g:
Twelve polytechnics and colleges receive
of which have been.already provided, and will entail
the appointment of 200 new teachers each year for ten
years. Nineteen per cent., or. some 14,000 children
between eleven and twelve years of .age, are fitted
for some -special type of school, and the Council has
therefore decided to increase the number. of ‘central
schools already provided from 60 to 100, and to
lengthen the course in such schools to five years.
Thus some. 80 per cent. of the children remain to be
dealt with until they reach the limits of the compulsory
age, and measures are being taken to ensure the most
enlightened treatment of such children in regard to
both their physical and intellectual training such as”
prevails in the secondary schools, The attendance at the
secondary schools in London ranges from 1-3 per 1000
in Shoreditch ‘to. 18-8 per 1000 in Lewisham. Addi-
tional. accommodation. is urgently needed, and the
Council proposes therefore to build four entirely new
schools and to rebuild or enlarge seventeen more.
It is anticipated that the new scholarship scheme
of the Council and the better conditions of service will
attract more candidates to the teaching profession.
The report of the Board of Education for 1918 shows
that in England only 150 men and 4000 women com-
pleted courses of training as teachers, whereas in 1914
the corresponding figures were about 2000 men and
3600 women. ‘The annual requirements of London
alone will in the near future be at least
and with the view of meeting in rt this
demand the Council proposes to build three new
training colleges for 750 students, which proposal will
involve a capital expenditure of some 600,000l. The
Council aims ultimately at securing a university course
for all teachers. A much enlarged scheme of main-
tenance scholarships is submitted, the ultimate gross
cost of which, including the cost of examinations, is ,
estimated to reach about 1,178,o0o0l, in 1931, made up
of 730,000]. for education and 448,o0ol. for main-
tenance.
The day accommodation in the present polytechnics, —
in the various institutes, and in schools for special
trades is about 2500, and it is proposed to increase it
A large amount of original research has —
to 5600.
been undertaken in the institutions both before and
during the war in the domains of chemistry, physics,
‘and engineering, and notably in the industries of
photo-engraving, lithography, and tanning. ‘This has
led the Council to provide additional facilities to meet
the requirements of research. Close consideration has
been given to problems arising out of the powers and
duties imposed by the Act in respect of adolescents
engaged in employment. Provision is to be made
next October for about 15,000 young persons, and an
equal number will then be added to the total enrol-
ment each succeeding three months: for a period of
two years. The number will then be 120,000, and in
1928, when those aged from sixteen to eighteen come
under the Act, the number will be doubled. Mean-
while, it is proposed to establish as a first provision
twenty-two day. continuation schools at a cost on
capital account of 131,000l. and of 116,5001. for main- —
The scheme when fully matured is estimated —
tenance.
to cost. for the two age-groups 14-15 and 15-16
1,000,000l. annually, and when five years later the
age-group: 16-18 is dealt with the cost may be doubled.
W.E.A. has
The movement of adult education by the ”
the full sympathy of the Council, which proposes to
support it through the University of London.
Pending the re-organisation of the University of 4
London, the system of annual grants, which amount —
to 46,8131. to the University and non-incorporated col-
leges, will remain as at present. By the Act of 1918
local education authorities may aid any investigation —
for the advancement of knowledge in or in connection —
London, by reason of ©
with an educational institution.
1200, —
‘Jury 29, 1920]
NATURE
695
the large scale of its operations, offers the most pro-
_ mising field in the world for research in the domain
' of education, which is the ‘‘key’’ to all original ‘in-
__ vestigation, scientific or industrial, and in connection
with the national movement’ for reconstruction. . It
inch the study of the mental development of the
_ individuals to be educated and the study of the
_ teaching methods most effective in securing that end.
It is therefore proposed to encourage and aid extended
educational research. The total estimated expenditure
(os
of the Education Committee of the Council for 1920-21 is
_ estimated at 11,711,379l., being for elementary educa-
tion 9,351,2941. and for higher education 2,360,085]., of
5 which sum 5,514,2061. is raised from rates, or a rate of
_ 2s. 5d. in the pound. A forecast is given of the addi
__ tional expenditure in London arising out of ‘the re-
_ quirements of the Education Act, 1918, which will in
ge. J I amount to 116,oool., and gradually increase until
__ in 1930-31 it is estimated that it will be 3,037,500l., of
_ which sum taxation will bear half the cost, the other
half being raised by an additional rate of 8d. in the
_ pound on the present assessment. The report extends
_ to 100 pages, and is abundantly illustrated by diagrams,
maps, tables, and illustrations, of buildings.
The Society of Chemical Industry.
THE Society of Chemical Industry held its thirty-
* ninth annual general meeting at Newcastle-upon-
Tyne on July 13-16, this being the fourth occasion
upon which the society has selected Newcastle as its
meeting place. Appropriately enough, a. series of
papers dealing with the manufacture of coke was
read and discussed at the first business meeting,
whilst the second was devoted to papers dealing mainly
with miscellaneous metallurgical questions. Simul-
taneously the Chemical Engineering Group of the
socie d a conference devoted to problems con-
; with filtration and allied methods of separating
liquids from solids. :
Among the first day’s papers two dealt with coke-
oven construction. Mr. W. A. Ward discussed
**Modern By-product Coke-oven Construction ’’ from
the point of view both of the best type to be adopted
in different circumstances and of the details of
design of the oven itself. Mr. Ward pointed out that
‘the generally accepted view that the regenerative oven
is more efficient than the non-regenerative oven is not
strictly correct, and that in either case ‘‘the surplus
energy is the same, because the amount of heat neces-
sary to coke the coal is the same. . . . The difference
lies simply in the manner in which the surplus heat
is made use of.’”’ He showed that it is true that
the former type can perety produce a larger amount
of power available for use outside the coking plant,
but that this is due to the fact that the former uses
the more efficient form of power generation, namely,
the gas engine as compared with the steam engine.
Mr. Ward remarked also that there is no reason
why any one of the various types of modern coke-oven
should give better results than any other. He pro-
to give much useful information on details of
construction; for example, he held strongly with. the
advantages to be gained in most cases by compressing
the coal, but advocated the use of the modern elec-
trically driven top-charging machine instead of the
machine making a compressed cake of coal, which is
then pushed into the oven, and he gave short descrip-
| tions of the modern methods for quenching, screening,
| and loading the coke. - .
| Mr. W. J. Rees contributed a paper on ‘* The Cor-
| rosion of Coke-oven Walls,” which: he attributed
mainly to the sodic chloride and sodic sulphate in the
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
coal, and pointed out that hot, moist air carrying salt
vapour has a highly corrosive action on fireclay bricks,
much moré, in fact, than on other refractory bricks.
In the salt glazing of bricks the saline vapour is
allowed to come in contact with the brick only at a
temperature of about 1200° C., at which the chemical
action is rapid; in the coke-oven, on the contrary,
the walls of the oven never attain this temperature,
with the result that the salt vapour penetrates into
the interior of the brick and turns it into a weak,
spongy mass, easily broken away. It would appear
that the best brick for ovens carbonising salty coal
is a good silica brick. i
Mr. Harold E. Wright, in his paper ‘‘ Coke-oven
Gas for Town Supply,”’ showed that illuminating gas
can be produced more economically in the coke-oven
than in the gas retort, and that, wherever circurh-
stances permit of its adoption, the regenerative coke-
oven producing metallurgical coke can supply better
and cheaper gas to the town consumer than can the
ordinary process of gas manufacture.
Dr. E. W. Smith, in ‘“‘ By-products from Coke-oven
Gas,” dealt with a similar subject from a somewhat
different point of view, but came to the same con-
clusion, stating that it is only necessary to remove
sulphuretted hydrogen from coke-oven gas in order
to make it suitable for town supply, and that experi-
ence at Birmingham has shown that the yields of by-
products from coke-ovens were jus: as good as from
horizontal gas retorts.
Messrs. G. W. Henson and S. H. Fowles con-
tributed a paper on ‘‘The More Economical Utilisa-
tion of the Coke-oven and Blast-furnace Gases for
Heating and Power.’’ They added numerous data
and calculations to support the view which has been
repeatedly put forward within recent years, that with
regenerative coke-ovens built near the blast furnaces
and steelworks, and with proper cleaning of the blast-
furnace gases (for which they apparently prefer the
Halberg-Beth method), better results are obtained in
iron and -steel manufacture and a large surplus of
power can be generated by means of gas engines,
which can supply all the power required by a modern
iron and steel! plant, whilst a considerable proportion
of the coke-oven gas can be utilised in the melting
furnace. They also suggest that a certain proportion
of the electricity generated can be applied to the
finishing of the steel manufacture in the electric fur~
nace, which they consider has no competitor as an
appliance for refining steel.
Amongst the metallurgical papers was one om
(‘Some Properties of 60-40 Brass”? by Prof. C. H.
Desch. Such brass contains two constituents, the.
a solid solution containing 70 per cent. of copper and.
and £ solid solution with 53-5 per cent. of copper ;
this latter constituent is plastic at high temperatures,
and enables the metal to be hot-rolled, worked, or-
extruded. It was found in practice, however, that-
such brass varied greatly in the ease with which it
could be machined, and the present paper deals with.
the reasons for such variation, which was traced to.
differences of structure. A fine fibrous structure was-
found to give the best results, and this can be obtained
by using brass containing as nearly as possible 40 per:
cent. of zinc, extruded at a moderate temperature in
very powerful presses.
Mr. W. becies: in a paper on ‘‘Chemical Sheet-.
Lead,” showed the importance of using the purest
possible lead in connection with acid plant, but that
in case of need copper will to some extent counteract
the injurious effect of antimony and bismuth.
Mr. D. F. Campbell described ‘‘ Recent Develop-
ments of the Electric Furnace in Great Britain,’? and’
showed the progress that had been made in this branch.
696
‘NATURE
[ JULY 29, 1920
of metallurgy: ‘‘In 1914 the quantity of energy used
in electric turnaces in Britain, excluding those used
for aluminium, was probably less than 6000 h.p., but
on the day of the armistice the total capacity was in
excess of 150,000 h.p.’’ The author held that fur-
naces of more than 25 tons or above 3000-kw.
capacity are not advantageous, and that the arc fur-
nace has practically displaced the induction furnace.
He pointed out the various existing applications of the
electric furnace, and indicated the probable future
development of this valuable appliance.
Dr. E. F. Armstrong read a paper on “ Catalytic
Chemical Reactions and the Law of Mass Action,’’ in
which he reviewed the present state of our knowledge
of catalytic reactions, particularly as applied to the
hydrogenation of certain oils. He held that the curve
of catalytic action is linear and not logarithmic, and
that the latter curve has been obtained by a number
of observers owing to the fact that they had been
working on substances in which some poison formed
part of the substance to be hydrogenated, which
destroyed the catalysts and thus gave the. curve a
logarithmic form. He further claimed that catalytic
action is not a purely physical phenomenon, but is
due to the formation of loose additive chemical com-
pounds, of the existence of which he produced some
evidence.
At the conference of the Chemical Engineering
Group the theory of filtration was discussed in two
papers, ‘‘The Principles of Technical Filtration,’’ by
Dr. E. -Hatschek, and ‘‘The -Design of Mechanical
Filters,’? by Mr. Balfour Bramwell, whilst the filtra- |
tion of gases was dealt with by Mr. J. M. Brown.
Mr. E. A. Alliott contributed a paper on *‘* Recessed
Plate and Plate-and-Frame Types of Filter Press:
Their Construction and Use,’’ in which he compared
the two types and the details of their construction;
he also discussed ‘various methods of feeding, the
selection of filter-cloths, and other important points
in the use of filter presses, and gave data as to the
results obtained in certain typical examples.
Three papers dealt with centrifugal machines,
namely, ‘‘The Sturgeon Automatic Self-Discharging
Centrifuge for. Separating Solids from Liquids,’’ by Mr.
R. A. Sturgeon; ‘‘The Sharples Super-Centrifuge,”’ by
Mr. S. H. Menzies; and ‘‘A New Process for Centri-
fugal Filtration,’’ by Mr. W. J. Gee.. The last-named
appliance differs from most centrifugal machines in
‘that it makes use of a filtering screen, so that it
does really perform a process of filtration. Dr. W. R.
Ormandy in his paver, “‘ The Filtration of Colloids,”
showed the effect of electro-osmotic action on colloids
and suspensoids, and illustrated these by a series of
experiments with a suspension of clay.
Imperial Cancer Research Fund.
‘THE eighteenth annual meeting of the Imperial
Cancer Research Fund was held on July 22, the
Duke of Bedford presiding. Sir William Church, in
moving the adoption of the report, gave a summary
of the investigations during the past year; in this
he stated that the Director had continued the auto-
logous grafting experiments, in which by transplant-
ing an animal’s own tumour to a part of its body
away from the site of the primary growth an artificial
secondary growth is established. The formation of
secondary. growths. is the most certain evidence of
the cancerous nature of.a growth. It is to be hoped,
therefore, that this method will be more widely
applied as a control in the experiments on the pro-
duction of cancer by. chronic irritants which are being
undertaken. in so many laboratories throughout the
world. In these experiments the most definite proof
of malignancy is essential to progress.
No. 2648, VOL. 105]
Dr. Cramer has examined the action of a number
of inorganic substances on cancer cells. The first step
in these investigations is to expose emulsions of a
transplantable tumour to the reagent in the test-tube
and find out by inoculating the treated emulsion into
susceptible animals the amount of damage produced.
Salts of cerium were found to be the most active of
those tested. Manganese and uranium salts were less
potent, and the other elements experimented with
were without effect in strengths which could be
tolerated by the experimental animals. None of these
substances, however, had any influence on growing
tumours—a failure probably due to the irregularity
of the circulation in the tumours, which delays the
access of the reagents’ to the cells, coupled with their
rapid elimination by the kidneys and bowels, This is
one of the difficulties constantly met with in direct
therapeutic experiments on cancer. The cancer cell
is so like the normal cells of the body that agencies
which destroy it are also dangerous to life.
Before we can plan a rational method of treatment
it will be necessary to know more of the vital pro-
cesses in cancer cells and the nature of the ve
delicate differences between them and the normal.
A beginning has been made with the study of cell-
respiration. Respiration is essentially a combustion
process, agi ee being taken in and carbon dioxide.
given off. These are only the first and last terms,
however, of a series of chemical equations, so that
there is room for great variety in the intermediate
stages, even if the final result should be the same.
Dr. Drew has approached the problem by studying
the rate of decolorisation of dilute methylene-blue
solution by normal and cancer cells. With this
method there is a wide difference between the two,
decolorisation being much more rapid with normal |
cells. Dr. Russell and Dr. Gye have suspended. the
tissue emulsions in fully oxygenated defibrinated blood
_and measured the rate at which oxygen is abstracted
_ on incubation at body-temperature.
method the differences are much less pronounced,
By this second
and it is found that the more rapidly growing tumours,
with significant exceptions, absorb more oxygen than
those which grow slowly. The investigations are
being continued, and give promise of interesting light
on this fundamental feature of the life of cancer cells.
The Duke of Bedford, in moving a vote of thanks
to the executive committee and to others who have
assisted in the work of the Fund during the past
year, referred to the wide range of investigation,
covering such important researches as. those relating
to (1) experimental induction of cancer; (2) respiration
in normal tissues, which is a fresh line of research
in connection with cancer; and (3) experiments on
the action of chemical substances on cancer cells in
the test-tube and in the body; and to the very technical
investigation of the Director on grafting; and noticed
with satisfaction that the Fund is again in a position
to assist investigators at home and abroad with
tumour material for experimental purposes. Dene |
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
‘THE Sir Alfred Jones Laboratories of the Liver- ~
pool School of Tropical Medicine were formally
opened by Lord Leverhulme on Saturday, July 24, Sir
Francis Danson, chairman of the School, presiding. |
Prof. J. W. W. Stephens announced the award of |
the Mary Kingsley medal to the following distin-
guished scientific workers : :
Dr. A. G. Bacsnawe, C.M.G., well known for his
researches on sleeping sickness in Uganda. Since
1908 Dr. Bagshawe has been director of the Tropical
Diseases Bureau and general editor of the Tropical
' Diseases Bulletin. This publication occupies a unique
JuLy 29, 1920]
NATURE
697
_ position in the world; it is of the utmost value to all
_ workers in tropical medicine, and its success is due
_ to the tireless devotion of its editor.
___ Dr. Anprew Batrour, C.B., C.M.G., director-in-
hief of the Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research,
ondon. Dr. Balfour was director of the Wellcome
ropical Research Laboratories, Khartum, from
02-13. His knowledge of the theory and practice
tropical sanitation is unsurpassed. His intellectual
vities also overflow into literary channels, and he
‘known as the author of novels and tales of
adventure.
_ Pror. R. T. Leper, helminthologist to the London
thool of Tropical Medicine since 1905. Prof. Leiper
established a world-wide reputation for his know-
ledge of those parasitic worms that affect man, more
especially in tropical lands. His recent elucidation of
= part played by fresh-water snails in the transmis-
sion of the Bilharzia disease of Egypt is of the greatest
scientific and economic importance.
_ _ Major E. E. Austin, D.S.O., assistant in the
_ British Museum (Natural History)... Author of
_ flumerous monographs on flies. | Especially well
_ known to students of tropical medicine for his mono-
graph on the tsetse-flies.
_ Dr. A. L. Guittaume Bropen, director of the State
_ School of ce sm Medicine, Brussels. Formerly
director of the Bacteriological Laboratory at Leopold-
ville, Belgian Congo. Has published numerous works
on trypanosome diseases of man and domestic stock.
Mrs. ALpert CHALMERs, in recognition of the work
of the late Dr. A. J. Cuatmers, who succeeded Dr.
as director of the Wellcome Tropical Research
Laboratories, Khartum. Dr. Chalmers was joint
_ author with Dr. Castellani of-a most comprehensive
_ text-book of tropical medicine.
_ Pror. B. Grassi, professor of comparative anatomy,
niversity of Rome. Distinguished as a zoologist.
yed a leading part in Italy in demonstrating the
transmission of malaria by Anopheline mosquitoes.
Dr. F. Mesnit, professor at the Institut Pasteur,
Paris. Joint author with Prof. Laveran of the
standard work on trypanosomiasis.
'- Dr. Epmonp Sercent, director of the Institut
Pasteur, Algeria. Dr. Sergent is the elder of two
brothers greatly distinguished for their researches in
tropical medicine.
Dr. C. W. Stes, professor of zoology, United
States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service;
scientific secretary of the Rockefeller Sanitary Com-
mission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease—a
ase which was responsible for widespread mental
and physical deterioration in the Southern States of
ca.
Dr. T. Zammit, who made a fundamental observa-
tion which led to the discovery that goat’s milk was
the source from which man contracted undulant fever.
His archzological researches on the megalithic
remains of Malta are well known, and the University
work by conferring on him an honorary degree.
After the ceremony the laboratories were inspected
_ by the large, distinguished gathering of scientific and
influential people, and general admiration was ex-
pressed for the completeness of the building and its
equipment. The _ well-furnished library and _ the
museum, which already contains ‘many interesting
exhibits, attracted considerable notice, while the
lighting and spaciousness of the main laboratory were
also much commended.
occasion. was marked by the issue of an
interesting illustrated ‘‘ Historical Record,”’ tracing
the progress of the School from its foundation in
1898 to the present time.
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
of Oxford has recently shown its appreciation of. his.
At a banquet held in the evening Sir Francis
Danson appealed for a sum of 100,000l. to meet the
increased cost of maintenance of the Liverpool Labora-
tories and ofgthe new Sir Alfred Jones Tropical
Laboratory, now in .course of erection at Sierra
Leone. Sir Francis Danson himself contributed to
the fund a sum of toool., in memory of his son who
fell in the war.
Central Headquarters for British Chemists:
> * a dinner held in honour of Lord Moulton on
July 21, Sir William Pope announced that a
public appeal was about to be made for funds for
the erection of central headquarters for British
chemistry. . None of the chemical bodies has the
accommodation for a meeting of more than two
hundred persons, or adequate ‘library’ space. Thé
Chemical Society conducts its business at Burlington
House, Piccadilly, in rooms provided by the Govern-
ment nearly fifty years ago, when the membership
was about one-fifth of what it is to-day. The Insti-
tute of Chemistry possesses a good building in Russell
Square, completed during the first year of the war,
but it is barely adequate for the present activities of
the institute, which has to look to colleges for. hos-
pitality for any general meeting of unusual interest
and for lectures. The Society of Chemical Industry:
and the Society of Public Analysts hold their meetings
at the Chemical Society’s rooms, Neither of these bodies
nor any other which is concerned with chemistry, such
as the British Association of Chemical Manufacturers,
the Faraday Society, the Biochemical Society, and
those devoted to the various branches of technology—
brewing, dyes, glass, ceramics, iron and steel, non-
ferrous metals, leather, concrete, petroleum, and so
forth—possesses accommodation to compare with the
spacious halls and headquarters of the Institutions
of the Civil, the Mechanical, and the Electrical
Engineers, and of the Royal Society of Medicine.
The appeal, which will be made by the Federal
Council for Pure and Applied Chemistry, on which
practically all the chemical interests of the country
are represented, has the cordial support of Lord
Moulton, who, as Director-General of Explosives
Supplies, Ministry of Munitions, repeatedly acknow-
ledged the services rendered during the war by these
scientific, technical, and industrial bodies.
The scheme, which aims at providing under one
roof, so far as is practicable, a common meeting-
place, librarv, and editorial facilities for technical
journals, is highly desirable, and indeed imperative,
as a matter of supreme importance to the welfare of
the whole country in relation to questions of defence
and the maintenance and development ofall branches
of industry and commerce which depend on the
applications of chemistry. The sum _ required for
building is estimated at 250,o00l.;.a similar sum is
required for establishing a chemical library and to
provide for the compilation and production of works.
of reference in the English language.
University and Educational Intelligence.
Leeps.—Owing to the unavoidable growth of the
expenditure necessary for the maintenance of the
efficiency of its work, the council has come to the
conclusion that an increase must. be made in the
scale of fees charged to students for tuition and
examination. The increase has been kept as low as
possible, in no case. being more than about 17} per.
cent. A
698
NATURE
[TuLY 2g, 1920.
The council has instituted an Appointments Board
for the purpose of supplying students at the end of
their University career with information about vacant
appointments. Mr. W. R. Grist has gbeen appointed
the first secretary of the board.
Mr. G. C. Steward has been appointed assistant
lecturer in applied mathematics.
Lonpon.—Mr. V. H. Mottram has been appointed
as from September 1, 1920, to the University chair
of physiology tenable at King’s College for Women
Household and Social Science Department. He is
at the present time head of the Animal Nutrition
Laboratory at Messrs. Lever Bros.
Dr. W. S. Lazarus-Barlow has been appointed to
the University chair of experimental pathology at
Middlesex Hospital Medical School. Since 1903 he
has been director of the Cancer Research Laboratories
at Middlesex Hospital.
Shy © Drummond, lecturer in physiological
chemistry at University College, has been appointed
as from September 1, 1920, to the University reader-
ship in that subject.
The following doctorates have been conferred. by
the Senate :—D.Sc. in Botany: Miss Kate Barratt,
an internal student of.the Imperial College, Royal
College of Science, for a thesis entitled ‘‘ A Contribu-
tion to our Knowledge of the Vascular System of the
Genus Equisetum.’? D.Sc. in Chemistry: Mr. E. E.
Turner, an internal student of East London and
Goldsmiths’ Colleges, for work carried out for
British Dyes, Ltd., and the Ministry of Munitions.
D.Sc. in Experimental Psychology: Mr. G. E.
Phillips, an internal student of University College, for
a thesis entitled ‘‘ Mental Fatigue.”” D.Sc. in Mathe-
matics: Mr. G. B. Jeffery, an internal student of
University College, for a portion of a thesis: Part ii.,
‘The Motion of a Viscous Fluid,’’ and part iii.,
*“Whittaker’s Solution of Laplace’s Equation.’? D.Sc.
in Physics: Mr. G. D. West, an internal student of
East London College, for a thesis entitled ‘ The
Forces Exerted on Surfaces Exposed to Radiation.”
D.Sc. in Zoology: Mr. F. J. Wyeth, an internal
student of King’s College, for a thesis entitled ‘‘On
the Development of the Auditory Apparatus in
Sphenodon punctatus.’
At the last meeting of the Senate of the University
the question of the acceptance of the Government’s
offer to provide a site at Bloomsbury was again under
discussion. A letter was considered from the Presi-
dent of the Board of Education stating that the
Government was prepared to continue to -be
responsible for maintenance, rates, etc., in respect
of the new University headquarters buildings, and
also, when the time comes for King’s College to
vacate the existing premises in the Strand, to ask
Parliament for authority to purchase the buildings
at a fair valuation. The Senate was, however, un-
able to make a similar offer in respect of the building
at present occupied by the University at ~ South
Kensington, which (unlike the King’s College build-
ing) was not erected from funds raised by the Uni-
versity. Eventually the Senate resolved :—‘‘ That,
while recognising and welcoming the desire of the
Government to assist the University, the Senate, in
view of the important issues involved and the un-
certainty as to the nature of the offer in many respects,
desire time for further consideration and consultation
with the Government; and that the Government be
requested to keep their offer open to allow time for
such further consideration.”’
The following appointments have been made at
King’s College:—Dr. J. A. Hewitt, lecturer and
demonstrator in physiology; Dr. O. Inchley, lecturer
in pharmacology; Mr. J. E. Hadfield, lecturer in
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
psychology; Mr. C, S. Salmon, lecturer in physical
chemistry; Mr. H. W. Cremer, lecturer in inorganic
chemistry; Mr. W. Partridge, lecturer in chemistry
(Public Health); Mr. H. T. Flint, lecturer in
physics; Miss C. W. M. Sheriff, assistant lecturer in
mathematics; and Mr. L. D. Stamp, demonstrator
in geology.
Mr. J. HicHam, senior physics master at the
Durham Johnston School, has been appointed lec-
turer in physics and electrical engineering in the
University of Manchester. te
Mr. E. Rawson, head of the engineering depart-
ment of the Portsmouth Municipal College, has been
appointed principal of the Municipal Technical Insti-
tute, West Bromwich.
Mr. S. Mancuam, lecturer in botany at Armstrong
College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has been appointed to
the chair of botany at the University College of
Southampton.
In Pamphlet No. 8 just issued by the Bureau of
Education, India, Mr. L. T. Watkins deals with
‘Libraries in Indian High Schools.’? The pamphlet
gives a useful list of selected books, and provides ©
excellent suggestions as to the principles which should
govern the choice and classification of volumes for
school libraries. Its usefulness should not be limited
to India; librarians of schools in the United Kingdom
and in other parts of the Empire would find it well
worth reading. The pamphlet is published by the
Superintendent, Government Printing, Calcutta, and
the price is four annas.
Tue address of Sir E. Sharpey Schafer, of Edin.
burgh University, on ‘‘The University Problem,”
delivered at Cardiff in January last, and now issued
in pamphlet form, deals with a question of grave —
importance to the educational, and therefore to the
social, productive, and political well-being of the
nation. Sir Sharpey Schafer pleads for a wider out-
look and a clearer vision of the needs of higher educa-
tion of the university type. He deprecates the idea
that universities must find their location in large
cities, and pleads for the open air and the country-
side as involving far less expense in both sites and
buildings, which latter he would plan so as to be of
not more than one or two stories in height. In
support of his contention he cites the cases of London.
and Edinburgh, to which may be added those of other
cities in the North of England. The ideal environ-
ment for a university, he claims, is an academia,
a place for undisturbed work whence the sights and
sounds of the city are excluded. He alludes to the
campus surrounding many an American university,
extending from a hundred acres to space to
reckoned in square miles, which often constitutes one
of the most beautiful features of the city in which it
is situate. Why should not London with its seven
million residents have as many university centres
as Scotland, Sweden, Ireland, or Yorkshire with far
smaller populations? The universities ought to find
their. financial support in the State, since the educa-
tion they give is essential to its welfare and an asset
of first-rate value.
no matter whence he comes. Original research should
be fostered, and only teachers capable of it appointed.
The pursuit of new: knowledge is essential.
university teachers and the statements adduced in
their support are worthy of serious attention at the
present critical time.
There should be no restriction —
to the entrance of the genuine, well-qualified student,
The ©
arguments set forth in furtherance of the claims of
ee a OS ee
ee, eee
NATURE
699°
q ; JuLy 29, 1920|
Societies and Academies.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, July 12.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair—L. Maquenne and E. Demoussy: ‘he
catalytic action of copper salts on the oxidation by air
of ferrous compounds. Copper salts accelerate the
_ oxidation of ferrous salts by air, even in dilutions so
great as o-2 mgr. of copper per 100 c.c. of solution.
; j ‘he amount of oxidation depends on the nature of
' the acid present, and is in direct relation with the
degree of hydrolytic dissociation —P. A, Dangeard :
- Wacuome, plastidome; and spherome in Asparagus
" verticillatus.—F. Widal, P. Abrami, and M. N.
_ Tancovesco: . The possibility of promoting the hamo-
_ clasic crisis by the intravenous injection. of portal
blood collected during the digestive period. The
action of the liver on the proteids. of incomplete dis-
‘integration arising from digestion and carried by the
rtal vein. An experimental proof that the gastro-
testinal mucous membrane absorbs not only amino-
acids, but also compounds in which the proteolysis is
incomplete. These products are. present in the portal
-vein for about two hours and a half after a meal, and
their injurious action upon the general circulation is
ov aoa ’by the liver—H. de Chardonnet: The
influence of the American rocking-chair upon the
respiration.—_J. A. L. Waddell: The economical use
of special alloy steels in the construction of bridges.
The higher elastic limit of a special steel compared
with that of an ordinary carbon steel may more than
compensate for the increased price. Some detailed
examples are given.—C. E. Guillaume: The anomaly
of elasticity of the nickel steels: The realisation of
an elinvar and its application to chronometry. The
limitations of nickel steel watch-springs are discussed,
and a new ternary nickel-chromium steel alloy sug-
gested, containing chromium with small quantities of
manganese, tungsten, and carbon equivalent to 12 per
cent. of chromium. The results with springs of this
material used. with a balance-wheel made of a single
metal have proved extremely satisfactory. The
change of temperature from 0° C. to 30° C. with a
watch fitted with one of these springs was two seconds
in twenty-four hours, and the rate was practically a
linear function of the temperature.—G. Fubini: Pro-
jectively applicable surfaces—L. E. J. Brouwer:
numeration of the classes of representations of a
surface on another surface.—M. Galbrun: The ap-
plication of the equations of elasticity to the deforma-
tions of a helical spring.—P. Chevenard: Study of the
elasticity of torsion of nickel steels with a high pro-
portion of chromium. A study of three series of ferro-
nickels containing approximately 5, 10, and 15 per
cent. of chromium, The results are given graphically
in three diagrams.—E. Jouguet: Remarks on the
laws of resistance of fluids.—G. Sagnac: The two
simultaneous mechanics and their real connections.—
M. Pauthenier: Study of the ratio of the absolute
retardations in carbon bisulphide for increasing. dura-
tions of charge. The appearance of electro-striction.
When the duration of the charge of the Kerr con-
denser much exceeds a millionth of a second, the ratio
of the retardations in carbon bisulphide is no longer
equal to —2. The contraction of the liquid’ under the
influence of the electric field, electro-striction, com-
plicates the results; when the time of change is
8-1x10-* seconds, the effect of electro-striction
exactly compensates the double refraction for the
vibrations perpendicular to the field.—C. Florisson :
' The’ galena-metal contact rectifier. Artificial increase
of sensitiveness.—H. Weiss: The constituents formed
by reciprocal penetration of zinc and copper at a
temperature where one of the two metals and all
) NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
4
their alloys. are in the .solid state. . The constant tem-
perature required for these experiments was secured
by the use of a sulphur vapour bath under a reduced
pressure, the temperature thus obtained varying only
at most 1° from 410° C. Micrographic methods
were used for studying the resulting alloys, and two
photographs illustrating the results are reproduced.—
MM, Lespieau and Garreau: The phenylpropines.
The reaction between benzyl chloride and the mono-
sodium derivative of acetylene failed to give benzyl-
acetylene, the isomer phenylmethylacetylene being the
only product. The same substance was obtained by
starting with epidibromohydrin and .phenylmagnesium
bromide and treating the _ resulting. compound,
C.,H,*CH,*CBr:CH., with alcoholic potash. A yield
of 40 per cent. of the desired. benzylacetylene was
obtained by the interaction of phenylmagnesium
bromide and propylene tribromide.—G. Mignonac ; The
catalytic hydrogenation of nitriles: mechanism of the
formation of secondary and tertiary amines.: The
best explanation of the secondary reduction products
arising from the reduction of benzonitrile by hydrogen
in presence of nickel and working in. an anhydrous
liquid is that the primary reduction product is
benzaldimine, C,H,-CH!NH. This can give benzyl-
amine, by direct reduction and benzalbenzylamine by
condensation, and the latter compound has been
isolated in quantity.—G. Zeil: The proportional con-
stant relating seismic frequency with rainfall.—R.
Abrard: The geological constitution of Djebel Tselfat,
Western Morocco.—G. Arnaud: A bacterial disease of
ivy, Hedera helix.—C,. Porcher: Milk and apthous
fever. Comparisons of the quantity and quality of the
milk from apthous teats of a cow when the milk is
retained and drawn off.—A, Vandel: Reproduction of
the Planaria and the meaning of impregnation in these
animals.—M. de Laroquette: Analogies and differ-
ences of biological action of the various parts of the
solar spectrum.—C. Pérez: A new Cryptoniscian,
Enthylacus trivinctus, an intrapalleal parasite of a
Sacculina. A case of parasitism of the third degree.
y —J, Dragoiu and M. Fauré-Fremiet ; Histogenesis and
time of appearance of different pulmonary tissues in
the sheep.—G. Bertrand and Mme, Rosenblatt: Does
chloropicrin act upon soluble ferments? From ex-
periments carried out with sucrase (from yeast and
from Aspergillus niger), amygdalinase, urease, cata-
lase, zvmase, laccase, and tyrosinase, it was found
that chloropicrin exerts only a feeble inhibiting action
on soluble ferments, and some other explanation must
be found for its highly toxic action upon living cells.
Cape Town.
Royal Society of South Africa, June 16.—Dr. A. Ogg,
vice-president, in the chair.—L. Péringuey: Note on a
recent discovery of stone implements of Palzolithic
type throwing light on the method of manufacture in
South Africa. The author described a collection of
Palzolithic stone implements from the Montagu
Caves, and showed that the completed implement is
flattened, rounded at one end and tapering to a point
at the other, and being chipped to a sharp edge all
the way round. From this demonstration it is now
possible to pronounce that many of the implements
so far known which are blunt at one part or another
are unfinished or damaged specimens. Further, it is
shown that a large block was chipped down in order
to form a relatively small delicately worked imple-
ment, and the very large chipped stones that have
sometimes been found are seen to be initial stages in
the manufacture.—W. A. Jolly: The reflex times in
Xenopus laevis. The author described his method of
measuring exactly the reflex times in the reflexes from
the limbs of the South African clawed frog or toad,
7 OO
NATURE
-and gave a note of the times ascertained in the de-
cerebrate animal.—C, Herman; Notes on _ the
Platana of the Cape Peninsula. The marked differ-
ence in the shoulder-girdle of the Platana of the Cape
Peninsula from that described and figured by
Boulenger as appertaining to Xenopus laevis was
pointed out. The importance of the shoulder-girdle
-as a basis for systematic classification was reterred
to, and the probability of this Platana being a primi-
tive form was suggested. The formation of the
external nasals was described, and attention directed
to the horny epidermal fold on the superior half of
‘the nasals which gives it rigidity. The synchronous
contractions of the nasals and the movement of the
premaxilla and maxilla’ were described and their
nature was discussed. It was suggested that this occurs
in all the Xenopus, and the wish was expressed that
this remarkable phenomenon, now described for the
first time, should be looked for in the case of water-
frogs generally.—J. R. Sutton: A _ possible lunar
influence upon the velocity of the wind at Kimberley
(second paper). In this paper the author continues
the investigation described in a previous paper under
the same title. A table and a diagram are given
showing the deviations of wind-speed at the times of
perigee from the monthly means, arranged in hours
‘of the lunar day. The ranges of velocity deduced are
somewhat greater than those previously found for the
-average of all lunar distances. The noon and mid-
night perigee curves are remarkable, and suggest that
the wind-speed deviations attributable to the moon are
largely due to the superimposition of the lunar air-
tide upon the diurnal variations of wind velocity.
‘Thus no two different places could be expected to
have quite the same velocity deviation curves.
Books Received.
Observations et Expériences faites sur les Animal-
cules des Infusions. Vol. i., pp. viiit1o5. Vol. ii.,,
pp. iiit122. By L. Spallanzani. (Paris: Gauthier-
Villars et Cie.) 3 francs each.
Mémoires sur la Respiration et la Transpiration
des Animaux. By A. Lavoisier. Pp. viii+67.
(Paris: Gauthier-Villars et Cie.) 3 francs.
A Junior Inorganic Chemistry. By R. H. Spear.
Pp. viiit+386. (London: J. and A. Churchill.)
Ios. 6d, net.
A Junior Inorganic Chemistry. By R. H. Spear.
Part i. Pp. vi+148. (London: J. and A. Churchill.)
5s. net. }
Ministry pf Finance, Egypt. Survey Department.
Contribution a l’Etude des Vertébrés Miocénes de
V’Egypte. By R. Fourtau. Pp. xit121+3 plates.
(Cairo: Government Press.) P.T. 20.
University of Iowa Studies in Natural History.
Vol. viii, No. 3. Barbados-Antigua Expedition. By
C. C. Nutting. Pp. 274. (Iowa City: University of
Iowa.)
Archimedes. By Sir T. Heath. (Pioneers of Pro-
gress Series.) Pp. ii+58. (London: S.P.C.K.;
New York: The Macmillan Co.) 2s. net.
The Nature-Study of Plants in Theory and Practice
for the Hobby-Botanist. By T. A..Dymes. Pp.
Xvili+ 173. (London: S.P.C.K.; New York: The
Macmillan Co.) 6s. net,
Vergleichende Anatomie des Nervensystems. _ Erster
Teil. : Die Leitungsbahnen im Nervensystem der Wir-
bellosen Tiere. By A2..B. Drooglever Fortuyn. Pp.
-Vii+370. (Haarlem: De Erven F. Bohn.) 12.50
guilders,
CEuvres Complétes de Christiaan Huygens. Tome
NO. 2648, VOL. 105]
‘New Series, No. 4, July.. Pp. 238. a
Conseil Permanent International pour |’Exploration
Treizieme. Dioptrique 1653; 1666;
Fascicule -i., 1653; 1006. Pp. clxviit+432.
ii, 1685-1692. .
An Introduction to Chemical Engineering.
Fascicu
A. F. Allen. Pp. xvi+272. (London: Sir I. Pitman q
Ios. 6d. net.
and Sons, Ltd.) fi
fran Statens Skogsférséksanstalt,
Meddelanden
Haft 17, Nr. 3. Markstudier I Det Nordsvenska ~
Barrskogsomradet. . Bodenstudien in der Nord- —
schwedischen Nadelwaldregion. By Olof Tamm. —
Pp. 49-300+4 Tavl. (Stockholm: Statens Skogs-
forséksanstalt.) i
The Institution of Civil Engineers. Abstracts of
Papers in Scientific Transactions and Periodicals.
(London.)
de la Mer. Rapports et. Procés-Verbaux des Réunions.
Vol. xxvi., Procés-Verbaux (1918-19 and 1919-20).
Pp. vit+g2. (Copenhague: A. F. Hest et Fils.) .
The Statesman’s Year Book, 1920. (57th Annual
Publication.) Edited by Sir J. Scott Keltie and Dr.
M. Epstein. Pp. xliv+1494. (London: Macmillan
and Co., Ltd.) 20s. net.
Wasp Studies Afield. By Phil Rau and Nellie Rau, —
Press; London: _
Pp. xv+372. (Princeton: University
Oxford University Press.) 8s. 6d. net.
Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil.
W. E. Burghardt Du Bois.
Constable and Co., Ltd.) tos..6d. net. Vat,
The Essentials of Histology: Descriptive and
Practical. By Sir E. Sharpey Schafer. 11th edition.
Pp. xii+577. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co.)
14s. net.
White Lead: Its Use-in- Paint. By Dr. A. H.
Sabin. Pp. ix+133. (New York: J. — and Sons,
Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Lt
net. ;
‘ Tae
j
CONTENTS.
A Chemical Service for India. By Prof. Henry E.
Armstrong, FR.8. oy ik ee ; ARLE Ah,
Tycho Brahe, By Dr. J. K. Fotheringham .... 672
Psychological Tests in Industry .....
Cultivation of the Vine in America.
FRORNGG es) pe
Our Bookshelf
Letters to the Editor :— oy
Genera and Species.—A. Mallock, F.R.S. . . . .-
The Cluster Pine. —Dr. Michael Grabham, .. .
The Training of Practical Entomologists.—Dr. A, D,
kee St ee ME ey
The Separation of the Isotopes of Chlorine.—Angus
F. Core . ats rea j 6 &R * Nee ote
Anticyclones.—R. M. Deeley... .... = . :
Solar Variation and the Weather. (With Diagrams.)
By Tr; cS G. Abbot: 2.245 ae Po ea *
The Earliest Known Land Flora.’ (Iilustrated.) By
Prof..F. O. Bower, -F.R.S.° 0:04 <pbtatn
Obituary :—
Dr. Robert Munro,—E.,
Notes: tian fea :
Our Astronomical Column :— —
The Date of Easter
Astronomy in Town Planning .........
The Empire Timber Exhibition. ©
O68 ote WEN eine] a
N. Fallaize .
The Society of Chemical Industry i ;
Imperial Cancer Research Fund a ine aaa
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine . .....
Central Headquarters for British Chemists ....
University and Educational Intelligence. . ...
Societies and Academies
Books Received: 3s iece9 sas) aa
‘[JuLy 29, 1920
1685-1693. %
Pp. 434-905. (La Haye: M. Nijhoff.) —
Pp. ix+276. (London:
-) 7s. 6d.
PAGE :
NATURE
701
THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
University Grants.
“FEW weeks ago (June 17, p. 477) reference
was made in these columns to the financial
position of the Universities and institutions of
University rank, and a plea was put forward for
more adequate Government financial support. We
are not unmindful that the Government has
already recognised that it has responsibilities in
this respect, but we greatly doubt whether it has
fully realised their extent. The majority of these in-
stitutions are of comparatively recent foundation,
and from the first have led a precarious existence ;
restricted resources and even poverty have almost
uniformly been their lot. Nevertheless, they have
ministered to the needs of higher education in a
truly remarkable way; they have helped this
country to hold its own in the face of world
competition, and materially contributed to its
success in the Great War. This being so, one
would think that the encouragement and develop-
ment of higher education would be among the.
first and primary cares of the Government. While
‘we believe that this really is the intention, yet, if
we may judge from certain proposals recently
made, the Government does not fully appreciate
the present state of affairs in the Universities.
Apart from the question of new and additional
accommodation due to the great influx of students,
and altogether apart from the necessities of in-
ternal development which are yearly becoming
more and more insistent, there stand out the
dominant facts that the great body of University
teachers are quite inadequately remunerated, and
that there are no really practicable sources which
can be tapped to provide proper and adequate
emoluments for them. It is within our knowledge
that the present economic position is pressing most
severely upon a large number of University
teachers, and that the financial position of many
Universities is precarious.
If there is one thing more than another which
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
has been insistently pressed upon the University
Grants Committee on its visitations—and, we are
glad to say, has uniformly received a sympathetic
hearing—it is this question of inadequate re-
muneration. A University is essentially a corpora-
tion of men and women, and if the teaching side
of this corporation is dissatisfied or labours under
a sense of injustice, its work loses its spontaneity
and efficiency, and the interests of higher educa-
tion, and with them those of the nation,
will suffer in consequence. Obviously this is a
truism which need not be laboured. When men
and women have to eke out inadequate stipends
by extraneous work the effects, though almost
imperceptible at first, are bound to be serious in
the long run. But this is not all. Inadequate
remuneration reacts unfavourably upon the supply
of efficient teachers. Talented young students will
look elsewhere for their life’s work. Already, as
we have indicated on a previous occasion, the
financial inducements of industry have depleted
the Universities of some of their ablest teachers,
and there are no uncertain indications that this
depletion is likely to become more serious still.
Now, the Chancellor of the Exchequer recog-
nises that the Government must do more? and
he proposes to ask Parliament to increase the
Treasury grant-in-aid from 1,000,000l, to
1,500,0001, in the Estimates for 1921-22. He
does not propose to ask for any supplementary
grant this year. We respectfully submit that this
proposal is totally inadequate. As a matter of
fact, we would point out that Parliament is not
to be asked for a larger sum than is given this
year; what is proposed is simply to make the
non-recurrent 500,000l. recurrent. We _ repeat
that such a sum is totally inadequate for present
needs. A recent statistical inquiry instituted by
the Association of University Teachers has elicited
the fact that the average salary at present paid
to an assistant lecturer is 250l.; to a lecturer,
3661. ; and to a professor, 800l., from which, of
course, must be deducted the superannuation
premiums of 5 per cent. or so. When we con-
sider the largely increased salaries paid to teachers
in other branches of the profession, let alone the
inducements offered in industry, it is obvious that
such average salaries will not attract the right
type of teacher to the University in the future.
We repeat that. the proposed grant-in-aid is abso-
lutely inadequate under present economic con-
ditions, and would respectfully urge upon the
Chancellor. of the Exchequer to reconsider the
whole question.
If this is the case regarding the general financial
AA
702
NATURE
[AucusT 5, 1920
position, what must be said about the question of
superannuation? A short time ago a deputation
- consisting of representatives of the governing
bodies of the Universities and institutions of Uni-
versity rank in England and Wales, together with
representatives of the Association of University
Teachers, waited upon the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer to put before him certain proposals re-
garding the present unsatisfactory state of super-
annuation in the Universities. Briefly these pro-
posals were to the effect that the Government
should grant University teachers the same, or
similar, superannuation benefits as already granted
to other branches of the profession under the
School Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 1918, plus
certain other benefits which the University
teachers were prepared to pay for themselves by
an annual premium on their salaries. The deputa-
tion was a most representative one and absolutely
unanimous in its proposals. Wee now understand
that the Chancellor is “prepared to consider the
advisability of proposing to Parliament a further
non-recurrent sum to assist the Universities in
meeting the grievance of those senior mémbers
who are precluded from profiting to the full by
the benefits of the University Superannuation
Scheme.” At the same time, it is announced that
the Council of the Federated Superannuation
System of the Universities has undertaken to
obtain the information upon which the proposed
non-recurrent grant will be made.
In all this there is not a word about giving Uni-
versity teachers the same, or similar, privileges
that school teachers have in their non- contributory
Government scheme. Not a word about facilitat-
ing the transference of teachers from the schools
to the Universities or from the Universities to the
schools, so that there would be no loss of super-
annuation benefits on the transference.
word about full retrospective benefits, irrespective
of whether the service has been in schools or in
Universities. Not a word about the consequent
unity of the teaching profession. It would seem
that the policy is to make such transference as
difficult as possible. Now, obviously such a policy
cannot be in the interests of education. It may
be that we have placed too narrow an interpreta-
tion upon the words quoted above. We hope so.
For, unless we are profoundly mistaken, the great
bulk of the University teachers will be bitterly
disappointed if the Government does not at least
grant them benefits equivalent to those already
granted to 95 per cent. of the teaching profession
in the country.
NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
unless its use is understood.
Not a ;
Tanks and Scientific Warfare.
Tanks in the Great War, 1914-1918. By Breve’
Col. J. F. C. Fuller. Pp. xxiv+331+¥.
plates. (London: John Murray, 1920.) re
21s. net. “he
HIS remarkable book is a clear and straig
forward history of how the British 7
learnt to use the most revolutionary weapon the
great war produced. It is written by a con-
firmed believer in that weapon, whose belief oe
ably became more and more complete as the Tat
Corps gradually grasped a few of the pri
involved in its use. It is somewhat of a pity that
the author does not devote a chapter to the |
process by which the Tank Corps arrived at the
tactics which eventually proved so successful. lt
took something like two years to overcome th
prejudices raised against tanks in official qua
and this in war-time, when progress is relati
rapid compared with. that in peace. It is th
fore to be hoped that the principles so ably
forth by Col. Fuller, and so well proved i
late war, will never again be overlooked.
It is only natural that it took many mgutie
the Tank Corps to evolve anything like effec
tank tactics. Many methods had to be tested
battle before being discarded, and it is 1
usual, but rather a matter for congratulati
the tactics evolved for the battle of Hamel
primarily suggested by the Australians, for
serves to show the close co- operation obtaine
and the openmindedness of those in the T
Corps to adopt the suggestions of others.
The history of tank tactics is an instance of
how an effective weapon may be entirely wast
As to how much ~
blame attaches to the Tank Corps for the use of —
tanks in the Ypres salient and similar misuses v
to the first battle of Cambrai the author is sile
nor does it matter much, except that it serves
show how necessary it is for the expert on the ne
weapon to have some say in such matters. Hox
ever, if, as Col. Fuller says on p. 58, the follow- 4
ing besatana were learnt as the result. of the first
use of tanks on the Somme in 1916, especially
No. 2, then the later tank actions need a lot of
explanation
The battle of Cambrai, although it demonstrated — i
what tanks in numbers over good ground —
and without a preliminary bombardment could do, —
yet would have been a far greater success had ~
the tank tactics as finally adopted at the battle
of Hamel been in use. There is no question that
the town of Cambrai itself would have been take
on the first day of the attack had proper
operation with the infantry been maintained. T
EERE
AucGusT 5, 1920]
NATURE
793
hold-up of tanks at Flesquiéres (p. 149) would
not have taken place had the infantry been follow-
ing the tanks closely, and could also have been
got over by the tank crews getting out of their -
machines and stalking the field-gunner as_in-
fantry. The infantry on this occasion were
several hundred yards behind !
This book makes one hope that someone will
write the history of tanks from the civilian point
of view.- Read in conjunction with this excellent
work, some of the more obvious mistakes in the
past might thus be avoided in the future. It is
now common knowledge that neither the War
Office nor G.H.Q. welcomed “tanks,” although it
might be inferred from this book that they did so.
The tank was fathered by the Navy, and had
reached success before it was handed over. Its
history was briefly as follows, and it is illuminat-
ing how little the Army contributed.
In Mr. Winston Churchill’s letter to the Prime
Minister of January, 1915, he remarks: “It is
extraordinary that the Army in the field and the
War Office should have allowed nearly three
months of warfare to progress without address-
ing their minds to its special problems.” It was
extraordinary, and more so when they turned
down any proposals made to them for breaking
down the “trench warfare” into which both
armies had settled. Mr. Winston Churchill made
direct reference in this letter to armoured cater-
pillars and the way in which they should be
employed.
There were many schemes put forward for
carrying out this suggestion, but the successful
one was produced by Major W. G. Wilson, who
was then a lieutenant, R.N.V.R., in the Royal
Naval Armoured Cars. Working in conjunction
with Mr. (now Sir) William Tritton at the works
of Messrs. Foster, of Lincoln, the machine was
constructed and afterwards demonstrated at Hat-
field. The designers called for a statement from
the Army as to the width of trench to be crossed,
height of parapet to be climbed, etc., and this was
drawn up by Col. Swinton, who stands out at this
time as practically the only champion tanks had
in the Army.
Although the Navy fathered the production of
the first tank, it was equally fortunate that after
its success had been demonstrated at Hatfield to
representatives from the War Office and G.H.Q.,
France, the future of tanks was entrusted to
Sir Albert Stern. It was he who, when the first
order for tanks was cancelled by the War Office, .
refused to cancel the order, and said he would, if
necessary, pay for them himself.
Again, fate was kind to them on their first
venture at the battle of the Somme. On Sep-
NO 2640 wort tac! ;
tember 15, 1916, two companies, each consisting
of twenty-eight tanks, went into action. The
company commanded by Major Summers got
twenty-two machines into action, but only two of
the other company crossed into No-man’s Land.
It is more than likely that, but for the efforts of
Summers and his technical officer, Knothe, tanks
would have been voted a failure and never given
another trial. It is worth noting that both these
officers were, prior to the war, civilians
Again, it seems never to have been pointed out
how the Army authorities failed to grasp the full
importance of other proposals of the tank tribe.
In 1916 the need of the moment was such pro-
tection against the machine-gun, but the early
pioneers of the tank movement saw far greater
possibilities in the caterpillar track. It was
evident that roads and railways were the serious
limiting factors to our armies: All supplies had
to go by rail and road, and as these could be
destroyed by the enemy’s long-range artillery,
the obvious need was for an alternative—some-
thing that could do without road or rails, and
cross ploughed fields, shelled areas, hedges, and
smallrivers. The caterpillar track as used on tanks
had been proved to be capable of doing this.
Rightly or wrongly, the first attempt was made
to design a caterpillar gun-carriage that would
take a 5-in. gun or a 6-in. howitzer, or alterna-
tively could be used to carry a large number of
rounds of ammunition for either of these guns, It
was designed so that the gun could be trained and
fired from this movable platform, and the whole
be capable of crossing shell-holes and trenches like
the tank. The machine was tested at Shoebury-
ness, the gun being fired and trained with
ease. Its value was never realised, and the scheme
was allowed to drop. True, fifty machines of the
first type were built, but nothing was ever made
of the generic idea, and a second improved type,
in which the faults of the first had been over-
come, was allowed to lapse.
In the autumn of 1918 the value of a cross-
country tractor was realised to the extent that
many thousands were ordered here and in the
U.S.A., but again “realisation” came too late,
and none materialised.
As already stated, the Tank Corps insisted in
interfering with design, with the result that pro-
gress and output were adversely affected. In
numerous cases its wishes were followed,
such as the change over from the Hotchkiss to
the Lewis gun, the lengthening of the Mk. V. by
6 ft., the turning down of the G.C. Mk. IL.,
and the Mk. IX. machine built to its require-
ments, and the results were, to say the least,
serious. —
704
NATURI:
[AUGUST 5, 1920
However, Col. Fuller makes no comment on
these points, but doubtless he would agree that
in the future the Tank Corps in the field should
confine itself to the problem of fighting the
machine most effectively, and to giving the fullest
possible information to the Headquarters Staff on
which it may base its tactical requirements
for the future classes of machines, these re-
quirements to be conveyed to the designing de-
partment. How far such requirements can be met
is for the designing and production ‘departments
to decide.
Much has been said about the use of tanks in
small numbers at the battle of the Somme, and
Col. Fuller is evidently of opinion that, had we
held them back until large numbers were avail-
able, the element of surprise would have been so
great as to have led to an overwhelming victory.
The same might be said of the German use of
gas for the first time against the Canadians. Per-
sonally, the present writer does not hold this view.
A new weapon that is going to produce an over-
whelming effect requires not only its use on a
large scale, but also close co-operation with all
other arms. This requires time and elaborate
training, and training without the experience of
actual battle is apt to be very misleading.
Mk. IV. tanks successfully took part in the
decisive battles of the summer and autumn of
1918. It was this mark of machine that in 1917
the Tank Corps refused to accept, considering
it useless: A little training in the proper way
to fight with the new weapon had made all the
difference. It was the Mk. IV. tank which
carried out the brilliant operations with the
Canadians in crossing the Canal du Nord in Sep-
tember, 1918 (see pp. 268-69). The officer in
command of the Canadians after the battle sent
for the officer in charge of these tanks and com-
plimented him on the handling of the “new” type
of tank and on the way in which all objectives
were reached ; the officer was silent, for they were
the old Mk. IV. machines. The Mk. V. machine
was a very great advance on the Mk. IV., but
the greatest improvement of all was the realisation
of how to use the new weapon in co-operation
with the infantry. -
Col. Fuller’s book naturally deals chiefly with
the fighting tank, and he clearly sets forth the
claims of armour propelled by petrol as a pro-
tection and means of transport for the infantry
against the machine-gun; but, as the author
also points out, the German offensive of March,
1918, came to an end not so much on account of
Our resistance as because of the impossi-
bility of bringing up artillery and supplies fast
enough by the limited roads. The army of the
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
future will be independent of roads and rails. Its
artillery, supplies of shells, food, ambulances,
etc., will be moved by petrol and caterpillar
tracks.
The chapter on scientific warfare makes interest-
ing reading. It might lead one to suppose that
the wars of the future will be waged between
small but highly trained armies, and that civilians
will be carefully evacuated and safeguarded.
The lesson of the late war seems to show that
it will be impossible to protect civilians and
increasingly difficult ~to discriminate between
the trained warrior and women and children, The
use of gas over large areas, of explosive dropped
by aircraft, of huge tanks and tractors dashing
over hill and dale, in their course passing over
hamlets and villages, seems to make the lot of
the non-combatant an unenviable one. Possibly
this is all for the best, and certainly so if it acts
as a deterrent to future wars.
In conclusion, one must say that the book is
most excellent reading and remarkably free from |
controversy or axe-grinding. It has been said
that the indication of the object of a war book
can be got from the frontispiece. Many have a
portrait of the writer, but this starts with a picture
of the weapon which had such an effect on
history, and the book is a valuable tribute to it
(see p. 48).
Physiology of Farm Animals.
Physiology of Farm Animals. By T. B. Wood
and Dr. F. H. A. Marshall. Part i. General.
By Dr. F. H. A. Marshall. Pp. xii+204.
(Cambridge: At the University Press, 1920.)
Price 16s. net.
UCCESS in the rearing and feeding of animals
{ depends to a large extent upon the practical
application of the principles of physiology. Yet,
although the breeding of farm animals and the
production of meat and milk are of such great
economic importance, the study of the physiology
of farm animals has received comparatively little
attention. The appearance of this text-book is,
therefore, welcome. The reputation of the writers
is likely to secure a wide use of the book in agri-
cultural teaching centres.
The first volume deals with the general prin-
ciples of physiology. It is lucidly written, and
the illustrations are well chosen. The parts of
the subject most fully treated are those which
are of special practical importance, viz. the
digestive system, the organs of locomotion, and
the organs of reproduction. A clear: account is —
given of the digestive system.
the organs of locomotion contains a very useful
The chapter on —
Oe or
AvuGuST 5, 1920]
NATURE 705
description of the feet and legs of the horse,
and the nature and causes of certain common ail-
ments are indicated. The last two chapters, deal-
ing with reproduction, are the best in the book.
In addition to giving in a small compass and in an
easily understood form all that is known of prac-
tical importance, they contain many suggestions
_ that should be of great value to the breeder. A
chapter on heredity would have added to the.
value of the book.
The other parts of the subject are dealt with
more briefly, yet in sufficient detail to give the
student of agriculture a working knowledge of the
subject for all practical purposes.
In a few instances too little attention has been
given to recent literature. The use of the term
“amides”’ as covering the non-protein nitrogen-
ous substance of feeding-stuffs is unfortunate.
Although the term was used in this sense by
certain of the older writers, it is no longer appro-
priate, since it is now known that the greater part
of the non-protein nitrogenous substances consist
of amino-acids, which, instead of being “of little
importance as constituents. of food,” are as valu-
able as protein. The views put forward with
regard to the metabolism of creatine and creatin-
ine, which are largely those advanced by Mellanby
some years ago, take no account of the work
that has been done during the past ten or fifteen
years. There is now no doubt that muscle, and
not liver, is the chief seat of metabolism of both
creatine and creatinine, and there is no experi-
mental evidence in support of the view that
creatine is formed from creatinine. The state-
- ment that creatine is found in the urine only in
pathological conditions is scarcely correct, at least
for farm animals. Creatine is found in the urine
of the fowl, where it replaces creatinine, and it is
a normal constituent of the urine of ruminants.
These, however, are points of minor import-
ance so far as the student of agriculture is con-
cerned. They are likely to be treated more fully
in the second volume dealing with nutrition.
Chemical Text-books.
(1) Laboratory Manual of Elementary Colloid
Chemistry. By Emil Hatschek. Pp. 135.
(London: J. and A. Churchill, 1920.) Price
6s. 6d.
(2) Chemistry for Public Health Students. By
E. Gabriel Jones. Pp. ix+244. (London:
Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price 6s. net.
(3) Elementary Practical Chemistry. For Medical
and other Students. By Dr. J. E. Myers and
_ J. B. Firth. Second edition, revised. (Griffin’s
Scientific Text-books.) Pp. viii+ 194. (London :
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1920.)
4s. 6d.
(4) Qualitative Analysis in Theory and Practice.
By Prof. P. W. Robertson and D. H. Burleigh.
Pp. 63. (London: Edward Arnold, 1920.)
Price 4s. 6d. net.
(5) Practical Science for Girls: As Applied to
Domestic Subjects. By Evelyn E. Jardine.
Pp. xiii+112. (London: Methuen and Co.,
Ltd., 1920.) Price 3s.
(6) Acids, Alkalis, and Salts. By G. H. J. Adlam.
(Pitman’s Common Commodities and Indus-
tries.) Pp. ix+112. (London: -Sir Isaac Pit-
man and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
(1) RAHAM’S pioneer work on colloids is
bearing rich fruit to-day, and colloid
chemistry is becoming more and more important
in theory and in practice. There are, of course,
several text-books dealing with the subject gener-
ally, and giving descriptions of methods used in
preparing colloidal substances. Mr. Hatschek |
himself is known as the author of one of these,
and as the annotator of another, besides being
the writer of a notable series of articles on
colloids. There is, however, no laboratory manual
similar to the present work. To expound the
theory of the matter, lectures are good things,
and books necessary; but the laboratory remains
always the “forecourt of the temple” of colloid
philosophy ; it is only there that the student gains
real familiarity with the characteristic properties
of colloidal substances. And in the laboratory a
well-devised series of practical exercises is in-
valuable for economising the worker’s time, spar-
ing his temper, and leading him to good results.
The author’s aim has therefore been to give
“accurate and very detailed ” directions for carry-
ing out the fundamental operations. He is quali-
fied to write a manual based upon personal ex-
perience of the special difficulties met with in the
practice of this branch of chemistry, and he has
done it very well. Both students and teachers
have reason to be grateful to him.
(2) This, also, is essentially a laboratory guide.
It is intended for students reading for the diploma
in public health, and is therefore concerned gener-
ally with foodstuffs, water, alcoholic beverages,
sewage effluents, air, and disinfectants. After
two introductory chapters explaining the principles
of gravimetric and volumetric analysis, the’ im-
portant foodstuffs milk, butter, and margarine are
dealt with. Facts as to the chemical composition
of these are given, and the legal enactments relat-
ing to the sale of them, together with the usual
methods of analysis adopted. Then follow chapters
on the other articles mentioned. Naturally in a
book of only 240 pages some of the subjects
Price
706
NATURE
[AuGusT 5, 1920
cannot..be treated very fully. The information
given, however, is accurate, and, whilst the book
is readable, it is by no means superficial. Indeed,
for a work of its scope it is substantial, and the
reviewer has formed a very favourable opinion of
it. One of the best sections is the chapter on air,
but all are good. A number of examination ques-
tions are included.
(3) Dr. Myers and Mr. Firth’s little book has
become favourably known as a convenient intro-
ductory work on practical chemistry. The ground
covered is elementary qualitative and quantitative
analysis, including an outline of simple gas
analysis, with methods for making “
and for identifying the commoner organic com-
pounds. It gives the requisite information con-
cisely, and can be recommended as a suitable
initiatory book for medical and pharmaceutical
students.
(4) Messrs. Robertson and Burleigh’s book is
of a more advanced type than the foregoing. It
treats of qualitative analysis only, but aims at
giving the student a thorough grounding in this
subject. The authors rightly hold that qualitative
chemical analysis, intelligently taught, is of great
value in laying a good foundation for a knowledge
of the general chemistry of the metals and in
illustrating the more important types of chemical
reactions. Their method is to familiarise the
student with these types (replacement, decomposi-
tion, oxidation, and reduction), and thus to enable
him to see how they are applied to the problems
of systematic analysis. They discard “dry ” tests
(apart from flame reactions) as being “tedious,
often ambiguous, and misleading.” They look
with disfavour upon the practice of describing in
detail, with equations, the individual reactions of
the metals. The practice, they contend, is “ per-
nicious and demoralising ”; and the student, in
the end, “simply copies into his notes what he sees
in his text-book.” It is by no means clear why
this should be so. Surely it is the part of a
capable teacher to find out, by a few suitable
questions, whether a student really understands
what the equations signify? If this is done there
appears to be no particular objection to describing
the individual reactions, and such a course simpli-
fies the work of explanation. But be that as it
may, there is no doubt that the student who works
intelligently through the book under notice should
obtain a good grasp of the matter. The questions
propounded at the end of the sections will search
out his weak points.
' (5) This little book contains instructions for per-.
forming a. series of simple exercises in physics,
chemistry, and bacteriology. As occasion offers,
the principles under discussion are applied to, or
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
preparations ”
| be of no use to him.”
exemplified by, domestic subjects. Thus, having —
learned various methods of determining specific —
gravity, the student uses some of them to find the
density.of milk. In connection with thermometry
she learns how to use a clinical thermometer. In
the chemistry exercises she is taught how to make
soap, how to remove stains from calico, and so on.
The exercises are carefully graduated, and, on ~
the whole, are well calculated to stimulate the
pupil’s interest. Here and there the text needs a
little revision. Thus the experiment (3) on p. 45
is meaningless as it stands. A weighed quantity
of household “blue” is mixed with water, the
mixture evaporated to dryness, and weighed. The
student is then asked to state the percentage of
“blue” dissolved! Again (p. 59), permanently
“hard ” water is directed to be made by dissolving
common salt in distilled water. Then, after the
naive remark that ‘‘we have used salt because it
is convenient,” the pupil is taught how to
“soften” (such) permanently hard water by
means of washing-soda. These exercises should
be revised; they do not bring out the essential
fact that it is the soluble salts of calcium and
magnesium, not those of sodium, that cause per-
manent hardness. ‘Of the nitrogenous foods
there are protein, water, and salts” (p. 70) is a
cryptic saying; and it is not the only one. The
impression given is that the author occasionally
gets a little out of her depth; but the book as a
whole will be found quite useful and convenient.
(6) At first sight the title “Acids, Alkalis, and
Salts” appears rather unattractive—except per-
haps to the chemist, who knows these products.
already. Mr. Adlam, however, manages to make
quite a readable little volume on the subject.
Many valuable works will, alas ! always and neces-
sarily be classed with the “books that are no
books,” since they must give the dry bones of
facts, and no space is available for investing these
facts with even a bare minimum of literary cover- ~
ing. This book, however, aims at being not only
instructive, but also interesting. Though starting
with little or no knowledge of chemistry, the
general reader will have no difficulty in under-
standing the text, and will find in it a store of
information concerning the acids and alkalis
which is none the less trustworthy because it is
easily and pleasantly acquired. The book may,
in fact, be looked upon as a simple introduction to
the subject of industrial chemistry. Incidentally,
it may help to prevent other people following the
| example of the man mentioned by the author, who
took his son to the Royal School of Mines to
”
“learn copper,” and not to waste his time over
other parts of chemistry, because “they would
oe
AvcGuUST 5, 1920]
NATURE
707
Our Bookshelf.
Die Gliederung der Australischen Sprachen: Geo-
graphische, bibliographische, — linguistische
‘Grundziige der Erforschung der australischen
“Sprachen. By P. W. Schmidt. Pp. xvi+ 299.
(St. Gabriel-Médling bei Wien: Anthropos,
1919.)
In this reprint from Anthropos Father Schmidt
discusses the structure and classification of the
Australian languages. Of these he distinguishes
two main divisions, the South Australian and the
North Australian. The former comprises the
languages of the southern halves of Western and
South Australia, of Victoria and New South
Wales, and the greater (southern) part of
Queensland. The North Australian occupies
North-west and Central Australia, the Northern
Territory, and Cape York Peninsula. The
southern languages are subdivided into twelve
groups, the northern into three.
The establishment of the South Australian is
based mainly on the likeness of grammar and the
occurrence in the languages of similar words for
names of parts of the body and personal pro-
nouns. The differences in the various subdivisions
are found to run parallel with the sociological
grouping. They consist chiefly in the character of
the finals, which are vocalic where the purely two-
class system and mother-right prevail. In the
west, north-east, and centre the finals 1, n, 7 are
‘found with the four-class system, and the two-
class system in the south-east is found where the
languages have final explosives and double con-
sonants.
The northern languages are similarly grouped
according to their final consonants. In the north-
west and north, consonantal finals are common,
around Carpentaria |, n, and r are found as finals,
and vocalic endings are common in Central Aus-
tralia and Cape York Peninsula. But isolated
members of the groups are found all over
northern Australia.
Father Schmidt’s work is a valuable summary
and exposition of the tangle of Australian lingu-
istics. But the nature of the material is so un-
certain that there will always be a doubt as to
whether the similarities of the South Australian
languages here formulated may not. be due to
their geographical contiguity, one language bor-
rowing vocabulary from others, and all alike
gradually assuming the same morphological form.
S. H. Ray.
A First Book of School Celebrations. By Dr.
F. H. Hayward. Pp. 167. (London: P. S.
King and Son, Ltd., 1920.) Price 5s.
Tuis is a sequel to “The Spiritual Foundations
of Reconstruction,” and shows in further detail
how some of the suggestions of that interesting
book will work out in practice. It may be recalled
that the authors—Dr. Hayward and Mr. Freeman
—there insisted on the obviously sound idea
that in school education more should be made
of the emotional, artistic, dramatic, and social
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
approach. They believe, indeed, in scientific
and historical wall-charts, the gist of which
seeps in to the mind through the eye; they believe
in lessons that appeal to the reason—the lessons
which bear~so little fruit that many of us are
often inclined to disbelieve in them; but their
hope is in a vast extension of the principle already
embodied in Empire Day, Shakespeare Day, and
St. David’s Day celebrations. Dr. Hayward
looks forward in the present book to a national
school liturgy of the Bible, literature, music,
and ceremonial. The ceremonials would be
predominantly oral rather than visual, con-
sisting largely of reading and recitation, song and
story ; they will be memorial, expository, seasonal,
and ethical. It must not be supposed that the
author’s suggestions depreciate the appeal to
reason or propose to codify the emotions; what
is suggested is wise and well thought. out. We
know a little about schools, and our conviction is
that the methods suggested would grip in a way
that nothing except the teacher’s personal influ-
ence has hitherto done. They would grip because
they are psychologically sound. The celebrations
outlined are skilfully devised, but individual
teachers would of course vary them. They deal
with Shakespeare, the League of Nations, Demo-
cracy, St. Paul, bards and seers, world con-
querors, Samson, eugenics, temperance, com-
merce, summer, flying, Chaucer, Spenser. The
author has made a notable contribution to the
experimental study of education. To test the
value of this contribution is an urgent duty, for
the school is not very perfect as it is.
New Zealand Plants and their Story. By Dr. L.
Cockayne. Second edition, rewritten and en-
larged. (New Zealand Board of Science and
Art. Manual No. 1.) Pp. xv+248. (Welling-
ton, N.Z.: Dominion Museum, 1919.) Price
7s. 6d.
THE earlier edition of this book, published in 1910,
was described as the first attempt to deal with the
plant life of the New Zealand biological region on
ecological lines. The second edition is virtually
a new book. As an instance, the number of
photographs which form so helpful an addition to
the text has been increased to ninety-nine, and
fifty of these did not appear in the original work.
But the author and his subject are the same, and
no one is so well qualified to desctibe New Zealand
plant ecology as Dr. Cockayne.
An introductory chapter gives an account of the
history of the botanical exploration of the islands
from the first visit of Banks and Solander in 17609.
Successive chapters are devoted to the various
phases of vegetation—the sea-coast, the forests,
the grass-lands, high mountains, and others—and
a brief account of the vegetation of the outlymg
islands is given. The author discusses the changes
which have taken place in the vegetation since
the advent of the British, and strongly opposes
the idea that the original New Zealand flora is in
danger of being crushed out by European immi-
grants. On the contrary, practically “no truly
708
NATURE
primitive plant formation is desecrated by a single
foreign invader.” The concluding chapters deal
with the division of the islands into botanical dis-
tricts, and the affinities, origin, and history of the
flora. As regards the latter, Dr. Cockayne admits
the necessity of great land extension in the Ant-
arctic direction.
Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry for
1919. Issued by the Chemical Society.
Vol. xvi. Pp. ix+234. (London: Gurney and
Jackson, 1920.) Price 4s. 6d. net.
One of the most useful of the publications issued
by the Chemical Society is the annual volume
summarising the progress made each year in the
various main branches of chemistry. With this
bird’s-eye view of the year’s achievements at com-
mand, a worker is readily able to survey, in some-
thing like proper perspective, the advances made
in other divisions of the science as well as in his
own.
The period covered by the present volume
synchronises ‘with the return of many scientific
workers from occupations connected more or less
directly with the conduct of war to conditions
which, in due time, will no doubt lead to a full
resumption of scientific investigation for its own
sake. Meanwhile it is too early to expect
accounts of many such researches. For the
moment, the aftermath of war work is being
shown in papers dealing with technical problems
on which chemists have worked during the last
few years. There is, nevertheless, a fair amount
of purely scientific research work recorded.
Rutherford’s investigations on atomic disintegra-
tion are of fundamental importance if the results
are eventually confirmed; and other notable pieces
of work are the studies on the “poisoning ” of
palladium as a catalyst by hydrogen sulphide, on
the origin of alkaloids from amino-acids, and on
fermentation. In the “crystallography ”’ section,
it may be noted, a good description is given, with
figures, of the principles underlying X-ray
methods of exploring crystal structure.
The Ascent of Man: A Handbook to the Cases
illustrating the Structure of Man and the Great
Apes. (London County Council.) Pp. 74.
(London: The Horniman Museum and Library,
n.d.) Price 6d.
Tuis little handbook, by Dr. H. S. Harrison,
curator of the Horniman Museum, is written in
simple language, and admirably suited to stimu-
late interest. in the recent remarkable progress in
our knowledge of the ancestry of man. The biblio-
graphy with which it concludes will also be helpful
to those who wish to pursue the subject further.
Dr. Harrison emphasises the fact that man must
be traced back to. small arboreal mammals, and
well observes: “It is scarcely too much to say.
that if the earth had borne no trees, there would
have been no men,” His anatomical descriptions
are made readable and interesting by his frequent
references to habits and modes of life. — .
A, S.W.
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
Letters to the Editor.
;
{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for we fe. 4
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu-
scripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. No
notice is taken of anonymous communications.]
Relativity and Reality. j
No one would wish to strain at a gnat. If the
relativist finds it convenient to make the time-axes of
his four-dimensional medium the pure imaginary
direction by writing t=r/(—1), that would appear to
be a matter of indifference, so long as for each co-
ordinate a single line or axis still suffices to indicate
the values that x, y, z, and 7 can bear. But the
matter becomes complicated as soon as we project in
oblique directions. Thus take the equations of the
‘restricted ’’ relativity theory, a
crak
x=(x’—ut!), t=A(t—ux'), B=(1—w)-%,
_which upon substitution become c
x=B(x'—iur!), 1=B(r'+iux’),
and these can be written
x=x!' cos 0—7’ sin 6,
if tan O=iu.
Thus (x, 7) (x’, 7!) are co-ordinates of the same point
projected upon different axes, but not in any real
direction. According to this system, A can grasp B’s
scheme of space-time only when he generalises his
own x, y, 2, 7, so that each of them stands for an un-
restricted complex variable. But such a removal of
restriction, cannot be pictured without allotting a
whole plane to each variable, and that means doubling
our whole apparatus of representation and a descrip-
tion of events in terms of not fewer than eight real
dimensions. Surely no physicist can be expected to
7=x' sin 6+7’ cos 6,
take the system seriously. oar}
The mathematician does not seem to be awaré that
he is asking one to swallow a camel. Thus in Prof.
Eddington’s recent book, ‘‘ Space, Time, and Gravita-
tion,’ we read (p. 48): ‘The observer’s separation
of this continuum into space and time consists in
slicing it in some direction . .. clearly the slice
may be taken in any direction; there is no question
of a true separation and a fictitious separation.’
But there is the qualification, which surely deserves — ‘
mention, that every real direction must be excluded,
since the angle @ is necessarily imaginary, because
, which is greater than unity, is its cosine. The
original passage from (x, t) to (x’, t’) is real, and we
get back to reality by slicing in an imaginary direc-
tion with respect to an imaginary axis. The device
should be classed with the focoids, those two imaginary
points at infinity where any two concentric circles a
touch. They recall to the mathematician’s mind
certain algebraic forms, but have no other actuality
whatever. The point I would make, however, is this :
If this analogy is dropped, the idea of time as a ‘a
fourth dimension is not in any way advanced’ by the —
interpretation of the equations above from the position
it has occupied since the days of rere *
R. A. Sampson.
Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, July 26.
An Attempt to Detect the Fizeau Effect in an Electron wa :
Stream.
WITHOUT in any way touching the theoretical
aspect of the case, it seems worth while to put on —
record the null result of an experiment to see whether
the Fizeau effect was present in the case of a beam
of light passing along a rapidly moving stream of —
electrons.
A pair of Jamin plates giving a separation of the
[Aucust 5, 1920 |
to an alternating source of potential
delivering about 20 milliamperes at 100,000 volts, or
alternatively 200 milliamperes at 5000 volts, these
of about 2x10" cm./sec. a
frin
AvcusT 5, 1920]
NATURE
»
{99
interfering beams of 33 mm. was set up so as to
produce achromatic fringes from the light of a
mercury-vapour lamp.
Two tubes each about 100 cm. long, with worked
lass plates cemented on the ends, were placed
rallel, one in each of the interfering beams. Each
tube was evacuated, but one contained a glowin
cathode and a cylindrical anode which were connect
capable of
two potentials vio leaner to electron velocities
4x 10° cm./sec. respec-
tively, .
The method of experiment was to produce wide
fringes in the observing telescope, and, by means of
two tapping switches, to turn on first the filament-
heating current and then the applied potential. .In
no case was any shift or certain broadening of the
° ;
She main difficulty in the experiment was the fre-
quent fracture of the necessarily small glass tube
employed as the result of the great heat dissipated
inside. R. WHIDDINGTON.
The Physics age pe'ran The University,
Leeds.
; Plant-life in Cheddar Caves.
Wuite recently visiting the famous caves at Cheddar
I noticed small patches of moss-like vegetation ,grow-
ing near the electric lamps used to illuminate the
caves. The caves extend a long way into the hill-
side, and, as the entrances are but small, daylight
short distance only.
——— into them to a ve
They are lighted by wire filament electric lamps, of
which some are hung from the roof, but many are
laid upon their sides in the deep natural recesses,
and, in order better to illuminate the formation and
bring up the beautiful colouring and folding of the
stalactites, are provided with reflectors. It was close
against some of these lamps that I noticed the patches
of vegetation, and they looked so strange that I asked
the attendant if they had been placed there as an
eriment. His answer was that they had not, and
that he himself had noticed them growing near the
It seems to me to be curious that this vegetation
should be flourishing under such absolutely artificial
conditions where there is no trace of daylight. How.
the spores got so far in is also an interesting point,
but possibly they were introduced by dirty spades used
when the workmen were digging out the latest exten-
sion of the caves.
I should be glad to know if this curious phenomenon
has been observed before, and what kinds of plant-
life succeed in these unnatural conditions. As one of
the excursions during the forthcoming meeting of the
British Association at Cardiff will be to the Cheddar
Caves, perhaps a botanical visitor will identify the
growth and communicate his conclusions to NATURE.
LoucH. PENDRED.
The Diamagnetism of Hydrogen.
In a letter to Nature of July 22 (p. 645) Dr. Ash-
worth discusses the atomic diamagnetism of liquid
and gaseous hydrogen on the hypothesis that diamag-
netism originates from rotations or oscillations of the
paramagnetic atom or molecule. He ignores, how-
ever, the case of atomic hydrogen in normally
‘saturated hydrocarbons given in my letter of July 8
(p. 581). The atomic susceptibility of hydrogen in
these compounds is constant and equal to — 30-5 x to-"
at room-temperature. Onnes and Perrier (Proc.
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
Amsterdam Acad., vol. xiv., p. 115, 1911) have shown
that the specific susceptibility of liquid hydrogen is
—27X10~—', with a probable error of 10 per cent., so
that there is little difference between this value for
hydrogen at a temperature less than —253° C. and
that derived from the hydrocarbons at room-tempera-
ture. According to the kinetic hypothesis of Dr.
Ashworth, the paramagnetic atom will appear dia-
magnetic only if its oscillations exceed 130° on either
side of the position of rest, and oscillations of this
nature (or complete rotations) must be common to all
the S bai atoms in any normally saturated com-
pound. his, I think, Dr. Ashworth will scarcely
admit is plausible.
Moreover, consider the general case of crystallisa-
tion of a diamagnetic substance. The specific sus-
ceptibility of the liquid may be less than or greater
than that of the crystals, but each is diamagnetic
(Ishiwara, Science Reports, Téhoku, vol. iii., p. 303,
1914; Oxley, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., vol. cexiv., A,
p. 109, 1914). Therefore the oscillations of the atoms
which appear diamagnetic must be at least 130° on
either side of the position of rest, even in crystals—a
conclusion which is scarcely consistent with the view
that crystalline symmetry is in part determined by the
electronic configuration of the atom.
A. E. OXiey.
The British Cotton Industry Research
Association, 108 Deansgate, Man-
chester, July 29.
Loss of Fragrance of Musk Plants.
Ir is important to ascertain whether the loss of
scent which has been noticed lately in the musk plant
(Mimmulus moschatus) in certain areas is of general
occurrence throughout the country.
There is no doubt that in many cases the descen-
dants of musk plants which used to form such
fragrant inhabitants of our cottage windows have lost
the power of producing the peculiar musk-like scent.
An important character has dropped out of the musk
plant’s hereditary equipment, and it becomes a matter
of interest to know to what extent and in what
manner this has come about.
If any plants can be found which still retain the
old scent, intercrossing between these and the scent-
less variety would probably give genetic results of
interest. C. J. Bonn.
Fernshaw, Springfield Road, Leicester,
July 26.
Meteorological Conditions of an Ice-Cap.
In Nature of July 29 Mr. R. M. Deeley criticises
Prof. Hobbs’s terminology in describing the meteoro-
logical conditions of an ice-cap as anticyclonic. He
arrives at the conclusion from Prof. Hobbs’s state-
ments that low pressure exists at the centre. This is
scarcely necessary.
The high pressure of an anticyclone in temperate
regions is maintained by the descent of air in the
centre drawn from the upper atmosphere; this com-
pensates for the surface outflow due to the disturbing
of the geocyclostrophic equilibrium by surface friction.
The same conditions, i.e. the surface outflow and the
central descent of air, exist in Prof. Hobbs’s polar
ice-cap anticyclone; the only difference is the physical
origin.
In stating that the outflow of air over an ice-cap
produced a vacuum which was filled by inflowing air
from above, Prof. Hobbs was only describing in
separate detail what is really a continuous process,
no vacuum ever actually existing.
R. F. T. GRANGER.
Lenton Fields, Nottingham, July 30.
710
NATURE
{AuGUST 5, 1920
The Research Department, Woolwich. a 4
By Srr Ropert ROBERTSON,
13
Explosives Section,
f hei Research Department at Woolwich has
been in existence under various titles since
1900. Prior to 1914 the staff was small;
for the seven years preceding the war the ‘chem-
ical branch had a staff of eleven chemists only,
and the metallurgical branch of four.
The subjects occupying the chemical staff before
the war were connected with the stability of ex-
plosives, the investigation of new explosives (such
as tetryl, for which a manufacturing process was
worked out and issued to a Government factory),
and research on the properties of explosives and
on the means of initiating them in Service com-
ponents. These researches proved :
to have a-double importance, in
that they not only enabled im-
mediate answers to be given to
many questions that arose early
in the war, when there was no
time for prolonged research, but
also afforded the staff the train-
ing necessary to meet the de-
mands which became urgent on
the outbreak of hostilities.
After the beginning of the war
the increase in work imperatively
demanded a larger staff, and
more chemists were appointed,
until at the beginning of 1917,
the home supply having failed,
permission was obtained to with-
draw from France members of
the Special Brigade, R.E., of
whom more than thirty were
transferred to the Department.
Finally, the chemical staff num-
bered 107 chemists and physi-
cists distributed in an organisa-
tion which had been gradually evolved, comprising
sections for dealing with the different classes of
work, such as organic chemistry, physical chem-
istry, analytical and general chemistry, physical
investigation, calorimetry, stability, pyrotechny,
applications of high explosives, fuse design, and
records.
With increasing. work and staff, new buildings
for explosives investigation became necessary, and
new laboratories were erected, including a well-
appointed building (Fig. 1) for physico-chemical
research, embodying many of the ideas of Prof.
Donnan, and a new range of factory buildings and
houses for a variety of specialised work. Climatic
huts for storage trials under dry and moist con-
ditions, which have always. been an important
feature of the Department, were. increased in
number. Inthe explosives section the laboratories
occupy a space of 64,272 sq. ft., and the buildings
NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
thus
‘of Munitions.
K.B.E., F.R.S. fF
for experimental work on a larger scale 38)1 :
sq. ft. The Department’s facilities for te i
processes evolved in the laboratory on the semi
manufacturing scale have proved of the utmos
value, affording confidence as to the practicabili
of processes on the full scale. ( ee
The Research Department acted as a central
bureau for explosives research required by the
Navy, Army, the Air Service, and the et
Many subjects were referred to
Its work is em-
-~
by the Ordnance Committee.
bodied
searches termed R.D. Reports. |
Trinitrotoluene.—One of the
ata
first ‘subjects
undertaken after the outbreak of war was the
provision of an efficient and rapid process. for the:
Fic. 1.—A physico-chemical laboratory.
manufacture of T.N.T., especially without the use
of oleum. From the results of a large series of
nitrations in. the laboratory, a process was
evolved characterised by several novel features,
and this was put to the proof on the semi-indus-
.trial scale, a plant being designed and erected in
the Department (Fig. 2) for the nitration on the
quarter-ton scale, with appropriate arrangements
for the mixing and concentration of acids. This
small plant substantiated in a remarkable manner
the process evolved’ from the laboratory work,
and from the start turned out T.N.T. of good
quality. The scheme of temperature-rise, the
composition of the acid mixture, the nitration in
cycles, the process of ‘“‘detoluation,” and other
features of the process found immediate applica-
tion in the large Government factories that were
designed and erected by Mr. Quinan, and also
in numerous private works. built at this time.
= . =. Food
in official minutes and ‘in collected re-
er One
rae
AUGUST 5, 1920]
NATURE
711
These features have been little altered by later
experience. Chemists were trained on this small
plant for the purpose of starting Government
Fic.
and private factories, and for a time a few tons ,
a week of the product were purified by alcohol- |
benzene in another plant erected in the Depart-
ment to supply the Service with high-grade
T.N.T. for exploders.
A study of T.N.T. in all its aspects was under-
taken. Much attention was given to the chem-
istry of T.N.T., the proportions in which the
isomers occur in the crude product being deter-
mined by thermal analysis, and investigations
made on their interactions, stability, sensitive-
ness, heat values, and explosive properties.
Amatol.—As it soon became evident that the
supply of the high explosives in use, lyddite and
T.N.T., would not suffice, the Department put
forward mixtures of ammonium nitrate and
T.N.T., the amatols, as a result of study of their
properties and of the violence they exhibited in
shell-bursting trials. Gun trials substantiated the
trials at rest, and their adoption quickly followed.
Various methods of filling these mixtures into
shell were at this time worked out, many of which
have since been applied on the very largest scale.
2.—Small nitrating plant used to demonstrate the T.N.T. process.
| same ballistics as ordinary cordite.
It was found that 80/20 amatol (80 parts of |
ammonium nitrate to 20 of T.N.T.) was less easy
to bring to detonation than lyddite or T.N.T., and
required special arrangements in the train of
initiation of detonation. These were successfully
devised, and good and trustworthy detonation of
our shell was secured. An illustration is here
given (Fig. 3) of the fragmentation of an 18-pr.
shell filled with 80/20 amatol.
As 80/20 amatol is practically smokeless, the
constituents being arranged for complete com-
bustion, mixtures producing a white smoke for
indicating the point of burst were worked out for
inclusion in the shell-filling. Ultimately, amatol
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
became practically the only explosive for land and
aerial warfare, and justified its choice based on
the early estimate of its properties and capa-
bilities. In 1917 the production
was at the rate of about 4000
tons a week. It is economical in
that it makes use of a cheap in-
gredient, and has explosive pro-
perties that render it very suit-
able for the purposes for which
it is used.
The Department continued the
study of amatol especially with
regard to its chemical stability
and compatibility with the various
materials with which it came into
contact. Certain impurities in
ammonium nitrate were dis-
covered to be objectionable, and
investigation of this led to an im-
provement in the purity of the
ammonium nitrate supplied.
R.D.B. Cordite.—When_ the
available quantity of acetone be-
came quite inadequate for the
cordite required, the Department
brought forward a new type of
cordite (Research Department
“B” or R.D.B. cordite) as a result of experimental
incorporations with ingredients chosen to give the
It could be
Fic.
3.—Fragmentation of 18-pr. shell by 80/20 amatol.
made with no alteration in the plant required
for the manufacture of propellants. Instead of
acetone, the solvent employed was ether-alcohol,
712
NATURE
[AuGuUST 5, 1920
and instead of gun-cotton, a lower nitrate of cellu-
lose was used. The great factory at Gretna, also
built by Mr. Quinan, manufactured R. 'D.B.
cordite exclusively, and this soon became the only
propellant made in this country for the Land
Service. It was produced both by Government
and by private firms in enormous quantities.
The need for ether and alcohol for this propel-
lant led to the restrictions imposed on alcohol.
The recovery of the new solvent presented new
problems, and investigations on these were under-
taken, which have increased our knowledge of the
principles underlying the absorption of vapours.
As difficulties arose in the gelatinisation of the
special nitrocellulose required for this powder, the
Department continued its studies on the viscosity
of cellulose and nitrocellulose with important
results, which formed the groundwork of the pro-
cedure adopted in supply for obtaining uniformity
in the cotton used in the nitration, and a dimin-
ished usage of solvent in the incorporation.
Other Explosives.—Many other explosives for
special naval and land purposes were put forward
by the Department and adopted by the Service
after their properties had undergone investigation.
Design of Ammunition.—A feature of the work
is the close connection between mechanisms con-
nected with ammunition and the utilisation in them
of explosives the properties of which have been
found specially suitable. The Department was
fortunate in the success which has attended its
percussion fuse (No. 106), which played such
an important part in the war. ~
Pyrotechnics.—New demands occasioned by the
war led to the study of compositions for pyro-
technic and incendiary purposes and to chemical
investigations on the compatibility of the ingre-
dients used.
vised and adopted for signals, stars, and incen-
diary shell.
Study of the Theory of Explosives, —The stday
of the chemical constitution of nitro- “come
has been referred to; but a large amount in-
formation the usefulness of which has been re-
flected on Service requirements has accrued fom
the development of systematic work on such
subjects as the calorimetry of explosives, for
which new methods and apparatus have been
devised, their sensitiveness, their rates of
decomposition and of detonation, and _ the
pressure of the blow they develop. The last was
an extension of the work of the late Prof. a
Hopkinson, and has been fruitful in advanci
knowledge of ‘theory as well as in provid at
struments for quantitative registration of the
effects of explosives contained in Service « ai
ponents.
General.—The high quality and efficieney, of.
our ammunition, in spite of shortage and the need
for providing substitutes, have been obtained as
Many new compositions were de-
a result of the continuous application of chemical —
and physical research. The research initiated
and carried out provided in numerous cases
methods for the production of explosives, and
demonstrated the conditions for their safe em-
ployment; principles of fundamental importance
were discovered which were utilised in the design-
ing of ammunition; causes of failure at early
stages were discovered, thus avoiding unsatis-
factory issues of material; and substitutes and
alternatives, without which some of our great war
manufactures could not have been carried on,
were sought and discovered.
: (To be continued.)
The Earliest Known Land Flora.}
By Pror. F. O. Bower, F.R.S.
II.
(Oe ON of these four fossil species from
Rhynie with other fossils already known
from the early Devonian period shows that a very
homogeneous flora existed at that time, consisting
chiefly of leafless and rootless land-living plants.
These and other characters, such as their large,
distal, sometimes solitary, and often forked
sporangia, stamp these plants as_ exceptionally
primitive. Among living plants the nearest of
kin to them are clearly the Psilotacee, a family
which has long presented a problem in morpho-
logy and classification. It comprises two living
genera, Psilotum and Tmesipteris. Both genera
are rootless. Their imperfect morphological
differentiation is shown by the fact that botanists
are not yet agreed whether their lateral appen-
dages are to be held as truly foliar or not. Psilo-
tum is native throughout the tropics, and is repre-
1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, April 30°
Continued from p. 684.
NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
| sented by two well-marked species.
_ The com-
monest, P. triquetrum, has upright and shrubby
aerial shoots, with radial construction and fre-
quent bifurcations. These spring from leafless
underground rhizomes, profusely bifurcated. They
are covered with rhizoids, and contain a mycc-
rhizic fungus. On the lower part of the aerial
shoots simple spine-like leaves are borne, but
towards the distal ends these are replaced by
forked spurs, between the prongs of which a
synangium, usually with three loculi, is seated.
The aerial shoot is traversed by a vascular strand
consisting of xylem in the form of a hollow many-
rayed star, with sclerotic core, and branch-strands
run out to the appendages. The whole is covered
by epidermis with stomata, and the cortex pro- —
vides the photosynthetic tissue. Tmesipteris is
represented by only one species, limited to Aus-
tralasia. It grows usually among the massed
roots that cover the stems of tree-ferns, but some- _
times upon the ground. Its general form is like
AucusT 5, 1920]
NATURE
713
that of Psilotum, but the underground rhizomes
are longer and the appendages larger, while only
two loculi are usually present in each synangium.
Clearly the form and vascular structure of these
pants are generally like those of the Rhynie
ora.
Until quite recently the Psilotaceze remained the
only living Pteridophytes of which the life-cycle
was still incompletely known. In all the other
groups the regular alternation of two generations
had been demonstrated; one is the prothallus,
which is sexual, and the other the established
plant, which is non-sexual. In the Psilotacee also
the plant as above described is the non-sexual
generation, but hitherto the form or even the exist-
ence of the sexual generation remained problem-
atical. Since 1914 the prothalli of both genera of
the Psilotacez have been discovered, and their
structure has been demonstrated by Darnell-
Smith, Lawson, and Holloway; and so the very
last of these life-histories has now been completed.
It turns out that the prothallus of the Psilotacee
is similar in its general characters to those of
other archaic Pteridophytes, being colourless, and
living in humus by means of fungal nourishment.
In fact, these plants conform in their life-cycle to
what is seen in the Lycopods and in the primitive
Ferns. Analogy with the living Psilotacee makes
it highly probable that these early Devonian plants
also showed alternation. Though this has not
been demonstrated for them, their preservation is
so perfect that even the delicate prothallus may
yet be revealed as the reward of further search,
The interest of the recent work on the modern
Psilotacez centres not so much in the details of
the prothallus as in their embryology. It has been
shown by Holloway that the embryo of Tmesi-
pteris is rootless from the first. This suggests that
the rootlessness is primitive, and not the result of
reduction. Since the Devonian plants were
rootless also, it seems probable that this state was
_ characteristic of such early plants of the land.
Further, the existence of Sporogonites, and the
very moss-like structure of its sporangium, to-
gether with its similarity to the sporangia of
Rhynia and Hornea, seem to link up the latter
naturally with the Bryophytes, which are also
rootless. In fact, we see before us a flora of
rootless plants, which raises afresh the question
of the first establishment of the neutral genera-
tion as an independent, soil-growing organism.
It originates in every case within the tissue of
the sexual plant, and is at first dependent upon
it. This condition is seen in the embryo of
Tmesipteris, with details not unlike those of the
Anthocerotee. How, then, did it first establish
itself independently upon the soil?
This question was first raised long ago by Dr.
Treub, the brilliant director of the Botanic Gar-
dens at Buitenzorg. He suggested that in the
evolution of land-living plants a rootless phase
would naturally precede the full establishment of
the sporophyte in the soil. He saw this reflected
in the embryonic state of certain Lycopods, where
a parenchymatous tuber precedes the establish-
NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
ment of the rooted plant. It is attached to the
soil by rhizoids, and contains a mycorhizic fungus.
This tuber Treub styled the “protocorm.” He
regarded it as a general precursor of the estab-
lished leafy plant in descent. During the war
new examples of this protocorm-stage were
described by Holloway, which show the condition
in its most pronounced form. In Lycopodium
laterale it constitutes the whole plant-body for
the first season. It bears numerous protophylls,
and may even branch, and reproduce itself vege-
tatively. It is only later that the leafy shoot and
lastly the root are formed. The fact that Hornea
shows a similar tuberous swelling at the base of
the rootless plant, and retains it even in the adult
state, brings the added interest that a permanent
protocorm figures in the earliest known land flora.
Its antiquity is thus undoubted. But’ the
Devonian plants do not all show it in a distended
form. The tuberous swelling is not conspicuous
in Rhynia or in Asteroxylon, and it is significant
that in the living Tmesipteris the rhizome is
cylindrical. These facts indicate that the dis-
tended protocorm is neither an obligatory nor a
constant feature. ;
It will not be necessary to do more than refer
briefly to the controversy whether the appendages
of the Psilotacezee are truly leaves or branches.
The fact suffices that the question has been in
debate, and that similar questions arise in rela-
tion to these fossils of the Devonian period. In
them it is impossible to assign the name “leaf” to
any definite part in the full sense in which it is
used in the higher vascular plants. The diffi-
culties of their morphological analysis and their
rootlessness are in themselves evidence of the
primitive state of, these fossils. We are, in fact,
in the presence of what evolutionists call “syn-
thetic types "that is, such as link together
groups. which have diverged. The early
Devonian plants and the Psilotaceee show us just
those forms which might have been anticipated
as a consequence of comparative study, and some
of their characters were actually forecast by Dr.
Treub. . :
Though it may be difficult to place the parts of
these synthetic types in the categories of stem,
leaf, and root, as those terms are applied to more
advanced forms, still they will serve to illuminate
the probable origin of these parts. The rhizomes
of Asteroxylon suggest an origin of roots from
branched, leafless rhizomes. Its “leaves” sug-
gest a relation with the leaves of Lycopods; but
its most significant feature is the branch-system
ascribed to Asteroxylon, bearing the distal
sporangia, which is so like that already described
for the enigmatical Carboniferous fossil Stauro-
pteris. This comparison has already been
pointed out by Kidston and Lang. On the other
hand, approaching the question from the side of
the living Ferns, I indicated in 1917 that “the
distal and marginal position of a sorus, often
monangial, is prevalent among primitive Ferns,
and that more complex sori are referable in origin
to it.” Comparison of the distal sporangia of
714
NATURE
{AuGuUST 5, 1920
the Psilophytales. with those of Stauropteris,
Botryopteris, the Ophioglossaceee, Osmunda, and
the Schizeacee, gives a sequence which sketches
in broad lines, though not monophyletically, a
probable origin of marginal sporangia for the
Ferns. It is accompanied by reduction of size and
spore-number in the later and derivative types,
which is continued on to the most advanced of
living Ferns. A reduction of the distal branchlets
to a single plane, and the webbing of them laterally
together, would give a type of sporophyll and
fructification known in certain primitive Ferns.
But if this were the real course of their evolution,
the sporophyll so constructed would be a different
thing from the “leaves” seen in Asteroxylon.
This was the vision of the prophetic Lignier, who
has not lived to see his ideas tested by these new
discoveries. But such comparisons still leave in
doubt the origin of the axis in fern-like types. It
is not-clear yet how near the truth for them my
suggestion of 1884 may be: that “the stem and
leaf would have originated ‘simultaneously by
differentiation of a uniform branch-system into
members of two categories.” Nevertheless, the
important new fact, which now gives reality to
this theory, is that a uniform branch-system has
been shown to have existed in these early vascular
plants. A sympodial development of it, after the
manner shown in the leaves of living Ferns, would
provide at least one type of foliar appendage,
which would bear a relation to the axis similar
to that of the pinne to the phyllopodium or Pachis
of the leaf.?
On the other hand, comparison of the Bryo-
phytes will leave little doubt that the sporangium
of the Psilophytales and the sporogonium are
kindred structures. If this be so, then we shall
see linked together by comparison with these new
fossils, not only the sporogonia of Bryophytes and
the sporangia of Ferns, but even the pollen-sacs
and ovules of Flowering Plants. Long ago it was
remarked that the widest gap in the sequence of
plants was that between the Bryophytes and the
Pteridophytes. It is within this gap that the
newly discovered fossils take their natural place,
acting as synthetic links, and drawing together
more closely the whole sequence of land-living,
sporangium-bearing plants. We still await with
interest the considered comparisons of the authors
of these notable memoirs,
already pointed out several fertile lines. But
those who have been deeply engaged in compara-
tive morphology may be excused for stating how
these new facts strike them. Clearly the morpho-
logy of land-living plants is again in the melting-
pot. It will emerge strengthened by new and
positive facts, and refined by comparisons which
can now be based upon solid data, and less than
before on mere surmise.
The new facts are thus seen to link the Bryo-
phytes and the Pteridophytes more closely to-
gether than ever before. It may be that these
two great phyla of land-living plants have them-
selves diverged from some common source still
2 Phil. Trans., 1884, p. 565.
NO. 2649, VOL. 1051
though they have .
unknown. But that source
nearly in these early Devonian plants than in any
other known forms.
these still more primitive plants have sprung?
The view has always been entertained that the
Algee preceded land-living plants.
fresh-water green Alge were believed to have
provided the source. Latterly from the Continent,
but notably also here at home, at the instance of
Lang and of Church, the belief has swung round
towards marine forms. Highly specialised Alge
flourish on every rocky shore. Some of these show
alternation. All are rootless. Some have a dif-
ferentiation of their branch-system which pre-
figures the relation of leaf and axis. Not a few
of the Red Seaweeds have spore-tetrads borne
internally, and located in the ends of specialised
branches called stichidia. These are not alto-
gether unlike sporogonia, or the large sporangia
of the early Devonian plants. We may well
regard it as improbable that any direct transition
of such specialised types to a land-habit took
place, though this has been hinted at more than |
once. But at least corresponding features of ex-
ternal differentiation and of spore-production are
present in both. Homoplasy may be the real
explanation of the likeness, but still the similarity
exists. bs eM
From what has been said it is clear that during
the years of war plant morphology entered
upon a new phase. The problems of origin of
root and axis and leaf and sporangium have been
propounded afresh in terms of the new dis-
coveries.
the discussions of recent decades. It was the
paucity of facts that kept opinion in suspense,
hovering between rival arguments rather than
settling on assured data.
history of that branch of botanical science which
is called comparative morphology, there is only
one period that can rival the years from 1913 to-
1920 in point of positive advance. It is the period
which led up to the great generalisations of Hof-
meister sixty years ago. In the glories of that
work Britain had no direct share, though it
was carried out at the very time when Lyell,
Darwin, Wallace, Hooker, and Huxley were lay-
ing the theoretical foundations which gave their
real significance to the discoveries then made by
Hofmeister. In the words of Sachs: ‘“ When
Darwin’s theory was given to the world—the
theory of Descent had only to accept what genetic
morphology had already brought to view.”
Science, it is true, is cosmopolitan, and should
always be held as such. But still we in Britain
may feel a legitimate satisfaction that in these
recent discoveries, which have transformed the
problems of morphology, the material, the ob-
servations, and the arguments based upon them ~
are mainly of British origin. The channel of
publication of the results, so largely derived by —
has ©
naturally been the Transactions of the Royal
Scottish workers from. Scottish material.
Society of Edinburgh.
is reflected more —
If that be so, whence may
For long: the
The day is past of that vague surmise
on these points which bulked so largely in
Looking back upon the
ee oe ig ae
ESP
AvcusT 5, 1920]
NATURE
715
Meteorological Influences of the Sun and the Atlantic.!
By Pror. J. W. Grecory, F.R.S.
oe prospects of long-period weather forecast-
ing and the explanation of major variations
_ reject it as quite inadequate.
of climate appear to rest on two lines of investiga- |
tion. The effort of the first is to connect changes
in the weather with those in oceanic circulation ;
_ they estimate. as
after discussion of the theory. of oceanic control,
Thus the chilling
effect of the drift of ice into the North Atlantic
“vanishingly small” in com-
| parison with the heat transported by the air, or
the second attributes the changes to variations in |
the heat supply of the sun acting through the |
_ the air temperature preceded, and were therefore
a priori probability. The oceanic control of climate —
atmospheric circulation. Each theory has its own
has the attraction that each ocean is a potential
refrigerator, since it is a reservoir of almost ice-
cold water, which, if raised to the surface, must
ice to drift further into the temperate seas.
range of ice in the Icelandic seas and harvests in
Germany with variations in the surface waters
of the North Atlantic. The alternative theory
ceives its heat supply from the sun, variation in
solar activity is the natural cause of climatic change.
The oceanic theory must be true in part. The
abnormal character of some coastal climates is
even by ocean currents. They consider that,
though not yet fully established, the variations of
not the result of, those of the water temperature.
They hold that the variations of temperature re- ~
quire some much greater and more general cause
_ than oceanic variations.
chill the air, disturb the winds, and enable polar |
_ circulation was greatly favoured by the exagger-
Hence Meinardus, for example, connected the ©
Faith in the meteorological influence of oceanic
ated estimates attached to what the authors refer
to as “the so-called Gulf Stream.’”’ Thus the
warmth of the water off the Norwegian coast was
_ attributed to that current even by Pettersson and
has the recommendation that, since the earth re- |
Meinardus; this conclusion the authors describe
as surprising because the evidence of salinity
shows that the Norwegian waters are coastal and
_ quite different from those of the mid-Atlantic.
clearly due to the upwelling of cold water under —
the influence of off-shore winds. Moreover, un-
usual spells of weather on some of the coasts and
islands of the Atlantic follow changes in the
quality of its surface water, as proved by Dr.
H. N. Dickson for North-western Europe, and
by Prof. H. H. Hildebrandsson’s demonstration
that for fifteen years there has been constant co-
incidence between rainfall in British Columbia
and the weather in the following autumn in the
Azores. The alternative theory that the main
factor in controlling the temperature of the earth
is the varying heat from the sun acting through
changes of wind and atmospheric pressure has
been mainly advanced by the work of Sir Norman
and Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer and of Prof. Frank
Bigelow ; they are now strongly reinforced by Dr.
B. Helland-Hansen, the director of the biological
station at Bergen, and Dr. Nansen, who remark
that these views have hitherto received but little
support.
The important memoir by these Norwegian
oceanographers is based on a detailed study of ©
variations in the temperatures of the air and
surface waters along the steamer route from the
English Channel to New York. Their detailed
ture charts of the North Atlantic for the months
of February and March from 18908 to 1tg10. The
data are often uncertain, and the inconvenience of
the Centigrade thermometer with its zero at freez-
ing point is illustrated by records of water tein-
perature of —3° C. and —4° C., which have to
be rejected. Drs. Helland- Hansen and Nansen,
1 Bjdrn Helland-Hansen and Fridtjof 1 Nansen, “Temperature Variations
in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the A Studies
on the Cause of Climatological Variations.
Collections, vol. Ixx., Publication 2537. 1920. Pp. viii+408+48 plates.
NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
This sound criticism of the Swedish and Miinster
oceanographers renders it the more remarkable
that there is no reference, either in the long his-
torical discussion or in the bibliography, to the
pioneer work on this subject in the earlier papers
by Dr. H. N. Dickson, or to his observations as to
the seasonal entrance of the Atlantic water into
the North Sea. The authors agree with Schott
in terminating the Gulf Stream west of New-
foundland, and calling the current off Western
Europe the “Atlantic current,” for which
Dickson’s name of “European current” is more
descriptive and definite. The Atlantic is a large
mass, and has a whole system of currents, of
which the so-called Atlantic current is by no
means the largest.
Drs. Helland-Hansen and Nansen, after reject-
ing the oceanic theory, accept as firmly established
the dependence of variations in the earth’s tem-
peratures on the solar variations proved by sun-
spots, the numbers of solar prominences, and ter-
restrial magnetic disturbances. They point out
that the influence of the sun on the weather of any
area on the earth depends upon so complex ‘a
series of factors that the results at first sight
_ appear inconsistent. The crude expectation that an
_ increase of heat supply from the sun would raise
discussion of the results and associated problems |
is accompanied by a valuable series of tempera- —
Smithsonian Miscellaneous i sel ; ;
_ ture conditions vary directly with the sun;
the temperature of the whole earth was early
dismissed, for the greater evaporation would
lower the temperature on the coastlands by in-
creased clouds, rain, and snow. Blanford pointed
out, for example, the see-saw of oceanic and con-
tinental conditions ; but. though his view has not
been fully confirmed, his principle is supported
by the proof that regions are oppositely affected
by changes in the heat supply from the sun.
Bigelow has divided the world into three groups
of regions: in the “direct ”’ group the tempera-
in the
716
/- NATURE
{AuGUST 5, 1920
“indirect ” group the variations agree in time,
but are opposite in character; in the third, the
‘indifferent’ group, there is no regular corre-
spondence. Sir Norman and Dr. W. J. S.
Lockyer have shown that a region may for years
belong to the “direct ” group, then suddenly
become “indirect,” and later
“direct” group. Drs. Helland-Hansen and
Nansen accept this frequent inversion, and also |
their explanation of the phenomenon.
The authors’ instructive study of North Atlantic
temperatures therefore strengthens the case for
return to the’
solar variations acting through the atmospheric
circulation as the main cause of meteorologi
changes. To what extent the ocean helps h
regulating the air temperature and circulation the
authors do not discuss in the present memoir;
that and other questions are to be dealt with after
further investigations in a series of memoirs ‘to
which the present is introductory. The useful-
ness of the promised memoirs would be increased
(should they have as many appendices and sup-
plementary notes as the present) if each were
provided with an index. .
The Thermionic Valve in Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony.
By Pror. J. A. FLemine, F.R.S.
HE. thermionic valve is an invention which has
vastly increased the powers and range of
wireless telegraphy. Like many other inventions,
the. telephone, for instance, it is simple in its
essential construction. It consists of a little elec-
tric lamp comprising a glass bulb, very highly —
exhausted of its air, containing a filament of
carbon, or better tungsten, which can be rendered
incandescent by an electric current. Within the
bulb and around the filament are fixed certain
metal plates or cylinders, and, it may be, spirals
‘of wire or metal networks called the grid. To
explain its origin in its simplest form I shall have
‘to take you back in thought to the days when
_the physical effects taking place in ingandescent
electric lamps were first beginning to be con-
sidered carefully. In 1883 Mr. Edison for some
purpose .placed in the glass bulb of one of his
carbon filament lamps a metal plate which was
carried on a platinum wire sealed through the
-glass. . When the filament was rendered incan-
descent by a current from a battery, he found
that if the plate was connected by a wire, external
to the lamp, with the positive terminal of the
filament, a small electric current flowed through
it, but if connected to the negative terminal no
current, or at most a very feeble current, flowed.
This new and interesting effect became known as
the “Edison effect” in glow lamps, but Mr.
Edison gave no explanation of it, and made no
practical application of it. -
Edison supplied some lamps with plates in the
bulb to the late Sir William Preece, and the latter
found that the current called the Edison effect
current increased very rapidly as the filament was
heated to higher and higher temperatures, and
that the collecting plate could be placed a long
way from the filament, even at the end of a side
tube, without altogether causing it to vanish. At
a little later date I took up the subject, and one
of the first things discovered was that the Edison
effect was greatly reduced if that side of the
carbon loop filament in connection with the nega-
tive pole of the battery was enclosed in a glass
or metal tube, or if a sheet of mica was inter-
- posed between the filament and the collecting
plate. This seemed to indicate that the effect was
1 From a discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, May 21.
NO, 2649, VOL. 105]
due to some material emission from the hot fila-
ment.
Another fact I observed very soon was that the
filament was giving off torrents of negative elec-
tricity, and could discharge a positively electrified
conductor connected to the plate, but not
negatively charged. Furthermore, I found that
the vacuous space between the filament and
plate possessed a curious unilateral electric con-
ductivity for low-voltage direct electric currents,
and that even a single cell of a battery could pass
a current from the hot filament to the collecting
plate if the negative pole of the battery was in
connection with the hot filament, but not in the
opposite direction. This fact had, however, becn
previously noticed in another manner by W.
Hittorf. These experiments were made in 1888 or
1889, and at that time were not satial Neca ex-
plained.
It was not until nearly ten years later that your 5;
distinguished professor of natural philosophy, Sir .
Joseph Thomson, published accounts of his epoch-
making and important researches, in which he
proved that the agency we call negative electricity
is atomic in structure, and exists in indivisible
units now named electrons, which carry a certain
electric charge and have a certain mass. These
negative electrons are constituents of all chemical
atoms. An electrically neutral atom which has
lost one or more electrons is called a positive ion,
and neutral atoms which have lost or gained elec-
trons are said to be ionised. There are arguments —
in favour of the view that the majority of the
atoms in metals and other good conductors of —
electricity are in a state of intermittent ionisation, —
and that intermingled with the atoms or positive
bon, there are electrons which are jumping from
atom to atom with great velocity.
to the wire an electromotive force, this causes a
drift of these electrons at the instant they are —
free in the opposite direction to the force (on ~
usual conventions), and this drift or unidirectional _
motion is superimposed on the irregular motion, %
The drift
velocity may be very slow compared with the
velocity of the irregular motion. The drift motion
of the electrons superimposed on the irregular
and constitutes an electric current.
*
ions, say in a wire of copper, tungsten, or car- —
If we apply —
t
AucusT 5, 1920]
NATURE
717
motion may be compared with that of a swarm of
‘bees in which each insect is flying hither and
thither rapidly, whilst’the whole swarm is being
blown by a gentle breeze slowly down a road. If
the electrons merely surge to and fro, it gives
@ise to a form of current we describe as an
alternating current, and if they execute this
_ motion very rapidly we call it an electric oscilla-
tion.
_ The reason an electric current produces heat ina
conductor is because the drift energy of the electrons
is then being continually converted into additional
irre -motion energy in the free electrons and
atoms by collisions of electrons with the atoms of the
conductor. If, then, the temperature becomes very
high—that is, if the irregular electronic motion
becomes very great—certain electrons ma acquire
such velocities that they are flung out from the surface
of the wire even against the attraction of the positive
atomic ions left behind. If there is no electric force
tending to make the electrons move away from the
neighbourhood of the hot wire, these electrons con-
stitute a space charge around it, and the repulsion
they exercise on each other tends to keep other elec-
trons from pe out into the space. Suppose, how-
ever, that the incandescent wire is placed in the axis
of a highly exhausted glass tube, and is surrounded
nd a metal cylinder which is kept positively electrified,
e electrons move to it, and others then make their
exit from the wire. Such a tube with incandescent
wire cathode and cold metal plate anode is now called
a thermionic tube. The steady emission of electrons
is called a thermionic current. In the case of a
tungsten wire brilliantly incandescent in vacuo and
under sufficient electric force, this current may
amount to as much as an ampere per square centi-
metre of surface. This means that electrons are being
flung or pulled out at the rate of millions of billions
per secon m5 square centimetre. Sosoon as Sir Joseph
Thomson had proved by experiment that this elec-
tronic emission was taking place the explanation of
the effects observed in incandescent electric lamps
by Edison, Preece, and myself became clear. For
in the Edison experiment we have a slow drift of
electrons through the carbon filament superimposed
on a very rapid and erratic motion, and multitudes
of these electrons are escaping from the filament on
all sides—just like steam escaping from a porous or
leaky canvas steam pipe. If the plate in the bulb
is connected to the positive pole of the filament-
heating battery, it is positively electrified and it
attracts these escaped electrons, and they enter it and
drift through the external wire, forming the observed
Edison current.
_ Suppose, then, that we connect the collecting plate
by a wire external to the bulb with the negative ter-
minal of the filament, and that we insert in this
circuit a battery of a number of cells which can be
altered so as to vary the potential of the plate, the
said battery havine its negative terminal connected
to the filament, we then find that a thermionic cur-
rent flows which can be measured by an amperemeter
inserted in the circuit. If we vary the voltage from
zero upwards we shall find that the thermionic cur-
rent increases, but not indefinitely. It sqon reaches
a value at which no further increase of voltage raises
‘the current. The reason the current does not increase
indefinitely is because for each particular tempera-
ture of the filament there is a certain maximum
possible rate of electronic emission. The electrons are
drawn away from the filament at a rate which in-
creases with the potential of. the plate. up to that
point at which the maximum emission rate is reached.
NO, 2649, VOL. 105]
The: thermionic current then becomes stationary and
is said to be saturated,
It is remarkable that although this emission of
electricity from incandescent substances had been ~
studied for more than a quarter of a century, hone
of them made any practical application of it prior to
1904. At that date I was so fortunate as to discover
a totally unexpected application of this ‘thermionic
emission in wireless telegraphy. Before 1904 only
three kinds of detector were in practical use in wire-
less telegraphy, viz. the coherer, or metallic filings
detector, the magnetic-wire detector, and the elec-
trolytic detector. The coherer and the electrolytic
detectors were both rather troublesome to work with
on account of the frequent adjustments required.
The magnetic detector was far more satisfactory, and
in' the form given to it by Senator Marconi is still
used. It is not, however, very sensitive, and it
requires attention at frequent intervals to wind up the
clockwork which drives the moving iron-wire band.
In or about 1904 many wireless telegraphists were
seeking for riew and improved detectors. I was
anxious to find one which, while more sensitive and
less capricious than the coherer, could be used to
record the signals by optical means. Our electrical
instruments for detecting feeble direct or unidirec-
tional currents are vastly more sensitive than any we
have for detecting alternating currents. Hence it
seemed to me that we should gain a great advantage
if we could convert the feeble alternating currents in
a wireless aerial into unidirectional currents which
could then affect a mirror galvanometer or the more
sensitive Einthoven galvanometer. There were
already in existence appliances for effecting this con-
version when the alternations or ses) boar was low,
namely, one hundred or a few hundred per second.
After trying numerous devices my old experiments on
the Edison effect came to mind, and the question
arose whether a lamp with incandescent filament and
metal mapntinay plate would not provide what was
required even for extra high frequency currents, in
virtue of the fact that the thermionic emission would
discharge the collecting plate instantly when posi-
tively, but not when negatively, electrified. Accord-
ingly I appealed to the arbitrament of experiment, and
the following arrangement was tried.
Two coils of wire were placed at a distance, and
in one of them electric oscillations were created by
the discharge of a Leyden jar. The other coil had
one terminal connected to the filament of a lamp, and
the collecting plate to one terminal of a galvano-
méter, the second terminal of the latter being con-
nected to the second terminal of the coil. I found,
to my delight, that my anticipations were correct,
and that electric oscillations created in the second
coil by induction from the. first were rectified or
converted into unidirectional gushes of electricity
which acted upon and deflected the galvanometer.
I therefore named such a lamp with collecting
metal plate used for the above purpose an oscillation
valve, because it acts towards electric currents as a
valve in a water-pipe acts towards a current of water.
I soon found that for the purposes of wireless tele-
graphy quite a small low-voltage lamp with a metal
cylinder placed round a carbon or metal loop filament
was a very effective rectifier, and could be used for
converting the feeble alternating currents in a wire-
less receiving aerial into unidirectional currents
capable of affecting a telephone or galvanometer. It
was almost immediately adopted in practical wireless
telegraphy as a simple and gasily managed detector,
and the intermittent rectified currents were passed
through a telephone. Some time after the introduc-
tion of this oscillation valve I found that another
718
NATURE
{AucustT 5, 1920
method of employing
follows :
If we connect the plate of the valve with the nega-
tive terminal of the filament-heating battery, and
insert in that circuit a battery for creating a
thermionic current, we can delineate a characteristic
curve, as already described, by varying the E.M.F.
of the plate circuit battery. That curve has generally
some places in it at which the slope changes rather
quickly. If we adjust the E.M.F. of the plate battery
to work at that point, and then by means of a trans-
former superimpose a_ feeble oscillatory E.M.F.
derived from a wireless receiving aerial, the thermionic
current will oscillate from one value to another, and
it is easy to see from the concave form of the charac-
teristic curve that the mean value of this varying
thermionic current is greater than the value of the
steady thermionic current when the oscillations are
not superimposed on the steady or battery voltage.
This mode of usage in the case of valves with a
certain degree of exhaustion in the bulb gives very
great sensitiveness in the detection of radio-signals.
It is commonly called the potentiometer method
because the extra steady voltage required in the plate
circuit is derived by employing a fraction of the
voltage of the battery used for incandescing the fila-
ment by means of a potentiometer resistance.
This is, perhaps, the place to refer to another view
of the mode in which my valve acts even when no
additional E.M.F. is placed in the plate circuit. The
characteristic curve of a valve is found not to start
exactly from the point of zero voltage, but from a
point on the negative side about 2 to 1 volt. This
means that if the plate is connected to the negative
terminal of a filament battery by a wire, there is
found to be in it a small negative electric current
flowing from the plate through the external circuit
to the negative terminal. The reason probably is that
the electrons are shot out of the filament with a
certain velocity and accumulate round the plate.
The result is a tendency for them to diffuse back
through the external circuit, creating a feeble electron
current which can be stopped only by introducing a
small counter E.M.F. into that circuit. Hence the
characteristic curve starts from a negative point on
the voltage axis. At the place where it crosses the
zero voltage point that curve is concave upwards,
and hence, for the reason just explained, the intro-
duction into the external thermionic circuit of a feeble
alternating high frequency electromotive force will result
in an increase in the mean or average thermionic
current. Hence the valve is sensitive to feeble elec-
tric oscillations and rectifies them, not by quite sup-
pressing all current in one direction, but because the
thermionic current is greater for a given E.M.F.
applied in one direction in the thermionic current than
when that E.M.F. is applied in the opposite direction,
whilst the mean value of the thermionic current
throughout the complete cycle is greater than its
value when the alternating E.M.F. is not applied.
We must now turn to consider an improvement
which was introduced in 1907 into the thermionic
valve, for which credit must be given to Dr. Lee de
Forest. He vlaced a grid or zigzag of wire carried
on a separate leading-in wire between the plate and
the filament of my valve, and thereby made what is
now called a three-electrode valve (Fig. 1).
In modern thermionic devices the grid takes the
form of either a spiral wire or else a metallic gauze
evlinder, which surrounds the filament without. touch-
ing it, and is in turn surrounded by the plate or
cylinder which does not touch the grid. This addi-
tion enables the valve to act as an amplifier of electric
oscillations as follows’: ico ee
Suppose we insert in the external plate circuit a
NO. 2649, VOL. 105].
it as a detector was as
battery B, (see Fig. 1) giving an E.M.F., say, of
100 volts, and also a current-measuring instrument A.,
If the battery has its positive terminal connected to
the plate, the stream of electrons emitted by the fila-
ment will be drawn to the plate and give a thermionic
current of three or four milliamperes if the valve is.
highly exhausted. This stream of electrons will reach
the plate by shooting through the holes or inter-
spaces in the mesh or spiral grid G. hex
Let us now suppose that we give the grid a small
negative charge by a battery B,. This will cause the
electrons coming out of the filament to be partly
repelled, and therefore the thermionic current in the
plate circuit will be reduced perhaps even to zero.
Again, let us give the grid G a small positive charge.
This will attract the emitted electrons, and they will
shoot through the grid with increased velocity.
Therefore the thermionic. current will be increased.
The important point to notice is, that, owing to the
small electrical capacitv of the grid, and also owing
to the high voltage acting in the plate circuit, a very
small expenditure of power on the grid circuit will
vary or modulate a much larger amount of power in
the plate circuit. Just as the pressure of a child’s
finger on the switch may start or stop an electric
{ : Acs
. - —— 2 «= cm
_ G
=
ve
3+]
+) -
| Bi
Fic. 1.—Conventional diagram of a three-electrode valve.
P, a metal plate or cylinder in a highly exhausted
glass bulb. G, a grid or perforated plate or spiral wire.
F, the lamp filament. By, the filament-heating battery.
motor of several horse-power, or a feeble current
passing through a telegraph relay start or stop a large
current, so the three-electrode valve acts as a relay. -
If we plot a curve delineating the variation of
thermionic current with varying grid voltage or
potential for such a three-electrode valve, we find that
curve over wide limits to be nearly a straight line.
This means that the change in plate current is pro-
portional to the change in grid voltage. However
rapidly the grid voltage may change, so nimble are
these little electrons that the thermionic current
copies on a magnified scale the changes of re
potential. _ Hence the arrangement is called a
thermionic amplifier.
We can, however, advance further. If we cause
the plate current of one valve to pass through the
primary coil of a transformer, and then connect the
terminals of the secondary coil of the latter respec-
tively. to the grid and filament of a second valve, we
find that the fluctuations in the plate current of the
first valve can be made to generate exalted potential
variations of the second valve, and this again to
create magnified variations of the plate current of the
second valve. This mode of connection is not limited
¢
AucusT 5, 1920]
NATURE
719
of detecting wireless waves.
aR at
to two valves; we can thus employ three, four,. or
more valves in cascade, as it is called, and each one
multiplies or amplifies the effect of the one before. It
is this use of three-electrode valves in cascade that
has given us recently such vastly increased powers
The last or final
amplifying valve may be made to operate a detecting
or rectifying valve, or perhaps a crystal detector.
But there is an additional very valuable power pos-
sessed by the thermionic valve, viz. that it can
enerate electric oscillations as well as detect them.
e have already seen that the fundamental property
of this valve is that variations of grid potential create
similar variations of plate or thermionic current.
Supposing, then, that this latter current is passed
through a coil over which is wound another secondary
coil connecting the grid and filament (Fig. 2).
It is possible so to make the connections that any
increase in the plate current will give the grid a
negative charge and so immediately reduce the plate
current. Conversely, any reduction of plate current
will give the grid a positive charge which will again
increase the plate current. Hence the onerations in
the plate current when once started will be main-
tained, the energy required being drawn from the
battery B (see Fig 2) in the plate circuit. The action
Fic. 2.—Connections for generator valve.
resembles that in the well-known experiment called
the singing telephone.
The discovery of the oscillation-producing power of
the valve was of great importance, because it at once
put it in our power to conduct wireless telephony with
simple, easily managed apparatus. The principles of
radio-telephony are briefly as follows: At the trans-
mitting station we have to establish in the sending
aerial undamped or persistent oscillations and to
radiate continuous waves. By means of a carbon
microphone we have then to modulate the amplitude
or intensity of these waves in accordance with the
wave-form of the speaking voice. _ .
The arrangements for a wireless telephone trans-
mitter are, then, as follows: By means of a
thermionic valve, with its plate and grid circuit induc-
tively coupled, we set up, as already explained, per-
sistent electric oscillations in the plate circuit, and
these are transferred by induction to an aerial wire
properly tuned to sympathetic vibration. High fre-
quency electric currents, therefore, flow up and down
the aerial. These produce magnetic and electric
effects in surrounding space which are propagated
outwards as an electromagnetic wave. We have in
the next place to vary the amplitude of these radiated
electromagnetic waves by a speaking microphone, and
this is done by means of a control valve. This latter
valve has its grid circuit inductively connected by a
NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
transformer with a circuit containing a battery and a
telephone transmitter.
Hence, when speech is made to the mouthpiece of
the carbon microphone, this varies the electric current
through it, and therefore the potential of the grid, in
accordance with the wave-form of the speech sound.
The plate circuit of this control valve is joined in
parallel with that of the generating or power valve,
and the result is that speaking to the carbon trans-
mitter modulates the amplitude of the aerial current,
and therefore the amplitude of the radiated waves,
in accordance with the speech wave-form.
At the receiving station these electromagnetic waves
impinge on the receiving aerial and create in it very
feeble alternating. currents, which are a copy on a
reduced scale of those in the transmitting aerial.
These are then amplified by valves in cascade,
rectified, and sent through a Bell receiving telephone.
The result is that the latter emits sounds which closely
imitate the speech sounds made to the distant trans-
mitter. We require very. high E.M.F. to create a
thermionic current of sufficient strength for wireless
telephony. _ This is now obtained by rectifying a high-
voltage low-frequency alternating current by a
Fleming two-electrode valve.
The whole of the appliances are usually contained
in a small cabinet. A }-kw. radio-telephone set as’
made by the Marconi Co. will work over 200 miles and
transmit speech perfectly. More powerful arrange-
ments on the same principle have telephoned from
Chelmsford to Rome.
For aircraft radio-telephony it is usual to provide
a small high-tension dynamo driven by a wind-screw
to give the requisite direct high plate voltage. The
filament-heating currents are provided from small
closed storage cells. The aerial wire is a long trailing
wire about 250 ft. in length, which is unwound when
required from a drum. The actual valve apparatus
may be placed at any convenient place in the aero-
plane body and yet be controlled by the pilot or
observer from his seat. The mere act of taking
hold of the microphone transmitter closes a switch
which lights up the valves and throws over the aerial
wire into connection with the transmitting valve.
Such aircraft radio-telephones will operate over a dis-
tance of fifty miles or more. So sensitive are these
cascaded valve detectors that it is not even necessary
to use a long aerial wire at all. A very few turns of
insulated wire wound on a wooden frame, called a
frame aerial, connected to the receiver suffice to col-
lect and detect the electric wave signals.
Experiments were conducted in March, 1919, by
the Marconi Co. to ascertain the minimum power
required to transmit by these valve generators
articulate speech across the Atlantic during daylight
hours. The transmitting plant consisted of two three-
electrode generating valves, with a third control valve
for speech modulation. A small alternator of 2-5 kw.
power supplied an alternating current which was
stepped up in potential to 12,000 volts and rectified by
a two-electrode or Fleming valve. The reception was
by a series of six valves in cascade, with a final
detector valve. The speech transmission was per-
fectly good and clear across the Atlantic, and so loud
at Chelmsford, five hundred miles away from Bally-
bunnion, Co. Kerry, that it could be heard on a simple
frame aerial. <S
Before leaving the subject of radio-telenhony it may
be remarked that, both in connection with it and with
the evervdav uses of radio-telegranhy in maritime inter-
communication, there is a great demand for an effec-
tive wireless call-bell. I have recently devised a form
of call-bell which depends upon the use of a new type
of four-electrode valve made as follows: A_ highly
7.20
NATURE
| AuGUST 5,.1920
>
exhausted glass bulb contains a-straight filament of
tungsten, which is rendered incandescent by a 6-volt
battery.. Around the filament are arranged four
narrow curved metal plates having their curved sides
facing the filament and very near to it. Each of these
plates is carried on a wire sealed through the glass
bulb. The plates are arranged round the filament, as
shown in Fig. 3.
Two of these plates on opposite sides of the fila-
ment, viz. 3 and 4 (see Fig. 3), are called the potential
plates, and the other two the collecting plates. The
collecting plates are joined together outside the bulb
and connected to the positive terminal of the filament-
heating battery, and a galvanometer G or telegraphic
relay is inserted in that circuit. The electronic emis-
sion from the filament then creates a current which
flows through the galvanometer.or the relay, as in the
Edison experiment. If the two other plates have a
small potential difference made between them, either
of constant direction or else a high-frequency alter-
nating difference, this suddenly reduces the thermionic
current. The potential difference of the potential
plates introduces a new electric force into the field
which deflects away the electrons proceeding from the
filament and prevents them from reaching the collecting
B
C ea UUUUE
(7) a
Fic. 3.—Fleming four-anode valve. 1 and 2 are the
collecting plates. and 4 are the potential or
deflecting plates. Bis the filament-heating battery,
and the central dot is the end-on view of the
straight filament. G is a relay or galvanometer.
plate. If, then, we connect the potential plates to the
ends of a resistance of about 15,000 or 20,000 ohms,
' and include this resistance in the plate circuit of an
ordinary three-electrode valve, the thermionic current
of the latter flowing through the resistance will create
a terminal potential difference which arrests the
thermionic current of my new valve. Hence the relay
does not operate. If, however, we give an extremely
small negative potential to the grid of the three-
electrode valve, then this reduces the thermionic cur-
rent of the latter and increases that of the other valve,
which again in turn causes the relay to close contact,
and it may be caused thereby to ring a bell. The
negative grid potential can be derived from the oscil-
lations in an aerial wire as above described. In this
, manner I have constructed an arrangement by which
the ordinary feeble antenna oscillations can be em-
ployed to ring a call-bell. The operator can then
switch over the aerial to an ordinary valve receiving
set and listen to the telephone.
It remains to say a few words on the methods
by which the thermionic valve is. employed in the
reception of signals made by undamped or continuous
waves. By far the best method of receiving signals
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
' by these waves is by the so-called beat-reception.
. is
two sets of waves of slightly different wave-len
are superimposed, no matter what sort of waves they ~
may be, the result is to produce a compound wave ~
with periodically increasing and decreasing amplitude, —
These augmentations are called the beats. ee
If a continuous electric wave falls on an aerial it —
creates on it continuous oscillations. Suppose, then,
that we generate also by some local means in the
aerial wire undamped oscillations differing in fre-
quency, say by 1000, from the incident waves, The
result will be to produce in the aerial electrical beats —
having a frequency of 1000. These act to a receiver
just as do damped trains of waves with a train —
frequency of tooo. They can be rectified and dé
by a valve and telephone, as already explained. It is
now quite easy to produce high-frequency oscillations
of any required periodicity by coupling a three- —
electrode valve to the aerial and then coupling the —
grid and plate circuits of the valve. Sometimes a
separate three-electrode valve is used to rectify and
detect the beats. Capt. H. J. Round has, however,
invented ingenious methods by which one and the
same thermionic valve can be used simultaneously to
generate and to detect the beats. a 2
We must, in the last place, glance at the uses of —
the thermionic valve in connection with ordinary tele-
phony with wires. When the rapidly fluctuating elec- —
tric currents which are propagated when a speaker at —
one end of a long line converses by telephone with —
an auditor at the other flow along a hos
line, two effects take place which cael against
clear and audible speech transmission. First, the
current generally is enfeebled as it flows, and this is ~
called the attenuation. Secondly, the different har-
monic constituent currents which go to make up the —
complex wave-form which corresponds to each articu- _
late sound are differently enfeebled. is
The vibrations of high pitch are more enfeebled —
than those of lower pitch. The first effect reduces the —
loudness of the speech received, and the second its —
articulate clearness or quality. The cause of the ©
general enfeeblement is the resistance of the line, —
which fritters away the energy of the speech electric —
currents. Until lately the only known method of —
overcoming it was by putting sufficient copper into —
the line, but this, of course, means cost. -
The thermionic valve is, however, able to make a —
transformer, the secondary terminals of which are —
connected to the grid and filament of a valve, whilst —
the plate circuit also contains a battery and a trans-
former of which the secondary circuit is in connection —
with the continuation of the line. Feeble telephonic —
currents arriving at the valve would vary the potential —
of the grid, and this, as just explained, would fluctuate
in like manner, but with increased energy, the plate |
current. The transformer in the plate circuit would —
then re-transmit the speech current, but with exalted —
amplitude. The valve can thus be used to counteract
the effect of resistance on the line. In practice, how-—
ever, the arrangements are a little more complicated,
because a telephone line has to be used in both
directions. ; ey.
If our trunk telephone line system in Great Britain’
had to be laid over again, it is perfectly certain that
a very great economy in copper could be made by a
widespread use of the thermionic valve as a repeater
and relay. It repeats so perfectly that we ma
tainly say it has completely: outclassed all prev
invented forms of microphonic relay: ‘ Pe
~ Avcust 5, 1920]
NATURE
ay : ) Obituary.
Pror. J. C. F. Guyon.
_ “THE death of Prof. Jean Casmir Félix Guyon,
_ £ sat the end of his eighty-ninth year, removes -
_ the last of three famous Paris specialists in
_ genito-urinary surgery ; of these Civiale was much
_ the senior, whereas Albarran (1860-1912) was
_ Guyon’s brilliant pupil and succeeded him in the
_ professorial chair so far back as 1896. Guyon,
_ though naturally little known to the younger
_ generation of British surgeons, ranks with the
late Sir Henry Thompson (1820-1904), with whom
_ professionally he may be compared.
_ pioneers adopted and improved the eminent Ameri-
Both these
ean surgeon Bigelow’s practice of litholapaxy,
ae
x or the complete removal of all the fragments
of a crushed calculus from the urinary bladder at
one sitting. Guyon was recognised as a great
teacher in his speciality, and for years attracted
students from all parts of the world to his clinic at
the Necker Hospital. ;
Guyon was born on July 21, 1831, at St. Denis,
in the island of Réunion, and it may be mentioned
as a rather. curious coincidence that his famous
- successor, Joaquin Albarran, was also born abroad,
namely, in Cuba. Guyon worked first at Nantes
and then at Paris, where he was interne in 1854
and prosector to the faculty in 1858. His
uation thesis, on “Fibroid Tumours of the
Uterus,” bears the date 1860; in 1862 he
_ became surgeon to the Paris hospitals, in 1863
_ agrégé, and professor in 1877. His two chief
works, “Lecons cliniques sur les maladies des
voies urinaires” (1881)—which passed into a
second edition in 1885, and a third in two volumes
3 in igs ‘“Lecons cliniques sur les affec-
tions chirurgicales de la vessie et de la prostate”
(1886)—edited by his former resident, Dr. F. P.
_Guiard—embodied his teaching at the Necker
Hospital, and were both translated into German
| and into Russian.
Though famous as a genito-
urinary specialist, Guyon took a broad view of sur-
gery, adopted Lister’s methods as early as 1876,
and was the author of a work of 672 pages on
general surgery, dealing with diagnosis and
operations in general, entitled “Eléments de
chirurgie clinique.’’ Although now somewhat
forgotten from his great age and the interval of
almost a quarter of a century since he quitted the
chair of genito-urinary surgery, Guyon received
the honours due to his work and position; he was
a Commander of the Legion of Honour, a member
of the Institute (Academy of Sciences) and of the
Academy of Medicine, and on August 3, 1900, his
former pupils, of whom Lucas-Championniére was
the senior, presented him with a medal executed
by Bottée as a mark of their affection and admira-
tion.
Mr. ALEXANDER JAMES MONTGOMERIE BELL,
who died on July 3, aged seventy-four, was a
_ fellow of the Geological Society who devoted his
leisure for many years to the study of the deposits
in southern England in which paleolithic flint
implements occur. His researches on the gravels
and associated deposits at Wolvercote, near
Oxford, were especially valuable, and were de-
scribed in a paper published in the Geological
Society’s Journal in 1904. He regarded certain
disturbed layers as “‘ice-drifts,” and emphasised
the importance of distinguishing ‘‘ rainwash-drifts”
from regular: deposits. From an examination of
the fossil remains of plants and beetles, he con-
cluded that in late Pleistocene times the climate of
the Thames valley was more continental than it is
at.present. It is understood that Mr. Bell left
a general summary of the results of his researches
in a manuscript, which we hope may be found in
a form suitable for publication.
Notes.
ie “Dr. G. C. Simpson, F.R.S., Meteorologist to the
"Government of India, has been appointed Director of
,
the Meteorological Office as successor to Sir Napier
_ Shaw, who retires on reaching the age-limit after
brilliant pioneer service. Dr. Simpson was meteoro- —
___ logist and physicist to the British Antarctic Expedi-
tion, 1910-13, and served on the Indian Munitions
Board from 1917 to 1919. In 1905 he was appointed
y a Scientific Assistant in the Meteorological Office, and
in 1906 joined the staff of the Indian Meteorological
Department. He is the author of a number of papers
of scientific importance, including one on the elec-
tricity of rain and its origin in thunderstorms, pub-
lished in the Phil. Trans, in 1909. Only last year
Dr. Simpson completed an elaborate discussion of the
_ meteorological work of the British Antarctic Expedi-
tion, 1910-13. As successor to Sir Napier Shaw his
appointment promises a continuation of progress along
lines which will advance meteorological science and
NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
maintain the high position which the British Meteoro-
logical Office now occupies through its work in recent
years.
Dr. L. V. Kine has been appointed Macdonald
professor of physics at the Macdonald Physics Build-
ing, McGill University. The chair has been held in
succession by Prof. H. L. Callendar, Sir Ernest
Rutherford, Dr. H. T. Barnes, Prof. H. A. Wilson,
and by the present director, Dr. A. S. Eve. Prof.
King was born at Toronto, Ontario, in 1886. In
1905 he graduated B.A. at McGill University with
first-class honours and gold medal in mathematics and
physics. He was elected scholar of Christ’s College,
Cambridge, in 1906, and appointed lecturer in physics
at McGill University in 1910, assistant professor in
Ig12, and associate professor in 1915, when he also
was awarded the D.Sc. degree of McGill University.
In sors Prof. King began investigations on sub-
722
NATURE
{AUGUST 5, 1920,
marine. acoustics for the Electrical and Submarine
Committee of the British Board of Inventions. He
has been engaged for some time on important re-
searches on the efficiency of fog-signal machinery and
on the measurement and distribution of sound.
In an illuminating article in the Times of July 29
Dr. Herbert Levinstein explains the close co-operation
of the German Government and the combine of the
German aniline dye manufacturers known as_ the
‘‘Interessen Gemeinschaft’’ or the ‘'I.G.,’’ which
enabled the German General Staff to provide large
quantities of high explosives and poison gases when
the need arose after the Battle of the Marne. Until
then the aniline dye factories had not been mobilised ;
they had continued their ordinary vocation of manu-
facturing dyes because the great accumulation of high
explosives by the Germans had been expected to over-
whelm the French in a short time. After the Marne,
however, there was an actual shortage of munitions
in Germany, and the vast resources of the dye fac-
tories were then requisitioned for the production of
further quantities of high explosives and of poison
gases. Whilst the varied collection of dye-making
plant in Germany could be immediately adapted for
this purpose, the special plant erected in this country
cannot so easily be utilised in the reverse direction,
and it is vitally necessary that we should possess
extensive plants for the manufacture of dyes compar-
able with those of the ‘‘I.G.,” so that not only can
the necessary provision be made for any future war,
but also facilities for chemical research, which, in
chemical warfare and in the dye industry, can be
supported only by the industry itself, may be pro-
vided to enable us to maintain a premier position.
WE have now had an opportunity of examining at the
London office of Messrs. Barr and Stroud, Ltd. (15 Vic-
toria Street, S.W.1), the latest form of that remark-
able instrument devised by Dr, E. E. Fournier d’Albe
and perfected by Prof. Archibald Barr by which it is
possible for a blind maan to read ordinary print by
listening to sounds in a telephone receiver. The ap-
paratus, which is called the optophone, was fully
described by the inventor in an article in Nature of
May 6 last, where the way in which, by the use
of selenium cells, a series of distinctive sounds is
produced as the ‘‘eye.’’ of the instrument passes over
the letters was explained. To anyone who has not
tested the instrument it is difficult to believe in the
possibility of making the sound combinations suffi-
ciently distinctive for even a trained operator, blind or
otherwise, to recognise the different letters easily. A
few minutes’ experimenting, however, is sufficient
to dispel all such doubts. After realising the prin-
ciples of the action, the present writer was, in one
or two cases, actually able to name correctly the
simpler letters at a first attempt, and there is no doubt
that a blind person could be trained to read with the
apparatus more easily than he could become expert in
picking up a wireless message in Morse. The way
in which the letter ‘‘w,’’ for example, is represented
by beautiful little descending and ascending arpeggios
sung softly in ite ’s ear, or a single harmonious chord
denotes ani,” is quite fascinating. |The adjustments
NO. sbi VOL. 105]
‘in the establishment of an institute for chemical re-
of the apparatus, although delicate, are not beyond —
the powers of a blind reader of intelligence, and we
feel sure that the institutions (including St. Dunstan’:
and others) which have already acquired these instru-
ments will find them appreciated by the sightless 4
readers whom they train. We have not the space to —
direct further attention to the numerous little
mechanical details which contribute so much to the
success of the instrument. It must suffice to say that —
they are largely the result of long personal attention
by Prof. Barr himself, who had at his disposal the
unrivalled resources of the well-known firm of a a
finder manufacturers.
Major W. E. Simnert has retired from the direction
and editorship of the Technical Review on his ap-
pointment to direct the Intelligence Branch of the
Ministry of Transport.
Tue Harveian oration of the Royal College of
Physicians will be delivered by Sir Frederick Andrewes
on St. Luke’s Day, October 18; the Horace Dobell ;
lecture by. Sir William Leishman. on November 2; the
Bradshaw lecture by Dr. R. C. B. Wall on Novem- aa
ber 4; and the FitzPatrick lectures on the History of
Medicine by Dr. E. G. Browne on November 9 and 11.
ACCORDING to a notice appearing in La Technique
Moderne for May, a French committee is now engaged
ha
search as applied to industry. The idea is to create,
on the model of the Pasteur Institute and the large
American research institutes, a powerful scientific
organisation at which all kinds of researches of: in-
terest to industry may be carried out. In addition to
founding the research institute at Paris, the committee
intends to provide the means to make grants on a
liberal scale to those workers who wish to carry out
their work in private laboratories. Missions will also
be sent abroad for the purpose of studyiae conditioris
there.
THE use of the different species of woods anc the |
preference accorded to the various kinds in industry
are determined mainly by experience. In France —
especially no methodical investigations have hitherto
been carried out on the various timbers grown in the
country. This want is now to be filled by the enter- —
prise of the Administration des Eaux et Foréts. A
series of researches will be undertaken by that Depart-
ment in consultation with the Technical Section of
the Aeronautics Department, dealing with the pro-
perties of native woods from the point of view of their
utilisation. The first-named Department will collect
samples of wood of known origin, and these will be
subjected to suitable mechanical tests by the Aero-
nautics Department. The results of the tests, together
with the specimens, will be sent to the research stations
of the Nancy Forestry School.
AN important discussion on ‘‘ The Preset Positio
of Vitamines in Clinical Medicine ”? was opened
Prof. F. Gowland Hopkins at the eighty-eigh
annual meeting of the British Medical Association
Cambridge. A full report of the proceedings will
found in the British Medical Journal for July 31.
Prof. Hopkins said that he deplored the scepticism
ee ge
ae DI
NATURE
723
ce ning the whole question of vitamines which has
af displayed by certain members of the medical
sion, and gave definite experimental evidence
e effects of deficient diets. The remainder of the
was devoted to the principal forms of disease
h are now recognised as. associated with the
nce, to a greater or less degree, of one or more
e vitamines from a dietary. The diseases men-
d were scurvy, beri-beri, the xerophthalmia of
erimental animals, and rickets. During the dis-
ssion which followed further evidence of the im-
ice of vitamines in a normal diet was given by
io Ss contributors.
E have received ‘from Messrs. Flatters and
, Oxford Road, Manchester, a catalogue of
unted microscopical preparations which they are
le to supply. The list is a very comprehensive one,
ig from numbers of protozoa, worms, insects,
and other invertebrates to vertebrate tissues and
- structures. Botanical preparations, bacteria, diatoms,
petrological specimens, and textile fibres are included,
and the firm is also prepared to supply botanical
"material and pond-life for class purposes. The prices
appear very moderate.
Medical Science: Abstracts and Reviews for July
(vol. ii., No. 4) one of the reviews is devoted to the
: "subject of diabetes, and some interesting particulars
_ are given. In the years immediately preceding the
; - the deaths from diabetes remained constant,
as during the four years 1916-19 they declined
444 pre-war to 202. The male sex showed a
ter decline than the female, and. the percentage
ity among children sank as low as in adults.
. of diabetes was observed as the result of
al concussion. These facts give no support to
» nervous hypothesis of the causation of diabetes.
It is stated that there was a similar diminution
‘in diabetes during the siege of Paris in 1870-71, and
g the German occupation of Lille in the late war
any of the less severe diabetic cases improved or
sovered—probably as a a of the food scarcity.
‘Health Conditions in
n Europe: Typhus a Serious Menace ’’ was
_by Dr. Norman White (Medical Commissioner,
us Commission, League of Nations) on July 15
the Surveyors’ Institution, Westminster, S.W.r.
/ countries considered were Latvia, Esthonia,
ania, Poland, and the Ukraine. Poland, through
which pass the main lines of communication with
Russia, has suffered more than her smaller neigh-
_A Cuapwick lecture on
-
in a deplorably backward condition, and soap,
fuel, and other facilities for cleanliness are unobtain-
able in many districts, while louse infestation among
the poorer classes is almost universal. A large
portion of the lecture was devoted to the considera-
tion of typhus fever, the part played by the louse in
the conveyance of the disease being described,
_ Emphasis was laid on the danger to other countries
arising from the persistence of this focus of epidemic
_ disease. The essential requirements for the anti-
_ typhus: campaign were outlined, and the point was
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
bours. Sanitary conditions in this portion of Europe’
made that every country in the world has a very
real concern in the existing health conditions of
Eastern Europe, apart from humanitarian considera-
tions.
Dr. W. CROoKE in the Journal of the Royal Anthro-
pological Institute (vol. xlix., July-December, 1919)
discusses the question of ‘‘ Nudity in India in Custom
and Ritual.’? The present Hindus, like all Orientals,
wear scanty clothing, but the rules of decency are
generally observed. There are, or were until recently,,
several degrees of habitual nudity. The earliest stage
of clothing seems to have been that of bark, and this
and drapery made of sedge and other leaves are still
in use in parts of the country. Nudity appears in
various magical rites like rain-making, while in the
case of some ascetics it implies the renunciation of all
family and social obligations. This condition, in the
case of rites connected with magic and witchcraft, is
fully illustrated, as well as the etiological legends
which have been invented to explain the custom.
In the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Insti-
tute (vol. xlix., July-December, 1919) Mr. Harold
Peake discusses ‘‘The Finnic Question and some
Baltic Problems.’’ Until recent years it was generally
supposed that the Finns, like the Lapps and Samoyeds,
were an Asiatic people with Mongoloid affinities. On
the other hand, Ripley supposes the Finns to be of
the Nordic race or closely allied to them, while
Ruggeri believes that Proto-Nordics, Proto-Finns, and
Proto-Mediterraneans are branches of a common
stock which originated on the confines of Europe and
Asia. Mr. Peake’s conclusion, after a careful review
of the evidence from physical anthropology and cul-
ture, seems to be that towards the latter half of the
third millennium a period of drought occurred in the
steppe-lands of the northern hemisphere and caused
the Nordic steppe-follx to disperse in various directions.
It may be that to this date we must attribute the retreat
to the Volga basin which resulted in the hybrid type
known as the Red Finns, but the main body seems
to. have crossed or passed round the plain of North
Germany to Denmark, where, perhaps, they met and
coalesced with the people of the kitchen-middens;
they afterwards passed across the Danish islands to
Sweden as the men of the passage-graves, driving
before them the Mongoloid aborigines, who had now
reached the stage of Arctic culture.
Tue lighting of picture-galleries and museums pre-
sents problems that have not yet been solved in
practice, and especially is this the case with reflections
from glass. In the July issue of the Museums
Journal Mr, Hurst Seager sets forth the scientific
principles that are necessary for success. At the
recent conference of the Museums Association he
gave a brilliant demonstration of their application, and
an account of this appears in the August number of
the journal. All museum directors should study Mr.
Seager’s advice, of which the correctness has been
proved by a gallery at Wanganui, N.Z. With the
July number the Museums Journal opened a new
volume; with the August number its price is raised
to 2s.
724
NATURE
[Aucust 5, 1920
WE have received from the British Association Com-
mittee on Zoological . Bibliography and Publication
recommendations as to the way in which an author
should introduce references to previous work quoted
by him. Footnotes are condemned. The committee
recommends that, at all events in the case of longer
articles containing many references, a “list of works |
referred to,” arranged with the names of authors in
alphabetical order, should be printed at the beginning
or end of each ‘article. In these lists the title of the
paper, name of the journal, date, number of series and
volume and the pages should be given. It would
then, in the text of the article, be necessary to quote
only the author’s name and the date, with the addi-
tion of a page-number where required. The committee
also discusses additions to the rules which should
be followed when introducing new genera or species
in zoological publications.
“In the Report of the American Museum of Natural
History for 1919 President H. F. Osborn continues
his vigorous beating of the educational drum. The
museum, he writes, ‘“‘is actually going backward.”’
Want of space and want of funds prevent the orderly
arrangement of the material already accumulated.
When the dinosaur rubs shoulders with the mammoth,
small wonder that newspaper science represents them
as contemporaries. The harmonious development of
exhibition galleries is at a standstill. African, Asiatic,
Polar, and Oceanic Halls are lacking; for lack of
halls of fishes, of reptiles, and of birds of the eastern
hemisphere these animals are untruthfully arranged.
And the remedy? Extension of the museum on the
plan originally intended, partly as a memorial to
Theodore Roosevelt, whose connection with zoology is
a great asset for more than one museum, and partly
by separating the tax rolls and assessments for educa-
tional purposes from the general municipal rates and
starting a direct poll-tax for education—a tax which
would have a basis ten times as broad and would be
more willingly paid. It must not be inferred that Dr.
Osborn overlooks the research work of the museum,
which is the necessary foundation of its educational
activities. The team-work on fossil vertebrates accom-
‘plished under his guidance by Dr. W. D. Matthew
and an accomplished staff is a brilliant witness to the
contrary, and the report records a long list of re-
searches and publications in various branches of
science. But in New York, as in this country, it is
through an appeal to the public on educational grounds
that funds can most readily be raised.
Science and Industry for March, the official journal
of the Australian Institute of Science and Industry,
contains a detailed account of the results of investiga-
tions in New South Wales on the extraction of
tannins from wattle-bark, which are of great import-
ance to the Australian leather industry. For many
years the bark used has been obtained from two
species, the golden wattle of South Australia (Acacia
pycnantha) and the black or green wattle (A. decur-
rens) and its varieties. As a result of the gradual
destruction of wattle-trees the Australian supply has
been largely supplemented by wattle-bark imported
from Natal, where plantations grown from Australian
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
r exerted when at the beginning of June the accumu
seed have been formed. A valuable tan-bark is als
yielded by the mallet (Eucalyptus occidental
Western Australia. The faulty methods adopted
the extraction of tannins are criticised, and an
proved process is suggested. .
In his presidential address to the Linnean Ssheey|
of New South Wales (abstract of Proceedings,
March 31, 1920) Mr. J. J. Fletcher referred to the
morphology of the so-called phyllodes c istic
of many of the Australian acacias. According to the
definition in text-books, these are the flattened leaf-
stalks of bipinnate leaves which have lost their —
blades, whereas they really represent the primary _
axes of bipinnate leaves which have lost their pinnae. —
Accordingly the name “euphyllode,” as implying: {
something more: than merely flattened petioles, is
proposed for them. The president also referred to —
the recent costly visitation of drought, and pointed 1
out the need for a handbook or manual setting forth —
the theoretical complementary side of the practical - ?
activities of the man on the land, especially in rela- —
tion to drought problems. A synopsis indicating the
scope and contents of such a handbook was offered
for discussion.
Mr. F. DEBENHAM, who accompanied Capt. Scott on
his last Antarctic expedition, puts forward (Quart. —
Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. Ixxv., p. 51, 1920) an ir
suggestion to explain the transfer of marine :
from the sea-floor to the surface of glacier ice, and
so finally to the land when glaciers melt away. A
massive glacier protruding seaward may pick up such
material by accreting ice along its base. Successive
accretions from the freezing sea raise this lower layer
until finally it comes to the surface, where ablation is
active during summer. It may then be transported to
some point impinged on by the ice. The interesting
occurrence of sodium sulphate, as mirabilite, in the ice
is held to be due to concentration of sea-water in cold
sub-glacial lagoons, the water of which has furnished
ice, enclosing the separated salt. The case of the
Great Salt Lake of Utah, in which sodium sulphate
separates when the temperature falls below about
20° F. (—7° C.), is cited as an illustration.
monsoon rainfall in 1920 by Dr. Gilbert T. Walker
has recently been issued. Data of importance age
parts of the earth. In summing up the effects of t “he
various factors it is mentioned that the prejudicial
effect of snowfall from Persia to the Himalayas is
lations extend over a larger area than usual. Th
great excess of snow reported this year is confirme
by the low temperatures in the Punjab. Heavy f
fall in South Ceylon, Zanzibar, East Africa, —
Seychelles is prejudicial, but data for this year shov
a moderate deficit or normal conditions. A clo
relationship exists between heavy rain in Java fre
October to March and low barometric pressu 3
Bombay in the succeeding six months; in Jay
rainfall was nearly normal and its effect is negl
nee barometric pressure in Argentina and C
AuGusT 5, 1920]
NATURE
125
ourable condition, but this year pressure is in
defect. It is stated that the conditions indicate
North-West India the monsoon is likely to be
, at any rate in the earlier part of the season,
the rainfall of the Peninsula, North-East
.and Burma the indications are not sufficiently
e to justify a forecast.
Italian Laboratory of Practical Optics and
nics of Precision, which was founded in
ice last year on the suggestion of the Minister
; ic Instruction to spread a knowledge of recent
advances in instrument-making amongst those engaged
in the industry in the country, has undertaken the
‘issue of a monthly Review of Optics and Mechanics
‘of Precision. The number for March and April con-
ts of a little more than thirty quarto pages. The
“seven are devoted to a continuation of a report
Prof. L. Silberstein on the quantum theory of
The improvements which Sommerfeld has
uced into the theory by ascribing two degrees
freedom to the electron instead of the one degree
of Bohr’s theory are dealt with. Constructional optics
ne
* ‘ res by articles on the calculation of
chromatic objectives and on objectives for aerial
hy. Metrology gets an article of sixteen
by Mr. V. I. N. Williams, of Armstrong,
s, Manchester. There appears to be no
in English which serves the same purpose
1 industries that this review does for those
July issue of Science Progress contains a
by Mr. S. C. Bradford of the theory of the
1 on of the atom propounded by Langmuir
e June issue of the Journal of the American
remical Society last year. Unlike the ‘“‘sun and
” theory which has been. so_ successfully
«d by Bohr, the new theory assumes the elec-
which surround the positive nucleus to be at
in each shell being twice the square of the
nu er of the shell counted from the nucleus. When
the number of electrons is insufficient to fill a number
hells, it is the outer shell which is incomplete. In
outer shells there is a tendency for the electrons
form groups of eight or ‘‘octets ”’ either amongst
nselves or by association with the electrons of
her atoms. The chemical properties of the atom
end mainly on the number of electrons in the
er shell not associated together in octets. The
ties of hydrogen, helium, neon, lithium, carbon,
trogen, oxygen, and fluorine, the similarity in the
haviour of CO,, and N,O, of CO and N.,, and the
lifficulties which compounds of nitrogen raise on the
usual theory of valency, are all explained in a simple
way by the new theory.
ee In Nature of July 8 we gave an account of the
_ work done recently at the National Physical Labora-
tory. The appearance of the report of the laboratory
the year 1919 enables us to supplement. that
_ account by some information as to the progress of
the institution as a Government establishment. With
regard to buildings, the new control appears to
‘NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
measurements of precision in the mechanics.
They form shells around the nucleus, the |
involve exceptional delay. Extensions contemplated in
1918 and urgently needed have been approved by
the Research Department, but not yet authorised
by the Treasury. In consequence, apparatus already
delivered cannot be housed and utilised. The number
of posts in each grade of staff has been fixed, and the
conditions of service approximate to those in the Civil
Service. In special cases, however, promotion by
length of service may be departed from, subject to
the approval of the Research Department. Industry
appears to be claiming many of the staff who have
by their past work added materially to the reputation
of the Laboratory, and it is of the utmost importance
that the most promising of the younger members of
the staff should be retained by sufficiently attractive
posts. The Research Department has decided that
commercial testing is not in future to be a function
of the Laboratory.
A REPORT by Prof. J. C. McLennan on sources of
helium in the British Empire has recently been issued
by the Department of Mines, Canada (Bulletin No. 31).
An investigation of the helium content of natural gas
supplies was undertaken at the request of the Board
of Invention and Research (London) in 1915, and the
report embodies the results, which are now published
by permission of the Admiralty. It appears that
certain natural gases in Canada form the largest
source of supply of helium at present known within °
the Empire. The percentage of helium present was
found to range from zero in gases from the Toronto
and British Columbia regions up to about 0-33 per
cent. in gases from the Blackheath (Ontario) and
Bow Island (Alberta) areas. Two methods were used
for isolating the helium: (1) Combustion of the gas
with oxygen, the resulting water and carbon dioxide
being removed by suitable reagents, and the nitrogen
and remaining traces of other gases by means of coco-
nut charcoal cooled in liquid air; and (2) condensa-
tion of the hydrocarbons and other constituents having
higher boiling points than helium in a condenser im-
mersed in liquid air, the residue being then purified
by means of charcoal as before. Figures of the
apparatus employed are given. Methods based upon
these processes are indicated for the large-scale manu-
facture of helium, and it is considered that com-
mercial production of the gas is almost certain to be
undertaken.
From the Central Scientific Co., Chicago, we have
received a copy of its catalogue of apparatus used in
chemical, bacteriological, biological, industrial, and
soil-testing laboratoriés. The catalogue is very com-
plete, and it indicates the thorough manner in which
American manufacturers have developed the produc-
tion of scientific apparatus. Practically all the articles
described are stated to be ‘‘ American made,’’ the only
important item of foreign manufacture being English
(Whatman) filter-paper. Among other matters of
interest we note the new ‘chain ’’ analytical balance,
in which the use of a rider and small weights is
dispensed with. The finer weighings are obtained by
varying the length of a small gold chain attached at
one end to.the beam of the balance, and at the other
to a vernier which slides on a graduated vertical
726 NATURE [Avcusr 5, 1920
!
column, and is operated by a milled head outside the
balance-case. It is claimed that in this way the
rapidity and accuracy of weighing are much increased,
Amonc the papers read at the annual meeting of
the British Pharmaceutical Conference recently held
in Liverpool was one by Messrs. Bernard F. Howard
and Oliver Chick upon ‘‘Some Recent Samples of
‘Grey’ Cinchona Bark.’? A “parcel ’’ consisting of
138 bales of South American cinchona bark received
in March, 1920, and analysed by the authors, was
found to contain 6-302 per cent. of total alkaloid, the
bulk being, cinchonine, the figure for which was
549 per cent. The bark contained only 0-027 per
cent. of quinine. Mr. E. M. Holmes, curator of the
Pharmaceutical Society’s Museum, has examined the
bark, and has expressed the opinion that it is the
product of one, or possibly more forms of Cinchona
peruviana, Howard. 'The large percentage of cin-
chonine found in the bark is probably due to the
elevation at which the trees grow, as this factor, and
the accompanying differences of heat and moisture,
are known to influence the character of the alkaloids
present.
Art the recent annual meeting of the British Pharma-
ceutical Conference a paper entitled ‘‘ Cresineol’’ was
contributed by Mr. T. Tusting Cocking, who showed
that when oil of eucalyptus and ortho-cresol are
mixed heat is evolved, and on cooling a mass of
glistening crystals, consisting of an» equimolecular
combination of cineole and ortho-cresol, is formed.
This is a new compound, which has been named
‘““cresineol.’”? It may be recrystallised from various
solvents, and forms beautiful white, transparent,
prismatic crystals, melting at 55-2° C. and boiling
at 185° C. Cresineol is volatile, and possesses
a pleasant camphoraceous odour. It is not
caustic in its action on the skin, and yet contains
41 per cent. of cresol. Having high germicidal pro-
perties, it is likely to prove of great value as an anti-
septic for both internal and external application
The fact that a solid compound is formed when oil of
eucalyptus and ortho-cresol are mixed can be made
use of as a means of determining the amount of
cineole in oil of eucalyptus. The method is based
on the determination of the freezing point of a mix-
ture of the oil with ortho-cresol; having observed
this point, one may read off directly from a curve
given: by the author the percentage of cineole con-
tained in the oil,
Messrs. W. HEFFER AND Sons, Ltp., Cambridge,
have in the press a book by Dr. A. Harker entitled
‘*Notes on Geological Map Reading,’’ the object of
which is to teach the student to visualise a geological
map as in three dimensions, and to show that the
questions which present themselves to the field-
geologist reduce to exercises in very elementary
geometry. This simplicity is gained by reckoning all
slopes and dips as gradients, thus enabling trigono-
metry and the protractor to be dispensed with. The
amount of dip, the thickness of a formation, the
throw of a fault, etc., are measured directly upon a
contoured geological map by the use of the scale
alone.
NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
Our Astronomical Column. —
Tue Hitt Opservatory, SrpMouTH.—The cou
of this observatory has just issued its annual report
for the year ending June, 1920, and it is satisfac
to note that all instruments and other equipment are
in good condition and that the observatory is now
in tull working order again. The chief work under- —
taken consists in photographing the spectra of stars
down to magnitude 5-30 and classifying them accord-
ing to Sir Norman Lockyer’s scheme of increasing
and decreasing temperatures. Spectra are also photo- —
graphed of nebulz and other special objects. An
interesting addition has recently been made to the
regular work of the observatory in the form of a line
of investigation suggested by Prof. W. S. Adams.
Prof. Adams has found that the relative intensities of —
certain lines in stellar spectra vary with the abso- —
lute magnitude of the star, and thus,’ provided the ©
apparent magnitudes are known, a fairly simple ©
method is available for the determination of Tolar .
parallaxes. The line intensities referred to are —
measured by means of a wedge of dark glass specially —
made for the purpose, the position of the wedge being —
noted at which the lines are just obliterated. Some —
encouraging results have been obtained from pre- —
liminary work. A party of members of the British —
Association visited the observatory at the close of the
Bournemouth meeting. The party included several.
eminent astronomers, some of whom have consented
to form a research committee, intended to act as an_
advisory body on all matters connected with the
research work of the observatory. \ oilbtel agen SLi am
THE INFRA-RED ARC SPECTRA OF SEVEN ELEMENTS.
No. 372 of the Scientific Papers of the U.S. Bureau
of Standards gives the results of an investigation on
the wave-lengths longer than 5500 A. in the are spectra
of seven elements made by Messrs. C. C. Kiess and
W. F. Meggers. The yellow, red, and infra-red
regions of the arc spectrum of titanium, vanadium,’
chromium, manganese, molybdenum, tungsten, and —
uranium were photographed with a large concave —
grating spectrograph. The photographs were made —
on plates sensitised to these spectral regions by means
of pinacyanol and dicyanin dyes. The wave-lengths
of more than 2500 spectral lines were measured
extending from the green at 5500A. into the infra-
red beyond 9700 A. So far as is known, impurity —
lines and spurious lines have been eliminated from the
wave-length tables. Frequency differences which were
suspected of being constant have been found in eac
of the spectra. ‘Those who are specially intereste
in this work may obtain a copy of the paper b
applying to the Bureau of Standards, Washington.
New Sovar RapiATION STATION IN ARIZONA.—
anonymous benefactor has given funds to the Smit
sonian Institution for the establishment of a
solar observing station in the Haqua Hala mo
tains in the Arizona desert. The site was chosen
‘being probably the most consistently cloudless regio
in the United States.” Dr. C. G. Abbot has gone 1
set up this station, which will duplicate the wor
that has been done for some years at Calama, Chile
it is stated that the results obtained there are 0
assistance in predicting the weather and temper
in Argentina. As is well known, Dr. Abbot cons
that, besidés the 11-year variation, there are irres
changes: in the solar radiation from day to
amounting to as much as 5 per cent., which he
gests may be due either to alterations in the circu
tion in the sun and consequent variation in the amo
of hotter matter brought from the interior.
changes in the transparency of the solar envelopes
NATURE
727
i § Aveust 5, 1920]
Iron-depositing Bacteria.!
appeal of the monograph before us, which is
me of the Professional Papers issued under the
; of the United States Geological Survey, will
probably be of direct interest only to a comparatively
nal section of scientific workers. Although there is
h to attract the general reader, it is obvious
the work was not initiated with this end in
It is worthy of note and a sign of the times
the data supplied by the bacteriologists should
d as a serious, weapon of offence in attacking
ogical problem.
ny changes, due to biological influences, take
ace on the earth’s surface which profoundly modify
constitution of the material which is destined
become the geological strata of the future. A
tudy of these changes will obviously throw light on
e causes which have operated in the past to bring
-earth’s crust into being. We find in Mr. Harder’s
by far the most comprehensive treatment
ich we have yet seen of the activities of bacteria
effecting chemical an in various iron com-
ds which come within the scope of their influence.
has undertaken the task of bringing together in
form of a critical survey the salient facts of
Knowledge of the iron bacteria. This subject
pies the first half of the monograph, and is
ed by the author with a masterly regard for
tials, and in it is included the results of some
is Own observations and experiments on these
‘interesting micro-organisms. It is interesting to note
‘that the same iron bacteria are found in America as
in Europe, although there are slight differences in
r distribution and numbers. Thus Spirophyllum
wgineum appears to possess a wider distribution
is the case in this country.
the preface, which is written by Mr. F. L.
ome, especial attention is directed to the results
Mr. Harder’s inquiry into the physiology of the
n bacteria. Hitherto each investigator has assumed
t the results claimed by him as a result of his
sarch on the physiology of some particular species
ever, concludes that there are three principal groups
of iron-depositing bacteria: (1) A group the members
which precipitate ferric hydroxide from solutions
ferrous bicarbonate. (2) A second group of iron
ria that does not require ferrous bicarbonate for
ital processes. (3) A third group that attacks
salts of organic acids, using the organic acid
les as food and Jeaving ferric hydroxide, or basic
¢ salts that gradually change to ferric hydroxide.
We must confess to a scepticism as to the existence
of such deep-seated differences among these organisms,
and incline to the opinion that the phenomenon of
on-deposition on micro-organisms shows the work-
g of a simple physiological, law which operates on
in the same manner. In support we would
jvance the fact that Spirophyllum and Leptothrix
so clésely allied that some have regarded them
pleiomorphic varieties of one and the same
ganism. They live in the same waters, they repro-
ce alike, and are in every way similar except in
external form; and yet Spirophyllum is stated to be
an éxample of the first group, whilst Leptothrix is
relegated to the second group. A more cogent ground
or scepticism lies in the fact that other organisms,
cluding some of the algz and’ the protozoa, possess
_the same attraction for iron compounds. Possibly a
closer investigation of the. chemico-irritability of
icto-organisms will. throw. some light n° the
question.. Vis : :
1 fron depositing Bacteria and their Geologic Relations.” By Edmund
Harder. United States Geological Survey. Professional Paper 113.
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
good for all the iron bacteria. Mr. Harder, how-.
of Education,’’
We can recommend the second half of the mono-
graph to all who wish concise information from an
authoritative source of the iron deposits of the world
and of the factors which influence the formation and
determine the mode of deposition of the iron precipita-
tions that are taking place at the present day. With
one exception iron is the most abundant element in
the earth’s crust. Iron salts are being constantly
decomposed, and the genesis of the active agents
which bring about their decomposition is given in
detail. A consideration of these agents brings home
to us the necessity of studying the life-histories of
various micro-organisms in order to understand how
the present deposits came into being. To give one
example. The most important of the iron deposits
is ferric hydroxide, and ‘a study of the conditions of
its formation centres largely round the fact that
ferrous compounds are soluble in water containing
CO, in excess. Now, in particular, ferrous bicarbonate
percolates upwards in solution, and when it reaches
the surface becomes subject to the interplay of forces,
both chemical and biological, which determine its
subsequent fate. We must refer the reader to the
‘work itself for more precise information regarding
the manner in which this fate is determined.
We are also given a very complete account of the
various types of ferruginous sedimentary ores, and
in each case the intervention of biological agencies,
either in the primary or in the secondary réle, as
factors in the determination of the final deposition is
explained in a comprehensive and accurate manner.
Of greatest interest of all is, we’ consider, the
examination of the conditions which determine the
formation of bog-iron ore. These are undoubtedly
mainly of a biological nature, and deserve more con-
sideration than they have hitherto received.. The interest
in this ore is enhanced on account of its formation
being a possible stepping-stone to the development of
limanites and hzmatites, although Mr. Harder him-
self has not raised the point. In his reference to the
ferrous carbonate deposits he does well to speak with
reticence of the factors which have brought about
their formation; enough evidence, however, is
advanced to give pause to those who would eliminate
altogether the activities of micro-organisms from the
list of active agents which have brought these deposits
into being. Again, Mr. Harder makes out a clear
case for the intervention of micro-organisms in the
formation of some, at any rate, of the iron sulphide
deposits. Sulphuretted hydrogen is evolved as a result
of the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter
by the saprophytic bacteria. The formation of sul-
phides with iron compounds is the next step, and it is
of great interest that we see the process at work at
the present day in the development of the “‘ blue mud”
of the ocean bottom.
Both biologists and geologists will be grateful to
Mr. Harder for the work which he has done in the
preparation of this monograph. Davip ELLs.
The Association of Technical Institutions.
“FHE Association of Technical Institutions opened
its summer meeting at the University of Cam-
bridge on July 23; with the Marquess of Crewe, the
president, in the chair. The meeting was extended
over the following day, when the chairman of
the council, Mr. Dan Irving, M.P., - presided.
Papers. were submitted. on ‘tA National System
by Principal J. C.M. Garnett
(Manchester); on ‘“‘ The Necessity for Close Co-opera-
tion between Technical Colleges and the Universities,"
by Principal C. Coles (Cardiff); on .‘‘ Continuation
728
NATURE
{Aucust 5, 1920
Schools and their Relation to Technical Institutes
and Colleges,’’ by Principal C. L.. Eclair-Heath
(Newcastle-upon-Tyne); and on ‘‘ Local Colleges and
Adult Education,’” by Principal L. Small (Bootle).
The suggestions of Mr. Garnett for the establish-
ment of a national system of education in England
during the next ten years are embodied in a pamphlet
presented to a meeting of the newly formed Federal
Council of Lancashire and Cheshire Teachers’ Asso-
ciations in January last. It is accompanied by an
elaborate ‘‘flow’’ diagram showing graphically in
colour the various types of scholastic institutions sug-
gested, of which as many as sixteen are depicted,
ranging from the elementary school upwards to
the university, and dealing with school and univer-
sity life up to the twenty-fifth year. It is declared
that “it is the main business of all education to
form in the mind of every person a single wide
interest centred in a supreme ~ purpose,’’- and
that “it is the subordinate business of education to
train young people so that they shall be able to realise
their central purpose in some particular form of
service to their fellows. For example, the particular
form of service for which technical and commercial,
education prepares is that of providing the material
wealth without which no community—so different in
this respect from an individual—can make much pro-
gress towards the fulfilment of high spiritual pur-
poses.’’ The pamphlet proceeds to divide those who
are to occupy the various positions in industry, com-
merce, and other departments of national life into four
classes: Leaders in thought and action, about 3 per
cent.; skilled managers and assistants, about 17 per
cent.; skilled wage-earners, about 40 per cent.; and
unskilled labourers and repetition workers, about
40 per cent,
The scheme suggested received the attention of
a meeting, held in June last, of the headmasters
of secondary schools in Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumber-
land, and Westmorland, who expressed strong dis-
approval of its proposals, which they thought too
mechanical, and of the suggestion that there should
be lower and higher secondary schools. They were not
persuaded that it was desirable to prevent the indi-
vidual growth and development of each school, and
that whilst transference and change of grade seemed
to be its keynote, the headmasters believed in elas-
ticity, growth, and continuous development.
The purpose of Mr. Coles’s paper is to set forth
the present unsatisfactory position of technical ipstitu-
tions in this country, and to propose remedies therefor
in respect alike of the development of higher educa-
tion in technical institutions and of the administration
thereof, so as to bring them into closer relation with
the work of the universities. Mr. Coles advocates the
institution of faculties of technology and commerce
in connection therewith, and suggests that an in-
vestigation should be set up, as in 1882, into the
condition of higher technological education in the
United Kingdom.
Mr. Small’s paper, accompanied by notes by Prin-
cipal J. F. Hudson (Huddersfield), deals with local
colleges and adult education. The authors advocate
the development of the technical institute into ‘the
local college,’’ an official term appearing for the
first time in the revised regulations for continuation.
technical, and art courses issued by the Board of
Education in February, 1917, so that it shall include
not. only the training of workers in commerce and in
specific industries, but also their continued education
as citizens by the introduction of humanistic studies,
and to provide generally for non-vocational subjects of
a literary, scientific, and recreative character, together
with facilities for the study by adult workers of ques-
NO. 2649, VOL. 105]
“institutions of the association in connection especial
tions calculated to promote a better understa
of the character and problems of social life. Al
with this end in view the Huddersfield Technical Co
lege has entered into close relations with the York
shire District Council ‘of the Workers’ Educationa
‘Association.’ ° ee
Mr. Eclair-Heath in his paper declares
idea of continuation schools is not new, and instance
the excellent example of the Royal Dockyard School
at Deptford and elsewhere. He says that r voca
tional education is undesirable, and that the schools
should be held apart from works. He favours mixec
schools and the introduction of religious instruction,
and suggests that there should be set up a system of
selection whereby only suitable students should be
allowed the privilege of continued education up to
eighteen years of age. — cs i"
Resolutions were adopted welcoming a larg
development of humane studies in the constitue
ae
iy
with adult education :—‘ That the association accep
the description of the work of a ‘local college’ co; a
tained in Appendix III. of the Draft Regulations of
the Board of Education for continuation, technical,
and art courses in England and Wales”; and “That.
each local college should be the recognised centre for
the organisation of educational courses for adults in its
area and for the supply of qualified lecturers and clas
tutors and adequate library and other faeilities.”” Ti
was resolved to refer to the council the question that
the Board of Education should be asked to accept as.
‘‘recognised service’’ the services of teachers en do
in organisation, supervision, and inspection with the
view of qualifying such persons for pension under the
recent Superannuation Act, and that the Board shoulc
furnish to every teacher of forty-five years of age and
upwards a statement of his position as to the peri od
of “recognised service ’? and “ qualifying service? a:
present placed against his name for the purpose of
pension. apie Pe a) Py
wt
The Asiatic Origin of Man.1 vgs.
THE author of the speculative paper referred to
below is an evangelist of the gospel of evolu-
tion according to Dr. W. D. Matthew. The idea of
the Asiatic origin of the dominant orders of
mammals, in its source as old as Buffon, was in 1915
placed on a firm basis by. Matthew in “his . paper
‘Climate and Evolution.’’ This idea Dr. Gri
Taylor now takes up and applies to the case of m
Penck’s fourfold subdivision of the Ice Age is rege
as applying generally, and the development of the fp
historic races in Asia is presumed to occur in the
successive mild periods as follows: ae |
Chellian and Acheulian. Pliocene.
Mousterian. Gunz-Mindel. °
Aurignacian, Solutredn,
and Magdalenian. Mindel-Riss.
Azilian and Neolithic. - Riss-Wiirm.
Bronze-using Races. Post-Glacial,
Mongolians. ' Late Post-Glacial .;
Historic.
The following Ice Age in each case and in
Glacial times the progressive desiccation of Asia a
presumed to have caused migration from the hom
land to the peripheral continents. The migratio
are thus fairly well timed to enable the respect
races to keep their appointments in Europe,
perhaps, the exception of the Chellians, Ache
and Mousterians, who are too early, if we may
By Dr. Griffith Taylor.
ich
=
1 “Climatic Cycles and Evolution.”
graphical Review, Dec 1 TOTO.
NATURE
729
ck’s placing of these culture stages, which,
*, rests only on indirect evidence.
as his criteria of evolutionary advance four
Ss, mamely, (1) cephalic index, (2) orbital
(3) hair section, and, in a modified degree,
n colour, Dr. Griffith Taylor then attempts an
s of the existing races of mankind, and, so
‘the available data permit him, shows that the
primitive races, or those with low cephalic and
ital indices and relatively flattened hair section
erally associated with depth of skin colouring),
have been thrust to the more distant parts, from a
ligrant’s point of view, of the outlying continents.
Closer in to the centre of distribution come races
with successively higher indices, rounder, straighter
r, and reduced colouring, passing through brown,
=, and white to the yellow, brachycephalic, and
ssively straight-haired Mongolians, who are the
pment of all. So far this is Dr. W. D.
elaborated. A new element is now, how-
, introduced into the discussion, for an attempt is
de to correlate the living with the prehistoric races.
remembers Sollas’s tentative comparisons in
(“Ancient Hunters’’), viz. Tasmanian with
hic or Early Palzolithic, Australian with Mous-
ian, Bushman with Aurignacian, and Eskimo with
fagdalenian. The author now postulates direct
scent for these and many other races too numerous
mention here
os
belts of tropical rains, desert, and polar rains in Aus-
. As he effectively remarks, Nature has placed
alia like a blackboard, on which are recorded
results of the mobile but very regular and law-
g climatic zones of the southern hemisphere.
brings forward evidence to show that these zones
rwent an analogous migration during the
: atic oscillations of the Ice age.
‘The analysis outlined above forms parts i.-iii. of
~ oo The general exposition of the argument
crude, and, were it not for the exnlicitness of the
Srams, would be difficult to follow. This tabu-
ig ise definition of material largely
sculative gives an illusory impression of the state
the subject, but, if the reader is not misled by it,
certainly conduces to clearness. The adroit
ndling of a subject so as to distinguish fact and
sitimate inference from mere speculation is the last
_of the scientific writer.
_ The remainder of the paper is devoted to geological
_ Speculations of less interest. Part iv. is an exposi-
_ tion of Chamberlin’s theory of cyclic change. Cham-
berlin’s writings (1897-1901) on the subject are not,
however, quoted, the principal authority relied on
ing Schuchert (1914). In this section a table of
nly approximate temperatures is given for the
riods from the Triassic to the present. That this
_type of tabulated speculation is dangerous is instanced
by the fact that both zoological and botanical evidence
_ show that the seh parsiecka of Europe in the Neolithic
_ period was several degrees higher than it is at the
_ present day, instead of 7° F. lower, as stated.
_ Part v. is an estimate of geological time based on
various authorities. The statement is made that
“Joly quotes similar figures, indicating about
,000,000 as the time interval since the same epoch”
Cambrian). It is difficult to conceive the author’s
‘motive, if any, for this implicit misrepr tation of
the works cited, for it matters nota straw: to his
theory whether the interval since the Cambrian is
; ro or less than 100,000,000 years, as concluded
by Joly.
~~ NA 9BAQ WOT
toc]
Part vi. is a suggestion, on astronomical lines, of
rhythmic oscillations of climate, etc. It is on a par
with many former theories of the Ice age in assign-
ing a cause which there is no independent evidence
to show was ever operative.
Papers such as this which deal in giddy speculation
have for some time past been looked at askance by
the more puritanically minded of our elder geologists.
We are not sure that they deserve the contempt
with which they are treated. In this matter,
however, there is a golden mean, and we should have
preferred to see the present paper made less com-
prehensive, and the leading subject-matter of human
migrations more thoroughly dealt with. It is of no
use trying to straighten out the universe in an article.
W. B. Wricut:
Long-range Forecasting in Java.
UBLICATION No. 5, 1919, of the Royal Observa-
tory of batavia, entiuea “Atmospheric Varia-
uons of Short and Long Duration in the Malay Archi-
peiago and Neighbouring Kegions, and the Possibility
to borecast Lhem,’’ by Ur. Uv. braak, embodies the
results of a long investigation into the sequence of
raintall in the equatorial regions east of the. Indian
Ocean. Three kinds of variation are studied:
(1) with periods of one or more years up to and
including the sun-spot period, (2) secular variations,
and (3) with periods less than a month, comparable
with Abbot’s short-period solar tiuctuations. The
variations, the period of which is intermediate between
(1) and (3) above, are treated as disturbances of (1).
Dr. Braak lays much stress on a three-year period,
of the persistence of which he gives plausible, though
not quite convincing, examples. He classifies three
groups of years, of high barometer, low barometer,
and transition (from high to low), but naturally finds
a proportion of years not strictly true to any of
these types. It is scarcely surprising that he finds in
general a correlation between barometric pressure and
rainfall. For the east monsoon he finds strong posi-
tive correlation between high pressure and drought,
and weaker between low pressure and excess of rain. -
For the west monsoon he finds, with some local
exceptions, excess of rain with high barometer, and
deficit with low barometer. His problem is thus reduced
to the intensity of the correlation and the chances of
a correct forecast of the barometer variation. His
next step takes into account temperature changes
which may be expected to modify pressure conditions,
but his result is disappointing. He obtains rules, but
their application is so far a failure that they appear
to break down most thoroughly in years of drought—
that is, when, if correct, they would be most valuable.
Turning to. secular variations, he finds no evidence
of progressive change in Batavian rainfall; in fact,
the only progressive change on which he lays stress is
in Batavian air-temperature. Comparison with stations
in India, Australia, and other places in the same
quarter of the globe provides other types of change,
but none agreeing with Batavia, and the question is
left unsolved.
There remain the short-period pressure waves. The
equatorial manifestations of these he attributes to a
‘kind of surge, caused by the great disturbances in
higher latitudes, exercising a sucking influence or its
converse, with slight. variations of the rainfall, less
than 10 per cent. of the normal, the effect of which
is to compensate the pressure difference by. cooling
or heating air probably above the 3000-metre level.
Other variations of rainfall, humidity, and cloudi-
ness he considers to be local, and, on the whole, rejects
73°
NATURE
[AUGUST 5, 1920
the possibility of forecasting any short-period varia-
tions’ in the rainfall. Inasmuch as we are bound to
regard the tropics as the first stage in the translation
of solar variation into weather, it seems a pity that
the result obtained in what is probably the best known
region of the tropics in regard to meteorological
statistics should appear so meagre and wanting in
definiteness. Similar work in temperate regions may
well be discouraged, but there is still an enormous
mass of data W.
Insects of Arctic Canada.
oe insects of various orders—as well as a few
spiders, mites, and centipedes—collected by
members of the recent Canadian Arctic Expedition
(1913-18) have been recorded and described in vol. iii.
of the Report (Ottawa, 1919-20). The lists contain
much information of value to students of zoological
geography.
Arthur Gibson) it is interesting to see varieties of
such well-known British butterflies as Pievis napi,
Papilio machaon, and Vanessa antiopa. Most of the
Coleoptera (by J. M. Swaine, H. C. Fall, C. W.
Leng, and J. D. Sherman) belong to species already
known in North America, and the same remark
applies to the bees described by F. W. L. Sladen,
who points out that bumble-bees are ‘‘ particularly well
adapted to Arctic conditions,’’ and records the capture
of five nearly full-fed Bombus larvz on Melville Island
(75° N. lat.) on June 21, 1916. The sawflies, described
by A. G. MacGillivray, are mostly new species, and,
as might have been expected, willow feeders. Among
the Diptera (by C. P. Alexander, H. G. Dyar, and
J. R. Malloch) there are some ‘interesting details of
larvze as well as descriptions and records of. flies,
which are relatively numerous in species. .The occur-
rence of larvze of Oedemagena tarandi—the warble-
fly of the European Reindeer—in Barren-ground
Caribou at Bernard Harbour is noteworthy. Mosquitoes
of a couple of species of the genus A=des were
observed (and felt) in swarms. As regards wingless
parasites, Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall records that head-
lice (Pediculus capitis) from the.Copver Eskimo of
Coronation Gulf show no varietal distinction from
members of the species found elsewhere. Dr. J
Folsom enumerates a dozen species cf springtails
(Collembola); two onlv of these are new, but his
figures of structural details, drawn carefully from
Arctic specimens of common and widespread _ northern
forms, will be welcome to students of this order.
Go eae
Earthquake Waves and the Elasticity of
the Earth.
D&: C. G. KNOTT delivered a lecture on ‘“ Earth-
quake Waves and the Elasticity of the Earth”
before the Geological Society on June 9. He pointed
out that seismograph records of the earth-movements
due to distant earthquakes proves that an earthquake
is the source of two types of wave-motion which pass
through the body of the earth, and a third type which
passes round the surface of the earth. Before earth-
quake records were obtained, mathematicians had
shown that these three types of wave-motion existed
in and over a sphere consisting of elastic solid
material. Many volcanic phenomena, however, sug-
gest the quite different conception of a molten interior
underlying the solid crust. At first statement these
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
Among the Lepidoptera (described by ©
views seem to be antagonistic, but there is no diffie
in reconciling them.» Whatever be the nature of
material lying immediately below the accessible
it must become at a certain depth a highly h
fairly homogeneous substance behaving like an elasti
solid, with two kinds of elasticity giving rise to what
are called the compressional and distortional waves
The velocities of these waves are markedly different,
being at every depth nearly in the ratio of 1-8 to 1.
Both increase steadily within the first thousand mi
of descent towards the earth’s centre, the compre
sional wave-velocity ranging from 4-5 miles per seco
at the surface to 8 miles per second at depths of
1000 miles and more; the corresponding velocities of —
the distortional wave are 2-5 and
a
velocities at depths greater than about 2500 miles.
which at first increase with depth more rapidly ¥
the density, become proportional to the density, for —
the velocity of propagation becomes practically steady. —
About half-way down, however, the material seems to —
lose its rigidity (in the elastic sense of the term), and
viscosity possibly takes its place, so that the distor-~
tional wave disappears. In other words, there is a
nucleus of about 1600 miles radius which cannot
transmit distortional waves. This nucleus is enclosed
by a shell of highly elastic material transmitting both
compressional and distortional waves exactly like an_
elastic solid. — ee ae
atte np eRars, : ec ie
University and Educational Intelligence.
ABERDEEN.—Dr: R. D. Lockhart has been appointed —
a lecturer in anatomy. ee Seay), ae
It has been decided to institute a full-time lecture-—
ship in bacteriology in the department of pathology. he
BirmMincHaM.—It has been decided that the fees _
payable by new students entering the University next :
session . shall be increased by 25 per cent. he |
reasons given for the increase are: (1) The great rise
in the cost of administration, materials, maintenance, —
taxation, and the wages of employees; and (2) he
necessity for improving the payment of the academic, ~
particularly the non-professorial, staff. — th ae
The Vice-Chancellor (Sir Gilbert Barling), according —
to the Birmingham Post, states that “it is absolutely —
necessary to increase the stipends of the staff for two —
reasons: the present salaries are quite inadequate
to maintain the teachers in a reasonable state of com -
fort; and, secondly, because without such increas 7
they will be attracted to other places where stipe
are more commensurate with their capacity an
worth.’’
CampripcE.—The Balfour Memorial Fund student-_
ship will be vacant on October 1 next. Applications:
are invited for it. Candidates should app fake at
latest, September 15 to Prof. J. Stanley Gardiner,
Zoological Laboratory, Cambridge. Re
On July 29 the honorary degree of Doctor of Lav
was conferred upon’ Dr. A. L. Lowell, president, of
Harvard University; Prof. J. J. Abel, professor
pharmacology, Johns Hopkins University; and Prof.
H. Cushing. professor of surgery at Harvard
versity.
Oxrorp.—The fear expressed in some quarters
the application by the University for a Governmer
grant would check the liberality of private benefactor
has proved to be groundless in at least one con-
5
GUST 5, 1920 |
NATURE
731
$ instance. Mr. Walter Morrison, of Balliol
has just paid to Bodley’s librarian the sum
. for the capital account of the library. No
conditions are annexed to the gift. This is
» only benefaction for which the University is
ted to Mr. Morrison, for some eight years ago
ave 10,0001, to each of three funds—one for the
hip in Egyptology, another for the promotion
study of agriculture, and a third towards the
ment of a professors’ pension fund.
Cairo correspondent of the Times announces
American Presbyterian Board proposes to
ha university at Cairo, and has purchased a
site for the building. The new University will
nposed of five colleges, namely, arts, Oriental
Suages, teachers, commerce, and agriculture. It
ited that the first of these will be opened in
OTICE is given that, provided sufficient merit be
wn, an election to a fellowship in experimental
ss or physical chemistry at Trinity College,
in, will take place in May, 1921. Candidates
submit papers or theses (published or unpub-
) on or before March 25 next. Further par-
rs may be obtained from the Registrar, Trinity
pe, Dublin.
the occasion of the meeting of the British
ssociation at Cardiff on August 24-28 the University
of Wales will confer the honorary degree of D.Sc.
“upon _ the following :—Dr. H. F. Osborn, president
of the American Museum of Natural History, or, if
_he is unable to attend, Prof. C. A. Kofoid, Univer-
ity California; Prof. G. Gilson, University of
otal he ech attend, e — H. Ostenfeld,
ty of Copenhagen; Don Gullermo Joaquin de
Madrid; and Prof. Yves-Guyot, hacia.
: following subjects of wide educational interest
be discussed at meetings of the Old Students’
ation of the Royal College of Science, London,
€ autumn :—September 14, Pre-Kensington His-
if the Royal College of Science and the Univer-
oblem in London, Prof. H. E. Armstrong;
12, The Proposed University of Science and
logy: Can a Useful and Worthy University
based on Pure and Applied Science?, Mr. J. W.
Villiamson; and November 9, The Nationalisation
Universities, Viscount Haldane.
_R. S. Cray, principal of the Northern Poly-
Institute, Holloway, London, N.7, informs us
the governors are pe setobliehing in September
chool of rubber technology at this Polytechnic,
that the school will in future be under the
orship of Dr. P. Shidrowitz, well known by his
arches and publications on the chemistry and
mology of rubber. There will be a day course
or y to students who-have had a_ thorough
ning in chemistry—preferably at one of the uni-
PS
'
ersit evening classes for those already in
e industry. The school will be in close touch with
» industry, as it will be under an advisory com-
ttee composed of represent&tives of the manufac-
ers, growers, dealers, rubber engineers, etc., and
will, therefore, afford a sound theoretical and practical
training for those proposing to ente® a rubber factory.
__ Tue May issue of School Life, issued by the U.S.
- Bureau of Education, shows that there has been a large
ts ease in the demand for collegiate education during
_the ten years between 1905-6 and 1915-16. The period
shows an advance, espécially ‘in public institutions,
from 258,603 in 1905-6 to 387,106 in 1915-16, being an
ease in the case of men of 40-1 per cent., and in
of women of 70 per cent. The number of
NO. 2649, VOL. 105 |
,
teachers engaged has also risen from 23,950 to 31,312.
The total income of these institutions has grown
during this period from 62,499,931 dollars td
133,627,911 dollars, or 113 per cent., made up of
students’ fees 36,133,969 dollars, productive funds
18,983,868 dollars, United States Government 6,258,931
dollars, State or city 32,204,111 dollars, private bene-
factions 30,196,006 dollars, and other sources 9,850,326
dollars. The endowment fund increased from
248,430,394 dollars in 1905-6 to 425,245,270 dollars in
Ig15-16, or 71-2 per cent. A further table shows that
during the last three years there has been a general
increase of attendance of 25 per cent. at these
institutions.
THE activities of the U.S. Department of the
Interior (Bureau of Education) include the bi-monthly
issue of a journal entitled School Life. That of May
last is concerned largely with the question of the
supply and remuneration of teachers, a problem
apparently even more acute in America than in this
country, as is instanced by the fact that on a given
day in May the School Board Service Division of the
Bureau of Education received 436 requests for teachers,
with only seven teachers applying for posts. The chief
of the Division reports that a year ago there were
14,000 registrations from teachers willing to take
positions. A recent canvass of this list showed only
about 4000 now available for service. The maximum
average annual salary of teachers for any State is
1600 dollars, whilst the minimum is 93 dollars. The
journal further deals with the payment of university
teachers, and asks the question: Does it pay to be a
college professor? The result of a recent inquiry
circular sent out by the Bureau, to which more than
two-thirds of the colleges and universities returned
detailed and accurate answers, was that in privately
supported institutions full professors are receiving on
the average 2304 dollars per annum, while assistant
professors and instructors draw salaries of about
1800 dollars and 1200 dollars respectively. The
salaries of professors at State institutions average
3126 dollars, of assistant professors 2100 dollars, and
of instructors 1400 dollars. There is an intfresting
table comparing the salaries in 1919 of professors,
assistant professors, and instructors with those of
artisans and labourers, much to the advantage of the
latter in some cases.
Tue development. of social activities in the country
districts is a problem of the first importance, and in
the May issue of the Journal of the Ministry of
Agriculture there is a most interesting paper entitled
**Social Service in Rural Areas.’? The author, Sir
Henry Rew, points out that if we are to maintain
our agricultural output we must provide for the
recreation of our farm labourers and their families.
The conditions of village life, and, indeed, the whole
psychology of the village people, have undergone
great changes in the last few years. The young men
returning from the Army to their native villages have
found expression; the economic status of the farm-
worker is improved; and, above all, there now exists
a definite organisation of the farm-workers. These
men are essentially a practical race; their ambitions
are not restricted to increased wages; they simply
make a reasonable claim that life’ shall not be merely
a weary monotony of toil, but that there shall be
opportunities for enjoyment—more than are afforded
by the village alehouse. The demand is universal,
and’ must be met without delay. In the Report of
the Adult Education Committee it is suggested that
every village should be provided with an_ institute
under full public control. This institute should be the
centre of all’ communal activity, educational, social,
and recreational. ae
“I
Go
NO
NATURE
Societies and Academies.
SYDNEY.
Royal Society of New South Wales, June 2.—Mr.
James Nangle, president, in the chair.—H. G. Smith
and A, R, Penfold: The manufacture of thymol,
menthone, and menthol from eucalyptus oils. Work
was undertaken in order to determine the molecular
structure of piperitone, the peppermint ketone of
eucalyptus oils. Piperitone is a menthenone with the
carbonyl group in the 3 position. When oxidised with
ferric chloride in the ordinary way 25 per cent. of
thymol was produced. By reducing piperitone with
hydrogen in the presence of a_ nickel catalyst an
almost quantitative yield of menthone was obtained,
which on further reduction with sodium in aqueous
ether produced menthol. The abundance of piperitone
obtainable from Eucalyptus dives makes this ketone
probably the best source for the manufacture of
thymol and menthone.—R.. H. Cambage: A new
species of Queensland ironbark. This new eucalyptus
comes from about 120 miles westerly from Cairns, in
tropical Queensland, and furnishes a good, red timber.
It was found growing on granite formation in open
forest country, and resembles E. crebra in bark and
timber, but differs in the shape of buds and fruits,
which latter are hemispherical with exserted valves.
Books Received.
The Physical Chemistry of the Metals. By Prof.
R. Schenck. Translated and annotated by R. S.
Dean. Pp. vilit239.. (New York: J. Wiley and
Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.)
22s. 6d. net.
A Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth of
Great Britain. By Sidney and Beatrice Webb. Pp.
XViii+364. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co.)
12s. 6d. net.
Governors and the Governing of Prime Movers.
By Prof. W. Trinks. Pp. xviiit236. (London: Con-
stable and Co., Ltd.) 22s. 6d. net.
The World Crisis: A Suggested Remedy. By Sir
G. Paish. Pp. 30. (London: Benn Bros., Ltd.) 6d.
A Manual of the Timbers of the World: Their
Characteristics and Uses. By A. L. Howard. Pp.
xvi+446. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 3os.
net.
Dead Towns and Living Men: Being Pages from
an Antiquary’s Notebook. By C. L. Woolley. Pp:
vili+259. (London: Oxford University Press.)
12s. 6d. net.
Le Rythme Universel. Comme base d’une
Nouvelle Conception de l’Univers. By Prof.-Dr. C.
oer ea Ga Pp. 48. (Genéve et Lyon: Georg &
Co.
Historical
(Liver-
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
Record, 18981920. Pp. viiit+103+plates.
pool: University Press.)
General Botany for Universities and Colleges. By
Prof. H. D. Densmore. Pp. xii+459. (Boston and
London: Ginn and Co.) 12s. 6d. net.
Internal-Combustion Engines: Their Principles
‘and Application to Automobile, Aircraft, and Marine
Purposes. Bv Lt.-Comdr. W. L. Lind. Pp. v+225.
(Boston and London: Ginn and Co.) tos. net.
Types and Breeds of Farm Animals. By Prof.
lumb. Revised edition. Pp. viii+820.
(Boston and London: Ginn and Co.) 16s. 6d. net.
Geodesy: Including Astronomical Observations,
Gravity Measurements, and Method of Least Squares.
By Prof. G. L. Hosmer. Pp. xi+ 368. (New York:
NO, 2649, VOL. 105]
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and
Hall, Ltd.) 18s. 6d. net. ae
Prospecting for Oil and Gas. By L. S. Pamnyity-
Pp. xviit+249. (New York; J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ;
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 18s, net. ee
London County Council. Education Act, 1918. —
Draft Scheme of the Local Education Authority.
Pp. 112. (London: L.C.C. Education Offices.) = =
Free Will and Destiny. By St. G. Lane-Fox Pitt. ©
Pp. xix+1oo. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 5s. —
The Victoria History of the Counties of England. —
A History of the County of Surrey. Part 1, Geology, —
by G. W. Lamplugh; Paleontology, by R. Lydekker. —
6d. net. Part 2, Botany, edited by ©
Pp. 35-70. 35. 6d, met. Sart 4,8
Zoology. Pp. 71-226. tI2s. 6d. net. i
Man, by G. Clinch. Pp. 227-54. 2s. 6d.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) tes
La République Argentine: La Mise en Valeur
du Pays. By Dr. P. Denis. Pp. 303+Vvii plates.
(Paris: A. Colin.) 14 francs.
A Little Book about Snowdon. By H. V. Davis.
Pp. 30. (Crewe: The Author, ‘‘ Noddfa,’”’ Wistaston.)
8d. :
Canada. Department of Mines. Mines Branch.
Graphite. By H. Spence. Pp. ix+202+plates, —
(Ottawa.) Bs |
Peetickay: An Essay towards the Abolition of
Pp. 96. (Cambridge: —
Spelling. By Dr. W. Perrett. }
W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd.) 6s. net.
Atomic and Molecular Theory. By D. L. Ham
mick. Pp. 82. (Winchester: P. and G. Wells.)
CONTENTS.
University Grants: \, 32...) i ee
Tanks and Scientific Warfare. .... fs
Physiology of Farm Animals . .
Chemical Text-books. ByC.S. .......
1 eh ae On
An Attempt to Detect the Fizeau Effect inan Electron —
Stream.—Prof. R. Whiddington...... es
Plant-life in Cheddar Caves.—Lough. Pendred . . 709
The Diamagnetism of Hydrogen.—Dr. A. E. Oxley =
Loss of Fragrance of Musk Plantss—Hon. Col,’ —
C. J. Bond, C.M.G... .. «6 15 ie ee ee
Meteorological Conditions of an Ice-cap.—R. F. T.
Meteorological Influences of the Sun and the co
Atlantic. By Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S.. . . 715 —
The Thermionic Valve,in Wireless Telegraphy
and Telephony. (lJIlustrated.) By Prof. J. A:
Fleming; FeR)S.° 30.0. soccer Pi actennr see st gn ts. aaa?
Obituary :—
Prof. J. C.F. Guyon’. 6 550. a es
Notes: vas. 6 se eee
Our Astronomical Column :—
The Hill Observatory, Sidmouth ..... 4.4
The Infra-red Ayc Spectra of Seven Elements . .
New Solar Radiation Station in Arizona. .....
Iron-depositing Bacteria. By Dr. David Ellis
The Association of Technical Institutions ...
The Asiatic Origin of Man. By W. B. Wright .
Long-range Forecasting in Java. By W. W. B.
Insects of Arctic Canada. ByG. H.C... ..
Earthquake Waves and the Elasticity of the Earth
University and Educational Intelligence... .
Societies and Academies .......... ue
Books Received ;
NATURE
733
“HURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
yaa MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
[. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
‘ : _ Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Editorial communications to the Editor.
| Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number : GERRARD 8830.
. Progress
HE word “progress” primarily signifies “a
F etepping forwards ”’—forwards not in reia-
| to some real or imaginary goal the arrival
ich we assume to be desirable, but merely
Slain” “froatwards ” as opposed to standing
still, to stepping “backwards.” In the course
past Abel centuries it has, however, acquired
eal acy, earthly felicity, happi-
even perfection—or towards the attainment
happiness i in a future state of existence.
measure of “progress ” thus necessarily has
according to the conception of happiness—
Bhepeee there have always been divergent
ns, and never an accepted definition. The
phers of antiquity were pessimists: they
not entertain a belief in progress, but, on the
‘ary, held (with the notable exception of the
Saat that we are receding from a long-
golden age of happiness.
notion of earthly progress was opposed
Christian Church, which endeavoured to
1’s minds on a future state of rewards and
hments. A belief in the distribution of these
its intervention was the chief basis of the
authority and power of the Church. The spirit
of the Renaissance—the challenge to the
g p suthority, of the ancients and of the Church, the
_ emancipation of the natural man in the fields of
art and of literature, and, later, in the sphere of
philosophical thought—was accompanied by the
development of the idea of progress. Ramus, a
NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
mathematician, writes in the year 1569: “In one
century we have seen a greater progress in men
and works of learning than our ancestors had
seen in the whole course of the previous fourteen
centuries.”” The French historian, Jean Bodin,
about the same time, reviewing the history of the
world, was the first definitely to deny the de-
generation of man, and comes (as Prof. Bury tells
us in the fascinating book which we have used?
as the text of this article) nearer to the idea of
progress than anyone before him. “ He is,” says
Prof. Bury, “on the threshold.”” And then Prof.
Bury proceeds to trace through the writings of
successive generations of later philosophers and
historians—such as Le Roy, Francis Bacon, Des-
cartes, the founders of the Royal Society, and
others, such as Leibnitz, Fontenelle, de Saint
Pierre, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Turgot, Rousseau,
Condorcet, Saint Simon, and Comte—the various
forms which this idea of “progress” assumed,
its expansions and restrictions, its rejection and
its defence, until we come to the Great Exhibition
of 1851, and, later still, to the new aspect given
to the idéa of progress by the doctrine of
evolution and’ the theories of Darwin and of
Spencer.
These chapters provide the reader with a valu-
able history of an important line of human
thought. But the most interesting part to many
of us must be the closing pages in. which the
actual state of the idea of progress as it appears
-in the light of evolution-is sketched, and the ques-
tions are raised, which it has not been Prof. Bury’s
purpose to discuss, viz. Granted that there has
‘been progress, in what ‘does it consist? Is it
likely to continue? Does the doctrine of evolu-
tion, now so firmly established, lead us to sup-
pose that “progress” will continue, and, if so,
what will be its character? Or is it (however we
define it) coming to an end? Will stagnation, or
will decay and degeneration, as. some suppose,
necessarily follow? Or is “progress ’” (whatever
one may mean by that word) a law of human
nature ?
The doctrine of the gradual estaiien of the
inorganic universe had already gained wide
acceptance before the epoch when Darwin’s
“Origin of Species ” brought man: into the area
of evolution, and established. the accepted belief
in the “progress” of man from an animal
ancestry to the present phase of the more
1 “* The Idea of Progress: An Inquiry into its Origin and Growth.” By
Prof. J. Bury. Pp. xv+377- (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
1920.) Price 14s. net.
BB
734
NATURE
[AuGuUST 12, 1920
civilised races. It does not follow as a matter
of course that such a development means the
movement of man to a desirable goal. But (as
Prof. Bury reminds us) Darwin, after pointing
to the fact that all the living forms of life are
lineal descendants of those which lived long
before the Silurian epoch, argues that we may
look with some confidence to a secure future of
equally immeasurable length; and, further, that,
as natural selection works solely by and for the
good of each being, all corporeal and mental en-
dowments will tend to progress towards perfec-
tion. Darwin was a convinced optimist.
Equally so was Spencer. According to him,
change is the law of all things, and man is no
exception to it. Humanity is indefinitely variable,
and perfectibility is possible. All evil results from
the non-adaptation of the organism to its con-
ditions. In the present state of the world men
suffer many evils, and this shows that their char-
acters are not yet adjusted to the social state.
Now the qualification requisite for the social state
is that each individual shall have such desires only
as may fully be satisfied without trenching upon
the ability of others to obtain similar satisfaction.
This qualification is not yet fulfilled, because
civilised man retains some of the characteristics
which were suitable for the conditions of his
earlier predatory life. He needed one moral con-
stitution for his primitive state; he requires quite
another for his present state. The result is a
process of adaptation which has been going on for
a long time, and will go on for a long time to
come. Civilisation represents the adaptations
which have already been ‘accomplished. Progress
means the successive steps of the process. (There
we have the scientific definition of human progress
according to the apostle of evolution.) The ulti-
mate development of the ideal man by this process
(says Spencer) is logically certain—as certain as
any conclusion in which we place the most implicit
faith: for instance, that men will all die. Pro-
gress is thus held by Spencer to be not an acci-
dent, but a necessity. In order that the human
race should enjoy the greatest amount of happi-
néss, each member of the race should possess
faculties enabling him to experience the highest
enjoyment of life, yet in such a way as not to
diminish the power of others to receive like
satisfaction.
Let me say, in order to avoid misapprehension,
that in what follows I am not citing Prof. Bury,
but stating my own opinions and suggestions.
NO. 2650, VOL, 105 |
developed a degree of artistic execution and feel-
It has been urged in opposition to the optimistic
doctrine of Darwin and Spencer that it is a pro=
minent fact of history that every great civilisation.
of the past progressed to a point at which, instead
of advancing further, it stood still and declined.
Arrest, decadence, decay,. it is urged, have been.
the rule. This, however, is but the superficial
view of the historian who limits his vision to the
last four or five thousand years of man’s develop- —
ment. It is not confirmed when we trace man
from the flint-chippers of 500,000 years ago to:
the present day. |
Naturalists are familiar with the phenomenon ~
of degeneration in animal descent. Higher, more i
elaborate forms have sometimes given rise to
simplified, dwindled lines of descent, specialised
and suited to their peculiar environments. ‘The.
occasional occurrence of such development in the —
direction of simplification and inferiority, and |
even the extinction of whole groups or branches: —
of the genealogical tree of organisms, endowed ~
with highly developed structural adaptations, and_
the survival of groups of extreme simplicity of
structure, does not invalidate the truth of the con-
clusion as to a vast and predominating evolution
—with increase of structure and capacity—of the:
whole stock of animal and vegetable organisms. _
A similar line of argument applies to the long —
and extended history of mankind.
The conclusion adverse to the reality of the
evolutional progress. of mankind which is held by —
those who declare that the ancient Greeks and
other products of human evolution of like age had
Pi
ing, of devotion to intellectual veracity and ideal
justice, to which more modern civilisation has not |
attained, is a fanciful exaggeration in which it —
pleases some enthusiasts to indulge. But am —
examination of the facts makes it abundantly clear —
that the conclusion is altogether erroneous. :
Another attempt to discredit the belief in pro- —
gress consists in an ambiguous use of the word —
“happiness” when it is declared that the teem- —
ing millions of China or even the herds of sheep: —
browsing on our hill-sides are “happier” than ‘
the civilised peoples of Europe and America. —
Spencer’s definition of the goal of human progress:
as determined by the general laws of organic —
evolution should lead in this discussion either to
the abandonment of the use of the vague term —
“happiness,” or to a critical examination of the
state of feeling which it implies, and of the caus 1s.
to which they are specifically related. er
NATURE
735
te for an indefinite period in the same direc-
there is, it seems, in spite of the view as to
permanence held both by Spencer and by
yin, room for doubt and for re-examination
he situation.
The struggle for existence, the natural selec-
@ ae of favoured variations, and their
y structure from that of preceding ape-like
m , and even to account for the development
of man’s brain to greatly increased size and effi-
‘eiency. But a startling and most definite fact in
this connection has to be considered and its sig-
ificance appreciated. The fact to which I refer
that since prehistoric man, some hundred thou-
id years ago, attained the bodily structure which
in to-day possesses, there has been no further
elopment of that structure—measurable and of
uch quality as separates the animals nearest to
_man from one another. Yet man has shown enor-
‘mous_ “progress” since that remote epoch. The
amy and the mental faculties connected with it
ri ” attribute of man. And even in regard
. to. ae ain there is, since the inception of the
new phase of development which we have now
a to consider, no increase of size, though were we
able” to compare the ultimate microscopic struc-
2 of the brains of earlier and later man we
; "should almost certainly find an increased com-
exity in the minute structure of the later brain.
t seems to be the fact that—when once man
_ had acquired and developed the power of com-
E municating and receiving thought, by speech with
Chis fellow-man (so as to establish, as it were,
mental co-operation), and yet further of recording
4 all human thought for the common use of both
_ present and future generations, by drawing and
writing (to be followed by printing)—a totally new
factor in human evolution came into operation
of such overwhelming power and efficiency as to
supersede entirely the action of natural selection
of favoured bodily variations of structure in the
struggle for existence. Language provided the
mechanism of thought. Recorded language—pre-
served and handed on from generation to genera-
tion as a thing external to man’s body—became
_ an ever-increasing gigantic heritage, independent
_ of the mechanism of variation and of the survival
NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
-
of favoured variations which had hitherto deter-
mined, the organic evolution of man as of his an-
cestry. The observation, thought, and tradition of
humanity, thus independently accumulated, con-
tinually revised, and extended, have given to later
men that directing impulse which we call the
moral sense, that still, small voice of conscience,
the voice of his father-men, as well as that know-
ledge and skill which we call science and art.
These things are, and have been, of far greater
service to man in his struggles with the destruc-
tive forces of Nature and with competitors of his
own race than has been his strength of limb
and jaw. Yet they are not “inborn” in man.
The young of mankind enter upon the world with
a mind which is a blank sheet of ‘‘educable”’
quality, upon which, by the care of his elders or
by the direction of his own effort, more or less of
the long results of time embodied in the Great
Record, the chief heritage of humanity, may be
inscribed. From this point of view it becomes
clear that knowledge of “that which is,” and
primarily, knowledge of the Great Record, must
be the most important factor in the future “ Pro-
gress of Mankind.” Thus one of the greatest
services which man can render to his fellows is to
add to the common heritage by making new
knowledge of “that which is,” whilst a no less
important task is that of sifting truth from error, of
establishing an unfailing devotion to veracity, and
of promoting the prosperity of present and future
generations of his race by facilitating, so far as
lies within human power, the assimilation by all
men of the chief treasures of human experience
and thought.
The laws of this later “progress” are not, it
would seem, those of man’s earlier evolution.
What they are, how this new progress is to be
made more general and its continuance assured,
what are the obstacles to it and how they are to
be removed, are matters which have not yet been
adequately studied. The infant science of psycho-
logy must eventually help us to a better under-
standing. Not only the reasoning intelligence,
but also the driving power of emotion must be
given due consideration. ‘‘ Education” not only
of the youth, but also of the babe and of the
adult, must become the all-commanding interest
of the community. Progress will cease, to a
large extent, to be a blind outcome of natural
selection; it will acquire new characteristics as
the conscious purpose of rational man.
E. Ray LaNnKESTER.
~
736
NATURE
[AuGUST 12, 1920
ie
Complex Elements in Geometry.
The Theory of the Imaginary in Geometry,
together with the Trigonometry of the Imagin-
ary.. By Prof. J. L. S. Hatton. Pp. vii+ 215.
(Cambridge: At the University Press, 1920.)
Price 18s. net.
HEN we interpret ¢(x, y)=0, ¥(x, y)=0 as
the point-equations of two loci, we are
bound to consider any values («;, i) which satisfy
both equations as the co-ordinates of a point
common to both curves. The simplest case is
when ¢, w are polynomials with ordinary integral
coefficients; here the values (aj, y;) are determin-
ate, and can be calculated, either exactly or to
any desired degree of approximation. Abstractly,
(xi, vi) are a perfectly definite set of couples of
algebraic numbers. A couple (¥%;, 4%) may be real,
and then corresponds to a real point; but it may
be, and often is, complex. What is the most
appropriate and fruitful way, from a geometrical
point of view, of interpreting these complex solu-
tions of the given pair of equations? This is one
of the fundamental problems of analytical geo-
metry, and there are two ways in which it may
be attacked. Suppose that the coefficients of ¢, w
are real, complex intersections (x, 94) fall into
conjugate pairs.. The usual analytical formula
gives a real line as the join of two conjugate
points, and we may call this a common chord of
the two loci. The visible result of combining
g¢=0, ~=o may be said to be a certain number
of real intersections and a certain number of real
lines which, from an algebraical point of view, are
to be regarded as common chords. The most
familiar case is that of two circles and their
radical axis; and here we have a geometrical
definition of the radical axis which applies whether
it meets the two circles or not. We can construct
‘a definition of a common chord of two conics by
‘analogy, whether it meets them in two real or
two conjugate complex points; but the procedure
is artificial, and there is no obvious way of extend-
ing it to higher curves.
The other way is to try to find, as the image or
representative of (x,y), when x,y are not both
real, some definite constructible geometrical entity
to which we can give the name of “point” with-
out violating the axioms of projective geontetry
—e.g. it must still be true that any two points
determine a line, and so on. This, of course,
involves an appropriate definition of a complex
line.
It is to von Staudt that we owe an absolutely
perfect solution of this difficult problem. Its basic
idea is this: Given a real conic, and a real line
which does not cut it (in the ordinary sense), there
NO, 2650, VOL. 105 |
is on the line an elliptic involution of pairs
points conjugate to the conic. With this ellip
involution we can associate either of two opposite —
“senses ” (or directions), and we can interpret the —
involution, with either sense, as a complex point. ©
These complex points are distinct, and conjugate —
in a sense analogous to the algebraic one. This —
geometrical distinction of conjugate complex —
points appears to have been the one thing with —
which von Staudt had the greatest difficulty; it —
must be remembered that he was trying to find a —
theory applicable to three dimensions as well as
to two, and that he wanted to define the line join-
ing any two points in space whether real or com-
plex, and this by purely projective considerations.
The “join” ” of two non-conjugate complex points
in space is von Staudt’s “line of the second kind,”
and the most difficult to realise of all his concepts.
What we may call a metrical, or Cartesian,
image of a complex point (a+bi, c+di) is a seg- _
ment OP drawn from the real point (a,c) to the —
real point (a+b,c+d). The conjugate point is —
represented by a segment OP! = _—OP, and these _
two conjugate points are on the real line PP’.
Poncelet, following that Will-o’-the-Wisp, the —
“principle of continuity,” very nearly hit upon
this representation; for if we consider oR IO y: |. | g
x=b(b>a), we have as the intersections —
(b, +i’ b%—a2), which, in this representation, are —
the principal ordinates of the real hyperbola
x2 —y2—a?,
Prof. Hatton practically adopts this metrical
definition, but in doing so, as it seems to us, in-
troduces unnecessary vagueness, and occasionally —
wabbles between the two points of view. He
begins by an “axiom” which von Staudt breaks —
up into two definitions, and, so far as we can —
see, ignores it in all his algebraical ‘‘verifications.” —
There is no such thing as an algebraical verifica-
tion in the true theory. The algebra is taken for —
granted, and we have to show that our geo-
metrical definitions and postulates and axioms
agree with ordinary complex algebra. In the
Cartesian representation a point which we may:
call (OP), or more simply (OP), corresponds to von
Staudt’s representation (O ePP’) ,where O bisects _
PP’, and o is the point at infinity on the real ~
line POP’. y
So long as we keep to von Staudt’s projectiv :
dehaltion, the questions of such thing's as ‘‘dis
tance,” “angle,” etc., do not arise, ~ Sense’
and “order” are essential, the latter especiall
when we consider von Staudt’s theory of “ casts |
and cross-ratios. ;
It is in connection with the Cartesian imager
_ AvcusT 12, 1920]
NATURE
737
we are confronted with questions about dis-
aces, angles, and so on. We are bound to inter-
‘the distance (5) between the points (a+ bi,
and (a’+b’i, c/+d/i) as given by
¥ B= (a - a’) + (b— Os}? 4 c-—c) + (d-a’)} 2,
| there are corresponding theorems about
1 the whole, we think Prof. Hatton’s book
Il be most useful in suggesting ways in which
he Cartesian way of regarding complex points
lines) is brought into line (without sacrificing
c) with the projective theory. What we may
_eall the complex point (OP), meaning the involu-
tion (with a definite sense) of which O is the
centre, and — OP? the invariant (OQ. OQ! = — OP®),
is a perfectly definite idea, and is a special case
von Staudt’s representation of any complex
int in the harmonic form (O PP’) or (Ow P’P)
ith the initial point O.
Von Staudt’s theory is purely projective, apart
m the discussion of improper casts. The
esian theory is bound to deal with metrical
antities, such as distance and angle, and simply
_ because these notions are derivative, it offers a
field of research of a more complicated character.
_ It may be asserted with some confidence that any
pret kind, and that, if it is worth anything,
Bee: be applicable to three dimensions (or more)
as well 2 as to two. G. B. Matuews.
= PS. __Since the above was written, I have had
b.. ‘time to reflect further upon Prof. Hatton’ s book,
and have read Prof. G. H. Hardy’s review of it
_ in a recent number of the Mathematical Gazette.
I do not wholly agree with Prof. Hardy’s attitude,
because I still think that there are geometrical
‘notions not reducible to arithmetic—still less to
formal logic. But I do agree with him that
Prof. Hatton’s- book has no theoretical value,
and, disagreeable as it is, I think it is my duty to
say so, especially as I have been informed that
another reviewer has praised the book in absurdly
exaggerated terms. G. B. M.
“Motion Study and the Manual Worker.
g Motion Study for the Handicapped. By Frank B.
_ Gilbreth and Dr.
Lillian Moller Gilbreth.
(Efficiency Books.) Pp. xvi+165. (London:
George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1920.)
Price 8s. 6d. net.
G HE work of Mr. Frank B. Gilbreth upon
’ , applied motion study and fatigue study is well
_ known, and the present volume describes various
- extensions and additions to his previously recorded
NO. 2650, VOL. 105] *
real extension of von Staudt’s theory will be of a.
methods, especially with the intention of assist-
ing men who are handicapped by the loss of a
limb or of their eyesight. In Mr. Gilbreth’s latest
scheme the manual worker whose movements are
being studied has a small electric light attached
to the hand or other working member of the
body, and thereby the path of the motions made
can be determined in detail if a series of photo-
graphs is taken by kinematograph. Other photo-
graphs are taken with a stereoscopic camera, and
by this means the path of the motion in three
dimensions is ascertained. It is then possible to
construct wire models showing exactly the path of
a given motion, and such models are found to be
very useful for instruction purposes. Series of
models are exhibited at the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, Washington, and elsewhere, so that skilled
mechanics are able to see for themselves what
are considered to be the best methods of per-
forming certain motions, and to determine if they
themselves fall short of the ideal.
Again, Mr. Gilbreth represents on diagrams,
termed “simultaneous-motion cycle charts,” the
results of his studies on micro-motion. Such charts,
when read downwards, present in chronological
sequence the various activities performed by any
member of the body, the posture taken during
the action, and the time consumed. If read
across, the charts give a record of all the work-
ing members of the body at any one time, and
they enable one to see which parts of the body
are working most and which are being delayed.
It is maintained that this chart system enables
the workmen to visualise their efforts graphically,
and thereby to lessen waste and increase efficiency.
The great ingenuity of Mr. Gilbreth’s methods
will be admitted by everyone, but it is more im-
portant for us to determine their practical value.
Mr. Gilbreth photographs champions playing base-
ball, champion typists, skilled surgeons’ when
operating, in addition to skilled tradesmen, and
he believes that the skill shown is in every
case based on one common set of fundamental
principles, the principles of economy of effort and
rhythm of motion. The application of this hypo-
thesis to practical ends is, however, very far dis-
tant. The concrete instances quoted of the em-
ployment of micro-motion study in actual prac-
tice are very few and not very striking, but doubt-
less it will take a good deal of time before they
can be adequately tested and applied.
The portion of the book devoted specially to the
handicapped describes several useful methods,
though it strikes the uninitiated that they could
have been evolved equally well without elaborate
micro-motion study and motion-cycle charts. The
one-armed typist is supplied with a typewriter
738
NATURE =
[AuGUST 12, 1920
which has a magazine of paper lasting him a
week, and he is enabled to type four copies at
once by means of ribbons instead of carbon paper.
The blind man is trained by visualisation, and is
taught to use a cross-sectioned visualising board,
on which the tools and equipment he is using are
placed at fixed points. Thereby great waste of
time and effort is saved. The importance of find-
ing work that cripples can do, and of teaching
them to do the work, is insisted on. Not only
have the war cripples to be considered, but also
the very numerous workers crippled as the result
of industrial accidents. H. Mow,
Our Bookshelf.
Produits anticrypto-
Engrais. | Amendements
gamiques et Insecticides. Par Dr. E.
Demoussy. Pp. xi+297. Paris and Liége:
Ch. Béranger, 1919. Price 15 francs.
Dr. Demoussy’s manual on the analysis of fer-
tilisers is written for the trained chemist; it is
founded on the methods laid down in 1897 by the
Comité des stations agronomiques, but unofficial
methods in use in the principal French laboratories
are also described. After a short introduction on
the laws regulating the sale of fertilisers, the
author deals in the first two chapters with the
collection of samples and their qualitative exam-
ination. The following four chapters treat of
the determination of nitrogen, phosphoric acid,
potash, and manganese, the arrangement being
according to the substance to be determined, and
not the material in which it is found. The
methods are for the most part well known in this
country, and call for only a few remarks,
longest section is that devoted to nitrogen. The
official method for nitrates is that of Schloesing,
and no mention is made of the zinc-copper couple,
while for organic nitrogen the Kjeldahl and soda-
lime processes are both recommended. The latter
has fallen into almost complete disuse in this
country, and probably few chemists here would
agree with the opinion that it is the more econ-
omical in time when many samples are to be
examined. Where a purely chemical analysis
would be of little value, as in the case of dried
blood, drawings of the materials as seen under
the microscope are given. The value of these
would have been greatly increased if the magnifi-
cation had been stated. Under the head of potash
no reference is made to flue-dust; in this case the
official methods would have to be slightly modified
to ensure complete removal of silicic acid.
The .second and third parts of the book deal
with materials such as lime and with fungicides
and insecticides. Tables for the calculation of
results are added, and the appendix contains the
French laws and regulations dealing with the sale
of fertilisers. é
The book is well arranged and clearly written,
and its value is added to by notes on the form
in which the various materials are put upon the |
NO, 2650, VOL. 105 |
The ©
market and the adulterations to which they are
liable. It should prove very useful in analytical.
laboratories in this country as well as in France. 2
Donatp J. MaTrHews.
Flora of Jamaica: Containing Descriptions of the —
Flowering Plants known from the Island. By
William Fawcett and Dr. Alfred Barton Rendle.
Vol. iv., Dicotyledons: Families Leguminosae
to Callitrichaceae. Pp. xv+369. (London:
British Museum (Natural History), 1920.) Price
255.
Tue fourth volume of this admirable tropical flora
has lately appeared, and contains the Dicotyledons
from Leguminose to Callitrichacee (on the
Englerian system). It maintains the high
standard of its predecessors, and shows a great |
advance upon some well-known tropical floras in.
being illustrated by excellent text figures, and not
by a series of separate plates, which are usually
troublesome to consult. The index is also con-
venient in being only a single list of both scien-
tific and popular names and synonyms. Turning
to the contents of the book, which have been i
worked up with much care and after consulta- —
tion of all the older authors and collections, —
an interesting feature that may be noticed is the
extraordinary generic similarity of the flora to
that of other islands, even at immense distances
from Jamaica. In the Leguminose, for example,
the first family in the volume, 118 Jamaica species, __
or 80 per cent., belong to genera that also occur
in Ceylon, 74 per cent. to genera occurring in |
Formosa, and even in the case of so far distant
an island as New Caledonia 63 per cent. of the —
Jamaica species belong to common genera. It
is clear that the islands on the whole contain the
older genera, which have been able to reach them. | —
Of the Jamaica genera of Leguminose 7o per cent.
are cosmotropical, and only 14 per cent. are con-
fined to the New World. Again, one notices that
the proportion of endemic species is small in
Leguminose, and larger in Euphorbiacez and
some of the other families, just as in other floras. —
It would appear a promising piece of work to ~
make a careful statistical study of numbers and ~
proportions of endemics in many countries, for it
evidently follows definite, if perhaps recondite, laws.
Butter and Cheese. By C. W. Walker Tisdale
and Jean Jones. (Pitman’s Common Com- |
modities and Industries.) Pp. ix+142. —
(London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., —
n.d.) Price 2s. 6d. net. a
THE writers of this book have succeeded in giving
to the general reader a very good account of the ~
essential facts in connection with, the dairying
industry. As was to be expected, it was meces-
sary to treat the subject on what are generally
termed popular lines, but certain of the chapters
are written in a particularly clear manner and’ |
with full regard to the essential technical points.
Not only the chief branches of the dairy indetoe |
—cheese-making and butter-making—are dealt
with, but also the production of milk, the methods —
of analysis, and the judging of dairy produce are |
=
= YAUGUST 12, 1920]
NATURE
739
touched upon. In connection with the production
f milk it’ would have been useful to include a
r the general reader has but little idea of the
stem and the benefits it confers.
_and preparing it for churning are fully dealt with,
the chief machinery, such as the separator,
the cream ripener, the regenerative heater, and
1e pasteuriser are described.
Cheese-making is dealt with by taking Cheddar
heese as a type, and the principies and practice
the maturing and marketing of the produce.
Notes on judging cheese and also butter are
Ear and should prove helpful, whilst attention
as directed to the advantages which have followed
control cf butter in Denmark and cheese in
ew Zealand. The reproach still to be heard
hat a lot of home produce is not of the quality
yarranted, but a great deal is being done to teach
per methods, and an improvement in quality
may be expected throughout the country in the
ee future.
Igie ’s Weather Book: For the General Reader.
_ By Joseph H. Elgie. Pp. xii+251. (London:
_ The Wireless Press, Ltd., 1920.) Price 5s. net.
_ Tuis work is essentially for the uninitiated in
weather study. The author presupposes no
knowledge, and has throughout avoided
‘mathematics and formule. A rough survey is
taken of elementary meteorology in a way which
‘must commend itself to all who take an interest
‘in ordinary weather changes. In the opening
‘sentences the author appeals to boy or man; he
‘might also as well appeal to the other sex, who
are now taking a keen interest in all branches of
The book is divided into fifteen chapters, which
«separate the subject into well-recognised divisions.
A weather vocabulary is given at the end which
rs ‘the réader will find helpful, and in this, as well as
in the general text, the latest official ‘and recog-
‘nised publications have been consulted, which is
an immense advantage, as meteorology at present
tis making rapid strides in its advance.
__ associated, and in this respect reference is made
_ to the close relationship between ‘rainfall and
_ diphtheria, as shown by Sir Arthur Newsholme,
‘the disease varying inversely with the amount of
_ rain. There are few points in the book with
which a meteorologist could find fault, and the
author certainly imparts a large amount of useful
‘knowledge.
_ Selected Studies in Elementary Physics: A Hand-
_-—s ibook ‘for the Wireless Student and Amateur.
By E. Blake. Pp. viii+176. (London:
_ Wireless Press, Ltd., 1920.) Price 5s.
‘WE have here something of a short cut to know-
‘ledge which occupies a peculiar position in scien-
stific literature. Addressed to those already
NO. 2050, VOL. 105]
The
account of the practice of milk-recording,
The methods employed in separating cream_
e fully explained, as are also the essential points
lat might reasonably be expected is probably °
_ Weather and health are doubtless intimately
familiar with the phenomena of wireless telegraphy,
it assumes some knowledge of electrical matters
on the part of the reader, a little’ mathematics,
but an almost complete ignorance of the physical
and chemical properties of matter. We do not
say that this attitude is necessarily unsound, as
there must be many “‘amateurs’”’ who have tried
to run in pursuit of electrical subjects before they
could walk, and it is praiseworthy to endeavour
to teach them to walk by a quick method, as they
are not likely to possess the time or the tempera-
ment to plod through more laborious courses.
Granted, then, that there is a justification for pre-
senting the elements of physics and chemistry in
such a severely compressed form, the author dis-
plays skill in dealing with his difficult task,
although there are some inconsistencies in the
degree of knowledge that he assumes his reader
to possess. We like, among other things, the
way in which the author encourages the student to
think in vectors early in his career, and to keep
continually in mind the dimensions of the quanti-
ties that he is considering. If the reader is en-
abled, by taking advantage of the guidance
offered, to form scientific habits of thought which
he would not have acquired otherwise, the book
will be a success.
The Coolidge Tube: Its Scientific Applications.
Medical and Industrial. By H. Pilon. Author-
ised translation. Pp. v+95. (London: ‘Bail-
li¢re, Tindall, and Cox, 1920.) Price 7s. 6d.
net.
M. PiLon has not been so careful in selecting a
translator for his little book on the Coolidge tube
as he was in the original material. The French
version was excellent, both from the practical
point of view and the judicious selection of data
bearing upon recent developments in radiography.
Curiously enough, passages which in the original
present no difficulty to the reader now lack that
clearness which any translator should carefully
preserve. We select a paragraph which explains
the first figure in the text: “This rising part,
denoted by e, is on account of the electrons, by
traversing from one electrode to the other under
the influence of a large potential difference,
acquiring such a speed that on encountering gas
molecules, they split up. . . .”” Again, on p. 17,
in describing the radiator type of tube, we read:
“The limiting power it is capable: of bearing oscil-
lates between 500 and 600 watts.’
We notice that the letterpress of many of the
diagrams remains in the French language. The
developments of the Coolidge tube and the uses
to which it may be put will doubtless necessitate
a further edition by M. Pilon, and we trust that
he will then give the Regtish edition more careful
consideration.
Techno-Chemical Receipt Book. Compiled and
edited by W. T. Brannt and Dr. W. H. Wahl.
Pp. xxxili+516. (London: Hodder and
Stoughton, Ltd., 1919.). Price 15s. net.
Tuts book contains a very large number of recipes
covering an amazing field. As might be expected,
740
NATURE
[AuGUST 12, 1920
many of these are of questionable value, either on
account of the methods having been replaced by
more up-to-date processes or because the materials
specified, which were by-products of long-vanished
industries, cannot now be obtained. Apart from
this defect, which is inherent in all books of this
type, there is no doubt that the present volume
will be of great service to workers in laboratories
as well as to those engaged in industry. The
authors state that “the materials have been
principally derived from German technical litera-
ture, which is especially rich in receipts and pro-
cesses which are to be relied on.’’ From the
impossible nature of several of the processes, one
might have guessed this: British workers are
familiar with the ‘‘reliable’’ character of some
German specifications.
Photography and its Applications. By William
Gamble. (Pitman’s Common Commodities and
Industries.) Pp. xii+132. (London: Sir Isaac
Pitman and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
Mr. GAMBLE, having had a lifelong experience in
connection with technical photographic processes
and their applications, speaks with authority on
these matters. But the very limited scope afforded
by so small a.volume as this, and the innumerable
applications that have to be dealt with, give him
only a poor opportunity of presenting the subject
to his readers.
into a mere catalogue of operations, and this into
a mere dictionary-like mention. A little more care
might well have been bestowed on the revision of
the text. Working instructions are not given.
We can recommend the book to those who wish
to get in a small compass a general, but super-
ficial, knowledge of the character of photography
and its applications.
The Chemists’ Year Book, 1920. Edited by
F, W. Atack, assisted by L. Whinyates.
Vol. i., pp. vit 422; vol. ii., pp. vii—viii + 423-
1136. (London and Manchester: Sherratt and
Hughes, 1920.)
SUCCEEDING editions of this handy laboratory
manual are increasingly useful. The -present
volumes supply the need formerly satisfied by the
“Chemiker Kalender”; English chemists have
now no necessity to go, outside their own country
for such books. A valuable feature of “The
Chemists’ Year Book” is the series of articles
written by specialists, such as that on ‘ Alkaloids”
by Dr. E. Hope. The tables and numerical data
are very complete. ‘i
Ions, Electrons, and Ionising Radiations. By
Dr. J. A. Crowther. Pp. xii+276. (London:
Edward Arnold, 1919.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
THE subjects dealt with include gaseous conduc-
tion, thermionic emission, photo-electricity, X-
rays, radium rays, and the electron theory. The
treatment involves a knowledge of elementary
mathematics, and the work forms a useful appen-
dix to the ordinary text-book of physics. A clear
and very readable account is given of the ‘‘ quan-
tum ” theory of radiation.
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
The short summary often passes ,
Letters to the Editor. ‘
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for !
Neither —
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with a
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for —
opinions expressed by his correspondents.
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
University Grants.
Tue article on university ggants in Nature of
August 5 is opportune, and does not overstate the
‘gravity of the situation. The proposed recurrent half-
The annual —
million is welcome, but quite inadequate.
grant to the universities of the United Kingdom
should be at least three millions. Be
We have been rigidly economical in our expenditure.
There is no question of the value of the work which
has been done. Everyone agrees that vigorous and
well-found universities are indispensable to the
national welfare, but they are hampered at nearly
every point by insufficiency of income. Large
numbers of their teachers are very seriously under-
paid. Many departments are undermanned.
vanced studies and research are lamentably curtailed.
Libraries are stinted of necessary books. :
Before prices rose the universities had not the
financial resources which their work required. Since
the change in the value of money their position has
become critical; some of them are threatened with
disaster. In Leeds we have done everything in our
power to raise salaries in order to meet the increé
cost of living. The emergency was so grave that we
decided to run a great risk. We have incurred
obligations which will entail an annual deficit of
25,0001. Even this expenditure falls far short of
what should be incurred if the high standard of uni-
versity teaching is to be maintained permanently. It
will be impossible for us to continue the present rate
of expenditure unless large new grants are forth-
coming. In the absence of further aid from the
Government I see nothing for it but the abandon-
ment of work which is now well done, indispensable,
and nationally advantageous. We need an additional
income of about 60,oool. a year in order to maintain
the supply of teachers of the right type. The annual
grant from the Government to the universities of the
United Kingdom should be three times as large as
what is given this year. M. E. SaDLEer.
The University, Leeds, August 9. eas
oe)
The Carrying Power of Spores and Plant-Life in
Deen Gaves.
My sister and I observed a similar growth of vegeta- 2
tion to that which Mr. Lough. Pendred describes in
the Cheddar Caves in Nature of August $y P: 709.
We were on a knapsack-walking tour together in the
Hartz Mountains in 1900, and saw this effect in the
These were —
beautiful, great, deep Riibeland Caves.
then lit up by both oil and electric lamps placed, as in
the Cheddar Caves, in recesses or on the floor so
as to illuminate the stalactites and bone remains.
were told that the ex-Kaiser had ordered the electric
illumination, not being content with the’ previous —
oil lamps, but both kinds of lighting were still there.
It was very noticeable that the vegetation spread
out fan-like in front of the electric lamps to a much ~
greater extent than behind them, or than near the
oil lamps, and vet the electricity must have been, at —
| that date, of fairly recent supply. It is true that the
Ad. >
—
We j
Avcust 12, 1920]
NATURE
741
lamps are more likely to have had an indefinite
ion, as they must be handled to fill, but they
obably been much longer close to the situations
ich we saw them. The less vegetative growth
them and the shadow effect behind the electric
would seem to show that it was the shorter
-wayes which were requisite for this plant-life
- than contact-warmth or longer heat and reddish
th nggard to the transport of the spores to the
} the caves, some experiments by Profs.
fa McKeehan are of interest. At the Winni-
Ghetting of the British Association in 1909 they
a paper, followed by a discussion, on experi-
published in
oruary, I9I0, in which “a showed that while a
ud of minute smooth paraffin spheres or mercury
ets obeyed Stokes’s law, yet similar experiments
& the spores of Lycoperdon, Polytricium, and Lyco-
um (all nearly spherical) gave only about half
terminal velocities required by mathematical
ry. In Nature of January 6, gio, I offered an
nation of the apparent discrepancy shown by
results. By using a large-aperture microscopic
ctive with oblique illumination and _ spectrum-
d blue solar light, the spores can be seen, just
the limits of visibility, to be coated with a
mass of very fine hairs more ‘than a radius in length.
pe mecuning in Stokes’s formula for the terminal
velocity |
Rape a
_2 2 gtd
a a
where ; the radius, « the air viscosity, and d the
density of the spores, the effective diameter comes
out to be just double that of the measured diameter
as seen in an ordinary microscope. This increase of
effective diameter is what should be expected if a
mass vt air be entangled with the spore, or a tail of
. Hence the physical measurement of
sedate velocity of fall confirms the microscopic
‘vation of the hirsute coating in all the three sets
mg cases where spores were used. The spores are
enabled to be wafted great distances, therefore, much
_as are the seeds of a dandelion. No Brownian motion
or rotation was observed, and this also suggests the
coating of hairs. Since the spore-walls are not abso-
lutel res or smooth in the sense that surface
jon makes the droplets, some Brownian motion
would have been expected if the external air molecules
could strike directly on the spore-wall.. The air en-
ta in the chevaux de frise of hairs will, however,
caries down the average result of individual impacts
of external air molecules by making the effect slower,
and therefore the resultant average smoother.
s the difficulty of wetting Lycopodium dust until it
as lain on the water long enough to get water-
, viz. long enough, probably, for the entangled
air to be dissolved out. While the air is so entangled
the effective density is more nearly one-eighth than a
little above unity as measured by Profs. Zeleny
and McKeehan.
That this hairy coating provides these spores with a
cial mechanism which enables them to be carried
‘great distances, is only to make them resemble many
other wind-borne fruits, and the fact is therefore
oy from general considerations.
NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
» verifications of Stokes’s Jaw for the fall of.
‘Yet another indication of this coating of long hairs |
The method of verifying a difficult, almost ultra-
microscopic, observation in botany by measuring the
terminal velocity, as of a small falling body in a
viscous fluid, is perhaps not common.
EpitH A. SToNey.
King’s College for Women, London.
Gurious Formation of !ce.
In Nature of December 12, Igi2, was published a
letter wherein I described a curious formation of ice
in the hope that some of your readers would be able
to explain the cause, but there was no reply. After
five years the formation occurred again in similar
circumstances, and I submit a partial explanation
which occurred to me on seeing this second example
of the phenomenon. The ice was again formed on
water in a rough hole or pond (about 2 ft. by 1 ft.)
in the garden in clay soil. It was observed at
3-30 p-m. on January 13, 1918. The, “dark, sinuous
lines. ”” in this case were about } in. wide, and again
ran ‘‘about parallel to the major axis ”’ of the small
pond. These dark lines were again due to the ridges
of ice on the under-side of the ice covering the water,
but were closer together than before, being about
13 in. apart. The cross-section of the ridges was
again of ‘“‘dovetail’’ shape, the attachment being at
the smaller end of the * dovetail.”’
The partial explanation appears to be as follows :
A uniform layer of ice about 4 in. thick forms over
the whole surface of the water. The water slowly
leaks out of the pond. The ice sags in the middle,
keeping in contact with the water over its central
area, but, owing to the support of the sides of the
pond, the edges do not sag, and an air-space forms
under the ice round its margin. The vertical cross-
section of this air-space is a long, narrow triangle
lying on one long side (the free surface of the water) ;
the under-side of the ice forms the other lon side,
and the mud-bank of the pond the short side. At
night, or at any other time when the temperature again
falls below freezing point, the water at the margin
(where the ice and surface of the water meet at an
acute angle) freezes to the slab of ice and forms a
ridge on the under-side of the ice. The water
leaking slowly from the pond all the while would help
the formation of the ridge. The next day, or when
the temperature is again slightly above freezing, the
water, continuing to leak away, allows a further slight
sagging of the ice and the enlargement of the air-
space, thus giving the space between the ridges of
ice. The next freezing forms the second ridge, and
so on.
This explanation appears to account for the ridges,
their spacing, and their being roughly parallel to the
major axis of the pond, but it does not account for
the beautifully sharp, regular, and symmetrical
formation of the cross-section of the ridges. One
expects an asymmetrical cross-section instead of the
symmetrical ‘“‘dovetail.’’ It has been suggested to
me that the “dovetail ’’ shape is due to the ridge
being partly melted (where it is joined to the top slab
of ice) during the period when the temperature is
above freezing by the comparatively warm top surface
of the water. This seems to be a possible explana-
tion if the cross-section of the ridge when first formed
is rectangular.
I hope that with this as a basis someone will be
able to complete or modify the explanation of the
curious formation of ice observed.
ALFRED 'S. E,. ACKERMANN.
25 Victoria Street, Westminster, London,
W.1, August 3.
“I
42 NATURE
[AuGcusT 12, 1920
Bees and the Scarlet-Runner Bean.
Darwin directed attention to the slight asymmetry
in the petal growth of the scarlet-runner bean,
Phasiolus multiflorus, that offered advantage to the
bee for more easily reaching the nectar on that. side-
of the flower where fertilisation would be helped by
the visiting insect. I remember some years ago many
times satisfactorily confirming the recorded fact by
observation, but. this year |. am - Surprised to note
quite a different practice in respect to insect visits
to these flowers.
The humble-bees follow the habit they have long
acquired in rifling the tubular flower of the jasmine
of its honey: that of gnawing a hole near the base
of the corolla, through which the proboscis can reach
and extract the nectar. A similar plan is now adopted
with the flower of the scarlet-runner bean. The bee
no longer dives into the more open side of the bloom,
where it would brush against the protruding anthers
and stigma in an endeavour to reach the nectaries at
their base, but on alighting moves immediately to
underneath the blossom and, if not already done,
gnaws through the calyx and sheath of filaments
close to the nectaries, which are then easily reached
and emptied. The honey-bees follow, and this season
I have observed no instance of an insect attempting |
to reach the honey in the way the development of |
‘the flower suggests as that of reciprocal advantage.
The asymmetry of the. bloom is due to the pecu-.
liarly coiled shape that the carina or keel part of the
papilionaceous corolla develops. This causes the
stamens and pistil to take a. spiral form as_ they
grow through and_ protrude together from the
extremity of the enveloping carina, and exposes them
between the more separated left wing and standard -
petals.
Though perfectly ‘adapted to self-fertilisation, the
flower, by the change of. habit of the bees, would
appear to lose the occasional advantage. of cross-
pollination, and the injury done by the gnawing of
the bloom apparently causes a diminution
amount of pollen formed and a quicker fading and
falling of the bloom,
of fewer pods “‘setting.’’
Harrorp J. Lowe.
‘The Museum, ‘Torauay.
The Gondition of Kent’s Gavern.
SINCE a recent visit to Kent’s Cavern I have been
wotidering if it would be possible for something to
be done by which any important finds that may be
made there could be brought to the notice of. those
interested in ancient man. The cave now seems to
be one of the sights of Torquay which any curious
visitor can see, just as he visits the caves elsewhere
when on a holiday. There is a well-informed man
who shows the sights to visitors, and he stated to a
party, of which I was one, that quite recently a jaw
of a human being had been found, and that this was
in the possession of a local collector. A human tooth
has also been found. It seems highly desirable that
the jaw should be examined by a competent authority.
During the famous excavations which were made
some years since a jaw was found, but ‘this was
examined and described only a year or two ago; and
although Prof. Keith thought that it represented the
Neanderthal type in this country, I believe Dr. Duck-
worth pronounced that it did not differ from modern
races. If this further jaw were examined the question
might be settled, and it would be of great interest
if it were found that, after all, the race was actually
represented in this country.
Epwarpb A. Martin.
285 Holmesdale Road, South Norwood, S.E.25,
July 29.
NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
‘requires to be multiplied by 1-008 if we wish to com- _
The answer to the problem is evident.
‘sociation had occurred, ‘since d for I,
in the.
with the probable consequence |
Calculation of Vapour Densities. ra
Wuen determining vapour densities I believe that”
many, if not most, experimenters go through three
processes, viz. (x) Correct the observed volume to
that at N.T.P.; (2) find the mass of hydrogen which ~
would occupy this latter volume; and (3) divide this —
mass Of hydrogen into that of the substance used,
whence density d on the hydrogen standard is found. —
Now if we evaluate the constant R in the gas equa- —
tion pv=RT, using mm. of mercury-column as units
of pressure b, and taking v as the gram-molecule in
litres—which on the oxygen standard at N.T.P. is
22-4 litres—we get the figure 62-36.
Then, for finding density, the equation becomes
— “RT
“2py’
where m is the mass in grams and v is in litres.
To quote an example : 0-5 gram of iodine expelled
50 c.c. of air at 17° C, and 750 mm. from V. Meyer’s
apparatus. Was the temperature to which the iodine
had been subjected high enough to cause dissociation ?
This problem, if done by the “three processes,”’
takes some time, and gives d=119-6, which now
pare it with published figures for atomic weights
(119-6 x 1-008 = 120-56).
Using the single equation given above, ©
fa 5X 82° 36 X 290 _ 20's, .
2X750X0'0S ;
Slight dis-
demands 126-9
| venture ‘on these remarks because R is seldom, if
ever, given in the above-mentioned units. It is ex-
pressed usually in such units as are suitable for —
solving energy problems. This number, 62-36, is an)
‘equator ’’ of the four steps which themselves, no
doubt, are valuable from an educational point of view.
Readers of Nature who are te aged in science teach- |
ing may find the ‘‘equator ’’ of some servite.
Seki G, DURRANT,
Rosetree, Marlborough, July 31. .
Use of Sumner Lines in Navigation.
Carr. Tizarp’s reference to my book entitled ** The
Sumner Line,”’ etc. (NATURE, July 1, vol. cv., 4 552)s
contains an error which should be correct His
statement regarding what he calls the zenith ‘point, —
‘which spot is named by Mr. Comstock the sub-
polar point,’? seems to imply that I have introduced ~
a new name not approved in the criticism that :
follows. In fact, I have nowhere used the obnoxious
term ‘‘sub-polar point,’? but have employed in this
connection a well-known phrase, “the sub-solar —
point,’’ for which I can claim no authorship. See —
Young, ‘‘General Astronomy,’’ 1898 edition; Muir,
‘*Navigation,’’ 1918, et al. C. Comstock,
Washburn Observatory, University of Wis-
consin, Madison, July 20.
| REGRET that I inadvertently wrote ‘‘sub-polar ”’ for
‘‘sub-solar’’ in my remarks on Prof. G. C, Com- —
stock’s book on Sumner lines, but this lapse makes
no difference really to the statement that the proper —
description should be zenith point, and not sub-solar
point (see p. vi of preface. and pp. 2, 3, 5, etc.).
Sub-solar refers to the sun only, and does not neces-
sarily include sub-stellar or sub-lunar, but zenith point
is common to all. 'T. H. TEAS
23 Geneva Road, Kingston-on-Thames,
August 5:
AUGUST 12; 1920]
NATURE
743
The Research Department, Woolwich.
By Sir RoBert
If,
Metallurgical Branch.
HE metallurgical branch of the Research De-
partment had been established for some
years before the war, the staff consisting of
four metallurgists. As work increased, addi-
tions became imperative, and before the armis-
tice the scientific staff numbered thirty-seven, of
whom a number were women. At the end of 1916
the branch removed into a new building 120 ft.
long and 55 ft. wide, divided into laboratories well
equipped hak mechanical testing of all kinds,
chemical analysis, microscopy and photomicro-
ROBERTSON,
graphy, experimental heat-treatment, the thermal
study of alloys, and _ other
branches of physical metallurgy.
Figs. 4 and 5 show two of these
laboratories. The machine shops
of the Department, on which
métallurgical work made great
demands, were much extended
and improved.
During the war the metal-
lurgical branch was mainly occu-
pied with a great variety of prob-
lems connected with the metallic
materials of warlike stores used
by the Navy, Army, and Air
Force. The work was carried
out in close association with the
Ordnance Committee and other
Departments concerned. It is
possible to mention here only a
very few of the specific problems
attacked.
Before the war the manufac-
ture of gun forgings was in the
hands of a few armament firms
of long experience, but with
the great increase in output
which took place from 1915 onwards a_ wider
source of supply was drawn upon. The heat-treat-
ment applied was not always the most suitable,
and sometimes caused serious irregularity of pro- |
perties throughout the forgings. Much was done
to define the temperature limits appropriate to the
different steels employed and to secure their
application, thus eliminating those weaker tubes |
which were so frequently found among those
which failed by stretching, choke, or expansion.
The inspection tests were improved, especially in
the determination of the yield point, a matter of
great importance in a highly stressed: structure
such as a gun.
The extreme brittleness of some gun forgings
put forward for test directed attention to the
occurrence of ‘“temper-brittleness” in nickel-
chromium steel, and made investigation an urgent
1 Continued from p. 712.
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
}
Rate, FES,
necessity. Slow cooling in the furnace after
tempering was identified as the main cause of
this form of brittleness, which is detected by the
notched-bar impact test, and was accordingly for-
bidden by specification. Examination of samples
representative of forgings in current supply made
at the beginning of 1916 and at the end of 1918
showed that the notched-bar impact figure of the
average nickel-chromium steel forging had very
greatly improved, with no detriment to the other
mechanical properties. The study of the notched-
bar test was continued in association with the
British Engineering Standards Committee, and
much knowledge was gained as to its significance
and conditions of application.
Fic. 4.—Portion of mechanical testing laboratory.
Much time has been given to the study of the
elastic properties of steels and of the effect of
overstrain and recovery,\a subject of importance
in connection with the ‘strength of guns and their
construction by methods involving the use of in-
ternal pressure.
Erosion, wear, and the development and exten-
sion of cracks in the bore have been studied i
rifle and machine-gun barrels, as well as in guns.
Many questions were solved in connection with
the design and manufacture of bullet envelopes
and the cores of armour-piercing bullets.
A method of applying the Brinell hardness test
for the individual testing of H.E. shells which
for one reason or another were in question as to
their strength was developed, and resulted in the
successful utilisation of very large numbers of
shells which might otherwise have been rejected.
The numerous components of ammunition and
744
NATURE
[AuGuUST 12, 1920
fuzes were the subject of many investigations. As
an example may be mentioned the hammer of the
No. 106 fuze. This was liable to failure at a
time of great output until the causes of difficulty
were ascertained and sound methods of manufac-
ture established. The introduction of.a simple
form of heat-treatment rendered possible the use
of a rapid and economical stamping method which
greatly assisted supply.
An investigation carried out upon brass small
arm cartridge cases gave very complete informa-
tion connecting the behaviour of the case in the
rifle with its properties, and especially with its
hardness. The hardness is chiefly dependent on
the degree of cold-work received in the final draw-
ing operation, and manufacturers were assisted by
information as to the requisite hardness at dif-
ferent parts of the case and the dimensions of the
necessary tools for producing it. The measure-
central core of unsound material, in brass rod
used for fuzes led to an extended study of the —
extrusion process, in which the flow of the hot —
brass is liable to form internal defects in a re-
markable and characteristic way. A method of
controlling the plastic flow to produce entirely
sound rod has been devised.
The necessities of the war demanded that first —
consideration should be given to the solution of
immediate practical problems. The use of sub-
stitutes and alternative methods of manufacture
when supplies ran short, the easing of specifica-
tions to increase output with safety, the adapta-
tion and introduction of inspection tests to meet
changing conditions, the examination of enemy
material, the tracing of causes of failure and the
discovery and application of remedies, provided a
large field for investigation. Work on the funda-
mental properties of metals and alloys, which is
so necessary if research in ap-
plied metallurgy is to continue
to be fruitful, was, however,
continued throughout the war,
and is now _ being further
developed.
Radiological Branch.
In the beginning of 1916 the
question of the penetration of
metals by X-rays was first con-
sidered by the Research Depart-
ment. After experiments with
various types of apparatus under
different conditions, it was
found possible to pénetrate a
block of steel half an inch in
thickness and show internal
flaws. The Department at once
realised the possibilities in-
volved in this new use of X-rays
as applied to Service require-
ments, and took steps with the
Fic. 5.—View in microscope room.
ments to ensure exact control of the hardness have
been made possible by the use of a small machine
designed in the Research Department shortly
before the war for the determination of the hard-
ness of very thin specimens. In this machine,
which has proved useful in many unexpected
ways, the Brinell test may be made on samples
one-hundredth of an inch or even less in thickness,
with balls as small as o-8 mm. in diameter.
A thorough investigation of the phenomenon
of ‘‘season-cracking’”’ in brass and its prevention
by low-temperature annealing has had a useful
application in the removal of internal stress from
cartridge cases.
Methods of casting brass ingots have been much
improved. The long, narrow moulds formerly
employed for ingots to be used in the manufac-
ture of rod were productive of troublesome defects
in the finished article.
The occurrence of the “extrusion defect,” a
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
best apparatus available to
evolve a technique for applying
the new method as widely as possible, not only
for detecting flaws in steel, but also for the exam-
ination of various articles, such as unknown
enemy ammunition, where for reasons of safety
it was desirable to know the internal construction
before breaking down. X-rays were also applied
to many Service stores for the purpose of indi- —
cating defective assembly, and for discovering —
faults such as blow-holes and internal flaws in
metals.
As research progressed it became apparent that ~
in order to obtain the best results the whole ~
subject of radiology needed careful study so that —
its methods might be modified and adapted to this _
More powerful tubes and high-power _
electrical machinery were essential, and the photo- ~
graphic side of the subject required special treat-
A general scheme of research on the sub- _
ject of radiology as applied to the examination of
new use.
ment.
Service materials was consequently undertaken,
A
eS,
aa
— 4
_ AuGuUST 12, 1920]
NATUR&
745
and this included the construction, in the Depart- | view.
ment, of special apparatus. and high-tension elec-
trical machinery; research was also undertaken
on such associated subjects as the detection of
_ feeble radiation and the measurement of its in-
tensity.
_ Certain progress has been made, with the result
_ that X-rays are being used to a much greater
extent as research proceeds. X-ray examination
of welds is the only method by which their sound-
ness can be demonstrated, and it is now possible
to penetrate more than 24 in. of steel to show
internal flaws. Fig. 6 shows part of one installa-
tion in the Research Department for the examina-
tion of materials.
Proof and Experimental Branch.
All guns are tested to a pressure in excess of
their working pressures, and the ballistics of all
_ lots of propellants are ascertained, by firing into
sand butts. Carriages, recuperators, and many
small stores are also similarly proved before
acceptance.
Velocities are measured by means of Boulangé
chronographs, and pressures by means of copper
crushers in piston gauges. Flat-headed shot are
used, to keep the penetration into the sand butts
as low as possible.
Experimental firing, which principally consists
in the determination of the weights of propellant
necessary to give specified ballistics under various
conditions, is also undertaken, and for this pur-
pose the proof butts staff work in collaboration
with the internal ballistic branch, by which the
preliminary calculations are made. -
Considerable expansion of personnel and
matériel was necessary during the war to cope
with the vast amount of proof and experiments.
At the armistice the staff had increased to nearly
ten times its pre-war figure, and included a
number of women, who were most efficiently per-
forming their trying duties on the firing batteries.
Internal Ballistic Branch.
Starting with a staff of two in the early part of
the war, the branch numbered at the armistice
more than twenty members, who dealt with all
problems relating to the internal ballistics of pro-
pellants and the internal design of guns for all
the Services. Newer and more powerful apparatus
has been devised for determining the burning
characteristics of explosives, and a great improve-
ment has taken place in methods of analysing
data. This is especially noticeable as regards the
ballistic design of ordnance. The old system of
calculation in use prior to the war was based on
trial and error, and involved a series of laborious
and lengthy operations. It had the added dis-
advantage of restricting the calculator to working
out this result with one definite set of initial con-
ditions only, and consequently no certain predic-
tions could be made as to whether the best com-
bination of charge weight, propellant size, cham-
ber capacity, etc., had been employed.
It was thus frequently found that the finished
gun was not suitable for the original purpose in
NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
|
|
Research into the thermodynamical pro-
perties of propellants led to the construction of
a’more accurate theory on which to base design,
and, apart from the economy effected in the labour
of calculation, it became possible to select with
considerable accuracy the best and most econo-
mical combination for any ballistic requirements.
Also by an application of the calculus of varia-
tions the calculator is now enabled to predict with
considerable accuracy the probable deviation in
the ballistics from round to round, a valuable
criterion of the practical utility of a design.
The application of this new theory effected con-
siderable changes in design. For example, it was
found that large reductions could be effected in
the chamber capacities of several guns, with
Fic. 6.—Portion of radiological laboratory.
corresponding reductions in the charge weights,
without affecting the ballistics. This modification
had the result of materially increasing the life of
the guns, and the reduction in charge weight
effected an appreciable economy in the financial
cost of each round, a serious consideration in
view of the magnitude of the scale on which
operations were conducted.
Since the armistice the ballistic branch has been
to a large extent occupied in digesting and inter-
preting the data amassed during the war, the
results being published in the form of R.D.
Reports.
A programme has been drawn up for future
research, and good progress is being made in all
branches of the science and its applications.
746
NATURE
[AucusT 12, 1920
The Romance
\ Li ARTHUR BROOK has made a welcome
~ addition to the “British Birds” Photo-
graphic Series; he deals skilfully with the buzzard
at home, and gives us twelve fine pictures,!
During the last three or four years the buzzard
has increased markedly in central Wales. It
builds upon trees and in cliffs, or even amongst
heather and rushes, and an inaccessible nest is
Ph, “icstertandeated Rea
Fic. 1.—The hen buzzard alighting at the nest.
the exception rather than the rule. The one
studied by Mr. Brook was on a cliff, where with
some difficulty a hiding-place was built for the
observer. There were two young birds about a
week old, and when observations began the nest
contained several mice, one frog, one mole, half
a dozen castings, and a quantity of fresh leaves
1.““The Buzzard at Home.” By Arthur Brook. (‘‘ British Birds’’
Photographic Series.) Pp. 15+12 plates. (London: Witherby and Co.,
1920.) Price 35. 6d. net.
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
From ‘‘ The Buzzard at Home.”
of Bird Life.
of the mountain ash. The cock did all the hunt-
ing, usually bringing his booty to the hen, who
sat on a knoll near the nest. She carried the
food to the young ones in her beak or talons.
Occasionally the cock brought the food to the
nest himself. The hen decorated the nest daily
with fresh leaves, and she also brought tufts of
mountain grass on which the young ones cleaned
their beaks. One day the booty in-
cluded four young wild ducks,
about two days old, and one of
these was swallowed whole. If
food is scarce the stronger of the
two young buzzards will kill its
weaker companion. The observer
saw the young birds practising
flight and playing with the food.
He captured one that flew off too
soon, and replaced it in the nest,
whence in the afternoon of the
same day it took wing successfully.
The buzzard is said to be a
coward, but when the cock bird
discovered Mr. Brook leaving the
“hide” it showed great courage,
making disconcerting swoops at a
high velocity, and following him
closely for quite two miles.
With an_ inexpensive little
Kodak, and often in bad weather
conditions, Miss Hilda Terras has
managed to give us a score of very
presentable and interesting pictures
ey
a cuckoo’s egg in a _ hedge-
sparrow’s nest.2 She had this
good luck, however, that the
cuckoo was obliging enough to put
the egg in question into a nest
almost on the doorstep of the ob-
server’s home. Only a true ama-
teur—we use the word very dis-
criminatingly—could have such
luck. The hedge-sparrow made
for the prospecting cuckoo like a
little demon; nesting birds have a
highly developed sense of “terri-
tory,” or is there more—of home-
stead? The cuckoo persisted;
there was a cessation of hostilities ;
at an urgent moment circum-
stances were opportune; the ~
cuckoo flew on to the hedge
about 2 ft. from the nest, and looked
about in a nervous, cunning way.
could almost swear it was saying to itself
anxiously, ‘Are they looking? No—thank ~
goodness, I’ve done them at last.’ And then,
without any hesitation, it hopped straight into
the hedge and disappeared from view. For about
2 The Story of a Cuckoo’s Egg.”
Terras. "Pp. 95. (London: The Swarthmore Press, Ltd., n.d.)
6s. net.
SI efi
Told and pictured by Hilda
Price
of various events in the history of |
Yi
nee
i
edt hci Rep
AUGUST 12, 1920]
NATURE
747
a minute it was there; then it came out and flew
away. Burning with curiosity, I hurried into the
garden, and, eagerly parting the branches of the
hedge, looked into the nest—and lo
and behold, there, lying in Henrietta’s
dear little cup-shaped, softly lined
cradle, I saw the cuckoo’s egg! One
of my sisters had watched the whole
affair. with me, and once more we
were amazed at the positively uncanny
sagacity of the bird. The whole thing
seemed so extraordinarily intelligent
and so mean.”
The observer noticed that the
cuckoo had not her egg in her bill, and
concluded that it was in its mouth out
of sight. But might not the cuckoo
lay the egg in the nest? The hedge-
sparrow laid four eggs, and when the
young cuckoo was hatched the usual
tragedy occurred. ‘For the first two
days his shiny naked little body was
dark fawny-pink in colour, but by the
fourth day he had _ gone _ almost
black, and his: eyes, covered over
with blue-black skin, looked dispro-
portionately large. From the moment
that his eyes opened he _ showed
signs of surprising viciousness when-
ever I put my hand anywhere near the
nest.” When the young cuckoo was
a fortnight old, more than filling the
nest, the foster-mother was seén brood-
ing, ‘‘uncomfortably crouched on top
of his broad and ample back. It was
rather like a pigeon trying to brood a
hen.” Whenever either of the foster-
parents approached, the young cuckoo
made a “strange little tinkling noise,
just like a tiny tinkling silver
The menu _ consisted of
grubs, daddy-long-legs, butterflies,
caterpillars, and small insects, and
the number collected and consumed
in a day was amazing. The _in-
bell.”
Fic. 2.—Hedge-sparrow feeding a young cuckoo.
way.
this by instinct or by art, but we know we have
Miss Terras tells her story in a very attractive
We do not know whether she has done
From ‘‘ The Story of a Cuckoo's Egg.”’
We recommend the
had a most delightful hour.
book very strongly to young people and to those
who would renew their youth.
defatigable foster-parents continued to feed the
cuckoo for more than a week after it had left
the nest.
Helium :
Its Production and Uses.!
By Pror. J. C, McLennan, F.R.S.
Ss 1868 Janssen (Compt. rend., 1868, vol. Ixvii.,
p. 838) directed attention to the existence of
certain lines hitherto unobserved in the solar
spectrum, which we now know are given by the
element helium. In the same yeat Frankland
and Lockyer? (Proc. Roy. Soc., 1868, vol. xvii.,
p. 91), from their observations on these spectral
lines, were led to announce the existence of an
1 From a lecture delivered before the Chemical Society on June 17.
2 See Nature for May 20, p, 361.
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
element in the sun which up to that time had not
been found on the earth. To this element they
gave the name “helium.”
In 1882 the discovery was made by Palmieri
(Gazzetta, 1882, vol. xii., p. 556) that the helium
spectrum could be obtained from rocks and lavas
taken from Vesuvius.
In the United States of America, Hillebrand in
1890 (Bull. U.S. Geol. Survey, 1890, No. 78,
p. 43) succeeded in obtaining a quantity of gas
748
NATURE
[AuGUST 12, 1920
from the mineral uraninite, which from chemical
and spectroscopic tests he concluded was nitrogen.
This gas, we now know, was, in fact, helium.
Finally, in 1895, Sir William Ramsay (Chem.
News, 1895, vol. lxxi., p. 151) discovered that a
gas could be obtained from the mineral cleveite.
This gas he purified, and, on examining’ its
spectrum, he found it to be the long-sought-for
element helium. From 1895 up to the present,
investigation has: shown that helium is widely
diffused throughout the earth. It can be obtained
from many types of rocks, minerals, and earths,
and it is present in varying. amounts in practically
all natural gases and spring waters. It is present,
too, in the atmosphere of the earth to the extent
of about four parts in one million by volume. .
The gases from some springs in France have
been shown to contain as much as 5 per cent. of
helium. In the Western States of America,
‘especially in Texas, natural gases exist which
‘contain from 1 to 2 per cent. of helium, but within
the British Empire no natural. gases which have
been examined show’a helium content as high as
o-5 per cent.
Until the spring of 1918 not more than 3 or 4
cubic metres of helium had, in the aggregate,
been collected, and its market price, though
‘variable, was about 300]. per cubic foot. ~
_. The principal characteristics of helium are :
(1) Its extreme lightness. It is only twice as
heavy as hydrogen, the lightest element as yet
isolated.
(2) Its absolute inertness. All aftempts to
‘effect combinations of helium and the rare gases, |
neon, argon, krypton, and xenon, as well, with
other elements have as yet failed.
(3) Its close approximation to an ideal or
perfect gas. It is monatomic, and is liquefiable
at a temperature below that of liquid hydrogen.
By causing liquid helium to evaporate in a
vacuum, Onnes (Proc. K. Akad. Wetensch.
‘ Amsterdam, 1915, vol. xvili., p. 493) has suc-
ceeded in reaching a temperature within 1° or 2°
of the absolute zero.
(4) Its. low sparking. potential. Electric dis-
charges can be passed through helium more easily
than through most other gases.
No element has had a more romantic history
than helium, and none is of greater interest to
men of science than is this gas at the present
time. Its formation as a disintegration product
of the radio-active elements, and the identity of
the nuclei of helium atoms with a-rays, give it a
unique position among the elements.
Intense interest has been aroused by Sir Ernest
Rutherford’s recent discovery that in the nuclei
of helium atoms in the form of a-rays we have a
powerful and effective agent for disintegrating and
simplifying the nuclei of atoms generally. This
discovery points the way to still further progress.
In the past helium has been considered a rare
and precious gas. -To-day it is being produced
in large quantities, and in view of the proposal
now being put forward to use this gas in place |
of hydrogen as a filling for airships, one is apt
NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
to consider it to be not so precious as heretofore.
It may be, however, that such vast and vitally
important directions will suddenly be opened up — :
in which helium can be utilised that the conserva-
tion of the gas, while it is still available to us,
will become a matter of the first importance.
Shortly after the commencement of the war in
1914, it became evident that if helium were avail-
able in sufficient quantities to replace hydrogen
in naval and military airships, losses in life and
equipment would be very greatly lessened.
The fact that helium is both non-inflammable and
non-explosive, and possesses 92 per cent. of the
lifting power of hydrogen, makes it a most suit-
able filling for airship envelopes. By the use of
helium the engines of airships can be~ placed
within the envelope if desired. A further advan-
tage possessed by helium over hydrogen is that
the buoyancy may be increased or decreased at
will by heating or cooling the gas by electric or
other means, which fact may possibly lead to con-
siderable modifications in the technique of airship
manceuvring and navigation. Moreover, the loss
of gas from diffusion through the envelope is less
with. helium than with hydrogen to the extent of
about 30 per cent. slab 5 BY
Although there are indications that proposals
had been put forward during the war by men of
science in Allied.and enemy countries, as well as
in the British Empire, regarding the development
of supplies of helium for aeronautical purposes, it
should be stated that the movement that led up to
the investigation which it was my privilege to
undertake was initiated by Sir Richard Threlfall.
The existence in America of supplies of natural
gas containing helium in varying amounts was
known to him and others, and preliminary calcu- -
lations as to the cost of production, transporta-
tion, etc., which he made led him to believe that
there was substantial ground for thinking that
helium could be obtained in large quantities at a
cost which would not be prohibitive.
Sir Richard’s proposals were laid before the
Board of Invention and Research of the British
Admiralty, and in the autumn of 1915 the author
was asked by that Board to determine the helium
content of the supplies of natural gas in Canada,
and later on of those within the Empire, to carry
out a series of experiments on a semi-commercial
scale with the helium supplies which were avail-
able, and also to work out all technical details in
connection with the production of helium in quan-
tity, as well as those relating to the re-purification,
on a large scale, of such supplies as might be
delivered and become contaminated with air in
service. The present paper aims at giving a brief
account of this. investigation.
Composition of the Natural Gases Investigated. —
In commencing the investigation, a survey was
made of all the natural gases available in larger
or smaller quantities within the Empire with the |
view of ascertaining their helium content. Natural
gases from Ontario and Alberta, Canada, were —
found to be the richest in helium, and these
By
—]
2s
iF
aed
ae
zy
Peal
“an
ae
=}
“>
1!
eI
i nt eta Tig a0 dart
SO hee
<7
— ee ee
i
i
a rer
rs
mig Rcgy ee ans dea
\UGUST 12, 1920]
NATURE
749
Ss, it was found, could supply from
,000 tO 12,000,000 cubic feet of helium per
The following is a summary of the results
d from the analyses of a number of the
investigated. They include, it will be seen,
few samples from outside the Empire. For a
mplete account of this part of the investigation,
> reader is referred to Bulletin No. 31 of the
Mines Branch, Department of Mines, Canada,
0) “Ontario Gases.—The analysis made by
. Ellis, Bain, and Ardagh (Report of Bureau
a fines of Ontario, 1914) of the natural gases
lied to the experimental station, initially set
1p D at Hamilton, Ontario (Blackheath System), is
a S follows: ——
a eee 80 per cent.
eee eee et ieee we I2 a
s found, however, on operating with this gas
the percentage assigned to methane really
ded a considerable proportion of gasoline,
mtane, and butane as well. The helium content
the gas was found to be 0-34 per cent.
Iberta Gases.—Gas taken from the mains
from the Bow Island supply to Calgary
found to be quite free from the heavier hydro-
s. At times it contained slight amounts of
vapour and occasionally a trace of carbon
“as well. Its approximate composition is
oo) Il.
+++ 0°33 percent. 0°36 per cent.
‘eee 87S yr 916 A
d o'9 ” I°9 ”
hee? F272 - 614 =
trace trace
ater vapout +: eee trace ‘trace
4s well in particular, namely, No. 25 Barnwell,
‘eage has recently been driven, and now supplies
of the composition II.
a re New Brunswick Gases.—Some natural gases
obtained from wells struck near Moncton, New
inswick, Canada, were examined, and found
ie have the following composition :
ha ae
| Nghe ee ... 80°0 per cent.
A bee, ites 12 ir
Carbon dioxide... None
Oxygen ... ‘he «. None
n as nad .-. 12°8 per cent.
elium ... 07064 Si,
mC New Zealand Gases.—A series of samples
e. natural gases from the Hanmer, Kotuka,
q Webe:, Blairlogie, and Rotorua supplies in New
Zealand was forwarded by Mr. J. S. McLaurin,
_ for examination, but was found to have an insig-
_ nificant helium content, the richest containing not
4 more than 0-077 per cent.’
(e) Italian 4: Pisa.—A sample of the
Destsral gas brought by pipe to the city of Pisa,
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
s to the system, was found to have a product
- Dominion Analyst of Wellington, New Zealand, -
in Italy, was examined, and found to have the
following composition :
Methane ... ee ane 80'0 per cent.
Ethane ... wed st Prva 3
Carbon dioxide ... bie Ph Ee:
Nitrogen ... Jaa 119 i
Oxygen ... we ~ eR * sé
Helium ‘ None
(f) Miscellaneous Analyses.—An analysis of the
natural gas supply from Heathfield, Sussex,
England, showed it to have a helium content of
but 0-21 percent. The gas from the King Spring,
Bath, England, was found to contain 0-16 per cent.
of helium, and analyses of natural gases obtained
from Trinidad and from Peru showed their helium
content to be negligible. An interesting observa-
tion was made in connection with natural gases
obtained from Pitt Meadows, Fraser River Valley,
and Pender Island, in the Gulf of Georgia, British
Columbia. Both these gases were found to have
a nitrogen content of more than 99 per cent.
Preliminary Experiments,
Soon after taking up the investigation, it was
found, as mentioned above, that large supplies of
helium were available in the natural gas fields of
Southern Alberta, and that a small supply could
be obtained from a gas field situated about twenty-
five miles to the south-west of the city of Hamil-
ton, in Ontario. In 1917 the Board of Invention
and Research decided to endeavour to exploit
these sources of supply, and operations were
begun by setting up, as already stated, a small
experimental station near the city of Hamilton.
At this station efforts were directed towards
constructing a machine which would efficiently
and economically separate out the helium from the
other constituents present in the natural gas. The
carrying out of this work expeditiously was made
possible through the hearty co-operation of L’Air
Liquide Société of Paris and Toronto, which
generously lent, free of cost, a Claude oxygen
column and the necessary auxiliary liquefying
equipment for the investigation.
By making suitable additions to, and modifica-
tions in, this oxygen rectifying column, it was
ascertained that the problem of separating, on a
commercial scale, the helium which was present
in this crude gas to the extent of only 0-33 per |
cent. was one capable of satisfactory solution.
Early in 1918 it was found possible to raise the
percentage of helium in the gas to 5-0 by passing
it through the special rectifying column once only,
and as the gas obtained in this way consisted of
nitrogen and helium with a small percentage of
methane, it became therefore a comparatively
simple matter to obtain helium of a high degree
of purity. In one particular set of experiments
on this final rectification, helium of 87 per cent.
purity was obtained.
Experimental Station at Calgary, Alberta.
In order to operate on the natural gas of the
Bow Island system in Southern Alberta, an experi-
75°
NATURE
[AUGUST 12, 1920
mental station was established at Calgary. in the
autumn of 1918, and, starting with the knowledge
acquired through the preliminary operations at
Hamilton, rapid progress was made in developing
a rectification and purifying column, together
with the requisite auxiliary equipment, which
would efficiently and cheaply separate the helium
from the natural gas.
Development of the Rectification Column.
In proceeding to develop an equipment for
separating the helium from the other constituents
of natural gas, three lines of attack appeared to
be open, namely, (a) by producing the refrigera-
tion necessary to liquefy all the gases except the
helium by the cold obtainable from the natural gas
itself, (b) by using external refrigeration entirely,
such as that obtainable with ammonia, carbon
dioxide, liquid air, liquid nitrogen, etc’, and (c)
by combining methods (a) and (b).
The last method had been successfully used for
the production of helium by the naval authorities
of the United States in the Texas field, but from
the information supplied it did not appear that
this process could be considered to be an eco-
nomical one.
The preliminary experiments at Hamilton,
Ontario, made it abundantly clear that method (a)
was very promising and likely to be both efficient
and economical. This method was _ therefore
adopted. It was evident from the start
that to produce an_ efficient method the
main difficulty to overcome would be _ the
securing of a proper balance between the
heat exchangers, the liquefier, the vaporisers,
and the rectification portions of the machine. A
machine was therefore designed, constructed, and .
supplied with piping which possessed great flexi-
bility, and, in its general scheme, followed the
lines of the Claude oxygen-producing column. It
is unnecessary to go into details regarding the
operation of this machine. It will suffice to say
that it was tested under a variety of conditions.
Notes were taken of the temperatures reached at
different points in the machine under equilibrium
conditions when the gas was passed through it in
various ways. As a result of this procedure, it
was soon found what parts of the machine could
be eliminated and what parts could be modified
with advantage. When those changes were made
which seemed desirable in the light of the ex-
perience gained, it was found that a machine had
been evolved which would give highly satisfactory
results.
In operating with this machine, it was found
that helium of 87 to 90 per cent. purity could be
regularly and continuously produced.
Operations,
The experimental machine just described was
used continuously for a series of trial runs from
December 1, 1919, to April 17, 1920. In making
a run, about 500,000 cubic feet were passed
through the machine, and from this amount up-
wards of 20,000 cubic feet of the gas, containing
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
5 to 6 per cent. of helium, were obtained. As this
low-grade product was made it was stored in a
large balloon, and the residual gas was passed
back into the mains for use in the city of Calgary. —
The 5 to 6 per cent. product was compressed to
from 20 to 30 atmospheres, and then passed —
through vaporisers. The amount of final product,
of 87 to go per cent. purity, obtained in each run
rose steadily in the course of the operations from
about 300 cubic feet to more than 700 cubic feet
per run. From this it will be seen that the
efficiency obtained with each of the two operations
was about 67 per cent. In special runs made
under exceptionally good conditions a still higher
efficiency was obtained. One of the curves given —
in Fig. 1 shows that the purity of the high-grade
final product was steadily maintained in the series —
aceeeee anne
LiL
tt HERE 7
PICK Ean ;
+ ;
900 ~ 90
r + a A .
t pases:
aan rT TTIATITIVIS TIT mS
bg ; 80
Til
. ::
~
pensecn Acree Z
so t 70 4
S
, -
He tea
S -_{———
m+ +
= sane
X 500
Ny 1H
ee sss:
S 900 :
S sone H
aS He
S +t a oeesees j
~S Ti ae 5
NE 50
5S
BS 20 20
400 10
¥
Qc aie: 3 0 (12 4# 16S ‘22 29 2
Run Number
Fic. 1.
of runs, and the other curve exhibits the steady
increase made in the production of helium of high- —
grade purity. :
High-grade Purification.
When it was seen that the highest purity obtain-
able with the experimental machine under actual
running conditions was about go per cent., steps
were taken to design and construct an auxiliary
piece of apparatus for raising the purity of
gas up to 99 per cent. or higher. This apparatu
as constructed could be used, not only for
obtaining a product of high purity at the works
but also for purifying helium which became cr
taminated with air by use in balloons in servi
Through numerous delays experienced in obtai
ing delivery of tubing, liquefying equipment, e
AUGUST 12, 1920]
NATURE
751
s purifying apparatus has not been given any
ore than a preliminary trial. From this, how-
, it is quite evident that it will prove satis-
pry in operation. For the purpose of carrying
this scheme of high-grade purification, a
d-air plant was installed by the University of
onto. Motors and an electric current supply
were furnished by the Hydro-Electric Commission
‘Ontario, and a special financial grant was made
the Honorary Advisory Council for Scientific
d Industrial Research of Canada to supplement
at made by the Admiralty and the Air Board of
eat Britain.
‘inal Design of Helium-extracting Apparatus.
Every step in the production of high-grade
lium has been carefully examined and tested.
rom the experience gained, we have been able
draw up specifications for a commercial plant
ich will enable one to treat the whole of the
tural gas of the Bow Island supply in Alberta.
e unit proposed will deal with about 1600 cubic
tres or 56,500 cubic feet of gas per hour at
mal pressure and temperature. At the altitude
Cc y, this would be equivalent to 62,200
bic feet per hour. The machine would easily
’¢ with 66,000 cubic feet per hour or 1100 cubic
~
feet per minute. Of these machines, six would
deal with 9,500,000 cubic feet of gas per day, and
would thus take about the average daily supply
available from the field, as based on records of
the average yearly consumption. In order to have
sufficient machines to operate regularly to capa-
city, it would probably be advisable to have eight
helium columns included in the plant.
The cost of a commercial plant suitable for
treating the whole of the supply.of the Alberta
field would probably be less than 150,000]. The
amount of helium of upwards of 97 per cent.
purity obtainable per year from the field would be
about 10,500,000 cubic feet. This is based on the
assumption of an efficiency of 80 per cent., which
experience has shown is obtainable. As to operat-
ing costs, our experience has shown that, allowing
fer interest on the investment, a ten years’
amortisation, salaries, supplies, and running
charges, helium can be produced at the Alberta
field for considerably less than 101. per 1000 cubic
feet. This sum does not, of course, include the
cost of purchasing cylinders or of transporting
them from and to the works. Neither does it
include any compensation to the owners of the
field for the supply of gas.
(To be continued.)
By _Pror. Jonn Perry, F.R.S.
'HE death of Prof. John Perry on August 4, at
_ the age of seventy, leaves a blank in our
scientific circle which cannot well be filled. A man
original mind and original manner, a warm-
hearted Protestant Irishman, impulsive and en-
! > in whatever cause he might engage,
imple-minded to a degree and a thorough-going
optimist, one of the most delightful of com-
nions, he was of the class of lovable men and
‘popular accordingly ; he will be much missed, par-
cularly at meetings of the British Association, of
which he had been the general treasurer of late
_ years.
__ Perry was educated in Belfast, finally at
_ Queen’s College, where he came _ under
_ Andrews, one of the ablest and most original
- men of his day; it was from Andrews that
_ he imbibed his feeling for chemistry, unusual in
_ the engineer and mathematician: at least, he
_ learnt to appreciate the part played by the electro-
__ lyte in chemical interchanges—as he once told me,
_ through having fused out the bottom of
__ Andrews’s platinum crucible by heating potash in
_ it. Later he was an assistant to William
_ Thomson (Lord Kelvin). Under the influence of
_ two such men his genius could not but unfold.
_ Perry began his career at Clifton College. I
_ first met him at Clifton, at a dinner, where, of
_ course, he out-talked everyone: I can well re-
collect how he amused us and how he called Sir
Walter Scott an upholsterer. He was always
a voracious novel-reader and remembered what he
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
Obituary.
had read in an extraordinary way. On the occa-
sion of the British Association visit to Winnipeg,
he often astonished his travelling companions by
his local knowledge, as he identified spot after
spot with Fenimore Cooper’s characters.
From Clifton, Perry went to Glasgow to
assist Thomson, I imagine on Andrews’s
recommendation. In 1875 he went to Japan and
was one of the band who gave the Japanese their
first lessons in science—to be cast off when done
with; like Ayrton and Divers, however, he was
an ultra-enthusiastic Japanophile. In Japan he
became associated with Ayrton and a constant
flow of communications, mainly on electrical sub-
jects, to the Royal and other societies was the
consequence of the partnership. In those days
what Ayrton and Perry did not know or do or
claim to have done was not worth knowing, doing
or claiming; no two men, in the exuberance of
their youth, were ever better satisfied with them-
selves. They were in remarkable contrast: en-
tirely diverse yet complementary natures, each
cognisant and respectful of the other’s special
ability. Ayrton was the worldly, practical member
of the firm, Perry the dreamer. Ayrton always
had a sense of what was wanted and what would
pay: he, I believe, usually set the problem;
Perry worked out a solution, which Ayrton then
criticised and referred back to Perry for develop-
ment. In the same manner, I believe, he co-
operated, during the war, with the mechanical
genius of Sidney Brown—the husband of his niece
—in the development of the gyrostatic compass.
7¥*
NATURE
[AuGUST 12, 1920
a
The partnership with Ayrton was continued
several years after their return to England in
1879. They were in the van of electrical progress,
in some respects before their time—-as in the case
of Telpherage, which they developed in associa-
tion with Fleeming Jenkin. Those were wonderful
days: we were just learning to know and use
electricity. A little later, Perry’s house was often
the scene of most stimulating debates, especially
when Larmor and Lodge forgathered there with
Fitzgerald, whom Perry adored.
Perry’s best work was done at the Fins-
bury Technical College. Ayrton and I were called
on to lay the foundations of the work of the City
and Guilds Institute for the Advancement of Tech-
nical Education in October, 1879; we began in
temporary quarters in Cowper Street, Finsbury.
I found not only that plans were prepared for a
separate chemical laboratory but also that steps
had already been taken towards the erection of the
building. I took exception to the scheme on the
ground that more than a mere: knowledge of
chemistry would be required of the technical
chemist of the future: that he must know some-
thing of the fundamentals of mathematics, | of
physics—especially electricity—and of engineering
—drawing in particular. My view prevailed and
we set to work to excogitate a practical pro-
gramme and design a building. In 1871 we roped
in Perry to our aid: our trio always fought like
thieves over every detail but remained as one man
throughout. The outcome was the present Fins-
bury Technical College and the original Finsbury
scheme: I say “original” because our successors
were never whole-hearted followers of our con-
victions and aspirations. This much I may assert
as the last of the Finsbury Mohicans—we were in
advance of our time and our fate has been the
usual fate of pioneers and prophets. We cut the
college adrift from all external examinations. We
imposed an entrance examination on applicants.
Not only was the course comprehensive but also
the methods were special, practical and advisedly
educative rather than informative; our students
were young and their period of training was
short but at its close, although they did not know
a great deal, they had learnt to think for them-
selves and to do by themselves, so that they were
mentally prepared to continue learning when left
to their own devices. Now the college is to experi-
ence the fate of our scheme; it is said that it will
be closed next year. When established it was the
most original school in the country and it has
been a remarkable success. We are a strange
people: we seem never to know when we have
hold of a good thing and cannot long maintain
a consistent policy. In abandoning Finsbury the
City and Guilds Institute signs its own death-
warrant; but it has long been practically defunct,
the men of imagination and outlook who founded
it having bred no successors.
Perry did not leave Finsbury until 1896,
when he became professor of mathematics and
mechanics in the Royal College of Science, South
Kensington. He had the advantage of being a
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
practical engineer by training; this, added to his
mathematical genius and his intimate knowledge
of electrical science, not forgetting his. liter
proclivities, made him a man of unusual breadti q
and sanity of outlook. No _ special scientific |
achievement is to be associated with his name;
his real interest lay in the work of education and Pi
he will go down to fame as an original and con- —
structive teacher who laid the foundation of a —
new era. He made mathematical teaching prac-
tical and taught many who could never have
mastered the abstract subject to use such know-
ledge and ability as they had with effect. As
examiner in mathematics to the Science and Art
Department he exercised a wide and beneficent i in-
fluence on the teaching of this subject. His
methods were not everywhere popular, but this
was mainly because of the special demands their
practice made on the intelligence of the teacher.
As he more than once remarked to me, few really
understood him. Still, the written word remains :
Perry has left much on record which will be of
service to a future, more appreciative generation.
. . °
Pror. Perry’s love of research and restless spirit
of inquiry have inspired the lives of innumerable
students who came under his influence. Who can
measure what the nation owes to Perry for the ~
intellectual gifts he distributed so freely to so
many men? Who can measure the boundaries to |
which his influence will reach through the lives
and activities of his students? .The man who
inspires is in time forgotten, but those whom he
stimulates inspire others, so that his influence in-
creases as time goes on. An engineering work
like a fine bridge can be seen of all, and the —
builder is applauded and rewarded. The scientific
spirit is apprehended by few, and those who
possess it and spend their lives in the true service
of the nation by cherishing it and by passing it
on to others are unknown and unrewarded by
authority, but are held in respect and affection
by those who receive from them what so few are
able to give. Perry gave lavishly, and his
students responded with enthusiastic affection.
He ranged wide in the regions of science. In —
Japan he and his friend and colleague Ayrton ex-
perimented furiously. Paper after paper came —
red-hot from their intellectual forge until even —
Lord Kelvin said that the pole of scientific i ;
search had shifted to Japan. a
Finsbury Technical College was founded to er i
something in technical education which had not
been done before. Perry and his colleagues, —
Ayrton and Armstrong, launched the college.
They made it a pioneer in technical education.
They made it world-famous. Everything which
these men did was new, unorthodox, stimulating,
and vastly interesting to the keen young menwho
flocked from the workshop to the college to hear
and often to help them. Perry was unorthodox
of the unorthodox. He taught his students to —
mistrust authority and to try things out id them-
selves. am ¢
AUGUST 12, 1920]
a
NATURE
753
Perry will probably be chiefly remembered by
ngineers as the man who broke through the
c na defences of mathematics and taught them
ithematics through what they knew of
chinery. His book on “Practical Mathe-
es,” originating in his Finsbury course, has
translated into many languages, and many
rerations in many lands will therefore benefit
m Perry’s determination to teach his own
dents the fundamental truths of mathematics
well that they could use their knowledge as
ily as they could use their mother tongue.
) continued his work as professor of mathe-
tics and mechanics at the Royal College of
, leaving Finsbury in 1896. In those days
Seicoheshors at the Finsbury Technical College
re expected to run an arduous day course, and
addition an evening course as well. His relief
the escape from this double duty was great.
more recent years he guided the fortunes of
British Association for the Advancement of
ence as its general treasurer. Perry has done
eet work, and his work will live after him.
a ew
PRoF. Aucusto Ricui, For.Mem. R.S.
Pror. Aucusto RiGcut, who died suddenly on
8 at seventy years ‘of age, is said to have
Nn appointed assistant to the professor of
Jetty in the University of Bologna—his native
—at the age of twenty-one. In 1877 he was
Docente, and in 1880 was appointed
ordinary professor at Padua, whence after a few
ears he returned to Bologna as head of the
ysics department.
rhi was a skilled experimenter and an indus-
trious worker. His original investigations lay
fly in the domain of electricity, magnetism,
light. One of his discoveries was the varia-
the resistance of bismuth in a magnetic
orth mi phenomenon on which an instrument for
_ measuring the intensity of a field has been based.
He was led to this discovery by an examination of
the Hall effect in different metals in the year 1883.
lis results were published in the Journal de
ysique (2), 1883, p. 512, and in the Comptes
vendus, vol. xcvii., p. 672, as well as in Italian;
most fully in Bologna Acad. Sci. Mem., vol. v.,
1883, pp. 103-26. An abstract was ‘given in
NATURE, vol. xxx., p. 569.
Righi’s earliest ‘papers appeared in 1873, and
salt with a variety of topics, many of them con-
seted with electrostatic problems and_ voltaic
electricity. One of the subjects on which at one time
» laid stress was the dilatation of the glass or
artz of a Leyden jar, and of insulators in
eneral, under electric stress—what he called
galvanic dilatation”: see, for instance,
omptes rendus, vol.. Ixxxviii., 1879, p. 1262.
e also examined the changes of length
e to magnetisation, and _ discussed _ the
enomena of permanent _ steel magnets.
bout 1880 Righi began a long series of re-
searches on electric discharge in vacuo and in air,
NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
and pursued the subject in various forms to the
end of his life. He was much interested in photo-
electric effects, and contributed some new facts to
the discharge of electrified bodies by ultra-violet
light. He failed to discover electrons, but he
knew that carriers of negative electricity were
liberated, and took steps to observe their tra-
jectory in a magnetic field, thus exhibiting the
phenomenon as a variety of cathode rays. He
also found that the discharge could be stopped
by an electric charge of inverse sign, constant
in density for a given metal.
Righi was keenly interested in the work of
Hertz, and corresponded with the present writer
on the subject of electric waves. A special form
of Hertz oscillator, known as Righi’s pattern, con-
sisting of a couple of spheres with adjacent faces
immersed in oil and charged at the back from
two other spheres, was used by some people, and
is depicted as a form appropriate to wireless tele-
graphy in Mr. Marconi’s first patent, though the
connection of the outer spheres to an ele-
~vated plate and to ground _ respectively—a
plan efficiently introduced by Mr. Marconi
for practical purposes—really converted the
spherical oscillator into nothing but a series of
spark gaps. It is understood that Mr:- Marconi
had visited Righi’s laboratory and seen his ex-
periments on Hertzian waves, but was not one of
his students. Righi, in his correspondence, fre-
quently expressed surprise at the novelty attri-
buted to the invention in its very early days by
Sir William Preece and other English officials.
In the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences of
the Institute of Bologna, Righi expounded many
of the new discoveries as they were being made
in physics—among- others an excellent and semi-
mathematical exposition of the Zeeman pheno-
menon (see vol. viii., ser. 5, pp. 59-90, December,
1899). He also wrote on the equations of Hertz
and their solution, in vol., ix. of the Memoirs of
the same Academy, pp. 3-28 (February, 1gor);
and, again, on the electromagnetic mass of elec-
trons in vol. iii., ser. 6, pp. 71-84 (February,
1906). These papers show that though chiefly
an experimental physicist, he had a sound grasp.
of general theory, and must have had considerable
influence in making known the work of British
and other physicists to his countrymen. A memoir
on the theory of relativity was contributed by.
Righi to the Institute of Bologna so recently as
April 18 last (vol. vii., ser. 7, pp. 70-82).
An experimental paper of Righi’s on the pos-
sible existence of magnetic rays, dated May 17,
1908, vol. v., ser. 6, of the same Memoirs,
PP- 95-150, deserves mention, because of the
cathode ray inquiry there described and_ the
speculation based upon it. The subject is con-
tinued in vol. vi., pp. 45-64, and in vol. x.,
pp- 79-103, also in vol. i., ser. 7, pp. 3-36, where
results are described for many different gases.
It is taken up again, after a discussion of the
paths of electrons in magnetic fields, in vol. ii.,
ser..7, pp. II-4I.
Righi describes further experiments in vol. iii.,
754
NATURE
[AucusT 12, 1920
pp. 23-42, and he has a paper on ionisation in a
magnetic field in vol. iv., ser. 7, pp. 27-44. His
chief work, in which he summarises these and
other results, is entitled ‘I fenomeni elettro-
atomici sotto l’azione del magnetismo,’’ a work
which met with a very cordial reception among
Italian physicists, who must, indeed, have been
indebted to Righi’s activity and clearness of ex-
position for much of their knowledge of contem-
porary physics.
Students adequately familiar with Italian—as
the writer cannot claim to be—speak of Righi’s
writings as marked by extraordinary clearness
and simplicity of style, so that they can be read
by people of average culture, at least in their
non-mathematical portions.
Numerous honours were conferred upon Righi,
among others a 10,000 lira prize of the Accademia
dei Lincei, and the Htghes medal of the Royal
Society. The Royal Society also selected him as
a foreign member, and he succeeded Lord Kelvin
as foreign member of the Royal Academy of
. Senator of the Italian Parliament.
Sciences at Upsala. In 1905 he was elected a
By Righi’s death Italy probably feels that she
has lost her foremost physicist. He was anxious, —
up to the last, for information about every new
discovery, and showed himself capable of appre-
ciating results in many departments of physics.
He was well known by reputation in this country —
as a thinker and worker of exceptional keenness ~
and width of outlook. OLIVER LopGe.
A ReuTER message from Stockholm announces —
the death, at seventy-seven years of age, of
ApmirAL A. L. PALANDER, who was in command
of Baron Nordenskiéld’s vessel, the Vega, which
completed the navigation of the North-East passage
from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the north
coast of Asia (1878-79). Admiral Palander was
an honorary corresponding member of the Royal
Geographical Society and of many other scientific
societies both in Sweden and abroad.
Ei
(A
a
i
Notes.
A MOVEMENT set on foot in the early part of last
year for the founding of an institution or society
the membership of which should be open to those
particularly interested in problems connected with the
fields of administration and organisation in relation
to industrial enterprises was brought to a head at a
public meeting held on April 26 last at the Central
Hall, Westminster, by the appointment of a pro-
visional organising committee which was instructed
to prepare a draft constitution for such an institution,
to be named the Institute of Industrial Administra-
tion. This committee presented its feport, accom-
panied by a draft constitution embodying (1) a
schedule of objects, (2) the conditions of member-
ship, and (3) the form of government, at a public
meeting held at the above-named hall on July 15.
This draft constitution was, with slight amendments,
adopted on the date last mentioned, and the first
board of management, consisting of eighteen mem-
bers representing a variety of industries, was elected
on the same occasion. The objects of the institute
as set out in the draft constitution are briefly as
follows :—To promote the general advancement of
knowledge relative to the principles of industrial
administration and their applications; to facilitate
the exchange of information and ideas regarding the
principles and practice of industrial administration ;
to collect and publish information and proposals
bearing on any aspect of industrial administration;
and to co-operate with professional, industrial, or
educational societies, organisations, or authorities in
pursuance of these objects. The government of the
institute is to be vested in an advisory council com-
posed of honorary members and a board of manage-
ment representing: the various classes of membership
of: the institute. Mr. E, T. Elbourne was elected
hon. secretary of the institute, the offices of which
are temporarily located at 110 Victoria Street, West-
minster, S.W.1.
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
Tue U.S. National Research Council, with head-
quarters at Washington, has elected the following
chairmen of its various divisions for the year beginning
July 1, 1920 :—Division of Foreign Relations: George
E. Hale, director, Mount Wilson Observatory, Car-_
negie Institution of Washington. Government Divi-
sion: Charles D. Walcott, secretary of the Smith.
sonian Institution and president of the National
Academy of Sciences. Division of States Relations :
John C. Merriam, professor of palzontology, Uni-.
versity of California, and president-elect of the Car-
negie Institution of Washington. Division of Educa-—
tional. Relations: Vernon Kellogg, professor of
entomology, Stanford University, and permanent
secretary of the National Research Council: Division —
of Industrial Relations : Harrison E. Howe. Research —
Information Service: Robert M. Yerkes. Division —
of Physical Sciences: Augustus Trowbridge, pro- —
fessor of physics, Princeton University. Division of ©
Engineering : Comfort A. Adams, Lawrence professor —
of engineering, Harvard University. Division of —
Chemistry and Chemical Technology: Frederick G.
Cottrell, director of the Bureau of Mines. Division —
of Geology and Geography : E. B. Mathews, professor
of mineralogy and petrography, Johns Hopkins Uni- —
versity. Division of Medical Sciences: George W.
McCoy, director of the U.S. Hygienic Laboratory —
since 1915. Division of Biology and Agriculture:
C. E. McClung, professor of zoology, University of —
Pennsylvania. Division of Anthropology and Psycho-
logy: Clark Wissler, curator of anthropology,
American Museum of Natural History, New York.
THE Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research has established four Sub-Committees to
assist the Radio Research Board in the investigation
of certain problems in connection with the work of
the Board. The constitution of the Board and its
Sub-Committees is at present as follows :—Radi
Research Board: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry E
UGUST 12, 1920]
NATURE
755
Jack: (chairman), Comdr. J. S. C. ‘Salmond (repre-
se nting ‘the Admiralty), Lt.-Col. A. G. T. Cusins
epresenting the War Office), Wing Comdr. A. D.
Varrington Morris (representing the Air Ministry),
Ir E. -H. Shaughnessy (representing the General Post
‘Sir J. E. Petavel (presenting the National
al Laboratory), Sir Ernest Rutherford, and
J. S. E. Townsend. Sub-Committee A on the
ro agation of Wireless Waves: Dr. E. H. Rayner
chairman), Prof. E. H. Barton, Major J. R. Erskine-
ay, Prof. H. M. MacDonald, and Prof. J. W.
icholson. Sub-Committee B on Atmospherics: Col.
G. Lyons (chairman), Mr. A. A. Campbell Swin-
1, Prof. S. Chapman, Major H. P. T. Lefroy, Mr.
ia Taylor, Mr. R. A. Watson Watt, and Mr.
. R. Wilson. Sub-Committee C on Directional
sss: Mr. F. E. Smith (chairman), Mr. M. P.
ton, Capt. C. T. Hughes, and Capt. J. Robinson.
-Committee D on Thermionic Valves: Prof.
W. Richardson (chairman), Mr. E. V. Appleton,
ot. S. Brydon, Capt. H. L. Crowther, Prof. C. L.
escue, Mr. B. Hodgson, Prof. F. Horton, Major
G. Lee, Mr. H. Morris Airey, Mr. R. L. Smith-
, and Prof. R. Whiddington.
THe “geen appointments have been made in
ne with the Royal College of Physicians of
G. Aerabani, Goulstonian lecturer, 1921;
, Oliver Sharpey lecturer, 1921; Dr. A.
Lumleian lecturer, 1921; Dr. R. O. Moon,
ck lecturer, 1921;
in ee: ae
nae against loss resulting from the
of a British Empire Exhibition in London
ar. _ The grant is conditional on the provision
sum of et, by the promoters of the
aaa from the British Medical Journal that the
International Congress of Comparative Patho-
y will be held at Rome in the spring of 1921 under
presidency of Prof. Perroncito. Communications
Id be sent to the secretary, Prof. Mario Tevi
la Vida, Via Palermo 58, Roma.
1 H the view of popularising scientific knowledge
has recently made its appearance. The
nal contains current notes on scientific matters
Spain and Latin-America, general notes, and
cts of important foreign scientific papers written
a manner that will appeal to the popular reader
age education. Each number also includes a
ograph or an instalment of a monograph on
@ popular scientific subject written by a leading
ity. The contents conclude with a bibliography
Rurrent scientific literature and meteorological
formation. The weekly is published by the Observa-
rio del Ebro, Tortosa.
E are glad to see that the British Museum
orities have begun to issue additions, naturally
present conditions of publication in a less
NO, 2650, VOL. 105 |
and Dr. G. M. Holmes,
attractive form, to the valuable series of Handbooks,
such as those provided before the war for the
Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Ethnographic
Galleries. The latest is an account by Sir
E. A. Wallis Budge of the Egyptian ‘‘ Book of the
Dead.’’ This is a vague title now commonly given
to the first collection of funerary texts which the
ancient Egyptian scribes composed for the benefit of
the dead, consisting of spells and incantations, hymns
and litanies, magical formule and names, words of
power and prayers, which are found cut or painted on
the walls of pyramids and tombs, and engraved on
coffins, sarcophagi, and rolls of papyrus. The
pamphlet, which is well supplied with illustrations,
provides for the use of students and visitors to the
galleries an admirable introduction to the study of
the death rites and theories of the soul current among
the ancient Egyptians.
Unpber the title of ‘The Medical History of Ishi,”’
by Mr. Saxton T, Pope, the University of California
has published in its American Archeological and
Ethnological Series a remarkable study of human
pathology. The subject of the monograph, Ishi, was
the last Yahi Indian, who was brought to the Uni-
versity Hospital after his capture in 1911, and died
from tuberculosis in 1916. ‘‘We see him first as the
gaunt, hunted wild man, his hair burnt short, his
body lean and sinewy, but his legs strong and capable @
of great endurance. He suggests the coyote in this
character.” At first civilisation agreed with him, but
then came a gradual change. ‘ His energy waned,
He no longer was keen to shoot at targets with a
bow. His skin became darker.’? Then he contracted
another cold and his malady increased. This mono-
graph is supplied with full statistics of his case and
excellent photographs and illustrations—most valuable
for the study of the life-history of a Californian
Indian, the last of his race.
A REMARKABLE stone bowl now deposited in the
Museo Arqueoldégico, Madrid, is described in the July
issue of Man, by Mr. B. Glanvill Corney. It was
obtained in 1775 at Tahiti by Maximo Rodriguez, a
creole of Lima, and it was brought to that city in a
Spanish ship-of-war, being finally sent to Spain in
1788. It is made of the hard, compact, black stone
of which adze-blades and pestles for crushing taro and
bread-fruit of the Society Islands were formed, and
which was quarried only in the remote island called
Maurua. It is not quite certain for what purpose
this bowl was used. The local chiefs believe it to
have been a sacred potion bowl, in which herbal
draughts were prepared by trituration and infusion
by the medico-sacerdotal functionaries. Others sup-
pose that the function of the bowl was to receive
viscera of victims sacrificed, and possibly it was used
for some form of augury by inspection of the entrails
of sacrificial victims. The bowl thus suggests
interesting problems which, it may be hoped, further
research will enable us to solve.
THe Medical Record for March 27 contains an
interesting paper by Dr. C. B. Davenport on the
influence of the male on the production of twins.
It is well known that twins may be biovulate or
756
NATURE
uniovulate, the latter type having a single chorion,
and it is found that about 1 per cent. of all human
births are plural births. But in the relatives of
mothers who have repeated twins “this proportion
rises to 4:5 per cent., indicating the inheritance of
twinning in the strain. Twinning is, however, almost
equally frequent (4-2 per cent.) in the near relatives
of the fathers of twins. The tendency to repetition
of identical twins is even higher than when both
types are considered together. Double ovulation is
far commoner (frequency 5-10 per cent.) than twin
births, and here the male factor comes in, for it has
‘now to be recognised that human germ-cells fre-
quently contain iethal factors which arrest develop-
ment at an early stage, or may even prevent more
than one egg being fertilised. In relation to this is
the fact that highly fecund families more frequently
have twins. Human beings thus possess the biovulate
type of twinning found in carnivora, herbivora, and
rodentia, and also the uniovulate type found in the
armadillo, which regularly produces four young of
the same sex at a birth by budding from the young
embryo.
Tuat the Philippine hawksbill turtle (Eremochelys
imbricata) is in dire need of stringent protection is
evident from the account of this species given in the
Philippine Journal of Science (vol. xvi., No. 2) by Mr.
E. H. Taylor, of the Bureau of Science, Manila.
Practically all the Philippine tortoiseshell is brought
into the market by the native fishermen, who are so
‘eager to secure their prizes that they wait for
days for the arrival of the female to lay her eggs
on the beach. Often she is speared before a single
egg is laid. Should they have patience enough to
allow her to fill the ‘‘nest’’ the end is the same, for
every egg is eaten. Obviously it will not be long
before this source of revenue is lost for ever.
Tue August number of Conquest, a magazine
devoted to the popularisation of science, is a model
of what such magazines should be, for not only are
its contents designed to appeal to a wide circle of
readers, but also every article is lucidly written and
well illustrated. Taking subjects at random—for it
would be difficult to make a deliberate choice—one
may mention the essay by Mr. R. I. Pocock on the
common animals of the sea-shore, that on wild white
clover by Mr. J. J. Ward, and the article on the
Davon micro-telescope by Mr. F. Talbot. Besides
these are not less fascinating talks on the ships of the
future by Mr. W. Horsnaill, on seaside meteorology
by Mr. Joseph Elgie, and on the sands of the sea-
shore by Mr. C. Carus Wilson.
Tue attention of those who are interested in the
campaign against rats may be directed to the second
edition of Mr. M. A. C. Hinton’s pamphlet (67 pp.,
2 plates and 6 text-figures) which has been recently
issued by the British Museum (Natural History).
This work contains an excellent summary of the
characters, habits, and economic importance of rats,
and of the relation of rats to the spread of disease in
man and animals. In this edition additional details
are given on the rate of increase of rats, and refer- ; /@rly of the binucleate cells, exhibits the synaptic k
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
-ence is made to the occurrence in the rat of Sp
———
chaeta icterohaemorrhagiae, the organism of
chetal. jaundice (Weil’s disease) in man. At
emphasising the urgent need for action against the
large rat population of Great Britain, Mr. Hinton
gives a concise account of the chief repressive
measures. Barium carbonate is recommended as t
safest poison, mixed in the proportion of one p:
with eight parts of oatmeal, and made up with a
little water into a stiff dough. Among other methods”
to which attention is directed are trapping, which
should be continuous and systematic, and placing i
the run-ways of the rats birdlime trays with an attra
tive bait in the centre—a method which has given
good results in Liverpool, London, and elsewhere. __
ITALIAN biologists are to be congratulated on their
enterprise in founding, in difficult cireumstances, a
new biological publication, Revista di Biologia, which
is published bimonthly in Rome, and is edited by —
Profs. Gustavo Brunelli and Osvaldo Polimanti.
The review is to be devoted largely to the considera-
tion of problems of general biological interest, but its
pages are also open to record the results of researches —
in special subjects. Six fascicles, forming the first
volume of 744 pages, have recently reached us. Prof.
Brunelli contributes to the first fascicle a vigorous
article on the place which science, and especially —
biology, should occupy in the national life of Italy. —
He points out that the future of Italy is essentially
bound up with agriculture and problems of the land,
and that in the economic development of the nation
biology must therefore take a leading art. He pleads
also for more attention to hydrobiology, and for a
closer co-operation between medical practitioners and
biologists—for instance, in anti-malarial measures
and in social hygiene generally. Among the special
articles two may be briefly referred to: the first
by Prof. Pierantoni on physiological symbiosis, with —
special reference to the part played by symbiotic
organisms in light-production in luminous organs, and
the second by Prof. Enriques on the results of experi-
ments in breeding blow-flies (Calliphora erythro-—
cephala), in which he shows that while some of the
pairings give rise to a high proportion of living
offspring, other pairings produce larvae about one-
fourth of which, although kept under optimum condi-
tions, cease to feed after two or three days and die. —
Prof. Enriques does not consider that the explanation”
of Morgan, in his important work on lethal facto:
in Drosophila, holds for Calliphora. The Revist
will not only fulfil its object in stimulating and
couraging biological research in Italy, but will |
afford workers in other countries a ready means
keeping in touch with the chief lines of research
Italian biologists, and we cordially wish it success.
Dr. R. RucGies Gates has given (Proc. Roy. S
London, B, vol. xci., 1920, pp. 216-23) a prelimina
account of the meiotic phenomena in the polle
mother-cells and tapetum of lettuce, in which sever
matters of general bearing on cytological concepti
and on problems of genetics are considered. 7
chromatin of the nuclei of the tapetal cells, parti
UST 12, 1920]
NATURE
757
appearances which have hitherto been
only in spore mother-cells of plants and in
spermatocytes and oocytes of animals.
therefore. there is the unusual condition
sitions between tapetal and germinal cells.
*s material also affords, in the earlier stages
ion of the diakinetic chromosomes, a good
of chiasmatypy—the crossing-over of two
of a pair of chromosomes—which has not
been definitely described in plants, though it
known in certain animals, e.g. in the
Drosophila, in which the phenomenon has
ed by Morgan and his collaborators
probable basis of the crossing-over of factors.
a of much interest on the meiotic
omes of lettuce is the tendency for one or two
‘the bivalent chromosomes to coalesce more
completely on the equatorial plate of the
spindle. There,is no evidence that such
chromosome pairs pass over bodily to one
le of fi the spindle; rather they will both split in the
1 _way, but the manner of their previous
ence will determine the nature of their dis-
n—whether, for instance, the paternal halves
chromosome will go to the same pole or to
poles of the spindle. There is here a possible
the phenomena of partial coupling and repul-
altogether from the crossing-over pheno-
h latter are based on relations between the
‘s of a pair of chromosomes i in their earlier
stages.
xvii., No. 4 (October-December, 1919), of
to the Imperial Institute Mr. W. Bevan,
} | Agriculture in _ Cyprus, continues his
als,
: - more interesting products discussed by
re fodders and feeding-stuffs (including
bres (including cotton and silk), drugs, and
Certain minor agricultural industries are
ribed. The reports of recent investigations
fastitute have reference to fibres from India,
the West Indies, the utilisation of New
land hemp-waste, Pappea seeds from South Africa
‘source of oil, Cyprus castor-seed, and distillation
with talh wood (Acacia Seyal) from the Sudan.
sneral articles include an account of the present
Para rubber-seed as a source of oil and
ke, in which it is pointed out that the
of exploitation very largely depends upon
f collecting the seed on the plantations. A
article deals with cassava as a source of indus-
tarch and alcohol. As usual, much useful
tion is recorded as notes and in the section
1 to recent progress in agriculture and the
ment of natural resources. We observe that
. the Prince of Wales has arranged for a
n of the presents and addresses received during
it to Canada to be exhibited at the Imperial
. An index to vol. xvii. of the Bulletin is
in this part.
N many respects we pay too little attention to our
st Indian Possessions. The present difficulties of
_ NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
communication hinder visits from our own men of
science, and it. is natural that those of the neigh-
bouring United States should undertake tasks that we
regretfully leave undone. Thus we learn from the
Report of the American Museum of Natural History
that towards the end of last year Mr. H. E. Anthony,
who had previously secured many interesting mam-
malian remains from the caves of Cuba and Porto
Rico, extended his researches to Jamaica, whence the
skull of a marine mammal was the only example
known. His hunt was successful, but the collections
remain to be worked out. They are certain to throw
light on the nature of former connection with the
mainland. That we are not altogether idle may, how-
ever, be gathered from the fact that a collection of
fossil sea-urchins from Antigua and Anguilla, made by
Prof. J. W. Gregory some years ago, was reported on
by Dr. J. Lambert, of Troyes, during the war, and is
now being arranged in the geological department of
the British Museum. That department has also been
presented by Dr. C. T. Trechmann with an excellent
dried specimen of the recent crinoid Holopus, rare
because it grows under ledges of reef-rock and so
escapes the dredge, instructive because of its adapta-
tion in form to that peculiar position. This individual
comes from Barbados, on which island Dr. Trech-
mann has recently spent some months investigating
the raised reefs and collecting their fossils. None
the less, the West Indies still present a large field for
research, and British labourers are all too few.
THE Agricultural News of May 29 has an article
on camphor-growing in the British Empire, based on
a contribution by Prof. P. Carmody, formerly Direc-
tor of Agriculture in Trinidad, to the Times Trade
Supplement. The chief source of commercial cam-
phor is Formosa, and the Japanese monopoly has
led to an enormous increase in price in recent years.
Various, but so far not commercially successful,
attempts have been made in camphor cultivation
within the Empire, namely, in Ceylon, the Federated
Malay States, Mauritius, and the West Indies; in
some cases distillation tests have shown a satisfactory
yield, but in Mauritius and the West Indies the
prunings may yield only oil and no solid camphor.
Experimenting in Trinidad, Prof. Carmody found
that trees grown in the Botanic Garden made very
poor growth, but when transplanted to better soil
the growth was satisfactory, and a normal yield of
solid camphor was obtained. It is suggested that,
owing to their bushy, evergreen habit, camphor-trees
might be used as a windbreak in cacao cultivation.
The successful cultivation of camphor within the
Empire is no longer doubtful if a few necessary pre-
cautions are adopted. Seeds or seedlings from trees
that vield no solid camphor must not be used; stiff
clay soil must be avoided; in good average soil not
more than 300 trees to the acre should be grown; and
a sufficient area should be cultivated for economical
distillation. When the trees are four or five years old
they can be clipped, and thereafter three or four times
a year. The same journal directs attention to the
development of other sources of camphor, namely,
rosemary in Spain, species of Artemisia, and the
swamp-bay (Persea pubescens) in California.
758
NATURE
[AuGusT 12, 1930
METEOROLOGICAL’ Observations made at secondary
stations in Netherlands East India have recently been
published for 1917. Since the publication of the
previous volume a well-equipped meteorological station
has been started at the aerodrome at Sockamiskin.
Cloud observations have been almost wholly discon-
tinued, and sunshine records are substituted; the
cloud estimations (0-10) are said not to be trustworthy
—which is scarcely surprising, since it is stated that
the lower half of the sky was not taken into account,
and that density had its say. Sunshine observations
are from Jordan recorders, but the Campbell-Stokes
recorder would give results more comparable with
European observations. In addition to the ordinary
detailed observations of rainfall, tables under the head-
ing of ‘‘cloud-bursts’’ are given practically for all
stations,* which show the individual instances of rain-
fall of 1 mm. and more per minute, the minimum
duration being five minutes. At Batavia the maxi-
mum mean monthly air-pressure occurred in August,
and the minimum in April. July was the warmest
month and December the coldest. The mean relative
humidity, saturation being expressed as_ 1000,
ranged from 879 in February to 793 in August.
The percentage of bright sunshine was greatest
in August and least in January. By far the
greatest amount of rain falls in the winter months,
January being the wettest, whilst May and June
are the driest months. Wind results are given at only
a few stations, but the observations clearly indicate a
diurnal range in direction and velocity. A more com-
plete discussion of winds would be of value for aero-
nautics, whilst the movement and, if practicable, the
height and speed of clouds would add much to a
better knowledge of the upper air.
THE Bulletin de la Société d’Encouragement pour
l’Industrie Nationale for March-April. gives a_ full
report of the work of M. Martial Entat on the
destructive effect of light on certain materials such
as textiles, dopes, and rubberised fabrics. It is diffi-
cult, if not impossible, in these climates to make
quantitative measurements of the effect in the case
of sunlight, and M. Entat accordingly used ultra-violet
light from a mercury-vapour lamp in his experiments.
He found that the mercury lamp was twenty times
as effective as full sunlight in its destructive action
on such materials. As is now well known, consider-
able protection may be afforded by the use of various
dyes for absorbing the ultra-violet light. M. Entat’s
experiments indicate that the dyes commonly em-
ployed in aviation for protecting the fabric of aircraft
have a ‘coefficient of protection ’’ of from 50-75 per
cent., the most efficient being the red dye from quino-
line. A spectrographic measurement of the absorption
of the ultra-violet light placed the various dyes in
the same order as the tensile tests on the dye-
protected fabrics which had been exposed to the rays.
Experiments similar to those of M. Entat were carried
out during the war at the Royal Aircraft Establish-
ment at Farnborough. An account of the work was
given by Dr. Aston to the Royal Aeronautical Society
last year.
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
; next year.
No. 4 of Abstracts of Papers in Scientific Te
actions and Periodicals, published as a suppleme
the minutes of the Proceedings of the Institut
Civil Engineers, contains a large number of
abstracts taken from papers and periodicals pub
outside the United Kingdom. ‘These are cla
under the main headings of (1) measurement,
measuring, and recording instruments; (2) engineer
ing materials; (3) structures; (4) transformation
transmission, and _ distribution of energy; (5
mechanical processes, appliances, and apparatus;
subdivisions to each of
It is not easy to produce
abstracts which shall contain the information re-
quired and thus obviate the necessity for those
interested having to consult the original papers; we
note that these abstracts are satisfactory in this
respect, and therefore provide a mine of information
which we trust will be available to engineers who
are outside the ranks of the Institution of Civil
Engineers and would gladly purchase the Abstracts.
The editing is somewhat loose occasionally; thus we
note on p. 16 that an acceleration has been stated
“slightly more than 2 ft. per sec.” A slip of this
kind would have to pay a pre at the sngetation
examinations. 7
THE special requirements in derital rattagnaiiiey are
met by the radiator dental type of Coolidge tube,
obtainable from the British Thomson-Houston Co.,
Ltd. This embodies the original features of the
radiator type of tube whereby a large portion of the
heat generated is conducted away by a copper radiator,
but, in addition, the new tube allows greater proximity
of the anode to the part under exposure. The cathode-
arm extends 2 in, from the bulb at right angles to
the anode-arm; this method of construction secures
the emission of the X-rays in a line with the axis of
the anode. The cathode circuit is earthed, so that
there is only one high-tension wire, which is con-
nected to the part of the tube most remote from
the subject under exposure; this allows a minimum
distance between the dental film and the focal spot,
with consequent reduction in the time of exposure,
The tube is self-rectifying within the limits of i
allowable energy output, and is designed for an inp
not exceeding ro milliamperes at an alternative spark.
gap of about 3 in. The tube being designed to run only
under specified electrical conditions, the manipulations
are reduced to a minimum, and the only variable left
in the hands of the operator is the time for which the
film is to be exposed. In dental radiography this
attempt at standardisation and simplification of pro-
cedure is likely to meet with considerable success. —
Mr. A. THORBURN, whose sumptuous volumes,
‘British Birds’? and ‘‘A Naturalist’s Sketch Boolk,’®
have been so well received, is bringing out Hire “
Messrs. Longmans and Co. a companion wor!
entitled ‘British Mammals.” It will be in two
volumes and contain fifty plates in colour and m:
illustrations in black-and-white. ig iv is promi
for the coming autumn, and vol. ii. for the Spang it
etc. There are several
these main headings.
NATURE
759
Aveust 12, 1920]
Our Astronomical Column.
INTERESTING METEORITE.—Vol. lvii. of the Pro-
igs of the United States National Museum con-
‘an analysis by Mr. G. P. Merrill of a meteorite
was seen to fall at Cumberland Fells, Kentucky,
il 9, 1919. It is stated that if the object had
en seén to fall, its meteoric character would
ve been suspected. It is a ‘‘meteoric breccia
d of fragments of two quite dissimilar stones.”
ghter-coloured portion contained 55 per cent.
} 39 per cent. magnesia, 3 per cent. ferrous oxide,
traces of some seventeen other compounds. The
«A ng Ria which more closely resembles other
ed meteors, contains 42 per cent. silica, 9 per
. ferrous oxide, 28 per cent. magnesia, 12 per
. iron, etc. ‘‘ Apparently the admixture of the two
is of fragments took place prior to the evident
: ‘ompres sion.’’
e: e author conjectures that it is evidence of the
destruction of some pre-existing planet, but the sug-
gestion seems more reasonable that it is an earth-
born meteor expelled in a mighty eruption in long-
past ages. Sir Robert Ball was a strong advocate
of the terrestrial origin of meteors, and it appears
tenable in cases where the relative velocity is not
very high. A lunar origin was suggested by Prof.
Sampson; this also is preferable to the postulate of
ome purely hypothetical planet.
THE Union OpsErvaTORY, JOHANNESBURG.—Circular
‘0. 47 of this observatory contains a search for proper
‘motions by the blink method on two plates taken at
Paris in 1887 and 1914. The region is R.A. 18h, 35m.,
Bav,. Gee, 31° 10’. he plates have already been
neasured at Paris, and the region is included in the
wich ig10 Catalogue, so the research was in-
ed as a test of the comparative efficiency of the
ix method. The result shows that it is undoubtedly
most rapid way of detecting all the displacements,
, of course, the method is purely differential, and
ute motions can be found only by using meridian
vations of the reference stars on the plate. In
‘present case comparison with the Greenwich cata-
e shows that the stellar background is moving
per century towards 113°, so that the blink results
e ed to an origin moving in this manner. It
found that each of the three methods of examining
_the region has revealed some motions not shown
by y the <a ye Bea that they all have their use. Mr.
T
<
ei
2 gives the following summary of his results :—
_Two stars moving more than 20” per century, eight
_betw 20" and to”, seven between
wenty-seven between 8” and 6’,
(probably incomplete) below 6”.
Gatactic CoNDENSATION.—The_ results of an
ee of stellar density at different galactic
_ latit , derived from plates taken at Sydney, are
given in Circular No. 47 of the Union Observatory,
Johannesburg. The plates are fairly complete down
to magnitude 15; there are very few of these faintest
‘stars in the ions remote from the galaxy; the
_ galactic condensation of the fainter stars is greater
n that deduced at Groningen. Incidentally, Mr.
’s criticises Prof.Eddington’s statement in ‘‘ Stellar
Movements ”’ that the depth of the stellar system is
about three times as great towards the galaxy as
towards its poles, and also that the stellar density in
galactic regions is greater than in the polar ones.
Innes shows that, granting, as he does, the latter
ement, the ratio of depths becomes very much less
bi three to one; in other words, the stellar system
is more spherical than previously stated.
NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
1o" and 8’,
and forty-nine
i ©
[r.
t
The British Empire Forestry Conference.
HE Forestry Commission, constituted in Novem-
ber, 1919, has not been long in bringing about
what promises to be one of the most important events
in the history of forestry in the British Empire. We
allude to the British Empire Forestry Conference
which, with intervals for visits to certain selected
forest areas in England and Scotland, held its sittings
in London on July 7-22 under the chairmanship of
Lord Lovat. The delegates included representatives
from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India,
Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, the
Sudan, and most of the Crown Colonies. The
main objects of the conference were to bring
together such information as exists at present regard-
ing the forest resources of the Empire, and to devise
means of forming a more accurate estimate of these
resources and of developing them to the utmost; to
focus attention on the necessity for a more rational
forest policy in the various parts of the Empire; to
bring to light some of the more salient problems con-
nected with technical forestry; and to consider
certain important questions relating to forestry educa-
tion and research.
No more opportune time could have been selected
for such a conference. Of the many forcible lessons
taught us by the Great War there are few which
require to be taken more to heart than the lesson
taught us in regard to the maintenance of our timber
supplies. The view once held, that the timber
resources of the Empire are inexhaustible, is no longer
tenable, for we are already faced with a probable
world-shortage of timber which will become more and
more acute if steps are not taken to prevent reckless
waste and to ensure that production keeps pace with
exploitation. In the affairs of our Empire the
scientific aspect of forestry has been too long relegated
to the background, largely owing to»misapprehension
as to its true aims. For forestry, no less than agri-
culture, is an industry based on the productive
capacitv of the land, with this important difference :
that whereas agricultural crops are harvested within
a year, forest crops may take a century or more to
mature. Hence in forestrv, far more than in agri-
culture, the State must take a direct interest in the
growing of the crops concerned, for the success of
which continuity of management based on scientific
principles is the keynote.
Among the most important proposals approved of
bv the conference was that relating to the formation
of an Imperial Forestry Bureau to be located in
London. This Bureau, constituted somewhat on the
lines of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau,
would act as a clearing-house of information on all
subjects connected with forestry and forest products.
It would undertake to collect, co-ordinate, and dis-
seminate information on forest education, research,
policy and administration, and the resources, utilisa-
tion, consumption, and requirements of timber and
other forest products. In this way the Bureau
cannot fail to prove a valuable link in forest matters
between the various parts of the Empire.
Among the more important specific questions which
it is hoped the Bureau will lose no time in taking up
are the standardisation of technical terms used. in
forestry and the correct identification of timbers in
commercial use. with the standardisation of their
trade names so far as this is possible.
The question of forest research work was_ fully
considered. The conference held that this work, for
various reasons, is primarily the concern of the State,
Speaking generally, forest research is divisible into
two main branches: (1) that dealing with the grow-
760
NATURE
ing of forest crops, and (2) that dealing with the
utilisation of timber and other forest products. Each
of these two main branches can be considered from
two points of view, namely, the general and the local,
the former being concerned with the principles and
methods governing research work, and the latter with
the application of principles to a limited range of
conditions. General research may, consequently, be
conducted at one centre for very wide areas, while
local research must be conducted on the spot.
Although the two main branches of research are
intimately connected, from their nature they cannot
always be conducted at the same institution; it is,
however, impossible to lay down any hard-and-fast
rule in the matter, and, provided adequate co-ordina-
tion is secured, there is no reason why the two
branches of research may not be conducted success-
fully either together or apart, as circumstances may
dictate. Most-of the research problems of outstanding
importance fall under the head of sylvicultural, statis-
tical (that is, the collection and collation of data
dealing with rate of growth and production), or
technological. The conference recorded the opinion
that in no part of the Empire is sufficient attention
paid to the investigation of sylvicultural and statis-
tical problems, considering their great importance in
connection with the future maintenance and economic
working of the forests; accordingly it recommended
that each part of the Empire should include in its
forest service at least one research officer, and that
adequate funds should be placed at his disposal to
ensure progress in these branches of research.
Specitic proposals were made in respect of forest
research work in different parts of the Empire, and
it may be of interest to note the views of the con-
ference in regard to the organisation of work in the
United Kingdom. It was held that requirements
would be met by the establishment of (1) a research
institute to deal’ with problems connected with the
growing of forest crops, and (2) a research organisa-
tion which should include a central institute to deal
with problems connected with the utilisation of forest
products. It was proposed that the latter should be
governed by a research board composed of official
and non-official members, the board being an execu-
tive body similar to the research boards established
by the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research. Such a board, which would have definite
sums allotted to it for research on forest products,
would decide where any particular problem should
be investigated, and distribute the funds at its dis-
posal accordingly.
The question of forestry education in its various
aspects was fully discussed, and although this ques-
tion presented numerous difficulties the conference
succeeded in clearing the ground to a considerable
extent. In approaching this question sufficient dis-
crimination is not always shown between the training
of forest officers for service in different parts of the
Empire and the training in forestry of owners and
managers of private woodlands and others who do not
desire to take the course of instruction required for
the various forest services. In the United Kingdom
the training of owners and managers of private wood-
lands is a matter of great importance in view of the
large proportion of such woodlands existing in the
British Isles. Such training, however, must be
carried out on somewhat different lines from the
training of forest officers for the various parts of the
Empire. So far as concerns the latter, the conference
held that one institution should be established in
Britain for the training of forest. officers for the
United Kingdom and for those parts of the Empire
which, for climatic or other reasons, may be unable
NO. 2650, VOL. 105 |
[AucusT 12, 1920
to establish such an institution of their own, ¢
desire to send students to Britain for training
Students would be selected from graduates who
taken honours in science at any recognised univer
An integral part of the work of the institution w.
be to arrange supplementary courses at suitable
centres for students requiring special qualifications,
and also special courses for hoe officers from any
part of the Empire, whether at the institution itself
or at centres of training in other parts of the world.
A department of research into the formation, tending,
and protection of forests would be associated with the
training institution, | 7
In view of the success of the conference just held.
and of the far-reaching results likely to fakin it is”
proposed that this should be only the first of a series”
of similar forestry conferences to be held at intervals’
of a few years in different parts of the Empire.
Such conferences cannot fail to stimulate public
opinion in regard to what is a very important national —
question or to advance the cause of scientific and
economjc forestry, which has hitherto been too much —
neglected by the Empire at large. i) y
a
Colloidal Electrolytes.
( OLLGIDAL electrolytes are defined as solutions
of salts in which one ion has been replaced by
a heavily hydrated multivalent ‘ micelle,” or cluster
of ions, carrying an electrical charge equal to the sum
of the charges of the constituent ions, and (by reason —
of its reduced resistance to movement through the
fluid) serving as an excellent conductor of electricity.
This new class of electrolytes probably includes most
organic compounds, containing more than eight car-
bon atoms, which are capable of forming ions—e.g.
proteins, dyes, indicators, sulphonates, and soaps;
it may also include inorganic compounds, such as
chromium salts, tungstates, silicates, etc., which have
a marked tendency to form highly complex ions.
Work on this subject has been in progress in the
laboratory of physical chemistry at the University of
Bristol during a period of several years, and the results
of the investigation have recently been published by
Prof. J. W. McBain in papers communicated to. the
Royal Society (Proc. R.S., 1920, A, 97, 44-65), to
the Chemical Society (Trans C.S., 1919, 115, 1279-
1300), and to the American Chemical Society.
The earlier experiments at Bristol showed that
soap solutions possess a high degree of etic
conductivity, not only in dilute, but also in concen-
trated, solutions. This electrical conductivity could
not be attributed to hydrolysis, since the absence of all
but mere traces of free alkali could be demonstratec¢
Experiments on the depression of the freezing-point
of soap solutions, and later experiments on_ th
lowering of vapour-pressure, showed that, whilst the”
salts of the simpler fatty acids have an osmotic
activity diminishing steadily as the concentration
increases, salts of the higher homologues (from C
upwards) have an osmotic activity which pass
through a minimum and then through a maxim
before finally diminishing to a loW value in the mos
concentrated solutions. The high osmotic activity 0
the soaps in concentrated solutions, coupled with t
remarkable electrical conductivity of these soluti
is explained most satisfactorily by the theory of the
ionic micelle. In its simplest form this micelle nm
be merely a polymer of the negative radical,
strongly hydrated condition, but it is possible, and «
UST 12, 1920|
NATURE
761
, that the micelle carries, condensed on its
not only a considerable proportion of. the
but also much of the undissociated solute.
erence to the general aspects of this work, two
“may be made. In the first place, Prof.
in attempting to determine the real character
‘solutions, has tackled one of the big out-
problems that called most urgently for a clear
nm; the six years which he has devoted to this
have therefore been used far more advan-
ly than in solving the hosts of minor prob-
ich appeal so strongly to workers who are
; for immediate publication of results. In the
place, the elucidation of the nature of soap
by the theory of the ionic micelle is perhaps
Se advance that has been made in the
y of electrolytic dissociation since the early work
ius and van’t Hoff. Other’ workers,
y in physiology, have made use of similar
but in no previous case has the experimental
idence been so complete or the theory established
on so firm a basis as in the case of the soap solutions
vestigated in the Bristol laboratory. NE. L:
Se
Plant Culture in Denmark.
Denmark during the past twenty years there
have been great advances in the development cf
ous branches of plant culture. The organisa-
id aims of this work are described by Prof.
in Rayn in a recent number of the Scottish
of Agriculture (vol. iii., No. 2, April, 1920).
‘Danish experiments on plant culture were
in 1860 by B. S. Jorgensen, who too'x
as his model. Later development fo'-
rious lines, but one of the most famous
vas P. Nielson, who in 1886 became director
st State experiment station, and_ laid
lation of the extensive State experimental
‘ied on at the present day. In 1893 the root
- which had previously been instituted
Society for the Improvement of Cultivated
ere placed under the control of the State
stations, and in 1903 the same thing hap-
the wheat and malt-barley experiments of
il Agricultural Society.’ :
the closing years of the nineteenth century
agricultural societies became keenly interested
sulture experiments, and by means of special
on plant industry a large amount of useful
been carried out. Since 1905 an increasing
of field iments have been started by the
iders’”’ societies, the members of which have
up this experimental work with great en-
n. All this work is carried out either by the
itself or by institutions with the aid of Govern-
‘or the develooment of plant culture. There
‘State experiment stations, eight of which
‘in agricultural problems and the other three
ral problems. Field experiments and
ry work are included, while various sub-
ments carry out investigations on weeds, on
diseases, and on chemical, physical, and bac-
gical problems. The State stations deal with
se problems requiring lengthy and very accurate
iments, while the agricultural societies conduct
periments designed to throw light on matters of
al and of local interest. The majority of these
iments deal with the use of fertilisers, and hints
to the final results appear in a very short time.
ther section of experimental work is that of plant
ding, which is practised both by public and by
institutions. This work is supported by the
NO. 2650, VOL. 105]
ysidies, the State contributing annually about.
State experiment stations in that all novelties ap-
pearing on the market are accurately tested by variety
and strain experiments without regard to the person
or institution by whom they have been grown. In
this way a competition. open to all seed-growers and
plant-breeders is formed, and this excites great
interest, since the results of the experiments deter-
mine the market price of the seed.
Prof. Ravn points out that although the work
appears to be very much scattered, yet the various
institutions keep in close touch with each other by
joint meetings, etc., when the general lines of work
are discussed and common methods decided upon. It
is thought that this type of organisation is most
favourable to the development of initiative and to the
proper testing of new ideas and prodbcts.
Short-period Meteorological Variations.
O. 102 of the Publications of the Royal Nether-
lands Meteorological Institute contains Dr.
E. van Rijckevorsel’s eleventh communication on the
subject of secondary maxima and minima. The
author maintains that if sufficient years be taken to
mask the long-period variations, and mean values for
an. element such as temperature or barometric pres-
sure be set down for each day in the year, the result-
ing figures for any station will show a series of waves
of an average period of between ten and eleven days,
so that thirty-five maxima appear in the annual curve.
The present contribution is devoted principally to a
comparison of the barometer values for thirty-three
stations from periods varying from forty-three years
at Haparanda to only four years at Honolulu and St.
Vincent, with those obtained in the long series of
seventy-two years (1838 to 1909) at Christiania. The
Christiania data are analysed more thoroughly, as the
whole series is divided into two thirty-six-year periods
A and B; and also the first twenty-four years of A,
the last twelve years of B, and the first six years of B
are treated separately. Moreover, the data from
Christiania, Nertchinsk, and Innsbruck have been
specially examined, the means from an equal number
of years of maximum and minimum sun-spots having
been taken for each of the three stations. Innsbruck
is not one of the thirty-three stations, which are them-
selves grouped according to latitude, the mean latitude
of the groups being 67°, 52°, 42°, and 21° respectively.
They are fairly well distributed in longitude. Dia-
grams are given of twelve pulsations, the groups
being separated and the stations in each group
arranged in order of longitude, and an attempt is
made to indicate a sort of systematic variation in the
agreement between the several curves.
A final diagram gives apparently ideal curves of
temperature and pressure through the year, showing
the subsidiary period onlv affected by some annual
variation which flattens the waves at the equinoxes,
compared with actual values from fifteen years’ data
at Bucharest. Dr. van Riickevorsel has devoted him-
self for many years to this varticular investigation,
but it does not seem to have enlisted much supnort
up to the oresent time. W. W. B.
University and Educational Intelligence.
Campripce.—Prof. S. J. Hickson,’ of Manchester,
has been elected an honorary fellow of Downing
College. Mr. A. J. Berry has been re-elected to a
fellowship. P
Guiascow.—Dr. A. J. Ballantyne has been appointed
lecturer in ophthalmology in succession to Dr. M.
Ramsay.
762
NATURE
[AucusT 12, 192
LiIvERPOOL.—A contribution of 10,0001. in support
of the University Appeal Fund has been made by the
Cunard Steamship Co., Ltd.
The Pacific Steam Navigation Co., Liverpool,
made a contribution of 10001. to the same tund.
bee
Tue directors of Messrs. Brunner, Mond, and Go.
were authorised at an extraordinary meeting held at
Liverpool on August 4 to distribute 100,o00l. out of
the investment surplus reserve account to universities
or other scientific institutions in the United Kingdom
for the furtherance of scientific education and .re-
search. Proposals for the allocation of this grant
are under consideration, but no scheme has yet “been
adopted by the directors.
AN examination for the Aitchison memorial scholar-
ship, of the value of 30l., and tenable in the full-
time day courses in technical optics at the Northamp-
ton Institute, Clerkenwell, will be held in September
next. The scholarship is open to candidates of both
sexes between sixteen and nineteen years of age. The
compulsory subjects are English and elementary
mathematics. The optional subjects, of which only
two must be taken, are additional elementary mathe-
matics, physics (heat, light, and sound), chemistry,
electricity, and magnetism. Full particulars are
given in a leaflet which can be obtained from the hon.
secretary and treasurer, Mr. Henry F. Purser,
35 Charles Street, Hatton Garden, London, E.C.1.
NEws has just reached us that Prof. A. T. De Lury
was appointed some months ago to be head of the
department of mathematics in the University of
Toronto by the Board of Governors on the recom-
mendation of the president of the University, Sir
R. A, Falconer. The Staff, Council, and Senate have
nothing to do with appointments, and the only check
upon the action of the president and the Board of
Governors is public opinion. Prof. De Lury has been
a member of the teaching staff of the University for
many years, and is the author of a number of mathe-
matical text-books which have done service in the
schools of the province of Ontario. He possesses
high teaching ability, but has not been associated with
the research activities which it should be the essential
- function of a university to create and foster. Without
men engaged in the production of new knowledge the
work of a university differs little from that of a
secondary school preparing students for examinations.
Toronto has won much distinction by the scientific
investigations of such men as Profs. Macallum,
McLennan, and Brodie, and it was hoped that the
chair of mathematics would have been filled by some-
one who possesses the highest research qualifications
in mathematics that Canada could produce. If
De Lury can and will build up a strong research staff
under him, he will be doing the best service to his
University and extend the stimulating atmosphere
which some of his scientific colleagues have given to
the institution by their work.
Amonc the recent bulletins ‘issued by the U.S.
Bureau of Education, Washington, is one (No. 61)
entitled ‘‘ Public Discussion and Information Service
of University Extension.’? It comprises some fifty
pages octavo, and deals with the extra-mural activities
of the numerous universities and library commissions
of the various States. The bulletin submits that
university extension should not only offer the oppor-
tunity of. self-directed study for the great mass of
persons who wish to continue systematically their
preparation for personal:-advancement, but should also
provide the indispensable connection between scientific
knowledge and the everyday vractice necessary for
sound community development, between the facts
NO, 2650, VOL. 105 |
accumulated through research and their applicz
to the practical problems which must be met
individual communities in a democratic. society, —
versity education is not merely educational in
limited sense; it attempts to make facts, knowle
and truth operative in the daily life of the pec
The scope of university extension so interpreted in-
cludes bureaux of information, - lecture schemes—club —
study and library service—assistance in debates an
in other forms of public discussion, together with
novel institution known as the package-library s
vice, by which is meant the compilation by speciali
at each university or library centre of information of —
pamphlets, bulletins, clippings from articles in maga-—
zines and othey sources on subjects and questions
of interest to the public, which are sent ont
application to individuals or organisations in dis-_
tricts, however remote, within the State. Wisconsin,
for example, had in 1918-19 more than 1000 subjects, —
and the Texas bureau 550, represented in- their
package-library collections, the contents of each of —
which are changed from time to time. They cover
the whole domain of civic, economic, and State activi-
ties. The bulletin gives full particulars of the cost, |
methods, and organisation of the service, which might
with much advantage be introduced into this country.
The information bureaux were made much use of,
since nearly 180,000 requests for information were
received in fourteen States, and in twenty-four States
the lectures arranged were ‘attended by sd fc of
2,000,000 persons.
Societies and Academies.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, July 19.—M. Henri Deslandres
in the chair.—F. E. Fournier; The resistance of a
fluid to the horizontal translation of a oe ee
or spherical body with deep immersion.—A. Haller
and Mme. Ramart-Lucas: Bromohydrins and dibromo-
derivatives obtained from the oS ee
C,H,-CO-CHR-CH,-CH:CH, and
CH,-CO-CRR, CHSOHCH,.. |
Compounds of the latter type give bromohydrins on
treatment with bromine; under the same conditions
methylallylacetophenone gives a_ stable dibromide,
C,H,-CO-CH(CH,)*-CH,-CHBr-CH,Br. —F. _Widal,
Pe Abrami, and N. Iancovesco : Proof of digestive
hemoclasia in the study of hepatic insufficiency. It
has been shown in an earlier communieation that for
some time after a nitrogenous meal incompletely dis-
integrated proteids pass into the portal vein from the
intestine, and that these substances are prevented
from passing into the general circulation by =i
normal action of the liver. This has now been
applied clinically after a meal of 200 grams of mille a
or of meat and eggs. No symptoms of hemoclasi:
are given by healthy subjects or by subjects sufferi
from various illnesses provided the liver is in a norm
condition, but with the liver diseased a similar m
is followed by a hemoclasic crisis, with ‘alteratia
in the number of white corpuscles, arterial pressur
coagulability of the blood, and refractometric
index of the serum. These symptoms have proved
capable of detecting latent disease of the li
when the usual signs are wanting.—E. Ar
The determination of the last of the three fv
tions which defines the equation of state of ether
G. Fubini: Automorphic functions.—G, J. Remoun
The modulus and zeroes of analytical functions
A. Petot : The spherical representation of surfaces
the correspondence by parallel tangent planes.—
Bruhat: Remarks on the compression of satur
GUST 12, 1920|
NATURE
-M. Sauzin: The propagation of sustained
oscillations in water and the dielectric
nt of water. Oscillations with wave-lengths
of 444 cm. and 242 cm. gave 73 as the
> constant of distilled water—a little lower
= usually accepted figure, 80.—C, Zenghelis :
earches on the action of gases in a very fine
_ division. A continuation of experiments
{ in a previous paper on the same subject.
a mixture of a i and carbon dioxide,
ehyde and its condensation products were
l. The reduction was favoured by light,
y by the ultra-violet rays.—J. Cournot: The
gs of electrolytic iron. The removal of
from electrolytic iron by annealing can. be
by heating for two hours at 950° C. or one
r at 1050° C. At 850° C. or lower temperatures
) popraphic study and hardness. determinations
‘: annealing to be incomplete even after six
heating —L. Guillet: Some new researches on
l brasses. Studies of brasses containing cobalt,
‘omium, silver, and gold.—G, Gire: The oxidation
¥f arsenious anhydride in alkaline medium in presence
ferrous sulphate.—G. Denigés: lJodic acid as a
‘ochemical reagent characteristic of gaseous am-
_ A to per cent. solution of iodic acid gives
eristic crystals of ammonium iodate on
e to gaseous ammonia. As _ little as
ligram of ammonia can be detected by
_ means.—. —A, Desgrez and J. Meunier: The
leration of organic matter with the view of
ing its mineral constituents; application to
alysis.— —A. Korczynski, \W. Mrozinski, and
: New catalytic elements for the ‘trans-
of diazo-compounds. Salts of cobalt and
replace copper. salts in certain applica-
an er’s reaction.—J. Martinet and
: A new indigo colouring matter, 5-[dioxy-
di ubert : "New con-
ne]-2-indolindigo.—H.
_ of the diabases in Western French
de Puymaly: A new small green alga,
leprosa.—A. Paillot: The CEénocytoides and
_ Dehorne : Atypical characters in
in Corethra plumicornis.—B.
sence of copper in plants, and
y in of vegetable origin. Copper was
baeder: four materials of vegetable origin
, seeds, and fruits) in amounts varying
9 = Bate milligrams per kilogram of dried
—~A The last phases of the
nt of. aga endodermic metamerised organs
» of Anthozoa and the formation of the
. Chatton : Palisporogenesis : a mode of
" special to certain parasite Flagella.—
ud: Young colonies of the luminous Termite.
; M Viollande and P. Vernier: Cocobacillus insec-
var. malacosomae, a pathogenic bacillus of the
of the caterpillar, Malacosoma castrensis.
PHILADELPHIA.
Philosophical Society, April 22.—Prof.
. Scott, president, in the chair.—Dr. L. M.
Beach-protection works.—Prof. D. W.
n; Geographic aspects of the Adriatic problem.
G. Mayor: The reefs of Tutuila, Samoa, in
- relation to coral-reef. theories.—Prof. H. F.
d: Distribution of land and water on the earth.
4 conception of the land of the earth as being a
ply dissected and loosely joined together mass,
its centre about half-way between the equator
we poles, explains nearly all the characteristics
» distribution of land and water, such as the
al relation, the concentration of land about
h Pole and of water about the South Pole,
NO, 2650, VOL. 105 |
t
793
etc.—Prof. E. ©; Kendall - Thyroxin. —Dr. S, J.
Meltzer: ‘The dualistic conception of the processes
of life. The dualistic conception of the life-processes
may be presented as follows: Irritability is a charac-
teristic property of all living tissues. Irritability
means the property of the tissues to react with a
change in each state to a proper stimulus. The
change may consist in an excitation—an increase in
activity, or an inhibition—a decrease in activity.
Each and every state of life of the plain tissues or
of the complex functions is a resultant from the com-
bination of the two antagonistic factors, excitation
and inhibition.—Dr. F. G. Blake: The relation of
the Bacillus influenzae to influenza. The experiments
described establish the etiological relationship of
Bacillus influenzae to the type “of bronchopneumonia
with which the organism has been found constantly
associated in man. ‘They also prove that B. influenzae
can initiate an infection of the upper respiratory
tract and produce a disease that closely resembles
influenza and is associated with the same com-
plications as influenza. They do not prove that
B. influenzae is the primary cause of influenza, how-
ever, since it is impossible to determine whether the
disease produced in monkeys by inoculation with
B. influenzae was actually identical with pandemic
influenza.—Dr. W. E. Dandy: X-rays of the brain
after injection of air into the ventricles of the brain
and into the spinal canal.—Prof. J. D. Prince: Celt
and Slav. Slavs and Celts are strikingly similar to
each other in habits of mind and expression, although
far removed geographically. The Russians, Poles,
Czecho-Slovaks, Serbo-Croatians, and Bulgarians, all
speaking Slavonic idioms, although .racially very
various, have certain marked traits in common which
they all share with the Celts, viz. the Irish, Scottish,
and Manx Gaels, the Armorican Bretons of France,
the Welsh, still Celtic-speaking, and the Cornish,
whose Celtic language is now extinct. The similarity
between Slavs and Celts is twofold, viz. tempera-
mental discontent and morbid jov in sorrow. As a
concomitant of this discontent goes the spirit of quest
after the unattainable, which is manifest in both
Slavonic and Celtic trends of thought. The sun of
common sense has never risen on either the Slav or
the Celt, and it is doubtful whether the Slavs can
exist very long without the guiding hand of strangers.
The charm of the Celt and Slav is great and durable,
but it is charm and not character, feeling and senti-
ment rather than thought and reasoning, which
dominate the east and west of Europe alike.—Prof.
R. B. Dixon; A new theory of Polynesian origins.
The question of the racial origins of the Polynesian
peoples has long attracted the attention of anthropo-
logists. Previous studies have dealt mainly with
small portions of the area, and have not satisfactorily
correlated the various factors characterising physical
types, or the Polynesian types with those of the rest
of Oceania. The present study seeks to secure more
satisfactory results by including the whole of Oceania
and Eastern Asia in its scope. Following a method
differing from those previously emploved, a number
of fundamental physical types are defined, and their
distribution and that of their derivatives traced. One
of these fundamental types unexpectedly proves to be
Negrito, the other two most important ones being
Negroid and Malavoid. The Negrito and Negroid
types. being marginal in their distribution, are
probably the older.—Prof. A. V. W. Jackson: The
Zoroastrian doctrine of the freedom of the will. The
purpose of this paper was to show the significance
of the doctrine of the freedom of the will in the
dualistic creed of Zoroaster more than 2500 vears
ago.—Prof. M. Jastrow, jun.: The Hittite civilisa-
tion. The Hittites seem to have been composed of a
794.
NATURE
conglomeration of various ethnic elements, and about
1500 B.C. a ‘strong Hittite empire was located in
northern Asia Minor, which was powerful enough to
threaten both Egypt on one side and Babylonia and
Assyria on the other. These Hittites, moving along
the historical highway across Asia Minor, left their
rock monuments and their fortresses as traces of the
power and civilisation which they developed. Their
contact with Assyria appears to have been particularly
close, and it is not impossible that the earliest rulers
were actually Hittites. The ‘‘sons of Heth’’ asso-
ciated in tradition with Abraham are Hittites, and
there were Hittite generals in the army of the Jewish
kings.—Prof. M. Bloomfield: The decipherment of the
Hittite languages.—Prof. P. Haupt: The beginning
of the Fourth Gospel. John i. 1 should be trans-
lated : ‘‘ In the beginning was reason.’’ Greek “‘ logos ”’
denotes both ‘“‘word’’ and ‘‘reason.’’ Logic is the
science of reasoning. According to the Stoics, reason
(Greek ‘“‘logos’’) was the active principle in the
formation of the universe.
Books Received.
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. Report on
the Scientific Results of the Voyage of S.Y. Scotia
during the Years 1902, 1903, and 1904. By Dr. W. S.
Bruce. Vol. vii., Zoology. Parts 1-13, Invertebrates.
Pp. viiit+323+15 plates. (Edinburgh: Scottish
Oceanographical Laboratory.) 50s.
Le Radium. Interprétation et Enseignements de
la Radioactivité. By Prof. F. Soddy. Traduit de
l’Anglais par A. Lepape. Pp. iii+375. (Paris: Félix
Alcan.) 4.90. francs,
Tracks and Tracking : A Book for Boy Scouts, Girl
Guides, and Every Lover of Woodcraft. By H. M.
Batten. Pp. 95. (London and. Edinburgh: W. and
R. Chambers.) 2s. net.
Criticism of the Nile Projects. Submitted by the
Commission of Egyptian Engineers to the Nile Pro-
jects Commission, 1920. Pp. 36. (Cairo.)
Zi-ka-wei Observatory Atlas of the Tracks of
620 Typhoons, 1893-1918. By Louis Froc, S.J.
Pp. 4+charts. (Zi-ka-wei.)
Records of the Indian Museum. Vol. xvii., June.
Catalogue of Oriental and South Asiatic Nemocera.
By E. Brunette. Pp. 300. (Calcutta: Zoological
Survey.) 5 rupees.
Records of the Indian Museum. Vol. xx., June.
A Monograph of the South Asian, Papuan, Melanesian,
and Australian Frogs of the Genus Rana. By Dr.
G. A. Boulenger. Pp. 226. (Calcutta: Zoological
Survey.) 6 rupees.
Western Australia. Astrographic Catalogue, 1900-0.
Perth Section, Dec. —31° to —41°. From _photo-
graphs taken and measured at the Perth Observatory
under the direction of H. B. Curlewis. Vol. xvii.
ps 55.0 Vol. xviiii,; Pp. 107.. Vol! xix.’ Po. “tor.
Moh xm Pp." 90s Vole Rp. 54. Voki gaat.
Pp. 105. Vol. xxiii: “Pp. too. ‘Vol. xxiv. Pp: 7s.
(Perth.)
Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Vol. lii., part 4. New Stelar Facts, and their Bear-
ing on Stelar Theories for the Ferns. By Dr. J. M‘L.
Thompson. (Edinburgh: R. Grant and_ Son;
London: Williams and Norgate.) 5s. 6d.
Monograph of the Lacertide. By Dr. G. A.
Boulenger. Vol. i. Pp. x+352. . (London: British
Museum (Natural Historv).) 2.
Eugenics. Civics, and Ethics. Bw Sir C. Walston.
Pp. 56. (Cambridge: University Press.) 4s. net.
Essays on Early Ornithology and Kindred Subiects.
By 7. R. McClymont: Pp. vii+35+3 plates.
(London: B. Quaritch, Ltd.) 6s.
NO, 2650, VOL. 105 |
~The Sugar-Beet i in America. By Prof. F. S. Harr
Pp. xviiit342+xxxii plates. (New York: The Ma
millan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 12
net. x
British Museum (Natural History). Furnit
Beetles: Their Life-History and How to Check
Preventethe Damage Caused by the Worm. By
C. J. Gahan. (Economic Series, No. 11.) Po. 23.
1 plate. (London: British Museum (Natural His-
tory).) 6d.
British Museum (Natural History). British Ant-
arctic (Terra prt de agua te a 1gto. Natural His- |
Vol. ii., No. 9, Mollusca.
Pp. 203-32.
Anatomy of "ener: By
233-5644 plates. 8s. 6d. Vol.
derma (part ii.) afd Enteropneusta.
derma and Enteropneusta. By Prof. E. W. MacBrid e.
Pp. 83-94+2 plates. 7s. 6d. (London: British
Museum (Natural History).) :
The Prevention of Tetanus during the Great War —
by the Use of Antitetanic Serum. By Maj.-Gen. Sir —
David Bruce. Pp. 27. (London: Rica Defence | |
Society.) Is. 2
Der Aufbau der Materie; drei Aufsiitze iiber
moderne Atomistik und Elektronentheorie. By Max
Born. Pp. v+8r. (Berlin: J. Springer.) 8.60 marks.
CONTENTS. PAGE
Progress! By Sir E, Ray a K.C.B.,
FURS Peele Ss Ole ees 733
Complex Elements in Geometry. By Prof. G. B.
Mathews, F.R.S. «736:
Motion Study and ‘the Manual Werke’. By
H. MW es. gis. 737.
Our Bookshelf | . .. «cain Be a ee 738
Letters to the Editor :—
hee Grants. — Sir Michael E. Sadler:
K.C.S.1I
The Carrying Power of Spores and Plant-life in Deep
Caves.—Edith A. Stoney
* Curious Formation of Ice. Alfred S. E. -Acker-
mann
Bees and the Scarlet-runner Bean. —Harford 1.
Lowe
The Condition of Kent’s Cavern.-Edward A,
Martin .
Calculation of Vapour Densities. Reginald G.
Durrant .
Use of Sumner Lines in " Navigation. —Prof. G. ‘Cc!
Comstock ; Capt. T. H. Tizard, ae » F.R.S.
The Research Department, Woolwich. et
trated ) By Sir Robert Robertson, K.B. ES F.R.S
The Romance of Bird Life, (Illustrated.) . .
Helium: Its Production and Uses, ses Diagram.
By Prof. J. C. McLennan, F.R.S.
Obituary :—
Prof. John Perry, F.R.S.—H. E. A.; W. E. D.
Prof. et Righi, For.Mem.R.S. __Sir Oliver
Lodge, F.R
Co oe 08 8 SCO ee ee Oe err
Notes .
Our Astronomical Column :—
An Interesting Meteorite . ,
The Union Observatory, Johannesburg win tied
Galactic Condensation ; Pee ys Sees
The British Empire Forestry Conference Li tase tea
Colloidal Electrolytes. By T.
Plant Culture in Denmark .
Short-period Meteorological
Ww. W. B.
ee ee we hE ee OI 5 Te ee ie: ee
" Variations. By
ee toe Ce We owe aMn ce
University and Educational Intelligence... . .
Societies and Academies... .
Books Received ......--.
moe MALGRE y?
765
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD,
MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
in 1919, directing attention to nine
of water-power in Scotland which
loped at once so as to supply elec-
t economic rates. It was no doubt
a _ water was appreciated by the
: in October, 1919, the terms of
vere extended by the Board of Trade
'* whaty, steps should be taken to
fhe water resources of the country
has issued a Report! dealing with the
ibject of the new reference. It should
ot be collected from the surface in urban
ricultural areas. Water subject to organic
oard of Trade. Second Interim Report of the Water-Power Resources
Presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty.
‘Cmd. 776. (London : H.M. Stationery Office, 1920.) Price 4d.
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
chemical and bacteriological means, as_ Sir
Alexander Houston has demonstrated on the
citizens of Greater London. But many commu-
nities demand a natural and untreated supply, and
this, in default of deep wells, can be obtained only
from uncultivated moorlands, most of which in
England and Wales have already been appro-
priated.
The present method of allocating supplies is for
a local authority to select a suitable gathering
ground and then to promote a private Bill in Parlia-
ment. The proposed scheme, after being found
to conform to Standing Orders, is examined in
turn by a Committee of each House, the members.
of which may or may not have some knowledge
of water supply and of parliamentary usage. An
able counsel urges the necessity and perfection of
the scheme on the Committee and brings forward
experts to prove that the selected area can yield
enough water and no more than is required.
Certain Government Departments have the right
to report upon the Bill, e.g. the Ministry of
Health with regard to the quality of the supply
and the needs of the population, the Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries with regard to land
drainage and possible damage to fish, and the
Board of Trade or Ministry of Transport with
regard to any possible effect on navigation. If the
promoters succeed in arriving at an arrangement
with the public bodies and private persons who
appear as opponents, their scheme is likely to be
passed by the Committee without any very critical
inquiry, and it may be that broad national aspects
of the case are never considered at all.
In Scotland there is in most cases an alternative
to: the promotion of a private Bill, by obtaining
a provisional Order from the Scottish Office after
an inquiry by a joint Committee of both Houses
of Parliament sitting in the locality, and not at
Westminster. In the absence of opposition the
Order is confirmed by Parliament without further
examination. A multitude of public and private
opponents have a locus standi with regard to a
Water Bill, but the fundamental idea appears to
be that opposition is a matter for individual
interests, and that it is not the business of any
impartial authority to ascertain the facts of any
particular case in the public interest alone. Selfish
opposition often makes the passage of a Water
Supply Bill difficult, and in the case of water-
power the difficulty is much greater, as alternative
sources of power are merely a matter of price.
The Report before us gives the considered
cc
766
NATURE
ae“
[AucustT 19, 1920
opinion of the Committee on the question of the
most desirable mechanism of control for the whole
water resources of the country, and it is evident
that some diversity of opinion had to be reconciled
in arriving at it. One member, Mr. W. A. Tait,
of Edinburgh, submits a Minority Report in which
he considers that all the reforms required can be
secured by improving the present system, both by
assimilating the law of England to that of
Scotland and by making certain simplifications in
procedure. He holds that there is no justification
for a new central water authority. One member
signs the Majority Report with a reservation in
which he deprecates the creation of a Water Com-
mission, on the ground that the Ministry of
Health, if strengthened, can deal adequately with
the matter. Another signs with the reservation
that he would have preferred a Central Depart-
ment to deal with all water interests. The remain-
ing seventeen members found the terms of the
Majority Report sufficiently comprehensive and
guarded to express their views.
One might imagine that the easiest way to
simplify the confusion of contending water
interests would be to create a Central Department
for the United Kingdom to which all existing
Departments should transfer their duties as regards
water, and in which any additional powers which
might be required should be vested. By the con-
stitution of the Committee the water problem in
Ireland was referred to a_ special Irish Sub-
Committee, and recent events naturally confirm
the policy of keeping Irish interests by them-
selves. But the Committee has not found it pos-
sible or expedient even to recommend the reten-
tion of Great Britain as a unit, and the scheme
outlined refers in its entirety to England and
Wales, Scottish interests being left to the Scottish
Office.
It seems unfortunate, in the present state of
public feeling, that a rearrangement of duties
could not have been suggested which should avoid
adding to the present number of officials; but, on
the other hand, it is necessary to bear in mind
that the Committee set itself to devise a practic-
able scheme which could be got to work with the
minimum disturbance of existing Departments.
Viewed as a workable compromise, the plan sug-
gested by the Committee has sound qualities
which probably compensate its obvious theoretical
deficiencies.
The Committee points out that nine previous
Royal Commissions and Select Committees which
NO. 2651, VOL, 105]
‘and Wales should be entrusted to a body of four
had considered water problems between 1866 an
1910 had concurred in recommending the creatio
of a central water authority to control the alloca-
tion of water, to act as an advisory body to Par.
liament, and to collect information as to water
resources. -Much fresh evidence was called by
the Committee, and the final scheme for control —
put forward in this Report is as follows.
The allocation of sources of water in England
Commissioners appointed by the Minister of
Health, to whom their responsibility should be —
direct. The chairman of the Commission should
be a Civil Servant or lawyer having ripe experience
of administration and legislation. The other three
should be technical members, all to be paid and to
devote their whole time to the work. An Inter- —
departmental Committee representing the “multi- _
plicity of interests to be reconciled ’’ and including
representatives of various scientific services should —
be set up by statute to assist the Commissioners.
In order that the Commission may perform its —
duty of allocating water, its first concern is held
to be to acquire all necessary information on the
subject. This should be obtained from the Depart-
ments already engaged in collecting such data,
particularly the Ordnance Survey, the Geological
Survey, and the Meteorological Office; but as
these do not cover the whole ground the Commis- .
sion should be empowered to set up a Hydro-
metric Survey. The Commission should consult:
with the Scottish and Irish authorities with a view
to the compilation of all records on a uniform
system. tek
It is recommended that every proposal to oe
water from the surface or from underground, except
for private domestic use, should be submitted to —
the Commission for its licence® If the Commission
sees cause to withhold its consent, the promoters :
can still proceed by means of a private Bill; but —
if a licence is issued, they need apply only to the
Department dealing with the particular use of
water, and this Department should be empowered
to grant an Order which, if unopposed, should —
take effect without confirmation by Parliament. —
Existing Departments are empowered to deal with —
all uses of water except water-power, and it is —
proposed to create either in the Board of Trade
or under the Electricity Commissioners a new
Department for the study, control, and encourage-
ment of the use of water-power in Great Britai:
Encouragement should include the grant of tet ‘,
porary financial assistance to ‘promising power :
_ Aveust 19, 1920]
NATURE
797
1
‘schemes. This subject is to have fuller treat-
_ ment in the final Report of the Committee.
In addition to new allocations the Water Com-
_ mission should have power to revise existing allo-
cations, including the compensation water already
Prescribed by Act of Parliament. Another duty
would be the setting- up of local Rivers Boards to
‘control individual rivers as a whole.
One further safeguard is suggested, namely,
appointment by the Commission of an
dvisory committee, or committees, consisting of
representatives of water undertakings and scien-
tific institutions, consulting engineers, and other
qualified persons.’’ Presumably the services of
_ for the Commission “also” ask to be empowered
_ “to obtain and pay for professional advice in con-
nection with their investigations.’’
_ Perhaps one might be inclined to doubt whether
_ the Committee has always kept clearly in mind the
€ssential distinction between scientific and tech-
4 nical advice ; but in one respect at least the Report
will be welcome to scientifically minded people. It
_ places in the forefront of the duties of the Water
Commissioners the investigation by scientific
study of the actual water resources of the country
_ and the strengthening of existing agencies by the
creation of a hydrometric survey of rivers. One
‘ cannot help regretting that the various survey
_ bodies are not united under one scientific Depart-
ment, for it would be a natural development if the
a _ Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
were to add to the care of the Geological Survey
_ that of the Ordnance Survey, the Meteorological
_ Office, and the proposed Hydrometric Survey. In
these matters, however, simplification comes
_ slowly, and it is a great matter to find a clear
statement of the truth, which is not self-evident
_ to all our legislators, that one must first ascertain
what our resources are before we proceed to
_ distribute them.
We have endeavoured to state the conclusions
as briefly and simply as possible, but the Report
goes into much detail and requires careful reading.
: The system suggested is, we believe, as simple
and efficient as it could be made, bearing in mind
the initial determination to work so far as possible
through existing agencies. But it is open to doubt
the wisdom of that determination and to ask
whether the creation of a Central Department
dealing with all water questions, and with water
questions only, might not, after all, be a simpler,
cheaper, and more efficient solution of the problem.
NO. 2651, VOL. 105 |
«
these Specialists are to be solicited gratuitously,’
‘The Mathematician as Anatomist.
Department of Applied Statistics, University of
London, University College: Drapers’ Company
Research Memoirs. Biometric Series, x.: A
Study of the Long Bones of the English
Skeleton. By Karl Pearson and Julia Bell.
Text: Part i., The Femur. Chaps. i. to vi.
Pp. v+224. Atlas: Part i., The Femur.
Pp. vii+plates lix+Tables of Measurements
and Observations. (Cambridge: At the Uni-
versity Press, 1919.) Price, Text and Atlas,
Part i., 30s. net.
Department of Applied Statistics, University of
London, University College: Drapers’ Company
Research Memoirs. Biometric Series, xi.: A
Study of the Long Bones of the English
Skeleton. By Karl Pearson and Julia Bell.
Text: Part i., Section ii., The Femur of Man,
with special reference to other Primate Femora.
Chaps. vii. to x., Appendices, Bibliography,
and Indices. Pp. 225-539. Atlas: Part i.,
Section ii., The Femur of the Primates.
Pp. vii+plates Ix-ci+Tables of Femoral
Measurements of the Primates. (Cambridge:
At the University Press, 1919.) Price, Text
and Atlas, Part i., Section ii., 4os. net.
F in the rapid increase of knowledge at the
present time there is a tendency for men to
limit their labours more and more to one narrow
field of investigation, there is also, we are glad
to note, an opposite tendency leading men who
have become eminent in their own particular
subject to cross professional frontiers and to
carry war, seldom peace, into neighbouring or
even distant specialities. In the present two great
publications, devoted chiefly to the human thigh-
bone, containing more than a quarter of,a million
words, with tables which give the results of at
least 70,000 measurements, and illustrated by 105
anatomical plates, we find Prof. Karl Pearson, the
mathematician, definitely settling himself in the
front bench of speculative anatomists. He cannot
have expected a warm welcome in his new
quarters, for there are few British anatomists who
do not bear the mark of at least one of those
biometrical brickbats at the throwing of which
Prof. Pearson has manifested very considerable
skill. They did not hurt any the less because they
were meant kindly! In spite of all their scars,
however, British anatomists—nay, anatomists
of every country—who study these volumes will
forget their past sores and be glad to welcome
him to their membership for the great service he
has rendered to their subject, not only in this, but
also in previous memoirs.
768
NATURE
{[AuGUST 19, 1920
To understand aright what has been accomplished
in the memoir now under review one has to go back
twenty-five years to 1895, when Prof. Pearson,
then the occupant of the chair of applied mathe-
matics at University College, London, showed how
the mathematical theory of statistics could and
should be applied to all the manifestations of life.
He was the only man then in England to perceive
that Francis Galton was a really great“man, and
that if the knowledge relating to man and to living
things was to be placed on a sound foundation,
it must be laid by an application and an ampli-
fication of the Galtonian methods. Anatomists
had made a survey of the human body and re-
corded their experience by giving accurate descrip-
tions of what they had seen and broad general-
isations as to what they thought. Prof. Pearson
realised, as Galton had done before him, that no
progress could be made in our knowledge of popu-
lations, races, or species until accurate standard
methods of measurements had been applied to
great numbers of individuals, and hence the first
task which faced him, in building up a biometrical
school, was the gathering of data to which
Statistical methods could be applied. Fortunately
Sir George Thane, when professor of anatomy at
University College, had had the foresight to store
in his department great assemblages of human
bones recovered from burial grounds in the East
End of London—presumably remains of seven-
teenth-century Londoners who: had died of the
plague. This material became a treasure trove
for the growing biometrical school.
Prof. Pearson’s methods were applied to the
skulls by the late Dr. W. R. Macdonald, and for
the first time we had given to us standard data
relating to the skull of the Englishman. Skulls
have always been a favourite means for the study
of racial characters, but Prof. Pearson wished to
show that other bones had also their racial values,
and by 1907 he was in a position, with the assist-
ance of Miss Julia Bell, to commence his investi-
gation of the thigh-bone.
Prof. Pearson had in the East London collection
about 800 examples of this bone—each of which
was .examined, and in almost every instance
measurements were made and estimates formed
relating to eighty characters—in some examples to
as many as a hundred—in order to establish the
prevailing features of the thigh-bone of English
men and women. He had to standardise old
methods of making measurements and indices and
to invent many new ones. In the course of his
work he has brought to light many important
facts which are new to anatomists. From this
first phase of his investigation he was led, very
naturally, to a second—to see how the English
NO. 2651, VOL, 105 |
thigh-bone compared with that of Continental
peoples. He had to search foreign records, and {
found them almost as barren of accurate details
as those at home, but we cannot help noting his —
leniency towards the shortcomings of anatomists —
who live beyond the shores of England. Then —
followed in due course a third step—a comparison —
of the thigh-bone of the European with that of —
other races of the world—and a fourth—a com- —
parison of the thigh-bone of modern man —
with that of ancient and extinct races of mankind.
A fifth extension of his original aim was a com- ~
parison of the human femur with that of other
members of the Primate class—the’ gorilla, the —
chimpanzee, the orang (the great anthropoids), —
the gibbon (or small anthropoid), the monkeys of
the Old and of the New Worlds, and lastly with
the lowest of Primate forms—the Lemuroids,
including Tarsius. Then came a sixth exten-
sion—a study and comparison of the thigh-bones _
of extinct apes and Lemuroids. Finally, on the
evidence he had thus accumulated from an inten-—
sive study of the thigh-bone, we have the ~
construction of a pedigree or lineage of their
owners—a pedigree which gives us the conception —
he has formed of man’s evolutionary history and
of man’s relationship to the higher members of —
the animal kingdom.
By this natural sequence of inquiries the pro-
fessor of mathematics has become an exponent of
human phylogenetics. Setting out in 1907 with
the intention of examining the femur of the
Londoner, he ended in 1919 with a survey of the
world of Primates.
Those who have had experience in arranging
the members of a group of plants or animals— —
in conformity with their natural affinities—in a
scheme which will express their evolutionary rela-
tionships are well aware that diverse, even con- —
tradictory, results are obtained, according to the —
system of parts used in framing the scheme of ~
classification. If we arrange the Primates by —
grouping them according to the anatomical char- —
acters of their teeth, we get one result; if by
their brains and nervous system, a second and —
very different grouping; if by their digestive 3
system, a third; if by their reproductive system, a —
fourth, and so on. All the systems have to be ui
taken into account, and to some, such as the
brain, much more weight must be given than to 2
others. In the most perfect scheme of classifica-_
tion there are always blemishes; the evidence of —
one system will be found to contradict or be ab]
variance with that of another. “a
There need be no surprise at this variance of
evidence; it should be so if heredity works
a Mendelian way. If we confine our attention,
UST 19, 1920]
NATURE
769
gement. If we use the thigh-bone alone,
sification of the Primates will serve to
an + ape. In such an event this memoir would
le, for it gives us, for the first time,
sis on which a rational prophecy can be
There is a case in point which is very
ly dealt with by Prof. Pearson—the thigh-
_Pithecanthropus. He has applied more
ate and more elaborate tests to the anato-
characters of this bone than has _ hitherto
[ a of a man. Prof. Pearson is too
man of science to deny the possibility
having at the same time an almost
an femur and a skull and brain which
an, but he is clearly more than
‘in his scheme of classification Pithec-
; must be given a place amongst races
1man. Even when he has given us, as
omised—and it is sincerely to be hoped
able to carry it out—his programme of
-correlationship of the thigh-bone to
bones of the body and their correla-
to the jaws and cranium—there will still
infinitely more difficult task of stating
cal terms the correlationship of one
° another, such as that of the nervous to
tive system, or of the respiratory to the
ive, circulatory, and other systems. For
2, it is clear, we must depend, as in the
2 the somewhat crude methods of
il appreciation and analysis.
have already told how the principal author
monograph was led, during the latter part
twelve years he devoted to a study of the
ir, to ascertain what light his results shed on
jlutionary histories of mankind, the anthro-
| It is true that
h he is perfectly aware—as when man and the
find themselves the closest of allies as regards
. diameters of their femoral shafts, or when the
d World monkeys find themselves cheek by jowl
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
with man because of the equality of length in
their femoral condyles. But on the*whole his
results and deductions must be regarded as
helpful and trustworthy. It so happens that
the writer of this review has, these thirty years
past, been collecting data from all the systems of
the Primate body (see Nature, 1911, vol. Ixxxv.,
p- 508), and has from time to time assorted his
observations to see how far a scheme of Primate ©
evolution could be framed which would give a
coherent explanation of the distribution of anato-
mical characters such as is now seen in the bodies
of man, the anthropoid apes, and the monkeys
of the Old and New Worlds. The results
which have been reached by Prof. Pearson and
the reviewer are, in the main, in harmony. The
mathematical anatomist insists upon an anthropoid
or troglodytic link in man’s lineage; he
claims to have reinstated the great anthropoid
or troglodyte as a necessary stage in man’s
ancestry; but he will find that very few
anatomists who have given this problem due
thought have dismissed the anthropoid apes from
the place given to them by Huxley. Prof. Pearson
gives Tarsius a remote place in his scheme of
human evolution. He is right, too, in dismissing
the present-day gibbon from man’s family tree,
but altogether wrong if he supposes that the
hylobatian stock from which the modern gibbon
(highly specialised so far as limbs are concerned)
arose plays no part in man’s lineage. He is
right, too, in concluding that the gibbon has no
claim to be brigaded with the great anthropoids
—the gorilla, chimpanzee, and orang. In their
essential structure the gibbons form a separate
group, one which serves to link together—or at
least to bridge the gaps between—the monkeys
of the Old and New Worlds and the great anthro-
poids. They are the essential link between
monkeys and anthropoids. The femoral characters
of the gibbon give a somewhat misleading indi-
cation of its true place in the phylum of the
higher Primates.
As a common ancestor of the human and great
anthropoid group—the pre-troglodyte in man’s
lineage—Prof. Pearson postulates a ‘“ Protsimio-
human ” Primate form, which he believes will turn
out to be more human than anthropoid, a mathe-
matical deduction with which few naturalists will
agree. On the other hand, certain inferences
made regarding the status and relationship of
early races of man in Europe, founded entirely on
the characters of their thigh-bones, are particu-
larly worthy of attention. There has been much
speculation regarding the existence of negroids in
southern Europe in late Pleistocene times, founded
on the discovery of remains of two Grimaldi indi-
77°
NATURE
[AucustT 19, 1920 .
viduals in a cave near Mentone. From a study
of their skulls the reviewer came to the conclusion
that they had nothing of the African negro in
them, but that they were of the Cromagnon race,
a conclusion which Prof. Pearson has reached
independently from a study of their thigh-bones.
He is uncertain of the relationship of Neanderthal
and of Cromagnon man to modern races of
mankind—uncertain as to whether these two
types of ancient Europeans should figure as
stages, or links, in the chain of modern. man’s
evolution, or whether they really represent
branches which have sprung from that stem. The
evidence of their skulls and teeth leaves modern
anatomists in little doubt as to their true relation-
ships; Neanderthal man represents the terminal
stage of a side branch, whereas Cromagnon man
is but one of the numerous varieties of modern
man. One other point is to be noted : in surveying
the evolutionary evidence yielded by a single bone
the same discordant array of indications is found
as when all the systems of the. body are studied ;
the final result has to be obtained by an exercise
of judgment on the part of the classifier.
It is a matter of everyday observation that no
two people walk exactly alike; there is the same
infinite variety in the human gait as is found in
the human face. Women have their own par-
ticular kind of progression; not one of us uses
the right limb in exactly the same way as the left;
the left foot is more frequently inturned to a
greater degree than is the right. If, as medical
men believe, bone-cells are peculiarly sensitive
and responsive to the muscular and other stresses
which are brought to bear on them, then there
ought to be just that range of variation of form
in the thigh-bone which this monograph
demonstrates to exist. A functional explanation
of the structural variation of the femur is one
which Prof. Pearson is not prepared to entertain,
and unfortunately medical men have as yet neg-
lected, or almost neglected, the study of the living
femur, and are therefore unable to say whether
or not the anatomical forms of the femur are
correlated to certain peculiarities of gait. The
improvement in our means of examining the
anatomy of the thigh-bone in the living by the
aid of X-rays is likely to fill up this blank in our
knowledge, and at the same time to offer a rational
explanation of many puzzling features noted and
estimated by Prof. Pearson and his collaborator.
A study of the manner of progression of anthro-
poids in their natural habitats will help to show
how closely form and function are correlated. In
the orang, for instance, the hind limbs are reduced
to mere grasping organs; in it and in the gibbon
the swinging arms are the chief organs of progres-
NO. 2651, VOL, 105]
sion. °
In the reviewer’s opinion all measurement
and calculations should be made, so far as
practicable, not only to indicate the degree and
kind of racial characteristics, but also to express
degrees and kinds of function. Indices should
. be of such a nature as to convey to the student
a precise conception of the degree and je of
function.
This great memoir opens up a prospect which
may well appal the heart of the stoutest anatomist.
Here we have two parts, running to 539 pages,
each page containing on an average more than
500 words, devoted to the subject which the
authors speak of as femoralogy and the special — 4
students of which are called femoralogists, with
the promise of a third part. When the
examination of the human skeleton is com-
pleted on a corresponding scale we shall have
an immense library. We may not like the pro-
spect, but is there any option if our knowledge
of mankind is to be based on a foundation which |
will last? The reviewer does not think there is
any other way, and feels sure that the time will
certainly come, if it has not already come, when
anatomists the world over will acknowledge the
courage, industry, and prescience of the English
school of biometrics and of its founder. It would
be a set-back to the progress of our knowledge of © ;
mankind were Prof. Pearson’s projected pro-
gramme to be in any way curtailed by a lack of
financial assistance. A. Keiru.
The Theoretic Basis of Psychotherapy.
The New Psychology and its Relation to Life.
By A. G. Tansley.. Pp. 283. (London:
George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1920.) Price
ros. 6d, net. es
BOUT fifteen years ago Prof. Scripture, of
Yale, published his book upon “The New
Psychology.” The psychology which was “new ”
then was experimental psychology; now the new
psychology is something very different—the study
of the non-rational processes of the human mind.
Most of the material of Mr. Tansley’s book con-
sists in theories which are contained in the works
of Prof. Freud, of Vienna; of Dr. Jung, of
Zurich; and of Mr. William McDougall, who is ee
just now leaving Oxford to settle at Harvard.
The work of these three researchers has achieved
world-wide renown; Mr. Tansley has done a good ©
service in presenting some important elements of
them in a compact and readable form. Mr.
McDougall’s books are accessible enough, but the 3
views of the two Continental savants are scat- —
tered through various publications in a way which
is rather baffling to the English reader.
af tees,
7 :
With
_AuGuUST 19, 1920]
NATURE
771
If acquainted with the main points at issue.
_ The work of Freud and Jung deals mainly with
sub-conscious, that mysterious twilight
n of the mind whence spring most of our
est and strongest motives. The key which
id has used to unlock its secrets is sex. He
s stress upon the immature sex-experience of
ing children and upon the repressed sexual
s of adult life which show themselves in
s and in lapses of memory and behaviour.
Ir this way he explains not merely the unusual
phenomena of hysteria, but also the mental strains
and ‘stresses which trouble the peace of ordinary
‘sane men. Dr. Jung, on the other hand, takes
a wider view; he argues that not only sex, but also
_ €very strong natural human interest—the desire for
self-preservation, for example—may be the cause
of mental conflicts and nervous disorders. His
view has been strikingly confirmed by the experi-
ce of the physicians who have treated the com-
ted war-neuroses which are familiar to the
public under the term of “shell-shock.” It is
another side of the sub-conscious that has engaged
the attention of Mr. McDougall. He has written
upon our instinctive life and shown how
ich of the experience which seems to us dis-
tinctively human is really based upon tendencies
at are shared with the animals below us. He has
ne a great work in analysing our various in-
stinets and in showing how they influence our
conduct and our emotional life.
‘The main reason why the new psychology has
so greatly impressed popular imagination is that
most excellent results have been produced by it
a The early
in the treatment of nervous disorders.
rkers in this field were men who were either
practising physicians, or closely in touch with
medicine. As soon as they formed a theory
they proceeded at once to put it to the test of
‘practice. Extraordinary cures have been per-
formed by working upon the assumption that the
trouble in the patient is of mental origin, and
that the bodily symptoms are merely the physical
expression of mental strain. In psychotherapy,
as in medicine generally, our knowledge of detail
d of derivative facts far exceeds our knowledge
. fundamental principles. We know, for ex-
ample, that if the physician is able to discover the
ture of a hidden mental conflict which is
bling the patient, and can talk and reason
th him about it, the symptoms are usually re-
lieved. hres process is technically termed ‘ab-
reaction,” and the real efficacy of it is attested
by scores of incontestable cures.
_ This being so, it is easy to explain why Mr.
Tansley’s book is most satisfactory when he is
| NO. 2651, VOL. 105]
help of Mr. Tansley anyone can now make |
dealing with such matters as the interpretation of
dreams, the “rationalisations” by which men try
to justify conduct which is really prompted by non-
rational motives, and the great psychic complexes
which correspond to the main instincts of man.
And we can explain why the book is less satisfac-
tory in the general theoretical chapters with which
it opens. Mr. Tansley has done his best to combine
“new ” psychological theories from Freud, Jung,
and McDougall into a consistent whole. The result
is not very clear or convincing. But perhaps in
the present state of our knowledge we could
scarcely look for greater success. He
Industrial Research.
The Organisation of Industrial Scientific Re-
search. By Dr. C. FE, Kenneth Mees.
Pp. ix+175. (New York and_ London:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1920.) ‘Price 12s.
HE author of this book is a distinguished
worker in the branch of science with which
he is associated, and his experience as the director
of a large industrial: research organisation has
been such as to warrant careful consideration of
his views. The book is mainly intended for manu-
facturers who, while convinced of the need for
research in their industries, have had no occasion
to consider in detail the planning and administra-
tion of a works research department. Many
scientific workers will also welcome an opportunity
of acquainting themselves further with the broad
questions of research policy and organisation in
industry, which the individual engaged on a speci-
fic task often fails to see in correct perspective.
The scope of the book and the sequence of
chapters are admirable. Consideration is given
to various types of research. laboratories, to the
development of co-operative research, and particu-
larly to the internal organisation and staffing of
the works research laboratory, together with its
relation to the other parts of the factory. Some
general details are also given relating to the
design and equipment of the laboratory, and a
comprehensive bibliography is attached.
The classification of research laboratories
largely resolves itself into a list of the various
agencies by which the laboratories are financially
maintained. To avoid the obvious disadvantages
of such a grouping, the author distinguishes
between “convergent” and “divergent” labora-
tories, depending on whether varied problems and
phenomena converging on a common object are
studied, such, for instance, as at the pottery
school at Stoke-on-Trent or at the laboratory for
glass technology at Sheffield, or whether a wider
field is covered having no particular common
772
NATURE
[AucusT 19, 1920 —
feature, such as at the National Physical Labora-
tory or at a laboratory serving the interests of a
group of works producing many kinds of manu-
factured articles.
Criticising the research associations developed
in this country, the author deprecates the degree
of control remaining in the hands of the Research
Department, the character of the personnel of the
Advisory Council and its committees, and the
policy of secrecy which is fostered by a research
association comprising a group of manufacturers
in one industry; and considers the difficulty of
determining the choice of researches and the dis-
posal ‘of results to be serious. Many people, how-
ever, will not display any particular enthusiasm
for the author’s alternative proposal, a co-opera-
tive laboratory conducted by an association of
users. It may be. admitted that users have a
common interest, but this is less clearly defined
and much more difficult to focus on one line of
research than that of an association of producers.
Users also have less experience in the production
of the material they employ, and in industry it is
highly desirable to make use of existing know-
ledge as a basis for research. The author may not
be aware that, in some cases at least, British re-
search associations are dual in character, compris-
ing both producers and consumers, this probably
being an ideal combination.
It is important to note that the author considers
it undesirable to divorce a works research depart-
ment from works problems, and the success of
notable instances to the contrary should not
obscure the principle.
Many readers will doubtless wish that the
author had gone further into detail than is the
case in many chapters. The economic and social
benefits of research should perhaps not have been
taken for granted, and the question of the co-
ordination of research and the collection and dis-
tribution of scientific intelligence could have been
dealt with to advantage. In general, however,
the book bears the marks of experience through-
out, and will well repay perusal.
A. P. M. FLemine.
Science and Crime.
Legal Chemistry and Scientific Criminal Investiga-
tion. By A. Lucas. Pp. viii+181. (London:
Edward Arnold, 1920.) Price 10s. 6d. net.
tee are numerous text-books on the subject
of forensic medicine, but, with the excep-
tion of works on toxicology, thete are very few
which deal with analogous problems to the in-
vestigation of which chemistry is applicable. This
little book makes no pretension to being a com-
NO. 2651, VOL. 105]
plete treatise on forensic chemistry, and to
extent its title is misleading, for it consists lar
of notes on the cases which have come within
author’s experience, together with a few gene
remarks on the methods of dealing with exhib
and presenting the evidence in such cases.
As director of the Government laboratory
country such as Egypt, where frauds of all I
appear to be exceptionally numerous, the autl
has had the advantage of applying the m C
described in various journals in a great r
of cases, and of noting their deficiencies,
gives particulars of these cases arranged alpha-
betically under the headings of the ‘fi :
jects. =?
As a rule, original methods have rit
devised, but some of the sections give inter
details of the author’s investigation in connection ~
with special subjects. For example, a igs
human hair, he shows that it is doubtful whet ethe
red has ever been caused by the Egyptian 1 me etl 10¢ a
of embalming. Another novel point of ch mical
interest is that in no instance has pitch or bitumen eo
been found in the pitch-like material used in pre- _
serving human mummies, the material examined
invariably consisting of resins or gums | which -
have become naturally blackened by age.
From the point of view of the practical checntaé if
the most useful section is that dealing with the 4
examination of documents, in which questions
connected with the composition of paper and inks —
are dealt with at some length. In one land case it a)
was found that out of 168 documents no fewer
than 163 were forgeries, the frauds ranging from.
simple alterations of names to the elaborate
fabrication of documents by joining parts of other
documents, and concealing mutilations by partly
scorching ‘the paper. In this connection the ‘a
author lays stress upon the importance of know- a
ing the dates of changes in the methods of manu-
facturing paper and the like.
As carbon ink is still frequently used in feroe
for title deeds of land, the author has had the
exceptional opportunity of studying modern docu
ments written in ink similar to that used prior Oo
the invention of iron gall inks, and he gives
teresting particulars of his observations. Con
trary to the commonly accepted belief, the carbon
inks on several of the older Arabic docume
between A.D. 1677 and 1871 were partly brov
and the same thing was noted on still ear
manuscripts dating back to a.p. 622. Hence
conclusion is drawn that it must be regard (
proved that carbon inks which were orig
black may become brown with age.
The questions of secret writing and its de elor
ment,
a Avcust 19, 1920]
istry.
_ tion of details of scientific methods as applied to
the detection of crime, such as are given here,
that it
d - criminals with information in a convenient form
_ for reference; but this objection applies with more
- cogency to the publication of the scientific methods
_ of combating the adulteration of food.
ar
_ into another.
offensive fumes will be avoided.
NATURE
773
the imitation of seal impressions,
forgery of postage stamps, and the examination
of handwriting are also briefly touched upon in
‘this section, whilst there is a cognate section upon
_ the detection of robbery from letters and parcels
Has transit.
Other subjects which are discussed inciude the
examination of dust and stains, the development
of finger-prints, the investigation of the cause of
mires and of damage to crops, and the examination
of fibres, ropes, and clothing. In each case refer-
~ ences to literature on the subject are appended,
and illustrative cases usually given.
Regarded as a whole, the book should be wel-
tomed by every chemist whose work is likely to
include any problems in which legal questions are
_ involved, and it might well be made the nucleus of
a more comprehensive work on forensic chem-
It is sometimes urged against the publica-
is dangerous to provide prospective
The
adulterator is frequently waiting to be made ac-
- quainted with the scientific drawbacks of his
methods, whereas the persons who commit other
forms of fraud are nearly always without scientific
training and, if they were to attempt to avoid one
scientific pitfall, would be almost certain to fall
C2 As Mt.
Our Bookshelf.
Optical Projection. By Lewis Wright. Fifth
edition, rewritten and brought up to date by
Russell S. Wright. (In two parts.) Part i.,
The Projection of Lantern Slides. Pp. viii+87.
(London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1920.)
_ Price 4s. 6d. net.
Tuis completely revised edition of Mr. Lewis
Wright’s book is very welcome. We are glad to
see that the oil-lantetn, which is so handy in small
class-rooms and in the huts of camps, is still re-
garded as a possible projector.
tioned that if this lantern is filled for each occa-
sion, and set up lighted in an adjacent room, or,
better still, in the school-yard, for forty minutes
or so before the lecture, all risk of producing
In regard to
screens for such class-rooms, may we add that a
square of mounted diagram-paper, which is made
5 ft. wide, gives an excellent surface, and can
be kept rolled up and fixed with large drawing-
pins as required? Lastly, when Mr. R. S. Wright
gives suggestions as to flash- -signals, should. he
even tolerate ‘the “next slide”
NO, 2651, VOL. 105|
the
It may be men-
system of com-
munication with the operator? The recently intro-
duced silent wave of the pointer has escaped
mention in this useful treatise. A. J.-C.
Elementary Agricultural Chemistry: A Handbook
for Junior Agricultural Students and Farmers.
By Herbert Ingle. Third edition, revised.
(Griffin’s Technological Handbooks.) Pp. ix
+250. (London: Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd.,
1920.) Price 5s.
THERE are no essential differences between this
and the second edition of Mr. Ingle’s book. The
volume provides an excellent introduction to its
subject in a form which should be intelligible to
the practical agriculturist as well as to the scien-
tific student. It contains a number of interesting
and useful tables, and on account of its very
reasonable price it should be popular with students
of agriculture. Although described on the cover
as “A Practical Handbook,” it contains no
account’ of experiments or methods of analysis,
but these would no doubt have increased the size
of the book beyond the limits desired.
Luck, or Cunning, as the Main Means of Organic
Modification? An Attempt to Throw Addi-
tional Light upon Darwin’s Theory of Natural
Selection. By Samuel Butler. Second edition,
re-set, with author’s corrections and additions
to index. Pp. 282. (London: A. C. Fifield,
1920.) Price 8s. 6d. net.
Tuis is a reprint of the first edition pub-
lished in 1886. The only important changes
are in the index, which has been considerably
enlarged by additions made from notes by the
author in a copy of the first edition. As is an-
nounced in the introduction, the book is written
round Samuel Butler’s favourite theories, “the
substantial identity between heredity « and
memory,” and “the re-introduction of design into
organic development.”
Notes on Chemical Research: An Account of
Certain Conditions which apply to Original
Investigation. By W. P. Dreaper. Second
edition. (Text-books of Chemical Research and
Engineering.) Pp. gv+195. (London: J. and
A. Churchill, 1920.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
TueE first edition of this stimulating work was
reviewed in Nature for February 6, 1913. The
new edition is divided into two portions, the first
dealing with the history and method of research,
and the second with modern works practice. A
chapter in the latter portion is given up to the
consideration of the training desirable for a re-
search student. An index would have been
helpful.
Spiritual Pluralism and Recent Philosophy. By
C. A. Richardson. Pp..xxi+ 335. (Cambridge :.
. At the University Press, 1919.) Price 14s, net.
Tue author examines the Weber-Fechner law of
sensation and shows that ‘“unperceived sense-
data,’’ such as are sometimes deduced from it, are
not logically admissible. He expresses spiritual ©
774
NATURE
[AucusT 19, 1920
pluralism as the assumption that our sense-per-
ceptions are due to other ‘‘subjects of experience ”’
of a non-material nature, and akin to our own
subjective self. Guided by this principle, he dis-
cusses determinism and immortality, the relation
of mind and body, and certain abnormal pheno-
mena usually called “ spiritualistic.”
Unconscious Memory. By Samuel Butler. Third
edition, entirely reset; with an Introduction and
Postscript by Prof. Marcus Hartog. Pp. xxxix
+186. (London: A. C. Fifield, 1920.) Price
8s. 6d. net.
Tue first edition of this work was reviewed in
Nature for January 27, 1881. The _ second
edition, noticed in Nature for November 3, 1910,
contained an introduction by Prof. Marcus
Hartog, giving an outline of Samuel Butler’s
works and discussing their value to science. In
the present edition Prof. Hartog has appended to
his introduction a postscript in which he sets
forth, briefly, the position of Samuel Butler’s bio-
logical works in modern science.
Wild Fruits and How to Know Them. By Dr.
S. C. Johnson. Pp. xi+132. (London: Holden
and Hardingham, Ltd., n.d.) Price 1s. net.
A-BRIEF description of most of the trees and shrubs
found on the English countryside is given, special
attention being paid to the forms of inflorescences
and fruits. Identification of specimens is greatly
simplified by the large number of sketches,
showing both foliage and fruit,
included. The last chapter is devoted to the
commoner plants and weeds which have con-
spicuous fruits.
Silver: Its Intimate Association with the Daily
Life of Man. By Benjamin White. (Pitman’s
Common Commodities and Industries.) Pp. xi
+144. (London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons,
Ltd., n.d.) . Price 2s. 6d. net.
Tuis volume is more concerned with the statistics
and economics of silver than with technology,
although an interesting account of the extraction,
purification, and utilisatiog of silver is given.
There are many useful tables. An interesting
chapter deals with ‘The Evolution of British
Coinage.”” The book is addressed to the general
reader, but contains much of service to teachers
and students.
The Identification of Organic Compounds, By
Dr. G. B. Neave and Prof. I. M.
the late
Heilbron. Second edition. Pp. viii + 88.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1920.)
Price 4s. 6d. net.
THE second edition of this useful manual has
undergone practically no alteration. It is one of
the best books of its kind, and contains a large
amount of information in a handy and compact
form. We have no doubt that it will continue
to find favour among students and teachers of
chemistry.
NO, 2651, VOL. 105]
which are
Gold: Its Place in the Economy of Mankind. By
Benjamin White. (Pitman’s Common Com-
modities and _ Industries.) Pp. xi+1g0.)
(London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., —
n.d.) Price 3s. net.
THE steps by which gold has acquired its high q
value, and its past history with regard to pro-
duction and uses, are described. The last portion
of the book is devoted to a review of the gold
stocks in the world and their movements before
and during the Great War. A number of tables is
included, showing the amount and value of gold
in use in various countries; these should be of
interest to students of commercial geography and
economics. a:
Pastimes for the Nature Lover. By. Dr, S.C.
Johnson. Pp. 136. (London: Holden and.
Hardingham, Ltd., n.d.) Price 1s. net.
SomE of the plants and smaller animals commonly
found in this country are described, and methods.
of preserving them or of studying their habits,
as the case may be, are given. Silkworms and
Nature photography are also mentioned.
book would be of use to young collectors.
‘Letters to the Editor, —
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
University Grants.
I aGREE with Sir Michael Sadler in thinking that —
the article on university grants in Nature of August 5
is very opportune, and 1 concur completely in all that
he says on the subject in the issue for August 12.
It is not necessary for me to repeat the arguments
and the statements so briefly and emphatically ex-
pressed by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Leeds, because I feel sure that everyone with a com-
petent knowledge of the situation in the modern
universities would agree that Sir Michael Sadler has
by no means understated the gravity of the crisis
with which the universities are faced. . :
At Birmingham, as at Leeds, we have been rigidly
economical in our expenditure. We know that we
are doing work the value of which is appreciated by
our students and the community of the Midlands
whom we endeavour to serve. But unless large new
grants are forthcoming it will be impossible for us
not only to continue to meet those needs, but also to
maintain the standard of work in the various depart-
ments. :
To what Sir Michael Sadler has said I would add
only two points :
(1) Unless ‘the
equality with those obtaining for skilled intellectual
work elsewhere, e.g. in the Government service or in
the service of the great municipalities, it will be im-
possible to obtain or retain the men and women
with the requisite qualifications for university work;
and it is from the members of the non-professorial
sic ala aia ne ea eae te EEA SR ce SD
The
: stipends of the non-professorial a
staffs of the universities are placed on something like
i a ae
ee
OC eae att
Avcust 19, 1920]
NATURE
775
‘the universities must later look for filling
professorships. A decrease, therefore, in the
and the quality of the non-professorial staffs
universities means ultimately a decrease in the
and quality of the professors throughout the
ry. University teachers, particularly of profes-
Status, cannot be improvised or provided at a
loment’s notice. Competent professors are the result
tracting the requisite ability to the service of the
versities in the junior grades and providing those
with the opportunities for training in
ig and in research until they have reached the
d expected for professorial purposes. Unless,
re, the universities are properly staffed, in a
fe ’* time the whole standard of teaching and of
ssearch and of knowledge throughout the universities
ll inevitably drop; and it is desirable to remember
iat on the maintenance of the standards of the pro-
essoriate the training of the non-professorial staff
depends.
. ous as is the situation to-day, its full meaning
ill not be apparent until some years hence, and it
ill then be impossible to make good what can be
le good now, if we are not penny wise and pound
Srade
- <I
P (2) Inadequate staffs, inadequate teaching, and
overworked professors mean a drop in the quality of
e students turned out by the universities. It is to
e university-trained student that the Government,
e municipalities, the schools, and the whole com-
merce and industry of the country must look for its
_ personnel. If the universities are not doing their
work up to the standard required, it is not the uni-
- versities ultimately which will suffer most, but the
whole nation. We shall be beaten as a nation because
_we shall be inferior as a nation.
: p of the Government and of the local
on authorities at present is to encourage, and
shtly to encourage, the extension and the elevation
of ondary schools in order to increase both
‘the number of boys and girls to be kept on until
y are eighteen years of age, and the number of
s and ¢ who will be fit to profit by a university
tion. What is the use of spending millions on
to and improving the secondary schools
ughout the country if the universities, which are
apex of this educational system, are to be starved ?
s secondary schools will be pouring out students
hich the universities will not be able to take; or, if
do take them, will not be able to give them a
university education under proper teachers.
Because you refuse to spend three millions, you will
waste twenty or thirty millions.
_ Research in the universities, owing to the present
congestion and inadequacy in numbers of the staff,
at present at a standstill; and unless steps are
taken now to provide competent researchers, as well
sa ppecper organisation and opportunities for re-
search, t advancement of knowledge in Great
Britain will come to an end. Organised research
‘cannot be carried on anywhere except in a properly
lipped university; and where industrial firms are
rying it on in a few specialised branches of indus-
I science from their own resources, they rely upon
provided from the universities with men and
men fit.to do the research required. It is not the
business of, nor is it possible for, great firms to do
he work of the universities in all the departments of
nowledge. ene
‘The Beteraenwat and the nation must make up
their minds not.so much as to whether the universi-
ties are to continue as to seeing that the uni-
_versities are really universities and doing university
NO, 2651, VOL. 105]
fs, when they have been trained in the universities, |
‘accuracy. of 5° is
work. The funds cannot be provided from the
tuition fees of the students. Seventy-five per cent.
of the cost of maintaining a university must be pro-
vided from other sources than those of fees. I agree,
therefore, with Sir Michael Sadler that while ‘we
welcome the additional half-million promised twelve
months hence, another million and a half at least are
required in. order that the universities may be main-
tained on an adequate basis.
At Birmingham, as at Leeds, we need another
60,000l, a year in income in order to meet absolutely
necessary expenditure. C. Grant ROBERTSON.
The University, Birmingham, August 13.
Aerial Navigation and Meteorology.
Pror. VAN Ev8RDINGEN’s outspoken criticism in
Nature of July 22, p. 637, of the meteorological
arrangements outlined in Annexe G of the Convention
for International Air Navigation is very welcome.
Prior to the war the International Meteorological
Committee met every tHree years in friendly gather-
ings for social intercourse and the transaction of
business. Broadly speaking, the difficulties of the
members were in obtaining sufficient funds to
enable them, im their respective -services, to
achieve the ends upon which they were agreed
rather than in securing agreement on the desiderata
for international exchange. Now that the former
difficulties have been largely met as a result of the
achievements of meteorology in the war, it would be
calamitous if meteorologists failed to overcome the
latter, and disturbed the unity of European meteoro-
logy at a time when their efforts ought to be directed
to achieving unity in world-meteorology.
I am convinced that the scheme of Annexe G is a
good one, and, that a frank discussion of the details
with the Continental meteorologists who were not
present at the Peace Conference in Paris in May,
1919, would lead to the general adoption of the
scheme with the slight modifications which experience
of its working has indicated.
Prof. van Everdingen states that Annexe G was
discussed at the meeting in London of members of the
pre-war International Meteorological Committee. He
has been misinformed. Permission to put Annexe G
before that meeting was definitely refused. If such
a discussion had been permissible, it would probably
have removed many misapprehensions.
To take some examples from Prof. van Everdingen’s
article :
(1) He objects that in Appendix III. (apparently a
misprint for Appendix I.) he finds ‘‘ wind, temperature,
and humidity in the upper air as additional and
facultative.’’ By ‘‘ facultative ’? he means “ optional.’’
But Annexe G neither says nor implies that such
reports are ‘‘optional.”” The exact words: are:
‘Reports will give information on [wind, etc.], and
also on upper air-currents and upper air-temperature
and humidity from stations where facilities are avail-
able for observation.’’ All standard meteorological
stations are able to report wind, pressure, tempera-
ture, and weather phenomena three or four times daily
all the year round; but only specially equipped stations
can report upper air-currents, temperature, and
humidity, and no station could in 1919, or can now,
report upper-air information with the same frequency
and regularity as standard stations report surface
observations.
(2) Prof. van Everdingen states that the use
of the telegraphic scale 1-72. means, that an
claimed for surface wind.
direction. That is not so. In the past a
scale of 1-32 has been nominally used (actually the
796 “NATURE
[Aucust 19, 1920
odd numbers are usually not utilised), but no one
thinks that an accuracy. of 113° is thereby claimed,
and everyone knows that the exposure of the anemo-
meter and the turbulence of the wind cause larger
variations with space and time than 113°. ‘The scale
1-72 was adopted for the following reasons: Nearly
all the observations of wind in the upper air are made
by theodolites graduated in degrees and read to tenths
of a degree (or exceptionally to minutes). The direc-
tion. of the upper wind is obtained in degrees. Divi-
sion of the number so obtained by 5 leads to the
scale 1-72. It is much simpler than division by 112,
which would léad to the scale 1-32. Moreover, the
variation of wind direction with height cannot be
indicated with sufficient precision by a scale 1-32.
Also, the. general practice in scientific work is to
specify directions in degrees, and the practice is
extending both at sea and in the air. The scale 1-72
is the most precise two-figure scale which is readily
converted into degrees.
Whatever method is used for obtaining wind direc-
tion at the surface, the result can be telegraphed in
the scale 1-72 without difficulty; if only the eight
principal directions (N., N.E., E., etc.) are used,
then only the corresponding numbers of the scale
(72, 9, 18, etc.) will be used.
(3) Prof. van Everdingen | objects to the use of
two figures for reporting .“‘weather.”’ The need
for an.extension of the existing one-figure code
has been apparent for a long time. A meteoro-
logist at headquarters requires from a_ reporting
station sufficient information to enable him to
say with precision and certainty what the weather
was at the station at the timé of report. With
the pre-war code for international exchange this was
not done. A few drops of rain or a little drizzle
were reported by the same figure as the most torren-
tial downpour. A few flakes of snow or some fine ice-
crystals were reported by the same figure as the.
heaviest snowstorm. No figure was provided for hail
or sleet, and no indication given of the thickness of
a fog (in past weather). A sky nearly covered with
thin, white clouds at 20,000 ft. or 30,000 ft. was
described by the same figure as the darkest, gloomiest
day of the year. All this was due to the restriction
of the pre-war code to one figure. It was not due
to failure on the part of pre-war meteorologists to
recognise the phenomena which ought to be recorded
and the need for differentiation of intensity. Prac-
tically the whole of the phenomena for which provi-
sion 1s made in the ninety-five figures of the code of
Annexe G are included in the ‘‘hydrometeors”’ for
which provision was made in Appendix I. of the
fourth meeting of the International Meteorological
Congress at Vienna in 1874. Annexe G merely makes
provision for reporting by telegram, at the time when
it is of direct use, the information which the Con-
gress at Vienna arranged should be written down
and reported in monthly returns for later scientific
investigation. As to the observer being puzzled, there
will always be some occasions when he is required
to use intelligence in deciding which number to
select, whether the single-figure pre-war code is in
use or the fuller two-figure code. The difficulty is
minimised for him in Annexe G by arranging that all
occasions on which precipitation occurs shall be
reported by a number greater than 50. We have
not found in actual practice the troubles: which Prof.
van Everdingen fears.
The severest criticism is directed against the in-
clusion of detailed codes in the Convention. Holland
signed the International Convention for the Safety of
Life at Sea in 1914; that Convention included detailed
codes for meteorological reports. Meteorology is
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
‘British reports.
more vital to the safety of life in the air than e
ice reports to the safety of life at sea. The la
were made obligatory in 1914.
‘No one questions the competence of the In
national Meteorological Committee to fix the 4
of a code. That Committee must be in subst
agreement on the details of any code before
be made generally obligatory. But at present
urgent need is for the trial of a scheme
nations of Western Europe which is capable o
extended to the whole globe. The scheme of An
is the only one in the field which provides |}
general forms for meteorological messages ¢
detailed specifications necessary for reports to be i
and interpreted in the confidence that their meanir
is clear and definite, and that the information whic
they contain meets the present needs of an org
meteorological service. E.
8 Hurst Close, N.W.4,° July 25.
1) Cot. GOLD is not too well informed aoe the
history of the International Meteorological Com-
mittee. The introduction of improvements | n the
reports and codes has often given rise to animated —
discussions; for example, when barometric tendency
was introduced. It is true that the opponents re- —
mained friends, and that the minority co-operated ins
carrying out the resolutions, but that was a reason —
not to insist upon the introduction of a reso ution
which had been adopted by 7 votes against 6. des
(2) There is at present no unity in Euro ean
meteorology ; it is no use to quarrel about who o dis-
turbed it; discussion of various systems by a com-
petent body is the only way to restore it. ‘eg am very
glad that the British weather reports for aerial naviga-
tion have modified already part of the codes of.
Annexe G. This certainly is a step towards reconcilia-
tion.
(3) The minutes of the meeting of members of the
pre-war International Meteorological Committee held
in London ‘in July, 1919, at which both Col. Gold.
and I were present, contain a collection of codes ©
almost identical with that of Annexe G. Col. Gold j 1S;
right when he says that Annexe G was not discussed
then, but that makes very little difference. __
(4) Every standard station can report cloud motion
or pilot-balloon observations. I am glad to state that
cloud motion has now been introduced in Par
(5) The reading of the theodolite is accurate enou ugh,
but the direction of upper wind derived from the
results is, in general, not accurate to less than 10°.
A scale 1-36 is used in Holland and elsewhere. For
scientific use a more accurate indication may be
useful; for practical purposes it is useless. 2
(6) I only object to the way in which” the two |
figures are combined for reporting weather; exten- ~
sion of the space for description of weather is wel- |
come. t
(7) My remarks referring to numbers” to be used —
by observers in reporting phenomena are based on
the practice we actually have had with the British —
reports. Ng
(8) Annexe G can have its trial at the present mome
if the Powers who signed it care. There are seve
other systems and codes being tried by various cou
tries, and when these have had their course we sh
be in a better position to decide what the prese
needs of an organised meteorological service are
how they can be met. E. VAN EVERDINGEN.
Koninklijk Nederlandsch Meteorologisch - ;
Instituut, De ca August 9.
ST 19, 1920]
NATURE
777
Growth of Waves.
has always been some difficulty in accounting
growth of waves under the action of wind.
individual waves grow in length, or does the
se waves of all lengths which separate in
the dependence of wave-velocity on wave-
_ The late Lord Rayleigh was in favour of the
ypothesis, but I believe that the true explana-
at the waves do not increase in length unless
ing.
1@ excess D tiicy supplied by the wind to the
t beyond that which can be carried in an un-
sen wave is expended partly in causing local tur-
nee (ultimately converted into heat) and partly in
¥ a surface current in the direction of the
ie wave. In effect, this surface current
eases the waye-velocity; and since the addition
e current by each wave depends on the time for
h that wave has been in existence, the waves first
will, after the lapse of time, be travelling
an the more recently formed waves which
Thus if waves are set up by wind on a
y calm water-surface, the wave-length
atinuously increase from windward to lee-
‘made some rough observations on a pond
like tooo ft. in length, and found that in
breeze the waves formed at the windward end
‘as ripples of a few ‘nches from crest to crest,
hile at or near the leeward margin the wave-length
as about 2 ft. If it is assumed that the wave-
agth increases regularly, there would be about a
d crests in the length of the pond, and the
‘length from wave to wave would be about
oth of the mean wave-length. All the waves from
to the greatest were in a breaking condition.
es did not show any foam at their crests,
was clear from their shape that they were
' breaking. =
no satisfactory theory of the shapes
breaking waves. Stokes, in one of his
s, showed that the irrotational form of
have an angle of less than 120° at the
e nding limit for the trochoidal wave,
the cycloid, is 0°), but he considers that the
break before the 120° limit is reached.
problem presented by breaking waves—as,
nost problems relating to the actual pheno-
ited by fluids in motion—the simple
s on which the hydrodynamical theory of
; rests are insufficient, and experiments are
‘It would be quite possible to try (say at the Froude
ik at the National Phvsical Laboratory) the effect
ady artificial wind on a length of several
feet of water, and to observe and record the
ngth, and velocity of the waves throughout
th of the channel. It would probably be
at the waves were started by the instabilitv
the discontinuous motion at the boundary of
ds. and that these waves increased in amplitude
intil they began to break, but that after the
s state was reached the wave-length, as well
nplitude, increased until there was some ap-
to equality between the velocity of the wind
wave.
e worked out the results for various assump-
as to the rate at which the wind can transfer
to the water, but in the absence of experi-
data the conclusions are scarcely worth pub-
ne A. Mattock.
aring Crescent, Exeter, August to.
NO. 2651, VOL. 105]
The Antarctic Anticyclone.
In his letter entitled ‘‘ The Mechanics of the Glacial
Anticyclone Illustrated by Experiment ”’ published in
Nature for July 22, Prof. Hobbs remarks: ‘In all
my writings upon the glacial anticyclone I have been
at much pains to explain that the domed surface of
the ice is essential to the development both of the
anticyclone and of the alternating calms and blizzards
which record its strophic action.’’ As, however, one
goes on to read the letter one finds that Prof. Hobbs’s
explanation demands another ‘‘essential,’’? namely,
that the domed surface must be cooler than the air
in contact with it. Remove this defect of tempera-
ture, and the mechanism ceases to act; reverse it,
and the mechanism works in the reverse direction,
producing a cyclone instead of an anticyclone.
‘Assuming that the Antarctic continent has the
domed form postulated by Prof. Hobbs, one might be
led to accept his conclusions so far as the winter
months are concerned, but what about the summer
months? During the summer, with its continuous
insolation, the surface of the dome must be at a
higher temperature than the adjacent air, for there
is plenty of evidence that the temperature of a snow
surface is very susceptible to solar radiation. The
mean amplitude of the daily variation of air-tempera-
ture over the Barrier Sg November, December,
and January was found by Scott’s Expedition to be
115° F., while between November 17-22, 1911, the
average amplitude was 20° F., and this with the sun
oscillating only between 10° and 35° above the horizon !
If Prof. Hobbs’s theory were correct the Antarctic
would have a pronounced monsoon climate, while we
know from observations that anticyclonic conditions
last throughout the year. G. C. Simpson.
London.
Trichodynamics.
THE present writer has had interesting associations
since 1915 in various ways with projects for industrial
research in the cotton industry and with its actual
conduct. In all these the need for a word which
would define and describe the field of research peculiar
to the textile industries has been intermittently
obvious, especially with respect to the processes of
spinning and weaving.
In consequence of this I proposed, in the course
of the discussion on industrial research at the
tenth International Conference held in Zurich in
June last, that the word ‘“trichodynamics ’’ should
be adopted in order to effect this generalisation,
together with the related term ‘“ trichostatics.’’ The
analogy with aerodynamics is obvious, and hence
also my justification for suggesting the word. The
word itself. is open to question, since, if used in the
literal sense, it includes only the hair textiles, e.g.
wool and cotton, but the significance. intended is akin
to that of the word “‘capillary,’’ which now conveys a
definite meaning independently of actual hairs.
The chemical and colloidal constitution of textile
raw materials, their biology, and the engineering
asnects of their utilisation are fields of study not
strictly peculiar to the textile industry. On the other
hand, the movements and mutual contacts of at-
tenuated filaments and the changes which take place
in their arrangement as they pass from the tangle
of the raw material to their orderly sequence in yarn
or cloth, which the proposed names would cover,
form a well-defined field of a peculiar kind which
awaits physical investigation.
W. Lawrence Batts.
Edale, Derbyshire, August rr.
NATURE
[AucusT 19, 1920 q
Helium: Its Production and Uses.)
By Pror. J. C. McLennan, F.R.S,
tS NS
Miscellaneous Investigations.
ee the course of the investigation on the de-
velopment of a machine for extracting helium
from natural gas, supplies of helium of varying
degrees of purity became available. These
were highly purified, and used for the investiga-
tion of certain collateral problems which de-
manded solution.
was found that for aeronautical purposes hydrogen
could be mixed with helium to the extent of 15
per cent. without the mixture becoming inflam-
mable or explosive in air. Mixtures containing
even as much as 20 per cent. of hydrogen could
be burnt or exploded only when treated in an ex-
ceptional manner. The permeability of rubbered
balloon fabrics for helium was shown to be about
o-71 of its value for hydrogen. For skin-lined
fabrics, the permeability to hydrogen and helium
was about the same. ‘Thin soap films were found
to be about one hundred times more permeable
to hydrogen and helium than rubbered balloon
fabrics, but untreated cotton fabrics when wetted
with distilled water were but feebly permeable to
these gases. It was found that rapid estimations
of the amount of helium in a gas mixture could
be made with a pivoted silica balance, a Shakspear
katharometer, or a Jamin interferometer.
_ The latent heats of methane and ethane have
been determined, as has also the composition of
the vapour and liquid phases of the system
methane-nitrogen. It has also been shown that
helium containing as much as 20 per cent. of air,
oxygen, or nitrogen can be highly purified in large
quantities by simply passing it at slightly above
atmospheric pressure through a few tubes of
coconut charcoal kept at the temperature of liquid
air. In the spectroscopy of the ultra-violet helium
has been found to be exceptionally useful. Arcs
in helium between tungsten terminals can be easily
established and maintained.
tigation with a vacuum grating spectrograph, it
was found that by the use of arcs in helium under
30 cm. pressure illumination could be maintained
continuously for hours, and with such arcs spectra
could easily be obtained extending to below
1000 A.U.
Although it is known that free electrons can
exist in highly purified helium to an amount easily
measurable, it was found that pure helium under
a pressure of more than 80 atmospheres did not
exhibit anything in the nature of metallic conduc-
tion. Moreover, the mobilities of both positive
and negative ions formed by a-rays in helium
under this high pressure were found to have about
one-third the value expected on the basis of an
inverse pressure law.
Among the results obtained, it
In a particular inves- —
1 From a lecture delivered before the Chemical Society on June 17. |
Continued from p. 751.
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
it has yet to be demonstrated (and it is not clear
‘
The Uses of Helium. ete
The investigation into the problem of producin
helium in large quantities was originally undet
taken with a view to the utilisation of the gas in
aeronautical warfare. The investigation has shown _
that it can be produced at a cost which is not _
excessive, but it has also been shown that from _
the sources in the Empire which are known and |
have been examined the supply of helium cannot —
be greater than about 12,000,000 cubic feet pe
year. This quantity clearly would be sufficient to |
keep only a very few of our airships of the larger —
type in commission, even if the gas were diluted —
to the extent of 15 per cent. with hydrogen. This —
amount would, however, suffice to keep a number —
of the smaller aircraft supplied. Moreover, it —
might be used to fill fireproof compartments ad- —
jacent to the engines if it were ever decided to |
install these within the envelopes of our larger —
airships. . og
Since it has been demonstrated that helium can —
be produced in quantity, one is led naturally to ©
consider in what directions one can hope to use —
the gas other than that originally intended. In —
industry it may be used as a filling for thermionic |
amplifying valves of the ionisation type. It may |
also be used for filling tungsten incandescent |
filament lamps, especially for signalling purposes —
where rapid dimming is an essential, and for pro- |
ducing gas arc lamps in which tungsten terminals —
are used, as in the “Pointolite” type. Both
these varieties of lamp possess the defect, how- —
ever, of soon becoming dull owing to the ease with
which incandescent tungsten volatilises in helium |
and deposits on the surface of the enclosing glass —
bulbs. As regards illumination, helium arc lamps |
possess an advantage over mercury arc lamps
in that the radiation emitted has strong inten- —
sities in the red and yellow portions of the
spectrum.
It has been shown by Nutting (Electrician,
March, 1912) that Geissler tubes filled with helium
are eminently suitable, under certain conditions,
for light standards in spectrophotometry, but the
amount of the gas which could be used in this way
is very small. ‘@
In spectroscopy, especially for investigations in
the ultra-violet region, helium is invaluable.
Doubtless its use in this field will be rapidly
extended. The use of the gas in physical labora-
tories generally, and especially where certain in=
vestigations on the properties of matter are carriec
out, will also be greatly increased. s
It has recently been proposed to use helium in |
place of oil for’ surrounding the switches and ~
circuit-breakers of high-tension electric transmis- |
sion lines. If the gas should prove suitable for
this purpose, large quantities could be utilised, but
UGUST 19, 1920]
NATURE
779
t can be) that in this field helium possesses
lvantage over the oils now used.
as been suggested by Elihu Thomson and
; that if divers were supplied with a mixture
ygen and helium, the rate of expulsion of
n dioxide from the lungs might be increased,
ve period of submergence as a consequence
iderably lengthened.
probable, however, that in the field of low-
rature research helium will immediately find
widest application. For this work helium is
que in that, when liquefied and possibly solidi-
Cs t enables one to reach the lowest tempera-
attainable. Every effort should be exerted
ds. the exploitation of its use in this
a2
‘gh
int that is important and should not be
ooked is that the supplies of natural gas from
| helium can be extracted are being rapidly
When our natural gas fields are depleted
ould appear that our main source of supply of
im will have disappeared. Careful considera-
should, therefore, be given to the problem of
cs. helium in large quantities while it is
till available, and of storing it up for future use.
\s already stated, it may be that in the future it
vill be of paramount importance to have even a
ate supply of the gas available.
A Cryogenic Laboratory.
chemists and physicists especially, the dis-
y that helium can be produced in quantity at
lerate cost opens up a vista in the realm of
ature research of surpassing interest.
; of liquid oxygen, the properties of sub-
s can be studied down to a temperature of
-5° C. Liquid nitrogen provides us with a
perature of —193-5° C., and hydrogen, which
_ originally liquefied in 1898 by Sir James
enables us to reach —252-8° C. It is but
years since Onnes, after prolonged effort,
sufficient helium to enable him to liquefy
too. In a brilliantly conceived research
ded in accomplishing this feat in 1908,
‘doing it reached a temperature within
mately 1° or 2° C. of the absolute zero.
amount of liquid helium which Onnes ob-
in his investigation was small, but it
‘to enable him to show that a number of
ents possessed a remarkable ‘‘super-con-
” at this low temperature. Mercury in
ular, at the temperature of liquid helium,
ssed an electrical conductivity ten million
greater than at ordinary room temperature,
currents started by induction in a coil of lead
s at the temperature of liquid helium main-
heir intensity for more than an hour with
tle diminution in magnitude.
The results obtained by Onnes, although limited
nber, are of great importance, for they show
f liquid helium were rendered available in
ty, fundamental information of the greatest
‘on such problems as those connected with
cal and thermal conduction, with specific and
NO, 2651, VOL. 105]
atomic heats, with magnetism and the magnetic
properties of substances, with phosphorescence,
with the origin of radiation, and with atomic
structure, could be obtained.
In spectroscopy supplies of liquid helium would
enable us to extend our knowledge of the fine
structure of spectral lines, and thereby enable us
to obtain clearer ideas regarding the electronic
orbits existing in the atoms of the simpler
elements. This would lead naturally to clearer
views on the subject of atomic structure generally.
In other fields, too, important information could
be obtained by the use of temperatures between
that of liquid hydrogen and that of liquid helium.
What of radio-activity? Would this property be
lost by uranium, thorium, radium, and other
similar elements at temperatures attainable with
liquid helium? Would all chemical action cease at
these temperatures? Would photo-chemical action
disappear completely ? Would photo-electric action
cease or be maintained at such low temperatures ?
In the fields of biological and botanical research,
information on problems pressing for solution
could be gained also. For example, would all life
in spores and bacteria be extinguished by subject-
ing them to temperatures in the neighbourhood of
absolute zero?
The list of problems rendered capable of attack
by the use of liquid helium might be easily ex-
tended; but those cited already will serve to show
that the field is large, and that it is well worth
while for us to make a special effort to secure
adequate financial support for the equipment and
maintenance of a cryogenic laboratory within
the Empire.
It is probably beyond the ordinary resources of
any university to equip and maintain such a labo-
ratory; but the project is one which merits
national, and probably Imperial, support. It
should appeal to private beneficence as well, for it
is a project deserving strong and sympathetic
help.
A properly equipped cryogenic laboratory should
include:
(1) A liquid-air plant of large capacity.
(2) A liquid-hydrogen plant of moderate capacity.
(3) A liquid-helium plant of small capacity.
(4) Machine tools, cylinders, glass apparatus,
measuring instruments, etc.
Such an equipment would probably cost more
than 10,o00l.
For building purposes, probably an additional
10,0001. or 15,0001. would be required.
The staff should include one or two skilled
glass-blowers, two or three mechanics and instru-
ment-makers, and two or three helpers for run-
ning the machinery. To provide this staff and
meet charges for light, heat, and power, probably
30001. a year at least would be needed.
» For an administrative and_ technical
probably 25001. would be necessary.
In addition to the above, special provision
would have to be made to secure an adequate
supply of helium. If industrial uses can be found
for helium and a works were established in
staff,
NATURE
[AuGusT 19, 1920 ©
Alberta; for the production of helium on a . large
scale, the problem of supply would be solved, for
the amount of the gas which would be required
for low-temperature research would probably not
be more than 20,000 or 30,000 cubic feet a year.
In default of a production- -works on a large scale
being established, it would be necessary to install
a small plant at Calgary for the specific purpose
of supplying the cryogenic laboratory with
helium. This could easily be done at the present
time, as_ the experimental plant is still im situ.
It would require from 30001. to 4oool. to make
the changes in the plant which experience has
shown are necessary, and to provide the additional
auxiliary machinery, tools, etc., required.
If this plant were run for three or four months
each year, an adequate supply of helium could
be obtained. The expense of running the plant
under these conditions would be high, and _ it
would probably be found that it would require ’
from 20001. to 3000l. to operate it for a period
of three or four months each year. This amount
would, of course, have to cover charges for salary
of staff, compensation to the owners of the
natural gas, light, power, miscellaneous supplies,
freight charges on cylinders, etc.
From the above it will be seen that a’ scheme
such as that outlined would require in the aggre-
gate a capital expenditure of about 30,0001. for
buildings and plant, and the interest on an endow-
ment of about 125, 0001. ‘for operating and me
taining the cryogenic laboratory, Miah w
the supply station.
If a cryogenic laboratory, with its aux
supply station, were established along the
indicated, it would probably be found to be m
economical to run the supply station continuo
for a number of years, and to store for future u
the helium accumulated. In this connec |
should be stated that the experimental ey
it exists would probably not produce more t
100,000 cubic feet of helium per year. The » 2
could, however, be easily manifolded, and xi +
Governments of Great Britain and Canada might, |
from the point of view of national safety, legiti-
mately be asked to assume responsi iam for a |
operating it. ‘
Much of our knowledge acqtiail in the ‘field :
of low-temperature research we owe to the
brilliant work of such distinguished men as
Andrews, Davy, Faraday, and Dewar. The dis-
covery of the rare gases, helium, neon, argon, —
krypton, and xenon, we owe to Lockyer, Rayleigh, |
Ramsay, and Dewar. How could we more fit- |
tingly perpetuate the work’ of these great men |
than by establishing on a permanent basis a cryo-. |
genic laboratory for the purpose of making still |
further progress in the field of low-temperature
research—a field in which British men of science
have made such brilliant and notable advances?
The Cardiff Meeting of
1? is twenty-nine years since the Association met
4 in Cardiff. It is safe to say that any members
who may have been present on that occasion will
not now be able to recognise the city, for there can
scarcely be any other town in the country which
has not merely grown, but also altered, so much
in that period. In 1891 there was on the north
side of what is now one of the main streets a large
tract of finely timbered ground called Cathays
Park, adjacent to Cardiff Castle and its park, and
also the property of the Marquess of Bute. In
Cathays Park now stand a number of large and
handsome public buildings, including the City
Hall, Law Courts, University College, Technical
College, and the National Museum of Wales.
These are the buildings in which the meetings
of the Association will take place, and not one
of them was in existence at the time of the former
meeting.
As usual, it is difficult to estimate the probable
success of the meeting from the point of view of
numbers, but locally every effort is being made
to ensure it, and a good average meeting is ex-
pected. It is certain that the Association can
never have been better provided in the matter of
meeting rooms and lecture halls. The local ar*
rangements are now almost complete. The hous-
ing shortage, particularly serious in Cardiff, and
the fact that this is the holiday season have made
the task of the rooms and hospitality committees
NO, 2651, VOL. 105]
the British Association. R/S
rather trying, but it has been accompany: hd
ample accommodation will be available. —
The reception room, general offices, post office,
and luncheon and tea room are situated in the City
Hall; Sections A, F, H, and L meet in the Uni-
versity College ; Section G has the use of the
South Wales Institute of Engineers close by; and
all the other sections are accommodated in the
Technical College. In the Technical College also
there is an assembly hall for special meetings.
The inaugural general meeting, evening dis-—
courses, and citizens’ lectures take place in the —
Park Hall, which is near one corner of Cathays >:
Park. 4
Regarding the programmes of the fadwidaal 4
sections, little can be added to the account of them ~
published in Nature of July 15. The journal of ©
sectional and other proceedings will be ready on ~
the first day of the meeting, but has lost its right ©
to the name, for it will not be published daily as
hitherto. Members should therefore retain their
copies throughout the meeting. Any alterations |
in the sectional programmes will be shown from
day to day on the notice board in the reception
room.
The inaugural general meeting will take place
on Tuesday, August 24, in the Park Hall, a
8 p.m., when the president, Prof. W. A. Her -
man, will deliver his address. On Wednesday —
there will be a reception by the Lord Mayor :
NATURE
781
AvcGusT 19, 1920],
diff at the University College at 8 p.m. The
" evening discourses by Sir R. T. Glazebrook. and
r Daniel Hall will be delivered in the Park Hall
8 p-m. on Thursday and Friday respectively.
; conference of delegates of corresponding
ties will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and
Tiday in the assembly hall of the Technical
hree citizens’ lectures will be delivered in the
Hall at 8 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and
iturday, the lecturers being respectively Prof. J.
oyd Williams (“Light and Life’’), Prof. A. W.
‘Kkaldy (“Present Industrial Conditions”), and
Vaughan Cornish (‘‘The Geographical Posi-
mn of the British Empire ”’). i of the
sociation as such are not admitted to these lec-
‘es. The distribution of tickets, which are free,
in the hands of the Workers’ Educational Asso-
tion, and they may be obtained at. the reception
fice during the meeting.
programme of excursions is a varied onc.
geologists are visiting Cefn On and Caer-
ly on Tuesday, Penylan on Wednesday, the
Barry Coast on Thursday, and Lavernock on
Friday. Section E (Geography) will explore the
le of Glamorgan on Wednesday, and the Taff
_and Rhondda Valleys on Thursday. The engineers
_ will be shown over the Bute Docks on Tuesday,
_the Melingriffith Tinplate Works on Wednesday,
the Dowlais Steelworks on Thursday, and _ the
Great Western Colliery on Friday. Section H
(Anthropology) will investigate the Roman remains
Caerwent (between Newport and Chepstow) on
ednesday. <A botanical expedition to Wenvoe
Sir Worman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.1R.S.
JHE death of Sir Norman Lockyer on
- Monday last deprives the world of a great
astronomer, and the nation of a force which it
can ill afford to lose. Though it had been known
for several months that Sir Norman was in a
feeble state of health, his many friends cherished
_ the hope that the vigour which was characteristic
him would revive, and that the devoted aiten-
tion of his wife and daughter would preserve him
to us for a few more years; but this was not to
be. The alert mind and acute understanding
which influenced so many men and advanced so
much scientific work over a period of sixty years
Or so are now at rest, yet there remains to us a
recollection which will not soon be effaced, and
_ there stands in the archives of science a record
f his achievement which will command admira-
tion so long as the pursuit of knowledge is re-
as worthy human endeavour.
In the jubilee issue of NATURE in November
last Dr. Deslandres, Sir Archibald Geikie, Sir
Ray Lankester, and other distinguished men of
‘science paid tribute to the work and influence of
‘the founder of this journal, the volumes of which
form an enduring .monument to his memory.
.- NO. 2651, VOL. 105]
takes place on Thursday. The Section of Educa-
tion will inspect the summer school at Barry on
Friday. One or two demonstrations have also
been arranged. On Wednesday Section I will be
shown the new physiological laboratories of the
University College, where a new electrokymo-
graph will be demonstrated. On Thursday after-
noon members of the Association, particularly
those of Sections B, A, and’I, are invited to the
chemical laboratories of the Cardiff City Mental
Hospital, where demonstrations will be given of
some new chemical and physiological methods,
and also of a modern high-powered X-ray installa-
tion equipped with auto-transformer and Coolidge
tube. All these sectional: excursions and
demonstrations take place in the afternoons,
On Saturday, August 28, two general excur-
sions of the Association will be made. One party
will drive through the Wye Valley, taking lunch
at Tintern and calling at Llanover, near Aber-
gavenny, at the invitation of Lord Treowen, to
take tea on the return journey. The other party
will cross the Bristol Channel and visit the famous
Cheddar caves, Wells Cathedral, and Glastonbury
Abbey. The numbers in these excursions (and
also in many of the sectional expeditions already
mentioned) are limited. Members are requested
to signify their intention of taking part in any of
them as soon as possible after the beginning of
the meeting. By so doing they will not only
ensure their own participation, but also lighten
the work of those responsible for organising the
excursions, for in the present local conditions the
difficulties of arranging transport are considerable,
Obituary.
Sir Norman was not only a pioneer worker in
the fields of science, but also an advocate of the
claims of science to recognition in modern polity,
and this rare combination was used to further
scientific interests as wellas to secure the progress
of knowledge. He was the embodiment of mental
activity, and never relinquished a task to which he
had put his hand. Until a short time ago he was
as eager to learn of developments and discoveries
in astronomical work, and as ready to suggest new »
lines of research, as a man in the prime of life,
and it is difficult to realise’ that this fund of
energy is now no longer available to those of us
who derived benefit from it. When Goethe wrote :
“The quickening power of science only he can
know from whose soul it gushes free,” he must
have had in mind a researcher of the type of him
whose loss we now mourn.
Sir Norman Lockyer was born at Rugby on
May 17, 1836. He was educated at various
private schools, and in 1857 received an appoint-
ment at the War Office. His work there was so
much appreciated that in 1865 he was entrusted
with the editorship of the Army Regulations.
In 1870 he was appointed secretary of the Duke
of Devonshire’s Royal Commission on scientific
782 NATURE [Aveuss 19, 1920 j
instruction and the advancement of science. The
reports of this Commission are most valuable
records of the position and needs of science, and
if the recommendations had been put into force
this country could easily have been in advance of
all others as regards scientific development.
When the work of the Commission was com-
pleted in 1875 Sir Norman was transferred to
the Science and Art Department. He afterwards
became professor of astronomical physics in the
Royal College of Science, and was director of
the Solar Physics Observatory at South. Ken-
sington from 1885 to 1913. He was elected a
fellow of the Royal Society in 1869, was Rede
lecturer to the University of Cambridge in 1871,
and Bakerian lecturer to the Royal Society in
1874, in which year he received the Rumford
medal of the society. In 1875 the Paris Academy
of Sciences elected him a corresponding member
in the section of astronomy. He was a corre-
sponding member of numerous national scientific
societies, and honorary member of many others.
He received honorary degrees from the Universi-
ties of Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh,
and Aberdeen, and the Order of Knight Com-
mander of the Bath was conferred upon him by
the King in 1897.
Sir Norman Lockyer’s early spectroscopic work
was devoted to the sun. His first observations
were directed to a scrutiny of the spectrum of sun-
spots as compared with that of the general
surface. In the course of the paper in which
these observations were described, read before
the Royal Society on November 15, 1866, he
remarked :—‘‘May not the spectroscope afford
us evidence of the existence of the ‘red flames ’
which total eclipses have revealed to us in the
sun’s atmosphere, although they escape all other
modes of examination at other times?” The
spectroscope he then employed proved to be of
insufficient dispersive power for his researches,
but by the aid of the Government Grant Com-
mittee of the Royal Society an instrument of
greater power, though not quite complete, was
obtained on October 16, 1868. - Four days later
his efforts were crowned by the detection of a
solar prominence by means of the bright lines
exhibited in its spectrum. An account of this
discovery was immediately communicated to the
Royal Society and to the Paris Academy of
Sciences. Meanwhile had occurred the total solar
eclipse of August 18, and Dr. Janssen, who had
observed with eminent success the spectrum of
the prominences during the eclipse, came to the
conclusion that the same mode of observation
might enable one to detect them at any time,
and he saw them in this manner the next day.
The first account of the discovery,- which was
sent by post, reached the Paris Academy a few
days after the communication of Sir Norman
Lockyer’s observation of October 20, and, as was
described in Nature of May 20 last, a medal was
struck in honour of the joint discovery.
This notable application of the spectroscope re-
vealed the prominences as local disturbances in
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
-eclipses from 1871 onwards provided a wealth of
A
the continuous luminous layer which Sir Norman:
Lockyer called the chromosphere, and from the
field of research opened by his discovery rich”
harvests have since been reaped. The gas, named
by him helium, commonly occurring in solar pro-—
minences, was not isolated on the earth until —
twenty-seven years later, when Sir William Ram-
say extracted it from the mineral cléveite. Now, as —
Prof. McLennan has described in these columns, it —
is possible to obtain millions of cubic feet of helium
per day from natural gas in Alberta, and there
is every reason to believe that this supply will
become of immense scientific and industrial value.
It is beyond the bounds of this general record
of Sir Norman. Lockyer’s scientific services to
venture into the field of astronomical physics
which he made particularly his own. An apprecia-
tive account of that work will be contributed to
a later issue by a spectroscopist familiar with its
special significance and value. Here We need
only remark that Sir Norman’s meteoritic hypo-
thesis of celestial evolution is chiefly responsible
for the change of view which has taken place as
to the nature of nebulz and the existence of stars
of increasing as well as of decreasing tempera-
tures. Dark nebule—sheets or streams of non-
luminous cosmic dust—are no longer considered
hypothetical, but are as real as dark stars, and
the incipient luminosity of nebule in general
represents the visible portion only of vastly more
extensive congeries of invisible cosmic matter.
Some of the most notéworthy discoveries of
astronomical science in recent years are, indeed,
those which suggest or demonstrate that space
may include as much dark matter as bright, and
they largely owe their origin to Sir Norman
Lockyer’s meteoritic hypothesis and the classifica-
tion of stellar types based upon it.
In his work and conclusions upon the subject
of dissociation, Sir Norman Lockyer was like-
wise much in advance of his times. Fifty years
ago he was convinced by his spectroscopic
observations that the view that each chemical
element had only one line spectrum was errone-
ous, and that the various terrestrial and solar
phenomena were produced by a series of sim-
plifications brought about by each higher tem-
perature employed. In his studies of dissocia-
tion he was really collecting facts concerning the
evolution of the chemical elements, and he
pointed out especially that the first steps in this —
evolution .were probably best determined by
observations of stellar spectra.
Sir Norman Lockyer was the chief of eight
British Government solar eclipse expeditions, —
and organised the programmes of several others —
while director of the Solar Physics Observatory. —
His use of the slitless spectroscope during the —
information for study. From the photographs ~
obtained during the total solar eclipse of 1893 —
the wave-lengths of many chromospheric and —
coronal lines were determined, and a very com- —
plete series of pictures and spectra of the corona —
and chromosphere was obtained during the —
-subject in their valuable memoir
NATURE
; eclipse of 1898, the true wave-length of the chief
_ corona line being then determined as 5303-7.
Further knowledge was secured from the eclipses
of 1898, 1900, and 1905, and it was all brought
into relationship with the laboratory work and
discussions of stellar types carried on at the Solar
Physics Observatory.
When the first Solar Physics Committee was
appointed in 1879, reference was made to the
desirability of an inquiry into the possible effect
of solar conditions on meteorological phenomena,
but it was not until 1898 that Sir Norman
Bi? Lockyer undertook, with his son, Major W. J. S.
Lockyer, a definite and searching inquiry into the
most trustworthy meteorological records, with
the view of discovering indications of solar influ-
ence on weather factors. It was established that
the oscillations of annual pressure in South
America are closely related to those of the Indian
Ocean, but inverse in character, high pressure
years in India being represented by low pressure
years in Cordoba. This “see-saw” phenomenon
was found to hold good for numerous other
districts, and its importance for long-period fore-
casting is now being recognised. Drs. Helland-
Hansen and Nansen refer particularly to the work
of Sir Norman and Major Lockyer upon this
noticed in
Nature of August 5, p. 715.
A report on the work of the Solar Physics
Observatory during the period 1889-1909 was
issued by Sir Norman Lockyer when the Solar
Physics Committee was dissolved and_ the
observatory transferred to Cambridge. This
abrupt break in his life’s work was acutely felt
by Sir Norman, and he never really recovered
from its effects, though he was as keen as ever
upon progress in astrophysics. What he desired
particularly was that the observatory should be
. transferred to a site which would permit increased
Opportunity for observation, and when, to his
great disappointment, the institution to which he
had devoted so many active years was summarily
reorganised without consideration for his interests
in it, and placed in a position little better than
that which it had long occupied under his
directorship, his hope for the development of
astrophysical researches started at the observa-
tory received a sudden and pathetic check.
Obstacles were, however, always used by Sir
Norman Lockyer as opportunities. When the
Solar Physics Observatory was taken from South
Kensington to Cambridge in 1913, and his official
connection with the observatory ceased, he de-
voted himself to erecting a new observatory at
Salcombe Regis, Sidmouth, where he spent his
declining years. Later, the Hill Observatory
Corporation was formed to promote the develop-
ment of this observatory and to carry on its work
permanently. Sir Norman and Lady Lockyer
gave the site of seven and a half acres upon
which stand the present buildings, and there is
ample room for extension, while the position of
the observatory is as fine as could possibly be
desired. Thanks chiefly to Sir Norman’s gifts
NO, 2651, VOL. 105]
of instruments and to the generosity of Lt.-Col.
Frank McClean, Mr. Kobert Mond, and
others, the observatory is already one of the
best equipped in the country, and it could become
one of the best in the world. if wealthy benefactors
here were as much interested in the promotion of
astronomical science as they are in the United
States, where the most notable work is now being
done in astrophysics. No memorial to Sir
Norman Lockyer could have a more appropriate
object than that of providing means to increase
the staff and develop the work of the Hill
Observatory.
Sir Norman Lockyer’s archeological observa-
tions are not so well known as they should be,
for most of them belong to the first rank. In con-
tinuation of his work on the astronomical uses
of Egyptian temples, he turned his attention to
some of the stone circles and other stone monu-
ments in this country, and he was able to establish
the conclusion that such monuments were built
to observe and mark the rising and setting of
the sun and other heavenly bodies at different
times of the year. The date of construction of
Stonehenge was thus found to be between about
1900 and 1500 B.c., and it appeared that a thou-
sand years before circles were built in Cornwall,
commencing about 2400 B.C., avenues were
erected in other parts of Britain. _
When president of the British Association in
1903-4, Sir Norman Lockyer delivered at the
Southport meeting a notable address on “The
Influence of Brain-power on History.” This
address attracted wide attention, but the nation
was not then ready to learn the lesson taught by
it, and it has taken the greatest war of all time
to awaken national consciousness to its signifi-
cance. “A strong plea was made to prepare by
intellectual effort for the struggles of peace and
of war, and it was added:—“Such an_ effort
seems to me to be the first thing any national
or Imperial scientific organisation should en-
deavour to bring about.” Sir Norman Lockyer
hoped that the British Association would expand
one of its existing functions and become the
active missionary body adumbrated in his address ;
but his appeal did not meet with the active
support he expected from the council, most of the
members of which were more interested in scien-
tific work itself than in national aspects of it.
With characteristic energy, however, Sir Norman
set himself the task of establishing an organisa-
tion which would bring home to all classes of the
community the necessity of making the scientific
spirit a national characteristic to inspire progress
and determine policy in affairs of all kinds, and
as a result the British Science Guild was
founded in 1905.
Throughout his career Sir Norman Lockyer’s
public activities made contact with national life
at many points, and the British Science Guild
is an institutional representation of them which
remains to attain the objects at which he con-
sistently aimed. The purpose of the Guild is to
stimulate not so much the acquisition of know-
=-~*
‘
NATURE
ledge as the appreciation of its value, and the
advantage of applying the methods of scientific
inquiry in affairs of every kind. Such methods
are not less applicable to the problems which con-
front the statesman, the administrator, the
merchant, the manufacturer, the soldier, and the
schoolmaster than to those of the scientific
worker. These were the convictions of Sir Norman
Lockyer, and he had the satisfaction in recent
years of hearing them proclaimed from the house-
tops, while the Guild itself stands as a monument
of their power and his prescience.
In 1904 a large and influential deputation urged
upon Mr. Balfour, then Prime Minister, the need
for further assistance to university education and
research, and in announcing that the grant would
at once be doubled, as well as: redoubled in the
following year, Mr. Balfour stated that the in-
crease, which represented a capital sum of
3,000,000l. at 24 per cent., was given as the
result of the appeal made in 1903 by Sir Norman
Lockyer in his presidential address to the British
Association at Southport. This represents one
result only of his ceaseless activity on behalf of
science and higher education; the pages of
NaTurRE throughout its existence afford ample
testimony of the use of the same zeal for progress.
“There must,” he once said, “be only one kind
of education—the best—and that is to be given
to everybody.” He expected the best work from
everybody associated with him, and would not
tolerate any lower standard for either individual
or national aims. His fingers have now loosed
their grasp upon the torch of science which he
held aloft for so many years, but the light still
burns on the bank of the dark river he has
crossed; and in admiration, hope, and reverence
it will be borne onwards by workers whom he
inspired. His body will be laid to rest on Satur-
day morning at Salcombe Regis Church, Sid-
mouth, but his spirit will remain in the observa-
tory on the hill-top near-by to stimulate others
to reach out and touch the sky.
Sir Edward, Brabrook writes :---
Among the many who have been honoured by
the friendship of Sir Norman Lockyer and are in
sorrow ‘at his death, I count myself, as having
had opportunities of being associated with him
in more than one capacity. I was one of those
members of the Civil Service whom he invited to
join with him in a welcome to Mowatt, of the
Treasury, on the occasion of his election as a
member of the Atheneum. In the year when
Sir Norman presided over the, British Asso-
ciation, I was one of the sectional presidents,
and was nominated by him as a member
of the council. I warmly sympathised with the
wishes he then entertained for the extension of
the functions of the association, and when these
were seen to be not realisable in the form in
which he desired them, I accepted his invitation
to join'in the formation of the British Science
Guild. Others will be better able than I to tell
the story of his labours for that institution, and
AUGUST 19, 1920
of the success that has attended them; but I m
say a few words on another aspect of his untiri
intellectual work, viz. his contributions to archeec
logy. In this respect he was an example of th
interdependence that exists between the sciences,
for it was the pursuit of his favourite science of
astronomy that gave the direction to his studies
of ancient civilisation. In the temples of Egyptand
in. the stone circles of our own country he found |
evidence of the astronomical knowledge and pur-
pose with which they were erected, and his own
profound acquaintance with the problems they
presented to him from that point of view led him
to conclusions which, as in the case of fixing the
date of Stonehenge, were closely verified by the
evidence afterwards derived from excavations on
the spot.
AGRICULTURAL chemistry has lost a_ distin-
guished exponent by the death of Pror. Epwarp
KincH on August 6 at the age of seventy-one.
Prof. Kinch was educated at the Grammar
School, Henley-on-Thames, and the Royal College
of Chemistry, and successively occupied the follow-
ing positions:—Chief assistant to the professorof
chemistry (the late Sir Arthur Church) at the
Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, 1869-73;
on chemical staff of Royal School of Mines,
1873-75; superintendent of minerals, India
Museum, 1875-76; professor of chemistry, Im-
perial College of Agriculture, Tokyo, 1876-81;
professor of chemistry, Cirencester, 1881-1915,
when the Royal Agricultural College closed on
account of the war. He published many tech-
nical papers on agricultural chemistry, in which
he was a leading authority, always distinguished
by the soundness of his judgment. As a teacher
Prof. Kinch did much for his subject both in this
country and in Japan, and he will be remembered
with respect and affection by many generations of
students and numerous former colleagues. His life
was saddened by the premature death of his young
wife (a daughter of the late Rev. Geo. Hunting-
ton), whom he married in 1889, and after this
he led a somewhat retired life. Those privileged
to be his intimate friends will not easily forget his
many sterling qualities and quiet sense of humour.
J. R..A.-D.
at eee
WE regret to note that the death of Mr. Joun
KirKALDY is announced in Engineering for
August 13. Mr. Kirkaldy was born in 1853, and
was head of the well-known London firm of John
Kirkaldy, Ltd. Quite early in life he took over
the management of his father’s business, and
under his direction the firm played an important
part in introducing fresh-water distilling apparatus
for use on board ship. Plant of this kind was
also designed for use in the Ashanti campaign,
and in 1883 and 1885 in connection with the
Egyptian campaigns. Mr. Kirkaldy was a member
of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and also of —
the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. ce
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
7 “195: _ 1920)
NATURE
785
Sates:
one of the first official acts of the new
nissioner of Palestine has been the estab-
f a Department of Antiquities. An Inter-
Board will advise the director on technical
‘ovision is made for an inspector, for a
for the custody of the historical monu-
museum starts with more than Ico cases
uities collected by the Palestine Exploration
| other bodies before the war. On August 9
sh School of Archeology was formally
salem by Sir Herbert Samuel.
il meeting of the National Association
themists, held at Sheffield on August 7,
etary reported that a number of firms
a definite undertaking to consult the
thie” association in all matters relating to
A appointment, salaries, and conditions
it. On the whole, the salaries paid to
f en association were fairly satisfactory ;
nection a report had been issued giving a
minimum salaries, and this would be
_ The hon. secretary took a gloomy
re before industrial chemists. He
that the number of unemployed was increasing
re was every indication of a coming
1 the engineering and allied industries
ibers were employed. It was more
tterests. Mr. A. B. Searle (Shef-
imously elected president for the
Mr. J. W. Merchant appointed
been. presented to the German
urging the formation of an
ch existed during the war. Accord-
in the Zeits. des Vereines deutscher
piri from wood and acetylene instead of from
of fatty acids from the products of
te-tar or paraffin, and the utilisation
ent not only of cellulose as a substitute
on but also of ammonium nitrate obtained
f in large quantities as a_ fertiliser;
the determination of substitutes for
gs ‘metallurgical products not avail-
i gutta-percha, etc. In addition, the pro-
2w institute would carry out researches
interest, e.g. on rust-prevention and
rosion of metals, on the determination of
NO, 2651, VOL. 105]
—
ocists will fully appreciate the announce-
stresses in internal-combustion engines, on the effect
of winter cold and upper-air temperatures on imple-
ments and raw materials, and on the testing and im-
provement of aeroplane and airship fabrics. It is
also suggested that scientific and technical investiga-
tions should be carried out dealing with the. preven-
tion of accidents and the protection of workers in a
number of important industries.
THE autumn meeting of the Institute of Metals will
be held at Barrow-in-Furness on September 15-16,
under the presidency of Sir George Goodwin.
WE have received the quarterly report of the
Research Defence Society containing an account. of
the annual general meeting. The Jenner Society has
become affiliated to the society, and its hon. secretary,
Dr. Drury, has joined the committee. At the close
of the meeting Col. McCarrison gave an address on
‘“Vitamines,’’ an abstract of which is published in
the report.
M pom cnr Abstracts and Reviews for August
(vol. ii., 5) contains a review of recent work and
articles rate ‘lethargic encephalitis” (see Nature,
January 1, p. 452), a disease which appeared in this
country at the commencement of 1918. Cases have
been reported in almost every European country and
in Africa, India, the United States, and Canada.
Netter points out that descriptions of a similar disease
are given by Hippocrates, .Aretzus, and Celius
Aurelianus, and the works of Celsus contain a chapter
n ‘lethargic fever.’’ Sydenham in the seventeenth
century also gave 2 description of the same kind of
disease under the name of ‘‘comatose fever.’’ It
appears reasonable to suppose, therefore, that this
disease is not new, but has been in abeyance for
seventy years or more. No causative organism has
yet been discovered,
On the occasion of the opening of the third labora-
tory of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine on
July 24 (see Nature, July 29, p. 696) the Liverpool’
University Press issued a volume (103 pp., 37 plates)
giving an account of the inception of the School and
its history from that time up to the present. In
addition to the records of the important contributions
of the School to the advance of our knowledge of
tropical diseases, the volume records the bene-
factions which have enabled the School to develop
and to perform its functions so successfully. Among
recent developments may be mentioned the estab-
lishment of research laboratories at Mandos and at
Sierra Leone, where continuous investigations into
the diseases of these localities can be carried on.
We join in the confident hope expressed that the city
of Liverpool and those ‘“‘ whom destiny binds in diverse
ways to tropical lands ”’ will continue to 1 ee the
School.
THE Research Defences Society has issued a paper
| by Major-Gen. Sir David Bruce on the prevention of
tetanus during the Great War by the use of antitetanic
serum. Sir David Bruce states in his introduction
that the object of this paper is to controvert the
_assertions of the supporters .of..anti-vivisection in,
regard to tetanus, and to prove that antitetanic serum
786
is of the greatest use in preventing the onset of the
disease, and if not successful in this, in mitigating
the severity of the symptoms and lessening the death-
rate. Statistics of the incidence of tetanus among the
wounded sent home, about 1,242,000, are given; there
were among them 1458 cases of tetanus, a ratio of
about 1 per 1000. In September, 1914, 6000 wounded
men were landed in England, and 54 men wounded in
that month were attacked by tetanus, a ratio of 9 per
tooo. In November, 1914, there was a sudden drop
to a ratio of 2-3 per 1000, and the ratio never after-
wards exceeded about 2-7, and was frequently less.
This sudden drop coincides with the systematic inocula-
tion of all the wounded with antitetanic serum. The
case-mortality per cent. of those who developed tetanus
was 53-5 among those unprotected with antitetanic
serum, and 23-0 among those who received.a preven-
tive injection of the serum. The use of antitetanic
serum also markedly lengthened the incubation period
of the disease, and the longer the incubation period,
the milder does the disease tend to be. With a long
incubation period the disease frequently assumes a
localised form in the neighbourhood of the wound,
and while in 1914 the percentage of cases of the acute
and generalised form was 98-9 and of the local form
I-I, in 1918 the respective figures were 83:5 and 16:5.
Sir David Bruce concludes, therefore, that by the
preventive use of antitetanic serum (1) the incidence
of the disease is lowered ten to twelve times; (2) the
incubation period is lengthened four or five times;
(3) the disease becomes milder, many of the cases
showing only local manifestations; and (4) the death-
rate is lowered fourfold.
Four specimens of Gephyrea were taken from the
stomachs of fish at two widely separated stations by ©
the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18. These are
referred by Mr. R. V. Chamberlin (Report of the
Expedition, vol. ix., Part D, 1920) to the widespread
northern Priapulus hwmanus. A _ short account is
given of other Canadian Gephyrea, which represent
six species—the Priapulus already mentioned and five
Sipunculids, one of which is a new species of Phas-
colosoma. The author appends a useful, but not
quite’ complete, bibliography of the Gephyrea con-
taining the titles of about 430 works.
THE remarkable habits of the sage grouse form the
subject of a brief but valuable essay by Mr. Bruce
Horsfall in Zoologica (vol. ii., No. 10), the organ of
the New York Zoological Society. One of the most
striking features of the displays described is the use of
the wings in thrusting forward the inflated air-pouch,
which plays a prominent part in the: performance.
The author contends that these displays are not
‘courtship ’’ antics, because no notice was taken of
one or two females which ‘‘ meandered through the
throng ’’ while the performance was in full swing.
But since the breeding season seems only just to have
begun, one feels inclined to doubt the validity of this
interpretation. A number of unusually good text-
figures and a coloured plate add greatly to the value
of this most welcome addition to our knowledge of
the ecology of the sage grouse.
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
NATURE
[Aucust 19, 1920
Tue nesting of the bee-eater in Scotland is ar
event in the annals of British ornithology whi
is indeed worthy of record, and we are gre
indebted to Mr. J. Kirke Nash for his carefully }
notes thereon which he publishes in British Birds
August. <A pair of these birds were first seen
June 3 perched on a wire fence surmounting a :
bank of the River Esk, near Musselburgh. When .
discovered they were engaged in catching flies, after
the fashion of the flycatcher. On June 7 they were
found entering and leaving a hole in the bank, and —
as the male was seen feeding his mate it was clear —
that they were nesting. On June 13, however, the —
female fell a victim to the stupidity of a gardener, —
who captured it, placed it in a greenhouse, and “fed”? —
it on breadcrumbs. Needless to say, it died within 4
two days, after laying an egg. A few days later the
unfortunate survivor was caught and killed by : a cat. 4
Dr. B. H. Ransom contributes to the Proceedings of
ns United States National Museum (vol. Ivii.,
527-73, 33 figs., 1920) a synopsis of the Trema-_
sade family Heterophyide, with descriptions of a
new genus and five new species. This family is com-—
posed of a number of genera of small Trematodes,.
usually not more than 2 mm. long, parasitic in the”
intestine of mammals and birds, usually fish-eaters.
Two of these flukes, Heterophyes heterophyes and
Metagonimus Yokogawai, occur in the small intes-
tine of man—the former in Egypt, China, and Japan,
and the latter in Formosa, Japan, and Korea. These
occur also in the dog and cat, and five other flukes
of this family have been recorded from these animals.
The author gives a key to the characters of the nine
genera which he recognises as valid, and also supplies
the necessary keys to the species.
Tue first annual report of the Industrial 1 Fatigue
Research Board (H.M. Stationery Office) contains an
interesting record of work completed or in progress.
Of the four reports already issued that of Dr. Vernon
dealing with the influence of, hours of work and
ventilation on output in the tinplate industry is the
most extensive, while the report by Mr. Major Green-
wood and Miss Hilda Woods upon the incidence of
industrial accidents (the statistical theory of this
investigation has been further developed in a paper
by Messrs. Greenwood and Yule published in the |
March, 1920, issue of the Journal of ‘the Royal Statis-
tical Society) suggested some important problems —
which the Board proposes to study further. Mrs. —
Osborne’s paper on the output of female munition —
obtained in a factory after the introduction of motion —
study are also of interest. Amongst investigations
not yet completed, that on the relation between length ~
of shift and fatigue in the iron and steel industry,
entrusted to Dr. H. M. Vernon, is almost ready for pub-—
lication, and progress has been made with inquiries
into special conditions affecting the cotton, boot and
shoe, and silk industries. The Board has a lar,
number of tasks in hand, and it is yet too early
decide which are likely to be most remunerative.
is, however, clear that careful _ thought hes
GUST 19, 1920]
NATURE
787
to the organisation of research, and we have
bt that the outcome will be of the greatest
to both employers and employed.
zs of new editions of several pamphlets in the
lic Series published by the Natural History
m have come to hand. No. 1 on the house-fly
_ domestica) by Major Austen is in its third
. and has been enlarged and almost entirely
n. It deals with the house-fly under normal
s in the British Isles; those who desire
© information, including Army requirements,
consult the larger pamphlet, No. 1a, in the
. The illustrations are exceedingly clear,
several of these, along with the letterpress, will
distinguish the commoner house-frequenting flies
the true house-fly, which they closely resemble.
autumnalis is a case in point; it frequently
houses, etc., and hibernates therein during the
giving rise to the popular belief that the
habits of M. domestica are well known. The
feature, however, is one concerning which we
uch more extensive observation than has been
d to it in the past. The breeding habits of the
y are also dealt with, and simple remedial and
ative measures against this pest are enumerated.
3, by Mr. J. Waterston, deals with fleas and
heir relation to man ard domestic animals. It is
note’ norte that eleven species have up to the present
d capable of transmitting plague. Five of them
- common in Britain, while the plague-flea par
nce (Xenopsylla cheopis) is occasionally intro-
No. 4, on mosquitoes, is written by a recog-
student of the family, Mr. F. W. Edwards.
i, ol these insects to disease and the control
o ee are clearly explained. _No. 6, by
aes Nos. 3 and 6 are reprints, without
s, of their predecessors, and No. 4 differs
nef edition only in a few small addi-
interesting gccotmt of ‘the development of the
a industry in Eastern Transvaal during the last
m years is given by Mr. A. L. Hall in Memoir 13
of the Geological Survey of the Union of South Africa
Ig20). The ‘‘books’’ of mica that are of economic
é occur as constituents of coarse-grained pegma-
ich cut the older granite of the Pietersburg
The memoir gives a review of the uses of
d of the qualities and occasional def2cts that
be considered from a commercial point of view.
SEITARO Tszeo1 has published a complete study,
ral and petrographical, of the island volcano
hima, the largest of the ‘Seven Islands” group
h-west of the Bay of Tokyo (Journ. Coll. of
, Imp. Univ. Tokyo, vol. xliii.,, May 10, 1920).
entally, he introduces a method for the deter-
ation as nearly as possible of the maximum and
ninimum refractive indices of minerals represented
y minute crystal grains, by using a large number of
grains immersed in various liquids above a Nicol.
NO. 2651, VOL. 105]
-rayama, which is still active.
The great crater-ring formed by ancient ejecta is
now dominated by the recent central cone of Miha-
The author is not
afraid of technical terms, and concisely describes the
volcano as consisting of ‘‘double homates—a somma
and a central one,’’ and as “built up of numerous
layers alternately accumulated of rheumatitica and
clasmatica of basaltic nature.’’
Mr. H. VALENTINE Davis sends us a copy of his
“Little Book about Snowdon,” published by him at
Wistaston, Crewe. This is illustrated with sketches,
sketch-maps, and sections drawn to the same vertical
and horizontal scale, which should do much to interest
the visitor to Llanberis in the many features of scientific
interest that are so well displayed on Snowdon. It
is a forerunner of a larger guide-book, and hence
only the Llanberis path is treated as a route to
Y Wyddfa. Without being didactic, Mr. Davis intro-
duces the right touches at the right points, and gives
just enough to make the reader think. The section
showing the descent of the erratic maen d’ur arddu
from the back of the cwm contains a lot of glacial
lore, and might well be enlarged as a typical diagram
of-cirque-formation for the class-room. This alone is
worth the sevenpence charged (8d. post free) for this
unassuming but effective little pamphlet. Will Mr.
Davis consider in the quiet of ‘‘ Noddfa ’’ whether .
he or his printers are responsible for ‘“‘Grib Goch”
(regularly repeated), ‘‘ffynon,’’ and “ carreg’’?
TuE latest issue of the Journal of the Royal Statis-
tical Society (vol. Ixxxiii., part iii.) contains an
interesting paper by Mr. M. S. Birkett, statistical
officer of the National Federation of Iron and Steel
Manufacturers, on ‘The Iron and Steel Trades
during the War,’’ which brings out very clearly
the efforts made by this industry to produce the
enormous supply of munitions of war that were
needed for the great struggle. The author makes
it clear that it was the character rather than
the quantity of material produced that had to be
modified. Thus in 1913 the total production of
pig-iron was about 10,250,000 tons, which had fallen
in 1914 to just under 9,000,000 tons, and remained
approximately stationary at that figure throughout the
war. The classes of pig-iron used essentially for
steel-making, namely, hematite and basic, had, how-
ever, risen from 58 per cent. to 72 per cent. of the
total, by far the biggest increase being in the latter
class, the output of which in 1918 was 50 per cent.
above that of 1914. There was a corresponding in-
crease in the output of steel, which reached 9,500,000
tons in 1918, an increase of 1,700,000 tons over IgI4,
the bullk of the increase again being in basic steel,
of which there was above 50 per cent. more made in
1918 than in 1914. It is interesting to note that there
were employed on the blast furnaces 39,200 men in
July, 1914, as against 54,900 in July, 1919, so that
the efficiency of the men employed had gone down very
considerably. The total numbers employed in the
industry at those two dates were 304,000 and 376,300
respectively, or, deducting those employed on blast
furnaces, ironfounding, and_ tinplate manufacture,
788
NATURE
[AucusT 19, 192 !
which are given separately, 178,400 and 235,700
respectively, an increase of nearly one-third; by far
the larger number of these were undoubtedly engaged
in steel manufacture. The paper deals also with the
production of iron and steel in France and in the
United States, and includes an interesting table of
the production and export of iron and steel in the chief
iron-producing countries of the world, which shows
strikingly the amount of loss that the war has inflicted
upon the German iron and steel industries.
Honc-KonG Royal Observatory has recently issued
its report for the year 1919, under the directorship
of Mr. T. F. Claxton. The report deals mainly with
meteorology, but it includes in a general way the
magnetic elements and time services, with the neces-
sary astronomical observations for the latter. In the
description of the various meteorological instruments
in use a doubt is thrown on the relation between the
temperatures in the thermograph shelter and the
hourly readings by the rotation thermometers, and it
is stated that the difference is not constant throughout
the day. Details of the comparison would be useful
and interesting. In addition to the automatic records,
eye observations of the same elements are said to be
made each hour; perhaps less frequent eye observa-
tions would be sufficient, and time thus saved might
“with advantage be devoted to a discussion of clouds,
the character and direction of which are said to be
observed every three hours. Attention is directed to
the large departures from normal from month to
month in atmospheric pressure, temperature, and
wind. A typhoon on August 22 occasioned a squall
at the rate of 84 m.p.h., although the centre of the dis-
turbance passed about 150 miles to the south-west of
Hong-Kong. The greetest rainfall in twenty-four hours
was 4-80 in. on July 5, and the greatest in one hour
was 1:35 in. between 5 and 6 a.m. on October t.
The total rainfall for the year at the observatory was
76-14 in., of which 49-92 in. fell in June, July, and
August; and in these months, in the heaviest rains
occasioning floods, 38-79 in. fell in 186 hours. Seventy-
one per cent. of the daily weather forecasts are said
to have been completely successful. Meteorological
logs were received from eighty-one ships operating in
the Far East, representing 2587 days’ observations.
It would be a valuable asset for aeronautics if
observers could be encouraged to give especial atten-
tion to cloud observations; marine and aeronautic
meteorology are becoming closely interlocked.
THE June issue of Terrestrial Magnetism and
Atmosphenic Electricity contains Capt. J. P. Ault’s
preliminary results of the magnetic observations
taken on the United States Magnetic Survey ship
Carnegie during her voyage from Buenos Aires to St.
Helena in February and March last. According to
the new measurements, the deviation of the compass
and the dip as given on the most recent British
Admiralty Chart No. 3775 are in many cases 1° out
in the deviation and 2° or 3° out in the dip. The
most serious differences are to be found in the region
between. 45° south latitude 329° east longitude, and
36°. south 354° east, where the British chart gives
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
the deviation to the west too small by abo
while over the region 33° south 2° east to 16°
8° east the dip is given between 2° and 3° too
The horizontal intensity given on the chart is
where too large by about one unit in the
decimal place of the value in C.G.S. units.
THE Journal of the Torquay Natural
Society, vol. ii. ., No. 6, has just reached us.
respondence of Charles Kingsley and 1
Pengelly. An account of the life of Charles Kings y
is given, together with extracts from letters written
Points of natural history, mostly of a
nature, were raised: in these letters. Ano
of interest is
results of recent experiments by. Prof. Came
cussed in terms of germ-plasm with the view of recon-
ciling Mendelism with selection. In yet another ‘paper
some account is given by Mr. H. G. Lowe of the
origin of the needle; its history is traced bac
through three needle-like implements which have |
been found while excavating in Kent’s Cavern. The
view taken is that the discovery of the needle marked
the first step in man’s struggle from a estes animal
state of existence.
Wikcoes. GAUTHIER-VILLARS, of Paris, are
lishing a series of works of great men ence
entitled “Les Maitres de la Pensée Scientifique,”
with the object of making the original works known
to scientific students. We have received four volumes
containing writings of Lavoisier, ‘Huygens, and
Spallanzani, each including a short biographical note
on its author. ‘‘Mémoires sur la Respiration | et la
Transpiration des Animaux,’’ by Lavoisier, is a col-
lection of four papers read to the Ac des.
Sciences. between 1777 and 1790. The text is taken
from the Mémoires of the society for the appropriate
years. ‘*Traité de la Lumiére,” by Huygens, | is re-
printed from the original work published in 1690,
with some necessary alterations in spelling and punc-
tuation. The two volumes entitled ‘“‘ Observations et
Expériences faites sur les Animalcules des Infusions,”
by Spallanzani, are copies of a translation of the
original work by Jean Senebier published at
Geneva in 1786. The diagrams included in the trans-
lation are not reproduced. When the series is com-—
pleted it will serve as a ready means of access to the
works of men prominent in the history of science, and
it should be particularly valuable to the student by
giving him an opportunity of learning at first hand the
methods and arguments by which scientific knowle
has been advanced,
Messrs. Sirton, PraED, AND Co., .LTD., pron
for the autumn publishing season an_ illus
volume by Miss Gardner. King on the present
of the inhabitants of the Fiji Islands, based upon,
author’s experiences among them shortly before
war. ‘Miss King lived much among the natives ifm
their .own ‘homes, and should therefore have AI
interesting story to tell. F 3
GUST 19, 1920]
NATURE 789
i : Our Astronomical Column.
EL’S ComeET.—M. Fayet has given a very
ble explanation of the discordance of the Kudara
ition of this comet on May 25. He finds that
‘R.A. on that day was exactly 2h. greater
-Kudara one, the declination being correct.
ie alteration of a single figure in the announce-
1ich may have been set down wrong by inad-
preparing the message for telegraphic trans-
SAE crake everything accordant, and further
in the fact that whereas Mr. Kudara stated that
was visible in a small telescope, many
observers searched in vain round the posi-
ndicated. The calculated daily motion on May 25
34s., N. 8’, which agrees fairly well with the
value +3m. 4s., N. 8’; the latter was prob-
from observations extending over an
The following positions have been
App R.A. App.S.decl. Observer Place
hm: 5.
7 10'0 2255 7:0 453 © Kudara Kyoto
56 1524948 117 0°7 Michkovitch Marseilles
4 15514744 118 58'5 ¢ ie
9 155 86011843 Mundler Konigstuhl
. 157375 121 2 Polit Barcelona
2 21063 126 52 Mundler K@nigstuhl
is conjecturally increased by 2h.
is a continuation of the ephemeris
wich midnight :
4 R.A, mets S. Decl. Loge Log a
24826 355 01866 9:9466
25236 429
256 1 aie 0-1987 9:9428
25838 544
3 028 624 3 o-2112 9-9400
3 2729. 7°5
noted that the coma appeared
eter exceeding 1’. There was a well-
| of magnitude 98. Dr. Palisa noted
was eccentrically placed in the coma.
sf OBSERVATIONS IN 1919.—The annual
the results obtained at Stonyhurst Observa-
year contains an interesting summary b
the Rev. A. L. Cortie, of the Aid
The mean spot areas for 1917-18-19
» and 8-4 respectively, while the mean
tic declination ranges in the same years
-4’, and 12-7’. The year 1919 probably
the hump on the downward curve, which is
shown both in sun-spots and variable stars.
ortie associates the delayed maximum of
as compared with sun-spot—activity with
ing mean latitude of sun-spots, which in-
magnetic efficiency, since it makes them
sun more centrally.
lost remarkable spot group of I919 was a
ip which was on the disc from August 13
ral about August 19). A very. violent mag-
1 occurred on August 11-12; if this was
with the spot group the discharge must
been directed tangentially, not radially, from the
. The spot group persisted through four rotations,
last seen on December 7.
> report also gives the result of a comparison
en the drawings of faculz and the photographs
calcium flocculi. A close correspondence in posi-
1 is found, so that every prominent flocculus has
accompanying facula.
. research is also in progress with the view of
NO. 2651, VOL. 105]
tracing the flow of faculz in regions of long-continued
spot activity. It is anticipated that this flow will
prove to be connected with the cyclonic movements
that produce the magnetic field in sun-spots.
THe STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE.—Science for
July 23 contains a lecture on this subject by Prof.
W. D. MacMillan, of the University of Chicago.
Prof. MacMillan dwells on the numerous analogies
between the microcosm of atoms and electrons and
the stellar universe. For example, he shows the
close analogy between the two electrons of the
hydrogen atom and the sun-Neptune system, the
relation between their diameters and mutual distance
being about the same. He gives the number of atoms
in the solar system as 6X 10°, and the volume of the
sun’s domain in the stellar universe as 20 cubic
parsecs, or 6X 10°° c.c. So that, on the average, there
is I atom to 10 c.c., which would put the atoms
about as far apart relatively to their diameter as the
stars. ©
It will be remembered that Prof. Eddington and
others have recently made the suggestion that the
annihilation of atoms through collision and the con-
‘sequent release of their stores of energy may be going
on in the hottest stars, and thus add enormously to
the duration of their output of light and heat. Prof.
MacMillan endorses these. speculations, and adds the
suggestion that the radiant heat of the stars in its
passage through space may perform the converse
transformation and build up matter once more from
the products. of such. atomic collisions, restoring: to
them the property of mass which they had lost. He
claims as_a result of these agencies to have con-
structed a universe that is infinite, eternal, and un-
changeable. But he can scarcely claim that this con-
clusion is based exclusively on known facts. Many
of his postulates are doubtful, and rest on analogy
only.
Textile Industries and Technical Education
in Canada and the United States.
ROF. ALFRED F. BARKER, of the Textile
Industries Department of the University of
Leeds, has written an interesting report* of nearly
130 pages of text, accompanied by numerous photo-
graphic illustrations, of a visit paid in the summer of
1g1g to Canada and the United States. In the course
of the report he discusses, among other matters, the
vast resources in water-power of Canada, which, used
directly or in the development of electrical energy,
render to manufacturing industry an immense ser-
vice, and also education and educational institutions,
housing, work and wages, and industrial enterprise as
they came under his observation in both Canada and
the States; and he offers interesting comparisons with
the conditions which prevail in the United Kingdom.
Prof. Barker is, however, chiefly concerned with the
extent, variety, and progress of textile manufacture
connected with the production of cotton, wool, and
silk goods. He was everywhere given the. fullest
facilities for his inquiries and investigations, with the
result that his: observations cannot fail to be of the
highest interest and value to producers and merchants
engaged in these industries.
Almost: all the cotton mills in the Dominion are
in the. province of Quebec, attributable, Prof. Barker
observes, possibly to climatic conditions, to the mani-
pulative skill and cheap labour of the French Cana-
dian, or to some combination of all these causes with
1 A Summer Tor (1919) through the Textile Districts of Canada and
the United States.” By Prof. A. F. Barker. Pp. xi+197. (Leeds:
Printed by Jowett and Sowry, Ltd., n.d.)
740 NATURE [AuGuUST 19, 1920
other causes not so much in evidence. Many of the | of education and educational institutions alike
cotton mills are quite extensive in their buildings and | Canada and in the States. In the province of
equipment, and almost without exception are con- | there is to be found well-equipped agricultural schoo
Fic. 1.—The Arlington mills, consuming 200,0:0 Ib. of greasy wool per day.
trolled by British or British Canadian managers, and agricultural research stations designed to serve
some of whom received their training in Lancashire | the farming interests, whilst in Montreal, the largest
textile schools or in those of the States. It is a city of Canada dominated by industry and commerce, -
unique feature of Canadian mills, as distinguished there is the splendid McGill University, with its
from those of Lancashire and York- ;
shire, that every operation from the rT
yarn to the finished cloth, even in- er A
cluding the dyeing and printing, is ; A
carried out in one and the same eet 4
factory, which obviously makes it ; hg A ae
much more interesting to visit than
that jof a similar works in this
country. The woollen industry is
mainly centred in Ontario, and is
far less well organised than that of
cotton, but the hosiery mills are in
evidence in every textile district of
the Dominion, and a great future
lies before the industry, since the
equipment and staff of workers are
of the most efficient . character
(Fig. 1).
Referring to textile manufacture
in the States, Prof. Barker remarks
that fine wool yarns are now spun
there which cannot be beaten in
any European country, but~ that
neither in Canada nor in the States
did he see a fine cotton yarn ap-
proaching that produced by: Lanca-
shire mills. On the other hand, he
visited a mill in New Jersey which
produced finer and better finished Fic. 2.—Lowell Textile School. se |
dress fabrics than Bradford, and in <n i
New York he was shown worsted fabrics impossible | magnificently equipped engineering school; and in —
to exceed in beauty of texture and colour. Toronto, the capital of Ontario, there is the Univer-_
Much space is given in the report to the hs sity, beautifully situated in the park- like centre of the’ i
NO. 2651, VOL. 105 |
.
—
ee Ge i ae
_ Avcust 19, 1920]
NATURE
791
city, noted for its strong Faculty of es te Science,
and not less is the city celebrated for its fine Technical
h School, wherein industries and industrial pro-
es are made to serve the highest educational pur-
ses for its three thousand day students. At night
the school is attended by six thousand apprentices in
the various trades the equipment covers. In Short,
‘Canada, in proportion to its population, is well pro-
ed with institutions of university rank, and in the
ar future she will have educational facilities second
|| to no other country in the world. Prof. Barker is also
‘not less loud in his praise of the educational activities
‘and institutions of the States, especially of the
‘Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in many
respects one of the finest institutions in the world.
wherein nothing is spared to make the courses good
and exp mtal and research work so efficient
that it cannot be left out of the industrial sequence,
‘with the result that the institution is simply flooded
with students who are inspired with the possibilities
of discovery: He speaks highly of the provision for
training and education, and especially of the
901 at Lowell (Fig. 2), which represents for
* industries what the Institute of Technology
| represents for mining and engineering. The
full of apt observation upon educational and
aims and methods.
; Bt Sunshine in the United States.!
netri recorder, which is said now to be in general
ul! Weather Bureau, the Review states: ‘‘ The
dell-Stokes burning recorder, consisting of a lens
urning-glass which scorches, during bright sun-
ne, a trace on a strip of cardboard placed at the
yer focal distance and adjusted by clockwork to
ye the sun’’; this description seems open
lion, as the card is stationary, and the sun
¢ impinges its image on the card bearing the
rs.
. stoi in the south-west; in the Lower Colorado
River valley the duration of sunghine is 90 per cent.
of the total number of hours from sunrise to sunset.
July is the month of maximum amount in nearly one-
1 From U.S. Monthly Weather Review, January, 1920, vol. xlviii.,
pp. 12-17 and charts i-iv; November, 1910, vol. xlvii., pp. 794-95-
3 NO, 2651, VOL. 105]
half of the country, the northern
districts.
Data are given showing the average annual per-
centage of days clear, partly cloudy, and cloudy.
Dealing with diurnal variations in sunshine, it is
stated that the amount is least during the early
morning hours, with a secondary minimum in the late
afternoon. The greatest amount occurs near midday.
Prof. R. de C. Ward, of the Harvard University,
contributed an article to the U.S. Monthly Weather
Review for November, 1919, bearing the title ‘‘ Biblio-
graphic Note on Sunshine in the United States.’’
Foreseeing the issue of a series of new sunshine charts
for the United States, a brief account is given of
previous sunshine charts issued.
Reference is made to work done by van Bebber in
1896 and by Glaser in 1912, and it is mentioned that
“the available material was confessedly very in-
adequate.’’ In charts prepared by Prof. A. J. Henry in
1898 the percentages of sunshine were obtained by
subtracting the mean annual cloudiness from 100, and
a map of normal annual sunshine compiled from.
observations at the Weather Bureau stations from
1871 to 1908 inclusive seems. to have been obtained in
the same way. The system seems open to serious
objection, and is far less satisfactory than using the
records of the automatic sunshine instrument.
C..H.
including all
The Peat Resources of Ireland.
if Siat Fuel Research Board has issued as a Special
Report (No. 2) a lecture on the above subject
delivered by Prof. F. Purcell before the Royal
Dublin Society last year. The importance of using
the lower grade fuels has been greatly enhanced by
the enormous rise in the price of our higher grade
staple fuel, coal; and Sir George Beilby, in his intro-
ductory remarks to the Report, ascribes the revival
of interest in peat as a fuel not only to the general
scarcity of fuel, but also to the great and apparently
permanent increase in the cost of coal.
The peat resources of Ireland are of paramount
interest in that country, where the bogs cover one-
seventh of the area, and Prof. Purcell estimates that
the peat reserves in these bogs are more than ten times
those of the proved coal reserves of that country. The
estimated ‘“‘anhydrous peat’’ is 3,700,000,000 tons,
equivalent to 5,000,000,000 tons of average air-dried
peat. Sixty-two per cent. of the farmsteads are
entirely dependent upon peat fuel, and it is estimated
that the annual consumption is between 6,000,000 and
' 8,000,000 tons.
The problem of the utilisation of peat is, as is well
known, one of the economical removal of excess
water, the average content of which is about 90 per
cent. The effect of water is, perhaps, best-emphasised
when it is stated that ‘‘ with 80 per cent. present, the
Ir per cent. of dry peat will just be sufficient to
evaporate the 80 per cent. of water.’’ In the natural
process of air-drying peat, difficulties of a practical
and economic nature are met with; thus the drying
season is only from five to six months. In winter,
water freezing in the blocks causes their breaking
down, and the whole year’s supply has to be won in
the limited dry season of the vear. ‘It thus happens
that a great number of hands are required for a
portion of the vear, and. few for the remainder,’’ and
these considerations furnish a very strong incentive
to the invention of economical methods of artificial
drving.
In Prof. Purcell’s opinion. in spite of the many
methods which have been tried for the removal of
792
NATURE
[AuGusT 19, 19 C
excess water and improvements in mechanical and
industrial operations, the air-drying of peat by natural
means is the only recognised commercially successful
method in use to-day. Reduction of the water-content
from 90 to 70 per cent. by pressure alone on the
raw peat is considered by the author to be the maxi-
mum, and he does not consider that drying by arti-
ficial heat becomes a practical proposition until this
>o per cent. content is reached, ‘‘and even then it
js a very doubtful financial proposition.”’
For use under boilers the water should be reduced
to 30-35 per cent.; for gas producers it is stated that
several leading manufacturers claim successful work-
ing with 60~7o per cent., but Prof. Purcell considers
that the possibility of using peat with as high a
moisture-content as 60 per cent. is doubtful, and
quotes the Canadian authority, Haakel, in support.
“If it were permissible [to use such wet peat] it
would render the industry less dependent on the
weather, extend the peat-winning season, and simplify
the whole problem.”
Prof. Purcell considers that a clear case for the
extended development of the peat deposits exists from
an agricultural point of view, for the reclamation of
land by removal of the bog and drainage must add
to the food-producing capacities of a country. But
labour costs are no small difficulty, for, as Sir George
Beilby points out in his introduction, the development
of a bog with 20 ft. of good peat is in some respects
analogous to the proposal to develop a_ coalfield of
similar area containing a single seam of only 15 in.
thickness. It is true that the peat bog entails only
surface working, but the whole depth has to be
worked and 10 tons of raw material excavated and
handled for 1 ton of dry peat. Ue
Past and Present Sewage Systems.
OC Bae Chadwick public lectures recently delivered
at Colchester by Mr. A. J. Martin deait with the.
nature and treatment of sewage. Since the very
earliest days there have been codes of sanitary laws,
but ail Kinds of readjustments had to be made as
soon as-men began to congregate in large cities.
‘these crowded conditions seem to be met most satis-
factorily by the water-carriage system, by which the
clean water supplied to a town returns ultimately to
the sewers charged with all manner of pollution.
When sewers were first laid the sewage was dis-
charged straight into the rivers. The results were,
of course, disastrous, and successive Royal Com-
missions were set up to find a remedy. ‘he whole
problem of sewage purification was obscure, and ;
very little progress. was made for a whole generation.
Great hopes were centred in sewage farms as a
method of disposing. of the sewage, and the various
local authorities hoped at the same time to reap a
profit from the cheap manuring of the land. Sewage
farms, however, rarely pay in a humid climate such
as ours, for the land cannot deal with the huge
amounts of water brought down from the sewers.
Many- other methods were tried, but in all of them
the investigators failed to recognise the existence of
the tiny scavengers which Nature provides to deal
with our waste products. ;
The modern method of sewage purification was
evolved after Pasteur’s discovery of the bacteria
‘which induce. fermentation, and. after the work
of . Warington and of Winogradsky. on the
nitrifying bacteria in the soil. The purification
is carried out in two stages. The first stage
is treatment in the ‘septic: tank,’’ through which
the sewage passes extremely slowly. The solids sink
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
to the bottom, where they are attacked by anaert
organisms flourishing there, and ultimately e
liquefied or turned into gas. The second stags
the process consists in the oxidation of
solved polluting matter. This matter has
brought into contact with a large supply
spheric oxygen in the presence of certail
organisms which are able to oxidise the
materials. This contact may be effected
soil, in a specially constructed filter, or in
volume of water. When soil forms the cont
purification is brought about either by “ filtra
when the sewage percolates downwards: through
soil, or by ‘broad irrigation,’’ when the se
merely passes over the soil surface. The me
chosen depends on the openness or otherwise o
soil and subsoil. When suitable land is not availa
artificial filters are made of broken clinker, destructe
slag, ¢tc. These materials provide a home for th
nitrifying bacteria. The sewage is allowed to trick
slowly through, and with a good filter a fp
of 80-90 per cent. is effected. When pur S
allowed to take place in water, the volui the
water into which the sewage flows needs to be about
five hundred times greater than the volume he
sewage. : BR tcc
Engineers had just settled down to © sept
tank and trickling filter as the standard fais
some hours until purification is effected. The draw-
back of this method is the great bulk of the resultant ©
sludge, and the problem now is to find an economical
way of disposing of the sludge so that the plant-food
which is contained in sewage shall not be wasted. —
a até ‘a
Experimental Cottage Building.
IX view of the present housing difficulties, con-
siderable interest has been centred in the results
of the experiments in cottage building which have
been carried out on the Ministry of Agriculture’s
Farm Settlement at .Amesbury. . These results are -
published in the Weekly Services for May 15 and 22,
where we also learn that on Wednesdays for two
or three months competent guides have been avail-
able to show visitors the experiments actually in pro-
gress. | The present scheme includes thirty-two cot-
tages, sixteen of which are for comparison purposes,
and are built of brick on normal lines of construction
while the other sixteen are more directly experi-
mental. Each cottage consists of parlour, living
room, scullery, bath-wash-house, larder, fuel sto
etc., on the ground floor, with three bedrooms on th
upper floor. Experiments in building in chalk includ
a cottage with cavity walls built of blocks made o
chalk and cement, one with walls of chalk and ce
rammed between: shuttering, one with walls of
alone (chalk pisé), and one with walls. of chalk
straw (chalk: cob) built without shuttering. Ther.
also. one cottage of monolithic reinforced concrete
two concrete-block-cottages with hollow walls. 1
two.cottages are being erected under contract |
proprietary firms; for all the other experiment
tages direct labour is employed. The experiment 2
includes a pair of timber-framed cottages faced
_ AvcusT 19, 1920]
NATURE
793
7
weather-boarding and two Army Futs converted
permanent bungalows. With regard to the latter
eriment, results show that no economy is effected
using these huts. Another cottage has walls of
and gravel, while two single and one pair of
ages are being erected in pisé-de-terre. One of
single pisé cottages is now being roofed—this is
s first two-storied pisé house erected in England.
sé-de-terre walls are built by ramming nearly dry
1 between movable shutters arranged as a tem-
rary mould. The method was known in England
century ago, but had fallen into disuse, and a large
mber of investigations have been carried out to
termine the best lines for its revival. All soils are
not suitable for pisé work, for not only must the
particles cohere firmly when rammed and dried, but
also there must be no excessive shrinkage in the
drying process. Calcium carbonate helps to reduce
shrinkage, while organic constituents are particularly
liable to shrinkage, and therefore weaken coherence
_in the soil as a whole. The amount of water present
in the soil at the time of use is an all-important
factor. Generally speaking, this water should be
between 7 per cent. and 14 per cent. of the weight
the dried earth. The most. suitable method of
_ shuttering and the best form of rammer have been
decided, while experiments are also being made to
find the most satisfactory material and method
or rendering the exterior face of the wall. Pisé
_ bu iz can be carried out in the winter if
there is sufficient protection from severe weather,
_ but consideration of the expenses involved in providing
_ tarpaulins, screens, etc., makes it evident that it is
_ not sound economy to undertake pisé construction
_in the winter months. When building in pisé the
| foundations have to be of brick or concrete; the
_ pisé work may be started only at about 9 in. to 1 ft.
_ above the ground-level. This is an important factor
_in the consideration of the cost of pisé building,
which. however. will probably prove to be a con-
F
se,
~ eae s,
Cotton Growing.
H
| ey & : Empire Cotton Growing Committee of the
_ = Board of Trade, which presented its first report
= fa fone. Fe in the British Empire in January
_ published a note on “Future Organisation,” which
_ may be regarded as an appendix to the report. While
it is merely indicative of the trend of the Com-
_ mittee’s ideas, in that such organisation is subject to
Hope 2 agp of the director and his staff, it makes
the tion more definite by estimating the probable
F eee upon the various branches of work con-
_ As in the case of the original report, all the
_ Organisation proposed is for common service, since
_ the expenditure can bring no direct return, but it
should, in the Committee’s opinion, indirectly bring
about an increase in the cotton supplies. The Com-
_ mittee concludes that in order to carry out the work
_ adequately an annual sum of approximately 200,000l.
ht to be assured. This amount may appear large
until we remember that cotton to the value of about.
__50.000,000l. is imported into this country annually.
_. The note sketches the proposals Be Gace ae
_ superior organisation, executive work, and the central
office; for staff abroad; for supplementing staffs of
agricultural departments oversea, and pioneering; for
_ edueation and information; and for commercial
_ handling. In the last case the setting up of semi-
_ commercial experimental enterprises is excluded from ~
NO, 2651, VOL. 105]
ATURE, February 26 and March 25), has now ©
the scope of the note. Amongst these headings the
Committee proposes an initial expenditure of 20,000l.
per annum upon its own research station abroad. It
also proposes to provide for a staff of ninety men,
including scientific workers and agricultural officers
of different grades, for the purpose of supplementing -
local agricultural department staffs ‘‘after full con-
sultation with and on invitation by the local adminis-
tration.”’
Under the heading of ‘“‘ Education” the Committee
makes proposals which take the initiative in a move
towards obtaining co-operation between all the plant-
using industries in order to increase the facilities for
training men in pure science, later to be of economic
value to the various agricultural services abroad. It
estimates that university staffs in this country should
be increased specially for this purpose by at least four
professorships, fifteen lectureships, and six adminis-
trative and technical lectureships, together with a
provision of twenty post-graduate studentships. The
annual cost is estimated at 27,o00l., of which it is
suggested that the cotton industry should contribute
12,00cl, as its share.
Thermostatic Metal.
HE British Thomson-Houston Co., Ltd., has sent
us specimens of a new bimetallic strip for use in
thermostatically controlled devices. The strip is pre-
pared by the permanent union over their entire length
of two metals with widely differing coefficients of
expansion. The union between the two component
metals is complete and durable, and the strip may be
bent, twisted, or hammered without causing the
separation of the metals at any point, and even on
heating the bond will not be broken so long as the
temperature remains below the melting point of the
softer of the two metals. Owing to this _per-
manency of union the metal can be formed into any
desired shape, annealed after formation, and safely
employed at any temperature below 500° F. The
component metals do not corrode under ordinary
conditions, and may be used in any reasonable situa-
tion without fear of deterioration or change in
overating characteristics. The amount of deflection
obtained is alwavs the same in a strip of given length
and thickness for a given temperature change, and
consequently the strip provides a trustworthy basis
for the operation of any thermostatic device. and may
be emvloyed for work of high precision. The deflec-
tion due to temperature change varies inversely as
the thickness. directly as the square of the length, and
directly as the temperature change. With a_ strip
+ in. long, 0-31 in. wide, and 0-03 in. thick the deflec-
tion obtained for a temperature change of 100° F. is
about o-<7 in. The force exerted varies as the square
of the number of desrees of temperature change and as
the sauare of the thickness, and directlv as the width,
and is not affected bv changes of length. For a strip
of the dimensions above-mentioned the force exerted
for 100° F. change of temperature is about 3 02.
weight, whereas for a strip of the same dimensions
but o1 in. thick the force exerted is about 24 072.
weight. To produce a permanent set in’a strip 4 in.
long, 0-31 in. wide. and 0-02 in. thick a force of about
+ oz. weight would be required. The metal is manu-
factured in standard sizes ranging from o-o15 in. to
0-2 in. in widths up to 6 in. and lengths up to 26 in.
It can, however, generally be supplied cut to widths
and lengths to suit the purchaser, and in special cases
thermostatic metal parts mav be completely formed to
the purchaser’s specifications.
794
NATURE
[AucustT 19, 1920
University and Educational Intelligence.
CAMBRIDGE.—Last week the large theatre of the
School of Anatomy was. the scene of an interesting
presentation to Dr. W. L. H. Duckworth, fellow of
Jesus College and senior demonstrator in anatomy,
on the completion of twenty-one years of devoted
service to the University as lecturer in physical anthro-
pology. This remarkable tribute to the esteem and
affection in which he is held was the spontaneous
desire of every demonstrator, assistant, and student
to contribute some token of appreciation of Dr.
Duckworth’s unfailing courtesy and ever-ready help.
His sympathy and charm of manner have made him
one of the most approachable of teachers, and en-
deared him to all who have come in contact with him
~during his period of service. A fine inscribed silver
salver was presented to Dr. Duckworth, together with
a book containing the signatures of two hundred and
twenty subscribers, by Dr. D. Reid on August 13 in
the presence of the staff and students of the anatomy
department. In addition to his brilliant academic
qualities, Dr. Duckworth has shown great capacity
for organisation, especially during the past year, when
the chair of anatomy has been vacant and the entire
oa of the anatomy department has devolved upon
im,
Tue Dr. Jessie Macgregor prize of the Royal Col-
lege of Physicians, Edinburgh, has been awarded to
Miss Lucy Davis Cripps for her work on tetryl.
Tue following free illustrated lectures are to be
delivered in the Canada Building, Crystal Palace, at
6 p.m., under the auspices of the Institution of
Petroleum Technologists :—‘‘Oil Prospecting,’’ G.
Howell (September. 1); ‘‘ Petroleum Refining,’’ Dr.
A. E. Dunstan (September 8); *‘‘ Utilisation of Vola-
tile Oils,” Dr. W. R. Ormandy (September 15); and
‘Utilisation of Heavy Oils,’’ Prof. J. S. S. Brame
(September 22).
_A pRospEctTus of the faculty of engineering of the
University of Bristol, which is provided and main-
tained by the Society of Merchant Venturers in the
Merchant Venturers’ Technical College, has just
reached us. Courses of study are available at the
college for persons intended to engage in civil,
mechanical, electrical, or automobile engineering, and
particulars of these courses are given in the prospec-
tus. The ordinances and regulations relating to
degrees and cértificates in engineering subjects are
included, and some particulars of the Bristol sandwich
system of training engineers are also given. The
prospectus can be obtained from the Registrar of the
University, Tyndall’s Park, Bristol.
_Tue Bureau of Education, Calcutta, India, has
issued its Report on Education in British India
for 1918-19, abundantly illustrated with photographs.
The terrible epidemic of influenza which broke out at
the close of the year 1918 and carried off millions of
people throughout India, together with the widespread
failure of the crops, caused grave dislocations in the
schools and colleges, though it called forth all that
was best in the life and spirit of many of these institu-
tions. The number of pupils and students in the
public schools and. colleges on March 31, 1918, was
7,338,663, and in private institutions 597,914—a total
of 7,936,577, Or 3:25 per cent. of the total population
of upwards of 241,000,000 in British India alone, which
percentage is nearly one-third that of Russia, probably
the most backward country in Europe. The number of
pupils under instruction has’ risen from 300,000 in
1860 to nearly 8,000,000 in 1920, and the expenditure
NO, 2651, VOL. 105 |
of the liver.
has advanced from 200,000l. to upwards of 9,000,0¢
within the same period. In 1918-19 140,000l. ~
granted for agricultural education and 60, iy
technical education of a pressing nature pendin
Indian Industrial Commission’s report. The s
and colleges now number 162,330. One of the
cipal recommendations of the Calcutta Uni
Commission, viz. the transfer of intermediate
to the school system, has been carried out at the
College. Many developments show that the un
ties are alive to the necessity of assisting in the con
mercial and industrial revival. Schools of econ
have been established in the Universities of M
Bombay, Allahabad, and the Punjab, whilst the
Benares Hindu University is opening a coll of
mechanical and electrical engineering. Proposals for
new universities at Rangoon and Nagpur are being
completed, and sites have been acquired. A was
introduced in 1919 for a unitary university at Dacca.
New outlying colleges have been opened or proposed
in Bombay, Bengal, and the Punjab. Many of the
colleges are said to be overcrowded with youths un-
fitted for an academic career, which is also borne out
in the report of the Calcutta University Commission.
There is immense work for education yet to be
accomplished in India. estes eer
Societies and Academies. a
Paris. eee
Academy of Sciences, July 26.—M. Henri Deslandres —
in the chair.—The president announced the death of ©
Dr. Guyon.—G. Bigourdan: An economical means of —
utilising the energy of tides.—Ch. Depéret: An
attempt at the general chronological co-ordination of —
Quaternary time.—L.- Maquenne and E. Demoussy; —
The toxicity of iron (towards plants) and the anti-—
toxic properties of copper in presence of ferrous Salts. —
—F. Widal,.P. Abrami, and N. Iancovesco; The proof
of digestive haemoclasia and latent hepatism, Adevelop-—
ment of the method of detecting liver trouble described ©
in an earlier communication. After the absorption of |
a glass of milk it is only necessary to determine the —
fall in the arterial pressure, the lowering of the num- —
ber of white corpuscles, the inversion of the leuicocytic —
coefficient, and other phenomena easily determined —
in the laboratory to discover the functional working
Numerous examples of the application —
are given, with especial reference to the disturbances —
caused by the administration of arsenic compounds —
in syphilitic cases.—A. Perot: Comparison of the —
wave-lengths of a line of the cyanogen band in the ©
light of the sun and that of a terrestrial source. The ~
solar wave-length is greater than the terrestrial wave-
length, their difference in relative value being
(2:22+0-10).10-°. This difference is reduced by a
correction for the descending movement of the ab-
sorbing centres to (1-6+0-3).10-°. The figure cal-
culated from Einstein’s theory of generalised rela-
tivity is between the corrected and uncorrected”
numbers.—A. Schaumasse: Discovery and observa-—
tions of the comet 1920b (Schaumasse). This comet
was discovered on July 18 at the Nice Observatory.
Tt is about the 11th magnitude, and appears as a
diffuse nebulosity of 2-5’ diameter. It may be the
second periodic comet of Tempel.—G. Fayet : Probable
identity of the 1920b comet (Schaumasse) with Tempel’s
second periodic comet.—P. Chofardet: Observation
of the periodic comet Tempel II. (Schaumasse) 19
made at the Observatory of Besancon with the
equatorial. Three positions on July 20-21 are g!
The comet was of about the 11th magnitude.—
_ AvGuUST 19, 1920]
NATURE
723
aveau: The isotherms in the neighbourhood of the
‘eritical state. The adiabatic expansion of saturated
luids.—R. Dongier: The point-crystal or point-metal
‘auto-detector telephone receiver.—F. Michaud; The
orrespondence of bodies in the solid state.—A. Pictet
Pp. Castan; Glucosane. Glucosane was readily
ained in a pure state by heating glucose under a
essure of 15 mm. to a temperature of 150-155° C.
A study of its chemical reactions leads to the con-
|” clusion that it probably has a composition analogous
|| with ethylene oxide.—A. Mailhe; The catalytic hydra-
|| tion of nitriles. If a mixture of steam and benzo-
_ nitrile vapour is passed over thoria at 420° C., benzoic
acid oa gern by the hydrolysis of the nitrile. The
_ generality of the reaction has been proved by applyin
it to seven nitriles.—G. Dubois: ‘he diisoveey. of :
_fossil-bearing layer in the Flanders clay at Watten
(Nord). The fauna found in this layer confirms the
and Flanders clay.—A. Carpentier: Some siliceous
fossil plants from the neighbourhood of Sainte-Marie-
_ aux-Mines (Alsace).—L. Blaringhem: The heredity
- and nature of peloria in Digitalis purpurea.—R.
_ Souéges: The embryogeny of the Composite. The
first stages of the development of the embryo in
Senecio vulgaris.—F. Chiffot: The gum-bearing
_ secreting canals of the roots of the Cycadacee, and
_ more particularly those of Stangeria paradoxa.—Em.
_ Perrot: Biological notes on the Acacias producing
. ae known as gum arabic, in the Egyptian Sudan.—
. Ricome: The action of gravity on _ plants.—
_L. Emberger: Cytological study of the Selaginella.—
A. Guilliermond: New cytological observations on
Saprolegnia.—G. Truffaut and N. Bezssonoff: Com-
parative study of the microflora and the amount of
nitrogen in soils partly sterilised by calcium sul-
sec cab Lumiére: Are yitamines necessary to the
levelopment of plants? It is generally admitted that
vitamines are necessary to the growth of plants.
The author, whilst admitting the accuracy of the
experiments on which this view is based, considers
that the experimental results have been misinter-
preted. Fresh yeast, rich in vitamines and rapidly
curing polyneuritic troubles in pigeons, after heating
to See for one hour, completely loses all its anti-
scorbutie properties, but still serves for the prepara-
tion of culture fluids, giving good development of
fungi. Even after heating to incipient carbonisation
to 250° C. these extracts retain their fertilising pro-
perties.—A. H. Roffo and P. Girard: The effects of
electrical osmosis on cancerous tumours of rats.—
M. Fauré-Fremiet, J. Dragoiu, and Mlle. Du Vivier
de Streel: The growth of the foetal lung in the sheep
and the concomitant variations in its composition.—
R. Sazerac: Culture of the tubercle bacillus on a
_ medium of autolvsed yeast. It has been proved that
both human and bovine tubercle bacilli will grow
normally on this medium, the detailed preparation of
which is given. It contains, in addition to autolvsed
yeast, § per cent. of common salt and 4 per cent. of
glycerol.—I. Nageotte : Osteogenesis in grafts of dead
bone.—A. Trillat: The influence of the presence of
infinitesimal traces of nutritive substances jn air-
moisture on contagion.
: PHILADELPHIA.
American Philosophical Society, April 23.—Dr. A. A,
Noyes, vice-president, in the chair.—Dr. D. T.
MacDougal: The components and colloidal behaviour
of protoplasm. The living matter of plants is com-
posed chiefly of mucilages and albuminous com-
_ pounds in varying proportions mixed in the form of
an emulsion or as a jelly. The molecules of solid
_ matter are aggregated into groups, which also include
NO. 2651, VOL. 105]
stratigraphical identity of London clay, Cuise sands,’
a number of molecules of water. Growth consists of
the absorption of additional water to these groups,
witht more solid material being added at the same
time, the process being termed “hydration."’ The
resultant increase may be detected by determination
of increased dry weight or measured as increase in
length, thickness, or volume. More exact studies in
growth have become possible by the establishment
of the fact that mixtures of 25-50 per cent. mucilage
and 50-75 per cent. albumin show the hydration re-
actions of cell-masses of plants. It is also found
that certain amino-compounds, such as_ histidine,
glycocoll, alanine, and phenylalanine, which are known
to promote growth, also increase the hydration of
the ‘‘biocolloids,’’ as the above mixtures are called.—
Prof. W. J. V. Osterhout: Respiration. A simple
method of measuring respiration has been developed
whereby determinations can be made at frequent
intervals (as often as once every three minutes). The
application of this method to the study of anaesthesia
shows the incorrectness of the theory of Verworn,
according to which anesthesia is a kind of asphyxia,
due to the inhibition of respiration by the anzsthetic.
—Prof. B. M. Davis: (1) The behaviour of the sul-
phurea character in crosses with Oenothera biennis and
with Oenothera franciscana. (2) Oenothera funifolia,
a peculiar new mutant from Oenothera Lamarckiana.
—Prof. G. H. Shull; A third duplication of genetic
factors in shepherd’s-purse. In the third generation
of a cross between a wild biotype of the common
shepherd’s-purse (Bursa bursa-pastoris) from Wales
and Heeger’s shepherd’s-purse (B. Heegeri) there
appeared a small number of plants of unique type,
having a more coriaceous texture than in the plants
of either of the two original strains involved in the
cross. This new type has been designated coriacea.
—Prof. E, M. East: Some effects of double fertilisa-
tion in maize.—Dr. T. B. Osborne: The chemistry of
the cell.—Prof. G. A. Hulett: The relation of oxygen
to charcoal.—Prof. C. E. Munroe: Products of
detonation of T.N.T. It is known that among the
products are considerable quantities of carbon
monoxide, hydrogen, and some hydrocarbons, such
as methane, together with free carbon in a soot-like
form. Hence T.N.T. is not suitable for use in under-
ground work or close places, because the gas evolved
is poisonous and inflammable, and can form explosive
mixtures with the atmosphere in these close places.—
Prof. J. W. Harshberger: A new map of the vegeta-
tion of North America.—Prof. A. G, Webster: The
vibrations of rifle-barrels. (Dr. H. L. Carson,
vice-president, in the chair.)—Dr, L, Witmer: Sym-
posium on psychology in war and education.—Dr.
J. McK. Cattell: Methods. The speaker reviewed the
development of experimental and quantitative methods
in psychology, and especially the transfer of its main
concern from introspection to the study of individual
differences in behaviour. By co-operation with other
sciences it is possible for psychology to change the
environment, and behaviour can be controlled more
effectively by a change in the environment than by a
change in the constitution of the individual.—Dr.
R. M. Yerkes : Psychological examining and classifica-
tion in the United States Army. The initial purpose
of examining was the discovery and prompt segrega-
tion or elimination of men of markedly inferior intel-
ligence. The uses which were actually made of
results of psychological examinations were extremely
varied, and covered the classification of men to facili-
tate military training, the selection of men of superior
ability for training as officers or for special tasks,
the segregation and special assignment of men whose
intelligence was inadequate to the demands of regular
military training, and, finally, the elimination of the
796
NATURE
[Aucust 19, 1920 ©
low-grade mental defective.—Prof. R. Dodge: The
relation of psychology. to special problems of the
Army and Navy.—Dr. J. R. Angell; Relation of
psychology to the National Research Council. The
supporting scientific societies elect representatives who
compose the several divisions of the Council, and
these in turn, comprising, as a rule, about twenty
men selected for their eminence in their particular
branch of work, come together and determine the
special needs and opportunities for the improvement
of research in their own fields. Special attention is
paid to the possibilities of bringing about effective
co-operation among research men and _ research
agencies. Scientific investigation has hitherto been
largely individualistic, and the most pressing need
at the present moment is not so much the expansion
of research agencies, although this is desirable, as
the more effective employment of those already in
existence.-Dr. B. Ruml: Psychological methods in
business and industry.—Prof. A. J. Jones: The
individual in education.—Prof. R. W. Wood: In-
visible light in war and peace.
Hosarrt.
Royal Society of Tasmania, June 8.—Mr. L. Rodway,
vice-president, in the chair.—G. H. Hardy: Aus-
tralian Stradiomiida. The paper included a description
of new species.—H. H. Scott and C. Lord: Studies of
Tasmanian mammals, living and extinct. Part ii.
The paper was divided into two sections, and dealt
mainly with the skeleton of Nototherium Mitchelk
recently obtained from the north-west coast of Tas-
mania. The first section gave a réswmé of the his-
tory of the genus, and the second dealt with the
osteology of the cervical vertebra. The authors
desire to show that the species was one essentially
adapted for aggressive warfare.
at least (with the possibility of other species) are
equally large and weighty, yet their cervical vertebrze
show marked differences: one being an exaggeration
of the standard of the modern wombat in about the
same ratio of power (N. tasmanicum), while the
other shows an additional power with interspinal
muscles and paddings, suitable to the resisting of
great shocks in the long axis of the head and
vertebrae.
Books Received.
Symbiosis: A Socio-physiological Study’ of Evolu-
tion. By H. Reinheimer. Pp. xii+295. (London:
Headley Bros.) 15s. net.
Ministry of Munitions. Department of Explosive
Supply. Preliminary Studies for H.M. Factory,
Gretna, and Study for an Installation of Phosgene
Manufacture. Pp. xvi+145. (London: H.M.
Stationery Office.) 15s. net.
Prospector’s Field-Book and Guide in the Search
for and the Easy. Determination of Ores and other
Useful Minerals. By H. S. Osborn. Ninth edition,
thoroughly revised and enlarged, by M. W. von Berne-
witz. Pp. xiiit+364. (London: Hodder and Stough-
ton.) 12s. 6d. net.
The Kalahari, or Thirstland Redemption. By
Prof. E. H. L. Schwarz. Pp. vi+163+xiv plates.
(Cape Town: T. Maskew Miiler; Oxford: B. H.
Blackwell.) 8s. 6d. net.
Department of Statistics, India.
Statistics of India, 1917-18. Vol. ii.
(Calcutta: Government Printing Office.) 1 rupee.
Botanical Survey of South Africa. Memoir No. 1:
Phanerogamic Flora of the Divisions of Uitenhage
NO. 2651. VOL. 105]
Agricultural
Pp. ix+118.
‘ Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net.
They point out that -
whereas the skulls of N. Mitchelli and N. tasmanicum
‘Our Astronomical Column :—
and Port Elizabeth. By S. Schonland. Pp. 118
(Pretoria: Agricultural Department.) 2s. 6d. -
A Manual of Dental Metallurgy. By E. A. Smith
Fourth edition. Pp. xvi+285. (London: J. and A
Churchill.) 12s. 6d. net. be
The Bible: Its Nature and Inspiration. ee
Grubb. Pp. 247.)
(London: Swarthmore
Manual of Psychiatry. Edited by
Rosanoff. Fifth edition. Pp. xv+684.
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London:
Hall, Ltd.) 22s. net. + ee ‘i
Radiant Motherhood: A Bock for those who are —
Creating the Future. By Dr. Marie C. Stopes.
Pp. 246. (London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.) 6s.’ net. 7
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory. ¥
By Prof. A. Einstein. Authorised translation by Dr.
R. Lawson, Pp. xiiit+138. (London: Methuen and
Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. ah
Liquid Air and the Liquefaction of Gases. By Dr.
T. O’Conor Sloane. Third edition. Pp, — 394.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 21s.
__ Airscrews in Theory and Experiment. By A. Fage. |
Pp. ix+198+7 plates. (London: Constable and Co., —
Ltd.) 34s. a
Smithsonian Institution, United States National —
Museum. Report on the Progress and Condition of —
the United States National Museum for the Year ~
pel June 30, 1919. Pp. 211+7 plates. (Washing-
ton. via A
Principles and Practice of Aerial Navigation. By
Lieut. J. E. Dumbleton. Pp. viit+172+v plates. ©
(London: Crosby Lockwood and Son.) 12s. 6d. net.
The Outdoor Botanist: A Simple Manual for the
Study of British Plants in the Field. By A. R. |
Horwood. Pp, 284+20 plates. (London: T. Fisher
Unwin, Ltd.) 18s. net. a f t
2
a
ec i
ie
CONTENTS. Soe PAGE
The Control of Water Resources .... . .. 765
The Mathematician as Anatomist. By Prof. A,
Keith, F.R.S. ee
The Theoretic Basis of Psychotherapy. By H. S..
Industrial Research. By A. P. M. Fleming,C.B.E. 771 —
Science and Crime. “By C. A. M. 4° 02) ope (972 @
Our Bookshelf... ‘ Lie
Letters to the Editor:— ae
University Grants. —Principal C, Grant Robertson
Aerial Navigation and Meteorology.—Lt.-Col, E.
Gold; Prof. E. van Everdingen’ . ....
Growth of Waves.—A. Mallock, F.R.S......
The Antarctic Anticyclone.—Dr. G. C. Simpson, —
F.R.S Pape
i a, Perea
J. C.. McLennan, F.R.S. . ee L
The Cardiff Meeting of the British Association . .
Obituary:— : ight
Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. .....
Notes: gies Sh aes
Tempel’s Comet :
Stonyhurst Observations in 1919 «.. .
The Structure of the Universe ......-.-. RORY Te
Textile Industries and Technical Education
Canada and the United States. (Illustrated.)
Sunshine in the United States. ByC.H......
The Peat Resources of Ireland. ByJ.S.S.B. .
Past and Present Sewage Systems gees 7
Experimental Cottage Building. ...... Sie
Cotton Growing fee eee . my Ore
Thermostatic Metal (i... 06) a eee
University and Educational Intelligence. ... .
Societies. and ‘Academies . 0. (25.0 ee Fats /
Books Received’*::* .02 5 2X Beis ee Me a
ie pe pee: NATURE
Riri
THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1920.
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
_ Advertisements and business letters should be
addressed to the Publishers.
_ Editorial communications to the Editor.
Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
. The Forthcoming Census.
THE Census Act of 1920 will have one
great advantage over previous
Acts—that it will be a permanent measure,
and not, as they have been, limited to
the operation of taking the one census that
was at the time in contemplation. We have
travelled far from the days when the numbering
of the people was considered to be an offence that
would provoke Divine anger, and it is quite time
that the old hesitating policy of passing a new
enactment and creating a new staff and machinery
“every ten years, which doubtless had its origin in
consideration for those superstitious scruples,
should be definitely abandoned. The system had
one indirect advantage while it lasted. For the
eleven decenniums since 1801 the eleven separate
Acts that have had to be passed have been gradu-
ally strengthened and made more workable, as
experience has shown what improvements it has
been possible to introduce into the practice, and
thus have ripened into the materials for a per-
manent statute. All the same, the necessity for
- organising a- scratch staff of new men every ten
years, and dismissing it as soon as the census
work was over, has been a great drawback to the
efficiency 6f the Department, and it is to be hoped
that one result of the new Act will be to enable
- the Census Office so to distribute its work over
the whole decennium as usefully to retain the
services of an experienced and competent staff of
permanent officials. Much credit is due to the
successive controllers of the census for the good
work they have done under all disadvantages, and
it is no disparagement to them to say that they
have been hampered by circumstances,
The Act contemplates, but does not require, a
quinquennial census. It enacts that no census
shall be required to be taken in any part of Great
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
Census —
Britain in any year unless at the beginning of that
year at least five years have elapsed since the
beginning of the year in which a census was last
taken in that part of Great Britain; but it leaves
to the King in Council to fix the date on which
each successive census is to be taken. There can
be no doubt that for some statistical purposes the
interval of ten years is too long, and that not
infrequently in the course of that interval events
arise that materially affect the applicability of
averages drawn between censuses distant ten
years from each other. With careful organisation
a quinquennial census might be made the rule,
but the Act leaves this question entirely open.
It allows, however, of a special local census being
made, independent of the date of the last previous
census, upon the application of a local authority
through the Minister of Health to his Majesty
in Council for the purpose of facilitating the due
performance by the authority of its statutory
duties.
An important provision of the Act is that which
prohibits inquiry at a census into any particulars
other than those specified in the schedule to the
proposed enactment. These are:—Name, sex,
age; occupation, profession, trade, or employ-
ment; nationality, birthplace, race, language;
place of abode and character of dwelling ; educa-
tion; infirmity or disability; condition as to mar-
riage, relation to head of family, parentage, issue;
and “any other matters with respect to which it
is desirable to obtain statistical information with
a view to ascertaining the social or civil condition
of the population.” The generality of this last
item would no doubt be controlled by the ejusdem
generis principle of interpretation, and there need
be little fear that any Order in Council would
authorise an undesirable extension of it; but care:
would still: have to be taken against the use of
the census for indirect or partisan motives. It
may be stated as a general principle that the
more you increase the number of items of in-
formation that you demand, the more you dimin-
ish the probability that the information you
actually obtain will be accurate. A wise investi-
gator, therefore, while naturally anxious to get
all the sound information that he can, will care-
fully distinguish between that which is essential
and verifiable, and that which cannot be relied
upon.
Much light may be expected to be derived from
the census returns upon subjects that have re-
cently been prominently before the public, such as
the diminution in the birth-rate, the extent to
DD
798
NATURE
[AucusT 26, 1920
which it has prevailed among the various strata
of the community, the results of the war as affect-
ing population and health, the effect of the short-
age in housing on the general welfare, and other
questions to which the events of the decade have
given a new urgency; but in all these matters
the principle we have just indicated of judging
information, not by the number of details you are
able to amass, but by the weight of accuracy and
authenticity that they bear—non numero, sed
pondere—will have to be borne in mind. The
experience of the Registrar-General, backed by
the enlightened enthusiasm of the Ministry of
Health, will have ample exercise in these respects.
The Act is intituled “An Act to make provision
for the taking from time to time of a census for
Great Britain or any area therein and for other-
wise obtaining statistical information with respect
to the population of Great Britain.” The Regis-
trar-General, in addition to his formal Reports
on the Census Returns, is to have power to
supply local authorities and others concerned with
statistical information derived from the census
returns. The second branch of the title is pro-
vided for by section 5, which enables him also
to publish statistics of the number and condition
of the population derived from other sources, and
for that purpose to enter into relations with other
Government Departments so as to further the
supply and provide for the better co-ordination of
such information. If he were enabled to enter
into similar relations with other countries as well,
the very excellent object of obtaining uniformity
in the statistics of the several nationalities might
be materially promoted.
Prof. Alexander’s Gifford Lectures.
Space, Time, and Deity: The Gifford Lectures at
Glasgow, 1916-18. By Prof. S. Alexander.
(In two volumes.) Vol. i. Pp. xvi+ 347.
Vol. ii. Pp. xiii+437. (London: Macmillan
and Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price 36s. net.
ROF. ALEXANDER has written a book
which requires more than cursory reading.
It deserves careful study. For it embodies a
thoroughly modern exposition of New Realism
in full detail. Moreover, these two volumes
are not merely the outcome of a sustained effort
at accurate investigation. They are distinguished
by their admirable tone and temper. The author
is throughout anxious to understand and to repre-
sent faithfully the views of those with whom he is
in controversy. His reading of what has been
written by the great thinkers of other schools has
been closer and more intelligent than that of
NO. 2652, VOL. 105],
most New Realists, and he displays no traces of —
arrogance. He has done all he could to appreciate
the materials furnished, not merely by mathe-
matical and physical science, but by biology and
psychology; highly important fields for his
inquiry.
These very merits of Prof. Alexander’s method
have, however, produced their drawbacks. They
have driven him beyond the current conceptions
of the New Realist type into others which are not
always easy to reconcile with them. In the second
volume, particularly, where the author is chiefly
concerned with such problems as those of the
nature of the tertiary qualities of reality, of value,
and of deity, the treatment leaves the impression
that the subject-matter passes beyond the limits
which alone are for the method legitimate. None
the less, the effort made to be consistent is a
notable one. But under this head I must refer
the reader to the book, for the only aspect of the
doctrine in it with which space allows me to
concern myself is its cardinal principle as applied
to physical knowledge.
To begin with, it is necessary to be clear as to
what is peculiar to himself and his school in Prof.
Alexander’s teaching. It is not sufficiently realised
that to-day the New Realists comprise a variety of
groups divided by differences that are of far-reach-.
ing importance.- These differences relate to the
nature attributed to mind. For some of the most
prominent of the American New Realists mind has
no characteristic at all that distinguishes it from
its objective content.
ring; hearing means sounds occurring; thinking
means thoughts occurring. Mind is itself just a
casual selection out of the field of consciousness,
and has no nature distinct from that field. When
we speak of a mind, the grouping arises out of
relations possessed by the objective elements
themselves, relations which exist quite independ-
ently of our own action in perceiving. Minds are
thus subordinate groups in a larger universe of
being which includes them, and which would be
unaltered if minds disappeared from it. Conscious-
ness is thus merely a demonstrative appellation.
Now for Prof. Alexander, and, I think, for most
of the English New Realists, mind has a reality
independent of its object. With the latter, what-
ever it is, itis “compresent.”. The act of perceiving
is one reality, the object perceived is another.
Left to itself, the activity which we call mind
reveals the object, with its relations (which may
be universals) just as they exist independently of
it. But the activity is a separate reality, which
does not belong to the ordinary object world, but
reveals itself in consciousness, in which it is said
by Prof. Alexander to be “enjoyed.” Here
Seeing means colours occur-
-Avcust 26, 1920]
NATURE |
799
we have dualism, a dualism which he gets over
by referring the origin of the activity of mind
and the object with which it is compresent, alike,
to a final reality which is the foundation of both,
an ultimate space-time continuum. This, inas-
much as the flow of time enters into its very
essence, is not static, but dynamic. The activity
which we are conscious of (in the form, not of
perception, which is of objects, but of self-enjoy-
ment) is therefore in its turn dynamic, and its
character is that of a conation.
I am not sure that the Americans, notwith-
standing their boldness, are not here on safer
ground. They project everything, thought, feel-
ing, and tertiary qualities, such as goodness and
_ beauty, into what they call a non-mental world.
Prof. Alexander is more cautious. With him the
native hue of resolution is, at times at least, as
he progresses in his enterprise, sicklied o’er with
_ the pale cast of thought. He seems to feel that
he must retain something for a mental world.
Starting with space and time as having no reality
apart from one another, but as mere abstractions
from aspects or attributes of the foundational
reality, which is space-time or motion, the “stuff
of which all existents are composed,” he has to
account for our actual experience. His founda-
tionally existent activity breaks itself up into the
‘complexes of which we are aware, and which
possess, as belonging to their nature, certain
fundamental and all-pervasive features which we
recognise as categories. There result also quali-
ties which appear in our experience. These form
“a hierarchy, the quality of each level of existence
being identical with a certain complexity or col-
location of elements on the next lower level. The
quality performs to its equivalent lower existence
the office which mind performs to its neural basis.
Mind and body do but exemplify, therefore, a rela-
tion which holds universally. Accordingly, time
is the mind of space, and any quality the mind of
its body; or, to speak more accurately, mind and
any other quality are the different distinctive com-
plexities of time which exist as qualities. As
existents within space-time, minds enter into rela-
tions of a perfectly general character with other
things and with one another. These account for
the familiar features of mental life; knowing free-
dom, values, and the like. In the hierarchy of
qualities the next higher quality to the highest
attained is deity. God is the whole universe
engaged in process towards the emergence of this
new quality, and religion is the sentiment in us
that we are drawn towards him, and caught in
the movement of the world pewarce a higher hevel
‘of existence.’
I have given the general result of his inquiry
as summed up in the author’s own words, those
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
instant, and the instant occupies a point.
used by him in concluding his final chapter. But
it would be unfair to suggest that the nature of
this result can be appreciated from any isolated
quotation. The whole book must be read. It is
admirable alike in thoroughness of method and in
command of material. Still, it is obvious that the
entire edifice depends for its stability on its
foundation, and that the author’s conception of the
ultimately real as being space-time, a continuum
of point-instants or pure events entirely inde-
pendent of mind, is the crucial point in his reason-
ing. If he is right, it must be in terms of this
existent that all else must be capable of expres-
sion, and it cannot itself be expressed in terms of
anything beyond itself. Of course, Prof. Alex-
ander does not dispute that when we speak of
space and time as of this character we are going
beyond what we learn through sense, or in-
tuitively, and are employing constructions of re-
flection. He is quite entitled to do this if a non-
mental world can include universals, as he insists,
in common with all New Realists. Our simplest
experience is, as he says, “full of our ideas.” The
question is whether they belong to mind or to what
is not mind. We shall see presently to what path
this conclusion conducts.
At this stage we have to put before us the
author’s analysis of the relation of space to time,
an analysis that seems to me altogether admirable.
Space taken in abstraction from time has no dis-
tinction of parts. Time in so far as it is purely
temporal is a mere now. To find a continuum we
must find distinguishable elements. Without
space there would be no connection in time.
Without time there would be no points to connect.
There is therefore no instant of time apart from
a position in space, and no point of space except
in an instant of time. The point occurs at an
The
ultimate stuff of the universe is thus of the char-
acter of point-instants or pure events, and it is
so that we get our continuum. The correspond-
ence is, however, not a one-to-one, but a many-
one, correspondence. For one point may occur
at more than one instant, and one instant may,
analogously, occupy several points.
Prof. Alexander thinks that he is here in full
accord with Minkowski’s well-known conception
of an absolute world of four dimensions, of which
ordinary geometry omits the fourth, the time
element. When he wrote his book Einstein’s
doctrine of relativity was only fully known in its
first form, the ‘“‘special” theory, and Prof. Alex-
ander believes that his view of the character of the
space-time continuum has left him free to accept
the so-called principle of relativity in this form.
800
NATURE
[| AuGusT 26, 1920 4
For it suggests really no more than the unification
of the observations of two sets of observers who
may be observing an absolute world in space-time,
by means of formulas of transformation in which
the observations of observers with one system of
co-ordinates can be rendered in terms of the co-
ordinates of observers with a different system, ‘It
may be, he says, that the formulas are not really
independent, inasmuch as they are ultimately
numerical, and numbers may be wholly dependent
on an absolute space and time system. Thus it
would be an absolutely identical set of relations
which was observed from the two systems of
reference, moving rectilinearly with a relative velo-
city which remained uniform.
But can this be accepted in the fresh light cast
by the general theory of relativity, of which the
special theory is now shown. by Einstein to be a
mere special case? Here metaphysicians have to
look over a fence into ground at present mainly
occupied by the mathematician. But not exclu-
sively so occupied. The ground is in truth a
borderland where mathematics and epistemology
trench on each other, and the fence is not of
barbed wire. We are, indeed, compelled to try
to do the best we can with unfamiliar topics if we
would get at the truth about the nature of reality.
The relativity doctrine now extends to ac-
celerating motion. It has also, apparently, been
demonstrated that a principle of equivalence ob-
tains according to which any changes which an
observer takes to be due to what he supposes to
be attraction within a gravitational field would be
perceived by him in precisely the same way if
the observer’s system of reference were moving
with the acceleration which was characteristic of
the gravitation at the observer’s point of observa-
tion. The combination of these principles gives
us relativity of measurement in actual experience
without restriction.
is, in addition, here based, not on a supposed
elementary law of gravitational force, whatever
that means, which would leave'us in metaphysical
perplexities about action at a distance, but on
elementary laws of the motion of bodies relatively
to each other in a so-called gravitational field.
There is no decision either for or against
Euclidean geometry as a possible special case.
But there is a decision that space, as a physical
thing with unvarying geometrical properties, is
to be banished, just for the same sort of reasons
as the ether was banished before it. Only observ-
able things are to be recognised as real in the
new system of modern physicists.
It is therefore asserted by Einstein that, all
motions and accelerations being relative to the
system of reference of the observer, neither space
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
The gravitational principle-
nor time has physically independent objectivi
They are not measurable in themselves.
mean only the framework in which the minds
the observers arrange physical events, accoré
to the conditions under which observation tak
place. We may choose such frameworks as
please, but in point of fact we naturally
so that the application of our method is the .
that appears best adapted to the character of what —
we observe. The standard used will give their ;
physical significances to our “geodetic lines. mS 4
The apparent order in space and time has no ~
independent existence. It manifests itself only in 4
the events that present themselves as so ordered.
But the revolution in conception does not stop —
here. As so-called “gravitational fields” are
everywhere present, the old special theory of rela~
tivity is nowhere an accurate account of hae a 4
mena. The velocity of light, for instance, cannot —
really be constant under all conditions. It is the —
things we observe in space and time that give to
these their definite structure, and the relations in
them of the things depend on the system of + 3
servation. To get at the fundamental law of the
change which takes place in the space-time con-
tinuum we must look for the principle which
governs the motion of a point in it as of the form
of a differential law for the motion of such a
point, not merely i in a straight line in the Euclid-
ean sense, but in a geodetic line which will be
relative to any possible form of motion and ac-
celeration in a gravitational field. If we can reach
such a differential law under the aspect of an
equation sufficiently elastic in its variables, we
shall be able to fit into it mathematical expressions
based on actual observation which give the “gravi-
tational potentials ’’ required for the application
of the law. The form of the differential equation
which expresses the law must therefore be such
as to be applicable whatever may be the four co-
ordinates of reference of the observer of motion
in any conceivable gravitational field. The. prin-
ciple of equivalence necessitates this, and we get
as the result a science of motion depending on the
relativity of every kind of motion. All that is
required is that the co-ordinates which are the
variables in the equation of motion of a point-
mass moving uniformly and rectilinearly should
be so expressed as to be capable of transforma-
tion into the co-ordinates, whatever their shape,
of any system of reference which moves in any
path and has any accelerated motion whatsoever.
This appears to have been done completely. The
result is intelligible to the epistemologist who
can even do no more than look across the
boundary fence. The mathematical details and
scaffolding he may be wholly unable to appreciate.
tl Soca ie 4
kk cahie
_ physicists.
Avcust 26, 1920]
NATURE
801
. 4 But not the less does he feel compelled to take
off his hat reverently before the shades of Gauss
_ and Riemann, and before those who have been
able to wield the mighty sword with which these
_ great thinkers cut the knots that held physicists
back from the unrestricted calculus of to-day,
purified as it now is from the old assumptions.
Now the importance of this thorough-going
application of the principle of the relativity of the
character of the point-event continuum to the
observer is obvious. It means relativity in signifi-
eance for intelligence. As Prof. Eddington has
recently remarked in a notable article in Mind,
the intervention of mind in the laws of Nature is
more far-reaching than is usually supposed by
He develops this conclusion in a
fashion which is impressive. Freundlich and Schick
in their recent books insist on the same thesis.
But what does the word “mind” mean when
used thus? Not a substance in space-time, as
Prof. Alexander would have it. To start with,
such an assumption would involve either the rejec-
tion of the modern doctrine of relativity as the
school of Einstein has put it forward as dependent
on interpretation, or something tending towards
solipsism. Nor can mind mean substance in
J nother aspect, that in which Berkeley and the
ntalists have sought to display it. Few com-
ent students of the history of thought look on
philosophy as shut up to such a view, the view
which New Realism seeks to bind into the “ego-
centric predicament. i
There is another interpretation of the meaning
of, mind in which it signifies neither any of these
things nor yet an Absolute Mind apart from that
of man, but just our own experience interpreted
as being in every stage relative in its presentation,
and not so merely in the relation of measurement.
For Einstein’s doctrine seems to be only a frag-
ment of a yet larger and even more striking view -
of reality. Relativity is surely not to be confined
to judgments based on the co-ordinates we employ
in measurement. It may equally arise in other
instances from the uncritical applications of con-
ceptions concerned with quality as much as with
quantity. From such a point of view reality,
including human experience, is what it is only
because we are ever unconsciously, under the
influence of practical ends to be attained, limiting
our systems of reference, interpreted in even a
wider sense than that of Einstein. These may be
limiting ends imposed on us by the mere fact that
we are human beings with a particular position in
Nature. The relativity of knowledge will thus
assume the form of. relativity of the real to
general points of view, and will result in a prin-
ciple of degrees extending through all knowledge
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
and reality alike, which fall short of ideal comple-
tion. It is an old principle, as old as Greek
thought. If it is true, it solves many problems and
gets rid of the distinction between mental and
non-mental, between idealism and realism, be-
tween mind and its object. For it accepts the
“that,’’ and confines the legitimate problem to
the “what.’’ It also gets rid of the perplexing
idea of an Absolute Mind as something to be con-
ceived as apart from us while working in us.
The idea and the method, recurring as they do
in ancient and modern philosophy, are worth
study by those who feel the stimulus of the new
atmosphere which Einstein has provided. They
may find a convenient analogue to the special
principle of relativity in Kant’s “Critique of Pure
Reason,’’ with its investigation of the general con-
ditions which are required in order to render any
individual experience possible. If they seek for an
analogue to Einstein’s general principle, ‘they
may look either in the ‘“‘ Metaphysics” of Aristotle
or in the “ Logic ” of Hegel. The greatest thinkers
have presented resembling conclusions in varying
language.
This path is one that is not easy to tread. It
is as hard to enter on as is that of the meta-
physician who has to try to understand the mean-
ing for philosophy of the absolute differential
equations which Einstein employs. Prof.
Alexander, however, knows the direction, if he
does not now look that way. And it may be that
the difficulties with which the new principle of
general physical relativity seems to threaten New
Realism, with its non-mental and static reality,
may lead him, with his openness of mind,
to consider once again whether he should not
wend his steps afresh towards the wicket-gate
for a further pilgrimage. But whatever the direc-
tion in which he is looking, his new book is full
of stimulating material, even as it stands.
Hapane.
Principles and Practice of Surveying.
Surveying. By W. Norman Thomas. Pp.
viii + 536. (With Answers.) (London :
Edward Arnold, 1920.) Price 31s. 6d. net.
LL British surveyors will give the heartiest
welcome to this excellent book. We have
become accustomed to American and German
survey literature, and have relied too much upon
it. The author has gone far to relieve us of this
necessity. He succeeds admirably in emphasising
the importance of a due appreciation of the errors
involved, and his mathematical investigations and
notes on the accuracy of each method are clear
and convincing.
802
NATURE
[Aucust 26, 1920
The matter sequence is curious. We start with
chain surveying and do not reach triangulation
until p. 377. Surveys for purely engineering ends
are often limited in extent, but none the less each
method has suffered from being considered on its
own merits and not as part of a whole. Geodesy
and topographical surveying are barely mentioned.
We start with the field work, plotting, and area
computing of chain surveys. The subject is
clearly put, and the investigations of errors and
of the accuracy of linear measurement are particu-
larly valuable. It is curious to find reference in
this chapter to British war maps, which owed
none of their characteristics to chaining. The
chapter on optics and on magnetism is welcome,
though it might with advantage have gone further.
After a description of instruments of minor im-
portance and of the vernier and micrometer micro-
scope, the author deals with theodolites, omitting
mention, unfortunately, of Messrs. Watts and
Co.’s latest patterns, which embody many im-
provements. Adjustments are fully described, and
are followed by a few pages on the accuracy of
angular measurements and on geodetic results.
Having already dealt with linear measurement,
the author confines his description of traverses
mostly to angular measurement by compass, dial,
or theodolite. The investigation of errors of closure
is valuable and includes an interesting mathe-
matical analysis of Bowditch’s rule. The surveyor
who traverses between stations of an existing tri-
angulation will find little help, however, for
the problems which then arise are prac-
tically ignored. Two _ consecutive chapters
deal with levels, levelling, contouring, trigono-
metrical levelling, and various relative and abso-
lute methods of determining altitude. Mention is
made of the Zeiss patterns of level in use on the
Ordnance Survey, but there is no mention of the
“water level ” for contouring purposes. As usual,
the student will have no excuse for failing to
understand the relative values of different levelling
methods. There is a brief mention of precise
levelling generally, including a note on the new
geodetic levelling of Great Britain. Tacheometry
is thoroughly dealt with, the optics and attainable
results being lucidly described, and leads on to
range-finders, with special reference to the “ Barr
and Stroud.” The chapter on plane-tabling is not
so convincing as the rest, and is all too short.
The plane-table has been used with success in
climates as difficult as our own, and is an indis-
pensable method of survey.
Chapters on curve ranging, eastiwork calcula-
tions, and hydrographic surveying contain well-
arranged information rarely to be met with else-
where. It is: under hydrographic surveying,
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
curiously enough, that one: finds a description of —
instrumental resection. As a subject it deserves —
more attention than it gets, and should not be —
confined to a solution from three points. Tri-
angulation and base measurement are well dealt
with and illustrated by historical references. The
experienced surveyor will find little fresh informa-
tion on astronomical surveying (except an inter-
esting note on Driencourt’s prismatic astrolabe),
but will relish the simple and yet thorough bid in
which the theory is put.
The concluding chapter, on photogrammetry,
deals with the photo-theodolite and contains a brief
reference to stereophotogrammetry and to aero-
plane photography. The get-up, printing, and
paper are a pleasure to see. All surveyors should
possess a copy of this book.
is 2 WInTERBOTHAM.
Australian Hardwoods,
The Hardwoods of Australia and their Economics.
By Richard T. Baker. (Technological Museum,
New South Wales : Technical Education Series,
No. 23.) Pp. xvi+522+plates. (Sydney: The
Technological Museum, 1919.)
HE author states in the preface to this work
that his object is to make known to Austra-
lians and the world generally the diversity of the
hardwoods with which Nature has endowed the
vast Australian continent. Such a book can
scarcely have been introduced at a more opportune
time, when the problem of how to provide sufficient
timber for the world’s growing needs has become
increasingly acute since the war. It is a remark-
able fact that, while Australia has probably the
largest variety of hardwoods in the world, cover-
ing hundreds of thousands of square miles, the
number of species they represent is comparatively
few—probably less than 500. Moreover, nearly
half of these belong to the genus Eucalyptus,
which covers at least two-thirds of the whole
surface, and supplies the bulk of hardwoods re-
quired for commercial purposes.
The book is divided into three main sections.
Part i. deals with the physical properties of
timber, colour, grain, taste, odour, structure,
weight, durability, combustibility, and other
features. The author emphasises the great aid
afforded by colour in the identification of Austra-
lian woods, and the fine series of chromatic plates:
scattered through the volume, illustrating the
newly planed surface of all the important timbers,
shows in a very striking manner the great beauty’
and variety of these woods. The writer of this”
notice has had an opportunity of comparing
a number of these plates with specimens in the-
Avoust 26, 1920]
NATURE
803
fine collection of Australian woods at the Im-
perial Institute, and can vouch for their accuracy
as,regards both colour and delineation. .Every
timber has a distinct colour, though at times this
is far from easy to describe in the absence of any
standard colour nomenclature; in such cases
coloured plates are a great help. Some of the
colour terms seem to be used in a rather loose
sense. The author employs eight types—(1) dark
red, (2) red, (3) pink, (4) grey, (5) chocolate,
(6) yellow, (7) pale, (8) white—but on comparing
some of the plates we find it hard to draw the
line between the types pink and pale, while some
of the timbers described under the heading of
white would be more correctly termed buff-
coloured. The illustrations in black-and-white
showing wood anatomy should also be a material
aid to identification.
In part ii. we have a description of each species
in botanical sequence, followed by a list of timbers
arranged in grades of hardness. Part iii. contains
-technical articles on (i) the determination of specific
timbers; (ii) nomenclature; (iii) the seasoning of
timber ; (iv) the preservation of timbers, conclud-
ing with an account of the economic uses of the
woods. The book contains a vast amount of
information useful to both foresters and students.
The typographical arrangement is somewhat
open to criticism. The use of unnecessarily large
types for specific names and authorities, with a
wide margin, entails a great waste of space, and
makes the book rather cumbersome. On the other
hand, the systematic portion of the work might
with advantage have been in larger type. These
minor defects, however, do not’ detract from the
general excellence of the book.
Mr. Baker is to be congratulated upon a valu-
‘able addition to the literature of Australian
forestry, which should bring home to Australians
the importance of preserving these many valuable
woods from the extinction which threatens them
by a_ well-devised and vigorous scheme of re-
afforestation. A, Bi J.
The Columbian Tradition.
The Columbian Tradition on the Discovery of
America and of the Part Played therein by the
Astronomer Toscanelli: A Memoir addressed to
the Profs. Hermann Wagner, of the University
of Gottingen, and Carlo Errera, of Bologna.
By Henry Vignaud. Pp. 62. (Oxford: At the
Clarendon Press, 1920.) Price 3s. 6d. net.
N various publications, especially in his ‘“ His-
| toire de la Grande Entreprise de Christophe
Colomb ” (Paris, 1911, 2 vols.), Mr. Vignaud has
endeavoured to upset the traditional view of the
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
discovery of America. According to that view,
Columbus set out in 1492, not to discover un-
known lands, but to reach the eastern parts of
Asia by sailing westward across the Atlantic,
having already in 1474 been encouraged to do so
by the well-known astronomer Toscanelli of Flor-
ence. In this pamphlet Mr. Vignaud has again
summed up the results of his studies and defended
them against the attacks of his two principal
opponents.
All we know about Columbus and the object of
his first voyage comes from himself or his son or
his blind admirer, Las Casas, and not one of these
is a trustworthy witness, as the exposure of
various falsehoods told about the family and early
history of Columbus has proved. No trace exists
of Columbus ever having spoken of going to
Eastern Asia before he returned from his great
discovery; but that idea is spoken of in a letter
to the “Catholic Kings,” which Las Casas placed
as a preface to the log-book of the first voyage.
This letter is, however, neither found nor alluded
to elsewhere, and bears no date. In the log-book
Columbus says that his sole object is las Indias,
but that book was edited by Las Casas, and in
the days when he wrote, this expression only
meant the Antilles and neighbouring lands, and
never the East Indies. Columbus, when leaving
Palos, did not sail straight across the Atlantic, as
would have been natural if his goal had been
“Cipangu” (Japan), or “Cathay” (China); he
first went down to the Canaries and then sailed
straight westward along the 28th parallel. At
700 or 750 leagues west of the Canaries he fully
expected to find land, and was greatly disturbed
when none was seen, so that he must have had
some private reason to believe that there were
islands near that spot; and the discovery of these
would seem to have been the sole object of the
voyage. It has been objected to this that
Columbus (according to Las Casas) carried with
him credential letters for the ‘“Great Khan.” But
it is known that his partner, Pinzon, had some
idea of going in search of Cipangu. Mr. Vignaud
suggests that it was to secure the indispensable
co-operation of Pinzon that Columbus included
the visit to Cipangu in his plan, but that when
he only found land much further west than he
had expected, he believed that what he had found
was Cipangu, a belief which he kept to his dying
day.
With regard to the alleged letter and map of
1474, attributed to Toscanelli, these were never
alluded to by Columbus himself; and the copy of
the letter found at Seville in 1871 was probably
not written by him, but by his brother. The in-
formation in the letter (the map is lost) is such
804
NATURE.
[AucustT 26, 1920
as a distinguished savant would have scorned to
supply, while it is quite in accordance with
Columbus’s own geographical ideas derived from
the antiquated “Imago Mundi” of Cardinal d’Ailly.
The letter was probably fabricated by the family
of Columbus after his death to disprove the
rumour that he owed his success, not to his studies
in cosmography, but to some information about
unknown islands privately obtained. The true
glory of Columbus is that he found what he went
out to find—a New World. J: b.c8. ae
Our Bookshelf.
Electricity: Its Production and Applications. By
Reg. E. Neale. (Pitman’s Common Commodi-
ties and Industries.) Pp. viii+ 136. (London:
Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) Price
as, 6d; net.
Tue author addresses himself to the general
reader who desires to understand something of
the way in which electricity is produced and is
utilised in present-day industries. The generation,
distribution, and storage of electric power are
first explained briefly, and then the author passes
on to deal successively with lighting, heating,
electric driving of machinery, traction, haulage,
etc. Further chapters skim lightly over the lead-
ing features of electrochemistry, electrometal-
lurgy, electric welding and cutting, telegraphy
and telephony, and medical applications. So
large a field can be covered in a little volume like
this only by limitation to the barest essentials,
but it is remarkable how complete and accurate
is the information given. The reader is, however,
hurried on unpleasantly fast, and is never allowed
to pause where his interest is aroused. We are
not as a rule over-fond of “tabloid” education,
but the ubiquitous use of electricity in industry
and daily life makes it desirable for everyone to
know something of its nature and scope. It will
be an advantage to many to have at their dis-
posal so well compiled a summary of the subject
rather than to rely on the loose statements too
often made in conversation and in the non-tech-
nical Press.
The Nature-study of Plants in Theory and Prac-
tice for the Hobby-Botanist. By T. A. Dymes.
Pp... xviiit+173. (London: S.P.C.K.; New
York: The Macmillan Co., 1920.) Price 6s, net.
Tue first part of this book is devoted to an ex-
planation of the meaning of the phenomena of
plant life. and its interdependent functions.
Wherever possible, comparisons are drawn with
human life, and, in consequence, chapters are
given curious | titles, such as ‘‘Marriage” and
“Settling Down for Life.” The second portion
of the book is a detailed account of the life-
history of the Herb Robert and its relatives.
Tables are appended showing the separation. of
the sexes in time, the mode of pollination, and
the method of seed dispersal of British species of.
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
Cranesbills and Storksbills.
study.
cee)
Eugenics, Civics, and Ethics: A Lecture achiviesa ae
to the Summer School of Eugenics, Civies, and
Ethics on August 8, 1919, inthe Arts School,
By ee Charles Walston (Wald- — ;
Cambridge.
stein). Pp. 56. ., (Cambridge: At the Universi
Press, 1920.) Price 4s. net. b is
A stRONG plea is made in this lecture for the
- organisation and development of the study pe
ethics, or, as the author prefers to call it, etho-
logy. The interdependence of eugenics and ‘civics, | 7 :
and the foundation of both in ethics, are discussed,
and warning is given against striving to produce
the perfect physical specimen of man without due —
consideration of character and mental attributes.
Towards the end of the lecture the progressive
nature of ethical codes is made clear, and great
stress is laid on the importance of the establish-
ment of our ideal of the perfect man and the
teaching of such practical ethics in both baeteias
and homes.
A Second Book of School Celebrations, yr.
F. H. Hayward. Pp. 133. (London: P. S.
King and Son, Ltd., 1920.) Price 5s. net. —
“A First Book of ScHoot CELEBRATIONS ” was
reviewed in Nature for August 5. The
new volume contains a further series of oebras
tions dealing with the military conflicts in Pales- —
tine, toleration, Alfred the Great, Pasteur and
Lister, Sir Philip Sidney, G. F. Watts, Empire |
Day, political parties, school leaving day, work,
and five of a new type, termed by the author
“homage celebrations,” which deal with the artist,
the martyr, the musician, Ireland, and Poland. ©
Stories for the Nature Hour. Compiled by
Ada M. Skinner and Eleanor L. Skinner. —
Pp. 253. (London: George G. Harrap and Co.,
Ltd., 1920.) Price 5s. net.
A NUMBER of short stories from the pens of many —
authors have been collected in this volume. Hans
Andersen, Ruskin, and Charles Lamb are repre-
sented, and the compilers themselves have sup-
plied eight legends. The book should be useful
to the teacher giving lessons on natural history
subjects to small children, and should also make
interesting reading for older children.
A Manual of Elementary Zoology. By L. A.
Borradaile. Third edition. Pp. xviii+616+ xxi
plates. (London: Henry Frowde, and Hodder
and Stoughton, 1920.) Price 18s.
THE last edition of. this work was reviewed in
Nature for April 3, 1919. The only important
change made in the new edition is the inclusion
of twenty-one large plates, most of which are
particularly valuable for laboratory work.
Plate xii, showing various breeds of British sheep,
is crude, and seems unworthy of a place in a book
which is otherwise remarkable for its clear dia-
grams and realistic illustrations.
The book should be a
a stimulus to tntetigent and intensive Nature-_ ~
By Dr.
x
AucustT 26, 1920]
NATURE
805
Le Radium: Interprétation et Enseignement de !a
_ Radioactivité. Par Prof. Fr. Soddy. Traduit
- de l’Anglais par A. Lepape. (Nouvelle Col-
lection scientifique.) Pp. iii+375. (Paris:
Félix Alcan, 1919.) Price 4.90 francs. |
Tue third edition of Prof. Soddy’s book, ‘‘The
Interpretation of Radium,” which was reviewed in
Nature for February 20, 1913, is the original
from which this translation was made. The trans-
lator has added an appendix in which the work
of the period 1914-19 is described, and consequent
modifications of theory are indicated.
Grasses and Rushes and How to Identify Them.
By J. H. Crabtree. Pp. 64. (London: The
Epworth Press, n.d.) Price 1s. 9d. net.
Tuis little book is a catalogue of all the grasses
and rushes of the English countryside. A brief
description, accompanied by an_ illustration, is
given of each plant mentioned. The book should
_ be of value to both farmers and students. —
Experiments with Plants. A First School-book of
Science. By J. B. Philip. Pp. 205. (Oxford:
At the Clarendon Press, 1919.) Price 3s. net.
Most of this book is devoted to the experimental
study of the elementary physiology of seeds and
plants. An account of the reproductive process is
included, and the elementary physics and
chemistry of soils are briefly indicated. In the
appendices a sketch is given of the scientific prin-
ciples which are necessary to a study of botany.
% An index would have been a useful addition to the
Aluminium: Its Manufacture, Manipulation, and
Marketing. By G. Mortimer. (Pitman’s
Common Commodities and Industries.) Pp. viii
+152. (London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons,
Ltd., n.d.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
Tuis interesting book gives a particularly good
account of the numerous applications which alu-
‘minium now finds in modern industry. The
technical processes for the extraction of aluminium
and its adaptation, both in the pure state and in
the form of alloys, to industry are carefully and
fully described. The book is well illustrated, and
cannot fail to be of interest to chemists, engineers,
and the general reader.
Chemical Theory and Calculations: An Elemen-
tary Text-Book. By Prof. F. J. Wilson and
Prof. I. M. Heilbron. Second edition. Pp. vii
+144. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.,
1920.) Price 4s. 6d. net.
Tus is an admirable collection of problems cover-
ing a wide range, and including many of an
advanced character. A pleasing feature is the
brief but lucid account of chemical-theory, includ-
ing a short section on atomic numbers. The book
should prove of great service to teachers and to
students preparing for degree examinations. — It
is distinctly better than most books on chemical
arithmetic; since it aims: at a higher standard.
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
Letters to the Editor.
{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither
can be undertake to return, or to correspond with
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
taken of anonymous communications.]
University Grants.
I am glad to see that the very urgent necessity for
the provision of increased University grants which
was so ably stated in your leading article of August 5
has led to the position in Leeds and Birmingham
being brought torward so clearly by Sir Muchael
Sadler and Principal Grant Robertson in Nature of
‘August 12 and Ig. There can be no doubt that every
university in the country is feeling the need of largely
increased financial assistance, without which it will
be impossible to carry on efficiently, if at all, depart-
ments such as those of science, which must always
be a source of large expenditure and financial loss to
any umiversity.
it is probably generally true that the higher the
efficiency of a department, the greater is its cost of
maintenance, and, consequently, the greater the
financial loss to the university. Therefore, so long as
reasonable economy in administration is practised, the
expenditure of money on a successful department
should be welcomed and encouraged, and every effort
made to provide funds so that its work may have free
scope and not be hampered in any way. Only under
conditions of proper equipment as regards both staff
and material and freedom from financial worry can
a department be expected to develop to its fullest
extent and to produce knowledge. f
In the Times of August 18 Prof. Soddy and
I directed attention to the critical condition of
science at Oxford, and pointed out that there
is actually no proper accommodation here even for
the teaching of physical and inorganic chemistry.
The antiquated buildings which are now used for. the
purpose are quite out of date, besides being far too
small to cope with the large number of students who
are presenting themselves for the honours degree.
The case of organic chemistry is also very serious
because, although the laboratory which was built four
years ago, largely owing to the generosity of Dr.
C, W. Dyson. Perrins, is modern and well-equipped, it
is far too small.
A new extension is in course of construction, but
the funds necessary to pay for it are not ayailable,
and must be borrowed, and there is, moreover, no
adequate endowment to provide for upkeep when the
buildings are completed. A similar state of things
is to be found in connection with the new chair of
biochemistry recently endowed through the generosity
of Mr. Edward Whitley. There are no laboratories
associated with this chair, and in the meantime
accommodation must be provided in the already over-
crowded physiological laboratories. A careful estimate
of the cost of urgently required new buildings shows that
at least 250,000l,. as well as an endowment bringing
in 10,00ol. per annum, must be forthcoming if the
study of chemistry is to be placed on a firm basis in
this University. ;
I have dealt more particularly with chemistry
because it is generally admitted that the most
pressing néed in this University is that chemistry
shall’ be placed on such a footing that teaching and
research may be done under conditions very different
from those which prevail at the present time., But
the other branches of physical science are also urgently
in’ need of financial assistance, partly for» new’ build.
$06
NATURE
[Aveust 26, 1920
ings and partly to provide funds sufficient to maintain |
and work them.
There are clearly only two sources from which
the very large sums required by the universities can
be obtained, and those are (1) Treasury grants and
(2) private benefactions.
You have pointed out that the proposed Treasury
grant of 1,500,000l. included in the Estimates for
1921-22 is quite inadequate, and it is obvious that
this must be the case. It is, therefore, to be hoped
that careful inquiry into the needs of the universities
by the Treasury will result in this sum being sub-
stantially augmented. With regard to private bene-
faction, I think we may look forward with confidence
to very liberal response in the near future from
generous individuals, and more particularly from
wealthy firms interested in the progress of science and
education. The action of Messrs. Brunner, Mond, and
Co. in setting aside 100,000l. as_a contribution to the
universities is an example which will certainly he
followed by other firms who’ owe much of their success
to the work of chemists, engineers, and others sent to
them from the universities.
If it were to become a recognised practice for firms
who can afford to do so to set aside yearly some com-
paratively small sum as a contribution to the uni-
versities, the combined effort would go far to solve the
difficulties in which we find ourselves at the present
time. W. H. PERKIN.
The University Museum, Oxford, August 22.
Use of Sumner Lines in Navigation.
May I venture .to point out, in the interests of
navigational science, that although the article by
Capt. Tizard in Nature of July 1 under the above
title is an admirably clear and concise account of the
application of Sumner lines in navigation at the date
given in his examples, it is scarcely descriptive of the
best practice of to-day?
Of the two methods of drawing the lines described
by Capt. Tizard, the first, or ‘original Sumner
method,’’ is now merely of academic interest, and is
seldom practised outside schools and examination-
rooms. Its defects are, first, that each sight has to
be worked out twice (once for each of the two assumed
latitudes), and, secondly, that it is inapplicable to
sights taken near the meridian. It may also be
remarked that unless the two assumed latitudes. are
very close together, the true circle of position may
differ considerably from the straight line joining the
two points found on the Mercator chart.
The second method described by Capt.
usually known as the ‘
Tizard,
‘chronometer method,’’ is still
used to some extent. It avoids the double working
out of each sight, but gives good results only for
observations taken on large bearings; it is inapplicable
to sights taken near the meridian.
For observations near the meridian phat is cailed
the ‘“‘ex-meridian method ’’ may be used to draw the
position-lines. In this method the longitude is
assumed, and the sight is worked out as a latitude
observation; the position-line is then drawn, at right
angles to the bearing, through the point where the
meridian of the assumed longitude is cut by the
parallel of the observed latitude. This method gives
good results for sights near the meridian, but fails
on large bearings.
combination of the last two methods is some-
times employed, the sights near the meridian being
worked out by the ‘‘ex-meridian method,’’ and those
on large bearings by the ‘‘chronometer method.”’
This combined procedure has been advocated by
several writers, especially by Capt. Blackburne, who
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
undertook the, immense labour of computing; tables” 5
specially adapted for the purpose. The main objec- |
tion to it is that the procedure is not uniform) for all —
sights.
A much better method of drawing the Sumner ijk 5:
than any of the above, and one which seems destined
to replace all others, being now in extensive use.
navigators of all nations and recognised - as the
standard method in the Royal Navy, is known as the — .
tion.’”’ It consists in assuming a dead-reck
Marcq Saint-Hilaire method, or the ‘‘new cong
position in both latitude and. longitude, a
finding how much the observed zenith-distance of ay
heavenly body differs from that calculated on the
assumption that the dead-reckoning position was cor-
rect. The difference between the observed and ecal-
culated zenith-distances is laid off from the assumed
position in a direction to or from the observed object
(according as the observed zenith-distance is less or
greater than the calculated one), and the position-line
is then drawn through the point so found at ri it
angles to the bearing. The great advantage of thi
method is that it is perfectly general; it gives equally
good results whatever the bearing of the object
sighted.
Though called the ‘“‘new navigation,” the Marcq
Saint-Hilaire method of drawing the Sumner lines
is by no means a recent invention, having been used:
in the ‘French Navy for more than forty years. Its
advantages were advocated so long a ago as 1888 by
that indefatigable worker for the advancement of
navigation, the Rev. William Hall, R.N., and have
since been frequently pointed out by other Eng-
lish writers on navigation. Its superiority over all
other methods for drawing the Sumner lines or
position-lines being indubitable, there is a
difficulty in understanding its comparative neglect by
British navigators up to recent times. One reason,
no doubt, is conservatism; the British seaman
usually prefers to use time-honoured methods with —
which he is familiar rather than to adopt new-fangled
notions, and fears to risk his ship by the possibility
of making a mistake in a process with which he has
not been made acquainted during his early training.
Another reason which operated powerfully until
within the last twenty years or so was the absence
of any tables for facilitating the calculation of alti-
tudes comparable in scope with the tables of Davis
and Burdwood, which so greatly
reduction of sights by the Bydie cn method.”
This last difficulty was removed by the publication of
the excellent ‘‘ Altitude Tables ”’ a my namesake, the
Rev. F. Ball, M.A., of the Royal Navy, and at the
present time it is just as simple a matter to work
out sights by the ‘‘new navigation,’’ with the aid of
these tables, as it was to work the old ‘*‘ chronometer
method ’’ with the help of Burdwood and Davis.
Until within the last decade it was seldom worth
while to attempt to fix a. ship’s position at sea
within a mile or two, because so long as the longi-
tude, whether found by Sumner lines or by any other
method, was dependent entirely on the Greenwich
time as found by the transport of chronometers over
long distances, it was usually impossible to be sure
of the longitude within that amount, no matter how
accurately star observations were made. This diffi-
culty affected the hydrographic surveyor as well as the
navigator; and, indeed, it provides the explanation
why so many charted longitudes—down the Red Sea,
for instance—are in error by a mile or more. But
nowadays, when wireless time-signals enable the error
of a ship’s chronometer to be found daily with an
accuracy of a few tenths of a second anywhere on the
seas, there is no reason why the longitude should
little |
helped in the rapid
——
ee Se | Lee MES ae
eS ee
.AucusT 26, 1920]
NATURE
807
ever be uncertain by so much as the tenth of a mile,
provided only that sights can be taken with a corre-
‘sponding degree of accuracy. Thus the advent of
wireless idlegraphy, by removing at one stroke the
‘most serious of all pre-existing limitations to pre-
cision in the results, has made it worth while. to
improve the methods of position-finding at sea.
Simultaneously progress has been made in the con-
struction of charts and instruments adapted for
navigation, giving to the navigator another stimulus
towards attaining that refinement of method by
which alone he may hope to steer his ship from port
to port not only in safety, but also with that economy
of time and fuel which is demanded by modern
competition.
As regards the number of position-lines required
to determine a ship’s position, it is obvious that if
only two sights are taken, no matter how favourable
the angle at which the position-lines cut each other,
the position found will be correct only if the observa-
tions are free from instrumental and other errors,
and if dip and refraction are correctly allowed for.
With only two sights a large unknown centring error
in the sextant employed, or abnormal refraction, or
a mistake in one of the sights, may render the position
found quite false, and there is no means of detecting
the error. If the two sights are not simultaneous
or nearly so, there will, of course, be an added un-
certainty in the position due to the difficulty in
accurately éstimating the ship’s run in the interval.
If three sights are taken constant errors can be
eliminated, but accidental errors cannot be readily
detécted. If four sights are taken, however, as nearly
as possible simultaneously, on bearings differing by
approximately 90°, not only will a constant error of
even two or three minutes in the measured altitudes,
or in the allowance for dip, be without influence on
the accuracy of the result, but if a mistake has been
made in one of the sights the fact can readily be
detected. This is a powerful argument for making
the astronomical determination of a ship’s position
: , whenever possible, on at least four Sumner
lines or position-lines deduced from observations of
four stars differing by approximately 90° in bearing.
It can easily be proved geometrically that when
the altitudes of three or more stars have been equally
accurately observed, the most probable position is the
centre of that circle which most nearly touches all
the position-lines, and in which the directions of the
stars from the points of contact are either all towards
or all away from the centre; also, that the radius
of the circle gives the amount of any constant error
in the observed altitudes, whether due to errors of
the sextant employed or to error in the assumed dip
of the horizon or refraction. If with more than three
sights no circle can be drawn satisfying the condition
of approximately touching all the position-lines, while
at the same time having the star-directions from the
points of contact pointing either all towards or
all away from its centre, then it is certain that
a mistake has occurred in one or more of the observa-
tions; either an altitude or a time has been wrongly
recorded or one of the stars wrongly identified, or
else there has been a mistake in the calculation for
one or more of the sights.
The importance of considering the directions of
the stars, as well as the position-lines themselves, is
well illustrated by reference to the first of the
examples given by Capt. Tizard. If the non-inter-
section of the three position-lines in his Fig. 1 is
due to a constant error in all the altitudes, caused
either by instrumental error or by error in the tabular
allowance for dip or refraction (as will usually be the
case in sights taken by a practised observer), then
NO, 2652, VOL. 105]
the true position is not, as might at first be thought,
within the little triangle formed by the crossing of the
lines, but outside it; and the true longitude is not
145° 4’, as Capt. Tizard concludes, but 145° 5’. For,
as will be seen by Fig. 1, on which I have indicated
the star-directions by arrows, no other circle than the
one shown can be described so as to touch all
three position-lines, while the three star-directions
from the points of contact point either all towards or
all away from its centre.
So great is the importance of accuracy in the fixing
of the ship’s position at sea in modern navigation,
and so well is the “new navigation’’ with four
position-lines crossing at about go° adapted to secure
-this accuracy, that at the recent Intérnational Hydro-
graphic Conference in London it was proposed by an
eminent authority, Comdr. Alessio, of the Royal
Italian Navy, that it would be desirable for the con-
ference to prescribe as a fundamental rule of naviga-
tion that ‘‘the normal astronomical determination of
a ship at sea must be made with the method of four
Sumner lines by observing four stars the position-
lines of which cut at approximately go0°.’’ It was
decided that the prescribing of rules for navigation
did not fall within the scope of the 1919 Conference,
145° 10’
N
9 us
So) and
; ye c ‘
1’ 40’ y pint n° 40’
5
s
Ie §
8
tron 11°##' S.
os 145 6 E.
11°50’ eae 11°50’
xs
Wea
>
145° 10’
FIG. 1.
and consequently the matter was not further dis-
cussed. But there can be no doubt that if navigators
of all nations could be persuaded to follow so excel-
lent a rule as that suggested by Comdr. Alessio, it
would add greatly to the safety of shipping. The
method is so simple, and affords such security against
error, that if it were once systematically taught in
schools of navigation and included in the Board of
Trade requirements for masters’ certificates, it would
probably by its own merits displace all other processes
for fixing positions at sea under normal conditions.
It would, of course, still be advisable to retain the
ordinary meridian or ex-meridian sights for latitude
and the morning or afternoon sights for longitude as
a stand-by against the possibility of clouds or fog
interfering with the twilight observations of stars,
but whenever the suggested rule could possibly be
followed it could be trusted to give far more accurate
results than any observations of the sun.
A word may perhaps be added as to the manner of
calculating the altitudes in the ‘‘new navigation.’
Comdr. Alessio (Report of the International Hydro-
graphic Conference, London, 1919, p. 230) recom-
mends logarithmic calculation with five-place tables,
808
NATURE
/
[Aucusr 26, 1920
using a formula which permits of a ready check.
This only takes about five minutes for each sight,
and is, no doubt, the best way; in fact, it is the
only safe way where a very considerable degree of
precision is aimed at. But most navigators prefer to
avoid computation so far as possible by the use of
tables, and in ordinary circumstances the altitude
tables used in the Royal Navy will give sufficiently
accurate results. The great defect of the tabular
method is that one has to round off the dead-
reckoning latitude to the nearest degree for the
assumed position in order to enter the tables, and
consequently the position-lines may extend over so
great a distance on the chart that their curvature
cannot properly be neglected. With logarithmic
calculation, on the other hand, the actual dead-
reckoning position can be taken as the assumed
position, and the position-lines will then be so short
that their curvature can be neglected without any per-
ceptible loss of accuracy. ;
It may not be out of place to remark in conclusion
that the utility of the Sumner line or position-line
principle is not confined to position-fixing with a
seytant at sea. I have shown in two recently pub-
lished papers (‘Notes on the Working of the New
Navigation,’’ Cairo, 1918, and ‘‘The Prismatic Astro-
labe,’? Geographical Journal, July; 1919, p. 37) that
the ‘“‘new navigation ’’ is capable of useful applica-
tion on land in conjunction with theodolite observa-
tions and wireless time-signals, and that determina-
tions of geographical position of very considerable
accuracy may be made in this way. The method has
since been put into practice by Dr. Hamilton Rice on
exploratory land surveys in South America, (see the
Geographical Journal for July, p. 59) with ‘satisfac-
tory results. Joun’ Batt.
Survey of Egypt, Cairo, July 24.
Relativity and Hyperbolic Space.
OBSERVATION. tells us that while gravitation
dominates the history of a lump of matter moving in
the vast ocean of free zther, it has practically no
effect on the history of a pulse of light in similar
circumstances. . Since last mail I have investigated
the bearings of space being hyperbolic on light-rays.
The central-projection map of the space, used
before, in which r=tanh ©, where 7 is the radius
vector of the map and Re the radius vector in the
space, will be called a gnomonic map; planes are.
mapped as planes. If the projection used be given
by r=2 tanh 40, the map will be called stereographic ;
small regions are mapped in correct shape, spheres
and: planes as spheres, and the two sheets of
a pseudo-sphere as two spheres intersecting and
‘making equal angles with the sphere. repre-
senting the median plane, in a circle lying on the
absolute, r=2. (A pseudo-sphere is the locus of a
point at a given distance from a given plane, called
its median plane. The characteristic of the map-
sphere which represents a plane is that, it cuts the
absolute r=2 orthogonally.) A point (x, y, 2) on the
gnomonic map becomes [x/(1+47r’), y/(1+4,1’),
z/(1+4r’)] on the stereographic map,
The behaviour of a ray of light is fully described
by saying that its path on the gnomonic map may
be’ put in the form x*/a?+y?=1, where a is less
than 1, and that the eccentric angle is t/R, where t is
co-ordinate time. This ellipse really represents the
two branches of a pseudo-circle; the ray goes out
-to infinity (in the space) along one branch and returns®| °
along the other, the complete circuit having the
period 27R. The median line of the pseudo-circle
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
‘advisable to call them both ‘anticyclones.
passes through the origin—that is, through the. a
observer.
If from a given point rays start in all directions ; ‘
: For a finite time
before ¢ attains the value of a quarter-period, 4¢R,
there will be a definite wave-front.-
this front will form the single sheet of a true sphere
the centre of which recedes to infinity, whereupon
front develops the two sheets of a oeudo-epheee aie =)
one proceeding in the same direction as before, and
the other, together with the median plane, returning _
from infinity, having been reflected back by the
absolute.
just reached the origin, and the reflected
chasing both the other sheet and the median plane —
back on the way to infinity. In the next quarter-
period these motions are reversed in order of time, in —
direction of motion, and in position relative to the
origin. At the time t=7R the front has contracted
down to a point focus situated on the opposite side
of the origin from the radiant point at a pe po :
equal to that of the point. At the time t=2r
original circumstances recur, and everything is about
to be repeated. A ray always moves normal to th
front, although the centre of the true sphere
the median plane of the pseudo-sphere themselves
move from and to infinity in a finite time. A
All these motions can be exactly imitated in’
Let, at a given point in such a —
Euclidean space.
space, the velocity of light be 1+7r7/4R?, the same in
all directions, and let the sphere r=2R be a perfect
reflector. Then light will in this medium behave
exactly as does the light in the stereographic map
(when the scale of that map is increased in the ratio
of R to 1). Indeed, this seems the easiest method to
get the differential equatidn of the path of a point
in the hyperbolic space, for which f dt is stationary. —
I may remark, however, that when the equation is
obtained, later work is much simplified by changing
the dependent to a form corresponding to th
gnomonic map. igo arate cig eee
In the stereographic map the rays after an even
number of reflections, by the absolute, form a syste
of coaxial circles through the radiant point aud Geek
point on the opposite side of the origin which is
Inverse to the sphere r=2. (For radiant point let
o=x—a=y=z. Then for the second point mentioned
it is meant that o=x+4/a=y=s. Ordinary inverse
point would be o=x-—4/a=y=z.) After an odd
number of reflections they are similarly related to the
focus mentioned above.
cutting these coaxial circles orthogonally. =~
Ce Avex. McAutay.
University of Tasmania, June to. ett
The Antarctic Anticyclone. ce
In Nature for August 5 Mr. R. F. T. Grdtigier
remarks: ‘‘The same conditions, i.e. the surface out-
flow and the central descent of ‘air, exist in Prof.
Hobbs’s polar ice-cap anticyclone; the only difference
is the physical origin.” uae pte ( oh
In the case of the ice-cap there are other differences
as well; the temperature is lower in the case of an
ice-cap than in an anticyclone. The ice-cap conditions
which ‘resemble those of an anticyclone are, as Mr.
Granger says, ‘surface outflow and the central
descent of air.’”” The differences are low temperature,
low pressure, and different physical origin. My
suggestion was that these differences made it in-
Be es ; . M. DEE Ley.
Tintagel, Kew Gardens Road,’ Surrey, Yaa
; August 18) 7 2: eet
Sie
By the time t=47R the median plane has
rt a
Ee Te EN
The fronts are the spheres:
Avucust 26, 1920}
NATURE
809
A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.
By Ropert H. Gopparp, Professor of Physics, Clark College, Worcester, Mass.
BE is the purpose of the present article to state
‘the general principles and possibilities of the
method of reaching great altitudes with multiple
charge rockets, from which the exploded gases
are ejected with high efficiency.
Fundamental Principle.
The basic idea of the method, briefly stated in
general terms, is this: Given a mass of explosive
material of as great energy content as possible,
what height can be reached if a large fraction of
this material is shot downwards, on exploding,
with as high a speed as possible? It is evident,
intuitively, that the height will be great if the
fraction of material that remains is small and
the velocity of ejection of the gases is high.
_A theoretical treatment of the subject shows
that, provided the speed of ejection of the gases
is high, and the proportion of propellant is large,
. the initial masses necessary to raise a given mass |
to great heights are surprisingly small, but are |
enormously large if these conditions are not
satisfied.
_ Principles to be Applied in Practice.
(1). In order to apply practically the general
principle above stated, there are three conditions
that must be realised experimentally: First, the
gases produced by the explosion must be ejected
‘downwards with the greatest efficiency possible.
This requirement must be met by burning the
explosive in a strong combustion chamber, to
which a tapered nozzle is attached, in order to
obtain the work of expansion of the gases.
The apparatus used in the first experiments is
shown in Fig. 1, in which P is the charge of
dense smokeless powder, and B is the wadding.
Three steel plugs were used, to vary the size of
the powder chamber. The velocity of the gases
highest velocity being nearly 8000 ft.-sec., pro-
duced by the chamber shown in Fig. 2, whereas
Fic, 2.—Chamber by which ejec ed gases were given a velocity of
nearly 8000 ft. per sec.
for ordinary rockets the velocity is but 1000 ft.-
sec. Incidentally, the energy of motion of the
gases in the case under discus-
sion is more than 64 per cent. of
the heat energy of the powder,
whereas for ordinary rockets the
efficiency thus defined is but 2
per cent.
An interesting way of empha-
iW
mo || 1m
XN
@)
Fic. 1.—Chamber used in early experiments.
was measured by supporting the chamber in a
ballistic pendulum, and observing the motion of
the recoil.
It was found, by experiment, that the energy
of motion of the ejected gases as compared with
the heat energy of the powder could be increased
very greatly over that for ordinary rockets, the
NO, 2652, VOL. 105 |
B
5
® @p—
W = sising the magnitude of the velo-
city, 8000 ft.-sec., is to compare
it with the “velocity of
escape,” or the “parabolic
velocity” of planets. This
welocity of escape is the velo-
city a body would require, pro-
jected upwards from a planet, in order to escape
to infinity, and is a perfectly definite velocity,
depending only upon the mass and diameter of
the planet. For the moon the velocity is 1-5
miles per second, and for the planet Mars 3-0
miles per second. Thus if the chamber shown in
Fig. 2 were placed upon the surface of the moon
$10
NATURE
[AucusT 26, 1920
and fired, most of the gases would escape from
the moon’s attraction. The highest velocity gases
would without doubt (since 8000 ft.-sec. is only
the average velocity) escape from Mars, if the
planet had no atmosphere.
It should be remarked that, as shown by exper!i-
mental results, the best form of nozzle has not
yet been made, so that even 8000 ft.-sec. can be
exceeded by further research.
(2) The heavy chamber, as mentioned above,
while permitting high velocities of the ejected
gases to be obtained, would be an actual disad-
vantage if a single charge were to be fired,
%.
LOS,
oa
Fic. 3.—Chamber held in a support to test influence of air upon
the propulsion_of-a rocket.
because of the large weight. It is necessary, then,
that some means should be employed whereby
charges may be fed successively into the same
combustion chamber. If this is done it is evident
that most of the rocket can consist of propellant,
which is one of the conditions necessary for the
attainment of great altitudes.
(3) When the magazine containing the charges
just mentioned is nearly empty, it is easily seen
that the propellant is no longer a large fraction
of the entire mass of the apparatus. Hence, in
order that the fraction shall remain large, it is
NO, 2652, VOL. 105]
necessary that one or more rockets, really copies
in miniature of the larger primary rocket, should
be used if the most extreme altitudes are to be
reached, in order that the above fraction will, at
no time during the ascent, . become small.
Summary of Results to Date.
The theoretical work, done at Princeton
University in 1912, was not followed by experi-
mental tests until 1915, at Clark University. The
work has since been continued at Clark Uni-
versity, in the magnetic laboratory at the
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and at the
Fic. 4.—Pipe into which chamber was fired to a tank exhausted to alow
pressure, the gases ‘moving in a circular path until st spped by friction.
Mount Wilson Observatory in California—for the
greater part of the time under a grant from the
Smithsonian Institution.
The results of this work have shown, first, that
most of the heat energy of even so powerful a
propellant as dense _ nitroglycerine smokeless
powder can be converted into kinetic energy of
the ejected gases. They have demonstrated,
secondly, that a multiple charge rocket can be
made which will fire several charges in succession,
is light and simple, and travels straight.
In order to demonstrate whether or not the
rocket depended for propulsion upon the presence
AucustT 26, 1920]
NATURE
Sri
. é . . |
of air, a large number of experiments were per-
formed in which the chamber, Fig. 1, was held
in a support, Fig. 3, and fired in a 3-in. pipe, P,
on a large tank, Fig. 4, exhausted to a low
pressure. These experiments demonstrated that
the presence of the air was not necessary for
reaction and that the recoil is produced by re-
action from the high-velocity gases that are
ejected. The operation of the jet in vacuo need
not appear mysterious if one thinks of the ejected
gases as a charge of fine shot moving with a
very high velocity. Obviously the chamber will
react, or “kick,” when this charge is fired,
a ‘ing lid %
="
'
@
a;
bs
é
4
Fic: 5.—Tank in which the gases struck a coil of w.re-fencing.
exactly as a shot-gun “kicks” when firing a
charge of ordinary shot.
The gases were prevented from rebounding
from the bottom of the tank, Fig. 4, by the form
of the tank, the gases moving in a circular path
until stopped by friction. Another tank, Fig. 5,
was also. used, in which rebound was prevented
by the gases striking a large coil ‘of 4-in. mesh
wire-fencing. The results with both tanks
agreed down to the lowest pressure employed,
0-5 mm. of mercury, which is’ probably the
pressure that exists at a height of thirty
miles.
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
_ The figures given in the Smithsonian publica-
tion regarding the initial masses necessary to
propel 1 lb. to various heights, such as 12-3 Ib.
for 430 miles, and 438 lb. for an “infinite”
altitude (for the most favourable conditions, in so
far as they are set forth in that publication), do
not assume a larger velocity of ejection of the
gases than has been obtained experimentally, but
do assume a greater lightness than has so far
been obtained. No attempt has, however, been
made to reduce any part of the apparatus to the
minimum weight possible, and it is believed that
with further research such lightness as is assumed
is realisable.
At the present time, the work that is being
done is the developing of a rocket, of small size,
for employing a large number of cartridges,. or
charges, and this is being done on the remainder
of the original grant from the Smithsonian
Institution.
Application of. the Method.
The most important of the immediate applica-
tions of the method is in the providing of a simple
and, when sufficiently developed, inexpensive
means of obtaining meteorological data at the
10-kilometre level. It is well recognised that this
is the most important level for studying pressure,
temperature, humidity, and wind velocity; and
any means of sending recording instruments
rapidly into this region, and of obtaining data
soon after the ascent has been made, is certain
to be of value in weather forecasting.
At greater elevations the study of temperature,
pressure, wind velocity, and composition of the
atmosphere is of scientific importance, and also the
study of the aurora, during the day as well as at
night, and the radiations from the sun that are
otherwise absorbed by the atmosphere.
A further application of much general interest
is the possibility of sending a mass beyond the
predominating gravitational field of the earth.
Concerning the possibility of demonstrating this
point by hitting the moon with a rocket, it can
be said, apart from the questions of aiming and
of correcting the flight, that the ignition of but
a few pounds of flash powder should be visible
in a powerful telescope, provided, of course, that
the conditions of ignition were substantially the
same as those in certaim experiments described
in a recent Smithsonian publication, in which
1/20 of a grain fired in vacuo was observed at a
distance of 2} miles.
Regarding these questions, as well as others
which naturally follow, the writer believes that
detailed discussion, before one has checked up
matters completely by experiment, is unwise, for
this merely precipitates a flood of useless argu-
ment, to which reply, in some form, must be
made. The ideal method, which unfortunately
is not always possible, is to solve a problem
completely, as was done with the tests of the jet
iw vacuo, and then to state the results.
$12
NATURE
[AuGusT 26, 1920
New Aspects in the Assessment of Physical Fitness.
By Dr. F. G. Hopson, Department of Pathology, University of Oxford.
A Physician in a great city seems to.be the mere
plaything of Fortune; his degree of reputation ts for —
the most part casual; they that employ him know not
h¥s excellence; they that reject him know not hts
deficience.—SAMUEL JOHNSON.
HESS words might, with truth, have been
written of Dr. John Hutchinson, one time
physician to the Brompton Hospital for Diseases —
of the Chest. His earlier years devoted to the
study of engineering, he later turned. to medicine,
and carried with him into his profession that
enthusiasm for the accurate expression of scien-
tific data which must have been engendered by
his early training. In 1846 he published a paper
“On the Capacity of the Lungs and on the Re-
spiratory Functions” (1)!, in which he showed
that he possessed the inspiration which is ever
the mark of true genius, combined with the ability
for accurate observation and-the patient collection
of data. He made the earliest investigations into
the physiological effects of ‘forced breathing” ;
by means of a mercurial manometer he examined
“expiratory force”; but interest lies for the
special ends of the present subject in the exten-
sive series of observations which he made upon
the “vital capacity’? of more than 3000 persons
covering a wide range of body size, occupation,
and mode of life.
Dr. Hutchinson claimed that he had shown that
“vital capacity” increases in simple arithmetical
progression with increasing height, and believed
that he had disproved any relationship between
“vital capacity” and body weight, trunk length,
or circumference of the chest. The fact that his
conclusions might be open to criticism, and that
the fundamental principles underlying his investi-
gation might yet have eluded his grasp, was
present in his mind, and he concluded his treatise
with the following remarkable sentences, which
could well be taken as a model by any scientific
worker :—
The matter of this communication is founded upon
a vast number of facts—immutable truths which are
infinitely beyond my comprehension. The deductions
which I have ventured to draw therefrom I wish to
advance with modesty, because time, with its muta-
tions, may so unfold science as to crush these deduc-
tions and demonstrate them as unsound.
Nevertheless, the facts themselves can never alter
nor deviate in their bearing upon respiration, one of
the most important functions of the animal economy.
This prediction has, with the passage of time,
been fulfilled.
Prof. G. Dreyer, of Oxford University, has
made an extensive re-investigation of the whole
subject, drawing upon Hutchinson’s data as well
as upon his own records. In a brilliant analysis
Fic figures in brackets refer to the Bibliography at the end of the
article.
2 The term ‘‘ vital capacity ” is used to indicate the maximum amount of
air the individual is able to expel from his lungs, by voluntary effort; after |
the deepest possible inspiration.
NO, 2652, VOL. 105]
of this considerable body of observations, he ie
conclusively proved the existence of physiological
laws which escaped the mind of the pioneer
Hutchinson... On practically every point do these
reached by
laws refute the conclusions
Hutchinson.
Prof. Dreyer (2) has shown that definite rela-
tionships do exist between “vital capacity” and
body surface, body weight, trunk length, and —
the circumference of the chest, while no true re-
lationship can be traced when “vital capacity”
is regarded as a simple function of the standing |
height, as claimed by Hutchinson. <a
Hutchinson’s misconception of the facts may be —
attributed in part to faulty mathematical analysis,
in part to the fact that his observations were
made upon subjects covering an insufficiently wide _
range of weight and size. It is obvious that
physiological laws, if such exist, must be applic-
able over the entire period of growth of the indi-
vidual, and must be inadequate if they can be
established only over a limited range of varia-
tions of sex, age, stature, body weight, etc.
‘The scientific world is now familiar with the
conception that certain physical, physiological, and
anatomical attributes of the living organism are
functions of the surface, and not of the volume,
of that organism. Heat loss offers possibly the
most familiar example, being relatively greater
for the small body than for the large, by virtue
of the relatively greater surface area
by the small body for a given volume. gS
How can the surface of an animal be deter-
mined? It is simply necessary in this brief article
to state that the surface can be determined in-
directly from the body weight, of which it is a —
constant function. . For justification of this pro-
cedure reference should be made to the original
articles which describe the methods by which this
relationship was determined (3 and 4).
Prof. Dreyer has in recent years shown that
the blood volume (4), the cross-section of the
aorta (5), and the cross-sectign of the trachea (6).
are “surface functions” of the warm-blooded:
mammals, and not simply related to the body
weight, as has often been maintained. It comes,
therefore, as no surprise when he finds that “vital
capacity ” is also a “surface function,” since this
must represent, in one direction, the limit of the
capacity possessed by the organism for oxygenat-
ing its blood and discharging the waste products
of its metabolism, and consequently be a physio-
logical expression of one most important aspect
of respiration, It follows that this measurement
gives us an index of the “vitality” of the or-
ganism, i.e. its ability to meet the various strains
and stresses of its life.
If the “vital capacity” is a “surface function,”
there is the further difficulty to be faced: What
(Continued on p. 829.)
presented —
re ee
Ls
ae ee
of distinguished members of the Association lost to
science during the preceding year. These, for the
most part, have been men of advanced years and high
: reputation who had completed their life-work and
served well in their day the Association and the
~
also. ‘
;
carey
sciences which it represents. Such are our late
general treasurer, Prof. Perry, and our past-president,
ir Norman Lockyer, of whom the. retiring president
has just spoken. We have this year no other such
losses to record; but it seems fitting on the present
- occasion to pause for a moment. and devote a
grateful thought to that glorious band of fine young
men of high promise in science who, in the years
Since our Australian meeting in 1914, gave, it may
be, in brief days and months of sacrifice, greater
service to humanity and the advance of civilisation
than would have been possible in years of normal time
and work. A few names stand out already known
and highly honoured—Moseley, Jenkinson, Geoffrey
Smith, Keith Lucas, Gregory, and more recently
Leonard
Doncaster—all grievous losses; but there are
unger members of our Association, who
hhad not yet had opportunity for showing accomplished
n
- work, but who equally gave up all for a great ideal.
I
- to offer a collective rather than an individual
e. Other young men of science will arise and
on their work, but the gap in our ranks
is. Let their successors remember that it serves
; a reminder of a great example and of high en-
savour worthy of our gratitude and of permanent
cord in the annals of science.
AE the last Cardiff meeting of the British Associa-
tion in 1891 you had as your president the eminent
pr ii Sit William Huggins, who discoursed
_ upon the then recent discoveries of the spectroscope in
relation to the chemical nature, density, temperature,
pressure, and even the motions of the stars. From
the sky to the sea is a long drop, but the sciences of
both have this in common: that they deal with funda-
mental principles and with vast numbers. More than
three hundred years ago Spenser in the ‘‘ Faerie
” compared ‘‘the seas abundant progeny ”’
with ‘tthe starres on hy,’ and recent investigations
show that a litre of sea-water may contain more than
a hundred times as many living organisms as there are
stars visible to the eye on a clear night.
- During the past quarter of a century great advances
have been made in the science of the sea, and the
aspects and prospects of sea-fisheries research have
undergone changes which encourage the hope that a
combination of the work now carried on by hydro-
graphers and biologists in most civilised countries on
fundamental problems of the ocean may result in a
more rational exploitation and administration of the
fishing industries c
And yet even at your former Cardiff meeting thirty
years ago there were at least three papers of oceano-
graphic interest—one by Prof. Osborne Reynolds on
the action of waves and currents, another by Dr.
H. R. Mill on. seasonal variation in. the temperature
of lochs and estuaries, and the third by our honorary
local secretary for the present meeting, Dr. Evans
Hovle, on a deep-sea tow-net capable of being opened
and closed under water by the electric current.
‘It was a notable meeting in several other respects,
* Presidental address delivered at the Cardiff meeting of the British
Association on August 24. ” ;
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
_. AucusT 26, 1920] NATURE 813
ae gates 24
rod oe
oy Oceanography and the Sea-Fisheries.*
4 By WILLIAM A. HERDMAN, C.B.E., D.Sc., Sc.D., LL.D., F.R.S.,
2 ak Professor of Oceanography in the University of Liverpool, President.
] fas been customary, .when occasion required, for | of which I shall merely mention two. In Section A
| the president to offer a brief tribute to the memory
Sir Oliver Lodge gave the historic address in which
he expounded the urgent need, in the interests of both
science and the industries, of a national institution
for the promotion of physical research on a large scale.
Lodge’s pregnant idea put forward at this Cardiff
meeting, supported and still further elaborated by Sir
Douglas Galton as president of the Association at
Ipswich, has since borne notable fruit in the estab-
lishment and rapid development of the National
Physical Laboratory. The other outstanding event of
that meeting is that you then appointed a committee
of eminent geologists and naturalists to consider a
project for boring through a coral reef, and that led
during following years to the successive expeditions to
the atoll of Funafuti, in the Central Pacific, the results
of which, reported upon eventually by the Royal
Society, were of great interest alike to geologists,
biologists, and oceanographers.
Dr. Huggins, on taking the chair in 1891, remarked
that it was more than thirty years since the Associa-
tion had honoured astronomy in the selection of its
president. It might be said that the case of oceano-
graphy is harder, as the Association has never had
an oceanographer as president; and the Association
might well reply, “Because until very recent years
there has been no oceanographer to have.” If astro-’
nomy is the oldest of the sciences, oceanography is:
probably the youngest. Depending as it does upon
the methods and results of other sciences, it was not.
until our knowledge of physics, chemistry, and biology
was relatively far advanced that it became possible:
to apply that knowledge to the investigation and’
explanation of the phenomena of the ocean. No one
man has done more to apply such knowledgé derived
from various other subjects and to organise the results.
as a definite branch of science than the late Sir John
Murray, who may therefore be regarded as the founder
of modern oceanography.
It is to me a matter of regret that Sir John Murray
was never president of the British Association. I am.
revealing no_ secret when I tell you’ that he might
have been. On more than oné occasion he was invited
by the council to accept nomination, and he declined
for reasons that wére good and commanded our
respect. He felt that the necessary duties of this post
would interfere with what he regarded as his primary
life-work — oceanographical explorations already
planned, and the last of which he actually carried
out in the North Atlantic in 1912, when above seventy
years of age, in the Norwegian steamer Michael Sars
along with his friend Dr. Johan Hort. can
Anyone considering the subject-matter of this new
science must be struck by its wide range, overlapping
as it does the borderlands of several other’ sciences
and making use of their methods and facts’ in the
solution of its problems. It is not only world-wide
in its scope, but it also extends beyond our globe, and
includes astronomical data in their relation to tidal
and certain other oceanographical phenomena. No
man ip his work, or even thought, can attempt to
cover the whole ground, although Sir John Murray,
in his remarkably comprehensive ‘* Summary ” volumes
of the Challenger Expedition and other writings, went
far towards doing so. He, in his combination of
physicist, chemist, geologist, and biologist, was
the nearest approach we have had to an all-round
oceanographer. The International Research Council
probably acted wisely at the recent Brussels Confer-
814
NATURE
[AucusT 26, 1920 :
aud.
ence in recommending the institution of two Inter-
national Sections in our subject, one of physical and
the other of biological oceanography, although the
two overlap and are so interdependent that no inves-
tigator on one side can afford to neglect the other.’
On the present occasion I must restrict myself
almost wholly to the latter division of the subject,
and be content, after brief reference to the founders
and pioneers of our science, to outline a few of those
investigations and problems which have appeared to
me to be of fundamental importance, of economic
value, or of general interest,
Although the name ‘ oceanography ”’ was only given
to this branch of science by Sir John Murray in 1880,
and although, according to that veteran oceanographer
Mr. J. Y. Buchanan, the last surviving member of
the civilian staff of the Challenger, the science of
oceanography was born at sea on February 15, 1873,”
when at the first official dredging station of the
expedition, to the westward of Teneriffe, at 1525
fathoms, phe’ drongy | that came up in the dredge was
new, and led to fundamental discoveries as to the
deposits forming on the floor of the ocean, still it
may be claimed that the foundations of the science
were laid by various explorers of the ocean at much
earlier dates. Aristotle, who took all knowledge for
his province, was an early oceanographer on the shores
of Asia Minor. When Pytheas passed between the
Pillars of Hercules into the unknown Atlantic and
penetrated to British seas in the fourth century B.c.,
and brought back reports of Ultima Thule and of a
sea to the north thick and sluggish like a jellyfish,
he may have been recording an early planktonic
observation. But passing over all such and many
other early records of phenomena of the sea, we
come to surer ground in claiming as founders of
oceanography Count Marsili, an early investigator of
the Mediterranean, and that truly scientific navigator
Capt. James Cook, who sailed to the South Pacific
on a Transit of Venus expedition in 1769, with Sir
Joseph Banks as naturalist, and by afterwards cir-
cumnavigating the South Sea about latitude 60°
finally disproved the existence of a great southern
continent; and Sir James Clark Ross, who, with Sir
Joseph Hooker as naturalist, first dredged the
Antarctic in 1840.
The use of the naturalist’s dredge (introduced by
O. F. Miiller, the Dane, in 1799) for exploring the
sea-bottom was brought into prominence almost
simultaneously in several countries of North-West
Europe—by Henri Milne-Edwards in France in 1830,
by Michael Sars in Norway in 1835, and by our own
Edward Forbes about 1832.
The last-mentioned genial and many-sided genius
was a notable figure in several sections of the British
Association from about 1836 onwards, and may fairly
be claimed as a pioneer of oceanography. In 1839
he and his friend the anatomist, John Goodsir, were
dredging in the Shetland seas, with results which
Forbes made known to the meeting of the British
Association at Birmingham that summer, with such
1 The following classification of the primary divisions of the subject m
possibly be found acceptable :-- " 4 Liane se!
hiiar ionic
|
Coomneraper Geography
Be .
Avdrography Metabolism Bionomics Tidology
(Physics, etc.) (Biochemistry) (Biology) (Mathematics)
2 Others might put the date later. Significant publications are Sir John
Murray's Summary Volumes of the Challenger (1895), the inauguration of
the Musée Océanographique at Monaco in rgro, the foundation of the
Institut Océanographique at Paris in 1906 (see the Prince of Monaco’s letter
to the Minister of Public Instruction), and Sir John Murray’s little book
The Ocean” (1913), where the superiority of the term ** oceanography ”
to ‘‘thalassography” (used by Alexander Agassiz) is discussed.
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
‘other naturalists of the pre-Challenger days—all these
good effect that a ‘‘Dredging Committee’’* of the ~
Association was formed to continue the good work.
Valuable reports on the discoveries of that committee
appear in our volumes at intervals during the —
lowing twenty-five years.
It has happened over and over again in histor
that the British Association, by means of one of
research committees, has led the way in some im-
portant new research or development of science, and
shown the Government or an industry what wants —
doing and how it can be done. We may fairly claim
that the British Association has inspired and fostered
that exploration of British seas which through marine _
biological investigations and deep-sea expeditions has
led on to modern oceanography. Edward Forbes and
the British Association Dredging Committee, Wyville
Thomson, Carpenter, Gwyn Jeffreys, Norman, and
~~
7
men in the quarter-century from 1840 onwards worked __
under research committees of the British wv ee
bringing their results before successive meetings; and
some of our older volumes enshrine classic report
on dredging by Forbes, McAndrew, Norman, Beady,
Alder, and other notable naturalists of that day.
These local researches paved the way for the Chal- —
lenger and other national deep-sea expeditions. Here,
as in other cases, it required private-enterprise to
precede and stimulate Government action, = = =
It is probable that Forbes and his fellow-workers
on this ‘‘Dredging Committee’’ in their marine _—
explorations did not fully realise that they were .
opening up a most comprehensive and important a
department of knowledge. But it is also true that in
all his expeditions—in the British seas from the
Channel Islands to the Shetlands, in Norway, and in
the Mediterranean as far as the Aigean Sea—his broad |
outlook on the problems of Nature was that of the
modern oceanographer, and he was the spiritual
ancestor of men like Sir Wyville Thomson, of the —
Challenger Expedition, and Sir John Murray, whose
accidental death a few years ago, whilst still in the
midst of active work, was a grievous loss to this
new and rapidly advancing science of the sea.
Forbes in these marine investigations worked at |
border-line problems, dealing, for example, with the.
relations of geology to zoology and the effect of the
past history of the lard and sea upon the distribution
of plants and animals at the present day, and in these
respects he was an early oceanographer. For the
essence of that new subject is that it also investigates
border-line problems, and is based upon and makes
use of all the older fundamental sciences—physics,
chemistry, and biology—and shows, for example, how
variations in the great ocean-currents may account for
the movements and abundance of the migratory fishes,
and how periodic changes in the physico-chemical
characters of the sea, such as variations in the
hydrogen-ion and hydroxyl-ion concentration, are cor-
related with the distribution at the different seasons of
the all-important microscopic organisms that render —
our oceanic waters as prolific a source of food as the
pastures of the land. :
Another pioneer of the nineteenth centurv who, I
sometimes think, has not vet received sufficient credit
for his foresight and initiative is Sir Wyville Thom-
son, whose name ought to go down through the ages _
as the leader of the scientific staff on the famous
Challenger Deep-Sea Exploring Expedition. It is
due chiefly to him: and to his friend, Dr. W. B.
3 ‘For researches with the dredge, with a view to the vipers) oF i
sal’
FREI eT er ae mee Cee
a
ated Lt be
a iitaet. 2) f
iat Tat ntl oad BD Ih
pom 2
1 a
ie
the marine zoology of Great Britain, the illustration of the geogra |
distribution of marine animals, and the more accurate determination of the |
fossils of the Pleistocene period: under the superintendence of Mr. Gray, H
Mr. Forbes, Mr. Goodsir, Mr. Patterson, Mr. Thompson of Belfast, Mr. 4
Ball of Dublin, Dr. George Johnston, Mr. Smith of Jordan Hill, and Mr.
| A. Strickland, 60/7.” Report for 1839, p: xxvi.
_ AvucusT 26, 1920]
NATURE
815
Carpenter, that the British Government, through the
influence of the Royal Society, was induced to place
at the disposal ot a committee of scientitic experts,
. first the small surveying steamer Lightning in 1868,
and then the more etticient steamer Horcupine in the
two succeeding years, for the purpose of exploring the
. water ot the Atlantic from the Faroes in the
north to Gibraitar and beyond in the south, in the
course of which expeditions they got successful hauls
from the then unprecedented depth of 2435 fathoms,
nearly three statute miles.
It will be remembered that Edward Forbes, from
his observations in the Mediterranean (an abnormal
sea in some respects}, regarded depths of more than
300 fathoms as an azoic zone. It was the work of
Wyville Thomson and his colleagues, Carpenter and
Gwyn Jeffreys, on these successive dredging expedi-
tions to prove conclusively what was beginning to be
suspected by naturalists, that there is no azoic zone
in the sea, but that abundant life belonging to many
ups of animals extends down to the greatest
py of from four to five thousand fathoms—nearly
six statute miles from the surface.
These pioneering expeditions in the Lightning and
Porcup:ne—the results of which are not even yet fully
made known to science—were epoch-making, inas-
much as they not only opened up this new po do. to
the systematic marine biologist, but also gave glimpses
of world-wide problems in connection with the physics,
the chemistry, and the biology of the sea which are
only now being adequately investigated by the modern
oceanographer. ‘hese results, which aroused intense
interest amongst the leading scientific men of the
time, were so rapidly surpassed and overshadowed
by the still greater achievements of the Challenger
and other national exploring expeditions that followed
-in the seventies and eighties of last century, that
»there is some danger of their real importance being
lost aight of; but it ought never to be forgotten that
they first demonstrated the abundance of life of a
varied nature in depths formerly supposed to be azoic,
and, moreover, that some of the new deep-sea animals
obtained were related to extinct forms belonging to
the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary periods.
It is interesting to recall that our Association played
its part ia promoting the movement that led to the
Challenger Expedition. Our general committee at
the Edinburgh meeting of 1871 recommended that the
president and council be authorised to co-operate with
the Royal Society in promoting ‘‘a circumnavigation
expedition, specially fitted out to carry the physical
and biological exploration of the deep sea into all the
great oceanic areas ’’; and our council later appointed
‘a committee consisting of Dr. Carpenter, Prof.
Huxley, and others to co-operate with the Royal
Society in carrying out these objects.
It has been said that the Challenger Expedition
will rank in history with the voyages of Vasco da
Gama, Columbus, Magellan, and Cook. Like these,
it added new resions of the globe to our knowledge,
and the wide expanses thus opened up for the first
time, the floors of the oceans, though less accessible,
are vaster than the discoveries of any previous
exploration. Has not the time come for a new
Challenger expedition ?
Sir Wyville Thomson, although leader of the ex-
pedition, did not live to see the completed results, and
Sir John Murray will be remembered in the history
of science as the Challenger naturalist who brought
to a successful issue the investigation of the enormous
collections and the publication of the scientific results
of that memorable vovage; these two Scots share the
honour of having guided the destinies of what is still
the greatest oceanographic exploration of all time.
NO. 2652, VOL, 105]
In addition to taking his part in the general work
of the expedition, Murray devoted special attention
to three subjects of primary importance in the science
of the sea, viz.: (1) The plankton or floating life of
the oceans, (2) the deposits forming on the sea-
bottoms, and (3) the origin and mode of formation of
coral-reefs and islands. It was characteristic of his
broad and synthetic outlook on Nature that, in place
of working at the speciography and anatomy of some
group of organisms, however novel, interesting, and
attractive to the naturalist the deep-sea organisms
might seem to be, he took up wide-reaching general
problems with economic and geological as well as
biological applications.
Each of the three main lines of investigation—
deposits, plankton, and coral-reefs—which Murray
undertook on board the Challenger has been most
fruitful of results both in his own hands and in those
of others. His plankton work has led on to those
modern planktonic researches which are closely bound
up with the scientific investigation of our sea-fisheries.
His work on the deposits accumulating on the floor
of the ocean resulted, after years of study in the
laboratory as well as in the field, in collaboration with
the Abbé Renard, of the Brussels Museum, after-
wards professor at Ghent, in the production of the
monumental ‘‘ Deep-Sea Deposits ’’ volume, one of
the Challenger reports, which first revealed to the
scientific world the detailed nature and distribution of
the varied submarine deposits of the globe and their
relation to the rocks forming the crust of the earth.
These studies led, moreover, to one of the romances
of science which deeply influenced Murray’s future
life and work. In accumulating material from all
parts of the world and all deep-sea exploring expedi-
tions for comparison with the Challenger series, some
ten years later, Murray found that a sample of rock
from Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, which
had been sent to him by Comdr. (now Admiral)
Aldrich, of H.M.S. Egeria, was composed of a valu-
able phosphatic material. This discovery in Murray’s
hands gave rise to a profitable commercial under-
taking, and he was able to show that some years ago
the British Treasury had already received in royalties
and taxes from the island considerably more than the
total cost of the Challenger Expedition.
That first British circumnavigating expedition on
the Challenger was followed by other national ex-
peditions (the American Tuscarora and Albatross, the
French Travailleur, the German Gauss, National, and
Valdivia, the Italian Vettor Pisani, the Dutch Siboga,
the Danish Thor, and others) and by almost equally
celebrated and important work by unofficial oceano-
graphers such as Alexander Agassiz, Sir John Murray
with Dr. Hjort in the Michael Sars, and the Prince
of Monaco in his magnificent ocean-foing yacht, and
by much other good work by many investigators in
smaller and humbler vessels. One of these supple-
mentary expeditions I must refer to briefly because
of its connection with sea-fisheries. The Triton,
under Tizard and Murray in 1882, while exploring
the cold and warm areas of the Faroe Channel
separated by the Wyville Thomson ridge, incidentally
discovered the famous Dubh-Artach fishing-grounds,
which have been worked by British trawlers ever
since.
Notwithstanding all this activity during the last
forty years since oceanography became a _ science,
much has still to be investigated in all seas in all
branches of the subject. On pursuing any line of
investigation one very soon comes up against a wall
of the unknown or a maze of controversy. Peculiar
difficulties surround the subject. The matters inves-
tigated are often remote and almost inaccessible. Un-
816
NATURE
[AucusT 26, 1920 /
known. factors may enter into every problem. The
samples required may be at the other end of a rope
or a wire eight to ten miles long, and the oceano-
grapher may have to grope for them literally in the
dark and under other difficult conditions which make
it uncertain whether his samples when obtained are
adequate and representative, and whether they have
undergone any change since leaving their natural en-
vironment. It is not surprising, then, that in the
progress of knowledge mistakes have been made and
corrected, and that views have been held on what
seemed good scientific grounds which later on were
proved) to be erroneous. For example, Edward
Forbes, in his division of life in the sea. into zones,
on what then seemed to be sufficiently good observa-.
tions in the Aigean, but which we now know to be
exceptional, placed the limit of life at 300 fathoms,
while Wyville Thomson and his fellow-workers on the
Porcupine and the Challenger showed that there is no
azoic zone even in the great abysses.
Or, again, take the celebrated myth of Bathybius.
In the sixties of last century samples of Atlantic
- mud, taken when surveying the bottom for the first
telegraph cables and preserved in alcohol, were found
when examined by Huxley, Haeckel, and others to
contain what seemed to be an exceedingly primitive
protoplasmic organism, which. was supposed on good
evidence to be extended widely over the floor of the
ocean. The discovery of this Bathybius was said
to solve the problem of how the deep-sea animals
were nourished in the absence ot seaweeds. Here
was a widespread protoplasmic meadow upon which
other organisms could graze. Belief in Bathybius
seemed to be confirmed and established by Wyville
Thomson’s results in the Porcupine Expedition of
1869, but was exploded by the naturalists on the
Challenger some five years later. Buchanan in his
recently published ‘‘ Accounts Rendered ”’ tells us how
he and his colleague Murray were keenly on the look-
out for hours at a time on all possible occasions for
traces of this organism, and how they finally proved,
in the spring of 1875 on the voyage between Hong-
Kong and Yokohama, that the all-pervading substance
like coagulated mucus was an amorphous precipitate
of sulphate of lime thrown down from the sea-water
in the mud on the addition of a certain proportion
of alcohol. He wrote to this effect from Japan to
Prof. Crum Brown, and it is in evidence that after
receiving this letter Crum Brown interested his friends
in Edinburgh by showing them how to make Bathy-
bius in the chemical laboratory. Huxley at the
Sheffield meeting of the British Association in 1879
handsomely admitted that he had been mistaken, and
it is said that he characterised Bathybius as ‘not
having fulfilled the promise of its youth.’? Will any
of our present oceanographic beliefs share the fate of
Bathybius in the future? Some may, but even if they
do they may well have been useful steps in the pro-
gress of science. Although, like Bathybius, they may
not have fulfilled the promise of their youth, yet we
may add they -will not have lived in the minds of
man in vain.
Many of the phenomena we encounter in oceano-
graphic investigations are so complex, are or may be
affected by so many diverse factors, that it is difficult,
if indeed possible, to be sure that we are unravelling
them aright and see the real causes of what we
observe.
Some few things we know approximately, nothing
completely. We know that the greatest depths of the
ocean, about six miles, are a little greater than the
highest mountains on land, and Sir John Murray has
calculated that if all the land were washed down into
the sea the whole globe would be covered by an ocean
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
averaging about two miles in depth.“ We know.
distribution of temperatures and salinities over a great
part of the surface and a good deal of the bottom of ©
the oceans, and some of the more important oceanic
currents have been charted and their periodic varia-
tions, such as those of the Gulf Stream, are bein;
studied. We know a good deal about the organisms
floating or swimming in the surface waters (the epi-
plankton), and also those’ brought up by our dredges
and trawls from the bottom in many parts of the
world, although every expedition still makes large
additions to knowledge. The region that is least
known to us, both in its physical conditions and in
its inhabitants, is the vast zone of intermediate waters _
lying between the upper few hundred fathoms and
the bottom. That is thé region that Alexander
Agassiz, from his observations with closing tow-nets
on the Blake Expedition, supposed to be destitute of
life, or at least, as modified by his later observations 4
on the Albatross, to be relatively destitute compared
with the surface and the bottom, in opposition to the —
contention of Murray and other oceanographers that —
an abundant meso-plankton was present, and that —
certain groups of animals, such as the Challengerida
and some kinds of Medusz, were characteristic of
these deeper zones. I believe that, as sometimes
happens in scientific controversies, both sides were
right up to a point, and both could support their views —
upon observations from particular regions of the ocean
in certain circumstances. ua
But much still remains unknown or only imper-
fectly known even in matters that have long been
studied and where practical applications of great value
are obtained—such as the investigation and prediction _
of tidal phenomena. We are now told that theories
require reinvestigation, and that published tables are
not sufficiently accurate. To take another practical
application of oceanographic work, the ultimate causes
of variations in the abundance, in the sizes, in the
movements, and in the qualities of the fishes of our
coastal industries are still to seek, and, notwithstand- _
ing volumes of investigation and a still greater volume
of discussion, no man who knows anything of the i
matter is satisfied with our present knowledge of even
the best-known and economically most important of
our fishes such as the herring, the cod, the plaice,,
and the salmon. e ;
Také the case of our common fresh-water eel as an
example of how little we know and at the same time
of how much has been discovered. All the eels of
our streams and lakes of North-West Europe live and
feed and grow under our eyes without reproducing
their kind; no spawning eel has ever been seen.
After living for years in immaturity, at last near the
end of their lives the large male and female yellow
eels undergo a change in appearance and in nature.
They acquire a silvery colour and their eyes enlarge,
and in this bridal attire they commence the long
journey which ends in maturity, reproduction, and
death. From all the fresh waters they migrate in the
autumn to the coast, from the inshore seas to the
open ocean and still westward and south to the mid-
Atlantic, and we know not how much further, for
the exact locality and manner of spawning have still |
to be discovered. The youngest known stages of the
Leptocephalus, the larval. stage of eels, have been
found by the Dane, Dr. Johannes Schmidt, to the
west of the Azores, where the water is more than
2000 fathoms in depth. These were about one-third — |
of an inch in length, and were probably not long
hatched. I cannot now refer to all the able inves-
4 It was possibly in such a former world-wide ocean of innised water that, » ]
according to the recent speculations of A. H. Church’ (“‘ Thalassiophyta,”
1919), the first Jiving organisms were evolved, to become later the floating I
unicellular plants of the primitive plankton. eae
a en ae
| AuGUST 26, 1920]
NATURE
817
‘tigators—Grassi, Hjort, and others—who have dis-
_ covered and traced. the stages of growth of the Lepto-
_ cephalus and its metamorphosis into the ‘elvers”’ or
young eels which are carried by the North Atlantic
drift back to the coasts of Europe and ascend our
rivers in spring in countless myriads; but no man
has been more indefatigable and successful in the
uest than Dr. Schmidt, who in the various expedi-
ons of the Danish investigation steamer Thor from
1904 onwards found successively younger and younger
Stages, and is during the present summer engaged
in a traverse of the Atlantic to the West Indies in the
hope of finding the missing link in the chain, the
‘actual spawning fresh-water eel in the intermediate
waters somewhere above the abysses of the open
~ ocean.*
Again, take the case of an interesting oceanographic
observation which, if established, may be found to
explain the variations in time and amount of im-
tant fisheries. Otto Pettersson in 1910 discovered
y his observations in the Gullmar Fjord the presence
of periodic submarine waves of deeper salter water
in the Kattegat and the fjords of the west coast of
Sweden, which draw in with them from the Jutland
banks vast shoals of the herrings which congregate
there in autumn. ‘The deeper layer consists of ‘* bank-
water ”’ of salinity 32 to 34 per thousand, and as this
rolls in along the bottom as a series of huge undula-
tions it forces out the overlying fresher water, and
so the herrings living in the ‘‘ bankwater ’’ outside are
sucked into the Kattegat and neighbouring fjords
and give rise to important local fisheries. Pettersson
connects the crests of the submarine waves with the
phases of the moon. Two great waves of salter
water which reached up to the surface took place in-
November, 1910, one near the time of full moon and
‘the other about new moon, and the latter was at the
time when the shoals of herring appeared inshore and
_ provided a profitable fishery. The coincidence of the
oceanic phenomena with the lunar phases is not, how-
sever, very exact, and doubts have been expressed as
to the connection; yet, if established, and even if
found to be due, not to the moon, but to prevalent
winds or the influence of ocean currents, this would
be a case of the migration of fishes depending upon
_ mechanical causes, while in other cases it is known
that migrations are due to spawning needs or for the
oo of feeding, as in the case of the cod and the
ing in the west and north of Norway and in the
Barents Sea.
Then, turning to a very fundamental matter of
purely scientific investigation, we do not know with
any certainty what causes the great and all-important
_ seasonal variations in the plankton (or floating minute
life of the sea) as seen, for example, in our own home
seas, where there is a sudden awakening of micro-
scopic plant-life, the Diatoms, in early spring when
the water is at its coldest. In the course of a few
days the upper layers of the sea may become so filled
with organisms that a small silk net towed for a few
minutes may capture hundreds of millions of irdi-
viduals. And these myriads of microscopic forms,
after persisting for a few weeks, may disappear as
suddenly as they came, to be followed by swarms of
Copepoda and many other kinds of minute animals,
and these again may give place in the autumn to a
second maximum of Diatoms or of the closely related
Peridiniales. Of course, there are theories as to all
these more or less periodic changes in the plankton,
such as Liebig’s ‘law of the minimum,”’’ which limits
the production of an organism by the amount of
5 According to Schmidt's results, the European fresh-water eel, in order
to be able to propagate, requires a depth of at least 500 fathoms, a salinity
of more than: 35°20 per mile, and a ‘temperature of more than 7° C. in the
required depth,
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
*
that necessity of existence which is present’ in least
quantity, it may be nitrogen or silicon. or phosphorus.
According to Raben, it is the accumulation of silicic
acid in the sea-water that determines the great in-
crease of Diatoms in spring and again in autumn.
Some writers have considered these variations in the
plankton to be caused largely by changes in tempera:
ture supplemented, according to Ostwald, by the
resulting changes in the viscosity of the watér; but
Murray and others are more probably correct in
attributing the spring development of phyto-plankton
to the increasing power of the sunlight and its value
in photosynthesis.
Let us take next the fact—if it be a fact—that the
genial, warm waters of the tropics support a less
abundant. plankton than the cold polar seas. The
statement has been made and supported by some
investigators and disputed by others, both on a certain
amount of evidence. This is possibly a case like some
other scientific controversies where both sides are
partly in the right or right under certain conditions.
At any rate, there are marked exceptions to the
generalisation. The German Plankton Expedition in
1889 showed in its results that much larger hauls of
plankton per unit-volume of water were obtained in
the temperate North and South Atlantic than in the
tropics between, and that the warm Sargasso Sea
had a remarkably scanty microflora. Other inves-
tigators have since reported more or less similar
results. Lohmann found the Mediterranean plankton
to be less abundant than that of the Baltic; gatherings
brought back from. tropical seas are frequently very
scanty, and enormous hauls, on the other hand, have
been recorded from Arctic and Antarctic seas. There
is no doubt about the large gatherings obtained in
northern waters. 1 have myself in a few minutes’
haul of a small horizontal net in the north of Norway
collected a mass of the large Copepod, Calanus fin-
marchicus, sufficient to be cooked and eaten like
potted shrimps by half a dozen of the yacht’s com-
pany, and I have obtained similar large ‘hauls in the
cold Labrador current near Newfoundland. On the
other hand, Kofoid and Alexander Agassiz have re-
corded large hauls of plankton in the Humboldt cur-
rent off the west coast of America, and during the
Challenger Expedition some of the largest quantities
of plankton were found in the equatorial Pacific.
Moreover, it is common knowledge that on occasions
vast swarms of some planktonic organism may
seen in tropical waters. The yellow alga, Tricho-
desmium, which is said to have given its name to the
Red Sea, and has been familiarly known as ‘sea-
sawdust ’’ since the days of Cook’s first voyage,* may
cover the entire surface over considerable areas of
the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans; and some
pelagic animals, such as Salpz, Medusz, and Cteno-
phores,. are also commonly present in abundance in
the tropics. Then, again, American. biologists * have
pointed out that the warm waters of the West Indies
and Florida may be noted for the richness of their
floating life for periods of years, while at other times
the pelagic organisms become rare and the region is
almost a desert sea.
It is probable, on the whole, that the distribution
and variations of oceanic currents have. more than
latitude or temperature alone to do with any observed
scantiness of tropical plankton. These mighty rivers
of the ocean in places teem with animal- and plant-
life,‘ and may sweep abundance of food from one
region to another in the open sea.
But even if it be a fact that there is this alleged
deficiency in tropical plankton, there is by no means
6 See “ Journal” of Sir Joseph Banks. This and other swarms were
also noticed by Darwin during the voyage of the Beag/e.
7 A. Agassiz A. G. Mayer, and H. B. Bigelow.
818
NATURE
[Aucusr 26, 1920
agreement as to the cause thereof.
attributed the poverty of the plankton im the tropics
to the destruction of nitrates in the sea as a result
of the greater intensity of the metabolism of de-
nitrifying bacteria in the warmer water ; and various
writers since then have more or less agreed that
the presence of these denitrifying bacteria, by
keeping down to a minimum the nitrogen concentra-
tion in tropical waters, may account for the relative
scarcity of the phyto-plankton, and, consequently, of
the zoo-plankton, that has been observed, But Gran,
Nathansohn, Murray, Hjort, and others have shown
that such bacteria are rare or absent in the open
sea, that their action must be negligible, and that
Brandt’s hypothesis is untenable. I1t seems clear,
moreover, that the plankton does not vary directly
with the temperature of the water. Furthermore,
Nathansohn has shown the influence of the vertical
circulation in the water upon the nourishment of the
phyto-plankton—by rising currents bringing up neces-
sary nutrient materials, and especially carbon dioxide,
from the bottom layers; and also possibly by convey-
ing the products of the drainage of tropical lands to
more polar seas so as to maintain the more abundant
life in the colder water.
Piitter’s view is that the increased metabolism in
the warmer water causes all the available food
materials to be used up rapidly, and so puts a check
to the reproduction of the plankton.
According to van’t Hofi’s law in chemistry, the
rate at which a reaction takes place is imcreased b
raising the temperature, and this probably holds good
for all biochemical phenomena, and therefore for the
metabolism of animals and plants in the sea. This
has been verified experimentally in some cases by
J. Loeb. The contrast between the plankton of Arctic
and Antarctic zones, consisting of large numbers of
small crustaceans belonging to comparatively few
species, and that of tropical waters, containing a great
many more species generally of smaller size and fewer
in number of individuals, is to be accounted for,
according to Sir John Murray and others, by the rate
of metabolism in the organisms. The assemblages
captured in cold polar waters are of different ages and
stages, young and adults of several generations oc-
curring together in profusion,* and it is supposed that
the adults ‘‘may be ten, twenty, or more years of
age.’’ At the low temperature the action of putre-
factive bacteria and of enzymes is very slow or in
abeyance, and the vital actions of the Crustacea take
place more slowly and the individual lives are longer.
On the other hand, in the warmer waters of the
tropics the action of the bacteria is more rapid, meta-
bolism in general is more active, and the various
stages in the life-history are passed through more
rapidly, so that the smaller organisms of equatorial
seas probably live only for days or weeks in place of
years.
This explanation may account .also for the much
greater quantity of living organisms which has been
found so often on the sea-floor in polar waters. It
is a curious fact that the development of the polar
marine animals is, in general, ‘direct’ without
larval pelagic stages, the :result being that the young
settle down on ‘the floor of the ocean in the neigh-
bourhood of the parent forms, so that there come to
be enormous congregations of the same kind of animal
within a limited area, and the dredge will in a :par-
ticular haul come up filled with hundreds, it may be,
of an Echinoderm, a Sponge, a Crustacean, a
Brachiopod, or an Ascidian ; whereas in ‘warmer seas
the young pass ithrough a pelagic stage and so become
8 Whether, however. the low temperature .may.not :also retard reproduc-
tion is worthy of consideration.
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
Brandt first | more widely distributed over the floor of the oce
Challenger Expedition found in the Antarcti
certain Echinoderms, for example, which had y
part of the body of the parents, whereas in temper.
or tropical regions the same class of animals set
their eggs and the development proceeds in the open
water quite independently of, and it may be far distant
from, the parent.
Another characteristic result of the difference in
temperature is that the secretion of carbonate of ieee.
in the form of shells and skeletons proceeds more
rapidly in warm than in cold water. The m
shells of molluscs, the. vast deposits of carbonate a
lime formed by corals and by calcareous seaweeds, are
characteristic of the tropics; wheréas in polar ‘seas,
while the animals may be large, they are for the most
part soft-bodied and destitute of calcareous secretions.
in various stages of development attached to =] ‘t
The calcareous pelagic Foraminifera are characteristic — 4
of tropical and sub-tropical plankton, and few, if
any, are found in polar waters. Globigerina ooze, a
calcareous deposit, is abundant in equatorial seas,
while in the Antarctic the characteristic deposit is
siliceous Diatomaceous ooze.
The part played by bacteria in the metabolism. a
the sea is very important and probably of wide-
reaching effect, but we still. know very little about it.
A most promising young Cambridge b the
late Mr. G. Horeki Doce’, now mafertusaely tae
science, had already done notable work at Jamaica
and at Tortugas, Florida, on the effects produced by
a bacillus which is found in the surface waters of
these shallow tropical seas and in the mud at the
bottom; and which baa nitrates and nitrites,
giving off free nitro He found that this Bacillus
calcis also caused t : ‘cmenbad aa of soluble calcium
salts in the form of calcium carbonate (“ drewite ”’”)
on a large scale in the warm shallow waters. Drew’s
observations tend to show that the great calcareous
deposits of Florida and the Bahamas previously
as ‘‘coral muds ”’ are not, as was supposed by Murray
and others, derived from broken-up corals, shells,
nullipores, etc., but are minute particles of car
of lime which have been precipitated by the action
these bacteria.°
The bearing of these observations upen the forma-—
tion of oolitic limestones and the fine-grained un-
fossiliferous Lower Paleozoic limestones of .New
York State, recently studied in this connection by
R. M. Field,"° must be of peculiar interest to geo-
logists, and forms a notable instance of the annectant
character of oceanography, bringing the metabolism
of living organisms in the modern sea into relation
with palzeozoie rocks.
The work of marine biologists on the plankton has
been in the main qualitative, the identification of
species, the observation of structure, and the tracing _
of life-histories. The oceanographer. adds to that the
quantitative aspect when he attempts to estimate
numbers and masses per unit-volume of water or of
area. Let me lay before you a few thoughts in regard
to same such attempts, mainly for the purpose of
showing the difficulties of the investigation. Modern
quantitative methods owe their origin to the ingenious
and laborious work of Victor Hensen, followed by ~
Brandt, Apstein, Lohmann, and others of the Kiel
school of quantitative planktologists. We may take
their well-known estimations of fish-eggs in
North Sea as an example of the method.
The floating eggs and embryos of our more important
food-fishes may occur in quantities in the plankton
during certain months in spring, and Hensen and
9 Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., October, itor1.
10 Carnegie Institution ,of Washington. “Vear ‘Book for romp,” p. 297-
eee ee ee ee ee ee
eee NP te ae
_ AvcustT 26,.1920]
NATURE
819
Apstein have made some notable calculations based
on the occurrence of these in certain hauls taken at
intervals across the North Sea, which led them to the
conclusion that, taking six of our most abundant fish,
such as the cod and some of the flat-fish, the eggs
present were probably produced by about 1,200,000,000
bi enabling them to calculate that the total
| population of the North Sea (of these six species)
at that time (the spring’ of 1895) amounted to about
T0,000,000,000. Further calculations led them to the
result that the fishermen’s catch of these fishes
amounted to about one-quarter of the total popula-
tion. Now all this is not only of scientific interest,
but also of great practical importance if we could be
sure that the samples upon which the calculations are
based were adequate and representative, but it will be
noted that these samples represent. only 1 square metre
in 3,465,968,354- Hensen’s statement, repeated in
various works in slightly differing words, is to the
effect that, using a net of which the constants are
known hauled vertically through a column of water
from a certain depth to the surface, he can calculate
the volume of water filtered by the net and so estimate
the quantity of plankton under each square metre of the
surface; and his whole results depend upon the assump-
tion, which he considers justified, that the plankton is
evenly distributed over large areas of water which
are under similar conditions. In these calculations in
regard to the fisheggs he takes the whole of the
North Sea as being an area under similar conditions,
but we have known since the days of P. T. Cleve and
from the observations of Hensen’s own colleagues that
this is not the case, and they have published chart-
diagrams showing that at least three different kinds
of water under different conditions are found in the
North Sea, and that at least five different planktonic
|S scalbiadal be encountered in making a traverse from
ermany to the British Isles. If the argument be
used that wherever the plankton is found to vary
there the conditions cannot be uniform, then few
areas of the ocean of any considerable size remain as
cases suitable for population-computation from
random samples. It may be doubted whether even
the Sargasso Sea, which is an area of more than
usually uniform character, has a sufficiently evenly
distributed plankton to be treated by Hensen’s method
of estimation of the population. _
In the German Plankton Expedition of 1889 Schiitt
reports that in the Sargasso Sea, with its relatively
high temperature, the twenty-four catches obtained
-were uniformly small in quantity. His analysis of
the volumes | these catches shows that the average
was 3-33 c.c., but the individual catches ranged from
I'5 c.c. to 65 c.c., and the divergence from the
average may be as great as +32 c.c.; and, after
deducting 20 per cent. of the divergence as due to
errors of the experiment, Schiitt estimates the mean
variation of the plankton at about 16 per cent. above
or below. This does not seem to me to indicate the
_ uniformity that might be expected in this ‘‘ halistatic ”’
area occupying the centre of the North Atlantic Gulf
Stream circulation. Hensen also made almost simul-
taneous hauls with the same net in quick succession
to test the amount of variation, and found that the
average error was about 13 per cent.
As so much depends in all work at sea upon the
weather, the. conditions under which the ship is
working, and the care taken in the experiment, with
the view of getting further evidence under known
conditions I carried out similar experiments at Port
Erin on four occasions during last April and on
a further occasion a month later, choosing favour-
able weather and conditions of tide and wind so as
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
to be able to maintain an approximate position. On
each of four days in April the Namsen net, with.
No. 20 silk, was hauled six times from the same
depth (on two occasions 8 fathoms and on two occa-
sions 20 fathoms), the hauls being taken in rapid
succession and the catehes emptied from the net
into bottles of 5 per cent. formaline, in which they
remained until examined microscopically.
The results were of interest, for although they
showed considerable uniformity in the amount of the
catch—for example, six successive hauls from
8 fathoms being all of them o-2 c.c., and four out of
five from 20 fathoms being 0-6 c.c.—the volume was
made up rather differently in the successive hauls.
The same organisms occur for the most part in
each haul, and the chief groups of organisms are
present in much the same proportion. For example,
in a series where the Copepoda average about roo,
the Dinoflagellates average about 300 and the Diatoms
about 8000, but the percentage deviation of individual
hauls from the average may be as much as plus or
minus 50. The numbers for each organism (about 40)
in each of the twenty-six hauls have been worked out,
and the details will be published elsewhere, but the
conclusion I come to is that if om each occasion one
haul only in place of six had been taken, and if one
had used that haul to estimate the abundance of any
one organism in that sea-area, one might have been
about 50 per cent. wrong in either direction.
Successive improvements and additions to Hensen’s
methods in collecting plankton have been made by
Lohmann, Apstein, Gran, and others, such as pump-
ing up water of different layers through a hose-pipe
and filtering it through felt, filter-paper, and other
materials which retain much of the micro-plankton
that escapes through the meshes of the finest silk.
Use has even been made of the extraordinarily minute
and beautifully regular natural filter spun by the -
pelagic animal, Appendicularia for the capture of its
own food. This grid-like trap, when dissected out
and examined under the microscope, reveals a sur-
prising assemblage of the smallest protozoa and proto-
phyta, less than 30 micro-millimetres in diameter,
which would all pass easily through the meshes of
our finest silk nets.
The latest refinement in capturing the minutest-
known organisms of the plankton (excepting the bac-
teria) is a culture method devised by Dr. E. J, Allen,
director of the Plymouth Laboratory."* By diluting
half a cubic centimetre of the sea-water with a con-
siderable amount (1500 c.c.) of sterilised water treated
with a nutrient solution, and distributing that over a
large number (70) of small flasks in which after an
interval of some days the number of different kinds
of organisms which had developed in each flask was
counted, he calculates that the sea contains 464,000 of
such organisms per litre; and he gives reasons why
his cultivations must be regarded as minimum results,.
and states that the ictal per litre may well be something
like a million. Thus every new method devised seems
to multiply many times the probable total population
of the sea. As further results of the quantitative
method, it may be recorded that Brandt found about
200 Diatoms per drop of water in Kiel Bay, and
Hensen estimated that there are several hundred
millions of Diatoms under each square metre of the
North Sea or the Baltic. It has been calculated that
there is approximately one Copeped in each cubic
inch of Baltic water, that the annual consumption
of these Copepoda by herring is about a thousand
billion, and that in the sixteen square miles’ of a cer-
tain Baltic fishery there is Copepod food for more than
530,000,000 herring of am average weight of 60 grams.
11 Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., vol. xii., p. 1, July, 1929.
NATURE
[AucusT 26,1920 / ©
There are many other: problems of the plankton in
addition to quantitative estimates—probably some
that we have not yet recognised—and various interest-
ing conclusions may be drawn from recent planktonic
observations. Here is a case of the introduction and
rapid spread of a form new to British seas.
Biddulphia sinensis is an exotic Diatom which,
according to Ostenfeld, made its appearance at the
mouth of the Elbe in 1903, and spread during suc-
cessive years in several directions. It appeared sud-
denly in our plankton gatherings at Port Erin in
November, 1909, and has been present in abundance
each year since. Ostenfeld in 1908, when tracing its
spread in the North Sea, found that the migration to
the north along the coast of Denmark to Norway
corresponded with the rate of flow of the Jutland
current to the Skager Rak, viz. about 17 cm. per
second—a case of plankton distribution throwing light
on hydrography—and he predicted that it would soon
be found in the English Channel. Dr. Marie Lebour,
who recently examined the store of plankton gather-
ings at the Plymouth Laboratory, finds that, as a
matter of fact, this form did appear in abundance in
the collections of October, 1909, within a month of the
time when, according to our records, it reached Port
Erin. Whether or not this is an Indo-Pacific species
brought accidentally by a ship from the Far East, or
whether it is possibly a new mutation which appeared
suddenly in our seas, there is no doubt that it was
not present in our Irish Sea plankton gatherings
previous to 1909, but has been abundant since that
year, and has completely adopted the habits of its
English relations, appearing with B. mobiliensis in
late autumn, persisting during the winter, reaching
a maximum in spring, and dying out before summer.
The Nauplius and Cypris stages of Balanus in the
plankton form an interesting study. The adult
barnacles are present in enormous abundance on the
rocks round the coast, and they reproduce in winter
at the beginning of the year. The newly emitted
young are sometimes so abundant as to make the
water in the shore-pools and in the sea close to the
shore appear muddy. The Nauplii first appeared at
Port Erin in 1907 in the bay gatherings on February 22
(in 1908 on February 13), and increased with ups and
downs. to their maximum on April 15, and then de-
creased until their disappearance on April 26. None
were taken at any other time of the year. The Cypris
stage follows on after the Nauplius. It was first
taken in the bay on April 6, rose to its maximum on
the same day with the Nauplii, and was last caught
on May 24. ‘Throughout the Cypris curve keeps
below that of the Nauplius, the maxima being 1740
and 10,500 respectively. Probably the difference
_ between the two curves represents the death-rate of
Balanus during the Nauplius stage. That conclusion
I think we are justified in drawing, but I would not
venture to use the result of any haul, or the average
of a number of hauls, to multiply by the number of
square yards in a zone round our coast in order to
obtain an estimate of the number of young barnacles
or of the old barnacles that produced them; the
irregularities are too great.
To my mind it seems clear that there must be
three factors making for irregularity in the distribu-
tion of a plankton organism :
(1) The sequence of stages in its life-history, such
as the Nauplius and Cypris stages of Balanus.
(2) The results of interaction with other organisms,
as when a swarm of Calanus is pursued and devoured
by a shoal of herring. ie P Reeahek
(3) Abnormalities in tirne or abundance due to the
physical environment, as in favourable or unfavour-
able seasons. °
NO, 2652, VOL. 105 |
And these factors must be at work in the oper
ocean as well as in coastal waters. ;
In many oceanographical inquiries there is a doub
object. There is the scientific interest and there
the practical utility—the interest, for example, |
tracing a particular swarm of a Copepod like Calanu:
and of making out why it is where it is at a particule
time, tracing it back to its place of origin, find
that it has come with a particular body of water, ¢
perhaps that it is feeding upon a particular ass
blage of Diatoms; endeavouring to give a scien
explanation of every stage in its progress.
there is the utility—the demonstration that the mig
tion of the Calanus has determined the presence
shoal of herring or mackerel that are feeding upc
and so have been brought within the range of
fisherman and have constituted a comm
fishery. |
We have evidence that pelagic fish which congr
gate in shoals, such as herring and mackerel, fee
upon the Crustacea of the plankton, and especially
upon Copepoda. A few years ago when the summer
herring fishery off the south end of the Isle of Man _—
was unusually near the land, the fishermen f &
large red patches in the sea where the fish were
specially abundant. Some of the red stuff brought
ashore by the men was examined at the Port Erin
Laboratory, and found to be swarms of the Copepod, __
Temora longicornis; and the stomachs of the herring
caught at the same time were engorged with the same
organism. It is not possible to doubt that during
these weeks of the herring fishery in the Irish Sea the
fish were feeding mainly upon this species of Copepod.
Some ten years ago Dr. E. J. Allen and Mr. G. E.
Bullen published” some interesting work from the
Plymouth Marine Laboratory demonstrating the con-
nection between mackerel and Copepoda and sunshine
in the English Channel; and Farran”™ states that 1
in the spring fishery on the West of Ireland the food
of the mackerel is mainly composed of Calanus.
Then again, at the height of the summer mackerel
fishery in the Hebrides in 1913, we found “ the fish
feeding upon the large Copepod, Calanus finmarchi-
cus, which was caught in the tow-net at rate of
about 6000 in a five minutes’ haul, and 6000 was also
the average number found in the stomachs of the fish =
caught at the same time. i ee
These were cases where the fish were feeding upon —
the organism that was present in swarms—a mono-
tonic plankton—but in other cases the fish are ane a j
' selective in their diet. If the sardine of the French
coast can pick out from the micro-plankton the minute =
Peridiniales in preference to the equally minute
Diatoms which are present in the sea at the same
time, there seems no reason why the herring and the }
mackerel should not be able to select particular species :
of Copepoda or other large organisms from the macro- :
plankton, and we have evidence that they do, Nearly ‘i
thirty years ago the late Mr. Isaac Thompson, a con-
stant supporter of the Zoological Section of this Asso-
ciation and one of the honorary local secretaries for He
the last Liverpool meeting, showed me in 1893 that
young plaice at Port Erin were selecting one particular .
Copepod, a species of Jonesiella, out of many others ;
caught in our tow-nets at the time. H. Blegvad*
showed in 1916 that young food-fishes, and also small
shore-fishes, pick out certain species of Copepoda
(such as Harpacticoids) and catch them. individually—
either lying in wait or searching for them. A couple —
12 Journ. Mar. Biol. Assor., He viii. (1909), pp. 394-406.” ,
13 Conseil Internat. Bull. Trimestr., 1902-8, *+ Planktosique,” p., ‘Bo. ear:
14 in Runiana,” lii:, Linn. Soc. Journ., Zoology, vol. xxxiv.,
p-.95. 1915. i ¢ aie } beg
15 Rep. Danish Biol. Stat., vol. xxiv., 1916.
__. Avcusr 26, 1920]
NATURE
821
of years later’* Dr. Marie Lebour published a detailed
account of her work at Plymouth on the food of young
fishes, proving that certain fish undoubtedly do prefer
certain planktonic food. ~
_ These Crustacea of the plankton feed upon smaller
and simpler organisms—the Diatoms, the Peridinians,
and the Flagellates—and the fish themselves in their
youngest post-larval stages are nourished by the same
_ Minute forms of the plankton. Thus it appears that
- our sea-fisheries ultimately depend upon the living
Ean, which no doubt, in its turn, is affected by
_ hydrographic conditions. A correlation seems to be
_ established between the Cornish pilchard fisheries and
periodic variations in the physical characters (probably
the salinity) of the water of the English Channel
etween. Piymouth and Jersey.’ pparently a
diminished intensity in the Atlantic current corre-
sponds with a diminished fishery in the following
summer. Possibly the connection in these cases is
through an organism of the plankton.
It is only a comparatively small number of different
_ kinds of organisms—both plants and animals—that
_ make up the bulk of the plankton that is of real
‘importance to fish. One can select about half a dozen
species of Copepoda which constitute the greater part
of the summer zoo-plankton suitable as food for larval
or adult fishes, and about the same number of generic
_types of Diatoms which similarly make up the bulk
of the available spring phyto-plankton year after year.
_ This fact
attempt to
_ sible the times and conditions of occurrence of these
dominant factors of the plankton in an average year.
_ An obvious further extension of this investigation is
an inquiry into the degree of coincidence between the
times of appearance in the sea of the plankton
_ organisms and of the young fish, and the possible
pe _ of any marked absence of correlation in time
quantity.
Just 2 Ha the war the International Council for
the Exploration of the Sea** arrived at the conclusion
_ that fishery investigations indicated the probability
that the great periodic fluctuations in the fisheries are
cormmmaied seit the fish-larvz being developed in great
quantities only in certain years. Consequently they
advised that plankton work should be directed
primarily to the question whether these fluctuations
upon differences in the plankton production in
ifferent years. It was then proposed to begin sys-
tematic investigation of the fish-larve and the plankton
in spring and to determine more definitely the food
of the larval fish at various stages.
_ About the same time Dr. Hjort’* made the interest-
ing tion that possibly the great fluctuations in
the number of young fish observed from year to year
_ may not Seeand. wholly upon the number of eggs pro-
_ duced, but also upon the relation in time between the
hatching of these eggs and the appearance in the
_ water of the enormous quantity of Diatoms and other
_ plant plankton upon which the larval fish, after the
_ absorption of their yolk, depend for food. He points
— out t if even a brief interval occurs between the
_ time when the larve first require extraneous nourish-
ment and that when such food is available, it is
highly probable that an enormous mortality would
result. In that case even a rich spawning season
might yield but a poor result in fish in the commercial
fisheries of successive years for some time to come.
So that, in fact, the numbers of a year-class may
not so much upon a favourable spawning
season as upon a coincidence between the hatching of
16 Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., May, 1918.” ;
7 See E. C. Jee, ‘‘ Hydrography of the English Channel,” 1904-17.
18 Rapports et Proc. Verb.,- vol. xix., December, 1913. »
19 Jbid., vol. xx., 1914, P- 204.
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
—: great economic importance to the
determine with as much precision as pos-.
the larve and the presence of abundance of phyto-
plankton available as food.”
The curve for the spring maximum of Diatoms cor-
responds in a general way with the curve representing
the occurrence of pelagic fish-eggs in our seas. But
is the correspondence sufficiently exact and constant
to meet the needs of the case? The phyto-plankton
may still be relatively small in amount during February
and part of March in some years, and it is not easy
to determine exactly when, in the open sea, the fish-
eggs have hatched out in quantity and the larve have
absorbed their food-yolk and started feeding on
Diatoms.
If, however, we take the case of one important fish
—the plaice—we can get some data from our hatching
experiments at the Port Erin Biological Station, which
have now been carried on for a period of seventeen
years. An examination of the hatchery records for
these years in comparison with the plankton records
of the neighbouring sea, which have been kept sys-
tematically for the fourteen years from 1907 to 1920
inclusive, shows that in most of these years the
Diatoms were present in abundance in the sea a few
days at least before the fish-larve from the hatchery
were set free, and that it was only in four years
(1908, 1909, 1913, and 1914) that there was apparently
some risk of the larve finding no phyto-plankton food
or very little. The evidence so far seems to show that
if fish-larvee are set free in the sea so late as March 20
they are fairly sure of finding suitable food”; but if
they are hatched.so early as February they run some
chance of being starved.
But this does not exhaust the risks to the future
fishery. C. G. Joh. Petersen and Boysen-Jensen in
their valuation of the Limfjord** have shown that in
the case not only of some fish, but also of the larger
invertebrates on which they feed, there are marked
fluctuations in the number of young produced in
different seasons, and that it is only at intervals of
years that a really large stock of young is added to
the population. ;
The prospects of a year’s fishery may, therefore,
depend primarily upon the rate of spawning of the
fish, affected, no doubt, by hydrographic and other
environmental conditicns; secondarily, upon the
presence of a sufficient supply of phyto-plankton in
the surface-layers of the sea at the time when the
fish-larvze are hatched, and that, in its turn, depends
upon photosynthesis and physico-chemical changes in
the water; and, finally, upon the reproduction of the
_stock of molluscs or worms at the bottom which con-
stitute the fish-food at later stages of growth and
development.
The question has been raised in recent years: Is
there enough plankton in the sea to provide sufficient
nourishment for the larger animals, and especially
for those fixed forms, such as sponges, that are sup-
posed to feed by drawing currents of plankton-laden
water through the body? In a series of remarkable
papers from 1907 onwards Piitter and his followers
put forward the views: (1) that the carbon require-
ments of such animals could not be met by the.
amount of plankton in the volume of water that could
be passed through the body in a given time, and
(2) that sea-water contained a large amount of dis-
solved organic carbon. compounds which | constitute
the chief, if not the only, food of a large number of
marine animals. These views have given rise to
20°For the purpose of this argument we may include in ‘‘ phyto-
plankton” the various groups of Flagellata and cther minute organisms
which may be present with the Diatoms. “
21 All dates and statements as to occurrence refer to the Irish Sea round
the south end of the Isle of Man. For further details see Report Lancs
Sea-Fish. Lab. for rorg9.
22 Report of Danish Bio!. Station for rg19.
822
NATURE
[AuGusT 26, 1920
much controversy, and have been useful in stimu-
lating further research, but I believe it is now ad-
mitted that Piitter’s samples of water from. the Bay
of Naples and at Kiel were probably polluted, that
his figures were erroneous, and that his conclusions
must be rejected, or at least greatly modified. His
estimates of the-plankton were minimum ones, while
it seems probable that his figures for the organic
carbon present represent a variable amount of organic
matter arising from one of the reagents used in the
analyses.** The later experimental work of Henze,
of Raben, and of Moore shows that the organic carbon
dissolved in sea-water is an exceedingly minute
quantity, well within the limits of experimental error.
Moore puts it at the most at one-millionth part, or
I mgm. in a litre At the Dundee meeting of the
Association in 1912 a discussion on this subject took
place, at which Piitter still adhered to a modified
form of his hypothesis of the inadequacy of the
plankton and the nutrition of lower marine animals
by the direct absorption of dissolved organic matter.
- Further work at Port Erin since has shown. that,
while the plankton supply as found generally dis-
tributed would prove sufficient for the nutrition of
such sedentary animals as Sponges and Ascidians,
which require to filter only about fifteen times their
own volume of water per hour, it is quite inadequate
for active animals such as crustaceans and fishes.
These latter are, however, able to seek out and cap-
ture their food, and are not dependent on what they
may filter or absorb from the sea-water. This result
accords well with recorded observations on the ir-
regularity in the distribution of the plankton and
with the variations in the occurrence of the migra-
tory fishes which may be regarded as following and
feeding upon the swarms of planktonic organisms.
This, then, like most of the subjects I am dealing
with, is still a matter of controversy, still not com-
pletely understood. Our need, then, is research, more
research, and still more research.
Our knowledge of the relations between plankton
productivity and variation and the physico-chemical
environment is still in its infancy, but gives promise
of great results in the hands of the biochemist and
the physical chemist.
Recent papers by Sgrensen, Palitzsch, Witting,
Moore, and others have made clear that the amount
of hydrogen-ion concentration as indicated by the.
relative degree of alkalinity and acidity in the sea-
water may undergo local and periodic variations, and
that these have an effect upon the living organisms in
the water and can be correlated with their presence
and abundance. To take an example from our own
seas, Prof. Benjamin Moore and his assistants in their
work at the Port Erin Biological Station in succes-
sive years from 1912 onwards have shown * that the
sea around the Isle of Man is a good deal more alka-
line in spring (sav April) than it is in summer (say
July). The alkalinitv, which gets low in summer,
increases somewhat in autumn, and then decreases
rapidly, to disappear during the winter; and then
once more, after several months of a minimum,
begins to come into evidence again in March, and
rapidly rises to its maximum in April or May. This
periodic change in alkalinity will be seen to correspond
roughly with the changes in the living microscopic
contents of the sea represented by the phyto-plankton
annual curve, and the connection between the two will
be seen when we realise that the alkalinity of the
sea is due to the relative absence of carbon dioxide.
In early spring, then, the developing myriads of
38 See Moore, etc., Bio-Chem. Journ., vol. vi., p. 266, 1912.
24 ‘Photosynthetic Phenomena in Sea-water,” Trans. Liverpool Biol.
Soc., vol. xxix., p. 233, 1915+
NO, 2652, VOL. 105 |
Diatoms in their metabolic processes graduall
up the store of carbon dioxide accumulated duri
the winter or derived from the bicarbonates of calci
and magnesium, and so increase the alkalinity of
water until the maximum of alkalinity, due to”
fixation of the carbon and the reduction in amou
of carbon dioxide, corresponds with the crest of the
phyto-plankton curve in, say, April. Moore has cal-—
culated that the annual turnover in the form —
carbon which is used up or converted from the i
organic into an organic form probably a a
something of the order of 20,000-30,000 tons 0
carbon per cubic mile of sea-water, or, say, over am
area of the Irish Sea measuring 16 square miles and
a depth of 50 fathoms; and this probably means
production each season of about two tons of d
organic matter, corresponding to at least ten Ss
moist vegetation, per acre—which suggests that we
may still be very far from getting from our seas any-
thing like the amount of possible food-matters that
are produced annually. + I SS aad
Testing the alkalinity of the sea-water may there-
fore be said merely to be ascertaining and ‘ing
the results of the photosynthetic activity of the great
phyto-plankton rise*in spring due to the daily increase
of sunlight. ; Weegee i
The marine biologists of the Carnegie Institution, —
Washington, have made a recent contribution to the
subject in certain observations on the alkalinity of the
sea (as determined by hydrogen-ion concentration),
during which they found in tropical mid-Pacific a
sudden change to acidity in a current running east-
wards. Now in the Atlantic the Gulf Stream and
tropical Atlantic waters generally are much more
alkaline than the colder coastal water running th —
from the Gulf of St. Lawrence—that is, the colder —
Arctic water has more carbon dioxide. This suggests —
that the Pacific easterly set may be due to dee ;
water, containing more carbon dioxide (=acidity), —
coming to the surface at that point. The }
of the sea-water can be determined rapidly by a
the sample with a few drops of an indicator a
observing the change in colour; and this me Oe
detecting ocean currents by observing the hydr ‘ee
ion concentration of the water might be useful to
navigators as showing the time of entrance to a
known current, ‘ : Hs
Oceanography has many practical applications,
chiefly, but by no means wholly, on the biological —
side. The great fishing industries of the world deal
with living organisms, of which all the vital activities
and the inter-relations with the environment are
matters of scientific investigation. Aquiculture is as
susceptible of scientific treatment as agriculture cam
be; and the fisherman, who has been in the past too
much the nomad and the hunter—if not, indeed, the
devastating raider—must become in the future the
settled farmer of the sea if his harvest is to be less
precarious. Perhaps the nearest approach to cultiva-
tion of a marine product, and of the fisherman reap-
ing what he has actually sown, is seen in the case
of the oyster and mussel industries on the west coast
of France, in Holland, America, and, to a less extent,
on our own coast. Much has been done by scientific
men for these and other similar coastal fisheries since
the days. when Prof. Coste in France in 1859 intro-
duced oysters from the Scottish oyster-beds to start —
the great industry at Arcachon and elsewhere. Now
we buy back the descendants of our own oysters from
the French ostreiculturists to replenish our depleted
beds. ati y
It is no small matter to have introduced a new and
important food-fish to the markets of the world. The
remarkable deep-water “‘tile-fish,”? new to science and
ee eee
_Avucust 26, 1920]
NATURE
$23
alescribed as Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, was dis-
_«overed in 1879 by one of the United States fishing
schooners ‘to ‘the south of Nantucket, near the
aoo-fathom line. Several thousand pounds’ weight
was caught, and the matter was duly investigated by
ithe United States Fish Commission. For a couple of
years after that the fish was brought to market in
quantity, and then something unusual happened at
ithe bottom of the sea, and in 1882 millions of dead
tile-fish were found floating on the surface over an
area of thousands of square miles. The schooner
Navarino sailed for two days and a night through at
deast 150 miles of sea thickly covered, soefar as the
eye could reach, with dead fish, estimated at 256,000 to
the square mile. The Fish Commission sent a vessel
‘to fish systematically over the grounds known as the
“Gulf Stream slope,’’ where the tile-fish had ‘been
yso abundant during the two previous years, but she
‘did not catch a single fish, and the associated sub-
itropical invertebrate fauna was also practically
_ Whis wholesale destruction was attributed by ‘the
ican oceanographers to a sudden change in ‘the
temperature of water at the bottom, due in all
probability to a withdrawal southwards of the warm
Gulf Stream water and a flooding of the area by the
eold Labrador current.
I am indebted to Dr. C. H. Townsend, director of
the celebrated New York Aquarium, for the latest
information in vg SN to the reappearance in quantity
of this valuable fish upon the old fishing-grounds of
Nantucket and Long Island, at about 100 miles from
the coast to the east and south-east of New York. .
. dt is believed that the tile-fish-is now abundant
enough to maintain an important fishery, which will
add an excellent food-fish to the markets of the United
States. It is easily caught with lines at all seasons
‘of the year, and reaches a length of more than 3 ft.
and a weight of 40-50 lb. During July, 1915, the
product of the —- was about 2,500,000 lb. weight,
valued at 55,000 dollars, and in the first few months
of 1917 the catch was 4,500,000 Ib., for which the
fishermen received 247,000 dollars.
‘We can scarcely hope in Euro seas to add new
. shes to our markets, but much may be done
through the co-operation of scientific investigators of
the ocean with the administrative departments to
bring about a more rational conservation and exploita-
tion of the national fisheries.
‘Earlier in this address I referred to the pioneer work
of the distinguished Manx naturalist, Prof. Edward
Forbes. T are many of his writings and of his
lectures to which I have no space to refer which have
points of oceanographic interest. Take this, for
example, in reference to our national sea-fisheries.
We find him in 1847 writing to a friend: ‘“On Friday
night I lectured at the Royal Institution. The sub-
ject was the bearing of submarine researches and dis-
tribution matters on the fishery question. I pitched
into Government mismanagement pretty strong, and
made a fair case of it. It seems to me that at a time
when half the country is starving we are utterly neg-
lecting or grossly Te great sources of
wealth and food. . .. Were I a rich man I would
make the subject a hobby for the good of the country
and for the better proving that the true interests of.
Government are those linked with and inseparable
from Science.” We must still cordially approve of
these last words, while recognising that our Govern-
ment Department of Fisheries is now being organised
on better lines, is itself carrying on scientific work of
national importance, and is, I am happy to think, in
complete sympathy with the work of independent
scientific investigators of the sea and desirous of ‘closer
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
co-operation with university laboratories and biological
stations.
During recent years one of the most important and
most frequently discussed of applications of ‘fisheries
investigation has been the productivity of the trawling
grounds, and especially those of the North Sea. It
has ‘been generally agreed that the enormous inorease
of fishing power during the last forty years or so has
reduced the number of large plaice, so that the
average size of that fish caught in our home waters
has become smaller, although the total number of
plaice landed had continued to increase up ‘to the year
of the outbreak of war. ‘Since then, from 1914 to
1919, there has of necessity been what may be
described as the most gigantic experiment ever seen
in the closing of extensive fishing-grounds. It is still
too early to say with any certainty exactly what the
results of that experiment have ‘been, although some
indications of an increase of the fish population in
certain areas have been recorded. For example, the
Danes, A. C. Johansen and Kirstine Smith, find that
large plaice landed in Denmark are now more abun-
dant, and they attribute this to a reversal of the pre-
. war tendency, due to less intensive fishing. But Dr.
James Johnstone has pointed out that there is some
evidence of a natural periodicity in abundance of such
fish, and that the results noticed may represent phases
in a cyclic change. If the periodicity noted in Liver-
pool Bay** holds goed for other grounds, it will ‘be
necessary in any comparison of pre-war and post-war
statistics to take this natural variation in abundance
into very careful consideration.
In the application of oceanographic investigations
to sea-fisheries problems one ultimate aim, whet
frankly admitted or not, must be to obtain some kind
of a rough approximation to a census or valuation
of the sea—of the fishes that form the food of man,
of the lower animals of the sea-bottom on which many
of the fishes feed, and of the planktonic contents of
the upper waters which form the ultimate organised
food of the sea—and many attempts have been made
in different ways to attain the desired end.
Our knowledge of the number of animals living -in
different regions of the sea is for the most part rela-.
tive only. We know that one haul of the dredge is
larger than another, or that one locality seems richer
than another, but we have very little information
as to the actual numbers of any kind of animal per
square foot or per acre in the sea. Hensen, as we
have seen, attempted to estimate the number of food-
fishes in the North Sea from the number of their
eggs caught in a comparatively small series of hauls
of the tow-net, but the data were probably quite in-
sufficient and the conclusions may be erroneous. It is
an interesting speculation to, which we cannot attach
any economic importance. Heincke says of it: ‘ This
method appears theoretically feasible, but presents in
practice so many serious difficulties that no positive
results of real value have as yet been obtained.”’
All biologists must agree that to. determine even
approximately the number of individuals of any par-
ticular species living in a known area is a contribution
to knowledge which may be of great economic value
in the case of the edible fishes, but it may be doubted
whether Hensen’s methods, even with greatly in-
creased data, will ever give us the required informa-
tion. Petersen’s method, of setting free marked plaice
and then assuming that the proportion of these re-
caught is to the total number marked as the fisher-
men’s catch in the same district is to the total popula-
tion, will hold good only in circumscribed areas
where there is practically no migration and the fish
35 See Johnstone, Report Lancs Sea-Fish. Lab. for 1917, p. 60; and
Daniel, Report for 1919, p. 51.
824
NATURE
[Aucust 26, 1920 |
are fairly evenly distributed. This method gives us
what has been called ‘‘the fishing coefficient,’’ and
this has been estimated for the North Sea to have a
probable value of about 0-33 for those sizes of fish
which are caught by the trawl. Heincke,** from an
actual examination of samples of the stock on the
ground obtained by experimental trawling (‘the catch
coefficient ’’), supplemented by the market returns of
the various countries, estimates the adult plaice at
about 1,500,000,000, of which about 500,000,000 are .
caught or destroyed by the fishermen annually.
It is difficult to imagine any further method which
will enable us to estimate any such case as, say, the
number of plaice in the North Sea, where the indi-
viduals are so far beyond our direct observation and
are liable to change their positions at any moment.
But a beginning can be made on more accessible
ground with more sedentary animals, and Dr. C, G.
Joh. Petersen, of the Danish Biological Station, has
for some years: been pursuing the subject in a series
of interesting reports on ‘‘The Evaluation of the
Sea.” 7 He uses a bottom-sampler or grab, which
can be lowered down open and then closed on the
bottom so as to bring up a sample square foot or.
square metre (or in deep water one-tenth of a square
metre) of the sand or mud and its inhabitants. With
this apparatus, modified in size and weight for
different depths and bottoms, Petersen and his fellow-
workers have made a very thorough examination of
the Danish waters, and especially of the Kattegat and
the Limfjord, have described a series of ‘animal
communities ’’ characteristic of different zones and
regions of shallow water, and have arrived at certain
numerical results as to the quantity of animals in
the Kattegat expressed in tons—such as 5000 tons of
plaice requiring as food 50,000 tons of ‘‘useful
animals’’. (mollusca and _ polychet silane’ and
25,000 tons of starfish using up 200,000 tons of useful
animals which might otherwise serve as food for
fishes, and the dependence of all these animals
directly or indirectly upon the great Beds_of Zostera,
which make up 24,000,000 tons in the Kattegat. Such
estimates are obviously of great biological interest,
_and, even if only rough approximations, are a valu-
able contribution to our understanding of the meta-
bolism of the sea and of the possibility of increasing
the yield of local fisheries.
But on studying these Danish results in the light
of what we know of our own marine fauna, although
none of our seas have been examined in the same
detail by the bottom-sampler method, it seems prob-
able that the animal communities as defined by
Petersen are not exactly applicable on our coasts, .and
that the estimates of relative and absolute abundance
may be very different in different seas under different
conditions. The work will have to be done in each
great area, such as the North Sea, the English
Channel, and the Irish Sea, independently. This is
a necessary investigation, both biological and physical,
which lies before the oceanographers of the future,
upon the results of which the future preservation and
further cultivation of our national séa-fisheries may
depend.
It has been shown by Johnstone and others that the
common edible animals of the shore may exist in such
abundance that an area of the sea may be more pro-
ductive of food for man than a similar area of pasture
or crops on land. A Lancashire mussel-bed has been
shown to have as many as 16,000 young mussels per
square foot, and it is estimated that in the shallow
26 F, Heincke, Cons. Per. Internat. Explor. de la Mer, ‘‘ Investigations
on the Plaice,” Copenhagen, 1913. ; : ;
27 See Reports of the Danish Biological Station, and especially the
Report for 1918, ‘‘ The Sea Bottom’and its Production of Fish Foo 1.
NO, 2652, VOL. 105]
:
waters of Liverpool Bay there are from 20 to 200
animals of sizes varying from an amphipod to a
plaice on each square metre of the bottom.” — ie
From these and similar data which can be readily —
obtained it is not difficult to calculate totals by esti-
mating the number of square yards in areas of
similar character between tide-marks or in shallo
water. And from weighings of samples some ;
proximation to the number of tons of available food —
may be computed. But one must not go too far. —
Let all the figures be based upon actual observation.
Imagination is necessary in science, but in calculating
a population of even a very limited area it is best te
believe only what one can see and measure. =.
Countings and weighings, however, do not give us
all the information we need. It is something to know
even approximately the number of millions of atimals
on a mile of shore and the number of millions of
tons of possible food in a sea area, but that is not
sufficient. All food-fishes are not equally nourishing
to man, and all plankton and bottom invertebrata are
not equally nourishing to a fish. At this point the
biologist requires the assistance of the physiologist
and the biochemist. We want to know next the ~
value of our food-matters in proteids, carbohydrates,
and fats, and the resulting Calories. Dr. Johnstone, —
of the oceanography department of the University of —
Liverpool, has already shown us how markedly a —
fat summer herring differs in essential constitution
from the ordinary white fish, such as the cod, w
is almost destitute of. fat. ; 7a eee
Prof. Brandt at Kiel, Prof. Benjamin Moore at
Port Erin, and others have similarly shown that
plankton gatherings may vary greatly in their nutrient
value according as they are composed mainly of
Diatoms, of Dinoflagellates, or of Copepoda. And, no
doubt, the animals of the ‘‘benthos,” the common {
invertebrates of our shores, will show similar differ-
i lar dil
4
ences in analysis.** It is obvious that some contain —
more solid flesh, others more water in their tissues,
others more calcareous matter in the exoskeleton, and
‘that therefore, weight for weight, we may be sure
that some are more nutritious than others; d-
this is probably at least one cause of that preference
we see in some of our bottom-feeding fish for certain —
kinds of food, such as polychet worms, in which there.
is relatively little waste, and thin-shelled lamellibranch
molluscs, such as young mussels, which have a highly _
nutrient body in a comparatively thin and brittle shell. _
My object in referring to these still incomplete
investigations is to direct attention to what seems a
natural and .useful extension of faunistic work for
the purpose of obtaining some approximation to a
quantitative estimate of the more important animals
of our shores and shallow water and their relative
values as either the immediate or the ultimate food
of marketable fishes, ; .
Each such fish has its ‘‘food-chain ”’ or series of
alternative chains, leading back from the food of man
to the invertebrates upon which it preys, and then to _
the food of these, and so down to the smallest and
simplest organisms in the sea, and each such chain —
must have all its links fully worked out as to seasonal _
and quantitative occurrence back to the Diatoms and
Flagellates, which depend upon physical conditions,
and take us beyond the range of biology, but not —
beyond that of oceanography. The Diatoms and the
Flagellates are probably more important than the
more obvious seaweeds not only as food, but also in
28 “Conditions of Life in the Sea,” Cambridge University Press, 1908. tots
29 Moore and others have. made analyses of the protein, fat, etc., in the
soft parts of Sponge, Ascidian, Aplysia, Fusus, Echinus, and Cancer at
Port Erin, and find considerable differences—the protein ranging, for
exaniple, from 8 to 51 per cent., and the fat from 2 to 14 per cent. (see
bio-Chemical Journ.,*vol, Ni., Pp. 291). Says : Where art pie eit
r
‘
\
|
‘ate! at
same order of magnitude as that found for X-rays in
_ AucustT 26, 1920]
- in history.
NATURE
825
supplying to the water the oxygen necessary for the
respiration of living protoplasm. Our object must be
to estimate the rate of production and rate of destruc- -
tion of all organic substances in the sea. :
To attain to an approximate census and valuation of
the sea—remote though it may seem—is a great aim,
but it is not sufficient. We want not only to observe
and to count natural objects, but also to under-
stand them. We require to know not merely what
an organism is—in the fullest detail of structure
and development and affinities—where it occurs
—again in full detail—and in what abundance in
different circumstances, but also how it lives and
what all its relations are to both its physical and its
biological environment, and that is where the physio-
logist, and especially the biochemist, can help us.
In the best interests of biological progress the day of
the naturalist who merely collects, the day of the
anatomist and histologist who merely describe, is
over, and the future is with the observer and the
experimenter animated by a divine curiosity to enter
into the life of the organism and understand how it
lives and moves and has its being. ‘‘ Happy indeed
is he who has been able to discover the causes of
things.’’ .
_ Cardiff is a seaport, and a great seaport, and the
Bristol Channel is a notable sea-fisheries centre of
growing importance. The explorers and merchant
venturers of the south-west of England are celebrated
What are you doing now in Cardiff to
advance our knowledge of the ocean? You have here
an important university centre and a great modern
national museum, and either or both of these homes
of research might do well to establish an oceano.
graphical department, which would be an added glory
to your city and of practical utility to the country,
This is the obvious centre in Wales for a sea-fisheries
institute for both research and education. Many
important local movements have arisen from British
Association meetings, and if such a notable scientific
development were to result from the Cardiff meeting
of 1920, all who value the advance of knowledge and
the application of knowledge to industry would
applaud your enlightened action.
In a wider sense, it is not to the people of
Cardiff alone that I appeal, but to the whole popula-
tion of these islands, a maritime people who owe
everything to the sea. I urge them to become better
informed in regard to our national sea-fisheries and to
take a more enlightened interest in the basal principles
that underlie a rational regulation and exploitation
of these important: industries. National efficiency
depends to a very great extent upon the degree. in
which scientific results and methods are appreciated
by the people and scientific investigation is promoted
by the Government and other administrative authori-
ties. The principles and discoveries of science apply -
to aquiculture no less than to agriculture. To in-
crease the harvest of the sea the fisheries must be
continuously investigated, and such cultivation as is
possible must be applied, and all this is clearly a
natural application of the biological and hydro-
graphical work now united under the science of
oceanography. :
Summaries of Addresses of Presidents of Sections of the British Association.
_ Mathematical and Physical Science.
4 Pror. EppincTon’s presidential address to Section A
als w
deals with the investigation of the internal conditions
of the stars. Most of the naked-eye stars have densi-
ties so low that they may be treated as spheres of
_ perfect gas (giant stars). In familiar hot bodies the
existing in the zther (radiant heat) is ex-
emely small compared with that associated with the
matter (molecular motions); conditions might exist in
which this disproportion was reversed; but the stars
are of just such a mass that the two kinds of energy
are roughly equal. It is thought that this balance
cannot. a coincidence, but determines why the
masses of the stars are always close to a particular
value. From astronomical data as to the masses and
radiation of the stars it is possible to determine the
opacity of stellar material to the radiation traversing
opacity turns out to be very high and of the
the laboratory. (At the high temperatures in the stars
the radiation consists mainly of soft X-rays.) <A
rather surprising result is that the opacity varies very
little with the temperature of the star or wave-length
of the radiation. The discussion leads to many
_aStronomical results which appear to be generally con-.
firmed by observation; in particular, it fixes within
fairly narrow limits the period of a mechanical pulsa-
tion of any star, and this agrees in all known Cepheid
variables with the observed period of light-pulsation.
The question of the source of a star’s heat is raised in
an acute form by these investigations. It appears that
the energy of gravitational contraction is quite in-
adequate. The recent experimental results of Aston
and Rutherford seem to throw some new light on the
often-discussed question whether sub-atomic energy
can be made available in the stars. The address con-
cludes with some observations on the legitimate place
of speculation in scientific research,
NO, 2652, VOL. 105]
Chemistry.
Mr. C. T, Heycock deals in his presidential address
to Section B with the manner in which our present
rather detailed knowledge of metallic alloys has been
acquired, starting from the sparse information which ©
was available thirty or forty years ago, and sketches
briefly the present position of the subject. He
considers chiefly the non-ferrous alloys, not because
any essential difference in type exists between these
and ferrous alloys, but because the whole field pre-
sented by the chemistry of the metals and their alloys
is too vast to be covered in an address of reasonable
length. Though Réaumur in 1722 employed the micro-
scope to examine the fractured surfaces of white and
grey cast-iron and steel, and Widmanstatten in 1808
polished and etched sections from meteorites, the
founder of modern metallography is undoubtedly
H. C. Sorby, whose methods of polishing and etching
alloys and of vertical illumination are used to-day by
all who work at this subject. The first important clue
to what occurs on cooling a fused mixture of metals
‘was given by Guthrie’s experiments on cryohydrates,
and these researches, with those of Sorby, undertaken
as they were for the sake of investigating natural
phenomena, are remarkable examples of how purely
scientific experiment can lead to most important prac-
tical results. Raoult’s work on the depression of the
freezing point of solvents due to the addition of dis-
solved substances led to the establishment by van’t
Hoff of a general theory applicable to all solutions.
Later experiments established the similarity between
the behaviour of metallic solutions or alloys and that
of aqueous and other solutions of organic compounds
in organic solvents; and in 1897 Neville and Heycock
determined the complete freezing-point curve of the
copper-tin alloys, confirming and extending the work
of Roberts-Austen, Stansfield, and Le Chatelier.
| ‘These were probably the first of the binary alloys on
826
NATURE
[AucusT 26, 1920
which an attempt was made to determine the changes
which take place in passing from one pure constituent
to the other; and without a working theory of solu-
tion the interpretation of the results would have been
impossible. Many difficulties are encountered in the
examination of binary alloys, but they are enormously
increased in the investigation of ternary alloys, and
with quaternary alloys they seem almost insurmount-
able; in the case of steels containing always six, and
usually more, constituents, information can be obtained
at present by purely empirical methods only.
Geology.
In discussing the relations of paleontology to
other branches of biology in his presidential! ad-
dress to Section C, Dr. F. A. Bather emphasises the
influence of the time-concept, which gives palzeonto-
logy a fourth dimension and necessitates a new
method of classification. The known facts of suc-
cession, while upsetting some rash speculations, do
not, unaided, prove descent. Recapitulation, however,
does furnish the desired proof. The ‘‘line-upon-line ”’
method of research is the only sure one, and this
has brought out a continuous transition in develop-
ment, and definite directions leading to a seriation of
forms. But this appearance of seriation, though it
may be sometimes due to determinate variation, in
no way implies determination; and still less do the
facts warrant the belief in predetermination so
generally held by palzontologists. After rebutting
the various arguments for predestination, counter-
adaptive degeneration, and momentum in evolution,
Dr. Bather shows how light is thrown on_ the
supposed instances by the study of adaptive form and
of habitat. The varying rate of evolution, the recur-
rent cycles of structure, and the birth and death of
races, all are dependent on the secular changes of
environment.
forms with those changes is the task of the
paleontologist. When completed, our geological
‘systems will express truly the rhythm of evolution.
But if there is no inevitable law of progress for
any living creature, neither is there a law of
decadence; and man, by controlling his environment
and adapting his race through conscious selection,
has but to aim at a high mark in order to prolong
and hasten his ascent.
Zoology.
Prof. Stanley Gardiner in ‘his presidential ad-
dress to Section D asks the consideration of
the public to the claims of zoology to support,
and of the professional students of the science
to the comparative sterility of much of their
teaching and research. The chief claim of zoology
lies in its broad applicability to human life. Harvey’s
researches on circulation and embryology apply
directly to medicine and human growth. Malaria,
typhus, dysentery, trench fever, and now, perhaps,
cancer, are understandable only by the studies of the
pure zoologist on insects and on the physiology of uni-
cellular organisms. Mendel’s work gives hopes of the
understanding of the laws governing human heredity
and of establishing immunity to many diseases.
Economic entomology is founded on the seventeenth-
century study of insect life-histories, and now we
struggle for knowledge of the enemies or parasites
of insects wherewith to destroy them by natural
means. Curiosity as-to the possibilities of life in the
deep sea led to the opening up of great banks, with-
out which our fishing industry would still be a small |
thing. River-eels migrate thousands of miles to breed,
and mackerel migrations are correlated with sunlight; |
the Swedish herring fisheries depend on cycles of
ssun-spots .and longer cycles of lunar changes.
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
To correlate the succession of living |
‘of the whole Peace seitlement.
Great as are such results, they approach the limit —
of what can be attained from the old zoological cilia 4
of anatomy, distribution and development. ‘The
future lies in the study of the living protoplasm, its
universal association with water, the effects of acidity —
or alkalinity on reproduction and growth, the ie
sibilities of dissolved food substances and perhaps of
vitamines. in water, and, finally, reproduction without
the help of the male. Yet zoology is in danger, for
its results are seldom immediately appli aa
industry, and economic specialists are trying to make
their students study their specialities without having
a sufficiently broad scientific education to be
to consider what life really is. The old naturalists
were largely cataloguers, but what they sought was
the understanding of life. Then came in succession
the anatomists, the embryologists, and the evolu.
tionists, the last clearly seen to-day in that the —
subject as taught in many schools is merely h cy
Zoology must emancipate itself from its by te a
and recognise that its museums and institutions are
means only for the study of life itself. ta
Geography.
In his presidential address to Section E Meg.
McFarlane discusses the principles upon whi
ses e hich the
territorial rearrangement of Europe has been based.
He considers that the promise of stability is ype
in those cases where geographical and ethnical condi- _
tions are most in harmony, and least where undu
weight has been given to considerations which are
neither geographical nor ethnical. The transfer of
Alsace-Lorraine to France must be defended, if at
all, on the ground that its inhabitants are more
attached to France than to Germany. The loss of
territory which Germany has sustained both in the
east and in the west is aggravated by the fact that —
from the regions lost she has in the past obtained
much of her coal and iron-ore. Sérious as her posi-
tion is, however, her economic stability is mot meces-
sarily threatened. The position of Boland is geo-—
graphically weak, partly because the surface features —
are such that the land has no well-marked indi-
viduality, and partly because there are no natural —
boundaries to prevent invasion or to restrain the —
Poles from wandering beyond the ethnic limits of ©
their State. On’ the other hand, the population is
sufficiently large and the Polish element within it
sufficiently strong to justify its independence on
ethnical grounds. .
Czecho-Slovakia, in various ways the most interest-_
ing country in the reconstructed Europe, is alike
geographically and ethnically marked by some | ‘
of great strength and by others of great wealxness.
Bohemia possesses geographical individuality, and
Slovakia is at least strategically strong, but Czecho-
Slovakia as a whole does not possess geographical unity,
and is, in a sense, strategically weak, since Moravia,
which unites Bohemia and Slovakia, lies across the
great route from the Adriatic to the plains of Northern 2
Europe. Rumania has sacrificed unity of political
outlook and ethnic homogeneity by the annexation of
Transylvania, while her position on the Hungarian
plain is likely sooner or later to involve her in further
trouble with the Magyars. Indeed, the treatment of
the Hungarian plain is the most unsatisfactory part
In that great natural
region the Magyar element is the strongest, and to
divide it as has been done is to induce a position of
unstable equilibrium which is likely to lead to trouble
in ‘the future. + 4
The troubles of Austria are due to the fact that she
has failed to realise that an empire ‘such as hers can
be permanently retained only on a basis of common
ae
=
Fite Cher Mk ee a | 5
yee Pe ee See, Tee eee Fl ae
>
: Aveust 26, 1920|
NAIURE
827
—
political and economic interest. At present she has
no place in the reconstructed Europe, and a complete
political re-orientation will be necessary if she is to
emerge successfully from her present trials.
The pre-war frontier of Italy in the east is un-
satisfactory, because it assigns to Austria the essentially
Italian region of the Lower Isonzo. But beyond that
region and a position on the neighbouring highlands
for strategic purposes, Italy has no claim except what
she’ can establish on ethnic grounds. The so-called
“Wilson line’? meets her requirements fairly well.
Economic Science and Statistics.
Dr. J. H. Clapham’s presidential address to Section F
contains a comparison and contrast between the econo-
mic condition of Western Europe after the Napoleonic
wars and its economic condition to-day. Figures for
the total losses of France and for the debt accumu-
lated by Great Britain during the former period go to
ove that if warfare in those days lacked intensity,
it made up in duration. As in 1918, France was short
of men, and her means of communication had suf-
fered; her rapid recovery illustrates the essential dif-
ference between the two periods: a hundred years ago
few men were demobilised in either France or Ger-
many, and these were readily absorbed in an et
a community. In 1816 the harvest was bad, and
Western Europe approached starvation; the situation
was saved only by the excellent harvest of the fol-
lowing year. Economic organisation was primitive,
but elastic. A modern parallel is Serbia, which
has improved wonderfully since the bountiful har-
vest of 1919. Germany suffered rather longer owing
to the lack of a strong central Government; the States
which have risen from the wreckage of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire are now in a similar plight. | Great
‘Britain was partly industrial, and recovery was delayed
by mi agement of supplies, taxation, and de-
mobilisation. Stocks of Colonial goods had accumu-
lated with which home markets were flooded, and a
commercial and industrial crisis followed. A similar
situation exists now in the United States; she is a.
creditor nation with a big export trade, but she will
not it indiscriminate exchange. Modern financial
$ are tide off such a crisis as followed the
Napoleonic wars. The central problem is: When will
the inability of war-damaged countries to pay for the
material they require to restart their industries be felt
by the nations supplying them? If trade balances are
adjusted, the post-war slump will become a slow
decline; otherwise, a crisis must occur when inter-
national obligations cannot be met. Another feature
‘of the situation in the early part of the nineteenth
century was the rapid growth in population observed
everywhere. Official figures indicate the possibility
of a repetition of this phenomenon.
Engineering. u
Prof. C. F. Jenkin in his presidential address
‘to Section G suggests that the time has come
for an extensive revision of the theory of the
strength of materials as used by engineers. The
mathematical theory needs to be extended to cover
anisotropic materials, such as timber, and to enable
concentrations of stress such as occur at all changes
of section to be calculated. Our knowledge of the
physical properties of materials requires to be ex-
tended so that their suitability for all engineering
purposes may be known. The need for the wider
theory and for more research into the properties of
materials is illustrated by examples of the problems
which occurred in aeroplane construction during the
war. The first material dealt with by the Air
Service was timber. How was the strength of such
NO; 2652, VOL. 105]
material to be calculated? It was shown that the
components of the tensile stress in three principal
directions must not exceed the tensile strengths in
those directions. Curves limiting the stress at any
angle to the grain have been drawn for spruce, ash,
walnut, and mahogany. For plywood, “split-off”’
veneers were recommended in place of “cut-off”
wood. The method used for the determination of
Young’s modulus for wood neglects the effect of shear,
and is therefore inaccurate. As an example of an
isotropic substance steel is discussed. Fatigue limit
is suggested as a measure of strength; in samples
examined it was found to be slightly less than half
the ultimate strength. Research is necessary to deter-
mine the effects of the speed of testing, rest and heat
treatment, and pnevious testing. For this improved
methods are required; Stromeyer’s method would be
useful if modified for commercial use. Present
methods of testing in torsion are unsatisfactory, and
knowledge of the internal mechanism of fatigue
failure is required. For members of structures sub-
jected to steady loads a proof-load specification which
limits the permanent set to } per cent. or 4 per cent.
is suggested. If fatigue limit is the basis for engine-
strength calculation, the distribution of stresses in
irregularly shaped parts of the machine must be inves-
tigated. Prof. Coker’s optical method has been
applied to this end, but A. A. Griffith’s calculations
on the effects of grooves and polishing have not been
tested. Wood and steel are the only materials about
which trustworthy data have been collected.
Anthropology.
Prof. Karl Pearson in his presidential address to
Section H urges the importance of anthropology, ‘ the
true study of mankind.’’ Science should be studied,
not for itself, but for the sake of man. For this reason
there is no use for the collection of measurements of
height, span, size of head, etc. The important char-
acteristics are the psycho-physical and psycho-physio-
logical factors, reaction-time, mental age, and pulse-
tracing. Body measurement has no connection with
‘‘vigorimetry ’’ and psychometry, for no pure “‘ line ”’
‘in man has been traced: Moreover, present methods
are entirely qualitative; they must be made quantita-
tive. Three things are urged as essential to the
recognition of anthropology as a useful science. First,
folk-psychology as well as individual psychology should
"be studied as a means to determine race efficiency,
For this purpose, the ancestry of man must be investi-
gated in order that we may know which is likely
to have the greater influence on his future, Nature or
nurture. Secondly, institutes for the study of anthro-
pology ought to be established in at least three of our
universities. There the workers would be in touch
with allied sciences, they would have a wide field open
for measurements, and would be able to teach as well
as to research on the subject. In this way men
could be fitted for important ‘‘ extra-State’’ work as
diplomatic agents, traders, etc., in foreign lands.
Another section of the work should be devoted to a
study of the population at large; the schools, the
factories, and the prisons must all be investigated, so
that the present wasteful organisation of society may
be remedied. When its value to the State has been
proved, anthropology can ask for adequate support as
its right. The third point urged is the adoption of a
new technique. Logical accuracy and mathematical
exactness must be introduced; training should start
with anthropometry in its broadest sense, advancing
later to ethnology, sociology, prehistory, and the
evolution of man.: Only by devotion to problems of
real use can anthropology achieve her true position as
‘““Queen of the Sciences.’’
Cc
- NATURE
[AuGcusT 26, 1920.
Physiology.
Mr, Joseph Barcroft in his presidential address to
Section I deals particularly with anoxemia—by de-
rivation a deficient quantity of oxygen in the blood—
which is used to cover a larger field embracing all
those conditions in which the supply of oxygen to the
tissues is inadequate. The statement has been made
that anoxemia not only stops, but also wrecks,
the machine. An inquiry into this statement
cannot be. made’ without first specifying whether the
anoxemia is sudden and profound, as in drowning,
poisoning with mine-gas, etc., or is of long duration
but trivial in degree. In the former case the stop-
page of the machine may be almost complete, as in
the case of persons rendered unconscious by carbon
monoxide, by stoppage of the cerebral circulation, or
by attaining an altitude in the air at which the oxygen
pressure is too low. In such cases the permanent
damage to the machinery is very slight. On the other
hand, mild anoxzmia continued over weeks and
months, as in sufferers from -gas-poisoning, shallow
respiration, and deficient ventilation of portions of
the lung, is stated by Haldane, Meakins, and Priestley
to produce far-reaching effects on the central nervous
system. Anoxzemia may be classified as consisting
of three categories. They are tabulated as follows,
with examples :
ANOX2MIA.
Types I, Anoxic II. Anzmic III. Stagnant
Character- | Too little oxygen | Too little oxy- | Arterial blood nor-
istics pressure and too hemoglobin, but mal in oxygena-
much _ reduced normal oxygen tion, but blood-
hemoglobin in pressure in arte- flow too slow
arterial © blood, rial blood, which | .
which is too dark is bright unless
in colour discoloured by
some abnormal
pigment
Examples | Mountain sickness, | Anemia Shock
‘ . 4 pneumonia, etc. | CO poisoning Back pressure
st ities Methzmoglobin
poisoning
For a given deficiency of oxygen carried to the tissue
in unit time the first type is the most serious, and the
last least so. The anoxic type is measured by the per-
centage saturation of the arterial blood; the anzmic
by the quantity of oxyhzmoglobin in it; and the
stagnant by the ‘‘minute volume.’’
Botany.
Miss E. R. Saunders in her presidential address
to Section K deals with the subject of Heredity.
In the brief historical’ introduction attention is
directed to the fundamental opposition between the
earlier statistical methods of representing the here-
ditary process and the Mendelian conception which
has its foundation in the act of sexual reproduction.
Various complex relations which have proved capable
of elucidation through the application of Mendelian
principles are illustrated, and evidence is adduced in
proof of the applicability of these principles to the
case of specific hybrids. Certain cases are described
where the unit for which the Mendelian factor stands
appears to be a particular state of physiological equili-
brium, and where lack of conformity of phenotypic
appearance to genotypic. constitution can be readily
induced by a change in environmental conditions. The
assumptions and difficulties involved in the explana-”
tions offered by the reduplication theory and the -
chromosome view respectively are discussed, together
with the bearing of the evidence to date upon the -
question whether the same end-result, viz. segrega-
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]:
ra
application of psychology to the problems of
| logy. The science of e
art is, in’ fact, a science,’ then, and not till
‘his tenure of the office of Controller of Horticulture
-in the Ministry of Agriculture.
‘creative capacity is required, and it may be left
consideration of our imports, of the reduced.
tion, may not be effected by a different mechanis
or at a different phase of the life-cycle, in. differe
types. As a practical outcome greater co-operati
is pleaded for between cytologists, physiologis
chemists, and breeders in attacking genetical prob
Educational Science. _
Sir Robert Blair in his’ presidential address
Section L directs attention to two of the
aspects of present educational activities. The first
of the address is devoted to a general statement
lines of advance and the success obtained —
tion. The president, however, desires that ed
should become ee more than applied -
ucation ‘‘must be built
not out of the speculations of theorists or from
deductions of psychologists, but by direct, def
hoc inquiries concentrated upon the problenis of
class-room by teachers themselves. When by
own researches teachers have demonstrated tha
will the public allow them the moral, soci
economic status which it accords to other p
sions.’ The second part of the address consists
appeal to all voluntary effort to associate
directly with the work of the local education auth
Sir Robert Blair thinks that our system of ed:
will become national only when such national
tions as the public schools, the endowed gr.
schools, and the universities have joined forces with
the local education authorities and take a direct share
in the solution of their problems. He 2
of association which will retain all the advantages
the older traditions. ey
_ Agriculture.
Prof. F. W. Keeble’s presidential
Section M is devoted to the subject of intensiv
tivation. Commencing with a review of the w
by horticulturists during the war, it passes
consider the prospects of success of any large ¢
ment of intensive cultivation” which may be
taken. It insists on the great need for organis
research, education, and administration, and de
the organisation which the author established
In this connection
the important question of the relation of the “expert” —
and the “administrator” is considered, and the c
clusion reached that ‘if the work of a Governmen
office is to be and remain purely administrative, n
sure and safe and able hands of the trained adn
trator; but if the work is to be creative it must |
under the direction of minds turned, as only research
can turn them, in the direction of creativeness.’’ The
under fruit, and-of the continuous rise in the standard
of living throughout the world suggests that the
acreage under fruit might be increased by a good
many thousand acres without fear. of over-production.
After illustrating by a series of striking examples the
effect which the practice of intensive cultivation has —
on bringing about the colonisation of the countryside, —
the address reaches the conclusion that it is the duty —
of the State to help the intensive cultivator to hold
his own against -world-competition by - perfecting the
organisation of horticulture, and, above all, by pro- —
viding a thorough and practical system of horticultural
education. - The measure of success which intensive
cultivation will achieve will depend.ultimately on the —
quality. and kind of- education which the cultivators
are able to obtain. fat ie a
ee ee ee eo
AucustT 26, 1920]
NATURE
829
ee
(Continued from p. 812.)
s a”
is to be taken as the normal weight of the animal,
if we are to determine its surface from its weight?
This fundamental question has hitherto defied solu-
tion, but is now brought into the realms of exact
science, since the. work of Prof.
animals and man definite relationships exist
between the trunk length, chest circumference, and
body weight of individuals in health, while no
accurate relationship, as has long been realised by
those familiar with the subject, can be traced
between standing height and body weight.
The value of these measurements is enhanced
by the fact that, as anatomical data, they will be
practically immune from change in diseases which
may be accompanied by a loss of weight, and,
further, that as they bear a constant relation to
the body weight, so must they bear a constant
relation to the surface area of that animal.
The relationships which have definitely been
» shown to exist between “vital capacity,’’ body
weight, trunk length, and the circumference of the
chest can be expressed by the following
formule (8) :—
wr ; ‘
<= =K,, where the power x is approximately
(i) ¥.C:
$, though more accurately 0-72 ;
n
(ii) yanks where the power is approximately
2, though more accurately in males 2.26, in
- females 2-3;
: n
(iii) CM =Ky where the power x is approximately
2, though more accurately in males 1-97, in
females 2-54;
while the relationships between body weight,
_ trunk length, and circumference of the chest,
respectively, can be expressed as follows :—
n
iv) ht =K,, where the power z is approximately
bs though more accurately in males 0.319, in
emales 0-313;
™
(Vv <n where the power z is approximately
Ch oy Pp Pp
4, though more accurately in males 0-365, in
females 0-284.
In all the above formula W=net body weight
in grams, A=trunk length in centimetres,
Ch=circumference of the chest in centimetres, and
V.C. =vital capacity in cubic centimetres.
The procedures for taking the above-mentioned
measurements, briefly described, are as follows :—
(i) Body weight=net weight, without clothes,
in grams.
(ii) Trunk length in centimetres is taken by
making the subject sit on a level floor with the
knees flexed, the os sacrum, spine, and occiput
being in contact with an upright measuring
standard.
(iii) Circumference of the chest is taken at the
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
Dreyer and.
Dr. Ainley Walker (2 and 7) has shown that in
nipple leyel in males, and just under the breasts
in females, the subject being, encouraged to talk
and breathe naturally while the measurement is
being taken.
(iv) The ‘vital capacity” in cubic centimetres
is obtained by taking five consecutive readings
with a suitable spirometer. The subject. is in-
structed patiently and carefully how to proceed,
and encouraged to make the maximum effort, the
highest reading of the five measurements being
recorded as the “vital capacity.”
The relationships established by Prof, Dreyer,
by the examination of individuals in perfect health,
provide standards with which an individual or’
groups of individuals can be compared as regards
two fundamental attributes, namely, “ physique”
and “physical fitness.” These two attributes have
hitherto been subject to the widest possible in-
dividual interpretation, and even in the judgment
of one individual are liable to. undergo. monthly, if
not diurnal, variations, dependent upon humour |
and an infinity of changeable circumstances in
observer and observed.
Applying the standards determined for in-
dividuals in perfect health, it is found, as might
have been expected, that different persons exhibit
considerable deviations from these standards, par-
ticularly in respect to their “vital capacity,”
dependent upon their occupation and mode of life.
Thus persons living a healthy outdoor life exhibit
a greater “vital capacity” than persons following
a sedentary occupation, and when this deficiency
is not due to fundamental bodily defects it can.
be remedied by properly regulated training and
outdoor life.
Critical examination of the available data has
enabled Prof. Dreyer to grade the community, for
ail practical purposes, into three classes, A, B,
and C, representing conditions of perfect, medium,
and poor physical fitness. A classification on such
lines is essential when any degree of accuracy is '
required in the determination of the aberrations
from normal met with in disease. It would obvi-.'
ously be unjustifiable in disease (9) to apply A
class standards to the individual who, by reason
of his occupation and mode of life, belongs in
normal health to C class. The consideration of
this aspect of the question, however, need not
detain us longer, as being outside the scope of the
present article.
It is extremely difficult in so brief an account to
do full justice to the immense significance and the
great possibilities which lie behind this recent |
work of Prof. Dreyer’s, but sufficient, it is hoped,
has been said to show that by systematic measure-
ment of “vital capacity ” and the body measures
herein discussed, in adults and adolescents, it
should be possible to ascertain what detrimental
or beneficial effects environment and occupation
exert upon the development and health of the in-
dividual. Further, it is clear that most important
information, from the point of view of national ,
health, should become available in connection with
the methods employed to ameliorate the conditions
1
830
NATURE
[AucusT 26, 1920 4
of those who show deficiencies from the standards
obtaining in conditions of perfect health,
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
(1) Hutchinson, John: ‘‘On the Capacity of the
Lungs and on the Respiratory Functions, etc.”
Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. xxix., 1846,
London, p. 137; Lancet, vol. i., 1846, p . 630.
(2) Dreyer, G.: “The Normal Vital Capacity in
Man and its Relation to the Size of the Body.”
Lancet, August 9, 1919.
(3) Meeh, K. : (“ Oberflachen messungen des Mensch-
lichen Korpers.”” Zeitschr. fiir Biologie, vol. xv.,
Pp. 425.
(4) Dreyer, G., and Ray, W.: Phil. Trans. Roy.
shes ae series B, vol. cci., p. 133, and vol. etiy -
p- Ae
(5) Dives: G., Ray, W., and Walker, Ainley E. W.: ‘
Proc. Roy. Soc., B, vol. Ixxxvi. =>. 1912): Pw 2G ea
(6) Idem: Proc. Roy. Soc., B, vol. Ixxxvi., 1912,
: Sot ;
; @) Walker, Ainley E. W.: ‘‘The Growth of the
Body in Man; the Relationship between the Body
Weight and Body Length.’’ Proc. Roy. Soc., B,
vol. Ixxxix., I915, p. 157. oe
(8) Dreyer, G., and Hanson, G. F.: ‘‘ The Assess
ment of Physical Fitness ’’ (Cassell and Co.).
(9) Burrell, L. S. T., and Dreyer, G.: “The Vital
Capacity Constants applied to the. Study of iy
Tuberculosis.’? Lancet, June 5, 1920.
The British Association at Cardiff.
G hake eighty-eighth annual meeting of the
British Association opened at Cardiff on Tues-
day morning, in the very unfortunate circum-
stances of a general strike of tramwaymen and
some other sections of the city workmen. It is to
be feared that as, unfortunately, paragraphs about
this found their way into the Sunday newspapers,
this local trouble has had the effect of diminishing
the attendance at the meeting. - Members and in-
tending members might have rested assured that
the city of Cardiff would-rise to the occasion.
The local secretaries immediately arranged a
British Association motor service for the use of
members, but it appears that no inconvenience
was felt by those who are attending the meeting,
and most of the services have now been with-
drawn.
It is not possible at the moment of writing to
give exact figures of the membership, but it ex-
ceeded 1200 on Tuesday morning, so that a fair
average meeting was even then certain, in spite
of the strike. The weather, always inclined to be
wet in this part of the country, and particularly
atrocious during the present summer, has taken
a turn.for the better, and the visitors have had
the opportunity of seeing the sun in Cardiff, when
the residents had almost forgotten its existence.
The citizens’ lecture on “Light and Life,” by
Prof. J. Lloyd Williams, of University College,
Aberystwyth, in the Park Hall, on Monday even-
ing, attracted a large audience, notwithstanding
that many of those: present had to face a long
walk home.
At the inaugural general meeting on Tuesday
evening, when Prof. Herdman delivered the illu-
minating address published in full elsewhere in
this issue, the retiring president, Sir Charles
Parsons, read a message which the council had
sent to the King offering, at this meeting in
Wales, the grateful congratulations of the Asso-
ciation for the inspiring work done for the Empire
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
by the Prince of Wales during his Avetetiaee
tour. Sir Charles Parsons read also messages of —
condolence sent to relatives of Prof. J. Perry and —
Sir Norman Lockyer at the loss sustained by the —
recent deaths of these two distinguished repre- —
sentatives of British science—one of whom was
general treasurer of the Association from 1904
until his death, while the other was presideme in Pe
1903-4. ag
At the meeting of the general committee on
Tuesday, the report. of the council was adopted .
nominating Sir Edward Thorpe as president of
the Association for the meeting next year in Edin!
burgh, and Sir Charles Parsons as a perma- ;
nent trustee, in succession to the late mou 2
Rayleigh. .
The whole of the presidential addresses are this
year published in volume form under the title
“The Advancement of Science, 1920,” at the price
of 6s., or 4s. 6d. to members at the meeting. The —
volume makes a valuable record of the progress
and position of many departments of science, and
of authoritative conclusions concerning them. —
Whilst the meeting is not likely to rank as a
“record,” the members present are very keen,
and everything possible to ensure its success is
being done by the city authorities and local Press.
The palatial apartments of the City Hall are —
being used for the reception room and other
offices, whilst in the University College and Tech-
nical College near by all the sections are provided —
with excellent accommodation. The Park Hall, :
in which the president’s address, the evening dis-
courses, and the citizens’ lectures are delivered,
has a seating capacity of well above 2000, and
everyone present has an uninterrupted view and
hearing. =<
The numerous sectional and the two general 3
excursions have not been interfered with by the
strike, as they rely chiefly on road or railway —
transport. Ry Vice
i
i
Pe ae eee ad baleat fyi oh a = st
Raat ae
~
es
4 ¥
5
.
3
3
“
Z
_Aucusrt 26, 1920]
NATURE
$31
Sir Norman Lockyer’s Contributions to Astrophysics.
By Pror. A. Fow er, F.R.S.
Y the death of Sir Norman Lockyer the
science of astrophysics has lost the ener-
gising and stimulating influence of the last of the
great pioneers whose labours opened the way to
so vast an extension of our knowledge of the
universe. The science of celestial chemistry and
“sine had its real beginning in 1859, when
*s famous experiment on the reversal of
. spectral lines furnished the key to the interpreta-
tion of the dark lines of the solar spectrum, and
thence to the determination of the composition of
the sun and stars. During the earlier years the
outstanding features in the development of the
new science were the brilliant investigations of
Huggins on the spectra of stars and nebulz, and
those of Rutherfurd and Secchi on the spectro-
scopic classification of the stars. Curiously
enough, the sun had received but little attention
during this period, and Lockyer was practically
entering a virgin field when, in 1866, he attached
as spectroscope to the modest 6-in. equa-
torial of his private observatory, and observed the
s ‘um of a sun-spot independently of the rest
of the solar surface. Simple as it may now seem,
is p -of “taking the sun to bits,” as Sir
Norman used to call it, was an advance of funda-
mental importance. It not only gave an imme-
diate and decisive answer to the question as to the
cause of the darkness of sun-spots which was then
under vigorous discussion in England and France,
but also very soon led to the famous discovery
of the method of observing solar prominences
without an eclipse, with which Lockyer’s name,
in conjunction with that of Janssen, will for ever
be associated. The story of this epoch-making
observation has been told too often to need repeti-
tion, but it should not be forgotten that the prin-
ciple of the method had been clearly recognised
3 two years before he succeeded in
obtaining a spectroscope suitable for the purpose
in view.
Those who have become familiar with the beau-
tiful solar phenomena presented by this method of
observation will best understand the enthusiasm
and delight with which Lockyer continued his
observations whenever the sun was visible. On
the first day of observation—October 20, 1868—
he had identified the C and F lines of hydrogen,
and a yellow line near D, in the spectra of the
prominences, and on November 5 he discovered
that the prominences were but local upheavals of
an envelope entirely surrounding the photosphere,
to which he gave the name of the chromosphere,
as being the region in which most of the variously
coloured effects are seen during total eclipses of
the sun. The peculiarities of the bright F line
at once suggested to his fertile mind that the
spectroscope might disclose the physical state, as
well as the chemical composition of the chromo-
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
|
|
sphere and prominences, through the medium of
laboratory experiments, and from this beginning
the close association of the laboratory with the
observatory became the dominant note in his life’s
work. His first experiments were made in col-
laboration with his friend Frankland, and it was
shown that the widening of the F line at the base
of the chromosphere was to be accounted for by
an increase of pressure. These experiments
further demonstrated that the yellow line of the
chromosphere, which had been named Ds, was
quite distinct from hydrogen, and the then un-
known gas to which it was to be attributed was
given the now well-known name of helium. Up
to the year 1873, however, Lockyer’s work was
carried on almost entirely in his private observa-
tory, and in the laboratory which he had estab-
lished in his house at Hampstead. He not only
continued his solar observations with conspicuous
success, but also commenced his well-known “ Re-
searches on Spectrum Analysis in Connection with
the Spectrum of the Sun,” in which he developed
experimental methods which afterwards became
common practice.
On his transfer to South Kensington,
with which his connection continued for forty
years, the facilities at Lockyer’s disposal for re-
search were at first very meagre, but additions to
equipment and staff were made from time to time,
and in the later years the observatories and
laboratories were well adapted for their special
purposes. Lockyer’s dream of becoming director
of a permanent astrophysical observatory, com-
parable with those established by Governments in
other countries, however, was never realised, and
his work throughout was carried on in temporary
buildings, and for the greater part of the time
with modest grants in aid from year to year. In
1912, on the transfer of the Solar Physics
Observatory to the control of the University of
Cambridge, Lockyer, in spite of his weight of
years, courageously set about the erection of a
new observatory at Sidmouth, and continued his
work on stellar spectra almost to the close of his
life. It is a lamentable fact that much of his
time and energy was almost continually taken up
with a struggle to obtain adequate means to carry
on his researches.
The contributions to astrophysics made by
Lockyer during nearly sixty years of strenuous
endeavour in its various fields of investigation
form the subject-matter of more than 200 papers
and memoirs, and it is only possible here to refer
to some of the larger questions in which he was
specially interested. His work, both in the labora-
tory and in the observatory, was largely guided
by bold speculations, which he was usually careful
to regard as working hypotheses, and from time
to time the main points were brought together
C4
O32
NATURE
[AucusT 26, 1920
in appropriate sequence in the form of books,
among which are “The Chemistry of the Sun”
(1887 7), “The Meteoritic Hypothesis” (1890), and
‘“Tnorgastic Evolution ” (1900). His observations
and his views on their significance were thus made
widely known, and the trend of his work could
be the more readily followed. It was especially
his desire to impress upon chemists and physicists
the importance of the sun and stars as a means of
investigating the behaviour of matter at. high
temperatures, and as possibly throwing light upon
the nature of atoms and molecules.
Among the researches which have had the most
potent influence, and have led to very definite
advances, were those which dealt with the changes
in the spectrum of the same element under dif-
ferent conditions of experiment. Lockyer was
early led by his solar observations to a compara-
tive study of the flame, arc, and spark spectra
of some of the metallic elements, and one of his
first successes was to show that some of the lines
most characteristic of solar prominences, other
than those of hydrogen and helium, were produced
only under high temperature conditions, while
some of those prominently affected in sun-spots
were produced at a low temperature. With these
and other observations as a basis he put forward,
in 1873, his well-known dissociation hypothesis,
which became the subject of much discussion.
The hypothesis supposed that at successively
higher temperatures the “molecular groupings ”
which existed at lower stages were broken up
into finer forms of matter, or possibly into new
elements, producing different spectral lines, and
on this view it was shown that a multitude of solar
observations which had seemed to be wholly inex-
plicabie on the ground of previous laboratory ex-
perience became easy of explanation. Thus his
view of the construction of the solar atmosphere
was that if we could observe a section of it we
should see it divided into a number of layers, each
with its appropriate spectrum, and the spectrum
would be simpler the nearer the layer was to the
photosphere. The metallic elements, instead of
existing as such in a reversing layer, were con-
sidered to be entirely broken up in the vicinity of
the photosphere, and their germs distributed
throughout the atmosphere, the molecular group-
ings becoming more complex as they became
further removed from the source of heat. The
theory doubtless calls for some re-statement in the
light of modern views as to the structure of atoms
and the origin of spectra, but it was a valuable
guide to observation, and Lockyer anticipated the
conclusion reached by St. John in recent years,
that the complete absorption of any one element
in the solar spectrum is the integration of lines
special to various levels in the solar atmosphere.
Lockyer himself seems to have been convinced
that the ultimate products of dissociation were
hydrogen and helium; but although this is so
closely in accord with recent work on the structure
of atomic nuclei, it does not seem probable that
the phenomena studied by ‘Lockyer were directly
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
related to those iaventivaten by Rutherford. The ©
writer well remembers numerous attempts to pro
duce the lines of hydrogen or of helium by th
passage of powerful condensed discharges between
metallic electrodes, all of which, however, were
unsuccessful. a
Work on the varying spectra of the elements
was vigorously resumed by Lockyer in connection -
with the interpretation of the photographs of the _
chromospheric spectrum which had been taken a
under his direction during the solar eclipses of
1893 and 1896, and of a series of photographs of |
stellar spectra which he had commenced at K
sington about 1890. Several elements were. ‘in-
vestigated over a long range of spectrum, and
numerous additional lines were found to be in-
tensified on passing from the are to the spark >
spectrum, or which only appeared in the spark.
These were designated “enhanced lines,” and the
work at once led to the definite assignment of
origins to many chromospheric and stellar lines
which had previously resisted explanation. But —
this was not all; the enhanced lines were shown ~
to belong to a special class which were only fully —
developed at high temperatures, so that they gave —
valuable evidence of physical conditions in the —
atmospheres of the sun and stars as well as of —
their chemical constitutions. It would scarcely
be too much to claim that this further work on
enhanced lines introduced a new principle into —
astronomical spectroscopy, inasmuch as it justi-
fied the chemical identification of celestial spectra
which could not be completely reproduced in the*)
laboratory. The only assumption it was necessary
to make was that the series of changes indicated .
TP tA ee
2 j
. =" Peer
Preiloe) eee et ei) be aa, ott Fai eee
in the flame, arc, and spark would be continued
if still more powerful means of excitation were —
available, so that at sufficiently high temperatures — 2
the enhanced lines would be the sole survivors. “4
In accordance with his views on dissociation, and ~
for. convenience of reference, the enhanced lines _
were designated “ proto-metallic” lines, and —
attributed to ‘‘proto-metals,” which were rée-
garded as simplified forms of the anes which |
yielded the arc lines.
Apart from any special views as to the cause of
their appearance, however, the discovery of en-
hanced lines has proved to be of the first import-
ance in astrophysical inquiries, and the tables of
such lines which were compiled at South Kensing-
ton have been much utilised by astronomers —
throughout the world. Among other applications, ‘fed
as Lockyer was the first to show, the interpreta-
tion of the spectra of new stars in their early
stages is almost entirely dependent upon a know- ~
ledge of the enhanced lines of iron, titanium, and
other elements. In collaboration with his assist-
ants, Lockyer showed later that enhanced lines”
were also developed under the action of strong” E
electrical discharges in non-metallic elements, in-
cluding silicon, carbon, sulphur, and nitrogen,
and the lines observed in these experiments have —
also led to important celestial identifications.
There can be little doubt sores the continuation Of
$7
-Avcust. 26, 1920|
NATURE
833
these Reeetizations, as in Fowler’s experiments
on helium and oxygen, and Merton’s further work
on carbon, will yield results of high value in the
_ interpretation of the spectra of stars at the highest
stages of temperature, and possibly also of the
+See
__ Another of the chief subjects which attracted
re er during a great part of his life was the
(sélasdification of stellar spectra, and the order of
celestial evolution which might be inferred. He
pee at first mainly dependent upon stellar observa-
tions made by others, but he soon saw the neces-
_ sity for first-hand data, and, following Pickering’s
_ remarkable success with the objective prism, “he
adopted this form of instrument in most of his
‘work at Kensington, and afterwards at Sid-
mouth. He early adopted the suggestion made
by Tait that in nebule and comets the luminosity
may be due to solids heated by impact, as well
as to heated gas generated by the impacts, and
Pras Loaf developed it into his
h ” The fundamental idea is that all self-
lous i: cklestial: bodies are composed either of
swarms. of meteorites, or of masses of meteoritic
_ vapour produced by heat, the heat being developed
_ by condensation due to “gravity, and the vapour
_ being finally condensed into a solid globe. The
classification of stellar spectra which he based
upon this theory has undergone modifications: in
detail, chiefly in the direction of subdivision and
| Ppp complete definition of the criteria for the
ous stellar groups; but the essential idea has
ained unchanged throughout. In common with
other astronomers, Lockyer adopted the view that
the ‘spectroscopic differences between the various
lasses of stars are mainly due to differences of
ee. but, unlike most of them, he in-
it in place of a single line of evolu-
om ec: hot (white) to cool (red) stars the pro-
gression: must be from cool to hot stars and back
Boat to cool stars. That is, in accordance with
cory of condensing swarms of meteorites or
ae of gas, the classification made a distinc-
tion between stars of increasing temperature and
those which are on the down-grade towards the
extinction of luminosity.
of the earlier evidence for the separation
of the stars on the two branches of the “ tempera-
ture curve” which Lockyer pictured may be of
doubtful validity, but the valuable photographic
data accumulated later, in combination with
laboratory researches, placed his classification on
a much firmer basis. It was found, for example,
that when stars at any given stage of tempera-
ture were brought together by reference to the
relative intensities of enhanced and arc lines, they
were definitely divisible into two groups, showing
“that the spectra were dependent in part upon
physical conditions other than those imposed by
température alone. This difference was attributed
to differences in the state of condensation, one
group being less condensed than the other, and
therefore to be considered as being in an. earlier
stage of evolution, notwithstanding equality of
temperature. The Harvard classification, which
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
regards this difference.
“meteoritic |
has been adopted by most. astronomers, is along
one line of temperature only, and accordingly dis-
It is clearly of great
importance, however, that the difference should
be taken into account in questions relating to
stellar distribution and other matters connected
with the structure of the sidereal universe, and it
was a source of profound regret to Lockyer that
greater attention was not given to it. In the case
of the helium stars, however, Lockyer’s classifica-
tion has received substantial corroboration from
a discussion by Herassimovitch of their radial
velocities and absolute magnitudes, in which the
catalogues of Lockyer were utilised. Among the
results it was shown that the stars which Lockyer
had located on the ascending branch of the tem-
perature curve were brighter than those on the
descending branch, and, assuming the average
masses to be equal, it would follow that the
former were of greater volume and lower density
than the latter, in accordance with Lockyer’s
hypothesis.
The theory of stellar evolution put forward a
few years ago by Prof. H. N. Russell resembles
that of Lockyer in its main outlines, though based
mainly on deductions as to the densities and abso-
lute magnitudes of the stars. The criteria are
thus somewhat different in the two cases, but
there can be little doubt that in one form or other
the recognition of an ascending, as well as of a
descending, line of stellar temperatures will take
an important place in the astronomy: cf the
future.
The observation of total eclipses of the sun also.
occupied much of Lockyer’s attention. He per-
sonally took part in nine eclipse expeditions, and
was responsible for several others in which the
observations were undertaken by his assistants.
On several occasions, when H.M. ships were de-
tailed to assist the expeditions, his exceptional
organising ability enabled him effectively to utilise
the services of officers and men so as to cover the
widest possible range of observations. The out-
standing feature of his work in this connection,
however, was the introduction and use, first of a
visual spectroscope without slit or collimator, and
afterwards, when photographic methods could be
adopted, of the prismatic camera. With instru-
ments of this type he was able clearly to differ-
entiate between the coronal and chromospheric
radiations, and, besides detecting several new
coronal lines, he obtained splendid records of the
“flash” spectrum. He was thus able to determine
the various heights to which the different vapours
extended, and he identified a multitude of the
bright lines with enhanced lines which he had so
diligently investigated in the laboratory.
Lockyer would have been the last to claim that
his work was wholly free from errors, but it was
almost invariably of a stimulating character, and
has played a leading part in the development of
the science of astrophysics practically from its very
beginning. Much of his work will have an endur-
. ing place in the history of the science to which he
devoted his great gifts.
834
NATURE
[AucustT 26, 1920
Notes.
Tue triennial prize competition for the best original
contribution to the scientific advance or _ the
technical progress of electricity, known as the Fonda-
tion George Montefiore Prize, and administered by a
committee of the Association of Electrical Engineers
from the Montefiore Technical Institute. of Liége,
which had lapsed during the war, is now to be revived,
and the competition which would have been held in
1917 is now announced for 1921. The prize . will
amount to 20,000 francs. Competitors must send in
their work by April 30, 1921, and all particulars can
be obtained from the Secretary, Fondation George
Montefiore, rue Saint-Gilles 31, Liége, Belgium.
Contributions may be in English or French, and if
successful are published in French in the Bulletin de .
l’Association des Ingénieurs Electriciens sortis de
l'Institut Technique Montefiore.
Neta ReskarcH LABORATORY was organised in 1908
under the directership of Dr. Edward P. Hyde as the
physical laboratory of the National Electric Lamp
Association. The name was changed to Nela Re-
search Laboratory in 1913, when the National Elec-
tric Lamp Association became the National Lamp
Works of the General Electric Co. For some years
the laboratory was devoted exclusively to the develop-
ment of those sciences on which the art of lighting has
its foundation, but in 1914 the functions of the labora-
tory were extended by the addition of a small section
of applied science which had an immediate practical
objective. The section of applied science is now
being largely extended as a separate laboratory of
applied science under the immediate direction of Mr.
M. Luckiesh, who becomes director of applied science,
and a new building is being constructed to house this
branch of the work. Dr. Ernest Fox Nichols, for-
merly president of Dartmouth. College, and more
recently professor of physics at Yale University, has
accepted an invitation to assume the immediate direc-
tion of the laboratory of pure science under the title of
_ director of pure science. The work. of this labora-
tory, which will be continued in the present building,
will be somewhat further extended under the new
organisation. The !aboratory of pure science and the
laboratory of applied science will together constitute
the Nela Research Laboratories, and will be co-
ordinated under the general direction of Dr. Hyde,
who becomes director of research.
THE Public Health Department of the Ports-
mouth Town Council, having evidently investigated
thoroughly the scientific evidence submitted to it an
the practicability of preventing the infection of
venereal disease by the use of a disinfectant imme-
diately after exposure to risk, has recently issued
two descriptive leaflets giving the information neces-
sary to carry out the disinfectant process effectually.
We understand that about a dozen other Health
Departments are taking, or about to take, similar
measures. The leaflets, entitled ‘‘ What Every Man
should Know,’’ embody in clear words the ascertained
knowledge on this ‘matter which has been acquired. by
observation and experiment, and contain a succinct
NO, 2652, VOL. 105 |
‘occurring in times of influenza prevalence,
and useful summing-up of the multiform evi
venereal disease. The council states that
come to the conclusion that, in view of the te
effects of this disease on national and f.
life, it is its bounden duty to make public a
ledge of the means by which this scourge ce:
prevented. These leaflets pay due regard to h
social and scientific aspects of the much-di
subject of prompt self-disinfection after incut
risk of infection. The Portsmouth Public
Department deserves to be congratulated on its
in this seriously important matter of sanitation.
—_s
‘‘EpIpEMIC stupors”’ are often referred to
records (seventeenth and eighteenth centu
this country encephalitis lethargica made its
ance immediately before and during the
epidemic of 1918-19. It is of interest, theref
record the occurrence of the same disease in
at the end of 1919 during an epidemic of —
A full description of the outbreak, consi: t!
seventeen cases, is given by Capts. Malone and
in the Indian Journal of Medical Research |
No. 3).
_ In the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts (vol
No. 3533, August, 1920) we have a report of
George Birdwood memorial lecture on ‘‘ The
Power of Hinduism ’”’ by Sir Valentine Chirol
Valentine admits that he writes ‘‘not as a st
but merely as a layman.’’ He has, however,
diligent student, and his wide knowledge of
porary politics and his experience of personal
many of the most important sites where archi
investigation is being conducted by Sir John
have enabled him to construct a graphic picture
historical development of India in relation”
Hinduism. ‘This lecture is thus of considerable
portance, and it is rendered more attractive by
picturesqueness of the author’s style. He
not followed so completely the trend of moc
studies as to grasp the fact that the survival
Hinduism, in spite of the rise of Buddhism and tf
cataclysm of the Mohammedan invasion, is due to 1
amorphous character, its eclectism, and its capac
for adapting itself to novel conditions. But w
these reservations the lecture gives an admirab
account of the development of Hinduism. ae
Tue character of the prehistoric culture of the
people of the Malay Peninsula has as yet received
inadequate attention, but much good work is being Z
done in continuation of that summarised in “ The
Pagan Races” by Messrs. Skeat and Blagden. Thus
we find in the Journal of the Federated Malay Sta
Museum (vol. ix., part 1, January, 1920) an excellent
account by Mr. I. H. N. Evans of the exploration |
a rock shelter in the Batu Kurau Parish, Perak, y
a description of the flint-weapon industry. In
recent times the influence of Islam has been —
|
of the indigenous animistic beliefs. In this co
tion, in the same issue of the journal, Mr.
Winstedt refers to some curious analogies bety
the local customs and those of.the Brahmans of So
’
es ee ee
this year.
TIT, Fite patter aa
PSTAE
coats t Dan
mo
- Aucust 26, 1920]
NATURE
835
‘India, ‘which point to the widespread influence of
Hinduism in the peninsula prior to the establishment
of Islam as the dominant faith.
Mr. Henry Batrour has reprinted his interesting
presidential address from the Proceedings of the
Somersetshire Archzological and Natural History
Society (vol. Ixv., 1919, pp- xxiii sqq.). He claims
connection with Somersetshire on the ground that his
‘late colleague, Sir E. B. Tylor, was a Somersetshire
man by birth, and that Mr. H. St. G. Gray, now
curator of the Taunton Museum, was his own
assistant at Oxford. In his address Mr. Balfour
crosses the county border to Rushmore and Cranborne
Chase, on the border of Wilts and Dorset, the home
of a great archeologist and ethnologist, Col. Pitt
Rivers. He closes his review of this notable man with
the remark that ‘he has left his own record of diligent
and broad-minded research, and the example afforded
by his enthusiasm, characteristically tempered with
caution, should have the effect both of stimulating
and of restraining the work not only of this genera-
tion, but of generations to come.”
Tue Quarterly Summary for July issued by the
: Royal Botanic Society of London contains notes on
some plants of interest in the gardens. The gigantic
floating leaves of the Victoria regia water-lily are now
+ ft. in diameter, and, as each new leaf at this time
of year exceeds its predecessor, it seems likely that
they will reach the maximum of 8} ft. by the end of
August. As the sunlight becomes less the new leaves
st smaller, until the plant dies down in October.
One of the earliest accounts of this remarkable tropical
American water-lily was that given by Lindley in the
Proceedings of the society in 1839 (vol. i.). The plant
was discovered by Robert Schomburgk, the traveller,
on the River Bernice, in Guiana, and the detailed
description which he sent home was sufficient to en-
able Lindley to recognise it as a distinct genus of
water-lilies, which was, by permission, dedicated to
the young Queen. Efforts to grow the plant at Kew
were at first unsuccessful, but in 1849 some fifty
plants were successfully raised from seed and dis-
tributed to various gardens. The fine specimen grow-
ing at Kew is one of the most popular attractions of
the Royal Gardens. Another jnteresting plant in the
same tank at the Botanic Gardens is the Lotus,
Nelumbium spectosum, which has flowered profusely
Its large salver-shaped leaves and tall pink
flowers rising from the water present a striking ap-
pearance. The plant was held in esteem by many
ancient peoples in the East; in Egypt paintings of
it decorate the temples, and it is still associated
with temples in India, where the long, fleshy
roots are eaten as well as the oval, nut-like seeds.
The society has also been making experimental
growths of the soya bean, with the view of ascer-
taining the most suitable variety for cultivation in this
country.
Amonc the recently issued reports of the Canadian
Arctic Expedition, 1913-18, are two on the Crustacea,
which form part of vol. vii. An account of the
marine Copepoda is given by Prof. Arthur Willey (in
NO, 2652, VOL. 105 |
tion on August 1, 1872.
Part K) and of the Cladocera by Dr. Chancey Juday
(in Part H). Cladocera have been examined previously
from Greenland and from Alaska, but not from the
intervening region of Arctic America, Seven fresh-
water and two marine species are recorded, all of
which are well known and have a wide geographical
range. The fresh-water species belong to the genera
Daphnia (pulex and longispina), Bosmina, Eurycercus,
Alona, Chydorus, and Polyphemus, and the marine
species to Podon and Evadne respectively. The
common Daphnia pulex is also recorded from Polaris
Bay, Greenland, about 82° N. latitude, where it was
collected by the United States North Polar Expedi-
This seems to be the most
northerly record for any of the Cladocera. The
material of this species from Polaris Bay consists of °
several hundred specimens, the great majority being
females with ephippia. The specimens of Daphnia
pulex in the various catches of the Canadian Expedi-
tion show that the winter eggs in the ephippia prob-
ably hatch during the latter half of June; that females
bearing parthenogenetic or summer eggs appear
about the first week in July; and that males and
ephippial females make their appearance in late July
and in August. The season is therefore a reiatively
short one.
A NOTEWORTHY contribution to the study of that
fascinating group of insects, the parasitic aculeate
Hymenoptera, is made by Prof. W. M. Wheeler in the
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
(vol. lviii., 1919, No. 1). Prof. Wheeler gives a compre-
hensive summary of the subject, citing and criticising a
long array of literature, and discussing the evolution of
the parasitic habit. He is disposed to regard the aculeate
parasites as originating directly or indirectly from
the insects which serve as their hosts. ‘The object
of the parasite is to secure the provisions accumulated
by the host for its own progeny. This involves a
destruction of the egg or young larva of the host.”
But a higher specialisation is reached by the social
insects which foster the host-brood so that their own
young may be reared and fed.
ANATOMICAL details of some morphological import-
ance are elucidated by Prof. G. H. Carpenter and
Mr. F. J. S. Poliard in a recent paper (Proc. R. Irish
Acad., B, vol. xxxiv., No. 4) on the presence of
lateral spiracles in the larvz of warble-flies (Hypo-
derma). Six pairs of these vestigial structures, sug-
gesting a primitive peripneustic condition of the
respiratory system, are recognisable in the ripe
warble-maggot, connected with the outer lateral
trachee by fine, thread-like, solidified air-tubes.
Dr. E. H. Pascor, of the Geological Survey of
India, revived at a meeting of the Geological Society
of London in March, 1919, in a new form the
question of the relations of the Indus, the Brahma-
putra, and the Ganges (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,
vol, Ixxv., p. 138, 1920). He traces back the now
divided system to a river, the Indobrahm, the head-
waters of which were in, or soon cut back into, the
Brahmaputra region of Assam, while the mouth was
in the Indus region of the Arabian Sea. This river
836
NATURE
|AucusT 26, 19996
originated in the beginning of the Siwalik epoch,
when the depression at the foot of the Himalayas
ceased to be the scene of conflicting lagoon and
terrestrial conditions, and became finally silted up.
The great river was guided along this depression
westward, while a’ contemporaneous river ran on the
Tibetan side of the range, of which the alluvium re-
mains from Pemakoi, north-east of the Bay of Bengal,
to Gilgit, north of the great Indus bend. This river
joined the Oxus, or reached the Arabian Sea by an
independent course. It is urged that the Indobrahm
captured the upper waters of the northern river by
cutting back into them along its tributaries at suc-
cessive points in the recesses of the range from
which the Indus now runs south-westward. The
speakers in the discussion of the paper, including Mr.
R. D. Oldham, approved the main geographical con-
tentions, but laid more stress than the author. on
earth-movements in determining the diversions and
the courses of the tributaries through the hills.
SIMULTANEOUSLY with the investigations of Dr.
Pascoe, Dr. G. E. Pilgrim, of the Geological Survev of
India, put forward his suggestion of a great Pliocene .
river running on the south side of the Himalayas from
Assam to the Indus course. Dr. Pilgrim’s paper
and maps (Journ. Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, vol. xv.,
p. 81, 1919) appeared, indeed, before the printing of
Dr. Pascoe’s work, and, as that author points out,
the argument based on the direction from which the
tributaries meet their primaries in the mountain-belt
originated with Dr. Pilgrim. The two papers. should
be read together, and they form a great addition to
our conceptions of the past geography of India. Dr.
Pilgrim gives prominence to earth-movements as
prometing the dislocation of the Assam-Punjab or
Siwalik River. His maps of Western Asia in Eocene,
Miocene, and Pliocene times are highly useful.
THE “ Fossils from the Miura Peninsula and its
Immediate North ”’ form the subject of an important
memoir by Prof. M. Yokoyama (Journ. Coll. Sci.,
Tokyo Imp. Univ., vol. xxxix., art. 6, pp. 193, 20 pls.).
The geological forester of the peninsula are in part
undoubtedly Pliocene, and in part either Pliocene -or
Pleistocene; those of the plain are divisible into an
upper, sub-aerial. and a lower marine series several
hundred feet in thickness. The sub-aerial. series is
made up of a brown loam, an altered volcanic ash,
wholly devoid of stratification and organic remains.
The marine series, which the author names -the
Musashino formation, is divisible into an upper and
a lower series. In the upper, remains of Elephas
namadicus, Fale. and Caut., are not uncommon, and
are perhaps the most important of the fossil confents.
The Lower Musashino beds are provisionally divided
by the author into six zones. From the whole series,
232 species of Mollusca and 6 of Brachiopoda’ are
recorded, 91 of the former and:2 of the latter’ being
described as new; the whole are well illustrated, but
the nomenclature, as, alas! ‘too generally the casé in
papers of this. class, ‘lags ‘behind. the times. ~The
nurhber of forms not known to be living i is 88, or about
NO, 2652, VOL. 105 |
37 per cent. as the whole teiiva: and 7 species
not yet been found in Japanese waters. The aut
therefore classes these Musashino beds as Pliocen
about the same age as the English Red Crag of
bourne=Austelien of the Netherlands.
THE Geologische Reichsanstalt of Viennajt
was able in Imperial times to spread the in
of a great school of geology over Polish,
vanian, and Dalmatian lands, has -been force
adopt, from the opening of 1920, the restricted
Geologische Staatsanstalt. Dr. Emil
director, retires after long and honourab:
recognising in the ‘‘ geschickte Diplomatie
Eduard von England’? the prime cause
restriction of his official field. The Verh
for 1919 indicate many changes on the’
workers whose names are familiar hav
aliens through territorial readjustments. |
hope that. their common: science will —
federal spirit shown in the last publica
Reichsanstalt. Many of the papers deal »
tain structure. Dr. F. Heritsch claims that #
povery: of tabulate corals in the supposed
the mass has been imported by overfoldi
may be prepared for continued criticism, i
Ampferer, who becomes one of the Chefgeo )
also a Bergrat, contributes a paper | in pee t
on tectonic features when a region a
cesses of crust-folding.
come a new and enlarged edition of | p
brand’s ‘‘ Analysis of Silicate and Carbonate
(Bull. 7oo, U.S. Geological Survey, 19)
accurate methods described are obviously _
in the analysis of potassium silicates and
for commercial use, as well as in the
crimination of types of natural rock. The i
of the estimation of small quantities: of _u
commonly overlooked constjtuents is here
out. At the same time this may be quite un n
in many cases of ordinary practice, and f
system of ‘condensed analysis” is —
described in the re pages. fig 8
AN interesting exaraple of the applications |
palzontology is afforded by Messrs. F. L. Kitchin
and J. ore who ‘show (Geol. Magazine, vol. lvi
pp. 4, 52, and 100, 1920) that a mass of Gault <
Cenomanian strata at Shenley, near Leighton
zard, 250 yards long and 150 yards wide, has
inverted on Lower Greensand. The fossils p
the clue, being in inverse succession to those
undisturbed beds of the neighbourhood. As a t
pushed by ice, this presents some pee with
famous block described by Mr. R. G. Carru
the ‘heart of Caithness (NatTuRE, vol: “testaix :
in’ which a quarry has been opened Ry
rigs Ws
j
AvucusT 26, 1920]
NATURE’
837
4 Tue occurrence of barytes in the upper parts of
_ fodes containing metallic sulphides is probably well
recognised, and postulates an infiltration of barium
chloride upwards during the formation of the lode
or downwards to meet the sulphates that are in solu-
_ tion. Mr. H. W. Greenwood suggests (Proc. Liver-
pool Geol, Soc., vol. xii., part 4, P- 355, 1920) that
_ the barytes which is common in the English Triassic
strata, and mainly found in the upper beds,
was derived from overlying Jurassic strata. The
r “source: of an exceptional quantity of barium in the
s ic seas is not indicated. Might it not have
fg “been brought into the Triassic pan-deposits from the
denudation of our Armorican lode-formations ?
IN a fainersl “Review of the Reptilian Fauna of
‘the Karroo System” (Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Africa,
we xxii, p. 13, 1920) Mr. S. H. Haughton concludes
eh - the preservation of complete skeletons of Pareia-
eh -saurians in the beds south of Prince Albert Road
station was determined by a rapid deposition of fine
mu or silt. In the discussion on this paper (Proc.
bic + p. xii.) Dr. van Hoepen supported, by his
_ pers ‘observaticns on the skeletons of various
“genera, the view of entombment in swampy lakes
rather than, as Mr. Watson had suggested, in wind-
_ borne sand. Dr. du Toit stated that he was un-
* willing to 1 return to the old supposition of a general
- Karro in Lower Beaufort times, but he pic-
THE ironed summer has so far experienced some
t: disturbing weather anomalies, the abnormal features
: being chiefly the. persistent low temperatures and the
| ent heavy rains. Some improvement has been
rally experienced during the present month owing
iter prevalence of anticyclonic conditions.
bance, however, traversed the north of Ire-
1 the southern portion of Scotland on the
la d ok 1
night of August 17 and the early part of August 18.
r ai wee area followed a track fairly due east, and
/ cep accompanied by a heavy downpour
1 and the surrounding neighbourhood. The
We at te for the twenty-four hours to
ne , and in twelve hours
the fall < AG Leith the fall. in twenty-
2 yous. hours was 2-84 in., and at Renfrew 2-80 in. A
_ subsidiary disturbance occasioned heavy rain in the
south - ‘of England, and at’ Falmouth the fall was
(2-21 in. between 8 ‘a.m. and 7 p.m. on August 18.
Very cool northerly winds spread over the country in
the rear of these disturbances. On the morning of
_- August 20 frost’ occurred on the ground. in the open
in Scotland and‘in parts of England, whilst in places
the thermometer in the screen fell to 36°. At Green-
wich the exposed thermometer registered 33° and in the
shade 41°, which was only 3° above the lowest figure
reached in August since 1841, 38°. being recorded in
1864,.when the exposed thermometer fell to 27°. At
_ Kew it was the coldest August night since 1891,- and
_ at Falmouth it was as cold as any time in August
_ during the last half-century.
NO, 2652, VOL. 105 |
RE oe
AMONG recent pamphiets issued officially by the
Meteorological Office under the heading of Profes-
sional Notes is one by Mr. J. S. Dines entitled
‘*Methods of Computation for Pilot-balloon Ascents.”
Without claiming to be exhaustive, this gives some
account of, at any rate, the better-known methods of
determining wind velocities at different heights.
Part i. deals with the most practised single-theodolite
ascents, and nine methods are described, including
those in general use by the military Meteorological
Services of France, Italy, and the United States, partly
graphical and partly depending upon a special slide-
rule, The ideal method for open-air work discards the
graphical method so far as possible. Part ii., dealing
with double-theodolite ascents, gives six methods of
dealing with these, including, as does part i., the
Meteorological Office method, which depends entirely
on the slide-rule. Part iii., on balloon-tail, gives two
graphical methods besides the Meteorological Office
slide-rule plan. Perhaps more interesting than any of
these is the appendix dealing with various methods of
obtaining velocities at heights when cloud-sheets pre-
vent the observation of pilot-balloons, The smoke from
anti-aircraft shells set to explode at a given height
can be observed through a comparatively small break
in the cloud, and even when the cloud-sheet is quite
unbroken the position of bomb-bursts can be deter-
mined by sound-ranging from the ground or by
observation from an aeroplane.
Ir was scarcely likely that proposals so far-reaching
in effect and importance as those put forward by the -
Egyptian Ministry of Public Works for the extensive
development of the cultivable area of the valley of
the Nile by the construction of a dam and other irriga-
tion works should escape a large measure of hostile
criticism, and we have on several occasions alluded
to the attacks made by Sir William Willcocks on the
validity and trustworthiness of the data on which
the scheme is founded. These attacks, it will be
recalled, led to the appointment of a Special Inter-
national Commission of Inquiry, which has had the
projects under review. We have now received a copy
of a brochure issued by an independent Commission
of Native Egyptian Engineers, who take up an atti-
tude of strong and uncompromising opposition to the
official proposals on the «grounds that there are
obvious inconsistencies in the fundamental calcula-
tions, and an evident tendency on the part’ of the
Technical Adviser to the Egyptian Government to
‘“‘adapt” his data to the requirements of the case.
The objectors state that they fear that any attempt
to cut off or decrease the supply of water and silt to
Egypt from the Blue Nile will be fraught with disas-
trous consequences, and they set out their arguments
in a series of sixteen criticisms of the official scheme.
An addendum by Dr. Mahgoub Sabitt, professor. of
medical jurisprudence and toxicology at the.Egyptian
University, advances reasons for considering the con-
struction of. the proposed dam likely to prove detri-
mental to public health: A protest is also entered
.against the alleged secrecy in which the proposals
-were prepared and formulated, and finally a call is
made for a mixed committee of native and foreign
NATURE
[AucustT 26, 1920 ©
engineers, “free from all bias,’’ to investigate the
matter thoroughly on account of its vital importance
to the welfare of the whole country.
THe paper by W. L. Cheney on the measurement
of hysteresis values when using high magnetising
forces, which has just been published by the U.S.
Bureau of Standards (Paper No. 383), will be of in-
terest to all engaged in magnetic research. When
employing ordinary methods it is extremely difficult to
get the accurate values of the remanent induction and
the coercive force owing to what has-been called mag-
netic viscosity. This probably also slightly affects the
author’s results. His method is a modification of the
isthmus method, and consists essentially of a du Bois
electromagnet with flat pole-pieces separated by an air-
gap and pierced coaxially so that a rod may be inserted.
The magnetic force and the induction are measured
by suitable coaxial test coils. Magnetic forces up to
2500 gausses were employed. Quenching eutectoid
steel (0-85 per cent. carbon) in oil lowered the remanent
induction, but considerably increased the coercive
force. Experiments were made on the K.S. magnet
steel prepared by Prof. Honda, and the high coercive
force of 200 gausses was obtained when the specimen
had been magnetised with 800 gausses.
AN uncommon piece of work is described in
Engineering for August 13 in the form of a long
wooden jib for a derrick crane designed and con-
structed for the Admiralty during the war by the
Imber Court Engineering Works, Thames Ditton,
Surrey. The crane, with a 50-ft. post, had to be
capable of raising a 3-ton load up to a platform
100 ft. high. The jib was 135 ft. long from the
centre of the bottom pin to the centre of the rope-
wheel, and the wooden construction adopted resulted
in a jib being produced of one-third the weight and
having a higher factor of safety than steel would
have given. Including the rope-wheel and end casings,
the jib complete weighed only 2 tons 13 cwt. The
jib was built up of four corner-posts, each post being
made of nine laminations of Oregon pine glued
together with waterproof glue. The jib was divided
into panels by struts, also of Oregon pine, and each
panel had diagonal bracing, both longitudinal and
transverse; these bracings were composed of stranded
piano-wire. The struts were fixed to the corner-posts
by welded steel clamping boxes, to which the diagonal
braces were also connected by means of bolts on which
-the wire was wound. The bolt-heads were formed
with teeth, with which two spring pawls engaged, so
that turning the bolt tightened the wires and slacking
back was prevented by the pawls.
Tue concluding volume—the sixth—of the Scientific
Papers of the late Lord Rayleigh is to be published
by the Cambridge University Press in the spring of
next year. It will range over the period 1911-20.
Among the other forthcoming publications of the Cam-
bridge University Press is ‘‘ The Spectrum of Nova -
Geminorum II.,” by F. J. M. Stratton. It will con-
stitute vol. iv., part i., of the Annals of the Solar
Physics Observatory, and is promised for the end of
the present year.
NU, 2652, VOL. 105 |
Our Astronomical Column.
DIscOvVERY OF A Nova In CyGnus.—Mr. W
for meteors. The object when discerned on Augu:
was of about 33 magnitude, and its rough posit:
was in R.A. 19h. 56m. and declination 533° N.
formed a little triangle with the stars y and d~
Cygni. On referring to star-charts, etc., Mr. 1
quite failed to identify the object in question, an
therefore concluded it to be a new star. os
The position of the nova in the Milky Way is in
accordance with past experience, for nearly all past — {
nove have been in the Milky Way or on its borders. —
Mr. Denning saw the present object again «
August 21 in the openings between swiftly passing
clouds, and it appeared of about the same brights
as on the previous night, but only hurried glimpse
were obtainable. oy
“On August 22 the brightness was estimated=2-8
mag., and on August 23, 2:2 mag., so that its light is
increasing. ge
PARALLAX OF THE B-type Star Boss 1517.—Mr. J.
Voiate recently announced a large parallax and proper
motion for this star. Mr. A. J. Roy: showed alee
ever, that the true proper motion in R.A. was only
one-tenth of Mr. Vodte’s value, being —o-023"; tha
in declination is +o-129”. Mr. ‘Votte hae pecan ds |
the parallax with this value, and finds 0-048”, which —
is in | good accord with Kapteyn’s hypothetical vah
0:033". i
The star is one of the nearest of the B stars, bei
at about the same distance as Achernar. Its chie
interest lies in its surprisingly low absolute magni-
tude for a B-type star, its apparent visual epg
being 5-9. According to Mr. R. E. Wilson, of
D. O. Mills Observatory, the radial velocity is
+102 km./sec., or +83 corrected for the sun’s motion
The position for 1910 is R.A. 6h. om. 59°436s., south —
decl. 32° 10’ 10-91". . ae
PUBLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL LABORATORY AT
GRONINGEN, No. 29.—This is a further instalment of
Prof. J. C. Kapteyn’s valuable researches on tf
stellar system. He summarises the large amount of
new material that has become available since he first
took up the subject, and. shows that the time is —
appropriate for a fresh investigation of the secular
parallaxes of stars of different magnitudes and spec-
tral classes. The secular parallax is defined as the
angle subtended at the star by the unforeshortened
annual motion of the.sun. Assuming its speed to be —
193 km./sec., then annual parallax=sec. par. X0-243.
The following values are found for the variation of
parallax with galactic latitude: From latitude go° to
40°, parallax=1-17 of mean; from 40° to 20°, 0:96 of
mean; and from 20° to 0°, 0-87 of mean. ps
Many investigators have found discordant values of —
the declination of the solar apex as derived from stars —
of different magnitudes. Prof. Kapteyn is inclined to
attribute this to imperfect elimination of magni-
tude equation in declination from the catalogues —
mtr Pele since he makes the discordance’ very ©
small. te
cI
Prof. Kapteyn emphasises the importance of —
separating stars of different spectral type in
these investigations. In view of the great ©
range of absolute magnitude according to type, —
he says that the grouping of all types is like —
making a_ single statistical investigation of the —
much risk.
AucustT 26, 1920]
whole animal kingdom, from the elephant to the
flea, instead of dividing them into species.
The following table gives the mean secular paral-
laxes for different magnitudes and spectral types, the
former being visual on the Harvard scale :
Mag. Bstars stars Fstars G stars Kstars M stars
To 0138 0253 os59t 0627 0362 0-172
2-0 ©0921 O170 0392 0-422 0241 0-116
30 00622 O115 0267 0-285 0163 0:0786
40 00422 00780 0182 O192 O110 0:0537
ia 00285 0:0526 0123 129 0:0749 0:0361
a 00192 0°:0355 00827 0:0876 0-0506 0:0244
td 00130 0:0240 0:0560 0:0599 0:0342 00163
0 0:0087 00161 0:0379 00403 0:0231 00108
GO 00059 ©0109 00254 00271 0:0156 0-0073
The small values near the end of the final column
show that these distant M stars are giants nearly
equivalent to the B stars in absolute magnitude. On
the other hand, the M stars mentioned on page vii.
_as being 174 magnitudes fainter than the B stars are
dwarfs.
Universities, Research, and Brain Waste
i Bie is the subject of a presidential address by
_ Prof. J. C. Fields to the Royal Canadian Insti-
tute, Toronto, on November 8, 1919. It contains a
review of the relations which must subsist between
universities and research and between research and
the progress of the world in civilisation, and it opens
up sO many aspects of these questions which are
debatable that for that very reason it ought to be
read extensively. Though, on the whole, Prof.
Fields’s views are consolatory to us in the Mother
Country, they also show how much has yet to be
done in England, as in other countries, to prevent or
reduce the waste of potential brain power in the
generations to come. Conditions are now greatly
improved whereby the educational net is able to select
out of the masses of population the individuals whose
mental qualities deserve and, in the interest of the
community, require due cultivation, but for the full
benefit we must wait a generation or two.
It is premature to make comparisons between the
different races and nations in respect to intellectual
ee it it- seems to be incontestable that the
ans have for generations been distinguished by
sect for learning and intellectual achievement,
th ans
and this is illustrated by the way in which during the
ir highly trained men were preserved from too
The Allies, on the other hand, took no
a. care to protect and preserve such men as
oseley, who was allowed to sacrifice his life in
Gallipoli. Such waste is, as Prof. Fields says, a
tragedy of the first order. But there is similar waste
going on every day in the neglect to give every boy
of promise an open road to the university and the
right kind of teaching when he gets there.
t is a question open to discussion whether the
opportunity to do research lies only in a university
career. The successive great discoverers at the Royal
Institution in London, from Davy and Faraday
onwards, and men like Joule, who was a brewer, and
others unconnected with educational institutions, rise
at once to mind. But it certainly is true that in the
universities the example, the methods, and the spirit
of research should be found associated with the
teaching in every faculty and in every department.
Prof. Fields was severe on the constitution and
government of the American universities, but while it
appears to be true that most of the professors there
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
NATURE
839
are overworked and that the standard of attainment
among the graduates is inferior to those of the uni-
versities of Europe, the work that has been done at
Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, and Harvard Universities
must not be forgotten. Probably the next generation
on both sides of the Atlantic will profit by the inter-
change of visits by representatives of the higher educa-
tional institutions and by the opportunities for ex-
change of students, both graduate and undergraduate.
It is probable also that there is still great ignorance,
especially among the masses of the people in all
countries, of the fact that the most potent factor in
bringing the world out of barbarism to its present
better condition of life has been science. ‘‘Is it not,”’
Prof. Fields says, ‘‘of the first importance that every
boy and girl should be made aware of this fact? ”
With that object in view modern history requires to
be taught by teachers better qualified than in the
past.
The Sun as a Weather Prophet.
OMe forty years ago Prof. Langley, while engaged
on his early bolometric work on the sun, grasped
the principle that, inasmuch as solar radiation is the
governing factor in world meteorology, it should ulti-
mately become possible to forecast weather changes,
sa soon as sufhcient information had been obtained
in regard to the mechanism of the radiation effect, by
continuous observation of the intensity of radiation.
Gradual improvement in instruments and methods has
enabled his successors to state positively that the so-
called ‘‘ solar constant’’ is subject to variations of long
and short period, and of late years determined
attempts have been made, chiefly by the Smithsonian
observers, to trace the meteorological changes that
may fairly be attributed to these variations. It is clear
that there are, from time to time, disturbing factors
of apparently terrestrial origin—for instance, the erup-
tion of Mount Katmai, in Alaska, in 1912, brought a
promising summer to an abrupt and chilly close in
mid-July; but it is becoming more and more probable
that the Smithsonian investigation is on the right
lines, and will give definite aid to forecasting, at any
rate in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Publication No. 2544 of the Smithsonian Miscel-
laneous Collections (vol. Ixxi., No. 3) is devoted to a
full statement of the case as regards Argentina, Chile,
and Brazil in connection with regular observations of
solar radiation at the new solar observatory at Calama,
in Chile. Clear evidence is provided by the tempera-
tures found at Buenos Aires that high values of solar
radiation are followed. by maximum values of tempera-
ture at an interval of nearly eleven days. The in-
terval is not the same for lower maxima of radiation,
and the amount of lag appears to be connected with
the latitude of outbreaks on the sun, but more
remains to be explained than the solar rotation. will
cover. The lag-is also not. the same for all stations
considered. Twenty such were chosen in the countries |
mentioned, and differences are noted in the intensities
as well as in the intervals, and also between the effect
of longer and shorter waves. The observations do not
cover every day, so that the correlation. is probably
not so good as it would be if complete data could be
provided. The change due to a variation of 1 per
cent. in the solar radiation appears to range between
02° C. and o-8° C. in the tropics; in. the temperate
zones the effect, though less direct, is greater, even
exceeding 2°.C. at some stations.
Having. thus obtained satisfactory evidence that,
with the exception of the diurnal and annual varia-
840
NATURE.
[AucustT 26, 1920
tions due to thé rotation and revolution of the earth, |
all weather changes are caused chiefly by variation |
of solar radiation, the next step. was clearly to bring
it into practice for forecasting. This has now been
done for Central Argentina with promising results,
but the ideal of daily measures of solar radiation is
not yet attainable, because more stations are required,
Even. at Calama, which is nearly cloudless, good
observations are not always possible on account of
haze.
The concluding paragraph of the report states:
‘‘The ideal arrangement for this solar work would |
be to carry it on in co-operation with the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory. If the work at several
widely separated observatories could be directed by
one capable institution, so that the methods could
be uniform and the results comparable, and then if it
could be collected and weighted at the central office
before cabling to the various weather surfaces of the
world, probably a complete and reliable day-to-day
record of the solar changes could be obtained which
would be of the greatest value to practical meteoro-
logy. If the Smithsonian Institution is unable or un-
willing to do this work, then it is hoped that observa-
tories will be established by several countries and some
direct method of exchange instituted.” W.W.B.. :
Cotton Industry Research.
2 HE British Cotton Industry Research Association,
which was incorporated in June, 1919, has just
issued its first annual report. The association is com-
prised of 1408 individual members representative of all
branches of the cotton industry, and its council in-
cludes not only members of the great: firms engaged
in the industry, but also those representing the various
associations of operatives.
The association has appointed as its director
of research Dr. A. W. Crossley, who took up
his duties last Easter. A large mansion some
five miles from the Manchester Exchange, stand-
ing in 133 acres of ground, has_ been, bought
for the purposes of the association, to which it
is proposed to add extensive buildings, for which it
is intended to raise a special fund of 250,o00l., to
accommodate the various departments of chemistry,
physics, colloids, botany, and technology, and _ to
appoint as heads of these departments highly qualified
men of science. In order to bring to the notice of
the members all available information of work done
in the past, Dr. J. C. Withers, of London, has been
appointed to direct the abstracting and indexing of
scientific and technical matters in connection with the
Records Bureau, and the council, in co-operation with
the Textile Institute, has arranged for the publica-
tion of abstracts from English and foreign papers
dealing with matters relevant to the textile industries.
It is proposed to establish an extensive library of
standard scientific works of reference and of scientific
and technical journals. A scheme of education falls
within the scope of the association, and already cer-
tain Oldham and other mills have arranged to. provide
scholarships in some branch of science for students
who are desirous of becoming members of the staff
of. the association. The plan of research is intended
to cover the. qualities of the cotton cuticle and the
influence thereon of different reagents employed in
mercerisation, bleaching, etc.; the effect of reagents
on the strength: and elasticity of the fibre, yarn, and
fabric: the character of the change due to mercerisa-
tion; the nature of. tendering in the various types of
fibre; the variation in the phvsical properties of sized
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 | :
_ the devising of methods for obtaining exact in
| Industry Research Association. =
yarn with change in the colloid properties of
material used; the action of the dyeing process, w
critical regard to the established purity of materi
the nature of the dye solution, and the cher
change in the latter during the dyeing process; fir
tion as to the length of staple, the behaviour of
under stress and strain, the degree of variati
counts and in the diameter of yarn, relative
the degree of resistance of yarn to weaving fri
etc. Arrangements have been made for co-op
with the Empire Cotton-Growing Committee
of Trade), and in co-operation therewith
Research Association has made a grant of
for 1919-20 to a student of botany at Oxforc
in aid of botanical research in the subject a
cotton-growing. The joint committee has likew
arranged for two other students to take up like
in the ensuing session. ‘The income of the
ciation is derived from a call upon the mem
the extent of about goool. and a Governmen
from the Department of Scientific and Indust Xe.
search of 7oool. The Department has shown th:
greatest interest and given all possible help in t
furtherance of the objects of the British Ce
r
4
Sugar Cultivation in India.
THE existing world-shortage of sugar lends s
interest to all experimental work dir
towards any advance in the quantity and qua
this essential crop. Sugar-growing and its im;
ment are attracting an increasing amount of attentior
in India, the area under sugar-cane having risen from _
2,184,801 acres in 1909-10 to 2,808,204 acres in
1917-18, while in addition the date-palm and palmyra-
palm occupied 184,412 acres in the latter period
(‘‘Agric. Statistics for India,’’ ‘1917-18, vol. i.). More
than half the sugar-cane is grown in the United
Provinces, chiefly Agra, and the Punjab accounts
about one-fifth. Palm-sugar, on the other hand is ('#
chiefly associated with Madras, Bengal, and Upper ‘
Burma, little being produced elsewhere. The output
of sugar for 1918-19 was 2,337,000 tons (Report on
Progress of Agriculture in India for 1918-19), but, as
this was insufficient to meet home requirements, a —
large quantity had to be imported. Before the war —
India was able to produce a surplus of sugar for
export, but as this can no longer be done the Govern-—
ment is investigating the possibility of reore ee
and developing the sugar industry of the country, :
a strong committee has been appointed to determine
future policy in this direction. Dr. Barber, who has Baa
worked much on the problem, considers that a case
has been made out for the foundation of an Imperial
Sugar Bureau, of which the ‘‘ whole duty will be to col-
lect and collate the results obtained in various direc-
tions, and thus be in a position. to assist the isolated
efforts in different parts of the country with sound —
advice, based on experience gained by a general survey —
of the work done in India now and in the past and
that accomplished in ‘other countries ’’ (Annual Report —
of the Board of Scientific Advice for India, 1918-19). —
Throughout India much work is. being done on _
the improvement of the sugar-cane and on the selec-
tion and. breeding of varieties suitable for different —
conditions and localities. At the cane-breeding station
at Coimbatore, under the direction of Dr. Barber, a —
large number of hybrids have been raised and are
under observation, some of the seedlings proving very —
resistant to red rot:and smut, two of the most serious ©
es
ee ee eT
>
Te ee Se
_Avcust 26, 1920|
NATURE
841
diseases of sugar-cane. As a result of this work it
has been possible to pass out a number of seedlings
for further testing on a large scale in different places.
The trial of new varieties is also carried out in
Madras and the United Provinces, for the old ones
which have hitherto been grown are rapidly losing
favour with the cultivators, and it is necessary to find
new and improved varieties to.replace them. - When
m canes are used it is necessary constantly to
renew the stock from the country of origin. Soil and
climate have a marked effect on the canes, and
varieties that are markedly superior in one area often
_ deteriorate rapidly in quality if transferred elsewhere,
- often of doubtful value for another area.
ud, consequently, experience gained from _ experi-
| work in one part of the cane-growing tract is
This fact
makes a strong argument for an increase in the
number of sugar research stations in order that the
most suitable stocks may be determined for the
various localities.
Newly broken up land. does not give very satisfac-
tory results, but it should be left for at.least a year
before planting. If a proper rotation of crops is used,
an increase of as much as 5 tons of cane per acre
ean be obtained. Manurial experiments in Assam
_ have shown that the use of phosphatic fertilisers gives
an av increase of 2-3 tons per acre, and in Pusa
it is found that rape-cake, farmyard manure, and
nitrate of soda can all be utilised with profit. In
Madras it is estimated that careful manuring will
raise the crop from 25 to 30 tons per acre, which is
2 probably the limit for that particular climate.
' vent fermentation.
manufacture of sugar would pav.
wrt from the actual selection and cultivation,
cial attention is being devoted to the handling of
2 sugar-cane in order to avoid damage and deteriora-
tion. Canes are often stored by windrowing, and
hs wag over a period of several months show that
his does not lead to any appreciable decrease in the
quality or amount of sugar obtainable from equal
weights of the original and the windrowed cane, but
that after a certain time has elapsed deterioration
ets in. Experiments suggest that this deterioration
is not dependent upon the length of storage, but that
the falling off of the quality is probably due to a
seasonal rather than a biological factor.
_ Special methods have been devised at Coimbatore
(Agric. Journ., India. xv., part ii.) for the transport
of cane for short distances and overseas. In the
latter case it is advised-that the pieces of cane be
pickled in Bordeaux mixture for a short time in order
to avoid the introduction of disease from one locality
to another. Charcoal-dust, teak sawdust, and wood-
shavings all make satisfactory packing materials.
_ Attention is now being directed to the use of the
eae
as a sugar producer (Agric. Journ.,
India, xv., part i.). Toddy is made in Bihar from
the sweet juice of this palm, but as less than 10 per
cent. of the trees are tapped it is probable that the
The. process of
tapping needs special care to obtain the best results.
The tins of the flowering stalks are cut off after the
male and female inflorescences have been squeezed or
otherwise injured to irritate them into producing a
good flow of sweet sav. The insides of the collecting
pots are coated with lime to preserve the juice and pre-
The crude sugar obtained from this
juice contains, lime. which is removed by passing a
current of carbon dioxide throursh the sugar solution
until all the lime is precipitated. and a cheap white
sugar can then he prepared. Jt is suerested that as
the production of sugar from the wild date-palm has
so far been satisfactorv. it would be well worth while
to give the palmyra-palm industrv a fea*r trial.
2 a W. E. BRreENcHLFY.
NO. 2652, VOL. 105]
University and Educational Intelligence.
LiverPooL.—The title of emeritus professor of
engineering has been conferred upon Prof. H. S. Hele-
Shaw.
Mr. R. S.. GLennig, of the Battersea Polytechnic,
has been appointed chief lecturer in pharmaceutics at
the Royal Technical College, Glasgow.
Tue Treasury has made to the University College at
Swansea a grant of s5o000l. in a lump sum towards
expenses, and also an annual grant ot another 5oool.
REFERENCE has already been made in these columns
to the establishment of a new Department of Aero-
nautics at the Imperial College at South Kensington.
This addition to the work of the college was initiated
by the generous action of Sir Basil Zaharoff, who
endowed the University of London chair of aviation
known as the Zaharoff chair, tenable at the college, to
which Sir Richard Glazebrook was appointed with the
duty of directing the new department. A comprehen-
sive scheme of instruction and training, mainly post-
graduate in character, has been arranged for next
session, beginning in October, including special sec-
tions in aeronautical engineering, meteorology, and
navigation, and with the valuable co-operation of the
Air Ministry the services of a distinguished staff of
experts have been engaged. Apart from the director
with his great experience of this work at the National
Physical Laboratory, Sir Napier Shaw will be pro-
fessor of meteorology and Mr. Leonard Bairstow pro-
fessor of aerodynamics; Mr. A. J. Sutton Pippard
will deal with the structure and strength of aircraft,
and Mr. A. T. Evans with aircraft engines. Courses
of lectures will also be given dealing respectively with
airships and with navigation, while arrangements are
in hand for special instruction in air-cooled engines,
high-compression engines, dopes, instruments, wire-
less telegraphy, and similar subjects. Subject to
certain necessary restrictions, it has also been arranged
that students of the department will carry out part
of their practical training in one or other of the
Government establishments concerned with aero-
nautics.
Tue Bureau of Education at Washington has just
issued a Bulletin (No. 11) giving statistics relating
to school systems in the United States for the year
1917-18. The bulletin is concerned with elementary
and secondary education only, and is an elaborate
document covering 153 pages octavo, accompanied by
62 tables of statistics and by 49 maps and diagrams
illustrative of the various aspects and conditions of
primary and higher education, other than university
and professional, in the several States. From the
figures set forth it would appear that the total popula-
tion of the States has increased from 38-2 millions
in 1870 to 105-4 millions in 1918, and that the children
of school age between five and eighteen have increased
from 12 to 27-2 millions, and the school enrolment
from nearly 7 to nearly 21 millions; whilst the
pupils in the high schools, who numbered 80,000 in
1871, were about 1,700,000 in 1918. The number of
teachers employed was 650,709, being 105,194 men
and 545,515 women, whose average salary in 1918
wa; 635 dollars, as compared with 189 dollars in
1870. The percentage of scholars enrolled of school
age between five and eighteen was 75 in 1o18 and
<7 in 1870, largelv due to better teaching and super-
vision, a more suitable course of studv, transportation
of pupils, and improved economic and general condi-
842
NATURE
[AucusT 26, 1920.
tions. The total value of school buildings, sites, and
equipment is stated to be of the vast total of nearly
2,000,000,000 dollars. The school dollar income is spent
as follows: 3-3 cents on general control, 58-2 on
instruction, 15:5 on new buildings and grounds, and
23 miscellaneous. The average length of the school
year is stated to be 160 days, though the cities usually
provide a school term of nine months. More than
6,000,000 children attend school, on an average, less
than five months in each year. Great diversity exists
throughout the States, due to climatic conditions, the
scattered nature of ‘much of the population, racial
differences, and varying educational legislation, which
largely accounts for the striking differences which
prevail. The bulletin is well worthy the close atten-
tion of educational authorities in this country.
Societies and Academies.
LONDON.
Physical Society, June 25.—Sir W. H. Bragg, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Dr. J. H. Vincent: The origin
of the elements. The atomic weights are regarded
as the weighted mean values of the atomic weights
of the isotopes of the elements; but it is assumed
that, as a rule, the atomic weight is near that of
some one isotope. Figures and tables are drawn up
showing how this accounts for the values of a large
number of atomic weights, if one also assumes that
the weights and positions in the periodic table of any
isotope are conditioned by laws similar to those hold-
ing in the recognised radio-active families. The
elements are all supposed to be derived from parent
elements by processes known to occur in actively
radiating families, but their radio-activity is not, in
general, detectable by the usual means owing to the
velocity of expulsion of the particles being low. The
possibility of the reversibility of some radio-active pro-
cesses is regarded favourably. The various difficulties
in connection with the views advocated are dis-
cussed, and some suggestions for experiments made.
Finally, the theory is used to explain the so-called
laws of the atomic weights of elements of low atomic
weight, and the shape of the curve obtained when
the atomic weights are plotted against Moseley’s
numbers.—W. H. Wilson and Miss T. D. Epps: The
construction of thermo-couples by electro-deposition.
The method, which was devised to overcome the diffi-
culty of making satisfactory soldered joints between
the elements of thermopiles having a large number
of closely packed junctions, consists in using a con-
tinuous wire of one of the elements and coating those
parts of it which have to form the other element with
an electrolytic deposit of another metal. If the con-
ductivity of the latter is considerably greater than that
of the former, and a fairly thick sheath is deposited,
a thermo-couple is produced which is not appreciably
impaired in efficiency by the short-circuiting effect of
the core. Constantan wires coated with either copper
or silver sheaths were found to be suitable for most
purposes.—J. Guild ; The use of vacuum arcs for inter-
ferometry. The paper discusses the relative merits
of short and long mercury arcs for this work, and
points out that the defect of the former is due to the
broadening of the spectrum lines consequent on the
high vapour pressure within the lamp. It is shown
that by attaching a condensing bulb to the lamp, so.
as to prevent excessive rise of vapour pressure, the
short lamp can be made practically as good as the
long one as regards sharpness of lines, while still
being of much greater intrinsic brightness.—S. Butter-
worth: The maintenance of a vibrating system by
means of a triode valve. This paper gives a mathe-
matical analysis of the arrangement, previously
NO. 2652, VOL. 105 |
*
described by Eccles, whereby the ‘vibrations of —
tuning-fork are maintained by means of a triode.
PHILADELPHIA.
American Philosophical Society, April 24.—Dr. G. Ee
Hale, vice-president, in the chair.—Prof. E, —
Brown: The problem of the evolution of the s
system.—W, H. Wright: Certain aspects of rece!
spectroscopic observations of the gaseous nebule
which appear to establish the relationship betwee
them and the stars. The paper summarises in 1
technical terms the evidence afforded by a study «
the stellar condensations in the planetary or smz
gaseous nebulae which are shown to be ect:
scopically identical with stars of the Wolf-Rayet grou
(Pickering’s Class O). A brief account is given ¢
some of the present-day conceptions of stellar
tion for the purpose of indicating the somewha
critical nature with respect to these ideas of the
relationship indicated.—Prof. E. P. Adams; The E
stein theory. The extension of the principle of rela-
tivity and the resulting revision of the concepts 0:
space and time led to Einstein’s interpretation of —
gravitation as a property of space itself when
modified by the presence of matter.—Dr. L. A. Bauer:
The results of geophysical observations during the
solar eclipse of May 29, 1919, and their bearing upon
the Einstein deflection of light. The present paper
gives the results of a special study of the cause of the —
non-radial effects of the light deflections observed by
the British expedition at Sobral, Brazil. It is shown ~
that these non-radial. effects may completely _
accounted for by incomplete elimination of differential
refraction effects in the earth’s atmosphere. The
same cause may apparently also explain why the ~
observed radial deflections of light exceeded, on the —
average, by about 14 per cent. the amounts predicted
on the basis of the Einstein law of gravitation—
Prof. J. B. Whitehead: The high-voltage corona in
air. The paper describes the nature of the corona —
and recent studies of the laws governing its ey
ance in high-voltage circuits. Its influence as a limit- —
ing factor in long-distance transmission occurs through
deterioration of insulation and a leakage loss of power
between the high-voltage lines. The appearance of
corona on a clean round wire is very irae a flamers 5
and may be used for the measurement of high alter- —
nating voltages to a degree of accuracy not heretofore —
possible.—Prof, D. C. Miller; The velocity of ex-
plosive sounds. Most of the experiments were made —
in connection with 1o-in. and 12-in, rifles, though a
few were made with 6-in. and 8-in. guns. The
amount of powder charge and the value of the in-
ternal pressure developed in the gun are taken into
account. The sounds were received by means of
specially constructed carbon-granule microphones, —
those for use near the gun being of unusually rugged
construction, while others were of a very sensitive
type. The records were made by a specially con-
structed moving-film camera in connection with a
string-galvanometer capable of recording from six —
stations simultaneously, of the type used by the U.S.
Army for sound-ranging. Meteorological observations ee
were made by special observers in the distant stations
and on the field near the guns at the time of the —
experiments, and continuous records were made at
the Proving Ground Headquarters and at the United —
States Weather Bureau Station. These observations :
covered temperature, barometric height, humidity,
wind velocity, and wind direction. Measurements —
were also made of the velocity of the sound at a
series of stations located on a dine at right angles to
the line of fire and on a line at 45° to one side of the
line of fire. Heretofore there has been a general —
id
Te eT See ee Des
aia atal
J
Ree
Aucust 26, 1920] _
NATURE
843
_ impression that explosive sounds travel much farther
_ than do ordinary sounds, the velocity being, perhaps,
/
rf
Ron
_ several times the normal velocity. ‘hese experiments
show conclusively that the velocity at a distance of
too ft. from a 1o-in. gun is about 1240 ft. per second,
or 22 per cent. above normal; at 200 ft. from the
gun the velocity is only about 5 per cent. above
normal. For all distances above 500 ft. from the
n the velocity of the explosive sound from the
rgest-sized gun is practically normal.—Dr. H. C.
Hayes: The U.S. Navy MV-type of hydrophone as
an aid and safeguard to navigation.—Dr. A. E.
Kennelly; The transient process of establishing a
steady alternating electric current on a long line from
tory. measurements on an artificial line. It is
known that the current and voltage do not build up
steadily and continuously, but advance by little jumps
which occur at regular short intervals of time, accom-
panying successive reflections of electromagnetic waves
from one end of the line to the other. There is pre-
‘sented in this paper a number of observations which
have been secured photographically of. the rise of
voltage and current on a long artificial electric power
transmission line in the laboratory, and have com-
sd the observed rates of growth with those which
are indicated by theory with a fairly satisfactory
ent—N. W. Akimoff: The strephoscope.—
Prof. R. S. Dugan: New features in the eclipsing
variable UCephei. (Prof. W. B. Scott, presi-
dent, in the chair.)—Prof. E. N. Harvey: Animal
luminescence and stimulation. The production of
light by animals is due to the burning or oxidation
of a substance called luciferin in the presence of an
enzyme or catalyst called luciferase. Light produc-
ly animals differs from light produced by com-
bustion in that the oxidation product of luciferin,
oxyluciferin, can be easily reduced to luciferin, which
1 again oxidise with light production. The reaction
is reversible, and appears to be of this nature:
luciferin+O —oxyluciferin+H,O. The difference be-
tween luciferin and oxyluciferin lies probably in this:
that the luciferin possesses two atoms of hydrogen,
which is removed to form H,O when the luciferin
is oxidised. The H, must be added to re-form luci-
ferin. Not only is it most efficient so far as the
radiation (being all light) it produces is concerned,
it is also most economical so far as its chemical pro-
cesses are concerned. The above reactions can be
demonstrated in a test-tube with a mixture of oxy-
luciferin, luciferase, and ammonium sulphide. The
ammonium sulphide is probably represented in living
cells by reducing enzymes or reductases. If. such a
test-tube is allowed to stand, oxyluciferin is reduced
to luciferin, which will luminesce only at the surface
of the fluid in the test-tube in contact with air.
When the tube is agitated so as to dissolve more
oxygen of the air, the liquid glows throughout. Even
a gentle knock or ‘stimulus ”’ to the tube is sufficient
to cause enough oxygen to dissolve to give a momen-
tary flash of light which is strikingly similar to the
flash of light given by luminous animals themselves
on stimulation. This suegests that when we agitate
a luminous animal, or when the luminous gland-cells
of a firefly are stimulated through nerves, with the
resultant flash of light, in each case the stimulus acts
by increasing the permeability of the surface-laver of
the cells to oxygen. This then upsets an equilibrium
involving the luciferin, luciferase, oxvluciferin, oxygen,
and reductase within the cell, with the production
of light and the formation of more oxyluciferin.
So long as the luminous ¢ell is resting and unstimu-
lated. the tendency is for reduction processes to occur
and luciferin to be formed. . It must be pointed out
that not all sorts of stimulation can be explained in
NO, 2652, VOL. 105]
this way, as the stimulation of muscles or nerve-fibres
may take place in the complete absence of oxygen.—
Prof. G. H, Parker: The phosphorescence of Renilla.
During the day Renilla cannot be excited to phos-
phoresce, but at night on stimulation it can be made
to glow with a beautiful golden-green light. The
light is produced in wave-like ripples that spread out
from the spot stimulated and run over the upper
surface of the animal. They travel at a relatively
slow rate that agrees with that at which the nervous
impulses of the animal travel. Hence it is concluded
that the phosphorescence of Renilla is under the con-
trol of the nerve-net of the animal, which apparently
pervades the whole colony.—Prof. W. M. Wheeler and
I. W. Bailey: Feeding habits of Pseudomyrmine ants.
Examination of the mouth of the larva reveals a singu-
lar hitherto undescribed organ, evidently used for reduc-
ing the food-pellet to such a finely divided state that
it can, when acted upon by the digestive juices of the
- stomach, yield a certain amount of nutriment which
the worker-ant could not extract from it while it
was in the infrabuccal pocket. This larval organ may
be called the trophorhinium. In all Pseudomyrmine
larve, and in many larve of the other sub-families,
except the Doryline and Cerapachyinz, the tropho-
rhinium is beautifully developed, although in many
ants (Ponerinez) it must be used for comminuting
parts of insects given directly to the larve by the
workers. In its development the trophorhinium bears
a strange resemblance to the stridulatory organs of
the petiole and post-petiole of many adult ants.—Dr.
A. E, Ortmann: Correlation of shape and station in
fresh-water mussels. It has been found that for
certain species more swollen specimens are found
down-stream in the larger rivers and more compressed
specimens more up-stream, and that in the inter-
mediate stretches of a’ river these extremes are con-
nected by gradual transitions.—Prof. H. F. Osborn:
Evolution principles deduced from a study of ‘the
even-toed Ungulates known as Titanotheres.—Prof.
W. B. Scott: The Astropotheria.—B. F. Howell, jun. :
The Middle Cambrian beds at Manuels, Newfound-
land, and their relations. These beds are of special
scientific interest because they contain large numbers
of unusually well-preserved fossils, which prove that
the creatures that swarmed in the waters then cover-
ing much of what is now New England, south-eastern
Canada, and south-eastern Newfoundland were of
practically the same sort as those living in the seas
which at the same period washed over many parts of
Scandinavia and the British Isles. North America
has probably been joined to Eurove in this way several
times in the geological past, so that the animals living
in the coastal waters could spread from one hemi-
sohere to the other.—Prof. W. H. Hobbs: (1) The
Michigan meteor of November 26. 1919. (2) The
Slacial anticvclone and the blizzard in relation to the
domed surface of continental glaciers.
Rome.
Reale Accademia dei Lincei, March 7.—A. R6iti, vice-
president, in the chair.—Q. Majorana: Gravitation,
viii—O. Chisini: Analytic representation of the fold
of a surface by a series of fractional powers of two
variables.—U. Cisotti: Integration of the equation
of wave-motion in a deep canal, ii. The equation of
the free surface is determined.—O. Onicescu: New-
tonian fields in the neighbourhood of a given vectorial
field. An application of Levi-Civita’s notion of
harmonics in the neighbourhood of an assigned funce-
tion. The author deduces the lamellar and solenoidal
magnetisation which gives rise to a given magnetic
field, and applies the result to deal with the existence
and unique nature of the magnetisation in soft iron.
844: NATURE [Aucust 26, 1920
—L. Tonelli: Researches on primitive functions, iii. Every Boy’s Book of Geology. By Dr.-A.'E. Tr
—V. Sabatini; Leucitic lavas of the volcano of Roc- | man and. W. P. Westell. Pp. 315. | (Londe
camonfina. ‘This deals mainly with the composition | R.T.S.). 6s. net- Pe. ie
of the spurs, and particularly with the. presence of
leucite.—B. Peyrouel: A parasite of the lupin,
Blepharospora terrestris. In December, 1919, plants
of lupin were received infected with this parasite
from Pantano and Pratolongo, near the Lake of
Regillo. It appears to kill the plants, completely
destroying the tubercles of the roots. The question
is raised as to whether the parasite is of American
origin, but the author considers it probably an in-
digenous type that has recently become destructive.—
T. Levi-Civita: Harmonics in the neighbourhood of an
assigned function. The problem is reduced to the
determination of the Newtonian function having the
given function as its density.—R. Perotti: Nitrogen
of the cyanic group in manures. A contribution ‘to
the determination of the mechanism of action of
cyanic nitrogen in vegetable nutrition and the condi-
tions for its utilisation.—M. Ascoli and A. Fagiuoli:
Sub-epidermic pharmacodynamic experiences, ii. The
action of pituitrin is discussed. The limit of reactivity
in einai Meh ects fluctuates about a dilution of 500.
—L, Cattolica: Obituary notice of G. Dalla Vedova,
professor of geography in the University of Rome.—
Sig. Baglioni: The life and work of the late Luigi
Luciani, professor of pathology at Parma from 1875
to 1880, and afterwards professor of physiology at
Siena, Florence, and Rome in succession.
March 21.—F. D’Ovidio, president, in the chair.—
Q. Majorana: Gravitation, ix. Gravitation may be
partly absorbed by matter, and this absorption may
give rise to heat. Bodies will then have two kinds
of mass, apparent and real, and the real density of
the sun .will then be three times its apparent or
astronomical density. An experimental test is being
arranged at Turin for studying the action of
too quintals of lead on a small central mass.—O.
Chisini: Contact of curves of diramation for an
algebraic function of two variables.—M. De Angelis :
Crystalline forms of nitrodichloroacetanilide. This sub-
stance is dimorphic, modifications @ and 8 both being,
monoclinic and prismatic, the former with a:b:c=
I-1507 : 1: 1-1348 and B=66° 23’, the lattér with the
values 1-5792: 1: 1-0952 and 62° 23-5’. The second
form is decidedly unstable, and when: left in the
mother-solution, or even dried, it transforms: in :time
into an aggregate of crystals of the stable phase.—
R.- Perotti: Measure of the ammoniating power of
soils. The best conditions for employing the method
of solutions are 10 c.c. solution of: peptone of 1-5 per
cent. in test-tubes, adding 5 c.c. of a mixture formed:
of 50 grams of earth in 500 grams of water; cultiva-
tion. for four days in a thermostat at 20°-25° C., and
determination of ammonia by distillation on oxide of
magnesia.—M. Ascoli and. A. Fagiuoli: Sub-epidermic
pharmacodynamic experiences, iii. Certain alkaloids,
such as atropine, pilocarpine, muscarine, physo-
stigmine, morphine, eserine, nicotine, cocaine, and
scopolamine, which offer a cutaneous reaction of
cedematogenous type, are referred to.
~ Books Received.
The Theory of Electric Cables and Networks. By
Dr. A. Russell. Second edition... Pp. x+348.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 24s. net.
Wild Creatures of Garden and Hedgerow. By
Frances Pitt. Pp. ix+285. (London: Constable and
Co., Ltd.) i2s. net. a :
NO, 2652, VOL. 105]
- Varrier-Jones.
. Societies and. Academies. « «5 6. csc cu ees ac
The .Fall of the Birth-Rate. By G. Uday Yule
Pp. 43. (Cambridge: At the University Press.)
net.
Kritik der Abstammungslehre. By Prof. ;, Rein
Pp. v+133. (Leipzig: J..A. Barth.) 13 marks,
History of the Theory of Numbers. By Prof.
Dickson. Vol. ii., Diophantine Analysis. Pp.
803. -(Washington: Carnegie Institution.)
An Introduction to the Study of Hypnotism:
Experimental and Therapeutic. By Dr. H. E. V ing-
field. Second edition. Pp. viiit195. (London: Ba
liére, Tindall, and Cox.) 7s. 6d. net.
Industrial Colonies and Village Settlements for
Consumptive. By Sir German Woodhead and P,
Pp. xit+t151. (Cambridge: At
University Press.) 10s. 6d, net. (ot eee
~ A Handbook of Physics and Chemistry: By H. E.
Corbin and A. M. Stewart. Fifth edition. Pp. viii+
496. (London: J. and A. Churchill.) 15s. net.
c
the
bier 2 ar
CONTENTS.
The Forthcoming Censls .- >. : .j22 eee ;
Prof. Alexander’s Gifford Lectures.
Hon. Viscount Haldane’
Principles and Practice of Surveying,
H.. S. Wintérbotham |)... 3) eee “oe ae
Australian Hardwoods, By A. B.J. .......
The Columbian Tradition. By J. L. E. D.
Our Bookshelf .... * ype aE ge “wiceeire beaaagle
Letters to the Editor :— es
University Grants.—Prof, W. H. Perkin, F.R.S. .
Use of Sumner Lines in Navigation. (With Diagram.)
—Dr, John Ball
“1 PAGE
797
Bythe Right
OO 8 BR OS ai ae ee
MGADIRY ro) Sie ee reins ge eae
The Antarctic Anticyclone.—R. M. Deeley . ;
A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. (///us- —
- trated.) By Prof. Robert H. Goddard . mi
New Aspects in the Assessment of Physical —
Fitness. By Dr. F. G. Hobson .:.:. 1°... 4) 8g &
Oceanography and the Sea-Fisheries. Presidential
Address to the British Association. By Prof.
W. A. Herdman, C.B.E., D.Se., S¢.D., LL.D.,
ree, aes Fae Hh ee te yee eo cs) Fo ee cr
Summaries of Addresses of Presidents of Sections —
of the British Association ...........
The British Association at Cardiff, By R.V.S. .
Sir Norman Lockyer’s Contributions to Astro-.
physics. By Prof. A. Fowler, F.R.S. ......
Note$g, checks, ho 8 fools ah eee
Our Astronomical Column :— .
Discovery of a Nova in Cygnus. .
6) ae et CSRae .
PYM Mie ie Stee eo
Cotton Industry Research ...,.:.. see Mea
Sugar Cultivation in India. By Dr. W. E. Brenchley
University and Educational Intelligence .. . .
Books Received ...:..: oan .
Peevey
Sey Sess
cs
Aa
na
Tas
as:
ye ae
es
sae
Meorene
~ aT
de ies
pas
) G
i
‘
eae
‘3
ars
—
Sin
tes
——s
5
ie ~
ses
aS
oS
Sed =<
en
x
*.
3
aot
ra 3
eos
See
avons Rete
peers a.
my Beat
Stare
——
Eee
aaa
i} it ree
uy
te
H
t
1
3
eet
Niner
eS
ae
Hines
sh "
483 f
hate
Sees sS
ae
re
Shia
Nanay
Wate
yee iif t
es Sh He "7 hay
ba Seni
aiet ot) hae
eH
olan
rnd
int
iid
= ages
=
ne a
Aey 7
wis
+ aid
Jy
ee
a os
= fee
‘i
t
ae
‘ry shew ie lA)
4 ih
: Re aay! a
BAKO ‘
SAHA TEE Nae aT ae
iM ay
t '
mt bbe
Mie
iv) iis ;
tt
24
¥.
é
vite,
Sweety
ar) Cieri
Oe OLY 8 te dl
" Mee ie
bet
HET hk
aihise
if
eta
£
att
v
Ue
iit
Fe
eee hae
tt Mey tae
isetee hha
Se teh) F
heed i
i
nthe
ri
ate
a
mameehy
Maine ‘ Hen
: iy cle! OE
ray
feeb atk
peitgrus
Brig
his
et
of
*
pe) g
abet
id?
ft
{
Ply
eh
Ti
if
hear
ayy cae OLY
ety |
‘
es
NaS) Soe oe
Wb toed
fia
WAR ra ht
eae
Wie tes ‘
Cai
ary Ai
*
by é
Ey y
rer
ie i
“PAW
wake
veka.
Ut ‘ ait!
t
vey
Lad
ie
1,
ty AOA
Oh
Mh he Ry
te
a nter es ete
se REG
WR Fel
yh an!
pitaoes
4g bat
vy ATA PA '
,) H tyat tet os ew
at wi (dit Cabs
Eee ON Wa) oh ert TEE
Weep eine! Ve es ,
‘ ae
+. ’ i
§ bee
A ue
teh he
at ive
t in its Ly
oe ee My
state Hees
Ay At
te
ALE
ada
‘Sta
ae
ita
eb
POV ik ae
they AD paves 4
r veety ty aes ri
ea heist GN ae
i ries in
Pu ean EM ERA RO
Eos enh t xed
tar nebes
aaiteitte STEN
f tty har etd fk
Ky
Lonitrt
i
*
Key
ie
y
ey.
Vahy
27
bay
sh
‘
Pit di
gy te
aa hte
t
‘
BS ‘
eae
. :
dee
eat
vie
ee gey
Siaren i
; ‘,
Wiel
¥ re
Lena
PP pew is Fe
tee t
Webs
OLA
hat ee
46 Oe
i
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11